NCIS opened with two Petty Officers, Lamar Finn and Janet Shore, stumbling onto suspicious men with a van. They claim to be working on the fence, but as Janet is confirming this, the two men shoot Finn when he gets too close. Janet engages in a shootout with the men and is injured.
As this is happening, Gibbs is having dinner with Cyril Taft, who is telling Gibbs about dealing with his father’s disappointment in an effort to get Gibbs to open up about his childhood. But Gibbs is reluctant and does not want to discuss seeing a therapist. They are interrupted as both their phones go off. Gibbs has a case and Taft is needed in surgery.
Gibbs meets with Ellie at the crime scene. One of the shooters is dead while the other is in the hospital, along with Janet Shore. While waiting on Tim and Tony, Ellie tells Gibbs crates of M-16s are missing. Gibbs calls Taft and when he finds out he is operating on the shooter, he orders him to keep him alive.
He later goes to the hospital to get an update. Gibbs finds out Janet is alive while the shooter died on the table, much to Gibbs’ frustration. Back in the bullpen, the team identifies their shooter as Fritz Breimler, who was wanted for crimes such as racketeering and robbery. He also had gotten around in Africa. Taft comes to tell the team Shore is awake and he wants to see Ducky because of something he noticed on the shooter’s body.
While Ellie and Tim leave to talk to Janet, Gibbs and Taft go down to autopsy. They find out Finn died instantly and Abby is running the bullet for ballistics. After talking to Ducky, they feel the shooter’s arm and realize there is a long metal plate in his arm that shouldn’t be there.
When Ellie and Tim arrive, ATF Agent Kitt is talking to her. He exchanges cards with Tim before they interview Janet. She feels guilt for having teased Finn before he died and she gives them information on the shooter, including one who called her “missy.” She tells them she was able to see the van and can give them a description of the man who spoke to her, the one who escaped.
Abby informs Gibbs the plate found inside Fritz originally was placed in the femur of a man named Father Carlin, who got the plate in 1995 and had done missionary work in South Sudan. Tony is horrified when he realizes this means he may need to talk to David Woods and Jeanne Benoit about the case. Taft, who has been hanging around the squad room, is interested in tagging along and is curious about Tony’s behavior.
Tony and Taft go to see David and Jeanne. While waiting, Taft grills Tony on his relationship with Jeanne. David comes down and is happy to see Tony since he had saved his life. Tony tells him they need their resources just as Jeanne comes in to the office. They tell them about the plate and offer to help. David mentions inviting Tim and Tony to dinner, but Jeanne does not like this idea. Things seem to be fine until Taft tells them about the weapons being stolen. Jeanne worries this involves her father and Tony assures her it is not the case.
Later, an annoyed Tony tells Tim and Ellie what happened. He tells Tim about the dinner invitation and is receptive to Delilah going in his place. Gibbs comes back for an update. They tell him Janet was able to describe the van in order for them to put a BOLO on it.
Meanwhile, after further exploring Fritz’s body, Ducky was able to find an old bullet that had been inside him. He thinks Abby may have better luck with this piece of forensic evidence than she did with the bullet that killed Finn.
Gibbs and Taft take a break to eat at the diner when Taft’s wife, Catherine, shows up. While Taft steps away for a moment, Catherine thanks Gibbs for being a friend to him. Gibbs admits Taft has been a good friend to have. The dinner is interrupted when Gibbs gets a call from work.
Ellie and Tony show Gibbs the van they found, which has some blood on it and possible prints but no weapons. Tony gets a call from Abby, who firmly tells him and Gibbs to get to the lab. When they arrive, Abby breaks the news that the bullet in Fritz matched a batch they had in evidence from an old case involving La Grenouille, Jeanne’s father. Tony is stricken at the news.
Back in the bullpen, Tim confirms the prints belong to a former henchman of Rene Benoit named Oskar Bruenig. He is trying to pull up an image, but accidentally puts one up of La Grenouille. Tony pleads with Tim to fix it before Jeanne arrives. Unfortunately, he is too late since Jeanne comes in. She immediately gets angry, thinking Tony had lied about her father’s involvement.
Up in the interview room, Gibbs and Ellie tell Jeanne the connection was just found and they show her a photo of Oskar. She has a hard time remembering her father’s associates, but then she remembers he was a driver named Pierre.
Outside the room, Tony and David talk. It becomes clear David knows about the history between Jeanne and Tony and he believes the two still have unresolved feelings. Jeanne steps out and as they leave, Tony stops her to try and apologize. Jeanne retorts and asks if he will show up in her life once more just as she is feeling herself.
Tim finds a home listed under the name Pierre Oskar, which should belong to their man. While they leave, Gibbs sees Taft and tells him to go enjoy a day with Catherine and not worry about being on call.
The team goes to the home, only to find Oskar is dead. ATF agent Kitt arrives as well, showing Tim and everyone that they weren’t very cooperative in helping with information.
Taft is enjoying a day with Catherine when his phone rings. While he takes the call, Catherine goes to the car but it won’t start. After getting out to get Cyril, they are shocked when a bomb in the car goes off.
At the hospital, Catherine gets checked out as a shaken Taft watches over her. Gibbs comes to check on him and Taft talks about taking a break from work. He hasn’t been devoting time to his wife and they have always put off vacations.
The team checks on Tony at the end of the case, which they believe is basically over. But when Gibbs finds out, he is not happy. Especially when he finds out ATF claimed to have found out the weapons were on board a plane heading to the Ukraine, likely with their last shooter.
Gibbs calls for Agent Kitt to come to interrogation. He feels there is something the agent is not telling him and tells him what the case took. Agent Kitt admits there is a top secret operation involving the tracking of weapons and while they can’t find his shooter, they can find the particular weapon he has.
Sure enough, we find the last shooter driving along when spikes stop his tire. He gets out to look at the damage and as he reaches for a gun, Tim’s voice sounds from behind. He sees Tony and Ellie as well before Gibbs appears on the other side of the car. Tim sarcastically calls him “Missy” in reference to the taunt on Janet.
Tony goes to see Jeanne to say goodbye and to let her know the case is closed. They end up talking about what Jeanne had said after she reveals a fight with David. Tony admits he wishes he could go back to the end of the trip in Sudan since he felt they were in an okay place then. Jeanne admits she wishes she could go back farther.
The episode ends with Gibbs at the diner again, alone with a woman who is playing a crossword puzzle. While waiting for Taft, he ends up helping her with the crossword. Taft sees them interacting before quietly leaving. Gibbs sees him leave before sitting beside the woman, whose name is Dr. Grace Confalone.