"Why you?" "What did you say?" "I didn't say anything." "Well, then why'd you get fired?" "I didn't get fired, I got laid off." "Fired, laid off, it's all the same." "No, it's not, Dad." "The company had cutbacks, and they had to trim five people." "I was one of them." "It was nothing that I did wrong." "Of course not." "Never is." "They only trim their best people." "Don't you think that I feel bad enough?" "!" "I don't know, Ryan, do you?" "Dad, look out!" "You all right?" "Damn maniacs." "Drive like idiots." "There was a stop sign." "Behind a tree maybe." "Where do you want to eat?" "I'm not hungry." "Come on, tonight of all nights?" "Especially tonight." "All I want for you is to be happy." "Just... get your act together." "Nobody wants that more than me." "Things just haven't worked out yet." "How you fixed for cash?" "I don't know." "I got rent covered." "There's an ATM here." "Dad, no." "I'll figure it out." "Just take it." "For me." "Okay." "Believe me, I long for the day that I can stop worrying about you." "Yeah, well, I long for the day that you can finally butt out of my life." "Oh, my God." "Dad!" "Oh!" "Ah." "No, no." "Dad." "Dad." "Oh, my God, Dad." "Dad?" "Dad." "Dad, no." "Hey, Ducky." "Oh, yay, Jimmy, you're still here." "Yeah, just finishing up." "I..." "Oh, man, are those Abby's Famous?" "Yup." "The Bunsen burner was still hot, so I figured I'd whip you up a batch." "Oh, they got little skulls on them." "Little smiley-face skulls." "You can take them home for your girls." "Oh, don't I wish." "Yeah, Breena took Victoria up to visit her aunt's house in Syracuse this week, so I am a swinging bachelor." "That explains it." "Explains what?" "Your lack of swinging lately." "You've been pouting for days." "Have I?" "Yeah." "Oh, so much for my poker face." "I mean, it's understandable." "You miss them when they're gone." "Yeah, especially this time of year." "Getting your mid-winter blues?" "It's not blues, it's just, it's blah." "It's darker, it's colder, minor annoyances seem bigger." "I start questioning everything from politics to "Why did I wear these itchy socks today?"" "Forgive me, Mr. Palmer, but I can't resist the urge to give you one of my all-time favorite pieces of advice." ""If you're going through hell, keep going."" "I wonder if I could fit that on a cookie." "That is a good one, but I'm not going through hell, Abby, not by a long shot." "You know, it's-it's more just, uh, I don't know, heck." "So, you're gonna be okay?" "Heck yeah." "And now that I got your cookies," "I will be even better." "And busier." "That was Jethro." "Yeah, he's requesting our services a scant three blocks from here." "Thanks, Abby." "What's his name?" "Navy Captain Paul Smith." "He landed a long way from his car." "Left his key in the ignition." "Quinn, check out those surveillance cameras." "I've often said this street needs a speed bump." "Or at least a speed limit." "It's like the Indy 500 here during the day." "Now, get the gurney, please, would you, Mr. Palmer?" "Boss, this is Renee Prewdome." "She's our one and only witness." "It's these kids and their texting." "And-and it's not just kids." "Grown-ups are looking at their phones instead of the road." "Is that what you saw, ma'am?" "Oh, no, we-we didn't see anything." "Bruce and I were checking our balance over at the ATM when all of a sudden, the most ungodly sound behind us." "The car was gone before we even turned." "No one else here?" "No, the-the man's son." "I tried to talk to him, but he-he was crying so hard." "And how did you know that it was the man's son?" "Oh, the poor kid just kept saying "Dad" over and over." "Where's the son now?" "I lost track of him when the cops got here, but he's in his mid-20s maybe, and, uh, he had on a-a red, uh, plaid jacket." "Okay, ma'am." "And let's-let's step back here." "Okay." "Gibbs, look." "McGee, fire department." "Ducky, get that body off the street." "Torres, you're with me." "Quickly, Mr. Palmer, let's get him into the van." "Mr. Palmer?" "Jimmy?" "Oh, my God." "What the hell are you doing?" "Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't." "Palmer!" "Please let go." "What are you doing?" "I'm not exactly sure." "No." "Please let me go." "Let me go!" "I don't want to hurt you!" "I would love to help you not hurt me," " so please don't jump, okay?" " Palmer." "What are you thinking?" "I wasn't thinking anything, Agent Gibbs." "I just reacted, and before I knew it, I was out here." "Okay, come on." "Change places with me." "No!" "No, stay back!" "I'll take him with me!" "No, please don't." "Please don't." "Please don't." "My dad's dead and it's my fault." "Come on." "Let me trade places with him." "I'm not afraid of heights." "No, no, no." "I can pull them both in if I have to." "Yeah, yeah, but Palmer's got it." "He's got it." "Palmer." "Keep talking." "Okay, hey, listen, listen." "If you won't come inside, let's just sit down and we'll talk about this." "No, I'm not sitting or talking, man." "I'm jumping." "No hero's gonna stop me." "No, no, no, I'm no hero!" "I'm no hero." "My name is Jimmy." "My name is Jimmy." "What's your name, huh?" "Tell me your name." "It's Ryan." "Ryan." "Ryan, okay, good, Ryan, Ryan." "Listen, Ryan, I-I never thought that I would be a hero." "Especially after I screwed up really bad a couple of years ago when I chickened out, but... then a very good friend of mine set me straight." "Yeah, there was a time when" "I thought I would be an archeologist." "Yeah, what happened?" "Why did you decide to go to medical school?" "Well, although archeology carried a certain romantic appeal," "I soon realized it wasn't in my bones, so to speak." "You have to decide what's in your bones, Mr. Palmer." "Not a spine." "Nonsense." "You just have a-a well-developed sense of self-preservation." "You're training to be a medical examiner, not an NCIS field agent." "I have no doubt that you have it in you to die a hero's death, but, for the time being, I'd appreciate it if you could stay alive to help me examine the dead." "And with that very healthy sense of self-preservation," "I ask you to please stay alive, so that we can both die like heroes a very long time from now when we're old and gray, all right?" "My dad was 53." "He was an actual war hero." "Thanks to me, he didn't die like one." "Why?" "Why thanks to you?" "Why?" "Everything I touch..." "I swear." "Please, let me go." "Oh, no." "Hey, Quinn." "Keep fire down below." "We can't risk spooking this kid while Palmer's hanging onto him." "Okay, Gibbs." "Yeah, you got it." "Um, excuse me." "Uh, Lieutenant?" "I'm gonna have to ask you not to go up there." "Excuse me?" "Yeah, crazy, I know, but Navy interests." "But that's a city building." "Yeah, I know that, but that's one of our team members up there, and if he dies, you're gonna be dealing with the whole U.S. Navy." "Engine 52 to all units." "Stand down for now." "Wait for my command." "But if you have one of those big bags, you know, just in case." "All right, boys, let's get the air cushion prepped." "Check out these skid marks." "I don't see any skid marks." "Exactly." "No, no, no, no, no, Ryan." "You know, you know, it's funny, it's funny, Ryan, Ryan." "Not ha-ha funny, when I think about my wife and my young daughter, who wouldn't think that this is very funny at all, but if I had to do this all over again... you would definitely be out here on your own." "No, I'd be dead by now." "You're nuts." "You have a wife and kid?" "Yes, and I love them very much, Ryan." "Then let me go." "You got too much to live for, man." "I don't." "No." "I'm sure that you do, too, man." "No, not anymore." "I'm tired of screwing up." "What's wrong with screwing up?" "It's fine." "It's fine." "I-It's evidence that y-you're trying." "I just got my dad killed." "Ryan, what happened?" "Why are you blaming yourself?" "If I hadn't been laid off, I wouldn't have needed cash." "My dad wouldn't have stopped." "He'd be alive right now if not for me!" "Gibbs." "Take a look." "No skid marks." "Whoever hit Captain Smith never so much as tapped their brakes before or after the hit." "Not even a swerving tire pattern to suggest he lost control." "So either we're dealing with the steadiest drunk driver in history..." "Or it was no accident." "Ryan, you get a look at the car that hit your father?" "No, it was going too fast." "Any disagreements your father had?" "Just with me." "Think." "Any enemies?" "Did he have any enemies?" "No way." "Not the Captain." "Everybody loved my dad." "He was perfect." "He was perfect." "No, no." "Hang on, Jimmy, I'm coming!" "Stop, or I'm taking him with me, I swear!" "Don't do it, Ryan." "Then get away, both of you." "I don't trust either of you." "Palmer, don't you let him jump." "On it, Gibbs." "And you do not let him fall." "Where you going?" "Boss, we can set up a command post downstairs." "No, there's no time." "The squad room's three blocks away." "The kid blames himself." "Let's go find out who killed his dad." "Bishop, you there?" "Just getting back now, Nick." "Hold on." "What do we know, Quinn?" "Victim is Captain Paul Smith." "53, widowed, one child." "Gulf War hero, and stationed here at the Navy Yard since May." "Anything on the son?" "I'm still digging." "Uh, so far I've got Ryan Smith, 27." "Listed as employed by" "Kelb Technologies in Annandale." "Whoa, check out his date of birth... that's today." "Guy lost his dad on his birthday?" "Hey, Nick, do you know if he's told Jimmy that?" "To be honest, I can't really hear much." "Pretty noisy up here." "McGee, we need to hear him." "On it." "Poor Jimmy." "What can we do?" "What do you mean?" "DUCKY:" "To help Mr. Palmer." "I need to get back there." "We all gonna fit on the ledge and hold hands?" "You want to help Palmer?" "Do your job." "Right." "Well, Captain Smith is down on my table." "Perhaps he can help." "I can be your Jimmy, Ducky." "Not while we still need Abby, Abby." "I spoke to the ATM company." "They're sending security footage over to you any moment." "Okay." "Gibbs, we've got Captain Smith's operation officer waiting in the conference room." "Quinn, come on." "You're with me." "I came as soon as I heard." "I've been working with Captain Smith on the Freehold for the last three years." "He was such a great man." "You know anything about his son?" "Cap talked about him quite a bit." "I know that they maintained regular phone contact when we were at sea." "Is he okay?" "I heard it was some sort of car accident." "Uh, well, we're still determining just how accidental." "Seriously?" "The captain, did he have any issues or conflicts with anyone?" "Never." "No." "Everybody loved..." "Everybody?" "I mean, there... there was an..." "No." "No, I can't imagine Morgan..." "Who's Morgan?" "Commander Morgan, our X.O." "The captain gave him an unfavorable FITREP last week, and Morgan took it hard." "I know words were exchanged." "What words?" "Strong words, apparently." "Bad enough for the captain to threaten Morgan with a court-martial." "A court-martial?" "A threat." "I hear they worked it out, but things have been icy ever since." "Morgan's career took a major hit." "We need Morgan's number and address." "Of course." "Well, on the bright side, at least there's no pigeons." "They must have, uh, flown south for the winter, I guess." "Actually, pigeons don't fly south for the winter," "Agent Torres, but I appreciate your bright side." "Hey, how long's he gonna be there?" "My guess, as long as we stay here." "Unbelievable." "I can't even kill myself without messing it up." "In your defense, I'm the one that messed this one up, so don't go blaming yourself." "Yeah, but I do." "This isn't the first time I thought about doing this." "Dad was the only thing stopping me." "You didn't want to break his heart." "That and prove him right." "I'd already disappointed him enough." "Your dad said he was disappointed?" "He didn't have to." "He, uh, he wanted me in the military, and I chose college, then he wanted me to study business, and I switched to architecture." "When I didn't get a job in my chosen field, he thought maybe we'd wasted my tuition." "Come on, hardly anybody gets their dream job right out of school." "Did you?" "I'm actually one of the fortunate few." "Very fortunate, considering I nearly blew it on my third day on the job." "I am so sorry, Dr. Mallard." "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." "See, I was in the shower, and, uh, the doorbell rang, but I didn't know it at the time." "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?" "I'm glad it worked out for you, I am." "But I've been bouncing around between entry-level jobs for years now, only to get laid off yesterday." "Yeah?" "From what job?" "Associate Systems Engineer." "It's a fancy way of saying "apprentice architect."" "Yeah, "Assistant Medical Examiner."" "It doesn't sound very fancy either." "Is that what you are?" "Yeah, but I love it." "I do." "Most days." "Every job has its ups and downs." "Yeah, I was just starting to feel like" "I was up when they canned me." "Hey, at least you were up, right?" "Something better will come along, it always does." "When one door closes, another one opens." "And, uh, it's always darkest before the dawn." "And-and they define success by going from one failure to another failure..." "Hey, what is this, man?" "Is this, uh, self-help karaoke?" "Honestly, I got a million of these." "I could do this all night long." "Oh, my God." "Hey, are you guys hungry?" "McGee wants to send us up some food." "I'm thinking burgers." "Yes, yes, absolutely." "Burgers." "About to die anyway, right?" "Might as well have a last meal." "Hang on, Jimmy." "Hang on, Jimmy." "Hang on, Jimmy." "Got the video?" "Ugh, you'd think" "ATMs would have better cameras." "Catch our hit and run?" "Barely." "Okay, so that's Captain Smith back there getting out of his car." "And then he starts to cross, and wham." "Just disappears into a blur." "Slow down the blur." "It's just a dark SUV." "There's no plate, no visible driver." "Not even sure of the color." "Consider it black, charcoal, ebony, noir." "Whatever they call the paint." "Some of it scraped itself off on Captain Smith's watch on impact." "Anything else, Duck?" "No, no surprises." "The captain suffered a crushed parietal bone, which killed him instantly." "Poor fellow literally never saw what hit him." "Oh, and there's this." "The son will want his father's wallet once Mr. Palmer has successfully talked him down." "There's enough paint on this watch to match it to a specific vehicle." "Palmer can't wait." "Match it fast!" "Hang on, Jimmy." "Hang on, Jimmy." "Hang on, Jimmy." "So this building, what type of architecture is it?" "It's kind of, uh, Beaux-Arts." "Elaborate, ornamental." "Most newer buildings don't even have ledges." "Yeah, I'm glad this one does." "I swear, I actually thought I'd be in Architectural Digest by now." "Yeah, I hear you." "In my 20s, conquering the world was always just out of reach." "Couldn't wait to make it." "Meanwhile, everyone on social media is just kicking butt." "Promotions, weddings, vacations." "Yeah, well, there's no B-sides." "What?" "Everyone only posts their greatest hits." "No B-sides." "No one talks about their lousy days." "Like when my daughter is pitching a fit, and my wife is trying to reason with her like she's a 32-year-old instead of a two-year-old, and I am just the world's worst referee, and..." "Point is, you can't compare yourself." "Oh." "You want to sit down?" "I do." "Okay." "Ah." "That's so much better, right?" "Plus, I wore these really itchy socks today." "Guys, food's here." "Hey, no jumping." "How they doing?" "I'm not really sure, to be honest." "We need to make this quick." "Social media's great for keeping in touch, but there's no substitute for in-person, human contact." "Like, at work, when I'm having a lousy day, my friends, they know just how to lift me back up." "Okay, Jimmy, that does it." "Abby, listen..." "No, you listen." "You know what's infectious during the holidays?" "Optimism is infectious." "Optimism and joy." "And joy and..." "Kindness." "Kindness." "Courtesy." "And charity." "Generosity." "And gratitude." "Selflessness." "And faith," "Jimmy." "Faith." "Faith is infectious." "Life isn't perfect, but sometimes things will work out for the best if you just have faith." "That's a very good friend." "Yeah, yeah, she really is." "I don't have friends like that." "I'm sorry." "Ryan!" "Hang on!" "I got you!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "You don't want to die." "What?" "Yes, I do." "No, you don't." "What are you talking about?" "You saved me." "I don't want you on my conscience." "What conscience?" "If you went over with me, you'd be dead, too." "That makes no sense." "All right." "Dinner's served." "You wouldn't have saved me if you didn't want to live yourself." "You don't know me." "All right, you two daredevils." "Two double cheeseburgers, coming right up, special delivery." "What are you doing?" "No!" "Well, do you want to eat or not?" "Not like that." "Stay back." "All right, all right." "Okay, I guess, Jimmy, uh... meet me halfway." "I can't, Agent Torres." "I can't risk letting him go." "Okay." "How am I supposed to stick this to Palmer if I can't even get close?" "Okay, in the Boy Scouts, they have a saying: be prepared." "I am prepared with a plan B." "Huh?" "We're gonna tidy up?" "No." "We are going to attach this mini-mic to the outside of the burger box, and push that to Jimmy." "Oh, what happens when they grab the burgers and they chuck the box?" "Jimmy never litters." "Just admit it." "You saved us." "I saved you." "All right, let's try this again." "Okay, I got it." "Got it." "Aw." "Those near-death experiences, they really make you hungry, huh?" "Nick." "Nick, we need a sound check." "Um..." "Hey, uh, Ryan, by the way, happy birthday." "Oh, hey, it's your birthday." "Yeah." "Don't remind me." "I am so sorry." "I-I..." "How's that sound to you, boss?" "This... this is just..." "Yeah, good enough, McGee." "Come on back." "Tell Torres we're listening." "The X.O. is M.I.A., Gibbs." "Not my intention to..." " Commander Morgan." " No sign of him at home." "We're getting nowhere pinging his phone." "It might just be turned off." "The neighbors say he has a black SUV." "Get his plate." "Update the BOLO." "You know, I-I normally eat much healthier than this." "Under these circumstances... nothing beats a good burger." "Yeah." "Just like mother used to make." "So, uh..." "where is your mom?" "You haven't mentioned her." "She died." "It was, uh, cancer when I was 12." "Oh." "I'm so sorry." "She was diagnosed in June, dead by July." "And Dad was never the same." "Yeah?" "What about you?" "I was mad, mostly." "My dad, he, um... he tried to be all things." "He was, uh..." "Mr. Discipline one minute, and, uh... the next, he'd... feel bad and baby me, like she used to." "Baby you?" "Yeah, he'd bail me out." "He'd shake his head, all pissed off, and then bend over backwards to fix whatever jam I was in." "You know, m-my dad was never anything like that," "Ryan, but-but I work with someone who's close." "Remember Agent Gibbs?" "Remember him?" "He was here earlier." "Tell you what, he might be the toughest guy I've ever met." "Now I know it seems, like, uh, some people have it much easier while others have it much rougher, but, uh..." "I think it's safe to say that there's no one who's has had a tougher life than Agent Gibbs." "How does it sound?" "Reception still good?" "Shh!" "Believe it or not, his wife and his young daughter were both killed on the same day." "But you never hear him mention it." "No, he just..." "buries himself in his work." "And he builds boats in his basement." "He'll kiss Abby on the forehead once in a while, but h-he's not exactly a hugger, you know." "At least he's never hugged me." "We all rely on him so much." "That man has the weight of the world on his shoulders." "You'd never know it." "I really worry about him." "But a-as tough as Gibbs is, on my darkest day, when our adoption fell through, I mean, Ryan..." "I lost my kid." "Gibbs was the one who comforted me most." "Take it you heard." "Mm-hmm." "Yeah, she, uh, she saw the baby and just..." "I guess she felt the same way we felt when we first saw him." "Can't fault her for that, right?" "You should go home." "I will." "Yeah, Breena and I, we just wanted to get all this stuff out of the house, you know." "We wanted to give it back as soon as possible." "We?" "Me." "She's hurting, too, but, uh... she is so much stronger." "She's ready to try again." "And, uh, and me..." "I feel like I can't breathe." "I've never felt this bad in my life, Gibbs." "Ah, just wait until it's 3:00 in the morning and your kid's running 104." "You're just getting started." "That's the point, I'm not starting." "You know?" "And..." "maybe I never will." "Well, then fight for it, Palmer." "That's what you do, you fight for your family." "And sometimes you fight like hell just to have one." "You want me to fight?" "I feel like I just went ten rounds with Joe Louis." "Do you want to be a dad, Palmer?" "!" "Because, right now, this is being a dad." "Maybe I'm not ready." "You wouldn't feel the way you feel right now if you weren't ready." "And Gibbs was right." "The best advice I've ever gotten." "Hugs or no hugs, I..." "I will never forget his kindness that day." "He cared." "And, Ryan, as tough as your father was," "I'm sure if you think about it, you can think of many times where he was just as kind." "Yeah, try all the time." "Yeah?" "Yeah, if anything, he cared too much." "I never questioned whether he loved me, I just..." "I wasn't sure whether he knew how much I loved him back." "Oh, no, I am sure he did, Ryan." "No, I mean, we fought too much." "Right up until today." "All he wanted was to take me out for my birthday, and... when he found out I'd been laid off, he blew his top." "Damn near caused an accident, he was so angry." "So pissed off, he cut off a whole mess of cars in an intersection." "Intersection?" "What intersection?" "Where?" "Palmer." "Ask him where." "What intersection?" "Uh, Gibbs, it's a one-way speaker." " What intersection?" " It was, uh..." "It was around Raymere and Holt." "How does he do that?" "McGee." "Traffic cams at Raymere and Holt Street." "On it, boss." "And the surrounding intersections." "I'll call the DMV, put a rush on it." "I'm calling, too." "Fine." "Both of you call." "But we need it now." "So, this is the intersection in question, about five minutes before Captain Smith was struck." "Looks like his car there." "Whoa." "That was close." "Black SUV." "Okay, I can't read the plate." "Can we I.D. the driver?" "No." "The windows are tinted." "Boss, take a look at this." "Abby, play it back." "He's going after him." "That's our guy." "Could that be Commander Morgan?" "Or is it just road rage?" "Or both." "One way to know." "Find that car!" "Ah, that hit the spot." "Any chance you need a bathroom break?" "Nope." "But, uh, you go right ahead." "No." "No." "I'm good." "Been up there for three hours." "Think maybe it's time to let the firefighters do their jobs, Gibbs." "Tell them they can put the pad out down below, nothing upstairs." "Don't want to risk Palmer's safety with any sudden moves." "Boss, BOLO just paid off." "State police just pulled over Commander Morgan's SUV in Richmond;" "they're holding him for us now." "McGee, we can't get there in time." "I can set them up in MTAC." "Keep listening." "You think that's as big as it gets?" "Ah, a person could easily miss that." "Well, with my luck, I'd try to miss and land square in the middle." "I would call that good luck." "I'm sure you would." "Do you ever think that maybe you are your own worst enemy?" "Constantly making fun of yourself, comparing yourself on social media." "Maybe you are the only one who's keeping score here, Ryan." "It's my life." "All right?" "I know the score." "Do you?" "Really?" "What counts as a point?" "How about relationships?" "I've had my share." "Nothing long-term." "Can't settle down until I get my career going." "Yeah, yeah." "Of course." "Who came up with that rule?" "What do you want from me?" "I want you to not jump." "This conversation's not helping!" "I-I'm just saying that if you change how you measure success, you might actually opt for happiness." "What bumper sticker laid that gem on you?" "Do you "opt for happiness"" "as an assistant medical examiner?" "Like you never wanted more?" "Of course I wanted more." "I..." "As much as it scared me, but be-be careful what you wish for and all that." "Dr. Mallard." "How awesome you're here." "Again." "Duck." "Relax, Jethro." "I'm not here as M.E." "Purely in my consultant capacity." "Well, I was just about to tell Agent Gibbs about some nasty old chemical burns" "I found on Sergeant Hill, our most recent victim." "I actually was able to work backward from the contracture of the scarring to establish a likely pH and molarity level of the chemicals involved." "Ah." "Mm." "Clever." "Sergeant Hill likely got these scars in a makeshift lab while trying to create this poison." "Making him our prime suspect." "Oh, that's very clever." "Dr. Mallard's praise that day convinced me to finally finish med school, and take the M.E. test." "Really?" "What happened?" "What do you care, Ryan?" "Oh, yeah, fine." "You got me." "My dying wish is to know whether you passed the test." "No, I didn't." "Not the first time or the second time." "That's why I never told anyone at work." "I need to talk to Gibbs." "Is he still in MTAC?" "They still don't know." "Know what?" "About the third time, when I passed." "You passed the M.E.'s test?" "Yeah, I aced it." "It was so strange." "I-I had spent so long just trying to prove myself, trying to get ahead, and when I finally passed the test, it hit me like a ton of bricks." "I didn't want to go anywhere else." "I didn't want to leave my friends." "Especially not Dr. Mallard." "I was happy where I was." "So you're an actual doctor?" "I am." "But still, nobody at work knows." "We got a special dynamic;" "I don't want to mess that up." "But you could go anywhere." "And I will one day." "Nothing lasts forever." "I have had so many friends come and go." "And live and die." "But where I'm right now, with Dr. Mallard and Abby and the rest of our team working for what I really think is a noble cause, why would I want to leave that?" "I'd rather be happy." "So every day, I put on my scrubs or this-this old jumpsuit, I-I go to work, and I "opt for happiness."" "Come on." "Uh, Abby?" "What's this about?" "I left D.C. a few hours ago, heading to Carolina to visit family." "Is that a crime?" "No, sir, but may we ask why you had your cell phone turned off?" "Didn't want any calls." "Needing a few days to get away from it all." "Away from your run-in with Captain Smith?" "Why'd he have to bring NCIS into this?" "I apologized." "What did he tell you?" "You apologized for what?" "Look, I was so blindsided with the bad review and just... lost my cool." "He threatened court-martial." "Which was the captain losing his cool, until I apologized." "I never should have said what I did." "What'd you say?" "I called his kid a loser." "Believe me, I said a lot of other stuff, but that boy is his whole world." "I had no business saying that." "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs." "Commander." "Stand by." "Yeah." "Um, first, I think you should put Jimmy in for a raise." "I'll second that." "Okay." "What else?" "I traced the partial plate on from the SUV to a car rental place in D.C." "The renter is Edgar Stump." "He's listed as a part-time handyman." "He has multiple DUls and a vehicular harassment conviction." "So he is just a road-rager." "He didn't even know Captain Smith." "Better than that." "I've got his GPS signal." "Send it to me." "Way to jack up your prices, Abdul!" "Ow, what the hell?" "Take it easy, Edgar." "Why?" "I didn't do nothing." "No, you did a lot." "Hey." "So nice and toasty inside." "You know, there's no failure in not killing yourself, right?" "There's not much of a future either." "Oh, sure, there is." "Future's coming, with or without you." "You might as well be there." "It'll be hell without my dad." "No job." "I-I got some okay friends, but none like yours." "And look at the world." "I mean, you turn on the news, and we're all so divided." "Yelling and pointing fingers;" "there's so much meanness out there." "Stop looking for it." "Who's looking for it?" "I mean, you can't get away from it." "Okay, well, then you look around it." "You look for the good." "It's out there." "I promise." "I mean, I-if you find meanness, you kill it with kindness." "Oh, here we go." "You're damn right, here we go." "Open doors for strangers." "You let a car go ahead of you in traffic." "Who cares?" "J-Just smile more." "And if you want good friends, be a good friend." "They will find you, I promise." "Man, you could go all night." "But you don't have an answer for my dad." "No, I..." "No, I don't." "But I have seen more dead people than anyone you know." "All of them gone too soon and none of them peaceful." "No." "I beg your pardon?" "No." "I..." "I don't want to." "You don't want to what, Mr. Palmer?" "I don't want to know how much her liver weighs." "I don't want to catalog her scars." "Most of all, I don't want to cut open another friend." "We only get the B-sides on our table." "And it is every day." "I also see their families, Ryan." "Some of them let their loss just knock 'em cold." "And they drown in misery, while others, they choose to make their darkest hour their defining moment." "They choose to take something bad and turn it into something good." "Like your dad did." "My dad?" "When he lost your mom, he chose to put everything he had into you." "Ryan... you are the something good that he left behind." "Now you got the same choice to make." "Ryan." "The guy who hit your dad..." "Road-rager..." "He didn't like being cut off." "He'd have come after your dad's car no matter where he stopped." "Means it wasn't your fault, Ryan." "Not your fault." "You want to get this guy, we need you to testify at the trial." "Palmer." "That's my dad's wallet." "There's something in there you're gonna want." "My senior thesis project." "Plenty of miles on that photo." "He showed it off a lot." "He was proud of you." "Yeah." "And what was it that Dr. Mallard said earlier today?" "He said..." ""When you're going through hell, you keep going."" "You know I never would have taken you with me, right?" "I know." "Let's go inside." "Okay." "Thanks, Jimmy." "I got you." "Thanks, Nick." "Told me not to let him fall." "Hey." "Good job out there." "You were listening the whole time?" "We all were." "Dr. Mallard, what are you doing here?" "Where else would I be?" "I'm not gonna leave you out there alone..." "Dr. Palmer." "Agent Gibbs, you wanted to see me?" "Okay." "Look, first of all, I-I didn't know that you were listening last night, and..." "I might have said some things, some-some highly, deeply personal things about you and your personal life, but I-I just, I just shouldn't have." "Gibbs, what I said about your wife and daughter..." "I was just pulling out all the stops." "You know, and then once I got on a roll, I couldn't stop." "And then I..."