A/N: first of all, as usual, I'd like to thank you all for leaving your reviews and for the story alerts, favorites, etc., etc. You guys are awesome.
Thanks again to Aerox, who, even when he's extremely busy, went over this chapter and made it readable. He's the best!
So, here's chapter five. I hope you enjoy it.
I own nothing.
Chapter Five
April 2004
"Very well, Agent Carmichael. It seems like you're almost in full control of the Intersect. You keep up this pace and you'll be in the field in no time." Dr. Jones was in charge of the tests the CIA had been running on Chuck for the past two weeks. He was a nice man, average height, bald and with kind eyes.
Chuck had really progressed since that first day. He was still kind of sore, but it was nothing compared to the pain he'd been in when Sarah had to take him home. And he was learning to control his flashes really well. There had been two little incidents when he may or may not have knocked out a few Agents by accident, but that was all. Oh, and the ninja star that got stuck in the ceiling after a very confusing episode that had involved him studying said artifact and a very sneaky nurse that had startled him. However, the Intersect didn't have anything to do with that one –although he wasn't going to admit that. So things were going really well now, and Chuck was actually pretty happy with his life. He hadn't seen Sarah and Casey much after their first meeting, but Graham always stopped by to ask him how he was and to know when he would be ready to go on missions. At first, he thought it was nice of him, but now it was kind of pressuring. Luckily for him, the doctor told him he was almost ready a few days ago, so he figured he was finally going to have some good news for Graham after his afternoon visit.
"I don't care! If you want to know if he's going to be ok, I have to see him myself!" Chuck turned around and saw a tall, dark-haired man in a doctor's coat and flashed. Dr. Jones reluctantly let him into the room and introduced him to Chuck. "Agent Carmichael, this is Dr. Zarnow."
"Ah, the human Intersect! I didn't think it was true, so I had to come see it for myself." I bet you did, Chuck thought. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent. One of the CIA's finest, I presume."
Chuck swallowed hard. "The pleasure is all mine, Doctor." Just when Zarnow was about to say something, the door opened and Graham stepped into the room.
Zarnow turned his attention to him immediately. "Director, it's so good to see you!" he said, with a feigned smile.
"It's good to see you too, Dr., but if I may ask; what are you doing here?" Graham's tone was a little colder than usual.
"Dr. Jones here asked me for a consult regarding Agent Carmichael's health, so I came here to see how he's been doing for myself."
"And I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that you've been feeding American intelligence and science to North Korea…" Chuck said in a calm manner.
Zarnow's face fell and he tried to run for the door. Chuck flashed again and was quicker; he threw the knife that was in the table right beside him and pinned Zarnow to the wall through his coat.
Graham smiled and said "Well, Dr., I would have never expected such thing from you."
"He's lying! I swear…"
"Cut the crap, Zarnow. He is the Intersect after all." He turned to the two Agents who were standing at the other end of the room –they had been training with Chuck– and said, "Please, escort Dr. Zarnow to his cell." The Agents nodded and got out of the room, holding a panicked-looking Zarnow between them.
Graham looked at Chuck. "Well, Agent Carmichael, I have to say, that was very impressive."
"Thank you, Sir," was Chuck's humble reply.
The Director only smiled and seemed to stare at him. Chuck was getting uncomfortable when he finally spoke. "I was going to ask when you would be field-ready again, but I guess I have my answer already, am I right, Dr. Jones?"
The doctor cleared his throat and said, "Well, there are still a few things that can be improved, but clearly Agent Carmichael here has come a long way. I'd say he's no longer dangerous to others or himself. If anything, he's quite the asset."
Chuck could feel himself blushing furiously under Graham's gaze, who was openly grinning now. "Ok, so it's settled then. Dr. Jones, thank you for the remarkable work you have done so far."
The doctor shook the hand Graham offered him with a big grin. "It's been a pleasure, Sir. And it's been a pleasure working with you, Agent Carmichael. The USA government needs more men like you." In the past two weeks, he had come to know Chuck and he knew he was a really good man. Maybe too good for this line of work. He respected human life and was always reluctant to attack someone unless he felt threatened. He was different from any other Agent he knew, special in his own way. He only hoped Carmichael's feelings wouldn't get in the way on a mission and get him killed.
Chuck knew he was blushing again, but he said anyway, "Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate it. And thank you for being so patient with me." The doctor only chuckled while he and Graham left the room. They started to walk together in silence, until Chuck had to ask: "So, what now?"
Graham stopped and looked at him, a serious expression on his face. "Now you, Agent Walker and Agent Casey are going to take down this rogue organization and make the world a better place." Chuck stifled a snort. That was so cheesy, especially for Graham. The Director noticed and laughed, which surprised Chuck. "Come on, Carmichael, even I have a sense of humor," he said, still laughing. Chuck joined him, a little shocked that he was actually sharing a laugh with his boss, the Director of the CIA, no less.
Graham knew Chuck was surprised about his comment, and to be honest, Graham didn't laugh much. But he had just witnessed the Intersect in action and for the first time, he believed it would be possible to end the threat the rogue agency meant to the US. Besides, he had to admit, Chuck had grown on him. He was very different from the people he had to deal with every day, and it was kind of refreshing, even if it was a lot more complicated on a whole other level. He knew it was going to be difficult for Chuck to accept some parts of the job. He knew it was going to be a risk to let him go in the field while he was clearly still an emotional guy, but he would learn with time. After seeing the things spies had to see for a while, he would change, that was inevitable, but he would become better at his job.
When they finally reached his office, Graham said, "Very well, Chuck. You may go home now and rest. Tomorrow I'll contact you and your team and let you know what your first assignment is."
"Yes Sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Graham nodded and disappeared into his office, leaving Chuck standing in the hallway with a proud smile on his face. Graham had said "you and your team". My team… I have a team now! His grin threatened to split his face in two, but he didn't care. He was that happy. I wish I could tell Ellie, though… He had talked to his sister every day since he had moved to Washington. Even though he kind of thought it was a little too much, Ellie clearly missed him and he didn't want to hurt her. Besides, he missed her too. In all his time in DC he hadn't really made any friends. Sure, he talked to some of the technicians who had worked with him encoding the data in the Intersect and he knew a few analysts from his one day working in their floor, but things had been so crazy for him that he hadn't actually connected with anyone. That just made him miss Morgan a lot more than he should've been doing. Or maybe not, considering Morgan was his self-proclaimed hetero life partner. He grinned as he imagined his best friend would probably be playing some Call of Duty with some of his creepy coworkers right about now.
He got out of the building and decided he was going to walk to his apartment. He was feeling really good. The only thing missing was someone to share his bliss. His mind immediately drifted to his partner… The pretty one, of course. He hadn't seen Sarah for three days now, and every time they had spoken since the time she had carried him to his apartment –he was still mortified about that- it had always been work related. Even when he had promised he wouldn't let his feelings get in the way, he couldn't stop thinking about her. In fact, she'd helped him perfect the technique to control the Intersect, although she didn't know that. When he discovered that he couldn't just flash and attack people without a reason, he'd started picturing what a mission would be like, more specifically, what it would be like if Sarah was in danger. The moment he did it for the first time, the Intersect kicked in and he was able to reduce four armed men in just one move. Doctor Jones had been very happy with him, believing he was starting to turn down his emotions, but he had no idea what the real reason for his success was. And no one would ever will. It was just too embarrassing to say it out loud.
He finally got to his apartment and sat on the couch. It was still early for dinner so he took off his shoes and turned on the TV. Fifteen minutes later, he was still having trouble to concentrate on the Friends' episode he was trying to watch. The truth was, he felt lonely. He glanced at the phone and then looked back at the TV. Two minutes later, he did the same. By the third time, he couldn't believe how pathetic he was. Just call her. It's just two frie… partners hanging out, what's the harm in that? He inhaled deeply and grabbed the phone. But I did promise I was going to be professional. What if she says no? He pressed the phone to his forehead. He didn't want to be alone that night, but he didn't want to ruin the already awkward relationship he had with Sarah, whatever that relationship's label was at this point in time. But it would be really good to have someone to talk to right now. He sighed. He knew he was going to end up doing it sooner or later, so he just called her. At the third ring, he was sweating. Calm down, you idiot, she's probably not even home. After all, she could very well be out for the night, maybe at a bar with friends, or with her boyfriend. Oh, my God! What if she has a boyfriend? And why do you care? He was still arguing with himself when he heard Sarah's voice at the end of the line.
"Hello."
Talk, talk. Say something, anything! "Uh…hi, Sarah? This is Chuck, Chuck Bartow-Carmichael, you know, from the CIA…?" He couldn't believe himself right now.
He heard something that sounded suspiciously similar to someone stifling laughter. "Hi, Chuck. What's up?" a hint of smile in her voice.
He smiled too, and relaxed a little. "Great news: I've been cleared for field work today."
"That's great, Chuck." She didn't sound so excited though.
"Yeah, Graham said he's going to give us our first mission tomorrow."
"Wow, that's fast. You seem happy, though," she remarked as closed her eyes, thinking about how innocent he was. He didn't have a clue what it was like being an Agent.
"Yeah, I am. It's kind of a big thing for me." Now or never. "So, uh… look, as I said before, I'm really excited about this and I really wanted to tell someone, but I don't really know anyone and I just… I guess I didn't want to be alone. So, would you like to go out tonight?" He closed his eyes and winced, waiting for the inevitable rejection.
There was a pause, and then he heard Sarah saying, "Chuck, I…"
Before she could say anything else, something came over him as he spoke. "Look, Sarah, I know, we're partners and we probably shouldn't hang out but the truth is, I'd love to be with a friend right now, have a few beers and celebrate the fact that I'm actually doing something with my life for the first time in years. So, forget the CIA, the rules, the protocol and the Agent… would you like to do something with me tonight?"
If he could've seen Sarah right then, he would've laughed. She was staring wide-eyed at the wall in front of her, a smile slowly creeping on to her face. Ignoring her resolve of staying purely professional, she finally answered, "Ok, I'll be at your place in thirty minutes."
Chuck's jaw dropped. "Really?"
"Yeah. Unless you don't want me to…" she joked.
"No! Of course, of course I want you… I mean, I don't want you in that way… I mean, I… I'm going to stop talking now." Even though she couldn't see him, his face turned a deep red.
Sarah's laugh filled his ear and she said, "Ok then. But I don't want to go out, I'm pretty tired and I don't wanna dress up. You can order some food if you want."
"Great, great, I… I'll do that. See you in half an hour!" He could barely contain his excitement.
"See you, Chuck." She hung up the phone and bit her lip to fight the giant grin that was threatening to appear on her face. She was wearing sweat pants and a tank top, so she headed to her room to change. She had said she didn't want to dress up, but she wasn't going to meet Chuck looking like a homeless person. Twenty minutes -and a large pile of clothes lying on her bed- later, she decided that a pair of jeans and her blue shirt with little buttons were enough for a frien…partners night. She put on a little make up and headed to Chuck's apartment.
I haven't thought this through, thought Chuck five minutes after he got off the phone with Sarah. While most of his time was spent being at work, somehow his apartment had gotten very… dusty. When he went to the kitchen he found dirty plates from the night before in the sink, two boxes of pizza were lying in the table and he didn't dare to take a look at the bathroom to see how the situation was in there. Oh, my God! Sarah's going to be here in twenty minutes! He managed to do the dishes, throw away the pizza boxes and clean the living room and the kitchen a little. Ok, only the bathroom left. Or maybe I can just tell her the toilet is out of order… He shook his head at that last thought. When he finally finished cleaning the bathroom and glanced at the clock, he noticed it had been forty minutes since he had talked to Sarah. He sat on the couch and turned on the TV. When he looked at the clock again, ten minutes had passed. Maybe she's not coming. He let out a sigh. At least I had an excuse to clean my bathroom, he thought bitterly. And then he heard a knock on the door.
He jumped off the couch, ran a hand through his hair and headed to the door. He breathed in deeply and opened it.
There stood Sarah, a little grin on her face and what seemed to be…
"Rocky road?" he asked, smiling at her.
"Well, yeah. I figured if you ordered the food, it was only fair that I brought dessert."
He chuckled. "Well, you're right, Miss Walker. Please, come in. Sorry it's kind of messy; I haven't really had time to clean."
"Oh, it's ok," she said, coming in. "This place is nice, Chuck."
"Yeah, it is. Kind of big, though. I don't use most of the rooms, but it's fine I guess. At least I have a guest room for Ellie and Awesome to stay when they come to visit."
Sarah smiled again. Apparently, Chuck was still close with his sister. She had always secretly envied him for that. She was an only child and the Bartowski siblings made her wish she had a brother or sister to play, share and even fight with.
They sat at the kitchen table, where the pizza Chuck had ordered was stashed. Chuck opened the box. "Vegetarian, no olives." He said with a grin.
"You remembered?" Sarah felt something in her stomach, but she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe I'm getting sick.
"Of course I remembered! Who do you think I am?" he playfully asked.
Chuck pulled out two beers from the fridge and handed her one of them. They sat there, and they ate and chatted and it was great. Sarah hadn't felt so relaxed in years. Her face actually hurt form laughing.
"So, how's Ellie?"
"Oh, she's great. She's a doctor now, and she's living with her boyfriend, Captain Awesome."
"Wait, you call him 'Captain Awesome'?" she incredulously asked.
"Yeah… wait till you meet him. Everything he does is awesome: climbing mountains, jumping out of planes… flossing."
Sarah thanked her lucky stars she wasn't drinking. Otherwise, the beer would've gone out her nose when she laughed. "So, I see your sense of humor hasn't change," she pointed out.
"Well, you know…" he shrugged.
"That's a good thing, trust me. You don't get to laugh much in this line of work." She instantly regretted saying that. Chuck's eyes shot up, and he was looking at her intently. He didn't ask though, and she silently thanked him for that.
"So…" he said "How did little old Jenny Burton end up working for the CIA?" He said that in a light tone, but she immediately looked down, a dark expression on her face. He noticed and quickly apologized "Hey… I'm sorry, I didn't know… you… you don't have to tell me, really." He couldn't bear to see the sadness in her eyes, and he wanted to kick himself for being the one that had caused it.
She had known it was going to come up eventually, but she wasn't ready to share that with him yet. She had never told anyone what her dad did for a living or how her childhood had been. And although it was all in the past now, it still hurt. The weird part was, she wanted to tell him. She felt so at ease with him. She had laughed more that night than in the past… eight years, probably. He was so genuine and kind, and just so… Chuck. But they had unresolved issues and she was afraid he was going to bring that up anytime soon. She didn't want to talk about why she'd left Burbank without a word. She didn't want to relive all those sad moments of her life. I shouldn't have come, she thought.
"Who wants some Rocky road?" Suddenly, she noticed Chuck was pulling the ice cream out of the fridge, with a huge smile and like nothing had happened just a minute ago. Just for that, she felt the urge to hug him.
After Chuck's change of subject, things went back to how they were before. They kept laughing and talking until she joked, "Of all the places I would've thought I'd see you again, work was the last one… no, actually, it wasn't even in the list."
"Oh, so there's a list?"
She blushed but held his gaze anyway. "Well, I can't say that I haven't thought about you a few times in the past eight years. But I figured you'd be a computer genius by now, not that you'd have one in your brain."
"Yeah, I figured that too. Funny how things work, right?" A sad smile appeared on his face. "I got into Stanford, and that on itself, was a dream come true. It was all new and exciting. I even got into a fraternity. I had my best friend as a roommate, I had a girlfriend who I thought loved me…" his expression darkened, "I was happy. Until Bryce accused me of stealing those tests."
Sarah felt so bad for him "Chuck, I'm so sorry. We don't have to talk about it, I have no right…"
"No, it's ok. I've learned that things are easier to bear if you talk about them." He glanced at her and smiled a little. "After that, I went back to Burbank, and lived with Ellie and Devon for two years. I was… I was in a very bad place in my life. I had no job, no dreams, and no will to live anymore. I was a burden to my sister and behaved like a little kid who had been deprived of his favorite toy. I'm not proud of that, but that's the truth. Of course, Ellie, being the amazing woman she is, helped me get back on my feet. I'd just gotten a job when I found a letter from my mom. It was addressed to Orion, my father. I don't know if you've heard that name before…"
She shook her head. She was amazed at the things Chuck was sharing with her. She had refused to tell him anything about her, and here he was, telling her about the worst times of his life, without asking for anything in exchange.
Chuck continued "Well, it turns out my mother was a CIA Agent." Sarah's eyes widened at this last bit of information. "Believe me, I know. But I found out the hard way: I was awakened by CIA operatives invading my house and Director Graham himself questioning me about the search I'd been doing to look for my parents." Sarah's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah… I wrote a little program to run the search. Somehow it managed to break down the Agency's security and I kind of caused a security breach…" He shrugged with an innocent smile.
Sarah couldn't help it as a proud smile formed on her face as well. So that's where Graham had gone! That had to be the day Agent Johnson had given her the secret assignment.
"What? What is it?" Chuck questioned, seeing her expression.
"Nothing, it's just… I went to Agent Johnson's office that day and he was yelling at a couple of analysts because of that breach…"
Chuck winced. "I hope they didn't get fired because of me…"
Sarah felt that strange feeling in her stomach again. "I'm sure they didn't, Chuck," she said, with a reassuring smile.
"Anyway, that day Graham offered me a job in the CIA to finish building the Intersect… which my father had invented." Sarah nodded and then realized what he had said.
"Wait, what? Your father invented the Intersect?" Sarah knew Chuck hadn't seen his parents in years, so finding out that his father had essentially created the thing that was now a part of his life must've been a huge shock to his system.
"Yeah, along with the letter I found there were also these schematics and notebooks he had left behind. Graham took a look at them and immediately knew what they were. So after that, I moved to Washington, and… the rest is history."
"History meaning you ended up with the super computer that your father invented, in your brain and working for the CIA as a field Agent."
"Since today, which is the reason we're celebrating tonight." He smiled broadly, and in turn, made her smile as well. She thought about everything Chuck had told her just a few minutes ago. He was still a good guy. Damn, he was a great guy. She didn't want that to change him, but she knew it was inevitable. Once he went in the field, he was going to lose himself, just like she had lost herself.
Chuck noticed the worried look in Sarah's eyes and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"
She glanced at him, "Nothing, it's nothing…" she said shaking her head. Chuck didn't say a word and let it go, but she had to tell him how it was to work for the government. "It's just… working for the CIA, being in the field… it's not easy, you know? You have to give up a normal life, relationships in general, you never know who you can trust… and you end up changing."
"Hey," Chuck put his hand over hers and looked at her intently until she finally met his eyes. "I promise you, I won't change. And as your partner, I can guarantee you can always, always trust me, Sarah."
She knew he was telling the truth by the look in his eyes. He really is a great guy. "Thank you, Chuck."
He smiled again and then realized he was still holding her hand. He blushed and awkwardly removed it, causing Sarah to grin a little.
"Well, it's kind of late and we have work tomorrow, so I really should get going now," she said, glancing at her watch.
"Oh, yeah, yeah… sure. Here, let me get that for you," Chuck told her, grabbing her trench coat and holding it out so she could put it on. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," Chuck said while he opened the door.
"Uh, yeah. I'll see you then," Sarah answered awkwardly.
"Ok, great. You… I'll walk you downstairs." He was suddenly feeling really uncomfortable.
"Oh, no, that's not necessary, I'll be fine." She looked at him once more and finally said, "Bye Chuck." She turned around and walked towards the elevator. She got in and heard Chuck wishing her goodnight as the door closed behind her. She rested her back against the wall and smiled. She had just had one of the best nights of her life, which, oddly enough, had consisted of just pizza, beers and rocky road ice cream while catching up with an old friend. So much for keeping things professional, she thought. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't regret it one bit. Still smiling, she got into her car and went home.
Chuck was lying on his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He was too excited about the new mission and his mind kept drifting to what Sarah had said. He had promised her he wouldn't let the job change him, and he was determined to keep that promise. He couldn't help but grin when he thought about how open and… normal she had been that night; definitely an improvement from the first time they had seen each other again. So maybe I'm not that great keeping things professional. Or maybe he didn't want to. He yawned. He would have to think about that later. Now, he had to rest. Big day tomorrow was his last thought before he fell asleep.
Casey, Sarah and Chuck were waiting for Graham in the conference room. Casey was silently sitting in his chair, while Chuck and Sarah talked animatedly, mostly about missions and how it was being a spy. Chuck could barely contain his enthusiasm and Sarah was quite amused by his excitement. A few minutes later, the door flew open and the Director and General Beckman entered the room. Casey quickly stood up and saluted his superior, but Beckman shook her head and told him, "At ease, Major. No formalities needed here, we're going to be seeing each other a lot and we can't waste time on things like that."
Casey obediently did as he was told. Immediately, Graham started talking.
"Good afternoon, Agents. You all know by now that roughly two weeks ago, Bryce Larkin broke into one of our facilities, got into the Intersect room, stole the data, sent it to Chuck and then blew up the whole building." When Casey grunted and Chuck and Sarah nodded, he continued. "Until yesterday, we thought he hadn't been able to escape the building in time, but we managed to recover the security tapes and they show he did."
Sarah was visibly agitated after this last bit of information. "What do you mean he got out? Didn't you have Agents there? And I thought the NSA had Agents going after him too!"
"We did," said Beckman, and turned to look at Casey, "but even the best fail sometimes."
Chuck could've sworn he saw Casey blushing. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and no one said a word for a minute, until Chuck felt the need to mumble, "Well, this isn't awkward at all…" which earned him a murderous look from the Major.
Graham cleared his throat. "Anyway, the tapes also showed that there was a second Agent working with Larkin and waiting for him outside the building." He pressed the remote that had been lying on the table and a picture of a man appeared in the screen behind him. The man had dark hair and a large scar on the left side of his face that went from above his eyebrow to his cheekbone and around his eye. When Chuck looked at it, he flashed.
"That's Tommy Delgado, ID number 41730. He's a CIA operative who has been working on a classified project for FULCRUM," he recited.
All the people in the room looked at him. "Did you just flash, Carmichael?" Beckman asked.
"Yes, General, I did."
"Is it always that fast?"
"Depends on the amount of information, but yeah, it's always pretty fast."
"Ok, so we know who he is, now we need to find him," Graham chimed in. "And that's going to be your first mission: bring him here so we can interrogate him about Larkin and FULCRUM."
"Do we have any clue about where he might be?" Sarah questioned. Even if they knew who this guy was, it was going to be impossible to locate him if they didn't have a place to start.
"We do. With the help of the face recognition software our analysts were able to track him to his hotel here in DC. Apparently, he decided to stay close to home. Anyway, we managed to bug his room, so we know he'll be attending a party tonight, and you'll be there to apprehend him and bring him here." The three Agents nodded and he continued. "Agent Casey will be posing as a bartender, while Agents Walker and Carmichael will go as guests. Any questions so far?"
"Uh… what is our cover going to be?" Sarah asked.
"Well, unless you have any problem with that, you'll go as a couple," said Beckman.
Chuck glanced at Sarah, who immediately turned to look at him. He blushed but answered, "Not a problem for me, General."
Sarah swallowed and said "I'm ok with that too."
They both heard a snort and something that sounded like "I bet you are," but Graham was giving them the last indications for the mission, so they let it go.
Chuck was supposed to go to Sarah's apartment to "pick her up" even though technically they were going in her car. They had to arrive together due to the fact that they were posing as a couple. Casey was going to be arriving earlier, so he could check the rooms and see if he could spot Tommy beforehand. And well… because he was bartending –which didn't amuse him at all.
When the meeting ended, Graham asked Chuck to follow him to his office, where he congratulated him and gave him his CIA badge and his issued firearm. Chuck winced when he grabbed it, hoping that he would never have to use it. In fact…
"Uh, Sir?"
"Yes, Chuck?" Graham asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I… I was wondering if it wouldn't be best for me to use just a tranq gun. You know, for safety. We need Delgado alive and if the Intersect kicks in and I end up shooting him…" he stopped when he noticed the Director giving him a knowing look.
"Chuck, I know you're not comfortable with killing people yet, but we have to make sure you're safe."
"And I will be! Isn't that the whole point of this team? You and the General said Sarah and Casey's mission was to make sure I stay alive, and I trust they will do that. I just… I can't fire a real gun. Not yet, anyway."
"Ok, for tonight's mission, you can carry the tranq gun. But you're going to have to do something about that, you can't be carrying a toy gun against real enemies."
"Thank you, Sir. I promise I'll be fine and I'll keep myself out of trouble."
Graham nodded, not really convinced, but he figured Chuck would be alright; after all, Walker and Casey were going to be with him, and it was just a party. What trouble could he get himself into?
After leaving the building, Chuck decided it was best to buy a tuxedo, since he was going to use it a lot for missions. He smiled at the thought. Maybe he could even find a white dinner jacket, like Bond wore in that scene in Goldfinger. Feeling really good with himself, he went to the store. After an hour without finding one which suited him, he started to freak out and wished Ellie was there with him. She had bought him clothes since she was a teenager and really had an eye for that. When he tried on the seventh one and didn't like how it fitted, he desperately asked the salesman for help. Together, they found a black peak lapel tuxedo with a lay down collar shirt and dress pants that suited him very nicely. In fact, he felt so well wearing it that he felt like hugging the guy, but knowing it would be weird, he just thanked him and shook his hand. Only the shoes left, he thought. There was a reason he didn't like shopping, but he figured the shoes wouldn't be as hard as the tux. He was right.
By the time he got home he was feeling exhausted, so he decided to have lunch and take a nap. He needed to be in his best shape for later that night.
At six thirty, Chuck took a cab to Sarah's apartment. He was all dressed up and he had managed to somewhat tame his crazy hair. He could feel the tranq gun pressing into his back as he sat in the car. He was pretty happy with how he looked; considering it was the first time in his life he had dressed formally without Ellie being there to help him. Sure, he had struggled to tie the bow tie, but after looking for the instructions in the internet, it was easier.
He got into Sarah's building and reached her apartment on the third floor. Before he had a chance to knock, he heard her shout, "It's open!" Wondering how she knew he was at the door, he got in.
Sarah was in the bathroom finishing the last touches of her makeup. When she heard him get into the apartment, she told him, "I'll be right there, I'm almost done."
"Ok, no rush, it's still pretty early," was Chuck's response.
He sat on the couch in the living room and started to look around. Apparently, Sarah had been an Agent for quite some time now, but the apartment looked like she had just moved in. There were no pictures in the walls and it was kind of empty.
"Did you recently move in?" he asked.
"No, I've been living here for the past three years, why?"
"No reason, I was just asking," he lied.
He heard something behind him and when he stood up and turned around, he almost passed out at the sight before him. His jaw dropped and he felt like the temperature had risen significantly so he had to tug at his collar to be able to breathe properly.
Sarah had to swallow hard when he faced her. That tux looked really good on him. He was even wearing dress shoes, although she had always loved his trademark Chuck's.
After what it felt like hours, he finally cleared his throat and croaked "Wow, Sarah, you… you look gorgeous."
She smiled broadly at him, still trying to recover. "Thank you, Chuck. You look very dapper."
Chuck grinned. "Thank you."
"I have to tell you, though, I was kind of hoping for you to show up wearing a white dinner jacket." She said that with a playful smile and then winked at him.
"Oh, I would have, but unfortunately I left my diving suit in LA."
Sarah chuckled and Chuck offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
She accepted his arm and said, "Yeah, if we don't leave now we're going to have a very angry NSA Agent to deal with."
When they finally arrived to the party and headed to the bar, they could see Casey wasn't having a great time and he was practically barking at the costumers. He took them to a corner and asked, "Where the hell have you been?"
"I'm sorry, Casey, traffic was terrible," said Chuck.
"I don't want your excuses Carmichael, I just want to apprehend Delgado and get the hell out of here."
"Ok, stop it you two." Chuck was going to protest when he saw Sarah's glare so he backed off. "Casey, have you seen Delgado?"
"Yeah, he's at your six o'clock, chatting with a pretty brunette."
Both Sarah and Chuck turned around to see that Casey was right.
"Ok, so what do we do now?" Chuck nervously asked.
"Just stick to the plan and everything's going to be fine. And don't screw up." Chuck was usually a calm guy, but Casey just kept pushing his buttons.
"Look, I don't need you to tell me what to do, I'm a spy too, you know?"
Sarah shushed them "You two are going to stop right now, or I am going to kick both your asses and take down Delgado all by myself. And don't think I can't do that, because I can. So it's really your choice." Casey snorted but didn't say anything else, and Chuck just looked at her with wide eyes. "Ok, then. Let's get to work." And with that, she headed towards Delgado, picking up a glass of champagne on her way. Chuck straightened his collar and followed her. When he finally got there, Sarah was already immersed in a conversation with the mark, so he stood near in case she needed him to intervene.
After about ten minutes of laughing and flirting, she took his hand and headed to the roof, as they had planned. He waited for them to get in the elevator and then talked into his watch. "Casey, Sarah's heading to the roof. Let's go."
He went to the stairs and started to climb them, Casey quickly joining him. When they reached the door, Casey put a finger on his lips, signaling him to stay quiet. We slowly opened the door and they saw Sarah was being held at gun point by Delgado and three other guys.
"Oh my God! Sarah! Casey, we have to do something!" Chuck desperately whispered.
Casey rolled his eyes "We will, moron, just shut up and let me think."
Unfortunately, one of the guys chose that exact moment to push Sarah, causing her to fall on her knees. That was all it took. Chuck flashed and kicked the door open. Delgado and his men, startled, turned their gaze to see where the sudden noise had come from, and Sarah took advantage of the distraction, kicking the guy next to her to the floor. By then, Chuck and Casey were in full combat mode, so between the three of them they quickly managed to subdue the rogue agents.
When they were all cuffed and disarmed, they took the stairs again and left the building. There was a van waiting for them just around the corner, so they handed over the four men to the Agents inside and went to meet Graham and Beckman for their briefing.
The General and the Director were very happy with the success of the mission.
"We'll set everything to conduct Delgado's interrogation tomorrow morning. We want you to be here as well."
"Yes, ma'am" the three Agents chorused.
"Very well, now go get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
She and Graham left the room, leaving Chuck, Casey and Sarah alone again.
"So? How about that, team? Mission accomplished!" Chuck said, smiling broadly. Casey just grunted and Sarah grinned at him.
"You did very well tonight, Chuck." She turned to glance at Casey "Thank you for saving me there, both of you."
"It's what partners do, Walker," the Major answered solemnly. "Besides, Rambo here was the one who stormed onto that roof to save you."
Sarah's eyebrows shot up when she heard that. Chuck shrugged and felt a blush creeping up his neck. "It was the Intersect, really."
She smiled "Thanks anyway. You probably saved my life, so I'm glad you have it."
They heard the Major clear his throat. "I'm out of here. See you tomorrow morning." Before they could answer, he had already left the room.
John Casey was a survivor. He had been a soldier for most of his life. He'd experienced terrible things; he'd even had to fake his death once. But before that, a long, long time ago, he had been in love too. So when he saw his two partners talking and chuckling and taking furtive glances at each other, he knew. He hadn't decided what he was going to do about it. He'd have to wait and see if their budding relationship would be a hindrance to their assignments. But, for now, he'd just let them be.
Those kids had no idea.
A/N: what did you think? You liked it? You didn't? Leave me a review and let me know!
Until next time.
P.S.: how good was tonight's episode? I loved it :D