Chapter 3: Casey

Rolling over with a loud grumble, Casey snatched the phone from his nightstand and barked, "This had better be good, I'm on a personal day." He jerked the phone from his ear as Agent Walker's overwrought voice blared from the tiny speaker.

"Casey, you've got to get over to my hotel now! Someone has Chuck! He's been shot and kidnapped, no idea how serious the injury is." Pausing as she takes a breath, "I have a bad feeling about this one. The kidnapper left Chuck's watch behind. I tried to track the GPS on his car and that's been disabled too. Whoever did it, they have to be more than just a run of the mill criminal."

The news brought him instantly alert. Jumping out of bed and looking for his pants, he questioned her, "How did they get him away from you?"

That earns him a growl of anger. "He didn't take him from me! I was up in my room and Chuck was in the parking lot. There wasn't anything I could do. By the time I got down here, they were gone. Stop wasting time and get over here."

With pants half on, Casey searches for a shirt. "Why come there? Just meet me at castle and we'll organize our plans from there."

"I can't.", frustration apparent in her voice. "He slashed the tires on my car to make sure I couldn't follow. The kidnapper knew too much. He has to be on the inside."

"Hang tight Walker, I'll be there asap. See if you can find anything the kidnapper may have left behind. Casey out." Hanging up on her response, he plopped on to the bed to pull on socks. "I have to go, it's an emergency."

"I heard and I'm coming with you. From the sounds of it, you can use all the help you can get."

"Ilsa, you can't. This is a matter of national security and I don't think my boss would look to favorably on French secret service tagging along."

Unfazed, she continues to quickly dress. "We can argue in the car." With a metallic click, she chambers a round and safes her weapon before tucking it away. "Get a move on Sugar Bear, the sooner we find your analyst, the sooner we can go back to enjoying your personal day." Ilsa flashes him a smile.

Casey can't help but smile back. It dies quickly though as he readies his own gun. "Leave it to Bartowski to ruin Valentine's Day. Apparently, Christmas wasn't enough for him. I'm definitely on vacation come Easter." The sarcasm hides a sliver of fear forming in his gut. If what Walker said was true, Chuck's chances might not be very good. "Okay, you can come, but you need to follow my lead."

"Of course, it's your op, you give the orders.", smiling sweetly.

"Somehow, I don't feel reassured." Hustling to the front door of his apartment.

"That's because you're a smart man, John Casey." Ilsa follows in his wake.

"Very funny. Now hurry up before I have a chance to realize how bad an idea this is." Casey slides behind the wheel of his Crown Victoria. As soon as Ilsa has her door closed, he roars from the parking lot.

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Scanning the ground for any sign left by Chuck or his kidnapper, Sarah fights with her own imagination. Images crowd her consciousness, each one a nightmare scene that threatens to turn her stomach inside out. She uses the various details as a shield, keeping them fixed firmly in her mind. Slowly disappearing depressions in the grass lead her to surmise the kidnapper was dropped off on the street. There won't be a car to search for clues and there was an accomplice. Tottering on weakened knees as a new picture flashes before her eyes, now two men are torturing a bound and gagged Chuck.

She bypasses the bloo.....dark stain on the cement and crouches down to gather a single shell casing. Carefully lifting it with tweasers and depositing it in a small bag, she holds little hope for finding a usable print. Next, she makes another pass between her car and the scene. Sarah pulls out her phone to snap a picture of a partial shoe print. Grinding her teeth at the pitifully small amount of evidence, she again curses at how long it's taking for Casey to get here.

Sarah pulls out a small pad and pen. Turning in a circle, she notes the location of security cameras in the area. Satisfied with the parking lot, she crosses back to the street and looks for any cameras which may have had a view of the delivery vehicle and other kidnapper. Her ears prick up at the familiar sound of a racing engine. Flicking her gaze to the right, she quickly identifies Casey's car as it weaves through the light evening traffic. Her forehead wrinkles in a frown at the sight of a passenger. As soon as a break in the cars allows, he spins a smooth 180 and slides to a stop at the curb in front of her.

Tugging at the door handle, Sarah jumps in before the car has even fully settled. "It's about time. Did you take the scenic route?", inspecting the other occupant as she speaks. Her eyes widen in recognition. "Ilsa!" With narrowing eyes, she directs the next statement more to Casey. "What are you doing here? This is quite the surprise given the circumstances."

"Um, yeah. Ilsa was in town to.....uh...visit. She was there when you called and offered to help us recover our missing 'analyst'." Uncomfortable with her glare, Casey lets his eyes drop for a second. Smirking at what he sees, "You and Chuck have some big plans for tonight? That top sure doesn't look regulation."

Confused, Sarah looks down before pulling her jacket shut quickly. In her haste, she had pulled on jeans and then thrown her jacket over the negligee. "We do have to maintain our cover as boyfriend and girlfriend. I was just making sure to look the part."

"Yeah, I'm sure you were going to put your all into that part too.", finishing with a snicker. "And naturally, over at your hotel room, there would be plenty of people to see you and Chuck together, for your cover."

"I was supposed to go over to his place, that way Ellie and Devon would see us as a couple. Chuck showed up at the hotel as a surprise. I guess he thought some spontaneity would look good too."

Casey was about to fire back when Ilsa laid her hand on his arm. She could see the pain in Sarah's eyes. "John, you two can play later. Right now, we should work on getting your team member back."

A bit shamed, they settle into an uncomfortable silence for the rest of the drive. Soon, they were pulling up behind the Orange Orange. Sarah bounded out of the car, opened up the door and disappeared inside before Casey had the engine shut off. They watched the young woman rush off before turning to each other. "Watch her back for me, she's the best partner I've ever had. She's just not showing it tonight."

Ilsa nodded before gesturing to the store. "How important is frozen yogurt to the protection of your national security?"

Snorting as he holds back a laugh, "It's not really the yogurt, our gummi worms are encoded with all the best secrets." Smiling like a kid at Christmas, "Wait till you see it, our base of operations is first class."

The pair climb out of his car and, holding hands, Casey leads her through to the freezer and secret door. It slides open and they step through. With a sweep of his arm, "Ilsa, welcome to castle base."

She nods with approval at the top flight setup laid out before her. Leaning over to give him a peck on the cheek, "I knew I liked you for a reason. You have all the best toys."

"Casey! I thought this was supposed to be a secret base, keyword being secret."

"Stow it Walker. She's a fellow agent and can keep a secret as well as you."

Settling the shell casing into a clear box, "I'm sure General Beckman will see it like that too." Sarah reaches for a tube of super glue.

"Um, well, I really don't think we need to involve the General just yet. Not until we have more information on Chuck's whereabouts." Casey takes up a position in front of one of the terminals and starts typing in some numbers.

Glancing over, "I already tried the GPS on the herder. It's disabled." Squeezing a blob of the glue into a small cup, she places it in the box and closes the lid. "Hopefully, our kidnapper left a print for us to find."

"Forget about the junior CSI merit badge Walker. They might have disabled the primary GPS, but I'm willing to bet they didn't notice the secondary GPS." Hitting a final few keys, the computer starts running through a search.

"Secondary GPS? And exactly when did you plan on telling me about it?"

"Oh, sorry, must have slipped my mind. I decided that with our Fulcrum friends being part of the intelligence services, it would be too easy for another Laszlo-like situation to occur. We're dealing with too many people that know the equipment and how to get around it. So, I added my own GPS to Chuck's car. Same system that I use on my Crown Vic. Only this one remains passive until you broadwave an activation code. No detecting it with a random sweep until it gets turned on." The computer beeps for attention. "And there you go. We've got his car."

Sarah copies the GPS info to her phone and the tracker soon registers a good signal. Whirling, she is up the stairs and at the door before she realizes no one else has followed. "Well, what are you waiting for, let's go get Chuck."

"Think Agent Walker. We don't know the situation. We have no intel on the location or who is holding him. Rushing in blind like this could get us all killed. We should inform the General, maybe call in back up, do things the right way."

"Do things the right way? Like bringing along a French agent you happen to be sleeping with? We all can't be as professional as you, Casey. Gather whatever gear you think you'll need and be out in the car in five minutes. Let's do a first hand recon and make our plans accordingly." Without a backwards glance, Sarah darts through the sliding door.

Ilsa shares a look with Casey. "I was right when I said you would need all the help you can get."

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"Casey, you see anything? I've got nothing over here." Sarah peered intently through night vision binoculars as she surveyed the target location. Bathed in the glow of an overhead light, Chuck's herder stood alone in the middle of a large and empty parking lot.

"Nothing here either, Walker. They probably dumped the car and switched to another vehicle."

His words giving voice to her own fears, Sarah suppresses a shudder. "I'll make an approach on the car, you two cover me. Maybe they left a clue for us to follow."

"Roger that Walker." Casey and Ilsa spread out, sticking to the shadows and looking for any signs of danger.

Gun held loosely at the ready, Sarah steps quietly across the empty lot. Extending her senses out into the night and looking for anything amiss, she closes on the abandoned vehicle. As she gets nearer, she evaluates the car. It looks to be perfectly fine, no damage or other signs of tampering. Kneeling low to the ground, she scans for possible booby traps in the undercarriage. Just as she is circling around to the back, a muffled thud comes from herder. Jerking her gun up, she presses close to the car and inches around to the passenger side. Taking a last look to make sure Casey and Ilsa have a good line of fire, she eases open the car door. Something inside pushes the door from her grip and a dark form spills from the car.

Falling back as she lets out a surprised yelp, her gun comes up. At a flash of brown curls, she tosses her weapon aside and moves to cradle the man's head. Yelling, "Casey, it's Chuck. Chuck was in the car. Get over here so we can get him to a doctor right away."

She looks down to see Chuck smiling up at her. "Sorry about the bad holiday karma, Sarah." Laughing at his own joke before a flash of pain shoots up his leg. His face tight, he breathes slowly before continuing, "And I'm sorry about interrupting whatever it was you had going on in your room. I know we're just a cover, I shouldn't get jealous."

"Chuck, you're an idiot."

"Oookaaay, not the kind of response I was expecting.", regarding her with sad eyes.

"You're an idiot to think there was someone in my room. I ordered room service for us. All you heard was some moron on that damn tv you talked me in to buying. If you'd stayed to find that out, I could have told you. I was hoping to make tonight special for you, for both of us."

Grinning at the wonderful news, "And it's just like me to get shot and kidnapped to ruin all your plans."

"That's not funny Chuck. I was worried sick." Her eyes blurring with the onset of tears.

"I'm sorry Sarah. Don't cry. You know me, it's how I deal with things that are too far outside of my comfort zone. I crack bad jokes. Well, they aren't all bad. I get you to laugh now and then." He gently brushes a lone tear from her cheek as he sees a small smile.

Hearing Casey's car, Sarah's mind clicks over to a new set of questions. "Chuck, why would they go to all this trouble and then just leave you here?"

"I don't really know. Oh, and get this, the kidnapper was Laszlo. Apparently, he has some new best buddies and they broke him out. You'll never guess who they are?"

"Fulcrum?"

"You're good. Yep, Fulcrum. And you won't believe who he was working with. Another person supposedly locked away, remember Tommy?"

"Tommy? With the scar and bad attitude?"

"Right again. You're good at this game. One last thing." Reaching into his pocket, Chuck pulls out a mini-cd. "They told me to give this to you and Casey. Now, I think I'm going to pass out." His head lolls to the side as his eyes close.

Checking his pulse, her worry is somewhat abated as it beats strong against her fingertips. Pocketing the cd for now, she looks up as Casey arrives. They load Chuck into the back of the car. "Casey, I think we should get Chuck to your apartment. I can call in a CIA doctor and have him meet us there."

Nodding in agreement, he puts the car in gear and they speed off into the night. During the trip, Sarah tells Casey the bad news regarding Fulcrum. He growls at the mention of people they never expected to see again. Ilsa remains quiet through it all. She might not know the particulars of John's current mission. But, she has been an agent long enough to know it's gotten serious, deadly serious.

Everyone is very happy to arrive at Casey's and smuggle Chuck in without further mishap. Sarah settles him on the sofa and puts some pillows under his leg to raise it up. She sits next to him, holding his hand and watching him sleep. Ilsa busies herself in the kitchen making coffee while Casey keeps an eye out for the doctor. A sleepy man with a doctor's kit is let in and he sets to work without a word. After a cursory examination, he strips off Chuck's pants to get at the leg wound.

Feeling overly protective after the night she's had, Sarah watches every move like a hawk. Casey leans over and chuckles. She looks at him, confused and a little angry at his behavior. In response, he says, "Bartowski won't be picking on my clovers anymore."

Her eyes traveling down, she tries not to smile at the sight of Chuck in his Batman boxers. With the lightening of the mood, it feels like a weight has lifted from her shoulders. The doctor operates quickly and expertly. He injects a local anesthetic before applying stitches to the entry and exit holes. After inspecting his work, he leaves a bottle of painkillers and some instructions for the patient to follow over the next few days.

With the doctor gone, they leave Chuck sleeping on the sofa. Sarah pulls out the cd and hands it to Casey. "Time to see what the mystery message is." He says and places it in the drive.

The fuzz and static resolve into a startling picture. "Hello Agent Walker, Major Casey."
Shocked, the pair exclaim in unison, "Leader!"