So... this is my longest chapter yet, not to mention updating at 12:47 in the morning. lol. well... not much to say, except that I may not be able to update for a bit.
Hope you like this chapter!
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Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak
: Never Had A Dream Come True (c) S Club 7
Claimer: Everything else (c) me
Chapter Five: Round One in Fulcrum Territory
Casey tapped his foot impatiently as he looked at his watch. Lara was changing into the first of her four evening dresses in the bathroom. "Are you ready yet, Clark? It's almost 6," he called, fixing his red tie on his black suit.
The door opened and Lara stepped out wearing a floor-length sparkling red dress. It was short-sleeved and had a low V-neck cut. There was a slit on the left side of her dress that reached her mid-thigh, and Casey couldn't take his eyes off her. Her hair flowed down her back in waves and her lips were a rosy red from her lipstick. Her bandages around her arm wound were hardly noticeable because the colour blended into her skin.
"You're looking pretty sexy tonight," the major commented, his hand on her waist affectionately.
She smiled. "Thank you. You're looking pretty handsome yourself," she replied.
He kissed her very softly and she pressed something into his hand. "Help me put it on?" she requested.
"Of course," he replied, and she turned around and lifted her hair away as Casey hooked the necklace together around her neck. She turned around and now a golden heart pendant hung from the gold chain around her neck.
"Thank you," she said, a smile gracing her lips.
"No problem, you still armed though?" he asked.
She pulled up the right side of her dress a bit, revealing the gun she had against her leg. "Yep. Let's do this." She slipped on her black jacket and grabbed her small black purse, slipping into shiny red shoes. "I'm ready," she announced, "The rest of my wardrobe for the night has been sent to the Opera House already, I've got my gun, my earpiece, and that little communications device clip thing too. Anything else you need?"
He shook his head. "I'm armed and ready to go," he replied confidently, "Come on. Let's head out to base, Bartowski and Walker should be waiting for us there."
"But doesn't Chuck live right next to you?" Lara inquired, "That's what I was told, and read. With his sister Ellie and he live-in boyfriend Devon, wasn't it."
"Yeah, but he's with Walker, who doesn`t live in these apartments," he explained.
She chuckled, "Right, right. Let's get going, we're going to be late for the meeting." Then she opened the door and walked out, Casey right on her heels, closing the door behind him.
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When they arrived at the Castle, Chuck gasped at Lara's outfit.
"W-Wow," he breathed, "You look absolutely beautiful."
Casey pat him on the back. "Careful, lover boy, that's my girl you're talking about," he warned in a somewhat teasing tone, yet with more than a hint of warning.
"Hey, are we ready to go?" Sarah asked, walking into the room, "Wow, Lara, you look great!"
"Thanks Sarah, you all ready to go?" she replied.
She pulled out two guns hidden from behind her, making Lara and Casey grin and Chuck's mouth drop open in shock as his eyes widened.
Sarah grinned at the nerd. "What? I'm just being professional," she defended.
Casey scoffed, rolling his eyes, "As if I hadn't heard that before."
Chuck looked at the NSA agent. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with Casey on that one," he agreed reluctantly. Then he turned to Sarah, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. "But I love you anyway," he said, kissing her deeply.
Sarah kissed back passionately, her arms wrapping around his neck.
Casey whistled, grinning at the two. I knew you two would give up your act eventually, he thought, At least I don't have to make my and Lara's relationship a secret, even General Beckman knows of our relationship. Only she thinks that my feelings are strictly professional. Good think we only reveal those feelings under the radar.
Lara looked at the watch and looked back at the still-kissing couple, who was, completely ignoring the fact that she and Casey were there. "Um, sorry to interrupt your little make-out there, but we've got to go or else Chuck and I are going to be late," she said awkwardly.
The two broke apart and cleared their throats.
"Um, right, let's go," Sarah stated, "W-We were just practicing in case something came up that involved us two being together."
Both Casey and Lara rolled their eyes.
"Uh huh... and I'm the President of the United States," Lara retorted sarcastically, "There was a lot of chemistry just now between you two. Casey and I could have sworn that we no longer existed to you."
Sarah ignored her comment and said, "Okay, so Chuck and I have spoken to the General, and she pretty much guarantees that we're most likely walking into a trap. She says that we should all be careful, and to never let our guard down. There's going to be back-up just a few buildings away so that we can ensure Chuck's secret and safety. For all we know every single person in that opera house could be working for Fulcrum."
Chuck tapped his head and smiled. "Well if they are, we'll all know about it," he commented before his smile dropped slightly, "I'm going to have a huge headache after this, I bet."
"My throat's going to hurt after tonight," Lara added, mentally chuckling.
"Come on," Casey insisted, "Let's go before you two are late and we don't want to raise suspicions."
"Casey's right," Sarah agreed, "There's a lot on the line here. Let's head out."
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When they arrived inside the Opera House, Chuck already began to have a whole bunch of flashes, making his head hurt slightly. He was taken backstage to review over his lines and make sure everything was set. Sarah went backstage with him to go talk with the rest of the stage crew. Casey went with security to make sure everything ran smoothly while Lara was escorted to the dressing rooms to get her final preparations done.
Chuck was reading through the script and looked back at the undercover Fulcrum agent named Leah Ronalds. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, and was wearing a short, tight, strapless black dress. Sure, she was attractive, but there was a distinct sense of danger about this woman. Chuck had already seen a flash on her too, confirming his accusations. "I think I can pull this off, Ms. Ronalds," he said.
She smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Mr. Bartowski, I'm sure you'll do fine," she replied, "Now go out there and do your best." She handed him the microphone and pushed him in front of the red curtains and the bright spotlight shone on him.
"Uh..." Chuck began nervously.
"Don't worry, Chuck," Sarah reassured through his secret earpiece, "I won't let Fulcrum harm you."
"I'm clear here, Walker," Casey added, "There's no sign of any Fulcrum activities yet. But keep your eyes open you two. We have no idea what might be going on here. I'm at the back of the hall, and I have a clear view of the stage."
The Intersect cleared his throat and began again. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Burbank Talent Competition sponsored by James Wilson, who just happens to be one of our three judges for tonight. So let's give him a round of applause, please, Mr. James Wilson!" he announced.
The spotlight turned to a black-suited man in about his mid-30's sitting in the middle of the judges' panel table. He had short, black hair, luminous grey eyes and a smile on his slender face. He appeared to be a tall and otherwise harmless man, but a quick flash through Chuck's mind showed to be different. The 'harmless' man that appeared to be was actually one of Fulcrum's best secret operatives. He had a history of illegal trafficking, murder, stole illegal research and information. In his flash he also saw the previous encounter Lara had with him, with the little video tape footage from one of Fulcrum's databases.
This guy is totally bad news, Chuck thought, let's just hope things continue to run smoothly tonight. "Let's welcome our first contestant, Miss Erica Stanford, who will be playing her ballad version of 'Claire de Lune" on the harp," he announced, walking off stage as the curtains parted at the same time he walked off stage.
Leah Ronalds skipped over to him, a wide grin on her face. "That was excellent, Mr. Bartowski! I knew you could do it! Now just keep this up for the rest of the night and I'm sure that you'll do fine," she assured, "Now, I'll let you keep on your own until Miss Stanford finishes her song. I'll go get the next contestant," she explained, looking at her clipboard, "Miss Lara Clark."
Oh no... Lara, Chuck thought, I hope you're careful. "Okay, thanks," he replied, and as she left, he talked into his watch, walking into a more private corner, "S-Sarah! Casey! Leah Ronalds, Fulcrum agent, is going to go get Lara. Do you guys think she'll need some help if this Fulcrum agent attacks her?"
Casey cautiously looked around before he spoke back into his own watch. "I'm sure that Miss Clark can take care of herself," he replied quietly.
"John's right," Sarah added, "I know Lara will be able to take care of herself. By the way, nice introductory speech just now, I'm sure you'll have a lot more to say later on."
"Oh, and by the way," Casey chimed in, his voice a low growl, "your friends Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber and Dumbest are here. Morgan, Lester and Jeff, wasn't it?"
Chuck groaned, "Great, complications. I hate complications."
"As long as they're out of danger, I'm sure they'll be fine," Sarah reassured.
"Bartowski, you're on in three," a stage worker informed him as he walked by.
"Okay, thanks," he replied, trying to be smooth.
From afar, he saw Lara began to walk up to him, smiling in her dazzling red dress. "Hey Chuck," she greeted warmly, "I heard you did pretty well so far in your hosting skills."
"Hey, Lara, hey, uh, thanks. I almost thought that something terrible had happened to you. Most of these guys are all Fulcrum agents," he spluttered quietly.
She chuckled quietly. "Its okay, Chuck," she assured, "I'm fine, and Sarah, Casey and I won't let anything bad happen to you. We're here to protect you, and that's what we're going to do." Then they both heard the audience clap outside after the judges commented on the performance. The CIA agent turned back to him. "You're on, Chuck," she told him, pushing him forward before leaving to her own position.
Chuck returned back on stage, microphone in hand and a forced smile on his face. Below in the audience he could see Morgan wave to him and beside him sat Jeff and Lester. "Thanks Erica, for that wonderful rendition of 'Claire de Lune'. Judges, I hope that you've all written down your scores and comments. Each contestant will be marked out of 10, and the three contestants with the lowest scores will be eliminated from the competition," he explained, forcing enthusiasm into his voice. "Now, please help me give a warm welcome to our next contestant, singing 'Never Had a Dream Come True', Miss Lara Clark!"
"Lara Clark?" Morgan, Jeff and Lester breathed.
"Isn't that the name of John Casey's girlfriend?" Jeff asked, "The scary guy working at the Buy More?"
"And that hot girl that we saw just this morning?" Lester added.
As the large curtains parted, Lara stepped out with her microphone in hand and a beautiful smile on her face.
"Oh my God," the three guys breathed.
"Ooh...
Everybody's got something, they have to leave behind,
One regret from yesterday, that just seems to grow with time,
There's no use looking back or wondering,
How it could be now or neither been,
All this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go."
Casey was right, Chuck thought, She really can sing. Hmm, getting her into the top 3 may be easier than I thought.
"I-Is that really Lara? Is that really John's girlfriend Lara?" Lester inquired.
Lester's eyes were wide in shock. "I honestly hope not. I hope she's single," he retorted.
In the back, Casey grinned widely, not taking his eyes off the undercover CIA agent. That's my girl, he thought smugly.
Sarah was also watching from backstage. Wow, Lara is a lot better than I had expected. There's a very good chance that she'll make it into the top 3, if my thoughts are correct. James should still have feelings towards her, and if those two beside him are also Fulcrum agents that work for him, he'll definitely make sure that she gets to the top 3, or even win this competition. She looked around precariously and watched as several suspicious-looking stage crew members walked off backstage. "Hmm..." she hummed quietly to herself.
"I never had a dream come true,
Till the day that I found you,
Even though I pretend that I've moved on,
You'll always be my baby,
I never found the words to say,
You're the one I think about each day,
And I know no matter when love takes me to,
A part of me will always be."
Hidden within the shadows of a higher watching platform, an evil smile crossed Jason Wilson's face as he watched the undercover CIA agent perform. "You're lucky that you were wearing a bullet-proof vest this morning," he muttered, "You may have earned the love of my brother, but I have nothing but hatred towards you!" He scoffed, "This time, your little boyfriend won't be here to save you."
"You'll always be the dream that fills my head,
(Yes you will, say you will, I know you will, oh baby)
You'll always be the one I know I'll never forget
There's no use looking back or wondering,
Because love is a strange and funny thing,
No matter how I try and try
I just can't say goodbye
No, no, no, no
I never had a dream come true,
Till the day that I found you,
Even though I pretend that I've moved on,
You'll always be my baby,
I never found the words to say,
You're the one I think about each day,
And I know no matter when love takes me to,
A part of me will always be
A part of me will always be, with you...."
Loud clapping immediately followed, and she curtsied politely. She watched as the three judges wrote down their scores before James Wilson began to speak.
"Bravo, Miss Clark. That was a spectacular performance. I daresay I could almost kill for you to sing it again," he commented, Lara taking note of the dangerous grin on his face, "You will definitely be one to keep an eye out for."
"Um... thanks," she replied, feeling her inner reserve begin to crumble. She saw something in his grey eyes; attraction, lust, amusement, but most of all, revenge. She began to walk off stage and felt something was wrong. Her breath stilled for a moment in her throat as she placed a hand against the wall to lean for support. She turned off her microphone and set it down on a table.
"Good job, Lara, that was great," Sarah's voice said into her ear from the hidden earpiece.
"That was excellent work," Casey chimed in, "I'm sure you'll get in the final 3 for sure."
Lara spoke quietly into her hidden communicator clipped onto her dress. "S-S-Something's wrong," she mumbled, "I-I c-can't b-breathe." Then her body slipped to the floor and a loud plop was heard through Chuck, Casey and Sarah's earpieces, though her actually collapse was pretty quiet.
"Lara? Lara?! Lara!" Casey hissed into his watch. Damn, he thought, Must have passed out. Something must be wrong. "Walker, can you get to her?" he asked, knowing he couldn't leave without risking blowing his cover.
"I'm on my way," she replied, beginning to head towards her location.
Immediately after Chuck introduced the next contestant, he quickly made his way backstage and to Lara's side, checking for her breathing and a pulse. There were lots of other people already there, trying to see what was wrong with her. They had sat her up against a wall, trying not to cause too much of a stir. After confirming that both were stable, he went to a quieter spot and said into his watch, "She's alive, and okay. I think she just fainted or something."
"But that doesn't make sense," Casey retorted, his voice strained, "Lara's never passed out before, except when she's drugged or poisoned or something."
"Don't worry, Casey, I'm sure she'll be fine," Chuck reassured, "I'll make sure she's okay." Then he saw Sarah walk over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And I'll make sure you're okay," she agreed.
He forced a smile. "Thanks, Sarah," he replied, "I appreciate it."
"No problem," she retorted, "Now, you go on and continue hosting, while I'll watch out for Lara and make sure she wakes up before the next round."
"This seems too suspicious," Casey grumbled, "I'm going to go check it out on my own. Take good care of Lara for me."
"Be careful, Casey," Sarah warned, "Alert me if you need any help. Remember, things aren't always what they seem here, especially with all the Fulcrum agents and all. We may be walking right into a trap."
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Casey replied with a grunt before he replied into his watch, "Got it. Take care, Walker." Then he looked around cautiously to make sure that no one was watching him before quietly walking off, creeping through a restricted area door.
His instincts immediately screamed at him that something was wrong. He drew his gun from behind his back and kept it down, ready to shoot at any Fulcrum agent that threatened him and or suspected him along the way. The major was in a long, white-walled hallway, and there were very few lights that lit up the hall. Three doors were near the far end of the hallway, and only one of them had windows on the door.
Damn, something isn't right. Maybe I should turn back now, he thought, But I've got to protect Bartowski, not to mention follow orders. Maybe I'll be able to find out what made Lara pass out. Maybe I'll encounter that damn Jason Wilson so I can finish what I started for attempting to kill my girlfriend.
Suddenly, Casey heard voices coming from one of the far doors. He quickly yet quietly advanced towards the three doors and paid closer attention to which door the voices were coming from. He found that the voices were coming from the left one, and so he pressed his back against the wall next to the door and tried to listen in on their conversation.
"So why won't Jesse let us tell the boss who the Intersect is?" a deep male voice asked.
"He doesn't want to let it be known that he was outsmarted by CIA agent Lara Clark again. You know, Jack, the one that gave him the scar on his arm a few years ago," another male voice answered, his voice a bit higher, "Even though Jason knows that his brother James fancies her, he's planning on killing her at some point before she leaves tonight. Jason will not hesitate to kill her if he has the chance, not to mention that boyfriend of hers."
"By the way, Ronald, what does James have planned for the Intersect? How are we capturing him?" Jack inquired.
"From what I heard, there's a sniper positioned on one of the top balconies that will shoot one of the AY-63 darts into his neck. It'll knock him out and hopefully throw off the agents protecting him, and we'll give him the antidote after we capture him," he explained.
Casey had heard enough, so he broke into the room and pointed his gun at the two men sitting at the table. "Hands up!" he shouted, "Nobody move!"
Without warning, the door behind him whipped open and hit Casey on the head hard on the head with the hilt of his gun and the NSA major collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Jason Wilson grinned down at the knocked out agent.
"Expected that this one would come," he told his agents, "knew that he would want to extract revenge on me for near killing his girlfriend, the damned agent Lara Clark."
"What should we do with him now?" Ronald inquired.
"Bound and gag him. Best keep him in the broom closet down the other hallway next to the stage. It'll be too loud there for anyone to hear him try to get out," he ordered, "Now I have an edge over Lara. There's no way that Lara will risk his life... even if it means sacrificing her own."
YAY! CLIFFY!
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