A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. Glad that people are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it.
Beta done by Captainrick944, once again. Thank you, my friend.
This chapter is based on S1E3, "Chuck Versus the Tango."
Piranha vs The Intersect
Chapter 5: Artwork
Ellie and Devon had decided to have a newspaper each day. Chuck thought it antiquated. "You can read the news and articles on the internet," he constantly reminded them.
Today, as Chuck and Sarah were eating their breakfast, Ellie placed the folded paper in front of them. The article top left of the front page was titled, "Bank Executive Dies in Robbery" and underneath was a picture of Bryce Larkin.
"Did you see this?" Ellie asked. "He dies as a traitor, screws you over again, and is praised and gets a funeral here in Los Angeles of all places."
"That'll be for his parents, who won't know about any of his CIA existence," Sarah said.
"Are you going to the funeral tomorrow?" Ellie asked.
"Chuck has suggested I do, to get closure," Sarah stated. She really didn't want to, with how she felt about what he'd done, both to herself and all the shitty stuff to Chuck. However, Chuck may be right and they'd go together for support if it got to either of them.
"So, I suppose you'll go too, Chuck?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah. I'll wear one of dad's old suits," he replied.
Sarah turned to him. "You don't have a suit?"
"Never needed one," he said.
"That changes today," she told him. "I might want you to take me somewhere fancy at some time."
He looked at her. "Not that you don't deserve to be wined and dined, but your favorite dinner is a burger."
She shrugged. "Doesn't mean I don't want to be pampered now that I'm in a relationship."
""You've got money coming in from the CIA. Spend it, Chuck," Ellie told him.
Clothes shopping was one of Chuck's least favorite activities, but he had to admit, doing it with Sarah was more pleasurable than he expected. Perhaps that was because she was so hands-on, literally. She felt the need to feel the suits on him, brushing her hands down them. It felt intimate even though they were in a store in a shopping mall.
At first, all Chuck wanted was to get home, but as they continued selecting suits, he found he wanted to try more on to continue that contact.
Of course, this couldn't continue forever, and Chuck walked out of the store with a black suit that fitted him. No adjustments were necessary. It seemed made for a 6' 4" lanky guy, as he still thought of himself, in spite of Sarah's more positive thoughts of his body.
They then returned home and made love almost as soon as they got there. Both needed that after all the almost-contact in the store.
The funeral the next day was strange for both of them.
They stood near the back and watched Bryce's parents say goodbye to their son.
Chuck had had no contact with these people during the time of his friendship with their son, so they didn't know him, although the mother looked at Chuck for a while. Maybe they had seen photos with him included within groups from Stanford. However, she said nothing, so wrapped up in her grief.
The parents knew nothing of Sarah or her time with Bryce, so she was completely anonymous. That suited her fine, just as it always did.
The strangeness was that both found themselves sad at his loss, in spite of how they felt about him. They both stood quietly as the coffin was buried and walked away in the shared sadness, their hands clasping each other. Neither felt the need to speak and on returning to the apartment, both needed to hold the other. The person that each felt was their own lifeline.
The next morning, Ellie had left the daily newspaper folded on the table near where Chuck sat down to eat his breakfast. As Sarah was sitting, he glanced at the paper and one of the front page articles not only caught his eye, but also caused him to flash.
Neither Ellie nor Devon was around, but Sarah saw what happened. "Chuck, you flashed. What did you see?"
Chuck was confused about the mishmash of images. "Um, I don't... I'm not... I'm not totally sure. A water lily painting, weapons, an art auction tomorrow night." He looked at her. "Does the name La Ciudad mean anything to you?"
Sarah instantly recalled the name. "An elusive art collector, but best known for gun trafficking." She frowned. "Why?"
"Because I think she's going to be at the art auction here in LA tomorrow night."
"Why do you say, 'she'?" She asked.
"Well, if it was a man it would be El Ciudad, wouldn't it?" he replied.
"We need to bring this up on this morning's call, but I think I know where Casey and I will be going tomorrow night. Let me pass the details to Director Graham."
"This would explain the following series of images," General Beckman said. Four photos of dead men lying on various floors appeared on the display, replacing the image of Graham standing behind the seated general. "They must have been transporting art to this venue."
Chuck frowned. "Why kill someone for doing that?"
"I doubt it was just for La Ciudad's collection," Casey said.
The photos disappeared from the screen. General Beckman stared at the three of them. "He's right, this is a high priority. La Ciudad is the most elusive and dangerous arms dealer in the world."
Director Graham was standing behind the general, leaning down to look into the camera. "And the last anyone heard, MI-6 in London had a drop on him, but he vanished."
Casey responded, "Well, if he turns up, we'll just take him down at the auction."
Graham said, "Not so easy. We have no idea what he looks like, no photographs. No one has ever seen La Ciudad that has lived to tell about it."
Casey replied, "So we'll bring the Intersect. Everything you know about La Ciudad was fed into that computer."
Sarah glared at him. "No way. It is too dangerous. Chuck has no field experience or training. He's an analyst, not a spy."
Casey scoffed at that. "He'll be fine. It's an art auction. La Ciudad probably won't even be there."
"First of all," Sarah started. "Chuck has pointed out that the name includes the feminine definitive article, not masculine, so it could be a woman." Then, she turned to Casey. "And if she is there? Is it worth the risk?" Sarah demanded.
Beckman cut through their argument. "All right, I've heard enough. Put him in the field. We don't know what he's capable of until he's been tested."
"I'm right here. You can ask me directly," Chuck angrily said.
"Besides, he works for the CIA as an analyst, not for the NSA," Graham stated. They could all see him looking tense. Beckman bristled at his comment.
Graham looked at Chuck. "However, I can't see a better way to tackle this, so we really do need you to go. Lives are at risk again."
Chuck recognized this was similar to the bomb where only he could fix the problem. "Very well, Director," Chuck said.
Sarah couldn't argue when everyone was against her, so she kept quiet, fuming and fretting in silence.
Even though he had agreed to do this, Chuck spent the day worrying about it. Sarah was right, he wasn't ready for this. He would cling to her throughout their time at the auction.
Casey hadn't helped, being as full of sarcasm as ever. Chuck even reprimanded him, pointing out that it just made him more nervous.
Casey did tell him that he had rented Chuck a tux using the size of the suit Chuck and Sarah had bought.
Casey's final comments had worried Chuck in a different way, though.
"Don't worry. You're going to be fine. Nothing's going to happen to you. Assuming you know how to tango."
When Chuck went to see Sarah at lunchtime, she had calmed down. "I don't like you going into danger, Chuck, but I understand why it's thought to be needed."
"Sarah, you go into danger all the time," he replied.
She glared at him. "I had extensive training when I joined the CIA and also have many years of experience. The two are not the same."
"So, I get experience by doing things like this," he argued.
"Without the years of training I received. I noticed you ignored that," she grumbled.
"Okay. So, I'm not trained or experienced, but she could hurt people I know, so I am definitely going."
Sarah sighed. "I know." She couldn't fight this, so wanted him to be as prepared as possible. "The idea with a cover is to keep it as simple as possible without revealing true personal detail. Any thoughts on a name?"
Chuck responded instantly. "Charles Carmichael? Simple, dignified."
Sarah smiled. "Easy to remember and not far off from..."
Chuck interrupted her. "Graduated with honors from Stanford. Runs a hugely successful software company. Semi-retired and is considering entering America's cup."
Sarah was surprised at the level of detail. "Have you done this before?"
"Let's just say, uh, Mr. Carmichael and I share a kinship."
"Is this how you saw yourself before the expulsion?" She asked.
"Yeah, except for the sailing part," Chuck replied. "I don't really know where that came from. But he's where most of my class already is."
"I hate that Bryce did that to you," she muttered.
"Me too." He looked at her. "What's you cover tonight?"
She smiled. "Gemma Lake, Charles Carmichael's girlfriend. Fascinated by the paintings that will be on display. Wondering if her boyfriend will bid on one for her."
"Nice. Is the name Gemma significant?"
Sarah shook her head. "No. Spur of the moment choice. Not a name I have used before.."
"So, nothing like your birth name, then?" Chuck asked.
Sarah was silent for a few moments, but then decided to open up to him. "Chuck, when I was taken for spy training, they were very clear that students stopped using their old names and took new ones. I hadn't used my birth name for ten years by then, so thought nothing of it. I only had that name for seven years, whereas I have had many others since then, ten years with my father and ten with the CIA. I can tell you my birth name if you really want, but it's not me anymore."
"I was just curious. To me, you are Sarah Walker."
She smiled. "Thank you, Chuck. However, you are the only person I will tell my birth name to." She leaned close to make sure that only he heard. "It's Samantha."
"I feel honored that you share that with me, Sarah," he said, deliberately using the name she preferred.
"Only you, Chuck," she replied, looking lovingly at him.
"Well, Gemma," he said, now using the name she will use at the auction. "Casey tells me that I need to be able to tango tomorrow night. Can you teach me?"
She grinned. "He's pulling your leg. There will be no need to tango then, and it would probably not be a good idea, as we need to be vigilant, but I love dancing and will happily teach you."
He smiled at the excitement in her eyes. "Do it tonight, and then after we catch La Ciudad, we might get a chance to dance."
Tango night, as Chuck thought of the evening with her teaching him, was both a learning and a pleasurable experience. Sarah was a great teacher, as he expected. He hadn't expected so much physical contact with her. She later told him that they could have danced with less, but she had enjoyed it so much with him that she got a bit carried away. "It is an intimate dance, though."
"So, if I had to dance this with someone else…" Chuck started to ask.
"No touching breasts," Sarah replied.
"Good to know."
"Anyway. Do you think I would let another woman Tango with you?"
He looked at her stormy blue eyes. "She'd get badly hurt wouldn't she? And then I would."
She nodded seriously. "Dancing will only happen with me, Chuck. And tomorrow night, only if we catch La Ciudad."
"What if she demands to dance with me?" he asked.
"I won't leave you all night," she said.
When Sarah had fallen asleep that night, Chuck's mind was still active, thinking about La Ciudad. He decided to find out what the British knew about him or her.
He slipped out of bed, and got onto his laptop.
He'd never accessed the British intelligence systems, so this was new for Piranha. Not difficult, just new.
He found that MI-6 were just as clueless over who La Ciudad was, but they had intercepted the shipment that had arrived in LA. The lead agent, Alan Peters, was sure this would be the way to capture La Ciudad. Chuck found his photo and details.
They did have rumors that La Ciudad was very hands-on and good with the guns being trafficked, and with knives. There was even a rumor that La Ciudad had been badly knifed, but none of these rumors could be substantiated.
He found very little else, but thought that MI-6 may well have a presence at the auction. He would tell Sarah and Casey about that in the morning.
He slipped back into bed and drifted off to sleep with the scent of Sarah's hair in his nostrils.
Chuck dressed himself in the tux and watched Sarah as she put on a red dress with one shoulder bare. It clung to her body, which wasn't surprising as she wasn't wearing a bra and only had a thong on. When he'd looked at her as she slid into the dress, she said, "What?"
"No bra and only a thong?" he pointed out.
She looked serious. "Can't have lines showing. Not at an event like this." Then, she smiled. "Besides, I want to feel it when you run your hands over me in our tango."
He really hoped they did dance.
Before they left the apartment, Sarah straightened Chuck's bowtie.
"You do that with my work ties, as well," Chuck stated.
Sarah blushed. "It's when I get the hots for you and can't do anything about it." He smiled the smile that always got to her. "Stop it. Save that for after the mission."
He nodded and stopped smiling. "You look amazing in that dress, Sarah."
"Thank you."
They walked out and got into the waiting limo. On the seat between them was a box. Sarah opened it, took out the watch from inside and replaced Chuck's around his wrist with this one. "In case you decide to ditch me for some reason," she quipped. "Inside the watch is a tracking system."
"Why would I ever do that?" he honestly asked.
"Good answer," she said and gave him a peck on the lips.
Casey, who was driving the limo, and had just pulled up, said, "Remember, no one who's ever seen La Ciudad has lived to tell about it."
"Thanks for lightening the mood, Casey," Chuck said.
Casey smirked. "Toughen up, you'll be fine... assuming you know how to tango."
Chuck replied, "I did some preparation, okay? I wouldn't call myself an expert..."
"I just hope we do get the chance to repeat what we practiced," Sarah said. "Both the dancing and what followed."
That wiped the smirk off of Casey's face.
Sarah turned back to the grinning Chuck. "Come on, you ready?"
They got out of the limo and walked in.
"Look at the men as well as the women, Chuck," Sarah said as she leaned in to him. "You might be wrong about it being a woman."
They were just about to walk up the stairs, when a waitress walked past them with a tray of food. Chuck grabbed an item just as they started up the stairs. Clumsy as ever he managed to get some of it on his white shirt.
"Oh, nice. I've been a spy all of five seconds and I already have soy sauce on my shirt."
Sarah looked at the state of Chuck's shirt. "Well, you can't leave me to go and wash it off. We'll go to the end of the bar when we get in there, and I'll find water and a cloth." She actually found his clumsiness rather endearing. It was a reminder that he wasn't like the spies she knew. "And Chuck, stop saying that you're a spy."
"Right, of course."
When they got to the bar, Casey had somehow managed to park the car and still got to his position behind the bar before them. Chuck looked at him in amazement. He nearly asked how Casey had done that, but Sarah spoke first, asking for cold water and a cloth. She immediately started work on Chuck's shirt.
Chuck scanned the room over the top of her head. Two men walked up to the bar, one of them ordering three drinks. They were facing away from Chuck, but he heard the other man say, in a strong British accent, "Where is he?"
"Gone to the loo," the first man replied, also sounding British. "When he joins us, we'll start to mingle. Hopefully this is where we get lucky."
The second man turned and looked at Chuck and Sarah. His eyes dropped to Sarah's rear. Chuck knew that was well worth looking at, and wasn't surprised that the man looked up at him to see who Sarah was with.
Chuck had to look away as he started to flash. He saw the other man's profile and flashed again. The men looked away and started talking again.
Chuck pushed Sarah away slightly. "Just as I thought, MI-6 are here. Three of them, including the two behind you," he whispered. "Their partner will join soon."
Sarah turned slowly and waved Casey over. "Need to talk to these guys or we'll be tripping over each other. Chuck just flashed on them. They're MI-6."
Casey walked to them, just as a third man, older, joined them. Chuck flashed on him too, even though he knew who he was, but this time all the flash contained was about La Ciudad. He gasped. The La Ciudad images were graphic and bloody. He couldn't help thinking that if he'd met this man first, he might have thought him to be La Ciudad.
Casey caught their attention, showed his NSA badge and suggested they go somewhere to talk. He nodded at Sarah and Chuck. Sarah pulled her CIA badge out of her handbag and flashed it at them.
The six of them walked to a side room.
"What are you doing here, unannounced in the States?" Casey asked, as confrontational as ever.
The older man said, "We've been pursuing an arms dealer through five countries."
Chuck said, "We know, Alan Peters. You are after La Ciudad."
Peters looked at him. "How do you know who I am?"
"Good intelligence," Chuck replied.
Peters frowned, but proceeded to tell them about La Ciudad. "MI-6 intercepted a painting with plutonium hidden in the frame. Rather than announce the bust, we removed the plutonium and kept the auction in the hope of luring La Ciudad."
"Do you know what La Ciudad looks like?" Sarah asked.
"No idea," the MI-6 agent replied.
"I think it'll be a woman," Chuck mentioned. No one could challenge or confirm that.
"Okay. Well, there's now six of us looking," Sarah said. "Let's head back in."
Chuck and Sarah had been wandering around the room, holding hands while carrying their drinks in their other hands, sipping occasionally. Chuck was getting bored. He started looking at the art displayed around the room. In hindsight, he wished they had asked the British which painting, but then he flashed on one of them and knew he had found it. "Can we look at the painting?"
"Sure," Sarah responded.
They walked over to the one he had flashed on.
"Is this it?" Sarah asked. "I take it that you flashed on it."
"Yeah. This is the one," he replied. He started looking at the frame. While he did that, Sarah continued to scan the room.
A woman walked up next to Chuck. "Beautiful painting."
Chuck hadn't noticed her arrival, being so focused on the frame. "There's something about it."
"Doesn't sound like you like it," the woman replied.
Chuck didn't want to sound ignorant in a place like this. "No, it seems very lovely. I'm just more interested in the frame…."
His phone went off. "So sorry about this. Work never leaves you alone." he said to the woman. He looked at the call which was from Morgan, who he didn't have time for at that moment. He looked at Sarah, who was talking quietly with the older British agent.
"So, you were saying… about the frame?" the woman said.
"Oh, it's nothing, it doesn't really matter. Sorry," he replied.
"You have me curious now," she said. "Tell me. My name is Malena, by the way."
"Charles," he replied. "The frame seems wrong for this painting, that's all."
Music started and Chuck recognized it from earlier that day.
"I love to tango," Malena said. She flicked her hair back and looked at Chuck.
He spotted a scar on her neck just as Sarah appeared beside him and took his hand.
He turned to Sarah as his flash hit him. Sarah had realized he had been cornered by the woman. "Charles, we get our chance to tango." She dragged him away from Malena. "I turn away for a second and you get that woman interested in tangoing with you?"
"Sarah, Sarah. Her neck. I flashed on her neck. She has a scar where someone sliced her neck. She's La Ciudad."
Sarah looked over his shoulder at the woman who was glaring at her. Malena then attracted the attention of two very large men and started talking to them.
She then turned to Casey who was looking at them. She gave him a nod in Malena's direction and mouthed 'La Ciudad.'
Casey called Alan Peters and the MI-6 agents quickly joined him. The four men converged on Malena and her two men with guns drawn, but out of sight.
Sarah and Chuck started to dance. They watched as the four closed in on the three and guided them out of the room.
Chuck held her close and his hands brushed her breasts, eliciting an unexpected moan from her. After a minute, Chuck asked, "Shouldn't we be with them?"
"Four against three are good odds," she said, enjoying the feel of Chuck's hands on her and the pleasure of the dance.
"What about the man who's following them?" he asked.
"Shit!" she muttered, and pulled away to follow. "Stay with me, but behind me," she commanded Chuck.
They followed the group and the trailing man down the stairs and out into the parking lot, which was now devoid of people.
A scuffle broke out and Malena kicked back at Peters and knocked the gun out of his hand. The huge man swiped the gun out of his British agent's hand, turned and threw the man at his partner. Casey was fighting with the third man and seemed to be winning.
The fourth man was about to shoot, when Sarah hit the back of his neck with the handle of her gun. He toppled to the floor.
Chuck noticed that Malena was reaching for Peter's gun. He instinctively ran to one side. "Hey, Malena!"
Malena paused briefly, saw who had called and reached for the gun again. "I wouldn't unless you want a hole through your hand," Sarah hissed from behind her. The large bodyguard stopped fighting on seeing someone with a gun on his boss. Someone who was too far away to hit.
Malena stood up slowly and Casey walked over and zip tied her, just as he had his man. The others did the same with the other two men. The large man got full handcuffs as they doubted the zip ties would be enough.
"This is American soil," Casey said. "So, I think they are ours first, but let's see what the boss says." He called General Beckman and explained the situation. He looked up after the call. "We will take them initially, but then pass them to you soon after."
He turned to Sarah and Chuck. "I've got this. NSA men are coming for them. Get back to your dancing."
Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand and almost ran back in. They both heard Peters ask Casey, "Are they newlyweds?"
"As good as," Casey replied.
Sarah grinned at Chuck on hearing that.
Unfortunately, when they got back inside, the tango was over. She hadn't taught him any other dance moves, so they decided to head back to the apartment to continue the tango in the privacy of their own home. They had to catch a taxi.
Once at the apartment, they wanted to dance but Ellie and Devon were just going to bed. "Did you tango?" Ellie asked.
"Not for long enough," Sarah groused.
"Enough to drive you to 'tango' under the covers?" Devon asked.
Sarah shook her head. "No covers," she replied as she dragged Chuck to their bedroom.
After helping each other out of their clothes, they tangoed silently around the room, touching far more intimately than they could have on the dance floor.
The 'tango' that followed on the bed was hot and steamy and oh so satisfying.
They were just recovering when Chuck's phone rang.
"Can't you ignore it?" Sarah asked.
"It'll be Morgan again. If I don't answer it, he will keep ringing," he replied. "I'll tell him to wait until the morning." He answered the call.
He looked worried, and when he ended the call, Sarah asked, "What's wrong?"
"Morgan is locked in the cage and freaking out," he replied. "It's one of his phobias."
"There's more phobias than just work?" she said.
"This is a real fear of him being trapped with all those computers broken around him."
She sighed. "So, we're going to rescue him?"
"You don't have to come," he assured her as he started to dress.
She stopped him and glared. "Don't you get it? When I say I'm not leaving your side, I mean it!"
"You're going to be bored out of your mind," he said. His concern for her coming through. "I'll have a load of computers to work through or I'll lose the chance to become the Assistant Manager."
"But you don't want that," she said.
"I really don't want Harry Tang to get it."
He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, so Sarah put on a t-shirt and shorts.
They headed to the Buy More. "I'll be in charge of the coffee," she told him. She then grinned. "And the visual incentive to finish quickly."
He looked over at her bare legs. "God, you will!".
A/N: It always irritated me that a female name was used for the arms dealer but it was assumed to be a man. Piranha did some digging about the British intelligence here. No one did that in the show for some reason.
