Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.
A murder near Camp Pendleton leads Gibbs and the team to a suburban mall in San Diego, where Gibbs takes matters into his own hands. Franks receives an unexpected visit.
Still grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, Gibbs helps the team work a case involving a missing girl. Meanwhile, Franks finds himself at odds with a team member, Lala's personal life meets work, and the moment that irrevocably changed Gibbs' life is revealed.
As Leroy Jethro Gibbs prepares for his first Christmas without his wife and daughter, flashbacks reveal the unlikely journey that led to his first day on the job as a special agent at NIS’ Camp Pendleton office working with Mike Franks and Lala.