A/N1: As of now, the Federal government is taking steps to make sure that Ted Roark does not obtain ownership of Chuck. Just so you know.
A/N2: Here we are at the beginning of the thirty-fifth arc of my story. I'm calling it the Roark Arc. It's based, sort of, on Chuck vs. The Dream Job. Jeez. Thirty-five arcs? What's the matter with us? How'd we get here? Regardless, here we are and I'm delighted to have you onboard. Thanks.
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They heard some shuffling as Smith and the Sachem moved through the building to get to his audience. Then they heard the Sachem's voice announce loudly, "Good afternoon, people. I'm Ted Roark and you're not."
Only Chuck, Sarah and Casey were listening to the feed from Smith's phones when that particular reveal hit. All three looked at each other with profound shock. No surprise, but Chuck was the first to recover.
He pressed the button on the console in front of him and said into the microphone, "ABORT. ABORT. ABORT. All teams, break contact and reassemble at Castle."
Both Fitz and Colt acknowledged with only a word a piece.
Zondra, in the driver's seat of the van had not heard the announcement of the Sachem's identity and twisted around to say, "What the fuck, guys?"
Sarah said, "Explain later, Z. Home now."
Zondra drove and the other three sat in the back of the van, contemplating this revelation and their plans.
Sarah's cell phone rang. "Hi, Rach...Yeah? Ok, believe it or not, that makes sense. We're heading back to Castle. Have Jorge bring you, Johnny and Brett down to the basement. We'll meet you there...Ok. See you soon."
Sarah said to Chuck and Casey, "Rachel's team traced the money from the Cayman's account."
"Don't tell me," said Chuck with an eyebrow raised. "Roark Instruments?"
"Bingo," said Sarah.
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Castle was a big space, but the number of available chairs was stretched by the gathering. Jackson had gone down to the armory to grab some high stools from the benches there and bring them to the main room.
Present were Chuck, Sarah, Zondra, and Casey. And Rachel, Jorge, Brett, and Johnny. And Fitz, Leo, Marco, and Billy. And Colt, Marty, Frankie, and Jackson.
Once they were all settled down, every one of them looked at Chuck.
He said, "We've found ourselves in a pretty insane place, guys. The leader of Fulcrum, who they refer to as the Sachem, is Ted Roark. And Fulcrum is funded by Roark Instruments."
Sarah said, "And Roark matches the clues from Crawford's letter. A gray-haired man, based on the west coast. Rich, famous, computer savvy. Connection to New York, as Roark was born there. Opera buff, as he donates annually."
"Why'd you call off the snatch?" asked Fitz.
"Mostly because it's not necessary," said Chuck. "At least not now. Roark is very prominent. Tracking him just through his public appearances alone will be easy enough. And the disappearance of someone like that will be noticed. No way to handle it covertly."
"Makes sense," agreed Fitz, nodding. "And his outfit was ready to meet in the hotel Disney a few months ago. Before Forrest lost her shit and started the gunfight."
"Exactly. We barely missed him then," said Chuck.
"Frankly, it's amazing he was able to pull off so much secret stuff himself with the limelight on him all the time, as it is," said Billy.
"No shit," agreed Casey.
"So now that we know, we have to figure out what to do next," said Chuck. "Here's how we're going to get started, I think. Rachel, you and your team rip into anything you can get on Roark and his company, including any other companies he owns. But only public stuff until we can get a FISA warrant."
"Right," she said. "In the meantime, I'll get the application for the warrant prepared this afternoon."
"No," said Sarah. "Please wait. This one is big enough that we want to get approval in DC. He's a big, big target for us to settle our sights on. This has to be cleared and approved by people with more juice than in this room. Wait for me to reach out and give you the ok, please."
"Will do, Sar."
Chuck continued, "Fitz, please take your guys and start to look at the Roark Instruments campus in Ventura. Long distance surveillance with an eye to long term surveillance and maybe infiltration if it ever comes to it."
"Sure thing, Chuck," agreed Fitz.
"Mike, how about you and your guys do the same thing as Fitz's team, but with Roark residences. I'm using the plural, even though I have no idea how many he has. Rachel's team can get you the addresses, I expect."
Colt said, "We'll take care of it, big guy." He glanced to the side at Rachel and she nodded to him confirming that her team would get him the information he needed.
"Thanks," said Chuck. "And coming from you, I'm not sure the 'big guy' nickname has the impact you expect." Chuck grinned at Colt. "Casey and Zondra will be here to coordinate and respond. Any questions?"
"Rules of engagement?" asked Marty.
"Use of force in self-defense or defense of others," said Chuck. "There may come a time when termination orders are issued, but that hasn't happened yet." Privately, those orders bothered him, but he had been in the spy life long enough that he understood their usefulness. At the moment, at least, he didn't have to deal with the implications.
"What are you and Sarah going to be doing?" asked Leo.
"We reserved for ourselves the worst job of all," said Chuck with a grimace. "We're going to DC."
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The black SUV from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence met them at a hangar at Washington National. Chuck and Sarah climbed down from the plane's stairs. It was a blustery November day and both Chuck and Sarah wrapped their coats a little tighter. A fit looking man in a dark suit took their bags from Chuck and dropped them into the back of the vehicle.
They didn't know the driver and his partner. Aware of the dangers Fulcrum presented, they shied away from any work conversations while enroute. But they did hold hands the whole time.
Sarah said, "Karen wants to have dinner with us tonight, if we have time. She's got a new guy she wants us to meet."
"Sure. Not too optimistic we'll have the time, though," he said.
Sarah shrugged and said, "Yeah. Probably right. Still..."
"Yup."
They arrived at the sprawling facility for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and alighted from the car, leaving their bags in place, confident that the driver and his partner would arrange to have them delivered to the Hay-Adams. A serious woman in a dark pantsuit met them at the car and whisked them through security and into the building proper. They were dressed up for the meetings they knew were on the schedule. Chuck in a standard business suit and Sarah in a simple dress.
Both of them noticed the silent stir they caused in the lobby of the building, as various national intelligence officers and bureaucrats reacted to Carmichael and Walker striding across the lobby for a meeting with the DNI. Within the community, they were minor celebrities, and quickly becoming 'not-so-minor.'
In a conference room off Malone's office, sat both Beckman and Graham, who were met with hugs and handshakes. Chuck and Sarah were a little early for their meeting, as their plane had made good time from the west coast. Malone was the host and would be joining them in a moment or two. As would a Deputy Attorney General from the Department of Justice, a Deputy Treasury Secretary, a Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten.
Chuck and Sarah exchanged quiet small talk with both Beckman and Graham, mostly about the wedding plans. Although they also both raved about the opportunity to dive with the stingrays while on their recent sojourn to Grand Cayman.
One by one, the others arrived. Neither Chuck nor Sarah had met the more senior deputy cabinet secretaries, but polite introductions were exchanged. The man from Treasury gave Chuck some good-natured crap about having stolen two of his more promising young accountants, but didn't seem to take it too seriously and certainly wasn't holding a grudge.
Malone called the meeting to order. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you are all aware of the challenges we have been facing from the renegade intelligence organization known as Fulcrum. Sitting with us today are Charles Carmichael and Sarah Walker, two of our operatives on the front lines of our work to stop Fulcrum. Some of you know them already. They have made a discovery recently and have asked that you be informed directly. Chuck, Sarah, I turn the floor over to you."
"Good afternoon, Directors and Deputy Secretaries," said Chuck. "For some time we have managed to stymie Fulcrum's plans here and there. Mostly by luck, to be honest. But we've never managed to get a lead to either the funding of the organization or the leadership. Well, as of yesterday, that's changed.
"A letter came to us a couple of weeks ago from a man who had been a member of Fulcrum. He left us a couple of clues that we were able to follow. First, the funding. The letter led us to a Cayman Island's bank used to fund certain Fulcrum operations. It was out of business, but a review of their computer hard drives by a computer expert from Director Graham's Agency and two accountants lent to us by Secretary Paulson led down a trail. We have found the organization that has been funding Fulcrum. I'll tell you the name in a moment.
"Next, the letter gave us some clues to the identity of the leader of Fulcrum, who goes by the designation of the Sachem, an old Native-American word for leader. We followed the trail, mostly by following one of the Sachem's trusted men and just yesterday discovered the man's identity.
"Ted Roark is the Sachem and Roark Instruments has been funding Fulcrum," said Chuck.
"What the hell?" barked Bolten in surprise. "I know that man. He's an asshole and a tool, but not a traitor."
Malone said, "I understand your surprise, Josh, but it's true. He's the bad guy."
"Shit," said the man from Treasury. "The markets are already in freefall. If we move against Roark's company now, we'll just lead to more instability. This is the last thing we need."
"And he'll get the country's best lawyers on his side," said the woman from Justice.
"That's what we're here to talk about," said Malone. "I want to suggest that we treat this situation as a national security threat and not a legal law enforcement issue. I want to get your approval, and the President's approval, to allow for entirely different rules of engagement with Roark."
"What do you have in mind, John?" asked the man from Homeland Security.
"I want our Chuck and his team to be turned loose. We can get the FISA warrants, and will try to do so prior to any intrusion, but I'm looking for authorization to move to get them retroactively if necessary."
It was the Deputy Attorney General who said, understandably, "We can get all the prior authorization we want from anyone sitting at this table and from the President, but it won't hold up in court if Roark is a defendant. His lawyers would make a hash out of whatever it was we did here. No matter how careful we might try to be. There's just no framework to permit what you are asking for, thank God."
"I understand. That's why I'm also proposing that the President sign a termination order on Roark himself. There won't be a trial," countered Malone. "Let's face it, guys, we can't have the fact of Fulcrum's existence coming to light. A wide-ranging conspiracy to undermine the entire structure of our society and government? As horrifying as it is to us, just imagine the public's reaction if the press were to get ahold of it. Faith in our institutions would take decades to recover, if ever."
There was silence around the table as the implications of a termination order on someone with the high profile of Ted Roark were considered.
Finally, Josh Bolten said, "Is that what you want, Chuck? A termination order on Roark?"
Chuck looked uncomfortable and Sarah took his hand and gave it a squeeze. He said, "I don't like killing people, Mr. Bolten. I'd just as soon drop Roark in a deep dark hole and never worry about him again. But I'm realistic enough to recognize that, especially in this case, where we don't understand the extent of the infiltration by Fulcrum, that might not be a feasible solution. Do I want to see such an order against him...or against anyone, really? No. But under these circumstances I don't think I have any real choice but to endorse the decision and live with it. Sort of hold my nose, but live with it."
"Thank you, Chuck," said Bolten.
"But, if I may, a termination order against Roark should not be the priority," Chuck said.
"How so, Chuck?" asked Graham.
"Taking out the Sachem at this stage will just lead to the selection of another leader. Sure, crimping the funding will slow them down, but I wouldn't expect it to stop them entirely. They could always find another source of funds. We see that happen all the time. I propose, for the time being, we keep Roark in play. Now that we know his connection, it's easy to keep him under surveillance and try to get a heads up on Fulcrum's plans if we can, particularly with his notoriety. But it's more than that. There's something he is sure to have that we desperately need."
"What's that?" asked Malone.
Sarah answered for Chuck, "A roster."
At her answer, the table fell silent until Graham, shaking his head, said, "Of course. As the leader, he'd keep a list somewhere. That's brilliant. Shit, why didn't we think of it? Great job, Sarah, Chuck. You're absolutely right. We need the list. With it we can clean house. Yeah, I'm on board."
It took only a moment or two for everyone at the table to agree. They would keep Roark in play and work on obtaining the roster of Fulcrum agents.
Chuck raised his hand and said, "My dad knew Roark in school and thinks he's a liar and a thief. I think it would be helpful to read him in on our investigation. He may have something useful for us."
Malone said, "Agreed. Read him in and let's see what he has to share."
Graham said, "Let's not forget the need for the rest of it. Even if we keep that asshole in play, we have to get the authorization to avoid the legalities and have termination orders approved. I don't want us to forget that."
"Good point. If Chuck and Sarah can lay out the evidence they've found, I can present it to the President and get that approved," said Bolten. "I mean for whatever it's worth."
"Good," said Malone.
Chuck and Sarah thought they might make dinner with Karen after all.
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President-Elect Barak Obama came into the Oval Office with Vice President-elect Joe Biden at his elbow. With a happy smile he said, "Mr. President," as he reached out a hand to the current occupant of the office.
With his own trademark grin, the President of the United States said, "Welcome. Welcome. Make yourself at home. It's gonna be your office soon enough."
"Thank you," said the younger man, as he was guided by his elbow to the sofa with the coffee table at his knees.
He didn't yet notice the files sitting on the table. The first file was labeled CASEY, JOHN. The second file was labeled WALKER, SARAH. The final file was labeled BARTOWSKI, CHARLES.
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A/N3: Here we go. You can't take on someone as powerful as Roark without getting some powerful people behind you. Ted Roark is in for a world of hurt. Heh, heh. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
A/N4: If you are in the mood, please let me know what you think of this little (ok, it ain't little) tale. Your responses are the gas in the engine. See you guys next week.