A/N: This time you got a faster update, as promised. Hope you enjoy it. Chuck and Sarah's V-Day will be posted in one of the subsequent chapters, however. Better late than never, I suppose. Without further ado…
Chapter 19
Several days had passed since the team arrived in Paris. During that time, they had been staking out the possible meet locations, as indicated by the intel Graham had given them. They used an ingenious system, too. Since they had two Intersects on the team, they could afford to split up. So, with Morgan coordinating from their base, Chuck was working with Casey, while Sarah was partnered with Bryce, covering two locations at the same time. They had already eliminated most of them, beginning with the least likely ones.
"What time is it?" Sarah asked Bryce, not taking her eyes off the building they were staking out.
"It's almost closing time," he replied and made a face as he took a sip of now cold coffee.
"At least this place doesn't have a back entrance. We've been here since early morning and nothing triggered the Intersect. If we strike out, we cross the place off of the list, like we did with the others before it."
"You know, I think what you and Chuck got in your heads is kind of cool."
"Uh-huh. I'll have to agree. If only…"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Come on, Sarah, you can tell me."
"The Intersect will be removed once we complete the mission. But I wonder… can Chuck and I keep the skills and just have the intel removed?"
Bryce chuckled. "You know, he told me the exact same thing."
"He did?"
"Oh yeah. You guys are totally in sync. If you ask me, you two are a match made in heaven,"
"Thanks Bryce." For perhaps the thousandth time, Sarah looked at the ring she was wearing as part of pretending to be Chuck's fiancée. The moment she had received it had been a little awkward for both, as they really loved each other, and secretly both wanted to make it official someday, but couldn't help feeling that it was way too early to take such a huge step. It was only pretend, however, so they were able to find some humor in the situation and make light of it.
"No need to thank me, it's the truth," Bryce said, bringing her back to reality. "Plus, Chuck is my buddy. I want him to be happy. And you make him happy, Sarah… sorry, Jenny, I mean."
"It's OK. I like to be reminded I'm in reality Sarah Walker, even if I'm pretending to be someone else for the job. And I'm in love with Chuck Bartowski, not Mr. Charles."
The speaker of the secure comms system came to life. "Team two, how are things on your end? We came up dry here," Chuck informed them.
"Same here, but we're going to give it a few more minutes, just in case," Bryce replied. "Then we're heading back. I'll drop Jenny off at your hotel and retire for the evening."
"At least we covered most of the list. Only a few more possibilities left. We'll do them tomorrow. If nothing pops up on our radar, we'll have to contact the boss and reevaluate."
-o-
"Aaaaaaand… it's gone!" Chuck sent the email with his report for the day to Graham and Beckman. Then he relaxed, leaning back against the headboard of the king size four poster bed in the hotel room he and Sarah were staying in.
"Stakeouts are really boring," Sarah commented as she exited the bathroom.
"I guess they were even more so when you were casing your targets solo. At least I had company on most of my stakeouts, even though he doesn't talk much."
"Bryce is good company. He's very happy for you – for us, too."
"He and I go way back together. Since day one in Stanford, in fact," Chuck said.
"I know you were in the same fraternity."
"Ah, those were good times. Even after first he and then I were recruited by the CIA."
"What about today, how did it go with Casey?"
"The results you know. On a personal interaction level, like I said, he doesn't talk much, but we did OK. Remember, we're not only spies and partners, we're neighbors."
"Mom and I were skyping earlier. I asked her to suggest a good restaurant or two. She's been to Paris more times than I have and she knows the best places."
"What's wrong with the hotel's restaurant?"
"Nothing. It's great and all, but I thought we might want to try these as well." She held up a list of restaurants – a rather long list.
"Okay, I guess there's no harm in checking them out."
"Get ready, then. And don't forget your phone."
"I never go anywhere without my super duper Nerd accessories, you know that."
"Actually, you never let me forget." She kissed him. "By the way, I also gave the restaurant list to Morgan."
"Good girl," Chuck said approvingly. He then tossed her the keys to their rental car. "You drive."
"Do I get to choose the restaurant as well, then?"
"Of course you do get to choose the restaurant. I trust you."
"You'll change your mind when I inflict my cooking on you."
"Your mother is a celebrated restaurateur and you don't know how to cook?"
"Funny, isn't it?"
"It kind of is. Never mind though. Ellie will make you a master chef in no time at all."
"She won't allow her brother's girlfriend to be a bad cook, right?"
"Well, she did perform wonders with Bryce's girlfriend when we were still in college."
They drove to the restaurant, deliberately taking a roundabout route in order to do some sightseeing as well. Sarah had chosen a very nice place, and soon they were enjoying an excellent meal, while making small talk, deliberately avoiding any work related subjects. Once they were done, they paid and got up to leave. Chuck was already in the car buckling up while Sarah unfolded the side view mirror. Then she looked to make sure there was no traffic in the relatively narrow street before opening her door. And suddenly…
A pirate ship
CIA file photo of one Thomas Delgado
Delgado's file
The word FULCRUM in bold letters
List of known and suspected associates
A pirate ship
"Fuck," she hissed under her breath and quickly got behind the wheel.
"Everything OK?" Chuck asked casually.
"Depends on what OK is. I just flashed."
"What did you flash on?"
"Not what, who" she corrected. "See this guy that just passed us, the one in the tan trench coat?"
"Yes, I see him."
"Does the name Thomas Delgado ring a bell?"
A pirate ship
CIA file photo of one Thomas Delgado
Delgado's file
The word FULCRUM in bold letters
List of known and suspected associates
A pirate ship
"Yes it kind of does, actually. Let's follow him." He was ready to get out of the car, but Sarah stopped him.
"Hey, what if he recognizes you? I mean, have you two met?"
"Once, and it was years ago. I only remember him because of his scar. We didn't even talk back then, so I don't think he'll recognize me."
"Still, I should follow him, just in case. You can cover me from the car."
"We'll lose him," he cautioned.
"He's taking a cab! Problem solved," Sarah smiled.
"Follow that cab!" Chuck commanded. "Damn, I always wanted to say that."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sarah laughed as she pulled into traffic. She had already flashed on surveillance techniques and knew how to follow a mark without arousing suspicion. "Call the others and let them know."
"I'm on it." He immediately called Bryce, who in turn promised to call Casey when told of the latest developments. "I'll be keeping you guys posted," Chuck said before hanging up.
"Well?"
"The game is on. Bryce will call Casey and then the Boss. Casey himself will call General Beckman and bring her up to speed as well. But for now it's all on us, so we better not lose him."
-o-
"Where the hell is ol' Scarface going?"
"I don't know, Chuck. I've never been to this neighborhood."
"Me neither." He called up a navigation app on his smart phone. "I'll be damned."
"Where are we, Chuck?"
"We're in the Quartier Pigalle, a red light district. Maybe Tommy's looking for some, ahem, action."
"Or he's about to meet a contact."
"That too. I'll have to follow him wherever he goes."
"It would look strange if we both went into a cathouse together," Sarah agreed. "I'm still worried though."
"You're forgetting something, me bonnie lass. I'm Special Agent Charles Carmichael, savvy?"
"Then Charles Carmichael better not do something stupid, because I'll have his ass if something happens to Chuck Bartowski. My Chuck Bartowski."
Fortunately, Delgado went into a bar. It was one of those frequented by tourists located in the outskirts of the quarter, so Chuck and Sarah could safely go in as a couple. They took a table at a discreet corner and kept eyes on their mark. He spent about half an hour in there, during which time he drank a couple of beers. He didn't seem to be expecting anyone. At some point, he went to the restroom and Chuck followed him there, taking the stall next to Tommy's. He smiled as he heard a characteristic noise. He stayed for a little longer, grabbed the opportunity to take a quick leak, flushed the toilet, washed his hands and hurried to rejoin Sarah.
"I'm back."
"Yes, I can see that."
"Did anyone bother you while I was in the can?"
"No. One guy was making eyes at me, but I made it clear that his advances were completely unwelcome on my part."
He chuckled. Sarah's death glare could scare even the most hardened killer, if she put even a little effort into it. "Well, we're wasting our time here. Delgado's not meeting anyone."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh-huh. Do you know what he was doing in there?"
"I have a feeling you are about to tell me."
"He was snorting. Coke, crystal meth, I don't know, but he's a junkie."
"Maybe we can use that to our advantage, you know, to make him talk."
"You're learning fast."
"Thanks. I'll call Bryce."
"Not yet. I want to see where he'll go from here. Then Bryce and Casey can tail him."
"Perhaps I should do the surveillance with Casey. We agreed to always have one Intersect on station."
"I'll do it. You go back to the hotel and get some rest."
Somehow I don't think I'll be able to get any rest with you following a Fulcrum agent around town."
We can't afford to let him out of our sight. Bryce and I will take first shift. Then you and Casey can come and relieve us. You'll follow him to wherever he'll go in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
He got up, flagged down a waitress and paid for their drinks. "Let's go. He's paying too, so I want to be in the car before he gets out into the street."
-o-
The team kept up the surveillance on Tommy Delgado, or Scarface as they called him. Sarah and Casey followed him from his apartment to an office building in the morning. She didn't flash on anyone else, and neither did Chuck when he and Bryce took over. Up to that point, they had been too busy looking at anyone entering or leaving the building to think twice about the importance of the location. But when Chuck looked at the directory of businesses based there, he flashed. The flash included schematics of the building as well. He immediately called Sarah, who also flashed when he mentioned one specific company. In turn, she contacted Graham, who sent her the intercepted blueprints that had been included in the Intersect files.
"We're going to have to break in and see what intel we can recover," Chuck said during a brief conference with Sarah, Morgan and Casey in the latter's hotel room later in the afternoon.
"It won't be easy," Sarah commented. "The building has some good security measures and we don't have much equipment here. We're going to have to go the old fashioned way. Keep tabs on the security guards. I want to know about their rotations and routines."
"Already on it," Chuck replied. "I can hear you thinking. Tell me you have some good ideas."
"Graham emailed the blueprints and everything else the CIA and the NSA intercepted about this building. Now I see why it would have taken them too long to make a connection. They put together a huge number of scattered Fulcrum related files from both agencies in the Intersect."
"Dad is working on enhancing the Intersect to perform the exact same kind of connections our brains have been making. In the meantime, we have to come up with a plan."
"I can see if we can use some NSA magic to tap into their phone, fax and internet lines," Casey offered.
"Sure, it's a start," Morgan said. "Look up their number in the directory."
"I've been looking at our equipment. We have lock picking kits, and these." She held up a couple of briefcases. "What's in them?"
"Oh, just a few top of the line Orion products made exclusively for law enforcement and intelligence agencies," Chuck said. "This one has a universal keycard cloning device with integrated keypad code breaker. The other case has some equipment for tapping into camera feeds and looping them."
"We can use them." She set them aside for later.
"So far we have a pretty good picture of the guards' routine. There's not any sense in patrolling during business hours, but they are making their rounds regularly at night. We even know exactly when, without even bothering to keep eyes on them."
"They have the schedule posted behind the security desk," Morgan explained.
"Yes, but are they sticking to it?"
"That's what we are going to find out tonight. Chuck hacked into the security company and has more interesting news."
"The company assigns three eight-hour shifts of three guards each, rotating the teams between shifts on a weekly basis. Therefore, the same guards on duty tonight will be on duty for the rest of the week as well. And this works in our favor, as we can avoid surprises."
"Just tonight is not enough observation time to learn their particular routines, Bartowski," Casey pointed out.
"Sure, but we'll know the most important thing: if they are sticking to the patrol schedule or not. People tend to develop habits for such things."
"Chuck's right, you know. I once managed to do a job because one particular guard spent a minimum of twenty-five minutes in the can with a sports newspaper every night instead of being at his station," Sarah said. "And there is something else we'll need to consider. We'll need to rehearse and time our ingress in order to make sure we'll avoid any patrolling guards. Also, one of us has to be outside, monitoring guard movements and looping the appropriate cameras at the appropriate times."
"I'll do it," Morgan said.
"OK. We still need to find a space for our rehearsal."
"No problem," Chuck said smoothly. "Elana Truffaut will just rent a small warehouse and a van for us."
"I knew my French documents would come in handy," Sarah smiled. "Now is a good time to do some division of labor. Morgan will be outside in the van, providing remote support. Chuck and I will go in."
Casey tapped the blueprint thoughtfully. "It's a pretty big place for two people to cover quickly. Larkin and I should go in, too."
"You got a point there, big guy."
"Sure he does, Bryce. OK, here's the plan. In the morning Sarah will go rent us the warehouse – a large enough basement storage space will do – and the van. Morgan, you go with her. Be sure to have enough money with you to pay for everything, including any supplies she deems necessary. Bryce, you follow Delgado. Casey and I will stake out the building again. Who knows, we may even manage to ID more Fulcrum agents or even some of the people they'll be doing business with."
-o-
"Twenty steps to each floor," announced Morgan.
"Including landings?" Chuck asked.
"Yep. You want to go to the fourth floor. That's eighty steps. I'll be timing you. On my mark… GO!"
Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Casey started going up the short step ladders placed before each one of them and back down again, repeating the cycle until they had climbed the equivalent of eighty steps.
"Eighty," Chuck said.
"So far so good. I've looped the camera. Open the fire door."
"Hang on." He used a special tool and had the door open in seconds. "Open sesame!"
"Go left, thirty meters! The clock is ticking!"
The team ran a thirty meter circuit and stopped in front of another door.
"We're here. How's our time?"
"You're doing great! Pick the lock."
"Allow me," Sarah smiled. No door could resist her wicked lock picking skills for long. She had it open in no time flat.
"You have twenty seconds to disable the alarm," Morgan reminded them.
"I know," Sarah replied. She grabbed a power tool and removed the hex head screws from the security system control panel, opening the cover and exposing its innards.
"Ten seconds."
"Jumper cables in place."
"Five seconds."
"Alarm disabled."
"Excellent work so far. You still have one more obstacle to overcome."
"I see it." Chuck knelt before a card reader-controlled electronic lock. It needed both a key card and a pass code.
"Your gadget, Chuck." Sarah handed him the deceptively small black box. He connected it to the lock system and pressed the start button. It worked its way through millions of permutations to find the correct pass code while simultaneously the passive RFID tag cloning device sensed the card reader's magnetic field and captured the code, then bouncing it back and making the reader believe a genuine smart card was being swiped.
"Now you guys are free to toss the offices for intel. The guards cannot see you from the hallways, as they can only see into the lobby."
"When we're through, we tell you and wait for you to give us the all clear and loop the cameras on our exfil route."
"And I'll be waiting for you in the van," Morgan finished. "The rehearsal went very well."
"Walker planned it very well," Casey praised Sarah.
"Thank you."
"We still need to devise an emergency exfiltration plan, just in case."
"The elevators are pretty close to the office."
"That's your plan, Sarah?" Bryce asked. "You want to walk right out the door?"
"Not exactly," she smiled wolfishly. "The elevators are locked at the ground floor level for the night, except for when the guards use them to make their rounds. We open the door to a shaft and hide inside it. No one will think to look in there and even if they do, we'll already be in a ventilation duct."
"She's got a point."
"Yeah, she does. Too bad we haven't got any compact individual high-speed ascenders in our gear. We could use those to go up the elevator cable to the machine room, the roof and from there escape down another building."
"The plan is as fool proof as it can be made," Casey said. "All we have to do is not screw this up, people."
"We won't," Chuck said confidently. "Just in case, let's do it again after a short break."