Routine training results in the death of a U.S. Navy SEAL lieutenant just days before he was due to deploy on a classified hostage rescue operation. The death is initially dismissed as an equipment malfunction, but Abby discovers that the link attaching the lieutenant to his rappelling rope was made of a weaker material than factory standard, suggesting sabotage and potentially murder. Pressure is applied by the CIA for the investigation to be wrapped up within 38 hours so the operation can continue or else the entire mission, which is of national security importance, will be scrubbed. As the case goes on, Gibbs discovers that the lieutenant had a secret, and that his wife might be holding back vital information about his death. Meanwhile, Abby deals with her relationship with McGee.
MUSIC IN: EXT. MOUNTAIN - NIGHT (SFX: HELICOPTER B.G.) (MUSIC OVER ACTION/ SEALS RAPPEL FROM HELICOPTER ONTO THE CLIFF) (PREPARE TO RAPPEL) JOHNSON: This way. (FILTERED) (PAUSE) Team One, go! (MUSIC OVER ACTION/SEALS RAPPEL) PORCARO: Lieutenant, planning on joining us? JOHNSON: I'm on my way. (MUSIC OVER ACTION/ JOHNSON RAPPELS OFF THE CLIFF) (SFX: JOHNSON SCREAMS/FALLS TO THE GROUND) (CUT TO BLACK) (THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY TONY: Hey. KATE: Good morning. TONY: How was your weekend? KATE: Uh, let's see. I paid bills, did laundry, went shopping, vacuumed. I bet you don't even own a vacuum. TONY: I lease. KATE: Okay, so what did you do this weekend that left that smile plastered all over your face? TONY: I watched a great movie. KATE: Let me guess, a horror flick? TONY: Halloween Eight. I think it's the best Halloween ever. It makes Halloween Seven look like Halloween Five. KATE: I can't even believe they made one of them, much less eight. It's gotta be a "Men are from Mars" thing. TONY: Arianna liked it. KATE: Arianna? I thought you broke up with her. TONY: What makes you think that? KATE: Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you came in the other day and said, "I broke up with Arianna." TONY: Oh, you don't know much about dating, do you? KATE: Oh, why don't you enlighten me. TONY: Well, there's always one phony breakup that precedes the real breakup. Everyone knows that. GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Yeah, got it. Thanks. (HANGS UP PHONE) GIBBS: Grab your gear. Kate, get Ducky. Tony, gas the truck. KATE: Where are we going? TONY: With Gibbs, you never know. [SCENE_BREAK] EXT. BASE OF CLIFF - DAY M P: I.D. (INTO RADIO) NCIS Special Agent Gibbs.(OPENING CREDITS CONTINUE) VOICE ON RADIO: (FILTERED) Clear. M P: (INTO RADIO) Okay. (TO GIBBS) Thank you, Sir. RAINER: Agent Gibbs? Commander Rainer. SEAL Team Eight. GIBBS: What happened here? RAINER: We were on a training exercise. Lieutenant Johnson, the Team leader, was rappelling down the cliff when his D-link snapped. GIBBS: Did you secure the top of the cliff? RAINER: I did. GIBBS: Is that the rest of the Lieutenant Johnson's squad? RAINER: Yes, Sir. GIBBS: I'd appreciate it if you tell them not to talk to anyone until I talk to them. RAINER: Already taken care of, Sir. KATE: Oh, what an awful way to die. TONY: I can think of worse ways to go. KATE: Like what? TONY: Well, getting eaten by a shark. Being buried alive. Falling into a wood chipper. KATE: You've given this some thought. TONY: Well, yeah. So? KATE: Nothing. DUCKY: Someone moved the body. RAINER: After he fell, his squad members came to his assistance to see if anything could be done. Unfortunately he died on impact. DUCKY: Well, that would account for a few inches. But someone's moved him further than that. RAINER: We pulled him away from the face of the cliff because there was falling shale. It's an old mine. We were careful not to disturb anything. GIBBS: Was emptying his pockets part of the first aid effort? RAINER: The Intel was classified. We removed it so the body could be transported. That's S-O-P under these circumstances. GIBBS: DiNozzo. TONY: Yeah, boss? GIBBS: Top of the cliff. Shoot and sketch. TONY: Gee, boss. It's a long way up. GIBBS: DiNozzo, was there something in my tone of voice that made that sound like a suggestion? TONY: On it! (TONY WALKS O.S.) RAINER: Agent Gibbs, I realize that you have an investigation to perform. From what we can see that's pretty obvious that D-link had a catastrophic failure. GIBBS: You're right, Commander. We have an investigation to perform. What do you got there? DUCKY: Unfortunately for Lieutenant Johnson, it appears to be just what it looks like. GIBBS: Well, that eliminates the guess work. KATE: Is this a common occurrence, one of these breaking? GIBBS: I've never seen it happen before. It doesn't mean it couldn't. (SFX: ROCKS FALL FROM THE CLIFF) DUCKY: I think I can move him. KATE: Gibbs, I got something. Is that a piece of the D-link? GIBBS: Sure looks like it. DUCKY: Don't worry, my friend. We'll get you cleaned up and presentable in a way that honors your service. GIBBS: Special Agent Gibbs. Special Agent Todd. I understand you were on a training exercise. ALL: Yes, Sir. GIBBS: What was your mission? PORCARO: You'll have to talk to the Commander about that, Sir. GIBBS: Other than Lieutenant Johnson's accident, anything out of the ordinary happen? PORCARO: No, Sir. It was textbook. We were inserted by helicopter, secured our lines, rappelled down the face of the cliff. GIBBS: What was the order? PORCARO: Vengal and Kenney went first, then myself and Binkowski... VENGAL: We can't believe this happened to the Lieutenant. KATE: After the four of you began repelling down, was anyone on top of the cliff other than Lieutenant Johnson? ALL: No, Ma'am. GIBBS: Each of you will need to provide a statement detailing what you saw. ALL: Yes, Sir. GIBBS: I'd like Lieutenant Johnson's service record and the personal effects from his locker. RAINER: I'll have it in your office as soon as possible. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. NCIS LAB - DAY ABBY: (V.O.) There is no signs of tampering. GIBBS: That's it? ABBY: That's it. GIBBS: Then we can put this to bed? ABBY: Not yet. I emailed the manufacturer for the specs on this particular D-link. When I get them back, I can do a comparative analysis and if nothing's hinky, then we can put this to bed. GIBBS: Thanks, Ab. KATE: Are you okay? ABBY: I'm fine, why? KATE: You're not your normal, effervescent, cheerful Abby. ABBY: That's because she's been replaced by the abnormal, dull, and melancholy Abby. KATE: Something you want to talk about? ABBY: I don't want to bore you. KATE: Who else are you gonna tell - Tony? ABBY: McGee is all mad at me. KATE: Why? What happened? ABBY: We went to Buzzed. It's a coffee house in Old Town. Sunday night's like a poetry night. KATE: I didn't know you liked poetry. ABBY: McGee likes it. So we're popping back double espressos and all of a sudden out of the blue, he says, "I really really like you." KATE: What'd you say? ABBY: Thanks. What was I supposed to say? KATE: I don't know. ABBY: Oh. Then he gets like all quiet and we're leaving and he wants to know where our relationship is going. KATE: Oh, I hate that. Why do guys have to push the issue? ABBY: Because they're insecure. KATE: What'd you say? ABBY: Well, I said why does it have to go anywhere? Why can't we just enjoy what's happening now? KATE: What'd he say? ABBY: Fine, whatever. KATE: Oh, typical passive aggressive. ABBY: I know! I mean, what's next? Should I be watching "Sleepless in Seattle" on rainy Sunday afternoons? Ah! KATE: What are you going to do? ABBY: I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to pretend like it never happened and hopefully he's going to do the same. DUCKY: (V.O.) The official cause of... [SCENE_BREAK] INT. AUTOPSY ROOM DUCKY: ...death was multiple traumatic injury. He was in horrible shape, Jethro... lower leg fractures, hip fractures, severe skull fractures. I could go on and on GIBBS: No. No need, Duck. TONY: Have you sent the blood up to Abby for a full tox screen? (BEAT) Well, that's what you were going to ask, right? DUCKY: The lifetime odds of dying from a fall like this are roughly the equivalent of the odds of dying from a collision with an asteroid. GIBBS: And? DUCKY: What kind of person would I be if I had this knowledge and I didn't share it with you? TONY: That's what you were gonna ask that, right? About the tox screen? (PALMER ENTERS) DUCKY: You are late -- PALMER: I am so sorry, Doctor Mallard. I am so so sorry. DUCKY: Although I may have second thoughts, Mister Palmer. PALMER: Second thoughts, Sir? DUCKY: About you coming to work full time as my assistant. PALMER: It will never happen again, Doctor! I promise you it was an extremely unusual situation. DUCKY: They always are. PALMER: You see, I was in the shower and the doorbell rang but I didn't know it at the time. DUCKY: That you were in the shower? PALMER: No, that it was the doorbell. See, my head cold in combination with my tinnitus made me think that it was the kitchen timer. DUCKY: How very unusual. PALMER: Yes, so I spent several minutes trying to find out what it was I had finished cooking. And by then the time I realized it was the front door, I'd almost forgotten I'd taken a shower. (PALMER COUGHS) PALMER: It'll never happen again. DUCKY: Who was there? PALMER: Where? DUCKY: At the door? PALMER: Oh, I didn't answer it. DUCKY: I hope this won't become a habit, Mister Palmer. PALMER: No, see I always answer my door. DUCKY: I was referring to being late. PALMER: Does this mean I have the job? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. NCIS LAB - DAY (MUSIC OVER ACTION/ABBY PERFORMS LABORATORY TESTS) (PASSAGE OF TIME) GIBBS: Any prints beside Lieutenant Johnson's? ABBY: I got a partial that isn't his. GIBBS: Run it through AFIS and any other data base you can think of. ABBY: Done and done. GIBBS: What else do you got for me, Abs? ABBY: The D-link is electrolytically coated with a protective oxide. I used Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry to compare the chemistry between the factory specs and the link that failed. GIBBS: Is all this necessary? ABBY: If I just came right out and told you what I'd found, you would be bored. GIBBS: What'd you find? ABBY: The chemical composition of the oxide isn't the same. GIBBS: Couldn't that just be from two different production batches? ABBY: Possibly. GIBBS: I'm sensing a but. ABBY: You are correct, oh great one. I used a scanning electron microscope with an x-ray diffractive attachment and did a composition analysis. The one on the left is the D-link I got from the manufacturer. The one on the right is Lieutenant Johnson's. TONY: They're not the same. ABBY: That's because one is steel and the other is sixty six three T six aluminum. TONY: So the manufacturer makes the D-link in both metals? ABBY: Actually, they don't. TONY: Then how do you explain that? ABBY: Easy. Someone handmade a D-link out of a much weaker metal and then swapped it with Lieutenant Johnson's real one. GIBBS: It wasn't an accident. ABBY: Nope. Looks like murder. (FADE TO BLACK) MUSIC IN: INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY GIBBS: (V.O.) I know this is a difficult time. KATE: (V.O.) When your husband brought his gear home, where did he keep it? DENISE: Usually in the garage. Sometimes he'd leave it in the car. GIBBS: Did he ever bring it in the house? DENISE: Why? GIBBS: Someone may have tampered with his equipment. DENISE: Tampered? Why would anybody do that? (DOOR BELL RINGS) (DOOR OPENS) DENISE: I keep expecting him to walk through that door. EDNA: I am so sorry. (SFX: DENISE CRIES LOUDLY) GIBBS: Take a look around, Kate. Tony, let's check out the garage. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - DAY (SFX: GARAGE DOOR ROLLS OPEN) TONY: Whoa! GIBBS: Nice car. TONY: Oh, it's not just a car, boss. This is a sixty-six Mustang. Revolutionary in its day. GIBBS: You're not going to start giving me all the vital stats on this car, are you? TONY: Thunderball. GIBBS: Let me rephrase that, DiNozzo. You're not going to give me the vital stats on this car. TONY: If someone was going to break in to get at his gear, their choices were limited. Garage door or the back door. Lock works. No sign of forced entry. Whoever switched his D-link, I don't think it was done here. (DOOR CLOSES) GIBBS: Yeah. Yeah. It does seem that way. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY (MUSIC OVER ACTION/KATE LOOKS AROUND THE HOUSE) (KATE BUMPS INTO LARRY) KATE: Oh. LARRY: I'm sorry. KATE: My fault. LARRY: Hi. Um... Larry Clannon. KATE: Kate Todd. LARRY: I thought I knew most of Rick's friends. I... KATE: Actually, I'm with NCIS. We're investigating his death. LARRY: I thought it was an accident. KATE: We still need to investigate. LARRY: Oh. Right. KATE: How do you know Rick? LARRY: Oh, we've been friends for um... we were friends since high school. We played football together, got in trouble together. We uh... I can't imagine life without him. EDNA: Hello, Father. LARRY: Hi, Edna. I'm a priest at Saint Matthews. KATE: Why no collar? LARRY: I was out running errands and I got the call. I just came right over. Rick was my best friend. He's the reason I became a priest. KATE: How so? LARRY: Well, when I was nineteen, I was in a motorcycle accident. KATE: A priest with a motorcycle. Sounds like a TV show. LARRY: Right. Well, I ended up in a coma. Rick would come sit with me after school. Sometimes he would just talk to me and other times he would pray. The doctor said that if I came out of it I would end up in a vegetative state, but... KATE: It was a miracle. LARRY: Not according to Rick. Rick said it was because he had juice with the man upstairs. You should come by church sometime. I get a cash bonus for every person past a certain number. KATE: You do? LARRY: Wow. KATE: I'm sorry. I'm not used to a priest with a sense of humor. LARRY: Right. Well, the times they are a changing. KATE: They certainly are. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HANGAR - DAY GIBBS: Who had access to your climbing gear? RAINER: That depends. Lines and harnesses are usually kept in a rope locker. TONY: What about D-links? RAINER: Not a controlled item. Most of my men take their personal gear like that home with them. KATE: Anyone in the unit could have had access to Johnson's? RAINER: I suppose so. GIBBS: How many men in your unit, Commander? RAINER: That information is classified, Agent Gibbs. VOICE: Commander Rainer. RAINER: I'll be right back. (RAINER WALKS TO THE CONTAINER) GIBBS: There's enough ammo here to take over a small country. TONY: How small? RAINER: Open it up. (DOOR SLIDES OPEN) RAINER: I appreciate that you have a job to do, but as far as we're concerned, this was a training accident. GIBBS: What if I was to tell you it wasn't. RAINER: I was there, Agent Gibbs. I saw Johnson's D-link. GIBBS: It was broken. What you saw was a fake. KATE: Someone substituted Lieutenant Johnson's D-link with one made from inferior metal. TONY: Metal that was designed to fail. RAINER: Sergeant? SERGEANT: (V.O.) Sir. RAINER: Security badges. SERGEANT: (V.O.) Sir. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HANGAR - DAY RAINER: Anything you see or hear is considered classified at the highest level. I'll assist you in any way I can, as long as it doesn't compromise our primary mission. GIBBS: Which you can't tell us. RAINER: I will tell you it's absolutely vital to national security. KATE: Not much help in a murder investigation. RAINER: Well, that's the best I can do. I've got a backup team waiting. But if there's someone deliberately trying to sabotage this mission, I need to know. (TO FOLSOM) Get Admiral Barnes on the secure line. Tell him Task Force X-Ray may have been compromised. FOLSOM: Yes, Sir. GIBBS: Who else knew Johnson was going to be rappelling last night? RAINER: No one outside this unit. My men have been in total isolation for the past ten days. No contact with the outside world. KATE: Any security breaches? RAINER: One Petty Officer made a few unauthorized calls to his wife. TONY: He was in Johnson's squad? RAINER: He was. Petty Officer Vengal. Lieutenant Johnson counseled him on following orders. GIBBS: What kind of a sailor is Vengal? RAINER: Young, headstrong. Likes to be the center of attention. GIBBS: Basically a SEAL. RAINER: Johnson rode him pretty hard, but that was his job. GIBBS: I'll need to talk to him as well as anyone else on Johnson's team. RAINER: Not a problem. They're no longer the primary team on the mission. GIBBS: What's our time frame here? RAINER: We're inside a thirty eight hour window. If you don't find out what happened by then, we scrub the mission. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. MAIN FLOOR HANGAR - DAY GIBBS: Tony, get with whoever's in charge of the climbing gear. I want every rope, D-link and harness checked. TONY: You got it, boss. FOLSOM: I'll escort Agent DiNozzo. Bravo Team's bunked in here. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. BRAVO TEAM QUARTERS GIBBS: How'd you get along with your Lieutenant, Petty Officer Vengal? VENGAL: He was a good SEAL, Sir. KATE: But you didn't like him. VENGAL: We had different styles, Ma'am. GIBBS: His style was to ride your ass. VENGAL: Yes, Sir. GIBBS: Why did you breach security? VENGAL: Excuse me, Sir? KATE: You called your wife. Why? VENGAL: She's pregnant. I ... I wanted to check up on her, Ma'am. GIBBS: I checked your service record. Lieutenant Johnson wrote you up for an unauthorized absence two weeks ago. VENGAL: I had to take my wife to the doctor. Why are you asking me about the Lieutenant? GIBBS: Because we're looking for the man who murdered him. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HANGAR - DAY (TELEPHONE BEEPS KATE: Lieutenant Johnson's last two calls were made while in isolation. Both were to Father Clannon. GIBBS: The Lieutenant writes up Vengal for calling his pregnant wife during lockdown then makes two calls himself? It doesn't make sense. KRAMER: Agent Gibbs? Eddie Kramer, CIA. Is there someplace we can talk? GIBBS: Yeah. How about right here? Whatever you say to me, you can say to my team. KRAMER: Okay. Your investigation into Lieutenant Johnson's death is very important to us. GIBBS: Yeah? Why's that? KRAMER: Well, the SEALs are part of a multi-agency task force that's been training for a very specific mission. GIBBS: Which you're not going to tell me about. KRAMER: You'd have to be read into the program and we don't have the time. KATE: And you think that someone inside this task force tampered with Johnson's equipment? KRAMER: I'm very concerned. There's an initial vetting process for SEALs. And for this mission they were further vetted by the CIA. TONY: If they've gone through all that... KRAMER: Then we're dealing with someone who's very clever. In thirty-four hours, a C one forty one will be fueled and ready to go. We need to know who swapped that D-link out and why. Otherwise, four months of planning will go out the window. I'll tell you everything that we know, I want you to do the same. GIBBS: Sure. Sounds good to me KRAMER: I'll give you this. GIBBS: Abs, what's up? ABBY: Something very unexpected. GIBBS: He's okay. ABBY: I ran the print off Johnson's D-link through the military database. No match. GIBBS: Yeah? What's the unexpected part? ABBY: When I ran it through the criminal database, I got a hit. GIBBS: Anyone we know? ABBY: Absolutely. Lieutenant Johnson's wife. (MUSIC UP AND OUT) MUSIC IN: EXT. JOHNSON HOUSE - DAY (SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP) (CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE) KATE: She was eighteen when she was arrested for joyriding. TONY: Joyriding. It sounds so much better than grand theft auto. There's something almost spiritual about it. KATE: Well, she said she didn't know the car was stolen. Her boyfriend said he borrowed it from a friend. TONY: Oh, the old blame-it-on-the-boyfriend excuse. One of the classics. KATE: Well, that's usually who is to blame. GIBBS: Anything else? KATE: I was saving the best for last. GIBBS: Why? KATE: Denise Johnson works at a jewelry store. She makes custom metal jewelry. Oh, and yesterday when I was in the den I saw something that made it seem like Johnson may have been sleeping in there. GIBBS: What kind of things? KATE: Alarm clock, pillow, blanket. TONY: Something's really been bothering me. What kind of sick and twisted logic makes you think the boyfriend is always to blame? Huh? (DOOR OPENS) GIBBS: Can we just have a minute? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY DENISE: Of course my fingerprints are on there. You can find my fingerprints on almost anything Rick owned, except maybe his hunting rifles. KATE: We had to ask. DENISE: You're not married, are you, Agent Todd? KATE: (BEAT) No. DENISE: Well, a lot of husbands leave a trail when they come home. I was constantly picking up after him. GIBBS: How was your relationship with your husband? DENISE: It was fine. TONY: He wasn't sleeping in the den? DENISE: We had our problems, like any married couple. GIBBS: What were they? DENISE: None of your business. KATE: I'm sorry if we upset you. DENISE: What were you expecting? You come into my home and basically accuse me of having something to do with my husband's death. KATE: We're just trying to tie up any loose ends. Your fingerprints were on the D-link, we came, we're not accusing you of anything. GIBBS: Did your husband have a computer? DENISE: We have a laptop. [SCENE_BREAK] EXT. JOHNSON HOUSE - DAY KATE: Her explanation made sense. GIBBS: Doesn't mean she isn't guilty. KATE: Do you honestly think she had anything to do with it? GIBBS: I've seen a single mother drown her children because her new boyfriend didn't like them. Nothing surprises me. TONY: Interesting how she pegged you for unmarried. (SFX: CAR STARTS) MUSICAL BRIDGE TO: INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY TONY: Here's a page thirteen Lieutenant Johnson wrote after Petty Officer Vengal got into a fight in town. He said he didn't start the fight, he was just protecting himself. KATE: It's not in Vengal's service report. TONY: There's more. This is from an undated Fitness Report. Under comments, Lieutenant Johnson wrote: "Though Petty Officer Vengal is an outstanding sailor and no doubt will make a fine Petty Officer First Class, at this point I think he needs a little seasoning and I am not recommending him for promotion." KATE: Also not in his service report. TONY: So how can that be? GIBBS: Rainer said Johnson rode Vengal pretty hard. My guess is that was part of his carrot and stick approach. He wrote the page thirteen, showed it to Vengal. KATE: And never formally filed it. TONY: So if the guy cleaned up his act, then Johnson would just toss the page thirteen like it never existed. KATE: Okay, why did Johnson include the counseling sheet he wrote when Vengal was late? TONY: That's just a slap on the wrist. Page thirteen is serious. GIBBS: Anything else? TONY: Nope. They paid the bills, sent e-mails to friends, normal stuff. (KATE SPEAKS ON THE PHONE B.G.) KATE: (INTO PHONE) Thank you very much, Doctor. TONY: (LONG BEAT) You seem bothered. KATE: That was Mrs. Vengal's doctor. Petty Officer Vengal did take her to see him, but not on the day that he told Lieutenant Johnson he did. He lied. GIBBS: Get Vengal in here. TONY: Eee, boss. I'm not sure those guys are going to let him go anywhere. GIBBS: (OVERLAP) Convince them, Tony. TONY: Okay. ABBY: I was down in the evidence locker looking for a fingerprint kit and this started vibrating. Freaked me out. GIBBS: Thanks, Abs. KATE: Thanks, Abs. (KATE OPENS THE PLASTIC BAG AND TAKES OUT THE PHONE) KATE: Lieutenant Johnson got a text message. (READS) Why weren't you there? GIBBS: Who sent it? KATE: This is weird. It's an e-mail message forwarded from an internet account that shows up as a text message on his cell phone. GIBBS: English, Kate. KATE: Okay, I can set up my internet account so that if somebody e-mails me on my computer and I'm not there, the e-mail will automatically be forwarded to my cell phone. GIBBS: What's the weird part? KATE: Well, the e-mail account that this was forwarded from is Dave Smith at concealmail dot com. That's not Johnson's e-mail address. GIBBS: You sure? KATE: Let me rephrase that. It's not Lieutenant Johnson's email account on his home computer, but he could have opened an account on another computer. GIBBS: Under an assumed name. KATE: Anybody can. But why would somebody with a top security clearance have an email account under an assumed name? GIBBS: What if I wanted to get into that account? KATE: Get a search warrant for the servers. GIBBS: We don't have time for a warrant. What's a quicker way? KATE: Hack into the servers. (BEAT) I can't believe I just said that. I would have never suggested that before I started working here. GIBBS: You're welcome. Get McGee over here. Have him work with Abby. Tell him to do whatever it takes to get that information. KATE: I... are you sure we need to do that? GIBBS: Do you have a problem with McGee? KATE: Not me. GIBBS: Well then tell him to get his butt over here! When you're done with that, we're going to pay a visit to Father Clannon. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. CHURCH - DAY (DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES) CLANNON: I guess I was more persuasive than I thought. KATE: Actually, I'm here in an official capacity, not to go to confession. CLANNON: Well, you can always kill two birds with one stone. I'm hearing them in fifteen minutes. KATE: You should be in sales. CLANNON: I am. KATE: This is Special Agent Gibbs. CLANNON: I think I saw you at Denise's house. GIBBS: Yeah. CLANNON: Welcome to Saint Matthews. GIBBS: Thank you. Do you mind if we ask a few questions about Lieutenant Johnson? CLANNON: No, please. Go right ahead. GIBBS: His death wasn't an accident. Someone switched a piece of his equipment with an inferior version. KATE: That's what broke when he was repelling down the cliff. GIBBS: Did Lieutenant Johnson ever tell you anything that might be able to help us? CLANNON: Rick and I talked about many things. As a priest I can't break the seal of confession. GIBBS: So he confessed something you can't talk about? CLANNON: No, I didn't... I didn't say that. GIBBS: Okay. Okay. What about the two phone calls he made to you just before he died? CLANNON: Were you in the service, Agent Gibbs? GIBBS: Marines. CLANNON: Semer fidelis. Always faithful. That was your motto, your code? GIBBS: Yes, it is. CLANNON: And did you ever have circumstances that allowed you to turn your back on that code? KATE: I guess there's no way we could phrase the question to allow you to answer it? CLANNON: No, there's not. Are you sure you won't stick around? KATE: Maybe next time. CLANNON: Very good.(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS LIGHTS A CANDLE) KATE: Who was that for? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. NCIS LAB - DAY MCGEE: Abby? ABBY: McGee? MCGEE: Gibbs said you need my help. ABBY: I don't need your help. He just asked you to help me. MCGEE: Okay, what am I helping you do? ABBY: Hack into ISP servers. We have to get into an e-mail account and download the activity. MCGEE: What are we looking for? ABBY: Just anything that's hinky. MCGEE: Why do you use that word? ABBY: What word? MCGEE: Hinky. It's a made up word. ABBY: All words are made up words. MCGEE: Well I think it's stupid. ABBY: Well maybe I shouldn't say anything then. MCGEE: Fine. ABBY: Fine. MCGEE: Good. ABBY: Great. (MUSIC OVER ACTION/ABBY AND MCGEE WORK ON THEIR LAPTOPS) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY (DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES) KRAMER: Is there any reason why you couldn't do this at Little Creek? GIBBS: Evidence pertinent to the investigation is all here. KRAMER: Okay. GIBBS: Okay. KRAMER: Oh, turn that off. We're not taping this. TONY: Go ahead. Shut it down. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INTERROGATION ROOM GIBBS: Your future in the Navy is clear. You don't have one. The question is, do you have any future at all? (FILTERED) You don't have anything to say? VENGAL: Didn't hear a question in there, Sir. GIBBS: Well, okay then, Petty Officer. Here's a question. Why did you lie about taking your wife to the doctor? VENGAL: I did take my wife to the doctor. She's pregnant. GIBBS: I'm talking about April twenty eighth. You remember that date? VENGAL: No, Sir. GIBBS: Well, here. Let me refresh your memory. You were late for a squad meeting. Your excuse was taking your wife to the doctor. Lieutenant Johnson wrote you up. (BEAT) Want to reconsider your answer? VENGAL: I went to see a doctor off base for a medical problem. GIBBS: What sort of medical problem? VENGAL: Inner ear infection. GIBBS: They would have yanked you from the mission if they knew that. VENGAL: I could have worked through it. GIBBS: Yeah. Maybe. But you would have been putting everyone else at risk. VENGAL: I had it under control. GIBBS: What happened on the cliff? VENGAL: I told you what happened. GIBBS: Your track record for the truth is unimpressive. VENGAL: We were inserted by Huey... [SCENE_BREAK] EXT. CLIFF NIGHT - FLASHBACK VENGAL: (V.O.) We secured our ropes. Went down in pairs. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INTERROGATION ROOM VENGAL: Lieutenant Johnson's D-link snapped. End of story.(INSERT FLASHBACK SCENE) GIBBS: You had access to Lieutenant Johnson's gear. VENGAL: So did everyone in the unit. GIBBS: Yeah, but you were the only one that Johnson was writing up. He wasn't recommending you for promotion. He made multiple page thirteen entries that only you knew about. VENGAL: Why would I kill Lieutenant Johnson? If he dies the whole squad's off the mission. I risked my career so I could stay on the mission. (MUSIC OUT) MUSIC IN: INT. HANGAR - NIGHT (SFX: PLANE TAKES OFF B.G.) KRAMER: (INTO PHONE) Gibbs, Kramer. (V.O.) What's the status? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - NIGHT GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) No change. KRAMER: (V.O./FILTERED) The team's in the air. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HANGAR - NIGHT KRAMER: (V.O.) Touchdown is scheduled in eight hours. If we don't have a definitive answer by then, the mission is scrubbed. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - NIGHT GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) That's not going to happen. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HANGAR - NIGHT KRAMER: (INTO PHONE) Well, I hope you're right. It's a hostage rescue situation. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - NIGHT KRAMER: (V.O./FILTERED) Opportunities like this don't come along very often. (HANGS UP PHONE) (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS) GIBBS: All right. Let's pretend we don't know anything. TONY: That's not much of a stretch. GIBBS: Let's start from the beginning. KATE: Someone substituted a phony D-link for Lieutenant Johnson's real one. GIBBS: When? TONY: They had the rappelling exercise two weeks before without a problem. GIBBS: It was in that two week window. KATE: Well, nine days out of the two week period they were in isolation. GIBBS: If someone outside the unit pulled the switch, they had a five day period to do it. Who had the best opportunity? KATE: The wife. GIBBS: What about the best friend - Clannon? KATE: Gibbs, he's a priest! GIBBS: Yeah, so? KATE: Okay, he had opportunity, but no motive. GIBBS: That we know of. What was the wife's motive? TONY: Well, they were sleeping in different bedrooms would indicate they were arguing about something. You know something about that. (BEAT) Sorry, boss. GIBBS: Who had the skill to make a D-link? KATE: The wife made metal jewelry. She could make a D-link. GIBBS: The wife wasn't having an affair with someone at the jewelry store? A jealous husband? KATE: Our investigation indicates nothing like that. GIBBS: Financial? TONY: Normal. GIBBS: Motive, method, opportunity. The wife had all three. DUCKY: Ice cream's here! TONY: Thank god! I'm starving! (BEAT) I can wait. GIBBS: Duck, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night. DUCKY: How could I be at home in my warm and comfortable bed knowing my brethren were here toiling away in the name of national security? GIBBS: Couldn't sleep, huh? DUCKY: Not a wink. GIBBS: Neighbors again? DUCKY: Or as I like to refer to them, the devil's spawn. GIBBS: Well, it's good to see you, Duck. We could use a new pair of eyes around here. DUCKY: I'm afraid the freshness date on my eyes expired a while back. However, I do have corrective lenses. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. NCIS LAB - NIGHT MCGEE: Any luck with the port scan?(MUSIC B.G.) ABBY: Still trying to find an opening. MCGEE: Are you going after the sockets or the firewall itself? ABBY: The firewall. You? MCGEE: Connected. Trying to authenticate. ABBY: A-P-G or keystroke capture? MCGEE: I tried A-P-G but the admin had limits on how many times you could go in. ABBY: How are you going to cover your tracks? MCGEE: I'm putting in a program bot which will call another host infected with a similar bot... ABBY: And so on and so on and so on... MCGEE: Until it reaches the remote. ABBY: And afterwards it'll self destruct? MCGEE: Yeah, but before it does, the bot knows what files to delete from the host system so it can delete the logs. ABBY AND MCGEE: (IN UNISON) I'm sorry. MCGEE: Go ahead. ABBY: No, you go ahead. MCGEE: I'm sorry that I got upset with you. ABBY: It's okay. I understand. You're insecure. MCGEE: You think I'm insecure? ABBY: Well, in a cute way. MCGEE: I'm not - I'm not insecure. What makes you think I'm insecure? ABBY: Oh, that whole "where's our relationship going" thing. MCGEE: So it's insecure to want to know the status of your relationship when one of the people in that relationship can't accurately communicate her feelings? ABBY: Yes! MCGEE: Okay, I guess my poem didn't mean anything then. ABBY: Oh, no. I loved your poem! MCGEE: You did? ABBY: Of course I did! MCGEE: Which part did you like? ABBY: All of it. MCGEE: Even the finger snaps? ABBY: Especially the finger snaps. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - NIGHT GIBBS: Looks like we're back to square one. DUCKY: I don't seem to have been much help. GIBBS: Well that's okay, Duck. DiNozzo there sure enjoyed the ice cream. DUCKY: Well, if I have any brain storms... GIBBS: Yeah, we'll be here. KATE: I wish I had a better idea of how all this repelling stuff worked. Then it might be easier to figure out what happened. TONY: I have... kind of a crazy idea. KATE: Hmm. Those are never comforting words coming from you. (LONG BEAT) What?! (PASSAGE OF TIME) KATE: No! No way! GIBBS: You'll do fine. Push this down and clamp it onto your harness like that. You're ready to go. KATE: Okay, remind me. This is going to help us solve the case again, because...? TONY: It's fun? GIBBS: You want to understand what happened. This is how you understand.(SFX: ELECTRIC LIFT B.G.) (KATE WHIMPERS) KATE: Okay. TONY: You used to protect the President? GIBBS: You'd better check your harness. You're up. How's that feel? KATE: Uh... it's like I'm about to throw up. GIBBS: Face me. DiNozzo, you're on belay. TONY: Don't worry, Kate. I've got your back. KATE: Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, Tony. GIBBS: Guide hand. Right here. Break hand. If you want to stop, clamp down on this and put your thumb right at the center of your butt. TONY: All set down here, boss. GIBBS: Remember what I told you. KATE: Todd on rappel! TONY: DiNozzo on belay! GIBBS: Are you ready? KATE: You know, Gibbs, I kind of think I've got the gist of it now. It's fine-- GIBBS: You're doing great.(GIBBS PUSHES KATE FROM THE LIFT) (KATE SCREAMS) TONY: See? Now you know what it feels like. (PAUSE)(SFX: ELECTRIC LIFT B.G.) TONY: What? KATE: The fake D-link is lighter than the real one. TONY: Okay. KATE: Johnson was an experienced climber. Why didn't he notice the difference? GIBBS: Get out of that. We have less than an hour. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. NCIS LAB - NIGHT ABBY: No. No, you have to change the bit to on.(MUSIC B.G.) MCGEE: I know, I know. ABBY: Embed the bios then flash the bios. MCGEE: We can have it runaway into memory and link everywhere on the system from there. Even if they kill it in memory. ABBY: They'll have to take it one step further and kill it in bios. MCGEE: Yes, we are kicking ass. ABBY: Yes, we are. Can't you type any faster? MCGEE: Not unless I grow another hand. ABBY: Here, let me. (ABBY TYPES) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. GARAGE - DAY (GIBBS WALKS ACROSS THE GARAGE) GIBBS: Right here in front of us the whole time. TONY: Lathe, vice, acetylene torch. KATE: Everything you need to make a D-link.(SFX: PHONE RINGS) GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Yeah, Gibbs. You got the emails? What did they say? Love letters? To who? (TO TONY AND KATE) Abby and McGee cracked Johnson's secret e-mail account. We got our answer. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. JOHNSON LIVING ROOM - DAY DENISE: I suspected something a couple years ago. I'm not sure what I saw, it's not the type of thing a woman thinks about her husband. GIBBS: How did you find out? DENISE: Two weeks ago Rick told me he was going quail hunting for the weekend, which wasn't unusual except... GIBBS: You knew that it wasn't quail hunting season. DENISE: I knew. He had once told me about a GPS device the SEALs use for surveillance. I bought something similar online and I hid it in his car. [SCENE_BREAK] EXT. STREET - NIGHT - FLASHBACK DENISE: (V.O.) He drove to downtown Baltimore. His car didn't move for two days. I saw Rick come out with him. They hugged. He watched Rick leave....waved goodbye. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. JOHNSON LIVING ROOM - DAY DENISE: You want to hear something funny? I was hoping it was another woman. KATE: What happened after that? DENISE: I confronted him. He didn't try to deny it. I guess he felt relieved. He said he had an e-mail account and that's how he communicated with his - I told him he had to make a choice. GIBBS: Why didn't you tell us that? DENISE: I didn't want to embarrass his friends, his family. Rick was very religious. And I was hoping that didn't have anything to do with his death. GIBBS: Yeah, but you knew it did. DENISE: Yeah. I saw him working on his D-link. Rick dedicated his life to the Navy. Five generations of his family have served honorably. But maybe if I hadn't confronted him... I wake up every morning and I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror. I mean, why couldn't he tell me? (SFX: PHONE RINGS) GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Yeah, Gibbs. KRAMER: (V.O./FILTERED) We're ten minutes from touchdown. We need an answer. GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) It was suicide. You're good to go. (SOBS B.G.) KRAMER: (V.O./FILTERED) Thank you, Agent Gibbs. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. CHURCH - MORNING KATE: I enjoyed your sermon. CLANNON: Because I worked in Mel Gibson? KATE: It didn't hurt. I realized that in the midst of all the things that were going on, I never got to tell you how sorry I was for your loss. CLANNON: He was the best man I have ever known. I just... I tried to help him believe in who he was - and that may not be within church doctrine - but I believe it's God's love. I feel like I failed him. KATE: You didn't. CLANNON: How can you know? KATE: I have faith. (MUSIC OUT)
A Weak Link