Casey was eating a sandwich when he heard the rustling of the door knob through the earphones. He had been sitting in his room, waiting for about an hour for Malkova to return. He put down his sandwich and hit the record button on a UHF long-range reciever. He quickly wiped his hands on his jeans and started to adjust the soundboard. After he was satisfied with the input levels, Casey stood to look through the telescope positioned near the window.

Casey saw Malkova take off his jacket, reaching into the inside pocket for a pack of cigarettes and then tossing the jacket on the bed. He had just shaken a cigarette out and had placed it between his lips when his phone rang. Malkova reached into his pocket to grab the phone as he walked out onto the balcony.

"Hello." Casey heard Malkova say. "Good." Malkova hung up the phone and lit his cigarette.

Once he had a drag, Malkova flipped his phone open and dialed a number. After a couple of seconds of silence from Malkova, he said "The package is here ready for pickup..." "I'm on my way."

With that, Malkova walked back into his room , grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. At that same time, Casey grabbed his keys and gun, no more than a step behind.

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As much as Sarah tried, she couldn't put the conversation out of her mind. As she wrote their first report to submit to General Beckman, she replayed the whole dialog in her mind over and over again. There were so many things to say, and it all left her confused.

It was so easy to take advantage of those moments with Chuck. He was so open and honest, so sincere and real. Something that she was missing in her life. But of course what did she expect? To take but not have to give anything back? That would be selfish.

But that's what you've been.

However, to think about not having Chuck was unbearable for Sarah. To think that Chuck could, and maybe someday – would, care about someone else hurt. So she knew she cared, but she couldn't bring herself to let him know how much. And I just can't. Chuck getting hurt... or worse... was something she could not live with.

But the temptation was there. See, men have found her attractive, like Bryce, Pax and others in her past. But with Chuck, it was different. It went deeper than that. On her worst hair day, he would still find he attractive and on her worst day he would be the one who'd want to make her laugh and make her feel better. He'd want to take care of her. Like at her high school reunion; she had felt better with him accompanying her there, and even better with him saying that he had her back.

That was when she truly realized that though she may be the one protecting Chuck from physical harm. She knew that when it came to the real world, without guns or spy gear, Chuck would be her protector. And in this way, Chuck made her feel more like a woman than any other guy ever has. Because he made her feel cherished.

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by a buzz followed by knocking at the door. She grabbed her gun , turning off the safety and she slowly crept to the door, moving sideways. "Who is it?" She called out.

"Venetian courier." A voice called out from behind the door.

Sarah reached the door and looked out through the peep hole. She saw a man wearing a uniform similar to the one Casey had worn for his cover as a staff member. Sarah quickly disposed of the gun on a tall end table by the door, which was out of sight of anyone standing between the door frames. She opened the door and gave the courier a smile, "Hi, sorry about the wait."

"No problem miss. Letter for Mr. Dimitrios." He said extending the letter in her direction.

"Thank you," Sarah said taking the letter and noticing that it was sealed with red wax with an imprint that she couldn't quite make out. She closed the door after handing the courier a generous tip and proceeded to open the letter.

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Casey had been driving for a little over an hour and a half tailing Malkova and it didn't look like he was anywhere near ready to stop. Casey decided to make a quick phone call to Sarah. That was the thing about being a spy, you had to be flexible since you never knew what could happen.

"I'm tailing Malkova. Proceed with the plan until further notice." He said into her voicemail since she didn't pick up. "I'll call with further updates." Casey then hung up the phone.

Casey noticed that it was already getting dark and that his tank was running low. He turned on his headlight and slowed down, adding another 5 yards to the 30 yard gap between the two cars. He hated the idea of turning on his headlights because he didn't want to be made out as a tail, but he knew a big black SUV was not any less inconspicuous in the middle of the desert.

You work with what you've got.

Just then, Casey saw Malkova pull the car into a near empty motel parking lot, poorly lit by cheap neon lights, on the left hand side of the road. Casey quickly pulled over to the opposite side of the road, turning off his headlights. Using the cover of darkness, he rolled down his window and grabbed a pair of NSA issue binoculars that had been sitting on the passenger seat along with a sound amplifier.

With a quick scan of the parking lot he found Malkova who was stepping out of his car with a duffel bag. When Casey looked ahead towards the direction of Malkova's path, he saw a man wearing a suit with a brief case heading towards Malkova. Casey quickly grabbed the sound amplifier from the seat with his other hand, put on the headphones and aimed it at the unknown man and Malkova.

"Hello Malkova," the man said extending his hand out.

Malkova didn't take the man's hand but instead asked, "Do you have it?"

The man retreated his hand with a look of surprise and uncertainty and opened the brief case to show Malkova the contents. Casey zoomed in on the briefcase with the NSA binoculars to get a better look. Casey's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the content of the brief case. Malkova opened the duffel bag, revealing a large amount of cash. The man closed the case, handing it to Malkova while reaching for the duffel bag.

"I hope you.." the man didn't get to finish because Malkova abruptly turned around and headed back to his car. The man, looking perplexed again watched for a moment before making his way back to his own car. He turned the car on, getting ready to back out.

Casey was about to put the binoculars down to prepare to follow Malkova, when all of a sudden, Malkova's car crosses his line of sight of the unknown man's vehicle. Malkova had backed up his car to block the unknown man's path. Casey then saw Malkova pull out a gun with a silencer at the end and point it towards the man. Malkova fired and the bullet went through the rear window and into the man's head. Malkova waited a brief moment, presumably to make sure the job was done. When he was satisfied, he got out and walked up to the drivers side window. He broke through the glass with the butt of the gun and reached in to grab the same duffel bag he had just handed him. Malkova then walked back to the car and got in. He put the car on drive and slowly rolled out of the parking lot.

Casey turned on the car, ready to follow Malkova, but not before picking up the phone to dial Sarah's number. Again he got her voicemail,"Walker, we have big problems. Malkova has the cypher. Something's not right... I think this may be a Fulcrum set-up. We have to abort. Do not go to..."

Casey didn't get to finish because in that instance, he heard a crunching noise and felt bits of glass as his SUV lurched forward. Casey's chest hit the steering wheel, as the air bag was deploying, knocking the air out of his lungs. The car's back right-hand side spun forward, before coming to a complete stop.

Casey lifted his head and felt a warm trickle down the left side of his forehead. A little dizzy, he looked out his driver-side window, which was now facing oncoming traffic. At first all he saw was darkness. Then he saw a mack truck's head lights turn on. Casey froze. He then heard the engine turn back on and rev up.

Oh shit!

Casey looked down to his right trying to find the seatbelt button to press it. He found it and tried, but the buckle did not eject. He tried to pull it out but nothing happened. Casey looked over again as he had heard it rev up louder, and saw the mack truck approaching. In that moment, all he could do was shield his face and buckle down as the truck collided with the SUV.

Casey was battling to stay awake when he saw a man step out of the truck. A car coming from the other direction had stopped. "Help" Casey said weakly calling to the man from the car. Then both men stood together, talking then started to approach Casey's vehicle. "Help," he called out again.

At first Casey could not make out their faces as they walked into the headlights of the mack truck. But as they got closer, and as Casey's eyes readjusted, he saw that the man from the car was none other than Malkova. Casey, who was still very dizzy, tried to reach for anything by him. But at that moment, Malkova took out his gun, raised it above his head and swung it down, striking at Casey's head.

Casey fell into the deep darkness.