Chuck vs. A Brand New Life
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in conjunction with NBC Networks nor do I own anything said by the government characters in this story. I only own the plotline and the scenarios I have created.
Chapter 1: Reimbursement
Washington D.C., 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue- 11:13 AM
"The asset knows too much. Correction, sir. The ex-asset knows too much. We now have the Intersect Cube, Orion, and will be fully operational within the week. The Human Intersect Project can now end. It would be the right thing to terminate Charles Bartowski," reports General Diane Beckman standing in front of a luxurious, dark varnish oak desk. The figure seated across from her gazes into space contemplatively. Behind General Beckman are several men in suits or military uniforms. No one below a three star general is present.
"I may not have been here long, but I believe you to be wrong on both counts General Beckman," responds the seated figure from his plush leather office chair. The contemplative look remains on his face.
"Mr. President, sir, we cannot let the asset go. The Intersect is our nation's most valuable intelligence tool against those who would seek to harm us. General Beckman is right to terminate him," dissents another general. The president nods in his direction before turning his gaze to another man dressed in a crisply pressed dark suit.
"What do you think Mr. Gottfried? Is Charles Bartowski a danger to national security?"
"Sir, I must agree with you. We learned from our previous bout with losing the Intersect that only having one is a mistake. However, throughout all the testing no one has been able to come close to what Orion did," responds Mr. Gottfried arms crossed.
"So what are you suggesting? Can we let Charles Bartowski continue on in whatever it is that he is doing?"
"No and yes. As you can observe throughout the video and reports from Colonel Casey and Agent Walker, Charles Bartowski exhibits great potential not only in the capacity of analyst, but also as an agent. His ability to assimilate Intersect data with such speed gives him an edge over most other agents. As much as General Beckman may believe the Intersect project should end, having field agents with intersect data pertinent to their missions would be a great asset. It cuts down on chatter that potential enemies may pick up. I believe that Charles Bartowski must be recruited in his nations' service. He has too much potential to be sitting behind a desk at a Buy More."
"Hmmm… You make a good observation Mr. Gottfried. How do you suggest we go about recruiting someone who has so obviously made it clear that he wants nothing to do with us? In the state of this economy how much money can we allocate to developing a whole new branch?"
"I'm not talking about a new branch of the intelligence community. 65% of the intel within the Intersect is a product of my agency's work. Occam's Razor has a part in the Intersect project and will continue to do so. We can begin a project within OR. As for recruiting Bartowski, we will recruit the rest of his team as well. 'Team Bartowski' as it is so termed will be brought back together. My hope is that Bartowski will consent to re-assimilating the Intersect and to training in order to test the effectiveness of intersect agents in the field. Although General Beckman believes that we have wiped out Fulcrum, there is no confirmed proof other than a rather small bomb shelter."
"Well then, I cannot argue with that logic. Charles Bartowski is yours if you can get him. We will discuss an alternative plan when and if this falls through. Keep an eye out for Fulcrum. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir," chorus the various people assembled in the room. General Beckman sighs a bit before a slight smile crosses her face. She turns and walks professionally from the Oval Office only to encounter Mr. Gottfried in the hall.
"Mr. Gottfried, what can I do for you? You've already made it clear that you do not agree with my reasoning," glares General Beckman unused to being denied anything she desired.
Gottfried shifts his weight and stands to his full six foot three inches before addressing the General, "I know you don't like me so I'll keep this brief. The Intersect project hinges on Orion's cooperation. If you terminate his son, how do you think he'll react? You know that he will be able to remotely dismantle the Intersect as well if you terminate Charles after the fact. That being said, I need all of your files on Team Bartowski and the Human Intersect Project."
"I'll have them to you tomorrow morning. Good day," grinds out General Beckman before calmly stalking away.
Watching Beckman grow more diminutive as she progressed down the hall, Gottfried raises his hand to knock on the door of the Oval Office. A grunt of, "Come in!" comes from the other side and the door swings open to reveal the President standing at his desk flanked by two secret service agents.
"Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you again, but I need clearance to reimburse Mr. Bartowski for service to his nation despite our wishes to recruit him. According to the files, he received the Intersect due to Agent Larkin's indiscretion and in the process he has aided in destroying a significant portion of Fulcrums' assets on the West Coast. We should give him the degrees he needs to progress career-wise and monetarily reimburse him."
"That makes perfect sense. The backbone of this country is the work of ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things. Tell General Beckman to transfer the money and communicate the resume changes Mr. Bartowski."
"Thank you sir," says Gottfried spinning on his heel and walking briskly out the door, his Blackberry already in his hand dialing General Beckman's private line.
Echo Park, California- Bartowski Condominium
Across the country it is early in the morning the sun beginning to creep over the roofline of the Echo Park condominium complex that is home to Casa Bartowski. Chuck Bartowski lies asleep in his bed, and for the first time in months it is not plagued by dreams of intersect flashes. Chuck mumbles incoherencies into his pillow as he dreams of pleasant scenarios and blonde-haired blue-eyed CIA agents. The silence is broken by a muffled buzzing noise emanating from the bedside table as Chuck's hand shoots out with uncharacteristic coordination to grab the phone as it slipped from its position on the edge of the table. Instinctively hitting the answer button he slaps the phone to his ear.
"Hullo?" mumbles Chuck half awake into his phone. Rolling onto his back Chuck looks up at the ceiling as a happy, bright voice sounds out from the speakers.
"Good morning Chuck. Did I wake you up?" asks Sarah Walker fully alert and awake.
"No, you didn't. What is it?" asks Chuck before yawning loudly causing him to blush. "Okay maybe you did. What's up?"
"We have one last briefing today at Castle. I'm already outside your complex. Can you come out and meet me? I brought you breakfast."
At the sound of Sarah's voice Chuck's face brightens and the mention of food makes him spring out of bed and into a frenzy to find his clothes.
"Sure just give me a second. I'll be right out," responds Chuck before dropping the phone as he struggled into a pair of jeans. He grabs a black button down from the arm of his chair and throws it one carelessly before taking a look in the mirror. Chuck quickly runs his hand through his hair and sprays a dash of cologne before slipping his black Chuck Taylor's on and propelling himself out the Morgan Door. The fresh morning air assaults his senses and Chuck glances at his watch to see that it is already 8:30 in the morning. Lightly jogging through the courtyard Chuck emerges onto the sidewalk to see Sarah leaning against a brand new Porsche. A black exterior and a saddle interior complement each other through the tinted windows. Silver lettering decorates the back, 'GT2'.
"Good morning Chuck," greets Sarah a grin on her face. She opens her arms to wrap around Chuck's neck and pull him in for a hug. "Happy Intersect-free day two."
"Thanks Sarah, you don't know how much it meant for you to help me rescue my father." Chuck pulls back to look at Sarah's smooth features. Without thinking he leans down to lay a chaste, sweet kiss on her lips. Without missing a beat Chuck asks, "Ready to go Sarah? Casey's probably left for Castle already right?"
"Y-yeah, let's go," stutters Sarah before running around to the driver's side of her brand new car.
"Is this car a different Porsche from the one you had before?" asks Chuck as the GT2 launches like a rocket from the sidewalk reaching sixty miles per hour in 3.6 seconds.
"Yes, Chuck. It's a Porsche 911 GT2, and it's quite a big improvement on my 4S. It's also all thanks to you and Casey. Beckman gave me a raise and a large bonus."
Traveling quickly through the streets of Burbank, the pair quickly reach the Buy More shopping center and park right in front of the deserted Orange Orange. Entering the empty store Sarah relocks the door before pulling Chuck into the fake freezer door.
"You two are late. Bartowski! Get down here, the General wants to speak to you," grunts Casey in his usual manner as he stands in a black polo and jeans in front of the usual slew of monitors. Chuck glances at Sarah smiling softly at her before swiftly making his way down the stairs, coming to a stop next to Casey.
"Good morning Mr. Bartowski. I've asked you here this morning to extend thanks on behalf of the NSA, CIA, and the President of the United States. You've done your nation a great service without compensation. You didn't ask for the burden of the Intersect, and although I do not act sympathetically very often I appreciate what you've done," says General Beckman addressing Chuck. The Colonel and the Agent are caught in disbelief. General Beckman was known to be colder than a Connecticut winter and here she was congratulating and thanking a Buy More employee that had been ejected from Stanford.
"Thank you General. It's been a crazy adventure, but I don't regret a single moment of it," responds Chuck.
"Glad to hear it Mr. Bartowski. The United States Government would like to extend the Congressional Medal of Honor to your alias, Special Agent Charles Carmichael, for outstanding bravery. We would also like to confer to you a Stanford Masters in Business Administration for your work with us. Also an account with one million dollars flat has been started in your name. If you need anything else please let Colonel Casey know. Beckman out."
"Well, Chuck looks like you're free of the Buy More. An MBA and your electrical engineering degree, what do you know? Here's your account number and a card linked to the account," says Casey as he hands over a sheet of paper to Chuck who was still stuck in a stupor.
"Chuck, this is great! You're finally able to pursue everything you wanted!" exclaims Sarah enthusiastically. Finally a smile and then a full blown grin spreads across Chuck's face. His big break had arrived. There was nothing that could stop him now. Suddenly Chuck's phone starts ringing the screen indicating that Ellie was calling.
"Chuck! Where are you? Is Sarah with you? She's supposed to come with me to get the final fitting done…"
"Ellie! It's fine, Sarah and I went out for breakfast and she's here with me. Here I'll let you talk to her," interjects Chuck handing the phone to Sarah.
"Hi Ellie? Sorry about the confusion, I'll be right over. Uh huh, yeah. Okay I'll see you then, bye!"
"So what was that all about?" asks Chuck looking at Sarah with a goofy look on his face.
"I need to get over to Ellie's final gown fitting. It's in Beverly Hills and the million dollar man needs to look the part. You're coming with me and we're going shopping for you afterwards," ordered Sarah poking his chest before dragging Chuck back up the stairs.
"Ugh, young love. Sickeningly sweet," mumbles Casey as he makes the call for an NSA cleanup team to remove Castle from the Orange Orange basement.
To Be Continued…
A/N: First time writing for Chuck, but a big fan of the show. Let me know what you think. If you enjoyed it or have any constructive criticism for me please let me know. Also for those of you who saw Chuck Vs. the Colonel last night, I can't believe that next week is the season and possibly the series finale! Please review!
Peace and love,
GATX-105B
NOTE: THIS VERSION HAS BEEN EDITED. A few things, the White House address has been fixed (1300 1600). The Congressional Medal of Honor has been assigned not to a civilian, but "Charles Carmichael." New Chapter will be up sometime soon pending how much work I have.