Disclaimer: I do not own Homeland, or any of its characters or plots. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners.
The second day of Carrie at Langley was very much like the first one. Only this time Saul was nowhere to be found, not even when the team gathered for the briefing, and someone mentioned that he had flown to Kabul the night before. "He must be checking how things are on the field," she thought to herself while she was going through the last information they had about Haqqani, which wasn't much. It seemed like he had wiped off the face of the earth, and she wished that it meant that his plans to attack on American soil had been put on hold for the time being. But she was not that naive to think that he had the means and power to make it happen from whatever remote location in the mountains of Afghanistan he might be hiding in.
By the time she had gone through the last part of the report it was already time to go home. During all the time she had been with the CIA, she had been the first one in and the last one out, usually with Saul and Quinn if they were on the same assignment. Very often she would not go home for days. In fact, during her years working for the Agency she had become a real workaholic. "I'll never get used to this," she thought while she gathered her things and her purse and told her colleagues to call her if there was any news. "I'll be here in less than twenty minutes," she had added, and immediately felt a pang of guilt. For the first time since she had left the CIA years ago, Carrie was putting her job before her family. That certainly had not happened while she had been working as a high school teacher. While most of the other teachers and staff usually stayed a little longer, she would be already on her way out as the bell rang for the end of the last class of the day. Now that she was back to the Agency she realised that she had never really adjusted to her civilian job, and she felt really happy to be back, which brought up more guilt.
Yet not only was she putting her job first before her daughter and her husband, but she also felt that she was dishonoring the deal Quinn and she had made almost three years ago. Back then, his determination to lead a normal life had been the ultimate reason that had brought them together after years of working as a team on the field. She had really treasured the life they had built together as a family and would not have traded it for anything, but now that she was back she had no doubts that their lives were bound to change. There was a lot at stake and she understood now that there was no way she could help track Haqqani down and stop his plans only with a part-time job. At least she needed a regular working schedule, like her colleagues had. Otherwise, at this pace, it would take ages to make some progress.
She hesitated as she walked through the parking lot and hopped in her car. That would mean not being able to pick up Franny from school, and probably not being home to cook dinner on a daily basis. Even missing her daughter's bath and bedtime stories. "I'm sure Quinn will take care of all that, I'll take over on the weekends," she tried to reassure her sudden decision. As he had told her soon after they met, Peter was 'reliable'. And since then he had proven to her that he was over the years, not only when they had been working together, but also when they had started sharing a home. "He said he supports me 100%," she remembered to herself while she drove onto the road as she tried to silence the little voice at the back of her mind that kept screaming that Quinn would not be happy at all with that arrangement.
Meanwhile, totally oblivious to Carrie's current thoughts, her husband was trying to focus on the files that sat on his desk in front of him. He had been that way all morning long, and was finding it very difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. He had always been very much disciplined at work, but today he was totally distracted. "Thank God I'm not on a mission; if I were I'd get killed for sure," he thought as he again reviewed his working schedule for the day. His mind kept wandering to the image of Carrie telling him about her first day back at Langley. Or, more precisely, to her tears and obvious angst while doing so.
Quinn almost laughed when he recalled how worried about her he had been a week ago. Back then he had been really concerned that her discontent about her civilian job could end up triggering a depressive episode. Carrie had been on her meds and mentally stable for the last two years, which was something she had not been able to achieve before since she had been diagnosed during her freshman year in college. Actually he took pride in being part of her health wellness and the mere thought that her teaching job could risk it made him sick with worry. Now, only a few days later, he wished that was all he would have to deal with, instead of her new job with the CIA and everything that it entailed. The possibility of a mental crisis was much higher now than it had been when she had been a U.S. history teacher. He knew firsthand that the worst experiences of her life had taken place in Kabul and Islamabad, and she would have to be reliving them over and over again from her desk at Langley.
But it was not just the Agency and the repercussions it may have on her mental health. Guilt and remorse washed over him every time he remembered that he had lied to her, hiding Dar Adal's threats to make her go back, and, even worse, pretending to support her decision to help track Haqqani down. Peter had always gone to great lengths to protect her; once he even shot at her in order to do so, like he kept saying to himself now, but he felt that this was much worse. He felt he had just dishonored their deal to start a family together, and, in addition to all that, something was telling him that she would never forgive him if she ever found out.
That idea, that she should never ever find out about it, led him to grab his cell phone and pull up Dar's number. He would never do it for him, but he was determined to protect Carrie at any cost.
"I'm glad you called, Peter," Adal answered after the first tone, like if he had been waiting for the call. He had hoped that his former protégé would contact him sooner or later.
Quinn scoffed. "I'm sure you are,.."
"Like it or not, I know you better than anyone, Peter…" Dar said on the other side of the telephone line, and Quinn shivered. He didn't like to be reminded of that.
"Don't fucking flatter yourself…" Maybe calling Adal had been a mistake, but at least he had to try.
"Yes, you were my best soldier, and I knew how to get the best of you on the field... But to do that I had trained you first…" Dar trailed off.
Quinn sighed. He had not called his former mentor and boss to get into a fight. There were many things Peter could hold against him, but it was not the right time. Not while Carrie was back working for them and he needed to ask a favor from him. In fact, two favors. So he decided to change his tone, not for Adal, but for his wife. "Yeah, and I don't want you to think that I'm not grateful for all of that, Dar, but my life's changed over the years…"
Dar sighed. "Believe me, I know that… Every time I think of you playing house with Mathison I…"
Definitely the Black Ops director knew how to push Quinn to the limit. "I'm not fucking playing house with her. We're married, and we're raising a family together…" the latter explained.
Adal sighed again. "Whatever you wanna call it, Peter… What do you want? I've got a meeting in five minutes…"
"I… I've got a favor to ask…" Quinn managed to say as he tightened the grip on his cell.
"A favor…" Dar laughed out loud. "I never thought I'd live to see the day… I'm all ears, Peter…" he added, delighted. His intervention in dragging Carrie back to Langley was paying off even sooner than he had expected.
"I know you don't like Carrie…" he started. To say that Dar Adal had never liked Carrie Mathison was an understatement, as he had always seen her as an obstacle for all his goals during the multiple operations they had both been involved in, and ultimately had blamed her for Quinn's change of life. Too selfish to consider anyone's point of view but his, he had never cared to know how Peter felt about the life he had been leading since he was sixteen. Dar just considered him his star assassin, a key asset in his chessboard, and that is why he had been so shocked to learn that Quinn actually wished to leave all that behind.
"I don't really know where you got that impression, Peter…" Dar feigned to be offended.
"Whatever, Dar… Will you keep an eye on Carrie for me, please? I'd also really appreciate it if you never tell her about the way you managed to get her on board again..."
Dar chuckled. "She's a big girl…"
"I know, but… the thing is…" Dar already knew enough about his life, and Quinn surely wasn't willing to share Carrie's issues with him.
"You worry she'll relapse? Her mental health I mean..." Adal casually mentioned in a soft voice, like if he really cared.
Silence could be heard on the other side. He hated to acknowledge that Dar was one of the people that knew him best, but it was true.
"Is that it, Peter?" Dar inquired again.
"How the fuck you know that?" was all that Quinn could muster in a barely audible voice.
Dar chuckled again. "You, of all people, asking that question… I taught you better Peter…"
"Will you keep an eye on her, or not? I know that you don't like her, but..."
Dar snorted. To say that he had never liked Ms Mathison was an understatement. He had always seen her as the main obstacle for all his goals during the multiple operations they had both been involved in, and ultimately had blamed her for Quinn's change of life. Too selfish to consider anyone's point of view but his, Dar had never cared to know how Peter felt about the life he had been leading since he was sixteen. He just considered him his star assassin, a key asset in his chessboard, and that is why he had been so shocked to learn that Quinn wished to leave all that behind. Nevertheless, he had helped him in his civilian job, hoping to be in his good graces for the case he would end up returning to his old life. As always, taking the long view and playing both sides of the fence. And now he was asking him a favor.
"Don't worry Peter, I will. And I won't tell her about our little secret either. As long as you keep an eye on her for me…" The idea had taken shape very quickly in his mind once Quinn had asked for a favor. Two favors, indeed. This was a golden opportunity to gather inside information from Saul's team and use it to his own advantage, and he was not going to let it go once it had presented itself in the form of Peter Quinn, no less.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked, nearly yelled, surprised at his former mentor's request. Was Dar really asking him to spy on Carrie? But was there anything else he could do to protect her?