Hello. Sorry I took so long to get you an update. It's been a little crazy at work, and I've come home a few nights and fell right asleep. I hope everybody had a good holiday, and I promise the next update will be early next week. It'll be action-packed as well. Of course, we had the great final two episodes of Chuck. The only bad part for me is that a few things in this story are now very AU. Just to update, Stephen Bartowski is alive in this story, Morgan and Anna are married, and Casey knows about his daughter, Alex. However, he has not attempted to reconcile with his ex-fiancé.
Also a special thanks to, well I can't say the Website since it'll get edited out, but there was one that assisted me with the translations.
Enjoy, and please feel free to leave reviews.
Washington, D.C.
April 25, 2011
7:45 AM EDT
Alex Forrest negotiated the insane traffic jams that were common around Washington, D.C. at this hour on a Monday morning. It was a bit difficult concentrating on gridlock, as her mind had been wandering ever since she said goodbye to her brother and his family yesterday afternoon and drove back to her apartment in suburban D.C. Her father never told Michael III or Danielle that she worked for the CIA, and she decided to keep it that way for now. Given Mr. Diaz knew about her relationship with Jimmy, keeping them in the dark about what she actually did would be safer for them in the long run. But the days of missing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were over. She would work to make those occasions annual events. And if the Eagles were ever in the Super Bowl again, that would be a non-negotiable with her bosses.
She still couldn't believe what she did yesterday. Or more accurately, what she didn't do. Why didn't she tell Jimmy how she felt about him? They stood there, holding each other, right before both of them would part and return to their jobs. Certainly they would meet again, even if they weren't working on the same case. She had the chance and she didn't take it. She couldn't deny it anymore. She was in love with him. She couldn't think of doing anything else other than being with him the rest of her life. What made her hesitate? Granted, he had just as much opportunity to tell Alex he was in love with her. He talked at her father's grave as if he was asking her father's permission to marry her. But she knew she had to take that very important step first. It was a little more understandable for him to hesitate. As far as she knew, he had never been in love before. The first time someone uses those words is one of the most frightening times of their life. She said it to John after they had dated for eight months. It was a romantic night in D.C. in June. They had an exquisite dinner at a restaurant in Georgetown. They went on a horse carriage ride through the city on a breezy, star-filled night. The mood couldn't have been more perfect for it. It was the first time she said 'I love you' to someone first. It wasn't planned, either. She got swept up in the evening, and it was such a natural thing for a 22-year-old woman to say on a night like that. Thankfully, John felt the same way and immediately returned the sentiment.
She wondered what was holding her back. Jimmy surpassed John in almost every conceivable category. And he never once acted arrogant or self-important. Even those cute little potshots he took at her for thinking of him as simply a sex toy were only because he tried his damndest to please her in the bedroom. And he was incredibly successful at that.
There should have been nothing preventing her from telling Jimmy she loved him. But she didn't take the chance yesterday when it was right in front of her. Was the job stopping her? Was it lingering raw emotions from her father passing away? Was it a bit of post-traumatic stress from being captured? It could have been any of those things or it could have been none of those things. But she knew she couldn't let Jimmy go. She had to be with him.
She tried to put these thoughts to the side for now. She was ten minutes away from the DNI, and General Beckman would outline the details of how she would be involved in this case. She planned to ask a lot of questions. What was happening centered on Chuck, Sarah, and Casey. But how did this relate to Jimmy? This Mr. Diaz wanted to take him away, and she was not going to tolerate it.
It was time to go back to work.
Heathrow Airport, London
April 25, 2011
9:00 AM
Jimmy stared in shock at who he saw in front of him at Heathrow.
"Seriously? Are you trying to get all of us fired?"
"You didn't really think we were just going to sit around Burbank, did you?" Chuck asked with a bemused expression.
Jimmy growled. "No, but this isn't exactly what I call a vote of confidence for the two of you to show up. You don't think I could have done this?"
"This isn't about you, Jimmy," Sarah replied. "We know you could have brought back Casey and Ilsa. But he's been our friend for four years. We couldn't let him do this alone. Besides, if someone is after us, it'll be harder to find us in Europe, correct?"
"Yeah, but I'm thinking that someone isn't Beckman. If she finds out about this, there isn't a sling big enough to hold our asses."
"We won't put you on the spot," Chuck said. "If you want, head to Burbank and pretend you're trying to find him there. But we want you to stay. We need your help."
Jimmy shook his head and gave a slight chuckle. "I seriously doubt there will ever be a time when I'd turn you two down. Hell, you could tell me to drop a bomb on New York and my only question would be 'Which borough?'."
Chuck and Sarah smiled. The three made their way to the shuttles connecting the domestic and international terminals for their flight to Prague.
Washington, D.C.
April 25, 2011
8:00 AM EDT
Alex Forrest sat quietly in the office of General Beckman. The General was gathering several folders of information regarding the Intersect project and the evidence gathered thus far concerning the break-in and theft last Friday.
"The Intersect is a computer system conceived during the Cold War. We had been receiving volumes of information from chatter heard at Fort Meade and collected through field agents. However, the data could not be analyzed quickly enough to stop threats. The Intersect was designed to resolve that issue. It was to sort through the data and mine for patterns in the acquired intel. The idea was to code the data into images to see if a person could retain the information and recall it at will. The person could discover things we couldn't. It was first tested in 1990, but the technology was not adequate enough at the time to handle the data. The project was taken off the drawing board and put back on a few times. After 9/11, the need became greater to develop the system quickly.
"Bryce Larkin was working deep undercover to expose an infiltration by Fulcrum into our agencies. He stole the Intersect data to keep it out of everyone's hands and sent it to a person he could trust. That person was Chuck Bartowski. Chuck unknowingly downloaded the images into his brain. He has received a few upgrades since then, including one that lets him recall information on a variety of skills, such as medical, social, computer security, and combat. His father, Stephen Bartowski, was the principal designer of the Intersect."
Alex sat there, trying to process all of the information Beckman just gave her. "So everything Chuck can do…"
"…is from the Intersect, yes," Beckman replied. "He has been the only person thus far to handle it successfully. And until last year, with no side effects whatsoever. His father gave him a device to help him deal with that aspect. It took patience and time, but his development over these last four years has been astounding."
Alex nodded in agreement. It was little wonder they needed Sarah to work so closely with him. As for the two falling in love, she could certainly understand how that happened. It was amazing the things that took place when an agent decides to be human for a few minutes.
"How does Agent Slade fit into all of this? The man who kidnapped me was looking for him and not Chuck."
"Like I mentioned before, the first test of the Intersect took place in 1990 on the campus of the University of Illinois. They only were able to test it on one person. That person was Slade. The images overtook him and it was assumed they drove him insane. He went on the run. CIA brass at the time decided to shut down the project and told everybody Slade committed suicide. The CIA tried to find him, but he remained hidden until 18 months ago, when Chuck found him in Burbank."
"And you made him an agent? I'm surprised he never turned on you. If the CIA did something like that to me, I don't think I'd be working for you."
Beckman shook her head. "I admit we backed into quite a bit of good fortune regarding him. A mole inside the CIA found out about Slade and exposed him to The Ring. They went after him, but he and Bartowski's team held them off. In the end, he destroyed their headquarters in Los Angeles, which allowed Chuck to rescue Walker and Casey when they were captured. They wanted him to become an agent, and we pulled him out of the rubble and trained him. He's performed brilliantly so far. Honestly, I don't know how much loyalty he has to the Agency, but he's 100% loyal to Bartowski, Walker, and Casey."
A bit of a chill went through Alex. Loyalty was almost unheard of in this business. But obviously that whole group was loyal to Chuck, including Jimmy. And now she got a taste of what that was like, given what Jimmy did for her two nights ago. No wonder they were so protective of him. Who could blame them?
"So, does Slade still have…?" Alex stammered a bit at the question and pointed to her head.
Beckman shook her head. "Stephen Bartowski took that out six weeks ago. His Intersect was obsolete at this point. The data he had was over twenty years old. All of the skills he has he acquired during training or always had them. His college testing indicated an IQ measurement somewhere in the 160's. Obviously he is someone who can accomplish whatever he sets his mind to doing."
Alex smiled inwardly. She had a considerable amount of experience with what Slade could do, but she certainly wasn't complaining.
"What is my assignment?" Alex asked Beckman.
"You'll lead the investigation into the theft of the Cipher, an important element of the Intersect computer. Three people were killed last Friday and some of the paperwork regarding the Cipher was stolen from a lab here in the DNI. We suspect it was an inside job, since the person who did it had working knowledge of our security systems and disabled all video feeds before going in. Our guess is they stole the information and walked out with most of the people who left for the holiday at lunch. We have the three bodies in the morgue. We haven't released them to their families yet because we think they may give us a clue regarding the culprit."
"Anybody not show up to work today?"
"That was the first thing we investigated. However, everybody was where they were supposed to be."
"That means the killer is in the building as we speak."
"They think they have everything they need to build the computer. However, what they stole would be useless without the information stored in my private vault. Nobody outside of you or me knows about it. Once you've narrowed the list, we're going to set a trap. We'll dangle the missing pieces, wait for them to attempt to steal them, and follow the perpetrator to The Ring. We assume they would try to deliver the missing parts of the Cipher to the facility where they are building their own Intersect. You will follow them there and take out their facility. By any means necessary."
Forrest was a little hesitant, as she hadn't been on a mission in almost four months. But she asked for this. She wanted in, and she didn't care if she had to get dirty in the process.
"I should start with the three technicians who were killed. They may hold a clue as to the person we're dealing with."
"Agreed. We have a forensics team going over every square inch of that lab, and the IT and internal security groups are pouring over every second of video surveillance and anything done on a computer for the 48-hour period before the theft. They'll report to you by 1100 hours."
"Very well. I'll have an update for you by 1400 hours."
"Good luck and good hunting, Agent Forrest."
Alex stood and left the office. As she went down the hall to the basement where the three bodies were being kept, she contemplated what Beckman told her. Clearly this was an important project. If it was the reason Bartowski, Walker, and Casey were so successful, it was perfectly understandable why Beckman gave her the green light to do whatever it took to retrieve the missing items and stop The Ring from completing an Intersect of their own. She knew what it could potentially mean.
She was really starting to regret not telling Jimmy she loved him. She may not get another chance.
Prague, Czech Republic
April 25, 2011
3:00 PM
Chuck, Sarah, and Jimmy walked to their rental car. That is, Chuck and Sarah walked. Jimmy was dragging by this point. He hadn't slept since Friday night. He tried to catch some sleep on the flight from Philadelphia to London, but it was to no avail. Flying still made him nervous. He gave some thought to taking sleeping pills with him, but the CIA always advised against that.
He opened the trunk of the car and put everybody's bags inside. "One of you two can drive."
Chuck and Sarah watched him open the back door of the car and crawl inside, lying down on the back seat, with considerable amusement. Chuck got in the driver's side, and Sarah took the passenger's seat.
"Should we even ask?" Chuck said while trying to keep his laughter in check as they drove to their hotel.
"No," Jimmy mumbled. "Just a serious hangover."
"I haven't seen you take a drink since we met in London."
"It's more of the 'all-nighter' variety, like during final exams in college."
"Didn't you get any sleep on the plane?" Sarah asked.
"I can never sleep on planes. And Saturday night…well, that was something else keeping me up all night."
Chuck couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. "I'll bet something was. Or should I say someone?"
"Ugh, don't get me started…" Jimmy groaned, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Alex is supposed to be pissed off at me for being kidnapped, not acting like she's at Disneyland and I'm the Matterhorn."
Chuck would have stared at him in shock if he wasn't driving. "Are you actually complaining about having too much sex? I mean, YOU are complaining about having too much sex?"
That woke Jimmy up. He quietly growled and shook his head. "Sarah, can I borrow your knife?" He lifted his head, putting it in between Chuck and Sarah, and pointed to his neck. "Better yet, just cut the carotid artery. Seriously. You'd be doing me a huge favor."
Sarah pushed his head back in disgust. "Oh, be quiet. You can't accept a little good fortune finally falling your way?"
"I'm trying to get used to it. I just wasn't expecting to rip my clothes off and throw me on the bed every time it saw me."
"I warned you about that Jimmy," Sarah replied with a raised eyebrow. "I told you someone would find you fast. You still don't get how attractive you are now. I know it's only been seven months, but the difference between now and eighteen months ago is almost beyond comprehension."
Jimmy sat up in the back seat and looked at both of them for a moment. "You knew Alex was attracted to me from the beginning, didn't you."
Chuck couldn't help but smile. "The only person it wasn't obvious to was you."
"Gee, thanks for having my back on that one," Jimmy replied with more than a little sarcasm.
"That was for your own good," Sarah replied, starting to tire of rehashing the subject. "What would you have done if we told you about Alex in Las Vegas?"
"Probably not believe you and/or totally freak out."
"Exactly, and you were in the middle of your first mission. You had enough pressure on you as it was. And I admit, at the time we weren't exactly on friendly terms with Alex."
Jimmy nodded, conceding the point. "Yeah, she told me the story about being sent to evaluate you and what happened. You did the right thing in Las Vegas. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Everything worked out, right?"
"Yeah, everything did," Jimmy replied, although there wasn't much enthusiasm behind that statement.
"Are you OK?" Chuck asked him.
"I'm fine. I just need a nap."
Chuck concentrated on driving to the hotel, but he and Sarah knew Jimmy all too well. There was something he wasn't telling them, but Chuck wasn't sure what that was. He made a mental note to bring it up with Jimmy later.
Washington, D.C.
April 25, 2011
3:30 PM EDT
Alex never thought she would be doing something like this. It was straight out of a TV drama. But she needed to put the pieces together. So far, the forensics team hadn't come up with any fibers or samples from the lab that would indicate who killed the three technicians and stole the files. She was in the morgue checking with Dr. Katzler, the medical examiner at the DNI. She placed a blueprint of the lab on her laptop and hooked it up to a large LCD screen. Dr. Katzler already told her the locations where each body was found, which she marked on the image.
"The position of the body of the woman in the lab would indicate she was walking towards the assailant," Dr. Katzler informed her.
Alex nodded as she examined the woman. "It looks like she took a kick to the face first and then her neck was snapped."
"That's our theory. If we were to guess, she was killed second. The first was the man who had the knife thrown at him. He must have killed the third man by getting hold of his baseball bat. The killer didn't bring the bat with him. The bat belonged to the technician. He was a big Orioles fan."
"You're assuming it was a 'he'," Alex replied.
Dr. Katzler gave her an odd look. Alex pointed to the woman's face. "Look at the size of the mark made by the shoe. A man would have to wear less than a size 8 to make that indent."
Suddenly Dr. Katzler caught on. "You may be right. The position of the neck would indicate that the assailant applied barely enough force to get the job done. If you were an average male, you would have twisted the neck much harder than that."
Alex walked over to the body of the technician who had the knife thrown at him. She gestured for Dr. Katzler to look at the knife. "This dagger is very popular with both men and women, but for different reasons. It's smaller, so men can conceal it more easily on their person. But the size of it makes it a great weapon for women to use. It's lighter, so they can get more force behind it."
"Perhaps, but the knife penetrated quite far into the chest of the technician. More than enough to kill him."
"If the woman was in good enough shape, and I think we have to assume that here, the distance was only 14 feet. Someone with the talent could make that throw. For all we know, I could be a suspect."
Dr. Katzler smiled. "I think they checked your alibi already. Besides, look at the man who was hit by the baseball bat. The angle is all wrong. You're what, 5'10"? The technician is the same height as you, but look at the angle with which the bat met the side of his head. It's doesn't add up."
Alex looked at the technician and saw what Dr. Katzler was talking about. "Wait, what if he was bent over? And his head was leaning forward?" Alex studied the point of impact. "This looks more like someone hit him with a golf club instead of a baseball bat."
Dr. Katzler took a look at a preliminary report another doctor prepared the previous Friday. He held up the report to Alex. "That could be. The doctor who did the initial examination indicated a bruise in the man's groin area. She must have kicked him when he came at her with the bat."
"Or ducked down and punched him in the groin to avoid being hit herself. So we are likely talking about a female between, say, 25 and 45 years of age. But now the question of the day: how did she escape? The surveillance was off for only three minutes. There's no way in hell she could get in, kill the technicians, and steal the files without a hallway surveillance camera picking her up. The safe alone would have taken her at least 90 seconds to crack."
Alex studied the blueprint of the lab on her monitor. Suddenly her eyes widened. She quickly walked over to the phone in the morgue and dialed a number.
"Have the forensics team check every inch of the air vents. Look for prints, hair follicles, skin tissue, the works. Get on it fast."
"That vent is only 18 inches by 18 inches, Agent Forrest," Dr. Katzler said with some skepticism. "Are you sure someone could make it all the way through there?"
Alex looked at Dr. Katzler. "If I was five inches shorter, I could."
Hotel Josef, Prague
April 25, 2011
10:00 PM
Jimmy heard a knock on his door and stirred in his bed. He checked the time.
"Aaah, hell." He should have set his alarm. He only wanted to nap for two hours, but Chuck and Sarah didn't come by to get him for dinner, letting him sleep instead. As much as he appreciated the six hours of sleep, he was not a happy person as he walked to the door. He opened it to find Chuck on the other side with a sandwich from the café in the hotel and two bottles of beer. Jimmy recognized the brand name, which was a local favorite. Chuck certainly had good taste.
"Hey Jimmy. Nice bed head, by the way."
Jimmy glanced at the mirror and groaned in aggravation. He tried to straighten his hair out.
"Sarah asleep already?"
"No, she went to check out the café. Kavárna Velryba is the name of it. Actually, she should be back in a few minutes."
"Dammit. I should have been checking that out. You two should be relaxing and having a romantic dinner. I'm the one who should be on the clock."
Chuck laughed as he handed Jimmy the sandwich and one of the bottles of beer. They sat down at the table in his room. "In spite of how it looks, Sarah and I don't have to be attached to each other 24 hours a day. I know she's supposed to be protecting me, but you can do that job just as easily."
Jimmy gave him a very weird look. "Dude, seriously? Have you seen her? I don't know how much time you've spent in the real world, but I guarantee you we don't have anything like her out there. The only time you shouldn't be attached is when they pry her from your cold, dead hands."
Chuck returned Jimmy's weird look. "OK, first of all, I think that's what the whole 'marriage' thing is about. And second of all, have you forgotten the Victoria's Secret model who thinks your work in the bedroom is the greatest performance since Olivier portrayed Hamlet?"
Jimmy shook his head and quietly growled. "Girlfriend. I have a girlfriend." He threw his hands up. "I can't even wrap my head around the concept of having a girlfriend. No wonder why I chickened out yesterday."
"What do you mean you chickened out?"
Jimmy looked down at the ground and took a sip of his beer. His voice was much quieter. "Alex and I were preparing to leave. I was heading to the airport, and she was preparing to go back to Washington. We…we just stood there, looking at each other. I wanted to say it, and I got the feeling she wanted me to say it. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me."
To say Chuck was curious was an understatement. This must have been why Jimmy was suddenly quiet in the car earlier. "You mean…?"
Jimmy nodded and looked up. "I think I'm in love with her."
Chuck sat back in his chair with a big smile on his face. He thought this would happen eventually. Sarah and he knew it was only a matter of time before Alex and Jimmy figured it out. Alex turned into a really good person once the ice melted in her freezer. The conversations he had with Alex since Las Vegas showed a person who was more caring and passionate than she originally let on. And based on what he saw of Jimmy in the last three months, it was clear he had strong feelings for her as well.
"Now I know how parents feel when their kids graduate from college. This is what Sarah and I have been waiting for you to say since we met you. That is amazing, Jimmy."
"But I didn't say it. I didn't tell her. I just stood there like an idiot. What the hell is wrong with me? It must be totally obvious I'm in love with her. Why the hell can't I just tell her that?"
"Jimmy, it wasn't obvious. It's not like you went on Oprah and jumped on her couch. The only time Sarah and I ever see you show any emotion is when you're ticked off at yourself. And telling someone you love them is one of the scariest things to do. Especially if it's the first time you've ever done it. But you just have to go through with it."
Jimmy looked at the ground again. "But what if she doesn't feel the same way?"
Chuck could only think of one possible reason Alex wouldn't be in love with Jimmy: her fiancé. Perhaps Alex thought she'd betray his memory by falling in love with someone else. He wanted to tell Jimmy about John O'Shea, but Alex must have had a good reason for not telling him before now, and Chuck thought he should respect that. You can't push two people into falling in love, although he had to concede he and Sarah could have used the occasional shove.
"Look, if it happens, it happens. Neither of you are going to stop seeing each other. Don't think you've done something wrong. Just let nature take its course. If you two are meant to be together, then you will."
Jimmy shook his head and took another sip of his beer. "It feels weird talking about this. I mean, these are the sort of things you should have figured out by the time you're in your 20's, right? A 41-year-old shouldn't be sorting through…what did Casey call it?"
"Lady feelings."
Jimmy laughed. "Right. By the time you're my age, you're supposed to have everything figured out." Jimmy suddenly stopped and looked at the ceiling after realizing what he just said. "Wow. I'm really padding the ol' resume to impress Alex, aren't I?"
Chuck rolled his eyes. "Oh, stop it, will you? You drive us nuts when you do that. Quit trying to be Mr. Perfect. You're already one of the best agents the CIA has and you've got a girlfriend who's insanely gorgeous. Did you think you'd have any of that when we first met you?"
Jimmy shook his head. He sure as hell couldn't argue that one.
"Exactly," Chuck replied with a bit of force behind it. "So cut yourself some slack and look at what you have now."
Jimmy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "So say we all?"
Chuck laughed. "See? I told you that show was good. Those DVD's were a nice present the people at Nellis gave you."
"You were right, you were right," Jimmy replied with a smile. "They came in handy when I spent those weeks with your dad. I guess he doesn't believe in television."
"I think it's more along the lines of fearing being tracked if he got cable or satellite. But then again, he might think there's nothing good on."
"Point taken."
They heard a knock at the door, and Jimmy went to answer it.
"Hey Sarah," Jimmy said as he opened the door. "How did the surveillance go?"
"Everything is set," Sarah replied as Chuck joined them at the door. "We'll go over the details at breakfast."
"Good, so you'll actually let me do some of the work on this mission?" Jimmy playfully retorted.
Sarah gave him a light smack upside the head. Jimmy growled.
"Hey, no hitting with the ring hand. Right hand only for smacking me. Now get your husband-to-be out of my room. He's stealing the silverware."
Both of them gave Jimmy a hug as they departed for their hotel room.
Kavárna Velryba, Prague
April 27, 2011
12:00 PM
Chuck, Sarah, and Jimmy rotated locations where they could observe the café. They also changed disguises and modes of transportation. On some occasions, Chuck and Sarah would ride by on bicycles pretending to be a couple. On other occasions, Jimmy would enjoy lunch on a spring afternoon in a full business suit while wearing sunglasses and carrying a briefcase. Most of the time, however, was spent observing the café from a distance. So far, neither Casey nor Ilsa had shown.
"You do realize Casey could be doing the same thing we're doing: watching the café and just waiting for Ilsa to show up," Jimmy said from the car over the earpieces the three were wearing.
"The problem is knowing the exact date," Sarah replied as she sat with Chuck on a park bench two buildings away from the café.
"Did Casey leave a clue about that?"
"'Two days before the parades' was all it said," Chuck replied. "But what parades would happen in Prague?" Chuck thought about it for a minute. "Oh, wait. What kind of parade would they have when Prague was still part of the Communist Bloc?"
Sarah and Jimmy both nodded. "May Day parades," Jimmy replied.
"So Casey may not walk into the café until the 29th," Sarah observed.
"Possibly, but I think we still have to keep an eye on it, just in case he shows up early or the bad guys do. But what do we do when he shows up? Get him out of there?"
"No, we can't do that," Sarah said with some concern. "If we go in there, Ilsa might get spooked and not show. She could be here already, for all we know."
"But the two of you have met her before, haven't you? Wouldn't she trust you?"
"It's been three years since we've seen her," Chuck explained. She was working on a case that took her to Los Angeles. It was pure luck we got her name off the hotel registry."
"She may think we're here to take Casey back, not help him," Sarah added. "Ilsa is only expecting Casey to show, not us."
"But without contacting Casey, the help we can give him is pretty limited," Jimmy replied. "They might be tracing Casey's phone even as we speak. We almost couldn't help them until they're actually in trouble. If we could get a note to him somehow of what we're doing, that would make a difference."
"We'd have to contact him without even Ilsa knowing it was us."
Jimmy continued to scan the café with binoculars from the car. Suddenly, he smiled and took out a camera with a long telephoto lens. He took several pictures of someone in the café.
"I think I figured out a way to slip him a note."
Chuck and Sarah were skeptical. "You're actually going to go in there and make contact?" Sarah asked.
Jimmy's smile was even wider. "I didn't say I was going to do it."
Prague, Czech Republic
April 28, 2011
11:00 AM
"OK, just for the record, we offered to find a wig. But you insisted on taking the method acting route."
Chuck and Jimmy were trying not to laugh at what the hair stylist did to Sarah. However it was obvious, even though Sarah was a reasonable match for the woman who was waitressing in the café, that her hair was as far from dignified for a CIA agent as it could be.
"Hey, I do whatever it takes to get the job done," Sarah replied with more than a little annoyance.
"Oh, we don't doubt that," Chuck replied with the biggest smirk he ever had on his face. "By the way, is it OK if we spell your name Pink, like the color, or does the exclamation point HAVE to be where the 'I' is?"
Chuck doubled-over in laughter on that one, and Sarah gave him the evil eye. "Don't even think about it."
"Chuck, Chuck, you better watch yourself," Jimmy warned him. "You keep that up and it's just you and your hand tonight."
Chuck fell on the floor laughing hysterically, and even Jimmy couldn't keep it in. Sarah looked at her hair in the mirror and growled. Although she had to admit the hairstyle did look pretty funny. But perhaps that was because the stylist insisted she could revert it back to Sarah's normal style in less than an hour.
"Come on, let's get going," Sarah replied and pushed out of the chair in a huff.
"Good," Jimmy replied. "Let's get this party started."
Sarah chased after him, and Jimmy was laughing. "Sorry. I swear! It was a total slip of the tongue. I didn't mean to say it!"
Chuck, Sarah, and Jimmy walked down the street towards the café. Before they got there, they split up. Sarah went around the alley to the back of the café, Jimmy returned to the car to observe, and Chuck walked into the café, pretending to be lost. He spotted the blonde waitress that Sarah would temporarily replace so contact with Casey could be made. He stopped for a moment and looked at a local newspaper written in Czech. As he predicted, his Intersect kicked into gear and accessed the foreign language databases.
Chuck walked up to the waitress. "Promiňte. Já jsem se ztratil. Víš, kde Univerzita Karlova v Praze je?" ("Excuse me. I'm lost. Do you know where Charles University is?")
Chuck unfolded a large map and turned so the waitress would have to turn with him. Sarah slipped past them and grabbed a serving tray. She wrote a quick note on an order pad and walked to Casey's table. She placed the sheet from the order pad on Casey's table. Casey wasn't paying close attention. The three thousand crowns Sarah paid for the hairstyle change was well worth it.
"Váš účet, pane," ("Your bill, sir.") Sarah said and quickly walked away. Casey's head snapped up, but Sarah was already walking away and didn't look back. Casey thought the voice sounded familiar. He read the bill.
Casey,
Chuck, Jimmy, and I are here. Make contact with Ilsa and we'll keep an eye out for trouble.
Good luck.
Sarah
Casey took a quick look around, but Sarah had already gone back inside and out the door in the alley where she came in. Casey thanked the real waitress and got up to leave. A slight smile came to Casey's face as he ripped the note and left some money at his table. He wasn't sure what would happen when he made contact tomorrow, but it was always good to have someone watching your back. And he had three of the best watching his.
Kavárna Velryba, Prague
April 29, 2011
1:00 PM
Everybody was feeling the electricity go through them. There were so many ways this could go. Casey and Ilsa could meet up safely, they could be attacked by a dozen enemies, or they could find themselves under a hail of gunfire.
Or Ilsa may not show up at all, and this would be the quietest April 29th in history.
This time, Chuck and Sarah were in the car, ready to follow Casey and Ilsa. Jimmy found a bandstand in a park one block away that gave him a view of the café and several of the surrounding alleys. All three kept an eye out for Ilsa as Casey sat at the same table outside as he did yesterday.
A different server came up to him, although Casey was certain it wasn't Sarah this time.
"Zkuste borůvkový kolache. Dává vám energie," ("Try the blueberry kolache. It gives you energy.") the server said.
He looked up and saw the auburn hair and greenish-blue eyes. He saw right through them. It was her. It took every fiber in his being not to want to grab her and kiss her.
Ilsa didn't react either. Like Casey, she had enough experience to know not to give away any clues.
"Máme tu čerstvý chléb uvnitř Pokud se chcete podívat." ("We have fresh loaves inside if you care to look.") Ilsa proceeded to walk inside the café as if she didn't recognize Casey. He waited a moment before walking inside himself. He looked around but saw nobody at the counter. He walked back to the kitchen. Someone took him and pushed him up against the wall.
Ilsa proceeded to kiss him hard, and Casey responded with a hunger that made him feel twenty years younger instantaneously.
"I'm glad you're here, Sugar Bear," Ilsa breathlessly said in a tone that was part relief, part emotion.
"What's going on? Why are you in trouble?"
"I'll tell you later. We have to get out of here quickly." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the back door of the café. They ran around the back of the building and found Casey's rental car.
"Can't they track this thing?" Ilsa asked.
"I already swept it for bugs and GPS tracking devices. It's clean," Casey quickly replied as he opened the door for her. She got in the car quickly, and Casey went to the driver's side. He gunned the engine and took off.
Chuck and Sarah were looking for Casey to emerge from the café, as was Jimmy.
"He really doesn't want to make this easy on us, does he," Jimmy replied with annoyance.
"The waitress must have been Ilsa," Chuck concluded. "She took him out the back."
Sarah started the car. She noticed two men who were sitting at outside tables walking into the café. "We have bigger problems than that. Jimmy, did you see those two in the café?"
Jimmy looked to his right to see two kids playing on a swingset. The two adults who were with them were gone. "Yeah, and I missed the two that were right here with me in the damn park."
"How did you miss them?"
"They had kids with them. When the hell did espionage become a family affair?"
"Get moving," Sarah ordered. "Casey might come out closer to you."
"Right," Jimmy replied. He sprinted out of the park and headed towards the café. He spotted a man starting his motorcycle.
"Sir, I'll give you a thousand crowns if you let me borrow that," Jimmy said in desperation. The man started yelling at him in Czech.
"Please sir, it's an emergency…" Suddenly Jimmy pointed in the opposite direction. "Hey, it's Angelina Jolie!"
The man turned to look, and Jimmy shoved him off the motorcycle. He hopped on and took off, attempting to follow Casey.
"Sorry!" Jimmy yelled behind him.
Chuck and Sarah observed the two men who went in the café get into a nearby car and peel away from the area. They started pursuing them, but a taxi stopped dead in the crosswalk, and Sarah had to hit the brakes hard to avoid a crash.
"Dammit!" She got on her radio. "Jimmy, we got cut off. Do you have eyes on Casey?"
"Got him!" Jimmy shouted over the noise of the motorcycle as he followed Casey. "But so do the two from the park!"
"Stay on him," Sarah ordered. "You have two more in pursuit."
Casey and Ilsa sped toward the highway. The car in pursuit closed the gap and rammed them from behind. The car was forced on the curb, and the rear tire was blown out by a gunshot. Casey's car spun out of control and hit a lightpole. Casey and Ilsa were thrown around in the car as the second car flew past Jimmy on the motorcycle. The car cut in front of Jimmy and made contact with his front wheel. The motorcycle hit a parked car and Jimmy was thrown through the air. He landed on a grassy patch near a tree. He got up and limped towards the site of Casey's crash.
"Chuck, Sarah, get here fast. I'm on foot now. Well, one foot anyway."
"What happened?" Chuck asked as Sarah closed the gap.
"Let's just say if the CIA ever goes under, I've got a helluva resume to give to someone who needs a stuntman."
Sarah floored it, attempting to get to Casey and Ilsa.
The two men who crashed Casey's car pulled Casey and Ilsa out of it. They put guns to their heads and moved them underneath a viaduct out of sight. The other two men joined them.
One of the men looked Ilsa up and down with a leering glance. "Pity we have orders. You would have been a lot of fun."
Casey growled and went towards the man, but a second man cocked his gun and put it to Casey's head.
Ilsa looked at the four men with utter contempt. "This is the best they could do? Hire four local clowns to do their evil bidding?"
Chuck and Sarah pulled up to the scene as Jimmy walked into the viaduct just ahead of them. Chuck went to the trunk of their car.
One of the men had a long scar down his face. He approached Ilsa. "They are doing this for the money. I'm getting revenge for my partners eight years ago." He pointed his gun at Ilsa's head.
"Stop right there!"
Everybody turned to the sound. Jimmy walked in holding his gun and ID badge. "I'm Roger Murdock, CIA. I'm here on direct orders from the Czech Secret Police under article 2744-1825-D, and I am authorized to take these two into custody on charges of treason against both the Czech and American governments."
The four men turned their attention to Jimmy and pointed their guns at him.
"Under Regulation ACS-47448-6316, any person who interferes in the apprehension of a state fugitive can be charged with interfering with a government investigation, which is punishable by a minimum of 20 years in a medium-level security facility. May I suggest you gentlemen lower your weapons and let me do my job. Otherwise, I would be forced to turn you in as well."
"You lower your weapon," the man with the scar sneered.
"Sir, I don't suggest you take that tone with me. By merely pointing a gun at me, you can be remanded to the United States and charged under Section 98-113 of the RICO Act, which is punishable by a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years. Now if you want to avoid more trouble, I suggest you pack up your little Boyz 'N the Hood sideshow and run along."
Ilsa was completely confused. "Is he with you?" she whispered. "When did they put a cop on your team?"
"He's following Rule #1," Casey whispered back. "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."
The man with the scar cocked his gun and pointed it at Jimmy's head. "I think I'll take my chances."
Chuck and Sarah came walking in. Jimmy glanced to his left and walked away from the gun.
Chuck pushed past Jimmy and ran at Casey. "You son of a bitch!"
Chuck hit Casey with a right hook, and Casey fell to the ground. Ilsa bent over to check on him.
"Chuck, get out of the way. I'll take care of this," Sarah told him as she took out her gun.
Jimmy's eyes went wide. "Sarah, what are you doing?"
"You're not taking him in, Roger. He betrayed Chuck and me. Prison isn't good enough for him. He turned his back on the country for a traitor like her."
Jimmy eyed her with a threatening glance. "Sarah, you do this, you'll never see the light of day again."
Sarah pushed Jimmy aside and fired two shots at Casey and two shots at Ilsa. They collapsed to the ground as blood came out of their chests.
Jimmy stared in shock at Casey and Ilsa lying on the ground. The four thugs looked at the entire exchange in silence. Their leader then smiled.
"Thank you for doing our work for us. Mr. Toupin will be very happy. But we have one thing left."
The four men aimed their guns at Chuck, Sarah, and Jimmy.
"Mr. Toupin's orders. No witnesses."