CHUCK VS. THE SUPER SPY
SUMMARY: Chuck suddenly finds himself the object of adoration from many beautiful girls. What's going on? That's what Sarah and everyone else want to know.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Chuck."
NOTE: As I post this chapter, we're between Christmas and New Year's. I hope everyone is having a nice holiday!
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CHAPTER 10 – On the Town
Sarah and Casey waited and about a minute later Chuck and Megan wandered into the Castle's main area, laughing.
"Well, are you two ready?" Chuck greeted brightly. "We're ready for dinner."
"And other things," Megan giggled and snuggled closer to Chuck's side. Chuck turned his head, smiled and then wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Sarah watched it all with a frown.
Arm in arm, the couple moved toward the stairs leading out of the Castle.
"Not so fast," Casey said.
Everyone looked at the NSA agent who pulled out an ankle bracelet. "This needs to go on her leg," he said as he moved forward.
"No," Chuck said.
Casey glared at Chuck. "What did you say?"
"I said no. No ankle bracelet on her. Absolutely not."
Casey's glare turned deadly. "Look Agent Carmichael, this has to—"
"I said no and I meant no. Megan is not getting an ankle monitor put on her. She's with me and I'll assume responsibility," Chuck insisted. And before Casey or Sarah could protest, he guided the woman forward and they walked up the stairs.
Casey turned to Sarah with an annoyed look on his face. "What is that geek thinking?"
"I don't know. But for now, let's do things his way," Sarah replied. She didn't like that woman without the ankle bracelet. If she tried to make a getaway with Chuck, that could cause problems. No, she didn't like it at all. She hoped Chuck knew what he was doing.
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The limousine traveled along the road to the restaurant with Casey driving, Sarah in the front passenger seat and Chuck and Megan in the back. Sarah kept her eyes on the rearview mirror watching the pair.
Megan was sitting close, really close to Chuck and he didn't seem to mind at all, Sarah noticed. Chuck smiled at Megan. In fact, he had been smiling at her for the entire trip. He shuffled in the seat and then put his arm up and around Megan, who looked surprised but pleased. She rested her head on his shoulder and then put one hand on his thigh. Chuck tilted his head down atop hers and stroked her shoulder.
Sarah turned away from the rearview mirror and looked out the window and tried to squelch her anger and hide the annoyed look that she knew was forming on her face. Chuck is doing what he has to do, what he needs to do, she said silently, trying to calm herself. She knew that he was just doing his job but she was quickly realizing how hard it was to watch it all.
A whirring noise interrupted her thoughts. She quickly looked back and saw that Chuck was raising the barrier to the back seat, the barrier that would block her and Casey from seeing and hearing what he and Megan were doing and also keep them from helping if something went wrong. "Chuck!" she cried. But it was too late. The barrier had closed and he was now alone with the woman.
Sarah jerked her head toward Casey. "Stop the car! We can't allow this!"
Casey said nothing and kept his eyes on the road and he continued driving.
"Casey! Stop the car! We have to—" Sarah said.
"No," Casey interrupted.
"What?" Sarah asked in shock.
"No. We don't do anything. We let Chuck do what he needs to do. We don't interfere. We let him do his job," he said.
"We can't leave him alone with her."
"Yes we can. Besides, I don't think that skirt will hurt him. She doesn't want to hurt him. We let Chuck do his job."
Sarah flinched at those words. She couldn't stop the exasperated sigh of frustration that escaped from her lips.
"Walker, relax! He's doing his job – just like you," Casey said.
Sarah's fist clenched. Oh how she wished she had someone to hit and fight with right now.
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About five minutes later, the barrier came down. Sarah quickly looked back. Megan had a bright smile on her face and her hair looked a little messed up. As did Chuck's. Sarah fought to control her anger. She started to warn Chuck to not raise that barrier again but he spoke before she had the chance.
"Stop at the street corner up ahead, on the right!" he requested.
"What?" Casey asked incredulously.
"Stop at that street corner up ahead."
"What for?" Casey grumbled.
"Just do it!" Chuck commanded.
Casey muttered a few things which no one could hear but slowed down the car and then stopped it where Chuck indicated. Chuck smiled at Megan, and with an "I'll be right back!" he exited the car.
"What's he doing?" Casey whispered as he and Sarah watched Chuck trot up to a vendor on the corner.
Sarah didn't answer. Instead, she looked toward the back seat and studied Megan. The woman was almost glowing. She turned away from the girl and looked out the side window to see Chuck returning to the car. He was holding one arm behind his back.
Once he got to the car, he opened the back seat door and leaned down to face Megan with one arm still behind his back. Megan looked at him inquiringly. Chuck pulled his arm out and held a single red rose to her.
"Oh!" Megan said as she looked at the flower. Her mouth dropped open a little in surprise and she continued to stare at the rose for a few seconds. Then she looked up at Chuck and smiled widely. "That's…that's so sweet Chuck. Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said. Then she took the rose.
Chuck got into the car, sat down beside her and then leaned over and kissed her. "I was hoping that you'd like that," he said after finishing the kiss.
"I love it!" Megan gushed.
Chuck smiled back at her.
Who wouldn't love that? And when did she start calling him Chuck? Sarah fumed as she watched the whole thing from the front seat. The only time Chuck had given her flowers was when she had gotten injured. And that smile that he gave Megan...that was the same smile that…. It felt as if her insides came crashing down as realization hit. He's smiling at her just like he smiles at me, Sarah thought bitterly.
And then Chuck raised the barrier to be alone with Megan again.
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They arrived at the Cacherel Restaurant about 10 minutes later. Casey pulled into a space near the entrance and Sarah got out before he finished parking. She stared at the car's back door waiting for it to open and for Chuck to get out. It seemed to take forever but the pair finally emerged. Chuck exited first. Once out, he stooped and reached out a hand to help Megan.
Sarah studied them. Megan straightened a shoulder strap on her dress as she got out of the car. Once again, her hair and Chuck's hair looked a little messed up. Chuck held up an arm for Megan to take. Which she did, happily, and they walked into the restaurant. Casey led while Sarah followed.
Cacherel Restaurant, an expensive and fancy eating establishment, wasn't a large place but it served excellent food. Sarah had expressed concerns about Chuck being with Megan in a crowded restaurant as risky for the Intersect and Beckman had agreed. Thus, Chuck had come up with the solution of the CIA renting or commandeering a small, high class restaurant and letting the dinner take place there with him and Megan as the only diners in the place for the night. That way, he noted, Sarah and Casey could keep control of the situation and keep him guarded if Megan tried anything. So for the night, the CIA had rented this entire restaurant.
A maitre de greeted Chuck and Megan as they walked in.
"Mr. Carmichael?" he asked.
Chuck nodded.
"We have your table ready and waiting sir. Please follow me," he said.
Megan gazed all around the restaurant noticing the absence of people. "Where is everybody?" she asked.
"I've rented the entire restaurant for us," Chuck said with a smile. Megan looked a little surprised.
"The good news is that we have the entire place all to ourselves," Chuck explained. "The bad news is that no one gets to see the gorgeous woman that I'm with tonight."
Megan beamed and smiled spectacularly at Chuck. Sarah tried to hide her annoyance but Casey noticed and smirked. Chuck and Megan sat at their table and waiter came over and handed them menus.
"So we don't need to wait on them or serve? We just keep an eye on things?" Sarah asked.
Casey nodded. "Bartowski wants us to hang back and try to be as unobtrusive as possible so not to spoil the romantic mood. But keep an eye on her and make sure that she doesn't slip Bartowski something in his food or drinks," he said.
Romantic mood? Oh, she'd keep an eye on her all right, Sarah thought.
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Chuck is doing his job. He's just doing his job, Sarah kept telling herself. Yet, the whole thing, the whole spectacle of Chuck heaping attention on another woman bothered Sarah. And that surprised her. After all, this wasn't the first time that she had to stand by while Chuck dated someone else. Lou. Jill. Suck it up and be happy for him, she had constantly told herself during those times. So this wasn't anything new and it's not hard, you can do this, she told herself. But much to her surprise, she did find it hard and unbearable to watch and listen to Chuck charming Megan. And it also shocked Sarah at how easily and skillfully he did it.
Casey had planted a bug on the table to help them monitor the situation. Both she and Casey had ear wigs and so Sarah got to hear every word. Every word.
Throughout the whole dinner, he talked to Megan, he flattered Megan, he made Megan laugh, he made Megan feel special, and he smiled at Megan. In the same way that he smiles at me, Sarah raged. And it was working; it was all working spectacularly. In less than 10 minutes, he had Megan mesmerized. The girl looked adoringly at Chuck and hung onto his every word. The girl often reached out and touched Chuck. And the girl talked to Chuck. Ohhhhh, he had Megan all right, he had her. And he did it all on his own, he did it by being…well, he did it by being Chuck.
Sarah didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. This wasn't supposed to be Chuck doing this. This was supposed to be Charles Carmichael or someone else, just anyone but Chuck. Not Chuck, not my Chuck, she thought bitterly.
"Head in the game Walker, the food is coming," Casey said as he walked up to where Sarah was standing. Casey had been in the kitchen making sure that food, and only food, was being served.
Sarah watched as the waiter placed the plates of food in front of Chuck and Megan. They both ate and continued talking. And one point, they shared their food, giving samples to each other. Megan made a special show of taking the sample of Chuck's food from his offered fork with her lips. After she finished eating the sample, she purred at how delicious it was. Chuck leaned forward and kissed her. "Yes, it was," he remarked.
Sarah felt fury building up inside her. "I'll be right back," she muttered. She stalked off before Casey could say anything or stop her.
She stalked into the kitchen, bursting into there by slamming the push doors open. The few staff members in the room looked up in surprise. They quickly looked away from the sight of a furious and enraged Sarah Walker. She ignored them and walked down one of the aisles, wishing so much that one of them would make some rude remark so that she hit them, kick them or do something to enable her to let out some of this rage.
She whirled around. The waiters that had been in the kitchen had fled and now there were just two cooks. They busied themselves at stoves, not even looking her way. Sarah looked around, not sure what she was going to do. She spotted some knives resting on a counter. She snatched one and hurled it at the opposite wall.
It struck the wall with a loud "Whack!" She grabbed and threw another. And then another. And another. And then there weren't any more knives.
She slammed her palm on the counter and hung her head down.
He's just doing his job. He has to do this. He's doing this because he has to do this. It's his job, she said to herself. He didn't want to do this. He was only doing this because he had to do it. That was the only reason.
She knew that. She knew all of that. But did he have to be so good at it and enjoy himself so much? Did he?
She wouldn't cry. She absolutely wouldn't cry. But she couldn't stop the lone tear that escaped from one eye and trailed all the way down her face.
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Megan was practically glowing as she and Chuck finished dinner and he escorted her back to the car. Casey was already in the driver's seat by the time they got there and Chuck opened the door for her. Sarah arrived on the passenger side of the front seat just as Chuck shut the back door. She got into the car, shut the door, and put on her seat belt. Casey started the engine and then drove the car out of the restaurant parking lot.
This is it. Now Chuck has to…. She didn't want to finish that thought. She glanced in the rearview mirror. The barrier was up and who knows what the two of them were doing. Sarah didn't want to think about it. She stared out the window as the car sped along the street, trying to find something, anything interesting or amusing to distract her, take her mind off what was about to happen.
"He's just doing his job."
Casey spoke softly, just above a whisper. But Sarah heard it. And she thought that she detected a trace of sympathy in the NSA agent's voice. But she was probably imagining that, she decided. She said nothing in reply and just continued to stare out the window.
Is this what it felt like for Chuck when she was flirting with a mark? she wondered. But before she could finish that thought, a whirring noise interrupted her. The barrier between the front and back seats was coming down. Sarah turned her head.
"Hey Casey! Pull over to the beach!" Chuck said.
Casey let out an exasperated sigh and looked like he was about to gripe. But Chuck beat him to the punch.
"Pull over to the beach!" he commanded. Then he raised the barrier back up.
Sarah looked back out the window. She hadn't even noticed that they were near the shore. Chuck taking Megan to a wide-open area like that wouldn't be a good idea. She turned back to Casey. He looked angry but he turned the car toward the beach.
"Casey?" she inquired.
He shook his head. "I know Walker, I know. But he's been right about everything with her so far. So, let's see what he has in mind."
He pulled the car into a parking space facing the beach and turned off the engine. Sarah heard the back door open. Both she and Casey instantly exited the car.
Chuck was crouched down on the ground and Megan was sitting on the edge of the back seat with her legs extended out to him.
"Chu…Agent Carmichael? Sir?" Sarah said, puzzled.
"Give me a moment," Chuck replied. "I'm a little busy here." Megan giggled.
He removed her shoes and then looked up at Megan. "You probably should slip back inside there and take off the hose. I don't think that will do too well against the sand," he suggested.
Megan giggled again. "I've got a better idea," she said. Then she reached under her skirt and moved up a little. A few seconds later, her hands emerged from under the skirt, one on each side of her slightly exposed thighs, sliding off the panty hose. She stopped her hands and then removed them from the hose which was a little bunched up about halfway up her thighs.
"How about you take off the rest?" she suggested huskily.
Sarah's eyes bulged and Casey smirked.
Chuck's eyes swept over Megan's exposed legs. He looked up at her face and smiled. And without taking his eyes off Megan, he took the hose in his hands and then very delicately and slowly slid it off. After the hose was removed, he bunched it up and tossed it over Megan's head into the back seat. Then he slid his hands back up her legs to the edge of the skirt and pulled it down. He stood up and held out his hand. With her eyes blazing and never taking them off Chuck, Megan stood up and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and jerked him to her. She kissed him – hard. They stood there kissing for a while.
Sarah's eyes narrowed. She was just about to say something when she noticed Casey watching her closely. She swallowed and said nothing.
The pair broke the kiss. Chuck put one arm around Megan and then faced Sarah and Casey. "We're going for a walk," he said as he started to escort Megan to the sand.
"One moment Agent Carmichael!" Casey snapped. "Could I speak to you for a moment?" Chuck frowned. He turned to Megan and put one finger up to her lips. "Wait right here! This will only take a minute!" he said and walked over to Casey.
Sarah kept her eyes on the girl while Casey spoke to Chuck.
"What do you think you're doing? A walk alone on the beach is too risky," he said.
"Casey, please, let me do this. Follow me, keep me in your sight, but just let me do this. OK?"
Casey glared at him for a moment and then finally relented. "Fine! What do I care if you want to risk your neck!"
Chuck walked back to Megan, smiled and took her arm. "Sorry about that. Now, how about that walk?"
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Sarah and Casey watched from about a dozen feet away as Chuck and Megan walked along the beach. Megan leaned against Chuck the whole way as he kept one arm wrapped around her. They walked for about 15 minutes in both the sand and along the edge of where the tide came up. Then Chuck escorted her over to a spot in the sand, where they sat down.
"Any idea what he's up to?" Casey asked as he and Sarah came to a halt from about 10 feet away from the pair.
"No," Sarah answered. She watched as Chuck talked to Megan. He leaned against her with his arm around her shoulders as they stared out in the water. She was unable to hear what he said to the girl but he looked serious. Sarah couldn't help but be reminded of that time that she and Chuck sat and talked on the beach, right after he got the Intersect in his head. It didn't feel right or fair to her that he was sitting there in the sand and talking with this girl like they did back then, right after he realized what had happened to him. That was our moment, she thought, that was our time and that's our place. All of that bothered her.
"Something's up," Casey said. The statement brought Sarah back to the present. She quickly looked over at Chuck. Megan's face was pressed against his chest and she had her arms wrapped tightly around him. Chuck held her close and stroked her hair and seemed to be talking softly to her. The pair stayed that way for several minutes.
Megan finally lifted up her head and looked at Chuck. She looked like she had been crying. Sarah could see him saying something to Megan but she couldn't hear what he said. Then he looked at Megan expectantly. After a moment, she nodded. Chuck hugged her. Then he stood and helped her up. She leaned closely against him. He put his arm around her and then they walked toward Sarah and Casey.
"We need to go back to the Castle," Chuck said.
Both Sarah and Casey stared at Chuck in surprise. They started to say something but Chuck repeated his request. Then, without waiting for an answer, he escorted Megan back to the car.
Sarah and Casey looked at each other.
"What's going on?" Casey asked.
"Let's find out," Sarah replied.
But once back in the car, Chuck told them nothing other than repeating his request to be taken back to the Castle. Casey started the engine, put the car in gear and they left the beach.
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Upon arrival at the Castle, Chuck escorted Megan in and down the stairs where he led her to a computer. She worked on the computer for about 10 minutes and then stood up and away from it. "It's gone," she said. "You won't have to worry about it any more." Then she leaned down to the desk, grabbed a pen and then scribbled on a paper. She handed the paper to Chuck. "This is a storage facility where you'll find more copies of the books that I have left. What's in there and what was in the basement of my home are all the copies I had left."
"Thank you," Chuck said with a smile as he took the paper. He handed it to Sarah. Then he walked over to Megan's side and put his arm around her. "Come on. You need some rest," he said as he escorted her to the cell.
Sarah and Casey looked at each other again.
"What just happen here?" Casey asked.
Sarah said nothing. She went over to the computer and got on the internet. "The website is gone. She got rid of it," she said.
"But I thought that she wasn't going to do that unless Bartowski…."
Sarah said nothing. She re-checked the internet for the website and found nothing.
"How did Bartowski manage that without…." Once again, Casey didn't finish the sentence.
Sarah wondered that too. She was relieved that Chuck didn't have to sleep with that girl. But had he promised her something else in exchange? She turned away and walked toward the holding cell area. Chuck had just locked Megan up and was walking back. He loosened his tie.
"Agents!"
Sarah, Chuck and Casey turned to a monitor. Beckman's face was on the screen.
"I've been informed that the website has been removed. Mr. Bartowski?" she inquired.
"It's all taken care of General," Chuck said.
"I see," Beckman said. She stayed silent for a few seconds. "Report agents, now."
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They met with the general for about 15 minutes going over what happened on the "date." And when they got to the part to where Megan shut down the website, Chuck merely said that he persuaded her. The general said nothing in reply nor did she ask how.
"All right then," she said finally. "Good work. Now as to all of the attention that Mr. Bartowski has received at the BuyMore."
"Ma'am, I think we can just wait that out. With the website gone, it should all just blow over. If we just keep Chuck away from the store for a few days, any who wander in there looking for him will probably just give up," Sarah said.
"Agreed. Mr. Bartowski, you are to stay with Agent Walker for the next few days. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am."
"And as to Megan Robinson, she will—"
"General, could I speak to you in private for a moment," Chuck interrupted.
The general looked a little surprised. "Of course Mr. Bartowski," she said. "Agents Walker and Casey, please leave us."
Both Sarah and Casey looked at Chuck curiously as they left the conference room.
"Yes Mr. Bartowski?" Beckman asked when they were alone.
"You were about to say what will happen to Megan. I'd like to talk to you about that."
End Chapter 10
Next: Finishing Touches
NOTE: What did Chuck do? All of that and more will be revealed in the next and final chapter! Please review! Thank you!