After getting settled into a room at Mossad, Tim took out his newest phone and dialed Nate. Nate had gotten a disposable phone as well so that they could stay in touch without being traced.

The phone was answered by Nate on the second ring. "Hello."

"Hey, it's me. Can you talk?" Tim asked. He needed to make sure Nate was completely alone before they talked freely.

"Yeah, we're good. I'm in my office and other than to glare at me, the team doesn't pay me any attention," Nate said.

"You're back in LA? I take it things went according to plan then," Tim said. Nate certainly wouldn't be back in LA if the plan hadn't worked. He would be in a jail cell for aiding and abetting.

"Amazingly so. Vance brought me in and he interrogated me with Kort and Callen present. I played the innocent victim betrayed by a friend. Of course sees it the other way around. He considers me the traitor," Nate said.

"Yeah, I know that must have been hard, but it obviously sent the message home to Kort or you would be in a jail cell right now," Tim said.

"Oh, yeah, it worked. Kort is convinced that I was tricked and had no knowledge of the evidence against you. The plan worked perfectly. Still, it was hard to hear Callen say that I was worse than Gibbs," Nate said.

Tim cursed under his breath. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want Nate to be compared to the people who'd treated him so terribly. Nate was not a traitor and Tim hated that he was being treated like one. But what choice did he have. Having Nate make the others think he was a traitor was the only way to protect him, which was Tim's biggest goal. Yes, it also gave him someone on the inside he could ask for help without worrying about being caught, but the biggest reason was to protect the other man. "I'm sorry, Nate. I'm sorry I put you in this position."

"Hey, don't be. I knew what I was doing. I knew what would happen if I said I believed you were guilty. I agreed to it because you're my friend and I wanted to help. And despite the reception I received, I would do it again," Nate said firmly.

"Still, you shouldn't have to go through this. I'm sorry, I had no choice. You had already made the arrangements to fund my getaway when we found out Kort had set me up. The only choice I had was to make it look like I tricked you. Look, Callen's wrong and he's going to realize that soon," Tim said. He knew Callen well. He, as well as the rest of the team, was going to be sick with guilt when they realized that Nate had actually been helping him Tim this whole time.

"Well, he's not completely wrong. If I have been saying these last couple of days was true, I would be worse. Look, it's okay. Like you said, they'll all realize the truth soon. Besides, I have one ally here," Nate said.

Tim had no trouble figuring out who that was. "Hetty? Yeah, I was never deluded enough to think we were going to fool her."

Nate laughed. "Right. I didn't confirm it, but she didn't need me to. She knew that I was lying and applauded me for being brave enough to do it. She did insist that I go to her should anything go wrong."

"Yeah, about that. I've deviated from the original plan a bit," Tim said.

"Well, I should hope so. I hoped that you weren't really going to go to Iran, especially since that's exactly where Kort thinks you are and has likely pulled his terrorist contacts to have you executed," Nate said.

"Well, I'm still going to be in Iran. Well, sort of. Kort will and his buddies will just miss me," Tim said.

"You're going to Iran? Are you crazy?!" Nate asked loudly.

"Relax, I'm not actually going to be there, Nate," Tim said.

"Okay, you've lost me," Nate said after a moment of silence.

"It's pretty simple really. Kort is not the only one that can leave a false paper trail. I will be in Iran on paper only. I will be exactly what Kort has painted me as. A terrorist," Tim said with a smirk.

"Wait a second. Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You're planning to make it look like you really are working with the terrorist group, even to Kort."

"Yes," Tim said simply.

"How would that work? These guys are working with Kort. He's the traitor. He knows that," Nate said as he tried to understand the logic in his friend's plan.

"Yes, but he also knows that terrorists can't be trusted. They'll work with anyone they need to in order to achieve their ends. I just have to convince Kort that that's what's happening. That I offered his new friends more than he did," Tim explained.

"What's the point of that? What exactly will that do to prove your innocence or Kort's guilt?" Nate asked.

"It'll trip Kort up. He'll make a mistake and I'll be there to catch him. That's where I need your help actually. I need you to contact Gibbs in DC. I need him and Abby to keep tabs on Kort in DC," Tim said. He figured Gibbs could keep tabs on Kort physically and Abby could do it technologically. Kort would be too focused on him and his team to pay any attention to Gibbs or Abby.

"You wanna trust them with something this big?" Nate said apprehensively at the prospect of trusted them.

"We don't really have a choice, Nate. I at least need someone to track his paper trail and I won't risk Eric or Nell. I think risking one team member is more than enough," Tim said. He felt bad enough risking Nate. He wouldn't add Eric and Nell to the list too.

Nate sighed on the other end of the line. "Okay, it's your life on the line. We'll handle it your way. I'll contact Gibbs immediately. Just so we're clear though, the plan in not for you to physically go to Iran, right?"

"No." 'Not yet anyway,' Tim added to himself. If it became necessary, he would go, but he wasn't going to tell Nate that. There was no way Nate would agree to that. He would do anything he could to stop that.

"Okay, good. Call me tomorrow. I want an update every day. The first day you don't call me, I'm going to assume it is because something happened to you and I'm going to inform the rest of the team," Nate said firmly.

"Got it. Thanks for everything, Nate," Tim said for hanging up. He then took out his computer and sat down at the small round table in front of the bed. "Okay. Time to get to work."