Sam Hanna came bearing gifts — and not just malasadas — when NCIS‘ latest Case of the Week demanded the former agent’s presence.

Oh, did we say “former” NCIS agent? That’s because that was the first bombshell that got dropped on us before Sam (played by NCIS: LA vet LL Cool J) arrived in the big orange room.

Having witnessing the massacre of his NCIS ELITE team during his NCIS: Hawaii Season 3 crossover, Sam needed “a change of pace” and requested a leave of absence from the agency, we were told.

So what is Sam up to these days? He “chose a far more dangerous battleground” — working in D.C. on the Hill, “defending freedom with a laser pointer.” Meaning, he’s trying to sell obstinate congressmen on military interdictions that, while vitally important, won’t help get anyone elected, seeing as they’re “two-bit squabbles halfway around the world,” as one politico put it. (By episode’s end, that same pissy congressman wound up learning he is in bed with a military contractor guilty of war crimes, at which point Sam then very much had his ear!)