Author's Note: First thing I guess I should do here is clarify what appears to be a point of contention among you, my awesome readers. When I said that Double Agent had three arcs, I meant that it has three, somewhat self-contained, relatable plot arcs. Not that there are three separate stories. Think of it like how the show would occasionally have plot arcs during the season (Jill arc, Cole arc, Orion arc, etc.) but it was still the same overall season. That's what's going on here. For the first arc, much of the story is about Chuck and Sarah getting to know each other, with most of the chapters taking place in the same location. For the second arc, it will be similar; things will follow along a shared thematic whole.
So with that said, this is the first chapter of the second arc of this story. This arc will be a bit more plot heavy than the first arc, and if things actually go according to plan, will move faster too. There should be some big Charah development as well, eventually. Probably. If I'm in the mood.
Thank you to all those who have read this story and left me all your awesome reviews. I've never had a story that even came close to the number of reviews that this story has, so you guys really are amazing. Thank you to Wepdiggy, who has been an immense help with this fic in general, and gave me some great insight for the next few chapters in particular. Also, he tolerates all my way too in-depth, long winded analyzation of Sarah's characterization, backstory, and psychological motivations. And I guess, a shout out to malamoo for knowing how to get what she wants. If it weren't for her, I'd probably have not even started this arc yet.
Also, if you have the time and if you are a fan of my writing, please visit my profile and vote in the poll I have set-up there. It's to help me get a sense of what people want me to do next. So pleae vote!
When they emerged from inside the facility, the sun was just beginning to rise in the east. It was still dark, but the sky was beginning to tinge purple, and with being this close to Los Angeles, it was hard to tell the difference between dawn and the middle of the night anyway.
"About 100 meters to your left, there is a dark blue Explorer. That's where we're headed," Carina informed her. Her voice was strained and distracted, which was understandable since they had been carting Chuck's body between them for the better part of 10 minutes. Chuck might not have been as big as John Casey, but he still easily had at least 60 pounds on either of them, and she was not in very good shape to begin with. Her arms burned with the desperate effort to keep Chuck relatively level and immobile, and had almost lost her grip on his feet multiple times.
But she did not drop him. She couldn't. He was depending on her; her and Carina. If they couldn't get him away from the facility and to a doctor soon, he would die. His breathing was already shallow and faint, and they could not afford to waste any time resting. She refused to let Chuck die. She had already thought once before that he was dead and it had nearly destroyed her feeble grasp on her psyche. She would not put herself through that again. Keeping Chuck alive was nothing more than self-preservation. Or at least that's what she tried to tell herself. She didn't like thinking of the fact that she had already become so emotionally attached to the man that the thought of him dying was too terrible and detrimental to her emotional wellbeing to imagine.
That was ridiculous. Wasn't it?
She needed to stop worrying about unimportant things like what, if any, feelings she had for the man in her arms, and start focusing on things like keeping said man alive.
Carina had already removed the GPS device Chuck apparently always had on him and destroyed it, as well as destroyed both of his secure cell phones, her secure cell phone, and the entire security data server for the facility. That one had been surprisingly easy to accomplish. It was amazing what a fragmentation grenade could do when placed in the right spot. After Carina's reign of destruction was over, they had continued on their way, the both of them visibly lighter after doing what they could to ensure a successful escape.
Carina's thoroughness hadn't surprised her. It was obvious the woman took her protection of Chuck very seriously. What had surprised her, though, was the GPS device. Just who was Chuck Bartowski? In all her years, she had only heard of two other persons of interest that warranted that kind of constant surveillance and they had been very important people. She had been part of a Fulcrum team that had killed one of them, and heard of another team that protected the other. She had always done her best to avoid asset protection. It was simply too static for her and too much potential for something to go wrong. And yet here she was, involved up to her ears in what was quickly turning into her own protection mission.
It seemed that no matter what she had done in her past life, as she had started to think of everything before Chuck, it was simply being erased and rendered irrelevant. Chuck would probably tell her that this was how her life was supposed to turn out, but he was an eternal optimist. He actually thought that somewhere inside of her there was a real, good person.
"So have you come up with a plan yet?" she asked in between deep gasps.
Carina's eyes briefly locked on her before going back to scanning in front of them. Since she was at Chuck's feet, she was walking backwards and couldn't see anything behind her. She was entirely dependant on Carina to be like eyes in the back of her head.
It was a very uncomfortable position to be in, but she didn't really have any choice. She hated putting her trust in any person's hands at the best of times, but now? It absolutely terrified her. Focusing on Chuck helped push those feelings to the side and allowed her to accept her reality for what it was. Carina clearly held all the power in their current arrangement and as long as that was true, it was not smart to try and assert herself.
"Yes," Carina said curtly.
When Carina didn't explain, she rolled her eyes. "Well, care to elaborate?" Some beads of sweat fell into her eyes and she desperately wanted to wipe them away.
"I'm thinking on it."
She huffed in frustration and felt a spasm in her arms. She nearly lost her hold on Chuck's feet and had to suck in a quick breath to bolster her concentration. "You know, Carina, like it or not, we're partners at the moment. You need to tell me what you're thinking so that I can help you."
"I know that," snapped Carina petulantly.
She didn't really blame Carina for her reticence. To her it made complete sense, because if the situations were reversed, she knew that Carina would be the last person she'd confide in. But the moment dictated cooperation and teamwork, if only temporarily. Right now, both her life and Chuck's life were in Carina's hands. As long as she was kept in the dark about what the plan was, then both her and Chuck's life were in danger. That was unacceptable.
"I know that you don't like me, Carina, but –"
Carina cut her off with a harsh snarl. "I hate you."
She winced but managed to fight off her instinctive response to retaliate with vitriol in kind. "Believe me, I'm not too fond of you myself, but –"
Again, Carina cut her off, this time with a sigh. "But you're right, I know."
She blinked at Carina's admission and quickly jumped on it while it was still warm. "That's right, I am. So please would you tell me what the hell we're going to do? Chuck needs help now, Carina."
"I know," Carina said, like it was completely self-evident and her repeating the refrain was unnecessary and annoying. "But it has to be done the right way or else there's no point."
"Then what the hell is the 'right way'?"
"We're here," Carina said simply.
Carina went into a kind of squat, forcing her to assume a similar position, and rested as much as Chuck's upper body on her thighs as she could. It provided just enough necessary support so that Carina could fish a set of car keys out of a pocket.
Carina looked up at her with a frown. "How good is your combat medic training?"
She really didn't like where this level of questioning was heading but she responded anyway with as much honesty as she could. "Fair." She nervously darted her eyes down to Chuck's injured body and swallowed. Realizing that her assessment of her skills might mean Carina entrusting Chuck into her care, she hastily added, "But to be honest, Fulcrum didn't exactly put much emphasis on field medicine, if you know what I mean."
She almost broke out in a fit of hysterical giggles. Fulcrum hadn't put any emphasis on field medicine. To them, all agents were ultimately expendable and if an agent was injured enough while in the field that he required any medical procedure beyond cleaning a scrape or bandaging a wound, then that agent was simply shit out of luck.
Carina harrumphed sourly. "Damn, that's still better than me."
She widened her eyes in naked fright. Oh no. NO. Carina could not make her responsible for looking after Chuck. No! What if she screwed up? What if she didn't know enough and he died because of her ignorance or incompetence? This was insanity! Carina could not do this to her. She could feel the panic clawing at her, digging into her, consuming her.
"Under the backseat there is a first aid kit. It should have everything you need to clean the wound, bandage it, and keep his fluids up until we can get him to my safe house."
Under normal circumstances, she would never resort to what she was about to do, but this was so far beyond normal that she couldn't even think straight. So she begged, "Carina, please, don't make me do this. Please."
Carina growled at her, "I don't have time for your insecurity bullshit, Walker."
Carina then unlocked the car, motioned with her head that she was standing up, and then moved toward the back door so that they could open the door and slide Chuck in. Once Chuck was lying down as horizontally as his lanky frame would allow, Carina practically forced her to climb in alongside him.
"I'll drive while you get to work," Carina said uncaringly.
She shot Carina's back the filthiest, nastiest, most murderous glare in her repertoire, and then reluctantly turned toward Chuck.
God, he looked so pale. She could do this. She could. If only her hands would stop shaking. She shut her eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and then got started.
# # # # #
She had just finished applying the last of the tape to the bandage on Chuck's side when Carina looked over her shoulder to check her progress. "How is he," Carina asked worriedly.
"As best I can tell, not great. He's lost a lot of blood and I have no idea where the bullet is. Fortunately, I think the bleeding has stopped. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily a good thing, as it could mean that the bullet has gotten itself stuck somewhere it shouldn't be."
Carina sighed forlornly and turned back to watch the road. "I was afraid of that," she said. Then Carina brought a weary hand up to her forehead and rubbed the skin there. "God, he's never going to forgive me for this," she whispered.
She wanted to ask what Carina was going on about, but the woman was clearly lost in her own world and she didn't feel like intruding. She was trying her best to maintain good terms with Carina and she didn't want to backslide. Plus, she would never get Chuck to choose her over Carina if they were constantly fighting. The best way of taking Carina's place in Chuck's life was to draw as little attention to the fact that she was trying to replace her.
Carina seemed to settle whatever internal issue she had been dealing with and again looked over her shoulder. "Under the seat there is a bag. Get it."
She carefully studied Carina's face for some hint as to her thought process, but as usual, the red head's brain was an enigma to her. She quickly gave up and complied with the woman's order.
She settled on her knees and bent forward so that she could more easily search under the back seat for the bag. Her hand landed on canvas and she hurriedly pulled the duffel bag out from under the seat. She climbed into the passenger seat and settled the bag on her lap.
She didn't wait for Carina to tell her to open it, as she was more than capable of at least making that leap in logic, and quickly found herself in deep surprise. Inside the bag were two sets of clothes, one clearly intended for a man and the other a woman. There were toiletries and food rations. There was an unknown amount of cash in two Ziploc bags, multiple passports, birth certificates, and alternative id's. There was also a Sig P228 with four accompanying magazines, and several cell phones. It looked like a burn bag and was evidence that Carina had been preparing for a day like today for some time.
"How long have you had this?" she asked with some awe in her voice. It wasn't the bag that amazed her. She had seemed similar bags countless times during her time in the spy business, and had even occasionally made one for herself. No, it was the implication that Carina had clearly made this for her and Chuck that surprised her. It was true. Carina really was as dedicated to him as she claimed.
"Three years, seven months, and 22 days," Carina said through thin, tight lips. Her hands were holding the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.
"Wow, that's…uh…kind of specific."
Carina shrugged her shoulders and maintained her eyes straight ahead. "That was the day my life changed forever, kind of hard to forget."
"How so," she asked curiously.
"That was the day that I decided if it was necessary…" she trailed off and then swallowed, her voice returning with more strength. "That was the day I decided that if it was necessary for Chuck to run, I would go with him." Carina finally turned to face her and her gray eyes were so intense that they forced her to look away. "Everything I do is now done with that contingency in mind."
"I update it every three months or so," Carina added somewhat sheepishly, her intensity gone.
"I'm…impressed. I guess I never really believed Chuck when he said you were his friend."
"I'm not," Carina said stiffly.
Now she was just confused.
"A friend is somebody you have a drink with or go to the movies with or talk to two or three times a week," Carina said. "Chuck is so much more to me than that."
"You're in love with him, aren't you?" She asked matter of fact, not nearly as afraid to hear the answer as she thought she might be. Maybe it was because she already knew what the answer was.
"No," Carina said so quietly it was barely a whisper. Carina shook her head and then glared at her. "That's not really important right now, Blondie."
Right. Of course not. Not like I believe you anyway. "Sorry I asked," she said.
"Grab one of the burners," Carina snapped impatiently.
She fished out one of the prepaid cell phones and turned it on. She waited expectantly, like a good little secret agent. If Carina was just going to order her around, then she didn't see any point in trying to relate to the woman as a fellow human being.
"Dial this number," Carina said and then rattled off a phone number. Once the number was inserted into the phone, she pressed the call button. "When somebody answers, ask for the Alejandro brothers."
She arched an eyebrow at that but did as she was told. After five rings, a male answered with a cautious, "Hello."
"I would like to speak with the Alejandro brothers," she said hesitantly.
"Which one?" the voice asked.
"Uh…" she said intelligently into the phone before she turned and asked Carina, "Which one?"
Carina frowned and licked her lips quickly. "Um...Rodrigo."
She repeated the name into the phone and the man on the other end clearly relaxed. "Go on," he said.
She turned back to look at Carina expectantly. "Well?"
"Repeat these words exactly: Blue Charlie Blue Echo Foxtrot Bravo Blue India Blue Bravo."
She just stared at Carina in flabbergasted disbelief, waiting for the red head to crack a smile and confess that the whole thing was a joke. When that didn't happen, she quickly composed her face into a more professional mask.
Carina barked, "Do it!"
She took in a deep breath and put aside her feelings of foolishness to repeat the words.
When she finished there was only silence on the other end. Then, the man said, "Understood," and ended the call.
At a loss as to what was going on, she said sarcastically, "That was a lot of fun."
"I just got us a doctor," Carina growled at her. "So shut the fuck up."
# # # # #
They had ridden in silence for some time. She would occasionally move into the back to check on Chuck. There was not much she could do for him but changing out his IV bag when necessary and making sure he was doped up enough to stay unconscious. At least he seemed stable.
Unable to take the silence any longer, which was unusual for her as she spent most of her life not talking, she asked Carina the one question that had been bothering her since Carina killed the mysterious agent back in the detention facility and then went on her electronics massacre. "Why are we running?"
Carina didn't answer right away. In fact, she appeared as if she hadn't heard, so she repeated her question. Carina slowly turned her head and frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"I don't understand. Why is it so important that Chuck goes off the grid?"
"I told you," Carina said patiently, "it's highly probable that at least one of our superiors tried to have Chuck killed."
"Okay…I get that, but why?" She didn't mean to push Carina, but she deserved to know what she was getting herself into. "I mean, I've managed to put together the fact that Chuck is your team leader…"
"Chuck is not the team leader," Carina snorted in amusement. "He often acts like he is because nobody knows how to say no to him, but I'm project lead."
She blinked her eyes at that. That she had not expected, although now that she thought about it, it made a lot of sense. The way Carina ordered Larkin back in the hallway, the constant overprotective hovering around Chuck, the way she seemed to have access to everywhere and everything in the facility. And it did not escape her notice that Carina had said project and not team. Another suspicion about Chuck and who her captors were was now confirmed. She had known from the beginning that there was more to Chuck than being just a simple agent. If Chuck and Carina were part of some top secret CIA project, then that might explain Carina's extreme security measures.
"See, that doesn't actually clarify things. Chuck's not even your project leader, why would the CIA care what happens to him?" Chuck might have been important to her, and she knew that Chuck had to hold some position of importance in the CIA, but she didn't know why and if she was going to run with him, she needed to know. If it took dragging the information from Carina through a painstaking, teeth pulling, interrogation, then so be it. "Normally if the higher ups want to get rid of you, they issue a burn notice, redact your file, and make a convenient phone call to the last person you pissed off most. That's the end of it. They don't normally go to so much trouble that you've got to use a different burner for every damn phone call. They only do that for the people that actually matter."
She was still annoyed that Carina had made her go through four different phones arranging things for when they arrived at Carina's safe house. Apparently, the Alejandro brothers had needed a lot of things explained before they were ready to carry out whatever plans Carina had set in motion.
"Chuck is…important," Carina said.
"Define important," she asked tightly. She'd spent a lot of time in the intelligence business and had learned a long time ago that the word important had many different definitions.
"I can't even tell you that."
"But why?"
"I can't tell you that either," Carina said. She was surprised to notice, however, that there seemed to be actual remorse in Carina's tone. Did Carina actually feel bad that she couldn't tell her more? Maybe the red head was starting to warm up to her.
"You mean you won't tell me," she said.
"No, I mean I can't," Carina said through gritted teeth. Then she relaxed and her grip on the steering wheel lessened. "Look, you know that old cliché about how I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you?" She nodded her head and Carina smiled tightly at her. "In this case, it's not really a cliché."
"Chuck's really that important?"
"Yes. He's literally one of a kind, and I don't mean that figuratively." She paused, licked her lips, and then sighed. "Even telling you that was probably too much."
"So they're really not going to stop looking for him until they find him," she surmised.
"Correct."
She chuckled quietly and brushed some hair behind her ear. "Just what the hell did I get myself into?"
It was a rhetorical question but Carina answered her anyway. "It could be worse," Carina said good-naturedly.
"How the hell could it be worse?" she asked with wide eyes.
"If you had said no back in the hallway, I would have killed you." Carina smiled at her then, and there was a feral, lethal stillness in her eyes.
"Oh," she said. "Fair enough."
Next Chapter: Confessions, Part One - Ominous title, no? Perhaps. Oh and we get one step closer to figuring out if Chuck survives his wounds. I mean, there is a chance he could die, right?