"This looks like a lecture. It's giving me college flashbacks. Doesn't this remind you of college?"

McGee clutches the edge of the table for dear life, a panicked expression crossing his facial features almost instinctively.

"Not in the slightest." Tony adjusts his suit.

My legs prop up on the edge of the table, tilting back in the chair. "You'd have to go to a lecture to know what it's like."

"Not all of us were geeks."

"And not all of us were jocks."

He throws an arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer towards him, just as Gibbs enters the evidence locker.

"Hey, boss. McGee thinks we're going to get a lecture."

"You just might if you don't pay attention."

Using the expo marker, Gibbs jots down the word "Domino" in big, bold letters.

"Codename Domino. Domino is the top secret military contingency plan, which specifically details, uh. . .which specifically details. . ."

"Think the freshman's having a senior moment, boss."

"It specifically details how the U.S. would respond to a terrorist attack on a target of interest in Israel or the Middle East."

"It's also what Langer hacked from our system."

"Gold star." Gibbs passes out thick files to each of us. "McGee, study up."

McGee releases a shaky breath. "I'm up. I'm up, boss. I just froze for a second."

And so he begins.

"Electronic files like Domino need to be accessible by multiple sources — the President, Joint Chiefs — yet they need to be secure."

"S.E.C.N.A.V. wants to prevent another breach."

"Well, the only way to ensure that would be off-network. Stand-alone system is hardwired directly to the White House and the Pentagon."

"Like this one here."

Gibbs flips over the whiteboard to reveal schematics of the said system.

"A labyrinth of security measures surrounds the Central Access Hub —"

"Housing Domino. Can't be hacked because it's closed circuit."

"So you're saying the file can't be stolen."

"Well, we're going to steal it."

Four looks of confusion flash back to him.

"It's a test."

Ziva snaps her fingers in realization. "Breach the facility. Enter the central hub. Retrieve Domino. Extract without leaving a trace."

"Boss, it's an impossible mission." McGee the pessimist argues.

"Our leak, our responsibility." Gibbs shakes his head. "Use any resource. Don't let out specifics. I want to hear a plan."

"You're saying no one else knows about this?"

"The guards manning this facility, they don't even know there's a test coming."

An entire day passes by of us brainstorming and coming up with ideas to infiltrate the facility, but we figure it out.

"Get in. Get the intel. Get out."

- - - - - - - - - -

"You read me, Snowman?"

"Sit tight, Bandit."

"Okay, the electronic passcode is. . .seven, five, three, zero, nine."

"Copy that, Frog. Seven, five, three, zero, nine."

"Start the loop now. Mirroring the cameras. The guards will be watching a refeed."

"Perfect."

"Guards have entered the secondary hallway. Interior hallway clear."

"Green light."

And with those two words, Tony and I run into the building with McGee and Gibbs to guide us from behind the scenes.

"Alright, there's a patrol coming through. Take the first door on your right. Fifteen-second window, go."

Within the confined closet, the two of us are pressed against each other until the guard crosses into the next window.

"Is that —"

"It's my knee."

"You are clear."

Exiting the room, we walk in the opposite direction of the patrol and enter a secondary hallway. But the moment the door shuts, an alarm blares.

"Is that a fire alarm?"

"What did you do?"

The two of us look at each other in accusation, only to realize we've said the same thing.

"What do you mean what did I do?"

I growl in frustration, similar to him.

"Stop repeating everything I say!"

"Run! It's the security alarm. Run!"

"They spotted us."

"Something's wrong."

But when we enter a corridor, our comms cut. We're left on our own in one of the most guarded facilities in the world.

"On the ground!"

Two men each aim a gun in our direction.

Before I know it, however, Tony and I fight the men with everything we've got.

Bang!

Tony slides down the wall onto the floor, and the only thing keeping me going is beating each and every one of those men to the ground.

Until one of them knocks me out cold.

- - - - - - - - - -

Click. Click. Click. Click.

The rhythmic sound of something clicking awakens me from the forced slumber the back of a gun put me in.

"Young lady? Can you speak?"

"Where is he?"

"Apologies for the shackles. We were concerned about your state of mind."

"I. . .you're not wrong." Blood seeps between my lips. "Now, where's Tony?"

The Secretary of the Navy slips a hand into his coat pocket. "Remain calm. I promise you and Agent DiNozzo will soon be reunited."

He clasps the end of a cigar.

"Cuban. Prohibited in the States. I trust you won't tell anyone."

An unfamiliar official walks in, Tony not too far behind him. He alerts S.E.C.N.A.V. of Director Vance's arrival before leaving with him.

Not before handing Tony the key to my cuffs.

Tony grunts as he helps me to stand. "Deckard's bullets may not have been real. . .but his gun butt sure was."

"The bullets weren't real?" I slump against his shoulder.

"They knew we were coming. They were in on it, too."

"You can't say too if we didn't fully know what we were getting into."

His hands cup either side of my hips, and I dab away the blood dripping down his chin.

Turns out, Langer wasn't the only mole in N.C.I.S., and the mole's still working with us. Very close with us.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Looks like that last one hurt."

"No, it didn't."

Tony shakes his aching knuckles from punching the elevator buttons one too many times.

"Didn't we get our fill of secret agendas and lying and manipulation during the previous administration?" He reminds me of our undercover work over a year ago.

My eyes roll in response. "Be glad it's not destroying our relationship this time."

"I'd like to go up and give Vance a piece of my mind." Tony furiously paces in the confined space of the elevator. "I'd like to take that toothpick of his and shove it up the S.E.C.N.A.V.'s cigar."

"So you want to go back to being an agent afloat?"

"I like the job. I don't like the politics."

"You didn't answer my question, Tony."

His rage directs towards me next. "We were given a direct order not to engage. I recall that you were the first one to throw a punch at them."

"Years of training, and you expect me to switch it off like a lamp?" I reply aggressively.

"And what happened after? Because the last thing I remember before the lights went out was you kimbo-slicing through a room full of guards. Was that part of your training?" He mocks me.

My voice softens to a hoarse whisper. "There was a gunshot, and you were on the ground. . .sue me for wanting to protect you."

The elevator doors open again, I walk out.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Go."

One by one, Tony, Gibbs, and I corner Agent Lee in the busy pavement near headquarters.

"Who was that for?" Gibbs rubs his fingers over the mark she had left on the newspaper box.

I glance down at my wristwatch. "Clearly a signal."

"We turned the heat on, opened the door." Tony casually grabs a newspaper. "You would've made a run for it if it was just you."

"X directs us to whoever you're conspiring with. Your. . .handler, so to speak." My hands stuff themselves into the pockets of the coat.

Acting naturally, Gibbs embraces Lee and leads her back to the building, me and Tony close behind them.