Saturday, 22nd
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Bryce battled his lack of sleep.
He had been up all night pouring over every detail from the folder that Tommy had given him.
It was the biggest and newest lead he had, and he was determined to make something out of it.
The contents of the folder hadn't said much directly. Inside, it contained mostly photos and names.
Bryce guessed that Tommy might be using this as a test to see how resourceful of an agent he was.
He didn't like the feeling of being a pawn playing in someone else's game, but he had no choice.
He would need to pass whatever tests they put in front of him in order to infiltrate Fulcrum.
Graham had given him an elevated security clearance to provide additional context. Now he was using the agency's information to aid him in any way possible.
The records on Major John Casey didn't generate any strong leads at first. His background was impressive, and only served to undervalue Tommy's description of Casey being competition.
The most recent records indicated that Casey had been pulled from his previous mission and was now currently assigned to a new mission as the head of security.
Bryce felt frustratingly constrained by the lack of further details he had available. One bit of useful information stood out to him.
Major Casey had been spotted around a number of key government installations.
Bryce slowly reviewed the list.
He compared those installations to the locations that housed systems that Graham said might interface with the attachment that Tommy had provided.
Bryce had a match.
The government site was the home of a CIA/NSA joint project called the 'Intersect'.
As Bryce began reading over the project's objectives, he felt the first bit of relief he had that week.
The 'Intersect' project was a computer system that contained valuable secrets that a rogue group, such as Fulcrum, would likely go to great lengths to get their hands on.
It contained intelligence data that had been collected and processed not only by the CIA, but from the NSA as well. This was the kind of priceless data that any number of groups or countries would pay handsomely to obtain.
"Great!" he said to himself while taking a moment of pride in his progress, "I just hope Chuck's got enough room on his backup drive."
Chuck's habitual data backup was a trait that Bryce was greatly counting on. He would need to find out just how much data he might be sending him.
He continued reading about the Intersect project. His optimism took a nosedive.
The project had progressed to the level where field agents could be 'preloaded' with intelligence information from the Intersect database. It utilized a visual process of rapidly showing an agent a series of images specially encoded with subliminal data.
"Chuck..." Bryce said shaking his head.
He paused in reflection. "It's the past inside the present."
Omaha or Intersect, it seemed either the government or fate was going to control the destiny of his former friend.
He thought about the effect this revelation had on his mission. He took a deep breath and let it out.
If Chuck was going to eventually become involved, it should end up being on terms Bryce himself could control and define.
The thought of what he might have to do to Chuck made him feel more like a 'Bryce Lynch' than Bryce Larkin.
The spy came to another realization.
To meet the mission objectives, the Intersect data might actually be better hidden from Fulcrum by being locked away in Chuck's brain.
---------------
Bryce stood and briefed his boss on his findings. Director Graham became visibly anxious.
"Everything we've got is in that database." he said.
"I want you to find out why Fulcrum wants the information. Find out who they might sell it to, or how they might use it themselves."
"Yes sir. Tommy isn't going to let me know anything beyond what it will take to get the mission completed."
"That leaves my initial Fulcrum contact - Phillip Cowen. He's going to be our best bet. I can use him to establish more contacts within Fulcrum."
"There's a problem with Cowen," Graham jumped in. "Cowen was found on the top level of a parking garage yesterday by local police."
"Shot by a sniper round." Graham shook his head, "Not one of ours."
Bryce stood visibly concerned. His most promising lead into the rogue agency was gone.
Shortly into operation Sand Wall, Bryce had received a postcard attempting to convince tourists to spend their vacations at 'Shell Beach'.
On the other side, a handwritten note simply said "I hope you know the way here Bryce, it will be worth your time - Your new friend".
Bryce had puzzled over the postcard for a few days before showing up at 'John Murdoch' city park.
Among the people there, a man wearing a grey suit sat on a bench doing a crossword.
Bryce walked up to his possible new friend.
"Dark, don't you think?" Bryce asked showing him the postcard of Shell Beach.
The man with a slightly impatient demeanor looked up.
"Mr. Larkin, glad you could make it. We would have been let down if you wouldn't have shown up. But then again, the reason why you're here is the reason why we contacted you in the first place. Please... sit", he said gesturing next to him.
Bryce remained standing.
"There's no need to worry, I'm certainly not some mysterious Dr. Schreber."
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Cowen, but since we're going to be good friends you can just call me Phillip."
"The organization that I work for has a need for someone with your qualifications - qualifications that have been brought to our attention through your work in the CIA and Sand Wall. Your quick thinking, your athletic skills, and your reputation for doing what it takes to get the job done are just the very talents that my organization needs for someone to complete an important task."
"We would like to invite you to work with our organization - not just for this task, but for longer term goals."
"What is this 'organization'?" Bryce finally replied.
"Not to worry Bryce," Phillip emphasized, "our organization isn't just another three letter acronym group. You'll continue to be a dedicated employee of the CIA."
"We just want to extend certain overriding principles and objectives. For lack of a better name, you can refer to our organization as 'Fulcrum'.
Bryce kept it direct and simple. "So what does Fulcrum want with me?"
"I don't think you understand how this works, so let me explain my role."
"I'm like a scout. I see who's out there, and then make introductions."
"If you like what you hear and say yes, then I put someone in touch with you."
Bryce gave him a dry look. "And if I don't like what I hear?"
Cowen smiled at him. "Well Mr. Larkin, let's just say my organization isn't well adjusted to hearing no."
If Fulcrum was willing to silence one of their own, Bryce knew that Chuck would be at a much greater risk than he had originally anticipated.
"We need to get Sarah involved." he said.
Graham shook his head. "No. Your first instinct to have her benched for the duration was the right one."
"Knowledge of the mission has to be kept to a minimum due to the sensitivity of the situation."
"Sir," Bryce protested, "Wherever the Intersect intel goes, Fulcrum will go. If I can't get it out of their hands in time, I will need to fall back to involving the civilian. Chuck will need protection from Fulcrum agents, and Sarah is the most qualified person I trust."
"I understand your concern," Graham responded, "but including a civilian is part of your worst-case scenario. We can't just begin involving agents like this. It could attract attention to us, or to your 'trusted civilian'. Walker is to remain in the dark."
If Fulcrum got to Chuck, Bryce's most important mission to date would be a failure. He couldn't let that happen.
"What if I could get her there, within range of Chuck - without her knowing about the mission or the Intersect?"
"We wouldn't have to brief her unless it becomes absolutely necessary."
Graham secretly liked what he heard. Adding another level of security to a mission this risky wouldn't be a bad thing, and with the other side raising the stakes it was almost a necessity.
"Okay. Get Walker on location without her awareness of the mission. I'll get her cleared ahead of schedule with Dr. Beckett and reinstated for active duty."
---------------
Sarah sat in front of her blank terminal.
The mission she had been scheduled to oversee had been called off at the last minute.
Now she was wrapping up her shift in silence - something far more dangerous than many of her missions.
Maybe it was the time 'off the job' that was getting to her, or maybe it was something that she had already noticed, but ever since the incident, Bryce had been distant at best.
Sarah had tried her best to come up with explanations that made sense. Unfortunately, she had only been able to come up with one: Bryce had already given up on her and their relationship.
Sarah knew she needed to prepare for the worst, but she had trouble convincing herself to acknowledge the possibility.
She desperately wished that she hadn't actually lost him.
She would give anything to have their relationship back to the way it had been during their trip to Cabo.
At that time, she and Bryce had been partners for just a few months short of a year.
While she didn't think too much of his personality at first, she had quickly grown fond of him. After a few missions working together, those feelings had progressed through admiration and directly to love.
She knew how being in love with a partner could make many things complicated. But they were both professionals, and she hadn't permitted any assignments to stand in their way.
From her observations, Bryce felt the same way too.
She had seen these observations proved correct when they had earned their time off together. The two of them spent that time enjoying the moments and acting care-free. It had been the best time of her life.
Everything had felt so new and wonderful.
Since then however, the two of them had spent nearly the remainder of their time on a continuous stream of missions. There had hardly been any downtime for her and Bryce to be a couple.
Thinking about the past like this often made her nostalgic. Sarah wondered if Cabo might have been everything she had thought it was.
"Yes," she thought to herself, "if I'm ever going to get over losing Bryce, this is the kind of thing I have to understand"
For a moment she felt like Jenny. After all, Bryce wasn't a mark. He wasn't someone that she could just pretend to like and then leave.
She had real feelings for Bryce. This wasn't being easy at all.
Sarah sighed and grabbed her things. She had only a few days of this to go before she would have her full concentration back on a mission.
---------------
Sarah walked out of the control room and into the usually empty hallway.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone leaning against a wall.
Her surprise outran her self-control. "Bryce??? What are you doing here?"
Bryce continued to smile as he began to slowly walk towards her.
"Well, it's good to see you too Sarah... miss me?"
Sarah felt something - something strong. She just wasn't sure if it was more from shock or from an exhausting shift. Either way, she felt her body go on autopilot with her mind having to play the part of passenger.
Her face shot Bryce a dirty look, while she heard her voice pronounce a very honest "Uh, yeah - of course."
Sarah's reactions then switched places. "Where have you been?"
"You know, the physical therapy... the paperwork... getting checked out... usual stuff."
"I am here for a reason though." He smiled even more.
For a moment, Sarah's split reactions synchronized: "What is it?"
"I got you off of your probation duty early. As of today, you're a free girl."
This was becoming too much for her to process right now. "Why? Why would you do that?"
Bryce closed in on her and gently touched her arm.
"What, can't a boyfriend do something nice for his girlfriend? Besides..."
"You are worth it."
Something now made Sarah nearly freeze in place - she was completely speechless. She wasn't sure what to think.
Bryce waited for her response, but didn't get any at all.
"Your boyfriend," he continued hoping to snap Sarah out of her trance, "pulled some strings so that you could have time off and he could take you on a much needed vacation."
This time Bryce observed his words having some kind of positive effect. There was a sudden brightness in her eyes.
"Vacation?"
Bryce needed to make sure this went smoothly. He applied extra charm while making sure not to go overboard.
"Yes Sarah, a real vacation. It'll just be the two of us - no missions, no CIA objectives, no overseeing rookie agents."
"Wow," Sarah felt herself confessing aloud, "like Cabo."
Bryce tried not to let his hesitation become too noticeable. He had nearly forgotten Cabo. From what he could remember, Sarah had a good time there.
"Exactly - it's been too long since Cabo. It's been crazy since then, so I'm taking you away from all of this."
Sarah finally smiled. Bryce felt this conversation was going the way it needed to.
"Don't worry, Agent Walker. I'll make sure to get you back." he said grinning.
"I'm sorry Bryce, it's-" Sarah began to say.
"No apologies. I took care of all of the reservations and everything."
"Well... Bryce... this is great. When does our vacation begin?"
"I probably won't get out of here for another day or two, but I want you to fly out tomorrow and start enjoying your time off, okay?"
Sarah looked puzzled. "What am I supposed to do on my first day off?"
Bryce continued with his charm. "You're not going to be getting 'a case of the Mondays' now are you?"
The increasingly happier agent smiled back at him. "Careful, you just might get your ass kicked for saying something like that."
Bryce held his hands up in playful defense. "Okay okay... my mistake."
Her soft laughter was a good sign, he noted.
"Here," he said handing her tickets, "your vacation isn't going to wait forever - you'd better start packing."
Sarah gave him a quick kiss before leaving with a beaming smile.
"Cabo..." he thought as he watched her walk away.
Cabo had been part of the reward they had earned after their mission in Bogota.
They had proved the mission analysts wrong. Not only had they actually been able to recover the stolen documents, but they been able to do so far ahead of any projected timetable.
That mission had really put them on the map as CIA agents, and had earned them the kind of respect that landed them more sophisticated missions.
If he could complete this mission with Fulcrum and the Intersect, the success from Bogota would pale in comparison.