I own nothing, well, except the story concept of course. ;)
Feedback is always welcome.
A/N this is a tag for Lt. Jane Doe. It takes place a couple years before Ducky's Pain, in which we find out Ducky is really Illya Kuryakin and he's married to April Dancer. They have two adult kids, Anna Donner and Nick Thompson. April and Illya went into hiding in 1967 after a nasty Russian working for Thrush, by the name of Vladimir Romanov set his sights on the couple, wanting to kill them. Fearing for their safety, and that of their then, unborn child, they went into hiding, and have been since. Though they are in hiding, they do not live together. April is living in Minnesota with the children, while Illya is hiding out in DC as Doctor Donald Mallard.
**********************************************
Ducky sat on the bench in Arlington Cemetery holding the wooden box in his hands. It was a nice day out and he talked to the box. The box wasn't ordinary, but one that contained the remains of a young woman known only as Jane Doe. [You see, in all the years he was a Medical Examiner, the Doctor did his best to uncover the identity of anyone that had no identification on them upon their death. He would spend countless hours, if need be, trying to help the investigators figure out who the victim was.
Only once was he unable to identify someone that crossed his path, one woman that he has carried with him for years. Early in his career Ducky made a vow to do everything in his power to identify his first John Doe. When he saw the young man he thought of his own children, Anya and Nicolai. They, like Ducky, were hiding from a madman bent on killing them. While working on the case of that first John Doe, Ducky thought about his children and a chill ran down his spine at the thought of something happening to them and he and April never finding out their fate. No, he would not let any parent go through that nightmare. He had to identify each person on his table, failure wasn't an option.
Now he sat, holding the box that contained the remains Lt. Jane Doe, the man responsible for putting her there dead, and her identity still a mystery. When he saw their latest Lt. Jane Doe with the trident carved into her neck, his blood froze. The killer was back, he told himself. He was hoping Gibbs would be able to capture the killer so he could finally identify the young woman he charged himself with taking care of all these years.
It had been awhile since he talked to the woman he autopsied years ago. Even in her ember state, Ducky talked to her, assuring her, as much as himself, that he would do everything in his power to identify her. However, after hearing that her killer was dead, he reluctantly took Gibbs on his offer to rest her ashes in Arlington Cemetery.
Seeing the man appear out of the mausoleum, Ducky said his goodbyes and lifted himself off the bench. He walked to the man and handed him the box, silently asking the worker to take good care of her. The man nodded at the silent question as he took charge of the box. Turning on his heel, he walked up the stairs as Ducky walked to his car.