NCIS (2003–…): Season 1, Episode 22 - A Weak Link - full transcript

(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)

JOHNSON: Put your anchor.

JOHNSON: (ON HEADSET)
Team one, go!

(MEN GRUNTING)

Clear.

Lieutenant, planning on joining us?

On my way.

(SCREAMING)

(MAN EXCLAIMS)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

- Hey.
- Good morning.

- How was your weekend?
- Let's see.

I paid bills, did laundry,
went shopping, vacuumed.

- I bet you don't even own a vacuum.
- I lease.

Okay. So what did you do this weekend

that left that smile
plastered all over your face?

- I watched a great movie.
- Let me guess, a horror flick.

Halloween 8.

I think it's the best Halloween ever.

Makes Halloween 7
look like Halloween 5.

God, I can't even believe they made
one of them, much less eight.

That's got to be
a Men are from Mars thing.

Arianna liked it.

Arianna?
I thought you broke up with her.

- What makes you think that?
- I don't know.

Maybe 'cause you came in the other day
and said, "I broke up with Arianna."

(CHUCKLING) You don't know
much about dating, do you?

Why don't you enlighten me?

Well, there's always one phoney
breakup that precedes the real breakup.

- Everyone knows that.
- Yeah, got it. Thanks.

Grab your gear. Kate, get Ducky.
Tony, gas the truck.

- Where we going?
- With Gibbs, you never know.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

ID.

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs.

- MAN: (ON WALKIE-TALKIE) Clear.
- Okay. Thank you, sir.

- Agent Gibbs.
- Commander Rainer.

SEAL team eight.

- What happened here?
- We were on a training exercise.

Lieutenant Johnson, the team leader,
was rappelling down the cliff

when his D-link snapped.

- You secure the top of the cliff?
- I did.

Is that the rest
of Lieutenant Johnson's squad?

Yes, sir.

Appreciate it if you'd tell them
not to talk to anyone till I talk to them.

Already taken care of, sir.

- What an awful way to die.
- I can think of worse ways to go.

Like what?

Getting eaten by a shark,
being buried alive,

falling into a wood chipper.

You've given this some thought.

- TONY: Yeah. So?
- KATE: Nothing.

Someone moved the body.

After he fell, his squad members
came to his assistance,

see if anything could be done.

Unfortunately, he died on impact.

Yeah, well, that would account
for a few inches,

but someone's moved him
further than that.

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.

Was emptying his pockets
part of the first-aid effort?

The intel was classified.

We removed it
so the body could be transported.

That's SOP under these circumstances.

- GIBBS: DiNozzo.
- Yeah, boss?

Top of the cliff. Shoot and sketch.

Boss, it's a long way up.

DiNozzo, was there something
in my tone of voice

that made that sound like a suggestion?

On it.

Agent Gibbs, I realise you have
an investigation to perform.

From what we can see,

that's pretty obvious
that D-link had a catastrophic failure.

You're right, Commander.
We have an investigation to perform.

What do you got, Duck?

Unfortunately for Lieutenant Johnson,
it appears to be just what it looks like.

Well, eliminates the guesswork.

Is this a common occurrence,
one of these breaking?

I've never seen it happen before.
Doesn't mean it couldn't.

I think we can move him.

Gibbs, I got something.

That a piece of the D-link?

Sure looks like it.

Don't worry, my friend.

We'll get you cleaned up
and presentable,

in a way that honours your service.

Special Agent Gibbs,
Special Agent Todd.

We understand you were
on a training exercise.

ALL: Yes, sir.

What was your mission?

You'll have to talk to the commander
about that, sir.

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.

What was your order?

Vengal and Kenny went first,
then myself and Pinkowski.

We can't believe this happened
to the lieutenant.

After the four of you
began rappelling 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.

I'd like Lieutenant Johnson's
service record

and the personal effects from his locker.

I'll have it in your office
as soon as possible.

ABBY: There's no sign of tampering.

- GIBBS: That's it?
- That's it.

- Then we can put this to bed?
- Not yet.

I e-mailed 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.

Thanks, Abs.

- You okay?
- I'm fine. Why?

You're not your normal, effervescent,
cheerful Abby.

That's because she's been replaced

by the abnormal,
dull and melancholy Abby.

- Something you want to talk about?
- I don't want to bore you.

Who else you gonna tell? Tony?

McGee is all mad at me.

Why? What happened?

(SIGHING) We went to Buzzed.
It's a coffeehouse in Old Town.

- Sunday night's like a poetry night.
- I didn't know you liked poetry.

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."

What'd you say?

"Thanks."

What was I supposed to say?

(LAUGHING) I don't know.

Then he gets, like, all quiet.

And we're leaving and he wants to know
where our relationship is going.

I hate that.
Why do guys have to push the issue?

- Because they're insecure.
- What'd you say?

Well, I said,
"Why does it have to go anywhere?

"Why can't we just enjoy
what's happening now?"

- What'd he say?
- "Fine. Whatever."

Typical passive-aggressive.

I know. I mean, what's next?

We're gonna be watching
Sleepless in Seattle

on a rainy Sunday afternoon?

(GROANING)

- What are you gonna do?
- No, 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.

The official cause of death
was multiple traumatic injuries

but he was in horrible shape, Jethro.

Lower leg fractures, hip fractures,
severe skull fractures.

- I could go on and on...
- No, no need, Duck.

Have you sent the blood up to Abby
for a full tox screen?

Well, that's what you were going to ask,
right?

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.

And?

What kind of a person would I be
if I had this knowledge

and I didn't share it with you?

That's what you were gonna ask, right?
About the tox screen?

(JIMMY COUGHING)

You are late.

I am so sorry, Dr Mallard.
I am so, so sorry.

Don't make me have second thoughts,
Mr Palmer.

Second thoughts, sir?

About you coming to work full-time
as my assistant.

It will never happen again, Doctor.
I promise.

- It was an extremely unusual situation.
- They always are.

You see, I was in the shower
and the doorbell rang,

but I didn't know it at the time.

- That you were in the shower?
- No, that it was the doorbell.

See, my head cold
in combination with my tinnitus

made me think that
it was the kitchen timer.

- How very unusual.
- Yeah, so I spent several minutes

trying to figure out what it was
I had finished cooking

and by the time I realised
that it was the front door,

I'd almost forgotten I'd taken a shower.

(JIMMY COUGHING)

(JIMMY SNIFFLING)

It'll never happen again.

- Who was there?
- Where?

- At the door?
- I didn't answer it.

I hope this won't become a habit,
Mr Palmer.

- No, see, I always answer my door.
- I was referring to you being late.

Does this mean I have a job?

Any prints
beside Lieutenant Johnson's?

I got a partial that isn't his.

Run it through AFIS. And any other
database you can think of.

- Done and done.
- GIBBS: What else you got for me, Abs?

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.

Is all this necessary?

If I just came right out
and told you what I found,

you would be bored.

What'd you find?

The chemical composition of the oxide
isn't the same.

Couldn't that just be
from two different production batches?

Possibly.

- I'm sensing a "but."
- You are correct, O 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.

They're not the same.

That's because one is steel
and the other is 66-3T6 aluminium.

So the manufacturer makes the D-link
in both metals?

Actually, they don't.

- Then how do you explain that?
- Easy.

Someone handmade a D-link
out of a much weaker metal

and then swapped it
with Lieutenant Johnson's real one.

- It wasn't an accident.
- Nope.

It looks like murder.

(DOG BARKING)

GIBBS: I know this is a difficult time.

KATE: When your husband
brought his gear home,

where did he keep it?

Usually in the garage.
Sometimes he'd leave it in the car.

He ever bring it in the house?

Why?

Someone may have tampered
with his equipment.

Tampered?

Why would anybody do that?

(DOORBELL RINGING)

Hi.

(DENISE SIGHING)

I keep expecting him
to walk through that door.

(CRYING)

I'm so sorry.

Take a look around, Kate.

Tony, let's check out the garage.

TONY: Whoa!

GIBBS: Nice car.

It's not just a car, boss.

This is a '66 Mustang.
Revolutionary in its day.

You're not going to start giving me
all the vital stats on this car, are you?

Thunderball...

Let me rephrase that, DiNozzo.

You're not going to give me
the vital stats on this car.

If someone was gonna 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.

Yeah, yeah, it does seem that way.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

- I'm sorry.
- My fault.

No, hi. Hi, Larry Clannon.

Kate Todd.

Why, I thought I knew
most of Rick's friends. I...

Actually, I'm with NCIS.
We're investigating his death.

I thought it was an accident.

Still need to investigate.

- Right.
- How do you know Rick?

Oh, God, we've been friends, well...
We were friends since high school.

We played football together,
got in trouble together. We...

(CLANNON SIGHING)

I can't imagine life without him.

Hello, Father.

Hi, Edna.

(CLEARING THROAT)

I'm a priest

at St Matthews.

(BOTH LAUGH)

Why no collar?

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.

How so?

Well, when I was 19,
I was in a motorcycle accident.

A priest with a motorcycle.
Sounds like a TV show.

Right. 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 doctors said that if I came out of it

I would end up in a vegetative state,
but...

- It was a miracle.
- Not according to Rick.

Rick said it was because he had juice
with the man upstairs.

You should come by church sometime.

Yeah, I get a cash bonus
for every person past a certain number.

You do?

Wow!

(CHUCKLING)

I'm sorry, I'm not used to a priest
with a sense of humour.

Right.

Well, the times, they are a-changing.

They certainly are.

(MAN CHATTERING
ON P.A. SYSTEM)

Who had access to your climbing gear?

That depends.

Lines and harnesses
are usually kept in a rope locker.

- What about D-links?
- Not a controlled item.

Most of my men take their personal gear
like that home with them.

Anyone in the unit
could've had access to Johnson's?

I suppose so.

How many men
in your unit, Commander?

That information's classified,
Agent Gibbs.

- MAN: Commander Rainer.
- I'll be right back.

(CHATTERING)

Enough ammo here
to take over a small country.

How small?

(IMITATING DRUM ROLL)

Open it up.

(HELICOPTER HOVERING)

I appreciate that you have a job to do.

As far as we're concerned,
this was a training accident.

What if I was to tell you it wasn't?

I was there, Agent Gibbs.
I saw Johnson's D-link.

It was broken.

What you saw was a fake.

Someone substituted
Lieutenant Johnson's D-link

with one made from inferior metal.

Metal that was designed to fail.

- Sergeant.
- Sir.

- Security badges.
- Yes, sir.

RAINER: Anything you see or hear

is to be 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.

I will tell you it's absolutely vital
to national security.

KATE: Not much help
in a murder investigation.

Well, it's the best I can do.
I got a backup team waiting.

If there's someone deliberately trying
to sabotage this mission,

I need to know.

Get Admiral Barnes on a secure line.

Tell him Task Force X-ray
may have been compromised.

Yes, sir.

Who else knew Johnson
was going to be rappelling last night?

No one outside this unit.

My men have been in total isolation
for the past 10 days,

no contact with the outside world.

Any security breaches?

One Petty Officer made
a few unauthorised calls to his wife.

- He was in Johnson's squad?
- He was.

Petty Officer Vengal.

Lieutenant Johnson counselled him
on following orders.

- What kind of a sailor is Vengal?
- Young, headstrong.

- Likes to be the centre of attention.
- Basically, a SEAL.

Johnson rode him pretty hard,
but that was his job.

I'll need to talk to him,

as well as anyone else
on Johnson's team.

Not a problem. They're no longer
the primary team on the mission.

What's our time frame here?

We're inside a 38-hour window.

If you don't find out what happened
by then, we scrub the mission.

Tony, get with whoever's in charge
of the climbing gear.

I want every rope,
D-link and harness checked.

You got it, boss.

FOLSOM: I'll escort Agent DiNozzo.
Bravo Team's bunked in here.

How'd you get along with
your lieutenant, Petty Officer Vengal?

He was a good SEAL, sir.

But you didn't like him.

- We had different styles, ma'am.
- His style was to ride your ass.

Yes, sir.

- Why'd you breach security?
- Excuse me, sir?

You called your wife.

Why?

She's pregnant.
I wanted to check up on her, ma'am.

I checked your service record.
Lieutenant Johnson wrote you up

for an unauthorised absence
two weeks ago.

I had to take my wife to the doctor.

Why are you asking me
about the lieutenant?

Because we're looking for the man
who murdered him.

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.

Agent Gibbs.

Agent Kramer, CIA.
Is there someplace we can talk?

Yeah.

How about right here?

Whatever you say to me,
you can say to my team.

Okay.

Your investigation
into Lieutenant Johnson's death

is very important to us.

Yeah? Why's that?

The SEALs are part
of a multiagency task force

that's been training
for a very specific mission.

Which you're not going to tell me about.

Well, you'd have to be read into the
programme and we don't have the time.

And you think that someone
inside this task force

tampered with Johnson's equipment.

I'm very concerned.

There's an initial vetting process
for SEALs.

And for this mission,
they were further vetted by the CIA.

If they've gone through all that...

Then we're dealing with someone
who's very clever.

In 34 hours,
a C-141 will be fuelled 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
as long as you do the same.

- Sure. Sounds good to me.
- Let me give you this.

- Abs, what's up?
- Something very unexpected.

He's okay.

I ran the print off Johnson's D-link
through the military database.

No match.

Yeah, what's the unexpected part?

When I ran it through
the criminal database, I got a hit.

- Anyone we know?
- Absolutely.

Lieutenant Johnson's wife.

She was 18 when she was arrested
for joyriding.

Joyriding. Sounds so much better
than grand theft auto.

There's something almost spiritual
about it.

She said she didn't know
the car was stolen.

Her boyfriend said he borrowed it
from a friend.

The old blame-it-on-the-boyfriend
excuse. One of the classics.

- That's usually who is to blame.
- Anything else?

- I was saving the best for last.
- Why?

Denise Johnson works
at a jewellery store.

She makes custom metal jewellery.

And yesterday when I was in the den
I saw some things

that made it seem like Johnson
may have been sleeping in there.

- What kind of things?
- Alarm clock, pillow, blanket.

Something's really been bothering me.
What kind of sick and twisted logic

makes you think the boyfriend
is always to blame, huh?

Could we just have a minute?

Of course my fingerprints
were on there.

I mean, you'd find my fingerprints
on almost anything Rick owned

except maybe his hunting rifles.

We had to ask.

You're not married, are you,
Agent Todd?

No.

Well, a lot of husbands leave a trail
when they come home.

I was constantly picking up after him.

How was your relationship
with your husband?

It was fine.

He wasn't sleeping in the den?

We had our problems,
like any married couple.

- What were they?
- None of your business.

I'm sorry if we upset you.

What were you expecting?

You come into my home
and basically accuse me

of having something to do
with my husband's death.

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.

Did your husband have a computer?

We have a laptop.

- Her explanation made sense.
- Doesn't mean she isn't guilty.

Do you honestly think
she had anything to do with it?

I've seen a single mother
drown her children

because her new boyfriend
didn't like them.

Nothing surprises me.

Interesting how she pegged you
for unmarried.

TONY: Here's a page 13
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.

- It's not in Vengal's service report.
- 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."

Also not in his service report.

So, how can that be?

Rainer said Johnson rode Vengal
pretty hard.

My guess is that was part
of his carrot-and-stick approach.

He wrote the page 13,
showed it to Vengal.

- But never formally filed it.
- So if the guy cleaned up his act,

then Johnson would just toss
the page 13 like it never existed.

Okay, why did Johnson include
the counselling sheet he wrote

when Vengal was late?

That's just a slap on the wrist.
Page 13 is serious.

Anything else?

No. Paid the bills,
sent e-mails to friends, normal stuff.

(KATE CHATTERING ON PHONE)

- Thank you very much, Doctor.
- You seem bothered.

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.
- Get Vengal in here.

Boss, I'm not sure those guys
are going to let...

- Convince him, Tony.
- Okay.

I was down in the evidence locker
looking for a fingerprint kit

and this started vibrating.

- Freaked me out.
- Thanks, Abs.

Thanks, Abs.

Lieutenant Johnson got a text message.

"Why weren't you there?"

Who sent it?

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.

- English, 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.

What's the weird part?

The e-mail account
that this was forwarded from

- That's not Johnson's e-mail address.
- You're sure?

Let me rephrase that.

It's not Lieutenant Johnson's
e-mail account on his home computer.

But he could've opened an account
on another computer.

- Under an assumed name?
- Anybody can.

But why would somebody
with a top security clearance

have an e-mail account
under an assumed name?

What if I wanted
to get into that account?

Get a search warrant for the servers.

We don't have time for a warrant.
What's a quicker way?

Hack into the servers.

I can't believe I just said that.

I would've never suggested that
before I started working here.

You're welcome.

Get McGee over here.
Have him work with Abby.

Tell him to do whatever it takes
to get that information.

I...

- Are you sure we need to do that?
- You have a problem with McGee?

Not me.

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.

(CLANNON CHATTERING)

I guess I was more persuasive
than I thought.

Actually, I'm here in an official capacity,
not to go to confession.

Well, you can always kill two birds
with one stone.

I'm hearing them in 15 minutes.

- (CHUCKLES) You should be in sales.
- I am.

This is Special Agent Gibbs.

- Hi, I think I saw you at Denise's house.
- Yeah.

- Welcome to St Matthews.
- Thank you.

Do you mind if we ask you a few
questions about Lieutenant Johnson?

No. Please, go right ahead.

His death wasn't an accident.

Someone switched a piece of his
equipment with an inferior version.

That's what broke
when he was rappelling down the cliff.

Lieutenant Johnson ever tell you
anything that might be able to help us?

Rick and I talked about many things.

As a priest,
I can't break the seal of confession.

So he confessed something
you can't talk about.

- No, I didn't say that.
- Okay, okay.

What about the two phone calls
he made to you just before he died?

Were you in the service, Agent Gibbs?

Marines.

Semper Fidelis. Always faithful.

- That was your motto, your code?
- Yes, it is.

And did you ever have circumstances

that allowed you
to turn your back on that code?

I guess there's no way we could phrase
the question to allow you to answer it.

No, there's not.

Are you sure you won't stick around?

Maybe next time.

Very good.

Thanks.

(CLANNON CHATTERING)

Who was that for?

Abby.

McGee.

- Gibbs said you needed my help.
- I don't need your help.

- He just asked you to help me.
- Okay. What am I helping you do?

Hack into ISP servers.

We have to get into an e-mail account
and download the activity.

- What are we looking for?
- Just anything that's hinky.

Why do you use that word?

- What word?
- Hinky. It's a made-up word.

- All words are made-up words.
- Well, I think it's stupid.

Well, maybe I shouldn't
say anything then.

- Fine.
- Fine.

- Good.
- Great.

Is there any reason
why you couldn't do this at Little Creek?

Evidence pertinent to the investigation
is all here.

Okay.

Okay.

Turn that off. We're not taping this.

Go ahead. Shut it down.

Your future in the Navy is clear.
You don't have one.

The question is,
do you have any future at all?

You don't have anything to say?

VENGAL: Didn't hear
a question in there, sir.

Well, okay, then, Petty Officer,
here's a question.

Why did you lie about taking your wife
to the doctor?

I do take my wife to the doctor.
She's pregnant.

I'm talking about April 28.

- You remember that date?
- No, sir.

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.

Want to reconsider your answer?

I went to see a doctor off base
for a medical problem.

- What sort of medical problem?
- Inner ear infection.

They would've yanked you
from the mission if they knew that.

- Could've worked through it.
- Yeah, maybe.

But you would have been putting
everyone else at risk.

- I had it under control.
- What happened on the cliff?

I told you what happened.

Your track record for the truth
is unimpressive.

We were inserted by Huey.

We secured our ropes,
went down in pairs.

Lieutenant Johnson's D-link snapped.

(SCREAMING)

End of story.

You had access
to Lieutenant Johnson's gear?

So did everyone in the unit.

Yeah, but you were the only one
that Johnson was writing up.

He wasn't recommending you
for promotion.

He made multiple page 13 entries
that only you knew about.

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.

Gibbs, Kramer. What's the status?

- No change.
- Team's in the air.

Touchdown is scheduled in eight hours.

If we don't have a definitive answer
by then, the mission is scrubbed.

That's not gonna happen.

Well, I hope you're right.

It's a hostage rescue situation.

Opportunities like this
don't come along very often.

(SIGHING)

All right.

Let's pretend we don't know anything.

- Not much of a stretch.
- Start from the beginning.

Someone substituted a phoney D-link
for Lieutenant Johnson's real one.

GIBBS: When?

They had a rappelling exercise
two weeks before without a problem.

It was in that two-week window.

Well, nine days out of the two-week
period, they were in isolation.

If someone outside the unit
pulled the switch,

they had a five-day period to do it.

Who had the best opportunity?

- The wife.
- What about the best friend, Clannon?

- Gibbs, he's a priest.
- Yeah. So?

(SCOFFS) Okay, he had opportunity,
but no motive.

That we know of.
What was the wife's motive?

Well, they were sleeping
in different bedrooms.

Would indicate they were arguing
about something.

You know something about that.

Sorry, boss.

Who had the skill to make a D-link?

The wife made metal jewellery.
She could make a D-link.

Wife wasn't having an affair
with someone at the jewellery store?

Jealous husband?

Our investigation
indicates nothing like that.

- Financial?
- Normal.

Motive, method, opportunity.
The wife had all three.

DUCKY: Ice cream's here.

Thank God! I'm starving.

I can wait.

Duck, what are you doing here?
It's the middle of the night.

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.

Couldn't sleep, huh?

- Not a wink.
- Neighbours again?

Or as I like to refer to them,
the devil's spawn.

Well, it's good to see you, Duck.

We could use a new pair of eyes
around here.

I'm afraid the freshness date
on my eyes expired a while back.

However, I do have corrective lenses.

- Any luck with the port scan?
- Still trying to find an opening.

You going after the sockets
or the firewall itself?

- Firewall. You?
- Connected. Trying to authenticate.

APG or keystroke capture?

I tried APG, but the admin had limits
on how many times you could go in.

How you gonna cover your tracks?

Putting in a programme bot
which will call another host,

infect it with a similar bot...

- And so on and so on and so on.
- Until it reaches the remote.

- And afterwards, it'll self-destruct?
- Yeah, but before it does,

the bot knows what files to delete
from the host system

so it can delete the logs.

- Look, I'm...
- I'm sorry...

- Go ahead.
- No, you go ahead.

(SIGHING)

I'm sorry that I got upset at you.

It's okay. I understand.

You're insecure.

- You think I'm insecure?
- Well, in a cute way.

(SCOFFS)

I'm not insecure.
What makes you think I'm insecure?

That whole, "Where is
our relationship going?" thing.

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?

Yes.

Okay, I guess my poem
didn't mean anything then.

No, I loved your poem.

- You did?
- Of course I did.

- Which part did you like?
- All of it.

Even the finger snaps?

Especially the finger snaps.

GIBBS: Looks like
we're back to square one.

DUCKY: Well, I don't seem to have been
much help.

Well, that's okay, Duck.

DiNozzo there
sure enjoyed the ice cream.

- Well, if I have any brainstorms...
- Yeah, we'll be here.

I wish I had a better idea
of how all this rappelling stuff worked.

You know, might be easier to figure out
what happened.

I have kind of a crazy idea.

Those are never comforting words
coming from you.

What?

- No. No way.
- You'll do fine.

(WHIMPERING)

All right, push this down,
clamp it on to your harness like that.

There you go.

Okay, remind me. This is gonna help us
solve the case again because...

It's fun?

You want to understand what happened.

This is how you understand.

(WHIMPERING) Okay.

You used to protect the President?

I've got to check your harness.

Turn around.

- God.
- How's that feel?

- Like I'm about to throw up.
- Face me.

Through. DiNozzo, you're on belay.

(TONY CHUCKLING)

- Don't worry, Kate. I got your back.
- Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, Tony.

Okay.

Guide hand, right here.

Brake hand.

If you want to stop, clamp down on this.

Put your thumb
right at the centre of your butt.

- All set down here, boss.
- Remember what I told you.

- Todd on rappel.
- DiNozzo on belay.

Are you ready?

You know, Gibbs, I kind of think
I got the gist of it now. It's fine...

(SCREAMING)

(CHUCKLING)

You're doing great.

(SCREAMING)

Cool.

See? Now you know what it feels like.

What?

The fake D-link is lighter
than the real one.

Okay.

Johnson was an experienced climber.
Why didn't he notice the difference?

Get out of that.
We have less than an hour.

ABBY: No, no, you have to change
the bit to "on."

I know, I know.

Embed the BIOS, then flash the BIOS.

We can have it run away into memory
and link everywhere on the system

from there.
Even if they kill it in memory...

They have to take it one step further
and kill it in BIOS.

- Yes, we are kicking ass.
- Yes, we are.

- Can you type any faster?
- Not unless I grow another hand.

Here, let me.

Right here in front of us the whole time.

- Lathe, vise, acetylene torch.
- Everything you need to make a D-link.

Yeah. Gibbs.

You got the e-mails? What'd they say?

Love letters? To who?

Abby and McGee cracked
Johnson's secret e-mail account.

We got our answer.

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.

How did you find out?

Two weeks ago, Rick told me he was
going quail hunting for the weekend.

Which wasn't unusual, except...

You knew that it wasn't
quail hunting season.

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.

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.

You want to hear something funny?

I was hoping it was another woman.

What happened after that?

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.

Why didn't you tell us that?

I didn't want to embarrass his friends,
his family...

I mean, Rick was very religious.

And I was hoping that didn't have
anything to do with his death.

Yeah, but you knew it did.

Yeah.

I saw him working on his D-link.

Rick dedicated his life to the Navy.

Five generations of his family
have served honourably.

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?

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

(DENISE CRYING)

Yeah. Gibbs.

KRAMER: Ten minutes from touchdown.
We need an answer.

It was suicide. You're good to go.

Thank you, Agent Gibbs.

(ORGAN PLAYING)

- See you next week.
- See you next week.

Bye.

- See you next week.
- You bet.

- I enjoyed your sermon.
- Because I worked in Mel Gibson?

It didn't hurt.

I realised 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.

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.

You didn't.

How can you know?

I have faith.