Apparently, when I try to write a story that's not 98% about Sarah, I fail epically. So we're gonna try that.
I don't own Chuck or Barnes and Noble, but Amy Taylor is all mine. Enjoy, and reviews are ALWAYS! welcome.
Thanks as usual to my trusty beta-boy, Redfield.
The sweet smell of new books was in the dusty air. Eighteen year old Amy Taylor walked leisurely down the aisles of the Burbank Barnes and Noble. Her freshman year at Stanford would begin in just a few short weeks, and she needed to fulfill her booklist. She wore her usual uniform of dark jeans, a violet t-shirt, and running sneakers. Her amber hair twisted in her ponytail, catching the light and leaving a path through the dust motes in the air.
After walking past a lanky man with curly brown hair and a C++ book and his gorgeous blonde girlfriend, Amy ran into a tall, burly gentleman with a stone jaw but kind blue eyes, who helped her reach for a volume on a tall shelf. The two men and one woman, along with any outside observer, would say she hardly knew these three, and her portrayal of a grateful student was perfect, but she took careful note of their minute movements.
Amy was just perusing the listed book for her Psychology lecture, aimlessly reading the introduction and contemplating buying a coffee, when the lights blinked out. Screams rose up from the depths of the stores, most likely from immature children. The loudspeaker crackled on.
"Attention, Barnes and Noble employees and customers. This is a warning- in just a few short moments, this store will be the victim of a merciless attack. If you leave now, you will be spared. Please, have a nice day." The voice that made the announcement over the silent store was deep, but smooth, like velvet. Amy recognized it immediately. It took almost a full thirty seconds before panic ensued. The customers and employees mixed as they sped from the store, but Amy Taylor didn't run.
She dropped into a crouch, leaving her backpack hidden on a shelf. She was moving, silently and catlike along the aisle towards the center of the store when she heard the distinct sound of a safety being released right around the corner. She moved slightly faster. Muttering reached her ears, filled with frustration and anxiety.
"Well, what do I do with this? I wish I'd stayed in the car!" Amy had one moment of puzzlement, and then a small smirk graced her features. She rounded the corner and stood up straight, to see the same lanky, brown haired man fumbling with a gun. Her eyes widened- the safety was off. With just one movement of a finger, he could blow himself to bits. She rushed up to him and before he could even move, disarmed him, put the safety back on, and put the gun into her waistband in one fluid movement. She jumped back out of his arm's reach and quickly issued him a command.
"Chuck, if you want to live, please follow me. If you have comm tech with Casey, tell him to meet us at the main door. Quickly, please." Amy's teenage voice sounded strange giving orders to someone so much older than her, but she saw instant trust in his eyes.
"How do you -? My watch-? What? …Okay." His features shifted from scared, to confused, to acceptance. He spoke into his watch hurriedly.
"Casey, meet me at the front doors, I have a plan. Just meet me, okay!? Lead the way."
Amy grabbed his hand and quickly pulled him along. She slid around corners and through aisles like an oil slick, while Chuck bumbled along next to her. If it hadn't been for her quick reflexes- not to mention searing looks- he'd have knocked over his fair share of dusty volumes. They finally reached the front door, where the same large man was waiting.
Casey immediately leveled his gun at Amy, who ducked, and Chuck waved Casey off.
"She knows us, I don't know how or why, but I think she knows what's going on here."
Even under the penetrating stare that John Casey had perfected, Amy didn't flounder.
"I'll explain it, I promise. Right now, we need to get Sarah and go before-"
At that exact second, a call for Chuck rang out, followed by a gunshot and a terrible scream. Chuck's eyes widened and he started for the origin of the piercing shriek, but Casey grabbed his arm.
"No, Chuck. She's fine, I'm sure." Casey looked at Amy quickly, communicating that she had better have a damn good reason that Casey had left his partner to go get Chuck.
"Listen, I promise I will explain it. Here's the plan. I know this store like the back of my hand, and I'm going to go get Sarah. You need to either take cover here or go get the car ready. The "attack" is just a rouse; you will not be losing innocent lives if you leave now. I'm going to get Sarah, please be ready because I'm afraid she'll need medical attention." At that, she took off, running in the same free-form manner that Chuck knew Bryce used to. She leapt over tables, threw herself through openings in guard rails, and landed in choreographed rolls. She looked over her shoulder just once, to see that Casey and Chuck were staring at her openmouthed before Casey grabbed Chuck's shoulder and started to pull him towards the door. Satisfied, she turned around and stumbled to a halt.
Sarah Walker was lying on the floor behind a comfy armchair, clutching at her calf. Her hands were stained with blood. Her eyes, which had been shut tight against the pain, snapped open, and she scrambled to get into a defensive position.
"No! It's okay, I'm a friend. You're hurt. Keep your hands on the wound and I swear I'll get you out, ok?" Hesitation reined in Sarah's cobalt eyes.
With a massive effort, Sarah spit out, "Prove it." Amy hesitated but then suddenly, it came to her.
"I'm here for the toga party." She didn't even wait for Sarah to nod. She pulled her up from the floor and hooked one arm around her shoulders.
"Can you put any pressure on it?" Sarah touched softly to the floor, and although her muscles locked up in pain, she nodded. Together, they ran the twisted three-legged race to the doors. Thankfully, they didn't run into any enemy operatives, and when they got out the front entrance, she ran instinctively to the royal blue Crown Vic.
Casey helped move Sarah into the backseat with Chuck, and Amy, before anyone could react, leapt into the front seat next to Casey. He only looked at her incredulously for a second before a moan from Sarah and a growl from Chuck prompted him to rev the engine and peel out onto the road. He sped for the nearest highway and gunned it down the nearly empty road. The three coherent people in the car breathed silent sighs of relief that the roads were conspicuously empty of L.A traffic. Amy kept her eyes up front to avoid questions, Casey kept stealing glances at the miniature companion in the front seat, and Chuck had eyes only for Sarah. She was bathed in sweat with streaks of blood, and she grabbed Chuck's hand so hard her knuckles were white and he was sure to have bruises.
Casey grabbed Sarah over his shoulders when they finally made it to the hospital. The four of them barged into the emergency room, Casey grunting, Amy looking around furtively to check the scene, and Chuck screaming for help for Sarah.
After the initial hustle, bustle, and anxiety that came with Sarah's entrance to the hospital, it was determined that she would be fine. Chuck had nearly collapsed with the relief of it, and Casey had even run his hands through his hair and nodded. They had both gone to sit in the waiting room because the doctors said Sarah's room needed to be absolutely empty so she could rest. The only bump on that path was when Casey had asked why the hell Amy was in that particular Barnes and Noble at that particular time. She had responded by simply saying she was in the area. Amy, finally alone, sat on the floor outside Sarah's room.
She refused to sleep. All night, she sat up, her eyes burning, her mind wheeling faster every second. 'I revealed myself to them…Casey is going to KILL me…what am I going to do?' At around five in the morning, after a few snatches of closed eyes but nothing restful, Amy heard a quiet cough from inside Sarah's room. Having been through a few hospital stays herself, she leapt to her feet and tiptoed into the room to pour Sarah some water. She had just placed the water silently on the side table when she heard Sarah's pillows rustle.
"Chuck?" Amy blinked.
"No, I'll go get him for you." Amy turned to go, but Sarah's voice stopped her again.
"Wait," she muttered, still groggy from the pain meds, "Who are you?" Amy turned slowly to see Sarah brushing the sleep from her eyes.
"I think I should answer those types of questions for your whole team. I'll just go get Chuck for you."
"No, I need answers. Just sit down and tell me and then you can go get Chuck."
"Um…okay." It was at times like these, when Amy was incredibly nervous, that she sounded most like a teenager. "I told Casey I was in that Barnes and Noble because I was in the area. What I didn't tell him was…I'm in the area because," Amy swallowed nervously and looked away from the blonde agent. Sarah wrinkled her brow in puzzlement. This girl, this teenager, had pulled her out of a building with a gunshot wound, without betraying a hint of fear. And now, at simply speaking, she looked about ready to be sick. "Because I'm being assigned to your team."
Sarah's jaw dropped in shock. Amy looked down and started to explain. "I'm…well, I was, what's called a junior operative. We were part of the,"
"The Underage Agents program?"
"Yes. I'm trained currently in hand to hand combat, stealth and escape tactics, and information retrieval. But I just turned eighteen, and that makes me a fully operational agent. They want me trained in knife tech, weapons tech, and InfiltrationandInducement ofEnemy Personnel."
"They want you trained in seduction? At eighteen?"
"Yes."
"But…why send you here? Why send you to the most successful team of the joint security branches of the government?"
"Well…they gave me this letter to read to you so I wouldn't have to tell you myself." Amy opened up a slip of paper that she pulled from her back pocket. "To: Amy Taylor. RE: Sarah Walker. Agent Taylor, you have, at the time of the writing of this letter, turned eighteen years old and become a legal citizen of the United States of America. As such, you are now a fully operational agent. This letter is to inform you of your first assignment. As you know from your test scores at the Farm, you are one of the most promising agents the agency has seen in years. When taking this into account, the agency wants your first assignment to be with someone who had equal promise and also a similar," Amy stopped, blinked, and cleared her throat, "family background. As such, you've been assigned to work with Agent Sarah Walker and her team, whose information is enclosed in the dossiers attached. Agent Sarah Walker will be your," Amy paused again and looked up. "Mentor."
Should I continue?