When NCIS opened, a young boy, Henry Marshall, recalled his father saying goodbye to his family before going overseas. He is then seen hiding in a closet when a police officer finds him, holding her gun on him as he tells her he “had to” shoot someone.
Before receiving the case, Tim, Ellie, Abby and Ducky were discussing Tom Morrow’s funeral while having breakfast at a diner. Tony was not with them as he was following leads in London on the Jason Scott case from the previous episode.
Gibbs came to let the team know they had a case, so Ellie and Tim went with him to the Marshall home, where the police officer who had found Henry told them about the invasion. Henry had seen a man break in with a knife and shot at him in self defense. From blood spots and a bullet in the wall, it looked like he may have been shot through and through.
After interviewing Henry and his mother, Anne, Tim offered to take them to pick up his baby sister, Cora, from daycare. Back at NCIS, Gibbs gave Vance an update and was surprised to see Fornell in the office.
They talked about Operation Juniper and that while the names of the NCIS agents were listed, the MI6 operatives’ names had been redacted. The chief of MI6, Jessica Terdei, had redacted them and Vance informed Gibbs and Fornell that Tony, who was now in Russia, had tracked a lead for them regarding her whereabouts in London and Vance was heading there with Fornell since Gibbs had to stay to work on the current case.
Tim had a strange conversation with Tony, who was with Jason Scott’s father-in-law in Russia, before he and Ellie told Gibbs about the Marshall family, including Anne who had been a lawyer back in California.
They were able to identify the intruder as Mickey Doyle, who had dangerous criminal behavior in the past.
Up in the interview room, Tim and Ellie talk to Henry about the shooting and what happened. They discover Anne now worked as a receptionist since she couldn’t transfer her information from California.. After Henry correctly identified Doyle from a photo, he told them he hadn’t seen Doyle before.
In London, Vance and Fornell met with an agent from MI6, who left them weapons and a clue from Tony indicating another person who knew Jessica Terdei.
In the lab, Abby told Tim and Gibbs she was beginning a movement to celebrate people’s lives and after complimenting them both, she told them the safe the Marshall gun was supposed to be kept in had been accessed days earlier than originally claimed. Tim offered to talk to Henry.
Tim spoke with Henry at the diner and after bonding over their shared history with fathers deploying, Henry told Tim he had witnessed a murder and the killer was Doyle.
Tim gave an update on the case since they discovered what happened and said there were two stabbing victims who could be the one that Henry saw. Ellie expressed her concern over Anne not being able to become a lawyer easily in Virginia since she moved over state lines. Gibbs assured her he was looking into the situation with a movement known as Joining Forces, which seeks to aid military veterans and their families.
Gibbs told Henry’s mother about Henry being in danger and wanting to put the family in protective custody. He then went to talk to the Police Department’s Officer Swanson so Henry could try to identifiy the victim he saw in the alley, but neither of the stabbing victims were the ones he had seen.
In London, Fornell and Vance tracked down Jessica’s Uncle, who was wary about them until he found out his niece’s life could be in danger. He offered to drive them to her place of residence.
Abby and Ellie went to the alley where Henry said the stabbing had been, but they can’t find any blood on the pavement.
While with Henry, Tim assured the young boy he believed that he saw the stabbing occur and as they are talking, Henry saw a television report about a body being found in the river. The man, Wayne Woods, was the victim of the stabbing.
Swanson came to NCIS to let the team know he is thrilled Wayne is no longer an issue, as he was a drug dealer who was part of the reason drug abuse was rampant in the city. He told them that he and Doyle were rivals when it came to drug dealing and he already made a call to have the body sent to NCIS.
Back in London, Vance and Fornell made contact with Jessica, who was suspicious until she found out Tom Morrow was dead. She invited them inside for tea.
Anne and the kids went to stay at Gibbs house, but she was concerned for her son’s safety, especially after calling in a favor from a friend and finding out just what kind of criminal Doyle was. She realized Doyle would kill her son because he was a loose end and didn’t realize Henry heard what she was saying.
Ellie and Ducky discuss Woods over his body in autopsy and were able to see distinct cuts from the knife used to kill him. Abby came in over video conference to let them know that scrapings under his fingernails showed DNA from Doyle.
Tim came in over video to let Ellie know they had found Doyle’s van and the team went to search it. They found Doyle’s body, along with the bloody knife. Just as they are thinking someone else may be involved since Doyle was killed, Gibbs found out Henry was missing.
Tim, realizing where Henry probably went, searched for Henry in the alley where the stabbing took place. He told Henry that he was safe from Doyle, but the boy worried someone else was after him. Tim assured him he would help protect Henry so Henry could protect his family while his dad was away.
Meanwhile, in London, Jessica told Vance and Fornell that Operation Juniper went south when a sniper shot Razin before they could take her in. The operation had been leaked, but it came from NCIS and Tom Morrow had buried the information about the leak. Before anything else was said, they heard the sheep in distress and took cover as someone shot at the home.
The next day, after hearing from Vance that there is a mole in the ranks, Gibbs spoke to a contact who worked at the White House about seeing what he could do to provide assistance for Anne.
Abby was able to determine that the murder weapon used came back to show that Doyle was the killer and Woods was the victim. She also had figured out that someone had used cleaner in the alley to get rid of the blood.
Another question they had been wondering was how Doyle was able to find Henry’s home. They discovered traffic cams had been accessed to trace Henry’s route to his home.
Going back to the police station, Gibbs and Ellie arrested the original officer who had discovered Henry in the closet. She was a dirty cop and had provided Doyle with the information on where Henry lived.
When the arrest was over, Gibbs got a phone call that left him very surprised. It turned out Anne was able to sit at a special round table at the White House to join the First Lady, Michelle Obama, in a discussion about Joining Forces and how they could help. After praising Gibbs for his work as an agent and a veteran, the First Lady commented he had somewhere to be.
Back at his own home, Henry was thrilled when his father came home to reunite with his family.
At Gibbs’ home, Fornell and Jessica arrived to get settled in. But when Fornell went to the refrigerator, he noticed blood on the floor and the basement door was ajar. He walked over and made comments about her sheep. Before either of them could draw their weapons, someone came shooting and Fornell was shot multiple times. As he began to lose consciousness, his daughter called his phone.