AUTHOR'S NOTE: Greetings! My plans for writing over the next few months will provide a much-needed distraction from the significant challenges of the past year that have forced me to take a longer break than intended. Without wasting another moment, let's get back at it!
RECAP: SAS (British Special Forces) command tasks Red Team with collaborating with MI5 (British FBI equivalent) to put two occupants of a suspicious vehicle under constant surveillance. Red Team, in addition to numerous other 22 Reg personnel, had observed the vehicle in question monitoring 22 SAS's tightly guarded base. There is also suspicion that the two individuals may have been involved in placing tracking devices on Sarah, Cole, and Jamie's vehicles. Jeff and Lester, the occupants of the van, are being closely watched by Red Team as they carry out their assignment in London.
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Fifty: Lockdown: Part Twenty-Nine: Jeffster: Part Four
St Mary-At-Hill Church
London
Thursday, 22 November, 2007
15:00 hours
Lester stumbled out of the passenger side of Jeff's van, struggling to hold two already-inflated blow-up sex dolls, and clumsily shut the door behind him.
Lester's heart was racing as he approached Jeff—also armed with a blow-up sex doll—who was standing on the sidewalk next to an impressive 14th century church.
With unbridled enthusiasm at what the best friends were about to do, Lester looked at Jeff and said, "Let the show begin, Jeffrey!"
Jeff's head bobbed enthusiastically, mirroring Lester's excitement, as they stepped into the side entrance of the church together.
Inside the place of worship, the scent of flowers was so strong that the best friends could almost taste it on their tongue, the distant wedding music lending a dreamlike quality to the atmosphere.
Lester and Jeff walked down the deserted hallway, the dim light casting shadows on the walls, until they finally reached a closed door and stopped.
Jeff turned to face his friend. "Let's go over the plan again, Lester."
Lester's words punctuated with exasperation as he spoke to Jeff in a strained voice. "Jeffrey, how many times must we discuss the plan, my brother? The beauty lies in its simplicity! As we walk through this door, the sight of the wedding guests will greet us, their faces frozen in shock. We'll convey our sense of purpose immediately upon arrival, announcing ourselves as messengers with a critical message to deliver. At this point, I will explain to the gathering that population control is so far out of control! We need to rein it back in, Jeffrey! My brother, chaos reigns supreme! Our very existence is at stake, and it all depends on this moment! Our aim is to dissuade them from procreating by introducing them to our superior, fine sex dolls, which we will offer as a viable alternative to traditional relationships once we have enlightened them about the risks of overpopulation!"
"Who gets the dolls?" Jeff asked.
Lester furrowed his brow for a moment, then said, "The groom, the best man, and perhaps the vicar!"
"Let's do it, Lester," Jeff said.
Lester's excitement was uncontrollable as he nodded vigorously, shrieking in excitement and shaking Jeff, who stood in front of him, attempting to contain it, to no avail.
It only made him worse.
As Jeff opened the door, the sight of a stunning altar adorned with white roses and the soft flicker of candles, which created a peaceful ambiance in the large church hall, struck him.
Lester made his way towards the front of the reception, unable to contain his excitement, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he sprung right down the long aisle. "This is it, Jeffrey! The first of many weddings ruined by Jeffster! Our activism is going to become legendary and a talking point of millions!"
Jeff and Lester's sudden explosive entrance to the wedding carrying the sex dolls left the guests shocked and bewildered. The sight was so astounding that they couldn't look away, completely transfixed as many gasps in horror erupted.
As Lester continued towards the front—with Jeff closely in tow—the friends now had the full attention of their audience, and the reception they received was less than welcoming.
"What in the lord's name are you doing here?!" the vicar shouted to Jeff and Lester from the front of the well-underway proceedings. "Get out of here at once! And take those... disgusting abominations with you!" he said, pointing at the sex dolls.
Lester chuckled at the vicar's comment, finding it amusing. However, the beautiful bride, who was wearing a breathtaking white wedding gown, quickly captured his attention, leaving him mesmerised.
"My god! I can't believe you actually wore a white dress!" Lester exclaimed as he crept down the aisle. "Given your proclivities, I find that distasteful on one level, yet hot on another!"
Lester continued towards the altar. "While on the topic of your colour choice, would the lingerie match as well?"
"I'm happy to investigate on your behalf, Lester!" Jeff said in excitement, with a new mission to make his way behind Lester towards the train of the gown to look under the hood.
The sound of Lester's laughter filled the now dead-silent and stunned church until the approach of a stranger interrupted them, causing Jeff and Lester to come to a stop a few paces from the altar.
"Look, whoever you geezers are, you're ruining my daughter's wedding! As for the sex dolls, you may think this is funny, but nobody else does! Have some decency! Jokes are inappropriate here, in this place! We're carrying out a wedding! Now I demand you leave here at once!" a man Lester deemed to be in his forties spoke in a thick cockney accent.
"We come bearing gifts," Lester said, emphasising the word 'gifts,' to catch their attention. "We also have an urgent message that requires your attention!"
"Your message and gifts are unwelcome! Get out NOW!" with each passing second, the father of the bride's shouts became more and more desperate.
"Absolutely not!" Lester shouted back, his voice filled with anger. "The stakes couldn't be higher; the survival of humanity is at risk and rests on this moment!"
As Jeff and Lester continued their antics to interrupt the wedding, two men approached them and joined the father of the bride, their expressions all revealing their annoyance with Jeff and Lester's behaviour.
"Look, you've been told to leave. If you don't leave, and leave now, we'll make you leave!" one of the two men said with conviction.
"We will not leave!" Lester shouted in defiance. "We are here to help you! To help all of us! Population control has become so far out of control! All of us have ignored it! We have been so busy and deluded by furthering our species that none of us stopped to consider: we have bred too many mouths to feed! It must stop! And stop now! This wedding must not proceed!"
While Lester delivered their message, Jeff's attention drew to a middle-aged woman with an impressive chest, and he gave her a sly wink.
He couldn't believe his luck when he saw the same woman confidently strode up to him, igniting a rush of excitement inside him he had never felt before.
Jeff thought the woman was approaching him because she was interested in having his babies and he said to Lester, "Lester, now that's a MILF I'd like to milk."
Lester, now finished delivering his message, erupted in hysterics as he glanced at who his best friend was immensely ogling.
However, Jeff's elation was short-lived as the woman approached, her hand already raised in anger. As soon as the woman entered Jeff's proximity, she slapped him hard across the face in a fit of rage.
"Ow!" Jeff exclaimed as he clutched his cheek, the sudden pain shooting through his head. "I guess I like it rough, because that feels good."
The best friends had already caused a successful amount of chaos, but it was nothing compared to the sudden outburst from the bride! "THEY ARE RUINING THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! SOMEBODY PLEASE GET RID OF THEM!"
The groom's voice rose an octave as he spoke, finally reaching his boiling point. "I'll do it!"
Besides the groom, the best man's eyes shone with a fierce determination, and a group of supporters with him, determined to prevent any additional disruptions to the wedding caused by Jeff and Lester's sabotage attempts.
With the endgame in sight, Lester knew it was time to conclude the wedding crash by handing over the gifts as the final act.
"Jeffrey, throw them our gifts and then let's be out of here!" Lester shouted in panic as the men of the congregation approached them, nodding Jeff over to the vicar, encouraging him to throw the sex doll over to him.
Jeff's joy was clear as he launched the sex doll towards the vicar, who tried desperately to avoid it, but ended up tumbling and crashing with force onto the altar steps with a loud bang!
The gasps in horror echoed through the entire congregation, synchronised and instantaneous.
However, the sight of the vicar crashing onto his back was too much for Lester, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter. It was by far the funniest sight he'd ever seen!
But the euphoria of the moment was short-lived as a furious crowd led by the groom charged straight toward him.
"These are for you, instead of your hot bride!" Lester shouted, quickly throwing the two sex dolls in his arms at the groom and best man, before he hastily spun around and made haste to exit the church, his loyal sidekick Jeff closely behind, with seemingly every male guest at the reception hot on their tails as they made a hot exfiltration!
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
"They're being chased out! Abort, abort!" Cole Barker's frantic voice reverberated inside the church, coming through the communications channel.
Chuck and Cole had just witnessed something that had left them convulsing with muted laughter, but they had no time to revel in everything they'd just seen, for they had to exit and return to their surveillance van before Jeff and Lester did to avoid detection.
Their hearts pounded with adrenaline as they raced against time to exit the church, Chuck taking the lead as they ran to the main entrance, the sound of their hurried breaths mixing with the soft patter of their feet, and of the occasional muted chuckle from everything they'd seen while in here.
In their flurry, Chuck reached the exit and yanked the door open.
As Chuck opened the door, Cole closed in on him until they were within arm's reach and ready to leave the church.
They emerged from the church, the cool breeze of the extremely cold weather period hitting their faces as they bolted towards their surveillance vehicle parked twenty metres away.
The sound of the engine of their getaway vehicle soon revving up, beckoning them to hurry.
Cole and Chuck increased their pace—Bryce and Sarah emerging sprinting from around a corner from where they'd just broken into Jeff's van in order to install surveillance—when suddenly, Cole tripped over Chuck's feet.
Cole's feet slipped out from under him, causing him and Chuck to tumble onto the deck.
Picking themselves up from the ground, Chuck and Cole's muscles burnt, their lungs now working overtime from the exertion of their intense physical activities in their escape.
Now on the move again, Cole ensured to watch more closely where his and his best friend's feet were as they dashed the remaining distance to their open door van.
Gasping for breath, they hurled themselves into the van through the open door, just a few seconds behind Bryce and Sarah.
In the van's rear, Jamie, Dan, Morgan, Sarah, and Bryce held their breath and gazed intently as Cole and Chuck entered dramatically.
"Fucking hell, fellas, what took you so long?" Big Dan asked, shaking his head, clearly not amused by their actions.
Chuck gasped for air and turned to look at Cole, his words coming out in short, laboured bursts. "Ask that pillock! He only went and tripped over me, causing us to hit the deck!"
Snorts erupted amongst Chuck's teammates, causing him to look at them in scorn. "Oh yeah, thanks a lot, lads! We almost blew the op and you all find it funny!"
"I saw it," Chris said, unamused. "You soft bollocks almost compromised our op."
"It wasn't my fault!" Chuck protested sharply, his words punctuated by the sound of his heavy breathing. "I'm going to kill you, Cole!"
Cole bit his lip to keep from bursting into laughter at his accidental actions.
"It sounds like Cole needs a new best man!" Jamie chuckled.
Jamie's joke elicited laughter from some teammates.
"Nah, fella, it sounds like we need to prepare Cole's funeral, because Chuck looks serious!" Big Dan quipped back.
The latest joke caused laughter from almost everyone this time, significantly more so when Cole couldn't hold it in anymore, and suddenly erupted in a fit of laughter louder than he'd ever laughed before.
Cole's amusement was in part because of how he'd tripped up his best friend, but also because of everything that had transpired inside the church.
Chuck was still looking at Cole in scorn. "Are you trying to kill me, Cole?!" Chuck asked with a dramatic flair, shaking his head before succumbing to laughter alongside Cole.
"I was keeping you on your toes!" Cole said through his laughter.
"Keeping me OFF my toes more like!" Chuck shouted back, sharing the laughter with his best mate.
Some of Cole and Chuck's teammates erupted in immediate laughter at Chuck's remark, including Cole himself, whose laughter increased substantially.
"Is everything set up in their van?" Chris interrupted the humour.
"Yeah. We're good," Morgan gestured towards his surveillance equipment, motioning for the team to come closer.
The live feed of Jeff and Lester inside Jeff's van popped up on the surveillance equipment that Morgan was pointing to.
The team took a moment to compose themselves and tune into the live sound.
After a moment, Chuck glanced at Sarah. "What about the tracker?"
"That's fine too," Sarah said with a nod to her lover. She then directed her gaze towards Big Dan, who had a laptop in his proximity. "It should be in place."
Big Dan raised his thumb to signal the tracker was operating.
Jamie let out a heavy sigh of lamentation. "And now we wait for this boring snooze fest to be over."
"Speak for yourself, Jamie!" Cole laughed before casting his eyes on Chuck again. "We've just had the best time of our lives!"
Chuck struggled to suppress his amusement, but the corners of his mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but burst into immense laughter with Cole.
"What happened in there?" Sarah asked, smiling at the amusement of her teammate and boyfriend.
Chuck was about to answer when Cole interrupted, blurting out through immense laughter, "HE THREW A RUDDY SEX DOLL AT THE VICAR!"
Chuck's laughter grew much louder over Cole's interjection, and soon their teammates joined in on the fun.
"Who did?!" Bryce asked in immense excitement.
"SAM KINISON!" Cole and Chuck bellowed in sync, their laughter reaching much greater heights!
"No way!" John Murray shouted from the front in disbelief.
"YES, WAY!" Chuck said, nodding through his laughter, his stomach starting to hurt. "It happened! And Cole didn't tell you the best bit, either!"
"Well, fella, don't keep us all bursting in suspense. What was it?" Big Dan asked, now extremely excited himself.
"Where to start?" Chuck asked, trying to contain his laughter. "Too many things happened that can easily be considered the best."
Cole, now bent over in laughter—his stomach in agony—suddenly cried out, "THE VICAR LANDED ON HIS ARSE TRYING TO DODGE THE SEX DOLL!"
Chuck instantly howled and bent over in laughter after Cole recited what they saw with their own eyes, the disbelief now lighting up the faces of his teammates identical to Chuck and Cole's reaction to everything that had transpired just minutes ago.
"You're having us on!" Jamie said, his eyes widened as he burst out laughing along with nearly the entire team.
"He's not!" Chuck said, his laughter making it difficult to understand what he was saying, but he got out, "That Sam Kinison lookalike missing half of his hair launched the sex doll at the vicar who went tumbling back against the steps of the altar and Cole and I almost blew our position because we were the only ones joining Lester in laughing our heads off!"
A fresh wave of laughter erupted amongst the team, but Cole was the loudest. He was sure it would take some considerable time for him to stop finding everything he'd seen inside that church funny.
"I wish I'd seen it!" Bryce remarked.
"You and me both, fella," Big Dan said.
"Trust me, you lot should be united in wishing you'd all seen it!" Cole said.
"What else happened?" Sarah asked.
Chuck laughed again at Sarah's question, which Cole shared, as Chuck turned to face Sarah. "Jeff got slapped big time by one of the guests! Cole and I reckon it was the mother of the bride. She stormed to him and gave him a right good smack and trust me, it was as good as if not better than the one Dan gave him at Jim's!"
"I COULD HEAR THE SLAP FROM THIRTY YARDS AWAY!" Cole howled, still creased over.
Chuck and Cole's comments brought out the laughter among their teammates again, and even this time, Chris let out a substantial chuckle at the actions of Jeff and Lester.
"It sounds like a right good romp, mate!" Jamie said, wholly amused by Chuck and Cole's report.
Chuck and Cole's grins only widened as they turned towards each other, their eyes crinkling with amusement.
"You'd better not invite either of those two clowns to my wedding, Chuck!" Cole warned, pointing accusingly at his best friend, even though he'd not done anything.
Yet...
"Hey, now there's a thought!" Chuck said suddenly.
Cole's pointing became more and more frenzied as he gestured toward Chuck. "Don't you bloody think about it!"
"He fucking will as well him!" Big Dan said, snorting. "And if he doesn't, I'll do it instead of him!"
Cole changed his pointing toward Big Dan as the team laughed at his expense.
"Ok, let's listen in and see what plans they have," Chris soon said.
Everyone nodded as they moved to make themselves comfortable.
The chatter soon picked up inside Jeff's van.
"That was the most exciting thing ever, Jeffrey!" Lester shouted in excitement. "Our activism in support of population control is about to become known throughout the world! This was just the first of many successful Jeffster interventions!"
Red Team—smirking at Lester's words—watched Jeff nod. "Yeah, Lester, it was fun. There were lots of hot women. One of them even liked me."
Lester laughed hysterically and said, "Did the slap hurt Jeffrey?"
Jeff nodded, clutching at his cheek with a hand. "Yeah, but I liked it, Lester. It felt good."
"See? What did we tell you?!" Cole asked, pointing around at his teammates.
Chuck joined him in pointing, smirking his head off as he did so.
Muted chuckles escaped as the team continued to tune into their surveillance of Jeff and Lester.
"What should we do now, Lester?" Jeff asked.
Lester raised a hand to rest on his chin in contemplation. "Now, my brother, we plan our next intervention! The next one must be more glorious than the first!"
"Aww!" Jeff complained. "I wanted to take a break and use the boob cam, Lester."
"Boob cam?!" Red Team belted out in unison, quickly erupting in laughter again.
"These two are complete freaks, I'm telling you!" Cole said.
Cole's comment earned additional glee.
"Shut up, Cole," Big Dan ordered. "I want to hear every single word of this comedy show."
Lester furrowed his brow for a moment, then said, "Ok! We'll do that first!"
Red Team observed Jeff's face light up in excitement.
"Cool," Jeff said. "But Lester, we forgot something."
"What, Jeffrey?"
"When we gave the sex dolls as gifts, we forgot to give the women some gifts too."
Lester quickly shrieked at the lost opportunity. "Gosh, Jeffrey, you are so right, my brother! We should have gotten them some vibrators!"
"Don't worry, fellas, you can lend some of Sarah's!" Big Dan laughed out.
Chuck and Sarah shot a glare at Big Dan, while the rest of the team couldn't help but laugh at his comment.
Sarah, gritting her teeth, looked at Chuck and said, "He will be lucky if I haven't killed him before this assignment is over."
Chuck nodded at every word. "You and me both."
Jeff continued, "Maybe we could have been the tools instead, Lester."
His latest comment divided Red Team, with some recoiling in disgust and others finding it hilarious.
Lester entered consideration of Jeff's comment again, then said, "I agree that because the bride was hot, and the groom was not, she can have our babies per our agreement of hot women only!"
"WHO'D LOOK AT HIM?!" Jamie cried out in laughter.
"Who'd look at them, you mean, fella," Big Dan added.
Jamie and Dan's remarks significantly intensified the laughter in every corner of Red Team's van.
"The bride wasn't as hot as that blonde we followed around Birmingham and then Hereford, though, Lester," Jeff said.
"Right you are, Jeffrey! Now she was hot! I still wonder how much she would charge if we paid her," Lester said.
"Ew!" Sarah said, completely grossed out, her eyes narrowing at someone talking crudely about her in third party.
Usually, Red Team would have laughed their heads off at such a remark about a teammate.
However, this time, their laughter ceased in an instant as soon as they landed on the bombshell revelation.
"So it was them all along who bugged our rides?!" Cole said through gritted teeth.
"We all had a feeling it was anyway," Chuck said.
Everyone nodded.
"So, it was Sarah they were following at first? And she probably led them to Cole and Jamie's cars?" Bryce asked.
"Well, it certainly wasn't Chuck, fella, because he's neither hot nor blonde!" Big Dan remarked.
The team, minus Chuck and Sarah, snorted at the latest comment.
"He's really winding me up," Chuck said, unamused, shaking his head at Sarah.
Sarah nodded.
"So where do we go from here?" John Murray asked, glancing at his teammates one by one from the front seat.
The team pondered the question until Chris disturbed the silence and said, "Nothing changes. We still don't know where they got the trackers, or if they planted them because they've not mentioned them yet."
Scoffs in irony erupted.
"Come on, Chris, I know they're the biggest bunch of idiots, but we aren't and all of us know they can only follow us over such a lengthy distance with the aid of a tracker," Big Dan said.
Everyone nodded.
"I'm sure they did it too," Chris said. "However, black in white, by the book, no discussion. If those trackers came from the Irish Republican Army, I want to find the persons responsible. They can still lead us to that. Until we know more, we're unchanged."
Groans erupted amongst the team, though inside, they each knew that Chris's call was the right and only one to make.
Soon breaking the tension that had now set in, Jamie looked at Chuck and said, "So, Chuck, how does it feel that not one man, but two, have eyes on your girl and think she's a prostitute?"
The sound inside Red Team's surveillance van instantly filled with rash attempts to contain laughter.
However, Chuck, pointing Jamie at the laptop under Big Dan's control, said, "You call that a man?"
This time, the team couldn't contain their laughter as they shared chuckles.
"Chuck's right," Bryce soon said. "If they're a threat to any of us, then it would be the biggest shock of the 21st century!"
Chuck and Cole pointed in approval at Bryce.
"You never know, fella," Big Dan said, snorting. "They might be Sarah's type!"
Sarah's eyes flashed on Big Dan with a look of pure anger that could have murdered him. "I'm really going to kill him!"
"Don't rise to it, lass," Cole urged. "He'll only stop when you give him some back."
"Yeah, Cole's right," Chuck said. "I'd give him some back now, but he's still recovering from the last time I did. He's very sensitive, really. You'll see."
Big Dan smirked, feeling immensely satisfied with having wound up his teammates again. "Now let's all shut up because you're disturbing my prime-time viewing," he said, his eyes glueing back to watching what Jeff and Lester were up to.
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
Friday, 23 November, 2007
21:00 hours
The surveillance of Jeff and Lester reached two and a half days, with Red Team monitoring their every move from their less-than-comfortable habitable conditions inside their surveillance van.
The team was struggling to stay warm as the cold, wet and windy conditions continued to sweep across the United Kingdom.
With only a small van to accommodate nine people, the cramped conditions were also far from ideal.
Add to that, the team's belief that Jeff and Lester were leading them on a fruitless mission significantly dampened the mood inside Red Team's van.
However, for Chuck and Sarah, at least, they were about to get some reprieve.
"Right," Chris said suddenly, commanding the attention of the team. "As we detailed earlier, Chuck and Sarah are going into the cinema undercover as a close couple to this film Saw 4 that Jeff and Lester are about to watch. While they're in there, we'll use the time to recharge our batteries at the nearby restaurant located less than one-hundred metres away. As soon as Chuck or Sarah report that they're leaving, we'll scramble out before they do, pick up Chuck and Sarah once Jeff and Lester have already departed, and then we'll continue to tail them. Sidearms are to be carried by everyone, but concealed carry ONLY!"
Everyone nodded.
"They're entering the retail park housing the cinema now," Cole said from his position in the driver's seat.
"We'll give them about five minutes after entering before we make our way into the cinema ourselves," Chuck said.
The team nodded again.
Cole continued driving Red Team's surveillance vehicle at a safe enough of a distance from Jeff's.
"Ok, they've stopped," Big Dan, looking at the live tracking information, reported.
Cole soon found a place to park in the large retail park.
"And now we wait…" Sarah said.
Five minutes later
"The agreed five minutes have expired," Chris announced. "So here's what we'll do: Chuck and Sarah will enter the cinema first. We'll wait in the van until receiving the confirmation they've located Jeff and Lester. Once we have, and once we know they'll be in there for possible the full hour and a half, then we'll make our way to the restaurant."
The team shared nods.
"Can you get me a burger or something from the restaurant for when we get back?" Sarah asked cutely, looking around her teammates.
Red Team shared a chuckle as Big Dan said, "We're not your servants, Sarah."
"Call it a payment for the grief you all gave her yesterday," Chuck said. "And because a lot of you were behaving like knobs, I'll have one as well."
Sarah smiled at her lover.
"Fair enough," Big Dan soon said.
"Don't forget to kiss to sell your cover," John Murray quipped suddenly.
Chuck and Sarah opted not to speak, instead flipping the Scot off, which he found amusing.
"Ok, let's move out," Chris quickly commanded, his game-face switched on.
Chuck and Sarah hopped out of the van, both sporting baseball caps.
The caps alone wouldn't provide much of a disguise, especially considering Jeff and Lester had already encountered the whole team before.
Nevertheless, Chuck and Sarah had undergone months of training to avoid detection during surveillance and they could put their skills to use in the pitch darkness of the night sky with ease.
The team also believed it was necessary, regardless, for two of their team to go in covertly to ensure Jeff and Lester were not using the cinema as a meeting place for any suspicious activities, especially with their potential links to the Irish Republican Army.
Walking side by side through the car park, Chuck and Sarah felt their sense of closeness that only came with being alone together.
"How far do we take our cover if necessary?" Chuck asked as they walked.
Sarah looked at Chuck, then smiled. "All the way. We're together for real off-duty anyway, so we should use that to our advantage."
Chuck looked at his girlfriend—when they were off-duty at least—with a smile, holding back his laughter. "Yeah. I guess that makes things easier for us than the last time we had to play a cover in Birmingham."
"God, don't remind me about that! It was the most embarrassing moment of my life, especially with all of our team and Blue Team looking on," Sarah said as her eyes sparkled mischievously, and a smirk played at the corners of her mouth.
"Oh, I see how it is," Chuck teased as they continued to walk. "I'm that repulsive for you, it embarrassed you for anybody to see you kissing me. For that, there'll be no kissing in here!"
As Chuck grinned on in amusement, her own face lit up with joy.
"Shut up," she whispered, trying to hide the smile on her face.
Chuck's smile remained as he and his lover locked eyes and intertwined their fingers before walking into the busy cinema.
The cinema lobby was bustling with activity as the couple scanned around in search of Jeff and Lester, but neither located them.
"They must be inside already," Chuck said.
Sarah nodded.
A playful grin soon lit up Chuck's face, then he said, "Let's go see the movie then."
Chuck's grin for Sarah was contagious as they approached the ticket counter, their hands still tightly clasped.
After receiving their cinema tickets, Sarah led Chuck towards the picture room, but she stopped when she felt his hand tug back against hers.
She turned around to face him, her eyes narrowing in a questioning manner.
"Popcorn and drinks," he declared, suppressing laughter.
Sarah shook her head, now knowing why his hand put up resistance.
"I insist," he joked. "We can never go to the movies without buying them. I'd say sweets too, but we probably don't have time for that."
"Just hurry before Chris kills us if we lose them," she cautioned him, a smile playing at the corners of her lips as she watched her teammate boyfriend's adorable antics.
The young couple queued up to pay for popcorn and drinks, then they made their way towards the picture room belonging to tonight's screening of Saw IV.
The smell of buttery popcorn in their hands making their mouths water as they entered the large picture room.
Now inside, they remained cautious in case Jeff and Lester were near the entrance, which would present a problem.
As they walked deeper into the screen room, Chuck and Sarah were relieved to see that the entrance was clear. They soon noticed Jeff and Lester already in their seats, chatting and munching on popcorn, at a far corner in the bottom row of the screen room.
Chuck and Sarah turned to face each other.
"Right, let's take our seats way above them somewhere and make sure they don't see us," Chuck cautioned.
Sarah and Chuck exchanged a nod as Sarah pressed her discreet communications channel to brief her team leader, "Ok, Chris, both marks are settled in place to see the movie. It's just them as of now."
"Affirmative," Chris promptly appeared on the channel. "We're now off to the restaurant. Keep us informed of any activity."
"Will do," Sarah said back.
"And don't forget our burgers," Chuck whispered into his own communications device.
Sarah turned to look at Chuck and smirked before they ascended the steps of the cinema room, trying to blend in with the crowd.
Arriving near the top of the room after a quick moment, Sarah stopped and whispered, "Here will do."
Chuck nodded, his eyes scanning the dimly lit theatre as he trailed behind Sarah, the sound of their footsteps muffled by the plush carpeting.
Sarah soon came to a stop and took a seat while Chuck settled in beside her.
The theatre was hushed as many cinemagoers sat down to watch the movie.
Chuck and Sarah turned to face each other, their eyes meeting in an intense gaze.
"Our first cinema date," Chuck joked. "I hope you like horror movies."
"I don't," Sarah admitted, suppressing a laugh. "But I won't hold it against you because you didn't pick it."
Chuck mirrored her muted laughter. "Yeah. A blind cinema date. At least my blind date is kinda hot."
Sarah laughed at his remark. "Kinda?"
With a faux-ironic sigh, Chuck shook his head at Sarah. "If I'd have known my blind date was so full of herself, I would have told them to stick it."
"Shut up," she said, trying to sound stern, but a smile lit up her face that betrayed that, as did the sparkle in her eye as they held an intense gaze.
He held a prolonged smile at her for a long moment until breaking it when he checked in on Jeff and Lester's position.
Soon after, the dimly lit screen room was filled with the sound of the initial movie advertisements starting up.
With the movie just minutes away, it was Chuck's cue to start on his popcorn and drink.
"Saw, huh?" Chuck soon remarked, changing his glance between the screen in front of him, and Sarah seated next to him. "I've seen all the ones before it and while I love it, it's ok if you need to hold my hand. I won't tell."
Sarah instantly moved to swat Chuck for his remark, which caused him to spill some of his popcorn around him.
"Hey!" Chuck complained, glancing in distaste at her because she'd made him lose some of his popcorn.
"I'll eat all of it on you if you keep making remarks like that," Sarah warned.
Chuck pointed at Sarah in conviction, then said with determination, "Oh, no, you won't, missy!"
"Oh, yes, I will," Sarah said back, smirking.
Chuck sighed, though Sarah detected the playful side of Chuck as he did so.
He soon teased, "I've only been on the blind date for five minutes, and I want to leave already."
"Tough," Sarah laughed fondly. "Because I'm having a great time."
"Ah, butcha won't be in a minute when the horror and gore starts," Chuck quipped back.
Sarah instantly ceased laughing, and she bore him a stare. "That is so not cool!"
A wicked, satisfied grin lit up Chuck's face.
"Now I'm the one regretting the blind date," Sarah admitted sombrely before she took a sip of her Pepsi.
Chuck suppressed a laugh in satisfaction, gazing at Sarah as she sipped on her drink.
Meeting Chuck's glance again, Sarah narrowed her eye, detecting the sinister teasing streak seeping out of him.
With having to contend with watching a horror, as well as her teasing boyfriend, she was sure it was going to be a long night…
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
A short while later
Sarah was only a few minutes into Saw IV, and she was already regretting her decision to watch it.
She turned to face Chuck, hoping to get some support from her boyfriend.
"I'm already regretting coming to see this," she admitted.
Chuck turned to look at her and smiled gently, attempting to console her. "You didn't have a choice. It was Chris's decision to send us in, obviously to facilitate some kind of cover."
Sarah nodded, attempting to push out a smile before she sighed. "I always get the shit jobs."
"Try to look at the positives," Chuck stressed. "It's warm in here. We're together, and we have popcorn."
"Yeah and the team have warm food and probably alcohol," Sarah argued.
Chuck's comforting smile faded. "You're right," he said, nodding. "We do get the shit jobs."
Sarah nodded. "At least you like these kinds of movies."
"Not if you don't, I don't," he said instantly, gazing into her eyes. "Sure, I mean, while I'd come and watch this with somebody like Cole or any of the lads. If this were a real date, then this is the last thing we'd be coming to watch if I knew prior that it wasn't your thing."
Sarah bore an adoring smile as she gazed at her lover's gentle face and listened to his comforting words. "At least it feels like a real date."
"Good! At least I'm not all bad then," he whispered, grinning.
Sarah held her smitten glance before she reached towards Chuck's popcorn and stole some.
With the loot in her hands, she quickly moved to place it into her mouth before Chuck could stop her.
"Oi!" Chuck's loving gaze vanished as he shot her a belittling glance for stealing his popcorn.
Sarah giggled sweetly, the sound of her laughter mixing with the crunch of the buttery popcorn she stole.
Chuck's eyes bore into his girlfriend's for a long moment, his displeasure for her actions evident in his narrow stare.
Satisfied with her victory, and of Chuck's reaction to it, she sat back and tried to watch some more of the graphic movie.
A few minutes later
Chuck, seeing Sarah struggling in her attempts to enjoy the movie, decided it was time to help her and offer a distraction.
Craftily, he prepared himself for revenge over Sarah's theft of his popcorn.
Soon in place, he struck, jolting his hand out into Sarah's popcorn to steal some.
Sarah was instantly alert and moved to swat his hand.
Chuck chuckled softly at the fast reactions of his girlfriend, though he expertly held onto the popcorn he stole as she hit his hand.
Raising the popcorn to his mouth, he emulated the moans Sarah did to him minutes ago. "Delicious, lovely!"
"Thief!" Sarah whispered, staring into his eyes, her mouth agape in shock at Chuck's sudden retaliatory strike.
"It takes one to know one, beautiful," he whispered back, suppressing laughter, feeling very proud of himself.
Sarah shook her head, continuing her belittling stare into his orbs.
A short while later
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as the movie finally neared its end after an hour of her discomfort.
Her disdain for horror movies was clear, and her boyfriend's upfront declaration that they wouldn't have to watch them together again when it was just them made her feel heard and respected.
Each day she grew to know Chuck Bartowski, she liked even more about him.
She already knew it before Manchester anyway, but Chuck's actions so far this evening only cemented her belief that her teammate boyfriend was an amazing guy, and she was the luckiest girl in the world to have him.
Sarah soon darted her eyes darted to her boyfriend next to her to sneak a glance.
However, he caught her staring, causing her cheeks to flush.
She briefly lowered her gaze before locking eyes with him again, the intensity of their stare making her heart race and her palms sweat.
As she gazed into his eyes, she felt an overwhelming urge to lean in and kiss him, the intensity of their gaze adding to the attraction.
The only thing that stopped her from kissing his face off was that she hadn't forgotten that they were still here on assignment.
Every so often, both Chuck and Sarah had glanced over at Jeff and Lester's position. Neither of them had moved from their seats for the whole movie, they appeared immensely immersed in it, and they looked like they were having a great time.
Sarah had a great night herself, marred only because the movie of choice was a horror.
"So, how was the movie?" Chuck asked, holding their stare.
"Not good, but I would have watched anything if it meant I could get away from the team," Sarah joked, forcing a smile at her joke.
"I'm sorry," he said, moving to play with her hand. "Next time, when we're at a cinema for real, I'll let you pick the movie."
"I'd like that," Sarah said as her heart skipped a beat as she felt Chuck's hand on hers.
She brushed her thumb over his in reply, savouring the moment.
"So what will we see?" Chuck asked, his intimate gaze still burning in her orbs.
Sarah's mind soon reached a conclusion of what she wanted to watch, and she turned away, feeling embarrassed.
"It's ok," he reassured her, pulling a tighter hold of her hand. "It can be anything. You can tell me."
Chuck's reassurance, and the firm grip he had of her hand, convinced her to look back at him.
"Maybe a Disney?" she said eventually, after fighting off her worry that he would mock her for it.
With her answer delivered, she looked him up and down in search of anything sinister.
However, Chuck simply smiled at her, nodded, then said, "Disney it is, beautiful."
Sarah's lips curled into a wide smile as they met each other's eyes again.
Screw the end of the movie…. she thought.
Her gaze quickly lowered to his lips, deciding she wanted to carry through with her desire to kiss him. Chris said to fully sell their cover, after all…
Sarah soon leaned into Chuck's seat in the dark cinema in an action to kiss him.
With a fiery passion, Chuck and she embraced, and everything around them faded into the background.
For a moment.
When their lips parted, Chuck asked, "What was that for?"
Staring into his eyes, their faces but mere inches apart, she said, "For being a gentleman. But this next one is just because I want to, gorgeous…"
Sarah's passion overtook her, and she moved back in to kiss Chuck with fervour, grabbing his face and deepening the kiss.
They kissed deeply, their tongues entwined in a sensual dance, and parted only when they were gasping for breath, their foreheads touching.
The lovers remained like this for a moment, until they parted reluctantly, knowing they were still on a mission, and that the movie was about to end.
Their glances soon diverted over to Jeff and Lester as the movie reached its end on the screen.
Looking back at Sarah after completing his observations, Chuck whispered, "Let's get this operation over as quick as we can and go back to just us… It's our first weeks together and we can't do anything together, which sucks, but such is life."
Sarah, still struggling to regain her breath, looked purposely at Chuck and said, "I want that more than anything. Just us… If this doesn't end soon, I might accidentally shoot them."
Chuck laughed heartily at her comment. "Oh, Sarah, you're learning fast. I knew there was something in you and that I wasn't just getting with you for your breathtaking looks."
Sarah's eyes sparkled with joy as her lover spoke. She gave him a beaming, smitten smile. "That's ok because I'm only getting with you for what's in your pants."
Chuck suppressed immediate laughter, shaking his head as he gazed at her. "Any more of that, missy," Chuck warned, jabbing his finger, "And I'll tell the team how spooked you was over the movie."
"Any more of that," Sarah warned back, jabbing her own finger, but much closer to his face, "and you won't be taking off my pants at our earliest opportunity."
"I don't want to anyway," Chuck said back, his voice shaky.
Sarah merely held a smug look in victory, knowing full well his reply was an empty one.
The teammates and lovers exchanged a last look before Chuck's peripheral vision caught Jeff and Lester rising from their seats.
Tapping hold of his communication device, Chuck said, "They're leaving now."
"Right, we'll be off and pick you up a few minutes after they've left then," Chris said.
"And don't forget our burgers," Sarah added.
"We've already got them ready for you, mate," Jamie said, appearing on comms.
Sarah pushed her communication device twice to acknowledge.
They gave Jeff and Lester some time to leave the cinema before they left themselves, feeling each other's comforting warmth as they walked out hand-in-hand.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Who Dares Wins is back, and I am excited to share the first chapter with you :) As I wrote it, I couldn't help but smile, thoroughly feeling the passion to write in my universe again and I hope that feeling came through in the writing, and that you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did :)
Jeffster's final wedding crash will be the climax of the next chapter, following one or two scenes leading up to it. The event will escalate drastically, drawing Red Team into the fray, and we will hear Jamie Hughes exclaim at the end in shock, "Fucking hell! Just what else can be thrown at us?!"
What else, indeed…
FOOTNOTES: Are you happy Who Dares Wins is back? Did you enjoy the chapter? If you could take a moment to leave a review and share your thoughts, I would be grateful.
Oh, a final comment, as part of me being back active writing again, all previous chapters will ultimately be remastered to my much better 2023 writing excellence. So far, only the first chapter, as well as this chapter, has received that. But in due course, Ch2 & Ch3 will receive it too. I'll leave a note in my next chapter, or on Facebook, once that's done.