Chapter 7: Under the Sea
Sarah sat in the Suburban waiting along a deserted section of the beach several miles south of Chuck's hotel. Clouds hid the moon and the beach was near pitch black. Her mind raced as she peered into the darkness.
Sarah thought of her friends in Los Angeles. They were the first ones she had made in years. Normally, she left an assignment without a backward glance. But this time, it was different. She picked up her cell phone and called Ellie. The phone went immediately to voice mail.
She hesitated for a moment to compose her thoughts.
"Ellie, It's Sarah. I've been re-assigned and am leaving town. I probably won't be back and I wanted to thank you for everything. I'm sorry to hear that Ana found out about Morgan's letters. They are together now. I'm sure he's safe. You know…us girls just have to take care of their men sometimes. I'm sorry I won't be able to make the wedding. I'm sure Morgan won't make it either. I think you and Devon should just elope and take that great scuba honeymoon! What's stopping you? No barriers that I can see! Take care."
Sarah knew that Chuck wouldn't be able to contact Ellie for awhile. She hoped Ellie understood her coded message.
She saw a faint light on the beach where two men were beaching a Zodiac. They were her transportation. Sarah used the headlights from the Suburban to signal the men of her location. She grabbed her gun and climbed out of the SUV and went towards the men.
After exchanging the appropriate code words, Sarah was satisfied that the men were legitimate. She directed them towards the SUV and had them carry Chuck to the Zodiac.
She remained at the SUV. Taking one last look at the unconscious Casey, she whispered, "Goodbye John." She threw a blanket across the agent and placed the vehicle keys near his head. She then closed and locked the SUV. She knew John Casey would be safe as he slept off the drug she had administered to him.
Sarah walked to the Zodiac and helped the men launch the craft into the crashing surf. After they maneuvered the boat past the break, they used the craft's engine to motor away.
-o-
As the beach retreated, Sarah began to relax. She felt the salt sea spray on her face and it felt good. She knew she was fully committed now and it no longer mattered how much she worried. The proverbial deed was done. Her life with the CIA was over and her new life was about to begin.
She replayed her reunion with Chuck in her head. It had been so sweet and so utterly painful. Seeing him on the beach had made her heart flutter and her palms sweat. Her normally cool reserve had deserted her. She smiled remembering how her body had reacted to him.
Chuck made her want more than the spy business for herself. She wanted quirky smiles and tender moments. She wanted Chuck with his awkward good hearted soul. He had squirmed his way into her heart and then disappeared with it. Finding him on the beach had been like a homecoming. Her heart had returned home.
Kissing Chuck and made her chest feel like it was going to burst with happiness as he embraced her. For her, their kiss had washed away all the bad memories between them. She felt connected to him again; they were one. As such, when she looked up to into his eyes, it came as a total shock to see his burning anger.
It was excruciating. His eyes spoke of betrayal and mistrust. These were concepts from her world; not his. Burning anger was an alien emotion to the Chuck Bartowski that she knew. She felt a stab of pain knowing that she was responsible for this change in him.
-o-
The Zodiac eventually reached their destination and the men used a handheld radio to confirm their arrival. They waited a few minutes as their small craft drifted aimlessly on the sea. Suddenly, their craft began to rock widely. Water rushed towards them as a submarine arose from the sea. It had been waiting for its crew to return along with Sarah and her "package."
Sarah could only see the black outline of the vessel as the men maneuvered the Zodiac towards the submarine. Her anxiety returned. She had spent a few hours in a submarine once, and had not enjoyed it. This time she would spend numerous days on board, and she didn't relish the experience.
-o-
Even after a few days at sea, Captain Barclay was still curious. He had received orders to pick up an unnamed intelligence agent and her "package" and deliver them to home port. It was an unusual order. He had never been sent into Mexican waters before. Nor had he ever been warned to go silent due to the American threat. To his shock, he was informed that the Americans would attempt an international incident to stop the "package" from falling into non-American hands. This flabbergasted him. The Americans were normally their allies for Christ sake.
He had been in the military for thirty odd years and had been exposed to his fair share of intelligence operations. He knew better than to ask questions. But this operation just bugged him; even as it piqued his curiousity.
Stangely enough, the "package" turned out to be a sedated young man in his late twenties. The man looked like one of his young, general entry sailors. Not someone who was caught up in some high stakes espionage game.
The agent, who accompanied the "package", was also a surprise. The agent turned out to be a female and stunningly beautiful. She was curt, tight lipped and professional. Not a drip of emotion sprang from her, just like the other spies he had met.
What surprised and annoyed him was that his orders hadn't warned him that the agent was female. A woman on a confined vessel like his, would likely be disruptive. This was especially true for this assignment, since his all male crew had been at sea for nearly ninety days. His superiors should have realized.
Luckily, the agent did not interact with the crew much. She seemed content to stay in the sick bay and assist his medical doctor in monitoring the young man's condition.
The only major altercation occurred with his ship's doctor. When the agent had arrived, she had ordered the doctor to keep the young man sedated for the entire journey. Their trip was long and his medical doctor was understandably upset by the order, since it appeared medically unnecessary.
However before the Captain could intervene, his normally unflappable doctor had confronted the agent. To his consternation, the agent had literally scared the physician into submission. Captain Barclay wasn't sure what had been said to his medical doctor. As the Captain, he didn't allow threats to be made on his vessel and he certainly would have made an issue of it with the agent. However, his physician would not speak about incident. He knew it was pointless to ask the spy, they never answered questions satisfactorily.
Regardless, the rest of his crew had collectively fallen "in love" with the mysterious agent. Her looks and protective nature towards "the package" had his crew in a tizzy. They watched the female agent as she watched "the package." They were relentless in their curiosity and gossiped about her every move. They held contests to guess her name and hypothesized about every conceivable connection she might have to the sedated young man.
The agent either was completely unaware of the gossip that surrounded her, or had decided to completely ignore it. In either case, she gave no indications to the crew that she was remotely aware of their interest.
Most of the stories that were bandied about were nonsense, but when the Captain heard the latest story from his first officer, he went to the sick bay to investigate. Luckily, the agent had gone to the galley for food. This allowed the Captain a few minutes to view "the package" without the agent. Looking at the young man's face, he shook his head in disbelief.
"Ye Gods man, I can't believe it's true. What did she do to the poor man's face," inquired the Captain to his physician.
"I think she meant to give him a shave. We tried to intervene but she insisted she could do it," replied the doctor dubiously.
"Well, I think it looks more like she tried to torture him. His face is covered with so much tissue paper; I can barely see the bloke's face. How many times do you think she nicked the poor schmuck?"
"Who can tell," chuckled the physician, "Besides, I don't think I can count that high."
Both men shook their head in disbelief. Maybe it was a good thing that the "package' was sedated. The poor guy would die of embarrassment if he knew.
-o-
When the submarine approached the mainland, a helicopter transport was dispatched to fly Sarah and her "package" to their final destination. The submarine had surfaced and Sarah and the Captain waited for "the package" to be brought topside for transfer to the awaiting helicopter.
Several sailors were assigned to move "the package" via a stretcher from sick bay to the outside deck of the submarine. Sarah eyes widened in shock when the crewmen arrived with the "package."
The Captain saw the strange look on the agent's face and looked over at his crew to see what had caused her reaction. He was caught off guard when he saw the faces of his crewmen, which were all nicked up with pieces of tissue sticking on their faces in odd places.
"What is the meaning of this," bellowed the Captain.
One of his sailors sheepishly explained, "We didn't want the bloke to feel alone with his condition and all."
Sarah looked at the tissue speckled sailors and down at Chuck. Realizing that the crew was joking with her, she looked up gave them her most blazing smile and genuinely laughed. She thanked the Captain and waved to the frenzied crew. She then climbed into the helicopter to leave.
After Sarah and the "package" had flown away, the crew went back inside the submarine. As they walked, there were several catcalls and remarks about the agent and her knockout smile.
Most of his crew believed that the agent and her "package" were romantically entangled in some epic romance. As such, the Captain wasn't surprised when he heard one of his crew members mumble, "Lucky bastard."
The Captain chuckled. After seeing the agent smile, he had to agree.
-o-
The helicopter flew to Sarah's home which was a sheep station in the Northern Territory. When the helicopter landed she jumped out and walked towards a young couple.
"I guess when you finally decide to come home; you do it in a really big way. That was quite an entrance," remarked Sarah's sister.
Sarah shrugged and gave her a small grin. Helicopters and submarines no longer thrilled her. They were just a means to get home.
Sarah was more interested in her sister. Seeing her sister's face was so amazing. She had given her up so long ago. And now, she had a chance to get it all back. A tear slid down Sarah's cheek.
"I missed you," whispered Sarah. The sisters hugged and exchanged greetings as Chuck's stretcher was unloaded. Finally, Sarah turned to her sister's husband, Tom, and greeted him.
"You know lass, most girls when they take a likin' to a bloke….bat some eyes and show some cleavage. Hell…they even consider getting' their boy all liquored up before they reel them in. But you….you get a hankerin' for a boy and you kidnap him! Ye drug the poor lad and transport him half way cross the world and drop him in the middle of nowhere. Ye gods women, you even tortured him. Look at his face! Did you cut him up with a dull razor on purpose? I'm not sure the laddie will ever forgive ye? Dinna liquoring him up work?"
The three busted out laughing at Tom's joke and the preposterousness of the situation. However, Sarah grimaced a bit too. She wasn't sure her boy was going to forgive her...and Tom didn't even know the half of it.
The helicopter crew carried Chuck into the house and left. The government gave Sarah three days alone with Chuck to prepare him. After that, both Sarah and Chuck were due at headquarters for debriefing.
While they stayed at the sheep station they were under military protection. There was a no fly zone over the station and soldiers were stationed at the edge of the property. Being at her family home was dangerous. Neither the CIA or NSA had this address, but her old employers did. If the Americans sent enough spies and released a cybernet assault on her old agency, she had to think that some either a deep cover mole or some computer hack would eventually gain access to her 'real' service file. So they would eventually discern this location. As such, it had taken a considerable amount of negotiations to get this alone time with Chuck at her home. It would only be for a few days. She hoped it was worth the effort.
As previously arranged, Sarah's sister had prepared the house to Sarah's specifications and had left with her husband on a "mini-holiday." This provided Sarah time alone with Chuck to explain.
Sarah just had to wait for Chuck to wake up.
