Jethro woke up with his game face on, had a quick shower, and got ready to leave. He unceremoniously threw on a pair of his woodland-camouflage trousers, his tan webbed rigger's belt, a white crew-neck t-shirt, and opted for a white long-sleeve collared shirt rather than a BDU blouse. Jethro also decided to dawn one of his NCIS caps as well as a dark green desert scarf. Jethro then threw on a pair of combat boots as well as both his hip and thigh holsters.

He'd packed the newly issued modular tactical vest and helmet along with everything else that he was going to need the night prior and then sat down for a pizza and board game night with both Shannon and Kelly. That left him with a couple of more minutes to spend with his girls. Both Shannon and Kelly had insisted on getting up with Jethro despite it being 0245 on a Friday morning, which he appreciated even if Jethro did feel a little bad for getting the both of them up so insanely early. Especially Kelly, who had been having trouble sleeping due to discomfort.

Taking advantage of the little time he did have remaining, he had breakfast and a cup of coffee while chatting with both his girls.

By 0330 though, Jethro had to get going if he was going to make it the flight on time. He still had to pick up Ziva on the way to Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico where they were flying out of. He had decided to have the former Mossad officer accompany him as she had the most experience in the region out of all of his field agents.

Jethro said goodbye to both Shannon and Kelly and tossed his old USMC pack into the back of his truck, leaving the passenger seat free for Ziva. With everything loaded into the old pickup, he turned back to his family once more.

His daughter gave him a tremulous smile. "Be careful, Dad."

He wrapped his arms around his daughter in a bear hug. "I will, Kellz. Keep your mom out of trouble for me. I have no desire to come home to floral everything."

Kelly snickered slightly. "Yeah, right."

Glad that he had managed to cheer his daughter up slightly, he turned to his wife. She pulled him in close. They locked eyes, a myriad of emotions swirling in Shannon's baby blues. "We've said it all before."

Shannon put both hands on his chest. "I want to hear it again."

"I will take care," he said, knowing that his wife needed the reassurance. The last time they'd said goodbye like this they'd had years stolen from them. And Jethro was going into a live-fire zone. The danger was all too real. Unlike the last time, though, it was possible he'd only be gone for a couple of days. Still, the truth of the matter was, they simply didn't know how it was going to play out. "I will come back safe."

"Not those words," she replied.

Jethro gave her a reassuring smile. "I love you." With that, Jethro kissed her. His body curved against Shannon's, their hands splaying against each other's backs.

Warmth blossomed in his chest as he took in the calming scent of his wife's favourite Strawberry and Sweet Mint shampoo and the feeling of her lips which were impossibly soft against Jethro's own.

As the couple finally parted, Jethro gave both his girls one last reassuring smile before he hopped into the front of his truck and put the key in the ignition.

Shannon and Kelly were standing and waving goodbye in the driveway as Jethro pulled out of the driveway. Looking out the back of one of the truck windows, Jethro ruefully watched his family recede, hoping he wouldn't be gone long and that they would both be there when he finally got back.

Putting some country music on to break the silence, Jethro headed into D.C and picked Ziva up from her apartment building near West Potomac Park. The pair then began the hour-long drive down to MCAF Quantico and boarded a C-17 cargo plane, settling into the canvas seats and trying to get some sleep.

He and Ziva landed at Bost Airfield outside Helmand's capital of Lashkar Gah just after 0630 local time on Saturday morning. They were on route to Camp Leatherneck when they found themselves in a bit of a firefight.

Thankfully, everybody got through the ambush okay and they managed to make it to their destination without further incident

Arriving at Camp Leatherneck twenty minutes later, the pair finally grabbed their bags and jumped out of the humvee. Jethro immediately spotted Captain Quincy who was several metres away but was already walking over to them. "Captain."

"Special Agent Gibbs," Captain Quincy said by way of greeting as he came to a stop in front of the two NCIS agents. "Welcome to the belly of the beast. Smooth ride?"

He eyed the man. "'Til somebody started shooting at us."

"It's the welcome wagon," Quincy quipped.

Jethro shot the captain a cheeky look. "Next time, bake cookies." He then adopted a slightly more serious look. "What's the status?"

"Got some locals to change their story." Captain Quincy gestured for them to walk and talk. "They confirmed Lieutenant Flores and the two girls were taken."

"Did they identify the insurgents?" Ziva asked.

"Changing their story is one thing," the captain stated, "but giving up names gets folks killed. People are afraid to talk."

Ziva furrowed a brow. "So why keep Flores alive?"

Jethro thought that was kind of obvious. "Information."

"Radicals don't like Westerners opening up their kids' eyes," Captain Quincy explained. "167 schools were hit last year throughout the Middle East." That was a sobering fact. "More than half were in Afghanistan alone."

"And as a FET," Ziva realized, "Flores knows where new ones are being built."

The captain gave a curt nod. "FETs act as a conduit between the locals and the Corps. I'll introduce you to Staff Sergeant Littleton." They all came to a stop. "She was there that night. Schools can be a big part of what they do. Good news is the two girls that Flores saved were just found about seven clicks due south." That was definitely good news. "Abandoned roadside. They're being transported here for treatment."

Ziva asked the question before he could. "Are they alright?"

The captain spoke matter-of-factly. "Dehydrated, scared, clearly tortured."

"But alive," he said. It could've ended so much worse.

"We'll need to see them," Ziva said.

The captain gave Ziva a gentle warning look, knowing Jethro had several tours under his belt himself. "As long as you're prepared for what you'll see."

"I grew up in this region," Ziva assured the man.

Captain Quincy nodded. "Looks like you turned out okay."

"I can hold my own," Ziva agreed.

The captain looked impressed. "Copy that."

Captain Quincy then showed Jethro and Ziva to the tent where they were going to be sleeping while staying at Camp Leatherneck. They threw their bags down on their cots, and Jethro put his NCIS cap on. Jethro then left to grab a bottle of water and to speak with Staff Sergeant Catherine Littleton.

He walked into one of the meeting tents on base where the staff sergeant was already waiting for him. "Staff Sergeant Littleton."

The young Marine rose to her feet and gave him a curt nod. "Special Agent Gibbs. C.O. says you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Sit down." They both took a seat across from each other at the table. "I understand that you were with Flores the night the school was attacked."

Staff Sergeant Littleton was clearly a little reticent about the situation. "I already gave a statement to the Investigative Unit, Sir."

"I know," he replied, "but I just got here and I'm anxious to hear."

She eyed the table. "There's nothing really different to say."

"Just trying to get a clear picture," he tried to reassure her.

"A bunch of us evacuated before all hell broke loose," she informed him. "I thought we were all together in a seven-ton. I kept yelling her name, but she didn't answer." The staff sergeant swallowed. "She couldn't answer." She gave Jethro a pained look. "If I'd have stayed with Gabby, she might not be in this mess."

"Or you might be dead," he gently countered.

He showed the staff sergeant the photograph of First Lieutenant Flores with a teacher in a Burka that he'd been given by Mr. Flores the last time they had talked. Jethro was hoping that she would be able to identify the teacher. "Know that woman?"

She looked a little confused. "Soraya? She's one of the fortunate ones."

"Fortunate?" he asked. "How?"

"She wasn't at school that day," Staff Sergeant Littleton told him. "She was seeing her family outside Kabul."

"Have you seen her since?" he pressed.

That got her attention. "No, Sir."

Jethro placed several photos of the attack down on the table. "We think that she used being a teacher to know when to strike."

She looked horrified. "The kids trusted Soraya. We all did."

"She took advantage of that trust," he said.

The staff sergeant eyed him. "And she succeeded, Sir."

"At being a coward," he replied. He leaned forward slightly. "Now it's our turn."

It was 2345 back in Washington, but Jethro set up a call back into MTAC, knowing that his team and Vance were waiting for his call.

"Good morning, Agent Gibbs?"

"Evening, Director." Jethro noticed someone standing off in the background that looked a lot like SecNav. "That you in the background, Mr. Secretary?"

SecNav Jarvis stepped forward. "Hello, Gibbs."

"Burning the candle at both ends, Sir!" Jethro lightly teased, frankly impressed that he was there. "Careful, people are gonna think you care."

SecNav Jarvis smiled warmly. "Nice scarf."

He laughed a hearty laugh. "Update?"

"Boss," DiNozzo swiftly jumped in, "we got an I.D. on our loving Afghan teacher. This is from a classified military personnel file on the school. Full name is Soraya Zoranj. Grew up in Baghlan, Afghanistan. Parents were killed by the Russians when she was a teenager." And there's the crux of the matter.

"Soraya also had two siblings," McGee chimed in. "An older brother, Osman, who died in an I.E.D explosion two years ago, and a younger brother, Asa, who's in the U.S. on a student visa. He's going to law school here in D.C."

"Talk to him," he demanded.

"Think he might keep in contact with the big sis?" DiNozzo asked.

He eyed both his field agents. "Find out in the morning. Go home."

Both field agents gave him a little nod of the head.

With the check-in over, Jethro headed back to the tent where Ziva was waiting for him. He knew his team back in Washington wasn't going to have anything new for him for a while and there were no new leads here to follow yet.

Jethro filled Ziva in on the meeting and then moved his bag to the floor and sat down on his cot. Jethro then pulled out his phone and called his landline back in Arlington. Despite the late hour back home, Jethro was fairly certain that his wife and daughter were both wide awake and wouldn't mind.

Thank God he'd managed to get some sleep on the plane because it was looking like a very long day.