For notes and disclaimer, please see part one.
Here are some things you might need to know, or maybe you just forgot: Casey finds Ellie lost in the middle of the liquor store and uses his hidden talents to help her recreate a cocktail from a local restaurant for a girl's night in at Casa Bartowski.
His shift at the Buy More wasn't scheduled to start for another hour, but he had to stop by somewhere else in the mall first, for his other, more important job. He slipped into the Orange Orange yogurt shop, past the empty tables and the vacant front counter, into the employee's only section. He stopped for biometrics scanning at the freezer door, and was soon walking through the secret entrance to the Castle, the top-secret headquarters for the Intersect project.
His partner, Sarah Walker, was already there, glumly watching the computer screen in front of her. She glanced up as he descended the stairs into the base. "Hey, Casey."
"Walker," he returned. "Hear you have plans this evening," he said casually as he dropped his black backpack on the conference table. "With a different Bartowski."
"You heard that, huh?"
"Seems my intel was right." He noted well that his partner seemed anything but enthusiastic about the prospect of a "Girl's Night." Something was bothering her.
"Do you think it would be problematic to cancel?"
"You don't want to go?" Off Sarah's half-hearted shrug, he continued: "Why'd you agree to it?"
"I didn't!" she said, moderately indignant. "Well, not exactly. Ellie was very persistent. She wouldn't take no for an answer."
Idly, John wondered what a terrorist might do under the interrogation of one Eleanor Faye Bartowski. He shoved that thought aside quickly. "Why don't you want to go?"
"I don't know..."
"Are you sure this isn't a conversation better aimed at your pseudo-boyfriend?"
She shook her head immediately. "It's unprofessional."
He grunted, a sound full of irony. If it was unprofessional for her to talk about it, why was she asking him?
"Chuck would read too much into it and you know it," she said, annoyed. "That's what I meant."
"What are you scared of? You could take Ellie and all of her doctor friends without breaking a sweat."
"It's..." She paused. She hated to think of it as a fear reaction, but that was exactly what it was, and there was nothing more frightening than the unknown: "What happens at a Girl's Night?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"You didn't pick anything up on your surveillance?"
"The only thing I know for certain is that there's alcohol involved, but that came from running into Ellie at the liquor store yesterday," he told her. "Everything else? I'm in the dark, same as you."
Sarah nodded, watching as John set about his morning Castle ritual. She let him work in silence for a few minutes, but not for long: "It's just that I've never been to a Girl's Night."
John fought the urge to roll his eyes as he groaned.
"My best girlfriend in the entire world is Carina. While getting together with her is always an adventure, it's hardly what normal people might call 'sane.' I'm sure that Ellie and her friends don't get together and spar, clean their guns, reminisce about missions gone by or talk in various foreign languages."
"Walker, I'm really not the person you need to be talking to about this."
"Who should I be talking to? I can't talk to Chuck, I can't talk to you... that doesn't really leave anyone."
"Well, there's Carina."
"Last I heard, she was on a deep cover mission. I'm not sure where she is or what name she's going by these days."
"Surely there's another woman you could talk to about this."
Sarah shook her head, shrugging sadly.
John looked at the bank of computer screens, all with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence logo on them. "There's always Beckman," he said with a smirk.
"You're no help, Casey!"
"I'm the wrong gender, Walker."
"You're my partner."
"You want my opinion as your partner?"
Sensing that as an opportunity for more of a straight answer, she nodded. "Please."
"Go to the party."
She frowned. "What?"
"It is my opinion, for the continued health of your cover relationship with Bartowski, that you need to hang out with his sister. Your country needs you to go."
She could always count on John for the black and white take on what lay in front of them. There were no gray areas for her partner. And nothing was more clear than the need to follow orders, to protect America. She nodded dutifully. "Thanks, Casey."
He gave a slight nod as well, but added: "But, if I were you, I wouldn't go in completely empty handed. Those doctor types can be skilled with a scalpel..."
---
She took a deep breath for a moment before knocking. It was a mission, she told herself. She'd been in worse situations, in far more dangerous situations. A couple hours with a couple civilians should be no problem. And she'd taken John's advice: under the leg of her jeans, she wore her ankle knife sheath, just in case.
The fruit tray in her hands, however, seemed unbearably heavy as she heard the clip-clop of heels make their way to the front door from inside the apartment.
Maybe she could feign tiredness and bail after an hour. Maybe after thirty minutes... Maybe, if she were truly lucky, there would be a national security emergency and she would have to leave after ten.
Ellie grinned broadly as she opened the door to find her brother's girlfriend there. "Sarah! I'm so glad you could make it."
"Hi, Ellie," Sarah said, hoping to erase all traces of nervousness out of her smile.
"That tray looks absolutely delicious," she said, welcoming her in. "We've got Alicia's famous spinach dip, my special guacamole. You've got to see the cookies that Nancy baked. And, did you have any idea that John Casey used to be a bartender?"
Sarah was quickly caught up in the whirlwind that was Hostess Ellie. Before she knew what happened, she was introduced to the entire group, meeting Karen, the admitting clerk, Alicia, from billing, Nancy from oncology, and Hillary, a pediatric nurse.
Everyone seemed nice enough but Sarah still felt out of place, which Ellie was intuitively able to pick up. "Alicia, find us something good to listen to, would you?" she asked. "There's plenty of CDs by the stereo, there might be a good station..." As Alicia crossed the living room to take care of the music situation, Ellie smiled at Sarah. "Help me in the kitchen?"
"Oh, um... sure," Sarah said, following Ellie away from the rest of the crowd.
"Is something wrong?" Ellie asked quietly as she checked on the status of the roasting chicken in the oven. The cheerful beat from the radio helped cover their conversation.
"What? Of course not."
"Are you sure?"
"Ellie, it's just... been a long week, and I don't really know anybody here except you."
"I was kind of afraid of that," Ellie said, standing and closing the oven door. "You spend so much time with Chuck and the guys from the Buy More that you're missing out on the other side of life."
Ellie was right in more ways than she would ever know, but Sarah could never tell her. "You figured that out, huh?"
"I just assumed, if I needed a break from Devon and Chuck for a night, then maybe you needed one, too. With completely girlie drinks and scrumptious food and wait till we break out the Taboo," she said with a smile.
"You do this often, Girl's Night?"
"We used to a lot more frequently. Now, everybody's schedules are so crazy," she lamented.
"They do tend to fill up quickly," Sarah said, looking at the ice in the bottom of her empty glass.
Ellie quickly refilled Sarah's empty glass. "Is this not the best drink you've ever tasted?" She couldn't help but smile. "John Casey. Who would've ever known?"
Sarah smiled back. "It is good."
---
He groaned when he watched the red blinking indicator light on his computer return to the apartment complex. He'd been relieved when Chuck had left shortly before the Girl's Night at Ellie's began, because it must've meant he found other arrangements for the evening.
The fact that Chuck came back could mean one of two things: either Morgan had convinced him to come spy on the ladies across the courtyard or that he was coming to crash John's evening.
To his chagrin, there was a knock at his door. Getting to his feet slowly, he crossed to the front door, not bothering to scan the person on the other side because he knew it had to be Chuck. Opening the door, he scowled. "Bartowski."
Chuck held a pizza box and a six pack of beer. "I come bearing gifts..."
"Aren't you supposed to be far from here?"
"As one of my handlers, shouldn't you want me easy to locate? I would think, me, on your couch, you... doing whatever it is you do on a Friday night, would be, y'know, beneficial..."
"You are easy to locate," he said, pointing to Chuck's watch.
"All right, well, Ellie threatened me with bodily harm if I went to see Morgan because she's sure I would spill the beans on her evening plans and Morgan would find an ingenious way to ruin them, so I had to go somewhere."
"And you picked here?"
"I brought dinner," he said again, showing the pizza box.
John growled, but let him inside.
"See, buddy, this'll be great," Chuck said, quickly entering the apartment. "We'll eat and drink as men do and..." He saw that the television was on. "Watch TV," he said with a grin. He tilted his head to one side curiously, however, as he realized it was an old movie. "Is that Reagan?"
The screen suddenly went black.
Chuck turned, spotting the remote in John's hands. "Who am I gonna tell, huh? I can keep secrets! Besides," he said as he put the pizza on the coffee table, "it's not like I didn't know you were a fan. Between the framed photos and the bust..."
"Park it and eat, Bartowski," he grumbled, grabbing a beer.
"All right, all right," Chuck said, dropping into a chair and grabbing a slice. "But, just because I'm here doesn't mean you can't watch your movie."
"And hear you snicker the rest of the night? I don't think so."
"You know, I think Ellie's got you pegged."
John looked up quickly. Pegged? Was his cover compromised?
"She's always thought you were... sweet," Chuck said, having a hard time getting the word out. "I've always had a hard time getting past the muscles and the scars and the grunts myself, but she doesn't."
"You got a point, Bartowski?" he asked, taking a piece of pizza from the box before leaning back in his chair.
"It's the only rational explanation," Chuck began, "for helping her yesterday."
He chewed slowly, buying time. "I have to have a reason to help your sister?"
"C'mon, Casey, you're a spy. Your default position is to lie. You could've very easily told her you didn't know the first thing about mixing drinks. Instead, you go above and beyond the normal call of duty and help her out."
"Isn't that what neighbors do?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Casey, I barely know any of our other neighbors. And none of them have ever showed up, after a crazy day at work, to help Ellie with, well, anything."
He took a long drink of his beer. "Our cover includes our being friends," he said, his voice strained on the last word. "It's only natural for a friend to help another, or to offer assistance to a friend's family."
"So, it was all just to preserve the cover?"
Of course it was. John grunted affirmatively.
Chuck let it go, choosing instead to enjoy his dinner in relative silence. It was peaceful but sort of awkward, just sitting and eating. "So, I was thinking..."
He groaned again, annoyed with a mix of disgust.
The Intersect continued, undeterred. "...that you should totally let me plug in your headphones over there and listen in on--"
John narrowed his eyes at Chuck, turning the television back on.
"Oh, that... that's great. Seriously? You aren't the least bit curious about what's going on over there?"
"No."
"It could be interesting! It could be juicy. It could be... worthy of national security covert surveillance."
"If there's anything pertinent to the safety of our country, Sarah'll catch it."
"You're no fun."
John shrugged, turning up the volume.
"What is this anyway?" Chuck asked, looking at the black and white images on the television.
"Hellcats of the Navy. Now hush."
That order worked on Chuck, for exactly thirty-three seconds. "Why do you do it?"
John struggled to remain calm as he asked: "Do what?"
"I mean, I know I'm not your most favorite person in the world. I'm no spy and you're no good at dealing with people who aren't, so why do you do it? Why do you put up with me? With the 'orders'?"
"Because you've served your country honorably, if annoyingly," he said, pointedly. "Are we done?"
"I stand by my earlier observation," Chuck said, taking a drink of his beer. "Maybe Ellie was right."
John sighed heavily before propping his boots up on the coffee table.
---
After a round of Taboo, dinner, and more drinks, the ladies sat around the living room. Ellie's legs were folded under her on arm chair. "I just don't get it," she said. "Why he feels this need to be an adrenaline junkie, why he wants to take... completely pointless risks, y'know?"
Sarah glanced up as something seemed to click in her head. She had the same problem with Chuck: his refusal to stay in the car. It was the Nerd version of Captain Awesome's pointless risks.
"Rational people don't jump out of planes unless the plane is going down, y'know?" said Ellie, shaking her head.
"Exactly," Hillary said, nodding her head in agreement.
"He doesn't have to prove anything to me," Ellie said. "But for some reason he has to prove something to himself that I just... I just can't wrap my brain around it to save my life. I'm glad we have the opportunity to have this night, but at what cost, y'know?"
Sarah spoke up: "There are easier ways for them to have a male bonding outing. I mean, they could just go bowling or something." Chuck could just obey the orders issued by her, by John, by the General. There was no need for him to go running off into the middle of the action, to go off where she can't find him, where she can't keep him safe.
Ellie nodded emphatically. "Exactly, Sarah!"
"But, no matter how many times we tell them, they still refuse to listen," Sarah said.
Ellie suddenly frowned. "Wait... Chuck has issues with... adrenaline?"
"Just, not listening," Sarah said. "He's a great guy, and I..." She almost answered a little too truthfully. "I care about him, deeply, I worry about him, y'know? And yet there are times..."
Nancy jumped in. "Oh, honey, there are always 'those' times."
"You just want to ask them: what were you thinking?" Alicia added.
"Boys," Karen said, shaking her head.
---
He looked up when he heard the knock at his door. It couldn't have been Chuck. The Intersect was currently passed out in front of his television. It couldn't have been Sarah either; she would've called. Getting to his feet, he moved to answer it. "Ellie."
She smiled softly, but looked tired. "Hey, John. I was wondering if you might've seen my brother around this evening. I banished him pretty early in preparation for Girl's Night."
"If you mean that snoring lump in my living room, yeah, I've seen him," he said, taking a step back into his apartment.
Ellie peeked her head in. "I'm sorry, I guess we got a little too gabby."
"It's all right," he told her. "I'll get him moving."
"Thanks," she said, taking a single, cautious step into his apartment. She glanced around casually, taking in the maps on the wall, the computer set up, the tri-folded flag in a case. She had a feeling there were dozens more layers she may never fully understand about the mysterious John Casey.
"Rise and shine, Bartowski," he said, nudging Chuck's legs from where they were resting, propped up on the coffee table. One Converse sneaker hit the floor, followed by the other.
Chuck rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What time is it?"
"One in the morning," John told him. "Time to go home." When Chuck didn't move or respond right away, he continued: "Ellie's here."
"El?" He strained to focus, getting to his sleepy feet. "Hey, sis," he said, spotting her just inside the apartment. "How was the girl time?"
"It was just fine. But, we should get going, Chuck. I think the two of us have imposed on John enough," Ellie said, nodding in his direction.
"It was no trouble," John insisted as he walked Chuck to the door.
"G'night, Casey," Chuck said, easing past Ellie and into the courtyard.
Ellie lingered an extra moment. "Thanks for being such a great friend to Chuck," she said quietly. "And for a wonderful drink. It was definitely the highlight of the party."
He shrugged, but as she turned, he stopped her. "Hey, Ellie?"
She glanced back.
"Thanks," he began haltingly, "for inviting Sarah along to your party. She probably needed that more than either of you realize."
The words seemed to come out somewhat stilted, but it was clearly something he felt needed to be said. She nodded. "Good night, John."
He held a hand up, watching as she and Chuck crossed the courtyard to their apartment. He waited until they were safely inside before closing his own door.
End.