Hi! Remember me? I used to have an ongoing AU S3 arc called Chuck Vs. the Postcard? Well, I'm back after a lengthy absence. I still haven't entirely finished this arc, but with only a couple of chapters left, I feel confident enough to start posting what I DO have.
And after that, I've only got one more arc to finish my Season 3. I still want to finish it before the REAL season 3 ends! In case any of you are still watching the actual show and /or are still reading my stuff. What's that I hear? Crickets?
Well, my wife and Anon are STILL my editors and STILL doing a great job of it too!
And I STILL don't own Chuck, though, I know these days, how many of us really want to? (Well, the money's still good.)
Last time I posted an arc, a reader rightfully asked for a summary of what's gone before. So, here I have that summary with an addition added for my more recent arc. (This is only for people who have already read all the previous arcs, and need a reminder of what happened. If any new readers are here, please don't read this sad cliff notes version. Start from the beginning! Much appreciated.)
Part 1 - Chuck Vs. the Postcard:
-Chuck's uploading of the new Intersect wreaks havoc on both his body and his relationship with Sarah.
-Sarah requests reassignment, but is turned down by Beckman.
- Orion agrees to work again for the government. In return, Beckman provides him a house which he gives to Ellie and Devon.
- Roan Montgomery is spying on Beckman for Orion.
- Team Bartowski learns that the Ring is purging Fulcrum agents.
- Dr. Jill Roberts is saved from Ring assassins by Vincent Smith.
- Casey confirms that Chuck's Intersect skills only activate when Sarah is physically threatened.
- After an emotional discussion, Chuck and Sarah reconcile and agree to a romantic relationship.
Part 2 - Chuck Vs. Interdependence
- Ellie and Devon notify Chuck that they are moving. Chuck and Sarah take over the apartment.
- Chuck and Sarah discover that all surveillance has been removed from the apartment.
- Jill and Vincent are on the run, and plan to take down the Ring. They intend to get help.
- Casey has another encounter with his old Sensei, which causes him to reevaluate his working relationships.
- Chuck problem-solves how to have safe sex with Sarah.
Part 3 - Chuck Vs. Systematic Desensitization:
- Casey has a difficult time adjusting to Chuck and Sarah's behavior, or lack thereof.
- TB is sent on a mission to steal a cellular phone from a possible ex-Fulcrum agent, requiring Sarah's seduction skills.
- Chuck discovers a new Intersect wrinkle which once again threatens his relationship with Sarah.
Part 4 - Chuck Vs. the First Handler:
-Roan reports to Orion, having spied on TB during Systematic Desensitization.
-Orion revisits his past with Bryce Larkin.
-Orion finds Bryce's hidden plans to the Intersect 2.0.
Part 5 - Chuck Vs. the Child-Proof Safety Locks
- Chuck is having difficulty with the concept of killing.
- Chuck and Sarah go on a dinner date, followed by mini-golf.
- A mission at a Ring Warehouse turns out to be just a test of Chuck engineered by Casey and Beckman. Sarah beats Casey up. Casey insists that Chuck has to take responsibility for his choice to update the Intersect, and all that entails.
- Sarah tells Chuck she loves him.
- Chuck flashes to protect a mysterious intruder.
Part 6 - Sarah Vs. the Best Friend
- Sarah must fight to keep her sanity when Morgan returns and moves in with her and Chuck.
- Mei Ling Cho requests TB's help in taking down a Triad cell.
- Smooth Lau kidnaps Morgan, and Sarah must fight for his life.
- Jill and Vincent intervene to save Chuck.
- Chuck flashes to save Casey.
- A traitor is revealed.
Part 7 - Chuck Vs. the Strange Bedfellows
- Chuck and Orion have a discussion about Chuck's role in the spy community.
- Jill and Vincent break into the home of Ellie and Devon. Ellie is injured. Devon learns that Stephen is more than he seems.
- Orion unveils the house's security and captures Jill and Vincent.
- Chuck learns of Jill's role in the break-in and shows a new side of his personality.
- Orion executes Jill.
Part 8 – Chuck Vs. the Ghost
- Sarah breaks up with Chuck. For less than two minutes.
- Chuck and Sarah decide to move in with Ellie and Devon to protect them. Sarah makes a secret deal with Beckman.
- To investigate the home of Jill's parents, Chuck uses the aid of Roan Montgomery to craft the perfect disguise.
- Chuck and Casey learn that somebody wasn't as dead as they thought.
- Casey has to save Chuck from becoming someone he's not.
- Roan Montgomery has some trouble.
Wow. We're on page 4, and we STILL haven't started the actual new story. Well, I shall rectify that after just one more thing. Thanks for all of you who have taken the time to read my lengthy storyline. I couldn't do it without you.
As Chuck looked at the guns that were pointing at him, he couldn't help but feel somewhat resentful. Not towards the several men holding the guns. By now, Chuck had been held at gunpoint so many times, he had long passed the point of taking such things personally. Besides, the people pointing the guns were honest about their intentions.
Chuck felt righteously pissed, because although his rashness was technically the cause of his current predicament, he strongly felt that he wouldn't have been driven to this mistake if people in his life hadn't kept lying to him.
Whether they told him outright falsehoods, or simply omitted important information, they were still liars.
Based on his odd history in the last few years, Chuck had to ask himself, "Why have I always been so quick to believe?" __________________________________________________________________
"The question is, Chuck, who do you believe?"
Chuck Bartowski looked at Morgan. His formerly-bearded friend was in dire need of a win. Morgan's attempts at blocking the move had failed, and despite Chuck's protestations that they would still have weekly gaming nights and that Sarah would continue to provide Hibachi lessons, Morgan had looked upon the hour separation as a death-knell for his most prized friendship. He seemed desperately depressed.
"Well," said Chuck, "I have to say that I agree with Morgan's belief that the Chorgan Entertainment System would look brilliant under your gigantic HDTV, Ellie." Chuck tried to ignore John Casey in the background, mouthing "Chorgan" with a smirk. For their part, Sarah and Captain Awesome were keeping their faces neutral and their mouths shut.
Ellie, who had posed the question to Chuck, gave her brother an expression which perfectly communicated that he had given the wrong answer. "Mm-hm. And as the person who is giving you a place to stay, I stand by my belief that the Chorgan is an eyesore, and that the men whose names comprise the Chorgan should be thankful that I allow them to ever have a game night in this house. Ever."
Behind him, Chuck heard Morgan repeatedly mutter, "Stand up for yourself, Dude. Stand up for yourself, Dude. Stand up for your-"
"Morgan," said Chuck, but he didn't need to say more than that, because Morgan immediately recognized Chuck's surrendering tone, threw his head in his hands, and said, "Aw MAN!"
"Look Buddy, Ellie's right. This is her house and we're guests. She has a right to have things her way."
John Casey muttered, "Sister-Whipped," to which both Ellie and Sarah snapped their heads toward the Colonel and simultaneously yelled, "Hey!"
Chuck used the distraction to put his hands on Morgan's shoulders and whisper, "And you can keep the system until our game nights. The only time I'll play with the Chorgan is with you."
Morgan raised his head and said, "Really? Wow, that's generous Chuck, thanks!" He paused, then added, "We really need to change its name though."
Chuck nodded, "Agreed."
In spite of Morgan's initial failed attempt to sabotage proceedings by trying to break back into the "Morgan Door", the excavation of the former Bartowski apartment in Echo Park went smoothly. With an extra U-Haul and the help of Casey, they were able to transport everything in one run.
Then, after the Chorgan dispute was settled, and the women were done yelling at Casey, a celebratory pizza feast was held. Stephen Bartowski was not in attendance, being called away for some type of business.
"What is your Dad up to these days?" asked Morgan before chomping into the last ham-pineapple slice.
"Oh, who knows?" said Ellie. "I was unclear on what Dad did before he up and left. He's always talking about his tech inventions that were subsequently stolen by Ted Roark. Still, he always managed to keep a roof over our heads when he was around, and he was obviously successful enough to buy us this beautiful house. So, y'know, I'm not complaining."
"Me neither," said Chuck, though he was considerably more curious. Still, his father's business was his own, and Chuck didn't feel like pushing. He just wished that he and Dad had more chance to talk, period. Well, now that they were living on the same property, he'd likely have more opportunity.
Casey's cellular phone rang. He excused himself to take it. When he came back, he was smiling; well, trying to smile anyway. Chuck immediately picked up that something was wrong. Chuck could tell that Sarah had noticed too. In fact, anybody who would have looked closely at Casey could probably tell the smile was forced.
"Uh, believe it or not," said Casey, "that was a call we've been waiting for. A potential contractor from D.C."
Ellie raised her eyebrows. "It's almost 8 p.m. there. On a Saturday."
Chuck stood up and said apologetically, "This particular client tends to work at all hours, and expects his vendors to do the same. I'm sorry, Ellie, but if we're going to have a chance to do this, we should be going to our office, and setting up a conference call."
Ellie shrugged. "Well, if that's what you need to do, go on."
Sarah stood and said, "You guys aren't going to need me for this. I still want to get started on our room before I nod off. I'll see you later?" She walked over and gave Chuck a peck on the lips.
Thank you, Sarah, thought Chuck. Having to leave one of them behind to always keep an eye on Ellie and Devon was probably going to become a pain in the ass before long, but Sarah was fully on board. As if he couldn't love her enough already.
After the good-byes and hugs all around, Chuck, Casey, and Morgan piled into the Vic. Because of Morgan's presence, Casey couldn't talk about what was actually the problem. But Chuck could tell that it was something very serious. This was confirmed by the fact that Casey was speeding. He cut down the time in half.
Once Morgan had been seen through his front door, Casey turned his head to Chuck. He wasn't hiding his expression anymore, and what Chuck saw there worried him. "We've got a major problem," said the Colonel.
45 minutes later, Sarah received a phone call, herself. She turned to Ellie and Devon and said that she was in the mood to take a walk. By herself. She donned a sweatshirt and made her way out the door and two blocks down where she found the van.
When she came inside, she heard them arguing as usual. "They don't tell us until two days after it happened?" yelled Chuck.
"Hard as it may be to believe, Moron, the sun and the NSA don't rise and fall on your ass. They've got all sorts of shit they've gotta deal with."
Sarah cleared her throat. Chuck and Casey both turned to her. Chuck looked anguished. That would be a cause of concern for her, but she was more disturbed by her other partner's expression. Casey looked spooked. Casey never looked spooked.
"What happened?" asked Sarah, a dreadfully bad feeling curling around her.
"General Beckman has been shot," said Casey.
"WHAT? When did this happen?"
"Two days ago!" Chuck almost wailed. "It happened two days ago, and they only called us now!"
Sarah, like Casey, understood that Project Bartowski was hardly the only operation under Beckman's sight, so she wasn't entirely surprised with the delay either, though she certainly understood Chuck's frustration. Sarah turned to Casey. "Is she gone?"
"They wouldn't give me more answers until we were all together. I had to repeatedly explain that we couldn't have the meeting out of Castle." Casey pulled open a laptop, and while tapping some keys, he added, "I don't know exactly who they're going to have talk to us, or how much we can expect to learn."
What appeared to be a clerical staff blinked onto the screen. "Oh! Ah, Major?" she said, glancing at her paperwork. Casey let the error pass. "Colonel Gondel is ready for your team, Sir."
Sarah saw Casey twitch ever so slightly in response to the name. The clerk didn't notice though. A minute later a uniformed man Sarah had never seen materialized on the screen. He looked to be in his late seventies, bald, fairly unremarkable looking. When he saw Casey, this man almost seemed surprised himself.
"Ah! Lieutenant Colonel! Congratulations on your latest promotion!" He smiled widely. Sarah thought that was odd, considering the circumstances of this meeting. "I've been assigned to your team during the General's convalescence."
"Is she going to be OK?" asked Chuck in a rush. Sarah tried not to wince. Beckman had been used to Chuck's lack of professional demeanor when talking to superiors, but others might not be so tolerant. However, this Colonel Gondel didn't seem annoyed. He just seemed to look at Chuck with a curious expression.
"Well, the General made it through surgery, and she's stabilized, but, I'm afraid she's in a coma. The bullet apparently lodged in her neck. Her physicians aren't sure at what point she might awaken, if ever. I'm sure she'd appreciate your concern, Mr..." The man stopped to check his own paperwork, and Sarah felt a wave of discomfort hit her. "Bartowski!" the man said with a smile of triumph. Then he looked over to Sarah. "And you are?"
Oh no. "Agent Sarah Walker, Sir, of the Central Intelligence Agency. My agency has lent me out to the NSA for however long this project requires."
Colonel Gondel smiled amiably. "Well, that's nice." Then, he gradually turned his head to gaze on each of them in turn. Sarah looked into his eyes and thought, This man is either a complete idiot or he's very good at making us think he's an idiot.
Gondel seemed to shake himself out of his reverie, then said, "Well, from what I've been told, you're all quite capable. We can check in weekly if you need anything, but for now, the directive is to stay the course. Follow General Beckman's most recent orders to a 'T' and you should be fine. Oh, there is the matter of a young man who is going to be visiting with you tomorrow at your Castle headquarters. He's a CIA agent named Wendell Wagner. We're hoping that you might be able to collaborate with him on the matter of the General's shooting, given your recent proximity with the suspect."
Recent proximity? "Who is the suspect, Colonel?" asked Casey.
"Ah, well, let's see here." Gondel checked his paperwork again. Then he looked up and almost cheerfully said, "That would be a Mr. Roan Montgomery."
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Chuck yelled. "Roan? They actually suspect Roan?"
"Shut up and let me think, Bartowski." For once, Chuck immediately followed his partner's directive. Casey looked disturbed. Sarah could tell. But she'd bet anything that it wasn't the mention of the suspect that was the cause of Casey's current discomfiture.
"You know him? Gondel?"
Casey's eyes turned to her. He nodded. "Some folks call him 'Goober', because... Well, you could see what he was just acting like."
"Is it an act, Casey?"
Casey paused, considering. "I've dealt with Gondel a couple of times, but I've talked to vets who've constantly worked with him day in and day out for years. If you were to ask them if that was an act, they'd tell you they have no idea."
Casey and Sarah looked at each other silently for a moment, until Chuck asked, "What does that mean, exactly? For us?"
Sarah turned to her boyfriend. She didn't have the heart to tell him. Fortunately, Casey took the task upon himself.
"Beckman had an agenda to be sure, but she usually included at least Walker or I in the picture. There was a fair exchange of information. With Gondel as her stand-in, we've effectively just been notified that we're out of the loop."
Sarah picked up the line of thinking, "Say Gondel is what he appears to be. Then he's a puppet to the people who really know what's going on. They can manipulate us through him, but we don't know who they are or what they're thinking. The other possibility is that Gondel is in on it, and is manipulating us directly. Either way, we're being played."
Casey continued again, "We can't even bring up the Intersect. It's not likely, but it's possible that Beckman kept certain elements of the project to herself, and if she did that, she might have had a reason."
"What," Chuck swallowed. "What reason?" Sarah had a feeling, though, that Chuck knew.
Casey replied, "Maybe she thought some of her colleagues or superiors might be Ring."
Chuck's body slumped. "Great. I don't suppose you two know anybody in the hierarchy that we can absolutely trust?"
Sarah immediately thought of Graham and Bryce. "Nobody living," she said, sadly.
Chuck turned to Casey, his eyes appearing somewhere between desperate and hopeful. Casey immediately shook his head. "A year ago, I never would have thought that Miles or Ty Bennett would have turned." He sounded bitter.
"Well, what about Roan?" asked Chuck. "I mean, if we don't know if we can trust Gondel or the people behind him, isn't it possible that they set Roan up?"
Casey shrugged. "Possible."
"Phew," breathed Chuck.
"But it's also possible Montgomery is a bad guy," said Casey. "I know you like him, Chuck, but you're going to have to get used to an unpleasant fact. "We can't trust anybody, now."
"Except each other," Chuck said. When Casey didn't immediately nod, or at least grunt affirmatively, Chuck repeated in strong tones, "Except. Each. Other! Casey, if we're in this situation, we have got to have each other's backs. I know you and Sarah have mine. You know that Sarah and I have yours, right?"
This time, Casey slowly nodded. Chuck released another sigh of relief. "Good. And that includes keeping no secrets from each other. We all have to be on the same page. Everybody cool with that?" Casey nodded again.
Sarah nodded too, but at Chuck's words, she felt ice form in her gut. Chuck looked at her strangely, perhaps sensing her hesitation. She followed-up her nod by saying, "Of course, Chuck," and showing her most confident smile. He seemed to buy it.
"All right," Chuck continued, "So what do we do next?"
Casey's response was immediate. "We follow orders."
Chuck appeared confused. "But I thought you said we couldn't trust-"
"So what?" Casey replied. "How else are we going to figure out what's going on? We can't investigate every superior because they might be Ring. I know your modus operandi is to run" - Casey turned and smirked at Sarah. She gave him a nasty look in return - "but you've seen how far that's gotten you. We can't desert and we can't quit. We follow orders and see where it leads us."
"And what if it leads to a trap?"
Sarah answered that question reluctantly. "Then we spring it."
That night as she lay in bed, her boyfriend slumbering by her side, Sarah thought about what she hadn't told him.
Beckman's last order.
The General hadn't told Sarah why she wanted Orion tracked. It wasn't for Sarah to ask, just to do. Sarah's assumption had been that Beckman was just being paranoid, uncomfortable with not having Orion under her control. That was all.
But now General Beckman was in a coma. What if… what if the General had actually had a more serious reason for wanting Orion watched? No, that was insane. There was no way that Stephen Bartowski would have had anything to do with this. No reason…
Sarah's eyes wandered to the window of their bedroom on the second floor. If she were to stand up and look through it, she'd be able to see his cottage. Stephen wasn't there right now. Chuck was snoring softly. His arm was slung over her, but very loosely. She could slip out of bed without waking him. She could sneak downstairs, go through the back door, open the lock, and search the room. She'd be back upstairs quickly with Chuck none the wiser.
Sarah thought about what her duty was. She thought about the man she loved and what might happen if he were to learn of her spying on his father.
Stephen wasn't expected to be back for a couple more days. Perhaps, they'd learn something in the meeting with Wagner. Maybe they'd be able to solve this mystery without her having to spy on Orion.
Sarah took Chuck's arm and pulled it more tightly around her. She didn't need to go anywhere tonight. She could afford to wait until tomorrow.