"Oh, yes," Kaden answered, prodding Bryce on the chest with her pointer finger. "We've met." One corner of her mouth was turned down in a snarling grimace, and Chuck saw the first signs of the volatile Hispanic's bad temper.
Bryce, for the first time Casey had ever seen, had lost his smartass, ultra-confident demeanor, and looked completely terrified. For the sake of his own pride, he tried not to think about how much less frightened Bryce had been when he'd seen him standing over him with a gun in hand, and a should-have-been fatal wound penetrating his chest. Of course, Kaden was rather talented in the area of causing people to be scared stiff. Casey had always respected her for that.
Bryce could feel a light sheen of sweat covering his forehead, but he neglected to wipe it off. One of the few people in the world he truly feared stood before him, after he'd hoped for so long she'd be dead. He immediately began to defend himself. "I hadn't planned on the explosion in Salamanca," he panted, unable to meet her eyes, dropping his down to her cleavage instead.
She gave an angry snort. "Oh? Really now?" She picked him up by his shirt collar. Chuck muffled an inappropriate snort. Sarah rolled her eyes in his direction, and he shrugged in a what can you do? kind of way. Even Sarah had to admit that Bryce Larkin being held up by a woman at least six inches shorter than he was tugging on her laughter strings.
Kaden narrowed her eyes, now black with fury. "Let me ask you this, Mr. Larkin, is it now, had you planned on being a double agent? 'Accidentally' mistaking the innocent tourists' car for the terrorists' car we were supposed to be following, virtually giving them a pass to go on a killing spree? And then how about blowing up the building that I had specifically warned you to avoid at all costs?" An angry tear slid down her cheek. "That, coincidentally, was housing my husband and family on that particular day?"
The other three members of the group gasped, and winced. Chuck nearly fainted; Sarah had to hold him up. At Bryce's shameful silence, Casey took the chance to speak up.
"Man, that is the worst mission screw-up I've heard about in ages." He shook his head, and gave Bryce a sturdy kick to the waist. "Moron."
Bryce, again, tried fruitlessly to defend himself. "Oh, and it wasn't enough as payback that you shot me sixteen times, and landed me out of the field for almost a year?" Kaden slowly lowered him, and got very close to his face, with almost no space between her lips and his. Bryce looked confused.
"Occupational hazard," She whispered, and gave him a slap for good measure, walking back to the crowd that Casey, Sarah, and Chuck had formed.
Bryce landed hard on his knees, only too aware that his every movement was being watched by a former lover, a former friend, a former killer, and a woman who definitely hadn't gotten over her hatred for him. "Sarah? Chuck?" He motioned to the two. "Care to take a shot, and join the club?" He spat the blood in his mouth out into the dirt.
"I wouldn't mind taking another," Casey growled, stepping forward, but Sarah stopped him with her arm. But before Bryce could appreciate the gesture, she turned her own glaring gaze toward him.
"Not a word, Bryce," she began, and threw her hands up in the air. "How could you keep that from me? When was this?" She paced the area, back and forth, and as he opened his mouth, she shook her head. "I changed my mind; I don't want to know." She gave him one final glare, and then coolly turned her eyes from menacing to business-oriented. "Sloppy job, here," she remarked, nudging a body with her toe.
"Yeah, well, I don't have Mr. Trigger Happy here to watch my back," Bryce scowled, as he thought he had done nicely, considering certain limitations.
"I've got a suggestion," Chuck said, his voice high-pitched and a little shaky. "Let's set aside our differences- only for a moment, that's all I'm asking," he modified at Kaden's raised eyebrow. "I didn't miss seeing the original fight these guys put up, and I'm not looking forward to when they all wake up with extremely massive headaches, either. So let's stuff them in a closet, whatever, and get outta here."
"We've gotta take the leader in," Bryce said, wheezing a little as he held his side tenderly and got up off the ground. "He needs to be interrogated."
Sarah gave him a condescending look. "Which one's the leader?"
Casey answered first. "This guy. He looks like a leader, in these sorts of groups." Bryce nodded reluctantly, as Casey grabbed the body by the ankles, apathetically causing the head to hit off every stone he passed by.
"Watch, now, you don't want to kill him," Bryce warned, wincing as if it were his own head every blow the skull of the body took. He had figured that may have been Casey's intention- just a not-so-subtle way of letting out his anger. His loyalty to Kaden, though, was admirable. It was Sarah he couldn't quite figure out- she couldn't know Kaden very well, judging by the little hints and signs her body language and words had dropped. A day, at most. He sighed, and guessed it was simply on principal that she had sided with Kaden. Emotions had always been difficult for her. He had been imagining the first moment he'd see her since she had turned down his offer to go deep for a while, and this was nothing like it.
"I didn't think that was so much of a concern for you," Kaden hissed, slinging a heavier man over her back, who was at least twice her size. "What's another casualty?"
He closed his eyes, and waited until the frustration had passed. He knew she was setting him up, to get everyone further on her side by making him emit another blunder that made him sound like an empty bomb-detonating machine. Sarah knew otherwise. Chuck knew otherwise. Hell, even Casey knew otherwise. However, he supposed that, by whatever phenomenon, that this woman they'd only known for a short time could change their view.
He had screwed up in Salamanca, as Casey had so professionally put it. But he had professionally put it behind him, and hoped the feisty little Spaniard would put it behind her, too. Or die. That worked just as well, in this situation.
"Move it, Larkin," Casey ordered, and flung another body at him, which hit him in the chest, and caused him to topple over. He still hadn't quite regained his footing- it seemed he was the world's punching bag, today. "Your mess, you got us wrapped up in this- now get off your ass before I have to sing the freaking clean up song."
Chuck hummed a few slightly off notes of said cleanup song, which, naturally, only aggravated Casey further, and caused him to hurl yet another body at Bryce. "Shut up, Bartowski."
The job was done in a few minutes, with everyone working steadily. Sarah turned the situation over in her mind; not the one about whatever dealings had been going on in La Viva de Italia, but the one concerning Bryce.
She couldn't let what had happened the last time Bryce had come into her life again happen again. It had taken weeks for Chuck to trust her again, and while she wasn't sure she'd had his love return yet, his trust had. But she'd found out, it didn't take as much to break it as she'd thought. It was a dangerous dance the two were doing, always on the brink of some life-changing decision.
Sarah honestly couldn't take it much longer.
Only problem was, she had no idea what to choose.
But with Bryce in town? It could be fun…after all, it was almost ridiculously easy to make him mad. Or jealous. Although that, of course, wouldn't be the only reason to establish a "real" relationship with Chuck. There were many, many reasons Sarah could think of why she should hook up with Chuck, and none of them had to do with her ex-lover.
She made sure to give him a warm smile as they hauled the last body out to the shed behind the restaurant. Honestly, she had only meant to make Bryce jealous that time, but found herself caught in Chuck's warm, brown eyes. Like liquid pools of chocolate. His happily surprised grin caught her off guard, and she kept staring at him far longer than she'd meant to.
However, she looked away in time to see a flicker of confusion in Bryce's eyes, replaced by disbelief, and then disregard. He could misjudge things so badly, sometimes, when he saw the world the way he would like to see it. And sadly, that occurred more often than it probably should.
"Go home, Chuck," Sarah suggested softly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You've had a rough day- well, a rough past couple of days. Get some sleep, so you'll be ready in the morning." Even though Chuck protested, Sarah finally convinced him to go home and get a few hours of shut eye. The lack of sleep was starting to show on him. Frankly, Sarah wouldn't have minded to catch some z's herself, but she knew the night was young yet. The team had some things to work out, and Chuck didn't need to be around.
Chuck had just settled under the covers when his phone rang. He groaned. He really was thankful Sarah had sent him home, although he would've liked to help. He looked at the phone, the number wasn't anyone he knew. "Hello?" he answered reluctantly.
"Sorry it's so late, dude, but my computer just crashed and I need it tomorrow so I can hand in my paper," an unfamiliar voice said, talking almost too quickly to understand. Actually, maybe he had heard that voice before, somewhere... "Oh- uh, it's 116th and Samson. We'll be there to flag you down." The caller hung up before Chuck could even say a word. Even more reluctantly, he rolled out of bed and into the car, not bothering to change out of his undershirt and ratty old sweatpants. It would've been more rewarding if he was paid overtime.
Still yawning and briefly wondering if he should even be driving, Chuck leisurely meandered toward Samson, and when he reached where it met 116th, he couldn't see anyone. So, believe it or not, Chuck was stupid enough to get out and fold his arms, standing directly beneath the stop sign. Just as he was about to get back in his car and drive away, he heard something loudly run up behind him, and slowly turned as he yawned again.
There were three men, clad entirely in black, all in rather ridiculous positions.
"We have reached the Intersect," one of them commented in a deep voice, and Chuck felt all the blood run out of his face. He had walked straight into a trap- and there was no one to save him, this time.
Chuck gave a little shriek, and when one of the men came toward him, he freaked out and threw a hard punch to his head. With some satisfaction, he watched the man fall to the ground, yelling and holding his face. Immediately after, the other two ripped off their masks. Jeff and Morgan.
"God, Chuck, what did you do that for?!" Morgan cried out, causing several of the lights of the houses in the little suburban neighborhood to turn on.
Chuck sighed, and knelt down. "Lester?" The writhing figure moaned in agreement. "I'm sorry, Lester. I didn't mean to hit you that hard- just next time, please don't come towards me wearing a mask and dark clothes?" Chuck paused as Lester fumbled with the mask. "I've got enough to worry about already."
Lester carefully removed the cloth, and touched his cheek tenderly. "You got in a lucky punch, Chuck. Lucky punch." The bruise had already formed, and was beginning to swell.
Chuck snorted, but decided not to disagree. He was only rather disappointed his best right hook in years had been delivered to, of all people, Lester. Then something clicked. "Wait…you guys called me down here? What's with the ninja costumes?"
"Chuck," Morgan began softly, taking it slow at the confusion on his friend's face. "Although you've resisted greatly, we know you have information that we all need." He tapped Chuck's forehead, standing on his tip toes to do so. Chuck's eyes automatically tilted upward, and he sighed as he put together some more pieces in this strange little puzzle.
"When you said the Intersect…you meant the intersection of 116th and Samson?" Chuck began slowly, deciding to clear that part up first. They all nodded, and Chuck felt his tense shoulders drop in relief. "Is this about Casey?" he inquired, tapping his chin.
"You're the only one who has ever had a real conversation with him, Chuck," Morgan said in almost a defensive manner. Jeff and Lester flanked him on either side, silent for once. Morgan had probably told them to shut up, as to not screw whatever operation they thought they were running up…and that was a very reasonable fear, on Morgan's part.
"I'm gonna leave now, so I can actually get some sleep, for once," Chuck muttered, and sauntered back to the Nerd Herder.
"Alright then, Chuck, we can persuade you or take you by force," Lester stepped in, while Morgan confirmed Chuck's suspicions, and clapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.
"Listen, Lester, if you wanna force me to do anything, I think you'd better heal up first. Good night, everybody." Chuck shut the door of the Herder, and prayed he wouldn't fall asleep while driving. He'd wrecked enough Herders since he'd gotten involved with the Intersect, and he didn't want one of the incidents to be on his own time.
"Goodbye, Chuck Bartowski- you're our only hoooooooooooooooope…" Morgan's voice echoed in the background, and Chuck shook his head in sorrow. If he was pulling out Star Wars references, he had to be pretty desperate. If Casey didn't scare the hell outta him- plus, he was genuinely grateful about all the protecting he'd been doing- he might give Morgan a hand with this one.
The car was filled with a tense silence as Casey drove Kaden, Sarah, and Bryce to his apartment. He had one hand on the wheel, the other fixing the rear view mirror absentmindedly, as if deep in thought. Sarah frowned, staring at the ground, probably aware of how intently Bryce was staring at her, his intense blue eyes seeking hers. Kaden sat as far away from him as possible, almost as if he was tainted, or had an infectious disease. She observed the scene thoughtfully, and tapped her chin.
It was almost common knowledge, well-known in the inner government circles, that Walker and Larkin had been lovers. They had both told a few people in strictest confidence, which was about the equivalent of yelling it into a microphone connected to several amplifiers, all broadcasting directly on live news on every major station in the country. Yeah, that bad.
It was time to stir things up- Kaden hadn't caused any major chaos in a while, and she'd have to work on that during this assignment.
Sadly, Bryce interrupted just before she was about to bring a sore subject up, and she reluctantly closed her mouth, and turned to stare out the window intently.
"Is it really safe for us to be meeting so close to where Chuck will be?" he asked, looking at everyone individually, and noticing how none of them met his eyes. He didn't miss how Kaden assumed a flat, emotionless expression as soon as he began speaking, but decided not to comment.
Casey simply grunted, loathe to give a longer response. Sarah bit her lip, and seemed to be thinking about very different things than what he had just brought up. Bryce laid his head back, and emitted a soft sigh as he closed his eyes.
He tried a different subject. "So, is there any particular reason why none of you have shot me yet? Or even tried?" After a couple moments of the usual silence, he muttered, "Is it for Chuck?"
Casey chuckled darkly. "Oh, I'm sure Chuck wouldn't mind so much if we took you out, right now." He adjusted the mirror again, and glanced at Bryce sarcastically. "Sadly, we have a bit of a problem we're hoping you can shed some light on."
Bryce frowned. "Is it…Fulcrum related?" he asked reluctantly, wincing as he said the word that had caused him so much grief in the past year. Kaden gave a soft, sadistic smile as she noticed this.
"Bryce, just shut up until we get inside a more secure location," Sarah ordered, massaging her temples. He winced again, this time at the spite in her voice. But he listened, and obeyed.
Casey sighed happily. The sound of Larkin's voice grated on his nerves, and every word he spoke made him grimace. He was supposed to be dead. To Casey, he was a testament to every mistake he'd made, and every time he'd been called incompetent. Which wasn't often, but was often enough. The most glaring example at the moment was that he hadn't killed Bryce well enough, apparently. Anyone who could be brought back from the dead was, obviously, not dead enough to satisfy.
Casey pulled into the garage, and the four agents exited quietly. Sarah stopped a moment, standing a few feet behind the other three, and automatically looked away when Bryce turned around. Just his presence made her insides quiver, from her throat to the pit of her stomach. And what bugged her the most was that she wasn't sure why, other than a pitifully small voice that could only say, "wrong."
Kaden couldn't predict how this briefing would go, but she smiled in anticipation. Things could quickly get very interesting.
A/N: I apologize if I messed up the Star Wars quote. I understand it's an insult to the very essence of Chuck, but I'll admit, it's been a while since I've seen the movies. Please review!