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]

Saul shook his head. "You aren't just screwing a married Marine. You are screwing a married POW and potential terrorist."

[neverwrongagent]

Her eyes narrowed at him and she shook her head slowly. "He's not that. We know--" She glanced back over at Brody. Nothing that had come out in all her hours of interrogation had changed her mind that Nazir wanted to turn him, but hadn't, not really. Doing something awful to survive was one thing, or thinking that you had, but that wasn't all it took. "What do you know that I don't?"

[posterboymarine]

Pointing out toward where Brody sat, Saul lowered his voice. "We know that Walker has been trying to contact him, but his wife keeps being the one to answer the phone. We know that Walker has been to Brody's house."

Now he pointed at Carrie. "And you are fucking him."

[neverwrongagent]

That brought her up short and she stared at Saul while she tried to put things in place. What she didn't do was look to where Brody sat. Walker wanting to see Brody could mean that he wanted to understand why Brody hadn't followed the plan, why he had deviated so far from what Nazir wanted. Or it could mean that Walker was ready for the next step and Brody was hesitating.

Or it could mean Walker wanted to know what the fuck Brody had meant in trying to beat him to death. "Yeah, I'm fucking him. I was there, remember." She shook her head again. "What else do we know?"

[posterboymarine]

"Nothing. That's why we are here. Walker's been active today. They think he has a meet. He's outside the Brody place, now." Before Carrie could ask. "Yes, we have a car on him. No, he's not doing anything."

[neverwrongagent]

"The meet isn't with Brody." Because Brody had been with her for hours and wasn't going anywhere near home for a while. And since Carrie had been following him, not the other way around, it was unlikely that he'd set her up as an alibi. Not impossible, but not likely. "Guess it's a good thing we have him here, then. We can ask him about it and put them together if we have to."

Just like after they were rescued, except for the very real possibility that the whole story would come out now.

[posterboymarine]

Saul nodded. She had a point. "Fine. We'll try it your way."

[neverwrongagent]

She exhaled slowly. Telling Brody was going to suck and it was going to be tricky as hell where they were. If she was right about him, he'd probably see the possibilities pretty quickly. And if she was wrong, he'd go along with her plan anyway, because what other choice did he have? "You want to explain it to him or do you trust me to?"

[posterboymarine]

Saul thought about it, then nodded. "You have the relationship with him. You tell him. Let's see how he responds."

[neverwrongagent]

"Now it's a relationship." She rolled her eyes. She was tempted to goad Saul a little more and comment that all this was cutting into her fucking time, but that would just keep her from explaining things to Brody a little longer. "Here goes."

She left Saul where he stood and went to sit down next to Brody. She smiled faintly. "Sorry about the magazines. They'd have been crap anyway." She glanced back at Saul as she spoke, watching Brody out of the corner of her eye. "How come Tom Walker is hanging around outside your house?"

[posterboymarine]

By the time Carrie returned to him, Brody was not happy. He was feeling rather put out. And the news that Walker was at his house caused even more internal conflict.

"What did you say? He's where? "

[neverwrongagent]

She nodded. "And he's been trying to reach you, calling." She met his eyes, going for the direct approach. "Do you know why?" She cocked her head at him. "Does he want something from you?"

[posterboymarine]

"Why would I know why? I don't answer the phone, I barely go out." He was getting more upset by the moment.

Saul watched all this from a distance, noting the body language of both.

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie frowned slightly. "And Jessica never told you he called?" That seemed off to her. His wife would have no real way of knowing what was going on between the men, not unless one of them told her and that seemed highly unlikely.

[posterboymarine]

Having Carrie user his wife's name made him cringe a little, but he still shook his head. "She tells me when people leave messages. Never got any from him."

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie had never said Jess' name when they were together intimately because it made her cringe a little, too. In her case it was because he found it hard to think of the woman without a flare of anger. Even though it was in her best interests to have them in conflict, she hated how her reactions hurt him. "But she'd know him, so if he talked to her a couple times but didn't say to have you call, would she still mention it?" That seemed unlikely.

[posterboymarine]

He thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. She'd mention it." Brody didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He believed that she would tell him. She had no reason not to, that he knew of.

[neverwrongagent]

She nodded. "So she hasn't talked to him and he hasn't been able to find you without letting someone else know." She thought for a moment. "We need to know what he wants with you, Nick. If it's just personal, that's important, but if it's more, that's crucial."

[posterboymarine]

Brody did not want to deal with Walker, at all. He just wasn't ready. Of course, he might never be ready, but that was beside the point. He rubbed his face, then shook his head. "Carrie, I don't know what he wants."

[neverwrongagent]

She finally reached for him, taking his hand loosely, inviting him to tighten his grip if he wanted. "We need to know and the only real way to find out is to ask him." She licked her lips. "For you to ask him." Anything else would tip their hand in so many ways.

[posterboymarine]

He squeezed her hand, then let go to clench his fists. "So you want me to go home?"

[neverwrongagent]

That was the very last thing she wanted. Realizing that hit her low in the gut hard enough that she pulled back and stared at him. She very nearly told him no. Finally she shook her head. "I want you to talk to him. If you go home now to do it, I'll be right there behind you. If we pick another way, I'll be there."

She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Not leaving you alone again."

[posterboymarine]

It was a nice sentiment, but he would be alone if he talked to Walker. Still, maybe it was the best was to get on with his life, such as it was.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with, please."

[neverwrongagent]

She glanced over at Saul and nodded very slightly. Then she turned back to Brody. "Okay. Do you have a phone number for him?" They could get the number, but that would look suspicious if he didn't already have it.

[posterboymarine]

"I have his number from before we shipped out. I doubt it'd have changed, since he's got a wife, too." Which was a round-about way of saying yes. "Guess you want me to call him?"