A Common Spy Problem
A/N: Firstly, yes, that was an April Fool's joke, so if you're waiting for Casey to confess his love to Sarah, you're gonna be disappointed. Secondly, 30 reviews on one chapter – wow! I can't thank you enough and if you keep that up, I'd be forced to find a way to work around the two month hiatus I had planned in order to study for exams. Thirdly, a big thank you to Nervert, and his better half, for the beta and awesome suggestions on this chapter. Unfortunately I had to stick with some of the inaccuracies they have pointed out for other stuff to work, so a, if you're a medical professional, forgive me, and b, don't try any of this at home. And fourth, by the very off chance that Chuck doesn't get a season 5, please don't sue me to supplement your income – I have never claimed to own this show.
Chapter 5
Sarah had beaten Chuck to the BuyMore Plaza since he had promised to pick up Morgan first. Just as she was about to park, she spotted three customers in front of the Orange Orange, waiting for the shop to open. She glanced down at her watch. If she was going to make it to Palm Springs, complete her mission and be back before the scheduled afternoon briefing, she had to act fast. Waiting for the yogurt machine to heat up, or cool down, or do whatever it did, didn't fit into the equation, so Sarah kept on driving and then doubled back.
She borrowed Chuck's parking space at the back of the BuyMore, her black Porsche sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the red and white Matrix's. The loading dock was deserted and she made her way to the back door without being spotted. She opened it slightly, listening for any noise from the cage. It was quiet. As was the hallway leading to the break room. She squeezed up against the wall, peering around the door. Emmett was standing at the coffee machine, filling up the smallest cup she'd ever seen. So that's what's wrong him, she mused, not enough caffeine. He breathed in the aroma of his beverage as he headed for the door. Sarah slipped back around the corner, listening as his footfall faded away. When the coast was clear, she slipped into the room and through the secret entrance to Castle.
Her first stop was the locker room where she changed into black jeans, a shirt and her leather jacket. Then she raided the supply closet, stuffing medical gloves, a syringe and a box of Xanax into the backpack she was carrying. From the armory she retrieved a tranquilizer pistol. Satisfied that she had everything she would need, she headed out the back door of Castle. According to the surveillance feed, those three old ladies were really in the mood for frozen yogurt and she couldn't risk going through the BuyMore again.
When she rounded the building she spotted the NerdHerder that had blocked her car and cursed. She was about to pull out her lock pick kit, when Chuck stepped into her path. "Care to explain that?" he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the Porsche. Then he noticed her appearance and his eyebrows almost disappeared into his curls.
That was the last thing she wanted to do. Chuck would disapprove, but as far as she was concerned, all was fair in love and war, and this…well, it wasn't war. So instead she shrugged nonchalant. "What's yours is mine."
"Oh? Since when?" She didn't miss the fact that he was trying very hard not to smile. Tugging him down by the tie, their lips millimeters apart, she whispered, "Since we started doing this." When he leaned in, she pulled away, cocking her head sideways. "Please move your car?"
It took Chuck a minute to regain his composure. "What are you up to, Sarah?"
"Mr. Bartowski, are you planning to get to your shift anytime soon?"
Chuck whipped around. "In a minute, Emmett." Sarah took the opportunity to slip past Chuck.
Emmett made a point of looking at his watch. "You should have been behind the NerdHerd desk three minutes ago."
"Can you believe this guy?" Chuck muttered under his breath, ignoring Emmett's comment.
"You should go, sweetie." Sarah reached up and gave Chuck a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you later, okay?" As much as Sarah disliked the BuyMore assman, he had just saved her from an awkward explanation, but her consideration of forgiveness didn't last long.
"Is that your car?" Emmett asked when Sarah unlocked her door. "Well, that explains it, though how Mr. Bartowski can afford you on a BuyMore salary…"
Sarah's hand shot out to grab Chuck's wrist when he sped past her. Emmett saw the look on his face and backed through the doors into the building.
"Chuck," Sarah had trouble restraining him without hurting him. She tightened her grip. "Chuck, let it go." When he turned to face her, he was breathing deeply in an effort to calm himself. "Hey, it's okay."
"Sarah, he just called you…"
"It's okay," she said more sternly. The last thing she wanted was for Chuck to make a scene. If there was ever a time to stay under the radar, this was it.
"How can you say that?" he asked incredulously. "Doesn't it matter to you that…"
"No," she cut him off. "I don't care what he thinks." Sarah took a step forward and lifted her hand to cup Chuck's cheek. "Yours is the only opinion that matters to me." Her words had the desired effect and he sighed in resignation. "And if it will make you feel better, I'll let you go a few rounds on the dummy down in Castle after the briefing."
"Why?"
"I'll explain that later. Now, I really have to go."
"Yeah, me too. Look, whatever it is you're about to do, just be careful."
"It's not dangerous," she promised and gave his hand a squeeze before sliding into her Porsche.
Getting onto the 10 was a mission this time of the morning. When Sarah eventually managed to pass the chaos, she floored the gas pedal, heading east. She made good time and sooner than she expected found herself in a residential district, pulling up beside an unfamiliar blue Volkswagen. Evidently he wasn't alone, but at least he was home. She grabbed her backpack from the passenger seat and jogged up the gravel driveway. She knocked and waited. There was a scuffle inside, then the door opened.
"Sarah? This is a surprise." The fact that he hadn't addressed her as Agent Walker was a clear indication that whoever else was in the house was within earshot. Judging by his appearance, and reputation, Sarah knew exactly what the sit rep was. Under different circumstances she would have felt guilty for what she was about to do. She lunged forward, throwing her arms around his neck. "It's good to see you, Dad. Is Mom around?"
Roan Montgomery winced as he pressed the bag of frozen peas against the still visible handprint on his left cheek. "I do not approve of your methods, Agent Walker." It sounded more like a compliment than a reprimand.
Sarah gave him her most apologetic smile and pulled a very expensive bottle of gin from her bag. "I come bearing gifts."
Roan's eyes narrowed. "You want something."
"Just a little advice," she lied. It was an easy sell. He had tried to play matchmaker before, giving Chuck pointers on how to win her over. If there was anyone in the CIA who might back her up, it would be Agent Montgomery, but he had a history with the General and Sarah wasn't so sure that it could work in their favor if she asked him straight out to help. Plus, if worse came to worse, she would prefer that he had deniability. No need to get more people involved in this than she had to. Hopefully he'd see it that way too. "Why don't you get dressed," she suggested, her eyes falling to his red silk robe, "and I'll make you one of the best martini's you've ever had. Then we can talk."
"Now that's the second best idea I've heard all day," he answered suggestively and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom. If it was anyone else, Sarah would have been offended, but this was Roan being Roan. She could almost see what Beckman saw in him. Personally, she preferred charming, caring and funny to suave and overconfident. She had been given that choice once and she was perfectly happy with her decision.
When she heard the shower running, she unzipped her backpack and pulled out her supplies. She found two glasses in the liquor cabinet and a bottle of olives in the fridge. She poured the gin into the martini shaker and set it aside. Then she crushed a couple of Xanax tablets between two spoons, poured the powder into the back of the syringe and added a few drops of gin to dissolve it. She snapped a medical glove onto her left hand and picked up the first olive. Scrunching her face in disgust, she injected the liquid into two of the offending fruit. Then she skewered them with a toothpick and rested them on the side of the glass. She filled the empty glass with water, hesitating before dropping two untainted olives in. Her stomach churned at the thought of having to drink that in a minute. "You owe me big time, Chuck," she whispered to herself as she cleaned up all the evidence.
She heard Roan's approach and grabbed the martini shaker, gave it a couple of good shakes and poured the gin just as he appeared back in the kitchen. Smiling, she handed him the freshly prepared drink and followed him out to the patio.
An hour later Sarah was back on the freeway. She felt a little more hopeful, even if it didn't go exactly as planned. She had learned only two things about the General she didn't already know, but she doubted that the fact that Beckman was a dirty blonde in the eighties was going to come in handy. Roan gave her something better, though. Now all she needed to do was some research to fill in the holes in his story. She felt bad for having to tranq him in order to administer the antidote, but given the daily amount of alcohol he takes in, he could probably use the sleep.
She parked in her normal spot in front of the Orange Orange and headed downstairs to change back into her uniform and grab her laptop. She sat down in a booth at the back, one that was in the surveillance blind spot, but still had a view of the door. She booted up the computer and typed in the first search command.
Hours passed. Sarah sat back and resisted the urge to slam a fist into the table. The only record she could find of Agent Frost was a picture and an entry that she had been captured while on a mission in Russia. There was no information regarding an asset code named Orion. All she had was Roan's word that the CIA had allowed a handler to marry her asset. If that was true, the agency had set a precedent, or at the very least they were willing to bend the rules, but without concrete evidence, she was going to have to take a shot in the dark.
Sarah was startled when the bell over the door rang and shut the laptop.
"Now I know you're up to no good," Chuck joked as he closed the distance to the booth and plopped down next to her. She smiled back at him, but it faltered when he placed a hand on her knee and leaned in, his eyes dropping to her lips.
The bell rang again and they jumped apart.
"Briefing. Downstairs. Now," Casey grunted and disappeared into the back without so much as glancing at them.
"The Global Launch Agency conducts top secret research for the NSA. Most of our surveillance and weapons tracking technology is developed there. Last night someone penetrated one of the secure facilities and stole an advanced inertial guidance system. The surveillance from the parking lot picked up this image." General Beckman's face was replaced with a picture of a silver van, showing an African American man through the passenger window.
Sarah saw Chuck's eyelids flutter. At the same time Casey muttered "Sensei" under his breath. The image was replaced by a picture of the perpetrator standing next to a young Casey with several karate students in the background. Beckman continued. "Ty Bennett. Karate master. Kung fu expert. Master strategist. A former instructor at our training facility and today one of our most-wanted rogue agents."
It was obvious to Sarah that Casey felt betrayed. Bennett was his mentor and often a real trust developed in those situations. Unfortunately Chuck didn't get it. He needled Casey about his sensei being a badass, despite her kicking him under the table. It didn't go down well. The two of them got into it and Sarah tried in vain to get them to back off. General Beckman finally defused the situation.
"Gentlemen," she warned. They stood down. "We have intel pinpointing the location where Bennett plans to transfer the GLA technology to his buyer. It's a construction site in Simi Valley. Agent Walker and Major Casey, I want you to stop the deal and recover the guidance system. Chuck, you're sitting this one out." She left no room for disagreement. It was pointless to argue with a blank screen.
The situation didn't sit well with Sarah. Beckman had yet to mention anything about her confession and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was the calm before the storm. Benching Chuck was just the beginning. They were being split up. The only reason her butt wasn't on a plane back to Washington was probably due to the urgency of their current mission.
To make matters worse, Sarah and Casey were on their way back to Castle to inform Beckman that the mission was a setup, but at least Chuck hadn't been there when the bomb exploded. Sarah's relief was short-lived when Casey's phone rang. Bennett was at the BuyMore and Chuck had decided to follow him. Her heart rate spiked when the line went dead. She ordered Casey to step on it and activated Chuck's tracker on her phone.
They made it back to the plaza in record time and spotted Bennett in the underground parking garage. He and Casey revved their engines and Casey floored the gas pedal. At the same time Sarah located Chuck's coordinates, indicating that he was in the BMW they were rapidly approaching head on.
She panicked. "Casey, stop! Chuck's in the car. You're gonna kill Chuck." Sarah's eyes were fixed on the car in front in of them, hoping that one of them would disengage, but it didn't happen. "Casey!" He swerved at the last second and Bennett crashed into the parked cars on his right.
Casey took off after Bennett and Sarah went straight for the BMW. She popped open the trunk and leaned against it for support as she tried to get herself under control. Chuck was okay.
"It's actually more spacious in here than you might think," he quipped as he unfolded himself from the small space. She offered him her hand as he got out and then punched him in the shoulder before roughly pulling him towards her. Her heart was still racing.
"Don't ever do that to me again."
"Uhm, Sarah," Chuck spoke after a moment, "you're kinda crushing me." She held on for another second before breaking the hug and taking a step back. When he rubbed his shoulder where she'd hit him, something inside her snapped.
"What the hell were you thinking, Chuck?" His hand froze.
"I was trying to stop a really bad guy from getting away."
"That is my job, not yours." She noticed something flicker in his eyes, just like every time he'd lied to Ellie. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Sarah folded her arms across her chest and shook her head slowly. "Try again."
He threw his hands up. "Okay, fine, that wasn't the only reason. I was trying to prove to Beckman that we were still a good team, that she needed all of us. Together." His words hit her like a fist in the gut. It had never occurred to her that he shared her fear of being split up.
"We are staying together, Chuck. No matter what." She expected a goofy grin. She didn't get one.
"How can you promise that? You told me that a CIA officer didn't get to choose, that it would be unprofessional to be together, that Beckman would reassign you if she suspected that you were compromised and now she knows…"
"You told me I'm Sarah Walker and I can do anything," she countered. Chuck didn't have a comeback for that. She reached out a hand and laid it on his arm. "Trust me, Chuck. It's all gonna work out."
He stepped closer and she let her hand drop to her side. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
"I always have been." Her words were a mere whisper, but standing this close, he didn't miss them. "I thought I could wait, but I was wrong. I need more." He kept her gaze, daring her to say what she wasn't saying. She hesitated, but only for a second. "I need you."
Next time on A Common Spy Problem:
"General, I really appreciate that you're doing this, but please, I don't think I have it in me to wait twenty years." Beckman abruptly ended the conversation by disconnecting the link, but not before Sarah saw the look of regret that flashed across her face. She'd struck a chord.