Ředitel Vance nechá převézt těla střelců a ředitelky Shepardové do Washingtonu, aby Ducky mohl provést pitvu. Gibbs oznamuje zprávu o ředitelčině smrti svému týmu. Všichni se snaží najít vraha.

Ředitelčiným zástupcem byl prozatím jmenován Leon Vance, který se kormidla ujímá s velkou vervou. Gibbs se vrací zpět do minulosti, aby zapátral, kde se stala chyba. Mike je přesvědčený, že když jsou dva agenti starého případu mrtví, je teï řada na Gibsovi. A McGeemu se podaří zjistit totožnost tajemné ženy ve voze ruského střelce Viga.

Tony calls McGee and then sends him photos of the tyre marks left by the vehicle that left the crime scene. Tony tells him nothing else. Abby stands in front of him pacing worrying that something is wrong. McGee assures her all is fine when Ducky walks in. Ducky tells her everything is fine as well just when his cell phone rings. Ducky sees it's Gibbs. He answers it and Gibbs tells him Jenny is dead and the bodies are on their way to Ducky. Ducky hangs up and breaks the news to a devastated Abby and a shocked McGee.

In her lab, Abby can't focus. McGee is trying to get her to focus so they can track down the tyre marks, the car, etc. Abby wants to know why Tony and Ziva weren't protecting the Director. McGee wonders the same thing when Tony calls. Tony puts pressure on McGee and is short with him. After he hangs up, Tony paces as Ziva looks at him. She tells him it's not McGee's fault. Tony is wracked with guilt over leaving the Director without security.

At his desk, McGee has tracked down the make, model and identity of the vehicle. He has called the rental company and they were emailing him the identification of the man who rented the car. Gibbs calls him just as Mike Franks photo shows up on the screen. Gibbs tells him to erase the file, so McGee does. Gibbs gives McGee the numbers that Jenny found and asks McGee to see if he can find out what they mean. As he hangs up, Vance pokes his head over McGee's shoulder. McGee lies to him and tells him he didn't have a hit yet on the vehicle. Vance tells him to search for another hour and then go home. When Vance walks away, McGee releases a heavy sigh.

While doing a search on the numbers Gibbs gave him, McGee downloads the photos Tony sent him to go through. He's also going through security tapes from LAX Airport to find Viggo's arrival, etc. McGee looks at the photos and sees the ones of Ziva in her bikini and comments on them aloud. Vance walks up behind him. McGee quickly switches screens, shares a little information with Vance before Vance leaves.

Gibbs arrives and heads to autopsy. Ducky and Palmer have just begun to process the five bodies. Ducky stands alongside the Director's body when Gibbs walks in. Gibbs puts his hand on where the Director's face is. Ducky says some kind words but then informs Gibbs Jenny was dying. Ducky says Jenny's death was quick and painless and probably the better way to go rather than how she would have. Gibbs reaches for the zipper and begins to pull it down. He changes his mind, rez-ips it and leaves before looking.

Tony and Ziva return to the squad room looking down and beaten. McGee makes a remark about them soaking up the sun. Tony takes the offensive and walks towards McGee, taunting him. He takes off his jacket and tosses it on the floor. Ziva walks up and stands beside Tony. McGee says it wasn't their fault and Ziva thanks him. His phone rings and it's Gibbs asking them to come down to Abby's lab.

Abby has taken delivery of the clothing, cell phones, weapons, etc. from the crime scene. Barely able to hold it together, she starts taking the bloody clothing out of the bag. She sees the Director's shirt and loses it. She walks into Gibbs' embrace as he comforts her. Abby says the Director was a great dresser and she never got to tell her.She starts to compliment Gibbs on his clothing style, which gets her a smile. McGee, Tony and Ziva walk in and she compliments them. Just as they start to have a round table discussion, Vance walks in. He leaves with Gibbs hot on his heels. Vance wants to know what Gibbs knows but Gibbs isn't sharing. Vance remarks that they just lost one team member, they could lose more.

Back in the squad room, McGee gets a hit on Viggo in the LAX Security tapes. After some scrutiny, they discover a blonde woman entering the same cab as Viggo. McGee puts the woman's photo up on the screen. When Vance asks if anyone knows her, they all say no. He turns to Gibbs, but finds Gibbs has disappeared. Vance orders McGee to call Gibbs so McGee does. Gibbs cell phone is sitting on his desk ringing. Vance than becomes agitated and orders McGee to find out what the series of numbers mean and Tony and Ziva to work on facial recognition for the blonde woman.

Tony and Ziva head to Abby's lab, where Tony is very short with the already sensitive Abby. She looks confused when Tony storms out but Ziva tells her to just work on the facial recognition. Scene shifts to Ziva walking into a dark autopsy room when Tony turns on a light in the corner and says "Surprised it took you so long". He is drinking Ducky's scotch and pulls a second glass out of a desk drawer for Ziva, handing her the bottle. Z: "You're crying over spilled...milk" T: "It's not milk I spilled" T: "She died alone" Z: "We are all alone" T: "I just mean that she never got married, never had any children, never even heard her talk about it...Paris...that's when it must have happened" Z: "The two of them alone, in another world T: "Putting their lives in each other's hands, every day Z: "Not to mention the long nights" T: "It was inevitable" Z: "Nothing is inevitable".

They are able to track down the woman's identity. She is Natasha Lencov and up until 1999, she didn't exist. In 1999 she surfaced on the grid and is successful in the import/export business. Vance goes to Abby's lab and they discover Viggo's phone is missing. Vance knows Natasha will call Gibbs as opposed to Gibbs finding her.

McGee gets a hit on the numbers Gibbs gave him. They belong to an old case file of Decker's. When Vance asks him to pull up the records, McGee informs him that that particular year, 1985 wasn't yet put on computer. They head across the street to the archives to get the files. Once there, the man hands over the file box and Vance finds a phone book in it. Turns out Franks had been there an hour before and removed the information with the "insurance policy" Decker had left. However, back in the squad room, they discover her true identity of Natasha is a woman named Svetlana who has ties to a Russian operative/spy. The man had been killed 9 or 10 years prior.

Gibbs enters Jenny's townhouse. He sits at her desk and rifles through the papers piled on it. He finds a letter addressed to him but it only says "Dear Jethro." He puts Viggo's bloody cell phone on the desk. As he sits there pouring himself a drink, the phone rings and the caller ID is blocked. He answers it and it's Vance. Vance reads him the riot act and as they are talking Gibbs gets another call and it's Natasha. Gibbs answers the phone in Russian. He cuts to the chase and tells Natasha he has what she wants.

Vance has McGee do a trace on Viggo's cell phone and they realize Gibbs is at Jenny's townhouse. Vance orders McGee to erase the file and tells the rest of the team to stay put as he runs out. Ziva, Tony and McGee wonder what they should be doing.

Gibbs puts his gun on the desk and walks over to the bookcase. Without turning around, he says, "Hello Natasha. or should I say Svetlana." It is revealed the Jenny had been sent to kill Svetlana during the Paris operation and never did. It had taken Svetlana years to find out who had killed her beloved and it pointed her to Gibbs. Gibbs admits he had indeed killed the man she'd been involved with. He asks her if Jenny couldn't pull the trigger to kill her, would she be able to kill him. Just as she cocks the hammer on her revolver back, a shot rings out and she falls to the floor. Mike Franks is standing in the doorway with a weapon in hand. When he comes into the room, he nudges towards Gibbs' gun and asks if he'd planned on going for it. Franks says Gibbs will have a lot of explaining to do when Svetlana's body is found. Gibbs says they won't find it.

Gibbs and Franks are walking down a street when fire trucks zoom by. Gibbs watches them head around a corner towards the fire. Just then, a car door opens and Vance steps out. He approaches and confronts Gibbs and Franks. He asks Franks where the file is and Franks says he'll give it to him, in his will. He laughs and walks off. As Franks stands down the road lighting a cigarette, Gibbs watches the television screen through a shop window. Back in the office, Ziva, McGee and Tony watch the same newsflash. They are showing the fire at the home of Director Jenny Shepard.

Back in the squad room, the team steps off the elevator all dressed in formal NCIS black attire. They just came from Jenny's funeral. They look to the television screen as the reporter claims Jenny died in her home due to an explosion from a gas leak. The reporter announces that Vance was named the new Director of NCIS. Gibbs looks up and sees Vance heading towards his office.

Vance pulls out a file on himself and removes a sheet of paper and shreds it (you can see a screen-grab of the page by clicking link at top of this page). He puts the file back and locks the cabinet. He then takes the Director's photo of her father off the desk and puts it away.

He asks Cynthia to call up McGee, DiNozzo, David and Gibbs. All four walk into his office and only Gibbs will look him in the eye. Vance has tossed three files on his desk. Vance informs Ziva that the agreement with the Mossad office for the liaison has been terminated - she is to return home immediately. He tells McGee that he is being transferred to the Cyber Crimes unit. He then informs DiNozzo that he is being transferred to the USS Ronald Reagan and his flight leaves the next morning.

He hands the three file folders to Gibbs and says "Meet your new team."
(Wiki members now convulse, go into shock, ponder the mental health of the series writers and otherwise over-react)