A/N: FanFiction is still not fixed, so still recording zero views, and blocking some people from reviewing. Sigh. Thanks to those of you that managed to submit reviews or PMs, or left comments on the entry on the Chuck Fanfiction Facebook group. I appreciate all of that.
As before, thanks to Writesalott for the beta.
The story continues…
Chuck vs The Triangle
Chapter 4: Retrieval
Chuck thought it was inevitable that the pillows had proven ineffective at keeping them apart. Sarah had already demonstrated that by crossing them so easily before they'd gone to sleep. However, they had both managed to sleep.
They were planning to leave at 6am. They had to get out as soon as possible which meant no showers and no breakfast. They'd arranged to meet Matt and Janine at the boat five minutes before the departure which meant the alarm was set for 5:15am to give them time to get there.
Waking at 5:07am was fine, but finding a bare leg across his legs and an arm across his chest was not what he'd been expecting. She'd obviously crossed the pillows again. Chuck couldn't resist stroking her leg. How could he? Silky smooth, it felt as gorgeous as it looked.
"I take it I crossed the Great Wall again," she muttered.
He stopped moving and just held her leg half way along her thigh. "Yeah. You and this lovely leg."
She chuckled. "It's obviously attracted to you as much as you are to it."
"Well, we need to get up in a minute or two, " he said.
She slid fully onto him and he instinctively put his arms around her. "Something for us both to look forward to, then," she whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek and then resting her head in the crook of his neck.
His right hand rose between her shoulder blades as he continued to hold her, sending a thrill through them both. "Another reason to want to come back," he said and kissed the top of her head.
"Hmm," she replied.
They stayed like that until the alarm went off seven minutes later.
It had only taken two and a half hours to get from Freeport to Miami, as expected. Once on shore, Sarah took him to her hidden stash of her dad's equipment and supplies.
First, she put black dye in his hair and left it to develop while she got the camera set up and prepared the other necessary equipment.
While the dye was working, Chuck wandered around the place looking at everything. He found a rack of brightly colored Hawaiian shirts.
"Don't even think of those shirts, Chuck," she called to him. "I have no idea why dad bought them. They're just asking to draw attention!"
When the timer reached twenty minutes, Sarah rinsed his hair. There was something intimate about her washing and rinsing it for him. "You know I'll want to do this again," she muttered.
"What? Dye my hair?" he teased.
"No, get my fingers in your curls. They are so sensual."
"Maybe I should wash your hair sometime, too," he replied.
"Mmmm," she responded. Then, she gave him a towel and said, "Dry your hair, then I'll put some makeup on you to make you look older and we'll take your photos."
Somehow, having Sarah so near as she aged him made resisting pulling her in for a kiss very difficult, but he managed.
So, five minutes later, the black-haired version of Chuck, who looked about twenty years older and wearing a white shirt, was photographed. Then, she said, "There are clothes racks off to the right. Things that dad used. The pants won't be long enough for you, but the shirts will be fine if you roll the sleeves up. Go and choose a black shirt. Have you got other shoes?"
"Some formal ones," he replied.
"I'm guessing you don't normally wear those."
"No, I don't," he replied.
"Then put those on," she said. "Before you do that, though, which of these names do you prefer? Jack Silvers or Craig Baines?
"The latter, same initials," he replied.
"Okay, this'll take me a while. When you've chosen and put on the clothes and your shoes, there is a fridge at the back with bottles of water, go grab one and sit down back there. I'll be with you as soon as I can."
Chuck found a long-sleeved black shirt and put it on. He was now dressed all in black. The black formal shoes added to that. Sarah had said this wouldn't draw attention, but he thought the opposite. When she returned to him, he'd discuss that with her.
He wandered to the back of the unit and found the kitchen area. It was a bit dusty, but the fridge contained bottles of water.
He sat at the table there, and drank some.
He needed to get a burner phone so he could talk to his sister, but hadn't had a chance. He didn't plan to use his own phone again until he returned here. He switched it off but kept it with him as he wouldn't be returning to this lock-up.
It was nearly an hour before Sarah joined him. "It's been a while since I've used all that stuff," she said.
"So, you and he changed your identities a lot?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm not proud of it, but, yes. Con man and con girl, turned pirates. I was lucky. I was never actually caught on cameras, so the authorities never caught me."
"Well, useful for me," he said.
"Yeah." She slid across the new passport, driving license and credit card. "There's about $300 on that. Should be enough for you to get to New York and back."
He looked at the passport. It looked perfect, it also looked a bit battered. Sarah noticed him looking at that. "You don't want a perfect new passport, especially as this is supposed to be four years old."
He looked up at her. "You must be the perfect woman for me."
She burst out laughing. "Yeah, a criminal! Not sure how to take that."
"I couldn't do all the things I need to do without you, Sarah," he said honestly.
"Worth a kiss?" she asked, pouting.
He rushed around the table and kissed her deeper than that. They both found themselves moaning into it.
When they separated, she said, "You better go before now before I keep you here forever."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he replied. "Before I go, though, don't you think I'll draw attention in all black like this?"
She looked at him. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go and see what other shirts there are."
They decided a plain brown shirt looked better, so he stripped off the black one and put the brown on. Sarah smoothed the shirt down and stood back. "Stoop a bit. It'll make you look shorter." He did so. She finally said, "I think that's the best we can do. Maybe we should have changed your eye color, but we've used the photos with hazel eyes now and I don't want to redo all of that again."
"Just as well. I'm not sure I could wear contacts, Sarah," he replied.
"Fair enough."
"I'll need to buy a burner phone to call my sis-"
She cut him off. "I can give you one, but what if the CIA has your sister's phone tapped?"
Chuck hadn't thought about that. "Shit!"
She went and got two phones. "These just have one number in them, so we can contact each other."
"I'll call Ellie at the hospital, rather than her cell or home phone," he said.
"That's probably a good idea," she replied.
"Okay." He stood. "Wish me luck."
She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Be safe and come back to me," she kissed him softly and then released him.
He called a taxi and was soon heading to the airport. When he got there he booked a flight to Newark airport and passed through security. He kept his head down to avoid any cameras, the glasses he wore had thick black frames which added to his disguise but he had no illusions over whether the CIA would see past that.
The flight was in forty minutes, so he was able to go straight to the gate. There, he sat down and called his sister. He was lucky, she was on a break, so the hospital switchboard was able to contact her.
"Hello?" she answered. "Who is this?"
"Ellie, it's me," he replied.
"Ch-" she started.
He cut her off. "No names," he quickly said.
She knew about the CIA and their dad's invention, so instantly understood. "Don't tell me where you are or where you're going, but you received a letter from dad."
"Scan it and store it on the server," he replied.
"Will do," she said. "Store something there for me, telling me what's happening. I'll be looking out for things there now."
"I will," he said. "Talk when this is over."
"Will it ever be?" she moaned.
"I don't know," he said. "But, good news, I've met the woman of my dreams."
She almost squealed. "Does she feel the same?"
"She seems to," he replied. Thinking about Sarah made him feel anything was possible. After all, an impossibly gorgeous and amazingly skilled woman wanted to be with him.
"You know I want to meet her or at least see her," Ellie said.
"I haven't any photos of her, I'm afraid," he replied.
She chuckled. "Too busy gazing into her eyes, huh?"
He thought about those eyes and murmured, "Yeah."
"Be safe," she said.
"Thanks. You too."
Ending the call, he thought about photos of Sarah. He wished he had some with him.
He typed a note on what had happened, what he'd surmised, and what he was planning to do. He then went through the security steps to access the secure server and store the note there.
Then, it was time to board the plane.
Once he was out of Newark airport arrivals, Chuck got a taxi to the storage location. He guessed the ride would be around forty-five minutes, so he had time to access the server to see if Ellie had scanned and uploaded the letter. It was unlikely, unless she'd finished work and gone home.
He was pleased to see that she had uploaded it, as an image. He downloaded and looked at it. Not the easiest way to read it, having to swipe left and right to read each line. However, what he read made him sit up.
It told him that in addition to another Intersect in that locker, there was another invention, what his dad called 'The Disruptor.' It came with instructions.
The taxi came to a stop and Chuck paid for it before getting out. Once the taxi had driven away, Chuck walked up to the metal door and opened the lock with the code his dad had told him.
He slid the shuttered metal door up. Once he'd entered and switched the light on, he lowered the door again. He didn't want anyone coming in.
Turning around, he smiled. The locker was larger than a garage for a single car. This was how he'd remembered the place. There were shelves on either side and part way down the middle, all loaded with labeled crates. At the back was what he thought of as his dad's lab. It was a work surface on which he'd build his creations.
A lot of the crates were filled with boxes of parts he'd needed. However, the creations were stored in another compartment at the back, behind a false wall. Chuck knew how to access this, and immediately did so.
There were a number of inventions back there. They were also in boxes on shelves. He walked along checking the labels. They were all in the encrypted code his dad used. That made him chuckle. If anyone got in here, they'd just take everything and open the boxes elsewhere, regardless of the contents.
Being able to read his father's code meant Chuck found the two boxes he was here for quickly. Once he had the boxes containing the Intersect and the Disruptor he opened both.
He took photos of the instructions in each. They covered how to use the devices as well as how to make them, although the latter seemed very complicated.
The Intersect was like a Rubrik's Cube even down to the size. Chuck couldn't help but admire how it was constructed. There was no metal involved, just a combination of hard plastic with silicon for the electronics, so it would pass through airport security without any problem. Chuck was sure that only his dad could build something like this.
The Disruptor was also metal free. It looked like a spectacle case and would probably show up like that when scanned. It came with three sets of ear plugs. The user and two others would put those in before the device was activated. Anyone within twenty feet, not wearing these would be frozen for two hours. There was a dial on it to set the range from 2 to 20, obviously the number of feet.
Chuck had no idea why his dad had created such a device. Maybe he thought the CIA would plan a raid and he and his mum would use this to escape. Whatever, this could help Chuck and Sarah, so he eagerly took that as well as the Intersect.
There could well be more useful things here, so Chuck opened the other boxes and read the notes within.
There was only one additional item of interest, labeled Track. It was similar to his own tracker, but something he could plant on a person. This was something that was like a circular clear plaster, but it somehow got under the surface of the person, so it wouldn't wash off. There was a small cardboard box with fifty of these. The construction note made no sense to Chuck, but he wondered if they might to his sister.
Armed with his treasures, Chuck sealed the hidden compartment and left the storage unit, locking it again.
He called for a taxi to come to the park a short way down the road and wandered down there.
His plan was to find a cheap motel and stay there for the night before getting a flight back to Miami.
Chuck got a call on his burner which woke him up. He looked at the clock, 6:33am. He was surprised that Sarah would call him so early.
"Sarah?" he answered.
"No. Not Sarah," a male voice answered. The accent sounded like he was Russian. "This is Alexei Volkoff. I have your girlfriend. You will bring the Intersect to me in exchange for her life."
Chuck was now completely awake. "Don't hurt her!"
Volkoff chuckled. "She'll be perfectly safe as long as you hand over the Intersect."
"Where?" Chuck asked. His heart was now pounding. His fear for his girlfriend's safety was almost overwhelming. He was desperate to save her.
"We're in a disused warehouse in Miami. Be there by 4pm." He gave Chuck the details and then ended the call.
Chuck had the phone numbers for Matt and Janine on his main phone, so he would call them for assistance, but using the burner. He looked at the clock again, 6:47am.
A groggy Matt answered the call, "Hello?"
"Matt, it's Chuck. Sarah has been kidnapped and they are demanding I swap the Intersect for her."
"But you didn't find it!" Matt no longer sounded sleepy.
"I have another that my dad stashed in New York," Chuck explained.
"Oh. Is that why you left?"
"Yeah, but I have something else that will help, it'll disable the kidnappers," Chuck told him.
"Janine and I will help," Matt said.
"I need you two to have the boat ready to set off as soon as I get her there. Maybe Janine could drive the car to get us between the two locations."
"Definitely," Janine said. Matt obviously had the phone on speaker.
"Thanks, Janine," Chuck replied. "I'll let you both know when I'm likely to get to Miami so we can prepare."
He ended that call and called for a taxi to go to the airport.
Arriving back in Miami after 12 noon felt extremely late, but he was out of the airport quickly. Matt was waiting for him so they quickly got in his car and set off.
Chuck needed to test the Disruptor on someone, so when they got to Matt's house, he put in the ear plugs and wandered down the street looking for a test subject. He felt bad doing this, but Sarah's life depended on knowing if this worked. He had to know.
A teenager was wandering in the opposite direction, smoking something he'd rolled himself. Chuck didn't know if that was tobacco or something stronger, but this lad would do nicely.
Chuck had set the control to five feet and, once he was close enough, pressed the button on the Disruptor in his pants pocket. The teenager collapsed and Chuck rushed forward to catch him.
There was a man sitting on his porch on the other side of the road, who saw what happened. He rushed over. "I know this kid," he said.
Chuck was relieved. "He just collapsed!"
"Yeah, I saw. Must be whatever he smokes."
"It's shaken me up," Chuck said. "Can you take him home?"
"Yeah. Sure," he man said and took one of the teenager's arms over his shoulders and dragged him off.
Chuck headed back to Matt's house.
Before he and Janine set off, Chuck called Bryce on his main phone.
"Chuck, where the hell are you?" Bryce answered.
"Does the name Alexei Volkoff mean anything to you?" Chuck asked, rather than answer the question.
"Yeah. Russian arms dealer and smuggler. Why?" Bryce said.
Chuck replied, "I understand he'll be in a Miami warehouse by 5:30pm today." He was confident that he'd have gotten Sarah away by then.
"Fuck! He might even be more important than you!" Bryce exclaimed.
"Worth the CIA getting there, then?" Chuck asked.
"Definitely," Bryce replied.
Chuck gave Bryce the warehouse location. "I'll leave that to you, then." Chuck ended the call and switched off the phone.
Janine drove Chuck to near the warehouse and parked the car around the corner from the block it was on.
"You stay here, Janine. I don't want them seeing you."
"I'll definitely stay in the car and probably lower myself down to be as invisible as possible!" she replied.
"Good."
He walked around the block and to the warehouse specified. All the warehouses here looked empty. This one, however, had two men with guns standing just inside, waiting for him. The time was 3:57pm.
He was frisked after he took out the Intersect cube. The Disruptor was in his jacket pocket with the controls against him. As Chuck had hoped, the man assumed it was a glasses case and ignored it. Then, Chuck was led inside and to a man sitting beside Sarah who had her wrists and ankles tied.
"Are you okay, Sarah?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, but didn't look at all happy.
"Do you have the Intersect?" the man asked. It was the same voice as on the phone. Chuck had to assume this was Volkoff.
"Yeah." Chuck showed him the cube.
"Ha. Looks almost like a Rubik's Cube!" Volkoff said.
"That's what they thought it was as I came through customs," Chuck replied.
Chuck acted fast. Before the two men that brought him in left, he activated the Disruptor. Everyone collapsed. That included Sarah, but she just slumped in her chair.
Chuck had spotted one of the men had held a knife, so he grabbed that and quickly cut Sarah loose. He then carried her out. She was quite light, so that didn't cause him much trouble.
Once he reached the car, Janine quickly opened the left rear passenger door and they strapped Sarah in before they both got in. Chuck sat beside Sarah.
It took about thirty minutes to get to the boat. Matt joined them to take Sarah in and lay her down on the bed below. Then, they set off.
Chuck just sat beside Sarah waiting for her to wake up.
Seventy five minutes after they'd laid her down, Sarah's eye fluttered open. She saw Chuck sitting beside her. "Chuck?"
"I'm here, Sarah. We rescued you. We're on board your boat and we're heading toward your dad's cave."
She looked at him in awe as she sat up. With a trembling lip and tears forming, she reached for him. Once he moved closer, she grabbed him, planting her lips on his, conveying her feelings.
They were both free and together. They obviously needed to plan what to do next, but this was wonderful.
A/N: So, another character from the show appeared.
Thoughts?