A/N: Welcome to the twenty-sixth arc of the story, which I'm calling the Sachem Arc. As I've done a few times now, this one is original and not based on a canon episode. And, as I've also done a few times, I'm going to start off with some non-spy stuff.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been a long drive up from Los Angeles. Riding with the King by BB King and Eric Clapton. Carina knew it was just her imagination, but it had seemed that Casey had had the album on continuous loop on the sound system of the Crown Vic. It would have been churlish of her to complain, though. After all, the music was great and Casey had been doing her the favor of driving her up to Calistoga.
She was delighted to have gotten out of Los Angeles. Not that it was that much cooler in the northern part of the state, but the air in LA in those super-hot days had been too thick for her. Raymond Chandler had said something about the kind of heat to make wives finger their knives and study their husbands' necks. It was that kind of heat. She was happy to have it behind her.
They were sitting in the reception area of the rehab facility in Calistoga. Carina had checked in and they were waiting for someone to come get her and bring her to her room. Carina was excited to be out of the hospital and moving on to the next step. Although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she was also nervous about this rehab. She was confident she could handle it, but had no illusions that it would be easy. She would be pushed as she had never been before.
Although Casey didn't mind silence, her nerves pushed her to fill the void with conversation. "How's the new woman working out? Forrest?" she asked Casey.
He grunted. "Jury's out. I'm not really a fan, but Chuck is in favor of giving her more time to get used to us. To the way we operate. She's a competent spy, but she seems to have a stick up her ass. Married to protocol."
"This from the by-the-book Marine?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Naw, from the guy who's gotten used to having a long string of successful missions. We start monkeying with our methods, we run the risk of interrupting that. I'm not at all interested in that outcome."
"You're pretty fond of your partners, huh?"
"Yeah. Best partners I've ever had. Best team I've ever been on."
"Amy?" Casey's normal stone-face crumbled for an instant, revealing the pain beneath. But then the instant passed, and he resumed his stoic expression. He was silent long enough for Carina to say, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."
"Naw, that's ok. I know you didn't. It's just a tough topic to talk about. The poor kid felt trapped. No way out. Her biggest mistake was not trusting Chuck."
"Chuck? But what could he have done?" Carina was more than a little surprised by Casey's suggestion.
"Shit. I don't know. Turn Gaez. Make him an asset. I don't know. He'd have thought of something. He always does."
"But POTUS wanted Gaez dead," Carina argued.
"Yeah. I know. Chuck would have dealt with that too, somehow. I don't know how. But if she had come to him...told him about her mom and Gaez...well, he'd have done something. He'd have fixed it somehow. No idea how, but I'd put money on it. He certainly wouldn't have let her get herself down a blind alley with no options left to her but …" Casey's voice trailed off. He rubbed his face roughly. "...but what she did," he finally finished the thought.
Carina was silent for a while, aimlessly watching the receptionist across the lobby. Finally, she said, "If Forrest doesn't work out, what will you do?"
"We'll probably ask Z if she wants in. She was just released from the hospital a couple of days ago. It'll be another few weeks before she's cleared again for field duty, but that's my guess. Chuck's not ready to give up on Forrest, but Walker and I would do it in a minute. We'd invite you along, but..."
"...but not three quarters of me," said Carina.
"BUT you're the wrong agency. That's what I was going to say. The leg? The leg never entered into my consideration. Not for any of us."
"But you need the other woman on the team to do seduction missions. With only one leg..."
"So, the fuck, what? Unless your target is totally into a foot fetish, you're still good to go. You telling me you don't look decent in slacks? I kind of doubt that, Miller. You're still a smokin' hot babe. But anyway, it's a moot point as you're DEA. Be a big deal to have you assigned to us. Complicated. That's the hesitancy. Got nothing to do with you getting hurt."
Carina was silent for a while as she digested that. "Thank you, John."
"Don't mention it," he said gruffly.
Some more time passed before she said, "What about Bryce? How's he working on the team?"
"Larkin? Why do you ask?"
"Because he used to bang Sarah and screwed over Chuck at Stanford. He's just an odd one to be along. I can't see anyone liking him too much, if I'm being honest."
"Yeah. Can't blame you for that. Pretty perceptive. Chuck is a very forgiving guy. He's prepared to give Bryce another shot. But it's really the last one. If he screws up again, even if Chuck forgives him, Sarah and I are going to lean on Chuck to dump him. As it is, Sarah can deal with him professionally, but will never hang around him socially. Never be friends with him. Neither will I, to tell the truth. I just think he's a smarmy, conceited, entitled asshole. But he's really a pretty good spy. With us, though, he's just got to learn that he's around to take orders, not freelance. He ain't the star of the show."
At that point in the conversation, Britt Hughes came out to the reception area to greet them.
"Hey, Carina. Welcome." She gave Carina a quick hug. Casey had risen from his seat and extended his hand. "Colonel Casey. Pleasure to meet you," said Britt before Casey had introduced himself. "Bryce has told me so much about you."
"That right?" asked Casey.
"Yup. Honestly, I've never heard someone speak so well of a man that came very close to killing him," she said with a smile.
"Huh," said Casey. "Yeah. We had a business disagreement."
Britt laughed lightly and said, "You don't seem to be a good person to disagree with. Nice meeting you. I've got a patient to take care of, though." Turning back to Carina she said, "Come along, you. Leave your bag. I'll have someone move it to your room. I've got the prosthetist waiting for the first fitting. And then we are getting started on crutches. No more wheelchair for you."
"Tonight? But I just got here," said Carina, surprised.
"You got something better to do, Miller?" When Carina just looked at her, Britt continued, "Yeah. I didn't think so. Say goodbye to the Colonel."
"Bye, Casey. If I send up a flare come rescue me from this sadist," she said.
"Not on your life, Miller. You are in capable hands now." Turning to Britt, he said, "Don't call me to pick her up until she can run five miles in under 40 minutes."
"Thirty-five minutes if I get her a blade to run with," said Britt with a grin, pushing the wheelchair away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Honey Woodcomb said, "I'm not thrilled with the arugula salad. The honey-mustard dressing doesn't quite offset the bitterness of the arugula."
"Ok," said Ellie. She looked up at Sarah and Chuck. "What do you think?"
"My favorite is the Caprese Salad. The tomatoes are wonderful," said Sarah.
Woody Woodcomb said, "They are. I hope we can still get good ones in December, though."
The two wedding couples, together with Devon's parents and Emma were at the tasting at the Hotel San Mateo. Although the wedding was months off, they were tasting the sampling prepared by the hotel. The goal was to decide on the menu choices for the wedding reception.
Chuck had to admit that everything tasted really good and he'd be more than happy to have any of it on the menu, at least so far. He sipped his wine and said, "I'm sure they will."
Honey said, "I think we should go with the stewed beets. Those were great."
Ellie said, "Yeah, those were good." The index and middle fingers of her right hand, sitting on the table by her plate, crossed.
Sarah glanced at Ellie's hand and said, "Naw. Too many people don't like beets."
Emma, picking up the same signal said, "Oh, for sure. Beets are a tricky thing. You either love them or you hate them."
Woody said, "I agree with Sarah. I think the Caprese Salad is the way to go. Not that I'm really entitled to a vote."
"Of course, you are, Dad. We value your opinion," said Devon, finishing the last of the arugula salad on his plate.
"What's up next?" asked Chuck, when the manager came over to the table.
"We'll be bringing out samples of the entrees in a bit. But you have to save room for the desert," he said with a smile. "Can I get you some more wine?"
While waiting for the entrees to come out, Honey asked, "So, you two are really getting married by your friend Morgan?"
"We sure are," said Chuck. "He's my oldest friend. Always been around, always been dependable, even if he's a little strange."
"But loveable," said Sarah with a grin. "It took a while, but he's really grown on me."
"Sarah has good taste," Chuck said, nuzzling her neck.
She reached out and ran her fingers through the curls at the back of his neck. "Picked you, didn't I?"
Ellie made a barfing noise, but grinned. "Ok, we get it. You're in love. Any more smooching and I'm going to have to throw some cold water on you two."
While still nuzzling with Chuck, Sarah said, "Devon, smooch with your fiancée to keep her off my back."
"Not in front of my parents, Sarah."
"Oh, go on. Doesn't bother me any when Sarah and Chuck get up to business," said Emma with a smile.
"Well, then, that's awesome," said Devon, leaning over to give Ellie a peck on the lips.
Woody said, "Sarah, I know your dad isn't around. Have you given any thought to who you want to walk you down the aisle?"
"I have. I've asked Langston. Langston Graham. He's going to walk me down. He's not my dad, but...he's been a terrific father figure to me."
"And he's a really great guy," said Chuck.
"We met him at your engagement party. He does seem like a pretty good guy," said Honey.
"And he's really fond of you," said Woody. "How'd you get to meet him, anyway? The head of the CIA. Are you a spy, Sarah?" He began to chuckle at his own joke.
"Me? A spy? Oh, God no," said Sarah.
"Old family friend," said Emma, easily lying with a straight face. "Known him for years. We just got lucky that Sarah had someone she could lean on during those years when she lived in DC."
"It's great how that works out," said Honey.
"How about you, Ellie? Given any thought to who you would like to walk you down the aisle? I know I could never replace your dad, but if you have no one in mind I would be honored if you would consider me."
Ellie looked at him silently for a moment or two and then suddenly started to cry and cry hard. Snatching her napkin up with her, she ran from the table and out the doors to the outside overlooking the beach.
"Oh, shit. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..." Woody started to get up.
"No, Woody. I got this," said Chuck.
"But I want to apologize," he said.
"It's ok. I got this," repeated Chuck.
Devon started to get up, "I'll talk to her."
"No, thanks, Dev. This one's on me," said Chuck.
"Want me to go with you?" asked Sarah.
"No thanks, Sweetie," said Chuck, giving her a quick kiss.
He walked through the doors and into the early evening heat. Ellie stood at the far end of the porch, looking at the water past the beach. Her back was to Chuck and the building and her shoulders were shaking with her sobs. The sun was low, but at this time of year sunset was still more than an hour away.
He knew she could hear him approaching.
"Hey," he said quietly. She didn't reply. He stood beside her silently, but took out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
"I'm such a jerk," she finally said, wiping her eyes with his handkerchief.
"No, you're not. It just caught you by surprise and slipped past your armor," he said.
"He was just trying to be nice," she said. "She's kind of pushy on the wedding plans, but he was just trying to be nice," she said.
"Yeah. He was. He wanted to come out to apologize," said Chuck.
"Oh, no. I should be the one to apologize," she said.
"Maybe. But I think everyone understands," he said.
"I hope so. I didn't mean to cause a scene."
Chuck didn't respond, but he reached out to hug his sister. She leaned against him and put her head down on his shoulder.
"You know, I can go whole months without thinking about them. About Mom and Dad. It's been so long. So much time since they left. Since they left us alone. At first, I thought of them all the time. Would they come back? Just suddenly show up. Some kind of excuse...or maybe none. Just show back up. But, as time went on, I didn't. I didn't think of them that much anymore. Just...just didn't enter my consciousness. But then when Woody said that...offered that...offered to walk me down the aisle. And I remembered thinking about my wedding...thinking about it when I was a little girl. You know? Playing dress up? And thinking about my daddy walking me down the aisle. And …. and that picture popped into my head, of dad with me...with that sort of warm smile he used to have...and without even planning to, I was thinking about him again. And how he won't be walking me down the aisle, and..."
"I know, El. I understand," said Chuck.
"I'm not even sure I'd want him to, to be honest. I'm still so pissed at him for leaving us. I mean...I don't even know if he's still alive, and..."
"He is," said Chuck quietly.
"You don't know that, Chuck. We haven't heard from him in years. He might be..."
"He's alive," said Chuck. Ellie pulled back and stared at her brother. He continued, "I've used my...computer skills to check on him every once in a while. He's alive."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"Why bring it up when neither of us wanted to think about him too much? What good would it have done? We don't miss him anymore. We don't miss either of them. Those days are long gone. Like you, I just didn't think about him. If you ever asked me, I could tell you, but you never did. So, I didn't mention it."
Ellie stared at Chuck for a while and said, "Do you know where he is?"
"Yeah," he said. "He's still in California. About two hours from here."
"He's been two hours away this whole time and he never...?"
"Yeah," said Chuck. "Well, I mean, I can't say 'this whole time,' but he's nearby now."
"Ok." Ellie's face had hardened and her voice was tight with barely restrained anger.
"Yeah."
Ellie wiped her eyes and let out a long breath. "Ok. Let's get back inside. I'm going to accept Woody's offer to walk me down the aisle."
"Why don't you sleep on it, El? See how you feel in the morning?"
"Yeah. I will. Thanks. When did you get so smart for a little brother?"
"I have a pretty smart big sister to help me out," he said, giving her a hip bump as they walked back to the hotel.
They walked back inside. Ellie walked directly up to Woody and wrapped him in a fierce hug. "Thank you. I'm sorry about how I reacted. I know you were being nice. Let me think about it, ok?"
"Of course, Ellie. The offer has no expiration date. I'm sorry for touching a sore spot," he said.
"It's ok, Woody. You had no way of knowing. Now let's get some more wine immediately," she said with an attempt at a smile.
Chuck raised an arm and said, "Garcon."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N2: The exact Chandler quote is: There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks.
A/N3: The 'blade' that Britt Hughes mentioned to Casey are the same kind of running blade used by Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic runner.
A/N4: I know. Not like canon. Yeah. Let's see what happens next, huh?