Charity...

It was the next day when Charity returned to work. She headed straight for her desk. "You might wanna go down to see Abby, boss." McGee said from his desk. "She called up here and asked me to tell you to head down there when you got in."

"She probably has your very own private welcome home planned." Burley replied.

Charity nodded and did an about face. Then she stepped back on the elevator and headed down for the lab. Once she was off the elevator, she walked down the hall and into the lab. Abby turned around with a big smile on her face. She pushed a button on the little remote she held in her hand.

Instantly, a banner fell from the ceiling reading: Welcome Home Charity! Then there was some confetti and music. Charity couldn't help but smile as Abby pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're back!" Abby sqealed.

"I'm glad to be back...uhm who are you again?" Charity couldn't stop herself from making the joke.

Abby pulled back and playfully glared at Charity. "Don't even joke about that. I really thought we'd lost you."

"Well, that's not gonna happen." Charity replied. "You're all stuck with me for a really long time."

"I do have one question though."

"Go ahead."

"Why didn't you ever tell us about your mom and your sister?" Abby asked.

"It's not something I really like to talk about." Charity answered.

"Well, if you ever wanna talk about it, I'm here." Abby said, pulling Charity in for another hug,

"I know, Abby." Charity replied hugging her back. Just then her cell phone rang. She picked it up. After a brief conversation she hung up the phone.

"I'm guessing you have a case now." Abby said.

Charity nodded. Then she headed out.

Tony...

Tony sat at his desk after having just finished a case. He looked at his phone. There was a text from Charity. "She text you?" Dan asked.

"Yes." Tony answered.

"Is it a dirty trxt or is it one you can actually share?"

Tony chuckled and then read the text. "They have a hot case. So she has to cancel on me, tonight."

"Too bad. Maybe we can have a guys' night." Dan suggested.

"Actually, there's something I need to do." Tony replied. "This just fives me the excuse to do it."

"Does this have anything to do with that jewelry box you've been keeping in your pocket?" Dan inquired.

"You are way too observant of me and my life, Dan."

"Oh, like I didn't see this coming." Dan said, waving his hand. "I mean, it's obvious with you and Charity. She's good for you."

Tony chuckled. "So, I'm that obvious?"

"Probably not to her." Dan replied. "It always catches the woman off guard. And of course she'll say yes. So how are you going to ask her?"

"I haven't figured that part out yet." Tony answered. "Right now, I've been thinking of what I'm going to say to her dad. I feel like with as close as they are, that I should talk to him and get his blessing."

Dan nodded. "I understand that. So, why don't you go ahead and call? Maybe take a pizza over there or something."

Tony nodded. He pulled out his cell phone and called Gibbs. After about four rings he answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mr. Gibbs." Tony greeted unsure of how else to start or how he should address him.

"Hi Tony." Gibbs replied. "Charity isn't here..."

"I know. I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, what about?"

"I'd rather talk to you about it in person." Tony replied. "I could bring a pizza over."

"Sounds good. Just come in. I'll be in the basement when you get here."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

A couple of hours later, Tony was walking down the steps to the basement of Gibbs and Charity's house. He had a pizza in one hand and a couple of beers in the other. Gibbs looked up from some wood working he was doing.

"What are you building?" Tony asked.

"A boat." Gibbs answered. "You can sit the pizza and drinks down over there." Gibbs pointed to the work bench over to the side.

Tony walked over and put the pizza and beer down. Gibbs was walking over and dusting off his hands. Tony opened up the pizza box and then opening up the beers.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Gibbs asked taking one of the beers.

Tony took a swig of the liquid courage and hoped that he would be able to do this. "Well, after the car accident...I've been doing a lot of thinkning...and I think that with as close as you and Charity are and...out of respect for that relationship and you..." Tony began, stammering and stumbling through, feeling completely nervous.

"You're going to propose to Charity." Gibbs stated.

Tony looked up surprised. "How did you know?"

Gibbs opened up his tool box and pulled out a picture. It was of a young woman, who looked a lot like Charity, but he knew it wasn't her. She was standing with an older gentleman, probably her father. "Charity's mom." Gibbs explained. "And her father. I talked to him before I asked Shannon to marry me. I was just as nervous."

"You being nervous...that's a little hard to believe." Tony replied.

Gibbs chuckled. "The thing about being a sniper is that you never have to actually confront your target. When dealing with this, you have to be face to face."

Tony nodded. "So, do I have your blessing?"

"Come over here to the boat." Gibbs replied.

Tony followed Gibbs over to the boat, feeling confused.

"Marriage is like building this boat." Gibbs told Tony. "You have to put a lot of time and love into it. You also have to have the right tools for it. So many people choose power tools, but you can't replace the good solid work, put into it by your hands. You understand what I'm saying?"

Tony nodded. "I'm more than willing to put in the time and love. The rest of my life. I also know that marriage is a hands-on thing. I love Charity more than anything. She's the most amazing, beautiful, and wonderful woman I have ever met."

Gibbs nodded. "You have my blessing."

A couple of hours later, Gibbs and Tony were setting on the couch, sipping on their beers and watching some old westerns. They heard the front door opened and Charity walk in. "I never want to see another naked man in my life ever again." she declared as she walked into the living room. That was when she noticed Tony and her father sitting on the couch. Both men had rather confused looks on their faces.

Gibbs looked over at Tony. "Should you ask or should I?"

"I'm not really sure." Tony answered.

Gibbs nodded. "You go ahead."

Tony nodded and then turned back to Charity. "First off, why do you say another naked man and also why were you seeing naked men?"

"The case I was working on." Charity answered. "The victim lived in a nudist coloney. We just had no idea that it was a nudist coloney until we got there. I'm going to have nightmares for weeks to come."

"It couldn't have been that tramatizing." Gibbs said.

Charity walked over and sat down in between the two men she loved most. "It was terrible. Most of them were retired old men who haven't exercised in the last thirty years."

Tony was having a hard time not laughing.

Charity looked over at him and playfully smacked his arm. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to conduct interviews with a bunch of naked people? I mean you can't really look them in the eye, but you can't look anywhere else either, because the moment you do it's everything in your face!"

Tony wrapped an arm around Charity and pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head. He was still finding the entire thing funny, but he was trying to be supportive.

"Nightmares." She mumbled.

Tony then whispered in her ear. "I just won't let you sleep alone. I'll chase away the nightmares. I also hope you don't mean it that you never want to see a naked man again."

Charity giggled and blushed. She really hoped her dad didn't hear that last part.

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this. So, I'm thinking that in my next fanfiction that I will write something dealing with the episode "Devil's Trifecta" and how it would be different with Charity being around. It has to be one of my favorite episodes yet! Please read and review.