A/N: Yup. Time to talk about the ownership of Chuck. Ok, that's done. Let's move on now. Nothing to see here people.
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Chuck was upset, but was trying not to show it. Sarah had flirted with Kirk at the cocktail party and gotten an invitation to his penthouse apartment for the next morning. "Why did you do that?" asked Chuck when they had gotten back to the suite, doing his best not to sound accusatory.
"I saw the way he was looking at me. So, I did it because I thought it had a good chance of working. And it did," said Sarah.
"Sarah, he's a really bad guy," said Chuck.
"I know. It's part of my job to get close to really bad guys and have them tell me things. If I can get close to him by flirting with him, well, that's just another part of my tool kit. I've gotten information from terrorists, warlords, and drug kingpins. All of them really bad guys."
"It's sort of disrespectful to your boyfriend, don't you think?" asked Chuck.
"Chuck, it's not disrespectful to you. It's just business. It's a work thing. It's like your girlfriend is an actor and I have to film a love scene with somebody." She was upset and frustrated at the same time. And she could tell he was upset, but she needed him to understand that this had nothing to do with him. It was just part of the job. Not a part of the job he'd seen in the last couple of months, at least not with her, and not a part of the job she necessarily enjoyed, but a part of the job anyway.
"Not me. Carmichael. He's gonna feel terrible," said Chuck.
"Oh. Maybe. Maybe they haven't been getting along. Maybe he's had another girl on the side and she's flirting with Kirk for payback. Maybe they have an open relationship and he just doesn't care what she gets up to. I don't know, but whatever is between Carmichael and his girl is make believe. It's got nothing to do with you and me."
"I know that. I know we're not really the Carmichaels, or whatever," he huffed. Chuck didn't look at all happy about it.
Casey felt the need to support Sarah as a matter of professionalism. He said, "She's right, kid. If she can flirt something useful out of that asshole, so much the better. It's a standard seduction tactic. Basic spy shit. This is why we got invited to the cocktail party to begin with. The reason we wanted access to this guy, to get information. She did better with Kirk than you and I did with Chen. All we got was a campaign speech. Just more politician canned bullshit."
"But if you go there, to his apartment, tomorrow, you'll be alone. We agreed no lone wolf stuff anymore. Sarah, Sid told us this guy beats up women. I don't want you alone with him," Chuck said.
She put a hand on his arm to reassure him. "I understand, sweetie. Look, I know you are uncomfortable with this, for a lot of reasons. But first of all, I am pretty hard to beat up. Secondly, I won't be alone. I will have you guys as back up. If something goes wrong, you can come storming in as the aggrieved boyfriend. If it goes way, way wrong, Casey comes in with guns blazing. I'll have the coms open the whole time. I heard you, you both, on needing backup. I'm not going to pull a Carina and go off on my own. I won't do that anymore. I promise."
Casey said, "You have a better idea, kid?"
Chuck thought about it and shook his head no, frustrated. "Not yet, but I'm going to be working on it." Some part of him wanted to scream, 'Yeah. I'm the fucking Piranha and I'll hack all his systems and get all his secrets and you don't have to go anywhere near the sonofabitch.' But he knew that, even if he could do something like that, whatever evidence he collected in that way couldn't be used against Kirk in any prosecution. Oh, and the Piranha would go to prison instead, if not for that hack, then for the dozens and dozens of illegal hacks he'd done over the years.
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Later that night, when they were in bed together, Sarah said, "If you don't want me to do it, I won't. I'll beg off the invite and we can come up with another way to get to him."
Chuck said, "I'm sorry I'm sort of freaking out about you and Kirk tomorrow. I just worry about you and this seems like a dangerous situation. Even if Casey and I were to come storming in, a lot of bad crap can happen before we can get there. …. And look, honestly, it's not just the danger. Maybe not even mostly. I really don't like the idea of him touching you...you know...like that. Or you touching him. Or just looking at him like that. Any of it. It makes my skin crawl. I'm sorry that I'm not more...phlegmatic about it, but I'm not. I love you too much and ...I guess I'm sort of possessive. I know that's totally unprofessional as a spy, but I'm not a spy."
"I understand, but it's not real."
"He doesn't know that. It's real to him. And he's scary. And gross."
"I know you worry. But I have to take some risks in this job...do some things that suck. I try not to take stupid risks, but some risks...well, they are unavoidable." She paused and thought for a bit, then said, "You're not really jealous, I hope."
"Are you going to have sex with him?" asked Chuck.
"Oh, God, no."
"Ok," said Chuck. "So, then I'm not going to be jealous. I'm going to be a good spy's boyfriend and deal with it like a grown up. But I don't have to like it, right?"
She snuggled closer to him and said, "Right. For the record, I don't like it either."
He was quiet for a little while and said, "Sarah, you know you can tell me anything, right? Anything about your life or your past or people you have...dealt with.. or ….things you've done for the good of the country. Anything, and it will not make me love you any less than I do. Anything you want to tell me...but...if you could...maybe, we won't talk about your past seduction missions. I just don't think that that is something I want to know about. Is that ok?"
"Ok. I understand, sweetie. That's fine." She rubbed his chest and planted a quick kiss on him. Sarah was quiet for a while thinking about how an untrained civilian would view the seduction missions. He'd seen Carina in action, for God's sake, but she was extreme even by normal standards of spy behavior.
She realized suddenly that a seduction mission was sort of how he'd met her. 'Shit,' she thought with alarm, 'Now that was a comparison he could do without.' After a while she said, "I'm good at flirting, at the seduction part of the job. They trained me and I paid attention. And I know I've told you this once already, but it deserves repeating. Our first date, after Bryce sent you the Intersect, the first half of the date...of dinner, I was professionally flirting with you. I was using my skills that I'd been taught to get you to open up to me. Not that it was at all necessary, you're so open by nature. But ...but then, something changed. I knew you had nothing to do with the theft of government secrets. I stopped, ...well, using what I'd been taught. I just stopped. From the middle of the dinner on...maybe from when you told me you'd be my baggage handler...I was just Sarah. Not a spy. Not a woman trained with seduction skills. Just Sarah. And I wanted you, Chuck. Not because it was my job, but just because I liked you. I had no idea it would lead to ...to this...to love...to the only totally fulfilling relationship I've ever had with anyone...to something that has, in just a few months, become the cornerstone of my entire life...I had no idea. But what I'm up to tomorrow with Kirk...well," Sarah started to cry. "I don't want you to think there's any sort of equivalence. That I did to you what I'm proposing to do to Kirk. There isn't. And I don't ever want you to question that...there isn't..."
He held her and rubbed her back. He murmured, "It's ok, Sarah. I know. I know that. I would never question it. Don't worry. I love you too. Nothing will ever make me question that either. Nothing. Ever. No matter what. I love you more than anyone or anything else in the whole world." He kissed her lightly on the forehead.
"I love you too," she said.
They quietly fell asleep holding each other but, for the first time in many nights, did not make love first.
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Pat Kendler called in the morning with two pieces of good news. They had found the source of the paper. The CIO of the paper making company had extensive family contacts in Taiwan from his mother's side and had had contact with Chen's man, Li-fu. They couldn't prove it yet, but it seemed he'd used his computer skills (RPI undergrad followed by a Masters from MIT) to doctor the computer records and disappear 3,000 sheets of hundreds paper. They were going to bring him in for questioning later in the day.
The other piece of good news is that they had followed Li-fu to a large garage building in Roach, Nevada, about five miles from Whiskey Pete's Hotel and Casino (on the Nevada side of the California/Nevada border) and a half hour south of the Strip itself. They had submitted for a warrant to search the place, but, in the meantime, two of her agents were running a stakeout. They were hoping that Chen himself would visit the location.
At about a quarter to ten Sarah said, "Ok, I'm ready." She wore a tiny black bikini under the capri pants from the other night and a sleeveless halter top cropped short enough to show a strip of her belly. Her bag held her gun. She had several additional weapons otherwise concealed on her person.
Chuck, sitting at his computer and watching a tracker to show her location, said, "Com check."
Sarah said, "One, two, three, four."
He listened to her voice coming from the computer and gave a thumbs up signal.
"Ok," she said. "Back soon. Keep the recording going in case he incriminates himself."
"No worries, Walker. We got it. If you need us just tell him it's your first time in Vegas. That will send Chuck in. If you tell him you've been to Vegas a dozen times or more, I'll come in heavy."
"Got it," she bent down to give Chuck a quick kiss.
He said, quietly, "Be safe." He looked like his stomach hurt.
Sarah left the suite.
"You, ok, kid?" asked Casey.
"Yeah. Let's get this over with," said Chuck, without the slightest trace of his normal good humor.
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Sarah paused before pushing the elevator button to the penthouse. She had a bad feeling about this. Not a premonition of danger, those were bad enough. This bad feeling was different. It was telling her that she shouldn't be doing this. Not anymore. Not now that ….well, not with Chuck in her life. She shouldn't do this. She forced the feeling away. This was just business. And she would not let it get carried away and go too far. It was just part of her job. No big deal. She pushed the button.
"Well hello, Sarah," said Kirk with a pleased grin, moments later. He was wearing a short terrycloth robe over a pair of swim trucks. The hair on his chest, which she could see between the edges of the robe, was gray.
"Hello, Lon," said Sarah, leaning forward to give him a peck on the cheek, with one hand resting lightly on his chest. "Thanks for having me up for a visit."
"Indeed, my pleasure." He proffered a cold glass of champagne. "I hope it's not too early in the morning for you. I find morning champagne to taste better than late night champagne."
"Thanks," she said with a giggle, while taking the glass, "I'm perfectly happy with morning, noon and night champagne, to tell the truth."
"Oh, good. Can I show you around?"
"I'd love that. Thank you." She put a light hand on his arm and began a tour with him of his penthouse apartment.
The apartment was huge and designed more with a mind to the impression it would give than to relaxed comfort. The style was very Vegas with lots of stainless steel and lights and shiny things. There were expensive paintings on the walls and sculptures on pedestals. The views were of the Strip and the desert beyond. He made a point of showing her his bedroom, with what seemed to be an acre of bed...she noticed it was a four poster bedframe. Off on one edge, accessed through a sliding door, was a balcony/terrace area, in the center of which was a decent sized pool. The area was enclosed by a glass structure which was probably retractable in the nicer weather. Several pool chairs were set up near a small table holding an open champagne bottle in a sweating ice bucket. Although it was too cold outside to think about swimming in an outdoor pool, the indoor pool area was heated and pleasant. And the bright desert sun streamed into the room, further warming it.
"As promised, Sarah. My pool. Now, I hope you brought that bikini. I've spent all night thinking about it since you mentioned it yesterday," he said, with what he probably hoped was a cheerful smile, but just looked creepy to Sarah.
"Oh, I sure did, Lon," said Sarah, dropping her bag on one of the chairs and toeing off her light shoes. In one quick motion she removed her top and dropped it next to the bag. A moment later the capri pants joined them. She looked positively spectacular in the small bikini. Kirk certainly seemed to think so, as he stared at her with hunger, weighing her in his mind as if she were meat in a butcher shop.
They sat next to each other on the pool chaise lounge and clicked their champagne glasses.
"Here's to new friends," said Kirk.
"New friends," Sarah repeated. "So, Lon, tell me, running a casino must be so much fun. I mean, I'm sure it's tons of hard work, but the excitement, the bright lights, the show biz."
"It's not as much fun as you'd think, honestly. I have to work pretty hard and don't often get a chance to relax like this. That's why I'm enjoying your company so much. I can avoid thinking about work at a time like this."
Sarah laughed softly and said, "You have such interesting people here at the hotel. Didn't I see that guy...Ives...the movie guy who owns Castle Studios?"
"Yes, he was here with his third or fourth wife. I sort of lose track with these Hollywood types. We're his favorite Vegas fun spot. I remember one time he was here with his last wife, or maybe it was two wives ago, when he hired a local hooker to have a threesome with him and his wife in his suite downstairs. Turned out the girl and his wife got along better than he expected. They sort of left him out of the fun. I think the local girl and the wife are now a couple and living in the house Ives bought them." He laughed long and hard at that turn of events.
Sarah looked at him wide eyed, "No way. Oh, my God. That's the funniest story. Serves him right."
"I know, right? What an idiot," said Kirk.
"And you know Romney and the President and everybody, right? I heard you're a big fundraiser for politicians."
"Absolutely. The best politicians money can buy. It's just a business investment, that's all. You feed money into the machine and get the benefits at the other end. They are all the same."
"Bribery?" asked Sarah, with a confused frown.
"Oh, God no. I wouldn't do that. That's illegal. Nope, everything I do is totally legal. Doesn't make it less corrupt, but it means they can't stick me in a tiny little gray cell for the rest of my life. It's all totally legal. Campaign finance, is what they call it. Fill out the right forms and give them the money to help keep them in power. This is a great country."
Sarah took a sip of her champagne and said, "Is it the same with the Taiwanese man I saw last night? Do you have business in Taiwan too?"
She could sense that he had tensed up slightly at the mention of Chen. She said, "Oh, I don't want to get a sunburn. Can you put this oil on my back please?" She handed him a small tube of oil from her bag and swung her hair off her bare back, twisting on the lounge chair to put her back to him.
"It would be my pleasure, Sarah," he said. "So, Chen, from Taiwan. Yeah, well he's not exactly like the other politicians I support."
He took the bottle from her and poured a healthy amount on her back, high near her shoulders. "Ooooh," she squealed. "It's cold. Rub it in."
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Chuck looked sick.
"You ok?" asked Casey.
"I'm fine. Ok? Fine. Just stop asking, for Chrissakes," Chuck barked angrily, without looking away from the monitor.
Casey gave him a long, considered look, but didn't respond. He didn't even grunt.
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She put a fake smile on her face, the kind of smile she'd worn thousands of times in her life. It would fool him, as it had fooled people forever. He began to rub the oil on her back. She wanted to pull away, but forced herself to stay still. She put out of her mind the fact that this man was a monster. That she wanted nothing more than to break all his fingers touching her back. She took a deep breath. 'Just tell yourself these are Chuck's hands. That's it. Chuck's hands.' Her breath eased and she began to relax. She would get through this. She would. 'Chuck's hands. Chuck's hands.'
'NOT CHUCK'S HANDS'
Her body overrode her mind.
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Casey and Chuck tried to hear the feed from Sarah's watch, but it had become confusing. Some noises they couldn't understand or decipher. They heard Kirk say, "Wha..." They heard Sarah say, "Oh, oh, sorry...sorry, gotta go. Sorry." Then there was the rustle of things being moved around with Kirk cursing in the background and then just Sarah's breathing.
Chuck said, "Sarah, are you ok? Do you need us?"
"No. Stay put. I'm on my way to you now," she whispered. Her voice sounded weird, like she'd been badly shaken by something.
Casey said to Chuck, but not over the channel to Sarah, "What the hell? She barely got started. She didn't get anything useful out of him."
"Something must have happened. Something to abort the mission," said Chuck, equally baffled. "She sounds ok, though."
It didn't take too long for her to come through the door to the suite. She had pulled her clothes back on haphazardly. "Shower" was the only word she said, before disappearing into the bathroom in her and Chuck's room.
Ten minutes later, Sarah came out of the bathroom in a robe. She was drying her wet hair with a towel. She was clearly upset about something. Somewhat distracted, too, maybe.
"Are you ok?" asked Chuck.
"What went wrong, Walker?" asked Casey.
She shook her head and said, "It was going along fine. He was talking...relaxed. Distracted by me...by the bikini. He was putting oil on my back. Happy with the way things were going. About to talk about Chen. Expecting more from the morning, I think, ...and ..I….I puked."
"What?" asked both men.
"I puked. A lot. All over his pool deck. And his pool chairs. In his champagne bucket," said Sarah.
"Are you ok?" asked Chuck. He could see how upset she was and tried very hard not to show his relief.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm not still nauseous or anything, if that's what you are asking." Casey was chuckling softly. "It's not funny, Casey. It's not," Sarah said angrily.
"No. Of course, not," said Casey, unconvincingly. He was trying, and failing, to hide a smile. "The kid broke you, Walker."
Sarah flared at him. "Goddammit. This is serious, Casey. This is no joke," she yelled. "Seduction missions. We get them from time to time, you know? It's not unheard of, Casey. What if I can't do those anymore? What if that tool...that skillset...well, what if I can't? I'd be like an actor who can't film a love scene. I wouldn't be able to do part of the job. I'm a damn good spy, and if I can't do seduction missions anymore..."
"Calm down. Calm down," said Casey, with his hands raised defensively.
"Oh, yeah, Case. You know how often saying 'calm down' actually works to calm somebody down? Huh?" she yelled.
"Ok, ok. But you don't know that this will continue elsewhere, Walker," said Casey, really doing his best to calm her down. "This may be a one-off. An aberration. Maybe you had some bad shrimp." He didn't sound like he believed that to be the case.
"Even if it isn't an aberration," said Chuck, "we'll just come up with a different method of accomplishing the mission. We are a pretty competent set of spies. Well, at least you two are. Try not to worry about it." He didn't want to say it out loud, but he truly hoped she never ever had to do another one of those.
"Chuck's right, Sarah. Don't worry about it. We'll figure something else out if and when we have to." And Casey had an idea in mind for exactly what that something else would be. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'that would work out just fine.'
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A/N2: Sarah and seduction missions. Did she or didn't she? And, if she did, exactly what did she do? I have come to realize that there is hands-down no more sensitive topic among readers and writers of Chuck fanfiction. Folks have some very strong feelings about that aspect of her backstory. Discretion being the better part of valor, I have chosen to sidestep it almost entirely. This chapter contains the only discussion of the question that New Day will present. I have had some long, difficult and incredibly useful discussions with several of my friends here, which helped me to reach the decision to handle it in this manner. I seem to be thanking my friends often, and must, once again, express my gratitude to Zettel, David Carner, LetsGoRed, and Vurich23 (the usual suspects when I am in need of guidance and wisdom). Thanks, guys. I truly appreciate it.
A/N3: Just a reminder. Don't want to be a nag, but it would be really cool for those of you who have not registered with this site to do so. It's easy and hassle-free and I can respond to your reviews and send you PM's and stuff. Also, Facebook has a great page going dedicated just to Chuck fanfiction, so please join that too. David Carner is the moderator, because he doesn't have enough to do with juggling 127 stories simultaneously.