Chapter 8
The Cynic and the Foreign Spy's family.
Stakeouts were boring. Fuck movies for being so misleading. If a stakeout was ever made into a movie like it is in real life, he was sure the movie would have bombed the box office even if it was helmed by Spielberg and the maddeningly handsome, charismatic and Hollywood's short leading man, Cruise headlined it.
But he knew that going in. He suspected it as much. What he didn't know was how to deal with a grumpy Casey and an extremely fragile Sarah. If he were to guess, he would say that Casey was made to feel something and Sarah was feeling too much.
However, volunteering that information out loud might make him a recipient of heavy bruises. From both. Keeping mum seemed to be the best choice. Then again, keeping mum led him back to their dressing down from Beckman and Graham. About intersect, his former prison buddy and his easily revocable SSA.
SSA - short for special status asset/analyst/agent. As in, the individual holding this position is neither a probie nor a full-fledged designation of the three grunt positions of either organization. NSA worked on military principles and as such didn't employ agents. Analysts on the other hand were dime a dozen but masked as contractors/sub-contractors. Both had assets though and the inevitable conclusion was that although there was a verbal agreement with the top dogs, nothing had been contractualized to get him that analyst post. Making things extremely awkward for him and possibly hindering Sarah from responding to any of his moves.
It was a good thing they had managed to keep Operation Tiny of the books and neither Graham nor Beckman had any idea about it. He decided to push his written contract agenda to after they finished the Chinese spy mission - his first flash on the lady with the tattoos. Which was what their bosses were pushing them for.
Crappy bosses aside, this lady was a fearsome woman. The USA had the most advanced, well prepared intelligence agencies with influence across the globe in nook and crannies of even the dumpster fires on earth. Them having so little information on their rising adversary's top agent and her possible inclination in US mainland was troubling in on itself.
While pondering there was a knock on the window of their supposedly inconspicuous black Chevrolet, clearly government-issued van placed staring down the dragon's den. Like nobody would figure out that it was a government proxy. Nonetheless, it startled both the experienced spies and they immediately readied themselves for a possible shootout. As the window rolled down, they saw it was a delivery boy from the Bamboo Dragon, having orders of Sizzling Shrimp and more for them all. Chuck hurriedly paid while Casey glared at him and Sarah being highly amused, smiled at his naivete.
"The point of a stakeout is to be inconspicuous, numbnuts. Ordering from delivery boys completely defeats the purpose."
Chuck gave a flat look at Casey and said, "Have you ever seen a black van parked in a dingy street across in Chinatown? It's a classic movie cliché. Even the delivery guy knows we are watching somebody. So, I think that inconspicuous prattle is to convince yourself that the bosses think they had it right with this crappy plan. Besides, if it were to be a real stakeout, I think it would have been better to plant cameras across the street and hire a motel for me to stakeout while you two were ready in my Corolla, ready to pull in and jump into action as soon as ready. That would have been so much better. But sure. Two assholes sitting in DC decided our plan of action without any on ground intelligence. And you two went along with it."
Casey wanted to boil over but knew he was right. They would have a better shot with what he said and it was clear they were, he couldn't even say this without cringing, somehow stuck in a movie trope of waiting in a black van. So, he did the only think he could. Become grumpier with a lot of huffing and puffing. Sarah on the other hand, lost all the edginess and was enjoying Casey's torment.
At the moment, Ben Lo Pan chose to wheel out to his limo and Chuck had another massive flash. This time he learnt of the triad, their operations in LA, their partnership with the council and their suspiciously charming differently-abled head Ben Lo Pan. A clarity dawned on him about judging a book by its cover. A helpless old dependent terrorizing LA and Chinatown with the Feds absolutely unable to even touch him.
Mei Ling walked out after them and was absolutely gorgeous. He would never admit it to the woman of his dreams but Mei Ling was someone in his usual type - brunette, overachiever and absolutely beautiful. And they tailed her and Ben Lo Pan to Chinatown's most notorious gambling den. With his connections, Chuck actually had a free pass to this place. Now with the additional intel on the council and their operations with the LA triad, the panther could be waiting there.
"Guys... I should not be here. I am taking a cab home."
Casey donned his infuriating smirk. "Running like the little boy, Chuck? Scared, are you?"
Chuck spoke genuinely. "This place is connected with the council. It is a high probability, that the panther would be here. Besides, I have a few... contacts in the triad and I am a well-known... whale here."
Sarah couldn't believe her ears. "I am sorry. You gamble? With Chinese games? And a winner?" She was grinning. Her nerd was getting more and more delightful by the second. Wait... Her nerd?
Chuck looked offended. "Like I said before. Lots of free time and enough triad assholes in the big lockup. Had to do something. Just coz I got a big brain I won more often than the dumb criminals playing here."
They then decided that him staying put was the best option. They didn't want him out of their sight and entering with him would put their tailing operation into full jeopardy. So, Chuck stayed in the car, enjoyed the shrimp and started planning to entrap the panther for his two overlords.
His musings were interrupted by gunshots. About a good thirty to forty of them. His heart was in his mouth. His worry for Sarah and Casey was mounting with each shot. He then saw Ben Lo Pan wheeling away and decided to stay put. He needed to see what happened and stay out of the Triad's hair. What he saw cemented his worry for Tiny. The Panther was behind the Chinese kingpin and ushered him to safety, along with a kidnapped bloke dumped in the trunk.
When the car just began to move, he took out a contraption, best described as a pea-shooter and blew through it. A small and nearly unnoticeable sound lead to a miniscule tracker travelling nearly 200 feet to stick onto the roof of the limo. He could now help the kidnapped victim and take out the Panther in one go.
Mei Lin meanwhile had come out and started shooting at the limo. Unluckily for her, the limo was bulletproof and the panther lowered the back glass and with one shot, he hit her in the chest, downed in a minute.
Chuck needed to act fast. Luckily, he was well prepared. He came with a well-stocked first aid kit and decided to stop the bleeding. He didn't know if any organs were hit but blood began oozing out from under her. The bullet had made it through. He rushed to her and saw that the bullet had missed, with completely amazing luck, all major parts of the body. She would take some time to heal, a month or two, before she would be back on her feet and ready to kick ass.
He carefully dressed her, called 911 and reported a hit-and-run, removed all her weapons and stripped her of any identification. She watched him work and couldn't stop anything as she was too weak to do so. She strained herself and coughed a little blood and asked him in a raspy voice, "Who are you?".
"That's not important. We need to get you safe."
She squinted and made out his unkept mop of brown hair. "I know you. You were in the Bamboo Dragon the other day."
"Yes"
"Are you with Ben? Triad?"
He paused at her question. Realizing that it might be right for her to assume as much, he replied "No, ma'am. I saw you got shot and didn't want to see you pass away."
She was losing consciousness. "The man you saw kidnapped, he is my brother. Pleas save him. I guess you are from law enforcement. He is a diplomat. Save him please." And the world went black.
Casey and Sarah rushed back to where the left Chuck when they saw him kneeling next to their dead target.
Casey looked mildly intrigued and surprised, while Sarah looked horrified. Both assumed he killed her. "I didn't think you had it in you Bartowski. Way to go, moron. Now we have a dead target."
Chuck looked back at the smirking Casey and horrified Sarah. "She isn't dead and I didn't shoot her. I was dressing her wound." At their sigh of relief. "Way to go guys. I am not a killer."
He saw a rebuttal coming and decided he would not hear it. Not right now. "Anyway. She said she was here for her brother, a kidnapped guy who was in the trunk of the limo that took off. She came to rescue him but the Panther was here. He shot her while they were running away. It's a through and through and I already called 911. That was..." looking at his watch, " 197 seconds ago. I believe the fastest response in Chinatown for an EMT vehicle is 4 minutes. So, we better get going."
They hurried to the van and took of just as the EMT arrived.
Unbeknownst to him, while he was dressing her wounds, she had snagged a business card from his front pocket and when the doctors identified any relations, they were left with only one number to call.
Underground Base, Next Morning.
"Mr. Bartwoski, are you telling me that the top, ruthless, relentless, fiercely loyal, Chinese operative is in LA to rescue her brother from the Chinese Triad, against the orders of her own government? I think that's as ridiculous as it gets. Would someone tell him why?" Chuck was sure he finally understood why his handlers (for now) were disgruntled each time they met their bosses or were berated by them. They clearly didn't have an iota of anything that goes behind an operation or even understand what motivates a person to commit any action. If there was an age where robots did overtake humans, they would definitely be modeled after these two soulless assholes.
"Director. I cannot reason with you why the Chinese espionage queen chose to go against the express orders of her government to save her family. While I can understand her motivation, I am beginning to recognize the absurdity of emotionless and unsentimental nature you seem to have cultivated amongst your reputed agencies and expect from others as well." His snark got a few muffled laughs from Casey and Sarah, while Beckman's lips seemed to be trembling, oscillating even, into a muted smile. Graham was unperturbed and completely unfazed. Only indication he heard Chuck was the intense stare that seemed to want to set him alight on fire.
"That being said, I would guess that she had a traumatic past likely only had a brother for a support system and was definitely indoctrinated in her teens to be shaped into a force of Chinese will. There is a possibility that she kept her brother out of this path forcibly pushing him into the tamer and safer route of diplomacy."
"And how did you come to this conclusion, Mr. Bartowski? There's no professional psychoanalytical training in your educational history." Beckman's question turned Chuck a bit sheepish.
"I needed to keep myself busy for three years, General. I chose psychology and psychoanalysis. I guess it helps now."
Beckman smiled. None of them had ever seen her smile. "Remarkable, Mr. Bartowski. It seems we have been constantly underestimating you throughout your…" It was clear she wanted to say life. Yet, for some reason she uncharacteristically trailed off.
Graham got them back to point. "Nonetheless, you three were sloppy last night. It came to our attention when a detective from the Burbank PD tried to access Chuck's classified record. Of course, we quashed the request. But on further inquiry, we found that your (looking intensely at Chuck) business card was found in her hand as the EMT's rolled her into the ER."
They all looked at Chuck. "How did she manage that I wonder?"
Chuck stared back. "Sir… I am an SSA, not an agent or even a trained analyst yet. In my desperation to keep her alive, I might have taken my eyeball off her hands. I apologize and won't let it happen again."
Graham seemed satisfied that he got Chuck to cower again. Beckman picked up the topic again and said, "We have Mei Ling in custody. The Chinese have disavowed any association with her and called her and quote, an independent rogue operative who despite several binding orders chose to jump protocol and attempt a rescue operation on her own, unquote. As of now, Mei Ling is a national with no country. She is a treasure trove of information. We could break her but we know through… extensive practical attempts, intelligence gained that way is not reliable." The snorts from Casey and Sarah were clear as day and it revealed they had extensive knowledge in that area.
Graham continued with a glare at them, "What we hope to do now is extract that information in a more amicable manner. We leave the operational details to you. Personally, I would recommend to go ahead with Agent Walker's plan. Major Casey's hinges on the idea that we still live in 2003 and doesn't track well with our current congressional and presidential values. Get to work."
And they both left.
.
.
.
Chuck turned around and looked at Sarah. "I am sure I am missing something here, but he said something about you having a plan of action. I don't recall you proposing anything."
Casey began chuckling. "You got to be the telling him. Mine atleast kept him out of it. Good luck Walker." Casey walked away with Sarah shooting daggers from her eyes onto his retreating figure.
Chuck startled her with a gentle, "Sarah. Could you tell me what's going on?"
Sarah took his hand and sat him in a chair. "Ok. Please don't freak out. I said you weren't re-".
Chuck looked at her and said, "Just rip off the bandage".
"We will be using your new rapport with miss Chinese hotshot to defect or give up her secrets in exchange for a new life free from her government. That sort of thing."
Chuck was speechless. Probably the first time in forever Sarah had known him. His response made it all the more hilarious. "What exactly would you want me do? Torture? Coercion?" And in a low voice full of distaste, "Seduction?"
At the last bit she felt a strange mix of amusement and revulsion. She chose to be amused far more and let out a raucous peel of laughter. And continued laughing till she was red. Chuck was definitely not amused.
Climbing down her high, she spoke while wiping tears away from her eyes, "Nothing of that sort. You just need to talk to her and garner her consent."
"Sarah… You realize I don't have any hypnotic voice to command people and get it done?"
Her flat look told him continuing down that line was not advisable. "What you need to do, Chuck, is just be you. It is not an interrogation. You saved her life, Chuck. She is indebted to you. She will be a lot more comfortable to hear this coming from you than from me or Casey."
Chuck was a little stunned. "I am not sure I should do this, Sarah. I am no magician in getting people to understand or choose what we want them to."
Sarah sighed and smiled a sad smile. "You poor, poor man. You don't realize what an effect you have with your words and actions. Just look through the past few weeks. Your way with words put me and Casey on the same page, convinced Beckman and Graham to give you a chance, and kept a lot of stuff from become dystopian in your life." Seeing Chuck still unconvinced, she decided to just let him wing it. "Consider it a test of your field analyst skills in operative interaction. And just be you Chuck. No Bond. No Hollywood. No extra shit you picked up in your nerd-dom. Got it?"
Chuck sighed. "Yeah. Sure. No pressure." He began to walk towards their workspace and she was smiling. Smiling because he was muttering to himself. "Just be yourself, she says. Easy for her to say. She isn't going into the mama bear's den to say 'Hey. I know you love China. But I also know you love your brother. I'll only save him if and only if you cheat on China for me. Alright? Great to have you on the team.' Peachy. Just Peachy. Fucking spies."
Hey guys. It's been a while. I'll be updating it regularly from now on. I'll finish S1 and then stop for a while.
Also, I'll be making short chapters. Abt 3000 words. Easier to write and easier to update.
Stay safe and take care.
