Intro
Chuck wasn't the only one who saw the email from Bryce, Tia or T did too. She is Chuck's, Morgan's, and Ellie's childhood friend/adopted sister. She also went to Stanford with Chuck and Bryce, currently works at the Buy More, is a hacker, and is a select mute. Can there really be two intersects?
Chapter 1- Chuck vs The Intersect
T's POV
"Morgan, this is a bad idea." Chuck says, sitting on the floor next to Morgan who was starting to make "our" method of "escape", looking at me for some backup. I nod agreeing with him which causes Morgan to say "We can't stay here Chuck, T." Chuck sighs and says "I'm uncomfortable with the plan." "Plan? What plan? This! This is survival!" Morgan exclaims before there is a knock at the door to which Morgan jumps out the window exclaiming "That's her! We've been compromised! I'm a ghost." Ellie walks in and turns the light on as Chuck pleads "Morgan you can't leave us like this. You can't do this to us man." "Uh, Chuck…what are you doing?" Ellie asks hands on her hips. Chuck turns off the flashlight and offers "Uh…escaping?" "From your own birthday party?" Ellie quickly asks as Morgan calls "Hey Ellie. You look fan…tastic." She ignores him like normal and asks "Well?" so Chuck says "Uh you know…sis, the thing is, T, Morgan, and I don't really feel like we're fitting in. At MY birthday party 'cause we don't know anybody 'cause they're all your friends and they all happen to be doctors." "Yeah, doctors who don't really get our jokes." Morgan complains trying to keep himself from "falling" out the window. "Well, your jokes." Chuck says quickly to which I nod and Morgan says "Okay, MY jokes." Ellie looks to me and I shrug which causes her to sigh and say "Chuck, I have invited real, live women for you. And T lots of Devon's friends are here too. So please, let's go. And Morgan you stay here." Before walking back out the door. Chuck and I look at each other, each of us hoping the other will come up with a way to get out of it, but we can't so we both sigh. Chuck then looks at Morgan and asks "Need a hand buddy?" as he stands up. "No, no, no, I'm okay, I'm all right." Morgan says standing up on the ground outside the window. Chuck then looks at me and sighs out "We can't get out of this." I sigh, climb off his bed, and follow him outside and into the party.
When we get close Ellie meets up with us and starts pushing us into the crowd saying "Okay! We're gonna be social. Chuck, you are funny, you are smart, and you are handsome. T, you are funny, you are smart, and you are beautiful." I shake my head sighing as Chuck says a half-hearted "Thank you." A few minutes of maneuvering around people Devon is in sight so Chuck says "Oh, there's Captain Awesome." To which Ellie says "Please don't call him that." Before we reach him. Devon then takes Chuck by the shoulders and says "Okay. I've identified some candidates for Chuck." Before he starts leading Chuck to a group of girls with a "And they are awesome." Statement. I look at Ellie and she looks at me hopeful and asks "See anyone you like?" I shake my head and turn my attention back to Chuck who was sure to have started to talk about Jill at this point as the girls are starting to go away. Devon comes back so Ellie sighs out an "I thought for sure there would be someone that would catch her attention this time. How's he doing?" so I point at Chuck as the last girl walks away mouthing 'weirdo' as Devon replies "Not awesome." Chuck then realizes that he was talking to no one and looks at us shrugging which causes Ellie to say "He never learns."
When the party was over I join Chuck as he sits on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. "Don't say it. Just…don't say it." Chuck says as I help him take the tape off of his fingers and Ellie joins us. "I wasn't planning on it, and I doubt T was." Ellie states handing him a beer. "Thanks for my party. Your seven layer dip; tasted like eight." Chuck says which causes Ellie to sigh and ask "Chuck can I tell you something?" Chuck looks at her and asks "It really was eight layers?" hopefully. "Even though we may ask, no woman really wants to hear about an old girlfriend. It's depressing, okay? Stanford was five years ago. You need to move on. It's time-" Ellie says but gets cut off by Chuck asking "Do we really need to have this conversation again?" "We've rehearsed it enough." Ellie says so Chuck stands up stating "Alright, well, I'll get over Jill tomorrow." Before leaving us alone. Ellie then goes to say something to me but Morgan sits down between us saying "Ladies, seems like everyone had a pretty good time huh? I know I did. It was…super." I sigh, poke him, and point in the direction that Chuck went which causes him to tilt his head at Ellie with his eyebrows raised. I shake my head and emphasize my point to Chuck's room. He frowns but stands anyway and states "Fine. Mood killer." Before he grabs my hand and starts dragging me with him as Ellie mouths a 'thank you' to me. I nod at her just before Morgan pushes me into Chuck's room through the still open window, or as Morgan calls it the "Morgan door".
Once inside I sit next to Chuck on his bed as Morgan flops into Chuck's computer chair with the Xbox controller and un-pauses the game from earlier. "Why can't I talk to women? It's a curse." Chuck sighs out after watching him play for a few minutes. I sigh as Morgan says "Cheer up Chuck. You can talk to some women; like T. You know that's a start." "T's like our sister so it's different." Chuck says which causes Morgan to say "Yeah I guess you're right. T doesn't really count." I nod agreeing with them as I had the same problem with talking to people other than them and Ellie. Devon was getting there but that's only because he says awesome a lot. Chuck's computer dings which causes me and Morgan to glance at it as Chuck was still sulking. "Wow. Blast-from-the-past wow. Bryce remembered your birthday dude." Morgan says causing Chuck to ask "What?" I nod as Morgan jokes "The guy that got you two kicked out of school, the guy who stole your girl, remember that guy?" Chuck then gets up and moves over to the computer saying "Yeah Morgan I think I remember Bryce." Morgan pauses the game and asks "Alright well, what have we got here?" as him and I join Chuck at the computer as he opens the email. 'The terrible troll raises his sword' types out on the screen causing Morgan to ask "Huh? What is it?" "Zork, remember Zork the all text-based video game?" Chuck asks to which Morgan nods so Chuck continues "Bryce, T, and I programmed our own version of it back at Stanford using the TRS-80." "Wow, you guys were really cool." Morgan says sarcastically. Chuck ignores Morgan's sarcastic tone and says "Yeah. If I could only remember what was in my hero's satchel." Morgan gives him a look so he adds "The weapons that I would use to kill the terrible troll." "Right...you know what? You're still really cool." Morgan lies as he smirks at me knowing that I already knew that he was lying. "And, uh, you're going home." Chuck states then looking at Morgan to which Morgan asks "Is it that time?" I nod as Chuck says "It's that time." Nodding as well. "Right." Morgan states walking to the door. "Peddle safe!" Chuck yells at him as I move so I can get a closer look at the screen. "Thank you!" Morgan yells before the front door slams shut. Chuck then looks at me and asks "Nasty knife?" I think for a minute before nodding agreeing that that was one of the weapons. Chuck smiles before turning back to the computer and saying "Attack…troll….with nasty knife." As he types it in. He hits 'Return' and the computer beeps before billions of images starts flashing on the screen.
Then next thing I know I faintly hear Morgan ask "Guys?" Another "Guys?" and I open my eyes and Morgan is leaning over me asking "You-you okay?" "Morgan?" Chuck asks next to me to which Morgan stands straight and helps us sit up saying "Yeah. Yeah, it's me. What happened?" "I was going to ask you the same question." Chuck states as I glance at the now blank computer screen causing me to frown. "Did you spike the punch?" Chuck asks as Morgan pulls him up. "Something goes wrong, you blame me." Morgan says pulling me up before adding "After all these years, where's the trust? Yes I did." As he leads us out of the room. "I'll stay with T. You get ready." Morgan states pushing Chuck into the bathroom before following me to my apartment next door. I unlock my door and point to the couch as I make my way to my bedroom. I'm not even in my room before I hear my T.V. turn on causing me to sigh as it make me notice my killer headache. I change into my uniform before running a brush through my hair and pulling it into a low pony-tail. I come out of my room just as Chuck opens my front door groaning out "Come on or we're going to be late." Morgan turns off my T.V. and we leave my apartment. I lock my door as Morgan and Chuck start walking to the Herder. I catch up to them just as Morgan starts to explain "So, this morning I was playing Xbox and I'm like, dude, just let me get the sniper rifle, I'll take care of it. The guy won't give me the sniper rifle, I made him eat a frag grenade." "Morgan, Morgan, Morgan, Morgan. As much as I would love to talk video games with you right now, I've got a really splitting headache." Chuck says before looking at me and adding "You okay?" I shake my head so he tosses the keys at Morgan and asks "You know what? Can you do me a favor? Do you mind driving?" which cause Morgan to freak out and ask "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you-are you being serious? You're going to let me drive?" "It's a company car Morgan, it's not that big of a deal." Chuck states which causes Morgan to say "It's not just a company car, okay? A hoopty's a hoopty, home boy. I mean, this baby's sitting on chrome. Or…plastic." Chuck and I sigh before Chuck says "Do me a favor and stay off the five, okay? 'Casue the cops are in a phased….deployment." which causes some pictures of traffic to flash in my mind. I frown as Chuck and Morgan exchange confused glances before deciding to drop Chuck's weird remark and get into the car as Morgan says "Okay. Thanks for the tip Ponch."
****Time Skip****
"Fellow nerds, today is going to be a very bad day. We've got a new computer virus on our hands. They're calling this one the Irene Demova virus." Chuck announces causing Lester to laugh so he adds "Yes, yes it's named after the Serbian porn star. Lonely dude call volume will be high, this is a nasty one kids, it's a computer killer. Last night, a display version of our Prism Express laptop was fried when someone…" glancing at Morgan before continuing "decided to enter Miss Demova's website. T's working on fixing that one but Anna, T, close the eyes; this is what happens." He presses the enter button and her website plays briefly before shutting down. We all look at Morgan who raises his hands and says "Sorry, Chuck. She drives me crazy. But that's love." Before turning on the T.V. displays. I go back to trying to revive our display laptop as Chuck says "Ladies and gentlemen if you'll please ignore dirty Uncle Morgan, I think that everything…." He trails off so I look at him before looking at the T.V. as he continues "…Will be…normal." Just then pictures flashed in my mind causing me to frown as Chuck says the conclusion that I came to out loud "He's already here. He landed last night." "Who's already here, Chuckles?" Anna asks causing Chuck to stare at her before looking at me saying "I don't know" as I shrug not exactly knowing. "Okay?" Anna says confused before leaving the Nerd Herd area. Lester and Jeff follow her so I point to the computer that Chuck had just fried and shook my head. "I know. Once you figure out how to fix it just tell me how and I'll fix this one." Chuck states so I nod before turning my attention to the display laptop.
About an hour later Morgan asks "Stop the presses. Who is that?" I look up at the blonde female customer who was approaching the counter and shrug before returning to my task as Morgan turns to Chuck and states "Vicki Vale." Causing Chuck to sing "Vicki Vale, Vick-Vicki Vale, Vickity-Vickity, Vicki Vale, Vic-Vicki Vale." There's a clatter as he notices her as he drops the phone and folder he had been holding before she says "I hope I'm not interrupting." "No. Not at all. That's….it's from Batman." Chuck stammers causing me to face palm as she says ""Cause that makes it better." Chuck laughs nervously as Morgan says "Uh, hi, I'm M-Morgan. This is, uh, this is Chuck. And that one is Tia." I sigh before she says "Wow. I didn't think people still named their kids Chuck, or Morgan, for that matter." "My parents were sadists, and carnival freaks found him in a dumpster." Chuck says quickly to which Morgan adds "But they raised me as one of their own." I sigh again before deciding to watch this stupidity now as Chuck asks "How can I help….you?" "Sarah." She says smiling so Chuck repeats "Sarah." Before she says "I'm here about this." As she sets her phone on the counter. "Oh yeah the Intelicel. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, this model has a little screw that pops loose right in the back here." Chuck says as he puts the battery back in the phone before adding "You just go ahead and give it a couple of quick turns and…good as new, no problem." He hands her her phone back and she exclaims "Wow! You geeks are good." I sigh and point above us at the Nerd Herd sign as both Chuck and Morgan explain their preference for the word 'nerd' as a guy and his daughter run up. "Excuse me, excuse me. I have an emergency I don't know what I did wrong. But I-I shot the entire recital, but, um, now it…now it won't play back." The man explains panicked, handing Chuck his camcorder. "Okay, okay, we'll just take a look and…you don't have a tape in here." Chuck says looking at the man who says "But it's digital." "Oh, boy." Morgan exclaims so Chuck quickly explains "Right. Yes, but you still need digital tape." "Oh, no. Her mom's going to kill me." The man exclaims as Chuck glances at the man's daughter then at Sarah. Chuck then looks at Morgan and says "Uh, Morgan I need the wall." "It's yours." Morgan says running off prepare it. Chuck then looks at Sarah and says "I'm so sorry." Before looking at the man and his daughter and adding "Okay. This…this way." And leading them to the "wall". "What's he doing?" Sarah asks me as I watch Chuck set up the camera. I glance at Sarah and she's watching Chuck so I pretend I don't hear her as a crowd gathers around to watch as the girl starts dancing. "Does he always do things like this?" Sarah asks, clapping with the others as the girl finishes dancing. I look at her and since she's looking at me I nod. She then looks at Chuck smiling but he's stopped by Tang before he can come back so she asks "Can I leave him this?" holding her card. I nod again and she puts it on the counter explaining "I would stay but I have an appointment." I shake my so she smiles and says "It was nice meeting you. Tell him to call me." Before she turns and leaves the store. I sigh as Chuck asks "She left?" a few moments later looking around for her. I nod even though he's not looking at me as Morgan comes over, finds the card, holds it up, and says "Chuck, dude, she left you her card." Which causes Chuck to get a stupid grin on his face. A few hours after Sarah left I finally fix the stupid laptop and decide to "hide" in the back room and do computer repairs until closing like normal. Making sure to only do a few so this was still a viable spot for me to go during the day. And like normal I'm left alone except for a few uncomfortable visits from Jeff and Lester.
****Time Skip****
"Why wouldn't you call this girl?" Morgan asks Chuck as we walk to his and Ellie's apartment. "Oh, I don't know. Did you see her?" Chuck asks so I nod as Morgan says "Yes. Oh, man, yes. That's why I'm going to repeat the question. Why wouldn't you call this girl?" "Because I live on planet Earth, Morgan. Why are you following me home?" Chuck says to which Morgan says "Aw, come…Hey. We're buddies. We're going to go do friend things, and…and…I need to use your computer because mine's still acting up on me." "Why don't you ask T to fix it?" Chuck asks looking at me so I shake my head as Morgan says "She told me she wouldn't do it again if it was due to porn." "Irene Demova." Chuck says chuckling to which Morgan says "Ah! So beautiful and so…deadly." After a moment of silence they both sigh out a "Yeah." Causing me to face palm and wonder why I still hang out with them. Chuck unlocks his door as Morgan says "You know, you got to understand. This is what I've been telling people for I don't know how long…" he trails off when we notice the thief in the living room with Chuck's computer. "Please, not the computer." Chuck says and the thief sets the computer behind them before going into a fighting stance. Chuck and Morgan look at each other before Morgan starts throwing random things which the thief block away and end up hitting Chuck. Then Morgan ends up breaking a vase on Chucks head before yelling "Come on, Chuck! Do something!" as I face palm again. Chuck approaches as the thief picks up the computer again as Chuck stammers "Give me the…" before the thief tosses the computer at Chuck. He catches it but the thief sweeps his legs from under him and kicks him away before grabbing the computer before it fell. They then set it on a shelf and get in a fighting stance again to which Morgan yells "That's my friend!" grabs a golf club and runs at the thief yelling. I shake my head as the thief takes the golf club from Morgan without difficulty and shows off with it causing Morgan to say "Okay, look, he's not that good of a friend." Before the thief smacks him and he lands on Chuck. I sigh as the thief looks at me and does the fighting stance again and Chuck and Morgan yell "T run!" forgetting that I know how to defend myself. But I didn't have to as the shelf holding the computer broke causing the computer to fall to its death and the thief to run away. "Didn't you hang that shelf?" Chuck asks Morgan to which he nervously laughs and I turn and leave my two idiot friends.
****Time Skip****
I walk into the back of Buy More just as Chuck says "I'm gonna go buy some more locks next door at Large Mart." He notices me, grabs my arm, and pulls me with him as he leaves. When we get into the parking lot he lets go and says "Ever since that email from Bryce….I've been having these…flashes of pictures. And I know things I didn't before…Do you get them to?" I nod to which Chuck sighs and asks "What's happening to us?" as we enter Large Mart. I shrug and we wander around looking for locks or someone who could tell us where they are. We find a red-haired guy in a leather jacket in an aisle and Chuck approaches him saying "Oh thank God. Uh…Excuse me, sir. Do you know where they sell the…" but trails off when the guy turns and images of him flash through our heads. "What do you want?" Vuc asks then to which Chuck stutters "Um…um…no. Sorry. Sorry. Nothing. Nothing at all. Just…I was, uh…Wow! Look at that." Before grabbing my hand and pulling me away. "Did you flash on him?" Chuck whispers after looking back at the guy. I nod in response and then when we pause we hear the sound of a tool being moved behind us. We take a few steps while hearing him follow before we stop again and hear him set the tool down. A few moments later and we hear the click of a loaded nail gun to which Chuck looks back and turns aground quickly and states "Run." As he pulls me a few feet before a conga line of forklifts pass causing him to freak out and say "Oh! Oh! Oh, God! Uh…" We turn to see that Vuc was getting closer to which we turn back around and Chuck says "Uh….uh…come on." Just before the last forklift passed. He then pulls me with him as he runs into one of the workers a few aisles away before he exclaims "Oh! Oh my God! Thank God! Listen! There's a guy here, he's…he's trying to do something. I don't know. You have to call the cops, security, the guy at the front who's checking receipts." The worker looks at him like he's crazy but asks "Uh huh, what kind of guy?" Thinking he's getting somewhere Chuck quickly says "Scary, kind of a Terminator vibe. Stubble. Red hair." "Black leather jacket?" she asks as she looks behind him. "Yes! Yes!" Chuck exclaims breathless before she points behind him asking "Like that guy?" Chuck and I look in the direction that she was pointing and see Vuc laughing with the cashier about something and looking like any other person, completely normal. "What? Chuck breaths out as I shake my head and the worker just walks away from us. Chuck sighs heavily then turns to look at me so I sign 'Saw too?' He nods and says "Let's just go back to Buy More." To which I sigh, nod, and follow him back.
He immediately sets his head on the Nerd Herd counter after getting behind it and starts mumbling "I'm losing my mind." Over and over again so I sigh, look up, and notice Sarah approaching. I pat Chuck on the back before leaving to watch the interaction from a distance with Morgan. Once Sarah gets to the counter she rings the service bell to which Chuck places his hand over the bell/her hand and then noticing the hand looks up and immediately pulls his back and standing up straight as he asks "Hi! Hi…uh….phone trouble again?" and gets his screwdriver out of his pocket. "Uh…yeah. I'm not sure I'm able to receive calls, 'cause I never got one from you." Sarah says smiling as Morgan starts laughing and saying "Oh, man! She got…." But Chuck glares at him so he shuts up and moves into the aisle to "spy". I just shrug when Chuck looks at me so he looks back at Sarah and she says "I'm sorry I left so quickly yesterday. I had an appointment with a realtor. I just moved here." "Welcome!" Chuck says quickly after she finishes as he puts his screwdriver back. "Thanks. And, uh…I don't really know anyone here. I was wondering if you would show me around. That is, if you're free." She says smiling to which Morgan calls out "Oh he's free. He's got nothing but time on his hands. He is very available. You guys are going to have a great time." Chuck turns to glare at him so he takes off lying "What's that, sir? Xerox machines? Yeah, I'm on it." Chuck then turns back to Sarah and says "Apparently, my schedule is wide open." "Great." Sarah says smiling before she tells him where she lives and what time to pick her up then leaves.
Chuck's POV
I watch Sarah leave then turn to look at T who rejoined me at the counter then at Morgan who bangs on the counter grinning like an idiot. "Dude! A date! With a real live female!" he exclaims earning an 'I can't believe you're my friend' look from T to which he addresses with "Come on! He hasn't been on a date in years. Perfectly good reaction." She sighs and gives him the 'You're still an idiot' look before looking around the store ignoring Morgan as he continues on his rant about how 'awesome' it was that I had I date. And since it was a slow day he did this until closing.
When I walk through my front door Ellie greats "Hey guys." From her spot on the couch with Captain Awesome. "Ellie, Captain. Don't freak out. Remain calm. I have some news." I announce causing both of them to look at me confused before Morgan jumps on me yelling "Chuck's go a date!" "What? Who?" Ellie asks sitting up as Awesome says "Way to go Chuck. That's awesome." Pointing at me. "Oh God, what are you going to wear?" Ellie asks to which I shrug after Morgan climbs off of me. "C'mon." Ellie says before standing, walking over to me, and start dragging me to my room. Once there Morgan and T take their usually positions on my bed and start playing a video game as Ellie goes through my closet. "So Sarah. She nice? Pretty?" Ellie asks pulling out a shirt and looking at me so I say "Yeah. Actually Morgan me her online in this kind of chat room..." and noticing her unamused face add "I'm totally kidding." She then hands me the shirt saying "Try it on." I look at it then back at her starting "Honestly this…" but get cut off by her saying "I'm a girl, I know what girls like. Right T?" and looking at T for approval. T glances at her, then the shirt, then at me, before turning her attention back to the game nodding so I say "I'll go change." And walk out of the room into the bathroom and get ready.
As I'm leaving Ellie calls "Chuck!" so I stop and she hands me a bouquet of flowers saying "So, these are left over from the party. Take those." "Oh, Okay." I say as she starts fixing my shirt saying "And, um, don't forget about the old girlfriend rule." "Right, got it. No mention of Jill." I say causing her to smile and say "Aces, Charles. You're aces." "A dad quote. I'm impressed. Love you, sis." I tell her smiling back so she says "I love you. Have fun." "I will…I'll try." I say before leaving to pick up Sarah.
****Time Skip****
"So, where are we going?" Sarah asks as we walk down the sidewalk after dinner. "Well, do you like music?" I ask to which she replies "I guess." I laugh and ask "You guess? What's your favorite band?" She just looks at me smiling so I say "Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!" "God, I'm not funny, I don't listen to music. This must be your worst date ever, right?" she asks but when I go to say No I get distracted by the police convoy and I get flashes of Vuc and the General again. After my flash was over she says "I was waiting for you to say no." I slowly turn back to her before saying "Sorry, sorry, I kind of zoned out there for a second. No. No, no, no. God, no, I uh I've had…I've had much, much worse, uh, much worse dates, experiences overall with women. In eleventh grade, actually." As we continue walking. "Eleventh grade? Oh, you have to go back that far?" She asks laughing to which I say "I really don't date all that much."
Once we get to the club we get some drinks and sit down. After a few minutes she says "They're good." "Good! Good!" I tell her before taking a drink of my drink. A few moments later she suddenly pulls me up saying "Let's dance!" "I'm not really a dancer." I tell her but go with her anyway. She starts to dance so I "dance" as well. Before I know it she pulls me with her as she runs from the club. "Hey-hey-hey, where's the fire?" I ask her but she ignores me as she puts on a jacket ordering "Chuck, give me your keys." As we make our way to the Herder. "I don't mean to be old-fashioned, but the company only wants employees, nerds, driving the Nerd Herd-mobile. I mean it's kind of y'know…" I tell her holding the keys up but she somehow opens the door herself saying "Get in the car." "How'd you get into my car?" I ask as she starts the car and as another car speeds around the corner and into view she yells "Get in the car right now!" "Sarah?" I ask starting to get in but she just orders "Just get in!" "What is going on?" I ask as she reverses down the street the black car chasing us. "Please tell me what's going on! Sarah you're not even looking!" I yell panicking then look ahead at the black car chasing us and ask "W-Wait, wait, wait. Who are these guys? What do they want?" She ignores me and as they gain on us they start ramming into us causing me to freak out and yell "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh! Oh, my God, oh, my God, I'm gonna die!" "Tell me when to turn!" Sarah orders then so I look behind us and say "Uh, uh, uh left in five seconds!" "Your left or my left?" She asks causing me to ask "What?" "Too late!" She yells turning the wheel and causing us to fly backwards down a flight of stairs. When we stop back in the street she says "Listen to me, Chuck. Those men will hurt you. They're from the NSA and they're after you." "Me? Why, why? Wait, why me? I'm nobody? I'm the supervisor of a Nerd Herd at a Buy More. Maybe one day I'll be assistant store manager and I don't even know if I want that job." I stammer confused before sighing and adding "You know what that's not your problem." Then looking out the window I point at the headlights speeding towards us and say "But that is." Not even a minute after I say that the car smashes into us causing the car to spin and the air bags to go off. Once the car stop spinning Sarah grabs my hand and pulls me out of the car with her ordering "Get out of the car. Let's go, Chuck. Move!" She starts dragging me with her but I trip over some of the wreckage and thus fall. I look back at the still moving care and yell "Sarah look out!" as it moves in her direction. I then close my eyes but hearing a crash I look up and notice that the car ran into the emergency blockade so I run to see if Sarah's okay. "Request emergency air vac. Track location, we're on foot." She says into her phone before hanging up, grabbing my hand, and pulls me with her as she yells "Let's go!"
We reach the roof of a building and she asks "How well do you know Bryce Larkin?" "What? How do you…how do you know Bryce?" I pant following her. "We worked together at the CIA." She says causing me to ask "The what?! The CIA?! Bryce is a spy?! Bryce Larkin from Connecticut is a spy?!" She turns to look at me and exclaims "A rogue spy. Did he try to contact you?" "I haven't heard from Bryce in…." I say trailing off thinking then remembering the email add "Wait. No, he-he sent…he sent me an e-mail." "Did you open it?" She asks so I say "Yeah. It was, it was a line from Zork." "What?" she asks so I add "Zork, it's a video game we used to play. It was like a riddle and I solved it and then there was, uh, pictures. Lots and lots of pictures." "You saw them?" She asks and my mind goes to T and I don't answer so she asks "Uh, your computer, did you back it up? Is there an external drive?" "It crashed a week ago. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Was I not supposed to look at those pictures?" I tell her as she looks behind me before stating "Okay, I may have to point my gun at you, so just don't freak out." "Why?" I ask before a guy shows up saying "It's late. I'm tired. Let's cut the crap and give him to me now. He belongs to the NSA." Sarah then aims her gun at me saying "CIA gets him first." The guy then draws his gun and aims it at Sarah so she says "You come any closer and I shoot." Effectively freaked out at this point I say "Sarah…I'm freaking out." "You shoot him, I shoot you. I leave both your bodies here, go out for a late snack. I'm thinking maybe pancakes." The guy says. I look between the two of them before turning and running. I faintly hear Sarah yell "Chuck, no!" as images of Vuc Andric, the General, the bomb, and an explosion flash in my head causing me to stop. I quickly turn around and exclaim "They're gonna kill him." "Kill who?" the guy asks so I say "Stanfield! Ah, the General. the General Stanfield, the NATO guy." When they look at me like I'm crazy I say "Look something is wrong with me okay? I don't know what it is but something is very, very wrong with me, and I'm remembering things that I shouldn't know." "Okay, Chuck, talk to me. Like what?" Sarah says so I say "I don't know. I don't know. For example, uh…there was, there was a Serbian demolitions expert at the Large Mart today. That's kind of odd, wouldn't you say?" "Large Mart? You were there with Tia, does she know?" Sarah asks to which the guy asks "Who's Tia? Is she a threat?" "No! No, she doesn't know anything. Look, last week the NSA, you guys intercepted some blueprints, blueprints of a hotel, that hotel. And then the CIA, you guys found a file of schematics of a bomb in Prague. The bomb in in that hotel!" I exclaim causing the guy to turn his gun on me saying "He was working with Bryce." "No, he opened Bryce's e-mail." Sarah says quickly aiming her gun at the guy before adding "Chuck, those pictures that you saw were encoded with secrets, government secrets. If you saw them, then you know them." "There were thousands of them." I breathe out causing the guy to aim his gun at my forehead and say "Wait a minute. You're telling me all of our secrets…are in his head." "Chuck is the computer." Sarah say so I ask "What did you say? What does that mean?" as my mind goes back to T. "Chuck, you have to listen to me. You have to tell us where-"Sarah says but I cut her off by yelling "What is happening to me?" She looks at me and asks "You said there was a bomb. Is there time to stop it?" "What? What? Are you crazy?" I ask to which the guy says "No, we're the good guys. We get payed to keep bombs from exploding." "Look I can't, I can't help you, okay? I really wish that I could but I can't. Call Bryce. He's the guy that can save the day." I say before Sarah yells "Bryce is dead! He died sending those secrets to you?" "Bryce is dead?" I ask not believing what I heard but the guy fires his gun into the air saying "Yeah, and he's gonna have a lot of company unless you start talking. So, pretty please…can we diffuse the bomb now?" I look at the two before saying "According to the schedule, the General's already on the stage."
****Time Skip****
"Wait! Casey, wait! We can't take him in. He's too valuable." Sarah says stopping me once we run into the hotel. Casey turns and pushes me to the ground saying "Okay, Johnny Commodore. You stay here, but you tell us where to go." "Uh, the easiest way?" I ask so Sarah says "No, fastest, Chuck." So I say "The fastest. Got it." Before getting up and sprinting causing Sarah to yell "Chuck stop!" I ignore her as we run through the fountain and she yells "Chuck, wait!" "This way, this way." I say pointing to the conference room. "Chuck, where is it?" Sarah asks once in the room. "I don't, uh…I don't, uh…That's it." I say finding the bomb Casey then grabs me and pushes me forward. "It's in this…uh, right here." I say as we reach the bomb. Casey opens it and the laptop flips open and a countdown is on the screen causing Sarah to say "Oh, God." "No time to evacuate. Ideas?" Casey asks so Sarah says "Disconnect the laptop." "There's no trigger. The cables." Casey says so Sarah says "No definitely a trap." As security runs up to us asking "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Casey quickly explains the situation and security clears the room as Sarah asks "Chuck is there anything else you remember about the bomb?" I can't think of anything as my phone rings, I slowly take it out of my pocket and answer it "Hey Morgan." As Casey and Sarah go back to the bomb. "Hey, how's it going?" Morgan asks so I say "A little busy right now, buddy." "In a good way? Details." Morgan says so I ask "Why are you calling?" "I don't know, just…laying on your bed, Ellie's with the Captain, T's fixing your computer that mysteriously got a case of the Demova's too. So-"Morgan says before I hang up on him getting an idea. "Okay, okay, I have an idea." I say kneeling in front of the bomb going to enter Demova's website but Casey stops me saying "That's not an Xbox. And you're not in X-men." "I understand that. This is a Prism Express laptop, okay. We sell this at our store. It has a DOS override. I think I can do this. I can do this, please." I say looking at Sarah and Casey. "He's our best shot." Sarah says so Casey releases my hand saying "Go." Thus I say "Mr. Bomb, meet Mr. Internet." As I type 'IRENE DEMOVE' into the search engine. "He's searching for porn?" Casey says so I say "Ehh" before hitting return and closing my eyes as her website pops up. Just before the counter reaches zero the computer is fried. "You did it." Sarah says so I say "I did it. I did it. I…I defused a real bomb. This was a real…wh-what if I was wrong?" "Don't puke on the C-4, huh." Casey says standing up and leaving with Sarah
Once outside the hotel I approach Sarah and Casey as they look to be having an argument. "What about his job? And his friends? What do we do about his sister?" I hear Sarah ask so I ask "What about my sister?" "Nothing. We were just discussing…" Sarah starts but I cut her off by saying "No, no, no, hold on a second. You have to leave my family and my friends out of this." "We'll see." Casey says so I say "Look Bryce sent that email to me. I'm the one remembering your secrets. Which means you have to listen to me, both of you. And right now…I'm going to go home." "No, you're not." Casey says grabbing my arm so I pull it out of his grip and point at each of them saying "You…you need me." Before walking away from them.
****Time Skip****
"How long have you been here?" I ask when Sarah comes and sits next to me on the sand. "All night." She says so I ask "There's nowhere I can run, is there?" "Not from us…Talk to me Chuck." She says so I say "Yesterday I was making eleven bucks an hour fixing computers. Now I have one in my brain. And I can't figure out why Bryce did this, why he chose me. What are you going to do with me? What happens now?" "For now you go back to your own life. We'll protect you and you'll work with us." She says so I ask "And my sister, my friends, are they in danger?" "You tell them nothing to keep them safe…Need you to do one more thing for me." She says so I ask "Yeah?" "Trust me, Chuck." She says.
****Time Skip****
I don't even get two steps into my apartment before Ellie yells "All night! Do you know how worried I was? I even called Morgan. You could have let me know that you were okay." As Her, T, and Morgan approach me. "How far did you get?" Morgan keeps asking before Ellie says "Morgan, shut up." And I pull the three of them into a group hug. "Early morning procedure so…group hug, huh?" Awesome asks walking in before joining adding "Awesome." T gets fed up and pushes away so Awesome heads to work, group hug over, and I say "I'm gonna go shower." Ellie stops me and asks "Aren't you going to tell us where you've been? How you date was?" "Later. I have to be a work soon." I tell her to which she agrees and heads back into the kitchen. I then go get ready as Ellie tries to convince Morgan to leave.
****Time Skip****
"Well, wish me luck." I say finishing filling out the application for Assistant Store Manager of the Buy More. I walk down the aisle and Tang heads my way doing the 'I'm watching you' gesture before shoving past me. I pause and look at Morgan who says "Sorry man. Go get 'em." As he turns down the T.V. playing dramatic music. When I walk into Big Mike's office he just makes a motion for me to put my application in the in going box. Once I set it there he says "Didn't think you'd apply." So I say "Well, uh…I think I'm ready for this, Big Mike, and what it means…responsibility, decisive leadership…" He cuts me off by saying "Save it for the interview. Now go train the new guy." "Okeydokey." I say leaving. Rounding a corner I discover that 'the new guy' was Casey decked out in the Buy More uniform. I stare at him before Sarah walks down the aisle past me with a shopping basket. I look at the blue ring on her finger and I get flashes of Sarah shooting two men before turning and shooting the camera recording her. And tell myself "Don't freak out." And take a deep breath.