CHAPTER 28
Chuck was on his third outfit of the day, making him question how spies could possibly pack light and stay anywhere more than three days. Granted, pajamas barely counted, but sharing a room with Sarah had demanded he go full pajama pants and t-shirt. Even with the separate beds he'd been tempted to try something, but they had a mission and they'd agreed this was how it had to be. For now.
Chuck was just relieved to not be wearing white again, though Sarah had all but forced him to choose a light gray that may as well have been white. Though it matched the silver embroidery of his shirt, he imagined it also helped that Sarah's white dress had lines of silver as well. He was sure if he said anything she'd tell him it was just for the cover, but he didn't mind them dressing to match.
He found the frilly, layered skirt of her dress reminded him of how he'd felt about her Wienerlicious uniform. Maybe it was just that puffy lace skirts reminded him of the wrapping paper people put in gift bags and boxes so it always seemed like the little glimpses when they rose a bit high was like peeking at a gift and lifting them was like unwrapping it. Or maybe it was just pretty and she had nice legs. Either way enjoyed watching her from his seat at the bar while Casey sat beside him.
The other girls also wore white dresses in different styles, though Chuck kept finding Sarah as she walked through the club. "Head in the game Bartowski," Casey said when he noticed Chuck tensed watching Sarah blow off some guy who tried to hit on her.
"Gaez incoming," Zondra said in their ear wigs.
"She's with him," Carina added. "Lay low, girls."
Chuck looked over to where the couple made their way to a booth in the far corner of the building. He watched as Amy did a quick scan of the club, but luckily the CAT Squad had taken positions to block themselves from her view. Once Amy slid into the booth Casey said into his watch, "Clear."
"Now we wait," Sarah said in their ears.
And so they did, though it was only ten minutes before Carina whispered, "I think we got him."
Chuck quickly turned to the door but found the guy had passed them already. "Casey," Sarah said making her way to the bar, "switch off with me. Try to get close."
Without a word Casey got out off his stool and made his way across the club to go try and eavesdrop. A second later Sarah sat on the stool and Chuck turned to her with a grin. "You come here often?"
Sarah shook her head. "Focus, Chuck."
He turned back toward the booth, but watched as Amy and Gaez slid to their left, leaving the other guy to sit with his back to Chuck. "Shit," he whispered.
Sarah sighed. "We can try to cause a distraction, but it would have to be Casey, and he's the only one close enough to listen in."
"Get away from me," Chuck said reaching down to pull the left side of his shirt from his pants.
"What?"
"Get away, I'm going to make them look over here and they can't see you."
"What are you going to do?" She said getting to her feet, concern clear on her face.
"I'm going to be that annoying guy I always feel embarrassed for," he said resolving himself to his fate. He got to his feet and waved Sarah away, watching her quickly walk out of view as he said into his watch, "I'm going to pull their attention here. Please hide, ladies."
Grabbing the drink he'd ordered minutes ago he messed his hair, undid two top buttons on his now half untucked shirt and climbed onto the chair. Throwing up his arm so his drink sloshed around he yelled out over the music, "CARNIVAAAAAAAAAL!"
His slurred shriek was enough to draw just about all eyes in the club on him, including that of Amy, Gaez and, as Chuck found out due to the flash which luckily helped sell his drunken act, Farrokh Bulsara. Watching the clearly drunk man stumble off the chair and go about apologizing to those around him before stumbling away, Gaez shook his head. "Tourists" he said with a sigh.
"Look can we get this done with," Bulsara said setting a thumb drive on the table. "There's your codes. Now where's this information you have for me."
Gaez leaned over to kiss Amy, who reached between her breast to remove a small disc which she handed to Bulsara with a wink.
"And what is on this beyond whatever diseases she has?" asked Bulsara.
Gaez smirked, leaning forward. "Have you ever played Missile Command?"
"His name is Farrokh Bulsara," Chuck said over the earwigs. "He specializes in nukes and dirty bombs."
"He just gave Gaez codes for something," said Casey.
"We have to take him now," said Zondra, a hint of panic in her voice.
"Moving into position," said Sarah.
When she turned to Chuck she found him tucking his shirt in. "I know, in the car."
She kept an eye on him while moving into position, waiting until she saw he'd left the building before saying, "Chuck's clear."
"Tac's ready, they're calling in retrieval and disposal teams," Casey said. "Move in."
The trio of guards beside the booth looked bored until they saw three women in white dresses saunter up to them, but their last steps turned into a dash before each one slammed t heir forearms and elbows into the guard's faces, knocking them to the ground. At the table Bulsara turned like a startled cat while Gaez glared and Amy screamed.
"Uh, girls, what are you doing here?"
"Putting down the stray CAT," Zondra said with a drink, but before just as she drew Casey started firing on the guards rushing to stop them. That caused the club to erupt into screams as people fled toward the exits, including Bulsara.
Carina moved to stop him, but Gaez had followed after him and used the chance to slam into Carina, knocking her to the ground. Amy leapt onto the table and jumped off it, swinging her leg toward Sarah and Zondra, who both dodged the kick. Carina slammed her knee into Gaez's stomach, throwing him off her before she leapt to her feet. Just as he started to sit up Carina gave a swift bicycle kick that connected with his chin, knocking Gaez unconscious.
Zondra threw a kick at Amy, who dodged it and gasped as she spotted Sarah's incoming elbow strike. Throwing up her hands, Amy caught Sarah's strike, but was left open when she suddenly backed away, letting Zondra land a spinning heel kick to Amy's stomach. Just as she bent forward and grunted Sarah had dashed forward and leapt up, driving her knee into Amy's jaw, throwing her back across the table she'd leapt over moments ago.
Agents in full tactical gear rushed into the club, forcing the guards to put their weapons down as the crowd exited. Casey rushed over to the CAT Squad, giving an impressed nod seeing Gaez and Amy laid out. But then he noticed someone missing. "Where's Bulsara?"
As the four agents did a quick scan of the club Casey and Sarah looked to each other wide eyed as they exclaimed in unicorn, "CHUCK!"
Outside Chuck had been muttering, put out over being put out yet again. He understood why, but it still sucked. He made his way to the street filled with people, quite a few of whom were mostly naked women with pasties and bottoms that matched their bronze skin. "I think I love Brazil," he said watching a woman with white tassels backed by green and blue feathers sashay down the street.
Then he heard the pop of gunfire and turned back toward the club entrance where he saw a few people rushing through the doors. Among them he recognized a bald, olive skinned man and gulped. "Bulsara," he whispered, watching the man stop and look around before running toward the alley beside the club.
Not seeing anyone following him, Chuck felt he had no choice but to rush after him. A few steps behind, Chuck entered the alley in time to see Bulsara getting into a van. Just as he started the ignition Chuck looked around but only found a dumpster and a pair of flimsy trash cans. With no real choices he picked the lid off a can and felt how thin it was, so grabbed one side and slammed the other into the side of the club. The lid folded in on itself as he'd hoped, leaving a sharp point on either end.
Seeing the van start to move, Chuck leapt to the ground, stuck his hand out and winced, keeping one eye open just enough to adjust his hand and the angle of the folded trash can lid, letting the right front tire drive into it. The moment he saw the metal lid pierce the rubber tire Chuck pulled his hand back, which had been millimeters from being technically run over.
Letting out a breath in relief that he hadn't lost his hand, Chuck pushed off the ground as the van slid to a stop, turning slightly onto the sidewalk. On his feet, Chuck saw Bulsara glare at him through a window before heading to the back of the van. Grabbing the lid off the other trash can, Chuck ran around the back of the van. Bulsara should have made it out before him, but instead it was a second after Chuck reached the back of the van that the door flew open and Bulsara jumped out, straight into the trash can lid Chuck swung at his face.
With a hollow thud Bulsara fell onto his back. While the lid was too light to do any real damage, having bent slightly on impact, the fall had left him groaning. Chuck tossed the lid aside, instead grabbing the half full can and throwing that on Bulsara as he started to stand. The garbage inside was thrown over the bomber while the can itself clanged against his head.
Standing over the groaning terrorist, Chuck smirked. "Sorry, but-" his eyes drifted to the van and Chuck's face fell as he felt the pull of a flash. "Oh no."
"Chuck!" He heard Sarah yell a second before she, Casey, Carina and Zondra rushed around the van.
Casey saw the downed terrorist and smirked, "Nice work."
"Problem," Chuck said pointing into the van. "Big problem."
Looking inside the agents found a large bomb with two timers counting down. Casey instantly bent down, grabbed Bulsara by the collar and pulled him off the ground. "Disarm it now!"
"Let me go and I'll tell you the codes."
Zondra shook her head, pulling out a thumb drive. "We already have them."
"The fakes I gave Gaez?" Bulsara spat at her.
"Chuck you need to leave now," Sarah said pulling at his shoulder.
He looked to her and shook his head. "No. I'm not leaving you."
"Chuck-"
"We've been through this before, Sarah," he said pulling his arm from her. Keeping her gaze he said firmly, "I'm not leaving. Besides. I can do this."
"You're wasting your time," Bulsara called out watching Chuck step into the van, then choked as Casey tightened his grip.
"Chuck, please," Sarah pleaded.
Flipping open the panel on top of the bomb, Chuck found it was basically a laptop set in the bomb shell. "Really?" Chuck said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles before he started typing.
"Don't bother," Bulsara strained to say until Casey eased his grip. "Out best people coded it to-"
"Done," Chuck said tapping a final button which caused the first timer to stop.
Bulsara gaped as Sarah grinned watching Chuck run around to the timers and fall to his knees, tracing the path of each wire. "Sarah, knife, please?" He asked holding out his hand while sliding under the bomb, which was held up off the floor by metal piping embedded into the shell.
Sarah pulled a small flip knife from the back of her dress and handed it to him. "Are you sure you can do this?"
"I saw a diagram when I, you know," he said quietly, glancing over at her. "I saw how it's laid out. Just need to figure out which one is which since they're all tangled. Give me a minute."
Glancing at the timer Sarah told him, "You have forty seconds."
Casey handed Bulsara off to one of the tactical agents, turning his attention to Chuck as he kept going back and forth from the timer to beneath the bomb. Carina stared at Chuck while Zondra glanced to Sarah, "Are you sure he can-"
"He'll do it," Sarah said with a nod. "Just give him time."
"We don't have much," Zondra said seeing the timer pass twenty.
"Chuck," Sarah said sitting on the floor of the van to look at him as she slid back under the bomb. "Please, Chuck… I-"
"Got it," he said reaching up to grab a wire and cutting it. Sarah glanced up and saw the timer stop at eight while Chuck cut two other wires. "There, now it should be safe to move too."
Pulling himself out from beneath the bomb, Chuck let out a breath and sat up, turning to the agents with a smile. "So did you catch the bad guys?"
Sarah let out a breathy laugh as Zondra smirked, Carina grinned and Casey gave an approving grunt. "We got 'em, Chuck," Sarah told him.
"I knew you guys could do it," Chuck said sliding out of the van. "Now if it's okay with you all, I'm gonna go freak out."
AN:
Chuck using a garbage can is another reference to his wrestling phase in away. At least I imagine him throwing the can and it hitting Bulsara square in the head like Terry Funk.