CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: Hey everyone, sorry about the delay in posting! I was writing something last night and I was too on a roll to stop to post this. This chapter is the start of the new Team Intersect if you will. Here we'll start to see the new dynamics begin to take shape.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: I beta'd this one, so all the mistakes are my own.
Desire
A Story by
CharmingCharles2896
Chapter Inspired by the Song
Hard Wired (feat. Isabella Goloversic) by Perturbator
Chapter Twenty
The Call
Castle
Burbank, California
Monday, May 18th, 2009
7:48 AM PDT
Monday morning started like most others recently, Chuck and Sarah awoke in each other's arms, Chuck having been shaken by more nightmares the night before. After their 6:00 AM wake up, the two of them showered drowsily and left in search of that brown caffeinated beverage that gave life meaning in the mornings. Nora's morning was similar in that she too had been besieged by nightmares all of the previous evening. The difference lay in the fact that she knew the source of her nightmares.
The briefing went by in a blur, Nora barely paying attention. Sarah had her first day as Assistant Manager of the Buy More, she had her first day in the Double O, it was a momentous day. The briefing had finished with something about trouble in the Kingdom of Rusovia, a country Nora knew nothing about, past what she'd learnt in high school. She knew it was a break away nation born after the fall of the Soviet Union. Its capital was St. Petersburg and it had one of the largest standing armies in the world, let alone the fourth largest nuclear arsenal of any country. The government was more closely aligned with the west, than Russian was, but was not a member state of NATO. General Beckman had mentioned something about possible war with Rusovia, but Nora hadn't been listening.
As the briefing adjourned, Casey, Sarah, and Chuck all stood up to go to work. Nora stayed seated, trouble still roiling around in her mind. She'd done something actually evil. For the first time in her life, she'd been the bad guy in a situation. Nora had always tried to stay on the correct moral side of the spy life, but after Wednesday she no longer felt like she was part of the good guys. She could moralize all she wanted and try to convince herself that she'd done worse things and she wasn't the bad guy, but the lifeless faces of the civilians she'd killed, wouldn't leave her mind. As her teammates walked towards the stairs, Nora spoke quietly.
"How do you deal with killing innocents?" The words were so unexpected that all three of her teammates spun around and looked at her. Sarah saw the look in Nora's eyes, that ghostly stare of someone unable to forget something horrible that they'd done. Sarah knew that look well; she'd seen it on herself in the mirror many times. "My last mission…" Nora began before she stopped, lest she break down. Nora looked away in shame, missing the look in Casey's eyes, the knowing.
"Chuck, Sarah, go to work; I've got this," Casey said quietly. Chuck couldn't remember a single time where Casey had called him Chuck. Sarah was in the same boat; Casey always called her Walker, so his calling her Sarah was jarring. Chuck and Sarah silently nodded and made their exit, leaving Nora and Casey alone. After the door closed, Casey walked over to the computer and typed in a few commands. Nora watched Casey curiously.
"What are you doing?" Nora asked quietly.
"Turning off the cameras so that Bartowski and Bartowski don't snoop." Nora huffed a half-hearted laugh at Casey's calling his partners Bartowski and Bartowski, it made them sound like a crappy law firm. Casey turned towards Nora, the cameras now disabled and saw her. Nora looked tired, weary. Walker had been working with Nora to catch her up on everything at Castle and the Orange Orange, so they'd spent long hours in Castle. The thing was, Casey wasn't stupid, he saw that Nora's worn-out look was from something deeper. Nora watched Casey take a seat next to her and turn to face her.
"What's all this about?" he said directly, as blunt as ever. Nora looked down at her linked hands, dripping with the metaphorical blood of the six innocent people she'd murdered only days ago.
"Last Wednesday, Decker recalled me to Washington. To do so, he ordered me to terminate my mark and all people on board the yacht I was on, seven people in total. My mark was smuggler Marcus Leota, a sort of fixer for Fulcrum. The other six people were innocent civilians; Constance Perez, Richard Morton, Drew Bradley, Serena Hernandez, Francesca Moreno, and Jaxson Carter. The six of them were nice people, they worked hard and treated me like a person instead of a sex object… then I killed them all. I caved Richard's head in with a Maglite, I broke Constance's neck and I strangled Jaxson with his neck tie. I shot Drew in the head; his brains flew out the back of his skull. I shot Francesca three times, she fell over onto the hot stove, she sizzled. I shot Serena in the hip, but had to chase her, she was so afraid. I'll never be able to forget the look of terror in her eyes as she saw me coming after her. We'd talked like old friends only a half hour before, and now I was about to murder her. I shot her in the back, the shot exploding out of her chest, killing her." Casey saw that look in Nora's eyes, the look he'd seen in so many Marines after they'd returned from Afghanistan. She let out a shuttering breath as she remembered that day again.
"Listen, Kid," Casey began. Nora looked over at Casey as he spoke. "I've been killin' longer than you've been alive. I've seen it all and done it all, and I'll be honest with you, it never gets easier, you never forget. I can tell you the details of every person I've killed in the last twenty-five years." Casey took a moment to gather himself as he prepared to dredge up the story he was to tell. "After the towers fell, I was sent to Afghanistan to hunt for Bin Laden and help the Marine's fight the Taliban. I was in charge of an elite unit of Marines, we specialized in finding targets and leading air support to them to lay hate. There were thirty of us; we were called the Reapers."
Casey ran a hand over his face as he recalled that cold January day. "It was January, we were in Ghazni province. It was cold and we were up on this big, rocky hill. We were watching Taliban fighters coming in and out of this massive building. For days they'd come in and out of this building, often transporting weapons with them. After three days of observation, we were certain the location was a weapons stash for the Taliban. We got on the radio and called in the airstrike. One B-1 Lancer, also nicknamed the Bone, came to carry out the strike. The massive bomber dropped two, Mark Eighty-Four Paveway III laser-guided JDAM's. Two-thousand and thirty-nine pounds each, nine hundred and forty-five pounds of explosives in each one. The explosion was enormous and the entire, three-story building collapsed." Nora saw the darkness in Casey's eyes.
"When the four of us went to inspect the site, we found that instead of being a Taliban weapons cache, we'd dropped bombs on a hospital." Nora gasped at Casey's words; she couldn't imagine how he must've felt in that moment. "The Taliban had a tunnel in the basement that they used to secretly transport weapons. We didn't kill a single Taliban fighter. No, instead we killed twenty-seven women, and five children." Casey looked over at Nora, clarity in his eyes once more. "Worst day of my life."
Nora's eyes grew glassy as she imagined the scene, dead bodies everywhere. She couldn't imagine how anyone would be able to get past the guilt she'd have felt in that moment.
"How did you get through that?" She asked, unsure how anyone could. Casey looked Nora straight in the eyes and spoke with crystal clear honesty.
"I didn't, I still see them in my dreams some nights. You'll never be able to forget those people you killed. You'll see them in your nightmares; you'll flash back to those moments from time to time." His honesty made her feel awful, how was she supposed to function with this guilt on her conscience?
"How am I supposed to go on like this? I can't stop thinking about them!" She said in anguish.
"I made them all a promise," Casey began, grabbing her attention once again. "I promised them that I'd be better; I wouldn't make the same mistake ever again. I made it my mission in life to be absolutely sure of a target after that, there could be no doubt. I was pulled from Afghanistan in May of two-thousand and two, my unit having carried out over a hundred successful strikes without a single civilian casualty. That lone strike was the only mistake I ever personally made in that hell of a country." Nora nodded in understanding.
"Thanks, John." Nora said quietly, Casey gave her an understanding smile and nodded.
"No problem, Kid; any time you're struggling, just talk to me. I've seen many good men struggle with exactly what you're struggling with and it can be an ugly beast to handle on your own." Without another word, Casey stood and walked off towards the stairs.
"Talk to you later, Kid; I've got toasters to sell." Nora merely watched him go; John Casey was much different than his reputation suggested, which didn't surprise Nora in the least. Chuck had a way of changing people apparently; he got to you and healed your soul. In the very least, he'd changed his two former handlers. Nora had only been in Burbank four days, so she was still mildly skeptical. She had no doubt that Chuck was a great person and he'd helped his two handlers become better versions of themselves, but she was doubtful that he'd be able to do the same for her. Nora's soul was too black, too damaged to be redeemed. At least, that's what her brain was telling her this morning. Nora shook her head and stood up. Nora reactivated the cameras in Castle and then went to work.
~X~
The Buy More
Burbank, California
Monday, May 18th, 2009
7:55 AM PDT
The troops were assembled so to speak; that is to say that all employees were assembled by Big Mike. Sarah looked immaculate like always in her same outfit that she'd worn for her interview. She knew she'd need to get more if she intended this to be her uniform going forward. Regardless of all that, it was time for her do address everyone. Everyone seemed rather disinterested, all except Lester who was nearly shaking. Sarah felt bad, her little joke on him several months ago had apparently traumatized the poor guy, she'd have to talk with him one of these days.
Chuck and Casey stepped into line and looked at Sarah. Chuck had the proudest look on his face, which made her heart get all fuzzy and warm. Sarah cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention. She struck a composed yet steely posture.
"Listen up!" Big Mike bellowed. Those who hadn't been paying attention did so now.
"My name is Sarah Bartowski, many of you know me as Chuck's hot girlfriend, the wiener girl, or the yogurt goddess," That last one she said with an amused smile pointed at Morgan, who blushed. "My name is Sarah, and I am the new Assistant Manager. Now, I know there are a lot of rumors about me, so I'm going to clear some of them up right now. Let me say this clearly; I am not an escort! Many of you thought I was because of my car and my expensive looking wardrobe. I have no doubt that many of you have heard the rumors that I was some kind of spy or something." Sarah said as she looked menacingly at Jeff and Lester, who shrank from her gaze.
"This is patently untrue; I was a logistics coordinator for the Department of Defense. My work was classified and it shall remain that way. Just know that there is nothing any of you can do that will phase me. I have seen it all and done it all, so don't think you can rattle me." After that, Sarah dropped the stern posture and switched to a disarming smile.
"Going forward things are going to be different around here. No more intimidation tactics like Harry Tang; no more bullying and manipulation like Mr. Milbarge. I will be a demanding boss, but a fair one. If you work hard and treat me and the rest of your coworkers with respect, you'll be just fine. I want this to be a fun and welcoming place to work, where people work hard and are rewarded as such. If any of you try to subvert those goals, I will not hesitate to make you wish you'd never met me. In my old life, I was known as the Ice Queen, for my precision and cold disposition. My husband has done much to mellow me out, but he knows I can be a real bitch if you cross me," she said with menace in her voice. "I hope to never have to do that, because nobody likes working for a mean boss." Sarah looked at Casey briefly.
"Today I'm going to institute some changes to help this place work more efficiently. I have cleared them with Mike beforehand. First, from now on, there will be no mid-afternoon naps in the men's bathroom, Jeff." She said as she looked at Jeff. "Second, any employee caught intoxicated on the clock will be terminated immediately; that means no pot, no booze, nothing… Jeff. Third, I am promoting John Casey to Green Shirt Supervisor." Casey grunted in shocked horror, but Sarah didn't budge in the slightest.
"Since Harry Tang's promotion to Assistant Manager in October of two-thousand and seven, the position he previously held has been vacant and the store has suffered accordingly. I've heard all the stories from Chuck and Morgan, so I know full well how much this change is needed. I know Casey and I trust him. Nonetheless, he will be on a short leash," Sarah said, giving Casey a forceful look to tell him to behave.
"Work hard today and feel free to reach out to your supervisors if you encounter trouble. To my two supervisors, feel free to reach out if you need help. All right, dismissed!" Sarah said with authority before Big Mike and herself turned and walked back to Big Mike's office, closing the door behind them. As everyone broke to go to work, Chuck could hear the grumblings about Sarah.
"Chuck married that?" "What a bitch." "I liked her better when she cooked wieners." "She can cook my wiener." "Jeffrey!" Chuck heard the group grumble under their breath; he merely smiled and brushed it off. It was a new day at the Buy More, there would be a transition period.
Inside Big Mike's office, Sarah took a seat and let out a deep sigh; she'd been surprisingly nervous out there in front of everyone. Sarah wasn't normally that much of a talker, so public speaking wasn't really her favorite thing in the world.
"You did good, Sarah," Big Mike said.
"Thanks, Mike," Sarah said with a nervous chuckle. "I was so nervous; public speaking has never been my thing." Big Mike nodded in understanding.
"You'll get used to it; these vultures are harmless" Big Mike said as he opened up his magazine. Sarah smiled a small smile and spoke quietly.
"I think Lester is afraid of me," Big Mike chuckled.
"Wouldn't surprise me, you're kind of scary," Sarah snorted and shook her head at her boss's remark.
"I thought Casey was going to have a conniption when I promoted him, he was so angry."
"I saw that, don't think he was very appreciative." Sarah nodded in agreement.
"He'll come around."
~X~
An hour into Chuck's shift, he'd helped a few people at the Nerd Herd desk. Today had been a rather light day so far, which was nice for a Monday. The scent of jasmine and orange blossom wafted in Chuck's nose, signaling that Mrs. Bartowski was nearby. Chuck looked up from what he was doing, to see his beautiful wife standing there with a smile.
"Hey Boss," Chuck said with a teasing lilt in his tone. Sarah gave Chuck an amused smile.
"And don't you forget it," she began. "How was I?" she asked quietly. Chuck reached out and took Sarah's hand.
"You were great, very commanding; it was kinda hot to be honest," Chuck said quietly. Sarah shook her head with a smile on her face and stood back up.
"You think everything I do is kinda hot, especially Berlin," she said with a low voice dripping with honey as she turned and walked away. Chuck watched her go, his cheeks red from the mental images the Intersect had shown him last week.
"So not fair," Chuck grumbled happily.
"You've got it made my friend," Morgan began. "You work with your hetero life partner and you're married to Vicky Vale, some just have all the luck." Morgan's wistful sigh made Chuck laugh.
"Hey, you've got Anna, you're doing pretty good too," Chuck said as he turned his attention to his computer.
"Do I?" Morgan said more seriously, which grabbed Chuck's attention. Morgan saw the shocked look on his best friends face and nodded. "She's so jealous all the time, it's suffocating." Chuck nodded in understanding.
"I mean, you were flirting with Nora all evening on Friday," Chuck pointed out.
"I wasn't though, that's just how I talk! Sarah and her sister are family; am I just supposed to ignore them?" Morgan shook his head and spoke quietly. "Anna was pissed about it all weekend." Morgan growled angrily; Chuck merely shrugged. The ringing of the Buy More phone grabbed Chuck's attention, he gave Morgan an apologetic look. Morgan smiled a small smile and motioned that it was fine. Chuck picked up the phone to answer it.
"Burbank Buy More, Nerd Herd, how may I help you?" Chuck said in his now well practiced professional tone. Morgan wandered off to return to his work. He couldn't help but dwell on his growing uncertainty about his relationship with Anna Wu, the delectable punk rock goddess of the Nerd Herd. He'd merely been nice to Nora, he'd worked to include Anna and Nora in conversations after dinner, but Anna was so disinterested in anything they talked about. As the wonder of having a girlfriend had begun to wear off, Morgan was noticing how little he had in common with Anna. She was hot in a terrifying sort of way, but she didn't like Star Wars, Trek, or Tron. She liked Call of Duty, which was good, but not Halo. Anna was jealous constantly. She treated Ellie horribly, when Ellie hadn't done a thing to deserve it. Morgan knew that was mostly his fault, but it still didn't excuse Anna's behavior.
When Morgan though about Nora Rogers, he had to admit that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was smoking hot and still treated him well, which was a welcome change of pace from the beautiful people of LA. That fact that she was Sarah's sister simply blew his mind. Morgan had no idea that Sarah even had a sister and then she walked into Ellie's apartment in an Animaniacs tee-shirt, which was awesome.
"Morgan, Buddy," Chuck called as he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Morgan looked over at Chuck. "Tell Anna to man the desk, I've got a call." Morgan nodded and watched Chuck take off for his likely install. Casey watched Bartowski leave and simply pulled out his phone to text his partners.
Casey: Bartowski leaving for install. Rogers tail and monitor.
It wasn't a minute later when his phone beeped again. Casey looked down at his phone and saw the text message from Nora followed by one from Sarah.
Nora: Can't, carpooled w/ Chuck this morning.
Sarah: Take my Porsche, spare keys in my locker in Castle, locker 101.
Casey couldn't help grunt in shock at Sarah offering her Porsche, that was certainly a shocking twist. That being said, the two blondes had spent a lot of time together this weekend, so maybe they'd grown a little close. Nora had retrieved Sarah's keys and was now on the road tailing Chuck. She knew that he was aware of her following him, so she wasn't doing the normal procedures to stay hidden. This wasn't about spying on Chuck; this was about being there if something happened. She couldn't get over the car that the California-based electronics store chain made their Nerd Herders drive. Nora was most certainly a car enthusiast, so the ghastly car those poor Nerd Herders had to drive made her feel nothing but pity. Driving Sarah's Porsche was an interesting experience. She'd never driven something so extravagant, so she was most definitely enjoying it. Driving such a powerful car made her miss her own car. She'd put several years and thousands of dollars of her own money into that car, yet she hadn't driven the poor thing in over seven months! That bastard Clyde Decker had worked her nearly to exhaustion, making her do unspeakably awful things. Thankfully Nora wasn't ever going to have to do that again.
Chuck turned into the business park, all the buildings looking exactly the same. Everything was just two story, red brick buildings. All of them had that look like they were made in the late nineties, back when constructing things was seen as an asset. These days, with the financial crisis unfolding on Wall Street, those days were likely over. Chuck saw building 1101 in the far-left corner of the business park and pulled in to park. He knew that either Sarah or Nora was following him in Sarah's Porsche, but thinking logically, it was likely Nora. As Chuck stepped out of his herder, he saw Nora slowly cruise past him in Sarah's Porsche. Chuck nodded toward Nora with a small smile, which she returned. Chuck walked up to the front door, where the call said to go. The lettering on the glass door said United Shipping & Transit Inc. As he reached for the handle to pull the door open, he flashed on the name.
Images of weapons, slave labor in Africa, and the word La Ciudad bounded into the front of his memory in an instant. Chuck's hand froze mid-reach; he hadn't flashed in a few days, and the feeling had left him unsettled, but what he'd seen scared him. He'd helped put La Ciudad in prison over a year ago. The sound of footsteps behind Chuck grabbed his attention; he looked over his shoulder and saw a concerned Nora walk up to him.
"What's wrong?" Nora said in her Orange Orange uniform. The Double O uniform really worked on Nora if Chuck was being honest. It wasn't quite as girl next door as it had been on Sarah. Instead of the girl next door vibe, it gave off quite a bit more sex appeal, likely due to her height and modelesque looks.
"It is surreal seeing someone else in that uniform," Chuck commented off hand. Nora gave him a confused look, which he quickly picked up on. "Which isn't important right now, right." Chuck spiraled before looking back at the door. Nora huffed a laugh quietly, Chuck was such a nerd, nervous stammering and all. "I flashed; this building was owned by La Ciudad." Nora's eyes grew wide at the mention of La Ciudad. She'd heard about that woman after her arrest.
"I thought she's in prison?" Nora said quietly as the two of them turned and looked through the door. The room the front door led to was dark, empty, lifeless.
"She is, I helped put her there," Chuck said casually as he inspected the room. Nora nodded, silently wondering how many of the arrests she'd heard of in CIA circles were actually from Team Intersect.
"It looks abandoned," Nora said honestly as she reached out and tested the door, it wasn't locked. Nora turned to Chuck and spoke, "let's check it out." Chuck gave her a surprised look.
"Are you crazy!? Why would we do that?" Chuck asked quietly as he looked between her and the shadowy room on the other side of the door.
"Why not? I'm going in with you; don't you trust me?" Nora asked with a confident smirk as she pulled out her FN Five-seveN. Chuck merely swallowed nervously and nodded. With that confirmation, Nora slipped back into that oh so familiar persona. Listerine Girl may have been a dirty whore, but she was also a cold-blooded killer, something Nora Rogers was most definitely not. Nora pulled the door open and stepped in first, checking her corners with her pistol drawn. The entire place looked to be completely abandoned, with dust everywhere. It was obvious that nobody had taken care of this place in a while; it was almost like everyone had just up and left out of the blue. As Nora and Chuck made their way deeper inside the building, they followed a hallway past the front desk that opened up into a large cubicle farm.
Nora came to a stop, Chuck standing at her seven o'clock. Chuck could see that Nora was nervous. There were a lot of places for someone to hide in a place like this. "I don't like this at all," Nora began without taking her eyes of the vast expanse of cubicles.
"Then let's get out of here!" Chuck hissed.
"Yeah, let's bail." Nora said as the two of them backed away and left. Once the two of them were back in the parking lot, Nora turned to look at Chuck. "The call gave you this address?" Chuck nodded with an equally confused shrug. "Why would you get a nerd herd call to an abandoned business previously owned by La Ciudad?" Nora asked rhetorically as she thought about the location, which was when it dawned on her. "This would be a perfect location for somebody to grab you." Chuck's eyes flew open at that statement.
"Why?"
"It is in a secluded part of this business park and the place is abandoned. If I wanted to grab you or kill you and make it look like some vagrants did it, then this would be an ideal location." Nora said coldly, still thinking like an agent. Chuck swallowed nervously and looked back at the building.
"It could just be a prank call," Chuck offered as a counter point. Nora nodded, knowing that Chuck was possibly correct. The thing was, the fact that La Ciudad had her name on this place set off alarm bells.
"Maybe, but I don't like it; let's get out of here," Nora said as she gave Chuck's arm a tug towards his herder. "Go back to work, I'll contact John and Sarah, we'll talk about this during lunch." Chuck nodded and climbed back into his herder and drove off. Nora watched him go and pulled out her phone. After a trio of rings, Sarah's voice came through the other end.
"What's up?"
"I sent Chuck back to the Buy More," Nora began.
"Why?" Sarah asked, alarm suddenly in his tone.
"It felt all wrong. He flashed and told me that the building was formerly owned by La Ciudad."
"What? She's in prison, Beckman assured us that she wouldn't be a problem." Nora nodded to herself.
"I know, but when Chuck and I checked it out, it just felt off."
"You brought him inside with you!?" Sarah yelled into the phone. "Why would you put him in danger like that?" Sarah said with a hefty amount of accusation in her voice.
"He was fine, don't you trust me?"
"That isn't the point, Nora," Sarah began. "Chuck cannot defend himself, if he gets in trouble, he can't protect himself."
"Which is why I was there the whole time!" Nora shot back.
"He's just an asset, Nora; what were you thinking?" Sarah returned.
"He's an analyst, Sarah; or have you already forgotten?" Sarah didn't reply, so Nora pressed on. "That man may be your husband and you may feel protective of him, but you need to remember that he is your equal now. Chuck is an analyst with all of the autonomy that you or I have in the field. Treating him like your asset is not only wrong, it minimizes him. You two told me that you fought hard for his change in status. Yet at the first sign of danger, you push him right back into that asset box. Really, Sarah?" Once again Sarah didn't reply, which actually pissed Nora off. "We need to meet as a team during your lunch break." With that, Nora hung up and drove back to the McAlister Plaza, where she deposited Sarah's Porsche back in the Buy More employee lot and returned to the Double O.
~X~
The Buy More
Burbank, California
Monday, May 18th, 2009
10:00 AM PDT
Chuck walked back into the Buy More, still slightly off balance from that bizarre call that he just went on. He'd been called to an abandoned building at the back of a busy business park. Part of him thought it was nothing more than a crank call. Another part of him, the part that had been surrounded by spies and danger, was naturally cautious. Chuck saw Morgan and Anna at the Nerd Herd desk, they were talking, but it wasn't nearly as flirty as normal.
"Maybe Morgan was right; maybe they are having problems," Chuck thought to himself as he walked off to the left and headed for the breakroom and his awaiting locker. When he walked inside the breakroom, he spotted the unmistakable Sarah Bartowski, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Hey," Chuck said as he leaned in and kissed her on the back of the head, smelling the scent of her shampoo in her hair. Sarah tensed quickly, but relaxed not even a moment later and relaxed into Chuck's embrace.
"I heard about your call," Sarah said quietly.
"Yeah, very unsettling, but Nora was there to keep me safe, so no big deal," Chuck said with a load of his normal positivity. Sarah felt bad and as Chuck walked away to deposit his things in his locker, she had to speak up.
"I'm sorry," she began, which surprised Chuck, who turned to look at her. He saw the contrition in her eyes and gave her a confused smile.
"Why?"
"Nora called me to tell me about your call." Chuck nodded silently in recognition and listened to her continue. "When she said that the two of you went inside, I got mad at her and.." Sarah trailed off, the shame of her earlier gaff, catching up to her.
"What?" Chuck asked softly.
"I told her she shouldn't have done that because you're just an asset," Sarah said quietly, shame on her face.
"But I'm…" Chuck began, only to be interrupted by Sarah.
"You're an analyst. And as Nora so efficiently pointed out, you're my equal on the team. She set me straight pretty good, because I did what I always used to do," Sarah said quietly, ashamed of herself.
"Sarah, come on, don't be so hard on yourself," Chuck said, trying to call his wife.
"No, she was right; I put you right back in that mental box like you were an asset. The first time I was confronted by the possibility of you being in danger, I instantly cast aside all the progress we've made and thought of you like those first few weeks. You are a valuable member of the team and you have the right to make decisions on your own. You can choose to go towards the danger, though I wish you wouldn't. I can't order you around anymore, Chuck; and I'm just going to have to get used to it." Chuck pulled Sarah into a hug, which was strange with her in her heels, because they were much closer in height.
"A lot has changed in a very short period of time; it's only natural that there be an adjustment period," Chuck said caringly before he gave her a quick kiss. "I just realized we talked about this in the breakroom, we're lucky nobody overheard us." Sarah chuckled and nodded, realize how stupid it was to talk about this in the breakroom.
"Yeah, I guess I really am slipping, if I made a mistake like that," Sarah said self-deprecatingly. Chuck gave her a slightly unamused look.
"Stop that," he began, only to get a confused look from Sarah. "Stop beating yourself up, that's my job." Sarah's eyebrows rose, which made Chuck notice what he just said. "Not that, I meant to say was that beating ones-self up is my job. You're the confident one, I'm the one with low self-esteem. Are you kidding, if I tried to hit you, you'd tear my arm off and make me punch myself in the face." Sarah laughed silently, nodding the whole time.
"If you tried to beat me up, there wouldn't be enough of you left for identification," Sarah said with an ice-cold expression on her face. Chuck's heart skipped a beat and he was suddenly terrified and insanely aroused.
"That was terrifying and totally hot," Chuck said quietly, which only made Sarah laugh more.
"God you're easy," she said, only to get a faux affronted look from her husband.
"Well, I never!" Chuck said with fake outrage. "I'll have you know that you are one-hundred percent correct!" Chuck said before turning on his heels and stomping off with exaggerated footsteps, Sarah snickering behind him from his silly antics.
Outside the breakroom, Morgan quickly took three steps away from the closed door so that it wouldn't look like he'd been snooping. Morgan began walking towards the door just as it opened and Chuck stepped out.
"Hey, Dude, how was the call?" Morgan said as he stopped at the break room door. Chuck had a look of consternation on his face.
"Prank call," Chuck said in what Morgan suspected was a lie. Morgan had heard some things that made very little sense. Maybe Chuck and Sarah were into role playing? Either way, Morgan was a little hurt that Chuck had lied to him. Whatever he'd been talking to Sarah about sounded like some cloak and dagger stuff.
"Assholes," Morgan said, knowing how much Chuck hated prank calls.
"Indeed," Chuck said as he walked back towards the sales floor. Morgan watched Chuck walk away and then he opened the door and stepped into the breakroom. Morgan instantly saw Sarah mixing her creamer into the coffee she'd fixed for herself.
"Hey, it's the boss," Morgan said as he pulled out a dollar and walked towards the snack machine. Sarah gave Morgan a big smile and took a sip of her coffee.
"Hey," she said between sips.
"Nice speech by the way, very intimidating," Morgan said as he punched in the alphanumeric code for a bag of M&M's, which were promptly dispensed.
"Thanks, I wasn't exactly going for scary, but apparently that's my default setting when public speaking." Morgan chuckled and nodded.
"Mine is crying on the floor." Sarah laughed, which was the whole point of Morgan's joke.
"Come on, you can't be that bad at public speaking, can you?" Morgan merely nodded at Sarah's question.
"In high school I threw up all over Penny Benjamin during my speech on why spaghetti is superior to the sub sandwich." Sarah gave Morgan a confused look after hearing his speech's topic. "It was a random draw from a hat; I failed because I started arguing that subs WERE superior to spaghetti, which is when I puked." Sarah snickered, and took another sip of her coffee.
"I'd watch out in the coming days; the others are likely going to pull a prank on you." Sarah nodded thankful for Morgan's heads up. Morgan nodded and spoke as he turned towards the door. "They spiked Emmitt's coffee with laxatives when he started here."
Sarah grimaced and nodded. "Thanks for the heads up, I'll watch out." Sarah said as she tried to get that mental image to leave her head. Morgan nodded and left Sarah alone with her thoughts. She went to take another drink of her coffee, but merely stared at it… intensely. Now her spy paranoia was active, so she did the only logical thing she could think of; she took a sniff of the coffee. The coffee smelled fine and she knew it was likely nothing, but she couldn't stop the worry. Sarah spilled the coffee into the sink and threw the paper coffee cup in the trash, grimacing in disgust the entire time.
"What have I gotten myself into?"
~X~
Castle
Burbank, California
Monday, May 18th, 2009
12:18 PM PDT
"We've looked into this call you reported and thankfully, we had a surveillance satellite in the area. The satellite captured some images of a payphone from which the call was made." The voice of General Beckman said over the speakers on the monitor which displayed aerial images of three men standing around a payphone. "We believe these three men are the ones who made the call. Our recording devices installed within the Buy More's phone system picked up the call and our analyst couldn't find a vocal match from within our files. Our analysts here at Fort Meade believe these guys were likely junkies looking to mug Mr. Bartowski. They were likely going to beat him up, steal his wallet, and go buy drugs." The General finished, the satellite images leaving the screen, once again revealing the former spy turned general.
"But why would they leave that address? Isn't it strange that they chose a business formerly owned by La Ciudad, someone that Sarah, Casey and I put in prison?" Chuck asked, obviously still worried.
"You said that the door was unlocked?" Casey asked, to which Chuck quickly nodded. "The place was abandoned and the front door was unlocked. Junkies probably use it to shoot up." Sarah and Nora seemed to nod, starting to buy in to that explanation. Chuck nodded to himself, almost as if he was trying to talk himself into that explanation.
"I guess, I'd buy that," Chuck said mutedly. General Beckman nodded to the four of them.
"Okay, we'll continue to monitor communications in and out of the Buy More, listening for the person who made that call. Be vigilant, if you suspect anything to be wrong, report to Castle and call in at once," the General said before ending the call. As soon as the video call ended, Casey stood up from his chair and turned to leave.
"I'm going to get some lunch." Chuck stood as well and kissed Sarah on the top of the head before leaving to do the same. Now alone, Sarah stood up as well.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier on the phone," Sarah began, obviously uncomfortable.
"It's fine, I get it," Nora said back, equally as awkwardly.
Sarah shook her head, vehemently disagreeing with Nora. "No, it's not fine. For almost two years I've had to think of him as my asset. I've always had to be on alert, ready to act. I had to constantly care about Chuck's wellbeing, but not care too much. I had to keep him in the asset box as you called it. Now that he's my equal, I'm finding it hard to adjust. I can't make decisions for him anymore, I can't overrule him, I can't make demands of him. It's just really hard to let that go when it's someone you love," Sarah finished dejectedly. "I snapped at you unfairly. I got scared, because I'm not the one out there keeping him safe. It may take some time for me to fully trust you to keep him safe. Don't see that as a shot against your abilities, it absolutely is not. I'm just not… that person, anymore and I need to remember that." Nora could see how hard Sarah was taking this, it didn't surprise her, many agents struggled to let go of their old ways after leaving the field.
As a field agent, many agents get used to getting their way, always having control, always being an island. Now, Sarah was having to rely on others to keep her husband safe in a world where he couldn't be bullied into following orders. Chuck was an equal on the team; he wasn't someone they could boss around anymore. He had the right to make decisions now; something that Sarah was having to get used to.
"Seriously, it's nothing," Nora began. "I understand how you feel about him; I'd have trouble too, if our roles were reversed. In time you'll start trusting me. Until then," Nora began with a clap of her hands. "What's good to eat around here? I haven't had anything to eat today."
Sarah gave Nora an appreciative smile and nodded. Sarah was really starting to like Nora Rogers. She was very kind, she was funny, and she genuinely cared about people. Sarah had been impressed by Nora's religious study of the dossier that they'd prepared for her. Nora had so many questions about Chuck and Ellie and how their relationship has affected the team. She asked about how everything has played into the team they are now. Nora really cared about understanding exactly who everyone was in Chuck's life. That point had been demonstrated rather poignantly when Nora had mumbled that she wished she'd had a sister like Ellie when she was growing up. Truthfully, Sarah wished that too. She'd been lonely for years while on the road with her father. If she'd had a sister who loved and cared as much as Ellie Bartowski did, maybe Sarah's life wouldn't have turned out as it had?
Refocusing on the current conversation, Sarah smiled at Nora and spoke. "I know just the place; come on, I'll show you," Sarah said, motioning for Nora to follow, which she did.
"What kind of place are you taking me to?" Nora asked as the two blondes walked towards the stairs.
"It's a deli, the woman who owns the place wanted to date Chuck a little over a year ago, I saw that, the two of them never happened." Nora looked at Sarah in mild shock. "Don't tell Chuck, but I was super jealous, it's a long story. The thing to know about this deli is that she named a sandwich after him. He's not welcome there anymore, but I'm hoping that she won't get mad at me if I'm bringing someone new to her business." Sarah said with mild embarrassment.
"So, you're using me as a human shield, in order to get a sandwich?" Nora asked with an amused smile.
"Hey, I'm pregnant, these hormones have me thinking all sort of strange things." Nora merely chuckled at Sarah's excuse. "You joke, but if she starts throwing things at me, my hormones may make me use you as an actual human shield." Sarah said with zero seriousness in her voice. Nora laughed harder as they both stepped up the stair to go get a sandwich from the sandwich goddess as Morgan had so brilliant nicknamed her.
"I like this team," Nora said honestly as she once again laughed with her new teammate.
"Best assignment ever," Sarah replied as the door to Castle closed behind them with a tremendous whoosh.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #3: So that was the twentieth chapter! Twenty chapters, never could have imagined this story going on this long, but I love it, so we're going to press on lol. So I'm working on the twenty-first chapter, but I have no firm date to post it, so just keep that in mind. Also, i've got a one-shot in the works that is like nothing i've ever done, so stay tuned for that!
Until Next Time :D