"We're going to be late, Danny," Mel announced, looking at the clock.
"But I'm still hungry," he complained, fixing his tie. "You didn't let me get something to eat."
Mel grinned at him, "If I recall, you were eating out not that long ago."
"You know what I mean," Danny couldn't help but smile back, pulling the SUV into traffic.
"Fine, if you want to stop for food, you get to explain to Web why we were late to the meeting," Mel replied.
"I'll just tell him that you were horny," Danny told her, watching for a fast food restaurant he wanted to eat at. "Hey look! A Weinerlicious!" he announced suddenly, cutting Mel off before she could come up with a retort.
Mel rolled her eyes at her partner, knowing he would come up with a halfway believable story before they got back to the office. Spotting the Buy More across the parking lot from the restaurant, Mel had a brilliant idea. "I'm going to run into the Buy More and pick up some batteries," she told him, "I'll meet you back here in a couple of minutes."
"5 minutes," Danny agreed, pulling into a parking spot. "Any longer than that and Web will have us on desk duty for a month."
***
Mel hurried across the lot and into the Buy More, heading straight for the wall of flat-screen TVs. Danny's brand-new television had gotten dropped during the move, and its replacement would be a nice surprise when he got home at the end of the week. It only took her a moment to locate the television she was looking for and pull the pick-ticket. Just as she was about to look for an employee to help her, a short, scruffy man in a bright green polo approached her.
"Can I help you find anything today, ma'am?" the man asked, looking at the ticket in her hand.
"Yeah, I just need to get this TV ordered for delivery," she told him, handing him the ticket. "Don't bother trying to talk me into something more expensive or something I don't need; this is just a replacement."
"Alright, if you just come over to the computer with me, I can do that," he told her, leading her over to a computer near to the Nerd Herd kiosk.
Standing at the computer, Mel gave the salesman the information he asked for while she scanned the room, her training and instincts keeping her aware of what was happening around her.
She watched the tall, thin man who was sitting behind the kiosk, fiddling with a cell phone. He glanced nervously around the room from time to time, but would drop his gaze back to his task before Mel could figure out what he was looking for.
After a few minutes, a familiar bulk came up behind her and she quickly turned, trying to block the computer screen. "Danny, I…" she stopped mid-sentence, realizing the man behind her wasn't her lover. He looked uncannily like similar, down to exact shade of blue eyes and the strong, wide expanse of his shoulders. "Sorry, you just look like some I know," Mel apologized, stopping when he turned and fled.
"Did I say something wrong?" Mel asked the man who was helping her.
"Probably not," the man replied, taking her credit card and imputing the information. "Hey Chuck, why's Casey acting so weird today?"
"Um, don't know," the man at the kiosk replied, setting the cell phone down. "I'm going on my break," Chuck announced, moving off in the same direction as the Danny-clone.
"Are you almost done?" Mel asked the salesman, glancing out the glass windows towards the Weinerlicious.
"Almost," he replied. "Do you need someone to come install it?"
"Yeah, can you set that up for Friday morning?" she asked, keeping a sharp eye out for Danny.
"Sure," he clicked a few buttons, "Chuck will be there between 9 and 10."
The man had scarcely handed her a business card and a copy of her order before she was heading for the doors, having spotted her partner in the doorway of the Weinerlicious.
"Thanks," she told him with a smile, folding the papers and shoving them into her pocket.
"Anytime," the salesman called after her.
***
Danny entered the Weinerlicious looking to grab a quick corndog, not looking to wait in line for 10 minutes while a horde of teenage boys ogled the brunette working at the counter.
Finally all the boys had gotten their food and moved outside the restaurant to stare through the glass, but as soon as Danny stepped up to the counter the girl announced it was time for her to go home.
"Sarah, I'm leaving!" the girl called towards the back room, moving to the wall to clock out then making a beeline out of the restaurant.
Danny stood at the counter with his arms crossed and an annoyed scowl on his face, impatiently waiting for the other girl to come out and help him.
"Wel-," the pretty blonde stopped when she saw him. "Casey! What the hell do you think you're doing over here dressed like that?" she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she glared at him. "Do you want to blow your cover?"
"I don't know who you are, or what you're talking about," Danny raised his hands in surrender, his jacket falling open to reveal his badge and standard-issue Glock on his belt. "I just want two corndogs to go."
"Shit," Sarah swore softly, shoving two corndogs into a bag and sliding the bag across the counter before running into the back room.
"Shit," Danny swore in his head, knowing what was going on. He'd been mistaken for another agent. Grabbing the bag, he headed for the door, hoping that Mel would be ready to go. He needed to get back to the office and try to deal with what had just happened.
***
Chuck managed to catch up with Casey just as the last of the employees was running scared from the break room.
"What was that all about?" Chuck asked, shutting the door behind him.
"Nothing," Casey grunted in response, pulling his cell phone from his pocket.
"Casey," Chuck tried again, approaching the larger man who was skillfully avoiding him. "John," he placed his hand on Casey's shoulder and turned him partially around. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Morgan's been a little pale lately, maybe he's a ghost," Casey commented, trying not to look Chuck in the eye.
"Or the woman he was helping knew you from another assignment," Chuck offered, knowing that Casey had been acting normal until the woman had called him 'Danny'.
"I've never seen her before in my life," the agent replied honestly, making eye contact for the first time so that Chuck would know he was telling the truth.
"Ok," Chuck replied, running a hand down Casey's muscular arm. "I'd just hate for another of your ex-girl friends to show up again."
Wrapping his arms around Chuck's slender frame he pulled him close and placed a quick, chaste kiss on his lips. "Not going to happen," he mumbled against the warmth of Chuck's mouth, letting himself get lost in the sensations of the body pressed against him.
"Good," Chuck replied, kissing him hungrily.
Even as he poured himself into the kiss, Casey couldn't help but feel like it might be the last time. His cover had just been blown, and he was going to have to get in contact with the General as soon as his shift ended. Until then, he told himself, he could just enjoy the moment.
***
Mel reached the car at the same time Danny did, and the pair climbed in quickly, heading back to the office.
Danny was so preoccupied with thinking about what he'd have to do when he got back to headquarters that he didn't notice Mel returned empty handed. The corndogs, too, lay forgotten between the pair, his attention focused on the car in front of him.
"Did you come up with a plausible excuse?" Mel wondered aloud, trying to get his attention. He'd completely ignored her since they got in the car, and Mel was curious what had made him forget his food.
"What?" Danny asked, startled out of his thoughts. Glancing over at his partner, he tried to recall what she had just asked. "Oh yeah, another agent just blew their cover in front of me. I'll have to deal with that when we get back."
"Wait, what?!" Mel asked, surprised at the turn of events. "When did that happen?"
"In the Weinerlicious. An agent mistook me for another agent who was supposed to be undercover. She just blew both of their covers," he explained, not going into the details of how he knew what he knew, or how much he had been able to figure out just from the blonde's accusation.
"Wow, I'll tell Web what's going on," Mel told him, seeing how worried he was. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white, and the muscles in his arms were taut with tension. "It'll be fine," she tried to reassure him. "You didn't do anything wrong."
He grunted in response, going back to his thoughts as they made their way through the crowded streets of LA.
***
"Casey!" Sarah pounded on the locked door to the Buy More break room. "Chuck!"
An annoyed-looking Casey pulled the door open moments later, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her inside before locking the door again. "What the hell is wrong with you, Walker?" he snapped, his day going from great when he woke up with Chuck curled beside him, to progressively worse, and now Walker was screaming like the Apocalypse was upon them.
"Our covers were just blown, both of us," Sarah explained in a hurried voice. "We have to get to a safe house. Now. Then we can contact our superiors."
"Would you care to explain how our covers got blown, Agent Walker?" Casey asked snidely, hoping it wasn't his fault they were discovered.
"A guy came into the Weinerlicious dressed in a suit, and I swear he looks just like you Casey. I snapped at him about blowing our cover before I realized it wasn't you." Sarah took a breath before continuing, "I saw his badge and weapon, so he's definitely an agent, or officer, I just didn't get what branch."
"Good job, Walker," Casey snorted. "You'd think the CIA would train their agents not to go blabbing their mouths everywhere."
"How about instead of mocking me, you help me think of a way out of this?" Sarah replied sharply, irritated about how Casey was talking it as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Casey just rolled his eyes in response. "Well come on then," he told her and Chuck. Let's go deal with the mess you got us in."
The trio left the Buy More as covertly as possible, successfully avoiding Big Mike, who was in the process of looking for Chuck. Once outside they hurried to Casey's new vehicle, a black SUV.
"Where are we going?" Chuck asked once they were on the street, heading toward their destination.
"Don't worry about it yet," Casey told him, an edge to his voice, but Chuck knew it wasn't directed at him.
The three drove in silence, making their way through the congestion of traffic in the city.
***
Back at the VCU office, Mel headed into the conference room to apologize for their delay and explain Danny's absence.
Danny, meanwhile, had an empty office in which to make his call. Pulling up the number for the NSA office on his computer, he dialed the Washington DC office.
"Beckham," the phone was answered tersely.
"General," Danny greeted her. "This is agent Danny Love, Los Angeles FBI."
"Hello Agent Love," the woman's voice warmed ever so slightly. "What can I do for you?"
"I just need to report that a blonde agent working undercover at a Weinerlicious blew both her cover, and John Casey's cover about an hour ago," Danny explained quickly, knowing she hated it when people didn't get directly to the point.
"You witnessed this, Agent?" she asked, trying to clarify.
"Yes, we were alone in the restaurant when she mistook me for Agent Casey, and revealed both of them to be agents before she realized I'm not Casey," he elaborated. "I don't know her alias or what branch she works for, but I know John Casey is one of yours, so I contacted you first."
"Thank you, Agent," the General replied. "Did you make your identity known to Agent Walker? Does she know you're a federal agent?"
"I did not, General," Danny told her, "she ran before I could tell her."
"Thank you for your concern, Agent Love. I just received word that they are on their way to FBI headquarters to make contact with you. Apparently Agent Walker went straight to Agent Casey and he figured out what happened," she told him. "Please have them contact myself and Director Graham of the CIA as soon as they get there."
"I will have them contact you immediately, General," Danny assured her. "I'll be in contact soon."
"Good bye then, Agent Love," General Beckham agreed, ending the call.
***
"Why the hell are we at FBI headquarters?!" Sarah asked, incredulously, glaring at Casey.
"Would you just be quiet and let me fix the mess you made?" Casey snapped at her, pulling into a guest parking space. "Now get out."
Silently he led the trio into the lobby of the building, heading straight for the reception desk. "I need to see Agent Danny Love, Violent Crimes Unit," he told the middle-aged woman.
"Name?" the woman said, looking at the computer screen in front of her, not bother to glance up.
"John Casey, Sarah Walker, and Charles Carmichael," he told the woman, watching as she typed a couple of things into the computer.
"Here," the woman handed him three visitor's badges. "VCU office is on the 7th floor. Elevators are that way," she pointed to her right before turning her attention back to the screen.
"Danny?" Chuck wondered when the trio entered the empty elevator. "That's what that customer called you."
"Yeah, I know," Casey mumbled, watching the numbers change and pointedly ignoring his two companions.
Exiting the elevator, Casey walked purposely toward one end of the hall, knowing exactly where the office was from previous visits. Entering the office, he spotted Danny sitting at one of the desks.
"What the hell?" Chuck asked, surprised to see Casey's doppelganger sitting less than 10 feet away.
"Johnny! Good to see you again!" Danny stood to greet Casey, giving him a brief hug.
"Danny! Can't quite say the same," Casey replied, "under the circumstances, that is."
"Of course," Danny agreed, releasing the other man. "I already talked to General Beckham. You're supposed to call when you get here."
"I figured as much," Casey agreed. "Lucky for us that you know the drill."
"What the hell is going on here?!" Sarah asked, stunned by the display in front of her. "Who ARE you?"
"Oh, this is Danny Love. The agent you blew my cover in front of," Casey explained to Sarah as if she was a child.
Casey glanced at Chuck, noting the blank expression on his face as a sign of having a flash.
"Can you blame me?" Sarah snapped back, oblivious to what was going on with Chuck. "He looks just like you, Casey!"
"Sure I can, because you screwed up, Walker," Casey told her, egging her on. "But it's an understandable mistake. People have been doing it as long as I can remember."
"Because he's your identical twin brother," Chuck stated, coming back into consciousness from his flash.
Apparently Chuck had flashed on Casey's past, he noted. He'd have to find out later what exactly Chuck found out.
"That's the reason," Danny agreed, turning his attention to the man who was almost hiding behind the blonde agent. "Who are you?"
"Charles Carmichael," Casey replied quickly, cutting in before Chuck could. "Our analyst."
"Ah," Danny replied, noting Casey's protectiveness over the man with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. Now, we should get down to the conference room and make that call."
"Yeah," Casey agreed, "but you need to get your red-headed partner and bring her, too. She saw me at the Buy More, so my cover was partially blown as well."
"Alright. Go down to conference room three," Danny handed over the keys and pointed down the hall. "I'll be there in just a minute."
***
The conference call was already underway when Danny and Mel slipped in the room a few minutes later.
"So Agent Walker, I understand you just put yourself, as well as Chuck and Casey at risk by blowing your cover," General Beckham announced, her irritation obvious.
"It was purely accidental," Sarah tried to explain, "I mistook Agent Love for Casey."
"We already know what happened, Agent Walker," Director Graham interjected, "Agent Love contacted the NSA immediately upon returning to headquarters."
"Are you absolutely positive there was no one else in the building who could have overheard your outburst, Agent Walker?" Beckham asked with a stern voice.
"I'm sure," Sarah replied, "there was no one else who heard."
"Then you will remain on this assignment, but you are on probation," Graham told her. "One more incident and you will be removed from this case."
"Yes, sir," Sarah answered, her gaze fixed on the floor rather than at the monitor.
"Now then, who is the additional agent with you, and why is she present?" Beckham asked, her eyes fixed on Danny, expecting an explanation.
"This is my partner, Agent Melody Sim," Danny explained. "I didn't know when I called before, but she saw John in the Buy More and thought it was me for a moment."
Beckham and Graham looked over the new woman in the room, both obviously trying to figure out how to handle the complete mess that their agents' aliases had become.
"Did you in any way say or hint that you or Agent Love are federal agents?" Beckham finally asked.
"No," Mel answered quickly, "I just called him Danny and stopped talking as soon as I realized it wasn't him."
"Is that true Casey? Chuck?" Graham looked for their nods of affirmation. "Then I don't think your aliases are at any real risk at this point. You will all remain in your positions for the next few days," he continued, "but on high alert. If you see anything suspicious, or have a feeling that someone is on to you, I want you out immediately."
"Yes, sir," Casey and Sarah replied obediently.
"If something is to happen, you are to contact Agent Love or Agent Sim and they will get you into a safe house. This way you won't compromise our safe houses as well," Beckham added, her voice dripping with the threat of what would happen if there was another screw-up.
"Yes, ma'am," everyone in the room replied, their orders very clear.
"Casey, Walker, and Chuck, we will have our regular conference call in the morning. Love and Sim, thank you for taking the precaution to assist in keeping our agents' aliases intact," Beckham finished, ending the call.
"Well that went better for you than I expected it to," Casey told Sarah, one eyebrow raised in a mocking gesture.
"Well obviously I'm not the only one who confused the two of you!" Sarah shouted back, her frustration exploding in the quiet room.
"But you're the only one who blew our covers," Casey retorted, snarling back at her. He was angry that he'd almost been removed from the assignment… from Chuck, and he damn well was not going to let her off as easily as their superiors had.
"Stop!" Chuck shouted, drawing the attention of four shocked faces. He'd hardly said a word until that point, and most of them had almost forgotten he was in the room. "Just stop. Can we just go, please?" he pleaded, his eyes darting back and forth between Sarah and Casey.
"Sure, Chuck," Sarah tried to placate him, putting on her happy face. Wrapping an arm around his shoulders she led him out of the room. "Let's just go home."
Danny watched his brother's expression narrow as the other agent touched Chuck, feeling more than hearing the low growl John was emitting.
"What's going on with you?" Danny asked, curious about his brother's protectiveness over the analyst.
"Nothing," John grunted in return, trying to shake off his annoyance as soon as the couple disappeared from view. "It was nice to finally meet you," he told Mel, offering his hand. "You're all Danny ever talks about on the rare occasions I'm able to contact him."
"Really?" Mel asked, her interest peaked. She shook Casey's hand, still amazed how similar the two were, even though she knew they were identical twins. "He's never actually told me about you."
"Of course he hasn't told you about me," John explained, "it would be dangerous for my cover if people knew he had a brother in the government, since most of my work is undercover."
"That makes sense," Mel replied, still slightly miffed that he hadn't even told her. "It was a pleasure meeting you, too."
"I should go," John excused himself. "Even though it would be nice you see you both again soon, here's hoping it isn't anytime in the near future."
After a brief departing hug between the brothers, John disappeared through the door, following after his companions.
"Well that was thoroughly interesting," Mel commented after the door had shut completely.
"That's one word for it," Danny replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "I really hate dealing with the NSA."
"I see why," Mel wrapped an arm around his waist. "Hopefully we won't have to deal with that for a while."
"Hopefully," Danny agreed, letting Mel lead him out of the room and down the hall to where Web, Paul Ryan, and Rebecca Locke were discussing a new set of cases. It was back to work as usual, for now.
***
tbc… perhaps.