A/N: Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter. I've really struggled with this one, due to the complexity. Then, my computer crashed the day before I planned to publish this and had to be repaired.
Thanks to those of you who've read and reviewed this story so far.
And beta thanks to WillieGarvin, who, amongst other things, put my thoughts straight on some key points in this chapter.
So, the team have had their first mission. Wondering what's next? The second mission, I guess…
Endings
Chapter 8: Second Mission
It had been a week since the team's first mission.
Chuck had accessed Major Lacy's phone records and happily told Sarah that the man hadn't reported to General Beckman at all. Checking on the general showed how irritated she was about that.
Sarah had reviewed that first mission with General Beckman and had also reprimanded her on trying to use Lacy as she had, as a spy within the team. She also said he should remain and any attempt to take him out, whether by a command or another illegal assassination, wouldn't go well for the woman.
Beckman huffed and puffed but knew she couldn't blow any houses down without losing access to the Intersect altogether.
Within the team, Zondra was doing team-building exercises. Carina had rolled her eyes at the start, but joined in. Lacy seemed to want to improve his standing within the team and got fully involved. The problem was Bryce Larkin.
Bryce had gone off, sulking, Zondra described it. "I think he still wants to get in your pants, Blondie."
"Not going to happen," Sarah growled. She looked over at Chuck. "They're permanently occupied."
Zondra snorted. "Not permanently, I hope. There are times when you need to separate."
"Okay. That's enough, you two," Chuck said.
Zondra laughed and Sarah grinned at him.
"Maybe Bryce will improve on the next mission," Chuck suggested.
"That's Chuck for you," Sarah said. "Always giving people another chance."
"Yeah. I'm surprised at him being like that with Bryce," Zondra commented.
"Hello. I'm still here," Chuck said.
"Anything from her ladyship for a new mission?" Zondra asked.
"Not yet, but it's not been that long since the last," Sarah said. "We'll let you know if we get anything."
When the call ended. Chuck turned to Sarah and said with a completely straight face, "Sounds like I need to get in your pants."
She grinned and grabbed his hand and led the way to the bedroom.
Two days later, Sarah got a panicked call from General Beckman. "I'm sorry I haven't had time to construct this into a mission briefing."
Sarah calmly asked, "What do you have, General."
"We've received intel that this man is a threat." A photo of a Japanese man, probably in his late sixties, appeared on the screen.
Chuck didn't flash, but recognized him. "Morimoto, CEO and chief engineer at Atari games. I don't remember his first name."
"Correct," Beckman said. "The intel is not in his bio, but he previously worked for the Japanese military. In 1980, they launched Morimoto's first-generation weapons satellite."
Chuck gasped. "The guy who created Missile Command commands actual missiles?"
Beckman nodded. "Via satellite. It's still up there. Dormant, but presumed operational. If anyone knows how to fire that up, it's Morimoto."
"And you think he's doing that now?" Sarah asked. "Why wait so long?"
"We don't know why the long wait, but we know the target is New York for the upcoming G8 meeting."
Sarah looked at Chuck and then back to Beckman. "That's in two days."
"Exactly. Hence my rush to get to you. Morimoto's office is in Los Angeles. We need you on this." She didn't specifically say Chuck, but they both knew that was what she was thinking.
"Send us everything you have," Sarah said. "We and the team will get straight onto it."
Beckman looked unsure, but nodded.
"Usual fees," Sarah added.
Beckman sighed. "Very well." Then she ended the call.
The data came through quickly, along with an email acceptance of the standard rate for the mission.
"This one might be expensive, Sarah," Chuck said.
"If it is, we'll ask for more," she replied.
Sarah sent a text to Zondra to get the team together in an hour's time and then the two of them quickly scanned the data. "Frightening!" Chuck said.
"Any ideas?"
He smiled. "I think the team needs to visit Morimoto, but Bryce might be key on this one."
That puzzled her. "Why?"
"He is the best at Missile Command. He could talk the hind legs off of Morimoto about it, enabling them to capture him or turn him."
Sarah called Zondra. "Blondie, this must be urgent. Text and a call."
"It is, Zondra. We have a mission that has to be wrapped up before eleven am Friday morning EST."
"That's less than two days!" Zondra exclaimed.
"As you said, urgent," Sarah responded.
"Tell me about it," Zondra said.
Chuck and Sarah between them outlined the problem and included Bryce's history with the game.
"Why not just go there and arrest him?" the brunette asked.
"His security will be loyal to him," Sarah replied. "You'd never get near him before he fled."
"Okay. I'll hustle the team along. Larkin might be the problem, though."
"Give me his number," Chuck requested. "I'll call him."
"You sure?" Zondra asked.
He grinned, although she wouldn't be able to see it. "I'm sure."
Chuck knew he could commandeer Bryce's video link rather than just have a phone call, but he decided not to go that far.
"Hello?" Bryce answered the call. "Who is this?"
"It's me, Bryce," Chuck responded.
"Chuck! This is a surprise."
"We've a mission that needs your specific skills," Chuck told him.
"And what skills would those be?" Bryce asked, but already Chuck could sense him preening, even down the phone!
"Missile Command," Chuck replied.
"Huh?" Bryce said.
"Yeah. Take yourself back to when you weren't a super sharp spy. When you were the king of Missile Command."
"Chuck. Are you trying to piss me off?"
"Well, I should, with you behaving as you've been recently, but no. We really do need the king of Missile Command on this next mission." He briefly told Bryce about it.
"I'm in!" Bryce said.
"Don't let the others know you already have inside info, Bryce," Chuck said and then mentally kicked himself. Of course, Bryce would do that. Preening all the time. "Seriously, that could undermine the success of the mission. I don't know exactly how this will play out, but it just feels like you are key to its success."
"On it," Bryce said. It was clear he was in motion. "On my way to Castle right now."
"Good man," Chuck said and ended the call.
He sat back feeling proud of himself. Then a blonde bombshell grabbed him and kissed him hard.
While waiting for Zondra to let them know the team was ready, Chuck accessed the street cameras around the Atari building and then the Atari security system. He quickly had images from both on their screens.
"Why would he be there, Chuck?" Sarah asked him. It had been playing on her mind.
He knew the team would ask the same question.
Chuck looked at her. "He never leaves the building unless escorted somewhere. That hasn't happened in some time." He paused and then said, "Maybe we should storm the building and take him."
She shook her head. "I don't think we should risk that. If we lose him, we're doomed."
"So, sneaking in, capturing him and fleeing with him is better?" he asked.
Sarah nodded.
After briefly considering that, he said, "Going in by helicopter, with me tackling the security feeds."
That got a huge smile from her. Sarah briefly phoned Zondra and told her their thoughts. Then, she made another call to secure a helicopter that could carry five passengers. While she was doing that, they got a text from Zondra.
Chuck looked at his watch. The team should have been together in Castle for at least ten. He set up the video link.
Sarah came off her phone and looked at the team facing her, including Zondra.
Chuck was only listening this time, not driving the call, because he started scanning the Atari security feeds.
Zondra looked at the two of them. "I've given a high level view of the mission. Over to you."
Sarah gave a detailed view of the problem as perceived by General Beckman. "I think she's right on this one, hence the urgency."
"I presume this is perceived as the best way to target the G8 after 9/11," Carina said.
Everyone winced, but no one replied.
"So, any initial thoughts on how to tackle this?" Bryce asked.
Sarah was impressed. He gave nothing away. Zondra outlined Chuck's thoughts that Bryce was key to dealing with Morimoto because the man would be impressed with Bryce's knowledge of his creation. Bryce then allowed himself to look important.
Carina groaned. "Boosting his ego."
Sarah shrugged. "Chuck's idea."
Chuck wasn't really paying attention because he spotted motion near Morimoto's office. He zoomed in on that. He gasped as he flashed.
Sarah looked at him. "Have you seen something?"
"Looking at the Atari security feed," he replied and pointed at the image he'd frozen. "That's Farrokh Bulsara, born in the Asir Province, 1974. The past ten years, he's been hopping between training camps from Syria to Somalia. He's a terrorist."
"Ping the image over to the team," she said, then turned back to look at Zondra. "You probably heard that. Chuck's sending the image over to you. Looks like you should mobilize your team immediately."
Chuck added, "Guys, Atari security will be good. I've hacked into their systems. Right now, their network is being attacked by a particularly nasty virus. Your call, Zondra, but I'd suggest you have one of the team go in as Nerd Herder to fix it. I'll do that remotely, but it'll have to look like you doing it." He then grinned. "They'll have their IT guys all over it. However, if one of you ladies go in wearing a short Nerd Herd skirt like Anna does, you'll totally distract them."
Carina grinned at Zondra. "Sounds like my sort of gig."
Zondra rolled her eyes, but agreed.
The team headed to the Atari building by car while Zondra told them how she wanted to play this, other than Carina's distraction role which was already known.
Carina was in Zondra's car with her, changing clothes.
Sarah didn't cancel the helicopter. They would still need it for once they had Morimoto. However, she did arrange for it to just collect them from the Atari building, rather than pick them up and take them there first.
Carina went in first. Bryce couldn't take his eyes off of her, so she knew she'd got this.
She'd undone the top two buttons of the white short-sleeved shirt so her cleavage was on show. The short gray skirt was so short on her. Her legs looked to Bryce as if they went on forever. The high heels accentuated it.
Lacy was wearing a camera, like he had on the previous mission, and was walking beside Bryce. He hardly paid Carina any attention, being focused solely on the mission itself.
Sarah and Chuck watched what they could see in the camera.
She noticed Chuck gulp. "You ogling Carina?" she teased him. She knew he had no interest in the redhead. That had been very obvious when she'd been with them before.
He looked at her. "No. I was imagining you in that gear."
She grinned and walked over to sit on his lap. "I don't have the exact match, but I do have a light blue top like that and a black mini skirt. Want me to wear that sometime?"
"God, yes!" he said. The fire in his eyes was very clear to her.
She kissed his lips and got up again. "Maybe later," she said and walked back to her seat to watch the show again.
Carina walked into the building and up to the two IT guys struggling with the computer at the reception desk. Chuck and Sarah could hear everything from the mic attached to Carina's shirt, as would Zondra and the two guys with her.
As she approached the desk, the team heard one of the IT guys say to the other, "Damn computers are out all over the building."
Both men looked up as Carina arrived in front of them. "Hi," she said. "I hear you're having a computer problem."
All the other men in the atrium were either focused on her or converging toward her.
The three team members quickly walked in and over the barrier to get to the stairs. They were out of sight in seconds.
Chuck activated his mic and said to Carina. "I'll fix it from here, but I'll talk you through what to say."
The IT guys had just stood back to let Carina see the computer. "Thank you," she said. "I'll take a look, shall I?"
Sarah knew Chuck would have to focus on helping the redhead, so she focused on the rest of the team. She'd only ask for his assistance if really needed.
One of the IT guys said to Carina, "The CPUs have been massively overvolted, but we may be able to ghost the drive on another system."
The other stepped in. "The more elegant solution would be to flash the BIOS and swap out the cooked CPU."
"So, you're trying to decide which path to follow?" Carina asked.
"Mine," both men said at the same time.
"Oh dear. Maybe I should decide. With your help, obviously."
Chuck told her what to type on the keyboard to get started.
Meanwhile, the three others had reached Morimoto's office suite, but there was a problem. A keypad to unlock the door.
"No trouble," Lacy said and stepped forward pulling a device out of his shoulder bag.
The other two pulled out their weapons. They wanted to take Morimoto alive, so they all had tranquilizers.
Lacy had just cracked the code, when the door opened from the inside. Zondra and Bryce raised their guns. Bryce immediately shot a dart into Farrokh who was looking at them in surprise. "You're all dead," he gasped out before collapsing to the floor.
"Perhaps we should have got him to explain himself before shooting him," Zondra said drily.
All three of them ran into the suite. They could hear a computer game being played further in.
"I recognize that," Bryce said. "Missile Command!"
As they got closer, they spotted Morimoto on a games console playing the game. He said, "You should not be here."
Bryce walked up to him. "I was the best player of this game, back in the day."
Morimoto glanced at him briefly before focusing back on the game.
"You are too late. He took the code."
"Who?" Zondra asked. "Farrokh or one of the other terrorists?"
The old Japanese man said, "I knew I should've never hidden the numbers inside the machine."
All three in the room and the two remote people, gasped, realizing what he meant.
"You hid the satellite code inside a game of Missile Command?" Bryce asked.
"In every game," Morimoto replied. "Hidden in the final board. The kill screen. A secret level only I could achieve. You'll never crack it, the mathematics underlying the final board are too advanced. It's like the music of the universe."
"You have to come with us," Zondra told him.
"I am sorry, I cannot do that," he replied.
Zondra reached for him, but Bryce stopped her. "Wait, if the bad guys have the code, why are you still playing the game?"
Morimoto replied, "We're running out of time!" He briefly looked at the three beside him. "SAVE YOURSELVES!"
Lacy understood what was happening as he'd just spotted that the console was rigged to explode. "Explosives!" he shouted. He ran back and grabbed Farrokh, throwing him over his shoulder. "Come on you two!" He ran out of the suite toward the elevator beyond it.
Bryce and Zondra were hot on his heels.
The elevator doors opened as they reached it and all rushed in.
The explosion shook the floor and the elevator door only just shut in time to stop the flames from reaching them.
"That was close," Zondra said.
Bryce surprised them by seeming to care about the old guy. "But he's dead now!"
Chuck quickly told Carina he was going to fix the system and then she should get out of there.. She rapidly typed and the computer screen displayed what it should. "There you go!"
All the men there watched her legs walk away from them. She was out of the building and almost reached Zondra's car as a helicopter took off from the top of the building. She had Zondra's spare key, so entered and drove off, as planned.
In the helicopter, Lacy had Farrokh secured next to him. Bryce and Zondra sat next to each other.
"Well, that was a complete failure!" Zondra grumbled, as much to Sarah, Chuck and Carina as to the two men with her.
"What happened?" the redhead asked. While Zondra told her, Sarah and Chuck looked at each other. "I'll talk to our Missile Command expert," he said.
He spoke, just to Bryce, "Bryce. It's up to you now, man."
"I know. Get Beckman to source a few Missile Command consoles."
Sarah had realized what was to happen, but felt the need to confirm it. "So, Bryce has to get to this kill screen to get the termination code?"
"Yeah, and we have to work out where Farrokh plans to use it."
"Shit!" she exclaimed.
Chuck didn't know whether that was her lack of faith in Bryce, their ability to solve the other problem, or both.
"So, you got to Morimoto, but failed to get the termination code?" Beckman glared at Chuck and Sarah. "And you also let the only man who can access them get blown up!"
Sarah got angry at that point. "Which wouldn't have occurred if you had supplied valid intel. We went in thinking he was the threat. You and your team fucked this up, General!"
Beckman went red in the face. It almost matched her hair, but she kept quiet. "So, what can we do about this?" she finally said. "We can't let Farrokh's men use Morimoto's satellite to start World War III."
"Get at least five Missile Command consoles to Castle," Chuck said. "More, if possible."
"What?" the general exclaimed.
"Bryce is a Missile Command wizard. He needs to get to the kill screen and beyond to get the code, just like Morimoto would. Then we can take control of the satellite."
Beckman looked incredulously at him. "You think he can do it?"
"I do, General. He's brilliant at it."
"Why so many consoles?"
"They are old. Some may not work anymore," he replied, thinking, 'I hope at least one does.'
Beckman nodded. "I'll get someone onto it. Our backup plan is to shoot the satellite down."
"That could bring on World War III too, General," Sarah said. "The retaliation from Russia and China for doing something like that would be severe."
"I know, but with the alternative being all that death in New York, which would you choose?"
Sarah had no reply to that.
Beckman ended the call to source the consoles.
Chuck tried to lighten the dark mood they both felt. "Look on the bright side. Castle is going to become an amusement arcade."
She shook her head at him.
He looked at her. "You need something to take your mind off this doom and gloom. Lacy and Zondra might be able to torture the code out of Farrokh. Or he might not have passed it on before we got to him."
She felt better as he said that. Either of those could be true.
"Is it 'later' yet?" he asked.
She smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. That would definitely take her mind off things. "Give me a couple of minutes to find what I need, then where do I 'find' you?"
"Oh, I'll be here on the laptop that's giving me trouble that needs a Nerd Herd visit," he replied, with sparkling eyes.
She ran up the stairs.
"Farrokh won't break," Zondra told them two hours later. "Well, he did break, in several places, actually, but he's not talking."
"Beckman is getting the consoles for you," Chuck told her.
"Well, she better be quick. We're running out of time," Zondra replied.
"I'll chase her," Sarah said, a little too gleefully for Chuck's liking.
Zondra obviously detected that too. "Do that, but don't piss her off too much. We have a city to save."
Sarah huffed but nodded.
As soon as the video call ended, Sarah phoned Beckman. "I know, I know," the flustered general said before Sarah even spoke. "It's been hard but we have eight consoles on their way. The first should arrive in less than an hour and the rest over the next five hours. Bringing them from further afield would be pointless."
"Can't they be flown in using military planes or helicopters?" Chuck asked.
Beckman didn't reply.
"We'll get Bryce ready for the first," Sarah said.
"Do that," Beckman replied and ended the call.
Chuck gazed at the love of his life. "Well done."
"She sounded so flustered. I thought any provocation would be too much."
"Do I tell Bryce directly or do we go through Zondra/" Chuck asked.
"Through Zondra. She's the team lead. It was to help her out before."
She called Zondra and let her know. "Bryce has been chilling waiting for this," Zondra told them.
"I thought he'd be feeling Carina up by now," Sarah replied.
"Oh, that's apparently scheduled for after the mission," Zondra drily told them.
"We did a Nerd Herd review earlier," the blonde replied.
Zondra barked out a laugh. "I thought you might!"
"Much better figure," Chuck commented.
"Don't let Carina hear you say that," the brunette facing them said in a quieter voice.
"Oh, she already knows Chuck's preference is for blondes," Sarah said, grinning.
"For one specific blonde," Chuck corrected.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," Zondra said, while chuckling.
Shortly after, Chuck got a phone call. He looked at the caller before answering. "Bryce?"
"Just wanted to thank you for this one, Chuck. I'm so glad you remembered."
Chuck smiled. "Always get the best man for the job, yes?"
"Yes," Bryce replied.
As Chuck put down his phone, Sarah caught his eye. "You were good to remember that, Chuck."
He nodded, not really wanting to think back to Stanford days.
The first two consoles worked for a while, but crashed after a few screens, well before the end. "How can that be happening, Chuck?" Sarah asked. "Surely once the game starts, it's all software after that."
"Not always. It is in the home games machine versions, but this isn't the same."
"Do you think any will work all the way through?"
"I hope so," he replied.
The third machine arrived two hours after the first and was DOA.
The fourth arrived an hour later and seemed to be fully functional.
Bryce concentrated, watched by Chuck through a camera feed. He had his mic switched off so the only person hearing his muttering was Sarah. "Come on, come on, Bryce."
Prior to that the two of them had been trying to work out from where the terrorists would send the signal to the satellite. Or more specifically where they could send the counter signal.
Chuck was distracted by a news item from a local station about the Buy More. He suddenly knew the location. "Sarah, I know where the terrorists are. They're using a television station to control the satellite; they're here in L.A."
Sarah had quickly let Zondra know which was why she and Lacy weren't in Castle. Carina was still there to direct deliveries of consoles.
They all knew that the conference would start in about ten minutes in New York City. With it only being a one hour meeting, the missile strike would be within that period. They were definitely running out of time.
Chuck watched Bryce get nearer and nearer to the kill screen.
"We're here," Zondra said. "And going in. Wish us luck."
Sarah looked at the view from Lacy's camera. They were in an almost deserted parking lot next to a building with a massive satellite dish on the roof. This felt right.
They entered via a side door, Zondra easily picking the lock. Sarah smiled at that. She'd taught Zondra how to improve on what the CIA taught at the Farm.
They quickly entered and Zondra told Lacy to follow her. She headed to the main control room.
Chuck glanced over to Sarah. "How come the site is empty? Surely they have people working there 24/7."
Sarah had also been thinking the same, but had no idea why that was the case. She spoke to the team leader, "Zondra, isn't it odd how there's no one around in a place that broadcasts 24/7?"
Zondra got Lacy to look to their left at something she'd just spotted. A room with two men and a woman lying on the floor, blood pooled around them. "It just confirms we're in the right place."
Chuck turned quickly away. He never liked the sight of blood. He looked back to how Bryce was getting on. His view was obscured suddenly and he hoped he was right on why. He made contact. "Carina, are you in with Bryce?"
"Yeah. I wanted to see how he was getting on. Why?"
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you move to your left or right, please. I'm watching via the camera behind you, and can't see now."
"Oh."
He could suddenly see again.
"Thanks, Carina."
Bryce had just entered the kill screen. "Yes!" he cried and pumped a fist in the air.
The screen had no more missiles coming down and in the center was his score in pale blue text:
2,000,000
Then, the screen changed. It cleared completely and green text appeared on the black background:
Congratulations, Mr. Morimoto.
Would you like to play again?
YES NO
Bryce hit, 'NO' and the screen cleared again, just showing the following, again in green on black:
OZPGSB
"That's it! That's the code!" Chuck exclaimed.
He took a screen capture and told Sarah he was ready to give it to the team.
She'd been watching Zondra, in front of Lacy, take out the terrorists, with his help.
They found one trying to get food from the dispenser by smashing the glass. Zondra took him out with two punches and kick to the back of his right knee.
Another tried to get to her from behind. Lacy shot him. No tranquilizers, this time.
Zondra pulled out her gun and shot the collapsed man. Sarah knew Chuck would have disliked that, but it was the right thing to do. He could have recovered and got to them otherwise, or even escaped.
They rushed through to the control room and Zondra found the computer from which to access the satellite. "This one's for you, Lacy." She knew he'd find his way to the right screen quicker that she would. "Damn technology!" she muttered.
If the situation had been less urgent, Sarah would have chuckled, remembering Zondra's dislike of computers.
Lacy stood and navigated to the satellite screen. However, he and the others gasped when they saw the two windows displayed.
The top one showed
WEAPONS SEQUENCE INITIATED
With a percentage increasing, currently at 72%.
"Oh God! That's for the missiles for New York City!" Sarah gasped.
Beneath that window was one that showed
ENTER ACCESS CODE
Sarah called out, "Chuck, give Lacy the code."
Chuck called out the letters, "Oscar... Zelda... Penguin... Gamma... Sector... Bappo..."
Sarah looked confused at the last one, but Lacy quickly typed the letters in. As soon as he typed the first, the text changed to:
TERMINATE WEAPONS SEQUENCE
Once the full code was there, the text in the window above started flashing:
WEAPONS SEQUENCE TERMINATED
"Done," Lacy said. He must have been pleased, but you couldn't tell from his tone.
"Yes!" the rest of the team cried out.
Chuck immediately contacted Bryce. "It worked. The satellite is powering down and the missiles are not being launched. You're a hero, buddy."
Bryce already knew, but was still relieved. "Thanks, Chuck. Not sure I want to play Missile Command again for quite a while."
Then, Chuck and Sarah saw him being enveloped in Carina's arms as she hugged and kissed him.
Sarah chuckled. "We already know he'll be firing other missiles later."
The team had regrouped in Castle and reviewed the events with Chuck and Sarah.
"You all work well as a team. Each bringing skills to play," Sarah told the team on a video call.
Carina chuckled. "Seduction for me?"
"I couldn't draw in a crowd like that, Red, and then hold their attention," Zondra replied. "You were great."
Carina smiled her thanks.
"Zondra, you're fighting skills and leadership are both still impressive," Sarah told her.
She looked at her ex-partner. "Bryce, don't just see it as your gamesmanship that was important. I think your interaction with Morimoto also played a part."
"But you rock at Missile Command, bro!" Chuck added. Bryce grinned.
"Lacy, your technology skills bring a lot to the party, but you really are a team player," Sarah told him. "Thank you."
"Saved my ass twice," Zondra added.
"Great work, team," Sarah concluded.
"Chuck's intuition and smarts made it easier for us," Zondra said and Chuck and Sarah could see the others behind her nodding.
"And he got me off my lazy backside," Bryce added.
"Thanks, guys," Chuck replied.
"Thank you, Agent Walker," General Beckman said on the call to discuss the mission. "For saving New York City and reminding me that teamwork pays off. It seems that you and Chuck work well remotely with your team."
Sarah was surprised to hear both the words and the tone of voice. "You know that Chuck's input was more than just from the Intersect, don't you? I would say the Intersect contributed less than twenty percent to this success."
The general sighed. "I know that."
"And Chuck contributed just as well remotely, too," Sarah was keen to emphasize.
Another sigh. "Ok. You've made your point."
"This team in Castle also works well together," Sarah concluded.
"Indeed. The payment has already been made," Beckman said. "We'll collect up the consoles tomorrow."
Bryce had not wanted any of the consoles to remain, so they were happy with that.
After the call, Chuck was gazing at Sarah in thought. "What?"
"I was just imagining what it would have been like with the old team. I can both imagine you completely mesmerizing the men in Atari and you taking out all those terrorists on your own."
She smiled. "You think a lot of me, don't you?" She left that for him to interpret however he wanted, but he picked up both sides.
"I think you're the best, Sarah. There's nothing you can't do and you can cut a swath through lots of bad guys. I've seen you do it." She could see his confidence in her and it filled her with pride. "I also think about you all the time. In fact, when anything happens, I think, 'What would Sarah do?' to help me do the right thing. You're my idol, Sarah."
She sat in his lap and put her arms around his neck. "Thank you, but don't put me on a pedestal. I've got lots of faults, too. Just see me as a devoted partner in everything we do."
She kissed him and then snuggled into him.
She couldn't help thinking that the two of them still made a great team. She pushed away thoughts of the partner that enhanced their abilities in the team of three. They now had an extended team that was great and she focused on that instead. She hadn't just been trying to boost their morale earlier, she really did think they all brought skills to the team and they worked well together now.
Of course, her love for Chuck, and his for her, was what drove a lot of her actions now, not just in bed.
A/N: Second mission complete and the team more effective.
I'd love to know what you think of this chapter, so please review if you can.