Jethro headed outside for a moment to grab himself a cup of coffee, taking advantage of the momentary lull, and went to check in with Systems Administrator, or I.T Kevin as his team called the guy, Kevin Hussein to see how the new security protocols were going. Well, more accurately to see if they were still having issues. The entire system had crashed earlier, unfortunately, for reasons that Jethro couldn't fully grasp. Plus, he found himself in need of a new cellphone seeing as he'd broke it in spectacular fashion during the interrogation earlier.
He then headed down to Abby's lab, Caf-Pow in hand, to see how she and McGee were fairing with Khan's computer. Unfortunately, the grey laptop had begun smoking and destroyed itself. Any chance of getting information off of the computer was gone.
Hoping that Ducky would be able to help, Jethro headed to autopsy and unashamedly took advantage of the man's profile training.
"Ajay Khan is what my mother's American cousin used to call a 'slippery one,'" Ducky said as he looked at the photos in the file, "when she was talking about the catfish we used to catch in Hapsheed's Creek."
"Ah, they're the same, Duck!" he drawled. "They're both bottom-feeders."
"Yes," the medical examiner said in agreement, "but you caught this one, and you've connected him to the attack on MTAC."
"I want the guy who paid him to do it," he stated.
Ducky nodded. "The elusive 'MC.'"
He gave Ducky a look of frustration. "No face, no name... no motive."
His long-time friend walked over to the table where Jethro was. "Yeah, but this time, it cost a Federal agent his life. Mr. Khan knows he's going to prison."
"Yeah," Jethro readily agreed. "He also knows the judge would throw out any deal we offer." No judge would give the cyber-terrorist any leniency.
"And because his computer went up in smoke," Ducky easily surmised, "you now need something to convince our slippery fish that giving up his master of ceremonies would be in his own best interest."
He eyed his friend. "Duck, that's why you're doing the psych profile."
"Khan only gauges success by money," the medical examiner stated. "After his parents died, he became a loner." That's hardly unusual. "No family, no friends, no loved ones, certainly no one you could use as leverage."
"He's got to care about something," he pressed.
"Well," Ducky said, "according to his buying habits, it's himself. So, as a narcissist..."
"We know what he's scared of," he finished.
"Losing everything," Ducky stated with a dip of the head. "And, ultimately, his life. He would be scared of death." The medical examiner chuckled. "But then his employer is a greater threat in that department than we are."
He leaned forward slightly. "So let's get creative."
"Besides multiple federal agencies," the medical examiner explained, "Khan has other enemies. For example, to throw the FBI off his scent, he led authorities to a terrorist cell in New York City."
"He double-crossed former employers," he surmised.
"That's the theory," Ducky said. "And those same men are now high-value detainees in Camp Delta, aka..."
"Guantanamo Bay," he finished without missing a beat.
Ducky dipped his head slightly. "The threat of Gitmo actually rings true for Mr. Khan."
Turning around and making his way out of autopsy, Jethro then briskly made his way upstairs to set up a meeting with the director as well as Jack Mandrake - a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force.
Once the meeting was set up, Jethro ordered his team some Chinese food and worked on one of his reports while he waited for an update from his team.
At 1245, Jethro was up in MTAC with both the director and general explaining what he wanted to do with Ajay Khan.
"I like the way you think, Gibbs!" the general stated. "A three-hour intimidation flight to Camp Delta? That's a new one for me, but if you think it'll get this scumbag to talk, the Air Force will have a plane ready."
The NCIS director didn't look nearly as enthusiastic as General Mandrake did about his little proposal. "Gentlemen, I should remind you both that we don't have authorization to actually detain Mr. Khan when he gets to Cuba." Vance eyed Jethro. "Politically, we'd be ruffling a lot of feathers."
"If we go through proper channels," the general point.
He eyed his boss. The fewer able to know about this, the better, Director."
Vance eyed them both. "We'd be taking a big risk, Gentlemen."
General Mandrake spoke up in favour again. "The cost of fuel is a small price to pay for neutralizing a threat to National Security, Sir."
"I suppose so," Vance said with a sigh. The man then turned towards him. "Gibbs, if I sign off on this, you're about to tick off a lot of very important people. It's a hell of a can of worms."
"But the payoff will be worth it," he pointed out.
The director shook his head in fond exasperation. "I'm starting to think you get a kick out of leaving me bone sandwiches."
He smirked. "I'll make sure to cut the crust off for ya."
"So are we a go, Sir?" the general asked.
Vance sighed, dipping his head in confirmation. "We're a go. But with one condition. I want it to be a fake-out."
The general nodded. "I'll be in touch, Sir. I have to jump off. Director Vance. Gibbs."
As the general ended the MTAC call, the director turned to him. "The higher-ups are going to have a field day, Gibbs."
"Only if it doesn't work," he countered.
The director nodded. "Can't say you're not determined, Gibbs."
With a happy little hum, he made his way out of the director's office and back down to the squad room to meet with his agents. They had nothing new for him yet, so Jethro then made his way down to the forensics laboratory.
He was thrown for a bit of a loop, however, when he spotted the goth forensic scientist sporting a well gelled, spiky, hairdo. The woman looked every bit the mad scientist. It didn't help that whatever was in her hair reeked horribly. Placing her Caf-Pow down on the table, he reached out to touch the oily spikes. "New look, Abs?"
"This is Grandpa Sciuto's recipe for homemade pomade," she explained as Jethro put a hand over his nose. "It's beeswax, ginger root, unleaded gasoline..."
He took his hand off his nose and shook his head. "God, that stinks."
"It's better than the smell of failure," the goth stated. "I couldn't even wash the smoke out of my hair this morning."
He shot her a cheeky look. "That's gone."
"Doubly so," Abby replied as she held up a large, black device. "because I managed to turn me and McGee's colossal failure into a minor success."
"Video camera?" he guessed.
"Just before Khan's computer died," Abby stated she put the large camera back down on the table, "we got a momentary glimpse at the hard drive." We actually caught a break? "And because McGee and I operate at the highest levels of professionalism..."
He smirked. "You filmed everything."
"Baby got backup, Gibbs!" she quipped proudly. "Most of what we saw was just digital gobbledygook, but then I noticed this." She pulled up a bunch of information onto the computer screen. "It's an address of an old warehouse in Anacostia. There's nothing to indicate what we'll find there, but if Khan is interested in this place..."
"So are we," he finished. Handing her the Caf-Pow he'd brought down with him, Jethro kissed Abby on the cheek and gave her an affectionate smile. "Great work, Abs."
"From the ashes, McAbby will rise!" the goth called out rather boisterously from behind him as he made his way out of the forensics lab.
Heading back up to the squad room, Jethro immediately sent Ziva and DiNozzo to the address Abby had found on the computer. Unfortunately, that didn't go quite as Jethro might've hoped. Finding a dead body at the warehouse, it looked as though they were dealing with a nasty case of bioterror.
This was shaping up to be one hell of a week. Hopefully, his team could get this mess of a case wrapped up in time for him to actually make it to his father in-laws' birthday dinner on Friday. Mac was much more understanding than Joann was when it came to his job, thankfully, but that didn't change the fact Jethro didn't like missing things.
