- Gibbs and Bishop travel to Afghanistan when a murder investigation is linked to a terror group holding a Marine hostage. Meanwhile, Tony is annoyed when McGee steals his gig as the face of the NCIS recruitment brochures.
- The team investigates the murder of a Marine Captain. When they get there, they learn that a Sergeant came to see the Captain and when he saw him on the floor he entered and was attacked by a man in a mask. He fought him but he got away. They find some fingerprints and identify them as that of a man from Afganistan who is the brother of a known Taliban member. When they learn the man didn't enter the country legally they assume he's a terrorist. They find him and when questioned he denies being a terrorist and that he killed the Captain. The Sergeant later tells Gibbs he and the Captain got him out of Afganistan and into the country because he helped them. They didn't go through proper channels because his brother would have killed him for helping them. Later in Afganistan a Marine is captured by the Taliban and the man's brother posts a video saying that unless his brother is turned over to him, the Marine will be executed. Vance informs Gibbs the SecNav approved the exchange, and he wants Gibbs to bring him and Gibbs doesn't like it. Tony and McGee try to find the Captain's killer.—rcs0411@yahoo.com
- A Marine, Joseph Wilkes, goes to wake up his captain at his house and sees him lying dead on the floor inside. After kicking down the door, a masked intruder attacks Wilkes with a baseball bat. Wilkes chokes his attacker until the attacker stabs him in the side with a knife and runs off.
At the office, Tony is peeved to learn that McGee has been chosen as the new face of NCIS -- he's on the brochure.
Gibbs summons them to the crime scene. The victim was put in a stress position with rope, so any struggle by the victim only choked him more. He died early that morning. The victim is Marine Captain David Landis, stationed at Quantico.
Tony and Bishop interview a witness who saw a young Middle Eastern man fleeing the scene.
Gibbs talks to Wilkes, who served two tours in Afghanistan with Landis. He blames himself for the killer getting away.
Gibbs visits Abby's lab, where she's trying to set a calm scene before telling Gibbs the fingerprints at the crime scene belong to Kaseem Nasir, a 21-year-old Afghani with ties to the Taliban.
Back in the office, McGee is standing proudly next to a life-sized cut-out of himself that's going to be displayed in every NCIS office. Palmer and Ellie lay the praise on thick until Tony can't take it anymore.
Gibbs shows up for the victim rundown. Landis' unit returned from Afghanistan eight months ago. Kaseem Nasir has an older brother named Rasheed who has claimed responsibility for more than 100 deaths for the Taliban.
In the morgue, Duckie reports that Landis was stabbed seven times with non-lethal wounds, meant to inflict pain. Duckie theorizes the lethal slice to his neck was inflicted when Wilkes arrives unexpected and that the killer hadn't achieved his goal in torturing Landis.
Tony and McGee track down Kaseem Nasir and find a tactical knife on him. Back in interrogation, Kassim pleads his innocence.
Bishop finds Gibbs and tells him she thinks Kaseem might be innocent. He and his brother didn't exist before 2011. They're Kaseem and Rasheed Matar, brothers who went missing after their parents were missing in 2008. Ellie thinks the Taliban took them in and forced them to follow their ideology, but Kaseem didn't go along.
Abby tells Gibbs that the knife isn't the murder weapon, and it belongs to Landis, who shows up to tell Gibbs that he and Wilkes snuck Kaseem into the country. "He's one of us," Landis says.
Landis shows the team footage of Kaseem trying to warn their Humvee to stop before it hit an IED. He pulled them to safety and watched over them until help arrived. He joined their unit as a translator. Landis and Wilkes snuck him into the country, fearing he'd be a target in Afghanistan. Gibbs warns him he'll face consequences.
Ellie gets a text from her NSA friend Martinez, who meets with Ellie to show her a bounty that Rasheed put out on Kaseem. They realize the killer was torturing Landis for information on Kaseem.
At NCIS, Kaseem tells Gibbs and Wilkes that the Taliban didn't kill his parents -- his brother did. Wilkes gives Kaseem Landis' dog tags.
Vance calls Gibbs in to show him a video of Rasheed holding a Marine hostage, demanding Kaseem in exchange. Vance tells him the State Department has agreed.
Gibbs and Ellie accompany Kaseem on a military transport back to Afghanistan. Ellie assures Kaseem they won't let the deal go through. Ellie tells him about her 18 months stationed in Pakistan as an analyst. A coworker of hers was killed.
Back in Abby's lab, she tells McGee the murder weapon was a knife sold only to the US Military and private contractors.
In Afghanistan, Kaseem is greeted warmly by members of his old unit. The commander says turning over Kaseem isn't an option.
Back at NCIS, Tony and McGee are trying to narrow down the suspect list based on who had access to the knife. Tony realizes whoever attacked Landis wanted to follow their investigation to Kaseem and they focus on the eye witness, Ken Ashmore, with WingSpan security forces. He was in the Army until 2007 and WingSpan had such a bad reputation it was forced to shut down. He was stationed in Kabul.
They find the murder weapon in Ashmore's house with his prints on it. He says Landis was protecting a terrorist. But McGee found emails between Ashmore and Rasheed and a deposit of $50,000. Ashmore denies knowing where Rasheed is but says his hostage is as good as dead and so is anyone who tries to stop him.
In Afghanistan, they get word that Kaseem has fled the base by himself -- to turn himself over to his brother. They find the burned out Humvee nearby and a bullet proof vest with a bloody bullet wound to the shoulder.
Back in MTAC, McGee, Tony and Vance look at satellite imagery of a Taliban safe house. In Afganistan, Gibbs suggests Ellie drive in by herself because she'll arouse the least suspicion. She argues she's not trained for it, but Gibbs insists.
Ellie drives up to the compound claiming to be a doctor and quickly finds a gun in her face.
In the compound, Kaseem is alive, but bleeding from his bullet wound. The Marine hostage is badly beaten, but still alive. Ellie is brought in by Rasheed's men as a distraction, quickly followed by Gibbs and the Army unit. They kill Rasheed and take Kaseem and the hostage to safety.
Back at NCIS, Tony apologizes for not being more supportive of McGee as the new face of NCIS.
McGee confesses it was all an April Fool's joke. Tony can't be mad. "I've taught them well," he says.
In Afghanistan, Ellie commends Kaseem for his misplaced bravery. She and Gibbs break the news to Kaseem that his special immigrant visa came through -- he'll be working as a translator for NCIS.
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