I still don't own Chuck. But one good thing. This story will never be preempted by a presidential news conference.
Thanks to Happydayz and Truthseekr for the ideas. And, of course, thanks to BrickRoad for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
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Task Force
- - - -
Chuck was just beginning to recover from the latest round of Sarah making it up to him. Naturally, they had found their favorite position. Chuck on his back with Sarah on her side with her head on his chest.
"How's our baby doing?" Chuck asked with his classic grin as he rubbed Sarah's stomach. "Is she kicking?"
"Not yet, silly," Sarah said with a grin of her own. "She doesn't have legs yet."
"What is she going to look like?" Chuck whispered, more to himself than to Sarah, as he continued to stroke her stomach.
And even though there wasn't a thing about their current situation that could remotely be called normal, Sarah was overwhelmed by the normalcy of it. Here she was, Agent Sarah Walker, lying in bed with her husband talking about their unborn baby. If you would have told her six months ago this was going to happen she would have laughed at you. Eighteen months ago she would have said you were trying to pick a fight. And to tell the truth, she couldn't be happier.
"I don't know, sweetie," Sarah whispered softly as she snuggled closer to Chuck and closed her eyes.
"But I can't wait to find out."
- - - -
Casey was sitting in a conference room inside of the Los Angeles FBI office building. He was addressing the group of agents that Beckman had assembled to find Walker and Bartowski. Beckman had pulled out all of the stops this time. Inside the room were representatives from the NSA, CIA, FBI, ATF, DEA, LAPD, and the California State Police. Casey wasn't sure how she had gotten so many resources in so short a period of time or what she had told them. But there was absolutely no question that he was about to get their full cooperation. Interagency rivalry was being set aside in a way that Casey had never witnessed before.
And even though Casey was a little conflicted about this particular mission, he had to admit, he enjoyed the chase.
"Ok people," Casey said gruffly as he started the meeting by putting Chuck's picture on the screen that took one whole wall of the conference room. "Here is our main objective."
The room drew suddenly silent as all the peripheral conversations stopped.
"His name is Charles Irving Bartowski." Casey continued. "He usually goes by Chuck. He is a total civilian. No real fighting or weapons skills. Fairly average athletically."
"He doesn't look like much of a threat, sir." said one of the men to Casey's right. "If I might ask, why all of us for this guy?"
"Because," said Casey as he put Sarah's picture on the screen. "He is being protected by her."
As soon as Sarah's picture went up, there were several whistles and catcalls.
"Yea, I get it." Casey said with a smirk. "She's pretty. But don't let that fool you. This is Sarah Walker. She is the number one agent in the CIA. She is an expert at hand to hand combat, small arms weapons, and covert tactics. She speaks five different languages fluently and if she throws a knife at you, you're dead. It is imperative that no one try to apprehend Agent Walker without a minimum of a ten person team. Make sure that your people know; anyone who tries to get macho and collar her themselves is going home in a body bag. Is that understood?"
Casey heard a chorus of "yes sir" in response.
"They have at least a twenty four hour head start." Casey said firmly. "They have almost certainly changed their appearance. And we can forget about the normal stuff like cell phones and credit cards. Walker is way too smart for that. Let's concentrate on video surveillance. Somebody must have them on tape someplace. Assemble and brief your teams and we'll get back together in an hour for a SitRep."
As the people in room started to break up, Casey spoke loudly over the growing din.
"Remember people." Casey said. "We're trying to bring them in, not hurt them. Overwhelm them with force and then promise them that no harm will come to them. Use my name. They may trust that."
- - - -
When Chuck opened his eyes all he could see was his lovely wife staring at him with a sad smile.
"Good morning," Chuck said with a concerned look. "Why are you staring at me? Is something wrong?"
At first Sarah just shook her head but Chuck could see the mist growing in her eyes.
"Sarah," Chuck said as he sat up in bed. "What's wrong?"
"This is something I've been dreading." Sarah whispered softly, afraid her voice would break. "I really don't want to do this."
"Sarah," Chuck said quickly, his senses now on full alert. "You're scaring me. What is it?"
Sarah just stared at Chuck for a long moment. Finally she sighed, "I have to cut your hair."
"You're kidding." Chuck said with a sigh of relief. "Sarah, you scared the crap out of me."
"I love your hair." Sarah whispered as she threw her arms around Chuck. "Now you have to be the blonde of the family."
Chuck laughed as he lay back down on the bed taking Sarah, who was not expecting it, with him.
"I'll tell you what." Chuck said as he tried to control his laughing. "How would you like to make out with a man with brown hair for the last time?"
"Sure?" asked Sarah as she looked around the room laughing. "Do you know one?"
- - - -
Casey was getting ready for the first sitrep of the morning. One thing was for sure. Beckman was sparing no expense on this mission. On a table at the side of the room was an assortment of pastries and fresh fruit. A large urn of gourmet coffee was at the end of the table. Usually on these task force assignments you were lucky to get five minutes to go to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. The team was obviously similarly impressed. They were helping themselves to the continental breakfast as Casey walked up. He poured himself a cup of coffee and stepped to the front of the room.
"Ok, folks," Casey said in a business like tone. "What is our status?"
A Captain from LAPD was the first to speak.
"Sir," he said. "We have video of Bartowski at the bus station yesterday morning. He purchased a one way to San Francisco. No sign of Walker."
"Concentrate on San Francisco." Casey said immediately. "Check the video from the bus terminal and make sure he got off the bus. Then check all the hotels within a five mile radius of the terminal."
"He attended Stanford." said the chief of the L.A. FBI office. "Maybe he had a friend pick him up. Should we check out his known friends?"
"Not yet," Casey said with a smile. "That's what Walker is planning. She allowed Bartowski to board a bus in his normal appearance and travel to someplace alone where he has a known association?"
"Yes, sir," the Chief said. "It appears so."
"She wants us to spend a lot of time and energy checking out Stanford." Casey said. "She would never trust anybody that knows who Bartowski is. This is a head fake."
"We still don't have anything on Walker." the Captain said stoically. "We'll keep checking the area."
"Back burner," Casey said softly as his eyes gazed over in thought. "Wherever Bartowski is…"
The men leaned in to strain to hear what Casey was saying.
"Walker is with him. You can count on that."
- - - -
"When did you learn to cut hair?" Chuck asked as he sat in the chair while Sarah was putting the final touches on his new short spike do.
"Training," Sarah said without pausing. "A spy needs to be able to disguise herself. It's saved my life more than once."
"But where did you learn to cut a man's hair?" Chuck asked with a grin.
"A man is a perfect disguise." Sarah said as she carefully collected the scraps of Chuck's hair and put them in a bag.
"How could you possibly be believable as a man?" Chuck asked incredulously.
"You'd be surprised." Sarah said with a smile. "I actually considered it for this mission. But we would have to keep it up for too long. And you're too tall to make a believable woman."
"Woman?" Chuck questioned.
"Way too tall," Sarah said with a grin as she kissed him while ignoring his question. "And I don't have the equipment here to cut six inches off your legs."
"You're kidding." Chuck whispered in horror."
"Of course I'm kidding." Sarah said as her smile turned into a huge grin. "Now let's make you a blonde. We need to get moving. We're behind schedule."
- - - -
Casey was on his forth cup of coffee and third prune Danish. The caffeine was making him feel a little jumpy. And if definitely didn't improve his mood. He had just decided that he's had enough coffee this morning when the FBI chief came bursting into the room.
"Sir," the Chief said excitedly. "We have located Bartowski. He checked into a hotel last night."
"Under his own name?" Casey asked with a sarcastic smile.
"Yes, sir," the chief said. "There was no sign of Walker."
"Quietly surround the building." Casey said quickly. Maybe Sarah was expecting more of a head start and they could surprise her. "Don't make a move until you have a team in place. I want them unharmed."
"Yes, sir," said the chief as he quickly left.
- - - -
Chuck was coming through the hotel lobby on his way to the parking lot. Sarah had insisted that they come down separately. He was just about to go out the main door when he noticed a man standing at the front desk in a business suit. As the man turned his head, Chuck got a good look at his face. Then he flashed. As soon as the flash was over he quickly found his way outside and into the car.
"FBI agent in the lobby," Chuck whispered.
Most people wouldn't have noticed the brief look of alarm that came over Sarah's face.
"Shit," she said softly as she started the car. "Did he see you?"
"No," said Chuck quickly. "I'm pretty sure he didn't."
Sarah pulled the car calmly out of the parking lot and into the parking lot of a convenience store a block away and across the street from the hotel. As they sat in the car they could see the many unmarked cars that were obviously carrying agents. Sarah watched as they set up a perimeter around the hotel.
Chuck looked at Sarah's face. She seemed unworried, except that her Glock was sitting on her lap just under the steering wheel.
"What's going on?" Chuck said in concern. "I thought we were getting a three day head start."
"Not now, Chuck." Sarah snapped as she pulled the car into the street. "I need to think."
- - - -
Casey was in the conference room having just gotten off the phone with General Beckman. She was definitely not in a good mood and Casey was thankful that the call had ended. Especially since he really had nothing to tell her. Suddenly the FBI chief entered the room.
"We just missed him," he said quickly.
"How long?" Casey said.
"Maybe five minutes," the Chief replied. "The hot water pipes in the bathroom were still warm.
"Put surveillance on all exit routes within a ten mile perimeter." Casey said quickly. "We'll have them trapped. Plant a story on the local media. Make it a convenience store robbery and post their pictures. They won't be able to hide for long."
As the Chief quickly left the room to make the arrangements, Casey face was wrapped in a smile.
"Sorry, Walker, but we've got you now."
- - - -
Sarah carefully drove on through the city avoiding any main roads. Finally, she spotted what she was looking for. She pulled the car into a truck stop restaurant. The morning rush was about over but there were still several rigs in the parking lot. Sarah pulled up next to a car hauler that had a variety of used cars and parked the car.
"Sweetie," Sarah said softly as she turned towards Chuck. "I'm so sorry that I snapped at you."
"Sorry enough to make it up to me tonight?" Chuck asked with a grin.
"I'm afraid that you're going to have to add it to today's list." Sarah responded with a sad smile. "I might have to put in some overtime tonight. I need you to wait here in the car for a few minutes."
"Why?" Chuck asked softly. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to get us out of here." Sarah said with a smile as she opened the car door and climbed out. "Trust me?"
"Always," Chuck said with a smile.
"I'll be right back." Sarah said as she placed her Glock in its normal resting place and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse.
"I'm going to go pick up a truck driver."
- - - -