Ducky enters autopsy after lunch. He flips on the light, and places his brief case on the desk. He hangs up his hat, and coat on the coat rack. He moves towards the exam tables. He finds that one is occupied, despite the fact that it was empty upon his departure. He finds his colleague sitting on the edge of the freshly disinfected stainless steel surface. He approaches the table, making sure to give Jethro enough distance. He leans against the second autopsy table.
"What are you doing down here?"
Gibbs shrugs. He wears a look of utter despair, and confusion paired with a forlorn expression. His fingers wrap around the edge of the table.
"Something on your mind?"
He nods, but refuses to elaborate.
"Is this about the one that got away?"
His expression remains unchanged.
"A certain brown eyed female who was a murder suspect. The one with a star on each shoulder? Is that what has your intestines twisted?"
"Ducky, come on."
"You feel something for her, don't you?"
"It would never work," he reasons.
"Not with that attitude."
"She just lost her husband a few months ago. Grief like that takes a long time to get over."
"Her estranged husband," Ducky reminds him.
"The father of her child."
Ducky nods, "Ah, yes, the child. That is a complication, isn't it? Are you intimidated by her?"
"Izzy?"
"General MacKenzie. She's tenacious."
"I'm not intimidated."
"So it's the age difference?"
"No."
"You think that she really did kill her husband?"
"She wouldn't have been that sloppy," he admits.
"Then what's the problem?"
"All of it."
"You're afraid?"
"I'm…" he sighs, "I don't know what I am."
"Why are you here?"
"You tell me."
"For advice. Jethro, if you want me to advise you I suggest you give me a clearer view of the picture."
"Maybe I feel something for her," he adds.
"Has that led anywhere?"
He nods, "To quite a predicament."
Ducky furrows his brow, "What kind of predicament?"
Gibbs shakes his head, and hops off the autopsy table, "Forget it, Ducky." He brushes past his colleague, heading for the door. Ducky calls after him.
"Jethro, wait."
He hesitates in front of the door.
"What predicament?"
Jethro spins around to face Ducky. He takes a deep breath, as he carefully contemplates his answer.
"She's pregnant."
"So there is another man in her life?"
"No. She's a single mom she doesn't have an abundance of time to spare," he answers.
"It belongs to her husband?"
"I didn't say that."
"You're not saying much of anything."
"I don't know what to say."
"Let me get this straight," Ducky suggests.
Gibbs nods subtly.
"You have serious feelings for a female JAG marine, who is a brigadier general, a single mother, and a widow."
"Two time widow," Gibbs corrects him.
"A two time widow, who happens to be pregnant? Maybe you even love her? You feel conflicted by the sea of information about her that is laid out in front of you. Why?"
"I am not a good communicator."
"Your communication does leave something to be desired."
"I am even worse at relationships."
"You tend to be self-sabotaging. Is it possible that you believe you don't deserve to be happy?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it does."
"I don't think that I could make it work."
"So you're not even willing to try?"
"You don't know what's at stake," Gibbs argues.
"You are afraid that you will get attached to her children, and they will get attached to you, and it will break your heart, and theirs when you inevitably do what you do best, and manage to completely obliterate your relationship?"
"It's more than that," he insists.
"You want it to work, and you don't know how to make that come to fruition."
"It's complicated."
"Life often is. What detail are you hung up on the most?"
"She's pregnant," he repeats.
"You don't want to get invested in a child from the beginning, that you won't stick around to see grow up? Or you can't handle the thought of her having someone else's child?"
"That's not it."
"What is it?"
"When it doesn't work…" he trails off.
"Jethro may I suggest that first you stop with the self-fulfilling prophecy?"
"I want."
"I feel as if I am missing a piece of the puzzle."
"I'm not upset at the thought of her having someone else's child."
"So you don't want to get invested in that child's life?"
"I do."
"I don't understand."
"I don't have to think about her having someone else's child."
"So you are going to choose a path of denial, and avoidance? Jethro, if you can't love her, let her go."
"Duck, when have you ever known me to walk away from my responsibilities?"
"What responsibilities do you have to her?"
"Not to her, to the baby."
He gasps, "It's your baby?"
"Yes."
"Oh. That opens a whole other can of worms."
"Yeah."
"So just be honest with her, she'll respect that."