Sorry for the delay in updates, folks. Too many irons in the fire.
Thanks to Poa and MySoapBox for advice on this chapter. Thanks to them, I have a little better handle on where the story is going now. (Yeah, yeah, I should have that all mapped out in advance and not make it up as I go along).
CHUCK VERSUS THE BUY MORE BOMBER
Chapter 15
Lockdown
"Mr. Bartowski, I'm sending an extraction team. The mission has been compromised. I am putting you in lockdown here in Washington."
The words echoed in Sarah's mind as she rode the elevator down to the sublevel living quarters where Chuck Bartowski was currently housed. The doors to the elevator opened and Sarah stepped out. The guard at the desk facing the elevator looked up. "Good morning, Agent Walker." Sarah nodded to the guard and keyed in her personal code. The computer scanned her retina and confirmed her identity. The guard double checked the findings, and then hit a button to open the door.
Sarah stepped through into the high security 'bunker.' Though it was denominated a bunker, it was actually a high security underground holding facility. Sarah passed through two more checkpoints before she arrived at a familiar door with a Dilbert cartoon taped to the door. She smiled and knocked on the door. When she heard a muffled, 'come in,' she keyed the entry code into the lock and the door slid open.
Chuck was seated on a stool at a cluttered work table, various electronic components spread on the table before him. He turned to look at who it was and jumped to his feet when he saw that it was Sarah.
He broke into a huge smile, covered the distance between his stool and the doorway in three huge strides and threw his arms around Sarah. She returned the fierce hug as he whispered in her ear, "God, I've missed you."
Sarah pulled back just enough to plant a passionate kiss on his lips. She was delighted when he responded with equal passion. Finally, reluctantly, she pulled away. "So," he said, smiling, "who's the president?" It was their standard joke. Each time she visited, he would ask her the same question.
"Thomas Whitmore," she answered, her standard reply ever since they watched Independence Day during one of her visits to his 'bunker.'
He pulled back and held her at arm's length and smiled at her. "You're as beautiful as ever, Sarah."
Sarah looked at him and lowered her eyes. He was pale and thin and he had cut his hair short. While his smile for her was genuine, it barely reached his eyes. He was wasting away here, separated from family and friends and the life he knew.
The bunker was for his own good, she tried to tell herself. It was the best way to keep him safe. Besides, orders were orders. It had nothing to do with keeping him away from the Lous, the Jills, the Amelias. It was for his own good. And the fact that she was his one connection to the outside world…
"'Bout time," Casey grunted.
Sarah blinked, jolted back to reality. A brief horror flickered across her eyes. How could she even think such a thing? That wasn't her. She didn't want Chuck in a bunker. It was simply an idle daydream: the thought of his lips pressing against hers, of being free to express her feelings once he was no longer her asset…
She glanced over at Chuck and saw his worried expression. She felt the guilt welling up inside for even contemplating Chuck stuck in a bunker. She turned back to the screen. "General, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Oh?" Beckman responded. She was not a woman who liked to have her orders questioned.
"General, given Finkelstein's interest in Chuck, and his connections, it could cause... complications... if he were to simply disappear. Moses Finkelstein (etc.) doesn't strike me as the kind of man who would simply give up on Chuck. Wouldn't it put the whole Intersect project at risk of exposure if the Founder and CEO of Buy More started calling in markers to try and find him?"
Beckman frowned. "Unfortunately, you're probably correct. Moses has never been a man who gives up easily."
Chuck raised an eyebrow at Beckman's calling Moses Finkelstein (etc.) 'Moses'. Did Beckman and Finkelstein know each other?
"No extraction, for now," Beckman said. Casey responded with a dissatisfied grunt; but, unlike Sarah, he wasn't one to question orders. Beckman ignored Casey and continued. "However, Mr. Bartowski, under no circumstances are you to agree to or accept any type of position in Moses' organization."
"Well, technically, I already have a position in..." Casey jabbed Chuck with an elbow. Hard. Chuck winced and then continued while he pressed an arm to his side. "Right. No promotion at the Buy More. Nerd Herd it is."
"I want this 'bomber' business wrapped up as soon as possible," Beckman said. "Then we'll deal with Moses Finkelstein."
"Yes, General," Sarah and Casey said in unison while Chuck said, "Right. Yes, ma'am. Understood." His response earned him a sidelong glance from the two agents.
Beckman cut the connection.
"So what now?" Casey asked.
"The problem is that we don't have any leads in the Bomber case," Sarah said. "We need to go talk to Ari. He has a team analyzing the security footage. Are any of the stores even open? How are we going to track the Bomber if he doesn't have any targets?"
"Or if he moves to targets outside Southern California," Chuck added. "There are Buy More stores all over the country. He could go anywhere next."
"I checked," Casey said. "All the California stores are closed except for the Beverly Hills Branch. They've hired their own security and installed explosive detection equipment."
"Let's go talk to Ari," Chuck said. "Is he still at the hospital?"
Sarah nodded.
"Casey, go get our gear," Sarah said. "I want to have a look at Chuck's hands."
"Hmph. Hands," Casey said and then hurried out before Sarah could reach for one of her knives.
Sarah rolled her eyes and said, "Come on," as she led Chuck to the room they used as the Castle's infirmary. "Sit," Sarah ordered, pointing to a chair before turning to pull the supplies she needed out of one of the cupboards. She methodically arranged the supplies on a tray and then carried the tray over to the small table next to Chuck and sat in the chair facing him.
Chuck held his hands up. "Face first," Sarah said. She lightly touched Chuck's cheek. "Does that hurt?" she asked.
"Not too bad. I think it's getting better," Chuck replied.
Sarah gently turned his head from side to side, looking over his burns. "Let me put a little more aloe on it," she said. "I'm afraid you're going to start peeling." She gently put a little of the green goop on her fingers and gently touched it to Chuck's face.
"So, what did you think of Finkelstein's offer?" she asked, a little too casually.
Chuck blinked and cocked his head a little to the side, leading Sarah to grab his chin and push it back straight. "Well, um, flattered?" he said.
"It'd be a good opportunity for you," Sarah said. "You'd be getting out of the Buy More. Ellie would be ecstatic if she found out."
Chuck frowned. "You heard Beckman. There's no way she's going to let me work for Moses… well… with Moses… Oh, you know what I mean."
Sarah smiled a little. "But you won't always be the Intersect," she said. "You're the one who's always telling me you're going to get that thing out of your head and live a normal life. There. All done. Now let's take a look at your hands."
Chuck held out his hands and Sarah carefully unwrapped the gauze. Chuck winced a little as she did. His right hand was still sore from when Moses Finkelstein (etc.) had shaken it earlier.
"One of the blisters popped," Sarah said, looking over Chuck's right hand. "Did you grab something?"
"Moses shook my hand when I got to his office," Chuck said. "He didn't squeeze hard, but it still hurt."
"Well, that's why," Sarah said. "Chuck, you have to take care of yourself." Chuck noted, happily, that her tone was more of a girlfriend chiding her boyfriend than of a handler scolding her agent. "So, do you think you might want to be Moses Finkelstein (etc.)'s right hand man someday?" she asked.
Chuck chewed the inside of his lip while he thought. "It's not exactly what I envisioned doing with my life. I mean, I always thought I would be working for Microsoft or Apple Arts or Roark Industries, not running a business empire… unless it was my own software company."
"It would probably pay well," Sarah said, grabbing a jar of salve to spread on Chuck's hands. "Lots of responsibility, lots of glamour. Being a high level executive like that can be some pretty heady stuff."
Chuck frowned again. "Sarah, why are you asking? Do you want me to take the job?"
"Just making conversation," Sarah said. "I want you to be happy, Chuck. And if you think that taking the position with Moses Finkelstein (etc.) will make you happy, then I'm all for it." She looked down and Chuck could read Sarah well enough by now to know there was something she wasn't saying.
"Don't you think he's a little, you know, crazy?" Chuck asked.
Sarah grabbed a towel and wiped the excess salve from her hands and then picked up a roll of gauze. "A lot of important, powerful men come off as a little crazy," Sarah said. "Sometimes they are. Sometimes they're just… driven." She started to wrap the gauze around Chuck's right hand.
"It's just…" Sarah started, then stopped and licked her lips. She started again; "I know how unhappy you are at the Buy More. And, no offense Chuck, but you're wasted at the Buy More. You could do so much more. I've seen it. When Moses made the offer… Well, it was nice to see someone else recognize your potential."
"Thank you, Sarah," Chuck replied. "I have to admit; it's tempting. I mean, having everything handed to me on a silver platter…"
"You won't be the Intersect forever," Sarah said.
Chuck didn't reply and there was a long silence as Sarah finished his right hand and began to wrap the gauze around his left.
"You and Amelia Banks seemed to hit it off," she said finally, as she picked up the scissors to cut the excess gauze.
Chuck tried hard not to smile. Was that what was bothering her? Could Sarah actually be jealous? No. Not possible. Smart, sexy, secret agents didn't get jealous.
"Her boyfriend introduced her to Ex Machina, a graphic novel I've read," he said carefully, gauging her reaction.
"Ex-boyfriend," Sarah corrected him automatically, and then paused and bit her lower lip.
"Oh, did she say ex-boyfriend?" Chuck said, dismissively. "Anyway, who could have guessed that a hard-nosed ex-Special Forces sergeant would be a closet nerd? I mean, that's kind of…" He stopped. 'Stupid, Bartowski. Real stupid. Letting your mouth run ahead of your brain. Again! But he couldn't help adding the last word, "…cool." He stopped and forced himself not to whack himself in the forehead.
There was a long silence and Chuck realized he was holding his breath. Finally Sarah spoke. "Yeah. Amelia is quite something," she said.
'Open mouth, insert foot, Bartowski,' Chuck thought. 'How do I get out of this one?' There was one constant with Chuck. When he panicked, his mouth started running away from him. "Maybe you'd like it," he said. "I could loan it to you and you could see what you think. I mean, I know you don't read graphic novels. Or, at least, I've never seen you read graphic novels. But even Devon has read a few of mine and this one, it's really great," he said, his speech ramping up to 'Chuck speed.' "There's this guy, Mitchell Hundred, and he's known as the Great Machine. Well, that's his superhero name. He's this civil engineer, see, and there's this explosion of an alien device and he's impregnated… that sounds weird… I mean, not impregnated, impregnated, but he has these parts of the alien device embedded in his body that allow him to talk to and sometimes control mechanical devices and then he's elected as Mayor of New York…"
Seeing Sarah's knowing smile, Chuck paused. His enthusiasm drained away and he finished lamely, "Anyway, I can loan them to you… If you want."
Sarah started putting up her medical supplies. "Thanks, Chuck. I just might… take you up on that. Later. But we had better be going. It's not a good idea to keep Casey waiting."
"No, I suppose not," Chuck said as he stood.
"But we do need to talk more about Moses Finkelstein (etc.)," she said.
Chuck sighed. "Yeah. I suppose we do," he said.
********************************
Ari was in a room in the 'special section' of County General. It still made Chuck nervous to walk past the 'Biohazard' signs. They rounded the corner to find Doctor Jennings standing by a nurses' station, looking over a chart. "So, doctors just stand around posing like that to look important, don't they?" Chuck teased.
Jennings turned and smiled. "Agent Carmichael. Nothing's wrong is it? The hands bothering you?"
"Not too much," Chuck replied. "You did an excellent job, Doctor."
"It was my honor, Agent Carmichael. Too bad I can't tell anyone I was attending physician to the Hero of North Hollywood."
"The what?" Sarah asked.
"The Hero of North Hollywood. That's what they're calling Agent Carmichael, after that video surfaced. I think it made the national news."
"Peachy," Casey growled, with a nasty look at Chuck.
"We're here to see Agent Cohen," Sarah said, remembering to use Ari's current alias.
"He's just down the hall, third room on the left. His wife is here with him."
"His wife," Sarah gasped. "She's here?"
"She got in about an hour, hour and a half ago," Doctor Jennings said.
Without another word, Sarah hurried down the hall. Startled, Chuck stood there for a moment and then ran after her.
"Good to see you, Agent Carmichael!" Doctor Jennings called after him.
"Great. Just great. Hero of North Hollywood my ass," Casey muttered as he trudged down the hall after the rest of Team Bartowski.
Sarah stopped in the doorway of Ari's hospital room. "Rachel."
An older woman, still beautiful but with a few strands of grey now streaking her blonde hair, turned at the sound of her name. Her blue eyes went wide and sparkled with delight. "Rebecca! David told me you were here." Rachel hurried across the room to envelop Sarah in a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you. It's been so long."
Chuck came skidding to a stop in the doorway in time to see Sarah wrapped in the arms of an older woman, but one who looked enough like Sarah to be her mother. His eyes went wide and a variety of wild thought went spinning through his head.
Rachel pulled away but held Sarah at arm's length. "Rebecca Meyerson. The least you could have done was drop me a note now and again to let me know you were all right."
"It's Sarah. Sarah Walker," Sarah replied. "And you of all people should know that wasn't possible."
Rachel sighed and pulled Sarah into another hug. "Of course, dear, of course. But I am a Jewish mother, after all. I have a certain reputation to uphold."
Sarah laughed as she pulled away. "You're looking well, Rachel."
"Please, Leah," Rachel said. "Wife of David Cohen, security consultant." She looked over at the bed where Ari was giving them both a knowing grin. "Has he been giving you much trouble?"
"He's a shameless flirt, but other than that, he's harmless."
"Honey, when you reach his age, flirt is all you can do," Rachel said with a smirk.
"I'm right here, woman," Ari protested from the bed. "And you have never had any complaints."
"Well, none that you have ever heard, David," Rachel said.
"Ahem," Chuck said from the doorway.
Sarah and Rachel turned and Chuck was once again struck by the similarity between the two women. He found himself thinking, 'Ari Schwartz is a lucky man.'
"I'm sorry, Leah," Sarah said. "This is Charles Carmichael. My partner."
"A pleasure," Chuck said, holding out a hand out of habit.
Rachel glanced down at his hands. "You are the one," she said, ignoring Chuck's hand and hurrying forward to give Chuck a hug. "You are the one who saved my David."
Chuck blushed. "Actually, that was Agent Casey here," Chuck said, indicating the figure that appeared behind him in the doorway.
"Well thank you. Both of you," Rachel said, eyeing Casey and apparently deciding against hugging him as well.
"Actually, it was Ar... um... David who is the real hero," Chuck said. "He went into the store to warn the employees and then he saved Sarah's... Agent Walker's life when the bomb exploded."
Rachel turned and looked at Ari. "He is an old man who was foolish enough to listen to his wife and come here in the first place."
Chuck and Sarah both noticed Rachel's voice break just a little when she said this. Sarah quickly changed the subject. "What do the doctors say? When can you get out?"
Ari smiled. "If it was up to me, I would be out today so I could send this foolish old woman home. But alas, they tell me they want me to stay until tomorrow. I think it's because some of the nurses can't bear to let me go."
"Fey!" Rachel said, but there was laughter in her eyes.
"I want to thank you as well, Agent Casey, Agent Carmichael," Ari said, suddenly serious. "I owe you a debt that will not be easy to repay."
"It's already repaid," Chuck said quickly, earning a grunt from Casey. "We're grateful to you for saving Sarah's life. That is a debt we can never repay."
"Fey!" Rachel said again. "He knows that if he let anything happen to our dear... Sarah... he would have to answer to me. And to our son, Yitzhak."
Ari turned to Sarah. "So why have you come? As much as I would like to think so, I do not think it was to bask in the glow of my personality. I understand you saw Moses Finkelstein this morning."
"Word travels fast," Casey said, stepping into the room and closing the door.
"Moses has already been in contact with Mossad headquarters to get all the information he can on Agent Carmichael, here," Ari said. "Or should I say, Charles Irving Bartowski."
