Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters mentioned, or any of NCIS for that matter. Also, this is my first NCIS fic posted…please R&R!
Summary: Just a short 1,001 word one-shot about Ducky's thoughts and feelings when doing Jenny's autopsy. I wasn't really sure what characters to put this under, but there are definitely some Jibbs sprinkled in there and Ducky/Jenny friendship. Hope you enjoy!
Gibbs just left autopsy not able to even bring himself to look at Jenny in her body bag. Ducky didn't blame him; he was suffering a similar feeling. The autopsy would be particularly hard, not only was Jenny a co-worker, but also a friend who was so young, and deep down so full of life.
Ducky remembers the days from so long ago when he worked with her and Jethro for the first time. Not only did she have a zest and zeal when it came to her job, but also when it came to her friendships and other relationships.
Ducky takes a deep breath as he puts his hands on the zipper of the autopsy bag. He had done a number of autopsies on peers before, but it never got easier and he had a special affection for Jenny seeing her grow from a probie to a colored veteran and the Director.
He unzipped the body bag and found a woman that wasn't Jenny, or at least not the Jenny he knew. Her originally pale skin was now completely drained of color, besides the red of her blood that was smeared down her right cheek. Even her usually bright red hair had lost some color, lost its fire and fury.
Now opening the body bag all the way Ducky proceeded to cover the parts of Jenny's body that didn't need to be exposed. "You were always a women of dignity and class, my dear, but not one to ever shy away from a social life. Which you shouldn't have, otherwise it would be a waste of such beauty".
After a few moments Ducky took the scalpel in his shaky hand and finally brought himself to cut her skin. When he finally broke open her chest cavity to expose her organs he saw the deterioration already happening to her heart. Her disease was attacking her heart first, and the next step if she was still alive would have been the nerve-system.
"Oh Jennifer" Ducky sighed "So young and such a tragic end, so inevitable".
Ducky couldn't help but think the completely unscientific thought that some of the heart damage wasn't from her disease, but from actual heart break. Heart break over her father, Jethro, and the other tragedies he felt she had suffered, but hid from everyone else.
He continues the autopsy trying to prevent his consciousness from registering in his mind that it is Jenny. He continues trying to convince himself it is just another body, another autopsy, a task that is becoming increasingly difficult.
Most of the organs are normal; the liver slightly affected by what could only have been the countless number of glasses of bourbon she shared with Jethro. Ducky finds himself smiling slightly at this, remembering the first time Jethro forced her to drink bourbon.
They had just finished up a particularly difficult case and the whole team had gone out for drinks. Jethro approached Jenny who had not been her usual social self and instead of asking "are you ok" because he knew that was a question neither one of them dared ask each other, he just shoved a glass of bourbon in front of her and said "here drink this". Jenny took a sip and immediately had the urge to spit it out, but didn't and instead settled for a face of disgust. "Oh my God, that is strong" Jenny complained. "That is kind of the point" Jethro replied taking a sip of his own glass of the drink. "Are you trying to take advantage of me Jethro?" Jenny asked with a little smile trying to lighten the mood. "No, just making sure you can sleep tonight" Jethro replied. Jenny just gave him a small sad smile, but didn't saying anything, either because she didn't know what to say, or because she didn't feel the need to say spoken words to let Jethro know how she felt; Ducky always assumed it was the latter.
There had been damaged caused by the bullets, one in the shoulder, one in the abdomen, and one in her upper thigh, ironically close to the scar she had there from previous bullet wounds. Ducky thought about how lucky she was when it came to her past bullet injuries, especially considering she was never received proper medical treatment, she had been lucky to survive the incident.
Ducky had extracted the bullets and covered up the bullet holes as well as possible. He next sawed up the cut down her body caused by the autopsy. Ducky finally took a wet cloth and decided to wipe the blood off of Jenny's skin. The deep red mess stained her porcelain skin down her face, arm, and nearly the whole entire right side of her body. Even as hard as Ducky tried to get rid of all of the evidence of the tragic event, there was still some pink tint it left on Jen's skin.
Ducky let out a final sigh and fought back a tier that threatened to come to the surface. Ducky was not a man to really ever cry, but this had taken a particular toll on him. For once he had actually disliked his job; he didn't particularly feel good doing his job, one that he had dedicated so much of his life, heart, and soul to, now felt like it betrayed him.
He put Jenny into a cooler draw; the funeral had been planned for after the case was solved. SecNav had basically taken over the arrangements considering Jenny didn't really have any family, it was actually quite sad how little family she had, this made Ducky all of the sudden realize how glad he was to have his mother.
"Jennifer, you will be missed; you were someone that definitely did good in this world. You made a few people very happy. Don't worry I will take care of Jethro, make sure guilt doesn't get the better of him".
With that he pushed her in and shut the door.