"Have you lost your mind?" Ziva asked as she watched Tim gather his things. He had just told her about his plan to follow Kort to Iran.

"Well, if I have, it wouldn't be the first time," Tim joked.

Ziva ignored the comment. "Do you not understand that Kort already thinks you are in Iran? That means that there is likely a price on your head there and has been for weeks."

"I understand all of that very well. I also understand that if I can't stop Kort, I might as well be dead anyway. I've been accused of the worst crime our country recognizes. They will do whatever they have to do to crucify me. The only way for me to save myself is to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was set up. He'll never do that on American soil, but he might in Iran," Tim explained. He planned to wear a wire so that when he did get to Kort, he could record him.

"Of course he will admit it. Right before he kills you!" Ziva exclaimed. "That is if you even get as far as Kort. You could be taken out as soon as you set one foot out of the Iranian airport.

"I don't plan to die," Tim told her.

"And how do you plan to stay alive? You are a good agent, McGee, better than almost anyone I've ever met, but not even you are skilled enough to withstand multiple enemies that you do know and cannot anticipate when and if they will attack. And if somehow, you managed to get all the way to Kort and beat him, his terrorist friends will get to you after," Ziva said.

"What's my alternative? Live in fear for the rest of my life. I can't do that, not anymore than you could've when you were a fugitive," Tim said.

"That was not the same. I at least had a fighting chance. I did not have to fight half the country. For all you know, you will. You don't know how many of them there are, and you can be sure that no one will care what they do to you," Ziva said. Iranians didn't give a damn about a federal agent from America. They wouldn't lift a finger to help him.

"There's no choice, Ziva. Forget taking down Kort for a minute. This is something I have to do just to get my life back. I will not be a fugitive for the rest of my life," Tim said firmly. He would be damned if he let Trent Kort destroy his life. He had worked too hard to get it where it was. No one was taking it from him, least of all a smug little weasel like Kort.

Ziva nodded. She still did not like it, but she understood it. She would probably do the same if she were him. "Then I am coming with you."

"That's not necessary. I'll be fine. Besides, my old team will come as soon as they find out," Tim said. He had planned to call Nate as soon as he was headed for Iran. The only reason he'd lied earlier was because he was still at a point where Nate could stop him. He would tell him as soon as he was passed that point. He knew the man would alert the rest of the team immediately and they would come.

"It is necessary. We are talking about your life here. You need some kind of backup going in. Now I realize you may not trust me…"

"No, it's not that. Out in the field, aside from my team, there is no one I trust to have my back more. But like you said, it's dangerous. I don't want to put you at risk," Tim said. Putting himself at risk was one thing, but putting Ziva at risk was quite another.

"I will be fine. You need backup and I am going to be it," she said firmly.

Tim sighed. He knew there wasn't any point in arguing further. Ziva had made up her mind. "Okay."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Nate was in his office when the disposable phone he had specifically to speak with Tim started ringing. He immediately picked it up. "Hello."

"Hey, Nate," Tim said.

"Hey. You figure out your next move?" Nate asked. He'd been anxiously awaiting the answer to that since he'd last spoken with Tim.

"Yeah, about that. I wasn't completely honest with you, Nate. I already knew what I was going to do when we last spoke," Tim told him.

"Then why did you say you didn't?" Nate asked. He had a feeling he was not going to like what his friend said next.

"Because I knew you would try to stop me. I've decided to follow Kort to Iran."

And it turned out Nate was right. He didn't like this one bit. In fact, he hated it. "Tim, no, you can't do that! It's a suicide mission."

"It's already done, Nate. This is the way it has to be. I have to stop Kort once and for all," Tim said.

"Tim, if you are on the plane, you tell the pilot to land somewhere else! You cannot touch down in Iran!" Nate yelled frantically. This was very bad. If Tim landed in Iran, he would be killed. Kort would've seen to that the moment the evidence originally pointed to Tim being in Iran.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I understand that I'm forcing your hand a bit, but you have to understand that Kort forced mine. I have to go. I'll see you soon, I'm sure," Tim said.

"No! Do not hang… Dammit!" Nate cursed as he realized that Tim had hung up on him.

Nate scrambled to his feet and practically flew out of his off. He ran through the squad room, ignoring the curious glances from every member of the team before bursting into Hetty's office.

"Where's the fire, Mr. Getz?" Hetty asked.

"Hetty, you remember when you told me if things got worse that you expected me to tell you about it? Well, we've officially reached that point.

Hetty immediately stood up. "Operations."

Nate nodded before running out of the room and towards the stairs.

"What's going on?" Callen asked when Hetty and Nate came out of her office.

"Everyone to the Operations center now," Hetty ordered.

They all scrambled out of their seats and followed Hetty up the stairs and into the Ops. Center. Nate was already there looking very agitated.

"Is everything okay?" Nell asked.

"No, everything is not okay. It is very far from okay. He's gonna get himself killed, I just know it," Nate said as he began pacing.

"Mr. Getz calm down. Whatever is going on here is going to require cool heads.

Nate nodded. He stopped pacing immediately and took a deep breath to calm himself. He was going to need to be as calm as possible as he explained this whole complicated mess.

"Good. Now the time for secrets and lies is officially over, Mr. Getz. If things have gotten as bad as your demeanor implies, you need to read us all in," Hetty said firmly.

Nate nodded. "And it is that bad. Alright. Things got a bit complicated when I got to DC a few weeks ago."

"Before or after you betrayed us all?" Sam asked bitterly. "And what does it have to do with why you're acting like a nut job now?"

"Like I said, it got complicated fast. Tim wasn't content with just exonerating Callen. He wanted Kort's head and he didn't care what he had to do to get it," Nate said. He figured if he was going to explain, he should start at the very beginning. "His plan was all along to leave the country before you were exonerated, Callen."

"Yeah, you said that. You claimed that he 'tricked' you into helping him get away. What a bunch of crap," Callen said as he glared at Nate.

"How you could believe such garbage is beyond me," Kensi added.

"I know you're all angry. You'll probably be even more angry be the time I'm finished, but at least it'll be for the right reasons," Nate said. He had no doubt they'd be angry at him for lying and letting what happened happen. He should've told them as soon as he got back to LA. Maybe Tim wouldn't be on his way to a warzone if he had.

"As opposed to this one? You think we don't have a reason to be angry that you betrayed Tim?" Kensi asked angrily.

"No, you have a right to be angry. You don't know the whole story," Nate said.

"Like anything can justify the things you've said about Tim," Kensi said.

"One thing could," Nell said as she smiled at Nate.

Nate smiled back. "You knew."

"I suspected, but I didn't want to say anything. I figured you had your reasons for keeping quiet," Nell said.

"Okay, for everyone that doesn't have ESP, can someone explain?" Callen asked.

"It's like I said, Tim wanted Kort's head. He said he was fed up with Kort thinking he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. He said that going after you as the last straw, Callen. I didn't like what he was planning, but I understood, so I helped him," Nate explained.

"Until a bunch of lies were shoved in your face. Then you couldn't turn on him fast enough," Callen said as he glared.

"I didn't turn on him," Nate said.

"If this is where you claim once more that he betrayed us, I swear I will take out my gun and shoot you," Sam warned.

"Look, I know you're all upset, but I need you to stop interrupting me so that I can get this out," Nate said. He was trying to keep calm, but Tim was in serious trouble and Tim was of the essence.

"Fine. Get on with it," Callen said grudgingly.

"Okay. So Tim had planned to go to Iran to join the terrorist group," Nate said.

"That's crap!" Kensi yelled.

"No, it's not. That part is the God's honest truth. Tim told me that himself. But then Tim got the call about Kort setting him up," Nate said.

"Wait a second. You said you didn't know what Tim was being accused of when Vance asked," Callen said. He then began to piece it together. It never made sense for Tim to let Nate unknowingly take the fall like that. He tried to reason that it was for plausible deniability, but it was still hard to swallow. Tim didn't know that Nate would turn against him, thus making it look like Nate was a victim in the CIA's eyes. Unless he did know. Unless it was their plan all along.

"Well, what could I say? That I knowingly helped a wanted terrorist escape custody? I couldn't say that and Tim would never let me say it," Nate said.

"You lied. You never thought he was guilty," Kensi realized.

Nate shook his head. "Never. I could never turn my back on Tim. Just saying that I thought he was guilty made me want to choke on my own words."

"So this was all part of the plan to make sure you didn't go down for aiding and abetting," Sam said. He was really kicking himself for not seeing this all along. He should've known Nate would never betray a friend like that. He had let his anger get the best of him and it blinded him to the truth.

Callen had similar thoughts. He should've seen this. Maybe not during the interrogation, but he certainly should've later. He should've known Nate wasn't a traitor. God, he'd said some terrible things to Nate. He'd told him he was worse than Gibbs and that he should rot in hell. No, Nate hadn't betrayed a teammate. The rest of them had.

"That was part of it. That was the biggest reason Tim wanted me to do it, but my biggest reason was so that if he needed me, he could ask for help without fear of traced call. And he did. He had me ask Gibbs for help in keeping an eye on Kort while he made Kort believe that he had indeed infiltrated the terrorists. Unfortunately, there's where the problem lies. Kort went to Iran, undoubtedly to get rid of Tim," Nate explained.

"And Tim is following him," Callen finished for him. He knew Tim well, and unfortunately, he knew that Tim would follow Kort despite the risk.

"Oh God!" Kensi exclaimed as she realized the amount of trouble her partner was in.

"Is there any way to stop him?" Callen asked. He doubted it, but he had to ask the question.

Nate shook his head sadly. "He's already left."

"Alright, Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, and Ms. Blye, go and get your things together. You are going to go after Mr. McGee and bring him home. Go!" Hetty ordered.

All three agents immediately rushed out of Ops.