Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 4—the Surveillance

Casa Bartowski

Chuck woke with Sarah in his arms. He felt better and she was here. He moved closer to her and moved his arm to restore some feeling again. He quickly thought about whether that was a good idea. He was not trying to wake her but it happened. "Hi there," he said.

"Good morning, are you doing okay?" Sarah asked.

"I think so, but I just had a set of pills an hour ago. How are you doing? Are you getting enough sleep?" he inquired.

"Yes, I am fine. And no more nightmares," she smiled and hugged him.

"Can you help me get ready for a shower?" he watched her eyes. "I mean put that plastic wrap on. And yeah, you probably should stay close by in case something happens. But…"

Sarah put her fingers over his mouth, "I know. It is okay. I'll help."

They went in the bathroom and Sarah put the wrap over the bandages. Chuck got down to his boxer shorts and stepped into the shower. Sarah smiled at him and waited by the vanity. When he got done, she stepped out of the bathroom. He got another pair on and came out of the bathroom smiling. Sarah helped him back over to the bed and said that she was going to take a shower too. Chuck was asleep when she got done.

Casey woke up first and held Mary for quiet a while. Mary finally stirred and looked up at Casey. She got closer to him and reached up to kiss him. They stayed in an embrace.

Casey said, "You know I only agreed to this because we could not think of another way. You stay in the hotel to do surveillance on the Fulcrum agents and I will be right across the street. Those guys come close to you and you do what?"

"I push the red button on my bracelet," Mary recited.

"And how long does it take me to get there?" continued Casey.

"Too long, so I run," she ended.

"Good," Casey kissed and held her tighter. "Okay, let's get ready."

Casey and Mary were dressed and packed. They were seated in the conference room waiting for the rest of the teams for a final review.

Sarah called and got Mary, "Hey, Dorothy is here. I'll be up in a second for the reviews." Sarah stayed in the conference room watching all the reviews for the teams and the updates. At the end Sarah got up, "I wanted to make sure that you all take care. I know what it is like to be close to completing the mission and thinking that you could get around a little detail just to speed something up. Or thinking that you can do it yourself. And I know we have gone over this every time. But I want everyone to be careful. It is more important to all of us that you come back than catching another Fulcrum agent. Be careful."

Sarah went back to Chuck. Dorothy had helped him downstairs and he was waiting for Sarah on the couch bed. "Hey, how it go?" Chuck asked.

She went over a flopped down beside him.

"Hey, what?" Chuck pursued.

"What do you do when you have to send someone off and you don't know…?" Sarah said.

Chuck broke in, "Come back?" He saw her nod. "Pray."

The teams broke up form the conference room. Mary and her team were driving down to San Diego. Chief Scotts was driving with Mary in shot gun and Lawrence Taylor, LT, was in the back. They remained team one for reporting and control. Mary's team had one chase car that was the protection detail including Casey. Another would pick them up about half way to their destination and the third would meet them at San Diego.

Marshal Kayle Preston was going to the LA airport for a ride to Portland with his team. They remained team four as the members were Lea Suz and Brad Hill. They were going to Portland and then if things went as planned, Kayle would head to Salem. One detail was going with them on the plane and the other was to meet them in Portland.

Alice's team, number two, was heading to Seattle on military transportation. Alice had Tom Newton and Vera Townsman on her team. Their protection details were heading up there with them.

The surveillance operations of each team were to start that afternoon. They would be connected live to the conference with the Castle as backup. Steven and Chuck had set up the conference for this type of operation. Steven would be in the conference center during the days. Then Liz Reynolds from Sarah's analysis center, Elton Devers, Eldie, still recovering from a guns shot wound, and Kristen O'Day would be working shifts to monitor the situation. Problems were to be referred to Mary first, and then Sarah if Mary could not be contacted.

The main objective of the surveillance was to determine whom these agents were reporting to. Basically find their new boss. The next objective was to determine whether these agents were trying to reestablish connections with the traffickers. After those objectives were met then the next step was to arrest the agents.

Chuck slept most of the day. Sarah stayed on-line with the teams while they were traveling. Mr. Wiggins was on-line and pushing any information they got out to Mary and the teams. Sarah reviewed the information as it flowed. When Chuck woke for pills or another check by Dorothy, he would review the information to see if there was anything out of the ordinary or whether there was something he flashed on.

Team Two

Alice and her team got to Seattle first. They took separate cars and checked into the hotel. Their targets were staying at the hotel and using an office across the street. Alice's room faced the office. She set up surveillance gear to monitor the office. The equipment fed into the data lines going to the conference room. She would be renting an office next to theirs the next day.

Tom went down to the hotel restaurant to slowly enjoy his dinner and see if the Fulcrum agents would stop by. Their intelligence was correct. One of the agents came in with two girls and began a little party. They were enjoying themselves through the meal. They were either kissing or overtly pawing each other. Tom stopped counting the number of times the 'asshole's' hand disappeared in the blouses of the girls. Tom went to the restroom and on the way used the opportunity to plant a bug on the agent. Tom dropped the bug into the guy's pocket as the he was engaged pawing the thigh smaller girl. Tom was upset with the actions of the agent and passed his concerns on to Alice. He was positive they were very young, if not too young. Mary warned them to watch for traffickers. That type of behavior was one of theirs.

Vera posed as a maid and went to each of the Fulcrum agents rooms to plant bugs. When she was done with that she changed into something more appealing and went to the bar. Their intelligence showed activity by one of the Fulcrum agents at the hotel bar. She sat at a table and waited for her target. After a couple drinks and a bar sandwich she decided he was a no show.

The protection details were hidden by blending in to the scene. There were two on nearby roofs checking the area. One was a waiter in the restaurant and one as a hotel maid. Two more came into the bar dress as businessmen.

Team Four

Kayle and his team got to their first objective next. Their first target was an office run out of a warehouse. Kayle's team was the happy new tenant of the office across the street. They were arranging new signage and the installation of new furniture. Kayle made his way to place trackers on the Fulcrum agent's cars. Lea was setting up the surveillance equipment in their office to monitor the warehouse and the office. Brad had triangulated a wireless signal coming from the warehouse. He was working with Mr. Wiggins to crack into the wireless network.

Lea followed the first agent leaving the warehouse to a bar nearby. Since they were not completely comfortable with the lack of clear exits from the establishment, Lea was told to not to proceed into the bar. She remained outside the bar waiting to see if the agent came out with anyone. After an hour the agent walked out alone and drove off to his apartment. Lea went to the apartment on the opposite corner. She set up more surveillance equipment to monitor the apartment.

Brad trailed the next agent, a young lady. She was dressed to match in a business suit that appeared to be almost stern. She made a stop at a drug store, but continued from there to her apartment. It was in the same complex as the first agent but on the other side of the three block complex. Brad took an apartment two down from hers and set up.

Kayle let the next agent go and waited on the agent that locked out the office. This was a bit of a surprise as that agent drove to Salem that night. After going twenty miles out of Portland, Kayle and Mary agreed that he should return to the other apartment that was across from the agent that Kayle did not follow.

Team One

Mary's team arrived in San Diego and set up across from their target at a warehouse near the docks. Their target was going to be potentially a little more difficult. The fulcrum agents were operating out of a wharf-office combination along with two sail boats. Their intelligence indicated at least one of them was using the boats as a home. The other three agents were staying at a small motel down the street. The Chief was already over at the hotel setting up surveillance in the rooms of the agents. After completing their surveillance set up at the warehouse, Mary and LT moved to the motel.

By the time they completed their set up Mary had already told Tom to watch for traffickers. She realized the young girls he saw were an indication. Casey was in the warehouse at the time and agreed. One of his protection details was waiting for Mary and her team at the motel. One was to stay around the warehouse they were using. The last team was across the street from the motel in an apartment building which was where Casey would be staying.

LT went to the bar in the motel parking lot in case the Fulcrum agents stopped by. Mary went to the restaurant down the street. Neither saw an agent that first night. Mary went back to the motel after telling Kayle to return to Portland.

Chuck and Sarah listened to Mary's report that night. There were no particular highlights from the information they collected. Chuck fell asleep soon after that bit of information. Mary and her team leads went on to explain the other parts of the surveillance that had been established.

Casa Bartowski

With Chuck settled in for what looked like the rest of the night, Sarah took a shower and settled in to review her emails and voicemails before going to bed. She was surprised that the last voicemail was from Chuck saying that he loved her and to remember she was on vacation. When she got in bed, she poked him. He rolled over, kissed her and went back to sleep.

The next morning Chuck woke up in pain. He looked at the clock and saw it was time to take the pain relievers.

Sarah was fully awake staring at Chuck, "Chuck, what is wrong? Chuck?"

"Okay, just need the pain medicine," Chuck replied.

Sarah scrambled for the pills and a glass of water. She helped him take the pills and hold the water to swallow them. She rubbed his hair, "Okay, I know you got heavier pain relievers. But I guess I did not realize that you were in that much pain."

"Explain later. Just hold me," Chuck started to rock with the pain.

Sarah was patient and held Chuck for almost a half hour. She finally looked at him and asked, "Are you better?"

"Yeah, I am back in the clouds," Chuck had his head down.

"So, how bad was the pain?" Sarah asked.

"Close to eights," he said then asked, "You know what I am talking about?"

She kissed him, "I do."

"That's want I want to hear," he held her.

"Well, let's ask Doc Adams if there is anything he can do," Sarah added.

Later when Doc Adams came to check on Chuck, Sarah asked about the medications. They went over the options with Chuck and agreed to stay with what they had by timing the medication a little earlier, instead of waiting for the pain.

Chuck made a point of asking Sarah to help him stay awake until the morning briefings. Sarah called Mary to tell her that they would do a review with Chuck and as agreed they would continue to do it when he was ready. Mary got her team on-line and went through the day's plans. Steven and Mr. Wiggins provided updates. Liz was working the conference room.

Chuck got help from Dorothy to get downstairs and felt a little better. Ellie and Devon stopped over before they went to work. Ellie made breakfast for everyone. Steven came down from the conference room. And Kristen came over. Sarah took a plate up to Liz.

Team Two

Alice and her team left their rooms at separate times. Alice spent the early morning reviewing the feeds from the previous night. She had reported those in her summary. She agreed with Tom that the agent with the girls had a problem. When she made sure Liz had the data package, she suggested some controls be placed on the recordings.

Tom went first to meet the agent with the girls in the lobby. The timing worked perfectly as he saw two other men take the girls away and the agent walk across the street to the Fulcrum office. Alice flagged the video as two possible traffickers.

Vera went to the hotel restaurant and monitored her target during breakfast. He ate alone while reading the newspaper. Then he went to the office.

Alice followed her agent to the lobby and watched her go across the street to the office. She went to her room to monitor the office. Later in the morning she finalized the rental of the office and her team members came over. After setting up their surveillance equipment there they looked for wireless internet networks in the area. They used the protection detail as customers.

Team Four

Kayle and his team followed their agents back to the office and assumed their positions in the office across the street. They found the surveillance was working as the intercepted a call to the office from the agent that went to Salem. The conversation was not revealing, he only said that he got there and the traffic was terrible.

Team One

Mary's team watched their targets from across the street at the warehouse. The Fulcrum agents met at the front of the motel and went to work together. Mary's team continued to monitor the feeds. The activity seemed to match the cover for the Fulcrum agents. They were scheduling trips for the two sail boats. Their calls out were generally to order supplies for those trips.

Later in the day there was a call that the Chief was monitoring. The caller to the Fulcrum agents said that they were bringing another shipment. They gave details of the support they would need including extra firepower, a temporary holding facility, and transportation. The next call was to the one of the agents in Seattle. He was told about the shipment and to arrange transportation for a large group to his location. Another call went to the agent in Salem. He was told to bring his folks as backup.

Casa Bartowski

Sarah called Mary late in the afternoon to arrange a report. Chuck was awake and getting checked by Dorothy. Before the others got on line Mary told Sarah about the video from Seattle. She told her that it was disgusting but that Chuck should look at the recording at a specific point. There were some tattoos visible that may have some meaning. With all the others on the conference, Mary went over the details of the in-coming shipment. Mary recommended that they hold off on the arrests for the shipment. That was going to be another three days after their original planned date. Chuck told the group that they needed more information on the shipment. He asked Mr. Wiggins to lead the effort to see what could be coming in to port then he hesitated and said to check on any unusual air shipments.

After the conference call, Sarah indexed the recording to the right spot and showed Chuck.

"Okay, that's just bad. Wait, back it up so I can see the tattoo on his shoulder," Chuck was staring at the screen. One of the girls got in the way of the shot. Then he saw them, tattoos on the girl. There were two. One was on her breast, a ring of barbed wire. The other was down just above her g-string panty line, a skull. Chuck was able to reach up and cover his eyes, but it was not fast enough. The flash started. The details were horrific. Images from case files relating to girls being tortured into submission and then branded or tattooed with similar markings rocked him. The images continued to flash.

Dorothy had stepped out during the briefings was now running back to Chuck side. She had left on the monitors to get a better reading and the alarms were going off. Chuck's heart rate was sky rocketing and his blood pressure was on a steep rise.

Sarah paused the recording when Chuck's hands moved. While she immediately went to him, she saw the tattoos and knew their meaning. She was starting to get upset someone had not caught that already, she knew Chuck would put them together. Tonight was going to be bad.

Sarah held Chuck while Dorothy reset the equipment. Chuck's flashes continued. Internally he was trying to manage it, but another part of the Halverson organization was coming together. The tentacles ran through Fulcrum. It was a part of their cash operations.

Dorothy was getting the same readings the second time. His rate was still climbing.

A/N Hope you enjoyed.