About a week later, Charity was able to return to work after being home for a couple of days. She still had no idea that Burley had told everyone else the big news. She stepped off the elevator and headed over to her team's desks.

"Gear up. We've got a dead Marine." Charity ordered.

The team grabbed their gear and followed Charity out. Charity drove them to the crime scene. They soon arrived. The crime scene was at the victim's apartment. "Our vic is Private James Harrison." McGee announced.

"According to the land lady, he lives alone." Burley added.

Charity nodded and then Ducky was pulling up in the ME van. Charity noticed that he wasn't alone. There was a considerably younger man with him. He was pretty skinny, with light brown hair, and Harry Potter style glasses.

"Charity, glad to see you back." Ducky greeted her.

"Good to be back, Duck." She replied. "Who is this?"

"This is my new assistant, Jimmy Palmer." Ducky answered. "Mister Palmer, this is Special Agent Charity Gibbs."

"It's nice to meet you, Charity." Palmer greeted.

Charity just gave him a look.

"I mean, Special Agent Gibbs." Palmer corrected himself.

Charity nodded. Then she fell into step beside Ducky as they walked towards the body. "How are you feeling today, Charity?" Ducky asked.

"Better." Charity answered.

Ducky knelt down beside the body and looked at the victim. "Several defensive wounds." Ducky noted as he looked over the body. "Our victim definitely put up a fight."

"Marines don't go down without a fight." Charity replied. "I see several stab wounds. The killer should have ended up cutting themself then."

"Yes." Ducky replied. Then he turned to Jimmy. "Mister Palmer, the liver probe plase."

"Right Doctor Mallard." Jimmy said, reaching into the bag and pulling out the instrument and handing it to Ducky.

Ducky took the liver probe and then inserted it into the body. After a few moments he had the temperature. He looked at it for a moment and then calculated in his head. "Time of death would be about four hours ago."

Charity nodded. Then she called over to Ziva and Burley. "I want you two to interview the neighbors. See if they heard anything. Ducky placed his TOD around four hours ago."

"On it boss." Burley replied. Then he and Ziva were off to speak with the neighbors.

Charity looked around. That was when she noticed a blood trail, leading away from the body. She followed it into the kitchen. She found a mess of paper towels covered in blood. She ordered McGee to document the blood trail and then to collect the paper towels.

"Think the killer tried to clean off his knife?" McGee asked.

"Maybe." Charity replied. That was when she noticed another blood trail. The pattern was similar to that that had led away from the body. She decided to follow it and document it on her way.

"Where are you going boss?" McGee asked.

"I'm following the evidence." Charity answered, pointing to the blood trail.

"I'll come with you." McGee said.

"No, you stay here and continue to process the scene." Charity ordered. Then she headed out the back door.

A few moments later, Ziva and Stan returned. "Where's the boss?" Burley asked.

"She's following a blood trail." McGee answered. "She wouldn't let me come with her."

"As Senior field agent, I should go and make sure she doesn't run into any trouble." Burley said.

"Maybe Ziva should go instead." McGee replied. "She might not feel like we're trying to watch her if Ziva goes."

"Actually, she'd feel that way no matter who goes." Ziva countered. "I think especially if I go."

"I'm going." Burley said, heading out the back door and following the blood trail. It didn't take him very long to find Charity. "Hey boss." Burley said, coming up behind her. "What are you doing?"

"Following the evidence." Charity answered. "I think our victim was able to stab his killer. He's left quite a blood trail. I'd say he's probably bleeding from his right side."

"Looks that way." Burley agreed.

They followed the blood to a small house a couple of blocks away. They drew their weapons. Charity stepped aside. Burley knocked on the door. "Federal agents." He announced. Then they waited a few seconds.

Charity gave Burley the nod and he kicked the door in. They entered the house, their weapons drawn. Charity went one way and Burley went the other. Charity headed towards the back of the house. She walked into a bedroom, where she found a man lying on the bed, dead. He had a stab wound to his right side.

Charity heard water running from behind a door to her right. She cautiously opened the door. She found a young girl, standing at the sink. She had knife in her hand and looked strung out. "Federal Agent, drop your weapon." Charity ordered.

The girl turned to Charity. She had a confused look on her face. "What did I do?" She asked.

The look on the girl's face suggested that she wasn't entirely aware of her surroundings or her actions. "Put the knife down." Charity ordered. The girl couldn't have been more than sixteen. Something was not right about this.

The girl looked down at the knife in her hand. The knife was covered in blood and so was the girl. A panicked look came across her face. "What did I do? I did something terrible, didn't I?"

"I don't know yet." Charity replied. "Now put the knife down."

The girl looked at the knife again and then looked at Charity. She then held her hand up and ran at Charity. Charity jumped out of the way. She then holstered her gun. There was no way she was going to shoot an underage girl. Especially one that wasn't fully in charge of her faculties.

Charity looked up as the girl charged at her again. Charity was able to grab the girl's arm. She tried knocking the knife from the girl's hand, but at the moment was only able to keep the girl from stabbing her.

"Boss?" Burley asked coming in. Then he noticed the girl, trying to stab Charity.

He holstered his gun and then went up behind the girl. He wrapped one arm around her waist and then used the other to knock the knife from her hand. After a few more moments, he had her subdued and in hand cuffs.

A couple of hours later, they were all in the squadroom. The girl was in the hospital getting examined. She would be unable to speak with them for a while. "Are you feeling alright?" Burley asked, Charity as he handed her a bottle of water.

"For the hundreth time, Burley, I'm fine." Charity answered. "And if you ask me one more time, I'm going to give you a head slap so hard, your grandchilren will feel it."

Burley threw his hands up in surrendor and walked over to his desk. "Got it."

Charity sipped at her water and then stood up. "You guys have anything yet?" She asked.

"We don't have an id on the girl yet." McGee answered. "Abby is running her DNA right now. She's also running it against all the blood from the crime scenes."

Charity nodded. "What about our second victim?"

"Our second victim is Navy Lt. Jackson Marshall." McGee answered. "He and Harrison are cousins."

"Can you find any reason why anyone would want them dead?" Charity asked.

"Not really." Ziva answered. "They both had spotless service records."

Just then the phone at Burley's desk rang. He held a breif conversation with the other person and then hung up. He looked at Charity. "That was the hospital, the girl is conscious and lucid."

Charity nodded. "Alright, Ziva you're with me."

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To the hospital to talk to this girl." Charity answered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea boss?" McGee asked.

Charity turned to McGee. "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?"

"Too much excitement." He answered, feeling suddenly very small.

Charity looked at him. Then she looked at Ziva and finally at Burley. "You told them didn't you?"

Burley nodded. "Yeah, boss."

Charity walked over and slapped him in the back of the head. "It was not your place to tell everyone my news." She told him. "You got it?"

"Yes boss." Burley replied.

Charity then looked at her entire team. "Let's get something straight here. Yes, I am pregnant, but I am not disabled. I am still a federal agent and I am still in charge of this team. You will not constantly ask me about how I am doing. You will follow my orders. You will not question me. And last but not least you will not hover. If any of you break any of these rules, I will slap you into the middle of next week. Do I make myself clear?"

They all looked at her, eyes wide. She was even more commanding than usual. She was also scarier than usual. They nodded their agreement to her rules.

"Good." Charity said. "Now, Ziva let's go."

Charity and Ziva headed over to the elevator. They hopped on and rode down. "You were very commanding out there." Ziva observed.

"It seems to be the only way tp get through to anyone." Charity replied.

"Comes from being the daughter of a very strong man." Ziva said, a knowing look on her face.

"And being in a male dominated career field."

"Yes, it does cause you to step things up a bit." Ziva agreed. "It is fun to see the scared looks on their faces, though."

Charity nodded her agreement. "That's the best part of it all."

The two women shared a smile and a small chuckle.