What do we do now…go on waiting
A/N Big thanks to supesfan18 for getting me started again. This story is the follow-on to the Chuck vs the Plan Series
Still don't own Chuck. Normal disclaimers apply. Characters and events are fictitious.
"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."
-Agent Walker, Episode 3.4
Chapter 1—The Set Up
The Beach
Sarah had found her spot. She really didn't know why she picked this particular spot on the beach but when Chuck sat down next to her it felt right. Everything was perfect. The sun was setting; the clouds were in the right position; and colors made by the sun were spectacular. It felt good and normal. But it was ending, just one more night. It had gone too fast. She leaned against Chuck and sighed.
Chuck was elated. It did feel good and it was back to normal. The time together had seemed to heal everything. When Sarah leaned against him, he was in heaven. It did not hurt any more and he could feel her against his side. There was no cast on his arm; no more bandages covered him and no telltale strings were hanging out next to the scars on his skin. The last visit by Doc Adams and Nurse Watts took care of all of that. The best part was the feeling was coming back along his ribs and his shoulder where he was shot. All the exercises with Sarah, then he thought, 'Okay some of those really weren't exercises,' had paid off and he felt great. This was really great being with Sarah.
He looked down at Sarah and heard her sigh. He let out a long, "Yeah." Pulling her a little closer, "I know. Me too." Even though the honeymoon was extended under Doctor's orders, it was coming to a close all too fast. "You know that this was the best ever. All of it." He bent around, held her a little tighter and kissed her. "I love you."
'He can always do this. Make me feel better.' Ending the kiss she looked at him and back to the ocean, "Yes, I know. But we'll be starting back and…"
"Careful, you're starting to sound like Morgan at the end of summer." He ducked the hand coming at his head. "I don't want it to end either, but we'll have time together. I mean, just us. Nights and weekends will still be ours." Chuck just looked at her, "Okay as Ellie used to say, enough of this. Let's enjoy what we have. And I got you." He pulled her into a long kiss.
The Following Day
Burbank, CA.
Casey met them at the airport. As they stepped out of the plane he just nodded. Sarah swept the area and saw two visible members of the protective detail. She knew they were with them on the honeymoon but was pleased that the details stayed concealed. Sarah smiled back at Casey and he turned to the waiting van.
After Chuck helped Sarah into the van and took his seat he looked up at Casey and asked, "So everything good?"
"Great," Casey replied.
Chuck and Sarah's eyes showed the surprise, as they knew he was talking about Mary. Just over two weeks ago, they went to Mary and Casey's wedding. It was splendid, held at the same chapel Chuck and Sarah used, at Mary's ranch. Mary Ramirez, now Mary Elizabeth Casey, was a Special Agent in the FBI assigned to the Joint Interagency Task Force – Intersect Initiative. She was the daughter of Carlos Ramirez, Chief Investigator for Human Trafficking, now under Department of Justice. Her grandfather, the Honorable John H. Wabash, was Chuck's boss and the Director of National Intelligence.
Chuck continued, "Yeah, it was great. So, are we all set?"
Sarah knew they were late getting in. Mary and Ellie were back at the apartments cooking dinner for them and the whole crew. She asked, "Are we going to be on-time for dinner? The pilot said we hit a head wind that slowed us down quite a bit."
"We're fine. Mary has been on-line with us the whole time and knew when you touched down," Casey reminded them. "We moved Mary's things from the ranch yesterday. And it seemed like she brought everything with her, including a special kitchen sink. She had that installed in the kitchen by the conference room."
Sarah was a little concerned, "She doesn't expect to cook for us all the time?"
"No, we did get a cook, actually a chef. It was quite a production. Sherry McLean was one of the names we sent you guys to check. But in this case, you were small potatoes compared to the cook-off Mary and Ellie made the applicants go through."
"I guess we really do need to help Devon get Ellie off the Food Network," Chuck remarked.
"Better before Mary starts," Casey grunted his agreement.
Sarah added, "I bet she could best any of their chefs." Mary had been a cook in college and then while getting her law degree from UCLA, she was the cook at Devon's fraternity. Devon still had not broken the tie between Ellie and Mary's cuisine.
"Yeah well, let's wait until after dinner before we get into that," Chuck responded.
Casa Bartowski
It was a short trip to the apartments. They were rebuilt after the last battle. Beside the bullet holes on most walls, the helicopter running into the wall by the conference room made the structure unsafe. The physical security folks had pushed for a bigger footprint to allow for outer barriers and gated security for parking. There was now over a hundred feet from the nearest street to the apartment building. The complex now stood at three floors with another two floors underground. Chuck and Sarah, Casey and Mary, and Ellie and Devon had their own large apartments. Chuck's dad had an apartment and so did Lisa, the analyst from Sarah's Intersect section at CIA. The three stateside teams would round out the apartments.
Mary and Ellie had been in on one part of the apartment design. There was a large kitchen adjoining the conference room, which served as a large dinning room. Everyone was gathered there. Chuck and Sarah shook hands and were hugged as they went into the conference room. They made it to the front and both of them began, "Thanks everyone." Chuck looked at Sarah and nodded. She continued, "Yes, thank you so much. The honeymoon was great, fantastic. We loved it." Chuck moved to the side and plugged his phone into the network. The pictures began to flash on the front screen. He pointed. Sarah smiled, "Yes, we have some of the pictures. But diner looks great, lets eat while we watch."
As the pictures were shown, everyone chowed down. Chuck and Sarah finished theirs first and began to go around the room. Sarah met up with Mary first, "So, how was yours?"
Mary melted, "Oh, it was great, fun and wonderful. We just got back yesterday. Wish we could have stayed out longer."
Sarah smiled, "Yeah, us too. Chuck is finally healed." She saw Casey listening, "Yeah, healed. Didn't say normal. Doc Adams released him. Everything is okay. We've started some exercises."
Casey nodded, "Yeah, we need this month to get everyone back into shape. But we can start that in the morning."
Chuck smiled as he came up to the conversation, "That's fine by me." He got a stare from Casey. "Yeah, I know that's why I agreed." He remembered the conversation from before that now that he accepted the Intersect and the skills that went with this version he would have to get in shape. He realized this was particularly important if he ever expected to do anything but stay in the van. He had been thinking about it during the honeymoon. Even though Sarah would have twelve teams and over two hundred people working for her, he still knew there would be some occasions where he would be in the field with Sarah and Casey.
Chuck saw his dad come up and gave him a hug, "Hey, how did everything go?"
"We got a new version, up and ready for you. The DNI got the previous Intersect crew to release the architecture they used for the skill part of the Intersect. Sarah's analysts provided the streams for the up-to-date intell and I included a few more skills packages. We can go over the details tomorrow and up load it anytime you're ready." Steven smiled at his son, "You know even with all these skill packages, I still want you and Sarah to stay safe. I would have never planned this but I must say I am proud of you both. Aces Charles, Aces."
Ellie had just stepped up to them, "Well, I am certainly happy. The new apartments are wonderful and the arrangements at the hospital are fine.
Devon came too and added, "Yeah, and with Bennie and Dorothy here, we don't have to worry about patching you up all the time."
Doctor Ben Adams and Nurse Dorothy Watts heard their names called and walked over. It continued like that for the rest of the night. Chuck and Sarah met with all of the team leads, Liz and her staff, and the team leads for the security details.
Casey had arranged to have Security or Protection Details. While they were confident that the Ring operation in the States was eliminated, there was still the possibility that some overseas Ring element remained. And there was still a threat from Messer Schwarz (MS) organization. They were the human traffickers and while stopped from operating in the States, their organization was worldwide. Finally, Casey and Sarah's analysts thought the next target Sion would begin to make counterattacks once action began against them.
Chuck and Sarah finished their discussions and they were sure everyone was ready to leave. They certainly were. After saying their goodnights and goodbyes, Chuck and Sarah walked over to their apartment. Chuck began, "You know it is good to be home, and since is really our first night…" He opened the apartment door and swept Sarah into his arms. "I always did want to do this right. And I'm glad we get to do this tonight."
Sarah smiled remembering the first night, "Well, we kind of did this already."
Chuck remembered too, "Yeah, but this is our home and I want to make it official." As he took the step he said, "I love you and forever."
It had become their little play. Sarah echoed, "I love you and forever." They kissed and headed to the bedroom.
The Next Day
"Dad, what does this new Intersect do?" Chuck asked. He and Sarah had gathered together in the conference room with Steven, Casey, Mary and Doc Adams.
Steven started, "The Intelligence information has been updated. We have been able to include information from more agencies. We also did some preliminary sort and comparisons using the model. It allowed us to cut down on duplicative files. Next I used the architecture of the skills packages to include a few more. The list is in this packet. They are more on the team side, rather than individual. So for example, one is tactical team operation. It is a mix of FBI, U.S. Marshal and Special Operations procedures.
"And the biggest part of this Intersect, I now know how the take the new packages out. Still working on the entire Intersect. I think there might be a way to take out that part we overwrote." Steven smiled at Chuck.
Chuck gave him a hug, "That's awesome. It would be nice to get rid of this once we're done."
Steven shook his head, "Well, that's the problem. You must be careful or you'll never be done."
Sarah stepped in, "Yes, but we'll get to decide." She was serious. It wasn't that long ago that Chuck had left the drive-in theater with no Intersect. She had a little flashback remembering what she was thinking after getting Chuck back to Castle when he downloaded the Intersect for the second time. 'Chuck won't have a normal life, we won't have a normal life, but I'm going to protect him no matter what. I love him. We got to beat these guys and end this. I can't let everything we fought for these last two years be for nothing.' She smiled and thought again, 'We aren't going to let this go. Together we can get this done and know when to quit.' She put her arm around Chuck and gave him a squeeze.
A/N All the best to supesfan18 and 'Chuck vs the day that changed everything.' Been a little busy getting some stories ready to go. Have a couple others that are in beta and coming soon.
Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review.