Chuck laid on the couch whit his head on the arm rest. Melissa laid on top of him holding the laptop. On the screen was a list of files and a picture of a warehouse. Melissa looked at Chuck and waited for his eyes to stop twitching. Chuck shook his head and blinked. "Good or bad?" She asked.
"Good, that warehouse is a supply depot in Boston. Run the search for anything related to 127 N. Greenview street." Chuck said rubbing his eyes. The search came back with three personal files and a list of shipments to and from the depot. "Alright, those three guys run that supply house. Make a new file called Boston supply depot and put those files in it." Chuck said. They had been at this for the last four hours now. Melissa opened up a file, showed it to Chuck, he flashed on it and told her what to do next. So far they had covered two thirds of the files and every file had files related to the one they first opened. Chuck had Melissa make a new file on a second passport drive and move the files there. He was organizing all of the data in to mission files. Each one had a location, information about that location, valuable objectives at that location, and possible targets at the location. So far they had over fifty mission files like that.
Melissa created the supply depot mission file and looked at Chuck. "How are you doing? How's your head feeling?" She asked softly. She was starting to really worry about him. They got to the apartment at half past three. Chuck handed the car keys to the doorman with out telling him anything at all, which funny enough scared the poor man worse then the things Chuck had told him in the past three days. He drooped his bag on the couch and stripped off all of his clothes on the way to the master bathroom. He turned on the hot water and stood under the shower head until he heard a knock on the door. It was Melissa telling him she put clothes on the bed for him, and a drink on the nightstand. When he got out of the shower he saw a pair of jeans and a black long sleeved shirt on the bed for him, and a tumbler of Scotch on the bedside table. Chuck took the glass and drained a third of it wincing. He got dressed and walked out into the living room. Melissa had changed into a pair of jeans and a green sweater. She was sitting on the couch drinking a glass of red wine.
But they had been at it for four hours straight now and she lost count of how many times he flashed so far today. Add to that his little unconscious episode this afternoon and she was sure he was overtaxing his brain.
"I'm good. What's next?" Chuck asked. Rolling his neck.
"What's next is dinner Chuck, it's almost eight." She said putting the computer down on the coffee table as she stood up. "Come on Chuck." She said helping him sit up. "What do you want for diner?" She asked picking up the menu off the kitchen counter.
"I don't know. What do you want?" He asked trying to get the feeling back in his legs.
"Well they have all kinds of things on here. Let's see, they have all the good stuff. Oh they have roasted Greek chicken! How's that sound?" She asked picking up the phone.
"Good." He said walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
Melissa put in the order. "He said they would be up with it in twenty minutes. What do you want to do until then?" She asked.
"Work?" He asked going back to the couch.
"No! You need to take a break. No more work till after dinner." She said making a pouty face.
"Fine. There was one thing I wanted to do though, I've been thinking about it for a couple of days now." he said docking his iPod in the Bose sound system. He flicked through his play lists till he found what he was looking for. When he turned back to her, an up beat Spanish guitar began playing. "May I have this Tango?" He asked in a sexy voice as he pined her with his wolfish grin.
"You're sure as hell can!" She said walking up to him. He took her in his arms and lead her through a very heated Argentine tango in the open space by the windows.
When the song ended he dipped her. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. Unlike the kisses they shared before this one was different. It was slow and passionate. Chuck brought her back up and wrapped his arms around her still locked in the kiss. When she broke the kiss she looked deep in his eyes. "No matter what she said your not an asset, or a rooky agent. You don't need a babysitter. You're an agent. Full Stop. You're confident, and you're strong. Smart and cool. You're every bit as good as she is and that scares her. You don't need her to watch you like a small child. You're a man of action now. Tell me Chuck, who came up with this plan?" She asked holding his gaze.
"I did." Chuck said softly.
"And who, made a pin point shot that save his partners life?" She asked.
"I did." Chuck said. His voice gaining confidence.
"And who walked into Ted Roark's house and threatened to kill every last person in the building?" She asked with a smile.
"I did." Chuck said smirking.
"And who made the head of Fulcrum hand over one of his best agents for a fake mission?" She asked.
"I did." Chuck said standing up straighter.
"And who had me so hot I came four times in five minutes?" She asked bushing.
"I did." Chuck said with a blushing smirk.
"And who the hell are you?" She asked.
"Chuck." He said with a shrug.
"You are a hell of a lot more then just Chuck! Who The Hell Are You!?" She said giving him a challenging stare.
"Charles Carmichael." Chuck said looking away.
"WHO!?" She said pushing away from him angrily.
"Chares Carmichael!" He said turning to her with his agent mask in place.
"That's right! You're Charles Fucking Carmichael! You run this shit! You're a stone cold BAMF! You're tall, sexy, and mysterious! You're every woman's wet dream! And the envy of half the intelligence agents in the world! You're smart as a computer! You're deadly as a pit viper! And you fuck like a tiger! You don't take anything that bitch said to heart. What the fuck does she know? Did she see you with that extraction team? Did she see you storm this building like an avenging Angel? Or shoot those three trigger happy guards in front of RI? No she didn't. Yet she wants to tell you what to do? She wants to pull rank on you? I don't think so! And neither should you. I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to get you frozen yogurt for lunch. And I think I'll bring security footage with me when I go. I think she needs to start respecting you." Melissa said.
"Your right I think, but I don't think she meant to go off on me like that. I think she's just under a lot of stress because I'm here and she's stuck there. I know if the situation was reversed I'd be freaked out. Especially if I knew she was spending time with the male equivalent of you." Chuck said holding her close.
"You know you don't have to butter me up to get me naked." She said pushing him away with a laugh.
"First of all I've seen you naked way too many times already, but I'm not buttering you up. I really needed that you know? I needed to hear that stuff. I've been doubting myself ever since that phone call. She really hit a nerve with the things she said. She's my source of confidence. It hit home that she thinks I can't pull this stuff off. It hurt to hear her not trust me." Chuck said.
"I think she needs to see it first hand. I think I need to have Jordan pull the security footage and burn it to a DVD for me. I'll take it over to her tomorrow. For the record I think you're right, she's just stressed out." Melissa said sitting them down at the table.
"Then what was all that other stuff about?" He asked confused.
"That was to get your head back in the game. Let's face facts here. You were a mess after that call. You've been working through those files like a mindless drone. You slipped into old Chuck mode. You had no confidence. You sat slumped over, and when I laid on you, you had no idea where to put your hands. You got all flustered, and nervous. New Chuck would have pulled me down onto the couch and held me close. He would have made a joke about how pretty the Melissa blanket is. He would have wrapped his arms around me because he knows how much I like that. He would have made jokes about the never ending list of files, or commented on the fact that he flashed enough to be charged with public indecency, or the fact that Fulcrum is pretty much a sausage house full of ugly dudes. I needed to break through to you. I needed to pull you out of the gloom and doom. You were starting to bring me down Chuck. It was depressing to see you go from the Chuck I know to the Chuck of old. You really were a mopey, whiney kind of guy weren't you?" She asked pouring him a glass of red wine.
"I guess so. I mean I wouldn't put it that way." Chuck said smiling.
"And how would you put it?" She asked going to answer the door. She pushed the cart to the table and Chuck put the plates on the table.
"I'd say deep, yeah I was supper deep." He said laughing.
"Well I call that moping. Now eat up, I want to get to bed early tonight. I'm tired as hell. I did not sleep well last night." She said eating the best roasted chicken she ever had in her life.
"Why didn't you sleep well last night? I would think you would have slept better last night, I wasn't in bed with you groping your chest." He said.
"Actually the opposite is true. I've never had a better nights sleep then when I'm with you." She said with a blush.
"Oh really?" Chuck asked whit a raised eyebrow.
"Really, you have no idea how good it is to sleep with you. It's warm, and comforting. I must say this is the best relationship I've ever been in. you're emotionally supportive, comforting, and sexually gratifying. And all I have to do is give you a hug when you need it and lay out your suit in the morning. Will you marry me Chuck?" She asked laughing.
"Sorry, I'm off the market, but if I wasn't I would jump at the chance to be with someone as special as you." Chuck said with a sad smile.
"Well if things ever fall apart with Sarah I'd be more then happy to take you up on that." Melissa said smiling, but the truth was she was going to have a little talk with Walker tomorrow. If she ever said some shit like she did today the gloves were coming off. He was just too good to be wasted on a woman that didn't treat him like he dissevered to be treated.
"You'll be the first to know. Well if Jordan's not available that is. It turns out me and her had wild sex in my office today. When she came in to get Roark I saw bite marks on her neck. I must be some kind of wild beast when it comes to sex." Chuck said laughing.
Melissa blushed bright red. "She needed to look like she went ten rounds with you. I had to mark her up a bit. You tend to leave your mark on a lady." She said pulling her shirt collar down to show the red bite make on her shoulder.
Chuck looked at the mark and didn't know what to feel. On one hand he was looking at the evidence of his infidelity. On the other hand he felt a sense of pride. He shook his head and gave Melissa a sad smile as he took a drink from his wine glass. "So what do you say to finishing off those files tonight?" Chuck asked awkwardly.
"Okay, but I'm concerned about you flashing so much. You've done it about a thousand times already and we're only 2/3 of the way done." She said holding his hand.
"I'm good, I can keep going. I'll take a few aspirins before we start up again." Chuck said rolling his neck.
"Okay, but if I think your pushing yourself too hard I'm calling this off. I don't want you to end up in a coma or something." She said softly.
"If it gets too painful I'll stop for the night. I can finish it later." Chuck said putting his plate on the room service cart.
"Do you want a refill?" Melissa asked holding up the half empty bottle of red wine.
"Sure." Chuck said holding up his glass as he sat down on the couch.
Melissa refilled his glass and put the bottle on the coffee table. She retook her seat in his lap and handed him two aspirins. She picked up the laptop, and leaned back so he could see the screen. "So on to the next file." She said opening up the top file in the list. The file had a bunch of PDF documents. As she flipped through them Chuck flashed on all of them in rapid secession.
"OH. That hurt!" Chuck said grabbing his head.
"What is it Chuck? Are you okay?" She asked turning around to look at him.
"That's a list of all of Fulcrum banking records. Account numbers and pass codes are in a file marked R and D business expenses. You should find it in the accounting files." Chuck said rubbing his palms over his eyes. Melissa pulled up a search bar and typed in the things he said. She found the five flies relating to the accounting records. She moved them all into a file marked accounting on the second passport drive and opened the next file. Inside the file was a list of vin numbers. Chuck gowned. "A master list of every vehicle owned by Fulcrum. My BMW is number 86 on that list and your new Aston is number 213. With that list we can get the GPS codes for all of those cars and track them. Try looking for anything else transportation related." Chuck said pushing the pain in his head out of his thoughts. He felt his jaw clinch as a list with numbers popped up. "Oh. Gulfstream!" Chuck gasped out in pain. The list contained the hanger numbers and locations for the three G6 jets, ten Blackhawk helicopters, two harriers, and the black market stolen USAF B-1 Lancer sitting in a hanger in Mexico. "Try, searching for heavy weapons, and air to ground ordinance packages." Chuck said holding his breath and prying he was wrong. The search came back with a file marked White Out Protocol. Chuck felt sick to his stomach. The plan outlined the mission parameters for a nuclear air strike on US soil. The color drained from Melissa's face as she read the first few lines.
"Chuck is this what I think it is?" She asked in a shaky voice.
"If you think it's a mission brief outlining the possible US targets for nuclear air strike then yes it is." He said softly pulling her closer.
"He wouldn't do that right? I mean trying to bring down the government is one thing but Chuck, this is a list of Cities. US Cities!" She said shaking.
"It's worse then that. It's a list of cities and a detailed casualty estimation. It also talks about the merits of Chicago vs. New York and L.A." Chuck said lifting the computer off of her lap so she could run to the bathroom. He set the laptop down and got to the bathroom just as she started reliving diner. Chuck grabbed her hair and held her head as she retched. "You okay?" He asked as she fell back into his arms.
"Chicago?" She asked softly.
"It's an unpredictable target, and it has major strategic value." Chuck quoted from the report.
"That SON OF A BITCH! My City!? He wants to nuke MY City! I'll kill him!" She said trying to stand up.
"Melissa! Calm down! Breath! Think about it, he's not going to use that plan to bring the country down if he thinks he's getting an Intersect. He's smart enough to know the value of going with something small over something large scale." Chuck said.
"Your right, but he's got Nukes! We have to repot that!" She said standing up.
"You will, tomorrow. When you take one of the passport drives to Sarah at Castle. Tell her what we found and have her make a call to the President." Chuck said handing her a loaded tooth brush.
"Thanks." She said walking over to the sink.
"I'll organize the files in a folder marked NUKES. Come out when your done. We've got a lot of files to go through still." He said walking out of the bathroom.
Chuck moved the files onto the other passport drive and opened up the next file. This on was a file marked Roark Industries. It had the records of Fulcrum agents on the payroll at RI. It also had an off shoot file called Fulcrum NOC Operatives. Chuck knew what NOC stood for. Non-Official Cover operatives. It was Sarah's title. As well as a title held by both Jordan and Sam when they worked for their respective agencies. It meant you where not on the books. You had no safety net as far as being caught by the enemy. If you where caught spying the Government would disavow you. They would act like they never heard of you. It was spying at the very highest level. The truest practitioners of the game. Chuck clicked the file and found three folders labeled with agents code names. Chuck clicked the first one and flashed on the agent's picture. Steve Colson. A sixteen year veteran of the CIA. He was an annalist pit manager. He oversaw the analysts that worked on all of the top secret missions. He was basically feeding Ted Roark a copy of all of the top secret mission briefs. Melissa sat down next to him on the couch.
"What do we have here?" She asked looking at the picture.
"I have Fulcrum's NOC list. This is the first of three names. He's a spy in the top secret analyst pit." Chuck said showing her the picture.
"He doesn't look like much." She said looking at the laptop.
"He's a paper pusher. How tough do you have to be to copy files and send them to your secret boss?" Chuck said sarcastically.
"Good point." She said nodding.
Chuck opened the next file and was hit with a massive flash. Ron Pierson, was a twenty year veteran of the Secret Service. He spent most of his years on the PPD, or the President's Protection Detail. He was a three time recipient of the Secret Service medal of honor and personally took a stray bullet for President Gorge W. Bush. He was also a Fulcrum sleeper agent assigned to kill the president when the order was given. For any other person, killing the President would be next to impossible, but for a guy that spent most of his day standing three feet from him with a loaded gun it was very easy. "I thought they checked for bad guys in the Secret Service all the time?" Melissa asked reading the file as Chuck flashed.
"They do, but I don't think they checked Ron here for a while. He's too much of a trusted agent. He has three medals for honorable service." Chuck said as he moved the file.
Chuck opened the last file and flashed so hard he felt every muscle in his body tense up and his eyes rolled back in his head. "God Damn It That Hurt!" Chuck said holding his head in his hands.
"Chuck are you okay?" Melissa asked taking his head in her hands and looking in his eyes.
"I'm fine." Chuck said confidently. He felt something tickle his nose and when he touched his nose he saw blood on his fingers.
"Oh yeah Chuck, you're fine alright. Your nose is bleeding." She said grabbing a tissue from the box on the coffee table and held it to his nose to stop the blood from dripping on him. "I think we're going to call it a night." She said walking him to the bathroom.
"I'm fine, I can keep going. I have to finish." Chuck said as the blood stopped dripping from the tip of his nose.
"You need to stop now before you give yourself an aneurism!"
Chuck tried to stand up and got light headed. Melissa handed him some toilet paper and helped him sit on the edge of the huge bath tub.
"I flashed on the last name in the file. It's the deputy director of the NSA. I need to keep looking through the files. They need this stuff at Castle! I have to keep working." Chuck said trying to stand up.
Melissa pushed him back down. "Chuck if you try to go back to that laptop again I'm going to hurt you. Now I'm not kidding. You can not flash again tonight. You already gave yourself a bloody nose. If you don't stop now you're going to kill yourself!" Melissa yelled as tears slid down her face. Chuck took one look at her, and slump back down.
"Fine. No more tonight. But I need to finish this. I have to move the files on the NOC's to the other drive. I have to back up. I need to…"
"You need to strip and sit in this bath from a couple of hours." Melissa said pulling his shirt over his head. "I'll handle the last file, and back up the new list on the three drives." She said turning on the hot water. Before she left the room.
Chuck shed the rest of his clothes and slipped into the steaming hot water. He turned on most of the jets and relaxed his head back on the leather pillow. In seconds he fell asleep. He woke up slowly to the feeling of someone massaging his temples. "Ah. That feels so good." Chuck said. When he opened his eyes he saw Melissa, naked, and kneeing in the tub between his legs. "AHH! Your naked!" He said closing his eyes.
"Chuck I think we're passed the shock value of my boobs. Besides it's not like I'm totally naked." She said sitting up in the water showing Chuck her green thong. "I'm as dressed as I would be on a beach in the south of France. Now sit up for a minute." She said pulling him forward by his arms. When he was away from the walls of the tub she took his vacated seat and pulled him back against her chest. She laid his head on her chest and went back to massaging his temples. Chuck sighed and he couldn't keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. He was asleep in seconds. Melissa held him to her chest and ran her fingers through his hair for the next hour. When the clock on the wall stereo read 10PM she softly shook him awake. "Come on Chuck it's time for bed." She said helping him sit up. She got out of the tub and got the two robes off the door. She put one on and helped Chuck out of the tub and into the other robe. "Why don't you brush your teeth and finish drying off and I'll get you some boxers and a shirt for bed." She said walking out the door. Chuck brushed his teeth and when he looked at his reflextion in the mirror he saw how dead he looked. His skin looked gray and his shoulders were slumped, but the worst part about his appearance was his eyes. He must have popped a blood vessel during that last flash because his left eye was all blood shot. Melissa walked in to the bathroom wearing a pair of gray boy shorts and the white tee-shirt she took from him last night. She handed him the boxers and shirt she brought with her and crossed to the blow dryer.
Ten minutes later Chuck put his gun on the nightstand and slipped into bed beside Melissa. "Good night Chuck." She said rolling into to him and sighing when his arm closed around her.
"Good night Melissa." He said kissing the top of her head. He drifted off to sleep thinking about the files still left to go through.
Chuck heard a sound like someone coughing. He took stock in his surroundings like Sarah thought him. But that just made him more confused. He was laying on a couch. Light was streaming through a window to his left and he smelled citronella, and old spice. He heard the cough again and knew he was being watched. He was at a disadvantage. He was unarmed, in a place he didn't know and someone had the drop on him. He heard an exasperated throat clearing. "Oh come on Charles! I know you're awake. Sit up so we can talk, I don't have much time."
Chuck flew off the couch. He knew that voice anywhere. It was his dad! His eye adjusted to the light in the room and saw he was standing in the living room of his childhood home. He turned around and saw his dad sitting in his arm chair looking not a day older then when he last saw him almost twenty years ago. His brain was screaming at him. 'How is that possible' he looked at his dad and didn't know what to do. But he did know one thing, something wasn't right.
"Of course something's not right Charles. I'm still thirty eight years old. That's got to tell you something. Think son, why would I look like this? Why are we in this house? Why are you wearing a three thousand dollar suit?" His dad asked with an ironic smile.
Chuck's mind went into over drive when he looked down and saw he was indeed wearing his black Armani suit. He thought about everything his dad said and he could only come up with one answer. He was dreaming. The fact that his dream was trying to tell he was, in fact, dreaming made this one of the weirdest dreams in his life. "Okay dad, what can I do for you?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the couch across from his dad.
"Well I'm not really your dad Charles. I'm the manifestation of a file you downloaded today that's trying to work it's way into your conscious thoughts with out flashing." His dad said.
"What file?" Chuck asked.
"It's a file labeled: Project Prometheus." His dad said, and Chuck had the mother of all flashes.
Project Prometheus was a project that was funded by the government, and worked on by three computer engineering geniuses back in 1976. They worked out of a lab in Burbank and they reported to a high ranking CIA operative in charge of security by the name of Mary Frost. The project was to create a computer that could store information in a way that could later be downloaded into the human brain.
The three engineers were named Chet Forester, Ted Roark, and Steven Bartowski. The project would later be re-titled the Intersect because it was where all information got processed and stored. By 1980 the project was scrapped because of budget cuts. Or at least that's what Chet and Steven were told. Mary Bartowski, she married Steven in May of 1977 after finding out she was pregnant with Ellie, was given the option of reassignment or early retirement. She took maternity leave with the option to work as an analyst in the future. Ted stayed on and created the first working Intersect with a new team, but no mater what they tried they couldn't get it into someone's brain. In the summer of 1988 Ted approached Steven about his problem. Needing the extra cash to pay for a bigger house for his two growing kids Steven took the job of working on the Download process. He worked from home. In September of 1989 Marry Bartowski left on a mission and never came home. Because his attention was divided between work and taking care of his kids his work took a big hit. Over the next six years he made very little progress. Then in 1994 he made a break through. He successfully downloaded a test flash into his son's brain by accident. When he reported this to Ted, and a CIA contact friend of his. Ted freaked out and kidnapped Steven. As it turned out Ted wasn't totally honest with Steven. The CIA had no idea Steven was working on the project at all. In 1995 Steven Was killed trying to escape his Fulcrum prison cell. Since then Ted had tried to complete the work Steven started. And now he was trying to use Steven's son to fix his Intersect problem. "Small world wouldn't you say son?" Steven asked with a laugh.
"So all those years ago when you went out to get supplies to make pancakes you were kidnapped?" Chuck asked softly.
"Yes." Steven said.
"And mom was an agent?" Chuck asked with a small smile.
"Yes, we Bartowski men do seam to have a type don't we?" Steven said laughing hysterically.
"That we do. What ever happened to mom?" Chuck asked.
"Charles, we both know I can't answer that question. I'm not real son. I'm a manifestation of your subconscious mind trying to get you to flash on a file. That's all I am son. I don't have any more information than you do. I can't help you with that one son. I can tell you that you got most of the relevant information out of the files you took today. There are only a few files that are left with anything good in them. The file names are: Human Resources/ staff/ special teams, and security/ Roark Industries/ emergence protocols. The first one is a list of all Fulcrum agents you didn't pull out already, and the second file has the lock down codes for RI. Now Chuck you're going to wake up in a few seconds. I want you to think about what your about to do before you do it. Think about the consequences. You can never undo what you're about to do." Steven said with a sad look on his face. Chuck blinked twice and the room faded. It was replaced with Melissa's head. He rolled out of bed very carefully. He grabbed the pair of jeans off the chair in the corner and walked out of the room. He walked to his tactical bag and pulled out his tactical vest. He pulled his jeans on and flipped the vest over his head and pulled the straps tight. He pulled eight MP5 mags and put them in the pouches on the vest. He did the same with six Sig 229 mags. He slung his MP5-SD6 over his head and attached the sling mount to his vest. He pulled the spare Sig229 from the bag an slipped it in the holster on the vest. He was half way to the door, "Your not going to take your side arm Chuck?" Melissa asked. Chuck turned around and saw her standing in the doorway holding his Sig 229.
"I've got the secondary one on me." Chuck said refusing to meet her eyes.
"But this one has been so good to you over the last few days. You're going to chance your suicide mission on an untested gun?" She asked sardonically.
"I was hoping to not need my sidearm. I wasn't planning to run out." Chuck said patting his vest full of mags.
"And who are you going to kill Chuck? Who has you up in the middle of the night loaded down with a few hundred rounds of ammo? Who are you going to kill Chuck?" She asked softy.
"Ted Roark." He said in a voice devoid of life.
"Okay." She said walking over to the tactical bag and pulling out the second vest. Chuck stared at her as she put Glock mags in the pouches. She put one Glock19 in the Sherpa on the vest and pulled her Glock out of her purse and stood by the door. She looked back at Chuck. "Well are you coming or not?" She asked waving at the door with her gun.
Chuck didn't know if it was the stress of the situation or the fact that Melissa was locked and loaded from the waist up and practically naked from the waist down. Chuck stated laughing. He laughed so hard he cried. He dropped onto the couch laughing and crying. Melissa sat next to him and pulled him into a hug. She held him as the laughing died out, but the crying got harder. She held him as he threw his arms around her and buried his head in her hair. As the sobs rocked his body she rubbed his back and told him it was all going to be okay. When the sobs stopped she kissed him on the cheek. "Now why were we going to kill Roark?" She asked.
"Because he kidnapped and killed my father." Chuck said softy.
"When?" She asked in shock.
"In July of 1995." Chuck said.
"When did you find this out?" She asked.
"I had this dream. It was my subconscious flashing while I slept." Chuck told about the dream he had. "And he told me to think about what I was going to do. I didn't know what he meant but now I do. He knew I was going to wake up and go kill Roark."
"Well yeah he knew what you were going to do. He's your subconscious. He knew before you did. He also knew there was no going back after that. What am I saying he for? You knew Chuck. He is you after all. Now lets get out of these vests and go back to bed it's only… holly crap it's 4AM Chuck! Get your ass back in that bed right now!" She said pointing at the bedroom door.
"I can't. I'm too keyed up to go back to sleep. I was seconds away from killing a man. I think I need to think that through. Here," Chuck said pulling open the straps of her vest. "I'll take care of this." He said putting the vest on the table.
"Okay, but you promises you're not going to try killing anyone while I sleep." She said looking Chuck in the eye.
"I promises. I'm just going to clean these and think. Maybe I'll hit the gym, and work off some of this energy." Chuck said pulling his vest off. And setting it next to hers.
"Okay. I'll see you in a few hours. Remember I'm going to work with you today. We'll take my car." She said standing up and kissing the top of his head.
"Melissa," Chuck said as she walked passed him to go back to bed. She stopped and turned to look at him. "Thank you for, you know." He said looking at his hands.
"I know. I love you Chuck. You never have to thank me for looking out for you. Never." She said softy.
"I love you too." He said standing up and pulling her into a hug. "You were here for me when I needed it the most and I'll never be able to repay you for it." He said.
"A wise man once told me that friends hold you when you need to be held. You never have to repay me for anything." She said giving him a quick kiss before she headed into the bedroom.
Chuck smiled at her. He was so very glad to have met her. He was not sure if he would even be alive right now if it wasn't for her. He owed her his life many times over and he needed to find a way to pay her back. To make it up to her. He didn't care what she said. He knew he owed her too much to just leave the scales unbalanced he thought as he laid out the cleaning supplies. He thought about what she told him she wanted. She wanted to be on a real mission, and they were. He thought as he field stripped his MP5 and ran a cleaning rod through it. Chuck thought about all of the conversations they had and he knew what she really wanted.
She wanted Charles Carmichael. Well she thought she did. What she really wanted was to make the cover they were living real. He couldn't give her that but he could give her something else. He thought about the things she said over dinner. About this being the best relationship she ever had. No he couldn't give her Charles Carmichael, but who was Charles Carmichael? He was Chuck with spy skills and confidence wrapped in Armani. A smile formed on his face. If he couldn't give her Charles Carmichael, then he would give her Charles' brother William Carmichael. Now all he had to do was find the perfect candidate. Chuck smiled as he finished cleaning Melissa's Glock19. He put away all of the guns and grabbed some sweats from the dresser making sure not to wake Melissa up. He changed into the sweats and ran down the stairs.
When he got to the lobby he followed the signs and found the gym. It didn't look very big, but when you stepped through the doors you saw it was huge. There were about thirty different exercise machines. There was a section of the floor that had soft mats for sparing and three weight benches. He saw someone was in the gym already. He walked up to the woman running on one of the treadmills and saw it was Jordan. She was running at a fast steady pace and she didn't look winded or even out of breath. To proving him right she turned to him and smiled. "Care to join me Charles?" She asked, her voice stead and even.
"Sure, why not?" He said hopping on the treadmill next to hers. He started out at an easy jog. "You been here long?" He asked.
"No, only about ten minutes. I've got anther eight and a half miles to go yet." She said picking up the pace. Chuck knew a challenge when he saw one and bumped his speed up to a slow run. "So you're up early. Why?" She asked.
"Couldn't sleep." Chuck said looking around for a camera.
"You can talk here. There are no cameras in this room. I made sure of that. This is my one thing I get to do for me every day. Ted doesn't get to see this." She said upping the speed.
"I found out Roark killed my father. I was all geared up to go on a killing spree when Melissa talked me out of it." Chuck said upping the speed to a good running pace.
"When did this happen?" She asked.
"When did what happen?" Chuck asked.
"When did he kill your father?" She asked looking at him with sympathy.
"About fifteen years ago. I found a file detailing the whole thing." Chuck said breathing heavy.
"I'm so sorry for you Chuck. But she's right you know? Killing him now wont do anything but get a bunch of us killed." Jordan said upping the speed one last time to a full sprint.
"I know. She's almost always right. I just follow her orders now." Chuck said with a laugh that sounded more like a wezz.
"You're a smart man. It usually takes longer to train a man to listen." She said laughing at his red face and labored breathing. "Why don't you slow down over there Chuck. You look winded." She said.
"How the hell can you do this?" He said slowing down to a slow jog.
"I run ten miles a day Chuck. I have since Boot camp. It's keeps me a lean, mean, fighting machine." She said slowing down to a fast run.
"As a guy I know I'm not supposed to ask this, but how old are you?" Chuck asked smiling on the inside. He was really starting to get good at this stuff.
"I don't mind. I'm 40." She said picking up two small ten pound weights. She started to do mini curls as she ran.
"No way in hell are you 40!" Chuck said.
"I am. I have a son that's seven years younger then you." She said smiling.
"I would have said 32 at the most, and you're out running a 27 year old right now." Chuck said sweating hard.
"That has a lot to do with my workout routine, and my diet. Until I was forced to work for the devil I was a good agent you know. I hope I can still be as good as I once was. I haven't been on a real mission in so long. I don't know if I still have my edge. I used to be the sharp tip of the spear, now I don't know if I still have it." She said sadly.
"Well why don't we see? How about I send you on a mission? You know I can clear it with Roark. The man begged me just yesterday to take Sam off his evil little hands. She's right now in D.C. hopefully she gets a chance to talk to her sister." Chuck said turning the speed all the way down to a slow walk.
"And what would this mission be?" She asked casually, but Chuck could see the light in her eyes.
"Well first of all you're going to have to prove to me you still can handle yourself. I hear you're quite the kick boxer?" Chuck asked smirking.
"You could say that." She said matching his smirk. Oh she was good alright. She had a 30-0 record in boot camp.
"Well how about a little sparing?" Chuck asked.
"I'm up for it. The first one to three knock downs?" She asked slowing the treadmill down to match his slow pace.
"Sound fair to me." Chuck said, and by the way her smile became predatory he knew this was going to hurt. Ten minutes later when she connected with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying six feet through the air. He had a moment of feeling like an idiot before he hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of him. When he stood back up he saw her still bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"That's one Chucky!" She said
"What is it with the play on my name? First Sam and now you?" He asked as he stood up. They touched gloves and bounced back. Jordan threw a few jabs to test his defense, but Chuck wasn't buying that again. Chuck tried faking a kick and throwing a jab, but she saw right through it and connected with a right hook that put Chuck on his ass again. Chuck blinked the stars out of his eyes. Even with the head guard on it still hurt like hell. He knew one thing for sure, he never wanted to feel that punch without the head gear on.
"That's two Chucky! Come on, you're not going to let an old lady kick your ass are you?" She asked with a smirk.
"Old lady my ass! I want proof you're 40! A birth certificate, or a drivers license! Something, because there's no way you're that old! Are you hustling me?" He asked sitting up holding his head.
"In order for me to hustle you there has to be something at stake. A bet. Therefore I'm not hustling you, I'm just kicking your ass. See the difference?" She asked pulling him up.
"What if there was something at stake?" Chuck asked.
"Like what?" she asked.
"You name it. Anything you want." Chuck said circling her.
"Anything?" She asked tagging him in the chest with a left jab.
"Anything in my power to give you." Chuck said dropping back to lick his wounds.
"Okay. I want whatever you gave to Sam. She was glowing when I saw her yesterday. I want that." Jordan said throwing a kick and catching Chuck in the butt.
"OUCH!" Chuck said grabbing his ass and back tracking to ovoid her three punch combo. "I took her out for ice cream and I gave her a foot massage." Chuck said ducking a kick and trying for a leg sweep.
"That's it?" She asked hopping over his leg sweep.
"Well I did sleep with her." Chuck tossed out and used the shock of his declaration to land a kick to the ribs putting Jordan on her ass for the first time.
"You slept with her?" She asked sitting up.
"Yes, and I do mean slept as in sleep, not sex." Chuck said
"Well I'll take all that plus dinner." She said.
"You got a deal." Chuck said. Tossing a combo of kicks at her. She caught his left foot and punched him in the thigh as she swept his other leg out from under him. What she didn't expect was his latching onto the arm holding his foot. When he went down he brought her with him. She landed on top of him and ended up head butting him by accident. "ouch!" He said.
"Right back at you stud." She said holding her head. She looked down and saw she was laying on top of him. She smirked and looked at him. "It's nice to know you let the woman be on top every once in a while Charles." She said running her gloved hand up his chest.
"I always take care of my partner." He said looking her dead in the eyes and trailing his hand up her spine. She shuddered and Chuck used that distraction to roll them over. He pinned her hands above her head and gave her a wolfish grin. He leaned in for a kiss and when she closed her eyes in anticipation he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "Remember Jordan, you might be able to kick my ass, but you know what I can do to you if I really wanted to. You think what Melissa did to you yesterday was good? You have no idea what good is until I've worshiped your body. I can make you cum so hard. Jordan if I wanted to I could fuck you till you pass out from the ecstasy." He said licking her earlobe before he blew softly on the wet flesh. She stiffened and shuddered.
"Please Chuck. It's been so long since I've been taken care of. I need it so bad. I'll do anything for it. Please?" She begged panting.
"I can't, but I'll make you a deal. If we get out of this alive I'll make sure you're taken care of. That you're worshiped like you deserve to be. I look out for my girls Jordan. I always will. Until then I can give you this." He said pulling his gloves off and running his hand over her ribs as he kissed her neck. He saw the bite mark and had to hand it to Melissa, she did know his game very well. He licked the bite mark on the pulse point and she shuddered. He ran his left hand up her inner right thigh and she convulsed. Chuck kissed her hungrily sucking on her bottom lip. She gasped for breath, and as she did he ran his hand over the crotch of her yoga pants, bit her bottom lip, and cupped her left breast. She climaxed with a grunt and flexed every muscle in her toned body. Chuck smiled and kissed her cheek softly. "I promise you will be worshiped like you deserve Jordan. Like a woman of you caliber should be. You're like a fine wine Jordan, aged to perfection and well worth the wait. I'll see you at work later my sweet." He said rolling to his feet and walking away.
Jordan laid on that mat for a good ten minutes trying to catch her breath. "My god he's good." She said smiling.