A/N: Hello again! I'll repeat one more time how nice it is to get all the encouragement and support from you guys, you're all Awesome! This is a turning point in the story, with several canon references, especially to the Pilot episode. Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – An Eventful Night Out
After dinner, Chuck and Morgan cleared the dishes and retired to play a little Halo online. At one point Morgan suggested entering a competition, but Chuck nixed the idea claiming it would take them too much time, despite the fact that some competitions offered cash prizes.
"Care for another level offline?" Morgan asked.
"Nah, I'm beat. I think I'll just get some rest."
"I'll be going home, then." The computer beeped, announcing an incoming email. "And you've got mail."
"It can wait. Pedal safe."
He saw Morgan to the door and returned to his room. He'd just finished putting the game controllers away and taking the trash out when he remembered the email and sat at his computer to check it out. It had been sent to his personal and not his Buy More account, so it most likely wasn't work related. It wasn't spam, either, for his account was hosted in the Orion company server and the filters were wickedly effective in keeping unwanted junk mail out of his inbox, plus the system ensured that whatever made it through was virus free.
"What is this," he muttered. The sender was unfamiliar and there was a rather large attachment in a proprietary Orion compression format that allowed huge files to be sent via regular email. It was probably sent to him by mistake, being originally intended for an Orion Computers & Software department, so he decided to see what it was and forward it to the correct recipient. He moved the cursor and clicked on the file.
A few minutes earlier, in Washington DC…
The first sign of trouble on a floor of the DNI building where some major work was being done was a wisp of smoke coming from an electrical junction box, accompanied by the distinctive smell of overheated metal and burning rubber insulation. The fire detection and suppression system functioned as designed and instantly activated the sprinklers on that floor, while simultaneously cutting the power. Unfortunately, the work crew had not yet fitted the heavy fireproof door to a room where a fancy looking computer terminal was housed. The problem was exacerbated by someone having left the terminal inspection panels open. The terminal and its sensitive innards were drenched by the water coming out of the sprinklers. Milliseconds before completely shorting out, the system recognized the problem and automatically initiated a contingency mode, but a droplet of water had already caused a minor short circuit, infinitesimally corrupting the emergency operation the system was performing.
Back in Burbank, the moment Chuck clicked on the file link, the screen went black for a second and then started projecting thousands upon thousands of images at a speed the eye could barely follow. It dragged on for hours and when it finally stopped, Chuck fell backwards on to the bed. The alarm clock woke him up in the morning.
I'm never drinking again, was his first thought, until he realized that he hadn't actually had any alcohol the previous night. Last night's details were fuzzy at best, not to mention the killer headache he had. Maybe a refreshing shower would help it go away.
He had no such luck. In fact, something in the news he heard while in the shower from the waterproof wall mounted radio triggered a memory recall he normally shouldn't have. The sensation was dizzying and it was all he could do to stay on his feet. Taking some Advil didn't help much, but fortunately Morgan was there to drive the Herder, as Chuck's headache made it impossible for him to drive.
Fortunately, the headache subsided after a couple of hours and he could work normally again. Until Big Mike, wanting to do a friend of his a favor, sent him to another store in the mall to repair a register in checkout. He'd just about finished when he glanced around looking for a cashier to have the repaired machine tested and…
Fireworks
DEA file on one Gabriel Alfonso Mantarado
FBI file on the same person
Interpol reports about sightings of Mantarado
List of criminal connections
Aftermaths of explosions caused by Mantarado
Wanted poster
Fireworks
"What the Hell just happened?" Chuck mused. Shaking his head to clear the new dizziness away, he spotted a store employee and had her test the register. It worked properly, so he went to the store manager to have the service sheet signed.
Back at the Buy More, he busied himself with various small tasks, waiting for lunchtime to come, as Bryce and Jill had promised to drop by then. Eventually he spotted them entering the store and went to greet them.
"Hi guys! You're right on time."
"We aim to please," Jill said.
"Let's talk over lunch," Bryce added. "I'm really hungry."
"Follow me," Chuck said and led the way to the Orange Orange.
"Chuck! Over here," Sarah called from behind the counter.
"Wow," he said, taking in her work outfit, which consisted of a hairband, and orange tank top, white Capri pants and orange All Stars with pale blue laces, plus a little white apron with orange O's on it. "You look amazing. I'd like you to meet Jill and Bryce. Guys, meet Sarah."
"Hi," Sarah said.
"Nice meeting you," Jill said.
"It's a pleasure," Bryce added.
"So, what can I get you guys?"
"How about a menu, for starters? We'd like to see what flavors you have here," Chuck said.
"Certainly. Take a table and I'll be right over to take your orders."
"Won't you be joining us?"
"Sure, when I bring your fro-yo."
The three friends took a table by the window and quickly made their selections from the delicious offerings of the yogurt store. Sarah brought four cups full, plus refreshments and they all sat down to eat.
"Delicious," Jill said. "And this place smells nice, too."
"It's better than the Wienerlicious in that respect."
"Honey, everything is better than the place I work in."
"Really?"
"Ask the boys, if you don't believe me."
"It's true," Chuck said. "Jill works in a pharmacy."
"Not for much longer," Jill clarified. "After our vacation, I'll be going back to school to get a doctorate in biochemistry."
"Sounds interesting," Sarah said.
"It is. What about you, Sarah, what's your field?"
"I studied marketing and public relations with emphasis in the tourism business in Harvard. I'm going to work at a hotel, hopefully."
"Chuck has a position practically guaranteed at a major computer and software company, given his qualifications, while I've been offered a job at investment banking."
"Are you going to take it, Bryce?"
"I'd be a fool not to. Their personnel manager offered it to me just after graduation."
"You must have had some pretty impressive scores."
"Ah, you know how things work. Of course, it didn't hurt that he and the CEO served with my Dad in Vietnam."
"Of course I do know how things work. I had several job offers myself. But I had already decided where I want to work. Chuck, you got yogurt on your lip."
Chuck licked his upper lip. "Is it gone?"
"Not completely." She picked up a napkin and gently wiped Chuck's lip clean. "It is now."
"Thanks, Sarah."
"You are welcome."
"Chuck said you are saving vacation money, just like us, Sarah," Jill said. "Any plans?"
"I'll probably decide at the last moment, like always."
"You could join us," Jill suggested brazenly.
"Come again?" The suggestion had definitely caught her by surprise.
"Think about it. It's perfect, actually. The more the merrier certainly applies here. We'll have to spend less per person on gas and the cabin has more than enough room for the four of us."
"I believe Chuck mentioned it. As I recall, he said it's somewhere near Bishop."
"Yes, and it has Bishop Creek, a tributary of the Owens river, in the back yard, literally. It's perfect. We can go swimming, fishing, rock climbing, canoeing… You get the idea."
"Jill forgot to mention the jeep trails. Chuck's Dad gave him his old Bronco for our vacation."
"Tell me more about the cabin, Chuck."
"It's big enough. Has to be, considering it was built for a family of four. There is one large bedroom, another one that has been divided in half and Dad ingeniously did it to allow us, meaning me and my sister, to keep the tiered bunks, the living room, the porch, the kitchen and the…"
"Outhouse?" Sarah joked.
"No, it has two bathrooms, not very large, but totally adequate."
"Say yes, Sarah," Jill implored. "Pretty please? I don't want to be the only girl there. I need someone I can gossip and trade wardrobe ideas for our outings in town with. At the very least, promise me you'll think about it."
"I'll think about it," Sarah said seriously.
"Yesss!" Jill did a fist pump in triumph.
"And as you might have already guessed, Jill and Bryce will get the master bedroom, I'll take my old room and you can have Ellie's – my sister's."
"Tempting," Sarah said.
"Okay, back to tonight's plans," Bryce said. "Did Morgan give you the list?"
"He did. We have to choose between three restaurants: one Tex-Mex, one Chinese and one hamburger place."
"I'm in the mood for Mexican," Jill said.
"Me too," Sarah agreed.
"Ditto," Chuck added.
"Same here," Bryce said. "Tex-Mex it is."
"There is also a new club with live entertainment every night. From what Morgan and I heard it's not too crowded and the drinks are very reasonably priced.
"Sounds like a winner," Bryce said approvingly.
-o-
While the four friends were making vacation and evening out plans, Washington was in a spin, or at least the highest echelons of the intelligence community were. Having gotten the all clear, several high ranking officials nervously paced the floor destroyed in last night's fire.
"Tell me what the Chief had to say," a small redheaded woman in an Air Force Brigadier General's uniform asked a towering black man who was wearing an expensive tailored suit.
"It appears that the fire started from the junction box over there. Before you ask, there are no indications of sabotage. It was a run of the mill short circuit."
"A short circuit that cost millions of dollars in damage, not to mention the loss of all the data," the General said.
"What were you thinking? You had the data uploaded while the installation was still incomplete?"
"I wanted to have my people test it ASAP."
"You should have let the manufacturer supervise the whole thing, like he and I suggested. Had you agreed, none of this would have happened."
"We had agreed on complete secrecy! That's why we used separate work crews for each task."
"He would have come here himself! This was his baby, too! Thanks to your impatience, we'll have to buy another system from him, since the warranty doesn't cover what happened."
"Right now I'm more worried about the data, Director Graham."
"The data can be compiled again, General Beckman."
"Compiling it again will take time."
"And it's entirely your fault. At least next time we can do it the proper way."
"Ma'am, is there anything else you want me to do here?" The question came from a tall man in a black suit that screamed 'Federal Agent'.
"No, Major Casey. There is no investigation to be performed since the Fire Department ruled out sabotage."
"What did this computer do, anyway?"
"It did everything," the General replied. "After 9/11 the NSA and the CIA were told to play nice. So we pooled our intel. Every scrap of data we had went into that computer after being encoded into thousands of images. And now it's all gone."
"General, I was talking to the techs to see if they noticed anything in the logs. At the time of the fire, the computer ran an operation. The log identified it as Sand Wall."
"Sand Wall?" Graham asked. "That's the umbrella code name for anything pertaining to the emergency relocation of the Intersect data!"
"The data may have survived?" Beckman asked.
"The trace signature of an email was also picked up."
"Where was the data sent, Major Casey?"
"LA." He handed Beckman some printouts. "Which is fine by me. I'm feeling a little pasty."
"Go there, John. Find that data. Talk to the manufacturer, he may be able to help. And say hi to Kathleen and Alex for me, will you?"
"Yes ma'am."
-o-
Ellie had already picked out something nice for Chuck to wear on his outing. In the meantime, the Walker girls' residence was a madhouse. Various items of clothing were scattered all over, for in addition to Sarah going out with Chuck, Bryce and Jill, Carina would be having a business dinner with her boss and some people from Interpol.
"Put these on. They'll give the girls a nice boost, not that they need it anyway," Carina gave Sarah a black satin lingerie set. "Afterwards, I'll do your hair."
"I can take care of it."
"Trust me, it'll be better if I do it for you."
"Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
"I have time. You don't. Chuck will be here soon." Eventually, with Carina's help, Sarah had put on a formidable outfit. The pants, the boots, the shirt, the hairdo and the light jacket accentuated her femininity and showcased her natural beauty.
"Are we done?" Sarah asked impatiently as Carina added the hairpins.
"We are now. Oh, I think you're going to need something for protection."
"You're not going to give me the ankle sheath with the throwing knives, are you?"
"The next best thing," Carina laughed and took a small box of condoms from a nightstand drawer. "Just in case he doesn't have any on him."
"I'm not going to have sex with Chuck on the first date, which is actually not even a date!"
"What am I going to do with you, Sarah?"
"I'm going to the bathroom to do my makeup. We totally forgot that."
"Go."
While Sarah was carefully applying her makeup, there was a knock on the door. Carina tied the sash on her black silk robe and answered it.
"Hi. Oh, sorry, I must have the wrong apartment."
"Are you Chuck?"
"Yes…"
"I'm Carina, Sarah's sister. Come in."
"Thanks."
"You brought her flowers?"
"It seemed like a good idea."
"They are beautiful. She'll like them a lot. Chucky, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything."
"Are you sleeping with Sarah?"
"What? Sarah and I are friends. Besides, gentlemen don't kiss and tell."
"Don't you want to sleep with Sarah?" Carina persisted, her voice a husky purr as she circled Chuck like a feline about to pounce on her prey.
"Um…"
"Because I'm totally OK with it if you do. But be warned. If you break her heart I'll come after you and it won't be pretty." She grasped Chuck's head with both hands and turned it towards her nightstand so he could see her badge, gun, knives and handcuffs. "Hurt her in any way and I'll cut off parts of your body you are going to really miss."
He gulped. "I assure you, Ms. Walker, my intentions towards Sarah are completely honorable."
"I thought intimidating guys was Dad's job," Sarah said from behind them. Chuck and Carina turned to look at her and he sucked in a breath.
"You look incredible," he managed to say.
"You don't look half bad yourself."
"These are for you."
"Nice flowers, thanks. Sis…"
"I'll put them in a vase."
"Shall we go?" Chuck asked. "The others are waiting downstairs."
"Let's go. See you later, Carina."
"It was nice meeting you, Ms. Walker."
"Have a good time, kids."
-o-
"It was highly irresponsible of your boss, Major Casey," Stephen Bartowski said, frowning when Casey finished recounting the events leading to the destruction of the Intersect computer.
"Director Graham agrees with you."
"He should," Mary Bartowski said. "General Beckman should have allowed Stephen to supervise the installation. Had it been done properly, you'd at least still have the data."
"That's the problem. The computer recognized the fire as a threat to it and emailed the data for safekeeping. According to the logs, the only email addresses available to it at the time were those of the customer support department of your company."
"Let me see those logs," Stephen said. Casey gave him the papers he had in his briefcase. "Oh boy," he exclaimed after reading them.
"Stephen, what's wrong?"
"Mary, the computer was programmed to send the data to the secure customer support server in case of emergency. But something happened and it was sent to a different account, Chuck's personal account."
"You can't be serious!"
"I am, unfortunately. You'll recognize his email address."
"Who is this Chuck?" Casey asked.
"Our son," Stephen and Mary replied together. "If he opens the email…" Stephen didn't have to finish the phrase. His wife looked terrified, while Casey was just puzzled.
"I'll find him."
"He said he was going out with friends tonight, but he didn't mention where," Mary informed him.
"Don't call him. We can't risk any open communication. I'll find him and ask him about the email."
"Bring him here, Major. It might be necessary."
"You think, Stephen?"
"I have a feeling about this, Mary. It may turn out not to be simple."
"You heard my husband, Mr. Casey."
"I'll do my job, ma'am," Casey assured her.
-o-
As it turned out, Morgan had made an excellent suggestion. The Margaritas were perfect, the food delicious and the Mariachi band quite good – if one didn't sit too close.
"And then Bryce declared that he was going for a swim in the fountain," Jill said, continuing the story about Stanford she was telling Sarah.
"What happened next?" Sarah asked.
"He dove right in, of course. Poor Chuck had to wade in and fish him out!"
"No way!" Sarah laughed.
"It's one hundred percent true. Anyway, Chuck, who was also past blind drunk by the way, carried him back to the frat house and I put dry clothes on him. Afterwards, I took blood samples from both of them to measure alcohol content in the lab the following day. Let me tell you, they were both really on the verge of alcohol poisoning. How Chuck could walk somewhat straight and keep his wits about him, I honestly don't know."
"Jill, you know Bryce and I hate needles!" Chuck protested.
"I know, but I couldn't resist. I mean you objected at first, but then you relented when I promised you a lollipop, which I still owe you."
"Plus interest," Chuck said.
"Fine, I'll get you two lollipops."
"What about me?" Bryce whined.
"You were passed out, so I didn't have to bribe you. Ergo, I don't owe you anything."
"And to add insult to injury, she ratted us out to Ellie and and her boyfriend, Captain Awesome," Chuck added.
"So, so wait, you call him Captain Awesome?" Sarah asked, disbelieving.
"Yeah, wait until you meet him. Everything he does is awesome: Jumping out of planes, rafting, climbing mountains… flossing."
"Oh, that's funny!"
"Well, I'm a funny guy."
"Clearly, which is good, because I'm not funny."
"Is that your big secret, by the way? Because I'm sitting here trying to figure out what's wrong with you…"
"Oh, plenty, believe me."
"And I was thinking: Either she's a cannibal, or she's really not that funny… And I was pulling for cannibal, cause I've never met one before."
"Uh, not a cannibal. But I narrowly avoided getting into a bad relationship, so I may come with baggage, afraid of committing to a relationship, as my sister would say." Sarah shuddered inwardly as she remembered a certain sleazebag who had come very close to claiming her V-card.
"I can be your very own baggage handler."
"I like you, Chuck," she said honestly. Wait, where the hell did that come from? Chuck is my friend and I inadvertently implied that I might want something more than friendship? Way to go, girl, Sarah thought. She desperately tried to change the subject. "So, what about you, any secrets… what skeletons do you have in your closet… any women?"
"You know about me, Sarah."
"Oh, right, you told me about her at the Wienerlicious, when we first met."
"He told you about Hannah?" Bryce asked.
"I thought he might have been hitting on me and he admitted to doing some light flirting, we talked, one thing led to another and I learned about her."
Later…
"Where are we going?" Sarah asked. They had left the restaurant and were walking to give their food time to settle.
"Do you like music?"
"I guess."
"You guess? What's your favorite band?"
"Uh…"
"Jeez…"
"I'm not funny, I don't listen to music… This must be your worst night out ever, right?"
Chuck didn't hear the last part. He was looking from the overpass they were on at a passing official motorcade. Then it happened again. He saw things he shouldn't know.
"Chuck!"
"Sorry, I kinda zoned out there."
Jill came to the rescue. "Sarah, do you have a bicycle?"
"Uh, no, why are you asking?"
"You'll need one in Bishop. Maybe you could borrow Ellie's mountain bike."
"Hold on, you've already decided I'll be coming with you guys? I said I'd think about it."
"Please, girl, you can't fool me. You do want to come!"
"Hey," Bryce interrupted, "this is the club Morgan suggested. Let's go in."
They had lots of fun at the club. They danced, even switched partners at one point, had a couple of drinks and made more small talk, Jill again trying to convince Sarah to join them for the vacation in Bishop. Eventually, they decided to call it a night early, as they all had to go to work in the morning.
Casey was getting increasingly frustrated. He'd checked out all of Charles I. Bartowski's favorite haunts and had found no sign of him. He pounded the steering wheel of his hulking Suburban angrily. And then he did a double take as he recognized Chuck in a group of four young people leaving a club. Casey pressed down on the accelerator until he found a spot where he could safely do a U-turn, passed the small group, parked and waited for them to come close.
The four were laughing at a joke when someone interrupted them. "Mr. Bartowski."
"Yes," Chuck said.
"Agent Casey, NSA," the Major identified himself, showing his badge. "We need to talk."
"Um, about what?"
"Did you receive an email containing the words 'Sand Wall' in the past day?"
"Yes, I did. What's so important about it?"
"You'll have to come with me to your father's office, now, please. He's expecting us."
"Of course, anything to help," Chuck said and turned to say goodnight to his friends. And then he saw a nearby building, which triggered another recall.
"Chuck?" Sarah asked, afraid he'd had a seizure.
"They are going to kill him!"
"Kill who?" Casey asked.
"Stanfield, the General, the Army guy, the one making the presentation about the military's involvement in the war on drugs! Look, I'm not sure how, but I somehow know the CIA intercepted plans for a bomb in Medellin and the NSA found plans for a hotel, THAT hotel! The bomb is in the hotel right now!"
Sarah was horrified. "It's my parents' hotel! Chuck, we have to do something!"
"You opened the email?" Casey insisted.
"Yes, wasn't I supposed to? I mean, when I did, I saw pictures, lots and lots of them!"
"Bartowski, those pictures were encoded with secrets, government secrets. If you saw them, you know them. But right now we have to stop the bomb from exploding."
"According to the schedule the General is already on stage." Chuck took off running, followed by Casey, Sarah and, after a moment's hesitation, Jill and Bryce.
"Sir, wait!" Sarah called out to Casey. "If Chuck is as important as you say, he shouldn't be placed at risk!"
"You're right!" He grabbed Chuck and shoved him into a chair in the lobby. "Which way?"
"The shortest way?"
"The fastest way, Bartowski!"
"The fastest… follow me!"
"Chuck, stop!" Sarah yelled. He didn't stop. Instead, he led them to the spacious conference hall, where they soon found the bomb. It was ticking and had less than two minutes to go until it exploded. Casey conferred with security and arranged for a quick evacuation of the room. Then he focused on finding a way to disarm the bomb.
Chuck had an idea. He knelt by the food cart that held the device and flexed his fingers.
"This is not an Xbox and you're not an X-Man," Casey said.
"No, but this is a Prism Express laptop. We sell them at the store. It has a DOS override. Trust me, I can do this."
"It's our only chance," Bryce said, seeing how little time was left.
"OK."
"Mr. Bomb, meet Mr. Internet," Chuck quipped smugly as he opened a browser window and typed something in the address bar.
"You're searching for porn?" Casey was incredulous.
"Hold on," Chuck said and clicked the link to the fake Demova website, the one spreading the virus. The computer was infected with it immediately and was fried, with just seconds to spare.
"You did it, Chuck!" Sarah cried out, immensely relieved, and hugged him as he was kneeling in front of the bomb.
"I… I did it! I defused a real bomb! Woo-hoo! Oh, wait, what if I'd been wrong?"
"Don't puke on the C4," Casey said.
To be continued…
