neverwrongagent | Rescued?

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

posterboymarine

He shook his head. "You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you with my dreams." He squeezed her tightly for a moment.

From:

neverwrongagent

She curled against him, deepening the hug. "You don't have to do that. Said I wanted to be here for you, that's what I meant." If they spent too many more night together, he would end up seeing her startle wide awake at least once. "You don't have to hide anything from me."

From:

posterboymarine

That got her another smile. "Not hiding it from you, just letting you get some sleep. I'll sleep soon enough." If they spent too many more nights together, he might start saying stupid, dangerous things.

From:

neverwrongagent

"I'm going to hold you to that." She needed him rested and alert, but beside that, she cared if he was doing well. "If I have to wear you out again, I will."

From:

posterboymarine

"I'm sure you would." He shifted a little under her, carefully moving her off him. "You, stay put." He drug himself from the bed so that he could relieve himself.

From:

neverwrongagent

She saluted him with exactly as much precision as she could manage, which wasn't much, then flopped back down onto the bed with a grunt. She'd have to get up to pee soon, too, but that meant getting out of the warm bed that smelled of them. She had no interest at all in that.

Her eyes closed again, not in sleep, but to allow her to picture the things that came next for them. She didn't get very far before grunting again. Too many variables.

From:

posterboymarine

When he finished, he took a moment to watch her from the doorway. Her eyes were closed, but he could tell she was thinking. He wasn't sure if he should ask or if it was even any of his business. He wasn't terribly sure either way.

From:

neverwrongagent

Well away that he was watching her, she didn't say anything for a while. She'd watched him plenty. Finally she reached an arm out to him without opening her eyes. "I'm lonely. And getting cold."

From:

posterboymarine

He laughed and came back to the bed, climbing in with her. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

From:

neverwrongagent

Carrie practically clambered back onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. The gesture was silly, nearly childish, but she didn't care. Their time together was limited enough that she wanted every experience in it. "Much better. You were too far away."

From:

posterboymarine

That earned her a lifted eyebrow, but nothing more. He wasn't going to question any reason to not have to sleep alone. He kissed her forehead. "Sorry."

From:

neverwrongagent

She cuddled as close as she could and tucked her head against his chest. "It's your turn to sleep. You need to rest." His body needed it to heal and his mind did, too. "I won't go until I know you've slept a couple hours."

They had time enough for that before she had to go back to her room.

From:

posterboymarine

He nodded as he tightened his arms around her. If she thought she was just going to be able to slip away, she was mistaken. He was going to keep her close enough that he was grounded if she was insisting that he sleep.

From:

neverwrongagent

She petted his shoulder gently, if a touch awkwardly given her position, encouraging him to fall asleep. So much of what she was asking him to do was making it harder for him to sleep, making him keep focusing on things he had to want to get as far away from as possible.

The thought made her consider just what it would be like when she was far away from him again and she bit back a sigh for fear she'd wake him.

From:

posterboymarine

He finally fell asleep, but it still took a little while for his grip on her to loosen some. His body took its time shifting into dream sleep, but once he was there, his mind did not disappoint.

From:

neverwrongagent

Once she was sure he was asleep, she shifted so she wasn't so much on him as beside him. She kept an arm firmly around his chest as she lay there watching him breathe. Every breath was filed away in her memory as a part of him. As a part of them.

She mixed those moments liberally with the images of him with Walker, of course, because that was how her mind worked.

From:

posterboymarine

Once his dreams finally found them, they were not as bad as they had been. They were not about the torture, they were about being alone. He twitched and whimpered, but did not kick out, not like the first few nights.

As his dreams shifted, he rolled toward her, tucking himself in against her, searching for comfort.

From:

neverwrongagent

She tried caressing him, petting his side and chest, to settle him. When that didn't work, she tried whispering his name. "Nick, I'm here. You can sleep, baby. I'm still here." It didn't feel like much to offer him. "Won't leave you."

From:

posterboymarine

While he might not have understood, on a conscious level, what she said, it was enough to settle him. He grunted softly, then burrowed in deeper against her as he calmed and drifted into a more dreamless sleep.

From:

neverwrongagent

That night was followed by a half dozen more days where Carrie collected every possible detail of the interactions between Brody and Walker, building her case that Walker was part of some kind of plot against American interests. Her ultimate victory came with two major loses--her position in country because she'd pissed off too many people and her immediate contact with Brody when he was sent home. Professionally she knew she would be able to recover, she always did. The way she missed Brody was something else. There was no way to discuss that loss with anyone, not even Saul who she knew had some idea of her attachment. She thought he might have understood that she missed the man she'd spent weeks with, the one she'd been fascinated by before, but there was no way to talk about having built up a sexual relationship with the rescued Marine.

She did the only thing she could do, she threw herself into her work. Walker hadn't broken, exactly, but he'd given them enough to start chipping away at domestic networks. Ever chance she had to find out how Brody was integrating back in the world, she backed away from it. He was home now, not alone, and she'd done her part. Or so she told herself when she woke up from a dream about him.

In the end, she did what she always did when things got out of hand for her--stupid things. She found herself following him at random times. Just to see how he was, of course. Nothing more.

From:

posterboymarine

Integration back home had been difficult. Jess was trying to be strong. Brody was trying to hide what had happened to him from his kids. There was an awful lot of half-truth going on around him and he was buried in it.

He'd been followed from the moment he set foot on US soil. He knew they still didn't trust him, that his association with Walker was a double-edged sword. So when Carrie started following him, it didn't raise any flags. She was good, so he didn't spot her, not for a long time.

When he finally did see her, he thought he was dreaming. She was in the sandbox, not here. She wasn't supposed to be here. Except in his dreams.

From:

neverwrongagent

She didn't thin he'd seen her at first because she had convinced herself they'd never talk again. It helped that he didn't believe it either. Then she realized she'd taken a few steps toward him. The draw was just as strong as it always had been.

In some ways he looked better--better color, he'd put on some weight. In others he looked about the same--too watchful, too outside everything else around him. Smiling sheepishly, she approached him. "Hey. Long time no see."

From:

posterboymarine

Even after she'd spoken, confirming that she was real, he didn't know what to say. He licked his lips, then looked around before looking at her again.

"When did you get back?"

From:

neverwrongagent

She winced a little, shrugging. "Not long after you. About...four days?" She exhaled slowly. "Been working, following up on everything. You know, all that spy stuff." Her hands clenched and released as she fought the urge to reach for him. "Bosses figured I need a change of scenery."