Chapter Twenty Six
A week passed in much the same way- Quinn worked hard at therapy- refusing to give in to the weakness of his body. He worked a few hours a day at Langley and then returned to his apartment to catch up on sleep, sometimes Max went with him and sometimes he just had the peace and quiet. He could feel that he was getting stronger, and he was managing to stay awake for longer each day as he had something to focus on, and a target to work towards. He was still more tired than he thought he should be- but he was trying to be patient. He sighed as he left the hospital- the crutches gone and his leg finally bearing some weight. He knew he was limping, he was in fact overly conscious of it, but he was moving and it was progress. He hailed a cab and headed into work, only stopping for a coffee on the way.
"Morning Max" he greeted as he stepped into the office and moved towards the screens in front of him.
"Hey Quinn" Max acknowledged surprised at how chipper the operative was. He was further taken aback when Quinn handed him a drink. "Thanks" he stated.
"Any change?" Quinn asked as he sat down carefully.
"Nope- Dar is apparently calling a briefing tomorrow morning" Max responded sipping at his coffee. "You know Carrie is back from leave today don't you?" he asked. Quinn sighed as he drank from his own drink before answering.
"Dar isn't authorising for her to be read in" he finally stated.
"Ha like that ever stopped Carrie" Max scoffed at the naivety of the statement.
"Yeah- but it will this time" Quinn stated, dragging himself to his feet and moving across to the monitors- hoping there would be a development soon.
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Carrie stepped through security at Langley and headed straight to her own office. She was well aware that Quinn was undoubtedly in the same building, but she also knew not to push him. He had sent her a few texts, so she knew he was safe and healing. Max had given her some updates too- not enough to breach Quinn's trust, but enough that she was reassured that he was eating and sleeping. She would be more reassured if she could actually see him with her own eyes, but she knew not to push. Whatever was going on in his head he needed to work through in his own time, and pushing him would get her nowhere, she knew that now.
She put her bag on her desk and headed straight to see Saul- she knew he had been overseeing something big while she had been on leave, she needed to get updated, she knocked lightly on the door and stepped in- bumping straight into Peter Quinn.
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Quinn sat down opposite Saul and rubbed his hands over his face, suddenly exhausted.
"Peter- don't you think you are pushing yourself a little but hard?" Saul warned him as he took in the appearance of the man he had become so fond of as the years had gone by. To say he had started off with no trust for the black ops specialist- he was now one of only a couple of people that he could genuinely say he trusted.
"I'm fine Saul" Quinn replied, his voice carrying a slight edge of warning. Saul sighed, knowing when he was going to get nowhere. "We need to start stepping this up" Peter stated. "Let me task Max and Virgil with some more digging?" he asked his hands tapping on the arm of the chair.
"What sort of digging?" Saul asked, his interest piqued.
"Just some data work on some sources I have gathered" Quinn replied vaguely. Saul sighed, this was where the black ops world frustrated him so much- the secrecy was beyond even his.
"Fine- but nothing over the line and nothing that can come back to bite you… or me for that matter" Saul warned. Quinn grinned in response.
"Understood" he replied as he got to his feet and moved to the door, just as there was a knock and it swung open to reveal Carrie stepping through it. He managed to control his features in the nick of time. Saul almost chuckled as he saw the younger man straighten his shoulders and adjust his weight to disguise the issues he was clearly still having with his damaged leg.
"Hey Carrie- welcome back" Saul greeted in and attempt to diffuse some of the obvious tension.
"Hey sorry, am I interrupting?" she asked looking between the two men.
"No not at all- I was just leaving anyway" Quinn stated, he smiled softly. "Good to see you Carrie" he added before heading out of the room, attempting not to limp and failing.
"How's he doing?" Carrie asked when he was far enough away that she was certain he wouldn't hear her.
"Pushing too hard, doing too much- but I am keeping him in line and Max is looking out for him too" Saul reassured her.
"Please tell me he isn't heading back into the field?" she asked as she sat down.
"No, not yet at least- but my money would be on him pushing for that soon. I can already tell he is getting itchy feet" Saul stated, verbalising his own concerns.
"And is there a deployment looming?" she asked.
"Not imminently, but I think if his plans pan out the team will be travelling back out in a few weeks" the senior agent commented as he leaned back.
"There's no way he'll be fit for the field by then Saul" Carrie warned, worried about the man that she cared so deeply for.
"He will need to be cleared by the agency doctor- and their assessments are no fun. But you know Peter- he will push himself to the brink to make sure he can go" Saul warned her. "And you know what happens if you try to stand in his way"
"That does not make me feel any better Saul" Carrie stated. "Can I get read in on what he is working on?" she asked.
"I am afraid not Carrie- Dar is leading on it and you are not on the list. Think he is worried it will end badly you two working together" he told her.
"yeah and he's probably right" she agreed reluctantly. "I just don't know how to get through to him" she commented.
"Why don't you take them some lunch? You can catch up with Max then as well" he told her. She grinned in response, not the ideal solution but better than nothing.
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Quinn scratched the back of his head as he spoke quietly into the phone. He was pacing and he knew it, but he needed to get this approach right if they were going to be able to act quickly.
Max watched him as he walked back and forth, amused but also pleased to see the other man so clearly focussed on healing even if it was for the wrong reasons as far as he was concerned. He had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach that before the month was out Quinn would be back dressed in black and on his way back to Syria or some other pit of despair- and he would be there willingly, doing what he thought was right and what he was born to do. He worried about his friend- if he would ever be capable of stepping away from the only life he had ever known, would he ever allow himself to be safe and live a 'normal' life? Max was almost certain he already knew the answer. He looked down as his phone flashed and he opened the text that had appeared, shaking his head at Carrie's persistence. He typed a quick response and sat back waiting for Quinn to finish on the phone.
"Hey- Carrie has brought some lunch in and asked us to go up to the conference room" Max told the other man hesitantly, caught by surprise when Quinn simply nodded.
"Sure- I just need to make another call" Quinn responded, barely looking up from the computer screen. "I just need to step out- I'll see you up there" he replied, heading slowly out of the room and leaving a confused Max behind him.
Max watched as he left, half doubting that the other man would in fact make it to lunch, but he had to take him at his word, so he put his phone in his pocket and headed out of the ops room, closing the door behind him
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Carrie looked up as the door opened, confused to see Max by himself.
"Quinn is just making a quick call" he told her with a shrug of his shoulders and she nodded, not totally convinced that the other man would even appear- but her doubts were cast aside as the man himself stepped through the door.
"Sorry- it was an important call" he stated as he headed in and poured himself a coffee. Carrie grinned at the familiar action and took a moment to assess the appearance of the man that meant so much to her. He was still way too skinny, and his skin was still pale- but his eyes carried more life and he was up and on his feet. She was proud of the progress he had made, he had to have worked hard to get himself this far, and that took grit. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised given how stubborn he always was.
"No worries- I got your usual" she told him handing him the sandwich she had chosen and he smiled.
"Thanks Carrie" he commented as he accepted it and sat down- unwrapping the food and taking a bite. "You good?" he asked her.
"Yeah, good break but its good to be back" she replied as she bite into her own food.
"You working anything interesting?" Max asked her as he bit into his own lunch.
"No- just catching up on the usual build up from being off work" she told him with a roll of the eyes, and Quinn laughed at her.
"You doing anything tonight?" he asked her, finally making eye contact and she felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes.
"No- just the usual" she replied. "Why do you need something?" she asked in confusion.
"Well Max is great company for takeaways- but I thought you might feel like dinner with me?" he offered with a slight grin.
"Well a microwave meal in my PJs is stiff competition- but I suppose just to help you out. That would be nice Quinn" she stated with a soft smile.
"Great- I'll pick you up at seven" Quinn told her getting to his feet and scrunching up what was left of his sandwich and throwing it in the bin, but taking his coffee with him. "Thanks for lunch" he commented as he headed out of the door.
"Well that was unexpected" Max stated as soon as the other man was out of ear shot and Carrie couldn't help but agree.
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Quinn smiled as he finished off the last steps of his plan. If this worked out they would be ready to strike within the next two weeks, he needed to be ready. He placed his laptop in his bag and slung it over his shoulder whilst grabbing his coffee cup with the other.
"Don't stay too late Max" he warned as he headed out.
"Have a nice dinner" Max commented with a grin. Quinn kept walking, he needed to hit the gym for an hour before he want home, and he needed to update Rob. He smiled to himself, at least things were falling into place, and dinner with Carrie should prove interesting.
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"So Peter has asked you out to dinner? In person and of his own free will?" Maggie asked in surprise.
"Yep- he is even picking me up" Carrie replied as she brushed through her newly straightened hair.
"Wow- has he had another head injury?" her sister asked with a grin.
"Funny Maggie, real funny" she responded with an eye roll, but she couldn't help but agree that it was out of left field.
"Did he say where he was taking you?" she asked, sensing her sister's nerves.
"I have no idea" Carrie responded with a groan.
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Quinn finished tying the knot on his tie and headed out. He had managed to make a last minute reservation and was actually looking forward to a nice evening with Carrie. He set off right on time and pulled onto the drive at Maggie's. He adjusted his jacket and headed to the front door knocking politely.
Maggie opened the door and smiled when she saw the man stood in the porch.
"My Peter- you look far better than the last time that I saw you" Maggie greeted him with a smile, pleased to see him looking so well- relatively anyway.
"Thanks Maggie- I got these for you" he told her handing her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. "Thanks for putting up with me when I stayed" he told her shyly. Maggie gasped in surprise.
"Oh Peter they are beautiful, thank you" she told him, taken aback by the gesture. He smiled, glad that she liked them.
"I appreciate the care that you showed, you didn't have to do that, but it means a lot" he told her softly. He meant it- he knew he wasn't very good at expressing himself when it mattered, but he needed Maggie to know he appreciated it. Maggie smiled, lost for words as the sweet man in front of her practically blushed.
"Hey" Carrie greeted as she stepped towards the door, smiling as she took in his appearance.
"You look beautiful" he told her, bending forward and kissing her gently on the cheek.
"Thank you- you look pretty hot too" she replied before she could stop herself. Quinn snorted at the comment before leading her to his car and opening her door.
"Where are we going?" she asked as he set off.
"I booked us a table at Agora- is that ok?" he asked her as he drove.
"Wow Greek? it's meant to be amazing there" she replied, impressed with his choice. He nodded glad she approved and most of the rest of the journey passed in silence.
As soon as they arrived he used the valet parking and they headed into the restaurant, his hand resting in the small of Carrie's back- a comforting gesture that she found so natural it was bizarre. They sat down in a quiet corner of the restaurant and Quinn took a good look at Carrie.
"We should have done this sooner" he told her as he sipped at his glass of wine. She smiled in response, he was right they should have and then maybe they would have never got in the mess they were currently in.
"Why did you ask me tonight?" she queried, drinking her own wine.
"I don't know- I guess I just realised we were wasting time and for no reason" he told her. She was shocked by his statement, he was right, but she had never expected him to say it.
"So what happens now?" she asked him, her eyes locked on his.
"We have a nice dinner out, a kiss goodnight and then we see what happens. That's what normal people do isn't it?" he stated with a grin.
"Well what is normal?" she asked with a laugh.
"It's whatever we make it" he replied, and his face was soft, but serious and she had never loved him more.
End Chapter Twenty Six