Patnáctiletý Kody Meyers ze střední školy v Quantiku chce vyhodit školu do povětří. Na těle má připevněny výbušniny a své spolužáky si vzal jako rukojmí. Dovolí však, aby jedna ze spolužaček, došla další dívce, která dostala astmatický záchvat, do šatní skříòky pro inhalátor. Této příležitosti využívá NCIS a do třídy vtrhne samotný Gibbs. Kody hrozí explozí, když mu do setmění nepřivedou jeho matku, ta je však již rok mrtvá. Kody zřejmě trpí halucinacemi. Mezitím Abby a McGee prohledávají Kodyho pokoj, nenacházejí však žádné stopy, které by potvrzovaly, že by Kody vyráběl či sháněl bombu. NCIS se domnívá, že bombu i třídu kontroluje někdo zvenčí. Tato verze se nakonec potvrdí. Podaří se přerušit spojení a na chvíli tak zmást pachatele a získaný čas využít k jejich dopadení. Pravda je překvapivá.

The school is being evacuated as NCIS arrives. Tony recommends they follow his lead he’s been in this kind of situation before. Ziva reminds him its not her first time. McGee says he plays Counter Strike online. Tony’s not impressed. Gibbs sends Ziva and McGee to recon while he and Tony head inside. Ziva and McGee attempt to photograph the bomb through the windows, however Kody draws the blinds once she has taken a few pictures.

Inside the classroom a hostage is noisily sobbing. Kody tells her to calm down. When it appears she cannot, a fellow student explains she is asthmatic and is in the midst of an asthma attack, and needs her inhaler which is still in her locker. (As an asthmatic I have to say it was the most unconvincing asthma attack I have ever seen.) Kody sends the other student out to get the inhaler, telling her she must be the one to bring it back. Gibbs is not impressed with the “Robbie Robot” the marines want to send in to deliver the inhaler; it would also have the dissadvantage of delaying the arrival of the inhaler. He takes it himself and enters the classroom, leaving DiNozzo in charge on the outside.

Kody instructs another student to search Gibbs, empties his pockets. He then tells him to check his ears and wrists, Gibbs’ earpiece and mic are discovered. Kody tells the other student to step on them. Based on this Ziva thinks he’s trained, very well trained. She and Tony try to think of another way to get eyes and ears in the classroom. But Kody has already taped all the vents shut and sealed the doors. They can't get a camera inside.

Back at NCIS Abby and McGee are discussing how Kody’s tastes run a little dark. His room is black and his computer, which they are examining, is filled with death imagery. Abby says so what, the bomb sniffing dogs didn’t alert to anything at his home and no other markers (how to websites etc) were found. Maybe the bomb is a fake. Upstairs Jen is preparing to head out to Gibbs aid when Ducky arrives. He convinces her she would be more help here.

Meanwhile Gibbs is trying to use hostage negotiation tactics on Kody, trying to build a rapport with him. But Kody sees through it, refuses to listen. While he is peeking through the blinds Gibbs adjusts the thermostat, however Kody turns, convinced he just did something. Luckily, Tony arrives outside the door to chat. Kody’s demand is for his mother to be brought to the classroom, they have until sundown. His father has arrived meanwhile, and tells Ziva and Tony that Kody’s mother died last year and Kody has taken it hard. He even thought he saw her a few months ago, which is "normal" (Ducky bears this out later on). In order to relay this info to Gibbs, Tony tells Kody that “Special Agent Caitlin Todd is out looking for your mother.”

Jen has called Tony for a SITREP, she is concerned he won't be able to give the snipers a fire order if the opportunity arises. He says he’s done it before. Jen and Ducky decide to pursue the mother angle in case it gets that far. Meanwhile, Abby and McGee are able to hack into one of the 3 computers in the classroom that have web-cams and are wired to the Internet. They can now see through the web-cam’s video feed and can flash messages to Gibbs. Which is fortunate because Kody unzips his hoody, it's hot in there, and they have an image of the bomb.

Ziva, with her bomb expertise, identifies the bomb strapped to Kody and determines it will not be detonated if he is taken out via snipers. They soon have an opportunity to do so but DiNozzo tells them to stand down. Ziva questions him but he responds by saying that he can't shoot a 15-year old boy. "It's a Gibbs' thing. My gut." Back in the classroom Gibbs notices an earpiece in Kody's ear. With Kody at the front of the classroom, and Gibbs' back to him, he signs to Abby. At first, she's unable to make out what Gibbs is saying. But then she deciphers "PUPPET". Kody and the bomb are being controlled by someone else.

Abby and McGee frantically discuss and deduce that Kody must be controlled via earwig. They flash another message to Gibbs, while Kody’s back is turned, and he nods. But Kody demands to know why he's nodding. Gibbs denies that he's communicating to anyone outside the room. The baddies must have eyes in the room too. They are using one if the other computer’s web cams. Ziva thinks this is great news they can backtrace the feeds. The Marines get on the earwig while Abby and McGee follow the webcams trail. Tony, meanwhile is getting restless and wants to question Kody’s dad again to find out who might be using him. But when Tony asks for him, he is told “his boss” called him to NCIS. There is some confusion until they realize they mean Jen. Jen and Ducky ask the dad if he is involved in anything secret, what did his wife do? Nothing is apparent so they decide to dig deeper. The rest of the team independently comes to the conclusion that someone believes Kody's mother is NOT dead and this is a ruse to flush her out.

Ziva has come to the conclusion that the detonator Kody is holding isn’t real, since he is being controlled the baddies would have the real detonator. Tony made the right choice shooting Kody would not have done any good. The Marines want to shoot what must be the connection to the bomb, however that would kill Kody. Even Ziva says this is not an option. Unfortunately the earwig communication is only coming in short bursts and they can not get a fix. McGee and Abby come to the rescue though. They have followed the webcam trail, and have a location- just outside the base. They want to know if they should cut the feed, Tony says he has a better idea. They insert a video loop (we don't learn this immediately). So the baddies, who are sitting in a van contemplating the imminent blowing up of Kody, and more importantly for them, his mum, carry on looking at a classroom full of hostages when really it is empty. Just as the feed goes back to real time, the team descends upon them.

Afterwards, Tony is teasing McGee about having at one point called him boss during the investigation. But McGee and Abby then move onto teasing him about how he got his great idea to loop the video, what movie was that from. They let Ziva try and figure it out. Upstairs Jen and Gibbs are talking about how Kody’s mom testified against a Colombian drug lord and it had come back to haunt her, she had to go on the run. Gibbs insists they try and find her. Jenny say no… and opens the door, to reveal a very tearful family reunion, it's already done.

We never get told how Jenny has achieved it; she herself says to Gibbs she is glad she can still surprise him, which is indeed an indication that we are used to seeing events (roughly) from the point of view of what the team itself knows.