Last night’s episode of NCIS opened with a man who we later find out is Navy Seaman Apprentice Brian Dokes walking into a lingerie store and talking to the door guy, Lump. They talk before he goes into the backroom where people are taking part in illegal sports booking. Dokes pulls out a grenade and demands everyone to hand over their money. The owner of the store, who we soon learn is Kobe Carver, surreptitiously begins pulling his bag of money from a safe and grabs Dokes’ arm.
Dokes drops the grenade and then runs off. After the credits, we see the team at a crash site, where Dokes lays dead in the grass. They all wonder if it was just an accident as Gibbs walks past Ducky, who comments on the unfortunate nature of Dokes not achieving his dream. When Tony opens up the trunk of the car, he finds the grenades, which all turn out to be training grenades and are not real. Then Tim finds a bag of cash, at least $50,000, which likely makes it a robbery. Gibbs has Ellie go back to the body and when they turn him over, they discover his eyes have been clawed out. It is beginning to look like this is not an accident.
Ellie tells the team that Dokes’ record is clean and that his father is in a very expensive rehab facility. They have plenty of questions about why Dokes would commit a robbery. As they talk, Tim gets a call that security detained a man named Kip Klugman, who wants to be an informant on the case. He finds out that Klugman is a disgraced former NCIS Agent, who was brought down by Leon Vance. Vance comes down and tells Gibbs he does not want to use any information from Kip.
They go down to talk to Kip and he shows them a dummy grenade. He claims to know who Dokes robbed and wants to give them information. He mentions that a training grenade had been used during the robbery and wants to work with them.
Vance and Gibbs interview Klugman, who tells them that Dokes robbed a man named Kobe Carver, who runs an illegal sports book behind the lingerie store. He claims his source is from an anonymous robbery victim. However, Vance and Gibbs believe that Klugman just wants to take down who he calls “Beef” in order to clear his debts. Kip tells them he just wants to make up for having framed Vance for a crime years earlier. Vance is not amused, but tells Gibbs to check the story out and that he is done.
As Kip is escorted out of the building, he complains about Leon not helping. Leon informs him he is protecting honest NCIS agents and he also tells Klugman to leave in order for “honest” agents to do work.
Meanwhile, Abby tells Tim that the victim’s own DNA was under his fingernails, meaning he had clawed his own eyes out. He was apparently under the influence of LSD, but no drugs were found in his car so they feel he was drugged.
Ellie and Tony go to talk to Kobe Carver at the store, but end up meeting his lawyer, Laura Strike-Palmer. She informs them that they are there on a courtesy visit and takes them to the back room, which now looks like a normal back room for a store. Carver claims not to know anything about what happened to Brian Dokes, and then the lawyer mentions that he was nowhere near Alexandria when it happened. This raises Ellie’s suspicions and when Tony tries to look at some boxes, Carver steps up to make sure he backs off.
Vance is at his home boxing when he gets a text from the babysitter to let him know the kids are at their sleepovers. He hears a knock on his door and answers, only to find Kip bruised and bloody. He claims that Vance attacked him and we hear sirens coming toward the house.
Gibbs is with Vance outside his house and they talk about Kip’s claims that Vance beat him. Vance knows he didn’t, but since he just boxed, his hands are bruised up. The Secretary of the Navy comes to speak to Leon. While she is sure he didn’t do anything, people in Washington are nervous about this. She mentions that he lasted longer in the job than his predecessors and suggests he should use a change of scenery. Plus, she also tells him they may transfer the case to Alexandria PD, much to Vance’s displeasure.
In autopsy, Ducky informs Gibbs that Dokes died of respiratory failure and that Kip’s doctor gave him information on his injuries. He was apparently beaten by someone who was left handed and Vance comes to tell them he himself is right handed. Vance tells Gibbs he wants to work on the case with him and Gibbs agrees, even calling him probie.
Ellie tells Tim that the three people from the store claimed that they were not robbed. They also discovered that Beef’s alibi checked out. Ellie asks about Asset Forfeiture, wanting to help Vance in the midst of the trouble he is facing by using the cash from evidence. Tony comes in and wonders where Gibbs is and they realize Vance is missing too. Tony calls and Gibbs tells him he is on a “personal errand.” Gibbs confirms he is and we see Vance is with him as they stake out Kip.
As Tony talks to Gibbs, a detective from Alexandria comes to take the evidence for transfer. Gibbs tells Tony to stall before they hang up. Tony tries to stall by commenting on her last name, Stradivarius, but the detective is not playing.
Vance and Gibbs follow Kip in their car, but Vance is nervous that Gibbs is too close. They talk about Vance working with Gibbs and realizing it is different than Vance thought it would be. They follow Kip until he stops at some office buildings. As Vance looks up who the tenants are, the lawyer, Laura, walks out on her phone with Kip. She tells Vance and Gibbs she is on the phone with their boss and shouting harassment.
Gibbs and Vance talk to Laura, who is also Carver’s lawyer. She claims there is no connection between her two clients and is prepared to give a press conference on what is going on. The Secretary of the Navy comes in to formally apologize for her agents and offers Laura a cup of coffee. They leave and Gibbs and Vance are able to look around the room.
After finding a video of the illegal sports book, Gibbs and Vance talk to the Secretary about the case. They want to be able to see this through. She informs them that the Secretary of Defense wants the case closed within three hours and then Vance will be dismissed the next day as the case is transferred.
Tony goes to see Abby, who had called him 20 minutes earlier. He was stalling the detective by claiming she needed a bigger car for the evidence, which only consists of three boxes. She tells him she found a substance that can absorb drugs into the skin and if she knew the chemical make up, she could trace it back to the original drug. Tony asks if she has anything for a warrant, and Abby mentions that she had that information 20 minutes earlier. She tells him that there was a tracking device inside the bag of money and she hacked the tracker in order to lead back to its original location, which is the lingerie store. Tony leaves very excitedly to get the warrant.
Tim and Tony interrogate Beef, who wants his lawyer. They tell him they found the safe and re-enact how the robbery went down, with Tim playing Dokes and Tony playing Beef. They tell Beef they were able to figure out through science that Dokes had been given a drug right as the robbery was occurring when Carver grabbed his forearm. The drug had been transferred on tiny strips placed on Carver’s palm so Dokes couldn’t see it. When the tracker is brought up, he denies using a tracker and they ask him if anyone else could access his money. He begins to say no, until he realizes that he pulls out his money bag when he pays Lump at the end of the night.
Vance and Gibbs watch the interrogation, and Vance realizes Lump and Klugman must be working together. They planned to rob the store, but Dokes beat them to it. He was likely getting the money to pay for his father’s rehabilitation. They realize the money is still being tracked and the evidence is supposed to be transferred that night, so the robbery will take place then.
Vance and Gibbs take the evidence in a van, where they discuss working together again. Gibbs tells him he minds his boss and also tells Vance the job changes and so do they. The robbery then occurs and Vance and Gibbs slowly get out of the vehicle as Gibbs puts his gun behind his clothes. Vance and Gibbs lead Lump to the evidence box where the money is. Vance then tells Lump Gibbs has his gun, having his own plan in mind.
However, Lump also tells Gibbs to toss the gun and to also toss the tracking device. He leaves with the box of evidence as Tony and Ellie come up, wondering why they didn’t get a signal to move. Vance is feeling down since they can’t track where Klugman will have the money. Gibbs tells Vance his phone is in the evidence box, thanks to Ellie, so they can track it that way.
They track the evidence box to Laura Strike-Palmer’s law office and it becomes clear she is involved, as she talks to Lump and Klugman about how Klugman can escape. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Vance slowly approach the room they are in. When Lump finds Gibbs’ phone, he reaches for his gun. In another area of the office, Tim and Ellie are waiting when they hear a gunshot. They rush over to find Lump has been shot and Vance has a bullet hole in his vest while Gibbs arrests the lawyer. Klugman is also placed under arrest. Vance points out he became a politician because he was tired of situations like that.
Later, the Secretary of the Navy arrives, annoyed at the spectacle Gibbs made. Gibbs tells her he made the transfer and the team chimes in that they found out about the robbery and tracked the money there. Vance comes over, acting as though he hadn’t been a part of things, but the Secretary sees blood on his shirt. He tells the Secretary the reason he became Director was to protect his agency. The Secretary tells him that Washington won’t be happy if he is fired the next day.
In the office, Ellie tells Tim and Tony that she and Detective Kiki from Alexandria decided to donate the asset money to the Walter Reed clinic. They are waiting for Vance and Gibbs to come back in from their meeting with the Secretary. When they arrive, both men are stoic and hiding what happened. The team looks at Vance, who informs them he is in charge and he orders them to work. As they get back to their desks, Vance and Gibbs exchange words, including “You’re stuck with me” and “Change is hard” before they both smile.