NCIS

["MALANGA YARA" BY SOFIA KAIFPLAYING, WITH SINGING IN PASHTO]

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Dr. Laura.

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Hmm?

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Tahir!

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Caught the bad guy hours ago.

Hi.

Usually, we go home after that.

Well, my office has a nicer couch, so...

I thought I'd have a post-bad guy drink.

Would you care to join me?

I'll take that as a yes.

Costa Rica.

Again.

I wasn't kidding the other day.

Mm-hmm.

I'm serious.

I need a change.

I'm ready for sun and sand

and not facing a new murder every single day.

I actually found a place near the beach.

Putting in an offer.

Hello. Is anyone home?

Good. You're still here.

Jack, the Bahrain office needs you in MTAC.

Gibbs, you might as well come along.

A school bus carrying

four ten-year-old girls and their chaperone

was hijacked in Helmand Province yesterday.

Bus driver was shot to death.

The rest presumed kidnapped.

- Taliban. Most likely.

They're not big fans of girls going to school.

Which is why the bus routes are usually kept secret.

Somehow, the Taliban found out about this one.

They staged an ambush.

So, what does this have to do with me?

We believe this was written

by the girls' chaperone before they were all taken.

Who's the chaperone?

It's Darya, Jack.

Somebody want to fill me in on this?

When I was a hostage, uh, in Afghanistan,

Darya was another captive.

A local who they used as a servant.

She brought me food, water.

I wouldn't have made it without her.

When we pulled Jack out,

Darya stayed behind to fight the fight.

All right, we've been told that she began

working with a local non governmental organization,

an aid group helping villages threatened by the Taliban.

Is the NGO looking for her?

For what it's worth, I'm not sure

there's much anyone can do, but...

we just thought you should at least know.

Thank you.

And there sure as hell is plenty we can do.

Leon, I know it's not our jurisdiction...

Jack, slow down.

No, I'm not going to slow down.

When Masahun tortured me, it was Darya

who nursed me back to health.

I'm not just gonna stand by...

Jack, I already arranged for transport.

Oh, okay.

You're damn right we're not gonna stand by.

I was there, too.

You got us jurisdiction.

SECNAV just approved it.

Plane leaves in two hours.

You two got your second COVID shots?

- Got it. - Yes.

All right. Stay safe.

So, Gibbs didn't say anything else?

No, all he texted me was: "You got point."

That's better than what I got from Sloane:

"Make sure Torres feeds Carl."

Who is Carl?

Carl is a fish.

Sloane dropped him off at my place last night.

What's going on?

Gibbs called about midnight.

He said he didn't want to wake you.

So... of course, I thought he was having a stroke.

Or he was being thoughtful.

McGee does have two kids.

You hear yourself?

"Thoughtful."

Skip to the end. Why do I have point?

Because Gibbs and Sloane are heading to Afghanistan.

They're tracking down a school bus of missing girls.

We believe it was the Taliban.

- Oh, that's rough. - Anything we can do to help?

Yes. The NSA picked up an e-mail containing

the exact coordinates of where this bus was ambushed.

Taliban was tipped off.

NSA able to track the recipient?

No, but we got the sender.

And I'm sure he knows where he sent his e-mail to.

Name's Albert Gorsch... lives about an hour outside of D.C.

So, an American sent the girls' location

to the Taliban? Why?

Pick him up and find out?

Be our pleasure.

What's on your mind?

Sloane gave Carl to Torres?

She could be gone for a while. Someone's got to feed him.

Except she's got an automatic fish feeder.

I helped her put it in.

Exactly how dangerous is this situation?

We will be at the village in two hours.

Oh, no, take us to the bus first, please.

No, no, no. Bad idea.

We do not want to be on the road at night.

Taliban.

The bus... first.

The longer we wait, the harder it'll be

to find those missing girls.

Don't look at me.

Wow. That's the most you've said in the last 12 hours.

Don't worry. I know what you're doing.

What am I doing?

You think that if you don't push me

I'll realize on my own that Costa Rica's a mistake

and I'll change my mind.

That what I think?

Yep.

I wasn't the only one not saying much on that plane.

What were you thinking?

I was thinking about Darya.

You know, she was a teacher

before the Taliban kidnapped her.

What'd she do after?

Uh, I don't know anything

except for what that agent told us.

I mean, she used to patch me up

after Masahun would torture me.

I'm sure she meant well,

but they'd torture me all over again, so...

We tried to keep in touch.

E-mail and such, but it got too hard.

You okay being back here again?

Thanks. I'm okay.

I made peace with this place.

That being said, I wouldn't mind

getting the hell out of here as fast as possible.

What does a fish actually do?

You can't pet it, right? You can't play fetch.

Okay, can we stop talking about the fish?

Oh, not a fan?

Not since my mom flushed my goldfish

down the toilet when I was six.

Oh, so Goldie was your first dead body.

No. Wait, how did you know her name?

Because all six-year-olds name their first goldfish Goldie.

Wait, you smell that?

Uh, speaking of dead bodies...

Well, somebody beat us here.

Are we sure this is the right guy?

I mean, look at these posters.

"Save the Amazon." "The ocean."

Doesn't exactly strike me as someone who'd be

working with the Taliban.

I don't know. You tell me.

Does this look familiar?

Yeah. I think those are

the GPS coordinates of the bus route.

Then we got the right guy.

Agents Gibbs, Sloane.

Yes.

I'm Nabi.

- You with the NGO? - Moroor Amen. Yes.

Uh, I helped run the local camp with your friend Darya.

As you can see, all that's left behind is

the children's shoes and, uh, backpacks.

And, of course...

Darya knew that the government

would not have the resources to help.

The, uh, the NGO, Moroor Amen?

That's Arabic for "safe passage."

Is that what you do?

Arrange safe passage for girls who want to go to school?

As well as food, clothing, COVID vaccinations.

But it is difficult.