Chapter 14: The Lover Part 1
California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, October 29th, 2007
"Your orders were to stick to intelligence gathering, but considering the circumstances, exceeding them was the right call. Well done, Agents, Mr Bartowski," General Beckmann said on the screen in the base. "The plates you secured were, according to a preliminary analysis, not forged but actually official copies which were stolen with the records adjusted to mask the theft. An investigation has been started." The woman still sounded as if she was reprimanding them, in Sarah's opinion.
"Given the situation, it was impossible to prevent Kirk's assassination, though we can deduce that Ivanova is working for someone else and was as much his assistant as she was his minder," the director said.
"All clues point towards Bratva as her employer, sir," Bryce cut in.
"It's a logical deduction, but we have no proof to confirm it," the general replied. "In any case, you did good work despite your injuries, although do avoid sparring so lively in the future, Agents."
"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again," Bryce said.
Sarah resented the implication this exchange left - that she and Casey had beaten up Bryce under the guise of sparring - but she couldn't very well explain how Bryce actually had been hurt. So she nodded, curtly. Casey merely grunted.
"Good evening, gentlemen, Agent Walker."
The screen went black, and Chuck sighed in obvious relief. "That went better than I expected."
"What did you expect, Bartowski?" Casey scoffed. "We achieved our mission's primary objective without taking casualties. During the mission, at least," he added with a sneer at Bryce.
"I didn't see you do anything for the mission," Bryce replied with a sneer of his own.
"I didn't need to intervene. Walker had the situation in hand." Casey craned his neck. "Anyway, It's late, and I'm not going to stay here and bitch about a successful mission." He turned around and walked to the stairs.
"Wait!" Bryce raised his voice. "We haven't yet discussed the other mission."
Casey didn't bother to turn, he kept walking. "You're not cleared for any details on that. But it was another successful mission."
Sarah had to restrain herself from chuckling at the comment - and at Bryce's expression. Chuck didn't manage it.
California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, October 29th, 2007
"Bryce won't let this rest," Sarah said as she parked her car.
"I know he won't," Chuck said, sighing. "And I know it can't go on. But it's fun, you know?" he added with a grin.
She nodded. They shouldn't be doing it. It was unprofessional. But Chuck was right - it was fun. Like something else they shouldn't be doing. "I think we should maintain our cover a little more."
"Uh…" He blinked.
"I should stay overnight in your apartment," she explained.
"Ah!" He nodded. "So… does that mean you get the bed and I get the couch?"
She wouldn't mind that, of course. The bed would smell like him. Although it was his apartment. And his bed wasn't big enough for two people who weren't in a relationship. On the other hand, she knew she would end up draped over him no matter the size of their bed anyway. "Well…" she began when their talk was interrupted by a text message on his phone.
"Uh…" He smiled in that embarrassed manner of his she knew so well. "Caridad is asking what we're doing in the car. They're apparently waiting for us in my apartment for the debriefing."
"I didn't know we had a debriefing planned."
"I didn't know anything about it either - nor that it would be held in my apartment," he said. "And we weren't involved with Caridad's hunt at all."
"I see." Sarah pressed her lips together. This was… She raised her eyebrows as she had a thought. This was an opportunity. "Then let's go," she said with a smile.
"Uh… of course." He looked confused but didn't say anything as they made their way to his door.
Inside, Brown-Smythe, Caridad, Grimes and Casey were waiting. The Watcher was smiling. "Good evening, Sarah, Mr Bartowski. Thank you for offering to hold the debriefing in your home."
"Uh…" Chuck looked at Caridad.
That caused the older man to frown. "I think my charge needs a few lessons in assuming and speaking for others," he said. "My apologies."
Sarah really liked to see the Slayer flinch and look contrite.
"It's OK," Chuck said. "I'm curious how your mission went, anyway."
"Oh, it went great!" Caridad piped up. "As soon as I sensed Melvin and his fledgeling, we took a bathroom break and hunted him down. Casey disabled the ship's surveillance, and we jumped them in a corridor. Melvin threw the fledgeling at us, but I hit her and Casey staked her, and then we ran down Melvin. Casey kneecapped him with a silenced pistol, which slowed him down just enough for me to catch him before he could reach an area with witnesses." She scoffed. "He was a real pushover; no wonder he always ran. But his luck finally ran out!"
"I see. Congratulations on your first vampire kill, Major Casey," Brown-Smythe said.
Grimes muttered congratulations sounded far less sincere.
"He didn't even breathe in the dust," Caridad added. "Most do that the first time. Even some Slayers."
Casey grinned at that. "I didn't expect the stake to go in so easily. Like a hot knife through butter." He mimed a stabbing motion.
"It's a supernatural vulnerability," the Watcher said.
"Oh, yes," Grimes piped up. "Even thick clothing does nothing if worn by a vampire - we think it's related to the fact that clothing turns to dust as well when the vampire does. A sort of supernatural connection."
"Indeed. Although actual armour does provide some protection, if not as much as it would if worn by a human," Brown-Smythe said.
"And it's only wood that has that effect?" Casey asked.
"Indeed. Any weapon needs to be made out of wood for the most part to have an effect on a vampire."
"But you can add some cold iron and silver inlays, so you can use it on some demons and other creatures as well!" Grimes added. "Works well with bolts."
Chuck clapped his hands. "That's all nice and well, but we - at least some of us - have work tomorrow, so, can we reschedule the weapon crafting talk?"
"Of course," the Watcher said, raising from his seat. "My apologies again for imposing on you in this unexpected manner."
"It's OK. It didn't take long," Chuck said. His yawn right afterwards looked completely natural.
"But it took long enough so it would look weird if I left again," Sarah cut in. "My car's parked in the open, after all, and we need to maintain our cover."
She could almost feel the heat from Caridad's angry glare.
Ten minutes later, Sarah turned back from the window overlooking the yard. "Brown-Smythe's Smart is gone." That didn't mean Caridad was gone from the neighbourhood as well, but there wasn't much Sarah could do about that.
"Ah." Chuck looked around. "Uh… is Casey watching us right now?"
"Probably," she replied, letting herself fall on his couch and stretching her legs. "But there aren't any surveillance devices in your bedroom."
"How comforting." His smile conveyed his sarcasm even better than his tone.
"It's for your own safety. Seriously," she added. "You know Fulcrum's after you."
Chuck sighed and sat down on the couch after she pulled her feet back. "I know. It's still kind of creepy to think I'm under surveillance in my own home."
She put her feet into his lap.
"I'm not supposed to give you a foot rub, am I?"
"No, but I wouldn't mind if you put changed the bandages and put on fresh ointment. But I want to stretch out a little," she said with a grin, then stretched her arms over her head and arched her back.
He was still staring when she finished her 'exercise'.
"Hm?" She tilted her head slightly and handed him the ointment and new bandages.
"Uh…" He cleared his throat and started to treat her feet. He wasn't particularly skilled at it, but he'd do. "So, when you threw me the gun on the yacht, you didn't tell me not to shoot it."
She nodded. "Of course not. I knew you'd realise I wouldn't throw the gun to you if shooting were an option."
"Ah. Thanks, I guess."
"Did you realise that the fumes might get set off if you'd shoot the gun?" She raised her eyebrows at his slightly pouting expression.
"...Eventually."
She didn't press the point. And leaned back, relaxing a little.
After a little while, he cleared his throat again. "Caridad seemed very impressed with Casey."
She refrained from scowling. Or sighing. "If she likes her men violent, ruthless and taciturn, then he's probably her type." Or she might merely be trying to make Chuck jealous - and having at least some success, judging by Chuck's concerned expression.
"But he's a soldier, isn't he? A marine," he went on.
"Yes?" Perhaps Caridad wasn't having much success.
"Could he handle a relationship with a Slayer? His ego, I mean."
Definitely no success, then. "I see what you mean." She sighed. "I don't know him well enough to judge that." Though she doubted that Casey would like to play second fiddle to a girl like Caridad. "And she might be a little too undisciplined for him."
Chuck snorted at that. "She's gotten better."
"Then I'm glad I didn't meet her when she was worse," Sara said in a dry tone, resulting in another chuckle.
He finished treating her feet. "So, ah, about our cover."
"I think we'll share your bed," she said. "We did it before, didn't we?"
"Ah, those were rather larger than my bed here," he pointed out.
"And I still ended up draped all over you," she replied. "So, might as well start out that way, right?"
He nodded a few times. "Right."
And his smile turned more than a little silly.
California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, October 29th, 2007
Sarah woke up where she had fallen asleep earlier: Draped over most of Chuck's chest. The urge to murder his alarm clock, though, was new. That was a truly atrocious noise it was making. Probably from a video game.
But before she had to resort to clandestine assassination, Chuck's arm snaked out from under the cover, groped around for a second or two, then turned the racket off.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning," he replied.
"Ready to face another Monday?" he asked after a moment or two of them smiling at each other.
"I guess so." She sighed. "In hindsight, my cover as owner-operator of Wienerlicious wasn't the best choice." Even without taking the skimpy uniform into account.
"Can't you…"
"Chuck? Sarah?" Ellie's voice interrupted them.
Chuck smiled apologetically at Sarah, then raised his voice. "Yes, Ellie?"
"Breakfast with us in thirty minutes! Don't be late!"
Chuck's smile turned even more apologetic. "Well, I guess we received our orders…"
Sarah nodded. She should have expected that.
Breakfast wasn't as bad as she had expected. Devon couldn't stop smiling, and Ellie was far too cheerful for a Monday morning, but they had prepared a great breakfast - fresh pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and freshly pressed orange juice. And coffee that wasn't instant.
Although Chuck didn't seem to be pleased at all, even though he was trying to hide it. So when Devon was refilling the coffee maker, and Ellie checked on the waffles, Sarah leaned over and whispered: "What's wrong?"
"They're pulling out all the stops," he replied. "That's a bad sign."
Before she could tell him off, Ellie returned to the table with fresh waffles. "So!" she said with a wide smile. "How much rent are you paying for your apartment, Sarah?"
"Because Chuck's apartment got room for two," Devon added. "You could save a lot of money."
Sarah steadfastly ignored Chuck's whispered 'told you so" and smiled at Ellie as she explained about her long-term lease.
California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, October 29th, 2007
"Sarah! Sarah!"
Sarah almost drew her gun when Chuck rushed into the store. "What happened?" Had a spy discovered him? Had there been an attack?
"Casey's tried to kill me!"
She blinked. "What?" That made no sense.
"He's got a girlfriend. She's in town. And she calls him 'Sugar Bear'. I flashed on her name when I saw the list on a computer in our repair shop." Chuck shook his head.
What?
"But when I teased him about it - just a little; some payback for all of his digs, you know? - he almost strangled me!" Chuck pointed at his throat. "You can still see the marks, can you?"
She stepped closer and squinted. Yes, there were marks on his throat. But… "He didn't try to strangle you."
"What?"
"The marks are all wrong for a serious attack," she pointed out. "He's trained better than that." And Chuck would be dead if Casey had wanted to strangle him.
"It felt rather serious. He seemed mad with rage. Perhaps he forgot his training? That's a thing, isn't it? Morgan won a number of battles by driving the other side into a rage with trash-talking. Lost us a few battles as well, but… You know what I mean?"
"Do you really think Casey would forget how to kill someone?"
"Uh… good point." He nodded and rubbed his throat.
"But you should remember not to poke the bear."
"The Sugar Bear!" He grinned - for a moment. "Anyway, I didn't think he had a girlfriend. Other than his gun, I mean. Full Metal Jacket Style."
She had to chuckle at that. "But seeing him react so emotionally is concerning." Especially if he attacked Chuck over it.
"Getting strangled is concerning as well."
"Who's this girlfriend?"
"Ilsa Trinchina. She's staying at the Grand Seville. Actually, she might be an ex-girlfriend, if his reaction is any clue. Bad breakup, probably. Anyway, I didn't get much about her. Foreign national, whereabouts unknown, rumoured to be his lover. Doesn't that sound suspicious?"
She nodded. Relationships of an NSA agent like Casey, especially in his position and working with the Intersect, would be screened and vetted. And there should have been a file on her, as a possible vulnerability. "I'll look into it," she told Chuck. "Now let's enjoy our break!"
He nodded, then frowned. "Uh… I almost forgot: There's also the matter of the Russian Mafia meeting at the Grand Seville."
"What?"
Eight hours later, Sarah was still a little annoyed at Chuck. He wasn't a spy, but he should have known that a dozen Russian thugs, arms dealers, smugglers and other lowlives meeting in Los Angeles wasn't something you forgot to mention because of Casey's admittedly suspicious reaction to his former girlfriend. A girlfriend, as she had just found out before Chuck and Casey had arrived, who had been killed in Grozny four years ago. At least Bryce was busy with an observation mission in San Francisco and couldn't make matters even worse.
"I'm sorry," Chuck whispered next to her as they waited for the general and the director to call.
She rolled her eyes. "You said that already," she replied.
"You're still mad."
"I'm not mad," she said. "And I wasn't mad. I was just surprised." And annoyed. That her feet were still hurting didn't help, of course.
"You looked mad to me. And at me."
"Whether I was or not, I'm not now."
"Not any more, OK."
She glared at him, but his grin didn't falter until she sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Don't flirt during a briefing," Casey growled.
"Sorry, SugAck!"
After stepping on to Chuck's foot, Sarah wriggled her foot back and forth to drive the point - and her heel - home. "Don't poke the bear," she mouthed at him. "I found out that she's dead."
He had the grace to look sheepish. "Oh my God! I'm sorry."
She nodded as the screen lit up and the briefing started.
"...good luck, gentlemen, agent."
"So… we pose as hotel staff and mingle with a bunch of Russian gangsters to find out what they are doing in Los Angeles. Did I mention that I lost my part-time job as a waiter in high school when I lost my balance and dropped a tray full of coffee on a guest?" Chuck said.
"You better not drop anything on the Russian mobsters," Casey growled in response and left for the armoury.
Chuck waited a moment, then cleared his throat. "If his ex-girlfriend is dead, who's using her name?"
"It could be anyone - the names of dead people often get used for fake passports in Russia," she told him.
"Ah." He looked at the armoury, then back at her. "I'm feeling like an ass, you know? Teasing him about a dead girlfriend."
"You didn't know." She frowned at him. "And you should have known better than to try teasing him again, after this morning."
"Sorry!" He frowned.
She sighed. "Now let's go over how to act as a waiter."
"I prefer the rich businessman cover, actually."
"Mr Carmichael doesn't have friends among the Russian oligarchs," she told him. "As long as you don't drop something on someone, you'll be fine."
"Uh…"
California, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Grand Seville Hotel, October 29th, 2007
"You'll be fine," Sarah said as Chuck tugged on his bow tie.
"Until I drop a drink in some mobster's lap, embarrass him in front of his girlfriend, and they decide to make an example out of me."
"Just don't overload your tray and you'll do fine." Probably. He wasn't exactly a born waiter. She smiled at him as she squeezed his shoulder. "At least you won't have to worry about drunk Russian gangsters groping you."
"Well, that's something… wait! They'll grope you?" He stared at her.
"Some will try." She grinned as she checked her dress before leaving the locker room, Chuck following her.
Despite the early hour, the party was already in full swing as Sarah and Chuck entered the room the Russians had rented and made her way to the bar. About three dozen guests were dancing, drinking and talking. Loudly.
She grabbed a tray at the bar and started to make her rounds with Chuck - who was already flashing on several guests.
"Dmitry Siljak. Black market Arms Dealer."
"Sergei 'Noodles' Romanov. Freelance hitman."
"Andrej Popov. Former Spetsnaz officer, now working as an enforcer."
She was held up and briefly separated from Chuck when a guest couldn't decide which drink to pick and tried to debate the merits of either vodka or whisky for about half a minute before taking both. Some sleazebag wanted to grope her, but a wristlock and a promise to emasculate him if he tried again settled that and she could rejoin Chuck.
Who, as she noticed when she reached him, looked spooked. And not because of the overly affectionate mobster who had mistaken him for a relative and dragged him to the dance floor. "Ilsa Trinchina. She's alive," he whispered through clenched teeth.
What? That couldn't be… He nodded towards a couch in the back and Sarah's eyes widened. One of the women there did look exactly like Trinchina's picture in her file. Was she a vampire? She had died in an explosion, which would rule out death by vampire, but no body had been found...
And Casey was in the room as well, posing as hotel security. It was a disaster waiting to happen. "Casey, you're compromised. Extract yourself," she whispered so the throat microphone hidden in her necklace would pick it up.
"What?" he snapped. "How?"
"You're compromised," she repeated. "Retreat."
But, of course, that had been the wrong word to use. She saw him move towards them, instead of fading away.
And he ran straight into Trinchina on the way.
Sarah couldn't tell what they were saying to each other. But she saw Casey's face when the host of the party - Victor Federov, an oligarch with ties to both the government and the underworld according to the Intersect, announced his upcoming marriage with Trinchina.
California, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Grand Seville Hotel, October 30th, 2007
Sarah wasn't a Hollywood actress, but she couldn't help feeling as if she were being typecast lately. Her cover for the Intersect mission? Owner-operator of the Wienerlicious. Which meant serving hot dogs in a uniform an inch away from a Hooters lawsuit. Her cover for the reconnaissance mission yesterday? Waitress in a short dress. Her cover for today's surveillance mission? Hotel staff handling room service and cleaning in a uniform that was closer to a 'sexy maid costume' than she liked. And the shoes didn't help her feet healing up from the cuts she had acquired on Kirk's yacht.
But she had her orders, and her set of surveillance devices to plant in Federov's hotel room - with three dozen Russian mobsters present in Los Angeles, the director wanted to know if the engagement party was merely - or also - a cover for something else. It was well-known, after all, that there were ties between the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation and the Bratva.
She exited the lift and with her cart and planted the polite smile ubiquitous among hotel staff on her face as she walked towards Federov's room. He was out eating lunch with his fiancée, so the room should be empty.
But the man loitering in front of its door was clearly a bodyguard. He had the size, suit and build for it. And he had no reason to stand around in the middle of the hallway.
"Sir?" She cocked her head to the side and smiled at him. "Could you let me pass? I need to clean the room."
He looked her up and down before opening the door. It might have been professional, if not for the way his eyes lingered more on her exposed skin than anywhere she might be hiding a weapon. That he followed her inside was to be expected - you could hide a lot of poison or explosives among cleaning supplies.
She could easily seduce him, of course - he was clearly interested. A quick tumble, then claiming they needed to shower, and she would be able to bug the suite while he was in the bathroom. It would be easy and safe.
But she didn't. She planted the bugs while cleaning the room, and he didn't notice anything.
Of course, the fact that he was staring at her butt and chest most of the time, instead of at her hands, helped a little.
A few hours later, she was, once again, on a cleaning tour. Not to plant more bugs, but simply to maintain her cover. To avoid attention, she had to be seen working, after all. At least she could do a little more recon - she had already spotted two more guards who circled between the lobby and the room next to Federov's suite.
"...and while a vampire wouldn't survive such an explosion, a number of demons would, although I'm a little iffy about the exact species. I could ask Morgan…"
Was that Chuck?
"No!"
And Casey.
"...or we could just do the standard demon tests, I guess. No problem at all. We'll just… Oh! Hi, Sarah!"
She gave them her best polite smile. Chuck had the grace to look sheepish when he realised his blunder. "Oh, hi Miss… Sorenson?" he added with a glance at her tag.
"Nice work, amateur," Casey growled.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered.
"Uh… well, you see…" Chuck cleared his throat. "Well, we discussed the situation and decided that we should check if Trinchina is a demon or not. It's kind of a security issue. She could be a demon who hasn't just stolen someone's identity, but literally taken over their body."
Casey grunted in what sounded like agreement, but Chuck sounded a little less than honest. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he fidgeted.
"Uh, also, I might flash on something I see. So, you see, it's a two-for-one special. If this were a special, I mean."
"We're not in the Buy More, dimwit," Casey spat.
Chuck frowned at him - though it looked more like a pout. "Let's focus on why we're here, alright?"
Sarah intended to do exactly that. "OK. Follow me to the surveillance centre I set up."
She led them to the storeroom next to the hotel's server room which she had taken over and furnished with screens showing the feeds from both the cameras of the hotel's security system and the ones she had planted.
"Oh, nice setup!" Chuck said.
Casey sat down immediately, staring at the screens.
"I'll have to plant another bug," Sarah said. "There's a bunch of the lower-rank thugs gathering at the pool bar to smoke and drink."
"Is that allowed? Smoking, I mean?" Chuck asked.
"Technically, it's in the open," she told him. "Since I'll be gone for a while, I'll show you where I've tapped into the security feeds in case you need to fix or remove them."
"Alright!" He nodded and followed her outside.
"Why are you really here?" she asked as soon as the door was closed.
"Uh… what?"
She frowned at him, causing him to cringe. "You're not here to flash on things or check if she's a demon. These are just excuses."
"Hey! They're perfectly sound objectives!"
"Which Casey would have brought up with me instead of bursting in unannounced."
"Uh…"
"Spill!"
He caved. "We're here so Casey can talk to Ilsa before she marries Federov. You know, she probably doesn't know what he's doing for a living - she was with Casey, after all - so he's still got a chance to fix things. He just needs to talk to her. Get closure, one way or the other."
Sarah closed her eyes. "That was your idea, wasn't it?"
"Uh…"
Of course, it was. But that Casey went along with it… Sarah wouldn't have expected that.
It could ruin the entire mission.
She muttered a curse and turned to return to the surveillance room, but Chuck stepped in front of her, waving his arms. "Whoa, whoa - wait a minute, Sarah!"
"This could put the entire mission into jeopardy," she snapped.
"But this is important for Casey. Like, really important!"
She refrained from simply moving past him - or through him and glared at him. "It's endangering the mission." She hadn't spent the whole day cleaning rooms and hiding bugs for nothing.
"That should tell you just how important it's for Casey!" What? Chuck shook his head. "You know the guy - probably better than I do. It's all duty, mission, orders for him, right?"
Apparently, she didn't know Casey as well as Chuck did - at least she didn't feel the need to endanger a mission just to fix the man's love life.
"But he's now risking it all for love!" Chuck went on. "For that chance at happiness." He blinked. "Well, and to check if she's a demon."
"How do you do that?"
"Well, I mentioned that most demons are vulnerable to certain substances? Holy water, cold iron and silver are the most common. And wood, for vampires."
"Yes, you did." And she remembered, of course. "What, did Casey douse himself in holy water and put on a ring made of cold iron with silver inlays?"
"How did you know that?" He stared at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Contact poison on jewellery is an old trick."
"But you usually don't poison the jewellery you're wearing, do you?"
"You can do that with binary poisons."
"Binary… oh, those poisons that are harmless until combined, nice. I mean, nasty. Really nasty," he added with a grimace.
She shook her head. "And if she's a demon?"
"Well, then we execute plan C."
"Caridad." She didn't quite spat the name
"Uh, she insisted that we let her deal with any demon we might find - Slayers get very territorial, as we found out. Morgan thinks that it's a result of there being more than one Slayer, which triggers an instinctive reaction..."
"And why doesn't Caridad just 'sniff out' if Trinchina's a demon?" Sarah asked.
"Uh… Casey said he wanted to do this himself. The checking, you know. Since she was his lover, and… well, it made sense to him and Caridad." He shrugged.
"Wait a minute… did he call her?"
"Yes?"
Interesting. Sarah wasn't certain if she liked this new development.
"Uh… You don't think there's something between them, do you? Because I know Caridad, and I can tell there's nothing. If she likes someone, she tends to be jealous, not supportive if they are with someone else," Chuck said.
Sarah was well aware of that. Although Chuck sounded a little too dismissive of the possibility that Caridad might have given up on him. "Unless she already checked and found out that Trinchina is a demon."
"She would have killed her in that case. She really doesn't like to 'share' her kills."
"Hasn't she been gushing about Casey staking a fledgeling?"
"Uh… That's right."
She nodded, not bothering to hiding her smirk. "Now let's get back to the surveillance room." She needed to have a little talk with Casey.
But when she entered the room, she discovered that Casey had slipped out during her talk with Chuck. She glanced over her shoulder at him, narrowing her eyes. If planned, that had been a good diversion.
He cringed. "Uh… I didn't know he'd leave without telling us."
She scoffed and quickly checked the security feeds. Casey would know how to avoid most of them, but… There! Trinchina was sitting at the bar. Which meant Casey would soon approach her. He'd probably try to lure her away from the public - a demon getting outed in the middle of a bar wouldn't be a good thing.
And there he was, walking straight towards her. Of course, a more oblique approach would be pointless since they were ex-lovers. They started talking, but the camera angle wasn't good enough to let her read lips.
"She might not know that Federov is a bad guy," Chuck said suddenly. "She didn't know about Casey's real job, did she?"
"That wouldn't matter if she were a demon, would it?"
"Well… there are also harmless demons, of course," Chuck said.
She glanced at him, raising her eyebrows. "Pressing cold iron against her skin won't make a good impression, then."
He cleared his throat. "Well… probably not."
"Chuck… why are you so invested in this? This isn't about checking if she's a demon; you act as if you want to personally reunite Casey with his ex-girlfriend."
He flinched. "How did you… never mind, spy, I get it."
She smiled, even though she didn't like some of the possible implications of the comment.
Sighing, he said: "I just thought that if Casey can have a relationship, even as a spy, then it would, well…" He trailed off, shrugging.
"Spies can have relationships like everyone else," she said, turning to face him.
"Can they? Even though they might have to do, uh, whatever's needed for a mission?"
She needed to beat up Bryce once he was back from his own mission. "Not all spies do that. It's an option for some," she added before he could mention Carina, "but contrary to what Bryce might have told you, it's not the norm."
"Ah." He nodded.
"Besides, can you imagine Casey as a 'Romeo'?" she asked with a grin. "Seducing secretaries to gain information?" Well, with a little training, he could do it - he had a 'rugged' look many women found attractive, and he was very, very fit.
"Uh…" He grimaced at that. "Although I think a normal person would also be concerned about all the killing he does."
"And the hours and travelling," she added.
"Yes, can't forget them, of course." He nodded, then sighed again.
"You know, Chuck," she said, "if this is actually about you, you're overlooking a few things."
"Uh…" His forced grin quickly faded, and he sat down on the chair behind him.
She took that as confirmation that she was correct and went on: "First, you're not like Casey."
"I know, I'm no spy. I get told that about a dozen times a day."
"I meant that you're not a killer."
"Oh." He grinned again. "Can we pretend I didn't whine about not being a spy just now?"
She chuckled, then schooled her features again. "Second, do you really plan to marry a normal woman?"
"Well…"
She cut him off. Some answers she didn't want to hear before she had finished what she had to say. "Even if you were not involved in the spy business, how do you think a normal woman would react to your vampire hunting friends? Or to the fact that you kept such an important thing a secret from her, in case you don't tell her."
"Uh…" He winced.
"And third, for relationships, we're a lot like cops. Long, often inconvenient hours, we can't talk about a lot of our work and we might end up dead any day we go out."
"I guess I shouldn't check how bad the divorce rates of cops are, should I?"
She frowned at that stupid joke. Didn't he understand what she was telling him? Time to cut to the chase. "Chuck." He sat up straight at her tone. "Are you afraid of entering a relationship with me?"
"Uh…" His eyes widened, but he wasn't looking at her. "They're gone."
"What?"
"Casey and Ilsa. They've left the bar."
And she hadn't noticed. Perhaps she should be worrying - more worrying - about entering a relationship with Chuck, she thought as she turned to face the screens again. Where would they be going? They wouldn't… She spotted them in the hallway leading to Ilsa's room. Apparently, they would.
She needed to have a rather serious talk with Casey. Once he was done wrecking the mission, of course.
"Uh… I didn't expect that? That he'd be moving so fast, I mean… he was pretty broken up today."
"This has been all your idea, hasn't it?" Seeing him cringe at her glare didn't help the situation any, but it made her feel a tiny bit better.
"In my defence, I only wanted to help." Once more his forced smile withered and died quickly.
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just great."
"I'm sorry?" He cleared his throat. "Moving on. Didn't you bug Federov's suite? So, the mission should still go on even though Casey and Ilsa are… reconnecting?"
"Chuck… Assuming your plan works…"
"Well, it's working, isn't it? She wouldn't have taken him to her room if she weren't interested in rekindling their relationship, would she?" He sounded almost indignant.
"Or she wanted a last night with him before never seeing him again."
"People do that?" He was gaping at her.
"Yes, some do." She snorted. Sometimes, his innocence was very endearing. This wasn't one of those times. "What do you think will happen if Ilsa breaks off the engagement? Right after Federov publicly announced it to all his friends and business partners?"
He stared at her with an expression of mounting dread.
"Exactly." She nodded. "We might have to take her into protective custody. And Casey might be compromised and have to withdraw from our mission. This is really, really serious, Chuck." And she still couldn't believe that Casey of all people would do such a thing.
"I'm really, really sorry."
"And Casey should have known better." She shook her head. Ilsa was attractive, but so were hundreds of women in Los Angeles - mostly in Hollywood. "But what's done is is… Oh, no."
"What?" Chuck looked at her, then at the screen. Where Federov was approaching Ilsa's room. "Can we warn Casey?" he asked, pulling out his phone.
"Do it," she snapped, already going for the weapons she had hidden in the room. Her pistol might not be enough if they had to shoot it out with Federov's bodyguards. She grabbed an SMG and a few extra magazines, then hid it in her cart. "I'll go up to their floor. Keep me informed if anything happens!" she snapped.
"Uh… Casey just sent me a message." Chuck was holding out his phone to her.
The message was a single word:
DEMON.