I don't own anything related to the NBC Show - Chuck. No characters, no plots, no themes, not anything. I just ask if you use any part of it that a simple acknowledgment is given.
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Chuck versus the Nasty Knife - Part One
Our scene opens with Director Graham calling Sarah on the phone.
Director Graham: "Sarah, the beta intersect is online as of this afternoon. General Beckman has kept me out of the loop regarding what happens to Chuck, but I have heard recordings of her telling Casey to "do what you do best" in reference to Chuck, I think they mean to terminate him."
Sarah: "But Graham, after all Chuck has done for our agency, for the N.S.A. They still want to terminate him?"
Graham: "It looks that way. Where is Chuck now?"
Sarah thinks for a second then has a panicked look on her face...
Sarah: "At the Buy More...with Casey!"
Graham: "Sarah, the CIA can't afford to lose Chuck, otherwise all we invested in the Omaha Project will be for nothing."
Sarah: "I understand Sir."
Sarah starts to head out the front door when Scooter steps in between her and the front door. He gives her a little trouble about the ketchup vat needing filling, but Sarah gives him a "if you don't move I will rip you apart" look scaring him away and proceeds to head over to the Buy More.
She enters the store and looks around for Chuck, seeing him over at the Nerd Herd desk she walks quickly toward him. She glances around and sees Casey on his cell phone in the home theater room with a very determined face. She guesses that he is receiving the termination orders from General Beckman.
Sarah steps up to the Nerd Herd desk and sternly demands: "Chuck, I need to speak with you, ...right now!"
Chuck turns around to find a Sarah with a very serious look on her face: "Whoa, what did I do? Is everything okay? You look kind of mad?!"
Sarah: "Chuck, we need to leave right away, out the back, let's go!"
Chuck: "But Casey and I were going to come over to the Weinerlicious ..." Morgan butts into their conversation.
Morgan: "So what are you and Princess Leia doing tonight?" As he sizes up Sarah, head to toe.
Chuck gives him that look like 'why do you have to butt in and then make a snide remark' and then says: "Morgan, why are you asking me? You already have plans with Anna tonight, remember?"
Morgan: "Oh, yeah right. I just thought it'd be like old times, ya know! Well I don't want to be a third wheel, especially since I have my own two wheels to ride. You kids have fun."
Seeing their opportunity to finally escape the store, Sarah grabs Chuck and they leave through the back without anyone else noticing. Casey finishes up his conversation with the General, turns around and looks for Chuck only to find he's not at the Nerd Herd desk anymore. Furious and panicking, he grabs Morgan. Casey: "Where's Chuck, he was just here!"
Morgan covers for his best buddy: "Dude, I'm not his keeper. Maybe he took his break."
Casey frantically looks around the store not finding Chuck anywhere. He calls Chuck's cellphone, Chuck doesn't answer. Casey calls Sarah's cellphone. Sarah doesn't answer, either. Casey: "Dammit...&!
Chuck and Sarah rush to Sarah's car and get in. She doesn't say anything in the car on the way despite Chuck's annoying questions. Even when he just asks where are they going, she just looks at him with that worried look, scaring him even more. They arrive at the beach, the very spot they sat on that first night and just sit looking out at the waves. Neither says anything for a while.
Sarah decides to just tell him and takes a deep breath: "Chuck, the beta intersect is up and working. It went online this afternoon."
Chuck exhales loudly finally relieved they were on speaking terms again: "Well that's good, isn't it. Now they won't need the intersect in my head." He just looks at her trying to read her expression.
Chuck thinks about that a bit more: "Wait, does this mean your mission is over? Are you still assigned to protect me?"
Sarah: "It's a bit more complicated than that Chuck. With the new intersect up and running they won't need you, but they also don't feel safe with you wandering around with the old intersect in your head."
Chuck: "What do you mean? What are you saying?"
Sarah: "Chuck, I think that the order has gone out to terminate you...and I think the order went to Casey to do it."
Chuck: "Casey, no he won't kill me, Sarah no way!" There is some hesitation in his voice as he remembers that he did blow up Casey's Crown Vic and Casey was pretty pissed at that.
Sarah interrupts his thoughts: "Chuck, I don't think Casey wants to either but remember he's a cold blooded killer, it's what he was trained to do, and orders are orders..."
Chuck tries to understand: "But Sarah, why? We're still doing missions, I'm still helping, the intersect is still working, why?" He looks to her for hope while also truly afraid of what she might say next.
Sarah: "Chuck, I'm going to protect you."
Chuck, understanding the enormity of her comment, responds: "You're going to protect me from Casey, from the N.S.A., the CIA?"
Sarah: "I'm going to protect you, Chuck, the CIA wants you protected. I want you protected. Do you understand?"
Chuck: "But won't that put you against Casey, against the N.S.A.? I thought we were all part of the same team."
Sarah: "Chuck, the N.S.A. and the CIA have very different views on the Intersect and it's purpose. I'm going to take you somewhere safe for the time being. This is going to be difficult but you can't, under any circumstances, contact Ellie, Morgan, Devon or anyone at the Buy More. I will tell them something, to make it seem that everything is okay. You are going to stay with my sister, she'll take care of you until I can clear this up, okay?"
Chuck thinks for a moment taking it all in: "I can't talk to anyone? Not even Ellie or Morgan?" A few more moments pass and he turns toward her looking her directly in her eyes. It finally registers with him what Sarah has just said and he has to ask: "Wait, I'm going to stay with your real sister, you really do have a sister? What about compromising your cover?"
Sarah: "It'll be alright Chuck. Now lets go." She takes his hand and they go back to the car.
Sarah drives them to San Francisco where they pull in front of a Victorian home around 10pm. They both walk up the stairs and Sarah rings the door bell. They hear footsteps, a face peeks through the drapes and the door opens. "Kate, it's been so long! Come in! Who's this...?" Kate (aka Sarah) hugs the person in the doorway.
Kate (aka Sarah): "Hey sis, this is Chuck, Chuck Bartowski from Encino." She looks at him and smiles. "He's my boyfriend." pausing a few moments she continues: "Chuck, I'd like you to meet my sister, Michele."
Michele(Shelly) isn't exactly sure how to respond, Chuck isn't the type Kate (aka Sarah) usually dated: "Uh, hi Chuck. Wait, you never mentioned a boyfriend, does mom know?"
Chuck looks at Kate (aka Sarah) and interrupts hoping to save her from further explanation: "Hi Shelly, Sar..I mean Kate never mentioned how beautiful you are..."
Shelly blushes: "Oh, yeah ...thanks!" She turns to Kate (aka Sarah) "He's a keeper!"
Kate (aka Sarah): "Alright sis, listen, is it okay if Chuck and I stay here for a week or so? I know it's unannounced but..."
Shelly: "Sure, but you guys have to bunk together upstairs. Hey! I don't mean to be rude but I'm gonna crash, got a presentation in the morning. How about us catching up on everything tomorrow night?"
Sarah and Chuck look at each other and smile. "Fine g'night." They head upstairs and get ready for bed. As Sarah looks through some of the drawers she finds some of her sister's pajamas and gets into bed. Chuck looks around and realizes that since they didn't have time to pack anything he will have to sleep in his boxers and a t shirt. He takes off his shirt and pants and looks at Sarah in bed.
Slightly embarrassed he breaks the silence: "remember, we didn't have time to pack before we left..."
Sarah: "It's alright Chuck, it's alright.
Chuck feeling a little relieved gets into bed: "So is this part of the cover or is this real?"
Sarah leans over and kisses him passionately on the lips: "This is real, Chuck" As they finish the kiss he has a strange look on his face. Sarah just has to ask: "...are you okay?"
Chuck just smiles back at her: "Uh, yeah, for some reason bicycles just popped into my head." He rolls over and holds her tight, kissing her back. Scene fades to black.
The scene opens showing Casey who is pacing around his apartment furious. Agent Walker isn't anywhere to be found. His assignment, Chuck, is also gone and the General is furious, this is not a good day for the NSA. The General's last order to him was to terminate Chuck now that the beta intersect is online. It's bad enough that he is considering going against a direct termination order from the General but now he has been officially embarrassed because he lost the asset altogether.
"Think Casey, Think, what would Walker do? Where would they go?" Casey says outloud.
The next day at the Buy More, Jeff and Lester have realized that Chuck isn't coming in and that they have the store to themselves. Morgan checks the storage cage, the Nerd Herd desk, and finally ends up at Big Mike's office. Morgan: "Um Sir...have you seen Chuck?"
Big Mike: "Come to think of it, no. Now where could his ass be! He should have been here hours ago. Can't a guy take a 3 hour nap without all hell breaking loose around here!" He storms off looking for Chuck and runs into Jeff and Lester who have renamed the Nerd Herd desk sign - "The Lesters."
Big Mike: "Jeff, Lester, I'm going to count to 5. If things aren't back to normal, I mean Buy More normal not normal by Jeff standards, I'm gonna fire somebody's ass. 1...2...3...4..."
Anna interrupts him: "Big Mike sir, there's a corporate big wig here to see you."
Big Mike glares at "The Lesters" and stomps off.
Anna looks at Jeff and Lester with a devious smile: "you guys owe me!"
Morgan smiles and gives Anna a wink. She winks back and holds up 9 fingers letting Morgan know what time to meet in the break room.
Morgan turns to Jeff and Lester: "have you guys seen Chuck, I called Ellie but he's not at home."
Lester pauses remembering that Ellie has Chuck's sensual lips then shaking his head comes out of his trance. "Dude, do we look like Chuck's watchdogs. Maybe he's off getting freaky with the weinergirl."
Morgan gives him the 'your an idiot' look and announces: "maybe I'll try over at the Weinerlicious." He leaves but comes up empty at the Weinerlicious. Morgan returns to the Buy More to continue his search for Chuck.
Back at Michele's house in San Francisco, Sarah wakes up and checks her surroundings, remembering why she isn't at home waking up in her own bed. She looks over at Chuck, sleeping soundly with a very big grin on his face. She puts her sister's pajamas back on and heads downstairs to the kitchen. Looking around Sarah realizes that Shelly has already gone to work.
Sarah smiles, she gets to be a real girlfriend with Chuck. She gets out a frying pan, pancake mix, some eggs and a some hot dogs. Fifteen minutes later she has breakfast ready, Weinerlicious style, and heads up to wake Chuck up. She nudges Chuck waking him up and puts the tray on the bed. Neither says anything, they just enjoy breakfast and smile thinking about last night.
Sarah finally breaks the silence: "Chuck, we need to talk..."
Chuck's smile fades and that solemn serious look appears: "Yeah I know, I was trying to block that part out of my mind. What are we going to do?, Casey is probably looking for us and.."
Sarah puts her finger up to his mouth "Shhhh" She tries to calm him down: "Chuck, I told you that my orders are to protect you. That comes from the Director himself. Now, I'm going to make some phone calls on my cellphone because I don't think the regular phone is completely secure. Why don't you finish eating, and I'll be back in a little while. You can watch TV downstairs if you want just don't answer the phone or the door."
Chuck looking like the weight of the world is upon him responds: "I know, I know, Chuck stay in the house."
Sarah smiles at him and kisses him, a kiss for him to remember her by.
Sarah winks at him: "There will be more of that later."
Chuck's frown turns to a smile as he says: "Okay then, I'm not going anywhere!"
Sarah blows him a kiss and leaves. Chuck finishes up breakfast and takes the tray downstairs to the kitchen. He finds himself wandering around the house looking at all the photos of Sarah and her sister growing up. Pictures of her parents, pictures of Sarah's (Kate's) life before him. He smiles realizing how much Sarah really opened up to him this time.
He sits on the couch and turns on the TV to the Price is Right. Chuck watches for a while with a puzzled look on his face and finally says to himself: "Who's this new guy with the nerdy glasses hosting the Price is Right!, I thought Bob Barker was the host?"
After the show ends, Chuck gets up and grabs a bottled water from the fridge and sits down. As he leans back on the couch, he senses that something isn't right, he takes a sip of water but somehow he starts to feel kinda feverish and sweaty. He drinks more water but it doesn't seem to be helping. He tries just watching the show but the screen starts to get blurry. He is also starting to feel a migrane headache coming on, and fast. He holds the cold bottled water to his forehead hoping it will help. Feeling exhausted, he decides to lay down on the couch. Almost immediately, while looking up at the ceiling he sees the types of images he sees when he flashes.
"Am I flashing on something?" He thinks to himself but none of the images make sense. The migrane pain gets worse and he starts to get the chills.
The room starts to spin and he passes out for a while. After a few minutes, Chuck wakes up just enough to open one eye, and still the images are there flashing and flashing. The pain causes him to pass out again. Sarah comes back home to find Chuck on the couch, his t shirt soaked from sweat, and he's holding his head. Sarah tries to wake him, shaking his shoulders.
Sarah: "Chuck are you okay, what's the matter? Can you hear me? Chuck?!"
Chuck groggily responds with one eye open: "Sarah, I don't feel good, my head, I can't stop the flashes, somethings wrong."
Sarah checks his forehead: "You feel feverish, I'll get a thermometer." She leaves and comes back with one, placing it in Chuck's mouth. After 30 seconds she pulls it out, it reads 105 degrees.
Sarah starts to panic: "Chuck, we need to get you to a doctor, a CIA Doctor! Stay with me Chuck, stay with me."
Chuck tries to stay awake, the images still flashing, his eyes roll back into his head: "I love you Sarah!" He passes out cold. Sarah frantically contacts the Director who arranges for Chuck to be taken to the nearest CIA staffed medical facility.
The doctors put Chuck through a battery of tests, MRI's, CT Scans, but nothing is showing up abnormal. The doctors are baffled on how to treat Chuck, all they can do is try to control the fever symptoms. The Director calls in one of the scientists who worked on the original Intersect for an opinion. The only thing the scientist offers is that Chuck's brain may be rejecting the Intersect or the encoding. It even could be destroying his brain. When Chuck has yet to come to after 24 hours Sarah and the Director decide they need to contact Casey and let him know what is going on.
Sarah calls him on his cellphone: "Casey...this is Walker, Chuck's with me..."
Casey is furious, you can see the steam coming out of his ears as he responds through his gritted teeth: "Walker, What the hell! Just what the hell!"
Sarah: "Casey, Listen for a second...Chuck's in trouble, we're at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, you need to get her quick and ..." We hear Sarah sniffle as the tears start to fall. Sarah regains her composure and continues: "And Casey..., no one can know and I mean no one, not even Beckman! I'll explain when you get here."
Casey's demeanor changes to one of concern as he responds: "I'll be there right away!"
Casey hangs up and then dials the phone: "Agent John Casey, NSA #71477, I need a helicopter priority code orange, 30 minutes!" He hangs up and heads to the Los Angeles Air Base. After showing his badge at the gate he is escorted to a remote hanger where he finds a helicopter waiting for him. He boards and takes off headed to San Francisco. Casey arrives about 2 hours later and takes a military hummer over to the hospital.
Sarah and the Director meet Casey at the entrance lobby of the hospital where Casey is briefed on Chuck's status and the Director fills him on the Omaha Project. Sarah explains why the CIA protected Chuck instead of allowing the termination order to go ahead.
Casey: "Director, why wasn't I informed about the Omaha Project's mission and how it relates to Chuck? I think the General and I would have agreed that a mission like that would provide better national security. We would have understood why you took Chuck like you did!"
Director: "Major Casey, the Omaha Project's objectives were very specific and designed to help our operatives and field agents in their missions. When it failed, we gave up on the idea...until Chuck. We never wanted the NSA thinking that we had ideas for Chuck like Fulcrum does."
He looks sternly at Major Casey: "You can see how that could be construed! Our two agencies have enough different views on how things should get done without adding one more to it. Now that the beta intersect is operational the NSA sees Chuck as a liability and a threat. The CIA sees Chuck as the realization of the Omaha Project's vision. You and Sarah have proved that on each mission, that is why we must protect Chuck, not terminate him. Do you understand?!"
Casey: "I do, Sir." He looks at the Director then at Sarah then says: "but looking at him I think all these efforts may be for nothing." Sarah starts to cry and leaves the room, Casey follows.
Casey: "Sarah, I know this has been much more than a mission. I can see it in your eyes. Go back in there and be with him. He needs to know your there for him. It may be all he has. If the scientist is right, Chuck's brain may reject the Intersect, then you two can finally be a couple, may be start that family you talked about. Think about that."
Sarah looks into his eyes, having not expected that kind of compassion from Casey she smiles wipes her tears, nods and goes back in.
That night Ellie finds herself pacing the apartment, Devon is trying to convince her that Chuck is okay.
Devon: "Come on babe, you're little bro is growing up, spreading his wings, out there riding his bike, I'm sure he's fine."
Ellie: "Devon, I know he is growing up but he know to call, he always at least calls. Even John came over asking where Chuck was, that he wasn't at work today. That's just not like him."
Devon: "Maybe he's just getting some alone time with Sarah, moving past that joined at the hip stuff."
Ellie looks at him coldly for joking at a time like this: "Devon, I just have this feeling that something isn't right."
Devon tries to comfort her: "It'll be okay,babe... let's get some sleep." He turns out the lights, we see Ellie laying in bed just staring wide eyed at the ceiling. Devon falls fast asleep.
Another 6 hours pass with Sarah at Chuck's side holding his hand, hoping for the best. She considers calling Ellie or Morgan but she's too tired, she tells herself she'll call them in the morning.
Casey and Director Graham decide to contact General Beckman using the video conference room.
General Beckman condescendingly addresses Major Casey: "Status report, Major Casey. Where are we at with the Chuck situation?"
Casey starts: "Well General, things have changed since we last spoke..."
Casey is interrupted by Director Graham: "General, the CIA has taken over the Chuck situation. I understand that you sent out a termination order on Chuck but I have obtained official orders from the Commander in Chief on this matter. Chuck is to remain alive and protected." The Director looks directly into her eyes to make sure she understands. General Beckman is taken aback by this news but quickly acknowledges the official orders and authority at hand.
General Beckman clearly frustrated responds: "I understand, Graham... Chuck is your agency's asset now, don't let him become a liability for our intelligence community. You take full responsibility for this and if this should jeopardize the beta intersect in any way, so help me!...Major Casey, I will talk to you later!"
She signs off.
Director Graham turns to Casey: "This may all be for nothing if Chuck doesn't pull through."
Casey: "Director, if it's okay with you I would like to remain assigned to protect Chuck... I mean the Intersect."
Director: "I thought you might... let's go check on Sarah and Chuck."
They enter the room, Sarah has fallen asleep with her head on Chuck's chest holding his hand.
Chuck's hand moves a little, then squeezes Sarah's hand. He begins to wake up, opening his eyes. Sarah wakes up to Casey nudging her. Casey: "Hey Walker, loverboy is coming to!"
Sarah looking surprised and relieved turns to Chuck: "Chuck, Chuck are you okay?"
Chuck tries to swallow so he can talk but his mouth is really dry. He finally just whispers with a raspy voice: "Sarah, yeah I think so. My head hurts though. What happened?"
Just as Sarah is about to respond, Casey reaches over and presses the nurses button.
The nurses and doctors come in and check his vitals, everything is stabilizing, his fever is coming down. They leave an IV in him to keep fluids in him. As he slowly regains some strength, at least enough to sit up, Sarah tells him how she found him on the couch and that he had a fever of 105 so she brought him here. Chuck starts to remember what happened and tells her, Casey and the Director about the flashes and how they just kept coming and coming, that he couldn't control them. They seemed so random, maybe it was just too much. They decide to let him rest a bit more.
Director Graham meets with Sarah and Casey outside Chuck's room: "Once he is completely stable, we need to know if Chuck (I mean the intersect) is still working."
Casey responds for the two of them: "Roger that"
Sarah doesn't leave his side the rest of the night, talking to him, bringing him jello and holding his hand. The sun rises and the Director enters the room.
Director: "Sarah, do you think Chuck would be able to endure some tests to see if the intersect is still working?"
Sarah turns to Chuck and gives him one of those 'well?' looks: "Chuck, what do you think?"
Chuck takes a deep breath: "As long as there are no needles or probing of any kind..." This causes Sarah to laugh and they both nod yes to the Director. The Director has a high definition screen brought in and hooks up a laptop. He starts the program which Chuck remembers Dr. Zarnow ran on him a few months ago, but this time Chuck isn't flashing on anything. Chuck rubs his eyes and tries again. Nothing. The Director nods to Sarah and leaves the room.
Sarah tries to comfort him: "That's okay Chuck, maybe it's too early."
Chuck clearly dejected: "I'm sorry Sarah, I tried. I don't know what happened. "
The Director asks Sarah and Casey to join him outside.
Director: "Well that looks like the end of this project. It looks like his unique ability is gone. Whatever that flu was knocked it out of him. I'm going to give you both a few weeks off and then we'll discuss re-assignments. I'll speak to General Beckman for you Casey."
Casey: "Thank you sir."
Sarah turns to the Director and gives him a quizzical look: "Sir, what will happen to Chuck now. Will he be allowed to go back to his old life?"
Director: "Yes Sarah. And I'll give you 48 hours to let me know if you are going to join him and leave the agency. I know how you feel about him." Sarah's mouth drops open: "...but, how sir?"
The Director smiles: "48 hours Agent Walker"
The Director leaves the facility. Sarah and Casey join Chuck in his hospital room. Chuck is complaining about the breeze he feels because of the hospital gowns they make you wear. All three start to laugh.
Chuck obviously curious asks: "Hey guys, what happens now? I know I failed the test you guys gave me."
Trying to sound encouraging but realistic decides to withhold parts of what the Director said Sarah says: "The Director says you can go back to your old life. Casey and I have a few weeks until we are re-assigned."
Chuck looks at both of them surprised: "Wait, you guys are going to leave me. Sarah what about us? What about..." Sarah puts her head in her hands, starts to cry and runs out of the room.
Casey interrupts him and tries to explain: "Chuck, Agent Walker has been given 48 hours to decide whether she wants this life or to go back to being an Agent, you need to give her time, this isn't easy."
Casey leaves the room telling Chuck he'll be back later.
Chuck is alone in his room wondering what happens next. Will Sarah leave the CIA for him? What is Casey going to do? He wonders if Ellie has been worried and what his little buddy has been up to, it seems like so long since he saw them. He lays back down and stares at the ceiling. His mind remembers what got him into this mess in the first place, ...Zork! That single line from the email that Bryce sent and his answer, "attack troll with nasty knife." Zork must have been the key that unlocked the intersect files. It all made sense to him now. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling he begins to see the flashes again, only something's different this time. The images aren't random. He thinks about Sarah and her file appears, he sees flashes of her missions, her life, her aliases. He thinks about Casey and sees the assignments Casey was on, his file, his background. The random flashes begin to form patterns and the data becomes clearer. He begins to see the data from the NSA and the CIA together as one large database. He gets a sudden chill when he sees a huge pattern involving Fulcrum and various agencies. It starts to dawn on him, the reason he didn't flash on those images the Director showed him is because something changed in his brain. The encoding didn't work the same as before. The intel wasn't triggered by a word or an image, he could actually control the information now. He had to tell Sarah and Casey.
Chuck shouts from his hospital bed: "Sarah!! Casey!!"
Sarah and Casey come running in thinking something is wrong again.
Chuck very excitedly speaks: "Guys, I figured out why I didn't flash on those images the Director showed me...something changed in my brain! I don't actually flash anymore, I can actually call up intel myself without any trigger. Go ahead ask me anything. I can even recognize and follow the patterns of data kind of like a computer. Man, there's a lot of duplication in the NSA and the CIA, you know! If you guys just worked together, there's so many cases that could be solved!"
Sarah: "Chuck, what are you saying, you still have the Intersect in your head?"
Chuck surprised too says "Yeah, Sarah only its better, I can't explain it." He pauses and then gets a serious look on his face. "Guys, that's not all! I can see now why Fulcrum wants the Intersect, it all makes sense! I think that now that the beta Intersect is online they can accomplish their objectives."
Casey acting both relieved and concerned: "Agent Walker, we better contact the Director, he's gonna want to hear this!"
Sarah just looked at Chuck relieved that she doesn't have to make the decision to quit. Even though she knows that things between Chuck and her can never be the same. She's going to have to have a talk with the Director herself about her and Chuck.
Sarah kisses Chuck on the lips. Chuck just smiles back at Sarah remembering there would be more of that kind of passionate kissing later. He thinks for a moment, 'I'm the luckiest guy anywhere!'
Sarah: "I'll be right back, okay?"
Chuck looks at her proudly, smiles and nods.
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