Original subtitles

VA Beach, here we come!

Now, you're sure this girl has a friend, Westfall?

Look, would I lie to you?

In a heartbeat.

You know what? That hurts.

Yes, she has a friend.

Yeah? What's she look like? Karen says she's very blond.

Mentally or physically? Look, we're out to have fun.

Right.

So how dumb is she? Thirty-eight double-D.

Oh, damn it.

How fast were you going? Seventy-five.

That's what you get for screwing a buddy over.

Hey, pull out your military ID. Maybe he'll let us slide with a warning.

Sorry about that, Officer.

My friend and I were just on our way to...

Is that Tony? No.

Well, are you sure? It really...

Is there a reason you've been haunting my desk all week?

No. I was just...

Or maybe you just decided to take over DiNozzo's job of annoying me

while he's on sick leave.

I just wanted to check that everything was okay.

Why wouldn't it be?

Well, you and Tony were close and, you know...

No, I don't know. What?

Well, he almost died.

We're NCIS agents, McGee.

There is a chance one of us might die every time we walk through the door.

Yeah, but I'm the idiot that handed him an envelope filled with plague.

Tim, it's not your fault.

Look, if you wanna think about something,

why don't you think about all of the times

that Tony has insulted us, invaded our privacy,

the fact that he almost died owing us all money.

That's true. He can be pretty obnoxious.

Do you miss him as much as I do? More.

It's part of his charm. He's like an X-rated Peter Pan.

You know he told all the girls downstairs you're gay, right?

Said it would cut down on the competition.

That bastard.

Hold onto that feeling, and you're gonna be just fine.

Do you want to know what he said about you?

That you tried to sleep with him when you were in Paraguay.

I will kill him.

And you're sure you're up for this? Never felt better.

Yeah? Yeah.

You look like crap. I missed you, too, boss.

You've got another week of sick leave coming, Tony.

You should take it. I was going crazy at home.

Maybe I'm not 100%, but you need me.

Okay, what about Kate and McGee?

They're practically lost without me.

They've gotten more work done in the last two weeks

than in the whole year.

They did miss me, right? Yeah. Something like that.

I can't wait to see their faces.

You did the right thing. Where is the car exactly?

Hi, Kate!

What the heck was that? Sorry about that, Captain.

Where did you say the car was? Must be important.

Probie, did you miss me? Long time no...

Thank you, Captain. What's wrong with him?

Virginia State Police just got a 911 call, Gibbs.

Two dead sailors.

Where? In a car off Route 17 in Fredericksburg.

Let's roll! Gas the truck.

Sure. On it, boss.

Maybe I did die.

Feel that? Feel what?

You're still alive. Welcome back, DiNozzo.

Looks like the shooter knew what he was doing, Gibbs.

Tight groupings, three rounds each. Every one of them a kill shot.

Passenger is Curtis Janssen. Pensacola, Florida.

No military ID.

Credit cards and money are intact.

So it wasn't a robbery? Depends.

On what? On what else is missing, Kate.

Looks like the killer tried to clean up.

Not exactly.

We know he took at least two things with him when he left.

He needed his prints? Bag it.

Boss! State cops ran the Mustang's plates.

It's a rental car out of Dulles Airport.

I got a call into this...

ow!

Are you okay? I'm just trying to catch my breath.

Should have taken that extra week off, DiNozzo.

Help him up, Kate. I'm gonna see what's keeping Ducky.

That hurt? Yep.

Good.

Where the hell are they, McGee?

Well, Palmer must have taken a wrong turn again, boss.

I was correct. My right was your left.

Doctor, I just...

You should have known right meant left!

I'm terribly sorry, Jethro. Mr. Palmer got us lost again.

Doctor, you had the map. You gave it to me.

Sir, for the record, I...

Looks like a professional hit.

Probably took the hands to confirm the kill.

McGee told me what you said.

Did he, now?

Oh, come on. I was joking around.

I didn't think he'd really believe me. Really? And why is that?

Anyone looking at you can tell your breasts are real.

You told him I had breast implants?

No. You know what, Tony?

I can't even believe I worried about you. You are nothing but a giant...

Snake. Yeah, exactly.

No. Big, big, big, big snake. Down there.

Tell me it's not poisonous.

I think it is.

Okay.

What is it doing? It's wrapping around your leg.

Do something, Tony! Okay. I'll try and grab it.

Just don't make any sudden moves, all right?

What if you miss it?

They do this stuff on the Discovery Channel all the time.

How hard can it be? Oh no, screw it. I'm gonna shoot it.

Hey. Put that gun away.

You're gonna blow your foot off. Let me do this.

Oh, God. My life in your hands. I knew it was gonna end this way.

Quiet. You're making me nervous.

Easy now. I'm about there.

Okay. Oh, God.

Gotcha!

Okay, I'll give you this much.

You do have your moments.

So are we friends again?

Oh, cool corn snake. Can I hold him? No, it's poisonous, McGee.

No, actually they're not, Kate. Yes, they are, McGee.

What about that one you caught at Shenandoah State Park?

You had it around your neck for like an hour.

That near-fatal illness may have clouded my memory.

You're such a loser.

All right, get back to work. McGee, check the trunk.

Nobody touches dead bodies until Ducky says, "All clear."

Freeze, McGee! Don't move!

Car's wired to explode.

Looks like the detonator's tied to the trunk.

What? How far did you turn the key?

Not sure. Almost all the way, I think. Okay, don't let it snap back, all right?

Yeah. Let go.

Okay.

Okay, both of you run.

Tony, we're not leaving you standing... I'm a lot faster than you are.

I'll be right behind you. This is not a debate, okay?

This thing might be primed already.

Anthony, you should have taken that extra week.

It's the car! It's wired to...

Tony!

Boss, you remember when I said I never felt better?

I lied.

I'm telling you, I'm fine.

136 over 84 is not fine for you, Tony.

Your blood pressure is high.

Almost getting blown up tends to do that to me.

Not to mention hanging around Kate when she's in one of her moods.

This isn't funny, DiNozzo. No, it's not.

If I hadn't come to work today, you and McGee would be lying

on one of those tables over there.

Well, at least your temperature is pretty normal.

Yeah, I'm good to go. Muscle soreness?

Only when I move or breathe.

Yes, clearly you haven't quite recovered from your bout with Y. pestis.

You need a rest. No, I need to get back to work, Ducky.

Damn it, Tony. I should just take you home and get you in bed.

Okay, that didn't come out the way I intended.

What didn't, Kate?

Oh, I was just saying...

Kate was just expressing our concern for Tony.

Yeah? How is he?

Stubborn, pigheaded and unaware of his own limitations.

Sounds about right.

I haven't finished with you yet.

Got a positive ID here yet, Duck?

So you wanna buy me dinner first or should we go back to your...

Fortunately, the skulls remained relatively intact.

The problem is sorting out which parts belong with whom.

Yeah. I can see that, Palmer. The dental records were conclusive.

Passengers were Navy Lieutenants Dean Westfall and Curtis Janssen.

Well, that checks. According to the car-rental place,

Westfall rented the Mustang two months ago.

Kate, pull up the service records.

Have McGee find out who made that 911 call.

On it.

Tony. Yeah?

Go lie down before you pass out.

I'm not gonna pass out.

I might cry a little, maybe feel sorry for myself,

but DiNozzos do not pass out. Coming, boss.

Can't you do something, Ducky? Yes, well, I'm doing it right now.

What? Praying.

Are you gonna be okay? Sure.

You're not looking so hot.

Well, at least that's an improvement. Over what?

According to Gibbs, I look like crap.

You know, Kate has really been worried about you.

Kate worries about everything. No, no, no. I mean really worried.

What's your point, probie?

Well, I think that maybe, you know...

Me and Kate? Never happen.

Why not? She's too smart for that.

You know what? You don't believe me? She's coming right now.

Gibbs wants to know who made that 911 call this morning, Tim.

On it. Where's DiNozzo?

I think he's laying down somewhere. Oh, good. He needs it.

You care a lot about him, don't you, Kate?

Well, he's my teammate.

What do you think? I don't know.

Sometimes I think it might be more than that.

Tony? Are you kidding?

Oh, come on. You never thought about it?

Well, I guess there are times

when Tony can be charming, warm, not completely obnoxious.

Right, so if he wasn't your team mate? Oh, that's a tough one.

Well, on the plus side, he is smart, brave,

not to mention kind of hot.

You know, in a different world I could see myself marrying someone like him.

Very funny.

Hey, I thought I told you to lie down.

I was.

I am.

Not here.

Well, hey there, little lady.

Tony, you're back! I missed you!

What's wrong? Did I hurt you?

I'm fine. Just a little sore, you know, from the explosion and all.

I'm sorry. Do you want to sit down?

Well, I was kind of thinking about lying down next to

your little refrigerator thingy over here. Sure, sure.

Oh, yes.

Here. You can use Bert as a pillow.

He's supposed to make that noise.

You have a stuffed animal that farts? Yeah, it's cool, huh?

Yeah, in a disturbing way. So what did I miss?

Gibbs has been really cranky since you've been gone.

I think his knee is bothering him again.

And Kate broke up with some lawyer guy which is really good

'cause he wasn't very big on personal hygiene.

About the case, Abs.

I got a glimpse of the bomb. It was definitely a pro job.

You are correct, sir. I've run ten samples.

The main electric charge is C4.

It's primed with det cord and blasting caps.

So we should be able to trace the source to the manufacturer?

You'd think so, but no.

Abby, every military explosive over the last 20 years

has had taggants mixed in for identification purposes.

Yeah, but these don't.

Are you telling me this guy made this stuff from scratch?

The compositions are exact. It's off the shelf.

That's not possible. How's that possible?

It shouldn't be possible. Oh, it's possible.

That was the stuffed animal, boss. Right, Abby?

What stuffed animal?

Abs, are you sure these explosives aren't traceable?

So far. But I'm still checking.

What about the detonator? Also weird.

The electronics are fairly simple, but there's no serial numbers on anything.

It's like it's been sanitized. Let's go, DiNozzo. We got problems.

Someone's trying to kill us again. I don't think he meant that literally.

Okay, thanks, Sergeant.

We'll still need a copy of the dispatch tape.

Boss, according to State Police, the 911 call was...

Anonymous? Yes. And it was also...

Untraceable. Yeah.

They're sending a tape of the call over.

Kate, what do you know about the lieutenants?

They're both pilots, Gibbs.

Lieutenant Curtis Janssen is an instructor in Pensacola.

What's he doing in Virginia? According to his unit, he was on leave,

visiting his friend, Lieutenant Dean Westfall.

Also out of Pensacola,

but for the last two months he's been TAD

at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

Proving ground?

That's where they test new military equipment. Technology, probie.

Maybe they used Westfall's prints to access the base.

I checked, Tony.

None of Aberdeen's security systems rely on fingerprint or palm scanners.

What was he working on there? Classified. I will find out.

So what's going on, boss? Car didn't have any military decals.

Lieutenants were wearing civvies.

And the 911 caller specifically said that it was two dead sailors.

Someone wanted NCIS to investigate the scene.

Why?

The same reason they rigged that car to explode, Kate.

We were set up. So someone really is trying to kill us?

Yeah, they came pretty damn close.

You're absolutely certain about this, Jethro?

Someone went to a lot of trouble to try to get us

out there on that road today, Director.

For what purpose?

Unclear. But what concerns me is the explosive used.

Military, high grade, extremely difficult to trace.

Tough to get outside of certain circles.

You're not suggesting another agency? I'm not suggesting anything, sir.

All I know is I've pissed off a lot of people over the years.

I would ask you to keep your suspicions to yourself.

Can I ask why, sir? There may be other factors involved.

Like what, sir?

Currently, I'm not at liberty to discuss it.

I almost lost my entire team out there today.

If there's something I should know...

This is not open for discussion, Agent Gibbs.

Yes, sir. You're dismissed.

You have a good evening, sir.

Get me the director of the FBI. Yes, sir.

You want some?

No, thank you.

He passed on free food. Maybe he is dying.

Well, I haven't had much of an appetite lately, Kate,

on account of having the pneumonic plague.

Yeah, I know, Tony. I was there.

You don't have to keep bringing it up every five minutes.

It's not every day you escape the clutches of the Black Death, Kate.

It was a life-changing experience.

How so, Tony? Ask Kate, she was there.

Hey, I wanna know what Westfall was doing at Aberdeen

by the time I get back.

Where are you going? Out.

McGee, I want other reasons why someone would chop off his hands.

Tony.

Eat something.

Why take someone's hands? Trophies?

But why leave the other lieutenant's?

If he's chopping hands off, I don't think we can expect him

to be rational, McGee.

We've got trouble. What was your first hint?

The two dead bodies downstairs or the explosion, McGee?

No, I mean FBI trouble.

Fornell?

We must be in worse shape than we thought.

Where's Gibbs? He's not here.

Where is he, Agent Todd? He's out. Try him on his cell.

I did. He's not answering. What's going on?

Ari Haswari is back in country.

You let that psycho back in the States without telling us?

He was supposed to be helping us uncover an Al-Qaeda cell in the DC area.

What do you mean, "supposed to," Fornell?

We now think he's here for more personal reasons.

He's planning on killing Gibbs.

Washington is such a lovely city this time of year.

Don't you agree, Special Agent Gibbs?

Not much of a conversationalist, are we?

I am mostly waiting here, Ari.

Oh, for what?

A reason to shoot you again.

Someone tried to kill my team today. I'm thinking it was you.

You wound me, Gibbs.

If it was me, they'd be dead already.

You're still coming in with me for questioning.

Unfortunately, I have made other arrangements for the evening.

It wasn't a request. I know.

That's why I took the precaution of planting an explosive device

under one of these tables.

Be a good NCIS agent,

I may even tell you where.

What are you doing here?

An Al-Qaeda cell is planning an attack in Washington. I'm here to stop it.

Yeah? What's the target? I don't know.

Where is the cell located? I wish I knew.

You're doing a hell of a job for a Mossad double agent.

I can, however, gain access to that information.

But it comes at a price. One you may not be willing to pay.

Try me.

Al-Qaeda sent me here to conduct my own mission. It's a test.

I pass and I'm allowed into the Washington cell.

They want me to kill you.

You don't seem surprised.

That means I'm doing my job. Yes.

And in order for me to do mine, you have to die.

I wonder, what would you do in my position?

Kill myself.

Sadly, not an option.

That's the one part of my religion I subscribe to.

I can help you out with that.

A kind offer, to be sure.

I also have one for you. I'm listening.

You have 24 hours to find and eliminate the cell.

If you fail...

I appreciate the heads-up. It's the least I could do.

How's Caitlin, by the way?

I've thought of her often since my last visit.

Go near her,

and I don't care what government agency is watching your back,

I will kill you this time.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Where is the device? Oh, I almost forgot.

I lied. There is none.

Please call me back.

That's 20 messages I left. We should look for him, McGee.

Look for who?

We've been calling you for the last hour, boss.

Well, yeah. My ringer thing got turned off.

You're never gonna believe who's back in town.

Ari. Maybe you will.

Fornell said that he's here to... Kill me? Yeah, I know.

I just had coffee with him. So what happened?

He tried to kill me.

We found out what Westfall was doing in Aberdeen, yet?

Boss, aren't you gonna elaborate a little bit first?

Well, yeah, McGee. I'm alive. Now tell me about Westfall.

He was only attached to Aberdeen.

He was actually working with an aerospace contractor in Maryland.

Danborn Avionics. Doing what?

Testing field-service modules or something like that. I have no idea.

The FBI sent a team over to the company

to investigate their security.

The FBI? A lot's happened in the last hour, boss.

Where's Fornell? MTAC.

Make the ringer thing work.

Is it me or did he take the whole Ari situation really well?

That's 'cause he's looking forward to it.

Looking forward to what?

Finally getting to kill him.

How long did you know that bastard was here?

We had our reasons, Gibbs. How long?

About a week.

We didn't know what his cover mission was with Al-Qaeda until today.

I'm taking him down. Not this time.

The FBI can handle this.

The civilians in the coffee shop that he tried to blow up today

would probably disagree with you, Tobias.

Look, if it was up to me, I'd put a round through his forehead. It's not.

You're sitting this one out.

You gonna try to stop me? No.

No, not me, Jethro.

Ari has been declared off-limits.

NCIS will have no further involvement in the case.

You're kidding, sir.

I've also been ordered to place you under protective custody

for your own safety.

Meaning for Ari's?

Take it for what it is. A direct order, Agent Gibbs.

And you damn well better follow it to the letter.

Yes, sir.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to offer you my resignation, sir.

And I will accept it after you've completed your current case.

Sir.

Have you found any evidence connecting Ari to the murder

of our two Naval officers?

No, we haven't, sir.

I will now hand you over

to our federally-certified protective-custody expert,

Agent Todd.

I hear she used to protect the President. You should be flattered.

He's all yours.

I expect you to follow her orders to the letter, as if they were mine.

That last part he meant.

In his home, two teams, six-hour shifts,

alternating radio checks every ten minutes.

Outside I want a mobile foot patrol and two permanent observation posts.

Gibbs is not gonna like that.

Well, screw what he likes, Tony.

I'm not gonna let that psycho within five miles of Gibbs.

McGee, I need full audio and video surveillance inside and out.

Everything tied back into MTAC. You've got it, Kate.

Go home. It's late.

Gibbs, I don't think we're gonna be going home.

I'm staying here.

I do not need an army of agents

staying up all night watching me build a boat.

You won't leave the building? If I do, I'll call you.

Go. Go home. Get some sleep.

First thing tomorrow morning

we're gonna check out Danborn Avionics,

find out what the FBI missed.

Go.

Did you miss me? Gibbs.

You dream about Gibbs? What?

No. God, no. You just said his name.

No, I didn't. Yes, you did.

What's going on? Kate dreams about Gibbs.

Oh, what was it about? No, I didn't dream about Gibbs.

She screamed his name. Really?

There you go.

Look, if you wanna check out the defense contracting company

with us today, you're wearing a vest.

I can live with that. That's kind of the point, Gibbs.

Lieutenant Westfall was the military liaison

for Danborn's Modular UAV project.

And like I told the FBI, I really doubt his murder had anything to do with it.

Modular UAV?

It's an unmanned aerial vehicle we're developing with the Navy.

It can be reconfigured for different missions in the field.

What kind of missions?

Reconnaissance, nuclear and biological agent testing,

ground attack.

So it can be used as a weapon? Someday.

It's only a prototype. Oh, and before you ask,

we changed all our security codes and removed Westfall's

from the system last night.

Follow me.

Any chance one of your modular UAVs is missing?

Nope. We only have one, and that's her in the hangar.

What are these?

Scale models we use in wind tunnel tests.

Any of your security systems

rely on fingerprint or palm-scanning technology, Mr. Eberlee?

Why?

Lieutenant Westfall was missing his hands.

Someone hacked them off.

The FBI didn't mention that. We did. What's the answer?

Our radio flight-control systems use biometrics.

Only pilots entered into the system can fly them.

Like Westfall. Yeah.

But we only have one flyable UAV and that's it.

What about these? Those are target drones.

Danborn Avionics got its start making them in the 1970s.

They're relics. They're not operational.

Looks like one's missing. It was...

It was probably moved. Where?

We sometimes use them for spare parts.

It's not possible.

I mean, you need a team of engineers to get one of these heaps in flying shape.

Not to mention you need a radio flight control.

And I'll bet Lieutenant Westfall's is missing.

According to these schematics, the drone's pretty outdated

from a tech perspective, Gibbs.

So is a hand grenade. Excellent point.

The Danborn TX-Bravo is basically a jet-propelled RC plane,

meaning it's manually controlled by a radio transmitter.

If the transmitter they stole was from a modern UAV,

they might not be able to fly it.

True. True. But Danborn's flight codes are based on the original software.

So a few tweaks...

What's the range? Forty miles.

Unless they load it down with explosives.

Oh, they will.

Payload would have to be pretty small, Gibbs.

Twenty-five pounds or less if they want to get it off the ground.

It's not a lot of bang for your buck.

It is if you're going after a soft target, Abs.

Soft target? People.

Any way to stop it if it's launched?

It wouldn't be hard to destabilized the system.

I have the operational frequencies. Another controller could probably jam it.

Get me another controller. But Gibbs, there's a catch.

You'd have to be within a 40-mile radius to jam it.

Kate, I had a weird dream about Tony last night.

Not the one where the two of you were at the zoo and he...

Oh, no, no. He's fully clothed in this one.

But he had blood all over his face.

I woke up crying, Kate. I never cry. Never, ever, ever.

Hey, it was just a béte noire. Gotta go.

What do you got?

A shot of our drone thieves from Danborn's security footage

from two nights ago.

The day the lieutenants were murdered.

Can you ID them? Well, they're both wearing ski masks,

but check this out.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but does that guy look familiar?

You're not paranoid. That bastard's Ari.

He's not looking for an Al-Qaeda cell. Hell, no.

He's running it.

You get Fornell in here. How much should I tell him?

Tell him he's about to make the second-biggest mistake of his life.

What...

My second biggest mistake, Jethro? That's very dramatic.

What was the first?

When you married my second wife.

You could have warned me. I did.

In my own defense, I thought he was exaggerating.

He wasn't.

Where's Ari?

What part of "sit this out" don't you get?

The part where he steals a Navy UAV

and kills a whole bunch of people with it.

My people checked out Danborn Avionics.

Their only UAV is accounted for.

He stole a target drone, Fornell. Pull it up.

Pack the nose of that with Semtex, he's got a poor man's cruise missile.

Guess your boys missed it.

Ari's playing you.

He's no double agent. He never has been.

Where is he?

All we've got is an encrypted spook cell phone number.

Call him.

Well, you can't trace it from here, Gibbs.

You need a high-level NSA intercept. Patch us through.

We're talking dedicated satellite time.

I've got two NSA satellites in range for the next five minutes, Gunny.

What's the number?

Are you sure about this?

As sure as when I told you she would clean out your bank account

when she left.

Patching it through now.

Are you sure he's gonna answer?

Put my name on his caller ID. He'll answer.

Special Agent Gibbs, now how did you get this number?

I pulled some strings.

Yes, your friend Fornell. I imagine he's there with you.

Nope. Nope. I've been thrown off the case.

It's for the best.

I really wasn't looking forward to killing you.

I wish I could say the same thing, Ari.

I've resigned from NCIS.

I hope it wasn't something I said.

Next time we meet, Ari, it'll be the last time.

There won't be anybody to stop me.

Gibbs, I'm honored.

I had no idea you made so much of a...

He's on a cell phone grid 30 miles out of Norfolk.

Newport News area.

Let's go.

I've got it isolated down to a two-block radius.

What the hell's he doing in Norfolk?

Do you know how to work that if we have to jam the drone, McGee?

Well, Abby explained it to me,

but I've gotta be honest with you, boss. I...

I'll figure it out. What's today's date, Kate?

May 24th.

Paula Cassidy's ship gets back from the Gulf today.

We're hooking up this weekend.

Well, don't you think you should concentrate on the terrorist attack first?

The whole Marine amphibious strike group returns today, Kate.

Five ships, all of them headed to Norfolk.

Tony, I doubt that a drone, even one packed with explosives,

could do any real damage to a warship.

The pier will be packed with Navy families, McGee.

Welcoming them home.

Do you wanna give him a teddy bear? Yeah.

Huh? Look at this. Yeah.

The locator beacon is set.

You figured it out? I did.

The drone is on one of three radio frequencies.

It'll take a few minutes to jam

each of them but when I hit the freq it's on, the drone should go off-target.

It's gonna take hours to search these warehouses, boss.

Give me the shotgun.

Tony, take the fire escape.

Kate, with me. McGee, start jamming.

Boss, they fired the drone. Jam it, McGee!

I can do this. I can do this.

One down, boss. No visual on anyone else.

Let's do it.

Clear.

McGee, this thing is still flying!

Okay, one freq down, two to go.

Boss, one of them shot my transmitter!

You know how to fly this thing?

No, but I know how to crash it.

McGee, are you okay?

I got one terrorist inside!

I don't know if I got him, but he stopped shooting.

Hold your position. We'll flush him.

Okay.

I'm out. Me, too.

Shooter!

Kate?

You okay?

I just got shot at point-blank range, DiNozzo. What do you think?

You're not gonna be going to Pilates class tomorrow?

Protection detail is over, Kate.

You did good.

For once, DiNozzo is right.

I thought I'd die before I ever...

Sorry, Caitlin.

Ari.