Charity sat on the couch, staring at the screen, still seeing her father's face, even though the screen was black. "Are you alright?" Tony asked, already knowing that the picture had been of her father.

"I...I don't...know." Charity got out.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"First thing I'm going to do is get Abby to look at this. Maybe she can find out how old the picture is." Charity said. "Then I'll figure out what to do from there...unofficially."

"What do you mean unofficially?" Tony asked.

"I mean I'm not going to involve NCIS." Charity answered. "They wouldn't let me be involved. That and I don't know if they'd even do anything to help anyway."

Tony put his hand on Charity's. "Well, I'm not letting you do it alone." He told her.

Charity looked up at him. "I don't expect you to help me, Tony." She told him. "I mean, that's just asking you to risk too much."

"I know." Tony replied. "I'm offering my help."

"You mean you're willing to risk everything for me?" Charity asked. "Your career...your life?"

"Yes." Tony answered.

Charity looked deep into Tony's eyes for a few moments. In his eyes she saw sincerity, honesty, kindness, warmth, and other emotions he wasn't quite ready to put into words. "Thank you." She replied. She then leaned in and kissed him, hoping that her kiss said everything she wanted to say to him.

Monday...

Charity walked into Abby's lab early in the morning, before anyone else would arrive and while Abby was warming everything up. "Charity, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I need a favor, Abby." Charity answered.

"Anything." Abby replied.

Charity pulled out the DVD case and handed it to Abby. "I need you to see if you can find any prints on this, other than mine. Then I need you to look at the picture that shows up in the video. I need to know if it's real or it's been photoshopped and if you can, figure out how old it is."

"Okay, what case number?" Abby asked.

"Don't worry about that. It's personal." Charity had said. "And you can't tell anyone about this. No one can know."

"Why?" Abby asked.

"Abby, please. I need you to do this for me."

"Okay." Abby agreed.

Charity gave Abby a hug. "There's a CafPow for you in your fridge." Then she let go of Abby and left.

Abby stared after her for a moment, then she got to work on the DVD case. After a few hours, she had what she could pull from the DVD and case. She called Charity's cell phone and just a few short minutes later, Charity was back in the lab.

"What have you found?" Charity asked.

"Well, I couldn't find any prints other than yours." Abby answered. "The picture is completely one-hundred percent real."

"Were you able to figure how old it is?" Charity asked.

"No." Abby answered. "Since it's all digital."

"Thanks Abs." Charity said, giving Abby another hug. Just as she was leaving, Abby stopped her.

"Charity, whose the man in the picture?" She asked.

"The less you know the better." Charity answered and then left.

While Charity was in the elevator, she pulled out her cell phone. She was just getting ready to call the number in Mexico, when her phone began to ring. It was the director. "Yes, Director?"

"I need to see you in my office immediately." He'd answered and then hung up.

Charity put her phone back in her pocket, her call would have to wait. Charity was soon standing outside the door to the director's office. She had no idea why, but she had a forboding feeling in her gut. She took a breath and walked in the door.

"What is it you wanted to see me about, Director?" She asked.

"You are one of my best agents." He began.

"This doesn't sound good." Charity replied.

"I'm retiring." He told her. "I'm expecting you to help make this transistion easy for the new director."

"So, you're saying you want me to be someone other than my usual self?" Charity clarified.

Morrow nodded. "Exactly."

"Where is the new director?" Charity asked.

Just then a woman older than Charity walked in. She was wearing a nice suit and had her shoulder-length red hair pulled half up and half down. "She's right here." Morrow answered. Then he stood up and walked over to stand between the two women. "Charity, meet your new director, Jenny Shepard. Jenny, this is Special Agent Charity Gibbs."

Charity and the new director shook hands. "I've heard a lot about you, Miss Gibbs." Jenny greeted. "I hear you're one of the best."

"I try." Charity answered. "It's good to meet you Director Shepard."