A/N: I want to thank everyone that has left a review after reading the first chapter. I really appreciated them, both the positive ones, and also the few negative ones. Some of you really flattered me with what you said, so thank you. Also it was great to see people give their opinion on Season 3, so thanks for that as well. Finally I want to thank everybody that took the time to read it. It really has all been greatly appreciated.
Now as for this Chapter, I have to admit it took a bit longer then I had expected to write it. Was slightly stuck in some places, and ended up deleting some stuff because I wasn't happy about it, but I think it turned out alright in the end. I just hope you all enjoy reading it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck, nor do I own any of the Characters from the Chuck universe.
Chapter 2: New Beginnings.
Chuck had a terrible nights sleep, he was constantly tossing and turning, thinking about what was in the past and what was in the future. Their were so many uncertainties in the future, so many questions, it was almost enough for him to forget about the last three years. Almost, because as much as he tried, he couldn't get a certain blond haired angel out of his mind. Getting over her would turn out to be a monumental task, a task he couldn't afford to postpone though. So he needed to find something to get his mind of her, something other then just lying in bed and thinking. To add insult to injury, even cheese balls weren't an option this time around.
He had contemplated for a while to go down to Castle, to see if he could get some work done. Not that he was sure what kind of work there was left for him to do here, but perhaps there were intelligence reports for him to look through. He quickly remembered though that Shaw had sent him a message the night before stating that they were in the process of cleaning out Castle. Apparently they would work through the night, trying to prevent people from looking weirdly at what came out of what was supposed to be a frozen yogurt shop. Of course there would have probably been quite a bit of security making sure that the cover of night was enough, after all no one that had been involved with the operation in Burbank wanted to risk anything falling in the wrong hands. Chuck felt somewhat relieved to hear Castle had been cleaned out, it felt final, it also meant there was no real turning back now.
Shaw wasn't the only one sending word to TeamB, Beckman had done the same. Shortly after the dinner they had shared the previous day, Chuck had received a call from Beckman with their flight data. Keeping up with their cover of a new job in Washington, the three members of TeamB would board a flight to Washington, there they would be met by some of Beckman's staff to be taken to a small private airfield. There they would board a small private jet for their flight to Rome. Of course the whole relocating to a smaller airport would seem a bit excessive, and Chuck had wondered about that, but the General deemed the operation to important to let there be any chance of sabotage. Naturally the small airfield would be easier to survey, and it would probably fit better with the whole rich playboy image Chuck was to have. The ride over there would give Beckman's aid a chance to relay some files to TeamB as well.
For now though, they were still in Burbank, where both Chuck and Morgan had a hard time leaving some things behind. There wasn't much they could take with them, the CIA villa was after all fully furnished to fit their cover, bringing things from Burbank might have put people off. The only things they allowed themselves to bring were some of the posters that hung around the apartment. Chuck was bringing his priced Tron poster, while Morgan would bring his favourite Sonny Chiba poster.
While deciding what to bring, Chuck had looked longingly at the pictures of him and Sarah. For years they had been important to him, and now he wasn't sure what to do with them. A year ago he wouldn't have dreamed of leaving without at the very least one of them, But now the pictures in his hand only caused him pain and confusion. It all had seemed so real at the time, it had felt so easy to be together even with the knowledge that it was just a cover, there was such happiness radiating from the people in the pictures. As Chuck started tracing his hands over the face of the woman in the picture Morgan walked in, and saw the state his friend was in.
"You okay buddy?" He asked him worriedly.
"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about those days you know. How it seemed like there really was something happening between us that was never there. How it was such an easy thing to be around each other. Something that has been in the past for a long time though. We really made things hard for each other these last few months." he said his voice filled with pain, sadness and regret.
As Morgan looked into his friends eyes, he could see the pain from an emotional wound, that was deep, deep from the recurring lacerations of all the pain that they had caused each other. Morgan knew it was probably not just Chuck that had been hurt by what had happened between them. He tried to give Chuck a supportive smile, nodding that he understood.
"You know what little buddy, I have to start leaving this past behind me." He said as he started to pack the pictures into an old box. He had decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to take any pictures with him. He really wanted to, but he just couldn't. He had asked Sarah to give him as much space as she possibly could give him, it would be wrong of him to then confront himself with it repeatedly.
Morgan was looking at his friend in surprise. Not just did he seem adamant in moving on from Sarah, something he had believed would take years, he also seemed at peace with it. He saw the pain in his friends eyes, and he could hear it clearly present in his voice, whenever he spoke about his past with Sarah, but his friend had changed. This wasn't the guy that had been down for years when Jill left him, this was a guy that seemed to be focused on making something of himself again. He did feel the need to make sure that his friend knew what he was doing.
"You know Chuck, it would be okay if you want to take a picture of her with you to Rome, no one is expecting you to be over her in a day you know."
"I know Morgan, I know, and in honesty I'm not over her, how could I be? But I need to be. Not because I need to date, because I don't, and quite frankly I don't even want to think about that, but Morgan these people we are up against, they are very dangerous. If I keep confronting myself with my feelings for Sarah, it could cost us more then we are bargaining for." He contemplated for a second how he was now trying to do, what he told Sarah he needed to do in the letter he wrote her. He was trying to bury his feelings for her in order to survive. Beckman would almost be content with this development he thought to himself. He realised he had to help Morgan understand why he had to try to get over her as fast as possible, or at least why he couldn't wallow in self pity like he really wanted to.
"Do you remember the day you found out about this spy stuff?" he asked his best friend.
"Sure I do Chuck, that was an awesome day." Morgan smiled at his friend, though he was unsure what he was going at.
"Well the reason I was at the Buy More, and not on a mission was that I couldn't flash. The reason for that was because of my emotions. To be more precise, it were mostly the emotions regarding what was happening with Sarah. The problem is Morgan, if I can't flash, I'm only good for target practice. You see buddy, emotions make the intersect unstable, because it was designed for real Agents, the ones that do not have emotions that mess with them. Emotions could make it trigger when I don't want it to, or it could make it malfunction completely." He sighed to himself as he sat down on his bed, while running his hand through his hair. He really didn't want to be in a position that meant he had to think about a malfunctioning intersect, but he was now responsible for his team's safety. If he wouldn't be able to bury his feelings, their death could be on his hands. Maybe I've made a mistake bringing Morgan into this mess he thought to himself. There would be no turning back when they would get to Rome, but he was scared to not have someone like Morgan with him as a touch stone, he was already being forced to do things, he really didn't want to do, like bury his feelings.
Morgan just eyed his friend for a while, he seemed really worried about this. And if Morgan was honest with himself, he was getting slightly worried with the way his friend was trying to handle things. Chuck had always been someone to talk, well about anything, and now he seemed to be trying to bottle things up, certainly when it would come to emotional stability that would not be a good idea. He sat down on the bed next to Chuck, trying to think of something to say, seeing if he could change his friends mind on this. He was still new to this world, he had a hard time thinking of a way to go about this, this could be a difficult case for Dr. Morgan, Buy More shrink extraordinary to crack.
Before he could say something though, Chuck stood up from the bed and started walking out of the room. He looked around to see Morgan still sitting there, looking at the wall pensively.
"Come on man, we still got to finish up" he said with a small smile.
Morgan nodded at him "I'll be with you in a sec" he would definitely try again later.
After they had made sure that they had brought everything they could and wanted, they sat down on the couch. It would be only a few minutes before Ellie and Devon would come by to take them to the airport. Ellie had asked someone to cover her shift at the hospital so she could see her brother off, despite his half hearted protests. Chuck was just hoping that Casey wouldn't try to bring his collection of fire arms, he was sure the new base of operations would be stocked with them anyway.
His thoughts wandered a little to the villa in Rome. He had only seen the picture in the file that Beckman had showed him. It looked absolutely beautiful, it was truly the kind of housing he had imagined for himself back at Stanford, and when he came up with the Carmichael persona. At one point it had really been his hope for the future. Now though, now his dreams were different. His dreams had gotten simpler over the last few years. In a way he had returned to the dreams he had from before his parents had left him, the dreams of having what they had those first years of his life. Of course he wouldn't mind having that much money, or such a big house, or the sports cars, or the private jet, but he has learned a lot about the beauty of a smaller normal life now. The dream of the white picket fence, the 2,5 kids, the dog, the simple mini van, it was now what he actually wanted more than anything. He realised that deep down he probably had always wanted that, but it was getting more and more apparent with each passing day. Three years of the spy world, had taught him the beauty of the quiet sub urban life. Of course the mission in the suburbs had helped with that.
It was because of this existing desire that they had decided to retain the apartment for now, even though they were unsure if they would ever return to Burbank. Chuck realised it was a small security risk with his family still living nearby, but with them leaving for Africa soon, he didn't feel it would be much trouble. He had thought about getting some NSA cleaners to put things in storage for them after Ellie and Devon left, but for now he was hoping to hold onto his roots. Maybe one day after they had stopped the Ring he could return here. He knew Beckman would be reluctant to let the intersect go, but who knows what would happen. If she didn't want to let him go when he wanted out, he could always ask his dad to remove the intersect again. Though he would probably not hear the end of it for downloading the 2.0. As much as he knew he had made the right choice all those months before, after all they needed the intersect to beat the ring, he sometimes regretted downloading it. His life would have looked very different if he hadn't. Of course the question remains how they would have gotten out, but still, if they had, things would have been completely different now. He was deep in his thoughts when Morgan interrupted.
"Can you believe we are leaving this place? That this is the end of the bachelor pad?" He said.
"I know man, it's a lot to take in. So many great memories in this place, the family dinners, the awesome gaming nights, the parties, the quiet evenings. I just hope we get to come back here one day." He said while looking around the room, clearly remembering some of the times he just spoke about.
"Of course we'll come back, why wouldn't we?" Morgan said, in a way like he thought Chuck seemed foolish to doubt it.
Ah well you know, we could get killed, we could get compromised, Beckman could just sent us elsewhere, plenty of things that could go wrong there Morgan, Chuck thought to himself. "I suppose you are right buddy" he shrugged.
They just sat there for a few minutes, both still thinking about the past that was in the room. Both realising they would soon be on their way to create new ones, but some things, Chuck decided, some things shouldn't change.
"Say Morgan, you know what we should find when we get to Rome?"
Morgan looked at Chuck questioningly.
"A new favourite Sizzling Shrimp place" Chuck said smiling.
"Absolutely!" Morgan exclaimed excitedly.
"You know buddy, it's going to be good, creating all these new memories, saving the world and all that."
Before Morgan could respond, there was a knock at the door. Chuck quickly got up and made his way towards the door of their apartment, and didn't waste any time to open the door. He was expecting it to be Ellie, but it was John Casey.
"You morons ready to go?" he questioned gruffly.
"Hey yourself Casey" Chuck answered rolling his eyes "and yeah we're ready, are you?"
"I'm a spy Bartowski, I'm always ready. Now go get your sister so we can get out of here."
"Yeah, yeah Casey, spies pack light, and are always ready to move, they don't put down roots, because they aren't suckers. I know the story John." Chuck smirked, "We'll be out in a second."
Casey grunted affirmatively , and turned around to leave, while Chuck turned to face Morgan.
"Okay little buddy, ready to go?" he asked his best friend.
Morgan smiled at him and nodded "Of course, let's do it"
They both grabbed their suitcases, and made their way out of the apartment, stopping at the door to give the place they had called home for what seemed like forever a last glance. They looked at each other after a few moments, before giving a small nod indicating that they were ready to go. As they went outside, Ellie was just leaving her apartment to come get them.
"Good, you're ready, let's go get you guys to the airport."
The ride to the airport was uneventful. Ellie had asked them a few questions about what they were going to do when they would get to Washington, and if they were looking forward to starting over. Luckily they had spent some time getting their covers straightened out the night before, so there weren't any complications, as they arrived at the airport.
They had just made their way into the terminal, when Ellie turned to face the three men that were leaving. Despite having someone cover a large part of her shift, she still had to get to the hospital in about an hour, so she had to say goodbye now. She still had mixed feelings about her brother leaving, she just couldn't help it. The first person she said goodbye to was John Casey, she had grown a liking to the silent somewhat distant man, despite his public indecency problem. She was just glad John was going with her brother, she had more faith in him taking care of him than she had in Morgan.
She went up to Casey and whispered "Look after him" in his ear as she embraced him.
Casey grunted affirmatively, from most people he wouldn't accept a hug, Ellie was the only apparent exception to the no touching John Casey policy.
After a few moments Ellie released him, and moved to Morgan. Morgan had always been a bit of a surrogate little brother to her. Of course a very creepy one, especially in the past when she had thought of him in nearly the same way as she now thinks of Jeff and Lester, but now she was almost sad to see him go. Still she also felt kind of proud.
"I'm proud to see you do something like this" she said while wrapping her arms around him, "I might just end up missing you"
"You might?" Morgan asked with a smirk.
"Don't push your luck Morgan"
"I'm going to miss you to El" he said with sincerity in his voice.
Finally she turned to her brother. As she was now standing in front of him, knowing he was leaving to try to finally make something out of himself, she felt some pride. Not only that, he seemed more mature then when Jill broke up with him. When Morgan had called her a couple of days earlier she was so scared her brother would turn into the Cheese ball eating zombie he had been a few months earlier, but instead he had pushed himself onwards. The only thing that nagged at her, was the promise she had once made to her father. It would be hard to take care of him now he was leaving.
"Aces Charles, you're Aces" she said smiling, with tears glistening in her eyes as she gave her brother a bone rambling hug She really was going to miss him, probably even more than she was willing to admit to herself.
"Only thanks to you sis" he said, while holding her, just hoping that one day he would see her again. He didn't want her to wonder about what happened to her brother all her life, if something happened to him, she would probable never learn what had happened.
"I'm going to miss you sis" he said with his voice slightly cracking, "I love you"
"I love you to little brother"
As the three men turned, and walked away, Ellie walked towards the exit as she quickly wiped away the stray tear that was making it's way down her cheek.
X-X-X-X-X
Sarah hadn't slept much better than Chuck. Though of course she had no way of knowing that. After crying herself to sleep, she had one of the nightmares that come with the territory of being a spy. In fact it was the one nightmare that had troubled her the most over the last five years, it was the dream that saw her relive her red test. For a while, she hadn't been troubled by it as much, and sleeping in the same bed with Chuck on their cover sleepovers had always been much help, but since the night at the train tracks they had come back to haunt her, like it had happened the day before. Only now sometimes she wasn't shooting the mark, she was shooting Chuck, who would just look at her with hollow eyes as he collapsed to the ground.
After waking up bathing in sweat, she hadn't been able to get back to sleep. Her mind had been racing at record speed, as she was worried about Chuck. Thoughts of all the things that could go wrong, had been racing through her head. It wasn't something she was proud of, in fact she chastised herself for it. Chuck was a spy now, she shouldn't allow herself to be worried about him, it wasn't her job to protect him anymore she told herself. Of course that didn't give her much joy either, as she had wanted him to need her, as much as she needed him. Well as much as she needed the pure Chuck from all those years earlier, he hadn't been that Chuck since he left her alone on that train station in Prague. Everything she feared would happen did happen. She sighed to herself, I can't belief I'm still so troubled by this.
She tried to get her mind of Chuck by thinking about Shaw. There was however also some reason for concern there. For starters she had rejected him the night before, kissing him had felt the same again, as it had done before Chuck had run off with Hannah. "I hate brunettes" she muttered as she remembered the former nerd herder. She just hoped that Shaw would understand why she had said no to him, and that was still a point of concern for her. Yes of course he had seemed understanding, but more men had been capable of seeming understanding of her situation, while they weren't. Her father being one of them, another being Langston Graham. She had really made a mistake going into business with that man. No amount of saying greater good, could ever make her feel better for what she had done as his enforcer. She cursed Chuck Bartowski for waking up a side of her that was now driving her crazy. It was because of him that she now needed someone like Shaw in her life. The part of her that needed love and affection needed someone, the only option around her had seemed to have been Shaw, especially after Chuck had run into the arms of the first brunette that had seemed interested.
She sighed as she got out of bed when her alarm went off. She really had no idea why she had set it, there wasn't really anything for her to do. Her plane would leave in the evening, still hours away, Castle was being cleaned out, or perhaps it was already done, she had already packed the little belongings she had, so there really wasn't much left to do.
Since coming to Burbank she had usually spent the days she didn't have to be in Castle or at the Orange Orange with Chuck, or with Ellie, but now both of them seemed out of the question. Chuck was leaving that morning, and even if he hadn't, coming by would have been a bad idea, and Ellie apparently didn't want to see her. She sighed again, thinking about having lost more then she had thought she ever could lose. She needed something to clear her mind, so she did what she always did when she needed to clear her mind. She put on her work out clothes, ignoring the fact that she had to put them in her bags later, and stepped up to the punching bag that was still hanging in her room. She carefully positioned herself in front of it and started punching, thump…. Thump…. Thump…
X-X-X-X-X
Chuck was looking out of the window, as the plane was touching down in DC. To Morgan's dismay they had been seated in coach. Casey and Chuck had some experience with flying on government dime, but Morgan was expecting something lavish. Which of course had led to Casey reminding him that, tax payers money wasn't going to be wasted on flying a major and two morons two DC. They were just going to have to make do, which hadn't been to hard, as the flight had been rather uneventful. The only thing that interrupted the monotony, was the flight attendant almost dropping a drink into Casey's lap, earning herself a deadly glare from the NSA Agent. She had muttered something about it being her first day, and had made a speedy retreat.
For Chuck most of the flight had been spent staring out of the window. Somehow the clouds had seemed more interesting then what was happening around him. Which wasn't very spyish of him, he knew that, but he somehow didn't bother being on his toes. He had given the plane a quick look around upon entering it, and didn't flash on any of the other passengers, so he had figured he was safe. For the time being at least, he didn't seem to have been wrong. As he was staring out of the window a lot of the things that he had worried about during the night were still playing with his mind. Those concerns had caused him to sigh deeply a few times during the flight, which earned him some worried glances from Morgan. But now as he had landed in Washington, he was growing more excited about the mission. It would be good making a difference again.
After exiting the plane, they quietly made their way towards the baggage reclaim area. The team that was planned to pick them up to take them to a small private airport wouldn't be there to pick them up for another hour, so there was plenty of time for them to get something to eat. It had been hours since they had breakfast after all.
"Well still plenty of time before Beckman's people show up. I'm thinking that, perhaps we should go grab something to eat now we got the chance." Chuck said while looking at his watch.
"That's a good idea Chuck, I'm quite famished." Morgan said, while Casey just nodded.
They found their way to a small sandwich shop, and ordered a few simple sandwiches. They didn't taste all that special, definitely not in comparison to Lou's Deli. The only reason they didn't complain was that they hadn't eaten for hours. As they were eating, Casey was quietly looking around, clearly looking out for trouble, while Morgan had taken out his book on Italian life, with a slight focus on Rome.
"You know Morgan, I still don't understand what you are doing with those Canadian flags on your suitcase." Chuck said, smiling at how his friend almost looked confused at why he was asking him.
"Come on Chuck, everybody knows that if you want to be treated well as an American tourist you should pretend you're Canadian."
"Moron" Casey muttered under his breath, while Chuck chuckled at his friend.
"You do realise Morgan that the only part of public travelling we are doing, has been flying from LA to DC right? I mean it's all, umm.. private transportation from here on out."
"I know man, but I just wanted the whole experience of going to Rome like I once imagined doing it. Besides, we have never been that far from home together." Morgan said with a smile.
Chuck just smiled at his friend. This was typical Morgan, trying to get things from a certain situation that aren't there with an almost child like attitude. He really did view the man across from him as his brother. Of course, that kind of thinking only increased his concerns for Morgan's safety. He berated himself for being so selfish to ask Morgan along, even though the bearded man had clearly made his own choice. Perhaps he should try to handle him a little like an asset.
"Morgan I need to ask you a favour." He began, a serious tone in his voice matching his expression.
"Okay, what is it?" Morgan replied, confusion apparent in his voice.
"I need you to listen to Casey or me when we get to Rome okay? Please no heroics" there was a clear hint of worry and even a little desperation in his voice. The more he kept thinking about possible consequences of bringing Morgan with them, the more he started to realise his responsibility if something did go wrong.
"So even when you are being held, and are in a totally hopeless situation?" Morgan asked with a surprised impression on his face.
"Especially then"
"Fine" Morgan said dejectedly, he had hoped that his friend would trust him with a little action, though he could understand where he was coming from. Just a little though.
"Look Morgan, I just don't want to see you get hurt. Maybe after we train you, then we can consider letting you do more"
The possibility of a more active role in the future clearly pleased his friend, as a smile started to creep on his face. "Okay Chuck, I'll listen to you and Casey"
"Great buddy, thanks" Chuck said, now with a smile on his own.
Casey couldn't help but look at the interaction between the two friends with a certain feeling of irony. Bartowski asking someone to stay in the car, Walker should have been to see this one, he said to himself. She would have definitely made a point of what he had put her through every time he had left the car. The kid never did fully grasp the distress and pain he had caused her with those actions. For now though, he was glad of what he had asked the Moron, it was bad enough for Casey that he had to break in a new partner, even without Grimes being around. But with Grimes around, he cringed at the thought.
After they finished their food, they decided to go over to the place they would meet Beckman's people. They had about five minutes left to spare when they arrived, so they were surprised to see the two agents already waiting. They had expected Beckman's people to be the kind of guys that would work perfectly on schedule, so to see them early was unexpected.
Of course, the sensitivity of the operation, with Chuck being the intersect had made arrangement a little different. There was of course a good chance that Chuck would flash on the agents whoever they were, unless they had been recruited very recently, something Chuck seriously doubted, yet Beckman had arranged things in a way that made it seem like he was just an ordinary agent, all to protect the identity of the intersect. Because of that they had agreed to some peculiar details about the agents clothing style, which were discussed with General Beckman when she had called. The men would wear a typical G-man suit, but their accessories would be a bit different. For starters they wouldn't wear the typical black sunglasses, instead they would be wearing grey ones, also they would be wearing converse Chuck's similar to those that Chuck always wears. Final precaution would be a code phrase. Chuck made his way to sit down next to one of the Agents.
"Good to see Aunt Diane still takes care of her loved ones" Chuck said while keeping his eyes focused at nothing particular straight in front of him.
He could see that the Agent was eyeing him for a minute. There was even some hint of surprise on his face as he sized up the nerd. The man clearly couldn't believe that they had to go to all this trouble for a man that didn't look like an agent in the slightest. If Chuck was honest with himself, he had to agree with that assessment. If it wasn't for the intersect, this had been totally ridiculous for some straightforward travelling, but Beckman had insisted.
After what Chuck felt like had been hours, the man finally spoke. "You know, you always were her favourite"
"Well that is only because your parents never wanted to visit" Chuck finalised the round of ridiculous code phrases, but they had blended in with the rest of the people around them, so it worked.
"Pleasantries can follow later, for now let's get out of here" the man said, looking around him as if he was expecting trouble while standing up.
As they were making their way to the exit, Chuck signalled Casey and Morgan that everything was fine and they should follow him. They followed him a few feet from them, just in case something went wrong. As they exited the terminal, a black SUV was already waiting for them, another man in a G-man suit sitting behind the steering wheel, clearly an annoyed look on his face. Clearly he was not to happy about being here.
He eyed the passengers, as he gruffly said "Get in."
Chuck turned to Casey and grinned "You know Casey, he reminds me of you."
"Watch it moron" Casey grunted.
As they entered the vehicle the agent that had been waiting for them turned around in his seat to face them. He had a much friendlier demeanour now that he was in the relative safety and comfort of the black SUV.
"I'm agent Miller" he began as the SUV was pulling up to a traffic light, "and this little peach is agent Evans" he continued holding out his hand to Chuck.
"Agent Carmichael" Chuck said shaking the man that the agent had offered "and these two men are Major Casey, and our analyst Mr Grimes." Casey just grunted upon hearing his name, while Morgan gave him a smile and nod.
"I have to admit Agent Carmichael, I was kind of surprised when I found out you were the infamous Carmichael." The agent said smiling at Chuck.
"And why is that?" Chuck asked the man, of course he knew why that was the case, he just didn't want to acknowledge it.
"Well you know, with your reputation being as it is, I just expected someone a little more…"
"A bit less nerdy and a bit more like some kind of James Bond?" Chuck ended the sentence for him. It still surprised him when someone in the intelligence community had heard of him, regardless of what he had done. He still remembered when the Fulcrum agent that had been after his father for years claimed he had heard of him, that had been a some what bitter sweet moment.
Miller looked at him apologetically.
"It's okay Agent Miller, you aren't the only one" Chuck assured him, throwing a quick glance to Casey. Immediately Agent Miller's face cleared up a little.
"Anyway, the General asked me to hand this to you." He said pulling out a briefcase. "It contains all the information you need for your assignment. You know the usual, intelligence reports, information on the base like access codes, your cover stories, and the files you have requested." He continued after Chuck's questioning look. "Oh almost forgot" he said reaching into his pocket, taking out a piece of paper with a three digit code on it "the code for the suitcase" he added.
Chuck nodded, "Thanks" Beckman must really trust these guys if she let's them run around with this kind of information, he thought to himself.
The rest of the ride was a quiet affair. Morgan had tried to ask a few questions, but the answer had always been the same. That's classified. After a few attempts he had stopped trying to find anything about the men in the front seats. Yet it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, there was a certain kinship between the men in the car.
They drove right onto the tarmac up to the Learjet that was waiting for them, courtesy of the United States government. As they exited the car, Chuck could see Morgan's face light up like a Christmas tree. He almost seemed like a child in a candy story.
"Wow, this is so cool" he muttered.
"It is buddy." Chuck said, slapping his friend on the shoulder, while Casey gave a slightly annoyed grunt.
The two agents turned to them to say their goodbyes, and to wish them all the best for their mission. The three men thanked them for their ride over. They quickly turned and made their way onto the jet that was waiting for them. As he boarded the airplane, Chuck felt some slight hint of relief, he could finally start going through the files Beckman had left for him.
X-X-X-X-X
So far it had been a long day for Sarah. The work out had helped slightly to keep her mind of things, and channel her feelings. Normally when she would punch the bag, every punch meant losing herself in the routine of things, every punch meant a second less of thinking about things, now every punch had been like a reminder of those feelings. Still she had felt a little better after she had finished. It had always made her feel better to feel exhausted, it was as if she could focus on being worn out physically, rather then how she felt emotionally. After taking a long shower, she was still confused, and bored.
After staring out of the window for what seemed like hours, though in reality only a few minutes had past, she had to get out of her room. A room she wouldn't particularly miss after leaving this place. Yes Burbank had been the first place to call home since going on the grift with her father, but that had nothing to do with the hotel room. In fact, the only thing that made the hotel room feel some what like home, had been the pictures that had been put around the room. Pictures of her and Chuck, of her and Ellie, and even of her and Morgan or Casey. She really had gotten a taste of a normal quiet life, and she had wanted that. She had even considered leaving the company for it, if only the idiot hadn't tried to be the hero.
She had wandered mindlessly over the streets of Burbank, as she encountered spot after spot containing memories. A small ice cream shop where Chuck had dragged her to on some of their not so fake, fake dates. He had insisted on going there, after his bumbling had caused them both to fall to the ground. He had remembered the story her father had told him, how she always felt better after some messed up con, when he had gotten her some rocky road. He had decided that, since he had effectively done the same thing, he needed to make amends. She had reluctantly agreed to let him buy her some ice cream, but it had turned out to be a fun, and interesting experience. He had shared stories about how his mother had always bought him ice cream after his little league games, and how his father had once given him ice cream after telling him he was special. There had been a certain seriousness about Chuck when he had talked about it, at one point it had even brought a few tears to his eyes, his parents disappearance still clearly affecting him. She had taken his hand, and given it a tight squeeze, she had wanted to do more to comfort him, but at least in that way she could show that she understood his pain. Despite the painful nature of the whole situation, it had been clear that it were happy memories, ones she had been honoured to have learned. After all trust was still a foreign concept to her.
She wandered on, as she came across a small shop where Chuck and Morgan had camped outside of for days, when there was some kind of release. She couldn't even remember anymore what was released, she could remember that she had been forced to go with them for Chuck's protection. Of course Morgan had no idea why she was there, and although he seemed happy for his friend, he had been terribly annoyed by it.
As much as she had hated the idea at first to go there, she had laughed at the banter between the two friends, though she had been on the receiving end of a few deadly glares thrown by Morgan, and by the staring eyes of quite a few nerds. After a few hours she had had enough of the staring, she was used by men staring at her, but she wanted to make clear she was there for someone special. So she had decided to do something about it, she had sashayed towards Chuck with a seductive look in her eyes, and had kissed him passionately. At first Chuck had seemed in shock, but it didn't take him long to respond. It had been a long and very passionate kiss, only breaking when they both needed to come up for air. It had not been a rushed one like at the docks, or a desperate one like in front of Roan, but one that was filled with love, and some form of possessive nature, trying to lay claim on the other. As they broke the kiss they were met by the staring eyes of all the nerds around them, it had made Chuck some kind of hero apparently. He had just looked down at her with his beaming smile, the one he reserved for her, and wrapped one arm around her waist, clearly not wanting to let go off that moment, and neither did she. She had always felt safe in his arms, like it was were she was supposed to be, and in that moment it wasn't different. Of course Chuck had made some trouble about it later, when she had started the old, I'm your handler you're my asset, and my job is to protect you routine, but she had never regretted that kiss, she still didn't.
She crossed into a mall where she had spent countless hours shopping with Ellie. She really had a lot of fun with the brown haired woman, a lot more then she was willing to admit to herself. She had become somewhat dependant on the older woman, and the talks they had. Ellie had become more then just the assets sister, she had become a friend, a true friend, her only friend other then Chuck. She would almost say she had become something like a sister. It was because of this that she had begun to relate to Chuck's difficulty to lie to her. It was because of this, that she herself sometimes started to feel the effects of lying to the person that had trusted her, and made her part of her family. That had clearly thought there was a future for her and her brother when she had made her a bridesmaid. She really was going to miss Ellie.
And so she had walked through what had seemed like memory lane for her. Some memories had brought back tears to her eyes, others had brought a smile to her face, but after each one there was a sense of loss. A sense that she had lost the only home she had known since she was a small child, that she had lost the only family she had since her mother left her and her father when she was nine. Every time she had felt that, she had cursed Chuck Bartowski for making her feel like this, for making her feel vulnerable. Twenty years of protecting her heart and soul from pain, and one idiotic nerd, and she was screwed. She sighed, at least she was going to leave soon, hopefully that would mean a lot less confrontation with the memory of him.
Finally she ended up on the beach. She hadn't planned to end there, not that she really had planned any of the places she had walked past, but yet there she was. It had always been an important spot for her and Chuck, a place where they had first forged an agreement, a relationship even. Not based on romantic feelings, or on friendship, but simply based on the trust they needed to share to survive. A trust he had shattered all those months before in Prague. Prague, something that was still one of the most painful memories in her life, perhaps even the most painful. Just thinking about that day, just thinking about basically anything that had happened that month, and anything that had happened between her and Chuck since then was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Tears that were enough to make her berate herself again for turning so damned soft. She really had changed a lot since she had arrived in Burbank.
She had sat down, watching at the sea. Somehow the rolling waves had a soothing effect on her. There was something about them that brought peace to her mind, reassuring her that in the end everything would work out. That somehow, in the end, it would all come together. After a while, she inadvertently glanced at her watch, what she saw shocked her.
"Crap, crap, crap!" she muttered as she quickly rose to her feet. She had agreed to meet up with Shaw in half an hour, and she still had to get back to her hotel. She really had lost track of time.
She rushed off the beach, cursing herself for wearing heels instead of flats while trying to make herself a way through the sand. She finally got off the beach, and got to the road. She didn't have time to walk all the way back to her hotel, she needed a cab. She managed to get one to stop, and she told him where to go. Fifteen minutes later she was back at her hotel, she let out a sigh of relief as she entered her room. She had made it in time, she would have had no idea how she would have explained this to Daniël, not after the night before.
She sat down on the bed, for a final time. She took the time to look around her room for a last time. In honesty she didn't really care about the room, it had always been just another hotel room for her. The pictures that had been there, but were now stored in her suitcase, the memories that were there, like the time Chuck had brought her Chocolate Croissants after her father betrayed her, or the time he had declined learning more about her past after her high school reunion, that were the things that had made this a different room for her, but the room in itself was something she had grown tired of quite a long time ago. She always had needed constant changes to keep her mind from growing restless, that's what made this assignment such a burden, nothing had been like she had experienced it before. Of course having someone put a gun to your head in your own room hadn't been helpful in appreciating the room. She sighed, as much as she was looking forward to a change, she was going to miss being here.
She heard a firm knock on her door, forcing her to break her gaze off the wall in front of her, and to quietly make her way to the door. Despite the fact that it could pretty much only be one person, the one person she was expecting, not hoping, to see, she still looked through the peep hole in the door. And she was right it was Shaw, so she moved to open the door for him.
"Hey" she said quickly.
"Hey Sam" he replied before giving her a quick peck on the lips.
"Ready to go?" he asked giving her a small smile.
"Yeah" she said returning his smile "just let me grab my suitcase and we can go."
"Okay great." He said, turning to already make his way downstairs.
Sarah looked on with a frown as she saw him leave, she had expected him to wait for her before he went downstairs. He certainly hadn't proven to be the most chivalrous of men, no matter how well he had known his way around a menu. She knew his menu knowledge probably had more to do with being able to perform power moves on a mark, then with genuine interests. In fact, except for an apparent interest in the Kama Sutra, she didn't know much about his interests other then his work. He was so obsessed with his crusade against the Ring he didn't allow time for much else. She had had more fun when she was dating Bryce, at least he was in for a joke or two.
She quietly turned back into her room to grab her suitcase. A part of her was reluctant to leave, even if there was nothing left for her in Burbank, all bridges had been burned, no reason was left to stay here. Besides she had her orders, but part of her didn't want to leave. Perhaps by leaving she could shed off that part again, it was the part she would love to shed off again. Again she cursed Chuck Bartowski for stirring that part of her back to live. When things went as they had gone the last year, it would be better to lose that part of her again. She grabbed her suitcase, and made her way out of her room, and closed to door behind her.
As she was walking down the hallway making her way to the elevator she squared herself. She hadn't even noticed how her shoulders had slumped when she was going for her suitcase. Perhaps it had been a good thing that Shaw had gone downstairs before she could leave her room, she didn't want him to see her more vulnerable then he had already. It was bad enough that he had heard her real name, she still couldn't believe she had tried to form a connection with him, by telling him the name she hadn't had since she had left her mother when she was a child.
She found him standing in the lobby. He had been standing leaning against a pillar in the lobby facing the elevator. He hardly gave her a response when she had gotten out of it. He had just given her a short nod, before turning again to make himself a way to his rental car. It was almost like he was avoiding her now, like he was upset about the fact that she had denied him certain pleasures the night before. She would have started to wonder had it not been the same thing he had done before when he had pretended to be in a hurry, if it had been any different from other days that they had needed to travel together. She shrugged her shoulders, if she had done something to upset him, then that would be his problem. She had spent the last three years trying to pay attention to someone's feeling she was done with it.
She started pacing through the lobby towards the exit, when she suddenly stopped. She had almost forgotten she was leaving she had to say goodbye to a few people. Of course, as was typical with these kind of assignments the last formalities would be taken care of by some cleaner crew, but she had somewhat grown accustomed to having these people around, so she had felt like she had to say something. She kissed a few people on the cheeks saying quick goodbyes, before finally moving outside, where she saw a Renault rental car waiting for her in front of the doors.
She moved to open the doors, immediately noticing an annoyed look on her partners face. She sighed to herself, if he had wanted me to be faster, he could have just stayed there with me and made certain it would have gone more to his liking.
"Took long enough." He said, with an annoyed sigh.
"Yeah, well I had some people to talk to." She said with an annoyed voice.
"Sam, you know we are supposed to…" he started but she interrupted.
"Get up and leave without notice, I know that Daniël. But this hardly qualifies as a life or death situation now does it?" She deadpanned.
He mumbled something she couldn't hear, but she was glad this conversation was over. She had not been in a good mood all day, she was not about to take his constant whining about nothing. That's what is part of dating a spy, she reminded herself, they tend to be on edge.
X-X-X-X-X
Ellie was glad her shift was over. Generally she enjoyed working at the hospital more than anything else in the world, it had given her a sense of a calling in the hardest periods in her life, but today she had a hard time keeping her mind focused on her job. Her mind was constantly racing, it was filled with thoughts about Africa, about her brother's new job, about her brother's mental state after what had happened a few days earlier, about her not being able to keep her promise to her dad anymore now he had moved away from Burbank. Of course being a doctor there was plenty to occupy herself with, but somehow she couldn't help but shake the thoughts she was having. Naturally the constantly annoying families hadn't helped much with settling down her mind. Under normal circumstances she had no problem with families that were repeating questions over and over out of worry, but now she had her own concerns it ticked her off ever so slightly.
She had been glad when her husband had showed up to keep her from going insane. She didn't know how he had done it, but he had somehow felt that she needed him to drop by. Of course it could have been mere coincidence, but she preferred to think that they were in tune with each other. It was exactly the kind of thing she had wished for her brother to have, twice she had hoped he had found it, twice she had came out deceived. She sighed, she should stop worrying about her brother, he had taken a more mature road this time after all. Besides, if she would ever hear either of them say "It's complicated" again she would scream. She had grown tired of that word, she really had.
Sadly for her, when she asked Devon why he wanted to go to Africa so badly, he had answered with that very word, more precisely he had said "You know Babe, it's complicated." Not quite the thing to say to get her confidence up. And the more she was thinking about Africa, the more reluctant she was becoming of going there. She was a city girl, she hadn't been made to sleep out under the open sky, or fight with rattle snakes, or do things like climbing trees, that were things that were typical of her husband. She was more of a woman that was about, taking long baths, going to a spar, romantic candle lit dinners much like they had done shortly after her engagement, or going shopping with her friends, or going on family outings. As much good as she might be able to do down in Africa, she really wasn't sure if she couldn't do the same amount of good in Burbank. She would have to talk to her husband when she got home.
When she finally arrived back at her apartment, she was just hoping that she didn't have to make dinner. She knew what her husband was like, and as awesome as he was, he sometimes could be a little pig headed, but when she opened the door she was met with a surprise. The whole apartment had been filled with Candles, her favourite flowers were present in several places, and there was the distinct smell of pecan pie in the air. She had to fight back the squeal, and the tears.
"Hey babe" Devon said, with a huge smile on his face.
"What do you think? Awesome right?" He said enthusiastically.
"Oh Devon, this was exactly what I needed, this is amazing" she replied her voice slightly cracking. As she walked up to him to give him a kiss. He really had surprised her with this one.
After an amazingly passionate kiss he set her down at the table, and seated himself across from her. He unveiled their dinner, which was an amazing steak dinner. After a while though she really needed to talk to him about something, even though she was scared off ruining their evening, she just had to.
"Honey, I hate to do this on such a wonderful evening, and you really have done an awesome job with this, but I have to talk to you about something." She started hesitantly.
"Babe, don't worry about it, you know you can talk to me about anything" he replied with a genuine smile.
"I know, I know, it's just that I'm not sure if I want to go to Africa, I'm just not sure if I'm cut out for the whole jungle experience." She continued with a worried voice.
"Look Babe, if you really don't want to go, then we won't. Just think about it okay?"
"Thing is Devon, I have been thinking about it, and the more I think about it, the less I want to go." She said with a sigh, she really didn't want to disappoint him like this.
He took her hand, and quietly rubbed the back of it for a second, he realised that with Chuck gone he really didn't have to go to Africa, all the spy stuff was gone now anyway. Finally smiling up to her he said "Okay".
"Really?" She asked surprised, tears of love and happiness were now in her eyes.
He just nodded at her.
She just stood up, and hugged him, before taking his hand to lead him to the bedroom. After a night like this, her husband had earned something more then just a hug or a kiss, she thought to herself with an impish smile.
X-X-X-X-X
She had finally arrived back in Washington. The flight had been uneventful by any standard, her and Shaw had made some small chit chat about basically nothing, before she had dozed off a little. She was just glad that she didn't have any nightmares while on the plane, she really didn't want him, or any of the other passengers seeing that. Now she was on her way to her apartment for the first time in a long time. Of course she had been in Washington a few weeks before, but then she had spent the night in Shaw's loft, now though she just wanted to get to her own bed, even though she hadn't slept in it for three years. Shaw had asked her to come over to his loft again, but she had cited she was exhausted, and in honesty she was, it really hadn't been a few great days. She just wanted to shower, and get to bed.
As she arrived at her apartment, she hardly recognized anything anymore. She was glad though that she had hired someone to clean it up for her from time to time. Of course no one had been around to make a mess of it, but she wasn't a big fan of dust, so this was perfect.
She was looking around her apartment, trying to get reacquainted with it, since she was probably going to stay her for a while. Beckman didn't seem to have this in mind as a temporary assignment, so she needed this to be a bit like a home. Not that she had ever tried that with this place, but she wanted to feel like she was home again. Something she had noticed about the place, was the impersonal nature of it. She had almost forgotten that for all those years she had lived without friends, and without family. There wasn't a single picture around, the three year old calendar was empty, and everything was coloured in neutral white. This really hadn't been much of a home to her. She sighed, Burbank really had been the only place that had felt like home.
She stripped naked to take a quick shower, and quickly stepped under the warm streams of water. She felt her body relax from the tension she hadn't been that aware of all day, which her explained her fatigue. She was surprised that she had let this whole situation get under her skin like this. She was almost disappointed with herself.
After ten minutes she exited the shower, and put on some cotton boxers and a simple tank top, and made her way to the bed. It was perfectly made, much to her delight. If it hadn't been she would have slept without any sheets. She lied down in the bed, and put her head on the pillow. The last thoughts before she went to sleep were, I just hope I don't have any nightmares.
X-X-X-X-X
They had finally arrived in Rome. It had been a long flight, and as would have been expected from a flight that was sanctioned and screened by Beckman completely uneventful except for a bit of turbulence. Now as they were walking around the small airfield they landed on, Chuck couldn't help but feel grateful towards Casey. The older man had insisted they'd sleep at the start of the flight, reminding Chuck of the nine hour time difference between Rome and LA, now it had really been a lot of help. He didn't want to consider how tired he would have been had Casey not forced him to get some sleep, even if it had been with a sleeping pill. So he had slept through the first half of the flight. The second half he had spent studying the files that Beckman had given him. He had especially spent a lot of time studying his cover, despite the similarities with his Carmichael persona. He realised he might need to be on his toes right away. So he had ordered Morgan and Casey to do the same, though Casey had just grunted that he already knew that he was to do that, after all he was not a moron.
He turned to his friends.
"Okay guys, welcome to Italy I suppose." He started smiling, "Now let's see if we can find a ride to our new place."
Morgan and Casey just nodded, as they started making their way to the exit.
A/N: You know it's funny, I had thought things out before I started writing this story, and I had an idea where I would be at the end of the second chapter, I'm not nearly as far in the story as I had expected. But you know, a story kind of writes itself, so it's all good. Don't worry, it won't affect how I will end this story, I will write all that I think that needs to happen.
Anyway next chapter, TeamB looks for a new team member, Chuck and Morgan discover Rome, and Beckman makes a reappearance. Also there might just be a bit more Casey in the next chapter.