A/N: So, this is one day early from my deadline of weekly installments, but I don't think some of you would mind. I'm going to be pretty busy with thanksgiving, HAPPY THANKSGIVING BTW, so I thought, why not post it early?
Thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I really appreciate it all.
I want to thank my beta JennyStone.
I also want to give a special shout out to my other beta uplink2. Without him, well this story would suck.
I don't own Chuck. No money being made here.
Words in italics are characters thoughts. Watch the dates and locations cause I tend to jump around a lot.
….
Chapter 4
February 2010
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
"Another mojito over here please." Chuck yelled to the waitress.
Casey growled. "We're supposed to keep a low profile while we meet with our contact Bartowski, and if you're going to order a drink, can you get any more girly?"
"Yes, yes I can…Contact, don't you mean Carina?" Chuck retorted.
Just then, a beautiful red head wearing huge black sunglasses, a bikini top, and a sarong skirt walked into the bar and started scanning the room. Every set of eyes in the establishment were trained on her, and when she found what she was looking for, she couldn't believe it.
Carina walked over to the table that Chuck and Casey were seated at and took the only empty chair left over. "You're the team I'm working with?" Disbelief evident in her tone.
"Hey what's that suppose to mean?" Chuck felt a little hurt by Carina's comment.
Carina chose to ignore his question and turned to Casey as she took off her sunglasses. "So Johnny, how have you been?" She put on a seductive smile.
'Humph'
Carina rolled her eyes. "Talkative as usual John." She then shifted her attention to Chuck. "So, where's blondie Chuckles?" At the mention of Sarah, Carina saw all the happiness evident on his facial features, disappear.
He shifted in his seat and plastered on a fake smile. "Oh you know, probably off somewhere saving the world." He forced a chuckle that sounded just plain awkward. Where is my damn drink!?
When his mojito finally came, he drank it all in one big gulp. IT BUUUURNSSSSS!
Carina could clearly see that he was hiding something, but decided to let it slide for now. Hmmm, definitely got to get Chuck alone for a talk…or something more fun. "Anyways…I've been working this assignment for a couple months now. Our target's name is Angel Luis. He's the drug lord here in Puerto Vallarta. I've gotten close to him and stumbled onto some information that he's connected to a small Ring outfit here. I figured we could help each other out because honestly, I'm getting real sick of Luis and this mission."
Casey smirked. "Tired of 'playing' with Luis?"
She smiled at the Colonel. "Jealous? Don't worry Johnny; I haven't forgotten our time in…"
Chuck was barely listening. Instead, his mind was on the one thing that he really wanted to stop thinking about. I wonder where Sarah is now. I hope she's safe. What would she think of me being an agent? Would she think I'm at least half as great as Bryce now? What would she think now that I've killed someone? Wait, why should I care? Oh my god, have they been talking this entire time!?
Somewhere in Colorado
"Bryce, the meet is going down." Sarah held out the binoculars to him so he could take a look.
Bryce walked over to Sarah, grabbed the binoculars, and took a look towards the warehouse and flashed. Bryce and Sarah were across the warehouse in the abandoned building they set up their surveillance equipment in. "I guess that guy was telling the truth about the meet."
Sarah snorted. "And yet, you decided to kill him anyway." She replied with ice in her tone.
"He was a traitor, how many times do I have to say it?" Bryce sighed. He was really getting tired of all the arguing. But He was especially getting tired of all the damn migraines lately.
Bryce handed the binoculars back and Sarah saw how exhausted he looked. She softened her stance just a bit. "What's been going on Bryce? Lately, after you flash, it looks like you've been through hell…and don't think I don't notice all those migraines you've been having lately."
He mustered up a weak smile. "I'm fine…Now come on. We have to get down there. One of those Ring agents has to know more about this Daniel Shaw character."
Even though he was always pissing her off, mainly because he was a constant reminder of Chuck, Sarah was still worried. Bryce had always been one of the greatest partners she ever had, and just because their intimate relationship was long over ever since she met Chuck, she was troubled with the effects downloading 2.0 had on him. Sure, Bryce was always overly flirty and arrogant at times, but ever since the download, he was becoming downright unbearable. She decided to let it go for now, but would make sure she got to the bottom of it when the timing was right.
February 2010
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Hotel Barceló Puerto Vallarta
The next morning, they were to meet at Carina's hotel suite to go over the specifics of the mission.
Chuck could barely sleep. He was excited for his first mission as an agent, and the fact that he was afraid the nightmares would continue didn't help matters. When his alarm went off, he took a quick shower and strapped on Cortana. He got dressed in some khaki's with a light colored polo dress shirt. He of course wore his famous Chuck Taylors with the outfit, and stuffed in the back of his waistband under his polo, was a newly designed Five-seveN that shot tranq darts. He wasn't naïve. He still carried his Smith & Wesson Series V, loaded with actual bullets, strapped to his ankle. But he never wanted to kill another person unless there was no other choice.
Chuck got to Carina's room a couple of minutes before 7:00 am; the time Carina said to be there. He walked up to her door and knocked.
The door swung open, revealing Carina in a red see-through nightie. She smiled. "Come in Chuck, you're right on time." She stepped aside to let him pass.
Chuck visibly gulped. OH GOD! He nervously walked inside and looked around the huge suite. "Wh… whe…where is Casey?" He was starting to stutter as he tried to look at anything but her.
She shook her head. So cute. "I told Casey to come a little bit later. I wanted to have a little…talk…with you first." She started walking towards Chuck like she was stocking her prey.
Chuck started backing away slowly not noticing where he was going. He was genuinely scared of what might happen if Carina got her claws into him, so to speak. Since he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, he backed right into Carina's room and he yelped when he bumped against the edge of her bed. "Carina what…"
Carina just pushed him over and he fell right onto the bed. She straddled him and attacked his lips.
Chuck didn't know what in the hell was going on, but he felt his body reacting anyways. After a couple of minutes though, he seemed to snap back to reality and he pushed Carina off of him. He pushed a little too hard however because she fell onto the floor with a loud 'thud.'
"Oh god Carina I'm so sorry!"
She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "What the hell Chuck!" She gave an annoyed look but was actually slightly amused.
He turned crimson and started rambling. "Look, I like you and all but…I just…I can't…Not that I don't want to because I do…I mean I don't…I mean you're very pretty but…" For the love of God, STOP TALKING!
She laughed at how embarrassed and apologetic he looked. "Still got it bad for Walker I see." She then discarded all playfulness from her features. She was worried something may have happened to her friend. "Where is she anyways? I know you know more than you're sharing. What happened?"
He dropped his head. Chuck knew she would never let this go, so he begrudgingly explained what had happened. Hesitantly, he started on his explanation."She left…I asked her to stay with me…and she chose to leave with Bryce."
"Wait, I thought Bryce was dead."
Chuck cringed. He looked up at her and started rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeeeaaaahhhh… we thought he was dead too. Turns out he wasn't. Now he and Sarah are off somewhere magical, doing God knows what."
Carina actually took pity and sat next to him on the bed. "Didn't you remember what I told you Chuckles? Spies don't fall in love."
"That's ridiculous, I did." He argued.
Carina started laughing. "You're not a spy Chuck, you're an asset; there's a difference."
He gave her a smirk. "How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself earlier." He extended his hand for her to shake. "Carmichael, Charles Carmichael, NSA spy."
She was so shocked that her mouth didn't seem to want to close. The nerd became a spy?
She thought to herself for a second. "Well I guess that would explain what you guys are doing here…I mean Casey I understand, but I couldn't figure out why you were here." She laughed at the situation. "How in the hell did you become a spy…no offense."
Chuck looked at her, slightly miffed. "How am I supposed to not be offended by that?"
Carina smiled and bumped him with her shoulder. "Relax Chucky." Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"That must be Casey." He looked towards the front door and back to Carina and almost forgot what she was wearing. Or, more importantly, what she wasn't wearing. Chuck quickly shot up. "I'll get it, you just get dressed." He quickly ran out of her bedroom to let Casey in.
Chuck opened the door a little flustered, and Casey eyed him wearily. "What did you do?"
"Nothing, I didn't do anything!" Chuck yelled in a panic.
From the other room Carina yelled "Twice!"
Chuck looked at the direction of her room. "What does that even mean!?" he yelled back.
John grunted and pushed Chuck inside. "Let's get this over with moron."
A couple minutes later, Carina joined the two and they sat around the coffee table which was covered by a map of Puerto Vallarta. She pointed at a spot. "Okay, tomorrow night, this is where the meeting is being held. Luis is supposedly meeting with some high ranking Ring agent named Daniel Shaw at his warehouse."
"Never heard of him" Casey muttered.
"Word is he's some rouge CIA agent." Carina replied.
"Of course he's CIA." Casey growled.
Carina continued. "So, since the meet is going down at Luis' warehouse, all the money and drugs are going to be there when this goes down. We have a team of ten DEA agents at our disposal. Luis trusts me so I'll be at the meeting. When I give the signal, initiate a full breach and we take down both Luis and Shaw."
Chuck piped in for the first time. "You should say 'Pineapple' as the signal for us to storm the warehouse!"
Carina looked at Chuck curiously. "Pineapple?"
Casey just shook his head. "Idiot."
Somewhere in Colorado
Team Intersect successfully captured the Ring agent who was in charge of the meeting they were staking out. They had the agent tied up to a chair while Bryce was 'interrogating' him for hours.
Sarah finally had enough. She stood up, took a knife out of the sheath wrapped around her thigh, and stalked over to their prisoner. She pushed Bryce out of the way and held the blade against the Ring agent's neck. "Tell me all you know about Daniel Shaw."
The agent remained strong. He was already bloody and bruised from the 'interrogation,' he figured they wouldn't kill him since they were CIA.
Sarah shrugged. "Ok then." She flipped the blade in her hand so it would now be pointed down. She wretched her hand back and brought it down towards the prisoner's thigh.
Before the knife entered the man's thigh, he yelled out. "WAIT! WAIT! I'LL TALK!"
Sarah smiled and put the knife back in the sheath. "So talk."
"Look all I know, is that Shaw is down in Mexico dealing with…finances."
Bryce took over. "Where in Mexico?"
"Puerto Vallarta. He's meeting with a man named Angel Luis."
Bryce turned to Sarah and smiled. "I hope you pack that one bikini I like."
Sarah gave Bryce an icy glare, but she quickly came to the conclusion that there had to be a direct correlation between the way Bryce kept acting and the Intersect. Unable to release her frustrations on her partner, she turned to their captive and struck him with a vicious right hook that rendered him unconscious.
She pulled Bryce off to the side a little. "Bryce, I think we should talk to the General and run some tests on how the Intersect is affecting you."
Bryce actually seemed to have a bit of animosity in his eyes. "I'm fine!"
He then stalked off to Sarah's surprise.
February 2010
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Angel Luis' base of operations
The warehouse seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, the meeting was after the sun had set, because all anyone had for cover was trees. Chuck, Casey, and a couple of DEA agents were waiting for the signal in the forest directly behind the warehouse.
Chuck and Casey were both decked out in all black BDUs wearing vests on top of that. While Casey had frag grenades and extra clips of ammo for his M16 Viper attached to his vest, Chuck had flash bangs and twilight darts attached to his.
The meeting had already started, but not one of the Ring agents that were there was Daniel Shaw. One of them said Shaw was on the way and that they had to wait. Carina didn't know what was going on, but she had a feeling that the agent was stalling for something. She had a bad feeling about the whole situation, and like she always seemed to do, she improvised.
Carina, who was standing next to Luis, turned to talk to him. "Luis, I don't like what's going on, I think this Daniel guy is trying to set us up."
"Hush mi mascota, everything will be fine." Luis gave her a greasy smile and slapped her on the ass.
Carina held in the urge to shoot the bastard. "Do we know what this Shaw guy looks like?" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "For all we know, he could look like a PINEAPPLE!"
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
In route to Angel Luis' base of operations
Sarah and Bryce were off road in a Jeep Cherokee XJ on route to where they thought Daniel Shaw would be. There was a bit of tension between the two, but the meet was supposed to happen in an hour and they were still an hour and a half away. There wasn't enough time to deal with their issues at the moment.
"Sarah cant you drive any faster!?"
"I'm going as fast as this piece of junk can go!" Damn I miss my Porsche.
"This is the first solid lead we have on one of the Ring's higher ups. If we mess this up…"
"We're not going to mess this up…Now shut-up and let me drive!"
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Angel Luis' base of operations
Casey's voice crackled through every agent's earpiece. "THERE'S THE SIGNAL, INITIATE FULL BREACH, NOW!"
Glass started shattering everywhere inside the warehouse because of all the flash bangs being thrown in. Carina knew this was going to happen so she flipped onto a table and brought it down with her to the floor to use as cover as she shut her eyes and covered her ears with her hands.
'BOOM' 'BOOM' 'BOOM' 'BOOM'…
The flash bangs started going off, filling the whole place with a piercing white light. Mostly everyone inside the building was caught off guard, so when the agents breeched the warehouse, it was fairly easy to subdue and arrest each individual; all of whom were still fighting off the effects of the flash bangs.
The Ring agent who was stalling, and who appeared to be the leader, seemed to react quicker when he saw what was going on, so he took cover. Even with the cover, he still had to fight off the effects, but his were much less intense. When he got over the blurry vision and the severe ringing in his ears, he saw everyone being arrested and he bolted for the double doors that lead to the loading dock.
Chuck noticed someone running away and chased after him. Casey and Carina were both busy with Angel Luis and his men, so they didn't notice Chuck's absence.
When Chuck barged through the double doors of the loading dock he stopped and saw the guy darting between crates of what Chuck believed to be drugs. Chuck withdrew his Five-seveN from his back and began pursuit, yelling after the man.
"STOP OR I WILL SHOOT!"
The Ring agent just kept running so Chuck took aim, but when he had the guy in his sights, his Red Test flashed before his eyes and he dropped his gun like it had just burned him. He quickly shook himself out of his daze, picked up his Five-seveN, and fired the tranq gun. The dart flew through the air and hit the agent's back dead center and he collapsed with a loud 'thud.'
He's not dead, he's not dead…Chuck quickly made it over to the Ring agent and took his pulse to make sure. He let out a relieved breath and started dragging the guy back to where Casey and Carina were.
"Where the hell have you been Carmichael?!" Casey yelled while stomping over to Chuck and the unconscious Ring agent.
Carina just smiled and winked at him. "Nice work Chucky."
Chuck just shrugged, thanking God they weren't there to see him hesitate. "Well this guy will be out for about 30 minutes. When he wakes up, we got to find out what he knows about Shaw."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
In route to Angel Luis' base of operations
"Bryce, ETA is about 30 minutes!" Sarah was trying to be heard over the loud noise of the engine. "You ready!?"
Bryce, acting the complete opposite and hour ago, winked at her. "Of course!"
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Angel Luis' base of operations
The Ring agent was in a daze when the effects of the tranq started wearing off. He began to mumble incoherently.
Carina slapped him hard on the face. 'WHACK!' "Wake up sleepy head."
"Fuck, what the hell is going on?!" the agent replied, now fully awake.
"What's your name?" Casey growled more than asked.
"Batman" the agent smirked.
"I see you more as a Joker…or maybe the Riddler!" Chuck had a huge smile on his face until he saw the glare from Casey. Chuck put on a semi-serious face as he hiked his right leg on a chair and lent on his knee with his right forearm. "So Bruce where is…"
Chuck stopped mid sentence since everyone started giving him half annoyed, half puzzled looks. "OH COME ON! Bruce…you know Bruce Wayne is Batman. Don't act like you guys don't know."
Casey growled. "Shut it Bar-…Carmichael!" He looked back at the agent cuffed to the chair. "Now Bruce…"
Chuck smirked.
"…where is Daniel Shaw?"
Bruce remained strong. "Who is this Shaw person you speak of?"
Casey threw a right hook that drew blood from Bruce's mouth.
Chuck flinched.
Just as Casey was about to throw another punch, he seemed to crack. "OK! OK!" He relaxed when he saw the Colonel drop his fist. "Daniel is back at our Ring base about an hour away from here."
"Why should we believe you?" Carina asked.
"Shoot me if I'm lying!" Bruce retorted.
'Humph' "Good enough for me" Casey grunted.
After Chuck input the coordinates Bruce gave them for the Ring base into Cortana, Casey handed the Ring agent off to one of the DEA agents for lockup. They would swing back and get Bruce later, but first they needed to go after Shaw.
They were on the road headed towards where Shaw was believed to be when Chuck piped up. "Does anyone else feel like this is a trap…I mean that guy gave up their headquarters awfully easily."
Carina turned around from the passenger seat and gave Chuck a huge smile. "Of course it is Chuckles, that's half the fun."
Chuck was wide eyed. "Oh boy!"
"Better be gun play."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Angel Luis' base of operations
When Sarah and Bryce arrived, they were somewhat surprised to see a slew of activity going on. There seemed to be police and DEA agents everywhere.
They got out of their jeep and Sarah walked over to one of the DEA agents. "What's going on here?"
The agent looked Sarah up and down and practically drooled. "And who might you be?"
Bryce interjected and practically shoved his badge in the guy's face. "CIA, now answer the lady."
The agent scowled at Bryce and turned back to Sarah. "DEA took down Angel Luis with the help of two NSA agents."
Sarah put on an innocent smile. "You wouldn't happen to know a Carina Miller would you?"
The DEA plastered on a seductive smile, or what he thought was seductive. "Yes actually. Agent Miller was in charge of this operation, but she left with the two NSA agents to pursue some top secret matters…I'm actually second in command…so maybe I could help you." He winked at her.
Sarah wanted to laugh. Does he really think he's being charming? Who are these NSA agents and what could they want? "Do you know the names of those agents or where they went off to?" She placed a hand on his arm.
Bryce was becoming really impatient. He wasn't bothered by the fact that Sarah was somewhat flirting with the guy, he actually condoned the idea. No…Bryce was bothered because it was taking too long and Sarah didn't seem to want to push it harder.
The agent seemed to glow once Sarah touched him. "I actually don't know where they went, they said it was need-to-know stuff…However, one of the guys name was, Casey I believe."
Casey! Sarah was wondering if it was John Casey, and if he was here for the same reason she and Bryce were.
The DEA agent scratched his head. "Ummm…the other guys name started with a C too…Carman…Carter…Caramel…"
Sarah's heart started racing. CARMICHAEL! "CARMICHAEL!"
Both the agent and Bryce were shocked at her outburst.
"Uhhh…yeah, yeah that's it. Carmichael…Friend of yours?"
Sarah didn't answer. Her mind started racing a thousand miles a second. It can't be! Did Chuck become an agent? How is that possible? He hated this life. Maybe it's another Carmichael…that's a common name, right?
She broke out of her reverie and grabbed the agent by both arms. "Was his first name, Charles? Think real hard, what was his first name!?"
Bryce was dumbfounded. "Sarah that's impossible…"
She silenced him with an icy glare, and then turned her attention back to the DEA agent.
The guy Sarah was gripping started getting a little frightened at this point. "I uh d-d-don't kn-know…I'm s-sorry." He gave a sympathetic smile. This woman is off her rocker!
Sarah, seeing the effect she was having on the poor guy, let him go. "Sorry, I just…sorry." She sighed and gave him an apologetic smile. After the agent nodded in acceptance, she turned and started walking away.
Bryce caught up to her and turned her around. "Sarah, it's not…"
She cut him off. "Just drop it Bryce…What do we do now?"
"Let's go over every inch of this place and see if I flash."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Low-level Ring Base
Chuck, Carina, and Casey all had their guns drawn ready to enter, when Chuck suddenly held them up. He typed a couple of keys on Cortana, and through the satellite that Orion said was used for the wrist computer, Chuck brought up an overhead layout of the compound.
Something was strange when Chuck looked at the image though. Cortana was showing that there was only one heat signature in the entire building.
"Guys something is definitely wrong. There's only one person in the whole entire place…Whether it's Shaw or not, I don't know, but this has to be a trap."
Casey snorted. "It's just one guy Bartowski."
"Chuck, just open the door" Carina demanded. She wanted to take the whole place down, trap or not. Yes, what they were about to do was what she considered fun, but she knew this collar would definitely further her career.
Chuck sighed and typed a sequence in Cortana. The door that required a code to open it, unlocked.
He turned back around to discuss the situation some more. "Guys…"
Before he could finish, Carina swung the door open and ran inside.
"Carina!" Chuck hissed.
"What do you expect Bartowski?" He shouldered Chuck out of the way and went through the door. "It's just how she is."
Location Unknown
Daniel Shaw was downright giddy. He was finally going to have his revenge on that Walker bitch who killed his Evelyn. He picked up the weird looking phone the Ring gave him and dialed the number of the agent who was stationed at the Ring base in Mexico.
"Is it done, did you capture her and her partner?"
*murmuring noises through the phone*
His left hand clenched into a fist. "What do you mean she and that idiot Larkin are not there!"
*murmuring noises through the phone*
"Who the hell is there than!?"
*murmuring noises through the phone*
"How did you screw this up!?" He brought the phone down and was about to throw it to the ground to smash it, when he stopped half-way and took a breath.
He placed the phone back to his ear, and just like every villain cliché, he explained the plan he worked so hard on in a chilling yet oddly calm tone. "We gave them false information back at Colorado that I would be meeting Luis. They were supposed to storm that meeting and take a prisoner. That prisoner was supposed to lead him to where you are, and you were supposed to trap them."
The longer he talked, the angrier he got. "And you're telling me that somehow, it's not team Intersect that's there, it's some unknown group!"
*murmuring noises through the phone*
Shaw's blood was basically boiling at this point, but he gritted his teeth and spewed out his order. "You know what, change of plans…Instead of using the trap to capture Walker and Larkin to bring them in; capture this new team and just blow up the entire compound with them in it."
*murmuring noises through the phone*
"YES I'M SURE!" "JUST DO IT!"
Shaw hung up the phone and slammed it down on his desk. Your time is coming Walker. Oh you'll pay alright!
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Angel Luis' base of operations
Bryce seemed to flash on a number of things, but not one thing seemed to be leading them to where Daniel Shaw was. Sarah and Bryce questioned every Ring agent there, but they were all remaining silent. It wasn't until they got to Bruce that they thought they found something useful.
"Do you know where we can find Daniel Shaw?" Sarah asked.
Bruce was wondering who else would be looking for Shaw. "Yeah, and who are you guys supposed to be?"
Bryce was hoping if they played nice, that they could get somewhere. He took out his badge. "Agents Larkin and Walker, CIA." He put his badge back in his pocket. "We can protect you if you need it."
Bruce was mortified. This is Walker and Larkin!? Who the hell did I send to the compound then? "You're Sarah Walker?"
"You've heard of me?" Sarah was intrigued.
"Oh, yeah…You're kind of famous." He smiled shyly pretending to be embarrassed.
Bryce gave Sarah a look, and she knew what he wanted her to do. She just rolled her eyes and put on an innocent smile. "If you tell us where Shaw is, I can try to help you out of this situation." She flipped her golden hair over her shoulder.
Bruce smiled back at her making them believe it was working. "Alright…Shaw is at the Ring base about an hour from here. If you hurry you might be able to catch him."
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Low-level Ring Base
Chuck and Casey caught up to Carina and made quick work of sweeping the building. The whole place seemed to be deserted of people and objects. Chuck checked the map on Cortana again and realized that the actual base was underground, and that the single heat signature had to be underground too.
Chuck followed the map until he found a hidden elevator shaft. He called over Casey and Carina, and when they arrived, he hit the button for down. The doors slid open, and with hesitancy, they all got in. The doors closed and they started their descent.
When the elevator started to slow, Casey pulled Chuck to the back and Carina and Casey stepped in front of him. Chuck realized that they were trying to protect him in case bullets started flying once the door opened. He felt touched by the gesture, but a part of him was annoyed that they thought he couldn't handle himself; especially Casey.
The doors opened and there was no one there. The heat source seemed to be in a big room at the end of the hallway. The three of them worked their way, quickly and efficiently, to the end of the hallway clearing each room they passed like they've been working together for years.
They got to the double doors that lead to the room at the end of the hall. Casey held up a fist and started ticking off fingers. When he got to three, they busted the doors open and entered, guns drawn.
The room was larger than Chuck realized. There were computers all along the walls to his left and right. In the middle of the room was a long table that Chuck thought was used for 'bad guy meetings'. At the far end of the room, there was what seemed to be another room in itself. There were a couple of steps leading up to the doorway, so the room was elevated by a couple feet. The walls surrounding the smaller room were see-through, and that room seemed to contain what Chuck thought to be the main computer since it was larger than any other computer in the whole place.
In that smaller room, they saw what was responsible for the heat signature. There was a man sitting in a chair in front of the huge computer, and he didn't seem to notice that he wasn't alone since he continued typing away.
Carina thought the man to be Daniel Shaw, so she started to run towards the man to try to apprehend him. Chuck was surprised because even though Carina was running, she wasn't making a single sound. If Chuck wasn't actually seeing Carina move, he would've thought she was still beside him.
Casey and Chuck went after her, but they went at a slower pace so they wouldn't make any sounds themselves.
Once Carina went up the steps and crossed the doorway, she heard a distinct swooshing sound behind her. She spun around and was shocked. There wasn't any door in the doorway before, but once she crossed it, there now was a see-through panel, made up of the same materials as the walls surrounding the small room, blocking the doorway.
Once the panel closed shut and Carina had her back to the man, the guy used the opportunity to make his escape. He was upset that only one person got trapped, but he thought the new plan would still work. He exited through a door a couple feet away from him. He had to type in a key code to get the door open, and once he shut it, he entered another code to lock it down.
Carina turned back around and was disgusted that she let herself be distracted and let the guy get away. She ran to the only other door in the room and tried to open it, but it was no use. The door the guy escaped from was the only thing that wasn't see-through, and it was made of pure steel, making it impossible to bust through.
Chuck and Casey ran up the steps and started banging the see-through panel blocking their way in. Casey decided he was going to shoot his way in.
"Get back Chuck!" Casey took aim with his M16 Viper and unloaded his entire clip, but it didn't make a dent.
Just then, the main computer's screen blacked out and showed a countdown of 5 minutes with the words 'Compound self-destruction sequence ACTIVATED' underneath the clock.
Carina walked over to them with a solemn look on her face. "I guess this is goodbye." She forced a dry chuckle.
"Don't be ridiculous Carina, were not leaving you." Chuck responded with so much bravado, he surprised himself.
Carina's expression took one of anger. "DON'T BE STUPID CHUCK, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, THERE'S NO TIME!" She slammed her fist against the panel. "GO, SAVE YOURSELVES YOU IDIOTS AND KILL THE BASTARD WHO DID THIS TO ME!" A tear started to streak down her cheek.
The countdown was now at 3 minutes and 50 seconds.
Chuck got an idea. "Maybe I can hack their system and disengage the self-destruct mode."
Casey was starting to get anxious. "Then do it Bartowski!"
Chuck ran over to one of the computers in the room and started typing away on Cortana, trying to get access to the whole compound.
"Forget it, there isn't much time, just go!"
He heard Carina yelling and turned around and saw that the countdown now read 2 minutes 30 seconds. He turned back around and continued typing but was suddenly jerked back by his vest.
Casey was dragging Chuck towards the elevator. "We've got to move Chuck or we're not going to escape the blast!"
Chuck was basically stumbling backwards, unable to get a hold of his balance. "What about Carina, we can't leave her!"
"It's alright Chuck, just get out of here!" Carina yelled.
No matter what Casey felt towards Carina, he didn't want to leave her, but he felt they had no other choice. He dragged Chuck to the elevator and hit the up button and waited for the doors to open.
Chuck was furiously typing all kinds of keys. Just got to get through one last firewall!
The doors of the elevator opened and Casey shoved Chuck inside.
The countdown was now at 45 seconds.
The elevator doors started to close.
I GOT IT! Chuck couldn't take the chance that Casey might refuse, so he turned and punched Casey right in the jaw resulting in the Colonel stumbling back. Chuck slipped through the doors as it closed behind him and the elevator started its ascent.
Carina was floored as she watched Chuck punch Casey and started running towards her. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
The countdown read 23 seconds.
Chuck ignored her and kept using Cortana to try to disarm the countdown.
The countdown now read 15 seconds.
"I think I might be able to…"
Carina laughed. "You think!?"
9 seconds…
7 seconds…
"This should do it!"
Chuck hit one last button on Cortana and the countdown stopped at 3 seconds.
Tears of relief started running down Carina's cheeks. "YOU DID IT!"
Chuck smiled, but that was quickly replaced with a frown as he looked at the main computer.
"What?" Carina turned around and saw that the countdown wasn't stopped but had just reset back to 5 minutes, and was now counting back down again. She turned back towards Chuck. "I'm gonna kill you when I get out of here!"
Chuck held up both of his hands towards her. "Relax, relax." He started working on Cortana again. "I must have mixed something up…but no worries, I've hacked into their system, so now…" He pressed a button and the panel blocking the doorway retreated back up.
Even though the walls were see-through, Carina still felt like she was in a prison. The feeling she felt when she saw that panel slide up, revealing a place to exit; she thought that was the greatest feeling in the world…Well, maybe not better than sex, but just as good.
Carina leapt into Chuck's arms and practically squeezed him like Ellie seemed to always do.
The elevator came back down, and when the doors opened, Casey was still there. "HURRY UP YOU TWO LOVEBRIDS!"
'Humph' The kid actually did it…maybe I won't kill him for decking me after all.
The countdown read 3 minutes and 50 seconds.
Chuck peeled Carina off of him, took hold of her hand, and they both ran to the elevator.
On the way up Chuck thought he should say something. "Casey I'm so…"
"Don't mention it Bartowski, I get it…But if you ever do that again, I swear I'll kill you myself." Casey growled to drive the point home.
"Touch him and die Casey." Carina winked at Chuck.
"Great, you replace Walker with Miller I see…" Casey knew the minute it left his mouth, he made a mistake. Shit!
Chuck showed no emotion, he just continued looking forward like he hadn't heard a thing. Carina glared at Casey.
The elevator reached the top and they got the hell out of that place and into their LR4. Casey drove away as fast as he could; the three of them taking occasional glances back to see the extent of the explosion.
…5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
The base lit up like the fourth of July with fire and smoke shooting up towards the heavens. Carina was in the back seat with Chuck, and when the building went up in flames, she crushed his hand in hers. Chuck looked over at her and smiled, not one of desire, but of friendship. Carina reciprocated the smile ten-fold.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Low-level Ring Base
Sarah and Bryce were almost at the base, when they noticed thick, black smoke drifting along the sky. When they finally arrived, there was barely anything there. The blast radius seemed to extend a few hundred feet around the compound. Anything that was caught in the blast was turned to ash. The trees within the radius of the explosion were all burned down and the ground was covered in black soot.
They didn't know what to make of what they saw. Apparently, someone else got there first and decided to burn the place to the ground. They wondered if Shaw was captured, had escaped, or burned to death in the fire.
Sarah was convinced that Chuck could've never done something like this. But somewhere, deep down, in the pit of her soul, she felt she had just missed Chuck.
February 2010
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Hotel Barceló Puerto Vallarta
Once they got back to Carina's suite, Chuck created a secure line and brought up the General for a video conference on the flat screen TV in the living room which had a built in webcam.
The General's face appeared and she got straight to the point. "Report."
Casey stepped forward and spoke up first. "Ma'am, we were able to take down Angel Luis' drug operation and apprehended a handful of Ring agents in the process. One of the agents we questioned gave up the location of the small Ring outfit's base here, and we were able to destroy it."
The General was a bit taken aback. "You destroyed the whole compound…were there any survivors Colonel?"
Carina stepped up and took over the briefing. "Ma'am, there was only one person in the whole place. We believed it to be a high ranking Ring agent named Daniel Shaw."
The General quirked her brow. "Did you say Daniel Shaw?"
"Yes General." Casey replied. "Do you know him?"
"Yes, he was a CIA agent who, for unknown reasons, defected to the Ring. We actually have Team…" The General took a quick glance at Chuck and Carina. "…Another team working on finding him. We believe once we apprehend him, the knowledge he has on the Ring would be priceless."
Carina continued the briefing. "Unfortunately, we didn't capture and identify the man there…Despite several warnings by Agent Carmichael of a trap, I stormed in to try to capture the man…I must have tripped an alarm because I was trapped in a room and a self-destruct sequence was initiated…"
Chuck stepped up. "It was all our faults General."
Casey grunted and nodded in acknowledgement.
The General pondered for a second. "Despite letting that unidentified male escape, the mission was a success." The General gave the three of them an approving nod and switched her gaze too just Casey. "Colonel, this mission is considered complete….What is your assessment of Agent Carmichael?"
Casey opened his mouth to respond, but Carina interrupted him. "Ma'am, if I may?"
Beckman nodded.
Carina took the cue to continue. "Agent Carmichael is one of the best agents I've ever worked with…He saved my life, when he didn't have to. He knows how to handle himself, and he's quick on his feet…I would be honored to have a partner such as him."
Chuck was speechless.
Casey decided to give his assessment. "I have to agree ma'am. Agent Carmichael was professional, and stayed calm in the face of adversity. He had a chance to save his own skin and run, but he had the presence of mind to defuse the situation and save his whole team…He's ready."
Chuck fainted, more for dramatic effect than shock.
Casey growled, Carina laughed, and even the General cracked an amused smile.
Chuck got back up. "What happened…I just dreamt that Casey said something nice about me!"
"Bartowski!" Casey growled.
The General decided to get back to business. "I'm impressed Agent Carmichael. It seems you have won over Colonel Casey and Agent Miller…I'm impressed with all of you." She looked at Carina. "I hope you don't mind Agent Miller, but I talked to your supervisor, I've gotten him to agree to loan you out to the NSA long term. This team needs a female agent, and with what you three accomplished in the past few days, I think you would be a great fit…It's your decision however."
Carina had a stoic expression on the outside, but on the inside she was jumping with joy. This will definitely help my career! She cocked her head to the right slightly and glanced at Chuck who must have noticed because he started to smile. Working with Chuckles might actually be fun.
Carina cleared her throat. "It would be my honor ma'am."
February 2010
Location Unknown
Shaw walked down the hallway of the main Ring headquarters and knocked on the door at the end of the hall.
"Come in."
"You wanted to see me Director?"
"Ahhh yes, Danny boy…Please have a seat."
Shaw walked into the room and took a seat across the desk of the Ring Director.
"So, is everything I've been hearing about what happened in Mexico true?"
"Yes Director." Daniel couldn't believe he had to answer to a toad like the Director, but he did need the Ring to serve out his purpose.
"Let me get this straight." The Director clasped his hands on his desk. "You sacrificed a number of our agents…You blew up our base down in Mexico…You eliminated our funding down there, by getting Angel Luis imprisoned…And for all of this, you don't even have the Intersect…Is that correct?"
All Daniel could say was "Yes Director." No one talks to me like this! I'm going to enjoy killing you once I kill Walker.
"Are you a bloody twit!?" Anger evident in the Director's tone. "We gave you the identity of the person who killed your wife. We opened our arms and let you use our resources and control our agents. All we asked in return was for you to deliver the bloody Intersect!"
Shaw was restraining himself from leaping across the desk and strangling the man. "I just need a little more time. I promise I can deliver Larkin to you…I already have another plan in the works."
The Director sighed. The ring really had no better option at the moment than Shaw using himself to draw out Larkin. "Fine, but if this goes south one more time..." The Director just let his threat hang in the air.
"We still have a deal right?" At that moment, Shaw almost had a hint of desperation showing in his eyes. "If I give you the Intersect, I get Walker?"
The Director shook his head. "Yes, yes…you give us what we want, and you can do whatever you want with your wife's killer."
Daniel smirked. I will.
A/N (2): This was a beast of a chapter, but I hope it all flowed smoothly. To be honest, I'm expecting people to read it and think to themselves, "What kind of foolishness is this?" I know I did.
Any and all reviews are appreciated though LOL.
