He let his guard down the second he looked into her eyes. There she was, standing right in front of him, safe and vulnerable - and perfect. He didn't know what to do; he was still in ops mode but at the same time he wanted to grab her and kiss her and make sure she was alright. When he heard her say his name, he thought he might break all his rules right there. His feet must have made the decision for him, because he slowly took a few steps forward.
"Quinn.." Carrie moved towards him quickly, as she saw him start to close the gap between them. She practically jumped into his arms that he had extended to envelope her in.
Quinn hugged Carrie tightly, gun still in hand, but held onto her anyway. He cradled the back of her head with his left hand and held her tightly, for fear of losing her again. She buried her face in his shoulder as she allowed herself to cry, breathing quickly.
"I knew you were alive, I knew it.." she said, taking a deep breath, pulling back to look at him closely.
He looked down and noticed he had blood on him...it was from her. "Carrie? You're bleeding?" he looked at her in a panic and grabbed onto her arms, turning her around quickly, "Are you hurt? Do you feel anything?"
It was happening fast and she didn't even know if she had been hit. She took a breath and shook her head, "No... No. I am fine.. I don't think it's mine.."
Quinn unzipped the black canvas jacket she had on that had been sprayed by the other man's blood, when Quinn shot him. She hastily took it off, throwing it to the ground, leaving herself in a grey t-shirt. She shivered and Quinn could see her eyes starting to dart back and forth.
"Carrie, look at me." She tried to speak, tried to take in what had just happened, but couldn't. "Look at me." he said again, taking her face in his hands firmly. "We have to get out of here...now. I need to know you're ok to do this?"
Carrie stood frozen with him, her arms wrapped around her body to keep warm. "I am ok. Let's go." she told him and fought the urge to jump back into his arms, as he fought the urge to kiss her. He had to get her out of there first.
Quinn nodded and released her face, and Carrie picked up her gun from the ground, keeping it lowered at her side. Quinn took the lone candle off the table and threw it onto Carrie's discarded jacket.
"Stay close, stay behind me and if I say get down, you hit the ground as fast and hard as you can." Quinn told her as the jacket went up in flames. She nodded in response. She knew this is what he is good at, so now it was time just to listen.
Quinn grabbed her hand and took off for the window in the adjacent room. "I am going first, in case there are more of them out there." he told her, as he hoisted himself up and through the window. "Be careful.." Carrie said as she watched his feet disappear. The fire burned behind her, quicker than she thought.
Quinn appeared back in the window and extended his arms to her, "Grab onto me, let's go."
Carrie reached up to him, grabbing onto his strong arms, not realizing how muscular he actually was. He pulled her through the window like a rag doll until she was outside. "Agh! Ow! Fuck!" Carrie looked down at her torso and a shard of glass had cut her side as Quinn pulled her through the window and blood seeped through her grey tshirt.
Quinn looked at her, immediately concerned, "Are you ok?" he watched as she ran her fingers over her side, "It's fine, just a scratch."
He grabbed her hand, forcing her to keep moving as he looked all around them, his gun raised. They ran for a bit, until they reached the outskirts of the village. Quinn led Carrie off the road, across a rocky area that led to another clearing. He stopped suddenly and made her crouch down with him. Quinn removed a small flashlight from his pant pocket and flashed it several times.
" What are you doing?" She asked impatiently, holding her side as she remained crouched. Quinn ignored her and kept up what he was doing. Suddenly two headlights came out of nowhere, coming right towards them. "Quinn!" Carrie yelled to him, alarmed, pulling on his arm.
"Let's go." He hoisted her up off the ground and pulled her into a run. She wasn't even sure if her feet were touching the ground.
Quinn yanked open the back of the truck, as a man she didn't recognize met them in the rear. "I thought you didn't make it, I saw the fire from here." the man said frantically. Quinn had stronger alliances on the ground than Carrie did, it seemed.
"Well I am just glad you didn't leave." Quinn told him and he lifted Carrie into the back. There were several large crates, and the two in the front were full of chickens. Quinn's guy followed them up into the back of the truck and lifted open a long crate.
Quinn nodded and looked at Carrie, "Hurry, get in." he told her. She looked at him, wanting to ask if he was serious but knew he was. She climbed in and laid on her side. Quinn joined her, stretching his body next to hers, facing her. The crate was only meant for one person.
"You know how this goes." the man said to Quinn and shut the top of the crate on them. It was dark and they both breathed heavy from the running. Quinn clicked the flashlight on and placed it in between them, not that there was really any room. Their legs were pressed together and there was only a few inches separating their bodies.
"Let me see it." Quinn said, after caching his breath. She lifted her hand from her wound and Quinn gently lifted her shirt, revealing her milky white skin covered in fresh red blood. He examined it with the flashlight and Carrie nearly jumped at the touch of his hand on her skin. Quinn reached up and pulled off the scarf that was still around Carrie's neck. He balled it up and pressed it down on her cut. "Aggh!" She winced when he did it and he immediately felt bad. "I am sorry."
Quinn stared at her and held her side firmly, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
She shook her head, "I don't think so."
They stared at each other for a long time, not saying a word as Quinn kept pressure on her wound. She was almost scared to even say anything to him and felt nervous like a teenage girl. More than that, Carrie just felt happy to be looking at him and feeling his body heat against her.
"How did you find me?" She finally asked him quietly, not breaking their gaze.
"Does it matter?... I did." Quinn responded watching her eyes carefully. He knew she didn't like that response. "Saul told me you had gone looking for me."
At the mention of Saul's name, Quinn could feel Carrie immediately tense up. It must have been worse at home than he had thought. Quinn shifted on his arm and winced a bit. The side he was laying on was where he had been hit in Syria. He didn't want Carrie to lay on her injury, so he of course chose to endure pain so she wouldn't have to. She noticed his expression right away, and was immediately concerned.
"You're hurt?" Carrie asked and Quinn heard the concern in her voice, which he couldn't help but feel good about.
"It's nothing, I am fine." He told her and continued to hold his grip on the scarf against her side. She opened her mouth to debate him but he stopped her, "Carrie, I am fine."
They laid there in silence for awhile, the truck bouncing them around, hitting the dirt road hard. The crate they were crammed into stunk like chickens and there were stray feathers and straw everywhere. Carrie couldn't imagine what a mess she looked like; good thing he has seen me at my worst, she thought.
"Where are we going?" she finally asked him and adjusted herself a bit, moaning in pain.
He loosened his grip a tiny bit so she could move. He could barely stand to see her in pain. "Somewhere safe."
She stared at him for awhile and then shut her eyes tight, shaking her head a bit. This had been way too much for her to handle.
"Carrie, what is it? Are you in pain?" Quinn asked quickly, knowing she was about to cry.
Carrie opened her eyes, which were full of tears, "I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead.." She breathed in sharply, trying to gain her composure. "I heard the gun shots, I heard you get shot..." she stopped and swallowed hard, "I heard them leave you in Syria...you were hurt and they left you for dead.." she shook her head and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Quinn was in shock..she had heard everything that had been happening. She must have been terrified. He felt anger and then immediate regret for even going on the mission to begin with.
"Hey.." he moved his other arm and extended it out. Carrie lifted her head and allowed him to loop his arm under neck and back around her shoulder. He moved his hand up, still keeping his other steady on her wound, and gently wiped away some of her blonde hair that was in her face. She stopped crying at his touch. "I am sorry you went through that. I had no idea they told you I was dead, I swear." Quinn looked at her intently, "I would never let you feel the way you have."
Carrie looked at him closely, their faces just inches apart. Her mouth was dry and she felt like she couldn't even speak. She felt Quinn adjust his hold on her side, letting the pressure of his palm remain on her wound while he allowed his fingers to grip into her skin. He slowly pulled her body towards him, being careful not to hurt her. She didn't care if he did. He kept pulling until their bodies were pressed together tightly.
"I will never let anything happen to you and I will kill anyone who ever tries to hurt you." Quinn told her firmly, looking her dead in the eyes, his expression serious, yet soft. She believed him and she felt safe as a wave of emotions overcame her. He slowly closed the gap between them and pulled her into him, kissing her gently. Quinn pulled away looking at her carefully, he wasn't going to push. Carrie held his stare for a moment then reached out to him, pulling his face to hers and kissed him deeply, running her fingers through his hair. Their lips glided together and they desperately kissed each other, their tongues intertwining as Quinn thought how he never wanted to leave her again.
The truck hit a large bump in the road and jolted them hard, interrupting their perfect moment. They both groaned and looked at each other. "You ok?" Quinn asked her, growing impatient with the long ride. She nodded. He stared at her, still not believing how beautiful she looked in the dim light - and in that tshirt. Fuck, she must be freezing.
"Come here, get close to me." Quinn instructed her and helped pull her in as close as she could get to him. Her legs were wrapped up in his, their torsos aligned, and she lay in his shoulder, her mouth inches from his neck and he could feel her breath on his skin.
Quinn kissed her head and clicked off the flashlight, and they laid there in dark silence the rest of the ride. They didn't need to say anything else to each other at that moment.