Morning, Gladys. Colonel. Stay warm.
- Morning, Elaine. ELAINE: Hey, Gibbs.
- You missed one hell of an accident. - A semi, huh?
Yeah. Driver fell asleep. Beat up his rig pretty bad.
- Well, at least he's alive. - Ha-ha-ha.
- Eggs easy? - Mm-mm.
No, just coffee.
Finish that, I'll brew you fresh to go.
You're too good to me, Elaine.
I'm just waiting on a proposal, that's all.
[CHUCKLING]
Federal agent. Put it down.
MAN 1: Will you listen to what I'm asking you.
MAN 2: Madison, is that right? - I'm Shannon.
KELLY: I miss you, Daddy.
MAN 1: We're both dead. MAN 2: No!
MAN 3: Your wife and daughter died in attack.
KELLY: Daddy!
WOMAN: I'm telling you again, you are not infallible, Jethro.
GIBBS: I'm keeping you safe, Abby.
MAN: Spoke to his CO.
McGEE: NCIS. ZIVA: Found something.
GIBBS: Grab your gear. This sailor...
Dad?
- Jethro. - Matts?
Hey, there.
- Mike? - Well, how do I look?
- Alive. - Hell of a thing, isn't it?
What're you doing, probie?
Hesitating like that. You should have shot him.
What? I mean,
that's it? It's over?
Well, I wasn't... I wasn't done yet.
That's the problem.
Folks wanna help you see the things you accomplished.
Understand the choices you made.
Jethro, this is your life we're talking about.
Didn't expect to see you so soon. Guess you can't predict these things.
I didn't see this coming.
Ain't life grand?
GIBBS: What is this, Mike? - A gift.
- I didn't do anything. - Bull.
You solved hundreds of cases.
You helped families get over burying their dead
by putting away murderers and terrorists.
- I'm just doing my job. - Well.
Folks use, uh, paperclips and photocopy for a living.
Those are jobs. What you did is more than that.
- I don't get it. - Try to.
Done things different,
you'd be surprised how everything would have changed.
How far do we have to go? Thirty years? Ten years?
What about yesterday?
Tell me how it started.
GIBBS: Like every other day. Nothing unusual.
- This is definitely unusual. - 'Unusual' is the operative word.
- What are you two doing? - Don't play dumb, Tim.
We're trained federal agents. We can see when something's up.
- And something's definitely up. - What're you two talking about?
TONY: The two computer monitors on your desk.
You swapped them. And no one just up
and changes their viewing angle.
Something's up, McAnal probie.
My monitors? That's what you're worried about?
We're not big on change around here.
Thought I would try something different today.
- What makes today so special? - We know that look, McGee.
It is somewhere between melancholy and constipation.
- Consternation. - No, I actually meant
- that his mind looks clogged. - Well, it's not.
- I just needed a change. GIBBS: Don't change, McGee.
Let's go. Dead petty officer, USS Gentry.
The Gentry, boss? It's been out of commission for weeks.
It's in dry dock for repair. There's no crew.
There is a skeleton crew, McGee.
Empty ship. Why is there a body onboard?
You change your monitor or something, McGee?
[CHUCKLING]
McGEE: Electronic hub of the ship's communications
and operations system.
Only the ship's captain, the XO,
and a handful of crew members are allowed access.
And our victim was none of the above.
By the way, not the best place to discharge a firearm.
Kablooey, heh.
Doctor, should we be wearing hazmat suits?
There's no leakage in here, Mr. Palmer,
save for our victim's blood.
We've got two shell casings here. Does that match your body?
DUCKY: From what I can tell, yes.
However, Mr. Palmer, let's get her back to autopsy.
- Make our findings definitive. - Yeah.
Navy regulations prohibit the carrying of firearms except for watch standers.
It didn't do her much good anyway.
Search for bullets or fragments.
- Witnesses? - Everybody on board was working aft.
There's a welder who heard something,
but he didn't check until it was too late.
- Who else? McGEE: Skeleton crew.
There's ten plus guards at the ramp.
- Quarterdeck watch? - Ship's security didn't see anybody.
I even checked their video surveillance.
Means whoever did this could still be onboard.
ZIVA: Gibbs. Over here.
Bag and tag.
Ziva.
He's alive. McGee, get Ducky.
Think it's our shooter, boss?
I don't know yet.
Plenty of time to rest later, probie. You think?
I don't follow, Mike. I didn't ask for this.
Of course you didn't. You earned it.
- How? - By making some tough decisions.
- Everything happens for a reason. - People die. Needlessly. I know that.
But sometimes good comes from the hurt.
- Don't talk to me like a greeting card. - I'm talking to you like a friend.
Ha-ha-ha. Okay.
- Now what? - Come on. Move.
Where?
Jethro.
- Why are we here? - One decision can change everything.
- Sometimes better, sometimes not. - What's your point?
There's a point to everything. Just gotta find it.
Kate.
Agent Todd's dead.
Doesn't have to be.
- What if you saw Ari on that rooftop? KATE: Shooter!
[GUNSHOT]
Kate.
You okay?
I just got shot at point blank range, DiNozzo.
- What do you think? - You're not gonna Pilates class.
And that wasn't point-blank range.
McGee, get air support. We got a sniper.
- Okay. - Stay down, Kate.
[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
Dang. This is good. Why didn't you ever bring me here?
You mean to tell me that Ari never took the shot?
- He never hit Kate? - Couldn't.
This time you saw him, stopped him.
It didn't happen that way.
But what if it did? What if, this time,
you protected your team and kept it from happening?
Kate's alive?
I know what you're thinking.
Kate doesn't die, a lot of things would be different...
- Did I miss it? - Everything's fine.
- Promised I wouldn't miss it. - You were undercover.
Should've let you do it. What was I thinking?
- Family first. - Everything works out, Tony.
Look at me and Tim, okay?
- This was meant to be. - Okay.
- Hey. - Oh, well, Agent DiNozzo,
glad to see you made it.
- Everything okay? - See for yourself.
Hey, Kate, sorry. Uh, drug deals.
You know, they never go according to plan.
Well, at least, uh, you look smaller.
- What? - Oh, boy.
Exactly.
Congratulations, Agent DiNozzo. You're a father.
Welcome. Nice job, Kate.
Life's dominoes.
Ripples like a stone skipping across a pond.
And you're the catalyst.
Think about Ziva. Kate lives, Ziva would've stayed Mossad.
Be careful with this one. I know her father well.
To say she's dangerous is an understatement.
- Danger is my specialty, Leon. - I'm familiar with your specialty, Tony.
I remember you.
Riva? Visa? No, no, no.
- Tiva? - Ziva.
My name is Ziva David.
[CHUCKLING]
Oh, yeah, Ziva. The icy Israeli.
Followed you to a hotel pool once.
Clearly I made an impression. I cannot say the same about you.
No way.
No, you're not blaming me for everything.
I didn't say everything.
But we're just as responsible for the things we do
as the things we don't.
Yesterday was an eye-opener.
There was more to that case than you saw coming.
This can't be good. He cleaned out his desk too.
Albatross. Albatross.
TONY: Petty Officer Janet McCaffrey had a spotless record.
ZIVA: Two deployments on two different ships.
- The Ontario and the Gentry. - So it's finally happened.
You two are snooping together, as a team.
We are merely curious. And concerned.
It's nothing you need to know about.
Plenty I need to know about. Like our dead petty officer.
We pulled our victim's bank records, boss.
Two deposits in the last week. Both over $30,000.
- From where? - Still checking.
- Civilian? - Peter Germaine.
Still in the ICU
- at Washington General. - Background?
Germaine works for a ship-building firm out of Portsmouth.
His company was absorbed by a Hong Kong-based
- electronics company. - Chinese.
Takeover's still pending. There's a security concern
regarding a foreign entity operating on a U.S. Military installation.
And before any ship undergoes repairs,
sensitive information is supposed to be removed.
Including most hard drives.
- Most? McGEE: According to the data logs,
the Gentry's surveillance drives are still intact.
[PHONE RINGING]
- Treason, Boss? - Could be our two shooters
had an agreement that went sour.
- Sweet and sour. - We need to talk to those Chinese.
- Exactly. - I'll tell Director Vance.
Yeah, Abbs, I'm on my way.
[PALMER GROANING]
Hey, Gibbs. You feel better, Jimmy, or should I do it again?
- Do what again? PALMER: Sorry, Agent Gibbs.
I pulled my oblique
while extracting Petty Officer McCaffrey
down the ladder off the Gentry, and Abby's been Rolfing me.
- Rolfing you? - Yeah.
Uh, yeah.
I'm gonna go down to Autopsy.
Rolfing, Abbs?
So, um, Ducky and Jimmy dug out the two slugs
that killed Petty Officer McCaffrey,
and the round found in our wounded civilian, Peter Germaine.
I analyzed and compared all three, and guess what?
- They all look the same. - Exactly.
All three slugs came from the same gun. This one.
Someone else shot them, Gibbs,
and then they left the gun there to make it look like Germaine did it.
- The Glock registered? - No.
And the serial number is filed off.
So when I wasn't Rolfing Jimmy,
I was able to lift a partial latent print off the casing.
Meet Michael Rose.
Freelance systems analyst. Does a lot of work with Navy Intel.
All three had clearance to board. Maybe they were all in it together.
Nice work. Who knew Palmer had abs like that?
- DiNozzo. TONY: Yeah, Boss?
No one left the ship. We're looking for Michael Rose.
Find him.
Well, you can forget it
I'm not taking the blame for every could've, should've, didn't, Mike.
L... I didn't order this.
WOMAN: Well, sometimes we don't know what we want
until someone shows us the possibilities.
Chocolate?
My mom used to do this.
- What'd you say your name was? - Ann.
That was my mother's name.
- Hurt my feelings if you don't eat it. - No, I can't...
Mom.
Poor thing.
Brain must be running in circles trying to make sense of all this.
And here I am, not a day older than the last time you saw me,
carrying on about a mother's pride.
My goodness.
- You never told me you were proud. - Proud of the boy I knew.
Proud of the man you've become.
And proud of everything in between.
How about I wrap this up?
You can take it home with you.
Do I get to go home?
Eventually.
I do have one bone to pick with you, though.
[MEN ARGUING QUIETLY]
You could have cut him some slack.
Dad blamed you for everything. He hated you for leaving.
Well, trust me, he had one foot out the door already.
So he drove a few women home.
God knows, I put your father through hell.
Man that age should've be changing his wife's bedsheets every night.
- Best thing I did was go. - No.
- Don't you say that. - It's true.
Of course raising a son is hard, but doing it on your own...
You're gonna need a couple of miracles for things to turn out right.
Just ask Michael Rose.
Tell me about Michael Rose.
McGEE: Forty-two. Lives in McLean, Virginia. Divorced. Single dad.
Computer systems analyst for the government,
which evidently doesn't pay well enough
because Rose has some major money problems.
No money in his checking account and he's facing foreclosure on his home.
Rose has a son named Stephen. He is 17 years old.
An honor student who is currently applying to colleges.
Son's bank account?
- Only his savings account listed, boss. - New deposits?
Rose deposited $20,000 48 hours ago.
I talked to his co-workers.
They haven't seen him and his voicemail is full.
- Outgoing calls? - Three last night. One to his son.
The other two to secure diplomatic lines in D.C.
Chinese embassy. Ziva, go find this kid.
McGee, get back to the Gentry.
Find DiNozzo. Help him locate Michael Rose.
TONY: Computer monitors,
clandestine meetings in Vance's office.
You're up to something, McDevious. I can tell.
Wait a second.
Are you finally getting that sex-change operation?
Good for you, McGee. Or is it McShe?
No judgment. Proud of you.
Look, Director Vance offered me a job promotion, okay?
As head of the Cyber Division in Okinawa.
- That's it? - Yes.
Everybody knows that. Tim, good for you. It's fantastic.
You gotta take that opportunity.
The last cyber agent, he's at Microsoft now.
Yeah, as head of security. The guy's a rock star.
Let's not get carried away, but, yeah.
Why are you being so normal about this?
- Your sincerity is disconcerting. - You'd prefer I attack you
with some kind of sarcastic, hostile remark?
Sort of, yeah.
Hmm.
What do I do?
It's your choice.
But I'd trust my gut. That's what Gibbs would do.
- See you. - All right, man.
Stephen Rose?
Hey, Stephen, we need to talk.
[BOTH GRUNTING]
I do not play lacrosse.
- Who are you? - NCIS.
Look, lady, I'm sorry.
My dad said I'd have to protect myself.
From whom?
The Chinese. He said we might have trouble.
ANN: Trouble connecting the dots, Jethro? The newspaper,
what's it say?
- Blank. - Mm.
That's because you haven't decided yet.
- I haven't decided what? - How things will play out.
See, it's all intertwined, Jethro.
You'd be surprised how one decision ripples into another.
It's your ship to sail, son.
I didn't pull the trigger yet.
Mm. No, sure didn't.
[SIGHS]
Wish I'd known all this before.
Learned from it.
Doesn't work that way, son.
But like it or not, you made a difference in folks' lives.
Certainly did mine.
Albeit short.
I never wanted to leave you.
Tell me you know that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know that.
McCALLISTER: What are you in the mood for, Gibbs, Rock?
Jazz?
Always been a big band fan myself. Let me guess.
After all this nonsense today,
you're more interested in a choir of angels.
Who are you, Riley? You the ghost of NCIS past?
Please.
You think I wanted to be here?
- Nobody invited you. - Oh, think again.
You did.
That's how it works.
Whether you realize it or not. I'm here because you need me.
I need a crook and a murderer?
As far as I'm concerned, that's the pot calling the kettle black.
- I think this conversation is done. - Mexico?
Pedro Hernandez?
Ring a bell?
You can play dumb all you like, but I know better.
You let your emotions get the better of you that day, Gibbs.
Damn foolish, if you ask me.
Give me a quarter.
- For what? - God bless it.
Give me a damn quarter.
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKER]
Fond memories, Riles?
At least I'm not haunted by mine.
- I've got a proposition for you. - Oh, I can't wait.
What if you didn't pull that trigger at all?
[CHURCH BELL RINGS]
McCALLISTER: Think about all the lives, Gibbs.
Think about all you did for the sake of revenge.
And then imagine it never happened at all.
[SCREAMING]
I had to.
Killing that man made you as guilty as he was.
I'm not saying what you did wasn't warranted,
but we both know what's considered just isn't always right.
- And if it didn't happen? - Well, think about it.
For one thing, Miss Sciuto wouldn't be carrying around
the secret of a lifetime.
No one needs to know the truth about the Hernandez investigation.
I am willing to do anything for you.
I just need you to tell me what to do.
Maybe this time I did more harm than good.
I can't argue with that.
If I didn't do it, where would that have put me?
Riley,
I need to know.
GIBBS: Varsity lacrosse, huh? - Yes, sir.
After school job too, waiting tables.
Just trying to help.
You're an honest kid, Stephen.
How about your dad?
He as honest as you are?
What do you mean?
You had no idea he was selling secrets to the Chinese?
That's not true.
No, my dad's a good man.
He just got pulled in with some bad people.
Who?
I don't know their names.
Okay. Then why?
Money trouble. Bankruptcy. Me getting ready for college.
Look, maybe he got wrapped up in something bad,
but he'd never hurt anybody.
I need to know where he is.
He called last night.
He sounded scared. Told me to be careful.
Please, you gotta believe me. You gotta help him.
For Pete's sakes, probie. Stop embarrassing yourself.
- It's done. Let it go. - No.
I can't.
I did what I thought was right.
FRANKS: Well, what was right was wrong.
- And we all make mistakes. - Where's McCallister?
Aw, hell. Was that opinionated jackass here?
I figured he'd bring this up.
What would've happened if Hernandez didn't die?
- To him? - To me.
- It's not good. - Tell me.
If you hadn't shot him,
it would have eaten you up.
Man carries around his demons long enough,
they start to take over.
[COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING QUIETLY ON RADIO]
[DOOR OPENS]
- What? - You're alive, Jethro.
It's been months since anyone's spoken to you.
Nothing to say.
So how are you, Boss?
I'm not your boss, McGee. I haven't been your boss in years.
The boat's still here.
What have you been working on?
GIBBS: Rocker.
Hope chest. I was painting here.
And what're you hoping for?
To be left alone.
Guess that didn't work.
Is this for Kate's baby?
You missed the shower.
And the birth.
- What'd she have? - A girl.
Eight pounds, six ounces.
She named her Kelly.
Guess you'll wanna stay for supper.
- Well, we don't have to, but... - Good. Because I don't want you here.
Abby and I made you gumbo and bread pudding last night.
It's my mother's recipe.
We'd love for you to come see our new place.
DUCKY: Jethro.
You're missed.
Perhaps it's about time you stopped thinking about yourself
and started to think about the ones who love you.
I've missed these.
- Is this one of those interventions? - Gibbs, no.
Good. Then get out. I don't want your pity.
What do you want? Hmm?
FRANKS: Said it yourself, Jethro. Did what you had to.
[GUNSHOT]
I shot the son of a bitch, Mike.
But when I got home, my house was empty.
And my girls were still gone.
Mom mentioned Michael Rose. Why bring all this up now?
Folks do the wrong things for the right reasons.
You of all people should understand that.
Maybe you and Michael Rose aren't so different.
It's been hours, Boss. We've checked every inch.
Thermals pick up anything?
Some of the cleaning chemicals are generating heat.
Throwing off the read.
Vance said he spoke to the Chinese embassy.
Let me guess. Denied Rose even called.
Yeah, they said they never got the messages.
[DOG BARKING]
AGENT: Agent Gibbs. Good dog. There you go.
Heel. Gibbs.
Michael Rose, NCIS.
- We've got your son out here with us. STEPHEN: Dad.
Dad, I told them you didn't do anything wrong.
They just wanna help. Please.
[DOOR UNLOCKS]
MICHAEL: Leave Stephen out of this.
I'll tell you everything.
- Hi. - Hi.
You look kind of lost.
I do?
Well, you look pretty smart.
My mom said we should help.
Where's your mom?
She's over there. Come on, I'll take you to her.
- This little girl belong to you? - Yep. Belongs to you too, I think.
Come on, Daddy. Sit.
We've been waiting for you.
GIBBS: Is that for me?
KELLY: It's us again.
GIBBS: Germaine just died in ICU. Two dead. Your Glock.
I thought it would be easy.
I knew the Gentry was in dry dock. The three of us had a plan.
And McCaffrey was already onboard.
Germaine had the connection to the Chinese.
And you figured you could handle the download?
They paid me.
But as the meeting got closer...
You realized you couldn't.
I realized it wasn't just information I was selling.
It was people's safety. It was my honor.
- You could have asked for help. - You're right.
I tried to call the Chinese embassy that night.
I tried to back out.
And when we went to the ship to erase the hard drive,
they were already there.
- That's when the shooting started. - You killed them.
I killed them in self-defense.
I killed them and probably saved thousands of others.
That your confession, Mr. Rose?
Is it?
How could I look my son in the eye and tell him that I lost our house
and that I couldn't send him to college?
We needed the money, Agent Gibbs.
I was trying to save my family.
GIBBS: That's a nice family.
I didn't see this coming.
Always knew it would happen, eventually.
Seeing you here, I shouldn't have let it happen.
I shouldn't have let you testify.
I wanted to help, Gibbs. I wanted to put that drug dealer in jail.
- I should have known better. - It wasn't about you.
It was about this family.
It wasn't your decision, Daddy.
If we hadn't died, you wouldn't have joined NIS,
and you wouldn't have become an agent.
None of that mattered.
No Tony, no Ziva, no team.
But I'd have had my girls.
I'd have had you.
If you stayed a Marine, Gibbs,
the loss would have fallen on us instead.
Kelly, baby, dinner's almost ready. Go wash up.
Mom, can I have a few more minutes?
What would your dad say if he was here?
He'd say, "Don't mess with mess, young lady."
That's right.
And he'll be back stateside in two weeks, so get used to it.
[LAUGHS]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Mommy.
Who is it?
SHANNON: Just think of all the cases,
all of the lives you've touched, Gibbs.
You sacrificed everything to help those people.
But I wanted both.
It doesn't work like that.
Stephen.
Go.
And my dad?
Can't you help him?
You talked to my father. You could see the kind of man he is.
He was just trying to do what's right.
He killed two people. Nothing right about that.
Good people do things sometimes. Irrational things.
Things that just don't make sense.
You won't help him, will you?
It's your decision, Agent Gibbs.
- Morning, Elaine. - Hey, Gibbs.
You missed a hell of an accident.
- Semi, huh? - Yeah, the driver fell asleep.
Beat up his rig pretty bad.
- Well, at least he's alive. - Ha-ha-ha.
- Eggs easy? - Mm-mm.
No, just coffee.
Well, finish that. I'll brew you a fresh to go.
You're too good to me, Elaine.
I'm just waiting on a proposal, that's all.
[CHUCKLES]
Federal agent. Put it down.
FRANKS: We all make choices.
Your decision.
What's it gonna be?
Stephen...
[GRUNTING]
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
FRANKS: Guess you weren't done yet, probie.
[CRYING]
Well, McGee-san, you have something to tell us?
Actually, I do.
I am not taking the job promotion in Okinawa.
McGee, why? That is a tremendous opportunity.
Well, no disrespect to our co-workers in Japan,
but I still think there's more I can do here.
- That, my friend, is very noble. - Nice decision, Tim.
But you are missing on some of the finest Geisha girls
and sashimi the world has to offer.
- What's the matter with you? - A lot happens around here, Tony.
I'd hate to miss it.
You're not gonna miss a thing, McGee.
We got a dead Marine in D.C. Grab your gear.
Are you sure, Gibbs? You were injured.
We can do this one without you.
- I'm fine. TONY: Yeah, I mean,
we're happy to cover the crime scene, Boss.
- No, I'm good. - You had a traumatic day yesterday.
My choice.
I wouldn't have it any other way.