A/N Hello all. This is the first chapter of an AU story that also wouldn't leave me alone. Chuck's been everything from CIA to NSA to a SEAL, but I don't think I've seen a story where he is an FBI agent. So this story came along. This fic will be in Sarah's POV. This will be a relatively long one as well. I don't have it outlined past the bare basics, just I know the general direction I want to go with this.

I will focus on my Criminal Intention story and finish that first before tackling this one again. I just wanted to get this out of my brain so that I could focus. This Chuck will be a little different, as this AU has a divergence point that occurs before Stanford. Rest assured, however, that he will still remain the same nerdy Chuck, just perhaps more focused.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 1

Enter Carmichael

April 11, 2005

Heathrow Airport, London

"Come on Sarah, wouldn't our cover as young lovers be easier if it weren't actually a cover? We'll be partners for a long time, it's bound to help us work together better..." Bryce Larkin leaned in towards his CIA partner, Sarah Walker, as they waited for their flight back to Washington DC. after a mission. They were seated together at a table in an airport restaurant, eating before their flight. Bryce had his right hand resting on the table, his fingers stretched out as if to touch her.

Sarah smiled demurely at him, and leaned on her left arm, her hand almost touching his. Bryce's eyes tracked down to her chest, taking in the cleavage that showed from the way she pressed her upper body against her arm. Her voice had an airy, breathless tone to it when she replied. "You know what Bryce, you're absolutely right, let's screw, right here, right now." Her eyes sparkled with amusement when she saw him stiffen slightly, his eyes widening, but never leaving her chest.

"Really now? Finally succumbed to the animal magnetism between us, eh?" Bryce asked, excitement coloring his voice. He leaned in towards her lips, angling to kiss her, their faces were mere inches apart...

Sarah stood up so suddenly that Bryce was forced to throw himself backwards to avoid his nose being crunched. Unfortunately, he over balanced in his chair and ended up falling backwards, taking his plate of food and wine glass with him. He landed on the floor, in an undignified heap. He stared at the ceiling, unsure of what had just happened. Sarah hovered over him, but didn't offer to help him get up, only looked at him with a guarded expression, which abruptly became laughter.

"April Fool's!" She said, then shook her head. "Of course I don't want to sleep with you, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm a professional, and I don't mix business with pleasure?"

"But it's not April Fool's day..." was the only thing he could say as she walked away.

April 15, 2005

Director Graham's office, CIA

Sarah strode through the halls of the CIA headquarters, head held high. She didn't know why the Director wanted to see her, but she sincerely hoped it didn't have anything to do with her rejection of Larkin's proposal and subsequent humiliation at Heathrow. She ignored the staring eyes of the analysts and the appraising looks from the agents, even as she took note of them and assessed the threat they posed to her. She entered the reception area of Graham's office, and nodded to Cynthia, Graham's new receptionist-slash-gatekeeper. Cynthia was sitting at her desk, and Sarah's trained eyes noticed that she favored her left side, where she had hidden her gun. Of course the Director would have an agent as a bodyguard, she thought.

Sarah sat down in one of the chairs available, crossing her legs. She pretended to idly examine her fingernails, though she was actually observing Cynthia, cataloguing her mannerisms, in case it was ever needed. She wondered once again why she was called in today, as she was not scheduled for another mission until the 20th. Her last mission had been a long one, involving a lot of travel between England and Africa, so she had been glad for an extended leave, especially as that meant not having to deal with Bryce and his incessant attempts at seduction. He was worse then Carina with his constant improvisation. Not only is he not as good an agent as her, but Carina never came on to her in the middle of a mission, almost blowing their cover! She always had the decency to wait until after the mission was over.

Between having to successfully complete a very difficult mission practically solo (and sometimes with interference from her partner), and dealing with Larkin's come-ons and general incompetence, she was exhausted. At least she quickly learned to deal with his flirting differently than with Carina's... She shuddered as she thought of having to work with both of them on a mission. Either they'd sleep with each other and she'd get a reprieve, or they would join forces to try to get her into bed with them. If it were the latter, then she would have to do the right and honorable thing and shoot them both. And then hope the Director agreed with her logic and didn't throw her in jail.

"The Director will see you now." Cynthia's voice jolted her from her horrifying thoughts. She stood up, nodded her thanks to Cynthia, and walked in Graham's office without knocking. Graham frowned when he saw her enter, but didn't say anything. She smirked inwardly, glad that her little breach of protocol irritated him. Agents always had to knock before entering the Director's office. The fact that he let her get away with not knocking meant he valued her and her skills highly. She sat down in front of his desk and sincerely hoped her visit had nothing to do with Larkin.

"I'm sorry for cutting your leave early, Agent Walker, but a situation has come up and I am in need of your skills." Her posture relaxed minutely, and even Graham didn't notice." You'll be going back to the Farm to help get an FBI agent up to CIA standards. You'll be there two months tops, less if he completes his training early."

Sarah stayed silent, but her face betrayed her turbulent thoughts, shock the more prevalent emotion showing. "You want me to spend two months as a trainer? Why? Why me? What's so special about this FBI guy that he needs a CIA agent as a trainer?" Graham was benching her?

"Sarah, calm down, this was not my choice." She clenched her jaw shut, and looked at Graham. He looked angry, not at her, but at the situation. "I protested vehemently. You think I want my star agent, my protégé, baby-sitting this Carmichael, who's probably just some snot nosed FBI rookie?"

Sarah's heart soared with pride when she heard him say that, especially the part about being his protégé. "So why am I stuck doing it?" If Graham didn't have a choice in the matter, then the order had to come from up high. Was is the Director of the DNI? The Joint Chiefs? What made this so special?

"Because you can't really say no to the President." The President?Of the United States? The hell...

"The... President...?" It's not often that Sarah is rendered speechless, so she is surprised that it has happened twice in one meeting.

Graham grunted to hide his amusement at her expression. She caught it anyways. "Yes, the President. Apparently Carmichael stopped a plot to blow up Air Force One, saving the lives of the President and his family. The President offered him whatever he wanted, but Carmichael just shook his head and said he didn't want anything, that he was just doing his job, his Patriotic duty. Even admitted to hacking into various other government agencies to unravel the plot."

"Wow..." The President offers him a favor, he refuses it, then goes ahead and confesses to criminal wrong-doing? He can't be real... "So what did the President do?"

"Gave him a test. Told him to try to hack into The Football to prove his skills. Carmichael was reluctant, but the President wasn't asking. So this FBI agent takes out his cell phone and a bunch of wires, and hooks them all up to his phone and The Football."

Sarah shook her head. "So how long before he made a fool of himself and gave up?" She asked. This Carmichael can't be that smart if he didn't even ask for a proper computer to hack with...

Graham smirked, and Sarah had a feeling that she was going to be shocked speechless for the third time since this meeting started. "Carmichael had access to all of our nation's nukes in a little under five minutes. The Joint Chiefs freaked out, the Secret Service agents freaked out, hell, even the President freaked out a little bit. Obviously no one expected him to succeed."

Sarah managed to release a strangled "Oh" passed her lips, but was otherwise silent, and Graham's smirk grew larger. He's enjoying this… That she could focus on. She'd deal with super hackers who could get into highly sensitive information with just a cell phone later. "You're enjoying this, aren't you Director?" She asked, eyes narrowed in frustration.

Graham let out a short bark, which Sarah had learned was his version of a laugh. "Yes, I am. I reacted the same way when DNI Director Phillips told me this story. Anyways, after he calmed down, the President was so impressed he wanted to utilize Carmichael's skills to the fullest."

Graham paused, and took a sip of water. Sarah was about to find out why she was being taken off active duty and relegated to being a trainer for the next two months. She hoped it would be for a good reason. She couldn't make a name for herself and better her career stuck as a trainer at the Farm.

"So the President decided to create an inter-agency task force to tackle the most difficult assignments and missions. The best agent from the CIA and NSA will train Carmichael up to spy levels, then be partnered with him on this team. Sarah, the President asked for the best from each agency. I don't want to lose you, but this is a great opportunity. I can't forceyou to take this assignment..."

"I'll do it! I mean, of course, I'll take the assignment. The President asked, after all." And I'd like to meet this Carmichael person who saved the President's life and said it was just his duty.

Graham sighed, then handed her a file. "I thought you would... This team will be answering directly to the DNI Director and the President. I did manage to get the concession that he'd have to pass training at the Farm. I didn't want him to screw up and cost my best agent her life. Anyone positively associated with him will have a jet pack attached to their career..." Sarah did a mental victory dance. If she played her cards right in regards to this mission and Carmichael, she'd make Regional Director before she turned thirty.

Sarah opened the file she was handed and perused the contents for a few minutes before turning back to Graham. "This is his file? It's rather... sparse..." She almost scoffed at her own word choice. Sparse was an understatement. There were 5 sheets in the file. One was a picture with a name and some physical attributes, two were detailing the plan to blow up Air Force One with the President inside, and the last two dealt with how he found out about the plot and stopped it.

"It's all I have access to. Everything about him got redacted or deleted, either by the President's order, or the hacker kid doing it himself. Apparently there's nothing he can't hack. I doubt even the President knows too much more than this." Graham sounded insulted that even his security clearance was not high enough to have more information available. Privately Sarah thought it was disconcerting that nearly everything about this Charles Carmichael was so classified even the CIA Director couldn't access it.

She turned her attention back to the picture of the mysterious Carmichael. Sarah wasn't sure how it was possible, but his brown eyes seemed to emanate warmth and kindness even from the page of the photo. His brown hair looked slightly untamed, and curled around the tips. He had a small smile in the picture, though it was a tad on the shy side. He didn't have a classically handsome face like Bryce, but there was just something about his face that Sarah found disarmingly adorable. Her eyes widened at the thought, and she mentally boxed the offending thought up and stuffed it in the far corners of her mind, never to be heard from again.

Sarah proceeded to ignore his picture, and read his physical description. She noted with surprise that even his birth month and day were redacted. All she knew was the year he was born, and that he was the same age as her. He was a few inches taller than her, and weighed half again as much as she did. She'd have to actually meet him to learn more, as that was the extent of what the file covered.

She made to hand the file back to Graham, but he shook his head and motioned for her to keep it. "You'll meet him in two days. Give him a quick tour, then evaluate his combat skills. You'll be going on extremely dangerous missions that he won't be used to, so he'll need a friend, as well as a partner Sarah."

"Yes, sir, understood. Is there anything else?" There was something bothering her about this whole situation, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Be at the Farm in two days. I will inform Agent Larkin that you've been re-assigned. You're dismissed, Agent Walker." Sarah stood up and headed towards the door, Carmichael's file clutched in her hands. She opened the door, then abruptly stopped. "What is it Agent Walker?"

Sarah turned back around to face Graham. "Sir, who's the NSA agent that's going to be assigned to this inter-agency team? And what is your role in all this?"

"I was wondering when you would ask about the NSA. His name is Major John Casey. I trust you've heard of him?" Of course she had. He was an old school killer, a cold-blooded assassin. Wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet or three into anyone he perceived as being a traitor.

"Yes, sir. I've had the… pleasure… of meeting him." The worried feeling grew in her gut. She felt as if she had nearly all the pieces to the puzzle, but someone had stolen that one corner piece that you needed to tie everything together.

"He's currently on a classified mission in the Middle East, but will be joining you in training Carmichael within the week. As for General Beckman and I, we will be involved, but I'm not sure if we'll be giving the team the missions directly, or passing them to Director Phillips."

"Thank you Director. I'll be going now." Sarah left Graham's office and nodded to Cynthia on her way out. She tried to ignore the feeling in her gut that said she was missing something, but it kept nagging her all day until she fell asleep.

October 24, 2005

Hotel room in Athens, Greece

The mission was a huge success. She and Charles had worked together flawlessly, once again. He had been able to hack into the security system of the manor they were infiltrating, and gotten them to the vault without alerting any of the guards. The vault had an electronic lock and a physical lock, and Charles worked his magic on the electronic while she worked on the physical one.

She was able to finish first and win their bet. Now he would be hers for an entire night. He gave her his puppy dog eyes, but she could tell it was just for show. He loved pleasuring her and sometimes she had to remind him that he deserved a turn too. They were able to egress safely and made it back to their hotel room in record time.

As soon as the door closed behind them she attacked his lips, shoving him against the wall. Charles knew exactly what she wanted and wasted no time in giving it to her. His wandering hands caused her to release a moan, which he hungrily swallowed. Her lover threw her on the bed, and suddenly she was only wearing her bra and panties. He started placing soft kisses as he moved up her legs, and she closed her eyes, shivering in anticipation.

Except he stopped well short of his goal. She opened her eyes to reprimand him, remind him of the lost bet, but instead of meeting his soulful brown eyes, all she saw was the ceiling of her bedroom.

She had been dreaming. About a man she had never met… Sarah looked at her clock, and saw that it was barely 2 in the morning, of April 17. Not October 24th. Why was she so sure of the date in her dream? She focused on that, questioned that fact, and ignored everything else. She'd process it all later. That was her defense mechanism for things and feelings she didn't understand. She was going back to sleep.

But first, she needed a shower. Preferably a cold one.

April 17, 2005

The Farm, CIA Training Facility

Sarah felt a little nervous. Charles Carmichael would be arriving any minute now. This was the person that had saved the President's life, and would be one of her new partners for the foreseeable future. She hoped he wouldn't be another Bryce Larkin type. She really couldn't deal with another macho alpha male that just wanted to screw her because of her blond hair or big boobs. At least she knew she didn't have to worry about Casey trying to get into her pants.

Sarah noticed someone making their way across the cafeteria, and when she lifted her eyes and took note of the curly brown hair and warm hazel eyes, she knew that Charles Carmichael had arrived. He was wearing a button down shirt and slacks, but had forgone the suit jacket and tie. He looked very good, and the shirt clung to him in all the right places, showing off an upper body that she wasn't ashamed to admit, to herself at least, was drool-worthy.

His gait was unsure, as if he didn't have the highest confidence in himself. She found it odd there wasn't a swagger in his step, which meant he didn't think it was a big deal that he had saved the President's life, or he was very humble and didn't let it go to his head.

Sarah bet that the former wasn't true, and the thought of how humble he was gave her a strange warm feeling, that she rationalized as being proof that he wouldn't be like Bryce and she wouldn't have to deal with constantly being seduced. Bryce and Carina's constant attempts had really worn her down. It would likely have only been a matter of time before she agreed to that vacation in Cabo with Bryce.

But now she had to introduce herself to Charles, as he had just spotted her. His strides became more measured and graceful as he made his way towards her. He stopped about a foot in front of her, extended his hand, and said in quite a cheerful tone, "Hi, my name's Charles Carmichael, but you can just call me Chuck."

And then he gave her a wide and bright smile, and the box she had hidden away in her mind containing the thought of his adorable face exploded from its cage, and raced to the front of her mind. Not that it had very far to go, she had been dreaming about him after all.

She curled the edges of her lips up ever so slightly, and gingerly extended her own hand to shake his. As their fingers touched, she felt a jolt of electricity pulse through her, and her cheeks colored a little, and her smile widened involuntarily. I'm blushing...from just having him smile at me and shaking his hand!

Sarah was so preoccupied with her own blush; she almost missed his matching one. But she was a master spy, so she noticed that he seemed as affected by her tentative smile and touch as she was by his. Is this that animal magnetism that Bryce kept talking about?

"Hello Chuck, I'm Agent Sarah Walker. It's nice to meet you. And I just want to say, thank you for saving the President and his family." His brown eyes were fixed on hers, never wavering to her ample cleavage.

She had dressed a little more provocatively than usual to test him, and he had checked her out. Of course he had, he was a red-blooded male, and she could say this without being vain, she was very good looking. But instead of his wandering eyes making her feel like a slab of meat, she felt as though he were looking at her like a beautiful painting or sculpture, something to be admired and revered, worshipped even. This made the butterflies in her stomach speed up to Mach 1 as they raced around her belly.

Chuck released her hand, and the butterflies slowed down until they were no longer breaking the sound barrier. He let out a small laugh and scratched the back of his head. Aww…He's embarrassed, that's so cute… She mentally shook herself to get rid of that thought, but it stuck around, and just made the butterflies speed up again.

"Haha, well I was just did what anyone else would've done in that situation… Anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you Agent Walker. I'm looking forward to working with you, on this team."

"Please, call me Sarah. I'm really excited to be working with you as well."

A/N2 So this was the first chapter. Sarah only met Chuck near the end, but was already interested in him, if not physically, she was at least curious to meet the person who saved the President's life. If she seems a little OOC, that's what I was going for. I hinted at what the reason might be, but I will eventually fully expose it.

As for Chuck, I hope that I've introduced parts of his character and sufficiently differentiated it from canon Chuck, yet still managed to keep what makes him Chuck present.

Hope you liked it. Please review!

Thanks,