23x03 - The Sound and the Fury

[bunniefuu]

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

♪ ♪

What's your 20, partner?

- [CLATTERING]
- [CATS YOWLING]

Something's not feeling right.

[SIGHS]

[CAR DOOR OPENS]

[GROANS] Here we go.

Do you not respond to calls?

Not when my hands
are full of cocoa and Cronuts.

I found this great all-night
diner right around the corner.

As only you can.

- I do have a knack for snacks.
- Mm.

And, hey, that's rhyme number three.

- Oh, you're on a roll, Kendrick.
- [BOTH LAUGH]

So... what's not feeling right?

Oh. [SIGHS] I don't know.

Just the usual stakeout paranoia.

About?

You know that spooky feeling that

somehow you're the one being watched?

Much as I hate to admit it,

stakeouts give me the willies, too.

[SOFT CLATTERING]

Uh... who's this?

Is that...

- Torres?
- The hell? Nick?

Oh, whoa.

- Get away from her.
- KNIGHT: Nick, what are you doing?

TORRES: Don't touch her!

- Get away!
- KNIGHT: Nick!

Whoa!

♪ ♪

Good morning, gentlemen.

"Gentlemen." Wow.

That's a nice way to start the day.

Yeah, and a great day it is, McGee.

Uh, Director Vance
called me in early today

to offer me a pretty sweet opportunity.

Don't tell us you're leaving again.

Oh, no, not a chance.

Uh, though it does involve
some special training

for future missions with NCIS Elite.

- Nice. That's great.
- Hey, hell yeah.

They're starting up
the-the task force again, so...

[SIGHS] I still can't believe it.

Well, you should. You deserve it.

Yeah, and if it couldn't be me,

I'm glad it was you.

What do you mean?

Oh, uh, Vance offered it to me,
too, but I had to say no.

Wait, is that why he kept you
in his office after we left?

That is exactly why.

You're not actually implying
that the only reason

why Vance offered me the job
was because you turned it down?

No, no, no, no, no.

That's not, that's not
what I meant. That's...

You deserve it, of course. Nah, like...

I-I shouldn't have said anything.

And yet, you did.

[CELL PHONE CHIMING]

Dead petty officer
in Arlington. Let's do this.

Jess, I didn't mean it that way.

No, it's fine.

- We're fine. I'm fine.
- [CELL PHONE VIBRATING]

Uh, Parker got the Bandium, too.

I guess he's gonna meet us there.

Already?

Yeah, you'd think the guy would take

a few more personal days after
everything he went through.

PARKER: Trust me, I'm better off

busy at work than resting at home.

You know, idle hands and all that.

Yeah, sure, I get it.

- TORRES: Yeah, me, too.
- Me, three.

And Vance is cool with it?

I didn't even ask.

So, anyway, who's our victim?

Petty Officer Third Class

Steven Keogh, 24 years old.

Stationed out of
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.

Hey, Nick, give me a hand here?

Keogh was listed as U.A.
at 0700 after failing

to report for duty.

TORRES: Ugh, what a mess.

Poor kid must've hit the pavement hard.

Back alley brawl?

Uh, no, his hands are too clean.

Maybe he got sucker punched.

You smell any alcohol?

[SNIFFS] No, I don't.

Uh, drugs, maybe?

Not with that baby face.

Uh, Agent Sawyer.

Agent Parker, good to see you back.

Idle hands, am I right?

Since when does the night crew
get our Bandium alerts?

Oh, we do not, McGee.

Safe to say the NCIS

day and night crews
still receive separate Bandiums.

Then what brings you out here, Dale?

Well, Nicky-boy, I was just
driving past after a long night

of chasing down clues
on a possible blackmail case.

Mm, sounds exciting.

Not as exciting as this.

And in broad daylight, no less.

Well, this seems
a little past your bedtime.

That depends.

What, you think maybe
there's a connection?

If there is, we'll let you know.

Well, what do we know so far?

What we know so far, Sawyer,

is that this is our case
to figure out. The A-Team.

Oh, come on. I thought we were past

all that perfect nemesis crap.

Oh, no, we are. No, we're all Gucci.

No more, uh, frenemies.

I just think that the B-Team
should stick to blackmail.

I'd quit while you're ahead, Sawyer,

because, uh, Nick is on a roll today.

SAWYER: Well, Knight, since you're
the only cool member of the A-Team,

I may just take that advice.

What, you're saying that we're not cool?

As much as I hate to interrupt this, uh,

mature conversation...

- What's up, Jimmy?
- JIMMY: Uh, couple things.

What appears to be blood

seeping from our petty officer's nose

is also coming out of both of his ears.

That can't be good.

What, did you say,
"What appears to be blood"?

JIMMY: Yeah, that's the second thing.

I don't think this is just blood at all.

What do you think it is?

JIMMY: Uh, mind you,
I still have to get him back to autopsy

to confirm it, but it looks
an awful lot to me like...

brain matter.

- Brain matter?
- From his nose?

From his ears?

Whoa. Uh...

I don't do nose-brain, okay?

Peace out, A-Team.
Have a great day shift.

Yeah, he doesn't do brains at all.

I wish I had more answers, but
this one really has me stumped.

Not many brain matter nosebleeds
in your vast experience?

Or what did Sawyer call it?

JIMMY: Nose-brain.
And no, I haven't seen it.

His-his frontal lobe is so swollen,

it's practically liquified
his cerebral cortex.

And what the hell would cause that?

That's what I'm hoping a little
more of his blood will tell us.

JIMMY: Here you go.

What's it telling you so far?

KASIE: Not enough.

Blood alcohol is .03%, so maybe

a beer or two,
but not enough to be drunk,

a-and I'm not finding
any genetic red flags

that would cause this, so...

[CELL PHONE CHIMING]

Oh, finally.

Torres tracked down the wife.

Jess, you coming?

Actually, I was hoping
she could help me comb through

last night's traffic-cam footage

near where the dead body was found.

All right, sounds good. Keep me posted.

Will do.

Traffic-cam footage? Really?

Yes, really. But also,
I need to know how long

we plan on keeping Parker in the dark.

KNIGHT: How long are we planning?

It was your idea not to tell him.

And I never said it was a good idea.

Look, I care about Parker.
These are hard secrets to keep.

No, no, no. I've reframed it, Kasie.

They're not secrets at all.

Okay, we're protecting a friend
who's just lost his father.

Parker doesn't need to know what we know

until we're sure about,
you know, what we know.

And to be extra sure, what do we know?

Oh, there are major discrepancies

between the autopsy report
on Parker's mother

and her death certificate.

How major?

Uh, well, enough that,
until I can verify

the handwritten notes from the old M.E.,

there's no way I can tell Parker.

And the same with what we know...
or rather don't know...

about the lipstick
that was on that glass.

Still no DNA match?

Not to Carla Marino.

But somebody was drinking wine
with Parker's dad

the night that he was m*rder*d.

Until we know who...

Oh, that makes two secrets.

You just said they weren't secrets.

KNIGHT: Okay, well, whatever they are,

I suggest we keep it
between the three of us

until we get some more answers.

Yeah, or at least
until Parker's had time

to recover from his loss.

Oh, gosh, I sure hope both come soon,

but okay, between the three of us.

Mm.

Are you looking for a pinky swear?

If there was ever a situation
that called for it, this is it.

[SIGHS]

TORRES: Where are you now, Mrs. Keogh?

Sally, please.
I'm in Seattle, visiting my mom.

Do you know what happened?
Are you sure it's my Stevie?

I'm afraid we are sure,

but we're still working
on what happened.

PARKER: Sally, I'm Special Agent Parker.

You mind if I ask you
when you last saw your husband?

When he dropped me off
at the airport yesterday.

He was running late for work

or something he had to do,
but he seemed okay.

Just okay or any health issues?
Any conflicts?

No, none of that.

I mean, I-I wouldn't
call them conflicts,

but he and I argued a bit lately,

like a lot of couples do, but...

- What about?
- Money, mostly.

His Navy check didn't go
as far as it used to,

and it really stressed him out.

That's why I had to get away
for a bit.

[SIGHS] Not thinking
I would never...

I should probably see about
getting a flight back, huh?

We'll have our Northwest office
contact you to help arrange that.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Just a kid herself.

And she wasn't kidding
about the money problems.

Keogh's bank records show

a lot more money coming out
than coming in.

To pay for what? Gambling debts?

Or maybe a girlfriend.

Look at what I found
in a folder on Keogh's phone.

Oops. His wife is not blonde.

And not quite the same skin tone.

Well, there is a lot more skin
here to compare it to.

- [EXHALES SHARPLY]
- Ay, yi, yi.

Yeah. Yeah, you can say that again.

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

- [SIGHS]
- Yeah, Knight?

You know, if his wife saw these photos,
she's definitely a suspect.

Yeah, let's make extra sure

that she gets on that flight
back to D.C.

TORRES: Okay. Thank you.

Knight found our guy
off of a traffic cam,

stumbling out of a bar.

Give us a holler if you need it.

TORRES: Okay,
send those photos to Knight.

[LAUGHS]

Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my.

Yeah, that's what I said.

You know, it's kind of weird

how every extremely naked photo of Keogh

shows his face but not the woman's.

Really? Didn't notice.

Can't imagine why.

[BOTH LAUGH]

- [ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]
- [BILLIARD ba*ls CLACKING]

Excuse me.

Is there an actual "Hairy Dave" here?

That's me. Owner and operator.

I see the name is ironic.

You wouldn't be asking me that
if you ever saw my back.

Would you like to?

- No, thank you.
- Maybe later.

What, you're not curious?

We were hoping that you may have served

this petty officer last night.

Left here at around 12:30.

DAVE: Oh, yeah, I think so.

Half my business is young military.

Good kids mostly.
Just looking to blow off steam.

Anything you can recall about him?

Maybe had a beer or two.

And maybe with a woman at some point?

That I don't know, but blowing off steam

usually includes looking for love

or anything resembling it.

Uh, we don't have any angles
of this woman's face,

but maybe you can recognize her
from the rest of her?

Yowza.

Yeah, we know.

Look, I don't want any trouble.

Like I told your buddy,
I run a clean joint here

with no control over
what riff-raff passes through.

- Least of all, any blackmailers.
- Our buddy?

Blackmailers?

Yeah, your other agent this morning.

He had the same kind of pictures

but with a different Navy kid
getting blackmailed.

Uh, he left his card.

Now, those photos now point
to a lot more than infidelity.

You think they were being used

to blackmail Petty Officer Keogh?

Well, we intend to find out,
but Agent Sawyer's crew,

apparently, is on that case already,

and since our m*rder case
dovetails with theirs,

we naturally assume that

our day crew should take over
both cases.

Naturally?

Did I just set you up for the
old, uh, "when you assume" line?

Oh, no. No need for that.

But it seems to me that,
since the night crew

was onto the blackmail case
before the m*rder,

both cases would naturally
fall to them and not you.

All due respect, whatever resentment

you and I might still have
since the Marino case,

don't take it out on my team.

You think I'm holding a grudge?

I mean, we're all human, Leon.

And we all make mistakes,
Agent Parker, like you are now.

I have far greater concerns on my plate

that leave me no time
for personal vendettas.

Is that clear?

Clear, Director.

Agents.

As you likely heard through the door,

the night crew
will be taking both cases,

but that's not to say that
you won't be involved

in cracking them.

Not since two of the night agents

have been recently reassigned,

which leaves Agent Sawyer's
team short-handed,

so we'll be needing two members
of your team to fill in.

- Working nights?
- VANCE: Mm-hmm.

Sawyer has a team?

We can switch off. You two tonight.

Me and McGee tomorrow.

As long as that's okay
with you, Director.

It's your team, Agent Parker. Your call.

Uh, am I early, or did I miss it?

You are right on time, Agent Sawyer.

SAWYER: Ah. Listen, guys,

I'm not gonna call anybody "probie,"

and I don't need anybody
to call me "boss."

So what do you say, B-Teamers?

Let's go catch some bad guys.

Welcome to the night shift.

TORRES: Oh,
looks just like the day shift.

[CELL PHONE BEEPS, POWER WHIRRING]

Ooh, except for the mood lighting.

Now, now, don't get
too comfortable over there.

Step into the light
of the B-Team bullpen

and see how the night crew lives.

Uh, no, I'm good.

- I'm good over here.
- You sure, Nick?

We got one whole outlet
to charge our phones.

And, sure, the Wi-Fi's
not as good, but, hey,

the night crew makes do.

[CHUCKLES] Now, that is a slogan.

Not a bad rhyme, huh?

Might have to put that on a T-shirt.

Okay. I'll play ball.

That's what makes you a gamer.

Which reminds me,

congrats on the bump to NCIS Elite.

Covert ops, antiterrorism.

Good for you.

You heard about that, huh?

Thanks.

You kidding?

I was chasing it myself.

I applied twice, but no dice.

And, hey, that's rhyme number two.

I'm a poet, and I didn't know it.

[TORRES FAUX LAUGHING]

Anyway, let's talk blackmail.

What you have here is some quality

- night shift detective work.
- [VACUUM WHIRRING LOUDLY]

Both files detail

my interviews with three Navy personnel.

Three Navy men

who say they are being blackmailed.

- Feet.
- Ah.

Uh, blackmailed with explicit photos

with another woman.

- Sawyer. Sawyer!
- What?

Seriously?

Oh, that's just Greta.

- What now, Sawyer? I busy.
- [VACUUM SWITCHES OFF]

Oh, sorry, Greta.
It's just my new partners

aren't quite used to
the night vibe. [CHUCKLES]

We're so used to Greta,
we hardly even notice her.

She's like family.

It's "Gerta."

Really? Like family?

Mm.

[VACUUM SWITCHES BACK ON]

Oh.

[CELL PHONE CHIMES]

Oh. Great.

I got one of the victims
to agree to come talk to us.

Let's go.

KNIGHT: This late?

You must be quite the charmer.

SAWYER: I'm not surprised you noticed.

Appreciate you being here after-hours,

Petty Officer Mathis.

Yeah. Been a long day, but no worries.

You thirsty?

Let me get you something.

I found a case of this stuff

in the forensics lab a few years back.

Kind of an acquired taste,
but they really keep you going.

Mm.

Okay, we got your statement, Mathis,

but let's hear it from you.

Uh, yeah, sure.

What else do you want to know?

Uh, beginning is a good place to start.

Yeah, sure. Um...

It was a couple months ago.
I was on leave.

Having a few drinks,
you know, at some bars.

Hairy Dave's?

Probably.

Yeah, I hit 'em all.

Anyway, I met this girl.

Gorgeous. Redhead. I mean, she had...

Anyway, uh, she needed a ride.

So, got in my van.

And next thing I remember

was waking up buck naked in the back.

And where was the redhead?

Gone.

That is, until I got
a lovely text with a bunch

of X-rated photos and a threat
to send them to my wife

unless I paid 500 a month
to some weird autopay account.

Every attempt to trace
the account has got us nothing

but viruses and firewalls.

MATHIS: And I have
been paying ever since.

Kicking myself for being so stupid.

Our victim received the same photos.

Except his redhead was a blonde.

So, one question.

You originally claimed that
you got into the woman's car.

But just now, you said that
the woman got into your van.

Nice catch, NCIS Elite.

MATHIS: Really?

Is that what I said?

Well, Mathis,

which version is true?

Okay, look, I didn't...

I didn't mean to lie. I swear.

I was just trying to keep my
nana out of that first interview.

Nana?

My-my grandmother.

It was her van that we...

that I borrowed that night.

The Nan Van.

Any chance that your redhead
could have left some DNA

in the, uh... Nan Van?

If she did, we can't tell Nana.

Please don't tell Nana.

Where's the van?

It's in your parking lot.

I borrowed it again to get over here.

Okay. The Nan Van is ready and
waiting in the evidence garage.

Great. Kasie is on her way to comb it.

Once again, kudos on catching

the discrepancy in that kid's statement.

Oh, it's nothing you wouldn't
have caught eventually.

SAWYER: Well, thank you.

[RUMBLING]

What was that?

Probably just Henry.

Who's Henry?

You don't know?

- The ghost?
- Here?

SAWYER: Okay,
this can't just be a night crew thing.

We hear him constantly.

Your A-Team's probably too busy

with super important cases to notice.

Oh, come on. Seriously?

SAWYER: Gerta, back me up here.

We hear Henry all the time, don't we?

GERTA: Hear him, see him.

Last week, I turn off light
and he sits at desk.

Here? My desk?

SAWYER: Easy, Nicky-boy.

Henry's harmless.

He's all boo and no bite.

And I could use another Caf-POW.

All boo and no bite?

Okay, you didn't seriously buy
into that, did you?

Well, not until Gerta
started saying it, too.

KNIGHT: Well,
the two of them are in cahoots.

I mean, it's obviously some kind
of night crew initiation.

An NCIS ghost? Seriously?

Yeah, I think, uh, the lack of sleep

- is making me, uh, a little gullible.
- Mm.

Well, maybe you should go take a nap,

catch a couple winks in Kasie's lab.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Yeah. Sounds like a good idea.

Although I'd hate to abandon
you here with your new BFF.

- My what?
- Our new BFF.

- I meant to say "our new BFF."
- Oh. Oh.

I think I should go lay down.

Yeah, you should go do that.

And I'll, uh, wake you up
when Kasie starts working

- on the Nan Van.
- Mm-hmm.

Think fast.

Hey.

Now, those are some elite reflexes.

Well, you know me. Wax on, wax off.

Mm. Karate?

A little bit of everything.

But, you know what,
I'm gonna say no, thank you.

I'm still jittery from the last one.

Yeah, same.

Where's Torres?

Uh, he is catching
a quick nap at Kasie's.

But in that case, I know a perfect way

for us to burn off
those Caf-POW jitters.

Kasie, what's up?

Uh, Knight was supposed to wake me.

Oh, I told her to let you get some rest.

At least until I got some results.

Anything yet?

Pulled a few prints. We'll see.

What was that?

Maybe Henry followed you here.

He does tend to get attached to people.

- Wait, you know Henry?
- When you get called in

by the night crew as much as I do,

you know Henry.

[GRUNTING, HEAVY BREATHING NEARBY]

- That can't be Henry.
- Oh.

- That. That's Knight and Sawyer.
- KNIGHT: More?

They've been going at it for a while.

- Going at what?
- SAWYER: Bring your legs up

- and squeeze with your hips.
- KNIGHT: Like this?

SAWYER: Yeah, yeah.
Just a little harder.

KNIGHT: Oh, you sure you can take it?

- SAWYER: Yeah.
- Hello?

Oh. Hey, Nick. Just working on, uh,

some substitutes for the blood choke.

You mean the sleeper hold?

SAWYER: Potayto, potahto.

Either way, we don't do it anymore.

- [GRUNTING]
- Okay.

[SNIFFS, GRUNTS]

You want to try?

[COMPUTER TRILLING]

KASIE: Got a print match.

And it's not Nana.

TORRES: What you got, Kase?

Olga Bergamot.

Arrested in 2015 for passing bad checks.

Now the current owner
of an all-night fortune-telling

and matcha bar in Reston?

We down for some matcha?

Maybe after both of you towel off.

[ENTRY BELL JINGLES]

You think Henry shops here?

Mm. Seems too spooky, even for him.

[BELL CLANGS]

MAN: Make it stop!

Help me!

Just got even spookier.

- [MAN GROANING]
- [OLGA SCREAMING]

TORRES: Federal agents!

OLGA: Please help him.

Please! I can't.

It's Dreq.

Get him out of my head.

Dreq is k*lling me! [YELLS]

- Sir, sir, sir, sir!
- [OLGA GASPING]

- KNIGHT: Keep him on his side.
- [CHOKING]

- KNIGHT: Keep breathing.
- Who did he say was k*lling him?

Uh, D-Dreq?

He's Albanian.

It means "devil."

I was afraid you'd say that.

[GASPING WEAKLY]

Oh, it happened so fast.

Right after you got here.

Arben burst in, screaming about Dreq.

- The devil.
- [SIGHS]

He was begging me for an exorcism.

From me. I'm just... [SIGHS]

I'm just a palm reader.
And not even a good one.

Mm. What about, uh, seducing sailors?

Looks like you're pretty good at that.

[SIGHS]

How many have you blackmailed?

Blackmail?

No. That's not me.

Yes, you.

We have your fingerprints inside
of your victim's van.

But I don't blackmail.

That's all Arben.

He's the criminal.

I just... He pays me to do that for him.

Any others end up like this?

That poor boy.

They wanted more than money from him.

"They"?

Arben and his partner.

They forced that boy
to steal some kind of...

weapon from his base.

What weapon?

And who's "they"?

I don't know.

Olga, you have to know something.

I know they were planning
to sell it later tonight

behind some warehouse in Fairfax.

Hey, can we get another hand back here?

Do you have the location
of this warehouse?

OLGA: Um...

Um, it's one of those stores
that sells computers

and phones and...

[GROANS]

Olga?

[GROANS]

- Olga?
- [GROANING]

Uh, a little help here, guys!

- KNIGHT: What the hell?
- SAWYER: What happened?

TORRES: I don't know.
I was talking to her,

and two seconds later,
I-I turn around and...

Oh!

Don't you say it.

You didn't have to come in, guys.

You kidding me?

How many times does the word "exorcism"

show up in an overnight Bandium alert?

No way I was going back to bed
after that.

Crazy as it sounds,

something left Olga
in a coma at the hospital

and Arben down on Jimmy's table.

This is him? Arben Bardhi?

Albanian gangster.

Long rap sheet.

You know, we can call it crazy,
but we all saw

this Arben guy screaming about Dreq,

- the devil.
- Okay, here we go.

So, what if what Torres saw was
actually Dreq jumping into Olga?

What I saw was Olga freeze up and...

twitch a little bit.

Mm, but you did see
the glass break in her hand

right before she dropped.

Jimmy said a seizure could
easily have given her strength.

And what seizure causes nose-brain?

Okay, will you please stop
calling it that?

All right, can we forget about all that

and focus on what Olga actually told us?

You'd think Keogh's base would've
reported a stolen weapon by now.

All right, so what did this Olga say

about their plan to steal it tonight?

Uh, I just located the only
computer warehouse in Fairfax.

Hopefully, we haven't missed it.

SAWYER: There's
only one way to find out.

Who's up for a stakeout?

Oh, hell yeah. Let's go.

All right. We'll, uh
we'll keep digging here.

Nick, you coming?

[CHUCKLES]: Oh.

Hold on, Jess.

We've all seen The Exorcist.

What if the devil jumped
from Arben into Olga,

then from Olga into Torres?

Do we really want him in our car?

- Okay, will you stop it already?
- What?

He knows I'm kidding.

Oh, yeah.

I know he's kidding.

No one does it better.

But you guys go ahead.

I'm gonna go check on Jimmy.

Check on Jimmy?

What if Arben's, uh, devil
jumps into him?

He might need an exorcist.

Hey, just watch out for Henry
down there, too, Nicky-boy.

[CHUCKLES] Yeah.

Henry. Well, me and Henry
can share an elevator.

Who the hell is Henry?

[NIGHT BIRD HOOTING]

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

I wish Nick would've joined us.

Hope it was nothing I said.

Seriously?

Now you hope?

Mr. I Razz Torres Every Chance I Get?

Whoa. Not me.

- I don't razz anyone.
- Mm.

That is the old Sawyer.

Oh, and this is the new Sawyer?

Might not seem so different
to the untrained eye,

but it's all in fun now.

Jokes and jabs between former rivals

is just how Nick and I roll these days.

I'm not sure that's how Nick sees it.

I hope you're wrong.

I mean, I try to be aware
of how I come across, but...

insecurity sure can fog
your vision sometimes.

You? Insecurity?

Problem is mine gets worse
around the day crew.

Especially with guys like Nick.

All that "A-Team" crap
forces me to say things

to keep him humble.

Oh, he's more humble than he lets on.

Underneath that c*ck exterior

is a much warmer and fuzzier interior.

By the way, Nick never
has to hear any of this.

And if you tell him, I will deny it.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

He means a lot to you, doesn't he?

More than he knows.

Or ever needs to know.

Which means
we both have secrets to keep.

I'm already keeping
way too many secrets.

Mm, there's always room for one more.

Two pinky swears in one day?

[SIGHS]

Do you like hot chocolate?

Yeah.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Yeah. Arben's brain looks an awful lot

like Petty Officer Keogh's.

And, uh...

And you're not even here
right now, are you?

Do you have any aspirin?

- Headache?
- Two, actually.

One that's pounding my head,

and the other one is out
on a stakeout with my partner.

[LAUGHS]: Oh, there it is.

The all too common condition
known in the medical field as...

jealousy.

Oh. No. Not me.

Yeah, jealousy is not a feeling
I've ever experienced.

Which, if true, is precisely why
you don't recognize it.

Okay, Jimmy,

I have zero romantic feelings
for Knight.

No offense.

None taken.

But professional jealousy
can be just as toxic.

I can imagine losing
your partner to another agent,

specifically a rival

like Sawyer, I mean, that's got to hurt.

What does that mean?

"Save the Last Dance for Me."

Okay, what does that mean?

It's a song.

Look, Nick, have you
ever thought how I felt?

All those days and nights,
here and at home,

while the woman I love
is out fighting crime

alongside an amazing special agent?

But she always came back to me.

I always got the last dance, you know?

Till I didn't.

When you broke up?

Yeah. It happens.

Well...

which makes my headache worse.

Nick, take three of these,
call me in the morning.

[GROANS] It's already morning.

I'm saying go home, Nick.

You've had a long day, long night.

All right. Yeah.

Long night.

Thank you.

Yeah.

[BUTTON CLICKS]

- [SIGHS]
- [ELEVATOR BELL CHIMES]

♪

[BUTTON CLICKS]

- [CLATTERING]
- [CATS YOWLING]

What's your 20, partner?

Something doesn't feel right.

♪ ♪

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

Much as I hate to admit it,

stakeouts give me the willies, too.

KNIGHT: Uh, who's this?

Is that...

Torres?

The hell? Nick?

- Hey! Torres!
- Whoa.

- Get away from her.
- Nick, what are you doing?

TORRES: Don't touch her!

- Get away!
- KNIGHT: Nick!

- Whoa!
- [KNIGHT SCREAMS]

[GRUNTING]

- Torres, no!
- SAWYER: Whoa!

- KNIGHT: Stop!
- What the hell, Nick? Stop!

KNIGHT: Torres!

[GRUNTING]

[TIRES SQUEAL]

Whoa!

[TIRES SQUEALING]

[GRUNTING]

Torres, stop!

Get away from her!

[GRUNTING]

[GROANS]

- [YELLS]
- [GROANS]

[GRUNTING]

No!

Do it, Jess! You gotta!

- Sorry, Nick.
- [GRUNTING]

[SIGHS] Sweet dreams.

What the hell was that?

I have no idea.

I was kidding about
all that devil stuff, but...

that was nuts.

[MEDICAL MONITOR BEEPING]

♪ ♪

JIMMY: So, Nick's brain scan
shows mild levels of cerebral trauma.

Oh, seemed anything but mild.

Well, anything less mild,
and he'd be down in my lab

instead of up here in Kasie's,

mainlining electrolytes
and anti-inflammatories.

Uh, thinking outside the box, Jimmy,

what could we be looking at here?

Uh, a virus? Parasite?

Well, now that I have
Nick's live brain scan

to compare to our other victims,

I'm gonna go way outside the box
and say...

acoustical sound waves.

I'm sorry, what?

Well, this damage

was done by extreme frequencies
of sound.

A sonic boom?

In this case, it's more like a whisper.

So, the human brain
starts hearing at 20 hertz.

But 19 hertz is known
as the fear frequency.

It'll do some serious damage.

You mean like Havana syndrome.

Yes, like a severe case of that.

What's Havana syndrome?

Experts believe that barely audible,

low-frequency sound waves

were aimed
at American diplomats in Cuba,

causing severe headaches, hallucinations

and a few violent meltdowns.

But none of those diplomats
died, did they?

JIMMY: No, but with direct
exposure to whatever LRAD

fired those sound waves,
they sure could've.

LRAD. That's a long-range, uh...

- Acoustical device.
- Mm.

Yeah, it's a little sci-fi
but very real weapon.

Like the top secret one that
was stolen from Keogh's base?

Could've taken out our petty officer,

our Albanian gangster...

And Olga.

Meaning if Nick hadn't stepped
aside before she went down...

All right, I need to tell McGee.

He's waking up.

No nose-brain for you, buddy.

Which one of you took me out?

- [GRUNTS]
- Oh, okay, good.

Do you have any memory, Nick?

Any idea what caused you to...

behave this way?

I started seeing things,
like a... like a big monster.

On your car.

SAWYER: What a guy.

[CHUCKLES] Even with a scrambled brain,

he's still trying
to protect his partners.

[ELEVATOR BELL CHIMES]

Okay. Keogh's base now admits
that it was a long-range

acoustic device prototype
that was stolen.

- Kasie called it.
- Yeah.

And, uh, they are still not
sending us photos because...

- Yeah. Top secret. Got it.
- Right.

Now, it may look something
like these LRADs

currently used by military
and law enforcement.

It's used mostly for
communications and crowd control.

In the case of their,
uh, precious prototype,

melting brains.

It's a miracle that Nick
didn't end up like Olga.

Knight thinks that he turned
away at just the right time.

Do we know exactly what time that was?



Well, because LRADs can penetrate walls.

And if we know
exactly what time Olga was hit,

any cameras outside that matcha shop

should be able to tell us who used it.

You're a genius, McGee.

You know what,
I don't care what Sawyer says...

we're cool, too.

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS]

Sawyer's Caf-POW wore off.

It's not his Caf-POW.

It's Abby's.

You scared me, partner.

I'm sorry, I don't know which
partner you were talking to.

Ah.

I knew it.

I knew something was up with you.

Something like, uh...

getting my brain scrambled?

I meant before that.

All that "you and your new BFF" stuff.

That wasn't a mistake. You meant that.

What if I did?

Was I wrong?

Mm.

If I didn't know any better,
you know what I think you are?

Don't say it.

- Oh, I'm-a say it.
- Don't say it.

- Starts with a "J."
- No.

- Ends with a "S."
- Stop it.

- S-S-S-S.
- [GROANS] La-la-la-la!

- La-la-la-la-la!
- Will you two shut up?

[CHUCKLING]

Trying to catch a nap here.

Got a black Impala!

[SAWYER AND KNIGHT GRUNT]

KASIE: ATM footage shows the car

stopped outside Olga's
matcha shop at exactly 3:26 a.m.

KNIGHT: Isn't that the
same car that peeled away

from our stakeout?

Uh, hard to tell.

I was busy trying not to get run over.

[TORRES CHUCKLES]

TORRES: The windows are too dark

to see the driver or, uh, his weapon.

He's leaving. Let me switch cameras.

Okay, driving under a streetlight.

And...

Don't we know that guy?

I couldn't wait for you last night.

I think the feds are onto me.

[KNOCKING]

I'll call you back.

Uh, hey! Um...

I need to get my key!

Stay there!

I'm coming!

No, Dave.

You're going.

Let me see your hands.

That was you guys at the warehouse?

Yes.

It was me in Olga's place when
you fired that thing at her.

You?

- I swear I had no idea.
- Turn around.

[GRUNTING]

[EXHALES]

Nice.

You deserved it.

[SAWYER SIGHS]

Wow, that's it?

So that's all it is, huh?

TORRES: Yeah, that's what we said.

Mm. Looks about as scary
as my MP3 player.

Which makes it even more dangerous.

So Hairy Dave
and his Albanian gangster buddy

blackmailed Petty Officer Keogh
to steal this thing.

And then they used this to k*ll
Keogh to keep him from talking.

TORRES: Hairy Dave
k*lled his partner with it

to keep all the money for himself.

It's a good thing
we got to Dave when we did.

The buyer on the phone had
a Moscow area code.

Oh. Of course. The Russians.

Attention, Special Agents,
I am happy to announce

that the stolen LRAD
is safely back at base.

And, hey, seriously,

I couldn't have done it
without the A-Team here.

Damn right.

Then again, I could.

But it wouldn't have been as much fun.

Well, I'm glad you had fun.

I'm just glad you're okay
and my ex-nemesis

can go back to competing
with me like brothers.

- TORRES: All right, all right.
- Uh, what about the sisters?

SAWYER: Uh, sisters, too.

Though I don't think my ego
could handle losing to a girl.

Just like Henry... all boo, no bite.

Who is this Henry?

You guys believe in ghosts?

PARKER: Uh...

I'm definitely the wrong guy to ask.

But, look, why don't you three
go home and get some sleep.

Sleep? Yes.

- Where are you going?
- SAWYER: I'm gonna hit

that comfy recliner in Kasie's lab

before my night shift starts again.

Ciao, babies.

- TORRES: Just leave.
- MCGEE: See you, Sawyer.

KNIGHT: Ciao.

Well, good night.

Yeah. It was.

I prefer the day.

Hundred percent.

- Hey, Knight.
- How are you still standing?

I don't know. But I wanted
to talk to you about this, uh...

- J-word thing.
- Oh.

Nick, it's not a thing
unless you make it a thing.

I mean, jealousy is a natural
response for mere mortals.

- [BUTTON CLICKS]
- [ELEVATOR STOPS]

Okay, I admit it.

Watching you and Sawyer
bust chops and...

wrestling around on the floor
like, uh...

like a couple of bros, well, you know...

But why is it two men can do that

and they're considered bros,
but now a man and a woman do it,

now it's something else?

It's not. I know. It makes no sense.

I know. I know.

Look, here's what makes sense.

To me, at least.

When you were dating my sister,

what I felt was jealousy

was actually a fear that Robin
would somehow cost me...

...you.

My valued friend and partner.

I don't want anyone, Jess...

...or anything to cost me this.

Whether it's Sawyer,
NCIS or an Elite gig,

which, by the way, you deserve.

Had nothing to do with me.
I'm very happy for you.

I know you are.

So... go ahead.

Like, you want to practice
jiujitsu with Sawyer,

- do it.
- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

Just, uh... just don't forget
who really has your six.

And maybe save the last dance
for that guy.

Okay.

Deal?

- Oh, what is with all the pinky swears?
- Hey.

If there was ever a time,
this would be it.

[CHUCKLES]

Deal.

[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]

Good night, Henry.

[BUTTON CLICKS]

Ciao, baby.