An exchange of money and a large cup of coffee takes place early on a sunny morning in the crowded picturesque Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington DC. The man in the navy blue jacket and light weight grey pants happily accepts the coffee. This man is none other than Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Agent Gibbs walks swiftly to NCIS. He greets the security guard at the front of the building as he heads up to the squad room. Agent Gibbs halts his swift pace when he sees the woman he calls Jen at his desk reading files. To everyone else in the agency, they call her Director Shepard. Gibbs stands at the front of his desk and stares at her while continuing to enjoy his black swill.
"I can hear you staring Jethro."
"What are you doing here Jen?"
"I work here Special Agent Gibbs."
She can feel Gibbs' impatience brewing.
"We have a high priority case. A Navy Lieutenant from the Intelligence Department is missing. She is a highly valued asset to the Navy and knows information vital to our national security."
"Okay."
She takes off her glasses and fills him in on the case. Bing The elevator opens and in walks Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee.
"I'm telling you Probie, no one gets under my skin more than my father. Every time, every time he just has to make my life more complicated!"
"Tony, I'm sure it's just a mix up."
"The stupid bank in New York. Just because my father over drafted his account doesn't mean they gotta cancel my cards."
"Then just call the bank and get it straightened out!"
"You say that like you've never had money problems." Tony flings his bag to the floor and immediately starts dialing, but can feel someone watching him. He looks up and sees the director in Gibbs' chair.
"Are you in charge for the day Director?"
She looks at him with raised eyebrows.
"I'm in charge everyday Agent DiNozzo."
Tony smiles charmingly and chuckles. "I didn't mean that I just meant…"
"I know what you meant. Where is Officer David? We have a lot of work to do."
Gibbs and Jenny have a stare down with each other. Gibbs does not like when Jen plays agent. Tony and McGee look at each other uncomfortably. Bing Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David runs off the elevator.
"You are late Ziva David!"
"I was having car troubles and had to take the metro. It will not happen again."
Shepard has McGee open the file on their missing Navy Lieutenant.
"Last night Detectives from DC Metro talked to two intoxicated college students from Waverly University. They claimed to witness a woman in the back of a vehicle with her hands tied and blood all over the window. When they ran the plate it came back reported stolen by Lieutenant Aliya Farrah. They visited her townhome and found signs of a struggle. Lieutenant Farrah just got back from Bahrain on Special Assignment."
Gibbs already has a bad feeling about this case.
"DiNozzo, McGee go talk to the Metro Detectives and check out the Lieutenant's house. Ziva, you're with me. We're going to the Pentagon."
Tony grunts as he slams down the phone. He aggregately grabs his stuff as he runs to the elevator with McGee. Tony demands that he drives. The entire way to the townhouse Tony complains about his situation to McGee. McGee bursts out of the van once they arrive. When Tony is agitated he is more insufferable to McGee than usual. The Crime Scene Scientists from Metro load all of their evidence into the NCIS van while Tony and McGee get a look inside.
"Whoa. Talk about rage."
Tony has seen many scenes like this before but there is something that feels off about this one. Just like Gibbs, Tony has a bad feeling about this case.
"Hey Tony, you know what's weird about this?"
"What's plaguing your mind Probie?"
"It's a mess."
Tony stands up holding the camera and looks at McGee like he is an idiot. Just like he always looks at McGee.
"Great detective work. Gibbs would be proud." Tony says sarcastically.
"No Tony, what I mean is if this had to do with her work in Bahrain professionals wouldn't have made such a mess."
Tony thinks for a minute and agrees with the theory. They pack up and head to the police station to talk to the detectives. As they are driving to the fifth metro police district McGee says that the Detectives are going to see are Danny Mota and Cassie Leland. Tony is so excited to hear this news! When he was a cop in Baltimore he would work with the Major Crimes division very frequently. The agents walk into the fifth district and see a man lounging on his desk and going through a stack of files.
"Chase, can't you just do this on the computer? I thought technology was supposed to make our lives easier!"
"Well it can also make our lives more irritating." Tony says looking at McGee. The man turns to see who is there.
"Who are you?"
"NC…"
Tony cuts off McGee to show his superiority.
"Special Agent DiNozzo NCIS this is Special Agent Elf Lord."
McGee rolls his eyes at Tony and properly introduces himself. They begin to explain why they are here when Danny and Cassie walk into the room.
"Danny Mota!" Tony exclaims smiling. He has not seen Danny or his partner in years.
"Tony DiNozzo!" Danny extends his arms out and the two hug. Tony is equally happy to see his partner Cassie Leland.
"Cassie." Tony smiles charmingly at her and looks into her hazel eyes.
"Tony."
"How have you been man?"
"Not bad, not bad at all."
"So you two caught the case."
"Yeah. Patrol called us last night. These two college kids said they saw a woman being kidnapped. She tried to get out of the car then just fell out of sight."
"You guys just had to take this case from us." Danny says irritated. Tony chuckles.
"You know we just investigate what we're told to."
"Find anything yet?"
"No. We have not."
"Would you tell me if you did?"
"You know I wouldn't."
Danny chuckles at Tony. Old friends have a habit of pushing buttons. The detectives offer their help to the investigation and walk the agents to their van. Tony and McGee have an abundant amount of evidence to take to forensics. Abby is thrilled with so much evidence to work with! Tony talks about his relationship with the metro detectives. He has not seen Danny Mota and Cassie Leland for a very long time. Cassie has never let it go very far, but Tony has always had a thing for her.
"Hazel eyes, impeccable figure, shiny hair and a fierce attitude. What's not to love?"
"I get it Tony she's an attractive woman."
"Who is attractive this time?"
Ziva's sudden appearance startles Tony and McGee.
"How many times did I tell you to stop doing that?"
She and Tony make a face at each other.
"Who were you talking about?" Ziva sounds intrigued.
"Detective Leland. She's a very attractive Metro Detective Tony has a thing for."
Ziva laughs at this.
"I should have guessed. You know there is more to life than beautiful women Tony."
"Not according to my father."
"What about according to me?"
Tony jumps off his desk when he hears Gibbs and grabs the clicker out of McGee's hands.
"Hard work is your main purpose in life boss."
McGee takes the clicker back to show the progress they have made so far.
"Okay so these are the photos of the Lieutenant's townhome. It was obviously completely out of order."
Tony decides to take the spotlight away from McGee.
"This doesn't have to do with her work in Bahrain."
Everyone looks at him.
"Yeah? Why's that DiNozzo?"
"Well you see boss if this was a pro job, the apartment would have been a lot cleaner and there wouldn't be any witnesses."
McGee jolts his head towards Tony when he hears him taking credit for his theory.
"Boss that was my…"
"There is no "I" in team. McGee!"
Tony and McGee make faces at each other. Gibbs is getting impatient with them. He is about to give them both a smack to the head when his phone rings. It is not the news he wants.
"Come on team." Gibbs says. Tony and McGee are still arguing when Gibbs smacks Tony on the head as he walks to his desk. Everyone follows Gibbs to the van. Metro Police have called them to a horrific scene. A Chevy Spark is crashed into a ditch near a popular road which has now been closed off. A young woman lies dead in the open trunk. Her hair a matted mess, green eyes open and pinpoint, wrists out of place and a gash on the side of her head. Ducky takes a moment before he starts his analysis. Ducky hates seeing so many young lives end so soon. He looks over the body while Ziva takes pictures, McGee takes pictures and Tony talks to Metro. After Gibbs finishes talking to the man in charge, he goes to talk to Ducky. Ducky tells him there is no way he can be sure of the cause of death until they get back to NCIS. Tony, McGee and Ziva haul all of the evidence from the scene to Abby. A few hours pass before Gibbs pays Ducky and Abby a visit. The doors swish open to autopsy as Gibbs walks in and Ducky is in the middle of a story… again.
"It was London, no! It was Paris! I was working…"
"On Lieutenant Farrah?"
"Well you know as well as I do that I was working on…"
"Duck. The case."
"Oh yes of course. The lieutenant's x-rays show signs of brain trauma. She most likely suffered a grand mal seizure just minutes before the crash. Her injuries from the impact are what killed her."
"What time?"
"Fifteen hours ago, around one ante meridiem."
Palmer mentions to Gibbs that ante meridiem is the longer version of am and it means "before midday." He looks at Palmer in the way that Gibbs always looks at Palmer. Palmer wipes the smile off his face. A call from Abby interrupts.
"Yeah Gibbs… slow down Abs. I'll be right there."
Gibbs walks down to the evidence garage and does not see Abby anywhere.
"Abby!"
"Over here!" her cheery voice echoes from under the car. Gibbs walks over and helps her up.
"And they say chivalry is dead. They obviously don't know Very Special Agent Leroy Jethro…"
"Abby!" he tries to get her back in focus.
"Yes Gibbs?"
He stares at her and she gets back on the case.
"Okay, so every last drop of blood belongs to the Lieutenant. But! There was one print on one place that the driver touches every time. You want to guess where that is?"
"Seat adjuster."
"Correct! You've won an identified print!"
Gibbs is surprised to hear this.
"You got a match already?"
"Well no, I just wanted to be dramatic. I have to process everything else before I can run the print."
Gibbs leaves Abby to continue working. A little while later Abby runs the print through AFIS and gets a hit. She smiles and picks up the phone.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! I got a match!"
Abby is very satisfied with the work she has accomplished today. She is about to work through the other evidence when her computer starts flashing and pinging. A file deletion is in progress!
"No no no!" Abby starts furiously typing trying to stop whoever is hacking into NCIS. Gibbs walks in with Tony, Ziva, and McGee trailing behind. McGee sees there is a problem and runs to Abby's aid.
"Abby?"
Abby does not miss a beat trying to stop the hack.
"Someone restricted the file and now they're deleting it!"
In the blink of an eye it was gone. Abby is frustrated and more than anything very confused.
"I guess someone isn't in a sharing mood." Tony says. The print was up long enough that she saw the name, so she gives it to Gibbs. She then throws everyone out of her lab except for McGee. Together they will find the scum that embarrassed her.
