A/N: Ownership of Chuck. There. I said it. Hope you're happy now. Sheesh.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Los Angeles International Airport (the next day)
Sarah waited for Mei-Ling to come through the gate with the other passengers from the Air China flight. She hadn't seen her friend in almost a year, but that was no surprise to either of them, given their respective jobs. The two of them had spoken on the phone once a month or so, but it took this mission for Mei-Ling to visit the United States again after their combined take-down of the White Dragons and Lo Pan last fall.
Mei-Ling came out of the gate with the persona of a professional businesswoman. Nice suit and shoes. Head up, Eyes front. Stride long. She was pulling her wheeled bag behind her and had a laptop carryon slung over her shoulder. Her hair was brushed back and she looked...she looked happy. She hadn't really looked happy the last time Sarah had seen her. She hadn't looked unhappy, but...
Sarah caught her eye and gave her a subdued wave. She returned it with a small smile and a slight rise of her eyebrows. As they came together they gave each other a quick hug, but broke it before it attracted attention and began to walk out of the terminal.
"What name are you using?" asked Sarah.
"Same one. Mei-Ling Cho. Got the blessing of the mandarins at the top. We are all allies for this one, after all, right?" she said with a smile at her friend.
"Yeah. Doesn't happen to us too often." Sarah shrugged. "You look good."
"Thanks. You too." Mei-Ling smiled and chuckled. "Wedding plans, right?"
Shaking her head with a bit of chagrin, Sarah said, "Oh shit. Don't get me started. Ellie and I were wine tasting a couple of nights ago. I'm still recovering. You know, four bottles of wine per person makes for a big dent in your next day."
Trying to keep her composure, Mei-Ling started to laugh. "I'll try to remember that. In case it ever comes up."
"Unlikely to come up again in the next few days. This one is going to be a bitch of a job," said Sarah, referring to the mission to stop the Yama Twins.
"Yeah. We have a lot of help on this one though. Last time, we were on our own and did pretty well. This time we have both our governments a thousand percent behind us. Nice for a change."
Sarah said, "Yeah, we do. The Secret Service will be protecting both of our presidents and the entourages. The Diplomatic Security Service..."
"Who are they?" asked Mei-Ling.
"They are the protection arm of our State Department. They will also be involved too. But, given what's going on, they will be support and Secret Service will have lead. But we'll also have the FBI, the DC police, the State Police of both Virigina and Maryland, and basically everybody you can think of," said Sarah. "We aren't secret spies here. We are part of a big crowd trying to stop the Yama Twins."
"And you aren't even counting my county's guys. Cast of thousands overall. Literally," said Mei-Ling. "How can you people keep track of all the different groups? We have it all with central authority and it makes perfect sense."
"Federal system, girlfriend. One of our strengths," said Sarah with a grin and a toss of her hair.
Mei-Ling pretended to grump as she threw her bag into the back seat of the Porsche. "New car?" she asked.
"Yeah. The last one was blown up with a car bomb," said Sarah. At the memory of Carina's injury, her mood darkened.
"Damn. Anybody hurt?" asked Mei-Ling, sensing her friend's change in mood and knowing the answer before Sarah responded.
"Yeah. A friend. She lost her leg," said Sarah.
"I'm sorry," said Mei-Ling after a few moments.
"Thanks. Sucks...but, you know..."
"Yeah. Dangerous job."
"Yeah," said Sarah.
They began to drive out of the parking lot. Sarah said, "But now to the really important thing to talk about."
"Your bachelorette party?" asked Mei-Ling with a grin.
"God, what is with you people?" Mei-Ling just laughed. "No. A more important discussion. Why do you look so happy? We are on a serious mission to stop some ghosts from killing our presidents and you look like you've just had a shower of springtime."
Mei-Ling looked out the window of the Porsche as Los Angeles moved past her. She had a tiny smile and she replied, "What?"
"Oh, that's it. Now I know something is up. You wouldn't take that fake 'what' innocence unless there was something real going on. Spill," demanded Sarah with a smile.
"Well, I met someone."
"Ok," said Sarah.
"You know I never thought I could or I would until I saw you and Chuck together," she said. "I thought we women spies were always going to be alone. Forever."
"Ok," said Sarah.
"But, I didn't know. When I opened my mind to the idea he was there."
"Is it serious?"
"I don't know. We were only together face to face for a week or so. And I've talked to him on the phone since then. On and off...ok, more like every day when I can...when I'm not on a mission," admitted Mei-Ling.
"Oh, that's great. What's his name?" asked Sarah.
"Eset Zakir," she said.
"That's not a Chinese name...at least I don't think it is," said Sarah with a frown.
"He's Chinese," responded Mei-Ling. "I mean a Chinese citizen. But he's an ethnic Uighur. You guys in the US have your minorities, but it's a such a huge portion of your population it's integral to your fabric. Our minorities are a much smaller portion. Almost all of us are ethnic Han. Like ninety percent. But the other ten percent are minorities of one sort or another. Including Uighurs. They are Muslims mostly living in the west of the country."
"Ok," said Sarah. "Can you tell me how you met?"
"You may have heard about it. Over the summer we had some violence in Hotan," she said.
"Where's that?" asked Sarah.
"Out west. I was sent out to work with the team looking for any foreign connections to the trouble. You know, Saudis or something. Anyway, he's a cop out there. He helped us calm things down with less violence," she said. "It was the local Uighurs getting radicalized and causing violence. He and his men were on the front lines, but he managed to quell things without causing a blood bath..." Mei-Ling's pause was a bit pregnant with concern for the future.
"So far?" asked Sarah.
Mei-Ling sighed and said, "Yeah. So far, I guess. His people are pretty disgruntled. We are trying to put a lid on the pot from Beijing, but you know how that goes."
"Do they have reason to be disgruntled?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah. Probably. Trying to deal with minority populations isn't always the easiest thing to do, I guess."
"No, it's not," said Sarah, not eager to get into a discussion of the merits of the US system versus the Chinese system.
"Well, it's just one of a number of problems my country faces, I suppose," said Mei-Ling.
"OK. But, for the moment, let's put aside the huge political problems and focus on the important things." Sarah glanced from the road ahead of her to look at her friend. "Tell me about him."
Mei-Ling giggled and said, "He's nice. He's handsome and smart and ...well, I like him..."
"Great," said Sarah with a smile. "Am I going to meet him? Will you bring him to the wedding?"
"Phew... I don't know. I didn't think about it, to tell the truth. Maybe, I guess." Mei-Ling was silent for a little while, thinking. Then said, "Oh...you don't think this is going to be weird with Casey, do you? I mean he and I had a thing and now I'm not...well, I'm sort of …"
"No worries. He's seeing someone himself right now. I don't want to speak for him, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be fine. I don't think he'll expect anything." Sarah started to laugh a bit and said, "Not that I can say that about everyone on the team."
"Who? Not Chuck obviously. Your team grew?" asked Mei-Ling.
"Yeah. Two new members. A guy named Bryce Larkin. He'll hit on you, but just blow him off. He won't take it well, but no one else will care. And a woman named Zondra Rizzo. She's a close friend. You'll like her."
"A close friend?" asked Mei-Ling. "If I remember right, you didn't have many of those a year ago."
"I know. That's what I thought then." Sarah was silent for a long while and said, with a sudden happy smile on her face. "Turns out I had more friends than I knew."
Mei-Ling reached out to Sarah's hand on the steering wheel and gave it a squeeze, grinning warmly at her friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Castle
Chuck came across the room to greet Mei-Ling with a big smile and arms outstretched for a hug. "Hey, Mei-Ling. How are you? Great to see you." He was grinning with happiness and warmth. He was every bit as welcoming and friendly as she had expected. But she could tell there was something different. He carried himself … a bit more comfortably. As if he was no longer a stranger to the situation he was in. As if he belonged there...here.
She grinned back at him and wrapped him a hug. She whispered into his ear, "Thank you for taking care of my friend Sarah."
He gave a short laugh and said, "First of all, she takes care of me. And second, you are very welcome. It's the most wonderful privilege my life had given me."
"Oh, my. You always know the right thing to say, don't you?" asked Mei-Ling with a smile swatting him lightly on the chest.
Heavy footsteps turned her head. Casey appeared from somewhere in the back of the base. He was with another man, athletic looking and handsome. Mei-Ling guessed that he would be Larkin, who she had been warned would likely hit on her.
She gave Casey a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Justcasey."
"Welcome back. Mei-Ling Cho, meet Agent Larkin," he said, presenting her to the other man.
He gave what was probably his most winning smile and said, "Hi, Agent Cho. I read the file on your take down of the White Dragons with this team. Great work."
"Thank you. Not enough, though. Lo Pan is still causing trouble."
"Well, yeah, he is," said Larkin.
"How're Lee and Fen," asked Casey.
"Good," said Mei-Ling. "Still in New York. He's going to ask her to marry him. Sometime in the fall, I think."
"Good news. She's a solid lady. She really held it together that night on the beach. Impressive," Casey said.
"Yeah. I like her too. You're right. It's good news," said Mei-Ling.
Zondra came out of the elevator and crossed the room to them. Sarah said, "Zondra Rizzo, meet Mei-Ling Cho."
"Hi, Mei-Ling," said Zondra, shaking the other agent's hand.
With a clap of his hands, Chuck said, "Ok, then. Let's get started."
They began to assemble around the main conference table.
Mei-Ling said, "Before we get started I want to give you these." She handed Chuck a dozen or so small electronic devices. He looked at them in his hand and then back to her with a question in his eyes. "Listening devices. My superiors told me to bug your side in case we learned anything interesting when the search for the Yama Twins is over. I'm just going to say you found them all on your own."
With a small chuckle, Chuck said, "Sounds good. I'll just put them over here." He moved to his workbench and dropped the devices into a box.
Back at the table, he said, "Ok. Here we go. The Yama Twins."
Chuck pulled up a picture on the screen in front of them of a dead body sprawled over a restaurant table, "A member of the Falcone family in Chicago. Poisoned." The picture changed to one of a street with the remains of a car. "Car bomb to kill the Syrian attaché to Lebanon." The screen showed an Asian man in a military uniform. "General Sammo from Malaysia. Plane crash." Chuck turned to look at his team. "On and on. Dozens of assassinations. And these are only the ones we know about. No favorite methods. Bullets. Bombs. Poison. They will use anything to get the hit carried out. If there's a single common factor it's that there is no common factor. At least one of them is a bit of a science whiz, as some of the hits display some real technical skill and sophistication. Masters of disguise, as we don't have any idea what they look like."
Zondra said, "That's how they operate, but what do we know about them personally?"
"Hardly anything," replied Chuck. "The law enforcement and intelligence agencies of dozens of countries have been looking for them for years and have barely anything to show for it. Mostly rumors and myth. And, according to the rumors at least, they are a man and a woman. Believed to be siblings, but unknown if they are actually twins. Nationality unknown, but they are supposed to be of Chinese descent."
"Taiwanese," corrected Mei-Ling. She was watching the dynamic closely. Chuck had been the analyst the last time she had worked with them. The digger who pulled up all the data they would need. And, in addition, the tech guy who gave them the tools they used to take down the White Dragons. But the vibe was different now. He wasn't just reciting what he had learned, he was...he was in command, she realized. That's why he had seemed so comfortable. The new arrangement suited everyone. She looked around at the rest of them. There was no doubt in her mind. Chuck had become the leader of the team.
"Taiwanese," accepted Chuck with a nod.
"Do we have confirmation that they are on the job? That they have accepted the gig?" asked Bryce, leaning back in his chair, one leg casually crossed over the other.
"We don't. But neither of our countries are going to take the chance. The informant that told us Lo Pan ordered the assassinations was pulled out of general population in the prison. They didn't do it quietly. We think it's likely that the Twins are aware that we have been alerted."
"Will that stop them?" asked Casey.
"Might. We don't know. If not, it will just make them harder to catch," said Chuck.
"It's an insane task anyway," said Sarah. "Even without the heightened alert status, the Secret Service is the best in the world at the protection job."
"I hope like hell you are right," said Chuck.
"Why are they called the Yama Twins?" asked Bryce.
"Ancient Vedic lore, ancient Hinduism. Yama and his twin sister Yami. Somehow that ended up with just the one name, 'Yama' for these two," said Chuck. "We don't know that it means anything more than a working name for them."
"Although it gives credence to the idea that they are in fact twins," said Sarah.
"Yeah, it does," said Chuck with a nod.
"Does your side have anything else?" Casey asked Mei-Ling.
"No," she replied.
"They opened their files to me yesterday, Case, so I've used everything both our IC and the Chinese MSS have on them," said Chuck.
"What little there is," said Casey with a grumble.
"Yeah," said Chuck. "The leaders of the White Dragons, Hai and Lin were interrogated. Both denied everything. Said our informant is a liar. Lo Pan's lawyer, Zang, claims attorney client privilege and won't say a word."
"We could pick them up and use drugs to get them to talk," said Casey.
"Yeah, we could. But that's above our pay-grade. That's when it stops being a law enforcement matter and becomes a matter of national security," said Chuck.
"You could turn them over to us," said Mei-Ling.
"Yeah, we could. But again, not our decision to make," said Chuck.
"So, what do we do?" asked Bryce.
"Everyone is on alert to find them. The Secret Service is on high alert for the summit. We have no leads to follow. For the moment, I suggest we head to Washington and coordinate with the Secret Service. Six more pairs of hands and eyes to help them out."
"Sounds like all we can do at the moment. I'll tell them to prep the Citation," said Sarah. "Back in the air you go, Mei-Ling."
"Sounds good, Sweetie," said Chuck.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N2: I have a good friend from Shanghai. Whenever she's describing someone from Taiwan, she makes a point of saying that they are Taiwanese not Chinese, an important distinction to her. I imbued Mei-Ling with the same attitude.
A/N3: What do you guys think? Let me know, if you wouldn't mind.