Two Ships [rp for neverwrongagent]

[posterboymarine]

After the call, he'd said he would stay put. And he did, right until he got word of where she was coming in. Then he throw his things back into his bag and made his way to the nearest Couch Canada station. He took the bus and found the cheapest motel he could. He got a room on the backside of the building, and he waited.

He tried to sleep, something he'd been mostly unable to do since he'd called her. But every time he closed his eyes, he imagined he felt the burner phone vibrate and he jerked awake. Finally, he just gave up and turned on the TV. It didn't manage to hold his interest, at all, but it was background noise.

With that noise quieting the doubts in his head, he waited.

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[posterboymarine]

He exhaled long and low as her hand settled. He was quiet for a long time before he spoke, gathering his thoughts. When he started speaking again, his voice was broken, perhaps even worse than it has been when they'd spoke, when his state of mind had forced her into action.

"I picked out a spot, you know. No one would ever find me. Nice view. Water. Not a big lake, but still, nice enough. Out of the way. No muss, no fuss."

[neverwrongagent]

She was as startled by his words as his tone. Still, she didn't jump or sit up, she just kept her hand on him until he was done, then she leaned over to kiss above where her hand rested. "Do you like it? Really like it, not just like it enough?"

[posterboymarine]

He snorted softly. She thought he was talking about a building site. He'd never put a cabin there. He meant something else entirely. But he couldn't spell it out. It was too hard.

[neverwrongagent]

When he didn't answer, she pulled back to watch him for a long moment, her expression darkening with every second. "No." She shook her head. "No."

She didn't know what else to say to him but that. He couldn't do that to her. To them. Not when she was working so hard to clear him, to find a way.

"No."

[posterboymarine]

"You came." That was all the answer he had for her. It had to be enough. She's come, so he wouldn't do anything rash. But she deserved to know that he'd thought about it, all the same.

[neverwrongagent]

That was too close a call, too gut wrenching, and she shuddered hard before she curled hard against him so he wouldn't see her cry. "You aren't alone, Brody. Not this time. I swear it."

[posterboymarine]

He shook his head. "I am, though. You are a thousand miles away. It's not your fault and I know you're trying. But it's still me out here in the cold."

[neverwrongagent]

She couldn't leave it all behind, not yet, now when there was more to solve. Not when he wasn't safe yet. On the other hand, he was telling her he still wasn't safe. Exhaling slowly, she tried to calm herself enough to try and find a solution. Short of giving up and staying with him, she didn't know what that was. "Do you think I forget that?"

It wasn't anything close to an accusation. Instead it was a genuine question. He'd been left alone before, told he was forgotten. She couldn't even start to make it better until she understood.

[posterboymarine]

He shook his head. "I know you don't. But there's only so much you can do from another country." He closed his eyes rather than look at her, afraid of what he would see.

"I don't even have my kids to hold on to this time. I only have you."

[neverwrongagent]

"They still love you, you know?" From what Carrie had seen, mostly in interview tapes, Chris didn't believe anything bad about his father. Of course he'd never known Brody as well, so maintaining hero worship came easier. And Dana went back and forth daily between understanding completely the pain her father had gone through and just feeling the pain of betrayal. None of that changed her statement one bit.

[posterboymarine]

"I know." And he did. But that didn't mean he could hold on to them the same way. He wouldn't be going home to them, even if he was cleared. That was over even before he'd gone on the lam.

[neverwrongagent]

There wasn't much more she could say about that. She had no kids of her own, the closest thing she has were her nieces. Maggie would go insane if she was apart from them like this. Carrie exhaled slowly. "I can't fix it. I can't make all the parts better, only some of them." She ran her hand over his bearded chin. "I thought I was working on the right ones."

[posterboymarine]

He slowly leaned back into her hand and nodded. "You are fixing the right ones." And he really believed that. He needed her to know he believed that, believed in her. And that, alone, kept him going.

"I can't help what I think about, Carrie. I can only help what I do."

[neverwrongagent]

She wasn't sure he did believe that, but she could only help that with what she did, too. "Then I guess we need to get you doing helpful things? Things that make it easier."

The cabin was supposed to be that.

[posterboymarine]

The cabin would be that. He pressed his lips to her hair. "When the sun comes up, we'll go looking. Probably time to move anyway."

[neverwrongagent]

She nodded slowly, letting the moment pass into practical matters. It was what they did that counted. "I'll help you find the new place. Get you settled. I can stay that long."

[posterboymarine]

After another moment he fully re-engaged with her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him. "Thank you."

[neverwrongagent]

She curled right up against him gratefully, snuggling in close and groaning with surprising pleasure for as tense as everything was. "You're welcome." She swallowed hard and whispered against his neck. "Thank you." Thank you for not leaving me, for not leaving with no word.

[posterboymarine]

He would have never left her in the dark, had he made that choice. He would have left word that she was free. That they both were. But he was still there and neither of them were free.

"Sleep."

[neverwrongagent]

She nodded, then shifted again slightly so she could stay right against him. Sleep would be good. They could reset themselves before doing anything else. And probably eat. "Sleep."

[posterboymarine]

With another long exhale, he closed his eyes. He could sleep, again. He could, given the opportunity, sleep for a week. As long as she didn't leave in the interim.