A/N: DC here. One of the things SC and I talked about before writing this was trying to fix some of the insane things that happened in canon. Some of the reactions were too over the top the way they were shown. (Granted it was a comedy but...really?) We wanted to give things context, or even point out, that they were wrong, that something was out of line. So that's what we've done here. We've tried to show why Chuck was so mad, we've also tried to show why he had no reason to be that mad. His reactions were quite childish, and we decided while we can be childish with the best of them (sticks tongue out at SC) what happened in this ep was just a little over the top. Episodes are changing, and we're just grinning. SC...why the monocle? SC!?
Sorry we're so late with this, folks. It's my fault. We chose to take a holiday break from posting and then it extended to past my birthday for really no reason at all except for my own existential crisis about turning thirty. My fault. (raises hand) -SC
Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck, and that hurts us to our core.
She was irritated. This whole mission, Carina, the stuff about Bryce coming up, thinking Carina had been being supportive earlier in the Weinerlicious when she said she was sorry about Bryce's death, only for her to quickly say something snarky to Sarah. She was done. This mission had proven what she already thought, she couldn't be in the CIA any longer. She couldn't do this. In fact, if it wasn't for Chuck…but it was for Chuck. He didn't deserve what he was going through, but to be honest, he was doing better than she'd hoped.
If she were being 100% honest, Chuck was teaching her something, about real life. Even before the CIA real life wasn't….well...real, it had been about the con, and the CIA honestly wasn't much different. Like right now, for instance...double dating with Chuck and Morgan. She had done it to Carina to punish her, for making fun of Chuck and Morgan. Make no mistake, Morgan did annoy her some, but he was there for Chuck, something she didn't have. She didn't have a friend like Morgan. Carina couldn't be that, and honestly the CIA did all they could to make sure that never happened. Spies shouldn't have feelings, emotions, or anything that could distract from the job.
But for a moment, tonight, sitting on the arm of Chuck's chair, shoes off, just being, she wondered, once this was over, could she ever have the life she wanted? Probably not. Her best hope was to disappear and live a life of solitude. There was no real future for her. She could stay in the CIA and die like Bryce, as Carina had so nicely reminded her, or she could go somewhere and just be. She found neither option was optimal, but one was better than the other.
"You guys are so cute, really. You're, like, the cutest couple ever." Carina was laying it on extra thick. She glanced at Chuck and then back at Carina. Too thick.
"Ah, well…" Chuck began. She would have grinned if Morgan wasn't there. He tried so hard to do the right thing. She and Carina exchanged glances. "Thanks, yeah. We're doing... we're doing good."
Chuck looked at her and she decided to save him. She leaned over and put her arm behind him on the chair. "Good? I'd say we're doing very good, sweetie."
Chuck threw his hand up in agreement. "Well, I stand corrected."
Carina kept turning up the heat. "So, um, how did you two meet?"
Chuck probably wasn't sure where this was going, but he played along. "At work, I guess. Right? Yeah."
Surely she wasn't going to… "Yeah, work," Sarah replied.
Morgan jumped in. "Sarah came into the store with a broken cell phone, like a modern-day damsel in distress."
Carina gave a laugh. "I guess you're right. A lot of people who meet at work end up dating." Sarah glared at Carina, Carina smirked, and she saw Chuck have a look of confusion on his face.
This needed to be headed off at the pass now. "Uh, so do you guys want to watch a movie or something?" Sarah asked the group trying to get out of the nearly awkward conversation.
Chuck looked up at her. "Good idea…" as he spoke she brought her left hand she had been leaning against up and rubbed his neck. His eyes shut and he looked to have lost his train of thought. She couldn't help the amused grin on her face. "Sweetie," he finally said, coming back to earth. She moved her hand further down his neck so he could function. "Yeah, that's a great…" Maybe he wasn't as functioning as well as she thought he was. "I rented that penguin movie."
Morgan interjected. "No, no, no, no, no—a movie's a terrible idea. Don't you think? I think that people don't take enough time to get to know each other. All I want to do tonight is find out everything there is to know about Carina."
Carina grinned and leaned toward him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Really? Like what?"
OH SHIT! This was backfiring in Sarah's face. The whole idea was that Carina would be miserable, and behave. Sarah should have known that Carina didn't know how, and would do nothing but try and turn up the heat.
"Were you always this hot or did you just, like, recently find your hotness?" Good lord. Morgan had no chill. None. It just didn't exist.
Carina giggled. "You're so cute." Morgan's eyes about burst out of his sockets they got so big and the smile on his face threatened to rip it apart.
Chuck looked up at Sarah and all she could do was shrug. "Can I ask you something strange?" Chuck and Sarah's head whipped back toward the couch. If Morgan thought it was strange... "Can I feel your forearms?" Chuck sunk a little into his chair. Sarah had to bite her lip. Carina gave him a look but held out both her arms. Morgan felt them and had a strange look on his face.
"Is something wrong with them?" Carina asked. Chuck sunk even lower.
"No…it's...well, they aren't gaming muscles, but they are definitely there," Morgan replied. The doorbell rang and Sarah swore Chuck muttered "there is a god." He hopped up to get the pizza as Morgan went to help him. The two men fought over who got to pay and Chuck eventually relented, shrugging as he faced Sarah. Carina was smirking and Sarah was fighting not to slap the smirk off of her face. Chuck took the pizza over to the table and opened it as Morgan went over to talk to Chuck.
Sarah sat down on the couch with Carina. She had to try to calm this down, for Chuck...oh who was she kidding, for Morgan. He was growing on her. "You know, you don't have to be so hands-on with Morgan."
Carina shrugged. "You said I'm on a date. This is me on a date. You don't buy a Porsche and drive it the speed limit do you, Blondie?"
Sarah tried a different approach. "You're going to give him the wrong idea. He's not like us."
Carina smirked. "Oh, come on. I'm just giving the kid a thrill. I mean, this place is like... if a yawn could yawn. How do you stand it? We used to party until 4 AM, have a briefing at 6 AM, kicked ass all day, took a fifteen minute nap and do it all over again."
And there it was. Carina hadn't changed, or maybe she had never met the real Sarah. While Sarah could do everything that Carina had said, it didn't mean she always needed to. Or wanted to. Carina was looking for the next adrenaline shot. The next party, and Sarah...she wasn't. Not anymore, if she ever really was…. "I'm good here."
"Yeah, right," Carina shot back. Sarah smirked at her friend. Carina had no idea what Sarah wanted in life, not that she had known herself for all those years. She knew what she thought she wanted, but that ship had sailed.
"Who's up for a hot slice?" Chuck asked breaking the tension.
"I think I'd like to see that movie if you don't mind," Sarah said to Chuck. This ought to bore her to tears. A penguin movie. This ought to be the perfect thing to slow her down. The movie started and Sarah picked the olives off of her pizza. She felt someone watching and cut her eyes toward Chuck. He was watching her, his brow furrowed in concentration. Morgan was mimicking the penguins on the screen. She heard Morgan muttering something and Carina answer. She was feeling quite persnickety and Shh'd them. Morgan did something with his head mocking her, and part of her knew that meant he accepted her. She kept picking the olives off and he started up again.
"Where were you last?" Morgan asked in a low voice.
"Argentina, okay?" Chuck snapped. "Now will you shut up? They're almost at the Antarctic." Sarah gave him a look. That was in Carina's file. How did he know that? She had an idea. She felt Carina looking at him, but she stared straight ahead at the movie until Carina turned back to Morgan. Damn. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.
The movie wasn't very long, and Chuck was on call, so Sarah herded Carina out as soon as possible. She stopped at the door. "Hey, I need a second with my boyfriend, you two mind?" Sarah asked. She shut the door before they could answer. She turned, making sure there was no anger on her face. "Argentina?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. "You said she had been to Argentina."
Chuck thought. "Oh, shit."
"Okay, calm down, Morgan didn't catch it, but you just need to be careful, okay?" Chuck nodded. "Look, meet me tomorrow and we'll go over stuff at the Wienerlicious. I know you're on call, so get whatever sleep you can." She squeezed his hand. "Don't freak out, okay? It's no big deal." Sarah gave him an encouraging smile and left. She and Carina walked to her car, but in the pit of her stomach she wasn't sure she believed what she said.
}o{
Chuck was asleep dreaming about penguins in Argentina, which he was pretty sure wasn't a thing. He had on a tux and Sarah kept telling him to trust her as she led him to what looked to be a huge hole. He was jerked out of his sleep by his phone ringing. He really needed to answer this professionally. He was on call. "Yeah?"
"Hey, dude, uh, did Carina call about me yet?" Chuck was pretty sure Morgan was still outside in the courtyard.
"No, Morgan, it's the middle of the night. She hasn't called yet." Chuck hung up. That probably wasn't very nice, but he was on call.
The phone rang again, and he answered it. "Uh, when do you think it's cool for me to call her?"
Chuck screamed at the phone. "I am asleep!" He hung up again. He had just gotten to sleep when the phone rang a third time. "Okay, okay, you know what? Listen, listen, she has not called in the time that it's taken me to pick up and hang up. Leave me alone, Morgan!" He took a breath as he heard a female on the other end. "And hello to you too, ma'am. I apologize, I had a bad nightmare where a friend kept calling me and waking me up." He listened for a minute. "Yes, I-I am, uh, the on-call Nerd Herder for all Nerd Herd Computer emergencies. And-and what is your room number?"
He drove across town to the hotel the customer had listed and knocked on Room M 903. Carina opened the door. "Hey, Chuck." Chuck started to respond, half asleep, ready to be the Nerd Herder that he was, when it dawned on him it was Carina, and she was in a robe and Sarah might have been wrong about earlier being no big deal. He realized he was standing there with his mouth open as she motioned with one finger to come inside. "Use your feet."
Chuck came in, speechless. He was even more speechless when Carina took a knife out and opened a bottle of champagne.
He needed to be absolutely professional. "Where's... where's, uh, your computer?"
She grinned as she poured two glasses of champagne. "I don't have one. I lied to get you over here."
This wasn't good. "Why would you do that? Why would you risk my job?" She turned to him as he lifted the Nerd Herder briefcase slightly.
She started to walk toward him. "Nerd Herder, Chuck, that's your cover job. I know you're with us." She stopped right in front of him holding the glasses.
He was terrified and confused. "Who's 'us'? Who's 'with us'?" She offered him a glass of champagne as she grinned. "Oh, thank you." He took the glass from her. "But no, thank you, I…"
She cut him off. "You can't access my file to know about Argentina unless you have a G6 clearance or higher." She clinked her glass against his. "Cheers to spying." She put a hand in the middle of his chest and pushed him backwards. He sat down on the bed, hard, dropping the Nerd Herd briefcase. Oh shit. What could he do? What should he do? Deny? Call Sarah? Call Casey….no….not call Casey. It was at that moment Carina began to take off her robe leaving her in a red bra. "I hope you like what you see."
OH SHIT! "I should probably call Sarah." He reached for his phone as quickly as he possibly could. This was not good! "Sarah should probably be here. I think that it would be important for her to know…" Carina took the phone away from him and tossed it on the bed. "So you don't think Sarah should be here…"
Carina shook her head. "You're not much of a spy, are you? I don't know how many more clues I can... take off." She put her thumb under the bra strap on her shoulder and teased lowering it. She made the band pop, and Chuck realized he jumped slightly when she did. "But if Sarah were here," she ran her right hand across his face, making him look at her. He was trying to be polite. Why wouldn't she let him be polite?! "I couldn't seduce you." She ran her finger down his chin opening his mouth. "Unless maybe," she pulled his tie jerking him forward. "You're into that sort of thing." She grinned at him and Chuck began to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Hmm?"
He tried to be as nonchalant as he could as he brought up one finger. "Just one." He quickly drank the glass of champagne. She hoisted herself on the bed, and put a hand on his shoulder. She lowered herself down to his ear as she spoke. "Or maybe I'm wrong, and you're already sleeping with Sarah." Her lips were right beside his ear. "Are you sleeping with Sarah?"
Chuck summoned up all the bravery he could find. "It's really not any of your business."
"That's not a denial," she purred into his ear.
He didn't mean to shiver, but his body betrayed him. "You know that a gentleman never…" he trailed off, not wanting to imply anything. God, there had to be some way out of this.
"Oh, got it. Well, that makes sense... considering Bryce." She pulled away as she said it.
Did she just say….DID SHE JUST SAY? His mouth began to work. "Bryce? Bryce? What are you talking about?"
She had moved to the other side of his head. "What, you don't know about Bryce? Bryce Larkin?" She moved right to his ear and dropped her voice. "Her boyfriend."
Chuck tried to process what he had been told. He had to get control of the situation, now. "Carina, I'm on call tonight, and I have a mission tomorrow. I need sleep."
"There's a bed right here," she purred, right near his ear.
"Why do I think I wouldn't get much sleep?" he asked, as he stood. She was grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "Whatever they did or didn't do…" he shook his head.
"You know what would help you get over her?"
"There's nothing to get over," Chuck replied, grabbing his briefcase. "Thank you for the glass of champagne, but I need to go." He walked out the door and headed to his Herder. He didn't head home. He headed to the beach, and sat there, by himself and watched the sun rise. Bryce Larkin. He had gotten him kicked out of Stanford, slept with his girlfriend, sent him the Intersect, and somehow had sent his girlfriend to watch over him. The agent he was supposed to trust. Maybe the bunker wasn't so bad a thought after all.
}o{
Chuck was sitting in the Wienerlicious. He only had one thought on his mind; Sarah and Bryce...Well, didn't that make sense, Sarah was with Bryce. It was bad enough Bryce sent him the Intersect, but his girlfriend? Bryce stole the Intersect and the CIA sent his girlfriend? Was that why she knew about as much as he did? Or did she know more and she wasn't telling Chuck? She was a spy, and spies had secrets. He got that, but how exactly did she think this was going to go the longer she didn't tell him the truth about her and Bryce? How did she think he was going to react when she had talked to him privately about so many things and she didn't tell him this? She didn't owe him an explanation, but would a damn heads-up be too much to ask? The guy who had ruined his life at Stanford was still actively ruining his life now. Maybe he should just go into the bunker. No, if he did that, Bryce's ghost would just sit outside, eating peanuts, and throwing the shells at him.
"Chuck, are you listening?" Sarah had been talking about a mission. Who the hell cared about a mission? He had a corndog in front of him, staring at it as if it held the meaning of life instead of the mystery meat it contained. Maybe it did hold the meaning of life. Maybe he was the hotdog, wrapped in the batter of the Intersect and Sarah and the CIA were constantly sending him into boiling hot oil. If that was the case, Chuck was in trouble, because Sarah was many things, but knowing when to pull a corndog out of oil so as not to be burnt...that didn't seem to be very high in her skill set.
"Yeah, I heard you, we'll go in undercover as party guests."
She gave him a look. "Right, and we'll locate the diamond." She was giving him a look. If she knew that he knew what she and Bryce knew...Chuck had gotten lost.
Now Sarah wanted him to locate a diamond. Thanks, Bryce. Now I've been downgraded to a locator beacon. Maybe he wasn't a locator beacon. "Where's the diamond?" He let the corndog fall onto his tray. God, he hated Bryce Larkin, but that wasn't fair, Bryce was dead.
He could tell Sarah was trying to be patient with him, which was nice after his little outburst questioning why they never told him anything. He could also tell she was starting to get a little irritated with him. For once, he didn't care. Do his job, stay out of the bunker. That was his job. Don't upset anyone. God, he hated Bryce. "Well, that's your job, Chuck. The Intersect knew about Peyman Alahi's connection to the opium cartels."
Nope, he was a locator beacon and now they wanted him to risk his life for some diamond. Bryce's ghost would probably come steal it from him and propose to Sarah right in front of him. "So you want me to steal the diamond?" He truly felt like he was on autopilot.
"No, we'll grab the stone later. Today, we just get in, we find it, and we get out. And that's it."
Until Bryce's ghost showed up, stole the diamond, proposed to Sarah, she accepted, ran off with Bryce's ghost and he went into a bunker where Bryce would stop by every night, throwing the peanut shells of the peanuts he was eating at Chuck. "Right, get in, get out. Got it." Bryce fucking Larkin.
"Are you okay?"
A-ha, there's her cracking point. "Yeah, fine, why?"
"Well, you just seem a little... I don't know, something. Are you sick?" She gave him a smile as he pursed his lips.
He wasn't going to say anything, if she wouldn't say anything than he wouldn't say anything. Besides, if he said something she'd just spy her way out of answering truthfully. Mrs. Sarah Larkin married to a ghost that threw peanuts shells at him. "No, fine."
"Oh, one last thing. At the mansion, I need you to do me a favor and stick by my side."
That's probably where Bryce's ghost would pop up, peanut shells in hand. "Why is that?"
She looked….not flustered, but like she was having a hard time finding the words for what she was going to say. "Well, Carina, she likes to improvise, and things can get sticky fast. She likes trouble, and she looks for it. You know, one time in Pakistan, I really had to save her... Okay, it doesn't matter, but the point is that Carina is not to be trusted."
It was like a weight lifted off of his shoulders, specifically the weight of Bryce Larkin and his 100 pound bag of peanuts with the shells. He began to chuckle, he thought about that. Chuck chuckled. That thought made him chuckle. Good-bye Bryce along with your stupid peanuts. "Oh, Sarah. You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."
She looked a little surprised, but she quickly put a smile on her face. "What is it? Why?"
Chuck felt a little ashamed. How could someone like Sarah, who had been as open with him about everything not have told him about Bryce? Answer: she couldn't. And Carina was just trying to drive a wedge between them. "Well, Carina said something last night…"
She leaned in, shock covering her face. "Last night?"
Woops, with everything that had happened… "Oh, right. Uh, well, she put a call in to the Nerd Herd after-hours number and I was the one who was on call."
"Chuuuuuck." The way she said it said several things at once. Get to the point, tell me what happened, and why didn't you tell me this sooner.
"Look she appeared to be trying to...ahem," he looked away.
Sarah did not look happy. "Appeared?"
"I may have shut her down." Sarah's eyebrows went up. "What, just because I'm a nerd I can't resist her feminine charms?"
Chuck swore she had a pleased look on her face and a bit of a smirk. "Most don't."
He blew out a breath. "Well, she wasn't too pleased, I'm sure that's why she said to me what she did."
Sarah did not look pleased. She went from amused to...pissed off wasn't right, but she was not happy. Not happy at all. "What did she tell you?"
Scooter choose that moment to be the Scooter that Chuck despised. "Ms. Walker, your break is abutting the 25-minute mark."
She turned to Scooter. "Uh, one second, please." The look she gave Scooter dismissed him. She turned to Chuck, and he saw it, storm in her eyes. Oh, hell. "What did she say?"
Maybe Carina wasn't lying…he had to be careful... "I mean, it doesn't matter if it's not true."
She gave a quick head shake, her voice matching the intensity of her eyes. "Just, just tell me."
He paused. Go big or go home, right? "Something about Bryce and you... you know, being together."
The look on her face...oh God...they were. Why couldn't she have just told him? After everything Bryce had put Chuck through, she owed him that...or obviously she didn't. Sarah would keep him physically safe, Chuck knew that, but what he felt, it only went one way, as it should. She was trying to be nice to him the other day. She was trying to make this easier on him, and probably she had very good reasons in her mind not to tell him. He was sure she did. Those reasons sucked whatever they were. Chuck didn't blame her, Bryce was everything he wasn't, but God, didn't she see the spot this put him in?
Scooter picked the wrong moment to worry about condiments. "I'm sure whatever you lovebirds are discussing is a matter of national security, but the ketchup vat isn't just going to refill itself."
She stood up and gripped Scooter's arm walking him back to the counter. "Did you know that 55% of accidents occur in the kitchen? And I'm sure most of them are accidents."
Chuck needed a minute and he needed Scooter not to die. "Scooter, are you still playing Elder Scrolls IV?" Scooter nodded. "Give us ten more minutes, and I'll give you my free expansion pack of Shivering Isles." Scooter beamed and ran off, leaving them alone. She was sitting right beside him. "It's not true, right? You and Bryce, that's not true, right?"
Chuck knew in his heart the spy mask she wore just slid off her face. All he could think was, please tell me the truth, whatever it is, tell me the truth. Respect me enough for that.
She said those words that made his head want to explode. "It was complicated."
He was quiet for a second. "Sarah, it's your personal life, I don't begrudge you, but you understand all he did to me." She never moved a muscle. "Sarah, statistical analysis is complicated, my feelings on the Star Wars prequels is complicated, two people being together isn't complicated." He was silent as he waited for an answer. She never said a thing. "I thought you were supposed to be good at lying." He got up, and walked out of the Wienerlicious, wondering what in the hell he had done to Bryce Larkin in a previous life to deserve this cosmic serving of bullshit that had been dumped on him.
}o{
Chuck took the suit from Casey without saying a word. It was linen and the more he looked at it in the mirror, the less he cared for it. Were those his boxers? Oh, hell no. He shut his eyes and shook his head. He wasn't sure if this mission could get any worse. He opened his eyes, staring at the mirror when he noticed Casey in the reflection.
"You can see my boxers, can't you?"
"Not looking," came the surly reply.
"Casey," Chuck said warningly, hardly even recognizing his tone. Casey stared at him. Was that respect on Casey's face? Must be indigestion.
"Yeah," Casey muttered. Was Chuck losing his mind or was Casey having a conflicting thought? "I hate this assignment," he muttered.
"Yeah, it's been a real laugh for me. Go do this, Bartowski, cause if you don't you'll end up in the bunker." Casey glared at him. "Right, it's for the greater good. Greater good my ass, everyone's getting the greater good around here except for me." Chuck headed for the door.
Casey grimaced. "Skipping the pre-mission briefing?" Chuck turned, stunned. "Yeah, no one is more surprised than me."
"Thank you." Casey glared at him, and Chuck hurried on. "I mean I just figured if anyone would, Sarah would but...well."
"Listen, kid. Carina likes to stir shit up. She gets what she wants, not caring what mayhem she leaves in her wake." Chuck thought about that for a second. "You can bet your ass whatever she said to you that's making you throw this hissyfit there's something behind it."
"Or maybe she's the first person to tell me the truth," Chuck countered like a petulant child.
Casey's eyes narrowed. "How do you know what she told you is true?"
"Sarah confirmed it." Casey looked dubious. "She did. She gave me some line about it being complicated."
"Most spy work is, numbnuts." Casey looked constipated. "I am going to regret this. What did Carina tell you?"
"She told me that Sarah and Bryce were a couple." The way he said it was like the biggest reveal in a huge mystery. Casey looked like he had told him how to make toast. "Casey…."
"I assumed you knew." It was obvious by the look on Casey's face that he was actually enjoying this. "Jealous, Bartowski?"
"Jealous? Me?" His voice was going up in octaves. "You know what, you are damn right I am! That son of a bitch got me kicked out of Stanford, he sent me this stupid ass computer stuck in my head, and then this...dating Sarah thing? I'll tell you what I really am, and that's mad, but if you want to hear me say I'm jealous, too? Hell yes I'm jealous."
"Who said anything about dating?" Chuck froze at those words. "Bartowski, what kind of life do you think a spy has? Do you think we get to see our families, our friends? Carina is probably the closest person Walker has, do you think they're that close? A spy has two choices, be a fuckin' nun, or find someone else who has similar circumstances. It sure as hell ain't about love, and if it is it will never last because it's shit like that ends up gettin' you killed."
"What are you saying, Casey?" Chuck's face was contorted. He couldn't help feeling a bit of relief at the idea that deep, genuine feelings might not have been involved. It stung to think otherwise... "Are you saying it was...convenient?" he tried to clarify.
"You'd have to ask her, but I wouldn't be shocked if that was exactly what it was. I get it, kid. You're having lady feelings over her not telling you that her and Bryce were mixing their chocolate and peanut butter."
"What does that even mean?" Chuck asked.
Casey ignored him and continued. "But let me ask you two things. One, what damn business is it of yours anyway?" Chuck didn't have a good answer for that. "That's what I thought. Two, how exactly did you want her to tell you?" Chuck blanched. "Yeah, exactly. Hey, Chuck! Bryce and I used to go to Pound Town."
"Okay, stop."
"Hey, Chuck! Bryce and I used to entangle the lower beards."
"Oh my God."
"Hey, Chuck! Bryce and I used to make a magical sandwich."
"I'm seriously gonna throw up."
"Hey, Chuck! Bryce and I used to take Grandma to Applebee's."
"Did I die and end up in hell?"
"Hey, Chuck—"
"CASEY I GET IT!" Chuck looked like he might throw up on his suit at any moment.
"Which brings me back to the point that started all of this," Casey said calmly. "Why would Carina tell you about that?" Chuck didn't have an answer. "She plays games. In this line of work that's trouble. She is trouble. She thrives off of driving wedges between people and ruining shit. Understand?"
Chuck nodded.
"And by the way, you do realized I killed Sarah's boy toy and she still has to work with me, right?" Chuck opened his mouth twice and then shut it. "So as awkward as it is for you to know..." Chuck raised a finger telling him not to. Casey grinned. "...they took the magic bus to Manchester..." Chuck looked ill. "...I promise you it's more awkward for us." Casey looked him over. "Carina's gonna love seeing those boxers."
Casey started toward the door.
"Grandma to Applebee's?" Chuck breathed, shaking his head.
"I don't make the euphemisms, kid."
Chuck shuddered and followed him out the door.
}o{
She hadn't said a word to Carina the entire time she changed. She saw his face in her thoughts: the hurt, the pain, the betrayal.
Damn it, Bryce. Why the hell did you get Chuck kicked out of Stanford? Why the hell did you send him the Intersect? And why the hell did Carina tell Chuck about Bryce?
...She knew the answer to the last one. To cause problems. That's what she did. Carina was good, damn good, one of the best. The problem was she played for one team and one team only: hers. Everything else was fair game. Carina had an MO. Show up, fuck up, and get the hell out of town and let everyone else deal with the fallout. Carina looked at her a couple of times like she wanted to say something, but the look on Sarah's face must have made the redhead keep her mouth shut.
If Carina was scared by the look on her face, she would have been terrified by what Sarah was feeling. Her chest hurt. She couldn't even imagine all of the things that were most likely going through Chuck's head. It was his thing to take every little omission or lie to mean he couldn't trust anyone. Damn it, she had just fixed everything, she had handled what almost happened in the courtyard… Well, not handled, but it was as handled as it could be without getting into something that would hurt him even worse. She had sworn to protect Chuck and now she was the one hurting him.
They went downstairs as Casey pulled up, and Chuck hopped out, opened the far door for Carina, and before Sarah could get to the car, he hurried to her side and opened it for her. As she lifted her gaze to his, she saw he was watching her closely, smiling just a little. It wasn't a smile anyone would see but her, she knew. And after yesterday, she didn't understand why. He didn't look angry or hurt anymore, the way he had in the Wienerlicious. And there was a softness in his eyes as he tilted his head in a gesture for her to get in. She just furrowed her brow at him and climbed into the car, staring straight ahead as he shut her door for her.
As they headed toward Malibu, Sarah couldn't figure out what had changed. She was looking towards the front when she caught Casey's eye in the rearview mirror and saw him give the slightest of nods. What was going on? Had Casey interceded somehow? God, this mess just kept getting deeper and deeper. They arrived at the party and the three went in. She knew Carina, and knew she would socialize. Chuck would need a minute, so Sarah decided there wasn't much more damage Carina could do and she broke off to check out the compound. During one of her sweeps, she noticed Chuck and Carina standing very close together, and part of her...She pushed that away, no time for that. One thing did catch her eye, though...were those Chuck's boxers? She hid a smile and checked out the rest of the compound. She headed back toward Carina just as she heard her tell Chuck to go be casual.
"There's a southern egress with two armed guards and by the garage exit, three more." She was walking with Carina. She knew now was not the best time, but with Carina there never was a good time. "Why did you tell him about Bryce? You compromised my cover."
Carina rolled her eyes. "We're on a mission here, Sarah. Try keeping your private life and work life separate for a change."
Sarah stopped them both, with a grip on Carina's wrist. Carina looked at her in shock. "You have blown my cover. I get that's not important to you, but I am supposed to protect him. You caused him to lose faith in me. Chuck is not like us, Carina. He's not a spy, I know you know that, and he doesn't understand all the things we do. I don't know what the hell it is you're after, but I hope ruining everything I've worked for is worth it." Sarah threw down Carina's wrist and walked off. She thought for once Carina might be speechless.
Sarah walked up to Chuck, noticing him staring into the pool, distracted. She wanted to know what he was thinking, and she was afraid to know at the same time.
"Hey, we okay?" she asked, Chuck turned around slowly and blinked at her. "How are you?"
He looked very nervous. "Uh, yeah, I'm cool. I'm cool."
"You are," she replied, trying to keep his confidence up. "But are we okay?"
He continued to look nervous, but nodded. She could tell by his eyes he was serious. "Yeah. I owe you an apology."
"Listen, later, we can talk. Okay?"
Chuck nodded. He made a gesture and they started walking towards the mansion. "Um, so I count six SVB-54 explosion-protected security cameras with infrared surveillance."
He was getting better at not showing the flashes. "Did you have a flash?"
He looked at her, surprised. "Did... No, they sell them at the spy shop in the Buy More Plaza."
She gave him a smile. "Do you visit it frequently?"
Chuck reddened a little. "What can I say? Those gidgets and gadgets in James Bond always fascinated me." They entered the mansion as Carina followed behind them. "You know I need some way to keep an eye on Morgan."
"Ahh," she said with a grin. "I'm surprised you didn't go with a nanny cam."
"Phbbt," Chuck replied like it was the craziest thing in the world. He leaned in, catching her off guard. "The bearded one finds those waaay too easily," he drawled close to her ear. Sarah had to stifle a giggle. "Gotta keep them out of his reach." He raised his cup to his lips as he spoke. "Thermal imaging cameras, north and west walls."
Oh. The nerd was getting good at this. For some reason that didn't surprise her. "Someone really doesn't want us getting in there."
Carina sauntered past them. "Let's go for a little stroll." Sarah shook her head. This was what she did. Took charge of stuff, rushed headlong into something that didn't require it, and then after that came dodging bullets in heels.
Chuck leaned toward her. "So, how would you have done this with Bryce?" She spun and looked at him. There was nothing snarky about it. There was no maliciousness in his voice, it was clearly curiosity.
"Right now's not the time."
Chuck nodded. Sarah followed Carina inside. They walked down the steps to the vault. Carina pulled out an electronic doohickey, she was sure Chuck knew the name for it, and plugged it into the number lock on the outside. The lock clicked and the door opened.
"That's awesome," Chuck said in a revenant whisper. Sarah couldn't help but smile at the appreciation Chuck showed for the equipment.
"There you are," Carina said to the diamond.
A pink diamond. Something was off. Very off. Sarah approached Carina. "You know, I really think we should go now."
"Just 30 more seconds," Carina said as Chuck walked around to admire it. Guns were cocked and all three looked up at the very hairy man. Very. Hairy. Good God, he looked like a Wookie from the Empire Strikes back that she used to watch long ago when her dad fell asleep and they had jacked someone's HBO.
The walking carpet looked at Sarah and Carina, and she knew what was about to happen. "So you like my diamond?"
Time for the dumb blonde routine. "Oh... yeah." She looked over at Carina who grinned at her. They were on the same page...But when they got out of here the two of them were gonna have a very long talk. "Uh, it's really pretty."
The Wookie tried to sound disappointed, but Sarah could tell by his face he had plans. In your dreams. "You're not supposed to be here."
It was time to play really dumb. She gave him her best wide-eyed, air-headed, innocent/stupid smile she had in her arsenal. "Oh, I'm, I'm really sorry, but the door was unlocked." She saw Carina hold in the gag. "And, uh, and who are you?"
The Wookie looked her up and down. She really hoped she got the chance to kick his ass properly later. "Pretty girls call me Peyman." She hated that men like this generally got away with stupid lines like that. It was gross.
"Hi, Peyman," Carina said quickly.
"Hey, Peym—" Chuck tried to get out, but Carina cut back in.
"I'm Carina," she began in her air-headed voice. "This is Sarah, and this is our brother Chuckie."
"Yo," Chuck said, lifting his glass. Sarah really wanted to roll her eyes.
Peyman turned to his bodyguards. "Your brother? More good news for me." Peyman held his arms out and both women walked up to him. She'd keep this going until they could get out of here, and then she'd take a scalding hot shower.
"So, uh, what would I have to do to get this thing on my finger?" Carina asked as innocently as possible.
"It is said that he who owns the Nadan-I-Noor rules the world." Sarah had her eyes on Chuck. He was very uncomfortable. He looked like he was fighting himself not to react. She looked at him and pleaded with her eyes for him not to react. He seemed to loosen up slightly.
Carina pressed on. "Wow. So... what if, like, someone tried to steal it?"
Chuck grinned awkwardly. Sarah let out a nervous laugh and so did Carina.
Peyton looked smug. "It's impossible to steal."
"Oh." Carina was giving an Academy Award performance as an airhead and Peyton was buying it hook, line, and sinker.
Peyton continued his bragging. "Because if touched, the vault will seal itself off, the gas will fill the room, and after that, my security team would eliminate the threat."
Chuck was looking around, scared. Peyton took his hand that was around Carina's shoulders and pointed it at Sarah and made a pistol sound as he mimicked pulling the trigger. Sarah's eyes got big and she let out an exaggerated "Ooh," while laughing nervously. She looked in Chuck's direction begging him to keep his cool. They had this. They had been in worse jams. Chuck's face screamed terror, but this might be the one time it worked. Peyton obviously liked to be the most important man in the room, the person with the most power.
Peyton looked at Sarah and then looked down her body, checking her out. Sarah made a mental note to crush his nuts in a fight if she ever got the opportunity. "But me, I am more of a lover than a fighter." He checked out Sarah's ass, and grabbed a handful while he was at it.
Sarah laughed, and let out an, "Oh!"
Chuck's fear was starting to leave and in it's place was anger. She had to get control of this quickly. "Wow, you know, I saw some really cool paintings outside. Can I have a look?"
Peyton turned her and led her outside. "Sure." He led her out into the hallway leading her by the elbow. "You like this one?"
"Oh, yeah." She giggled.
Peyton leaned up against the wall. "You know? You've got a nice pair of eyes amongst other nice pairs." She had changed her mind, she was going to rip off his balls and feed them to him. Sarah had to keep him busy and hoped Carina didn't pull something crazy. "I should give you a private tour sometime."
"Oh, I don't know. I have to look after my brother."
"He's not real bright is he? He hardly said much and if someone were to do to you what I did, I would have punched him right in the mouth."
Sarah had to push down the feelings that welled up inside of her with that comment. How dare he... Get a grip, Sarah. She tried to glance into the vault but couldn't see anything. "What do you like about this painter the most?" Please let him be as much of an ass as I think he is.
"Oh, the dude liked to paint naked girls. I mean, I can't say I blame him."
Sarah was rubbing her neck with her far hand, trying to get rid of the tension lest she get out a pair of tweezers and start pulling off all the hairs off of this idiot one at a time. That was when the alarm went off. Peyton turned toward the vault, and then back to Sarah. She slugged him in the face, knocking him flat on his ass. He was out cold. She wasn't surprised it had been so easy. She rushed to the door to see Carina sliding under out from under it. "Hey, this was only recon!" she snapped.
Carina gave her a look when they heard someone yell, "Hey!" She turned and the guards were on their way. The fight began, and it was therapeutic after that hairy carpet had just put his hands all over her. She and Carina took out the men when she saw Chuck sliding under the door in a much less graceful fashion. She reached down to pull him to his feet.
He came up with the diamond in hand. "I got it! I got it!"
They raced up the stairs and outside. "What were you thinking?" Sarah asked Carina over her shoulder once they got out of the mansion.
Chuck yelled and pointed. "Bad guys approaching fast!"
Another fight began and Carina fought while she talked. God, this was Sarajevo all over again. "So I made a split-second decision. I was doing us a favor!"
Sarah roundhouse kicked a man in the face. "Stop doing me favors!"
For some unknown reason Chuck decided to cut through the pool and she couldn't help but grin as she heard him. "Excuse me, pardon me! Your shoulders are looking a little red!" Out of the corner of her eye she saw the guard before he did. "Oh, no, no!" The guard pulled the gun. Sarah grabbed a plate from a guest and did her best discus toss. It hit the guard in the face, knocking him to the ground. Chuck looked down at the guard, then turned to look up at her. "Thank you!" In all her years in the field she never remembered anyone taking a second to thank her. Not that she needed it, but it was nice, you know.
Sarah clicked the mic on her watch to talk to Casey. "Carina improvised. She snatched the diamond. Meet us on the beach."
"I'm on it." Casey answered. He cut the connection. She had no idea what they were gonna do, but now they had multiple messes to clean up, all thanks to Carina. They were going to have a long talk when they got back, and then. Shit. Then she was going to talk to Chuck.
}o{
Running in sand was hard enough, but doing it in fancy shoes absolutely sucked. Especially when bad men shaped like Optimus-Prime were after you, wanting to kill you.
He nearly staggered as he followed after Carina and Sarah, both of them much faster than he was, and infinitely more graceful.
"Hey, Carina! What now?" Sarah asked. He heard the frustration and sarcasm in it. They weren't supposed to steal the diamond. That hadn't been the plan, and yet… It just proved what both Sarah and Casey had told him more than once. She improvised. She caused trouble. And yeah, she'd told him the truth when she told him about Bryce and Sarah, but her reasoning for doing it was insincere at best. Now she'd made a rash decision, going off book, and they were in deep shit. He thought Sarah was letting her figure out how to get them out again.
"You two run for it. Gimme the stone; I'll take the heat!" she said over her shoulder. "You can double back and get me out!"
"What?!" Sarah exclaimed breathlessly. And then she spun back to look at him. "No, she's lying!"
"Chuck, trust me!" Carina exclaimed.
He was pitted between them now, both physically and figuratively. The DEA agent had told him the truth about Bryce and Sarah when Sarah'd actively chosen to keep it from him. Sarah had downright lied to him about it, even. And then there was the CIA agent who was supposed to protect him, did protect him, but kept things from him, important things… But did she really? She told him everything he needed to know that would keep him alive, didn't she? She didn't owe him anything more than that.
Why were they doing this to him? This was already hard enough. He'd had the worst few days...few weeks. He was being pulled one way by Sarah, pulled another way by Carina, and Casey was pulling him in...he didn't know which way. Sarah's way? He didn't know. He didn't know. He didn't know. He was terrified. They'd just stolen a diamond from a hugely important opium cartel guy who boasted to "pretty girls" about murdering intruders. He didn't know who was lying to him. Maybe Carina was...And maybe he was being manipulated by everyone. He had to keep his head on straight, focus, help them get out of this. His safety wasn't the only thing on the line here.
He apparently couldn't trust Carina, according to everyone else, but they still were making him work with her. He couldn't trust her, but didn't he have to? Sarah and Bryce were lovers. That hurt in the deepest pit of his chest even though he wasn't mad at Sarah for it. But life felt so stupidly unfair and screwed up. He just wanted to go home and crawl underneath his bed and stay there in the dark. He wanted to be left alone. He didn't know where to go or what to do. But he still had to focus.
Sarah stopped and turned to face him full on, putting a hand on his chest to stop him, too. And in spite of the wind on the beach whipping her hair over her face, she looked him right in his eye. "Remember what I said."
"Chuck, we're running out of time. Give me the diamond."
His fingers tightened around it as he glanced at Carina. She marched up to him, standing face to face, moving Sarah aside. "Sarah lied to you about Bryce, Chuck. I didn't. You can trust me."
"You—" Sarah started, but then she turned and spotted something over his shoulder, behind him. "Oh my God." He followed her gaze and saw two of Alahi's men running onto the beach towards them. In a moment, Sarah had her gun out—where she'd kept it, he had no idea—and she put a hand on his arm, pushing him towards Carina. "I've got this."
He yelped as she shot at the two men, causing them to scramble back behind the rocks.
And then he spun to face Carina again.
Her eyes got wide suddenly when more gunfire came from behind the rocks. "Sarah!" she gasped, horror in her face.
He felt an intense shock of cold fear shoot through him as he spun, his grip on the diamond loosening as he forgot he even had the thing in the first place. But then he saw Sarah was shooting back, just fine, a look of confusion on her face. She glanced at him for a moment and her eyes suddenly widened as she reached out towards him with her hand. "Chuck, look out!"
He felt fingers close around his and take the small bag, and he immediately knew he'd been played. But as he turned back to the redhead, she slammed her foot into his chest and sent him sprawling onto his back in the sand. "Sorry, Chuckie!" She pressed a button she'd retrieved from her bra and he watched from where he was still lying in shock as a jet ski swept up out of the water. It was so cool. So so cool. And shit, he'd screwed up.
"YOU PLANNED THIS?!" Sarah yelled. He thought You bitch was implied in her tone.
More gunshots came from behind the rocks and Sarah dove for the sand to make herself a harder target, getting off a few more shots of her own so they scrambled for cover. Then she turned to watch with him as Carina dashed towards the water, pulling her dress off and revealing her bikini beneath.
"Catch you later!"
A bullet hit the sand right near his shoulder and he yelped, jumping away from it.
"Stay down!" Sarah ordered, shooting back. He watched as Carina climbed onto the jet ski and zoomed off, leaving them to essentially die.
But then he heard the terrifying clicking sound of a gun that was out of bullets. Sarah turned to look at him with wide eyes and he looked back. "Aw, shit…" she breathed.
Suddenly, a black Hummer peeled its way onto the beach and slid to a stop. Casey!
"Get in!" the NSA agent belted, and as Sarah sprung at Chuck, helping him to his feet, Casey swung his gun out of his window and unleashed a flurry of bullets on Alahi's men.
"Chuck, take the front!" Sarah shoved him towards the Hummer and he rushed around to get in the front as she dashed around the other way to climb into the back.
"Go! Go! Go!" Chuck breathed in utter fear, ducking low in his seat as Casey slammed his foot on the gas and drove them away from danger. They all stayed low until he pulled back onto a main road and Chuck sat up again. "What in the hell?!"
"I told you not to trust her!" Sarah snapped from the backseat.
"Lemme guess," Casey growled. "Carina got away with the diamond."
"Of course she did!" she snapped again. "Chuck gave it to her!"
Casey turned a severe look on him and he spun to give Sarah a betrayed look. "I did not give it to her! She distracted me and stole it! I wasn't gonna give it to her! You two told me not to trust her and I didn't!"
Sarah appeared suddenly from the back, unclasping the halter dress at her neck as she raised her voice. "I have to be able to trust you on a mission, Chuck. No matter what you think is happening to me!"
"She made it seem like you'd been shot! How am I not supposed to react to that?! What was I supposed to do?!"
"Hold onto the damn diamond!" She'd since ducked into the back again, fiddling with her dress some more. She leaned back in and glared at him. "Our orders were to bring the diamond in, Chuck! Did you hear what Director Graham said?! He said Carina wasn't to have the diamond. Under no circum—"
"Circumstances! I know I know! What is she gonna do with it? Is she—Is she gonna sell it?!" he asked in a panic.
"Nah, she's a gamer. She'll give it to her bosses and move up the DEA's covert ranks," Casey growled.
He felt like shit. He'd let himself get played again, even though his eyes had actually been wide open this time. But the thought of one of Alahi's men's bullets having met their target in Agent Walker had made him feel more panic than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Carina had to have known and she'd used it to distract him. Why was he so fucking transparent? And now he'd failed his team. Were they a team? Or was he still just a damn tool?
He was a tool...in at least one way.
But then he lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror and saw that Sarah was tugging a shirt down over her torso… "W-What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I can't believe I have to work this stupid hotdog shift! I call in sick again, I'll get canned!" she growled through her teeth, sounding angrier than he'd ever heard her before. And he'd had her anger directed right at him at least once. This…? She sounded real mad. Crap.
Her phone rang and he watched as she sat all the way up, answering it. "What?!" she spat. There was a pause then as she listened. "Well, you left us to die!" Oh. Wow. That woman had guts to be calling Sarah right now. She was mean, messed up, conniving...but she had guts. "You're burning your bridge, Carina, and the CIA is gonna have your ass for this."
She listened for two more seconds and snapped her phone shut, throwing it onto the seat next to her with a thump.
"You go to work, I'll get the diamond," Casey said then.
"What?"
He lifted a phone between them and Chuck heard the quiet beeping coming from it. He frowned and watched as Sarah leaned over his shoulder to fix the vents of the air conditioner to face her better before ducking back down again.
"NSA magic," Casey said, wiggling the phone. "I put a tracer on her phone. Where she's going, I'm going."
Sarah was quiet, so Chuck lifted his gaze back up to the mirror, catching her looking down as she slowly buttoned up her Wienerlicious blouse...dewy, tan skin...smooth…
Casey's hand suddenly blocked the view and flipped the switch to night mode so that the mirror wasn't facing her anymore. "Eyes up front, soldier."
"I-I—" He pointed straight ahead, looking straight ahead. "What are you—I was lookin'..."
Nope, he'd been caught. It hadn't even been on purpose, but he hadn't exactly looked away either, and damn, he needed to just shut up. He turned to send Casey a meaningful glare, not appreciating the smirk on the jerk's face. The jerk who'd just saved his life.
Woops.
A/N: If nothing else, you learned new sexual euphemisms today. Told you I could be childish. -DC
I let him have that because I'm nice. -SC