The four-and-a-half-hour flight from Heathrow's VIP terminal to Moscow's Domodedovo Airport was relatively quick, considering the long travel day they'd had that day before. They were met with a representative from the airport who escorted them to the customs and immigration area of the airport, once the Strykers had finished their end of flight paperwork and walk around. They had arrived during a slow time of the day and passed customs with little trouble. Seeing as they didn't wish to attract too much attention, they all quickly changed into more casual, but warm clothing to make them appear more like casual travelers. A short metro ride later had them arriving at the Jazz Hotel about 20 minutes south of the city center. Chuck was impressed by the décor throughout the hotel and kept pointing it out to whomever would listen as he needed out over the art and interest pieces scattered throughout the hotel.

Due to the 3-hour time difference between London and Moscow it was nearing dinner time by the time they checked into their hotel and made their way to their rooms. By mutual agreement, it was decided that the group would drop off their luggage and go get something to eat for dinner before turning in to try to sleep off the jetlag they were already starting to accumulate on the trip.

The next morning, Chuck awoke in his favorite position, playing the big spoon to Sarah. He could feel the coolness that has seeped into the room despite the heater being on in their room, but it was warm under their blankets as the snuggled together. He knew the moment Sarah woke from the subtle shift in her breathing followed by the soft squeak she made when she gave her shoulders a small stretch. He thought it was adorable, but also knew she would deny she even made such a sound in the first place.

"Good morning, Baby," He murmured in her ear and pressed a kiss against the exposed skin of her neck.

"Mmm, morning," Sarah hummed, turning over in her boyfriend's arms and shifting to lay her head on his chest, her body from shoulder to hip pressed against his side, and her leg curled over to tuck between his.

Chuck smiled and kissed her head as he pulled her in closer, reveling in these few moments of peace before they started their day, and mission, in earnest. They lay, snuggled up together for a while longer before Chuck's stomach began to growl.

Sarah snickered, "Well I guess that means we should get up and get dressed for the day. Do you want the shower first?"

"Nah, you go ahead and take the first shower." Chuck shook his head, "That way you can dry your hair and do your girly frou-frou stuff while I'm in the shower."

"'Girly frou-frou stuff?'" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"You know styling your hair, doing your makeup… which you don't need by the way," He met her eyes, "You really can't improve on perfection."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Nerd," She chuckled and gave him a kiss, "I'm gonna go take my shower."

She slid out of bed and grabbed her toiletries kit before heading toward the bathroom.

"Just save some hot water for me," Chuck called out after her, semi-joking. When Sarah gave him an impish grin, he groaned, "Woman," He jokingly scoffed, "Don't make me come in there!"

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Sarah giggled as she ducked into the bathroom and started the shower.

While Sarah was showering, Chuck slowly pulled himself out of bed and grabbed his suitcase, lifting it up on the bed and opening it, pulling out the clothes he planned to wear that day. Since they were supposed to look like normal people when they went to retrieve their items from the drop, he pulled out some casual clothes and set them aside before snagging his dopp kit and heading into the bathroom.

He could make out the form of his girlfriend through the frosted glass of the shower door as he set down his dopp kit and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Decided to join me after all, did you?" Sarah teased.

"If you aren't done in there by the time I'm done doing my thing out here," Chuck called back, "I mean if you are absolutely insistent on brushing our teeth tandem-style, just let me know and I'll stop what I'm doing to join you."

"Tempting though that might be, I think we both know it would take longer for us to shower together than individually," Sarah snickered, "Plus this shower is a little too small to do what you have in mind. You do your thing and once I'm done in here, we can switch."

"Gotcha," Chuck agreed and turned back to the sink to brush his teeth and shave while Sarah finished her shower. He loved the scents that permeated the warm air from her various beauty products. He'd noticed that she'd switched it up a little bit over the course of their time together, while there was always a scent of vanilla, when the weather turned colder, the scent became warmer with a hint of nutmeg as opposed to the lighter floral scent she'd used when they'd first reconnected. He seemed to remember Ellie doing something similar and chalked it up to a girl thing.

The click of the shower door opening caught his attention as he wiped the last bits of foam from his face and turned to see Sarah tucking her towel around herself. He could still hear the water running in the stall and smiled at Sarah's thoughtfulness. "I left the toothpaste on top of my kit, I couldn't find peppermint last time I went, so I got spearmint, I hope that's okay."

"It's fine," Sarah assured him, lifting up on her toes and pressing a soft kiss to his lips as her fingers danced along his jawline feeling the smoothness of his now whisker-free face. "You know, as nice as this is, I don't mind a little facial hair, if you ever want to change it up."

"Really?" Chuck's eyes widened, "I was thinking about trying it out, just didn't know if you'd like it or be okay with it. And I mean just a little bit, I have no intention of going full beard like Morgan, the beard is his thing."

"While I'm sure that would look good on you, too, I have to agree," Sarah shrugged, "Now go get in the shower while I get all prettified so we can go get breakfast."

"Sounds good," He smiled and stepped by her, quickly divesting himself of the long-sleeved t-shirt and sleep pants he'd worn to bed the previous night and ducked into the warm spray of the shower. He made quick work of shampooing his hair and washing his body as he heard the bathroom door open and close only to open and close again a few moments later. As he rinsed the soap from his hair and body, he heard the hair dryer power up.

Turning off the water and grabbing his towel from the rack next to the cubicle, he quickly dried himself off and wrapped the terrycloth fabric securely around his waist before stepping out onto the mat. Looking over toward where his girlfriend stood, clad in her bra and underwear, he couldn't help but chuckle as he found her not using the hairdryer on her hair, but had it pointed toward the mirror that hung over the sink.

"What are you doing?" He gave her a confused look.

"Unfogging the mirror." She shrugged, moving the appliance in small circles as the foggy glass slowly began to clear in a radial pattern that matched her aim, "While having a hot shower leaves the bathroom warm and comfortable, especially when in such a cold area, it fogs up the mirror. Unfortunately, I need the mirror to be able to see what I'm doing with my hair and makeup."

"You could just pull your hair up in a ponytail and go without makeup," He shrugged only to be met with an incredulous look from his girlfriend, "Or you can defog the mirror and do what you can to improve on perfection."

"Ah, he can be taught!" She teased, "Go get dressed, I shouldn't be too long."

"Where have I heard that before?" Chuck snarked only to gasp as he felt his towel stripped from around his waist followed quickly by a wind breezing near his posterior and the sharp crack that all mischievous kids know as the crack of a wet towel. "You missed."

"Not from where I'm sitting," Sarah giggled, making no effort to hide the fact she was checking out her boyfriend's naked ass.

"I feel so violated!" Chuck gasped in faux shock.

"Just wait until we get back this evening," She gave him a lascivious grin as she casually ran her fingers along the straps and cups of her bra, "I plan to continue violating you all night… and if you're real good, maybe I'll let you have a turn."

"Hey-oh," Chuck gasped, eyes wide.

"Chuck?" Sarah's airy voice got his attention back, "Go get dressed before I take you back to bed and not let you out until the morning."

"See, that's not the threat you think it is." He pointed out.

"Who said it was a threat?" She challenged.

Chuck gulped, "I, uh, I'm gonna go get dressed," and disappeared into the bedroom, the sound of Sarah's laugh echoing off the tile walls.

A half an hour later they were both dressed, Chuck in jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and sweatshirt, snow boots, rather than his usual Chucks on his feet. Over his arm he held both his parka and Sarah's. Sarah had chosen to wear a green, long-sleeved sweaterdress and black leggings. Underneath it all, she wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and stockings all of which were paired with a pair of thick, warm socks, and knee-high boots with a low, chunky heel. Checking once more that they had everything they would need for the day, they headed down to the dining room to get breakfast before heading out.


Casey was already seated and eating what looked to be a large bowl of oatmeal and drinking hot black coffee when they arrived. The older man seemed to be dressed similarly to Chuck with his jeans tucked into the fur lining of his winter boots, a long-sleeved t-shirt over his thermal underwear, and instead of a sweatshirt he had a thick blue plaid flannel. His parka was slung over the back of his chair as he ate. When the younger couple greeted him, he grunted in his typical Casey-esque fashion and kept eating.

Knowing they wouldn't get much conversation out of him, they dropped off their coats and made their way to the breakfast area to see what was available. It looked to be the typical continental breakfast set up which made it easy to decide on what to get. Sarah opted to have the cook at the omelet station cook her up an omelet with tomato and spinach while Chuck opted for the waffles. Once their hot items were cooked, they grabbed some fruit and coffee before returning to their seats across from Casey.

They ate in silence a few minutes before Sarah spoke up, "Let's go over the plan for today."

"What's there to go over?" Casey grunted, "You and the moron pretend to play tourist, I will shadow."

Sarah rolled her eyes at the older man and turned to her companion. "Chuck are you clear on the plan?"

"Pretty much, you and I will take the metro to the Columbus shopping center. Casey will stalk us from a distance and try to look inconspicuous." Chuck gave the older man a cheeky smirk which was answered by a low growl that was ignored, "At some point we will decide to enjoy the skating rink. We will then deposit our things in locker 74; that way it won't look suspicious when we pick up our dead drop from the same locker. I do have a question about that, wouldn't someone notice if we leave with o more bag than we came in with?"

"Not many people are that observant unless they are suspicious of you," Sarah shrugged, "Besides, I plan to carry a large purse, depending on the size of the dead drop, I can easily slip the items in there or into another shopping bag as we are putting things into or pulling them out of the locker. That way, no extra bag."

"Smart," Chuck nodded, "So, when do we go?"

"Just as soon as we finish our breakfast," Sarah advised, "It will take us a little while to get there and with establishing our cover as a couple on a shopping trip before heading for the dead drop, we should expect to be there for at least a few hours."

"Gotcha," Chuck nodded taking a bite of his waffle. "So, what's our cover?"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend, like usual," Sarah shrugged not understanding the reasoning behind his question.

"No, I mean are we tourists? Or are we locals out for a shopping trip?" Chuck clarified.

Sarah thought about it for a moment before turning to Casey, "What do you think Casey?"

"Eurasia covers," Casey acknowledged, "Bartowski, use your Karol Nowacki ID, Walker, of course is your girlfriend, Sara Laska. I'll have my Ivan Lenkov ID on me, not that you should interact with me unless the excrement hits the rotating oscillator, copy?"

"Gotcha, big guy," Chuck nodded, "Since we are using our Polish aliases, I won't have to rely too heavily on the Intersect. Thank you Jahjah and Babchi!"

Sarah gave him an indulgent smile while Casey rolled his eyes.

"We probably should still speak Russian with those we encounter," Sarah advised, "Although speaking Polish with each other should be fine. Do you have the correct documentation on you?"

"Yeah, I figured we wouldn't be using the Carmichael alias," Chuck shrugged, "My Nowacki was the next likely bet."

Casey used the number 11 grunt, begrudging respect and acknowledgement that the moron really isn't much of a moron after all.

"Chuck, you and I will head out in a few minutes with Casey following about ten minutes after us," Sarah advised, "Do you have any questions before we take off?"

"None, let's do this," He stood and pulled out Sarah's chair for her. Snagging their coats, he assisted Sarah on with hers before shrugging on his own wool trench coat. He wrapped a scarf around his neck and buttoned up his coat before pulling out a pair of leather gloves from the pocket and slipping them on as Sarah did the same. Sarah had opted for a warm knit peaked cap while Chuck had chosen a wool fedora which he carried until they were about to step outside, at which point he slipped it on. He opened the door for this girlfriend and offered his arm to her once they were both outside.

They snuggled together against the cold as they made their way to the Metro station down the block. Once securely in the underground station, Chuck, after engaging the Intersect's Russian Language feature, purchased their tickets for the train and led Sarah to the correct platform. It didn't take long for their train to arrive. Just as they were boarding, they noticed Casey down the platform, boarding the train a couple cars back from theirs. It wasn't more than 20 minutes before the station for the Columbus Shopping Center was announced.


The trio of American agents blended seamlessly into the crowds traversing the mall. Chuck let Sarah drag him around the mall for a bit, stopping at various boutiques and clothing stores, usually resulting in one or both of them trying on a few items before moving on, occasionally with a new bag or two added to their load. Eventually, they stopped at the food court where Chuck was surprised to find a Subway. After splitting a 500-ruble footlong sandwich, they made their way down to the ice rink where Sarah made a big production of begging Chuck to go skating with her.

"Oh Karol, Zabko, look, they have an ice-skating rink," She exclaimed in Polish, "We haven't gone skating in too long, please may we go?"

"Moja Kochana," He chuckled, "Of course we can go. We're on vacation, aren't we? We can have a little fun, but you can't laugh if I slip and fall."

"I promise," She nodded solemnly.

"Alright, Sara, let's go see about the admission," Karol smiled down at his girlfriend before guiding her toward the entrance of the skating area and paying the admission for them both. They were advised that there was a little over an hour of the free skate time left before the rink was closed down for the Zamboni and lessons. They nodded their understanding and made their way to the skate rental, requesting the sizes they would need and heading to where a few rows of lockers stood. Number 74 was mid-way down the second row, and they made quick work of stashing their bags and shoes, Sarah quickly slipping the burner phones into her purse as she did so, before sitting down and lacing up the boots of their skates.

When they hit the ice, Sarah was off like a shot, speeding around executing spins and turns that would make any Olympian sit up and take notice. Chuck took a little longer to get his bearings but soon was steady enough to join her at the center of the ice rink. While not as good as Sarah was, he was able to hold his own beside her as they played a bit near center ice before rejoining the flow of other skaters to simply skate hand-in-hand around the rink until the announcement was made that the free skate time was over and all skaters would need to clear the ice to make way for the Zamboni.

As with most ice rinks, watching the Zamboni was a much beloved past time that nearly everyone at the rink enjoyed. After watching the large machine return the rink to its glassy, smooth, shine, they went back to locker 74 to retrieve and change into their boots before collecting their bags and outer wear and returned their skates to the rental desk. They poked around in a few more stores to maintain their cover before catching the train back to their hotel.


Arriving back at the hotel, Sarah handed Chuck the bag his mom had left in the dead drop while she made quick work of unpacking the spoils of their shopping trip. While the shopping was meant to be for cover, she felt she had found several items for both her and Chuck that were worth keeping. She had even managed to find a few clothes that Molly would eventually grow into. Chuck had initially protested when she'd suggested they look at the children's boutique, but she pointed out that, considering the overall goal of the mission, that a little hope could prove beneficial, a point he had happily agreed with and even helped in picking out a couple shirts, including an adorable purple shirt with a large butterfly across the chest that likely wouldn't fit the girl for a few years, but he'd insisted. She smiled softly at the memory as she folded the shirt and gently placed it, along with its counterparts, in her suitcase.

"I still can't believe you insisted on getting that shirt for Molly," Sarah chuckled, zipping the suitcase closed and walking over to the desk where Chuck sat, inventorying the items his mom had left for them. "You know, it's way too big for her, she's only 7 months old, that shirt was made for like a four-year-old."

"She'll grow into it," He shrugged, "Want to see what Mom left us?"

"Sure," Sarah nodded and let herself be pulled into his lap for a kiss before sliding into the seat next to his as he showed her the contents of the bag he'd unpacked.

"Three burners, this one is yours," He pushed a smart phone with a gardenia on the lock screen, "The other is mine. Number two on each phone is the other, three is Casey, and Four is Mom. Just as she said, they are pre-loaded with a tracking app with Orion-level security that not only pings on Ryker's nanobots, but the other burners as well."

"Is she aware we have arrived?" Sarah inquired.

"If she wasn't alerted when we removed the bag from the dead drop, I messaged her secure number to let her know we are here," Chuck nodded, "She already messaged back to let her know if we need 'Babbi' to assist."

"'Babbi?'" Sarah quirked an eyebrow.

"I guess that's how she wants her grandchildren to refer to her," Chuck shrugged, "Regardless, I don't think we should put too much weight on her ability to assist in a pinch. Considering who she 'works' for, she may not be able to get away to assist."

"Understood, but we might want to keep her updated so she can try to keep Volkoff distanced from our op." Sarah agreed with a nod. "Did she leave us anything else?"

"Nothing for this op, she left some of Volkoff's scans for us to deliver to Ellie when we get back stateside," Chuck gestured to the large manilla envelope that lay on the table. "I figure we should get together with Casey after dinner to get his burner to him and start to formulate a plan of action."

"Hey, this is my op," Sarah scoffed teasingly, "Who gave you the lead?"

"Oh, my mistake, Agent Walker," He chuckled, "How do you advise we proceed?"

"Pretty much exactly what you said," Sarah rolled her eyes, "I hate you so much."

"No, you don't," Chuck laughed, pulling her back into his lap.

"No, I don't," She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips.


The rest of the afternoon leading up to dinner, Chuck and Sarah studied the pattern of movement for Ryker since Frost was able to nano chip him. It seemed, thus far he had stayed within the same half-mile radius since his arrival to Moscow. What made their jobs infinitely easier is that he appeared to favor the same café for his meals. All that was left to do was figure out how they would deal with him. While having Casey snipe him seemed a rather unfulfilling option, although it would be a good option as a backup. Torture was very briefly considered and put aside for a couple reasons, they didn't have anywhere to take him, and Sarah didn't feel that particular punishment fit the crime. Poison was a little more intimate, perhaps something that would paralyze him first while keeping him conscious long enough for Sarah to confront him, so he knew who was taking his life and why, before his organs finally succumbed.

By the time dinner time rolled around, they had a rough plan that was shared with Casey over their meal the finer details set and agreed on, contingency plans were put in to place and a time was set. All that was left to do was to put the plan in motion. Once all was settled, they returned to their room to check that they had the proper gear for the operation. That night as Sarah slept, head pillowed on her boyfriend's chest, Chuck reached over to his nightstand and, picking up his burner, typed out a quick message.

"Operation Valkyrie is go. 1230 hrs. Kafe Tapki."