Summer went by a lot quicker than he and Shannon both would've liked and before long Shannon was back in the classroom. They'd been able to make a few trips down to Stillwater though one of which had been over the Fourth of July. It had been nice to see his father and then just this past week Jethro's team had all gone out for a couple of drinks together on McGee's birthday.

Ziva had also finally taken her citizenship test and had passed with flying colours. He had a smile on his face the entire time he watched the young Israeli take the oath and officially become an American citizen.

Work however was going much the same as ever for Jethro and he woke up to wind early one late-September morning.

It was nice because he got to sit down, have coffee, and visit with his wife before they both had to run off to work.

"My favourite photo of us is definitely the one where we're all in that camper," she told him. "You know the one… Kelly's in a purple housecoat and you're in that blue dress shirt and grey pants."

Jethro gave his wife a small smile. "Yeah. There's just something about that one." Maybe it was because he wasn't in uniform and it was just the three of them together. Happy. None of the tinge of sadness that you could sense in the ones taken just as he was deploying to God knows where.

"Agreed," she said. "That camping trip was amazing."

He dipped his head slightly, still smiling. "Yeah, it was." He started chuckling. "But the photo from this last camping trip with Bailey drenching Kelly is a keeper."

His wife broke out into a laugh as well. "Kelly's face was priceless!"

Jethro just shook his head fondly at the memory.

Walking into the squad room after meeting with the director later that morning, Jethro spotted his Senior Field Agent seated and having some make-up applied. The younger man had apparently been chosen to be the cover model for the new NCIS recruitment brochure they were putting out. Well, this certainly ain't going to help Tony's ego any.

They had a body, so Jethro immediately put a stop to the photoshoot.

"Did Gibbs authorize this?" McGee questioned.

"Nope," he said pointedly, "wasn't consulted." He headed to his desk to grab his badge and gun. "You're up. Marine shot and killed an intruder in Arlington."

"Special Agent Gibbs," a man said with his hand held out, "Ron Sands, Public Affairs."

Jethro didn't slow down any. "I know who you are, Sandy."

"Special Agent DiNozzo can't leave, Sir." Jethro stopped and glared at the man. "We're not finished with him yet."

DiNozzo clearly read the room much better than the resident Public Affairs Officer did. The agent instantly moved to grab his gear. "I'll drive, Boss."

At the crime scene, the house of one Sgt. Heather Dempsey, the team refocused and quickly got to work on processing the scene and interviewing witnesses, the earlier distraction pushed to the side for the time being.

"Hey, Boss?" DiNozzo said. "LEOs think it was a home invasion robbery gone bad. Back door was jimmied." There was a lilt of amusement in the younger agent's voice. "Guy clearly had no idea whose house he was breaking into. Oo-rah!"

Jethro feigned slight annoyance but found it just as funny as DiNozzo did. What did annoy him though was that the only thing the perp brought was a gun and the initial responders weren't even sure how the perp had gotten in.

While Jethro talked to DiNozzo and McGee about the perp's weapon, Ziva was in the house interviewing Sergeant Dempsey. She was a bomb tech and apparently on call seeing as she had to cut the interview short in order to take a work call. Apparently being a regular office POG didn't work for her. He could relate.

Jethro finally joined Ducky in the living room after sending DiNozzo upstairs to take a look around. "911 call was at 2:25 a.m."

"That's pretty consistent with the time of death," Ducky said. "Three shots, she says?" Jethro nodded. "She certainly knew where to put them."

He turned to Ziva. "Get her statement?"

"Yes," the young woman confirmed.

Just then Sergeant Dempsey walked up. "Don't you guys work out of the Navy Yard? They received a bomb threat from an anti-war group."

"Where on the base?" Ziva asked.

Everyone that was downstairs had immediately stopped and turned to her what the blonde bomb tech had to say.

"Aboard the ceremonial ship, the USS Barry," the bomb tech explained. "I need to go." She turned to Jethro. "When do I get my weapon back?"

"When we're finished with it," he said.

Sergeant Dempsey nodded and started getting ready to leave, DiNozzo making his way back downstairs at the same time.

"Nice apartment," DiNozzo said with a soft chuckle.

"What?" Ziva pressed.

"She said she was alone last night?" DiNozzo asked her although it was definitely more of a statement than anything.

"Yeah," Ziva confirmed.

"I don't think so," DiNozzo stated.

"Why?" he inquired.

"Well, I was poking around upstairs like you asked me to," DiNozzo explained, "and I noticed there was a queen-sized bed with both sides rumpled."

"And that does not mean anything," Ziva countered, making a decent point. "I do not make my bed every day."

"But I bet you sleep on the same side of it," DiNozzo countered.

"That it?" he inquired.

"Nope," DiNozzo replied. "Toilet seat was up." The Senior Field Agent gave him a look. "Maybe she's more Marine than I thought."

"Boss, we're having a problem here!" McGee said. "I can't get a scan."

"Wait a minute," Ducky said, taking another look at the victim's or rather the perp's hands. "His fingerprints have been removed."

"Wow, imagine that!" DiNozzo quipped. "A burglar that doesn't need gloves."

Back at the Navy Yard, things were a little hectic. Jethro had to meet with the director and Special Agent Krone to get more information about the threat on base.

Meanwhile, DiNozzo went down to forensics and got Abby to enhance a sound on the 911 call from earlier. DiNozzo was right. It was a man's voice in the background.

Ducky was able to deduce the dead man's age somewhere between 55 and 60 years old and that his liver was not his own. Using the new information, Abby was able to narrow her search down to men fitting that description who had a transplant at the same time. That was a huge help.

McGee was also doing some searching. The young agent was narrowing down all cell phone activity in the area of the sergeant's apartment.

Things got hairy when they went to the ceremonial ship to get Sergeant Dempsey. She had lied and they needed to talk to her.

The bomb going off then, however, was not the way anyone wanted that to go.

"Where's DiNozzo and David?" he asked, having just got back from talking to Shannon on the phone. Word had apparently gotten out about what had happened, and well, his wife had been understandably concerned.

"Just called from the infirmary," McGee informed him. "Sergeant Dempsey's gonna be okay. They're keeping her for observation." The younger agent eyed him. "Apparently, that bomb was more flash than bang."

"Someone's making a statement," he commented. "Special Agent Krone's problem now, not ours." He eyed his field agent. "Got something on your mind, Tim?"

"I eliminated every cell phone that was in use during the time Dempsey called 911," McGee said. "Every cell phone. Except one."

"Got a name?" he pressed.

"No," McGee replied. "And it's not going to be easy."

Jethro was started to get frustrated. It was like pulling teeth. "Spit it out, McGee."

"It's a secure phone," McGee finally told him. "Registered to the FBI." Well, that's just great. I have to talk to Tobias.

Checking the time, Jethro decided it was late enough for him to call it a day and sit down for a little chat with Tobias. Hopefully, the man could give them a name.

Of course, the man also showed up late.

"Hello, Tobias!" Shannon greeted when Tobias finally walked in.

"Shannon," Tobias replied, giving her a warm smile. "How was your day?"

She eyed Jethro as she spoke. "Not as eventful as some people's."

"Ah," the FBI agent replied.

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago," Jethro commented.

"Emily had a performance at school. I told you," Tobias retorted. "Be nice to me. I just spent two hours with our ex-wife."

"And how was that?" he retorted.

"Oh, just riveting!" Tobias deadpanned.

"Better you than me," Jethro quipped before finally turning around to face his longtime friend. "Hey, you shaved your beard."

"That's very observant," Tobias retorted.

He rolled his eyes and then glanced at what Tobias was taking out of the to-go back he'd brought with him. "What is that?"

"It's rice," his friend said.

"I thought you were picking up cheeseburgers," he pressed.

"It's lamb curry from the Punjab Express," Tobias explained rather matter-of-factly.

"We both agreed we hate that place," he said.

"We did," the other man agreed, "but I got a twofer coupon in the mail."

"Well," he said, "did you order it spicy or mild?"

Tobias glanced up from the table at him. "Atomic."

Shannon rolled her eyes at them and turned to Jethro. "So, babe, I'll leave you and your work husband to your shoptalk." Jethro tried to keep his expression straight at her 'work husband' comment, not knowing how to respond to that. "I'll be over having a few drinks with Stace if you need me. Taking Bailey."

Jethro gave her a quick kiss. "Ok. Have fun. I'll see you in a bit."

"See you in a bit," she said, giving Jethro another quick kiss.

With Shannon now heading out, both men sat down and started to eat and talk shop. Jethro felt a bit bad about having for all intents and purposes given his wife the boot, but he and Tobias did need to discuss the case.

He eyed his friend. "So, whose cell phone was it?"

"Why do you need to know?" Tobias asked.

"Home-invasion robbery," Jethro offered by way of explanation. "A Marine shot an intruder. Whoever had that cell phone was there." He took a bite of the curry.

"Doesn't sound right."

Immediately deciding that he didn't like the very spicy curry, Jethro got up and headed towards the trash can that was on the opposite side of the room from them. "Marine's female. Attractive." He proceeded to toss his food into the garbage. "He was with her at 2:00 in the morning," Jethro continued to explain. "She's covering for him."

"An affair?" Tobias said. "No way."

Jethro grabbed a cereal bowl, the milk carton, and a box of Grainy Os before walking back towards the kitchen table. "Who is he?"

"The guy's high up in the Bureau. Way above our pay grade, Jethro. Only did one field tour. Worked his way up through bureaucracy to the highest levels of the FBI. He's as straight-arrow as they come."

He poured some of the cereal into his bowl. "Give me his name, will you?"

"Gary Tolin," Tobias finally informed him. "Executive Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigations Division." The FBI agent took a bite of the food and clearly wasn't a fan of it either. "Got another cereal bowl?"

Jethro pulled the box of Grainy Os back towards him in a 'not sharing' gesture as his friend got up to toss his plate out and grab a cereal bowl as well.

Maybe next time Tobias would remember why they both hated the Punjab Express.