Original subtitles

All things considered, darling,

you've been treated pretty well.

I think you'll grant me that.

So why push your luck? Just tell me what I wanna hear.

You've already figured out what the alternative is.

- I just... - What's that, darling?

No, I didn't catch it.

Now, come on, girl.

Speak up.

Hey, hey, hey!

Chain her to the floor!

On your knees. Hands behind your head.

I need your help, Callen.

Yeah, 243 Lawson Avenue in Hancock Park.

Stay on them until I contact you.

Can you have Eric do a background check?

Got it. Be careful.

- I know, I will. Thanks, Kens. - Of course.

Shirt's yours. I'm guessing the jeans belong to Anna Kolcheck.

Kensi and Deeks are keeping an eye on your family.

Need to call my husband, tell him to get my son ready.

- They're not making contact. - No, I told you, they're in danger.

- That's not good enough. - It's gonna have to be, Joe.

Only reason I'm doing this is because there's a kid involved.

I seem to remember you've got a lot of friends at the CIA.

They've disavowed all knowledge of me.

- You mean they fired you? - No, I quit.

Believe it or not, I was not privy to everything the CIA group was doing.

After I learned the extent of their activities, after they turned me on you...

You don't have to believe me.

But you're the only one I can trust now, SO...

Do you have food? I haven't eaten in 48 hours.

Sorry, I'm, uh, all out of Nutella.

I also noticed you got rid of the table.

Just so we're clear,

I don't believe you, not a word.

I'll get you to your family.

Whatever trouble you're in, it's got nothing to do with me.

That's where you're wrong, Callen. It has to do with national security.

After a couple months out of the CIA, I let my guard down.

It didn't happen right away. I fell into a routine.

Hard not to when you have a kid to drop off at school every day.

That's when they got me.

After dropping him off, they got me at a stop sign, threw me into a van.

What intersection?

Gifford and Palm.

What about your car? If you left it, somebody might've reported it.

I think someone jumped in and drove it away, but I'm not sure.

- Did you get a look at their faces? - No.

They put a hood on me right away. Never took it off.

- Accents? - American.

Maybe from the South.

But I only ever heard one of them speak.

Based on his questions,

I would say he worked for a foreign intelligence agency.

Chinese, Russian, ISI. They wanted intel.

Including Naval Intelligence.

I admit, I gave them what I had, but it was all at least six months out of date.

It was just a matter of time before they realized it was useless.

I didn't think there was a chance they would let me go, so I escaped.

How?

You're not gonna believe me.

That's a given.

I gouged out my guard's eye with my interrogator's collar stay.

Stole another guard's gun, shot the others.

Did you check the collar on that shirt?

Not that you believe me.

- Where did they hold you? - Warehouse district.

I can direct you there, but it's pointless. They'll be out looking for me.

The first place they will go is my house.

I need to see my family.

Agent Wilson, please take her in the interrogation room.

What do you think?

Former CIA, falls into a routine.

History of corruptibility.

Seems like the perfect target.

Maybe too perfect.

What about you, assistant director?

You don't admit to violating the Espionage Act

unless you fear something worse.

Callen, as much as I wish you would've booted your ex

out the door the minute she arrived, this is a threat we can't ignore.

- Assistant director. - What is it?

We checked for a camera where Joelle was taken.

Claims that she was taken.

Well, it may be more than a claim. This was from two days ago.

- Good operatives avoid cameras. - This could have been staged.

Agreed. But if a foreign intelligence agency is actively seeking

classified Naval Intelligence, we have to investigate.

She fooled you once, boys. Don't let it happen again.

Thank you for the clothes.

And tell Anna thank you too.

From what I've read, she's quite the woman.

Bring her up again, we're done here.

Sorry.

- We need to talk about your husband. - Nick?

Is he real?

Is he just the perfect cover for you?

Who says he can't be both?

Can you tell?

Then let's go.

Hold on. You've been gone for 48 hours.

- What does he think you're doing? - Don't worry about it.

He's used to me leaving at a moment's notice.

He knows about the CIA?

He knows enough not to ask too many questions.

Marriage requires trust, Callen. Nick trusts me.

- End of story. - Trusts you?

- I almost feel sorry for him. - No, don't be.

Why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself?

You're not upset because I betrayed you,

you're upset because you didn't figure it out.

Neither of us is innocent. My family is. That's who we need to worry about.

Agent Wilson, put her in the car for me.

Hidoko followed Joelle's directions.

She thinks she found where she was being held.

That could be a trap. You should go with Hidoko.

Maybe you should.

Okay.

Keep Joelle contained until we can verify her claim.

- No movement yet. - Interesting.

I'll see you in a bit.

- Callen and Joelle are on their way. - Listen to this.

The spider can be interpreted symbolically

as either negative or positive.

It most often represents the feminine power to entrap or to dominate.

Seriously, Deeks. Enough.

Such as an overbearing mother figure.

How has Julia been? Has she been on your case about wedding plans?

- What wedding plans? - Exactly. Did she say that?

My mom has been great.

It was a dream. It didn't mean anything.

Let's forget I said anything.

You dream you're getting married to Jack.

And when he puts the ring on your finger, it turns into a spider.

Ha, ha, you don't think that means anything?

I think it was random electrical impulses firing in my brain.

This website says if you're dreaming about your ex,

you're dreaming about your current relationship.

That would mean that Jack was me and I gave you a spider

which is an overbearing mother, my mother.

Oh, my God, I gave you my mother.

- Heh, heh. Wow, that's awkward. - Why is it awkward?

Because I kind of sort of squished the spider.

- You squished my mom? - The spider.

- You squished my mom. - I didn't.

- You squished Bertie. - I love your mom.

- Let's just drop it. - I'm gonna drop it. I'm sorry.

- Thank you. - Just breathe. Breathe with me.

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention, my mom put together another...

Another binder of flower arrangements she wants to go over.

Are you kidding me? That's like five...

- Oh, wait. You're messing with me. - Ha, ha, ha...

- You're not funny. - It's pretty funny.

I'm sure I saw those random electrical pulses shooting out of your ears.

You're literally the worst.

Speaking of female entrapment, here comes the black widow.

All right, buddy, you got your homework?

- Yup. - Okay, let's see.

Two legs, two eyes, two ears. Show me a muscle.

- Nice, you're all set, buddy. - Cool.

Mom.

My little peanut. Oh, I missed you so much.

- We missed you. - Hey.

- Callen. We've met before. - Right.

You work with Beth? In the neighborhood again?

Nick, not now.

This is Agent Kensi Blye, Detective Marty Deeks.

You and Peter need to go with them. You'll need his booster seat.

Of course.

- Beth, what's going on? - I'll explain later.

- Will you? - It's fine, okay?

You have to trust me.

Okay.

Mom, I wanna go to school. There's a field trip to the zoo.

Oh, honey. We'll go another day.

You get to go on a field trip with Daddy.

- Yeah. - Are you coming too?

I'll join you as soon as I can. I promise.

Okay.

It'll be okay.

- Kensi, Deeks. - Yeah, got them.

- You good? - Yeah.

We're not staying here.

Callen, it's safe.

Cameras everywhere, state-of-the-art security system, several panic rooms.

Sounds charming, but I'm not giving you home-field advantage.

Besides, I have a safer place.

Safer? You're joking.

It also doubles as a panic room, but only when it's sinking.

- How many people know about this? - Just my team.

This is the last place anyone would think to look for you.

This is where Joelle said she was held.

According to Eric, it's owned by a defunct Chinese real estate firm.

- Everything okay? - Yeah, I'm waiting to hear from G.

You said you weren't worried about him.

I'm not. I'm worried about my boat.

- I've put a lot of work into it. - You don't trust Callen and Joelle?

I don't trust much when it comes to her.

With all due respect, why are we going along with this?

I read the reports. Joelle played you, Callen and Hetty.

No one's done that. Who's to say she's not trying to playing us again?

She might be. If Joelle is telling the truth, we have an obligation.

The oath we took.

What if Joelle's taking advantage of that?

What if she's counting on us coming here?

I've considered that too.

It still doesn't change the fact we have to go in there.

Clear.

Clear.

- Hidoko. - In here.

They cleared out fast. Didn't even clean up.

I saw blood droplets, sink down the hall.

This room matches Joelle's description of where she was held.

So far, everything seems to verify her story.

We're on camera.

A steel door. There's no way we're busting through that.

Okay, but I don't see any other way out.

There shouldn't be anything on the other side of this wall.

- Tear the padding off! - Okay.

Pull the pads down.

Hidoko, over here. Unh!

Sam!

- You okay? - Yeah, you?

Yeah.

Now I'm really worried about my boat.

Fire department found a cell phone detonator.

They think it ignited a flammable liquid. It was a kill room.

I found this router. Might have been connected to the camera.

If we can recover data, it might tell us who was watching or where they were.

Get this over to Eric. Seen him tackle much worse.

Already gave him a heads up. He discovered that the Chinese firm

is a subsidiary to a shell company.

So, basically, we don't know who we're dealing with.

Hey, Sam.

I wanted to say thank you.

If you hadn't found that exit, we would both be dead.

You think that was Joelle's plan?

I'm not so sure. There's a lot easier, less elaborate ways to kill someone.

You don't think she's playing us?

Well, we need to get more information first.

Like you said, we don't know who we're dealing with.

Oh, yeah.

I'll be sure to ask her.

Was that about Nick and Peter? Are they okay?

Oh, they're fine.

Sam narrowly escaped a fire at your warehouse.

- A fire? What do you mean? - He was done clearing the place

when the room he was in caught on fire.

That must have been meant for me when they were done.

- Did he see the bodies? - I mean, I gotta hand it to you.

When you commit to a story, you really commit.

- You think I set this up? - Let's say it's not looking good.

Callen, don't you get it?

You're so worried about me deceiving you again,

you can't see when you're deceiving yourself.

I didn't try to kill Sam. There must be another explanation.

Or the simplest one, you're lying.

This was a mistake.

I don't know why I ever thought you'd help me.

If you leave this boat, your family goes back home.

You do know that.

And they call him white chocolate.

White chocolate gets the rock, he's from outside. Three, two, one, cash.

- Ready from the canoe. - They're having fun.

He's never made it from the canoe before. One more.

- He's a good kid. - Which one of them?

- Smart too. - All right, time out.

Knows when something's wrong.

We'll have you guys back to your normal lives.

Normal.

I don't think that's ever applied to us. Beth makes sure of that.

She never shared the details of her work with me, of course.

But after a while, she stopped sharing anything else.

You know, her thoughts, her feelings.

Things haven't been right in our marriage.

Was that why you had the affair?

Sorry. I's just we have to investigate

every avenue a threat could come from.

We looked into your bank statements, your phone records, and we found...

- Sarah. - Sarah. Yeah.

She worked at my office. She's not a threat.

I understand, but we have to be thorough.

Good. Then you know I ended it and I told Beth everything.

You know what she said when I told her?

- No. - That she knew.

She knew the entire time and she... She didn't stop it.

You know, it always killed me when she slept with other men

but the difference is, is that was her job.

I couldn't do anything about that.

But she...

She could've stopped me.

You know? She could have...

She could have at least tried and she didn't.

You know, we were never a normal family.

But now I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't all just based on a lie.

I'll get this router to Eric.

So, what do you think, Agent Hanna?

It's nice.

Nice? That's it?

I guess we can say goodbye to Hetty's open-door policy.

Did you ever consider how Hetty's door was always open

but she always kept secrets?

She gave you the illusion of access, but it was never really granted.

Here, it's the opposite.

All I ask is that you knock.

That's good to know.

Now, tell me why I shouldn't pull Callen from the case.

No one distrusts Joelle more than he does.

And no one was hurt as much as he was.

Are his emotions gonna be a problem?

Wouldn't call him emotional. Just cautious.

But that can change if he catches her in another lie.

I don't like operating with this level of uncertainty.

I read your report on Joelle, and there's a lot here.

But when you get down to it, we know next to nothing about this woman.

- Is that Callen? - Sabatino.

- He's a CIA officer who... - I... I know.

I read your reports.

What does he say?

I contacted him to cross-check Joelle's story,

the one about her leaving the CIA.

He says she's still active.

I guess I'm gonna get the answer to my question.

You said you hadn't eaten in 48 hours.

I'm not really a veggie-dog girl.

Take it up with Sam.

- That's all he had. - It's fine.

Lost my appetite, anyway.

Beth or Joelle?

Which one were you born with, Beth or Joelle?

Neither. When I joined the CIA, they scrubbed my original identity.

Completely?

That's rare.

My background wasn't useful to them. Better to create a whole new identity.

Or two.

- So you haven't been yourself for... - Almost 20 years.

Well, we have time.

I'd like to hear about her.

Well, your boat is still in one piece, as promised.

What's it like, Joelle, to have no allegiance,

no trust, no loyalty to anyone but yourself?

- Don't know what you're talking about. - You're in the CIA.

That's not true. Not exactly.

- G. - Why did you come to me for help?

Every word that comes out of your mouth's a lie.

Look, I needed your help.

I lied because I didn't think you'd help me if you knew the reason.

That is the only way I'd help you. You're smart enough to know that.

- I was afraid. - Oh, come on, Joe, really?

Are you even capable of fear?

How about love, huh?

Because I know your husband has some doubts about that one.

You want the truth?

It's a little late for that.

The truth is, I wasn't kidnapped by a foreign intelligence agency.

I was kidnapped by the rogue CIA group I used to belong to.

Nice try. We destroyed them. Turn around.

Yeah, not everybody. Not the man behind the curtain.

The wonderful Wizard of Oz.

We find a ruby slipper and you can go home again.

He grabbed me because he wants to rebuild the group.

He made my choice clear, either I join or I die.

- But I'm done. - Your husband doesn't trust you.

- Why should we? - How many times do I have to say it?

I don't need you to trust me! I need you to keep my family safe!

Okay, I believe you.

- Sam? - She's telling the truth.

Next time, save us some trouble, start with it.

"Next time"?

Why do you b...? What changed?

Nothing.

You were very consistent. Everything you did was to protect your family.

So that was all an act?

I don't know that I'd go that far.

- What is it? - It's my house.

They look like your kidnappers.

After Hidoko and I got caught,

they must've figured out NCIS was involved.

They wanted to see who you'd run to.

Your friends at the CIA have been to my house.

- We may not be safe here. - Sorry to bring this to your doorstep.

Technically, it's already past my doorstep. But thanks anyways.

Do we have them?

I sent L.A.P.D. and a few agents to Callen's house

but intruders left before they got there.

I could only track them as far as the freeway. I lost them.

- Where is Joelle now? - She's in the car, driving with Callen.

Moving target is harder to hit.

Okay, this has gone far enough. Call the CIA and put it through to my office.

She is their problem, and never should have been ours.

- Hold off on that for the moment? - Okay.

Save your breath. This is cut and dry, and you know it.

- What about Joelle's family? - That's for the CIA to decide.

As for NCIS, we will not be directing any more resources to this case.

End of discussion. Was that not clear?

If that rogue CIA group is still active, they're a threat to us.

You've read the report.

I have. I think I learned a valuable lesson.

While Hetty's methods were effective, they bred chaos,

and almost destroyed this office.

If this group is still active, we will handle them.

But we're gonna do it my way. Understood?

Understood.

- Come in. - Sorry to interrupt. I... Oh, it's nice.

I've been trying to restore the burnt router, and I got something.

Know where the camera feed was going?

No. Maybe.

It used a VPN and proxy servers to mask the IP.

I was able to pull serial number from metadata.

The router was purchased in a bulk order

from Manticore Mineral Group.

They're an international mining company that's done business

with the Chinese corporation that owns the warehouse.

Putting the CIA aside for a second, we need to investigate the fire.

It did almost kill two NCIS agents.

Okay.

I will authorize the surveillance on the Mineral Group. But tread lightly.

We'll need Joelle. She's the only one that can ID the guy who held her.

- I thought she never saw his face. - She didn't. She heard his voice.

Yes?

I have the deputy director's office on the line.

Tell him I'll call him back.

You have two hours.

Great.

G, we're in position.

We are too. We're getting things set up.

How's the food today?

All out of tacos. All we've had so far are veggie dogs.

What kind of a maniac only has veggie dogs?

The kind that regrets letting you use his boat.

Look, you bought that under an alias,

you move it to a new dock every few days.

- They won't find it. - You think about moving.

If you're offering me a cabin, I have one request, all-beef hot dogs.

Send the comms through our system here.

- You got it, Callen. - I'll be there soon, Nick, I promise.

I love you.

- Hey, thanks for letting me call them. - No problem.

You don't approve.

- I didn't say anything. - You didn't have to.

You don't think I should have a family and this job.

It's your life, Joe.

But it's also theirs.

Right. I suppose you said the same thing to Sam after Michelle was taken?

- Now, that is not... - Not fair?

No, it's not. But he's a man.

It's okay for him to have it all.

I don't care that you have job and family.

What I care about is that you made a mistake, and you're afraid to admit it.

Sabatino told you I was still in the CIA.

Did he happen to mention that I've been placed on leave

pending an investigation?

I did make a mistake, Callen.

And I have no doubt that I will pay for it.

But I was also doing my job, just like you do your job, just like Sam does his.

And I will fight to keep doing my job

just like I will fight to keep my family safe.

Is that too much to ask?

No. It's not.

But at least Michelle knew what the risks were.

Can you say the same thing about Nick?

All right, Callen, we're in position.

We're ready.

3D microphone is hot.

- Same here. - Right, we're all systems go.

Okay. With these 3D mics,

Joelle will hear the voices like she's there in the room with them.

So if someone makes a noise on the left side of the mic,

Joelle will hear it on her left side. She'll even gauge distance.

She should direct Kensi and Deeks to the right voice.

Oh, my God. So cool.

- Wait for me. Whoo! - Ho, ho!

- And weird. - I know, right?

You have to try these headphones. It's an experience like no other.

- You're loud, Eric. - Okay.

You did say it's like being in a room with them.

- Yeah, it is. But it's like... - I've been in rooms before.

We're in a room right now. I don't need the headphones.

Good to see you. Things good?

Things are great.

Yeah, yeah? Good, good, good. Glad to hear it.

Randy?

I like that shirt. Really taking advantage of that casual Friday.

- It's Wednesday. - And how about you, Rudy?

Rudy. Cashmere sweater, V-neck.

- You're rocking it. Looking sharp. - Thanks, man.

- Sorry, I'm new. Are you Bradley? - Larry.

You sure? Larry's supposed to be sick today.

- Clearly, I'm fine. - No, no, it's not him.

- Deeks, move on. - Okay, moving on.

Can I get my mail, please?

Oh, yeah, I got no mail for Bradley.

- I'm not... I just said... - No mail for you!

- These numbers look good. - That guy behind you, get closer.

- Would you like some coffee? - No. Thanks.

- I'm at my daily allotment. - Okay.

Come on over here, darling. I'll take that coffee.

Afternoon, gentlemen. We'll begin in a moment.

Here you go.

- Thank you. - Would you like some sugar?

- No. - That's him, isn't it?

Yeah.

That's Colton Leach, VP of operations at Manticore.

- Any indication he's CIA? - If there is, I'm not seeing any.

Manticore does have interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

That's where the CIA group performed their work.

If we access his home computer and cell phone...

What you are asking for is illegal.

We need more than Joelle's word to move on this guy.

- I understand, but under... - Sorry. Your two hours are up.

I'm calling the CIA.

Incoming. It looks like the same van that kidnapped Joelle.

Hey, we got to get out of here.

We're boxed in.

That's not gonna be easy.

Federal agents! Weapons down!

I can help.

Back up.

Joelle, stay inside! Joe!

- How did they find her? - I don't know.

You'd better figure it out and send them backup.

Kensi, Deeks, Joelle went inside. I think she's going for Leach.

- Sam, I'm going in. - Covering you now.

Mr. Leach, I'm a federal agent. You're in danger.

- Am I now? - You need to come with me.

Thank you for your offer. But I've got my own protection.

- Deeks, coming your way! - Down, down! LAP.D.!

Son of a...

- Is that you or Joelle? - Get to the street.

- Back up Sam and Hidoko. - Callen, wait.

- He's retreating. - Push forward. Watch for traps.

IED!

Looks like I owe you this time. You saved my life.

Yeah, but you went and saved mine again two seconds later.

Give an agent her moment next time.

Easy, girl. Think about it.

You really gonna shoot a wounded, unarmed man?

Joe, wait.

Callen, my family will never be safe.

Oh, darling. You think I'm it?

I'm just one of many. We call it a syndicate in the business world.

You're not CIA?

No. We never were.

We just saw an advantage to owning a piece of the CIA.

They can secure our business interests overseas.

That venture failed, as you recall.

Turns out the CIA isn't so good at securing the Middle East.

- Then what do you want with me? - Oh, we got a better plan this time.

I want you to be a part of it.

The CIA is just gonna toss you aside.

They don't understand that you were born for this, but I do.

Civilian life doesn't suit you.

The husband, the kid, soccer practice?

It's all such a drag.

You know I'm right.

Joe.

Callen.

Eric, get me an ambulance. Joelle's been shot.

It's okay. It's okay, Joelle. Stay with me. Stay with me.

Keep your eyes open, Joe.

Joe, keep your eyes open.

Not Joe.

Jane.

How's Joelle?

Oh, man.

- What about Callen? Where is he? - He's still at the hospital with her body.

Go home. It's been a long day.

Come in.

- I have an update. - Great.

We found an app in the background of Nick's phone.

It traces his calls. Like the one Joelle placed to him from outside Manticore.

So that's how they tracked her down. Who put the program in his phone?

We followed up on the woman Nick was having an affair with.

She didn't show up and she cleared out her apartment.

We believe she was keeping tabs on Joelle through Nick.

And I thought D.C. was full of rats.

Nice work, Harley. Thanks.

Thank you.

They deserve to know the truth.

They deserve to be safe.

My death ensures that.

The truth will come later.

Right.

After you've hunted down the rest of this so-called syndicate.

It'll take me a while to recover.

I could use some help.

I got my own family to take care of.

Thank you, Callen.

For everything.

Wait.

Okay, go.