Published December 4, 2020
A/N: You can "blame" davida6 for encouraging this one. (And you can "blame" him for being a great beta throughout.) To encourage this, he actually wrote part of what I worked into the second call.
Evening, Friday, November 23, 2007
BBBBRII—
Ellie had been sitting on her hotel bed staring at her phone for an hour, so she answered before that first ring finished.
"Sarah? Is everything ok?"
"Yes. Everything is fantastic!" Ellie had never heard Sarah so excited.
Less than three hours ago, everything was so dire that they had to leave home right away. How could everything be great now? "Fantastic? Devon and I checked-in to this hotel an hour ago, and I've been sitting here on the bed, doing nothing but waiting for you to call. I wasn't sure what we could do. We drove a couple hours away from home, but I thought maybe you drove further away."
"I'm sorry, Ellie. We actually didn't go very far. We've just been… busy. I shouldn't have made you wait, and I didn't mean to cause you any more stress. Actually, I want to thank you. Part of me can't believe you spoke up to the Director, but I'm really, really… really glad you did. Chuck and I definitely do not need a video game system."
Don't need… Oh, that… Ellie said, "I'm happy for the two of you, but I don't want details about what you and my brother are doing now. I can imagine—no I don't want to imagine what you two will be doing." Time to get off that topic. "What are Devon and I allowed to do?"
"Keep a low profile. No fancy dinners. Don't check out the pool or the hotel spa."
From Ellie's room, Devon asked, "Did you ask Sarah about those adventure tours?" Ellie rolled her eyes. All hotels had those rows of brochures for tourists.
Ellie said to the phone, "When we checked-in, we saw these brochures about parasailing, kite surfing, and deep-sea fishing. Devon wants to know—"
"No! Those wouldn't be keeping a low profile. They probably aren't that exciting, anyway. I've heard parasailing is actually kind of peaceful."
"You haven't been parasailing?" Ellie figured as a spy, Sarah had done everything.
"I've never used a hang glider when jumping off a cliff. Parasailing is attached to a boat. I once parachuted onto a boat in the middle of the ocean, but that was different."
Ellie realized parasailing was too tame for a spy. "Yeah, that would be different. Don't worry. We'll stay in our room. What are we supposed to do?"
Sarah said, "Order room service. Sit out on the balcony and enjoy watching the tide. Enjoy the room. I hope you got a place with a big shower."
Their hotel was not by the ocean, so Ellie said, "We don't have an ocean view. Since we didn't pack our swimsuits or dress clothes and since we're on the government's dime, we got an inexpensive place that's not even on the beach."
Sarah sighed into the phone. "I didn't mean for you to be that careful. Chuck's the one in hypothetical danger. Fulcrum doesn't even know why they would want to be after Chuck because they thought Bryce was the Intersect. If they made an unlikely guess, they'd still have to check it out, which might lead them to the apartment. It wouldn't be safe for you two be there alone, before this is mopped up. Tonight, you should stay where you are, but check out tomorrow morning. Go to a hotel with an ocean balcony. I still say 'no' to the pool. That's also a 'no' for the beach, but you should go someplace you can see the ocean. Chuck and I did that the first night we went out alone, when we were still a cover couple, and it was a wonderful night. Also, don't worry about the CIA's deep pockets. Those credit cards are not CIA cards. If they were, Fulcrum agents inside the CIA could track them."
Ellie frowned. "We're here on your money? I know you must have money because of that Porsche, but we shouldn't take advantage of you."
"No. It's not my money, either. It's backed by money from the Salvation Army."
"That sounds even worse."
"It's complicated. They didn't know it, but ten years ago they funded the account which pays the bill." Ellie didn't understand. Ten years ago, Chuck was still in high school. How old was Sarah? Sarah continued, "That means there are no ties to the CIA." These fake cards were made without CIA involvement? Ellie was even more confused. Sarah said, "I've been donating every Christmas heavily, so the Salvation Army has been ahead for over five years." That made it sound more like a loan with great interest for the Salvation Army, rather than stealing, but it didn't clear up Ellie's confusion.
Ellie figured she would never understand this spy stuff. Or since it was from ten years ago, was it pre-spy stuff? "I don't understand. It still doesn't feel right living the high-life off of someone else's money. Room service is expensive."
"Don't worry about it."
"Is that what you and Chuck will be doing—getting room service?"
"No. There's no room service where we are."
"We shouldn't indulge if—"
"The only reason you and Devon would be at risk is if you two were at the apartment when Fulcrum came looking for Chuck. I honestly don't think that would happen, but we're being extra cautious. Chuck's too important. As long as you aren't there and no one knows where you are, you're safe. This situation is a big inconvenience to you because there are some things you aren't allowed to do. You should at least have a good hotel room and access to good food."
"Why aren't Chuck and you staying someplace nice, too?"
"Chuck and I are staying off the beaten path. It has a bed. We don't need anything else."
Oh, no. Ellie had a question that did not involve the thread count she didn't need to know of the bed that Sarah and Chuck were using for other things but sleeping. "Like a 'safe house?'"
Devon had overhead and said, "They're at a safe house?"
Sarah answered Ellie, "No. I stayed at this motel when I was a kid, a long time ago. 'Sarah Walker' has never been here. No one in the CIA would think to look here."
That was another thing Ellie didn't understand. Sarah had sort of confirmed that the spy had a different name, but Ellie always thought of her as 'Sarah.' The non-spy said so Devon could hear, "Ok. Not a safe house." She didn't know how that was supposed to work, so she had to trust the expert.
"You and Devon should be someplace nice, enjoy room service, and enjoy some time alone. I'm not going to do the first two of those things, but I'm definitely going to enjoy the alone time with my boyfriend. Turns out, 'Piranha' was an appropriate name considering Chuck's a nibbler."
There it was again. "Sarah, I'm happy for you two, but please don't tell me what you are doing with my brother. Just take care of him."
"I'm definitely going to do that," Sarah said in a saucy way.
Before, it was amazing that Chuck and Sarah weren't really together because of how they acted around each other. Now that they're really together, it seemed like Ellie was starting to wish she didn't know about it. To the phone, she said, "That's what I mean. I don't want to know about that. I mean take care of Chuck in the bodyguard way. Keep him safe. Bye."
"That too. Bye, Ellie."
Ellie hung up and looked at Devon. He asked, "Is everything ok?"
She seriously answered, "I've been given our orders." At least she thought they were orders. Sarah was the spy, setting the limits of what they could do while they were "in hiding," so she was in charge. Ellie and Devon were taking what the expert said as orders.
"Good," Devon said. "What's the plan?"
It still didn't feel right to Ellie, but it was what she was told to do. "First, order room service. Anything on the menu. Then we settle down for the night. Tomorrow, we check out and get a place with a balcony on the beach. Then, I suppose, we wait for further instructions."
"Really? No work and time alone with you—sounds like a vacation. What are Chuck and Sarah doing?"
"I don't want to think about what they'll be doing."
Devon processed what she implied, then said, "Awesome. What are we supposed to do? What else can be done on this vacation? Can we go parasailing?"
"We're just supposed to stay in the room: here and after we move."
Devon was silent for a moment. Then, a smile slowly formed. "Awesome."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
BBBBRIIINNGG! BBBBRIIINNNG!
"Devon, do you hear the phone ringing?" Ellie asked.
He replied, "No, Babe, we left the phone by the bed. We can't hear it in here with the shower running. Stay in the shower. You're not done rinsing."
"You know we're waiting for the all-clear call from Sarah," she replied as she grabbed her towels. She quickly wrapped herself up, opened the bathroom door, and looked for the phone.
BBBBRIIINNGG! BBBBRIIINNNG!
Ellie answered, still dripping and a little out of breath. "Is everything ok?" She hadn't heard from Chuck and Sarah in four days.
"Yes. Hi, Ellie. I'm sorry I didn't call earlier. Chuck and I have been moving around every day."
"How much longer?"
"Casey found part of the leak, but he's still looking into how much it spread. We want to eliminate the conduit of this leak. After that, we can return home. Getting back might take several hours, unless Chuck and I make our way closer to L.A."
"Closer? Where are you?"
"I can't tell you exactly what motel we are in, but we're in Barstow," Sarah said.
"Barstow!? That's the opposite direction of the ocean. How did you end up there?"
"Yesterday, Chuck and I were talking about how well this is working between us, and the next thing you know, Chuck was driving us to Vegas."
"Vegas?! I thought you said we shouldn't go to Vegas."
"Chuck was talking about how he'd like to see the Eiffel Tower. We can't leave the country and go to France right now. but there's a smaller Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel in Vegas. It so happens, there's something else you can do in Vegas."
Did she mean… "You don't mean gamble or see a show." Ellie struggled to keep in a squeal that might alert security, making them move to another hotel. "Oh my…"
Sarah tried to calm her down. "We didn't actually make it to Vegas. From the road, I pointed out Vegas has more cameras per square foot than any other place in the world. No one is looking for us, but some things are too risky right now. However, by then we were already halfway to the Nevada border…"
That would be close enough for some things, like a quick wedding. Ellie struggled to keep it inside. "Did you two get married?"
"No. Not quite. I pointed out that I couldn't use my real name in a wedding ceremony, so it wouldn't be official."
Why would a real name matter to a spy? "Wait. Is this about your name not actually being 'Sarah?' I assume it's not 'Sarah' because you're a spy."
"No. That's not it. I wasn't born 'Sarah,' but 'Sarah Walker' is my legal name. It's the name I use with CIA HR. If a marriage license suddenly showed up with the name of a CIA agent, it would trigger all sorts of alarms. We might as well dial the main switchboard and say, 'Here we are!' Chuck was already feeling bad that you and Morgan wouldn't be there. When he found out it wouldn't be real, I suggested we could use our aliases, then he could 'Piranha' his way to fix them later. By 'Piranha', I mean the way other than what you told me to not talk about—"
"Yes, Sarah. I know what you mean. We're not talking about other things."
"Right." Ellie could practically hear Sarah smiling. "Chuck and I faked dating long enough, he didn't want to have a fake wedding. We stopped going to Nevada and went to the closest motel, which was in Barstow."
"Does this mean you're engaged?"
"I've never been married or even a bride's maid on a mission, so I thought going through a ceremony with Chuck would be fun. Why would we get engaged when we aren't getting married as part of a mission?"
Ellie answered, "You almost got married." That would be enough of a reason She could barely wrap her head around the fact that Chuck and Sarah almost got married! It sure sounded like they were engaged.
"That was never a possibility in a real way. It was just something fun to do. Since we decided not to do that, there's no need to change anything. Right now, Chuck and I love each other and are doing great, but we haven't been on a real date as a real boyfriend and girlfriend, at least not one that wasn't interrupted by a mission. I'm fine with going slow as long as I'm with Chuck."
Sarah continued, "Again, I'm sorry for not calling sooner. We've been busy, and I've been distracted. I'll call every day from here on out. Bye, Ellie."
Ellie said bye, and she stared at the phone. Sarah and Chuck almost got married! Or fake married for the mission. Or something. Sarah said she wanted to go slow, but it didn't seem like she and Chuck were going slow. First, they were eloping with aliases. Then Sarah suggested Chuck could break into records and fix it, making it legal. But Chuck held back because he wanted it to be more real, with family there. They weren't officially engaged now, but they were serious enough to consider getting fake married for the mission when the mission didn't require it.
In Ellie's opinion, they weren't going slow at all. After a couple months of dancing around each other, Chuck and Sarah had wasted no time going from zero to a hundred. However, if they didn't want to label it, she wasn't one that could argue. Ellie and Devon had found an empty storage closet the day they met, but years later, they still weren't engaged. They were just happy living together. There was no rule about the speed. It sounded like Chuck and Sarah were getting married when the spy situation changed. Meanwhile, they were happy.
The shower was still running. Hotels had a lot of hot water, so she hurried back to her man, who was still inside.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
BBBBRIIINNGG! BBBBRIIINNNG!
Ellie was lounging on the balcony when she heard the phone. She put down her book and answered.
Ellie didn't wait to find out who it was. She answered, "Hi, Sarah." The only calls were from "blocked number." This was the longest she hadn't talked to her brother since Stanford, but it had become clear that Sarah was in charge of the phone and that Chuck wouldn't be calling.
It was Sarah. "Hi, Ellie. How are you two doing?"
"We're good. We're just sitting out on the balcony, enjoying the fresh ocean air. Devon moved his chair to the side and is doing a couple thousand push-ups. When I'm not enjoying the view of him shirtless, I'm reading. I finally got around to the last Harry Potter book, which came out a few months ago, and I'm halfway through it."
"There's another book? Does that mean there will be more than two movies? The first came out when I was in college. I think a second movie was coming out in November after I graduated, but I was working in Eastern Europe at the time. Does that mean this is the third book?"
Ellie laughed. "I'm not into all of the nerdy things like Chuck and Morgan, but Harry Potter has become mainstream. This is the seventh book. The fifth movie came out this summer. You should ask Chuck to indoctrinate you."
"That's probably a good idea. I don't know when we'll get around to Harry Potter. I asked him to watch Batman and Tron with me, but I'll add the Harry Potter movies to the list."
Ellie found the idea of Chuck teaching a spy about nerd culture really funny. Knowing Sarah, she'd take the "assignment" of learning everything about him very seriously.
Ellie heard her brother's voice on the other end. "Is that Ellie?"
"Of course it's Ellie. This phone is only used to call Casey and her. I told you what Casey told me right after that call a little bit ago—"
Sarah was interrupted with the sound of a baby crying.
Chuck said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Let me take her out of the room, so you two can hear each other."
A few seconds later, it was much quieter. There was still the sound of a baby fussing in the distance.
Ellie asked, "Who was that?"
"What do you mean?"
"What was Chuck doing with a baby? It hasn't been a week, not to mention nine months. Where are you?"
Sarah said, "Sorry Ellie, that is need-to-know, and you don't need to know."
"For this, I need to know. What kind of CIA safe house are you at?"
"The kind that has nothing to do with the CIA, like before. We are staying someplace else the CIA doesn't know about. You're not getting an explanation. Casey and Director Graham are not getting an explanation. Don't think about it at all. You might as well forget you heard anything. The reason I called has nothing to do with what you think you heard. I called to let you know Casey said he's found a total of three Fulcrum agents working in the CIA, not counting the ones we apprehended last week. While there are most likely more inside the CIA, he believes he's weeded out the people who knew that the CIA and NSA were at the Burbank Buy More."
"Ok. Well, keep in touch about when it's time for us to go home. I have about three hundred pages left, making it the last half of my book, so I'll be done tomorrow."
"Three hundred pages is half the book!? I thought it was a kid's book."
"The series has over three thousand pages. Several of the books are very long. This one is the second longest, but one of them was a lot longer. The series has wizards and magic, making it a fantasy, but I grew up with Chuck, so it doesn't seem that unusual to me and is fun to read. A few years ago, I had a patient very excited to get out of the hospital in time to see the first movie. I knew I had to find out what the fuss was about, which is why I started reading them. The story sucks you in. Now, I want to see how 'You Know Who' is killed."
"No. I don't know who."
"Oh, it's just a character. He's a bad guy that is so bad people don't say his name. Bad guys always die, so I know he is getting it."
"You mean like 'Bryce?' I'm a little ashamed of the fact that I once dated him. Well, not really 'dated' but—"
Ellie laughed. "It's fiction. You Know Who and Bryce both came back from the dead, but You Know Who is a lot worse than someone who could be taken out with non-magical weapons. Bryce survived bullets the first time, but not the second."
On the other end, Ellie heard Chuck say, "Who are you talking about?"
Sarah said, "Some bad guy called 'You Know Who.'"
"You mean Voldemort?" Chuck asked.
Sarah said, "Is that his name? You're not supposed to say his name."
"Unless you're not scared of him," Chuck countered.
"Supposedly, he's bullet proof," Sarah said.
"Not exactly. Why are you talking about dark wizards with Ellie?" He called directly into the phone. "Hi, Ellie!"
Ellie said, "Tell Chuck I said, 'Hi.'"
Sarah relayed, "Ellie said, 'Hi,' She's reading the last book of the Harry Potter series."
"Oh good. Morgan was scared to death of Ellie for a week after he accidentally let slip the name of one of the people who died at the end."
"Sweetie, you need to tell me what books I should read and what movies I should watch so I can understand you better."
"Ok," Chuck agreed. "That book series is big. So is the Dune series—you know, like the poster on my wall."
"Your comic books—I'm sorry—graphic novels aren't that big. Maybe I should start with something that doesn't keep me away from you after you're done reading something shorter."
Ellie heard the sound of a wet kiss. She had barely been part of the conversation, and now she had to listen to them about to start making out. She cleared her throat loud enough to be heard on the phone.
Chuck said, "Are Ellie and Devon doing fine?"
"Yes." Sarah spoke into the phone, "Ellie, I'll keep calling. I think we'll be able to go back to the apartment tomorrow."
That's all Ellie was going to find out in that call, other than things she was supposed to ignore and things she didn't want to know about. "That'll be fine. You two can go off and do—whatever."
"We're not going to be doing that here. We're not alone. If this extends another day, we'll find someplace else."
"I think I'm happier thinking you're planning your future kids," Ellie teased.
Sarah started to protest. "We're not—"
"Bye, Sarah." She called louder into the phone. "Bye, Chuck!"
Thursday, November 29, 2007
BBBBRIIINNGG! BBBBRIIINNNG!
"Hi, Sarah."
"Hi, Ellie. How are you two holding up? Yesterday, you were into a big book, so you must be getting stir crazy."
"We're good. It was good to have something else to do. You can't go at it 24-7—"
"You can't? That's not what I've been finding out the last few days."
"This is the kind of thing I don't want to know. It's not like you didn't find something else to do—taking care of some mysterious baby."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Ellie couldn't believe Sarah was still playing that game. "Sarah, I heard the baby crying."
"I still don't know what you are talking about."
"Is this some CIA thing? I thought I was on the team. I'm part of the mission this time."
Sarah calmly said, "What you think you heard has nothing to do with the CIA or the NSA. You were imagining it."
"Fiiiine. Be that way. Next time, when you start to elope you better invite me."
"You do realize we were never really going to get married, don't you?"
"Suuure. And you and Chuck haven't been in love for two months."
"Well, I'm not arguing with you on that point… Don't you want to know when you can go home and return to your life?"
"Are you serious? Of course, I want to know. Did John give you the 'all-clear?' I have no idea where you are, but Devon and I never completely unpacked and have been living out of a suitcase. I bet we can beat you back."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
There was a knocking at the door.
"Sorry, someone is at the door. We aren't expecting room service, so I don't know what is going on."
From the other side of the door, Ellie heard Chuck's voice. "It's us, Ellie."
Ellie shot up from where she was sitting on the bed and hurried to the door. Sure enough, right behind it were Chuck and Sarah. Without waiting for a word, Ellie pulled her brother into a hug. Looking over to Sarah, Ellie saw a smirk on the other woman's face as she ended her call. Ellie reached out and pulled Sarah into a strong three-way hug. Maybe ten second later, Devon came up behind them and said, "Group hug. Awesome!" He wrapped his arms around them all to make it a four-way hug.
After maybe half a minute, they separated, big smiles all around. Chuck spoke first. "The CIA can't find you here, but I know the card number, so it was easy for me. Ellie, Devon, would it be ok if Sarah moves in as another roommate?"
Ellie didn't hesitate, "Yes. Sarah can stay in your room. Can't she, Devon?" Ellie didn't wait for the agreement because she knew it would be coming. She hugged Sarah directly. "We aren't sisters, yet, but we can at least be roomies."
When Sarah was released, she said, "Casey arrested three people that were involved with the leak. However, it would be naïve to think there are no more Fulcrum agents embedded in the CIA. My Maison 23 hotel room bill was being paid by the CIA. The three CIA leaks were associated with logistics. We want to minimize connections to a CIA agent working in the United States, so moving in with Chuck makes tactical sense."
That was a plausible reason, but… "Like that's the only reason," Ellie said with a bit of a knowing grin.
"It's the main reason. Everything else is simply a nice benefit." Sarah hedged, "If it is ok with you."
Ellie didn't hesitate, "Of course it is."
"Great. Please don't take any offense if I don't help in the kitchen. I'm pretty good with knives, but I know you're lethal with that stuff." Sarah paused to stunned silence. She turned to Chuck. "See… not funny. What you said about me being insatiable doesn't mean I'm a cannibal. I'm simply not funny."
Hearing the innuendo was more of the downside of Chuck and Sarah being together that Ellie had to get used to. On the upside, Chuck would be safer and happier. On the downside, her brother had an active love life with a woman who was going to talk about it.
Chuck whispered something in Sarah's ear, and she giggled. She giggled! Then Chuck nipped at her ear, prompting Sarah to say, "My sweet piranha."
Ellie shook her head and turned to Devon. He said to her, "See. That makes more sense. That's what I thought was going on all along."
Ellie looked back at her brother and his girlfriend. The smile on their faces could barely be contained. Sarah said, "Well, we're loaded in my car. There's an empty apartment. You'll probably take a little over an hour to check out and get back to the apartment, won't you?"
Since they weren't racing, that sounded about right. Ellie nodded.
"Good. Since I'm motivated to drive fast, that'll give us enough time. Chuck and I didn't have any privacy yesterday, so I want to take advantage of the empty apartment."
Ellie frowned. "This is going to be a problem, isn't it?"
Sarah said, "Don't worry." She added with a big close-mouthed smile, "Spies do it quietly."
Chuck said, "And I'll give Sarah her own key. We don't want any more cookware incidents."
Chuck and Sarah both laughed at that joke. On one hand, Sarah had never seemed to need a key. On the other hand, it was a little funny—better safe than sorry.
Sarah grabbed Chuck's arm and pulled him into the hall. "Come on, Chuck." As they were part way down the hall, Sarah called back, "Thank you again for taking me in. I'll see you at home."
A/N: Ellie retired undefeated. Charah's score went from 1000 to 2000.
That's it for this one. No one needed to be whacked.
Song:
- "Start of Something New" by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens for High School Musical