The terrorist goes into the cell with whom we believe is Ziva and pulls out a filled syringe from a hard case. He tells his prisoner that he must tell him everything they know, who they are and what they are doing there. The prisoner looks up and it's DiNozzo.

The terrorist tells Tony that the formula is of his own design; a mixture of sodium pentathol and other ingredients that he has found will help get the truth. Tony replies, "Your going to be dead soon, ya know. Truth or not." The terrorist says, "I have studied America carefully. I believe in knowing my enemy." Tony, unable to not use his typical sarcasm says, "I mean a man is as big as what he is seeking. I believe you're a big man." The terrorist finally introduces himself as Saleem Ulman. Saleem wants to know what Tony's mission is. Tony replies, "We're NCIS - Navy Criminal Investigative Services. We're tasked with pursuing crimes with the US Marine Corp. and their families." Tony reveals the names of the team one by one but no mission. He has a flashback to May, where he and McGee were trying to take down a large military man. Gibbs came in and took him down instead.

Present Day:
Saleem wants to know where the rest of the team is. Tony tells him he doesn't know. Saleem ask Tony what his mission is and why he was riding alone in the desert. Tony replies, "I'm only here for one reason, vengeance. I'm here to kill you."

Saleem walks around in front of Tony sand says, "DiNozzo, is an Italian name?" Tony asks if he's an educated man. Saleem says he got his B.S. from Yale University in America. Tony replies, "I got my BS on the streets." Saleem is curious to know why Tony chose him as his target. Tony says, "I didn't. A little while ago, I didn't even know you existed and I was happier then.

Flashback to June:
McGee and DiNozzo are at NCIS, coming out of the elevator chatting. DiNozzo is trying to convince McGee to come over and fix his computer. Tony quotes the movie "Bad Day at Black Rock" with Spencer Tracy. Gibbs walks in and tells them to grab their gear. McGee nudges Tony to bring it up and Tony tells him to. McGee finally broaches the subject to Gibbs of replacing Ziva. Gibbs grabs a stack of files and drops them on Ziva's desk and tells them it's all theirs. Tony starts looking and questions where the women are, Gibbs tells him they are all women. Tony wants to know if they have photos. On the way into the elevator, Tony jokes about the casting couch and Gibbs tells him no casting couch as the door closes.

The team is onboard a naval ship, investigating the death of a navy officer, Wingate. Tony and McGee are chatting back and forth when Ducky arrives to do a preliminary check on the body. Ducky quotes an old classmate of his "E Landon Reginald Ellsworth III." DiNozzo makes fun of the man's name. Ducky puts Wingate's time of death 6 hours earlier. Gibbs leaves the bunk and Ducky asks if McGee or Tony have heard from Ziva and both reply no. Ducky tells them it's time to move on then.

Back in the squadroom, DiNozzo is sitting at his desk, McGee standing nearby. The two agents are interview female officers to replace Ziva. The first one, a blonde is dismissed by Tony with a "thank you pantsuit girl." Next up is DEA Agent, Claire Connell. She introduces herself and gives Tony an extremely firm handshake. Tony comments on her firm grip and she replies, "Yeah, I was a pack a day smoker. Quit, by occupying my hands with power putty. McGee reviews her records stating she has excellent aptitude skills and good reviews from her colleagues at the DEA. Tony asks why she'd want to leave there. She tells them she was involved with a coworker in a personal relationship and it had become difficulty for the other person to control their emotions. Tony says he hates clingy guys. When she just looks at him, she says "clingy girls?" McGee says he didn't ask. She says it was interfering with her ability to perform her duties at the higher level. After he brief interview, they both give her their vote. McGee tells her she has to begin on the job training but Gibbs makes the final decision.

DiNozzo is babbling outside the conference room about chemistry. He is pleased with hiring Claire and so is McGee. Suddenly the door flies open and Claire comes rushing out crying. She runs by them. Gibbs follows, slaps the folder into McGee's chest and says "strike one."

Present day... Saleem asks Tony why he's not looking for Ziva. Tony says he would but it's impossible, Ziva David is dead.

Saleem opens a canteen and points out the obvious - how he has always been fascinated by the cause and effect reactions. Tony is all but drooling when Saleem takes a sip from his canteen. Saleem says that caffeine keeps him sharp and alert. he then walks over to Tony and asks "Who is n control of the flow of your information." Tony replies, "Must be a lonely place to sit at the top of the pyramid? Not to mention uncomfortable." He then introduces and we get a flashback of Director Leon Vance. "Some don't like him, some don't trust him," Tony says.

Flashback to July.....
Gibbs is in Vance's office and inquires about Ziva. Gibbs wants his know if Vance has received any information from his good friend "Director David." Vance tells him that for 2 months he's been in the dark but he believes Ziva is part of Mossad again.

McGee is in interrogation with Petty Officer Dominic Dimarco asking him about drugs. Dimarco tells him he wouldn't know what drugs look like; someone must have slipped them in his orange juice. McGee asks how he would know that. Dimarco says he must have saw it on t.v. in 90210 or something like that. In the observation room, DiNozzo is chatting with another potential candidate, Captain Rebecca "Becky" Hastings, USAF. She and Tony exchange banter and it's clear that Tony is uncomfortable. Tony leaves her alone in the interrogation room and joins Gibbs in MTAC.

Gibbs is chatting with NCIS Special Agent Chad Dunham on the big screen. They are conducting searches and raids in North Africa. Dunham tells Gibbs that whoever was in a specific location has moved on but there is evidence of a female captive. Dunham tells Gibbs they'd answer him before Gibbs. He jokes and says to Gibbs, "By looking at that baby smooth skin, they might think they are looking at another girl." They both chuckle and end their conversation. DiNozzo walks up and shows Gibbs Hastings file and tells Gibbs she likes to live on the edge, take risks an she believes NCIS might offer some new challenges. Gibbs asks for DiNozzo's opinion and DiNozzo's reply is, "well ya know, women....". DiNozzo asks what Gibbs was doing. Gibbs just mentions that the Mossad presence is heavier in North Africa and either they are looking for something or cleaning up after a mess with casualties.

McGee and DiNozzo are out having dinner and DiNozzo is distracted. McGee keeps up the conversation but eventually DiNozzo gets up to leave. Tony says how odd it for Ziva not to make any contact with any of them. They both express concern and agree something must have happened to her. DiNozzo says he is going to do something about it and tells McGee to not try and talk him out of it. McGee says he wasn't.

Back to the present moment... Saleem walks by another captive on the floor. He tells Tony, "When he wakes up, he will learn what a mistake your partner made, following your lead." He kicks the prisoner over and we see McGee.

Saleem asks Tony, "You believe I am responsible for the death of this Ziva David? So you drive halfway around the world to kill me. It's insane!." Tony replies, "I'm insane? You kill indiscriminately?" Saleem says "The news carries around Italy. You change the words with rivers of blood. There is no reason to kill one person." Saleem wants to know how Tony found him and who he is leaving out.

Flashback to August.....
McGee and Tony have approached Abby for help. She is upset with them for leaving her out. They both try and tell her it was nothing personal and convince her to help them. Abby admits she's been tracking Ziva's moves and had also been trying many different ways to reach Ziva. With their backs to the door, the three of them brainstorm. The newbie walks in, Becky, and overhears McGee say they have two things to do: Hack into Mossad or hack into Vance. The tough as nails Becky quits and storms out.

Sitting at his desk, DiNozzo is on the phone when another women is brought to his desk. He clearly forgot he had another interview for the job. Officer Heather Kincaid introduces herself. She's a police officer with the Seattle PD, just like her father and uncle. Tony brings her down to the observation room while Gibbs is interrogating and trying to break Petty Officer Dimarco. McGee is upset over the fact that they have been interview this "poor helpless victim for 3 months, with a bad heart. It took two dead before they figured out he was the pusher, not a victim." DiNozzo is still thinking about Ziva and tells Kincaid they are not hiring right then and he is sorry to waste her time. He leaves the observation room at the same time Gibbs leaves interrogation. They stop in the hallway and look at one another for a moment and then walk away.

Tony walks into Abby's lab. She and McGee are excited as they hacked into and accessed Mossad's encrypted files. Abby and McGee begin to play what is a children's song and end up signing along to it. Tony looks at them like they are nuts but asks what the goat is. Abby explains that the goat is the information that they got from the laptop they found in Ziva's apartment after the explosion. The information was given to Vance, who then proceeded to hand it off to Director David. Abby explains that Ziva boarded a Jordanian freighter out of the Horn of Africa but lost track of it. Gibbs walks in and tells them the freighter went down in a storm on the 28th of May and there no survivors. Tony tells Saleem that after that it was business as usual but it had lost all meaning. Tony went through the motions of work until one morning Gibbs told him to grab his gear and Tony refused. When Gibbs looked at him, Tony told him he wanted to stop the terrorist before someone else died. Gibbs told him to present his case.

In MTAC, Tony, McGee and Abby presented their evidence on the big screen to Vance and Gibbs. They showed hard data and when Vance asked how they were able to find it, Abby smiled and pointed to her Caf-Pow. Turns out Saleem's became addicted to the caffeine of Caf-Pow when he attended Yale University. It was through the shipments of it he had sent to him that they were able to track him down.

Present Day...
When Saleem realizes he was found out due to his caffeine fetish, he threw the canteen across the room and storm out, while Tony taunted him. Saleem returned with a hooded prisoner. He says to Tony, "One of you has to reveal information and the other dies. I'll give you a moment to chose." Saleem removes the hood from the prisoner and leaves the room. The prisoner is revealed to be a battered and bruised Ziva. Ziva and Tony are shocked to see one another but after a moment of silence, Tony asks, "Well... so how's your summer?"

Ziva asks, "Out of everyone in the world who could have found me, it had to be you." Tony tells her she's welcome. Ziva tells him he shouldn't have come. Tony replies, "Well alright then, good catching up, I'll be going now. Oh yeah, I forgot, taken prisoner." Ziva asks McGee if he's alright. He replies he's just glad she's alive. Ziva looks pained as she asks if they thought she was dead. She asks why they are there. "Tony replies, "I couldn't live without you I guess." Ziva quietly says, "So you will die with me? You should have left me alone. I did not ask anyone to put themselves in harms way for me. I do not deserve it. It's justified." Tony tells her to get over herself and then informs her that he is under the influence of truth serum so she shouldn't ask any questions she doesn't want to hear the answers to. Ziva tells both men they need to tell Saleem everything he wants to hear and save themselves. She says he is ready to die. McGee says, "That's not how it works." They tell her they have a plan and Tony winks. She informs them there are thirty heavily armed men with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. She wants to know what they have.

Flashback to September....
In Vance's office, Tony shows Vance and McGee satellite photos of Saleem's position. Vance says he needs hard truth and he won't send Seals into the desert until they have confirmation Saleem is there. Tony looks unhappy and leaves the room. Gibbs smirks and follows him out. Gibbs suggests, in a cryptic way, that they change things out and send Agents into the area, then he can sell it to Vance. Tony isn't fully following Gibbs but volunteers himself and McGee.

Present Day...
McGee and Tony are driving through the desert in a military jeep, with McGee complaining about being volunteered. They stop at a blown-up building, which appears to be deserted. McGee pulls out the satellite phone to make a call as they are ambushed, beaten and taken prisoners by heavily armed men. Ziva is surprised to find out they willingly allowed themselves to be taken prisoners.

When Saleem returns, he walks to the window and tells the prisoners they are pulling out an not taking prisoners. Saleem pulls a knife and puts it to Ziva's throat. Ziva tells him that if Tony and McGee don't make contact with their team, Saleem's camp will be invaded by the Americans. She tells him to kill her and use the Americans as leverage. Saleem says he doesn't make deals. Tony laughs and quotes the movie "True Lies." He tells Saleem he has 30 seconds to live. Saleem laughs and says Tony is still tied up so how can he kill him. Tony says, "I can lie and didn't say it was going to be me. Remember I told you my boss was a sniper." Saleem looks up at the window and a shot rings out, comes through the window hitting Saleem in the head. Saleem falls to the floor. As the three are scrambling to untie each other and get out of the building, another terrorist comes in but he is taken out by a sniper as well. Tony and McGee half-carry, half-drag Ziva and are confronted by another terrorist. The terrorist gets shot from behind so the three continue around the corner. At the end of the hallway, they see Gibbs standing there with his sniper rifle.

Back at NCIS headquarters, Ziva, Tony and McGee, still dirty, battered and bruised, and Gibbs are in the elevator. Tony jokes about it being another day at the office. Ziva is quiet as the elevator opens and the four of them exit into the squadroom. Everyone looks at them, including Vance who is standing on the stairs. Vance begins clapping and everyone joins in. Abby walks up to Ziva and draws her into a hug. Tony sits at his desk and then makes eye contact with Ziva over Abby's shoulder.