AN – Part 1 of snapshots of a week in DC. Bonus, Casey goes to a night club.
Sunday
The trip to DC itself was uneventful, if interesting, as Chuck hadn't flown commercial very often. He held up the line at the checkpoint just by the sheer quantity of the electronics he packed. Then he spent several minutes helping a single mom with her kids, being extra 'Chuck' like. Sarah used the confusion to slip her knives past security for the exercise. Then she watched in a sort of fond amusement as he ended up on a first name basis with the checkpoint agents and four other travelers before arriving where she was standing to give her a kiss.
After they'd picked up the generic and ubiquitous silver sedan from the rental desk, he insisted on seeing her place before they did anything else. Sarah had tried to point out that their apartment in Echo Park was more 'her' now than any other place she'd lived, but he wouldn't let it go and so she'd acquiesced with some grumbling that a hotel would have been faster, and closer to the office.
Arriving at the somewhat cookie cutter town home, Sarah opened the door and waited listening. She listened for a good thirty seconds, before stepping in and disarming the alarm. It was hard to describe but an empty house sounded different than one that had operating appliances or even breathing people in it. It appeared as though no one had been inside since the last time she'd been here, at least no one leaving an obvious trace. Just before Budapest if she recalled correctly. The dust certainly seemed to match.
"Its dustier than I imagined." Chuck said, stepping inside and looking around.
"I haven't been here in over six months." Sarah explained and gestured around. "A cleaning crew would be a bit dangerous to allow in without me and calling in 'company' cleaners would probably have stood out for my cover."
"Not to worry, you've got a Bartowski with you. Just point me at the cleaning supplies." Chuck said, making a Superman pose.
"I think... maybe there's some stuff in the cabinet above the washing machine? Down that hall." Sarah said, thinking hard. "Normally I just make sure its cleaned when I'm here. I could just call a service."
He'd already headed down the hall and she could hear doors and cabinets. His voice echoed. "Nope! I got this."
Sarah shook her head and made her way around to check the other possible entries and reset the alarm to its perimeter mode. She also did a sweep for bugs and only had to trash two, both seemed to be CIA issue. That done, it let her relax enough to start helping tidy up despite a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something important. She tossed some bed linens in the dryer to freshen up and then went to dust the living room. When she retrieved the linens and headed to the bedroom, she found Chuck sitting on the side of the bed looking at the contents of a box. Shit. Now I know what I forgot, I loaded it for disposal and leftit when I had to go to Hungary on zero notice.
"The Anderson's?" Chuck asked when he heard her.
Dropping the linens on the bed, she circled around and sat beside him. She glanced into the box. It held some IDs, cards of various kinds, and a number of photos depicting the expected life of a young married professional couple. "Bryce's choice. I'd guess Matrix now, but I didn't know it at the time."
Chuck gave her a small smile and pointed. "You look happy there."
Sarah glanced at the photo in question. "That day sucked." She shook her head at the memory. "I'd been working solo after the CATs broke up. Missions that were fairly clean, for CIA operations, and more importantly – uncomplicated by drama. For values the of happy I had then, I was fairly happy. Then I got pulled back to DC to be assigned a partner that I didn't want. I was no longer happy. On top of that, it was a rush so we had to build the entire cover in one day. I was so hungry when they took that picture, but they couldn't let me mess up the makeup. I think that was the fourth or fifth outfit and makeup change."
"You managed to pull it off." Chuck said, an odd note in his voice.
"I recognize that tone, Chuck. Its the 'I'm trying not to make a big deal out of something that's bothering me because it might upset Sarah so I'll just suffer.' tone." Sarah said, then she took the box from him and held it under one arm. She held her other hand out to him. He took it and she pulled him to his feet.
Chuck raised an eyebrow and said, "That seems really long. Isn't there a shorter way to say that?"
She led him out of the bedroom and down stairs to the utility room. The box was placed on the counter and she turned to face him after turning on the light. "Well Casey would just call you 'numbnuts' or 'moron', but I'm obligated to be nicer out of love." Sarah stepped close and gave him a hug. Then she kissed him and spoke into his ear. "You are not in competition with him, but even if you were… you'd win." She released him and turned to flip on the shredder that sat in a corner of the room. "I'd meant to do this before I left for Hungary. Months ago. Standard for closing down a cover. I really shouldn't have left the box here, but I didn't even have time to take it to the office. I barely had time to change clothes." She dropped the passport and some of the cards into the device, listening to it chew through them. "You want to help?"
"You don't want to keep any of those?" Chuck asked, picking up one of the photos.
Sarah smiled at him, plucked it from his fingers, and dropped it into the shredder. "Even if it wasn't protocol, Chuck, they just don't mean anything. It was a cover, no different than any other I'd had before. The only 'personal' photos I had were from Cabo in 2005."
Somewhat dubiously, Chuck picked up the drivers license and dropped it in. "You still have them?"
"Fishing for a bikini photo? All you have to do is ask." Sarah replied, grinning at his reddening face. She took a file folder of very authentic looking documents and dropped them in. "Seriously though, I may be new at this, but even I know I shouldn't keep vacation pictures of an ex Chuck."
"No… it was just that it was something you cared about. Those little glimpses of the real you popping through the spy front, even back then." Chuck said looking at her and then shrugging sheepishly. "I love to see those things, those bits of you."
Sarah dropped the last of the photos into the slot and hit the power switch after it had ground through them. She looked at Chuck and took a breath. "You get to see me, the real me. Living with you… Its not being a good spy, but its made me better." She paused and smiled softly. "I have a box in Echo Park. Only a few things, things I'd fight to keep now. A receipt from our second time to the Mexican place, because I can't go back and save the first one. Some photos, duplicates since most of those are also out in frames." She grinned. "A Stanford ID and ticket stub." She wrinkled her nose at a memory. "A Chinese menu that smells slightly of shrimp. The story of who I am now. Its not a lot, but its growing, and that's thanks to you. So really, you need to stop comparing yourself to my dead ex, OK?"
Chuck stared at her and blinked, then he just smiled at her for a minute. Finally the smile turned to a grin and he gave himself a fake shake as if to wake up. "I'm sorry, what did you say? My mind was stuck on 'you get to see me'. I connected the dots to 'bikini photo' and got lost with 'popping through'.
Grinning back, she said, "C'mon, we've got to change the sheets anyway. May as well make a mess first."
A short exclamation of "Eeep!" escaped from Chuck as she yanked him down the hall.
A few hours later, after cleaning up the bedroom and putting right the furniture that got moved, they ordered food. It was spread out on the coffee table and they sat on the floor, using some couch cushions and pillows to prop themselves up. Chuck was glancing around with a slight frown.
Sarah finished the last of her pad thai and gave him a look. "What is it Chuck?"
"I guess… I'm just feeling a bit sad that this is the life you were expected to live, that other agents live." Chuck said and shrugged.
She frowned for a moment and then took a drink from her beer before replying. "I don't think that its so much how you're expected to live but how you end up living when you're broken and no one has any reason to fix you. They need you to be broken, or at least it helps. I didn't think they had any interest in agents who weren't broken." She paused and waved a hand around at the room. "This becomes normal and you start to pity the people who are… 'tied down' I suppose. I never gave it any though until…" Sarah paused and smiled. "Well, until I found out what its like to have anything more thanks to you and Ellie. So don't think for a minute that I miss the 'Andersons', this townhouse, DC, or traveling around the world to do the nation's dirty work. I may not be whole yet, but I'm not totally broken anymore, and I already can't wait to go home."
Monday
"Its oddly manicured here." Chuck commented as Sarah navigated the morning traffic. They had appointments at Langley and planned to spend the day working through the initial paperwork. Casey would meet them tomorrow after lunch, he'd texted that he'd arrived and would be at Ft. Mead all day.
Sarah glanced around. "This is a nicer area, the larger part of DC is just like any other big city really. Worse traffic than LA in some ways since the streets are often smaller and the rules confusing." She paused, not able to stop the almost snarl. "And tourists."
"Seems so pretty for a place that can get so dark." he said.
She was silent for a while, collecting her thoughts. "You and I operate on a… different level than most of the Agency, Chuck. We see the worst events, and deal with the most critical things. For most of the people working here its just another office job." Sarah replied smiling. "That's who you'll be talking to today."
"I'll be talking to?" He looked up in surprise. "You're not coming along?"
"I'll be with you." Sarah said in a reassuring tone. "You'll have a meeting with the Director at some point, and spending some time in HR, though I'm not sure what order that's in or what day this week. For at least part of that I may go take care of some bureaucratic chores."
She parked in a secured slide lot and waited patiently as they cleared security. It took time since she hadn't been there in months, and her files were restricted which required a call to a supervisor. Chuck's first time signing in and photos took only slightly longer.
"Carmichael?" Chuck asked quietly.
Sarah nodded. "Yes, most of the actual agents ID's are official fakes like that. You should be able to guess why.."
"I suppose it makes sense." He glanced around the somewhat dingy hallway. "Grimier than I expected."
"The public really doesn't see this, no reason to make it pretty. We'll circle around to the front so we can see the more interesting parts of the building." Sarah pointed down the hall and started walking. "We've got time."
Some time later, after taking time to appreciate the experience of walking across the great seal in the entry floor, they stopped to look at the wall.
"I'd read about those stars." Chuck said, staring at the memorial wall.
"Its sobering. Even more if you know the real stories and numbers." Sarah murmured in reply. Chuck looked at her and raised an eyebrow, Sarah replied with a sad nod. She hadn't wanted to put a damper on his attitude, but she'd taken him to see this with the express purpose of outlining the seriousness of what they did. She smiled softly and pulled him away and down the hall. "Now, do you realize why I ask you to stay in the car?"
"I do, and its why I can't." he replied, bumping his shoulder against her. "Because I don't want you to end up on that wall." Chuck turned in place as they walked, looking around and getting a few glances that quickly looked elsewhere when Sarah stared back. "So, where is this museum that only people with a clearance can see that I read about?"
"Yeah… about that clearance." Sarah said, gently guiding him to the elevator.
Hours passed at a table in the bowels of the building, across from a dour woman who apparently had an endless stream of forms that needed filling out. Variances for clearance documentation, to be signed by the Director. Questionnaires for 'National Security Positions' that were still required despite the Directors approvals. Affidavits regarding the Stanford events. Waivers regarding Chuck's direct appointment to a field position. Waivers for formal training in favor of field OJT. Tax forms for both Chuck Bartowski and Charles Carmichael. Luckily CIA HR was used to one person being multiple people. Health benefits enrollment, life insurance, retirement package. Medical examinations, these they had brought with them, blessedly already filled out by Ellie. Others that had no name, but that seemed to require multiple paragraphs of long hand writing. There were even forms to disclose their personal relationship. Through it all, Sarah was growing ever more impressed with Chuck's ability to maintain an even and calm exterior, though she figured it was really all the way through. He filled out each form, asked relevant questions, and the only sign of his fatigue with the documentation was the occasional pause to work kinks out of his writing hand. Sarah nearly jumped across the table to strangle the woman when she'd thought they were done, only for another stack to come out from a drawer. After what felt like an eternity that had Sarah wishing for a nice relaxing knife fight, they finally stamped the last document and slid the copies into one folder for storage, one to take with them to deliver to Director Graham for signature, and a subset for Chuck's own records.
With what seemed like a grudging fractional smile, the HR representative spoke as they stood. "Welcome to the Agency."
All three of them gave a start of surprise when they heard a voice from the doorway. "I've never seen anyone finish that without at least complaining once." Director Graham said in his rumbling baritone. "I may have you give lessons."
Sarah put a hand on her hip and turned to face her boss. "I thought you were joking about having him do all this paperwork. Normally its spaced out over two weeks or more of on-boarding at the Farm."
"Agent Walker, I told you to plan for the week in town. The implication would be that you could have spaced this out somewhat." he replied mildly.
Considering this, she nodded and then shrugged. "Well…"
Chuck raised an eyebrow as he interrupted her. "Have neither of you filled out a warranty claim? This all wasn't that bad really and…" He paused and waved at the HR woman. "… Julia has been just as patient as me. I take it you're here to sign all your parts?" Sarah noticed the woman's demeanor change as, possibly for the first time, someone remembered her name. The Director's presence hadn't phased her, but apparently Chuck had worked his magic again. Sarah covered her smile with her hand and a short cough.
"I thought it might help." Graham replied and took Sarah's vacated seat and began to sign forms. It took only minutes and he did it in silence. Even though he said nothing, Sarah could tell he wanted the two of them to wait for him. Sarah glanced at her watch and noted the time. It was nearly five PM and she presumed Graham wanted a moment to chat before they left for the day.
Minutes later found them walking down a plain white corridor accompanied by Graham's personal security. "Anyway, Chuck, I just wanted to make sure everything had gone smoothly. And setup a meeting later this week. Well, and to preserve a certain reputation for unpredictably showing up to random places in the building." Graham continued as if there hadn't been several minutes of silence. "Sarah, on Friday I'll take Chuck. Casey can keep a discrete eye on things, I'm sure Diane won't mind if we borrow him. You'll can do your psych eval and certifications." He waved down her immediate protest. "He'll be fine Sarah."
Sarah manged to stifle a growl. "If he's not where I expect him at 5pm…"
"You'll come looking by 5:01, I understand."
Tuesday
Sarah's feet had hurt most of the day. They'd walked all over the sprawling old headquarters, seen the museum, seen her actual desk (where Chuck had watched her deal with a small pile of items that had required a physical signature but that hadn't been important enough to courier to Burbank), even visited Tech Services. That visit had taken the longest of all of the stops today when Chuck had ended up in a long and involved discussion with one of their lead engineers about flaws in the software used for collating data gathered by surveillance devices.
Sarah had spent that entire meeting looming somewhat ominously near Chuck. The lead engineer in question had turned out to be a woman. An attractive, brunette, woman. The conversation had stalled several times when the woman stumbled over her words at Sarah's not quite openly hostile expression. They'd only left when Chuck had extracted a promise from Sarah that they'd make time to return or meet some of the engineers for lunch to continue the discussion. It had taken nearly all of Sarah's considerable self control and training to merely nod and give a semi-polite smile.
When they made it back to her town-home later, neither of them got much sleep. She was intent on ensuring that he started the next day a tiny bit sore and very aware of her feelings for him. Before they drifted off to sleep in the early hours, he pulled her close and quietly spoke. "Love ya, and please don't hurt the engineering group lead. You've shown me enough to see Wendy's flirting and I won't encourage her. OK?"
She nodded, her head bumping his chin. "I know its silly, but I get… worried about the girls who can be more 'normal' than me. Who share more in common." She bit her lip. "Saw through me tonight? Did I lay it on a bit heavily?"
"Normal is boring. And, yeah a bit. If you're going to do that every time someone flirts with me… I'm going to have to step up my cardio." She felt and heard him chuckle. "Maybe take up yoga."
Wednesday
They made it into the building about half an hour behind schedule. Both of them were a bit tired and sore from her enthusiastic expression of her feelings the night before. It took several cups of coffee and her taking Chuck at his word about yoga to work out the kinks before they left.
Then the day got rolling with the requisitions system and a crash course on field expense reporting with a guest from the NSA as well. It seemed that the field support staff, to whom Chuck now belonged, used a different one than case officers. After listening for a while, Sarah understood why. People in Chuck's position routinely signed for equipment worth millions of dollars. Chuck wandered out of the class in something of a daze and Sarah guided him gently towards the cafeteria. She figured he could use some more caffeine and sugar, plus it was lunch time anyway.
Mindful of his previous promise to the engineers he'd spoken with, they texted that group. Several of them arrived in short order and Sarah drifted to the side to let them chat. As she'd thought, the purely technical discussion and food rapidly restored Chuck's good spirits after realizing the budget items he'd be responsible for had brought him down. Sarah wasn't happy with the attention he was attracting from the female lead, but she held her tongue and observed.
"He seems like a natural leader." an older male voice said from behind her.
Sarah suppressed a start of surprise, few people could sneak up on her and she wondered if she was too distracted. Letting no sign of that slip into her voice, she replied. "Hmm?" She turned her head to look at the man. He was oddly average looking. This was typical of an older generation of CIA employee who worked hard to look more like bank employees than anything conspicuous versus the current generation who seemed to all to be pasted from magazine shoots. Salt and pepper hair, mid to late 50's she surmised. Off the rack suit, but of good quality. The watch wasn't flashy like a Rolex, but she knew the brand and it started at over a thousand US. Shoes matched the rest, quality but not custom. Just a bit scuffed. Everything about the man shouted 'upper middle management'. Her first guess was that he was assuredly not management. It had the look of a cultivated persona.
"Your boyfriend, there with the techs. They gravitate towards him." The man accompanied his reply with a subtle gesture of his coffee cup in Chuck's direction. At her raised eyebrow he continued. "Every time their lead leans too close, laughs at a joke, or comes close to touching him… your nostrils flair. Its small but..." He trailed off with a shrug.
Her cheeks turned just the tiniest bit pink before she could manage to control the embarrassment at being caught. "Mr?" she asked instead.
"Stephen Hunter" he said, and offered her a hand. She took it and noted that he neither tried to be 'gallant' nor overbearingly strong. He simply gripped her hand firmly and released it.
Sarah smiled in spite of herself. Something about the man gave off a sort of grade school teacher charm. "I can't argue that you're not correct, I should probably work on it. I find myself less interested in hiding, though, as time goes by. I would wonder how you came to be aware of us and just happened to wander by while I'm on site, however?" She started out smiling, but finished the sentence in a more chilly tone.
"Oh, far from 'just happened' Agent Walker." Steven said, apparently taking no note of her loss of warmth and growing serious. "I could say its some special insight, but I've seen your record. I wanted a look at the newest analyst who'd had such a rocky path and produced such amazing results. They pulled you, and Agent Casey, from the field to work with him, so the amazing results are probably more amazing than the file indicates. The personal angle is a surprise though." There was a conspicuous pause. "Plus, it seems like someone went to great lengths to keep him..."
It was then that the man turned his head, exactly in time with the passage of a senior agent on the other side of the room, that Sarah noticed two things. First, that he seemed to be deliberately avoiding attention. 'Hunter' what a terrible cover ID. That's obviously fake. Sarah's face lost all expression briefly and she stiffened momentarily. Even he wouldn't be so crazy as to sneak into... A bark of sudden laughter made her turn away, when she looked back the man was gone. On the table, next to the abandoned coffee cup, lay an unadorned flash drive. She collected it, slipping it into a pocket, and noted the time. She'd have to see if there was any hope of tracking the man, though she doubted it. Someone who could slip into HQ, sneak up on her, and then disappear probably had a way to deal with the surveillance. This had all the signs of an arranged drop. She'd have to wait for tonight to have Chuck look through the drive with her. Plus… it would be just too much if… I'll have to describe him to Chuck to see.
Pulling out her phone she sent a quick message, using Chuck's version of an Off The Record (OTR) messaging app. He'd started talking about 4096 bit encryption keys and her eyes had glazed over. The summary was that the people with the app could talk and the NSA would have trouble decrypting it since he'd implemented his own algorithm. The message was to Graham and Beckman, noting the time and alias of the agent who'd made the apparent drop, promising an update when they reached a secure location.
Then she put it from her mind and stepped deliberately to Chuck's side, laying a hand on his shoulder. She gave the group a small smile and spoke. "Chuck, we should get moving. Major Casey arrives soon and we need to prep for a briefing."
There was a brief round of calls of 'Spoilsport' and one quiet 'Man, I'd let her handle me in…'
Chuck bristled visibly and then looked at her and got his expression under control. She was proud of him protecting the 'professional' persona. He's trying so hard to be a good 'spy'.
There was a time for professional, and there was a time to be a girlfriend.
"As flattered… and disgusted as I am by the appreciation you're showing me." Sarah smiled sweetly, the expression never reaching her eyes. Those eyes were icy and as they swept over the techs, there were a number of shudders. Satisfied, she turned to Chuck and her expression softened into a genuine warm smile. "I'm very much taken." She put her arms around Chuck's shoulders and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know we were trying to keep it quiet, love, but anyone who looks at us long enough figures it out anyway."
Chuck grinned at her in the way that always made her want to drag him off for some private time and then he looked at the group. "Gotta go guys. Team leader and girlfriend, so you can imagine the penalties for disobeying."
They rose and started to leave, ignoring the stunned silence. Sarah couldn't resist a parting shot. "At least we both get rewarded when you do what I say…"
Wednesday Night
Casey had missed lunch and, after prudently calling to warn her, had driven to her town-home with takeout to have dinner and give them an update on what had kept him in Burbank. They slipped easily back into the team dynamic and were settled around the table within minutes. Casey took one of the long neck bottles from the six pack he'd brought, popped the cap with a multi-tool Chuck had given him. He proceeded to drink about half in one long pull.
"It can't have been that bad of a flight, Casey." Chuck said, watching him put the bottle down.
"Flight was fine." Casey replied shortly. Then he closed his eyes and leaned back, putting the cold bottle on his forehead. "I went straight to the plane from the debrief. Beckman call you? She was… not thrilled."
"No." Sarah said. "What happened? Just a routine meet and bug?" She was distracted, trying to think of how to bring up the drive and who she kinda suspected made the drop at HQ. The surveillance hadn't shown anything, so she had no proof other than the drive she hadn't had time to look at. The drive that felt as if it weighed hundreds of pounds in her pocket.
He snorted. "That was the plan. You would have thought it was Wu's fault it went off the rails. Nope, it was the other damn Bartowski." Casey stared off into space for a moment and then drained his bottle. "No shit, there I was at the club…"
The music was threatening to make his ears bleed and if one more person jostled him at the bar… well it was going to damage his calm. He wished, not for the first time, that Walker and Bartowski hadn't left the day before. John Casey was not a man who enjoyed the environment at night clubs. Give him a quiet cigar shop, maybe a nice single malt, and he was happy. Over the time in Burbank, it had been the team's habit to allow Casey to do the breaking and entering or to stay in the van when 'clubbing' had been on the agenda. This played to their strengths, Walker loved to dance and Chuck would follow her around like a drooling basset hound. Casey would be free of their ladyfeelings to get some work done. All in all, it suited him fine.
With the lovebirds in DC, however, he'd been tapped to lead the 'shouldn't be a problem, just a routine bug and maybe if – I have to and someone might die – talk to the target' mission. He was left with the requirement to fill in personnel, since Walker and Bartowski hadn't considered that before leaving. The first problem he'd run into was a lack of personnel to fill in. The local NSA office was a group of tech wienies with nary a girl in sight. The local CIA office had people, but it turned out that a number of consulate parties were under way that night and they were all tapped. Their operation was about as 'black' as it got, so he couldn't farm it out to the fibbies and if he called DEA, he was likely to get Miller and… he'd shuddered at the thought.
He'd been mulling it over in the Buy More breakroom, he still had a few days left of working the cover, methodically chewing his way through a ham sandwich on plain white bread. He didn't understand why people over complicated things. It was then that Wu had wandered though.
She'd taken a look at him and plopped down at the table, extracting a string cheese stick from her lunch. "What's the matter big guy, Chuckles being out of town got you down?"
"Nah, first quiet time in a while in Echo Park." he replied absently. "I wish the two of them would figure out we share a damn wall."
"Ah, so you miss the x-rated nightly show? I'd help but you're a bit old for me." Wu said, looking in her lunch bag for another cheese stick. "I do know a girl, very reasonable rates."
"I can find my own dates, kid." Casey knew she hated references to her age that's why he pushed the button a bit. "My problem is I need some people to take some tickets to a club. It was planned before Bartowski went out of town. Now…" Briefly he cursed his inattention and slip up in revealing that much. Then it got worse. He wasn't sure how it happened but he blamed his frustration at not being able to fill in the slots for a simple mission. By the time he finished, Wu had weaseled her way in as his 'date' because she wanted to go to the club and then suggested he grab Bartowski's sister and maybe a nurse or something to fill in the other tickets. She'd reasoned that Ellie could bring Devon and Morgan could be setup with whoever Ellie suggested. That would keep Morgan's hands off her ass.
Against his better judgment, he'd agreed. The others were just window dressing after all. The group had ended up with him, Wu, Bartowski (the good looking one he had to admit), Woodcomb, and the Troll. The potential date for the Troll was a young woman named Alex that the elder Bartowski had run into at a bakery.
Stopping his woolgathering over how he ended up in this hellhole, he collected the drinks and began to make his way back through the club to their table. The girls were all pounding back tequila shots at the badgering of Bartowski. Woodcomb was drinking soda, since he was on call. Before he managed to get back to the table, Woodcomb started at something as if he was bitten, then was on his phone and looking at his girlfriend apologetically. Ellie understood the life of a surgeon on call and simply kissed her boyfriend goodbye with no ill feelings. He watched the elder Bartowski drag Anna and Alex out to the dance floor wearing an evil grin.
When he arrived back at the table, he could see that trouble had already started to sprout as several more drinks had arrived and been consumed while he'd been gone. With the drinks, it was likely a number of offers of dances and more would happen. Oh hell, Woodcomb isn't here to help deflect them. Walker isn't here to shoot them down. If I step in, its gonna start a fight. He tried to signal Wu, but she was dancing and looking at Casey like… He swallowed hard and looked for the Troll.
It took him a song or two to find him. It seemed Alex wanted a break from dancing and was content to hang out with him. The two had drifted to the side, giggling it seemed over some comment one or the other had said.
With his attention divided he couldn't stop Wu from grabbing him, and he found himself with a pint sized dervish. Trying to keep up, and keep an eye on his 'backup' he quickly found that he'd lost track of Bartowski. Walker's gonna kill me, Chuck would just mess with my records, but Walker looks up to Ellie… He got a hold of himself. He'd had ops go bad any number of times in the past and this wasn't even in the same league. No guns, no bodies, not even a fight. This would be fine, it was as public as it got, just a night club. The Bartowski sister went dancing on a regular basis according to Walker. The number of shots she was downing was… concerning but the file said she was a UCLA sorority girl. In his experience those people could out drink Marines. Worst case would be some folks nursing a hangover.
Time to extricate himself from the dancing before he pulled something. He leaned over as Wu moved around him and half shouted in her ear. "Find Ellie, keep her… company since the prettyboy had to leave. I gotta hit the head." At her nod, he moved away. The Troll looked up as he passed and Casey tapped his watch meaningfully. The entire team on the 'inside' now was equipped with the tracking and com devices. Grimes nodded and then looked around. Spotting Ellie and seeing Wu with her, he pulled Alex up and gestured back to the table they'd been using. Casey approved. Someone should watch the drinks.
That settled he moved down the hall and stopped in the bathroom. Being a practical man, he did stop and hit the head. Then he exited the men's room and slipped upstairs. He only had to avoid a couple of bouncers who were slacking, and waited just a short time before the office was clear. Strange, but lots of people are just complacent. I'd have left at least one guy in there. He planted one of Chuck's "special" flash drives, and a couple of NSA bugs for good measure. He made it back down to the hall leading to the club's main room and was starting to allow himself to relax a bit. All done, smooth. No drama. Maybe I was worried for noth…
The crash of noise stopped even the club music. Casey was rounding the corner into the room and saw the reason. The unconscious body of a muscle shirt wearing guy had impacted the DJ's booth causing the amplifier to die in a shower of sparks that were still falling. Casey's head snapped around looking for what had caused the impact, expecting to see the beginning of a drunken brawl. Instead of the expected drunk or angry guy and outraged girl, he saw Eleanor Bartowski recovering to a stance that looked like Muay Thai. He recognized the results of that devastating kick from sparring sessions. Oh fuck, she's been training with Walker.
Bouncers were already moving in, but seemed confused when the drunk male seemed to not have been the cause of the commotion. A quick glance told him Grimes was wisely moving Alex towards a fire exit while hitting the button on his watch. A portion of his panicking mind approved of his cool reaction. This narrowed his intervention to one situation, but Casey was too far away and it looked like Bartowski was about to get a bit manhandled. Then the first of the bouncers reached her and took a knee to the sternum dropping like a sack of flour. He started running, and the only thought in his head was, Oh god, oh god, I'm so fucking dead.
Then Wu reached Ellie's side, swinging a microphone stand, and things really went to hell.
Sarah was laughing, near hysterical, as Casey ran through the catastrophic events that occurred after 'planting a few bugs'. Chuck was sitting stunned as he heard the description of his sister tearing through bouncers that probably were twice her size.
"Dammit Walker, its not funny. The only reason no one ended up in jail is Grimes pulled the fire alarm when he and the girl were popping out the fire exit. That bought me enough time to get there and drag the drunk, angry girls out. We're just lucky the interior cameras were mostly fakes." Casey looked somehow personally offended by that. "At least the bugs let me confirm they didn't ID anyone."
Sarah laughed even harder. It took her nearly five minutes to recover enough to breath properly and she snickered involuntarily every time Casey crossed his arms in frustration.
After things calmed down a bit, Chuck looked at Sarah and asked curiously. "Hey, when did you teach Ellie to beat the crap out of people?"
"She wanted to take some kind of trendy aerobic fighting thing. Taebo? Or something or other. I had no idea what she meant. I have to make the most of my training time these days so I countered that she could just train with me at the studio I use, plenty of cardio." Sarah replied and couldn't keep the proud smirk off her face. "She took to it really well. Maybe I should get her into escrima..."