A/N: DC here...so some of you all want more original stuff, and in this chapter you get it. I get it, this episode suuuuuuucks, but guys, it's us...we'll get you there. The reveal in next chapter, but we kinda deal with when it happens. (In all seriousness, me, King Fluffy as some of you have crowned me, I had a blast writing on the next one.) As Steampunk says, trust. We'll get you there. We gots a plan, fam.
Hey, Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks for reading still! -SC
Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck, but we are willing to listen to anyone who wants to offer it to us.
She'd been followed.
Sarah had spotted the tail in her rearview mirror, looming a few cars behind her on the freeway, then following her onto the off-ramp. The same car had followed her all the way to Maison23, and then it had inconspicuously driven past the driveway that entered into the back parking lot. She knew it was a ruse, that whomever it was had a good chance of coming back, perhaps they were even watching the building.
Who was following her? She didn't know. But they weren't at Chuck's apartment complex in Echo Park anymore, so at least there was that. She'd much prefer them here with her. She could handle them.
When they didn't show up at her room after another fifteen minutes, Sarah decided to just take a shower. Either they'd left, or they were outside and wouldn't be a worry until she had to leave again in the morning.
And she needed a shower. She felt like she smelled like pizza. But there was also the fact that standing under that powerful hot spray of gloriously filtered water just opened up her brain. And she had a lot to think about.
She had lied to Chuck about Bryce...and then not at the same time. She'd said she and Chuck weren't really friends, which was half-true. They had about as much trust in each other as partners should—but of course she knew now that hers was misplaced. But were they friends? Maybe sometimes. She didn't know now. She'd still lied. She could pick her answer apart as much as possible, and the blatant lie would still be there.
That was her job, though. To keep the asset safe.
That didn't include emotional safety, though, did it? She knew her superiors didn't care a rat's ass about whether or not Chuck was happy. Casey didn't care if Chuck was downright miserable, most likely. As long as the Intersect was in one piece. As long as North Korea didn't take Chuck before they could pry that program from his brain.
She did care. Because he hadn't asked for any of this and it was heinously unfair. And he was a genuinely good person, the type of person they were supposed to be doing all of this stuff for in the first place, right? The ops, missions, projects—they were supposed to be for people like Chuck Bartowski, his sister Ellie, Devon, even jealous immature people like Morgan Grimes.
Not only that, but there was a chance knowing about her and Bryce's extra connection outside of just working missions together would screw with Chuck's psyche. Or he'd be angry with her, or he'd feel betrayed because that was how men were, and he'd stop trusting her. None of this would work if Chuck stopped trusting her. She didn't want jealousy to have any part in this. But she especially didn't want any distrust between them.
Knowing she'd slept with Bryce would sew the seeds of distrust and she'd have the worst luck getting him back on her side. She couldn't keep him safe if he didn't trust her.
She was sure she'd done the right thing. It would have been more self-serving to tell him the truth, to say it was just sex, that there was maybe a small thread of warmth there, but that it wasn't anything more than that. Reassure him that love hadn't been a part of it. But she didn't owe him that, and she couldn't stand there begging him to understand she had no real feelings for Bryce outside of physical without also expecting him to glean some hope from the fact that she was so desperate for him to understand. The kind of hope she absolutely could not let him have.
So yes, it would have been selfish for her to explain that, even though she wished he knew. It'd make it better—all of it—if there was full honesty.
There was also what Morgan had said—much to Chuck's dismay—about Bryce stealing Chuck's girlfriend. He'd "sexed up his girl". Was Bryce the type of guy who'd steal a friend's girlfriend? And that was the thing, wasn't it? She didn't know. Because she hadn't really known him, even if sometimes she thought she did. And he absolutely hadn't known her. They'd kept to themselves mostly during missions, and while she'd known he was a good spy—a good marksman, a good fighter, smart, quick, fit—she hadn't known what sort of a person he was. Charming, sure. A bit snarky sometimes, but she'd liked that about him for the most part. She'd liked him. She just didn't know him.
Maybe Bryce was the type to steal a friend's girlfriend. She didn't exactly put it past him.
Either way, after what he'd done to Chuck, and the things Chuck's family didn't even know that held much worse consequences for him, she couldn't toss the fact that she'd slept with Bryce onto the pyre that was currently his life. It would hurt him. She simply didn't want to hurt him.
She wrapped her robe around her bare form and tied it shut before leaving the bathroom again, tossing her clothes onto her suitcase in the closet, and walking back towards the bathroom. But then she stopped and eyed the fish swimming in its bowl. And she stared at it.
It occurred to her that she could make some sort of poetic analogy between herself and the fish. Trapped in its bowl, swimming back and forth dutifully, no real place it was going to, just...continuing to move...back and forth. But that was stupid. It was just a fish. It didn't care as long as it ate.
Maybe she could name it. Or she'd make Chuck name it. He was the one who bought her the food for it when she'd let it slip she got a fish on a whim. He'd shown up at their meeting place outside the Wienerlicious a few minutes late and plopped the little orange container down on the table in front of her. "Just don't overfeed it, okay? That's how most pet fish die," he'd said.
She walked up to the bowl and smiled a little, leaning down and tucking her hair behind her ears. Then she grabbed the fish food and sprinkled just a bit in the bowl for it. Him…? Her? She didn't know. Maybe she'd give it a gender neutral name. Or she could just call it Ariel. Like the mermaid.
Sniffing in amusement, she set the food down and straightened to her full height again, watching from the top as the fish slowly nibbled at its food floating on the surface of the water.
As she walked away, she pulled her hair up on top of her head and finally made her way back to the bathroom.
It was as she pulled back the curtain and turned on the shower that she saw what she'd half been waiting for. The person who'd followed her from Chuck's apartment, who'd most likely been watching through that back porch window, was slowly slinking into the bathroom to get the jump on her. She could see their reflection against the silver water spout.
Oh, they were in so much trouble…
She calmly glanced to the side and spotted one of her nylon socks draped over the towel rack from yesterday. She inwardly thanked her moment of messiness and pulled it off of the rack, then reached into the shower and subtly but quickly slipped the bar of soap there inside of the sock.
She kept her eye on the reflection and watched them slink closer and closer...and just when they looked ready to pounce, she spun and swung her makeshift weapon. They ducked it but she quickly whipped it back in the other direction and cracked it right between their shoulders.
They emitted a feminine sounding grunt as she smacked it into their lower back then. And then she stepped back and eyed her opponent, looking for them to broadcast their next movement.
Their leg came up towards her face but she pulled the sock taught and used it to block the kick, then she blocked another kick, and when her assailant came around with their right fist to crack it into her ribcage, she caught their wrist and wrapped the sock around it, yanked them towards her, and slammed her knee into their chest.
She stepped to the side and shoved them hard towards the tub, sending them clattering through the curtain and smacking hard into the wall. Sarah didn't hesitate for a moment, dashing out of the bathroom and making a beeline for her purse on the bed where she kept her gun. She grabbed it and spun, but she'd been followed. Before she could get her shot off, they kicked her gun out of her hand and sent it flying across the room, out of reach.
And when their leg swung back around, Sarah knew. She'd had an inkling when she realized her attacker was a woman, but she knew now. She ducked easily, having seen the kick coming a mile away, and she swung hard with her right.
She blocked both of Sarah's punches, and took advantage of the opening the CIA agent left, slamming her boot into her midsection and sending her staggering back into the table pushed against the wall by her bed.
But as she caught herself, she found plenty of makeshift weapons around her. She'd thought they were weird, stupid pieces of decoration when she'd first moved in, but she'd never been more grateful for a weird, stupid piece of decoration as she wrapped her hand around the tall bottle-shaped thing and swung it down towards the other woman.
She sidestepped fast enough and the makeshift weapon slammed into the coffee table, shattering a few of the glasses there. Before she could attack again, Sarah swung her weapon again, this time crashing it down on another surface, glass bursting and flying everywhere as she missed.
Her assailant she was one hundred percent certain she knew now staggered to the side to avoid being smashed, knocking into the fish bowl and sending it thunking onto the ground. Sarah had a momentary flash of vengeance go through her at the sight of the fish flying out of the bowl and she took a rage-filled swing at the bitch, leaving herself completely exposed as the woman in black kicked her weapon out of her hand and charged towards her.
Sarah staggered away and spun on her heel, weaponless this time. She just lunged at her, tackling her to the ground hard. They wrestled one another, Sarah getting the upper hand first, then losing her grip and ending up on her own back. She was done playing the game though, and she pinned her assailant onto her back again.
She was caught by surprise when an elbow slammed into her nose, sending her sprawling onto her back in pain. She felt the blood drip from it immediately. Shit.
Sarah lifted her head to watch as the DEA agent turned onto her stomach and grabbed the fish from the floor, tossing it back into the bowl and standing it up again. Trying to save the fish… at least she wasn't the only sap in the room.
She pushed herself up just as Carina turned over onto her back again and she grabbed the mask, yanking it off. Two blue eyes looked up at her, freckles, red hair, and a pissed off look she recognized well.
"I knew it was you," she panted, smirking. "You always telegraph your punches."
Carina shoved Sarah off of her and sat up. "Bloody nose says otherwise."
Damn bitch. Sarah swiped at her nose and looked at the blood on her hand. Damn hellish bitch.
"The hell is this about?" she asked the redhead. "Still Carina, I assume."
"It stuck," the other woman said with a shrug. "Agent Sarah Walker?"
Sarah nodded. Before she could ask her question again, Carina panted, "So...Sarah Walker...what brings the CIA to Los Angeles?"
"Same thing that brings the DEA here. A job." She wasn't playing these games with the trickster DEA agent. And then at the same time, as much as her nose hurt, she was almost...glad to see her. Almost.
"Well, whatever it is...looks boring."
And there she was. Sarah almost smiled at that. But she couldn't let Carina tease this time, manipulate Sarah into a place where she gave more information than she got back. Carina could only be here for a reason, and that reason had better not have anything to do with Chuck…
"All right, Carina, what is it? If you're here it means you need something."
Carina stopped, and for a moment, Sarah felt a spike of annoyance, thinking her old teammate would continue her usual ways and keep teasing, keep needling, keep flirting her way around why she'd shown up in Sarah's life again, trying to beat the shit out of her. Like an asshole.
But then Carina sighed and rolled her eyes. "A diamond," she almost growled, shrugging one shoulder with a wince. Good.
"Wow. You, uh, you looking to settle down?" Sarah joked. It was always something they both came back to when they were working together, or on those rare nights they met up to paint the town...or whatever. They mocked one another mercilessly about settling down, marriage. Because they both knew...they were both on the same page...with similarly shitty stories. They'd both most likely die in their respective agencies. Settling down wasn't in their play books.
Amusement flashed over Carina Miller's face, a hint of recognition, a shared inside joke. And then she gave a crooked grin that bespoke her usual amount of mischief. "Nah, I'm gonna steal one." She pushed herself up to her feet and reached down with her hand outstretched. "And you're gonna help me."
Sarah scoffed, ducking her head, eyeing Carina's hand through her eyelashes. She rolled her eyes and smacked at the hand instead of accepting it, then climbed to her feet on her own. "Well. Couldn't you just have called?"
Carina snorted. "That's not how I operate and you know it."
"You freaking bitch, you could've broken my nose."
"Good. A crooked nose would match your personality. Haaa!"
Rolling her eyes, Sarah turned to survey the room. "You know, I doubt the CIA is gonna cover these damages. So thanks a lot."
"Ugh, you're such a whiner, Sarah. But seriously, what is this mission you're on? Playing stupid games that require dry erase shit with civilians? BORING. What the hell? Are they marks? Is it that tall blond one? He'd make a delicious mark."
"Stay the hell away from him. Away from all of them." She realized how that sounded and she worked her jaw. "You'll fuck up my op."
"What's your op?"
"That's classified. I work for the CIA. We do important top secret work. Not your fifth tier drug bust bullshit."
"Wow, fuck you too."
Sarah smirked and gave Carina the middle finger, going over to slip her feet into her slippers so she didn't cut them on glass, grabbing her trash can, taking a magazine, and using it to start carefully swiping shards from the table into it.
"So what's this diamond, anyway? Also, don't just stand there. Help me."
"You aren't gonna talk about your op, I won't talk about mine."
Sarah snorted. "Yeah, okay, except that you just admitted you need my help, and I definitely don't need yours, soooo…"
"Shit. Good point." Carina huffed and put her hand on her hip. "Look, I'll give you the deets. But it's going through that Director Asshole of yours and the tiny general, so—"
"A briefing? Wait, they sent you here?"
"Well, the ass-whooping was my thing, but...yeah."
"You didn't whoop my ass."
"Uh huh. Okay."
Sarah glared and shook her head, going back to the glass.
"Wait a minute. I have a question, though. The hell kind of mission is this that you're on that you are working a joint deal with the NSA? Graham and Beckman getting chummy?" Carina widened her eyes. "Shit's unheard of."
God, if only she knew the insane bullshit that was keeping Sarah here. But Carina was right about Graham and Beckman. They weren't exactly friends, and neither were the CIA and NSA. It just added an extra depth to the fear Sarah had that this Intersect thing was way, way bigger than she could even imagine. And that meant...so many bad things all at once. If they were working together in this, forcing Sarah and Casey to work together, it had to be massively important. Chuck was massively important. What even was this Intersect, anyway? What was it really capable of? And what sort of effect would it have on a human brain?
She shook herself a bit. "I seriously can't say. So please stop asking."
Carina whistled. "That big, huh? Wow. Comin' up in the world, eh? That tall curly haired beanpole you were sidling up to—"
"Just drop it."
"Yikes, Sarah." She held her gloved hands up. "Just curious if he's the mark. He do something bad? You and Casey gonna pull his plug, or what?"
"Carina…" she growled, genuinely disturbed by the direction Carina's inquiring had gone in.
The other woman snorted and shrugged. "Fine. But you're gonna have to put me up for tonight. Briefing's in the AM. Apparently Director Asshole told my own administrator we're all congregating in the usual place, whatever that means."
Casey's apartment. "Get your own place to stay in," she said waspishly.
"Damn, girl. I mean, I could go back to that apartment and ask those civilians for a spot on their couch. Or in one of their b—"
"Stop. I was joking. But you aren't getting my bed. Maybe if you hadn't given me a nosebleed, you dick…"
Carina just laughed and tugged her gloves off. "So charming."
}o{
"Wait. Here."
Carina just smirked. "Where do you think I'm even gonna go?"
"Don't just burst in," Sarah said. "That's what I mean. Casey might literally shoot you."
"Oh, you have no idea," the redhead said with an almost evil snicker.
Sarah narrowed her eyes at that. But instead of responding, she pointed at the ground with a severe look on her face, earning a roll of Carina's blue eyes, and then she hurried across the courtyard to Casey's apartment.
She walked right in, causing Casey to pull his head back from where he'd apparently been watching them out of his living room curtains. "The hell you think you're doing bringing that evil harpy to this place? She could fuck up this whole op."
Weird how he'd just used the exact phrase she'd thought the night before.
"It wasn't my choice. I didn't invite her."
"Right, uh huh. Mini CAT Squad reunion while we've got shit for brains over there with the Intersect," he whispered through his teeth, closing the distance. "You think this is a game?"
"Don't use that tone with me, Major. You don't think I don't know she's trouble? Why the hell would I put her within one hundred miles of Chuck?"
"So if you didn't bring 'er, who did?"
"We did. If you could cage the tiger for a moment, Major Casey," came the droll female voice from Casey's open laptop. Casey grunted and looked over his shoulder.
Sarah followed him over to it and came to a stop. She'd already had to deal with Carina laughing so hard she cried when she saw her in her Wienerlicious costume earlier. She'd called her WienerGirl. Asshole.
And now she had grumpy Casey—an almost excessive amount of grumpiness for some reason—and two sour-faced superiors looking up at them through the screen.
"What's goin' on, General?" Casey asked, standing a bit straighter, Sarah noticed.
"Don't bite Agent Walker's head off. She had nothing to do with this. DEA requested aid on this mission, you two are our closest agents to the diamond."
"Diamond?" Casey asked his superior, before turning to exchange a look with Sarah.
Casey's door burst open suddenly and she felt his gun up by her ear as she moved to get her own, but she stopped, sighing in relief as she saw Chuck stride in, shutting the door behind him, apparently not caring much that he'd quite nearly been shot. "Guys? Guys? Did you know that there is an undercover DEA agent out in the courtyard?"
Had Carina cornered him? Had she told him she was a DEA agent? Sarah inwardly shook her head at herself as she realized how he'd known who and what Carina Miller was. He'd probably flashed. She still didn't quite understand the intricacies of the Intersect—did he flash on faces, or objects? Or was it anything in the database they programmed into the Intersect? Better question: what in the fuck was the Intersect?
"Relax. We know," Sarah said, tucking her gun back into her belt.
"Should I go?" he asked after looking at her for a moment.
Yes. Go to work. Get out of here. Get far, far away from here. Please.
"He can stay," Graham said. Damn it.
"Cool." Chuck sipped his coffee, seeming to burn his lips a little and wincing. "We doin' a thing again? She part of it?" He threw his thumb over his shoulder, obviously talking about Carina.
"Seen but not heard. We're being debriefed here," Casey grumbled.
She watched as Chuck furrowed his brow and took another sip of his coffee, as though he'd forgotten it had just burned him a few seconds earlier. She spent a moment wondering if he'd slept. She hadn't. Not with Carina in the same room, afraid the mischief brewer would sneak out and perhaps open a hatch in the earth somewhere and let the demons of Hell climb up to wreak havoc.
"The diamond is heavily guarded inside of Peyman Alahi's Malibu compound," Graham continued, ignoring Chuck completely even though he'd ordered him to stay, for a reason she still didn't understand. Why weren't they just sending him to work? What were Graham and Beckman planning here?
"He has a whole compound? What—?"
"Sh!"
"Mr. Alahi is an international financier for the opium cartel which is why the Drug Enforcement Administration has asked us to cooperate," Graham said. She watched as pictures of the diamond, retrieved stashes of opium most likely being smuggled, and Carina's dossier flashed across the screen. And for a moment, she thought this might be something similar to what Chuck saw when he had a flash. She hadn't thought to ask him what happened whenever he flashed.
"You'll assist Carina in acquiring the rock," Beckman added.
"Acquiring?" Chuck asked, making a face.
"SH!" Casey clenched his jaw at the younger man.
Sarah wondered if there was a way she could remove herself from standing between them. Then again, if she did, Casey might murder the nerd.
"You'll take Chuck to Alahi's compound. He can use the Intersect to figure out the alarm system protecting the diamond."
Sarah felt her chest constrict and she immediately looked up at Casey with as much of a oh hell no look as she dared to have on her face in front of Director Graham. Casey looked back with a similar look. At least she wasn't alone in wondering what in the hell they were playing at here.
"Set up the grab for the following day," Graham continued.
She couldn't stop herself from interjecting. "Sir. Carina is a...tremendous field agent...but…" She exchanged another look with Casey. "We can't trust her. Chuck is way too valuable."
"Alahi has friends outside the opium trade. We've received intel that he plans on moving the stone within the next seventy-two hours." It was as though Graham had literally just pretended she hadn't said a single thing. And it was already frustrating enough when he did it to Chuck, but to do it to her? She tried not to let it show in her face.
"Uhhh…" Casey shot her another sidelong look. And she hated the implications of it, but maybe they would listen to Casey if they weren't going to listen to her. "I've had dealings with Carina in the past, too. Uh…" He cleared his throat. "She can be a bit of a...wildcard."
"We're aware of what happened in Prague, Agent Casey…" Sarah couldn't help looking away and down, barely biting back a grin and instead just smirking. She could practically feel Chuck wake up beside her, his head whipping around to look at Casey in her peripheral. "...which is why you and Agent Walker will return the diamond to us. Under no circumstances should Carina be entrusted with it. We'll decide what to do with it once it's in our possession."
Sarah spotted a bit of a twitch in Graham's cheek. And she thought maybe he was growing tired of Chuck's apparent plan to ignore Casey's original chastisement that he should be seen and not heard.
"What happened in Prague?" Chuck asked, his tone droll and amused enough that Sarah was pretty sure Chuck had guessed the gist of it—as had she. She stole a quick glance at the NSA agent and watched him turn a wide-eyed, murderous look on the younger man. "I-I don't need t—I don't need to know."
"Regroup with Carina and come up with a plan to get in and out of Alahi's compound," Beckman broke in, seemingly unamused by the exchange. "Get Chuck to the diamond, he can decipher the type of security being used with the Intersect, and get out again. Tomorrow, Casey and Sarah, you'll steal the diamond back and make sure it gets delivered to us. Mr. Bartowski doesn't have to be there for that part."
It seemed almost like something of an olive branch. Of sorts. But Sarah still wasn't satisfied when they signed off, leaving the three of them alone in Casey's living room.
"Another mission, huh? Seems a little intense. I mean, I won't be there for the stealing part, so at least there's that." Chuck ran his hand down his button-up nervously and gave them a wan smile. "I'm not much of a thief."
"We aren't stealing," Casey grunted. "It ain't stealin' if you're taking it from an asshole who profits off of drug cartels."
Chuck let out a high-pitched hum of doubt and tilted his body to the side a bit. "You sure about that, big guy? You seem sure. You seem very sure," he rushed out as Casey took a half step towards him, his hand forming a fist at his waist. "May I...ask a question?"
Sarah turned to face Chuck fully, shrugging her assent.
"Um. I get this is the arrangement. You're all stuck with me because this thingy got put in my head instead of...wherever it was supposed to be. And that means you need to protect me. In return, I help you by...flashing on things and helping you with missions. I've figured that much out. And I'm-I'm ready to help. I am. As insane as all of this still feels to me, I'm ready to help. However I can." He swallowed thickly and Sarah kept her hands to herself instead of lending a comforting touch to his arm or something. "I just want to know if-if you know, if either of you know, what is…" He huffed. "What is happening to me? What is this thing? I don't have a handle on it, I can't control it. It just...happens when I see things. I don't even know what things. Sometimes it's a face, like with, um, that Carina DEA person. Sometimes a scar or a piece of jewelry… Maybe now isn't the best time for this, huh?" he said quickly when neither Sarah nor Casey responded. She imagined Casey's face hadn't even changed, the way hers hadn't...because that was how they were trained. Or at least, that was how she was trained; that might've just been Casey's face. "Yeah, we've all gotta go to work. And there's a DEA agent out there waiting for us. Um…"
He took a step backwards and she was surprised when Casey was the one who stopped him. "Wait." She spun to look at him, eyes wide. He grunted and rolled his eyes, then glanced over at his laptop screen and slammed it shut pretty resolutely. "What is it you're askin', Bartowski?"
Chuck looked incredibly surprised for a good five seconds, and then he shook himself a bit and cleared his throat, glancing at her for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Casey. "Um...okay. Okay. Yeah. Well...I feel like I'm in the dark, I guess. About everything. Like secrets are getting, uh, lobbed over my head. And I get it, to a point. A month ago, I was a regular civilian fixing electronics at the Buy More. Now I'm that but with who knows how much top secret info plugged into my brain that I can't really access unless I...um...see something and 'flash'." He threw air quotes up with his free hand. "I get why I can't know everything. But it's getting rough. I mean, I feel like a vacuum or something. When I can be of use, you're taking me out of the broom closet, and when I've done the flash thingy and given you what you want, you shove me back in again and shut the door, leaving me in the dark."
"A vacuum?" Casey asked, mockery in his tone.
"Yes. A vac—You get what I mean," Chuck snapped a bit testily, a cute pout on his face. "On the one hand, I understand it. You don't trust me with the really big top secret stuff. And those two especially don't trust me. Better to keep me in the dark. But I'm not...I'm not a tool." He swallowed hard again, his face set in seriousness.
"Haven't heard an actual question yet," the NSA agent snarked.
"My question…" Chuck took a moment to send Casey a snarky look back. "...is...I guess...can you tell me anything? Anything at all? About what this is? Because I don't understand. I don't understand how Bryce—He had to know, right? He had to know what would happen if he sent this to me. He had to know when I opened it that it'd...infect my brain. I guess. Is infect the right word? It's not like a zombie virus. What if it is like a zombie virus? Oh my God."
"Wow, okay…" Sarah grabbed Chuck by his arms. He was spiraling quick. "Chuck, this isn't one of your video games. It's real life. This has nothing to do with zombies. It's…" What was it? She could only tell Chuck what it wasn't. "It's incredibly advanced work that...intelligence agencies have been working on for a while…"
"And?" Chuck prompted when her voice died out. Why was he prodding like this, she wondered? When he knew she was in the dark too? She'd all but told him outright that she was afraid they were keeping this information from her, that Casey, Graham, and Beckman knew a lot more than she did and were actively keeping it from her. What she didn't tell him was that she feared her partnership—and the perceived more-than-a-partnership—with Bryce made them distrust her with more than that. Why was Chuck asking her?
"Hold on…" Casey's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she broke her confused gaze from Chuck's to give the NSA agent a steadier glance without even a hint of confusion, as though she knew more than she did. "You don't know what it is, do you? The Intersect."
Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "And you do?"
He shook his head just barely. "Why were you sent here, Agent Walker?"
Sarah glanced at Chuck over her shoulder and was starting to wonder if they'd both underestimated him...again. When she turned back to Casey, she raised her chin and met his gaze. "To figure out where Larkin sent the Intersect. To determine if that person was...a threat. And when it was clear he was an innocent civilian, to protect him and the Intersect."
"Did your director happen to tell you why pretty boy sent it? Or what it was?"
"He stole it from us and sent it to keep it out of our hands."
"Jesus Christ, Graham didn't tell you a fuckin' thing, did he?"
Sarah clenched her jaw and stayed silent.
"What are you CIA stiffs playing at?" She still didn't say anything as he let out a soft snort and shook his head bitterly. "Look. I know your history, I know you're dangerous even, but what I don't get is how the hell you're supposed to be able to be a handler to this moron when you're in the dark as much as he is."
"Wait...Sarah, you don't know what the Intersect even is?" Chuck asked, and she spun on her heel to furrow her brow at him. He knew that… Oh. Oh, wow. That was when she saw it. Confirmation that she'd absolutely underestimated Chuck Bartowski. So had Casey...Only, he didn't realize it the way she suddenly did.
Chuck had just opened the door for Casey to step through it. They were both in the dark, neither of them knowing what exactly they were dealing with here. And he'd potentially just gotten Casey to shed light on things for them both, without letting the NSA agent know she'd had that perhaps too honest private talk with Chuck.
She just barely stopped herself from gaping in awe at the man in front of her.
"Yeah, well…" When she turned back to Casey, she'd dropped the small smile, the wide eyes. "It didn't seem smart for me to dig. But I just so happen to agree with you." She gave a half shrug towards Chuck. "Sorry. I figured it'd set you at ease to think we both had control over everything."
"S'okay," he breathed. "It did set me at ease. At least, as much as this whole batshit crazy situation allows for it."
"This is stupid," Casey grunted, and he crossed the room, scooting a sideboard table away from the wall and opening the safe behind it.
"Wait...does my apartment have one of those, too? 'Cause Ellie and Devon are totally holdin' out on me. I've got some mint condition comics from the nineteen-thirties, still in their wrapping, and I'd feel a lot safer with them stashed away in there." Sarah turned to give Chuck a look, feeling Casey do the same. "What? Sorry I don't have super top secret files or something, but those are very precious to me."
Sometimes Sarah underestimated just how big of a nerd this guy was, she thought as she turned back to see Casey pull a file out of the safe and walk back over to them. He plopped it down on the table. "It's all in there. After 9/11, our guys and Walker's guys were told to work together again, share intelligence…" He made a scoffing grunt and shook his head. "It was supposed to make it easier for us to identify and tackle threats to our national security. Every single shred of data we had, every single shred of data the CIA had, literally everything and anything, up to the highest levels of clearance, was collected and programmed into what they called the Intersect. The Intersect is supposed to do what we can't," he said, gesturing between himself and Sarah. She knew she was gaping at him now, but she didn't bother trying to hide it. This was bigger than she could've possibly known. And she felt like she might break into a cold sweat.
"What's that mean?" Chuck asked, his voice quivering. He'd already put two and two together, she thought. The Intersect was in him now. In his brain. And the implications of that...must be numbingly terrifying.
"The NSA might've gathered one bit of evidence, the CIA a different bit of evidence...The Intersect cross-references, puts the pieces together, gives us the whole story, and...well, we catch the bad guys, stop a bomb from goin' off in a room full of important people…" He shrugged.
"And that's...that's what's in my head." When Chuck started to teeter a bit, Sarah grabbed his arm tightly. He sent her a weak, "thank you", then shook himself a bit, clearing his throat. "What's...what's with the weird pictures? When Bryce first sent me that email with the...uh...Intersect...it was a bunch of pictures of...whatever. Flowers and birds and people having a picnic…"
"The data is encoded into innocuous images. It's supposed to facilitate subliminal retention for those deemed receptive to the program. But the more we look into this, the more it seems like you got the whole fuckin' thing, kid."
Oh, God. Every last dossier, every file, every shred of information collected by two of the world's most top secret agencies was packed into a human brain—Chuck's human brain. "How?" she breathed.
Casey shrugged. "I dunno. Seems like Director Graham and General Beckman don't seem to know, either. The goal is to get it back out again."
"Why in the hell would Bryce send that to me? I don't know anything," Chuck said, thankfully keeping his voice down even though she could see he was spiraling again. "I'm not a government agent. I'm not a CIA analyst even. I'm nothing. I'm a guy working at the Buy More for eleven dollars an hour! I'm… Oh my God…"
"Larkin destroyed the Intersect after he sent it to you. So what that means is, uh, you're it, Bartowski." He shook his head. "I get why nobody wanted to tell you, since you're a civilian... and a moron." Sarah sent Casey a harsh look at that. "But I wanna know how Graham thought you'd be an effective bodyguard when you don't even know what the hell you're protectin', how big it is. I mean, this is the biggest thing in the history of the United States intelligence communi—'Ey, don't hurl on the rug, moron."
Sarah grabbed Chuck by the arm again when he looked like he might either vomit or faint. He did neither, thankfully. "Casey, maybe go easy on the intensity. This is a lot to take in. You okay?" she asked Chuck, leaning in close and catching his brown eyes with her blue ones.
"Yeah. Yeah yeah. No. Yes. Weirdly enough, I'm...relieved." She gave him a confused look. "No, I-I am. When I didn't know anything except that-that sometimes certain things made me flash and the weird thing would happen with my head and the information just...tumbles outta my mouth...that was way scarier. At least—At least I know what it is now. As big and terrifying as it is, as much as I'm realizing I'm in a lot worse danger than I ever knew...at least I know now."
He lifted his gaze over her head, his brow furrowed, jaw hard. "Thanks, Casey. For telling me. Us."
The NSA agent just grunted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Whatever. I'm not getting my ass gunned down 'cause you two don't know what the fuck all this is and do somethin' stupid."
Sarah thought it was a good alibi—playing it off like he was saving his own skin by telling them—but she had a good feeling he was just doing the right thing because it was right. And because he trusted them.
She had a lot of questions still. For example, why in the hell did Bryce put someone he supposedly cared about at one time in so much danger? Downloading that much into a human brain had to be insanely dangerous. But also, the man standing next to her had so much top secret information in his brain—if anyone ever found out about the Intersect...God, he had such a huge target on his back.
"So...this diamond, then. That's gonna be in the-the Intersect," Chuck said, looking up at them. She took her hand off of his arm belatedly, crossing her arms at her chest.
"Weren't you even listening?" Casey growled, back to his regular self again. Or, she thought, maybe he was trying to overcompensate now. He'd gone soft for a bit, and he was going to be rude and dismissive of Chuck again, to pretend he wasn't soft at all. It almost made her smile. Maybe she would, too, if the implications of all of this weren't weighing so heavily on her mind, on her conscience even.
"I just got a whole lot of really intense and scary info, Casey, so 'scuse me if I maybe forgot about literally that entire debriefing." He shrugged passive aggressively. Casey deserved it.
"You aren't flashing on the diamond. The blueprints and mechanisms of the security system Peyman Alahi is using to keep the diamond from being stolen are what you're supposed to flash on. Included in that is a way to get around the system. Tell us that, we go back the next day to steal the diamond. Easy enough."
"Right. Super easy. Mhm," Chuck murmured sarcastically. "Does, uh, does Carina know about the, um…" He tapped his temple.
"No," she and Casey barked at the same time. Chuck widened his eyes and nodded. "And she isn't going to," Sarah hurried. "Right?"
"Well, I'm not telling her," he said, flattening his palm on his chest.
Sarah turned and exchanged a look with Casey. She felt like they were finally on the same page now. And she felt...well, she felt trust there, didn't she? He'd trusted her enough to bring her in on the Intersect where her own superiors hadn't for reasons she wanted to eventually get to the bottom of. And right at that moment, she thought they made a silent agreement. Under no circumstances should Carina Miller be allowed to be around Chuck for an extended period of time, especially not alone.
"Let's get out there," she said, then, and Casey gave her a slight nod. "Carina gets...wily...when she's left unattended."
Sarah brushed past Chuck and led them all out into the courtyard, Chuck on her heels. Carina was thankfully right where she'd left her and she smiled a little as the woman spun on her heel to smirk at them, trying to pretend she hadn't been impatient.
"So this is your team…"
"My team," Casey grunted, tossing his backpack strap over his shoulder and giving the redhead a significant look. Like he wasn't about to let her screw with him again… Sarah just hoped he wasn't underestimating the DEA agent.
"Oh. Hello, Casey. Nice to see you with your pants on."
Sarah nibbled on her cheek, twisting her mouth to the side, trying not to encourage Carina too much.
"And, uh...who might you be?"
Sarah straightened her spine a bit as Carina slowly dragged her heavy-lidded gaze to Chuck. He looked up at her, eyes wide. "I'm Chu-Chuck. The new guy." He gave a weak, toothy grin.
"Really?"
"He's an analyst," Sarah said quickly, before Chuck could give Carina anything else.
"Hey, Chuck."
Shit. Oh shit. Morgan had the worst timing, per usual.
"Another member of your team?" Carina asked under her breath.
"No," Sarah muttered back. "That's Morgan, he's Chuck's best friend and a civilian," she emphasized. "Morgan!" she burst out as he stepped up next to her. "Uh, this is my friend Carina. We used to work together."
"Hello," Carina said, her voice silky smooth as she thrust her hand out towards him. Sarah already had a bad feeling about the mischievous sparkle in the redhead's eyes.
"Madam Carina…" Morgan took her hand and slowly raised it to his lips, kissing the back of it as he kept his gaze on hers.
Sarah immediately shared a look with Chuck over his best friend's head. They both knew this maybe had the potential to be trouble. She could see her worry reflected in Chuck's face. Oh, boy…
}o{
"Gather 'round. Gather 'round, boys."
Chuck looked up from his computer as Morgan strolled up to the Nerd Herd desk. He really didn't have time for what he assumed Morgan was here for, even if Jeff and Lester were intrigued by his tone.
His best friend had been strutting around the store all morning and he knew why. He'd been like this in eleventh grade after Penny Long asked him for an extra pencil during physics class. Poor guy.
Chuck went back to the online tech questions, scrolling through and making sure they'd all been answered, tech problems solved to the best of their abilities. It looked like Anna had taken care of yesterday's, and unsurprisingly, he didn't see either Jeff or Lester doing any of this. He'd have to talk to them about it. He already dreaded that conversation.
"Well...fellas...your boy Morgan has finally come up in the world."
"Impossible," Lester said immediately.
"The twelve pack I drank last night came up this morning…"
Everyone ignored Jeff.
"I met...the most incredible woman. Yes. Yes, that's right. Woman."
Chuck sighed and rolled his eyes up to look at the ceiling. He knew it.
"Eyes like flirty sapphires. Hair like spun...auburn...silk." He groaned and leaned against the Nerd Herd desk.
"Were you watching porn?" Lester asked and he turned and snickered, his eyes flashing between Jeff and Chuck as if they'd back him up. When they didn't, he sobered and turned back to Morgan. "So, like, a real live woman."
"Yes. So alive. Chuck...Chuck, man, you're the best. You introduced me to her. I mean, Sarah did. But I wouldn't have ever met her if you weren't dating Sarah." He spun back to Jeff and Lester. "She stretched her hand out towards me with this amazing...hello…" God, he'd even tried to mimic a smooth Carina voice. This was pathetic. "And I take her hand, kiss it...And I say…'Madam Carina' ...And she goes, 'Pleasure to meet you, sir'. Her eyes...her eyes, man, say...everything."
It didn't look like Jeff and Lester were really buying it either.
"Like what?" Jeff asked.
"Like Martin," Chuck said nonchalantly, looking up from the computer.
"Huh?" Lester asked, Jeff just confused...not that there was anything different there.
"She kinda got my name wrong," Morgan admitted, taking it in stride. "She goes 'Martin' instead of 'Morgan'...That's completely fine, though."
Chuck was already watching the incoming piece of shit Harry Tang make his way towards the desk by then, so he chirped, "Tang is comin'," sending Morgan off and running. The Nerd Herd supervisor then slid off of the desk where he was perched and crossed to the other counter, unfortunately being followed by Jeff and Lester.
"Morgan wasn't made to mix with the opposite gender," the permanently high Nerd Herder said, and Chuck was legitimately worried about where this conversation was headed. "Unlike me." Aaaannnd there it was.
"Chuck, how are you s'posed to get any female friction action with him third-wheelin' you all the time?" Lester asked, thankfully ignoring Jeff again.
Chuck looked up from his folder as he sat at the desk, narrowing his eyes at the smaller man. "What does that even mean?"
"...Sex."
"Can't you just say that?"
"Yeah! I mean...I could. It just...lacks…" He searched for a word Chuck hoped he'd never find. "Flavor." Dear God.
"Okay, that's my cue. I need to check on the 1420 in the back. Probably comin' back never if anyone needs me." He exited from behind the desk and made quick work of heading to the back, bringing the file for the repair to the back with him.
In spite of what he said, he made quick work of checking the laptop, making sure the updates were running okay, and then he slipped back out onto the sales floor, crossing back to the desk. Jeff and Lester were exactly where he'd left them, still having done absolutely nothing in spite of fifteen minutes passing, of course.
He rounded to the front of the desk and snagged a pen to mark that he'd done the check.
"She's too good for this store. Is there a nicer establishment where beautiful people can shop?"
Chuck looked up at Lester's words and saw he and his friend were staring at something, someone, behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and jumped as he saw Carina standing there talking to Morgan. She waved at him, grinning, and he lifted a hand with a breathed, "Hi", and thankfully he also saw Sarah was making her way over from the entrance behind her.
Morgan practically scampered away from her to come lean against the desk next to him. "Chuck, you have to fix me up with Carina," he breathed desperately.
"Nooo, no...I-I mean…" Chuck glanced at him, making a face. "Uh, actually, I don't think that's such a good idea, Morgan."
"Chuck." He paused. "I know what a third wheel is. I know it's me." Aw shit, he felt bad. He already felt bad now. "Gimme a chance here, man. Let me be a fourth wheel." The way he said fourth wheel made Chuck even more certain that he shouldn't let this come even remotely close to happening. "For once. Or maybe I can just get her number? Do you have that much? Give me that much. That puts the decision in her hands, you know? That seems fair."
"If you give her a decision, you aren't getting a date," Jeff slurred. They all gave him a severe look. "I'm not saying you shouldn't give her a decision. Sheesh."
Chuck turned to watch as Sarah and Carina leaned close together. He studied Sarah's body language and thought she looked tense. Carina on the other hand, looked very satisfied with herself. That did not bode well.
"Wait. You don't think I'm good enough. That's it," Morgan said in a shocked, hurt voice. Chuck looked back at him with wide eyes. Ooooh no no no.
"Yes," Lester said vehemently.
"No! No." Chuck gave him a severe shut up look. "I just, uuuuuuhhhh…"
"Look, if you can manage to get Sarah to want to go out with you, and then, like, stay with you, dude? That means just about anything is possible." Chuck frowned at that, turning his frown on Lester as he hummed in agreement. "Let me—Let me spread my wings here...Man."
When he started flapping his pterodactyl arms, a wistful look on his face, Chuck was honestly just desperate to get him to stop. Stop doing that. "Fine! Fine. I'll see what I can do," he rushed out, reaching out to push Morgan's arms down to his sides again. "But no promises."
"Thank you thank you thank you."
Manipulative little gnome.
Chuck slid up next to Sarah, hearing the last bit of what was definitely an 'I'm the boss' spiel from the blond CIA agent to her old coworker. "Heeey," he drawled quietly, smiling at Carina first, then at Sarah. The look on Sarah's face made him add, "Sorry to...interrupt. Hi, Carina. Can I just talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," Sarah chirped, seeming eager almost to move away from that conversation as he led her off to the side.
"I need to ask you a favor," he said to her then, "and feel free to say no," he emphasized. She raised her eyebrows a bit and shot a quick glance over at Carina, as if checking to make sure she wasn't getting into trouble or something. "And by that I mean...say no." That was just in case she didn't catch the emphasis. "But, uh, could you fix Morgan up with Carina?" He gave her a pained look and watched as she simply blinked at him in response.
Then she got a look on her face that made him nervous. She glanced over at Morgan and he followed her gaze, seeing Morgan give a thumbs up. Then he turned back to her. "Make sure you really exaggerate no so that they can lip read it. They're a little lame, but I think they can crack NO…"
"You know, that is a great idea."
He spun back to watch her dash away from his side. "No, it's not! NO is the answer, you're s'posed to say NO."
Aw hell. What was his cover girlfriend planning at the expense of his friend, and would it damage the bearded one's heart...or his pride...or both? Crap.
He rushed back over to the desk, then watched with trepidation, as the other three men watched with interest, while the two jaw-droppingly beautiful women talked. Suddenly Carina shot an amused look over at the desk and did an obviously flirtatious head nod towards Morgan.
"Take that!" his best friend mouthed at him, immediately embarrassing himself and anybody standing within ten feet of him with a ridiculous celebratory dance that was indecipherable, frankly.
Oh, God. This was so bad. This was terrible. This was the worst. And it was only the second scariest thing that had happened to him today. It was barely noon.
Oh, God.
A/N: I'm sure this will be fine….SC...why are you wearing the monocle? SC?!
(What's a monocle? :) - SC)