Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck.

don't forget to review! Sorry for the short chapter. I just got back from vacation and things have been crazy. Hopefully the next will be up more quickly. It will definitely be longer!

Chapter 2: Testing New Waters

She returned an hour before dawn and crashed for four short hours before heading in for her job. On top of everything she had to pull three three hour shifts at The Gym a week as a personal trainer. What type of organization who brokered in secrets made their spies work at the gym?

A stingy one, they complained.

All part of the front, she thought. She pulled her strawberry blond hair back into a pony tail as she walked into the gym. Three hours would go by quickly and give her thinking time.

She had cased out the dojo the night before, knew how the perimeter was guarded and how the cameras and security worked. She had seen several comings and goings as well, and they weren't all sweet dojo kids.

Thinking about the dojo and Sensei made her think of her own training. More specifically, it made her think of Casey.

John Casey.

She wanted to hit something, as she always did, when he came to mind. She had never even met the man in person! Yet he still proved to be the bane of her existence. He was a few years ahead of her, and his name always came up when she was in school and training. With Sensei, with marksmanship, with assassinations. Everywhere she turned, it seemed, his name came up.

She just knew if she ever met the man she would clock him on principle.

Her plans on pummeling Casey took her through her shift. She grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch and then followed the lunch crowd into the Yogurt café by the Buy More. She wanted to get a better look at the blond woman.

She bought a serving of soft served ice cream and blended in with the other patrons. She caught quite a few glances from the males in the place, but didn't attract the woman's suspicion.

Good.

Name tag: Sarah. She wondered if it was as real as her blond hair.

Cody's blond with a hint of red was her natural color. She had always liked her hair, she realized. She hated the missions that required her to change her hair color.

Focus, she told herself as she finished her ice cream. She made a mental note that the place needed further review. The schematics of the building didn't match.

"Did you see anything on your shopping trip?" she asked Peyton as she walked back into their apartment.

"The store is full of weirdos and creeps. The nerd herd is completely… odd," she said. "There wasn't one sane person in the entire store. I think Boss got some bad information."

"When does he ever get bad information?" Cody muttered. No, he made it his business to know everything. If someone had tipped the Buy More was a hot spot, she would have to figure out why.

She loaded her slimmest daggers into sheaths that lay hidden under her clothes. She wasn't going into this situation unarmed. She arrived at the Dojo on time, found a man standing non-chalantly outside.

She ID'd him as Michael Fresner. Former pupil of Sensei from 99, FBI agent turned traitor in '06.

She walked up and he gave her a nod. He opened the side employees entrance and followed her in.

She hated walking into enclosed quarters with someone on her back. Especially when too many things were out of her control.

The hall soon opened up into an egg-shell colored room with sofas and various other implements scattered about. "Have a seat, Cody."

She walked around to take a seat at the table, angling her chair to have a view of all the entrances and exits in the room. It didn't take long for Sensei to come in.

Perhaps now, after months of trailing him, she would find out what he was up to. It would make both Magnum and Uncle Sam happy.

"I am happy to see you have decided to join us," Sensei said. "You always were one of my best students, maintaining a peaceful, calm core no matter the situation."

"Is that why you need me?" Cody asked. "Because I keep a cool head? Unlike some of your other past pupils?" Like John Casey she thought with a silent growl.

"I want the best," Sensei said. "I have selected carefully from my former students, the ones who possess great skill and a certain lawless quality. I have everyone I need, except you."

She smirked. "Not everyone makes the term 'traitor' sound so appealing."

"Not everyone sees the potential that I do. Take Mr. Fresner, here. He was always quite capable of getting into his opponents heads."

"What's in it for me?" she asked. Traitors were, by popular conception, believed to be highly self-centrist. "You have done a lot of pretty talking, Sensei, but you have yet to tell me anything useful."

"I know of your… break with your former employer."

"Much, as it seems, you have as well," she said pointedly.

He smiled. "Indeed. One trial, to test this relationship," he said. "I have heard of a secured server in the Hilton that is being used by the DTA. In it we will learn the location of 1.5 million pounds of contraband. Your cut with Fresner: 48 percent."

She raised an eyebrow. "24 on the first run? What aren't you telling me?"

"If you are successful, it will lead to much more for both of us. I have no problems sharing my success with those who earn it."

Ha. She thought the US government and Magnum could both take a tip or two on payroll. "Who else will be joining me?"

"Fresner," he nodded. "One of my best hackers."

She nodded. "When?"

"Three nights from now. Then we can re-evaluate our relationship after that," he said. She eyed up Fresner as she left to return to her car.

She had already heard of the server, thanks to Magnum. But alerting them to it becoming knowledge to someone who hadn't bought for that information would certainly give her a bonus in her next check. It would be followed by another once she got further into Sensei's inner circle.

She wondered if this made her a quadruple agent.

There came a time when everyone just lost count and loyalties were lost.

Wow! I haven't had a story receive so many alerts and faves so quickly! Dozens in the first few days! Thank you!