Hello again. I can't believe it's been six months to the day that I started this story. This was just a crazy idea I had once that I thought I would try while recovering from my hospital stays. Now it seems to have taken on a life of its own. Once again, I really want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this. Your kind words (and those viewing statistics) have definitely been the ray of sunlight during a very rough patch in my life, and I wanted everyone to know how much I appreciate it.
I struggled with how I wanted to cover Carina's past, which we will delve into in this chapter. It's a touchy subject, no question about it. Please feel free to say if I did it right or not. I tried to write is as best as I could, but I had to concede having zero experience with the situation.
Carina will have a big presence in this chapter and will have a larger presence later in the story. In fact, the first part of this chapter I switched around so it was about Carina and Sarah. I wanted to minimize Jimmy in this chapter since he was front-and-center in the last one, but he does have one big scene, which I hope plays for laughs (and meta-references). And I did manage to preserve a few items from Chuck vs the Seduction in this one and even took the suggestion of Marc Vun Kannon to include a"Grosse Pointe Blank" reference. So, thanks Marc!
As always, the parts that are canon are the property of NBC and Fake Empire Productions. Also, I should warn you that it might take some time to get out the next chapter. This is a big section coming up and it involves Jill, Chuck's ex. Please feel free to give me any suggestions you may have regarding that plotline. I have a few ideas, but I can always use more.
Enjoy this chapter and please leave reviews. Thanks!
O.C. Studios – Hollywood, CA
January 13, 2016
10:30 AM PST
"It's over, Dominic."
Jill Garrett stood as Dominic O'Brien kept his gun pointed at Jen Burton, who was on the ground and dazed. A million thoughts raced through Jill's mind as she stared down her former partner and ex-lover, who faked his death to join a rogue group of spies. The team located their hideout, but Dominic managed to get away with Jen in tow.
"I wanted you to come with me," Dominic said. "I really did. But I knew you didn't have the stomach to do what we do. You see things in black and white."
Jill shook her head. "Not black and white. I see things as right and wrong. Maybe I'm not the smartest spy in the world, and maybe I'm not the bravest. But I'm still willing to do what needs to be done. I wish I knew why you lost that."
Dominic cocked the gun. "Because it was time I started to look out for me. After all I did for this country, I deserved a big reward!"
"And your big reward was killing civilians and threatening my friend as you are right now?" Jill looked at him with complete scorn. "I know the score, too. But at least I wouldn't hurt innocent people just because I'm mad at the world."
"Nobody's innocent," Dominic seethed.
"Don't do this," Jill almost pleaded. "Don't make me hate you forever."
Dominic hesitated for a moment, slowly pointing the gun in the air and away from Jen. He then turned the gun back to Jen and tried to pull the trigger. Jill quick-drew her gun and shot him in the shoulder. Dominic dropped the gun and fell to the ground clutching his arm.
Jill stood above him, her gun still aimed at him. "Please don't…"
Dominic looked up at Jill and gave a malevolent smile. He reached for the gun. Jill fired twice at Dominic. He fell back and stopped moving.
Jill looked away and shut her eyes as she tried to rein in the conflict within her and suppress the emotions she was feeling. She put her gun away and held out her hand. Jen took it and stood up.
"Are you OK, Jen?" Jill quietly asked.
Jen nodded and squeezed her hand. "I'm fine, Jill. I'm more worried about you. For you to have to do that…"
Jill shook her head. "That wasn't the Dominic I remembered. I wish I knew why he turned."
"It wasn't because of you. That much I do know. Anybody would be lucky to be with you. I know I'm lucky to have you as a partner and a friend."
"Duke isn't," Jill replied.
"Bad example. I mean, Duke thinks Dirty Harry is a wuss," Jen replied with a smile.
"Good point."
The two walked away from the lifeless body of Dominic.
"And CUT!" Director Allan Kroeker shouted. "Great work, everyone!"
Sarah and Carina went back and helped Dwayne Walker, the actor who played Dominic, to his feet. "Nicely done," Carina said
"Thanks," he replied with a smile. "I finished my work on the Suicide Squad set last week. What you guys do here is impressive. And everybody is really nice."
"Well, we try our best."
Dwayne turned to Sarah. "This is the most fun I've had in a role. And you guys are so talented. If I didn't know any better, I would think you're real spies."
Sarah smiled. "Oh, we get that all the time. It's so embarrassing. We're just regular overworked, underpaid actors. Or is it underworked, overpaid actors?"
Dwayne laughed at that one. "Take care. It was great to work with all of you."
Sarah and Carina watched Dwayne walk away as Jimmy joined them. "Not again," Carina said, exhaling in frustration.
Jimmy nodded in sympathy. "One of these days, someone's going to be determined to figure this out. And they'll do the full Lois Lane to catch us."
"Lois Lane?" Sarah gave him a weird look. "I can't tell if you've been a bad influence on Chuck or Chuck's been a bad influence on you."
"Superman II." Jimmy replied with not a little irritation. "You two were just born when that came out. Lois jumps over Niagara Falls to try and prove Clark Kent was really Superman. And eventually she found out he was when he put his hand into a fireplace and didn't get hurt. But Superman erased her memory at the end. Which, ironically, I wish he had done to me after I saw Superman IV: The Quest for Peace."
"What is someone going to do to prove you're a spy, Jimmy?" Carina asked in disbelief. "Shoot you dead?"
"I'd be OK with that." Sarah gave him a smack upside the head. "Hey, have you seen my IMDb page? I swear, there aren't enough bridges in the world for all the trolls on it."
Their phones beeped. Each of them saw the text message from Casey telling them to return to the hotel to conference with General Beckman. They left the studio and headed for Jimmy's car, who drove an SUV as opposed to the Porsche and Ferrari that Sarah and Carina drove.
Hotel Amarano - Burbank, CA
January 13, 2016
12:00 PM PST
Chuck and Casey watched Sarah, Carina, and Jimmy enter the conference room.
"That took you long enough," Casey nagged as he checked his watch.
Carina pointed to Jimmy. "It's not our fault he drives slower than my grandmother."
"We had an early shoot today and I didn't have my daily dose of caffeine," Jimmy growled, downing half of the extra-large coffee he bought on the way. "Christ, I dive fourteen floors into a pool just to get some goddamn intel, and I still take crap for it the next morning. I'll just bet Beckman takes the cost of that Armani suit out of my pay."
"I'm not going to do that to you, Agent Slade." Beckman's image came up on the monitor.
Jimmy stared at her in surprise. "And I thought beating the Russians in Lake Placid was a miracle," he said quietly.
Beckman ignored his gibe. "We've confirmed the information from Chuck's flash and corroborated it with the intel Agent Slade managed to obtain last night. Chuck's instincts were correct."
The monitor switched to a top-secret schematic. "Mark Ratner is an engineer at Winthrop-Keller Aeronautics and has clearance to extremely sensitive plans for future weapons technology. Picture the next generation of F-22 Raptors. Essentially a superbomber."
Everyone turned when Casey gave a grunt of excitement…and everyone winced.
"We suspect Ratner will trade the technology to Banacheck in exchange for the Cipher. But at this point we do not know if Ratner is part of Fulcrum or wants to sell back the Cipher for a higher price. Your mission, Agent Walker, is to go to the reunion with Chuck and hide in plain sight. Find the Ratners and try to obtain any additional information you can. Once Chuck has ascertained how the transaction will take place, the rest of your team will move in and stop the deal."
"Respectfully, General, I wish to recuse myself from this mission," Sarah replied. "My cover has been compromised."
"Agent Walker, you have preexisting social history with the target. It seems to me like you have the perfect cover."
"But it's not a cover, General. It's…me."
"Then I hope you will enjoy yourself in San Diego."
The screen went blank. Sarah stood and turned on her heel, heading towards the door.
"I cannot believe this," she said to herself, although everybody heard it.
She threw the door open hard and stalked across to her own room. Chuck, Casey, Carina, and Jimmy looked at each other.
"Someone really needs to talk to her," Carina said quietly.
"I've got this one," Casey said, straightening his shirt and walking towards the door.
"Yeah, that's what you said about Morocco," Jimmy quipped.
Casey knocked on the door to Sarah's room. "What do you want?" she asked in irritation as she opened the door.
"Be glad I'm the one who came over," Casey said without an ounce of sympathy. "Chuck's been badgering you about your past all week, and Slade would have ripped you a new one for doing exactly what you yelled at him for doing the other day."
Sarah huffed in frustration and went to sit on the bed. "And what tact are you going to take?" she asked disdainfully.
"Professional," Casey ground out. "Beckman's right. You have a better cover than the rest of us. If Banacheck sees Slade, we're dead. And she'll be suspicious if she sees Carina or me because we would have no business being at that reunion. But you went to that school. She won't put two and two together and think you're a spy."
Sarah looked at the ground and nodded. "You're right. I have to do this. It's just…"
"Look at it this way, Sarah. It doesn't matter what you were then," Casey said, his voice much softer than it was a moment ago. "You're going back as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. I don't care how bad high school was for you; this is the ultimate payback."
She looked up at him. She knew he had switched out of his agent persona when he started using her first name. She remembered him doing that quite often after Bryce left. Casey would never admit it, but he was just as loyal to her as a friend as he was as an agent, and he was the most loyal agent she had ever encountered. Even if he didn't always show it.
She stood and gave him a little smile. "Thanks," she said, giving his cheek a gentle caress, which earned her a quiet growl from him. Clearly, he switched back to being an agent rather quickly.
~/^\~
"It was probably a good thing Casey went. I don't think she'd be happy seeing either of us right now."
Chuck and Jimmy remained in the conference room going over the schematics of James Buchanan High School, trying to figure out the best way to surveil the place. Carina had left to go to the NSA office to work out some of the transportation logistics and to acquire a car for Chuck and Sarah to use to drive to San Diego.
"Well, I know why she wouldn't want to talk to me right now," Jimmy said. "She wants off of a mission after yelling at me the other day about it? But what did you do to earn a spot in her doghouse?"
Chuck exhaled and went over to the couch in the suite. "I was pestering her about her past and she got all bent out of shape over it. She even threw a pencil at a picture of me. And made it stick. I have to admit: I peed a little on that one."
"Dude…" Jimmy shook his head in disbelief. "How many times must you do that? I told you agents never like to talk about what happened before they became agents. Most of us are good at our jobs because we walk into this with a serious chip on our shoulder. Me? Hell, I walked in with an entire Pringle's factory on mine."
"I just…I just want to understand where all of you are coming from."
"You're better off not knowing. You already opened that can of worms once with Casey and Ilsa. Luckily that turned out the way it did."
"Other than Casey and me falling sixteen floors into a pool and you tearing half of your groin?"
Jimmy shrugged. "True. But now you're trying to find out about Sarah's past and she does not want to talk about it. Plain and simple. I get where she's coming from on that. All of us have these horrible stories from our childhood."
"Even Carina?"
Jimmy stiffened in his chair and then nodded. "Her, too. Never ask her about East Grande, Texas. Under any circumstances."
Chuck shuddered as well, his mind replete with horrible scenarios that Carina may have gone through in her youth. "What about you?"
Jimmy stared out into space. "Pretty much everything until eight years ago is out of bounds. All the way back to my birth."
"Well, you said you had the Intersect in you for twenty years, so that's pretty bad right there."
Jimmy shook his head. "My problems began way before then."
Chuck stared at him. It was obvious Jimmy's past was something that caused him great pain. He didn't want to press him about it, but he had to ask Sarah if she knew anything about Jimmy before he joined her team. His own childhood was not easy, but he had Ellie, he had Morgan, and he had people who liked him. Perhaps Jimmy didn't have any of that.
"Can I ask one question?" Chuck inquired, to which Jimmy nodded. "What is this whole thing about Sarah being on Ellen?"
Jimmy shook his head. "Can't tell you, sorry."
Chuck watched a little smile grow on Jimmy's face. "Oh, come on. Clearly it was something embarrassing and not painful or you wouldn't be smiling right now."
"I ain't telling you. I'll end up with a pencil through my ACTUAL head instead of just a picture."
Chuck's smile became wider and grew quite devious. "You know I can figure this one out, Jimmy." Chuck paused for a moment. "Hold on. Both of you were on Ellen last May. That has to be it!"
"Will you stop already?"
"Please, give me one good story. It was only seven months ago. How bad could it be?"
Jimmy shook his head and quietly rumbled. He knew Chuck wasn't going to let this go.
"If Sarah finds out I told you this, I will end you," Jimmy said, pointing a wary finger at Chuck.
"I promise. Now what happened?"
Jimmy exhaled. "Sarah's been on Ellen a few times. I think Ellen has a mini-crush on her. Maybe it's because Sarah looks a bit like Ellen's partner, Portia deRossi. I don't know. Anyway, she does the show in May and she's the first guest. Now up until that point, everything was fine. The audience had fun, Sarah and Ellen had great banter, it was all good."
"I remember now. Then they had on those Australian girls who do those YouTube videos where they lip-sync in their car."
Jimmy nodded. "SketchShe, yes. Anyway, the girls are getting ready to do their routine in a car they built on the set for them. Ellen drags Sarah back out there to join them in the car and do a song. And Sarah's scared to death. She thinks she tanked that Jimmy Fallon thing last year, and she starts talking to the SketchShe girls. Except for some reason, she's so nervous, she doesn't talk in her own voice."
Chuck stared in confusion before figuring it out. A huge grin came to him. "You mean…"
"WORST Aussie accent you have EVER heard in your life!" Chuck started laughing hysterically, and even Jimmy couldn't hold it in. "She made the Outback Steakhouse voiceover sound authentic. Nails on a chalkboard are a more pleasant sound. If we ever have a mission in Melbourne, we're leaving her home!"
"Oh, man! I would have paid anything to have seen that!" Chuck exclaimed.
"They stopped taping. Sarah's mortified, the SketchShe girls are embarrassed, and Ellen is pissed off because she hates to re-tape anything, but they didn't have a choice. They had to find a way to salvage this."
"And that's where you came in?"
Jimmy nodded. "I was two studios over being interviewed on The Talk. I finished over there and one of Ellen's producers flies over on this tricked-out golf cart and tells me to get the hell in. Then he tells me they need my help with fixing Sarah's appearance on their show. They rush me into makeup, put a boatload of gel in my hair and style it, then they put a big cheesy mustache on me and have me wear a tight t-shirt. They stick me backstage and set the scene up again. Ellen's in the front of this prop car with the brunette SketchShe girl, Shae-Lee, and Sarah's in the back with the two blonde ones, Madison and Lana. But nobody's in the driver's seat of the car. Ellen's DJ starts the music, and I walk out there."
Chuck nodded and grinned. "They dressed you up as Freddie Mercury."
"And never told Sarah or the audience, so when I came out, everybody started screaming. I walked slowly to the car, pumping the crowd up, who was clapping along to We Will Rock You. I got in the driver's seat and started lip-syncing the song. Sarah, Ellen, and the SketchShe girls did their moves, lip-synced the choruses, and the crowd went crazy."
"Morgan said that was one of the coolest thing he had ever seen on a talk show. How did Sarah react after it was all done?"
Jimmy smiled. "I believe her exact words were, "You tell anybody about this and I'll cut off your balls". And then she gave me a hug and said thank you."
They both turned when they heard the door open. Sarah and Casey entered.
"Chuck, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sarah asked him.
"Sure, no problem," Chuck replied and headed for the door.
"And Jimmy, get the surveillance van ready with whatever you need. You have to stay in that thing the whole night. No matter what."
Jimmy nodded. "Or you'll be kicking my can all over the place."
Chuck snickered at that, and Sarah stared in anger. She grabbed Chuck's hand and pulled him to her room.
"Jimmy told you about Ellen?" she snarled. Chuck shied into a corner. Sarah went to her dresser and pulled a knife out of the top drawer.
"Whoah, whoah, wait!" Chuck couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Don't go hurting Jimmy. It's not his fault. I kept badgering and badgering him to hear that story."
Sarah flung the knife towards the opposite wall without even looking. It destroyed a picture of the two of them at Comic Con dressed as Princess Leia and Han Solo.
"OK, and please don't kill the Intersect, either," he squeaked.
Sarah slammed the drawer shut and sat on her bed. Chuck shook his head in frustration.
"I don't get it," Chuck said. "You want to inflict damage on Jimmy because ONE TIME you were nervous on a talk show and he had to help you out? So you were nervous. Big deal! If anybody really cared, don't you think everybody would have heard about this by now? Ellen didn't say anything, her crew didn't, the SketchShe girls didn't, and not a single audience member said a thing! And I'll bet I know why, too! Because they love Sarah Walker! You're one of the biggest stars in Hollywood but you're also one of the nicest! I mean…that is unless you're dealing with a terrorist or someone trying to kill innocent people, then you're not-so-nice. Which is a good thing too, actually."
Chuck sat down next to her. "You told me on the beach you trust your team and they trust you. You said I could trust them, too. And you were right. All of you have kept me safe the last four months. And you go out of your way to help them. You even helped me with my sister's engagement. You didn't hesitate for one second, and there's no way that was part of the deal when you were assigned to me. You did that because you wanted to do it. You wanted to help me."
Chuck could see her anger dissipate. "I'm really sorry I insisted on prying the other day," he continued. "But I just wanted to know something…anything…about you. The Sarah Walker the world knows is a great person. And the one I've learned about is even better. I just…I just wish I knew why it's so hard for you to see that."
Sarah exhaled slowly. "It's…complicated, Chuck."
Chuck shook his head vigorously. "Nuh-uh. You're not getting away with that. If I have to, I will hound you the rest of my life until I can convince you whatever you hated about your past is gone and this smart, amazing, beautiful person is in its place."
Sarah looked at him. Eventually she smiled and even gave a little laugh. "Hard to believe you and Case are on the same page about this."
"He said the same thing?"
"Essentially. He said going to the reunion will be the ultimate payback for me."
"That is a very Casey way to put it," Chuck replied with a grin, which made Sarah laugh even more. "Just trust them, Sarah. Casey, Jimmy, and Carina have your back. And I have it, too. I'm not going to let you down."
Sarah turned to Chuck and stared at him for a moment. "I think you just gave me an idea. Sasha Banacheck can't see Jimmy at the reunion, and Casey is twenty years older than us, so why would he go to a reunion, even if it is for one of his co-stars? But Carina…"
Chuck snapped his fingers in triumph. "We sell to the press that Carina didn't go to her high school reunion and we dragged her to yours to have some fun. Brilliant!"
"And now we'll have three sets of eyes on the inside with no one being the wiser."
"That will draw the crowd even more to us, and Casey and Jimmy can have more free reign over the rest of the school."
"Let's tell everybody."
Chuck and Sarah returned to the conference room to explain their plans to Casey and Jimmy.
James Buchanan High School – San Diego, CA
January 16, 2016
8:30 PM PST
The limousine drove Chuck, Sarah, and Carina to the main door to the gymnasium. Sure enough, the press release they issued regarding Sarah attending her reunion worked like a charm.
Perhaps too well, given the three were mobbed before they could even get to the door.
Shouts of "Jenny!" and "Sarah!" filled the air. Even Chuck and Carina had people shouting at them. Sarah was feeling quite uncomfortable being in the spotlight, as the attention she was getting was just as much about who she was when she attended school as who she was now. But she knew she had to sell it to give Casey and Jimmy some breathing room to set up surveillance throughout the school.
They entered the gym and split apart. Carina went towards the DJ where people were dancing while Chuck and Sarah walked hand-in-hand around the gym keeping an eye on things.
Chuck noticed Sarah's discontentment. "Hey, I said not to worry. No one's gonna mess with you. We all have your back."
Sarah nodded. "I know. This just doesn't make sense. Mark was one of the nicest kids in school. I think he even had a crush on me. Why would he commit treason?"
Chuck shrugged. "I wish I knew. People change, though. Sometimes for the worse." He gently squeezed Sarah's hand. "Sometimes for the better."
He then looked to his right. "No. Way."
Sarah turned to see a large blow-up of her high school picture.
"Wow." Sarah gave Chuck an evil look. "It's not that bad. Actually, you're very cute."
"Mm-hmm," she replied, not believing him for one second.
They continued to walk around the gathering. They spotted Heather Chandler, still walking around with her cheerleader teammates and giving Sarah the same disdainful look she gave her in high school on a daily basis. Sarah's eyes narrowed; her mind flashed back to that hallway where her locker was. How Heather and her "mean girls" loved to humiliate the students that didn't "fit in."
Across the gym, she saw Dick Duffy, tight end for the football team and a complete sleazebag at all other times. She remembered him shoving Mark Ratner into his own locker, which was right next to hers. And then he decided twisted the knife further.
Hey, Jenny. You must be getting pretty lonely with your dad locked up. Call me if you ever need a man around the house.
Sarah remembered all too well how Heather and her cohorts enjoyed hearing that.
"Hello? Earth to Sarah. Come in, Sarah."
Sarah finally shook herself out of her funk and turned to Chuck.
"There you are," he said, giving her a smile.
Sarah looked at the ground. "Just a few bad memories resurfacing."
"Happens to everyone. We always picture high school much worse than it really was. It's a tough time. Trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do with the rest of your life while constantly distracted with raging hormones."
"It was…more than that."
"OK, maybe it was. But it's back there and you're here. Look around this gym and tell me you see one person here who's doing better than you. I seriously doubt you'll find one."
Sarah took a look around. Chuck was right. How many of the people in the gym could say they were one of the most famous people in the country who also happened to be one of its best spies? And had an incredibly talented team working with her? And was holding hands with someone who was a better person than just about anyone she had ever met?
"Thanks, Chuck," she said gently, giving Chuck's hand a squeeze.
Chuck nodded towards the dance floor. "Is Carina OK? She looks a little rattled."
"This sort of gathering makes her very uncomfortable," Sarah replied, feeling rare sympathy for her best friend. "She had high school troubles of a different kind."
Sarah then observed someone walking Carina's way. "But I think I can put her in a good mood." Sarah switched on her earpiece. "Carina, at your nine. Tall blonde male."
Carina looked to her left. "Is that the guy you told me about?"
"Dick Duffy, yeah. Care to give him a little something?"
"Wow, Carina Miller," Dick Duffy said as he walked up. "I must say, you're even hotter in person than you are on the show. I'll just bet you'd go nuclear if we found a hotel room somewhere. Up for it?"
Carina gave him one of her patented 'come hither' expressions. "My pleasure," she replied, although it was meant for Sarah and not Dick.
Dick led her out of the back entrance to the gym where his car was. "My name is Dick. Dick Duffy. Might want to hear it now since you'll be moaning it all night."
"You know, Sarah told me a lot about you," Carina said innocently.
"Did she?"
"Mm-hmm. She wanted me to give you a message."
"I can't wait to hear it," Dick replied, his sleaziness turned up to maximum.
Carina smiled, stepped towards Dick, and kneed him hard in the groin. Dick doubled over in pain. Carina sent a spinning kick to his skull, knocking him out completely.
She stood over his unconscious body. "Dick," she said in absolute condescension. "You certainly are."
Carina straightened her dress and walked back into the reunion. She walked over to the bar and spotted Chuck.
"Where's Sarah?" she asked as she ordered a Jack-and-Coke.
"She's checking with Jimmy and Case. She wanted to make sure we had all the hallways covered. It's a pretty big building. There are a lot of places the deal could go down."
"And you haven't seen anything out here?"
"Not so far. I'm keeping an eye out."
Carina nodded. "Good. I must say, you've done a lot more than most of our assets. Certainly you're less of a pain."
"Thanks. Jimmy's told me a few stories of some of your more…interesting…assignments." Chuck gave Carina a long look as she started to have the same flustered look she had earlier. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "This just isn't my favorite place."
"Are you sure? Usually, you enjoy being the center of attention. It's part of the reason why we wanted you in here tonight."
Carina was starting to become agitated. "Look, I'm sure Sarah told you how rough high school was for her. I didn't have it much easier. But the circumstances were different."
"What do you mean?"
Carina snapped her head in Chuck's direction. "Nothing! Can we drop this, please?"
Chuck stared in shock. He never expected to see what was happening right then.
There were a few tears in Carina's eyes.
"I'm…I'm sorry," Chuck stammered.
Carina exhaled slowly. "Not your fault. For once, we have to babysit someone who is a very decent human being. I'm not used to that. I'm not used to them wanting to know about me. Well, anything outside the bedroom, anyway."
"Sarah has told me I'm a great listener," Chuck said quietly. "I mean, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But you're clearly in pain and you don't deserve to be."
Chuck steeled himself. "Does it have to do with East Grande?"
Carina turned to him. "Did Sarah tell you? Did Jimmy?"
Chuck shook his head. "Jimmy only told me the town, and that you don't like talking about it. He said nothing else."
Carina downed the last of her drink and ordered another. She took the drink and pulled Chuck away from the crowd. "We moved around a few times growing up. I have a younger sister, Charlotte. We were in and out of a lot of foster homes. We came to East Grande, Texas when I was a sophomore. I kept to myself, but it was one of those football towns. You know, like they had on Friday Night Lights and Varsity Blues? You couldn't really be by yourself in a town like that. I started going to parties with the football team, and then one Friday when I was a senior, I was drinking way too much and the quarterback of the football team started hitting on me. I thought he liked me, but back then I was too stupid to know any better. He takes me out back and we start making out. I only wanted for things to get that far, but…"
Carina didn't complete the sentence. She didn't need to. Chuck's mouth dropped open in shock.
"Oh, my God. That's…oh, my God. I am so sorry for making you tell me this. But please tell me you didn't let him get away with this."
Carina looked at the ground. "I tried not to, but he was the high school quarterback who was third generation at that school and took the team to the playoffs three straight years. And who was I? Just some nomad who only moved into town two years earlier. I heard it all: I was asking for it, I deserved it, I entrapped him…"
"No. No way in hell! That bastard should be in jail for what he did! Nobody deserves to go through that!"
"That happens way too often in our country. People blame the victim. The county sheriff wasn't going to keep his job throwing the star quarterback in the slammer, no matter what he did."
Chuck paused and calmed himself. "You know, I'd bet anything Casey or Jimmy would be happy to take care of that guy for you."
A smile came to Carina's face; the biggest one Chuck had ever seen on her. And unlike most of the times when she smiled, Chuck knew this was authentic.
"Those two are like the brothers I wish I had," Carina said. "Charlotte and me…we haven't talked since I enrolled at Alabama and was recruited into the Agency. She lives in Omaha now and is an office manager with a husband and two kids. But Case and Jimmy. You're right, Chuck. They would do that. John would pummel a guy for me just for taking my taxicab. I knew about that soft interior long before Ilsa returned, even if he won't admit to it. And Jimmy…Sarah's right. He's a giant teddy bear. He even saved me from that separatist group singlehandedly. I tease him a lot because I love him. Same with John. Those three are my family now. The family I never really had as a child."
"But you don't need them taking care of this guy?"
Carina shook her head. "Intelligence was not one of this bastard's strong suits. He got caught two years later trying to hold up a gas station in El Paso when he was backup quarterback at UTEP. Got five years in jail and was shanked in the middle of a prison gang fight. Honestly, I didn't feel avenged or even relieved. I was well into training with the government by then."
Chuck looked at her for a long time. "So that's what drives you on this job. You're trying to prove you're better than your past. That you won't be a victim anymore. I hate to shatter your illusions, but you were always better than that. You're on the best team of agents in the country and you deserve to be. I mean, I'm still alive because of you. You don't have to prove how good you are. You're already amazing."
"Chuck, could you and Carina come out to the surveillance van?" Sarah said over their earpieces.
"On our way," Carina replied. "Thanks, Chuck," Carina said, taking his face in her hands and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It's pretty obvious what Sarah sees in you."
The two walked to the surveillance van parked at the opposite end of the school. Jimmy slid the door open and hopped out. "Sarah wants you to have a look at the footage and see if you flash on anything."
Chuck got in the van, leaving Carina and Jimmy outside. Jimmy stretched, trying to loosen himself after sitting in the van for three straight hours.
"You OK?" Jimmy asked. "You look a little…I don't know, actually. I've never seen that look from you before."
Carina went to Jimmy and wrapped her arms around him. Jimmy was surprised but returned the hug.
"Just needed some time with the teddy bear," Carina said.
Jimmy furrowed his brow in confusion momentarily before he figured it out. "You mean Chuck got to you, too? This is unprecedented."
"What can I say? The man is an expert at being a good friend."
"I'll bet you're really happy now about taking care of Gruber."
Carina nodded. "Thanks for helping me with that. There's no way I was going to let Sarah or Chuck's sister go through the pain of losing him. I'm just worried Beckman might pull the same bullshit stunt like Graham did one of these days."
"Not to worry," Jimmy replied with a tiny smile. "She got the message."
Casey stuck his head out of the surveillance van. "Miller, Slade, come have a look at this."
Carina and Jimmy entered the van. "Jimmy, do we have every part of the school covered?" Sarah asked.
"Every square inch," Jimmy said. "I was even watching areas nobody could get into tonight, like the main office and the football field. What's going om?"
"We haven't seen Banacheck or anybody else come in and it's 9:35."
Jimmy threw his hands up. "We're early for Banacheck. Maybe she won't arrive until exactly 9:45."
"Casey, did we have Mark Ratner watched the whole time?" Chuck asked.
"Every second," Casey replied.
"Let's go through that footage."
Casey rewound the footage of Mark Ratner at the party. Most of the night, he walked by himself, occasionally shaking the hand of fellow Cougars he remembered.
"That's weird," Chuck said to himself.
"What is it?" Sarah asked.
"Look at Mark. He's walking around like he's really there for the reunion. He isn't looking back and forth, he isn't nervous. If I was about to sell top secret data and commit treason, I'd be at least a little nervous."
Everyone watched the footage. "You're right," Carina said.
Jimmy quickly went to the computer. "I'm going to establish a link with Winthrop-Keller's network and see if any files have been accessed recently." Jimmy scanned through the information. "Nothing. If Ratner copied files, he did a helluva job covering his tracks. I can't find anything that would prove he did."
"So either we have a cold-blooded brilliant terrorist…" Chuck began.
"…or we've had the wrong person the whole time." Sarah concluded.
Sarah and Casey quickly switched the monitors back to the live feed. "Walker, take a look," Casey said.
Everybody stared at two individuals walking into the gym. Chuck had a flash.
"Those two work for Fulcrum, Sarah," Chuck said quickly.
"Get audio on Mark and Heather," Sarah ordered. Casey punched up the appropriate audio bugs. Everybody watched the two men go towards Heather Ratner while Mark stood at the other end of the gymnasium.
"Find my husband and bring him to the locker room," Heather told the two men. "The deal's going down any minute."
"Aaah, hell," Jimmy growled. "We should have known that bitch was in on this."
Sarah's eyes widened. "She wasn't going to sell files to Banacheck. She was going to sell Mark to her!"
"Makes sense," Casey replied in agreement. "The Iranians need someone to upgrade their technology. Ratner's the perfect candidate."
"We better do something right now," Carina said as she pointed to one of the monitors. "Banacheck's here with a lot of muscle."
Everybody looked at the image of Banacheck walking towards the school with four bodyguards.
"Chuck, go back into the gym," Sarah ordered. "Grab Mark and get him to Jimmy so we can get him out of here. Casey, you and Carina take care of Banacheck and her goons. I'll take care of Heather. Her name's at the top of my list of 'people who need a good ass-kicking'."
Everyone exited the van quickly and ran for the school.
Chuck entered the gym and looked for Mark Ratner. He was nowhere to be found. "Sarah, I don't see him."
"And I don't see those two who were with Heather," Sarah replied. "Check the hallways, check everywhere."
Chuck ran out of the back of the gym to the hallway that ran parallel to it.
~/^\~
"Heather?"
Sarah removed her shoes as she went down the hallway, better to not have Heather Chandler hear the click of her heels on the concrete as she walked towards the girls' locker room.
"Why did you do it, Heather?"
"Revenge of the cheerleaders," Heather called out from behind a set of lockers. "We marry the geeks because they get rich, but my husband wasn't ambitious enough. And I'm going to be rich giving him up."
Sarah walked slowly with her gun drawn. She then felt a leg kick the gun out of her hands. Heather leaped up onto a bench and sent a punch at Sarah, knocking her back. She tried to send a roundhouse kick at Sarah, but Sarah stepped back and avoided the boot. Sarah threw a hard punch to knock Heather back. Heather fought back by sending two consecutive kicks to Sarah's face. Sarah threw several punches, all of which Heather blocked. Heather then jumped down, sending a kick at Sarah to knock her down. She took the opportunity to get away from the dazed Sarah.
~/^\~
"Who are you? Let me go!"
Mark Ratner struggled against the two men who had caught up to him. They tried to carry him outside to where the deal was to take place.
"Help! Someone help!" Mark screamed.
One of the men took Mark and slammed him into a locker, knocking him unconscious and forcing the locker door open.
Jimmy walked in from the other direction. One of the men aimed his gun at Jimmy, who immediately spun and kicked the gun out of his hands. Jimmy went on the offensive, sending the man to the ground with a butterfly kick and a vicious roundhouse. The second man flew and Jimmy and tackled him to the ground. He pinned Jimmy to the ground with his knees and pounded on Jimmy's head. Jimmy kicked up and grabbed the man with his legs, pulling him backwards and off of him. Both got up quickly. The man tried to send a vertical kick at Jimmy but he ducked away from it and spun on his foot to trip the man again with an outstretched leg. Jimmy tried to get up again, but the man leaped at him, knocking Jimmy's head into the open locker. He got on top of him and planted both hands on Jimmy's throat. Jimmy struggled to break free. He reached behind him in the locker and found a pen. He flipped the cap off and plunged it into the thug's neck. Heather's lackey staggered back, choking as blood came out. Jimmy got up, threw the man's head into the locker, and slammed the door over and over until he was still.
He looked at the pen he found inside the locker that saved his life. "Try doing that with a smartphone, kids," he rasped.
Chuck came running around the corner. "What…oh my God."
Neither of them had time to say anything as Mark Ratner started to come around.
"Get him to the van, Chuck," Jimmy said quickly. "I'll go help Case and Carina."
"Wait, what?" Chuck said in shock. "What the hell should I say?"
"Don't tell him who we are! Make something up!" Jimmy shouted as he ran down the hall and out of sight.
Chuck went to Mark and pulled him gently to his feet.
"Charles Carmichael?" Mark asked in disbelief. He then saw the two bodies on the ground. "Oh, my God! How did you do that? You…you saved my life!"
Chuck froze; he didn't know what to tell Mark. Suddenly it clicked in.
"It's Special Agent Charles Carmichael," he said confidently. "Former Special Agent, to be specific. The studio hired me to be Sarah's personal bodyguard. The studio demanded the best, and the company sent me. Sarah's not even aware of it. She thinks she met a nice guy and chose to date him. I blend in with the cast and crew as best as I can."
"Wow, that's…that is amazing!" Mark followed Chuck out of the building. "But who were those two guys and why were they trying to capture me?"
Chuck exhaled slowly. "The FBI and the NSA will fill in the details. But if I were you, I'd get a good divorce lawyer.
Mark's eyes widened. "Heather? She did this?" Chuck nodded sadly. "How could I have been such an idiot? I should have known a girl that hot would never fall for me."
They reached the surveillance van, and Mark sat down in it. "It's…I'm sorry. This is stupid. I mean, how can I expect a cool guy like you to understand?"
Chuck put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "You know what, Mark? Sometimes, the nerd gets the girl."
~/^\~
Casey and Carina slipped outside by the main entrance. Sasha led her four bodyguards towards the entrance to the gymnasium.
"Federal agents, don't move!" Casey shouted as Carina and he aimed their guns.
"Ubey ikh (Kill them)!" Sasha shouted as she ran into the gymnasium. Her four bodyguards pulled out their guns and opened fire. Casey and Carina ducked down as they shot at the bodyguards. One of them went down as the other three dove for cover. Carina crawled over to Casey, who shielded himself with the side of the building. He then dove out in the open, rolling in the grass and firing away. He took out another of Sasha's men as a third one took aim at him. Carina opened fire from the side of the building, dropping that man. Casey and Carina kept firing away until they ran out of ammunition but couldn't get the last man.
"Get up," the man commanded as he walked into the open with his gun pointed at Casey. Casey slowly got up and put his hands out as Carina joined him.
"I win," the man said in a thick Russian accent as he cocked his gun.
Carina grabbed Casey's shoulder and swung into the air, knocking the man's gun away with her left foot as her right connected with the man's head, sending him to the ground.
"Class dismissed," Casey said, standing over the unconscious bodyguard.
"Thanks, Case," Carina said in appreciation. "That's the best thing about you: you're always there to lend a hand."
Casey nodded in agreement. "Or a shoulder, as it were."
"And sometimes other fun parts, too," Carina purred, giving Casey a good imitation of Chuck's eyebrow dance.
~/^\~
Sarah stepped into the girls' shower looking for Heather, who ran in from behind and delivered a kick to Sarah's head, sending her against the pipes. Sarah wrenched off one of the pipes and swung it at Heather, who ducked out of the way and grabbed the pipe Sarah managed to knock off the showers. The entire shower filled with water as the two used the pipes like baseball bats, each trying to nail the other. Sarah started to get the upper hand, knocking Heather's pipe out of her hand and then delivering a hard shot to her face. Heather ducked behind the pipes, and Sarah tried to stab through the showers with the pipe in her hands. Heather grabbed it and yanked Sarah towards her, landing a punch to Sarah's face. Heather took the opportunity to use the pipe to pull Sarah back by her throat.
"You should have been suspicious of me from the start," Heather jeered. "I mean, why would a girl like me ever fall in love with a dorky nerd like him?"
Sarah gritted her teeth. "You'd be surprised."
Sarah snapped her head back and nailed Heather in the nose. She then grabbed the pipe and pulled hard, sending Heather over the showers and hard onto the tile floor. Heather swung her leg to trip Sarah, sending her to the ground. Heather quickly got up and ran out of the locker room. Sarah got up and gave chase.
~/^\~
"Oh, no."
Chuck ran back into the school and looked for the team but couldn't find anybody. Nobody was answering on comms, either. He didn't know where to go to find them. He took a quick look in the gym, but they weren't there. Neither was Sasha Banacheck.
He ran upstairs to try to get into the gym from the upper balcony to get a better view. He still did not see Banacheck or the team. He went back to the door through which he entered, but it was locked on his side. He ran to the other doors in the balcony section, but all of them were locked. He had only two options: use the ladder at the far end to climb to the roof or jump over the railing and have all the people there see him acting crazy.
He chose the lesser of the two evils and went for the ladder.
~/^\~
Heather found Sarah's gun lying on the floor and grabbed it, aiming it back and forth.
"Now I gotta ask: how did you wind up working for the Feds?" Heather called out. "It's crazy; you play an agent on TV and you're a real agent to boot?"
Heather continued to walk slowly and look in all directions. "I mean, if you had told me in high school that Jenny Burton wanted to grow up to be an agent, I would've said "Dream, jailbird's daughter. Dream." Guess you didn't follow in Daddy's footsteps after all."
Heather turned when she heard the slam of a locker. But it was a diversion; Sarah ran at her from the opposite direction and landed a hard kick to her stomach. Heather screamed as she was knocked back into a trophy case, shattering the glass. She stood there and waited for Heather to attack again. But Heather bore an evil grin and aimed the gun.
Sarah reached for one of the throwing daggers on her leg and threw it at the large cougar head plaque above the trophy case, sending it crashing down onto Heather and knocking her out.
Sarah walked up to the unconscious Heather. "Go Cougars," she spat at her.
Sarah then heard a gun click behind her. "Don't move."
Sarah glanced behind her to see Sasha Banacheck with a gun aimed right at her.
"Let's go," Sasha said in a threatening voice, waving Sarah over with the gun.
Sasha kept a few steps back of Sarah as the two walked out to the entrance. Casey, Carina, and Jimmy aimed their weapons at Sasha.
"Bring me the engineer or your leader is dead," Sasha threatened.
"Someone shoot this bitch," Sarah ordered.
Casey approached slowly while Carina and Jimmy tried to flank Sasha, who kept Sarah close to her so none of them had a clean shot.
"I want that engineer now!" Sasha yelled.
Chuck peeked down from the roof and saw Sarah with Sasha Banacheck holding her hostage. He began to panic. Casey, Carina, and Jimmy couldn't fire without hitting her.
"Shoot her!" Sarah shouted.
Chuck took ten steps back on the roof. He then ran for the edge and jumped off. He reached for the large banner labeled "Welcome Buchanan Alumni" hanging over the doors.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as he grabbed the banner and it came down. He swung right into Sarah and Sasha, knocking both of them down. Sarah immediately got to her knees and took out Banacheck with a single punch while Chuck landed in the bushes on the other side of the doors.
Everybody put their guns away in relief. Jimmy walked over to Chuck.
"Um, Chuck? The stupid, crazy stunts? That's, uh, that's my schtick. Cut it out."
Chuck shook his head in annoyance as Jimmy helped him up. Sarah went over to him as Casey and Carina cuffed Sasha and found the Cipher in her purse.
"Chuck and I will go check on Mark. Are you guys OK out here?" Sarah asked.
"No problem," Carina replied. "And don't worry. Dick Duffy got exactly what he deserved.
Sarah smiled at her best friend as she entered the gym with Chuck. Suddenly a spotlight was aimed at her.
"And the queen of the reunion is…Jennifer Burton!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the announcement was made. Sarah stared in shock, still barefoot and with fresh bruises and a cut lip from her fight with Heather Chandler. The head of the reunion committee ran to her and placed a tiara on her head. She couldn't help but smile.
"Casey was right," she said quietly to Chuck. "Payback feels so good."
Chuck laughed and pulled her in for a hug.
Hotel Amarano - Burbank, CA
January 17, 2016
1:00 PM PST
Sarah walked to the door to her hotel room when she heard the knock. She opened it to find Chuck waiting there with a paper bag. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He then reached into the bag and pulled out a raw hamburger patty.
She laughed. "Isn't that supposed to be a raw steak? Don't we pay you enough on the show?"
"You do, but I was getting all confused," he replied as he walked in and sat down. "I mean, should have I gotten a T-bone, a flank steak, tenderloin. This was just easier." He handed the patty to Sarah, who put it over the black eye she had. "Plus, I got you a cooked one. Just the way you like it. Medium-rare…"
"…with extra pickles?" she said hopefully.
"Come on! Who do you think you're dealing with here?"
"Well, I never doubted you for a moment, Special Agent Charles Carmichael." She put the cooked burger down on the table. "I think doubting you is a very bad thing to do. I mean, look at what you did last night. You were incredible. And what you did for all of us…I mean, not even counting that very brave leap you made…"
Chuck smiled shyly and looked at the ground. "So I guess the big secret about you is that you used to be just a typical high school student." He gave her a gentle look. "I wish I knew what happened to change that…"
San Diego, CA
April 14, 1998
3:45 PM PDT
She waited for the police to leave with him and ran for the woods, finding the tree with the broken branches. She got on her knees and dug into the ground. She uncovered the box the was located there. Taking out a knife, she cut the tape off of the box to discover thousands of dollars of cash inside. There was also a note.
In Case of Emergency, Love You, Daddy.
She looked around. She had never been so scared in her life. She was on her own, and the only person she could rely on now was herself…
She sensed the presence of someone nearby. She immediately took the knife and flung in the direction of the sound. It embedded itself into a tree trunk mere inches from the source of the rustling branches. A large man in a black suit and striped tie looked at the knife and nodded in approval.
"Nice toss," he said, pulling the knife out of the tree trunk and walked over to Jenny.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"I'm the man who put your father in prison," he replied. Jenny quickly grabbed the box and backed away as the man continued to walk towards her. "The question is: who are you? In San Diego, you go by Jenny Burton. In Wisconsin, it's Katie O'Connell. And in Cleveland, it's Rebecca Franco. Funny thing is, when I looked at your birth certificate, it said your name was…"
"I get your point," she replied angrily. "What do you want?"
"Your father scammed some pretty dangerous people. I saved his life by putting him in jail.
Jenny slammed the box shut and placed it under her arm. "Well, don't expect a thank-you note."
"I can save your life, too."
Jenny looked at him for a moment. If what he said about her father was true, it wouldn't take long for these people to find her and try to kill her, too. She made a decision. She put her wrists out, expecting this man to put handcuffs on her.
"No, not that way," he said softly. "Your dad trained you pretty well. The CIA can do even better. You like names so much, hmm? What do you think about Sarah Walker?"
The man handed Jenny's knife back to her.
Hotel Amarano - Burbank, CA
January 17, 2016
1:00 PM PST
"Sarah? Sarah Walker? Hello…"
Sarah brought herself back to the present. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about her rough past. But she knew she had come a long way. Through the training, the missions, how she almost burned herself out before meeting Bryce, being promoted into this show cover, and having the most talented people in the government working with her, she knew Graham was right that day. She was a better person today than she was all those years ago in Cleveland or Wisconsin or San Diego. The last several years were the best years of her life. And the asset in front of her, who successfully melted Casey's hardened shell, loosened Carina's guarded persona, and made Jimmy even crazier than he was before, and even saved her life three times, made her appreciate all she had now.
"OK, fine," she said after a pause that seemed to take forever. "I'll answer one question about my past. You've earned that much."
Chuck sat there and smiled, contemplating her offer. "Hmmm, no thanks. I don't need to know more, not about who you were. Because as much as you don't think so, I know who you are. A girl I'd like to share a cheeseburger with."
Sarah pulled her legs up under her on the chair and gave him a big smile, which elicited that grin from him that always made her day, no matter how bad it was.
"Should I get a knife?" he asked. "I'll get…"
"That won't be necessary," she replied. She lifted her pant leg and pulled out one of her throwing daggers, handing it to Chuck.
Chuck looked at her holster in surprise. "That's awesome…and a little disturbing." Sarah laughed. "This is going to be messy. Do you want a big half or a small half?"
They enjoyed the cheeseburger together.