[As the camera pans around the training room (It is strangely similar to the Dojo where Neo and Morpheus trained in the Matrix) we hear:]
BENNETT (V.O.) from off-screen
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.) from off-screen
So how is it exactly that… Oouff. [Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
BENNETT (V.O.)
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.)
… you're back working with the CIA? I mean… [Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
BENNETT (V.O.)
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.)
… is this some sort of court-ordered community service? 'Cause… [Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
BENNETT (V.O.)
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.)
… I think you're…[Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
BENNETT (V.O.)
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.)
…fully rehabilitated…[Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
BENNETT (V.O.)
Again.
CHUCK (V.O.)
…and ready to be back in society [Sound of Chuck hitting the floor]
[The camera picks up Sensei Bennett standing over Chuck in a martial arts ready position]
BENNETT
Again.
CHUCK
[Still on ground] Seriously, how is this helping me?
*****
[Main room of Castle, Sarah does paperwork and Casey cleans his gun. Chuck limps in after his "workout" with Sensei Bennett. He is still in his martial arts outfit.]
CHUCK
What twisted government bureaucrat thought that would be a good idea?
[General Beckman comes up on the main monitor]
BECKMAN
Good morning team. Mister Bartowski, I trust your training is off to a good start?
CHUCK
If the training is how to take a beating, then, yes – great start. You can promote me to a black belt in bruising and a blue belt in falling to the floor.
BECKMAN
Very well. It has been quiet since…
CHUCK
Excuse me. ["Shut up" look from Casey] One, quick question. Why, exactly, am I being trained?
BECKMAN
You are field agent for the United States Government. Everybody gets trained.
CHUCK
And what was I before you brought Bennett in to pulverize me?
BECKMAN
You were the Intersect. [slight glance at Casey that is noted by Sarah] Officially, for audit purposes, you were classified as computer hardware. We don't train fixed assets. Now may I continue?
CASEY
[slight chuckle under his breath] fixed assets…
CHUCK
[glare at Casey] Thanks for the clarification. [fake smile to Beckman] Please, by all means, proceed.
BECKMAN
As I started to say before, it has been quiet since our initial encounters with the Ring. After their initial failures directly engaging your team, it is likely that they will pause to assess their operations. Stay ready, but please feel free to attend Agent Larkin's funeral this afternoon. [The NSA emblem replaces Beckman's face on the monitor as the video feed has ended.]
CHUCK
Hey-oh. Wait a minute. Bryce is having another funeral? I mean I'd like a chance to pay my respects but isn't that kinda a one-shot deal?
SARAH
It's a small gathering at his grave for those in the Agency who knew him. We'll all go together.
CASEY
I didn't go last time, why should I go this time?
SARAH
This time you didn't kill him. If it'll make you feel better, you can drive.
*********
[Graveyard. Same Graveyard as in 1.02 for Bryce's first funeral. Chuck and Sarah, in funeral attire, walk hand-in-hand away from a small gathering of mourners.
CHUCK
You okay?
[Sarah looks up with a sad smile then looks back down as they continue walking. After a few steps in silence, Chuck gives her a playful shoulder bump.]
We've come a long way since Bryce's last funeral.
SARAH
Yes, we have.
CHUCK
I'm sorry. I mean about Bryce.
SARAH
He was your friend too.
CHUCK
Yeah, I never really realized how much he gave up for that friendship. I never really got to thank him.
Your friendship with him was a bit more… involved. At least in recent history.
SARAH
Chuck, it's been over two years.
CHUCK
I didn't mean it like that. I was just trying… I know how much you meant to each other.
SARAH
It's okay. I understand what you were trying…
CHUCK
No, its not…
SARAH
Chuck. Let me finish… [for once]
CHUCK
Right.
SARAH
I…
[They have wandered into a section of the Graveyard containing the graves of veterans. American flags have been placed on gravesites in anticipation of Memorial Day. Two men are shoveling the last bit of dirt on a recently occupied grave. Chuck looks at the men and the grave and Sarah notices as he begins to flash]
CHUCK
[Cringing] Sorry, hold that thought? [Flash with various images including bombs exploding, American Flags, and patriotic parades. With a subtle nod toward the "grave-diggers"] They're Ring agents and they are burying a bomb.
SARAH
Activate your watch and most of all, act casual.
CHUCK
Don't tell me to act casual. Now I'm thinking about it. It's like telling someone not to yawn. Or to breathe normally. [Sarah grabs him and starts to kiss him to shut him up. He fights it very, very briefly]
SARAH
[She breaks off the kiss and raises his hand to her cheek in a very tender caress, or at least it would be tender if that were the intent. Instead, she has used the gesture to get Chuck's watch close enough to talk to Casey] Casey, we're on the far side of Bryce's funeral from you. We've got two bogies, go to the Northeast corner, we'll bring them to you. Honk if you got this message. [In the distance we hear a car honk] [Whispering to Chuck] Next time we bring the ear pieces and weapons. [With a small nod toward the enemy agents] They're suspicious of us.
CHUCK
As a couple? 'Cause for all they know I could be really rich…
SARAH
[small smile] Ready?
CHUCK
For what?
SARAH
Go [She takes off away from the agents, Chuck follows her after a moment of confusion. The agents chase after them pulling out guns with silencers and shooting at them. Chuck and Sarah weave among the headstones and monuments as the bullets fly around them. They go over a small rise and down a slope. At the bottom of the slope is a gravel access road and a limo skids to a halt blocking their path. Casey steps out in a chauffeur's uniform and takes out the two agents with head shots as they pursue Sarah and Chuck.]
SARAH
Casey, we needed them alive.
CASEY
It's a graveyard not a hospital.
[As the dead agents roll down the hill, an electronic device about the size of a paperback falls out of a small black backpack worn by one of the agents and Chuck picks it up and flashes: explosions, network diagram identifying multiple bombs and the electronic device as a detonator, bearded face of an agent, some Russian GRU paper work with "demolitions expert" in English, phone number "702-555-7464"]
CASEY
So, what is it?
CHUCK
The detonator for all the bombs.
SARAH
All the bombs? There are more? Where?
CHUCK
Didn't get that information.
SARAH
Chuck, we've got to tell Beckman. Too many innocent lives could be at stake.
CASEY
Walker's right, we can't keep this from Beckman.
CHUCK
[thinks for a second then his face lights up with an idea] You got some duct tape?
CASEY
You know it. [Reaches into his jacket and pulls out a "travel size" duct tape roll and gives it to Chuck.]
CHUCK
[Tears off a piece about 8 inches long then produces a Sharpie pen from his pocket protector inside his funeral coat] Behold the power of the Sharpie. [He writes on the tape then affixes it to the detonator and the camera shows what he has written: "If found, please call 702-555-7464" Now we tell Beckman. About the plot, not the Intersect.
*********
[Main room of Castle, General Beckman is on main monitor]
BECKMAN
Team, your discovery of the bomb in the Cemetery unfortunately confirms chatter we've just received on a plot to disrupt Memorial Day observances.
CHUCK
And by "disrupt" you mean…
BECKMAN
Significant casualties, yes.
CHUCK
At what level of casualties do the euphemisms stop?
CASEY
Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to, Bartowski
CHUCK
Sorry, continue.
BECKMAN
We traced the number on the detonator to a former Russian foreign intelligence explosives expert working out of Las Vegas. Time is short so we leaked that a third party would be looking to sell the detonator at this weekend's Memorial Day Electronics Expo at the Las Vegas Hilton.
CASEY
Who are we sending?
BECKMAN
All available agents are in the field trying to identify and neutralize other devices. Your team is the only one available.
CHUCK
I've looked at the device. I believe that it's paired with all the bombs as the only trigger.
BECKMAN
As you pointed out, we are discussing the potential for significant casualties; I'd like to go on a little more than your "professional" examination of the detonator.
CHUCK
Isn't my "professional" expertise why I'm working for you?
BECKMAN
[Again Beckman's slight glance at Casey is noted by Sarah] You willing to bet on that? Are you going to let your sister attend a Memorial Day celebration? [Chuck looks down] I thought not. Today your service is required to flush out Ring Agents in Vegas. Casey and Sarah will shadow and protect you.
SARAH
General, without additional agents we won't have the resources needed to protect him in such a crowded environment. I could act as the seller.
CHUCK
No
BECKMAN
[Overlapping]
No. That would leave Casey as the only trained operative monitoring the situation. Unless you can think of someone else on Government payroll, it has to be Chuck.
[alarms begin to go off in Castle.]
What's going on?
CASEY
[At Castle controls] Entrance proximity alarm. Bringing visual up now.
[As Casey operates the controls, a video feed from the clean closet is brought up on another monitor in Castle. Beckman looks down at her monitor because Casey is sending the live video to her desktop. We see Jeff and Lester in the closet with some "reading material"
[growls] The Brothers Moron…
SARAH
Zoom in.
CHUCK
[As Casey begins to zoom in on their reading material] Why would you want to… [the title of the reading material now fills the monitor: "Booth Babes of the Memorial Day Electronics Expo" [Beckman, Sarah, and Casey all exchange looks.]
No. No, no, no, no, no. They're not assets. They're not even good employees.
CASEY
[Referring to Jeff and Lester] They'll be fine. These Ring agents are very professional and professionals almost never kill decoys.
BECKMAN
Send them with a fake detonator to flush out the agents. If anything happens to them, we have standard language in their Spy Store contract to protect us from liability.
CHUCK
Wait. There's language in their contracts saying we can get them killed?
CASEY
Nobody ever reads the fine print.
CHUCK
We can't do this. They have no idea. They didn't volunteer.
CASEY
[Hitting a button below a microphone. We hear the sound of amplification kicking in over a loudspeaker then Casey's voice.] Any employee willing to volunteer for a mission to this year's Memorial Day Electronics Expo, please report to the Manager's office immediately. [We see Jeff and Lester very excitedly dash out of the cleaning closet toward Big Mikes office.]
Done.
CHUCK
This isn't right.
BECKMAN
Well, it's an order. Get it done. Lives are on the line.
CHUCK
[Conceding] Do you, by any chance, have a copy of my contract that I could take a look at?
[Beckman's video feed is replaced by the NSA emblem on the otherwise black monitor. With the plan in place Chuck, Sarah, and Casey spring into action.]
CHUCK
[Freezing in place] Wait.
CASEY
What is it?
SARAH
Did you flash?
CHUCK
[turns to face them] Just want to make sure we're clear. The plan, Beckman's plan, is to send Lester and Jeff, to Las Vegas – home of showgirls, strippers, and …prostitutes – to represent the interests of the United States Government? [Cut to shot of Jeff and Lester, mouths agape, with the majestic sights of the strip behind them. The camera pans around until we see the subject of their awe: Peep Show 25 cents. Back to the shot of Chuck.] We may need to refine the plan.
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