This story is completely AU. But you'll notice mostly all the characters from Chuck feature in this in some way or another. My sole aim really (besides action, drama and adventure) is to bring Charah together. Happy reading!
Chuck gazed longingly out of the window, trying to catch one final glimpse of his former life. Ellie looked anxiously at her brother beside her, his indecipherable expression worried her immensely. His warm chocolate eyes seemed to darken as she drove onwards.. Towards their new home in Burbank with their father. She often wondered if she had made the right decision moving them back to the man that left them years ago, but she had no choice.
Their mother had mysteriously left them only a few months ago with such feeble excuses that her children didn't really know the true reason why she had left. Though they were considerably past their child years now, it didn't stop them feeling the gut wrenching pain of abandonment.
Chuck didn't want to start his life over again, he was nearly seventeen, and it was too late to do such things. He felt that he was old enough to live on his own, but Ellie strongly disagreed. She had to do this, because she didn't have the money to support Chuck on her own, she was struggling herself to get through college. Chuck being Chuck, of course, he understood. It was her love for her little brother that pushed her to do this and nothing else.
It was hard for Chuck to say goodbye to his friends, the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. He didn't want to think about that at that moment, it hurt too much to think of all the things he left behind and the new life that he was about to face.
"Are you okay, Chuck?" Ellie asked, her wide eyes probing.
He was silent for a moment before parting his lips to answer. "Yeah, I'm fine El, don't worry - we'll be okay, won't we?"
"Of course we will. You know I'm only doing this for you, I can't support us financially on my own anymore, and we need Dad." She sighed.
"I know, I know. I'm not mad at you for doing this, but it won't stop me from missing my friends. I'll get over it, though." He admitted honestly.
"You'll meet new friends." She replied positively.
"Sure I will." He said simply, he pulled down the mirror above him and checked his reflection briefly. Yeah, I'll certainly make friends looking like this. He thought sarcastically, eyeing his brown spiraling hair sweeping over half of his forehead, he looked into his own big, mahogany eyes and sighed when he saw the gleaming silver braces on his top set of teeth. They're going to hate me, his thoughts taunted him as he imagined his lanky frame towering over most of the students in school.. He wasn't going to go unnoticed at that height.
Somewhere along in the journey, Chuck fell asleep and when his eyes opened again he was shocked by the unfamiliar surroundings. Burbank was dazzlingly bright and sunny; it was full of endless beautiful beaches and beautiful people. Chuck already felt as though he didn't belong.
Chuck and Ellie eventually found their new home. He braced himself as he got out of the car and came face to face with Stephen Bartowski, his face was older than Chuck remembered. His eyes crinkled as he smiled gently as his son and daughter, the lines around his eyes seemed to increase as he did this. Chuck greeted him quietly before walking into the house pulling his only suitcase behind him.
Later on, when they were settled, Chuck found out that he was starting school in just two days' time at Burbank High School. He didn't even have time to prepare himself, mentally. Stephen looked at Chuck as they were eating around the table, he sighed to himself, Chuck wasn't happy. He was going to do all he could to change that.
"I need to go and do some work in my study." Stephen said, standing up which caused a long, echoing squeak on the laminate floor from his chair.
"What kind of work do you do.. Ste-Dad?" Ellie corrected herself.
"I fix computers, privately. I set up my own little company, it's doing quite well but some problems on computers are really difficult to solve so I need time." He looked at Ellie's intrigued expression before adding. "And also peace and quiet."
Chuck and Ellie nodded in unison. Later that night after Ellie had gone to bed at a sensible hour, Chuck put down his comic book when he heard an unusual noise. It sounded like a gentle tinkling, but it was gradually getting louder. He stood up and slowly tiptoed away from the living room and towards his father's study. Unfortunately for Chuck's avid curiosity, the door was shut properly. He was about to give up when he noticed a small beam of light exit a part of the door and it shone on to the wall opposite.
He frowned slightly but then he noticed a hole in the door, he tried to kneel down without being clumsy and for once, he managed to keep his balance in check. He closed one eye and waited for his eyes to focus properly on what he was seeing. He saw several large computers attached to the wall, and beneath them he could see his father typing away on a small laptop at a dizzyingly fast speed. He noticed a small symbol on the screen of one of the monitors, but he couldn't fathom where he remembered it from. It would come back to him.
He wandered to his new bedroom, feeling dazed and confused. To him, that didn't look like ordinary computer fixing study. He would find out, he decided. Feeling like he had just experienced the longest day in the world, Chuck let his heavy lids fall shut.
A few days later, it was time for Chuck to get back to reality. He was about to start his new high school. Before he left, Chuck spent a worryingly long time deciding what to wear. He didn't want to look like a Class A nerd, but he also didn't want to look like the World's biggest douche. Finally, he decided to play it safe with a plain black T-shirt teamed with his newest pair of converses.
His stomach was swirling as he tried – and failed to eat his breakfast. He idly threw his bowl in the sink and called a weak goodbye to his father. Ellie had already left. The distance to his new high school was surprisingly short, much to Chuck's chagrin. He saw some other potential students eyeing him as he staggered into the school grounds; he felt the excited buzz as he entered. The students were all chatting to each other excitedly as it was the first day back at school after the summer vacation.
A short while later, after Chuck had visited the principal's office and gotten his timetable, he found himself in the noisy homeroom. He sat next to a rather skinny young boy who was arguably very short for his age; he had a helmet of brown hair and a tiny bit of wispy stubble to match. Chuck pulled out his timetable as the teacher took the register and found that he had English first. He loathed that topic, his favorite was the one in which he got to work with computers.
The skinny boy was eyeing him as he scrutinized his timetable. His wide eyes assessed Chuck before he decided to speak to him. It was the comic book that was poking out of Chuck's bag that made the decision for him.
"Hi." His surprisingly high voice squeaked out.
"Hey." Chuck gave a nervous half grin, revealing his almost straight train-tracked teeth.
"What's your name?" He wondered.
"Chuck Bartowski." Chuck stated almost robotically.
"Bartowski?" His thickly set eyebrows shot up. "That sounds italian, are you Italian?"
"No I'm a hundred percent Canadian… I can assure you." He replied. "What's your name?"
"Morgan Grimes." He smiled. "We can stick together."
Chuck instantly liked this kid, he was friendly and he seemed to radiate a certain happy vibe that seemed to already wash over Chuck. "Are you in my English?" He asked Morgan.
"Let me see." Morgan quickly looked over his newest friend's timetable. "Ah, sorry no dude. You have Mrs Kennedy ."
"Why are you making that face?" He replied, noticing Morgan's lips pull down at the corners.
"She is the devil dude, seriously."
The bell suddenly went, Chuck was about to find out for himself. A few minutes later after a rather embarrassing introduction, he was placed next to a very arrogant looking boy. Chuck soon found out that his name was Bryce Larkin and clearly loved himself, though Chuck could see why. His shining mop of hair swept over his piercing blue eyes that seemed to capture the attention of nearly every girl in the classroom.
He listened intently during the lesson, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot on his first day in the new school. He struggled to see the board as a golden haired girl blocked his view. Feeling rather brave, Chuck tapped her gently on the shoulder. He swore that he saw her flinch.
When she turned around, Chuck's breath caught in his throat. He came face to face with the most beautiful girl he had ever cast eyes on. Her eyes looked into his for a moment, blue and hypnotic framed by a set of long dark lashes. He marveled over her translucently clear skin and how perfectly her dazzlingly blonde hair fell on her shoulders. He thought of all this in less than a few seconds.
He nearly forgot what he was going to say. "I- erm.. Can you move your head slightly please, I can't erm.. see." He wondered why he had suddenly turned into a babbling idiot.
Her expression clouded slightly for a moment, she felt a feeling of familiarity wash over her. She was certain she had never met this new boy, but she had the strongest sense of deja-vu. "Sure." She replied, bewildered by their little exchange.
When she turned back around, Chuck tried to gather his scattered thoughts and focus back on the lesson. He tried but failed to think of anything other than the angel sitting in front of him.
Towards the end of the lesson, Bryce grew impatient with sitting still and decided to continuously poke the girl in front of him.
She turned around and Chuck struggled to look away from her venomous expression, directed at him.
Chuck shook his head slowly. "It wasn't me." He shrugged, his eyes motioning towards Bryce.
"Bryce, would you mind keeping your hands to yourself?" She spat.
"Sarah, how can you expect anyone to keep their hands off you? You're so hot." Bryce said seductively, moving his hands towards her again.
Sarah gripped his wrist and twisted it into an awkward position, causing him to groan inwardly. "Piss off, Larkin." She said, noticing the curly haired innocent looking boy beside him staring at her with a slightly awed expression. She wondered why people did that sometimes, it made her feel like she was being shoved into the spotlight when she longed to be put into a corner in the darkness.
By lunchtime it became crystal clear to Chuck on his place in the school. He was a nerd.. but he felt extremely lucky to have found a friend so easily in Morgan. They had so many similar interests and he was really easy to get along with. So, being at the bottom of the high school food chain Chuck quickly noticed the hierarchy system in which the students operated in. Bryce Larkin and his ridiculously good-looking minions were at the top and his girlfriend, Jill Roberts and her gang. Then, were the ordinary people, then the nerds and such. He noticed that Sarah didn't really have a designated group that she hung around with. When she was sitting with people, she didn't appear to really interact in their conversations - she seemed to be in a world of her own.
Over the next few days, Chuck found himself longing to see what was behind Sarah's mysterious exterior. He wondered why he often thought about her when he hadn't said more than a few words to her. Soon though, he quickly came to the conclusion that he had somehow developed a crush on her.
He found himself having a discussion with Morgan about her a few weeks later, whilst staring at her from across the canteen.
"Chuck, stop staring at her." Morgan warned him.
"At who?" Chuck mumbled innocently.
"Sarah Walker." His eyebrows moved downwards.
"I'm not."
"You are, Chuck."
"Fine, I was. What's it to you?" Chuck suddenly got quite defensive.
"You have a crush on her, don't you?"
Chuck sighed. "Can you blame me?"
"No. But you do understand that it is never, ever going to happen, right?" Morgan said honestly.
This pained him to hear this, even though he knew it was true. "I know, but I can't help it, man. She's so beautiful..." Chuck blushed slightly.
"My advice would be to get over it, dude and fast. It's not going to get you anywhere." He said wisely.
"I know." He buried his head in his hands and gave a deep, long sigh and groaned afterwards.
That night after Chuck got home from school, he found that neither his father nor sister were home. A note on the table stated that they were going to pick up dinner from the supermarket. He sat around for a bit finishing off his homework and tying up some loose ends. Eventually though, the curiosity he felt got the better of him and he crept over to his father's study.
He wiggled his hand on the door handle but soon discovered that it was locked. After some searching he found a spare key hidden in his father's room. When he finally entered the small room he was startled by the number of computers his father had. He opened the laptop that his father had been working on only a few weeks ago and by answering the security question on it, he was in.
He saw one file on the computer. It was named 'The Intersect', taking a deep breath; he clicked on the file and tried to get rid of the nervous feeling that was overriding his body. Suddenly, he saw pictures, lots and lots of images that seemed to hypnotize him. He felt like all thoughts had exited his brain and his mind suddenly felt very, very heavy. It was taking over, the images started to move faster and faster until the screen was completely blank. Chuck looked daze a moment before falling unconsciously to the floor.
What did you think? Please let me know and review! From now on I'm going to try respond to every review made. Thanks for reading!