A/N: Well, people, I must say that I expected and indeed wanted some kind of reaction to the previous chapter's plot development, especially with regards to Chuck's progress, but certainly didn't predict its extent. It was most encouraging and prompted me to go ahead with more in-depth explanations. I hope you find some answers here.
Chapter 7 – Spycation, Part Two
For the whole hour they had until gathering again for lunch, the five went their separate ways to explore the cabin and the grounds. Chuck went into his room, claiming he needed to tidy it up a bit. Casey first had him help with setting up the communications link to DC and LA. At one on the dot the heavenly smells emanating from the spacious kitchen attracted them there. Jill, with considerable help from Sarah had made some delicious looking cordon bleu chicken and French fries. The salad looked and smelled amazing as well.
"We hope you're really hungry, guys, because we made enough to feed a platoon," Jill said.
"Nothing like the fresh country air to give a man a hearty appetite," Casey said.
"Bryce and I will set the table," Chuck offered. "Casey, if you would be so kind as to get the drinks…"
"Sure."
The conversation during the meal mainly revolved around the impressions each one of them had gotten from the place. Sarah was forced to agree that it was better not having taken the Porsche, much for the reasons Chuck had given in an earlier conversation. Casey praised the security system Stephen had installed, as it made his life immensely easier. Once the table was cleared and the dishes loaded in the dishwasher, the team again split up. Sarah found a book to read, while Jill opted for a nice siesta. Chuck and Bryce set up the home entertainment system and started playing video games. Casey went to report to his superiors. After a while he called Chuck.
"Bartowski!"
"Coming! Bryce, pause the game." He ran to the office, where the image on the screen was split, one side showing Graham and Beckman in DC and the other Stephen and Hartley in LA. "Hello everyone."
"Mr. Bartowski," Beckman began, "You did a great job over the past few weeks clearing the backlog of cases requiring input from the Intersect, as well as providing information for several critical operations."
"Thank you ma'am."
"We are aware that you'd rather have joined your friends in training, and we all agree it would be beneficial, but those cases were too important and many were time sensitive."
"I was aware of the facts, General. They're all up here, you know." Chuck tapped the side of his head for emphasis.
"Good. You'll still have to do the twice daily intel reviews, but as of today you are cleared to start your training, since you now have the time."
"Amazing news, General, thank you."
"Back to the subject of the Intersect," Stephen said. "Since the original had mostly unique, specially made components, many of them hand crafted I might add, I estimate it'll take me a couple of months to produce the components necessary to assemble a new Intersect computer. I can also improve on the design."
"I'm all for improved designs," Graham said graciously. "In the meantime, our specialists will work on encoding the files for upload, so we estimate to be ready in about two months as well."
"Mr. Bartowski may have to make a quick trip to LA," Beckman said.
"Why's that, ma'am?"
"As you recall, it was agreed that the NSA would be allowed to observe and participate in the process of the evaluation and the use of the Intersect. I'm sending one of our best scientists to LA for this purpose. For security reasons he won't be allowed to see you in person and he'll only know you as Patient X, but he's good. In fact, he's worked on the image encoding for the original Intersect. His name is Dr. Jonas Zarnow."
A clock
The North Korean flag
Dr. Zarnow's file
Zarnow meeting with several Asian men
Schematics of electronic equipment
The Atom
A clock
"Mr. Bartowski?"
"Sorry, General, I just flashed. It appears that Dr. Zarnow has been selling US science and technology to North Korea for a number of years. He was deep in debt from gambling and apparently found a surefire way to make a lot of money fast."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"I'll arrange for his arrest immediately," said the General. She disappeared from view for a few minutes. "Congratulations are in order, Mr. Bartowski. You helped plug a dangerous leak. Who knows what damage he would have caused had he gotten wind of the existence of a Human Intersect. You, that is."
"What are your current plans, Major Casey?" Graham inquired.
"I'll mostly let the kids enjoy their vacation, as they've all earned it, but I'll still fit some training activities into our schedule."
"Do what you think best, Major."
"Yes sir."
"That will be all for now. Have a nice afternoon." The connection was terminated.
"You heard the man, Bartowski. Go have a good time."
"You too."
Chuck decided to wait until he had fully digested his food before going for a swim in Bishop Creek. For the moment, he went back to playing video games with Bryce. From Burbank, Morgan had also joined in on the game and together the three of them were an unstoppable force, mercilessly fragging anyone who dared stand in their way, talking trash all the while. After completing the last level, Chuck walked over to the small pier in the back of the property, took his shoes and socks off and sat down, his feet in the cool water of the creek.
Sarah found him there, enjoying the peace and quiet when she walked by a few minutes later. She took her sandals off and padded barefoot over to her cover boyfriend, sitting down next to him, also dipping her feet in the water and swinging them back and forth.
"You don't mind, do you?"
"Mind what?"
"Me disturbing your peace."
"You don't disturb anything, Sarah."
"Thanks." She relaxed for a minute before speaking up again. "I was thinking… maybe we should work a bit on our cover, you know, make it convincing to outsiders."
"How do you propose we do it?"
"We practice," she replied. "Like this." She leaned closer, resting against him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, while her own arms circled his waist. To the casual unsuspecting onlooker they were just another couple. "I hope you don't mind."
"Me, mind? Never." Just to prove it, he pulled her closer, allowing her to tuck her head under his chin. He smelled the lavender scent of her shampoo and for a moment got lost in a world where there was no Intersect, just the two of them, together. Unbeknownst to him, she was thinking much along the same lines.
"Can I ask you something else?" Sarah asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Sure."
"How do you put up with it?"
"Put up with what?"
"Casey; the way he's insulting you all the time."
"I don't mind."
"You don't? I want to hurt him."
"It's very nice of you to want to do that for me, but-"
"Chuck, he's even worse when training Jill, Bryce and me."
"He's a Marine."
"And that just explains it all?"
"Full Metal Jacket? Heartbreak Ridge?" Her expression remained one of puzzlement. "You've never seen these movies?"
"No."
"We'll rectify the omission later. I think we still have the Heartbreak Ridge DVD here. Anyway, Marine instructors often resort to personal and group insults to goad trainees into improving their performance. It's kind of a tradition."
"And just how do you know which branch he's from? I only know he holds the rank of Major."
"I flashed on his Annapolis ring."
"Must be fun sometimes, being able to dig up dirt on people with the Intersect."
"Never tried it before on purpose. But you're right, it might be fun. But I think it's still ironic. All those years, Mom and Dad never told me and Ellie anything about being involved with the intelligence community and suddenly I'm right in the middle of it."
"Hopefully, we'll soon be done and go back to our normal lives."
He rubbed her back soothingly and kissed her on the top of her head.
"Hello lovebirds," Casey said from behind them. "You don't mind if I join you, do you?"
"Not at all, Chuck replied."
"When you mentioned this place, Bartowski, I did some digging online and the place is teeming with rainbow trout. So I brought my fishing gear." He set down his fishing rod, tackle box, bucket and beer cooler to unfold a camp chair. "I hope you like trout."
"My Dad and I used to go fishing here. We still do, on occasion."
"I'll call my Mom and ask her to send me some trout recipes from the hotel's restaurant," Sarah offered.
"So you two were working on your cover, I take it," Casey said casually as he cast the line into the water.
"We were, as we thought it might help not to be so reluctant with PDA in front of people."
"We need to sell the cover," Sarah added.
"Good job so far… hey, it bites already!" Within seconds he had a large fish out of the water.
"Congrats, Casey."
"Thanks, Bartowski."
"Now we know what's for dinner tomorrow."
-o-
A couple of hours later, Chuck decided to go for a swim. Casey had caught enough fish for tomorrow's dinner and they were now in the fridge. Apparently Bryce had the same idea, for he emerged on the porch seconds after Chuck, also wearing his swimming trunks. And then they froze. Sarah and Jill were outside, in bikini tops and Daisy Dukes that could easily put both Catherine Bach's and Jessica Simpson's to shame, washing the Bronco. The guys' jaws dropped to the floor when the girls turned the water hose on each other, getting thoroughly drenched in the process. And the way they crawled on the hood of the 4x4, occasionally bumping and grinding their bodies together… It felt like the temperature went up, way up.
"I think we broke them," Jill whispered to Sarah.
"We may have gone a tad overboard." She was pleased. The plan she'd hatched at the rest stop had worked better than expected.
"You think so?"
"Nah, they liked it."
"We need to snap them out of it."
"Leave it to me," Sarah grinned. Then she turned the hose on Chuck and Bryce. That did the trick.
"They look like drowned rats!" Jill laughed.
"You're dead, Jill!" Bryce lunged at his girlfriend and started chasing her all over the place. Chuck did the same with Sarah, catching up to her at the pier. As he grabbed her, they lost their balance and fell together into the creek. They broke surface laughing and spitting out water.
"This is going to be one of the best vacations I've ever had," Sarah told him.
"Ditto," he said. "What was that little show you and Jill put on for, anyway?"
"Payback for you guys mocking me about my car on the way here. Plus we wanted it clean."
"Clean?"
"Yeah, to go into town, check out a club or two. We are on vacation, remember?"
"How can I forget?"
She splashed him. In return, he grabbed her by the waist, lifted her as high as he could and dunked her.
"Let me go! I said, put me down!" That was Jill. Chuck and Sarah turned in time to see Bryce run on the pier, carrying a kicking and giggling Jill over a shoulder and jump into the water.
The four friends swam and played with a ball until their skin started showing the effects of immersion in the water. They returned to the cabin, dried themselves and changed for dinner. This time, Casey had made some quiche, Jill some roast, Bryce and Chuck took care of the salad and the refreshments, while Sarah had made her famous, at least within the Walker family, chocolate soufflé.
"OK," Casey said, after taking a sip of his Coke. "Tonight you kids are free to go to town, have fun, get drunk, make complete fools of yourselves, I don't care. I'll be watching you from a distance, just to make sure you don't get into trouble. And I strongly advise you to try your damndest to stay out of trouble. We have a cover to maintain and me flashing an NSA badge to get you out of jail will attract some unwanted attention. And starting at oh-seven hundred hours tomorrow, your asses are mine. That's seven in the morning, by the way."
"We'll be fine," Chuck said. "I volunteer to be the designated driver."
"No," Sarah objected. "It's not fair to you, Chuck."
"Sarah's right, bro. We should draw lots."
"Fine, we'll do it your way, Bryce."
In the end it was Chuck who ended up being the designated driver when the lots were drawn after dinner and after the place had been tidied up. They went to their rooms to change. Sarah came out of hers in a black one piece dress that came down to a little above mid thigh. It was one of her few clothing purchases Carina had wholeheartedly approved of. She'd also let her luscious tresses loose and applied just a touch of makeup. Chuck offered her his arm.
"Shall we?"
"By all means, Mr. Bartowski."
He took her outside to the car, where he held the door for her and assisted her to get in, since she was wearing four inch heels and the Bronco had a high ground clearance. Bryce and Jill were already in the back seat. Chuck then drove off, looking in the rear view mirror as Casey followed them at a discreet distance.
By virtue of having visited the town many times over the years, Chuck knew the best places for everything, so the others just followed him into the club he'd selected. Casey took a seat at the bar, from where he could watch the table where the four friends sat. After a while, Chuck leaned in close to Sarah.
"Care to dance?"
"I'd love to." She set her drink down on the table, took his proffered hand and followed him to the dance floor.
"You are a really good dancer," he said.
"So are you."
"Blame Awesome for it. We had made a bet once and I lost."
"And?"
"And I had to take dancing lessons."
"Hold me closer. We are supposed to be a couple."
"Like that?"
"Exactly like that," Sarah replied, enjoying the comfort he provided. The band picked up the tempo and the dancing couples followed suit. When the piece ended, Chuck dipped Sarah and then pulled her back upright, the movement bringing their lips close. And then she kissed him. Naturally, he was surprised at first, but he responded, pulling her even closer and deepening the kiss. When they finally parted, both were breathing heavily, still holding on to each other.
"What just happened?"
"I don't know, Chuck. I guess I wanted to overcome my discomfort with PDA, but it's still kind of awkward."
"It was fine on my end… just saying. Tell you what, let's dance some more."
Bartowski and Walker are really into the whole cover thing, Casey was thinking as he watched them. Or is it turning into something more than a cover? They're both good kids and deserve each other. I only hope it doesn't get one, or both, of them killed.
"That was some serious lip action, Bro," Bryce remarked when Chuck and Sarah returned to the table.
"Then I guess we sold it," Chuck replied and Sarah nodded.
"You did well. Had I not known you guys, I could swear you were a long term couple."
"It had to be convincing. Chuck's been coming here for years, so there are bound to be people around who know the family and might recognize him."
Jill almost blurted out that it didn't necessarily have to be just a cover, because, just like her boyfriend, she could see the attraction between her other two friends, but she stopped herself, not wanting to ruin everything by rushing things.
The team was back at the cabin before midnight, as they were going to have an early start in the morning. They wished each other goodnight and retired to their assigned quarters. Chuck had almost gotten in bed when he heard a frustrated growl, almost a scream, coming from the room next door. He rushed there and knocked.
"Sarah? Is everything OK?"
A very frustrated and angry Sarah opened the door. "I'm going to kill my sister."
"Why, what did she do?"
"She took all my sleepwear and replaced it with these," she said, pointing to the clothes thrown haphazardly all over the bed.
"So?"
"Just wait a minute." She closed the door and opened it again a couple of minutes later, wearing a purple lingerie set with a matching short sheer negligee. "It makes me look professional," she said morosely.
"Yeah, the world's oldest profession," Chuck quipped.
"My point exactly," she agreed.
"You look beautiful nonetheless. Sarah, you could cut holes in a burlap sack and wear it and you'd still look like you're wearing something made by a top fashion house."
"Do you really mean that, Chuck?"
"Of course I do."
"Thank you. And good night."
"Goodnight, Sarah."
It was 2 A.M. when Sarah woke up. Her mouth felt dry and so she went to the kitchen and got some cold water to drink. She'd just put the bottle back in the fridge when she noticed that a light was on outside. Palming the biggest knife around, she tiptoed to the door and opened it. She definitely wasn't expecting to find Chuck sitting on the porch swing, enjoying the cool night air.
"Chuck?"
She must have startled him, because he yelped and turned to face her. "Sarah?"
"What are you doing out here at this hour?"
"I couldn't sleep. Too much noise." He jerked his thumb towards the master bedroom.
"Huh?"
"Bryce and Jill… you see… my window is really close to theirs and they were…"
"Going at it like bunnies?"
"That's one way of putting it."
"I didn't hear anything when I got up, so they must be asleep now." She sat down next to him. "I love this place."
"It's amazing, all right. And I'm sorry, Sarah."
"For what?"
"For dragging you into all this."
"Chuck, listen to me. It's not your fault, OK? If anything, let me remind you that I'm deeply indebted to you for what you did at my parents' hotel."
"Yeah, it's just… I don't want you to see it as an obligation."
"Remember what I said that night?"
"That you are not a cannibal?"
"Not one in my family is a cannibal."
"Your sister comes close though."
Sarah laughed. "Yes she does. But that's not what I meant. I said something about liking you, Chuck. You are a very good friend and I wouldn't trade this for the world. Granted, it took an accident, but here we are, doing amazing things for the greater good and having fun in the process." She leaned into him and somehow she ended up lying on the swing with her head pillowed on his lap, one of her hands holding his. They stayed like that for a few minutes. When he looked down at her, he saw that her eyes were closed and her breathing had evened out. She was fast asleep.
"Sarah," he whispered. Nothing. He shrugged and carefully, so as not to wake her, maneuvered himself out from under her and picked her up, bridal style, and carried her inside. He made it to her room without incident and pondered ways to get her in bed without dropping her. In fact, her bed was the upper bunk of the two-tiered bunk bed he used to share with Ellie when they were kids. When they had grown up sufficiently, Stephen had divided their room in two separate rooms, designing the divider wall so that the bunk beds could be retained, Chuck's lower half being in a niche on the new wall and Ellie's upper half forming a shelf of sorts. Fortunately, in addition to the ladder, there was an old fashioned steamer trunk below Sarah's bed. He stepped on it, deposited her on the bed and tucked her in. With one last fond look at her, he retired to his room.
-o-
Sarah's door burst open. "Walker!" Casey bellowed. "Rise and shine! You got enough beauty sleep for now! Come on!"
"Huh? Casey?" Sarah said sleepily and glanced at the clock. "It's only six. You said we had to be up at seven."
"Maybe I can't tell the time. Maybe I lied. It doesn't matter. I want you out, in workout gear, in ten. Get cracking!"
Sarah was seriously tempted to express her displeasure by sending one of the throwing knives she'd appropriated from the Castle armory flying to the door frame near Casey's head, but refrained as it wasn't her place. "OK," she said gruffly. She tumbled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom reserved for her and Jill. Chuck had put a cardboard cutout girl's silhouette on the door.
"Hey Sarah."
"I'm mad at Casey."
"Me too. I mean, Bryce and I had a lot of fun last night, but it was kind of tiring, if you get my drift."
"You didn't let poor Chuck sleep until two. He made the mistake of leaving his window open, you had yours open as well and, face it, according to him you and Bryce were kind of loud."
"I'll apologize to him later."
In the boys' bathroom, Chuck was splashing water on his face when Casey barged in.
"Come on, ladies, hustle it! Larkin, a dead man would move faster than you. At least Bartowski's already dressed and you're still modeling your boxers. Five minutes left, so I strongly suggest you pick up the pace, Numb Nuts!"
"Good to see for myself that I'm not the only one he picks on," Chuck laughed.
"The guy must have seen every boot camp film ever made," Bryce agreed.
"He's gone through it all personally. He's in the Corps."
"Well, that explains a lot."
"About time you got your shit together, kids," Casey said when the four finally assembled outside the cabin. "I'll remind you yet again that this is no preschool. Today, we'll start with something easy, like a five mile cross-country run. Try to keep up."
-o-
"I'll never, ever complain again when Devon drags me away from my computer for a run," Chuck panted as they finally rounded the last bend and went into the home stretch.
"All right, that's enough," Casey said. "Go clean up and we'll have breakfast."
"What else do you have in store for us today?" Jill asked.
"Nothing much, just some sniper training and grenade throwing," Casey replied.
"Grenades? Out here?"
"Relax, Bartowski, they are training grenades and they barely make a pop. In addition, you'll have lots of free time to go swimming and do whatever else you want. Larkin and Roberts, the next time you go at it, try and keep the volume down."
The two 'offenders' had the decency to blush.
"Come on, Sarah," Jill said finally. "Let's see what we can whip up. Chuck, get started on the coffee."
"I'll set the table and squeeze some fruit juice," Bryce volunteered.
-o-
Sniper training turned out to be very interesting. Casey had been a scout sniper, so he knew the subject well. His trainees took turns being spotter and shooter, learning about ballistics, superelevation, windage correction, deflection and the like. To speed things up, Casey had them practice with special scopes that incorporated laser range finders and miniature ballistic computers, thus doing all the necessary aiming corrections automatically and placing the crosshairs right on target no matter what. The place selected for this course was pretty secluded and no interruptions were expected, especially since they were using suppressors.
"Your free time starts now," Casey announced when they cleaned and stowed the weapons after returning to the cabin. "I'll just drive down to Bishop and buy a few things. Bartowski, do you know a place selling good meat? We'll fire up the Beast Master tonight. The trout I caught yesterday we can have for lunch."
Chuck scribbled the name of a store on a piece of paper and handed it over.
"Thanks. Walker, did your mother send you the recipes you mentioned yesterday?"
"I'll check my email."
"Good. I'll be going now. One reminder: Since Bartowski is not yet firearms qualified, you are not to let him out of your sight and at least one of you has to be armed, understood?"
"No problem," said Sarah. "Go, we have things under control here."
"Besides, with the security system we got, we'll know if anything bigger than a house cat comes within five hundred meters of the cabin. I'll set my laptop for remote access to the system," Chuck added.
"Can we take the Bronco for a drive over the jeep trails?" Bryce asked.
"Do whatever you want as long as you all stay safe and alert."
"Roger that."
"Casey's really into the barbecuing thing," Sarah observed after the big man left.
"Like most men," Chuck agreed.
"You like it too?"
"I was taught by a master. My Dad, I mean."
"Ditto," Bryce said.
"OK boys, enough talking," Jill said. "Let's go, people."
"We get to drive too, right?" Sarah asked, meaning herself and Jill.
"Only if you let me drive your Porsche when we get back."
"No way. Carina is the only other person I'm willing to even consider letting drive my baby."
"Then Bryce, Jill and I will drive and you'll be on the grandma side all the time."
"I have a gun and knives."
"You can drive too," Chuck relented, feigning fear.
"Okay then, mount up."
They loaded a beer cooler full of soda cans and water bottles in the 4x4, packed Chuck's laptop and drove off for a few blissful hours of exploring the surrounding area.
To be continued
