A/N: Thanks for coming back to this story, and obviously, thanks to those who left reviews, too. It's been nearly two months since the last chapter. This one took a long time because it was complex, and I confess that I struggled with it. Then, I got focused on other stories for a while, too. Sorry.
Beta thanks go to Captainrick944, as always.
This chapter is very loosely based on S2E1, "Chuck Versus the First Date," along with some of what happened before the season started.
Piranha vs The Intersect
Chapter 16: Another Intersect
By the time the committee meeting occurred, Fulcrum had been quiet for two and a half months. Casey was getting stir-crazy. Beckman had sent him for recertification to relieve his tension as much as anything. Beckman herself was looking stressed.
Chuck had been spending time with Sarah, receiving some martial arts training. He was very slowly getting better at defending himself but was completely unwilling to attack her in any way. She loved that about him, but it did restrict what he could learn.
Other than that, Chuck had been reviewing the recordings of Beckman's interaction with Professor Isaac and found it quite amusing. Her rants at the man were the worst he'd heard. She had visited his lab for long periods and was going to be there when the meeting occurred.
Graham was confident of the outcome of the meeting, but that didn't ease the tension for Chuck and Sarah. They were ready to run if necessary, but not knowing was bad.
The meeting was held at 6pm in Washington DC. So, Chuck and Sarah both took the afternoon off work. They knew they'd probably hear nothing until the meeting finished, probably around 3pm in Los Angeles.
It was unlikely that anything would happen immediately, probably not for a day or two, but just in case, they had secured a rental car with one of Sarah's false credit cards. They had packed two cases, which were in the trunk of the car.
So, they sat at the apartment… waiting.
At 4:16, Sarah's phone rang. She answered it immediately, seeing it was a call from Langston Graham. She put it on speaker.
"Sir?" she said.
He chuckled. "No formality to your answer, Agent Walker?"
She blushed. "Sorry, Sir."
Graham told them, "The ruling was as I hoped. The NSA is being ordered to abandon the new Intersect project and close the site down. The whole thing is seen as a waste of government money. General Beckman is being reprimanded as we speak. I don't know the consequences for her."
"That sounds like excellent news," Chuck immediately said.
Sarah was more cautious. "She is with them at the site. Don't you think she'll just move it and continue somewhere else, Sir?"
"She may do, hence the team we have sent to the campus there," Graham responded.
"Will that turn into a gunfight and cause civilian injuries?" Chuck asked.
"It may result in gunplay," Graham responded. "But only within that remote building. However, if they are sensible, it won't end up that way."
"The CIA doesn't have authority on US soil," Chuck pointed out.
"Oh, this is led by the DNI team, with support from the CIA and FBI."
Sarah was still concerned. "Do you trust all those on your team, Sir?"
"Yes, I do," he responded.
The next day, they got another video call from Director Graham. He didn't look happy. "Walker. Bartowski. We didn't get to destroy the new Intersect. There was an explosion that took out the lab and everything within it."
"No traces left?" Sarah asked.
Graham looked at her. "Convenient, huh?"
"She must've found out about it and moved everything," Sarah concluded.
"The general says it was Fulcrum and quoted some names." As Graham mentioned them, Chuck flashed.
"They're definitely Fulcrum," Chuck said. "Do we have any footage of them turning up?"
"No," the director replied. "No cameras in the area were working. Another convenience."
"But your men were there," Sarah commented.
"When the bomb exploded, but not before when it was supposedly planted."
"I take it you don't believe her story, Sir," Sarah said.
Her boss looked at her. "No more than you do, Agent Walker."
"Unless they've changed phones, I can find the scientists," Chuck offered.
Graham shook his head. "Of course, they will have changed their phones."
"I'll see who the general calls," Chuck replied.
"Do that, but it's possible she may use a new phone. She must wonder how we found out about the lab," Graham said.
Chuck's shoulders slumped. "So, they could still continue without us knowing," he muttered.
"I think the fact they were having problems means that they're no immediate threat, but you'll have to be careful," Graham finished before ending the call.
Chuck looked at Sarah. "How could they know? And how come they so easily outsmarted everyone else?"
"They must have an informer," Sarah responded. "Someone close enough to what the director had planned, as they must have set this up and moved everything out before the meeting."
"Shit!" Chuck thought about it for a minute. "I'll check the traffic cameras in the area for the last few days." He got started immediately.
"There was a power outage in that part of Chicago covering a few hours," Chuck informed Sarah and Graham. "However, looking beyond there, I found no convoys that could have arrived or left the lab in the last five days. As we know, they were testing it only two days before the explosion, so, on the face of it, it looks like Beckman's story ties up."
"They could have an alternative site already set up," Sarah said.
Chuck nodded. "Maybe."
"The general will not be returning to work for a while because her conduct is being assessed. When she does, monitor all her interactions that you can," Graham said.
After he'd gone, Sarah asked, "Do you believe her story?"
Chuck shook his head. "No, but she's covered her tracks well. I'm going to monitor her cell phone and that of the lead scientist in case they are still using those. I haven't had any alerts or calls, but they may just be keeping silent for the moment."
They both felt dejected.
Two weeks later, the general was back working at her office. However, she was not allowed back on the Intersect project.
"I don't believe she'll let this drop," Chuck said.
"You are probably correct," Graham replied. "Nor do I believe that the NSA Intersect was destroyed. I suspect their Intersect development is continuing somewhere."
"So, what do we do, Sir," Sarah asked.
"The general is being monitored," Graham replied. He eyed Chuck, and a smile formed on his lips. "Probably in more ways than I know."
Chuck kept a straight face. "Thank you for letting Casey remain with us," he said, as much to change the subject as to express his gratitude.
Graham looked at them both. "I was surprised at the request, although as a team, you've performed well together. The two of you have obviously gotten through to him, and he was very pleased to accept while also surprised to be asked. It also means that there isn't a need to bring another agent up to speed on the Intersect. However, the general will see him as a way into what the team does, so you may need to keep some things from him."
"Are you saying he's a mole?" Chuck asked.
Graham shook his head. "I don't believe he is an active one, but it will be hard for him to disobey an order from her… if she demands knowledge of what he is doing."
Chuck and Sarah had discussed this themselves before she made the request. They were pretty sure Casey was safe.
"We'll be careful," Sarah told their boss.
"The advantage of him being there is that the team remains in Los Angeles. If there was no NSA presence, you might have to move, being CIA."
Chuck hadn't thought about that but noticed Sarah just nodding.
"I have nothing new for you at the moment," Graham said. He looked at Chuck. "Maybe investigate the NSA Intersect further."
It was clear he meant the NSA one. "Yes, Sir."
Stephen Bartowski, like his son, had been trying to track down the new Intersect location. Neither was having any success. "Maybe it was destroyed in the fire," Chuck said.
"Don't be naive," his dad said. "They're just being more cautious. Has Beckman contacted Casey yet?"
That was another thing that had surprised them all. The general hadn't contacted her agent since the raid.
"I'm wondering if she thinks he was the one who leaked the information about the new Intersect," Sarah said.
"But he had no idea of its location," Chuck pointed out. "And we obviously did."
"Are you sure you trust him?" Stephen asked.
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. "We do," Chuck said. "But we also have his calls recorded."
"Good plan," his dad said.
"And, more importantly, General Beckman's calls," Chuck added.
Whenever General Beckman received or sent an email or made or received calls on her phone, Chuck captured it. He would check each evening. For the first week, she caught up on her emails from while she was being interviewed. That resulted in her making calls or responding to emails. It highlighted to Chuck just how much NSA work needed her approval or input. She was kept busy without any Intersect interaction.
She did receive some Fulcrum-related work, which she passed onto Graham without any verbal contact, but none of it mounted up to anything.
It felt strange that Fulcrum continued to be quiet. Chuck wondered if they had also been monitoring the NSA Intersect, even planning to capture it, and what had happened had thrown them.
The fact that General Beckman had no contact with Professor Isaac suggested that the scientist had either been killed in the fire, as she claimed, or the pair were using other means to contact each other, which Chuck suspected was the case.
He realized that he hadn't checked with the University of Chicago on the professor, thinking that might confirm if he was dead or not. What he found shocked him. There was no record of a Professor George Isaac at all. It was as if he had never existed.
When he talked to Director Graham about this, he was also surprised, "There must be students who would notice him missing and would seek information. This feels like a botched attempt to remove him from view."
"Can we track down his family?" Chuck asked.
"Should be possible, but this whole thing seems up in the air," Graham replied.
After the call, Chuck and Sarah sat in silence for several moments, really not sure what was going on.
"Well, if we're not getting anywhere with this, I'm going to focus on other things," Chuck said. So, he continued his cyber-security app development, but the thoughts of the NSA Intersect proved to be very distracting.
Casey said he'd try to find out what the general was up to. He was going to call her and wanted Chuck and Sarah to record it.
"Really? You want us spying on you?" Chuck asked.
Casey rolled his eyes. "You've done it before, Bartowski. I have nothing to hide from you two. Just do it."
So, Chuck and Sarah, sitting in their bedroom, listened in to the call that Casey made from his apartment.
"Major Casey," Beckman answered. "I am no longer allowed to talk to you."
"What the hell is going on, General?" Casey asked, deliberately sounding frustrated.
She sighed. "Our Intersect was destroyed just before the CIA had persuaded the Intersect committee to close down the lab. I was taken off the Intersect project permanently."
"No one tells me anything," he growled.
"They need you but are unlikely to trust you," she replied.
"Should I demand to leave?" he asked.
Chuck and Sarah were startled by this question.
"No. Stay. The NSA needs a presence there," Beckman replied.
The couple both breathed out sighs of relief.
"Do you need me to feed you information, or are you really out of this?" he asked.
She paused before answering, obviously trying to decide how to respond. "Leave me out for the moment. If things change, I'll call you." She ended the call.
The team continued in this limbo state into the summer.
During August, the Wienerlicious was closed down, and building work commenced.
Sarah was happy not to have to stink of sausages anymore but not happy about what was coming in its place. "A frozen yogurt shop? Who the hell eats frozen yogurt?"
She seemed so angry that Chuck didn't like to say that he liked the stuff.
"Cover jobs suck!" she exclaimed.
"For some of us, they're our real jobs," Chuck pointed out.
She pointed out, "You're an NSA analyst now, Chuck. The Buy More job is now a cover for you, too."
"Yeah, I guess so," he replied. "Still feels like my job, though."
He thought about the other change that Graham had mentioned that morning, "So, underneath the parking lot, there's some sort of basement complex that we didn't know about, huh? And they're converting that into a spy base. That's cool."
She gave him a flat look. "So, when I'm not serving frozen yogurt, I'll be stuck down in a basement. Not cool, Chuck. Not cool."
In spite of the frozen yogurt tempting him to make a comment about it being cool, she obviously didn't seem to be in a humorous mood, so he respected that and kept quiet.
"So, a spy base, huh? Do you know what it'll be like?" he asked.
"I've not seen any plans," she replied, "But I would expect large monitors for briefings, plenty of network capability, and computer equipment, an armory, so interrogation rooms and cells, and hopefully a dojo where we can train."
"Sounds large," he replied.
She nodded.
"It also sounds like Graham thinks we're here to stay," he said.
"Yeah. Does, doesn't it," she replied.
Both of them sank into thoughts about the threat of the NSA Intersect and how Graham obviously thought that wasn't going to be a problem.
On September 2, Casey got a call just before midnight. It was an unknown number. As Chuck still had Casey's cell phone calls being recorded, in case Beckman called again, the three of them listened to it the next morning, along with Director Graham.
"Who is this?" Casey growled.
"Major Casey, it's me," Beckman answered.
"Is this a new phone, Ma'am?" he asked.
"An additional one. I believe my calls are being tapped," she replied.
He sounded concerned when he replied, "By who?"
"The CIA," she replied.
"But why-" he started, but she cut him off.
"They must have done that to know about the new Intersect, but they're not why I'm calling. We have resurrected the Intersect, and in a couple of weeks, will have the final part delivered."
He gasped. "What is that?"
"It's called the Cipher. The brains of the system, if you will," she replied.
"So why call me?" he asked, but all of them thought they knew.
"What orders did you have for when it was activated, Major?"
"Terminate Bartowski," he replied.
"I will tell you when to do that the day before." She ended the call.
"So, they are building one again!" Chuck muttered.
"I don't understand," Sarah said. "If they moved it, why wasn't it complete?"
"We obviously don't know. Maybe it was destroyed, or they only managed to move some of it. That's not important now. We need to find this new one," Graham answered.
"We can tap into her calls on this new phone," Chuck offered.
"Do it," Graham replied. "But if I were her, I wouldn't trust Casey completely. She may have other phones in use."
"That's a depressing thought," Chuck muttered.
Graham was proved correct. Beckman didn't use that phone until she called Casey again, twelve days later, near midnight.
"General?" he answered. "Is it tomorrow?"
Beckman sounded defeated when she replied, "No. The Cipher has been stolen. We think by Fulcrum."
"Shit!" he muttered.
"Indeed. We think they may be building an Intersect of their own," she said. "Your team will need to be involved in the hunt. Bartowski might flash on the Fulcrum team."
"Are they allowed to know it's stolen?" he questioned. "That would let them know it's yours."
"No. That wouldn't be good. I'll let Graham know that we understand Fulcrum has built one and this part is key. If they have one, that is absolutely true."
"So, why call me?" he asked.
"When you retrieve it. You will hand it over to an NSA carrier, not CIA." She paused. "Then we'll activate it, and you will carry out your orders."
Casey told his partners the details of the call, and they set up a video call with Director Graham after quickly relaying the message about the theft. He apologized but couldn't talk immediately, as he had to answer his phone. When Graham came on, he listened to the recording before telling them, "She notified me just before I came on this call, which was why it had to be delayed. Thank you for the pre-warning."
"So, she reached out for help," Sarah said.
Graham looked at Chuck. "She might not like you, but she knows that what's in your head is invaluable in detecting Fulcrum agents."
"And she's claiming it's Fulcrum who is building the Intersect rather than her team," Chuck said.
"They are," Graham stated.
Chuck's jaw dropped. "Really?"
"I've been informed they are already doing that," Graham replied.
"Information from Bryce?" Sarah asked.
"Indeed," the director concurred.
"Does he know where?" Casey asked.
"California," Graham replied. "But no clear indication where."
Chuck groaned. "So, there's two labs out there!"
"But it seems there is only one Cipher," Casey commented. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He continued, "So if we retrieve it, both are stalled."
"Good point, Major," Graham said. He sighed. "I have no idea where it is, but you three have the best chance of finding it… and obviously General Beckman thinks the same."
There really wasn't much more to say on the subject, so Graham left them to plan their next steps.
"We need to find the location where the Cipher was stolen. Then, we can track from there," Chuck said.
Casey said, "Leave that to me." He walked out of their apartment to head over to his.
"He's going to contact the general, isn't he?" Chuck asked Sarah.
"It's our only chance," Sarah replied. "He'll promise her that he'll track it and not tell us."
He frowned. "How do you know?"
"Because that's the only way forward. I'd do that," she replied.
Soon after that, Casey called General Beckman. "Major?" she responded.
"Graham, Walker and Bartowski are going to help, but first, I need to track the stolen Cipher before I can let them get involved."
"You're right," she replied. "I have the address and will give it to you. Make sure the others don't get hold of it."
"Of course, I'll keep them in the dark, General," he said. "Can you also tell me when it was stolen so I can use that to start the tracking?"
She verbally told him that and the location.
Chuck and Sarah grinned at each other, and he immediately went onto his computer to find the location and the traffic cameras in its vicinity. He was surprised that Beckman hadn't already had someone in the NSA do this. "Has she not already conducted such a search because she trusts no one but Casey?"
Equally bemused, Sarah replied, "I don't know."
There was a lot of traffic in that area around the time of the raid that stole the Cipher. It made Chuck wonder if the NSA had tried this but given up.
Chuck had an advantage, though, the Intersect. He flashed on seeing the driver of the fifth vehicle, a gray Ford. The driver was in the Intersect. Jake Baxter, an ex-Marine turned mercenary. Chuck noted the vehicle license number and found it was registered in Jake's name.
He let Sarah and Casey know what he'd found.
Following the vehicle away from the area, the last camera that recorded it was in a rundown business area. "That's the area where we should look first," he said to the two agents standing behind him.
"There are a lot of buildings there," Casey commented.
"They're unlikely to be there officially," Sarah pointed out.
"So, we check for unused places," Casey agreed as he left to go to his apartment. "I'll do that. It's my day off."
As Chuck and Sarah prepared to go to their respective cover jobs, Chuck said, "We should drive around and find the car."
Sarah agreed. "Casey and I will go there when he's narrowed the search."
"Get him to pick me up during my lunch break."
"Why are you coming along, Bartowski?" Casey asked.
"In case I flash on anyone else," Chuck replied as if that was obvious, but he added, "It's why the Intersect is wanted on this mission."
Casey grunted.
"They might be armed, Chuck," Sarah said. "So, you can't depend on what you've learned from me on hand-to-hand defense to protect yourself."
Casey snorted.
They drove to the business park and to the first building Casey had identified as possible. The parking was around the back, and they found no cars there.
"Doesn't mean they're not here," Casey muttered.
"Let's try the others before going in this one," Sarah said.
The next building was the same, but the third had one car parked, the one they were seeking.
We're going in," Casey said.
The three searched each floor. Most were empty, but not the fourth. As they walked to the right of the stairs, they took fire, and Sarah told Chuck to head back down to the car. The two agents advanced cautiously.
Chuck was torn between Sarah's concern for him and his for her. He hovered and then decided to hide in the room to his left, away from where the other two had gone. It was sparsely and randomly furnished. There was a couch in the middle of the room with a table beside it. There were no windows, just a gaping hole.
He found the device they were looking for on the table and grabbed it. Putting it in his pocket, he wanted to tell the others that they could go, but he could still hear gunfire. He steeled himself to go to the door they'd entered and call to them.
When he turned, he found his way blocked by a huge man. "Who are you? NSA?" the man asked in his gravelly voice.
"I'm nobody," Chuck replied.
Suddenly, he was pushed backward and soon was suspended upside down, with the man just holding his ankles from dropping to the ground a long way down.
"Before you do anything rash, I think you should know that I have the Cipher," he said.
The man pulled him up. and Chuck got his feet to the floor, but the man didn't let him completely in, so the tie he was holding was all that stopped Chuck from falling. "Hand it over right now!" the man demanded.
"Don't you think we should discuss terms first?" Chuck nervously asked.
"You give it to me, and I don't let go, but I still want to know who you are."
"Chuck," he replied.
"Are you with the NSA, Chuck?"
"No," Chuck honestly replied. "But I am helping them at the moment."
"Well, the people I'm helping want that Cipher."
At that point, Casey and Sarah burst into the room.
"Let the geek go!" Casey shouted.
"Wait!" Sarah cried. "Not out the window."
The man threw Chuck at Casey and jumped.
Casey caught Chuck but fell back onto the couch. He quickly pushed Chuck off of him and rushed toward the hole.
Sarah reached Chuck and breathlessly asked, "Why didn't you go to the car?"
"I couldn't get to the stairwell because of the gunfire," Chuck replied. "I thought I'd be safe in here."
Casey came back. "He went down a rope and has gotten away."
"Well, at least I got the Cipher," Chuck told them, waving it in the air.
"Excellent work, team," Graham said once they started the video call. "We will use it to draw Beckman's team out. We need to know where their new Intersect is located."
"Shouldn't we just destroy it?" Chuck asked.
Graham shook his head. "We need that new Intersect location, or they'll just create a new Cipher, and we'll be back in the same situation." He paused. "Someone will come to collect it this evening."
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. Sarah looked at the screen, "Could it be tomorrow, sir? We're going out this evening."
"I'll be here," Casey said. "They can collect it from me."
"Very well," Graham replied. "Our transporters will do that. I'll send you the pickup code."
"I would've liked to look at that before it went," Chuck grumbled.
"Want to find out how it works?" Graham asked, with a smile on his face.
"Maybe help work out how to remove it from my head," Chuck admitted.
"Maybe you can do that after we have removed the threat," Graham replied.
Tonight's dinner was the last before Sarah started work at the new frozen yogurt shop. It felt significant, somehow.
Chuck got a thrill out of taking his girlfriend out for dinner. She always looked stunning but when she dressed up to go out, she went the extra mile. Sitting opposite her in the Chinese restaurant, as she ate her food, he was amazed at how she could even make eating noodles sexy.
"Wow, this food is good," she said. "So, how'd you hear about this place, anyway?"
"Morgan, as a matter of fact," Chuck replied. "I trust any recommendation he gives me for food items less than ten dollars."
She grinned. "So, he recommends you take me somewhere cheap, huh?"
He looked at her in shock. "You're worth all I can afford, but his recommendations are always good."
"Yeah," she conceded. "This one is, anyway."
He added, "He's also never found it remotely unbelievable that a guy like me could be dating, um... you."
Sarah hid her smile and looked innocently at him. "What about me?"
He knew she was deliberately making him say this, but happily went along with it. "A girl like you. Or, more appropriately, a woman like you. Considering the fact that you could probably kick the ass of everyone in this joint. And a... a smart one at that. Not to mention cool and... extremely beautiful." He paused. "Is that becoming too much?"
Sarah grinned. "No. No, that was very sweet." She saw his brows rise at that word and continued, "You're not so bad yourself."
He mock-preened. "Please. I'm fantastic."
Sarah nodded. "Yeah. You are."
"God, I love you, Sarah Walker," he gushed.
"I know you do," she replied with a smirk, then decided to say more, "And you know I love you, too, Chuck Bartowski."
They finished their meal with their eyes only glancing down at the bowls briefly before re-locking with each other. Both of them knew what dessert would be and that was not the venue where it would be served.
They returned to the apartment earlier than originally planned but were desperate to get in… for their dessert.
Two men followed them into the courtyard.
"Can I help you?" Chuck asked.
"Here to do a pick up from a John Casey," the lead one said.
Sarah and Chuck knew what that was for. "That apartment in the corner," Chuck said, pointing at the door.
"Thanks." The men walked over and knocked.
Chuck was just putting his key in the lock to get into their apartment when Casey pulled open his door. "What?" he demanded.
"Pick-up call placed by one L. Graham," the man said.
"Already collected," growled Casey, pulling out his gun.
Chuck closed his door as he and Sarah rushed over.
"What was the verification code?" Chuck asked.
"Morning g-glory," the man replied, fearing for his life.
"That's the right code, Casey," Sarah said, looking at her partner.
"And the code given to me by the other guys," Casey stated, still pointing his gun at the men. "Call Graham."
Sarah walked away from the others and called the director. "We have two men to collect the Cipher, but others have already collected it. Someone leaked the verification code."
"I'll check if our men have it," a groggy Langston Graham replied. "Hold the men there until I get back to you."
The three led the two men into Casey's apartment.
Casey accessed the surveillance to find the previous pick-up.
Graham called Sarah. "We don't have it. The pick-up team is the one there with you now. You're going to need to track the others."
She ended the call and told the two men what they came to pick up had already gone and led them out.
Casey showed Chuck the image of the man who had taken the Cipher. "No flash," Chuck said.
"Time to track again, Bartowski," Casey said.
Chuck's shoulders slumped. Gone was any chance of 'dessert' tonight.
The three of them sat together as Chuck tracked a van leaving the apartment complex at the time Casey specified. It went to an airbase north of Los Angeles.
The base cameras showed it driving to a small plane, where men took it on board and soon took off with it.
"This isn't a Fulcrum operation," Casey snarled. "I even recognize the plane!"
"Beckman," both of the others said simultaneously.
"Can we get the flight plan?" Sarah asked.
"If it's not official, and I doubt this is, what they submitted won't be what they'll operate," Casey said.
"So, Beckman and her team now have the Cipher for their Intersect?" Chuck asked, just to confirm his thoughts.
"Yeah," Casey replied. "Graham's gonna think I gave it to them deliberately."
The others couldn't disagree.
It was now four-thirty in the morning, so Sarah set up a link to Director Graham's office. He would be at work.
"Well?" he asked without any greetings.
"We think General Beckman has it," Sarah said.
"Shit!" Graham replied.
"I had no idea," Casey stated.
Graham waved it off. "These two trust you, so I believe you were tricked."
"If we hadn't gone out, they would have tricked us, Sir," Chuck hastened to point out.
Graham just nodded absentmindedly. "We don't know where they are or when they'll use it," he muttered.
"I would think somewhere not far from their original location in Chicago," Chuck offered. The three looked at him. "I think they transported what they could before the original lab was destroyed. Maybe the original Cipher was damaged in the process, hence needing a new one. Even if that's not the case, the scientists were all based there."
"Interesting theory," Graham said. "Check for arrivals at Scott Air Force Base."
Chuck looked to Casey. "How long would they take to get there?"
Casey had been there before and gave him an estimate.
Before Chuck accessed the air force base's system to get to the security cameras, he asked, "Would they have recorded the arrival? If they did, I wouldn't need to access the cameras."
"They should have," Casey expressed. "I'll check."
"Good. I need some sleep, or I'll make mistakes," Chuck said, standing up. "Glad we did this in your apartment, Casey."
"I'll go with him," Sarah told Casey. "Call me when you need us back."
Casey grunted his agreement.
It wasn't long until Chuck and Sarah were in bed and sleeping.
Sarah woke as soon as her phone rang. She grabbed it and answered Casey's call.
"Records were offline, for some reason, and only seemed to come online again an hour ago."
She looked at their clock. It was 10:47am. She and Chuck had about six hours of sleep. "What did you find?"
"Nothing," he growled. "I think someone removed entries. Nothing came in between 10pm last night and 2am this morning. This is a busy base, and talking to one of the guys here, there were at least two arrivals in that period."
"Would they have gotten to the security camera recording?" she asked worriedly.
"Probably," he replied.
"So, we resort to traffic cameras again," Chuck said.
Sarah looked back at him, now raised up on his elbows. "Off you go." She headed to the bathroom and then went to make coffee. This wasn't going to be quick, even if it was even successful.
"I think this is it," Chuck said nearly an hour later. Sarah looked over his shoulder at a single car. "There must have been another arrival a bit later because there were several cars at that time, but this was on its own."
"It's tenuous at best," she replied. He looked hurt. "It could be just someone finishing a shift," she explained.
"Well, if they did, they drove quite a long way. All the way to Peoria," he said.
"Peoria is a long way from the Chicago lab," she commented.
"You mean for transporting all the equipment?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"Maybe they built it from scratch, but I think this is it."
"I'll call Casey and see if he knows of any NSA sites near there," she said, picking up her phone.
Casey joined them. "I'm not sure if there's an NSA office in Peoria," he told them.
"It doesn't matter," Chuck said. "They went into a business park there, just one without traffic cameras."
"So, how do we find them?" Casey asked. Then, he rolled his eyes. "Same as here?" Chuck nodded. He gave Casey the details, and the NSA agent stomped off.
Chuck looked at Sarah. "Time for that 'dessert,' or do you want some lunch?" Her stomach rumbled, and he grinned. "I guess that's my answer."
She stopped him from leaving the room. "Later." He nodded and headed to the kitchen to make some lunch.
They'd finished their lunch and were washing up when Chuck got a notification that Casey had received a call from General Beckman. He knew Casey would come and tell them about it, so he didn't rush to listen in.
Casey came over a couple of minutes later. "They're activating their Intersect this evening at 8pm our time."
"And she told you to execute me then?" Chuck asked.
Casey grunted. "If we don't find their lab before that, I guess this will make her realize I'm no longer her loyal agent."
"Any luck?" Sarah asked, meaning the search.
"There are twenty offices there with unused floors," Casey replied.
"And we can't just charge into each, I guess," Chuck replied.
"Let's talk to Director Graham," Sarah said. She set up a video call.
Graham listened to what they'd found. He sighed. "No, we can't go in with sufficient manpower to tackle the NSA teams, not into twenty-nine buildings they aren't occupying. If there are other occupants, we can't even do that in the right one." He thought for a couple of minutes. "If she's taking agents in to upload them, they'll be appearing before that. Set up cameras to capture any at each. And the relevant office will be lit up at 10pm, so that may reduce the number to observe."
"Observe? Is that all we can do?" Chuck asked.
"What else can we do?" Graham asked.
When the call ended, Casey headed back to his apartment to catch some sleep.
Chuck realized he hadn't discussed any of this with his dad and immediately tried to make contact.
"Son?" his dad answered.
"We need your help, Dad," Chuck answered.
"Set up a video call. I haven't seen you two for quite a while."
Chuck got onto the laptop and made the connection. Stephen Bartowski appeared on the screen. Sarah gave him a wave.
"Dad, the NSA has set up another Intersect lab, this time in Peonia. They will be activating it tonight and downloading it into agents. We know the business park they're in, but not which building. Any ideas?"
"They must have tested it," Stephen said. "That uses a lot of power. We should be able to detect that and find them."
"They only got the final part today," Chuck said. "The Cipher."
Stephen looked shocked. "And they plan to just activate it tonight?"
"Yes."
"So, they'll only have tested the rest without the Cipher," Stephen concluded. "It would still consume a lot of power, but they're stupid to rush without a full test."
"I think they're worried we'll find and stop them," Sarah stated.
"Tell me the locations, and I'll find the power spikes," the older Bartowski said.
Sarah said, "I'll tell Casey that you're going to do that, Chuck." She then rushed over to Casey's apartment.
When she came back a few minutes later, she chuckled. "He didn't appreciate being woken up, but here's the list." She thrust it at Chuck, who immediately typed it in and sent it to his dad.
"Leave it with me." And his dad ended the call. "I hope I can get you the information in time."
"It must be time for that dessert now," Sarah said as she drew the curtains.
It was 7:40pm when Chuck's dad got back to them. "That took longer than expected. Sorry." He provided the details of the building that had the power spikes.
"Thanks, Dad. We'll pass it on straight away," Chuck replied.
They immediately contacted Director Graham, who passed on the information to the CIA force in Peoria. "Cutting it tight" was his last comment.
All of them had to just sit and wait for the outcome.
At 8:05pm, five minutes after the activation was planned, Graham called them. He looked pale, which for him was more than unusual.
"They were on the fourth floor, the only one lit other than reception and stairwell. Our men had only just reached that floor but had not gotten to the room they were using. Just before your call, a car had arrived." He brought up a feed.
The three in the apartment were confused as to why he had diverted onto this, but when they saw who got out, they all gasped. General Beckman walked into the building.
Graham continued, "The DNI man at the front of our team was wearing a surveillance camera, and this is the feed. It will have been the last thing he saw."
The next feed had the DNI and CIA team bursting into a lab with monitors covering all the walls. In the center of the room was a device, presumably the Intersect, and a computer terminal, and a scientist wearing sunglasses was about to press one of the keys on the keyboard. Six NSA agents were standing there, eyes wide open. General Beckman, also wearing glasses, was standing next to them, looking smug.
"Stop!" shouted the DNI lead, but it was too late. The scientist pressed down, and the device exploded. The screen went blank.
"All in the room and the first four CIA men in the corridor were incinerated," Graham told them. "The remaining eight were blasted back and have severe burns."
"S-so, the general's gone?" Chuck could hardly believe it.
Graham looked gravely at them. "We don't know if the Cipher was faulty or if Fulcrum had tampered with it, but yes, the general, the NSA scientist, six NSA agents, two DNI, and five CIA men, all gone."
They all stood In stunned silence, trying to comprehend what they had just watched.
A/N: In the show, no one questioned how Fulcrum got hold of the verification code needed to get the Cipher off Casey, which I thought was odd. My beta thought Beckman's fate was too painless given her behavior. Lol.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, if you have the time to submit a review.
