Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Chuck
Chapter 7 – The Door Slams Shut
Chuck wondered how it could be possible to have such a great day as he had yesterday spending time with Morgan and gaming all day to having one of the worst possible day. Yet here he was with headphones on, stuck in the back of another van, sitting next to an always disgruntled Casey, and listening in as Sarah flirted heavily with Bryce.
He let out another sigh and winced, knowing Casey was staring at him with a menacing glare. It seemed sighing despondently every few minutes was another way to annoy Casey. Nope, this day did not start out the way he had expected.
Early that morning Casey had woken him up, knocking on the Morgan door, and told him that he had 20 minutes to get ready for a debriefing at Casey's apartment. The moment he had opened the door to Casey's apartment he had stopped cold, staring at his old best friend, Bryce Larkin. Some notion of relief passed briefly through him knowing that his former friend was still alive, but that vaporized quickly.
"Bryce." Chuck said between clenched teeth, his old friend giving him a nod but was more focused on going over documents with Sarah.
Chuck watched off handily as he made his way to the Casey's computer screen to wait for the debriefing to start. In his opinion the two were standing awfully close. They both seemed to be in their element, going over whatever document and discussing whatever piece of information seemed important to them. As much as he would have liked to have shown no emotion to betray his feelings, his eyebrows still knit together and a frown that would last the rest of the day started to appear.
"Larkin, could you start the debriefing." Director Graham started the meeting off.
"I've been able to infiltrate a small time organization that deals in corporate espionage that sells to over sees rivaling companies but also to Fulcrum technological agents. I've been under as a hired gun and been providing protective and enforcement services for them. I just found out two days ago that one of the main branches has taken a notice into the information that this organization has been dealing and want to partner up for some immediate work.
"Members of the organization that I've infiltrated are meeting with stand-ins for this main branch this evening at a cocktail party in Las Vegas for a banking financier. I've become a pretty trusted gun with this small group so I'm hoping that they'll include me in the loop with whatever deal gets hashed out tonight at this meeting. The bosses of my group think that the deal that'll be going down is pretty big.
"I've been to a few of these meetings before and the new comers are all screened for wires and bugs. But, the guys hosting, are never checked. So our goal tonight is for me to go in clean and have Sarah plant a bug on one of the hosts. Sarah's cover for tonight is just as some girl that I picked up, nothing elaborate and it won't seem odd if she starts to flirt with other guys."
"What happens when later on down the road this guy finds this bug as he's doing his laundry or washing his hair or wherever it is that you plant these bugs?" Chuck asked.
"We're using a long range French transmitter, so when they do find it at least they'll be thrown off our trail." Sarah answered.
Chuck nodded his head in acknowledgment. He had watched Bryce on and off as he talked, his eyes automatically shifting from Bryce to Sarah before he even knew he had. And while his eyes were animated in its movement, Chuck's face was impassive and unfriendly.
It was a face that Chuck almost never wore. If he had noticed anyone's else's face he would have realized that they all felt slightly taken aback by Chuck's facial expression. Even though Sarah and Casey were privy to Chuck's outburst two night's ago, it was still a shock to see the usual happy go lucky Chuck have such an openly hostile look.
"You have any names." Chuck's short reply was not lost either to the participants in the room. They watched him as he walked over to Casey's computer and opened up a notepad document.
"I don't have any of the actual names of anyone that we're meeting their stand-ins for but I do have a nickname for one person, Speed Jack." Bryce responded, his face curious.
Chuck's flash was painful, the nickname seemed to be linked to so many data points. He had to close his eyes as he staggered back some, a painful grunt escaping his lips. His hands were already typing.
The amount of information that passed through into his consciousness was staggering. As he was in his own world filtering through information, the other people in the room began to become concerned. Aside from General Beckman and Director Casey, none of them had yet to see Chuck flash with the new algorithm. Sarah had begun to move towards Chuck to try and support him after she saw him stagger.
"What the hell is going on?" Bryce began, "I don't remember him flashing like this."
As Casey filled him in quickly about Chuck getting access to the algorithm, Sarah had moved to put a hand on his arm. Chuck's eyes were open now but he was concentrating on something as if it was right in front of him, his pupils bouncing back and forth quickly.
"Chuck, are your flashes like this now?" Sarah asked him, the question alerting the other people in the room.
"No." Chuck bit out, as he kept typing, his voice as hostile as his face was before.
Almost two full minutes passed before Chuck's eyes began to focus on his surroundings again, his flash subsiding.
Chuck gave his full attention to the two people on the screen as he sent them the file he had just typed up. "We've got a big problem."
"Go ahead." General Beckman responded, concerned.
"As far as our mission tonight it won't be a problem finding someone to put the bug on. Speed Jack's right hand man is an active Delta Force member that is heavily decorated, Colonel Richard Westing."
General Beckman brought Westing's military profile onto the screen the moment Chuck said his name. Listed at 6'3", weighing 270 lbs, he had short combed dirty blond hair and brown eyes. There was an easily visible knife scar running from the corner of his left lip to his left ear. He didn't seem a pleasant man, at all.
"That's Sarah's target tonight."
"What of the problem?" Director Graham asked.
"Speed Jack is the third in command of Fulcrum's international espionage ring. He sells military, corporate, personal, any and all secrets he can get his hands on. He reports to a person codename Obelisk. There's very little to no information on Obelisk in the Intersect at the moment." Chuck paused, waiting to see if there was any reaction.
"And?" General Beckman asked, getting irritated with being made to wait.
"The problem," Chuck took a pause as he looked viciously into the eyes of General Beckman, "is that Speed Jack is the current acting supervisor for the Western Division of NSA's European Strategic Command."
General Beckman's eyes widened to impossible sizes, her mouth falling open, as she slumped into her chair. "Trick..."
Director Graham's face was hard as he stared at the General.
"Speed Jack is General Patrick O'Hare Junior, his direct NSA supervisor, is General Beckman."
Silence reigned the room, both rooms.
Devon would have been proud of the chaos that ensued a split second after the initial silence. It was, awesome. Yelling, threats, accusations, and demands all flew out of mouths. Chuck took a seat and waited, his job was done. He was nursing a slight headache from the flash and didn't mind the respite.
An hour later the two directors and the spies had to come to a course of action. Considering that Speed Jack was currently NSA it would be a bad choice to have the Intersect and Casey anywhere in the room. That left them monitoring that evening in a parked van while Bryce, known as Brian Taggert, along with his arm candy Sarah, who's cover was Amy Little, made their way around the room.
So here Chuck sat, in the van once again, listening into a pair of headphones waiting for Bryce to be sent into the VIP room for the meeting.
"Have I told you how ravishing you look Amy?" Bryce's voice came through the bug that Sarah was wearing.
"All night," Sarah began, "but a girl doesn't mind hearing it more often." The sound of a soft kiss could be heard.
"You taste good, as always." Bryce responded.
Casey watched as Chuck's hand was turning purple. He had nervously or unconsciously wrapped the headphone's wires around his left hand and as the night progressed the wire was getting tighter and tighter.
"I see Westing." Sarah's whisper entered his ear, "Intercepting."
Chuck and Casey waited in the van for a few seconds, listening to the environmental sounds as Sarah made her way through the crowd. Then suddenly another feed came through the line.
"Package delivered." Sarah whispered. It appeared she was making her way back to Bryce as his voice began to filter in through the line again.
"West is heading to the VIP room." Sarah whispered.
"Heads up, my boss is coming." Bryce's faint voice came through.
"Brian! Come here, we got a meeting to attend." A voice could be heard a distance away.
"What do you know about these guys?" A gruff voice sounded from the second bug.
"Small timers in this game, but they're consistent and reliable. They haven't had any failures yet Colonel." A smooth voice with an English accent answered.
"How big are they?"
"Twenty large, most of them are muscle. Only three brains."
"Backgrounds?"
"Most are guns for hire, a few soldiers of fortune."
"Tag the ex-mils and bait the guns."
"That'll drop them down to about eight total once the guns are baited."
"That's fine. We got no permanent use for guns."
Chuck looked over at Casey with a questioning look, "Bait?"
Casey scowled at him before answering, "Westing is willing to keep ex-military personnel on board but all the guns for hire or thugs are going to be used for jobs where they're expected to be killed."
"Mr. Holdings." The voice of Bryce's boss could be heard.
Casey looked at Chuck to see if he flashed, Chuck shook his head. "Probably a fake name then."
"Mr. Jennings, pleasure." Holdings responded, the smooth voice that was heard talking with Westing.
"I'd like to introduce you to my best guys. Vincent Cordale, my second, William Jennings, my brother and our financial expert, and Brian Taggert, he organizes our men."
"Excellent, I'd like to introduce you to Colonel Westing, he'll be standing in for Speed Jack."
"You been in the military before Taggert?" Westings voice could be heard.
"Yes Colonel. Sergeant with the Marine Core Force Recon." Bryce responded.
"Good man." Westing answered.
"Gentlemen," Holdings started, "We've brought you here today because it seems that we could make use of your organization's skills and talents. In trade we'll be paying you quite handsomely for your services.
"Now let me make this clear, our work requires us to deal in the utmost security and privacy. Do you have any issues with this?"
"No sir," Jennings responded, "We keep no records of clients and observe the highest level of respect and security. We haven't had a failed project yet."
"We have a strategic opportunity in the near future that we could use some of your help with. But before we trust you with one of our biggest projects to date, we need to find out if we'd form a good working relationship. Don't you agree?" Westing demanded.
"Completely Colonel." Jennings responded.
"Good," Holdings said, "We'll be in contact later tonight to discuss our first project. If all goes well, we'll be working together quite often in the future."
There was the sound of rustling and shifting as it seemed that Bryce's group left the VIP room.
"What do you think Colonel?" Holdings queried.
"They seem like any other group, willing to do anything if they get paid for it. What do you have them working on Kendel?"
Chuck's head swam with data as the flash happened, Casey immediately recognized it.
"I'll set them up for Project Duck Hunt." Kendel, who had initially been known as Holdings replied.
"Really? Isn't that a bit too close to the heart?" Westing asked, his voice held some unease.
"Normally I would agree, but if they could gain access to some of the information we need from Korea, France, and Iran it'll make it easier to assimilate them. And all signs point to them being able to get that information."
Casey's cell phone rang as he ripped it open to answer it. Chuck concentrated on the discussion and kept documenting his findings. A few minutes later Casey closed the phone he turned back to Chuck.
"Walker and Larkin left the party along with Jennings and his group. I told them that we're staying to monitor and debriefed them on what we've heard so far. They're done with their part. We'll meet up with them at the hotel later tonight if we get back in time."
Chuck didn't acknowledge the statement as he concentrated on listening to the conversation.
"What's the ETA on the turtle?" Westings asked, as Chuck and Casey looked at each other in confusion.
"Four months out at the moment. We have bigger issues." Kendel said, his voice getting harder.
"I've brought a new person on board, not sure about his trust worthiness but he's got the information we need." The sound of clinking ice could be heard as Westings took a drink.
The sound of paper hitting a table top was heard, "This is the information the new guy provided."
"How in the world is this possible?"
"I don't know but I think we need to grab Excalibur."
"Agreed." Kendel stated, "And you're sure Beckman doesn't suspect you?"
"She's got her attention so wrapped up with the loss of the Intersect that's she just a useless cow at the moment."
Casey started coughing as Chuck let out a little chuckle.
Chuck and Casey listened for another thirty minutes, documenting names and phrases that they had heard but Chuck didn't flash on. As they were shutting down their equipment Casey asked about the flash on Kendel.
"Johnathan Kendel is ex-Mi6. Discharged for attempting to sell missile schematics to North Korea. He's been one of the biggest information brokers in the black market for the past 4 years."
As they were walking to their hotel rooms, Chuck came to an immediate stop as he rounded the corner. Casey walked right into him but it didn't seem to phase Chuck one bit. Casey looked down the hallway to where Chuck was staring and saw Sarah and Bryce locked in a passionate embrace as they fumbled their way into her hotel room.
After the click of the door sounded through the otherwise quiet hallway, a harsh whimper came out of Chuck's mouth. A few seconds passed and then Casey couldn't help himself as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Let's go down to the bar, grab a few."
That seemed to shake Chuck's stupor. Chuck looked at Casey, his eyes full of pained emotion, but slowly, as if Casey was watching a flower whither and die, Chuck's eyes became devoid of any emotion.
"Thanks, but, I think I'm going to go for a little walk outside." Chuck responded in a dull lifeless voice.
Early the next morning, Chuck had swapped seats with Casey, sitting alone in the far back of the plane. He had walked all night and didn't catch even an hours sleep. His whole being was in turmoil. It had been easy to think, to assume based on strong evidence that Sarah didn't love him and was still in love with Bryce. He had not been prepared for the emotional and physical repercussions of seeing that realization last night.
Chuck grabbed at the blanket that he had wrapped tightly around himself and turned slightly towards the window. This morning as they had gone to the airport, both he and Casey had noted the utter glow that seemed to exude from Sarah. She looked so alive and happy. Bryce was already gone, going back undercover.
His job was done.
Chuck was snapped out of his stupor when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. Looking over he saw Sarah smiling brightly at him.
"Casey said you weren't feeling well, are you OK?" She asked softly as she rubbed circles on his arm.
Chuck raged inside, his heart screaming out. How dare she? How dare she act so close? He hated her at that moment, even though he so ached for her. At that precise moment, he loathed her. Despised her acting the part of the caring friend. Hated the lies that she started. Hated the lies that she had made him tell.
Why hadn't she just left with Bryce?
As much as the physical pain he felt from his heart, that felt like it was stung so deeply that it wanted to lash out, Chuck couldn't do it. He couldn't lash out at her. She couldn't help it that what she wanted was the dark super spy. With the will and effort tantamount to moving the Earth, Chuck physically turned his whole body away towards the window shrugging her hand off in the process.
"Just a bad headache and some sinus stuff." Came his low and lifeless response.
He missed the slightly pained expression that flitted her exuberant face. It didn't deter her as Sarah's smile erupted again, her hand finding itself on his back, soothingly stroking it. To Chuck, each one of her touches made his body colder, physically shivering from the chills.
"I wanted to say how great a job you've been doing," Sarah almost shyly said in a sing song voice, "Everyone's been impressed and I must say that I'm really proud of you."
Chuck only slightly nodded his head in response.
"Bryce's boss called him late last night. They were contacted by Holdings/Kendel and are off on their trial mission. We've sent the data you documented to Beckman and Graham as well this morning... Bryce wanted me to thank you."
Chuck grunted.
"Once we land, we'll be heading directly to the staging area to finish plans and preparation for intercepting the package arriving today. Just do what you did last time and things will go perfectly."
Another small nod.
"Is something wrong Chuck?" Sarah concernedly asked, her hand now fully palmed onto his back as she leaned in. Her other hand landed on his forearm, squeezing it gently.
Chuck didn't respond, he couldn't. He was busy hiding, walling himself in.
A/N: This was the hardest chapter I've had to write and only because of the last few paragraphs.
As a fan of Chuck, I'm not a fan of Bryce, at all. But, I do admit that Bryce is an amazing plot device. With his presence alone, turmoil and turbulence follows.
At least the hardest chapter is over with. All the players are in place and the background information laid out, so now the adventure really begins and answers start coming.