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]

The change in topic was so sudden that she pulled back to stare at him. "What? Why?" She shook her head. "No. I said we'd figure it out." She exhaled slowly as she curled against him. "This time I'll do what I said."

[posterboymarine]

He touched her face and kissed her forehead. "Okay. We'll figure it out."

[neverwrongagent]

He didn't sound terribly convincing, which only drove her to think more about what she could do to protect him. She hadn't stepped up last time, hadn't reached for what she knew was a good thing, and he'd been captured. "Won't let them take you again."

[posterboymarine]

He nodded, clinging to her. He wasn't sure she could actually do anything, but he wasn't going to stop her from trying. He'd never do that now.

[neverwrongagent]

She finally had to reach for her pants when she started getting chilly. Kissing her chest on her way up, she sighed deeply. "What I wouldn't give for this to be simple." She glanced down at him. "Maybe we should just stay out here."

[posterboymarine]

That might have been the best idea he'd heard in a while. "Okay." He winked at her, then pulled her back down with him. "Is there a rifle here? We'll need to be able to eat."

[neverwrongagent]

She wasn't expecting that answer and laughed in surprise. "I have some savings. I think we can make grocery runs." She shifted in his arms so she could see his face while they talked. "Not sure how much even medium sized game is out here. Probably more than I think."

It was an interesting proposition, though, the two of them living alone somewhere far from anyone else. God knows they were both capable.

[posterboymarine]

He closed his eyes and listened, tuning out her breathing and slowing his. After just a few moments, he smiled and spoke softly. "At least a hundred pounds of something with four legs not 50 feet from us." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Of course you can't shoot tea."

[neverwrongagent]

She didn't turn to look for the deer; she had complete faith in his hunter's instincts. It was why she'd wanted him with her when they met. He read one kind of signs, she read another. Together, they would be unstoppable. "You and your tea. We'll get Maggie to airdrop it periodically."

[posterboymarine]

He laughed at that, startling the deer, who took off past them toward the lake. "I thought you said she wouldn't approve of this."

[neverwrongagent]

She watched until the deer was well out of sight before answering with a chuckle. "She won't. But she won't blame you for it. So you'll get tea and I'll get--" She knew what she'd really get was air lifted drugs, but that's not what she went with. "Passive aggressive notes? The cereal I hate?"

She shrugged. "She'd mix it up."

[posterboymarine]

That got another laugh. "In that case..."

[neverwrongagent]

She tickled him, laughing. "Oh, so you'll happily throw me on the mercy of the big sister so long as you get your tea? Nice priorities." She shifted up so she could kiss him quickly. "Worst part, she'd like you."

[posterboymarine]

"You mean she'd like me if you weren't a factor?" Brody was not a fool. He knew how siblings went, even if he didn't have any.

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin there. "Sure she would. You're a good guy." And after a bit, Maggie would understand the married part. She would worry, but she wasn't the kind of prude would write him off forever because of that.

[posterboymarine]

He blushed slightly. "Thanks, babe." He kissed her nose, then winked at her.

[neverwrongagent]

Her nose wrinkled at the tickle of being kissed. She rubbed at it with her thumb, more like she was rubbing the kiss in than that she was erasing it. After a moment, she looked at him oddly. "Do you think your kids would like me? If the situation were something else."

[posterboymarine]

He shrugged. "They are eight and four. So probably."

[neverwrongagent]

Carrie wasn't so sure it was that easy. Just because she got along with her own nieces, who were younger, was no promise of anything. God knew, if somehow they ended up together, his wife would hate her. She sighed softly. "Yeah, let's stay here."

[posterboymarine]

He nodded. "Okay." He was remarkably fine with the idea.

[neverwrongagent]

She decided to give up thinking for a while. They could stay there as long as they wanted, so there was no good reason not to rest in his arms. Then she'd take him down to the water. Her eyes closed and she made a contented noise.

[posterboymarine]

He smiled, nuzzling her hair as she settled. There would be plenty of time to think. Later. Now he just wanted to let his mind wander some.

After a little while, he started talking about how'd he'd ended up in the Marines, even though she had the information already. All the pages in a file couldn't convey how much he'd actually liked what he was doing. He rambled on about basic, then about SOI, and being selected for SSBC. Once he started to talk about SSBC, he sounded sane and truly happy with his work for the first time since he'd been rescued.

[neverwrongagent]

Words on a page were never the same as hearing it from the source. It might not have looked like she was listening that closely, but she drank in every word like it was the cleanest oxygen. A lot of men in his position wouldn't have still wanted anything to do with that work that had gotten him captured. He really was like her in that way.

In the end, she lifted her head and kissed him with great tenderness. "You know something?" She kissed him again. "I love you."

[posterboymarine]

He pressed into the kiss, then grinned. "Well, you are kinda weird. Maybe even crazy." His fingers moved along her spine before he spoke again. "I always wanted to go back, you know. Do Team Leader or Urban school. I was even pushing to go train with Israelis right before I met you."

[neverwrongagent]

She pushed down the flash of guilt that came with keeping her secret in favor of rolling her eyes slightly. "You have no idea." But then he confirmed the growing idea she had and she nodded. "You've put in too much to walk away from it. And you're good." She smiled faintly. "I knew it when I met you, could tell, but then I looked you up."