Chuck looked at the clock on the dashboard. 7:30 PM. He looked across the street at the upscale restaurant and smiled when he spotted Sarah through the window standing at the door. She was playing hostess for the evening. He shook his head thinking about how easy it was to get the owner of the restaurant to let Sarah sub in for the hostess, and for Alex to play the bar tender. It did cost them ten grand but for that price they had six agents posing as guest stationed around the place and two team members playing key roles on the staff. If everything went according to plan they would have Sidorov back at Castle in a holding cell by the end of the night.
Looking at Sarah reminded him of the half hour they spent in holding cell three. He always thought the sex with Sarah was amazing, but the make up sex they had before the mission was something else. He didn't know if it was the fact that they came so close to the end, or because this was their first real fight as a married couple. What ever it was it was extreme. They had sat across from each other throughout the briefing tossing looks back and forth. When Chuck finished laying out his plan everyone broke up to do their jobs but Chuck and Sarah stayed seated. "I noticed we didn't have any prep work to do for this mission. Was that on purpose?" Sarah asked smiling shyly.
"Maybe?" Chuck said with a little smirk.
"Well since we have some time I was wondering if I could show you something in holding cell three?" Sarah asked standing up.
"I've got some time. Lets go now." Chuck said following her out of the conference room and down the hall. Sarah was wearing a white top, tight black skirt, and a pair of high heeled black pumps. The uniform of the restaurant Sidorov made his reservations for that night. As she walked Chuck noticed she put an extra little wiggle in her step that was holding Chuck's full attention. She stopped by the holding cell at the very end of the dark hallway and waved him in first. Chuck walked to the center of the room and turned around only to have Sarah grab the collar of his suit jacket and smash her moth on his in a frantic kiss. Chuck grabbed a fist full of her blond hair and pulled her back enough to gain access to her neck and the spot that drove her nuts. He roughly grab a hand full of her ass with his left hand and squeezed as he sucked her neck making her thrash around and moan. She pushed him back and pushed his jacket off. She pulled his tie lose and ripped his shirt open sending buttons everywhere. Chuck pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside and as he attacked her right nipple through the flimsy silk of her white bra. She spun him around and tossed him onto the cot in the cell and sat on his chest. She took his tie and fastened it around his right wrist. She fed it through the metal loop on the wall and tied his other wrist. She stood up and locked eyes with him as she unclasped her bra and let it fall to the ground. She turned around and slowly pulled the zipper down on her skirt. She let it pool around her ankles and smiled when she heard Chuck's breath quicken at the sight of her matching white thong and her throwing knife sheath around her thigh. She walked around him and pulled off his shoes. She danced back around to his side and unbuckled his belt. She made sure he was watching her every move as she pulled off his pants leaving him in his black silk boxers. She climbed up onto his chest and leaned over him.
"Is this for me Chuck?" She asked in a moan as her hand fond his hardness through his boxers.
"It always is." He growled out as she shifted her weight grinding her firm tits on his chest.
"Good. Because I've been in need of it since I left that hotel room." She said pulling him out of his boxers. "I need it so bad Chuck." She said panting. "I wanted to take some time pleasing you but I need it so bad." She whispered before she bit his ear lobe.
"If you need it so bad then take it. Take what's yours." Chuck said thrusting against her.
Pulling the small strip of silk to the side she sank down on him causing them both to moan. "Oh god it's so good." she sighed rocking her hips.
Chuck strained against the tie trying to thrust into her harder. He growled as he slammed into her center making her call out in pleasure. She hugged her arms around his neck as she trusted back just as hard. Chuck bit her shoulder as he used every ounce of strength he had to thrust into her harder and faster. She ran her nails across his chest as she lost herself to the pleasure he was giving her. As her climax approached she grabbed his hair and kissed him needy. She screamed into his mouth as she came. Chuck followed after her. Sarah broke the kiss and looked at Chuck with tears pooling in her eyes. "I love you so much." She said softly.
"I love you more. Now cut the tie so I can hold my wife." Chuck said wrapping his legs around her. Sarah pulled the throwing knife from her thigh and cut the tie. Chuck arms wrapped around her and he rolled them over. He started moving again. This time very slowly. Each thrust was painfully slow but Sarah had never felt more connected to anyone in her whole life. She buried her face in his neck and sobbed as they moved slowly towards their second climax. When it hit Chuck kissed her neck softly and rolled them back over and pulled the sheet over them. They dozed off for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. Chuck looked over and saw Melissa smiling and giving him the thumbs up. Chuck closed his eyes and blushed.
"Who's there?" Sarah asked.
"Melissa. She's giving me the thumbs up." Chuck said mortified.
"What does she want?" Sarah asked lifting her head off his chest.
"I'm not sure." Chuck said.
Sarah wrapped the sheet around her chest and sat up in Chuck's lap. She waved Melissa in. Melissa opened the door, but stayed in the hallway. "What do you need Melissa?" Sarah asked combing her fingers through her disheveled hair.
"Major Casey sent me to tell you we have an hour to go before we leave and you might want to take a shower before we go." Melissa said smirking.
"Thank you Melissa. Tell Casey we'll get moving." Sarah said.
"I can do that. While you guys get cleaned up I'll head over to the large mart and pick up a new shirt and tie for Chuck. Do you need anything Sarah?" Melissa asked picking Chuck's button-less shirt up off the ground with a smirk.
"No I think I'm all good, but thanks for asking." Sarah said blushing.
"Thank you Melissa." Chuck said covering his red face with his right arm.
"No problem Chuck. I'm always happy to help. May I also say good job Sarah." She said pointing to the shredded red tie around Chuck's wrist.
Sarah looked at the tie and Chuck's red face and laughed. "Thanks Melissa." Sarah said shooing her out of the room. When they were alone again Sarah leaned over and kissed Chuck. "Want to help me wash my back?" Sarah said smiling.
"You know I do." Chuck said sitting up. Sarah laughed. "What's so funny?" Chuck asked.
"Your hair is all sticking up at funny Angels." Sarah said. When Chuck tried to fix it Sarah laughed harder, and grabbed the red tie around his right wrist. "I Don't know what got into me with the whole tie thing." She said blushing. She cut it off his wrist and saw the bruises around his wrist. "Oh Chuck. Look at your wrist. Dose it hurt?" She asked feeling for broken bones.
"No, I doesn't hurt. Dose that hurt?" He asked pointing to the bite mark on her right shoulder.
"No, not really." Sarah said standing up.
"Lets hit the shower." Chuck said standing up and stretching. "I think I pulled something in my thigh." Chuck said flexing his leg.
"Lets go. I'll massage it in the shower for you." Sarah said taking him by the hand and leading him off in the direction of the shower room.
"What are we waiting for?" Kate asked bring Chuck back to the present.
He looked at the clock on the dashboard. "Sidorov has dinner reservations at 8:30 PM. When he gets here and Sarah will seat him at the bar then you can go in." Chuck said looking at her he saw she was fidgeting. "You okay with this? We can go with plan B you know? You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Sarah has a dress in the van. She can do it and Casey can man her position at the door." Chuck said.
"No. If I want to be an Angel like Jordan and Melissa then I have to put this training to use. It's just been a while since I've used Seduction instead of just Sex. I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty." She said playing with the strap of her purse.
"Well we have some time before he gets here why don't you practice on me?" Chuck asked.
"I don't know. I guess." She said blushing.
"Remember, the key is to make him think he's going to get what he want's, and not to give it to him." Chuck said before turning around in his seat. When he turned back he had a neutral expression on his face. "Hello, my name is Victor. What is yours?" Chuck asked in a thick Russian accent.
"I'm Kate." She said putting on a big innocent smile. "I like your accent. What is it?" She asked sliding closer to him.
"Russian." Chuck replied looking down her very low cut red dress.
"Really? I love Russia. I always wanted to go there. I'm from London myself. I'm here on business. Are you here on business too Victor?" She asked touching Chuck's shoulder.
"Yes. I am." Chuck said getting lost in Kate sparkling blue eyes.
"I'm a sales rep. from a cosmetics company. What do you do Victor?" She asked leaning in to him and playing with his new red tie.
"I'm in sales too." Chuck said dumbly. At this point even though he knew what she was doing he was totally lost to her. Between her intoxicating flowery perfume, her cleavage, and her smile he would have told her anything she wanted to know. He saw her smile took on a predatory gleam and her shoulders straitened out.
"Well Victor, why don't you buy me a drink and you can tell me all about it." She said rubbing her chest into his shoulder as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Okay." Chuck said lost.
Chuck heard a crack over his ear piece. "Chuck, Melissa just checked in. Sidorov just got into his car now. ETA thirty minutes." Casey said.
"Copy that Casey ETA thirty minutes from go time." Chuck looked at Kate and saw she had a confident smile on her face. "I take it you're ready now?" Chuck asked smiling.
"I am. Thank you so much Chuck. Thank you for the opportunity to be a real agent again, and for helping me get over the jitters. I want to be an Angel like the other." She said.
"You already are. Tonight when this is all over I want you to come up to our apartment. Melissa has something for you." Chuck said smiling.
"Really!?" She asked excited.
"Yes really. There was never any doubt about you joining the team. I just wanted to make sure you knew you belonged first. I think you're ready now." Chuck said confidently.
"Are you sure? What if I bullocks this all up?" Kate asked looking unsure again.
"You're going to be my insecure Angel aren't you?" Chuck asked pulling her into a hug.
"It's just I've never been taken seriously. I've never been on real a mission before." She said.
"Neither have I, and I seam to be doing just fine. Now I want you to get yourself together and calm down. You're one of the most stunningly beautiful woman I've ever seen. Victor has no idea what's waiting for him. He's going to be falling over himself to tell you all of his dirty little secrets. When he get's here I want you to walk in to that restaurant. Step right up to him and hit him with the look you just gave me a few minutes ago. I want you to own him. I want you to twist him around your little finger so tight his only thoughts are going to be the ones you want him to think. I want you to take ever ounce of his will away and when he's given you everything he has I want you to get up from the table and never look back. I want the last image he sees before Casey hauls him away to be what he thought he was going to get. I want him so messed up mentally and emotionally that he keeps talking just for the opportunity to see you again. This ass hole make millions selling surplus AK47's to war lords all over the globe. He has more blood on his hands then most dictators." Chuck said confidently as he held her gaze.
She was hypnotized by his eyes and his soothing voice. A shiver ran up her spine as his words registered in her mind. Her doubts slipped away, and were replace by a will of iron. She was given a second chance to be an agent and she was going to take it. She was going to try her hardest to be the very best she could be. She was an Angel now. She needed to start acting like it.
Chuck saw the moment she changed. She lost her look of uncertainty. She rolled her neck and straitened out her spine and pushed her chest out. She took a deep breath and her smile gained that predatorily edge he saw when she was working him over. When she turned around to look him in the eye he met for the first time Agent Kathrin Brown, and boy was she something to look at. When she saw him looking at her she laughed.
"See something you like Charlie?" She asked with a confident little smirk.
"Yes. I see one of my Angels. The perfect package of Stunning and Deadly. A predator in it's truest form." Chuck said honestly.
"Thank you Chuck." Kate said hugging him.
Chuck was about to say it was just the truth, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye that stopped him in his tracks. He saw a girl that looked like she was about 19. She was wearing a little black cocktail dress. She had long straight black hair. She was very pretty, but it was her eyes that stopped him in his tracks. They were so light blue they looked white. It was also the thing that caused him to flash. Her name was Anastasia Volok. She was acutely 22 years old. Normally someone that young would be on their first mission, but Anastasia was a nine year veteran. She was the lone survivor of a program called: Krasnyi Detyei or The Red Children. A rouge KGB cell program created at the end of the Cold War. The idea was to take orphans that showed some aptitude, and turn them into KGB Assassins. No one expects a 12 year old assassin after all. The Russian government put an end to the program, but they ended up with a dilemma what do you do with a group of highly skilled killers under the age of 15? The answer was simple, use them like they were intended. Anastasia was one of the nine that made it through training, and now she was the lone survivor. The only one still left. She was not only alive, Chuck had to amend, she was good. She was so good she was Russia's top assassin. For her to be here meant just one thing. She was here to kill Victor. Chuck thought about this new element in the plan. What was he going to do with Volok? The answer was blindingly clear, but could he do it quickly? The answer was, he had to. He pulled back from Kate smiling. If she had been Sarah, or Melissa she would have known something was wrong, but Kate was blissfully unaware of this new problem.
"I'm going to scout the perimeter. I want you to sit back and relax until Sarah calls out Victor's entrance." Chuck said pulling his jacket off the back seat.
"Okay Chuck." She said smiling.
Chuck got out of the car and pulled his jacket on. He opened the trunk of the white Pontiac G6 he was using for this mission and found the bag Casey put back there. He reached in and pulled out a tranq gun. He ejected the mag and pulled a dart out. He put it in his jacket pocket. He looked at the gun, It was just small enough to be tucked it into his pants pocket with out being noticeable. So he did. He pulled his Sig229 out and attached a silencer. He tucked it away and covered it with his jacket. He walked into the restaurant and located Anastasia at the bar. When Sarah saw him her eyes got big and a scowl formed on her face. He walked right up to her. "Reservation for two, the Name is Carmichael. I'm meeting someone for dinner. She's about five foot tall. Long black hair, light blue eyes and a Russian accent. She goes by the name Anastasia Volok. Oh never mind I see her by the bar. Wow would you look at her in that dress, SHES A REAL KILLER." Chuck said putting emphasis on the last part of his sentence.
Sarah looked at Volok and her eyes got big. She looked back at Chuck. "What are you going to do about that?" She asked playfully, but the panic was still evident in her voice.
"I'm going to try playing hard to get, I've got a friend that's going to call me in a minute and I'm going to ignore her. That usual makes them interested. If that doesn't work I'm going to give her the old Carmichael charm." Chuck said smiling holding up his iPhone.
"Are you sure? She looks like a lot of woman for you to handle." Sarah said.
"Well I'm very confident about the firepower in my pants if you know what I mean. She's in for a real shock when I pull it out." Chuck said lecherously. But the message was clear. Chuck was packing and he knew what he was doing. "Don't seat us too quickly. We might not make it past the bar." Chuck said nodding.
Sarah looked him in the eye and gave a small nod. Chuck walked over to the bar and took a seat three stools away from Volok. He adopted a thick Russian accent, and asked for a shot of vodka. Alex looked at him with a questioning look and he gave a small nod. She pulled the bottle off the shelf and poured him a shot. Chuck stood up and looked Volok dead in the eye. "Za Prekrasnih dam!" (For Beautiful ladies!) and tossed back the shot. His years of binge drinking back at Stanford stopped the funny face from happening. He turned back to Alex and waved for another one. She poured it he tossed it back. He waved for another. "The Vodka in this country is so weak. I'm meeting a friend of mine, to talk business. Do you have something stronger?" He asked Alex.
"No I don't." Alex said.
"Oh well. Hit me again." He said. Alex poured and Chuck was about to pick it up when his phone rang. He pulled it out and ended the call before put it to his ear. He paused and looked to make sure Volok was watching. In Russian he said, "Victor my friend! What do you mean we're not meeting today? Tomorrow? Yes I can meet you tomorrow. The Four Seasons in Burbank? Noon? Yes I can make it." He saw Volok's face cloud over with a frown. He put his phone away and palmed the tranq dart. He tossed back his shot, and looked at Anastasia. "Well it look's like I'm dining alone tonight. Are you alone as well?" He asked her.
"Da." She said draining her martini glass.
"My name is Alexi Romanov." Chuck said holding out his hand. When she put her right hand in his Chuck brought his left hand up and placed it on top of hers, jabbing her with the tranq dart. Almost instantly her eyes drooped. Chuck stood up, slung his right arm around her shoulder and held her upright as she drifted off slowly. He walked her out the back door Weekend at Bernie's style. When he got her out the back door she started to come to. She elbowed him in the chin and kneed him in the ribs. Chuck dropped her, and she kicked him in the shin with her stiletto high heel shoe. She got to her knees and pulled a knife from her purse. Chuck pulled the tranq gun out and shot her in the chest. She dropped to the ground. Casey pulled the van around and jumped out. When he saw Chuck holding the tranq gun on the unconscious girl he laughed.
"I think you got her Chuck." He said walking over to Volok.
"NO WAIT! She could be faking. She was with me. I got her outside and she started to hit me. She pulled a knife too." Chuck said pointing to the switchblade on the ground.
"Really? How many darts did you hit her with?" Casey asked looking at the tiny girl.
"I stuck her with one in the bar but she shook it off like it was nothing. Then I shot her once." Chuck said still keeping the tranq gun trained on her.
"Shit! That's .4 milligrams Chuck. You could kill her with that much. She can't weight more then 90lbs." Casey said. He bent over to see if she was still breathing and her fist connected with his nose breaking it. As Casey fell back a knife shot out of the front of her high heel shoe, and she jabbed it into his thigh sending him to the ground bleeding from the face and leg. "God Damn It! SHOOT HER AGAIN!" Casey yelled pulling the small broken off knife blade out of his leg.
Chuck laughed as he shot her again. "I told you she was strong." Chuck said walking over to the van. He opened the side door and pulled a set of zip tie hand cuffs off the wall. He grabbed her still struggling arms and put them behind her back. He cuffed her hands and picked her up. Her right leg shot out and connected with his junk. Chuck dropped her and fell to the ground. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Chuck yelled in a high pitched voice. Anastasia crawled over to a corner and sat up.
Melissa came around the corner and saw Casey sitting on the ground holding his bleeding thigh as blood poured from his broken nose, and Chuck laying on the ground curled up in a ball holding his balls. When she saw Volok was half way out of her cuffs she pulled her Glock19 and pointed it at the younger girl. "Ah ah ah. I wouldn't do that if I was you. You see they might want to keep you alive for questioning, but I really don't care if you live or die. In fact why am I even messing around with all this talking for?" Melissa asked out loud. She racked the slide on her gun chambering a round and pointed it at Anastasia's head. She started to pulled the trigger.
"Stop! Just wait a second. You three are CIA yes?" She asked with surprisingly very little accent.
"Yes. Why?" Melissa asked. There was no point in explaining to this girl that she and Casey were technically NSA, and that she was really one of Charlie's Angels. It would take too long and from the way Volok was starting to drool she would be out soon.
"I want to deal. I will only talk to someone in charge." Volok slurred out.
"The word deal implies that you have something we want and we have something you want. What do you want?" Melissa asked. Since she seamed to be the only one capable of speech at the moment.
"I want to kill Victor Sidorov." She said as her head started to droop.
"And want do you have?" Melissa asked
"ME." Anastasia said falling over knocked out.
Melissa walked over to Chuck. "You okay down there?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"No I'm not okay. She kicked me straight in the junk." Chuck said sitting up.
Melissa made a pained face. "Ohh. That's got to hurt. Here lets get you two up." She said pulling Chuck off the ground. They both helped Casey up. "You need to get a bandage on the leg, and you better get that nose fixed before it heals crooked Major." She said as she got two more sets of zip ties. She cuffed Anastasia's hands and feet this time. Chuck picked her up and put her in the van.
Chuck leaned against the hood and took a deep breath. "You okay Chuck?" Melissa asked coming to stand by him.
"Yeah, it's not the first time I've been hit in the junk and it's not going to be the last. I take it that since you're here then so is Victor?" Chuck asked readjusting his pants.
"Yeah, he is. I think Kate's all ready working him over." Melissa said.
"She should have a very easy time doing it, I had Alex spike every drink he orders with a powerful truth agent. Between that and her looks she should be almost done actually. I was supposed to listen in on the conversation from the table next to theirs you know? Instead I'm out here getting kicked in the balls by a 90lb girl. Not the best day in the book of Carmichael." Chuck said.
"Well everyone else is listening in, and it's being recorded. I think you'll be fine with just listening in on the ear bud." Melissa said.
"I don't have it. I think mine fell out when she elbowed me in the chin." Chuck said rubbing his jaw.
"How hard did she hit you?" Melissa asked looking at his chin.
"Hard. She stunned me enough that I didn't flash. For such a small girl she sure as hell hits hard. Can I have your ear bud. I want to listen in for anything I might flash on." Chuck said holding out his hand.
"You're not afraid of sharing ear cuddies?" Melissa asked handing the clear plastic ear bud over.
"After all the things we've done together I think I can say with some certainty you're cuddy free." Chuck said laughing as he put the bud in.
He heard laughing. "So you're here in L.A. to meet with a church group?" Kate asked giggling.
"Yes. They want to buy something from me." Victor slurred.
"What could a church group want from a weapons dealer?" Kate asked keeping up the dumb blond act.
"They vant C4. I don't know vhy, and I don't ask. It's bad for business to ask questions like that." He said conspiratorially.
"Is that the only reason you're here?" Kate asked.
"Da, well that and the beautiful vomen." Victor said lecherously.
"When is your meeting? Do you have time to take me back to my hotel room?" Kate asked in a voice dripping with sex.
"The meeting isn't for till 2 am." Victor slurred badly. Victor must have had more then three spiked drinks. His speech patterns were getting worse.
Chuck turned to Melissa. "It's almost time to pull him out of there. Do you want to help me? Casey was supposed to but I think he's done for the night." Chuck said looking at Casey holding a bandage on the knife wound in his thigh.
"Sure. Lets go." She said.
"Well we have to wait till Kate gives the signal." Chuck said going back to the conversation happening in his ear.
"The meeting is happening in the parking garage back at my hotel. So we can have all night together." Victor said.
"Victor, I would love to spend the night with you, but I don't think my boyfriend Charlie would like that very much." Kate said.
"Come on. That's the signal." Chuck said walking back in to the restaurant. Chuck spotted them at the bar. Kate stood up when Chuck walked in and walked out the front door. Victor was half slumped over the bar and looked totally shit faced. Chuck walked up to him and shot him with a tranq dart while Melissa blocked him from the rest of the restaurant. The only one that saw what happened was Alex.
"Did you just hit him with a tranq dart?" Alex asked with wide eyes.
"I did." Chuck said.
"Was it a .2 dart or something stronger?" Alex asked in a panic feeling for a pulse.
"It was a .2 dart. Is that a problem?" Chuck asked freaked out.
"No it should be fine but he's going to be out for a long time. I've been adding a muscle relaxer to his drinks to help loosen him up." Alex said.
"Well whatever you did it worked. Now follow my lead." Chuck said smiling. Chuck let go of Victor's head and he flopped forward and smacked his head in the bar with a thud. "Wow Vic you can not hold your booze buddy!" Chuck called out loud. "Help me get my brother out of here honey." He said to Melissa. "Here, grab his arm. Lets walk him out the back." Chuck said slinging his arm Victor and Melissa did the same on the other side. They walked Victor out the back door and tossed him in the van next to Volok. Chuck called out the all clear and turned to Melissa. "Would you like me to walk you to your car?" He said offering his arm.
"I would like that." Melissa said.
Chuck looked at Casey sitting in the passenger seat of the van still holding his leg. "You okay big guy?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah, the bleeding almost stopped totally by now and Alex will be out in a minute to drive the van back to Castle." Casey said.
"Well then I'll meet you back at Castle." Chuck said leading Melissa down the ally to the street. When they turned the corner they saw Sarah standing in front of the restaurant watching Kate pace back and forth nervously. Chuck looked at Melissa and smirked. "She really is going to be my most insecure Angel isn't she?" Chuck said shaking his head.
"I don't know what she's freaked out about she just owned that situation in there. I think even without the drugs Sidorov would have talked. I mean look at her, no man could resist her." Melissa said.
They walked up to the two women and Kate threw her arms around Chuck. "I did it! I did it and I walked away from the bar and I didn't have to use sex to get the information we needed. I did it. I was shaking so hard but I kept it all in and played him just like you said." She rambled nervously.
Chuck looked over Kate's shoulder at Sarah and smiled sadly at her. She looked from him to Kate and shrugged. Melissa saw this exchange and walked over to Sarah. "Well it looks like we were right. Chuck does spend all of his time comforting the female members of the team." She said smiling.
"Yes and I think I can get over that. I can also get over the fact that he's my Chuck and spy Charles, and even your Charlie." Sarah said also smiling at the scene in front of her.
"Then why did you guys have such a bad fight that you needed to have desperate make up sex to recover from it?" Melissa asked.
"First of all that's none of your business. Secondly I can handle the fact that he's three people now, but when he's Charles to me over the phone for no reason I get panicked and when that happens The Enforcer comes out to play and she does not get along with Charles at all." Sarah said softly.
Chuck walked up to them. "I'm going to take Kate on a short ride to detox the adrenaline out of her system. I'll see you two back at Castle in an hour. We'll talk about the next part of the mission when we've had a chance to talk to both Volok and Sidorov. We have until 2 AM to make the meeting. That's five and a half hours from now." Chuck said looking at his Rolex.
"Sounds good to me. I'll see you in an hour." Sarah said giving Chuck a quick kiss.
Chuck walked Kate to the White Pontiac G6 and opened the door for her. When they drove off Sarah looked at Melissa. "I came in the van. I was hoping to catch a ride with Chuck." She said.
"Well Casey gave me the black Dodge Charger right there for the mission. Do you want a ride?" Melissa asked.
"Sure I'll ride with my mortal enemy." Sarah said with a smile as they walked to the car.
"For the record I'm glad you guys worked out your differences, and we can go back to being a team. With that being said I don't think we're going to see a lot of Chuck tonight. He has work to do. Starting with adding to the team. Volok wants to trade Victors life for her allegiance. I don't know how you guys want to play this but I think we should hear her out at least. She was strong enough the shake off three tranq darts and fight both Chuck and Casey to the ground. If she's willing to join up then I say we look into how loyal she really is to her government." Melissa said.
"You just want to add another girl to my husbands harem don't you?" Sarah asked laughing.
"We're not his harem. We are a group of highly skilled operatives working for the US government. You and Carina were C.A.T.s, we're Angels. It's the same thing. You answered to a higher up, we answer to Chuck. The only difference is that our superior is standing by to offer us a hug when we're having a bad day. When you get the C.A.T. squad back together you can be head of the Cats again." Melissa said.
"So we're not one team, we're two teams?" Sarah asked smirking.
"Sure, why not. Friendly competition brings out the best in people." Melissa said.
"Okay, but when you mess with a Cat you get the claws." Sarah said with a smile on her face, and a predatory look in her eyes.
"An Angel like me can't be baited. We heavenly ladies rise above mere mortals like you." Melissa said with her nose in the air. That set them both off.
"I wonder where Chuck took Kate?" Sarah asked.
"With Chuck you never know." Melissa said.
Chuck looked at Kate and smiled. She looked super hyper. Her foot was tapping along to the song on the radio, her hands were shaking and her head was bobbing. "Still hyper?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah. A little bit." Kate said blushing.
"The first time I was on a mission I had to land a helicopter, by myself, with no training at all. That night I didn't sleep at all. I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't stop moving. It's all the adrenaline rushing through your body." Chuck said smiling.
"I know the feeling. What did you do?" Kate asked.
"I paced my apartment for hours until finely my stomach growled. I opened the fridge and ate everything I could find. I sat on the couch and fell into a food coma. It was the best night of sleep I've ever had in my life." Chuck said. "What's your favorite pig out spot?"
"I don't know?" Kate said.
"Come on, don't try that 'I'm a lady, I don't have a pig out spot' crap with me. Come on, what's the place you go to when you're feeling crappy and you need a pick me up." Chuck said.
"Well there is this one place that makes a really good burger." Kate said.
"Punch it into the GPS. We're getting burgers." Chuck said.
Fifteen minutes later found Chuck and Kate sitting at a burger joint counter with two of the biggest, greasiest, nastiest, double bacon cheese burgers Chuck had ever seen. "How did I not know about this place?" Chuck asked looking at the burgers dripping with grilled onions.
"Sam showed me this place. She loves coming here." Kate said picking up her burger and taking a huge bite. Chuck looked at her and laughed. "What?" She asked.
"You got a little on your face." Chuck said.
"Where?" Kate asked picking up a napkin.
Chuck pulled out his iPhone and snapped a picture. "Everywhere." Chuck said showing her the picture.
Kate laughed. "You know what? I don't even care right now. This is the best burger in the world and I refuse to be shy about it." She said taking another huge bite.
Chuck laughed and picked up his monster burger. He took a bite and was transported to another plane of existence. "OH MY GOD." Chuck said around a mouth full of burger. Kate picked up his iPhone and snapped a picture of him. She showed it to him and he shrugged. "I just don't care either." Chuck said taking anther big bite and sighing contentedly. "I think I'm in love." Chuck said, his eyes hooded.
"I love a good burger. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to them. When I'm feeling bad all I want is a good burger. When I'm feeling really good all I want is a good burger. I've had them all over this city and nothing comes close to this one." Kate said taking a pull on her thick chocolate shake.
"It's not an addiction if it taste this good. I'm changing your title from insecure Angel to my food soul mate, I love a good burger. Jordan made me eat this really bad tasting vegan burger thing this afternoon and it was terrible." Chuck said taking a swig from his bear bottle.
"I know what you're talking about, she made me eat there before. It's a sin to call that thing a burger I tell you, a sin." Kate said making a face.
"I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I ate it fast and washed it down with a good beer. The fries were good." Chuck said.
"Yeah, but they would have been better covered in cheese sauce." Kate said.
"I have to take you to this bar in Palo Alto. They make this Chile cheese burger called the mess. Half the people that order it eat it with a spoon. It was the best burger I ever had until just a minute ago." Chuck said shoving a huge chunk of burger in his mouth.
"I'd love to try that." Kate said taking a pull on her shake. "Chuck, I want to thank you for keeping me out of the loop on the whole Russian hit woman thing tonight. I was nervous enough and that would have freaked me out. So thanks." Kate said looking down.
"Think nothing of it. Tonight was your first real mission. It was to get Sidorov to talk about why he was here, what he was selling, and when. You accomplished those goals and more in less then twenty minutes. You completed your first mission flawlessly. Volok was my mission. I didn't do so good. I underestimated her and she kicked my ass for it. If Melissa hadn't have shown up when she did I could have ended up dead. If any one should feel embarrassed it should be me and Casey." Chuck said slinging his arm around her shoulder.
"Thanks Chuck, for the opportunity to be a real spy." Kate said softly.
"Just because the government didn't know the true value of a strong, beautiful woman like you doesn't mean I don't. your stunning and soon you'll be as deadly as the best spies in the world. Melissa wasn't kidding when she said she was going to give you your Angel pendent tonight. You've more then errand it." Chuck said.
"I have to do something special for Melissa." Kate said.
"Well we can start with one of these burgers. Melissa and Casey would love this place. We have to get a bunch of these to go. What else do they have here that's good?" Chuck asked.
"They have really good onion rings and fresh cut fries. I didn't get any for us because I can barely finish the burger." Kate said licking her fingers.
Back at Castle, Melissa and Sarah walked through the freezer and found a scene of chaos. There were tactical guys running around with assault rifles, and three agents following Casey around trying to get his attention. Casey was limping around giving orders, and Alex was following him around with a first aid kit. They shared a look and smirked. "You handle the tactical guys and I'll handle the agents?" Sarah asked.
"Sure I'll keep the grunts in line and entertained till we need them, but I want to be there when all the good stuff happens." Melissa said smirking.
"But of course, I wouldn't want Chuck's second in command, and head angel to miss anything." Sarah said sarcastically, but the smile on her face took all of the sting away.
"I think I smell cat nip." Melissa said smirking as she walked away.
"Casey will you sit down so the poor girl can work on you. I've got this." Sarah said waving him to a chair. She turned to one of the three agents trying to get her attention. "Okay you first. Name, rank, and what you want." She asked the handsome tall black agent in a black suit.
"Captain Richard Noble Ma'am. We put Volok in interrogation room one Ma'am." The agent said stiffly.
"Good Richard. Make sure she's secure. I want her zip tied, cuffed, and hog tied. Now what do you need?" She asked the extremely tall beautiful blond the short gray cocktail dress.
"Captain Victoria Dunwoody, Ma'am. Sidorov is in holding cell two Ma'am." She said.
"Good, I want to know as soon as he gets up." Sarah said.
"Agent Dunbar said with the mix of drugs she gave him and the tranq dart he would be out a long time, but I'll keep an eye on him for you Ma'am." Victoria said.
"Very good thank you Victoria. Now what can I do for you, let me guess, Captain?" Sarah asked smirking.
"You are correct Ma'am. Captain Jenifer Daily Ma'am. I'm in charge of the clean up Ma'am. We have all team members back, and the op. area is fully cleaned up Ma'am. We have no injuries except Major Casey Ma'am." The short slim woman in a blue cocktail dress said.
"That's very good. How many agents do we have?" Sarah asked.
"We have four agents. The three of us and Captain Dunbar, Ma'am. We also have two tactical teams of ten standing by Ma'am." Jenifer said.
"Well I want you three to get some rest. We need you three ready for another mission tonight. We need to interrogate the prisoners first so plan for the mission briefing to be in about three hours from now." Sarah.
"Yes Ma'am." Jenifer said and all three saluted before they walked away.
Sarah smiled and shook her head. She took a seat at the conference table and watched Alex put the final stitch in Casey's leg. "How are you doing John?" She asked.
"I'm fine. It wasn't even deep." Casey said waving her off.
"Alex, how is he really? Can he take part in the next mission tonight?" Sarah asked the tiny girl working on Casey's huge leg.
"It wasn't very long but it was deep. That Volok girl knows where to stab someone. If she wasn't totally drugged out of her mind she would have landed her blade a few inches higher and severed his femoral artery. He would have bled out in minutes. I gave him a little something for the pain and an anti-biotic. He should really stay off of it for a few days, but I knew he wouldn't do that so I added twice the number of stitches needed so when he rips half of them it will still hold together." Alex said wrapping bandage around his leg. "And this big bandage will catch the blood from the ripped stitches. Now go lay down somewhere for an hour to let the wound start to heal." Alex said patting Casey's leg as she re-broke his nose straight. Casey tried to swat her in the back of the head for the smart comment as he limped away, but Alex dodged it causing Casey to laugh.
Sarah laughed the byplay "You know him so well already." She said.
"I know the type Ma'am. My father was career military. He was a Major in the Army." Alex said putting away the supplies she didn't use.
"Was?" Sarah asked.
"KIA. Three years ago in Iraq. I.E.D. attack." Alex said softly.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Sarah said.
"Thanks, but I'm mostly over it now. I mean I understand the risks of service. The saddest part I think is he was so close to retiring." Alex said smiling sadly. "Can we change the subject please?" She asked taking a seat next to Sarah.
"Sure, Can I ask you why there are so many Captains in the NSA? It seams like every NSA agent I meet is a Captain." Sarah said.
"Oh that's easy. We're technically a branch of the military and the Rank of Captain represents the same pay grade as you CIA guys. So we start out as Captains and as we are promoted, we get rank bumps and that represents pay grade bumps." Alex said.
"That makes sense. So Alex, have you thought what comes next? I mean after this mission's over?" Sarah asked.
"I guess I'll be off to my next assignment?" Alex said shrugging, but Sarah detected a hint of sadness to her tone.
"There's a way for you to stay with us you know?" Sarah said.
"How?" Alex asked nonchalantly, but Sarah was a master at reading people.
"How would you like to be permanently assigned to the team?" Sarah asked.
"I would like that very much Ma'am." Alex said excitedly.
"I Think we can stop with the Ma'am thing already. Call me Sarah." Sarah said smiling at her excitement.
"Thank you so much for this opportunity." Alex said.
"Don't thank me. Chuck picked you out of the group for possible Intersect Download, and Casey signed off on you first. I was the last person to see your value. You're very smart and you get along very well with the team as a whole." Sarah said.
"Well thank you anyways. I like working with you guys a lot. This is the first time I've been on a team that likes each other. It feels more like a family around here and I like that. I like it a lot." Alex said blushing.
Melissa walked in and looked between the two. "What did I miss?" She asked taking a seat next to Alex.
"I just asked Alex to join the team permanently." Sarah said.
"Well congratulations short stuff. Now Sarah has a subordinate she can boss around until Carina comes back." Melissa said slinging an arm around Alex and pulling her close.
"Why would she boss me around? She's been very nice to me the whole time I've been working here." Alex said confused.
"Pay no attention to her Alex. She's nuts." Sarah said.
"I am not! I passed my phsy exam and everything." Melissa said making a funny face and crazy eyes at Alex. When Sarah saw it she fell into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. That set the other two off.
This was the scene Chuck and Kate walked into. "What's so funny?" He asked.
"Your girlfriend is crazy." Sarah said laughing.
"So now it's okay to joke about our relationship?" Chuck asked smiling.
"Sure. Lets start with the fact that you have a harem." Sarah said still laughing.
"I told you before we're not his harem. We just work for him." Melissa said giggling. "In fact I'm not even really attracted to Chuck. He's a bit dorky."
"For that you're not getting a burger." Chuck said putting the five big bags and the full drink holder on the table. He then took the four full drink holders from Kate.
"Did you say burgers?" Melissa asked sobering up fast.
"I did. But burgers go to girls that don't make fun of me. I'm sorry." Chuck said with a sad look on his face as he handed Alex a Styrofoam container. Melissa look confused until she saw Alex's burger. Then she looked crestfallen.
"You would take away my burger?" Melissa asked with a puppy dog eyes.
"Those don't work on me. You know that." Chuck said ignoring her and handing Sarah a container.
"They do work on you." Melissa said pouting.
"Okay fine. You know I hate the pouting. Here, I got you a rare one with extra onions." Chuck said handing her a burger.
"Let that be a lesson to you. No one can resist the pout, not even you Carmichael!" Melissa said with an evil genius laugh.
"Fine you got the burger, but what are you going to wash in down with?" Chuck asked holding up a chocolate shake with a smirk.
"Curse you Carmichael! Fine you might have won this round but the war is far from over." Melissa said giving him the evil eye.
"You know what? For your perfect evil overlord performance you get the shake. Way to stick with it." Chuck said clapping.
"Thank you," Melissa said taking a bow. "I would like to thank the academy, my mom and dad. And my agent." Melissa said holding the shake like an Academy Award. That caused the rest of them to bust out laughing.
"What's going on out here?" Casey asked limping into the conference room.
"Diner. I got you a double bacon cheese burger with extra bacon and cheese." Chuck said pulling a container out and handing it to Casey.
Casey plopped down next to Kate. When he opened his container and Chuck was sure he saw a tear come to the large man's eyes. Casey picked up the huge burger and took a bite. His eyes rolled back in his head. "My God this is good."
"Kate can you make sure everyone gets a burger and shake? I'm going to go have a little talk with Mrs. Volok." Chuck said pulling his tie off and putting his gun on the table.
"Chuck you really shouldn't walk into the interrogation room by yourself. Let me come with you." Sarah said.
"I'll be fine Sarah. Just eat your burger and relax. I think it's time Anastasia Volok met Charles Carmichael." Chuck said unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt smiling his wolfish smile before he turned and walked out.
"For the record. That's the man I'm attracted to. Any one else think he looks good enough to eat when he smiles like that?" Melissa asked staring at Chuck's retreating back.
The women at the table all nodded and Casey laughed at them.
Chuck walked into the viewing room for interrogation room one. He was shocked to find Volok wide awake, and sitting with her feet up on the table. He saw the pile of rope, zip ties and handcuffs sitting on the table. She turned to look at the camera and smiled. Chuck felt fear run through him and he had to fight down the impulse to look for a camera. But then he smiled. He knew what she was doing. He knew because he loved doing the same thing. She was trying to freak him out. She knew she had a reputation and by messing with his head before the interrogation started she would have the upper hand. She was adding to the legend of Anastasia Volok, last of the Red Children. He watched the screen for another two minutes and when she looked up at the camera and smiled again he knew he had her. He walked into the interrogation room and took a seat on the other side of the table. He picked up the cuffs. "Did you have to break your thumbs or did you use the zip tie to shim the latch?" Chuck asked smiling his predatory smile.
She held up her hands and flexed her unbroken thumbs. She then smiled at the camera.
"You know you can stop smiling at the camera. The legend of the Last Red Child is secure. You don't have to pander to an empty viewing room." Chuck said with his Carmichael smile firmly in place.
"Empty you say? So no one is watching us?" She asked sitting up and leaning over to give him a clear look down her dress.
Chuck kept his eyes on hers "I have charmed women much older and much more beautiful then you little one. That's not going to work on me. But I'm a professional just like you and I understand that you have to play every card in your deck so go ahead and make your play. If you do however then I have to make mine and you will enjoy it very much, but you will tell me everything you know." Chuck said in a voice full of calm confidence that had Volok blushing.
"You are very good Mr?"
"Carmichael, Charles Carmichael." He said smiling.
"Carmichael?" She asked closing her eyes and lowering her head in defeat.
"Yes, I see you know of me." Chuck said.
"Just whispers, nothing more, nothing less. La Cuadad?" Volok asked raising an eye brow.
"A very attractive woman. We shared a tango once, and then we danced." Chuck said playing with the hand cuffs with a nostalgic smile.
"What do you want to know?" She asked folding her hands.
"All I want to know is why you're here." Chuck said.
"I'm here because you drugged me and kidnapped me." Volok said smiling.
"If we're going to play games I can just get the information I want the old fashioned way." Chuck said softly as he rubbed his thumb over her wrist.
She blushed and pulled her wrist away. "Fine, no games. I'm here to kill Victor Sidorov." Volok said with a look of pure hatred burning in her eyes.
"Does your government know you're here to kill Sidorov?" Chuck asked.
"No. They do not know." She said looking down at her folded hands.
"So you're AWOL, and on a revenge mission?" Chuck asked.
"Yes. Are you going to report me to My government?" She asked.
"Why would I do that? No I'm thinking we can come to some kind of agreement." Chuck said.
"Agreement?" Volok asked.
"Yeah sure, why not? You said something about a trade before you passed out. What did you mean?" Chuck asked.
"I'm AWOL as you just said. If I go back to Russia I won't go to some prison, I'll be killed. Well first I'll be handed off to some very bad people to be raped and tortured but eventually they will kill me. So I can never go home. This does not bother me because I have nothing there. I have no family, as you said I'm the last of the Red Children. I have watched as my brothers and sisters died. I have no love for my country. I would like to, how you say? Switch sides." Volok said.
"You say you want to switch sides. What do you mean by that?" Chuck asked leaning back in his chair.
"Well you know my reputation. You know my legend as you said. I can tell you most of it is true. I've been active for nine years. I have over one hundred confirmed kills. My name is whispered in dark shadows by the underground enemies of the Russian Government. You saw what I did to you and your friend, I could have done a lot more. I have been trained in the art of death from before I could read and I have used those skill with devastating results. Those skills will be yours from now on. You have but to point me at a target and give me the word." She said with a predatory smile on her face.
"And what do you want in return, I mean besides killing Sidorov? Why do you want to kill him so bad anyways?" Chuck asked.
"You know about the Red Children program, but do you know who started it?" She asked staring off in to space.
"A rouge KGB group." Chuck said.
"Victor was a member of this group. He was in charge of our care. Lets just say he liked little girls and we can spare each other the very bad details." Volok said wrapping her arms around her chest.
"I understand." Chuck said looking sick.
"You would let me kill him?" She asked.
"I would." Chuck asked.
"There are laws and rules in this country no?" Volok asked.
"There are, but you see Victor has a lot of information. Information he is not going to want to give up. So I'm going to put you in charge of his interrogation. I'm thinking it's going to take at least three or four days to get every little bit of information out of him. I think one of these interrogation sessions is going to go very bad for him. I don't think his heart can take that much stress. It's unfortunate but it happens." Chuck said looking at the table. "I need your word that you will get everything from him. The only way I can spin this is if we get everything out of him before he's dead." Chuck said looking her in the eyes.
"It will be as you say." Volok said.
"I need your word. Look me in the eye and tell me you are going to follow orders." Chuck said pinning her in place with a look that pierced her Hard shell and examined her very soul.
"I will follow orders." She said returning his stare.
Chuck held her gaze for a very long time and when she looked away first he knew he had her. "Good. Now lets talk about after you finish your interrogation. We are in the middle of a very important mission. I'm technically undercover right now. I've infiltrated a group named Fulcrum. Have you heard of them?"
"I have. A rouge intelligence agency working for the fall of your government." She said.
"Right. In about two weeks we are going to execute simultaneous missions all over the country at the same time. One part of one of these missions is the extraction of one of our fellow agent's son. His name is Scott and he's a student of computer engineering at UCLA, and he's unaware that his room mate is an assassin assigned to kill him. I want you to get close to him and take out the assassin." Chuck said sitting back in his seat.
"You want me to shadow the assassin?" She asked playing with the rope in the table.
"No, I think Scott's going to meet a nice Russian girl at school." Chuck said smiling. "Yes, I think a Russian foreign exchange student is going to be taking the same classes as him. I think she's going to sit next to him and flirt with him. I think he's going to take her out to lunch and there in that public place when no one is watching she's going to tell him who she is and why she's there. I think they are going to maintain a cover of boyfriend and girlfriend until the day comes for the missions. After you get him out and kill the assassin I want you to bring him back here and join Casey on his mission. You will back him up." Chuck said.
"So I have to pretend to be a college student?" She asked making a face.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Chuck asked with a smirk.
"Yes, I do not have the knowledge to be in college. I barely can read or write English. I was never educated in computer whatever. Can't I be some random girl he picks up at a bar?" She asked making a pitiful face.
"No I don't think so. Besides you can use your lack of knowledge to get close to him. Ask him for help with your homework." Chuck said laughing.
"Fine, but I get to chose my next cover." Volok said.
"Whatever you want." Chuck said holding out his hand.
Anastasia shook his hand and the door flung open and Melissa came in holding out her hand. "Hi I'm Melissa! Were going to be working together. This is going to be so much fun!" Melissa said smiling.
"I have to work with her?" Volok as Chuck.
"She gets less annoying as you get to know her, and she's not always this perky. She just ate a big meal. she tends to be giddy after a big meal." Chuck said smirking.
Melissa smacked him in the back of his head. "Shut up. No one likes you. Now go away so I can get to know the new girl." Melissa said. "So tell me about yourself Anna." Melissa said sitting in the chair Chuck stood up from.
"I do not like the name Anna." She said making a face.
Okay then I'll call you Stasia." Melissa said.
"I don't like that name either." She said.
"I'd stick with Anna, she's going to call you one of the two and at least Anna sounds good." Chuck said laughing.
"What are you still doing here? Go away!" Melissa said waving him out the door. Chuck shrugged and left. "About time. Now we can really talk. So is there a Mr. Russian assassin?" Melissa asked.
"No there is not." Anna said eyeing Melissa like she was crazy.
"Well, we'll just have to find you one. It can't be Chuck though, he's off the market." Melissa babbled on.
"I don't like you. You talk too much." Anna said.
"Well that's not very nice. I don't know if you know this, but if you want to work for Chuck then you're going to have to work with me. I'm Chuck's second in command." Melissa said standing up.
"In that case then I guess I can live with the name Anna." She said sitting back in her seat and pouting.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I think me and you are going to be great friends." Melissa said pulling the smaller woman into a big hug.
Chuck walked out of the room shaking his head. He was sure Melissa was crazy before, but to talk to a trained killer like that? She was certifiable.