Chuck vs the fight – New Year's edition
A/N I've thought about it and decided that since this was the most popular story I've published, it seems only fitting to add a New Year's story as a thank you for all your support during the past few months. No prior knowledge of Chuck vs the Fight is needed. It follows the same pattern in that it is a separate story, but I didn't want to add to the fic already published as I didn't want to take away from how I've ended that one. This is a little angsty and a lot fluffy. And it's AU obviously, so some of the timelines don't quite fit in with the show and some other plotlines were just plainly ignored.
On a side note, you've managed to raise $22 for the emmy4yvonne campaign ($21 was paid over already). Additional donations will be made on a weekly basis. Thanks guys!
I don't own Chuck.
Previously on Chuck:
Chuck told Sarah he loved her and asked her to run away with him, but Shaw intercepted her on her way to meet him. Beckman didn't find out about the Red Test and Chuck thought Sarah chose Shaw over him. Before Sarah could set the record straight, she and Shaw were sent to Paris. Chuck accepted their fate and he, Casey and Morgan left for Italy.
Chapter 1
Rome
30 December 2010
Chuck sat on the veranda, enjoying the view and a glass of a local red wine. Truthfully, he preferred beer, but Casey was adamant that it was good for the cover to blend in as much as possible. As part of that they had to learn to appreciate the local customs. Chuck got his payback when he found Casey's bottle of Johnny Walker Black and gave it to the butler for Christmas. Then Casey broke his X-Box. Morgan tried keeping the peace, but usually he didn't succeed. All it got him was more vigorous training from the Major. You would think Casey would be more appreciative, seeing that Chuck and Morgan built a very solid case to convince General Beckman to reinstate him. With a demotion, but none the less. Chuck briefly wondered which skills Casey is attempting to teach Morgan today. And whether Morgan is actually going to learn something. Morgan did his part in the field, albeit unorthodox and dangerous most of the time. But usually effective. Mostly though just through sheer luck. And spies can't rely on luck.
The sun was setting. Chuck took another sip and watched as the sky turned into various shades of orange and purple. It was breathtaking. Not for the first time he wished Sarah was here. This country was truly beautiful and, in a perfect world, he wanted to share that with her. But no one knew better than a spy that this was far from a perfect world. And Sarah was with Shaw. He hoped she was safe and happy. He hoped Shaw treated her right and loved her enough, though he knew no one could love Sarah the way he did. His love for her made him strong enough to walk away. He told her how he felt, gave her a choice and accepted the outcome. It hurt, but someday he'll be okay. For now he threw himself into every mission. He was determined to make this world a better place. For his family. For his friends. And for Sarah.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie. With a small sigh he put his glass down and got up. The staff was given the week between Christmas and New Year's off. Chuck insisted. They were on a mission over the Christmas period anyway and only got back this morning. And tomorrow night they're having a small, kind of sad actually, party for four. There was no need to keep the cook, butler and two housekeepers away from their families for that.
Chuck's hand tightened around the tranq pistol tucked into the back of his jeans as he checked the small monitor next to the door. He blinked and checked again. There was another knock. He took a deep breath to keep himself from freaking out. He let go of his gun and schooled his features. This was the last thing he was prepared for. Yet he found himself punching in the access code and slowly opening the door.
Washington DC
24 December 2010
The beeping was annoying. Extremely annoying. Sarah's first instinct was to reach for a throwing knife and put the alarm clock out of its misery. That's when she became aware that something was wrong. Her arm felt like led. So did the rest of her body. She told herself not to panic. Not until she knew there was something to panic about. She casted her mind back. Shaw drugged her. There was a café and a bridge. He pushed her over into the river. Shaw wanted to kill her for killing his wife. Her last thought as she hit the water was that she was not going to make it back to Burbank in time. She never got to tell Chuck that she loved him too. Or that Beckman cleared her to go with him to Italy. And if she died he was never going to know. But she survived. And judging from the way she felt, the drug hasn't worn off yet. Maybe there's still time.
Sarah opened her eyes with great difficulty. Her vision was a little blurry, but she could make out the heart monitor by the side of the bed. She blinked several times to get the world into focus. Then she turned her head and found a doctor standing on her other side studying her chart. She closed the file and caught her eyes. Then the chart hit the floor with a clatter.
"Sarah." There were so many emotions behind it that Sarah couldn't even identify them all. Not that she tried. She was too stunned.
"Ellie?" Her voice sounded hoarse. Not surprising as her throat felt like a desert.
"I knew you were going to wake up eventually," Ellie said through her tears as she gave Sarah a careful hug.
"Eventu…" It hurt to speak.
"Hang on," Ellie pulled herself together. "I'll get you some water." She returned seconds later with a cup and placed the straw between Sarah's lips. She took careful sips and almost groaned as the liquid ran down her raw throat. "Better?" Ellie asked when Sarah indicated she'd had enough. She nodded.
"Where's Chuck?" Her voice still sounded weird, but the burning from earlier was gone. Ellie didn't answer her immediately. She placed the cup on the bed side table and got up to retrieve the chart from the floor. More memories flooded back. Shaw was working for the Ring. He knew Chuck was the Intersect. And the Ring wanted the Intersect. Sarah decided that this might be a good time to start panicking. "Where's Chuck? Is he okay?"
"Chuck is fine, Sarah." Ellie wasn't telling her everything. If Chuck was okay, why wasn't he here?
"But Shaw…"
"Shaw is dead." A strange look crossed Ellie's face. It was something between relief and remorse. Then it hit Sarah.
"Ellie, what's going on? How much do you know?"
Ellie sat down on the bed next to her. "I know everything, Sarah. Well, no mission details of course, but I know about you, John and Chuck. And my dad and the Intersect." Ellie broke eye contact, her fingers fiddling with the bed sheet. Sarah's eyes followed her movements as she processed the information. Then something else caught her attention. The color of the sheets.
"This isn't Westside." Ellie shook her head.
"We're in D.C." Sarah shook her head, but it didn't help. There were too many questions running around in her mind.
"Ellie, please tell me what happened. No, call Chuck first. I need to speak to him. There's something I really need to tell him." The heart monitor started to beep faster.
"Sarah, you need to calm down otherwise I'll have to sedate you to prevent a relapse." Ellie rubbed a soothing hand up and down her arm. "Just take a few deep breaths and try to relax." Sarah followed Ellie's instructions and the beeping slowed down. Ellie got up and pulled a visitor's chair up to the bed. "I think it's better if I fill you in before you speak to Chuck. What's the last thing you remember?"
"The water." Sarah shuddered.
"It's okay," Ellie comforted her. "I don't know what happened in Paris, but from what I was told a group of teenage boys found you drifting along the river. They rescued you and took you a hospital. You didn't have any ID, so they didn't know who to call. And obviously you didn't show up in missing persons. The local news reported on the story and a woman named Illsa recognized you and alerted the French Secret Service who contacted General Beckman. She had you moved here." Sarah closed her eyes and said a little thank you prayer. If it wasn't for sheer luck sometimes…
"Why are you here and how did you find out about everything?"
Ellie considered her answer carefully. "The Ring used me to get to my dad." Sarah's eyes widened.
"What? Is your dad okay? What happened?" Sarah knew the last thing Chuck and Stephen wanted was for Ellie to get involved. That's why they lied. To keep her safe.
"I was approached by a CIA agent. At least, that's what he told me. He said that they wanted to keep my dad safe. I led him straight to him, but it turned out Shaw wanted my dad's watch. Again I don't have any details, except that my dad refused and Shaw shot him, but he's okay. It was just a flesh wound and a backup team arrived in time to take Shaw's team into custody."
"I don't understand. You said Shaw was dead?" The look from earlier crossed Ellie's face again.
"I shot him," she responded softly. "After he shot my dad. Ironically enough with the same gun one of his henchmen gave me to protect myself." Ellie looked away again. Sarah's chest tightened. She remembered how she felt after her first kill and she was trained for it. Ellie was a civilian.
"Ellie, I'm so sorry." Ellie met her eyes again. "You did what you had to and if you ever want to talk about it…"
"I have weekly sessions with one of the CIA psychiatrists. It's getting better." Sarah saw right through Ellie's brave face. Ellie continued before Sarah could say anything. "That was when my dad told me what was really going on." Sarah was missing one big piece of the puzzle.
"What about Chuck?"
"Chuck's in Italy, Sarah. He has no idea what happened." If it wasn't for the constant beeping, Sarah would have believed that her heart stopped.
"Why? He should be here, Ellie. Why hasn't anyone contacted him?"
"Beckman's orders. She visited Dad in hospital and I confronted her." Despite everything, Sarah couldn't help a small smile from forming. She'd pay good money to see that. Then her smile faltered.
"What did she say?"
"That there was no need to worry Chuck. Apparently his emotions could cause the Intersect to stop functioning properly and that was more important." Ellie scoffed. "You know, I never thought I say this about anyone, but I kinda hate that woman."
"I know what you mean, but why go along with it? You can be very strong willed and you're not contracted to follow her orders?" If Beckman threatened any of the Bartowski's in any way, there would be hell to pay as soon as she gets out of this bed.
"We struck a deal. I told her I'd keep quiet provided I could speak to you. I never promised not to tell you, so I figured you could get the message to Chuck. When she told me that wasn't possible…I threatened to make Chuck quit if she didn't tell me what happened to you. I told her that we would all go off grid and the government wouldn't have an Intersect anymore. If they couldn't find my dad for over fifteen years…"
"You threatened the director of the NSA?"
"She messed with my family. Anyway, she bought it and told me about Paris and that you were in a coma, so I took a sabbatical from Westside and transferred here to oversee your care. Call me paranoid, but I don't have that much faith in the government." Sarah's heart rate spiked again, mainly because she forgot to breathe. Up to now she was able to process the information one fact at a time, but Ellie's last revelation was too much.
Ellie jumped up, in full doctor mode. "Sarah, calm down. Everything is okay now." She reached for a syringe in her lab coat pocket. "I think it's best if you get some rest." Sarah managed to lift her hand and put it on Ellie's arm to stop her.
"Ellie, what day is it?"
Ellie gently removed her hand and injected the clear fluid into her IV. "It's Christmas Eve," she responded softly. Sarah could feel the drug starting to take effect, but not before she did the math. Six months. She lost six months. And Chuck didn't know…
Rome
30 December 2010
Sarah got out of the taxi. Her movements were slower than normal. Ellie was probably right. Traveling so soon after coming out of her coma was a bad idea, but she had to see Chuck. So she did what she did best. Lie. She felt bad doing so, especially after the lengths Ellie went through to take care of her. She was still stunned that Ellie cared about her that much after everything that happened. Pushing through the pain she managed to convince Ellie that she would be fine. Ellie tried to persuade her to phone Chuck instead, but she needed to tell him in person. It was too important. Who knows what he was thinking? Most likely that she left with Shaw. That she chose him. The thought broke her heart. When she threw her gun onto the hotel bed she made herself a promise that she was never going to hurt him again and now she did. The fact that she didn't do it intentionally didn't make it better.
It took all her self control not to decorate General Beckman's chest with one of her throwing knives. She forced Ellie to lie to her brother. Sarah had no idea how Chuck was going to react to being kept in the dark. On the plane she debated about what to tell him first. If she barreled in with an "I love you" he might not believe her. She needed him to. She'd never said it to anyone before and it was a big deal for her. On the other hand, if she explained everything first, he might be too preoccupied with dealing with the current situation his family was in and she could miss her chance. Then again, maybe she was complicating things. In all fairness, it's not like she'd done this before. All her life she was told to suppress her emotions, not express them. And none of this was helping to settle her nerves. She briefly wondered if Chuck still felt the same way. Not that that was going to deter her. He told her without knowing if she loved him too. The least she could do was to return the gesture. And then she'll find out if her luck ran out after Paris.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah lifted her hand and knocked.
A/N
1. Season 4 – I still wasn't able to download episode 1, so the story is on hold indefinitely. Apologies for that.
2. Covers – Chapter 7 is begging for a rewrite. I'll do so in the next week or two.
3. Inconvenient Truths – Chapter 3 is in beta (thanks Tynianrex), so keep an eye out for that one. The summary will be updated with the new upload to clue you in as to what the story is really about.
I've written a deleted scene for 4x08 a while back, but then someone wrote a fic with a similar theme (translated: gripe) and I've abandoned the idea. I read what I have again though and it might work as a one shot (a very short one), so I'm debating whether to upload or not. I'm also working on a one shot that randomly popped into my head a few nights ago. Of course then I fell asleep and forgot most of it, but I'm trying to search the memory banks.
So 2011 is going to be busy. But as my grandmother used to say: It's good to be busy. (Quite fitting to quote her here as today would have been her birthday.) So this one is dedicated to you, Gran. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, even if I'm only appreciating it now that I'm old enough to understand.