Last night’s NCIS saw the return of a familiar face when a group of doctors treating patients in Togu, South Sudan are attacked. After one of the doctors, Lieutenant Liz Cortlandt, makes a plea for help from someone named Stan, we see Tim and Tony in the bullpen discussing Gibbs.
Tim seems to think that Gibbs has been quieter than usual, but Tony thinks he is still the same. They ask Ellie what she thinks, but she is busy on the phone talking to her husband. Things are still rough with them and when she is asked, Ellie seems to think something may be up with Gibbs.
When Gibbs comes in, he quietly indicates they need to go to MTAC, which Tony finds normal. They go up to see agent Stan Burley, who looks sad and upset at the murder that took place at the clinic he is at. He was the one Liz tried to call before she was killed. Two more badly burnt bodies had been found. They were part of a group of doctors on a volunteer mission for International Doctors Group headed by a Dr. Woods.
Ellie and Tony go to the IDG headquarters to talk to Dr. Woods about Togu. While they wait, Tony laments on why doctors would go to a war zone. A woman’s voice is heard asking what they know about Togu and Tony recognizes the voice. He turns to see his ex-girlfriend, Jeanne Benoit.
When Tony doesn’t say much, Ellie speaks to Jeanne about Togu. Jeanne had received a text from one of the doctors, David, who is also her husband. It was a 911 text that they would only use if something was terribly wrong. She tells them five doctors had been sent to South Sudan, meaning two are unaccounted for. Jeanne is saddened to hear about Liz, but they don’t know if her husband is dead.
Tim is shocked to hear about Jeanne and tells Ellie about the undercover mission Tony had been on to date Jeanne in order to find out about her father, La Grenouille. Tony hears him talking and tells them there is nothing to discuss. He didn’t feel anything about seeing Jeanne other than feeling bad about her friends and missing husband. Gibbs comes in for an update and annoys Tony when he mentions Jeanne.
The team tells Gibbs about the doctors who had been sent to South Sudan, including David Woods, who co-founded the group with Jeanne. There is an Ensign Joni Ryan who is also unaccounted for.
In MTAC, Stan tells Gibbs and Tim that they need help to find the missing doctors. Gibbs agrees to come and says they will have seats. Tim asks Gibbs who exactly is going and is stunned as Stan warns him to update his shots. Down in autopsy, Ducky and Jimmy are preparing to do the autopsies.
Gibbs comes down followed by Jeanne and Tony, who tells Ducky she didn’t want to keep waiting. Jeanne comes in and Ducky asks about any identifying features on her husband. She mentions he had his collarbone fixed surgically, but Jimmy can’t tell on the body he checks. After mentioning orthodontics, she identifies the body he looks at as a doctor named Felix.
Ducky notices the body he has is an amputee and Jeanne identifies the doctor as James. Jeanne goes over to Liz’s body. When they go back upstairs, Doctor Taft is there asking about Joni Ryan. Gibbs finds out she is the one who helped with his surgery. He lets Taft know she is not in autopsy. Tim tells Gibbs they have a plane for South Sudan as Jeanne tells Taft that they had been trying to recruit him for their group.
Taft is not thrilled about Gibbs going to South Sudan while Jeanne tells Gibbs she wants to go. At first he says no, but she tells him she knows the people there and the dialect. Gibbs finally relents, but then ends up collapsing.
Gibbs is annoyed about being in the hospital and tries to leave, but Taft won’t let him until he has run some tests. He tries to say he didn’t collapse, but Abby and Ellie, who both come in one after the other, say he did and that he can’t help on the case. A frustrated Gibbs tells them to get Tony and Tim in the room too, but then discovers they are already on their way to South Sudan.
On the plane, Tim asks Tony when he will talk to Jeanne. Tony tells him things happened a long time ago, but Tim still thinks he should talk to her. Tony tries to go to talk to Jeanne, but she is very reserved with him. He asks how she met David and she tells Tony it was after their last meeting. After a tense talk, he goes to get some sleep.
Ellie goes to see Ducky and Jimmy, who spent the entire night in autopsy. They tell her the victims had been shot and then their feet were punctured. Jimmy goes to help Abby and to find out which African tribes they may be looking for. Ellie is surprised to realize she is on point and then gets a call from Gibbs, who is now at home. Before she can tell him anything, Ducky refuses to give him an update on the case.
As they drive toward the clinic, Stan tells Jeanne, Tim, and Tony that the locals escaped after the attack and that no one is there anymore.
Taft goes to see Gibbs at home, who is preparing to eat a steak. He tells Gibbs he thinks the collapse was psychological since all his tests came back normal, but Gibbs doesn’t want to admit anything and he doesn’t want to talk. He offers Taft some steak, but Taft takes the steak and throws it out.
In South Sudan, the group arrives at the clinic. Jeanne wants to leave to look around, but Tony won’t let her without him since he is in charge of her. Before they can leave, Tim finds a young girl hiding in a closet with a machete. Jeanne recognizes her and is able to get her to recognize her and mentions her mother. The girl tells her that her mother dies and hugs Jeanne.
The girl is too afraid to talk and tells them that they will soon leave and she will be left behind. After talking to her, Tim takes photos of the machete and shows it to Jeanne, who can’t decipher the language written. The SEALs arrive to search for the doctors, but they have to leave, which annoys the group.
Abby and Ellie are discussing the SEALs leaving when Gibbs comes in. They try to get him to leave, but he shows them he has a clean bill of health. He finds out about the machete and the punctures in the victims’ feet and then Jimmy appears to tell him that the victims had been infected with beetle-larvae poison. Gibbs tells him to keep searching before leaving.
Tony talks to Jeanne and tells her he knows he won’t have her forgiveness but assures her they are going to do all they can to find David.
Ducky talks to Gibbs about the case before he turns the conversation onto his friend. He wants Gibbs to know that we can’t always run from the things that are bothering us.
Gibbs finds out from Ellie, Abby, and Jimmy that the machete came from a group known as Shilluks and this particular group were old school ones who worked under General Ajak Gadet, who had a rebel army of outcasts. Gibbs is unable to completely concentrate as he begins to feel dizzy. The team mentions their nickname is “ferocious animal” and that the general had been injured just days earlier in a fight with an enemy tribe. Abby wonders if their doctors were stolen in order to save the general. Gibbs tells them to contact Tony and Tim once they figure out where the group is headed before he leaves.
Gibbs goes to see Taft and asks him about his son, Paul, and how long it took him to go back to work. He thinks he should talk to someone, but Gibbs only wants to talk to Taft.
The group travels to Lanka where they find an area that has been burned to the ground. After finding a doctor’s glove, Jeanne feels they might be alive. Tim sends the photos to Ellie and when she shows Gibbs, he asks about the group that the Shilluks had a fight with.
Jeanne begins to wonder if David and Joni are alive and Tony points out that they are needed to get the general fixed up. Tim mentions that they are alive as long as needed, but then realizes how it sounded. Jeanne mentions he was being honest. Gibbs calls them and tells them to go to Pehtok. Jeanne is unsure about this, but Tony tells her not to underestimate the Gibbs gut.
Gibbs asks Ellie about getting satellite feed from Pehtok and then makes a phone call. Meanwhile, the group is able to find the tribe and see David and Joni being escorted into a room where the general is.
Tony sees some gas cans and feels that they can be useful before asking Stan if he is still a good shot.
A man orders David and Joni to save him, despite the fact that Joni and David don’t have the proper tools. They are distracted by an explosion and the men run out just as the team fires on them and rescues David and Joni. Just when they fear they are outnumbered, Gibbs’ assistance comes in the form of soldiers in a helicopter who fire on the tribe. Tony calls out, “Thanks boss!”
Tim and Tony talk on their way home about how surreal everything is, especially seeing Jeanne with her husband. Jeanne comes over and thanks them for what they did. She kisses Tony’s cheek before going back to David.
Taft visits Gibbs in his basement and tells him that there was scar tissue in his chest that was likely aggravating him. Gibbs thinks this may be why he was feeling bad, but Taft points out he should still talk to someone.