A/N: Big thanks, as always, to everyone who left a review at the end of the last chapter. I really appreciate hearing what everyone thinks!
The usual awesomeness of my betas Mali Bear's Buddy and Grey Alchemist and pre-readers jaytoyz and luvgreen19 helped polish this chapter immensely. I wouldn't have been anywhere near ready to get this story to you without their help.
Chapter 10 spans Chuck Versus the Ex, Chuck Versus the Fat Lady, and Chuck Versus the Gravitron.
Also as usual, no actual owners of Chuck were harmed during the making of this chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 10
What about her? Our relationship is a cover.
A warm breeze blew gently in off the sea and stirred some errant strands of her newly-blonde hair while Carina reclined on the cushioned bench on her new balcony. She adjusted the straps of her forest green bikini, making sure she was adequately covered before smearing on more sunscreen. Lounging in the sun, even if she wasn't reclining on the sand, still beat belly-crawling through the desert waiting for smugglers or trekking through central Asia following the opium market.
She'd checked into a beachside resort under a new alias – Rachel Peterson. Cancun was decent, but Atlantic beaches, even those on the Caribbean, always came up short when compared to Pacific beaches – any Pacific beaches. Regardless, something about the sea always drew her no matter where she lived, which made her last safe house in Puerto Vallarta so easy to let go. The only view that apartment had was of the tops of other apartment buildings. So grey and dreary, she thought with a relaxed sigh and stretch. This is so much better! The only thing missing was someone to trade off applying sunscreen.
After the satisfying stretch, she reached for her computer bag. Carina fitted the special USB drive she'd received from her support technician into the laptop's port and waited for the computer to bring up the folders she'd copied before frying the system. One of the first she saw – right after 'locations' – was a folder labeled 'recruits'. Carina shook her head at the lack of security; Fulcrum never thought anyone would find their Puerto Vallarta site so they never bothered giving their files random names.
She opened the file and found a notation at the top of the spreadsheet: 'Possibly in possession of GLF, Los Angeles." While Carina had no idea who GLF was, the fact that he was in LA was surprising. Maybe Chuck, Sarah, and Casey were dealing with GLF, but she would have to find someone in Cancun to get some more information. Scanning down the list, she came up with six names stationed in or near Cancun, but without anything more than names and ages, she had no way of picking the likeliest candidate for her to target.
One of the non-Cancun area names stuck out to her but she couldn't figure out why. Jill Roberts was assigned to target Guy LaFleur in the Los Angeles area, but…GLF! Guy LaFleur! Oh shit! Wait. Jill Roberts…why do I know that name?
As hard as Carina wracked her memory, she couldn't remember where she'd heard the name Jill Roberts before, but there wasn't much she could do about that right now anyway. Unless…she laughed to herself. This would give her the chance to get even for the ridiculous disguise she had to wear in Puerto Vallarta.
Carina fished her intersect phone out of her bag and called her contact. A few seconds later, the unusually stammering computerized voice answered "Y-Yes, Agent Williamson?"
Carina leaned forward and put a hint of menace into her voice: "Just wanted to know where you are so I can drop off your Domino's pizza, Mr. Intersect Technician."
He laughed nervously. "Didn't that work though? Did you get past the security guards?"
She went quiet for a moment before reluctantly answering in a small voice: "Well, yes, but…"
"See? I knew it was a good idea!" Even the computerization of his voice couldn't hide the excitement in his tone.
Carina rolled her eyes as she heard the clink of dishes in the background. "What exactly are you doing? Washing dishes?" she asked.
"Oh, that? No, I'm taking coffee to my…girlfriend." He looked anxiously back to his room to make sure his ex/current girlfriend/Fulcrum agent wasn't looking for him.
Carina, remembering their conversation in Puerto Vallarta, eagerly questioned "Ah-ha! Taking your girlfriend coffee in the morning now? I take it things have gotten less complicated?"
Chuck looked down at the two solitary coffee mugs on the tray with their sweeping handles. "Well, not so much. I meant my ex-girlfriend who I've recently started seeing again."
She brought her hand to her forehead, trying to understand. "So let me get this straight: you couldn't figure things out with your current girlfriend, so you got back together with someone with whom things didn't work in the first place?"
"Well, when you put it like that it sounds kind of silly, but it made sense at the time, I promise," Carina was again struck by how expressive the technician's voice was – this time she heard his embarrassment through the computerization.
She just shook her head. "Well, unfortunately, I don't have time to sort through that with you. I have six names I need to run through the Intersect to identify the best target for exploitation, so I can start working my way up through Fulcrum's Mexican operations."
Chuck looked around again and responded "Ok, I have a few minutes. Hit me."
Carina rattled off the six names, waiting while the technician typed them through the computer. It almost sounded like he shook his head before he started talking again. "I think Cooper Hanley is your best bet. He's young, but he didn't join Fulcrum because he believed in their cause or anything. They blackmailed him by threatening his parents. The others were all ideological recruits. Hanley's staying at a resort on the beach in Cancun." He mentioned the name of the resort, which was just a little ways up the beach from Carina's own.
She looked around the room and sighed. "Ok, thank you. I'll make contact and see what I can get out of him. Maybe he'll be able to give me something useful."
"Was that all you needed?" Chuck asked as he picked the tray up again.
"Well, there was something else but it might not be directly related," Carina said hesitantly.
"What's that?"
"Well, the list I have contains a notation that these names might be in possession of someone identified only as GLF in Los Angeles, and that another Fulcrum agent named Jill Roberts was assigned to…are you ok? What was that?" Carina stopped as she heard a crash in the background.
"Oh wow! I, um, dropped the tray. Jill Roberts….you need to forget you ever heard that name. I- we have a team dealing with her. Please don't ever mention that name again. I have to go now. Call me the next time you need help with something." The words came out in a rush and he ended the call.
Carina stared at her phone. That was unexpected. Why did he react so badly to the mention of Jill Roberts? Hmm. I'll have to ask him about that some other time when he isn't so sensitive about it. She went back to Cooper Hanley's file, which fortunately included a photo and a location. He was stationed in permanent residence in a Fulcrum-owned resort just up the beach from her own.
Furrowing her brow in consternation, Carina brought up the file marked 'locations' and confirmed the resort's coordinates along with a somewhat worrying notation. Apparently the property was used both to sell cocaine to tourists, as a way to move money and collect data using the transient population. She blew out a frustrated sigh. Getting close to Cooper and getting him to turn over information meant she had to give up her room at the new resort.
Sarah pulled her head back into the tent and frowned. Why in the world did Chuck drop his tray toward the end of that call? One moment he was talking and even smiling a little while the next he dropped the tray and looked like he'd seen a ghost. It had to have been something he heard on his call, but whatever he could hear on his extra assignment to make him react that way was beyond her. Then again, there are too many things he's done the last few weeks that I don't understand.
The despair she felt as Chuck broke up with her after Bryce left again faded with the way he helped her get over her high school reunion jitters. Once that pencil penetrated the picture, he stopped pushing her for details about her past and just let it be about the present. When he wasn't trying to figure out what their relationship actually was, or learn more information about her past, their interactions became smoother and the stress was gone. She could be herself; just a girl with a guy she liked and wanted to be with.
Not long after Chuck helped her deal with leftover high school demons, she saw a chance to thank him by slaying one of his own demons. After he saved the world by playing a video game, she was able to get Casey to help her push Stanford into finally awarding Chuck the diploma he so richly deserved. It took a lot of effort, but the smile on his face when he realized one of the biggest hurdles to the life he'd always dreamed of was gone was the kind that always made her stomach flutter. She had to take a sip of beer at that point just to calm her nerves. She knew exactly what he wished for when he saw that satellite.
Then Jill came along. They had been making such good progress, then the Skank herself had to waltz back into his life, and Chuck waltzed right back to her. Another brunette, she sighed. Jill wasn't just any brunette, however. Jill was the brunette: the one who left Chuck in his tailspin.
Sarah had to play dumb for everyone – Casey, Ellie, and even Morgan – sad, but brave, bearing up while her erstwhile boyfriend went back to his old flame. She knew exactly why he did it. Jill was his one that got away, and if he could somehow rekindle their affair and show her he was worth another shot, he would have regained a tie to the pre-Buy More Chuck; the more successful Chuck, and it would take some of the sting out of the last five years. Plus, she mused as she helped Casey fold up their massage table, it would give him a bridge out of the spy world. This last came with a snort. Casey looked over with a confused expression, but she shook her head and he let it go. So much for that bridge out of the spy world, Chuck. Skankarella was Fulcrum, a spy herself, and had now stuck that knife back into Chuck all over again.
Maybe once they dealt with Jill they would have a chance to sit down and sort their relationship out again. She wasn't going to make it easy for him. Stupidity like what he displayed – despite the reasonable motivations, she acknowledged – required some atonement, especially with the constant way he took Jill's side over her own whenever a disagreement surfaced. She couldn't – wouldn't – just give him a free pass. They would have to be friends again before restarting their cover relationship. Again. Sarah grunted in frustration as they loaded the van and headed back to Castle. Jill just screwed everything up wherever she went.
Chuck got a new tray of coffee mugs to take back to Agent Sandstorm…Jill he corrected himself angrily. She might be a spy, but he knew the girl before the spy, and there had to be some good still in her. The irony of the Star Wars reference, which normally would have merited at least a chuckle, passed without his notice. Jill was a spy, and his world was once again turned on its head.
He shook his head. Casey would give him crap for months about trusting Jill over Sarah, that was a given. What he couldn't predict was how Sarah would react. Although she appeared nothing but supportive, especially since their cover was technically broken up at the time – but every so often he caught a lingering look, a reluctant tone, or a contact held too long that told him she was having trouble with his new relationship.
It was brutal, but he had to be strong for her. He had to be strong to protect Sarah. Bryce's little speech the last time he dropped in still rang in Chuck's ears. Even Bryce had seen that Sarah had feelings for him, but he had also driven home that Sarah's feelings for Chuck would get her killed. She wasn't able to act decisively in their mission, and almost cost them the money and the data.
That's why he broke things off with her. She had to keep the mission first and not let her feelings for him – even the thought that Sarah had feelings for him still sent a shiver down his spine – get in the way. He looked up as he approached his room again.
What the hell am I going to do with Jill? How can I act normal when I know she's a Fulcrum agent? Jill had betrayed him again. He looked up in surprise as the realization hit him just before he opened the door. That was the key: Jill came into his life again, pretended to gain his affection again, and betrayed him again.
That was how he was going to act normal. He was sick and tired of being screwed over by Jill. It was time to do some screwing of his own…not the exact phrase I wanted, but it works. His stride into the room was infinitely more confident and purposed than it had been when he cowardly ran out moments before.
Carina lay on the beach in a tiny black string bikini with her sunglasses and a large hat protecting her face – and hiding where her eyes looked. It took a few days to get Cooper's routine down, but she finally had it figured. Every day at the same time he went to the same spot on the beach and got some sun while he ogled the Spring Break teeny-boppers. Creeper, she thought as she watched him approach. She beat him to his spot today and waited for her moment.
"Excuse me," she heard above her, "You're in my spot."
She looked up, made a show of removing her sunglasses and hat, and looked the intruder in the eye. Carina allowed a lascivious smirk to appear on her face as she responded, "Is that so?"
Cooper struggled to form a coherent thought as two clear, piercing blue eyes found his own and bore through him. "W-well maybe we could share it just this once. What do you say?"
Carina let the smirk turn into a grin and patted the sand next to her. "I'd say that sounds like a plan. What's your name, stud?"
"Cooper, actually, although I'd answer to stud for you." He said with a leer as his eyes raked her up and down.
"I'll bet you would," Carina snorted as she rolled over, "Be a dear and rub sunscreen on my back and maybe we'll get to a first-name basis."
Cooper grinned at the invitation, figuring today was his lucky day. He knelt down to the knockout blonde and squirted some of her sunscreen onto his hands. "So what did you say your name was?"
"I didn't. It's Rachel. Rachel Peterson actually," Carina muttered into the sand. Getting a sunscreen massage was a definite fringe benefit to the job, and his hands were really talented. Carina appeared to melt into his ministrations, the better to boost his ego. His hands traced a path from her neck, down her back and around the string on her top, down her sides to her thighs and her lower legs, careful to avoid any inappropriate areas. His fingers had the added bonus of sending waves of relaxation through the stressed agent. "This might be a little forward, Cooper, but anyone with hands that talented deserves a reward. Would you like to get dinner tonight?" She looked over her shoulder as he reached her feet.
She missed Cooper's huge grin at her brazenness. "Absolutely. Where are you staying?" Carina told him the name of her resort and her room number, and he laughed. "That's mine too! I'm just a couple floors below you. I'll just meet you in the lobby at 8, then?"
Carina rolled over and winked. "Sounds good to me. Now, how about doing my front?"
Dinner at the resort's Italian restaurant was an exercise in gastronomic art. The menu was exquisite, from the light appetizer of melon, prosciutto, and crackers to the first plate of rigatoni Bolognese, followed by a main course of chicken saltimbocca, finished with the best tiramisu Carina had ever tasted. The wine pairings were superb, and as the drink flowed so did the conversation, although Carina's tipsy manner was the product of years of training, not excessive imbibing.
As interested as she appeared in Cooper's inane conversation, her mind kept going back to California. She knew now that it had been a mistake to just up and leave without any word to Chuck. Carina missed their conversations and the way he would somehow find a way to help her resolve whatever conflicts were troubling her at the time. Rather than wallowing in despair and self-loathing, Carina saw the problem and resolved to fix it; when Operation Python was over, she'd be on the first plane to LAX, find Chuck, and beg his forgiveness.
Her current dinner companion made the promise of that day seem an eternity in the future. She had noticed Cooper's glances on the beach lingering on yellow bikinis longer than other colors, so her yellow-tinted eye shadow along with a brand-new yellow dress – purchased before dinner and after she left the beach – was designed to catch her mark's eye. Her perception was as unerring as ever, and Cooper could barely take his eyes off her.
Unbeknownst to Carina, at that moment Fulcrum agents disguised as housekeeping staff were entering the room number Cooper reported to them and, finding the cell phone she left on her dresser, implanted a very tiny bug with a GPS transponder. They slipped back out with no one taking any note of their entry.
The two giggling people stumbled off the elevators, locked in an amorous embrace. They hung on each other, exchanging kisses and groping as they haltingly made their way down the hall toward a room. The man fumbled with his key while the woman lasciviously planted kisses up and down his cheek and neck, distracting him further.
Once they managed to get the door open and almost fell inside, Carina swayed into the living area, using the magic of her hips to focus his attention. "Cooper, honey?" She turned over her shoulder to watch his hungry leer as he made his way over to her. She fully turned and grabbed his tie, playfully tracing her fingers up the fabric until she had a firm grip, then she spun him around until he sat on the couch. Carina cocked her hips to one side. "You just make yourself comfortable here while I go freshen up and mix something a little...stiffer."
Cooper watched her head into the suite's bathroom as he kicked off his shoes and tossed his suit jacket. A few moments later, Carina opened the bathroom door and sauntered out in a brand-new set of black lingerie. She walked over to the room's bar and with her back to him, knowing his eyes weren't above her waist.
Carina poured two glasses of tequila, but her position concealing the glasses allowed her to slip a strong sedative into Cooper's glass, one that would have him unconscious in moments. She walked over to her mark, handed over his glass, and then with a saucy smirk, said "cheers to new friends," as they clinked glasses.
Hanley tossed off the whole glass before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back onto the couch. "Lightweight," Carina grunted derisively. She switched out of her seduction clothes into a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. Hanley would be out for at least eight hours, and she needed a full night of sleep to make the next part of her plan work. Before she went to bed, she searched her mark for any weapons. She found a gun which she disassembled and reassembled, minus the firing pin. She lay down – on top of the covers – and not for the first time wished she could have another evening phone call with Chuck.
When Carina woke up, Hanley was still out, so she changed back into her seduction gear. As he started to stir, she snuggled into him on the couch. He woke up hazy, which gave her the window to plant a few suggestions in his mind about what happened, before beginning the tough part of her day. He groggily noticed the loose tie around his neck and unbuttoned shirt. His pants were haphazardly thrown on the sofa – another touch of Carina's to make him think he got lucky.
When Hanley was in the shower, she walked into the steamy bathroom, fully dressed with her Sig out and began her move. "Cooper?"
His reply was muffled, but understandable, "Yea, Rach? What is it?"
"When exactly were you going to tell me you're working with Fulcrum?"
Hanley drew back the shower curtain far enough to see the mien of determination and the barrel of the pistol pointed at his heart. The look of sheer betrayal on his face was almost comical as he swore under his breath and resumed rinsing shampoo out of his hair. "So this was all a setup? You're going to either shoot me or turn me in now, is that it?"
Carina was actually surprised at the level of pain his voice carried. She lowered the angle of her gun, but still kept it in a firing grip. "If I told you no, would you believe me?"
He shut the water off, took a deep breath, and reached outside the curtain for a towel. As Hanley dried off, he growled, "Why should I believe you?"
Carina put the gun down on the counter with an audible clink. "Because I know you didn't turn traitor of your own free will. Those bastards coerced you into working for them."
He heard the gun go down, but it was the sincerity in her voice that did the trick. "How can I trust you?" he asked as he stepped out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his waist.
Carina looked him squarely in the eye and said "Because I know they threatened your parents. You had no choice. Believe me: I want to help you. We can take them down, and I can do what I can to tell the agency you weren't rogue – that you were coerced and you helped destroy Fulcrum."
Hanley looked at her unblinking gaze and swallowed heavily. He nodded and said, "Maybe I'm crazy, but I trust you. What do you need from me?"
Carina gestured for him to precede her out of the bathroom, then followed, making sure she still had her weapon, just in case he was double-crossing her. "Give me some kind of information I can take to my bosses to prove you're willing to fight against Fulcrum. Then I'll meet up with you later today and escort you to the local CIA office. They'll get you back to the US."
Hanley was hurriedly dressing while she spoke. By the time she finished, he was done and sat down in a chair next to the couch. "The only thing I know right now that I can tell you is that Fulcrum is looking for someone important. Bryce Larkin stole something huge from them and Fulcrum wants him back," he said with his head in his hands.
That posture blocked his view of the unadulterated shock on Carina's face. Bryce Larkin is still alive? Did Sarah know this? Did Chuck? So great was her surprise that she almost didn't notice he was speaking again. "I can go to the local facility and see what more information I can get for you. Meet me in the alley behind Ricardo's at 2 pm and I'll bring what I can find with me. Just promise me that the Agency will put my parents into Witness Protection, all right? They can't suffer because of this. They've already been put in too much danger."
Carina nodded, barely able to comprehend what was going on. He had given her the one piece of data that would confirm him to her bosses, since everyone thought Bryce had been killed. As she made her way out of the suite and up to her own, her mind flashed back unbidden to a conversation she had with Chuck. The poor guy had been distraught over seeing Sarah kiss another man – both what he said as well as what he didn't say about the kiss he'd seen told her it was no peck on the cheek – but until now Carina just figured it was a mark or someone like that.
If Bryce Larkin was still alive, Carina could guess with near-certainty that Chuck had seen Bryce with another girl Chuck liked. The same roommate who had gotten him expelled from Stanford on a lie, and had then followed that up by sleeping with the man's girlfriend. Oh Chuck…I'm sorry you had to see Bryce do that to you again. You of all people deserve better.
Finding her non-Intersect phone on the desk where she left it the previous day, she called Director Maxwell directly. "Ma'am? Agent Miller. I have a matter that I need to bring directly to your attention."
"…and we're supposed to meet at 2 in the alley behind Ricardo's so I can bring him and whatever he can take out with him back to the local Agency safe house."
Sydney Prince cursed as she listened to Carina's report back to the Director and wrote down all the critical information. Losing an agent of such potential as Hanley was unfortunate, but the payoff of taking out a thorn in Fulcrum's side in addition to gaining access to the latest Agency communications would be worth it. She made plans to spring her trap.
At 1:55 PM, Carina was waiting in a doorway off the narrow alley behind Ricardo's, a popular tourist watering hole. The doorway gave her a measure of shelter from an errant shot, should Hanley change his mind and set her up, and the alley's narrowness blocked a rooftop sniper. She was still taking a huge risk, despite the protection the alley's physical features afforded her, but her heart and her gut told her Hanley was ready to come in from the cold and work against Fulcrum. She had to make sure Maxwell kept her promise to protect the man's family.
There he is, Carina thought to herself as a small car turned into the alley. She tensed as the car pulled to a stop, her right hand finding its way to the handle of the gun she kept in her waistband. This was one of the first real breaks she'd had in the campaign, and Carina was determined to make sure everything went her way.
Hanley got out of his car with a relieved smile. As he walked up to Carina, he whispered, "I don't think I was followed. Is everything clear? Are we ok to-"
Carina jumped as a single gunshot rang out, and then had to catch Hanley as he fell. She couldn't hold him for long, and as she lowered him to the ground, her eye caught sight of the slim brunette woman who had fired the shot. Carina dove for cover behind Hanley's car as a hail of bullets started pinging all around her. As she got into a crouch, she brought her Glock out from behind her back and looked for the woman.
She couldn't see where Hanley's assassin had gone, but she did hear a car roar to life just outside the alley. As Carina ran to the street with her gun up and ready for a target, she caught a flash of brown hair as a convertible raced by, barely missing running her down as she dove back into the alley.
Carina ran out to the street again, wildly looking around for transportation. Sighting a crotch rocket parked on the street, she whispered a prayer of apology before running over and 'borrowing' it. The pure acceleration of the bike enabled her to catch up to the assassin, but the need to keep two hands on the bike's handles prevented her from drawing her weapon again.
She was forced to follow the convertible as close as possible, ducking from one side to the other to avoid the other woman's shots. Soon they came to the heart of the tourist zone, and the heavier traffic made it impossible for the woman to shoot at her, but it also meant that Carina had a much harder job ahead of her to stay up. Luckily, the bike was small enough that she was able to zip in between cars, but somehow the convertible always managed to stay ahead of her.
Eventually, the woman pulled into the parking lot of a high-rise apartment building. She didn't even bother turning the car off before running inside. Carina threw the bike down as she sprinted after her quarry. She just saw the stairwell doors close on the assassin, so after drawing her Sig, she dashed over. Pausing only to take a breath, she kicked open the door with her gun ready to fire. Carina didn't see anything but she did hear footsteps fading above her, so she started taking the stairs two at a time in pursuit.
The chase eventually led to the roof. Carina just made it out the stairwell door before the woman stepped to the edge of the building. She was able to squeeze off one shot as the woman leapt off. Carina ran across the roof only to see a parachute unfold beneath her. The assassin was gliding above a crowded beach, so Carina couldn't risk a shot. She cursed her luck as she watched the woman glide gently to the beach, shed the chute, and run off.
A/N 2: Aaaand that's a wrap on Chapter 10! We're almost halfway through! I hope everyone is still enjoying my own spin on the canon.
Next time on Chuck Versus the Night Shift:
Sydney lowered her voice-modulation device, and then simultaneously she and Alex took off their headphones before exchanging glances. She never suspected anything, and with any luck, the next morning they would be able to lure Carina Miller into Fulcrum's trap.