Chapter 2

No I don't own Chuck.

Thanks for the reviews so far. They sort of jump started the creative process and helped me get the next chapter out there.

Chuck and Sarah showed up at Castle about an hour before the meeting was scheduled to begin. To their surprise Casey was already there, reading a report with one hand and wielding chopsticks with the other. He looked up and motioned to the other end of the table, "I picked up some takeout on the way over. I had a feeling the kid would be starving."

Sarah tried to keep her cheeks from coloring and leveled what she thought was a cutting glare at Casey. But Casey was too busy laughing at the permanent grin attached to Chucks face to notice. Chuck just grabbed some sizzling shrimp out of the box and started wolfing it down. Sarah and Casey made small talk as Chuck wandered around the base while he ate.

Chuck really didn't have any destination in mind but he eventually found himself in the armory. Chuck had never really been a fan of firearms. There were a lot of reasons, but by far the biggest reason was that he didn't feel like he knew how to use one safely and effectively. Chuck really couldn't live with himself if he killed someone on accident. But as Chuck let his eyes linger on a gun here and there he was hit with the familiar, yet knew for this version of the intersect, sensation of flashing.

Sarah noticed where Chuck had been standing for the last few minutes and walked over to him. Casey was also intrigued at this point and followed her over. As Sarah reached Chuck she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Chuck twisted her around to his side and smiled at her as she spoke, "What's got your attention in here?"

Chuck grabbed one of the pistols from the rack, "These actually. Watch." Chuck quickly field stripped the pistol, checked it thoroughly, and reassembled it. His actions were precise and quick. Few instructors would have found fault with his performance. Needless to say Casey was impressed and curious. He handed a couple other firearms to Chuck. With each new one he quickly flashed and then was able to field strip, assemble, and reassemble the gun without fail. Chuck looked up from the last firearm, "I know pretty much anything you could want to know about these weapons. I know how to modify them, I know the best situations to use them in, I'm even sure I could fire them with at least a basic proficiency. I'm sure I could use one to protect you or Sarah, but any other situation? I really can't say."

Casey looked over at Chuck for a moment before he spoke, "You better pay attention Chuck, because I'm only going to say this once and I damn well won't repeat myself. You made a choice in that room when you re-intersected yourself. The same choice that Walker and myself made many years ago. You made the choice to put the greater good ahead of your own happiness. You've impressed me now and again over the last 2 years Bartowski. But when you made that choice I was actually proud of you."

Casey grabbed a Colt 1911 off the rack, slid home the clip, chambered a round, and decocked the pistol before putting it on the table in front of chuck, "But you need to realize something, and you need to realize it quickly. You chose to be part of this fight this time around. We are in a defacto state of war with Fulcrum, and this Ring group as a whole. War is ugly. War is the reason there are words like collateral damage and acceptable losses. I suffered through babysitting you when this was dumped on you and you didn't ask for it. But that time is over. I'll be happy to watch your back, but I need to know that my partner is going to have my back as well. So what do you say Bartowski, are you up for really being a part of this team?"

Sarah started to speak up but as she watched Casey and Chuck looking at one another for a long moment she decided to stay quiet. She realized that if they were going to get Chuck through this they were going to have to do it together. Sarah was too close to him to say the things that needed to be said sometimes. And as much as she would love to keep her purely innocent Chuck, she knew that Chuck had to change in some ways if he was going to survive this. Sarah also knew that as long as they stayed together they would keep each other from getting lost like Sarah had been when she first came to L.A. So she stayed quiet while Casey hammered a little bit of reality home on Chuck.

Chuck finally looked away from Casey and down at the gun. He reached out and slid it back over to Casey, "I think I'd prefer to have one of the Springfield Armory Xdm. The accuracy is better due to the match grade barrel and it has fewer failures per 1000 rounds than the 1911. Last thing I want is a misfeed while I'm trying to save your ass."

Casey smiled slightly and gave a grunt that chuck thought sounded slightly approving, well for Casey at least. Casey then turned and headed back for the main room, "Meeting starts in 10."

Sarah looked up at Chuck with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Chuck's brow furrowed as he looked back at her, "What's wrong love?"

Sarah sighed as she hugged herself up to Chuck before speaking, "I know that this isn't going to be easy for you. God who am I kidding, this is going to push you to your very limits. Just remember you can always talk to me, I'll always be there for you." Chuck hugged her briefly and kissed her hair before speaking, "That's what I'm counting on. I told you earlier, I can't do this without you. I was never a heroic kind of guy until you came along. You bring out parts of me that I never knew existed."

Sarah laughed, "Yeah just like any other red blooded male. Always trying to impress the girls huh?"

Chuck raised an eyebrow, "Would you expect any less from Special Agent Charles Carmichael?"

Sarah shook her head and replied sarcastically but with a smile, "Okay lets get this meeting over with before you head swells up too large to get out of the armory."

Chuck sat down at the head of the table, Casey to his right, and Sarah very close to his left. They watched the screens as the minutes stretched out. Finally Casey broke the silence, "That's odd, as long as I've been reporting to Beckman I've never known the woman to be late."

All three of them looked up as them jumped from their chairs and reached for weapons as the door to Castle from the Orange, Orange opened. In walked all 5'2" of General Beckman. Followed closely by an agent in the very stereotypical g-man suit. Behind him were 3 people with black bags over their head. And one more agent followed in that suit that the NSA must have bought in bulk.

Casey, Sarah, and Chuck quickly put away their firearms as the 3 new guests were seated at the other end of the table. Beckman nodded to the 2 agents with her and they removed the bags from the guest's heads before moving to stand near the entry points to the base. The guests looked up and upon seeing Chuck they all 3 started talking at once. Chuck tried to calm them down for a moment, then Casey let out an ear piercing whistle. Capitalizing on the silence Chuck spoke up quickly, "Look I'm sure you have a million questions right now, as do I. But I think we should listen to what the general has to say first. Then we can go over and questions you still have."

General Beckman retrieved 3 sets of paperwork from her briefcase and handed them to the guests, "First things first. These are our standard "Matters of National Security Non Disclosure Agreements'. In a nutshell by signing these you agree that talking with anyone else about what we talk about today you will be committing treason and subject to be prosecuted to the full extent of that law. If you choose not to sign you will be given a dose of a beta blocker which with inhibit your short term memory and you'll never know you were here. You have 5 minutes to decide."

All three of the guests looked up at Chuck, who gave them a smile and the slightest nod of his head. The guests looked between themselves and then as a unit seemed to shrug and start to sign. After the papers were signed and checked by Beckman she took a step back from the table and seemed to gather her thoughts for a few seconds.

Her eyes opened and she began to speak, "Dr's. Woodcombe and Mr. Grimes I would like to introduce you to Agent Sarah Walker of the CIA, Agent John Casey of the NSA, and Special Agent Charles Carmichael of both the CIA and the NSA which you all know as Chuck Bartowski."

Ellie looked at both Sarah and Chuck with a look that said... We are all going to have a VERY long talk later.

General Beckman gave that news just a moment to sink in before continuing, "Now I'm sure the three of you are wondering what's going on and why you've been brought here. Well we have a lot of ground to cover and not much time in which to do it. So I'm going to hand the floor over to Agent Carmichael. Please brief them on the overall scope of the Intersect project from inception until now. Lets be brief on mission details to save time."

Chuck looked over at Sarah and received a warm smile in return before standing up, "Well it started 2 years ago right after the birthday party you threw for me Sis. I received an email from the last person I ever thought I'd hear from again............."