NCIS began with a woman getting out of her car at night after parking in her garage. As she is speaking to a male on the phone about chauvenism, we see someone sneaking around behind her. After getting off the phone, we hear her screaming as the scene cuts to outside her home.
Meanwhile in the squad room, Tim talks to Agent Tina Larsen, who has returned after transferring. They exchange some flirty banter as she talks about needing a place to stay due to having to be out of temp housing by the end of the week. After offering his couch, Tony and Ellie tease Tim about being a “work flirt.” We find out Larsen and Tim had once gone on a date and Tim reminds them he is with Delilah, but Ellie points out they haven’t seen each other in six months and it’s okay to use words. As she is telling Tim what she means, Gibbs says “Keep the tools” sharp before telling them they have a case.
Ducky arrives at the scene and Gibbs knocks on the garage door so they can go in. Tim tells them a neighbor saw the blood trail and called police. The house belongs to a Gunnery Sergeant Holt Perkins, who is deployed. They aren’t sure who the woman is, but Tim finds she had gone to the hardware store. Perkins arrives, distraught and wondering where his wife is, so Gibbs takes him to see the body. But when Perkins begins saying “Thank you, thank you,” they find out she is not his wife and he doesn’t know her.
Perkins is trying to get a hold of his wife, Leandra, but she is not answering her phone. When he sees that there is cereal on the coffee table that he knows his wife wouldn’t eat and that someone was using a couch she hates, he tells the team his wife is very neat and likes to work out. He mentions an upstairs gym he converted and they go up to find the items missing. Then, he mentions there is a safe in the other room bolted to the floor.
Abby tells Tim their victim had been trying to open the safe, but broke the drill bits, hence why she went to the hardware store. The woman is a thief named Mallory Bleeker. Ellie comes in and mentions a status update Tim wrote about a song from The Beatles and Jaws. She tells them Leandra had been giving status updates on social media about being at a spa and that she also wrote about her husband being deployed. Tim and Abby realize the thief must have known the house would be empty and that she was living there. Ellie tells them that Virginia police are bringing Leandra home.
Ducky talks to the body in his morgue about social media and how people use it to give everything away. Gibbs comes down for information and finds out that the victim was stabbed multiple times with a blunt knife and she had blood along with a symbol stuffed inside her bra.
Tony interviews Mallory’s brother, Scott, who claims to have gotten out of a life of crime and hadn’t spoken to his sister in a year. He tells Tony he was with a prostitute all night, and even gives Tony information to help him find her. Gibbs comes in to show Scott the symbol, but he tells them he doesn’t know what it is. Tim interrupts to get Gibbs to tell him he thinks he knows what the symbol is. He asks to make a phone call.
Tim calls Delilah and tells her about the email he sent with the symbol. He knew she was tracking a terror group in Dubai and asks if that was the “Dragon’s tooth” logo. Before she can answer, Larsen comes to ask about the extra key and Tim tells her he is on the phone. After going back to Deliliah, she tells him they need to coordinate and to talk in MTAC. Then, she asks why “she” needed a key.
The team talks to Delilah and Special Agent Rafi Ali from Homeland Security. They had been tracking domestic terrorists who were using social media for activities. As Ali talks to them, Tim notices he puts his hand on Delilah’s back. They tell them a terrorist would use social media to see when a home would be empty so they could incite fear. They figure the thief and the cyber terrorist went to the house at the same time. The man they are tracking is Omer Malik, who is a British national. Vance isn’t too happy with how blasé Ali is and when Tim tries to talk to Delilah, he cuts the feed. Gibbs and Vance go to find out about him.
Tony and Ellie listen as Leandra and Perkins bicker over the spa she was at, which was apparently for couples. He is looking at names as they argue before coming to someone named Henry Pecan. But then she informs him she has no idea who it is, making Tony and Ellie take notice.
Tm is trying to text Delilah, but is getting no response. Gibbs comes in and Tim informs him Malik is the cousin of Bashir Malik, who is responsible for Delilah’s paralysis. He wonders why neither of them would have mentioned that, especially since it is not part of the BOLO for Homeland Security. As Gibbs leaves to see Abby, Tony comes in and Tim talks about texting Delilah. Tony tells Tim she texted him about Larsen and that he “cleared that up,” much to Tim’s confusion.
Abby tells Gibbs he will leave with a big break soon and she tells them that after getting a subpoena for Pecan’s social media page, she found that it belonged to Malik and he sent private messages back and forth with E. Pistachio. She tells him the two are meeting soon.
They go to the apartment, where a pizza guy is coming, so they decide to use that as a cover. After knocking on the door, a guy opens up, but it is not Malik and he is the roommate. He hasn’t arrived yet for a meeting, so the team decides to wait. When they hear a knock on the door, they open the door only to find Delilah there with ICE. Tim looks positively stunned.
Delilah tells Tim she had been working deep undercover as Pistachio and that she was in the US for a week. He is surprised that she didn’t call him, but they are interrupted when Ali comes in. He isn’t happy they interrupted their investigation, but Vance points out they were never in the loop. Tony finds some DVDs from Malik’s room and Ali asks for them. Tim isn’t thrilled when Ali puts a hand on Delilah’s shoulder again.
Tim talks to Tony about the situation, pointing out that they are just work friends and it’s the same with him and Larsen. He mentions something about the birds and the bees and no pollination. Once they get off the elevator, Tony finds out that Tim has been contacting Delilah non-stop and he tells him to slow down. Tony gets a call that Ali is in the building and Tim asks about Delilah. Tony reminds him to breathe and says secrets will come out.
In MTAC, Vance, Gibbs, Ali, and Tim watch the tapes Malik made about breaking into homes. Ali says they didn’t know about the home invasions and there is still some tension between both sets as neither has said much. As they watch one scene, Gibbs notices someone else is with Malik. Ali doesn’t want Gibbs to leave, but Vance only half-heartedly tries to stop him before telling Ali he spoke to his superiors about working together. After Vance leaves, Ali tells Tim that Delilah made sure that they had their own rooms once they got back. He pats Tim on the back.
Tony and Ellie go through Delilah’s messages with Malik and Ellie tells him she used her personal stories based on being paralyzed and her work to get Malik’s trust. She wonders if she should delete her accounts, but Tony tells her not to. When she tries, though, she finds out there is a two-week waiting period.
Abby and Tim go through video footage, which is not making Abby feel good. She asks if Tim is alright, but he hasn’t been able to process anything. Abby is horrified to see Malik holding a knife to a dog, but Tim assures her the dog is okay as he saw the part already. Abby is relieved, but annoyed she couldn’t get to it in an organic manner. Then, Tim sees the accomplice touched the banister on the stairs.
Tony and Gibbs interview the pizza boy from earlier, who claims not to know anything about what Malik is doing. He would only hold the camera and Malik never mentioned where he would ever go. While Tim watches in observation, the boy mentions that Malik is obsessed with someone he has been talking to online named Pistachio. Tim realizes Gibbs is going to want to use Delilah as bait and he asks to talk to her first when she calls.
Tim and Delilah have a tense meeting at the apartment she is in. He’s not happy she didn’t call him back and they are only talking after he pestered her. Neither of them are getting anywhere and Tim asks if she wants to split up. She says no but asks if they are and Tim feels like it is happening. They hear a knock on the door and Tim thinks it’s Ali. But when he opens it, Malik is there with a gun.
Tony and Ellie are waiting for Tim when Larsen asks where he is. After telling her that Tim stepped out, Tony mentions he couldn’t offer a place since he is in a relationship. Gibbs comes in and they still don’t know where Tim is when he won’t answer his phone.
Meanwhile, Delilah and Tim are tied up as Malik asks if Delilah is working for him or NCIS. Neither of them talk, although Tim isn’t happy she told Malik about him. Malik holds the gun on Tim.
Larsen is getting off the elevator with Ali, but Tony stops to ask him about the safe house. Ali won’t tell them as Ellie still doesn’t hear from Tim. Even after they tell Ali Tim was on his way there and won’t contact them, he still seems a bit slow and Gibbs shoves him into the elevator.
Malik is getting ready to make a video as Tim tries to get Delilah to tell him that she is on his side. Delilah refuses, but Tim speaks up to claim that he realized she wasn’t with him anymore and that he was there to try and convince her. They both make statements about still caring about each other and Delilah asks why he let her move to Dubai and he mentions how much he loves her. Delilah tells Malik she is on his side and he does not need to shoot Tim. He hits Tim over the head then cuts Delilah’s bindings to hand her to gun. He wants her to do it.
The team is in the car on the way to the safe house and they think the Metro police may be closer, but Ellie says they are almost there.
In the room, Tim tells Delilah to shoot him and that it was a test. However, she refuses to do so and Tim tells her it wasn’t loaded. They argue as Malik moves to shoot Tim, but she pulls out a knife to stab him. He drops the weapon and Tim tries to reach it just as Gibbs comes through the door. Tony asks Tim who hit him while he gets the ties off and when Ellie mentions the knife, Delilah tells them she listens to rule nine and then tells Tim they have to work on communicating right before he kisses her. They both give each other a proper hello.
The next morning, a very happy looking Tim is working while Ellie and Tony talk about work flirting and how it keeps your “kung fu strong” and they can tell Tim got lucky. He points out he knows “kung fu” before Larsen and Delilah come by after talking as Larsen was asking about Rafi. After she leaves, Tim tells Delilah they heard the news about Ali, who was apparently “suspended for gross negligence,” much to Tim’s amusement. Delilah then tells them she was made team leader of her group at work and since the threat to social media is at home, she will be staying in DC. Tim is thrilled and Delilah mentions there will still be secrets and he points out, after hearing it from Tony earlier, that “secrets can be sexy.” Gibbs tells them they should get a room and Delilah says she “has one.” Tim is happy.
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