Ch. 2 The Man Behind The Curtain
A/N: As promised, the second installment of Secret Santa. In this chapter there are references to IG which is the Inspector General, the folks in charge of keeping the CIA (mostly) playing by the rules. Thanks to all who are reading the story, and a special thanks to those who followed/favorited/PM'd. Two of you commented on Jaime Sommers (the Bionic Woman- a role NBC had apparently wanted to go to Yvonne), and one on Harry Stone (the judge on Night Court- which is about to come back on the air with John Laroquette reprising his role). I tried to respond to the reviews for the first chapter (more snuck in overnight), but probably won't be able to keep that routine up for the whole story, given the anticipated pace of posting. But each review is greatly appreciated.
Roan Montgomery looked over the report that he had received from Professor Fleming. He stopped reading, laid the report down, and poured himself a drink. He hated lying to Sarah about some things, but it was to protect her. He hadn't been lying when he said she was his favorite. The things Sarah had been through and the fight that remained in her, inspired him.
He had risen through the Agency ranks with Graham, feeling everything the man did was dirty, which was saying something. They were both CIA officers after all. But, years earlier when he learned through the grapevine of the recruitment of a teenage girl, Roan knew that Graham was perfectly content to operate beyond the pale.
It had motivated him to do more, so he arranged a meeting with Sarah Walker, a young, gangly, mouth full of braces teenager, with a spit-fire determination in her and a razor sharp mind, regardless of her circumstances. His main motivation from that moment on, and objective was to protect his prize pupil, Sarah Walker.
When she had arrived at his Seduction School as a mere teenager, Roan had begun to realize that then Deputy Director Graham's ambition was truly boundless. Operating behind the scenes, Roan sought to protect Sarah, ensure that she learned how to survive in the Byzantine world of espionage. Unfortunately, Graham's power had continued to increase over the years, and Roan had been unable to prevent Graham from developing and honing Sarah's skills as an assassin.
But while he couldn't stop Graham, he gave Sarah tools to cope with what he had her do. He trained her with everything he knew to protect her and help her get out of any and all situations he could imagine, and he could imagine plenty. Their time at the diner, which she thought was a way to get away from DC politics, was his attempt to remind her of a simple life, the ones she was protecting. The Greater Good. Seeing people in the diner like Sheila, like Steve, the owner, and the everyday customers reminded her what she was doing had merit.
Still, Roan hated what he was doing. He was telling Sarah certain versions of the truth, but all to protect her. He would not drag her into the depths of hell that the CIA seemed to constantly operate in, any more than she already was. Roan tried to be her sounding board, and to give her moments of light in the darkness that was becoming her life. All because of one man, Langston Graham.
But now she, and the country as a whole, was free from Graham's machinations. Just as the country needed to heal from the wounds inflicted upon it by Graham, so did Sarah. It had been Roan's suggestion to DNI Stone that the CIA send her for "temporary duty" as a graduate student at Stanford. The University was one of several with which the IC had a special relationship, but it also had another factor that weighed heavily in its favor for him as the optimal landing spot for Sarah.
He shook his head and chuckled. "Oh, Sarah," he said softly, having picked up the intel from Fleming again, looking through it. "I need to shake you from this life." He was disappointed, although not surprised. When news had come to him of the final preparations for Project Intersect, Roan had realized that a spectacular failure was possible. In fact, it was probable. That probability skyrocketed when Graham tabbed Alexandra Forrest as the project commander.
When Larkin destroyed the facility housing Project Intersect, Roan knew the opportunity to bring down Graham had finally come. Roan had been ready for years to unleash everything he had in his arsenal, and it was full. Discreetly, he had been compiling evidence of Langston Graham's misdeeds and covered up failures. Roan was even more certain of the impending failure of the project when word reached his ears about how incredibly incompetent Agent Forest had been at both securing the facility and for failing to have a mirror site with duplicate hardware and files. "Amateur," he muttered. But Graham had been focused more on personal loyalty than competency.
He looked over the report from Fleming on Sarah one more time and chuckled. "I said stay low, Sarah, not slink through the darkness." He shook his head, amused at his protege doing exactly what he was sure she would, and picked up the phone. He dialed the number he knew so well, and waited for the voice at the other end. "Hello? Stephen?" Roan asked with as big of a smile on his face as reflected in the mirth in his voice. "I know that it has been a while. I thought that I might get a more…frosty reception." He chuckled at his own pun.
"Roan!" Professor Stephen Bartowski, Department Chair of the Department of Computer Science, School of Engineering replied. "It's so good to hear from you. It's been a while, my old friend. I've got to say, I didn't miss the horrible play on words though." Both men laughed at the good-natured jibe. "Shame about Graham," Stephen continued. "I guess that it's true what they say, the bigger you are, the harder you fall."
"Hmm," Roan drolly replied. "Yes, it was a bit of a shock what with the IG discovering all of those dirty secrets that Langston thought that he had buried so thoroughly."
"Amazing how one can have so many dirty secrets, them be turned over to the IG, with no one able to find out who the anonymous source is," Stephen replied. Roan chuckled.
"Actually, one of those 'dirty secrets' is the reason for my call," Roan continued, seizing on the opportunity Stephen had presented. "Mary was likely aware of Graham's protégé. The so called 'Ice Queen'." The derisive tone in his voice left no doubt as to Roan's opinion on the nickname. "The Cliff Notes version is that Graham: conscripted her as a teenager, orchestrating her father's arrest and then promising to intervene on his behalf if she signed on with the CIA…at age 17; she excelled at The Farm; once in the field, Graham used her as one of his Enforcers where she was practically unstoppable at everything from covert entry to seduction to wet work; in the ten years that she's been in indentured servitude, she's earned three Intelligence Stars." Stephen let out a low whistle. "Oh," Roan continued, "and while Sarah was at The Farm she matched or bested several of Mary's records."
Stephen was silent for a moment. "That's equal parts impressive and disturbing, but I'm not clear why you are telling me all of this." There was neither acrimony nor accusation, merely curiosity.
Roan let out a chuckle, realizing that Stephen had all but admitted that he would be on board with helping out. "Purely by chance, information about Sarah's unusual 'recruitment' was made available to the IG's inspector. Her illegal conscription makes her someone that the CIA would prefer to sweep under the rug, to avoid further public embarrassment. But, getting three Intelligence Stars within ten years, yet while still in her late 20s makes her too good to cut loose."
"By chance," Stephen said, humor in his voice. "I assume you had an idea on how to deal with the situation, because Roan, if there is one thing we both know, is you do know how to deal with situations. Especially situations you've engineered."
"Stephen, you flatter me." Stephen chuckled. "My suggestion, which was readily accepted, was to get Sarah enrolled for the Fall semester at Stanford as a graduate student in the Languages Department. She's more than qualified for it. During her training and early years with the Agency, she graduated from Harvard on an expedited track. She's fluent in seven languages, and conversant in at least a half a dozen more. At her choosing, she could absolutely convince you that she's a native of Warsaw, Kiev, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Bern or Sydney."
Stephen chuckled, "That's truly impressive, Roan, but still begs the question of why you are telling me. Engineering and Arts & Sciences are two separate schools. Unless she's looking to become fluent in programming or binary, I don't think that I'm your guy."
"Not my guy for this project," Roan concurred. "I think that Mary would be a better career sounding board for Sarah- in time. But I had an idea for more of an immediate help." He paused for a bit. As Stephen had no idea what Roan was getting at he stayed silent as well. "I had George Fleming keep tabs on her as she settled in. She's pulled police incident reports for the campus and surrounding areas." Roan heard Stephen mumble, "smart" on the other end of the line. "But she also had background checks conducted on every professor, TA, and classmate. Plus, she obtained overhead imagery for the campus both in daylight and night captures."
Stephen let out an undignified snort. "Sorry. It's just that Mary did practically the same thing when Chuck enrolled here. I guess that great, paranoid minds think alike." Roan was smiling. Stephen had practically gift wrapped the perfect opening for him.
"Actually, it's Charles that I wanted to talk with you about. I believe that he and Ms. Walker are only a few months apart age wise. Plus, between his undergrad and accelerated doctorate, Charles is acquainted with the campus and its environs in ways that you and Mary would never consider."
"You want Chuck to reach out to her?" Stephen hesitantly asked. "Mary has seen to it that he's not, and never will be, an agent. And he's rather…" Stephen's voice trailed off as he sought the words to complete his thought in nice way.
"Nerdy?" Roan suggested. "I'm not suggesting that we do any matchmaking, Stephen. Just a friendly face who's not part of our world, yet has an understanding of it courtesy of Mary." He could hear Stephen's audible exhale.
"Good. Good. I'm sure that Chuck wouldn't mind reaching out to her as a friend. He's rather good at that. Dating? Not so much." There was a weighty pause. "He hasn't done much of that since…well," Stephen trailed off.
Roan leaned back in his chair, searching his prodigious memory. "Ah, yes. I recall now. There was an incident with a college girlfriend. Some infidelity on her part. And some intervention by you to keep Mary from making the foolish girl and her paramour disappear? Frost can be quite…creative when she gets vindictive. But that shouldn't be an issue here. I just need a friendly face to help Sarah integrate into society, or at least the grad school variety of society."
"Roan, what are you playing at? And none of your normal talking around something, letting me figure out what it is you are actually saying."
"Stephen, the woman has been a spy since she was seventeen years old," Roan began. "I told her to lay low, but have fun, enjoy life. Think back several years old friend, does this remind you at all of anyone."
Stephen blew out a breath. "Yes, it does," he admitted. "But what happened with Mary and I-"
"Again, I'm not trying to play matchmaker, Stephen. What I am trying to do is have someone show Ms. Walker that having a life is possible, that having fun is acceptable." Roan made a decision. With anyone else he thought it would be a great risk, but with Stephen…not so much. "Stephen, her life has been controlled by two men, her con artist father, and Langston Graham."
"Jesus," Stephen muttered as he rubbed a hand across his face, thinking about what a lousy hand life had dealt this extraordinary young woman.
"She is my star protégé. Because of the fire in her, the spirit, and I want her to actually live, not merely survive. I want her to know that life is so much more than slinking in shadows, than taking the life of a despot ruler. I want her to be free of the chains the CIA has wrapped around her. And there is one person that I know that can do that." Roan paused. He hated to say what he was about to, but it needed to be said. "Charles is amazing, special, and what was done to him by his girlfriend and his roommate was terrible. Yet, I have never met anyone more personable in my entire life. I know spies, I know how they think, and I know what one Bartowski man has already done to one of the best there is or ever was. I'm certain that Charles would help pull Sarah from her life in shadows."
Stephen laughed at that, knowing full well what Roan was referring to. "Okay, let's say I talk to Charles and get him to meet with your agent. What does happen if the same thing happens again? You know we Bartowski men are not responsible for our charm."
Roan roared with laughter. "Charm? You stumbled and fumbled your way around Mary. You hemmed and hawed and could barely form complete sentences."
"Exactly. Charmed," Stephen repeated, Roan could hear the smile on his face from his voice.
"I told Sarah that she needed to stay off the radar," Roan replied. "She could do much worse than spending time in California with the Bartowskis."
"Mary and I will do what we can Roan," Stephen assured him. "We'll talk to Charles, but we can't make him do something when he gets a mind not to."
"I'm just asking you to ask him, that's all," Roan replied, grinning. "Keep me informed."
"I will, and how about you come out for Christmas this year?"
"I just might," Roan replied, and then he hung up. "Sarah, I hope you're ready," he said to himself, proud of what he had done.
A/N2: No appearance by Chuck yet, but at least he came up in conversation. We've explored a little of Chuck and Sarah's background. And we did get to meet a Bartowski. And we discovered Roan had been the one to take down Graham, albeit clandestinely. Sarah does seem to inspire quite a bit of loyalty. Up next, we get to learn a little more about Chuck, and his plan on how to help Sarah.
To make up for the short length of this chapter, we'll publish another one tomorrow. Free of charge.