Halloween went much like the one before it. Only, instead of Dora-themed costumes, Alexandra decided she wanted to be a princess and her parents to be a queen and king. John, naturally, grumbled somewhat good naturedly about the ridiculous costume and fake crown he was being told to wear. However, when the day came, he donned the costume as requested and went out with his wife and daughter to collect candy from the neighbors while his mom passed out treats from their home.
Since it was a school night, Alex was allowed to have two pieces of candy before brushing her teeth and going to bed. Once they were sure she was fast asleep, her parents slipped off to their bedroom for some private time in their royal chambers.
The weekend that they were to head up to Palo Alto to visit their family, and for John to get the full story behind how Chuck and Sarah wound up guardians of an infant, was upon them. John and Ellie both worked partial days, but Alexandra still had school, even though she would be leaving a couple hours early. When John got home from his shift, Ellie was already bringing their suitcases into the living room to be loaded up in the car.
"Hey there, Marine," Ellie greeted him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "I packed us the basics for the weekend. Why don't you go change so we can go get Alex and head to the airport?"
John nodded his understanding and headed down to their bedroom, quickly changing before grabbing his go-bag and making sure it had what might be needed in case whatever Miller had to say might result in further action being required. He made sure to have his NSA credentials and headed back out to the living room to collect the rest of the luggage and load up.
Ellie saw the black duffel he carried with him and gave a resigned sigh. She knew that this trip could end with her taking their daughter home while her husband went out to remedy the situation that started before Carina brought the baby to Sarah and Chuck.
Once John had loaded up the trunk of his Crown Vic, and checked that the house was secured, he opened his wife's door for her to get in before taking his own seat. It only took a few minutes to get to their daughter's school. John dutifully stayed with the car while Ellie went into the office to have her daughter paged to the office. It took long enough that John was about to head in himself when he saw the office doors open and his wife and daughter walking toward him.
Once Alex's backpack was secured in the trunk and she was buckled into her car seat, the family set off for the airport. It didn't take long for John to find a spot in the economy lot and soon they were waiting with their luggage for the airport shuttle to collect them. They were earlier than most of the passengers on their flight would have been, since John had to go through additional security clearances due to some of the contents of his go-bag requiring special handling.
They still were able to clear security in time to grab a snack and get over to the boarding area for their flight. Due to John's LEO status, they were allowed to board early, and quickly claimed their seats and settled in for the flight.
It was late afternoon by the time the Caseys reached the Bartowski home. Ellie held her daughter's hand as they made their way up to the house while John unloaded the luggage from the trunk of their rental car.
Before she even got the chance to knock, the door swung open revealing Sarah, a baby on her shoulder. "Hey, you made it! Come on in!" Sarah held the door open for them to enter, "Carina's flight should be landing any minute, and Chuck had to go into the office for a little bit, he should be back soon." Sarah informed them as she guided them into the living room.
"Hey, Sarah," John caught her attention, "Are we bunking in the same place as last time?"
"Yeah, the basement guest rooms are all yours," Sarah informed him, "Good to see you again."
John grunted his agreement, then collected the bags and made his way down to the basement to deposit their bags. As he was heading up the stairs toward the main level to join his wife and sister-in-law, he saw the front door open, and Carina entered pulling a small carry-on behind her.
"Casey," Carina gave him a sultry grin, "See you're still as handsome as ever."
"Miller," John grunted, "Still married, and trust me, you don't want to get on the bad side of my wife."
"I can take her," Carina smirked.
"I'd pay good money to see you lose that bet," John responded, "So, why'd you call us here?"
"Later; first I gotta let my sister know I'm here," Carina told him as she stowed her suitcase in the hall closet, "I'll take that up in a minute. Did you bring your go-bag?"
"Yeah, it's in the trunk of my rental, just in case," John nodded, "Didn't know what would come of this little pow-wow you called, so figured it'd be best to be prepared for all potentials."
"Smart and sexy. Ellie's a lucky girl," Carina purred before making her way into the living room where she exchanged hugs and greetings with both of the women before leaning down and giving Alexandra a hug as well. John joined them, giving his wife a kiss and giving is sister-in-law a brief hug before settling in an armchair while Sarah introduced them to Molly and the ladies cooed over the baby.
Chuck arrived a short time later, followed by two more guests. A man, with dark hair and blue eyes, who looked somewhat familiar to John. Considering the man held himself like a soldier, John was sure he'd run into the young man at some point over the last few years, but he was struggling to figure out where. A woman with shoulder length brown hair and a bookish look about her was also with them.
It was clear these two were no strangers to the home as Sarah greeted them both with hugs and invited them to join the family for dinner before Chuck started introductions, "Wyatt, Lucy, meet the rest of Sarah's and my family." He gestured toward his sister-in-law, "This is Sarah's sister, Carina."
"Hey there, blue eyes," Carina shamelessly flirted with Wyatt, earning a frown from Lucy.
"Nice to meet you, Ma'am," Wyatt nodded toward Carina, but didn't react to her flirtation, earning a petulant scowl from her.
"And this is my sister Ellie, her husband John, and their daughter Alex," Chuck continued.
Wyatt reached out his hand to shake John's and Ellie's "Sir, Ma'am." He eyed the older man a moment before speaking again, "Have we met before?"
"Depends, where were you stationed?" John asked.
"I'm currently on loan from Pendleton," Wyatt informed him.
"That's likely it," John smirked, "That's where I'm based. You're not Navy or Marines, though. I'd know if you were."
"That's right sir," Wyatt nodded, "I'm part of the Delta Force squadron based at Pendleton; Master Seargent Wyatt Logan."
"You're friends with that numbnuts Baumgardner, ain't you?" John asked.
"Yes, sir, we met in basic, and I haven't been able to shake him since." Wyatt joked, "What about you?"
"Colonel John Casey, USMC," John informed him.
Wyatt nodded his acknowledgement and the subject was dropped.
"I'm going to get started on dinner, is pasta okay for everyone?" Sarah asked.
"Here give me the baby," Carina took Molly from Sarah's arms.
"Could you use any help?" Ellie offered.
"I'd love some," Sarah smiled at her sister-in-law.
"I'm not the best cook, but I can make a mean salad," Lucy offered. At Sarah's acceptance the ladies headed toward the kitchen.
"Now that they're gone, we have some things we need to discuss." Carina gave John a pointed look before letting her eyes drift over to Wyatt, "Actually, why don't you come along, Delta Force?"
Wyatt gave Carina and John a questioning look before shrugging and following them into the living room.
"This probably isn't the best conversation to be having around little ears," Chuck interjected before turning to his niece, "Alex, we just put in a swing set in the backyard, do you want to help me break it in?"
"Yeah!" Alex grinned and followed her uncle into the backyard.
"In the interest of skipping over unnecessary details, I'm going to give you both a quick debrief." Carina stated simply, "John, you know that I was working for the D.E.A…"
"Was?" John asked.
"What did I say about unnecessary questions?" She reprimanded him, "I'm getting to it. Like I said, I was with the D.E.A. up until a few months ago. I was getting burnt out on drug cases, and wanted a bit of a challenge, so I put in for a transfer request. The D.N.I. reached out, wanting me for a task force, essentially the intelligence community's version of Internal Affairs. We go in, undercover, and try to sus out the agents who don't have the nation's best interest in mind."
Casey and Wyatt nodded their understanding.
"I got put on this C.I.A. Special Agent by the name of Ryker. The DNI had been hearing rumors that he was running shady ops and even had some off-the books stuff going on. They sent me in as a trainee since I can pass as younger than I am," Carina explained, earning a grunted scoff from Casey. Giving Casey stink eye, she continued. "Initially, the op was presented as a take down. I was to go in and take out these guys who had allegedly killed some muckity muck and his wife and taken over their house. Pretty straight forward.
"I went in, and saw the bodies of the home's owners, they'd been dead for a good while by then. I heard noise coming from the dining room, clearly these guys weren't professionals as they were drunk off their asses toasting themselves. Clear headed, they would have been a bit of a challenge, but with as sloshed as they were, it was like shooing fish in a barrel."
"Literally," Wyatt smirked.
"I reported that I'd taken out the baddies. Ryker then informs me that there is a package I'm to collect. I follow his directions and find myself in a nursery… the package was a baby. This little girl couldn't have been more than a few months old. By this time, I had a feeling this mission wasn't sanctioned. Still, I did as was expected and reported that I didn't find a package, but instead a baby.
"Ryker told me the package was the baby." Carina huffed, "He told me to collect her, and bring her to him at a café the next day. I couldn't find one of those baby carrier things, so I loosened my vest and tucked her in to that before sneaking out the backway. I walked for a bit, and once I was sure we weren't being followed, I ditched the vest and concealed my pistol. I found a small store that sold some of the things I figured I'd need, formula, diapers, I even found one of those sling carrier things. The shop owner was kind enough to point me toward a hotel that took cash. It was run down, as those places tend to be, but at least it was a place to sleep.
"The next morning, I borrowed a stroller from the owner, who watched the baby along with her own kids while I went out. I had recorded the baby crying the night before and wrapped the recorder up in some blankets and made my way over to the café. Ryker was already there, I joined him, and asked what was to happen to the baby, and the idiot starts monologuing." Carina rolled her eyes, "Turns out he wanted the baby to be his golden egg. He planned to use it to gain access to their inheritance, since they are the last of their parent's lines, then he would dispose of the baby. I, obviously, couldn't let that stand, but I also couldn't arrest him at that point in time and still protect the baby. I think he realized I wasn't going to turn the baby over to him and he lunged at the stroller. When he realized I didn't have the baby with me, he tried to attack me, I shot him, but that fucker moved at the last moment and instead of being a kill shot, my bullet hit him in the shoulder."
"At least that's painful," Casey grunted.
"Yeah, but it'd be better if he was either dead or in custody," Carina countered. "Any way, he ran off, and I took the scenic route back to the hotel, just to make sure I wasn't being followed. I got the baby, and we made our way back here."
"Where you left her in the custody of your sister and our brother-in-law," Casey concluded.
"Exactly," Carina nodded, "The thing is, I need a little help wrapping up this mission. It seems Ryker isn't giving up on finding Molly, I'm hearing noise that he's trying to figure out what I did with her. I was given orders by the DNI to put him down."
"That seems a little severe," Wyatt pointed out.
"Perhaps, if you don't take into account that this most recent thing is only the tip of the iceberg of what this asshole has done." Carina nearly growled, "I've been doing my research, and he's got pretty good situational awareness, so I won't be able to get up close to him."
"You need a sniper," Casey caught on to her plan.
"Yes, and I don't do long-distance," Carina nodded then gave the men a smirk, "I much prefer to go in up close and personal, play with them a bit." Casey, familiar with her antics, rolled his eyes, "So, are you in?"
"I'm in," Casey nodded, "I'll need to arrange to get Vera to where we need to go. Logan, what is your specialty?"
"I usually do raids but have done some overwatch and am second sniper on my team." Wyatt informed him, "I can have Bam-Bam arrange to get my gear to me."
"Have him coordinate with Lieutenant O'Malley, that way it all arrives together," Casey instructed Wyatt, "Well, Carina, looks like you've got your snipers."
"I can do overwatch… at least at a distance," The trio heard from the entrance to the living room. When they turned, they saw Chuck leaning against the archway separating the living room from the dining room and kitchen. "A little typety-typety and I can have full access to all traffic cameras."
"You're my wife's kin, so I'm going to forego calling you're a moron, but what are you talking about?" John demanded.
"Ever heard of Piranha?" Chuck arched his eyebrow at the group. Carina and Casey's eyes widened in surprise, but Wyatt looked confused.
"You've gotta be shittin' me, Bartowski." John practically growled. "I know how long that alias has been active… you would have been in high school when it went active. No way am I buying that."
"It was junior high, actually," Chuck shrugged, "Winter Trimester of eighth grade, if you want to get precise. What you know about Piranha is only what I let you know, trust me, I can do so much more than you think."
Carina looked impressed, "I'm convinced. Don't tell Blondie or Ellie, I don't want to deal with the fall out coming at me from angry protective wives or sisters."
"I won't lie to either of them, but I won't go out of my way to let them know what we're up to." Chuck informed them with a shrug, "That's the best I can do. I want this mission to be successful, so that we don't have to keep looking over our shoulders trying to protect our daughter."
John grunted his approval, "So, when are we gonna do this thing?"
"How soon can you get your gear to Hungary?" Carina asked.
Casey looked over at Wyatt, consideringly, then checked his watch, "We can probably have the gear together and ready to be shipped out through the less than known channels in about 24 to 30 hours."
"Then do it. I'll arrange for transport to depart from Monterrey for 2 days from now. You can figure out the logistics of getting yourselves there." Carina informed the men, "Now, we'd better get into the kitchen before either of your wives, or girlfriend start looking for us."
"Oh, no, Lucy's not my girlfriend," Wyatt began to protest.
"Save it, numbnuts," John grunted, "I may not be the most in touch with my lady feelings, but the way you feel about that girl is written all over your face. Your buddies must clean you out a poker, huh?"
Wyatt rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, offering to help Alex set the table.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Kid?" John asked Chuck as they made their way toward the dining room.
"Yeah, you and I both know we'd do anything for our little girls and nieces." Chuck nodded.
John grunted his agreement to his brother-in-law's statement as they took their places at the table to enjoy dinner with their family.