ChuckParis17
A/N: I see from traffic reports that reader interest is waning. So is mine and that's what's important…thanks to Jojobevco for the prompt review. Best wishes on a speedy recovery to the Dutchman in the hands of Nederlands' socialized medicants.
Hugo, Ellie and Henri met them at the small public airport in Dijon and quickly expedited the new family through Customs. It was obvious from the disinterest on the part of the Customs Officers that money had changed hands. Other than smiles and waves and the stamping of passports, nothing happened. They didn't even open their bags for a cursory look-see.
"Let's get the kids home and I'll do a quick exam of each of them. Blood work will have to be done through one of the cover labs, Hugo, so make arrangements. We don't know what these kids might be carrying. Chuck, are these all the clothes you could find? I mean…they're rags, Chuck, rags!"
Chuck started to reply, his face clouding with anger but Hannah answered for him. "Ellie, we had no time or opportunity to get clothes. We were more concerned with getting out of there with our asses intact. Damn it, Eleanor, you have no idea the spot I put Chuck in so don't you dare try and blame this on him."
Ellie's face reddened and she looked at her brother with an unvoiced question. "Um, well, I kinda shot up the place when I found out he was selling women to the brothels and sending the orphan kids into slavery so…yeah, we had to split with just what they had on. We stopped at…"
"Bullshit, Chuck! Don't you dare take the blame." She turned her angry gaze on Ellie who, for once, kept her big mouth shut. "I shot the woman who sold us to my mother's husband. Do you know the 'going rate' for a woman with a child she wants to keep? $500US. That's what we were worth, five hundred bucks. He bought a woman and became her master and she his concubine. Me? I was just baggage."
"Hannah, I'm sorry I popped off…" but she cut Ellie off and turned to her husband.
"Chuck, that's why I left my family as soon as I could. It's why I live in France instead of the US. I can't stand to look at them together – the concubine and her master. I'm sorry. I should have told you. I'm not sorry I shot her, Chuck, just sorry I screwed up your life, that's all. You married me not knowing the whole truth. I should have told you before we got married. I never thought you'd find out. It was so long ago. That's why I wanted to go alone."
Chuck turned to Ellie, still angry. "Satisfied? It's an ugly world we live in, Ellie, and it's about to get a whole lot uglier. Don't think for one minute, for one second, that what she did was wrong because it wasn't. It was jungle justice and I'm glad she did it because I was going to but she beat me to it."
He turned to his new 'family' and smiled and waved them out of the terminal and into the helicopter that Hugo and Ellie had arrived in. While Hugo ran the preflight, they got the necessary conversation out of the way before the flapping rotors made speech impossible.
"Hugo, let's take some basic measurements when we get back to the carriage house and then Ellie and Hannah can go into town and pick up some essentials. We'll save the full wardrobe for a trip to Paris. We'll need to get some cots set up in the spare bedroom while we look for a place down in the village. Got any ideas?"
Hugo just smiled and then laughed. "Oh, yes, Director, but perhaps you might first consult with the Director Emeritus? After all, they're his grandchildren. He's been making plans, Chuck, and I think you and Hannah will be pleased."
The new title escaped Chuck's notice but Hannah saw Ellie's face tighten in suppressed laughter. She had not missed the title and she knew what it meant. Chuck had a new boss and her father was merely a respected and revered figurehead and 'advisor'. She wondered who the new Director General was? It would mean a move for her and Chuck. Perhaps to a new posting in another country? She worried about the massive adjustment facing the children. She was already thinking like a mother.
The children were trying to appear nonchalant about the helicopter but the way the girl hung onto her brother made it obvious she was scared to death. Chuck walked over and squatted down beside them and took her hand from her brother's and unbuckled her seatbelt and led her forward to where Henri was piloting and Hugo was dozing.
He nudged Hugo and motioned him to the back and then sat Su-Fi in the copilot's seat, put the helmet on her head and knelt down between the seats after putting on her safety harness. She grabbed his hand and leaned forward and looked out the Perspex floor window and reflexively pulled her legs up onto the seat. She looked at him and laughed and he smiled even though he couldn't hear the laughter. Progress. A smile.
Chateau Almandine
15km SW of Paris
"Have you lost your mind, Jacques?" Chuck was not in the mood to be respectful or nice or even civil with his father-in-law.
"No. It was the logical choice. You bring fresh ideas and a longing for the original Ring and you've instituted changes that have brought the majority of our operations out of the shadows. The vote was by no means unanimous but after vigorous debate, the council voted 8-2 in your favor."
"I don't care if the vote was unanimous. You had no right to put me in this position. I've got enough to do with running the Circus and now you've dumped the real 'circus' on me at the worst possible time."
"Ah, you sound like a character from Dickens. Charles, you have what it takes and you're not alone. Learn to delegate. You have Henri and Hugo and 10 regional directors, OK, NINE regional directors since the Far East is in an uproar over the assassination of their sub-regional director…"
"The man was a monster regardless of his affiliations with us through the Far East. And the Far East! A throw-back to the days of warlords and feudalism."
Jacques said nothing. He knew his son-in-law better than he knew himself. He would rant, rave, then grow silent and then go off and plan something so subtle that sometimes not even Jacques could see it. The human intersect and the Ring. 'A formidable combination indeed.'
Chuck was overwhelmed with the task before him. He felt torn between his duties to his country and his allegiance to the Circus and 'the circus'. He'd built Circus Information Systems into an incredible money maker for the Ring and he had identified several replacements for himself if he 'went deep' or needed to step away for other reasons.
'Well, I guess becoming the head of the largest non-governmental espionage organization on the planet qualifies as one of the 'other reasons.'
"I need to think. I have the kids to tend to. We have to find a new place to live and that'll be 'fun'. They need tutors and then proper schooling. They'll need counseling and language lessons and…shit, Jacques, I don't think I can handle all this. This is just too much. You ask too much. When will it end? I need to think."
He walked out without another word leaving a bemused Jacques wondering again why Chuck felt he was alone in this. He called for Henri and Hugo and the security staff. He would 'run interference' for his son-in-law and try and take at least the domestic hassles from his shoulders.
Chuck wandered through the gardens thinking. 'This damned assignment was only supposed to last a year, two tops. It's been too long since I was just 'Chuck'. I have a wife, kids, the Circus job. That's enough. I can't do this anymore. I want out. I need to just get out.'
He was on the verge of a panic attack. There was no one he could talk to who didn't own a piece of him or a piece of the action. Casey and Forrest were out. He couldn't talk to Hannah. He couldn't talk to Henri or Hugo. He'd be dead within minutes.
He thought about his sister but even her loyalties were suspect. She was sleeping with Hugo and thought no one knew, least of all her little brother. It was as plain as the nose on her face. Elli and Hugo? Beauty and the Beast. He shook his head and laughed bitterly.
Su-Fi was hiding in the shrubbery. She loved the gardens and had slipped away from the dust-bin woman to explore her new home. Her brother was too enthralled with the picture box as was Thi. She had problems focusing on the images. No one knew she was nearly blind. The diet in the camps lacked vitamins and her sight was failing and she was afraid they'd take her back if anyone found out.
She froze when the big man from the camp, the one who had held her hand in the helicopter, walked by, deep in thought. He sat on the stone bench across from her hiding place and just stared off into the distance. At first she thought he was meditating but then she saw the sun-glistened tear tracks and knew he was crying.
Su-Fi crept away, suddenly afraid. Something terrible must have happened and she needed to warn her brother and Thi that there might be trouble for them. She did not want to go back to the camp. She looked back at the man and stopped. He had his face in his hands and his shoulders were shaking with quiet sobs. She'd seen this in the camp when people had lost everything and had nothing more to give to life. Those people usually died.
The child wanted to creep away to hide but her heart tugged at her and she crept back to her original hiding place and then mustered as much courage as she'd ever felt and stood and walked soundlessly on bare feet over to the bench and climbed into his lap and hugged him as her mother used to hug her when she cried.
The man tensed but then relaxed when he saw it was her. She snuggled in close to him and hoped she'd done the right thing. She was cold but did not want the big man to visit her sleeping pallet, wherever it might be. Maybe he'd go to see Thi instead. His grip on her tightened and his sobs deepened. She had no idea what to do so she did nothing but hold on to him as he began to rock her.
He started whispering to her knowing that she couldn't understand a single word except for her name. His grip loosened and he set her up on her feet carefully. He wouldn't look her in the eye. He stood and took her hand and they walked slowly through the garden.
Chuck glanced down and saw she was shivering so he took off his light jacket and put it around her and zipped it up. He should have realized that the climate change would be hard on them and shook his head. 'Another damned thing I let slip by me. They're from a tropical rainforest environment not this European weather. They need warm clothes.'
He stopped when one of the garden's 'guardians', a peacock, walked across the path and challenged him. Su-Fi leaped up into his arms, terrified of what she could only hear and not see other than as a blur of color. It must be one of the garden dragons set here to protect the garden.
"Hey, Su-Fi, it's just a peacock, not a tiger or lion or bear, oh my!" He laughed but she just held on tighter and buried her face in his shoulder when the peacock crowed again.
"Shoo!" He stomped his foot and the bird ran away. "OK, let go and let's get back to your new house and ask Aunt Ellie to look at your eyes." He'd seen the dry puffiness in the left eye and the beginnings of the same condition in the right eye. She hung on to him, not willing to let go. There were monsters such as the old women told them about to frighten them into obedience.
Stuart-Walker residence
Arlington, VA
She couldn't seem to catch her breath. She saw the bullet strike, the look of terror and then pain and then his body struck the outer wall of the Café Lafayette.
She sat up, drenched in fear-sweat. Mike slept beside her, blissfully unaware that his fiancé was still struggling with the death of the man she had thrown away, possibly driving him to a series of decisions that ended in his death.
"Sarah? Sarah, what's wrong, honey? Bad dreams?" He had a feeling it was the recurring nightmare that plagued her on and off at least once or twice a month. She wouldn't talk about it, simply brushing off his concern with 'It's an occupational hazard, Mike. I just need to shower and then I'll be right back here where I feel safest.'
Sometimes she'd wake up crying and other times, like tonight, she'd struggle to sit up and shake away the horror of her dream. She was right about one thing: he didn't want to know what she was dreaming about. She deserved her private moments and memories and he didn't intend to pry. If she wanted him to know, she'd tell him.
The warm water helped calm her and she reconsidered her decision to forego the offer of 'counseling' when she separated from the CIA on an 'extended leave of absence'. The glass shower door opened and closed and she was enveloped in the strong arms and love of the man she was going to marry on the 1st of September. The effects of the dream vanished as he worked his magic on her with lips and fingertips. She sighed contentedly as her body answered his summons.
A month later, after a series of meetings and briefings, Michael Stuart flew to Paris to attend a meeting of industrial developers who were thinking about relocating a plant to his district. Sarah absolutely refused to accompany him saying that the city held too many bad memories for her. He just sighed and accepted her decision.
'She's still holding on to his memory. She still murmurs 'Chuck' in her sleep. Will she refuse to come with me after we're married and the senate confirms my appointment?'
Chateau Almandine
"Chuck, you need to slow down, baby. Honestly, you're 34 and you're burning the candle at both ends and now you want to light it in the damned middle! No! Absolutely not. I forbid it. I've never interfered in your business but this time I have to. Look in the mirror, Chuck. Look at the black circles and the worry lines. You're killing yourself because you can't let go."
"Hannah, I have to do this. Whoever this guy is, he knows about me, us, about everything since Paris. All I have to do is meet him and evaluate his information and sources. I'll be heavily guarded and it's just a simple meet and greet with minimum exposure. The Sacramento team will be my security, Hannah, and I trust them."
"I want to go with you, Chuck. I want to be there, even if it's sitting on my ass in the surveillance vehicle. I have to, Chuck. It's important to me. I haven't seen you this upset about anything since Antwerp. Ellie and my dad will watch the kids. After all, it's only a 'meet and greet', right?" She raised her eyebrow and he knew he would give in.
"Fine. You win. Just promise me that you'll stay in the van and let the guys handle my security. I won't be able to concentrate on the situation if your safety is on my mind."
"Deal. Now, change of subject. This weekend we're going to the hotel where we ate pheasant naked in bed. I want to do that again. I don't care if it's pheasant or fish; I want it. A weekend in Paris with no worries after your meeting. OK? Please?"
He looked at her and his eyebrows danced and he grinned. "There's chicken in the frig…want to practice?"
Paris
Alex and Casey would be positioned to watch the pick-up. Chuck had called Casey when he'd first been contacted by the mysterious Mr. 'X' and reviewed the conditions for the meeting. He didn't tell him who the man was. He didn't want complications. He wanted this done right and put behind him.
"Chuck, it sounds like a trap or they're positioning you for a hit. Standing out in front of the American embassy at 11am is like sitting at ground zero. I recommend against it. This guy can't hurt you, Chuck. Your cover is safe and you're well protected by Ring security. Blow it off. Call his bluff."
"Easy for you to say, Casey. Your life is nice and orderly. I stand to lose my wife, my kids, everything. Hannah has no idea of my involvement with the NSA or that my mission here was facilitated by our relationship."
"You were fucking shot by me, Bartowski, and would have died if you hadn't had that damned alky's flask on you. It was all gravy after that. You told them the truth. You didn't use her. Hell, you married her."
"She'll never believe it wasn't part of the assignment. She'll never know I really did love her at first sight and she'll never believe any of it has been real since. I have to meet this guy. I have to honor the threat to my family."
"We can bring you and Hannah and the kids in, Chuck. Drop you someplace in flyover country with new identities and an opportunity for a new life. Don't meet this guy."
"Sorry. I have to. I already sent the confirmation."
That night as they lay in bed, he told Hannah everything. All of it.
"Hannah, I lied to you about the plane and about almost everything that happened that first month in Paris." She stiffened and tried to pull away from his embrace but he just tightened his hold on her and plowed on.
"It was love at first sight but I had to deny it to you and to myself because of my mission. Listen to everything and then, if you want me to leave, I will. I don't want to lose what I have here but I'll go and you'll never see me again. Now listen…"
He told her everything. He was supposed to infiltrate the Ring by approaching her father. He had no idea that she was his daughter when he'd flirted with her on the flight. No one knew Dubois even had a daughter. He wanted nothing more than to dump the mission and pursue her and make her his own but the mission trumped his personal feelings.
"So, all this is a lie? Our affair, our marriage? Was the assassination attempt even real or was it another spy trick to ensure you 'got in'?"
"Everything between us has been real. The assassination attempt was real. I never betrayed a single Ring operative except for Dill and that was personal and he was dead. I did rat out the Fulcrum infrastructure but that was because of their attempts to overthrow the government. I've redirected the Ring, molded it back into the force your father originally intended it to be. And now I'm losing everything because I haven't been honest with the one person of the planet I can't be without – you."
"So, you're going to leave us? Go back to her? All this time it was her, wasn't it?"
"There is no one else and there will never be anyone else. What part of 'forsaking all others' didn't you understand? If you send me away, I'll just go deep and…"
"And what? Send for her? Live with her?"
"No. Aren't you listening? There will be no one else in my life. I'll just wait to die. I'm sure your father will send someone. It's a matter of honor with him. And I'll die loving you as much as when I first saw you on the plane, Hannah. That will never change."
"I think you need to sleep elsewhere. I need to think. I don't want you near me, understand, Charles? Not now. Maybe not ever. I don't know you. You're not the man I thought you were when we married. Go. Please."
And he did.