The next morning, both Jethro and Shannon had woken up a bit earlier than they had actually needed to, which gave them both a bit more time to actually relax and spend time with each other before having to leave for work. Given how hectic life had been lately, he was more than happy to soak up every minute with Shannon he was able to. Besides missing her, he didn't want her to feel neglected.

He had breakfast with Shannon, read the newspaper, and then headed to work so that he could make sure everything was good to go for the trap they'd laid.

All in all, a pretty calm start to the morning. It still seemed like Dearing had taken the bait and sent Cole that cryptic email, but when Cole showed up to the meeting at the coffee shop, Dearing was nowhere to be seen. A no-show to his own rendez-vous.

Cole took a seat at one of the patio tables where the team could clearly see him from the car and a sever swiftly walked up to him. "Hey. Coffee?

The young man smiled warmly at the server. "Please."

She started pouring the cup of coffee. "You wouldn't be Cole by any chance?"

Cole gave her a look. "Who's asking?"

"Messenger dropped this off when I got here," the server explained, handing a large yellow shipping envelope to the young man as she spoke. "Told him I wouldn't be part of any drug deal or anything."

As the server walked away, they watched as Cole felt the package cautiously before he opened it, revealing what was clearly a burner phone inside.

The cellphone started ringing and Cole sighed.

"Dearing's onto us," DiNozzo said.

Jethro dipped his head slightly. "Uh-huh."

The ringing continued and, a short moment later, Cole decided that it was safe for him to answer the phone. "Not exactly the meet-and-greet I was hoping for, Dearing."

"Yes," Dearing replied, "well, perhaps another time." Oh, he was definitely onto them. "I would like you to relay a message to Agent Gibbs if you'd be so kind."

"You're big on messengers," Cole commented.

"Tell him that I was never really interested in Director Vance," Dearing said.

"So what are you interested in?" Cole asked.

Dearing's reply was one simple word. "Justice."

Phone call over, they all headed back to the Navy Yard, trying to figure out what in the hell Dearing had meant by his little message back at the coffee shop.

Gathering everyone in the squad room for a briefing, Jethro filled Vance in on recent events and played their audio from the rendez-vous for him.

"Man's got a funny way of showing his lack of interest," Vance said.

"Guy's got stones," Cole added. "I'll give him that."

DiNozzo eyed Cole. "Should you still be here?"

"Fires were set on the ships and at Agent Larson's home," McGee stated.

Ziva chimed in. "He took Director Vance..."

"And destabilized Dr. Ryan," Vance added. "Why?"

"Because she's a brain-gamer," Jethro stated, feeling as though that was more than a little bit obvious. "He didn't want her figuring out what was next."

"What is next?" his Senior Field Agent asked.

That was a really good question. Wracking his brain, Jethro noted that the director had a briefcase in his hand. "You going somewhere, Leon?"

"Pentagon," Vance confirmed. "Meeting with SecNav."

He turned to McGee. "McGee, play back Dearing's call. Isolate the background."

"What are you looking for, Boss?" McGee asked.

Jethro heard church bells ringing in the background. "Bells of the Navy Chapel." Jethro then had McGee play another part. Behind Dearing's garbled voice, he could make out marching drums beating. "Drums are Commandant's Own, Leon, over at Eighth and I. He is nearby."

"What's he waiting for?" DiNozzo asked.

Nothing good. "Ziva, when we found the director's car, what else did we find?"

"Nothing," Ziva informed him without missing a beat. "There were no prints. No signs of tampering. Nothing was touched."

God, how did I miss that? "You mean, we didn't strip it down?"

"There was no reason to," she said simply.

Jethro sighed and turned towards Vance. "Director, he's not after you; he's after your car. He placed something inside it."

Ziva jumped out of her chair. "Where is it parked?"

"Just outside this building," Vance stated.

"Evacuate," Jethro demanded. "Get everybody out of here. Clear the building, call the bomb squad." His field agents all moved to make that very necessary announcement. "There's something there; we need to shut it down."

As all hell swiftly broke loose in the building, Cole approached Jethro to offer him his expertise. "Gibbs, you know I was bomb disposal."

"They're already on their way," he said.

"Not fast enough," Cole countered.

Fighting with himself slightly, he conceded the point. There was the all too real chance that the bomb squad wasn't going to get there on time. "Yeah." He grabbed him firmly by the arm, wanting to get outside as quickly as possible. "Come on."

Whilst his team was trying to evacuate everybody and he was dealing with the bomb, Jethro spotted Abby still in her lab through the windows. Cole told him to go get her out and, leaving Cole his knife, Jethro ran back inside to try and get to Abby. He was beyond terrified that he wasn't going to get downstairs there in time to make any sort of difference. Why the hell is she still down in her lab anyway? Didn't she get the evac order? If something happens to her…

He'd just barely made it to Abby's lab when the bomb went off, the force of it throwing the pair back hard onto the floor. Jethro attempted to take the brunt of it all, using his body to shield Abby, something hard hitting the back of his head.

And just like that, everything went black.