Rescued?

[neverwrongagent]

When the posters went up showing the two members of the Marine sniper team who'd gone missing, Carrie Mathison stood and stared at them. She didn't see two Marines in their uniforms, though, she saw only one of them half dressed on a rooftop looking up at the blanket of stars. She saw a sweet smile from a man who was too far from home and was trying to hold onto his humanity. Every time she passed the posters, even if she didn't turn to look, she was as aware of them as if someone had reached out and grabbed her. Months went by and the sensation never weakened.

Then came word that they'd been found, that two Marines had been found in neighboring camps. Both men were in rough shape: dehydrated, beaten and demoralized. One was worse than the other, but first reports didn't make it clear which it was and Carrie held her breath until she knew that Brody was in better physical shape. Not that she asked or spoke to anyone about knowing him. The moment she said a word, they'd pull her out of it all and that wasn't happening.

The men were kept apart while they were cleaned up. Carrie read both files, but it was Brody's she kept going over and over in her head. She knew every detail of what they'd found out so far. On the outside it probably seemed cruel to interrogate the men so soon, but the sooner they got it done, the better. These men were headed home, at least for a while, and it would be harder to get solid information from them when they were there.

It wasn't until minutes before she walked into the room that Carrie knew for sure which man she was going to debrief. She was ready to bounce out of her skin by the time she walked in, a feeling that vanished immediately when she saw him. "Sergeant Brody? I'm Carrie Mathison. I'm here to ask you some questions."

Comments

[posterboymarine]

He'd beaten his friend. To death. On the orders of Abu Nazir. He was a traitor and a failure as a Marine. He should be dead. He should have found a way to kill himself.

Instead, he'd been rescued. They'd come for him, saved him, and now he had to live with his choice. At least for a little while longer.

They would want to know what happened. They would want to talk to him. WHat would he tell them, when they asked about Tom? What could he tell them.

The room was austere. It was an interrogation room. It smelled of industrial cleaner and blood. At least they hadn't handcuffed him to the table.

And then a woman walked in and introduced herself. She was familiar. Very familiar. He nodded at her question, even as he tried to place her.

When she sat down and flipped her hair, his jaw dropped. He knew that look. Did she not recognize him? She sounded like she didn't. He almost asked her.

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie hadn't known if he would remember her, but his expression showed that he did. She gave him a wry little smile that acknowledged she was who he thought she was. "Is there anything I can get you before we get started, Nick? Something to drink. You should have something to drink." She got back up and went to the door to ask someone to bring water.

As she moved back to him, she very lightly touched his shoulder before she took her seat across from him. She would reveal to anyone watching that they knew each other if she needed to, but she wasn't going to rush to it. That knowledge was just for them. She thought it might help him be more open with her in the long run, too. That would get them through this more quickly.

She didn't like seeing how rough he looked. Of course, she'd met him at his best and he was a long way past that. "We can take this as slowly as you want, make sure we cover everything." She gave him that little smile again. "Wish the setting was less institutional. Something with a little bench, a nice carpet?"

[posterboymarine]

He leaned very slightly into the touch on his shoulder. Not enough to out them, he hoped. She made him comfortable. He did smile more at the suggestion of the change in locale.

"Don't suppose we could move?"

[neverwrongagent]

"I wish." She shifted in her chair. "These things are awful. Lowest bidder, what can you do?" She did make a note that if he started getting uncomfortable later, she'd see what they could do about changing the room around some. It wasn't like they couldn't lay hands on some of the lower chairs and carpets that were all over the place.

"Let's work backwards, okay? Can you tell me about the men who held you captive right at the end?"

[posterboymarine]

He did not hide his disappointment at being stuck in the room. Still, there was no reason for him to hold the rules against her.

So when she asked her question, he answered it. He gave her as much information as he could about the men who held him in the dark, so that he didn't even know if it was day or night.

[neverwrongagent]

She took notes as he talked, asking for clarification or extra details. There were times she tried to come at a piece of information a different way, but for that part of his experience, his information seemed solid so she moved on. "Can you tell me why you think they separated you and Corporal Walker?" She cocked her head at him. "And how long ago was that?"

[posterboymarine]

Why they separated them? Didn't she know? "He's dead."

[neverwrongagent]

She pulled back a little, her forehead crinkling as she processed his words. The expression only lasted a moment before she leaned back toward him, her voice soft. "Tell me what happened to him." Better to play at ignorance and see where that led. If he really believed that, that was something that had been done to him.

[posterboymarine]

Brody exhaled hard and looked down at his hands, seeing the cuts on them for what they were. But he couldn't tell her what they were. He couldn't tell anyone. So, instead, he described hearing Tom being beaten, then being forced to dig the grave. He left out his role or that of his captor.

[neverwrongagent]

Unfortunately for him, she knew something that he didn't, which amplified his smaller gestures. His story held together, made sense as far as it went, but she knew there was something else. About the time he finished, one of her colleagues came in with a couple bottles of water. Carrie opened one for Brody and handed it to him before asking for something else. "Could you bring something so I can clean up these cuts on Sergeant Brody's hands? They should have treated those already."

The man left and Carrie didn't ask anything else until she had gauze and an antibiotic cream in her grasp. When they were alone again, Carrie put her hand out for one of Brody's. "Why do you think they killed him?"

[posterboymarine]

He gave her his hand without looking at her. "Because we had no more information to give. It was just luck that it was him first and not me."

[neverwrongagent]

She ignored his answer in favor of gently cleaning his hand, then wrapping it slowly. She was taking care of him, trying to get him to feel her compassion for him. It wasn't a hard thing to convey, she felt it. When he found out his friend was alive, he was going to be confused as hell. "How did you hurt your hands?"

[posterboymarine]

He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know." Given all the other marks on his body, from when they were trying to get information, not remembering made perfect sense. She had the pictures. She knew.

[neverwrongagent]

"You don't remember?" She nodded slightly, accepting that for the moment. Not that she was convinced. And it wasn't that she had any clear idea what she was aiming for, it was only that the wounds on his hands were clearly from fighting back and it hadn't sounded like he'd done a lot of that lately.

When his other hand was bandaged, she didn't let go of it. Her thumb rubbed against the side of his hand in a way that would have been wildly inappropriate if they didn't have a history. She gave him an understanding smile. "There's a lot to try and sort through, I know. It just seems like there has to be more of a reason they would pick Walker."

[posterboymarine]

Anyone watching was going to have several questions about her behavior. He licked his lips and looked down at their joined hands, sighing softly. "They used him against me. I'm sure they used me against him. I'm sure someone was already picked to dig my grave."

[neverwrongagent]

She kept his hand in hers, still caressing him gently, but she sat back a little, looking almost embarrassed by what she had to say. "Maybe they did. It's a pretty good mindfuck. It's just..." She paused, biting her lip and looking even more uncomfortable. "If you didn't have anything more to tell them, I'm not sure what they hoped to get out of setting up such an elaborate charade was going to accomplish."

[posterboymarine]

Looking away, he shrugged again. "Just because I didn't have anything else to tell doesn't mean they didn't think so."

[neverwrongagent]

"I guess not." She tightened her grip on his hand for a moment, almost in warning. "Nick, there's something you don't know and I'm not really sure how to tell you so I'm just going to come out with it. Corporal Tom Walker is alive." She shrugged. "He's in rough shape, even rougher than you, but he's alive."

[posterboymarine]

He jerked his hand away from her and shook his head. "No. I sa... I buried him. I dug the fucking grave. Don't fuck with me, Carrie. Don't play games with my head."

[neverwrongagent]

She made no effort to hold onto him. His pulling away was expected. She let him finish, then reached into the files she'd brought in with her and pulled out a photo of Walker standing by the same wall that they'd had Brody stand by when they took pictures of his injuries. One of the men in the background had been with Brody, too. "I'm not fucking with you. I wouldn't do that."

[posterboymarine]

He looked at the picture, then stood up, pushing hard away from the table. He started pacing immediately, shaking his head. "I buried him. I ki... He was dead. I saw it with my own eyes. This is all just some fucking head game and..." His rant ran out of steam, even if the pacing didn't for another few moments.

When he stopped the nervous crossing of the room, he was near the corner. There wasn't a bit of thought in his moving into it and leaning into the dark, just shaking his head.

[neverwrongagent]

That was the second half word he'd gotten out and she replayed them both over and over in her mind while he paced. By the time he ended up in the corner, Carrie had an awful idea of what he'd been subjected to. She hoped beyond all hope that she was wrong, but it was exactly the kind of thing that Nazir and his people liked to do. Talk about fucking with someone's mind.

She stood and crossed to him slowly, giving him time to hold her off in some way. "You're right. It is a head game, but I'm not doing it."

[posterboymarine]

He didn't let her close, retreating even further into the corner as he held his hand out at her. He didn't want her any closer. He was too raw for that at this point.

[neverwrongagent]

She didn't press because that wasn't going to help. He had to trust her and it was a simple matter to let him have his space in that moment. It reinforced her idea that he'd been a part of Walker's supposed death, even if it was just an intimate witness. He'd seen much more than just a body going in the ground or even a man being hurt. He'd been right up in it.

"He's alive. Alive enough to be giving a statement from his hospital bed right now." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I know you barely have a reason to believe me, but I'm not lying to you and I won't lie to you."

[posterboymarine]

The idea that Tom was giving a statement froze Brody right up and he groaned. He would tell them what Brody had done. He would tell them that Nazir had been there, had made him do it. It would land him in jail.