NCIS returned with our first look at undercover Agent Nick Torres, who was seen with a woman named Elena, who knew him as Miguel. They were having a romantic dinner when he saw a fellow co-worker. But when he went to say hello, the man said someone named Mr. Silva sent his regards before revealing he knew he was an agent. Torres stopped the man from stabbing him before leaving without saying goodbye to his date.
Back in the US, George Campbell, his wife Lucia and their daughter Amanda were driving home when the car caught fire. After crashing, Lucia managed to pull her daughter out of the wreckage, but the car exploded before she could save her husband.
After the credits, we got a look at Fornell, who is staying with Gibbs during his recovery after being shot. Gibbs heads to work, where Ellie has returned from a trip to Scotland. She has a nice welcome from Tim, who has been trying to adjust to having Tony’s desk now. Ellie meets their newest probie, who doesn’t last long before being fired for falling asleep. Twice. In four days.
Gibbs comes along since they have a case, where they go to investigate the car crash. Amanda and Lucia are both at the hospital. They try to figure out if the car battery could have done this, but Abby tells them the battery was tampered with.
At his new desk, Tim, Ellie and Gibbs discuss the Campbells, who are both in the services. Lucia is a Marine Major and works at JAG. Before leaving for their assignments, FLETC Instructor Alex Quinn comes to congratulate Gibbs on firing yet another student she passed on to him.
Gibbs tells Tim to talk to JAG and Ellie to go see Amanda before having a chat with Quinn. She inquires as to what he is looking for in an agent and he suggests she shadow the team so she can get a look herself.
While at the hospital, Ellie talks to Amanda, who is at her mom’s bedside. She tells Ellie that her mom had just come home from a case and was really quiet.
Back at NCIS, Tim catches up with Captain Bud Roberts before Quinn comes in to sit on their interview. When Tim asks Roberts about the case Lucia was working on, Roberts tells Tim that Lucia was not working and had asked for personal time off.
In autopsy, Palmer is working on digitally archiving all of the autopsy cases they have worked on. When Gibbs comes in, Ducky tells him George Campbell died of his injuries due to the explosion. They also have tests back from Lucia and she had venom from a spider bite in her system. The spider in question is in Argentina.
Back in the bull pen, Quinn recalls being Tim’s instructor at FLETC but when Ellie asks, she can’t remember who she is.
Gibbs comes back to learn Lucia’s brother is Nick Torres, an undercover agent who went missing six months previously. Lucia had hired a private investigator to find her brother and a recent photo had been taken of him.
In the director’s office, Vance tells Gibbs Torres had been investigating a case in which students at the Global Enforcement Academy were being recruited to be mercenaries. Since he went off the grid, Vance couldn’t be sure they were still on the same side.
At his desk, Tim realizes Quinn is messing with Ellie since he notices she does seem to remember her. Quinn tells him she is doing this to get Ellie to loosen up. Tim gets an alert that an alias of Torres’ was used for a flight back to DC.
Torres arrives to DC only to be confronted by two men who try to harm him. Ellie and Gibbs arrive in time to save him but are still wary on whose side he is on.
In Vance’s office, Torres tells Vance and Gibbs that a man named Leo Silva was the one he was investigating to recruit mercenaries and he was doing this through his son, David. The only way he could get close for information was to date the man’s daughter, Elena. He was close to finding out what they were planning when his sister came and started asking questions. Lucia accidentally revealed her brother’s identity to the people he was investigating.
They find out Leo Silva is in town for a fossil fuel summit. Torres wants to confront him. At the place where Leo is heading, Torres confronts the man, who claims he is not doing anything wrong. Nick says he has a usb drive with everything he has on Silva and won’t use it if he stays away from his family. David arrives, wanting to immediately stop Torres, but Silva agrees to take the drive, thinking about their truce.
Fornell, Gibbs and Nick discuss Leo, who they still don’t have enough on to convince him for crimes in the US. They know he would likely escape charges back home regardless.
At work, Ellie and Quinn have a talk and Ellie realizes Quinn does remember her. They talk about the type of agent Gibbs looks for.
In Abby’s office, Tim is keeping an eye out to see if Silva will open the USB drive while Abby updates Gibbs. Someone had placed a faulty battery inside the car but they don’t know when it would have been done. Tim tells them he isn’t sure a male did this since Elena Silva has worked with cars.
Nick meets up with Elena outside a restaurant, where she claims not to have any involvement in her father’s dealings, not believing he had done anything. After she leaves, Gibbs comes to sit down and Nick tells him Silva knew they were meeting. He reveals there is a bomb under his seat.
In Vance’s office, Nick is ready to work alone but when he tries to turn in his badge, Gibbs scolds him for disrespecting the badge. He needs to do things the right way. Ellie informs them they have a lead. A woman named Monica Fernandez is going to be speaking at an event and she is working to stop the use of international oil, which would impact Silva. She is the person who is the target of an assassination attempt.
The team goes to the festival where they realize David is going to target Fernandez in her vehicle. He puts a device on her car that causes the doors to lock. While Gibbs attempts to save her, the rest of the team evacuate the area. Gibbs is able to save Fernandez just in time.
Leo tries to talk his way out of interrogation with Ellie and Tim, putting all the blame on David. However, he gets his comeuppance when they reveal Elena had turned in a recording she made of her father telling her everything. Silva congratulates Nick on destroying two families.
In the bull pen, Tim looks at his new desk and tells Ellie it’s not about just trying to be comfortable in a new space. She tells him Tony would want him there and calls him Senior Field Agent. Nick arrives to talk to them and they tell him Gibbs left something at Tim’s old desk. It is an NCIS badge. Nick is unsure he can be part of the team but they tell him to give him a shot.
At Gibbs’ place, Fornell and Quinn are playing cards when Gibbs arrives. He tells Quinn he has offered two people spots on the team and asks if she will accept. Quinn is in.