A/N: Review numbers dropped for the last chapter. Maybe that was because people thought Sarah acted out of character, which I'd argue she didn't - she knew she had the full support of the team behind her, unlike Shaw in the show. Anyway, thanks to those that did take the time to leave reviews.
As usual, beta thanks go to my friend Capt Lil.
This chapter very, very loosely covers the events of "Chuck Versus the Other Guy."
Don't Walk Away
Chapter 14: Director Problems
It had been a busy week even though they'd had no missions. Ellie had taken control of Chuck's health and had been running a series of examinations and tests on Chuck. General Beckman had been providing items for Chuck to flash on as part of those tests.
Chuck was exhausted each evening and usually went to bed way before Sarah.
In the absence of any photos, Sarah had used an old-fashioned technique for providing an image of the Ring director she had met… sketching. She'd been good at that at school way back when. She thought the result was a good likeness of him.
Chuck had looked at the image, but hadn't flashed, so this man was obviously not in the Intersect. That was weird, but they had to accept it.
The image was now being used to search for the man by the NSA across the globe, but nothing had turned up yet.
This was very frustrating. It felt like they had made a significant step forward when she 'met him' but now they had stalled again.
Sarah finished the glass of wine she'd poured herself after dinner and decided to get an early night herself.
Maybe they'd make progress the following day.
Sarah was awakened by a bright green light. She knew instantly what it was.
Chuck was still fast asleep. He had the ability to sleep through anything. The spy training he'd received hadn't changed that at all.
She had far more experience of the necessity of such awareness than he had. Her ten years with her dad as well as the twelve as twelve in the CIA, to be precise.
She nudged Chuck to wake him, because he should see what was on the screen just as much as her.
He was still groggily waking up as she got out of bed to get to the computer.
The green text on the screen stated:
Governor ready
She sensed Chuck walk up behind her. "Your dad is so like you sometimes, but his messages are so concise."
He huffed. "I can be concise. I just prefer to provide more information most of the time. Like here, I would have added we could go and collect it, rather than this which doesn't tell you that. He could be bringing it."
She twisted around and stood. She pulled his head down and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "I love you just how you are."
His arms encircled her waist. "You're ok, too," he replied with a smirk.
She leaned back and smiled at his humor. "You'll have to beg for it after that."
"Pleeease!" he responded.
She laughed. "Not now. I want some more sleep before we drive to your dad's."
He gave her a peck on her lips before releasing her.
They quickly got back into bed and held onto each other, loving the intimacy, but not letting themselves go further.
They separated and she drifted off to sleep.
"I hope this device does what dad promised," Chuck said as she drove the car.
"Are you getting more headaches?" she asked.
"Yeah. I haven't mentioned them because I didn't want to worry you, but they are lingering."
She had guessed that, but still wished that he wouldn't keep things secret from her. She was trying hard not to do that with most things, but knew she still had a way to go, as well. The whole 'no secrets, no lies' thing was hard work. "Well, hopefully this governor will make things better," she said.
"It'll be good to see dad, too."
That made Sarah think about how long it'd been since she last saw her own dad. Over fifteen months. She briefly wondered when she'd see him again, but then dismissed the thought. Sometimes his visits were several years apart, even if he wasn't in prison. Best to assume never again.
As she turned onto the track that led to his dad's camper, Chuck said, "I don't know why he doesn't move into something less exposed."
"Ask him," she said.
"I will," he replied, but she doubted he would.
It hadn't been long since Sarah last stood in front of the camper, but it felt like it had, as so much had changed.
Stephen had told her about his wife, Mary, for one. Sarah had never met her, but knew her by a different name, Frost, the most feared rogue CIA agent.
She had also learned the identity of the woman who was her Red Test. She could just imagine what would've happened to the team if Shaw had been alive and found out that she had killed his wife, Evelyn.
Then, Chuck had managed to retrieve all of Langston Graham's hidden files on her and deleted the originals. She hadn't been able to face looking at any of them yet.
She pushed those thoughts aside as the two of them walked from the car. This time she wasn't the one to knock on the door.
Stephen Bartowski snatched the door open. He didn't greet them, just waved them inside, saying, "Come on, come on."
Chuck immediately walked to the table and sat down, sliding along to make room for Sarah. Stephen went and collected something and then sat down opposite them. He handed a box to Chuck. "This should help."
Chuck took the box from his dad and opened it. Inside was a watch.
"Sarah suggested the name, Governor, and that's appropriate because it sort of governs the Intersect. See, I realized through the years that... that, just like a computer, the Intersect can overheat."
Chuck looked up at him. "Is that what's happening to me?"
His dad nodded. "Yeah, see, your brain is like a circuit, and when you flash, it releases a surge of electrical energy, but if it's not controlled, it can lead to dementia and... and insanity, maybe even death, but I've been working on a fix a... and this is the closest that I've gotten to one for you. See, it, um, it governs the neural network and helps control the power of the Intersect, almost like a, uh, like a pacemaker would for the heart."
Sarah had listened to the ramble, but got to the important question, "Do you know it will work?"
Stephen turned to her, with a sheepish look, and raised his wrist, showing a similar but much older watch. "The equivalent for an earlier Intersect has worked for me for years."
Chuck was as surprised as Sarah. "You have an Intersect?"
"Yeah," his dad replied. "But let's not get into that now."
"And this will work for the one currently in Chuck's head?" Sarah needed to know this would help her love.
Stephen nodded. "It will." He focused on Chuck. "I never wanted you involved in this, but I can see I was deluding myself. You're my son, and you downloaded the latest version for the same reason I created the original, to help people. Sarah told me that you don't want to be a spy, which pleases me, but I'm gonna do everything I can to get you out of this again. This Governor will help you until I can do that."
Chuck smiled at his dad. "Thanks, Dad."
Sarah grabbed Stephen's hand, squeezing it. "Thank you so much, Stephen." He seemed embarrassed but patted her hand.
Chuck put the watch on his wrist and blinked. "Wow! My head suddenly feels so much clearer." He looked at his dad. "I guess there must have been a constant dull ache as well as the headaches after a flash. All gone now."
"Good. That's what it should do," Stephen said. "You should wear it virtually all the time, but you will need to charge it. Unfortunately, the background ache will come back as soon as you take it off."
They briefly talked about the tests that Ellie had been doing before leaving. "Get the results to me," Stephen said. "They'll help me with the unloader." Then he remembered something. "Oh, and give her this." He grabbed a laptop. "It has the original Intersect plans."
Chuck took that and stood. He hugged his dad, and then Sarah did the same. Stephen smiled at her when they separated. "Look after him," he said.
"You know I will," she replied.
"We believe we have found the real Ring headquarters," General Beckman told them the following morning as Sarah, Chuck and Casey sat facing her image in Castle. "It's in LA."
"Probably another trap," Casey commented. Sarah agreed and saw the same in Chuck's expression.
Beckman nodded. "It may be, but in case it isn't, we want that Director alive."
"Why don't we storm the building with an armed team?" Casey asked.
"Because The Ring is only on three floors, fifteen to seventeen," the general replied.
"So, we drop men onto the roof," he said.
"Do that, but I still want the three of you going in to capture the director. Sarah is still the only one who has actually seen him."
"If they're known to be on those three floors, why is the Intersect needed?" Chuck asked.
The general looked at him. "The Intersect isn't, but you're good with a tranquilizer pistol. I'm expecting you to capture the director."
He smiled, clearly appreciating that distinction.
Chuck had been doing his usual, digging for information. "The company occupying those floors is called Nexus Industries, which also has offices and laboratories in Paris, France, but what they make is not clear."
"They make trouble," Casey snarled.
"I'm wondering whether this is their headquarters or if that's in Paris," Chuck said.
"We have to tackle this location, Chuck," Sarah said.
He sighed. "I know, I just feel we're going in blind. Into a trap again."
"Whether it is or not, we still have to do this, Chuck," Sarah said. "Maybe your suspicions will prove useful."
"In the meantime, keep it to yourself, Bartowski," Casey gruffly told him.
Chuck focused on the LA offices. "They must have been involved in the building's construction, though," he said. "There's an elevator dedicated to the seventeenth floor."
"Where does it go?" Sarah asked.
"Just to the basement parking lot."
"Not to the roof?" Casey asked.
"No."
"Well, looks like we need to rappel down to it, then," Sarah said.
Chuck nodded but didn't look happy about it.
They were air-dropped to the roof, and entered the building. Finding the area above this extra elevator was fairly easy. However, as Chuck had found, there was also a stairwell beside the elevator for access from the seventeenth floor.
"Should we go that way," Chuck asked as they arrived.
"Like I said before," Casey replied, rolling his eyes. "They're more likely to have entrances from that under surveillance."
Casey needed to stay at the top and access the elevator controls, so Chuck and Sarah rappelled down to the top of the elevator. It was seven floors down. Once they got to the elevator top, Sarah used her watch to talk to their partner. "Ok, Casey, we're there."
Casey replied, "All right, Walker, I'm accessing the elevator's controls."
They waited for him to open it, but they heard some scuffling up where he was. And then a bullet nearly hit Sarah. Both of them dived to the side.
Chuck wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and got her between himself and the wall. "Chuck, you're more important than me," she complained.
"Not to me you aren't, and we're fish in a barrel down here."
Then they heard Casey call down to them, "Sorry about that. Little Ring company. I don't know how we didn't spot the camera up here."
"So, they will know we're down here?" Sarah asked.
"Probably not. The camera just points at these controls."
"Which are for this elevator," Sarah observed.
"True. Be careful," Casey replied. "I'm opening the hatch."
Once in, they both drew their weapons, Chuck's being a tranquilizer pistol.
Casey said, "The internal security system is detecting someone moving toward the elevator. Just one person."
"Are you ready, Chuck?" she asked.
"Yeah. It'd be nice if this was the director."
The doors opened and a man walked in. He walked to the back and turned.
"One word and you're dead," Sarah said to the director..
He raised a brow as he glanced at her. "Now, this is brazen."
Chuck replied, "That was four words."
The director ignored him and continued talking, "Kidnapping me in my own lift. Impressive. But there's absolutely no chance you'll get the Cipher."
Casey was listening. "Did he just say Cipher?"
Sarah acknowledged that.
Chuck asked, "What do you mean?"
The director looked at him. "Don't play dumb. You're better than that. We've been building our own Intersect for a year. You know that."
"Shit!" Casey said. Sarah made sure to keep her face neutral, she hoped that Chuck did too. She replied to the director, "So where exactly is it?"
The director didn't answer the question, but smirked. "You won't get five feet from this door. My security will be on you in seconds."
Sarah made sure he focused on her gun pointing at him. "Well, that's tough because either we get the Cipher or..."
"Pull out your Ring phone," Chuck said. The director did that. "Call your assistant. Have him or her bring the Cipher to you here."
Sarah added, "And put it on speakerphone. You give one warning, and I'm gonna..." She waved her gun at him.
"Please. I know the drill," he replied. He made a call, "Denise." He told the woman to bring the Cypher to him.
Less than two minutes later, Casey said, "One person approaching the elevator."
The doors opened and a woman's voice from outside said, "Sir, you asked for this. Also, I spoke with Operative 6. They'll proceed with the coup in 15 minutes. The Spanish Ambassador also called back with the ransom offer. He wants to close by the end of day tomorrow at the latest."
The director replied, "Thank you, Denise. And please text me when the plane lands in Barcelona."
Sarah guessed that was a signal to the woman and reached round, pulling the woman into the elevator. "I guess 'Barcelona' is a code."
As the doors closed, Chuck said, "Oh, that's good. What are we supposed to do with her now?" Sarah looked pointedly at his pistol. "Oh!" He fired a dart into the woman's chest and she dropped to the floor.
Chuck dropped down and dragged the body to his side, getting her out of sight from the outside if the doors opened again.
Sarah asked Casey, "What's going on?"
"Just need a few more seconds," he replied. Then he said, "Someone else is coming."
The doors opened. "Sorry, sir," a man stated. "One of our guys heard something strange in the elevator shaft."
Chuck reached around, fired a dart into the man and pulled him in. "This is getting ridiculous."
Sarah looked down on a man in overalls, who was obviously a technician.
"I've got it. Here we go," Casey said and the elevator doors closed and it started moving.
The director said, "You know it's over, right?"
"What?" Sarah asked.
"This was a trap. For you."
The doors opened and Chuck and Sarah looked out, after he fired a dart into the director. Three armed Ring agents were lying on the floor with blood pooling around their bodies. Six NSA agents stood beyond them.
"Not much of a trap," Sarah commented.
The NSA agents entered the elevator to carry the director and his secretary out. The other man was just shot, which made Chuck wince.
They entered the basement and headed to the vans.
"Nice work," Casey said. "I'll join you back at base after the cleanup team is done here."
"He's gonna enjoy that, isn't he?" Chuck said.
"He sure will," she replied.
The following morning, the three of them faced the general on the large monitor in Castle once again.
"Well done, team," she said. "And you acquired the Ring Cypher, too. Impressive."
Chuck asked what was on all their minds, "Did you know about that, General?"
"We knew they were working on an Intersect, but not how far they'd gotten with it," she replied.
"That's really worrying, General," Sarah said.
Beckman replied, "Relax. We had our scientists analyze their Cipher and they found a number of problems in the design. Obviously, the Ring isn't as far along as they thought. However, they also found that the Cipher's components were fabricated in France. I need you to follow this trail to Paris. We believe the Ring's design facility is there."
Sarah looked at Chuck, who nodded. "That makes sense. The company occupying those floors also has offices and a lab there."
Casey said, "We can be in the air in thirty minutes."
"Good. Do it," the general replied. "Do you have details of the lab location?" she asked Chuck.
He smiled. "Yes."
As the call ended, Chuck grinned at his girlfriend. "Eiffel Tower again?"
She nodded in Casey's direction. "We've got a mission first, Chuck."
Casey grunted his agreement.
She leaned close to Chuck. "But afterward…"
When they landed at Charles de Gaulle airport, Casey got a call from the general. The other two saw his reaction. "How?" he growled.
When the call ended, he said, "The director escaped."
"How?" Chuck asked in amazement, repeating Casey's question to the general.
"Seems there was a rogue agent that let him escape while they were transferring him to the airport to be shipped to DC."
"So, where did he go?" Sarah asked.
"No one knows, but my guess is that he's on his way here."
"Great!" Chuck exclaimed.
"I might l kill him this time," Casey said.
Sarah was thinking the same.
The three of them stared at the remains of the Nexus Industries lab. There had apparently been a fire and the place had been almost completely consumed by it.
"D'you think The Ring started it deliberately?" Chuck asked.
"Doesn't matter," Casey replied. "It's not where they'll be working on an Intersect now."
The question was relevant, though. "If it was an accident, and if this was the only lab working on it, then the problem may be over," Sarah commented.
"There were two ifs in that sentence, Walker," Casey said.
"I know," she replied.
"So, we should go to the office and see what's there," Chuck said, clearly trying to act positive. Sarah appreciated that.
Casey just grunted and called for a taxi.
"Do we trust the French CIA teams?" Chuck asked.
Casey replied before Sarah could, "No more than anywhere else."
Sarah glared at him, but added, "We don't really have a choice." A team of CIA agents would be joining them along with some from DGSE. The DGSE involvement was key to being allowed to operate in Paris.
"It's a pity Ilsa couldn't be with us," Chuck said. That provoked an angry grunt from Casey. Sarah felt like kicking her boyfriend for reminding Casey that she was undercover somewhere, and not here.
The building had been under surveillance for the last twenty-four hours, but when they got there, the DGSE lead, François Dubois, told them that was nothing particularly new. They had been doing the same for the last few months. Nothing suspicious seemed to happen.
Chuck and Sarah were allowed to scan through the recordings from when the director might have arrived. He flashed on a few individuals entering and leaving the building, which confirmed that The Ring operated from here, but it took two hours before Sarah called out, "That's him!"
Chuck paused the playback and there was the director exiting a taxi and walking to the office with a large man either side of him. His image was captured and used to scan through the rest of the recording. He hadn't left that way.
"Are there other exits?" Sarah asked.
"There's a parking garage in the basement," François replied.
"Do you have cameras on that?" Chuck asked. François gave him a look that made Chuck respond himself. "Of course you do."
The recordings of the exit of the parking garage showed that only one had left since the director entered and unless he was in the trunk, he was still in the building.
They had sixteen armed men with them to help with the raid. Eight were joining Chuck and Sarah as they entered the main entrance, and the remaining eight would go with Casey entering via the parking garage exit. A further six would be dropping down onto the roof. They were taking no chances.
Sarah pulled Chuck close to her. She wasn't going to kiss him, but her grip on his arm conveyed her feelings. "I'll be fine, Sarah," he said.
"I know you will, but this is just me reminding us both to be careful."
The two of them entered behind the four DGSE men and had the CIA men behind them.
The receptionist saw what was coming in and reached across the desk, but was shot before she managed to touch anything, as were the two security guards.
Sarah didn't have to look at Chuck to know he would wince at the casual killing of the woman at the desk.
Most of the team rushed through the security area and to the elevators and stairs. Two of the men burst through the door into the security rooms. Four headed up the stairs and the other two came with Chuck and Sarah in the elevator.
There were four floors above them. The plan was for Casey's team to take the basement and the second floor; the men rushing up the stairs would take the third floor; those on the roof the top floor and those in the elevator the remaining fourth floor.
As the elevator doors opened onto an open plan office, Sarah and the two men with them started shooting immediately. Only the director was to be left alive. That had been the decision by the joint chiefs. Chuck didn't like it, but had to accept it. His argument that others could have valuable information was discounted.
Sarah also thought indiscriminate killing was wrong, but understood why it had been ordered.
Chuck was surprised when the firing ended that the small office at the end of the main one that they'd seen contained the director and one other man, who no one had shot.
"Who are you?" Chuck asked the other man, ignoring the director.
"He's nobody," the director immediately said.
"Oh, I doubt that, as he was holed up in here with you," Chuck replied, still looking at the other man. He hadn't flashed on him, though. "Unless you want to be shot, tell us who you are." He pointed his tranquilizer pistol at the man.
Sarah saw the director reach behind him and as he pulled a gun around, she shot him in the hand holding it. He cried out and dropped the weapon. "Seems you're important enough for him to want you dead," she said to the other man who saw the gun on the floor.
"I'm the lead Intersect designer," the man rushed out.
Chuck fired two darts, one into the director's arm and one into the designer's chest. "A good catch," he said to Sarah, who nodded.
Casey stayed as the office was 'cleaned out.' Sarah knew Chuck wouldn't cope well with that. As the two of them caught a taxi away from the Ring base, she realized they were passing the awful intersection she remembered from 2005. She gasped and Chuck immediately wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face against his chest, feeling close to tears.
"If we ever come back to Paris, we won't come near here, Sarah." He'd obviously known the location. "We won't go anywhere that brings back bad memories."
She nodded.
"There are other parts of Europe to see, though," he said. "So, maybe we don't need to visit Paris again. We could even travel across the continent."
She felt overwhelmed with love for this man. There were indeed lots of wonderful places in Europe for them to explore together, but she knew he was saying that to please her. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Chuck."
He turned and kissed her lips before replying. "I love you, too, Sarah."
It had been agreed with the DGSE that the two men captured would be taken to the States for interrogation, under General Beckman's lead.
The general had told Chuck and Sarah that they could take time off, just as Casey had recently. They asked to stay in Europe and she stated that their stay would be paid for by the NSA as long as it didn't get too expensive, but she wanted to keep in contact in case anything urgent arose. When Chuck said what he'd been considering, Sarah doubted the general would accept it, but she said, "Take two weeks."
That night, Chuck and Sarah made love in a different hotel to the one they'd stayed in before, so no view of the Eiffel Tower, but then they hadn't looked at it from the previous room either.
The following morning, they caught a taxi with their partner, following the van carrying the two prisoners as they were taken to Vélizy-Villacoublay Air Base, located approximately two miles from the town of the same name and eight miles southwest of Paris. From there, Casey and the two men would be flown in an NSA plane directly to Fort Meade.
The two that were staying embarrassed Casey by hugging him before he got on the plane.
Chuck did it first, following it by saying, "Thanks for all your help, Casey. Make sure they don't get away."
Casey grunted, still surprised by the hug.
"Take care, John," Sarah said after hugging him.
He huffed, but replied, "Don't wear Bartowski out. We still need him."
"Not for the sort of things I have planned," she said with a wink.
He groaned and walked up the steps onto the plane.
Chuck turned to Sarah and grinned.
They quickly got back into the car which was taking them to Paris Gare de l'Est Station for them to catch the Orient Express for the start of their trip across Europe. They hadn't decided if they would go all the way to the end of the line, or stop anywhere along the way. They'd decide that while on the train.
A/N: They'd already been to the Eiffel Tower, so although Chuck loved it, even he didn't have the same desire to stay in Paris. Besides, in the show, the stay was also because they were finally together, which they are in this story anyway.
This obviously didn't need the wonderful scene where Sarah admits her love for Chuck. Ironclad2022 beautifully captured that, along with Sarah's thoughts, in chapter 92 (!) of her "Sarah vs Her Life" story. It's an M-rated story, but not that chapter.
The next chapter of this story will include the well-remembered train journey. If you have the time, please leave a review for this one.