Summary: Anna is welcomed to the team. What's next for our group of spies? Why new allegiances may form? When will Ellie get to confront Chuck and Sarah? All this an more in Ch. 14: In Bloom.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. I'm not getting one red cent for this. Or a blue cent. Or green, or even lavender. No cent of any kind was made from this work
A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for posting so late tonight. I did beat the midnight Eastern deadline I set for myself though, so that's cool. As always, you guys came through with some great reviews. It is the highlight of my day to get to read through what everyone thought. I got a little behind in trying to respond to everyone, but I promise, I won't make a habbit out of that. I enjoy having you guys around and the interractions we have far too much for that. I did rush to get this out, so there may be even more mistakes than usual. I hope not, but, eh, what are you going to do? I'd like to thank Mystlynx, SarahLisaWalkerFan101, and kayla101blue for lending an ear and hearing an idea I had about where to go with this. They all gave me some great advice, and I hope everyone enjoys the fruit of said advice. Once again, as usual, all mistakes are 100% my own. I appreciate your readership, and I look forward to your feedback. Now, ladies and gents, I present to you Bryce and Jill vs Chuck and Sarah chapter 14: In Bloom.
Castle Base, Below the Orange Orange
"…this is where Bryce and Jill are staying. They have a…complicated past and we need to make sure they're not out in public where they can be identified." Chuck continued guiding the small Asian woman around the base.
"They have that many enemy operatives domestically? That's…strange." Anna was genuinely puzzled by the statement. Why would two CIA agents be so sought after in country? Now that she thought about it, why was there such a big operation going on in country to begin with? She'd have to ask later. Maybe over drinks. That will be the only way I could possibly get some answers.
After taking a moment to contemplate how to properly answer her question, Chuck decided he'd better give her something to prevent her from getting the wrong idea. "It's not really enemy agents…although they certainly have enemies." Chuck paused, considering whether or not he should continue. He wasn't given the chance as Anna broke in.
"What, were they involved in a drug ring or something? Or gangs? Prostitution?" Chuck was silently amused that Anna would ask if Jill had history in prostitution. He had to stifle a laugh at the insinuation.
Then, as if a light had come on, a vague memory popped into the woman's head. "Wait…Jill, Bryce…you were recruited out of Stanford. Chuck! That's Jill that broke your heart and Bryce that got you kicked out of school!" A shocked look adorned the face of the diminutive agent.
"Shhh!" Chuck commanded. "Anna, you know you need to be mum about things of our past! Just because you're back in familiar territory doesn't mean you can let your guard down. In many ways, you must be more guarded here." Chuck immediately regretted the harsh tone he'd taken with his friend. He immediately softened his expression and took on a lighter tone of voice. "Listen, Anna. I didn't mean to get so worked up. But there are some things that need to stay…here," he finally finished.
"I understand. I guess I'm not at liberty to know these things." Anna looked dejected from the rebuff.
Sighing yet again, Chuck placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Anna. Unless you get assigned here permanently, we have to keep many of the intimate details of the mission from you. Everything here is on an extreme need-to-know basis." He looked down at her apologetically.
"I understand." And she did understand. It didn't make getting left out of the loop feel any better.
The pair made their way to the armory. "And, well, I guess I don't need to tell you what this is." Chuck saw Casey enter the room and decided it would be a good time for a barb directed at the hulking agent. "I should mention that when he has to stay here, this is where Casey sleeps. Or I guess he sleeps. He sets his cot up in here. However he always gets up really early and washes his sheets." Chuck grinned as he could see the other male agent turn red with anger and embarrassment in his periphery.
"Leave John alone," Anna said to Chuck. "There is something very alluring about this room." Her voice had dropped an octave into a very sultry tone.
Casey gulped at the thoughts of the mixture of sex and firearms the newest member of the team was causing him to have. Anna Wu could be quite alluring herself when she felt the need.
"Chuck." Anna looked up at her former supervisor. "I need to clean my piece anyway. I think I've seen everything there is to see. Go check on Sarah and let me know if you need anything." Chuck nodded and he two men turned to leave the room.
"John," Anna called to the NSA agent seductively. "Would you care to join me? You look as though your…gun…could use some attention." Chuck quickened the pace of his exit. On the list of all the things he wanted to see, the union of Anna and Casey was nowhere to be found.
Checking to make sure Chuck was out of sight and hearing range; she turned back to Casey, dropping her seductive façade. "It's hard isn't it?"
"What?! No! It's fine. I mean I'm fine." Casey never stumbled for words like that. Get a hold of yourself John. You shouldn't be drooling over a skirt like that. Man up!
Anna laughed at the older man's awkwardness. "No. I mean it has to be hard being around Chuck and Sarah. And now the others, Bryce and Jill. This is a lonely life by nature. They made sure I knew that back at the academy. But to not only be lonely, but to be surrounded by people, agents even, that have found someone. It can't be easy John."
Casey looked away, focusing on his disassembled Sig Sauer resting on the table in front of him. "I'm fine. I have my job. It keeps me occupied."
He knew he was lying. He wasn't really fine at all. Casey wasn't the jealous type, but he'd certainly been jealous of his two partners the last few months. Deep down, he knew he should be happy for them. He thought of the two people he'd worked with the past two years as family now; not that he'd tell them that. But when it came down to it, his loneliness, his longing was only exacerbated by the closeness his partners enjoyed. It was why he was so hard on the couple. To their credit, the pair generally took his abuse in stride. Casey knew it was only a matter of time before they would come to resent not only his words and actions, but Casey himself.
"John." The NSA agent looked over to Anna. "There was a woman that came to visit you back at the Buy More once. It was a couple of years ago…maybe less." Casey grunted in acknowledgement of her comment. The grunt seemed to hold no particular emotion or tale of negative or positive affirmation. Anna continued anyway. "It was her wasn't it?"
Casey put down the tools he was holding. Staring at his hands, he considered whether or not to allow this conversation to continue. His classic John Casey stoicism demanded he not talk. The little known lonely man inside the gruff exterior, who'd not had someone to talk to really since Bartowski and Walker began their current relationship longed for a friend to open up to. For once the part of himself he hid from the world won out.
"That was her." Casey's voice was uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable. "Her name was Ilsa."
"Was? Is she..." Anna didn't want to finish the question. It hit a little too close to home for her.
"No," he said immediately before her mind could wander down a dark path. "Her cover was blown and she had to skip town." He heaved a sigh of reflection. "The perils of love between agents I suppose."
"Yeah," Anna said flatly. "That's why I'm perfect for this job." Casey looked at her quizzically. "I've known love, John. He's gone now." A wistful expression engulfed her face. "I'm not looking for love. I'm looking to avenge love."
"Huh," Casey grunted. Snapping his pistol back into place, he raised the handle towards the female agent. "Then here's to the 'greater good.'"
Quickly finishing the assembly of her own weapon -a Smith and Wesson M&P- she raised her own handle to clank the two guns together. "The 'greater good.'"
Castle Base, Main Room, Below the Orange Orange
Chuck had settled in to get back to his paper work. What must be going on in the other room had to be quite distasteful to make him want to do paperwork, he mused.
The screen in front of the group beeped and a message crawl began to run across the bottom. "Mission briefing in 5 minutes," it read.
"Chuck," Sarah said looking over at her boyfriend. "You want to go get Anna and Casey?"
"No." Chuck's voice was solemn and his stare determined.
Confused, and a bit perturbed, Sarah stood up. "Fine, I'll go get them." She began to make her way to the armory, shaking her head as she went.
"No, Sarah, don't go back there!" Chuck frantically chased after the blond, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.
"Chuck, what's going on?" His behavior was odd to say the least, even for Chuck.
His face contorted into a nervous, uncomfortable wince. Speaking under his breathe, he let Sarah in on the situation. "I think they are…" Chuck stopped and began making a suggestive motion with his hands. "You know…fornicating." While uncomfortable before, his tone slipped to a state of near nausea with the final word.
"Forn- oooohh." Sarah now understood her boyfriend's reluctance to go to the back room. Pulling her iPhone from its belt clip, she dialed Casey.
"Casey, briefing in five." She quickly disconnected the call. The last thing Sarah Walker wanted to hear was the "love sounds" of John Casey.
The hulking NSA agent and the diminutive, young CIA agent emerged from the weapons room moments later.
"What the hell Walker? Couldn't come get me yourself? You know tax payers pay good money for those minutes you just wasted." Despite the seeming irrelevancy of his outrage, Casey remained steadfast in his expression.
"Chuck said some, uh, things may be happening back there. I would rather not play audience if it's all the same to you Major." Sarah found she was beyond uncomfortable just thinking about what may have been happening within spitting distance of her.
Casey smiled inwardly. This was the moment of revenge he'd been relishing for months on end. "Well Walker, if you want to know what things were going on, I'm sure I could pull the surveillance for you." Casey began moving towards the computer that housed the surveillance for all locations.
"No!" Sarah spoke, almost too quickly. "That will be quite alright Casey. I'll remain blissfully ignorant."
Anna was amused by the exchange between the two agents. She was a bit hurt however that Sarah wouldn't want to see her in all her glory. If Anna got a chance to sneak a peek at the blond… Leave it alone Wu. Be professional. It's probably just Casey she doesn't want to look at anyway, she thought to comfort herself.
After a few moments, the visage of General Beckman popped up on Castle's main screen. The woman looked her usual icy, annoyed self.
"Good morning agents. It's nice to see no one rolling around on the floor trying to kill one another today." Despite a sentence that would usually be considered humorous, the General's face bore no sign of amusement.
"What?" Anna whispered to the other assembled agents. They all gave her a look that seemed to say to leave it alone. She obliged the silent request.
"Agent Wu welcome to the team. I trust that you've been welcomed by everyone else here?" Beckman cast an accusatory glace at the two other female agents.
"Yes, General," the youngest of the group answered.
"Very well, then to the matter at hand. Your last mission was, as you know a success. I did not have the opportunity to congratulate everyone on such a fine effort. That having been said, the biggest fish that we have a positive ID on managed to avoid capture yet again. I am of course speaking of lead Fulcrum council, Ken Adams. Fortunately, our sources have spotted him frequenting this off track betting facility in East Hollywood." A picture of the betting parlor appeared on the screen next to Beckman.
"Mr. Adams has at this point come into contact with every one of you and would be able to ID you by name…except for Agent Wu. Although the incident that necessitated your presence was…unfortunate, it couldn't have come at a better time Anna. You will be making contact with the mark." A picture of Ken Adams appeared below the picture of the parlor.
"Will this be going down today, General?" Casey spoke up for the first time during the briefing.
"What? N-no. Agent Casey it's Monday? Who bets on Monday? Honestly. This will be going down Friday. Friday is a heavy action day and the OTB will no doubt be filled. This will allow for you, Agent Larkin, and Agent Bartowski to gain necessary cover. If Adams sees any of you, he will no doubt flee. Agent Bartowski, you will also need to use your skills to identify any security the target may have. Agent Wu, I can not stress the importance of gaining control of this man. You are to gain his trust by any means necessary and lead him to a capture. We need him alive." Anna nodded in recognition.
Looking at the two remaining agents, Beckman's face took on a more disgusted expression than normal. "Walker and Roberts, you know your assignment." The two women avoided the gaze of Beckman and the other agents in the room. "And that will be all." The transmission ended leaving only the seal of the Director of National Intelligence on the screen.
"Well, looks like you gals have a Friday slumber party at Castle." Casey turned an amused grin to Jill and Sarah. Neither of the two female agents shared in his amusement.
Trying to break the tension, Chuck turned to the newest member of the team. "So Anna, what do you have planned for today? Where are you staying?"
"Well, I have to go to my new cover job. In my packet that was here, I was given an evaluation that because of my history at Buy More, it may be difficult to avoid contact that might jeopardize my cover. Therefore, I have been set up to work at, uh, Underpants Etc." Anna was clearly annoyed at the choice of her cover employer.
"Couldn't you just work here at Orange Orange with Sarah?" Bryce, who'd been noticeably quiet all morning felt bad for the young woman.
Anna sighed. "From a tactical standpoint, it was reasoned that the added location would give us a leg up from a defensive standpoint."
"Well, it could be worse. It could be Mighty Jock." Anna shivered at Chuck's mention of the sporting goods store. "But if you could, I have been dying for years to know what the 'etc.' in Underpants Etc. implies. If you could get me that intel…"
"You got it Chuck." Anna smiled at her goofy, good natured cohort. "As for where I'm staying…I don't know. I guess I should go look for a decent hotel or something. I came straight here when I arrived."
"You could stay at our place for a while if you want Anna. Chuck and I have to stay here with Bryce and Jill anyway," Sarah offered.
"Oh I couldn't. That wouldn't-"
"Consider it doing us a favor," Chuck piped in, cutting Anna off.
"Well if you insist." Anna was actually quite happy about the offer. It had been a long time since she'd slept in a familiar setting. The Bartowski/Walker residence wasn't home, but she'd been in that apartment many times before. It would be close enough to home.
"We do." Sarah and Chuck's ability to think on the same wavelength would have been astounding to someone who had never been around them before. Anna was all too familiar, however with the couple's seamless chemistry from her former life.
Just then, Chuck's iPhone began buzzing. Looking at the display, his face took on a look of panic.
"Hi El!"
"No, I know I said we'd be over, but we've been kind of swamped."
"Yes at the Buy More! What, you don't think people have computer emergencies?"
"Alright fine."
"Yeah sis, we'll do it tonight. Alright?"
"7 o'clock. Got it."
"Love you El." And with that, Chuck put his phone away.
He looked over at his girlfriend. "Well honey, I think we have a important meeting tonight."
"We have to talk to Ellie?" Sarah was terrified of this confrontation.
"Yep." Chuck didn't feel any better about the impending storm of questions Ellie would have. He felt no better either about the monsoon of lies he would have to tell his sister. Tonight's gonna suck.
A/N: It's time for the Ellie vs Charah showdown! What will happen? What is this new relationship forming between Casey and Anna? Bryce has been quiet, is he still mad at Jill? All coming up soon in Bryce and Jill vs Chuck and Sarah.
Again, a big hardy thank you to all my readers. Knowing that I'm putting something out that people are enjoying is really, really fun and exciting. I look forward to getting the reviews from you guys like you wouldn't believe. If you haven't reviewed before, and you're reading this, why not take a minute and let me know what you think? The others will vouch for me in saying that what you guys tell me certainly affects the course of the story. Let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you'd like to see. I guess that's all for today. I'll try not to be so late in updating tomorrow. Like I always say, you guys are truly, truly awesome. Peace.