A/N For the benefit of those who don't know, there's a Facebook group for Chuck Fanfiction, and we'd love to have some new members.
This chapter has taken a long time, hasn't it? It's mostly a combination of Aisle of Terror, with Masquerade and The Curse, both of which were pretty crappy episodes. It's got some other stuff too, but that's a long-burning fuse.
"It's not what it looks like."
"There's no blood, and I hate the smell."
"What the hell happened?"
"He doesn't know Walker very well, does he?"
"Verbanski detonated him?" Morgan crawled through the ductwork, trying to imagine that in a non-cinematic, real-world sort of way. He was, unhappily, becoming good at that. "That's messed up."
"Not as messed up as failing to accomplish a mission objective," said Red Five, who was not Alex, nor anyone named Luke.
"Got me there." Mission objectives are like dominoes. One snafu and the whole plan could fall apart. Squad-mates could get hurt or killed, and he wasn't about to let his scruples put that on his conscience.
Red Five sniffed, muscling through the metal tube after Morgan, envying the recruit's smaller size. "Which is why we're here, I suppose."
"Hey, it's a plan within a plan," said Morgan. "Verbanski was complimentary." He stopped at the metal grille. "Okay, from here on out it's gonna be offices, storerooms, a whole false front. You ready?"
"I was born ready."
"You must have saved them a fortune on training." Morgan pushed the grille out, and saw Verbanski standing there, glaring at him. He pulled the grille shut, and looked back at his rescuee. "We may be trapped."
The grille pulled out of his hands. "I thought the rest of your squad was sandbagging," said Gertrude. She waited until the two men climbed out of the duct and were standing in front of her. She checked her watch. "Time is...T minus 1 minute."
That made it official. "Yes!" Morgan fist-bumped Red Five. None of the other teams saved the hostage early.
Verbanski was still in official mode. "You know, when you mentioned this plan to me I don't think I heard you say anything about going in early."
"Sorry, I thought that was implied by 'combat conditions'," said Morgan, settling back into parade rest. "Unless we're waiting for the enemy's permission to infiltrate now."
"We don't, as a rule," said Verbanski, with a smile. They heard the sound of the buzzer, indicating the end of the exercise. They could also hear the jeering and cat-calling of the other teams over Blue Team's poor performance.
"Hey. Where's Grimes?"
Verbanski waved them on their way. "Time for you to go rescue your squad."
In Echo Park...
The clothes came off the body and into a bag, the bag went outside by the dumpster for some person to find. On the way back from the dumpster Chuck decided to sit by the fountain, rather than return to a room where Sarah wasn't. He looked up at the sky, wondering what part of it she was in right now.
Somewhere over the Atlantic...
Sarah Walker woke up, her Chuck-sense tingling.
She looked out the window, but he wasn't there sitting on the wing. Crap. She pulled out her phone, and checked the time. Post-mission back in Echo Park. He'd still be up. She touched an app, placing her finger over the print scanner on the back.
Echo Park again...
Chuck's phone chimed, and he checked the screen. The words 'I love you' were shining from the screen, getting dimmer before brightening again. Slow and steady. Chuck touched his own pulse, still not as slow in rest as Sarah's was.
He touched the back of his own phone.
Over the Atlantic (it's like ping-pong)...
Sarah's phone started to pulse with Chuck's return message. For a second she smiled, but then she realized how fast the words were cycling. Why was his heart beating so fast, at that hour of night? His part of the mission shouldn't have been that hard.
What was going on back there?
Echo Park...
Chuck's phone rang. He stared at it for a second, wondering why Sarah would be calling him now. From a plane. Unless it landed already. No, too soon for that. Did it crash? Duh, obviously not. So why would she...? His heartbeat. It was too fast! He touched his wrist again. Too slow? What was he in trouble for this time?
The phone rang again, and this time he noticed the screen, which didn't show Sarah's name. Oh. He accepted the call. "Hello?"
"Hello, Chuck, it's...your mother."
Verbanski Corp HQ...
The big man sat at his desk, alone in the outer room that fronted the Boss' office. It was dark, it was quiet, and he was alone. He didn't mind solitude, it gave him time to write his poetry.
He was also aware when that solitude was broken, when the shadows in his mind shattered and scattered. Oo, that was good, he wrote that down.
He walked through the office, seeking what didn't belong. He could feel it moving, like a partner in a dance of...hmm, what would be a good metaphor? Or is that a simile? He turned around.
A female non-com stood there, right in front of him, out of uniform. He still recognized her. "Corporal Swan? What are you doing up here? This is a secure area."
"I was looking for Miss Verbanski."
"She's in the fitness center, at the ceremony."
"Oh. Well, in that case I'll be on my way."
"Wait a minute, you're supposed to be at the ceremony too." She wasn't even dressed for it. "You stay right here." He reached for her card and found himself almost groping her. "Where's your ID?"
"Right here." She pulled something flat and rectangular out of her pocket and handed it over, holding it carefully by the edges. He seized it, thick fingers squeezing the middle of the card as he brought it up to get a look, not noticing that she was stepping back, holding her breath.
Suddenly he was nauseous, trembling and weak as he collapsed to the floor, dropping her 'ID' as he did.
Swan put a garbage can over the fallen card. "Insidious, no? Sorry about that, well, not really, but I need to get into the office and you were in my way."
"I...don't...have...key..." gasped the guard.
"Oh don't worry," said Swan, stepping over his convulsing body. "I already have that." She swiped a card through the reader and entered a code. "They don't call me the Viper for nothing."
He didn't hear her.
Still VCHQ, but a few minutes earlier, down in the fitness center...
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming," said Gertrude, "Especially since it was mandatory." That always got a laugh. "While we often see new recruits join the ranks, and promotions among the ranks, it isn't often that we get so many of them all at the same time. First, we have our two new recruits, Alex McHugh and Morgan Grimes, who have completed their training and will be joining their respective companies as privates." Red and Blue Companies made a lot of noise, with Yellow joining in because why not.
"As some of you know, Private McHugh defeated Corporal Swan in physical combat, so she will be specializing in combat instruction." Red Company shouted approval.
"Private Grimes has distinguished himself with his unusual techniques and unorthodox stratagems, so he will be specializing in tactics and C&C for Blue Company." Morgan's team went wild. "That company, sad to say, will no longer include Corporal Swan, who resigned her position this afternoon. So we are also celebrating the promotion of Corporal Harris from Charlie Team in Red to Bravo Team in Blue." Much polite applause ensued, but that got stepped on when a number of phones started signaling at very high volume.
"Ma'am, your office!"
"Antonia, take over here. Block all exits." She pointed at Bravo Team, closest to the door and to her. "You guys follow me."
They piled into the nearest stairwell, faster and safer than the elevator. They had their pistols, but they also knew that discharging their weapons inside the city would bring the only thing they feared more than an armed enemy down on their heads: paperwork.
On the office level they exploded out of the door and spread out to support their commander as she led the approach to her own office. The dead guard was spotted, the overturned garbage can noted, and both given a wide berth.
Verbanski swiped her card and entered the code.
Gunfire erupted inside the office, and glass shattered loudly. Gertrude led the charge into the room, racing for the nearest cover. She checked the mirrors for a target. "Swan?"
The former corporal stopped at the window, one hand holding a small data drive. Gertrude took aim, and Swan raised her other hand, holding what appeared to be a deadman switch. "Yeah, you do that, Gertrude." With her other hand she unzipped her jacket to reveal pockets underneath containing something long and block-shaped. Assuming that was something explosive, it was more than enough to kill them all if it went off. Swan raised her hand to put the drive into her pocket.
Morgan grabbed the heavy glass insert to one of Gertrude's ashtrays and threw it frisbee-style, hitting her hand and making her drop the drive. "God-dammit!" shouted Swan, shooting Morgan a murderous glare. "You're a dead man, Grimes."
She bent down and grabbed a handle attached to a rope at her feet and jumped out the window, using the device to slow her fall and protect her hand. Verbanski and her men ran to the window to see her reach the ground. The guards on the gate were already there, weapons drawn, and Swan raised her hands.
She threw the 'deadman switch' at the guards and it exploded, leaving them gasping and twitching on the ground while Swan ran out the front gate and disappeared. Gertrude pulled out her phone. "It was Swan! She got out the front gate. Someone check on the guards. They're on the ground under my office."
Ignoring the response, she turned back to the room at large and said, "All right, let's see what she was after."
Griffith Park, one hour later...
Chuck sat on a picnic bench, trying to sense the approach of a predator. He knew there had to be at least one, and the one he knew of had been doing this a long time. They weren't about to make a mistake now. Then the crickets fell silent. His phone chirped instead, already in his hand, and he lifted it to his face. "Mom? I was wondering you were really going to show up. You've been a ghost for so long." Haunting him.
"You know how complicated my situation is," said his mother. "I had to make sure we were secure."
"Of course you did."
"Look to your three o'clock."
Chuck looked, and saw the silhouette of his mother just beyond a low fence, her face barely visible. Not a dream, not a ghost. His breath caught.
"Meet me by the playground." The silhouette disappeared into the shadows, in the direction specified.
Chuck looked at his phone. Yeah, that was his mother. She never did say goodbye like a normal person. Well, normal people not named Beckman. He climbed down off of the picnic table he sat on and followed.
The playground was a frightening place by moonlight, bizarre shapes casting bizarre shadows. An easy place for a spy to get lost in, but his mother stood in the center, waiting for him, her hands in her pockets. Chuck walked up to her. "Mom. Hi."
Mary pulled a gun out of her pocket and aimed it center mass.
A hard voice growled from the spy-obscuring shadows. "Hold it right there, lady."
Mary flipped the gun up and turned her head, pulling her other, empty, hand from her pocket slowly. "There you are," she said happily.
Casey emerged from his concealment and moved forward as Chuck took the gun. "It's unloaded."
Casey didn't lower his gun, and Mary smiled. "I was hoping he wouldn't come alone just because I told him to, but I couldn't spot his backup anywhere. Didn't even hear a twig snap. You must have been doing this a long time."
"You're calling me old," said Casey. "Thank you."
Mary nodded. "Only one way to get old in this business. As long as you're not sl-" Her hand moved in a blur.
A forearm blocked her strike, but not Casey's forearm. Mary looked up at her very tall son-just like his father-with his arm extended over her head, protecting his partner's face. She hadn't heard him move either. "Oh."
"Could we please not kill each other saying hello?" asked Chuck.
She lowered hand, swinging her wrist to get the soreness out. "Very good. Your CIA partner's in England?"
Casey checked his watch, coincidentally shifting his gun's line of fire. "Should be, yeah."
"You have something for us, mom?" asked Chuck as Casey put the weapon away.
Mary shook her head. "Your father should have already given you all the information you need," she said. "The mark will be expecting you, takedown should be a piece of cake."
"Then why are we here?" said Chuck.
"I told you," said Mary, patting his cheek. "I needed to see you."
A/N2 She just had to go and jinx it, didn't she?