Nate slowly made his way through the LA office of NCIS. He wasn't in too much of a hurry because he knew Callen had arrived before him and would likely have informed their coworkers of what happened at Headquarters.

Sure enough, when Nate made it to the squad room, Sam started glaring at him the minute he saw him. "You got a lot of nerve showing up here."

Kensi and Callen turned as soon as they heard Sam. They both glared at the doctor. "What the hell are you doing here?" Callen asked.

"I guess Director Vance didn't tell you. He's sending me back to the team. I'm supposed to report to Hetty for duty," Nate told him.

"You have got to be kidding me. You don't belong here, not when he's not here," Sam said angrily. Needless to say, he had been furious when G returned and told them that Nate had betrayed Tim in such a way. That was something he would've expected from Gibbs or DiNozzo, not Nate. It was beyond reprehensible.

"It's not my fault that he's not here, Sam. He did this to himself when he betrayed us," Nate said, hating every word that came out of his mouth.

Sam saw red at that moment. He immediately walked over and shoved Nate hard. "What did you say? You wanna repeat that?"

"How can you believe this garbage? You know Tim. He's the last person in the world that would betray this country. And he certainly wouldn't set Callen up," Kensi said.

"I'm sorry, Kensi, but the evidence…"

"The evidence? The evidence said I was guilty!" Callen lied.

"Because Tim set you up," Nate said.

"Don't! You have no right to call him that anymore!" Sam said angrily.

"I don't understand why you would believe this. Because some piece of paper says so? Callen's right, that same evidence said he was guilty," Kensi said. She was trying really hard to understand this, but she was coming up empty. She couldn't think of one feasible reason Nate would have for doubting Tim.

"It's not just that, okay? He tricked me. He got me to get him out of the country so that he could avoid arrest. Why would he do that if he were innocent? And why wouldn't he tell me what he was planning?" Nate asked.

"Ever think maybe he was trying to give you plausible deniability? So that you wouldn't be brought up on charges and possibly be forced to reveal his location?" Callen asked.

"I got a better 'why' question for you, Nate. Why would he bend over backwards to save Callen if he was the one to frame him?" Kensi asked. That was what really got her. Nate was a smart and logical person. How could he not realize that this made no sense at all?

"Maybe he felt guilty. I don't know. All I know is that everything says he betrayed us. I'm sorry, I just… I think he did it," Nate said.

"And I think you're a jackass!" Sam yelled before shoving him once more.

"Tim has been nothing but a friend to you and this is how you repay him? By calling him a traitor? You're the traitor, Nate. You betrayed Tim worse than those bastards in DC ever could," Kensi said.

"And you're going to pay for it," Sam promised.

Soon Hetty cleared her throat from behind them. "Is there a reason you are all standing around here when there's work to be done?"

"Just having a little conversation, Hetty?" Callen said without ever looking at her.

"Well, consider the conversation over, Mr. Callen. Mr. Getz, a word if you please," Hetty said before heading back for her office.

Callen smiled maliciously at Nate. "Have fun, Doc."

Nate took a deep breath and followed Hetty into her office. When he got there, she was already seated at her desk. Nate hung back by the door. He wanted as much distance between them as possible.

"Have a seat, Nate," Hetty said.

"If it's just the same to you, Hetty, I think I'll stay here," Nate said.

Hetty gave him a look. "If I wanted to kill you, do you honestly think a few feet distance would make a difference?"

"Yeah, good point," Nate said before making his way over to her desk and sitting down. "Look, Hetty, please try to understand…"

Hetty put her hand up to stop him. "Mr. Getz, why do you think I sent you to Mr. McGee's side?"

"Because you wanted him to have someone you trusted in his corner," Nate said. She'd as much as told him that when she dispatched him to DC.

"Do you think I would do that if I thought you would ever turn his back on him?" Hetty questioned.

"I didn't turn my back on him. He turned his back on us," Nate said.

"Mr. Getz, you can sell that line of bull to anyone else in this office, but do not expect me to believe it. You no more believe Mr. McGee is guilty than I or any of the others," Hetty said. She knew her people very well. She knew when they were lying. No one else did, but she did. And Nate was lying. "Here's how I see it. Mr. Callen's reaction to you is the only reason you left Headquarters without a pair of handcuffs enclosed around your wrists."

Nate was barely able to keep himself from chuckling. He should've known Hetty would figure him out. Not even the director could be sure if he meant what he said about Tim, but she was sure he didn't. The woman never missed a beat.

"I must say it was quite brave of you to walk in here and claim Mr. McGee a traitor, no doubt something he asked you to do. Don't worry, I don't expect you to admit it, nor would I want you to. This is one of those 'the less I know the better' situations. However, if things should take a turn for the worst and you should find out, I expect that you'll tell me. Do you understand?" Hetty asked.

Nate simply nodded. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him. Hetty knew. That was one less person that hated him. He knew what he was doing was necessary, but it was still hard with everyone wanting to rip his throat out.

"Good. You can go," Hetty said.

Nate immediately stood up and walked out of her office.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim made his way through the airport. He'd just reached his destination. Normally it would've taken him a lot less time, but he'd taken five different flights to ensure that he was not followed.

Tim looked around the airport. He was waiting for someone. He didn't know who he was waiting for exactly, but he figured he'd know them when he saw them, or they would know him. After leaving DC, he'd called Ziva asked her for one more favor. That favor was supposed to be meeting him.

Soon Tim noticed a tall dark skinned man approach him. "Timothy McGee," the man asked.

"Who wants to know?" Tim asked. While he was pretty sure this was who he was waiting for, he knew not to take that for granted. He would get all the information he could before he admitted to anything.

The man smiled. "Distrustful. Ziva was right about you. You are smart. Malachi Ben-Gidon. I believe you were expecting me."

"ID," Tim said simply.

Malachi chuckled and took out his wallet, flashing Tim his ID. Your turn."

Tim grabbed his bag and opened the side pocket. It was filled with about a dozen ID's.

Malachi looked at Tim in awe. "How many people have you been?"

Tim chuckled as he pulled out the ID he was looking for. "There aren't enough days in the year for me to list them all. Also, it would be a breech in protocol for me to tell you, and I think I've done that enough for one week. Here you go."

Malachi looked at it for a second and then handed it back. "Okay, I guess we should be going now. Director David is anxious to meet you."

Tim smiled and immediately started following the man.