Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck but if I did, there would be no memory loss scenes...
Love-Struck Spies
Chapter Two, First Assignment
Tuesday, November 29
10:00 hours
The next morning in the lives of Agents, Carmichael and Walker went by reasonably fast, as both of the agents mentally prepared themselves for the task ahead.
Sarah needed to go out for a run this morning. She had not seen Chuck yet. They were to meet each other at 13:00, and quite frankly, she was still hot and bothered after last night's encounter with him. She knew it was unprofessional to behave like this. But personal relationships inside of the agency were not forbidden. She was entitled to a life of her own, provided it did not compromise the missions the CIA was paying her to undertake.
She began to slip into her sports bra and her sweat pants, and she then headed out on her run as she pushed herself to extreme limits to remove from her mind what had happened last night. Did it work? Not in the slightest bit! Nevertheless, she needed to keep up her physical training, and running was her favorite hobby anyway, so it did her good. Sarah had been alone for as far back as she could ever remember, so it was nice for her to have somebody in her thoughts. Though Sarah was the up-most professional and she would never let it distract her from her job. But maybe when their assignment was over with, she could get to know him a bit more. She'd like that. She'd like that a lot.
Chuck woke up with a smile on his face. He had expected his new partner to hate him. He had read reports of how previous partners of Sarah ended up having, 'accidents.' He figured they'd advanced on her, and she obviously must not have taken too kindly to their advances. Mental note to yourself, Chuck. Do not piss Sarah Walker off
He got out of bed, and he completed his morning routine before he departed his room, and he headed down to the hotel gym to hit the treadmill to keep himself warmed up in preparation for tonight's operation. He then began to lift some weights before he headed back to his room on completion of his physical exercise.
When he arrived back in his room, it was noon. He still had one hour to kill until he was due to meet up with his colleague again.
He was not comfortable entering foreign soil with no clear extraction because if they were caught on the mission, then the U.S. government would deny their existence, and he and his partner would rot in jail for the rest of their lives. He would not allow that to happen. Chuck Bartowski would not fail himself or his partner. He went over the mission plan that he and his partner had laid out once more, and he finally began to feel a tiny bit more satisfied than he was feeling a little earlier.
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
It was now afternoon, and Sarah and Chuck had met up together as promised. They departed the hotel as they headed out to grab dinner together. While at the restaurant, they only ordered basics to avoid an unpleasant situation as the last thing either agent needed was to be stuck on the toilet all night after contracting food poisoning.
"So, Chuck," Sarah started.
"Yeah?" he replied as he gazed at Sarah opposite him.
"Tell me a little about yourself."
He nodded. "Sure, um, well, I'm from Burbank in California. My mom ran out on my family when I was nine," he paused on a sensitive topic, and his gaze lowered.
Sarah smiled consolingly. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Thank you. I have an older sister, Ellie, she practically raised me by herself as her own, and she's all I really have family-wise because my dad was never really around until he disappeared too," he said as his gaze sunk once more down to his thighs in sadness.
Sarah gasped as she gazed at her new partner in sorrow over his childhood situation. It sounds a lot like he didn't have the best of childhoods. Little did Chuck know, Sarah had shared a similar childhood life as Chuck, but she was no-where near ready to open up that can of worms to her new partner. Her life for the last few years had been purely focusing on her next mission and nothing else. So all she did was extend her hand out towards his, and she gave his hand a light squeeze, and he looked up to gaze at her to query her action, and she immediately felt it. It was like a spark of electricity that she had never felt before, and judging by Chuck's reaction, he felt the same thing too. They both smiled at one another before they began to feel slightly awkward, and they reluctantly let go of each other's hand.
"My life was quite miserable, I guess, huh?" he said.
Sarah held her smile toward him. "Chuck, mine was too," she informed him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. I'm not good at that," she said.
He nodded. "Ok."
They continued on with their dinner.
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
Chuck and Sarah had finished dinner together. If Sarah were not a deadly trained spy, she could easily have cried a little earlier when he had told her how his mother ran out on him at the tender age of nine, and his father was never around until he then disappeared too.
They departed the restaurant, and they headed back to the hotel. Arriving back at their rooms, they spent the next two hours getting ready until it was almost time to leave.
Chuck began to check through his equipment one last time, and he then headed towards the door separating both of their rooms, and he proceeded to knock on the door, being careful not to make the same mistake that Sarah had done the previous night. Awkwardness like that before a mission could prove disastrous.
"Just a minute," Sarah called out to him.
Sarah had just finished getting ready and applying the necessary makeup to herself when she heard Chuck knocking. She smirked as she ever so briefly thought back to last night's encounter.
Sarah then finished up, and she headed to the door to open it, and her jaw dropped at what she saw on the other side of the door—a tall, unbelievably handsome man in a tux that looked so, so neat on him.
"Wow..." they both said together in unison.
And there Sarah was...
Chuck had seen Sarah in four outfits since he met her for the first time yesterday, and she was incredibly gorgeous in all of them, but this dress she was wearing was better than all four outfits combined. Sarah was wearing a red velvet dress that looked so gorgeous. If there were a thermostat on Chuck's body, then it would have just gone off the radar because his body temperature immediately rose by about a gazillion percent.
Chuck recovered first. "Sarah, you are jaw-droppingly beautiful!" he croaked out to her as he tried not to gape and stare at his partner too much as he didn't want to end up like any of her former partners that had advanced on her.
He very much liked living.
Sarah was still overcome with desire from what was stood in front of her, and she slowly came back to life, and she gave him her own response. "You look goooood," she said, as she drew out each letter ever so slowly so that he could see she meant what she had just told him.
Chuck grinned, but he decided not to press the situation any further because tonight wasn't about romance, they had an assignment to complete.
"Are you ready to leave?" he asked.
"Just a second," she replied before she moved in close to his proximity to fix his bow tie properly.
Chuck half-panicked as Sarah had advanced towards him until he realized that she was only fixing his bow-tie.
The two agents then left the hotel together arm in arm posing as a married couple as they walked the short distance to the French Consulate. It was visibly evident the entire journey that they were both excited to be working with each other together for the first time...
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
Arrival at Consulate
19:45
Upon arrival at the Consulate, Chuck and Sarah presented their invites to the security, and they began to head into the main reception area arm-in-arm.
Many eyes were glancing over at the young couple as they made their way through the building.
Chuck was sure that all eyes were on Sarah while Sarah noticed other women's eyes on Chuck.
For some reason, she felt uncomfortable at the thought of other women looking at Chuck.
They then received glasses of champagne from a waiter.
"Cheers," Chuck toasted to blend into the party.
"Cheers," Sarah replied as they gazed warmly at each other before they both then began to work the floor in search of three things. Firstly, they needed to identify Pierre, the mark. Secondly, they needed to come to terms with the security infrastructure inside the Consulate. And lastly, they needed to identify any possible enemy personnel that may be a threat to them.
Chuck spotted Pierre after a few minutes of him working the floor. Pierre was stood at the bar.
"Sarah, he's at the bar," Chuck informed her into their communication devices.
"I see him. Going in for the kill," Sarah replied.
Sarah got to work as she approached Pierre, and she began talking away with Pierre while Chuck carried on his mingling in search of Pierre's protective detail, occasionally glancing at Sarah, who was now flirting away with Pierre at the bar.
Damn, he admired her. She was so amazing at what she does. Chuck quickly went into agent mode as he located somebody on the CIA watch list, and he confirmed him to be an associate of Pierre.
"Sarah, Pierre has company. I've located somebody on the CIA watchlist. You should get Pierre alone in an on-suite room, and I'll follow on behind and eliminate any muscle that follows him," Chuck said.
Sarah then continued to flirt away with Pierre for a little while longer before she suggested to him that they should head somewhere more private.
Pierre was a ladies man, and the two agents had read the file that Director Graham's aide had provided them with so Sarah had known that it would have been easy she just did not think it would have been that easy...
20:30 hours
As Sarah and Pierre began to head out from sight, Sarah felt physically sick inside. Pierre, like all other marks before him, was not her type. Sarah never enjoyed seduction missions, and she very rarely let it get physical. Get in, get the intel, neutralize the threat, and get out. Today was the same as any other mission; only this time, she felt more secure knowing that Chuck had her back. It was always just her working alone, but now she had somebody to protect her, and she had to admit, she felt better for it.
Chuck followed on behind using a thirty-yard rule remaining vigilant for any other activity. He then saw his colleague enter the suite, and he positioned himself so he could cover the entire area while waiting for Sarah to give him the command to enter the room.
20:40 hours
Chuck was still in position when he saw one of Pierre's foot-soldiers heading towards the room his partner was inside. Chuck knew that he was one of Pierre's because he was a giant, and so he was obviously hired muscle, and he can see the metal holster through his suit. Chuck began to wonder how he had managed to get his weapons into the Consulate. Both of the CIA Agents had deep, deep covers so they would never have been searched for weapons by security. Still, a man this size would have unquestionably come under suspicion from consulate security.
Chuck had to be careful as he could not blow the operation, but he would under no certain terms allow that muscle to enter into the suite and leave his partner with a two on one situation.
20:41 hours
As the guard began to edge closer towards the suite, Chuck had to make an immediate tactical decision, and he requested Sarah for a status update on the intelligence. "Sarah, how are we looking in there? You have a hired muscle of Pierre heading straight to your location," he said calmly to her.
"Copy. I've located the intelligence. We need to wrap this up in case any more muscle turns up," she whispered back to him.
Chuck promptly agreed with his partner's assessment. "Copy," he said as he put down his champagne glass and he went combat-ready.
Chuck began to approach the guard in a friendly manner, and he pretended to be drunk and lost from the party that was in full swing back in the main reception area. The music was loud, and no security cameras were overlooking this floor. The beefcake looked on warily at Chuck momentarily, but he soon looked away disinterested in determining that Chuck was no threat to him, and instantly Chuck was on him. Chuck grabbed the man from behind, and he kicked him with all of his force into the back of his knee, the guard fell to the floor and Chuck immediately proceeded to reach for his weapon, and he hit the guard over the head using the full force of the side of his pistol. He then opened the suite door that Sarah and Pierre were inside of, and he proceeded to use his superior strength from his biceps and shoulder muscles to launch the guard into the room. Once the bodyguard was inside the room, he closed the door from behind him as he then immediately proceeded to access the situation of his partner in case she needed his assistance...
Sarah knew that Chuck was about to breach but she waited for the exact moment before she made her move. As soon as Chuck entered the room, she immediately reached for Pierre, who was about to scramble, and she used all of her power to kick the mark. Her kick connected right onto his jaw, and Pierre fell to the floor, and she was on top of him in seconds as she threw out a vicious punch to his head, which knocked him out cold.
Disable the target first.
Ask the questions later.
Standard operating procedure.
Chuck winced admirably. God, she is quick. That karate kick was out of this world. I watch too many movies!
"Ouch," Chuck said as he paused to smirk briefly before continuing, "Nice kick. I bet that hurt. You good?"
"Yup, piece of cake," she boasted as she smiled at him, and she paused as she glanced at her partner's own piece of work who was lying unconscious on the floor. "And nice work yourself."
"Do you have the intel?" Chuck asked her.
"Yup, right here," Sarah said while waving the chip in her hand.
"Then let's get out of here before these two wake up and become ready for round two. Beefcake here won't be best pleased with me," Chuck said with a grin.
Sarah smiled.
This was the first time she had seen Chuck confident about his own abilities, and she liked it a lot she had to admit. Don't think about the bed, Sarah. You're on a mission. she told herself, and she quickly snapped out of it.
20:47 hours
Sarah and Chuck began to adjust their attire as they made themselves respectable again after their little confrontations, and Chuck holstered his weapon once more. While Sarah placed the chip away inside her purse before they began to leave, and they headed back down to the Main Reception to exfiltrate.
On their way down to the reception, Chuck and Sarah witnessed two more of Pierre's men heading towards the suite they had just departed from. They needed to get out of here fast as Pierre may wake up at any moment. They both skipped across the dance floor, and they quickly headed for the exit.
20:54 hours
Sarah began to leave the consulate building first to check the surroundings outside to make sure their departure was secure. While Chuck remained inside the consulate as he positioned himself to cover their rear to make sure Pierre or his guards weren't heading in their direction. And to his dismay, they were...
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
20:55 hours
Agents never panic. Chuck remained calm, and he measuredly informed Sarah of the development. "Sarah, we have company."
Sarah shifted into immediate action as she dashed to the Consulate door, and she waited for Chuck to leave.
Chuck then departed the consulate, and they hurriedly began to bolt for the exit gate. The exit gate was about two-hundred yards away, and two armed guards were posted at the entrance, and there were probably ten others in a security building five hundred yards away.
Pierre and his men had just left the Consulate building through the exit door, and they began to withdraw their weapons as they looked in the direction of Chuck and Sarah.
The situation was escalating rapidly as Chuck and Sarah were still a hundred yards away from the exit with limited cover. Chuck tapped on Sarah's shoulder as they ran side by side, and he nodded his head towards the two armed guards, and she nodded her head back in response.
The time for a quiet withdrawal was over.
Chuck withdrew his weapon, and he took aim as he began to fire on Pierre and his guards, who immediately scrambled for cover, while the two guards at the gate started to panic on the gun-battle now taking place.
One of the guards began to reach for his radio, and the other guard began to reach for his weapon. Sarah reacted in an instant as she took out the guard with the radio first by using a hidden blade that she had holstered, and she then saw the second guard drawing his aim towards Chuck. Sarah once more withdrew her second of three hidden knives that she had holstered, and she threw it towards the guard's throat. It was unfortunate that a security guard had to be killed, but it was him or her partner, and she would never allow that to happen. The guard was sadly just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sarah then withdrew her own weapon, and she turned around to cover her partner, who was advancing back towards the consulate to eliminate the threat of Pierre. They couldn't just run as it was now too dangerous. They had to take the fight to the enemy.
Chuck was advancing cautiously towards the consulate from the side when he saw Sarah start to provide suppressive fire, and he immediately picked up his pace as he half sprinted to the nearest enemy. The enemy was positioned in cover behind a bollard, and Chuck raised his sidearm, and he dispatched two rounds towards the target's head, and he dropped instantly. There was still one other guard along with Pierre, so beefcake must still be immobilized.
Sarah was now down to three mags while Chuck still had four. Sarah stopped suppressing Pierre now that Chuck was in cover, and she repositioned herself with a better view of the consulate entrance where Pierre and his guard were located.
Sarah then saw a guard pop out who was carrying a Scorpion machine pistol, and she immediately double-tapped her Smith & Wesson 5906 towards the target hitting him once in the chest and shoulder.
It was just Pierre left now.
Chuck was almost on top of Pierre when Sarah saw figures scrambling about three hundred and fifty yards away and closing in on their position fast. Sarah immediately fired off a few rounds towards them to buy Chuck the time he needed to deal with Pierre.
Pierre was focusing his aim towards Sarah, so he didn't see Chuck when Chuck attacked him from the side, and both men immediately began tussling with each other on the pavement. Pierre was no match for Chuck's hand to hand combat who, within seconds, had dispatched of Pierre, and he was now on the floor, his left arm broken from Chuck.
Chuck knew what he had to do. Chuck didn't like this part of the job, but it was either this option or his partner may possibly be killed, and he would not allow that to happen, so Chuck raised his weapon towards the head of Pierre who was desperately pleading for Chuck not to do what he had to do. Pierre was rambling away, saying something that sounded like "Setup," and Chuck was finding it hard to understand him because of his strong French accent.
"CHUCK, HURRY UP!" Sarah screamed to her partner on noticing he was taking a few seconds longer than necessary, and he still continued to hesitate for a few moments longer before she spoke to him once more through their communication devices. "Contact approaching from your three o clock two hundred yards away!" she shouted to him once more and on hearing Sarah's shouts, without any further thought, Chuck dispatched of Pierre with one quick round to his head, and he withdrew back to the exit where his partner was positioned. They quickly left the consulate, and they began heading into a populated district to blend and mix in with the crowd as an affectionate couple out for an evening stroll together...
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
21:01 hours
First response units were now arriving at the consulate, and Sarah and Chuck had built up a lot of adrenaline from the firefight, and they both knew that talking to each other at this exact moment was not the best idea right now. They began to head into a busy shopping mall before planning what to do next.
21:10 hours
As Chuck and Sarah sat and drank coffee in the mall together, both agent's senses were through the roof. They were both visually scanning the entire crowd in case they had been made. Chuck spoke first, "What the hell was that?" he asked her.
"Pierre's guards with submachine guns?" Sarah asked him flatly.
"Yeah... Look, Sarah, something is not right here. Somebody let Pierre and his foot-soldiers into the consulate. They must have had some connections," Chuck said.
Sarah nodded in complete agreement with her colleague as you don't get a submachine gun into a Consulate on foreign soil unless you had connections. "I don't know, Chuck. Look... Let's go back to the hotel and provide the Director with an immediate sit rep."
21:55 hours
Chuck and Sarah had just arrived back at the hotel. As they entered it, they instantly snuggled up tightly together as they didn't want any suspicion on them as their covers were that they were a married couple. If you're walking five feet apart from each other, then something was most certainly wrong. Sarah felt glad to be in the comfort of Chuck anyway. She felt proud of him today. He showed no panic, and he covered her ass every single step of the way on their mission. Chuck was feeling the same. Walker protected his back, and he protected hers. Neither of them was hurt, and the mission turned out to be a complete success in both of their eyes.
21:58 hours
As they arrived back on their floor, they departed the elevator still cuddled up close together and neither attempted to leave the arms of the other agent.
They then entered into the two-bedroom hotel suite, and they finally separated from the embrace. They now had to secure the intelligence and make sure it was handed over safely to Graham while making themselves aware in case they had any uninvited guests decide to show up in the meantime.
Sarah immediately put the microchip down on the bed, and she reached for her secure line to contact the Director while Chuck did a sweep of both rooms to be safe. He then gave Sarah the all-clear nod, and she was now able to place the call through to the Director.
"Walker secure."
"Graham secure."
Sarah was ready to speak, but the Director's commanding authority stopped her instantly. "Good job, Agent Walker. Please relay my congratulations also to Agent Carmichael. Do you have the intelligence?" he asked.
Sarah was not at all surprised that the Director already knew about the firefight at the Consulate. He was the Director of one of the most secret organizations in the world. He knew everything.
"Sir, the intel is secure. Extraction?" Sarah asked.
"It will be collected tomorrow at 09:00. Confirmation code is: it always snows in Vegas."
The CIA Director then continued, "Once the Agent arrives to collect the intelligence, yourself, and Agent Carmichael will report to me at 15:00 for assessment. Have a good night," he said as the Director then terminated the call.
Sarah relayed to Chuck what the Director had said to her, and he took it in as then they both moved to sit on the edge of the bed, thinking about what had happened back inside the Consulate. After a minute or two of reflecting on the five people they had jointly killed, they both went to talk at the same time.
"You go first," Sarah said.
He nodded. "Look, Sarah. I just wanted to thank you. You had my back out there, and I think we make a pretty awesome team dontcha think?" Chuck said as he grinned at her.
She smiled. "You had my back too, Chuck. I never once doubted your ability. I never had to worry about what was behind me or in front of me because I completely trusted that you would cover me and you don't have to thank me because I would do the same for you because it's my job," she said.
But that statement she had just made wasn't, however entirely true. Sarah didn't just watch Chuck's back because he was her partner. Sarah watched his back just a little bit more because she actually liked him.
"And yes, Chuck, we do make a pretty great team," Sarah added in as she held her smile towards him.
They playfully nudged into each other before then Chuck continued to tell Sarah about what Pierre had said about something being a "setup," and both of the agents let the thought play on their minds for a little until they both came to the same conclusion—a desperate man will try and say anything to save his life.
They began to wind down from their mission by watching TV and eating croissants together. The movie was a Sci-Fi and Sarah wasn't too interested in it, but she noticed the geeky side of Chuck come to light. Chuck was so engrossed with the movie and not on the girl that was cozying up to him, and if the truth was told, she loved it. Without even thinking what she was doing, she instinctively moved to rest her head on his shoulder happy to have met this heart-warming guy, telling herself there was no place she would rather be at this moment in time...
