As always thanks to nevr for beta'ing my work.
December 9, 2007
"And that's why Rizzo was assigned to the team," Graham braced himself for the explosion. Walker's expression wasn't as inscrutable as it usually was. She quietly said, "Sir, I can be professional, I know it's not ideal, but nothing about this situation is."
"Good, I appreciate your professionalism." Walker accepted the dismissal and left the office.
That was the last good news of his day, he went back over the report, all of the known Fulcrum infiltrators within their Agencies had been detained. Except for Clyde Decker. He had sent seven agents to his house to detain him, all seven had been killed and Decker was in the wind. That man was going to be problem.
Dozens of agents around the United States had been detained and were now being interrogated, their reports were… worrying to say the least. Fulcrum was more than a rogue element, it was backed by an ideology, one that was against everything the Nation he served stood for.
He knew it wouldn't end with just a few arrests; they were too entrenched for that. This was going to be the beginning of a long war.
Chuck found his girlfriend in the gym, he watched as she went through her workout. He slipped away and got a cold bottle of water from the break room and walked in again as she finished. He quietly handed her the bottle, "That… looked more intense than usual."
She drained the bottle and looked at him, "We're going to want to go for a walk for this. Do you mind if I shower first?"
He nodded at her, "Sure, go for it.'
"You want to join?" she gave him a salacious smirk.
"I… definitely do, but I want to hear this story and I get the feeling I'll be too distracted to focus if I agree."
She winked at him as she left.
They walked down the empty trail, Sarah looked pensive, "So… I guess the story is hard to start… I was the wonderkid of the Farm," One day she'd tell him just how accurate the kid part of that sentence was. "They tried to put together an interagency ops group made up of all of us prodigies, kind of like the one we're on now, but more permanent. They called us the 'Clandestine Attack Team Squad' someone somewhere really enjoyed naming four girls 'CATS,' stupid name. We were completely unfettered; they just gave us objectives and accepted results with minimal oversight. It was… Well, it had the potential to go bad, really bad. Thankfully it didn't. We became the best of friends, we worked hard and partied even harder. They were the closest people in the world to me."
She paused; her voice grew distant. "It was… the best. We always had…" she sighed, "We were successful, very successful for years. We crushed all opposition." Her voice was full of pride, "All enemies that were put in front of us were knocked down, until… We were after a Cartel leader Augusto Gaez, out of a nasty group of people he was one of the worst, there was nothing he wouldn't do to expand his power. He kept defeating us at every turn, ambushes and takedowns were evaded, and we got frustrated. Carina once told you that I was the best, right?"
Chuck nodded along, "Yeah she said you could out plan, out shoot everyone on the team… and out seduce…" he trailed off awkwardly.
Sarah chose her words carefully, "It was the job, my job was to get close to them, part of that was being flirty. Never slept with them, since you're trying to not ask." Her grin was slightly teasing, Chuck thought he saw a hint of insecurity under that teasing look.
"Sarah, I wasn't trying to not ask… I just didn't know how to say it without making it awkward. Trust me… I'm not worried there's any kind of seduction at play here. I mean… other than what you did to get your chocolate croissants the other day," Sarah's smile told him he'd said the right thing.
"Good, I'm really glad. So, I was the leader and with the failures stacking up, there were worries about our viability. After all, you're only as good as your last mission, right? With that pressure mounting and Gaez always a step ahead of us, I figured there had to be a leak within CATS itself, therefore I ran a sting without telling anyone, told all the girls different versions of the plan, the version that I gave to Zondra Rizzo leaked out to Gaez. I had her detained and interrogated, a bug was found in her boot. I resigned from the squad to move onto solo work, and I was… just better suited for that, Rizzo was interrogated for months, they eventually cleared her, but they stuck her in some backwater assignment."
"What happened to the other girls?"
"Well Carina went back to DEA, and Amy was sent after the Cartels." Sarah ran her hand through her hair, "We'll be dealing with Rizzo, I can be professional, but like Carina, she might try and get under your skin. She can't do anything directly to me, please don't let her get to you."
"Don't worry, I won't. Trust me."
December 10, 2007
Casey looked up. Thank goodness Walker was back. He'd been forced to put a full moratorium on discussions involving her relationship for his own sanity.
"Walker, next time you leave, have the courtesy to shoot me. Putting up with those two made me fondly remember the time I was captured in Afghanistan."
She smirked at him, "Couldn't have been that bad Casey. I'm going to meet up with the CIFA team see what they've been working on since I've been out. Walk with me?"
He nodded, "Sure, it'll let me fill you in. By the way Perseus wants to remind you, if you do feel the need to beat Larkin, avoid the head."
"He's been pissing off everyone huh?"
"Walker, you have no idea. How did Bartowski hold up?"
"He held up well, no nightmares or any issues thankfully, Rob said he'll send him over this afternoon, just doing some admin stuff over at Meade."
"Good, glad to hear it. You ready to meet Rizzo?"
"As I'll ever be."
They walked through the door leading into the main operations room, Sarah's eyes immediately found Zondra, the woman was going through a file, looking just like she had when Sarah had last seen her.
Zondra watched as Sarah walked across the room. This would be interesting, if they were going to have a fight in the middle of the Ops room... Her train of thought derailed as Sarah stuck out her hand.
"Graham approved you joining the team, welcome aboard."
Zondra tensed, something was different about Walker. She expected the concealed distaste, but something else about the blonde was different. Zondra wanted to rage, she wanted to scream at her former friend, unleash years of frustration. She wanted to grab Sarah and shake her, vent her anger at the woman who tarnished Zondra's career with false accusations, instead she took the other woman's hand. "Yeah, he did. Good to be here."
Sarah nodded.
Casey watched as Bartowski walked into the Ops Center at CASTLE. Quietly trying to discern if the young man was fully ready to come back. He had latitude to give him more time if it was needed, though Casey doubted Walker would have let Bartowski anywhere near the office if there was a risk of him not being ready.
"Okay team listen up, the Cipher is leaving Sandia today, from what we know about Fulcrum this is going to be a priority for them. Perseus has asked us to meet the courier at Andrews."
Casey looked over at Walker, "Walker, show Bartowski where his office is, I want him up and running." He watched as the blonde's eyes locked on to her boyfriend, a soft smile appeared on her face.
Bartowski had ruined a damn good spy, he thought with a chuckle.
Zondra watched as Sarah smiled at the lanky man, she'd never seen that smile before. At the clubs she'd given men enticing smiles, on missions she'd given alluring smiles to the marks, but this smile was… different…. New.
The lanky man looked utterly in love, what confused her more was that Sarah looked just as besotted. She wanted to find out more about this guy. Bryce thought he was a good guy who was out of his depth in the spy world.
The vehicle and escort left Sandia at noon, Colt started the stopwatch and watched as his team executed the perfect ambush. The benefits of hiring the best were on display.
2:30: The escort vehicle was burning.
4:00: Two of his men ran up to the vehicle carrying the Cipher and grabbed the case.
5:00: Two last gun shots rang out.
6:00: His men melted away
He checked his watch. The ambush was completed. A minute faster than their previous record, a bonus would be paid to each man today.
Colt loved it when a plan came together.
Chuck worked to set up his new desk when the alarm went off. Sarah was sitting in the corner of his office reading a folder, they looked up when Casey's voice came over the speakers calling them all into the Ops Center. When they walked in Zondra and Bryce were waiting for them.
Casey strode in, "The Cipher was stolen from the courier an hour ago. Perseus just got the call. We're going to start hunting the folks responsible."
December 11, 2007
Colt looked over at his men, they were all geared up. The Fulcrum man walked over. "Mr. Colt, always a pleasure, may I see the package?"
Colt handed him the Cipher, "Amazing, the research team that developed this… truly world class." The Fulcrum agent took out a device and plugged it into a port, "What I need you to do, is allow the team that has been dispatched to retrieve the Cipher. Put up a convincing fight then fall back, don't put your men at risk for this. Also, if you get the chance, retrieve this man." The man handed him a photo, "His name is Charles Bartowski, Delgado's last message was that he was in pursuit of this man. We lost Delgado and the Contractor we sent after Bartowski, so there's something about him. If you are able to return him to us alive and unharmed, we'll give you a handsome bonus."
Colt looked at the man, "Really, you sure you can afford that? The way I hear it, the IC rolled your little crew."
"They took out some low level players and are patting themselves on the back, they won't know what hit them. Just bring us Bartowski, we'll make it worth your while."
The Fulcrum man left, Colt looked at the Cipher, he gestured over to one of his men. "I need you to start spreading rumors about a buy, let's get whoever they sent to retrieve this thing on the trail. I wanna see how well they perform."
One of the the WebSpiders Chuck had written came back with a return, he pulled it up on the monitor. "They're still in Albuquerque, it looks like they're blatantly advertising they're holding it."
Casey looked at him, "Well if that doesn't just scream "Trap" I don't know what does." He looked around the room, "Okay here's how we'll play it, Walker, Rizzo, and I will be contact. Bartowski you and Larkin are support."
Chuck nodded, "Understood, let me put together the list of equipment we'll need. You know if we'll have a mobile or static Command Post?"
"Mobile, speed will be of the essence, can't waste time on teardown or setup."
"Got it, I'll put the request in for the van, I assume you'll handle the ordnance requests?" Chuck was making notes as he spoke.
Sarah chimed in, "I'll take care of that," Casey nodded his thanks.
"Okay team, let's go spring the trap."
Zondra watched as Larkin and Casey had a quietly intense argument the entire plane flight. Sarah was sitting next to Chuck, she took a moment to examine the two of them. Sarah was quietly laughing at a joke he was telling, her hand was resting quietly on his arm.
As they got in the van, Sarah looked over all the weapons, Chuck looked over her selection, "Were the grenades necessary?"
"Huh, GPS on the Cipher's case just activated," Chuck said as the monitor went live.
Casey looked over his shoulder, "Well that ain't suspicious at all. Guess they got impatient, take us there."
They drove to the location and parked three blocks out.
Chuck nodded, "I'll keep an eye out for any radio communications, I'll let you know if I find anything."
Casey patted Chuck on the shoulder, "Good, Larkin watch our camera feeds, tell us if that data set in your head was worth the trouble to bring out into the field. Alright, it's showtime." With that the three agents slipped out.
Colt watched them from a nearby rooftop, this team was good. Very good. He told his men to get ready, put up a convincing fight then break off, and meet up at the rendezvous site.
Chuck was thankful that Bryce was mercifully quiet, one of the spectrum monitors went off. Chuck looked at it before activating the radio.
"Team, looks like we have someone else out here, encrypted radio traffic just went out as you entered the building, I'm going to jam the frequency they're using. I've looped all the cameras, but I was only able to do a five minute loop, so be careful."
Casey's voice crackled, "Understood, we'll keep an eye out."
Chuck activated the jammer, it wasn't as powerful as some of the airborne platforms, the van just couldn't generate that much energy, but it would jam the frequency for a few blocks.
Casey's voice cut in, "We're encountering resistance."
Sarah's voice came over the radio, "They're running delaying tactics, fire and retreat. Something's not right here."
Bryce looked over at him, "Can't we do something? Tell them where the hostiles are?"
Chuck tried to hide his frustration, "The van isn't equipped for that, and by the time we got something out here that was, they'd be gone."
Bryce was getting impatient, "Look, I'm not a van guy, I could do a lot more good out there."
Chuck just stared at him, "We were told stay in the van. Stay in the van. Got it?"
"Chuck, the van may be where you're comfortable, but I should be out there with them. The van is where support sits, not field agents."
"In case you haven't noticed, we are support. I do the tech stuff, you supply on the fly context. We are literally the definition of support."
Bryce's look of anger surprised him. "You might be, but I'm not." He patted Chuck on the shoulder, put in an earwig, and slipped out of the van with a rifle. Chuck sighed, "Team, Larkin believes he'll be able to be more effective in the field, he's coming up behind you all. Keep an eye out." He reached over and locked the van door.
"Larkin, get the hell back in the van right now. You're operational support. So, get back in there and support." The rage in Casey's voice was palpable. Chuck almost felt bad for Bryce, the after action was going to be… spirited. He watched as the suspected enemy radio jumped to another frequency, they had some decent equipment. "Hey guys be alert. They know they're being jammed and are taking countermeasures." He started jamming the new frequency as well.
Sarah said, "Understood, stay safe."
A thud on the door halted his next sentence.
"Oh, shit. Someone is trying to break in."
Chuck grabbed a flashbang and hit the security switch. It would irrecoverably delete everything important.
Colt watched with a smirk as his men took up positions near the van, knocking out their support would definitely cause this team some problems. One of his overwatch teams had noticed a man leaving a van with a rifle and running in the direction of the Cipher, Colt had the ones not the in the building or running overwatch surround it.
One of his men planted a small shaped charge and blew it, the first thing that Colt saw was the Agent in the van hitting the button. Damn, he'd probably destroyed the computer equipment and deleted the cryptographic keys, those would have fetched a pretty penny. He brought the gun up to shoot him when he recognized the man.
"Well, Bartowski, nice to meet you. You just made me a lot of money today." Bartowski tossed a grenade outside the van, Colt dove for cover. He and his men were stunned by the flashbang and Bartowski took off running.
Fighting their way to the location had been more difficult than Zondra expected, but they finally found the objective, Casey ran ahead and grabbed the Cipher. They heard Chuck's call for help then the flashbang. Chuck hadn't grabbed an earwig, so they couldn't talk with him.
Bryce had caught up with them as they cleared the last floor, now with the Cipher in hand, they moved quickly back to out of the building, they kept an eye out for Chuck or the mercenaries.
The back of the van had been blown open, it looked like Chuck had managed to hit the self destruct on all the computing equipment, good, there was no risk of it falling into enemy hands. Sarah rummaged around and pulled a small tablet out of a drawer. Zondra looked at it curiously, a red dot was moving away from them, it made sense, Sarah would have bugged her asset to keep an eye on his movements.
Zondra pondered the strange relationship as Sarah grabbed a rifle, some spare magazines, and some grenades from the weapons locker. Casey was on the secure phone ordering a TFR over the area and requesting support, if they tried to exfil via air, they'd be in for a rude surprise.
Sarah hopped out of the van and took off in the direction of the red dot, Casey followed her.
Just have to evade long enough for Sarah to find me. Next time I'm grabbing an earwig. Chuck thought as he took a turn and saw a parking garage, he could use that to hide.
Damn it, Colt called for his backup. Everyone would have piled into their transports after clearing out of the buildings and overwatch. If Bartowski thought that he'd be able to hide in some parking garage he'd have another thing coming.
"Move in, we're going to get a nice bonus today gentlemen." In less than 15 minutes he'd have the building surrounded, he and the two men with him entered the structure.
Zondra was shocked, rather than keep running, Sarah had stopped, smashed open a window to a nearby car, and hotwired it. Casey had looked like he was going to object, but froze when Walker glared at him. They all hopped in and drove towards the dot. It looked like Bartowski had taken cover in a parking garage.
As they got out of the car, a white panel van pulled up in front of the entry to the garage.
Sarah turned and sprinted towards it, the rear door opened and Zondra watched as the blonde threw a grenade into the opening door.
The grenade landed right in the middle of the van, she watched as two of the mercenaries were able to jump out before the grenade exploded, Sarah shot the two of them as they tried to recover.
In less than five minutes, she'd killed eight mercenaries and a driver. CATS had killed, of course, but this was a level of brutal efficiency they'd never achieved. She'd heard Sarah's nickname, "The Enforcer," Zondra had never been able to associate such a sinister nickname with her former friend.
It was well earned.
The problem with running to the top of a structure when people are chasing you is that typically there's only one way down.
Unfortunately, that way tended to be occupied by people wanting to kill or capture you. There was another way down, but that tended to leave a mess.
Maybe he could talk this out?
As he thought that, an explosion could be heard. Sarah's here, good, just buy myself time.
"Look, I'm not sure why you're after me, I'm just a tech guy."
The hulking man, he'd seen earlier outside the van walked up. The man's neck had more muscles than Chuck's arms. How does that happen? Is there some secret neck workout?
Chuck shook his head, he needed to focus.
The man's baritone echoed through the silence after the explosion. "Mr. Bartowski, my name is Mr. Colt. Like I said, I know some people who really would like to talk with you."
Chuck backed away, he was standing at the ledge. Just have to hold out until Sarah gets here. Mr. Colt spoke again, "Mr. Bartowski, you seem to be running away from me… do you find me intimidating?"
"I mean your muscles have muscles, so yes, I'd say that I do find you just a bit intimidating."
Mr. Colt chuckled at him, "You're honest. Now here's the deal, my men are moving into position, in a minute there's going to be no escape." As the giant kept walking towards Chuck, he remembered the lessons Sarah had given him about positioning and maintaining distance.
Faster than he expected Colt had him in a corner, the only way out was to jump off the building.
He'd call that Plan D, maybe Plan E. First, maybe he could distract the man. Another explosion ripped through the night.
Casey looked at the carnage dispassionately. From an efficiency standpoint it was hard to argue with killing the enemy before they got out of their vehicles, Walker had taken out another van with her last grenade and Casey had shot two of the lookouts that were guarding the ramp. This was shaping up to have the highest body count any of their operations had achieved.
"Casey, you take Larkin use the stairs on the side, get up to the top that's likely where they are. Zondra and I will use the ramps, one of us will be able to catch him off guard."
Casey listened as Walker spat out the orders, her eyes were practically glowing with fury. Rizzo looked irritated at taking instructions from Walker. He grabbed Larkin and started running.
"Shouldn't we wait for reinforcements?"
"Dipshit, how long do you think Bartowski will last on his own?" Casey kept climbing up the stairs, he hoped for everyone's sake that nothing had happened to the nerd. Walker's wrath would be apocalyptic.
"You know, those explosions were probably my team killing yours, let's be honest here. We kinda have an unfair advantage, what with being better and all." Chuck tried to hide the nerves in his voice. Taunting was ruined if you were nervous, one of the things Sarah had told him.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, all of my men were handpicked, chosen for their lethality and capability. You think that your little cell can handle 20 of my men?" Colt almost laughed as he took his time stepping towards Chuck.
If he survived this he was going to ask Sarah how to fight a man with the biceps the size of Chuck's torso. Chuck suspected the answer would be run away. Next time, no using a parking garage as a hiding place. Colt was within arm's reach. Maybe he'd get lucky. Chuck threw a punch the way he'd just been taught, Colt caught it and laughed. "Really? I think my mama could have thrown a harder punch than that. Here, let me show you."
Colt's fist made contact with his torso, Chuck felt the wind leave his body and he collapsed, the large man grabbed him by the neck and held him up with one hand. Chuck struggled to breathe.
"Now Mr. Bartowski, you'll be coming with me."
Chuck saw a flash of blonde and his eyes widened.
Colt noticed the movement and turned around, "Ah, I see your team, that means my chosen men are dead. You know I was promised a bonus for bringing you in alive, I should have just shot you. More trouble than you're worth." Chuck felt the world move and he screamed as the mountain threw him off the side of the building.
The staccato sound of gunfire punctuated his fall.
Casey heard the scream, ten years ago this would have been an easy catch he thought ruefully and braced himself for the shock. He grabbed Bartowski's arm and used the momentum to pull him onto the stairwell. The lanky man hit the ground hard. Casey rubbed his shoulder in pain.
Zondra looked over at Sarah, the look of utter devastation on the woman's face as Chuck was thrown off the building had shocked her. She watched as Sarah steeled herself and then the emotionless mask slipped into place. She hadn't said anything when Chuck was thrown over the side, just shot the man and advanced. The expression change had been the only sign of the emotions she felt.
She and Sarah advanced on the downed man, he groaned in pain, Sarah let loose a savage kick into his ribs, the man gasped and his eyes shot open. Vests didn't do much against kicks.
Sarah pointed the gun at his head, as he wheezed out, "I give up."
Sarah's pistol didn't move. Zondra reached out and moved the other woman's arm back.
"Walker, we need him to talk, that won't happen if you decide your bloodlust is more important."
Sarah wore a savage expression, "Oh, he'll talk alright." She hesitantly turned towards the stairs. She took a tentative step towards where Chuck had been thrown. Zondra moved to secure the mercenary. They heard the sounds of boots coming up the stairs, Casey came into view carrying an unconscious Chuck. He gently put him on the floor, Sarah gasped and ran over to start checking over him.
Casey gently put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, "Kid is going to be okay. Just hit the ground hard. Support should be here any minute."
December 12, 2007
Sarah was sitting in the medical wing at Constellation, Chuck was being examined by Cassiopeia. He'd regained consciousness as the support team arrived, they'd checked him over and sent him back to DC. The Cipher had been left with Perseus. One day, they'd let her interrogate someone she captured.
Fortunately for him, Colt was spilling his guts to the interrogators, the best thing about mercenaries, if you made them a better offer they'd usually take it.
Casey pulled Zondra and Larkin into his office. "Larkin, this is a formal reprimand, you disobeyed orders from your lead. I need you to sign it, please. Rizzo, please sign as a witness to the events. This will be filed with your Agency."
Before Larkin could object Casey cut him off. "Larkin, listen to me, you fucked up. Colt already said the only reason they knew which van was ours was when one of his spotters saw you leaving it to join us. Now here's the thing, Walker is going to remember that, very soon when she's not distracted by Bartowski being in the hospital, she is going to realize that the entire reason he's in said hospital can be laid at your feet. If you sign this, I can already say that you've been punished. She may not like it, but she'll adhere to the chain of command. That'll be the end of this."
Bryce accepted the paper.
"Good, that concludes the formal part of this meeting. Now, let me talk to you directly.
"Look dipshit, you're no longer a field agent. You agreed to host this data, that means you stay in the van and you don't fucking try and be a hero. You are now officially in a supporting role. That is it.
"You got one of ours hurt at a time where we cannot afford a single loss. If you ever try something like that again, you won't have to worry about Walker, I'll beat the data out of your head myself with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Now start going through Colt's interrogation reports, I want some fucking answers."
Zondra stayed behind, Casey looked at her, "What is it Rizzo? Talk fast."
"Walker isn't running a game on Bartowki is she?"
Casey's hands clenched, he flexed them to dissipate the tension. "Rizzo, as of now I'm officially writing up the next person who asks me about Walker's feelings. I am running a team, not a fucking High School cheer group.
"Did you think she slaughtered her way through armored mercenaries because he was an assignment? Larkin's my assignment, I'd have waited for backup. Not charged in.
"I don't know why you care so much, her relationship is her business, if you want to know something ask her.
"However, let me make this as clear as I can. If you do anything to fuck with our team dynamics, I will stick you and Larkin in Constellation's basement and lock the door behind me. We're dealing with the single greatest threat our nation has ever faced and instead of focusing on that, I'm watching as a trained CIA Agent acts like a primadonna, my Analyst is in the hospital again, and to top it all off I'm explaining a relationship.
"This is the last we're talking about this."
Zondra nodded quietly, "Understood."
Casey ran his hand over his face, he walked to the medical bay. He needed to talk to the only other reasonably sane Agent on the team.
Sarah looked up at Casey walked in, "You know… I didn't thank you. He told me you grabbed him as he was…" Her voice broke and she choked back the emotions. "He told me you saved his life, thanks for that, John."
"No problem. He's a good kid, we didn't talk about this, but I didn't request Rizzo, she was just the only vetted-"
"I know. Doesn't make it easier."
"No, it doesn't, Listen, while you're feeling charitable towards me. I already read Larkin the riot act, he tries something like that again, Beckman be damned, I'll stick him deep in the bunker myself."
"So, I guess that means no beating him to death with his own arm?" She cracked a small smile.
"No," Casey chuckled.
Chuck walked out of the examination room, followed by Cassiopeia, "He's fine. Some serious deep tissue bruising from his fall, so he'll need to take it easy for a bit."
She turned to Chuck, "Let me know if you're still in pain in a few days. Until then, I'm releasing you. Go rest."
Chuck nodded, then looked at Casey, "Hey, I know I thanked you-"
Casey grunted, "Bartowski, go home. Heal up, we'll see you when you get back. Walker, finish your report then you can take off for the day."
Chuck collapsed in bed, maybe he'd take up a less dangerous line of work, like bomb disposal. With that cheerful thought, he fell asleep.
Chuck woke up when Sarah came home, he saw her when she ran into the bedroom. She threw herself on the bed, held tightly onto him, and started sobbing. Chuck rubbed her back and murmured quietly. She finally said, "Sorry, I've been holding that in. I saw him throw you off a building, you would have died if Casey hadn't caught you. You… you… would have died…" Her voice broke, "You're my whole world, Chuck." She clung even tighter to him. "I almost lost you because of Larkin," her voice held a note of cold fury when Bryce's name came up.
There was a knock at the door. Sarah put her hand on his chest. "Stay here." Chuck heard her stalk furiously over to the front door. He heard the door get thrown open, followed by Rob's voice, "Whoa, Walker! Friend." Chuck stepped out of bed to save his boss from his girlfriend.
"Crap, Chuck! You look like hell," Rob was still giving Sarah a sideways look as he said that. She tensed, he quickly continued. "But that's not what I came here to say, I just wanted to check up on you to see how you were doing. Also to let you know that Perseus wants to see all of us. ASAP."
Chuck nodded, "Let me shower, then we can go."
Rob watched as Chuck walked off and turned to Sarah. "So, how's he holding…" his voice trailed off as he carefully looked at her tear stained face. His initial view had been obscured by the gun she'd pointed at his face.
"Sarah… How are you holding up…?"
"Rob, I'm barely holding myself together, I'm sorry if I'm not fit for small talk. Can we just…"
He nodded, "Sure, sorry. You know I like to think of us as friendly right? If you need anything or want to vent, I can listen."
"I appreciate that, I really do. Let's just get going."
Perseus looked frustrated as they all walked in. He had the Cipher on the table in front of them.
"Thank you, I apologize for dragging you back here Mr. Bartowski, but this is a situation that requires all of us to be present. The Cipher has been tampered with. Sandia provided hashes for the files that were loaded in, but we found that temperature control and power were tampered with. Had we installed this in the new lab, it likely would have resulted in an explosion.
"Fulcrum clearly has an understanding of how this system was constructed, they also knew exactly what files would have had the most impact. This is worrying on many levels, I'm ordering a complete review of all the new components, if Fulcrum knows enough about us to execute subtle supply chain attacks, we're going to double check all the hardware coming in. This is likely to have a significant impact on our ability to rebuild the system. I'm afraid we'll need to notify General Beckman that Mr. Larkin is likely to be the only host for a long, long time."
McConnell looked over the reports from Major Casey's team. He picked up his phone and dialed Beckman, "Get Major Casey in tomorrow for a debrief."
They got ready for bed together, that was a luxury she enjoyed. She smiled gently at him as they got into bed.
He laid back, " I can't believe what Per-" she cut him off with a kiss. "No work, please. I nearly lost you. I just… I don't want to be without you." She kissed him again, "You're mine."
December 13, 2007
Zondra sat down at her workstation. Walker and Casey were at ODNI giving their reports, Larkin was reviewing interrogation reports to see if the data in his head would yield any additional context, that left her at loss for what to do, she didn't need to sit down and watch him while they were here in CASTLE.
She stood up and decided to walk over to the gym, she found Bartowski running through a few exercises.
"Need a sparring partner?"
He looked at her curiously, "Sure, but I have to warn you I'm not very good."
That was an understatement, his form was that of a complete novice. It was like he'd only learned in the last few weeks.
"Okay, where and how did you learn, your form's off."
He looked embarrassed, "Oh, Sarah just started teaching me over the last two weeks."
So, he was a complete novice, okay that made more sense.
She listened as he continued talking, "I was trying to figure out how I'd fight someone like Colt again."
She had to hold in her laughter, Walker would have a challenge going toe to toe with a behemoth like Colt, this guy would get beaten down in a heartbeat.
"Look, nothing against you, but you're not going to be able to take down someone like Colt in hand to hand, the man is literally a mountain of muscle. Walker and I would have trouble dealing with him."
She sighed, "I'm not trying to discourage you, but the people we're facing have been doing this stuff for years, if not decades. You're not going to be in a place to fight them hand to hand in a few weeks."
"No, I know that, Sarah told me to focus on evasion and escape, rather than a standing fight. I just… I don't know, I keep thinking I'll get better. Especially after the last few weeks."
She read the reports, Lizzie, Delgado and now Colt. "You know, knowing Walker like I did, I'm betting she had a conversation with you. Something about it not being your job to fight battles like that?"
He looked at her sheepishly, "Yeah, she did a few times, just hate feeling helpless, nothing says helpless more than being tossed off a building with one arm."
She looked at him carefully. He wasn't what she expected Sarah Walker's boyfriend to look like. He was tall, lanky, looked like the most physical exercise he got was going from his computer to his fridge.
Zondra always pictured some kind of super spy for Walker, suave and sophisticated, like Larkin.
"Okay you know what Chuck, here let's spar a bit, I want to see how you're blocking."
Using the nerd would give her an in with Walker.
Sarah sighed as she walked into CASTLE, she'd been commended for her removal of the mercenaries and the capture of Colt. She checked Chuck's office, it was empty. His car was in the lot, so he was here. She wandered by the gym. Usually, he was done by now.
She heard grunting and the sounds of strikes connecting as she walked in. She had to temper her reaction as she saw Zondra striking Chuck, and blatantly telegraphing her strikes. Zondra paused. "Okay, your blocking is adequate, the problem is really one of timing, you're moving after my strike is in motion. You want to see my cues the way that my eyes look, the motion of my muscles, all these little things will add up to where my strike is going. That'll give you the extra moment you need to be really effective."
Sarah got caught in a memory of Zondra doing the same for Amy when they'd started out on CATS.
Zondra stopped her lesson as she noticed Walker.
Chuck noticed the tension between the two of them, he looked at Sarah, "Can I leave you two alone?"
Zondra waited for the cutting comment that would send Chuck scurrying away, what she heard stunned her, "Of course, we'll be fine, go shower, sweetie." Sweetie? Who was this Sarah Walker?
Chuck left the gym.
"Spar?"
Sarah stepped into the ring, "Sure, nothing permanent and nothing that would leave either of us out of action. Contact is a point, first to 10 wins."
Zondra nodded, shorter version of the spars they'd had back then.
She was ready, she'd been ready for this fight for years.
Sarah's movements were fast, no telegraphing, just a lighting fast kick that she pulled back on right before contact.
Point 1: Sarah Walker
Chuck showered and went back into the gym. There was a brutal elegance on display. Zondra and Sarah were sparring. He was shocked at how fast they were moving, neither of them moved like that during spars with him.
Sarah made subtle movements which caused Zondra's strikes to miss. Sarah landed a hit and they separated.
Zondra looked at Sarah, "I only got 4 hits in, what the fuck was that Walker?"
"Just one of the few side effects of my work over the last few years. I had to get faster."
"And I got slower, that was half the hits I used to get in," Zondra sounded frustrated.
"Sir, Colt has disappeared. He's missed all three scheduled meeting and the failsafe. None of his men have been heard from, there was a lot of activity around a parking garage in Albuquerque. We can assume that Colt and his men have been either captured or compromised."
"I see… between the roll up and the loss of the contractors, our direct action capability has been diminished. Pull in the more vulnerable members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, it's time that they were made aware of several flagrant violations of the law."
Graham sat at his desk. His headache had diminished slightly. Sarah was due any moment. This was going to be a difficult conversation, no matter how he structured it.
His receptionist let him know that Sarah had arrived.
She quietly entered his office, he smiled, "Agent Walker, thank you for coming in."
"Of course sir."
"Tell me more about Agent Larkin's behavior on the last mission, Major Casey's report was… less than flattering. I'd like to hear it in your words please."
"Sir, Agent Larkin hasn't gotten used to his role as support, once our team got bogged down by the mercenaries he felt that the best way to contribute was to join us. By the time he arrived, we'd already acquired the Cipher. His leaving allowed Colt's men to identify which vehicle was our support vehicle." Graham noted as she continued her explanation her voice got more dispassionate, however he noted the tension in her stance, this was new. She'd ended her explanation with them in pursuit of Bartowski.
"Agent Walker, do you believe that he would have acted this recklessly before he had the data implanted?"
She looked pensive for a moment, "Sir, he played fast and loose with the rules in the past, but I've never seen him directly put our support staff in danger before."
He nodded. "I see," he reached into his desk and handed her two sealed packets. "One packet is a detention order, if you feel that Agent Larkin is putting any of your team members at risk, or his behavior has grown too reckless to control, detain him."
She looked at him curiously, "Sir, wouldn't this be better given to Agent Rizzo? She's the official handler after all."
"You'd normally be right, however, while I can guarantee she's a reliable Agent, I cannot guarantee that she'll execute these orders as… effectively as you would, specifically the second packet." She looked at it and asked, "Termination order?"
"That's correct, if you feel that the data is at risk of falling into enemy hands or that Agent Larkin is at risk of being suborned by Fulcrum you are to take any and all means to safeguard the data. Including terminating him."
She nodded, "Understood sir."
He looked at her speculatively, "Agent Walker, you have permission to speak freely, what value would you say the data set has provided to us?"
"Sir, nothing that Larkin has done is unique to him. I know General Beckman views the system as a panacea, but sir, I'd rather…" She caught herself. "Sir, I do not believe our team efficacy has been materially increased by the addition of Agent Larkin or the data. Frankly given his actions here, I would say he's been a net detriment."
For most people that would have been a polite rebuke, for Sarah that was the equivalent of screaming profanity. Graham took a moment to process that.
"If we were to find a way to remove the data set from Larkin, he'd be removed from the team." Graham was curious to see what she'd say to that.
"Good."
"Understood Agent Walker, you're dismissed. Thank you."
A/N:
I'm going to try and stick with the Canon framework, but the deviations will be increasing, by and large I stuck with the episodes to get things off the ground.
Also, some folks asked why Fulcrum was so interested in Chuck, what we have here is a game of Intelligence Sunk Cost. Delgado went after Chuck because he wanted leverage over Walker, all he told his boss is "I'm going after Bartowski" then Sarah captured him. So, Fulcrum says, "Huh, Bartowski seems to be protected, that means he's important." So, they sent Lizzie after him. Lizzie is captured too. Now they know that Chuck must be important, because they've lost two people trying to get to him. If he wasn't important, why would he be protected?
I know folks wanted a big Zondra / Sarah explosion, but that's building up. Right now, Zondra knows this is the only way back to her old job and she doesn't want to jeopardize that, but her frustration is mounting. She sees Sarah having everything she wanted. Part two of the fallout will be the next chapter, this one had a bit more setup.