Fiction. A second dectuple of drabbles
The second dectuple of drabbles.
Applies to all:
AUTHOR: Ashleigh Anpilova
PAIRING: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard
GENRE: Slash
RATING: G or PG-13
WORD COUNT: 100
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, nor am I making any money from them. I merely borrow them from time to time.
TITLE: The One
SUMMARY: Ducky is the one who remembers dates. However, there is one that Jethro will never forget.
Duck’s the one who remembers dates.
The kids’ birthdays; our friends’ birthdays; the dates I got divorced; anniversaries; that kind of thing.
Me? I’m not as good as he is.
Oh, I know his birthday and Abby’s, but apart from that, well, I must admit I rely on Duck letting me know.
Except for one other date. The one I’ll never forget.
That’s the date I met him.
And I’ll never forget that.
Why?
Because that’s the day my whole life changed. Didn’t know it at the time, but it did.
Changed so much.
No, I’ll never forgot that date.
TITLE: The Rose
SUMMARY: Jethro remembers a yellow rose.
I remember he was wearing a rose in his buttonhole the night I met him - a yellow one.
I remember it got crushed when they attacked him.
I remember seeing it on the ground as I helped him to his feet.
I remember he glanced at it as he thanked me for rescuing him.
I remember his face the first time I gave him a bouquet of them.
I remember he was wearing a rose in his buttonhole as he stood next to me on our wedding day - a yellow one.
I remember it got crushed when I kissed him.
TITLE: The Way He Is
SUMMARY: Ducky has a rare talent.
Duck likes to believe there’s some good in everyone.
And by the time he’s finished explaining, it’s rare I don’t agree with him. And not just because it’s easier to agree, but because he’s convinced me.
But just occasionally, even Ducky can’t find something good.
I always know when that’s the case because rather than talk, he’s silent. And demanding in a way he otherwise isn’t.
I don’t mind. Not really. Least not for me.
But I mind for him, because it troubles him. I don’t like my Ducky troubled.
But at least I know how to make things better.
TITLE: Guess It Was
SUMMARY: For Jethro, falling in love with a man was unexpected.
Guess falling in love with a man was a somewhat unexpected thing for me to do.
Hah! That’s an understatement. It was more than ‘a somewhat’ it was . . .
Not sure what it was, but it shook me.
Shook me more because it felt so right. Shook me more because I knew it was right. Shook me even more because it didn’t shake me.
But I didn’t fall in love with Ducky because he was a man, I feel in love with Ducky because he was, well, Ducky.
And that’s not so unexpected.
My Duck’s easy to love.
My Duck’s mine.
TITLE: Forbidden Love
SUMMARY: They love they have is intense. But for so many it is wrong.
Their hands moved over one another's bodies.
Their lips met and parted.
They needed this.
They wanted this.
Now. Forever. Always.
Not just words, but hope. Belief. Truth.
Wherever they were, together or apart, they belonged entirely to one another.
They were.
They loved.
They gave.
They took.
They slept.
In the morning they would have to part. Have to say goodbye.
Have to move from lovers to friends. Just as they always did.
Their love was frowned upon. Forbidden by rules, customs, ties, commitment. But they didn't care.
They were stronger together than apart.
They loved.
They were love.
TITLE: The Autumn Of Their Lives
SUMMARY: It’s Autumn. A time for reflection.
Autumn.
A fitting season as they had reached the autumn of their lives.
However, their four-decade relationship had neither faded nor grown old; it remained intense.
In their garden the tree that had grown with their love showed off its vibrant cooper coat.
The man turned his eyes from the tree to watch his lover sleep, no doubt tired from their morning walk.
One day autumn would turn to winter and there would be a parting. But only of the physical kind, and a short one at that.
However, God willing, autumn would not turn to winter for many years.
TITLE: There But For
SUMMARY: Set after Grace Period. Only Ducky knows the truth about how Gibbs felt.
There but for the grace of God.
Except it wasn’t God. It was Jethro.
Was it just his wish to spend time with her? Or did he somehow know something?
Did his gut lead him to act so far out of character, even I failed to hide my surprise when he told me the truth: that he, Anthony, Timothy and Ziva should have been on duty?
Should have been the ones to die.
I do not know.
All I know is, of all the things my beloved has done in his life, this one will never cease to haunt him.
TITLE: Kelly
SUMMARY: Ducky remembers Jethro’s daughter.
Kelly was such a sweet little girl and I loved her dearly.
Her sweetness touched me when she lived. The memory of it remains with me in her death.
In my own way I grieved for her almost as much as my beloved did.
I know she would have grown up to be a fine woman, and a loving daughter.
I would never have seen that though, for had she and her mother lived, I would have left Jethro. It would have been the right thing, the fair thing, to do.
At least I would have tried to do so.
TITLE: They Love Me
SUMMARY: There are more ways than one to communicate.
Jethro's eyes are not as talkative as my own.
At least they aren't unless we are alone, and then they tell me so much. They tell me things that he sometimes struggles to voice aloud.
When we are in public they are more shrouded, more under his control. But even then they soften for me.
They are dark blue, and can be as cold as ice yet as warm as the perfect summer's day.
When he looks at me he can make me feel so loved; so wanted; so needed.
They touch me; they talk to me. They love me.
TITLE: I Was Mistaken
SUMMARY: Ducky isn't always right.
Jethro once told me he had never had a cold, influenza, an allergy; nor indeed had he ever been unwell, outside of work related injuries that is.
I am a little ashamed to admit I did not, at the time, believe him.
My justification was that I am a doctor. I know people. I know about health matters.
Some three decades later I have to confess that he was not being untruthful.
My beloved does have amazingly good health.
If, that is, one puts aside his propensity for getting blown up and falling into comas and forgetting who I am.
Applies to all:
AUTHOR: Ashleigh Anpilova
PAIRING: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard
GENRE: Slash
RATING: G or PG-13
WORD COUNT: 100
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, nor am I making any money from them. I merely borrow them from time to time.
TITLE: The One
SUMMARY: Ducky is the one who remembers dates. However, there is one that Jethro will never forget.
Duck’s the one who remembers dates.
The kids’ birthdays; our friends’ birthdays; the dates I got divorced; anniversaries; that kind of thing.
Me? I’m not as good as he is.
Oh, I know his birthday and Abby’s, but apart from that, well, I must admit I rely on Duck letting me know.
Except for one other date. The one I’ll never forget.
That’s the date I met him.
And I’ll never forget that.
Why?
Because that’s the day my whole life changed. Didn’t know it at the time, but it did.
Changed so much.
No, I’ll never forgot that date.
TITLE: The Rose
SUMMARY: Jethro remembers a yellow rose.
I remember he was wearing a rose in his buttonhole the night I met him - a yellow one.
I remember it got crushed when they attacked him.
I remember seeing it on the ground as I helped him to his feet.
I remember he glanced at it as he thanked me for rescuing him.
I remember his face the first time I gave him a bouquet of them.
I remember he was wearing a rose in his buttonhole as he stood next to me on our wedding day - a yellow one.
I remember it got crushed when I kissed him.
TITLE: The Way He Is
SUMMARY: Ducky has a rare talent.
Duck likes to believe there’s some good in everyone.
And by the time he’s finished explaining, it’s rare I don’t agree with him. And not just because it’s easier to agree, but because he’s convinced me.
But just occasionally, even Ducky can’t find something good.
I always know when that’s the case because rather than talk, he’s silent. And demanding in a way he otherwise isn’t.
I don’t mind. Not really. Least not for me.
But I mind for him, because it troubles him. I don’t like my Ducky troubled.
But at least I know how to make things better.
TITLE: Guess It Was
SUMMARY: For Jethro, falling in love with a man was unexpected.
Guess falling in love with a man was a somewhat unexpected thing for me to do.
Hah! That’s an understatement. It was more than ‘a somewhat’ it was . . .
Not sure what it was, but it shook me.
Shook me more because it felt so right. Shook me more because I knew it was right. Shook me even more because it didn’t shake me.
But I didn’t fall in love with Ducky because he was a man, I feel in love with Ducky because he was, well, Ducky.
And that’s not so unexpected.
My Duck’s easy to love.
My Duck’s mine.
TITLE: Forbidden Love
SUMMARY: They love they have is intense. But for so many it is wrong.
Their hands moved over one another's bodies.
Their lips met and parted.
They needed this.
They wanted this.
Now. Forever. Always.
Not just words, but hope. Belief. Truth.
Wherever they were, together or apart, they belonged entirely to one another.
They were.
They loved.
They gave.
They took.
They slept.
In the morning they would have to part. Have to say goodbye.
Have to move from lovers to friends. Just as they always did.
Their love was frowned upon. Forbidden by rules, customs, ties, commitment. But they didn't care.
They were stronger together than apart.
They loved.
They were love.
TITLE: The Autumn Of Their Lives
SUMMARY: It’s Autumn. A time for reflection.
Autumn.
A fitting season as they had reached the autumn of their lives.
However, their four-decade relationship had neither faded nor grown old; it remained intense.
In their garden the tree that had grown with their love showed off its vibrant cooper coat.
The man turned his eyes from the tree to watch his lover sleep, no doubt tired from their morning walk.
One day autumn would turn to winter and there would be a parting. But only of the physical kind, and a short one at that.
However, God willing, autumn would not turn to winter for many years.
TITLE: There But For
SUMMARY: Set after Grace Period. Only Ducky knows the truth about how Gibbs felt.
There but for the grace of God.
Except it wasn’t God. It was Jethro.
Was it just his wish to spend time with her? Or did he somehow know something?
Did his gut lead him to act so far out of character, even I failed to hide my surprise when he told me the truth: that he, Anthony, Timothy and Ziva should have been on duty?
Should have been the ones to die.
I do not know.
All I know is, of all the things my beloved has done in his life, this one will never cease to haunt him.
TITLE: Kelly
SUMMARY: Ducky remembers Jethro’s daughter.
Kelly was such a sweet little girl and I loved her dearly.
Her sweetness touched me when she lived. The memory of it remains with me in her death.
In my own way I grieved for her almost as much as my beloved did.
I know she would have grown up to be a fine woman, and a loving daughter.
I would never have seen that though, for had she and her mother lived, I would have left Jethro. It would have been the right thing, the fair thing, to do.
At least I would have tried to do so.
TITLE: They Love Me
SUMMARY: There are more ways than one to communicate.
Jethro's eyes are not as talkative as my own.
At least they aren't unless we are alone, and then they tell me so much. They tell me things that he sometimes struggles to voice aloud.
When we are in public they are more shrouded, more under his control. But even then they soften for me.
They are dark blue, and can be as cold as ice yet as warm as the perfect summer's day.
When he looks at me he can make me feel so loved; so wanted; so needed.
They touch me; they talk to me. They love me.
TITLE: I Was Mistaken
SUMMARY: Ducky isn't always right.
Jethro once told me he had never had a cold, influenza, an allergy; nor indeed had he ever been unwell, outside of work related injuries that is.
I am a little ashamed to admit I did not, at the time, believe him.
My justification was that I am a doctor. I know people. I know about health matters.
Some three decades later I have to confess that he was not being untruthful.
My beloved does have amazingly good health.
If, that is, one puts aside his propensity for getting blown up and falling into comas and forgetting who I am.