A Common Spy Problem
A/N: First off, apologies for not getting to everyone yet with review replies. Every time I get really stuck into it, the fudging internet goes down, but I promise that everyone who has taken the time to review this story will get a response at some point. Again I owe a big thank you to Nervert for the beta and you can mostly blame him for Lester. And in case you've missed it, I've updated chapters 6 and 7 back to back, so if this chapter doesn't make sense, you might have missed one.
I don't own Chuck.
Chapter 8
Sarah rolled onto her side and inhaled deeply before letting her hand wander to the sheet beside her. The space was cold and empty. She opened her eyes and stared longingly at the vacant pillow, trying to figure out how she could miss Chuck so much after such a short time. During their cover they had shared a bed only a handful of times and since taking the next step, only twice. She dragged the pillow closer and buried her nose in it, but unfortunately housekeeping had been diligent and she couldn't detect even the faintest hint of a lingering sent. Sighing she turned on her back, hugging the pillow to her chest. She considered calling him, but that was out of the question. His phone was tapped and Beckman would surely request all surveillance reports to make sure Sarah followed orders. The same went for texting. She'd have to settle for taking him a breakfast yogurt to the BuyMore before the morning briefing, even if it meant she had to get up a little earlier than normal. Besides, what was the point of staying in bed if she was just going to be lonely?
There was a knock on the door as she was about to leave. Her mouth tucked upwards and she forced herself not to run. Only two people ever knocked on her door and one of them was currently in deep cover, so she'd bet her Porsche Chuck had decided to swing by to give her a lift to work. Though the Herder was bugged too, they'd still have a little one-on-one time and he'd probably tell her about some crazy thing Morgan did at work or how he'd screwed things up with Anna again. She swept the door open, but her greeting died on her lips. Good thing she wasn't a gambler.
"Dad? You're still here?"
"Of course, Darlin'. It's been a while, so I figured I'd stay for a couple of days." Sarah's smile returned as she let him in. A bellboy followed short on his heels. "And I've ordered us some breakfast." He tipped the bellboy and rolled the tray to the seating area. Sarah sat down on one of the green chairs, pulling her knee up to her chest. Jack took the lid of the first plate with great flare. "French toast, whipped cream, fresh strawberries. Just how you like them."
"When I was twelve." She'd outgrown her taste for rich breakfasts quite a while back and would normally just grab some fruit. Or fruit loops whenever she had breakfast at the Bartowski's. At least she got to spend a little more time with her dad, even if it meant not seeing Chuck until the briefing.
"Oh, well you need to eat something. Big day at work." His tone carried a hint of sarcasm. "What is it you're doing again? Making milkshakes?" He took a seat opposite her and spread a napkin across his lap.
Sarah reached for a glass of orange juice and took a sip. "Frozen yogurt."
"Oh. Sounds stimulating."
"Pays the bills."
"Well, yeah, I can see that." Jack's eyes swept his luxury surroundings. "Very believable."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sarah knew selling her cover to her father would not be easy, but at least he wouldn't jump to the same conclusions Emmett Milbarge had. He'd just assume she'd been doing what he had taught her to do.
"This place, your job, your name, Sarah Walker, that schnook from last night, Chippy…"
"Chuck," she corrected.
"You're working an angle. I mean, he's probably the son of some rich Beverley Hills family." And there it was. It was fine with her if he thought that she was still in the con game, but if he wanted to get in on the 'action', the people she cared about could get hurt. And she didn't want him to think Chuck was a mark.
"Look, Chuck is my boyfriend, and he makes twelve dollars an hour, so you stay away from him."
"Hey, you don't wanna cut me in, fine. I don't need his money. I got my own." Jack bent down to retrieve a suitcase hidden under the tray. He carried it to bed and zipped it open. Sarah's eyes widened when she saw the contents.
"Oh my God. It looks like almost a million dollars." Not able to sit still, she straightened. The last thing she wanted was for her father to let her in on his latest scheme. She would have to report it. Or worse.
"Well, Christmas came a little early." He tossed her a stack of bills. "For you." Sarah tossed it right back into the suitcase.
"No thanks. I'm not interested in your stolen money." She felt like a hypocrite, knowing she had depended on that source of income when she was a kid, but she was an upstanding citizen now who made her own choices.
"Stolen? That's what you think of your old man? Some two-bit thief?" Jack sounded a little disappointed. "Darlin', a thief has to run out of town as fast as he can, but a good con man…"
"A good con man can leave whenever he wants. I remember, Dad." A lot of what he'd taught her still came in handy in the spy business. And as a federal officer, she had to ask. "So who donated the money, anyway?"
"A couple of months ago I flew over to Dubai. You wouldn't believe the kind of money they've got floating over there. This particular donation is compliments of Sheik Rajiv Amad." Jack's face lit up like it normally did when one of his cons went down without a hitch. Sarah remembered the look all too well.
"Amad, the Saudi oil family?"
"My daughter knows her Arabs."
Sarah realized that she had slipped, so before her father could enquire any further, she decided to make a run for it. He had just compromised both of them and she needed to figure out what her next move should be. She grabbed her purse. "I gotta go to work."
"Uh, forgetting something?" She turned and caught the apron he sent flying through the air. She shot him a small smile. "Have fun at the office."
Sarah didn't pay much attention to the road. Her mind was racing. Aside from the fact that several agencies were probably looking for her father, he had managed to put himself into a very dangerous situation. The Amad family was not to be messed with. Involuntarily her mind casted back to ten years ago. Director Graham had said he'd arrested her father for his own protection. She hadn't believed him at the time, but now she understood. The irony wasn't lost on her that her dad and Chuck were in somewhat similar positions. Both would be safer locked away, but she'd prefer it if their freedom were not taken from them and she was sure they'd prefer it that way too.
She parked in front of the Orange Orange just as Chuck and Casey walked up to the door. Flinging the shop keys to Casey, she indicated that he should go ahead. With a grunt and an eye roll Casey unlocked the door and flicked the light switch before making his way towards Castle's entrance.
Chuck greeted her with a smile, which she wanted to return so desperately, but instead she schooled her features. "We have visual out here, but no audio," she explained quickly. Luckily Chuck was standing with his back to the camera as his face was normally an open book. "But just so you know, I really wanna kiss you right now."
"You should not have told me that." His smile belied his protest. "I missed you this morning."
Sarah's masked slipped a little and she gave him a shy smile. "Me too." Before she could add anything else, Chuck's phone beeped.
"Two minute warning. We better get inside."
"Yeah, but before we do, you need to know that things with my dad got a little complicated." Chuck shot her a questioning look. "I wish I had time to explain, but I'm afraid you'll have to hear about it in the briefing."
"I understand. Are you okay?"
"Ask me that in an hour."
They made it downstairs just in time. As they were taking their regular positions in front of the monitor, it came to life and Beckman's face appeared on screen. She reported that Ty Bennett had cooperated and supplied them with a list of the agents he had turned. Most had been apprehended, and further arrests were expected soon. That had concluded Team Bartowski's involvement in the mission. She enquired whether Chuck had flashed on anything significant in the past twenty four hours. Casey responded in the negative and the general turned to Sarah. She omitted the fact that Chuck had flashed the night before as it was irrelevant, but she knew she had to come clean about the information she'd obtained from her dad.
"General, in the spirit of full disclosure, my father has conned Sheik Rajiv Amad out of nearly a million dollars." Sarah kept her expression neutral, but deep down she wondered why it felt like all she was doing to Beckman lately was confessing.
Casey whistled through his teeth. "Hit the big time."
"Give the order and I'll bring him in."
Sarah could feel Chuck's eyes on her. "What? You're gonna arrest your own father? Isn't that kind of a conflict of interest?"
"If Agent Walker's uncomfortable I'd be happy to make the arrest," Casey offered, a little too enthusiastically for Sarah's taste.
"No one is getting arrested yet. Amad's been on the CIA's terror watch list for years. He's suspected of funding terrorist regimes in Afghanistan and Kenya. We have no recent photos and he goes by many different aliases. Any information your father could provide about the sheik's financial holdings would be valuable intel."
Sarah hadn't expected General Beckman's response and she wasn't sure if it was wise getting him involved in a mission. "General, my father is unaware of my CIA career. In fact, I'm not sure he'd be all that proud."
"No one is asking you to compromise your cover, Agent Walker. Just talk to your father, take the Intersect with you…"
That was exactly what Sarah didn't want, for Chuck to get involved in her dad's schemes, which was one of the reasons she had warned Jack off earlier. She was probably going to have to disobey direct orders as well if she were to keep her father out of prison, and she didn't want Chuck in the middle of that either. Sarah tried to protest. "General, my father is…"
Beckman leaned forward, giving Sarah a stern look. "Your father conned a very connected, very dangerous man. You better find out how deep he's in before the sheik does." As per usual, she abruptly disconnected the link, leaving no room for argument.
When lunch time rolled around, Sarah filled an extra large cup with strawberry flavored frozen yogurt and headed across the parking lot to the BuyMore. She hadn't spoken to Chuck after the briefing as Casey had escorted him unceremoniously back to work. The doors slid open and Sarah's eyes searched the floor for her nerd. Not seeing him, she proceeded down the aisle. She sensed rather than saw Lester slithering up to her.
"Word on the street is…" he paused to flick his greasy fringe out of his eyes, "… you're the village bicycle and Charles is taking it for a ride." He tried to wink, but ended up blinking both eyes. He shook it off and cleared his throat.
"I have no idea what that means." Sarah scanned over Lester's head for Chuck.
"A pro, community property, human trampoline …"
"That's nice. Do you know where Chuck is?"
"Look, whatever he's paying you, I can double it … you know, for sex."
Sarah focused her attention on him and raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?" Lester nodded. "That's really generous of you, Larry," Sarah responded, keeping her voice even, "but as I recall, the last time I offered, you ran for the hills."
"Duty called, but I'm free now." He didn't bother to correct her on his name.
"No, you're not," Chuck interrupted as he stepped up behind Sarah, placing a hand possessively on her hip. "Isn't it your turn to man The Hole?"
"What's the matter, Charles? Afraid of a little competition?"
Sarah felt Chuck tense but his voice was calm. "Not at all."
"Then why don't you put your money where your mouth is?"
Sarah could feel Chuck's chest rise against her back as he took a deep breath. "Lester, let me show you something. Hey, Sarah," she turned her head and Chuck captured her mouth in a short, intense kiss that left her breathless. He lifted his head, gave her a small smile and then turned his gaze back to Lester. "They don't kiss on the lips. Go spread that on the street." Without waiting for a retort, Chuck grabbed Sarah's hand and led her to the back of the store.
"Okay, what was that about?" she asked as Chuck pulled out a chair for her in the empty break room.
"I guess Emmett has been spreading rumors," Chuck answered and retrieved a container from the fridge. He popped it into the microwave. "Can't we put that guy on a hit list or something?"
"Crimen Iniuria is not a matter of national security, so no, but I was actually referring to the 'kiss on the lips' thing." A blush crept up Chuck's neck as he searched through the drawer for cutlery. Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Chuck, is there something you need to tell me?" Nothing of the sort had shown up in his file, no weird phone calls or credit card charges, but she wouldn't put it past Captain Awesome to try and solve a problem in that particular way, though Ellie would probably have put a stop to it is she found out.
"Yes," Chuck confessed as he brought his lunch over to the table and handed her a fork. He pulled a chair around and sat down next to her. He couldn't meet her eyes. "I like Pretty Woman."
Sarah frowned. She did not like where this was going. "What do you mean, you like pretty women?"
"Pretty Wo-man. You know, the movie? Julia Roberts, Richard Gere? Wait," his gaze turned back to her, "you've never seen it?" He looked at her like she'd grown another head.
"No," Sarah responded tentatively, relieved that her assumption was wrong, but still not sure where he was going with this. "What does that have to with…?"
"Julia Roberts plays a prostitute who has this rule about not kissing clients on the mouth," Chuck explained. "Next movie night, we're definitely watching that one."
"So by kissing me you proved to Lester that I'm not a prostitute?"
"Well, I figured I could break his nose, or sneak in a kiss," he shrugged, pushing his lunch tin closer to Sarah. "And we have a cover to sell." She didn't miss the twinkle in his eye.
"Good choice, violence never solves anything," Sarah replied, taking a bite of lasagna and giving him a sly smile. Chuck's fork stopped in midair.
"This from my kickass ninja girlfriend?" he whispered, shaking his head. "I don't think I'll ever understand you."
Sarah swallowed her food before speaking. "Good, I like to keep you on your toes."
"And speaking of toes, how are we going to handle your dad?"
"We're having dinner tonight so he can meet my boyfriend. Properly this time." Though it was technically a mission, Sarah couldn't help but be nervous. It wouldn't be easy pulling one over on her father – he was already suspicious as it was. Plus she'd never 'brought a guy home' before.
Chuck choked a little. "I was kinda hoping it would be a while before I had to do that. You know, have some time to get a haircut, start going by Irving so he wouldn't realize it was me acting like a creepy stalker..."
"You'll do fine, Chuck. Just be yourself." She gave him a shoulder bump and reloaded her fork. Hopefully his charm would be the undoing of more than one Burton.
"Yeah, because being myself worked so well last night."
Sarah ignored his comment as there was something more urgent she had to discuss with him. Better he found out from her. "Chuck, listen, my dad's probably going to tell some stories tonight…you know…from my childhood…"
"I could always cover my ears and hum," Chuck offered, earning himself a lopsided smile. Then her face sobered again.
"Chuck, when I was a younger, I helped him … with the cons. I was my father's partner, so essentially, I was a criminal before the CIA…" she drifted off, her eyes on her thumbnail tracing a groove in the table. Chuck was quiet for a while. Then his chair scraped against the linoleum floor and Sarah glanced up at him.
"I think you meant juvenile. Only adults can be criminals." She couldn't discern what he was thinking, but he didn't leave her guessing. "Sarah, look, from what I've seen, you are a good person." He held up a hand when she wanted to protest. "And given your dedicated service to this country, I would guess that any debt you had to society has been repaid, probably twice over."
"Chuck…"
"Plus you were just a kid, Sarah. Did you really have other options?" Sarah caught her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head slightly. Chuck raised his shoulders. "So what's the problem?" She didn't know what to say, so after a beat, Chuck continued. "Look, I know what it's like to be haunted by your past, but after I saw that recording of Bryce, and Jill told me the truth, I finally realized that I've wasted five years of my life stuck in this place. Believe me, it's not worth it. You can't change what happened, Sarah, but you can forgive yourself and move on."
"It's really that simple?" She eyed him skeptically.
"Why not?" He pushed the now empty lunch tin away and reached for the yogurt, feeding Sarah a spoonful before taking a bite himself. "Our lives are complicated enough as it is. Why add to it?"
Sarah propped her head up on her hand, studying his face. "You never cease to amaze me." Not for the first time she wondered how he hadn't been snatched up already. Then her mind wandered to Lou and Jill and she immediately abandoned that train of thought.
"Just trying to keep you on your toes," Chuck echoed her earlier words. "So what time do I get to meet my secret girlfriend who I pretend to be in a cover relationship with's father?" His comment earned him a Charlie horse. "Hey," he rubbed his shoulder, "what happened to 'violence doesn't solve anything'?"
After ironing out the mission details, Sarah returned to the Orange Orange. She grabbed the closest rag and started to wipe down the counter. Though she wasn't looking forward to essentially conning her own father, Chuck had managed to at least set her other fears at ease. Then something else occurred to her. She and Chuck had just shared an intimate lunch, completely oblivious to the cameras. Cursing under her breath, she abandoned the unnecessary cleaning regime and rushed down to Castle. She pulled up the surveillance and reviewed it. As she had feared, it was clearly not coming across as a 'business lunch'. Before she could type in the command to delete the file, Casey sat down next to her, grabbing the second keyboard. His sudden presence startled her, but she managed to hide it. Without a word, he retrieved an old video of a staff meeting in the break room and looped it over the current footage.
He was already halfway up the stairs when Sarah snapped out of her stupor. "Casey?"
"For backing me up with Bennett," he explained gruffly without breaking stride. "I don't like owing anyone." All Sarah could do was stare at his retreating back.
Next time on A Common Spy Problem:
"Does your father own a shotgun?"
A/N: And this concludes my three 'rapid' updates. This story will be back in around 5 weeks' time, as will The Wedding Gift. And if any of you still remember a fic called Inconvenient Truths (put your hand down, Nervert), it will return at around July/August. Enjoy the last few episodes of season 4 and please keep supporting #savechuck and #NotANielsenFamily on Twitter, as well as Emmy4Yvonne. Stay cool (bottom's up, Frea).