And we come to the end of this story. This one was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully it was fun for you to read. A big thanks to those of you who took the time to review it, especially Snickrz, Jagged1, NickyR, DLK, Jimmy144, and Jinxed97. It's always good to hear comments from people, since that's how you know your efforts are well worth it.
Got the final chapter in before Thanksgiving, which I wasn't sure if I could do, and we get back the gang in January with 3 episodes in two nights. Not a bad week for me.
Enjoy the final chapter, stop by my ChuckMeMondays challenge, and I'll see you in "Chuck vs. 3 Weddings, a Funeral, 2 Retirements, and a Birthday."
North Las Vegas
September 19, 2010
5:20 PM
Forrest crawled over to Jimmy, who was lying on the ground. She looked back and forth down the hallway to see if anyone else was coming as she knelt by him. He remained motionless.
"He's out of his frickin' mind," she muttered to herself as she checked him, her fear increasing exponentially. She put her hands carefully on his chest. Her eyes widened.
"Tell me he wore one, tell me he wore one…" Forrest ripped open Jimmy's shirt. She sat back on her knees and exhaled deeply.
"Thank God." She started unstrapping Jimmy's bullet-proof vest. Jimmy's head swayed back and forth slightly. Suddenly he bolted up, coughing intensely.
"Goddamn it!" Jimmy strained to take in a breath. "Son of a bitch, that hurts!" Forrest held him up. Jimmy's breathing rasped for several seconds before returning to normal.
He came to his senses and noticed Forrest. "You OK?"
Forrest shook her head. "You must drive Bartowski and Walker nuts like that. Am I OK? I didn't just take three to the chest." She stood up and carefully pulled him up with her. Jimmy weakly stumbled while clutching his chest. Forrest hung on to him.
"Well, I wasn't sure how good my aim was."
Forrest looked down the hall where Kazanov was not moving. "Pretty damn good, I'd say."
Jimmy and Forrest started walking down the hall. "I guess your mission was a success after all." Jimmy couldn't prevent a little resentment from showing through.
Forrest looked down at the ground. "You surprised me. I didn't think you had it in you. I thought you had frozen up when Kolinova grabbed me."
Jimmy exhaled slowly, although it was still quite painful for him to breathe. "I was going to take that shot one way or another. I have to admit I was almost ready to put the round through your shoulder to nail him. I wasn't sure if I could, but then I just had to remind myself what a nasty, cold-hearted, unfeeling bitch you are."
She gave a little shrug. "I guess I can live with that."
Jimmy fixed her with a hardened glance. "And thanks to me, you will."
He quickened his pace down the hall and left Forrest behind, who was feeling a significant amount of indignity. Chuck and Sarah came running from the other direction.
"Everybody OK? What happened?" Chuck asked in a rush as he noticed Jimmy walking in considerable pain with blood on his face. Sarah and he went to Jimmy's aid.
"It's fine, it's fine," Jimmy tiredly replied. "The inventor of Kevlar has another satisfied customer."
Chuck and Sarah helped Jimmy remove his shirt and vest as they walked to the warehouse floor. Casey was still keeping watch on the remaining members of Kolinova's organization.
"You take care of the Baryshnikov's?"
"Yeah, they won't doing any ballet or be dating a New York sex columnist anytime soon," Jimmy replied, still wincing in pain.
Casey looked at him with some condescension. "What's wrong with you? Still depressed about Siegfried and Roy retiring?"
"I got shot again, thank you very much," Jimmy seethed at Casey. "Three bullets from a Makarov 9 mm will give you quite a case of heartburn."
Casey shrugged. "You were wearing a vest."
Jimmy growled and turned to Chuck. "Is there anything that impresses him? Do I need to learn how to control metal? Have steel claws come out of my fists?"
"Actually, Wolverine's claws were made of adamantium…" Chuck corrected.
Jimmy was exasperated. "Dude, seriously?"
"You just referenced Sex and the City and you're giving ME crap?"
Jimmy rolled his eyes and shook his head in frustration. "Touché."
Las Vegas Police officers streamed into the entrance of the warehouse with their guns drawn. Sarah pulled out her I.D.
"CIA, people. We have a few more down the hallway."
"I got it, Sarah," Jimmy replied. He took 4 officers with him to locate the 6 men in the hallways while the remaining officers surrounded the others on the floor.
Sarah glared at Forrest. "Not bad for an incompetent idiot."
Forrest slowly walked away, her posture giving away a severe case of humility.
Wynn Hotel
September 19, 2010
9:00 PM
"This operation was supposed to be suspended. Can someone explain to me what is going on?"
General Beckman was in the foulest of moods as she addressed the five agents in Las Vegas over videoconference. Sarah and Chuck looked towards Forrest, expecting her to explain her actions. Jimmy spoke up instead.
"It was a Hail Mary pass we attempted, General. Chuck came up with the idea to write a program that would pull the information off of Kolinova's laptop and transmit it to the CIA. Kind of like a phishing scam, only it would do all of the work."
"And you actually believed Kolinova would still take the deal after last night?"
"It was Agent Forrest who came up with the manner in which to approach them. She tried to sell them the idea Agent Walker and I were cyber thieves who stole the files, and she was an agent trying to nail us for treason. However, since none of us nor the CIA knew it was Kolinova's group that was behind the arms deal Forrest broke up in '02, we had no way of knowing Kolinova had us figured out already. Forrest was taken hostage, and I had to participate to maintain the cover for as long as possible. We went in to retrieve the files. Obviously, we were successful in getting all of the details of Kolinova's empire, and we have the link to Ogarkov on tape."
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey turned to Jimmy in complete surprise. Jimmy put his hand out behind his back to tell them to wait. Beckman kept the same impassive look on her face.
"I am not thrilled with the five of you attempting a stunt like that. But your constant success out in the field gives you a small amount of leeway with this agency. I suggest you not push your luck like that in the future."
Sarah looked toward Jimmy and then back to General Beckman. "General, what about Agent Slade? He was crucial to the success of this mission, especially in rescuing Agent Forrest."
Beckman paused for a moment. "I will discuss his situation with my advisors here. For now, he can return to Nellis to complete his training. I expect full reports from all of you, since the FSB will be having a few words with the Cabinet and the Prime Minister in the morning. Good night."
The monitor went blank. Chuck breathed a huge sigh of relief, and Forrest's impassive look slowly faded to one of relief as well. Forrest looked at Jimmy for a long moment, alternately puzzled and humbled. She turned and quietly exited the room. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey continued to stare at Jimmy.
"What was that all about?" Sarah asked Jimmy, both confused and annoyed. "She tries to get you fired, and you lie a blue streak to keep her out of trouble? Why?"
Jimmy shrugged and smiled. "You saw how she walked out. She knows she screwed up big time, and the people she repudiated had to bail her out. She can't treat you the same way anymore. That has to be worse than any punishment Beckman could give her, wouldn't you say?"
Sarah shook her head. "You are way too forgiving for your own good."
"I'm not going to Washington anymore, right? And somehow I doubt any of you are still in Beckman's doghouse. No harm, no foul, if you ask me."
Casey looked at him with the same respect he'd give to a cockroach. "Love to see you try that approach when some al Qaeda cell captures your sorry ass." He left the room with a disgusted look on his face.
Jimmy quietly growled. "One of these days, I'm going to chain his ass to a wall and hire a bunch of 5-year-olds to sing the Barney song to him over and over again."
Chuck gave a small laugh. "You'll have to wait in line behind us." Chuck wrapped his arms around Jimmy. "Congratulations, you still have a job!"
Jimmy returned the hug. "Thanks to you three, I do."
"Oh, stop it," Sarah said, still annoyed at him. "Would you take at least a little credit for today?"
"OK, I'll take…this much," Jimmy replied, holding his index finger and thumb about a millimeter apart. Sarah gave Jimmy a light smack to the back of the head.
Chuck had a big smile on his face. "Come on. Let's go celebrate you not going to D.C."
Jimmy shook his head. "Nah, it's your last night here. You two should go out and enjoy yourselves…"
"Nope, not this time," Sarah interrupted. She took both of Jimmy's hands and pulled him towards the door while Chuck pushed him from behind. "You're going out with us. We're going to make sure you have a night out before going back to training. And don't even try to tell us you didn't earn one."
Jimmy turned to Chuck. "Is it me, or is she even pushier these days?"
Chuck moved him more forcefully towards the door. "Let's go, Jimmy. I'm gonna find me two waitresses here and pull me a Fredo."
"And after that, you'll be sleeping in Casey's room tonight," Sarah replied without missing a beat.
Jimmy had a huge grin on his face. 'Doesn't always pay to be the guy in the rated R movie, does it."
The three headed out of the hotel room and walked towards the elevators.
Wynn Hotel
September 20, 2010
10:30 AM
"This is ridiculous. I'm not doing it! Even I have a small amount of self-respect."
"Oh, please. It's just one time. How often do we get to see you?"
"Is that my fault? I was supposed to be dead."
Chuck went by the bathroom door in Jimmy's hotel room. "Besides, we saved your ass yesterday. This is the least you could do."
Inside the bathroom, Jimmy was doing a slow burn. "Oh, really? You're going with that? Better check the scoreboard on that whole "ass saving" total, Chuckles. I think I'm still a couple of touchdowns up on you right now."
Sarah joined Chuck at the door, completely unable to get the huge grin off of her face. "If you don't come out, we're not going back to L.A."
"Fine, stay in Vegas. I'll still be at Nellis 24-7. You'll have to find something else to do."
"Gee, I wonder if there's anything to do in this town," Chuck sarcastically mused.
Jimmy scoffed behind the door. "Knowing you two, you'd never leave the bedroom. There's less sex at spring break in Cabo."
"Come on, Jimmy!" Sarah was almost pleading now. "We have to see it."
The door opened, and Jimmy stepped out. Chuck and Sarah stared in shock at the sequined jumpsuit Jimmy was wearing, along with a ducktail black wig, long mutton-chop sideburns, and oversized gold sunglasses. They started laughing hysterically.
"This is so humiliating," Jimmy lamented, wanting to hide.
"Oh, that is too perfect! You're almost a spitting image! And I mean the young, hot Elvis," Sarah replied happily.
"I'm not a spitting image, for chrissakes. Elvis had brown eyes."
"Actually, his were blue," Chuck corrected. "He wore colored contacts."
"I have to get a picture of this." Sarah ran over to Jimmy and tossed her mobile phone to Chuck. She put her arms around Jimmy and posed for the picture. Chuck readied the camera on the phone.
"Must I? What are you going to do with it, anyway? It's not like CIA agents can have Facebook pages." Jimmy paused for a second. "Wait, you don't have a Facebook page, do you?"
"Oh, just pose, Jimmy," Chuck admonished. Jimmy put his arm around Sarah's shoulders and jutted his leg out to make an Elvis-like stance. Chuck took the picture and then handed the phone to Sarah. She moved to where Chuck was, and Chuck stood next to Jimmy.
"Come on, let's do the pointing thing," Chuck prodded him. They both did the hip-wiggling, point-to-the-camera pose. Both put a snarl on their faces. Sarah laughed hysterically as she snapped the picture.
"Am I done yet?" Jimmy's patience was running out quickly.
"Come on, give us one line," Chuck demanded. "Just one and that's all."
Jimmy rolled his eyes. In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. He wound his hips and did a windmill motion with his arm.
"A-thankyou. Thankyouverymuch."
Chuck and Sarah doubled-over in laughter as Casey walked to the room with his suitcase. He took in the scene and eyed Jimmy with some amusement.
"Oh, thank God. Beckman found a new job for you. I don't have to worry about you being a field agent."
Jimmy glared at Casey, pulled off the wig, and started taking off the sideburns. "I give up." He returned to the bathroom.
"Are you two packed?" Casey directed his question at Chuck and Sarah. "We have to start making tracks to the airport. The taxi line will probably be hell right now, and I still haven't gotten the room charges from the hotel yet."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Jimmy called from the bathroom. "The hotel has a limousine waiting to take you to McCarran. And I already took care of the bill."
The three of them turned towards the bathroom door.
"What are you talking about, Slade?"
Jimmy emerged from the bathroom carrying the jumpsuit on a hanger. "Like I said, they won't leave me alone at this place." He hung the jumpsuit in the closet. "Oh, Casey. I have something for you. A little gift Steve insisted I take, but it's not really my style. But you're a man who appreciates a good bottle of scotch."
He went into one of his suitcases and pulled out a box. He handed the box to Casey. "This is a Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky, one of only a dozen made from a single batch in 1943."
Casey pulled the bottle out of the box, and his eyes widened. "Holy crap."
Jimmy turned to Chuck and Sarah. "FINALLY, he's impressed."
Casey was a little dumbfounded. "This must have cost at least $20,000."
"Actually, I think it's closer to $40,000."
"Slade, nobody would ever drink this unless it was the end of the world or some big celebration like a wedding."
"Well, I thought that might be the case, so the hotel sent a couple of cases of Blue Label to your apartment. It'll probably get there before you do. Actually, you might want to call Devon or Ellie to keep an eye on it, just in case Jeff and Lester get wind of it."
"OK, that's the last straw," Sarah said with a very no-nonsense attitude. "What did you do for this hotel, Jimmy? And don't try to pass it off as some ordinary, anybody could have done it BS. What's going on?"
Jimmy threw his arms up in surrender. "Fine, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. A person in the hotel's accounting department and one of their IT people tried to steal some money electronically from the hotel, and I helped the hotel recover it. I just had to hack a few systems and run some traces on what they did. I had the money back within a week."
"How much money did you recover?" Chuck asked him.
"I don't know. A hundred or so?"
"Wow, not bad. $100,000."
Jimmy gave him an odd look. "Million."
All three of them were frozen in shock. Chuck was almost hyperventilating.
"YOU RECOVERED ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!"
"What?" Jimmy still couldn't see the big deal about it. "That's, like, 6 weeks of gaming revenue for them. They've got some pretty rich clients in this hotel. Steve asked the FBI for some help, and they talked to the CIA, and I was sent over."
"Wait, wait. You said Steve gave you the bottle. Wait, Steve Wynn? The guy knows you personally?"
Jimmy told the story with the enthusiasm of someone reading the stock market pages in the newspaper. "I met him once or twice. He stopped by my computer one time to ask for an update, and then he thanked me for recovering the money. Nice guy."
"Hell, let's go before he tells us Wynn flew him to the Super Bowl on his private jet," Casey gritted through his teeth.
"Casey, be realistic. This was April. How could he take me to the Super Bowl? Besides, I was in the middle of training, so I had to turn down the invite to Cannes."
All three stared at him briefly again. Chuck shook his head violently. "That's it. I give up. I'm out of here. This guy could part the Red Sea, and he'd think he was just taking a shortcut."
Sarah went to give Jimmy a hug. "Take care, Jimmy. Come out to L.A. when you're done training."
"You got it, kiddo. Keep an eye on those two for me. Thanks for everything you did. It must have been hard not to give up on me. I sure as hell didn't make your life easy this weekend."
She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for believing in yourself. It's always good to find people you can rely on in this world. You going to be an incredible agent."
Chuck came up and hugged him as well. "Be good, Jimmy."
"I will. I promise, no more fake deaths. I hope so, anyway."
Chuck grinned and hugged him tighter. The three walked to the door with their luggage and gear in tow. As they opened the door, Alex Forrest walked up. Her posture was missing the hardened edge it normally carried.
"I…I just wanted to thank all of you for your hard work. You had no good reason to come and rescue me, but you did it anyway. That took a lot of courage knowing how General Beckman would feel about it. I…was wrong about what I said. It's not simply about the results. You truly are one of the best teams in the CIA, if not the best. I'm sorry it took me so long to accept that. That's a mistake I will never make again."
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey regarded her for a moment, and their postures softened as well. Each of them shook her hand.
"Good luck to you, Agent Forrest," Sarah replied, her voice somewhat measured but friendly.
"If or when I make it out to L.A., I'll definitely take all of you out for dinner," Forrest said with a tiny hint of a smile. "I owe you that at the bare minimum."
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey headed towards the elevators. Jimmy returned to packing, expecting Forrest to leave with them. He heard the door close. As he turned around, Forrest was inside the room. She walked past the closet and glanced at the jumpsuit hanging in it.
"Elvis?" Forrest inquired while pointing at the jumpsuit.
Jimmy tiredly waved it off. "Don't ask."
"Well, I do have a question I really need answered. Why did you let me off the hook? I tried to get you fired yesterday, and you and Walker did the right thing in rescuing Chuck. Was being right enough revenge for you? The hard-nosed, arrogant bitch got her serving of humble pie?"
Jimmy shrugged. "That's what I told Chuck and Sarah."
"But that's not the real reason?"
Jimmy shook his head. "No."
Forrest slowly walked the rest of the way into the room and sat on a chair near Jimmy's bed. "I really need to know why."
Jimmy stared out into space for a moment. His voice was quiet. "A while back I was all alone in this world. Literally. There was nobody I cared about or who cared about me, and there was nobody I could trust. Then I got thrown into this crazy situation. But they trusted me. They believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. I know that sounds corny, but it's true. They treated me better than anybody ever treated me in my life, even my own family. I can never really pay them back for that. And God knows I've tried. I don't know. Maybe…maybe the best I can do is show that same trust to someone else. Trust someone when I have no reason to do so. Maybe it would make the difference for whoever that is.
Forrest sat there in silence, contemplating what Jimmy said. She nodded slowly. "I should have trusted all of you more. Especially you. You are, indeed, a very rare individual. I've never been more wrong about someone before, and I'm very sorry."
Jimmy looked at her and smiled. "I guess I can't really get upset at someone who does the same thing I did to myself for so long."
Forrest rose from the chair. "That's...all I came here for…officially."
Jimmy's head cocked to the side. "Officially?"
Forrest nodded and slowly walked toward Jimmy. She stood mere inches from him and stared into his royal blue eyes for a moment. Her hand slowly glided along his cheek, and she pulled his face to her. She tilted her head and gently placed her lips on his. She gave him a soft, lingering kiss. She pulled away slightly for a moment and stared into his eyes again. Her other hand came up to his face as well. She pulled him towards her with a little more intensity and kissed him with increasing passion. Jimmy's hands slid around her waist as he reciprocated. Their kissing picked up in force and heat.
"Wait," Jimmy said between kisses. "Should we really be doing this if we're working together?"
"The mission is over. I'm not your boss anymore," she replied and kissed him harder, pressing her body against his.
"And your report to Beckman?"
"Withdrew that last night," she whispered breathlessly, determined to take this to the next level.
"Then, then, what is…"
She looked into his eyes with an expression of pure want and desire. "Because you're hot and I'm horny?"
"Oh." Jimmy grabbed her and continued kissing her hard. The two stumbled around in the room, hungrily devouring the other, their lips permanently locked together. Jimmy pressed her up against the wall and started planting kisses all over her neck.
"There's one thing," Forrest panted with her arms well above her head and her eyes closed from such an erotic moment. "We really have to work on this whole 'nice guy' problem you have. Can't always be that way in the field."
Jimmy reached up with both hands and tore her blouse and bra off in one motion. Forrest looked right in his eyes, barely able to contain her lust.
"That's a good start."
She immediately grabbed him and kissed him harder, her tongue dancing deep in his mouth. She turned him and slammed him up against the same wall. She ground her hips into his as she hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt. She ripped the shirt off of him and pressed her breasts into his bare chest as she flitted her tongue at his deep inside their joined mouths. Her hands snaked down between their bodies to undo his belt and zipper. His pants slid to the floor as she pressed into him again and ran her hands all over his body. She hooked her long leg around his body and grinded against him. Suddenly her eyes widened. She looked down between them and looked up again.
"That's an even better one."
Jimmy grabbed her, his voice low and throaty. "Quit being so nice." He took her to the bed.
Chuck and Sarah walked down the hall back to Jimmy's room.
"It must have fallen out of my pocket, or maybe it was on my suitcase and it fell from there," Chuck said as he looked for his mobile phone. He spotted it by Jimmy's door.
"Oh, there it is." He picked up his phone and then heard noises coming from inside the room. His mouth dropped open in shock. A big smile came across his face.
"No…" He tried not to make any noise as he walked down the hall back to Sarah.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I…think…Forrest is letting Jimmy know how much she appreciates what he did."
It was now Sarah's turn to get a big smile on her face. "You mean…"
"Yup."
Sarah was frozen for a moment. "Wow. I really don't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, she's been a thorn in our side for so long. But on the other hand…nice work, Jimmy!"
Chuck threw his hands up. "Hey, we're in uncharted territory now. Did you ever think Forrest would apologize to us and admit we're a good team?"
"That thought never occurred to me. But clearly Jimmy made a believer out of her, too."
Chuck grinned. "From what she's saying, it's practically a religious experience."
"Oh, stop it." Sarah playfully smacked Chuck on the arm.
Chuck glanced back at the room. "$20 says she breaks him."
Sarah looked back at the room as well. She turned toward Chuck. "You're on."
The two walked down the hall. "Faith in your protégé, Professor Higgins?"
"No, just something Casey reminded me of a year ago."
"What's that?"
Sarah smiled and took his hand in hers. "People will surprise you sometimes, Chuck. People will surprise you."
The two walked to the elevators and headed downstairs to the limousine.
