A/N: Just back from a week's vacation, which is why this chapter was delayed. Exhausted after an hour's sleep and then getting up before midnight (UK time) to get the first of two flights back to Heathrow. Now home, nineteen hours later, and I wanted to get this published before preparing for an early night.
Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter. I know I still have several to respond to, but want you all to know how much I appreciate those reviews before I do.
Thanks once again to CharmingCharles2896 for the beta'ing this story. He helped a lot with this chapter.
So, Sarah is reunited with the man who has captured her heart, but can she help him elude the threat on his life?
Elusive Intersect
Chapter 7: Safe House, part 1
Chuck had seen signs for Hunters Creek as Sarah drove them toward the safe house, but they turned away from it for a couple of miles before turning off again onto a dirt road deeper into the forest. She drove along this narrow, bumpy road for several miles before she pulled up at a beautiful wooden cabin.
Through the trees to the left, Chuck could see some water. The whole setting was lovely.
They climbed from the car, Chuck taking in the scenery. He turned to Sarah and found that she was watching his reaction to the place.
He beamed at her. "It's beautiful, Sarah." That lit up her eyes, which he realized had been nervous.
"I was worried you'd hate it, considering we're so far from civilization."
He felt he should say more. "It's perfect," he replied. Focusing on her eyes, he added, "You're perfect too." That earned him a quick kiss. Then, Sarah clasped his hand and pulled him to the cabin. He loved this excited version of Sarah Walker. No inhibitions obvious, just happy and enjoying being with him.
She paused at the entrance to slide a wooden panel sideways. The exposed screen that rested behind the wooden panel seemed completely out of place. She told him to watch as she keyed in the entrance code. Chuck memorized the twelve character, alphanumeric sequence in an instant. Sarah took her hand away and the panel soon closed up. The door unlocked and she pushed it open then clasped his hand again.
Once the two of them were inside, Chuck saw a very different layout to what he was expecting. A very modern interior lay before him and it was full of high-tech equipment.
He turned to her. "You bought the place and have done all this since then?"
She shook her head. "I didn't buy it. I had a friend at the Farm. A very close friend." She blushed and decided to not hold back. She sighed. "We were lovers back then, but after finishing there, our paths never crossed again. Jason had a number of places around the world and this was one of them. He died before I came to Burbank and I received his spy will."
Chuck hadn't heard the term before. "Spy will?"
Sarah took a deep breath and spoke in a soft tone. "An agent's spy will is the most sacred item they possess. The spy will contains everything that agent holds most dear, possessions, secrets, everything. My own spy will was originally willed to Bryce but…" Sarah paused, unable to meet Chuck's eye.
"But what?" Chuck asked, taking a half step closer to her.
"I changed that not long after the whole Longshore thing, I willed it to you," Sarah said as she looked into Chuck's eyes once again. Chuck was clearly stunned if the expression in his eyes was any indication.
Sarah shook her head and continued. "Anyway, Jason left all the places to me. It seems that he never found anyone else." She shook her head. "This life doesn't support relationships."
"He loved you?" Chuck asked.
"Maybe," she replied. "We never talked about feelings."
"Did you love him?" he tentatively asked.
She looked at him. "I don't think so. I've never been in love, Chuck, so don't really know what it feels like. And before you ask, I have never felt as strongly for anyone before you." She held his gaze as she said that.
He nodded and she took that as both acceptance of her words and for her to continue.
"The place had not been used for a long time. I had to arrange for all amenities and for the place to be kitted out." She smiled. "I did all that in the time I had off in March. I made sure no one saw me."
"Wow!" was all he managed to say.
She led him into the living area. "There's broadband here, but I never set up any Wi-Fi, so you'll have to plug into the Ethernet connection." She pointed to a cable beside the couch.
"That's not a problem," he replied. He took off his backpack and opened it up. He took out his laptop. Before Chuck sat, Sarah grabbed ahold of his arm, turning him towards her again. Sarah pulled Chuck into a hug, holding him tightly.
"Give me time and I'll tell you everything, I promise," Sarah said softly, before kissing him on the cheek and letting him go.
Chuck gave Sarah a meaningful look, "You know I'd do anything for you." She nodded and watched Chuck sit and plug the ethernet cable into his laptop. He spent the next half hour on it. She watched him at work. In times like this, she couldn't help but admit that she'd always loved seeing him on a computer, his fingers rapidly typing. He seemed so completely in his element, as if this was what he was actually meant to do.
After a long moment, Chuck looked up from his laptop. "Before I delete these, do you want to see the recordings?"
She nodded and sat beside him. The first was her arrival and the service station. She looked happy and rushed in. He waited for her to say anything. "Delete that one, please," she said.
The second segment of video was the emotional one. She could remember how it felt at the time… devastating. "I thought I'd lost you for good. It felt like I messed up my last chance of finding you. I had never felt so alone, so lost." She looked at him with tears back in her eyes. "I was devastated." He pulled her to him and hugged her. "Please delete it," she said with her head still against his chest.
"Done," he said. She held onto him tightly for several minutes after that. Neither mentioned the tears that were soaking his t-shirt.
Once Sarah got over her emotional moment, she showed him around the place. The open plan area included the living area, a dining table with two chairs, and a kitchenette. The living area just had a couch, where he'd sat earlier, and a large television on the wall, along with a small music system and three speakers, one either side of the television and a long soundbar underneath. All together the entertainment setup was most impressive.
Off to one side, there was a bathroom and behind that a room with a washer/dryer. At the back of the building, on the same side, was the bedroom. There was only one bed, a king-size. Chuck stopped and stared at it.
"Before you ask, we are sleeping together in that, once we've made it up." He looked at her unbelievingly. She had to get him past this. "Chuck, we're a couple now. We sleep together, even if nothing else happens."
Sarah chuckled as she watched Chuck swallow nervously. He changed the subject after a pause. "Did you furnish the place yourself?"
She knew where he was going with this and inwardly smiled. "It was just a shell, so, yes, everything you see, I bought."
He turned to her. "And you kitted it out in case you needed to bring me here?"
She couldn't hide the smile now and just nodded. "We are sleeping together in that bed, Chuck, just like we slept together in yours."
Both of them remembered that time. She frowned a bit, as she did.
"Sorry for what I said back then, Sarah."
She nodded. "Thank you." Then she held his gaze. "This time we're in a real relationship. If anything happens in this bed, and I hope it does, it's all real."
Chuck gulped… again.
She stood on her tip toes and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. Sarah left Chuck there, walking out as she spoke. "I want a coffee. It'll have to be black until we get milk. Want one?"
"Yeah," he said, obviously trying to get over her comment.
The refrigerator was empty, as was the freezer.
As she sat down on the couch, Sarah said, "I didn't know when, or if, we'd ever use this place, so no perishables. I'll need to go out and buy some."
He gazed into her blue eyes, relishing the fact that he could. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again," he honestly said.
He saw tears forming in her eyes. "This made me finally confront my feelings for you, Chuck. Because we both wanted it so badly, I knew if we had to run, we'd become a couple for real. That being said, the depth of my feelings for you took me by surprise." She took a drink of coffee after that.
Chuck took the coffee mug off of her and placed both on the coffee table in front of them. Then he scooted closer to her and pulled her into a kiss. It was tender and loving, just what he felt they both needed. When the kiss broke, they rested their foreheads together as they tried to catch their breath.
He wanted to just hold and love Sarah, but he needed to know what was happening. "Sarah, my love," he started. She pulled back and looked at him with love in her eyes, which made him pause for a second. "I haven't had a chance for a while, but I want to tap into Graham's and Beckman's systems to see what they're doing."
"Can you do that?" she asked.
He nodded. "I'll route access in a way that it won't be obvious where I'm coming from, just in case I'm detected, but that's unlikely." He decided to confess. "I've not told you before, but I'm a hacker."
She leaned back and laughed. Once she'd gotten that out of her system, she sobered up. "I knew that, believe me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to access traffic cameras, service station security cameras, our phone calls…"
"I can also access CIA and NSA systems without detection. I'm just adding an extra layer of precaution."
She looked at him, thinking about what he'd just said. "You're one of the hackers the agencies have been trying to catch, aren't you?" He nodded. "Are you going to tell me which? Do you trust me enough?"
Did he trust her? Yes, he did, but it was only newly regained, even though that wasn't her fault. "Yes, I do… I'm Piranha."
She gasped. "Piranha? Even I have heard of Piranha!"
"I've never stolen anything or harmed anything," he hastily told her.
"Relax, I know," she replied. "Piranha even left notes on how to prevent some of the hacks. Piranha is legendary."
He noted that she repeated the name rather than saying 'you.' He smiled, "You don't believe me, do you?"
She blushed. "It's hard to take in."
He chuckled, appreciating her honesty. "Now you know how I feel about you falling for me."
She nodded. "That's fair. But I have, and I do believe you… Piranha."
He grinned. "Right, well I better get going." He reached for his laptop again, placed it on his lap and got started.
The routing was child's play for him and so he was soon hacking into the CIA system. The first thing he did was to access Graham's emails, but there was nothing there. Frustrated, he asked Sarah for Graham's phone number.
He found a call to General Beckman that he was coming over to her soon.
Chuck exited the CIA system and accessed the NSA one. Beckman had no emails of significance either.
They seemed to be avoiding leaving any trail.
Then, Casey got a call from the general.
"General, I've nothing to report yet," he said, sounding suitably pissed off.
The next voice they heard was Graham's. "Major, can you let me talk to Agent Walker? Her phone's gone dead."
Casey replied quickly. "She called me and said she'd be joining me, but hasn't yet."
"Damn it!" Graham yelled. "She's gone rogue!"
"I'm sure she hasn't," Casey said. "She'll be with me soon."
Graham had obviously lost it. "Well, find her and then end her and Bartowski!" The call ended there.
"Shit, now they want you dead, too!" Chuck was in a state now. The woman he loved was being targeted!
Sarah grabbed Chuck's arm, making him look at her. As he saw the strength in her eyes, she spoke in a calm, confident voice. "I expected this, Chuck. So far, they've only ordered Casey. He won't come for either of us."
"How do you know?" The panic in his voice must have been obvious.
She tightened her grip on his arm and continued to speak calmly, "Because I know Casey. He's on our side."
"Won't that make him a target?"
"We'll be long gone before that happens," she said, standing. "I need to make some arrangements. Please, don't be upset, but we need Bryce."
He looked at her in that moment, really studied her. She looked nervous and he realized that was because of his feelings about her and Bryce, not the reality of the situation. "I believe you that there's nothing between you and Bryce anymore, Sarah. He told me the same."
Her expression changed to one of relief. She leaned down and gave him a kiss. Then, she retrieved her cell phone and made a call, putting it on speaker as she sat back down.
"Sarah?" Bryce immediately answered. "Is there a problem?"
"We need your help, Bryce. Graham has ordered Casey to kill both of us because I'm not with him."
"Damn, what can I do to help?" Bryce answered.
"I need you to take the car I have here back to the rental dealership and take my car to north of Los Angeles. I'll get a location from Casey."
"Your car? You're letting me drive your precious Porsche?" he asked. They could both hear the combination of incredulity and tease.
She sighed. "We're going to leave the States, Bryce. I'll never be able to drive it again."
Bryce was silent for a moment. "That makes sense. Where are you?"
She told him and he ended the call.
She then called Casey from one of the burners. "Hello?"
"Sorry, wrong…" she replied and ended the call. Chuck noticed she used a different accent.
The phone rang and she answered it. "Hello?" This was her normal voice.
"Okay, Walker, I take it you know," Casey replied.
"Chuck heard Graham give you the order," she replied.
"He did, huh? He's better than I thought. And you're with him, now?" Casey replied.
"Hi, Casey," Chuck said.
Casey grunted. "Glad you're together."
"Bryce is helping," Sarah stated.
"Larkin?" Casey growled.
She rolled her eyes, making Chuck have to hide his snigger. "Yes, Bryce Larkin. He's going to pick up my Porsche where I left it and drive it to where you suggest it should go."
"You're letting him drive your car?" Casey sounded incredulous.
"Yes, it needs to be nearer to you," she replied.
"Okay, let me think," Casey responded. "It can't be anywhere that he's seen leaving it."
"That's right," she replied.
After a moment or two, he gave her an address.
"Thanks, Casey," Chuck said.
"I'll drive there and find it in a day or two," Casey said. "And then focus my search in that area."
"Thank you, Casey," Sarah said.
Casey grunted and ended the call.
Chuck looked at Sarah. "So, now we wait for Bryce?"
She grinned. "I'll ask him to bring some groceries."
He laughed and she reached for her phone. Bryce Larkin, CIA agent turned grocery delivery man.
A/N: So, Graham and Beckman seem to be onto Sarah, although, with help from Bryce and Casey, she is going to make that less clear. More from this location in the next chapter, in four days.
Thoughts?