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Ch 2: The Briefing
It was hard to think of her that way, even as he watched her commit that heinous crime. Then again, he always pictured killers with the faces of Charles Manson or Osama Bin Laden who were really horrible, ugly people; not attractive yogurt girls. It was hard to picture those beautiful blue eyes so full of hate to aim a gun at someone unarmed (even an unarmed Fulcrum agent) and pull that trigger… Chuck let go of her hand as they entered the Orange Orange, and made to grab the door for her.
Again she eyed him oddly, but gave a quick "thanks" and darted in before him. Now that the temperature had dropped a few degrees, the Orange Orange was seeing less business. Seemed the housewives of Orange County didn't want to be seen eating yogurt in December. There were mostly teenagers in there nowadays.
As the door closed behind him, Sarah rounded on him. "You're quiet."
"Not much to say," Chuck admitted with a shrug.
"Are you alright?"
"Super." He said, and added a grin.
It worked. She grinned back at him. "Well, come on." She said, and lead the way around the Orange Orange's counter and down into the castle. Casey was already there and seated, and he eyed Chuck shrewdly as he took a seat beside him. Usually he'd grab the seat on the end so Sarah would be in the middle, but right now, he felt like he should stick closer to Casey. He grinned at him, and Casey turned away with an eye roll. Chuck could almost hear what Casey was thinking: moron. Chuck grinned in spite of himself. He knew all of his quirks really got under Casey's skin. Sarah took the seat next Chuck and he gulped. Usually he enjoyed sitting next to her, thanks in part to her smell. Sarah had a light floral smell, with a hint of vanilla. He half wondered if it was because she was elbow deep in yogurt most of the time. But now he wondered how the scent did not turn sour on her skin.
She turned and smiled at him, and he wondered how loud his chair would squeak if he shifted it to the side. She was too close to him at the moment. Their hands were both on the table, and almost touching. He ever so inconspicuously leaned to the side, and with a cough, moved his chair over. The screech of the metal legs sliding on the floor was loud and echoed. He knew both Sarah and Casey were watching him. Chuck felt his cheeks flush, and folded his hands on the table. Sarah was looking at him, her eyebrows creased. Chuck looked straight ahead at the blank screen waiting for General Beckman. Mercifully, she appeared seconds later.
"Glad we're all here." General Beckman appeared on the screen looking stern and dignified as always, not a strand of red hair out of place.
"Yeah, finally." Casey murmured.
General Beckman ignored him. "Chuck, I'm going to show you an image and I want you to let me know if you flash on anything."
Chuck nodded. "Okay."
General Beckman's image disappeared and was replaced with a bright red background, and a cartoon image of a duck hugging a cow. And that's when the old familiar sensation filled Chuck, the jolt crept up his spine, and his mind was full of information.
The first was a name, Elliot Thomas, which was replaced with an image of the San Diego skyline. The second was an image of a thin white male with short dirty blonde hair, and various mug shots of him arrested for breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, and lastly, arson. The final flashes were of Elliot Thomas talking with a tall pale skinned man who Chuck flashed was Roman Archikov, in the Russian mob.
"What a guy," Chuck muttered. "His name is Elliot Thomas. He has a tattoo of that on his arm."
"Good. He'll be easily identifiable." General Beckman said. "We had intel this image was connected to someone on our watch list."
"He has dealings with a man in the Russian mob." Chuck added. "Roman Archikov."
General Beckman eyed Chuck oddly, and put up a picture of Roman Archikov and Elliot Thomas. "Archikov is a well known weapons smuggler. We've been after him for years, but we've never had enough to put him away. We have reason to believe Thomas is in the San Diego area. He owns a restaurant there."
"What are your orders, General?" Sarah asked, sitting up straight in her chair.
"Bring Thomas in, he could lead us to Archikov. Bring Chuck of course, to see if he flashes on anything or anyone."
"Bartowski in a restaurant? What if he chokes on an oyster?" Casey jabbed.
"Well, then your impeccable training in CPR will come in handy, Major." The General said.
Chuck grinned and pursed his lips. Casey glowered. Sarah smiled.
"That's all." General Beckman said, and switched off the monitor.
"Well," Sarah turned to Chuck and smiled. "looks like we have a dinner date."
Chuck gave her a weak smile. Before, he would have jumped at the opportunity to be alone with Sarah in a romantic restaurant while she glowed in the candlelight. Now he thought of it as he and Sarah alone in a dimly lit restaurant with butter knives and steak knifes in easily accessible reach…
"Chuck?" She asked.
He turned to her. Apparently she had said something to him and was waiting for his response.
"Sorry?" He asked.
"Are you okay? You're sweating."
"Am I?" He asked.
"If you're coming down with something, you better hide that from Ellie." She advised.
Chuck shrugged. "It's this stifling Nerd Herd outfit." He yanked on his tie which was feeling more and more like a noose. He and Sarah walked up the stairs and into the Orange Orange. They faced each other and stared.
"I better get back to the Buy More," Chuck said.
Sarah gave a smile. "Okay. I'll give you a call later with the details."
Chuck smiled in return and gave a little wave before he went out the door. He then felt the dampness under his arms. Damn those fluorescent lights! Luckily he had a spare shirt in his locker. That's not luck, he thought. That's just sad.
