Gibbs: There were no survivors...
----
Ducky turned to face his friend and knew in an instant.
"Ziva?"
"Afraid so…" Gibbs watched as his friend slowly sat down.
The ME held his head low as if absorbing what he'd been told. "I suppose it was to be expected…"
"Duck?"
"I am not saying I wished it upon her Jethro…only that I tried to prepare myself for the inevitable. What with her return to Mossad after the tragedy she'd sustained…not to mention leaving those she'd grown to love…" He obtained the liquor and glasses from his cabinet and the feeling was all too familiar. "Katelyn knew the risks…just as Ziva did."
Gibbs hesitated but took the glass from his hand. "I left her behind…"
"She left us behind Jethro…" He thought for a moment. "You cared for her, no shame in that…we all did."
Gibbs glanced at the table where two people he cared for once laid. "Kate…Jen…I'm beginning to think I'm cursed…"
"Perhaps we all are."
Ducky lifted the glass and with a small tear forming in his eye. "To the ones we loved and lost…"
Gibbs hand seemed to shake as he took his sip; the burning in his throat almost comforting.
"We will not soon forget her." He let his head hang low once again, the tear releasing down his face.
Gibbs nodded slowly, his gaze returning to the autopsy tables. "We never will Duck…we never will."