CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: Welcome back everyone, it's been over a month since I've updated this story. I'm sorry about that, truly I am. I tried to enjoy the end of my summer and now that i'm back at school, that obviously occupies my attentions. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't work on this story for all of you to enjoy. This chapter is the springboard for the end of this little arc i've been crafting. Here we'll further explore Sarah's prior life before Burbank, while also setting us all up for the end of this arc.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: So you'll probably notice that all the chapters have been renamed. I've made the decision that from now on, the story arcs will be known as seasons. So, this second story arc is now season two of Desire. The next arc will be season three. This also means that the poster for this story will change with every new season, much like Chuck's poster changed ever years. Just thought i'd give y'all a heads up.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE#3: Once again I've got to thank my friend Nev for beta reading this chapter, he always helps me hone my work into the finished product that all of you seem to enjoy so much. Thanks Nev!
Desire
A Story by
CharmingCharles2896
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sarah Versus the Ice Queen
Chapter Inspired by the Song
KR by True Widow
Crimson
Downtown Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
12:05 AM PDT
Things in Burbank had been going rather well in the two weeks following the mission at Centennial Systems. The team had been on two other missions since, which Chuck and Sarah assisted from Castle. The two of them held hands the entire time, it was almost like a date. After the second mission, Sarah had drug Chuck off to show him a supply closet she'd discovered in Castle. They broke a shelf, which was totally not because they were having sex… definitely not because of that. Outside of their lives as spies, the four members of Team Intersect were settling into the new normal rather well.
Nora had rented a house ten minutes from the Echo Park apartments. She'd decided on that versus an apartment so that she'd have room for her car, her tools, and her gun safe. Casey had been very impressed when Nora's weapons collection had arrived. She'd kept one gun hidden for personal reasons, but the rest of it had thoroughly impressed John Casey. Nora's car had yet to arrive, which pissed her off to no end, but she was assured it was purely a logistical issue. Nora knew the truth; the CIA was putting a tracking device inside it. Well, no matter, she'd have Chuck help her find it and take it out. That car was her personal property and the CIA had no right to track it.
Chuck and Sarah had gotten their rings, a matching pair of traditional golden wedding bands. Chuck had come up with the idea of getting their rings engraved. Sarah had loved that idea and the two of them had tossed around various phrases and the like. Eventually Chuck had come up with the phrase Invicta est Amor, which translated to Our Love is Invincible. Sarah had tried not to cry at his suggestion for the inscription, but her husband was just too much for her to handle some times. The only thing really left outstanding, was a new place to live for Chuck and Sarah Bartowski. They wanted a place to call their own, yet the security set up in Echo Park had cost a good sum of money and the government wasn't keen on it going to waste. Sarah on the other hand, was insistent that there be no surveillance of any kind in their home, none. The thing is, both Chuck and Sarah understood that they were quickly running out of space at the Maison23. Their room was too damn small and lacked actual storage for their things. The two of them had agreed to set aside Sunday so that they could begin the process of looking for a new place.
Tonight, Chuck and Sarah were out on the town with Ellie and Awesome. It had been a long time since the four of them had gone out and Ellie had thought it was time for some fun. They'd started at a nice Italian restaurant named Papino's Cucina Italia. Sarah had ordered linguini with clam sauce, a favorite Italian dish of hers. Chuck had ordered risotto, which Sarah had promptly tried and loved. After dinner had come, the traditional night cap of dancing! The nightclub chosen for the evening was Crimson, a club that Ellie and Sarah had frequented a few times since Sarah had arrived in Chuck's life. Sarah couldn't drink, so Ellie hadn't either, which Sarah thought wasn't necessary. Sarah had practically danced Chuck into an early grave, the poor nerd needing a break for oxygen while Sarah and Ellie continued to tear it up out on the dance floor. Chuck was busy huffing and puffing, trying to catch his wind, while Devon sat next to him, looking totally unscathed.
"You okay there, Chuckster?" Devon asked Chuck, who merely glared at Devon.
"Your fiancée and my wife tried to give me a heart attack. Any more out there and you'd have had to be a doctor the rest of the night." Devon merely chuckled, smacking Chuck on the shoulder.
"Cardio is good for you, Chuckster; helps you keep going when the time is just right." Devon's wink made Chuck uncomfortable, which must have shown on Chuck's face, because Devon laughed hard. It was that moment when Ellie walked back to the table, a bright smile on her face.
"Don't talk about my brother that way, the last thing I want to hear about is my brother and sister-in-law when the time is right," Ellie said, making Devon chuckle and pull her close. Chuck looked over at them and couldn't help but think back to all those times when he'd envied them. He'd been so jealous of the love they shared for so damn long. With Sarah in his life now, he understood what it was that his sister and her fiancé felt when in the other's arms. He now understood the security and love that comes with a moment like that.
"Where's Sarah?" Chuck asked over the loud thump of the music.
"Bathroom," Ellie said back, trying to be heard over the loud music, the red strobes casting a moody glow across her tanned skin. Chuck nodded and looked out over the mass of people; a writhing, sweaty, mass of alcohol fueled movement.
In the bathroom, Sarah was presently looking in the mirror. Her hair had gotten rather disheveled out on the dancefloor. There wasn't much she could do to make it not look like she'd just gone twelve rounds between the sheets, but she tried. Her poor nerd wasn't in good enough shape, that was for sure. She'd worn him out on the dancefloor, reveling in being able to cut loose and just be herself. Before the 49B, she'd always had to be so reserved when out with Chuck and his sister. Now, she could be the dancing machine that she really was.
She was normally a rather reserved person, usually preferring to stay at home and read a good book. That said, she had to admit that she enjoyed tearing up a club every now and then. Back in the day, she'd been an absolute party animal with the CATS. Then again, they'd often been drunk as a skunk or higher than a hippie at Woodstock. Those were hard, stressful times, and they'd left Sarah with some valuable life lessons. Firstly, Sarah Walker, now Bartowski, could never ever be allowed anywhere near Tequila, lest she become a blonde blur of wild promiscuity. By that same token, Sarah had to stay away from cocaine. She wasn't an addict by any stretch, but coke had quickly become her drug of choice. Carina had always been a fan of ecstasy, while Zondra and Amy had always enjoyed plain, old, boring weed. Sarah thought that pot smoke smelled horrible, but Zondra and Amy never had a problem with it. When it came to Sarah and cocaine, she didn't do the stuff often, usually only when in Central or South America… or Cleveland.
As Sarah had taken the time over the years to reflect on her drug use, it became clear that she'd used the white stuff as a means to mask the stress of the intense work she'd done with the CATS. They'd often times found themselves seducing and/or flirting their way into places that they needed to go to complete the mission. Sarah had never been good at seduction; she just wasn't that uber-confident seductress type like Carina made herself out to be. Even then, Carina had her own issues with stress that she'd dealt with by drinking excessively, or sleeping around, or both. A good portion of the CATS work had taken place in Europe, but those were often times assassination type missions. Strangely it always seemed like they were seducing someone or otherwise parading around half-naked whenever they found themselves in Central or South America. On second thought, maybe Graham had treated her like he'd treated Nora, just not as openly.
That mission in Berlin that she'd told Chuck about had been a rare moment where Sarah had gotten high during a mission. She'd been so scared of stripping in front of a room full of human traffickers. Initially she'd refused the bump of coke that Carina had offered her, but when showtime came… she'd taken it and done the job. The confidence she'd gained in that moment had been the only reason she'd been able to get on that stage with Carina. That mission was towards the end of their time together as a team. After that display she'd had to put on in Berlin, she'd sworn off of cocaine, full stop.
In the wake of Berlin, she'd been filled with anger, mostly at herself. She'd let Graham get away with far too much that she knew wasn't legally allowed. Knowing that, she'd stormed into Graham's office and laid down the law. She'd told him no more seduction, no more taking her top off and smiling about it, otherwise she'd quit. It was the only time she'd ever been so demanding in front of Graham. But, in that moment, Sarah suspected that he finally understood that she wasn't someone he could bully into playing toy whore for the CIA. The next time Sarah had seduced anyone was Chuck Bartowski and even then, that was child's play compared to the shit she'd done with the CATS.
If twenty-three-year-old Sarah could see the woman she'd become only a few short years later, she'd have been stunned. From a raving mad party girl, who moonlighted as an assassin, to an expecting mother in just four short years. It gave Sarah pause many nights when she looked in the mirror. She didn't recognize the person who looked back at her, she was so far away from that little girl in San Diego. If Sarah was being honest though, she wouldn't trade any of it. Everything she'd been though had led her to Chuck Bartowski. He was her prize for enduring the life she'd lived for some twenty-seven years. Sarah gave herself a proud smile, she'd made it through all of that hardship and strife and was well on her way to the rest of her life.
"Maggie Wilson, the stories I could tell you," she mused as she gave herself a final once over. Deeming herself a bit better composed, Sarah turned and left the bathroom. The thumping of the music outside the bathroom sounded so oppressive now that she was removed from the moment on the dancefloor. She'd be a mother in some thirty weeks; just seven more months. As she walked down the narrow hallway, back toward the heart of the club, the reality of motherhood finally hit her. She'd have a child, a little person that her body will have nourished and brought into the world. Was she ready for responsibility like that? Sarah didn't know, but she knew that her Chuck would be right there with her the whole way.
Sarah was pulled from her thoughts when a large, imposing man bumped into her. She locked eyes with the man and she saw nothing. Looking into those eyes, she saw no emotion, no soul. All she saw from him was a hunter on the prowl, looking for his next target. A chill ran down her spine, sinking deep into her bones.
Chuck spotted Sarah through the crowd, his smile as loving as ever. Sarah didn't return that smile, still disturbed by that man. When she arrived at their table, Chuck quickly spoke, worry in his brow.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly as she closed the distance and practically burrowed into his embrace.
"A man outside the bathroom," Sarah began. "Just gave me a weird feeling, is all." Chuck nodded and gave her a tight hug. Ellie and Devon had noticed Sarah's change in demeanor. Glancing at her watch, Ellie saw the time. It was after midnight and she knew that all of them had to work in the morning.
"It's getting late, what do you say we call it a night?" Chuck and Sarah nodded, both more than ready for some sleep after all their fun on the dancefloor. The four of them walked one after another, weaving their way through the crowd and out the front door. As Sarah walked through the door, her eyes met those of a man in a nicely tailored suit, his eyes showed a coolness that she'd often seen in agents when on assignment. As he walked past her, she stopped in her tracks, turning to watch him as he disappeared into the dark red glow of the club.
"What is it?" Chuck asked Sarah, who quickly turned back towards her husband.
"I don't know, I just feel like we're being watched and I don't know why," Sarah said, a look of worry on her face.
"Are you armed?" Chuck whispered into her ear. Sarah silently nodded, opening her clutch to show Chuck the small pistol she housed there.
"Chuck, Sarah, come on, let's go!" called Ellie from across the parking lot. Chuck and Sarah's head swung quickly to look at Ellie. The brunette's call seemed to snap Chuck out of it and he quickly jogged to catch up to Ellie. Sarah walked after Chuck, spotting a blacked-out BMW M3. The BMW cruised past Sarah, the driver clearly looking at her the entire time. With three separate people having now looked at her strangely, Sarah's danger alarms were blaring. Someone was watching her and she didn't know why.
Chuck watched Sarah watch the BMW that drove past her. By now he knew something had her seriously on edge. From his experience, if Sarah was on edge or sensed danger, then you should take her seriously. "What's gotten into Sarah?" Devon asked as he too watched the blonde. Chuck looked over to Devon, considering what to say. By now Ellie had noticed the change in Chuck and Sarah, something had their guard up. Knowing that Devon wasn't to be let it on the family secret, she butted in to save her brother.
"She's probably just tired, she did a lot of dancing tonight." Chuck looked over at Ellie, silently thankful. As Sarah arrived at Devon's two-thousand and seven Toyota Avalon, Chuckcould see just how on edge she was. Still, he did his best to play it off for Devon. That went out the window when Sarah spoke next.
"Can I drive us back?" Devon and Ellie gave Sarah a curious look. Sarah quickly thought of an excuse.
"I'm going to have to buy a new car once the baby is born, just curious about this Toyota."
Devon smiled his usual smile. "Sure, Sarah; the Toyota Avalon Limited is an awesome ride, safest in its class too!" Sarah gave him a smile, Chuck knew it was forced, but she hid her tension well. If Chuck hadn't spent so much time with her, he'd have never seen it, but he could see her nerves. Devon handed Sarah the keys and all of them piled into the car. Chuck and Ellie sat in the back while Devon took the front passenger's seat, in order to show Sarah the car.
With the four of them now on the road back to Burbank, Sarah was only passively listening to Devon, only enough to keep up the ruse that she'd thrown at him. Ten minutes into their drive, Sarah spotted the tail. A black BMW M3, about twenty yards behind her in traffic. Sarah made a left at the next intersection, quickly, suddenly.
"Whoa, Sarah, this isn't the Monaco Grand Prix," Devon said suddenly.
"Just seeing how she handles," Sarah said without taking her eyes off the road. As she finished, she jerked the wheel right and made a sudden turn, through a red light. Cars honked at her and the others in the car held on for dear life. As she continued her anti-surveillance drills, the BMW stayed with her the whole way.
"Chuck," Sarah said, in a very different tone; Devon heard the change instantly.
"Yeah?" Chuck said as evenly as possible.
"We've got a tail, black BMW, about thirty yards back. He's been on us since we left the club." Sarah's words silenced the car as all three of her passengers turned at once to look for the BMW. All three of them saw it quickly in the empty LA streets.
"Why is someone following us?" Devon asked, now nervous.
"No fucking idea, but they are," Sarah said in a clipped tone. Chuck saw her pulled her clutch into her lap with her right hand fumbling around inside it. Sarah made another sharp left, other cars honking at her.
"How would you know?" Devon asked. Chuck knew that there was little chance of Sarah talking her way out of this, so he spoke.
"Awesome?" Chuck began, grabbing his attention. Devon looked back at Chuck; his eyes worried. "Sarah works for the CIA; she has for almost ten years. She's a highly trained agent; the best there is." Sarah cursed internally; her cover was blown again.
"You're a spy?" Devon asked loudly, having turned back towards Sarah. In that moment, Sarah pulled her SIG Sauer P238 out with her right hand, letting it rest in her lap, out of sight. "Oh my god, you've got a gun!"
Sarah looked into her mirror, seeing the BMW still there, not closing the distance, nor losing ground. The light in front of her turned red so Sarah came to a stop in the right lane of the four-lane road. Chuck watched the car come up behind them, pulling up next to them on the left at the light. Sarah looked over at Devon.
"Devon," she began as she slipped her heels off and put the car in park. "I am a spy; stay in the car." Sarah turned back toward the BMW and opened her door, stepping out into the street. In a flash, Sarah had her pistol pointed at the BMW.
"Federal agent, out of the car, now!" Sarah called; her gun pointed directly at the driver. Sarah took a step back as all four doors opened and four sets of masculine hands stuck out.
"Don't shoot!" one of them called as they all came into view. Sure enough, it was the men from the club.
"Chuck, get out here," she called without taking her eyes off the men. Chuck appeared from the rear passenger's side seat and walked around the front of the car to stand next to Sarah. As Chuck came up behind her, she stepped to her right and ushered Chuck up beside her. "Take this," she said as she handed him her pistol. Chuck took the pistol and pointed it at the men. "I'm going to search them. If one of them so much as twitches, shoot to kill, clear?" Sarah's tone told Chuck that now was not the time to argue the virtues of using guns. Instead, Chuck merely nodded.
Devon and Ellie watched Sarah walk over to the men, pushing them up against the car to search each of them. Within moments, Sarah had removed two knives, three handguns, and a baggie of little blue pills from the four of them. Next, Sarah went to the driver's seat and hit the button for the trunk. Chuck watched in silence as Sarah opened the trunk and pulled out zip ties, garbage bags, duct tape, and a duffle bag full of clothes.
Sarah knew that her gut hadn't lied to her. Now that she had proof, she had some questions. Sarah grabbed one of the guns she'd confiscated and walked over to the man she'd seen outside the bathroom. He was tall, with dark, tanned skin and blonde hair. As Sarah got to the man, she pointed her current pistol at the blonde-haired man. She kicked him in the back of the knees, making his legs buckle. As the man fell to the ground, Sarah pressed his gun to his head.
"Who the fuck are you?" she growled. The man said nothing, which only pissed Sarah off. "Do you want to die? Because I will blow a hole in your fucking skull and simply ask the next guy, clear?" she roared as she pressed the pistol harder into his head.
"Blake," the man said begrudgingly.
"Okay, Blake," Sarah began. "How were you going to do it, huh? Follow us home, break in, tie us all up, and kill us?" she growled angrily, before letting out a sarcastic huff. "Oh, I forgot the part where you all take turns brutally raping my sister-in-law and I. Were you going to make the guys watch as you did it? Want to make them watch us beg for mercy? Want to see us scream and cry? Does the terror make it feel better, is that it?" Chuck had never seen this from Sarah, this level of rage.
The man struggled against Sarah, which prompted her to fire at the ground, right next to his foot. The man yelped in fright, before he stopped struggling. Sarah leaned in close once again, and spoke into his ear. "I don't know who you are, Blake, and I don't fucking care. The only reason I'm not going to shoot each and every one of you in the back of the fucking head and leave you here, is because I don't want my family to see that." By now the man was trembling in fear, now aware of the level of shit he was in.
"Why were you watching me? Who sent you?" she asked again.
"Nobody, we were just looking to have some fun," Blake said quickly, the cold steel of the pistol ever present in his mind.
"Chuck," Sarah said as she stood up to her full height. Chuck looked over at her briefly before looking back to the three men that Sarah didn't presently have under control. "Take the knife I confiscated and slash the tires." Chuck gave her a curious look, but the look in her eyes told him to do it and stop asking questions. Sarah stood back to cover Blake and the three other guys with the gun she was presently using as Chuck walked around the car and slashed each tire until they were all flat. After that, Chuck collected all of the gear off the street, where Sarah had thrown it. Chuck put all of the confiscated gear in Devon's trunk.
"Take the keys from the ignition," Sarah commanded next, which Chuck did silently. Sarah watched Chuck stuff the keys in his pocket and step away. "Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once," Sarah began in a tone that Chuck had never heard before. In that moment, Chuck understood that this was the Ice Queen that he was seeing.
"If I ever see any of you again, I will kill you on the spot, understand!?" Sarah bellowed with a voice betraying her obvious feminine appearance; getting a quick nod from all of them. Now satisfied that her point had been made, Sarah spoke to Chuck. "Chuck, get back in the car and cover me from your seat." Once she saw Chuck get in and roll the rear driver's side window down, she began to move towards Devon's car. Devon watched Sarah climb in and speed away, not bothering to put her seat belt back on, nor paying heed to the traffic lights. Once Sarah had gotten a good five minutes of driving between her and the four men, she relaxed and slowed down. Devon noticed that the gun that she'd taken was still in her lap, just in case.
"Why does Chuck know how to use guns?" Devon asked nervously, afraid of upsetting the woman next to him, a woman he wasn't sure he knew at all. Sarah mentally cursed once again. She hadn't needed to be that person, the Ice Queen, in a long time. This time, she'd done it in front of her family. Devon probably hated her right now, but Sarah pushed those thoughts down.
"I taught him." That was true, she had taught him last week on her day off from the Buy More. She'd wanted him to be more comfortable with firearms in case he ever needed to use them, God forbid. The thing was, Chuck had surprised her; not only with his seriousness, but also with his impressive shooting. It would seem that Chuck was a natural at shooting pistols. He was good enough to be a damn good agent. Thankfully, she would never allow that tragedy to come to pass. Still, it had made training a whole lot more fun, because instead of teaching him the basics, she taught him more advanced skills. By the end of it, they were holding competitions. The prize was always the same, one night in total control in the bedroom. So far, Chuck was owed a night of control, while Sarah had already claimed her two nights. She hoped Chuck was keen to have fun with it, because the fun of shooting with him was something she hoped to do again. Refocusing on Devon, she spoke again.
"I am an intelligence officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. I've been employed by the CIA since the year two-thousand, summer of my junior year at Harvard," she said simply, giving Devon a half-hearted smile. Devon looked from Sarah, to the back of the car, then back to Sarah.
"The rest of you don't seem surprised." Devon said to his fiancée, who struggled to meet his gaze. Devon's words fell on deaf ears it would seem, as Ellie never responded. Devon briefly looked back to Sarah, before turning in his seat to once again look at Ellie. "Am I the last person to learn about this?" he asked with a distinct edge in his words. The car was silent, nobody willing to speak, signal enough that Devon was correct. The disgusted huff from Devon was uncharacteristic, but totally warranted.
"I'll keep the classified details to a minimum, but here is the story," Sarah began. Over the next half hour, Sarah told Devon a sanitized version of the last twenty-ish months, making sure to leave Casey, Nora, and the Intersect out of it. By the time they pulled into the parking lot of Devon and Ellie's apartment, Devon was silent, still processing.
As the four of them exited the car, Sarah quickly moved all the confiscated weapons from Devon and Ellie's car and into the rental she was using until the mechanics finished fixing hers. Her poor Porsche's engine spun a cam bearing, which wasn't the worst possible news, according to Nora at least. In the meantime, she was driving a grey, two-thousand and eight Ford Focus. The car was tiny and slow, but it was enough for now. After Sarah had stuffed all of the contraband into her rental car, she turned towards Devon and Ellie. She could see the wariness in Devon's eyes. She'd showed him who she really was and he was obviously not a fan. The look in his eyes was like a dagger to Sarah's heart. She'd been so damn close to having it all, she'd had the family, the job, a wonderful husband, she was so close. That was over now, though. How could she ever expect them to look at her the same again after showing them the evil part of her?
"Well, this has been an… interesting evening," Ellie said diplomatically, aware of the tension in the air. Chuck and Sarah nodded, neither sure what to say. "Goodnight," Ellie said awkwardly as she turned to go inside. Devon locked his car and turned to follow Ellie. Sarah took a half step forward and spoke.
"Devon?" Sarah called. Devon stopped and turned to look at her. "Don't repeat anything I told you tonight, please." Sarah hated this, she hated that she'd pulled yet another person into the web of lies and secrets that just seemed to follow her around. Devon for his part gave her a small half smile and nodded once, before turning to walk away. Now standing alone with her husband, Sarah turned towards the car silently and got in. Chuck climbed into the passenger's seat and simply watched Sarah out of the corner of his eye. He'd never seen her like this; her arm was leaning on the door, her head in her palm as she drove with one hand.
The depressed look in her eyes made Chuck want to fix this, but he didn't know how. Worse still, he didn't know exactly which part of the evening was bothering her. Obviously the entire scene with Blake was a serious contender, but he couldn't know for sure. The two of them silently drove to the Orange Orange, intent to deposit the contraband in Castle's armory where it could be sorted and indexed at a later date. Sarah never said a word the entire drive to Castle, nor the drive home. By the time they were on the elevator, Chuck was starting to grow worried about her. When the door closed behind Sarah, Chuck heard the tremendous sigh come from her. It said so much; exhaustion, exasperation, but mostly it conveyed this sense of… pain. As Chuck looked at her, he saw the look in her eyes, the glassy sheen. Chuck didn't say a word, he simply pulled her into his arms and held her tight. In a flash the tears began to fall, flowing unabated for long minutes.
When Sarah finally calmed down, she looked so defeated, so beaten down. Chuck didn't understand what was wrong, but he knew that his wife needed him more than ever, so he spoke softly. "Sarah." She looked up to him, her eyes filled with pain.
"They're going to hate me," she croaked, looking down at his chest, shame overwhelming her.
"What?" Chuck asked in disbelief. "Who's going to hate you?"
"Devon and Ellie," she said pitifully as the tears began anew.
"They don't hate you, Sarah," he replied, trying to help his wife and seemingly failing. Sarah nodded into his chest, still not meeting his gaze.
"They saw the real me, and they were horrified." She instantly felt the change in her husband as his arms squeezed her tighter, held her closer.
"No, Sarah; surprised, sure, but never horrified," he whispered to her, before kissing her on the top of the head, comfortingly. He heard the sigh from her, he felt the weariness in her.
"I'm just so tired of being… aware. I'm so tired of always being on guard. I'm so tired of this life," she said as more tears began to flow. "I want to be normal, Chuck; I don't want to do this anymore. I just want to be a wife and a mother; I don't want to be the Ice Queen anymore." Sarah's broken sobs tore at his heart. Chuck didn't know what to say, because secretly he wanted those things too.
"I feel like I'm chained to a life that I never asked for. I want out, Chuck; I want to be free… I want to be… me again." Chuck just held her close and let her cry, himself struggling to contain his own pain from seeing his loving wife so distraught. For long minutes, Chuck silently held Sarah close and let her cry. When she finally finished, she was asleep on her feet, her head against Chuck's chest.
After Chuck had gotten Sarah into bed, he simply stood back and watched her sleep. The pain that had come flowing out of his wife was something he hadn't been prepared for. He'd never seen such despair from Sarah and the truth was, it was all his fault. Knowing what he needed to do, Chuck scribbled a note for Sarah and grabbed the keys to his herder.
~X~
Ellie Bartowski sat alone in the living room of her apartment, contemplating everything that had happened tonight. She'd heard the story of Sarah's real job, but seeing her in action was… different. The difference in personality that Sarah showed when in agent mode was alarming to the elder Bartowski sibling. The cold, detached indifference that seemed to pour out of Sarah when she was focused, was something that Ellie had never seen before. She silently wondered what had happened to Sarah to give her the ability to go to such a dark place. She'd seen the disappointment in Sarah's eyes after the fact. She'd looked so defeated, like she'd disappointed everyone. Ellie wondered what that stemmed from, though she knew she'd likely never find out.
The sound of the door unlocking grabbed Ellie's attention. She looked over in time to see Chuck enter, still in his clothes that they'd worn tonight. Ellie rose to her feet and met Chuck near the door.
"Hey, I'm surprised to see you here," she said to her little brother, who shrugged.
"How's Devon?" Chuck asked Ellie, who shrugged back at him.
"Went to bed, I think he's trying to reconcile the Sarah he knows, with the woman he saw tonight. I know it took me a minute to do that when she told me." Chuck nodded; his mind seemingly somewhere else. Ellie gave Chuck a curious look, before she closed the distance between then and gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "What's wrong?" she asked, sure that he was here because something was bothering him.
"Can we talk… somewhere more private?" he asked, glancing towards the hall. He looked nervous, like he had something big to say, but wasn't sure if he should. Ellie nodded and quickly led Chuck outside to the parking lot. Once they arrived at Ellie's car, she turned to Chuck.
"What's wrong with Sarah?" she asked, momentarily surprising Chuck. "You'd only want more privacy if this was about Sarah, so what's wrong?" she explained. Chuck looked down at his chucks briefly.
"When we got back to our room, she uh, she completely broke down in my arms." Ellie's face softened as she saw the lingering pain in his eyes. "She's tired of this life and wants out. She feels trapped and wants to quit." Ellie nodded.
"Then she should quit, nobody should work at a job that isn't good for them," she said quickly. When she saw the expression from Chuck's face, she knew there was more to this.
"She can't quit, that's the problem," he said quietly. Ellie's posture changed from one of curiosity, to one of worry.
"Why not?"
"As long as I have the Intersect, she has to stay in the CIA to keep me safe. My wife is miserable and it's all my fault." Chuck said desperately, the pain evident in his voice. Ellie loved her brother more in that moment than in any other. His heart was so big; filled with so much love.
"It's going to be okay, Chuck, we'll figure this out," Ellie said as she gave her brother a quick hug. The hug and her words gave him some much-needed comfort.
"I don't know how, Ellie, but we've got to get this thing out of my head," Chuck said as they separated. Ellie gave her brother a confident smile.
"Don't worry, Little Bro; we're Bartowski's, there is nothing we can't do together." Chuck gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement. In that moment, the two Bartowski's had a new mission. They were going to get this thing out of his head, because that was what was needed to free them all from the iron-like grip of the spy life.
"Thanks, Sis," Chuck said to Ellie as she turned to walk back to her apartment.
"Aces, Charles, you're aces," she said over her shoulder.
~X~
Lakeside Drive
Burbank, California
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
4:20 AM PDT
It had taken the four of them hours to get back to the house they were renting for this job. They'd been in God-awful Burbank for over a month now, watching, waiting. Their instructions had been clear, the blonde CIA agent and her geek boyfriend were to be eliminated simultaneously. The problem was, this Sarah Walker, had seemingly vanished into thin air for six weeks! Her disappearance complicated things, considering their instructions clearly ordered him to get the both of them at the same time, lest they risk retaliation. Now, this Agent Walker was back in town and they'd been watching the two of them, waiting for their moment to strike and avenge a grave injustice. They'd already tried once, but some other agent had gone with the geek instead of Agent Walker.
Tonight, they'd underestimated their targets, being easily discovered by the blonde bitch. They'd also lost all their equipment too, so tonight had been nothing short of a disaster. Dillon Blake, was his name; at least that's what he went by since he'd faked his death six months ago. Mr. Blake, that's what everyone called him in this dark, seedy world of espionage for hire. He'd done work for Tsar Alexei of Rusovia, he'd worked with La Ciudad, he'd worked with them all. Fulcrum paid the least, the cheap bastards, which was why he'd stopped working for them. This time he was working for an individual, some disgruntled CIA Agent. He didn't know what this guy had against Agent Walker and her boyfriend, but. Blake was known for not asking questions.
Blake pulled out his phone as he watched his three partners in this job all sit down in the living room. As he watched them all, he dialed the number and listened to the phone buzz repeatedly in his ear. A voice appeared in his ear, "I told you to never call this number," the voice on the other end of the call growled. "What's your status?" the man asked. Blake exhaled, closing his eyes, dreading what was to come next.
"There was a setback," he said mutedly.
"What kind of set back?"
"The target discovered our tail. We were following them, ready to do the job as directed, when Agent Walker discovered us. She confiscated all of our equipment, and disabled our car. She's seen all of our faces, so finishing the job will be difficult." The string of expletives and insults about Blake, his mother, and his men, didn't faze him in the least.
"Agent Shaw…" Blake began, hoping to get back on track before the raving mad lunatic continued. Shaw quieted down quickly, so Blake continued. "Give me until June 6th and I will finish the job. I know people who can get me equipment, I know of some extra men I can call. We'll get it done." There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment.
"No mistakes…" the line went dead. Blake pulled his phone away from his ear and looked back over at his men. These were guys he'd served with for years, fought with them, bled with them. As he contemplated all that was left to do, he couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the date he'd given Shaw. June 6th, the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, a tragic defeat for the Reich at the hands of the western Jewish cabal. As that date continued to rattle around in his mind, he could only think one thing. A quote said by a man he deeply admired, Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox. Of course, the original quote didn't exactly fit, but he knew for a fact that the 6th of June would be decisive… for his targets and his men. It will truly be the longest day.
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #4: Chapter twenty-two is in the books! What did all of you think of this one? I wanted to further elaborate on Sarah's thoughts on drugs, so that's why I included that little blurb. So, we now have a bad guy, duh duh DUH! As if it would be anyone other than Shaw, it had to be lol. The circle of those at least partially in the know is growing larger and larger, what does that mean going forward?
CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #5: Okay, what did everyone think? What do you think Mr. Blake is going to do? How did Shaw find them? Let me know all of your thoughts by leaving a review!
Until Next Time :D