The Burbank Station

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck or any of the characters in the series. I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters in the series.

Author's Notes: This story is the sequel to "The Burbank Situation".


Chapter 1: The Bait Part 1

California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, November 16th, 2007

Chuck Bartowski stared at the disc on his desk. A message. From Bryce Larkin, his former friend. They had had plans together - until Bryce had framed him for cheating and got him expelled from Stanford a few months before graduation. Before or after hitching up with Chuck's girlfriend, Jill.

Bryce Larkin, who had been a CIA double agent infiltrating a secret organisation named 'Fulcrum' and had stolen an NSA top-secret database and search algorithm - the Intersect - only to mail it to Chuck before he was shot and left for dead. Which led to the Intersect ending up in Chuck's head, and him becoming a high-level CIA intelligence asset.

And to Chuck working with Bryce Larkin to root out the Fulcrum agents within the CIA and NSA. A mission that had led to Bryce dying - for real, this time - in a bombing that destroyed the rebuilt Intersect and, once more, left Chuck the only Intersect in the world - and Fulcrum's number one target.

And left him with Bryce's last message.

He picked up the disc. "You should never connect media you don't trust to your computer," he reminded himself aloud.

"What did you say?"

He jerked, almost dropping the disc to the floor. Sarah! He still wasn't used to actually living with his girlfriend. He still wasn't used to a girlfriend, period. Even less to a girlfriend who was one of the best spies in the CIA.

He heard her steps on the stairs - she wasn't trying to sneak, or he wouldn't have heard her at all - and a moment later, she entered his room. "Chuck?"

"Uh, ah… I was just talking to myself." He dropped the disc onto his desk with a flick of his fingers that didn't look as smooth as he had imagined it. "Bryce sent me a message, or so the tag claims."

"A message?" Sarah frowned, which made her look very cute, as she walked up to his desk and grabbed the envelope and note with which the disc had been delivered.

"Classic 'to be mailed after my death' message, I think," Chuck said. That was how it worked in a tv series.

"Sloppy," she commented. "You either need someone you trust implicitly, or you set up an automatic delivery system, which you might be unable to stop after at one point even though you're still alive."

"Ah." That made sense. Of course it did. Sarah was an experienced spy. Her past was so secret, it wasn't even in her CIA file. Chuck knew that since he knew her file courtesy of the Intersect. "I'm a little hesitant to open the message. Or slide the disc into my drive. The last time I opened a message from Bryce, I ended up with…" He pointed at his temple. "You know."

She nodded, putting one hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. She hadn't taken offence, had she? Without the Intersect, they wouldn't have met, after all.

He cleared his throat. "So… I'm a tiny little bit apprehensive. On the other hand: It's his last message. It could be important." He would feel really stupid - and would probably be dead - if they failed to destroy Fulcrum because Chuck hadn't wanted to listen to Bryce's last words and they contained crucial information. Which, thanks to the Intersect compiling and analysing data in seemingly random patterns to generate results nothing else could come up with, could be the case even if Bryce himself hadn't been aware of that information.

"Yes. Do you want me to stay while you open it?"

She didn't question whether or not he'd open it. Of course, she didn't know that he wasn't as brave as he tried to act. But he wanted her here. And she deserved to be here. Bryce had been his friend - his best friend, apart from Morgan - but he had also been her lover. "Yes."

He'd still run a virus check, of course. And he'd use a fresh laptop from the Buy More stocks. Just in case.

It would be really embarrassing if he'd catch a virus because he didn't follow the very security rules he always told the Nerd Herd clients to follow.


It was a video message. Chuck winced - reading Bryce's last words was one thing, but seeing him, hearing him… But Chuck would see this through. He had gone through worse, after all.

"Well, Chuck, if you see this, then I'm dead."

Bryce's grin on the screen didn't look like he actually expected that to happen, but he quickly grew serious.

"And I never told you why I got you expelled from Stanford."

He sighed. He looked a little younger than Chuck remembered.

"And that's something you deserve to know. Something I don't want to take with me into the grave, so to speak. In short, the CIA wanted to recruit you at Stanford. Just as they recruited me."

He grinned again.

"Yes, Chuck, I'm a spy. And a good one. Anyway, I knew you weren't cut out to a spy - it's not a game, Chuck. It's a dirty business. Too dirty and too brutal for you. But I also knew you wouldn't turn them down if they asked. You'd think it were an adventure, like a game. And they would ask you - your grades were just too good, and you fit their other requirements. So, I decided to frame you as a cheater. If the CIA thought your grades were fake, they wouldn't be interested. Especially since you got caught. I know it would hurt you, but you'd still be alive. Alive and with your family, instead of training to be a killer like me."

He sighed.

"I don't regret it. Not framing you, not becoming a spy myself. I only regret that you never knew that it was for your own good. Well, now you know."

He smiled.

"Sorry for the late apology. Oh. I almost forgot: Seducing Jill was also for your own good. She would have destroyed you, trust me. So, live long and prosper, Chuck."

Bryce grinned until the message ended.


Chuck leaned back, clenching his teeth. "For my own good," he spat. "Fun and games? I grew up on a Hellmouth!"

Sarah squeezed his shoulder again. "He must have recorded the message before he learned the truth."

Chuck closed his eyes. Was it his own damn fault? If he had told Bryce about the supernatural during their time at Stanford… But Bryce had laughed at the hints. If it had been Los Angeles, Chuck might have been able to arrange for a demonstration, but Stanford? Not to mention that 'my friend doesn't believe in magic, I want to show him the truth' sounded really petty as a reason to ask for a favour from the Council, now that he thought of it.

He sighed. "I know that he didn't know. But to know what he thought about me? That kinda hurts, you know?" He turned his head to look at her.

She nodded and sat on the desk, half-facing him.

He tore his eyes away from her legs. "And there were a few too many 'knows' in that sentence." He forced himself to chuckle. "I…" Not 'know'. "I'm aware I'm no Casey." All too aware. "But I don't exactly look that weak, do I?"

Her smile twisted a little. "You'll make a good spy," she said.

"Ouch." He grimaced. "Shouldn't you salvage my fragile male ego?" He turned it into a joke with another forced grin.

"You've fought demons and spies," she told him. "Without the advantages of training or magic powers. I told you before: Don't put yourself down." She slid off the desk and into his lap.

He gasped a little at the unexpected weight - not that he'd complain - as his arms closed around her waist and his chair rolled back about a foot.

"That you don't look like Casey is an advantage for a spy," she said. "You're more attractive as well," she added with a smirk that had rapidly become familiar to him.

"Ah…" he knew what was coming - she was already shifting her weight - and his lips were open when she kissed him.

When they broke the kiss, he wanted to crack a joke. Something like 'I'm already feeling better'. Or 'my ego's been healed.' But all he managed was a sappy smile.

He still couldn't really believe that a woman like Sarah would fall for him. Bryce didn't believe it either, of course. He fought the annoyance that thought brought with it down. Bryce had been wrong. Sarah wasn't manipulating him.

It still felt wrong to make out right after watching his former friend's last message.

Then another kiss that left both of them panting, and Chuck pushed the doubts away.


California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, November 17th, 2007

Waking up with Sarah in his arms was something of which Chuck would never grow tired. And watching her wake up… The way she blinked, half-asleep, completely relaxed, before she snapped fully awake and tensed, glaring around for a moment… A perfect mix of beauty and danger.

"Good morning," he drawled.

"Good morning," she replied, brushing a lock of hair away from her face.

Perfect.

"Good Morning!"

Hearing Ellie yelling from below, though, wasn't perfect.

"Chuck! Sarah! We've got breakfast ready in twenty minutes!"

"Thank you, Ellie!" he yelled back. As if they couldn't prepare breakfast themselves. Granted, sometimes - well, often - they didn't manage to get out of the bed in time but, still, it was the principle of the thing. He loved his sister, but she had an annoying tendency to mother him - including trying to run his life. "Breakfast with the family is on the menu," he said in a low voice, grimacing.

Sarah smiled. She was a trooper. "We better get up, then."

He nodded, even though he would prefer to get up to something else.


"So, have you thought about remodelling?" Ellie asked as she served coffee. "Chuck's got many talents, but interior decorator isn't among them."

"Love you too, sis," Chuck muttered.

Sarah, of course, managed to keep smiling and reply: "We haven't yet talked about that."

Did that mean she wanted to remodel his apartment? It wasn't a man cave, as Morgan had wanted, and IKEA furniture wasn't really bad, was it?

"Well, you should," Captain Awesome said, showing his perfect teeth in a smile. "It's not a home until you've made it yours. Both of you, together. Ellie and I did that."

Of course they had. Chuck forced himself to smile. "We haven't yet discussed that. But we will - Sarah's great at remodelling. You should have seen her old apartment!" That earned him a look from her.

"I'd love to see it!" Ellie said. "I've got the evening free!"

Sarah's look turned into a glare.

Oh, yes - the CIA had furnished her apartment. Chuck had forgotten that.

That might complicate matters a little.


California, Los Angeles, Glendale, November 17th, 2007

"Oh, I love it! You've got such great taste!" Ellie exclaimed. "Chuck, let her decorate your apartment!"

Chuck forced himself to smile - his apartment was perfectly fine. Behind Ellie's back, Sarah shook her head at him. "Uh, this apartment is very different from ours, you know?" he said. "What fits one might not fit the other."

"Anything is better than 'Late Nintendo Style'," Ellie replied.

"Hey!" He frowned at her. He didn't even have a Nintendo console! "I'll have you know that many artists use computer art in their work these days!"

Ellie raised her eyebrows at him. "You're no artist, Chuck." She turned to Sarah, who quickly pasted a smile on her face. "Really, unless you want to live in an apartment styled after video games, you need to take matters into hand."

"I'm sure we'll work things out," Sarah said, then frowned at him again once Ellie turned to inspect at the low glass table in front of the couch.

Chuck couldn't help noticing a distinct lack of Sarah defending his interior decorating choices.


California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, November 17th, 2007

"The apartment isn't that bad, you know," Chuck said once Sarah and he had returned to his - their - apartment. "Of course, it doesn't have any designer furniture or antiques, but it's functional. In a Scandinavian way."

"You mean it's a mix of IKEA and comic and video games merchandise," Sarah replied.

"TRON is a classic movie!" he protested.

"About a video game." She smirked at him.

He raised a finger to retort, but couldn't think of an argument that wouldn't sound stupid. "It's still a classic," he finally said, sitting down on his couch.

"I doubt that Ellie minds your Tron poster," Sarah said as she joined him on the couch.

"She's my sister but she doesn't live here. Even though she tends to treat it as an extension of her apartment," he replied. "You're moving in here, so: What do you mind?"

"Hm."

"That's where you assure me that the apartment only needs a few feminine touches and is otherwise fine," he reminded her.

"You want me to lie to you?" She was smiling, but he still felt the sting. "Also, 'feminine touches'? Really?"

He had to wince. "Sorry, I was quoting Morgan."

"Ah."

He didn't like that tone. "He's my best friend."

"He also isn't an authority on interior decoration," Sarah retorted.

"Well, aren't we going to let the CIA specialists do their thing? You know, the safehouse guys?" Chuck had seen their lists and services, after all.

"You're too secret for them," Sarah shot the idea down.

"What about the guys who built the underground base?"

"It's been officially christened 'The Castle'," she told him. "But would you really want them to decorate your home? Holding cells, armories and computer screens?"

The Castle. He hadn't known that. Shouldn't he have been told? He shook his head. "Can't we decorate our home?"

"We'll have to."

Judging by her wry smile… "Let me guess: Your home wouldn't pass muster with Ellie either, would it?"

"I'm a spy, not an interior decorator."

Which meant no, it wouldn't. He tried to hide his grin but failed. She smiled in return.


California, Burbank, Buy More, November 19th, 2007

Morgan made a beeline towards him as soon as Chuck entered the Buy More. Which wasn't a good sign.

"Hi, Chuck! You're not busy, are you? Of course you're not, or you wouldn't be here but off doing spy stuff. Listen! I need your help!"

"What? With your 'the best assault clips of Medal of Honour' video?"

"What? Oh, no, I did that yesterday." Morgan handed him a memory stick. "Try it out! It's great!" He smiled. "No, it's about you know what. Did Caridad talk to you yet?"

"Morgan, I told you, I can't control my 'thing'." Chuck blinked. "And that sounded much worse than I thought."

"She didn't." Morgan nodded, apparently ignoring him. "Look, someone's been poaching."

"Poaching?"

"Yes, in the last week, three half-demons were killed by unknown hunters."

"And Caridad is complaining about 'kill stealing'." Chuck nodded. Slayers were very territorial - sometimes irrationally so.

"Uh… the victims were peaceful half-demons." Morgan winced. "Phil thinks that they were killed for their blood - they were all drained."

Chuck winced. "Damn. That's…" Vampires generally wouldn't drink slime blood.

"Yeah." Morgan nodded. "They were all half-slime demons."

Chuck winced again. "Uh. You mean...?"

"Yes. Jeff could be in danger."

"He's no half-demon. He just has one among his ancestors," Chuck said.

"That might be enough for the killer." Morgan nodded. "We need to protect him."

Protecting Jeff… Chuck knew that that was easier said than done. Some people with demon ancestry lived perfectly normal lives. Jeff wasn't among them. 'Weird' and 'creepy' described him quite accurately. 'Lecherous' as well. There was a reason he was never sent to a female Nerd Herd customer. And, Chuck had to admit, there was a reason that Anna was the only female Nerd Herder who hadn't quit after a few weeks - she had resorted to physical attacks to stop him stalking her.

And she wasn't the only one who had ever beaten up Jeff; such incidents happened quite frequently when he and Lester went drinking together, as Chuck had learned from their chats during work. So they couldn't assume that someone was the murderer whom Caridad hunted just because they were attacking Jeff. Fortunately for him and the Buy More's health insurance provider, his slime demon ancestry made Jeff quite resilient and he healed quicker than normal humans.

"I'll tell Casey that we might have demon hunters on the premises," he told Morgan.

"Are you sure Casey won't kill Jeff?" Morgan asked with a notable wince.

"Of course…" Chuck trailed off. Casey actually had often voiced his wish to kill Jeff and Lester, and Chuck wasn't entirely certain whether he was serious or not. If the agent knew that Jeff had demon ancestry, would he consider the man a threat?

Chuck sighed. "I'll tell him not to kill Jeff. But tell Jeff to tone his usual antics down." Delegation was the key to good management, after all.

Morgan grimaced but nodded in agreement. "I'll do it. I'll threaten him with Caridad."

"Good." They couldn't threaten Jeff with Casey since that would endanger the agent's cover - and Casey would certainly kill Jeff to prevent that. Probably enjoy it, too. But Caridad? Even Jeff knew better than to annoy the resident Slayer.

"Speak of the devil…" Morgan whispered, nodding towards the door to the staff area, where Casey had just appeared. "Good luck!"

Chuck frowned as Morgan made his exit, then sighed and marched towards the agent. "Hey, Casey!"

The agent narrowed his eyes at once. "Bartowski," he growled.

Chuck had a flashback to that encounter with the neighbours' pitbull in Sunnydale which had traumatised him for his kindergarten years. "Uh… bad time?"

"It's always a bad time in the Buy More."

"Ah…" Chuck forced himself to smile. "And a good morning to you as well!" He cleared his throat and checked if anyone was watching them, but he couldn't spot anyone - this was too early for most customers. "So… I just heard something that might have an impact on our mission."

"The poachers?"

Chuck blinked, How had…? "Caridad told you?"

"Yes." He grinned. "First time Jeff will be of any use."

"Uh…" What did he…? Chuck's eyes widened as he made the connection. "You're using him as bait?"

Casey grinned. "If we're lucky, they'll kill him before we get them. Win-win."

"You didn't actually ask him, did you?"

"Of course not. If he were aware, he'd give the game away." Casey bared his teeth.

"Ah… good plan. Good plan." Chuck nodded and kept smiling until Casey had disappeared behind the latest game releases.

This was a bad idea. Very bad.


California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, November 19th, 2007

"...and they're using Jeff as bait," Chuck finished telling Sarah the news before taking another sip from his soda.

She didn't look as shocked as he had expected. She was nodding, actually. "It's smart. That way, they don't have to split their forces between bodyguarding and hunting."

"Casey said if the poachers killed Jeff, it'd be a win-win situation:"

"He wasn't serious," she replied.

"He sounded serious," Chuck retorted.

"He probably just wanted to get a rise out of you," Sarah said. "Besides, if the target of a bodyguarding mission were killed on his watch, it'd reflect negatively on his reputation."

"It's not an official mission," he reminded her.

"But," she countered with a grin, "it's a mission from Caridad. She informed him before you heard about this, right?"

"Right." Sarah was correct - Morgan had informed him, but Caridad had gone to Casey. "Do you really think there's something between those two?"

"Why, jealous?" She grinned, making it a joke.

"No, no" Chuck was quick to say. "I'm just…" A little jealous - dropped for Casey? Would Sarah do the same? No. "No, I just can't see him with her. They're too…"

"Similar?"

"Yes!" He nodded at her.

"Opposites attract, but birds of a feather flock together," she said as she rose.

"Ah." Chuck nodded again, wondering if that meant anything for his and Sarah's relationship.


California, Burbank, The Castle, November 19th, 2007

"...and according to our, albeit limited, information, Mr Colt is currently in Los Angeles. As he is suspected of being a key figure in the sabotage of the Intersect, his arrest is of utmost importance to uncover Fulcrum's plot." General Beckman stared at them as she nodded once. "You will deploy the Intersect at the possible locations of interest we sent you. Any questions?"

The sabotage of the Intersect and the murder of Bryce and the director, Chuck mentally corrected the general.

"No, ma'am," Casey snapped.

"No, general," Sarah added.

This wouldn't be a good time to ask for leave, Chuck knew. Even though he was supposed to deal - or at least help - with someone targeting half-demons in Los Angeles, and Ellie expected him to turn his apartment into an exhibit fit for 'American Home Magazine' - yesterday.

"No, ma'am," he replied accordingly, then waited until the screen turned black. "Uh…"

"This takes priority, Bartowski," Casey interrupted him.

"But…"

"We have to find out what Fulcrum knows - if they know about you…" Sarah shook her head as she trailed off. "I'm sorry, Chuck, but the Council will have to solve the poaching problem on their own."

"But…" They couldn't let Jeff get killed.

"Caridad will manage," Casey said. "And if she doesn't, Jeff is an acceptable loss."

"No, he isn't!" Chuck blurted out. Jeff might be creepy, and a lech, and misusing Buy More equipment - though everyone did that - but he was still their co-worker. And if your co-worker was threatened, you were supposed to do something about it.

And now he sounded like Morgan in his own head. Morgan misquoting a classic move, to be precise.

Casey snorted. "You're the Intersect. He's a drain on company resources. Well, one of the worst of your bunch."

"I didn't know you cared so much about the Buy More's bottom line," Chuck retorted. "Big Mike would be happy to hear that."

"It's the principle of the thing," Casey replied. "And priorities. You're one, he's not, and we can't help everyone."

Chuck looked at Sarah, but she shook her head. "You're more important, Chuck."

He knew she didn't just mean the Intersect in his head, but it still stung. He stood, shaking his head. "I'll not let him get killed!" he declared as he left The Castle.

As soon as he could think of a good way to achieve that without endangering the mission and putting Sarah and Casey at risk.


California, Burbank, Buy More, November 19th, 2007

Chuck found Jeff and Lester in the staff area of the Buy More trying to load speakers into Jeff's van. He cleared his throat, which caused them to freeze.

"Oh, hi, Chuck!" Lester beamed the worst smile Chuck had seen in days at him. "Didn't see you there."

"What's up?" Jeff appeared to be considerably less nervous than his friend.

"I think that's my line," Chuck told them, trying to imitate Casey's glare. Lester cringed a little, but Jeff, as usual, seemed completely unaffected. "Did you buy those speakers?"

"Uh… we're not taking them," Lester said. "We're… we're borrowing them!"

Jeff nodded.

"To test them. They were defective, and we fixed them, so we need to test them. Wouldn't want to sell shoddy merchandise in the Buy More, would we?"

"'Testing'." Chuck shook his head. "And how long were those tests supposed to take?"

"A week? Have to be sure that…" Lester trailed off.

"Put them back to the warehouse," Chuck snapped. "Jeff, I need to talk to you afterwards. Alone," he added.

For the first time since he had caught them in the act, Jeff looked nervous, Chuck noticed before he left them to check what else they might have done.


Fifteen minutes later, Jeff entered Chuck's office - which had been a broom closet before his promotion to assistant manager.

"We're done," Jeff said while looking at the wall behind Chuck.

Chuck raised a finger. "One moment." He walked to the door. "Lester, don't!" he snapped, then listened to the other man scrambling away. "I wanted to talk to you alone," he said as he returned to his seat.

Jeff shrugged. He really didn't make it easy to care about him, in Chuck's opinion.

He sighed. "Jeff, did you hear about the half-slime demon killings?"

Jeff's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Chuck. "That wasn't me!" he blurted out. "I didn't kill anyone!"

Ah. "No. I meant, someone has been killing half-slime demons in Los Angeles."

"Oh." And Jeff was back to that half-lidded stare.

"For their blood," Chuck added.

"Oh." Jeff blinked. Slowly.

"You might be in danger as well," Chuck pointed out a few seconds of silence later.

"Oh."

Chuck resisted the urge to rub his face. "Let rephrase that: The Slayer thinks the killers will come for you."

"The Slayer?" Jeff's voice had risen an octave.

"Yes."

Jeff started to look around. "Is she here?"

"She might be - I wouldn't know," Chuck said. "Look, calm down. They're keeping an eye on you."

"What?" Jeff jumped up. "I have to get out… I have to get away!" He whirled and almost ran into the door.

"Wait!" Chuck yelled as he stood up himself.

But the man wasn't listening, and by the time Chuck had gotten out from behind his desk in the narrow former closet, Jeff had disappeared.


California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, November 19th, 2007

"And it seems that Jeff had prepared a hideout 'deep in the bowels of the Buy More'," Chuck told Sarah over dinner - he had made a penne casserole. He shook his head. "It's a real labyrinth there, dating back about a hundred years, of failed projects and excavations. All of it is unsafe, so it's been closed off - or should have been. I called Caridad, but she lost his trail in the tunnels below the basement."

Sarah frowned. "Couldn't she follow his scent?"

"Apparently, Jeff used some chemicals to throw her off," Chuck told her. Which probably was a good thing - Caridad had looked so mad when her nose didn't stop running for half an hour after smelling Jeff's concoction, she might have killed him herself if she had found him.

Sarah chuckled. "I would have liked to see that." He frowned at her, but her grin grew a little wider. "And you probably should have expected that to happen when you told him that Caridad would be watching him."

"Honestly, it's sometimes hard to remember just how much some demons fear the Slayer," he said.

"There's also the fact that Jeff and his friends are creepy voyeurs who tried to take upskirt pictures of me with a remote-controlled toy car," Sarah pointed out.

"What?" Chuck had a sudden urge to hunt down Jeff himself.

"I taught them not to," she replied.

"Ah." He blinked. "Was that shortly after you arrived?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"They claimed the toy car had been broken while being unloaded. As did a camera, actually." Typical.

She shrugged, obviously not too concerned about the terrible two's antics. "You probably lose more to thieves every day."

"Casey actually put a dent into that," Chuck replied. A number of shoplifters probably were too traumatised to even go near the Buy More any more.

"I saw one of his 'takedowns'," she said. "In any case, you accomplished your mission."

"What?" What did she mean?

"Jeff is safely holed up, so he can't be used as bait."

"Oh." He blinked. He hadn't thought of that. "You're right."

"Of course I am." She smiled as she finished her plate.

"But I still find the idea that Jeff has become the Phantom of the Buy More a little disturbing," he said. More than a little disturbing, actually, given what he knew about Jeff's private life. Which he hadn't wanted to know.

Her grin turned into a grimace.

He nodded with a similar expression.


California, Los Angeles, Downtown, November 20th, 2007

"And this is the address?" Casey didn't sound as if he believed Chuck. Which was quite unfair - Chuck had been right every time he had flashed. Well, mostly.

He tapped his temple. "That's what my little friend got after you had me watching hours and hours of security tapes showing mercenaries raiding an NSA lab." And all while he should have been working at the Buy More - now Chuck felt pretty bad for telling off the rest of the staff for their cage fighting event during a two-hour lunch break.

Casey grunted.

Sarah rolled her eyes, then smiled at Chuck. "Stay in the car, Chuck."

He refrained from smarting off and nodded. He knew he wasn't a trained spy - or a Slayer. His place wasn't on the frontlines. But he couldn't help feeling like a coward as he watched Casey and Sarah leave the car and approach the apartment where Mr Colt was supposed to live.

Sighing, he leaned back and tried not to worry about them risking their lives while he was watching. Figuratively, of course - he didn't have a direct line of sight to the suspect's apartment. That would have been too dangerous for him. Well, there was also the fact that he was in a Nerd Herd Car, and Nerd Herders didn't make house calls at midnight. If Mr Colt was as good as a spy as he was supposed to be - and, seeing as he had broken into an NSA lab, stolen an Intersect part and 'lost' it to an NSA recovery team which failed to realise it had been sabotaged, he had proved his skill - then spotting a Nerd Herder car might ruin the mission.

But the real reason Chuck was kept out of sight was to keep him safe. Or, rather, keep the Intersect safe, but close enough to support Casey and Sarah if he were needed. Which, even though it was stupid and selfish, Chuck hoped would be the case. He wanted to do something, not just serve as a mobile terminal for the Intersect.

Sighing once more, he sat up straight and stared at the radio. He wouldn't ask how it was going. That was stupid and might distract Sarah or Casey at a crucial moment. But couldn't they at least inform him how it was going? He didn't even know if they were inside the apartment yet.

Well, as a glance at his spy watch confirmed, five minutes had passed - unless the building had better security than expected, they should have been inside by now. Ready to charge into the apartment. Sarah would blast open the door with a shotgun, and Casey would enter first - be on point - with an M4. And Mr Colt would…

"He bolted! Rappelled down from the balcony!" Casey's voice suddenly sounded from the car's speakers.

What? Mr Colt had escaped? Chuck blinked. The balcony opened to the south, which meant… His eyes widened. That meant the closest escape route would lead directly to him!

He looked to the side just in time to see Mr Colt jump through the bushes to the right of the car, less than ten metres from Chuck.

For a moment, both stared at each other. Chuck saw the man's eyes widen - oh, God, the mercenary must have realised what Chuck was doing here! And he was drawing a gun!

But he froze once more before he could shoot Chuck, then dashed away, disappearing into a side alley. A moment later, Casey broke through the bushes, looking left and right before glaring at Chuck.

Chuck raised his hand and pointed towards the side alley with a grimace.

The NSA agent broke into a sprint, following the mercenary, but returned less than a minute later, just as Sarah arrived. "He got away," Casey growled.

Chuck held up his index finger. "Two things: I did as ordered and stayed in the car, so I couldn't have stopped him. And I think this proves that staying in the car isn't as safe as everyone tries to tell me."

"You're right," Casey spat. Chuck almost gasped. Did that mean… "Next time, you should stay at The Castle," the man went on.

That wasn't what Chuck had wanted. Not at all!


California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, November 21st, 2007

"It wasn't my fault," Chuck said as he and Sarah prepared to go to bed an hour and a rather terse debriefing later.

"No one said it was," Sarah replied.

That was true. But Chuck had seen the glances. And sitting in the car, watching the enemy run past you… "It feels like it's my fault," he said.

"It isn't," she said.

He was about to retort, but she bent over to pick up her sleepwear, and he stared instead. He cleared his throat when she slipped her tank top on. "I should have done something. Kicked the car door into him."

"He would have shot you."

Chuck sighed as he picked up his own t-shirt. "He almost shot me anyway." And Chuck wouldn't have been able to do anything, trapped in the car. "I was helpless."

Sarah took a moment to reply. "And you don't want to be helpless."

No, he didn't. "Staying in the car won't protect me. Staying in The Castle won't protect me either." Bryce and the director had been killed in the middle of a top-secret base as well, after all.

"Knowing how to shoot a gun won't always protect you, either," she replied as if she had read his thoughts.

"It would protect me in some situations," he retorted. "Like today."

After a moment, she nodded. "You're right."

"I am? I mean, yes."

That made her laugh.

He pouted. A little. "I just want to do more than just sitting in the car."

"I know." She slid into his bed. "But the training will take a lot of time."

He knew what she meant. "Time we won't have while hunting Fulcrum with only one Intersect."

"Yes."

He sighed and sat down on the bed. "Perhaps some lessons, at least? With you, not with Casey. He might kill me. Accidentally." Or on purpose.

"I think that should be possible."

"Thank you," he said as he joined her in his bed. It was cramped with two people - they were supposed to buy a bigger bed - but he didn't mind.


California, Burbank, Buy More, November 21st, 2007

It took Chuck half an hour to find Lester after he showed up for work, but he finally cornered the man in the basement of the Buy More. Chuck's prepared speech died on his lips, though, as soon as he saw what the man was doing. "Are those… panties?"

"Ah… no?" Lester chuckled with a grimace.

"They are panties. From our underwear department, unless someone stole our price tags and put them on panties not taken from our store." Chuck looked at the rest of the stuff on the floor. "Where did you get the beer though?"

"Jeff's fridge."

Chuck blinked. "And what are you doing here with beer, panties and… chloroform?" He held up the bottle and stared at the label.

"That's Jeff's too!" Lester quickly said.

"I want to know what you are doing with all this," Chuck said with his best Casey-glare.

Lester caved, which surprised Chuck. "Ah… I'm trying to lure out Jeff."

"With panties, beer and chloroform?" That was...

"His favourite things." Lester beamed at him.

...another thing Chuck hadn't wanted to know. "Uh…" They were quite short-staffed, with Jeff holed up somewhere beneath the store, and Lester now here. On the other hand, Lester would be useless anyway while he worried about Jeff. "Continue."

He turned and left, ignoring Lester's gasp of surprise. He had more important things to worry about.


Morgan was waiting at the Nerd Herd booth when Chuck returned to the store. "Chuck!"

"Hi, Morgan."

"Did Lester's plan work?"

"You knew about this?" Chuck stared at his best friend.

Morgan shrugged. "He told me. It sounded like it could work."

"He's trying to lure Jeff out with panties - probably used ones - beer and chloroform." Each time Chuck said it, it sounded more surreal.

"It's Jeff," Morgan replied as if that explained it.

Perhaps it did. Chuck sighed and checked the list for today's house calls. If he shuffled two shifts around, they could…

"Wow, look at that guy. Do they even make t-shirts in his size?" Morgan blurted out. "He makes Schwarzenegger look puny!"

Chuck looked up and froze. Mr Colt had just entered the store. And he had spotted Chuck.