Sarah was sitting on a CIA G6 jet headed for Las Vegas. They only had about another hour to go before they would be making their final approach. Carina was in the seat across from her snoring. Looking at her friend she was once again shocked by how much sound could come from such a small woman. She knew she should be sleeping like Carina, but she was too keyed up to sleep. Looking at her watch she saw it was about 9:30 PM local time. She had spent the whole after noon in Beckman's office getting yelled at. That all stopped when she pulled out her iPhone and called the President on his secure line and handed the Phone to the General. Three minutes on the phone with the President changed the General's tone real fast. After that conversation it was all "What can I do to help you?" And "Any thing you need will be given to you at your request." she left that office with priority one use of any Government plane she wanted, including the fleet of ten G6 jets the CIA maintained. She was also reimbursed the money she spent on the mission so far. Even the twenty thousand she spent buying Chuck's Christmas present. The 1970 Boss 429 Mustang sitting in the parking garage of the MGM.
Man he loved that car. The second he sat behind the wheel and fired up the big V8 the smile never left his face. At one of the gas stations they stopped at he bought a pair of black and white fuzzy dice and hung them from the mirror. When she asked him why he looked at her like she was crazy and shrugged. "Because?" he said like it was a very dumb thing to ask. She just laughed at him. She thought about her Chuck, what was he doing right now? How did his meeting go? Was he even alive? She felt her chest constrict at the thought. She couldn't think like that. He was okay, she would know if he wasn't by now.
She pulled out her iPhone and opened her picture file, she clicked on the folder marked Chuck and flipped through the images. She stopped on one taken during a mission at the French Embassy. It was a black tie event and the picture was taken by another guest as a distraction so Casey could slip a shell fish extract into a terrorist's drink giving him an allergic reaction. The shot was of her and Chuck standing together with the French Foreign minister . She wore a long red ball gown that night, it showed off a lot of cleavage and had a long split up the side to draw attention to her long legs. Chuck had on a black Armani tuxedo that fit him very well. She remembered answering her apartment door and staring dumbly at him for a good thirty seconds. Man he looked good in a tux. When they had their real wedding after this mission was over he was definitely wearing that tux for it. And this time at the end of the night, instead of saying good night outside by the fountain she could do what she wanted to do that night, she would take him to his room, sit on the bed, and make him strip for her. She would watch as he pulled off his jacket, and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. She licked her lips thinking about him unzipping his pants. She felt a wave of heat rush up her body as she thought about the things she would do to him. She was so into it that she didn't notice Carina wake up.
"Thinking about Chuck?" She asked causing Sarah to jump.
"What? Yeah. Why?" Sarah said putting her phone away.
"Cause your flushed and your nipples are hard enough to cut glass. Were you looking at nudey pictures?" Carina asked laughing.
"No I was not! I was looking at a picture of us at a ball at the French Embassy." She said taking her phone back out and showing it to Carina.
"Oh my but he does fill out a tux nicely. I wouldn't mind getting the live show of that." Carina said winking.
"Hey what did I say about seducing my man?" Sarah said angrily, but her smile took all of the sting out of her words.
"Hey what can I say? He's hot." Carina said shrugging.
"You should see him now. He looks, dresses, and acts like an agent. He's got confidence now and it's the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life. The morning I left for D.C. he introduced himself to me as Agent Charles Carmichael and told me we could get a drink after he was done with his mission so we can talk about our respective reputations. Carina I tell you, I almost ripped his robe off and went for it. God he's so hot. I can't wait to get him alone." Sarah said blushing.
"Wow, you really got it bad." Carina said with a laugh.
"Just you wait and see, I'm going to have to beat you back with a stick. He's found this untapped raw animalistic sexual side. He so sexy now. I'm telling you Carina, he had me begging for it, begging." Sarah said fanning her self.
"No way. You've gone too far now. No one makes The Great Sarah Walker beg for anything. Men fall at your feet and offer you whatever you want! You've taken this joke too far." Carina said waving her off.
"Just remember what I said. I'll kill you if you touch him. I'm not joking about that." Sarah said with a smirk.
"So why are we flying to Vegas instead of just flying to Burbank?" Carina asked standing up to get a bottle of water.
"We need to close out the room and get Chuck's car. We're going to drive it back tomorrow morning." Sarah said picking up an apple off the basket behind her and pulling a knife from her boot.
"So were going to spend the night in Vegas? Can we hit the clubs?" Carina asked making a face at the Sarah.
"Yes, I plan on getting some sleep, I don't care if you hit the clubs as long as you meet me in front of the MGM at 7am. We have to get on the road. It's a four hour drive to get to Burbank, and I want to get there before lunch. What's with the face?" She asked cutting a slice of apple.
"Is that even sanitary? You use those knives for everything." Carina said pointing to her throwing knife.
"I Washed It! It's a lot cleaner then some of the things you've put in your mouth." Sarah said throwing an apple slice at her. Her phone rang and she saw it was Casey. Now that the mission was official they could use their iPhones again. They would give the rest of the burn phones to Chuck as one time use phones to call them in emergency situations he had two of them now but the rest would go back with Melissa. "What's going on Casey?" She asked sitting up and dropping her half eaten apple on the chair next to her.
"Chuck just called, he said he met three women that want out of Fulcrum like Melissa. She's bringing them by Castle tomorrow." Casey said with a smile.
"How can we trust this? It could be a play by Fulcrum to test his loyalty! They could be killing him right now Casey!" She said feeling her heart rate speed up.
"Relax, I think we can trust these women, well two of them at least. One of them is Major Jordan Rodgers. I don't know if you know her but she's basically me with boobs. She's an honorable agent that quit the NSA suddenly about eight months ago without a good reason. I think they have some kind of leverage over her. She's not the type to work for the enemy. The other one is Agent Samantha Glass." Casey said.
"Agent Glass!? Are you sure?" Sarah asked standing up and pacing.
"Yeah I'm sure, Chuck told me. I'm sure, because he's sure. The last one is a rooky that got burned by the CIA for working with Fulcrum. I'm thinking she's like Melissa. Chuck want's to recruit them to the team. Could you imagine Agent Glass and Major Rodgers working with us? We'd be unstoppable!" Casey said excitedly.
"When are they getting to Castle?" Sarah asked.
"Just after noon. Can you get here for the meeting, I want you to look them over and see if they're lying. You're better at that stuff then I am." Casey said.
"Yeah we can make it. It's a four hour drive and we're leaving at 07:00. We should be there with an hour to spare." Sarah said.
"Good I'll see you tomorrow Walker." Casey said.
"Something wrong?" Carina asked.
"Maybe. You worked with agent Glass before right?" Sarah asked picking up her discarded apple.
"Yeah, I ran a bunch of ops. with her about four years ago. Very good agent, she was probably more like you then anyone I've ever worked with. She was very by the book and absolutely loved to hate me in a friendly way. We worked well together. Very ridged when it comes to planning and sticking to that plan. The second best agent I've ever worked with next to you. I know and love her sister Bobby. Very nice girl. She's still looking for her you know. If you have any information about her I would like to know so I can tell Bobby." Carina said.
"Bobby?" Sarah asked.
"Roberta Glass, she goes by the name Bobby, she's like four years younger then Sam, so she's our age. They're half sisters, but very close. Sam took care of Bobby most of her life. The day Sam went missing Bobby lost her mind a bit. She's a really good analyst, she crunches data like a computer. I always thought she has Aspergers you know? But she's just super smart. She scored something like 1590 on her SATs and like 190 on her IQ test. She works out of Langley. She a nice girl, I stop by from time to time to see her when I can. I've sort of adopted her since Sam disappeared. She's like a little sister to me." Carina said with a sad look in her eyes.
"Well Chuck found Sam. She's working for Fulcrum." Sarah said with fake distain to judge Carina's reaction. And react she did.
Carina shot out of her set and yelled, "WHAT!? No Fucking Way! Not Sam, not in a million years would she work for them! She was raised as an agent by an agent. Taught that the only sin worse then killing innocent people is treason. The day Sam Glass works for the enemy is the day hell freezes over!" Carina yelled getting in Sarah's face.
"Carina sit down, Sit Down Now! What I said was true. But the reason she is working for them is because of her sister probably. They most likely threatened to torture Bobby in front of Sam, we both know what that means. So she's working for them." Sarah said.
"They touch one hair on Bobby's head and I'll execute every last one of those motherfuckers!" Carina said drawing her gun.
"Calm down Carina, we will figure out what's going on and protect Bobby. The same thing is happening to an agent Casey knows from the NSA, a Major Jordan Rodgers. Also working for them and wanting to get out is a New CIA agent named Kate Brown. Chuck met all three of them tonight. Melissa let slip that Chuck could help them get out, and Chuck being Chuck told them what's going on. They are meeting us at Castle tomorrow. I can't believe him. How can he be so stupid? Telling enemy agents what's going on?" Sarah said disappointedly.
"Maybe he saw something in them. Like he did with Melissa. You once told me you trusted his judgment. Now it's time to put that to the test. I know Sam, she would never work for Fulcrum. Never. And I'm guessing this Major Jordan Rodgers wouldn't either. That leaves this Kate Brown. If she's not on the level we can lock her up and the other two can say she wondered off and never came back. I say we go into this meeting tomorrow and play three different angles. But first we need to separate them. I'll take Sam. I know what she looks like when she lies. You take Kate Brown, you're the best at deception reading. You can cold read her, also I think if she is the week link you can spot it fast and help Casey with Major Rodgers. We need them to tell us what they said to Chuck. Melissa will be there to confirm the story. After they check out we need to get them up to speed and we need to look into the things they say." Carina said.
"I agree." Sarah said. She looked out the window and saw the strip. "Sit down, we're on our final approach. We'll be on the ground in a few minutes." Sarah said buckling her seatbelt.
When the plan landed they left the airport and hopped into a cab. When they got to the MGM Sarah approached the front desk. "Welcome to the MGM Grand, how my I help you?" The girl behind the desk asked.
"Yes, I was here with my husband Charles Carmichael three days ago, I had to leave on an emergency and he was arrested. He put a bunch of money on the room account and I wanted too see if it's still open." Sarah said.
"Yes the room is still open, and the account still has 8,245 dollars on it. Would you like a key card for the room?" The girl asked.
"Yes please, also I'll be checking out tomorrow morning. I was wondering if you can cash out the 8,000 dollars credit on the room?" Sarah said.
"We can do that for you ma'am. How would you like that?" She asked opening the reregister.
"Hundreds will be fine." Sarah said and was handed a stack of 80 one hundred dollar bills. She took ten off the top and handed them to Carina. "Leave the luggage and have fun, but the car leaves at 0700 sharp. If your not in it I'll leave your ass." Sarah said taking her bag and Carina's one suit case and walking to the elevator. She got up to the room and stripped down to her underwear and grabbed one of Chuck's Band tees that she took from him and pulled it on. She inhaled his smell off the shirt and laid on the bed. "I miss you Chuck." She said as she fell into a deep sleep thinking about her Chuck.
Chuck woke up in the same position he did yesterday. Him spooned up to Melissa, his right hand cupping her left breast, and his face buried in her hair. He opined his eyes and moved his hand.
"You know Chuck a girl can develop doubts if you keep doing that. What, you don't love me no more?" She asked with a pout.
"Melissa, you are by far one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life. I am however happily married to Sarah Walker, and if she thought I was feeling you up every night she might get angry. And when she's angry she tends to hurt people. Now I'm not saying that I'm afraid of my wife, it's just, I'm afraid of my wife!" Chuck said before he rolled over laughing. Melissa rolled over with him also laughing.
"I know, but if your hand is on my boob you don't have to hurry up and pull away like that. It makes me feel cold. Look we're two adults, we're friends, and Sarah will think the whole thing is funny. She'll think it's funny because she knows you would never cheat on her. And for the record cupping my boob in your sleep is not cheating. It's just natural. You're a guy, I'm a girl. We spooned last night, we didn't fork, and your hand went were it was supposed to go. And that's just what I'm going to tell Sarah when I see here later today. Now hold me and go back to sleep, it's only like six, you don't have to be in the office at any set time and I don't have to go anywhere for another six hours." She said grabbing his arm and rolling them back over into the spooned position. She pulled his arm around her stomach and sighed. "That's much better. Now go back to sleep." She said falling back to sleep. Chuck thought about what she said. He didn't have to be in at any time. So he snuggled in to Melissa and fell back to sleep dreaming of his blonde bombshell wife.
Sarah's alarm clock rang at 5:45 AM and she rolled out of bed with a sigh. She had been dreaming about seducing Chuck in the home theater room at the Buy More. She had been wearing a smutty Nerd Herd outfit and she had just gotten to the good part, pulling off his pants, when the alarm rang. She was really staring to hate alarm clocks. She rolled out of bed and took a shower. She dressed in a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She put on a pair of low heeled black boots and pulled her hair back. She knew she was driving this morning because there was no sign of Carina yet. She was not kidding, she would leave her here if she didn't get back before seven. As it was 6:30 AM right now she had half an hour.
Half hour later Sarah was sitting in Chuck's car at the end of the driveway. She looked at the clock on the dashboard and checked it against her watch. 6:59 AM she started up the big V8 and flipped down the factory looking stereo face plate. She pulled a CD marked "Wedding play list one" and put it in. she skipped to the sixth track and pulled out her pen. She had three of these CD's to go through and so far CD one was all good. The Hall and Oats song Sarah Smile came on and she hit skip. She marked an x in the box next to the track number. She hated that song. The next track started up, Journey's Faithfully. She put a check mark next to the number and looked at the clock. 7AM. She shook her head and put the car in gear. Just as she was pulling out of her spot a Rolls Royce Phantom came screaming into the drive way and stopped next to the Mustang. The back door opened and a Saudi oil prince stepped out. He handed Carina from the car. She looked nothing like she did last night. Gone was the jeans and black top, in their place was a short red cocktail dress and jewel incrusted high heeled sandals. Around her neck was enough diamonds and rubies to buy a vary big house. Her hair was done up and she had on enough makeup for two faces. The prince bent over and kissed her hand before getting back in his car and driving off. Carina walked around to the passenger side and got in.
"What!?" she asked at Sarah's cocked eyebrow.
"It's 7:01 AM, your late! And what are you wearing?" Sarah said driving away form the Casino.
"Well I was playing poker at the high rollers table at the Bellagio, and winning I might add when I met Ali back there. He invited me to a VIP party at this new club, and I couldn't go in what I was wearing last night, so I hit up the Coevally store. And you know how those Saudi oil guys are. You tell then you like diamonds they give you something like this." She said pointing at her chest.
"Well you're still late and you didn't sleep. How are you going to interrogate an agent like Glass? Did you drink anything?" She asked. As she put a check mark next to the next song.
"Well I did have some Cristal, but it was like four hours ago. I'm good to go." Carina said.
"Well you have four hours to sleep it off." Sarah said turning on to the expressway.
Carina shrugged, "I'm good really. I feel okay. Not even tipsy." She said pulling off her shoes and tossing them in the back seat.
"Hey Watch The Leather! You're going to rip the seat with them spiky hooker heels." Sarah said looking at the back seat with the rear view mirror.
"Relax! It's just a car. I'll by you a new one." Carina said putting her feet on the dashboard.
"It's not just a car, it's Chuck's car. I bought it for him for Christmas. He doesn't know it yet, but it's his car." Sarah said with a smile.
"How can he not know it's his car? It's his right?" Carina said.
"When I tossed him the keys and said Marry Christmas I think he thought I meant: here you can drive, but I really meant it's your car. I can't wait till he sees it after the mission. He really loves this car." Sarah said caressing the wooden steering wheel. If she was being honest she would admit she really liked it too. It was so, raw, unlike her Porsche it had no ABS, or traction control. It was made of metal, and leather and it didn't even know what carbon fiber was. It was made for power and looks. It didn't have air bags or anything like that. It was simple. And she really liked that. When she got it to Burbank she was going to take it a shop and upgrade the breaks, wheels and tires, as well as get a tune up. She also wanted to get it waxed and buffed. She looked at the fuzzy dice hanging off the mirror and smiled.
The song changed to YMCA by the Village People and she hit the skip button so fast Carina didn't even know what the song was. she marked an x by the song and scratched it off the list. Eric Clapton's Layla came on and she checked the box.
"What's up with the songs?" Carina asked.
"Chuck made three CD's of different music and I'm going to pick songs from those CD's for the wedding. This CD has the classics on it." Sarah said taping on the wheel to the beat.
"Let me see that CD?" Carina asked. She looked over the titles and made a face. "All of these songs suck. I'm going to have a terrible time at your wedding." She said handing the CD case back.
"Well you can always stay home." Sarah said with a smirk.
"How is the Made of Honor going to stay home?" Carina asked confused.
"Wow that was very presumptive of you. Who said your even in the wedding party?" Sarah asked.
"Come on, who are you going to ask beside me?" Carina asked.
"I was thinking Chuck's sister, or Zondra." Sarah said flippantly.
"Zondra!? You would pick your mortal enemy over your best friend?" Carina ask outraged.
"Actually Chuck thinks it's Amy that's the traitor in the C.A.T. Squad. After this missions over and before the wedding I want you to set up a meeting with them. He was talking to me about it last week. He said something about that drug dealer in Mexico. He said something about it being funny that she picked that moment to mess up. I don't know? Some times he talks so fast I lose track of what he's saying. All I know is he thinks she's dirty. And that means Zandra is clean. So she's in the wedding. I'm thinking Made of Honor?" Sarah said trying really hard to keep the smile off of her face.
"You wouldn't dare! You would pick someone over me? Your sister in all but blood?" Carina asked close to tears.
"Of course not you big dummy. But I'll worn you now, no crazy bachelorette party! I want something low key. Just us ladies at the spa, or smoothing like that. No parties like you had last night." Sarah said.
"Way to kill the fun, fun killer! But okay. If that's what you want." Carina said like someone shot her dog.
"Come on, it wont be so bad. Now help me pick songs for my wedding." Sarah said.
Carina leaned over and hugged her. "I love you, you know that right?" Carina said getting teary eyed.
"I know. I love you too." Sarah said.
Chuck was dreaming about Sarah. She was wearing a white bikini on an empty beach. She was playing in the surf when she turned to look at him. When her eyes locked with his her smile gained a sexy edge. "Enjoying the show?" She asked.
"I am." Chuck said with a big goofy smile.
"Well why don't you join me then?" She said with a sassy little smirk.
"Okay." Chuck said standing up and running in to the water and up to her. She jumped into his arms and kissed him so hard he feel over on the beach. Sarah landed on top of him. "I always wanted to make love in the waves." She said untying her top.
Chuck ran his hands up her body and cupped breasts in his hands. He squeezed them making her moan. She grinded her crotch on him, and he was instantly hard. He was just about to untie her bikini bottoms when he was shaken awake. He was plastered to Melissa's back and his hardness was pressed against her butt. His thumb was hooked under the waistband of her panties. "Chuck I think that dream you're having about Sarah is getting to the graphic part and if you don't stop now you are going to cross a line I can't explain to Sarah." Melissa said in a heavy whisper.
Chuck slowly removed his hand, and rolled away from her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"No Chuck, it's okay. Like I said I know what happened, and I think we can call this situation funny. We've done a lot worse then feeling each other up. Trust me we're all good, but I think you need a cold shower. A long one, very long." She said laughing.
"This is not funny." Chuck said sitting up.
"Come on Chuck, after everything we've been through yesterday, hell the last three days. I think we're okay. Now relax and go get ready for your first day at work. It's 8:45AM all ready." She said standing up. She walked into the bathroom and came out five minutes later in a white bath robe. "Hit the shower, I'm going to see if they have any food in this place or maybe they have room service? I'll find out." She said walking out of the bedroom. Chuck grabbed his wash bag from his suitcase and took a shower. When he came out he shaved his four day old stubble into a proper beard shape. He liked it. It gave him a sharper jaw line and added an edge to his look. He put on the other bathrobe and walked out into the bedroom. He saw a dark blue three piece suit, white dress shirt, black silk boxer shorts, and red tie laid out on the bed for him. He smiled and shook his head, but then he shrugged and put it on. He walked out of the bedroom to find her sitting at the table eating on omelet, he took the seat across from her and she wolf whistled. "I knew that would look good. I like the beard, it looks very bad boy. It's sexy." She said with an exaggerated sexy voice.
"So you like what you see?" Chuck asked giving her the eyebrow dance.
She laughed at him. "I still don't know how it works, your power over me I mean. I think you're absolutely goofy. Not cool at all. But yet if you gave me that predatory smile and told me to strip I wouldn't be able to get out of my clothes fast enough. I tell you it's a mystery." She said as she handed him a plate with an big omelet it and a glass of orange juice.
"It's like you said yesterday. You're not attracted to Chuck, you're hot for agent Carmichael." Chuck said.
"Yeah I totally am. He's hot." She said laughing.
"Where'd you get the food, it's too good for you to have made it." Chuck said with a smirk.
"Why you dirty bustard! I'll have you know I'm a good cook. But for your information this is room service. I'm guessing most of the people that live here are single, fresh out of college, kids. They have a full menu of foods you can order from and they bring it up to you." She said.
"Wow if this place wasn't run by a traitor, and evil bustard I would love living here." Chuck said sarcastically.
"Right? And these robes are so soft. I can't wait to put it on after I come out of the shower!" She said running her hands over the material.
"Oh I have already. It's nice. Real nice. But you might want to try out the tub. Have you seen it? It's got like fifty water jets in it and like ten settings!" Chuck said pointing to the bathroom with his fork.
"No kidding? Well I know what I'm doing for the next two hours. It's too bad I don't have my iPod with me." She said with a dreamy look on her face.
"You can barrow mine it's in my bag. I've got a list of songs for the wedding on it. I've been trying to narrow the list down." Chuck said.
"Thanks Chuck. That will be great." She said.
"Oh hey before I forget. I'm going to the office and your going to be without wheels. You're going to need your own car. Do you have a car?" Chuck asked.
"I do, but it's a crap bucket '94 Mazda Miata. I almost never use it. I'm always being picked up in limos and town cars." She said.
"Really?" He asked confused.
"Chuck think about it. When you go on a mission with Sarah to a fancy party, do you drive or do you get a car service to take you?" She asked.
"Casey usually drives us in a limo." Chuck said.
"Well that's pretty much all I do. I attend parties as a NSA call girl and on my days off I attend parties as a Fulcrum call girl. And when I'm not doing that I spend a few weeks in a bunker like we just were in. That's how I can give you the tour of the room I've never seen, I've spent mounts in them, and they all look the same." She said bitterly.
"Well you're a real agent now, with real missions. And a spy needs a car. What ever you want I can swing it with Roark. He said so last night. Also anything you need. Make a list and get it to Jordan, she's acting as his assistant, the same as you are, well at lest that's what he thinks. And when you see my wife later today tell her I need more suits. I only have the three that were in the bag and I like that look for Carmichael. It's like you said yesterday the suit is half the image. Black and gray I think." Chuck said looking at his jacket cuff.
"What brand are they?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." Chuck said he looked inside and saw the Armani tag.
"Oh Armani, I like. I must say the suit really does something for you." She said touching his arm.
"I really like the material, and it just hangs so nice." Chuck said.
"As it should, that suit cost about three grand." She said with a laugh.
"No kidding? Wow. I had no idea. I don't know anything about fashion." Chuck said standing up and putting his plate on the room service cart.
"Tell Jordan I want an Aston Martin DB9. I'm a real spy now. I need a real spy car." Melissa said.
"Okay. I'll tell her." Chuck said pulling his laptop case out of the tactical bag. He opened the front flap and put the extra Sig229 in it along with three extra mags. He grabbed his gun off the night stand and tucked it in his back.
"Chuck I was kidding." She said.
"Well I'm not, we're going to be living a lie for three weeks. We might as well look the part. I want more really expensive suits, you want a spy car. It all goes to firming up the cover. You also need a bunch of clothes. You have to look the part of a really high paid assistant/ my girlfriend. Charles Carmichael has taste, his girlfriend should look the part as well." Chuck said airily.
"I get it. And you be careful out there. I'll drop by the office later today and tell you how it went." She said standing up.
"Walk me to the door and give me a kiss, there's a camera in the hall. We have to sell it." He said walking to the door.
"Well if I'm going to sell it I might as well put on a show." She said dropping her robe and pulling off his shirt before putting the robe back on and tying it loosely. He opened the door and she walked out with him. He faced the camera and she kissed him. It was a hot and steamy kiss that lasted a good two minutes and left her gasping. Chuck smirked and walked to the elevator. "Have a good day at work." She said with a dreamy smile on her face. When he walked into the elevator she went back inside.
At the lobby Chuck saw the same doorman from last night. When he approached the counter he flinched. "Relax, man. I'm not going to hurt you, I mean unless you give me a reason to. You're not going to do that are you?" Chuck asked in a voice dripping with menace.
"No sir, Agent Carmichael sir." He said in fear.
"Hey! Lets keep the Agent thing on the down low. Call me Mr. Carmichael, and my girl is Ms. Barns. I expect the same level of respect shown to her as you do me. Now can you have my car brought up?" Chuck asked with a big smile that didn't reach his eyes. His eyes stayed hard, and cold.
"Yes sir, right away sir." He said running outside. Chuck smirked.
His car was pulled up to the front door and the doorman walked out. "I left it running for you sir." He said.
"Good, see you around." Chuck said sounding menacing.
Chuck spent the ten minute drive laughing at the doorman. He was never a tough guy. In fact he had always been kind of a wimp. That included getting beat up by a girl in the third grade. But now he understood the key to being a tough guy. The secret, the Rosetta Stone that made you a tough guy was: Reputation. If people though you were a tough guy, if they thought you would kick there ass, then they feared you, and if they feared you? They didn't want to find out if that reputation was true or not. Thinking back he remembered his interrogation of that guy from Sarah's high school. He believed Chuck was a tough guy and so he talked. He thought he was some kind of Mad Dog as Casey said. Chuck's laughing died down as he pulled into the parking garage next to Roark Industries. He pulled up to the guard station and the guard walked up to his car. "Clearance badge?" He asked holding out his hand.
"Don't have one. I was hired yesterday and I didn't get one." Chuck said adopting his Carmichael face.
"Well if you don't have a badge you can't park in the garage." The guard said.
Chuck scowled, but then he smiled. "Okay." he said before putting the car in reverse and backed out of the garage, and cut the wheel pulling off a reverse 180. He slammed the car into drive and floored the pedal aiming for the front entrance. When he got twenty feet before the glass front doors he slammed on the breaks and jerked the wheel right sliding to a halt six feet in front of the doors. Three security guards with M4s ran out of the building and pointed their guns at Chuck.
"Put your hands up and step out of the car!" One yelled.
Chuck took one look at them and shrugged. He open the door and stepped out with his computer case. He took a step and the guards moved threateningly. He stopped and smiled at them. "The guy at the parking garage said I couldn't park there so I'm parking here." Chuck said walking towards the front door. One of the guards nervously pulled the trigger and shot the cement wall next to Chuck. Chuck pulled his gun and shot the guard in the shoulder putting him on the ground. The other two returned fire and Chuck hit the ground shooting them both in the shoulder and drooping them to the ground. He stood up and brushed his suit off. As he did he saw a bullet hole through the back of his jacket. He instantly saw red and took two big steps and kicked the guard closest to him in the nuts as hard as he could. "This is Armani you shit head! I should kill you right now!"
Jordan came running out of the building with her Sig229 drawn. When she saw it was him she lowered her gun and palmed her face. "What did you do now?" She asked tucking her gun in her back.
"Nothing. I parked my car and these assholes shot at me. I put them down with non-lethal shots, but one of these assholes ruined my suit! And when I find out which one I'm going to kill them very slowly!" Chuck growled out scaring the carp out of the three.
"Agent Carmichael. If I apologize and buy you a new suit will you let them live?" She asked smiling. She knew what he was doing, he was establishing a reputation. Crazy Agent Carmichael strikes again she thought.
"I can see that happening if you agree to let me take you out to dinner some time." Chuck said with his wolfish smile, and his charming tone of voice.
Jordan blushed. Oh he was good. He just gave her a night off from having to service Ted Roark. She looked him in the eye and he nodded his head ever so slightly. Oh he was very good. She would have to see if his team was as good as he was. If they were, she knew she was going to make it out of her current situation. "I can agree to those terms Agent Carmichael." She said walking up to him with a sexy smile.
Chuck pulled off his jacket and tossed it at the downed guard. "That was one of my favorite suits. Normally I'd kill you where you lay. I want you to look at this beautiful woman standing here and thank her for sparing your worthless little lives. Because to me, that suit is worth more then all three of you, I would spread the word to your friends. They fuck up another one of my suits I'll end them with out even blinking." Chuck said using his Casey impression. The guard on the floor whimpered and Chuck smiled an evil smile. He tucked his gun in his back under his vest as he opened the door and lead Jordan through it by the small of her back. Ted Roark was standing in the lobby with a scared look on his face.
"Charles I hope this doesn't mess up our agreement?" He asked in a voice full of uncertainty.
"Come on Ted, you need to relax! At this point I expect to be shot at every day by the people I work with. I'm starting to think it's me Ted. I'm more pissed about the suit. I see you don't like to wear them but I do. And when one of my suits get messed up I usually start shooting." Chuck said patting Ted on the back.
"Well anyway I would like to apologize for this mornings events." Ted said leading Chuck to one of the elevators.
"I hope you don't mind but I asked Jordan out to dinner some time in the future. I know she's your lady, but I must say it's not every day I get the chance to dine with an agent of her caliber. Call it professional curiosity." Chuck said stepping out of the elevator when it opened up on the subbasement level.
"No, not at all. I told you last night that I could keep you swimming in women didn't I?" Ted said leading them into a huge white room with a bare desk.
"Yeah but that's your woman. I would never over step you by taking your woman Ted, that's just not cool. I know I would be very angry if someone tried to bang Melissa." Chuck said making sure Melissa was off the market. The days of her playing call girl were over.
"Understood. Well Charles, what do you think about your new office?" Ted asked.
"It's very cool Ted. I can work with this." Chuck said setting his bag down on the table and taking a seat.
"Well I'll send Jordan down with all of your id's and things." Ted said.
"Thanks Ted. I'll work up a list of things I'll need." Chuck said looking at the glass panel computer that slid out of the desk.
Ted left and Chuck pulled out his laptop. He located the access panel and found the USB connection. He ran his program patch through the fulcrum Intersect to check compatibility. This was the first test to see if his idea would work on a large scale. The code he wrote on the flight to Phoenix was going to run through the Intersect program and plug into all of the functions of the mainframe. Basically controlling everything going into and coming out of the Intersect program. While that was going he pulled out his fake iPod and checked for bugs. When he was done Jordan came in. "Hey Chuck, are you going to shoot and or threaten to shoot someone every day?" She asked with a laugh.
"Maybe?" He said with a shrug punching a few keys on his laptop.
"Really?" She asked unsure.
"No. But they don't know that. They think I'm crazy. And if they think I'm crazy they won't try to mess with me. The more they fear me the better off I am. To everyone but you, Sam, Melissa, and Kate. I'm going to be very random with them. Make them think I'm unstable. Because you know what happens with unstable people?" He asked, when she shook her head he smiled a sadistic smile. "They get left alone, and the less people that pay attention to me the more we can get done. Tell me Jordan, would you like to speak the top twenty most used languages in the world? Or how about drive a car like an F1 driver? Or hit a target the size of a playing card form a hundred feet away with your handgun?" Chuck asked bringing up a black window with coding running across it.
"You can do that?" She asked looking at the screen.
Chuck pulled out a throwing knife from his bag and flicked it into corner of the wall on the other side of the room. Jordan looked at him like he was crazy, but he just smile. "Go and look." He said waving her over to the corner before he turned back to the computer screen. She walked over to the knife and saw a black dot under the tip of the blade. She pull it out of the wall and saw a curled up dead spider on the tip. She looked at him but his head was buried in the screen. She tossed the knife around her hand for a minute still looking at him. "Throw it. I know you want to. Go ahead and do it Jordan. You have to prove it to yourself." Chuck said without looking up. She looked from the knife to his head and back again. "Go on, I know I would want to know." He said. With a flick of her wrist she flung the knife at his head. With a brief glance he plucked the knife out of the air and put it back in his bag.
"The Intersect?" She asked just above a whisper.
"Yup." He said punching a few keys and making a face.
"What else?" She asked taking a seat on the chair across from him.
"You saw what I can do with a gun. When you get the report back from the infirmary you'll find I hit no major organs, although I must admit I did get the first guy in the collar bone. Sometimes I react faster then my thoughts can compute. But the second and third shots landed perfectly. I could have beat them all senseless but I figured shooting them would make a bigger entrance?" He shrugged. He looked over at her and smiled. "Your file said you speak French?" He asked in perfect French, he even spoke with a Parisian accent.
"What else?" She asked still shell shocked.
"Just Spanish, and Japanese, but after today? I'm thinking a few more martial arts, maybe some lock picking, and definitely dancing. I owe Melissa a few for helping me through yesterday. It's not everyday you shot someone for the first time after all." Chuck said with a laugh. "After that, I've always wanted to fly a plane, and maybe the next time I get into a helicopter I'll be able to do more then just land it." Chuck said with a shrug.
"But, um, you can just, what? Just download the skills right into your head?" She asked as her eyes went a little crossed at the thought.
"In a nut shell, yes, and I can do it to anyone. And," Chuck hit a few more keys. And the Intersect room lights dimmed before coming back up. "I'm the only one that can do it. And only with this computer. That's going to be at the top of the list of things I need. I need a bomb proof case for this laptop." Chuck said pointing to the black laptop.
"Okay." She said shaking her head. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. "What else do you need?"
"Well have you ever seen the move Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" He asked pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
"No." She said standing behind him as he wrote.
"Well at the end of the move Jones is standing in a room full of chalices looking for the Holly Grail. There are dozens of cups, all jewel incrusted and made of gold. But the true Grail is a old cup made from a gored. I want to make the same thing. I want tables full of computers and walls full of monitors. The very best RI has to offer. So when people come in here looking for the Intersect computer they look at all the high end computers and leave this little thing alone." Chuck said handing her the list. "Oh and I want the most comfortable chair you can find. Something I can sit in for hours. And before I forget, Melissa wants an Aston Martin DB9." Chuck said as an after thought.
"You'll get all of the computers, no problems. But the car is going to be hard to come by." She said. Looking over the list.
"Well she wants that car and she's going to get it. I already told her she would get it." Chuck said smile.
"Fine I'll look for it. But no promises." She said walking out to the door. "Oh before I forget." She said handing him a file with his security badge, and a bunch of information about the grounds and the buildings.
"Thanks Jordan, what time would be good to get a meeting with Roark?" he asked clipping his badge onto his vest pocket.
"About one. He's fully loaded till then." She said pulling out a Blackberry.
"Well put me down for a one o'clock meeting. I need to set some things up with him." Chuck said walking her out of his lab and locking the door behind her. He took a seat at his computer and cracked his neck. "Now lets see if I got this right?" He said hitting the enter key. For the next ten minutes he watched the screen as images flashed by. When it stopped Chuck felt a blinding headache coming on. "Still too fast. But I do know 10 more languages, and dancing." He said shrugging and pulling a bottle of different medications out of his bag. He popped two Advil and sat back in his seat. "Man I can't wait for that chair to get here. This is just not going to cut it." He said rubbing his head.