This is spying. Isn't it FUN?

[neverwrongagent]

Brody attending the meeting Walker had so casually mentioned turned into a three ring circus. More than one person involved was convinced the whole thing was a wild goose chase, including Carrie occasionally. If she hadn't seen Walker as up close and personal as she had when they were first rescued, she could have been convinced. Maybe sending Brody to a regular meeting for returning vets who were also Muslim was just a kind of fuck you from a man who felt he'd been betrayed by a brother soldier. Or it could be something much more sinister. The problem was, no one could really figure out what that sinister was supposed to be. Carrie continued to maintain that Brody had no idea what was going on.

The questions Brody faced right after the meeting ranged from if he knew any of the people there already to how was he planning to overthrow the US government. When the questions headed that way a majority of the time, Carrie called foul and got Brody out of there. With full understanding of the irony involved, they had decided that the cover that would work best with his family was that he was working with other vets on integrating back into the world. Carrie would have felt a lot worse about that if it was just being used to cover up them fucking around. She still felt pretty shitty about it given how much stress it was putting on him.

They took their own cars back to her place. She got there before him and immediately opened a fresh bottle of wine, leaving a full glass on the counter for him, then she went upstairs to change into something decidedly less official looking.

Comments

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie nodded and rested her head back on his chest. It was complicated, not something they were going to figure out in one go, if ever. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the warm water.

[posterboymarine]

When she put her head down he closed his eyes. None of it was fair, from them to the fact that he was living life as a pawn of a government agency that shouldn't even be operating stateside.

And even if he could commit to her, he couldn't do anything as long as they were trying to figure out what Walker was up to. They were stuck.

[neverwrongagent]

She stayed there, relaxed in his arms, half floating in the water, until it started getting cold. For a moment she considered adding more water, but it was getting late and they both needed real sleep. She turned and kissed his jaw. "Come sleep with me?"

[posterboymarine]

He hugged her as he nodded. "Really sleep? Or are you going to molest me?" That he could joke again indicated his level of relaxation. He still wasn't completely comfortable with his own actions, but as long as she still wanted him around, he'd keep staying.

[neverwrongagent]

She sputtered a laugh. "Tell you what, I'll wake you up right." The idea of either of them being up to any sex at the moment was unreal, comforting, but unreal. She touched his cheek. "I'll get creative."

[posterboymarine]

Leaning into her touch, he nodded. "Like with a cup of tea?" He winked at her, then nodded. "You have to get up first, babe."

[neverwrongagent]

She slowly drew herself away from him and out of the tub. "Hey, if that's what you want, I can work on that." She got them both fresh towels and dried off quickly so she could turn off the music and get the bed ready. She was incredibly tempted to go tell whoever was listening that the concert was over and they should all go to sleep.

She crawled into the bed and made a space for him beside her.

[posterboymarine]

As he dried himself he watched her, smiling softly. It was very domestic and it broke his heart. Then she was calling him over and he wasted no more time in joining her.

Once he was under the covers, he reached for her. They'd been apart long enough for his liking and he really did want to sleep.

[neverwrongagent]

If the domesticity broke his heart, then the way she immediately curled around him like a kitten should have shattered him. She knew they slept best when they were close. Her eyes closed immediately once she was in his arms.

[posterboymarine]

He watched her until she fell asleep before giving in himself. He rested his cheek against her hair and let himself go, drifting off almost immediately now that he let himself.

[neverwrongagent]

After a couple days with no forward motion on much of anything, Carrie's bruises had blossomed and then started to fade. Saul was still seriously unhappy with her, enough that Carrie was getting jumpy being around him. And a jumpy Carrie was no good to anyone. The idea of going somewhere to be truly alone sounded better and better with every passing moment. She could only think of one safe place with no bugs.

She told Brody to pack for as many days as he thought he could get away, even if it was only one. They'd leave from her place.

[posterboymarine]

He managed to swing two nights away and packed accordingly. Then he kissed his wife and kids goodbye before going off to run away with his... he didn't even know what to call Carrie, really.

Still, he was going. And he was glare for the chance to get away.

[neverwrongagent]

She didn't tell him where they were going, just that he should rest on the drive if he could. They'd be stopping once for food, but after that they would be off the grid until they had to get back. She hoped he'd believe her about that, but she understood if he wouldn't after finding out about her house being bugged.

They got to the cabin around lunchtime and she sat in the car for a moment, looking around at the familiar landscape.

[posterboymarine]

He didn't just rest on the drive, he slept, not even waking when they stopped for food. When they were apart, he slept horribly, so by the time she called him, he was past exhausted.

He was slow to wake this time they stopped, too, and he was still blinking hard when he saw her. "Where are we?"

[neverwrongagent]

"A little slice of heaven?" She pointed to cabin and sort of waved down to the dock. "Belongs to my family. We'd come up here weekends in the summers when I was a kid." Maggie brought her kids sometimes, but not as often as their dad had brought them. "And it's all ours for the next two days. Just us."

[posterboymarine]

He lifted an eyebrow. "Just us or just 'us'?" Still, he climbed out of the car and took a look around. "Nice place."

[neverwrongagent]

She climbed out and came around to stand beside him with her hand on the small of his back. "You. Me. Some loud birds in the morning. The occasional fox." She leaned against his arm. "We both need the break."

[posterboymarine]

He smiled down at her, then pulled her into a hug. "You picked a good place. There's even water." She had to remember that he enjoyed the water, so this was perfect.

[neverwrongagent]

She sighed in relief, settling into his arms happily. There was water,there was nature, and one night she was going to take him out to see the stars. "And we can light a fire, curl up under a blanket together, forget the world exists." Because that was what she wanted--a few hours to turn off her brain.

[posterboymarine]

She was saying all the right things and he whimpered softly. "Sounds perfect. Can we just stay?"

[neverwrongagent]

She groaned. "God, sounds good, doesn't it? Let's see if you still want anything to do with me after being alone with me for real." It would be the first time since the night they met that they'd be really alone.

She started pulling him toward the cabin. "Let me show you around some?"

[posterboymarine]

He let her pull him, laughing softly. "How far do you think we'll get before someone gets naked?" His nap had done wonders for his mood, and the scenery was helping a lot, too.

[neverwrongagent]

She snorted a hug laugh, switching her grip on him to the waistband of his pants. "It's not a very big space." Really there were only a few things to point out. Kitchen, bathroom, fireplace.

She got him up the porch stairs and inside. "Wait, do you think I brought you here for sex?" She couldn't keep a straight face. "I just wanted you to see trees."

[posterboymarine]

He glanced at her hand on his waistband and smirked. "Who said anything about sex? I just said naked."

Pulling away from her, he winked. "Well, show me around."

[neverwrongagent]

As if them naked for more than about ten minutes wasn't going to lead to sex. Neither one of them could keep straight faces. She stepped over to the door that hid the bathroom and threw it open with a dramatic gesture. "Bathroom." Five steps over and she could wave again. "Kitchen." She stepped around behind him and waved at the pull out couch. "Bedroom."

Her hands went on her hips. "That's everything. Naked now?"