(Black-and-white snapshot of Gibbs in crosshairs of a rifle, gun out, searching)
(View from the top of a crude elevator shaft. A man walks in and the elevator rises. The camera cuts to a view of the back of his head, and we see he is carrying a rifle. The door rises and the camera moves to the front, showing us that this is Ari Aswari. He steps out and looks around before moving off screen right. The shot cuts to Ari running over the rooftop of a building, and we hear gunshots in the distance. Ari kneels down. The camera cuts briefly to show a view of another building rooftop. Ari sets the sniper rifle up and looks through the crosshairs.)
(Through the crosshairs: We see Anthony Dinozzo aiming at a terrorist.)
(View of Dinozzo on the rooftop from a distance.)
(Cut to Ari peering through the scope)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs walks in front of Dinozzo. The crosshairs move quickly to focus on Timothy McGee, kneeling by a car.)
(Cut to Ari's face)
(Crosshairs: McGee ducks just as Ari fires. He scrambles behind the car. The scope moves to show another terrorist firing on McGee.)
(Ari looks up from the scope, almost looking disappointed.)
(A casing is ejected from the chamber.)
(Ari aims the gun again.)
(Crosshairs: View of McGee's head behind the car. The scope moves to a briefcase McGee left in front of the car. A shot is fired; a hole is now in the open briefcase top.)
(Ari empties the chamber again. The casing falls to the ground.)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs fires his gun at something twice.)
(Ari's finger on the trigger.)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs ducks and Kate blocks a shot for him. The focus is now on her.)
(Ari peers through the scope again.)
(Distance shot of the rooftop.)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs running and aiming his gun off screen right. He fires. A terrorist falls.)
(Ari re-aims.)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs runs over to Dinozzo and bends down.)
(Zoom on Ari's face)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs and Dinozzo help Kate up)
(Pan from Ari's face down barrel of gun)
(Crosshairs: Kate turns to Gibbs, on whom the crosshairs are centered.)
(Ari's finger on trigger as he readjusts the gun)
(Crosshairs: Gibbs and Kate talk. Focus moves to Kate)
(Ari's face, then finger on trigger. His finger tightens. A gunshot)
(Crosshairs: Kate's head jerks backwards and she falls to the ground.)
(Ari smiles with satisfaction)
Ari: Sorry, Caitlin.
(Crosshairs: Gibbs moves around, searching for the shooter, gun drawn. He appears to look straight at the crosshairs momentarily before looking away. The picture takes on the snapshot appearance.)
END TEASER
Opening Credits
(B&W: Dinozzo and Abby hugging through rain-streaked window.)
(The morgue is dark, light entering from the hallway. Faint 'dings' as elevator doors open and close. Ducky enters. He hangs up his umbrella and takes off his coat and hat. The doors hiss close. Ducky moves to the slab and opens the body bag on it, revealing Kate, looking as though she is sleeping. He turns the light on and gazes down at her body for a moment. A look of pain and sorry crosses his face, and he looks away with a slight sigh. He takes his glasses off.)
(Shot of Kate's face)
Ducky: Oh, Caitlin. I am so sorry.
(He stares down at her.)
(Shot of Kate)
(Cut to outside the NCIS bullpen. It is raining. Gibbs stares at Kate's empty desk.)
Kate: (off screen) Why me, Gibbs?
(Cut to Kate, standing in the room, bullet hole still obvious on her forehead.)
Kate: (angrily) Wasn't stopping one bullet enough for you?
(Gibbs doesn't reply)
Kate: (shouting) Why did I have to take two?
(Gibbs shakes his head)
Gibbs: I-I don't know.
Kate: (disbelieving) You don't know? Come on, Gibbs. What's that famous gut tell you?
(Gibbs eyes dart back and forth as he searches for an answer)
Kate: (yelling) Why did I die instead of you?
(The elevator door opens. Kate is suddenly gone, leaving Gibbs there alone. Dinozzo and McGee step off the elevator, walking businesslike over towards Gibbs.)
Dinozzo: Found Ari's sniper's nest, Boss.
McGee: Roof of the abandoned office building to the east.
(Tony takes an evidence bag from an inner jacket pocket.)
Dinozzo: Didn't police his brass.
(Gibbs looks up)
(Shot of 3 spent casings in individual jars in the bag.)
(Gibbs circles around his desk and takes the evidence bag from Tony. He holds it under his desk lamp.)
McGee: They're Lapua .308s.
(Tony gives him a look.)
McGee: I-I didn't mean that you couldn't see that, Boss.
Gibbs: (with a shrug) I can't, without my glasses.
(Tony and McGee exchange looks)
Gibbs: (turning back to the evidence) Lapuas. Match-grade sniper ammo. You guys find any bullets?
Dinozzo: Uh, none that matched the casings. I left three guys on the roof searching.
(A beat of silence as Gibbs continues to examine the casings through the bag)
Dinozzo: McGee and I'll go back to the roof, Boss.
(Gibbs hands the bag back to Tony, who flinches, expecting a blow)
Gibbs: Tony, you're soaking wet. Go put some dry clothes on. (He pats Tony on the back)
(Tony stares at Gibbs in disbelief and then looks at McGee.)
(Cut to Gibbs from outside the window)
Gibbs: Ari's rooftop wasn't much higher than ours.
(CGI of bullet leaving the sniper rifle, passing through Kate's head, and continuing on towards, it seems, the viewer.)
(Back to Gibbs)
Gibbs: Rooflines behind were lower. No telling how far a full metal jacket bullet would go after killing Kate.
McGee: (quietly, to Tony) How's he know it's a full metal jacket?
Dinozzo: Didn't you see Kate?
McGee: I didn't want to.
Dinozzo: Her head was intact.
McGee: So...she didn't look bad?
Dinozzo: No. No, not at all, probie. In fact, a little mortuary putty right here... (taps McGee's forehead) and she'll be good as new. Course, she was having a bad hair day, though, right back here, 'cause a full metal jacket'll put a hole the size of a grapefruit right about there...(smacks the back of McGee's head)
McGee: Tony. Please.
Dinozzo: (pats McGee on the shoulder) I'm sorry, kid.
Gibbs: Three rounds? Only one hit?
Dinozzo: He must've popped off a couple of rounds while you were weaving across the roof.
Gibbs: I was standing still when Kate was shot.
Dinozzo: McGee lasered the distance at nearly 600 meters.
McGee: 572.
Dinozzo: Slight shift in the wind, he misses you, he hits Kate.
(Flashback)
(Gibbs on roof, panning gun around. Kate dead on the ground. Focus on an American flag. It is perfectly still.)
(End flashback)
Gibbs: There was no wind.
Dinozzo: What're you saying, he was aiming at Kate? You're the one he wants to kill!
McGee: Ari had a thing for Kate.
Dinozzo: What are you talking about?
McGee: She told me that he was always coming on to her. In autopsy, when he kidnapped her and let her go.
Dinozzo: She never told me that.
McGee: Gee, what a surprise.
Dinozzo: What? (smacks McGee's head) Huh?
Gibbs: Don't do that, Tony.
(Tony looks confused)
(Gibbs examines a hole in a briefcase.)
Gibbs: When was this hit, Tim?
McGee: When I was pinned down.
Gibbs: Ari have a shot at it?
(Flashback)
(McGee behind car. Shots ring out. He scrambles for cover. Flashes of the terrorist. A hole is blown in the briefcase after McGee returns fire.)
(End flashback)
McGee: Our car was between the controller and the terrorist. There was no way he could have hit it. Boss, I'm-I'm sorry, I should have realized it was Ari.
Dinozzo: Why didn't he pop McGee?
McGee: Oh, thanks, Tony.
Dinozzo: All I'm saying is, you're a sizable target. The controller isn't.
McGee: You saying I'm fat?
Dinozzo: No. I mean, maybe a little around the waist, under the chin.
Gibbs: He didn't have an angle on Tim.
Dinozzo: Wow. You owe that shooter from the warehouse a thank you. He saved your life.
Gibbs: (talking through his observations of the controller) The bullet entered here. Could've ricocheted into the car.
McGee: Well, I'll get on it.
Gibbs: Abby should be here by now. Tony, see what you can pull off that brass.
(Gibbs hands Tony the evidence bag. He walks away. The two agents stare after him. Gibbs looks around agitatedly before walking quickly off.)
Gibbs: I'm going for coffee. Can I get you boys some?
(They stare, dumbfounded.)
Dinozzo: No.
McGee: Thanks.
(Gibbs nods and leaves)
Dinozzo: That's a first.
McGee: He called me 'Tim.'
Dinozzo: He patted my back.
McGee: It's kind of nice.
Dinozzo: Nice? I don't want nice. It's not Gibbs if he's nice.
(Tony turns away, leaving McGee standing there)
(Cut to a Hummer driving by a fence in the rain. Gibbs walks along a sidewalk. He stares up at the sky and then looks in both directions and zips up his jacket. He walks by the window of Abby's lab, and we see her inside, head in hands.)
(Cut to Abby, inside lab. She's staring at a caricature of herself as a vampire, complete with fangs and batwings. The camera pans around until we see Kate, with a long platinum blond wig and black lipstick)
Kate: You're a mess, girl. Red eyes, no makeup. If ever there was a time for black lipstick, it's now.
(Abby smiles and wipes a tear away. She picks up black lipstick and begins to apply it)
(Kate comes up in the mirror behind her)
Kate: Remember when we first met? (laughs) I couldn't believe you were a forensic scientist. I thought Goths had bats for pets, or vice versa.
Abby: I really liked you, Kate. A lot.
Kate: Don't start that again. Where're your pigtails. I love you in pigtails. (Abby starts putting them in) That's better. You were persistent, Abs. First the dark lipstick, then the black nail polish. Next thing you know, I have a tat on my bum. Oh, God. Ducky's gonna see it! (she and Abby both laugh) I'm dead, and I'm embarrassed.
(Cut to Tony at the entrance to the lab, listening to Abby laugh)
Dinozzo: Abby.
(Abby stops laughing and looks at him)
Abby: Hey, Tony.
Dinozzo: You okay?
Abby: I will be, soon as I tie up my pigtails. There. What can I do for you? (a beat) What?
Dinozzo: You're weirder than Gibbs.
Abby: How so?
Dinozzo: He's being nice.
Abby: Gibbs is always nice.
Dinozzo: To you and Ducky, maybe, to me...growls at, smacks on the head.
Abby: (rising) Which makes you feel wanted.
Dinozzo: Yeah.
Abby: What d'ya got for me?
(a moment of silence. Tony hands Abby the evidence bag with the 3 casings)
Dinozzo: .308 casings from Ari's sniper's nest.
(He hands the bag to her)
Abby: (exasperated) You would have to give me the most popular caliber in the world.
Dinozzo: Well, hey, I just found them. Can you tell what kind of gun he used?
Abby: (rolls eyes) A .308.
Dinozzo: What model .308?
Abby: You don't know?
Dinozzo: Would I be asking?
Abby: Well, how'm I supposed to know?
Dinozzo: Because you're the firearms expert.
Abby: That I am. (pulls a latex glove from a box) And when I'm done, I will tell you: the propellant, the primer, the percentage of nickel and copper in the brass, whether or not all three rounds were fired from the same weapon, which you assume, but I can prove or disprove. I will tell you who manufactured the ammo, the batch number, and perhaps where it was sold. I will also, with some degree of accuracy, tell you if it was fired from a lever action, a bolt action, a semi-automatic, or an automatic weapon. However, there is no way in hell I can tell you which of the 87 different .308 models fired those rounds!
Dinozzo: The rounds are Lapua.
Abby: What?
Dinozzo: Lapua made the ammo. Logo's on the round.
Abby: (tearfully) Tony, I'm gonna miss her.
(They hug)
Dinozzo: Me, too.
(Crosshairs: Tony's head through rain-streaked window. Focus shifts to Abby and the picture goes to B&W)
END ACT I
(B&W: Gibbs and a woman smile at each other)
(Gibbs walks along sidewalk in the rain, carrying a cup of coffee. His path leads right in front of the windows to Abby's lab.)
(The sound of a bullet whipping past Gibbs' head. He ducks slightly. The bullet shatters the glass in one of the windows. The gunshot rings out. Gibbs drops the coffee and runs.)
(Cut to inside the lab. Tony has knocked Abby down and is lying on top of her.)
Dinozzo: You hit?
Abby: (strained) No. You're heavy.
Dinozzo: (as he gets up) Sorry. (he drags her against a metal lab bench)
(He draws his gun and she feels his leg)
Abby: God, no wonder you're so heavy. Tony, you're all muscle.
Dinozzo: Abby, shh!
Abby: Packing a nice booty, too.
Dinozzo: Hey, is this how you deal with getting shot at?
Abby: I don't know, it's my first time.
Gibbs: (os) Abby!
Tony: Boss, down! (the lights go mostly out, and Gibbs ducks to run towards Tony and Abby) Taking fire.
(Gibbs hits another 2 light switches and ducks)
(Cut to outside. We see a dark SUV. A close-up of the driver's side reveals that the window is down and a sniper is aiming out of it. It is Ari.)
(Crosshairs: Searching for a target, and the lights go out)
(Ari pulls the muzzle back, takes the brass from the chamber and tosses it onto the road. He rolls the window up and drives away.)
(Cut to inside the lab)
Gibbs: (to Abby) You okay?
Abby: Yeah.
Gibbs: Close off Anacostia Park between the bridges. It's a crime scene. (Dinozzo nods and starts to move off, but Gibbs grabs his leg) Hey! What if he has a night-vision scope?
Dinozzo: That's a good point, Boss. (he crawls away)
Gibbs: I will get you bulletproof glass.
Abby: There's no such thing, Gibbs.
Gibbs: Okay. Bullet-resistant glass. (he pulls something from her hair)
Abby: Ari didn't shoot at you and hit Kate by mistake, did he? He's after me now.
Gibbs: I was walking by that window when he fired.
Abby: You're just saying that to make me feel safe.
Gibbs: (pulls her into his arms) I'll keep you safe, Abby. (kisses her head) I promise.
(Cut to morgue. Ducky is writing on a specimen jar. He moves to stare down at Kate's face. Her eyes open and she smiles a bit.)
Kate: I appreciate your keeping me covered in front of the others. Especially Tony.
Ducky: Yes, I know how modest you are.
Kate: (chuckles) Were. I'm dead now, Ducky. Shouldn't be. Could've killed Ari right here, in autopsy.
(Flashback)
(Kate grabs scalpel, threatens Ari, he overpowers her.)
(end flashback)
Ducky: Why did you hesitate?
Kate: His eyes. There was something in his eyes that made me not want to kill him.
Ducky: His eyes were ice to me.
(Sound of the door hissing open)
(Ducky looks back a bit, and covers Kate's face as Gibbs enters.)
Gibbs: Ari fired into Abby's lab.
Ducky: Good Lord.
Gibbs: It had to come from across the river, from Anacostia Park.
Ducky: Was Abigail hurt?
Gibbs: No, she's a little shook up. Tony's with her.
Ducky: In the lab? (walks to opposite end of autopsy)
Gibbs: In the squad room, writing up an incident report.
(Gibbs stares at Kate's covered body on the slab)
Gibbs: You should've brought in another ME, Duck.
Ducky: Couldn't. (approaches with a bottle of alcohol) Not for Caitlin. (pours the spirits into two glasses)
Gibbs: I've lost men in combat. You hope you won't, you know you will.
Ducky: This is different.
Gibbs: But it shouldn't be. Kate was an agent. She knew she had to lay her life on the line. (Ducky starts to say something, but Gibbs keeps talking) But you're right. It's different.
Ducky: Well, you just said it. You've lost men. Have you ever lost a woman? (chuckles) Let's face it, Jethro, you and I are a couple of old chauvinists. Women will never be equal in our eyes until they're equal in death.
Gibbs: Why, Ducky? Why Kate? Why not me?
Ducky: Well, maybe he meant to hit you.
Gibbs: No. No, him sniping at me means he's after my people. Women first.
Ducky: Then he's torturing you. One has to wonder: what made him such a sadist?
Gibbs: I don't give a damn. I just want to kill the b*st*rd.
(Cut to evidence garage. Abby's head is buried in the trunk of a car. She's wearing an orange NCIS jumpsuit)
Abby: Hey, McGee, take a look at this.
(McGee closes a door and places a large piece of metal on the ground before walking around to the back of the car. Abby holds up a casing.)
Abby: I think it's a .308.
(McGee just stares at Abby's butt)
Abby: Stop staring at my butt and get me an evidence jar. (He gets her one)
McGee: Drop it. (She drops it in and he twists the lid shut...only to go back to staring at her butt)
Abby: Oh! I found another one!
(Gibbs is looking over McGee's shoulder now. He turns around quickly)
McGee: Boss, uh, we-we-we found a .308 slug. (Gibbs nods)
(Abby stands up and turns around with another slug in the tweezers in her hand)
Abby: Two. They were plugged in the trunk. (McGee gets another evidence jar and she drop the slug in)
Gibbs: (examining other evidence jars) These fired by that dirt bag in the warehouse?
Abby: Yes. Those I found in the right side of the car. (She points and Gibbs moves to look) .9 mil. slugs.
McGee: (as Gibbs runs his finger around a large hole in the car's side) Ari missed with his first shot, hit the controller with the second.
Gibbs: Where were you before you took cover?
McGee: (moving around the car) Uh, right here. (squats down to demonstrate)
Gibbs: (judging bullet trajectory) Tony's right. You do owe that terrorist a thank you.
(McGee looks at the hole, then away)
(Flashback)
(The terrorist shoots at McGee. He dives for cover behind the trunk. The bullet hole is superimposed over current McGee's forehead)
(End flashback)
(McGee looks at the bullet hole again and stands up.)
Dinozzo: (entering) He didn't police his brass again. Metro PD found a .308 casing in the park next to tire tracks.
Gibbs: And?
Dinozzo: Nothing. I was waiting for you to tell me to tell them to bring the evidence here ASAP.
Gibbs: What, I have to tell you that Dinozzo?
Dinozzo: You always do.
Gibbs: Tell Metro PD to...
Dinozzo: (interrupting) Already did, Boss. (Gibbs gives him a dirty look and gets on the elevator) Oh, and by the way, the director wants to see you up at MTAC. (gives a thumbs up)
(Tony smiles superiorly)
Abby: Why are you baiting Gibbs?
Dinozzo: Trying to get him to stop being nice.
McGee: I like him nice.
(Tony and Abby regard McGee for a beat and then smack him simultaneously on the back of the head)
(Cut to Gibbs entering MTAC. Agents with headsets are staring at monitors depicting an apparently empty road in a desert.)
(Gibbs sits next to the director.)
Director: What do you have?
(as Gibbs and the director talk, the camera pans across the array of screens in MTAC)
Gibbs: Brass from Ari's sniper's next, three bullets, tire tracks in Anacostia Park. Ari fired a shot across the river into our forensics lab.
Director: Unusual for a sniper not to police his brass, isn't it?
Gibbs: Yes, sir.
Director: I've received calls from every director I know promising to hunt down this sniper as if he'd killed one of their own.
Gibbs: FBI might be the most help. Ari Aswari is their mole.
Director: I endorsed your recommendation to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Special Agent Todd.
Gibbs: (nods) Thank you, sir.
Director: According to your after-action report, no one actually saw the sniper who killed Agent Todd.
Gibbs: Ari was on a rooftop 600 meters away.
Director: Extraordinary shot.
Gibbs: No, sir, not really.
Director: You were a sniper with the Corps, weren't you?
Gibbs: Two tours.
Director: Vietnam?
Gibbs: I'm not that old, sir. Panama. Desert Storm.
Director: Thought you were older.
Female Agent: (os) Target vehicle approaching.
Male Agent: (speaking in Hebrew) Acquiring target.
Voice over speakers: We have a hard lock.
Male Agent: Target confirmed. Engage.
Voice over speakers: Weapon free.
(as this was going on, the camera cuts between a view of the screens showing a white van and the people in MTAC.)
Voice over speakers: Good lock on target.
(The crosshairs on the screen run along until they find the vehicle. The van explodes in a ball of fire)
Male Agent: (in Hebrew) Confirming target hit. Thank you very much.
(Agents shake hands and murmur congratulations to each other. Gibbs watches)
Female Agent: (os) Good job, everyone.
Director: Where was I?
Gibbs: Avoiding using Ari's name and the word 'sniper' in the same sentence. Sir.
Director: Your anger is understandable, Jethro. You lost a good agent. You want payback.
Gibbs: Don't you, sir?
Director: That's a passion I can't afford.
Gibbs: You honestly think it wasn't Ari?
Director: No, but there are those who do.
Gibbs: (laughs) Those who ran him? Those who thought they had the Holy Grail of moles? Those people covering their asses right now.
Director: Make sure you cover yours when you bring him in.
Gibbs: Won't be a problem, sir. I won't be bringing him in.
Director: (looks sideways at Gibbs then starts to rise) Anyway, you're not my problem anymore, Jethro.
Gibbs: You firing me, sir?
Director: I've been offered a deputy director's position at Homeland Security.
Gibbs: You'd leave NCIS, sir?
Director: Well, the agency could use some younger blood.
Gibbs: Well, who'd be replacing you, sir? (a smile tugs at the director's lips) Not me.
Director: (laughs) Much as I like you, Jethro, I would not shoot NCIS in the head. (walks away) He's you're problem now, Director.
(A woman stands up and turns around.)
Jennifer Shepard: Hello, Jethro.
(Flashback)
(Flashes of people in bed together, and a brief shot of the Eiffel Tower)
(End flashback)
Shepard: Should we skip the 'You haven't changed a bit' bull?
Gibbs: Why start lying to each other now, Jen?
Shepard: Any problem taking orders from me?
Gibbs: As director, or as a woman?
Shepard: Either.
Gibbs: (shakes head slightly) That was six years ago. (rises) The past won't be a problem. (descends the stairs and looks her in the eye) You were a damn good agent. Especially under cover.
Shepard: Jethro.
Gibbs: Madam Director.
(They smile at each other for a moment before the shot becomes B&W)
END ACT II
(B&W: Ari, sitting in the driver's seat of a car, puts a cell phone down)
(Sheppard and Gibbs emerge from MTAC)
Shepard: You have no physical evidence linking Ari to the shootings, no wonder agencies here and abroad have doubts.
Gibbs: This b*st*rd already killed one of my people, he's trying to kill more, and I'll tell you something else: No suit with a tight sphincter is getting in my way, and that includes you, Jen.
(He continues down the stairs, but she stop at the top of the steps)
Shepard: Special Agent Gibbs. (he turns and walks back up to her) On the job, it is 'Director Sheppard' or 'Ma'am.'
Gibbs: Okay, what about off the job?
Shepard: There won't be any 'off the job,' Agent Gibbs.
Gibbs: That's too bad. I missed you, Jen.
Shepard: Don't make this difficult, Jethro.
Gibbs: (short nod) Fair enough. Won't happen again. Director. (she walks down the stairs in front of him)
Shepard: We will continue with this conversation in private.
Gibbs: Gotta change my clothes, we can talk in my car on the way to the house.
Shepard: Gibbs!
Gibbs: Hey, I got a dead agent, and a sniper on the loose. I do not have ten minutes to spare. Tony. Where are we?
Dinozzo: McGee and Abby are working firearms analysis. I'm matching tire tracks to vehicles. (he peers at Sheppard from over the photograph he is looking at)
Gibbs: No one is to leave the building. McGee's on protection detail with Abby. I'll be back in an hour.
(Tony peers around the side of his desk at Sheppard's legs as she and Gibbs head for the elevator. He smiles wolfishly.)
Kate: (os) Your mother should have washed your mind out with soap.(she is dressed as a Catholic school girl, with an exceptionally short skirt) Gibbs leaves with a woman, and your only thought is "Nooner."
Dinozzo: Was not.
Kate: Was, too. I've always known what you were thinking, Tony. (He doesn't reply, checking her out instead) What? What are you up to? (his tongue pokes out between his teeth as he ogles. She looks down and squeaks) Tony! I just died, and you're having a sexual fantasy?
Dinozzo: (a pause and a smile) I can't help it.
(a wind blows, revealing Kate's panties)
Kate: (furious) Dinozzo!
Dinozzo: Sometimes I used to picture you naked.
(a scream)
(A girl dressed in fatigues with a visitors badge is standing nearby, having obviously just walked in. Tony doesn't notice her. She looks at where he's staring, then back at him. He finally notices, but is caught unawares.)
Dinozzo: I'll call you back. (hits the receiver of his phone twice and turns his attention to the new girl) Hi. I was just... (shrugs a little)
Ziva David: Having phone s*x?
Dinozzo: (trying to laugh it off) Phone s*x? No. Ah, charades.
Ziva: Charades? Like, uh... (moves her hands like she was running an old-fashioned video camera)
Dinozzo: (accusingly) You've played.
Ziva: Never on the telephone.
Dinozzo: Yeah, yeah. My partner and I were coming up with quotes for Saturday night.
Ziva: (she nods, obviously not believing him) You play charades on Saturday night?
Dinozzo: To kill time before I go clubbing. Who are you?
Ziva: Ziva David. Mossad. (shows him her ID)
Dinozzo: You're Israeli?
Ziva: (sarcastically as she walks towards Gibbs' desk) Very good, the way you made that connection. Mossad, Israeli.
Dinozzo: What can I do for you, Miss David?
Ziva: Nothing. I'm here to see Special Agent Gibbs.
Dinozzo: How do you know I'm not Gibbs.
Ziva: (ironic laugh. she sits in McGee's chair and stares at him) Gibbs?
Dinozzo: He'll be back in an hour. You sure I can't help you?
Ziva: (tut-tuts) I don't think so.
(Tony stares at her and she smiles confidently back at him)
Dinozzo: We got off to a bad start. (clears throat) I'm Special Agent Tony Dinozzo. I wasn't playing charades, I was...remembering my partner.
Ziva: (frowns up at him) Naked?
Dinozzo: No. (a beat) Yes. I- I was just...Look, I'm not the only man who does it.
Ziva: Women do it, too. (eyes him) With handsome men. (he turns and goes back to his desk, and she calls after him) And even an occasional woman.
Dinozzo: Now you're teasing me.
Ziva: Didn't your partner tease you?
Dinozzo: Not about s*x. Kate was kinda puritanical.
Ziva: Sorry.
Dinozzo: But that didn't matter, I wasn't interested in her we were...(pauses to watch her take her hair down) partners.
Ziva: She wasn't attractive.
Dinozzo: She was...but not to me.
Ziva: Then why did you imagine her naked?
Dinozzo: (laughs and shakes a finger at her) Miss David, you can sit there and slouch provocatively for an hour if you'd like, or you can tell me what you need, and maybe I can help.
Ziva: You can't help because I'm here to stop Special Agent Gibbs from killing a Mossad officer.
Dinozzo: Ari Aswari?
Ziva: Yes.
Dinozzo: (beckons her close) I'd wish you luck, but I want the b*st*rd dead, too.
(Cut to Gibbs' basement. Jen Shepard is sitting there)
Shepard: This the same boat you were building 6 years ago?
Gibbs: Nope.
Shepard: What happened to it?
Gibbs: Burned her.
Shepard: (confused) Why would you...? (enlightenment dawns) You named it after an ex-wife.
Gibbs: Let's go.
Shepard: Which one?
Gibbs: You know damn well which one.
Shepard: Why didn't you change the name?
Gibbs: Because it wouldn't matter. Every time I went out on her, I'd think of Diane.
Shepard: You could've sold it.
Gibbs: And watched some other guy sail off on her?
Shepard: You didn't care who sailed off on Diane. (long pause) Leroy Jethro Gibbs. You are a strange man.
Gibbs: (incredulously) Me? Hah! You were a good agent, Jen.
Shepard: (annoyed) Were?
Gibbs: Yeah. Director's job is pure politics.
Shepard: I'm good at politics. NCIS needs someone who can shake the money tree on the hill and work the sister agencies.
Gibbs: Wait. You won't call a boat a 'she', but it's 'sister' agencies?!
Shepard: I'm a schizoid libber. Comes from working with chauvinists like you.
Gibbs: I can't believe you would give up fieldwork for 'rubber chicken' dinners.
Shepard: I don't think they serve that dish at Palena.
Gibbs: Never heard of it.
Shepard: Why would you? It isn't take out.
Gibbs: So, which of the tight sphincters is taking you out to dinner? Please, tell me it's not Fornell.
(a pause)
Shepard: CBS Early Show. They want background before I go on TV.
Gibbs: Jen. Jen, you can't do that.
Shepard: (incredulous) Excuse me?
Gibbs: Ari is a chauvinist. He is taking out the women I work with before me.
Shepard: Jethro. People who know don't believe Ari Aswari is the sniper, and you haven't provided any evidence to prove them wrong.
Gibbs: Have you ever doubted me?
Shepard: Professionally? Never.
Gibbs: Why are you doubting me now?
Shepard: I have to establish a working relationship with these people.
Gibbs: Who you gonna side with, Jen? Them, or me?
Shepard: Give me a tough question.
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Cut to workers installing new glass in the lab windows)
(McGee wanders around and lets out an exasperated sigh)
McGee: What is with this music?
Abby: I'm playing it out of respect for Kate.
McGee: I though you're from New Orleans?
Abby: So?
McGee: Well, don't they play jazz at funerals?
Abby: Coming from the cemetery after the body has been buried. On the way to the cemetery, we play a dirge. Do you know what a dirge is, Timmy?
McGee: Creepy music?
Abby: Can you go back to the squad room and let me do my job?
McGee: I can't.
Abby: (suspicious) Why?
McGee: Gibbs...Gibbs told me to watch over you.
Abby: Oh. That is so sweet! (turns back to her computer, leaving McGee nonplussed)
(Cut to squad room. Tony has multitudes of papers on his desk)
Ziva: You're from a wealthy family.
Dinozzo: Really.
Ziva: Born and raised on the east coast. New England boarding school. Spent some time in the Midwest and Philadelphia.
Dinozzo: How would you know that?
(The elevator dings os. Ziva smiles secretively)
(Jen and Gibbs enter from the elevator)
(Ziva goes to greet Jen)
Ziva: Shalom, Jen.
Sheppard: Shalom. (they kiss each other's cheeks.)
Ziva: Did I miss it?
Sheppard: Yes, you did, but we didn't.
(Tony goes over to Gibbs)
Gibbs: You first.
Dinozzo: Ziva David, Mossad. She's here to stop you from whacking Ari. Yours?
Gibbs: Director Jenny Shepard. Same mission.
Dinozzo: Which agency?
Gibbs: Ours.
Dinozzo: (thinks he's joking but soon realizes he's not) Yeah?
(Ziva and Jen come over)
Shepard: Special Agent Gibbs, Ziva David, Mossad.
Ziva: Ziva. Director Shepard has spoken often of you.
Gibbs: Really?
Shepard: Ziva and I worked anti-terrorist ops since 9-11. You saw one today in MTAC.
Gibbs: That was yours?
Ziva: I only acquired the intel.
(Phone rings)
(Ziva reaches down)
Ziva: 'Scuse me.
(Gibbs watches her walk out. Tony stares at Jen.)
Shepard: Yes, I really am the new NCIS director.
Dinozzo: (nods) Yeah. (she turns and leaves) Wow. (Gibbs follows her, smacking Tony on the head in the process) Ow.... Good to have you back, Boss.
(Gibbs walks along, and we hear Ziva talking in Hebrew on the phone.)
Ziva: (in Hebrew) I have a relationship with the new NCIS director (the camera stops on Ziva) and may be able to convince her of your innocence. But not Special Agent Gibbs. He's a man with blood in his eyes.
(Cut to Ari on the phone in his car)
Ari: (Hebrew) Let me worry about Gibbs. Do you have the passport and money?
(Cut back to Ziva)
Ziva: (Hebrew) Yes.
(Cut to Ari)
Ari: (Hebrew) Use the drop.
(Cut to Ziva)
Ari: (Hebrew, over phone) Tonight.
Ziva: (nods) (Hebrew) I want to see you.
(Cut to Ari)
Ari: (Hebrew) Too risky. Gibbs will have you followed. We'll meet in Paris after the mission is over.
(Cut to Ziva)
Ari: (Hebrew, over phone) I promise.
Ziva: (Hebrew) Ari...I don't want to lose you, too.
Ari: (Hebrew, over phone) You won't.
(Cut to Ari)
Ari: Shalom.
(He terminates the call and the screen turns B&W)
END ACT III
(B&W: Ducky in the crosshairs)
(Cut to Ziva. She terminates the call on her cell phone and looks out the window)
(She turns back in and walks over to her pack, businesslike)
Gibbs: Miss David: Whose get cut off if Ari is not a Mossad mole, but a terrorist?
Ziva: Mine, I suppose, since I'm his control officer.
Gibbs: Ah, they promote control officers young in Mossad.
Ziva: They have to. The good ones are dead at your age.
Gibbs: (looks up and smiles) Do you know how I located Ari's terrorist cell?
Ziva: GPS fix off his encrypted cell phone. He wanted to you know the terrorists' location so you could stop the missile instead of him, which would have necessitated blowing his cover.
Gibbs: Only an NSA satellite can GPS an encrypted phone. Ari didn't know I had that asset.
Ziva: You give him less credit than he gives you. Who hung up first? You or him?
(Flashback)
(Gibbs in MTAC, getting a lock on Ari's phone, both hanging up simultaneously)
(End flashback)
Ziva: Ari knows a fix takes only nineteen seconds. When Sharon visited Bush, Ari's Hamas cell kidnapped Agent Todd. Why didn't he kill her instead of freeing her to warn the Secret Service?
Gibbs: (overlapping) I don't know. Why don't you arrange a meet and he can tell me?
Ziva: Ari Aswari is a Mossad operative undercover in Hamas. He hasn't turned on us, or you. He didn't kill Agent Todd.
Shepard: Gibbs, even if you're right, we owe them proof.
Ziva: That's all we ask. Don't kill the wrong man.
Gibbs: Like Mossad did in Norway?
Ziva: (banging hand on desk) That stink cost us dearly.
Gibbs: Not as dearly as the Palestinian waiter you killed.
(a tense pause)
Shepard: Ziva, assure your deputy director that even though Ari Aswari is a suspect, no action will be taken unless we have evidentiary proof. (Ziva nods, and Jen turns to Gibbs) Proof before action.
(Gibbs stares at her before getting up)
(Cut to lab. Abby test fires sniper rifles. McGee sits at a desk, bored)
McGee: You were my sweet superhero, Kate.
(McGee's vision of Kate, in tight black leather, comes flying over his head and flips to land on her feet in front of him on the desk, looking like a Trinity out of The Matrix)
Kate: (smiles) You're a naughty boy, Timmy.
McGee: Oh my God, I'm becoming Tony.
(Kate giggles. She does a back flip off the desk, her outfit changing in midair to become something more like a dominatrix, with cop hat and a whip.)
McGee: Oh, wow!
Abby: Wow what?
McGee: (snapping out of reverie) Um, I, um, I-I, um...
Abby: Stop 'ah-umming,' McGee, spit it out.
McGee: I was, uh, thinking about Kate.
Abby: Me, too. I kinda still feel like she's here, you know?
(Goth-Kate smiles at Abby from a corner of the lab.)
(Cut to McGee staring at Dominatrix-Kate wagging a finger at him)
(McGee keeps walking in a daze and Abby smacks him on the head. He looks around guiltily.)
(Cut to view of Tony and Gibbs in the elevator)
Gibbs: I want you on Ziva's ass.
Dinozzo: She's not really my type, Boss.
(Gibbs smacks his head)
Gibbs: To tail her.
Dinozzo: I knew that.
Gibbs: She's been in contact with Ari. That's the only way she could know I hung up on him.
Dinozzo: Ooh. I don't want you to get pissed...
Gibbs: I thought you wanted me pissed.
Dinozzo: I did. It was kinda weird when you were being nice. Not that you're not nice, I mean, uh...
Gibbs: Will you spit it out, Dinozzo?
Dinozzo: What if Ziva's right and Ari knew you traced the call? Maybe he wasn't the sniper.
Gibbs: She is right. Ari wanted me to raid the warehouse. He set me up. And it cost Kate her life.
(Gibbs gets off the elevator. Tony starts after him)
Dinozzo: Is he a mole or a terrorist?
Gibbs: Whatever works to play his game.
Dinozzo: And if Ziva leads me to Ari?
Gibbs: Shadow him and call me.
Dinozzo: So you can bring him in?
Gibbs: Yeah, so I can bring him in...
(Gibbs walks away and the elevator doors close on Dinozzo)
Gibbs: ...to autopsy.
(Cut to Abby in the firearms lab)
Abby: The FBI database gave me six weapons whose rifling patterns fit the bullets you recovered. (smacks McGee's hand away) I've been able to eliminate all but three: two SWAT weapons, the Tango-51 and Bravo-51, and this...
Gibbs: (cutting her off) My old friend. The Marine M3-A1 sniper rifle.
(He picks it up reverently and then aims it at a wall)
McGee: It looks sweet the way you hold that, Boss.
Gibbs: Sweet?
McGee: Uh, yeah, it's a, uh, expression, it means...
Gibbs: Yeah, I know what it means, McGee. You think Ari looked sweet when he shot Kate? (he replaces the rifle)
McGee: Of course not, Boss.
Abby: Uh, my vote is for the Tango or Bravo-51. What d'you think, Gibbs?
Gibbs: Your test runs show more gouging than Ari's. He was hand-loading and moly-coating.
Abby: You are so good.
McGee: Moly-coating?
Abby: Yeah. Molybdenum disulfide. It's a lubricant. It decreases barrel wear and increases accuracy.
Gibbs: McGee, run a trace on Tango and Bravo 51 sales, last six weeks, tri-state area. Check the Bravo first.
McGee: On it, Boss. (he exits)
Gibbs: Any prints on the brass?
Abby: No. Is your gut telling you something?
Gibbs: Yeah. I need coffee.
Abby: No, Gibbs. Come on. This isn't just another investigation. Todd was your agent, but Kate was my friend, so can you stop it with the John Wayne stare and tell me what your gut says?
Gibbs: (overlapping) What don't I believe in, Abby?
Abby: UFOs, mystics, coincidence, saying you're sorry, excuses, I could go on all night.
Gibbs: As a Marine sniper, I used hand-loaded Lapua.308, boattail, full metal jacket, moly-coated bullets.
(a pause)
Abby: Gibbs...
Gibbs: Know what a sniper calls a Bravo-51?
Abby: No.
Gibbs: A 'Kate.'
(He leaves, and Abby stares after him solemnly)
(Cut to a black man leaving a pharmacy carrying a paper bag.)
(He runs across the street and gets into his car)
(Once inside, he dumps some pills into his hand and takes them.)
(A hand reaches out from the back seat and clamps onto his left shoulder. He jerks forward in pain. A gun is now pointed at his head. Recovering, he looks in the rearview mirror, and sees Ari reflected in it. This is Gerald, Ducky's former lab assistant, whom Ari shot in the shoulder.)
(Flashback)
(Ari shooting Gerald in the shoulder at the NCIS autopsy room)
(End flashback)
Ari: My shoulder hurts when it rains, too, Gerald.
(Cut to Ducky staring at Kate's body in autopsy)
Ducky: Good night, Kate.
(He puts the sheet over her head and slides her into the refrigeration chamber)
(A phone rings. Ducky answers)
Ducky: Autopsy
(Cut to Gerald's car. Ari still has the gun to his head.)
Gerald: Hello, Dr. Mallard.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: Gerald! How are you, my dear fellow?
(Cut to car)
Gerald: I've been better.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: Oh, what's wrong?
Ari: (over phone) He's having flashbacks.
(Ducky freezes at the voice)
Ducky: Oh... who are you?
Ari: (over phone) Oh, I'm hurt. You don't recognize my voice?
Ducky: (realizing) You b*st*rd.
(Cut to car)
Ari: (laughs) You do remember me.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: If you harm Gerald.
Ari: (over phone) I have no intention of harming Gerald. (cut to car) I think one ruined shoulder is enough. It certainly is for me. (he pats Gerald's shoulder, causing him to wince again).
Ducky: (over phone) What do you want?
Ari: A professional courtesy. One doctor to another.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: Yes, well, I'd be most willing to provide a free autopsy.
(Cut to car)
Ari: (laughs) Dr. Mallard, I want to prove I didn't kill Caitlin.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: By taking Gerald hostage?
Ari: (over phone) Gerald is free to go if you listen to my side of this tragedy.
Ducky: I'm listening.
(Cut to car)
Ari: It's a long story, and I don't want to have somebody trace this call.
Ducky: (over phone) Well, no one is here but me. (cut to autopsy) And Caitlin.
Ari: (over phone) It must have been a difficult autopsy for you. (cut to car) I'm truly sorry, doctor.
(Cut to autopsy)
Ducky: Oh, get on with it.
Ari: (over phone) You'll meet me alone.
Ducky: What happens to Gerald?
(Cut to car)
Ari: Come alone, and you can exchange places.
Gerald: Doctor, don't come, he'll kill you!
(Cut to autopsy)
Ari: (on phone) Learn to trust, Gerald. (cut to car) I may have shot you in the shoulder, (cut to autopsy) but I've never lied to you. Doctor?
Ducky: You have my word.
(cut to car)
Ari: Thank you.
(cut to autopsy and Ducky's reaction)
(Cut to Gibbs in the squad room)
Kate: Reevaluating your convictions? How many time did you tell me 'there's no such thing as a coincidence?'
Shepard: Jethro. I know it's been a difficult day for both of us.
Gibbs: That's what my DI used to say. Never believed him. (she starts to leave.) Jen.You going to dinner with CBS?
Shepard: I am.
Gibbs: Don't do that interview. Please.
Shepard: (with a slight nod) I'll see if I can delay it a few days.
Gibbs: Good.
Shepard: Good night, Jethro. (turns to leave)
Gibbs: Night.
(Shepard summons the elevator. The doors open on Ducky.)
Shepard: Ducky! How nice to see you again!
Ducky: And you. Congratulations.
(cut to Gibbs)
Shepard: Going home?
Ducky: Uh, yeah.
Gibbs: Ducky.
(he dashes for the elevator, but the doors close before he reaches it)
(cut to Gerald's car)
Ari: So, are you back at work, Gerald?
Gerald: Next week.
Ari: I've always found that work is the best...
(distance shot of street. a pair of headlights approaches)
(Ari smiles)
(A vintage car pulls up on the opposite side of the street.)
Ari: A vintage Morgan. How Ducky. Flash your lights.
(Gerald does so, and we see the effect from the outside)
(Ducky exits his car)
Ari: Roll down your window.
(Gerald complies)
Ari: Now, wait in the good doctor's car while we talk.
(Gerald gets out of the car slowly as Ducky walks towards it.)
(Aerial shot of the two walking towards each other)
(Crosshairs: Ducky walking towards the crosshairs. The screen turns B&W)
TO BE CONTINUED...
Plan: A: Kate; Q: Whose death is the NCIS team dealing with? A: Gibbs; Q: Who is determined to put an end to Ari's reign of terror? Summary: While the NCIS team deals with Kate's death, Gibbs' determination to finally put an end to Ari's reign of terror mounts.