Author's Note:
I intended to take a break from writing after Twelfth Night (not least because my puter needs to go to the clinic), but after last night's episode I've changed my mind. I have to be honest and say that this first chapter has been sitting on my hard drive since I came back from hiatus in September – but I wasn't planning to actually use it for a while. If at all. That changed after watching Caged Bird. Ducky is far and away my favourite character after Jen, and I feel I haven't showcased him enough in these AUs.
Can't tell you what kind of update schedule I'll be following, because I have a lot of real life commitments at the moment; but I will do my best to keep it tight.
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Ducky was startled out of slumber by the ringing phone. Peering at the clock confirmed his suspicion that this was an ungodly hour. He reached for the phone with unease flaring through him. Phonecalls at this hour of the night seldom boded well. Deduction told him that the rest home would have used the landline - so a call on his cell could only mean a call to a crime scene.
"Yes, Jethro ..." he enunciated wearily into the receiver.
"It's starting all over again, Ducky."
The medical examiner sat up in bed – staring at the phone in his hand as though he thought he might be hallucinating.
"Ducky? Are you there?"
"Yes, I'm here" he said slowly, still tottering on the brink of disbelief as he listened to a voice he hadn't heard in years. Hadn't ever expected to hear again. Not sure what else to say. Only feeling that it was better to let the person at the other end of the line continue the conversation.
"It's starting over" the voice repeated.
"Are you in any danger?"
"I'm not sure. But I need your help. I think there's a copycat out there."
"Where are you?" Ducky asked – reaching into the bedside drawer for a pen and some paper. "You're in Virginia?" he asked incredulously as he took down the details.
"Can you come?" the voice asked instead.
"I'll request time off in the morning" he replied. "I take it you'd like me to .. come alone?"
There was silence for a moment.
"It's better that way. I have to get back to work."
"Work? It's half past two in the morning."
"The dead never sleep, Ducky. They never stop talking to us. You taught me that. And when they talk we have to listen. At this time of the night there are no interruptions. It's when I do my best work. Will I see you in the morning?"
"Yes."
Ducky put the phone back in its cradle and lay back in bed. Contemplating how he was going to navigate this one.