BE MINE
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
Gibbs is making plans.
A first time story.
Written: August 2009. Word count: 500.
1ST FEBRUARY
He couldn't believe he was considering it. Make that seriously considering it. It wasn't what he did; who he was. Except to an extent it had been.
His recalled the night some three decades ago, and the look on Shannon's face, when he'd done something similar. He'd changed. Her death and that of Kelly had changed him. He hadn't wanted to do the things he'd done for Shannon with his other wives. It'd seemed wrong; wrong to Shannon's memory. And wrong, he knew now, to the three women he never should have married.
But finally, it felt right. It felt as if he should do it; he should let the Jethro Gibbs he'd been, peek through again. He'd always heard the phrase 'time heals'; but he'd never really believed it. Not until now. So he stopped considering doing it, and started to do it.
It began with the card; he'd thought it would be the easiest part of his plan. It wasn't. An hour after he'd gone into the Hallmark store he left - with four cards!
He then tried to decide on a gift. That took even longer. In the end he settled for a leather-bound book of poetry, and throwing caution to the wind ordered a bouquet of early spring flowers and a single red rose. The Navy Yard would be gossiping for weeks. Or maybe not, given the amount of cards, flowers and gifts that were going to festoon the place. Although the person he'd ordered them for didn't get dozens of cards and gifts, so maybe it would cause gossip. But if it did, what the hell?
Then he made the final arrangement: dinner at a quiet, nice, but not overly up-market, restaurant. It wasn't the kind that had half a dozen glasses and ten forks per setting.
They tangible plans laid, he then set about deciding what to write in the card and on the bookplate (the object of his plans would not want him writing in the book itself) in order to get the person to the restaurant.
After half a dozen abortive attempts, he nearly gave up. Why was he going to so much trouble? Why didn't he simply ask the person out to dinner? Because that wasn't what he'd done with Shannon on the evening he'd proposed to her. And now he was finally capable of loving someone as much as he'd loved her, it was only right.
In the end, knowing his handwriting would be recognized, he settled for 'Be Mine?' in the card. 'I will always love you' in the book, and he slipped a piece of paper with the details of dinner in with the card.
14TH FEBRUARY
"You know, Jethro," Ducky said. "You didn't have to go to so much trouble. You must have known what my answer would be?"
Jethro gazed down at Ducky. "Yeah, Duck. Guess I did. But I wanted to do it right." He kissed Ducky for some time. Then asked softly, "Be mine?"
Ducky smiled. "Always."
Feedback is always appreciated
Go to NCIS Gibbs/Ducky Fiction Page