Chuck vs the Secret War
Note: This story references multiple TV shows and movies. Try to guess who the OC is…
Prologue
NYC, 2002
Colonel Diane Beckman steps into the bar, looking for the man she's been hunting for these last ten years.
The bartender is busy wiping the table, cleaning up everything, ready to close up the shop. It's the wee hours of the night, almost closing time, and most of the patrons have departed, gone home for the night, save for one lonely soul, asleep, head down on the table.
Ah…Beckman regards the bartender. He's the one…
He's a big man, broad across chest and shoulders, six-four or five, craggy features, with a full head of silver-white hair.
"It's almost closin' time," There's more than a hint of Texas in his rough-sounding voice. "I can sell you one drink, but that's all."
"I'm not thirsty," Beckman steps up to the bar counter, takes a photograph out, and slides it across the counter, to the man.
He stops wiping the table to look at it. Then, the damp cloth slips from seemingly nerveless fingers…
It's one of those old-timey black and white photographs from the Nineteenth Century. Three men…a United States Marshall, and two of his deputies.
The man touches the photo gingerly, index finger resting on one of the deputies, an exact duplicate of the man himself.
He looks up.
"How the hell did you find me?" he rasps.
Beckman sighs. This will take some explaining.
"We need you," she takes a seat at the counter. "You erased a threat to Earth in the Fifties…"
"Totally by accident," the man grunts sourly. "Wrong place…right time. Hang on a sec…"
He steps out from behind the counter, walks over to the sleeping customer. Beckman barely hears the muffled conversation between the two, as her target gently hustles the other man out of the bar, then closes, and locks the door.
"Now, we're alone," he addresses Beckman. "What do you want of me?"
…..
2010
Castle
Sarah Walker was feeling somber. John Casey had died three months ago, killed by an alien virus.
The NSA hadn't sent in a replacement yet. Walker was fairly sure that, mourning notwithstanding, a replacement for John Casey would be coming soon.
Beckman had announced that she would be arriving at Castle just before Lunch.
Will Casey's replacement be with her?
Walker was disposed to dislike the replacement, whoever he turned out to be.
He-whoever he is-won't be John Casey…
…..
Everyone was assembled at Castle, waiting on General Diane Beckman, and the new NSA Handler...
"Wonder what he's like?" Chuck mused.
He didn't have to wonder long. The door leading to the secret basement entry opened, and two people stepped inside.
Chuck had long since stopped thinking of Beckman as a potential enemy. He had seen her grieve over John Casey's death, had even held her as she wept.
Diane Beckman was a friend, someone both he and Sarah could trust.
Years ago, Chuck had been thrust into this dangerous world of spies. He was the Intersect, the man with all the world's secrets, and a whole bushel basket full of talents and abilities, implanted into his brain.
He hadn't wanted it, hadn't wanted the danger, the killing, that went with it.
Now, due to the trust he had in General Beckman, he willingly entered into this world, with all the danger, and pure insanity that was part of it.
The dangers they all faced now were not limited to the purely terrestrial.
We're fighting a Secret War…
That was Operation Bartowski's main responsibility now. Other agents could fight against the Russians, the Chinese, and the Homegrown threats.
Our war is against the Colonists. To make sure John's death isn't in vain…
Bartowski knew, trusted, and loved, General Diane Beckman. She was family now.
So, he turned his attention to the man who accompanied her, and was promptly inundated by a Flash…
Dain Hacker…Born Eighteen Twenty-Five in Abilene, Texas, to Selma Hacker, biological Father unknown…Deputy to US Marshall Matthew Dillon from Eighteen Seventy to Eighteen Ninety…Instrumental in the foiling of an Alien Colonist Incursion in Road Prison, Gainesville, Florida, in Nineteen Fifty-five…
…..
Sarah Walker knew the look of a Flash when she saw one. So, keeping a watchful eye on the newcomer, she waited for the revelation, whatever it turned out to be…
"Eighteen Twenty-five?" Chuck squeaked. "For real?"
Dain Hacker was a big man; around John Casey's size, with craggy features, hazel-gray eyes, and silver hair. He snorted at Chuck's exclamation.
"She told me you had ways of known' things," he nodded at General Beckman. "I'd rather that didn't get out."
"Yeah…" Chuck said. "But how are you our NSA replacement? You're not even in the NSA…"
"Mr. Hacker has talents that are most apt for Operation Bartowski's Primary Mission," General Beckman said. "As I'm sure you will recognize from your Flash…"
"That what you call what he does?" Hacker spoke up. "Flashin'?"
"Yeah…" Chuck nodded. "Wow…We're all weird in one way or another, I guess. What do we call you?"
…..
"Call me Dain," Hacker looked at the kid; about as likeable as a puppy. He'd read the dossier on the boy, of course, once he had been tapped to replace John Casey.
It wasn't just Bartowski's ability to use the Intersect, and it wasn't just the sheer amount of cases solved by Operation Bartowski.
The kid has a working brain and knows how to use it…
"I take it Mr. Hacker meets with your approval?" General Beckman spoke dryly.
"Yeah…" the boy stood, held out a hand. "Welcome to Operation Bartowski…"