Chapter 3: The Plan
"So that's two Wunderbar Wienerlicious Deluxe Combos, two Schmeckt Gut Super Salads, and two large Kirsch Rülpsensodas, gentlemen," explained Sarah, placing the items on a large tray.
Flashing the pair of beefy men wearing private security firm uniforms her patented Sarah smile, she took their money, turned to the cash register, opened the cash drawer, fiddled around a bit to make it look good, then folded the bills in half and returned the full amount to one of the men as the other one collected the tray and carried it to the condiment counter. After loading up with plastic cutlery and containers of Ketchup, mustard and little packets of salt and pepper, they exited the Wienerlicious to sit at an outside table and enjoy their meal.
Chuck, his head turned in the direction of the table where the men were sitting, came into the restaurant, shook his head in disbelief, and approached Sarah, who was once again busy behind the counter.
"Man, those guys sure can eat," he observed. "It's like that's all they ever do," he said.
"Shhh," she admonished. "You're supposed to be ignoring them."
"How can I ignore them?" asked Chuck, spreading his arms widely in front of himself. "They're kinda hard to miss and they're underfoot at the Buy More all the time. The guys in the store can't decide on Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee for a nickname or Hardy and Hardy."
"You mean Laurel and Hardy, don't you?" inquired Sarah absently as she wiped the counter.
"Do either one of them look like Laurel to you?" Chuck asked in turn, swinging his arm around and pointing out the window to indicate both men, who were crammed into the little seats, intent on eating their meals.
"Well, you have a point there," laughed Sarah. "But they're here to look after you while Casey and I are occupied with this mission. We won't be around as much for the next little while, and as Buy More security guards, they can stay as close as Casey does when he's at work."
"Besides," she added, "they don't really get in your way that much, do they?"
"Well, they're not very subtle agents," complained Chuck. "Yesterday, they almost followed me into the bathroom."
"I'll ask them to back off a little bit," said Sarah, looking closely at Chuck.
It was unusual for him to be out of sorts. He was pretty good at taking things as they came and looking for the lighter side of life. Sarah decided to find out what was going on.
"Chuck, what's really bothering you?" she asked, coming out from behind the counter.
Chuck shoved his hands deeply into his pockets and looked at the floor. When he didn't say anything to Sarah right away, she began to feel real concern and came closer, putting a hand on his shoulder. He raised his head and looked into her eyes, pouting.
"You guys are supposed to be my handlers and you're not handling me like you used to," he said.
Sarah smiled at this and was going to reply with a joke but decided against it when Chuck didn't smile at his own double entendre. Instead, she came even closer, putting her arms around his waist and linking her fingers behind him.
"Go on," she prompted.
"Well, I feel kind of useless. I know I'm The Great Intersect and all that, but I want to do more. You and Casey are doing something really important and I feel like I'm just sitting on the bench."
Chuck paused for a moment and looked at Sarah. She could see the pain of a memory in his eyes. He gazed over her shoulder into the middle distance, then closed his lids. Opening his eyes and turning his head once again to look at her, he added, "Just like basketball in high school."
Looking up into his serious face, Sarah explained, "I know, Chuck, and once this is over, things will go back to normal, but for now, please just be patient. You know how important this mission –"
Glancing around behind Chuck, Sarah noticed just in time that Scooter was approaching the door. Suddenly tightening her arms and pulling Chuck abruptly to her body so that the motion forced his breath out of his lungs in a little "Ooph," she whispered, "Kiss me. Now."
Not waiting for a second invitation, Chuck pulled his hands out of his pockets and wrapped his arms around Sarah. He took the opportunity to make it convincing, and Sarah, thinking, Might as well enjoy it, melted into him and gave as good as she was getting.
Scooter entered the Wienerlicious and passed by the two of them, still locked in a tight embrace, apparently oblivious to the rest of the world. He cleared his throat loudly and then tried again when that didn't seem to have any effect.
Finally coming up for air, Sarah and Chuck broke apart. Sarah felt a little disoriented and Chuck had a large grin plastered across his face that looked like it was going to be there for a while.
Sarah, weaving slightly, went behind the counter to collect her purse. She came back around and took Chuck's hand. They were just about to leave when Scooter said, "Hey, Nerd Herd guy. I think you should know, man-to-man, keep an eye on your woman."
"Bye, Scooter," Sarah called out as she and Chuck turned to go out the door.
Chuck, still smiling from the kiss, asked Sarah, "What did he mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing," Sarah replied.
Sarah walked into Chuck's room ahead of him and plunked down onto the bed. Dropping her purse and shoes onto the floor, she swung her legs up and laid herself down, releasing a long sigh. Chuck, lifting her ankles into the air, sat down on the bed, placed her legs over his thighs and began massaging her feet.
"Mmmm, that feels good," she breathed as he worked the muscles from her toes up to her ankles. "But nobody's around to see it. Why do the boyfriend thing now?"
"Well, the way I figure," said Chuck, carefully working a kink out of a tiny muscle at the base of her left big toe, "practice makes perfect. Any chance of practicing that kiss thing again? I think I could do better."
Sarah, pulling her foot out of Chuck's grasp, swung her legs around and sat up, swatting at his arm on the way.
"If you had done any better, I might have passed out," she said, laughing. "Where does a computer nerd learn to kiss like that?"
"Lots of time to think, I guess," replied Chuck. "But there really is no substitute for practical experience," he added, raising his eyebrows and looking at Sarah earnestly.
Standing, Sarah commented, "Nice try, Casanova."
She turned to face him, all traces of playfulness gone from her face.
"Seriously," she began, "Chuck, we have to talk. I need you for a recon mission and it may be dangerous. I need to know that you're ready for it."
"Of course I'm ready for it!" Chuck shouted, springing up from the bed and almost knocking Sarah over in his enthusiasm. "Finally, some real action!"
Sarah sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot beside her. Once Chuck had sat down and appeared more attentive, Sarah began.
"Tell me more about that disk, Chuck, you know, the one that you said is in the warehouse."
Chuck, his brow clouding with the memory, explained, "I don't know specifically what's on it; I just know it has information about their entire operation, you know, who's in charge and what the ultimate goal is and that kind of thing. And as far as I could tell, there's only one copy for security reasons."
"Which would make it very valuable to them and very hard to get at," added Sarah. She thought for a moment longer.
"Well, good. That's probably the best place to start, then," Sarah said decisively. "I'll have to run it by Casey and get his input, but I think we should go to the warehouse area and see if we can find out exactly where they are. Maybe we can figure out a way to get this disk."
"But you have to promise me," Sarah said, turning so as to fix Chuck's attention on what she was about to say, "to do what we tell you. Don't question, don't hesitate, just do it, all right?"
"I promise," said Chuck solemnly, making a crossing motion over his heart with this left hand and raising his right palm into the air. "Wanna spit on it?"
"No, I think the promise will be adequate," said Sarah, smiling.
They sat for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Sarah?" asked Chuck quietly.
Sarah, already well into formulating a plan for the recon mission, turned her head towards Chuck. He jumped up and back onto the bed and was once again in motion, bouncing in the middle of the bed on his knees in his excitement.
"Hmmm?" she inquired.
"Can I use some night binoculars or an infrared scope or a death ray or something on this mission?" he asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought.
"I'll see what I can do," said Sarah. Smiling, she slipped her shoes back on and picked her purse up from the floor.
Back in Casey's apartment once again, waiting for a scheduled communication from Headquarters, Chuck kept up a steady stream of questions that Sarah answered absently and Casey ignored completely. Just as Casey was about to turn and tell Chuck to shut up, a small red light started to flash on the equipment console. When Casey had turned everything on and the three of them were lined up to view the screen, General Beckman and Director Graham flicked to life in front of them.
"Agent Walker, Major Casey, Mr. Bartowski, thanks to the analysis you've been giving us, we've been able to put together a more complete picture of what's been going on. Here's what we have to this moment," began the general.
The director picked up where she had left off. "Our bad guys, as we've already told you, are members of a splinter group. They had their origins in Perogia under the umbrella of a larger group interested in independence from the main government, but apparently things weren't moving quickly enough for them, so they have split off and are now running under a name that means 'Brotherhood for Liberation'."
"Director Graham, I thought the secession faction in Perogia used more peaceful methods, you know, mass public demonstrations, publishing short political tracts, that sort of thing," said Sarah.
"The mother group still does," explained the general. "They always had a strict policy of violence for defense only and were very stringent in their enforcement of it within the group. The Brotherhood, apparently, was not happy with the restrictions this placed upon their operations."
"Killings similar to the ones you've already seen evidence of have been perpetrated in Great Britain, Canada, France and Germany, where military leaders were kidnapped, mutilated and killed, so they're obviously trying to send a message," said Director Graham. "All the victims were highly placed but not the highest of ranks in their respective services."
"But they were all military targets, right?" inquired Casey, an intense look of concentration on his face.
"Correct, Major Casey," answered the general.
"So, Major, Agent Walker, Chuck," she continued, carefully pausing before each name and turning her head to regard them in turn, "we find ourselves in the position of working with international intelligence agencies and several branches of agencies internal to the U.S."
"Which means," added the director, who also paused in order to underline the serious nature of what he was about to say, "that we will be doing our stuff on a world stage."
Sarah glanced briefly in Chuck's direction as he nervously shifted his weight and licked his dry lips.
"Of course we'll do our best," responded Sarah when the silence stretched to an uncomfortable length.
"Which, in your particular case, will not be adequate," intoned the general, staring into Sarah's flushing face.
"Your sector has the Intersect," she continued, "and I don't believe I need to tell you how valuable an asset it is. That means you'll be watched carefully by everyone who knows of its existence, which includes my and the director's superiors. I'm thinking I don't need to explain to you why this is important."
"No, ma'am, you don't," Sarah replied. She had regained her composure and straightened her spine, gazing confidently back into the two sets of eyes looking out at her from the screen.
"Agent Walker, we have arranged for a war room to be set up at a secure location near you," explained the director. "There, you will be able to collate your data and muster any other help you need for your sector's operations. We will also be feeding you information from other sectors and, in fact, from our international friends to see if the Intersect can assist with the bigger picture."
The general continued, "We'll be sending the location and security protocols to Major Casey's apartment probably tomorrow. Please feel free to use any and all available resources, Agent Walker, and use them well."
Sarah inclined her head slightly. "Yes, ma'am, and thank you, ma'am," she said.
"So in conclusion," Director Graham picked up, "our analysts believe this is a small group that is trying to call world attention to their demands and has gotten a little too ambitious. The consensus among the various agencies is that it should be a fairly straightforward matter to contain them."
"So keep up the good work," finished General Beckman, "and we are looking forward to being able to tie this up relatively quickly now."
After the briefing was over, Chuck decided to go back to his apartment to have dinner with Ellie and Devon and get some sleep before his early morning shift at the Buy More, leaving Sarah and Casey to burn the midnight oil.
Once Chuck had gone out and closed the door behind him, Sarah briefly outlined her plan for the recon mission to Casey.
"I don't like it," he growled from the kitchen.
"I know," replied Sarah testily. "But you're still going to do it, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," he replied, coming into the living room. "What do you take me for?"
"All right, calm down. I'm not questioning your professionalism or your sense of duty," said Sarah, clearing a space on the coffee table.
Casey put down two plates and cutlery and returned to the kitchen to retrieve a platter of roast beef and vegetables along with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Setting the food on the table, he dished out generous portions.
"Whoa, whoa," said Sarah when her plate almost began to overflow.
Casey looked up, shrugged, and added a couple more spoonfuls to his plate before taking the bowl and platter back to the kitchen. He returned once again, saying, "Gravy?" holding out a white china gravy boat.
"Sure, thanks," Sarah assented. She watched the growing gravy lake on her plate, stopping Casey before it spilled over onto the table.
Picking up her fork and taking a mouthful, Sarah rolled her eyes in rapture at the taste.
"Wherever did you learn to cook like this?" she asked, eagerly scooping up another forkful.
"KP duty," Casey replied, sitting and chowing down himself. "Food for five hundred hungry guys at a sitting."
"Oh, and some tips from Ellie," he added around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "Notice how the gravy isn't lumpy?"
"I noticed," said Sarah, amused at the pride in his voice.
They ate in companionable silence, which was just as well, since Sarah probably couldn't have given proper concentration to the job while eating such delicious food. When they had finished, Casey cleared the dishes away and stacked them in the sink to be washed later.
Coming once again into the living room, he paused in the middle of the floor and stood there, looking at Sarah as she busily arranged files and checked off lists.
Sarah, intent on her work, spoke to him, saying, "I thought we could go in at night. When we get an ID on the building and move in close, Chuck could maybe get a look through a window and see if he flashes on anything. You can cover the rear and we can set a van up just outside the harbor area with a backup team. Maybe we'll even have time to hook up some video surveillance and –"
"It's too dangerous to take the Intersect in," Casey said flatly.
Sarah paused in her work and looked at him, her face severe. "I know. You've pointed that out already."
"And you're ignoring me so Bartowski can pretend to be a spy."
Sarah was really incensed now. There was almost an electrical charge in the room between them as they faced off and tried to stare each other down.
Finally, Sarah, her voice carefully controlled, ground out between clenched teeth, "I'm not doing this to indulge Chuck. I think he and the Intersect are our best chance of finding this disk and getting a real handle on what this Brotherhood for Liberation is up to."
"And I'm telling you, Walker, it's a mistake to bring him that close to their operation. You heard the General say how valuable the Intersect is. Hell, we wouldn't be here doing this baby-sitting job if it wasn't," said Casey, his voice becoming steadily louder as he tried to convince her.
Sarah had had enough. She didn't want to hear any more lectures from Casey on the importance of the Intersect. She knew it was important. Chuck was important. And she couldn't be at her best if Casey kept raising doubts in her mind.
She had held this particular card close to her chest for a long time. It was valuable but now, Sarah considered, was the time to play it.
Turning to look Casey squarely in the eyes, she softly said, "Prague."
Casey reacted as if he had been punched in the stomach. He narrowed his eyes and searched her face. Finding only steely resolve, he said, grumpily, "Fine," and sat in front of the computers to resume his work.