Here's another chapter for all of those who asked for it. The encouragement and comments have been a huge inspiration to me. I'm blown away by the reception this story has received so far. When I started this, it was just a way to keep Chuck alive, in my own little way. Now its a place I go when I'm in need of my Chuck fill. I know how it's going to end, so don't worry it will be completed eventually. I've planned it out for at least 15 chapters. Since starting my new job, I'll be updating at least once a week from here on out, unless my hours change. Thank you for all the encouragement I've received and look forward to hearing more. All mistakes are my own. As always, I don't own Chuck.
Stranger than Fiction
Chapter 4: CIA, NSA, and The Novelist
September 20, 2007
Looking out the window to the activity below, we knew the NSA agents would be breaching the house in minutes. Their leader was deciding which tactics to take. He looked like he'd been in many wars. So, our task just got that much harder. The agents were a cohesive unit, with a single purpose in mind, capturing or killing us, we didn't have a clue which. I couldn't understand how my life could change so drastically in a couple of days. The most important thought before was coming up with new story ideas for my editor. Now, I had to worry about the NSA detaining me for information - information I didn't have the answers too. Hopefully having the governments intersect in my brain counted for something. With my luck, it wouldn't matter at all to these guys.
By Sarah's reaction to the activity outside, she must have been in situation's like this numerous times in the past. We watched as they split into two teams and moved around the house to gain entrance. She acted like we were going for a stroll in the park, not about to face a swarm of trained operatives. Then she assessed the situation and came up with a plan-of-action. Pulling knives from her boot, she straps them to her belt, ready for almost anything they could throw at us.
"Your not going to kill them are you?" I asked, not knowing what her answer would be. "They're just doing what they're told. I wouldn't want their deaths on my hands Sarah." Understanding shows on her face for a moment, then it passes. She knows I'm not a violent person by nature. The last thing I would want is for this to end in bloodshed.
She pats my back in a reassuring manner, to gets me ready for what's too come. "Of course I'm not going kill them. We just need to incapacitate them so we can make our escape," she said, which alleviates some of my concerns. Sarah has more to say, but pauses to pick her words carefully, it cannot be good if she's worried about how I will react. "But Chuck... if the NSA gets you, they're going to put you in a bunker for the rest of your natural life. That's the best possible outcome if they capture you." If that the best I could hope for, I wasn't sure how it could get any worse, but it did. "The bad is torturing you for information, until you're willing to say anything they want, just to make the pain stop. The intersect was their responsibility too keep safe and they think you helped Bryce steal it," Sarah added, being truthful about what could happen.
Ready to explode from what I just learned, I have to stay calm, there's not much time and crying about it won't make it disappear. I could withstand some minor torture, but what she's talking about would break me in a few hours. For my first novel, An American Hero's Vengeance, Blake Adams gets captured and tortured for information about other agents in the area. He wouldn't break and never gave-up a single piece of intel. They broke his bones, burned his skin, hooked electrodes to different areas on his body, water-boarded him, used sleep deprivation, and starvation to get him to talk, which he withstood.
This wasn't like one of my books, the pain I'd feel if they caught me would be unlike anything I've ever experienced. I tried sleep deprivation and didn't eat for a couple of days, but wouldn't go through some of the more gruesome forms of torture. I let Morgan use a taser-gun on me and I even tried water-boarding, which ended after 12 seconds. It was unbearably painful and something I wouldn't wish on anyone. That was all the research I would do on that topic, to get the the torture scenes right. There's only so much authenticity needed for it to seem realistic and I left it at that.
Those were all unthinkable at this point, either bunker or torture. I had to get ready for what was to come next, getting safely away was the option. When I set goals, nothing stop me from accomplishing them. The NSA was just another hurdle I would jump over. One thing that kept surfacing in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to squash it, was why she's helping me at all. Most people put in this position would give up without a fight. Not Sarah, she was an enigma that would take years to figure out. That's why I liked writing stories, most people are easy to figure out, Sarah was different. She's complex and seems to thrive in life-and-death situation's. I just hope I'm around to find out more, and not in some undisclosed location wishing for death. What was her motivation to save me from the hell that awaited me?
If we got out of here alive, I was definitely basing my new main-character on Sarah. Not what I thought she was in our brief encounter at the library, but the real woman. She hid her true thoughts and feeling behind a wall, because she's been abandoned by those who should have nurtured her. I know how that could damage a person, I'm the same way. The only difference, is I have a support structure in place, whereas Sarah probably doesn't. Being a CIA agent, in all likelihood, doesn't afford her many opportunities to make any close truthful relationships. She was standing against the NSA for me. How many people do you know that would do that for you?
The questions were nagging at me, so I took the direct approach. "Why are you doing this for me? Protecting me? Believing in me? We were just fighting a couple minutes ago. Why the sudden change Sarah?" My sister is the only other person to have that much faith in me. I just met her yesterday and already she's becoming important to me. Without her here, I'd already be in the NSA'S grasp.
She looked like she didn't want to answer my questions, but finally relented. "I got all the information the CIA could dig-up on you. From what I read, you were an honor student at Stanford, giving to all those closest too you, a well known author, and you're involved in numerous charities. That just doesn't scream rogue spy to me Chuck." Sarah didn't add that she saw my interaction with the children at the book-reading, or how I took time out of my day, just to make a little girl smile.
Knowing that I wouldn't be getting anything else out of her, I turn the Bose sound-system on in my room and crank the volume to maximum, as we exit my room. We had to cause some diversions in order to separate the agents. Dividing and conquering was our goal. Not knowing where we are is going to be an advantage when the fighting begins. This would give us the best chance of escaping and making a call to Sarah's boss. We turn on lights and television's throughout the house, making it so they won't be able to communicate verbally.
I hear the front and back doors being breached at the same time. One team would take the first-floor and the second team would search the second. They would be on us in minutes. I have to keep the nerves at bay, this is the first time I'd be facing trained spies. Everything I am and hope to be is at stake. "Are you ready Chuck? You know where your suppose to be? she asked, grinning, while trying to keep a straight-face. I know she's getting a perverse pleasure out of this.
"Of course I do. I'm not comfortable with the plan Sarah? I don't like it one bit. "There's too much that could go wrong," I said, already a little defeated by the prospect of this crazy plan working. I trusted her judgment, so I would follow Sarah's lead.
"Its a good plan Chuck. Nobody will be expecting it, which will give us the element of surprise," Sarah told me, as she leaves, getting into position for the trap.
I go to where I'm suppose to be and pray for a successful outcome. Its not long before the agents bust-in, pointing their guns at me, yelling 'don't move' and 'hands-up'. This is the second time in a day I've had a weapon pointed at me, there's only so much pressure a human mind can withstand.
To say I was equal parts embarrassed and terrified would be the understatement of the year. There are three of them, with shocked expressions on their faces. They were unprepared for what they're seeing now. Sarah was right about that at least. It would provide her with the opportunity she would need to attack. I liked our odds, especially in such a confined space. They wouldn't fire a shot, knowing it could hit a fellow agent.
I decide to use humor to throw them off. "Can one of you hand me some toilet-paper first? I asked, with my cargo shorts down, sitting on the toilet, in the bathroom. They were not expecting this and pointing a gun at someone on the toilet seems pretty ridiculous. At this point I'm hating Sarah just a little. I'm too exposed, and if she needs my help disarming them, there's not much I could do.
This gives her the opening to take the agents out. Sarah comes up behind them and delivers forearms to two of their heads. They drop their guns stumbling a little, as the third agent turns around directing his .357 Sig Sauer at her. She kicks the gun out of his hand in a flash, its like watching a cobra strike with deadly precision. Sarah grabs him by the back of the neck and delivers a knee to his head, knocking him out. The other agents have recovered from the blows to their heads and advance on her. While they're occupied with Sarah, I pull my shorts up quickly, rushing one of them, kicking his legs out from underneath him. He lands with a thud, and I punch him in the face a couple of times, to make sure he stays down.
Sarah was efficient in dispatching the other agent while I was occupied. We cuff them back-to-back-to-back with their own handcuffs. If one of them wakes up, he won't be able to move. Three agents down only four more to go. Another trap wouldn't work with their leader, so onto phase two, the direct approach.
I go to the stairs and yell for the agents. "Hey up here!" I yelled, just to get anyone to follow me. One of the agents clearing my downstairs office sees me and immediately goes to get his boss. That's when I see all four of them making their way upstairs methodically. I run toward my bedroom and slam the door behind me. They enter my room and the leader of this group doesn't look happy.
"Where's Steve, Jones, and Greg? Or the skirt helping you? " He asked, while assessing his surroundings. He comes up to me with his Beretta M9 trained on me and cuffs at the ready. "You're coming with us, so don't give me any trouble. I'll be forced to kill the CIA agent if you do," he grunted menacingly.
This angers me more then anything else could and I don't know why. We just met recently and already I feel protective of her. "I don't even know who you are. Why would I go with you?" I questioned, trying to stall him.
"I'm Major John Casey and I work for the NSA. I have orders to bring you in," Casey said, getting fed up with my resistance. He's ready to pounce, I could see it.
So, I talk in order to keep him at bay. "As to your earlier question, other agents are a little tied up at the moment. I could give them a message if you'd like. You'll be joining them presently," I said, trying to get under his skin. John Casey takes it as a joke, he doesn't understand my determination to stay out of his grasp. There's four of them and only one me, they had all the guns, but I had Sarah, that had to count for something. Maybe they thought I was crazy or having a psychotic break. He walks toward me.
"Why are you doing this to me? I didn't have anything to do with Bryce stealing your computer program," I told him, as he advances on me, with rage coursing through him. Commenting on his downed agents wasn't the smartest move on my part.
"I'm just following orders, whatever the higher-ups want, I get done. And son they want you," Casey said, threateningly. I didn't understand how someone could blindly follow orders, situations could change at any moment. "Don't move or I'll be forced to do something you won't like very much. I can make you life a living hell," he reiterated, as two agents go down behind him. I see throwing-knives in their legs and am happy to see Sarah has joined the party. John Casey is going to be a problem by himself, adding three more agents would be impossible.
He takes a peak behind him, that's when I surge forward, bring both my hands down on his Beretta. It falls haphazardly to the ground, as I deliver a blow to the side of his head. Its like hitting the side of a building. He isn't even phased by the punch, which has me back-peddling. I have to reassess how to take this mountain of a man down. Maybe it's like chopping a tree down, start at the bottom and work my way up. I come at him more cautiously and kick him a few times on his legs as hard as I can. He wobbles a little, then regains his composure. Major Casey just won't go down, he seems like he's playing with me now. No matter what I do he keeps pushing forward.
He comes forward and hits me in the face with his giant-meat fist. It knocks me into the wall three feet behind me. "Damn... that hurt," I uttered, with my ears ringing and using the wall to maintain my balance. I just hope Sarah is having an easier time taking out the three remaining agents in the room. I have to defeat him. There's no way I'm spending the rest of my life in a bunker. Away from my sister, who always nurtured my dreams. Away from Morgan, who has been my best-friend since kindergarten and got me through both my parents abandoning me. And away from Devon, who always has become like a brother to me and offers up sage advice whenever I'm in need. I would fight for them, there was nothing else to do.
With a determination I didn't know I possessed, I come at him and land a few strikes to his head. "Not bad kid, you're better then I thought," he said, while spitting blood out of his mouth. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you, so don't feel bad when I take you in."
Intuition tells me he's trying to get me to make a mistake. It takes all my training to stay focused on the task at hand. He wouldn't defeat me, I had too much to lose. I can tell Sarah is behind us now, don't ask me how I knew, it was a feeling. So I take advantage and distract him from noticing her. "For your information I'm not a spy, just a really detail oriented novelist. Goodnight." I said snarkingly, giving Sarah the opportunity to take advantage. Before Casey understands what's going on, her Smith & Wesson comes down on the back of his skull. It reverberates with a loud crack and takes me by surprise. His head will be throbbing when he wakes up and that makes me smile a little. I see the other agents in front on me passed-out, all victims of Sarah's assault. She's impressive to say the least. I'm just glad she's on my side.
"Are you alright Sarah? They didn't hurt you did they?" I questioned her, checking to make sure she's not injured. Sarah's alright, but a little thrown by my concern. I know I'll have a bruise from Casey's giant fists pounding on me. That's okay, as long as we accomplish what we set out to do, clearing my name.
"You did well Chuck. I'm proud of you – you held your own today. If I didn't know better, I would think you were born to do this," she commented, earning her a Chuck Bartowski smile. Her praise meant the world to me, now was not the time, so we leave my room, going to the safe in my office. I didn't know what the future held for us. I always liked to be prepared for anything. I grab all the cash from the safe and the keys to my prized possession. I write Morgan a note saying, 'I'll be gone for a while and not to worry' before we head to the garage.
Sarah's eyes nearly bug-out when she sees it. I can tell we're going to get along fine, most women don't get men's fascinations with cars. By the way she's looking appreciatively at it, that doesn't seem like an issue we'll be having. "A 2006 Bugatti Veyron, 8-liter, 1,001 horsepower, 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, and a 1.4 million dollar price. Wow," she uttered. I was shocked she knew her cars. I unlocked the doors and we climbed in. Getting far from here was our number one priority.
Once on the road, she made the call. She connected with Director Langston Graham and told him all that took place. How I accidentally uploaded the intersect without realizing it. How I could flash on the data in the intersect. How my computer wasn't salvageable. And how we took out a group of NSA agents. She disconnected and turned toward me, to fill me in on how it went.
"He told me to take you off-grid for a few days. Until he can meeting with General Beckman, she's the senior official of the NSA. Director Graham told me he'd try to work something out where the CIA and the NSA work with you on missions. This is great news Chuck. It's more then I thought possible." Sarah said enthusiastically.
"I have the perfect place Sarah. Its located in the mountains and is secluded. Nobody knows I own it, I bought it under a different name. When the paparazzi and fans started hounding me, that's when I decided to have a private getaway," I told her, while trying to decipher her silence.
"What was your made up name? she asked, then continued. "We can't go anywhere the NSA could trace back to you for the time being"
"That won't be a problem, it came to me when I was thinking up the perfect spy alias for myself, but never used in my books. Its Charles Carmichael and the previous owner never met me in person. I paid for it in cash discretely," I said, alleviating her fears minutely.
"Okay, how long till we get there?"
"It's around a three hour drive from here. But in this car we'll be there in under two hours." I answered, while getting on the freeway.
This wasn't an ideal situation, but much better than I could have hoped for, when the NSA came for me earlier. I would be working for the government, doing some of the things I wrote about. At least Sarah was by my side, keeping me safe. I'm glad it's her and not Major John Casey with me right now. So, I'd be getting some one-on-one time with Sarah Walker for the foreseeable future. This could be a blessing in disguise. A guy could hope, couldn't he?
A/N: Hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The Casey and Chuck fight scene was my favorite. I'm getting a better feel for how I want Chuck and Sarah's relationship to develop in this story. It won't be right away, but Chuck will try to flirt his way into Sarah's heart. Next chapter, they're off-grid with nothing to do. This could get interesting, so stay tuned. As always reviews make me a better writer, constructive criticisms is welcomed.