During a training mission, a U.S Navy SEAL Lieutenant falls to his death, prompting the NCIS team to be called out to investigate. What's originally assumed to be an accidental death due to a rope malfunction soon turns out to be a possible murder case when Abby finds that the link attaching the victim to his rappelling rope was actually composed of a weaker material than the original factory standard issue. The team are pressured by the CIA and one of its agents to wrap up the investigation within thirty-eight hours or a highly classified hostage rescue mission will be scrubbed. Gibbs soon discovers that the victim had a secret and suspects that the victim's wife is hiding something..