Caught Unaware

Chapter 26

HOME OF CHUCK BARTOWSKI AND SARAH WALKER

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES CA

Sarah laid her head upon Chuck's shoulder, breathing heavily and sweating almost as hard as her husband beneath her.

"I'm still saying I bet at least five bucks on Casey and Amelia," Chuck said as he wrapped his arms around Sarah. "I mean, a little victory is still a victory." Sarah sat up and looked at him incredulously.

"That's what's on your mind? Right now? Seriously?" Chuck smiled at her, realizing he had better come up with something quick.

"No! No, of course not...honey. No. I mean, maybe it popped up in my head a few times... But in the last few seconds only, I swear," Chuck stumbled but grinned at her in the way she couldn't resist.

"Mhm," Sarah said, crossing her arms over her chest as she rolled onto her side of the bed, facing up. Silence filled the room, a heartbeat could have been heard if you listened hard enough.

"I should give you the money on principle. I mean, I never in my life thought-"

"Oh my god, I know, right?! I mean, who knew Casey had it in him-"

Their excited chatter was interrupted by a chime on their phones. Chuck and Sarah stopped talking and Sarah watched as Chuck reached over to the stand and looked at his phone.

"General wants another meeting, immediately," Chuck summarized to Sarah as he looked at her. Sarah looked confused but was already flinging the blankets off her body and going to her closet to quickly pick out an outfit.

A hard knock resounded off their front door and Chuck, throwing a shirt over himself and trying to button his pants, practically ran to see who was so insistent.

"Casey! And..Amelia, hey guys," Chuck greeted them as he opened the door. Casey walked in first, looking past the half-dressed man before him.

"What, you want a hug, Bartowski? Enough with the meet-and-greet, General said she wants a meeting ASAP. So let's go." Casey walked to the bedroom of Sarah and Chuck as though he owned it himself.

Chuck, buttoning up his shirt's last few buttons, hesitated for a second before following them, hoping beyond hope that Sarah was at least dressed decently for company...in their room.

The screen flickered on when they had all gathered around the TV in Chuck's room. General Beckman ran her hand through her red hair before beginning.

"Welcome team. First, I apologize for this last minute call in. Surprising turn of events have happened since we last spoke.

"As you all know, the CIA, NSA and even Venezuela intelligence had all their hand in the undercover operation well before Team Bartowski were in on it. We have recently discovered there are eleven operatives still alive and in communication with us as of a half hour ago."

"Where are they now?" asked Sarah.

"In a secure location, ready to be used at a moment's notice as soon as we lock on Flores' location," answered the General.

The team looked at one another.

"I'm glad they made it out," Sarah said to the General.

"Yeah, we got to know a lot of them, and they were really great," Chuck agreed.

"I'm sure that was their main focus," Casey muttered with a grunt, "being besties."

To the General, he asked:

"These agents are on standby, here in the States?"

"I cannot confirm or deny their whereabouts to anyone at this time, Colonel. All I can say is as soon as Flores is spotted, the teams are ready to deploy anywhere around the world to capture him," answered the General.