A few hours later, Charity walked into Julia's hospital room. Julia looked up. "Did you catch him?" She asked.
Charity nodded. She walked over and sat down on the edge of Julia's bed. "John confessed." Charity said. "Plus there was plenty of evidence."
"What's going to happen to me?" Julia asked.
"Your Aunt Celia will be here to pick you up tomorrow." Charity answered.
"But she lives in New York." Julia replied. "What about all of my friends here?"
"She's signed a lease on an apartment here in DC." Charity replied. "She knows that it's best for you to stay some place familiar."
"You talked to her, didn't you?" Julia asked.
"I know how it feels." Charity answered. "I was fourteen when my mom was killed. My Dad went MIA during Desert Storm, shortly after he found out about my mom."
"How did you make it through?" Julia asked. "I mean, it's the worst pain in the world."
"I know." Charity replied. "But I had a mentor who moved into my house to help me. He helped me realize that I could learn from my experience and use it to help others."
"Is that why you became an NCIS agent?"
Charity nodded. "I'm not saying that that's what you should do, but when people go through tradgedies like what we've been through, it gives us a new understanding. A new power to help people in a way no one else could."
Julia nodded.
"And if you ever want to talk to someone who knows how you feel, you can call me." Charity rold her. "It doesn't even have to be about this. It could be about school or boys or whatever you want to talk about."
"You would do that for me?" Julia asked.
"I'll be the big sister you never had." Charity replied, giving her a wink.
"Thanks." Julia replied with a small smile. "I'm scared."
"I know it's scarey." Charity replied, reaching a hand out to Julia. "There's all kinds of scarey things in the world. The scariest thing is always the unknown."
Julia nodded. "Do you ever get scared?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I do. I'm actually going through something incredibly scarey right now."
"What's that?"
"I'm getting married and having a baby." Charity answered.
"You're pregnant?" Julia asked.
Charity nodded. "And it has me scared out of my mind."
"Your fiance, is he the dad?" Julia asked.
Charity nodded. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture of her and Tony. "His name is Tony."
"He's a cutie." Julia replied.
Charity smiled at Julia. "I like to think so."
"What does he do for a living?"
"He's..he's actually a homicide detective on Metro." Charity answered. "He helped us get John for your mom's murder."
"He sounds like a good guy." Julia replied.
Tony...
Charity had gone to the hospital to talk to Julia. Tony knew she needed it, both Charity and Julia needed it. He had ordered takeout for himself and enough for Charity when she got back. About twenty minutes after the food arrived, the door to Tony's apartment was opening and Charity was walking in.
She kicked her shoes off, then walked over to sit beside Tony on the couch. He put the food down and wrapped an arm around her. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "How'd it go?" He asked.
Charity let out a small sigh. "As good as something like that can go." Charity answered. "I feel like I just faced myself. I mean, I was a little younger than Julia, but I was a teenager when my mom was killed. I know exactly how she feels and as I talked with her, I felt like I was talking to myself after Mom was killed."
Tony kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. "Through this whole thing, you've been reliving your experience."
"Every time I saw Julia or spoke with her on the phone." Charity answered, fighting back tears.
Tony wrapped both of his arms around Charity and held her close. He kissed her once more and stroked her hair. He didn't say a word, just held her as she cried. After a while, Charity pulled back and looked up at Tony. He reached a hand up and wiped at her tears.
"I love you so much, Tony." She told him and then leaned in for a kiss.
"I love you too, Charity." Tony told her when they broke the kiss.
Charity moved herself so that she was in Tony's lap, straddling him. She kissed him passionately. "I need you, Tony. I need you to make the pain go away." She said, breathily.
Tony held Charity's face between his hands and kissed her back. He then ran his fingers through her hair. He then slowly moved his hands down the front of her body, unbuttoning her shirt as he went. Then he slipped her shirt from her shoulders and slid his hands over her butt and then stopped them at the backs of her thighs. He stood, still holding her close, keeping her from falling by her legs.
Charity wrapped her legs around Tony's waist and her arms around his neck, holding her body as close to his as she could. Tony carried her into the bedroom and then gently laid her down on the bed. Charity reached her hands up and undid his shirt and removed it.
Tony undid Charity's pants as she undid his. He then slid his hands behind her back and unclasped her bra. He trailed his hands over her naked flesh, raising goosebumps of pleasure and causing her to moan. He covered her in kisses and then slowly slipped off her panties.
Charity ran her hands over Tony's body and then slid his boxers off. "Make it go away." Charity begged. "Take me again and again, until it all goes away."
Tony looked in Charity's beautiful blue eyes. Her eyes were normally hard, only softening for him, but this time they were so different. They were soft, but a softness that was begging for him, pleading with him to make everything better. He stroked her cheek gently. "I love you." He told her before giving her a kiss. Then he plunged in and took her, making the pain go away.