AN- Imported Hard Salami will be very different. A few different folks have explored this. Without wt/wt going on, there's less need for Lou as much as we all like her. There's no need for a breakup or relationship angst. So we'll pursue some other hanging items that need to be resolved. Presume any names for officials came from random internet generators. This will probably end up 11b-1 and 11b-2 at this rate...
There are inconsistencies with different posted timelines. I need a few differences for a story to work for me.
1998 – Recruited and begins training and college.
2000 – Joins CATs after a few initial missions with handlers.
2002 – CATs disbanded, Sarah completes Red Test.
2007 – Ryker and the baby must happen just before July to make the overall flow work. Other 2007 events are per cannon timeline, but begin in July and are spaced out a bit more. Having so much happen in September makes little sense.
Other unmentioned things probably don't need to move, but presume adjustments to accommodate.
"Chuck, you'll be fine. Its going to be like two, three days tops." Sarah said, smacking his arm and then leaning back on him. "Plus I'm only going up to Stanford, I have to wrap up a few things. I'll be within driving distance if anything happens and its not like I'll be in Indonesia in deep cover – calling and texting are totally fine."
"I know." Chuck sighed. "Its just that you've been a constant presence. Its going to be weird."
"We'll survive. People go on business trips." Sarah said just a touch absently, watching the TV with half her attention.
"I'm actually more worried about you." Chuck said, poking her. "What are you going to do without all of us around?"
"I'm a big girl, I even went on missions for years alone. I'll be fine." Sarah replied, then she sat up. "If we're not going to watch this, what exactly are we going to do?"
Chuck bounced his eyebrows at her.
18 Hours Later, Westin – Palo Alto
"God, I'm not sure I'm going to make it two more hours, let alone two more days." Sarah muttered to herself as she tossed in the comfortable, but empty, bed. "And now I'm talking to myself." She looked at the clock and thought about the time. She gave up, sighed and picked up her phone.
After two rings, Chuck answered. "Missing the pre-sleep cuddles?" he said without preamble.
"I used to need thirty minutes of silence." Sarah replied. "I used to not take anything out of my suitcase." She heard a snicker. "This isn't funny Chuck." she said, then took a breath and laughed helplessly. "OK, its a bit funny. How are you doing?"
"Well, I'm awake and playing Call of Duty to distract me if that answers your question." Chucks said. She could hear the click of the controller in the background.
"This sucks." Sarah said, with feeling. She put her phone on speaker and set it on the nightstand.
"Yep." Chuck replied.
She sat up and grabbed her laptop from the empty side of the bed, opening it. If I'm not going to sleep may as well go over things. She started typing and opening up the background information. Along with Graham's proposals for the recruitment program.
"Looking at the files again?" he asked when he heard the typing.
"Yeah." she replied, then blew a raspberry. "You know, I could have flown up here and spent four more hours with you. Or I could have told my boss 'No' and to send someone else. Or go himself."
"You could have flown tom… sorry, this morning, and spent the whole night." Chucks replied. "You wanted the chance to drive your Porsche, remember? And I was at the meeting, since it touches even ever so lightly on 'special project' they didn't want anyone else involved."
"Yeah, yeah. 'Security'." Sarah snorted a laugh. "I had to drive. The poor baby was missing me." Sarah said primly. "Your whole family is speed-averse and half the time we drive one of the herders." She paused. "Speaking of that…"
"I know, I know…" Chuck said, sighing. "I have an almost real job now and I should start looking for a real car. I'm just not sure."
Sarah began, carefully, "If its a money thing, I could…"
Chuck interrupted her. "No, its part of me trying on some adulthood. I should do it myself."
"Well, keep it in mind. I have a… fair amount saved." Sarah said, carefully trying not to prod too hard. Then she had an idea. "You know, I didn't pay full price for the Porsche. Having the inside track on from the DEA let me hit the federal auction at exactly the right time. If you want, I could ask a few people. You just have to tell me what they should keep an eye out for."
There were several seconds of silence. "You know what? I'd be stupid not to do that wouldn't I." Chuck said, finally.
"You're not stupid to want to be independent. I know exactly what you're feeling." Sarah said. "Its how I learned to live when I was recruited… just don't go overboard like I did."
"I have this feeling you'd smack me around to set me straight." Chuck laughed.
"I'd let Ellie do it." Sarah said and hoped he could hear her smile. "That way I get to be the good cop."
"I knew, deep down, that my girlfriend and sister being friends would be bad." Chuck said and sighed. "The depths of your perfidy… for shame."
"Perfidy?" she replied, in a tone of exaggerated shock. "Who let you watch Victorian dramas? I told Morgan, the last time he let you watch Masterpiece Theater…"
She was interrupted by the sound of a dropped controller and laughter. After a few minutes of mutual snickering, Chuck asked, "What was it we were talking about?"
"A car." Sarah supplied.
"Right. I know you, Ms. Walker. You're going to try to sneak me into something fast and sleek. So I'm going to stop that right now." Chuck admonished her. "I want safe, reliable, sensible… I want… A Volvo."
"A Volvo? The car of dentists and… Are you messing with me?" Sarah asked.
"Nope. Volvo or similar safe and reliable vehicle." Chuck replied.
"Alright, if you insist." Sarah said, a tiny and artful whine in her voice. "I'll let you know if we can find something." A nice S80 should do the trick. All wheel drive, over 300 horsepower…
Chuck's voice was suspicious. "You agreed too easily."
"I just don't want to fight over it." she said innocently. Time to change the subject. "How goes the testing with Ellie? You said you're taking a day off to just spend as her guinea pig?"
"She's been hounding me, said she'd hit a wall in her research without more data." Chuck said grumpily. "So, she's going to hook me up to a fMRI and try to get me to 'think' about things with… 'flash cards'. Whee."
Sarah said seriously, "Hey, that may be better than meetings with Stanford stuffed suits."
"You make a valid point." Chuck replied, tone brightening.
Stifling a yawn, she looked at the files she'd read more than once. She closed the laptop and set it aside. "I think, maybe, I should try to get some sleep now. I feel a lot better."
"Well, if you insist, I'll try too." Chuck replied. "Love you, sleep well."
"Love you, and you too." Sarah said, turning out the light and reaching towards the phone. "'night"
Dressed in a black pantsuit, Sarah took a moment to put on her Agent Walker mental mask before she walked into the conference room. She deliberately took a moment to close and latch the door. She ignored the individuals sitting at the head, and proceeded to the far end, carefully setting her attache case on the table. Sarah took a moment to center herself and looked up at the people at the other end of the table. Two men and a woman looked back. President of the University, Thomas Wegner, and the Provost Janet Harman.
"You can call me Agent Lynch." Sarah said, her voice devoid of emotion. "In answer to the top questions you are likely to ask. Yes, I know who you are. No, I do not care how valuable your time is. Today's meeting will take as long as it takes." she paused briefly looking at them and spoke just as one of them seemed to be taking a breath. "You have both been cleared by our IG and were sent an agenda for this meeting, the matters surrounding a joint project overseen by Professor Fleming. Do you have any relevant questions before we get started?"
The oldest of the two, Wegner, blinked. His expression changed from annoyance to consideration. "You? I was given to understand that a senior representative from the… agency would be present. We normally handle project negotiations with a team."
Sarah walked down the length of the table, expressionless. She removed an ID holder from the front pocket of her suit and handed it to him without comment. The ID had been manufactured for this meeting, but was splendidly official and completely legitimate. He handed it back to her and she replaced it in her pocket. Without changing position, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number from memory – then set the phone on speaker and held it between herself and Wegner.
After two rings and a number of beeps, a female voice answered. "Switchboard." There was a short pause. "Line secure. Please identify."
"Agent S.W. Lynch." Sarah replied and a careful observer would have seen a flicker of distaste before the next word. "Wildcard." she enunciated carefully.
There was a tone and then, an audible swallow could be heard. "Ah… confirmed. I'll connect you now." There was a click and a beep.
"This is Graham. What did you need Agent?" Director Graham's voice came from the phone. Wegner looked up and obviously recognized the voice.
"Director, I'm in the meeting with the Stanford representatives. There were some questions as to my credentials and the personnel who would normally be at a meeting of this kind. They believe it is regards to 'negotiations'." Sarah replied.
"Tom?" Graham asked. "This senior agent has my complete trust." Graham paused, and his voice dropped a few degrees in temperature. "She is also fully authorized to… operate on US soil in this matter. This is not, as you understand it, a negotiation. Do I need to explain that?"
"No… I understand. Thank you for your time." Wegner had winced and then spoken quickly, his face going white.
Sarah ended the call with no further words. She returned the phone to her pocket and walked back to the other end of the table. "Do you have any other questions?" The two officials shake their heads. Sarah nods, removes a folder from her attache case, and opens it. She looks up and smiles. It is not a friendly smile. "Then lets begin, shall we?"
Over the next hour the, President and the Provost both gradually became grimmer as they realized the position of they'd been put in. Sara went over each point in detail, her voice without emotion. She first outlined Fleming's selling out of his country with the recruiting list. She explained how much it was going to cost to investigate and clear or… not clear, any recruits he'd sent over the past five or more years. Then she went over what it was going to take to re-establish their recruitment efforts, and how the budget dollars the CIA channeled to them might change. After a pause to let it sink in, she let her expression show an artful simulation of mild annoyance. This concealed her heartfelt relief that Graham's budget people had done all the work to put together the numbers so she just had to present it.
"One last item that could prove embarrassing for the university, as well as scrutiny of Fleming that we would like to avoid." Sarah tapped the sheet at the end of the file in front of her. "Its the matter of one Charles Irving Bartowski." She looked up and noted the perplexed look on both faces. "Mr. Bartowski, an engineering student, was accused of cheating and expelled on the cusp of graduating at the behest of Fleming. Approximately five years ago."
Provost Harman seemed to catch on a little quicker as her face blanched. "Please, don't tell me it was fraudulent."
"I reviewed the files as part of the followup on Fleming. First, I found the investigation on the part of the faculty lacking. One witness claimed to have found a test and answer key in Bartowski's room. No corroboration was provided. Given the excellent record of the student prior, your own code suggested at most a failing grade in the course. Even that could have been appealed in a hearing. The insistence on an expulsion was huge red flag." She paused and both officials looked distinctly green about the gills. "More interesting was that, prior to the 'cheating' incident, Bartowski was on our priority recruitment list. Then I found a final piece of evidence. The accuser and Fleming, on video, plotting to frame the student and prevent his recruitment by my agency."
"That is a nightmare scenario." Harman said, leaning back in her chair and rubbing at her eyes. "We could liable for… I can't even imagine how much it could end up being. I'm sure a good lawyer would eviscerate us in a negotiation."
"That was my assessment. Mr. Bartowski is, by all accounts, a sympathetic and personable man. His confidential records note that he completed high school in the care of his sister when his parents left them. He managed that and earned a full scholarship to an institution of this caliber despite the personal setbacks." Sarah said, keeping a very nearly emotionless tone. She did watch both people wince.
"Oh god…" Wegner breathed. "Its like a perfect storm. The only thing that would make it worse is if the accuser was…" he stopped when Sarah coughed delicately.
"The accuser was from a Connecticut family and most definitely not on scholarship. Interviews with involved parties indicates he subsequently… ah… 'stole' Mr. Bartowski's long time girlfriend during this time." Sarah shrugged. "True or not, it would be seen as motivation. Given the contrast between the students..."
"Well, obviously we have to do something. Hopefully to prevent that from ever going public." Harman said. Wegner nodded and she continued. "We have an ethical and moral obligation here as well." She pursed her lips in thought. "The easiest we can do without too much difficulty. We'll need a little additional information but we can reverse the expulsion and correct the student's records." Glancing at Wegner, she shrugged and continued. "If the student was as close as you say to graduation, I'd suggest we simply issue the diploma. There is a committee involved in the sign-off for that, but I don't see any real difficulty."
"Concur, unless..." Wegner replied, then paused. "I hesitate to ask, but where is Mr. Bartowski now? Did he continue at another institution?" His voice held a note of hope.
"It seems that the accusation and expulsion made it difficult for him to move on. For the past five years he's been supervising the 'Nerd Herd' desk at the Burbank Buy More." Sarah said with a grim smile.
Wegner closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I see." He muttered something that sounded a lot like 'Crap, the lost earnings.' then took out his phone and tapped for a bit, checking figures. "Some rough math… I believe he is probably owed approximately a quarter of a million dollars. Jan?"
"Give me just a sec. Let me check the salary projections we use in the career center." Harman replied, taking her laptop from a bag on the floor. Several minutes went by after she logged in and began to check. "There's some guesswork depending on the type of engineer and employer. That seems a reasonable ballpark." She looked at Sarah. "I don't suppose we could recover some of those funds from Fleming or split the cost in some way?" Her look was not completely hopeful.
"Mr. Bartowski was on our recruitment list. If he had been hired as an analyst by now he'd be in the GS-8 to GS-11 range depending on a number of external factors." Sarah replied. "Recently he came to our attention again and it is our intent to work with him in that capacity if possible. Given that you are unlikely to recover any funds from Fleming, I believe something could be structured into the overall recruitment program budgeting. We could handle any communications and paperwork if you would like for us to act as your agents in this matter. Of course, this must remain confidential as are the other details of your program. Should word leak in any way, we will have to take actions to contain the information."
"Of course, we understand." Harman shook her head in the affirmative. "We won't say no to the help. We have the responsibility to make amends Agent Lynch. In addition to be the right thing to do, its the best way to ensure there will be no legal blowback. Its less than what media coverage would do to us and what the court case would incur."
"Like Jan said, we'll accept the assistance of the agency to mediate. In fact, we can quietly prepare everything on our side and simply pass the required documents and such through you? No public statement or comment required. No meetings." Wegner added. "We just send over the corrected transcript, a diploma, a $250,000 apology letter, and settlement agreement. We'll want to move fast on this I think."
"I have no problem playing intermediary and courier." Sarah replied, suppressing her surprise as how easily they had come to that conclusion. And the money, thought she did slip in some idea of recovering it from us. "Speaking just on a practical level, I wouldn't expect anyone to turn down the very quiet and generous settlement. In fact… he'll probably view it as the agency's doing."
"Just as long as he knows its sincere, and if he wants to talk to the two of us we'll make ourselves available for a personal apology." Wegner's smile was genuine. "Now lets get a few details down about how we transition your recruitment efforts. I presume Director Graham sent something along about the oversight of the recruiter..."
Sarah was on her way out, walking through the building, when she noticed a familiar face. Andrew Crane… if he's here… A voice sounded from behind her.
"Sarah. Lets take a walk. Its time we had a talk, off the record." Director Graham said. And its damn spooky when he does that appear from nowhere thing.
Inclining her head in agreement, she turned and followed Graham down the hall and out of the building. Agent Crane, his long time guard, trailed them just out of earshot. They walked together in silence, following a path that Graham obviously already knew. It led down a dirt track and through a small grove of trees just a little away from the buildings. Eventually it opened onto a wide dirt track with oak trees on one side and the empty bed of Lake Lagunita on the other. The area was fairly clear of people and seemed a safe enough area to talk. "If you were here, why didn't you handle that meeting?" Sarah asked curiously once they'd started down the path. She inhaled the smell of grass and forced herself to relax.
"A bit of separation never hurts, and I'm not officially here." Graham said, then shrugged. "Its also good for you. You won't be a field agent forever. One day meetings like that could be the majority of your job."
"People like me don't often live to get out of the field, sir." Sarah said quietly.
Graham snorted. "And here I was given to believe you already were. Your primary job these days is protection, is it not? Were you planning on requesting a different assignment?"
She nearly tripped and when she recovered, looked at him in some surprise. "You're not sending me back into the field when this is over?"
"That was not my plan… at the very least not in the manner you had been." he replied, then gave a heavy sigh as his shoulders slumped slightly. "In truth, I should have pulled you out years ago. Or reduced your operational tempo. I had too many things that needed people I trusted and too few people worthy of that trust. So I had to risk you, again and again." He straightened and gave her a thin smile. "It was a gamble that seems to have paid off. It had to change, as any gambler learns, you have to know when to cash out."
"If you don't mind me asking… why are you telling me this now?" Sarah asked.
"Because we've come to something of a crossroads. I'd planned to call you in next month for a briefing, but after a talk with Agent Montgomery I moved it up. This presented an opportunity for a quiet meeting." He paused, considering. "We're fighting an internal and external force that is nearly the same as our own. It grew out of us, knows our weaknesses, and it uses them. At least in part through the past seven years or so, you've been fighting them for me. I know I used you, sometimes rather badly. I manipulated you and your fears as barely more than a child. And, as much as it pains me, in the same circumstances I'd do it again. Still though, I owe you something for that." Graham replied, then pointed at a bench. "Lets sit."
Graham sat and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Sarah sat beside him, unable to totally relax to that extent knowing the only guard was Crane. She kept a portion of her attention on the area around them. After a moment, he continued.
"Its time to start strengthening the teams that are reliable. Plus… its time to peel back the curtain. Which means, Sarah, you've become too valuable to risk on some random field operation overseas." He paused and rolled his shoulders. "Getting old… not something I thought I'd have to deal with, but here I am. Anyway, this team is something that we can use. How familiar with Project Omaha are you?"
"I've heard it mentioned once in the video of Agent Larkin conspiring to frame…" Sarah hesitated. "The video of Agent Larkin conspiring to frame Chuck, sir."
Graham didn't comment on her choice of reference to her asset. "Then not really. I'm a bit surprised that he didn't flash on it. Or that you didn't look it up later. I'll presume other matters intruded." He pursed his lips in thought, then continued. "Agent Larkin was, if not incorrect, at a minimum... incomplete in his understanding of the project. Its intent was not to take people and turn them into killers or soldiers. We know how to do that already." He looked sadly at her for a long moment before he turned back to the grass field. She knew it was the closest he'd come to outright apologizing for what he'd made her into. "The intent of the project was to provide us with the capability to… temper the tools we'd made of people. Make them more versatile and less likely to break. We found, almost through chance, a team composition that seemed to fit the bill. Three people, if the makeup is of a certain sort. Generally one older team member, military if possible, who provides a certain experience and maturity. One fully trained covert specialist, a true spy for lack of a better term. And finally, a person in support. A dedicated analyst and technical specialist." Graham glanced at her then back at the grass. He didn't continue and appeared to be waiting.
"Sir… that sounds a lot like my team." Sarah replied, as she was sure he expected.
He nodded. "So it does. Phase two was operational where these concepts were proven – excepting a few flaws. A full team of established people wouldn't always mesh well. Clashing experience, leadership issues, ambitions. Some teams worked, and are actually still in the field for us. Others fell apart, sometimes spectacularly. As with most things, the majority of the results were in the middle. The teams worked well in the short term but not for ongoing missions. Which brings us to the phase three of the Omaha teams, the one that was never completed. The original Intersect was designed to load information rapidly and provide the sort of analysis that someone in the field develops an instinct for over years of experience. A teaching tool, one that could give that to a fresh person right out of school. Someone still flexible and mold-able. Someone who would bond deeply with the team – even becoming its linchpin. Perhaps even taking three fresh people with different Intersect 'loads' and binding them together. In theory. In practice, it never worked correctly and the project was shutdown after sufficient candidates to continue were not found. The instinctual processing of data was repurposed for the electronic Intersect that ended up in the form you know now. There were still a few ancillary projects related to data loading into human subjects, but I never placed much faith in them." Graham waved his hand at the campus behind them. "Professor Fleming was one of the recruiters for the phase three project."
"Our team here, was this tasking intentional – or a really freaky coincidence?" Sarah asked carefully.
"Would you believe its both? At least that's my surmise. From our point of view its chance, but I'm starting to feel manipulated. A number of things had to carefully orchestrated to put you with…" he paused and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "...Chuck. At least in part by Larkin, and partly by some outside source. You arrived in country just in time for the assignment. Even accounting for detours. Its almost like Larkin was waiting for you before he stole the Intersect. The Intersect didn't destroy Chuck's brain. It all happened just before it was to go officially online. Too many coincidences to be chance." he replied.
"Larkin sent the Intersect to Chuck because he knew Chuck could use it." Sarah said, nodding. "And he knew it because he knew about Omaha, at least in part, and he knew Chuck's test results. How did that mean I'd end up here. Or that Casey would? How did Bryce know about Omaha, and why did he wait for me – how did he know I was back… I think you're right about outside manipulation."
Graham nodded. "Knowing you'd be assigned was no great feat. Availability influenced my choices and General Beckman's, but you were the odds on favorite from the CIA side for two reasons. First, you knew Larkin and any insight is an edge. You have to remember that at first this was a race to recover the data not to put a team in the field. Omaha was shut down, and we were selecting agents based on need to know and who was already on the inside. So, if you could recover the Intersect things would have gone back to normal after a fashion. In the event you failed to recover it or if it was being used… well that takes us to the second reason. Hedging a bet you could say." he took a deep breath. "You were originally slated for phase three of Project Omaha. You would have been paired with someone very like Bartowski. Perhaps even specifically him. The third member could have come from a larger list, and not surprisingly, Agent Casey was on that list somewhere in the middle of the pack."
After the initial shock wore off and the implications set in... she sat up, full of anger. The words just started pouring out. "Goddammit. Is my whole life some kind of twisted experiment? Did I ever have any choices? And this poor guy, how long have we been manipulating him. If you knew… why the order to kill Chuck if he tried to run. Why treat him like we have been? He was valuable, originally going to be recruited. If I was originally supposed to work with him, why did you impose the stupid asset/handler rules? Especially if you knew the kind of team we could be, the kind we're becoming?" Sarah barely stopped herself from doing something violent and instead dropped her tone and growled. "I went all over the world for you. I've done a lot of terrible things, but then you ask me to hurt and use a kind and brilliant person. And he lets us – make no mistake he lets us, he doesn't do it because he has to. His sense of right and wrong are far stronger than anyone would ever suspect. And you demanded he do this with nothing in return but the likelihood of being burned when its all over. I don't think you even know how horrible that is." Glaring at him, she ground out, "Well, Omaha's not dead – you've got that team now. I'll kill anyone who..." She trailed off and stopped, taking a deep breath and thinking that maybe she'd said too much. Then she heard Graham clear his throat.
"That brings up unspoken reason I sent you, Sarah. You'd never hurt an innocent. No matter what I ordered." he said quietly. "I watched your work very carefully. You always went out of your way to protect innocent people. Its why I had you cross train with Secret Service."
Sarah blinked and went back through a number of her missions in her head. It took her several minutes, especially thinking about the missions she aborted and why. She shook her head and blew out a breath. "I wasn't an executioner, I was a judge."
"I'd actually considered Valkyrie as a code name or rumor mill thing at one point. It felt a bit too accurate." Graham replied helpfully.
"Evelyn Shaw. Why?" Sarah asked, in a toneless voice. She had to know why.
Graham replied without hesitation. "I had only circumstantial evidence and a short window in which to do something. I'm still not sure it was the right call, but you do your best and take your chances. So I sent you to provoke the situation."
"And if I'd just walked by, let her go?" Sarah asked. "I didn't know her, didn't know the circumstances. All I knew was that it felt wrong."
"If you'd have just walked by, I'd have had you pick her up and question her the next time she hit an office. That isn't how it turned out though was it? She went for a gun and was severely outclassed." he replied, then shrugged. "Your instinct was correct. As I'm certain the Intersect confirmed since I know you never looked at the file after. Not that it excuses the way I did it, the setup. It was simply necessary to stop the spread of information from the Paris office."
"If I'd just shot her as ordered?" she said, a note of bitterness. "Like I did a number of times after that?"
"Then I'd have learned something else." he replied evenly. "All of those other times, did you ever go in without knowing something? Regardless of how it was ordered?"
She chewed at her lip for a second. "So you knew I'd protect Chuck… You were hoping for this?"
"The agent who saved a baby in the middle of a bloodbath, and smuggled her out of Hungary to safety?" Graham asked in response. "Hope had nothing to do with it. My faith in you is based on evidence. This brings me to the controversial piece of what would have been phase four of Project Omaha. A theoretical psychological component…"
"Wait!" Sarah interrupted, her blood running cold. "You know about the child? Does anyone else? Is it in any system…"
"Sarah, calm down. I know about it because of who you are and how long it took you to find your way home." Graham stopped her mid-stream. "I didn't look too closely, though I'd surmise the child is on the west coast somewhere and there's a high probability that she's with some unknown relative of yours. There's no way Ryker knows that." He gave her the most genuine smile she'd ever seen. "Just in case I don't get the chance to say it later… I'm proud of you. There are a lot of people that work for me who wouldn't have made that choice. That you did… its one of the reasons you might one day sit in my chair."
She swallowed hard and kept a tight grip on her emotions. For all of her anger with him through the years, Graham had been more than just her boss. That simple statement of approval… the past decade suddenly felt a bit brighter. She shook her head when she realized she'd missed part of what he said. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"I asked, are you compromised, Agent Walker?"
"If by compromised…" Sarah trailed off. He'd been involved in a good piece of her training and she knew that he rarely asked a question he didn't have at lease a clue as to the answer for. That, and he could still read her like a book. Take a chance? She shrugged, helplessly. "Yes. I'm in love with Chuck." She smiled softly. "He ruined a perfectly good spy."
"One could also say, he fixed an outstanding agent who was on the borderline of breaking." Graham replied. "Is it affecting the team?"
Sarah nodded. "Chuck is doing better when he isn't worried about what's real and isn't. I've brought in his sister and her boyfriend on my own. Not just because he has people to confide in, but to provide medical support. Casey whines about 'ladyfeelings' but since I've dispensed with any mixed signals, Chuck has been easier for him to deal with. Weighing any downsides against those upsides, I'd say we're in excellent shape." Sarah gave him a flat, unfriendly look. "I understand the reasoning behind certain orders. Orders I would have and will ignore. Orders that will now be rescinded. Am I clear?"
"The argument will be made that we have to protect the intel he possesses. Even after he's no longer active and the data is getting older." Graham suggested, ignoring that she'd admitted to sharing extremely classified data with uncleared civilians.
"Agreed. And I will protect him, better than anyone else." Sarah said, nodding. "That includes protecting him from any of our own people who might think he needs to be 'contained' or 'removed'. Understand, sir, this is non-negotiable. If anyone makes a move in that direction…" She gave him a very cold look.
"If we can't find a way to remove or suppress the data eventually… Sarah, he'll have to be watched for the rest of his life." Graham said, ignoring a stare that had made terrorists surrender.
"Seems a small price to pay." Sarah shrugged and relaxed just a bit.
"What are you saying?" Graham asked.
"That I'll work missions with this team. And when this project is finished..." Sarah replied, letting the words trail off with a shrug. "Sir… events have made me see that the path I was on led to a life that could only lead to an unremarked and unlamented demise. I… want to leave behind something more than a star on a wall as I told Casey a few months ago. Mean something to someone." she smiled. "I've found that here. I'm not going anywhere."
Graham chuckled before responding. "Oddly enough... that, Sarah, was much the focus of phase four investigations. How do you spin down one of those tools, those weapons. What do you do with a highly trained and talented spy when its time to come home? Keeping in mind that our recruitment often chooses people who are broken to begin with. People with no ties, no support, and often nothing to go back to. It never really got beyond theory."
Sarah's mouth hung open. After a moment she closed it, but continued staring.
"You have to teach them how to not be a spy." Graham said, smiling. "You show them something worth living for, instead of a cause worth dying for." He sighed. "Spies who work in the cold for too long get used to it. They have to choose to come in. It helps if you can show them a path. At least that's what Dr. Dreyfus thought about it."
"So, you sent me to fall in love?" Sarah asked, a slight note of humor in her voice.
"I did not exactly count on that." he admitted wryly. "I thought exposure to a normal life might have helped remind you why we do what we do. Perhaps to prepare you to leave the field and take a headquarters position. It may have worked a little too well."
"How…" She stopped and thought. He'd been in the field himself, he knew. "How do I do it. I've killed so many… Do you even know?"
"Twenty-two on my direct order in the seven years you've been active. Seventeen in the line of duty that I'm aware of. You should consider the fact that Ryker pushed you into at least twelve of those. You did a lot to avoid it when on your own." Graham replied and it was obvious he remembered those numbers easily. He blew out a breath. "I get a lot of mileage out of my heartless sociopath mask, but its no way to go through life – not without becoming a monster. So, how do I do it… or rather how do I suggest you do it? You don't let it go, if that's what you're asking. If you're really asking how I live with it. I vow to do better. Each time we're forced to kill someone, we've failed. We failed to anticipate the danger early enough. We failed and we need to do better, but we can't shirk the duty that sometimes makes a death necessary. Often it would be a greater failure to allow that person to live and do harm. So I face it, learn from it, and try again. I say 'we' and 'I' in this because while you pulled the trigger, I sent you."
Sarah nodded and looked away. She studied the trees for a few minutes and went through an old breathing exercise. Graham, for his part, simply waited without pushing her to speak. No doubt she'd be crying her eyes out to Chuck and Ellie eventually, but now she had to keep it together. When she finally felt it was under control she looked back at Graham. "Will we be following through on the analyst position for Chuck?" Sarah asked, hoping and presuming he knew about what she'd told Stanford.
Graham nodded. "It makes sense, and lets us finish making right something a number of people did very wrong. We benefit from someone we wanted working for us five years ago. He benefits by having some official recognition. Plus people don't look at an analyst. At least not beyond the surface, its another layer of protection for the Intersect."
Sarah bent down and picked a blade of grass. She tossed it and watched it fall in the breeze before asking her next question. "What about General Beckman?"
"Aren't you planning on meeting with her, off her official schedule? Much like I created space in my official schedule to talk with you today?" Graham replied, amused. "Roan is a bit cavalier, but he does still work for me."
"Right." Sarah said, then smacked her forehead. "Crap. I didn't bring them with me. I intended to passing some information to you that Chuck and I gathered. I was concerned about that shadow conspiracy that Fleming was selling to. So we dug and with some file searches and a few flashes… we found evidence. They've been using our own systems to execute operations. Orders forged to look like yours or Beckman's. Some other things." She looked at her hands in her lap a bit sheepishly for a moment. "Originally it was going to be part of my bargaining for Chuck. He'd be safe or I'd burn two agencies to the ground. But… as we dug deeper we were worried we'd have to load the team on a plane and come save you. It looks that bad."
"It is that bad. We'll need the Piranha's help to secure some systems." Graham said with a small smile.
She shook her head. "Of course you knew."
"I may not be in the field, but I'm still a spy Sarah. I kept it out of the background data the NSA got. Chuck's got enough worries." Graham said, then raised a hand and tapped his chin. "Actually there's one other thing I'd like from him – and I think its in his best interests. To help us find Orion – not capture. Just find him and talk to him."
"Find one of the most notorious and elusive hackers on Earth." Sarah said disbelieving. "One the NSA and CIA haven't been able to find in years of searching." She shook her head. "Why?"
"Orion was the key architect of the Intersect." Graham replied simply.
"Good reason." Sarah said, shaking her head.
"Make Chuck the job offer. Then, when he says yes because its you making the offer, contact my office directly. We'll get the basic papers done in a day or two. We don't have to wait for Beckman's sign off." Graham continued. "Put him to work on securing some internal communications channels for us and finding Orion. Nothing on that is to go through officially. Officially he'll just be your field technical support. Make sure he knows who to call to requisition things. Give him as much to do as you think he can handle. We'll move up the shutdown of the hotdog place and move Chuck over with you when we open the new office."
"Sir, it feels like..." Sarah started to say.
"You're not trapping him in anything – Larkin already did that. You're making sure the bullseye is taken off his back." He shrugged. "This gives you freedom to act on those feelings you mentioned without repercussions, presuming the team functions. Don't do something to cause a review and you'll be fine." Graham said, and stood. "Swing by Langley soon. You do still have a desk, the occasional visit to it is expected."
Sarah stood and nodded. "I'll make sure to take a day when I go see the General." They started walking back up the path, presumably to where Graham's transportation was as well.
"Bring Bartowski and Casey, and plan your trip for a week or so." Graham directed after a moment. "I'd like to talk to Casey in person, then he can stop off at Ft Meade, I'm sure he has certifications or paperwork to do. Chuck will probably appreciate the nickle tour of headquarters, I know I did when I started. We can have him sit in with technical services and learn some things. Then we can hand him over to HR for his first real exposure to federal paperwork."
"Did you want him to break up with me?" Sarah grinned as she said it.
Graham chuckled. "Well, he's not going through the Farm so we have to teach him to resist interrogation somewhere."
Two days later, after Sarah had returned and spent most of a day with Chuck, they gathered the group for another dinner at Ellie's. She hadn't even had time for a coffee with Ellie, and talk through her most recent emotional roller coaster yet. This time they went simple and ordered takeout Chinese at the behest of Morgan. Sarah hadn't given them any clues and she'd cautioned Chuck to not say anything yet. She hadn't even told him about Stanford fully – just the meeting with Graham. She wanted to give everyone else the news all at once. Sarah had just snagged one of the last shrimp from Chuck's plate, ignoring his mock hurt expression, when Casey spoke up.
"Since we're all here in a more or less official meeting. I have a request." Casey said, then drained his beer. "The next time you go out of town, take Bartowski with you. He mopes. Or… if you're not going to do that, do your reunion evening at a hotel. Christ, Walker, we share a wall. Have some consideration."
Chuck spit out his soda. Sarah smiled contentedly. "Well, that's as good a segue as any. I've got orders that the next trip I take, I am specifically to bring you and Chuck with me. To Langley." she said.
Ellie sat up, worried. "Do we need to be concerned?"
Sarah pointed at Chuck. "Does she?"
"Ellie, we wanted to wait to tell everyone at once. I will be…" Chuck said, then paused and furrowed his brow. "Ah, yes, a 'Science, Technology, and Weapons Analyst' with a field certification. Did I get that all?" he finished, looking at Sarah.
"Yes. Officially working out of the LA field office, but you'll rarely see that desk. You'll be with me here in Burbank once we finish setting up the substation." Sarah replied.
"That's awesome, Chuck. You're gonna be a…" Devon boomed, but was interrupted.
Chuck shook his head quickly. "Not a spy. Analyst. Technical guy."
"Don't those jobs have requirements?" Ellie asked. "Not that I don't think you could do it, just thought…" she trailed off. The elephant in the room of Stanford was almost visible.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Sarah said, cheerfully, and picked up the same attache case she'd taken to Stanford. "The paperwork came over to me this morning. The committee really fast tracked it." She pulled out a leather bound folder in red with gold lettering on it. She removed a manila envelope and laid it on top of the folder, then handed both to Chuck. "With the apologies that clearing you took this long, please accept this on behalf of the CIA, Stanford, President Wegner, and Provost Harman."
Chuck took them from her as if they were nuclear. Gingerly he opened the manila envelope first and extracted a sheet of paper, with it a check fell out. He was reading the letter and didn't notice the check. He read for a moment, then opened the folder and saw the diploma. "This is real?"
"It's real. We'd talked about me running down what actually happened. Did you think I was going to just leave it once I found out?" Sarah replied.
"I would have just been happy knowing the truth, having my name cleared." Chuck said with some emotion. "This… this goes way farther."
Neither of them had watched, but they saw now as Ellie stood back up after picking up the check. There was a heavy thump as she sat back down hard, and a bit of a very high pitched squeak as she covered her mouth.
Sarah reached over and plucked the check from her hand. She put it on top of the diploma in front of Chuck. "This was the other part. Consider it a settlement payment, contingent on you signing the agreement I have in my bag. Its a pretty standard 'you can't sue us and while we're not admitting fault we're reaaaaaaaly sorry' thing."
He blinked at her. "I've never seen a check like this in person."
"A court fight might have netted more, but honestly since they didn't fight anything I just went with it. $250,000 is mostly what you might call a salary adjustment." Sarah said. "The good news is that this whole thing is classified due to Fleming's involvement. So the IRS can't touch it. I'll introduce you to my bank, they're used to working with people in our… situation."
Morgan spoke up from his side of the room. "You're rich, dude! So can I like borrow…" He paused as he took in Sarah's expression. "I was joking, jeez. Serious question though, what does this mean about the Buy More and the plan overall?"
"As soon as construction is complete, we'll be moving into a new cover. Its one that makes sense as a transition. I have a business degree. Chuck is a computer engineer." Sarah replied gesturing at Chuck. "The new business will be in financial services with a small sideline in computer security. We will be sharing office space with another business. Casey will be a consultant on security systems, with occasional help from Chuck. No one else will need to do anything new. In fact it is going to look odd enough. So, the plan is to do this in stages. Chuck will quit this week. I'll take some time off. The two of us will go on 'vacation' to celebrate." Sarah smiled at Casey. "Don't worry, we'll keep it away from you. In reality we'll be going to DC to handle the official paperwork for Chuck. I'll ask Roan to finish the setup for a meeting with Beckman. When we get back we'll develop the next part, where we open the businesses."
"You're just going to leave me here with the troll?" Casey asked.
Sarah shrugged. "Like I said, I was told to bring you along, but you'll have to come up with a reason on your own. Graham want's a meeting and then he said you can head over to Mead."
Casey grunted. "I'll figure something out. Give me the flight details and I'll meet you in DC."
"Works for me." Sarah said. "Chuck, this has come at you kind of fast and we only talked about the job last night – I'll understand if you don't want to work for the CIA, but bear in mind it solves a lot of problems and isn't without benefits. Literally, federal benefits are pretty good. Plus… Its kind of where you would have been if Bryce hadn't been a tool and screwed you over."
Morgan laughed. "Don't worry, Sarah. If he doesn't say yes, I'll tell Big Mike he was offered a new job working with you. Big Mike will fire him which ought to motivate him some."
"I'm right here guys." Chuck said, plaintively. "I said I would take the job last night, and not just because I'd be working with you. I'll be doing what I'm good at, and doing it for a good reason."
"Great, then I'll just buy Big Mike some donuts. When you turn in your notice, I'll head in right after you and give him the donuts. Should lock in the Ass Man job for me." Morgan said, cheerfully.
Devon looked him over. "Morgan, little bro, I think we're going to have to talk personal appearance before you do that."
Morgan looked puzzled. "What's wrong with how I look?"
"We'll… talk later." Devon said after looking around the room and finding no one else willing to say anything.
"As to the plan… we're down to one main goal for me. Getting the Intersect out of Chuck's head." Sarah shrugged. "Now that we know more about what was going on behind the scenes, we don't have to…"
Ellie interrupted. "I think you're wrong, Sarah. You still have to talk to General Beckman, and we still have to figure out how all of this ties into the group that you uncovered. How did Bryce know about the Intersect. Why did he send it to Chuck. If there's a conspiracy inside the agencies…" she finished with a lift of a hand.
"That part, we'll keep working. We'll be working it more or less on the order of the directors. I meant, more about my personal immediate goals." Sarah said, nodding. "One of the things I want to get Beckman to sign off on is bringing in the rest of you. None of you are on any agency radar right now. We get all the personnel benefits we talked about with less sneaking around to do the work. We'll also have four different businesses where we can hide people, money, purchases, etc…" Sarah looked around the room and saw no objections or questioning looks. "OK, so Ellie, why don't you give us an update on where we are with your research?"
"Well, not very far. I believe I've identified the portion of the…." Ellie began her technical discussion.