The next morning Chuck heard the sound of his phone ringing. "Do you hear that?" He asked still half asleep.
"Yes, make it stop." Sarah said rolling over and tossing the blanket over her head.
Chuck reached over and pulled his pants off the chair. Digging in his pocket he found his phone. "Carmichael?" He muttered.
"Chuck. You said I should bring Scott to Castle this morning, but you are not here." Anna said.
Chuck sat up and looked at his watch. It was a little after ten. "I did but we were up late last night and we slept in. How about we meet you two somewhere for coffee and brunch?" Chuck said shaking Sarah awake.
"Sounds good to me. Where do you want to go?" She asked.
"Sarah, get up it's ten already and Anna wants to meet us for brunch so we can talk to Scott. Where is a good place around here?" He asked.
"Jenny's. It's a little place on the corner. Good pancakes." She said rolling out of bed and walking to the bathroom.
"Did you hear that?" Chuck asked smirking at the fact his wife was not a morning person.
"I did, we will meet you there in a little bit." She said hanging up.
Chuck walked into the bathroom when he heard the shower running. He drooped his boxers and slipped in behind her. "Why are they meeting us?" Sarah asked handing Chuck the bar of soap.
"They want to talk about what's going on and I also thought it would be good for them to see us together. Our little assassin has feeling for Scott and I wanted to foster that relationship. I thought it was a good idea for them to see us and how normal we can be together. It will also help them if we got the two of them alone and talked them through the process of falling for a computer geek, or trained killer. They are in a shockingly similar boat to us. This is the first time Anna has feelings for a boy and from the short talk I had with him it sounds like this might be Scott's first or second relationship. If we can help them through the adjustment period then maybe they could be as happy as we are a lot sooner then it took for us to get here." Chuck said.
"I can talk to her. Tell her how to deal with a geek." She said kissing him.
"And I can tell him how to keep his sexy little hit woman happy." Chuck said letting his hands roam around her soapy body.
The walked into the dinner a half an hour late and both of them still had wet hair. They spotted Anna sitting next to a tall thin guy in his early twenties. He was only about six foot tall but sitting next to Anna's small frame he looked huge. He had messy blond hair and the same light brown eyes his mother had. When they sat down at the table they looked up and smiled. "Hey, I'm Chuck and this is Sarah. I don't know what Anna has told you about us…"
"Almost everything." Anna said cutting off Chuck. "I kept his mothers mission details a secret. Aside from that I brought him up to speed." She said.
"Hope you two did more then talk last night." Chuck said smirking.
"Not that it's any of your business but yes we did more then talk last night." Anna said taking Scott's hand under the table.
"Good, that means we can skip right along to the conversation. Have you two ordered yet? I'm starving. I could kill a stack of pancakes and bacon." Chuck said looking for the waitress.
"Only drinks we were waiting for you." Scott said.
After they ordered and the food came the conversation flowed easy. Scott was inquisitive but not overly so. His years of being told by his mother that information was classified curbed some of his need to know every detail. Chuck let Sarah and Anna handle the conversation for the most part. He sat back and watched the by play between Anna and Scott. Towards the end of brunch Scott turned to Chuck. "So, what's it like working at RI? Is it as nice a place as I heard about?" He asked.
"Better, and in a few weeks when I take over running the place it's going to be even better then it is now." Chuck said.
"You're taking over RI? That's crazy awesome! Do you have any plans for it? Are you thinking about future tech, and where you might go with the company?" He asked.
"I do. I hear you're close to graduating, I've looked up your grades and I would like to offer you a job. I want you to head up a new project called Prometheus. I have this idea for a small powerful laptop. I want it to be light, small, and fast. I want it to be good for a verity of applications. I want it to also cost less then 250 bucks to make and I want to sell it to school children at close to cost. I want to forward children's education by putting a computer in every kids hands by the age of ten. The faster we get kids adapted to new tech, the faster they'll learn and the smarter they'll be. Think about the field of college graduates in fifteen years. Think about what we can do if we hired the top one percent of those gradates to work in the R&D lab. The future of tech will be carried on the back of RI and I was hoping you would help me do that." Chuck said.
"I think you're a genius Chuck. I can't believe RI hasn't started doing something like that already." Scott said.
"I wouldn't say that but now that I have your attention lets talk starting salary and perks." Chuck said.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Come on Anna, lets go order some stuff to take back to Castle with us." She said waving the smaller girl away from the table. When they were out of ear shot of the table Sarah turned to her. "How are you feeling with this new relationship? I hope Chuck isn't pushing you to go out with Scott?" She asked taking a seat at the counter.
"No, in fact I'm grateful for his coaching and words of encouragement. Last night was the best night of my life. We laid in bed together and talked and he held me close to him and we kissed." She said blushing.
"Kissed? That's all you did?" Sarah asked.
"Yes." Anna said.
"Then what's with the blush? I know you've done more with other guys. What's so special about kissing" She asked waving over the waitress behind the counter.
"It was different, soft and worm and, different! I don't know how to explain it!" Anna said in a huff.
The waitress walked over. "Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes we would like to order some food to go and pay the check." Sarah said ignoring Anna and letting her stew in the words she just said.
"Sure thing, what would you like?" The waitress asked pulling out her pad.
"Let see who's going to be at the office?" Sarah muttered. "Let me have four bacon cheeseburger combos with strawberry milkshakes and are those pie made in house?" She asked.
"They are."
"I'll take an apple and a cherry pie with that." Sarah said.
"Coming right up." The waitress said walking away.
"Now what were you saying about the kissing?" Sarah asked looking at Anna.
"I said it was special." Anna said looking put out. She figured if there was one person that would understand her it would be Sarah. She was with Chuck after all.
Sarah saw the look in her eyes and smiled. "That look, the one that no one understands you, or what you have with Scott is something that can not be faked. Something that comes with finding something for the first time. Women like us, killers, and… seductresses. We are trained to not feel anything when we are intimate. We are taught to shut that part of us off. And after a while we think that will never happen for us. We will never feel something for a man again. Not with someone nice and loving and genital. It took me a long time to let Chuck in to my heart and my bed. For a long time I watched him put himself out there. Telling me how much he cared for me. How much he loved me. When I look back on that time I feel horrible about how I treated him. Never returning his feelings, or even trying to meet him half way. We lost almost two whole years of being together because I didn't know how to give him what he was giving me. And to top it all off I used him for his love and warmth. I used it to sleep better at night. To heal the parts of my soul I didn't even know were broken. He doesn't even begrudged me that time. The use of his trust and love. Because there is one universal truth when it comes to relationships between us and them. We are both very insecure. Them about having someone that looks like us and us having someone that can look beyond the training and see the real us. The girl that was ugly in high school until she was trained to be what you see before you. The little girl without a childhood, and in need of love more then anyone. That's something you're going to have to understand. It's not the looks, or the training. It's not even the skills we have in bed that make them fall for us. It's the girl under all of that. And that love does something to us. It touches us in a very special place." Sarah said smiling an open and happy smile, one she kept for Chuck.
"Yes. I understand that. The way he looks at me. The way he touches me. Like I'm going to run away if he says the wrong thing. If he stops paying attention to me one hundred percent. And his touch. So soft and warm. Last night was the most intimate night of my life and we both kept all of our clothes on." Anna said glowing.
"Well get used to that kind of feeling because it's going to happen a lot. The geeky ones always give way more then they are comfortable receiving." Sarah said flexing her eyebrows.
Back at the table Chuck was talking about starting salary until the two women were out of ear shot. "Good, now that they're gone we can get down to business. How did it go last night?" Chuck asked.
"What?" Scott asked trying to keep up with the conversation. "What about the job offer?" He asked.
"What about it? Your mom practically runs RI, she says you're top of your class, and you're family so what's there to talk about? You will be hired straight out of school at the top salary with an apartment in Roark Tower, and a company car. If I don't your mom will kick my ass so you have nothing to worry about. Now how did last night go? Did you two talk or did you go right for the sex? Was she as wild as she looks? I bet she fucks like a honey badger." Chuck said smirking a dirty looking smirk.
"HOW DARE YOU! I should kill you for talking about her like that! Do you have any idea what she's been through? She's not a sex toy!" Scott said standing over Chuck.
"Scott, Sit down please." Chuck said calmly. Scott kept looking Chuck in the eye. "Scott, I'm the one that told you all of this last night remember? So take a seat and we can talk. You are drawing attention to yourself and me." Chuck said calmly but there was a core of steel in his eyes one that told him he better sit before Chuck made him sit. He didn't know it but that was the look that would get things done for the team in the future.
"Right, sorry about that, it's just she told me things last night. Things that happened to her when she was younger. I, I don't like what you were implying." Scott said coolly.
"I understand. I would never say the things I just said to you for real. I was testing your feelings for her. It was a way to judge whether this was going somewhere or if I was going to have to put a stop to this. Now that I know your intentions are noble I can help you keep on her good side. Help you form a stronger bond. Loving a woman like Anna can be very hard at times. Her job requires her to do questionable things. Before she was working with us she had to do things that would have made being in a relationship with her hard, now that she has a team working with her the worst thing she might have to do is flirt with a guy, maybe some kissing but I doubt even that. I say this to you now because one day she might have to go on a mission, and when she comes home smelling like aftershave and her lips are puffy I don't want you to react the way any normal guy would react. I want you to think about the fact that her training shuts off any feelings she might be having when she does those things. I can tell you from experience that making out with a mark brings the agent absolutely no pleasure what so ever. Last night I flirted with a stunning blond German spy. I talked her into going up to my room. Told her things to make her excited. And got all the way to second base with her. At no point during that time was I the least bit turned on by her. In fact I had to stop her from touching my junk because I was totally limp. I'm telling you this not to scare you off, or freak you out, but as a heads up. If you don't think you can handle that type of situation then perusing this relationship might not be in your best interest." Chuck said.
"I don't think I would have a problem with that as long as I didn't have to see it. If I saw something like that I don't know what I would do. I don't think I could sit there and watch it happen." Scott said looking deep in thought.
"I understand where you're coming from. I've sat through it before and it's hard to watch. The next thing you have to remember is she's a trained killer. That doesn't mean you can't have an argument with her but it's a fact that you have to keep in the back of your head always. She won't kill you if you two disagree on something but you have to remember that until you two got together she would have killed you for pissing her off. You will see it in her eyes every once in a while. The look of her thinking of the ways she could kill you. Anna's been in the game longer so she might not tip her hand as much as my wife does, but it's something to look for. It will scare you when it happens the first few times but you get used to it after a while." Chuck said smirking.
"Right, no pissing her off, and if I do, watch for the eyes. Was there anything else you thought I should know?" Scott asked rolling his eyes.
"Scott, I know this might sound funny to you but the truth is I have a lot more experience with this sort of thing. Close to two years trying to get her to the point she's at now. Two years of hard work and a lot of nights thinking this is all for nothing. I can tell you that feeling will happen at some point. One day you're going to fight over something and you're going to feel like crap and the thought of: Is it all worth it? Will cross your mind. The answer for me is yes. For me, being with her is worth almost anything." Chuck said.
"So far you've done everything to dissuade me from going out with her. Is there any upside to this at all?" Scott asked looking freaked out at this point.
Chuck smiled. "The upside is you get to wake up next to her every morning and know she loves you so much she would overthrow a small country to protect you." Chuck said nodding to the two women walking back to the table.
"Right, there is that." Scott said smiling.
"What have you two been up to while we were gone?" Sarah asked sitting on Chuck's lap and kissing him.
"Nothing much. Chuck was telling me about RI." Scott said putting his arm around Anna's waist seeing as she was just as tall as he was when she was standing and he was sitting. "I'm going to be working there when I graduate, and I'm going to be living in Roark Tower."
"Good. We'll be neighbors then." Sarah said.
"What's in the bags?" Chuck asked thumbing through the bags Sarah had in her hand.
"Something for the team, it's not for you. If you're good I might let you have some pie, it's fresh made." She said slapping his hands away.
"Did you say pie?" Chuck asked looking excited.
"Chuck you just eat a huge stack of pancakes. How can you still be hungry?" She asked shaking her head.
"Well it's pie. There's always room for pie. And I thought we would spend the day together before you had to leave and I had to go back undercover." Chuck said wiggling his eyebrows before kissing her neck.
"Chuck! Not in front of the kids!" She said pushing him away.
"Don't mind us, it looks like a good idea." Anna said kissing Scott.
"See they don't mind." Chuck said.
"Yes, but I do. Lets get out of here before the food gets cold." Sarah said hopping up off his lap. "Let's go." she said walking towards the exit.
"Fine but I get you the rest of the day." Chuck said walking after her.
"We better go after them." Anna said.
"We will but first." Scott said turning her around and kissing her softly. "But first I wanted to say that I think I'm falling for you. I know it's not cool to say it so soon but I think you need to hear me say it as much as I want to say it." He said smiling.
"I feel the same way about you too Scott." She said and Scott's smile got bigger. She might not have said the words back but he was sure he was going to beat Chuck's record of two years by a long shot.
The rest of the day was spent at Castle for Scott and Anna, but Chuck took Sarah back to her hotel room around two and they weren't heard form again until morning. At nine Sarah dropped them off at Chuck's car Melissa got out and talked to the two agents that took their vacation for them. Chuck looked at Sarah. "The next time I see you we are going to be on the other side of this mission." Chuck said.
"I know. Then we can take some down time and work on getting our lives back together. We need to plan our wedding. We need to recall your sister and Awesome. We need to move into Roark Tower. We have to look at RI and see where things need to be fixed and what jobs we're all going to be doing. We also have to bring that tactical nuke back to the US without being seen. We have so much work to do Chuck. This mission is only the beginning." Sarah said.
"But we have a whole team of professionals we can rely on to help us get things back on track." Chuck said.
"True, now all we have to do is hope they all make it out alive." Sarah said darkly.
"They will. I know they will. We have the very best of the best and we have a leg up on the enemy, they don't know we're coming and I'm personally going to make sure the very worst of the worst die a very painful death. I have back up. You have back up. The whole team has back up. You just better worry about getting your job done and the rest of the team will do the same. By Wednesday of next week we will all be back in L.A. ready for the next obstacle. Now Kiss me, and go before I lose my nerve and try to stay with you longer." Chuck said pulling her in for a heart stopping kiss that left them both dizzy and happy. "See you in seven days." Chuck said getting out of the car.
"Chuck! Wait!" Sarah called out getting out of the car.
"Yeah?" Chuck asked turning to her.
"The ring." She said pointing to his hand.
"Right." Chuck said looking down at his hand. "I almost forgot. I think I'm getting used to it being on my hand." He said pulling it off. "Hold on to this for me will you love?" He said tossing her the ring.
Sarah caught it. "I will. I love you Chuck." She said smiling.
Chuck pulled on his sunglasses. "I know." He said smirking. He took two steps before turning back to see her shocked face. "It would have been such a bad ass move to just go with that but you know that isn't me." Chuck said taking off the shades. "I love you too Sarah. See you in a week." He said walking to his car. Sarah smiled and shook her head. He was a geek, but he was her geek. She got back in her car and drove away without looking back.
Chuck heard her go and as she left the smile dropped off his face. "You ready to go back?" Melissa asked.
Chuck turned to her and all she saw was Carmichael. Chuck smirked a wolfish smirk. "Lets go be bad guys." He said putting on his sunglasses.
"I've been waiting all weekend for you to say something like that to me." She said reading the briefing the agent left for them.
"So where did we go Sugar?" He asked.
"Wine country. Looks like we hit a few vineyards. Got drunk and spent a lot of time in our hotel room." She said with a hint of sexy to her voice.
"Did you work it out with your father? It's the reason we are coming back early after all." Chuck said.
"Yeah I coordinated with Jenifer and she briefed my family and a local hospital my sister-in-law works at. They called 911 this morning. She called me right after they got settled in the hospital. I booked a flight out of LAX in three hours." She said.
"You won't need it. You are going to be flying a Fulcrum G6 and you will have a car on the tarmac waiting for you. We want this to look like an unplanned event. How are you with the water works?" He asked.
"Really good. Should I start now?" She asked.
"Yeah. We want you to look like a mess by the time we hit the lobby. I called Jordan they should be meeting us at the lobby. They will just be going to RI when we get there. I want him off balance, and confused. We don't want him seeing through the lie." Chuck said as they approached Roark Tower Chuck checked his watch and pulled over. "We have six minutes. I want to be blazing up the driveway when they hit the lobby." Chuck said handing her a small vile. "Put some of this under your eyes. It will make your cheeks really red. Sarah gave it to me." He said.
She took out the swab and rubbed some of the clear oil on her cheeks. Instantly she started crying uncontrollable. "What the hell is this stuff?" She asked between sobs.
"She said it was a CIA trick. Like ipecac for your eyes." he said looking at her face.
"Well it fucking works. I haven't cried this hard since Bobby McCann broke up with me in the sixth grade." She said blowing her nose in the tissue.
"Okay," Chuck said looking at his watch. "It's go time. Hold on to something." Chuck said putting the car in gear and screaming out of the parking space. He punched it up to sixty and power slid around the corner and into the driveway. He spotted Roark and Jordan walking out. She pulled her gun and tracked the car as Chuck slid to a halt by the front door. Chuck put the car in park and hopped out. "Jordan! Man am I glad you're here. Come and take Melissa up to our apartment." He said waving her over.
Jordan put her gun away and ran over to the car. "What's going on Chuck?" She asked.
"Her dad's in the hospital. They called her about an hour and a half ago. She needs to be on the next flight out of LA headed for Chicago." Chuck said helping Melissa out of the car. When the two of them went into the building Chuck turned to Ted. "Sorry about all of this Ted." Chuck said walking over to him.
"No that's fine. What's going on?" Ted asked.
"We were fooling around in our room at this nice vineyard when she got a phone call from her mother. Apparently her Dad had a really bad heart attack. He's in the hospital right now. He's having open heart surgery and her mother doesn't think he's going to make it. She started freaking out on me, packing our bags and yelling for me to get the car and check out. We were on the road before she got the whole story out. She needs to get to Chicago to see her father before it's too late." Chuck said shaking his head.
"What can I do to help?" Ted asked seeing how stressed out Chuck was. This was something he could not afford right now. He needed him calm and ready to work. He had agents coming to LA from all over the country and he couldn't have Chuck agitated right now.
"I need to get her to Chicago as soon as I can." Chuck said.
"I can have a jet sitting on a runway in ten minutes." Ted said pulling out his phone.
"Really? You don't have to do all that Ted. I'm sure we can book her a flight out." Chuck said.
"Don't be crazy Chuck. You're my top priority. That extends to her as well. I can get her to Chicago in a few hours. I'll have a car waiting for her to use and we can have the best doctors look her dad over." He said.
"I'd hold off on that last one. You don't want unanswerable questions after all. Questions like how did she afford the best heart doctors in the country? Lets get her to Chicago first and we can go from there." Chuck said patting Ted on the shoulder.
"Good thinking Chuck." He said making a phone call.
Melissa came out with Jordan. She was still softly crying. She latched on to him as soon as she saw him. "Ted is going to have a private jet take you to Chicago. Hopefully your dad will get through this." He said.
"You can't come with me?" She asked.
"I'm needed here. We are so close to cracking this thing. We have a big download on Saturday. I need to make the last few adjustments. If I don't get this right I could hurt a lot of people." Chuck said holding her.
"I understand, but I would have really liked you to come with me." She said.
"I Wish I could, but I can't, I'm needed here. Maybe after Saturday I can fly out and meet your folks." He said rubbing her back.
"I'd like that Chuck." She said kissing him.
"I have a jet sitting on the runway, and a car waiting at Midway airport. My driver can take you to the airfield right now." Ted said waving them over to his BMW 745i.
"I can't take your car Ted." She said.
"Nonsense. Jordan can take me in her car, or Chuck can take us." He said handing her into the car.
"Thank you so much Ted." She said. Chuck tossed the suitcase into the trunk.
"See you in a week." Chuck said kissing her one more time.
"I love you Chuck." She said.
"I love you too Angel." He said before shutting the door. When the car was gone Chuck turned to Ted. "Thank you Ted. I owe you big time for this. Let me grab a quick shower and change and I can take you to work. I want to check on my office computer anyways." Chuck said smirking.
"Good idea. We'll wait in the lobby." Ted said.
"I'll be back in fifteen." Chuck said grabbing his bag with his clothes without them seeing the two bags full of tactical gear and guns. Fifteen minutes later Chuck was back down in the lobby dressed in a black three piece suit and his computer bag. He was also carrying a black duffle bag.
"Carrying a lot today Chuck?" Ted said.
"It's a tool kit I put together." Chuck said reaching into the bag and pulling out a kit with small screwdrivers and a drill. "I'm going to take a look at the auditorium today and see what I need to make this all work for the download. I bought some tools incase I have to make any modifications to the equipment." Chuck said tossing the bag into the trunk.
"You didn't need to buy tools, I'm sure we have those at RI." Ted said getting into the back seat.
"I know but I'm a bit of a neat freak and I'm picky when it comes to things like that. I'm going to be working on computers that will house the Intersect. I don't want anything messing with those. One wrong step. One wrong calibration and I could cook a bunch of agent's brains. For the sake of being overly careful I'll use my own tools." Chuck said getting behind the wheel.
"I see your point. Better safe then sorry." Ted said nodding.
"It's my mantra for this whole thing. Now following that same mantra I'm going to book it to RI. This car isn't armored like your car so the faster we make it to RI the better. Buckle up Ted this is going to be fun." Chuck said revving the engine a few times before dropping the M5 into gear and punching it out of the driveway.
They came screaming into the parking garage. Chuck drifted up to the top floor and screeched to a stop next to Ted's parking spot. Chuck and Jordan hopped out all smiles but it took Ted a few seconds to get his heart to slow down and his legs to work. Chuck used his disorientation to grabbed his computer bag and the two duffle bags full of guns. Ted never noticed the two bags, even when they were standing in the elevator.
At noon Chuck came up to Ted's office and stopped at Jordan's desk. "Is the boss busy? I need to talk to him." He said.
"He's free." She said rolling her eyes.
"Good, can you have these things brought to the hallway outside my office. It looks like I'm going to have to do some work to the auditorium after all." He said handing her a few sheets of paper.
"Sure thing Chuck." She said looking over the pages. She saw a list of computers and parts on the first page and the next two pages were a detailed account of what happened over the weekend, including the new development of Scott and Anna. When she read that her eyes narrowed. "I might come down there to talk to you in a few hour to see if you need anything else." She said curtly.
"I thought you might. How about we do a late lunch in about an hour?" He said looking at his watch.
"Sounds good to me. I'll bring you something for the cafeteria." She said.
"You're the best Jordan." Chuck said touching her hand as he walked by her desk.
Chuck walked into Ted's office and plopped down on the couch. "Well I'm glad I looked over the system in the auditorium. I need to add a bunch of stuff to the system in the booth and I'm going to end up daisy chaining a bunch of computer towers together to run the Intersect off of. We want to spread the work load over a few motherboards so we don't blow the system." Chuck said.
"Whatever you think we need to do, do it." Ted said.
"I figured as much so I have Jordan gathering all the things I need. I'll start modifying the computers in my office today and I should have it all in place by this time tomorrow. I'll start moving the files I need for the core program onto the system the day after and I'll have the whole thing ready for a test run by Thursday. I think we should do the test run on Jordan Thursday. I'll turn the speed down and see if she makes it out alive. She'll probably have to stay with me for a few days after that. I want to monitor her for any signs of brain damage, or stress." Chuck said.
"Why Jordan?" Ted asked.
"Well I was going to use Melissa but with her gone I need another test subject I can work with. She has NSA stress training and is the most physically fit person I know. If she can't handle the stress of a download then how are the other agents going to fare? Plus I've observed her behavior and I know how she acts so I can detect any changes in her better then anyone else." Chuck said.
"But she should make it out of this right?" Ted asked looking a bit worried.
"She should. I can tell you that stress on the heart and brain are the leading cause of subject death. I would leave her alone for the next few days. Maybe even let her stay with me for the week. I can keep her calm and relaxed. Warm baths, massages, wine, cuddling. You know the CIA romance training. It's the shit I've been using on Melissa. How do you think I turned an airhead NSA hooker into a well oiled assistant? I've cultivated that relationship from the second I met her. Yesterday I could have gotten her to turn in her own mother to Fulcrum. With the health scare her father is going through it fucked up all of my programming. It's why I had to play the sympatric boyfriend earlier. You think I really want to meet her folks? After this is all done I think I'll take Kate or Sam on as an assistant and send Melissa back to her old job. I can't have the bitch so clingy. Next thing you know she'll start getting jealous of the other women I fuck and I can't have that." Chuck said making a face.
"I see. I never knew you could do that. I never even thought about the way she acted around you. Can you teach me how to do that sort of thing?" Ted asked.
"I'm sure I could. They taught me how to do it, and I was a loser computer geek before I learned." Chuck said shrugging.
"Alright then lets do this. I'll tell her she has to keep you happy this week leading up to the big download." Ted said.
"Sounds good to me. I'll see you around Ted. I have to go back to work. I've got a lot of shit to do and not a lot of time. Jordan can keep working with you during the day but I'll take her home at night and give her the Carmichael treatment. Hopefully you'll have a supper assistant by the weekend." Chuck said smirking a very dirty smirk before he walked out. As soon as he crossed the threshold and the door shut he let the smile fall off his face and he shook his head. He really wanted to kill that guy. He was going to take pleasure in extracting every bit of information out of him.
An hour later Jordan knocked on Chuck's door. Chuck answered it and smiled when he saw her standing there holding a big sandwich. "You're a Godsend. I'm starving." He said taking the sandwich and waving her into the office. Chuck cleared a bunch of computer parts off his desk and the second chair. "Have a seat. As you can see I've been busy." He said waving at the piles of computer guts.
"Yeah I see that. What's with all the parts?" she asked pulling a salad out of her bag.
"Roark is many things but stupid is not one of them. He's seen my lab. He's even tried to hack into my system and figure out what I'm doing. Without my laptop he can't see shit, all he sees is the monitors with gibberish on them. It would take him and a team of computer nerds a few weeks to figure out they mean nothing. He might not know all of that but he knows what each one of those computers can do. So I have to build a system with the equivalent computing power output so he believes it will work on Saturday. Really I'm taking the six towers you got for me apart. Stripping them of their guts, putting flashing lights and fans in them to make them look like custom gaming PC's, and sticking all of the tactical gear we need for the raid inside of them." Chuck said pulling an MP5K out of the bag and putting it on the desk next to the empty computer tower.
"Won't he think to look inside the tower?" She asked.
"No he won't. He can't take any chances by fucking with the system. He knows that one wrong step and it could mean the death of all of his good agents. Every time I talk to him I keep telling him that and by now it's imbedded deep in his brain. It's also one of the reasons he's going to let you sleep in my apartment for the week and take it easy on you. He thinks you're my test subject. The key to making sure I don't fry his guys. So no more servicing him. Your days of being under his thumb are over." Chuck said going back to his sandwich.
"Are you serious?" She asked looking like she was going to cry.
"I am. You'll be spending more time with me over the week, and you'll be living with me. You'll leave with me this after noon and tonight I want you to pack a bag, you're going to be staying in my apartment. You will still go into work with Roark. But if at any time he gets on your nerves or he gets too handsy come down here. I told him the best chance you have of making it out alive was to be calm and relaxed. Today or tomorrow we will stop by Castle and get you uploaded. On Thursday we will spend most of the day in the auditorium. We'll head back to the apartment at around one or two in the afternoon. You'll take Friday off to 'rest'. That evening you will prove you have the information Intersect in your head by flashing a few times. You'll fake fatigue and we will call it a night early. Saturday is the big day. We'll stage the upload at 10 AM when the rest of the teams will start their raids. By 10:15 AM the agents will be fried and Roark will be bound, gagged, and hidden under the stage in the Auditorium. Then we'll gear up and take out the guards I want to hand off to an NSA clean up crew and head back to Castle to monitor the other teams by noon." Chuck said.
"Wow you really have this whole thing mapped out." Jordan said looking shocked.
"What do you mean?" Chuck asked looking up at her.
"You have this all planed out to the minute. You're like an evil genius." She said.
Chuck started laughing. "That's what Sarah and Melissa say. I don't know if I should start taking offence to it." Chuck said smirking.
"I'm not sure. I can say that if you ever went into a life of crime you'd be unstoppable." She said laughing.
"Yes well, most of the things I've done in the past three weeks have not been legal." Chuck said.
"True."
"Now lets get down to it and cut the bullshit. What do you want to know about Anna, and her relationship with your son?" Chuck said smiling.
"I only want to know one thing, is she good enough for Scott?" Jordan asked looking down at her fork.
"That's a loaded question because there are so many ways to answer that. Is she good enough for a geeky good guy like Scott? Yes. Is she good enough for your son? Maybe. I think you are always going to be the harshest critic of the woman Scott is with. I can tell you that she's a Red child. The last one left actually. She's a stone cold killer and a master of interrogation. I can also tell you she was abused by her handler when she was a child and he was probably not the only one. You know the stories of those children. I can tell you that until two days ago she never felt anything for a boy. I can tell you that she has locked on to Scott like a drowning woman to a life vest. I can tell you that she's beautiful, loyal, and desperate for a boy like Scott. She is very damaged and in need of a lot of work but she has my stamp of approval and she's as dedicated as they come. Is she good enough for Scott? Yes she is." Chuck said.
Jordan looked shocked for a few seconds before smiling. "Okay. That's all I wanted to know." She said laughing. "Wow Chuck that was a lot of… I don't know what, but it was a lot." She said.
"Yeah I know. For the past few days I've been doing a lot of what the great cappen' Reynolds would call Speech-a-fyin'. I think it comes with being the brains of the operation." Chuck said finishing the last of his sandwich.
"I guess so. What are we doing later tonight?" She asked.
"Well I was think that maybe we could stay in tonight and watch some old movies and cuddle up on the couch. Maybe drink some good wine and share a cheese plate?" Chuck said going back to his work on the PC tower.
"What movie did you have in mind?" She asked smiling. He did know how to treat a lady she thought.
"I've downloaded a few Audrey Hepburn films because I know she's your favorite. I also have a few rom-coms we can watch. I figure we'll be spending a lot of nights this week in the apartment. I know you like to stay in so I've planed with that in mind." Chuck said pulling the mag out of the MP5K and stuck the gun, the mag, and a big silencer inside the computer tower. He took two hard drives wrapped them in a wiring harness and stuck it in the tower as well. He put the side cover plate back in place and flipped the tower back upright. "Now lets see if this works." He muttered pulling the cover release bar in the back and the side plate fell open and the gun flopped out. He nodded and put it back together. Now he only needed to make four more.
"Where did you come up with this?" She asked smiling. He was a lot like her son when he wasn't playing the Carmichael hard ass.
"I've been working on PC towers for years. Customers bring them in with all kinds of stuff stuck inside. On time we found a huge rat nest. Another time we found a whole colony of ants. But this idea came from an old lady. She brought in her small PC complaining it couldn't go on the internets anymore. Her words, not mine. So we take it apart and we find a huge brick of white powder and a glock17. Apparently her gang banger son hid all of his illegal contraband in it before the cops took him away. Since then me and Morgan have talked about building one of these to hide really cool shit at the Buy More." Chuck said ripping the guts out of another tower.
Jordan stood up to leave. "Wait, before you go, you should check your gear. See if it all fits and is up to your standards. We have a week to fix it if it's not. You don't want to run in to any issues the day of." Chuck said holding up a black bag.
"Sure Chuck, what do you have packed for me?" She asked.
"Tactical vest, extra Sig229, MP5K, and a few extra mags for each as well as suppressors. I have the same set up. I also added a tranq. gun and a few mags for it just in case we have to take someone down without killing them. I wouldn't worry about it too much, I've seen the list of men he pulled to run security that day and the world would be a better place without any of them. It reads like a dishonorable discharge file. All of them are bad news." Chuck said.
"How many are on the list?" She asked.
"Thirty." Chuck said with his head inside the tower he was working on.
"Thirty! That's a lot Chuck. Are we going to be able to handle that many by ourselves? Can't we call for back up?" She asked adjusting the straps on her vest.
"I did, you're my back up." Chuck said looking up at her.
"And you can take out thirty guys?" She asked.
"I can. Three days ago I took out four in a firefight in a matter of seconds. I don't think this is going to be all that hard. They will be stationed around the building to cover the exits, the lobby, and the auditorium doors. We have the element of surprise and by Saturday the ability to be total killing machines. The hardest part will be to take out the guards in the lobby so we will save them for last. We'll take out the guy guarding the second floor balcony and toss a few flash bangs over the railing. They'll be gone before they even know what hit them." Chuck said holding up two flash bang grenades.
"Wow Chuck, that was as well thought out as everything else you do." She said looking excited and a little bit turned on.
She always had a thing for two types of men. Ones that could get the job done, and ones that could plan something like this. Chuck, it seamed, fell into both of those categories. She was never one for having a 'Man' nor was she ever going to be a kept woman, but sitting across from Chuck and watching him both plan out the mission and handle an assault weapon she could see the allure of it all. She could really see what Walker, Barns, and Brown were so taken by. He even had Glass hot and bothered. She would never go with Chuck, or try to push for sex, that was a moment of weakness the time she asked for it, but she thought about how it would be to climb into bed with him every night for more then just sleeping and some cuddling. A shiver ran up her spine and she blushed as she felt her body respond. Ditching the vest and the gun on the desk she turned to the door to ovoid looking Chuck in the eye. "They're good to go. What time are we heading back to the Tower?" She asked walking to the door.
"Around five. I'll be done by then." Chuck said looking up.
"I'll meet you in the lobby at five then." She said walking out of his office.
"Huh, I wonder if I said something wrong? She left rather fast." Chuck muttered to himself before shrugging and going back to work.