Chuck vs the Appointment
Setting: Long After the Series Ends
Summary: After the death of Sarah Walker, Chuck has served the Central Intelligence Agency as a spy for nearly twenty years. All he wants to do is retire and spend the rest of his life in peace and quiet. However fate has conspired otherwise.
Category: Angst/Drama
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. I wish I did though. That would be awesome. :D
March 20th, 2029
President Nathaniel Martin was not having a good day to say the least.
Polls were showing that his public approval rating was at an all time low, having come crashing down from his high of 75 percent to nearly half that.
At least I'm not as bad as Nixon, Truman, or Bush at the end of their terms. He thought to himself. It was a small comfort to know that while most of the country disapproved about how things were being run, at least he wasn't the most hated President of all time. Speaking of past Presidents, if he didn't get things turned around he might become one after just one term.
The Republicans were in a prime position to take back the Senate during the midterm elections this year. With the Republicans already in control of the House, a Republican Senate would complete their domination of the Legislature. Were this to happen, the next two years of his Administration would have a hell of a time passing any of his proposed reforms.
The last thing he needed was a scandal. Which meant that not only did he get one, he got the worst scandal possible.
"What's the latest on Franklin?"
Until recently Charles Franklin was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the largest and foremost of America's intelligence agencies. However just a hours ago, Franklin had confessed that he had misplaced one of the Agency's computers containing classified information that not only included the details of the intelligence obtained by the CIA, but the identities and the locations of a sizeable portion of its covert agents those without the official cover granted by diplomatic immunity.
"He's under heavy guard at the moment Mr. President," his Chief of Staff Erin Gomez replied, "we have him under suicide watch."
Martin snorted. Franklin was a hack pure in simple. He should have never listened to the Senate Majority Leader and the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee to appoint the man in the first place instead of his first choice.
"How long until the press finds out?"
"Everyone's keeping their mouths shut but I doubt that we'd be able to hide it from the public much longer."
"Any luck on finding it?"
"The FBI, NSA and the rest of the intelligence community are scrambling to find it as we speak sir."
"Tell them to double their efforts. I want that laptop found yesterday."
"I'll tell them that."
He sighed. One problem down another to go, "who do we have that can replace Franklin?"
"Mr. President? Deputy Director Hayworth is now functioning as the acting Director. With his qualifications, he'd be easily able to pass muster and be confirmed by the Senate."
Martin snorted. "Robert Hayworth is the last man I want to be in charge of the CIA. The man's a nightmare."
A holdover from the previous Administration, Deputy Director Hayworth as a career CIA man and had served with the Agency for the majority of his adult life first as an analyst and then on to higher positions. Unfortunately his length of service was only matched by his partisanship. The man was a nightmare to work with, especially in joint operations with the other arms of government, especially the greater intelligence community as a whole.
With Hayworth it was always his way or the highway. If he didn't get what he wanted, like a five year old child he would threaten to withdrawal the support of his Agency and its resources. Martin remembered countless times that either he, Franklin, or Gomez had to put him in his place and remind him who exactly was in charge.
Martin was willing to bet money, marbles and chalk that if Hayworth wasn't there half of the problems plaguing the Intelligence Community would disappear in almost an instant.
However if Hayworth was promoted, Martin was sure that things would get even worse. With the Intelligence Community failing to prevent not one but two major terrorist attacks on American soil within the last ten years, the last thing the nation or his Administration needed was more infighting within the Community.
"Mr. President, with all due respect we can't appoint a new Director from outside the Agency. The fallout from Franklin's bungle will demand that we appoint someone within the CIA."
"I know," Martin said, trying to reassure her. "I have an idea about who I want for the job."
"Why do I have an inkling that I'm not going to like this?" Gomez asked rhetorically.
The Next Day
Bartowski Residence, Burbank
"Honey! Wake up!" yelled Michelle Bartowski.
"Whaa…?" groaned her husband, Chuck Bartowski tiredly as he moved slightly trying to remain asleep.
"You're going to be lake for work!" She yelled, fuming. She loved the man, but sometimes she did wish he were a bit more responsible for once.
"What time is it?" Chuck asked as he sprang out of bed, now suddenly awake and running to the shower.
"Seven forty five."
"Frak!"
Michelle could not but help but laugh. Her husband couldn't even bring himself to swear unless it was from science fiction. "Once a geek always a geek."
"That's nerd to you!" retorted Chuck from the shower. If only they knew, he thought as he washed his hair.
Fifteen Minutes Later
"So kids, what are you all up to today?" Chuck asked as he munched on his cereal, fully immersed in his 'geeky dad persona', as he called it.
While CIA policy allowed serving agents to disclose their true careers to their spouse and children, once they had reached an appropriate age of course. It wouldn't be good for your three year old to blab to their friends that their daddy was a CIA Agent after all; Chuck had opted to keep his true career and activities secret. He reasoned that it was better that his family remain ignorant of his true activities.
To his family and friends, Chuck Bartowski wasn't a veteran CIA Agent with over two decades experience in covert operations. Chuck Bartowski was just merely a simple information security consultant who had the unenviable job of going across the country to repair and fix corporate mainframes after they had been taken over by hackers.
According to his wife and kids, he was the biggest overgrown geek in the world. If anyone asked if Chuck Bartowski was a member of the CIA, they'd laugh in their face. To them he was a clumsy but lovable buffoon of a dad, incapable of anything remotely related to being a spy. And that was the way he liked it.
Maybe I should have told them he thought. He frowned. The time for disclosure was long gone. As sweet and patient that Michelle was, he doubted that Michelle would forgive him for hiding a secret this big from her. The fact that her husband was not who he said he was, no matter what good intentions there were would devastate her and the children. For their sake and his, he'd take his secrets to the grave and no one would be the wiser.
"Nothing just soccer practice dad," replied his son as he was buttering his toast, bringing him back into reality.
Fifteen year old Mark Morgan Bartowski was the eldest of his two children. At five feet eight, it was clear that he had inherited his father's height and lanky build. Chuck wouldn't be surprised by the time the boy stopped growing, he'd tower over his father.
"What's a matter honey? You seemed lost in thought?" Michelle asked, concerned.
"Nothing. Just thinking about the last job I had to do," Chuck replied.
"Ah the good old folks at LanTech having trouble again with their…what do you call them?" Chuck couldn't help but laugh. Even after sixteen years of marriage, his wife was still completely ignorant of computers and willfully so, refusing to learn anything connected to his job. While a part of him was republished by his wife's lack of interest in his 'job', he did admit that it was helpful in maintaining his cover.
"Servers dear," he replied. "Stupid idiots still haven't updated their firewalls. Removing that virus from their entire system was a pain."
"It must have been horrible!"
"Yeah it was," he replied. He couldn't exactly reveal that he had been facilitating in the defection of a mid level military official from the Russian Federation with intelligence containing vital information regarding their next generation nuclear attack submarines. It was the truth, well from a certain point of view according to the venerable Obi-Wan Kenobi. But nevertheless it was true; the job was a bitch and half.
"And you Sammy?"
Born fifteen minutes after her brother, his daughter had been surprise, albeit a very happy one.
Since he and his wife only expecting one child, they were completely unprepared for the arrival of a second.
When asked the baby's name, Chuck had insisted on the name Samantha Lisa Bartowski. Surprised at her normally easy-going husband's sudden insistence, Michelle had asked why he had chosen that name. Chuck quickly told her that he liked the name and had always wanted to give the name to one of his children.
After all, Chuck couldn't tell her the truth. It didn't take a master spy to know that his wife would not take it well that he had named his only daughter after the woman who had stolen his heart, CIA Agent Samantha Lisa Watterson, more commonly known by her alias Sarah Walker. The very same Sarah Walker who his family and friends, save for a few believed died in a car crash but instead had fallen in the line of duty long before his daughter had been born.
Chuck knew that despite his dearest wishes, Sarah was dead and had been that way for nineteen years. He had realized that and accepted it years ago. Naming her after Sarah wouldn't bring her back. Nor would molding her to follow Sarah's footsteps. He wouldn't wish that fate on anybody. Not even his own enemies. However by naming her in Sarah's memory, it was his way of honoring and remembering the woman that he had loved so much.
"I'm going to be bringing home Derek to meet you," his youngest told him nonchalantly, either not knowing or caring that those words struck fear into the hearts of fathers worldwide.
"And who is this Derek?" Chuck's eyes narrowed.
"Daad," she said stretching out his name in exasperation, "remember I told you last week. He's my boyfriend."
"Really," he said flatly. We'll see about that he thought. There was no way in heaven or earth that he would let his daughter start dating now. She was way too young.
Besides with him gone the majority of the time, he was unable to watch over her in case something went wrong.
Why couldn't she be a late bloomer like him and start dating at 17? By that time, he'd be out of the CIA and collecting his pension and free to scare the living daylights out of any of those little shits known as teenage boys, warning them that if they even looked at his daughter the wrong way, he'd ensure that they'd never survive to see their next birthdays without missing certain portions of their anatomy.
His wife shot him a warning look. He frowned. They'd talk about this later. Later meaning, when the kids were out of the house and both he and his wife had time to think things through. "Well kids, have a good day at school," he said as he got out of his chair.
"Bye honey," his wife said as she kissed him before he went out the door.
"Love you," Chuck said. "I'll see you tonight." He turned to his daughter, "I can't wait to meet this Derek of yours," Chuck replied in a tone that fooled no one.
Questions, comments? Please review.
By the way, I'm looking for a Beta Reader. Most of my buddies don't watch Chuck or aren't familiar with the series enough to provide feedback.