It had been a hell of a week and Jethro was glad when they managed to wrap up their latest case on Friday afternoon. Sunday had been an easygoing day; he'd enjoyed the brunch with Tobias. Monday, in equal measure, had been quite calm. His team hadn't caught a new case and took advantage of the temporary lull to catch up on their case reports and unread briefings.

Tuesday morning, though, things definitely got well, more than a little convoluted. The day had started out quite calm, nothing unusual going on, but he quickly realized that it wasn't going to stay that way for very long.

An inflatable raft had washed ashore in Maryland, carrying three surviving members of the missing crew of Ghostrunner 12. The helicopter crew had been running a routine training operation off the U.S.S Seahawk when they went down four days earlier. The pilot, unfortunately, was still missing, and the longer that he was, the worse the man's prognoses became.

The pressure was on once the pilot showed up dead. Shot. He had clearly not died in the accident. The higher-ups were infuriating during the entire case as they all wanted someone to blame and, frankly, didn't seem to care if it was the truth. It was all about perception for them and if blaming the pilot wrapped things up nicely, that was all they seemed to care about. Hell, Jethro had initially been blocked from even talking to the surviving crew members, making it very difficult to do his job. Jethro had been forced to ask Ducky to call in a favour so that he had a chance to talk to someone.

Obviously, Jethro vehemently disagreed with the sentiment as did Borin, the director and the rest of his team. They wanted the truth. They always did, but especially when their case involved a grieving wife and a very ill six-year-old boy who'd recently been diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis Type Two. The two Navy dependents deserved some genuine answers and not some story that was being pushed by people who were just wanting to protect their own asses.

He was walking up to Interrogation #1 when he immediately spotted his boss standing outside of the interrogation room with a young Korean woman who was no doubt there to provide legal representation for the Ghostrunner 12 crew members.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Vance greeted. "This is Lieutenant Nora Patel; JAG Corps."

He dipped his head slightly. "Lieutenant." Not one for chatting when he had work to do, Jethro started opening the door to the interrogation room. Irritatingly, he quickly found himself stopped in the doorway.

"I'm not finished," Vance said.

Jethro closed the door and turned back to the director. Vance's gaze flickered between both him and the young JAG lawyer. "The Pentagon wanted me to remind both of you that we are all on the same team. We all want the truth."

Patel gave a curt nod. "Of course, Sir."

Once the JAG lawyer was in the interrogation room, he turned to his boss. "All on the same team, Leon? Could've fooled me."

"That's the company line," the NCIS director commented. "Until the higher-ups get one of two things: the truth or someone to blame."

"Well," he replied, "I do prefer that the two were related."

"Yeah," Vance agreed, "but I'm not sure they do."

He gave his boss a look and then moved to open the door to interrogation. Hand firmly on the doorknob, he registered the navy blue tie covered in white anchors that Vance was wearing. "That's a nice tie, Leon. A new look?"

"It's my wife's idea," Vance explained "It's supposed to help lighten my mood."

"Yeah?" he replied cheekily. "How's that workin' out?"

After pushing one of the crew members, his team was finally able to get to the truth of the matter and had more than enough information to leverage confessions from both of the remaining shipmates. Four Navy personnel had decided to sell the old helicopter and Lieutenant Commander Oliver Happ - the pilot - had tried to stop it. The man had been killed as a result of doing the right thing.

The team arrested the four Navy personnel involved and the civilian buyer who'd shot the lieutenant commander and, all in all, it was one of the happier endings that could be expected on the job. At least, they were able to get a measure of justice.

McGee, DiNozzo and Borin walked into the squad room after booking the suspects; all three of them visibly in a good mood.

"Since we found the missing helo on Quinn's boat, my review is looking pretty good." Borin glanced between them all. "So, how about a drink on me as professionals?"

The young Israeli shot Borin a playful look. "Well, it depends on if you're buying. Then I'm definitely in."

"Yeah," DiNozoo agreed. "Me too."

McGee nodded. "I'm in."

Borin eyed him. "And about you, Gibbs? Bring your better half."

Jethro thought back to the conversation he'd had with the lieutenant commander's wife shortly after they found his body.

"Did you recover his flight helmet?" Katie Happ asked.

"No, Ma'am." He shook his head slightly. "No, we haven't. Not yet. Why?"

"Oliver, my... my husband..." The conversation was clearly hard for her. "He promised Gunner that he could use it for Halloween." She glanced briefly at the six-year-old who was by the window playing some video game. The boy was dressed up as a helicopter pilot, like his father. "He... he worships his dad."

He gave the CGIS agent a small smile. "I have something that I gotta do first, but I'll talk to Shannon and probably meet up with you all later."

"Sounds good," Borin said. "Just text me and let me know when you're coming."

Jethro gave her a small nod of the head. "Will do."

He headed out of the NCIS building just after 1700, carrying Lieutenant Commander Happ's white flight helmet. He then hopped into his pickup truck and made his way to the Happ residence to return the recovered helmet to the man's son Gunner. The least he could do was help the fallen aviator keep his last promise to his young son.

"Gunner was really starting to worry," the blonde stated, "but I told him that Marines always keep their word." Jethro gave Katie a look of slight surprise at the reference to his time in the Corps and she raised an eyebrow in clear amusement. "Fifteen years in the Navy. I know a Marine when I see one, Agent Gibbs."

He dipped his head slightly, an amused smile on his lips. I should've figured as much.

Katie then turned to her son who was seated on the couch. "Go get changed, Big Guy. We have to leave for Auntie Theresa's soon.

The six-year-old boy nodded. "Okay, Mommy."

Once the boy was headed up the stairs to his bedroom, the widow turned back to him. "Thank you so much, Agent Gibbs. I know how much this means to Gunner." He waved the comment off. "And Oliver would never forgive me if I didn't say... Semper Fi."

He gave Katie a sober smile. "Fair winds and following seas, Ma'am."

Taking his leave from the Happ residence, he called his wife to fill her in on the CGIS agent's invitation to drinks and discuss their plans before letting Borin know that both he and Shannon would be joining them for drinks.

Jethro was seriously hoping that the weekend would be rather less than eventful. The veteran agent needed a break after dealing with the infuriating brass all week.