4.
" Uh, guys? Help! " Chuck was quick marched through the bar, prodded by the sound suppressor and gun jammed into the small of his back. The ugly behemoth shoved him through a service door, down a hallway and into a service elevator where a second man, a lesser behemoth, stood waiting.
" Your girlfriend won't be able to help you, " the ugly behemoth snickered.
" Um... she's not my girlfriend. "
The ugly behemoth leered knowingly. " Ah, a professional... "
" Where did La Ciudad go? " Chuck heard Casey growl.
" She's not a professional either... " Chuck pondered his strange compulsion for confessional honesty. Maybe it was some weird part of the atavistic fight or flight impulse and since he couldn't do either... " I met her recently and thought I'd take her to an art auction to impress her... "
" I don't know, " he heard Bryce reply.
Casey grunted, then, " Walker, check the ladies restroom. "
" Roger that, " Sarah replied.
" This is normally Chuck's gig, " Larkin whined. " He's the computer geek... "
Chuck heard the 'well duh' quality in Casey's grunt and added a new one to the growing catalog of 'Major John Casey Grunts'. The tuxedo clad behemoths stood on either side of him in the elevator; looming and sneering and doing it very well.
" That's nerd, not geek, " Sarah mumbled.
" which is why he should have been in the damned van. "
" That wasn't your call now, was it, Larkin, " Casey said. " And as you don't have the Intersect in your head... "
The elevator moaned to a stop and after the door opened, the behemoths each grabbed an arm and hustled Chuck down the hall.
" She's not in the restroom, " Sarah said.
Chuck tip toed along just as fast as he could between them. " Guys, I do have feet and I can walk... "
" Shut up, pussy, " the ugly behemoth growled.
" That's just not nice! " Chuck decided he needed to get his bike back out and get back in shape. Too much time spent sitting around fixing computers at the Buy More and too many hours playing computer games with Morgan had taken a toll. And there was the whole terrified thing...
The lesser behemoth snickered.
" Find La Ciudad, Agent Larkin, " Sarah said and the icy threat in her voice was obvious even over the earwig.
" Uh... we may have a bigger problem. I don't see Chuck in the bar... "
Finally, Bryce noticed...
" What! "
Chuck winced at Sarah's volume through the earwig as he was hustled into a fancy hotel suite. If he'd had a hand free he would have yanked it out.
" You had me searching for La Ciudad, " Larkin whined defensively. " Chuck was supposed to stay in the bar... "
" Which you thought he'd do better than he stays in the van? " This was followed by Casey's caustic opinions of the limited intellectual capabilities of FIA pukes.
Chuck was shoved across the hotel suite living room and dropped into a chair. The behemoths continued to loom and smirk.
As he sat, Chuck grudgingly acknowledged that just maybe Casey had a point. He wasn't very good at staying in the van; a shortcoming he'd work on... if he survived. He then found himself admiring the rather colourful language skills Casey could display when he wasn't grunting.
" Find Chuck, Agent Larkin! " Sarah all but growled.
" Walker, Carina gave Chuck a watch that has a GPS and a tracking chip in it, " Casey said. " I have a tracking device that's keyed into it... "
That was some interesting intel... Chuck looked past the behemoths as the hotel suite front door as it open and La Ciudad glided into the room. Oh crap...
" And who do we have here?" La Ciudad crooned as she sashayed across the room. " Mr. Vodka Martini With A Cherry himself? Who are you and who do you work for? "
" I'm Charles Carmichael, " Chuck said. " As I was telling Baby Huey here... "
La Ciudad looked puzzled.
Chuck had decided she wasn't an illegal cartoon aficionado when a massive hand crashed into the side of his head and knocked him out of the chair. It also sent the earwig flying.
The ugly behemoth actually roared as he hauled Chuck easily from the floor and slammed him into a wall. Chuck groaned from the jarring punishment and swore he could feel the internal bruising begin. And who knew what was happening to all that government intel in his head?
The lesser behemoth pounced on the earwig as it fell to the carpet. " He's wired... "
" Now Igor, information first, " La Ciudad said as the ugly behemoth slammed Chuck into the wall again. She patted him on the arm. " Break later... "
" Seriously? His name is Igor? " Ugh! The ugly behemoth's breath was truly rancid. Chuck wondered how whatshisname... Igor? would react if he puked all over him.
" He's gotta be a Fed, " the lesser behemoth said as he crushed the earwig.
" You may be right, Renfield. " La Ciudad gazed thoughtfully at Chuck. " This is beginning to smell like a Fed op and would explain the blond and the bartender. I'm not sure what Steele has to do with all of this, however we do have some time to try and extract the information... "
She reached down into her cleavage and hauled a slender knife from a concealed sheath. " I want information from you and you are going to give me what I want. Again, who are you? "
" I'm Charles Carmichael, " Chuck repeated as his eyes shifted between the three faces around him. This was bad, very bad. " I just met the blond and decided to take her to an art auction to impress her, but I think I failed miserably because she wasn't very impressed by any of the art work... "
His ramble was cut short as Igor grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him to eye level. Chuck waited to see his life flash before his eyes as he struggled to breath...
" Igor! " La Ciudad snapped.
Growling like a frustrated grizzly, Igor lowered Chuck back to the floor. He released his hold on Chuck's throat with great reluctance and allowed Chuck to take a much needed breath.
" Sorry, Boss! " Igor said, but didn't sound the least bit sorry.
Renfield stood to the side and continued to loom and smirk.
La Ciudad paced about the room, studying Chuck with cold, grey eyes. " Allow me to explain the facts of life to you, Charles is it? We could and will torture the information from you and I think we'd enjoy that very much... "
Igor and Renfield nodded their agreement and as an added touch, Renfield cracked his knuckles and chuckled ruthlessly.
" I prefer the knife, but that can get a little bloody and I'm not really dressed for it. " La Ciudad studied her knife and it's gleaming sharpness. " Renfield here prefers pliers and things like yanking the fingernails out, but that can get very messy. "
Chuck gulped audibly. " Bloody and messy... not good!"
La Ciudad continued with her choices with a slight smile. " Igor just likes to break men or women in half and let them babble before they die. Unfortunately, breaking them in half is not an exact science and too many die before they can talk... "
Igor hung his head and shrugged as he tried to look sheepish and failed.
" Now that we have established the parameters, let us begin again. " La Ciudad stepped up and invaded Chuck's personal space as she lay her knife against his face. " Who are you? "
Chuck gulped, then, " I'm Charles Carmichael. "
" And why are you here? "
The door to the hotel room exploded open. Sarah and Casey eased into view from either side of the doorway, faces grim and guns extended.
" Let him go, " Sarah commanded.
La Ciudad grabbed Chuck, whirled him towards his handlers and placed herself behind him with the knife firmly placed against his throat. Igor and Renfield grabbed their guns and started shooting.
Casey and Sarah ducked for cover and returned fire.
La Ciudad began to back across the room, hauling Chuck along. Her henchmen continued to shoot at the intruders and tried to converge on her at the same time.
She did not see the french doors that lead out onto a balcony fly open.
A tall figure dressed in black stepped into the room. He wore a flat brimmed, flat crowned hat, a black mask that covered the top part of his face and a billowing cape. He also had a bullwhip in one hand and a rapier in the other.
Renfield dropped with two ugly wounds in his forehead. Igor continued to fire his gun and more walls and furniture were punished as he tried to back up with La Ciudad.
Rattled by all the gunfire and the knife against his throat while he tried to walk backwards, Chuck staggered and almost fell. La Ciudad let him go rather than be taken down with him.
Sarah paused to gape at the masked man and didn't see Igor turn his gun towards her.
Chuck did and stood up just as the ugly behemoth fired again. He grunted as the slugs hammered into his chest and knocked him to the floor.
Casey took Igor out with a pair of well aimed shots to the head.
La Ciudad turned towards the balcony doors and came to an abrupt halt as she saw the tall, masked man in black. " Who? "
The rapier flickered out and she fell, skewered through the chest. The tall, masked man turned and the rapier flickered again and left a large Z scratched into the nearest wall.
" Casey! Get that son of a bitch! "
The masked man turned to Sarah, swept the hat from his head and bowed, gracefully. " It pains me more than I can say to have some how offended such a lovely senorita. "
Casey sidled across the room, keeping his gun extended as he glared at both the masked man and the woman on the floor.
The masked man placed his hat back on his head and with a dramatic swirl of his cape, stepped back out onto the balcony and was gone.
" Casey! He's getting away! "
" Sarah... " Chuck managed to croak.
Sarah whirled around to see Chuck lying on the floor. " Oh God! Chuck! "
Casey stood over La Ciudad and his pale blue eyes showed neither mercy or compassion. Her stormy, grey eyes were full of hate for the man who stood above her. She seemed to be cursing him in both Spanish and Portuguese as she patted ineffectually at the bleeding wound in her chest.
And then with a last ragged breath, she was gone.
" Ow, that hurt, " Chuck groaned. He wasn't sure which hurt worse, his back or his chest... and had there really been a masked man in black in the room?
Sarah knelt as Chuck tried to lever himself up. Oh my... He began to blush and stutter as he realized that he was looking straight down the front of her gown. He quickly looked up into gorgeous blue eyes so full of concern and then looked off over her shoulder.
" Chivalry is not dead, " Sarah murmured with a slight smile.
Casey rogered something he heard over his earwig. " Walker, Bartowski, we need to vacate the premises. Larkin is hearing a lot of chatter about the shooting to the hotel management and the local LEO's have been called... "
" Easy... " Sarah grabbed an arm and helped Chuck to his feet. She draped the arm across her shoulders and wrapped an arm about his waist and encouraged him to lean on her.
Casey fell into step with them. " Nice work, Bartowski, taking a bullet for a teammate... "
" What! " Sarah's eyes zeroed in on the holes in Chuck's tux.
" Not too bright, but nice work, " Casey finished with a grim smile.
" Chuck, what the hell were you thinking? You're the Intersect and the secrets in your head are way too important and valuable... " Sarah began hotly.
" Igor was going to shoot you, " Chuck jumped in to defend himself. " I know for a fact that there is absolutely no way you could be wearing a bullet proof vest under your... "
" Larkin, shut the hell up... " Casey growled.
" and I knew I was wearing a vest so... " Chuck heard Sarah grumble something beneath her breath. " What? "
Sarah shook her head. " That was something in Polish and not very professional. I'm sorry Chuck, but Agent Larkin just brings out the worse in me... "
" Join the club, " Casey said.
Chuck nodded his understanding.
" And it's my job to protect you. I'm the expendable one, " Sarah said.
" Field Agent Walker!"
Sarah blinked at the coolly remote tone of Chuck's voice. " Yes, Chuck? "
" No one is expendable on my team... "
" Sure she is, moron, " Casey said as they stepped out into the hall. " Busty, leggy blonds are a dime a dozen in the FIA... "
Chuck turned to glare at Casey. " You're all heart. "
They made their way slowly towards the back service elevator. There were several distraught looking people milling about in various types of nightwear. Casey flashed an official looking badge as the team walked through.
" I'm sorry, Sarah, but I didn't think... " Chuck murmured.
" Well you need to start thinking, " Sarah grumbled.
Casey laughed. " Lot's of luck with that, Walker! "