(no subject)

[kayip]

Behrooz isn't sure why he had to be the one to show up for this – it's a little after five in the morning and he has to go to work in a few hours. And he'd really like to sleep sometime before then. But the phone call had woken him up – Malik instead of Firuz this time, and Behrooz couldn't ignore the fact that he wanted to try to know more about the Caucasian member.

But the man isn't talking very much at the moment – just typing something on that stupid computer while Behrooz tries to not fall asleep while staring at his dashboard. Since Malik has inconveniently decided to turn the computer screen in a direction Behrooz can't see, he instead lets his eyes wander around the car, finally settling on the backseat.

And then below it, the space between it and the drivers seat – less sharp eyes wouldn't see much more than a silvery speck, but Behrooz saw it quite clearly.

A military dog tag. He's about to attempt to inconspicuously lean further to try to see the name on it, but Malik calls him.

"Orhan, there's a box in the trunk, get it out and put it in the backseat." Behrooz doesn't answer before getting out, and the box in the trunk is heavy, but he's pretty sure Malik is watching him in the rear view mirror so he doesn't hesitate or try to look inside, just tries to make it look like it's less work than it is. Malik is already leaning over his seat to shuffle though it when Behrooz joins him up front, and he returns to his work with what looks like a palm pilot. Behrooz looks outside the window now, instead – the parking lot is huge, and no one would show up for hours.

"You didn't bring me here to shoot me, right?"

If Behrooz had been expecting much of a reaction from that, he wouldn't have said it – and Malik doesn’t look up from his work.

"Firuz is worried about you. He wants you to do what you can before it's too late."

And Behrooz leans against the window instead of answering.


*


"The IAA released a statement."

"They've kind of been doing that every day." Sareh rolls her eyes at him, leaning her head in her hand as she sat behind the counter with the newspaper open on top of it. She paused to ring up a few boxes of cereal for the woman that had been coming in every day recently, before returning her eyes to the paper. Behrooz didn't look away from stacking up cans.

" – this course of action is truly unconscionable, and as a Muslim organization, we cannot tolerate oppression in any form –"

"I'm sure that's going to go well," Behrooz interrupts, returning to the front as he finishes restocking the aisle. Sareh shrugged.

"Logan's press secretary called it extremist. Anyway, they say it would be unIslamic to voluntarily – comply – "

She stutters off for a moment, just staring at the paper, and Behrooz just watches for a second before saying, "It's going to be ok, you know?" And she deftly nods, before closing the paper and turning on the tv, instead.

" – this comes one day after Palmer's controversial address in Seattle –"

"Oh God – " she covers her mouth with her hands, and Behrooz takes in the words like a blow to the stomach, leaning on the counter for support. The two others in the store look over, and for a moment, they're all just frozen.

" – the former president and presidential candidate was shot and killed this morning – "

And he can hear the words from behind her fingers, as quietly as she tries to keep them.

"- na, na – lotfan"


*


"But you didn't see his name?"

"No, I couldn't get a better look at it without him noticing."

"So, we've got a young white guy who at least used to be in the military?"

Behrooz looks at the ground, not responding to the condescension, mainly because he knows the man is right – that's not exactly a lot of help.

"Besides, if your friends take much longer, they'll all be locked up before they can do anything, anyway?"

And Behrooz does think about this for a moment, leaning against the car and watching the dim lamplight on the pavement, before looking up.

"Why?" They both turn their attention more directly to him, almost a little disbelievingly, before he begins to speak again. "Why would they? What shows that they're Muslim? Two of them don't even look Middle Eastern, and they use fake names. They haven't shown up near a mosque in months, I don't know if they were ever even inside one, and they wouldn't be stupid enough to join the IAA or something, it's like saying 'please investigate me.'"

They don't answer at first, until the man sort of stutters out, "That's – well, we know from you."

"I just made a guess," Behrooz answers.

And after another moment when they're both without answers, without solutions, he asks quietly, "It won't catch anyone, will it?"

"Something has to happen," the man answers back. "These attacks aren't stopping – "

"And one of them was against the only person who's been against your plan." Behrooz knows it's unfair to pinpoint what the politicians were doing on this one agent, but the man's face doesn't change.

"Whatever we have to, Behrooz."

It feels far too ambiguous.