Gibbs was in his basement once again working on one of his projects when his phone rang. He immediately picked it up and answered it. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Gibbs, it is Ziva. I need your advice. I have found myself in a fickle," Ziva said.
"Pickle, Ziva. What's the problem?" Gibbs asked. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it had to do with McGee and Callen.
Ziva quickly explained the situation, causing Gibbs' face to contort with rage. "That's crap!" he yelled angrily. Like hell McGee would work with terrorists, and he certainly wouldn't betray Callen. In fact, working with terrorists was more plausible than him betraying Callen.
"My sentiments exactly, but it is what my father found. He cannot seem to find anything to prove that someone else has been framing Agent Callen and now him. I tried to convince McGee to delay exonerating Agent Callen, but…"
"But he won't hear of it," Gibbs finished for her. He wasn't surprised. McGee was fiercely loyal to Callen. He would not allow him to stay locked up simply because his head was now on the chopping block.
"Exactly! I do not know what to do, Gibbs. McGee wants me to send the evidence to Vance in order to exonerate Callen, but if I do that, I'm sentencing McGee to death," Ziva said. While Tim had told her he did not intend to go down for this, she wasn't sure how he could avoid it with all the evidence against him.
Gibbs couldn't deny that she was right about that. If McGee was charged with terrorism and not exonerated in time, he would eventually either be executed or shipped off to some other country where he would likely be tortured and killed. However, McGee was too smart to let that happen to him. He was smarter than anyone, including Gibbs, had ever given him credit for. He would not let the slime balls at the CIA get their hands on him. "Do what he told you to do, Ziva."
"What? Gibbs, did you not hear what I just said?" Ziva asked in disbelief.
"I heard you, but this is Tim's play. We have to back it," Gibbs said.
"It is suicide," Ziva said.
"I'm not so sure of that. Maybe it would be for any other agent, but not for him. He's not the same person who walked away from us a year and a half ago. He's thrived in OSP. He's become stronger and smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for. Well, everyone except for Callen and his team. He knows what he's doing," Gibbs assured her.
Ziva sighed at the other end. "I hope you are right about this, Gibbs."
"So do I, Ziva. So do I."
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Nate walked into Tim's hotel room just as he'd finished packing. "I take it you're ready to go."
Tim picked up his bag. "I am if you have everything I need."
Nate handed him a manila envelope. "Passport and travel itinerary are all in there."
Tim chuckled as he took it. "I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get this stuff. So we're clear, right? You know what you're going to do?"
Nate nodded. "Get myself maimed, tortured, and killed by 'betraying' you," Nate said. That's exactly how Sam, Callen, and Kensi would see it too. They would consider his belief that Tim was guilty as a betrayal. And if he really believed it, it would be.
"It's better than being charged as an accessory, isn't it?' Tim asked.
"Honesty, I'm not sure. I kind of think it might be safer to go to prison," Nate said. He was dead serious too. A jail cell was nothing compared to the wrath of the rest of the team. Callen and Sam would crucify him for this, and then Kensi would rip apart what was left of him.
"Okay, you have a good point, but I need you out of prison. You're the only one who will be safe enough to know where I am and what I'm doing. The others will be watched," Tim said.
"Whereas I won't be because why bother watching someone who believes you're guilty," Nate finished for him. He did understand the logic. He just hated that he had to say he thought Tim was guilty. He would hate even without the physical danger he was bound to be in. The idea of saying such things about someone he considered a friend made him sick. "Still, I don't know how much help I'll be to you if I'm dead."
Tim chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous, Nate. They won't kill you. They might torture you a little."
Nate scowled. "Don't even joke about that! Because it's probably true."
Tim continued to grin before getting serious. "I better go. It won't be long now before Vance receives the evidence from Ziva, if he hasn't already. I need to get out of dodge."
Nate nodded and held out his hand. "Be careful."
Tim shook his friend's hand quickly. "Hopefully I'll see you soon, Nate," he said before walking out the door.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Vance was in his office staring at the documentation Eli David had faxed over. He had been looking at it for nearly an hour as if he somehow expected it say something else. No such luck. According to this, McGee was the terrorist, not Callen.
Vance knew that everything he was reading was crap. McGee was no more a terrorist than Callen. McGee being guilty of this didn't even make any logical sense. If he had been the one to frame Callen, why would he work so hard to exonerate him? Though it didn't really matter. No one was going to care about logic. All they were going to see was the evidence that linked McGee to Callen's framing, thus making him the agent to betray his country.
Vance sighed and picked up his phone. He couldn't put it off any longer. He had to make the call to get an order for Callen's release. And McGee's arrest."