A/N Hey all! This is my first attempt at fan-fiction, but I've read quite a few over the years, so hopefully it will meet everyone's expectations. Any and all reviews are welcome!
As of 2015: I do not plan on abandoning this story! Even if it takes another 10 years, I will finish it. Thanks for checking it out! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, I just enjoy writing about it for fun!
Train Station at Prague
Chuck glanced down at his watch for the millionth time in the past two minutes. "Where is she?" he asked himself, again.
"All aboard!" the conductor called. Chuck continued to pace the train's boardwalk.
After glancing at his watch yet again, Chuck's shoulders started to droop. She couldn't just stand him up could she? This was their dream: his dream. To be with Sarah for as long as they both lived, well, he could think of a few sappier ways to phrase it, but he wanted this. No, he needed this.
"Are you Chuck?" Chuck heard someone ask from behind him.
He spun around to see a man wearing all black clothing and designer shades. "Typical spy attire," Chuck internally joked. "Who wants to know?" he asked, hoping for a flash on the stranger.
"This is for you from a Sarah Walker," the man said, handing him an envelope.
Chuck reached out for the envelope, trying to imagine what could possibly keep Sarah from delivering this to him herself. As his fingers closed around the envelope, the man grabbed his wrist and jerked it hard, twisting Chuck's shoulder and forcing Chuck in front of him. "Owww!" Chuck hissed, a little louder than necessary.
"Stop that, or I'll shoot," he growled in Chuck's ear. Chuck could feel the metal barrel dig its way into his rib cage. Chuck gulped, nervously, and said, "C-can you put that away? I'm kind of anti-gun. Well, unless it's a water gun, I'd feel much more comfortable about that. Water's safe, you know? Maybe you don't know. Er, I'd much rather just talk this out. Man to man kind of thing,…"
"Shut up and move," the man said. He had made pretty good progress with Chuck towards the black sedan waiting by the curb. Chuck, still trying to figure out what was going on, closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on some kind of ninja move. "Flash. Flash darn it!" he muttered, helplessly.
"Just so you know, Beckman made her see some sense. Did you honestly think someone like her would actually want to run away with you? It was a set up, Chuck. Your country needs you to become a spy, and for Sarah to keep doing missions. Forget about her. She's not coming back. She's in love with someone else," the man said, finally letting go of Chuck, letting him stand in front of the open door to the backseat of the sedan.
"W-who?" Chuck stuttered, not noticing the man pull his gun out from under his shirt.
"Me," the stranger said, raising his gun, and firing it straight at Chuck.
Chuck stumbled backwards into the sedan, his thoughts whirring at a hundred miles per hour. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard the train's final whistle, and the last bit of Chuck's dream life pulled away down the tracks.
An hour before the Prague incident…
"Passports, check. Extra cash, check. Train ticket, check. Spare gun… not check," Sarah hurriedly thought to herself. Trying to go off the grid in one day was tricky but possible. Definitely possible for the super-spy. "Where did I put that gun?" she thought, throwing open random drawers in hopes of finding it.
"Looking for something, Agent Walker?" a familiar voice said. Sarah looked up from her partially-empty sock drawer to see General Beckman's face on her laptop monitor.
"How could I forget to turn that off…" Sarah scolded herself.
"Agent Walker, I hate to tell you this but we've been keeping extra tabs on you and our asset.." she began.
"Chuck," Sarah seethed loudly.
"Excuse me?" Beckman asked, pushing her glasses up as she scrutinized Sarah.
"Chuck. His name his Chuck. And he shouldn't be forced to be your "asset," as you commonly like to call him," Sarah retorted.
"This proves my point exactly, Agent Walker. It doesn't take a genius to see how compromised you are on this mission, so I installed a few new security measures on some of your personal items. Your spare gun, which was in very good shape, by the way, had a tiny microphone installed in the barrel. From that we were able to listen in on your plans to go off grid with the interse… Chuck," Beckman continued.
"You were spying on me? I can understand using microphones for Chuck but bugging me is way out of line. That's a breach of privacy!..." began Sarah's rant.
"Sarah," the general started, more gently, "I understand that you care deeply about Chuck. What you fail to understand is that your country needs the intersect as badly as you seem to think you need him. I'm willing to make a deal with you, Agent Walker, but I'll need your cooperation."
"I'm listening," Sarah said, grudgingly.
"If you can let Chuck train and let him become the spy he should be, I'll clear the two of you to date, not just as a cover, but really get to know each other. If your relationship should progress further than that, well, we'll cover that terrain when we get to it, but I don't see how it could pose a threat if you both are still willing to work for the country."
Sarah mulled over what Beckman had just said. It would be so easy to smash the laptop, run to the station, and try to still get away with Chuck, but the mission had been compromised early enough that Sarah knew that it wouldn't end well. Chuck could be killed, or worse, stuck in a bunker for the rest of his life.
She dropped onto the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. The life she had always dreamed of seemed unobtainable now, and she was going to have to bargain Chuck's soul for it. If Chuck were trained, he would lose his emotions. He would learn to control them and she'd never be able to see him at humanity's best again. There wasn't any way around it, though.
"Have you come to a decision, Agent Walker?" the general implored after a few minutes had passed.
"What am I going to tell him?" Sarah asked dejectedly.
"Don't worry, we already have a plan in place. All you have to do is pack your things and you can begin your new mission," Beckman said. "If everything works out, you could see Chuck again in a matter of months," she added.
Sarah closed her eyes and tried to hold back her tears. Failing for control, she opened them and blearily stared the general down. "What's my new mission?"
Outside the sound of a taxi horn could be heard, honking for Sarah one last time. As the taxi pulled away from the hotel, Sarah's dreams of a normal life left, too.