A navy ship is warning a small sailboat as it comes closer to their ship. The ship's captain realizes it's a non-threatening boat and calls it a "hand-built Amigo kit." The captain says he isn't worried about it being attacked unless they suicided a little early. As he looks through his binoculars, he sees 2 dead bodies aboard the sailboat and says it's a crime scene. He tells the woman standing beside him, Agent Cortez, that it looks like it's got her name on it. It's got someones name but not hers. The back of the boat reads "KELLY."

In the squadroom, Ziva is sleeping, face down on her desk. McGee tells Tony it's a trap, Ziva is practically inviting them to mess with her. "Well, what kind of man would I be to turn down such an enticing invitation?" says Tony. "Oh, wouldn't be a sucker," McGee says and walks away. Tony can't resist, takes a pen and leans down to write on Ziva's face. "Touch me and die," Ziva says, with her eyes still closed. Tony realizes she's awake and puts the pen down and tells Ziva that sleeping on the job isn't going to help her shed the probie tag. Ziva has been on the job since 1:00am since Gibbs called her in to cover because Vance, Gibbs and Ducky flew out for a new case in the San Diego harbor. "Ducky means bodies. He called you to cover?" Tony says. Ziva sits up with a piece of paper stuck to her cheek and says she believes Gibbs called it hazing. Tony pulls the paper off Ziva's face and says "I believe this is called the 'Bill of Rights'." He asks Ziva if she's studying to become a naturalized American citizen. Ziva replies she has to if she wants to become an agent. From his desk, McGee gives a thumbs up and says, "Good for you Ziva." Tony wants to know if they want her to become an American and Ziva wants to know how he has a say. Tony holds up the Constitution and points to it, then says it talks about dangerous foreign aliens stealing their bodily fluids. McGee tells him that's "Dr. Strangelove." Tony mentions the 16th Amendment, which Ziva quotes. Tony wants to know if Ziva is learning this information through Osmosis. "We'll be lucky to have you Ziva. The more the merrier," says McGee. Tony walks to his desk, talking about the American Dream. McGee wants to know if Tony really knows what he's even talking about. Tony says he does and Ziva asks what Tony knows about the American Dream. "Well, let's see. I'm a white male between the ages of 18 and 49 with a loudmouth and a gun. I am the American Dream," Tony replies. McGee's phone rings and he says, "Oh thank god," as he answers it. "Two dead bodies and photos coming your way. Tell Abby to clear the decks," Gibbs says from the other end of the phone.

At the San Diego Harbor, Gibbs walks up to the "Kelly" as Agent Cortez says he ran the registration and found it was registered to Agent Gibbs. She starts to ask Gibbs questions, but Vance redirects her. Ducky is on-board the vessel, turning over one of the bodies. When asked, Agent Cortez says she didn't touch the bodies, she was trained better. Ducky checks their pockets but there's no identification, only cash, dollars and peso's. After Vance asks where she thinks the vessel came from, Cortez says probably Mexico. Vance remarks that usually Viking's set the vessel on fire for a funeral and asks Gibbs if he knows any Viking's in Mexico. Gibbs smirks. Ducky and Vance remark that Gibbs had only taken one vacation this year, he sailed the Gulf of Mexico and then bought a one-way ticket back. Gibbs says, "Did I have the fish or did I have the lasagna?" Gibbs said he sailed the boat to Mexico, Mike trailered it to the Gulf, it was a gift for his goddaughter. "This is how he repays you," Vance says. He then tells Cortez to clear the path with the Federales for them, they are headed south of the border.

Gibbs, Vance and Cortez show up at Mike Franks place. Cortez draws her weapon but Gibbs tells her it's not necessary. Cortez identifies herself and she and Vance go in and check out the place. Gibbs heads up the beach and looks over some cans, paintbrush, etc. on the beach. Vance looks at Gibbs, hands on his hips and says, "Nobody's home. So where the hell is Mike Franks?" Gibbs just looks out at the ocean and doesn't respond.

Back at NCIS, Tony, Ziva, McGee and Abby get off the elevator in the evidence garage. They are in awe of Gibb's sailboat and shocked it's no longer in Gibbs basement. "This is Gibbs' boat?" Ziva asks. "This is the crime scene. It was flown here on a C130 cargo plane along with two bodies and all the evidence and now it is mine. It is all mine. So I can figure out the mystery, "Abby says. The trio speculate about Abby's mystery, assuming it's the crime scene. Abby tells them they can figure that all out while she figures out how he got it out of the basement.

Gibbs goes into Vance's office. He says he has tried all of Franks' aliases but hasn't gotten any hits yet. Ducky told them the bodies had been floating around for 3 days and Vance wants to know if there is a hit on the ID's yet. The 2 victims are Calvin Blanchard and Roy Keenan, both with military backgrounds, both dishonorably discharged. Blanchard is Army, Keenan washed out of the Navy a years ago and Mike Franks was already retired so there was no professional connection. Cortez had gotten some information that both men had been going around asking about Mike Franks the previous week. Gibbs is unable to come up with any links other than a grudge. He thinks the two men got into it with Franks, shoved him overboard and now he's disappeared. Vance wonders if Gibbs knows where Mike might be, but Gibbs replies, "Your guess is as good as mine Leon." Vance doesn't believe him but he's willing to give him some leeway because it's Gibbs friend, boat and mess. He also tells Gibbs his patience will run thin if another body shows up before Franks does. Gibbs smirks then leaves his office.

Gibbs shows up in autopsy. Ducky says, "I've only just begun Jethro. I'm afraid you've jumped the gun." "Interesting choice of words," Gibbs replies. "How very Freudian of me" Ducky laughs. Both men were shot repeatedly; 6 in one body, 5 in the other at very close range using a large caliber weapon. Ducky begins one of his rants about cowboys so Gibbs asks him if he has something against cowboys. Ducky has always felt there's a fine line between cowboy and outlaw. Gibbs wants to know what Ducky's conclusion is. "Mike Franks has crossed that line," Ducky replies. Gibbs defends Mike and says it's too soon to be calling him a killer. Ducky feels it's the exact opposite because to much time and thought went into the killing and setting the crime scene. Ducky holds up 2 glass jars with wood splinters on them that were taken from the victims backsides. Both men were dragged onto "The Kelly" intentionally. Ducky would be surprised if anything about their discovery was not intentional.

Gibbs goes down to the evidence garage to speak with Abby. She pops out from below deck with some headgear on and tells him she is taking the utmost care with his craftsmanship. He asks what she has found. Abby doesn't feel the gunfight began on The Kelly but definitely ended there. She's still trying to find corresponding slugs for all the spent .45 casings. She points out another bullet grazed the portside, smaller caliber than the others. a .22 caliber which was below the water line and didn't embed in the boat. Gibbs realizes the boat wasn't in the water during the shootout. As he's leaving, Abby tells him she'll be careful when removing the rest of the slugs from the wood. Gibbs looks at her and tells her to take it apart.

In the squadroom, McGee is review the financial information between Blanchard and Keenan. He finds a link between the 2 men, but none to Mike Franks. Tony wonders why 2 bad guys would go after Mike Franks. "Well, clearly they don't know him very well," McGee replies. Tony thinks it's an interesting theory while McGee only meant it as a joke. "Some of the greatest ideas in history start out as jokes," Tony adds. He mentions the mood ring, pet rock and Ziva tells him those were all terrible ideas. Tony points out how those ideas turned the inventors into "zillionaires" and that is the American Dream. "The heart of America is that any idiot can become a success?" Ziva asks. Tony rants about his theory on the American Dream, winning the lottery, slipping on the right driveway and quotes "Little Orphan Annie." Ziva looks puzzled as she doesn't know who that is, so McGee explains. Tony wants to know if there's an essay portion on her citizenship exam because she should be writing it down. Ziva snaps her pencil in 2 and says, "Oh, shame, my pencil broke." He starts to bust on her about destruction of U.S. Government property when Gibbs walks in. Tony tells him McGee had an interesting idea. "Ah what was that exactly because you just started talking a bunch of nonsense and never actually said what you were thinking," McGee replies. Ziva chuckles. Tony chases Gibbs to the elevator and talks about McGee's theory. Gibbs tells Tony to find the connection as the elevator doors close.

In his basement, Gibbs pulls down a photo of him and Franks fishing when he hears a door closing and a child talking. A woman and child are standing in his living room. Gibbs rushes into the room as the woman tells him, "It's okay, it's just us." It's Mike Franks daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Gibbs takes Amira and kisses her mother on the cheek, welcoming them to his home. Gibbs sends the woman to put Amira down to sleep in another room. Mike walks in with bags and asks Gibbs if he is just going to stand there or is he going to help him with the bags or just shoot him. Gibbs says he'd rather start out asking a few questions and wants to know why the 2 men were after him. Mike was hoping Gibbs could tell him.

Mike stopped into the Cantina on Saturday when the bartender told him the 2 men were looking for him and the 2 girls. When they showed up at his place, he had no idea what they wanted until he saw the guns. Mike says he didn't feel good about using Amira's boat like that but he didn't want to risk being investigated by strangers or the Federales. So he steered the boat towards the Navy. "Better to be investigated by a friend," Franks says. "Thanks for the honor," Gibbs says. Gibbs isn't to pleased to be cleaning up another of Mike's messes and wants to know where Leyla and Amira were. Franks says they were tucked away safely. He's not happy when he thinks Gibbs is calling him old. Gibbs tells him, "There comes a time when you hang up your spurs." "I don't need you or anybody else to tell me when that is. I'll know because I'll be dead," Franks replies. Leyla walks in and tells him she hates it when he talks like that. Franks brought his girls there to keep them out of danger. Leyla tells Gibbs that Mike is threatening to leave them. Franks says he will do whatever he has to to protect his family. Gibbs wants him to leave it to the professionals.

In the squadroom, the team is reviewing Blanchard and Keenan's records. Both men were PMC's (Private Military Contractors). Blanchard cracked up and couldn't get it together and Keenan had a lot of problems with authority. Both men were kicked out of the military and found new homes working for First Defense COO (Chief Operating Officer) Colonel Martin Bell. Bell is a former tank commander and runs the largest PMC in the Middle East - armed security forces protecting mostly corporate employers. He also has governmental contracts, American and otherwise, securing reconstruction projects. Gibbs tells them to bring it in. Vance walks in and asks if they have a location on Mike Franks. Gibbs tells hm they don't. Vance points out that Franks was living with his daughter-in-law and grandchild and can't believe they can't track a man on the run with an Iraqi woman and child. Gibbs has been focused on the deadmen. Vance has a problem with Gibbs bringing Bell in. The two men head up to Vance's office to continue their conversation. Vance's reasons for not wanting to drag Bell in are political. He feels Gibbs' approach lacks finesse, he should take the same approach Vance gave Gibbs. "You mean rub his nose in it," Gibbs says. "Are you worried I'm to blunt Leon?" Gibbs asks. Vance feels Gibbs approach is to direct especially when he hasn't found the man who killed the 2 men yet. Gibbs lets on that Franks and his family are staying at his house. Gibbs has to send his team to keep an eye on Franks while he comes up with a better way to take on Bell. Gibbs asks for Vance's help on it and Vance says "It's like we were reading each other's minds" as he picks up his phone.

DiNozzo lets himself into Gibbs' house and is greeted with the barrel of Franks' gun. DiNozzo tried to call but Franks didn't answer and he let himself in because there is no lock on the door. The two men debate why there is no lock on the door and why Franks had a gun aimed at him (no lock!). Ziva walks between them telling them it's been very educational. Franks is happy to see her and calls her "Lady Ziva." "We have been instructed to sit on the baby," Ziva says. Mike looks at Tony, puzzled by Ziva's statement. Tony tells Mike it's going to be fine and holds out a mint. McGee is waiting outside to take Mike to NCIS for questioning. Leyla is worried about Mike leaving but he assures her it's for the best. As Tony is popping the mint into his mouth, Mike tells him to put something in front of the door. Tony will just stand there with his gun, he says as Mike rolls his eyes. Mike walks out, Tony slams the door and says "That guy."

In the NCIS conference room Vance is questioning Bell while Gibbs stands in the back of the room. They make small talk at first while Vance gets coffee. Bells gives them a rundown of his business. Gibbs asks if the men were good at their job. Gibbs and Bell go back and forth about the "quality" of men Bell hires and Gibbs wants to know what they have to do to get disqualified to work for Bell. Bell demands Gibbs just ask him the question outright. Bell admits the 2 men were carrying firearms in Mexico because they were carrying out a contract. Vance asks if the contract was on Mike Franks. Bell asks, "Who the hell is Mike Franks?" McGee and Franks are getting off the elevator when Vance and Bell are heading towards it. Neither man appears to know the other but Mike does glance back. Bell expects justice and for Vance to keep him updated on the case. Franks stops at Gibbs desk and asks if Bell is the man who put the hit on him. Gibbs tells him there was no hit on Franks. Leyla's family hired Bell's men to find Leyla and Amira, Mike was just a lead and Mike killed them. "You want to know who the damn bad guy is here? Go look in the mirror," Gibbs tells Franks.

In Vance's office, he comments how Mike doesn't look broken up for killing 2 men in cold blood. "Is that how you see it?" Franks asks Gibbs. Mike reminds Gibbs of how Lelyla's family was. They disowned her for becoming pregnant and marrying his son, Liam. Shada Shakarki, Leyla's mother is a bad woman with connections in Iraq. She's one of the most prominent matriarchs of one of the tribes in Iraq. Shada buried all of the male members of her family, father, brothers, husband, sons, etc. so she fell into the roll. She's a vindicative women who was willing to pay to bring Leyla and Amiri back home. Vance wants to know what weapon he used. Franks says it was a .45, he put 3 in the big guy and 2 in the other, then dragged them onboard the boat and put 3 more in each of them for good measure, it was self-defense. Vance pulls out a pad and pen and hands it to Gibbs, telling him to get Franks statement. Gibbs drops the pad and pen on the table in front of Franks.

In the evidence garage, Abby is using a chainsaw to take the boat apart, in sections. McGee gets off the elevator, yells her name to get her attention and wants to know what she is doing. She tells him that Gibbs told her to do it but she's taking it apart carefully and making notes where everything came from so it can be put back together. "But your using a chainsaw," McGee says. Abby tells him it's not like there was a zipper and McGee wants to know it was worth it. She found a hidden stash box on the boat where Franks keeps a gun. McGee remarks how he keeps weapons hidden everywhere because it took them 15 minutes to get through security. He tells her it's a sawblade, curled and in a hollow part of his boot, when Abby wants to know if it was a .22. She shows him a pair of mangled bullets that appear to have been in the air at the same time and hit one another.

From Abby's lab, McGee calls Tony to tell him. Tony heads down into the basement to talk to them because he doesn't want to talk in front of Leyla and Amira. Abby tells Tony to check the seams of the walls in the basement. She wants to know if they are removable or something appears like it doesn't belong. "Actually I think Colonel Hogan has a radio in the coffee pot but the tunnel might have been filled in," Tony replies. Abby's computer bells start going off and they get a negative match on the bullets. "I think we've got another shooter," McGee says.

Ziva is chatting with Amira and tells her she has peaceful eyes. Leyla agrees and says she left Iraq due to the violence, she wants the peace in Amira's eyes to last forever. "Sometimes the most significant moments happen in your life without any choice at all," Leyla says. Ziva asks Leyla if she misses her homeland. Leyla says it was difficult to leave it all behind, to pick up and start over again but doing it for the right reasons made it easier. Tony walks in and tells Leyla that Ziva is trying to start over again, rebuild her life, again. Ziva gets up and goes to the window. Tony asks Leyla about her home in Mexico. She says it's simple, big enough for the 3 of them. Tony asks her about the shootout and exactly where Amira was.

In the squadroom, McGee is going over the background on Shada. Franks, who is writing his statement at Gibbs' desk pipes up and says he could have told them everything. Gibbs just tells him to keep writing. Gibbs phone rings and Franks answers it, "Gibbs desk." It's Ducky asking Gibbs to come down to autopsy. When Gibbs walks into autopsy, Abby is standing there with jars on a table with bullet slugs in them. "You know we have enormous respect for you and the loyalty you exhibit toward your friends," Ducky says. Abby puts her hand on Gibbs left shoulder and says, "Gibbs, we love you, very very much." "What the hell is this?" he asks. Abby calls it an intervention. Ducky tells Gibbs that his own personal history is having a blinding judgement on his skills as an investigator. Abby rambles about Franks being a 6 foot hero and Ducky finally blurts out, "He's lying to us." Abby points out all the .45 caliber slugs. As Ducky starts to tell Gibbs his theory, Gibbs gets ahead of him. Mike Franks did not kill the men. All the shots from the .45 were fired from the same angle, standing over the bodies. Both victims were shot with a rifle, Mike used his .45 and shot through the bodies in the same areas they'd already been shot. Franks was destroy the evidence.

Gibbs picks up Franks statement as he's about to sign it. Gibbs reminds Franks of a story from one of their early cases. Two men went hunting with a young boy, duck hunting. Franks makes a joke about it being geese but Gibbs doesn't laugh, he says it was funny in the past because Mike was his superior. One man came out dragging the other man, his chest half-blown off. There was nothing accidental about it but Mike didn't pursue any charges. The boy's gun had gone off and blown a hole through the man's heart. The Sergeant was standing over his best friend, his 10 year old son had just killed him. Thinking he had failed them both, the Sergeant had decided to take the bullet for himself. He put his own gun into the man's chest and fired, blowing away the evidence of what his son had done. Mike rips up his statement saying, "This ain't gonna work. When did ya figure it?" Before Gibbs can respond, from his desk, McGee tells Gibbs he got a hit on Shada recent activity, she's on a commercial plane on her way to DC.

McGee is standing at the airport, holding a sign with Shada's name on it. She drops her luggage and tells McGee she is Shada Shakarki and walks by him. McGee grabs her luggage, welcomes her to Washington and tells her the car is right out front.

Shada is in interrogation with Franks, Vance and Gibbs standing in the observation room. Vance asks what she is doing there. "Taking a hands-on approach with her daughter. Her first attempt lacked finesse," Gibbs responds. Vance asks how Mike's statement is coming. "Oh it's a load of crap. Probie called me on it. I lied to you guys," Franks says. Vance tells him that's his only trait her finds endearing, at least there won't be any more bodies. Franks says there will if they let Shada go free. Vance wonders what Mike thinks they could hold her on. "Conspiracy to be a *****?" Mike asks. Gibbs says it's the one thing Mike told the truth about, he is protecting his family. Vance tells Franks to go in and work it out with the "In-laws" and asks if he still knows his way around the room.

Mike goes into the interrogation room. Shada tells him she's been tracking his every move since his cursed offspring ruined her daughter. The two of them argue and talk over one another. She accuses him of hiding her family from me. Mike reminds her that she disowned them. Shada says she's lost to much already. Leyla and her daughter are her blood. She sits down. Mike rips into her for sending the hired guns after the girls. Shada says she was assured there would be no trouble, no violence. Mike tells her what happened. His defenses were down, he never heard them coming because he was in the boat playing with Amira. Amira wanted to paint her name on the side of the boat. When Mike looked down, the 2 men were standing there with their guns drawn. Leyla saw them from the house and fired 6 rounds, 5 hitting the 2 men. She is surprised to learn that Leyla knows how to shoot. He says he taught her. Mike tells her the 2 girls will be safer with him, he won't let her take them back into the fold. Shada's face falls and she tells Mike that she already paid for the services, Colonel Bell assured her the job would be completed. Mike turns around and looks at the observation mirror.

Gibbs calls Ziva and tells her what is going on. Ziva tells Leyla to bring Amira down to the basement and wants to know if she knows how to shoot. She pulls the blinds down and as Leyla heads upstairs, the power is cut and a flash bang is tossed in through a window and goes off in the living room. Ziva and Tony are caught offguard and 3 heavily armed, masked men come in. Ziva recognizes the voice of one of the men as Marine Corporal Damon Werth, who was dishonorably discharged. He asks what Ziva is doing there because he's there to rescue a kidnapped woman and her daughter. Ziva corrects him saying he's abducting, not rescuing the 2 girls. The other 2 men get antsy and want to finish the job. Damon disarms both men and thinks the NCIS team should be heard first.

Bell pulls up on a side street to meet up with Corporal Werth. Werth gets out of his car, says he he is finished with his mission. Gibbs, Ziva and Tony get out also. Bell wants to know what Werth has done. Werth quits. Tony says it's a shame as Werth is a pretty loyal guy too. Gibbs walks up and says, "You made a mess outta my house. I'm just gonna have to clean that up." "You want to go punch for punch with me Gibbs? Keep in mind I got a big arsenal behind me," Bell says, "I would worry your suit covers it up pretty nicely," Tony replies. "Sorry I'm a little wacky because of the flash bang your boys threw at us," Tony says to Bell. Bell feels maybe his men were over-exuberant in their task but he hasn't broken any laws. Gibbs points out that he may not have broken any U.S. laws, but the Federales want to talk to Bell because bounty hunting is illegal south of the border. "God bless Mexico," Ziva says. "I tell my men, you take a swing make sure you connect hard enough to take a man down," Bell says. Gibbs says, "Good advice," and handcuffs Bell. Gibbs walks by Werth and says he should tell them to get a haircut. Werth laughs.

Vance is in his office and asks Gibbs if he thinks the grandparents can work it out. Gibbs relays a story his grandfather used to tell him that goes back many years and dates after the Civil War. His great-great grandfather and grandmother had fathers who were always at it. They probably shot at each other on the battle field. They couldn't even look at each other at their children's wedding but they did come to live with each other in the same house. They spent everyday for the rest of their lives, sitting out on the front porch in wicker rocking chairs. Vance assumed they worked things out but Gibbs smiles and says, "From the way I heard it, those 2 never spoke a word." While Gibbs is telling the story, we see Leyla and Amira playing on the beach, while Mike and Shada stand on the porch, watching the girls, but not looking at one another.