Chuck walked into the apartment and opened up the laptop. He finished the files and saved. He triple backed up. He looked at the list of mission files they made the day before and counted them. 43, and that wasn't counting the Deep Fry he had planed, nor did it cover Bobby or Scot's extractions. 46 missions that were time sensitive. He grouped them by proximity and ran the numbers through his head. That still left them with 10 really big, time sensitive, dangerous missions with multiple target locations, spanning whole cities. It could be done but they needed more agents and if he was honest team leaders. Someone trusted to get the job done. As of now they only had Sarah, Casey, Sam, Carina, and just maybe they could talk Major Snow out of retirement. Jordan was going to be with him at RI when it all went down so she was out of play. That was five team leaders for ten teams. They were short by half.
Chuck knew the answer to his problem but he didn't want to admit it. They needed Intersect equipped agents. They didn't need to be outfitted like him, but they needed fighting skills. They needed to be able to clear a whole safe house leading a very small tactical team. The problem is they didn't have the manpower. Even with Melissa, Kate and Alex getting the basic skill list that still only gave them eight and that was pushing it. They needed more people. But who could he trust with that kind of power? The only name that popped into his head was Morgan. If the situation was explained to him. If he understood the gravity of what was going on then he could do it. With a skills download and a crash course in agents training he could do it. That gave him nine. They needed one more. One more agent that could handle a team. That left that strange bunker in Nevada desert open. He wasn't sure what was in that bunker but, he didn't like to leave that one target up to chance. It looked like nothing, but he wasn't willing to bet it was in fact empty. The only solution he could come up with was to send a ten man tactical team by themselves and if they ran into any real problems then Chuck, Casey, and Jordan were only an hour helicopter ride away. It would have to work that way. Because he was not going to trust a random agent with the intersect. He was putting the finishing touches on his plan when Melissa sat down on the couch next to him.
"What are you doing?" She asked looking over his new mission files.
"I'm setting up the end game. We have a lot of work to do. I have to get going on downloading things into my head. I need to get you guys in to do a skill download. I'm going to need you to lead the mission in Chicago. You'll be leading a team of ten tactical agents in to five locations. I outlined the worst possible threats first and the easy targets last." Chuck said opining the folder marked Chicago.
"How the hell am I going to do all that?" Melissa asked looking over the mission outline.
"By Tuesday of next week you will have most of the skills I'm downloading this week. I'm going to come up with a master list of skills that need to go into every member of the team. I want all of us to be ready. The rest of the week and most of the third week will be training time for You, Kate, Alex, and Morgan. I want Sarah and Casey to run you guys through every possible scenario. I want you guys so prepared that nothing can stop you. You four are going to be the tip of the spear from now on. I don't want anything to happen to you guys out there so I want you to train hard. This is all going down on Saturday of the third week. I'm counting on you to keep everyone motivated during training. You, and Alex are the most trained of the bunch, and that's saying something. But you have something she doesn't have. You have energy. You can keep them going when the training gets tough. You're all going to be super agents when the week is up. I want you to keep them in line. Remember, you're the first person I recruited to the team. You're my choice. My secret weapon." Chuck said hugging her.
"Thank you Chuck." She said teary eyed. He was giving her a mission. A real mission. As a team leader even.
"No thank you. Melissa you're quickly becoming my best friend. I love you. I would do anything for you. Now when you're training I want you to pay special attention to Morgan. He's my brother in all but blood, and he doesn't have one good agent quality in his little body, but what he does have is trust. He is the most trustworthy guy in the world. He's the very definition of dependable. And he will follow you to the gates of hell if you asked him to." Chuck said.
"I'll take care of him. If he means that much to you I'll keep my eyes on him." She said getting very serious.
"Good that's all I can ask for." Chuck said standing up very slowly.
When she saw his labored movements she stopped him. "Chuck what's wrong?" She asked touching his hip. Chuck jumped when she did and she knew something was up. "Chuck take off your shirt." She said standing up. Chuck saw the determined look in her eyes and sighed. He lifted his shirt and she saw the dark purple bruises on his body. "Chuck what happened?" she asked as she looked at the big fist shaped marks.
"I decided to go to the gym. Jordan was in there. I can't remember the details leading up to the sparing match, but I do know I lost and I owe her dinner and a foot massage. It's always I foot massage. I just don't get it." He said pulling off his sweatpants as he walked to the bathroom.
"Sam and I both told you not to mess with her work out didn't we?" Melissa asked in a 'I told you so' voice that Chuck found very grating right about now.
"How was I supposed to know a 40 year old could kick my ass? I have the Intersect for God's sake! It did nothing! She's so fast! I'm pretty sure she cheated too!" Chuck complained all the way to the glass shower door.
Melissa just laughed. Having been on the receiving end of Jordan's sparing she knew he was both humiliated and in a lot of pain. On the other hand she remembered, in sharp detail, telling him not to fight Jordan. So in a way he deserved everything he got this morning. Now she just had to get Jordan's side of the story. She crossed the apartment back to the bedroom and grabbed her Blackberry. She called Jordan and she picked up on the first ring. "I didn't mean to hurt him that badly, I swear!" Were the first words out of Jordan's mouth.
"That's not why I'm calling. You still in the building?" Melissa asked.
"Yeah. He's taking his time getting up today. I think he think's it's cool to go in to the office late like Carmichael." Jordan said with destine.
"Well come down here. I need to talk to you." Melissa said.
"I'll be right down." Jordan said.
Melissa went to the closet and pulled out the new three piece black suit she got him yesterday and laid it on the bed. She added a white shirt and red tie to the pile before she grabbed the robe off the hook and went to answer the door.
"See this is what I'm talking about. It almost 8AM and you're still in your bath robe!" Jordan said.
"Good morning to you too. For all that attitude I'm reporting you to Walker when I see her today. I'm telling the Enforcer that you beat up her husband. She's going to kill you." Melissa said laughing as she made coffee.
"For the record I thought he would do a lot better then he did. He only got one good hit in. At first I thought he was trying not to hit a woman. You know being all gentlemanly about the whole thing, but after I landed a few solid hits on him I saw I was out matching him punch for punch.
"Do you think he was just letting you win?" Melissa asked pulling out three mugs.
"I don't think the Intersect works very well." Jordan said taking the coffee cup from Melissa.
"The Intersect works fine. Your just that good." Chuck said taking a seat across from Jordan.
"Well then I don't see the point in downloading the thing if I'm better then it." Jordan said.
"But you see you're confusing Kickboxing with Fighting. This morning you beat me up because I was sticking to Kickboxing. I had tons of chances to switch to a different fighting style and lay you out, but we were kickboxing, not fighting. Those are two very different things. That's like saying lets sword fight. We both pull out swords. You out match me so you start to over power me. If I pulled out a gun and shot you it wouldn't have been very sporting would it?" Chuck asked mixing cream into his coffee.
"So your saying I might be better at kickboxing but if we were in a real fight you would have beat me?" Jordan asked smirking.
"Yes." Chuck said looking over the menu. "I think I'll have pancakes, eggs, and bacon today. How about you two?" He asked with a big smile.
"I don't believe you. I kicked your ass way too easy this morning." Jordan said.
"It's like I said, if I could use something else the results would have been very different." Chuck said.
"I think I'll have the same thing Chuck. How about you Jordan, what do you want?"
"A rematch! That's what I want. This time I want to see the Intersect at work." Jordan said standing up.
"Jordan, I'm not going to fight you." Chuck said.
"Are you afraid I'll kick your ass again?" She asked with a smirk.
"Jordan, I'm not going to fight you." Chuck said with a sad smile.
"Oh so now you're not going to hit a woman?" She asked getting angry.
"Jordan, I respect you too much as an agent to say something like that. As soon as you learn a hundred ways to kill someone. You stop being a woman and start being an agent. That being said, I'm still not going to fight you Jordan. I'm not going to unleash the power of the Intersect on you." Chuck said looking her in the eye.
"Okay chicken, I see you're afraid of getting you ass kicked. Now I know you back down from fights. You just lost respect in my book." Jordan said trying to egg him on.
"Chuck, just beat her ass already. She's not going to stop until you do." Melissa said holding the phone.
"Fine but I just took a shower. We're not going to do what we did this morning again." Chuck standing up. He took off his jacket and handed it to Melissa. He unbuttoned his cuffs and took three steps away for the table.
Jordan pulled off her own black suit jacket leaving her in a skirt, corset top and high heels. "Where are we doing this?" she asked smirking.
"Melissa just ordered my pancakes, we're doing this right here. I'm hungry and I don't want to get all sweaty. If I put you on your ass will you let this go?" Chuck asked as he tested his range of motion.
Jordan looked from Chuck to the marble floor and back to him. "Here?" She asked with some trepidation.
"Why not? We're both trained agents. We both know how to fall without breaking every bone in our bodies. And like I said, pancakes are coming." Chuck said dropping into a fighting stance Jordan didn't recognize.
"Okay how are we going to do this?" She asked.
"You knock me down you win. I put you down and I win. Either way it's going to be done in a few seconds, so come at me." Chuck said smirking.
Jordan bunched up her skirt and tried to go for the win by going with a fake punch and a surprise round house kick. Chuck blocked her kick with his forearm and jabbed two fingers into a point on her calf. When he let go she had no feeling in her leg from the knee down. She tried to take a step and stumbled. Chuck being Chuck, he tried to catch her but she used his worry to land a jab to his jaw. Chuck rolled with the punch, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. He stepped behind her and grabbed her in a choke hold. When she elbowed him in the ribs he jabbed the nerve ending in the middle of her spine and she lost all feeling in her body from the waist down. Chuck let go of her and she landed on her ass. She looked shocked. It all happened so fast. From the first punch till she landed on her ass took less then three seconds.
"Are we done yet?" Chuck said holding out his hand.
"Yes." She said in shock. She tried to stand up but she fell back down.
"Sorry about that." Chuck said picking her up off the floor, and putting her back in her seat. "I'm still getting the hang of that. You should regain feeling in you legs soon." Chuck said sitting back down.
"What the hell was that?" Jordan asked rubbing her legs.
"It was a mix of a few things. The block and grabs were a mix of three different fighting styles. The nerve thing was a mix of massage techniques, and acupuncture." Chuck said there was a knock at the door and Melissa came back with the room service cart.
"3 pancakes, 3 eggs over easy, and 6 strips of bacon for Chuck." She said putting the plate in front of him. "Heart healthy platter Jordan?" she said putting a plate with egg whites and fresh cut fruit in front of Jordan. "And 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and six strips of BACON for me!" She said excitedly before she attacked her bacon like a she wolf.
"You really love bacon don't you?" Chuck said smiling at his friend. He thought it was cute when she totally lost it over bacon.
"You know what that stuff does to your insides right?" Jordan asked looking sick at the way Melissa was devouring her bacon.
"But it soooo goood!" She said looking affronted.
"You're so weird." Jordan said munching on a raspberry.
Chuck laughed. "Leave her alone, at this table, you're the weird one. Sitting there with your plate of fruit, and half eggs. Hell, less then half. The yellow's the good part." Chuck said cramming a huge fork full of pancakes in his mouth.
"How the hell can you eat like that? I can feel myself getting fatter just watching you two." Jordan said making a face.
"We're both 28. We can eat what ever we want plus we both have good genes. Her whole family going back to the civil war have served in the military, and I'm descended from skinny nerds on one side and a CIA agent on the other. that's got to count for something. I'm also thinking about working out every morning. not like you but a good workout." Chuck said adding more syrup to his pancakes.
"And I eat like a bird the rest of the day." Melissa added savoring the taste of her bacon.
"Is there anything in the world better then bacon?" Chuck asked rhetorically.
"Sex." Jordan said smirking at chuck.
"No, making love." Melissa said smiling at Chuck. "There's a difference you know. I never thought there was, but now I know there is a big difference." She said blushing.
Chuck's Blackberry went off. When he pulled it out he saw it was Sam. "Hello Agent Glass." He said mindful of the fact that the cell phone was monitored. He got up from the table to get away from the two laughing women.
"Agent Carmichael sir. The mission is going good Sir. I located the substation and the security is very light. I should have your files in a few days Sir." She said very robotically, but there was also a hint of something else in her voice.
"Thank you for the heads up. Should I call you tomorrow or are you going to call me?" Chuck asked
"You can call me anytime between now and noon for an update, but I'm going dark after that till I call you." She said.
"Understood. keep up the good work." he said.
"What's up?" Melissa asked when Chuck hung up.
"Sam called me to tell me I should call Carina for an update." Chuck said pulling out a burn phone, and punched in Carina's number.
"Hey Chuck." She answered.
"Hey Carina, what's going on?" Chuck asked. He was very confused. This was a breach of protocol. All communication for secondary missions were supposed to go through Sarah and Casey.
"I made contact with Bobby last night when we got here. Sam is staying in my guest bedroom. No one is watching us. We are not being followed, and I don't think Fulcrum is watching Bobby outside of the office either. Sam's extremely mad. She spent all of last night ranting about the last two years. She feels like she worked for Fulcrum for two years for nothing. She could have taken her sister and ran a long time ago. I talked her down, but I think she needs to talk to you. I also wanted to talk to you about Bobby. I think we should bring her in on the mission." She said.
"Well let's run through this one problem at a time. First off explain to me what you mean by they're not watching her?" Chuck asked taking a seat on the couch.
"I mean they're not watching her at all. I went to her apartment last night. There was no one staking the place out, and when I swept for bugs I didn't find any. Aside from work I don't think they are keeping an eye on her. I think it's because she has very little time outside of work for anything so they do bother to keep track of her." Carina said.
"Well that's good for us. It means that her extraction is going to be very easy. She can just meet Sarah in the morning and stay with her as she works her way through her missions." Chuck said thinking about the mission Sarah had to do that day.
"Sarah's handling her extraction? I thought me or Sam would do it." Carina asked sounding disappointed.
"You can't. I need you in Austin Texas and I need Sam in New York. We're taking it all down Carina, all of it. After Saturday three weeks form now Fulcrum we be history. And if we can do it quickly and quietly no one will even know it existed." Chuck said looking over the mission briefings he created for each member of the team.
"Why am I going to Austin? Why can't I stay here and handle this?" She asked sadly.
"Because Bobby's extraction is only one part of the D.C. mission. There are eight locations in D.C. they have to be scouted, a plan has to be drawn up for each location, and all of them have to be hit fast to keep the element of surprise on our side. I need The Enforcer in D.C. I need my drug enforcement expert in Austin where the two warehouses storing a bulk of Fulcrum's drug operation is. I need someone that can work with the local DEA agents. Now do you know anyone else the has years of working with the DEA besides you? If you do I'll gladly send them to Austin in your place. There's nothing I would like better then you in D.C. backing my wife up, but I need you in Austin." Chuck said.
"Okay, I'll go to Austin, but why can't Sam work D.C. instead of Sarah? That why she can be with her sister for two weeks." Carina asked.
"Same situation as you. The New York mission has six locations spread over all five burrows. The only way to get to some of these places is by helicopter. Repel line, or parachute. All areas of expertise for Sam. Plus She has a good working relationship with the New York City FBI field office. She has friends there that can help with the planning of the mission. I also need Sarah in D.C. because she has friends in the Secret Service. I found a NOC working on the PPD. His mission is to take out the President. I need Sarah to worn then. I don't want to spook the President by telling him his bodyguard is a sleeper agent." Chuck said.
"They have what!?" She yelled.
"I have a lot of new information regarding Fulcrum and their organization. I'm going to need you two back here when you're both done with your missions. Now what are your plans for bringing Bobby in on the mission?" Chuck asked.
"Well I figure, if Fulcrum isn't watching her I'll take her out to lunch today and if we're not being followed I'll tell her what's going on. I was also thinking about setting up a meeting at my house between Bobby and Sam." Carina said.
"I trust your judgment on this. If you think it can be done without tipping Fulcrum off then go for it. I want her to get time with her sister too. I couldn't imagine spending two years away from Elle. I want her to have as much time as she can with Bobby." Chuck said sadly.
"I will Chuck, if I think I we can I'll have Bobby spend the night here." Carina said.
"Good. Thank you so much for doing this. I also want to say this new maturity you're showing is great. We've been talking for ten minutes and you haven't said one inappropriate thing. I don't know what Sarah told you, but I like this new side of you. I wanted to also say welcome to the team. Your years of experience as an undercover operative and as a drug enforcement officer are going to be a huge asset to the team. Welcome to the family Carina." Chuck said with real sincerity.
"Thank you Chuck. That means a lot to me. It's been a long time since I've had someone to watch my back. It's been even longer since I've had a family. I look forward to spending time with Sarah again." Carina said in a voice thick with emotion.
"Like I said it's good to have you on the team. Now let me talk Sam off the ledge." Chuck said, he could hear in the background Carina telling Sam to get her ass over to the phone.
"Hello." Sam said in a voice that asked a lot with one word.
"Talk to me, what's going on? Tell me what I have to do to make it right." Chuck said in a very soothing voice.
"Chuck I've spent the last two years having nightmares about the horrible things they would do to Bobby if I didn't play along with everything they told me to do. I've killed for them, traded secrets for them. And all this time I could have hopped a plane, got Bobby, and ran. We could have had the last two years together. I have money saved up. We could have been living on the beach somewhere. I feel like a total idiot! How can I be so stupid? Why didn't I check on her? Why didn't I look to see if they were watching her? I could kill them all right now! I want them all dead! They took two years from me! Two years of being with the only person that means anything to me! I want them all Chuck. I want to kill them all! I want to kill Roark! I want to take my time with it. He'll beg me for death before it's over!" She screamed.
"Sam! Sammy I need you to calm down right now! Breath Sammy. Good, that's my girl. Take a deep breath and think about this for a second. Think about the situation your in right now and think about how long it took to get here. Yes Bobby is unguarded now, but can you say for sure that she always was? Can you tell me with certainty that she was always left alone? How about the fact that I got permission from Roark to even let you go to D.C.? Think about it Sammy, how fast would he have realized you slipped your leash and you were headed for Bobby? How fast do you think he could have a Fulcrum agent kill Bobby? All he would have to do was pick up a phone. There are at least 80 Fulcrum agents stationed in and around the D.C. area. How fast do you think he could get a trigger man to Bobby's location and kill her? Think about all that before you start cursing yourself. Think about this logically. How many boring nights did it take before they stopped watching her outside of work? How close do you think she works to an armed Fulcrum agent that would have no qualms about killing your innocent little sister? Now pull yourself together and relax. This is all going to be over in a little under three weeks. But I'll tell you this right now we can not kill Ted Roark. I'm going to arrest him and hold him in Castle for questioning. Now a guy like Roark isn't just going to hand over the information we want. It's going to take hours and hours of very creative interrogation to get him to talk. I can let you have some time asking the questions but you're going to have to get in line behind me, and Jordan. Because he might have taken away two years with your sister, but he's spent the last eight months literally fucking her over and I just found out the bustard kidnapped and killed my father fifteen years ago. So while I'm not trying to down play your two years of being forced to work for Fulcrum, I'm telling you that your turn comes after mine and Jordan's." Chuck said in an angry voice that made all for of the women shudder.
For Sam and Jordan it was in fear. They never wanted to be on the receiving end of that rage. For Melissa and Carina it was because they were hot. Carina was thinking about the things Sarah told her about the new Chuck. The white hot rage spoke loudly of a man that took what he wanted and if there was one thing that got her very worked up it was being taken. She loved to be the one in charge, but when she found a partner that could take control of the situation? Oh she thought as a shiver ran up her spine. Melissa on the other hand was hot because that was the voice he used during the extraction and in the lobby downstairs. The image of him standing there in that black Armani suit, holding that UMP .45 with the wind blowing his jacket open and his black tie over his shoulder. She felt the heat start to rise up in the middle of her belly and shoot throughout her body. She knew she would never get him but there was no harm in fantasizing about it. She liked her lips, and crossed her legs.
"Okay Chuck, you're right. I wasn't thinking about any of that. I just. I miss her so much." She said crying sadly.
"I know you do. My sister is the only family I have too. It would kill me to not see her for two whole years. I haven't seen her in a week and I feel terrible. Now Carina said she's going to take Bobby out for lunch and tell her what's going on. She also said if it was safe she was going to invite her over to her house. You'll have all of tonight to talk to her. To share things with her, and be with her. Tomorrow I want you to set up a reliable communication system with her. I want to keep her in the loop from now on. I also want to make sure you two can stay in touch. Two years is long enough to be without each other." Chuck ordered.
"Yes Sir." Sam replied with a smile.
"Good. Now how is your mission going?" Chuck asked.
"I haven't had the chance to go yet, but I'm headed there today. I hope to complete my mission by noon today." She said.
"Excellent, you know what to do. Take your time with it. I really want you to think about the legacy you already have, as well as the one you could have with us. Take care of your self Sammy, and when you get back I'll take you out to get ice cream." He said smiling.
"I will, I promises. Thank you Chuck. For being you, and for looking out for me. I, well… I love you Chuck." She said blushing.
"I love you to Sammy. You're one of my girls, I always look after my girls." Chuck said with a soft smile.
"So Melissa told you about the Angel pendants?" Sam asked laughing.
"Angel pendants?" Chuck asked confused.
"OH CRAP! Forget I said anything. I'll see you later Chuck!" She said hanging up.
Chuck looked at the phone in his hand with a confused look on his face. He then looked at Melissa. "Melissa, Sam mentioned something to me and then freaked out when I didn't know what she was talking about. Do you have any idea what she talking about?" Chuck asked sitting back down to finish his now cold pancakes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What did she say?" Melissa asked putting her plate on the room service cart.
"Something about Angel pendants." Chuck said shoving the last strip of bacon in his mouth.
"I have no clue." She said tucking her hair behind her right ear.
"Really because I've noticed something. You play with your hair when you lie. Now I know everyone's entitled to their own secrets. If this is one of those things that you really don't want me to know just tell me so. You don't have to lie to me you know?" He asked pulling her into a hug.
"I know, it's just that this was a surprise for you and she just killed it." Melissa said sadly.
"Well you can tell me now or you can wait till later, it's up to you. I'm sure I'll love it." He said kissing the top of her head.
"Okay I'll give it to you now." She said pulling away from him and going into the bedroom. She came back holding three small boxes. She handed the biggest box to him.
Chuck opened the box and saw a titanium Rolex watch. "It's beautiful Melissa." He said smiling.
"Read the engraving on the back." She said shyly.
Chuck pulled the watch out of the box and flipped it over. On the back was engraved 'Charlie's Angels 01/02/10' Chuck looked at it with a confused look on his face. He looked at Melissa and she smiled and opened one of the other two boxes. In side was a platinum Angel pendent with C.A. in gold inlaid. Then it clicked into place. The second of January was just a few days ago. It was also the day he told her the truth and recruited her to the team. He looked from the watch to the pendent and the theme song from Charlie's Angels played in his head. A huge smile formed on his face. "Good morning Angel?" He asked trying not to laugh.
"Good Morning Charlie!" She said laughing. She held up the pendent. "Can you put this on me?" She asked with her eyes twinkling.
"Of course my Angel." He said fasting the chain around her neck. He put the watch on and kissed her on the cheek. "This is awesome. I had this crazy dream about two nights ago about my Angels and you get me this? It's so cool."
"Do I get one?" Jordan asked smirking.
"Well that depends." Melissa said matching her smirk.
"On what?" Jordan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Do you, Jordan Rodgers, pledge to be the best Angel you can be? To always have your fellow Angel's back? And to always be Charlie's girl?" Melissa asked getting very serious.
"I do." Jordan said in the same tone.
"Then by the power vested in me as the head Angel I present to you your very own Angel." Melissa said opening the other box to revel a gold Angel with a silver C.A.
"How come's mine is different then yours?" Jordan asked holding the pendent out to Chuck so he could put it on her.
"You're the gold Angel. I'm the platinum Angel. Sam's is white gold, and Kate's is silver." Melissa said holding her Angel pendent.
"So you're the head Angel? What about Walker?" Jordan asked looking at her Angel.
"Sarah is Chuck's wife. She's not an Angel. She's Mrs. Charlie." Melissa said.
Chuck thought the whole thing was funny, and cute. But a part of him, the part that was very protective of Melissa and Sam found the situation very touching. It's not like this changed anything. They were his girls anyway, even Jordan, who was way older then him and had more experience them most of the whole team. Now they put a title to his feelings of protectiveness. They were his Angels. In a way they were like the Angels from the TV show. They were all highly trained, and skilled. They were all treated like dirt by the people they worked for, and so now they worked for him. His name was Charlie after all. He thought laughing. "What does that make Carina and Casey?" Chuck asked.
"They can fight over the title of Basely." Melissa said.
"But Basely was always such a happy guy. I don't think Casey fits that description." Chuck said smiling. "And Carina and Sarah can't be Angels they're already C.A.T.s"
"Cats?" Melissa asked.
"Long before there were Angels, four highly skilled and trained girls work together on the Clandestine attack team. C.A.T. Squad for short." Chuck said.
"Tell me more about this Cat squad." Melissa said getting into the story.
"Well it all started with Sarah…" And for the next hour Chuck went over some of the C.A.T. squad's missions.
While that was happening Sam got out of a cab in front of Arlington National cemetery. She knew where she was going. She had looked it up last night.
Looking over the snow covered cemetery with it's white headstones made the whole experience surreal. Sam felt a sense of floating outside of her body as she drifted over the snow in a daze. She found the grave she was looking for. She didn't know what would happen when she saw it. Would she feel strange? Would she cry? Would she laugh? No she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders and her knees buckled. She didn't know how long she knelt there reading the inscription, but she knew it by heart. Samantha Lyn Glass (1980 - 2009) Beloved Sister, She Served With Honor. That was all it said? That was it? Beloved Sister, She Served With Honor? Was that all she was? What about decorated Agent? Or how about National Hero? And Served With Honor? Served? It sounded like she was some kind of solder. She was no solder. She wasn't one of many. She wasn't the tip of the sword. She was a scalpel. She was surgical. She didn't fight in wars. She started, or ended them. She didn't march into some foreign country with thousands. She was dropped in behind enemy lines with no back up and limited intelligence. HOW DARE THEY! Was all that she could think. She seethed with rage. How dare they group her in with the many. With the rest of the heroes. She wasn't one of them. She didn't do the things they did.
Then she remembered she was a NOC. Non-Official Cover operative. No one knew she was an agent outside of the CIA. Bobby knew because she worked for the CIA and her mother knew because she herself was a NOC but to the world at large she was just another name in a sea of names. Was this what Chuck wanted her to see? That her record as it stood was non-existent? That if she left now she would forever be just a name? No one could know what she had accomplished? No one would know of her five Intelligence Stars? Nor her six Purple Hearts?
On some level she knew this already. They told her this at The Farm. They told her and the other candidates that if they were caught or killed the government would disavow them. They would end up a star on the wall and a blank spot in a book. They told them that their victories would never be known. They would save the world from total destruction and no one would know. That's the way the world kept working. That was the reason they existed in the first place. They did things no one else could, to save the world from itself, and they never got credit for it. She knew all of this and yet she was frozen in place looking at the inscription. She wondered if this was what Ebenezer Scrooge felt like when he was visited by the ghost of Christmas future? Looking at the white stone cross she thought about what her funeral must have looked like. She thought about Bobby standing there all alone, watching them lower an empty casket into the ground. It wasn't the fact that Bobby had to attend her funeral that made Sam feel sick to her stomach. No it was the alone part that stared the tears flowing. She had no one besides Bobby. No one.
She didn't know how long she stayed there crying. She didn't even notice the cold snow seeping through her jeans and chilling her to the bone. She didn't even notice the old woman standing next to her until she tapped her on the shoulder. "Was she a friend of yours?" the old lady asked softly.
At first Sam didn't know what to say. How could she tell this little old lady that she was sitting in the snow morning herself? What could she say? Looking at the honest sad looking the old woman's eye she knew she couldn't lie, not very good at lest. She looked at the gravestone "Yes, we were very close." The words came tumbling out of her mouth without thought.
"I'm very sorry dear. Did she serve in Iraq?" The old lady asked softly.
"She was there, yes. But she didn't spend a lot of time there. She was there for the start of the war. She spent some time many places in her long career. She saw a lot of fighting in her short life." Sam said unable to keep the tears from falling.
"She was with the company then?" The old lady said sadly.
Sam jerked her head up to look at the old lady. "Company?" Sam asked with a confused look on her face.
The old lady smile a sad little smile. "Don't worry dear. My Gerald was with the Company too. It's sad to see the inscription isn't it? They never get the respect they deserve do they? My Gerald spent most of his life preventing World War Three and all he gets is He Served With Honor." The old lady said looking at a grave marker twenty feet away.
"Our failures are known, our victories are not." Sam said sadly.
"You're with the company too then?" The old lady asked.
"I used to be. I retired with her." Sam said looking at the grave.
"She was your partner?" The lady asked.
"In a way. We were very close." Sam said.
"It must have been hard to lose her. It's always a sad day when we lose an agent. They do so much for so little and very few of them make it back home for a proper burial. Did she make it home at lest?" The old lady asked.
"Yes she did. She made it home." Sam said feeling light headed.
"Good. My Gerald didn't. He's buried on a ditch somewhere in Russia. Those Commy bustards killed him. He gave this country thirty years of service and all he got was an empty grave and He Served With Honor." The old lady said angrily.
"That's terrible Ma'am. I'm so sorry." Sam said shivering at the thought of not coming home.
"Stop with the Ma'am stuff. Call me Rose. There's nothing to feel sorry about. You made it home. He didn't. It's a sad fact that a lot of you guys don't make it home. But I celebrate the ones that do. Why don't you stand up off the ground and let me buy you a cup of coffee?" She asked with a sad smile.
"I can't. I have one more stop to make. I promised a friend I would." Sam said standing up.
"A rain check then. Are you aware of the widow's club?" Rose asked pulling a Card out of her handbag.
"No I'm not. What is it?" Sam asked looking at the card.
"It's a group of us widows that meets every week to talk and socialize. It's hard sometimes to talk to people that don't know what it's like to work for the Company. Sometimes we get survivors like you. We don't ask questions. We know you can't answer them, but we do listen." Rose said sincerely.
"Thank you Rose, but I have my own support group. I will tell everyone I know about this though. There are a few of us out there with no one to talk to." Sam said sadly.
"Well, I hope you can come anyways. We are always happy to meet a survivor." Rose said.
"Thank you for the offer Rose. I think it's great that you guys are out there doing this." Sam said.
"We do it for us more then anything. I'll see you around if you come to visit. If not then I wish you luck." Rose said holding out her hand.
Sam didn't know why she did it, but she stepped up to Rose and hugged her. "Thank you for talking to me Rose. I don't know how long I would have sat there if you hadn't come over to talk to me." Sam said softly.
"It's the lest I could do for my Gerald's partner's kid Samantha." Rose said laughing.
Sam pulled away looking shocked. "How?" She asked.
"You look just like your mother, and Bobby is a member of the group. She comes here often. She never stopped looking you know?" Rose said sadly.
"I know. I can't go into details but I couldn't contact her. I'm going to see her today. I would appreciate it if we can keep this between us." Sam said looking around.
"Of course dear. I know how it is. So you're not really out then?" Rose asked sadly.
"Yes and No. I've quite the company, but I'm working with a new group now. One that will make sure I get home. Even if it's just to end up here." Sam said smiling.
"Good. Tell Bobby to talk to me when she gets the chance. I think she got herself a boyfriend. She's missed a few meetings. It's good. She's too young to be a spinster like the rest of us." Rose said laughing.
"I will Rose. I'll tell her. Do you know were my Mother is? I've never really liked coming here and I get turned around so fast." Sam said looking at all of the rows of white crosses.
"She over that way about a hundred yards. I put a lily by her stone. It was her favorite after all." Rose said with a far away look in her eyes.
"Thank you Rose, for everything. I would love to talk to you sometime about my mother." Sam said.
"Bobby has my information. I try to look in on her as much as I can. We usually meet up for coffee on Saturdays." Rose said.
"I'll be in L.A. by then. But I'm going to have some time off in about three weeks. We'll set something up for then if that's okay with you?" Sam asked.
"I would like that. The last time we talked you were six I think. So young but so smart, and pretty just like your mother. I knew the first time I saw you that you'd join the Company one day." Rose said smiling.
"I'll see you then Rose." She said pulling the older woman into another hug.
Across town Carina sat down in a both across from Bobby. She smiled, they were both wearing almost the same outfit of a pair of black slacks, gray button down shirt, and black leather jacket. A motorcycle jacket in Carina's case and a nicely tailored blazer for Bobby. "I See you remembered what I told you about wearing clothes that fit instead of something you pulled off the rack in the boys section of the department store." Carina said picking at Bobby's jacket.
"Good afternoon, I'm having a good day how about you?" Bobby said sarcastically pulling her arm away smirking.
"You know I love you like a little sister. I'm just trying to look out for you." Carina said.
Bobby smiled a sad little smile. "I know, and I like it a lot when you do, but it reminds me of Sam." Bobby said.
Carina looked around the half empty café and didn't see anything out of place. She looked Bobby in the eye. "Were you followed here?" She asked.
Bobby's head shot up and she looked around. "No." She said checking all of the people in the place out to see if she noticed one of them. "Why?" she asked smiling.
"This is no joke kid. I want you to really think about it. Use the training your mother gave you. Were you followed here?" Carina asked getting serious.
"No. I would know if a was. What's with all the paranoia?" Bobby asked getting scared.
"I will tell you everything, but first I need you to promise me you wont freak out." Carina said.
"Okay?" Bobby said confused.
"I found her Bobby. I found Sam." Carina said with big smile.
"What."
"I Found Sam. She's living in Los Angels. She's been working undercover with Fulcrum for the last two years. They think she's been working for them because they're watching you Bobby. At work at least. I didn't find anything in your apartment, but Sam has seen the feed from the camera in your intel. pit. She's been messing up their operations for two years now, but they're getting suspicious of her. She's working with a friend of mine to bring the whole group down. She can tell you all about it later at my house were you're going to spend the night." Carina said waving over the waitress.
"WHAT!?" Bobby asked almost hyperventilating.
"SHhhhhh! I told you, you can't freak out on me Bobby. I need you to stay calm. Now what's good here, this is your spot after all?" Carina asked looking at the menu. The waitress came over. "Hi, what's good here?" Carina asked the waitress.
"We have a really good Chicken salad sandwich and house salad combo that a lot of people order." The girl answered with a big smile.
"We'll have two of those and a bottle of your best Champaign with two glasses please." She said handing over the two menus. When the waitress walked away Carina looked at Bobby and laughed at her lost expression. "You know I could have told you all this slowly, but I think giving it to you all at once like that is more fun."
"You're so mean! now tell me everything. I want to know it all. How is she. Is she okay?" Bobby asked excitedly.
"She's fine, she was hung up on the fact that she was working with Fulcrum, but Chuck helped her get over that." Carina said holding Bobby's hand.
"Who's this Chuck guy? Is he her boyfriend?" Bobby asked smirking.
"No. he's married to my sister Sarah. But he's a good guy. He picked her up off her ass and turned her back into the Sam Glass we both know and love." Carina said. "She on a mission for him here in D.C. but he told me to make sure you two get as much time together as possible. That's why I want you to go home after work, pack a bag, and come to my house. She'll be waiting for you. I'm going out now to get supplies. We're going to have a sleepover! It's going to be so much fun. We're going to get hammered and watch movies and sit by the fire place in our PJ's." Carina said popping the cork on the bottle of champagne.
"I can't wait!" Bobby said smiling.
Chuck and Melissa sat in his office at RI. Chuck sat behind his desk running the Intersect. He was learning the ins and outs of skydiving. Melissa on the other hand sat in front of his desk watching Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Rings. Chuck bootlegged it for her for a couple of reasons. One was the fact that the move was three hours long and it would hold her attention for at least that long so that Chuck could get in some quality download time with out her hovering over him checking to see if he was okay. He was pretty sure at this point that she worried for him more that even Sarah did. A part of him was sure it was because she never really saw him flash a lot and last night really freaked her out.
The other reason he wanted her to watch Fellowship as well as the next two movies in the series was because they were Morgan's favorite movies and he wanted them to have something in common when they worked together. It was all a part of the plan to make Morgan into Melissa's perfect guy. It was a two prong assault. One was to make Melissa a little bit geeky, and the second was to make Morgan a little bit cooler. He was hoping they would meet in the middle somewhere and fall for each other. And hey stranger things have happened before. He was in fact married to one of the coolest women in the world. He was married to Sarah The Enforcer Walker for God's sake, and he got her without all of the Carmichael charm. He got her by being just Chuck. If he could do that then what was stopping Morgan from bagging a wonderful girl like Melissa.
The sequence ended and Chuck shook his head, and worked his jaw. He noticed that he grinded his teeth when he downloaded a sequence longer then a few minutes, but he could have Melissa get him a mouth guard or something. Until then he just had to suck it up and work through it. He was about to start the next sequence which had aggressive driving techniques and knife fighting. He also added some explosives and demolition skills. When someone knocked on the door. Melissa got up and opened it letting Jordan in.
"This is what you wanted. I got all of the footage plus the after-action debriefing interview with the two guys left standing after the extraction." She said handing Melissa a DVD.
"What's that all about?" Chuck asked leaning back in his chair.
"It's nothing. I'm heading out to lunch. I'm going to stop off at Castle to report in and see what's going on. I'll tell them about the phone call this morning, and drop off the hard drive. Where is it?" She asked gathering her bag and jacket.
"It's in my bag. I labeled it Castle." Chuck said standing up and stretching.
"I'll be back later, Jordan can you make sure he gets up and walks around a little bit. Maybe eat something?" Melissa asked giving Chuck the puppy dog eyes.
"Fine. Oh. Can you get me a mouth guard please? I'm grinding my teeth and it's making my jaw hurt." Chuck said rolling his neck.
"I can do that. I'll be back in a few hours." Melissa said walking out the door.
"Come on, it's time for lunch. Let go out for something. What do you want, my treat." Jordan said standing by the door.
"I want a really good burger. I'm talking big and greasy and nasty. And fresh cut fries." Chuck said enthusiastically as he grabbed his jacket rushing to catch up with her.
"Well that's not going to happen. You had eggs and bacon this morning. You're eating healthy for lunch." Jordan said walking off the elevator and through the lobby to the front doors.
"But you said anything a want." Chuck wined as they walked through the garage.
"No I said what do you want. My treat. If you want a burger I know a place that has a good vegan veggie burger. It taste just like a beef burger. They also make good sweat potato fries with a garlic sauce." Jordan said walking up to a black BMW M5 just like his car.
"Just like a beef burger?" Chuck asked getting in the car.
"Just like it. And they have a beer garden with a huge selection of beers." Jordan said pulling out of the garage.
"Well okay then. I do have to ask why Fulcrum uses so many BMWs it seams like everyone has one." Chuck asked putting the stereo on to the station he and Melissa found a few nights ago.
"We have a deal with a BMW dealership. He gets us access to the newest models at just a little over cost. I have a white Z4 back at Roark Tower." Jordan said pulling into a parking lot of a vegan restaurant.
"If this burger tastes like dirt I'm going to make you eat a greasy double bacon cheese burger I swear to god." Chuck said eyeing the hipsters sitting outside with distain.
"Fine but I'm confident about the vegan burger." Jordan said rolling her eyes.