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Chapter 3 - Getting Ready

Pulling her shirt over her head, Agent Sarah Walker closed the door behind her with the back of her left foot. Throwing the shirt onto her bed, she took the time to stare out the window of her essentially high priced motel room that she had lived in for the past couple years. A couple years. Wow. It was hard to believe she had spent a couple of years here in L.A., on this mission. Unbuckling the belt on her skintight pants, she peeled them off. She needed to shave her legs; that would have to wait. When she had worked at the Wienerlicious, it had been essential to keep them shaved, but she wore pants at the Orange Orange, and with work so busy sometimes she just didn't have time. By work, she didn't mean selling yogurt and orange sherbet in mass quantities, no, she meant the missions. And a week ago, her job had gotten much harder.

Walking over to her massive closet and throwing the doors open, she stared at the strictly organized line of clothes. What to wear… she only needed something for the plane ride, something professional… she already had a backpack packed and ready to go for the mission. They had pretty much stayed in the L.A. area here on Project Chuck, as he would call it, but always be prepared. The CIA shared something with the Boy Scouts. They were in L.A. a lot; there was just to much crime around here. Sarah was glad they hadn't started out in New York, they never would have been able to leave there. Project Chuck. HE was why the mission was harder. A man. But not just any man. The man she wanted.

Groaning, she grabbed a black pair of pants and a white dress shirt, and went to iron the shirt. Don't think about him, don't think about him, she thought to herself. Every time she thought about him within the confines of her room, within sight of her big, comfortable bed, she got herself worked up. It had been well over two years since she had been intimate with anyone. It was logical, she said to herself as she ran the iron over the shirt. And right now, she didn't have the time to relieve herself of any tensions she built up. With Chuck involved, it came way to easy. She blushed slightly as she thought about what she just thought.

She couldn't tell him she didn't want him anymore. She had managed to after their first kiss, only by sheer force of willpower, of telling herself that she had to stick to the mission. But that morning in the hotel room, when they were on the run… his hands running all over her body, his lips on her neck… his tongue assaulting her mouth, she couldn't remember feeling so good. Thank goodness they hadn't had time to discuss that since, she hated the talking. When feelings were involved, everything became so complicated. All she knew right now was that that morning had been a mistake. Chuck still had the Intersect at that point. When he had gotten rid of it, and she had chosen to stay with him, yes, that had been difficult. She loved her job, and hard worked tirelessly to get to the point where she was now. But she would take a life with Chuck over that without thinking about it.

But then he got the Intersect back, except it was… different. And now it was going to be even more of a challenge, though in different ways. Now, she had to protect him, and she had always been taught feelings, relationships, ruined missions. People get hurt, or killed when you let emotion into your work. That had been drilled in her head. And with how confusing it was to her, she had no doubt. Her brain told her she couldn't be with Chuck as long as he was the Intersect, but her heart told her to go for it, give them both what they so badly wanted. What they needed. Throwing the shirt on, and unplugging the iron, she told herself something she had so many times. She needed to make a decision. Either tell him they couldn't have anything until the mission was over, or jump his bones and take him, making him hers in the real sense of the word. But she didn't know what to do… what was she going to do? No matter what, she would have to talk to him about it. She grimaced. Chuck got through those talks so perfectly, while she sat there like a log, shaking or nodding her head. Oh well, they would talk soon. They would figure it out, get rid of all the tension one way or another. She ignored the other many times she had told herself that same thing.

Ring, ring. Chuck had made fun of her for having, as he put it, an old fashioned cell phone ring in a world of unlimited choices. It was the CIA automated network. It securely sent messages to every CIA agent, and it was rarely used. Sliding open the phone, she waited for the voice.

"Please enter your pin." She hated that creepy automated voice, almost as much as she hated typing in the twenty-seven digit pin. That was a pain in the ass. One time, she had entered the wrong pin, and that was surprisingly a disaster. For such an old system, the security around it was airtight, and the response quick. 45 seconds later, the pin was painstakingly entered, and the voice started up again.

"A new Director of the CIA has been chosen. Director Aidan Adama is now in charge. Thank you." Short, sweet and to the point, as always.

Sarah paused as she wriggling the tight pants up over her ass. She had never heard of an Aidan Adama. She wondered what had happened to Acting Director Purnell. Not that he had ever contacted Team Chuck, Sarah was pretty sure he didn't know the mission existed. Beckman hadn't informed him, knowing his reign would be short. Adama, Adama… she kept drawing blanks. Beckman had obviously known he would be appointed before Sarah, she had given them his mission. She hoped he was as effective as Graham was. She had actually liked Graham, and that was something she never thought would happen again, with any other director. She pondered asking this Adama for permission to be with Chuck. Smiling wryly, she shook her head. Like that would ever be granted, if anything ever was going to exist between them, it would have to be kept secret.

Secret. Forbidden. Chuck. She was getting worked up again. Not good, she didn't want to change her panties again. Think about something else Sarah, come on… the mission. The upcoming one, in which they were going to Switzerland. She didn't have much information on it, that was waiting on the plane, but it seemed relatively simple, which meant nothing. A daughter of a billionaire gone missing. Standard stuff, especially by their standards. Casey wouldn't like this. But if he could handle selling Beastmasters, he could handle this. Sarah was actually more nervous about the long plane ride than the mission. That long, alone with Chuck. There were two options of how to occupy that time, and only one was realistic. Damn it. That was it. They could wait a few minutes if it took her a while, but she couldn't be near Chuck for that long of a plane ride feeling like this, it would kill her. Ripping her pants off again, she threw herself down on the bed, excited to be with Chuck in the only possible way, at this point…

"So he did it?"

"Yes. Renald Dixon is dead. I talked to Mikel not ten minutes ago. I thought I'd let you know."

"I thought I felt a soul leave us." Her voice was sweet and innocent, as was her appearance, but she was bat ass crazy, thought the boss on the other line. She felt a soul leave us? What the hell does that mean?

"Okay," he said slowly. "Just make sure your ready and in place." He was more than nervous about her being his number one now, he was terrified. But Frank had found her, trained her, vouched for her, and that was good enough for him. It had to be. For twenty years, Frank was his number two, his go to guy. He had said that this protégée of his was ready, and so it had to be.

"I will be. This will be for Papa." That what she always called Frank, lovingly, teasingly.

"Yes, this will be for Frank. The Intersect will be ours."

Colonel John Casey grunted. It was on purpose. That had been his response to Chuck getting the Intersect upgrade, strange as it was. Grunt a lot more. Some were on purpose, most weren't. That made him even madder. Chuck causing him to grunt without thinking about it, all the time. Yet he couldn't be mad at Chuck. Damn it, he liked the guy. "Quit thinking that, John, quit thinking that," he muttered to himself. "You don't like him, you've just grown comfortable with him." Yeah right.

Casey had a good selections of his weapons laid out over his bed, cleaning and loading them up. A clean gun was a killing gun. Maybe that made no sense, lyrically, but it worked in his head.

The past week had been a whirlwind, ever since Chuck had downloaded the next level of Intersect into his head. Idiot. Though it was a brave thing, he had to give the man that. After everything that Chuck had been through with the level one Intersect, he chose to download the second one. That was love for his country that did it, Casey was sure. Though he wouldn't be surprised if it was a ploy to get Walker to stay with him. Knuckleheads. Sure, he'd been with fellow agents he worked with, but it had just been for pleasure. They looked at each other like lovesick puppies.

But there was no getting around it. Casey was threatened by Chuck. Yes, 99% of the time, Chuck was still the skinny, nerdy goofball that he always had been, but now, there was that chance of danger, a danger Chuck couldn't control. And that put Casey on edge. Part of the reason he had become comfortable with Chuck was because he never had anything to fear from him. Casey was always alert, looking out for the slightest dangers. But with the old Chuck, there weren't any. It was just Chuck. But now… if Chuck flashed at the right time, he could take Casey out. Casey grunted again, and concentrated on his weapons once more. The time to stop thinking about that which he couldn't control or change was long past.

Chuck walked out of his room, backpack on his back, humming as he walked into the living room. He still hadn't moved out, though he had planned to, just across the patio, later this week. That would have to be put off. Devon and Ellie were so, well, awesome, for letting him stay in their nest until he got another place.

Ellie was in the living room, watching a Richard Simmons video, working out with the funny looking man. Chuck smiled. Ellie didn't need to lose any weight, but trying to tell her that was like trying to tell Casey he didn't need to carry any more concealed guns on him. Ellie was dressed in her jogging pants and a tank top, with a headband on, moving right in step with Richard. She was getting really…

~a picture of a man doing a jumping jack~

Chuck's body locked up as his mind lost control of it, and he mentally groaned. Not again, not another flash. His legs took him over to stand beside Ellie.

"Oh, hey Chuck," she said, giving him a big smile. He only saw it out of the corner of his eye. Throwing off his backpack, he started copying old Richard, move for move in synch perfectly. Ellie was delighted. "You want to work out with me Chuck? That's great! Devon always makes fun of me for these videos, but as I tell him, I've been doing it for years, and you sure like the results." Chuck wondered if Ellie had been drinking; she normally wasn't that forward. Chuck was getting used to letting his mind wonder when his body flashed, he had yet to experience a mind flash, but was told by Beckman it would happen. He would lose control of his thinking. That was a scary thought.

Suddenly, his body started speeding up, and he began moving his arms and legs at a speed old Richard could only dream of. Ellie looked at him, impressed. "Wow, Chuck. Have you been sneaking in sessions?"

Captain Awesome's voice came from behind them. "I think its more likely he's been dipping into the open all night Sarah buffet, hey Chuck? That will get you in shape."

"Devon…" Ellie said, shocked look on her face.

"Yes dear?"

"Nothing."

All of a sudden, Chuck did a back flip, almost knocking the television off the stand with his feet. Ellie just stared him, knowing how out of character this was for him, while Devon smiled broadly. He knew, at least partially. Another back flip, a front flip, and many more combinations, leading up to a double front flip that landed in a split. Chuck groaned as the flash ended and he took control back. He fell over, lying on the floor, feeling the pain from his more than awkward landing position.

"Wow Chuck, looks like you won't be doing the vertical slide with the old lady tonight." Chuck thought he heard Ellie punch Devon in the arm before hearing her run up and sit down on her knees beside him.

"Are you alright Chuck?" Ellie's face gave away her confused state. "What was that Chuck? I've never…" She trailed off, unable to continue.

"Ellie, I honestly don't know, I guess I just saw Richard and got excited, way too into, I mean, you know how I get with my Xbox, I was just playing Call of Duty, and maybe some transference occurred, you know, it's not like I was doing back flips on there, but similar physical feats were performed but with weapons and…" Devon cut Chuck off, saving him from his flustered, rambling rant.

"Chuck, what's in the backpack," he asked, pointing. Ellie looked at it, and Chuck mouthed thanks to Devon.

"Sarah and I are going on a impromptu vacation," he announced, sure of what Ellie's reaction would be. She didn't disappoint. Her face lit up, and she hugged Chuck as they sat on the floor.

"Chuck, that's so romantic, so spontaneous, she's gonna love it. You're going to have so much fun!"

"Did you pack condoms or is she on the pill?" Ellie threw a nearby pillow from the couch at Devon, and he laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding…"

"Anyways," Ellie said, "It's so great that you two will get some alone time together."

"And we can have the house to ourselves. Can we finally do it in the one room we haven't yet?"

Chuck thought about it, then his eyes opened up wide. "Not till I move out you can't."

"Ah, you won't be thinking about us on vacation Chuck. Just you and Sarah, doing your duties." Devon put an emphasis on duties. He wanted to know if this was a spy thing, but Chuck couldn't say anything in front of Ellie.

"I'm sure we'll have fun," Chuck said. It sounded like, by their standards at least, an easy mission. Find a missing daughter. We don't even have to physically find her, just try and get a location, Chuck thought. Could it get any easier?

Many, many miles away, Frank's protégé arrived at the Dixon's mansion, wondering if their plan to secure the Intersect could really go off this easily.