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]

"What? I like to be prepared." She smacked his ass in payback as they headed out the door. Her mood was swinging back toward the positive at full speed. They were going to be outside, that was always good.

She grabbed his hand and lead him around the lake on a path she'd walked hundreds of times. It was all so familiar to her that she almost didn't see it.

[posterboymarine]

She might have not seen the path, but he did. He tried to take it all in, trusting her to lead him to wherever they were going.

"This is nice. I'm surprised you don't come up here more."

[neverwrongagent]

"That would be because I'm a workaholic. Dyed in the wool." She groaned softly. "Down right pathological, really." Now there was a moment of absolute truth she could give him. "Even when I'm in the States I spend more time at work than any normal human should."

[posterboymarine]

"That's not healthy, you know." NOt that he was one to talk. But hey, maybe she'd listen to him, even if he didn't listen to himself.

[neverwrongagent]

She snorted happily. "That's what they tell me, but it doesn't seem to sink in." She shrugged. "I'm good at what I do. And it's important." Important enough that she was dangling the man she had pretty much admitted to loving on a string in the hopes of catching bad guys.

[posterboymarine]

And she was really crazy if she thought he didn't know he was being used as bait. Broken didn't mean stupid. Still, so far it was worth it.

"Can't do it if your not well."

[neverwrongagent]

She stopped mid-step and watched him. "Do you think I'm not well? I mean, I know I'm pushing it, pushing you, but..." She shook her head. "Because I know my limits."

She sighed. "I'm not always so good with everyone else's."

[posterboymarine]

He held up a hand in defensive. "Didn't say that." He looked at her another moment, then looked down.

[neverwrongagent]

"Sorry. Fuck, sorry." She came up to him and put a hand on his hip. "See, this is what I mean. You didn't say that. I'm sorry." She ducked her head some so she could try and catch his eye. "You're trying to take care of me. Of us. And I suck at letting people do that."

[posterboymarine]

Brody was starting to feel somewhat demoralized, given that everything he was saying was being taken the wrong way. But he was trying.

He caught her eye and smiled slightly.

[neverwrongagent]

The smile got him a light touch on the cheek, then a gentle kiss. "Show me how?" She swallowed hard. "Show me how to let someone take care of me?" She'd tried to take care of him, even as she had to use him. She wasn't super great at that, either.

[posterboymarine]

He leaned into the touch. "Okay." Then he straightened. "Show me your favorite spot."

[neverwrongagent]

"I can do that." She took his hand again so she could lead him through a barely visible trail that branched off the path they were on. It led through the woods to a clearing just off the lake. It wasn't bit, but the canopy of trees cleared just enough to show sky.

She stood in the middle of it, looking up. "This is why I knew where that rooftop was."

[posterboymarine]

He joined her and looked up, smiling. "I can see that." He untied the blanket and laid it out, then flopped down on it. He was still very much on edge and off kilter, but he was determined to try.

[neverwrongagent]

She laid down next to him, her head by his shoulder, and took his hand. "It's your turn to talk to me, you know. I've been rambling all night and I have a feeling that isn't doing us any good." She leaned over and kissed his shoulder. "Talk about anything."

[posterboymarine]

He got an arm around her but didn't start talking for a few more minutes. He needed to find a safe topic. Safe for her, yes, but, more importantly, safe for him.

Finally, he started talking to her about why he'd decided to join the Marines in the first place, but how he had wanted to finish college and become a teacher.

[neverwrongagent]

As he talked, she shifted so her chin rested on his chest and she could watch him. It wasn't what she'd expected, but it was exactly the kind of thing she needed to hear. This was a huge part of the man she'd met, the one she knew was still in there and that she wanted to protect. "You could still do that?"

[posterboymarine]

"I'd have to serve out my enlistment term." And he still wasn't sure he could do that. But if he medicaled out, he wouldn't get those benefits.

[neverwrongagent]

She didn't want him to go back in. She really didn't think it would be any good for him. "People make do." It wasn't fair, of course, given everything he'd been through, but if they talked about fair they'd ruin the moment pretty quickly.

[posterboymarine]

He shrugged. Sure, people made do. But they hadn't been tortured and held prisoner. There wasn't much hope for people like him, when it came down to brass tacks. After all, felons didn't have that much luck surviving in the real world, and they were responsible for their incarceration.

Shivering a little, he pulled her closer. "Maybe."

[neverwrongagent]

She could feel him setting up the walls at her comment, the walls she knew he thought of as the broken parts. This was the first thing he'd talked to her about that was outside what had happened to him. "I could help you study."

[posterboymarine]

He was so lost in his own head in that moment that it took a bit for her comment to penetrate. He glanced at her in surprise. "With your busy schedule?"

[neverwrongagent]

She shrugged slightly. "I'd find the time." She'd try anyway if he took the step because anything else could be considered abandoning him again. "Could be fun." She kissed him. "It's a nice way to spend time together."

[posterboymarine]

"When you put it like that..." He kissed her forehead. "Maybe I'll look into it." It was the best he could do, the best he could commit to.

"Not sure what I would teach, though. Maybe history."

[neverwrongagent]

She grinned. "I'd actually be some help with that." She didn't really expect he'd have gone for physics or something, but history was something they could talk about. She rested her chin back on his chest and let her eyes close while she pictured it. The worst part was how easily the image came to her.