A/N I have to begin these author's notes with some sad, unfortunate news. Some of you may be aware but we lost a great, dedicated member of this community in July. I lost a great friend and tireless pre-reader. Esardi passed away after a long illness and he will be greatly missed. It was so hard working on this chapter without his input and guidance. But this community was a great comfort to him as he fought his fight and we are lesser of a group with his loss. He deeply loved these characters and he was passionate about defending them. This fic is now formally dedicated to him and his memory. I promise it will be finished to pay tribute to my good friend.
God bless you, Esardi.
Chapter 31
The Vault
Presidential Palace
Costa Gravis
9:58 pm PDT
Carina stood at the bar gracefully holding the stem of her second vodka martini of the evening. Dressed in a gorgeous flesh toned, floor length gown highlighted by a sequined bodice. The devastating slit on her right thigh ended just above what would be considered risqué even in Milan or Paris. The redheaded "fashion reporter" had most definitely caught the eye of "Mr. President". From the way he was almost drooling, Carina knew she wouldn't have to sing any drunken versions of Happy Birthday to have "access" to the most powerful man in the room.
The dress was the kind of gown that only a woman like Carina with a Super Model's figure and looks could pull off. It had generated an envious look on Hortensia's face when she saw Carina make her appearance on the arm of her photographer. Part of the reason Carina wore it was as sort of a challenge to her hostess in hopes that it would spark a little competition between her and the "Secretary of State". The prize in the "competition" it seemed Mrs Goya had determined was the evening's late night 'attention' of one Michael/Marc Rossi, Miranda/Carina's current escort. Little did the First Lady know that the 'prize' she was competing for had every intention of selecting her as the winner.
A big part of the plan to investigate what the First Family was hiding behind a non-descript door with a far too elaborate security setup for a simple closet in the couple's private residence depended on Marc 'distracting' Hortensia. The six cameras that pointed towards it that they discovered when they hacked into the Palace's security feeds using the special non-detectable software that Chuck had provided them with, were even more than Imelda Marcos would have used for her closets. It was pretty obvious that what lay behind that door was more than just thousands of pairs of shoes.
Carina was fully prepared to use this "alpha female" competition to complete her mission. She knew that Hortensia would try to out "perform" her rival when she got Marc alone. The only problem was a tall older gentleman dressed in full military regalia who was now headed her way. Somehow she would have to deal with his obvious interest in what was under that beautiful gown she was wearing. Would the President's attention on Carina cause his wife to forget about Marc keeping him away from the private quarters of the First Family. Or would it simply allow her the freedom to go after the handsome agent.
Carina and Marc had discussed three different options for how this evening would probably go, but they both didn't expect the First Couple's marriage to be as open as it clearly was. They expected at least a little discretion while in public but Goya never once showed any reaction to his wife's very 'hands on' approach to guest hospitality she was demonstrating with the American 'photographer'. Once they both had seen what the ground rules were they put the third option into play.
"Miss White, that dress, I can't take my eyes off of you. You must stay next to me all night." Goya reached for Carina's hand and kissed it gently.
"All night Mr. President? Don't you think Mrs. Goya might object to that idea?"
Alejandro lifted his head and looked over as his wife threw her head back in a bit of an over the top laugh at something Marc/Michael had said. She then lowered her hand that had been around his waist and not so gently squeezed his right buttock glancing back at the redhead with a smirk.
"She seems to have things well in hand don't you think my dear? I think the more appropriate question is, might you object to her plans for the evening?"
Trying to play the scene off but with just enough of a hint of jealousy to add to her game plan and give Hortensia the feeling of an advantage she replied, "Oh.. you mean Michael? Um no it's fine. We just work together. Besides I think being in the company of the ruler of a country has its own very special perks don't you agree?" Carina's flustered reaction didn't go unnoticed by it's target.
"Absolutely my dear. There is nothing more seductive than power. It is the ultimate aphrodisiac."
Noticing that Carina's drink was now almost empty, Goya glanced over at the waiter who was standing about ten feet away and the man immediately rushed to the bar to get the couple another round.
The waiter returned with another martini and a scotch for the President. "My dear, I hope you are enjoying your drinks this evening. I had our staff open a special bottle of Stoli Elit that I had flown in from St Petersburg after my last trip there."
"Oh most definitely Mr. President I could tell this wasn't what I usually can afford."
"Well a woman as beautiful as you should always drink the best vodka in the world. You deserve nothing less." Goya took her hand and kissed it gently.
"Why thank you Mr. President" Carina put on her best seductive blush and she immediately saw the reaction she expected.
"Please Miranda, may I call you Miranda?" Carina nodded. "Please Miranda, call me Alejandro. Tonight you will be treated like the stunning woman you are should be treated and I am just a normal man captivated by your beauty."
Blushing appropriately she replied, "Thank you Alejandro." 'God men are so easy.'
Venetian Hotel
Macau
2:47 PM CST
John Casey checked into the Bella Suite at the Venetian that the NSA had booked him for his cover as a very high roller. The spectacular views of the Cotai Strip that the room provided unfortunately were lost on the Colonel. Even if he knew this was a necessary part of his mission, breathtaking views were lost on someone like him. A perfectly balanced assault weapon with an expertly aligned site was his idea of beauty. It especially bothered him when there was absolutely no chance of him ever enjoying any of the luxuries his covers sometimes afforded. Well except for one. Easy access to his favorite Cohibas were one thing he did enjoy about his job. The Cubans may be Commie bastards but they do roll some incredible cigars.
Gambling was the main driver of the Macau economy and with high stakes gambling came very specialized banking interests. So much money ran through the small island since the take over by the Peoples Republic of China in 1999 that banks and casino's exploded catering to the new found wealth in mainland China.
Macau, along with Hong Kong, was the perfect place for Eastern and Western economies to merge. Plus because Macau was such a large part of the Chinese economy, local government and banking officials tended to look the other way. Over the last decade Macau was quickly becoming the new Cayman Islands for not so clean money to be freshly laundered, removing any trace of it's not so legitimate history.
The plan was simple. The NSA had created a back story for Casey of an Ex-military officer who started his own company supplying advanced targeting technology for short to medium range missiles. The company had just gone public and the former Colonel had become an instant billionaire looking for a place to hedge his bets by playing both sides against each other with J. Cobb Industries reaping the financial windfall.
But that windfall depended on J. Cobb Industries having no financial connection to supplying rogue nations with sophisticated offensive technologies. Through shell corporations and banks like here in Macau or the Caymans, he sold the missiles and J. Cobb the technologies to take them out. The faster they sold weapons systems, the faster he sold other systems that made those obsolete, creating a vicious cycle. Neither client nation knew he was supplying both sides.
After taking a shower following the fifteen hour flight, Casey got dressed in a nicely tailored grey pinstripe Fioravanti suit that had been delivered to his room while he was on route. He grabbed a couple of the Cohiba's that the Hotel had provided him and headed down to meet Lee Quan, assistant to Binh Mahr the President of the First Bank of Macau. The plan was for Casey to accompany Quan back to the bank where he would plant a newly developed autonomous wireless networking adaptor, the size of a medium sized spider that would home in on the banks networking switch gear. It would then literally walk like a bug and attach itself to a server's iLo port giving it access to the entire network. It also had specially developed software that made it transparent and undetectable by any known network monitoring equipment.
The elevator doors opened into the expansive lobby area. The flora that decorated the lobby was for the most part native to this part of the world and thrived under the ideal conditions of the hotel lobby. Noticing that the gaming tables were not particularly active at this time of day Casey decided to try a couple of hands of blackjack. Finding one with a $1000 minimum, he sat down and waited for Quan to arrive. Casey, ever the frugal government employee didn't like wasting the taxpayers money but in this case he was playing with house money. One of the benefits the Venetian gave it's "high rollers". The first 10 grand were complimentary as long as the player pulled a line of credit for 250 thousand dollars on checkin. Room, meals, and top shelf liquor were also complimentary. So of course Casey chose Johnny Walker Blue as his drink of choice. Casey was up 20 thousand dollars when he heard someone approach him quietly. Chinese businessmen were very polite.
"Mr. Cobb, I hope I'm not disturbing you." Quan said in slightly accented but perfect understandable English,
"Not at all Mr. Quan. I've been expecting you. I was just playing a few hands and enjoying some good scotch and an even better cigar." Casey took a draw and blew out a long cloud of smoke above the head of the shorter banker. His smirk reeked of American arrogance and fit his cover perfectly.
"Certainly Mr. Cobb. Shall we head to my office so we can discuss our business in private?"
"Sure thing. Just let me tip this lovely dealer who brought me so much luck and we'll be on our way." The slight Asian woman gave a small smile and bowed as Casey handed her a five thousand dollar chip.
"Right this way Mr. Cobb. I have a car outside waiting."
"I hope it isn't one of these tiny Japanese cars that pass as luxury vehicles."
"No sir, our staff understands that a man of your considerable stature has certain requirements."
Casey walked through the entrance to the waiting black Escalade, the irony of that choice wasn't lost on the agent.
First National Bank of Macau
5:12 PM CST
Casey sat in Quan's luxurious office on the 7th floor of the First National Bank of Macau. The office was beautifully appointed with rich dark teak woods and what he expected were very expensive antique fabric murals depicting Chinese life. The two had discussed the details of Casey's cover story for the past hour. J. Cobb Industries would open multiple accounts at the bank and all funds would be funneled, more like laundered, through shell corporations that would hide both the source and the recipient of the funds form any governmental prying eyes. The initial deposit to be 20 billion dollars that J. Cobb Industries would leave on deposit for the bank to invest and reap it's cut on the profits to pay for their part in the laundering scheme. This way the Bank was untouchable should any thing go wrong with any of the transactions. Once the deals were signed that figure would grow exponentially.
"So do we have a deal Mr. Cobb"
"Yes, Mr Quan but before I sign, I'm kind of an old school military guy. I believe in cash and Gold, real tangible money. Something I can look at and hold. I'd like to see your vault."
"Well that can be arranged Mr. Cobb but you know that modern banks like ours don't keep vaults with bars and bars of gold. Most banking nowadays is done by computers."
"Ok, Mr Quan, if I'm going to be giving you 20 billion dollars of my money with the press of a button on a keyboard, I want to see where it's going. I want to know it's secure. I don't want some geek wearing a Red Bull stained Metallica T-shirt in his mom's basement funneling my money to some off shore account he set up ten minutes ago."
"I can assure you Mr. Cobb that our bank has the best state of the art firewalls and security protocols. They are constantly being monitored."
"I understand that but this old Marine likes to see where his money is going. If you don't have gold to show me backing up my investment then how about I see where the new 'backups' are kept. You don't have to take me inside. I've been to some of the best server installations in the world. Servers that help run the greatest military in the world. I just want to see for myself you have the proper environmental as well as security systems in place. I can tell that without ever entering the clean room."
"This is most irregular Mr. Cobb."
"It's your choice but if I can't then I'll simply change my flight plans to Dubai or the Caymans where I'm sure I could find someone who will accommodate my request. When I first went into business the Swiss banks we were using let me see their vaults. Why won't 21st century banks let me see their server room?"
"That won't be necessary Mr. Cobb. Our main servers are off site but I can show you our remote terminal clean room if that would be adequate."
"That would be fine Mr. Quan. It's just a little idiosyncrasy of mine is all. Once I'm satisfied I'll have the funds transferred within the hour."
"Very well, please follow me and of course do not touch anything."
Olympia London
West Kensington
3:15 pm BST
Chuck and Sarah sat outside the loading dock of Olympia London. The location would be bustling tomorrow with the opening of the Transportation Security Conference. Beckman had arranged for a Mercedes Sprinter van to be outfitted with surveillance gear at their disposal. Security was very tight at the venue but they felt that seeing they didn't have much else to go on from Andrea yet, they might as well take a chance that Chuck might flash on something important.
"Sarah, this is getting pretty boring. We've been here for six hours and nothing seems out of the ordinary yet. " Chuck looked at the monitors and squeezed the bridge of his nose for probably the 10th time over the last hour. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."
Sarah reached over and placed her hand gently on the back of Chuck's neck. Her gentle touch always seemed to comfort him. "Yea, I guess we should have figured you would flash on much of the new Security technology on exhibit here."
"I know but I guess it's better to get these flashes out of the way before we head inside tomorrow. I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to us. Plus the more I see now the better I'll be able to discuss things if I get questioned by anyone."
"Chuck, do you think you'll be able to control the flashes enough?"
"I am getting better at it but we will have to be very careful."
"Ok, why don't we head on back to the hotel. I don't think .."
"It's ok Sarah. The site goes into lockdown at 5pm. Let's keep at it till then. Ok?"
"Fine Chuck but if your headache gets any worse…"
"I know, we'll head back and my 'partner' will have to take care of me." Chuck gave her a bit of the patented Bartowski eyebrow dance.
"Yes, she will." Sarah said with a devilish grin.
"Almost makes me want to flash a bunch more."
"No need, your 'partner' plans to take care of you regardless." This time Sarah leaned in for a quick kiss that suddenly was becoming anything but quick.
Chuck reluctantly pulled back first. If he hadn't the old joke about if the van's a rockin' might have been more than just an old joke. "Sarah, please…. I'm only human."
"Sorry Chuck but this is a new country for us and I'm looking forward to get another country stamp in my Chuck passport." her grin now even more racey.
"Me too Sarah, believe me. But I don't want that stamp to be a quickie in a van by a loading dock when we have a great big king size bed waiting for us."
"Fine, but the idea of a quickie in a van in broad daylight does have a certain appeal when you think about it." Chuck was shocked.
"Why Sarah Walker what's got into you?"
"Unfortunately nothing."
Chuck's jaw dropped to the floor and suddenly the headache he had from flashing all day was the last thing on his mind.
Sarah tried to stop herself from laughing at Chuck's brain lock but failed miserably.
God that woman will be the death of him. After few moments Sarah just smiled and turned her head back to the monitors waiting for Chuck's brain to reboot.
Presidential Palace
Costa Gravis
3:23 am PDT
Carina looked over at the snoring body of one President Alejandro Goya. The grin on his face was priceless. It reminded her of the little boy who had stolen his sister's Barbie and pulled the head off and blamed it on his perfect little brother. Cocky, content and acting like he was untouchable. Carina wished it had been her that was untouchable tonight.
When she had helped him off with his shirt rather aggressively she noticed he had a key on a chain around his neck. As she went to unbuckle his pants he took it off and laid it on the night stand. She glanced over and noticed it had a rather distinctive pattern on it. Two dragons on what looked like a circular maze.
Carina was normally a spy who this part of her job never bothered her. In fact there were many times she damn well loved it. Two years ago she had been assigned to get close to the son of an Argentine shipping magnet who was suspected of using his companies to ship Colombian Cocaine from Buenos Ares to Miami on board textile ships bound for the US market. The twenty-seven year old handsome brunette had just finished medical school and was returning to Buenos Ares to begin residency in Cardiology at the Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires. He was 6'3" in great physical shape as he had been on the Argentine National team in Basketball that won the gold at the 2004 Olympics. He personified the "latin lover" and Carina had loved every minute of that assignment. Especially when her mark's father was picked up in Miami based on intel she had "aquired" at the family residence after a very athletic night of passion.
But the "latin lover" next to her was no Olympian. He was typical of so many of his age and temperament. Selfish and totally underperforming yet he thought he was God's gift to women. For some strange reason she thought she was back in bed with that pathetic excuse for a lover, the late Daniel Shaw. Both of the last two men she had slept with had left her completely unsatisfied and she was looking forward to heading back to her hotel with Marc. If the last time they had been together was any indication, she had no doubts that she would not only be satisfied but have no trouble forgetting her own name for a few hours. She was a little envious of Hortensia right about now.
Glancing at the clock she knew she had to slowly get out of bed and get dressed as she was supposed to meet Marc outside the master suite at 3:30am. He and Hortensia had taken the First Lady's private chambers for their evening's activities. Once she was dressed she took the key from the night stand and grabbed her purse with her cellphone. She quickly took a picture of it and tiptoed out into hallway. The guards knew to stay away from the private quarters of both the President and First Lady after events like tonight.
After a few minutes, Marc came round the corner with his white tuxedo shirt unbuttoned. His toned chest did not go unnoticed by the rather unsatisfied redhead. His pants slung over his arm.
Keeping to their covers as they greeted each other."Doing the walk of shame I see Miranda?"
"Really Michael? You come out at 3:30 dressed like that and I'm doing the walk of shame?"
"Ok so we both are sluts."
That got a chuckle from the redhead. She leaned in as if to kiss him on the cheek and whispered. "Got the cameras looped?"
"Yea," he looked at his watch. "In about 45 seconds they'll jumped back to fifteen minutes ago and repeat. That means we got 10 minutes to get in and out before we get noticed."
"Fine, that should be enough time. Let's go."
"We've still got 30 seconds."
"Well I can think of something to do while we wait." She said with a devilish grin before she pulled him in hard and kissed him, letting all her frustration of the previous hour out.
After pulling back Marc looked a little shell shocked. "So I take it Mr. President isn't the most powerful man in Latin America in the bedroom?"
"You have no idea. No wonder the First Lady has her own quarters. I have a feeling some of the guards do a little extra late night duty because her husband certainly isn't going to get it done."
Marc just smirked. It explained Hortensia's rather desperate appetite of his last two hours. He glanced at his watch one again and the little segment above the '6' on the face darkened signaling that the cameras were indeed looped.
"Ok let's go."
Carina quickly pulled her lock pic set from her sleeve and began to work on the lock they had seen earlier that day. After a few moments both agents quietly slipped down the stairs into what looked like a basement area. There were two doorways one on each side and a set of double doors at the far end. After checking the other two doors and finding nothing of any importance other than some boxes of rather expensive shoes and clothes that Hortensia had probably only worn once., they went to the far end of the hall and quietly opened the large wooden doors to show what looked like a bank vault door. That door had a much more elaborate digital lock. Thankfully Marc had brought a decryption set and began scanning for the appropriate code.
After a few agonizing moments the keypad turned green and the two steel bars that were holding the door closed retracted. Grabbing the handle Carina tried to pull the door open but couldn't budge it more than a few inches. Marc stood up and grabbed one of the other steel bars and they both were able to pull the door open a few feet.
They had been surprised how heavy it was and now they knew why. The door and the entire room were lined with what looked like a foot of solid lead. Marc looked at Carina and the both nodded in understanding. Whatever was in this room they didn't want detected by any spy satellites.
At the back wall of the room were two what looked like lead lined crates about 1 meter on each side. On top were what looked like two key slots. Above each was the same logo that Carina had seen on the key around Goya's neck.
But what concerned her was a different symbol. A symbol both knew all too well. A yellow square with three black almost trapezoids surrounding a small black circle. The two containers were for radioactive materials.
The two agents looked at each other once again, took a deep breath and sighed. They had found what they had hoped they wouldn't find. But what scared them most was that next to the two crates was an empty area. The tracks in the dust on the floor giving the impression that two additional crates had recently been removed.
After a few moments to collect their thoughts Carina looked over at Marc and nodded. "Let's get some pictures of what we've found and let's get the hell out of here."
"Right behind you."
By 4:30am they were back in their hotel and Carina desperately needed a shower. She wanted to wash off the stench of the Costa Gravas leader who they now believed was selling nuclear material. The redhead also needed a few moments to calm herself down while Marc uploaded the intel they had found to Langley.
In her time as a DEA agent Carina had dealt with many a bastard drug lord, corrupt politician and merciless killers. But this was something totally different. Goya wasn't selling cocaine to inner city kids, he was selling weapons grade plutonium to terrorist organizations that were trying to take down the US government. This was beyond anything she had ever been involved with. If this was the kind of mission that Team Bartowski was given, she had a much greater respect for the curly haired nerd she had met two years ago. If he had come this far in just that short a period of time, maybe blondie was right. Chuck Bartowski is the most amazing man she had ever met.
As the warm water caressed her body and she tried to flush her mind of the events of the evening, she didn't hear the door to the bathroom open or notice the shadow of a man removing his clothes. After a few seconds she felt a presence behind her as two strong hands lightly caressed her neck and shoulders. Carina moaned at Marc's touch. It felt warm, gentle and soothing. Like just his touch could take away the stress of what they had just learned. She slowly turned and looked into his eyes before resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her. After a few wonderful tender moments that Carina rarely was interested in but realized she needed just then, she looked up with a soft smile and kissed him. But this was Carina Miller and within a few seconds all thoughts of tenderness were long gone. This was now about passion and the stress release agents so often fall victim to. They had accomplished their mission and were headed back to DC later that morning. But now they were going to burn off all that adrenaline. Now it was about a man and a woman needing to feel something, or someone who needed them too.
Corinthia Hotel
Room 628
London
10:37am BST
Chuck's eyes began to flutter as he realized that the room he shared with Sarah was bathed in morning sunlight. But something felt off. There was no pressure on his left shoulder and his feet were not wrapped around anything cool like they usually were when he woke up. He also noticed that the smell of vanilla was nowhere near as strong as it usually was in the morning.
Chuck reached over and felt the other side of the bed was still warm but it was empty. Sitting up he listened for the sound of running water hoping that Sarah was in the shower but heard nothing. He pulled his lanky legs out from under the covers and searched for his boxers that had been discarded somewhere in the haste of events last night when they got back to their room. Seeing them hanging off the mirror above the dresser across from him he quickly gathered them and put them on.
Just as he pulled them up fully he heard the click of the lock on the door and noticed a tray filled with fruit, biscuits, assorted pastries, yogurt and two pots of piping hot coffee and tea pushing through the doorway.
"Hey I hoped you would still be asleep. I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed."
"Sarah you didn't need to do that."
"I wanted to." Setting the tray down on the small table she reached into the pocket of her sweatpants and pulled out a bottle of aspirin handing it to Chuck.
"I also got you this. I figured after all the flashing yesterday you might need it."
"Thanks sweetheart. I'm starving AND my head does hurt a bit. You're a lifesaver." Chuck pulled the blonde into his arms and kissed her tenderly.
"Mmmmmh. Now that is better to cure what ails me than all the aspirin ever made."
"Thanks. I try my best where you're concerned." She gave him another kiss and then motioned for him to sit and enjoy his breakfast. She poured him a cup of coffee but decided on tea for her.
After a few bites, Chuck noticed Sarah was watching him carefully.
"You're staring."
"I am not." She said with a grin.
"Are too. What's up? You're kind of freaking me out."
"Nothing Chuck. I was just thinking about how great this is. Waking up in a beautiful hotel in London with the sweet, incredible man I love and he amazingly loves me too. Sharing breakfast overlooking the Thames." She pointed out the window to the river a few hundred feet away. "I'm just happy, Chuck. That's never really happened to me before. Even with the danger of the mission we have ahead of us, I know we are going to be ok because we are together. I'm just happy to be with you. It's where I belong, at your side."
"It's where I belong too. " He leaned in and kissed her again. "And it is pretty great being in a city like this even if it is for a mission. As long as I'm with you it's the greatest place I've ever been."
Any thoughts about the breakfast before them quickly dissipated as a different kind of hunger swept over them. Chuck stood up and picked Sarah up in his arms, their lips never separated as he carried the love of his life back to the king size bed. As Chuck put his fingers inside Sarah's sweatpants and began to pull them down they both heard sounds that immediately broke the mood. Reaching over for their phones they looked at the screens and then showed them to each other.
"If Beckman is texting us both at the same time with the urgent video conference code I'm glad I got my Chuck passport stamped last night." She said with a devilish but somewhat disappointed grin.
Giving her a sad pout he replied, "Yea this can't be good. I better get dressed in something more than my boxers while you boot up the laptop."
"Right, to be continued?"
"Absolutely!" They gave each other a quick peck and Chuck grabbed some clothes to put on while Sarah established the secure networking protocols. Three minutes later the NSA symbol appeared on the screen as Chuck and Sarah sat at the small table where Sarah had since removed their breakfast. With a beep the screen changed and General Beckman appeared on the monitor. The look on her normally stern face was even more grim than usual.
"Good morning team. I hope your flight was comfortable?"
"Yes ma'am, and it's rather early for you to be in your office isn't it?"
"Well we have some very important overnight developments that have just come to our attention. I'm afraid that the situation with the Ring is far more serious than we thought."
The two agents faces turned towards each other and then back to the screen. "Yes ma'am." Sarah said calmly. Just then a few pictures appeared on the screen next to a small window with the General still visible.
"Team, these pictures were taken by Agent's Miller and Rossi in Costa Gravis. They appear to show storage containers for radioactive material. They were located in a lead lined vault in the President's Palace."
Taking a deep breath Chuck began. "General, I assumed..."
"Agent Bartowski, please. We have long suspected that Costa Gravis had excess nuclear material. The fact that we now have proof isn't the most significant piece of intel our agents were able to recover however."
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other again with confused looks on their faces before looking back at the screen.
"General," it was Sarah this time who spoke, "How is finding proof that Costa Gravis has radioactive material not the most significant piece of intel?"
"Agent Walker, because it isn't what we found that's important, it's what's missing."
"Missing, General?"
"Yes, our agents found two containers of radioactive material but evidence that there were two more unaccounted for."
"So we have two missing containers that might contain Plutonium unaccounted for?"
"I'm afraid so Agent Bartowski. What also concerns us is what we are just beginning to decipher from Colonel Casey's mission. It seems that Costa Gravis has received two payments of two and a half billion dollars from shell corporations we believe are fronts for the Ring. The first of these payments was the day after the events at the LA fashion show where Agent Shaw was killed and the second occurred yesterday morning prior to Agents Miller and Rossi's arrival."
"So you think that the Ring is buying nuclear material from Costa Gravis?"
"It appears that way Agent Walker."
Shifting in his chair a bit. Chuck tried to think about why the Ring would want radioactive material. Each of his scenarios was more frightening than the prior one.
"General, do we have any idea where this material was being shipped?"
"No I'm afraid not. We only know that 5 billion dollars was paid to Goya and two containers are now missing."
Sarah reached over and took Chuck's hand. This intel was huge and she knew that Chuck was having difficulty processing it. "General, is there any intel on what the Ring wants with the material or what their next move will be?"
"Actually that is the next subject on the agenda. About 3 hours ago we received a message from the implant in Agent Saunders. It was the name of a man she has been ordered to get close to." The screen changed again and the picture of a rather handsome middle aged British gentleman appeared on the screen along with a brief bio.
"This man is David Hutcheson. He is the Director of PTAG Safety and Security Group. They are the main suppliers of security technology, cameras etc throughout Britain and the world. As you know London has more cameras than any other city in the world. He is speaking at the Security Expo tomorrow afternoon. We believe that the Ring is trying to gain access to some highly classified technology that Hutcheson will be unveiling at that time."
"So Agent Saunders has been assigned to get access to that technology for the Ring?"
"Yes, we believe so."
"Could these two things be related?"
"We have no idea Agent Walker but either situation is a real threat to us as well as Great Britain."
"General, when will Agent Casey be joining us and is he up to speed on these new developments?"
"Yes, I apprised the Colonel about a half hour ago. He is in route to London as we speak. He should be arriving late this evening your time."
"Thank you General. How should we proceed? If the Ring is after Hutcheson then it will be difficult for us to get close to him without compromising ourselves and Agent Saunders."
"I agree Agent Bartowski. That is why we have arranged for you to have some assistance. They should be arriving any time now."
"Very well General. We will let you know as soon as Colonel Casey arrives."
"Good luck agents. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the critical nature of this mission."
"No ma'am and thank you." Chuck and Sarah said together as they saw the screen go black.
Chuck sat back in his chair trying to process the information they had just heard. It seems that the nightmare scenario that all the free world's intelligence services dreaded may have finally occurred. An organization determined to take over the free world had gotten access to nuclear material. The Ring had raised the stakes much higher than Fulcrum ever had. It seems Bryce was right. They were just a small part of the Ring.
Sarah seeing that Chuck was starting to carry this burden as he always did when the innocent were in danger jumped over and stood behind him pulling him close to her chest to comfort him.
"Sarah this.."
"I know Chuck. But what we need to focus on right now is our specific mission. We need to figure out what the Ring wants with Hutcheson and when Casey gets here we are going to take them down like we always do. Like YOU always do."
"Sarah, I don't know if.."
"Chuck we can do this. You can do this and I'm going to be right by your side."
"Where you're supposed to be?" He looked into her eyes almost pleading.
"Right where I'm supposed to be. At the side of the greatest man I've ever known. The man I love."
Chuck took a deep breath and tried to put a small smile on his face. "Thank you Sarah I just..."
"It's ok Chuck, it's ok." She leaned in and kissed his cheek and Chuck turned his head to kiss her back when they heard a sudden knocking at the door of their room.
Sarah quickly jumped up and grabbed her gun from the night stand where she had left it the night before. She motioned Chuck to stand with his tranq gun on the other side of the door frame where he would be hidden by the door when it opened. He would be her backup.
Chuck shook his head no that he wanted her to go behind the door and he would answer it but Sarah was still totally committed to protecting Chuck. It was now and always would be, her most important mission. She forcefully shook her head no and Chuck knew he wouldn't win that argument.
They took their positions and Sarah looked thru the peep hole while standing to the side of the door. Making a small expression Chuck couldn't decipher she motioned for Chuck to stand the ready as she lowered her gun and opened the door.
"Sar.. ahh Agent Walker, it's good to see you again. You're looking as beautiful as ever." The tall handsome Englishman said with a familiar confident smile.
The blonde agent shook her head let out a small chuckle. "Good morning, Agent Barker it's been a while." Sarah stepped aside and motioned for the unexpected guest to come in.
The MI6 agent nodded and stepped into the room as Sarah closed the door behind him. He turned around ready to lay on the charm but his attention suddenly shifted to the man now standing next to the woman he once kissed. The man he lost that woman to.
Hesitating for a second he reached out his hand towards him. "Chuck, nice to see you too."
"Good to see you, Cole." Chuck responded with a small smile.
Taking in their attire and glancing over at the unmade bed that had obviously not been used exclusively for sleeping, Cole turned back to Chuck and gave a friendly smirk.
"Glad to see you took my advice." his head shifting towards Sarah and then the bed.
Sarah rolled her eyes but couldn't help but notice the confident smile that grew on Chuck's face.
A/N 2 I will leave you with this. It was one of the last things Esardi sent to me.
"When you see your wife again hug her and let her know how much you love her."
I'd recommend we all take his advice, find someone we love, give them a hug and tell them how much they mean to us.
Goodbye my friend.
