MUSIC IN:
EXT. ROCK CREEK PARK - DAY
JEREMY: Do you like Mom's new boyfriend?
SEAN: I haven't decided yet.
JEREMY: I like him.
SEAN: You only like him because he bought us PSPs.
JEREMY: So you don't like him?
SEAN: I didn't say that. I'm just saying I wouldn't be too nice to him. We play it cool, an Xbox could be right around the corner. (BEAT) What's up?
JEREMY: It's already March, Sean.
SEAN: It's still frozen. See? Come on. Oh, chicken.
(SFX: CHICKEN CLUCKING)
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/JEREMY RUNS ACROSS THE ICE)
JEREMY: Oh, who's the chicken now?
SEAN: I'm coming!(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
JEREMY: Hurry up or I'm going to tell Mom! Come on, Sean!
SEAN: (GASPS)
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: Apricot oil, aloe vera... shea butter?
ZIVA: I didn't know you were so interested in skin care.
TONY: Yeah, it's not mine. It's McGee's. Maybe the Probie is gay.
MCGEE: I'm not gay, Tony.
ZIVA: Are you saying there's something wrong with being gay, Timothy?
MCGEE: No, that is not what I am saying.
TONY: Bi-curious. I suppose now you're gonna tell us that a lot of your friends are of the homosexual persuasion and that I should be more sensitive.
MCGEE: No, actually, I was going to tell you to stay out of my desk.
TONY: Right, because you wouldn't want word spreading that you're (READING) "Deep moisturizing to bring out your feminine glow."
MCGEE: I have dry skin, okay? My doctor recommended it.
TONY: (LAUGHS) Well, you're walking a slippery slope there, Probilitious. Before you know it you're going to be taking bubble baths with your clogs on.
MCGEE: What is wrong with bubble baths?
GIBBS: Load up. Just got a break in the Ryan Downing case.
ZIVA: Downing?
MCGEE: Weapons Company First Sergeant.
TONY: Went U.A. last November on leave from Iraq. Not a peep since. What's the break, Boss?
GIBBS: Two kids found the First Sergeant floating under six inches of ice.
TONY: Ice? That means...
ZIVA: You're now going to make a really juvenile cold-case joke?
TONY: It was a really good one, too.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. ELEVATOR - DAY
MCGEE: Is something wrong, Boss?
GIBBS: Just admiring your feminine glow.
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE CLOSED)
[SCENE_BREAK]
EXT. PARK - NIGHT
TALBOT: Can't say I'm disappointed this one's yours. We'll leave the lights if you guys return them. We've worked with NCIS before.
GIBBS: What do you got?
DUCKY: Hopefully not pneumonia. That could be the death of me.
GIBBS: I'm talking about the dead guy, Duck.
JIMMY: Technically, paramedics have a saying concerning cold-water drownings, Agent Gibbs. They say the victim isn't dead until he's warm and dead.
DUCKY: I think we can make an exception in this case, Mister Palmer.
GIBBS: Not a drowning. This pond's barely six feet deep.
DUCKY: Yes, I once conducted an autopsy on a man who drowned in his kitchen sink. Yes, apparently he couldn't loosen the drain plug and he attempted to use his teeth.
GIBBS: I thought you were cold, Duck?
DUCKY: Yes, well, it will be impossible to determine the exact cause of death until he thaws. These three holes in his coat could be crucial.
GIBBS: How about time of death?
DUCKY: Yeah, well decomposition suggests well, anywhere from two weeks to...
JIMMY: Four months. Depending on how many times the pond has thawed out this winter.
DUCKY: Very good, Mister Palmer. Of course, I'll have to check the meteorological data for the area before we speculate further. Strap him up.
TONY: I'm just saying, Probie, the whole metrosexual thing isn't working for you.
MCGEE: I got it, Tony. Joke is over.
TONY: I'm not joking, man. We all know that the ladies love a macho man who is in touch with his feminine side. But I've got to tell you, I think you're coming off... a little gay.
ZIVA: Because he uses body lotion and likes to take bubble baths? I--
TONY: Did you forget the manicure?
MCGEE: The manicure was only once and it was because I tore a cuticle.
TONY: You just set off gay-dar across the entire Atlantic seaboard.
MCGEE: Tony, I am not gay!
TONY: This isn't about orientation. This is about image.
ZIVA: So, now your image is homo-pubic?
TONY: The term is "homophobic." And no. Prejudice of any kind is an ugly thing. Listen, girls like guys who like guys but they like guys who like guys who like--
MCGEE: Tony, back it up!
TONY: I know. It's thick soup, man.
MCGEE: The flash light! Back it up!
TONY: What? Tree branch?
GIBBS: Wearing a steel-toed boot?
TONY: Eagle eye, Boss.
GIBBS: Mark it.
ZIVA: Got another one!
TONY: These things always come in threes.
GIBBS: Already got three, DiNozzo.
MCGEE: Make it four!
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(SFX: SNEEZE)
DUCKY: I supposed a "bless you" is too much to ask for.
JIMMY: Oh, bless you, Doctor.
DUCKY: I wasn't talking to you, Mister Palmer. You know, the interesting thing about the sternutatory reflex is that no one knows exactly when it first began. Many theories abound...
GIBBS: And you know them all, don't you, Doctor Mallard?
DUCKY: Know them? I once wrote a sonnet on the subject for an old flame. She suffered from the most horrendous allergies. Yes, how did it go? "Doth thy heart skip a beat when..."
GIBBS: (OVERLAP) I'm not a big fan of poetry, Duck.
DUCKY: Well, as it turned out, neither was she. In fact...
GIBBS: Why am I here?
DUCKY: Why?
GIBBS: Why am I here?
DUCKY: Oh, you were correct earlier on, Jethro. Our First Sergeant didn't drown. None of our bodies did.
JIMMY: They were all shot.
DUCKY: First Sergeant Downing received the most damage. Three in the chest. Here, here, and here. And one to the back, just below the heart.
GIBBS: That's the kill shot.
DUCKY: Yes, well it ruptured his inferior vena cava. As to our walking pictograms, one bullet each.
GIBBS: Are these gang tats?
DUCKY: That's not my field of expertise. But I've had Mister Palmer document the entire line for further investigation.
JIMMY: Some of them were quite um... explicit.
DUCKY: Jethro, this young man was shot in the front, just below the left clavicle. And this young man was shot in the back. This young man... ah... was also shot in the back. Like our First Sergeant. Back, front, front, back. The pattern is quite random. I believe the phrase is turkey shoot.
GIBBS: More like massacre.
TONY: (V.O.) Definitely gang tats.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: How can you be sure?
TONY: Just a feeling. I'm sure you know what those are like, don't you, McGee?
GIBBS: Feeling, DiNozzo?
TONY: That, and I faxed a copy to a buddy at the Baltimore P.D. He's sending me intel that he's got back...
GIBBS: What do you got?
MCGEE: I have got an upper limit on the time frame. (BEAT) It's an ATM receipt. It used to be an ATM receipt. The ink's washed off, but the dimensions matched the receipt paper used by First Sergeant Downing's bank. I checked his records. Last withdrawal November eighteenth.
GIBBS: The day he was reported missing.
TONY: No I.D. on the other three ice cubes yet. But the dredge team did find a weapon. H.P. Browning. Ziva brought it down to Abby.
GIBBS: Brass.
TONY: Nothing. It's pretty far off the beaten track about five hundred meters from the nearest main road. You know what that means.
GIBBS: The bodies were dumped.
MCGEE: By who?
GIBBS: That's a good question, McGee. Why don't you find me an answer?
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. LAB - DAY
ZIVA: Okay, if you slide your heel further back it'll decrease your exposure.
ABBY: Won't that throw off my lateral balance?
ZIVA: Balance isn't usually the primary concern on a mission.
ABBY: What is?
GIBBS: The guy shooting back. Which is what I'm going to start doing if you two don't get back to work.
ABBY: Gibbs, I was the one waiting for you!
GIBBS: What are you waiting for now, Abs?
ABBY: I ran ballistics on the Browning.
ZIVA: Rifling patterns indicate it didn't fire any of the slugs Ducky pulled from the First Sergeant.
ABBY: Thirty nine millimeter Parabellum and a forty five.
ZIVA: Which means Downing was shot by at least two unaccounted for weapons.
GIBBS: I got that part.
ZIVA: The dredge crew is still looking. Hopefully more weapons will turn up.
ABBY: The good news is I matched the Browning to the slugs pulled from the other three victims.
GIBBS: Any prints?
ABBY: No, not by a long shot. And a GSR would be pointless because it's been underwater for so long. But I did run the serial number. The gun is registered to First Sergeant Ryan Downing. Looks like he went down fighting for his life.
ZIVA: Or committed triple homicide.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. MTAC ROOM - DAY
SHEPARD: Jethro.
GIBBS: The three bodies found with First Sergeant Downing ...
SHEPARD: Were killed with his personal weapon. I heard. Where are your glasses?
GIBBS: Oh, I forgot them.
SHEPARD: I don't like what it says either.
GIBBS: First Sergeants don't go looking for this kind of payback.
SHEPARD: You would.
GIBBS: I was only a Gunny.
SHEPARD: The Marine Corps is worried his Company is going to come back from Iraq and look for revenge. It could be a bloodbath. Ah, how do you drink that swill?
GIBBS: How much time do I have?
SHEPARD: They were ordered to return this week.
GIBBS: Were?
SHEPARD:
SHEPARD: The rotation's been held up 'til your investigation's over. They're still in a war zone instead of with their families, Jethro. (CONT.) I don't care if First Sergeant Downing killed those gang bangers. If he didn't, find out who did. If he did, close the case.
GIBBS: They're wrong, Jenny. You do care. MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: Ziva? If I ask you a question, you'll be honest with me, right?
ZIVA: Of course, McGee.
MCGEE: What Tony was saying about me before, you know, do I come off as unmanly?
ZIVA: I think Tony was jerking your brain.
MCGEE: Chain? Jerking my chain?
ZIVA: Whatever. I think you are appropriately masculine. However, perhaps not macho. Tony and Gibbs are tough guys. Yes? They're...
MCGEE: So I'm not tough?
GIBBS: If you have to ask. Are these the other victims?
ZIVA: Alejandro Marquez, Jorge Rubio, and Hector "The Hammer" Menendez. All members of the L.V.M.
MCGEE: L.V.M., Boss, that stands for...
GIBBS: La Vida Mala. El Salvadorean street gang.
ZIVA: Not just a street gang, Gibbs. They have thirty thousand members worldwide. They deal drugs, run guns...
GIBBS: They also hire themselves out as hit men.
ZIVA: Yes. Which is what two of their members were allegedly doing a year ago, when they mistakenly shot a Private First Class ...
GIBBS: Martin Reggio. A Marine from First Sergeant Downing's company. We couldn't prove it.
ZIVA: Downing was on a revenge mission.
GIBBS: First Sergeants don't go on revenge missions, Officer David.
ZIVA: I would. Why not a Marine First Sergeant?
GIBBS: They have more control than you do. Do either one of you have anything new to offer to this?
MCGEE: Yeah, Boss. I think I do. These three here, they weren't just members of LVM. According to the FBI here, they are all Lieutenants in LVMs Manassas chapter.
GIBBS: The boss?
MCGEE: Miguel Sosa.
GIBBS: Why are we standing here?
MCGEE: He's missing. He's been MIA since these three disappeared a few months ago.
GIBBS: Let's go meet his replacement. DiNozzo! Where the hell have you been?
TONY: I come bearing gifts. I spent the night at Rock Creek Park. And I found these when they drained the pond.
ZIVA: Whoa! That's a big one.
GIBBS: Are you expecting an 'atta boy?
TONY: I thought it would be nice.
GIBBS: 'Atta boy.
TONY: I'm just doing my job, Boss.
GIBBS: I know that!
[SCENE_BREAK]
EXT. STREET - DAY
MCGEE: I don't think this is the headquarters of a world wide crime syndicate.(SFX: CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE)
ZIVA: What did you expect, McGee? Corporate headquarters building?
(SFX: MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)
ZIVA: They're all armed.
GIBBS: Keep your eyes open. Spread out. (TO MEMBERS) Who's El Jefe?
CAESAR: You are, Officer.
MCGEE: Hey. We're not local cops. We're Federal Agents.
CAESAR: Federales?
MCGEE: Who's in charge?
CAESAR: In charge? In charge of what?
MCGEE: The Manassas chapter of La Vida Mala.
CAESAR: Inside.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
TOMAS: You're either DEA or Immigration. You're not FBI. They wear suits.
GIBBS: NCIS.
CAESAR: Navy cops.
TOMAS: What'd we do to piss you off? Come on, man. We get blamed for everything these days. Help me out. We steal the Admiral's car?
CAESAR: Or his cazoncillos?(SFX: LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: You killed two Marines. The first in a drive-by shooting. The other in Rock Creek Park.
TOMAS: Take me away. You want one of them instead? Go with the Federales. They need a suspect.
GIBBS: We know who did it.
MCGEE: You can keep those.
GIBBS: Don't look surprised.
TOMAS: I never seen them before.
MCGEE: They used to run your organization.
TOMAS: Organization? (LAUGHS) We're a social club.
GIBBS: You're not El Jefe.
TOMAS: No. Who am I?
GIBBS: El Gordo. (The fat one) See? Nobody laughs at the boss. You have El Jefe give me a call, or I book him the next seat on the flight to Gitmo.
TOMAS: You can't do that. We're not terrorists.
GIBBS: Ziva?
ZIVA: I'll have Tel Aviv produce an intercept between Al Qaeda and this... social club. You want photos?
GIBBS: That would be good.
ZIVA: It might take me twenty-four hours.
GIBBS: Okay. Twenty four hours.
[SCENE_BREAK]
EXT. STREET - DAY
GIBBS: Get a surveillance team on this taco shack.
MCGEE: Actually, it's a pupusa shack, Boss. I'm just saying, tacos are historically associated with...
GIBBS: Ziva, you make sure they're visible. Okay, McGee? You come back here. You pick up anybody who's got a La Vida Mala clown tat.
MCGEE: What for, exactly?
GIBBS: I don't care, McGee. Driving around the block. I don't care, McGee.
MCGEE: Okay, so you want us to shake them up.
ZIVA: If they're worried we're on to something, they start talking to each other.
GIBBS: Get me intercepts on their cell phones, computers, pagers, smoke signals... any way they communicate.
MCGEE: Uh, Boss? How are we going to get a judge to sign off on all that?
ZIVA: Didn't you hear, McGee? La Vida Mala has ties to Al Qaeda.
MCGEE: Well, yeah. But weren't we just saying that to....?
GIBBS: Unbelievable.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
TONY: I heard you rumbled with the Sharks.
ZIVA: The Sharks?
TONY: Yeah. (SNAPS FINGERS) Westside Story?
ZIVA: Yes, McGee was quite impressive.
TONY: Ah, you didn't threaten them, did you?
MCGEE: Sort of.
TONY: I had a buddy on the Baltimore gang unit, did that to the local LVM. They found his head in Crawford Park. Never did find the rest of him. You think I'd lie to you?
GIBBS: Yes.
TONY: To McGee I would lie. Never to you, Sir. Never to you. Look out! Look out!
(SFX: ZIVA LAUGHS)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. LAB - DAY
GIBBS: I hope you've earned this, Abby.
ABBY: Oh, the Director already hooked me up. She wanted an update. But I didn't tell her anything. I swear. She's been on her phone since she got here.
(SFX: GIBBS PUTS THE DRINK IN THE TRASH CAN)
SHEPARD: Oh, that's mature.(BEEPS)
GIBBS: You have something for me?
ABBY: As a matter of fact, I do.
GIBBS: You looking over my shoulder again, Director?
SHEPARD: Why? You feel a little crowded?
GIBBS: Yeah, a little.(BEEPS)
SHEPARD: How's that?
GIBBS: Better.
ABBY: These are the four rounds taken from First Sergeant Downing's body. Three nine-millimeter Parabellum and one forty-five. I matched the forty five to the Colt. That's a no brainer. The nine millimeters are trickier. But I got a definite match on the Beretta and the Tec-Nine. That leaves us with this final round. The runt of the litter. Ducky said it went into the back and lodged in the chest plate.
GIBBS: Kill shot.
ABBY: The rifling was almost stripped. It made it almost impossible to find out which weapon it came from. But I did it.
SHEPARD: Which one was it?
ABBY: Neither.
SHEPARD: We're missing a weapon.
GIBBS: Then we're missing a shooter.
(MUSIC OUT)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. MTAC - DAY
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) I understand you've got a job to do, Agent Gibbs. My Marines have done theirs. It's time for them to come home.
GIBBS: I agree, Captain.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) Well then why is my Company still sitting in Iraq?
GIBBS: You lost two Marines to a Virginia street gang, Skipper. Would you like me to spell it out for you?
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) Headquarters is afraid of reprisals.
GIBBS: Not only Headquarters. PFC Reggio was killed in a drive-by shooting one week before your deployment. Now your First Sergeant turns up dead...?
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) You think First Sergeant Downing was out for revenge?
GIBBS: His body was found in a frozen pond with three dead gang-bangers. His weapon was used to kill them. You tell me, Captain.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) No way. Not his style, Agent Gibbs.
GIBBS: What was he doing back on leave in the States?
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) His father had cancer. Terminal. He wanted a chance to say goodbye.
GIBBS: I hope he got it. He was shot four times. Kill shot was in his back.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) You're a Marine. Do you know any First Sergeants that would leave their men in combat to go chase after some street punks?
GIBBS: No, Skipper. I don't.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) Neither do I. Well, what are you going to do about it?
GIBBS: We're working on the case on this end. As soon as I know, you'll know.
SILVA: (ON MONITOR) Sir!? You people had a year to catch Reggio's killers and didn't do it!!
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) At ease, Lance Corporal Silva.
SILVA: (ON MONITOR) But Sir!
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) At ease, Marine!
SILVA: (ON MONITOR) Sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to...
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) Your watch is over, Marine. We'll talk about this later
SILVA: (ON MONITOR) Yes, Sir.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) I got one hundred and eighty two other Marines wondering the same thing, Agent Gibbs. Don't let them down this time.
(MONITOR OFF)
GIBBS: You looking over my shoulder again, Jen?
SHEPARD: Not exactly. He's right, you know. You can't let them down.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: El Gordo's cell phone again. (SFX: TAPED VOICES IN SPANISH B.G.)
TONY: Probably his Mamacita. For a gangster, this guy leads a pretty boring life.
TONY: Ziva, habla Espanol?
ZIVA: Si. Mucho.
TONY: Oh, bueno. Welcome to the wonderful world of Tomas Zepeda. He's all yours. Kill the speaker phone.
ZIVA: They are exchanging greetings. The plan for lunch. Oh, and a double feature is scheduled.
MCGEE: Movies?
ZIVA: Nope. Two hos are coming over for something called a rainbow party. Rainbow.
TONY: It's tough to translate slang. That's my specialty. I'll take over.
ZIVA: Hey, I know my cholo from my chile. I'll give you the summary. I'll... give you the summary.
TONY: Is that man-lotion working for you there, Probie?
MCGEE: I didn't shave today. I'm trying a new look.
TONY: When you say today, you mean the last couple of minutes or...
MCGEE: Abby seems to like it.
TONY: Like what?
ZIVA: It looks nice, McGee. It's very manly.
TONY: May I?
(TONY RUBS MCGEE'S CHIN)
GIBBS: DiNozzo!
TONY: Hey, boss.
GIBBS: Why are you touching his face?
TONY: I don't know, it feels good, though. It's like a bunny rabbit.
GIBBS: Don't!
TONY: Sorry.
GIBBS: What are the wiretaps telling us?
TONY: Not much. Zepeda, the big guy, U.S. citizen, made five calls today. Twice to his mother, two for food, and one just now concerning...
ZIVA: 'Hos. Slang for...
GIBBS: I know what it's slang for, Ziva.
TONY: The rest of the gang's conversations are even less promising.
ZIVA: The only member we've been unable to listen to is Cesar Bernal.
MCGEE: Almost invisible, Boss.
GIBBS: Almost, McGee?
MCGEE: He never talks on the phone. Only sends and receives text messages.
TONY: Twenty two since yesterday. All of them from Miguel Sosa in San Salvador.
MCGEE: Texts are coded, but it looks as though Sosa's still making the day to day decisions for the gang.
GIBBS: Then Bernal is his number two. Tony, get him in here.
TONY: On it, Boss.
GIBBS: Use your contacts. Find out everything you can about Sosa and what he's doing in El Salvador.
ZIVA: Done.
GIBBS: McGee?
MCGEE: Yeah.
GIBBS: You're trying too hard.
MCGEE: On it.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
GIBBS: Your friend Zepeda's a chump.
CESAR: You're probably right. Zepeda's an idiot. But last I heard, being stupid wasn't illegal.
GIBBS: I'm more interested in who killed my First Sergeant.
CESAR: You're talking to the wrong cholo, Senor. I'm just a small fish. Talk to the jefe.
GIBBS: I would, but I can't type. How about you?
CESAR: Why, do you want to hire me as your secretary or something?
GIBBS: No. No, because I can't pay you as well as your current employer, Miguel Sosa. No, I can't do that. You tell him I want to speak with him.
CESAR: Si. I delivered your Gitmo threat. Sosa said to ask you why you let your people live so far from work. That vato, McGee, and the Israeli chica, all the way out in Silver Spring? A long way, si? What if they need you pronto?
GIBBS: Threatening my people is never a good idea.
CESAR: I'm just the messenger.
GIBBS: A messenger that knows what happened at Rock Creek Park.
CESAR: Estoy muerto if I talk to you.
GIBBS: Estas muerto if you don't.
CESAR: Two Marines called Sosa to help unload captured Iraqi weapons.
GIBBS: Two Marines?
CESAR: Si. He sent our people to do a deal. He figured maybe the Marines would back off or, you know...what happened before.
GIBBS: Who was the other Marine?
CESAR: They don't invite me to these things. I'm just a messenger. I don't know!
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: TONY: Three Marines from the company were on leave at the same time as First Sergeant Downing. Of those three, two were nowhere near D C. Which leaves Lance Corporal Jose Silva. (CONT.) Juvenile record, and suspected pre-Corps gang activity. He was also with PFC Reggio the night he was murdered.
GIBBS: I want him on a plane. Yesterday.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DUCKY WHISTLES)
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
DUCKY: Ah, Timothy. I suppose you're here for the D.O.D.?
MCGEE: Department of Defense?
DUCKY: No no. Date of death.
MCGEE: Yes.
DUCKY: Absence of larvae from airborne insects indicate the bodies were thrown into the water soon after death, and were immersed for months based on the presence of adipocere, otherwise known as mortuary fat.
MCGEE: The First Sergeant was stateside on leave from mid-November.
DUCKY: Yes, well the meteorological reports from the area indicate that the first hard freeze was December ninth. Is that aftershave I smell?
MCGEE: Old Spice. I had to shave mid-day.
DUCKY: Yes, I've heard about your infatuation with ... lotions.
MCGEE: The lotions were for a skin condition.
DUCKY: Oh, it's quite all right, Timothy. Skin care is something we should all take more seriously. In my opinion, there's absolutely nothing gay about it. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
MCGEE: I've heard. Uh... so hard freeze December ninth?
DUCKY: Our key is that the bodies were not frozen inside the ice, but were below it.
MCGEE: So they died after the ninth?
DUCKY: No no no no. No, human bodies sink until the gases created by the internal putrefaction have had time to accumulate.
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
GIBBS: How long does that take?
DUCKY: Under the forecasted weather conditions? Ten to fourteen days.
GIBBS: Bodies went into the water between November twenty fifth and December ninth. Or they would have resurfaced to the top and ice would have formed around them.
DUCKY: Precisely. Have we had any idea what our Marine was doing there yet?
GIBBS: No, Duck. I don't. But we've got to find out in eleven hours and thirty minutes. Hey!
(SFX: GIBBS WHISTLES)
[SCENE_BREAK]
EXT. TARMAC - DAY
GIBBS: How was the flight, Lance Corporal?
SILVA: It was um.... long, Sir. How much trouble am I in?
GIBBS: Trouble? Why would you say that?
SILVA: Four NCIS agents escorting one Lance Corporal?
TONY: You got it all wrong, Marine. She's Mossad.
(SFX: CAR ENGINE STARTS)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. CAR - MOVING
GIBBS: I hope you slept on the plane, Lance Corporal.
TONY: Yeah. It's going to be a long night. You want to get the cash first, or the Iraqi weapons?
(SFX: CAR ACCELERATES)
(SFX: CAR HORN HONKS)
ZIVA: I'm not scaring you, am I?
MCGEE: I'm fine.
SILVA: I don't know what you're talking about, Sir.
TONY: Really? Because you were on leave with First Sergeant Downing, and then you were with PFC Reggio the night he was killed in the drive-by shooting.
SILVA: I can't help a coincidence.
ZIVA: A coincidence, Lance Corporal? Five dead bodies, you're our only link.
(SFX: CAR HORN HONKS)
GIBBS: Your Company, your fellow Marines, are stuck in Iraq until we solve this case.
SILVA: You don't think I know that, Sir?
TONY: He knows, he just doesn't care.
GIBBS: Hey, so you know what? We had a name for guys like you when I was on active duty. Bravo Foxtrot.
TONY: And explicit term for sexual...
SILVA: It wasn't supposed to happen like this.
GIBBS: Like what?
(SFX: CAR ACCELERATES)
SILVA: If a drive-by killing isn't solved right away, the cops forget it. NCIS forgot about it. Private Reggio was my best friend. He died in my arms. I couldn't just let that go, Sir.
TONY: So you decided to turn a quick buck?
SILVA: No. I called Sosa to meet... but not to sell him any weapons. I wanted blood.
GIBBS: And your First Sergeant found out about it.
SILVA: I don't know how. But he did. He yanked my leave and restricted me to base.
GIBBS: And he went to the meeting in your place.
SILVA: He didn't go down there to kill anyone, Sir. He went down there to make peace. To end it. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt. If I could... I'd switch places with him. I would.
GIBBS: Yeah. Yeah, I think you would, Lance Corporal.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - NIGHT
MCGEE: It checks out. Quantico gate log shows that Downing restricted Silva to base on November twenty sixth for the duration of his leave. Lance Corporal Silva wasn't at the pond. He didn't kill anyone.
ZIVA: (INTO PHONE) Thank you. I owe you one, Simon. (TO GIBBS) That was my contact in San Salvador.
GIBBS: He locate Sosa?
ZIVA: No. He's not there.
MCGEE: He has to be. Bernal is texting him there a dozen times a day.
ZIVA: If Simon says he's not in San Salvador, then he's not there, McGee!
GIBBS: He has to be.
ZIVA: Gibbs, I--
GIBBS: If not, we've wasted three days. I am not wasting one more to bring those Marines home. You find him. Now!
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. LAB - NIGHT
ABBY: Men, we are here today for three reasons. One... we can't find Miguel Sosa. Two... I'm not even sure that he exists. And three...
MCGEE: Who are you talking to?
ABBY: You will address me as Sir, Soldier!
MCGEE: Sorry. Who were you talking to, Sir!
ABBY: My army. Major Mass Spec. Captain Comparison Microscope. Ensign....
MCGEE: Isn't an Army rank. It's actually Navy.
ABBY: What do you want, McGee?
MCGEE: To go over the old test messages between Cesar Bernal and his boss, Miguel Sosa.
ABBY: They're in code.
MCGEE: I know, but if we break them, we might find where Sosa's hiding.
ABBY: He's in San Salvador.
MCGEE: Ziva's people say no.
ABBY: Oh, so if Ziva's people say no, then we...
MCGEE: Will you please just run them?
ABBY: Okay.
MCGEE: My Spanish is a little rusty.
ABBY: Mine's not. Okay, in this one they're asking Sosa if they should... wait a minute.
MCGEE: What?
ABBY: It's too long. SMS text messages are limited to a hundred and fifty characters. So that means that...
MCGEE: It means that it was emailed from a computer, not a cell phone.
ABBY: Can you backtrace it to a physical location?
MCGEE: It's just a simple matter of accessing the email-to-SMS gateway, pulling an IP, linking it to an ISP.
ABBY: That's a Virginia address. Ziva's people were right.
MCGEE: Let me see if we can get a name of the account holder.
ABBY: Cesar Bernal? That doesn't make any sense. Why would he send messages to himself?
MCGEE: Because he was pretending he's Miguel Sosa.
ABBY: Okay, but that's stupid. Because Sosa would totally find out and kill Cesar.
MCGEE: Not if Cesar killed him first.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SHEPARD'S OFFICE - NIGHT
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
SHEPARD: Uh-oh! What is this meal going to cost me this time?
GIBBS: It didn't cost you anything last time.
SHEPARD: You mean aside from the thousand extra calories I didn't need?
GIBBS: I can leave.
SHEPARD: I didn't say that. Salvadorean food? How fried. Sit. I'm sorry. Another Marine was injured in Captain Arvidas's group.
GIBBS: I know.
SHEPARD: I heard you found the man responsible for First Sergeant Downing's death.
GIBBS: His name is Cesar Bernal.
SHEPARD: Can you make a case? I knew this meal was going to cost me. Okay, what do you have so far?
GIBBS: Cesar is making a power play for control of his crew. He's been faking orders from Miguel Sosa to the rest of LVM for the last four months.
SHEPARD: And Sosa?
GIBBS: He's dead. It's the only way Cesar could have gotten away with it.
SHEPARD: So First Sergeant Downing wasn't the target. He was Cesar's lure. The real targets were the three LVM Lieutenants. Cesar was taking out the leadership. Do you have any physical evidence?
GIBBS: Nothing linking Cesar to the crime scene.
SHEPARD: Jethro, you're going to need more than motive to get a jury to convict.
GIBBS: Depends on the jury.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
CESAR: This is harassment. When I get out of here, I'm going to get me a fancy lawyer...
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY
(CESAR TALKING B.G.)
CESAR: (FILTERED) ...and shove him all the way up your ...
TONY: Come on, it was just getting good.
ZIVA: Okay, who wants to take him first?
MCGEE: I'm going to take him.
TONY: Oh, no no no no. I got it, Probie.
MCGEE: What, do you think I can't handle this guy?
TONY: Gibbs said keep him on ice. Not show him the warning signs of osteoarthritis.
MCGEE: Tony, I can break this guy.
TONY: You keep cracking your knuckles like that, you're going to break a finger, Probie. I'm senior, I go first.
MCGEE: You are always going to be senior.
GIBBS: That's the nice thing about being senior is that--
(DOOR CLOSES)
ZIVA: Sientate. (Sit down)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
(KNOCK ON TABLE)
ZIVA: Ahora. (Now)
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
CESAR: So I cooperate with you and this is the --
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
CESAR: ... thanks I get? Hauled in like a pescado muerto? (Dead fish)
ZIVA: If by cooperate you mean lie, yes.
CESAR: What did I lie about?
ZIVA: We know you were at the Rock Creek Pond the night of the murders, and we know you've been killing off the LVM leadership to assert control.
CESAR: You must think very highly of me, because the man who can pull off something like that, must be a very smart man. You like smart men, bonita?
(ZIVA HITS CESAR) (SFX: CESAR GASPS)
ZIVA: Sorry. You're not my type.
CESAR: You're playing with fire, bonita.
ZIVA: Is that a threat?
CESAR: No. I'm just saying, my eses get very lonely when I'm not around. And they're not going to be too happy with the one that's keeping me from them.
ZIVA: I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure your eses will find something to do while you're gone.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DRAWER SLIDES OPEN)
DUCKY: The autopsy of First Sergeant Downing revealed four entry wounds. However, of interest is the fact that the three frontal wounds showed no sign of internal hemorrhaging. The shots were fired after First Sergeant Downing was dead.
GIBBS: Each of your buddies ... put a bullet in his corpse.
TOMAS: Your point?
GIBBS: The point is if your buddies each fired a round into the First Sergeant after he was dead, who shot them?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
CESAR: I want to talk to my lawyer.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
MCGEE: No can do, punk.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
CESAR: You've been watching too many cop shows, you know that?
MCGEE: Yeah, well you've been watching too many gang ... person shows.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
TONY: I don't think Probie's been watching enough cop shows.
ZIVA: McGee is a capable interrogator. He can be quite intimidating when he wants to be.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
CESAR: You can't keep me here like this.
MCGEE: Well actually, I can. You see, La Vida Mala has suspected ties to Al Qaeda. So all I have to do is say the word terrorist, and I can keep you in this room until you grow old and die.
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
TONY: That actually was intimidating.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. LAB - DAY
ABBY: We can tell from the rifling patterns that the slugs pulled from your three dead LVMs were from the Browning found at the scene. Nice tat.
TOMAS: Huh?
ABBY: Your Drachenkreuz. The symbol of the ancient Order of the --
GIBBS: Abby.
ABBY: Sorry, Gibbs. Um... the point is that whoever shot your guys used First Sergeant Downing's gun.
GIBBS: He wanted to make it look like our First Sergeant smoked your muchachos.
ABBY: Of course, your crew probably would have only turned their backs to the shooter if it was someone they really trusted.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
(TONY GROANS/ LAUGHS)
CESAR: So like, you don't got no questions for me?
TONY: That's a double negative.
CESAR: Huh?
TONY:
TONY: "Don't got no" is a double negative. It's a non-standard use of two negative words in the same sentence. They cancel each other out and create a positive. Actually, in Shakespeare's day a double negative was used as an emphatic. But now it's just considered a mistake. (CONT.) Oh! I don't know if that's what you intended. Pretty sure it's not. We'll just go with the whole colloquial enigmatic thing. This is hard. I'm pretty sure you meant do I have any questions. And the answer to that question is, I have no questions. I do have some observations, though. Cesar. That's an interesting name. Obviously derived from Cesar. That was a powerful dude. My name's Anthony. My friends call me Tony. Which backwards is "why not." Anyway, in the pecking order, I'm guessing that you're somewhere between the guy that goes out and buys the spray paint that you use for tagging and the guy who digs it out from under your boss' nails.
(CESAR EXCLAIMS IN SPANISH)
CESAR: You don't know who you're messing with. One word from me, and my crew will have you splattered...
TONY: Your crew?
CESAR: Yes.
TONY: Well, that's funny. I thought LVM was Miguel Sosa's crew.
(TONY KNOCKS ON THE WINDOW)
TONY: Interesting.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: MCGEE: Miguel Sosa. Word on the street is he is hiding out in El Salvador. Except the FBI has no record of him leaving the country. (CONT.) Salvadorean authorities have no record of him coming in. So the only trail we have is the SMS text messages he's been sending you. The problem is he hasn't been sending them. El Salvador country code has been falsified.
GIBBS: Someone faked them to make them look like they came from Miguel Sosa.
MCGEE: This message originated from an email account registered to Cesar Bernal.
GIBBS: He killed your boss. Played you for a fool. Us, too. I'll never get a conviction in court with what I have on him. MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
(DOOR OPENS)
TONY: Hey, Boss.
CESAR: Right. I see. You were all trying to throw me off balance. Soften me up for the big guns, eh?
GIBBS: Actually, I didn't know you were still here. Come on, I'll drive you home.
TONY: (WHISPERS) Wear your safety belt!
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SEDAN - NIGHT
CESAR: CESAR: Door to door service. I could get used to this. What's the matter? You pissed because whatever game you tried to play didn't work? You've got a lot to learn about the streets, cabron. Loyalty means everything in our world. Without it, estas muerto. (You're dead) (CONT.) (LONG BEAT) Thanks for the lift.
(SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS)
CESAR: Semper fi.
GIBBS: Goodbye, Cesar.
(SFX: CAR ACCELERATES)
CESAR: (IN SPANISH) Que paso, hermanos? These NCIS pendejos just won't quit, eh? I got a message from Sosa. He thinks we ought to teach them some manners. (BEAT) What?
REPORTER: (V.O.) The victim, a male in his early twenties....
[SCENE_BREAK]
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
REPORTER: (ON TV) ... Was found in this dumpster, shot repeatedly at close range. Police have identified him as Cesar Bernal, a native of El Salvador, and say they believe he has close ties to gang activity in the Manassas area. In fact, police say he--
(SFX: TV CLICKS OFF)
GIBBS: If you don't have enough work to do, I'm sure I can find some.
TONY: Oh, no. I've got a lot of work to do, Boss.
ZIVA: (OVERLAP) Oh, no. There's lots of work.
GIBBS: Good. I'll be in MTAC.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. MTAC - DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
GIBBS: Captain.
ARVIDAS: (ON MONITOR) Agent Gibbs, I hope you have some good news for me.
GIBBS: Bring our boys home.
Plan: A: a frozen pond; Q: Where did two young boys discover the body of a Marine? A: the scene; Q: Where are Gibbs and the team dispatched to investigate? A: high-ranking members; Q: What rank were the three bodies found in the pond? A: a notorious Central American street gang; Q: What is La Vida Mala? A: The team; Q: Who must find out who's responsible for the killings? A: heat; Q: What is the team enduring from the deceased Marine's unit? A: the deceased Marine's unit; Q: Who is being held in Iraq until the case is closed? A: retribution; Q: What do the Marines fear the other Marines might seek? A: text messages; Q: What trail of evidence does Abby and McGee find? A: a shocking truth; Q: What do the text messages reveal? A: their main suspect; Q: Who do Ziva, McGee and Tony take turns interrogating? Summary: While exploring a frozen pond, two young boys discover the body of a Marine in the pond. When Gibbs and the team are dispatched to the scene to investigate, they find three more bodies who are high-ranking members of a notorious Central American street gang, "La Vida Mala" or LVM for short. The team must find out who's responsible for the killings while enduring heat from the deceased Marine's unit who are being held in Iraq until the case is closed, fearing the other Marines might seek retribution. Abby and McGee find a trail of text messages which reveal a shocking truth while Ziva, McGee and Tony take turns interrogating their main suspect.