Saving Moscow, Chapter 6 (6/9)
Author: dettiot
Rating: T
Summary: Fulcrum may be nearly defeated, but the greatest struggle yet is still to come for Chuck and Sarah. Sent undercover at Volkoff Industries, Sarah worries about losing herself. Back in Burbank, Chuck worries about his future. Will they defeat their enemies in time for their dream wedding and get their happily ever after? The fourth story in the Finding Home series.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: This chapter is really the pivot point for the whole story. A lot is going to change, so fasten your seat belts and hold on!
XXX
Luck was on their side. The duct lead them into some kind of employee break room-an empty one. Mary kicked out the vent cover, they dumped their wigs and some of their clothes, and then they walked out through one of the employee exits.
Once they were on the streets of Zurich, Sarah tried to regain her composure. Telling Frost, or Mary that is, that Sarah knew who she was, not to mention dropping her Radwanska cover to tell Mary her real name . . . it all combined with the adrenaline to make her feel a bit limp. But she knew she had to keep it together.
"What will we do without the thorium?" Sarah asked quietly.
"Volkoff will find another way," Mary said. "Probably buy off the family. Or buy the bank."
Sarah nodded, sweeping her eyes around them. "So what will we tell him?"
The older woman shrugged. "I'll think of something. Once we're at the safe house, I'll call him." Mary looked at Sarah, her eyes slightly narrowed. "And we can talk, too."
There was something in her voice that made Sarah feel cautious. Wonder if she had really screwed up. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, not having a gun or any other weapons. Although she was fairly sure she could take Frost in a fight, the other woman had the advantage when it came to firepower. And how did Sarah know that Frost, or Mary Bartowski, or whoever this woman might be, was leading her to a safe house? It could all be a trap.
Swallowing, Sarah kept walking, trying not to show her thoughts on her face or in her body. She wasn't very familiar with Zurich-if she just ran now, she stood a good chance of getting lost. Plus, it would cut off any chance for her to gather more intel inside Volkoff Industries.
She wanted to go home. To return to Chuck safely. But how could she do that if she wasn't certain she had gotten all she could out of Volkoff? And now with the potential of turning Frost and bringing Mary Bartowski home . . . there would be too much left undone if she left now. The job wasn't over. Not yet.
"This way," Frost said, breaking Sarah out of her thoughts. They were in an area on the fringe of Zurich's downtown center, a part of town filled with a mix of old and new construction. The older woman ducked down an alleyway between two large, imposing stone buildings, stopping at a metal door hidden in the shadows.
Her knock rang dully through the alley. The door was opened by a large, hulking man, who took one look at Frost and then nodded. He stepped back to allow Frost and Sarah to step inside, into a small foyer that stretched about ten feet in front of them.
"Are there enough supplies here for a few days?" Frost asked quietly, her hands in the pockets of her coat.
The man's voice was deep and rich, his German sounding almost musical. "We are fully stocked, Frost. If you require anything in addition-"
"No, that's fine. We don't want to be interrupted," Frost said, waving off his offer of assistance. She looked at Sarah and jerked her head to the left. "Follow me."
"Yes, Frost," Sarah said, using her Polish accent for the time being. Wanting to keep up appearances in case all was not lost.
Frost walked out of the foyer and through a set of doors, Sarah following her a few steps behind. The room they entered was not lavish, but certainly comfortable: two large couches, freshly-painted walls, and a window that let in light but was criss-crossed with thick metal bars.
Escaping through the window would be impossible, Sarah realized as she took in the room. And getting past the guard at the door would be tricky, but it would be her only option, it appeared. If she had to get out of here.
"Sit down," Frost said, removing her coat before taking a seat at one end of a couch. She leaned back and closed her eyes, making herself unusually vulnerable. Hesitating for a moment, Sarah chose to sit on the same couch rather than across from her on the other sofa. Until she knew for sure, showing trust in Frost, or Mary, would probably help her.
Sarah folded her hands in her lap and sat up straight, waiting for some kind of sign from Frost. When the silence stretched out, Sarah felt her nerves increasing slightly.
"You were going to call Volkoff," she said quietly.
"Yes, I was," Frost said, her eyes fluttering open. Then, with a heavy sigh, she sat up and shifted, facing Sarah. "But first, I think you need to explain some things."
"And so do you," Sarah said, lifting her chin and returning her gaze. This wasn't a one-way conversation; she had a lot she wanted to know about this woman.
Frost shrugged. "If you insist."
"I do insist-I want to know why you would leave Chuck and Ellie and their dad," Sarah said, the words flowing out of her. "Why the CIA has no idea that you're here, why you've stayed at Volkoff's for fifteen years . . . why." Sarah paused and took a deep breath. "I want to know why."
"So you think I'm this person?" The former Mary Bartowski crossed her arms over her chest. "What makes you think that?"
"A lot of things. But mostly? Your reaction when I said their names in the bank." Sarah wasn't about to lay all her suspicions on the table. Not before she got some kind of confirmation.
Letting out another sigh, Frost nodded. "All right . . . I'm Mary Bartowski."
That was it? Sarah's skepticism must have shown on her face, because Frost let out a rusty laugh. "I was Mary Gunter before I married Stephen on April 27, 1976. Ellie came along on February 12, 1978, then Chuck on September 18, 1981."
"I knew all that before I even met Chuck," Sarah said, then cursed herself for her slip. She had all but told Mary that meeting Chuck hadn't happened in a normal, boy-meets-girl kind of way. Giving herself a mental shake, Sarah told herself to just listen. To not press.
Mary raised an eyebrow, then wrinkled her forehead as if making a mental note to come back to that point later. "I was a CIA agent when I met Stephen, too. I was his handler." She looked down at her hands. "His contact with the Agency while he worked on his special project."
Lifting her head, Mary looked at Sarah. "It was different back then. If you think the CIA is an old boys' club now, just imagine it in the '70s. The lines were very clear. So when I began to fall for Stephen . . . it was difficult. We were allowed to marry, but there was a lot of resentment directed towards me. And then, when Stephen started having setbacks and money got tight, I had to go back to work for the Agency."
As Sarah watched, Mary rose to her feet and paced a few steps. "We kept it from the kids. And Stephen didn't know all the details-he didn't know how bad it was for me. Just like how I didn't know much about what he was working on." Mary paused and turned to face Sarah. "I couldn't turn down any assignments, couldn't voice any objections. Not if I wanted to keep the only job I'd ever had-the only job I knew how to do."
The words struck a chord with Sarah. Even during her time with the Agency, she'd seen the signs of institutional sexism at work. How female agents were put through extra grooming to increase their attractiveness, how a woman who was forceful and stubborn quickly received the label of "bitch" or "ice queen." But being a spy was tough, dangerous work and only the strong survived-male or female.
Worse than that was Mary's assertion that being a spy was all she knew. Because Sarah had been in that place before, if you replaced "CIA agent" with "con artist". For a moment, in spite of the still-simmering anger she had at Graham, she gave thanks that he had seen something in her, something that would let her do something valuable, something with the potential for good.
"Is that how you ended up at Volkoff Industries?" Sarah asked quietly.
"Yes, partly," Mary said, returning to the couch. "Having an undercover agent at Volkoff Industries was a dream opportunity for the CIA. And I made sense as the agent sent in. It was only supposed to be for six months, at most. They thought that would be enough time for me to collect valuable intel and then get out."
Sarah frowned, wondering what had derailed the plans.
"And then Volkoff fell in love with me."
Ahh. That would do it. As the focus of Volkoff's affections, that made Frost incredibly valuable inside the organization-both Volkoff's and the CIA. She would have access to information that other agents could only dream of.
"Still . . . shouldn't they have tried to get you out eventually?"
"There were plans at various points within the first three years," Mary said, sounding tired. "But they all got sabotaged before I could get out. Volkoff knew I had a family; I'm not sure how he found out, but he did. When . . ."
Her voice cracked. Sarah moved a bit closer to her, trying to offer some comfort. Mary cleared her throat. "When I found a picture of Stephen with a rifle scope painted over his face-a picture I knew had been taken outside of Chuck's school, I told the CIA to stop. That I would find my own way out." She smiled tightly. "I lied, of course. With my family at risk . . . I could never leave. Not unless Volkoff was dead."
Gently, Sarah rested her hand on Mary's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
Rubbing a hand over her face, Mary nodded. "So I've been here ever since. Working for Volkoff, trying to stay sane . . . trying to stay a part of my family."
"How did you manage it?" Sarah asked curiously.
"I have my resources," Mary said. "Ways of getting photographs, reports . . . I had just found out about you, shortly before you arrived."
"Me?" Sarah asked, straightening up a little.
"I received some pictures from Ellie's wedding." Mary sighed. "It looked beautiful. And there you were, with Chuck."
Sarah closed her eyes and for a moment, she was back at Ellie's wedding. Dancing with Chuck, watching how happy he was to have his father there, the smiles on Ellie and Devon's faces . . . "It was a wonderful day," Sarah said, hearing the softness in her voice.
Mary rested a hand over Sarah's. "You must miss Chuck very much."
Was there a way to put into words just how much she missed Chuck? How could she describe just how it felt like working without half her body, being on this assignment without him? It wasn't just what he brought as a spy: his intelligence, his ability to think outside-the-box, even the Intersect. It was just as much about him. His courage. His loyalty. Knowing when to crack a joke and when to wrap an arm around her.
It was all those things and more that she was missing, and it didn't seem possible that words could capture that. So Sarah just nodded.
"What's stopping you from asking for extraction?" Mary asked, her voice going firm.
"The Norseman, of course," Sarah said. "If I left, I knew Volkoff would use it against me. So I had to destroy it so completely that it couldn't be rebuilt."
"That's a lot for one agent to accomplish."
She shrugged. "It's what I had to do before I could go home."
"So that's why you asked Volkoff to let you spend time with the R&D department," Mary said.
"Yes," Sarah said with a nod.
Mary stood up and reached into her coat, withdrawing a cell phone. "I suppose with my help, you'd be able to leave."
"Not without you," Sarah replied quickly. "All Chuck and Ellie would want is for you to be home safe." She paused. "And we could get a message to your husband. Tell him you're back."
For a moment, Mary Bartowski looked like she was weighing two diametrically opposed possibilities. Sarah couldn't guess what went through her mind, but after a few moments, Mary gave the tiniest of nods.
"You'll leave with me?" Sarah asked, standing up. "And you'll help take down Volkoff for good?"
She could see a flutter in Mary's throat. As if the words were caught there, fighting to break free.
"Yes," Mary said. "I think it's time I went home."
If Mary Bartowski had been another woman-if Sarah was another woman-she would have hugged her future mother-in-law. Sarah settled for giving her a big, toothy smile, the kind she hadn't shown for five months.
"Then let's get to work."
XXX
It amazed Sarah slightly how quickly everything started coming together. With the help of Mary, problems just seemed to vanish and new facts appeared as quickly as flowers after the rain.
To begin with, Mary explained why they had needed Yuri the Gobbler's eyeball.
"The fake eye contained an access key for Volkoff's Hydra database. Yuri was completely loyal to Alexei, it's true, but he was also prone to getting captured or arrested. Volkoff was tired of bailing him out."
"What's Hydra?" Sarah asked.
"It contains all of Volkoff's files. Contacts, invoices, schematics . . . everything."
Sarah felt her jaw drop open. "He kept it all in one database?"
"Overconfidence and a lack of technical know-how," Mary explained. "When it comes to designing weapons, Volkoff is a genius. But he still doesn't understand how Wi-fi works."
The gears were turning in her head. If the CIA had access to Hydra, not only would they have ironclad proof to use in trials against Volkoff, they would be able to come up with a way to counter the Norseman.
"Is there any way we could take Hydra with us?" Sarah asked, leaning forward.
"Who do you think suggested Volkoff remove Yuri's eyeball?" Mary asked with a grin. "It meant only two people could access the database: Alexei and myself."
The delight in her voice at her part in eliminating Yuri gave Sarah pause. It was a little troubling, to say the least. For a moment, she remembered that conversation she had overheard on the Contessa, the one between Frost and the Fulcrum operative, about how Frost would take over Volkoff Industries and Fulcrum . . .
She stopped that train of thought before it could go too far. After fifteen years in Volkoff Industries, Mary Bartowski would probably have difficulty shaking her cover identity. And that conversation was just part of her cover identity; with the role she played in Volkoff's life, Frost would naturally attempt to gain power for herself.
But Mary had been very above-board with Sarah since Zurich. Now that they were back in Moscow, they were both excited to be making real progress. When Sarah had sent a Morse code message, saying that extraction would be needed within two weeks, she had thought it was an overly ambitious timetable. Now she was wondering if they didn't need to move the extraction up a few days.
The first order of business, once they were back, was recovering the one thing they knew could knock out the Norseman.
"An electromagnetic pulse will disable the tracking chips inside the bullets," Mary explained quietly as they approached a remote armory deep inside the Volkoff Building. "Of course, you could just try again with new bullets against a target, but the EMP buys you time."
"So, what, Volkoff started stockpiling them?"
"No, they're too common. After all, the technological weapons department makes them for Volkoff clients," Mary said, navigating her way through the corridors. "But Volkoff came up with a handheld EMP. We'll need it in case Volkoff tries anything."
Sarah nodded and helped Mary find the EMP. "I still think we need to do something on our way out," she said quietly. "Take all the tracking chips, destroy the thorium. We need to cripple the Norseman so Volkoff can't use it. As soon as we're out, the government can arrest him and destroy the research."
"Putting your trust in the government? I thought you were more jaded than that. Especially after what Director Graham did to you," Mary said, shooting a glance at Sarah.
During the trip from Zurich to Moscow, Sarah had explained what had brought her to Volkoff Industries. In retrospect, she had probably shared too much with Mary. Given her too much insight into her thoughts and hopes and dreams.
Or maybe it was just her years of training rearing their head. Between her father and the CIA, caution was the name of the game. But if she hadn't listened to her gut, hadn't instinctively believed that Frost was really Mary Bartowski, she wouldn't be here now. Gathering reams of intel on a known terrorist, positioning herself to knock out his network and destroy his newest, deadliest weapon. She would be out of Volkoff Industries with two weeks to spare before her wedding to Chuck-and she would be leaving with Chuck's mother in tow.
It had been a risky move, but given the size of the reward, Sarah thought her decision to let Mary in had been the right one. Mary was proving to be a good partner in all of this. She was canny, practical, focused. She wanted to leave even more than Sarah did, and it gave them both fuel to get this done.
After so many months on her own, it was comforting to have backup. To not feel so alone. Although Mary was a pale replacement for Chuck, she was better than nothing. And Mary was so eager to learn more about Chuck. To find out what kind of man he was, to hear about their adventures together, about their plans for the future.
For the most part, Sarah kept those talks focused on the personal. She didn't know how much Mary knew about the Intersect project, and given everything she had to catch up on, Sarah didn't want to overwhelm her with the news that her son had all of the United States's secrets in his brain. And it was more fun to talk about the wedding, to discuss what she and Chuck had planned, to bounce ideas off Mary when it came to her wedding dress.
Her whole future was nearly within her grasp. Sarah couldn't wait to get home. To hug Chuck and to kiss him. To go shopping with Ellie, to have Morgan over for dinner. To get married and have a party with all their friends and family there, to show how much she and Chuck loved each other.
After so many years of never having anything to hold on to, Sarah felt like she finally had it. And it was good to have roots, because they didn't take away from her life, didn't hold her down. They gave her everything she needed to be herself and reach for the stars.
And now she was getting very sappy. Something that wouldn't work with tonight's mission: transferring Hydra to a CIA server. So Sarah made herself focus on work until she met Frost.
It would be a tricky task, since the Hydra database usually could only be accessed in the presence of Volkoff or Mary; no one else could be in the room. Mary claimed to have developed a work-around, though.
But the work-around wasn't what Sarah was expecting.
"How did you get his voiceprint?" she asked, looking at the small digital recorder in Mary's hand.
"I spliced together surveillance audio to get the passphrase. I've done it before," Mary said with a shrug.
"And it's worked?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Every time up until now," Mary said, sounding like she was more than done with this conversation.
Sarah took a deep breath. All of her thoughts about how close they were had made the important point that they weren't home yet. She felt doubts creeping in, an extra layer of worry about the simplest things.
"Sorry," she said, holding her hand out for the recorder.
"You act like you think this is my first time," Mary said with a lopsided smile, handing over the recorder to Sarah. "Just hold it up to the pad when I tell you."
With a nod, Sarah followed Mary to Volkoff's office. The large room, usually so intimidating, was much less so without Volkoff. Mary ignored everything in the room, zeroing in on a large flat-screen television. She pressed a combination of buttons that made the TV slide up into the wall, revealing a keypad and a speaker grille.
Mary gestured to Sarah, who held the recorder up to the grille. In his rich voice with the tinge of a British accent under his Russian one came Volkoff's passphrase. "Alexei Volkoff. Death is the solution to all problems."
"Frost. One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." Mary spoke her phrase and then pressed several keys quickly. She turned around and faced the large desk in the center of the room before looking at Sarah. "There we go."
Without delay, Sarah crossed over to the desk, taking in the data appearing on the computer screens. Her eyes widened at the sheer scope of it all. "It really is everything."
"I told you it was," Mary said. She sat down in Volkoff's desk chair and began typing on the keyboard. "I am setting up the transfer . . . you have the CIA server address?"
"Yeah," Sarah said, taking the keyboard and quickly entering the IP address. "How long do you think this will take?"
"Several hours, I think." Mary looked at Sarah. "You're sure you don't want to slip a note to Chuck in here?"
"With that much data, it's unlikely he'd get it before we got out," Sarah said, but not without a bit of longing. Her brief encounter with Chuck was over two months ago now. She still had no idea if he had even received her video message about Mary. What if he hadn't gotten it, and she showed up without any warning, accompanied by his mother? He'd be so shocked.
"That's true. Only two more days," Mary said, leaning back in the chair. "It's hard to believe. In two days, I'll be gone from here. Back to my old life."
Sarah perched on the edge of the desk. "You must feel . . . I can't imagine what you feel. I'm nervous and I was only gone five months."
Chuck's mother nodded, the flickering computer screens throwing a soft blue light over her face. "If I think about it, I feel completely overwhelmed. I don't know my children anymore. They have their own lives now, their own families. How will I fit in?"
"I don't think they've ever forgotten you," Sarah said. "You'll fit."
Mary turned to look at Sarah, then reached out and rested her hand on her knee. "Thank you, Sarah. Finding you here, having your help . . . you've given me the courage to think we can really pull this off."
Feeling thankful that the soft light wouldn't reveal the flushing of her cheeks, Sarah shook her head. "He threatened your family. Of course you didn't want to risk them."
"Seeing Volkoff behind bars is all I want now," Mary said, her voice determined. "I want him to rot for what he's taken from me."
"From you and from so many people," Sarah said.
Blowing out a soft breath, Mary nodded before looking at Sarah. "You should go back to your place. Get some sleep. You'll have to do the lion's share of the physical combat when we leave, so you need your rest."
The motherly affection in Mary's voice made Sarah feel shy. Normally, she would have argued. But instead, she just nodded and stood up. "Okay. I . . . I'll see you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow," Mary said, smiling gently at Sarah.
Before she could blush anymore, Sarah turned and started walking towards the door.
"Sarah?"
She paused at the door, knowing that Mary couldn't see her. "Yes, Mary?"
Sitting behind the computer, at that large desk, Mary looked slightly fragile, but also incredibly strong. Like a fine piece of china that had stood the test of time. "I'm glad Chuck has you. He's lucky."
"That's the thing, Mary-I'm the lucky one," Sarah replied, feeling her heart swell with love. "Good night," she said softly, slipping out of the office without waiting for Mary's reply.
XXX
Today was the big day. The day she would leave Russia, the day she could smile again and stop using the brick-red lipstick that she would never ever use again. The day she could start growing out the dye job and become Chuck's Sarah again.
There was an extra spring in her step as Sarah walked through the halls of the Volkoff Building. Mary had sent her a message early yesterday morning, saying that the Hydra database had successfully transferred to the CIA server. There had been no signs during the day that Volkoff or any of his people had any idea of the transfer. Everything seemed set for the extraction, but she made sure to arrive at her normal time of seven, even though it was a Sunday morning and Volkoff Industries was usually deserted.
She had just walked in the entrance doors when a voice called out her name.
"Miss Radwanska!"
Turning around, Sarah saw a portly man rushing up to her. He was sweating and flushed. "Miss Radwanska," he wheezed slightly, "Frost wants to see you. In her office."
"Of course," Sarah said, using her Polish accent for one of the last times.
Frost had an office on the floor below Volkoff's-in fact, it was directly underneath his. It took only a few moments for the private elevator to whisk Sarah to the correct floor. When she stepped out, there was a particular kind of quiet. It was the silence of a building with no one else present. Frowning a little, Sarah walked down the hall, her heels clicking softly against the marble floors.
Sarah knocked on the office door and heard a muffled "Come in." She opened the door, taking in the low lighting in the office. Mary was sitting at her desk, something that made Sarah smile a little. Frost's desk wasn't that dissimilar from Volkoff's and made her think of how she had left Mary the night before last.
"Hi, Mary," Sarah said in her own voice. "Everything seems all set for today. I hope you got plenty of rest like-"
When Alexei Volkoff stepped out of the shadows, Sarah drew up short, cutting off her words with an audible click from her teeth clenching shut.
He had heard her real voice. Heard her speak in friendly tones to Mary-use Mary's real name. And Mary hadn't stopped Sarah, hadn't given her some kind of warning.
Oh, God.
Looking back and forth between Volkoff and Mary, Sarah tried to smile. "What-what is going on?" she asked in Russian.
"Now, now, no need to use a foreign language to hide your lying tongue," Volkoff said airily in English, walking towards her with his hands in his trouser pockets.
Mary hit a button, turning on the lights in the office. Letting Sarah get a good look at her.
It didn't take a trained spy to realize that she had changed. Her attitude, her whole bearing, was different. There was an air of command about her and something in her eyes that said this woman wasn't to be annoyed or crossed.
This was Frost. This was the cold, hard woman she had heard rumors about ever since she had arrived, the woman she had seen when she first got here. But no, this was more-she was harder, icier. She wasn't Mary Bartowski anymore.
And Sarah didn't understand what was going on. But this felt bad. Really, really bad.
"Ms. Walker, I'm afraid the plans have changed," Frost said in English as well, her voice cold and flat.
More than anything else, it was the use of her real last name that made Sarah realize just how bad things were. Because . . . because something had happened to make Mary-no, Frost, she was Frost now-betray Sarah.
She had to stall for time. Find out what was going on so she could figure out a way to escape all this. If she could get out of this building and just lay low for twenty-four hours, the CIA's extraction team would be here and she would safe and she could go home to Chuck.
Squaring her shoulders, Sarah looked at Volkoff and Frost. "So you decided to sell me out, Frost?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from showing her bewilderment.
Frost let out a humorless laugh. "The minute you arrived here, I knew who you were. Sarah Walker, shining star of the CIA, partner of Charles Bartowski . . . member of the Human Intersect team."
Sarah swallowed, feeling her stomach clench. They knew about the Intersect . . . what else did they know, beside what she had been stupid enough to tell Mary?
"A small detail you didn't tell Mary about," Volkoff said, sounding petulant. "She already knew, of course, but it was surprising that in all the time you spent spilling your guts to Mary, you didn't reveal that."
"I guess I had an instinct something was off," Sarah bluffed.
"Hardly," Frost said, standing up and walking to Volkoff to take his hand. "I could barely get you to think about work." Frost looked at Volkoff. "All she wanted to talk about was her wedding. It was sickening."
"Well, a young woman, engaged to the love of her life . . . it's natural." Volkoff said, sounding indulgent. "Although I think, once we are done, Ms. Walker will have learned a valuable lesson from all this."
That didn't sound good. But then, nothing about this sounded good. "So you knew it was me as soon as I arrived," Sarah said, trying to draw their attention, trying to find some way out. "Did you decide to set me up like this from the start?"
"Oh, I don't know if we did that. Did we, my love?" Volkoff said, looking at Frost.
She gave a small shrug. "The possibility crossed my mind. So I waited and watched, building the groundwork for when you made a mistake." A small smirk of a smile crossed her face. "And you made many."
"But you are Mary Bartowski?" Sarah asked, letting her eyes flick around the room, looking for an avenue for escape.
"If you must know . . . once I was Mary Bartowski, yes."
"Then how can you do this?" Sarah asked, feeling her anger grow as she kept speaking. "You turned your back on your family, left them alone and confused and you don't even care about going back, about making amends and-"
Volkoff backhanded her, sending her stumbling away a few steps.
"Alexei, that's my job," Frost said, sounding disgruntled.
As Sarah worked her jaw, making sure none of her teeth were loose, she saw Volkoff assume a sheepish expression. "Forgive me, my love. You know how I am about your former family."
"They mean nothing to me, Alexei."
Sarah held her face in her hand as she looked at Frost, who wore a placid expression. "Marrying Stephen Bartowski was about keeping him in line," Frost explained slowly, as if speaking to a stupid child. "Keeping him producing what the CIA wanted. And for a few years . . . we were happy, I suppose. But then he got distracted with his little stupid projects, and the children always needed something, so going back to work was ideal. And after a few years, I was assigned to infiltrate Volkoff Industries."
"Oh, happy day," Volkoff said, his hand stroking her back.
It was enough to make her throw up, the sickly-sweet adoration between two evil people. But it gave her something to think about beyond the crushing betrayal and anger and sadness swirling inside her.
Never had she failed so utterly and completely. She had totally misjudged Mary Bartowski, thinking that she was an ally, a friend. Someone who could replace the mother that Sarah hadn't seen since she was eight. The mother who had let her father take their only child into a life of lies and deception.
Randomly, she thought of Chuck and Ellie and their Mother's Day holiday. About remembering the day they had learned to look out for each other. If only she had done the same-remembered the day that she had performed her first con, or when Graham had recruited her, or the day she had completed her CIA training. All of those times when she was reminded of how she could take care of herself. Of how much she had achieved on her own.
Or even better, she could have remembered that life was about finding the right people to take care of you. Like Chuck, or Casey, or Ellie. Bryce or Morgan, even Graham and Beckman. She had people to depend on. She had made the wrong choice this time . . . but she couldn't stop leaning on people. That would be the real lesson she took from this experience.
Raising her head, Sarah looked at Volkoff and Frost. "I assume you didn't really transfer Hydra to the CIA?"
"Of course not," Frost said with a snort. "Our IT department is currently going through that CIA server, thanks to you."
"We have much to be grateful to you for, Ms. Walker," Volkoff said with a small smile. "Access to the CIA's database . . . knowledge of the current identity of the Human Intersect, which Fulcrum is most eager to learn . . . and the Norseman! If it hadn't been for your recovery of the smart bullets from the most recalcitrant Sofia Stepanova, I don't think I could have finished my work."
Moving away from Frost, he walked over to her. She wanted to step back and keep the distance between them, but she made herself face him, trying to keep any fear out of her eyes.
He took her bruised face in his hands and kissed both of her cheeks. "I think your service merits a reward."
She yanked her head back and raked her nails over his face. "That's all the reward I want."
His laughter was rich and round and completely insane. "Oh, it is a shame we can't keep you!" Volkoff turned back towards Frost. "Are you sure we couldn't break her and have her continue working here?"
"No, Alexei," Frost said indulgently. "That's not the plan. Get the suitcase."
"Yes, my love!" he said, walking away from Sarah.
The suitcase? What-what was he getting?
Frost looked at Sarah. "You won't understand this. You're too young. I did love Stephen, in my own way. But being a spy always comes first."
Sarah licked her lips. "You're wrong," she said softly. "Chuck taught me that there are things more important than being a spy. More things than I could tell you in a lifetime."
"It is a shame to destroy you like this," Frost said, a note of sympathy in her voice. "But it must be done."
At that moment, Volkoff stepped into view, carrying a large hard-sided case that Sarah recognized. It was the case that held the Norseman.
So this was it. They would use the Norseman on her. They weren't even going to torture her. And why would they need to? She had been stupid enough to give them exactly what they needed.
She looked down at her hands, which were clenched together. She wished she had her engagement ring right now. Something to touch, to remind herself of how much Chuck loved her. But probably that would have just sent her over the edge-more than she already felt she was. Her shoulders inched up toward her ears as she fought tears.
This was the kind of situation in which she should get angry. And she was. But more than that . . . she was heartbroken. She was breaking her promise to Chuck to come back so he could put her engagement ring back on-she would never get to marry him, never find out if she could be a mother, never have all the small, simple things that Chuck had introduced her to and she wanted so much.
Her fingers fumbled with her watch, finding the button with the Morse code transmitter. She took a deep breath and quickly managed to type out a message. It was short and simple: "I love you, Chuck." With how her fingers were shaking, she hoped she hadn't messed it up.
Getting the message off made a calm fall over her. No. She wouldn't let them do this to her with her head bowed, on the verge of tears. That wasn't what Sarah Walker did. She looked death in the eye.
"Any last requests, Ms. Walker?" Volkoff smirked at her as he opened the case.
The short, simple message to Chuck would have to be enough. She shook her head.
"No begging. How sad," Volkoff said, looking at Frost. In the midst of pulling out a cell phone from her pocket, Frost shrugged her shoulders.
"She thinks we're going to use the Norseman on her."
Frost's absent-minded words were like a bombshell. They weren't going to use it on her? Then who-
"Ivan?" Frost said into the phone. "Do you have the target in your sights?
"Yes, Frost," came Ivan's voice over the speakerphone. "Bartowski is with another man, visiting the Santa Monica Pier."
Her knees turned to water. Sarah didn't know how she remained standing as it sunk in.
They were going to use the Norseman on Chuck.
"No," she whispered.
"Take the shot, Ivan," Frost directed.
The sound of two gunshots came through the speakerphone, loud and clear. So loud that Sarah could practically see the scene in her mind.
Chuck, walking along the pier with Bryce or Morgan. Having fun. Talking, smiling that big happy smile of his. Taking a few hours to relax and unwind after a mission or from a day of working on the wedding.
Doing all that with no idea that he was about to be poisoned because of her.
"Target hit," Ivan said, sounding calm and collected. "Heading to the airport now."
"Good work, Ivan," Volkoff said, closing the fake suitcase.
Frost snapped the phone shut and looked at Sarah.
Sarah swallowed, her fists clenching. Now there was anger. Rage, in fact. Eclipsing any other time she had been angry.
"You're free to go, Sarah. We have no use for you now." Frost's voice was full of disdain. Like anything that Sarah could do would come up short.
Backing away from them slowly, Sarah moved towards the doors. "You think I can't save him?" she asked, pausing in front of the doors.
Again, Frost shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me."
"Although if you do somehow save Charles, we'll just shoot you in the heads. With regular bullets," Volkoff said, sitting on Frost's desk and swinging his leg.
"It should matter," Sarah spit out. "Because not only am I going to save Chuck-I'm going to make you both pay."
She knew they didn't believe her. Didn't expect her to carry through on her promise. But that was the thing.
Sarah Walker kept her promises.
End, Chapter 6
