Chuck vs. the Seventh Day, Interlude 2
CAST (in order of appearance):
Bryce Larkin - Matt Bomer
Lt. Comm. Rachel Harrison - Zoe Saldana
Author's note: based on the time zones of California and Serbia, this interlude takes place approximately four minutes after the conclusion of Thursday, Part One.
7:42 PM, Belgrade Time
February 16th, 2012
Belgrade International Airport, Belgrade, Serbia
The C-2A Greyhound was tucked away in a very remote corner of the airport, parked in between several aircraft that were in varying states of disrepair.
After departing from the Eisenhower, it had flown to Diego Garcia. From there, it had made multiple short hops, across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, before finally making its way into Serbia. They tried to land only in remote locations, where Bryce could impress them by waving about large amounts of cash and / or his CIA-issued American Express Black card.
Unfortunately, the old Grumman aircraft wasn't designed for the type of punishment that had been placed upon it, and so at just after 2:00 PM, when the starboard engine overheated and shut down, Commander Harrison – "Really, call me Rachel," she'd insisted to Bryce – had made an emergency landing at Belgrade International Airport. The appearance of three one hundred dollar bills had been more than enough to keep the airport manager happy, and convince him to hide the Greyhound.
Now, the CIA officer and the US Navy officer on the run from Fulcrum were resting in the back end of the Greyhound. They'd found enough packing cloths to make a surface almost comfortable to lie on, and given their exhaustion, certainly comfortable enough to sleep on. When it was dark, one of them would venture out for food and water.
Just before 8:00 PM, Bryce woke up – he felt somebody watching him. In the dim light filtering into the cabin of the aircraft, he could see that Rachel was looking at him – the light reflected off of her green eyes.
"Hey," he said, "are you alright?"
She sighed. "I met you thirty-six hours ago," she said, "and yet, I've already literally been halfway around the world with you. We're running from some sort of super-secret terrorist organization… I feel like I'm in a Bond movie."
"Well, I AM a super spy," Bryce joked.
"Oh, a SUPER spy is it now?" Rachel teased.
"Lahkin, Bryce Lahkin. Agent Double-Oh Zero," he responded with a horrible British accent, purposefully flipping his hair into his face.
"You are terrible," Rachel said with a groan, as she reached out a hand to brush the hair off of his forehead.
Her hand landed on his cheek – and she didn't remove it, nor did he make any effort to make her. She just rested her hand there for a moment.
"I'll tell you what else is funny," she said quietly. "I've only known you for thirty-six hours… but I really like you, Mr. Bryce the Spy."
He smiled. "I like you too, Ms. Rachel the Pilot."
She smiled too – and then scooted over toward him, brought her hand down under his chin, lifted his face a little, and kissed him.