NCIS: Origins

There were three bugs, and it's my fault they got in.

It's a damn disaster. One day,

you're teaching your little boy to play the piano,

and the next, he's vandalizing 26 headstones with his friends.

Wheeler.

Oakley is my guy.

Nobody here contacts him directly, understood?

Melanie found out about something called

"Operation Sundown."

I asked Bugs about it, and he shut down.

The mission comes first.

Operation Sundown? Who killed Melanie?

Was it the man on the phone?

Jamison, we're still family.

You know that, don't you?

Sandman's still out there.

The day your child is born, everything changes.

I'm sure that's true for every parent around the world.

The delivery room nurse told me newborns are nearsighted.

They drink you in.

Everything else blurs into the background.

That's how they first start loving you.

Huh?

My daughter Kelly told me

she loved me every day.

But there was one time she said she hated me.

She was angry because I said it was too cold

to swim in the ocean.

He's a liar. Enough, Jason.

It'll be years before Guns N' Roses

comes back to San Diego,

and Dad promised he'd take me.

That was before you desecrated a cemetery.

We will no longer be going to the concert, obviously.

Dad, you don't understand--

Got to be kidding me.

I'll get it.

Dad, please.

I'll never ask you for anything again.

...told us they arrested Sandman. Right?

Remember when this little guy came out to do a victory lap?

Due to the tireless work of our special agents and staff,

NIS has arrested... Dad, please just hear me out.

...the sniper known as Sandman.

The GNR concert, you swore--

Enough!

You are not going to the damn concert.

You're failing most of your classes,

you just got arrested.

You're an embarrassment.

Mary Jo just called.

She said the regional director wants to see you.

He can't possibly put all the blame

for this on you, can he?

Want to bet? The buck stops with me--

Jason! What is wrong with you?!

Ow!

Oh! Jason! Son of a bitch!

Oh, my God. Oh.

Oh, my--

You need stitches.

Yeah, right.

I'll just call my boss and tell him

I'm going to be late for my ass-reaming

because my son just stabbed me with a fireplace poker.

I'll get you some Band-Aids.

It broke my heart when Kelly said she hated me that day.

I wished I could go back to the way

she looked at me when she was born.

Happiest day of my life.

Oh, Bugs. You dumbass.

You wanted to tell me.

Huh?

Bugs.

He wanted to tell me

who the real Sandman was, but, uh...

I, uh, I couldn't get through to him in time.

Ballistics came back, Mike.

The bullet that killed Bugs was fired from the same gun

that killed Sandman's other victims.

You guys have any luck at the sniper's hide?

Nah, Rando and Dominguez spent hours

at the water supply place, came up empty.

No casings, no nothing.

What's this say?

He's got "post-bully scarring" on his feet?

Post-bullous. But that's Lenora's findings.

She doesn't like it when I butt in.

No, I do not.

What's post-bullous scarring?

That.

Caused by prolonged exposure to crude oil.

At least, that's what he told the prison doctor.

Bugs never mentioned working on an oil rig.

There's nothing in his file.

Maybe it's in the shredded document probie's trying

to Humpty-Dumpty back together.

There's a shredded document?

Before Bugs took one to the dome,

he mentioned an op called "Sundown."

Gibbs thinks it was written on the shredded document

in our basement.

What was Gibbs doing reading shredded documents

in the basement?

Mary Jo, get me Wheeler.

Where the hell is he?

You're looking a little skinny there, Cliff.

Did you lose some weight?

Yes, sir, I've had some, um...

issues, gastro stuff.

Irritable bowel disease, probably.

Could be. My ex-wife had that.

Took a hell of a toll on our sex life.

How's Shelly?

She's great, sir, thank you.

Mm.

I'm not gonna BS you, Cliff.

I brought you in this morning to fire you.

Sir, if I may just--

No. But headquarters won't let me.

See, some sailors got handsy at a conference,

and now the brass is afraid canning you

will lead to more bad PR.

It still doesn't change the fact

that your office is a mess.

The IG's breathing down my neck

over your miles-long list of calamities.

Yes, sir, I hear you,

but we have things buttoned up now.

Buttoned up?

Didn't you just find listening devices

planted all over your office?

: Now the entire city's in a panic

because Sandman's still out there.

I can assure you that Sandman is our top priority.

Well, that brings me absolutely zero solace, Cliff.

The FBI wants back in on this,

and I don't blame them.

: You are gonna run a joint investigation.

And you're gonna make damn sure

that NIS comes out smelling like a lily.

Understood, sir.

Or you will be looking for a new job.

I-I'm excited to get these problems rectified.

Morning, Cliff.

Barrett's secretary called and gave me a heads-up

there was... doings at his office.

Great.

Anything you want me to know about,

or handle or... dispose of?

I didn't whack anybody, Mary Jo, I, uh...

I-I had a thing with a can opener.

Happens to the best of us.

Get me Agent Oakley at the FBI.

And, um, Mary Jo?

Thank you.

You're welcome.

It's vertical.

Vertical.

Here you go. Horizontal.

You don't have to announce it every time, Phil.

Well, people are supposed to shred lengthwise

so it cuts through the words.

Shredding widthwise negates the value of shredding.

Yeah, you mentioned that. Several times.

Don't pester our guest, Phil.

Put a rush on Bugs's bloodwork.

Looks like he had elevated levels of oxidized trace metals,

benzine, his hydrocarbons are off the charts.

No idea what that means.

Of course not.

People who look like you don't need to learn big science words.

It means Bugs was inhaling pollutants

for a prolonged period.

Yeah. And my guess would be smoke from oil fires.

Phil and I have seen this a lot in the Hellfighters

back from Desert Storm.

That's what they used to call the guys who--

Capped the burning oil wells. Yeah, I know.

Bugs didn't serve in Desert Storm.

Ooh, found a good one.

Operation Sundown, a catastrophic mishandling of...

a critical security detail involving a key asset.

Wow. Nicely done, Phil.

And just when I was worried you were dead weight.

There's nine strips. I found seven of them.

It's not a competition. If it was, I'd be winning.

"Boyd, aka Bugs,

had worked closely with a second sniper."

You think that's the guy we're looking for?

All right, I don't have much time.

Let's get to it.

Hey, Dalton "Basement."

Uh, Lala sent me over.

She's been going around questioning everybody

about shredded documents.

And since I am the number one office shredder,

she wants me to weed out my own papers.

So it's you we have to blame for all this?