WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
The kids, Jenny and Tobias remember Gibbs and Ducky.
An established relationship story.
Warning: Major character death.
Written: March 2007. Word count: 558.
The children, together with Jenny and Tobias, stood together in a small group, all clutching glasses, shutting out the other people, refusing to ‘mingle'. None of them could really believe, could really fully accept, that their friends had both gone.
They were all silent.
Each seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak.
For someone else to say something.
Something that was ‘right'.
Something that ‘fitted'.
Something that ‘mattered'.
Something that Gibbs and Ducky would have ‘approved of'.
Finally, it was Tobias who broke the silence. "These things are never about the dead, they're about the living. They're about memories. Let's share those."
Jenny looked at him for a moment, then gave a small half smile and said, "I agree. Come on then, Gibbs first. Your favorite, most meaningful, whatever you like, memory."
"Head slaps. What? Don't look at me like that. At least when he was head slapping me, he was noticing me."
"When he gave me promotion to a full time Field Agent. He took a chance on me; I never thought he would. I never thought anyone would."
"How he came back from Mexico to help me, trusting in my innocence."
"The Caf-Pows he bought me."
"The first time I knocked his coffee over."
"Paris. The look on his face when Ducky pushed the French cop off the cliff."
"The paint stripper he drank, under the guise of whiskey."
"Gibbs," they all intoned, raising their glasses to the man they had all, in their own way, cared deeply about.
After a moment or two, Jenny said softly, "Now Ducky."
"The way he supported and encouraged me when Gibbs went to Mexico."
"His kindness. Always."
"The shock I felt when he snapped at me because I did not know the name of the hospital to which Gibbs had been taken."
"His hugs."
"His generosity. He . . . He . . . He paid all my tuition and other Medical School expenses. He said that he'd been fortunate with having wealthy parents, and he wanted to do the same for me."
"Paris. When he pushed the French cop off the cliff."
"The way he looked at and spoke to Jethro."
"Ducky." Again, the name was all they said; it was all they needed to say. Again it was said in synchrony.
"How about Gibbs and Ducky, together?" Tobias said, after they'd one again raised their glasses and drank.
"How it was okay for Gibbs to interrupt Ducky, or send him off on fruitless errands to stop him from telling his stories, but heaven help anyone else who dared to do so."
"Their friendship. I always hoped that one day, I'd have someone as special as they were to each other."
"Their unity."
"The way they loved one another, and didn't care who knew."
"The way Special Agent Gibbs would glare at me when I tried to help Dr. Mallard out, when I was afraid he was becoming too rambling."
"Paris. When Jethro chose to become a ‘fugitive' with Ducky."
"How it was Ducky who finally got Jethro to lock his front door."
This time as they raised their glasses and, once more in accord, said, "Gibbs and Ducky," all of them allowed a smile to touch his or her face.
It was how it should be.
It was what Gibbs and Ducky would have wanted.
Feedback is always appreciated
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