Prologue
A/N I need to practice my American English (time to get a little more authentic), action scene writing and Jeff and Lester, so I figured this is the way to do it. Due to my current schedule the episodes will unfortunately not keep up with what is broadcasted. If there's enough interest in this story, I'll see this through to the end. There's no beta for this, still flying solo. If there are any bored Beta's out there (my grammar and tenses need work) please give me a shout.
As always, I don't own Chuck, any of the characters, the story line or the dialogues. I'm just watching and typing.
Hi, I'm Chuck and here are some things you need to know or maybe forgot. Three and a half years ago I was a regular guy and a professional nerd. I fixed computers at the local Buy More for $10 an hour and lived with my sister Ellie and her then boyfriend, Devon Woodcombe, aka Captain Awesome. They're both doctors. Ellie raised me after our parents left and we are really close. Devon is my brother-in-law now and yes, everything he does is awesome. Climbing mountains, skydiving, flossing…
I attended Stanford, but was expelled in my last semester when my roommate, Bryce Larkin, told one of my lecturers that I stole some tests (which I didn't). As if that wasn't bad enough, he moved in on my girlfriend, Jill. I only found out later that Bryce was protecting me from being recruited by the CIA and didn't have a thing with Jill. She lied to me as per her orders from Fulcrum, an enemy organization. Either way, there I was, five years after the 'Stanford incident', stuck in a dead end job, pining for a girl who turned out not to be the love of my life and trying to work on my five year plan (I had trouble choosing a font).
At least I had Morgan. He's been my best friend since we were six. He was there for all the major highlights and disappointments in my life. We worked together at the Buy More and have regular Call of Duty and Duck Hunt marathons. Morgan was the worst salesman I ever met, but that's only because he had mad work avoiding skills. He eventually got promoted to assistant manager after Big Mike, our boss, started dating his mom and came to think of Morgan as a son. Much to my surprise, Morgan was actually a great ass man. I think he might be growing up. What else do you need to know about Morgan? Oh yeah, he has a beard. It guards his secrets and he sometimes get dandruff, but please keep that to yourself. Most importantly though, our bromance is strong and he is my soul mate. At least, one of them.
My life changed when I received an e-mail from Bryce on my twenty-sixth birthday.
Who knew the government kept all their secrets in one super computer called the Intersect? The Intersect was downloaded into my brain keeping me in a constant state of fear, panic and danger. The NSA sent their best agent, Major John Casey, to protect me. The CIA did the same and assigned Agent Sarah Walker as my other handler. I'll get to them in a minute. After two years of missions, more near-death experiences than I cared to face (mainly because I never stayed in the car, not that it was ever safe in the car) and my every move being watched, I finally got the Intersect out of my head. As it turned out my dad, Stephen Bartowski, code name Orion, was the inventor of the Intersect and he build the cube to remove it. I also learned that my father didn't abandon Ellie and me. He went into hiding to protect us and to find our mom who, as it turns out, was an agent too.
The government created the Intersect 2.0, designed to go into a real agent, like Bryce Larkin. Bryce was shot the night he was supposed to be uploaded with the new Intersect and his last words to me were to destroy it. But we were in the middle of a war with Fulcrum and their larger organization, the Ring, and without the Intersect, the government would suffer a severe setback in their quest to keep the free world safe, so I did what I thought was right – I uploaded the Intersect 2.0 before destroying it. Suddenly I knew kung fu.
General Beckman from the NSA, who heads up the operation, send me to a training facility in Prague so I could become a real spy as the fate of the greater good now rested squarely on my shoulders. Spy school was a disaster as I couldn't bring myself to actually draw a gun on another human being, let alone take a life. Furthermore my emotions kept the Intersect from working perfectly. I was expelled again, well, they tranqed me and put me on a plane back to Burbank ('cause that's how the government does it). After weeks of feeling sorry for myself (Sarah had a lot to do with that as well), lying on the couch all day eating cheese balls and growing a beard, I pulled myself together and the team was reassembled again. My handlers and our newly assigned team leader, Agent Daniel Shaw, trained me out in the field and I finally made it. I became a real spy.
Now let me introduce you to the members of team Bartowski. I'll start with Daniel Shaw. He's not on the team anymore and that's a good thing, but as much as I hate to admit it, he did play a role in who I became. Shaw was assigned to the team after we were put back in the field. He was an expert on the Ring and a really good agent. He pushed Sarah and Casey to stop coddling me and put me out in the field to see what I could do. It was terrifying. Sarah and Casey ended up saving my life on several occasions, often against Shaw's orders, but he made me realize what I was capable off. That's about as much good as I could see in the guy at that point.
Long story short, Shaw was turned by the Ring, tried to kill Sarah for shooting his wife (which was not her fault, she was following orders), I thought I killed him to save her, he came back from the dead and nearly killed all of us. In the end good trumped evil, as it should be, and Shaw is currently rotting away in a government holding facility. Sometimes I wish I did kill him in Paris. Daniel Shaw murdered my dad. I got the opportunity to take revenge a few days after my father's death, but I couldn't do it. I'm not really built that way. It will not bring my dad back and Sarah wouldn't want me to. She'd rather do it herself, but I won't let her. Shaw's not worth it. Sarah may be trained to kill, but I know she feels something every time she takes a life. She's not a robot.
Colonel John Casey loves four things – gunplay, his Crown Victoria, bonsai trees and Ronald Reagan. I'm not sure in which order. He has a grunt for almost every word in the dictionary and he hates lady feelings. Or so Sugar Bear would like us to believe. He had an ex-spy-lover in the closet. It was quite cute (and a little disturbing) seeing them together for a brief revisit of the romance they once shared.
Casey got promoted to Colonel around the time he captured Sarah and I for committing semper fidelis (latin is in the new Intersect), but in the end he came through for us. Though he will never admit it, he has become a friend to both me and Sarah, or as he used to refer to us – idiot, moron, numb nuts (all me) and the CIA skirt. He actually admitted once that Sarah was one of the best partners he ever worked with. These days he calls us Bartowski and Walker. Casey is in the process of being heart warmed. To understand Casey, you need to know a little more about his history.
Twenty years ago, Lieutenant Alex Coburn had to choose between love and love of country. He chose the latter, his death was faked on the battlefield and he was given the identity of John Casey. A few months ago his former commanding officer and Ring operative, Keller, threatened the fiancé he left behind. Casey committed treason to save her. Sarah and I helped. We managed to save Kathleen and Casey learned that he had a daughter, also named Alex. Unfortunately Beckman fired Casey and he became a civilian again. When Shaw kidnapped Sarah, Casey stepped up and helped me to rescue her. In the process he captured the Ring Director and insisted on a reinstatement, a new Crown Vic and a position in the team for Morgan (who found out I was a spy a few weeks before that). I wish I could see the General's face.
Casey worked undercover at the Buy More and holds the record for selling the most Beast Masters in the history of the company. Currently he's facing his most challenging mission yet. Morgan likes his daughter. That's gonna end badly.
And then there's Sarah. Sarah Walker is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She's beautiful, she's smart, she laughs at all of my stupid jokes and she has this horrible habit of constantly saving my life. The truth is she's everything I ever thought I wanted and more. I love her. One more time because it feels really good to say, I love Sarah Walker. Always have. Before we get to that though, let me tell you a little more about her.
Sarah Walker is not her real name. Quite honestly, I don't know what her real name is. She told me her middle name is Lisa. She told Shaw her name is Sam. It really hurt that she would tell him something she wouldn't tell me, but then I thought about it and this is what I concluded. Sarah's dad, Jack Burton, is a conman. Since she was really young they moved from town to town 'earning' money. Every town was a new name, a new con. When Sarah (aka Jenny Burton) was seventeen, he dad was taken into custody and she was recruited by the CIA, given the name Sarah Walker. Through her career, every city was a new mission, a new cover. She once told me that when you're under cover, the details are different, but you're still you. So the way I figure it, she has been Sarah Walker for the majority of her life. I often wonder if she even remembers being called by her real name. The thing is, I fell in love with the woman, the details don't really matter, but I am confident that she will tell me one day, because I trust her.
Sarah's cover was to pose as my girlfriend. The lines got blurred very quickly, but the CIA has strict rules against assets and handlers getting personally involved. Sarah would be reassigned if anyone ever caught on that she was compromised. She almost was after Beckman ordered a 49B, but after she saved my life yet again, I managed to convince the general that our 'closeness' was an asset to the team and Sarah got to stay. There were other issues too. Sarah's ex-boyfriend was Bryce Larkin. He died before Sarah came to Burbank, then it turned out he wasn't dead (notice a pattern here?) and he always managed to show up at the most inopportune times. There was also Lou, Cole Barker and Jill. To put it simply, my relationship with Sarah was complicated.
Despite her protests and determination to keep our relationship professional, I suspected that Sarah loved me too. No one kissed you like that, whether in the face of death or in seduction training, if they didn't feel it too. After two years of breaking each other's hearts on a regular basis, I knew for certain. Sarah was ordered to burn me. She had to turn me in to be thrown in a bunker, but instead she took me and ran. She committed treason and gave up everything she worked so hard for, for me. For a change, fate was on our side. Briefly, but still. The Intersect was removed, Casey covered for Sarah on the treason charges (he owed us after showing up in Barstow at the worst possible time) and everything was finally real. But the next day Sarah told me she was leaving to work with Bryce again. I was hurt and angry, but it all made sense really. She was a spy, her mission was over and I once told her we could never have a future together. It was a lie to keep her safe, but she didn't know that. Sarah changed her mind though, but didn't get the chance to tell me. We had to save Bryce. He was killed, for real this time, and I uploaded Intersect 2.0.
Sarah didn't want me to be a spy, she was afraid I might change too much. Her solution was to run. She wanted to be a real person again and she wanted to be with me. My immediate reaction was to agree. During the three weeks she got everything in place, realization hit. I couldn't turn my back on all the people the Intersect could help. Especially not my family, friends and Sarah. And if I became a spy, Sarah and I could be together for real and we wouldn't have to live our lives on the run. I should have told her that on the train station. Instead I put the ticket back in her hand and told her I was sorry. Well, you know what happened after that with spy school and the cheese balls.
Things were strained between me and Sarah for quite some time when I got back. Our relationship was super professional and our new cover as friends didn't really amount to much. I missed Sarah every day and by the looks she sometimes gave me when she thought I wasn't watching she missed me too. But we were both too stubborn to be the first to give in. I did try for a while, but she refused to talk to me, so I just gave up. I eventually met a girl, Hannah, on a plane to Paris and she followed me to Burbank (which was a little creepy), but it didn't last long as I suffered some sort of identity crisis in my quest to become a spy. I still had feelings for Sarah too, but she was dating Shaw at the time. I'm not going to go into that, way too painful.
When I finally qualified as a spy (thanks to Casey who took my Red Test for me), Beckman announced that she was sending me to Rome. Sarah and Shaw were to head up the Intersect project in Washington. I wasn't ready to face a life without Sarah in it so I decided to win her back. I failed miserably as she thought I killed the mole and I couldn't tell her the truth and protect Casey at the same time. Eventually I manned up and told her bluntly how I felt. I gave her a choice, go to Washington with Shaw or run away with me. She didn't show at the train station, but that's when I learned about her link to Shaw's wife and that she was with him, possibly in danger. I launched a rescue operation that turned out to be quite unnecessary and quite expensive. At least Sarah appreciated the tank. I really thought she chose Shaw over me and tried to drink myself into oblivion, tied Morgan up with video game controllers and ate an entire carton of mint ice cream (very sobering). That's how Sarah found me. Did I mention I was in my underwear holding a plastic guitar? She very graciously ignored the state I was in and finally admitted that she loved me too. That's when Shaw interfered again. He took Sarah to Paris under false pretenses and nearly killed her.
I saved Sarah and things finally fell into place. She closed the laptop on General Beckman and ordered me to shut up and kiss her. Paris turned out to be magical. I finally got to do the two top things on my list – make love to Sarah Walker and see the Eifel Tower. Then we went off grid, boarded a train and spent three days in our cabin making up for lost time. There was a brief moment where we considered running, but being spies was who we were, so we returned to Burbank and actually received Beckman's blessing. Off the record, of course. A few weeks, and asking several times, later Sarah agreed to move in with me (and Morgan) and we couldn't be happier, except for a few pajama incidents.
Awesome and Ellie spent some time in Africa with Doctors Without Borders, but returned when Devon contracted malaria. Oh, I forgot to mention that Devon found out about me being a 'spy' after we were brought back from Barstow and he had to lie to Ellie about it. Turns out he's not awesome at lying (a certain bear story springs to mind), but he managed to keep my secret. Unfortunately Ellie wasn't as safe as I would have liked her to be. The Ring used her to get my dad out of hiding and she found out about my involvement with the CIA and NSA. To say she was less than thrilled is an understatement, especially after seeing our dad being shot as a result of his involvement with the government. I made Ellie a promise to leave the CIA as soon as we took down the Ring. I was worried about Sarah's reaction, but she insisted that she was fine with it. She did fall in love with a regular guy after all. I think Sarah was a little conflicted. She was definitely relieved that I would finally be safe, being able to take of myself now, but she would miss me by her side on missions.
We took down the Ring, including Shaw, and I was planning to make good on my promise, but then I received my dad's spy will. A message asking me to track down my mom. As mentioned, she was an agent who never returned from one of her missions. I had to do it. I quit the CIA and started to strategize. No one, not even Ellie or Sarah, is aware of what I'm up to and it's better that way. I have to determine what I'm dealing with first.
So this is where we are. Morgan and I need to find new jobs as he blew up the Buy More (never handle a detonator with broken thumbs), Sarah and Casey are going on missions without me and Devon and Ellie are settling back into their lives in Burbank. I hope you could make some sense of my ramblings, I tend to do that sometimes. By the way, has anyone seen Jeff and Lester lately?
A/N This is the only chapter that will be from a first person's POV – just keeping in line with the episode format. Each episode should be about four to five chapters long, let's see how it goes. The material isn't new, so I hope I didn't bore you too much.
Sneak peak alert: You've obviously realized that this is not the AU story promised. That one is called 'I run to you' for now and is at present nothing more than a part of prologue, a plot line and a few pieces of random dialogue. Planned release date is 21 November.
Last, but not least, thank you so much for all the reviews on the couple of one shots I posted. Who knew Morgan/Sarah was so popular? Of course now the stolen condom pales in comparison with the sexting LOL. If inspiration hits and time permits, there might be a few more deleted scenes for season 4.