All hell breaks loose at the NCIS office when Tony opens a mysterious letter containing a small puff of white powder which may be a deadly bacteria. The whole office is put into lockdown and quarantined, leaving only the lab and autopsy operational. Kate and Tony are isolated into a bio-hazard isolation room while McGee and Gibbs are forced to seal themselves in hazmat suits to be able to help. The letter inside tells them that there is a cure, but in order get the cure before a 32-hour time window expires, NCIS must re-investigate an unsolved rape case from four years earlier where all the prime suspects (navy academy seniors) were cleared by DNA. As the time window ticks away, and it becomes clear that one person is infected, Gibbs must find those responsible before he loses one of his agents.
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY TONY: Wow. What'd you do? Spend the night sake-bombing? KATE: It's a cold, Tony. Sake-bombing? TONY: Oh, come on, Kate. Don't tell me you've never heard of sake-bombing? KATE: Would I ask if - forget it. I don't want to know. TONY: You take a cup of hot sake. You drop it in a beer. You toss it back and - and KA-BOOM! KATE: Sake-bombing. TONY: Great for a cold. KATE: I'll stick to honey and hot tea, thanks. TONY: McGee, Kate's never been sake-bombing. MCGEE: You know, I don't think I have either. TONY: I work with a pair of w*nk*rs. GIBBS: And you make three, DiNozzo. TONY: Good morning, Boss! KATE: Good morning. GIBBS: Cold or flu? KATE: Just plain cold. Don't worry. I will sneeze into my tissues, unlike some people. TONY: I have allergies, Kate. GIBBS: Never had allergies. Never had a cold. KATE: You never had a cold? GIBBS: Nope. Never had the flu either. KATE: Why do I believe that? TONY: If you were a bug, would you attack Gibbs? MCGEE: I get colds all the time. TONY: Of course you do, Probie. MCGEE: This one is just addressed to "NCIS Special Agent." TONY: I think that's mine, McGee. Huh? MCGEE: How do you know? TONY: I recognize the lips. And the scent. KATE: Gummy Bears?(TONY OPENS THE ENVELOPE AND BLOWS) (FADE OUT) (THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES / CREDITS AND OUT) MUSIC IN: INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY (SFX: GIBBS WHISTLES) GIBBS: We've opened a letter with white powder. Use the southeast corridor to the holding room. You all know the drill. KATE: Tony! (INTO PHONE) Letter opened in Special Agent Gibbs's office dispersed a fine white powder. Initiating bio-attack procedures. Third floor is evacuating. GIBBS: McGee, are you up on procedures? MCGEE: Yeah, we shower, burn our clothes, get our blood tested. Nobody leaves the building until the substance is identified except... TONY: Lucky me! I win a free trip to Bethesda to be pricked like a pin cushion. KATE: They've shut down the air. Let's hit the showers, Tony! TONY: Thought you'd never ask. Sorry, Boss. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. SHOWERS - DAY SOUND OF WATER OVER DIALOGUE TONY: Who would send me a letter with anthrax? KATE: Pick a girl, Tony. Any girl. TONY: It's not funny, Kate. KATE: Yeah, I know. TONY: This is serious. KATE: I know, Tony. I'm sorry. TONY: This very instant somebody is incinerating my Ermenegildo Zegna suit, my Armani tie, my Dolce Gabbana shirt, and my Gucci shoes! MCGEE: You know, it might not be anthrax. TONY: I like the sound of that, Probie. MCGEE: It could be small pox, bubonic plague, cholera... TONY: Probie! MCGEE: Foot powder, face powder, talcum powder. TONY: Honey Dust! MCGEE: Honey Dust? TONY: Honey Dust. I give it to girls - women, sorry, Kate. I give it to women at Christmastime. Very sensuous. You apply it with a feather. KATE: You don't use the whole chicken? MCGEE: I never heard of Honey Dust. KATE: Yeah, that's because your mother raised you to respect women, McGee. GIBBS: It makes a women's skin feel silky smooth. When kissed, it tastes like honey. (V.O.) Got a box of Honey Dust last Christmas. No card. TONY: Ah, I think the post office screwed up, Boss. Someone else got your bottle of Jack and you got the-- KATE: Hey! Doesn't the post office irradiate our mail? MCGEE: Yeah, that's right. All Federal mail is funneled through the Ion Beam facility in Bridgeport, New Jersey. If it has DNA, it dies. TONY: The diseases that you named, they have DNA? MCGEE: They do. KATE: Ah, you should have let him squirm. TONY: Ha ha! Then it's no worries. GIBBS: Unless the post office screwed up again.(SHOWER OUT) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY (MUSIC OVER ACTION/MEN IN SUITS/ CLEAN AND VACUUM) (SFX: ELEVATOR DINGS/DOORS SLIDE OPEN) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY GIBBS: You should have given the letter to me, McGee. MCGEE: I know, Boss. KATE: It's not McGee's fault. Tony snatched it out of his hand. TONY: So now it's my bad? MCGEE: You did grab it, Tony. TONY: Lame excuse, Probie. You should have stopped me. DUCKY: Where do you think you're going? GIBBS: To find out who sent the letter. DUCKY: Ah ah ah ah ah. You cannot leave autopsy. It's negative pressure so airborne pathogens can't contaminate the rest of the building. GIBBS: Ducky, I have been scrubbed, sanitized, for all I know, sterilized! I have an investigation to open! DUCKY: I have a possible contagion to contain. Until your blood test clears you, I cannot permit you to leave this room. (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) PARAMEDIC: Who opened the envelope? TONY: He did. MCGEE: No no no! It wasn't me! TONY: Just kidding. I'm your pin cushion. PARAMEDIC: Did you inhale any powder? TONY: I might have. DUCKY: We took blood. Jimmy? JIMMY: Yeah. Four blood vials on ice to go. (KATE SNEEZES) KATE: It's a cold. I had it before I came in this morning. DUCKY: Which makes you even more susceptible to airborne pathogens. You should go in the hospital, too. KATE: Oh, no! GIBBS: Kate, play it safe. Go with Tony. KATE: That's safe? How long are we going to have to stay in isolation? PARAMEDIC: At least overnight. TONY: Can we have double beds because I hate it when you get that crease when you push the two-- (GIBBS WHACKS TONY) TONY: If I get anthrax, how will you feel? GIBBS: Not as bad as you, DiNozzo. PARAMEDIC: Let's go. KATE: I'm warning you, DiNozzo. TONY: Yeah? KATE: I do not feel well. TONY: You need to relax. You need a foot massage. KATE: I don't want you anywhere near my feet. I don't want you touching my feet. TONY: You don't feel well and-- (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN/ CLOSED) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LAB - DAY (MUSIC PLAYS B.G.) (MUSIC OVER ACTION/ ABBY SAMPLES THE ENVELOPE AND PERFORMS TESTS) ABBY: So how long to Atlanta? LIEUTENANT: Less than an hour. Your music's sweet. ABBY: So are you. Hoo! Talk to Mama. GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) I didn't take you for the cheerleader type, Abby. ABBY: Oh, I'm not. Grammy taught me that.(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS) (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) She was an Olympic swimmer. Won the Silver in the two hundred meter butterfly. (SCENE CUT) JIMMY: What does swimming have to do... (SCENE CUT) JIMMY: (ON MONITOR) ...with cartwheeling? ABBY: Nothing. (SCENE CUT) JIMMY: I don't understand. MCGEE: You can't think logically with Abby. Her mind operates like a pachinko machine. GIBBS: What was the powder, Abby? (SCENE CUT) ABBY: White. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) With a hint of tan. GIBBS: Abs! ABBY: (ON MONITOR) Well, it's all I know until my baby speaks to me. I'm auto-sampling for anthrax, botulism... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: .... Plague, cholera, all those nasty little bio-buggers. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: How long? ABBY: (ON MONITOR) A couple hours. GIBBS: I thought you said these tests were fast. ABBY: (ON MONITOR) It's not a pregnancy test, Gibbs. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION HALLWAY - DAY TONY: You should drink more water. KATE: Tony. TONY: Your urine's too dark. KATE: I have a cold. I can't believe you're commenting on my - eeugh! DOCTOR PITT: Neither can I. Doctor Brad Pitt. Yes, it's my real name and no we're not related. I wish we were. I'd love to meet Angelina Jolie. (KATE LAUGHS) TONY: If I said what he said you would... elbow me. (TONY/ KATE AND PITT WALK TO THE ISOLATION CUBE) DOCTOR PITT: Well, it's not The Four Seasons, but let's hope you're not here long. (SFX: WHOOSH) KATE: Negative pressure? DOCTOR PITT: Mm-hmm. Air can flow in, but not out. I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Emma Ingham, your duty nurse for tonight. EMMA: Hi, guys. How are you? DOCTOR PITT: As a precaution, I'm starting your prophylaxis with streptomycin. KATE: Prophylaxis is a measure taken for the prevention of disease, Tony. TONY: That's why I use them. (SFX: EMMA LAUGHS) KATE: Oh, you don't want to encourage him, Lieutenant. EMMA: Sorry. Um... take any beds you want, you guys. TONY: Thank you, Nurse Emma. DOCTOR PITT: But it's prudent to keep some separation in case one of you has been infected. KATE: Thank you, Doctor! DOCTOR PITT: Brad. We're informal here. KATE: Kate. TONY: Are these things sunlamps, Brad? DOCTOR PITT: U.V. Kills the bacteria in the air, although I can arrange for a sunlamp if you wish. TONY: Oh, not for me. It's for Kate. KATE: What? TONY: Yeah, a little nude sunbathing might get rid of those tan lines. KATE: Doctor, could you put him to sleep, please? TONY: 'Bye Nurse Emma. EMMA: Bye. (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) GIBBS: (V.O.) Swak? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY ABBY: It's sealed with a kiss, Gibbs.(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS) (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) Didn't you ever get a love letter? GIBBS: Does a Dear John count? (SCENE CUT) ABBY: Ah. I feel sorry for you, Gibbs. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Is there a return address? (SCENE CUT) ABBY: Twenty seven Old Mill Bottom Road... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) Annapolis, Maryland. GIBBS: McGee, you got that? MCGEE: Got it. I just wish I had my PDA. GIBBS: Use Ducky's. JIMMY: Uh... uh... Agent Gibbs, Sir, Doctor Mallard doesn't have... GIBBS: Requisition replacement cell phones and weapons for my team. Go! JIMMY: Pistols? GIBBS: Well no, Palmer. Crossbows if you think they might work better. (TO ABBY) Cancelled stamp? ABBY: (ON MONITOR) Noon yesterday, Annapolis. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) Open it! ABBY: Normally I'd request a please, but... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) ...Considering the situation. MCGEE: Boss, I can't find Ducky's PDA. GIBBS: McGee, it's a pad and a pencil!(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INNER LAB - DAY DUCKY: Oh, beautiful calligraphy. ABBY: Beautiful paper. It must be thirty two pound cotton rag. GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) Abby, does that mean you can trace it? ABBY: The water mark will tell me where it was made... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) ... When it was made, and who sold it. The person that sent this... may as well have signed it. (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: You know, there was a time when every young woman of breeding was taught calligraphy. (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: (ON MONITOR) My mother still tries, but her hand shakes so that... (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: ...Even I can't read all her missives. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Can you read this missive, Ducky? (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: Oh, yes. It's perfectly legible. ABBY: Um... I think he means read it out loud. DUCKY: Oh, sorry. Of course. Uh...(READS) "If you are reading this and have not initiated biological attack procedures, I suggest you do so immediately." (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: (ON MONITOR) "Since the powder dispersed by opening this envelope contains genetically altered..." (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: "...Y. pestis. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Which is Latin for what? (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: Plague! (MUSIC UP AND OUT) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY GIBBS: The powder in that envelope carries bubonic plague? (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: Pneumonic is more likely. GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) There's more than one? DUCKY: Oh, there are three, actually. But pneumonic is by far the most dangerous since it can be spread simply by breathing the Y. pestis particles. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Tony must have breathed in some of them. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: It may not be alive. Y. pestis needs a host or moisture for it to survive more than a few hours. (SCENE CUT) MCGEE: Plus it was irradiated when it went through the mail, Boss. GIBBS: I got a Honey Dust for Christmas, McGee. ABBY: (ON MONITOR) I'll narrow my test to pneumonic Y. pestis. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: If I can isolate the strain, then Bethesda can hit it with a specific antibiotic. (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: Yeah, well that may not help. It says here, "I have genetically altered the Y. pestis to render it impervious to antimicrobials. ABBY: That bitch! She created a strain that... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR)... Antibiotics can't whack. GIBBS: Ducky, give Bethesda a heads up. DUCKY: (ON MONITOR) Right. GIBBS: A swak does not mean that this bitch couldn't be a b*st*rd! (SCENE CUT) ABBY: You're so right, Gibbs. I have this friend who's a transvestite. Her lips could outswak Angelina Jolie's. Remember, McGee? You met her at my birthday party. (SCENE CUT) MCGEE: Yeah, the low-cut red dress with a built-in plastic-- (GIBBS WHACKS MCGEE) (SCENE CUT) ABBY: I saw that, Gibbs. GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) Read, or you'll feel it. ABBY: Not while you're down there. GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) What?! ABBY: However, there is an antidote. She made a magic bullet. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) "Which if administered within thirty two hours of infection, will eradicate the disease." (SCENE CUT) ABBY: "To procure the antidote, NCIS must make public the true results reported in... (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (READS ON MONITOR) ... "Dossier R-Zero Three Seven Seven. GIBBS: McGee, pull up the file. MCGEE: Yep, Romeo Zero Three Seven Seven. On it, Boss. GIBBS: Is that it? (SCENE CUT) ABBY: That's all she wrote. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) It's guilded inside. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: I can see the swak through - uh-oh. We have a moisture strip in here. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Yeah, keeping the bug alive until the letter is opened. ABBY: (ON MONITOR) I'm afraid so, Gibbs. GIBBS: Check the cancelled stamp, Abs! (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) One way to get around postal irradiation - to not use the post office. (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) DUCKY: I spoke with a Doctor Brad Pitt. ABBY: You're kidding. DUCKY: No, that's his name. He made a point to stress that he is not related in any way to the actor. ABBY: Hey, did you hear when Brad and Jen split up? GIBBS: (ON MONITOR) Abby! ABBY: Gibbs, I can't until I can put this under a microscope. And I can't do that until NCID gives me approval to irradiate. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: Okay, which will be when? ABBY: (ON MONITOR) The Navy is sending a sample to Atlanta. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: It should be there... well, now. (SCENE CUT) ABBY: (ON MONITOR) And then it'll be twelve hours for DNA confirmation. GIBBS: Ducky, what's the incubation period? DUCKY: (ON MONITOR) A day at most. GIBBS: How long until it kills? DUCKY: (ON MONITOR) Well, not very long, I'm afraid. In the fourteenth century, the novelist Boccaccio wrote... (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: ... That plague victims had lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise. (SCENE CUT) GIBBS: McGee, where's the file? MCGEE: Boss, I cannot access it from-- GIBBS: Ducky! We're coming up! (SCENE CUT) DUCKY: We've already been through this, Gibbs! You can't! (END INTERCUTS) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM (SFX: TONY SNAPS HIS FINGERS) TONY: You know what this feels like? KATE: I'm afraid to ask. TONY: Like I'm the king of cool. KATE: Elvis? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM TONY: (FILTERED) Elvis was the king of rock and roll. Travolta is the king of cool. (EMMA GIGGLES) KATE: (V.O./FILTERED) Well thanks for the clarification. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM TONY: And do you know why I feel like Travolta? KATE: I feel a movie coming on. TONY: The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Travolta plays this boy born with an immune deficiency. This is before AIDS. He lives in this giant plastic bubble. KATE: Tony. Tony, please. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY KATE: (FILTERED) We're stuck here together. Can we just make a pact? Until we're out... [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM KATE: I won't make fun of all the stupid things you say and you won't tell me any more film scenarios. Deal? TONY: Deal. KATE: Thank you. TONY: Emma. EMMA: (FILTERED) Yes? TONY: You may find this of interest. You look pretty without the mask, by the way. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Ralph Bellamy plays the doctor. Ralph Bellomy was this... [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM TONY: ... Great old time actor. He was in "His Girl Friday" with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LAB - DAY DUCKY: I cannot believe that Gibbs broke protocol! (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) ABBY: He didn't. DUCKY: He left autopsy. ABBY: But not isolation. GIBBS: McGee, MCGEE: Yeah. GIBBS: You use Abby's computer to access that case file! MCGEE: On it. GIBBS: Okay. Abby, pull surveillance videos from the squad room. Everything from twenty three hundred last night when I left until McGee came in this morning. ABBY: You've got to get a life, Gibbs. GIBBS: The last thing I need is another wife. ABBY: Life. You've got to get a life. MCGEE: Boss! Boss, I found the file. It's a rape case. GIBBS: Get the investigating agent down here. MCGEE: I can't. It was Pacci. (INTERCUT FLASHBACK OF PACCI'S DEATH) GIBBS: Put it up on the plasma, McGee! MCGEE: Okay! GIBBS: Sarah Lowell. Age twenty one. Senior, Vassar. Raped February tenth, oh-one at the Admiral's Bay Hotel in Annapolis. DUCKY: Surely you remember the case, Jethro. The maid found the poor girl naked, tied to the bed two days after she was raped. GIBBS: Duck, contact Cassie Yates in Norfolk. Tell her what happened. I need her help. DUCKY: Yeah, good idea. ABBY: Gibbs! I thought Cassie was working narcotics suppression. GIBBS: Four years ago Cassie was Pacci's probie. ABBY: Oh. GIBBS: The victim was visiting Annapolis to register for an advanced study program at Saint John's. Police had the case for three days before they called us in. ABBY: They found a Navy suspect? GIBBS: A dozen of them. Firsties were partying at the hotel the night of the assault. ABBY: Firsties? GIBBS: Academy seniors. They'd just got their fleet assignments and... are you scanning? ABBY: Gibbs, I can multitask! I can listen to you. I can scan the video. I can rub my tummy and... GIBBS: DNA testing cleared them, closed our investigation. ABBY: But someone wants it reopened. GIBBS: McGee! Call Annapolis P.D. I want their file on this case. DUCKY: I spoke to Cassie. She remembers the case. She'll be here in fifteen minutes. GIBBS: From Norfolk? DUCKY: No, Anacostia. She's working a drug sting. MCGEE: Boss. Boss, I can't call. They're not going to be able to hear me. (BEAT) I'm going to use the computer. ABBY: Gibbs! Look who else doesn't have a life. Tony came back around midnight. GIBBS: He does his best work at night. ABBY: So he tells us. Here's Tony leaving. That's Ben the mailboy. He didn't do it. GIBBS: Why not? ABBY: He's a Vegan. GIBBS: Hitler was a Vegan. ABBY: Hitler was a vegetarian. Big difference. Vegans are so against cruelty they won't even use cosmetics tested on animals. DUCKY: Abigail, could Y. pestis be altered to withstand irradiation? ABBY: No way. Altered or not, it's still a living organism. GIBBS: Could the gilding in the envelope protect it? ABBY: It would have to be at least ten mils thick. This is barely one. Uh-oh. GIBBS: Abby, I do not want to hear any more uh-ohs. ABBY: Sorry. But this swak didn't bleed through. There's another one inside. GIBBS: Get that letter out here where you can examine it! ABBY: Gibbs, I've told you! I have to wait for Atlanta to-- GIBBS: Any doubt it's pneumonic plague? ABBY: No, but... GIBBS: Then no "buts"! Okay? We're losing time. Kill those bugs! Now! [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - NIGHT TONY: Think they really zap bugs? KATE: What? TONY: These blue lights. KATE: Are you serious? TONY: Ever heard of a placebo, Kate? KATE: Tony, placebos are administered for a psychological effect. TONY: Precisely. How do you know these lamps aren't there to make us think they're helping? Hmm? KATE: Maybe because they're there to kill whatever bugs we breathe into the air. TONY: You may have a point. KATE: You're afraid, aren't you? TONY: Kate, come on. Me? Afraid? Have you ever seen me afraid? KATE: Well, not when the danger is something that we can confront. But all we can do here is lie around and hope that we're not infected. TONY: Now who's afraid? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT KATE: (FILTERED) Anyone with half a brain. I take that back. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - NIGHT KATE: You're not afraid. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT DOCTOR PITT: All the blood cultures came back negative except for Special Agent DiNozzo's. (V.O.) He's infected with Y. pestis. (MUSIC OUT) MUSIC IN: INT. SQUAD ROOM - NIGHT (MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAMERA PANS AROUND THE SQUAD ROOM) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LAB GIBBS: Damn it, Abby! How much longer? ABBY: Gibbs! Patience is not your virtue, is it? Look at the plasma. GIBBS: Moldy bread. ABBY: It's a Y. pestis microbe from the powder in the letter. This is the Y. pestis as the human race has known it for a half a millennium. The strain of plague we fight with antibiotics. GIBBS: The one in the letter has blue tips. ABBY: It's been genetically altered to resist antibiotics. You catch that, you're stuck in the Dark Ages, which personally I wouldn't mind until it killed me. GIBBS: This wasn't whipped up in your local meth house. ABBY: No, this took a hot molecular biologist and a big-buck lab to make this bio-weapon. Oh, my baby's calling. I ran a mass spec on the swak. GIBBS: You're analyzing lipstick instead of the letter? ABBY: Well, I figured anyone who's into calligraphy has got to wear esoteric lipstick. And since all lipsticks are tested by the FDA... GIBBS: You'll identify the brand. ABBY: Yeah. If it's as rare as I think it is, I can find out who sold it. GIBBS: Yeah, that's good thinking, Abs. ABBY: What? GIBBS: (LOUDER) Good thinking, Abby! ABBY: I don't know, Gibbs! I can't hear you! It must be the helmet head! Not nice, Gibbs. Not nice. This is weird. All the basics are there - wax, oil, eosin dye, titanium dioxide, but they're in such low levels...(SFX: GIBBS SHOUTS) (SFX: COMPUTER BEEP TONES) ABBY: Whoa! GIBBS: What is that?! ABBY: The reason the Y. pestis survived postal irradiation. Seventy two percent of the lipstick is pure lead. A lead swak on the outside of the envelope. Lead swak in the inside. In between Y. pestis on a moisture pad. This is one smart bitch. CASSIE: Wash your mouth out with purple soap. ABBY: Cassie! Wow, are you suppressing drugs or selling them? CASSIE: I'm working undercover. Everything I'm wearing is confiscated even the La Perla underwear. ABBY: Nice. CASSIE: Gibbs! Is that you playing Tella Tubby? Is this the anthrax letter? ABBY: No, it's not anthrax. It's plague. CASSIE: Thank god. Anthrax scares the hell out of me. May I? ABBY: Yeah. CASSIE: I know this return address. ABBY: Back-tracked it to the Admiral's Bay Hotel, Annapolis, where the girl was raped. DUCKY: Gibbs! Gibbs, all the blood tests came back negative except-- GIBBS: Tony. Get it off --!(GIBBS TEARS HIS SUIT OFF) GIBBS: Is he sick yet? DUCKY: Well, not outwardly. But the doctor says his temperature is elevating. They Y. pestis is attacking his pulmonary system. Hi, Cassie. CASSIE: Hey Ducky. How far are we into this thirty-two hour window? DUCKY: Too far. Tony will begin coughing soon. When his sputum becomes bloody, he'll only have a few hours to live. GIBBS: Abby, get that damn letter out of there! ABBY: I'm getting it. CASSIE: This is too easy, Gibbs. Custom paper and calligraphy that's traceable. A gene-altering bio-attack. GIBBS: Do you know who sent it? CASSIE: No, but I know who they want us to think sent it. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - NIGHT TONY: Bedtime snack, Brad? DOCTOR PITT: Oh, IV drip increases the efficacy of streptomycin. TONY: They teach you efficacy at Harvard Medical? DOCTOR PITT: Michigan. TONY: Can't be. It's too weird. DOCTOR PITT: What, are you a Wolverine, too? TONY: Buckeye! DOCTOR PITT: Wait, you're that DiNozzo? TONY: Yeah. DOCTOR PITT: Ninety-two. Columbus! TONY: We kissed our sisters. DOCTOR PITT: Thirteen-thirteen tie. You broke your leg in the fourth quarter. TONY: You broke my leg in the fourth quarter. (CAMERA ANGLE ON KATE) KATE: Oh, god. They're going to start bonging beers next. EMMA: I don't think so. KATE: Oh, you don't know Tony. He epitomizes sophomoric. EMMA: His blood test came back positive. KATE: Positive? EMMA: You're okay. He's the only one infected. DOCTOR PITT: (V.O.) So you didn't feel like an old man on spring break? TONY: Are you kidding? Co-eds love a mature man who can bong a beer in under six seconds. (LAUGHTER) DOCTOR PITT: Well that leaves me out. TONY: So tell me, Doc. What have I got? DOCTOR PITT: Pneumonic plague. TONY: Plague? (LONG BEAT) Plague. KATE: Yeah, Tony. Plague! Because only you would go off and get a disease from the Dark Ages! TONY: I didn't put plague in the letter. KATE: You opened it! TONY: Yeah, so I opened it. What are you so upset about? It's not like you're lying... KATE: Yeah, that's right, Travolta. I'm infected, too. TONY: Oh, Kate. I'm sorry. KATE: Well, you're going to be sorrier. TONY: No, don't tell me Gibbs got it. KATE: Oh, no, no. Just us. But I am going to make your life hell! TONY: How, it can't be worse than the plague. (BEAT) Maybe it can. (TO DOCTOR PITT) Maybe she can. KATE: I'm warning you, DiNozzo. TONY: You know, I recall a couple of plague flicks. KATE: I'm going to tell Emma all of your dating tricks. TONY: Mmm, Flesh and Blood comes to mind. Paul Verhoeven directed. Rutger Hauer starred. KATE: Tony thinks that speaking Italian turns women on. TONY: Obviously you never saw Jamie Lee Kurtis in A Fish Called Wanda. DOCTOR PITT: Kate... KATE: I know. You want to start my IV. (KATE SNEEZES) TONY: If I catch your cold I'm going to be very pissed. (TO DOCTOR PITT) She'll be okay, right? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INNER LAB - NIGHT (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) GIBBS: Hey, McGee. MCGEE: Yeah. GIBBS: Special Agent Yates needs your computer. MCGEE: Cassie! CASSIE: Hey, McGee. Can I sit in? MCGEE: Yeah, sure. Boss, Cassie and I had parking spaces next to each other at Norfolk. GIBBS: Why are you yelling at me, McGee? MCGEE: So you can hear me through your hel - helmet? GIBBS: The blood tests were negative. (MCGEE TAKES HIS SUIT OFF) MCGEE: Ah, sweet. GIBBS: Not for DiNozzo. MCGEE: Positive? Is he going to be okay? GIBBS: If he isn't, he'll be answering to me. (SFX: RAPID COMPUTER BEEP TONES) CASSIE: Almost there. MCGEE: Ah, no. Cassie, I already downloaded the NCIS report from the rape investigation. CASSIE: My notes are in my training file. I was only a probie, but Pacci had me interview Sarah. GIBBS: Oh, yeah. You're a female, about the same age. Easier to talk to you than it is to a male agent. CASSIE: It didn't help. She didn't remember a thing. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OFFICE - FLASHBACK CASSIE: (V.O.) Traumatic amnesia. Not unusual for rape cases.(BEGIN FLASHBACK SCENES) GIBBS: (V.O.) If she had amnesia, who accused the Midshipman? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. LAB - DAY CASSIE: (V.O.) Her mother. Recognize her? DUCKY: (V.O.) Vaguely familiar. CASSIE: (V.O.) How about in this photo? DUCKY: (V.O.) Good god yes. That photo was on every front page in the world. She was more famous than Hanoi Jane. GIBBS: Blow that up. Get closer on the headband. CASSIE: My god, that's a swak! GIBBS: She a microbiologist? CASSIE: No, but the best in the world work for her. Hanna's CEO of Lowell Pharmaceuticals. GIBBS: McGee, I want a search warrant! MCGEE: On it, Boss. GIBBS: I'll grab a change of clothes and will meet you downstairs in five. Go to Bethesda and keep me updated on Tony's condition. DUCKY: Of course. GIBBS: Find out why Kate hasn't checked in! MCGEE: You got it. JIMMY: I got the phones, but they wouldn't trust me with the weapons. GIBBS: I wouldn't either, Jimmy. (GIBBS WALKS TO THE ELEVATOR) JIMMY: Uh, that's Agent DiNozzo's cell phone, Sir. Gibbs? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - NIGHT DOCTOR PITT: Why are you doing this, Kate? KATE: Damned if I know. But I'm doing it. You're not going to tell Tony. DOCTOR PITT: Well, I've already informed Doctor Mallard you're not infected. KATE: Ducky will understand. Gibbs will be the problem. DOCTOR PITT: No. The problem is that Tony can infect you. KATE: What with all the UV lights and air scrubbers, or are they just here for patient morale? DOCTOR PITT: I cannot permit you to stay. This strain has been genetically altered to resist antibiotics. Do you realize what that means? KATE: That the IV in Tony's arm is useless. So why do it? DOCTOR PITT: Well, it can't hurt. And it gives him... KATE: Hope. TONY: Kate, tell Doctor Brad about that wet t-shirt contest you won. KATE: Tell Emma about the transsexual you tongued. TONY: That never happened. (EMMA LAUGHS) TONY: That never happened. (SFX: TONY COUGHS) TONY: Thanks for passing along the cold, Kate. (FADE OUT) MUSIC IN: INT. BUILDING LOBBY - DAY CASSIE: How do you want to handle this? GIBBS: Subtle approach. You serve the warrant. I'll shove my Sig in her face. CASSIE: Gibbs, Hanna Lowell has been arrested at more protests than Jesse Jackson. She won't be intimidated. GIBBS: Okay, then I'll shoot her and I'll go after whoever made the damn bug for her. CASSIE: You're not going to kill her. GIBBS: I said shoot, not kill. CASSIE: There are dozens of microbiologists here. It would take days to interrogate them. Tony doesn't have days. GIBBS: Do you know where her office is or should I ask the receptionist? CASSIE: Boss always has the top floor office. GUARD: Excuse me. Excuse me. You have to check-in with the receptionist. Do you have an appointment? GIBBS: No. We have a federal warrant. GUARD: Security alert. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OUTER OFFICE - DAY HANNAH: (V.O.) It's about time you got here. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OFFICE - DAY HANNAH: I left enough cookie crumbs. GIBBS: You left more than cookie crumbs, lady. HANNAH: I regret I resorted to such a dramatic act, but you people at NCIS left me no choice when you lied to protect the Academy. Now, you admit that a Midshipman raped my daughter and this will all be over. CASSIE: The DNA testing cleared... HANNAH: Oh, stop it. I know how easy it is to dope a DNA test. GIBBS: You love dramatic acts. CASSIE: They can be very effective. GIBBS: The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life. CASSIE: That long, hmm? GIBBS: You're dying. CASSIE: Rather rapidly. Which makes incarceration highly unlikely. GIBBS: From the looks of it you want to protect just about every living thing on the planet except for Federal agents. CASSIE: My daughter never recovered from the horror of that weekend. The truth will help her heal. Please! Please, give it to her. You won't get that antidote until that Midshipman comes-- GIBBS: We don't need it. The post office went postal on your plaque. Zapped it right through the lead swak. No one was infected. HANNAH: Oh, I don't believe you. GIBBS: I don't give a damn whether you believe me or not. You are under arrest for a biological attack on a Federal agency. Take her to interrogation. I'll wait here for the task force to arrest the others. CASSIE: You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right... HANNAH: There are no others. I acted alone. GIBBS: You are not a microbiologist. HANNAH: (SHOUTS) I stole the Y. pestis! Doctor Pandy doesn't even know it's missing. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OUTER OFFICE - DAY GIBBS: Doctor Pandy! RECEPTIONIST: What? GIBBS: Where's Doctor Pandy's lab. RECEPTIONIST: North wing, ground floor, B-L-Alpha. But you need authorization to enter the North wing! HANNAH: Someone was infected. I hope it was Westmoreland. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - DAY (SFX: TONY CONTINUES COUGHING) DOCTOR PITT: Lay back, Tony. All right, everybody behind the shield. Tony, I'm going to need you to take a deep breath and hold it. TONY: I don't think I can, Brad. Maybe Emma can do it for me. You have very healthy lungs, Emma. EMMA: Is he always like this? TONY: Unfortunately. Tony's humor has always been sexist, juvenile, raunchy. EMMA: Funny? KATE: Oh, sometimes he can be funny. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. BL-ALPHA ROOM - DAY PANDY: There is no antidote. I developed a vaccine, not an antidote. It's of no use once the victim is infected. Hannah misunderstood. GIBBS: She understood. PANDY: No, it's the brain tumor. GIBBS: That's what's killing her? PANDY: It's inoperable, obviously affecting her mind. Why else would a woman who fought to ban biological weapons use them? GIBBS: I don't know. Why is Lowell Pharmaceutical making them? PANDY: We're not. GIBBS: You didn't create this beast? PANDY: Yes! But only to develop a defense against it. Antibiotic resistant diseases are potential terrorist weapons. GIBBS: A terrorist isn't killing my agent, you are! PANDY: I understand your anger. GIBBS: No, you don't! But if you don't save him, you will. PANDY: It has a suicide gene that stops it from replicating after thirty two hours....as a security precaution. GIBBS: It dies? PANDY: Yes. GIBBS: It's dead now? PANDY: If it's over thirty two hours since the specimen has been infected, all of the Y. pestis is dead. However, the damage will have been done. GIBBS: The specimen is going to die?! PANDY: No. No, not necessarily. He has the same chance of survival as those infected in plagues of the past, probably better since he will be healthy and young. GIBBS: What was the survival rate of the past? PANDY: People were weakened by depleted crops, bad nutrition.. GIBBS: Damn it! What was the survival rate?! PANDY: Fifteen percent. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - DAY DUCKY: It looks like pneumonia.(SFX: TONY COUGHS B.G.) DOCTOR PITT: Worse, I'm afraid. He's showing signs of cyanosis. His fingernails and lips are going blue. DUCKY: The Y. pestis is starving his body of oxygen. It's too late to reverse, isn't it? DOCTOR PITT: It's never too late. DUCKY: Until I get the body. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - DAY TONY: I'm sorry I teased you with all those movies, Kate. KATE: Teased? You've tortured me. For two years all I've heard is John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, James Bond. TONY: James Bond... is a character... played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan. Why are you wearing a mask?(SFX: TONY COUGHS) KATE: Because I have a cold. TONY: (WEAKLY) Why aren't you sick? KATE: Because I'm stronger than you, Tony. TONY: (WEAKLY) Are not. KATE: Am too. (TONY CHOKES/ GAGS) KATE: Tony! Tony! Sit up! DOCTOR PITT: Kate, you should leave. Now! (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) DUCKY: You were brave to stay with him, Kate.(KATE CRIES) KATE: (CRYING) He's dying, Ducky. GIBBS: Ah, the hell he is! [SCENE_BREAK] INT. ISOLATION ROOM - DAY (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) DOCTOR PITT: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who the hell are you? GIBBS: His boss. The bug has a suicide gene. It's dead. It's been dead for over an hour. He's no longer infectious. (WHISPERS TO TONY) Tony, listen to me. Are you listening? TONY: (GASPS WEAKLY) I'm listening. I'm listening, Boss. GIBBS: (WHISPERS) You will not die, you got that? (BEAT) I said, you will not die. (GIBBS HITS TONY) TONY: (WHISPERS) Okay, I got you, Boss. GIBBS: (WHISPERS) Good. It's your new cell. I'd get the number changed. Women keep calling for Spankie. TONY: (WHISPERS) Spankie. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. WAITING ROOM - DAY CASSIE: (V.O.) Will you excuse me? (TO GIBBS) How's Tony? GIBBS: Ah, he'll make it. What happened? CASSIE: Oh, Hanna lost it in the car. Started rambling, flashing peace signs. When she bared her breasts and shouted "Make love not war!" I drove straight here. GIBBS: Sure it wasn't an act? CASSIE: Her neurologist says it's the tumor. He just left. He wants her released into his care. GIBBS: Not likely. He can see her here as much as he wants. Is that Sarah? CASSIE: Just as blank as four years ago. (TO SARAH) Sarah, this is Special Agent Gibbs. SARAH: I am so sorry. I can't believe this. I knew someday Mother would do something terrible. I told her, but she wouldn't believe me. GIBBS: Told her? SARAH: That it wasn't a Midshipman. GIBBS: So you remember who assaulted you? SARAH: No! GIBBS: How do you know it wasn't a Midshipman? SARAH: I... heard they were all cleared. GIBBS: Are you sure you don't remember? SARAH: (LONG BEAT) Yes. CASSIE: You know who raped you, don't you, Sarah? (LONG BEAT) Sarah? (SARAH CRIES) SARAH: (CRYING) I wasn't raped. Will thought it was funny... tying me to the bed. [SCENE_BREAK] INT. HOTEL ROOM - FLASHBACK SARAH: I'd said that the Midshipman looked cute in their uniform. And so when he went out to get us some burgers and shakes, he tied me up so that way I wouldn't run off with one of them. It was a joke! (DIALOGUE OVER MONTAGE OF FLASHBACK SCENES) (FILTERED VOICES B.G.) SARAH: And then when he didn't come back... I started going crazy - first worrying about why and then... and then being found. CASSIE: What happened to him? SARAH: He was killed by a hit-and-run driver crossing the road. CASSIE: Why did you say you were raped? SARAH: I was tied naked to a bed. What else could I tell my mother? [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT KATE: Can I sleep here? DOCTOR PITT: As long as you don't give Tony that cold. (SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) [SCENE_BREAK] INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT EMMA: He's asleep. KATE: Thank you. (SFX: LIGHTS CLICKS OFF) TONY: This reminds me of the end of Alien. (KATE CHUCKLES) (FADE OUT)
SWAK