Sam sat at his desk with a bunch of cold case files. That's what they had been reduced to. Half the team was MIA and they were being watched by the CIA, so they weren't taking any more operations for the time being.

Sam was going out of his mind. His partner was being detained by the CIA and Tim was basically flying without a parachute while trying to save him. Sam felt helpless. He wanted to be able to do something, but he couldn't. All he could do was sit there and pray everything was going alright. He couldn't even call for an update because that would get Tim caught.

Sam's thoughts were interrupted by Eric's voice. "Guy's you gotta get up here now!"

Sam and Kensi both looked up to see Eric leaning over the railing. "Wow, you didn't even whistle," Kensi commented.

"No time. You gotta get up here. Hetty!" Eric yelled.

"Dude, do you have a death wish?" Sam asked. Hetty would not be happy with being hollered at.

As expected, Hetty came out of her office seconds later looking none too pleased. "Mr. Beal, I do not appreciate going summoned in such a way."

"Sorry, Hetty, but this is important. You guys won't believe who's on line," Eric said before rushing back to the Ops. Center.

The rest of the team immediately got up and started climbing the stairs. When they got there, they were all surprised to see Callen on the monitor.

"Hey, guys," Callen said.

"G, you okay? Sam asked as they all got closer to the screen.

"I've had worse days I suppose," Callen said. He'd also had better ones, so that wasn't saying much.

"What did they do to you?" Kensi asked. She noticed the bruises on his face.

"Oh, this. Well, apparently the CIA doesn't like terrorists," Callen said bitterly.

Sam cursed under his breath. He felt the urge to go find the bastards and cave their faces in.

"Look, I'm fine, guys. I was released about an hour ago," Callen said.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Mr. Callen, but I can't help but notice someone missing from this party. Where is Mr. McGee?" Hetty asked. She supposed he could've been outside the room for a perfectly reasonable reason, but something told her otherwise.

Callen sucked in a breath. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kensi asked worriedly.

"He was coming your way, G. He was trying to save you. It was him that got you freed, wasn't it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but unfortunately, it was at his own expense," Callen said. He then explained everything that was explained to him, from Tim implicated in his place to him jumping off the grid.

"That's crap! There is no way in hell that Tim would betray this country!" Kensi said firmly.

"More than that though, he wouldn't betray us. He would never set you up, G," Sam said.

"You don't have to convince me, Sam. I know this is all a load of crap. Kort is setting him up, just like he tried to set me up," Callen said confidently.

"Why though? Why would he do all this?" Kensi asked.

"Because he's a sanctimonious bastard," Callen said angrily.

"Mr. Callen," Hetty chastised. She certainly understood his anger. She was angry too, but right now they needed to keep cool heads. That was the only thing that was going to help Mr. McGee now.

"I guess he was looking for a fall guy. I think he's working with the terrorist group and he set me up to keep himself clean. Then when he realized Tim was involving himself, he decided to give him something to find. He probably thought Tim would back off if he found out he was implicated," Callen explained.

"Then he doesn't know Tim," Kensi said. There was no way Tim would ever even consider leaving Callen to fry if it was in his power to stop it, not even if it meant implicating himself.

Callen nodded his agreement. "Kort's an arrogant bastard. He underestimated Tim. He figured either way, one of us would go down for what he did. He was wrong. Tim was gone before I was even exonerated."

"We'll grab the next flight. We'll be out there as soon as we can," Sam said.

"No," Hetty said. "Mr. Callen is coming home."

"She's right. I have the feeling Vance is going to send me home anyway. He won't want me here to possibly murder Kort. Besides, Tim's long gone by now. It won't matter if we're here or there. I'll be back as soon as I finish up here," Callen said.

"Try not to kill anyone in that time, Mr. Callen," Hetty said.

"I'll do my best," Callen said. The connection was then severed.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Vance was waiting for Callen when he walked out of MTAC. "May I have a word with you, Agent Callen?"

"Of course, Director," Callen said before following him down the hall, through the bullpen, and up the stairs.

Vance allowed Callen to enter his office first before walking inside and closing the door behind him. "I take it your team has been notified of the latest developments."

"Of course. You didn't really expect me not to tell them, did you?" Callen asked.

"Of course not," Vance said before going over to his desk and sitting down behind it. "You should know that I've been following the paper trail for McGee."

Callen frowned. Tim wouldn't leave a paper trail. He was smart enough and skilled enough to disappear without one. "And?"

"I've got reason to believe he's headed for Iran," Vance said.

Callen stared at him for a minute and then chuckled.

Vance did not see the humor in the situation. "Callen, I get that you probably think this is a good thing given that Iran doesn't have an extradition treaty with us, but I think you're failing to see the bigger picture. Not only is Iran a very dangerous place to be, but it's also where the leader of the terrorist group is located. It'll make him look more guilty."

Callen waved off his concerns. "He's not going to Iran. If he were going to Iran, you wouldn't know it. There's no way in hell he'd let you trace where he was going. He knows how to disappear without leaving any trace. He's messing with Kort's head."

"Then where is he going?" Vance asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that there will be no paper trail leading there," Callen said.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Vance said.

The door was opened by Kort.

"I thought I told you to get the hell out of my building," Vance said as he glared at the man.

Kort ignored him and closed the door behind him. "I'm assuming you've received word as to where McGee is headed."

Callen couldn't help but smirk. "Worried yet, Kort?"

"What do you want, Mr. Kort?" Vance asked.

"I want to speak to his accomplice," Kort said.

"Accomplice?" Callen asked. This was the first he was hearing of an accomplice.

"I hadn't gotten to that part yet. McGee got help in leaving," Vance said.

Callen smiled once more. "Really? Who was it? I wanna send them a basket of muffins."

"Doctor Nate Getz."