Chapter 16: The Sting

California, Burbank, The Castle, December 28th, 2007

"So, what happened on your trip up north?"

Bane had shown remarkable patience, in Chuck's opinion, for waiting two days before asking that question.

"It's classified," Sarah replied at once, looking up from the documents she was reading at the planning table in The Castle with a wide smile. She had been waiting to be able to do that, Chuck knew.

"I was under the impression it was related to our current mission." Bane hadn't lost her own smile. Did that mean that she hadn't gained any intel from Morgan, or was she trying to confirm what he might have spilt?

"No, this mission was a joint mission with Caridad's organisation," Sarah said.

"And the search for Orion is a side-mission," Chuck corrected her. "Our primary mission remains finding and neutralising Fulcrum."

"Which would be greatly helped along if we could get ahold of the creator of the Intersect," Bane replied. She leaned against the wall near the door, legs crossed. The agent hadn't yet changed out of the Wienerlicious uniform, which left most of her crossed legs bare, but she wasn't drawing attention to them. Not that Chuck could tell, at least.

"We don't even know if it's Orion behind the payments," Sarah told her as she stood and walked over towards Chuck, handing him a document - and placing her hand on his shoulder as she leaned over to point at a picture there. "Check this out."

A picture he already had tried to flash on. But he knew better than to point that out. It wasn't as if he minded Sarah hanging over his shoulder. He could smell her perfume, feel her body when she leaned a little closer to him…

"Who else could it be?"

"Apart from someone related to a classified matter," Sarah replied, not moving from where she was touching Chuck, "Chuck fits the recruitment criteria for several criminal organisations."

"What?"

"He's a highly-qualified computer specialist, both software and hardware," Sarah explained. "And until he was cleared, he was registered as having been expelled for cheating from Stanford."

"I see," Bane said, nodding. "Frame the sister for money laundering then offer to help - in exchange for favours."

"Or direct recruitment," Sarah said as she straightened. "There are many reasons for having Chuck on your payroll."

"Deniability and discretion." Bane crossed her arms.

"Money buys loyalty," Sarah replied. "That's more important in such a situation."

Bane made a noncommittal sound. "We should take another look at Grover's clients, then."

"That's what we're doing," Sarah said.

Technically, it was true. But they weren't really investigating - it was more a private game of 'guess Dad's victim'. A very cynical game, of course, seeing as they were speculating about someone dying.

Chuck pressed his lips together. They were talking about a drug dealer. Or a mobster. Or a terrorist. Not an innocent victim. Someone who would likely be killed someday anyway, by his competitors, subordinates or the police. Someone whose death would save others.

As often as he told himself that, he still felt guilty, though. Queasy. His father would be killing someone. Premeditatedly. And Chuck would be helping. Was helping, already.

But then, this was what spies did. Sarah had killed more than once in the line of duty. And not all of her victims had deserved to die - Chuck had read the files. Some had merely been working for the wrong people. Security guards. Bodyguards. Soldiers.

He sighed. Did he want to become a spy? It wasn't as if he had a choice any more, had he? Not as the Intersect. Not with Fulcrum after him. And if he had to choose between a drug dealer or human trafficker and Dad or Ellie…

"Chuck?"

Sarah. Beautiful, strong, deadly Sarah. The spy he had fallen in love with.

He forced himself to smile at her. "Just feeling a little down at not making any progress with this." He nodded at the pictures of several of Grover's clients. It was technically true, from a certain point of view. A very twisted point of view.

"Don't worry, we'll get them." She smiled at him.

"Yes," Bane added.

Chuck closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Was he moving his lines? He had killed himself, after all. Demons. Monsters. Threats to humanity.

And, perhaps, some monsters who had just been at the wrong place, or forced to fight for a stronger demon.

He focused on the pictures in front of him again. He didn't want to think about the Wolfram & Hart battle. Not now.

California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 29th, 2007

"We're invited to the annual Bartowski New Years Party," Sarah heard Chuck announce as he entered their apartment.

Sarah smiled at him as she put down the breadbasket on the table. "Does that mean she's forgiven you?"

"Us you mean," he replied, stopping on his way to the kitchen to kiss her cheek. She liked the correction. Then he sighed. "Not completely."

"Ah."

"Yes. She's still mad, but not as mad as she was. We're kind of like Caridad now. Or maybe the Scoobies," Chuck said as he brought the salad bowl.

"Really?" That didn't sound too bad.

"Probably. I only have two points for comparison. The Graduation and Wolfram & Hart."

She'd read about the second incident. Most called it the L.A. Riots of 2004. "So?"

"Well, it's a little different. Both times, she was mad at me, but relieved that I survived - and it was over. This time, we're still in danger, and she knows I'm going to take some risks."

"Ah." That would change how Ellie felt.

He winced. "And, well… I didn't lie to her for months, in either case."

"Oh." She nodded.

"But she's my sister. She'll come around." He didn't sound as sure as he should be, though. "Well, she is coming around, hence the invitation."

"Or she doesn't want us to attend another party with more spies and council members," Sarah pointed out as she carried the pasta to the table.

He blinked. "Oh… I didn't think of that angle."

"It might not be true," Sarah told him. "She probably is warming up."

"Cooling down, you mean," Chuck corrected her with a small smile. "I hope so." He sighed as he sat down. "For fifteen years, it's just been us."

She nodded, serving the spaghetti.

"First Mom disappeared. Then Dad, and Ellie had to take over. She did a good job, though she had a lot of support - Sunnydale's government had lots of experience with caring for orphans."

And there went the mood. "I'll work out," she told him.

He nodded, though it looked a little forced. "So… any news about the hospital thing?"

Ah. "Yes. We should have access to a scanner in two days."

"Before the party? I don't suppose we could smuggle Dad to the party afterwards..."

She raised her eyebrows at him - he knew better - and he sighed. "Just a thought. It's a little unfair that I'm getting all the blame for this situation even though it's all Dad's fault."

Life wasn't fair. But Chuck deserved better than some callous remark. So she reached out and squeezed his hand before they started eating.

California, Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, December 31st, 2007

"I thought we would be visiting a hospital," Chuck said as they parked in front of a warehouse.

Sarah shrugged. "That would have been a little harder to arrange without Bane finding out."

"I'm just… I'd feel a little better if this were a hospital. With that reassuring smell of industrial-strength detergent and bleach." He was only half-joking.

"On the other hand, this machine will be brand-new - no need to disinfect it," Sarah pointed out as she opened the side entrance to the warehouse.

"You say 'brand-new'. I hear 'untested'," he replied. "And as an expert for all the problems that brand-new electronic devices can be plagued with, I feel even a little less assured now."

"Do we need to get some pampers in case you wet yourself?" Casey grunted. The man looked even grumpier than usual, Chuck noticed. Probably because Caridad was present as well.

"I was just making a few comments," Chuck told the man. "Whoa!" He took the whole set-up in - it looked like something out of Stargate. Or Star Wars. Too jury-rigged for Star Trek.

"We've had to improvise a little with the power supply," Dad commented, standing up and stretching his back. "We're almost ready. Caridad and Agent Casey were very helpful."

"Mostly me," Caridad announced from… above? Chuck looked up. The Slayer was straddling one of the beams below the roof, rigging up something. "Done!" she announced, then pushed off and jumped on a catwalk five yards below her.

Chuck wasn't the only one who winced the sound that that caused.

"So…" he said, walking over to Dad.

"Just a second, son," Dad replied without looking up from his PDA. "A few last checks and double-checks… Done!" He beamed at Chuck. "We're good to go. Perfect timing."

"Not quite perfect," Casey had to comment.

"Pretty much perfect, with Los Angeles' traffic," Caridad replied.

For a moment, the Slayer and the NSA agent were staring at each other. Then Dad cleared his throat. "So, let's scan Chuck. There's a party waiting for him, after all."

"Right." Chuck nodded with more confidence than he felt as he stripped off anything metal on him, eyeing the gaping opening of the scanner with growing trepidation. If there was a metal implant in his brain… "Uh, Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I don't have an actual computer in my head, right?"

"Not to my knowledge."

That wasn't really reassuring. He cleared his throat as he dropped his belt. "I mean, what if someone put an implant in my head, and the Intersect took it over?"

"It's not designed to do that," Dad told him. "The CIA didn't want to risk their secrets going viral, so to speak. And how would you get an implant without noticing?"

"Well, there was a demon on the Internet, once, in Sunnydale."

"What?" Dad was staring at him. The same as everyone but Caridad.

"Ah, right - Moloch." The Slayer nodded. "I heard the story."

"Moloch? The god?"

"A god? No, just a demon. Kind of - Willow apparently had a school project where she scanned books in the high school library, and accidentally scanned a cursed book in which a demon was bound or something." Caridad shrugged. "She's a little sensitive about the whole thing, so I never got the full story. But the demon took over some techno firm and started building a robot body while trying to seduce her, so Buffy killed it."

"Fascinating." Dad's Spock imitation hadn't gotten better with age. "A demon on the Internet…"

"Yeah, all the parent groups would freak out if they knew." Caridad chuckled.

They would probably still blame computer games, Chuck thought.

"I was more thinking of the potential. Mixing magic and technology…" Dad looked pensive.

"That's dangerous!" Caridad retorted. "Buffy had to deal with killer robots who looked like real people in Sunnydale."

"What?" Dad looked shocked.

"Yes," Chuck replied. "Apparently, she had a robot double so good, it could fool an evil god." He hadn't actually heard the whole story about the Buffy bot - Buffy was sensitive about it - but he had pieced most of it together from remarks.

"And it was a better sister than Buffy herself, according to Dawn," Caridad cut in.

Although in hindsight, Dawn probably wasn't the most reliable source.

"Robot doubles? Able to pass as real people?" Dad was shaking his head. "Good thing the CIA never heard of that."

"They'd have built fembots and terminators," Chuck said, shuddering.

"Oh, yes," Dad agreed. "Part of the Intersect project - and a huge part of the reason I left - was the potential to use the technology to program people as sleeper agents - against their will. If they could have used robots instead…"

"Uh… could you do that?" Chuck asked. "I mean, I don't want you to do it. But it'd be really useful to know if such a thing is possible." If someone could program him…

"Theoretically, it might be possible, but I never pursued that particular idea." Chuck's father shook his head. "Anyway, we should probably x-ray your head before putting you into the scanner. Fortunately, this firm has x-ray scanners in stock as well. It shouldn't take long to set up one."

Half an hour later, Dad nodded at the screen. "I can't see anything in your head that might be accidentally sent spinning around inside it, so you should be safe."

Dad really had to work on the reassuring stuff, in Chuck's opinion. But he was going into the scanner anyway.

"Hm…"

Dad had been studying the results of the brain scan for half an hour without commenting. Chuck couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not. Casey was reading a gun magazine and doing his best to act as if he were not interested at all. Sarah and Cariad were chatting about the party later today. And probably about Ellie.

He put the computer magazine he had been reading down and cleared his throat. "So, what's the verdict?" He noted with a little satisfaction that the others paid attention as well.

"Huh?" Dad looked up. "Ah, sorry. I haven't found anything amiss, yet. You should have access to the skills."

He should? "So why doesn't it work?"

"I'm still working on that."

Chuck heard Casey snort behind him. Probably aimed at him rather than at Dad. Or perhaps at both of them.

"Perhaps your neural net hasn't connected properly to it," Dad said, rubbing his chin.

"Wouldn't you see that on the scan?" Caridad asked.

"No. Such details won't show up on a commercial scanner." Dad shook his head. "It might be a psychological issue, too."

"So he's too scared to use the skills?" Casey scoffed with a sneer.

Chuck clenched his teeth. He wasn't a trained spy, but he wasn't a coward.

"No," Dad said, with a frown of his own. Aimed at Casey, Chuck hoped. "It's probably due to unmonitored integration of the Intersect."

"So… can that be fixed?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know - I don't even know what's the issue. It might fix itself over time."

Chuck nodded with his lips pressed together. It was a slim hope, but better than nothing.

Chuck looked rather sad after Orion had left again, Sarah noticed. Did he miss his father so much? She hoped not. Orion had abandoned his family before - he would do it again if he deemed it necessary. No matter the cost to Chuck and Ellie. "Well, now we know that there's nothing wrong with your brain," she tried to cheer Chuck up.

He started to smile, but Casey cut in: "Just with your spine."

"There's nothing wrong with Chuck's spine!" Caridad snapped.

Sarah cut in before they could start to bicker. "Let's do a final sweep to see we didn't leave anything behind, then go. The warehouse is closed for the holidays, but some people might still come to work if only to escape the arguments at home."

She had aimed that at Casey and Caridad, but it was Chuck who flinched. Damn. "Sorry," she mouthed.

He shrugged half-heartedly in response, and she suppressed a sigh. This might be worse than she thought.

Ten minutes later, they were in Sarah's car, on the way home - and finally outside Caridad's hearing range. "I wasn't talking about you and Ellie when I mentioned arguments."

"I know," he replied. He wasn't looking at her, though, and didn't sound very convincing, either.

"What's wrong?" she asked after a moment. This wasn't the time to be subtle about it.

"Nothing." She caught him glancing at her and raised her eyebrows. "Ok, not nothing," he went on after a moment. "It's just… It's a little much. Dad, Ellie, my brain hosting a computer with more features than I thought and a possible kill switch…"

"Ellie's calming down. Your father's got a plan, and we just checked that your brain's fine."

"For a given definition of 'fine'," he retorted, sounding more than a little bitter. "I can't use the Intersect."

"You've used it to great effect," she told him.

"I've just been lucky. I can't control my flashes. They happen - or they don't. And as Dad has shown, I can't even trust the database since it was manipulated from the start. And now I know that the Intersect could offer so much more if only I were able to use it."

That wasn't good. She pressed her lips together as she overtook a delivery truck, then replied: "You are using the Intersect as intended - and getting great results."

"Dad's doing better."

"We don't know that," she retorted. "You two are the only ones using the Intersect at all."

"And Dad has mad spy skills, while I… don't."

Ah. That was the issue. "Your father has a lot more experience. You've been doing this for a few months while he's been at it for fifteen years."

"I don't think he started out as a spy," Chuck told her. "He became one after he used the Intersect on himself."

"To be a spy is more than just a skillset." She snorted. "It's a mindset."

"Which I also lack." He sighed.

"You're doing fine, You're doing better than I was doing, three months in."

"Really?" He sounded surprised but quickly started to frown again. "But I feel so useless, compared to…"

Compared to her. She frowned "You're not useless. You're a great asset, Chuck. And you'll be a great spy - with or without the Intersect."

He snorted but didn't contradict her.

It was true, anyway. Chuck would be a great spy - eventually. If he survived.

California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 31st, 2007

Chuck checked himself in the mirror once more. No stubble on the face. No stain on the shirt. Belt matching shoes… not quite. But he wasn't wearing dress shoes. The rule didn't apply to sneakers, did it? If the Intersect in his head worked properly, he'd know.

He frowned as he pushed the thought away. He looked sharp enough. Probably.

"Chuck?" Sarah called from the living room.

"Coming!" he yelled in return and left the bathroom. "I was just having a short moment of self-consciousness," he told her.

She hadn't dressed up for a fancy evening, but between the fancy top, the tight - very tight - shiny black pants and the ankle boots, she looked great.

"So, once more into the breach."

"I was wondering about having two parties so close together," she said as they walked towards the door.

"Well, it started out as a compromise between Ellie and Devon, when they started dating," he told her. "Or a competition. Ellie did the Christmas Eve Party at her home, and Devon did the End of Year Party at his. And by the time they moved in together, it had become a tradition."

"Ah."

"Yes. Devon still tries to add more awesome to 'his' party, but it's quieted down a lot since they were at Uni." Caridad getting into a tussle with Devon's old fraternity members had been responsible for that, but there was no need to go into that.

They had a party to enjoy. Well, they had to make an attempt to enjoy it, at least.

An hour later, Chuck still hadn't managed to enjoy the party. Standing in a corner, he sighed - his mouth hidden behind a glass of cola - as he looked at the room full of slightly inebriated doctors. It really was the Christmas Eve Party reloaded. Christmas Eve 2.0. There were mostly the same guests - a few who had gone to visit their family had been replaced by a handful who had just returned from their family visit, but overall there were no new faces. The music was the same as well, only with fewer Christmas songs. At least the food was different - Devon had tried something new and gone for a mix of Asian and Hawaiian dishes for the buffet.

The Red Thai Curry had been good, though Chuck wasn't quite as fond of the Loco Moco. "Why are the other guests gushing about it?" he asked Sarah as he took another bite out of the burger.

"Nostalgia," she replied. "It's a cheap, filling meal, so it's popular among students."

"Ah! A taste of a supposedly happier time, then," he said, nodding. Chuck certainly didn't remember his time at Stanford very fondly. Not after his expulsion. "At least Ellie stopped trying to hitch me up with one of her colleagues."

"Oh?" Sarah leaned a little closer.

"Didn't I tell you about my last birthday party? Ellie had organised it as a surprise. Just imagine this party, but with a cake." He snorted. "I left for my apartment after an hour, and no one except Ellie noticed. Well, from this crowd." He nodded at the doctors. "Morgan and Caridad noticed as well, of course. And tried to drag me to a demon hunt." Right when Ellie had tried to drag him back to the party. That hadn't been fun.

"Ah." Was Chuck imagining things, or was Sarah eyeing the assembled female guests with a more hostile expression?

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I feel the same urge to leave that I felt back then. This isn't my crowd." For different reasons, now, but still. Of course, it wasn't Caridad's crowd either, but the Slayer would never turn down free food. She was currently cleaning up the Curry parts of the buffet.

"Why don't we leave, then?"

"And make Ellie mad? Madder, I mean." He shook his head. "Besides, Morgan's bringing Bane."

"He's late," Sarah remarked.

"Uh…" Chuck a good idea about what was holding up Morgan and Bane. Mainly because Morgan had called and told him.

"Ah." And judging by her expression, Sarah had a good idea as well.

He shrugged. "Well, they're both adults."

"And she's a spy," Sarah all but hissed.

Chuck nodded. In some ways, Sarah was like a Slayer. She reacted to Bane like Caridad reacted to supposed 'poachers' in her 'territory'. Not that Chuck would ever tell either that. "So… dessert? Apart from the bar, this is the best part of the party unless you like discussing medical procedures and emergencies while you eat." And Chuck knew better than to get drunk any more. With Fulcrum after him, he had to keep his wits all the time.

Something else that set him apart from the others in the room. He sighed again.

"Hm?" Sarah glanced at him.

"I just realised that I started to think of everyone else here as 'civilians'. Well, everyone else but Caridad," he added before the Slayer could glare at him.

"Ah." Sarah nodded. "Yes, that's bound to happen. Although you weren't exactly a civilian before this, were you?"

"The demon hunting?" He shook his head. "I didn't actively hunt demons. I just helped out when there was an apocalypse in the area. I only fought twice in those, too. Three times if you count the Slime Lord."

"Most people never fight at all," she replied. "And you didn't just fight when you had no choice - you choose to put your life on the line."

"If we hadn't fought, the Mayor would have eaten all of us and probably destroyed most of the county. Or California." The Scoobies hadn't been too precise about the area of effect of the Ascension. "And Wolfram & Hart were planning to destroy the world."

"Still, not many would have done what you did," she told him. "Most would have fled in panic." She smiled. "And you grew up in Sunnydale."

That made some sense. "I guess I haven't been a civilian at all, then." He snorted. "More like a member of a militia. Or the National Guard."

She laughed as well. "Don't let Casey hear that."

"I'm not suicidal." After a moment, he added: "Thank you."

In response, she leaned over and wrapped her arm around his waist.

Perhaps he could enjoy the party anyway.

California, Burbank, The Castle, January 1st, 2008

"Good morning, Agent Casey, Agent Walker, Agent Bane, Mr Bartowski."

General Beckman looked far too crisp for a briefing on January 1st of any year. Well, so did everyone else, Chuck thought. Casey looked ready for war - as always. Bane looked ready to seduce someone. Sarah looked beautiful. Which she was, but which was still better than she had any right to look like after last night.

He forced himself to sit straighter. "Good morning, general," he said together with the others. Perhaps he could wing this.

"Did you have a rough night, Mr Bartowski?"

Or perhaps he couldn't. "Uh, no, general. Just a short one," he replied.

The general raised an eyebrow at Sarah for that quip but didn't pursue it further than slightly frowning. "You've got a new mission." Her picture shrunk, and another appeared on the screen, showing a handsome blond man. "This is Dirk Albert Martinez. We suspect him to be involved in industrial espionage focused on startups in the Silicon Valley. Your objective is to infect the stolen data he's carrying with a worm that will allow us to find his accomplices and employers."

Chuck frowned as he realised that if not for Bryce - and his Dad - he might have been one of the man's targets. "Are they posing as investors?" he asked.

"Exactly. Did you flash?" Beckman answered.

"No, ma'am. Just a deduction," he replied.

"Ah."

He tried not to show his annoyance at the dismissal. He wasn't just an interface for the Intersect.

"Martinez normally uses the same method: He poses as an investor to gain access to a firm's secrets. If that doesn't work, he usually seduces an employee with access to the data centre and uses her to copy what he's after," Beckman went on. "You will use your cover as Charles Carmichael to lure him in, Mr Bartowski."

"I don't actually have a software firm," Chuck pointed out.

"You don't need one; the electronic trail of one will suffice. You will make contact in Los Angeles on a business trip with your personal assistant, with the prototype of a new search algorithm in your possession. According to his psychological profile, Martinez won't be able to resist the opportunity to acquire it."

That sounded easy. Although… "My personal assistant ma'am?" Sarah usually posed as his girlfriend.

"Agent Bane will be playing that role."

Oh.

"Yes, ma'am." Bane sounded eager.

And Sarah looked angry.

California, Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, January 2nd, 2008

Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, Chuck straightened his tie - or tried to - for the third time. It still looked a little crooked. Special Agent Charles Carmichael wouldn't wear a crooked tie, would he? On the other hand, Charles Carmichael, software entrepreneur and nerd, might. He had to look the part of a mark, after all.

Chuck sighed as he left the bathroom. His room wasn't quite a suite, but spacious enough to come close and offered a great view of the city. A good fit for his cover. And the mission wasn't dangerous. Industrial espionage. Not drug dealing or spies going after arms research. Nor were demons involved - Caridad had checked out Martinez last evening. Apparently, The Castle's soundproofing still wasn't Slayer-proof. Well, that wasn't a problem for Chuck, and Beckman and Bane didn't know about it.

He tensed anyway as he heard knocking at the door. Just because a mission was supposed to be safe didn't mean it was actually safe. "Yes?" he called out, hand slipping to the taser hidden in his pocket.

"Room service."

He blinked. That was… The door opened, revealing Sarah dressed as a maid and pushing a trolley inside.

She smiled at him - though a little toothily - as she closed the door behind her. "Casey's already in the hotel bar. I'm covering the hallways."

"Ah." He nodded. They were the backup. Just in case. "Good cover," he said, then clenched his teeth at the banality of the comment.

Sarah smiled, though. "It's a good way to carry weapons," she said, nodding at the covered trolley. "And it explains my presence in your room."

Her rather sultry smile made him blush. Who hadn't had a fantasy about a maid and a hotel room? Her outfit wasn't the kind advertised as 'sexy maid' for Halloween parties, but it certainly was sexy. In a classy way. He swallowed. "I see."

She nodded in return and took a step closer to him, reaching out to straighten his tie. "All part of the service," she whispered.

How long did he have until he had to be at the bar? Based on Martinez's usual schedule… twenty minutes. Not long enough for a fantasy. But, perhaps…

Someone else knocked on the door. "Mr Carmiachel?"

Bane.

Sarah took a step back, her smile slipping, as the other agent entered.

Bane was dressed for business, Sarah noticed. Not quite conservatively enough to work in a bank, but close enough. The skirt was a little too short, ending right above the knees, the shirt a little too tight, the heels a little too high, the hair a little too stylish. Just what a personal assistant with a crush on her employer might wear. It would present Martinez with an easy but not too easy target - Sarah knew how this worked, having done it before herself.

But she also knew that this was aimed at Chuck as well. Which was one reason she was here, of course. With an outfit she had carefully picked for the occasion. Something Bane realised immediately, of course - for a moment, Sarah saw the other agent's lips twist in a frown before Bane smiled again.

"Agent Walker. I take it the hallways are safe then?"

"Yes," Sarah replied, matching the woman's smile.

"Good," Bane lied. "Are you ready, sir?" she turned to Chuck, and her smile changing from polite to seductive.

"Uh… 'sir'?" Chuck blinked.

"I'm your personal assistant," she replied. "It's good to stay in your role. Helps with maintaining your cover."

"Uh, of course," Chuck answered, nodding at the platitude. And missing the subtle dig at Sarah.

"There's still time until the mission starts," Sarah said. "We wouldn't want to appear too eager, would we?" A short step and she was in front of Chuck, reaching for his tie to fix it.

"Thanks." He smiled at her. Warmly. Not nervously. Not slightly wary.

She leaned forward. "Carmichael's supposed to have a girlfriend at home," she whispered - loud enough for Bane to hear. "This will help with that cover story." She kissed him.

And then she had to fix his tie again. But Bane wouldn't have any trouble to play the role of the frustrated personal assistant whose boss ignored her crush because he was in love with his partner.

Sarah refrained from smiling triumphantly at Bane. But she enjoyed the other agent's expression very much.

Chuck straightened as he stepped out of the hotel room. Charles Carmichael was a successful businessman. Wealthy, smart and suave. Pretty much the opposite of Chuck Bartowski. But for the smart part. Although both had a great girlfriend. Partner.

He took a deep breath. Sarah had been right again - kissing her had certainly helped. This mission was in the bag.

The hotel bar was next to the lounge - he could see a couple of guests with fancy drinks on the couches there as he passed through. A glance at the clock on the wall told him that they were right on time. Well, he had known that already. But double-checking never hurt. Usually.

Inside, Martinez was leaning against the bar, as expected, watching the room. And Casey was playing the bartender. Perfect.

Chuck made a beeline to the free spot next to the mark, putting his elbow on the bartop and flashing his credit card. "A whisky cola for me and… a Long Island for you, Marcy?" he turned to address Bane who had just reached the bar.

"I shouldn't drink, sir," she replied.

"Nonsense!" he said, shaking his head. "We got the contract. That deserves a toast. Live a little, Marcy!"

"If you say so, sir." Bane reluctantly nodded, placing herself between Chuck and Martinez.

"Good work there, by the way," Chuck went on while Casey fixed their drinks. "Your presentation really sold our new algorithm."

"Thank you, sir." Bane beamed at him. She was good at her role. If Chuck didn't know better, he would have fallen for her act.

And Martinez was paying attention, Chuck noted. As planned.

Their drinks arrived, and Chuck raised his glass at once. "Cheers!"

"Ah… cheers, sir."

He took a large swallow - Casey had toned down the whisky, a lot, so there was no danger of getting drunk. Martinez would 't know that, of course.

Bane took a sip of hers, then coughed and stumbled, taking a step back and bumping into Martinez. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she blurted out, turning to smile at the man."

"No worry." Martinez returned her smile with perfect teeth. "No harm done."

The agent nodded and turned back to Chuck. The bait had been set, and judging by Martinez expression, he was nibbling already. Time for the next step. Chuck drained his drink. "Ah. I needed that!" he exclaimed as he set his glass down.

A moment later, his phone went off, as planned - Casey had sent the signal to Sarah. "Cindy?" Chuck said, a little loudly. "Good news, darling! We got the contract!"

"Great, Charles!"

"I told you so, didn't I?" Chuck went on. "Marcy worried, the dear. You know how she is!"

"Oh, yes," Sarah replied.

"So, I was thinking we should celebrate that. How about we take out the yacht tomorrow? Just you and me?"

As Chuck went through the script, Bane downed her own drink. She was playing her role so well, Chuck almost felt bad for her.

Not for Martinez, though, who was smiling behind her back.

"I feel like a peeping tom," Chuck commented an hour later, back in his hotel room, as he nodded towards the laptop on the desk. Which showed the feed from the camera Bane had hidden in her room.

"We're her backup," Sarah said. "We need to be ready to intervene at a moment's notice."

"I know. I still feel weird," Chuck replied. On the screen, Bane was currently busy being undressed by Martinez.

"What? You getting embarrassed by seeing two naked people?" Casey chuckled. "Never watched porn?"

Chuck did his best to ignore the remark. There wasn't any good answer to that question.

"She's doing what she does best," Sarah said.

Well, Bane certainly knew what she was doing, Chuck couldn't deny that. Martinez was still thinking that he was seducing her, exploiting a vulnerable moment of a naive, heartbroken woman.

But to see - looking away wouldn't be very professional, not for a spy - her getting it on with Martinez… They were working with the woman. And Bane knew they were watching. Wouldn't that be awkward in the morning?

Worse, Bane was, officially, with Morgan. Was this cheating? Morgan knew that she was a spy trying to turn him into an informant on Chuck and the others. But Chuck knew his friend - he wasn't the kind of person to keep his emotions out of such a relationship. Should he tell him? It might help remind Morgan that Bane was a honey trap - a spy specialised in seducing her marks.

But what if it broke Morgan's heart? Chuck knew that it was likely that Bane would be breaking Morgan's heart anyway, but to be the one who ruined this for his friend… No. He couldn't do this to Morgan.

He was too much of a coward for this.

"They're finally at it," Casey interrupted Chuck's thoughts. "I bet he won't last longer than fifteen minutes."

Chuck didn't look at the screen. The audio would be enough. And others were watching anyway.

Casey certainly didn't seem to be embarrassed. Nor did Sarah.

She might have done a mission like this herself. But would she still do such a mission if she were ordered to?

Chuck didn't dare to ask her.