Raconteur - Drabble Version

A little known fact was that Ducky and Tony were extremely close. Closer than Tony and Gibbs, actually. Tony may end up in Gibbs’ basement once a week or so, but he ended up at Ducky’s for tea at least twice a week and when he couldn’t make it, Ducky would come to his place instead.

Tony knew the others tired of listening to Ducky’s stories, but Tony relished them. Ducky was a great raconteur and despite spending so much time with Ducky, Tony had yet to hear a repeated story. Some of them were sad, some of them sweet and full of love, others still like the current one Ducky was telling were bittersweet.

Tony had never seen Ducky serious about a woman or man, Tony didn’t judge, and now Tony was beginning to understand why. Unlike Gibbs who had tried to replace the woman he lost until he couldn’t anymore, Ducky had been so grateful for the time he did have with his one true love that he hadn’t even been able to consider finding someone else until recently. Ducky had been sad when their time was cut short and the memories even now were more bittersweet due to the short timespan he’d been able to spend with her.

He’d always wanted children to share his stories with and that would remember his stories even once he’d passed, but she had been the only one he could ever imagine children with. They’d been talking of having children when they found out she had cancer. She quickly succumbed to the cancer and before he knew it, she was gone from his life forever and he would only have his memories of her forever more.