A/N1: I wish some investigative journalists would look into ownership of Chuck. We might end up with a movie.
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Zondra and Bryce were moving together down the street, dusty dirt underfoot and blown by the wind, town empty of people hoping to avoid the coming violence, two story wooden structures with open doors hanging loose occasionally banging in the breeze. The town had been subject to bombardment of some kind, and half the buildings were mostly destroyed. Each of the spies on either side of the street separated from the other by about twenty feet, but moving together at the same steady pace. Each covering their side with the huge old revolvers in their hands. A gunman stepped out on Bryce's side and raised his weapon. Bryce killed him with a single shot without interrupting his measured walking pace.
Zondra caught sight of the movement of a curtain on the second floor of a building on her side. The barrel of a rifle poked out of the window to the side of the curtain. Firing from her hip, she put three shots through the curtain and the rifle fell out of the window, slid down a sloping roof, and landed on the dirt at their feet with a clatter.
They continued to walk steadily down the street. Suddenly, there was the whistle of an incoming round followed by an explosion on Bryce's side. One of the buildings was blown to splinters, debris falling everywhere and smoke obscuring the street and the remaining structures. Bryce and Zondra continued to walk forward through the smoke.
Three armed men came staggering out of the smoke towards them. Zondra killed one and Bryce killed two. While still walking forward, Zondra re-loaded her weapon from cartridges kept in loops on her leather belt.
A harsh alarm began to sound in their ears. With a disappointed sigh, Zondra and Bryce looked at each other. She pulled off the headphones and VR headset and looked at Bryce in real life. He did the same and went to the wall intercom.
"Zee and I are on our way," he said into it.
Zondra said, "Computer, shut down VR scenario."
"Confirmed, scenario discontinued."
They put the weapons in racks on the wall and left the VR simulation room behind.
As they walked towards the main room of Castle, an ebullient Bryce said, "I love that one. Tuco and Blondie against Angel Eyes' men from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Love it."
"And the otherwise deserted town is being bombarded with artillery at the same time," agreed Zondra. "Very cool."
"We have to talk to Chuck about getting some AI in the computers or something, though. After you've run the scenario a few times, we know where all the bad guys are going to pop up. It's too easy. We should get it to vary the threats sometimes. Keep us on our toes."
"Yeah. That would be fun. It is a lot like a video game as it is. But one you've played before."
They got to the main room. Stephen was sitting at Chuck's workbench, a pair of magnifying glasses on his eyes and some circuits in front of him.
"Morning, Stephen," said Bryce. The older man didn't respond, which Bryce attributed to residual anger for him sending the Intersect to Chuck.
Zondra, reading Bryce's mind, said, "It's not you. He's in the zone. I'll bet he doesn't even hear us. Watch. Hi, Stephen." Stephen didn't move or acknowledge her greeting. "See?" said Zondra to Bryce.
"Guess so," said Bryce, nodding.
The elevator doors opened and Chuck, Sarah and Casey entered Castle.
"Hey, guys," said Chuck.
"Morning," said Zondra and Bryce to the new arrivals.
"No work today?" asked Chuck of Bryce.
"This afternoon. Short gig. Got the morning free. Went for a swim and just went shooting in the Old West with Zee," he said.
"Angel Eyes' men?" asked Chuck with a grin.
"Absolutely. Zee and I are the scourge of that crew," Bryce replied, grinning back at his buddy.
"Yeah. I know that's one of your favorites," said Chuck. "So, let's see what's what with DC."
Chuck pushed a few buttons on the keyboard and the screen lit up. There were both Beckman and Graham ready to talk with them, looking a little grim.
"Morning, team," they said.
"Morning, Sir, Ma'am," Team B responded.
"We have some disturbing news," began Graham. "Jill Roberts has escaped again."
"Oh, for God's sake," murmured Sarah in exasperation, shaking her head.
"Her injuries incurred when she was subdued required medical attention. It was while she was at the clinic in the holding facility that she managed it. No one is sure how she did it. They're still investigating," said Beckman.
"It seems she's an incredibly resourceful operative," continued Graham.
"Damn," said Chuck.
"Agreed," said Beckman.
"In light of everything with Roberts, the President has signed off on a termination order. Should she be foolish enough to show up in your orbit yet again, do not hesitate to carry out that order," said Graham.
"Be my pleasure, Sir," said Casey.
"I doubt she'll be back, but it's good to know," said Sarah.
"Will the IC be hunting her?" asked Chuck.
"Indeed," said Graham. "We most certainly will."
Chuck looked unhappy, but merely said, "Understood, Sir, Ma'am. Thank you for letting us know."
"I see Orion behind you. Working on the Intersect?" asked Beckman.
"Yes, Ma'am. Working on the removal process," said Chuck.
"Progress?" she asked.
"Nothing concrete so far, but he and Ellie are working well together. It's encouraging to see," Chuck replied.
"Very well. Good luck, team," said Beckman, cutting the connection.
As the team looked at each other, digesting the news about Jill, Bryce said to Chuck, "Can I speak to you alone for a few minutes, Chuck?"
"Of course, pal," said Chuck, leading him to a different part of Castle.
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Later that day, Zondra drove the twisty drive up the hill until she reached the empty parking lot of Yamashiro Hollywood. The Japanese restaurant wouldn't open for business for another two or three hours, but Deppard, the newspaper man from the Herald-Examiner, had suggested that they meet there. He had proven adept at maintaining the secrecy of her involvement (and the involvement of Castle Studios in general). A closed restaurant at the top of a hill on a dead-end road was not the worst idea for a clandestine meet.
She went to the front door and entered the building, a massive dark wood structure designed to be reminiscent of a Japanese mountain house. To her back was a view of Hollywood, with the rest of Los Angeles spreading out to the horizon. As the establishment wasn't yet doing the evening business, there was no host or hostess at the podium, but a passing busboy saw her and said, "For Mr. Deppard?"
"Yes," she said.
"Come with me, please." He led her into the interior of the building and slid open a colorful paper screen. He gestured politely for her to enter. There was a small table sitting on the tatami mats with a pot of tea and four cups on it. Sitting around the table, shoeless, were Frank Deppard and two women. The first woman had black hair falling below her shoulders and intelligent brown eyes. The second woman was blonde and quite pregnant.
Deppard stood and said, "Thanks for coming, Ms. Rizzo. May I introduce you to Kelly Bennet and Jinny Lewis." Lewis was the pregnant one.
Zondra froze for moment. "Deppard, this meeting was to be under the radar. I'm not prepared for others to become involved in our business."
"I understand your concern, but some things have changed. For the better I think. Please allow me to explain," he said.
She decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt. "Alright." Zondra shook hands with both women, kicked off her shoes, and sat down cross-legged on the tatami floormats. Deppard did as well. For a moment Zondra wondered at the difficulty the pregnant woman would have with the seating arrangement, but put the thought aside.
"Some tea?" he asked her.
"Sure," accepted Zondra.
"So, Ms. Rizzo, there's been a bit of a development on my end. My editor retired somewhat suddenly. The publisher promoted me. I'm now the editor of the paper."
"Congratulations," said Zondra neutrally.
"Thank you. I'm pretty excited about the new position, to tell the truth. There are some things I really want to do. And that brings us here. I know you called this meeting, but I would have reached out to you shortly if you hadn't. One of the things I really want to do is to continue publicly the work that you and the others at Castle are doing behind the scenes. I want to take down Weinberg and all the other assholes who've been preying on the women in Hollywood, but starting with Weinberg. I know you approached me to cooperate because you liked my work. I'm out of the reporting business now, though. But Kelly and Jinny are two of the best reporters at the paper. What I propose is that the four of us work together and see what we can accomplish."
Zondra looked closely at the other women and liked what she saw. Intelligence and determination in their eyes. And they both had the good sense to listen and not interrupt. The ability to listen well was a skill shared by both reporters and spies.
"The Studio and I have to stay behind the scenes, right? Still the arrangement," she said.
"It's why I asked a friend to let us use this room," he said. "This meeting never happened. But you called the meeting, I don't want to hijack your agenda."
"Fair enough. Ok, then. I asked to speak with you because of a development on my end, Mr. Deppard," said Zondra.
"Please call me Frank," he said.
"Ok, Frank. The woman who precipitated this. The young woman who was raped by Weinberg..."
"Which led to Mattock smashing the bastard's balls in..." said Kelly with satisfaction.
"Yeah, that woman. She was approached by his company and offered Three Million Dollars to keep silent. To sign a non-disclosure agreement. She's thinking about it, but hasn't made a decision yet. She's promised to hold off until she speaks with me about it."
"If she takes the money, we're done as far as she's concerned," said Jinny. "Those things are written by smart lawyers and they are tight as a drum."
"I understand," said Zondra. "And I know that they aren't matters of public record. I know there's no place to go and look them up and see what they say, or who the parties are, or anything like that."
Kelly said, "And Harstan Productions is a private company. No public SEC filings or anything like that to look into on that front."
"Right, but how many of these things have they had to do over the years? My friend isn't going to be the only one, right? Weinberg's reputation among the women actors is terrible. The more experienced ones know enough not to go to see him alone. And, here's the question, how many started lawsuits first? They would have settled those suits out of court, but the initial filings are public. The settlement agreement wouldn't be, but the complaint and then the fact of the settlement, if not the settlement itself, are public. How about you talk to some of the women who made accusations and then settled? Maybe some of them are unhappy with the settlement now. Or maybe they can point you to others who never came forward."
"And never signed an NDA," said Jinny hopefully.
"But we can't publish unless we can get some of them on the record and get some documentary evidence," said Frank.
"I understand. But the NDA's themselves might be the documentary evidence, right?" asked Zondra. "And the complaints, even if they were settled out of court."
"Trouble with complaints is, by their very nature, the allegations are unproven. And if the complainant won't go on the record, it's pretty damn weak," said Kelly.
"But it will give you a lead. Someone to talk to, right?" asked Zondra.
"Yeah. It's a good idea, Ms. Rizzo. We'll follow up there. Talk to any of the women who made complaints against him or his company. See what we can dig up." said Jinny.
"Good. In the meantime, I'll try to stop my friend from signing an NDA and try to convince her to go on the record with you both."
"Thank you, Ms. Rizzo," said Kelly.
"Call me Zondra. Or Zee if you want," said Zondra. "So long as we're working on the same side,"
"Great, Zee," said Jinny.
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It was late and Graham took the video conference with Larkin from his home office, a glass of scotch by his side.
"What is it, Agent Larkin? Why a separate call without the rest of your team?"
"Thank you for accommodating me, Sir. It's about Roberts. Her escape," said Bryce.
"Yes?" asked Graham.
"I'd like to be assigned to the hunt for her full time. To take a leave of absence from my team. Track down Roberts and carry out the termination order...Sir," said Larkin.
"Why? You're gelling well with the rest of your team there, from what I hear," said Graham, curious. "You've got no problems in LA. Why are you looking to leave?"
"Thank you, Sir. I'm not looking to leave, not at all, not really. I hope the other members of my team approve of my performance and I'm glad the reports may reflect the same. No, this has nothing to do with any problems with this team. I'm honestly delighted with the team and the successes we've had. It's the best assignment I've ever had. I couldn't wish for anything more than working with Chuck. I really couldn't.
"This request is entirely about Roberts. As you know, Roberts, Chuck and I have a history. An unfortuneate history. Frankly, it offends me to my core that she's still breathing the same air as Chuck and Sarah. Now that there's a termination order outstanding, I'd like the opportunity to remedy that."
"Sounds personal," said Graham with a raised eyebrow.
"Admittedly it is. Very much so. But I can be professional in what I have to do regardless of my feelings about the target," said Larkin.
"Yes, you can. You went so far as to seduce her in DC recently. Impressive, Agent Larkin, truly impressive. Especially in light of your obvious personal animosity. I believe you. But I have to ask, what does Chuck think about this?" Graham asked.
"He wasn't happy that I'm asking to take on the termination mission. You know Chuck," said Larkin with a shrug.
"Yeah, I do." Graham studied Larkin through the screen and took a sip of his scotch. "And you pushed him through his disapproval?"
"Well, yeah. I did. He'll let me do it. Reluctantly, but...you see...as you know we are coming in on the last couple of months before the wedding, weddings plural, I mean. Those activities and preparations...I'd rather not...shit, Sir, I'm not invited to the wedding." Larkin shook his head in frustration and couldn't look Graham in the eyes.
"Oh," said Graham with surprise. "Oh," he repeated more softly. Jesus, Larkin must be ripped up by that. He understood that Sarah (and probably Ellie, he guessed) wouldn't want him there, but it's got to be hard on the man. That put the request in a whole different light. He knew Larkin venerated Chuck and would take that decision very, very hard. Now his request made more sense.
"Ok, Agent Larkin. You have the mission. And good luck, son. Go get the bitch."
"Thank you, Sir. I'll be delighted to," said Larkin with a spontaneous grin of satisfaction.
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A/N2: The characters of Kelly Bennet and Jinny Lewis were inspired by the movie She Said about Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporters who broke the story of Harvey Weinstein's decades long string of sexual predation. I loved the movie. I'm a sucker for the heroic journalist genre. I hope to do their story justice in this similar subplot in New Day. We are going to be touching down into this subplot every once in a while, but I'm not going to make it the focus of New Day. It really is a full-blown story all its own and I know it's not what folks signed up for here. It will be back burner, but simmering along behind the main spy stuff. I won't let it take over.
A/N3: My son and I had dinner at the Yamashiro Hollywood the last time I was in Los Angeles (pre-covid). I thought it was kind of touristy, but the food was good and the views of Hollywood from the top of the hill were killer.
A/N4: So, that's that. The Second Orion Arc is done. Orion has been identified and is now working with his daughter to develop an Intersect removal program. A Fulcrum attempt to take Castle and its computers has been thwarted decisively. Jill Roberts is on the run once more, but with a termination order over her head and Bryce Larkin on her trail. Next up, Tyler Martin comes to town and triggers a bit of excitement. Hope you guys stick around for that one.