Trama

The death of a Marine veteran gets the attention of Gibbs, Fornell, and the gang. Damon reappears, then he and Ziva pose as truckers.

McGee drives Gibbs home (because of Gibbs's wounded shoulder), then inside his pad he finds an intruder, one whom he knows, Damon, who tells him about the death of a fellow Marine. Gibbs calls McGee, who returns and picks up Gibbs and Damon, then they find the body (with a slit throat), and McGee calls the Metro PD. Damon tells about the involvement of the victim with a suspicious trucking operation. They pick up Fornell and meet Tony, Ziva, and Ducky at the scene. Gibbs agrees for Damon to infiltrate the trucking firm; Damon and Ziva pose as truckers, and they start a trip; Gibbs and Fornell tail in Gibbs's car, and Tony and McGee try to do so in a van. Along the way the gang put the pieces together. Gibbs and Fornell meet a man who provides answers, then they rendezvous with not only Damon and Ziva but also two of the bad guys. Later, back in the evidence garage, Gibbs and Fornell pinch the third bad guy. Damon heads out to meet the widow.—DocRushing

Previously on NCIS... the team tracks down Corporal Werth, the perfect Marine in every sense, until he attacks the team because he's been pumped full of drugs to make him that way.

Cut to Werth waking up in a Dumpster with a guy named Heatherton following what we gather was quite a party. He turns his buddy over to find his throat is slit.

McGee brings Gibbs home and waits on him a little too attentively. He opens Gibbs' fridge and announces that there's only fish food inside, which Gibbs seems to find odd. Then McGee finally gets the hint and leaves. Gibbs grabs his gun as soon as he's alone and addresses the person he seems to know is there. "I know my fish didn't eat a T-bone," he says.

Werth steps out of the shadows. (roll credits)

Gibbs isn't happy to see him, but Werth tells him he's clean and needs his help. He tells him a friend of his is doing questionable work for a trucking company. He shows Gibbs a picture of his friend Heatherton and tells Gibbs he had something to tell him about his last job. Werth swears he only had a few beers.

Gibbs calls McGee back.

Gibbs and McGee go to the scene and McGee points out they don't exactly have jurisdiction, but they can wrangle it. Gibbs tells McGee to get DiNozzo and Ziva out of bed and McGee fumbles, thinking he meant they were in the same bed. Or, are they?

Werth tells Gibbs that Heatherton was doing serious long distance trucking, but said he messed up and something about "being a human first."

Werth says he was considering joining the operation and went to see the boss, a guy named Szwed, at his warehouse office. We see Werth arriving at the warehouse and they're not happy Heatherton isn't with him.

The boss says it's a two man job.

Werth tells Gibbs the boss' bodyguard Lucas carries a jack knife. He thinks they killed him. Werth wants to report for work like they asked.

The next day, Gibbs arrives on FBI Agent Tobias Fornell's doorstep, coffee in hand, to tell him they're taking his crime scene.

McGee waits in the car with Werth then take Gibbs and Fornell to the crime scene.

Tony arrives, sore and aching from sleeping in his massage chair. Duckie says the victim's throat was slit and he died quickly.

At the office, Fornell says Szwed always uses two drivers and one is always armed. He couldn't find any employment records for Heatherton. They don't know what he's moving or to where.

Werth wants to go on the investigation, but Gibbs keeps him in check, wanting to make sure he really is clean.

Gibbs and Fornell get in the conference elevator and Fornell asks what the deal is with Werth. Gibbs admits he gave him a medal of his and Fornell senses Gibbs' soft spot for him. They visit the morgue, bickering like old marrieds. Duckie tells them Heatherton's fingers were broken, like he was tortured.

Tony and Ziva watch McGee cat nap at his desk. He wakes up and Tony reports Szwed got speeding tickets recently in Texas and New Mexico. He wants to know who the confidential witness is, but McGee isn't telling.

Then Werth comes out holding a cup of his pee.

Gibbs and Fornell join them with the news Szwed is a trafficker. They want to put someone on the truck.

Abby works in her lab and wakes McGee up from his cat nap. He's exhausted from trying to help Gibbs, as payback for Gibbs saving his life by pushing him out of the way of a speeding car a few weeks back.

Abby gives Gibbs Werth's tox screen. He was roofied.

Tony whines about having to clean out the van as Werth asks about her NCIS track. Tony is suspicious of Werth. Gibbs wants to get Werth in first, then wire him.

McGee has surveillance photos of Szwed's operation and Fornell tells Werth to observe only. Ziva goes with him.

The bodyguard Lucas greets them.

Tony and McGee listen in the truck, where McGee loads up on coffee. Tony listens to the wire and is angry all over again at Werth dislocating his nose two years ago. They wonder why Gibbs feels responsible for Werth.

Inside, Lucas examines their weapons and takes their cell phones for the trip.

Back at Gibbs', he and Fornell pack up. Tony calls to tell them the truck is arriving.

Inside, Ziva asks questions of Szwed, wanting to know what's in the truck. He opens it and shows them crates of watermellons. Lucas tells them to empty the truck.

They don't think it's a trafficking job at all, it's a hjacking, and they're the hijackers.

They prepare the truck, stripping all identifying markers. Szwed heads out in his red Ferrari, followed by the truck. McGee sees Werth tapping the breaks and realizes it's Morse Code, spelling out "fuel." Meanwhile, McGee's two coffees are kicking in and he's getting some serious twitches.

Tony calls Gibbs with the truck stop location. He and Fornell pull in bickering and Fornell chats with Werth. Lucas interferes. Ziva heads inside to pay for the gas with cash and passes Gibbs, getting something from him.

Fornell reports back to Gibbs that Werth was very convincing. Gibbs finally tells him about his previous "small bout of steroid-induced psychosis."

In the truck, Ziva and Werth put in the ear pieces Gibbs handed off. They check in with McGee.

Back in the truck, Ziva reassures Werth that he can get his life back together.

They think they're hijacking a truck with assorted machinery from someone named David Devoisier.

Fornell and Gibbs meet with him. He guesses it's Szwed who's trying to steal from him. The cargo is Szwed's, he explains, but Szwed lost it to him in a bet.

Devoisier shows them around his vintage cars and explains that he and Szwed raced their best cars in a cross country road race for pink slips. He said there were support teams trailing with tires and parts. Devoisier recognizes Heatherton as Szwed's guy in the truck. They learn Heatherton was nowhere to be found when Szwed's car broke down and Szwed was angry.

McGee looks into Devoisier, who also had speeding tickets across the country. Szwed was driving a Maybach, worth about $250,000 and Devoisier was driving a Plymouth Mayberry Barracuda convertible.

Szwed orders Werth to block the road with the truck.

Ziva asks McGee what the plan is and as he's saying he doesn't know, they blow a tire.

Werth pulls out to block Devoissier's truck as ordered. The driver waits until the last minute to break, sliding down the road toward them and Werth watches in awe as Ziva remains calm.

Lucas and Szwed open up the back of the truck and are greeted by Gibbs and Fornell, guns drawn.

Devoisier gets his cars back. The convertible, he tells Abby, is worth $1.2 million. There were only 18 made in 1971.

Devoisier brags that it's in mint condition, but Fornell pulls out a magnet for show and tell. It sticks to metal, but not an area that was repaired. They tell Devoisier they checked his route for accidents and found a hit and run of an 18 year old girl in Oklahoma. Heatherton brought her in and stayed with her until she died. Devoisier couldn't bring himself to get rid of his car, so he killed Heatheron instead. Abby tells Devoisier she expects to find blood and hair on it when she starts taking it apart piece by piece.

Back at the office, Werth prepares to break the bad news to Heatherton's wife. Ziva coaches him to tell her he died being a good man. Werth kisses Ziva good bye on the cheek and Tony offers to call people and help Werth find work.

when he leaves, Tony grills Ziva for flirting with Werth. She smiles coyly and doesn't answer.