"It is my fault." Ziva admitted. "She told me to drive more carefully. I did not listen."
"It's alright, Ziva." Jenny assured.
"No, it's not." Abby said, getting up. "Because of you, Charity could die."
"I know." Ziva replied.
"This is serious." Abby scolded Ziva.
"Abby, that is enough." Dorector Shepard interrupted. "We have an agent down. We need quit acting like bickering children and start acting like a team. We need to pull together and quit pointing fingers. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Director." Abby and Ziva agreed.
Tony stood silently in a corner waiting. He wasn't part of NCIS, nor was he related to Charity, but her loved her more than anything. She has to be alright. He thought. I don't know what I would do without her.
Charity's dreams...
Charity stood by her mom, holding her little sister close. They watched as their father spoke with their mother. He was dressed to head out for a new assignment that would take him away for a while. Charity knew that it could possibly be the last time that they saw him.
"We go over this every time." Their father assured their mother. "I'll come back home safe and sound. I promise."
"I know. I'm always going to worry, though." She replied.
He kissed her. "I love you. I will be home before you know it. You won't have time to miss me."
She gave him a forced smile and then kissed him again. "I love you, too."
Gibbs walked over to his eldest daughter and pulled her in for a hug. "Charity, I love you. You be good and make sure you help your mom take care of the house and your sister."
"I will Daddy." Charity replie, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight. "I love you, Daddy. Come back home, okay?"
"I promise." Gibbs told her. "I will always come home to my girls." He kissed her cheek. Then he moved over to his youngest daughter, Kelly.
"Don't go Daddy?" She asked, her little face tearing up.
Gibbs pulled her in for a hug. "I have to go, but I'll come back. I promise. And I never break a promise."
"I don't want you to go, Daddy." Kelly told him.
Gibbs kissed the top of her head. Then he pulled back and held her at arms length. "We have to be brave. Daddy has to go, but I'll be back. I promise. I don't want to leave you, but I have to. It's only for a little while. Don't I always come back?"
Kelly nodded. "You pinky promise, you'll come back?" She asked, offering up her littlest finger.
Gibbs linked his pinky finger with his youngest daughter's. "I pinky promise."
Kelly kissed his cheek. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, too, Princess." He told her. Then he stood up, having to fight his own tears. He gave his girls a smile and then hopped in the truck and drove off.
Shannon wrapped her arm around Charity and pulled her close. Charity pulled Kelly to her. The three watched as Gibbs drove away. Shannon kept herself togther. Charity felt a few hot tears fall from her face as she thought, "Come back, Daddy." She felt as Kelly's tears on her shirt.
Charity held her little sister close. she stroked her hair, lovingly. She took being a big sister very seriously and she loved her little sister very much. She had beat up the bullies on the playground for her and done anything and everything she could to protect her. While their father was gone, Charity would be there for Kelly and let her crawl into bed with her during her nightmares and hold her close. She was a big sister and Kelly was her little sister. She would always look after her and protect her.
Later that night, Charity lay in her bed, when she heard a knocking on her door. "Come in." She called.
Kelly walked in holding her stuffed Bunny. "Sissy, I miss Daddy." Kelly said.
"I know. I miss him, too." Charity replied.
"Can me and Princess Lizzy sleep with you?" She asked, referring to the stuffed bunny.
"Yup." Charity answered, scooting over and lifting the blanket for her sister to crawl in with her.
Kelly climbed in and slid under the blanket. Charity opened her arms and pulled Kelly in, hugging her tight. "Daddy will come home, right?" Kelly asked.
"Of course he will." Charity answered. "He always does. Besides he pinky promised."
Kelly nodded. "Thank you Sissy. You're the best big sister."
Charity laughed slightly. She stroked Kelly's hair and kissed the top of her head. "Everything will be just fine." Charity reassured her sister.
Present day...
Gibbs walked out of Charity's room. He knew that the rest of the group would want to see Charity. He hated leaving her, but he knew he couldn't be selfish. "I'm going to go and grab something to eat." Gibbs said. "She shouldn't be alone." He then walked away.
Everyone seemed to hesitate for a moment. They weren't sure who should go next. After a few moments, they came to the silent agreement that Jackson should go next. Tony wanted to go, but he knew that this had to be incredibly hard on Jackson Gibbs. He hoped that maybe he would be able to go next.
Jackson got up and walked into Charity's hospital room. He sat down next to her bed and held her hand. "This is a little too familiar, Shortstack." He told her, remembering when she had been hospitalized after the car crash that killed Shannon and Kelly.
"You have to stop doing things like this." Jackson told her. "We're all routing for you. You've gotta wake up, shortstack."
Charity's dreams...
Charity sat with Kelly in the break room at NCIS headquarters. One of the agents sat with them. Kelly wasn't really sure of what was going on, but Charity did. Their mother had witnessed a drug dealer killing a Marine. She was giving the agents her statement.
Kelly was eating her ice cream and coloring a picture that she had drawn. Charity looked over at the picture. She knew exactly what it was. The agent watching them looked at the picture as well. "That's a bueatiful picture. What is it?" He asked.
"A picture of our Daddy coming home." Kelly answered. "He's supposed to be coming home in a couple more months."
"You're daddy's a Marine, right?" the agent asked.
Kelly nodded. "Yeah, he said he had to go away, but that he would come back. He pinky promised. And he never breaks his promises."
"I see." The agent said.
A few moments later, Shannon was walking out, with an older man behind her. He was another agent. His name was Mike Franks. "Hello girls." He greeted in his gruff sounding voice.
"Hi." They replied.
Shannon walked over to her daughters. "Have you two been having a good time with Agent Wiles?" she asked.
Kelly nodded. Charity didn't really say anything. She was fourteen and really didn't care. Of course she had the feeling that her mother was about to say something very important. She also had the feeling in her gut, that something really big was about to happen.
"Well, that's good." Shannon told her daughters. "Since he's going to be spending a lot of time with us. He's going to be staying with us and helping us out for a while. Okay?"
"Okay." Kelly agreed, brightly.
Charity just nodded. She knew that this meant her mother was going to testify against the man that shot those Marines. She also knew that since an agent would be staying with them, that they must be in danger. Charity had a bad feeling about this.
Present day...
Jackson Gibbs walked out of his granddaughter's hospital room. He had to wipe away at the tears in his eyes. It brought back too many bad memories for him. He walked over to Tony, the man he had just met earlier that very day. Once his son had told him about what Tony had done, Jackson knew that he had to send the young man in there.
"How is she doing?" Tony asked.
"No change." Jackson answered. He put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I know you wanna go see her. So, go."
Tony nodded. "Thanks." He said and then headed for the room. He walked inside and he was taken aback for a moment. Charity lay in that bed, a breathing tube down her throat and she was hooked up to all sorts of machines. He had never seen her looking so weak before. It seemed to contradict everything he knew about her. It also unnerved him.
Tony moved over to the side of the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed and just looked at her. She seemed so fragile and delicate, completely not the woman he knew. However he knew, she was in there. He watched as he could see her eyes move beneath her lids.
"Charity, I...I know that you're dreaming...and I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can...please come back to me?" He pleaded with her. "I love you and...I need you." He then reached a hand out and gently stroked her cheek. "Come back to me."
Charity's dreams...
Charity sat in the back of the van with her sister. Kelly was playing with her dolls. Shannon was sitting in the passenger side in the front. Agent Wiles was driving. They were heading home to grab a few things and then Agent Wiles was going to take them to a safe house.
Shannon had turned and was talking to Kelly. They were laughing. Kelly turned to Charity. "Sissy, are you okay?" Kelly asked.
"I'm fine." Charity lied. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. She couldn't help but to think that their lives were about to change, drastically.
It was then that it happened. Something caused the driver's side window to shatter. Agent wiles slumped forward and the car sped up. The three girls screamed and then the car crashed. Charity felt her head hit the window and then the blackness.
Present day...
Tony sat there, still watching the woman he loved as she slept in the hospital bed. The monitor for her heart, sped up and her blood pressure spiked. Two nurses and the doctor were rushing in. Tony got up off the bed and out of the way.
Charity's eyes opened and she shot up. the nurses and the doctor pushed her back. "Charity, do you want the tube out?" The doctor asked.
Charity nodded. "Okay, hold still." He told her. Then he and the nurses pulled the tube out and put a mask over her face.
"Take some deep breaths and calm down." One of the nurses said.
The other nurse gestured that Tony could come over. He walked closer and looked at her. He gave her a smile. "I'm glad you're awake." He told her. "You really scared me. You scared everyone."
Charity made a motion like she wanted to say something. The nurse removed the mask. Charity looked at Tony. "Who are you?" She asked.
A/N: So, this is kind of like when Gibbs lost his memory. Once again BurnedSpy helped me with the idea. I hope you're enjoying. Please read and review.