Published October 30, 2020

A/N: Happy Halloween! It's the Friday before Halloween, so it's time for a party! Well, getting together would be scary in this pandemic. Fortunately, this is set in 2007, when it was safer, and in fiction, where there is no pandemic.

Last chapter, Mei-Ling got away from Ellie unscathed. Does that mean the world is safe from Ellie when she wields cookware? No. Mei-Ling didn't sneak into the apartment. Maybe people shouldn't do that.

davida6 is also safe from Ellie. Why would she go after a great beta? Her apartment is a target rich environment, so she has enough potential victims to keep her busy.

While she didn't get hit, Mei-Ling did get called Spastic Colon. Again, why would we do that? That was Chuck's fault. We aren't coming up with lame excuses to get out of reading this chapter and hiding the fact he beta'd it.

October 30, 2007

CLANG!

A few months ago, Ellie never would've thought she'd have such an important role in defending her home. This swing made the fourth time she had knocked out a spy who had broken into the apartment.

The other day, she'd been thinking about a new big screen TV as a joint Devon/Ellie gift for Christmas this year. Maybe she needed new cast iron pans. At this rate, they would all be dented by Christmas. She cooked in them, so they would be for him, too.

Minutes later

Ellie had pressed the emergency button on the watch Sarah had given her. Sarah didn't have a key, but it didn't matter. It didn't last time. Ellie heard the front fly door open. "I'm in Chuck's room!" she called.

Ellie met Sarah at the entrance to the room. She said, "I'm sorry. I should know by now that people who enter without knocking are working with you—with us. I just heard a noise in here and didn't want to risk it. He wasn't dressed all in black like you or Carina, and he's not built like a tank like Casey, but I don't want anyone in here that could hurt Chuck."

Sarah, still in her Wienerlicious uniform, looked down at the frying pan in Ellie's hand, and said, "Great job," which surprised her. After hitting Sarah's friend, Sarah's partner, and Sarah herself, Ellie kind thought she was going to be admonished and ordered to stop hitting spies. No matter what she was ordered to do, she wasn't going to stop protecting her brother. She had not expected to receive praise.

Sarah passed Ellie to enter Chuck's room and pulled her gun from the back of her waistband, causing Ellie to gasp. She followed the spy, who had the gun pointed at the unconscious man on Chuck floor. Sarah said, "It looks like he's out cold. I need to call for a pick-up." Ellie had a feeling giving first aid for a head wound was not a primary concern this time.

Sarah placed a call on her cell phone. "Mahnovski somehow tracked down Chuck and came to his apartment. Ellie knocked him out. I'm staying with her. Someone needs to pick him up."

Sarah hung up, turned to Ellie and put on a pleasant smile. "Are you ok, Ellie?"

"Yes, I'm fine. This keeps happening. What's different about this guy? He looks ordinary—not like an athletic specimen like Casey, Carina, and you."

Sarah gently put a hand on the side of Ellie's arm in reassurance. "Laszlo Mahnovski. He was a CIA scientist, recruited about fifteen years ago as a child prodigy. He was unstable and kept in an underground bunker." Ellie couldn't keep the disgust off her face. That would be a horrible place to put a child.

"Something set him off," Sarah continued. "He violently attacked his guards and went on the run. I don't know if he was off his meds then, but he is now. Chuck and Morgan happened to run into him at the Santa Monica Pier arcade yesterday. Chuck flashed on him, and Mahnovski noticed Chuck recognized him. He designed Chuck's locator watch, so he figured out that Chuck worked with the CIA. He designed the watch you're wearing, too. Chuck's flash is why I was here last night. Chuck had followed protocol and reported the contact."

Ellie should have known Sarah had been there last night because of the Intersect. A tiny part of her thought Sarah and Chuck might have really been making out, like Devon had insinuated. They always seemed about two seconds from doing that.

There was an important question. Ellie asked, "Why does anyone know where Chuck lives?" The apartment was supposed to be a secret. Chuck working with the CIA and NSA is supposed to be a secret.

"Mahnovski's a tech genius. Chuck was wearing his Nerd Herd uniform, so he must have used that lead to find this place. Fortunately, he didn't know how dangerous you are with that thing." Sarah pointed to the pan Ellie still tightly held.

Pointing at her latest victim, Ellie suggested, "I can do something for him."

Sarah held her arm so she could get more ice. "Don't worry about it. He once worked for the CIA, but he hurt a lot of people breaking out. I was told they think he's making a bomb. As good as I know your swing is, it's non-lethal. The CIA will treat him, and he should recover to go to prison."

"Is it safe here?"

"Of course, it's safe. Casey's right across the courtyard, and I'm not going to let anything happen to Chuck or to you."

On one hand, that was reassuring, but Ellie still didn't completely trust Casey, and it wasn't like Sarah lived with Chuck. Ellie still wasn't absolutely positive they weren't having sex, but she was mostly certain that wasn't the case. Chuck's eyes lit up every time he saw Sarah, but he sometimes seemed a little…sad. He wouldn't be that way if they were a real couple, not just a fake couple. Assuming they weren't an item, it'd be hard for them to sleep in the same bed so Sarah could protect him. That would be like torture for both for them.

Sarah said, "Your mind's racing a mile a minute. You don't have anything to worry about. Chuck's too important. You're part of the team, so you are, too."

Ellie nodded. A few weeks ago, she wasn't sure about Sarah and how Chuck would handle cover-dating, but she was past that. Chuck was all-in. Sarah was really good at faking it. Or maybe she wasn't faking it the way she was supposed to. She was bad at faking that she wasn't faking it. It didn't matter because she was all-in, too. At this point, Ellie would feel safer if Chuck and Sarah weren't just a cover, with Sarah was there all of the time. And they'd both be happier.

Ellie noticed a new picture of Chuck and Sarah that he had out on his bedside table. It didn't make sense. Ellie pointed at the photo of Chuck and Sarah in what she assumed were couple costumes. "What's that?"

"Last night, I gave Chuck a picture of the two of us. It does have an audio bug, for his protection, in case something happens in here that we need to know." Sarah pointed at the unconscious man on the floor. "Like when some rogue CIA scientist breaks in. I have something for you." Sarah pulled a two-inch metal stick out of her pocket. "This will temporarily stop the bug's signal for five minutes, if you need to talk privately to Chuck about something. Casey wasn't happy when I told him I was giving you this. Do not use it unless you absolutely need the privacy. Having a record of who comes in here could be very important, so most of the time, you should leave the bug on. After you stopped Casey bugging this place a month ago, I promised to tell you about these things. I told Chuck last night and now you about this bug. You can be trusted to not value unnecessary privacy over Chuck's safety, right?"

Ellie agreed, "Of course." She took the remote and put it in her own pocket. "Thank you for trusting me with this, but that's not what I meant. Where was that picture taken?" Ellie pointed again at the photo which couldn't be real. It was impossible.

"It's a photo of Chuck and me at Comic-Con. We're in Star Wars costumes. The CIA photoshopped it."

"I don't know this stuff like Chuck and Morgan, but I know they went to Comic-Con in July this year because Devon and I took the same week off and went to a bed and breakfast. It was that or cliff diving, and I won. You and Chuck didn't know each other then. Most people probably wouldn't pick up on the timeline, but Morgan will know. He was there with Chuck, and you weren't. If that's supposed to be a prop for your cover, it's going to do the opposite and blow your cover."

Sarah frowned. "I didn't think of that." She put the picture face down. "I'll figure out something else."

October 31, 2007

The Halloween party was going well. Everyone was having a good time. A small part of her wasn't happy with the fact that everyone got a good view of Devon in his Adam costume, but most of her was proud it was her boyfriend who looked that great. In her opinion, the two of them, as Adam and Eve, had the best couple costumes there.

Speaking of couple costumes, she saw Chuck and Morgan in their space penis—or sandworm—or whatever costume. They were weaving through the courtyard, doing their snake dance. She didn't understand it, but it was a hit with the crowd. Chuck had a better time wearing something like it than he had going as himself to his own birthday party. She wondered what that meant. However, that was before Chuck had a computer in his head and started dating—or cover-dating—or whatever with Sarah, so he had no confidence at that party. Saving the world and being with Sarah, he now had the confidence he deserved.

Ellie wondered how Chuck's assistant manager interview went, so she went over to the head of the two-man costume to ask him. She tilted up the front of the snake—or sandworm—or whatever. "Chuck, how'd it go?"

Chuck smiled, but before he could answer, Morgan peeked out the back and exclaimed, "Chuck got the job! We all thought of him as our leader before. Now it's official!"

Behind her, Ellie heard Sarah, who had seemingly come from nowhere. (sneaky spy) "You got it, Chuck? That's great!"

Ellie turned and saw Sarah standing there with a huge smile on her face, all teeth. Her costume showed practically as much skin as Devon's. Showing as much skin as Devon's would be illegal for a woman, but Sarah's showed more than Ellie's Eve costume. It turns out Sarah's Star Wars costume from the fake picture was real, so she had worn it to the Halloween party.

Sarah opened her arms to give Chuck a congratulatory hug. Ellie found herself holding the pole for the head part of the costume as Chuck accepted the hug. Maybe it wasn't a simple congratulations. They were pasted together, and Sarah wasn't wearing much.

After a bit, Chuck took the pole back from Ellie and asked Morgan for a minute, so Chuck and Sarah could talk. Morgan dumped the costume to the side, while Chuck and Sarah found some privacy in his room. Ellie hoped they would remember it wasn't very private in there, considering everyone at the party was right outside Chuck's window.

A couple minutes later, a group started chanting "Sandworm!" over and over. Morgan peeked into Chuck's room to retrieve the other half of the two-man costume, and Chuck came out. Apparently, Morgan hadn't interrupted them making out on the bed. Surprisingly, Chuck and Morgan switched, making Morgan the head and Chuck the tail.

Sarah rejoined the party and mingled. She seemed to be having a decent time, despite not knowing anyone. Ellie was fairly certain that at the party, Sarah only knew Chuck, Morgan, Devon and her, but she seemed completely at ease. Ellie figured as a spy, Sarah was used to mingling at a party where she didn't know anyone. Unless you were looking (like Ellie was) you wouldn't notice Sarah was looking in Chuck's direction a lot. Maybe Sarah was keeping a close eye on her charge. It was hard to lose a big space snake, though, and Ellie thought she detected something else. Longing? Sarah was probably regretting she and Chuck didn't have their own couple costumes so she could stay close to him all evening.

November 3, 2007

Saturday afternoon, Ellie went into Chuck's room where he was playing a video game on the computer, not on the Xbox.

"Hey, Chuck. I was wondering… Is there a good way to collect everyone's pictures from the party and share them out to everyone who was there?" It wasn't too urgent, so she added, "If you're playing with other people on the Internet, we can talk about this later."

Chuck paused the game. "No, it's alright. I was on my own." He tapped his ears. "No headset." He then pressed some keys. "It's saved." He switched to the main screen. "We can set up something on Photobucket. It's not great, but it works. It'd be nice if Apple or Google had something to help organize pictures. Maybe Facebook would work if everyone has a Facebook account. What I need from you is an email list. Then we can ask for pictures and start putting them someplace everyone can see."

"Thanks, Chuck." Ellie added with a laugh, "You can order those Buy Morons, who work for you, now, to do stuff like this." She knew it wasn't their job, but there had to be benefits to being in charge. It's not like they normally did a lot for the Buy More. "Seriously, I really appreciate you taking the time to help. I can give you most of the email addresses—"

"Great. Just give me a few seconds to get this set up."

Ellie sat on the corner of Chuck's bed as he got to work setting up a web photo album. While she waited, she looked around Chuck's room, which was filled with movie posters, framed Comic-Con memorabilia, bongo drums, and… speaking of which…

She looked at the new photo of "Charah at Comic-Con," only to discover it had been changed out. She asked him where was. Gone was the fake picture of Chuck and Sarah in costume before they had met. In its place was a photo of Chuck and Sarah in that very room. Ellie knew when it had been taken…at the party. Sarah was dressed in the same Star Wars costume as the other picture, but Chuck wore the button-down shirt and tie from the assistant manager interview, which he had worn under the space snake costume. Sarah had taken a selfie of the two of them at the party when they came into this room. So much for being concerned they would take advantage of the bed where everyone outside could hear. Sarah was trying to solidify their cover, but in a way that didn't require privacy.

(A couple days ago, Casey had mentioned the couple-name, Charah, when talking to her in the courtyard, referring to Chuck and Sarah. Ellie tried to find out from him if Chuck and Sarah were something more, but he just gave a grunt that could mean anything and went to his car.)

Chuck caught her looking at the framed photo and said, "Didn't Sarah look great? Every Star Wars fan wishes their girlfriend dressed up in the slave girl bikini outfit Princess Leia wore in Return of the Jedi. None of them look as great as my girlfriend—or cover-girlfriend—or whatever. You know what I mean."

No. Ellie wasn't sure what he meant. Did Chuck think of them as a real couple or as a cover couple? For most people, they seemed like a real couple. To her, there were some signs it was just a cover, but many times it seemed like they both wished it was more than that. That wasn't going to be solved anytime soon and wasn't her reason for staring at the picture. "When I knocked out that man who tracked you down, I saw a different picture."

"I heard. Sarah also told me the frame is bugged and that you have an electronic blocker that I'm not supposed to abuse." Chuck leaned towards the picture. "If you are listening, Casey. I won't ask Ellie to stop it." He leaned back and got back to work at the computer. "Yesterday, Sarah gave me a different picture. She said you pointed out that I couldn't have gone to Comic-Con with her because I didn't know her back then. While that's true, the only other person who might both see the picture and realize that is Morgan. The only real risk is he might have said something in front of Awesome. He would realize Morgan hadn't mixed up the dates because he went on that trip with you at the same time. However, I could have told Morgan that Sarah had it photoshopped as a gift, and he would have thought that idea was really cool. Who wouldn't want a picture of their girlfriend dressed like that? Sarah took the new picture because she thought I should have a real picture of the two of us."

Ellie thought Chuck had a reasonable cover story this time for the first photo, meaning replacing it wasn't actually necessary. He was getting better at making up covers. He wasn't making up medical reasons for a doctor who could know anyway. Sarah must have found some way to straighten him out. Making a real photo for Chuck didn't sound like the act of a bodyguard. It actually was the kind of a sweet thing a real girlfriend would do. Of course, Chuck would want a picture of someone who looked like Sarah in a gold bikini displayed in his room—regardless of whether it was real or fake. What guy wouldn't? Ellie knew he had risked his life to save Sarah, so he felt something real. She was pretty sure he loved her. The other way around…

Sarah wasn't faking being a girlfriend. She wasn't faking anything to manipulate Chuck. She didn't need to do anything to manipulate him. She didn't simply have a crush. She was doing things a real girlfriend would do.

At the party, Ellie had never had to field so many discrete questions about her brother from women. Three of her single friends asked if Chuck and Sarah were serious and asked her to let them know if he became available. (One of them was there with her boyfriend.) Apparently, Chuck being with a gorgeous woman made him more desirable. Suzy, who was at Chuck's birthday party, expressed her disappointment that Ellie would lead her on when Chuck was so obviously taken. Ellie tried to explain that Chuck didn't meet Sarah until the next day, but the single doctor wasn't listening.

The other night, Sarah marked her territory with a congratulatory hug that was more than a simple "good job." Now, she was doing things a girlfriend would do, even though she and Chuck supposedly weren't a real boyfriend and girlfriend.

Ellie wondered if there was an identical framed photo in Sarah's room.

A/N: Ellie 4; Ninjas and intruders: 0.

In 2007, smartphones were brand new and phone pictures were relatively low resolution. Apple iCloud came out in 2011. Google Drive was 2012. Google Photos was 2015. Photobucket was 2003, so it was possible.

Comic Con 2007 was in July. Sarah met Chuck in September.

Ellie might be getting a little frustrating. Why doesn't she simply knock some heads together? Well, she doesn't fully understand the cover, but she's been busy hitting other people on the head. She is getting frustrated, too. She'll learn more soon.

- "Pit of the Carkoon/Sail Barge Assault (Medley)" by John Williams for Return of the Jedi
- "Main Title" by Toto for Dune