Quinn looked at the list in silence while Saul cleared his throat, each of them adhering to the code of behaviour for sober males that dictated they should immediately pretend that the incident with the tears and the sort-of hug hadn't happened. The CIA had been decimated. Many rising stars had been killed. He looked at Saul and wondered where the next generation would come from, because Saul for one didn't look like her had anything much left in him to give. Quinn ran his eye over the names of those who had been hospitalized. "I tell you whose name I don't see.", said Quinn.

"Yes. It is easier to work by exception, I got to admit." Saul replied. "Brody. As yet unaccounted for. The device, however, was located in his car.".

"You think he was sitting on top of it when it detonated?" asked Quinn.

"He better hope he was.", said Saul, grimly. "Forensics are working on it, it could be a while.".

"What CCTV evidence do we have?", Quinn thought aloud.

Saul sighed. "Very little so far. The cameras and the entire system in the immediate area were knocked out, they're trying to recover what they can but they're not giving me much hope as yet. As for witnesses, we have a handful of people in hospital, some in surgery, some critical, none in any position to talk right now. We have statements from some aides and staffers in the building that were clear of the auditorium . And we have Carrie. She said she saw it go up from the window. She was in no state to discuss it last night, she knows Brody is probably dead..."

"And probably responsible?", added Quinn.

"Most probably. We didn't cover that, it was too soon, even for her." replied Saul. "I'm not sure how she's going to cope. She got too close to him again.".

Quinn nodded solemnly. There was a short silence.

"They're sending me some agents, a couple of analysts, an ops officer who had her leave cancelled. They should be here later today. And so, we start again." He looked exhausted, resigned.

"You should get some rest too, you know. While you can. I, uh, need to go right now, there's a thing I need to do. I'll only be an hour or so I hope, but I can come back later? See where we're up to, what they've turned up by then?". Quinn got to his feet and started towards the door.

Saul pushed back in his chair and fixed a stare on Quinn. "Tell Dar Adal I said bon appetit, won't you?" He watched Quinn's face drop. "I know why you were really on the payroll. Estes wanted Brody eliminated because of what he knew. I was next on the list, apparently. He changed his mind though. Or he had his mind changed for him. Did you have anything to do with that?"

Quinn rolled his eyes and took a step forward, not knowing how much he should own up to. "Maybe.", was all he was prepared to venture at this stage.

"Perhaps Estes was right to call you in. If things hadn't changed course, then maybe we wouldn't have wound up here." Saul suggested.

Quinn couldn't work out why Saul was not more furious with him. "But things did change course. And I'll live with it for the rest of my life." He looked to the floor.

"Which might not be so long once Dar Adal catches up with you." Saul paused. "If Brody did this, he didn't act alone. The fact that he did it is almost less valuable than than who he was when he did it, the fact that they can attribute it to him. That fucking video. It was a huge fucking PR exercise. Sure, over 200 U.S. government agents have lost their lives, credible targets as far as Al-Qu'aeda is concerned - chalk them up - but the real gold here is that their new poster boy is a white, American, marine, a pillar of our community. The psychological magnitude of this cannot be underestimated. Nazir may have put Brody up to it, torturing him, indoctrinating him over years, putting a cell in place to act as decoy, then another still to support the attack, but how could he have been so supremely confident that it would all go off exactly as he had planned, even after he had martyred himself so we dropped our guard? Brody didn't go through with it the first time, after all. Nazir had to come up with a new plan. If you had spent so long preparing something as meticulously, something with so many variables, your magnus opus, wouldn't you feel the need to be around to see that the button was actually pressed this time?".

Quinn felt relieved to see that the old Saul had finally come back into the room, suddenly claiming back the shell of the man that had had him so worried this morning.

"But you buried him at sea. So we're looking for another commander. Nazir's number two?" surmised Quinn.

"I don't know. But we are sure as hell going to find out. When he is done with his breakfast and tearing you a new asshole, you tell Dar Adal that you owe me. You both owe me. I'll talk to him myself to square it with him, if I have to. Truth is, I need you Quinn. I'm on my ass here. I don't have too many options right now and I'll take whatever I can get. We need to go hard at Roya Hammad and I also need you to to keep an eye on Carrie. But I require loyalty. Those 206 people deserve loyalty. Agreed?"

Quinn nodded, chastened. "I'll call you.", he said quietly before leaving the office.

Outside the building, the acrid smell of the bomb site on the breeze made its way back into his nostrils, making him shudder. In the parking lot Quinn found Carrie rooted to almost the same spot he had stood in. He called her as her approached but she didn't seem to hear him. He repeated her name over and over as he got closer, eventually reaching out his arm to touch her gently on the back, so as not to make her jump. As Carrie turned to face him, he saw the tears pooling in her eyes breach her lids.

Quinn pulled her to him and she hung on tight. Somehow hugging women didn't feel awkward to Quinn, whether he was trying to get them into bed or not. For a second, Carrie pretended he was Brody but he didn't feel right, didn't smell right.

"I've never been so pleased to see you, Mathison.", Quinn said quietly to her.

Carrie broke loose. "You're never pleased to see me.", she said.

"You'd be surprised.", he replied. "I've just seen Saul. He has a new office around the corner - it's fancy. Here, I'll show you.". He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders, slightly protectively, making sure that she was really, truly there and not just a hologram generated by his guilty conscience.

They walked slowly. "Why are you being so...nice?". she asked, suspiciously.

He stopped in front of her and looked at her pointedly. "Well, I figure that you've been through rather a lot just lately. So I thought I'd give you a break. I guess I'm all heart."

Carrie frowned. He was obviously referring to Brody. She couldn't handle it. "Well cut it out. It's weird and it doesn't become you."

He smiled, all was not lost. "Listen. Saul. He's kind of in a bad way. I'm not at all surprised, given the night he's had. He's pretty much all alone with this. He had to brief the President, for Christ's sake, and you can imagine how that went down. He, uh, just keeps spacing out. The guy just needs some sleep. But he'll listen to you, so make sure he takes care of himself.".

"Sure.", said Carrie. Half her mouth moved upwards. A smile of sorts. "Thanks, Quinn.".

Quinn wished people would stop thanking him, it made him feel worse.