Chapter 5
9:25 AM
July 23, 2012
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Dianne Beckman was not a happy general.
If she gave a dime for every time a plan goes to the trash bin at the first second of implementation, she could have shouldered on her own the entire federal budget for at least a couple of fiscal years.
Firstly, she had been woken up at an ungodly hour, half past three in the early morning. Of course, when she found out the reason for that she hardly cared, but she really would have liked to have had some more shut eye first for her to be able to deal with this level of shit.
No well-deserved rest for her apparently.
At the first crack of morning, she sent summons for the two operatives, or former active field operatives that she had worked with before and trusted the most. They were not the ideal personnel with which to actually brief upon this matter, since she already suspected that they already had been made aware of this at least on some level, and they are actually leading from their respective offices.
But for such a crucial and sensitive piece of information as this, it requires to be handled by the best of operatives, and this two had been her best for the better part of two years and a half, the A Team so to speak, the cream of the crop.
And now their third and unarguably the most important and talented member had coincidentally barged in upon the same meeting.
She hadn't actually expected him to be intruding in right at this very moment. Dianne had been made aware of the schedule of his ride back home, but had at first believed that he would have taken at least another day before reporting in. She was clearly wrong, and should have seen the opposite, considering his personality.
A personality so drastically different from the one he donned more than two years ago.
This unexpected reunion was in reality a powder keg waiting for imminent implosion.
With so much bad history between the team members during the last month they had been together, it had to be expected.
She had a feeling the two veteran operatives would be in absolute shock when they first take a look at their long-lost teammate, who she suspects would be trying his damnedest to be as cold and detached from them as much as possible.
Especially with a certain someone.
On the other hand, having her prodigious team back in the game would surely resolve this new clusterfuck faster than assigning a regular team would do.
Just a few days ago, she had decided to bench him, but circumstances don't actually point to it being prudent for him to sit this one out.
Just as it could be incredibly risky to have the trio be working again as a team once more, it could just be as beneficial to not only the country, but to all the members.
Especially the young man currently glaring at her, the nerve of this boy.
Partly amused, and partly contemplative, the veteran general decided to go with this impulsive plan and hope for the best.
'This should not bite me back in the ass much later.'
"No," she intoned to the man, "you're actually right on time and expected, Agent," she paused furtively, with him intensifying his gaze upon her, "Viltaria."
Predictably, the name threw the two who were sitting at the ottoman chairs into confusion, promptly turning their heads back to the director. The one standing out stoically stared at the petite redhead, just as he had been doing during the past couple of minutes.
"V-Viltaria? General, this is C-Chuck, r-right?" the lone female team member asked. Beckman glanced at her, and for a rare instance, felt sympathy for her. She understood that this had completely displaced the woman from her comfort zone and forced to face the harsh reality unprepared. Her world, or at least the world she had come to be familiar with in the last few years, had been just turned upside down, quite literally.
To see the infamous Wild Card Enforcer, the feared Ice Queen, the top operative of the CIA in this state was truly shocking as it was expected. After a spectacular 10-year career in the company, where she dominated the food chain, an unexpected long-term assignment to Burbank, LA had been the instigation of her downfall, at least as an agent. And her rebirth as a woman.
A rebirth that tragically was cut short in less than three years.
Such rebirth had been unexpected and, in many instances, should have been cut off from the very moment it even began. Her situation had not been actually novel, and as such, there had already been rules, regulations and protocol designed and in place to be implemented in such a situation. And about 99% of the time, these protocols actually resolve the situation, the problem, nipping it right from the bud.
These protocols apparently were not effective enough to overwhelm the nature of a potent counter-agent.
For history to actually repeat itself, in the same family, was actually pretty funny once you studied it.
38 years ago, a certain prodigious young brilliant scientist, of a very awkward but selfless and kind personality, met a hardened, cold and calculating operative.
And they fell in love, after years of torturous emotional dancing with each other's feelings.
35 years later, their tale recirculated in motion, in another form of a brilliant young nerd and another cold operative.
What is it with Bartowskis and their apparent talent to break down and remake in their mold, however unwittingly, perfectly good operatives, the best in their job?
First there was the Frost Queen.
Dianne actually shivered from time to time when the name was mentioned even in passing, remembering the deeds of the woman who bear that moniker and how it fit her so perfectly. Yes, the Frost Queen had been a friend, and she suspects is still a friend, but there was nothing saving a friend if he or she crosses the Frost Queen and her loved ones.
She had thanked her lucky stars that the Beta Intersect had exploded right at the moment it did, taking with it the damnable moron and his stooges of adrenaline junkies. Had it not, and Casey completed the termination order, there would have been hell to pay, at least for her, once the Frost Queen found out.
And then there was the Ice Queen.
Her records also made even the notoriously hardened general squirm in discomfort, and that alone from the records in her file that were not redacted by that absolute jackass that was Graham.
And considering how the young woman took to her duties and her assignment in Burbank, she had been none too different from her predecessor other than their physical looks.
Even their childhood backgrounds were nearly a carbon copy of each other.
Both fell in love with a Bartowski, at first unintentionally and then distractedly. Both fought their feelings for each of their men, but ultimately such feelings completely overwhelmed them, feelings that were decidedly welcomed and requited by their significant others.
And both women got their moments of happiness with the loves of their lives, before tragedy struck the two couples.
The first, older pair shared a few years of bliss and had children, before their pasts, their mistakes, their hubris caught up to them and enveloped them in misery, darkness, misfortune, that up to now continues to hunt them.
The second, younger couple shared a few days, weeks at most, of utter content and heaven, before their murky past, their unstable present, and seemingly unattainable future broke them apart and destroyed them to a million pieces. Theirs had been a crueler fate than that of their predecessors.
Their love for each other was so great, so encompassing, so overwhelming, that they had not been able to keep up.
Duty and love.
Love versus duty
That was their red line. Their kryptonite. Their ultimate test.
They failed hugely.
And with how broken, how devastated, how consumed by hatred, regret and loss that they both suffered through the past two years, it is now impossible for them to dance once more.
Or is it?
Dianne Beckman had made several grave mistakes over the 18 months that she had headed the team with a firm hand. Mistakes that specifically cost these two young souls to suffer through so much over the last few moments they had together. She had barely tried to make amends when circumstances simply had caught up to them, and there simply was no controlling the tide.
It was not too late to make more amends, is it?
The Ice Queen certainly will welcome, will be appreciative, will be grateful for such an overture on her part. The director knew her more than well enough to conclude that despite what she had to go through over the past years, they had still not lost her. She still can make it. She had the talents, the skills, to make it. She'll certainly take this opportunity with her two hands, considering the stakes on board.
All that was lacking was a drive to go for it.
The drive being the young man currently standing in front of them.
The question is, can he?
Comparing their recent pasts, his can be certainly judged as the darker one, specially considering all the sacrifices he had to be forced to give to over a five-year long journey through a path he did not even actually plan to tread on, a path that until that fateful download some three years before, was not in his 5-year life plan.
He played the game and lost, miserably, tragically, unfortunately.
That too, when stakes could never more be higher, more vital, more consequential.
Beckman knew she had to try.
She believed that she had not entirely lost him.
That there was certainly a part of the man she knew years ago still inside that cold, empty shell he calls himself.
'To hell with it.'
"General, will you explain to us how Charles Bartowski was standing here at this very office, when it was very clear that he died almost two years ago," Casey asked, tone obviously denoting agitation and confusion. Sarah also looked at her anxiously, almost pleadingly.
The man in question was still standing stoically, verbally communicating to her that she had to deal with this.
She sighed.
"Agent Viltaria here was sent on a high-stakes mission some two years ago. Circumstances forced the decision for him and his partner to stage their deaths in order to accomplish the mission more freely and with the least complications. After he completed the mission a few days ago, his status will come into purview, and until a decision has been made and implemented, he will remain dead for the time being."
"Viltaria?" Casey continued.
"Him and his partner being dead also necessitated purging out their old field names and forging new ones," she explained.
"I see," the brigadier-general grunted, and looked at his former teammate, who still refused to grant them any attention.
"P-partner?" Sarah asked, a question that certainly the general was very unsure of how to respond.
She sighed.
"Yes. Agent Viltaria was assigned a partner. She is—"
"Director, could we actually get on to business as to why I'm here?" the young man questioned irritatedly.
As expected, he was not in the mood for a topic about his partner to be discussed in the room in present company.
"Very well, Agent, please take a seat," she gestured to a nearby ottoman chair, which he took gingerly after a moment.
She turned on the screen, and a photo of a balding Indian-looking man flashed into it. At her peripheral vision, she noticed Viltaria showing the tell-tale signs of an Intersect flash, though this seemed to last several seconds. At the end of it, the man closed his eyes and hands gripped to the armrests of the chair, with his eyebrows furrowed intensely upward. He breathed in deeply before slowly opening eyes.
'Was there something wrong with this particular flash? That particular sequence is a first, at least to me,' the general noted. She noticed that the other members of the team also saw the peculiar reaction their teammate had over flashing.
"Agent Viltaria, is everything alright?"
Said agent just nodded.
"Yes, everything is alright. That is Mahendra Kamal Rishabh, 37 years old, a graduate of chemical engineering and particle physics from Oxford University, receiving his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology. After being a part of a team of scientists at the CERN, he returned to his hometown in Bhuj, Gujarat in northwestern India, and taught at the local university for a few years, before being declared a missing person a couple of years ago. General, what do I have to do with regards to this man?" he asked, clearly mostly uninterested with this particular piece of intel, even if it was a part of the Intersect.
Which is astonishing and galling considering that if this man is in the Intersect, he is definitely a person of interest, great interest, for the host.
Beckman shook her head.
"It matters, Rishabsh matters, since all recent available intel points him to being a member of the organization Invicta," she intoned.
Instantly, Viltaria flashed, and yet the same set of physical reaction as was displayed a while ago was again observed.
'Was there really something wrong with the Intersect?'
"I see," he replied after opening his eyes once more, "that is indeed…interesting. Well, as you know General, what I can flash on about the Invicta was probably redundant and incomplete compared to all the intel you have gathered as of the moment. I have not uploaded any intersect update since the last one, almost…. a year ago," he exhaled.
Sarah and Casey turned to him in apparent interest about that little tidbit of info, and still he stubbornly refused to return their glance.
"This mission, as I'm sure it's about to be turned to a mission," he prodded on stoically, "could be handled by a team of your operatives, from both the agencies. I already relayed to you my intent to pursue another matter of interest once I completed the mission parameters we had hashed out before, and now that I completed my end of the deal, I expect you to comply with yours. Additionally, this is about another terrorist, upstart organization, and I'm done with those. I've dealt with the previous two, completely, decisively. There is nothing in it for me to deal with yet another wannabe secret society trying to overthrow the legitimate government and rule the world by themselves," he intoned uncaringly, with such an inflection of dismissiveness, punctuated with a derisive snort.
Casey turned to the younger man, brows furrowing in a deep frown, and releasing a low growl, denoting he was not pleased with how Viltaria addressed the issue.
Beckman found herself also frowning at this apparent callousness, while Sarah was just staring at the man, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Agent Viltaria," the general replied harshly, "that is not for you to decide by your own. As it is, the decision to deal with Invicta first came from the National Security Council. For the moment, Invicta is labeled as the greater threat over your designated target."
"Alexei Volkoff is no mere target, Director," Viltaria retorted.
She sighed.
"Be that as it may, the decision was made final. Of Volkoff, we know more, than what we have on Invicta. It is deemed necessary to deal with the latter and crush them, and regroup later for Volkoff. Until further intel can be gathered that denotes Invicta poses no serious threat to the United States and the free world, this organization will be our primary focus. The situation with Volkoff is not completely foreign to us, there had been successful operations to hunt down and apprehend dangerous moguls over the past decades. Invicta's status was new, and the intelligence community had still not forgotten the fiasco with Fulcrum and the Ring."
He sighed, closing his eyes once more for a brief moment, before breathing in deeply.
"Very well. Send me the first details over this mission later via secure communication we had established. I'll be flying out back to Europe later tonight."
"No agent. You will not be dealing with this organization on your own. It has been decided that you will be the agent-in-charge for a team that will be designated as Task Force Polaris, which will deal with Invicta."
"Excuse me?"
The anger and indignation in that tone was palpable, but the petite commander of the intelligence community could not be budged.
"You will not be alone for this operation, Agent Viltaria. You will lead Polaris. That is final."
"Have you forgot what happened in Sarajevo?!" the man raged, causing both Sarah and Casey to startle in surprise at the apparent showdown.
"What happened in Sarajevo was unfortunate, Viltaria. This team you'll be leading are thoroughly vetted. I trust them. You should."
"I should?! I guess you want me to arrange my funeral right at this moment then, General. No, I'll deal with this on my own. A team will be dragging me down, most probably to an early grave," he returned acidly.
Enough was enough.
"They are to be your team," she pointed to the other two people in the room, much to their surprise, along with that of the man, "Would they drag you to an early grave? Do you suspect them to be traitors?" the redhead replied stonily.
For the first time, Viltaria spared them a glance. A stony, emotionally detached, cold-calculating glance. Casey stared right back challengingly, while Sarah was more hesitant and afraid to return the unfamiliar look, he was directing at them, at her.
After what could pass for an hour of pregnant silence and pointed stares, he finally replied.
"No," he allowed, lowly, causing Casey to grin and Sarah to offer him a small, shy smile. Neither facial expression elicited a reply from him, "but they could still drag me down from accomplishing this mission at the pace I'm planning to push it," their expressions returned to indignant ones after that statement, "it is better that I deal with this on my own rules. You know my record, Director; it speaks for itself. I've dealt with an entire organization on my own for almost a year. I'll deal with another one just the same," he directed to the woman, with a tone full of confidence and arrogance that it made Beckman's nerves to shot to overdrive as her blood began to boil over such blatant insubordination.
'Doesn't he realize I'm doing this for his own good? There is only so much he can do by himself,' she thought frustratedly.
"This is the final instance I will say no, Agent," she replied, laying down the law, "if this decision is not to your liking, then you can surrender your badge and firearm. Which will it be? Insubordination and losing your job? Or following orders and keeping it?"
The young man glared stonily at her; hatred apparent in his eyes at the ultimatum he was given.
"Either way, I am still getting the short end of the stick," he retorted, before closing his eyes, and breathing in deeply, as he was wont to do, especially in stressful situations.
"They are to be MY team, correct, Director?" he asked in a tone that clearly spoke of being not in the mood to deal with other disagreements.
Beckman nodded stiffly.
"They are. You are the AIC, Viltaria."
"Good. I'll accept the mission, for my team, Director."
Dianne sighed in relief.
"Very well," she straightened herself, "It just came this morning that I am being summoned to an NSC meeting this morning. The three of you can show yourself out of my office on your own feet, that I am sure off. Please do not tarry for long," she said, before walking out of her office. Upon reclosing the door, she took her phone and went to speed dial.
"Roan, are you free for a meet-up?"
-Break-
The three former – now, reassembled – teammates remained in the office after their superior left, consumed in an awkward moment of pregnant silence, with tension still palpable in the air. The only person that could possibly diffuse a potential implosion had just left, and it all left them on their edges. There had been too much history between the three of them – between the TWO of the three of them – that this is a clusterfuck just waiting for the right – and wrong – moment to go for INEVITABLE destruction.
When the two former field operatives started to really feel the brunt of the tension in the room, they started to speak.
"Bartowski."
"Chuck."
Casey and Sarah turned to each other in surprise, before shrugging off and turning to the last person in the room.
Who was looking at them the way he had for the last several minutes.
He exhaled.
"It's Agent Viltaria. Mieszko Viltaria. Chuck, or Chuck Bartowski, or Charles Carmichael as you know him to be, is dead. Legally dead. If we have to work together," he paused, "you have to get used to it. You heard Director Beckman. My status has not yet been changed, and will remain so until further notice. At least be decent and professional enough to not blow my cover, will you?" he finished with just a smidge of distaste.
Casey reluctantly nodded, while Sarah was not immediately enthused to follow on that.
He sighed.
"As we are still in the premises of this office, such mistakes I could allow. The moment we stepped out, you have to comply with what I said. It's for your own good as well as mine."
The tension in the air thickened just a bit more.
'This is exhausting! Why should I have to deal with this?!'
Breathing in deeply, he turned to his once more teammates.
"Let us not kid ourselves even for a single moment," he intoned, "we are being set up as a team by Beckman, for a mission I really could not care less if it's important or not. I'm done with that. I have bigger concerns to attend to. But orders are orders, so I have no choice but to make nice with you two."
Casey grunted.
"You will not hear any problems from me, kid. A mission's a mission. As long as I get to shoot someone, preferably traitorous sons of bitches, then I can make nice with the two of you."
He smirked at the big man.
'Same old Casey.'
He turned to the other team member.
"And you, Agent Walker?" he asked, coolly.
She was looking at him uncertainly.
"C-Chuck, I am glad that we are w-working aga—"
He cut her off.
"And I'm not. What I'm asking you is if you can be professional during this mission. You need not worry on keeping professionalism for long, as soon as the objectives are obtained, we are parting ways, that I assure you. So again, can you be professional? Can you be part of this team for this mission?"
"C-Chuck, you know that I will do my best…."
"Just answer the damn question, Walker!" he sniped at her, thoroughly irritated that she was making it so harder to deal with.
His rising voice shook her, causing her to stiffen in shock, and eyes seem to well with unshed tears.
'Arghhhhh!'
"Well?"
She was looking at her feet, now unable to meet his eyes.
"I w-will be professional, Chuck," she said softly.
Casey was just standing to the side, calmly studying the scene that was happening.
"Good," he returned, "we'll meet for planning at my apartment. 7 in the evening sharp. I'll text you the address as soon as I get out of here."
Sparing them no further look, he turned once more and promptly strode out of the room.
He needed to breathe.
-Break-
6:15 PM
July 23, 2012
Woodcomb Residence
Venice, Los Angeles
California, USA
Ellie sighed in exhaustion, as she put her sleeping daughter back to her crib.
The day had been exhausting.
Clara had just celebrated her 1st birthday, and both her parents pulled all stops in making sure that it was memorable for their precious little princess.
The Very Awesomes had just retired back to the guest room, and Morgan and Alex left after helping in the clean-up. Clara's godparents, Casey and Sarah, had not been able to attend, as their jobs had been too demanding as of late, but they did send birthday greetings to the little girl as well as their gifts.
Sitting at the couch, the Woodcomb matriarch allowed herself to reminisce the past two years since his death.
The shock of Chuck being killed, was only trumped by the revelation that he was in fact, a fucking government operative. A spook. A CIA spook. A goddamn spy.
And that too for the better path of 2 and a half years.
Years that he stubbornly chose to not tell her.
Her initial response to John Casey, who by the way turned out to be another freaking spook, this time an NSA one, was to laugh on his face.
Her brother? A spy?
Chuck Bartowski, who couldn't even kill spiders and cockroaches because apparently, they too deserved to live, was a spy?
Chuck Bartowski, who screams at even the slightest bit of falling into danger that would render even a minor physical injury, was a spy?
Chuck Bartowski, who was deathly afraid of needles that she had to practically threaten just for him to get his injections, was a spy?
And then Casey showed her her baby brother's spy will, which was, basically like just a civilian last will, or more appropriately, a last message.
Ellie finally realized it was all real.
Finding out that Devon actually knew about John and Chuck being spies, and apparently, so too was Sarah Walker, of course, beforehand, and had dared not tell her, almost destroyed their marriage when it was just in its infant stage. Ellie banished Devon to his parents for a week, before she relented a little and allowed him to attend Chuck's funeral. For about a month they had just co-habitated with each other as a married couple was EXPECTED to, not because they WANTED to.
She cried and cried for weeks after he was laid to rest.
After Halloween, a despondent Devon cried while he attempted to talk her into filing for separation, telling her that he betrayed her trust and that it was his fault.
At that point, Ellie realized that she had punishing her husband wrongfully, and the two were reconciled.
She understood that Chuck, a good brother that he was, would have made Devon promised not to tell her to keep her safe. Chuck held Devon responsible for keeping Ellie safe, and she knew her husband had asked her baby brother permission to marry her. Chuck most likely given the approval upon the condition that he kept it secret of his true status.
Two weeks after their reconciliation, their daughter was conceived.
The first few months of her pregnancy was a struggle, as she really started to slowly accept what happened. Both she and Devon attended several sessions with their therapists, and ultimately it all paid off. By the end of her second trimester, she had completely reconciled and accepted that her brother was gone.
Physically at least.
In their hearts, he would always remain, as the ever-lovable idiot that he was.
"Babe, is everything alright?"
She had not noticed that Devon had returned back after piling up all the trash to the garbage dump outside.
"Yes, everything is alright, darling. Everything is as it should be," she gave him a small smile.
She knew that her brother smiled at them and at his niece from the next life.
-Break-
11:12 PM
The former Orange Orange Fro-Yo Store
Burbank, Los Angeles
California, USA
Lester Patel sneezed.
Damn all the cobwebs and dust that had piled away at these secret ducts below the store that the freaky blondie used to work in years ago.
He and Jeff had gotten up to one of their drunken shenanigans once again. After a few too many booze in him, Jeff challenged him into breaking in into the abandoned frozen yogurt shop. He initially didn't like the idea, as going into an empty and old store was not his idea of fun, and the depressing aura of the place was seriously giving him the creeps.
When the other man told him they could clean up the place and turn it into their very own secret base, Lester acquiesced.
After all, their own base? How cool is that.
Breaking in was just too easy. It was an abandoned building after all, and there were no active security systems in place anymore. There wasn't even a lock securing the door. It seemed like the place was just ripe for the taking, with them doing the taking.
Creeping inside the store with only their flashlights, the duo unwittingly fell upon a secret door that connected to the ducts, so here they were now crawling to wherever this blasted path is leading them.
"Lester, are we there yet?"
"No Jeff, and shut up, let's just continue, okay? I'm sure these ducts don't go on for miles and miles."
Apparently, he was correct as he stumbled at the end of the duct they were in, and it connected to a metallic ladder attached to the wall. Lester and Jeff climbed down into the tiny compartment, and after picking the lock, opened the door, which led into a narrow hall.
They curiously made into the hall and traced its path, leading to them to a spacious room. It had clearly been stripped of all the plumbing and electrical ducts, and the paint was seriously worn out. There were what could only had been, to Lester at least, desktop stands, as well as tables and cabinets.
"What the hell is this place?" he asked out aloud to no one in particular.
"Maybe it was a secret spy base?" Jeff tried.
He scoffed.
"This? A secret spy base? C'mon man, a secret spy base below the Orange Orange?"
"Yeah," the nearly bald creepy Nerd Herder continued, "and it was abandoned since the spies had ended their operations here in LA."
"Okay," he allowed, "why would they abandoned this spy base, if this even is a spy base, when it is perfect for a spy base?"
"Dunno," Jeff shrugged, "maybe because they ran into some huge mission that had gone so wrong, a member died because another member was a traitor, the traitor was caught and imprisoned, and the last member decided that it was no longer logical to stay here?"
Lester snorted in derision.
"Buddy," he said as he walked to one of the walls, placed his outstretched right arm on it, and looked around, "you're smoking something nasty, I tell you, and you better stop" he fumbled as the wall, or more precisely the area of the wall where his palm was plastered on to gave in. He shrieked as he pulled his hand back to himself, while watching the small indenture in the wall deepen, before a small photo frame was rushed out of the hole and clattered to the floor, the glass of said frame cracking over.
Jeff rushed over to pick it up, and gasp in shock upon seeing who was in the future.
Lester finally took the courage to look at it, and frowned in confusion.
"What is a photo of Charles and his freaky blondie doing here in an abandoned spy base?"
The duo did not notice a small tiny LED bulb behind the edge of a destroyed desktop frame blinking thrice before going out completely.
Break –
7:28 PM
July 23, 2012
Viltaria Residence
Laurel Manor Apartments
Laurel, Washington D.C.
USA
She sighed.
They had just finished the Chinese takeout that Chuck…..that Agent Viltaria had procured for their dinner once the team had assembled at his apartment.
His apartment.
For the entire time that she had known Chuck, his only abode, his residence, had been that two-bedroom apartment he shared with his older sister and her boyfriend turned fiancé turned husband. That particular apartment in Echo Park in Burbank held so much memories of him, held so much memories for her.
Sarah Walker knew that that apartment had been her first home, and that was funny to say since the longest she stayed there was for a couple of days, and that done to reinforce the 'cover'.
That damn cover relationship between asset and handler.
The apartment was so much lovely, so much lively, so much homey, that it was what Sarah envisioned what should her DREAM HOME would be, should be, a home she had hoped, dared to dream, that she would share with Chuck in the future.
That apartment, was a complete opposite of this apartment.
C-Chu-Viltaria told them upon arrival that this unit had only been purchased for him by someone else almost a year ago, and this was the first time he had even entered it. That explained why it was barely furnished. A couple of couches and ottomans, black in color, and a small table comprises the living room. There was a small kitchen, with a round table. Then there is a moderately sized rectangular table with a huge lamp, which she suspected had been furnished for the planning session tonight.
No figurines, flower vases, TV, radio, bookshelves or whatsoever to help enliven the house to its owner.
Sarah painfully realized that it was much like what her apartment had been, at least before she met him.
Dinner had been yet another tension-filled affair. She tried to start small talk, but as always, Casey had been no help in that regard. She figured he would just talk in grunts anyway. Viltaria just looked at her detachedly everytime she tried to open her mouth, and then on what had been her 8th attempt, he frowned at her.
"Agent Walker, I'd like for us to eat in peace. We are not here to socialize and gossip, we are here to accomplish the initial planning for the mission ahead. So, if you please, let us eat, so that we could go on to our business."
Painful silence remained throughout the rest of the dinner.
Viltaria gathered the plates and put them on the sink, refusing her offers to clean up, and just motioned for her to move to the long table.
Spread on it where several documents containing more details on Rishabh and Invicta, as sent by Beckman, and a map of the Philippines. He reviewed all the details for them, as well as relayed further information he had scrounged up before they arrived here.
"Alright. The first lead is in this country, so kindly pack tropical. Its in the middle of summer in there, with frequent occasions of typhoons, so keep your coats. You'll have the entire tomorrow to rest and prepare all you have to bring for the mission. I already arranged for your flight on 5 AM of the 25th, and scheduled to arrive in Manila by 9 PM in the evening. From Manila you'll fly for Mactan. A car will wait for you there."
Casey paused.
"You mentioned me and Walker. What about you?"
"I'll be flying tomorrow morning and I expect to be in Cebu by early morning of the 25th."
"Wait, you are going to go there first?" Sarah asked, confused, "Chuck, I tho-"
He frowned at her.
"You thought wrong, Agent Walker. As for why I have to be there almost a day earlier, it is because I am familiar with the locale," at this, he closed his eyes, and breathed deeply, "I have a contact at the area, and further arrangements could be done only when I am there in person. I am doing this so that the mission could be executed more smoothly."
"But-"
"Enough!" Viltaria growled, "Do remember that you are in my team, that I am the one in charge, and just this morning you promised to be professional. I am expecting you to follow on your promise, if nothing else. If you are worrying that I will be hogging all the action and discarding you two, don't, but I could care less. Are there any other questions or helpful suggestions to raise?"
She was deeply shaken by this new Chuck…no, by this Viltaria.
Viltaria.
Mieszko Viltaria.
The name sounded so foreign to her.
So strange.
So cold.
So hurtful.
How could he change so drastically in just two years?
How could he not be her Chuck anymore?
'It was because of you!' an accusing voice inside her mind admonished.
And she could not argue with that.
She only had herself to blame.
She changed him, and not for the better.
"Now, any further requests or suggestions on both your ends can be dealt with tomorrow. Preparatory arrangements before your flight are on your discretion, and Beckman already signed off the funds for this operation, with each of us given our stipends. Please be mindful of spending, as its taxpayer money. We are government employees, not errant adventurers."
Casey grinned at him amusedly.
"If there is nothing else, I am politely asking you to leave the premises," Viltaria intoned in his now signature detached inflection, "I've yet to recover from the fatigue of flying from Europe, and I badly needed to sleep. You can contact me the day after tomorrow."
Recognizing the dismissal, Sarah tried to once more talk with him, but was spurned yet again, and she had no choice but to simply accept that this is not the proper time to talk about…. them. As he said, he needed to sleep, and this mission will soon demand their complete attention.
Maybe after the mission then.
One thing she was sure of.
Chuck, or whatever the else he goes by now, has by some miraculous turn of events, had come back to her. The dark endless tunnel she had been treading on for the past 2 years seem to spark a dim light at a distance. She will make sure to reach the end of the tunnel, to bask at that light. Chuck coming back was a sign that not everything was lost for them, right? That they had been given a second chance, right? Well, Sarah will not lose this chance, and will grab this opportunity with her own two hands, and retake back what was hers, and offer herself completely in return. At all costs, consequences be damned.
And woe to anyone that tries to stop her, she vows to herself as she steps out of her apartment.
As her back was turned, she did not notice him staring at her for several seconds, before sighing and turning to close the front door.
'The game is now afoot, and the die has been cast.'
Chapter 6 Highlights: Volkoff meets his business partner in Laos and the details about the nature and purpose of the Charybdis is SLIGHTLY revealed; Orion talks with Beckman; Sarah secretly contacts Ellie
Chapter 7 Highlights: Flashback on Chase and Cate's vacation in the Philippines; Team Intersect arrives at the Philippines and begins to execute the mission (Part 1)
TEASER SCENE:
Seeing him walk out the door with Mr. Rico, Sarah turns to Teresa and points to several framed photographs hanging by the ceiling.
The young brunette policewoman sees them and smiles. She beckons Sarah to come over. At the corner of her eyes, she saw Casey following behind them.
"Oh those, these are photos taken over the last few years with Papa's customers, at least those he got close to. We have dozens of people coming over here as enthusiastic tourists, but only a few are kind enough to really mingle with us locals."
Casey suddenly straightened up while staring at another framed photo, and this was noticed by Teresa, who promptly laughed.
"Jusko, I almost forgot! Yes, that is Leo in there alright, and his fiancée Olivia. They were here some 10 months ago, around the time that Leo was celebrating his 31st birthday. They are a very sweet couple, right?" Teresa gushed positively in delight, "Leo was so attentive to her the entire time, and Olivia pretty much doted on him. I can't imagine how painful and lost he is right now, with him losing her before they had even been able to start their family."
Sarah was only barely hearing the emotional tone of the woman as she was rooted to the spot staring at the photo that Casey had also frozen over.
In it was him, sitting by a hammock inside a hut cottage by the beach, with the arms of a woman draped over his neck and shoulders. They were staring intently at each other, with wide smiles denoting their happiness.
Him.
Chuck.
Viltaria.
Leo.
'Wait, fiancée?!'
And then she zeroed in on the right hand of the woman, palm resting over his clothed pectorals, and there it was.
A ring.
An engagement ring.
She was having trouble breathing, and she could hear her heart thumping loudly.
'Had I really been too late?'
She gasped, and then she knew no more.