Sleepingwiththeenemy9
Motel 6
Sonora, TX
4PM
While Chuck and Carina were otherwise occupied, Sarah walked through the connecting door to talk to Casey who was on the phone with Ellie.
"He's fine, Ellie. He's aware and sharp as ever. He just had his memories scrambled a bit. Right now, Ellie, it's not safe for you to be with us. We're constantly on the move and I don't know where we'll be tomorrow so, no, you can't join up with us."
There is a long pause and then Casey's face cracks open and blood drips down onto the carpet. He's smiling! OK, so there's no blood but still…he's smiling!
"Yeah, me too. I'll be in touch." He closes his phone and turns to me and says, "What? I can't smile when I talk with her? Get a grip, Walker. You have the same dumb look on your face every time you talk to the moron."
"I know, John. I just never expected to see the same look on your face, that's all. Carina's in the shower and Chuck's getting dressed. Just so you know, he spent the night in restraints, at his demand, and this morning your roommate interrupted a rape in progress, damn her!"
"I thought you said he was in restraints! Did he hurt you, Sarah? I'll kill him…"
She giggled and replied, "He was in restraints and I was the attacker. Honestly, if Carina had been 5 minutes later, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"How did Chuck react? You know it's way too soon…"
"Yep. That's not exactly what he said but it's what he meant. I'm a little ashamed of myself for attacking him like that but having him back after so long is so…"
"We need to call Beckman and have her start looking for those guys who tranked us. I can't believe…"
"She'll find them dead in Chuck's room and one other dead out in the road beside where the van was parked. Apparently Chuck's training and conditioning included 'team loyalty', thank God."
"Beckman's got to be tearing her hair out over security breaches. How did they find us, anyway?"
"He thinks the telemetry sensors under his skin are being used to track him so we're heading for a 'safe' Fulcrum doctor to have them removed. He wants us there to make sure there's nothing else done to him."
"So where is this doctor?"
"It's a surprise."
"I don't like surprises in operations, Walker."
"Either do I but he won't say anything else."
Carina pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out of the tub into a towel held by Chuck. She let out a startled 'Eeek' but quickly settled into his warm embrace as he dried her back. He put his arms around her, effectively trapping her and she felt a moment of panic until he started talking softly into her hair.
"Agent Hansen, you're the only one here who doesn't seem to have a personal agenda so I want you to come with me. I'm going to leave the two agents here but I need someone I can rely on to have my back. Can I trust you, Carina? If you feel uncomfortable with possible treason, I'll understand but I feel I can trust you."
He felt an attraction to her since she'd handled his panic attack so well. He felt he could trust her and hoped he was right otherwise he'd end up dead.
She whispered back. "Yeah, but I do have an agenda, Chuck. I always have. I want what Sarah has or wants, if only for a little while. It's how we are, y'know? Very competitive."
"I can live with that if you can handle the disappointment. Now, I'm going to really piss off General Casey and trank him and Walker both. I'll pop you, too, if you'd rather stay behind. I'm only 6 hours from Marfa and I think I can handle the drive."
"I've got your back. Just don't trank Casey in the ass, Chuck. Or Sarah, either. These Fulcrum darts really leave marks, see?" She dropped her towel and pointed to her left breast, and pouted. "It still hurts, Chuck. And it's a little swollen, feel?"
Chuck turned twenty shades of red and finally just mumbled something.
"So go without a bra. Big deal. Go get dressed while I take care of our two comrades. Man, the General is really going to be so pissed about this."
"Yeah. You better sleep face down for a while because Sarah's going to want to hurt you for tranking and leaving her."
'Tough. She's not expendable and neither is General Casey. You, Agent Hansen, are. Sorry, babe, but it's the hand we were dealt. They're not disposable like we are. They both have to survive this.'
"Go, get dressed and get ready. I'll walk in, pop them, and then we'll be out of here. I paid for two nights. I'm sure they'll be alright."
"Chuck, are you sure you won't take them along? We might need the extra firepower in…Marfa? Where the hell is Marfa?"
"About five or six hours' drive from here. Carina, do nothing to alarm them, please? It's going to be hard enough for me to hurt them without having to see the looks on their faces."
She stepped even closer to him until they were skin on skin, her tight nipples flush against his chest, and whispered, "Chuck, if you ever worry about all this changing you, don't. You're still the finest man I've ever met. Now, kiss me hard and long because Sarah's about to bust in here and you want her mad at me not you."
With surprising strength and agility, she spun him around until her back was against the vanity, hopped up on it and wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close and then kissed him, forcing her tongue between his lips and sucking on his.
Sarah Walker picked that exact moment to walk into the bathroom looking for her…looking for her asset.
"Jesus Christ, Carina! He's hardly aware of what's going on and you're trying to rape him, for God's sake? Unwrap your legs and get the hell out of here. We're still on mission. Casey's going to conference with Beckman so you need to cover your paycheck with panties or a thong while I make sure you haven't broken him."
Carina unwound herself from Chuck and strolled out the door, chuckling. 'Cover my paycheck…indeed. And I suppose what I interrupted was not a rape-in-progress. Damned CIA hypocrite.'
Chuck put a glazed look on his face and Sarah immediately wondered if he was in one of his 'trances'. "Chuck, what did she do to you? Did she say the trigger? Chuck, what's wrong? Do you need a doctor?"
"No, Agent Walker. I'm fine. I received my instructions and will act on them. Thank you for your concern but Dr. Pesich is busy with other patients. I'm fine now. I know my purpose."
He wanted her as confused as possible. It would make following him difficult and keep her and the General safe.
"What the hell did she do to you?"
"Nothing, Agent Walker. Nothing at all. Go back to the general and call his superiors for instructions, please. There is little time remaining."
"What? What the hell did she do to you? Last night you agreed to call me Sarah and we shared some moments but now…what did that damned skank do to you, baby?"
"You're wasting time, Agent. We don't have a lot of time. Go talk to the General. He's aware of our new mission."
He would have smiled except that it would have ruined the moment. Her face was torn between confusion and concern and a deep desire to kill Carina.
"I need to get dressed and leave. Hurry, please?"
She turned on her heel and left him standing in the bathroom. He could hear her screaming "Carina, I'm going to kill you, you DEA slut! What have you done…"
He quickly dressed and grinned when Carina walked in blowing on the tip of her finger as if it was a gun. "They're both out for the count. Nice move. She never saw it coming, Chuck. I'll just have to lay low for a few months until she gets over being tranked. Let's move."
He took two pistols and some cash out of his bag and started into the other motel room but Carina intercepted him.
"You finish packing. I'll leave the guns and money on the table where they'll see them. I didn't think about arming them but it's probably necessary. I'll be back in a sec, sweetie."
Carina didn't want him to see the tableau she'd created with a nearly-naked Walker lying on top of a boxer-clad Casey, their faces in each other's crotches. She was only sorry she wouldn't be here to see the grand awakening. If anyone asked her, 'the Devil made me do it'. Damned CIA hypocrite.
Still grinning, she left a note with the pistols and cash telling them that they were going to see a 'safe Fulcrum doctor' in Marfa and they could catch up with them there if they could find a ride but that she'd keep him safe if it was the last thing she ever did.
Day 169
9PM
They spent valuable time at Wal-mart in Sonora but it couldn't be helped. Chuck needed clothes and Carina always seemed to need beauty products and other things.
"Carina, you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met. You don't need all this crap. Just be yourself and you'll still be beating the guys off with a stick."
"I'm 30 and I can hear the clock ticking. I need this like…like armor. I put it on and no one can see the real me. Understand? I'm just…insecure about getting old, Chuck."
He put an arm around her and led her away from the Oil of Olay rack where she'd spent almost $100 on 'wrinkle' stuff. "That's dumb, Carina. You probably are one of those women who just get better looking with age. How do you compare yourself now with say, a picture from 5 years ago?"
"That's not fair, Chuck. You always say the sweetest things and I can't ever get or stay mad at you. Let's get out of here and maybe grab some burgers for the trip. You're smart to travel at night. Cooler and no one can easily ID the van."
Three hours later
US 10 outside FT. Stockton, TX
"Carina, why don't you hop in the back and catch some zee's? The radio's busted and I know you're trying not to talk my ear off but you're bored."
"Some bodyguard I'd be if I let my main man take the load while I slept. I'm good to go but a little conversation would go a long way. So, if it's not too damned personal or a state secret, just how the hell did you end up married and thinking it's 2013?"
"I don't know. I know it's all a colossal lie but Carina, it was so real. Jill and I dated through college and we were engaged and then we ended up in Winter, Nevada and I had a hole in my head that all my memories leaked out of. Everything was so real. We had pictures of us and Sarah and Bryce, wedding pictures, vacation pictures, even pictures of Devon and Ellie and Jill and I."
"So this Jill's the one who did the programming and dreamed up all this stuff to snatch you from Burbank?" She wanted to keep the conversation of safe topics, like the people he knew and not the process.
"Yep, so it seems. She loved me, Carina. She had to have loved me to do some of the things she did. No one is that great an actress. And me? I loved her even though something felt off. It broke my heart when she broke down after telling me how we lost the baby on the Portland mission. She had to be sedated because she'd become hysterical."
"Chuck, you know you and Sarah had a thing going in Burbank. It was real for her even if she couldn't admit it. She's an agent, Chuck, and she'd have been transferred to another planet if Beckman thought her prized asset was being guarded by a compromised agent."
"I don't remember Burbank, or Sarah being 'compromised'. She was always with Bryce and then…and then she shot me and Jill lost our baby pulling me to safety. Everyone thought I was brain dead but not her. She stayed with me and fought to keep me safe until one day I woke up."
"Chuck, that's what she told you. She also told you that you'd lost 5 years' of memories but you've only been missing for 6 months. Believe me, Chuck, she lied. It's 2008 and you were with Sarah at her apartment and had a big fight and you stormed out of there and then they blew up your Nerd Herder and everyone thought you were dead. It's the truth, Chuck. You knew me from before and that's why you freaked out in Laredo."
Chuck exited the interstate and pulled into a truck stop to get gas and to allow Carina to use the restroom.
"We shouldn't be apart, Chuck. It's not safe. You never know when one of those extraction squads from Fulcrum will make an appearance."
"I'm not going into the ladies restroom with you, Carina, and you're not using the guys' side either. We'll take turns and then we'll get something to eat. We won't be waking up the good doctor at 3AM so we'll just hang out in the parking lot until she shows."
"OK. So, this doctor, is she hot?" She figured Walker would want a full report.
"Don't know. Never met her."
"So how will we know it's her?"
"There are only 3 clinics in Marfa so we'll use some high tech spy techniques I learned in Winter."
"Whoa! You mean some super secret Fulcrum shit? Cool!"
"Yep. The Real Yellow Pages."
Carina was quiet for a moment and then started to giggle. "OK, I fell for that one but I suppose I deserved it for what I did to Casey and Sarah."
She hopped out of the van and practically sprinted for the restaurant and ladies room.
'Carina, what the hell have you done this time?' He shook his head and finished filling the tank and walked into the cashier area and paid for the gas. Carina came out of the ladies room with a look of relief on her face and Chuck used the men's room.
Chuck picked up some burgers and fries to go and they walked out to the van. A police car was parked in the next bay and the officer was filling up the cruiser. Carina walked over, bold as brass, and asked how far it was to Marfa.
"It's about another two, two and half hours. Going down to check out the lights?" He was more interested in the fact that Carina was braless than anything else at the moment.
"Lights? No. My husband has a doctor's appointment and we drove down from Dallas and had A/C problems so we're driving at night to avoid the heat."
"Smart man. You should check out the lights, though. Maybe the two of you will be able to see the sparks and figure out what they are. Well, I'm out of here. Be careful. Drive safe."
She waved and he pulled out and she walked back to Chuck who was silently fuming at her brazenness.
"Before you lose your mind, dear Charles, it's two and half hours to Marfa, he was more interested in trying to catch a nipple slip than the van, and I want to see the Marfa Lights. OK?"
"If we're lucky and we're not dead, yeah, I think you deserve a treat for your behavior. Took his mind off the government plates and he probably won't even remember the color of the van. Cool. But don't flash anyone again, Carina. You're not trash."
He got in the van and she got in the other side and leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I keep forgetting what a damned prude and gentleman you are, Chuck. Won't happen again."
Public Phone Booth
Marfa, TX
4AM
Chuck stood in the weak light of the overhead fluorescent bulb and opened the small phone directory. There were only 2,100 people in the entire country and he figured that Julia Morgan wouldn't be too hard to find. He found 'J. Morgan' but no 'Julia Morgan, MD' and the address given was on FM 167 just outside of town. He tore the entire directory off its chain and stomped back to the van.
"Well, there's no 'Julia Morgan, MD' but I did find a 'J. Morgan' who lives out in the sticks. Let's go back to that diner we passed and grab some breakfast and maybe some intel on the elusive Dr. Morgan."
"Oh my, Chuck. You just destroyed public property. You're in trouble now…" She said it in a sing-song voice and Chuck had to laugh. If only she knew how much trouble they were really in…
Motel 6
Sonora, TX
4AM
Casey woke first and tried to figure out how Ellie had found them. He'd never have suspected that prim Eleanor Bartowski, MD had such varied sexual tastes when he first met her. She was constantly battering at his conservative mores and he gave in every time, much to his own satisfaction and delight.
He nibbled the inside of her thigh and was rewarded with a sleepy giggle somewhere south of his head.
"Mmm, Chuck, that feels so good, baby…"
Casey froze. He knew that voice and it wasn't Ellie's. He'd been tranked by that damned DEA whore Hansen and she'd set up this compromising position as revenge for his constant rejections of her sexual advances. Once he'd been terrified of her but now Ellie was in his life and he didn't cheat.
He flipped Sarah over onto her side and extracted himself with as much dignity as possible ignoring her throaty groan as she also regained her wits.
"Chuck, what the hell did you do to me?" OK, so maybe she hadn't regained all her wits.
"Walker, Hansen tranked us and she and the moron are on their way to Marfa to meet with some 'safe' Fulcrum doctor and get the sensors removed. The idiot should have hung around and we'd have gotten a decent and reliable doctor to take them out in a safe environment. What the hell is he thinking?"
"Oh, my head aches. He's thinking that a 'safe house' wasn't and he figures he's better off on his own. Why didn't he take me? Why did he take Carina and – and – has she done something to him? You should have seen her in the bathroom, John. She was practically raping him!"
"Spare me the jealousy, Walker. We need to rent a car and get on the road. They've got a good head start on us. They're probably already there, for God's sake."
"Well, Hansen's note says that they're looking for a Dr. Julia Morgan and there can't be that many doctors in some little Texas wide spot in the road. We'll find them and when we do, I want some 'alone time' with Hansen."
"You got it. Let's get dressed and get on the road. There's an Enterprise rental agency in town and they'll deliver a car to us. We'll have to use your government credit card. I don't have one yet."
"Casey, why would he take Carina and not me? You don't think she did something to him with a trigger, do you? She can't be Fulcrum. Why leave me behind?"
"Won't know that until I have some 'alone time' with the moron. Let's move it, Sarah. You check out their room for clues and I'll advise Beckman of our intentions."
"Casey, my cell is missing. Do you have yours?"
"Crap, it's gone, too. OK, we'll have to find a public phone and then arrange for cells. Why take our cell phones?"
"To keep us from calling in the cavalry, probably. Casey, we need to think like Chuck. He takes our cells but leaves us weapons and our ID's and money. He tells us where he's going but leaves us behind. Why?"
"He wants us to be able to protect ourselves if Fulcrum comes calling and he wants us to follow him 'at a distance' and be ready to swoop in and save him, why else?"
"That's not how Chuck thinks. Yeah, our weapons are protection but why take our cell phones? What good could Beckman do given the situation? She'd probably issue a sanc…oh, shit. She'd issue a sanction figuring he'd reverted. He's protecting us and he's taken Carina along because she's DEA and immune from Beckman's wrath."
"Fine. Let's get a car and get on the road. We can grab some food and eat on the way. Let's pick up some Go-Phones and at least be able to contact each other if we get separated."
Residence/Office/Clinic
Morgan's Veterinary Clinic
FM 167 Marfa, TX
6:45AM
"Chuck, I thought you said she was a doctor?" She stared at the sign that announced the Vet Clinic hours and the proprietor, Dr. Julie Morgan, DVM. Apparently she specialized in horses and cows.
"A vet is a doctor. I assumed she was an MD just like you did. Well, I suppose she can slice these sensors out of me just as easily as a human doctor."
"Chuck, we should have gone back to Hood. They have real doctors there and you'd have been safe…" Chuck interrupted her with a derisive snort.
"Safe? Sweet Jesus, Hansen, are you dim? Those were US Army soldiers who tried to take me from the safe house, not Fulcrum agents. They were independent contractors and there's no telling just how many more 'cells' are lurking at FT Hood. Nope. Safe is predictable and we need to be anything but predictable if we're going to make it out alive."
Just then a young woman in jeans and a sweat shirt with her brunette hair pulled into a ponytail walked out of the ranch-style residence and crossed over the dusty parking lot to the clinic office. She took in the van but dismissed it. Probably someone out looking for the Lights and just had too much to drink and were sleeping it off.
"Let's go, Carina. Listen, follow my lead. You don't know the secret passwords or the secret handshake or anything so just stay behind me, OK?" He was ragging her and she was too involved to get it. Passwords and handshakes...yeah, right, sure.
She'd been on enough undercover missions to recognize that she was at a disadvantage and nodded. She'd have his back.
Chuck pulled out his 9mm and screwed on a silencer and then nodded to Carina. Showtime.
They walked over to the clinic door and opened it and walked inside. The vet was leaning over a desk checking on some paperwork and glanced up at the sound of the opening door and saw Chuck and began to cry and ran to him, hugging him and sobbing out his name.
"Hello, Jules. Long time no see. I don't look that bad, do I?"