Wednesday evening, thankfully, left Jethro in much better spirits. He and Shannon had gone bowling with the Ericksons at Potomac Lanes which they hadn't done in a while. It took his mind off of things some and he was able to just focus on being a husband for a while; shedding the agent mask wasn't always easy.

The following morning, he got up a bit earlier than Shannon and went about his usual morning routine, making them both some breakfast.

Shannon smiled as he placed the plate of food in front of her. "Thank you, Babe."

His lips turned upwards. "No need to thank me." Jethro then placed the cup of coffee to his lips, inhaling the dark liquid. "Your class field trip today?"

"Yep," the redhead confirmed. "The kids have been talking about our trip to the Carlyle House all week. Should be good."

"I know Kelly liked it when we took her," he commented.

"That's part of why I love the DMV," she said. "So much history here."

Jethro swallowed a bite of his eggs and then replied. "There's definitely that." The D.C metro area had tons of memorials, museums, and the like. It was very much a history lover's dream in that regard.

Shannon nodded. "Hey, do you remember when Kel was 3 and we…"

As the clock ticked by, Jethro had to hit the road if he was going to make it to his 0800 field training class on time. After which, he quickly swung by Elaine's Diner for a cup of coffee before making his way to the Navy Yard.

The morning was quite slow, so they ended up just catching up on paperwork, Jethro having more than a few reports to go over. They ended up ordering Chinese food for lunch and diving right back into the paperwork.

They didn't catch a lead on the McBride case that afternoon either, so Jethro ended up leaving to grab more coffee.

Getting out of the elevator, he heard Ziva speaking. Abby, Ducky, as well as all three of his field agents, were huddled together in the squad room. "Rabble what?"

Before anyone answered her, they all noticed Jethro was there. DiNozzo turned to him. "Welcome back, Boss. You miss us?"

Jethro rolled his eyes at his Senior Field Agent and resumed making his way up to the director's office for a, hopefully, brief meeting.

Abby shook her head in amusement. "Really, Tony?"

Walking into the director's office, he didn't bother stopping for the man's secretary but just let himself in. The man was expecting him, anyway.

Vance was sitting on the window sill as they spoke. "Gibbs, I never saw this coming."

It's a little late now, Director.

I can't believe Bashan had nothing to do with Kazmi's death.

He dipped his head slightly. "C.I.A."

The man stood up and walked towards him. "Seems some folks have bigger fish to fry. Don't care about the collateral damage."

He gave a little snort. "Well, yeah, Leon. It is the C.I.A."

"Tom Morrow approached me," the director said. "They want your assistance."

"They?" he reiterated.

"Homeland Security is not the only agency authorizing the mission," Vance explained. "Secretary Jarvis and the Director of the C.I.A have all agreed."

"What's the catch?" he asked. He could tell that the director was a little uncomfortable with whatever the mission was. Vance had evidently been read in and didn't like it one bit. That did, admittedly, concern Jethro slightly.

The man's expression hardened. "It might kill you."

He shot Vance a playful smile and attempted to break up some of the tension that had fallen between them. "So could bad clams."

The director gave a small chuckle before eying him seriously. "We sure picked one hell of a career, didn't we, Gibbs?"

He matched the other man's countenance. "Gotta make a living, Leon." He then held his hand out with a tense smile, Vance immediately taking the offered hand. Turning and walking out of the office, he made his way home.

His wife had her friend Connie over, so he gave her a quick kiss and then headed down to the basement to grab a couple of files that he had stashed away down there. If this mission of his went south, Jethro didn't want them hanging around.

Grabbing them all, he headed right back upstairs, figuring that tossing all the files into the fireplace was as good a way as any to destroy them.

Shannon and Connie both gave him a strange look as he walked up with the large box of documents but didn't comment. Yet, anyway. "So, how did the field trip go?"

Shannon smiled more warmly at him. "It went great. The students loved it and even I learned something new."

"Thankfully the weather cooperated," Connie quipped. Her class had gone on the field trip to the Carlyle House that day as well.

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, good day to do it." Placing the box down on the living room floor, Jethro grabbed his lighter and got a fire going.

His wife eyed him. "Do I even wanna ask?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes not knowing is better." And with that comment, he threw a stack of papers into the fire.

Connie shook her head slightly. "And this is why I'm not military or law enforcement."

He smirked wryly over at her. "Yeah, the job ain't for everyone."

"And you joined right out of high school?" Connie asked.

"Shipped out to boot camp at eighteen," he confirmed without missing a beat. He then turned his attention back to the large box of documents there on the floor right beside him, tossing another small stack of paper into the fire.

Jethro was largely done destroying his small file archive when a news story on the TV caught the attention of all three of them: Secretary of the Navy Killed in Bomb Blast.

There was an image of Secretary Jarvis as well as some footage playing of what was clearly firefighters attempting to put out an explosion underneath.

'These images are coming live to us from our ZNN team here in Downtown, D.C. The explosion happened at the Capital Hilton hotel tonight where a massive political dinner was taking place. The Secretary of the Navy -'

Jethro's mind was running a mile a minute as he eyed his wife who was clearly shaken but trying to keep her composure. Connie looked absolutely horrified, and given that she didn't have the experience that Shannon did, it was written all over her face.

Connie blinked. "I can't believe that…"

Before that thought could be finished, Jethro's phone started ringing. He picked up the cell phone instantly and answered it gruffly. "Gibbs."

"Gibbs, get in here ASAP." It was Director Vance on the other end of the line. "We need to touch base regarding our earlier conversation in my office."

"On my way," he replied. Hanging up, he turned to his wife and gave her an apologetic look. He didn't like having to leave her but it couldn't be helped. "Gotta go."

She gave him a small smile. "I know. Go." She leaned in and kissed him. "Go, do your job. I'll be here when you get home."

He pulled his wife in for a deep kiss and then locked eyes with the redhead when they finally separated. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "Watch your six."

"I always do," he assured her before going and grabbing his service weapon and badge from the gun safe. He had a feeling he was in for a very long next few days.

"Good luck," Connie said as he made his way towards the front door.

"Thanks," he muttered. Grabbing his keys, Jethro headed out the door and started the short drive back to the Navy Yard as well as whatever damn Charlie Foxtrot, to use the Marine turn of phrase, was there waiting for him.

Ducky, Abby, and the rest of his team were already in the squad room when Jethro got off of the elevator. In fact, the squad room was currently bustling with agents. Telling his team to get down to work, the veteran agent marched straight up to the director's office to meet with his boss.

"Thank you," Vance said before hanging up his desk phone. The director then turned to Jethro and Captain Wayne. "That was the Secretary of Defence. In addition to Jarvis's death, Tom Morrow was just rushed into surgery. He may lose a leg."

"Anyone claiming responsibility yet?" the captain pressed.

Vance eyed Captain Wayne. "The Secretary of the U.S. Navy is dead, Captain. I don't believe anybody would be fool enough to welcome that death wish."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Response?"

"The White House wants answers by any means necessary," Vance informed the both of them. "Intel thinks this is just a warning shot across the bow." It wouldn't be the first time. "That the main event is still to come."

"It's something to look forward to," the captain stated sarcastically.

"Gibbs," the director continued to explain, "this may also be related to Navy Lieutenant McBride's murder."

Captain Wayne jumped in. "We believe the lieutenant got too close to identifying a new terror cell. Combine the bomb tonight and McBride's radioactive remains, it's..."

"What can I do?" he inquired.

"JSOC will be handling its own investigation," the director replied, "but your assistance has been requested. In particular, because of your sniper and SERE training. McBride's mission originated in Iran. Finding his killer would be a start."

"We have an informant in Abyaneh," the captain said. "I can try reaching out."

He nodded gravely, immediately understanding the implications. His gut was churning, though, and he suspected he knew why the director wasn't a fan of the operation.

The director eyed him. "Nobody's forcing you to do this, Gibbs."

He turned to Vance and swallowed. "Doing my job, Director."

His boss gave a grim nod. "Okay then. I'll arrange your transportation." His expression then shifted slightly. "Go home, Agent Gibbs. I'll be in touch."

He nodded, turning and making his way out of the director's office and heading home. Using informants was an extremely dangerous game and one that Jethro was about to play. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing but didn't see an alternative either.

Regardless, Jethro had zero qualms about going home to his wife for a couple of hours before he shipped out to what likely amounted to a suicide mission.