Hasiči dorazí do domu odkud se valí dým. Zpočátku to vypadá jako planý poplach, ale požárníci najdou na koberci zaschlou krev a tělo nikde. Majitelem domu byl seržant Cole. Vyšetřovatelé se tedy zaměří na něj. Objeví jeho prázdné auto na kraji lesa. Mezitím volá Abby Gibbsovi, aby se všichni dostavili do laboratoře, protože na něco přišla. Zaměřila se na obsah jednoho z koktejlů nalezených na místě činu. Podařilo se jí namíchat přesně ten samý drink, ale problém je v tom, že se jeho obsah nenachází v žádné publikaci. Timothy přijde se šokujícím odhalením, protože zná obsah drinku, jelikož ho vymyslel. Nezvěstný seržant Cole je totiž postavou v jeho nové, ještě nedopsané knize.

Vyšetřovatelé přicházejí za vydavatelkou Lyndi Crawshawovou, která jediná má přístup k rozpracovaným rukopisům knih. Lyndi navede Gibbse na stopu psychopata, který psal destruktivní dopisy dodané do vydavatelství nasměrované autorovi knihy - Timothymu. Je totiž jisté, že se onen psychopat nějak dostal k obsahu nedokončené knihy. Gibbs zjistí, že neznámý fanoušek je přesvědčen, že obsah nedokončené knihy je skutečnost a tak se vyšetřovatelé vydávají na místo, které popisuje Timothy v knize. V lese nenachází jen mrtvolu seržanta Colea, ale též Jareda Brennera, další postavy z Timothyho knihy, kteří byli zavražděni přesně podle knihy.

Timothy přizná Gibbsovi, že postavy jeho knih vycházejí ze skutečných osobností, mimo jiné jsou v nich i členové jeho vyšetřovacího týmu. Životy všech vyšetřovatelů jsou ohroženy. Gibbs přikáže Timothymu, aby dopsal svou poslední knihu a odhalil vraha.

Abby objeví na jedné ze známek z dopisu psychopata otisk prstu a v databázi najde shodu s Toddem Ryderem - sekretářem vydavatelky Lyndi Crawshawové. Ta se při výslechu přizná, že dotyčné dopisy psala ona sama z důvodu publicity. Vyšetřovatelé jsou opět ve slepé uličce.

Timothy s DiNozzem se snaží přijít na způsob jak se fanoušek dostal k obsahu jeho nedokončené knihy. Timothy zjistí, že se fanoušek dostal k obsahu prostřednictvím pásek do stroje, které po použití vždy vyhazoval. Jedna z pásek měla na sobě též alternativní konec, ve kterém je hlavní postava zabita Amy Suttnovou alias Abby. Vyšetřovatelé spěchají do domu Abby, kde už je i vrah...

Norfolk Fire Company #54 responds to a home where smoke is billowing from the windows. The chief breaks down the door and proceeds to the kitchen where he finds that the home owners have left the oven on. He takes a pan with a blackened chicken out of the oven, and then reaches up to disable the beeping smoke detector. When he looks down he notices that the kitchen is a mess, as if there was a fight there, and there is a dark red blood stain on the floor.

McGee is sitting in his favorite coffee shop, staring at a blank white page in his notebook. The Barista puts a cup of coffee in front of him and calls him "Tom" and McGee ignores him. He finally gets McGee's attention, and McGee tells him that "Tom" is his other name - the one he uses when he writes. Landon, the Barista, recognizes him as Thom E. Gemcity, the author of "Deep Six" and asks him if he has writer's block. McGee denies it, but tells him that he is stuck in the middle of chapter seven. McGee's phone rings and he takes off.

DiNozzo is admiring a movie poster from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" at the crime scene. He tells McGee that John Hughes, the writer of that movie, didn't have time for writer's block. Even though McGee denies having writer's block, DiNozzo continues to tease him asking him if he thinks switching from a typewriter to a computer might help him. Gibbs and Ziva are checking out the kitchen. Ziva has interviewed the neighbors and discovered that the man who leased the house, Petty Officer Darren Cove, had no friends, but entertained often. Gibbs has no trouble believing that, after he opens the refrigerator and discovers that it is full of beer. Ziva picks up a cup on the counter that contains some kind of very strong mixed drink. The two cannot find any hard alcohol or mixers in the kitchen.

DiNozzo has to explain "Beer Pong" to McGee when he sees plastic cups full of beer stacked on the ping pong table in Cove's home. When McGee encourages DiNozzo to show off his own skills at the game, DiNozzo refuses to let McGee use him to get over his writer's block. Ziva enters and tells McGee just to write about the team, like he did last time. McGee denies that his book is based on the NCIS team even though their names are so very similar. Gibbs finds a note left under a chair next to the blood stain that reads, "One Down, Two to Go."

Back at NCIS, the team has discovered that Petty Officer Cove joined the Navy three years ago, right out of high school. He is a good kid, but as his CO describes him, "He works to live and lives to party." Neither he nor his blue Ford Ranger have been seen since he went off duty at 18:00 the previous night. With the amount of blood left at the scene, Cove may already be dead or he may have fled after a murder. Abby is checking the blood with the petty officer's records. Norfolk police call to report they have found Cove's vehicle abandoned along Highway 5 and the team heads off to investigate.

The truck has been stashed off the road among some trees. There is a large quantity of blood in the truck bed and on a tarp lying beside the truck. McGee seems shocked to find a red track jacket and a bag of cinnamon buns on the seat of the truck. He mentions to Ziva that he feels like he's experiencing deja'vu. Abby calls Gibbs with some new developments and the team returns to NCIS. In the lab, Abby is juggling bottles of alcohol and experimenting with mixing drinks. Most of the blood from Cove's home was his, but there was one sample that did not match. The fingerprints found on the drinks in the kitchen yielded two distinct sets - one set matched Petty Officer Cove, and one did not. DiNozzo keeps trying to take sips from the plastic cups full of different mixtures of alcohol, but Ziva and Abby keep stopping him. Abby finally tells Gibbs that she analyzed the contents of the drinks found in Cove's kitchen but before she can describe the ingredients, McGee does: "Jägermeister, cherry soda, vanilla vodka, lemon juice and a splash of Tabasco – it's called a 'Hairy Hangover'." McGee created the drink for his new novel. He's just realized why he is experiencing deja vu - this whole situation has been taken from his book.

Back in the NCIS bullpen, McGee reads a description of Cameron Mayer, a character from his novel who owns a blue Ford Ranger that exactly matches Darren Cove's. Everything they found in the truck is described in the novel. McGee admits that, while his stories are original, sometimes he bases his characters on people around him. McGee saw Cove's truck go through the drive-thru of his regular coffee shop every morning. It could not be a coincidence - somehow someone has gotten hold of McGee's novel and targeted Petty Officer Cove because of his connection to the Mayer character. That is the only explanation for the appearance of the drink that McGee only made up a month ago. The only copy of his book that is not locked in McGee's apartment is the one he sent his publisher. McGee leans over Gibbs' desk and tells him about the threatening emails and letters he's received since publishing "Deep Six". A few of the letters seemed borderline obsessive. Gibbs tells McGee to go through his book for some answers while he and DiNozzo interview the publisher.

Lyndi Crawshaw's assistant, Todd Ryder, ushers Gibbs and DiNozzo into the publisher's office to wait for her. DiNozzo is fascinated by the large framed picture of McGee on Ms. Crawshaw's wall. When the publisher arrives she tells Gibbs that she is the only one in the firm that has read McGee's new novel. Since the missing Petty Officer has something to do with the contents of McGee's new book, Crawshaw realizes that she could be the prime suspect. She tells the agents that crazed fans will find a way to get copies of a book early by digging through trash or hacking computers. She gives Gibbs three of McGee's fan letters that seemed to be the most disturbing.

Ducky analyzes the letters and tells Gibbs that they define the three stages of obsession. The first letter, signed "Michael," shows that this fan is no threat to himself or anyone else - he is at Stage 1, the attraction stage. The second letter, signed "Andrew," is at Stage 2 - obsession – based on the degree of desperation in the tone. The third letter which consists of words cut from magazines, has an aggressive and threatening tone and can be categorized Stage 3 - destruction. Ducky believes that the same person wrote all three letters over a period of several weeks. The writer believes that McGee's fiction is real.

McGee paces nervously while DiNozzo and Ziva read his new novel. DiNozzo tells McGee that the entire book doesn't make sense. Ziva calls it "very rough" and McGee admits that he hasn't even figured out who the killer is yet. DiNozzo thinks that is a strange way to write a story. Gibbs enters and announces that the letter-writer believes McGee's book is real, so they are going to have to follow the movements of the characters.

The NCIS team arrives at a local creek where the character Cameron Mayer goes to clear his head. Ziva and DiNozzo give McGee lots of advice about better ways to handle his characters while they search the area, but it is Gibbs who finds the body of Petty Officer Darren Cove. Ziva has also found a body - another young man with matching wounds. McGee identifies him as Jared Brenner, another character from his book. Ducky finds that both men have been dead for less than 24 hours, and that Cove has some skin under his fingernails. When Ducky learns that the two men were characters from McGee's new book, he comments that the character based on Gibbs has a new love interest - an Army Lt. Colonel. Gibbs is less than pleased. The victims' wounds are circular and about one inch in diameter, which matches with the weapon used in McGee's book – a javelin.

DiNozzo puts information about the two dead men up on the plasma in the NCIS squad room. Petty Officer Darren Cove was the basis for character Cameron Mayer, and Adrian Corbett, a valet at McGee's favorite steakhouse, was the basis for character Jared Brenner - also a valet at a steakhouse. The note found at Cove's home implies that the killer isn't finished - he has targeted three victims. Gibbs demands to know how many other characters McGee based on real people. McGee admits that he translated the entire NCIS team into his novels but there is no one else. Gibbs orders a 24-hour guard detail on Abby, Ducky and Palmer. Ziva has found out that only six javelins sold in the DC area were not sold to a coach or gym instructor and cannot be traced. Gibbs sends DiNozzo and Ziva down to the lab to check on Abby's current findings and talks to McGee alone. He tells McGee that his guilt is misplaced - he didn't kill these two men. When McGee insists that they are dead because of his novels, Gibbs gives him a pair of handcuffs and tells him to either put them on or help them catch the real killer. Gibbs tells McGee that he has to write the ending to his book or the killer will.

In the elevator on the way downstairs, Ziva and DiNozzo discuss the characters of "Lisa" and "Tommy." Their personal struggles with unrequited love and confusion about identity seem completely foreign to Ziva and DiNozzo's real lives. They don't see a connection, although both seem very uncomfortable. Abby has fallen asleep at her desk when they arrive in the lab - her apartment had flooded so she didn't get much sleep the night before. Abby wants to know what happens to "Goth lab analyst Amy Sutton" in McGee's new book - who does she fall in love with? Ziva and DiNozzo claim that the character hasn't appeared in the book yet, but Abby doesn't believe them. She suddenly comes up with the theory that "Amy" falls in love with a gay man. When Gibbs arrives she tells them that she pulled the killer's DNA from under the fingernails of Petty Officer Cove. She couldn't find any useful fingerprints on Cove's truck, but McGee's fan letters did reveal one very interesting print on the underside of the stamp - it belongs to Todd Ryder, Lyndi Crawshaw's assistant.

In Autopsy McGee pulls out the drawers containing the bodies of Cove and Corbett and stares at the two dead men. He tells Ducky that he found out some details about the men. Petty Officer Cove visited his elderly parents every day. Adrian Corbett had just gotten married. All of his assumptions about the two men were wrong. Ducky reminds him that what McGee wrote was fiction - characters he'd made up. Ducky closes the drawers and tells McGee that he is not to blame.

As soon as Todd sees DiNozzo and Gibbs coming towards him in the courtyard of his office building, he lets out a shriek and runs off. DiNozzo takes off after him, yelling at him to stop. Gibbs asks another man where Todd keeps his car and heads through the building to cut him off in the parking lot. Todd grabs his phone and screeches a warning into it that "they know" as he lurches towards his car. He drops his keys, and Gibbs is there with his gun drawn. As DiNozzo is handcuffing him, Todd tells the agents that the letters were all Lyndi's idea.

McGee, Ziva and DiNozzo watch Lyndi Crawshaw through the glass in the observation room. Ziva and DiNozzo also assure McGee that he shouldn't feel guilty about his novel. Gibbs tells Crawshaw that she's suspected of murdering two men from McGee's novel. Todd has admitted that Crawshaw wrote the fan letters and had Todd mail them back to the publishing company. Crawshaw admits that she wrote the letters to create a bigger buzz about McGee's new book. Publicity equals revenue, and Crawshaw lives to sell books. Gibbs believes her. Abby concurs – Crawshaw's DNA does not match the blood found under Cove's fingernails.

McGee calls a "campfire" and he, Ziva and DiNozzo wheel their chairs into the space between their desks to "spitball" ideas. The motive for the murders cannot be revenge because the characters in the novel have nothing to avenge. McGee isn't convinced that the answer is in his book. Ziva suggests that the answer may be in how the killer got his book. The killer must have gotten the book from McGee somehow. DiNozzo tells McGee to trust his instincts and the rest of the team will assist him. McGee grabs his gear and heads back to his apartment with a reluctant DiNozzo in tow.

DiNozzo bangs away at the typewriter keys in McGee's apartment, still amazed that he doesn't use a computer. McGee shows DiNozzo how he "free writes" when he gets blocked - he sits at the typewriter and just types whatever comes into his head. If he likes it, he puts it in his binder. If he doesn't, he shreds the page immediately. He never throws out any pages or notes, and he always keeps his binder locked in his apartment. McGee suddenly realizes how the killer could have gotten his pages - it is all about the typewriter. He brings the typewriter ribbon to NCIS - if the killer transcribed everything McGee typed, he has access to the book, his notes, and everything he considered when writing his novel. One of the scenarios McGee contemplated for his novel was to have the characters Mayer and Brenner conspire to kill the main character, McGregor – the character McGee has based on himself. Gibbs believes that the killer is trying to protect McGee - or McGregor - by killing off the characters in the book who were trying to kill him. McGee says there isn't another character after him in the novel, so he can't imagine who the third victim could be that the killer mentioned in his original note. Ziva corrects McGee, reminding him that Amy Sutton - the character based on Abby - fell in love with McGregor but he rejected her. In the novel, Amy tells her mother that McGregor "has to go."

Abby is not in the lab, and no one can reach her on her cell phone or at her apartment. McGee remembers that Abby's apartment is flooded so she is staying with her friend Sister Rosita at the convent. The agents rush to the convent. Abby lies asleep on the couch, her cell phone vibrating on the table next to her. The killer gets to it before she does. In the car, McGee tells the team that the nuns are all away at a spiritual retreat - Abby is by herself. Gibbs slams down the accelerator.

Landon, the Barista from McGee's coffee shop, stands staring down at Abby. Abby tells him that the sisters will be back soon but he doesn't believe her. He calls her Amy, and tells her that she should have just let Special Agent McGregor go - she wasn't good enough for him. The agents arrive at the convent and split up to cover front and back. Landon paces around the room, asking Abby how she planned to kill McGregor and, as she makes a move towards a knife lying on a nearby table he pulls out a gun. DiNozzo and Ziva come in from one side, aiming their weapons at Landon. He calls them Tommy and Lisa and tells them that their partner is in danger. McGee and Gibbs enter and McGee tries to convince Landon that Abby will not hurt him. Gibbs realizes that it is no use trying to get Landon to see reality - they will have to play into his fantasy. He tells McGee to explain the end of the book to Landon. McGee puts his gun away and walks towards Landon. He tells the killer that McGregor and Amy get married at the end of the book, so he cannot kill Abby. He says that Amy is the love of his life and he cannot live without her. Landon lowers his weapon and DiNozzo handcuffs him and leads him out of the room. Gibbs hugs Abby tightly, but she pushes him away and tells McGee that they have to talk. "Agent McGregor cannot marry Amy at the end. McGee, they are all wrong for each other."