Authors Note: Thanks everyone for the reviews. I'm truly humbled by your comments and thank you for your inputs. To answer a few questions I received: yes Chuck will get the Intersect, we will here more about Chuck and Casey's relationship, and Chuck will definitely encounter Larkin again and get some overdue payback. Finally, we will start to see Harper and Jack Ryan more regularly.
And now for a word of caution. As the story progresses, there is going to be some political/moral discussions. One of my complaints with the series, despite how much I liked it, is its basic portrayal of the CIA and NSA in general, both with regards to the agencies operating domestically and the rather cold-blooded/sadistic ways they seem to work. This is not new; it's pretty much become common in television, film and books to either portray the military/intelligence community as bloodthirsty conspirators or bungling idiots. I can't stand this. Yes, sometimes the government and the organizations we trust with our protection do dumb things, even questionable and occasionally illegal things. I'm not naïve. But to assume or portray them as only being that is dishonest and a great disservice to these organizations, the people who work for them, and us as a people (I'm speaking of Americans, since I am an American). So going forward I am going to try my best to show the many sides of these groups, and the people that work for them. There will still be villains associated with them, and questionable actions, but it will not be all there is about them. And I'm going to try and give a plausible scenario (well as plausible as something like the Intersect idea can be) as to how agencies like the CIA and NSA can operate domestically. I'll get off my soapbox now. On with the show!
CIA Transport
In Flight
July 20, 2005
Sarah sighed as she relaxed into her seat. Her, Bryce, and Casey had been escorted to the CIA transport five hours earlier and the plane had been in the air for three hours. The plane would be stopping at Aviano AFB for refueling, and then would continue on to McGuire AFB in New Jersey. After refueling at that location, it would proceed to Langley. Once it landed in Langley, her and Bryce would be escorted to CIA headquarters for debriefing. Depending on how that went, they would either be put on administrative leave to recover, fired, or led away in handcuffs.
She had spent the last hour composing her written report on everything that happened, under the watchful eye of Casey. Bryce had refused to speak with either of them since the confrontation with Casey three days earlier and Sarah's decision to tell Casey (and the Marines) the truth about what had happened. He had dozed off almost immediately after the plane took off. After finishing her report, she gave the computer back to Casey, who spent a few minutes reading it.
"How the hell did you let this get so far, Walker?" Casey asked gruffly. Though he and Sarah did not know each other well, at least personally, as some of the top agents in their respective agencies they had run into each other before and knew each other by reputation. "I never would have thought you'd cover for a partner that was this out of control."
Sarah sighed again. This was the question that would be the hardest to answer when they got to Langley.
"Believe me Casey, I never thought I would either." She said, talking a slow breath and letting it out. "We were a great team, at least in the beginning, you know? We seemed to be so in sync. After a while, it became comfortable; hell it was the most stable relationship I've had since I was 13. And then I thought I feel in love. That was about the time of the Omaha Project. When that failed, I was in deep; I felt sorry for Bryce and wanted to help him get his confidence back. But he just kept spiraling. By the time I realized how bad things were, it was too late." She looked at Casey; she saw sympathy in his eyes, something that shocked her.
"Believe it or not Walker, I understand, sort of." He said. "Oh, I know all that bullshit they feed us about keeping our emotions out of the job. But it's just that, bullshit. Human beings aren't machines that can just turn off our emotions; the best we can do is to try to manage them and keep them from making us do something stupid. But it doesn't always work; I know, I've been there. Not as bad as you, but I've been there nonetheless."
"Thanks Casey." She said. "Let's talk about something else."
"Like what, Walker?"
"Tell me about Staff Sergeant Bartowski." Sarah said. "I've never heard you compliment someone like that before; he must have really impressed you." Casey grunted in amusement.
"He's different, Walker. The kid had a full ride to Stanford, double major in Computer and Electrical Engineering. He was only 12 credits from graduating when your partner framed him for cheating and got him kicked out. Then he stole the girl Bartowski was going to propose to. Apparently he went into bit of a tailspin after that; spent three months working at a Buymore and generally falling apart." Casey said. "Then 9/11 happened. And that kid decided he was being selfish for wallowing in what happened to him and decided he wanted to do something to keep something like that from happening again. So he enlisted in the Corps. And he's been kicking ass, both literally and figuratively, ever since. He's made Staff Sergeant eighteen months ahead of when someone typically would. Graduated near the top of his class in his Raider training too."
"How'd you meet him?"
"First time I met him was a little over two years ago; he wasn't a Raider then, just a simple Rifleman. I'd manage to locate a regional Taliban leader that we'd been after for months and was able to grab him. Bartowski's until was sent to extract us. The meet up went without a hitch, but about halfway back to the FOB, we were ambushed. RPGs took out the lead and rear vehicle in the column and we started taking small arms fire from all sides." Casey said. "It was pretty dicey for a while. That kid exposed himself to fire three times pulling injured Marines from the line of fire; took two rounds to the chest on the last one. Luckily his body armor stopped them from penetrating, but you know as well as I do that just because it doesn't penetrate, doesn't mean you don't get injured. Anyway, most of the patrol was injured or wounded at that point. There was only one .50 still in commission but the gunner got hit. Bartowski jumped into the wrecked HUMVEE and got on the gun and layed down suppressing fire. It was 10 minutes before a Cobra gunship got over head and was able to chase off the insurgents. When it was all over the kid had taken a minor wound to the arm in addition to the wounds from the impact to his vest. He refused to be taken out of action for the arm; said it was not much of a scratch."
"And the second time?" Sarah asked.
"A couple months ago, right after Fallujah, the Deputy head of the Iraqi National Police and his family were ambushed and killed. More like slaughtered, including the yougest who was only five." Casey said. "NSA intercepted some chatter not long after that told us it wasn't insurgents like we initially thought. Turned out there was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commando team in the country, helping the insurgency. We were able to track them down. We could have used a drone, but the President wanted prisoners he could use as bargaining chips. So I was detailed to a Raider team and tasked with the capture. Turned out it was Bartowski's unit. The kid saved my life that day. We breached the hideout and managed to take down the team, but one of the wounded ones decided to get cute with a grenade. Bartowski didn't hesitate, didn't flinch. Before anyone knew what was happening, he kicked the dn thing out a window and threw himself at me and another Marine who were nereby. Needless to say, I really started taking an interest in the kid."
CIA Headquarters
Office of Thomas Harper
Langley, Virginia
"Come on in Jack." Harper said, seeing Jack standing at the door. Jack walked in, carrying a folder. "Any luck?" Jack hande him the folder.
"Some. Thanks to the info in the video that Fleming sent, I've been able able to identify half a dozen questionable slush accounts used by Graham. A lot of the money seems to have been used for borderline legitimate ops, but there's a couple of payouts that are anything but legitimate." Jack answered. Harper nodded at the information.
"That seems to tally with the other information the teams been able to gather. Would you believe the bastard was arrogant enough to keep a journal? We found it last night at his vacation cottage." Harper said.
"Is it going to be enough?" Jack asked. Right now Graham was only suspended and being held for questioning. But they really needed to buryhim for good.
"Should be more than enough to put him away in Leavenworth for life." Harper said with a grin. "Bastards like Graham are the reason the public are so suspicious of us. Luckily the Director is as intent on cleaning things up as we are."
"What about Graham's enforcers?" Jack asked.
"Most are already in custody. Thanks to Graham's journal we have a pretty good idea which ones were generally duped by him and which ones were active conspirators. But we're going to hold all of them for a bit just to be sure." Harper answered.
"What about Chuck?" Jack asked. Harper smiled; ever since Fleming's email came in Jack had been pushing Harper to clear up Bartowski's record.
"Our lawyers spoke with Stanford this morning. His college record has been cleared. Turns out he didn't actually need the last 12 credits; he had already met his degree requirements, so he's going to got his diploma. Harper said. "The Director is meeting with the Commadant this afternoon. By next week Bartowski will have orders to Quantico for OCS."
"And after?"
"That has yet to be decided. The Director and I are going over to the White House Monday morning for a meeting with the Presideant, the National Security Advisor, General Beckman, the Attorney General, the Chairman of the Joint Chuefs, and the Ranking Members of the Judiciary, Intelligence Oversight, and Armed Services committees." Harper replied. "If they go for my plan, then by this time next year, you and I, along with Bartowski and a few others, will all have a new assignment."
CIA Headquarters
Office of the Director of Central Intelligence
Langley, Virginia
July 21, 2005
The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind for Sarah. After landing in Langley, she and Bryce had been escorted to CIA headquarters. Once there they had been seperated, with each of them being placed in a different interrogation room for questioning. Surprisingly, despite the presence of a lie detector, Sarah's questioning had not been what she had expected.
They did ask a lot of the questions she thought they would but the whole experience was less confrontaional than she had expected. The really only unnerving part of the experience was towards the end, when they had quizzed her about her history with Graham. Then there was the fact that Graham hadn't been present at all.
After several hours she had been taken to one of several small apartment like quarters housed in the building, which was another surprise. She had half expected to thrown in a detention cell. Instead, they seemed to be treating her more like an asset or guest.
After a a restless night sleep, Sarah had been informed that the DCI wanted to meet with her. To say that Sarah was nervous was understatement. Ed Foley had only been DCI for five months, having taken over the agency's top job while she and Bryce had been held hostage. She had never met him before, but he ad his wife were legends in the Agency. Her nervousness further increased upon seeing said wife, Mary Pat, and Thomas Harper, in the office as well.
"Good morning, Agent Walker. Please take a seat." Director Foley said, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk. Sarah walked to the chair and sat down, folding her hands in her lap.
"I'll get right to the point, Agent Walker. Deputy Director Graham has been relieved of his duties and is currently under arrest for numerous crimes, including but not limited too, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, violations of numerous laws regarding Intelligence operations, conspiracy to commit murder and murder. Further, all of Deputy Director Graham's cadre of agents known as Enforcers, have either been arrested or are currently under investigation...save you."
Sarah visibly paled as the director spoke. Langston Graham had been her mentor; indeed he was responsible for her recruitment into the CIA.
"Can I ask why, Director?" She asked. Director Foley nodded to Harper.
As Harper began speaking and relaying the events of the last few days, Sarah was astonished, angry and ashamed. She had always beleved that the missions Graham had assigned her were legal and necessary for the defense of the nation. Indeed, it was the thing that kept her from the despair that lurked just under the surface in regards to some of the things she had to do. To find out she had been duped and lied to on a number of occasions threw her into a tailspin.
"The reason you are here Agent Walker, rather then is a holding cell is because we feel that unlike the rest of Graham's special agents, you are as much a victim anyone. Graham broke protocol by recruiting you as young as you were. He then compounded that sin by not ensuring you got the counseling you needed after the four years you were on the run with your father. He manipulated you to become what he needed. His journal makes clear the barring th incident that led to your capture, your record is clean. You operated under good faith based on the information he provided." Director Foley said. "That being said, you are not totally out of the woods. You broke protocol by not reporting Mr. Larkin's intelligence and went on an unsanctioned mission. You also failed to notify the Agency of serious concerns regarding Mr. Larkin's mental stability. Therefore, I'm afraid I have no choice but to put you on administrative leave. During that time, you will see an Agency appoint counselor to work through your unresolved issues, including those related to your captivity. You will not be considered for active duty until such time as this counselor believes you are ready."
Sarah felt some of the weight that had been pressing her chest since she arrived start to lift. Being put on Adminstrative leave and forced to counseling was the best possible outcome. It meant that not only would she not be going to jail but also that the Agency believed she could still be an asset to them.
"Thank you, Director." She said.
"Now on to other matters. As of today, there are going to be some major changes. First, when you are cleared to return, you will be forwarded to Harpers unit. My wife has been tapped by the President to fill Graham's position. Effective immediately, there will be no more red tests and no more sanctions approved at a level lower than this office. I expect all agents to comport themselves properly and obey all relevant laws and the new code of conduct that we are developing. Finally, the days of remainin silent when we notice an issue with our fellow agents or freelancing missions are over." Director Foley said with some passion. "Can you work under those conditions, Agent Walker?"
"Yes Director." Sarah said.
Casa Bartowski
Echo Park, CA
July 28, 2005
Ellie was on her way home from work and had just stopped at her mail box to get the mail. Taking the stack out of the box, she closed the door and started walking to the apartment that she shared with Devon.
"Devon, I'm home!" She yelled as she came in. She dropped the pile of mail on the table. When she did so, she noticed the a letter from Stanford addressed to Chuck.
I wonder why Stanford is writing Chuck? She thought to herself. She picked up the letter and opened it. She began reading, her eyes widening as she reached the bottom. Then she let out a sequel of joy so loud that Devon came rushing in from the other room.
"Babe? What's up?" Devon asked. Wordlessly Ellie handed the letter to him. He quickly read the letter. "Awesome!"
Camp Independence
Coalition Operating Base
Al-Anbar Province, Iraq
July 30, 2005
"Take a seat Bartowski." Captain Highway said after returning Chuck's salute. "I just got some memorandum that affects you."
"Me sir?" Chuck asked confused.
"Yep. First off, we've been notified that during a recent review of old investigations, Stanford University has determined that you did not receive due process in time there. And apparently they also found new information which has exonerated you. Since you had already met your degree requirements, theye awarded you your diploma. Our records have already been updated." Captain Higheay said with a grin. The look on Chuck's face was a mix of shock and happiness.
"All be damned." Was all Chuck could say. He had dreamed of something like this happening but never that it would.
"Also, I need you to give me a recommendation on who can take over leading your team."
"Take over Captain?" Chuck asked confused.
"Congratulations Bartowski. Now that you have your degree, you're headed to Officer Candidate School." Captain Highway said, handing Chuck a sheet of paper. "The next class starts August 30. Unfortunately we'll need you to help with th transition with your team before you can leave, so you won't get the normal two weeks leave before hand, but I've been instructed to have to put you on a transport home no later than August 25, so you'll at least have a few days in DC before you have to report to Quantico."
