Casa Bartowski

Echo Park, CA

0630 hours

Friday, July 15, 2006

Chuck groaned as he opened his eyes, momentarily panicking because he couldn't remember where he was due to the extreme hangover he was suffering. He knew it was a bad idea for him and Sarah to take his sister up on the offer of wine last night - he knew what usually happened when he drank with Ellie. She could drink almost any Marine he knew under the table, especially when it came to wine. Then it hit him; he was in his old room. He and Sarah had been too drunk to drive back to the hotel, and Ellie and Awesome had been insistent that they stay the night rather than get a cab. So rather than risking their cover, Sarah had texted Ness and let her know what was happening. He could only assume that sometime during the night, one of the others had relieved her of her surveillance duty. He glanced over to the other side of the bed and saw Sarah laying there, still sleeping.

Chuck rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the cobwebs. Then, very carefully and quietly, he climbed out of bed so as not to disturb Sarah.

Thank God I still had some clothes left in here. Chuck thought to himself as he glanced down first at himself and then over at Sarah again. He was dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms and she was wearing a pair of shorts and one of his old t-shirts. He looked back up as he heard a sound from the kitchen. Must be Awesome Chuck thought, as his sister usually wasn't a morning person. He walked out of his bedroom and down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Morning Chuck!" Ellie greeted him. Chuck winced at her voice.

"How can you be so chipper this morning?" Chuck said. "Got any tylenol?"

"Got something better." Ellie said. "Go sit down in the chair." Chuck looked over to the chair and spotted the IV stand.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Chuck exclaimed. However, that sentiment did not keep him from walking over to sit in the chair, his sister following behind. After a few moments she had installed the IV into his arm.

"Just relax." Ellie said. "One bag and you should be good to go."

"Thanks sis." Chuck said, relaxing in the chair.

"So listen, while you're captive here, and Sarah's asleep, I wanted to talk to you." Ellie said.

"Sure." Chuck said.

"Sarah seems like a really nice girl. I like her." Ellie led off with. "How serious are you guys?"

"It's complicated, Ellie." Chuck said. "We've been working together and hanging out for a couple of months, like we told you last night; we've only been on a handful of dates. I just asked her to make our relationship official a couple days ago." He ran his hand through his hair. "We've both agreed to try and take things slow. Neither one of us has had much luck in the way of relationships the last few years. In fact, she just got out of a bad one last year."

"But?" Ellie prompted.

"But, as much as we're trying to go slow, it's been difficult. We've both acknowledged that emotionally, we're falling fast." Chuck said. "She's unlike any woman I've ever known. I thought I loved Jill when I was in college; what I'm feeling her is a thousand times more than I ever felt for Jill." Ellie smiled at this. She had been afraid the last few years that the disaster with Jill would keep her brother from moving on and finding someone to love.

"That's great, Chuck." Ellie said. "Just make sure you say open and honest about what you're feeling with her and I'm sure everything will be fine." She took a deep breath; the next thing she wanted to talk to Chuck about was probably going to cause an argument, but it had been on her mind a lot lately.

"Chuck, how much longer on your commitment to the Marines?" she asked hesitantly. Chuck sighed; he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going. While his sister had accepted his decision to join the Corps, he knew that she still would prefer he got out and did something safer. He mentally chuckled to himself as he thought about what her reaction to his current real assignment would be.

"I still owe them another three years since I was commissioned." he said. "After that, it's up to me. Lately, I've been thinking of making it a career."

"But why Chuck?" Ellie asked. "You have your degree now. I know you want to help people, but there are other jobs you could do that you could still help people and it would be a lot less dangerous."

If you only knew. Chuck thought to himself.

"I know, sis. But for probably the first time in my life, I feel like I belong. And I love being a Marine. I'm good at it." he said.

"But Chuck, it's dangerous." Ellie said. "These wars don't seem to have any end in sight. And now that you're a Raider, it just means you're going to be sent on even more dangerous assignments. And I promised dad I would look after you!"

"Dammit Ellie, I'm not a kid anymore!" Chuck said, angrily. "I get that you worry about me, I really do. And I'm sorry to put you through that, I really am. But I can't just turn my back on this. Like it or not, this is who I am now. It's not fair to ask me to give up something that's a part of me. Maybe some day I'll decide I want out, but that's not now. I know it's dangerous; but I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror knowing I could help, that I could stand with my brothers and sisters in arms and walked away. No more than you can walk away from being a doctor. You don't have to like it. But you have to respect that it's MY choice. Not yours or anyone else's."

Motion in the hallway attracted their attention, effective ending the quasi-conversation/argument. Turning to look, the pair spied Sarah walking into the room.

"Morning, Chuck." Sarah said, groggily. "How come you didn't wake me?"

"Morning, baby." Chuck said, Sarah smiling at his name for her. "You just look so cute sleeping that I didn't want to disturb you."

"Well, as much as I appreciate the extra couple of minutes sleeping, we need to be at the base in two hours." Sarah said. Chuck glanced at the IV bag hanging on the stand; it was half empty.

"Ellie, do you have another one of these for Sarah?" he asked. Ellie nodded. "Why don't you go grab a shower Sarah. By the time you're done this should be empty and Ellie can put a fresh one on. It does wonders for a hangover." Sarah nodded and walked back into the hall, heading to Chuck's room. A moment later she walked into the bathroom and soon the sound of the shower running could be heard.

"Ellie, I don't want to fight with you. Can we please just dropped the conversation we were having, at least for now?" Chuck said, sighing. At her nod, he continued, "And promise me you won't bring it up to Sarah. First, she loves her job as much as I do. Second, we've only just started dating; I don't want her to feel pressured in anything."

"I promise." Ellie said. "I won't bring it up to her. But rest assured little brother, this conversation is not over permanently."

Maison3 Hotel

Los Angeles, CA

Friday, July 15, 2006

0830 hours

"Well, look what the cat finally dragged in." Andrea Price joked as Chuck and Sarah walked into the suite that the team was using as their temporary operations center. A moment later, Patrick O'Day came in behind them. He had relieved Samantha the night before when Sarah had let the team know they would be crashing at Chuck's sister's apartment.

"Give it a rest, Andrea." Chuck said. "Are we all ready for later?"

"Yep." Samantha said. "We've established cover identities for you and Sarah and got you on the invite list for the auction. You're going as Charles Carmichael and his fiance, Sarah Burton. Jason Andrea and I will be in the surveillance van on comms and looking at the security feed and act as emergency back up if needed. Pat will be inside posing as a bartender."

"Wow. From dating to engaged in less than a week. You move fast, Chuck." Sarah teased, grinning at the slight blush that made its way up Chuck's neck. "But seriously, any known hostiles on the guest list?"

"None that we could find." Pat said, handing Chuck a folder. "Here's pictures of all the staff and as many of the guests as we could get. But there's still about a dozen we don't have pictures for yet."

Chuck walked over to the table and sat down. Opening the folder, he scanned the guest list, then began flipping through the pictures. He flashed a couple of names, but none in the league of La Ciudad. There were a couple people with restraining orders against them from ex-lovers. He told as much to the team.

"Well, I suppose it was too much to ask for this to go the easy way." Jason said. "So that really just leaves one question, Chuck. Do you know how to Tango?"

Whiltshire Strand Hotel

Main Ballroom

Los Angeles, CA

Friday, July 15, 2006

1930 Hours

"Chuck Bartowski? Is that you?" Allan Watterman exclaimed as Chuck and Sarah walked up the bar to order drinks. They had arrived at the hotel thirty minutes earlier and after make a quick circuit of the ballroom, had yet to identify La Ciudad or any of his associates.

Shit. Chuck thought himself as he recognized Allan. The two had gone to Stanford together. What's this prick doing here? His name wasn't on the list! Then he flashed. It turned out his former college acquaintance had been a very bad boy, from embezzlement, tax fraud, and insider trading. He quickly glanced around, seeing if anyone was paying attention.

"Oh hi, uh Allan." Chuck said. "Long time no see." He shot a quick look to Sarah, giving her a slight signal. It was one of many they had worked out during training. It meant that someone recognized him and their cover was in danger.

"What have you been up to do?" Allan asked. "The last I heard you left the Buy More to become a knuckle dragger." Chuck tensed slightly; it was not the first time he had heard such derogatory comments about the Marines, yet it still got to him.

"Nothing much, Alan." Chuck said, trying to keep his cool. "I live in DC now, got a new job." It was close enough to the truth. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Sarah."

"Wow Chuck! She's gorgeous! Way to go!" Allan said as he took Sarah's hand and kissed it. While he was distracted by Sarah, Chuck noticed Pat (who was posing as the bartender) slip something into Allan's drink.

Within five minutes after Allan took a drink from his glass, he began to sag. Chuck grabbed him and helped him off the stool.

"Come on Allan, you look like you need some air." Chuck said, leading him across the ballroom towards the exit, Sarah following them from behind. They got him out the door and sat him down on the steps. By now he was out completely. A moment later a DC police officer walked by and noticing them stopped.

"Is this man ok?" he asked.

"Passed out officer." Sarah said. "I think he had too much to drink."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Not really." Chuck said. "We went to school together. Haven't seen him in a few years until tonight, he kinda went off the reservation for a while."

"Ok. I'll take it from here." the cop said. "My cruiser's just up the street. I'll take him to the drunk tank." With that he grabbed Allan and pulled him to his feet and supporting him by placing Allan's arm over his shoulder, began to walk away. Meanwhile, Sarah and Chuck stood discussing what to do next.

"Any chance anyone overheard him greet you?" Sarah asked.

"I doubt it; between the music and the other conversations going on it would have been pretty hard." Chuck said. "What do you think Pat?"

"I think you're right Chuck; I didn't notice anyone at the bar area paying any special attention to you." Pat said over the coms.

"Andrea, Samantha?" Sarah asked.

"Security feed seems clear; nothing to indicate anything." Samantha said. Just then the door to the surveillance van opened and Jason, dressed as the cop, pushed the unconscious Allan into the van. A moment later he was also and the van door closed. "BTW, Jason's back with your friend. We'll sit on him for now; that tranq that Pat slipped him should keep him out for about eight hours. How bad a guy is he?"

"Mostly financial crimes. Keep him on ice and we'll turn him over to the SEC." Chuck said. "We're going to head back in. We still need to try and figure out who La Ciudad is. Besides, I still owe Sarah a Tango."

Ten minutes later…

"Looks like they're opening the viewing of the gallery." Sarah said. The two agents had been mingling around the party after having coming back inside.

"Let's go get a look at that painting." Chuck said. "Maybe seeing it in person will cause me to flash on something more." Sarah nodded and the pair made their way into the next room where the art that would be up for auction had been arranged. They slowly made their way around the room, stopping briefly at each piece so they wouldn't attract attention by concentrating on one painting in particular. Finally they came to the painting they were interested in. Chuck studied it for a moment, before leaning in to whisper in Sarah's ear.

"No flash, but Sarah, something is definately up with this painting. The frame has been switched." he said softly.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked back. Chuck nodded. Before they could speak any further or alert the rest of the team, a rather attractive, middle-aged Latina woman walked up besides them, standing to Chuck's right side.

"It is a beautiful painting, is it not?" she said.

"Yeah, it has a certain quality about it." Chuck said. "Very Bob Rossian in its influence."

"Bob Rossian?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know the guy on PBS who painted landscape? Happy Little Trees?" Chuck said, turning to look at her. As he did so, he caught sight of a scar on her neck. The flash hit him instantly. Shit! Chuck thought. That's La Ciudad! He looked back at the painting. I've got to get Sarah away from here and fill her in. But how? Just then, he heard the familiar beginning strains of a dance he had been looking forward to sharing with Sarah - the Tango.

"Sarah, dear," Chuck said, turning to her and taking her by the hand. "I believe they're playing our dance. Shall we?" His eyes bore into hers, hoping she would take the hit.

"Yes, let's." Sarah replied. They excused themselves and walked out of the room and back into the main ballroom. Chuck could feel the eyes of the woman following them. Making their way to the dance floor, he took Sarah into his arms and the two began to dance.

"Okay Chuck, what's so important." Sarah whispered as they danced.

"That woman over by the painting. That's La Ciudad." Chuck replied.

"Are you sure Chuck?" Pat said over their earwigs.

"Yeah. Flashed on a scar she has." Chuck said. "Her real name is Meyer Ortiz, Mexican national. Her father and older brothers were members of one of the minor cartels the country. They were killed during a joint Mexican Army-DEA raid. She's going by the name Malena Bernal."

"Ok." Sarah said. "If she's here then Lutz must be nearby." Just then she noticed Malena head toward the exit of the ballroom, followed several steps behind by a pair of men that screamed "bodyguards" in appearance, as the dance ended. "She's leaving the ballroom. Looks like she has two shadows." Chuck glanced towards the door.

"We better follow." he said, leading Sarah off the dance floor. "Pat, wait a few minutes and follow us." Then he spoke to the team in the van. "Do you her on the security cameras?"

"Affirmative Chuck, they're heading towards the elevators in the lobby." Jason said. "They're getting into one. Switching to the camera in the elevator. They're headed to the 9th floor."

"Roger that." Sarah said as they exited the ballroom and hurried towards the lobby. "Andrea, Samantha, you better get in here and cover the exits just in case. Jason, contact Harper and get a response team ready just in case."

"On our way." Andrea said.

"Already dialing." Jason replied.

Five minutes later…

"We're exiting the elevator now." Chuck said. "Anything on the security feed?"

"They entered the suite at the end of the hall. There's one guard in the hall in front of the door." Jason said. "Samantha and Andrea are in place." The elevator doors opened and Chuck and Sarah exited and turned towards their destination, acting very much like a drunk couple on their way to a rendezvous. As they approached the guard, Sarah suddenly lashed out with a kick to the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of the guard and doubling him over. A moment later Chuck followed up with an uppercut that knocked him out could. Both agents then drew their Sig Sauer P229 sidearms. Sarah nodded to Chuck, who then prepared to kick the suite door in.

Meanwhile, inside the Suite…

"Well Dr. Lutz, is this the genuine article?" Malena asked as she walked over to the makeshift work station that had been set up in the suite. The doctor was seated at the workstation examining a frame. Throughout the room, five other people were present, all of them guards.

"It appears to be the genuine article." Dr. Lutz responded. "I won't know for sure until I can get it back to a proper lab, of course, but this is definitely the frame that was on the painting originally. Seems our friend from MI-6 was being truthful."

Malena smiled. After the painting had arrived and been brought into the gallery, her people had quite by accident noticed a known MI-6 operative watching the gallery. It had only taken a few moments to capture him and less than a day to break him.

Agents these days. she sneered to herself. Nothing but a bunch of over glorified rent-a-cops. Not like the old days when one could count on a challenge. She turned to one of her men.

"Good, then we have no more use for him." she said. "Kill him." The guard nodded and walked into another part of the suite. A moment later the sound of two suppressed pistol shots was faintly heard. The guard re-entered the main part of the suite, holstering his weapon.

"Start sanitizing the room.." Malena ordered. The guards started to destroy everything in the suite that could be used. Malena stood watching silently, when a noise outside the suite attracted her attention. She was just about to order one of the guards to go check it out when the door to the suite burst open and two people entered the suite, each brandishing a pistol. The guards reacted almost instantly, reaching for their weapons but not quick enough. One of the intruders, a rather attractive blonde female, took two of them out with well placed shots to the chest and a third with a throwing knife to the throat. Her companion, a tall, lithe man with brown hair, took out the other two guards just as fast.

"Federal Agents! Hands in the air!" the man shouted as he and the woman covered Malena and Dr. Lutz. Malena clapped slowly and smiled.

"Very good." she said. "Who are you? CIA?"

"Sorry, that's on a need-to-know basis." Sarah replied. "And you don't need to know miss. Or should I say, La Ciudad?" Malena's smile faltered slightly.

"How do you know that I am that name?" she hissed.

"That's also need-to-know." Chuck said. "Let's just say, you and your people aren't as good as you think you are." He turned to Dr. Lutz. "Move over here, slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them." Then he spoke into his radio. "Targets in custody. Samantha, Andrea, get up here. By the looks of this place, we're going to need help going through everything. Jason, get cleaner team here, asap."

"Roger Chuck." three voices said over the radio.

"You got them?" Chuck asked Sarah. She nodded, her weapon leveled at the two prisoners. Chuck holstered his pistol and walked carefully over to Dr. Lutz and searched him for weapons, finding a small automatic in an ankle holster. He tossed it across the room, then grabbed his arms and using a set of flex-cuffs he pulled from his pocket, cuffed him. "Your turn." he said to Malena as he patted her down. Finding no weapons, he pulled another set of flex-cuffs and secured her as well. He then led them over to a couch where he proceed to push them down into a sitting position. The sound of feet approaching the suite caused both him and Sarah to glance at the door.

"Sorry it took so long." Samantha said as she entered the suite. "We had to take the stairs. All the elevators were in use." Behind her, Andrea entered the suite and closed the door.

"No problem." Sarah said. "Andrea, keep an eye on these two; we'll search the suite." Andrea walked over to the two prisoners and relieved Sarah. Samantha and Sarah then proceeded to search the rest of the suite while Chuck went to the workstation.

"Sarah! Get in here!" Samantha's voice shouted from one of the rooms. Sarah made her way across the suite and entered the room. She was greeted by the sight of Samantha leaning over a man who had been secured to a chair, and had two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the heart.

"Any idea who he is?" Sarah asked. It was clear he was dead, and very recently. Samantha shook her head. Sarah took out her phone and took a picture. She then exited the room and walked back over to Chuck, who was examining the frame.

"Anything?" Sarah asked. Chuck glanced over to her and his eyes startled here. Though the rest of him appeared to be calm, his eyes shone with deep concern."

"Yeah." He said. "You better tell Jason to sent a NEST team with the cleaners. I think there might be plutonium in this frame." Sarah's eyes widened slightly at this. Quickly she spoke into her radio and relayed the information to Jason. When she was done, she turned back to Chuck.

"They're on their way." she said. Then she showed him the phone. "Anybody we know?" If Sarah hadn't see the signs before, she wouldn't have noticed the flash. Chuck nodded slightly indicating that he had an ID.

"Let's check these computers out." He said, leading Sarah over to two laptops. As they began examining them, Chuck whispered to Sarah. "He's MI-6. What the hell was he doing here? There was nothing in Intersect or our mission brief about a British operation going on here."

"I'm not sure." Sarah whispered in return. "We'll have to get Harper on it once we're done here."

A knock at the suite door interrupted them. Both got up and walked towards the door, which Sarah taking up position just off to the side in case of trouble. Chuck looked out the peephole and spotted the cleaner team. Nodding to Sarah he opened the door and let them in.

"Let's get these two on ice." Chuck said, motioning towards Malena and Dr. Lutz.