Chuck vs. the Defense Contractor, Chapter 2 – 3.6 weeks ago
Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all related to Chuck. No characters, no plots, no themes, no nothing. Enjoy!
Buy More, Buy More Plaza, Los Angeles, 4:11pm on a weekday
"Fat Albert."
Anna, Jeff, and Lester were manning the Nerd Herd station having an impromptu contest with Morgan who stood across the counter from them. The Buy More had not been very busy of late and this was yet another boring afternoon where everyone swore that time had somehow slowed. Morgan had been telling everyone that things were slow because of the recession. The 'recession' quickly became his default reason for not doing any work when customers did shop. He couldn't unload a truck or rearrange a shelf of DVD's since we were in a recession. He began using the word recession in sentences where it didn't even make sense. Big Mike eventually had enough and told Morgan that in a recession, unemployment rises and that he would be the first to go. Morgan stopped mentioning the recession after that even though he still thought it was the cause of all his problems.
The contest between the three Ho's from Chuck's Stable and the Green Shirt had been going on for thirty minutes. Traffic in the store was so light that they had run out of people. People to use as subjects in "What fictional film, TV, or animation character does that person most resemble?"
Big Mike had just walked in the entrance carrying his second afternoon snack. He had heard that eating more meals in a day served to speed up one's metabolism. He didn't hear the part that mentioned portion control. He was carrying a Happy Burrito from the Buy More Plaza's Mucho Mucho Mas restaurant, and a diet Coke.
Jeff had blurted out "Fat Albert" before anyone else which caused the four contestants to immediately double over in laughter. Big Mike saw them looking his way and laughing, so he changed direction and walked over to the Nerd Herd desk on his way to his office. The laughter stopped as he marched toward the desk and all eyes were quickly averted. Anna looked at her monitor and Morgan grabbed an installation work order, the only piece of paper in reach. Lester was going to grab the work order but having reacted too slowly, now grabbed the stapler in front of him and opened the top, checking to see if more staples were needed from the storage room. Jeff reacted even slower than Lester and was caught without anything to focus on. He just kept staring at Big Mike as he approached and gave him a wink when he arrived.
"I hear that we're in a recession people. You know what that means? It means that our current level of sales does not support our current number of employees. That means that unemployment needs to rise to balance things out." With that, Big Mike felt he had made his point and walked towards his office. Burritos just weren't as good after all the juices had soaked the tortilla.
The imminent danger to their continued employment gone, the four returned to the contest.
A very skinny man entered the contestant's stage in front of the Nerd Herd desk from the PS3 games section with close cropped hair and a Flash t-shirt underneath his unzipped Caltech hooded sweatshirt. Lester exclaims "Sheldon Cooper!" The other three look questioningly at him prompting him to explain "the guy who is the roommate of the guy that the guy from Roseanne plays in The Big Bang Theory!" The questioning looks linger on Lester for a moment before everyone processes his explanation and sighs "Oh yeah." Lester tsk tsk's them before calling them "media dullards." They respond that they haven't seen any episodes of the show because of the writer's strike.
A voluptuous and attractive Japanese woman with purple highlights emerges from the digital camera area and saunters toward the registers. "Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell" Morgan quickly says. Jeff, Lester and Morgan stare at the 'Major' until she disappears around a display near the registers. They sigh in unison then give each other high fives. "I'd tap that even if she is a cyborg!"
"Morgan!" Anna shouts.
Before Morgan can respond, Chuck walks up from the digital camera area and enters the circle of conversation. "Lemme guess…today it's what fictional film, TV, or animation character does that person most resemble?" Morgan and Anna smile and nod while Jeff and Lester nod uneasily. Chuck always seems to know what they're doing.
"Motoko Kusanagi right?" Chuck asks. He now sees dumbfounded and open-mouthed gapes. "What, how…" Lester sputters. Chuck gets a smug look on his face and points to each one of their foreheads in succession. "You think you guys are clever? I know you better than you know yourselves!"
"Wait a minute" Anna says, "you just came from cameras too. You know purple hair or something?"
Morgan is unable to hold it in any longer and bursts out laughing causing Chuck to do the same. They then high five each other.
"Mariko, as purple hair is more appropriately known, bought a camera last week. It broke and she came in today to pick up a new one. Morgan sold her the original and I helped her when she brought in the defective one. Morgan told her she resembled the Major but luckily, Mariko knows her anime and was quite flattered." Chuck explained.
"You guys have cheated and violated the circle of trust" Lester says. "I say that Grimes forfeits and that Chuck can't play anymore."
Casey is the next person to walk in front of the Nerd Herd desk carrying a BeastMaster 3000 Grilling Accessories box. Noticing the four idle civilians and one idle government asset shooting the breeze, he looks at them with a sneer. What a waste of time he thinks. Unproductive people are a particular dislike of his.
"That, my friends, is a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101" Chuck says. "Emotionless, big, mean, and he only has four responses to every question. Except instead of short phrases, they're different grunts."
Everyone can instantly see Casey as a Terminator and laughter ensues.
Chuck looks toward the entrance just as Sarah enters. She spots him instantly, smiles, and starts walking over to the Nerd Herd desk. His boring, endless shift just got better. She had mentioned at lunch that she would be ending her shift at the Wienerlicious early today but hadn't said when. A smile forms on Chuck's face simply from the sight of her. It reoccurs to him how ridiculous Sarah's Wienerlicious uniform is, but it does serve the purpose of exposing a large portion of her legs. And she definitely wasn't lacking in that area (or any other). Since their 'moment' on the rooftop helipad a week ago, things had essentially returned to their version of normal. Team Chuck had not gone on a mission as the agents and their bosses in Washington D.C. examined all their protocols and methods to see how Fulcrum had gotten so close.
Chuck had gone into a funk after realizing that at a moment's notice, he could not only be killed on a regular mission but captured and tortured by Fulcrum. On top of that, his own protectors, the CIA and the NSA were prepared to snatch him away from the things that mattered most to him and 'disappear' him. Sarah had retreated back into her professionally caring handler mode and no mention was made of Chuck's declarations that night. Chuck didn't mind as he needed a little break from the burden of the U.S. Government's most valuable intelligence asset literally being on his shoulders. After a week, he was definitely feeling more like himself, only a little emboldened from the way he brought up their 'relationship' on the rooftop. She had definitely responded positively since he never thought Sarah would cry, especially for him. He knew she didn't talk about her feelings but from her actions, he felt like things with her were getting more 'real.'
Lost in his thoughts, Chuck is snapped back to reality when Morgan says "T-X. Sarah is the Terminatrix. Tall, lean and lethal to the hearts of men everywhere. Has she ever shown you her Terminatrix side Chuck? Has she ever whipped you into submission? Wa-chhh!"
Anna yells "Morgan!" even louder than before and with an implied threat for later. She continues, "Terminator 3 isn't even canon. The Sarah Connor Chronicles clearly establishes that T3 does not occur in the same timeline as the show."
"That's a nice point babe, but since when has being canon been part of the accepted rules for our little contest? Huh?"
Anna's face darkened in an instant and she made a move to punch Morgan's arm over the counter. Morgan backed out of her reach and continued his taunting. "What are you going to do now, hop over this counter and attack me? Huh?"
"You better watch out Morgan." Jeff warned. "All the girls who work at the Buy More Plaza can get froggy on your ass." He then winked at Anna.
"Froggy? What the hell does that mean?" Chuck asks. His eyes are still following Sarah and she should be in earshot in a few seconds.
"I think we have some work to do. Uhh…we need to check all the staplers to make sure that nobody runs out of staples" Lester nervously says as he keeps an eye on Sarah. He directs an angry and nervous glare at Jeff and mutters something under his breath before grabbing his shoulder and pulling him away. They shuffle off to the storeroom.
"Sarah is Mrs. Smith" Anna says.
Chuck looks questioningly at her and she explains "Sarah is Mrs. Jane Smith from Mr. and Mrs. Smith. She's probably just like Angelina Jolie was in the movie, leading a dual life working at the Wienerlicious during the day, then seducing and assassinating bad guys at night. There seems to be so much more to her than we see, like the tip of an iceberg. How else could someone so pretty and overqualified for her job end up making corn dogs AND drive a Porsche?"
Chuck is flabbergasted by Anna's improbably accurate assessment of Sarah. He can't stop the question from escaping his mouth. "So if Sarah is a tip-of-an-iceberg spy and corn dog maker, do you think that Casey is also living a dual life?
Thankfully, Anna doesn't make the connection between Sarah and Casey that Chuck inadvertently set up, and responds "Oh no, he's definitely a Terminator. The only question you have to ask yourself is whether he's here to save us or kill us all."
Morgan runs with Anna's characterization of Sarah. "That makes you Mr. John Smith buddy. You're just like Brad Pitt dude, working at the Buy More during the day and killing IRA terrorists at backroom poker games. Only you do your killing online. Wait, so what does that make me?"
Sarah arrives just in time to save Chuck from having to continue this suddenly awkward conversation.
"That makes you the third wheel to Chuck and Sarah, dear." Anna tells Morgan. Sarah, Morgan, and Anna exchange greetings before Anna drags Morgan off to the break room. Chuck hopes they aren't going to contaminate any surfaces that people put food on.
"Hey" Sarah says to chuck with a smile that matches Chuck's in size.
"Hey hey" Chuck says through his grin. "I'm glad you got out early today. I wish I could get out of here too, but Big Mike is still here and I have to finish out my shift. Even though nobody's even in here."
"Recession?" Sarah asks. "Recession." Chuck answers before they both start laughing. "Just don't let Big Mike hear you say that. What's on the agenda for tonight? Want to go out somewhere, you know, to sell our cover?"
Sarah has noticed that despite seeming a bit depressed, Chuck has been more confident since the rooftop 'incident.' She hasn't had much time to think about his new confidence since she and Casey have been working nearly twenty-four hours a day trying to find weaknesses in their protection plan. Fulcrum got way too close this time. The suits and brass in D.C. were in a near-panic about the prospect of losing their prized asset. Director Graham wanted to extract Chuck to the secret bunker even after Lizzie was captured, but General Beckman convinced him to leave Chuck and his protectors in place. She didn't know why Beckman had quickly changed her mind on the extraction.
Sarah suspected that the Beta Intersect was further along than projected but could get no confirmation from her sources. Because Bryce had destroyed the Alpha Intersect, the Beta Intersect was now being built on the NSA's home turf, Fort Meade in Maryland. Despite being a 'joint' project, the NSA definitely had lead on this. It could take years before the CIA regained the credibility within the intelligence community that Bryce destroyed. If he brought down Fulcrum, it would go a long way toward restoring the CIA's luster. Of course, practically nobody knew that Bryce was still alive, so any goodwill gained from his work would have to wait for the future. Casey had to know something about the Beta, but he always played dumb when she asked.
"Chuck, unfortunately we have work to do tonight. Casey and I have to meet with the Science and Technology Directorate to upgrade our equipment. We'll be the first agents to receive the newest cell phones, radios, and comm gear using the latest encryption standard. Everyone is worried that Fulcrum was able to somehow intercept our signals. Regular field agents won't get this gear for another six months. That's how important you are to me." Sarah stammered a bit, "I mean, to Casey and me. I mean to Beckman and Graham. You know what I mean…" She recovered quickly, "You should go with us since you need to get trained on the comm gear too."
Chuck caught her Freudian slip but let it pass. "Yeah, I need to get trained so I can listen to you guys from the car."
Sarah glared at Chuck, "If you ever stayed there." Chuck's face dropped at her rebuke. Sarah was reminded of how easy it was for her to affect Chuck's mood. She broke into a grin.
"Ha, very funny" Chuck responded with a matching grin. "You almost had me there."
"Ok, so I'll meet you guys at 8. Casey knows where to go so just carpool with him. Save some gas. We're in a recession you know." With that, Sarah leaned into Chuck and gave him a short peck on the lips. "Bye honey!" she said cheerfully before turning and leaving the Buy More.
Chuck managed to utter a "Bye, sweetie" as he watched Sarah walk away. Did she just kiss him on the lips? Of course it was just a little kiss, and it did serve to promote their cover in the presence of his co-workers, but still. She always kissed him on the cheek in public.
He could never forget the one time she did kiss him on the lips. He unconsciously brought his fingertips to his lips as his thoughts drifted back to the shipping dock and Bryce's cocoon. In an instant, he was finally over his week-long funk courtesy of Sarah. She always knew exactly what to do or say to make him happy. That kind of connection had to be real he assured himself. They can't teach you that stuff in school.
Casey delivered his box of grilling tools to the latest owner of a BeastMaster 3000. He had quickly become the store's top salesperson of the 60,000BTU units. Moving the grills had become the sole source of enjoyment in Casey's life. This was truly the least enjoyable cover he had ever assumed, although he had to admit that "Team Chuck" had done a lot of good. Bartowski wasn't nearly as annoying as he was when they first met and Walker had actually turned into a decent colleague. Casey liked working alone but he could see the utility of having a skilled and somewhat trustworthy partner. Sarah could never be completely trustworthy since she worked for the CIA, but in his eyes, she had done alright. Regardless, he always kept an eye on her and stayed ready to draw his weapon. She was masterful at manipulation and had no problem making men seek and desire her, including Bartowski. Good thing Casey was damaged goods. He would never fully trust her words and motives.
Casey's encrypted cell phone rang and the unique 5 digit caller ID indicated that his boss was calling. "Casey here, ma'am" he answered.
"Major Casey" General Beckman started, "I'm calling to update you on the status of the Beta Intersect. It is now seventy percent operational and should be able to go live within the month. We have begun feeding Echelon data into the NSA portion of the database without any hiccups. Once the Beta Intersect proves reliable, you will be cleared to close the LA operation and get back to doing what you do best."
Casey's winced as if he had just smelled some rotten milk. He was glad Beckman couldn't see him. "Roger that, ma'am. I'll be ready."
"Excellent. In the meantime, your operation will be the first to receive our latest gear and encryption. There is still a window of opportunity for Fulcrum to damage us. Carry on."
Casey snapped his phone shut and suddenly, BeastMaster 3000's were the furthest thing from his mind. Time to cowboy up he told himself.