"Jackie... wouldn't have wanted war breaking out over this either." "What do you need?" "Revenge." "I would like your permission to travel to Europe to find Bodnar." "What are you waiting for?" "Take DiNozzo." "Bodnar's on Ziva's laptop." "Trace it like the wind." "I know you blame me for your father's death, Ziva." "Is there anyone else to blame?" "Told you I would find you, Ilan." "Is it over?" "It's over." "Oh, I hate it when they cry." "What'd you say to him?" "I said it wasn't him; it was me." "That's original." "It's true." "Me... didn't like him." "What was I supposed to say?" "I prefer something a bit more subtle like..." ""Oh, I hate the way you chew."" "I did hate the way he chewed." "Mm!" " And if they don't take the hint..." " Get the hell away from me!" "Sounds about right." "I saw you!" "Get away from me!" "Stop!" "Aah!" " Hey!" " Get off of me!" "Who the hell are you?" "Who are you?" "Calm down!" "I saw him!" "I saw him!" "What do you want?" "!" "I don't know what you're talking about!" "What do you want me to do?" "Nothing." "♪ NCIS 10x23 ♪ Double Blind Original Air Date on May 7, 2013" "== sync, corrected by elderman ==" "♪" "Well, hey, there." "Speedy Gonzales, huh?" "You almost killed Marlon from Accounting." "I'm sorry, Tony." "I'm still getting used to how this thing drives." "And the world is... still getting used to how you drive." "Where's the Mini?" "Thought it was time to make a change." "You know, put the past behind." "Oh, well, that's gonna be... harder than just buying a new car, you know." "Yes, I noticed." "So what's the plan with the Mini?" "I sold it." "What?" "!" "I told you if you ever wanted to get rid of it, that-that I would take it." "Well, I didn't think you were serious." "What part of "I'm totally serious"" "made you think that?" "I'm sorry, Tony." "I know you wanted the car, but I just didn't think it was a good idea to sell it to you." "Why not?" "Because I really liked my Mini." "Me, too." "And I didn't want anything to happen to it." "What are you saying?" "She's saying you're a car killer." "What?" "!" "A car killer." "Everybody needs a hobby." "Your new ride, Ziva?" "Uh-huh." "Nice." "Thanks." "Oh, by the way, my friend Terry, loving your Mini." " Oh." " Hey... get in the car." "Where to, boss?" "No, you and Ziva go up to the office." "We got it covered." "Hmm." "Base security responded to the assault." "I.D.'d the attacker as Petty Officer Third Class Evan Lowry." "They said he was raving like a madman when they arrived." "Demanded to speak with NCIS." "About?" "He said national security." "That guy was following me." "That's why I was chasing him." "No, you did more than chase him." "And how do you know he was following you?" "Because everywhere I go, there he is." "When I finally confronted the guy, he ran." "Got away when those two leatherneck chicks pulled me off him." "But it's not just him." "Someone's been going through my e-mail, too." "And how do you know that?" "Because they're marking messages as read that I didn't read." "I think they've even been in my house, they've been in my car..." "I can smell the cologne." "They've even been in my trunk." "You have to help me." "I tried the cops." "They thought I was crazy." "You said this was about national security." "That's right." "I work on a Navy destroyer." "Yes." "As a... cook." "Culinary Specialist." "Do you have any idea what would happen if a case of E coli broke out in my galley?" "It could disable the entire ship." "What if they're trying to infect me with something, so that I infect the crew?" ""They"?" "The people following me." "I think that maybe they're North Korean." "Right." "Are you on any medications?" "No, I'm not on medications." "And would you stop scribbling in that notepad?" "Hey!" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "These people are driving me crazy." "But I am not crazy." "You have to believe me." "It all started two weeks ago, after I got mugged." "I see the same people everywhere I go." "I'm telling you, they're following me." "Boss?" "They always..." "What the hell is that?" "It's a GPS tracking device." "He's not crazy." "Someone is following him." "Let's go." "Petty Officer Evan Lowry, 24, just returned from a six-month deployment on the U.S.S. Fitzgerald." "Where he worked as a cook." "Culinary Specialist." "TDY?" "Mess duty at Quantico, pending his next assignment." "He has no access to any sensitive material." "And no unusual activity in his bank account." "Nothing worth mentioning, unless you consider a sailor drinking like a sailor worth mentioning." "So why's he being followed?" "Okay, then who is following him?" "Lowry is in the conference room working with a sketch artist." "Abby's taking the GPS tracker apart." "Hopefully she can pull prints." "Then there's the mugging." "Lowry said that, uh, it all started after he was attacked." "Maybe the mugger is the one following him." "Eyewitnesses only gave a rough description." "And Lowry barely remembers the assault." "Police report says that he got a concussion from a tire iron to the head." "Also says his backpack and cell phone were stolen." "That'd mean the mugger would know where he lived." "Think it's connected?" "I think it's our best lead." "Ziva, check out that sketch." "McGee, stolen cell phone, see if you can trace it." "Well, thieves usually wipe stolen cell phones to make it harder to trace." "Can you trace it?" "I can try." "Thank you." "If he's taken a photo and e-mailed it to anybody," "I can use the GPS coordinates from the EXIF data..." "You do realize if you keep telling us how you do your job then we're not gonna need you anymore?" "Oh, got a hit." "Northwest DC." "Go!" "No, this is totally unacceptable." "How long do we have to wait for the inquiry into Ilan Bodnar's death?" "Because we'd like" "Sir..." "to get started with the debriefing." "So get someone from DoD-IG down here so we can close the book on this damn thing." "When?" "So where the hell is he?" "Never mind." "I found him." "I hope it's okay that your assistant told me to wait in your office." "Richard Parsons, independent counsel retained by the Inspector General." "I'm here for the..." "I know why you're here." "So get started." "Actually, I just got back on the red-eye." "I was gonna... go home, shower, have some breakfast-- have you eaten yet?" "I'll send for a sandwich." "A lot of paperwork to do." "Well, great." "Most people don't like it, but without paperwork the world would be..." "So, you'll get started then?" "Immediately, if you want." "Just inform the team that I'm here." "Yes, Director?" "Yes, um, find Agents DiNozzo and McGee please." "Of course." "Yes, thank you." "You can start with them." "Relax, Director." "I'm just here to cross some T's and dot some I's." "I'll be as quick and painless as possible." "Never been on an actual DC stakeout before." "This is fun." "They don't let me out of the office very much." "Really?" "Could've fooled me." "Thanks for letting me tag along." "Well, we didn't." "Director Vance insisted you join us." "So, what does that do?" "We traced a stolen cell phone to this complex." "Now we just need someone to use it to pinpoint its exact location." "And then you bust 'em." "Hey." "Can we just get this over with?" "Yeah." "Thanks." "Let me just get my briefcase open." "Double-oh-seven." "All right, so, let's set the Wayback Time Machine to the beginning, shall we?" "So that's, what, January?" "When did you first become aware that, uh," "Eli David was in town?" "Gibbs told us that Friday morning." "Ooh, ooh, ooh!" "Someone's coming." "Someone's coming." "Nope." "Wrong sex." "Ah, right sex." "Wrong time." "Well, speaking of time, what time did Agent David say that she was going to meet her father for Shabbat dinner?" "Not sure exactly." "Before sundown." "Well, how do you know if you're not sure exactly?" "'Cause I've seen Yentl." "Well played." "Well, this matches up with everything I got, so T's are being crossed." "I just got one more question for you guys." "Yeah?" "How does one go to the bathroom on a stakeout?" "I could get into this." "Oh, hold off." "I got something." "Someone's making a call." "Where?" "Northeast corner." "Oh, there we go." "All right." "Listen, be a dear and finish that before we get back." "Yeah." "Thanks." "He had your cell phone on him." "Your backpack was in his car." "He look familiar?" "I think that's the guy who mugged me." "Maybe?" "I don't really remember the attack, to be honest." "Question is, does he know anything about who's been following you?" "Hey, I found that cell phone in the trash, man." "Somebody must've thrown it away." "Really?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Thanks for coming." "Sit down." "You're doing two to 15 for armed robbery, so, make some peace with that, and let's move on, all right?" "Armed robbery, man." "I didn't rob no..." "Two to 15." "And another 20 in a federal prison for illegal surveillance." "Say what?" "But you tell me about this, and who's been following Petty Officer Lowry, and I'll make sure that both your sentences are served concurrently." "Yeah, sure, I..." "I know where that came from." "But if you want me to talk," "I want the assault charges dropped." "First." "In writing." "You'll tell me where the girl is?" "Girl?" "There's no girl." "He doesn't know that." "I'll take you right to her." "Only I know where she at, so you need me." "You know?" "Lead you right to her, man." "You got a day job?" "No." "Get one." "And don't quit it." "What...?" "What's happening?" "He doesn't know who's been following you." "How can you be sure?" "Because Gibbs is sure." "And I'm definitely sure." "About whatever it is we're sure about." "I'm sure we hit a dead end." "Well, then, I'm right on time, because I have found intrigue." "I was processing your stolen backpack, and there was nothing left except this." "It was smooshed up in the corner." "It looks like the last page of some sort of legal disclaimer." "It's signed by Petty Officer Lowry, and please note that it's signed on the same day that he started living out his own personal 1984." "Legal disclaimer?" "For what?" "Well, that part's missing, but this releases someone from all liability for your..." "Physical and mental trauma." "Yeah." "Disability, destruction of personal property, mental anguish, dismemberment, death." "What exactly did you sign up for?" "I have no idea." "I don't remember." "Try again." "Fix your gaze on your signature." "Remember the feeling of signing your name." "Where you were." "I'm sorry." "I got nothing." "Why can't I remember?" "Well, the time-stamp on this document indicates that you signed it a few hours before your assault, in which you suffered a serious concussion." "I don't remember that, either." "The only thing I remember from that day is my best friend, when she picked me up from the hospital." "You know, it's not unusual for head-trauma victims to lose their memory for the entire day prior to their injuries." "How's it going?" "Not well." "I can't remember what I signed up for, or if it has anything to do with the people following me." "Let's try another approach." "Try to recall any sights or sounds from the day you signed this." "Odors, even." "The only thing I'm smelling is... bleach and isopropyl alcohol... and a... hint of citrus?" "Yeah, that's our autopsy disinfectant." "Good nose!" "Then again, you are a cook." "Culinary Specialist." "Sorry." "Wait a minute." "I'm smelling something else, too." "Something familiar." "Smell is remarkably powerful at evoking memories." "Yes?" "Paprika coriander, nutmeg." "Ah, you're smelling the contents of a prior occupant's stomach." "Pickled fennel?" "Very rare." "Well, our John Doe's last meal consisted of an impressive amount of..." "Bratwurst." "That's correct." "Whatever I signed up for had something to do with bratwurst." "That exact blend." "My favorite thing about my job is-is the mystery." ""Abby, figure out where this bratwurst came from""" "Ask me why." "I don't know." "Ask me how this fits into the case." "I don't know." "It's just..." "A mystery." "Yes." "So what's the plan here?" "Well, first," "I will simulate the effects of digestive juices on a typical bratwurst protein." "Then I use my mass spectrometer to I.D. the proteins in the sample I was given." "Then I can match that to a known brand... and the rest is "Gibbstory."" "Hmm." "How do you account for instrument drift?" "Oh, I just..." "I tee in a reference compound into the main analyte flow, and then..." "Hey, wait a minute." "Uh, I minored in Forensic Science in college." "I like to keep up with the field." "I'm surprised you don't." "Excuse me?" "Well, it's just that you're teeing in an internal reference when you can get much better results by using an external electrospray probe." "Don't you have some questions that you need to ask me, or something?" "Oh, uh, okay, right." "Uh, five months ago, you processed a memory card that had a photo of the man who killed Tyler Wilkes." "Yes." "And that man was" "Mossad Director Eli David." "Well, we didn't know that at the time, because the photos only showed the back of his head." "Oh, and..." "I use two separate analyte streams for redundancy, Dick." "Yeah, for what that's worth." "And my name is Richard." "Do you want to fight?" "'Cause I will fistfight you in your head right now." "I'm just saying..." "In your head, I'll..." "How could you tell it was Eli David if you could only see the back of his head?" "Because Ziva told us it was her father." "She told you?" "Well, she told Gibbs." "Right before Eli was killed." "It must have been difficult for her." "Ziva is loyal to a fault." "No doubt." ""To a fault" is exactly how I'd put it." "That's it." "Thank you." "Seems like something one of your agents would do." "Yeah, well, can use the fresh air." "Or you're avoiding that guy who's been poking around asking all those questions." "So, any of it ring a bell?" "Sorry, I got nothing." "But the more I smell this number five special, the more I know it's got something to do with all this." "Three down..." "Six more to go." "What?" "What?" "What?" "What?" "What?" "What?" "What?" "B-12-- it's a water-soluble vitamin commonly found in poultry and fish." "That looks familiar." "I think I've been here before." "Definitely been here before." "This is it!" "For sure!" "Shh!" "Shh!" "Shh." "That's the guy who's been following me!" " There's the bratwurst." " Wait." "Hold on." " Hey, knock it off!" " Dr. Hale!" " Dr. Hale?" " What are you waiting for?" " Arrest him!" " Petty Officer, calm down!" "Evan!" "Wait-- you know him?" "Yeah, of course." "He's one of our test subjects." "Test subjects?" "!" "Evan volunteered to be part of the Helping Eyes Initiative, a two-week study examining the psychological effects of surveillance." "Between traffic cams, drones, smart phones, we're a surveillance society now." "And the government wants to know how people react to being watched." "So they can get better at it." "Terrorists are getting better at hiding, too, so, we need to up our game, as well." "You need to avoid looking at me." "We recruited people like Evan here, who agreed to be watched, to have their mail opened, etcetera, while we documented the whole thing." "You recorded the mugging?" "No, we hadn't started yet." "Evan was attacked just a few hours after he signed up." "Something I don't remember doing." "That eventually became clear to us, yes." "Why didn't you call off the test?" "Are you kidding?" "His ignorance of our experiment made him the perfect test subject." "Glad you were getting your kicks while I was tearing my house apart looking for bugs." "You want to press charges?" "Charges?" "!" "For what?" "Following someone with a video camera?" "Reckless endangerment." "You do that, we'll be shut down." "All our work gets confiscated, and good luck getting your check." "Check?" "Yes, this is a paid study." "Well, now that I think about it... it does sound kind of interesting." "You were quite excited when you signed up." "And now that you're done, we owe you some money." "15 hundred bucks!" "Wow." "So is Lowry pressing charges?" "More importantly, can I sign up?" "He is not, and Gibbs is not happy." "He wants us to look into the doctor that's running the experiment." "There are a number of Navy personnel in the study." "Ah." "Gotcha." "So, Lowry's not the only one getting the shaft?" "Uh, excuse me?" "Agent David, have you got a minute?" "You're next on my list." "Conference room busy?" "Uh, unfortunately, it is." "It was either this, or the parking garage." "This will be fine." "I'll get started on the doc." "Well, after spending a few hours in the car with him, I can say that Agent DiNozzo is a capable investigator." "More than capable." "Unfortunately, he can also be quite a child." "This was a mistake." "The conference room is not busy." "I was just there." "No, it's not busy." "So, why did you choose this room?" "Are you trying to make me uncomfortable for some reason?" "Are you uncomfortable..." "for some reason?" "I have nothing to hide." "I also do not have a lot of time." "Time... time, time, time, time, time." "Abby Sciuto recovered photos that indicated your father was guilty of murder." "Yes." "And according to Agent DiNozzo, you saw those photos before sundown." "It's all in my report." "Yet you waited three hours before you told" "Agent Gibbs anything." "That is a lot of time." "Trust me." "It was better for everyone that I speak to my father first." "It was better for everyone." "It certainly wasn't better for, uh, Ilan Bodnar that you spoke with him first." "According to your official report, he lost his footing during your fight, and then fell to his death." "I tried to save him." "Really?" "You tried to save him?" "You tried to save the man that killed your father?" "Yes!" "So he could answer for his crimes." "And what about yours?" "Adam Eshel." "Shin Bet, Israeli security agency." "Yes." "Is it a crime to have friends now?" "It depends." "Did you sleep with your friend?" "I beg your pardon?" "Did you sleep with him?" "He is a foreign national." "You are a federal agent." "That is a threat to national security." "Have you been following me?" "Answer the question!" "Did you sleep with him?" "Go to hell!" "Interview is over." "You don't have the authority." "It's over." "Two seconds ago." "Door." "You can keep the photo of your boyfriend." "So." "Over." "Ten seconds ago." "Tonight, the fire department responded to a three-alarm blaze after an explosion..." "Gibbs, we may have a problem..." "We do." "There was an explosion at the office running the experiment Lowry had signed up for." "That's a hell of a coincidence." "Yeah." "Isn't it?" "You talk to Gibbs yet?" "About what?" "About your interrogation." "There is nothing to talk about." "Parsons is simply conducting a routine investigation." "You told him to go to hell." "Does not mean I have to like it." "But I have nothing to hide." "So, then, national security isn't threatened by you and...?" "Adam?" "Now you're asking the questions." "That was merely a statement with the possibility of a question mark at the end." "I went to Israel to bury my father." "It was a moment of weakness." "I felt alone." "You need to talk to Legal." "No, I don't." "My Hebrew must not be as good as I thought, because I could've sworn that when I dropped you off at the airport, I told you you were not alone." "Yes, you did." "Well, then... we must have different interpretations." "What's cooking?" "Fuse box." "Chief said that's where the fire started." "Someone was messing with the breaker panel feeding into the office." "Caused every computer in the suite to blow out." "All of Dr. Hale's data, all of her video surveillance, it's all gone." "Interesting." "Where's Hale?" "According to the first responders, she was the only one in the building." "She was taken to the hospital with minor burns." "Lucky." "And by that, I mean convenient." "Find out which." "I'll talk to her." "Ziva, McGee, background on the doctor's test subjects." "Everybody she was following." "Yeah, Duck." "Jethro, I apologize for the timing, but I just completed my interview with Mr. Parsons." "Yeah, and...?" "We have a problem." "Let's hear it." "I do not believe that our seemingly innocent interrogator is here simply to dot the I's and cross the T's." "I got that impression, too." "What do you think, Ziva?" "Okay." "Let's hear it." "It is nothing." "Parsons just got a little aggressive with me during the interview." "It is not nothing, Ziva." "Given the interview I just had," "I believe the man is out for blood." "Yours." "I knew that guy was trouble." "He's like an evil McGee." "He left this photograph." "Do you recognize that man, Ziva?" "No." "Michael Fassbender?" "Shmeil Pinkhas." "I can see it in his eyes." "Were you aware that Mr. Pinkhas once worked for the Israeli government?" "Shmeil?" "No, that's impossible." "Well, according to Parsons, he was briefly in their employ for an operation that began in 1972." "September, to be precise." "Munich." "Mm." "Just like the movie." "Shmeil, played by Eric Bana." "Well, what does that have to do with Ziva?" "Well, Parsons was interested in her repeated contact with a former Israeli black bag operative." "He also wanted to know if I was aware of her relationship with Adam Eshel." "He's fishing." "He's questioning her loyalty." "Yes." "To what?" "NCIS." "And her adopted country." "Does he think I'm a spy or something?" "I have no idea what his endgame is." "Nor what is motivating him, but it is clear this is a witch hunt." "What the hell are we gonna do about this?" "Sorry, I-I'm miffed." "Well..." "I fear we just have to wait until the dealer shows his full hand." "Waiting isn't even one of the top hundred things I'm good at." "And we're not gonna wait." "We're gonna count." "Cards." "See what's left in Parsons' deck." "I love watching you hack." "Don't tell anyone I said that." "Don't worry," "I won't." "But technically, I haven't hacked anything yet." "NCIS already has access to the DoD database with Parsons' case files." "What do you got?" "Well, it looks like a collection of all the paperwork on Eli David and Bodnar." "That tells us nothing." "We wrote most of it." "Hold on a minute." "There's a locked file here from the U.S. Justice Department." "Is Parsons actually going for an indictment?" "Who is he talking to at Justice?" "That may be a tough hack, boss." "I'd have to bypass the external firewall, but..." "Investigators believe that, while the power surge in" "Dr. Hale's office was intentional, the resulting fire was not." "We followed up on her test subjects-- all accounted for but one:" "Simon Gravy." "A civilian." "Manages a shoe store." "Where is he?" "He disappeared after the explosion, and I'm gonna go with suspicious." "There's no activity from his cell phone." "Checking his bank account." "We'll put out a BOLO, but we may have a better way to track him." "Hale told me she made weekly backups of her video surveillance." "They were recording Simon for a while." "There might be something there that'll tell us where he's hiding." "Go." "Ziva, look at that lead from McGee." "On it." "I have some friends I can talk to." "You want to talk?" "Ready when you are." "It's good to know." "But I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait your turn." "What'd I miss?" "You were only gone two minutes." "It felt like two hours." "God, this is so addicting." "Does he floss?" "He seems like a flosser." "What are those meds he's taking?" "I like moving images." "And I could use a diversion right now." "When the cereal's gone, he doesn't drink the rest of the milk." "That's such a Simon move." "If you know him so well, how about figuring out where he's hiding." "Assuming he's not dead." "Bite your tongue." "Tony, the problem with a study like this is," "Simon may have signed up to be followed, but that doesn't mean everyone he met wanted to be filmed." "What's your point?" "Well, he could have a buddy who's a drug dealer." "Drug dealers tend to not like being recorded." "Simon doesn't have any buddies." "He has a cat." "He spends all of his time by himself." "At the aquarium." "did we mark that down?" "Yup, already expanded the BOLO." "Kind of sad." "What a waste of an 802.11-enabled" "Trojan Horse Code Planter." "What a waste of words." "What?" "From Abby." "It survived the fire in Dr. Hale's lab." "It remotely installs an application on smart phones that turns the cell into a bug." "That could come in handy." "Right?" "Instead of having to plant an actual bug, all you need to do is get close enough and hit that button." "Well, keep it away from me." "Don't flatter yourself." "Last thing I want to do is to hear you..." "If this is Dorneget, I swear to God..." "Oh." "What's wrong?" "I was locked out, that's what's wrong." "I was coming to brief you on what I learned from my contact at Justice, but when I tried to open the door, my retina scan was denied." "Hmm." "Your security clearance has been suspended." "Parsons." "You brief McGee." "I'll go tell Gibbs." "Almost missed it." "Ah." "Going down." "Were you able to find out anything on that locked file?" "Not specifically." "But my contact at Justice gave me this list of all the files Parsons has been accessing." "Most of them from the NCIS archives." "What's he doing going through our archives?" "You must have a pretty warped sense of humor." "Probably the kind of guy that thinks the laugh track on Sports Night made it funnier." "So, this is how you do it, huh?" "I got you." "Just play it cool, wait for a reaction?" "Hey, I got one for you." "What's that tell you?" "That you're afraid." "Parsons has been pulling hundreds of case files." "Some of these files are from before you even got here." "You're messing with the wrong federal agents." "You can question how we do things, but don't ever question the loyalty of Ziva David." "Even if she dissed you and slept with some stranger?" "You're gonna poke the bear, huh?" "It's effective." "Until the bear eats you." "For doing my job?" "For going after the bear's best friend." "What makes you think I'm going after Ziva?" "McGee, there's only one person these files have in common." "Vance." "Parsons is not after me." "He's going after the director." "If Parsons is compiling my greatest hits, then why put the screws to David?" "Leverage." "We believe he's hoping to get me to flip." "Perhaps to bring to light some aspects of our hunt for Bodnar that were... icy." "Dicey." "We had our reasons." "Yes, we did." "As Director, though... it's only right that this should fall on me." "I've been doing some checking." "Parsons is a rising star in the DC private legal sector." "He's trying to make a name for himself." "Not if we can help it." "We'll know if he makes a move." "We've got ears to the ground, and, maybe, accidentally, Trojan-horse style listening apps on his phone?" "You bugged Parsons?" "We shared an elevator." "I forgot it was in my pocket." "I appreciate that you've got my back, but there are some things, uh, you should keep me in the dark about." "Sorry I'm late." "Didn't you get my text?" "Just now." "There's no personal cell phones in MTAC, remember?" "What, am I the only one that follows that rule?" "You got something, McGee?" "Yeah." "BOLO came back on Simon Gravy, our suspected arsonist." "Aquarium?" "Yup." "We got him." "Bring him in." "Best way to stay under Parsons' radar is to keep working." "Keep me informed." "Meantime, I'm gonna call in some favors." "That's about how I feel right now." "The Simon Show seem different to you?" "Is he on new meds or something?" "Looks more like he's off his meds." "Hey." "Hey!" "Personal space, McGrope." "Sorry." "Only available outlet." "In the building?" "The server in here is on its own network." "I do not want the signal from Parsons' phone being traced to my desk." "Don't worry." "I'll be quiet." "You signed up for a study that watches you 24/7." "And then you fell off the grid." "No cell, no credit cards." "Emptied your bank account an hour ago." "You going somewhere, Simon?" "Oh, somebody cares!" "Definitely off his meds." "Not exactly Gibbs' specialty." "Well, yeah, I signed up for that study." "I needed the cash." "Then you changed your mind." "Why'd you disappear?" "It's none of your business." "Actually, yeah, it is my business." "The building with your surveillance tapes was torched." "Oh, isn't that just the icing on the cake!" "You know who did this?" "Yeah, I do, but it doesn't really matter 'cause you're never gonna find him." "It does matter." "Talk, or it's accessory-after-the-fact." "God." "God burned down that building." "Why were you running?" "...to let me know just how worthless I really am!" "Why were you running?" "Because I hate my life!" "It's like an episode of Bipolar Intervention." "I haven't had a steady job in..." "See?" "...two years." "I don't have any friends, let alone a girlfriend." "Driving my '99 Miata to Beltway Burgers on Wednesday night is what passes for my social life." "I needed a fresh start, okay?" "Yeah, I met someone who didn't like being recorded." "It was me." "Before, I could pretend that I wasn't worthless, but once the cameras started rolling, I realized how I must look on tape." "You destroyed the footage." "God, you're not listening." "It wasn't me." "Yesterday was Wednesday." "I was at Beltway Burgers all night, remember?" "Go ahead and check." "I'm sorry, I don't know who did this, but I doubt it was someone in the study." "What kind of an idiot would get into trouble knowing there was a camera crew following him around?" "Someone who didn't remember." "Petty Officer Lowry." "Agent Gibbs." "You should have called." "I'm kind of in the middle of lunch." "Are you going to introduce me?" "Uh..." "Sure." "Agent Gibbs, this is, uh, Stella and Abner." "He's a cutie, and he has his mother's eyes." "Agent Gibbs, is it?" "Nice to meet you." "Likewise." "Corporal." "We went through all your tapes." "We ran facial recognition on everyone you met while you were being followed." "She popped up." "You're UA, Corporal." "And you've been helping her hide." "Which is why you caused that fire-- to protect her." "Fire?" "What's going on, Evan?" "Petty Officer Lowry signed up to be followed for a psych experiment." "You only had to remember one thing." "To stay away from your oldest friend in the world until it was done." "But I didn't remember." "When we found Dr. Hale," "I realized I led the cameras right to Stella." "Then got NCIS involved." "If her face flagged in the system..." "She would have been caught." "What did you do, Evan?" "She didn't know, Agent Gibbs." "About any of it." "And the fire wasn't supposed to happen." "I was just trying to wipe any record of Stella from the servers." "I was trying to make it right." "Yeah." "I know." "I'm so sorry, Stella." "I'm a dedicated Marine, sir." "As dedicated as they come." "I read your file." "But after I had Abner, things changed." "Last month, I got orders for a third tour." "Afghanistan." "Evan was just trying to protect us." "Haven't you ever bent the rules to protect a friend?" "Like having your own office?" "A little." "Okay, a lot." "I love it." "I never get to listen to my own music out loud." "Or live in your own filth." "So, what's the scoop with Parsons?" "Well, I've been listening all day." "He, uh, had a few meetings at the Pentagon, made some calls, but nothing revealing." "Where is he now?" "He's down in the lobby." "He's making a phone call." "What?" "What did he say?" "!" "Boss, we got a problem!" "What's the matter now, McGee?" "We had it wrong." "Bodnar's only part of this." "Parsons isn't after Ziva or Vance." "He..." "That's a lot of manpower." "Your reputation proceeds you." "Don't act too surprised." "Or did I not give you enough time to prepare?" "You got something to say, say it." "Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you've manipulated evidence, and you've obstructed justice." "Do you take full responsibility for the actions of your team?" "What do you think?" "== sync, corrected by elderman =="