A/N: I had this title and then I had some ideas that I wasn't going to use in my other current little stories so I thought I'd write a chapter and see how it went. Zarnow, maybe not the bad guy from S1...could still be a dick, haven't decided. Fourteen months after the intersect shook his worldview up…and now Sarah's back to recruit…anyway, BLDBAL next…TRFW after that…maybe some MGP thrown in…this is simply an excuse for me to write…and maybe get feedback…I do have ideas for more here…I don't own Chuck…or anything in the Chuckverse…and I'm still in the red as far as the whole getting paid to write thing goes. Still having fun though…Jim, thanks for the nudge…as always, your reviews are the icing on my day…thank you very much. I want to apologize for my horrible tardiness in responding to all of your reviews...I have no valid excuse, just been a little busy...and thanks to Spreadthenerd for all of the help...if you've noticed less typos and 'stuuf', it's because of STN's help. Hey, tw, nothing going on, as I said mere words agao, just been a little lazy... JT
Chuck Vs. A Blast From The Past
Chuck Bartowski was having an absolutely craptastic day. It had started off with all the earmarks of being a wonderful day until his alarm clock had jarred him from the arms of the woman he'd been seeing, off and on, for the last four months. He reached out and hit the off button and then realized that Samantha hadn't actually been sharing his bed with him. 'Strike one' he said to himself, wondering how much of his day would pass before he 'struck-out'.
His morning ritual had been going about normal, the shower and shaving portion of the day having passed without incident. He'd gotten dressed and was heading for the kitchen when he happened to look into the living room as he passed and 'strike two' happened. 'God damn it, Morgan!' he silently cursed his room mate when he saw that he'd forgotten the 'no el buffo' rule and was sound asleep on the couch, empty grape soda cans on the coffee table and his lucky game controller laying on his stomach.. His appetite now banished, he decided to wait until he got into work for his morning caffeine. Making sure that he kept his eyes averted, he made his way out of the apartment and was halfway across the courtyard when his phone began ringing. He looked at the display and when he saw who was calling, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd get to forget one of the strikes from earlier.
"Good morning , beautiful. Too what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"Chuck, I'm sorry to call so early but I have some bad news"
"Sam, what's wrong? How can I help?" Chuck asked, suddenly concerned.
"Chuck, I'm so sorry but" 'strike three' "my ex called last night and we spent the whole night talking and, well, I'm going to move back east so we can see if we can make it work. I'm so sorry, Chuck, I really am. You're a really great guy and I just know you'll meet someone"
"I thought I had" he mumbled.
"What was that, Chuck?"
"Nothing, not a thing. So, when are you leaving?"
"I'm actually flying out this morning"
"Well, have a safe trip, Sam. I really hope you find happiness. Good bye" he said and hit the disconnect before he gave in to some odd urge and said something mean spirited. 'Typical' he said to himself as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and resumed his journey to the parking lot. "The Bartowski luck strikes again" he said to no one in particular.
The drive to the Buymore was uneventful which Chuck found surprising. He was sure that the day was shaping up to be a shitstorm of Chuck Bartowski luck and he half expected a piece of space junk to come hurtling through the atmosphere and crush his car into a smoldering crater. Finding all of the Nerdherder parking spaces taken, he ended up parking on the other side of the parking lot because it seemed that everyone had picked today to do their electronics shopping at the Burbank Buymore. He was almost halfway across the parking lot when the clear blue sky decided to show him it's love by opening up and dumping a steady rain on him. By the time he made it to the front doors, he was drenched to the skin and he couldn't help but laugh to himself when he saw that Big Mike was standing just inside, a 'where the hell have you been, Bartowski?' look on his face. 'Well, here we go' he said to himself as he stepped into the store.
"Bartowski!" Big Mike barked at him, "why aren't today's work orders ready to go? The rest of the Nerdherders are waiting for the assignments for the day."
"I'm sorry, Big Mike. I guess the work orders aren't done because I just got here and the manager didn't feel the need to start handing out assignments" he answered and then paused before covering his mouth with his hand just before he sneezed…twice. He watched in amusement as his boss almost skipped backwards, a fearful look on his face.
"Are you sick, Bartowski? Because, if you are, I need you to make sure that you stay away from me. I can't allow myself to become ill"
"I'm sure it's nothing" he answered, "and your concern for my health is touching"
"Ok then, just get to work" he said as he continued to back away. "and do something about the water you've tracked in here, I would hate for anyone to slip because you were careless"
Chuck shook his head as he watched his boss walk away. He almost laughed as he watched Big Mike go out of his way to avoid the NerdHerd counter as he made his way to his office. He toyed with the idea of just taking the day off but he realized that he didn't really have anything else to do, now that Sam was leaving town. He took a deep breath and then a second before walking towards 'Buymoron' central, already dreading having to talk with Jeff and Lester who were standing at the counter, doing their best to ignore the surprisingly large number of customers who were gathered there.
"Alright troops" he said when he made his way behind the counter, "where are we and how can I help?" He cringed when five 'white' shirts and three 'green' shirts all began talking at once, each of them trying their hardest to be the one he heard and the onslaught of sound only served to remind Chuck that he had a splitting headache that he hadn't noticed before walking into the store. "Anna, you're first" he said, wondering just how bad this day was going to turn out to be.
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Chuck had just returned from his lunch break and looked at his watch, not at all surprised to find that it was after three. Everyone else had been sure that they got there lunch break and their 'break' break and he'd been left behind the counter until fifteen minutes ago. His lunch had been a bag of chips, a lukewarm soda and the thrill of Morgan yammering at him about his amazing night of gaming which didn't do anything to help the headache that hadn't eased up since he first noticed it earlier in the day. He'd also been sneezing fairly regularly and he was beginning to fear that he was coming down with something.
"Well, Charles, Jeffrey and I are glad that you've decided to return to your post" Lester said as he watched Chuck walk behind the counter. "Perhaps I should speak to Michael if you're unable to fulfill your assistant manager duties"
"Go right ahead" he answered, lacking the strength to point out to Lester that since Harry Tang had been fired for making inappropriate advances to Anna, he'd been doing all of the work without the spectacular three dollar an hour raise that went along with the official title of Assistant Manager. Reaching for his clipboard, he handed new work assignments to both Jeff and Lester, hoping that they'd simply take the papers and leave but not counting on it. Ten minutes later, after a seemingly endless discussion on the merits of Apple versus all other PCs, he finally managed to convince the pair to leave after promising he attend an open mic night where there band would be playing. With a sigh of relief, he allowed his head to sink into his hands.
"Chuck?"
He knew thought he knew the voice that had just called his name but he was sure that he was mistaken. Fourteen months earlier, a government researcher by the name of Dr. Zarnow had proclaimed him 'cured', assuring everyone that mattered that the Intersect program that his good buddy, Bryce Larkin, had sent him, had successfully been removed. Everyone who mattered was thrilled that things had been wrapped up so quickly, General Diane Beckman and CIA Director Graham expressed their pleasure that less than a week had been wasted in Burbank. After a quick handshake, the doctor had disappeared, followed soon after by a grumbling John Casey who had actually grunted goodbye, leaving him alone with the CIA's top agent who one upped Casey when she actually said 'thank you' after dropping Chuck off at his sister's apartment. He'd been about to ask her out when she offered a quick 'goodbye' and then sped off into the night. The next morning he tried to call Agent Sarah Walker, hoping she might consider joining him for a coffee but her number had been disconnected. He'd stopped by her hotel on his way in to work and found that she'd checked out the night before.
"Chuck?" the voice called again and when he raised his head up, he took note of the dark brown hair and wondered who was in need of his technical expertise now? He wondered if the woman was a friend of his sister's who had been sent here by Ellie as part of her seemingly endless string of 'fix-ups'.
"How can I help you?" he asked and then noticed the piercing blue eyes that stared back at him. "Agent Walker?" he asked, glad that he had been seated because he was sure that, if he'd been standing, he would have collapsed to his knees in shock. "How can I help you?" he added, finally getting his shock under control.
"I was hoping that you might be able to take a look at my phone" she answered, holding out her hand with a familiar looking phone cradled in her palm.
"Ah, Agent Walker, how I've missed your 'spy' humor" he said after glancing around to make sure that no one was within hearing range. "Look, I've had a really craptacular day and unless your phone really is broken, would you mind telling me why you're really here."
You're having a bad day, Chuck?"
"Yeah, I kinda am, so?…" he replied, going a little heavier on the snark than he really meant to. He just couldn't help it. His headache had just decided to kick it up a notch and he felt the tingle in his nose that told him to find a kleenex. Turning around, he reached for a box of tissues and just made it as he sneezed three times, rapidly and then paused before adding one more for good measure. After blowing his nose and tossing the sodden tissue into the almost overflowing wastebasket, he turned back around to find his surprise guest looking at him with concern in her eyes.
"Chuck, are you alright? You don't look so good"
"Why, thank you Agent Walker. In fact, I'm just peachy. I have a room mate who tends to sleep in the nude, far too often. That wouldn't be a problem if said room mate looked like you but, thanks to the luck that has followed me for the last six and a half years, my room mate looks like an Ewok that appears to be molting. Toady was also the day that the girl I'd been seeing, off and on for the last four months, decided that an uncertain future, back east, with her ex ,held more appeal than yours truly. And just to round things off, I got rained on, my boss treats me like a moron, I have a job that I hate, my sister keeps trying to set me up with her single friends and to put the cherry on the top of the icing on my reticular day, it now looks like I'm coming down with something. So, tell me, Agent Walker, why are you here?"
"Chuck, please call me Sarah. I'm so sorry that you're having a off day…"
"Off day? Off day?" he said with a sniffle. "Agent Walker, 'Red shirts' have an off day! Kenny had an off day every episode…I'm having an unbelievably shitty day and I really wish you'd tell me why you're here…in Burbank? In this store? Standing here in front of Chuck 'Lucky Man' Bartowski?"
Sarah cleared her throat as she struggled to figure what she needed to say next and, once again, Chuck was happy he was seated when she finally chose her answer. "I'm here to offer you a job…actually, I'm here on behalf of the CIA to offer you a job"
Chuck hurriedly looked around and when he took note of the surprising lack of customers, he turned back to the brunette standing just a couple of feet away and uncorked his sarcasm. "So, the same government that fourteen months ago, treated me like an idiot, upended my life and then, after I was no longer useful, simply disappeared without so much as a 'Thanks a lot, Chuck. Here's a little something for your time and headaches', is that the people your representing, Agent Walker? Because, if it is, I'll have to take a pass. I'm sorry if you had to take a break from your amazing 'spy' life and leave your amazing 'spy' friends and 'spy' boyfriends just to come out here to Burbank, a place that, as I recall, you couldn't leave fast enough last time. Just think, with my answer taking so little time to get, you can probably be home before anyone even has a chance to miss you" Chuck finally paused to take a breath, got to his feet and turned to leave. He felt a little guilty about being such an asshole but he figured that the shitty day was part of the reason for his uncharacteristic behavior. He'd taken two steps before he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really hope you have a nice flight back" he said before turning his head back and resuming his 'escape'. He had taken a couple of steps when he stumbled and then wondered why the floor seemed to be rushing up to meet him, sure that something was wrong. His last coherent thought was that he couldn't' believe how rude he'd been to Sarah and maybe he should apologize. He thought he heard someone yell his name with what sounded like concern in their voice but he couldn't be sure.
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Sarah Walker sat on the edge of Chuck's bed and leaned over to gently brush some curls out of his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Chuck" she spoke softly, "but we need you".
A/N: I'll add as I can. JT
Reviews and ideas or suggestions are always welcome.