A/N: Sorry for the delay But I kind of boxed myself in with the 48 hour thing. It felt right when I wrote it but then I had to fill the 48 hours with something. This is what I came with for the first 24. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that now I have to fill the second 24 hours. The good news is that that chapter after that is mostly finished and may even be the conclusion of this story. Thanks for all the reviews!
As always, I own nothing and profit nothing from anything in this story.
Chapter 9
Blue Jay, CA
Cabin
1230 PST
"Seriously? Why does she end every briefing like that? She doesn't even pause after asking if there is anything else. It's like she's telling us there IS nothing else," Chuck said then paused for a second before continuing. "Do you think she bought it? I mean, do you think she believes we were actually in Castle?"
"I think so but she's been in this business for a long time it's hard to read her," Sarah said as she stepped away from the green screen she and Chuck had set up in the cabin earlier.
"Well if they trace the IP address it'll show Castle's thanks to a little hacking magic," He smirked.
Sarah turned to look at Chuck and smiled before speaking "You geeks are good."
"I seem to recall we've had this conversation before and as you well know, Nerd is the preferred name. However, computer God will work as well, but Nerd is less formal," he joked before turning more serious. "Do you think she'll agree to my requests?"
"I hope so, but again she is so damned hard to read. At least Ed and Mary seem to be on your side," Sarah answered.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to flash on anything about you when I saw them," he said thoughtfully.
"Chuck, what exactly did you see?"Sarah asked quietly.
"Just their after action report on your extraction mission. I've always known you were a super hero, having seen you in action first hand, but wow Sarah, what you did then was amazing and if I wasn't already head over heels in love with you I would've been after seeing what you did for them. You truly are an amazing woman," he said lovingly as he wrapped his arms around her. She was stunned, she'd had people praise her abilities before but when Chuck said it, she believed it. More importantly he actually made her feel as though she deserved the high praise. She melted into his embrace and whispered "I love you," so softly that he barely heard it. He softly kissed the spot where her neck and shoulder met. She shivered slightly as he continued up her neck towards her ear. As he nibbled on her earlobe she felt his hot breath in her ear. This time her shudder was very noticeable.
"You like that?" he whispered as he continued his trail of kisses along her jaw line. When he got to her lips they made eye contact, then kissed her with all the pent up passion from the past year. They somehow made their way to the couch and when the kiss broke she was laying on top of him.
"Don't move, don't move, don't breathe, don't move, don't breathe, don't move stay there, stay there, stay, stay," Sarah said as she pulled away grabbing her coat, purse and keys. "Stay in the cabin, no TV, no radio, no internet, do nothing that could cause you to flash. I'll be right back."
"Sarah, where are you doing?"Chuck asked with a smile.
"Oh, you know damn well what I doing! I going for a supply run," she said as she jammed a brown wig on.
"Do you need me to make a list?" he teased.
"No! I know exactly what I need and when I get back you'll know what I need as well. Remind me to kick not only Morgan's ass but Casey's as well for buying extra extra small condoms for our contingency bag. Now for God's sake, DON'T FLASH!" She said as the door slammed shut.
Chuck heard the car start the gravel in driveway being thrown against the side of the cabin as the car sped backwards towards the road. He would later swear he could hear tires squealing when the Explorer hit the hard road surface. Smiling Chuck lay back down on the couch and slipped his headphones on and hit play on his iPod and listened to Creature Fear by Bon Iver.
NSA HQ
Ft Meade MD
1530 EST
"What the hell was that? You said you'd keep an open mind!" stormed Mary Pat.
"Calm down Honey and let the good General explain," Ed said.
"This is part of my plan. I talked to Roan earlier today and I got the idea then. There wasn't time to brief you in when you got here," Dianne smirked.
"We seem to have time now," Mary Pat snarled.
"Look, right now those two, and probably Casey too, hate me which is understandable but what's worse is they don't trust me. If I showed up this afternoon all puppies, kittens and sunshine they wouldn't believe it and would be packing up and leaving whatever safe house they are currently in and go off grid," Dianne explained.
"Safe house? I thought they were in castle," asked Ed.
"Hardly, Chuck is good but I saw that the corner of the conference table was moving. There must have been a slight breeze moving the green screen. I wouldn't have caught it except I looked down once while you were talking to Bartowski," Beckman said.
"Okay, that makes sense but why not agree to his requests now? Why wait 48 hours? You have the authority to grant all of them right now," Mary Pat asked.
"I need to rebuild their trust. Once they realize that I've kept my word and haven't sent an extraction team, maybe they'll have a small level of trust in me when I give them my decision on his requests. But honestly, I can't agree to all of them, otherwise they'll think I'm setting a trap and we're back to square one. I have some modifications to his requests I'd like to run by you. I'll also need your help in selling them to the team," the small General said.
"What kind of modifications?" Ed asked.
"Well, the biggest one is that Agent Walker cannot keep her current role on the team any longer," the NSA Director said ominously.
Blue Jay, CA
Cabin
1330 PST
Chuck was asleep on the couch when Sarah got back from the 'supply' run. Seeing how peaceful he looked she decided to put the groceries and other sundry items away before waking him. She had just returned downstairs after putting some key supplies in the bedroom, when she heard the familiar sound from her laptop notifying her of an incoming email. She went to the coffee table and picked up the laptop and sat in a chair and placed it on her lap. She opened the inbox and saw the email was from Ed Foley. Sarah opened the message and read:
Sarah,
It was good to see you again, wish it was under better circumstances. The attachments to this email are the tests that Chuck needs to take. I've sent both the entry level and the advanced Analyst tests; in addition I've sent the field support test and a standard test from the Science and Technology division. Given his background I thought he may do well on it as well. I picked up an interesting bit of information from Digital Dave, there's no proof mind you, but he thinks that there is a strong possibility the Chuck may be the elusive hacker know as "The Piranha". Dave has seen some of the things Chuck has done and it was always speculated that this hacker had a tie to Stanford. If this turns out to be the case then Chuck's value just increased substantially. Ask him about and see what you can find out. All four tests have a lot of essay questions and the Analyst tests each require a paper to written. The usual time for completion is 3-4 hours for each test. Try to have him get the tests done by 0700 EST. I know it's a tall order but think of it as part of the test. Once the tests have been sent in, Mary said to consider yourself and Chuck on leave until the scheduled meeting. Of course you'll still be his protection detail but try to find someplace to hole up and keep him from finding any "work" until this thing is resolved.
Sincerely,
Ed Foley
Sarah looked at her watch and did the math. 'Damn! If it's not Morgan or Casey it's the Government!' she thought clearly frustrated, make that VERY frustrated.
She set the laptop down and got up and went to Chuck. She knelt on the floor beside the couch and ran her fingers through his hair before kissing him softly on the lips. Moving her lips to his ear she whispered "Chuck. Hey sleepyhead, you need to wake up."
She pulled back so she could look into his eyes when he woke up. She slowly rubbed her hand on his chest and leaned in for one more kiss. As her lips made contact for the second time his eyes opened. There was a momentary flash of surprise before he realized the events of the previous day. As the kiss broke a wide smile broke out on his face this made his eyes seem somehow brighter.
'Yep, that smile is definitely going to be my Kryptonite. Wait, did I just make a Superman reference? Oh man, am I in trouble,' she thought warmly.
"Nice nap?" She asked.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep. How did the supply run go?" and asked as he made the quote sign at the word supply.
"Fine, except that other than getting food it turns out it was a wasted trip," She said dejectedly.
"Why? You couldn't find any? Wait, you didn't change your mind did you? Tell me you did run into any bad guys! Or -," He said rapidly before Sarah put her finger over his lips.
"Chuck, you're freaking out. Now, to answer your questions, I did indeed find the needed supplies. No, I haven't changed my mind. I didn't run into any bad guys. And finally, I got an email from Ed Foley with the tests you need to take. Worst case it'll take you sixteen hours to complete them all, and we only have fourteen hours until the deadline. Best case it'll take 12 hours. I've downloaded and opened the attachments on my laptop. We'll get something to eat for lunch and then you can get started," She said smiling.
He looked at her and did the eyebrow dance at the last four words.
"On the tests, you can get started on the tests!" she said laughing at him and giving him a playful slap on the chest.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," he said putting on his best pouting face.
"Well, I do have a pretty detailed incentive plan worked out if you finish the tests early," she said seductively while doing her own version of the eyebrow dance.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" he said as he got up, grabbed her hand and headed to the kitchen.
After they finished eating the sub's that Sarah bought while on her 'supply" run, they moved to the laptop so Chuck could start his tests.
"Chuck, there's something else we need to talk about. Ed mentioned that one of the Science and Technology guys thinks you are some infamous hacker named The Piranha. I hate asking, especially as secretive I am about my past, but are you him?" Sarah asked hesitantly.
The look on Chuck's face immediately told her that he was in fact The Piranha.
"Why, what did they say about him?" he stuttered.
"Ed said that if you were him, that your value would increase substantially. Chuck, what did you do?" she asked worriedly.
"It was a long time ago, my gaming system died and I was bored and I had recently seen the movie War Games so I started hacking into systems just to see hard it would be. I swear I never did it for any monetary gain or anything like that. I just wanted to see if I could. I started getting a reputation and I got a little cocky and went after harder and harder systems. I almost got caught on my last hack so I stopped. I was scared for days afterward that the FBI would show up and arrest me," Chuck explained quietly.
"What was the system that you almost got caught hacking into?" she asked.
"That would be the CIA database. I swear as soon I got in I shut down and got out. I didn't look at anything! I just wanted to see if I could get in. You don't think Beckman will use this against me do you?" Chuck asked nervously.
"No I don't think so, if anything Digital Dave seemed impressed," she answered.
"No way! Digital Dave is with the CIA now? The dude is legendary! Wow, he was impressed by me? That is so cool!" Chuck gushed.
"Okay, oh great and mighty computer god get to work on those tests," She playfully admonished him.
Blue Jay, CA
Cabin
2000 PST
Sarah walked into the living room from the kitchen and saw Chuck sitting at the small desk typing on her laptop. He paused when he noticed her and smiled and resumed his typing.
"How's it going?" she asked as she came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and kissed the top of his head.
"Good, I think. I should be finished with the second analyst test questions in half an hour or so, then I have to write the two page paper for it," he answered.
"Do you want to take a break then and eat something? I can start dinner now if you'd like," Sarah asked.
"Sarah, I don't mean to upset you but I've had your cooking at the Weinerlicious and I have to admit I'm a little scared at the thought of your cooking our dinner tonight," he said with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
"Chuck, it's not my fault that the stupid timer on the deep fryer didn't work properly! I'll have you know that I am a very good cook! It's one of the things they teach female agents, after all food isn't only the way to a man's heart; it also is a way to the secrets that he knows. Besides I used cook for my dad -," Sarah suddenly stopped speaking looking as though she said something she shouldn't have.
Seeing her discomfort at letting another detail of her private life slip, Chuck decided it was time for a talk.
"Sarah, I get that talking to an asset about your past isn't very smart, but haven't we crossed some sort of boundary in our relationship with each other? I don't want to you to feel obligated to tell me anything that you aren't ready to talk about but I want you to know that when you are ready, I'll be here for you," he said sincerely.
"No, I know, it's just that my life before the CIA was – complicated. I've been taught since I was eight years old not to trust people. I want to tell you about my past but I'm afraid it'll change how you see me. How you feel about me. The thought of you looking at me differently terrifies me," she said as she looked at the floor.
Chuck gingerly place his hands on the side of her face and gently lifted her head so she was looking in his eyes. "Sarah, my feelings for you will never go away, if anything they'll only grow stronger. I know you, the real you. I don't care about the past or what things you've done. I know that some of those things still haunt you, but I also know that you sacrificed a piece of yourself to do them. More importantly, you did them to help other people. You put others before yourself, that Sarah, is the definition of a hero. You are my kick-ass ninja girl hero."
He then kissed her softly on her lips, resting his forehead against hers.
"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me. I've never had someone like you in my life before. I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do," she whispered "But if you'll be patient with me I promise to learn to be a real girlfriend."
"Deal, now get in that kitchen and cook your man his supper!" Chuck said with a smile.
"Really?" she said with an icy stare.
"Yeah, I was trying on a macho attitude; you know to see how it fit. You know it seems kind of uncomfortable and - please don't hurt me," Chuck said with more than a little fear in his voice.
Sarah started laughing, and then she spoke "Yeah, you may want to leave that one for Casey to wear if you ever want use the newly acquired 'supplies'."
"Duly noted. Seriously, let me finish this test then I can help you with supper," he said as he gathered her into an embrace.
"Okay, I'm thinking of spaghetti with a marinara sauce with ground beef and sausage and a salad." she said as they hugged.
"Sounds delicious, I guess I should get back to work," he said as they broke the hug and Sarah went to the kitchen.
Blue Jay, CA
Cabin
2100 PST
"You weren't kidding! You really can cook! That was amazing, how did you prepare that amazing meal so quickly?" Chuck asked.
"Oh stop, I think you're over compensating for insulting my cooking earlier. It's not that big of a deal. I used sauce out of a jar and then added some spices to jazz it up a little, it's no big deal. Just wait until you taste my home made sauce," Sarah said smiling clearly pleased at his complements.
"If this is you not trying then I can't wait for your home made sauce. Now since you cooked let me clean up," he said as he stood up.
"Thanks for the offer but you really need to finish the tests. I don't want to give Beckman an excuse to turn you down. It won't take me long to clean up anyway," Sarah said.
"Okay, thanks again for the meal!" he said as he leaned over to give her a kiss.
"Mmm, if that's my reward for cooking I may cook more often," She said playfully.
"Well, I'd better finish these tests and then we can enjoy the rest of our time here," he said as he went back to the laptop.
Sarah gathered up the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen and stopped to think at how… normal and natural this evening felt. 'I could get used to this feeling.'
Blue Jay, CA
Cabin
0315 PST
"Done, now to email them to the General and then it's time go to sleep," Chuck said with a yawn. He quickly created the email, attached the tests and sent it to General Beckman and copied the Foleys in as well. He looked over to the couch and saw Sarah sleeping. Remembering how she woke him up earlier he walked over to her and leaned over and kissed her gently on her lips until he saw her eyes flutter and open up.
"Sarah, I've finished and sent the email off. How about we go upstairs and go to sleep?" he asked softly.
"Mmm, sounds good but I'm too tired to move. Will you carry me?" she said sleepily.
Chuck didn't answer her he just reached down and gently lifted her off the couch and carried her upstairs.
