I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

Kate decides that this spy stuff is easy – or is it? What happens when the bad guys don't do as you expect? After all, bad guys have their own agendas too.

I'll be sure to post warnings on chapters that have violent or sexual situations. I'm going to keep this T – but I might dance on the edge for a bit.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review.

And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon

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"Happy birthday, sweetie," Sarah said. "Do you know how old you are today?"

"Of course," little Katie said with the indignant pout that only a four-year-old could pull off. "I'm four."

"That's right. And do you remember the nursery rhyme that we learned yesterday?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"Of course," Katie said, still with her indignant pout.

Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon

"Very good," Sarah said with a laugh. "You remembered it. You're so smart."

"Mommy," Katie said. "What does that even mean?"

Sarah couldn't help but smile at her daughter. Even at four, she was always the serious one. "Mean?" she asked.

"Yeah," Katie said. "How can the dish run away with the spoon? They don't have legs."

x-x-x-x-x

Kate told herself that she was doing the right thing – for Mom and Dad – for Aunt Janice – for the country – but most of all, for Alex. So she smiled at him – just like Elise had taught her. It was a little strange to not have Elise talking in her ear. But she was very confident. After all, it was still clearly true. When she smiled, he forgot his own name.

"You're looking very beautiful tonight," Gold said. "But why should I be surprised? You always do."

"Thanks," Kate said as she slid a little closer to him on the seat. "You're looking as handsome as always too."

"Are you nervous?" Gold asked. "This is a big opportunity for you. It's not every day that you get to negotiate with one of the richest men in the world."

Kate paused for a moment. "A little," she said softly. Actually she should have been nervous. She sure thought that she would be. But the honest truth was – she wasn't. And she wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was because she was so prepared. "He's an incredibly powerful man. What does he look like?"

"I've never met him," Gold said. "Almost nobody has. Mr. Volkoff is somewhat of a recluse. He jealously protects his privacy. He has a private secretary who is the only one who ever sees him. I think that you might be the first American who has actually ever seen his face."

"Then why is he agreeing to meet with me?" Kate asked. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?"

Gold paused – for a long moment. He was clearly weighing how much to say. "He has a reputation for loving beautiful women," he finally said. "You certainly qualify."

Kate knew that it was time to make her move – so she held her nose and snuggled into him. "Thank you," she said. "That was sweet. Alan, will you be honest with me for a second? I really need your advice. Please tell me the brutal truth. Is Mr. Volkoff expecting sex from me tonight? He is, isn't he?"

Gold sighed. "Yes," he finally said. "Of course, I'm not positive. But I would assume so. We're talking about a lot of money. I suspect that he will want to gauge your level of commitment. After all, you are very beautiful – and he is used to getting what he wants."

Kate grinned at him. Maybe Alex was right. After all, he usually was. "Why, Alan," she said. "Are you actually jealous?"

Gold didn't answer – with words. But the redness in his face was clear. So when he leaned in to kiss her, Kate met him more than half way. Quickly they were in the middle of a very passionate kiss. Kate knew that she had to sell it, so she put her hand behind his head and held his face to hers for a long moment. He quickly opened his mouth. That didn't surprise her, she knew that he would.

There was one serious problem that Kate hadn't anticipated. Pretending that Gold was Alex really wasn't working that well. For one thing, Gold wasn't Alex - he was much rougher and demanding. He was actually biting her lip. His hand had already slid down the front of her blouse and into her bra. And the angle that he had wasn't the best. Alex would have never done anything like that so roughly. He was always more gentle and loving. Even Paul wouldn't have been quite this crude. It was the first time in her life that Kate had been treated like this.

Kate expected the make-out part to be gross – and it was. But actually, it was more pathetic. He was clearly getting massively turned on. She really didn't know if she should hate him – or feel sorry for him. But this is what she knew she had to do, so… "You're going to rip my blouse," she whispered.

Gold looked guilty – for a moment – and withdrew his hand.

Kate just smiled at him. "Let me fix that," she said as she slowly and as seductively as she could, unbuttoned her blouse and allowed it to slip off her shoulders.

Gold could only stare at her in admiration – for a long moment.

Kate just smiled again. "Where were we?" she whispered.

x-x-x-x-x

To say that Sarah was tense, well that didn't really come close. The fire in her eyes made even Chuck take a step back. She had made some changes in the teams for tonight. Sarah was prepared to take absolutely no chances. The stakes were much too high. Kate's life was on the line. So she wanted an experienced agent in each group.

She put Heather with Chuck. Her reasoning was that Chuck didn't like guns – and Heather was clearly the best shot of the kids. And the honest truth was that they had developed sort of a bond. It had gotten to the point where they openly teased each other. Heather was exactly the type of person that Chuck admired. She was smart – but not boastful. Witty but never mean. In short, she was very similar to Chuck's best friends – Janice – and Elise. And of course, it didn't hurt that Heather had put Casey in his place the other night. That was always a plus in his book.

Sarah teamed Elise with Chuck Junior and Alex. For one thing, it was a team that had delivered in the past. Sarah knew that both young men trusted and respected Elise. They would follow her orders without question. And Elise knew the guys strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, she knew her own. They were going to stay in the van and monitor comm. They would only be deployed if circumstances warranted.

That left Joe and Sarah. And frankly, both worked better alone anyway. They tag-teamed tailing the limo. It was quite easy. They clearly were making no attempt to lose anybody. It wasn't half way into the trip before it became obvious where they were headed.

"It looks like their destination is The Grand Ambassador," Elise said.

"I copy," Sarah said as she took a quick right – and stomped on the gas. "I'm going to get ahead and see if I can get inside and be waiting for them. Let me know the second it appears their destination has changed."

x-x-x-x-x

Okay, so Kate knew that she was doing the right thing. But it was getting more and more tiresome. She was having an increasingly hard time keeping Gold's hands north of her waist. The make-out session was only into its third or fourth minute – and yet he was getting more and more aggressive. Pretending that this creep was Alex was totally out the window now. It was a stupid idea anyway. There was only one Alex. Kate felt ashamed that she ever thought she could pretend this ass was her incredible guy. She could feel the rage quickly building inside of her as Gold crudely lifted her bra out of the way and roughly pawed her now bare chest. It was only a short matter of time before she hit him. So she knew that she needed to change tactics. "How much time do we have?" she whispered as soon as she could pry her mouth free from his.

"Not very much," Gold panted. "We're here. He is expecting you. We'll have to be quick."

Kate was not really surprised – more like disgusted. This guy actually expected her to screw him right here in the limo – just before going upstairs and screwing his boss. Fortunately his news was exactly what Kate wanted to hear. "Alan," she said. "Please don't make our first time a quickie. I want this as much as you do. If you'll wait here for me – I promise that I'll make it worth the wait."

Gold seemed to consider this – for a long moment. "Are you sure that you still want to do this?" he asked softly. "We can always tell him that you changed your mind. Then maybe we could go somewhere. Maybe we could really spend some quality time."

Now Kate was surprised – for the first time tonight. So much so that she had a hard time keeping it from her face. Was this guy kidding? He was suggesting that she blow Volkoff off. How would he ever explain that to Shaw? He was clearly violating his orders. He was also clearly jealous. But what did that mean? Why would he do that? Well, if he was going to assume that she was a slut, she might as well not disappoint him. "Come on, Alan," Kate said with a smile. "You can't seriously be jealous. It's very cute – but the man is going to give me upwards of twenty million dollars tonight. I have to go for it. For that kind of money he deserves his little fantasy, right? It's just sex. We both know that it doesn't mean a thing. I'll make it quick for him and then we'll be together for the rest of the night."

"Fine," Gold finally sighed. "You're right. You have to go. It's just sex. I'll get us a room."

Kate looked out of the window for the first time as she tried to put her bra back in place and button up her blouse. She quickly recognized the hotel. "The Grand Ambassador," she said with a smile. "That's impressive."

"You've stayed here?" Gold asked. "It's very nice."

"No," Kate replied with a smile. "It's a little outside my price range. But I've lived in L.A. my whole life. It's a semi-famous landmark."

"After tonight, it's not going to be outside of your price range," Gold said. "Here is what you need to do. Go into the hotel and take the elevator to the penthouse. Mr. Volkoff's guards will sweep you for bugs – and take you in to see him."

"You'll be waiting for me?" Kate asked expectantly.

"Yes," Gold said. "I'll get us a room and leave you a key at the front desk."

"Good," Kate said as she kissed him. "Get some champagne. I'll be in the mood to celebrate." Actually, champagne didn't sound all that bad. Anything to get the taste of that make-out session out of her mouth.

A look came over Gold's face that Kate couldn't quite read. It was half longing – but half resolve. "Take this bottle," he said as he handed Kate a bottle of wine. "This is Mr. Volkoff's favorite vintage. Tell him that you want to toast your new relationship with him. He'll like that."

x-x-x-x-x

Kate walked into the hotel lobby and looked for the elevators. She got into the first one and pushed the button for the Penthouse. There was only one other person in the car – a hotel worker. Kate had to do a double take to realize that it was Mom.

"Where are you headed?" Sarah asked quickly. "Is everything going according to plan?"

"The Penthouse," Kate answered. "He has guards. I don't know how many. Gold is going to get a room and wait for me. I'm fine. It was a little more intense than I had hoped. I'll live."

"Look at your watch," Sarah said. "From my mark, wait exactly twenty minutes for us to get in position, excuse yourself, and lock yourself in the bathroom. Get in the tub and keep your head down. Don't come out for any reason until I call you. Mark."

Elise clicked the timer in the van. "Rodger," she said. "Twenty minutes starts now."

Kate smiled at her mom – mostly to let her know that she understood. But also to show her that she wasn't afraid. "Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon," she said.

Sarah knew that this was not the time to get emotional. After all they were in the middle of a life-or-death mission. But it had been a while. That had always been their special greeting to each other when Katie was a little girl. They said it to each other all the time – until Katie finally got to the age where it was no longer cool. So it had been about ten years. But Sarah grinned and nodded – and gave the correct response. "The little dog laughed to see such sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah got off the elevator one floor before the Penthouse. So Kate was alone when the doors opened. Just like Gold told her, there were five armed guards waiting as soon as she stepped off the elevator. They clearly expected her. They were actually very respectful, almost friendly. But they did sweep her for electronics – and gently frisk her for weapons.

When Kate opened the door and stepped inside, she suddenly realized that she didn't have a clue what to do. All of her thoughts had been on how to get to this point. Now that she was here – not so much. She saw a man who looked about the same age as her Uncle Casey – maybe a couple of years older. It was really hard to say. He really wasn't anything like Kate was expecting – if she had a clue what to expect. He actually looked like a mild mannered grandfather type.

All Kate could think of was to play it straight up. So she walked up to him and extended her hand with a smile. "Mr. Volkoff," she said. "My name is Kate Bartowski. It's an honor to meet you, sir."

Well, the illusion of him being a grandfatherly figure popped like a balloon. Not only did he ignore her extended hand, he was clearly checking her out – from head to toe and back again – as overtly as she had ever been ogled in her whole life. He was currently staring directly at her chest – just like so many other men. Of course, he didn't know what a hot button that was for young Kate. And under the circumstances, she didn't feel it was appropriate to tell him. But she could feel the dislike building in her stomach.

"You'll do," he finally said approvingly. His Russian accent was clearly noticeable. "Did you bring wine?"

Kate actually had to take a second to realize that he had asked her a question. She had frankly forgotten all about the wine she was holding. "Yes, sir," she said. "I understand that this is your favorite wine. I would like to offer you a toast to begin our business relationship - and perhaps our friendship."

Volkoff nodded. "I guess that we could have a drink first," he said. 'Before we – begin."

Kate could feel the blush rushing up her neck. She could only smile in amazement at his brazenness. First? Begin? Horny Grandpa from hell was clearly confident that he was about to get laid. Thank goodness that this was almost over. There was one thing for sure – even if the offer had been legitimate, Kate was never going to represent this creep – not for a hundred million. All she had to do now was to stay dressed for sixteen more minutes and wait for Mom to show up and shoot this jerk. That shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Maybe a glass of wine would help. At the very least, it would waste some time. "Yes, sir," she said. "That would be lovely."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah quickly made her attack plan. She, Joe, and Chuck would all go to the floor just below the Penthouse suite in separate elevators. Heather would stick with Chuck. Her main purpose would be in case any medical attention was required. They would all allow the doors to close at the same time. That would put them at the Penthouse at exactly the same instant. The idea was to surprise and tranq whatever guards there were as quickly and quietly as possible.

Chuck had been able to access the building floor plan from the intersect. So they knew where the main room where Volkoff was most likely to be was. It was just down the hall from the elevators. Hopefully, Kate would be safe in the bathtub as they came in ready to shoot to kill.

Sarah stared at her watch waiting for the twenty minutes to be up. Every second seemed like fifty. But finally it was time.

The plan worked like a charm. The elevator doors opened at exactly the same time. The only problem was, when Sarah jumped out of her elevator, the five guards were all lying on the floor. Tranq darts were already sticking out of each one. This couldn't be right. Who would do this?

Joe immediately went to the suite door and kicked it in. The team rushed into the room. An older man, who they assumed was Volkoff, was lying on the floor unconscious with a spilled glass of wine lying next to him.

It didn't take long to search the suite – and then the other rooms. As Chuck and Sarah stared at each other in horror - it was quickly obvious.

There was no sign of Kate.

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