A/N: So yeah. It has, ah, been a while. I'm still here, as those of you in the Chuck Fanfiction FB group know. I've been struggling with the whole writing thing, which, I suppose is obvious since my most recent post was over 8 months ago. SvF has been almost exactly a year to the day. I've written the last 4k words of this chapter in the last week. The rest was already there not long after I posted chapter 11. Does this mean I'm back? :::shrug:::
I can tell you I *think* about my stories a lot. Seriously - A LOT. Could be part of my problem. Too much thinking, not enough writing?
RECAP: Things are progressing with the task force. Yesterday (in-story) Sarah met with Edwards base commander General Wallace to get his assistance with an Air Force flight Sarah has "requisitioned", though we aren't exactly sure yet to what end. After an unpleasant meeting with the General, she had lunch with Rebecca Wright to check in and maybe find housing for future task force members. We pick up our story after that meeting.
Oh, yeah - There's M material in this chapter. I am still me, after all.
Sarah walked into their apartment and smiled as she looked out the windows at the downtown LA skyline. She idly wondered how much the apartment would cost if the building ever went co-op or were converted to condos. She loved living there every bit as much as she thought she would, though she knew most of it had to do with her roommate. Her partner. Her live-in boyfriend. Just thinking about him made her skin tingle and her heart beat stronger in her breast.
She knew a month earlier, the spectacular view would not have moved her nearly as much. In truth, she believed she would have been mostly indifferent to it. Her world was different now and she saw with new eyes.
Her phone started ringing, pulling her out of her reverie and she answered as she set her bag down on the kitchen island. "Walker, secure."
"It's Carina. Just wanted to let you know, after the last round of interviews today, I've made the second selection. I'm going to call him and let him know. Also, Detective Garcia formally accepted the role earlier today. She said she'll have all her case files handed over by the end of the day tomorrow and she'd like to get started Friday. I told her that's perfect, the sooner the better.
"Yeah, that's great. She'll be able to come with us for the meeting at Edwards. Who's the second selection?"
"He was one of the first applications we received. Michael Washington. I think I mentioned him the other day. Just over a year in the Vice unit but a stellar record. Gave up a fairly promising career as a professional MMA fighter to stick with the LAPD but still has the occasional amateur bout."
"Do you think he'd be able to join us on Friday as well? I want to show real forward progress in the meeting with Graham."
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure he'll want to be there. As a Detective 1, he won't have as much case work to turn over and I could tell he was really into the idea of working for the feds. LAPD might have a deserter on their hands with him. I think he'd jump at the chance to switch his career track to the FBI, given the opportunity."
Sarah chuckled. "Yeah, well, that's not my problem. For now he belongs to the task force. What he does after that, I'll wish him well."
"I agree." Carina took a deep breath before continuing which set off minor alarm bells for Sarah. "So next I want to target NYC Vice division. I actually reached out to an old colleague of mine to get the ball rolling. I think I want to approach them a little differently," Carina said evasively.
"Ok… In what way?" Sarah asked slowly, suppressing her instinctual concern at Carina going off-script.
"I'm going to ask you to trust me here, Sar. NYPD is a completely different animal than LAPD. First off, NYPD is more than quadruple the size of LAPD. It's this massive, bureaucratic, political monstrosity that will do everything it can to swallow our little task force whole," Carina explained. "If you tried to approach them the way you did LAPD, you'd find yourself with ten different political appointees banging on your door demanding whatever federal funding you could divert to them while getting nothing but empty promises in return."
"Ok," Sarah replied. "You would know better than I would how to approach them. I guess ultimately I don't really care except that I want the candidates to have a job to go back to when this is all said and done."
"I agree. And I can do that, but it needs to be handled carefully. So, I'm going to ask you to let me approach NYPD my way. I'll need to go to New York this weekend, but I promise to bring back two or three highly qualified candidates by the end of next week."
"Ok, Carina," Sarah agreed. "I trust your judgment."
"Of course you do, Blondie," Carina laughed. "When have I ever let you down?"
Sarah made a tsking noise. "You've never let me down, Carina, but there've been times you made my life more interesting than I was necessarily prepared for."
"Pft, you love it and you know it," her friend replied teasingly.
Sarah shook her head with a smile and thought it best to change the subject. "So, find out from Garcia and Washington if they're available for an informal get together tomorrow night. I want to give them a little protocol prep on the meeting with Graham and Beckman."
"Will do. Do we want to have the meeting at a restaurant or your place?"
"Find a restaurant. I'm not going to go into any classified detail just yet. I just want to let them know what to expect at the meeting on Friday. Seating for seven so they can meet Chuck and Bryce as well as Coburn."
"Ok, will do. I'll call you later." Carina clicked off the line and Sarah switched gears to other tasks on her to-do list.
When she heard the door to their apartment open a few hours later, Sarah closed the lid of the laptop and pushed away from the kitchen island where she'd been working. She stood up and met him as he walked into the room, delighting in the smile he gave her.
He swooped in and enveloped her in a warm embrace, kissing her deeply, then said, "You need to pinch me." Without hesitating, she reached out and pinched his nipple through his shirt.
"Yahhh!" he shouted. "Holy crap! I guess I need to be careful what I ask for around you, huh?"
Sarah giggled as she ran her hand down his chest. "You're not dreaming, Chuck."
"No kidding!" he exclaimed with a grin as he rubbed the aggrieved part of his body. "Though I probably should have known I wasn't dreaming, even without being assaulted."
"How so?"
"My best dreams were never this good," he answered, leaning in and stealing another kiss.
She grinned into the kiss. "Good one, Chuck," she observed when he pulled back.
"I speak only truth," he said solemnly as he slipped his backpack off and set it on the island.
"So how was your day, sweetie?" Sarah asked with a wry smile. "You want a glass of wine?"
"Wine sounds great, thanks. And my day was good. Bordering on great. Jeff and Lester both worked the entire day with no oversight from me at all. Jeff is continuing his sobriety and Lester actually worked on Buy More customer computers today without me having to micromanage him. It was a little freaky if I'm honest."
"I'm betting you'll get at least a couple months of honeymoon out of them before they start to revert to old behaviors," she said as she poured him a glass of wine and handed it to him. "Though I hope Jeff is able to stay sober. He was super creepy before and the disparity to how normal he seemed last night was pretty dramatic. Like two different people."
"I know, right?" He chuckled as he took a sip of his wine. The two of them moved to the living room and sat down on the couch. "So my day was good, but you called me earlier and it was obvious that you were a little on edge. Do you want to talk about it?"
She sat down very close to him and they each pulled one leg under themselves so they could face each other. He put one arm up on the back of the couch and started casually twirling a strand of her hair around one finger.
She sighed as she unconsciously leaned towards him. "Yeah, I had a bit of an unpleasant meeting. I let the Commanding Officer at Edwards get under my skin a little. Ultimately, we came to a mutual understanding, but I'm not sure how I feel about how we got there."
His brows furrowed as he asked, "What do you mean?"
Sarah took a sip of her wine as she contemplated how to answer. She was long past being concerned about talking to him in general terms regarding her past, but that didn't mean it was an easy or comfortable topic. She found it difficult to look in his eyes as she spoke.
"Chuck, I have a bit of a reputation in the Intelligence Community. I've told you a little bit about what I used to do. I was good at it. I was considered one of the best. I came to be known as the "Ice Queen" because I was very good at adopting this cold, impenetrable shell on missions. Ryker was technically my handler, but more often than not, I would get my orders from Director Graham himself. I developed this reputation as Graham's personal enforcer."
"Ok," he replied when she seemed reluctant to continue.
"In retrospect I suppose I may have overreacted with the General today, but he really pissed me off. I showed him the Executive Order to prove that I had the authority to ask for what I was asking for and his response was to lecture me about having too much power. I felt like he was being condescending, treating me differently than he would have if, say, it had been Bryce at the meeting instead of me. I'm not sure if it was really a misogyny thing or what, but like I said it pissed me off. I felt myself slip back into that old mindset. In the span of a few seconds I was the Ice Queen again."
"So what happened?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"I scared the crap out of him is what happened," Sarah admitted. "I was furious about his short-sightedness regarding the EO and his implication that I wasn't worthy to wield it. I didn't lose my temper or anything, but I told him that I was deadly serious about my responsibility and it may have come across as a veiled threat. Maybe not so veiled."
His answering grin surprised her and put her a little more at ease. "And I'm guessing he backpedaled pretty quickly, right? That's how everything got resolved?"
Sarah smiled back shyly and nodded. "Yeah, he apologized for being condescending, saying it wasn't his intent, which I don't buy for a second. I think he was testing me a little bit, but I have no patience for that kind of bullshit."
"It sounds like everything worked out in the end. What part has you concerned?" he asked as he continued to play with her hair, which comforted her more than she would have thought possible. It was as if his hand was magically pulling the stress of the day out through her scalp and she felt tension she didn't realize she'd been holding on to slowly dissipate.
"I was just a little disappointed at how easy it was to slip back into that old frame of mind. I sort of thought I'd moved on from the Ice Queen. I thought that part of my career, that part of my life was over." She took his free hand in hers and drew her fingers across his knuckles, pausing for several beats.
"But more than that, I think the thing that freaked me out the most was how good it felt," she admitted breathily. "In the span of a few seconds I was able to intimidate an accomplished, experienced Air Force General. A man nearly twice my age, who's been there and done that. I was able to get to him enough to prompt a spontaneous apology and an agreement for full and total cooperation. Not that he had much choice on that part."
Chuck continued to smile at her with affection, still twirling her hair and she felt her heart swell in response. "Can I tell you something?" he asked. She nodded. "I've seen this Ice Queen." She gave him a confused look. "Crazy Ivan," Chuck said simply, causing her to smile and blush.
"Sarah, when you had that guy up on his tip-toes, you said something to the other guy that was with him. I don't know what you said, but I could tell that he was genuinely scared of you. Rightfully so. Can I ask what you said?"
Sarah took a breath before she answered. "I told him that if he made a move towards me that the both of them would leave the club in body bags."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Wow. That's terrifying! No wonder he stepped off so quickly."
"I wouldn't have gone that far, of course," she admitted. "But he needed to believe I would, otherwise I'd have had to really hurt both of them. More than I already had. And I didn't want you to see more of that. I thought you'd think I was some kind of psycho for what I'd already done."
Chuck nodded his understanding. "The truth is, what you showed me that night wasn't actually an Ice Queen. It was an incredibly powerful and empowered woman, fully in control of everything not just around her but everything inside her as well. A woman in a state of righteous rage, who wasn't going to let an injustice against her bodily autonomy stand. It was the sexiest thing I've ever seen."
She saw him blush at the admission. "Well, looking back I do remember that you were not at all disturbed by my actions," she gave him an innocent smile and batted her eyes at him, making him laugh.
"Sarah, the Ice Queen isn't an alternate personality. It's just one more expression of you. You have a delightfully intelligent, humorous side, as you just demonstrated. You have a powerfully strong, focused and determined side. You have a quiet, introspective side. You have an incredibly loving, giving side. You have an amazingly sexy, adventurous side. And you also have a sincerely scary "fuck-around-and-find-out" side. Maybe it's an aspect of your personality that you wouldn't have needed to develop if you'd gone into another line of work," he shrugged and paused before continuing.
"But somehow, I think that even if you'd become an accountant or dentist or whatever, that aspect of your personality would have still been there, just under the surface, ready to put the smack down on anyone who threatened or disrespected you. To me it's not something for you to be ashamed of but rather just another example of how mind-blowingly amazing you are."
Sarah leaned in and kissed him intensely. She sat back and looked in his eyes, wanting to convey the depth of her love and appreciation for him.
"Thank you, Chuck," she whispered.
He smiled back at her. "You are welcome."
She set her wine glass on the coffee table and lay down, putting her head in his lap. "Now let's start that space-cowboy show with the ship named after a bug that you keep talking about. I need something light and fun to take the edge off the day before we go to bed."
"Cool. Let the nerdification of Sarah Walker begin!" he exclaimed with a goofy grin. "Tell me if the male character with a girl's name reminds you of anyone."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sarah watched Chuck sleep as he lay next to her on his side facing towards her, the early morning light filtering through their translucent bedroom curtains, casting dappled shadows across his face. She'd woken suddenly, startled to consciousness by an unpleasant dream, the details of which she couldn't remember.
Before she'd met him, she would often be woken by bad dreams, some she remembered, some she didn't. This was one of only a few nights it had happened since they'd been together. Regardless of whether or not she remembered the details, before meeting Chuck, it had always taken her a while to shake off the low-grade anxiety associated with them. However, as soon as she felt him next to her, had awareness of the warmth of his presence, the anxiety faded and her sense of peace and comfort - her sense of safety - returned almost immediately. He was her dream-catcher, it seemed.
She slipped her hands under her pillow and contemplated the lines of his face; the masculine curve of his jaw, the line of his nose, his long, thick eyelashes, the curve of his eyebrows, his wild curls completely untamed after a night of sleep. His full, deliciously kissable lips. She let herself revel for a few moments in how beautiful she found him to be. She looked at the early morning stubble he'd soon shave off as part of his morning routine. She smiled as she thought about him lathering up with shaving cream and dragging the razor down his face. He'd often hum while he did it. She bit her lip to suppress a giggle as she remembered the first time she'd helped him perform that particular morning ritual.
Three weeks. That's how long they'd been together. Three unbelievable, wonderful weeks. She was no longer really startled by how quickly things had happened between them. It felt natural. It felt right and good. He was her anchor to this new life. He'd helped her transition from Agent Walker, the spy, to Sarah Walker, the woman. She'd never known such blissful happiness could exist for anyone, much less herself.
As she soaked him in, his breathing pattern changed slightly and she could sense him waking up a little, even though his alarm wasn't due to go off for almost another hour. Maybe his sleeping brain could feel her staring at him. She stared harder, willing him to wake up. She was on the downward slope of her monthly cycle and to her surprise, though she normally wasn't interested in sex during her period, she found didn't care as much as she had in the past. It had been nearly four days since they'd last made love and she ached to feel his hands, his lips on her body, feel that astonishing sense of fullness as he first entered her. A shiver of heat ran down her spine at the thought.
She slowly moved towards him and gently placed her lips on his, running her tongue ever so lightly across his bottom lip. He responded slowly, sleepily, groaning softly. She felt him roll into her as he stretched, one hand finding its way under her t-shirt, his fingertips dragging against her skin as he moved his hand up to her breast, which intensified her already burning desire. He pulled her more tightly into him, his other hand sliding under her panties to cup her ass. She kissed him harder as her moan transformed into a growl and she grabbed his ass to return the favor, using her fingernails as she gave his butt a powerful squeeze. He gasped at that, breaking their kiss.
"Hiyo!" he exclaimed with a shocked grin. "Good morning to you, too!"
She resumed her growl as she untangled herself from him and rolled off the bed, pulling her t-shirt off as she went. She felt almost feral with desire. "Shower. Now," she demanded.
Chuck threw the covers off and jumped out of bed to follow her. "Oh my, God, I hope that was an invitation," he groaned as he trailed close behind her.
She'd learned that one of her favorite things about their apartment was the on-demand hot water system, combined with the multiple, digitally-controlled shower heads in their walk-in roman shower. She pushed the button to activate all of them along with the preset for the level of heat she wanted. It would only take a few short seconds for the water to reach the desired temperature.
She felt Chuck come up behind her so she leaned back and tilted her head to the side to give him access to her neck. He immediately took advantage, kissing her hard, dragging his teeth along her skin. His arms slipped around her, his hands sliding slowly up her stomach until he was caressing her breasts. She encouraged more of this as she put her hands over his, mimicking his movements and was unable to stifle the deep moan of raw need that emanated from the back of her throat.
"God, Sarah, I've missed touching you like this so much these past few days," he murmured as he continued kissing her neck.
"Not as much as I've missed being touched by you," she whimpered breathlessly. As good as his hands felt on her breasts, she wanted his lips on hers. She leaned forward and slipped off her panties then turned around and attacked his mouth with her own. She was gratified to discover that he'd already unburdened himself of his own underwear and couldn't help herself as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, knowing from happy experience that he was more than capable of holding her up. She felt him slowly walk them into the shower while they kissed and the sensation of all the streams of hot water hitting them from every direction was nothing less than magical. She pulled back from kissing him and felt a quiver run through her at the combined expression of pure love and raging lust on his face as the hot water blasted them from all sides.
"I want you inside me, Chuck," she pleaded.
She felt him position himself below her as she sank slowly down onto him, her eyes fixed on his as she took him into her body. She cried out involuntarily, her eyes never wavering as he completed her, finally bringing the fullness inside her that she'd missed so desperately.
"Oh, God, Chuck! I… you…" She couldn't seem to find her words, but his face perfectly reflected every emotion she was feeling in that moment. She hugged him harder with one arm while she cupped his face with her other hand, running her thumb across his lips.
He whispered to her fervently, his face inches from hers, "I know, Sarah. I know. I love you, too." She kissed him softly and felt him press her up against the water-warmed wall of the shower.
As soon as she felt him start stroking within her, an orgasm burst through her, taking her completely unaware, blurring her vision. She lost track of everything but the feel of his body against her, the feel of him sliding in and out of her, his hands gripping her ass as he held her pinned to the wall. She could feel his muscles flexing against her thighs as she held onto him. Everything else fell away to meaninglessness. There were only the two of them in their perfect physical union. Nothing else mattered; nothing else existed but him.
She lost track of how many times he brought her to release when she finally felt him go rigid, his climax overwhelming him as his body convulsed and he cried out her name. She felt him shivering with pleasure as he continued to hold her against the wall. She wasn't sure how he was still holding her up because she felt like she'd run a marathon, her breathing fast and labored, her body trembling, her legs weak. She heard him softly mumbling, "ohbaby, ohbaby," repeatedly as he panted into her neck. She was completely spent, but didn't want to let him go.
He finally pulled back and looked at her with a somewhat pained expression. "If I don't put you down soon, I'm afraid I might fall down," he admitted sheepishly.
She couldn't help the throaty laugh that emanated from her as she reluctantly unlocked her ankles and put her feet down on the tile floor. As he stepped back, he pulled each leg up to his chest to stretch them out as he groaned. She squeezed a dollop of body-wash onto a loofah and started dragging it across his chest while he looked at her with unadulterated adoration. She was fairly certain she was wearing the same expression as she lathered him up. They took turns washing each other and luxuriating in the feel of touching one another after their four day drought.
After their sudsy body explorations, she had him wash and condition her hair, by far one of the most decadent experiences she could imagine, and not one she would have previously thought she'd enjoy. For his part, Chuck seemed to enjoy it almost as much as she did, taking his time as he gently massaged her scalp and combed his fingers through her lustrous hair. She insisted on returning the favor once he'd finished.
Neither one of them spoke after their shower as they toweled each other off, each content to simply be present with the other, sharing a few moments of intimate silence.
Once they were dry, Chuck kissed her softly and finally broke the spell as he whispered, "I'll make coffee while you get ready. Do you want anything to eat? I could make breakfast."
She smiled at him as she shook her head. "Coffee's fine today," she whispered back. "Thank you, Chuck." From his expression she could tell that he knew she was thanking him for more than just the coffee.
She spent the minimum amount of time doing her hair and makeup and got dressed quickly in black boots, black mission fatigues and a thin black sweater. She'd eventually include a form fitting black leather motorcycle jacket to the ensemble. She'd be meeting with a bunch of Air Force chopper jockeys that day and wanted to exude an all-business aura for her first visit. She was actually planning on going up with them today and eventually scheduling a recertification for her license. She'd actually trained on a Black Hawk years earlier and there would be two of them in the Flight she was taking control of, along with two MH-6 "Little Bird" attack helicopters.
As she made her way downstairs, she reveled in the scent of freshly brewed coffee that permeated the air. Chuck was pouring her a to-go container as she walked into the kitchen. She stepped up next to him and looked longingly at the cup as he stirred in a little cream and sugar.
"Gimmie," she demanded as she sidled up next to him, reaching out for it playfully.
He held it away from her and said, "Not until you pay the barista." He closed his eyes and puckered his lips dramatically. She laughed as she leaned up and smooched him noisily.
"Now, gimmie!" She opened and closed her hands repeatedly as she reached out. He chuckled as he handed it to her.
"Someone's got a serious coffee monkey on their back," he joked.
She took a sip and sighed extravagantly. "Yep, like a Yoda backpack."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Ok, you making Empire references is seriously hot. If we hadn't just had sex, I would take you right now."
"Promises, promises," she said with a grin, bumping his shoulder with hers and giving him a wink.
He giggled at her playfulness. "Someone's feeling spicy this morning," he observed.
Sarah shrugged. "What can I say? I got my Chuck fix this morning, I've got my coffee in hand. I'm a happy girl."
He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. "I know exactly how you feel," he whispered. He finally took a moment to appreciate her mono-chromatic outfit and gave her a low whistle. "Put a balaclava on and you'd look like a ninja warrior from one of my graphic novels. You look incredible and incredibly intimidating."
She nodded with a small frown. "That's sort of what I'm going for. Me taking control of this military unit is way, way outside operational norms, both for the FBI and for the military. I believe I can make the legal argument but there's no question I'm walking the knife's edge. I want to present a first impression to these guys that makes it clear I'm not fucking around."
"Well, I'm here to tell you, you nailed it," Chuck observed after taking a sip of his own coffee. "So you've got another two-hour drive out to Edwards to meet with your 'chopper-jockeys', as you call them, then a drive back so we can meet with the new additions to the team tonight."
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, busy day today but tomorrow at Edwards is the one I'm most concerned about."
"So you want to have all of us there tomorrow, including the two new additions from LAPD? Even though it's their first day?"
"Yeah. I'm going to make it clear tonight that they are to stay in the background, but it's important that I show the team is building momentum."
"Aren't you putting yourself under a lot of pressure?" Chuck asked, frowning. "I mean, they only asked you to take on the task force like ten days ago. You said yourself that this could take years, right?"
Sarah shrugged as she took a sip of her coffee. "Maybe I am, but it's how I've always operated," she admitted thoughtfully. "At first I thought this new position could hurt the two of us, derail whatever crazy thing you and I have going on here. But honestly, I believe that having you with me has made me stronger, more focused." She looked up at him lovingly. "I know what I'm fighting for now."
Chuck returned her gaze. "Sarah, you're by far the most capable, competent person I've ever met, but promise me that you'll talk to me if you start to feel overwhelmed. I can't imagine what this must be like for you."
She gave him a wry smile and said, "You're very sweet, Chuck, but don't forget that I've been doing this a long time. I've learned how to manage all the various aspects of what we're doing. Trust me, the real pressure hasn't even started yet. Just wait until we get into actively investigating all the various people we have on our radar. What we're doing now? This is the easy part."
He grimaced and looked a little abashed. "My naivete is showing. Sorry. But, still, my offer stands. I'm here for you, in any way you need me."
Sarah not only knew what she was fighting for now, she also knew what she'd been fighting for all along. The fact that she hadn't known it at the time made no difference. She was fighting for him and she knew there was nothing she wouldn't do to protect what was hers. She belonged to him and he belonged to her. May the universe have mercy on anyone who tried to take that away, because she sure as hell wouldn't.
She set her coffee cup on the counter and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Thank you, Chuck," she said quietly.
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With the V-10 engine singing its powerful chorus a few scant inches behind her, Sarah was not so much driving her Audi up the Antelope Valley Freeway as she was flying it at a very low altitude. As she had confessed to Chuck in the past, she was not at all concerned with being pulled over. It maybe wasn't the most ethical choice to use her position to so blatantly flaunt the rules of the road but she was willing to forgive herself minor transgressions when it came to traffic laws. Though she realized with a wry smile that local or state law enforcement might not view them as 'minor' transgressions.
She grunted her annoyance as her phone warbled an inbound call. She backed off the throttle a little, letting the car slow to a more reasonable speed since she would have to focus part of her attention on the call.
She pushed the button on the steering wheel to answer. "Walker, secure," she intoned gruffly.
"Graham, secure," her mentor replied, his rough baritone voice sounding through the car's speakers with crystal clarity.
"Good morning, Director. Or I suppose it's afternoon now on the east coast."
"Hello, Sarah." She had noticed that Director Graham had become a little less formal with her since she'd taken on the new role with the task force. She supposed it was his way of acknowledging that he was no longer really her boss. "We have a new development here and I thought I should give you a heads up."
"Yes, sir?" She grimaced as she waited for unpleasant news.
"I just got off the phone with POTUS. He called to get an impromptu status update and I let him know about the meeting we have tomorrow at Edwards with General Beckman."
Oh, shit. "Don't tell me…" She trailed off, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so. He's insisting on joining us. Or I guess more accurately, we're now joining him. It's his task force after all. So unfortunately, the meeting just became a little more formal."
Sarah could only sigh at the news. "I suppose it's good to get the initial meeting out of the way. I hope he's not expecting too much in terms of investigative findings. We won't even really start that for a couple of weeks yet. We're still building the team and laying the groundwork for our infrastructure."
"I've explained all that to him and he understands. Don't read too much into it. I honestly think he's looking for an excuse to get out of DC for a bit and wants to meet you in person. I know this is taking up a lot of his mental energy at the moment and he's rightfully nervous about the situation. He's afraid they will try something to make up for the plot you stopped. Something that could tarnish his last year in office."
"I suppose I can't fault him too much for that. He's already extremely unpopular. History isn't going to be overly kind to him and I have to admit that I don't have much sympathy."
She heard Graham make a non-committal noise. "Be that as it may, he's the CIC for the next year," he observed. "Barring some kind of miracle, you're likely still going to be neck deep in your investigation at the end of his term. You'll need him as an ally in the meantime."
A thought occurred to Sarah. "Sir, when you told the President you had someone in mind to head up the task force, did you provide a copy of my personnel file?"
"Yes, Sarah, I did," the Director admitted. "Though pertinent details about how you were recruited were omitted, as were details about your… upbringing. I honestly don't think he really read it, more just skimmed it. And of course a lot was redacted to protect sources and methods."
Sarah hated that anyone had access to her personnel file but understood the necessity. It would have served as a hell of a resume if she'd actually applied for the job to head up the task force.
"Did he have any observations?"
"He was impressed, Sarah, as he should be. He actually made the comment that he wished we had more like you. I couldn't agree more."
"So when he gets here tomorrow and meets me in person, I'm not going to have to deal with any incredulity at my age?"
The Director actually chuckled softly at that. "Well, reading about someone in a file and meeting that person in the flesh are two distinctly different things. But I don't see it being a problem in this instance. He fully understands how tenuous our position is. He's just happy we have someone we trust with the necessary experience to take on this role."
"I'm glad to hear it, Director," Sarah noted. "And I have to admit, I'm feeling great about the core team and have high hopes for Agent Miller's idea to utilize Vice Detectives to fill our investigative ranks. We already have two from LAPD that are joining the task force starting tomorrow. They'll be there for the meeting so at least I can show measurable progress on building out the team."
"That's excellent news. Is there anything else you need to report before tomorrow? Anything you need?"
She briefly considered telling him about the Flight she'd commandeered from Vandenberg but decided against it. Even though it was a dramatic step to take, and one she'd have to account for eventually, Graham really didn't need to know at this point. She was the task force leader and she was going to determine what information to share and when to share it. He'd find out tomorrow anyway during the meeting.
"No, sir, not really. Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. We're still just involved with the minutiae of setting the foundation for the team. Other than our little scuffle with the SSMC, everything has been running pretty smoothly. We've contracted with Verbanski Corp. to take over a facility a couple of hours outside of LA to use as a detention facility so we can relocate everyone we currently have in custody at Gitmo. We've contracted the build out of our permanent off-grid space which no one will know about except our team. Both of these things will take several weeks to complete. In the meantime we're working on putting together the team and building the tech infrastructure. All of this will be part of my briefing tomorrow."
"That's excellent. You've made really impressive progress in a very short span of time. Better than anyone could have expected, Sarah."
"Thank you, Sir. I will admit that having full control of the purse strings is what has made a lot of it possible. Getting shit done is easier when you've got the money and the authority to spend it."
"Yes, well you're in a truly unique situation as far as that goes. It's not one I ever expected to see, but then I never expected we'd be dealing with a rogue faction inside our own government. Though I suppose none of us did. Maybe that's how they were able to pull this off."
She thought Graham sounded more resigned than anything else. It was the first indication she'd gotten that things were weighing more heavily on her former boss than she had previously realized. She found herself in the unique position of wanting to offer him some solace.
"Maybe we dropped the ball, Sir, by not anticipating this or not finding it sooner. But we're on to them now. It will take some time, no question, but we'll eventually root them out. They've lost the only advantage they really had and that was that they were unknown to us. That's no longer true. It's just a matter of tugging on every thread we find. They will unravel. It's inevitable."
"I know. I appreciate you trying to reassure me, Sarah. I just keep coming back to how they were able to go undetected for so long, recruiting right under our noses, across multiple agencies. And how we can prevent it from happening again."
"Sir, you're basically wondering if we can learn from our past mistakes. I have to believe that we can."
"We don't have the best track record in that regard, but ultimately I agree with you. I've just been at this a long time and I'm looking at what could be the end of my tenure here soon. I suppose I have as much concern about what I leave behind as our Commander in Chief does."
Sarah certainly understood how infuriating it would be to spend your life in defense of the greater good, constantly making unimaginable sacrifices, choices no one should ever have to make, only to be undermined by your own people right at the end of your career. She'd felt a similar sense of betrayal when she'd first discovered Ryker's machinations.
"It's a perfectly understandable concern, Sir. I can tell you I'll do everything I can to make sure their plans are thwarted before they're able to do any harm," she offered. She felt more than a little awkward trying to offer consolation to the man who'd been her mentor for 10 years. It was a shift in the dynamic of their relationship she wasn't entirely prepared for.
"It's why I wanted you for the role, Sarah," he replied. "After almost three decades here, I'm as good at covering my own ass as anyone," he added. His soft chuckle may have been slightly forced but she appreciated his attempt to inject some levity into their exchange.
Sarah figured it was her last opportunity to get her former boss's unedited opinion of General Beckman. "Sir, I feel pretty confident in the approach I intend to take with Beckman, but before our meeting tomorrow, can you give me your honest assessment of the General? Any insight you might have would be instructive if nothing else."
She heard Graham sigh again. "Honestly, Sarah, one of the most insidious things about this situation is how it makes you start to second-guess yourself. Did I trust the wrong person? Did I not trust the right person?" The Director was quiet for a few moments and she could hear a metallic clacking in the background. She realized he was fiddling with the Newton's Cradle device he had on his desk. She'd seen it many times, though she'd never seen him actually play with it.
"Is Newton's conservation of energy demonstration giving you any insight?" Sarah asked with no small amount of mirth in her voice.
This time, his answering chuckle was not forced at all. Sarah realized it was one of the few times she'd ever heard him laugh with genuine amusement and felt a little proud that she'd initiated it. "Don't begrudge an old spy his eccentricities. It helps me focus my thoughts."
He paused a few more beats, then said, "I do not believe General Beckman would ever betray her oath. She might bend the rules, even break some of them outright, whether it be to actually save lives or hell, just in the name of expediency. But when it comes down to it, Diane Beckman is true to her word. I've seen it first-hand. She worked harder to earn the stars on her shoulder than anyone who came before her. I don't see any circumstance under which she would taint thirty years of sacrifice and hard work by joining some shadowy organization, regardless of their mandate. I would not say she is beloved by her peers, hell, I don't particularly like her. She's abrasive and unyielding and more than a little arrogant. I suppose I could be describing myself. The point is, I respect her and I know everyone else in the beltway with any meaningful authority does as well."
Everything he said only served to solidify what she'd already learned. "Thank you, sir. That actually fits with what I've put together over the last couple of days, but it's good to hear it from you."
"You're welcome, Sarah. I hope it helps. Now, I have a meeting I need to prepare for, so if you don't need anything else from me, I'll see you tomorrow morning at Edwards."
"Thank you, sir. I'll see you tomorrow." She heard the line disconnect and pushed the throttle, goading the ten-cylinder symphony behind her to play a little louder. She had to make up time now, after all.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sarah pulled up to the second guard station at Edwards and held up her ID for the guard who stepped up to her window. She recognized the same Security Forces airman that had been on duty the previous day. There was another SF guard standing to the side of the guard shack holding the leash to a seriously intimidating German Shepherd. The day before she'd had to wait while probably the same guard and dog had done a walk-around of her car while another SF guard used a mirror on a pole to inspect the underside of the vehicle. The guard nodded to Sarah as she looked at her FBI credentials.
"Welcome back to Edwards, ma'am," she said after a brief inspection of Sarah's ID.
"Thank you."
The Airman held up her hand and said, "Give me one second, ma'am, I have a packet for you." She stepped into the squat, cinder block guard shack then came out with a manila envelope that she handed to Sarah. "This has your Edwards personnel pass and a parking placard for your vehicle. Make sure it's visible through the windshield and you will be authorized to park pretty much wherever you want except on the flight-line or in a spot already designated for other senior officers. The base commander has added your name to our VIP list, so you won't be subject to the full security screening when you come in by yourself. If you bring visitors with you, they will be required to submit ID and sign the visitors log at the main gate, both on entry and exit."
Sarah nodded. "Understood. I have additional members of my team that will need passes and parking placards as well. Who do I talk to about getting those?"
"If you give their names to the General's assistant, he'll take care of it. We'll have their packets waiting for them when they arrive."
Sarah wanted to show a measure of respect in her first interactions with base personnel, so she used the woman's full rank as denoted by the patch insignia on her arm, which she made a point of looking at. "Thank you Airman First Class Taylor."
The woman smiled as she said, "You're welcome, Special Agent Walker."
"Now can you give me directions to Hangar 6-Delta North?"
Sarah followed the directions given to her by Airman Taylor and a few minutes later found herself pulling up to a large hangar that had massive doors on both the north and south sides of the structure that were standing open. The side she was on had parking spaces, ostensibly for the personnel working in the hangar. There were two other similar hangars to the east that did not appear to be in use.
Through the open hangar doors on the opposite side of the building, she could see a Sikorsky HU-60 Black Hawk and two Boeing MH-6M Little Bird helicopters, also known as Attack Eggs because they could be ferocious little attack helicopters when outfitted correctly. The second Black Hawk which would have made up the rest of the Flight did not seem to be present. She could see a swarm of activity inside the hangar as mostly enlisted personnel were getting their new place of business in operational order.
She took a moment to add her Edwards ID to the lanyard that contained her FBI credentials and headed inside the hangar. She hadn't taken more than a few steps inside when the loud clatter of something metal crashing to the concrete floor sounded a few yards away, followed by the ringing of many small tools as they scattered in every direction.
Sarah stopped and looked over to see a young E2 on his hands and knees next to a small rolling tool chest that he'd apparently tipped over. He was staring at her with an open mouth and wide eyes.
"Watch it, Jackson, you clumsy fuck!" Yelled another, older airman nearby. The second airman seemed to have a better presence of mind as he quickly assessed what happened. The young E2 must have been so distracted by Sarah that he didn't notice when one of the wheels on the tool cart he was pushing got stuck on a pebble. He'd fallen over on top of the thing as it tipped over.
"Close your pie hole before I come over there and put my foot in it! And get those tools squared away you corn husking jackass! I want every single one accounted for!"
The young Airman Jackson seemed to finally pull himself out of whatever fugue he was in and blushed red enough to challenge Chuck as he quickly looked away from Sarah and started gathering up spilled tools. She felt a little bad for the poor guy but still had to stifle a laugh at the unfortunate incident.
"Yes, Sergeant!" Jackson yelled as he righted the tool chest and started cleaning up the mess. The offended Sergeant walked up to Sarah and introduced himself.
"Ma'am, I'm Master Sergeant Jacob Domingo. "You must be our new boss, Agent Walker?"
"That's correct, Master Sergeant Domingo," Sarah replied. He had a dark complexion, was solidly built if shorter than average at about five-foot-seven, was in his middle thirties and had a full head of thick, jet-black hair, cut short with a high fade. She thought his slight accent sounded Puerto Rican. "Pleasure to meet you."
The Sergeant gave the hand she offered him a firm single-pump shake and said, "You as well."
He turned and motioned to a large conference table that had been setup off to the side next to a set of stairs that led up to a mezzanine where there appeared to be a number of offices.
"We had some logistical issues with getting all our crew and equipment here," he explained, as they walked slowly over to the table." Captain Dunham and Lieutenant Glazer are in the air bringing over some additional personnel we added to the Flight at the last minute."
Sarah nodded. "Honestly, Sergeant, I'm a little amazed that you guys were able to respond as quickly as you did. I only made the call yesterday morning."
The Sergeant chuckled lightly. "You had good timing. There's a lot of bored stick monkeys at Vandenberg at the moment. You could have had this a couple times over if you wanted it." He motioned to the three helicopters sitting on the flight line just outside the hangar.
"Any idea why it's taking so long for you guys to get reassigned? It's not like they don't have a need for you in Iraq or Afghanistan at the moment."
The Sergeant shrugged. "Who knows. That's above my pay grade. I think it's just that as a unit, the 76th HS is… was… actually pretty small, and we're a little scattered in terms of our focus. We have some air rescue components, a little deep air support and even some attack components, which is what you see here. I think some of the higher ups aren't too sure what to make of us so they don't know exactly where to put us."
That seemed to make as much sense to Sarah as anything else so she nodded her acceptance of his analysis.
"So can you give me a quick rundown of what you guys brought to our party?"
The Sergeant nodded eagerly. "Yes, absolutely. So I was told you specifically requested a Flight of two Black Hawks and two Eggs. Each of those comes with two pilots, most of whom are either first or second lieutenants. The ground crew for each bird consists of a crew chief, a mechanic, an electrician, an aircraft manager and a flight inspector. Because we weren't certain about how long this assignment might last, we decided to bring two floater ground crews with us as well, along with a couple of fuel jockeys and an armament specialist. I oversee all of the ground crew operations and will also work with the Edwards groups responsible for air traffic control, weather forecasting, stuff like that. Captain Dunham obviously leads the Flight overall but his focus is on the pilot crew and actual flight operations. And last but certainly not least, we brought a PJ with us, just in case we need a medic as part of our operations. All in we've got forty-two airmen assigned to this Flight."
Sarah was particularly surprised at the last thing the Sergeant mentioned. "You guys have a PJ on the team? That's impressive. How is it he's not in-theater on the other side of the planet?"
"He was. He's just coming off a year long tour in Afghanistan. His family lives outside of LA so his commander got him a few months with us for training and recertification before he starts his next tour."
Sarah knew from experience that Pararescue operators were basically Special Forces combat medics, with training that rivaled Navy SEALs. She hoped they wouldn't need his skills on this assignment, but if they did, he could literally save lives.
Before she could ask more questions, the Sergeant looked up and out the hangar bay. "Sounds like Captain Dunham is here with the rest of our crew."
After a few more moments, Sarah could hear the tell-tale thrumming of a helicopter on approach. A minute later, the second Black Hawk assigned to the group landed on the flight-line a few dozen yards away from the open hangar doors. One of the side doors slid open and a number of personnel started piling out as the chopper powered down.
"Shall we go introduce you to the Captain?" the Sergeant asked.
"Let's do it. We have a lot to go over."
Sarah and the Sergeant walked over to the open hangar doors as the new arrivals started coming in, nodding at the Sergeant as they passed. Sarah didn't miss the furtive glances that were thrown her way as well but she kept her Agent Walker mask firmly in place, her eyes on the chopper waiting for the pilots to finish their shut down procedures and make-safe the helicopter. It only took a couple of minutes before both pilot doors popped open and the pilots climbed out. Sarah was a little surprised to see the pilot with Captains bars on his epaulets climbing out of the left side.
"Is Captain Dunham a lefty?" Sarah asked. As was the case with her, most people being right-handed meant that helicopter pilots preferred the right-side pilot seat so they could use their right hand to manage the cyclic stick, which controls speed and attitude and requires constant input. This would leave their left hand to manage the collective and throttle, which controlled the pitch of the main blades and blade RPM respectively, and required much less attention.
"Yeah. Good eye." the Sergeant observed. "You know a lot about helicopters, Agent Walker?" He was giving her an openly appraising look.
"My certification for the Black Hawk expired last year, but I've got just under four-hundred hours of flight time as PIC. I have about a hundred hours total on Eggs of various configurations, but was never certified."
The Sergeant didn't respond but nodded thoughtfully. The Captain had a brief conversation with his copilot before he headed over to Sarah and the Sergeant. Sarah noted that he was in his early thirties, about her height with a slender build, light brown hair and a rough complexion that spoke of significant acne in his youth.
"You must be our new boss," the Captain said, parroting what the Sergeant had first said to her. He held out his hand. "I'm Captain Tyrone Dunham, at your service."
"Special Agent Sarah Walker," Sarah replied, shaking his hand.
"Agent Walker, nice to meet you. Not that I'm not happy you saved us from terminal boredom, but I'm really hoping you can tell me what the hell is going on!"
"Is there some place private you and I can talk, Captain? We've got a lot of ground to cover and I'm having lunch brought in for everyone in…" Sarah glanced down at her watch. "… about an hour."
"I'm sure we can make do with something upstairs," he said as he motioned to the offices Sarah had noticed earlier.
She turned to the NCO and said, "Sergeant, thanks for your time. Can you let everyone know about lunch? It's nothing fancy, just a few taco trucks. General Wallace might be stopping by for a few minutes as well to shake hands and offer his greetings."
Both the Sergeant and the Captain seemed a little nonplussed at that information but the Sergeant recovered first.
"Of course, Agent Walker. I'll let everyone know." He saluted the Captain and then strode away with a clear purpose, shouting orders as he went.
"After you, Agent Walker," the Captain said as he motioned towards the stairs.
They found an office with a table and some metal folding chairs standing flat against the wall. They each unfolded a chair and sat on opposite sides of the small table. The table had a layer of dust coating it, so Sarah sat back as she pulled the Executive Order out of her bag.
"First things first, Captain. As I'm sure you can guess, anything I tell you in this meeting is not to leave this room. I'm showing you this as a courtesy, but you are not to mention it to anyone else. A very limited number of people have seen it and its existence is classified."
The Captain took the leather bound EO and whistled softly as he read it. "This feels like one of those 'now-I've-seen-everything' moments." He closed it up and handed it back after a few moments. "As crazy as that document is, I don't see how it applies to our current situation. I need to engage in some CYA here, as I'm sure you can imagine."
"Certainly," Sarah admitted.
"First off, you're very clearly associated with Civilian Law Enforcement. Federal, but civilian, nonetheless. Posse Comitatus prohibits the use of active duty military in civilian law enforcement."
"You are correct, Captain. I'm the first to admit that what I'm doing here is… unusual." The Captain snorted at the understatement. "Honestly, Captain, I really hope that this turns out to be nothing more than a training exercise for you and your men. There's a better than even chance that I won't need your services at all. If I don't, then you guys will have gotten to do some additional training, you'll get a nice letter in your jacket that will speak of your dedication to the Air Force and you'll move on to your next assignment, whatever that might be."
The Captain looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "But if you do need us?"
"Then I will take whatever approach you're most comfortable with. I can talk to General Wallace about having an intermediate officer assigned to this Flight. This officer will act as a firewall between the two of us. You'll receive your orders from them with full and complete deniability as it pertains to working for my Task Force.
The Captain made a face like he'd bitten into something sour. "Eh, I generally hate that kind of obfuscation but I can't help but wonder if it makes sense here. What other options do you see?"
"It's convoluted but it basically amounts to a bunch of bureaucratic sleight-of-hand after the fact. We'd probably have to use the Insurrection Act, which has a conspiracy clause. Your group would be assigned to an Air National Guard unit and from there it gets easier."
It was obvious he liked that option even less. "Yeah, that's a problem. Changing our status like that could have far reaching and unintended consequences. It could affect the promotion track of every airman in the Flight. It could affect future postings and opportunities for all of us."
The Captain ran his hands through his hair, then stood up and started pacing on the other side of the desk. He actually reminded her a little of Chuck, the way he'd paced at their meeting the day before. After a couple of laps back and forth he finally spoke.
"I'm going to take a flier and assume that that EO in your bag represents something completely unprecedented. Is that a fair assessment?" he asked as he walked back and forth in the small office.
It was Sarah's turn to snort at the understatement. "Ah, yes, you could say that."
"And if that document represents something completely unprecedented, then your task force is up against an unimaginable, equally unprecedented threat. You mentioned the conspiracy clause in the Insurrection Act." The Captain stopped pacing and gave her a focused look that she returned in kind.
"You're starting to skirt territory that I cannot and will not talk about," Sarah said firmly.
The Captain nodded and said, "I understand, but that statement itself is its own kind of confirmation."
Sarah shrugged noncommittally and the Captain continued pacing. "I don't mean this in any kind of disparaging way, but is it possible you guys are over-reacting to whatever this thing is? That maybe it looks really bad right now, but in a few months or a year you'll all look back and be like, whew, we're glad it wasn't as bad as we thought?"
Sarah didn't hesitate. "No. If anything, it's worse than we realize. I don't think we're too late to fix things, but we are very much behind the curve and having to play catch up."
The Captain continued to pace as he thought about her reply for a few moments. "Can you give me something? Some hint? A taste of how big this thing is?" He stopped pacing as he waited for her to answer.
Sarah looked at him for a long time and he held her gaze, not backing down. She decided it was worth the risk.
"You're familiar with Major General Diane Beckman?" She asked quietly.
The Captain nodded. "Of course. She's a legend in the Air Force. Lesser officers won't say her name three times for fear of summoning her."
Sarah allowed herself the barest of smiles at that comment. "She's going to be here tomorrow along with the Director of the CIA. They are specifically coming to meet with me. Director Graham's visit was planned, but in effect, I ordered General Beckman to come as well."
She saw the Captain's eyes bulge at that. "Jesus. You're not fucking around are you?" he whispered.
Sarah shook her head firmly. "I am not. Even to the point that there is a slim chance I may have to arrest General Beckman tomorrow."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Christ. Ok, I'm sold," he admitted as he started pacing once again. "So we're facing an unprecedented threat, and we're already way out in uncharted waters as the only response to that threat." It wasn't a question but he looked at her for confirmation.
"Correct."
"And the President of the United States is in the loop and willing to take extraordinary measures by signing that document. You're obviously willing to flex the shit out of that document by arranging this Flight, ordering a two-star General around, and you've got General Wallace backing this play." He looked at her pointedly once again.
"Correct," she repeated.
He paused again, as if to make sure what he was thinking about made sense. After a few moments he seemed to commit to his idea, nodding to himself as he paced.
"There's another step that could be taken that would solve this problem you and I are facing. It's pretty obvious actually."
Sarah had no idea where the Captain was going with this. She'd spent hours thinking about ways to make her command of the Flight legitimate, but it was a bit of a convoluted mess. She'd actually been hoping she wouldn't need them, but if she did, justification afterward would be complicated. It was a question of a civilian having legal authority over military personnel and resources..
"What do you mean?"
Before answering, the Captain stopped his pacing and sat down in the chair he'd previously vacated. "He could commission you. The President, I mean. As an officer in the Air Force. There's no reason he couldn't and then you could have oversight and authority over both the Task Force, and any military components you deem necessary."
It took Sarah a few moments to fully comprehend the full implications of what the Captain was saying. When she did, there was only one thing she could think to say.
"Fuck!"
A/N: Thanks to WillieGarvin for his invaluable assistance with making sure my mistakes aren't too glaring. Thanks also to all those who've sent PMs over the last year asking me to please continue this story. Please know that I desperately WANT to continue it, even when the delays make it seem abandoned.