"We're going to have to walk." Charity declared.
"Looks that way." Tony agreed, pain straining his voice.
Charity looked over at him. "I hope we aren't too far from civilization. You don't look very good."
"I'm a DiNozzo, I always look good." Tony replied, giving his best attempt at a cocky grin.
Charity shook her head and then climbed out of the truck. She limped around and helped Tony out. They supported each other as they walked down the path. They had walked about twenty yards when the rain began to pour down on them. "Oh, this is just what we needed." Tony muttered.
Charity looked up ahead. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes. "I see a cabin about ten yards ahead and to the right."
Tony looked in the direction Charity had stated and he saw the cabin. "Let's get a move on then."
The pair hobbled their way towards the small cabin hoping to find sanctuary there. It felt like it took them forever to reach the covered front porch of the small cabin, but they made it. Charity reached her hand up and rapped on the door three times. She waited about five minutes, but no one answered.
"Looks like nobody's home." Tony said.
"Guess not." Charity said, then she tried the door handle. It was unlocked. Charity cautiously opened the door. The cabin was dark on the inside. They carefully stepped inside. "Anybody home?" Charity called, just to be safe.
Silence answered her. "Looks like it's just the two of us." Tony said.
They walked further inside and shut the door behind them. They stood inside a small living room which was furnished with a couch and two recliners. Charity walked Tony over to the couch and helped him sit down. "You stay here. I'll go see if I can find any first aid supplies…maybe even some clean dry clothes." She said, as a shiver overtook her.
Tony nodded and removed the pistol from the waistband of his jeans and sat it beside him. "Okay." He agreed weakly.
Charity limped through the hall. She walked through an open doorway that led into a kitchen. She began searching through the fridge and the cabinets. She was surprised to find them stocked with food and cleaning supplies. I need to find first aid supplies. She thought.
"Now if I were first aid supplies where would I be?" Charity mused to herself. "The bathroom of course." She then turned and went into another hall of the back of the kitchen. There were three door to the right and two to the left. Charity opened the first door to her right. It was a bedroom with a single size bed. She then opened the door across from it.
She was completely surprised to find the room stocked with guns and ammo. "It's a friggin' armory!" She exclaimed. "This must have been part of the terrorists' compound." She turned away from the armory and began checking the other doors. She finally found the bathroom and began searching through the cabinets.
"Damn. This is the best first aid kit I've ever seen." She muttered as she searched through the supplies. It held a scalpal, gauze, tape, a needle and thread for stitches, even antibiotics. She returned to the living room carrying the supplies.
"Find anything good?" Tony asked.
"A lot actually." Charity answered. She knelt down beside him on the couch. "We're going to have to remove your shirt."
"Hold on now, I just met you. I'm not that kinda guy." Tony replied, putting as much effort as he could into sounding teasing.
"You wish." Charity replied, keeping her tone light. She then helped him removed his wet and blood-stained shirt.
"What experience do you have with wounds like this?" Tony asked.
"When I'm not kicking terrorist ass overseas, I'm a nurse in the ER." Charity answered. "And I also patch up my comrades when we're kicking terrorist ass."
"Is there anything you can't do?" Tony asked.
"Nope." Charity answered. "I'm friggin' Wonder Woman." She grabbed some cotton balls and rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit. "Okay, Tony I'm not going to sugar coat this, this is going to hurt like hell."
"You have to work on your bedside manner." Tony replied.
"I have to clean this, dig out the bullet, stop any bleeding, and then stitch you up. All without any kind of anesthetic. I've done it before and it always hurts. I'm just being honest." She replied. "So, to do your best to keep your mind off of it, keep talking."
"About?" Tony asked.
"Anything. Your childhood, your deepest darkest secrets, your sexcapades, whatever."
"Did you seriously just say sexcapades?" Tony asked, incredulously.
"Yes, now just talk." She replied. She coated the cotton balls in the alcohol and began to clean the wound.
"Son of bitch! That hurts!" Tony said.
"Oh quit being a baby." Charity replied, as she focused on the task at hand. "What's your favorite movie?"
"That is a hard one." Tony mused. "There are so many great movies to choose from."
"What about your top ten?" Charity asked.
"That's just as hard." Tony replied. "I mean there's all the classics." Tony then began to ramble off several movies and the reasons he loved them.
"That's a wide range of movies." Charity observed. "I don't think I've met too many men who like movies that include chick flicks and enjoyed them."
"I like to consider myself well rounded." Tony replied. "Ouch!"
"Sorry." Charity replied, tossing aside yet another piece of bloodied cotton. "Well, the cleaning is over with."
"Which means you still have to dig out the bullet." Tony stated.
Even though he didn't phrase it as a question, Charity answered anyway. "Yeah. This is the part that's really going to hurt so keep talking."
Tony watched as Charity picked up the scalpel. He watched as she moved it to his shoulder. She looked up from his shoulder at him. "You probably don't want to watch this." She warned.
Tony nodded and then turned to look at the wall on the other side. "So, what kind of movies do you like?" Tony asked her, trying to make conversation.
"All kinds." Charity answered. "Westerns, action/adventure, comedies, romance, fantasy. Pretty much anything."
"Any favorites?" He asked and then he sucked in a deep breath and bit down on a cry of pain as he felt the scalpel in his shoulder.
"Sorry." Charity said. "I guess my top favorites would be The Princess Bride, anything with John Wayne or Jet Lee. Anything Disney."
"You still like Disney movies?" Tony asked, turning his head to look at her face.
She stopped her digging in his shoulder for a moment and looked at him, her blue eyes holding an infinite sadness. "When you've seen and done the horrible things I have, it's nice to go back to a time of innocence, where all the bad guys aren't real and the good guy never has to compromise themselves for the greater good." She then turned her attention back to his shoulder and digging out the bullet.
"What made you decide to become a Marine?" Tony asked.
"A few reasons." She answered. "For one thing I wanted to be like my dad. When I was little I was always a tomboy. I also wanted to do something to make a difference."
"Why did you choose to become a nurse?"
Charity sighed. "A couple of reasons. It had been in the back of my mind the day Mom and Kelly were killed. Kelly was alive for several minutes. If there had been anyone with medical training to treat her right then and there…she might still be alive today. I didn't go into nursing school right after high school, though. I figured the Core was the better decision for me. Plus they paid for it later when I did go."
"What made you decide to go after that?"
"I was tired of seeing my friends die and not being able to do a thing about it." Charity answered. "I wanted to do more for them."
Tony nodded. "Ahhh! Oh that hurts!" He cried out in pain.
"It's almost over." Charity replied. She could feel her chest tightening. No. Not now. I can't have an attack now! She thought to herself. Stay calm. You can do this. "Just keep talking. Ramble on about anything."
Tony could hear the slight panic in her voice. "Are you …okay?" He asked, taking in a sharp breath.
"Just keep talking." Charity answered, her breathing becoming labored.
Tony watched as she took in deep breaths to calm herself. "You ever have sea monkeys as a kid?" He asked.
"Who didn't?" Charity replied.
"I had some…at least until my mom drank them." Tony replied.
Charity's breathing began to slow to normal. A small smile played across her lips. "Your mom drank your sea monkeys?"
"Yeah, she thought they were one of her mint juleps."
Charity gave a small laugh. "That is funny."
"Hey, I'm a funny guy." Tony replied.
"And a prankster from what I hear." Charity replied.
"Where have you gotten your information from? I'm a saint." Tony replied, feigning innocence.
"Abby and my dad." Charity answered. "There's not much to entertain you when you're overseas, so you just wait for letters and read them over and over again."
"So, you knew about all of us?" Tony asked.
Charity nodded. "Yup." She was then reaching her fingers in his flesh and muscle and pulling out the bullet. "All in one piece. That's a surprise."
"Makes it easier…I hope." Tony said, his face pale.
Charity smiled at him. "To get the bullet out yes. Should also have done less damage."
"So, what are you going to do?" Tony asked, curious.
"Repair what I can." Charity answered. "I have more than what I thought would be in this kit, but still not quite enough. You're still going to need a hospital and surgery once we get out of here. This will just take you out of any immediate danger." She tossed the bullet aside and then picked up a few other things and went back to work on his shoulder.
Tony had to keep himself from crying out in pain once again. "So, what all...did you find when you were searching for the first aid supplies?" He asked.
"A couple of bedrooms and a small armory." Charity answered.
"An armory?" He asked.
Charity nodded. "I think that this may have been part of their compound or something."
"Very interesting." Tony mused and then sucked in a deep breath and bit his lower lip as Charity worked to repair the damage done by the bullet. He knew that Charity had told him to keep talking, but it took everything he had not to scream from the pain.
"Good news is that it didn't hit any arteries." Charity said, probably to help reassure him that it could be worse and probably to help keep her from having a panic attack. Or at least that's what Tony guessed.
Tony knew that he couldn't look at Charity and what she was doing, but he also knew that he couldn't keep looking at the wall. He decided to turn his head to face Charity, but to focus on everything but her hands. For the moment he focused on her face. She had bruises forming along her jaw. There was a cut on her right cheek. He looked more closely at her face. Though she was beaten, bloodied, and bruised her blue eyes shown. They were bright and alert and filled with so much emotion he couldn't decipher every one.
Charity looked up at him. "All that's left to do is stitch you up and cover it." She told him.
"I have to say I'm glad you're here." Tony told her. "if it weren't for you, I probably would have bled out by now."
"If it weren't for me you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." She countered, guilt showing in her eyes.
"You can't think like that." Tony told her. "If I weren't protecting you, I'd be protecting some other Marine."
"But would feel like you really had to stick your neck out for any other Marine? Or is it because I'm your boss's daughter and you fear him?"
"Don't feel guilty about this." Tony said, gesturing to his shoulder. "It's my job. Besides, I get the chance to find out more about the Great and Mysterious Leroy Jethro Gibbs."
Charity couldn't help but to crack a smile at that. "There's no way he could be that much of a mystery." She said.
"To you no, but to those of us who work for him he is." Tony countered.
Charity had threaded the needle. She was now holding his skin pinched closed. She pierced his skin with the needle and began stitching the wound. "I guess he would be a bit of a mystery. He hides his emotions a little more than he used to."
"He's really good at that." Tony replied.
"You guys mean a lot to him." Charity told Tony. "He thinks very highly of you."
Tony gave her a smile. "He'll just never admit it."
"Nope." Charity replied. "But it's still true." She finished stitching Tony up. She picked up gauze, tape, and antibiotic ointment.
"You work pretty fast." He told her.
"This kind of thing you really have to." Charity replied, as she applied the ointment. Then she placed the gauze over the wound taped it down. "There. All fixed up."
Tony looked at her and gave her a playful grin. He had no idea why, but he replied. "Nuh-uh you forgot to kiss it."
Charity grinned back at him. "If you insist." She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to the gauze. She pulled back and looked over Tony. He had cuts everywhere. "I'll have to clean those up, too. But I am not kissing them."
