A/N Well hello again. Thanks so much for all the new alerts, reviewers and my loyal readers. 20 chapters in, over 320 reviews and after 7 months and 160k words to still get new alerts, new favorites new reviewers etc just blows my mind. Thank you again for all your time to read my stuff. It means a great deal to me.
We are getting into the meat of the second act and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks again to Esardi for his run through. Your ideas really made this better. Thanks to Ninja for letting me see an advance of his most recent chapter of Recruits for being his 2000th overall review. Great work as always.
As usual I don't own Chuck but if I did I'd have a great alternate ending to the A story on the Season 5 DVD's and not just expanding the B storylines I'm expecting in the new 8 minutes.
Chapter 20
The Discovery
Casa Bartowski
Echo Park CA
Sunday 2:46 am PDT
As Chuck and Sarah stared at the screen, files began appearing in the newly created folders. Chuck double clicked on the first file which had the date May 27. Word opened up and what seemed to be a training log appeared.
Trainee arrived today and was transferred to medical for a preliminary baseline examination. Candidate seems in good health but not in top physical condition. He needs to be in Agent shape within 6 weeks...
Another entry June 6.
Trainee has shown great promise in classroom sessions but self-defense and Martial Arts are still quite lacking. He is getting beaten severely but has not shown any weakness or lack of determination. Still no evidence of 'enhanced' performance...
June 14, 2009
Trainee was given first five mile test and averaged 8:27 per mile...
July 2
Trainee passed eight minute mile test in 39:52...
Chuck leaned back in his chair stunned. After a few seconds he put his elbows on the desk and his face in his hands. He couldn't breathe. Sarah noticed how pale Chuck had become and how his hands were slightly shaking even as they were clutched tightly against his face.
"Chuck, what's wrong? What are these files?"
Taking a deep breath, Chuck slid his now sweating palms over his head to calm his nerves. Before he spoke he looked back at the screen in front of him.
"Chuck, tell me what's going on you are starting to scare me." Sarah's voice getting desperate.
Chuck then saw what looked like a video file. His hands still shaking slightly, he reached over and grabbed the mouse and clicked on the file to open it.
"Please don't be, please don't be..."
"Please don't be what Chuck?" Sarah was now caressing his shoulders trying to calm his reaction to whatever it was he had just found.
The media player opened and Chuck's head fell. His chin sitting on top of his chest. Sarah looked first at her boyfriend and then at the screen. She saw footage of a surveillance camera from a dojo. A woman with dark hair dressed in workout gear had her back to the camera. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet over a man who looked like he had just taken a wicked punch getting up onto his knees. Sarah's heart began to race. Her eyes grew wider and she let out an audible gasp. She knew that back and butt very well. She saw his curls covered in sweat, She saw the blood stains on his workout clothes.
Her heart was racing. She knew who it was but she needed to see his face. As he got back up onto his feet he turned to face his opponent. Sarah's heart stopped. She knew just what this was. She knew who this was. After they touched gloves once again, they danced around and as the woman spun to give the male trainee a vicious kick to the head he barely blocked, she saw her face. A face she had seen only a few days ago in a different type of facility.
There on the screen before them stood Andrea Saunders and Charles Bartowski, the Intersect. The Ring was being sent video, training logs and reports from Chuck's time in Zuoz. They would know that Charles Carmichael was the Intersect and had they not intercepted these disks they would have his picture.
It shouldn't have surprised them. The Ring had infiltrated many levels of the government and the Intelligence community. They had gotten an operative to be the Intersect's chief trainer, all because of the incompetence and sexual weakness of the late acting Director of the CIA. It should come as no surprise they might be aware of his identity now.
For so long this had been their biggest fear. The identity of the Intersect was classified to the highest level possible. There were less than ten people on the planet on the planet that knew that secret, well at least until this moment. For two years they had fought to keep Chuck's identity from Fulcrum, Sarah had killed Mouser in cold blood to protect that secret. Knowledge of his identity threatened everyone around him. Ellie, Morgan, Devon were all in much greater danger than they ever had been.
Sarah grabbed the visibly shaken man in the chair and turned him towards her. She wrapped her arms around him and buried his head into her chest. Her warm soft flesh that was exposed from the basketball shirt felt comforting and wonderful against his cheek. "Chuck, its going to be ok. We should have figured they would know after what happened in Zuoz. We need to call Casey and set up a meeting with Beckman in the morning. We'll fix this I promise. We'll protect you. Let's get you some rest and we will come up with a plan. I won't let them put you back in a bunker. We fight this time. I promise. We'll talk to Shaw and see what else he knows about this."
Chuck lifted up his head to look into those amazing sapphire eyes. "No Sarah, please. No Shaw, no Carina, not yet. We three, you, me and Casey need to know what is going on first. You two are the only people I trust."
"Chuck, we need to tell Carina. She saw you flash today. I know she did. She's a great spy and she will put it all together eventually. We need her. She may like to improvise but I trust her completely, well everywhere except the bedroom."
Chuck had to smile and chuckle at Sarah's attempt to keep things light. "Ok, we talk with Carina but not Shaw, not yet. All this is just too convenient somehow. He shows up, a complete unknown. His first mission we get intel on the Ring, capture their operatives seizing the disks but hidden inside them are files and video's on the Intersect project from my time in Switzerland. It's just too convenient. So for now, no Shaw. OK?"
"Fine, no Shaw. At least until we decide we can trust him. We will have to tell Beckman why though and she is going to want proof or she is going to order us to read him in eventually."
"I know that but we will deal with that at the time. We need to look at the rest of these files before we talk to anyone."
Sarah stood up and grabbed the foot stool for her to sit on while they looked at the files. After an hour, they had went through all of the log entries and most of the later video files. Chuck had asked Sarah not to watch some of the early training footage as he didn't want the woman he loved to see him get his ass kicked so viciously. So Sarah went into the kitchen and made some tea while Chuck watched those to see if anything stood out.
Once Sarah returned with the tea she sat down beside her partner and lover once more. Chuck then clicked on a folder that was not dated but seemed to come from his last few days in Zuoz based on the creation dates of the files. In the folder he found two files simply "Personal Observations 1 and 2" Chuck clicked on the first file and they both began to read.
... After completion of his Hunter/prey test, Carmichael and I had dinner and a most memorable evening...
Chuck closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. He knew he had to tell Sarah what happened that night before she read Andrea's account. "Sarah, about that night... Ahhh nothing happened but I need to be honest with you."
Sarah looked at him and softly smiled though a small part of her had a feeling she was not used to, jealousy. "It's ok Chuck I trust you completely."
"Thank you." He leaned in and gave her a tender kiss on her cheek. "Well after I completed my test, Andr... Agent Saunders asked me to have dinner with her. We ate at a very nice restaurant and after dinner she asked me if I'd like to dance." Sarah's lifted a single eyebrow. "Well not wanting to create a problem I agreed and so we danced. After that we walked back to the entrance to the training facility. But as I looked up at the night sky, all I could think of was you. How much I missed you and how much I loved you. She saw me smiling and I think she thought I was enjoying being with her. I could tell she wanted to kiss me. But I couldn't. There was only one woman I wanted to kiss in that moment and it wasn't her. The woman I wanted so desperately to kiss was hundreds of miles away in Marseille."
Sarah smiled and then softly and tenderly gave Chuck one of the most amazing kisses he had ever received. "Chuck, it's ok. Even if you had kissed her I know it wouldn't have meant anything to you. It would have been for the job. Lord knows you have had to watch me kiss other men for the job. I'm so sorry that hurt you and I know how you feel now but believe me if you ever have to do it so that you can get back safely to me please know I trust you and want you home."
"I love you Sarah."
"I love you too Chuck."
After another more deep and passionate kiss they pulled back and looked back at the screen.
... Carmichael is a very dangerous man. He can disarm a woman's defenses with just a smile. When he turns on his confident side, no woman could resist him. He does not follow the traditional Montgomery Seduction techniques. He uses a much more devastating weapon. Honesty. He's a genuinely nice guy who makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world. Like in that moment nothing can harm you and there is no place you would rather be.
Sarah looked over at Chuck and could see his face turn red. His mouth was open just slightly and his eyes wide as if he was in shock. She knew that he had no clue the power he had over women, over her. To read the intimate thoughts of another woman about the man she loved left her filled with mixed emotions. Sure part of her was angry and jealous that someone else was expressing what she had felt since the first day she met Chuck in the BuyMore. But part of her felt lucky and full of pride that she was the one woman who he loved most in the world. She knew what it was to feel safe in his arms, to feel at home and to know that Chuck put her above all else.
"Well I will say one thing for Agent Saunders."
Chuck turned with a cautious but curious look on his face. "And what would that be?"
"She is one smart woman." They both smiled widely this time.
Chuck and Sarah continued reading the rest of the files but found nothing else significant. Chuck closed out the folders and copied the files onto the portable drive. He then deleted all evidence of them from his computer and closed out everything.
Chuck turned and put his hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Sarah, Agent Saunders told us she stored all of her files for the Ring off site when we interrogated her. She gave us the exact location and what we would find there. We recovered it all. We need to know if she sent these to Mitchell or if she made copies that she sent to the Ring. Look it's almost 4am so lets get some rest. But we need to call Beckman in the morning. We need to go talk to Andrea. We need to know who sent those files."
Hoff Building
Suite 2210
Sunday 9:37am PDT
Carina awoke to the sound of a shower running. She slid her naked form up and leaned against the pillows of bed she had shared with Special Agent Daniel Shaw. After the team had left Castle last night he had caught up to her and asked if she wanted to get some dinner. Seeing that she knew Chuck and Sarah were headed back to Echo Park, Casey was being Casey so why not have dinner with the handsome new Agent. It's not like she hadn't done this before. Have dinner with her 'partner' go back to his or her hotel room, spend the night and maybe learn something about what made that partner tick. It had helped the successes of a few of her missions but if nothing else she ended up having sex with a handsome guy who had hopefully been trained in how to satisfy a woman or a mark. It beat spending saturday night alone in LA.
But her new partner was much more of an enigma than many of the other Agents she had been with. He was most definitely classically handsome but there was something odd about him. He looked the part of the classic James Bond/Bryce Larkin type but was completely lacking in anything approaching a unique style. He insisted on ordering her meal for her, right out of the power move spy handbook. Carina hated that cliché. She prided herself on being independent and in charge of every situation she was in, especially with men. He had ordered linguini with Marinara and it came with muscles in the sauce. Carina being allergic to shellfish had to send the order back as soon as she saw it. Had Shaw let her read the menu she would have noticed it came with muscles and stopped him before he almost caused her to go into anaphylactic shock in the restaurant.
Their conversation at dinner was typical spy date small talk, banter based on lies and half truths. A few times however he brought up Agent Walker and the confrontations they had earlier that day. At first Carina felt it was just new partners trying to talk about what they could and establish their places on the team but he seemed to be focused on it just a bit too much for Carina's spy senses. He was interrogating her but trying his best to hide it. A more inexperienced agent may not have noticed it but Carina knew men, she especially knew male agents. She knew when she was being questioned no matter how subtle the interrogation was.
After they finished dinner he asked if she would like to come back to his suite for a glass of wine and hopefully the new teammates could get to know each other better. If Agent Walker was planning to assign them to work as a couple again it would help to know how each other operated in the field. Of course there had been very little actual talking going on once they opened the bottle of wine but Carina was fine with spending the night.
The sex with Agent Shaw was ok though mechanical. Neither his enthusiasm nor his creativity were on a level she had hoped for from an experienced Agent and specimen. She knew many agents who were so focused on their own pleasure and ego satisfaction when they weren't with a mark that they could care less about whatever their partner was getting from the experience. But in Shaw's case it was different. It was like he had been programmed what he was supposed to do but added no style or personal technique to it. It was robotic and lacked any real passion. To be honest she had no real intention of there being an encore performance. After last night Casey or Chuck's friend Martin had a better chance to get her in bed than Daniel Shaw.
Carina heard a knocking at the door of the suite just as the water was being shut off in the shower. She wrapped herself in the sheet, placed her gun in her right hand that was holding the sheet around her from the inside. She walked over to look through the peep hole in the door. She saw a young, probably 19 or 20 year old good looking latino man with what looked like a room service cart. Shaw must have ordered breakfast while she was still sleeping.
Carina quickly opened the door and gave the hotel employee a shock when he saw her wrapped only in a sheet smiling back at him. "Hey cutie, perfect timing. I just got out of bed and was about to head to the shower." Carina gave him one of her patented seductive looks that had felled many a man in her time.
"Yes ma'am. Ahh thank you I... I'll just... Is over here ok?"
"That would be perfect. But I'm afraid I have a bit of a problem."
"If the order isn't correct I'll ... have it fixed right away."
"No not that. It seems I don't have any money for a tip and you seem like such a sweet boy I really feel badly not giving you at least something."
"That's quite alright it's my pleasure to serve you."
Carina grinned at that one. 'I bet he'd serve me better than that robot in the bathroom.' "Well I'll have to remember that for another time." She winked at the young server and his face turned bright red.
"Call the desk if you need anything else and ask for Jose. I'll be here as fast as I can. I promise."
"Well we wouldn't want things to go too fast now would we?"
"Ahhh... um... I guess not." He stumbled to say catching her not so subtle double entendre.
Jose then turned and headed towards the door. Just as he was about to grab the handle and open it he heard the red head call his name. "Jose?"
He then turned and saw something he never expected to see. The redheaded Agent had opened the sheet fully and was slowly re-wrapping it around her but not before Jose had caught the eye full she wanted him to see.
She winked and said. "Thank you for breakfast Jose."
"You're quite welcome... and ah thank you too." The shocked bellman shook his head slightly but smiled as he left the room. That was best 'tip' he had ever received.
Just as the door closed Shaw came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "I see breakfast arrived. I took the liberty of ordering for you while you slept. I hope you don't mind. I am sorry about last night's fiasco. I hope you'll forgive me for that."
"Well Danny boy the fact that I spent the night here should give you some clue. Just next time I think it would be better if you let me order my own dinner."
"Point taken. I ordered an assortment of things so I hope you'll find something you like."
"Yes thank you. Coffee, some fruit and a nice scone will be fine thank you."
"Just let me put on a robe and I'll join you."
After a few minutes they spent eating their breakfast Carina heard her phone beep. "Excuse me I should get that." She got up from the small table where the food was placed and found her purse that she had left next to the bed the night before. She pulled out her phone and looked at who sent it before reading the message.
'Meet us at our place 4 pm. No Shaw' She quickly deleted the message.
"It's from Sarah."
"Anything I need to know?"
"No it's just that I had asked her to go shopping today and she wanted to know when we were leaving."
Shaw wanting to try one more time to get some info on Agent Walker and Carmichael decided to change the subject. "Carina, what can you tell me about this Carmichael guy?"
"Come on Shaw. You know I can't tell you anything. Besides I don't really know much other than he's the best analyst I've ever seen. A big picture kind of guy who thinks out of the box better than anyone I've ever worked with before."
"So that's why he's teamed with two of the best agents in the business. I was wondering why Agent Walker was so protective of his position on the team. He seems like such a geek who doesn't belong on a top level spy team"
"Agent Shaw, he's very good and deserves to be on this team. Their success rate proves it."
"So is there any other reason why? I've heard the stories. Agent Walker tends to fall for the guys she works with."
"That was one time. He was her partner and now he's dead."
"So there's nothing going on between Walker and Carmichael?"
"What? Are you planning to take a run at her now? Got the redhead so now you're after the blonde?" Carina was feeling protective of Chuck and Sarah.
"Well she is very beautiful. You know how it is for us Agents."
"And she's very deadly. Besides from what I've seen Danny boy you are not one of her favorite people right now."
"Hey I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with the team. Our lives could depend on it some day and I need to know that when the time comes she will do her job."
"Let me tell you one thing Shaw. Sarah is the best damn Agent I've ever worked with. Nothing will stop her from doing her job." Carina was getting pissed. It was obvious Shaw was fishing for what was going on with Chuck and Sarah. Something just didn't seem right about all this. Shaw had seemed to be looking for a way to drive a wedge in this team from the moment he arrived. Maybe he couldn't handle a woman in charge. All male Agents had huge egos and maybe Shaw was just a gamer like her, looking to make a bigger name for himself by replacing Sarah Walker on the team tasked with taking down the Ring. Whatever it was Carina's spy senses were telling her there was more to this story than just trusting your teammates abilities to do the job.
"Daniel, a word of advice. Don't push Walker. She didn't get the reputation as Graham's wildcard enforcer for nothing."
"I'm sure she didn't. She's a great Agent. One of the best in the entire Agency, a legend. I just need to know where she stands." Shaw walked over to his dresser to get some boxer briefs to put on.
"Carina, If you want to take a quick shower here you're more than welcome."
"That's ok. I think I'll just head back to my hotel room and shower and change there. I don't want to show up for shopping wearing the same clothes I had on yesterday."
"Good point."
Carina quickly got dressed and grabbed her phone and gun and placed them back in her purse.
"How about dinner tonight?"
"Shaw, this was fun but 'you know how it is for us Agents'. I'll see you at Castle tomorrow." The smile on her face let Shaw know she loved throwing his words back at him. 'Sorry Danny, but not gonna happen.' She thought as she left his suite.
Undisclosed NSA Facility
Andrews Air Force Base
11:26 am PDT
After a few hours of restless sleep Chuck had called Casey and briefed him on what they found. He then called General Beckman and she arranged for security clearance to visit the facility at Edwards that was now the home to Chuck's former trainer and one time possible kidnapper, Andrea Saunders. Once they had arrived at the entrance gate to Edwards, they were asked to surrender all of their weapons, communications devices and sent through a complete body scan for any devices hidden on their person. They were then met by a special windowless NSA vehicle that would take them to their destination hidden somewhere on grounds of the over 300,000 acre base.
After about twenty minutes the vehicle stopped and the rear doors of the compartment they had ridden in opened. Once they stepped out of the vehicle they noticed they were in a windowless old hanger. Four NSA Agents met them and escorted them to an elevator located at the far corner of the run down building. Chuck had half expected when they got off the elevator they would be greeted by the John Casey doppelganger Major Mitchell and Brent Spiner in a lab coat.
After clearing through security once again and a second full body scan, they were escorted to a small grey windowless interrogation room while they awaited the arrival of the woman they had come to meet.
Sarah had been keeping a close eye on Chuck. She knew he hadn't really slept much as neither had she. The revelation that the Ring might know his cover identity had been weighing on them heavily. On the drive out to Edwards, Chuck had been unusually quiet. Sarah knew his mind was carefully analyzing all elements of the situation and developing a plan to deal with the potential fall out from this turn of events. He had only told Beckman the barest of facts from the information he had discovered on the disks they had obtained in Malibu. He had told her he needed to talk to Saunders and see if in fact she had been the one that sent those disks to the Ring and why she had lied to them about the location of her files and data in St. Moritz.
Chuck had gone out on a limb for Andrea and Beckman had told him that if she had lied to him, it violated the terms of the agreement she made with the NSA and she would be dealt with harshly. Saunders was a traitor but as long as she was completely and totally honest she had value in their fight against the Ring. But if at any time she reneged on her part of the deal she no longer was of any real use and therefore became 'expendable'.
They sat on the cold metal chairs for a few minutes before Sarah decided to speak. "Chuck, do you want me to wait outside while you speak with her?"
"No Sarah. I trust you completely. Saunders has to know this is her only chance to tell us what we want to know. After what she went through I think she deserved a second chance but she doesn't get a third. I want you here to watch her body language and determine if she is telling the truth. She's a trained Agent so she would be resistant to any enhanced techniques and the only way she can get through this is if she willingly helps us."
Chuck reached over and took Sarah's hands in his under the table. "Sarah, we are a team and I need you here with me for this."
Sarah squeezed his hands lightly and said, "Chuck, I will always be here for you. I hope you know that."
"I do and it means a great deal to me."
The General had made sure that there was no surveillance of any kind as she knew they would be discussing highly classified information about the Intersect so all cameras were removed from the room and an active jammer installed for any audio surveillance.
After about ten minutes of waiting they heard a knock on the door they had entered earlier. Two agents escorted the prisoner into the room. They sat her in a chair across from Chuck and Sarah and ran her wrist shackles through the metal bar that was welded to the top of the table.
No one spoke at all until after Chuck signaled and the agents left the room and stood guard outside. Once the soundproof door was closed, Chuck shifted his chair closer to the attractive brunette now dressed in an orange jump suit.
"Hello Andrea."
"Hello Charles. I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
"Well unfortunately Agent Walker and I aren't here on a social call."
"I assumed not. But before we begin I just wanted to say thank you Charles."
"For what?"
"For arraigning for me to be transported here and not simply disposed of."
"Andrea, you have nothing to thank me for. The Ring or someone was clearly going to try to kill you and you deserve to be protected."
"For as long as I'm useful that is."
"Andrea, I promised that nothing was going to happen to you and you would receive a fair trial for your crimes as long as you were honest with us. You can ask Agent Walker here. I don't break my promises and as long as you don't break yours we're good."
"So why are you here?"
"Agent Saunders, Andrea, we need to know everything you told the Ring about the Intersect and what data and files you may have sent them. Was the data we recovered in St. Moritz everything or had you had any contact with the Ring during my time in Zuoz?"
"Charles I told you all this before. I communicated with the Ring via the device that was in my safety deposit box. Plus all of my files were stored there and once we had taken you from the benefit we were going to hand you over to them and then I was going to get the contents of the safety deposit box and arrange to send them to the Director."
Sarah interjected. "Did you pass on any intel prior to that night or arrange for its transport in any way?"
"No, those files were my ticket out of there. If they had all of my files and they had Charles here, there was no longer any need for me. Agent Walker, I'm sure there is no need for me to elaborate on how the Ring would deal with a loose end like me. Or it seems Sydney Prince."
Sarah nodded her understanding. "What did you tell them using the communications device?"
"Not much really. Just basic progress of Charles's training. The fact that he wasn't flashing till the end and that was when we decided to move before it was too late."
Chuck took a deep breath and knew he had to ask the big question weighing on him ever since he opened those encrypted files. Actually, more precisely, ever since he learned of the existence of the Ring in the Intersect room after he downloaded the 2.0 and saw his one-time best friend, nemesis and the man responsible for so much pain and betrayal in his life lay dying in front of him. "Andrea, we ... I need to know if the Ring knows who or more precisely, what I am."
Sarah reached under the table and lightly brushed Chuck's outer thigh. It wasn't much but even that slight touch helped calm the nerves that were waiting to explode inside her partner and lover.
"Charles, all I told them was your name. Charles Carmichael. I assume that is a cover identity but yes, they do know that Agent Carmichael is the Intersect."
Sarah glanced over and could see that Chuck's heart was racing by the pulsing of his carotid artery in his neck. "Can they identify who Agent Carmichael is?"
"No, the only one who can identify him is me."
"So you didn't send them any video, pictures or any other data that could identify what I look like?"
"No. I needed a get out of Zuoz alive card so I sent them very little until I was safe off grid."
"Then we have a big problem."
"What kind of a problem, Charles?"
Chuck looked at Sarah and their non-verbal communication told Chuck that Sarah believed her and he should tell her about the disks.
"Andrea, our team captured some heavily encrypted disks that contained your logs of my training as well as videos from our sparring sessions. The disks were being transported to the Ring by a known gun runner and all around bad guy for higher, Karl Stromberg."
Saunders sat back in her chair as far as her restraints would let her. Her stunned and slightly angered face told Chuck and Sarah that she knew nothing about the disks or their transport.
"Fuck! Those bastards had someone spying on me too." Andrea shook her head back and forth. "I figured that Mitchell had someone watching me but I didn't think the Ring had someone too.""
Sarah then moved forward on her seat and her forearms were pressed against the edge of the table with her hands clinched. "So you are telling us that you had no part what so ever in getting this intel to Stromberg?"
"Of course not. I don't know who this Stromberg character is for one and Agent Walker you must know that my life expectancy once the CIA knew I was involved in Charles's capture was short. Plus if I had given all of my data to the Ring Director before I had safe passage off grid, it was even less. I needed to hold something big back to guarantee they would let me go. Once a double agent's cover is blown they are as good as dead from both sides."
"So where did they get those files?"
"Someone must have hacked into my computer from inside the facility. I kept them all on my office computer as they were reports and videos I was sending through a special encrypted server to Mitchell himself. He was the only one who had access to them. I couldn't send anything to the Ring through the firewall without tipping off the CIA as Mitchell's was the only connection allowed. So I put them on a backup drive and took them with me when I left each day."
"So do you think Mitchell was working for the Ring too?" Sarah asked.
"No I don't believe so. For one thing he was too stupid to be a double Agent and if he was, then why would the Ring want me sent to Zuoz? They could just get the intel on Charles's training from Mitchell himself."
'Then someone hacked into the feed as you were sending them to Mitchell." Chuck surmised.
"I expect so." Andrea's feeling of betrayal was slowly rising. "Charles, can I ask you how you found out about those disks in the first place? If they were being sent by a Ring courier then how did you know where to find them?"
"A new member of our team had a source that told us when and where the drop was supposed to happen." Chuck turned and looked directly at Sarah. "We need to know who Shaw's source was."
They both looked back at Andrea and saw that she was now visibly shaken. All of the color had drained from her face and her heart was racing. Chuck had never seen his former trainer look so scared.
Chuck reached over to grasp Andrea's hands to try to calm the clearly distressed former agent.
"Andrea, what's wrong? What just happened?"
Sarah tried to figure out what she was seeing. There was no way this was an act. Saunders was having a real emotional response to something very disturbing.
Andrea closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. If Shaw was working with the Intersect team then that meant he could get to her and finish what she believed Mitchell had tasked him to do back in DC. But how the hell did he get on this team? What was he doing and how did he know about the disks? Was Mitchell behind all of it?
"Andrea please talk to me. Something is definitely bothering you and maybe we can help."
"Please Andrea, Chuck's right. Take a deep breath and talk to us. We'll protect you."
"You can't protect me! You couldn't in DC and now you can't here!" The desperation evident in her voice.
"Andrea, no one knows you are here but Agent Walker and I, Colonel Casey, who brought you here and is on our team and General Beckman. That's everyone who knows. I promise you, we will do everything we can to protect you."
"But he's already threatened me and he'll find out I'm here soon enough so he can complete the job."
"Who threatened you? Whoever it is we won't let him find out where you are."
"Charles, you just said you needed to find out who Shaw's source was. The source that found out about the disks containing my logs and the training videos being sent to the Ring. Your new teammate is Agent Daniel Shaw."
"Yes, Agent Shaw has been assigned to our team. He's supposed to be some sort of a Ring expert."
Andrea began laughing almost uncontrollably. The tears of fear and all the emotion that had welled up in her eyes after she heard the name Shaw were being shaken loose by her laughter.
"Ring expert? Are you freaking kidding me? The only thing Daniel Shaw is an expert at is fucking over his partners and leaving them to die!" Andrea said with a tone of pure hatred mixed in.
"Wait you know him? He's been like a blank page for the last eight years."
"Of course I know him Charles. He was my partner. My partner that abandoned me in Thailand and gave me up to a be raped, beaten and forced to fight some other poor souls unlucky enough to be travelling in that god forsaken part of the world in order to survive another day."
"Shaw did this? Shaw left you to rot in Thailand and then the Ring recruited you?"
"Yes, your mother fucking Ring expert is the reason I joined the Ring. Kind of ironic don't you think? He betrayed me and abandoned me to save his own skin." Andrea turned her head and spit on the floor. Her only wish was that it was Shaw's face instead.
"But wait when and why did he threaten you? How did he know you were involved with the Ring?" Sarah asked.
"Shaw came to visit me in my cell in DC before I met with Charles. He told me that if I didn't cooperate and tell them what he and Mitchell wanted to know, that accidents could happen during intense interrogation. I thought he was working under Mitchell's orders to cover that sleezeball's ass more than actually getting info on the Ring. Killing me also takes away the star witness against Mitchell. Shaw had worked with Mitchell before. Mitchell loved him. Besides Mitchell liked to play Shaw's wingman when he went cruising for young female agents just out of the Farm. Mitchell would make a run at the ones Shaw would throw back."
"But Mitchell's dead so why would Shaw come after you now?"
Again Andrea was stunned. Her mouth opened but no words came out for a few seconds then finally, "Mitchell's dead?"
"Yes, just after you were sent here he was killed in a supposed car accident."
"Too bad, I wanted to see his face when I testified against him and hopefully see him being dragged through the pain of a public disgrace."
"We believe it was the work of the Ring. But that doesn't explain why Shaw would come after you now if he was working with Mitchell?"
"I don't know maybe I'm just a loose end. But one thing I can tell you is Shaw is after the big score. He's always wanted the big job in Langley. That is his number one driving force. I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved in Mitchell's murder. Then he pins it on me or the Ring and gets on the fast track for the Director's job."
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. Their eyes saying paragraphs of unspoken words. The mystery of Daniel Shaw was getting more complicated by the minute. "What else can you tell us about him?" Sarah finally asked turning back to the woman their new teammate betrayed.
"I worked with Shaw for 18 months and he is a mediocre agent at best. He get's by on his Superman looks. He look's the part of the great CIA Agent but he is anything but. He makes mistakes in the field, takes shortcuts and is more interested in whatever beautiful agent he can take advantage of. He preys on the young and eager or the broken and vulnerable. He charms them with his looks but he's an empty package. Watch out for him Agent Walker. You're a beautiful woman. If you work with him long enough he will certainly make a pass at you and in the field he'll eventually make a mistake that could get you both killed. Believe me I've seen it first hand."
Chuck turned to look at Sarah with a dazed look on his face. He couldn't fully grasp all that they had just learned about the man who had just joined their team. "Chuck, Carina is coming over later. Let's call Casey and have him meet us there as well. We can brief them on all this and then we call Beckman." Sarah's hand was gently squeezing his thigh under the table.
"Thanks Sarah. As soon as we are clear here and we have our stuff back I'll call him."
Chuck then turned to his former trainer, "Thank you Andrea. I made you a promise before. We will protect you. He will get nowhere near this facility."
"Thank you, Charles, and both of you remember what I said. Watch your backs when it comes to Daniel Shaw."
A/N2 Hope you liked it. Let me know. Next update will be Permutations.
