A/N: Wow! That last chapter? I gotta admit, I had no idea people would be even into this story…But thank you guys so much for the reviews! So I have to say this, this chapter focuses more on how Chuck got involved working with his dad, and it explains what the Omega Initiative wants. One of the things that I didn't like about the show was how they didn't really explain what The Ring's goals really were…I'm still a little confused about that. Did they want Shaw? Anyway. There is a Chuck and Sarah coffee date though…and a childhood flashback that I couldn't fit into the last chapter. So I hope you guys enjoy! And again, thanks for reading, and reviews make my day!
Encino, CA—Orion's Den
September 29, 2007
Whenever Chuck would walk through the doors of his old house, he'd always feel a chill running up his spine. It brought back old memories. Some of them were good memories, like he, Ellie, and Sarah playing board games or hide and seek. But for the most part, he remembered all the bad things: his mother leaving, trying to get his father's attention, but Stephen was almost always too busy for him and Ellie. Hell, when their mother left, it was as if Stephen left with her. Chuck would go for weeks without seeing his father.
He remembered when Sarah had left without a word. He would run home from school to check the mailbox, hoping and wishing that she would send him a letter.
He remembered the day his father left. Never again has he seen his sister cry so hard.
Walking through the dusty, cobweb filled, living room, Chuck turned into his father's old office. He flicked the light switch to a rhythm only known to a select few. Up, one-one thousand, two-two thousand, down, one-one thousand, up again, down again. A whirring noise emitted from the fireplace as it slid back into the wall. The ground opened, and revealed a staircase.
Chuck walked down the now familiar stairs, and was greeted by what seemed like miles of filing cabinets in neat rows. After walking past the tenth row of cabinets, he turned to the left and made his way to the command center. When he walked into the room filled with computer towers and monitors, he was happily greeted by his old college roommate, best friend, and former CIA agent, Bryce Larkin.
"Your dad made me triple-check Sarah's file, and she's definitely not a part of Omega," said the blue-eyed, dark brown haired man.
"I figured," said Chuck, turning his computer on from his work station.
"So…you're not going to try to…you know. Get with her?"
"Why would I?" asked Chuck, typing in his password. "She's a spy, man. I'm technically a civilian. We haven't seen each other in ten years—"
"—and you've known each other for fourteen years before that, back when we were at Stanford, all you did was talk about her, and back when I was in the CIA, all she did was ask about you," Bryce listed, grinning over at Chuck. "I'm telling you, man. I think you still have a chance to at least hit that."
"Sarah's not that kind of girl," Chuck snapped, not looking away from his computer screen. "Do you know if the Intersect update is ready?"
"I don't think it is," Bryce replied, "Your dad's been working on it all day. That was a lot of data you stole yesterday."
"Yeah, about that, we should have hit Fulcrum first," said Chuck, feeling bitter that his father never listened to him, "I'm pretty sure Sarah's here to try to find me."
"I bet she is," Bryce joked.
"You know what I meant," Chuck sighed, rolling his eyes, "Osiris…"
"Yeah, I know." Chuck looked over at his friend, and he noticed that Bryce had a remorseful look on his face.
"What's wrong with you?"
Bryce snapped his head back. "What?"
"Why do you look all…sad, puppy dog-like?"
"I was just thinking, man," said Bryce, "Do you think Carina is here?"
That's when Chuck understood. Carina had been the first woman that Bryce had ever truly fallen for. Sure, back in Stanford, Bryce would always bring girls over, and Chuck was forced to sleep out on the couch or at his girlfriend, Jill's, room, but Bryce never had actual feelings for any of those other girls. Carina was the only one. And when Bryce was released from the CIA, well, he chose not to see her again. He had his reasons, sure, but Chuck was sure that Bryce regretted that decision.
"I don't know," said Chuck. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow, huh?"
"I guess," Bryce repeated, nodding, "But not that it matters though. I'm sure she wouldn't want to see me again."
"You never know, man," said Chuck encouragingly. A few seconds of silence passed. Chuck took the time to see if they had any more intel in regards to Omega.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Bryce said, "Jill's on her way. She needs to check your suit to make sure it's still okay, and she has another report to give."
"Great…" Chuck muttered.
"She's still into you, you know."
"And like I always tell her," said Chuck, "We're just too similar."
"And what's so wrong with that?"
"Okay, don't get me wrong, Jill's a great girl. She's awesome. But we make for better friends. She and I…all of our interests are the same, you know?" Chuck got off his chair, and grabbed some bottled water for Bryce and himself. He tossed a bottle to Bryce.
"Again, and what's so wrong with that?" Bryce twisted the cap off his bottle.
"It just gets…and I mean this in the nicest way possible…boring," Chuck admitted. "It goes like this: Everquest Sundays, Magic the Gathering Mondays, Halo Tuesdays—"
"I always liked Halo Tuesdays," a female voice commented from behind Chuck. "But my favorite was Retro Game Fridays."
Chuck shut his eyes and clenched his jaw. The he glared over at Bryce to see that he was flashing Chuck a shit-eating grin. Bastard did this on purpose…
"Hey-ya, Jill!" he cried in what he hoped to be a cheerful tone. "I was just telling Bryce about our old routine…"
"Mm-hmm, it's okay, Chuck," Jill smiled, "I've heard the speech before, 'I…I…I want a change! I mean, don't you…don't you get bored with all of this? Don't you get bored?' Really, Chuck. It's okay. I'll get over it."
Chuck stared guiltily at the skinny, slightly egghead-y, brunette woman leaning against the doorway. The truth is, he loved Jill, but just not romantically. Sure, it was fun when they had first started dating in their sophomore year at Stanford, but after the first year, they had just fallen into a routine. It was a nice routine, but Chuck wanted more. He wanted to be introduced to new things, and learn new things that didn't involve pharmaceutical, biology, chemistry…whosey whatsies.
"Well, Chuck," said Jill, "Let's see the suit."
Chuck nodded and led Jill over to the storage room where he kept his Osiris equipment. Pulling the liquid armor suit from its container, he handed it to Jill who laid it down onto a table.
"Can you turn on the lights, please?" she asked. Chuck walked over to the wall, and flicked on the light switch. He watched as Jill examined the suit in the light. "It's getting pretty worn out…"
"Yeah, I got shot a couple of times…I think about six?" Chuck guessed. "Do you think I need a new suit?"
"This one should be fine for another mission," said Jill, flipping the suit inside out to check the Kevlar lining, "You would think that thing in your head would teach you how to dodge bullets."
Chuck smiled and shrugged.
"Anyway, I'll start working on another one for you. It should be ready in about a week, week and a half tops." Jill handed the suit back to Chuck.
"Thanks, Jill." Chuck placed the suit back into the container.
"No problem," she smiled. "So, I hear Walker's back in town."
Chuck shuddered, and shot a glare in Bryce's direction even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "You know," he began, smirking, "For a secret group of underground freedom fighters, we're REALLY TERRIBLE AT KEEPING SECRETS!" Chuck finished loudly so that Bryce would hear.
"Sorry, buddy!"
Chuck and Jill laughed awkwardly. Once their laughter stopped, he saw her chipping away at her polished nails.
"So…are you going to call her?" she asked, nodding to the phone number that Sarah had written on his arm earlier.
"Probably."
"Do you still have feelings for her?"
Chuck shrugged, "To be honest, Jill, I don't know. It's been ten years since I've seen her…"
"But after you saw her today, some of those feelings came back, didn't they?"
"I don't know," Chuck lied. Of course some of those feelings came back, but he wasn't going to admit that.
"She's CIA."
"You're Fulcrum."
"Yeah, but I'm not really though. I've been working for your father since college, haven't I? You know, acting as his double agent or whatever?" Jill challenged. Chuck gave another shrug. Well, it was true. "Oh, which reminds me; Fulcrum's moving their database tomorrow night. That's one of the other reasons why I came."
"Great," said Chuck. "It makes it easier for me, then. I could just hack into their network, and—"
"Nope," she shook her head, "They're moving it manually. At the loading docks tomorrow night…"
Chuck groaned. "Damn it! If my dad just…freaking listened to me…"
"I'm sure Orion has his reasons," said Jill, "But it gets even more fun. CIA has a mole inside Fulcrum, and they found out about the loading docks. On top of Fulcrum, you're going to have to sneak past the CIA."
Chuck threw his arms down in frustration, and jumped off the table. With purpose, he strode past Jill and made his way into his father's office. His father looked up from the computer monitor in surprise.
"Dad, we need to talk," Chuck said, slamming the door shut. "I was just talking to Jill, and guess what? The plan's changed. Fulcrum's going to ship their data over the loading docks tomorrow night. And guess what? It gets even more fun. On top of looking for the right crate, and breaking into it, and disassembling computers, and taking out the hard drives while Fulcrum agents are shooting at me, the CIA is going to be there too!"
"Charles, I—"
"—want me to get caught?" Chuck demanded.
"No, Charles—"
"Seriously, why don't you ever listen to what I have to say? I told you that we should have broken into Fulcrum first instead of the CIA and NSA compound!"
"If the CIA is going to be there, then that works better for you," said Stephen calmly, "They'll distract each other, giving you enough time to find the right crate, and extract the hard drives. That's why I wanted you to break into the CIA first."
For what seemed like the hundredth time, Chuck let out another groan. "So you were planning on getting people killed?"
"Those spies know what they signed up for."
"Do you ever think about anyone other than yourself? Do you have no sense of morals? First, it was the satellites, and then, because of you, Bryce almost died—"
Stephen slammed his hand onto the table, the noise echoed throughout the room. He pointed a shaking finger at Chuck's face. "You know damn well why I'm doing what I'm doing! You know why we have to do this!"
"Well, you're the one that brought me into this," said Chuck, shaking his head.
"You're the one that volunteered to download the Intersect, Charles."
"And you know why I did it. You know why I agreed to send out those satellites."
"For the same reasons I did!"
"No," Chuck shook his head sadly, and opened the door so that he could leave.
August 25, 2005
Chuck parked his car on the driveway, and stepped out, whistling a tune. It had been a rough couple of months, what with all of the conventions, the publicity interviews, and the meetings, but he finally accomplished what he wanted. His company signed a multi-billion dollar deal with nearly all of the major computer manufacturers. LEOS was going to surpass Windows…
He fiddled with his keys until he found the house key. Before he was even able to unlock the front door, he heard a rustling from the bushes.
"Hello?"
What a dumb thing to say. This is why so many people die in horror movies, he thought.
And then, out of the shadows, he saw the last person he'd thought he'd ever see. His father. But it was all still surprising, and Chuck had let out a high pitched yelp, before he could make out his father's face. His heart still beating rapidly, he breathed out, "Dad?"
"Hello, Charles," said Stephen, smiling.
An unexplainable rage filled Chuck, and he said the first thing anyone would say to their runaway fathers after they had come across a lot of money, "What are you doing here? Do you want money?"
Stephen shook his head. "No, Charles, but I do need you to do me a favor."
"Why would I want to do that?" Chuck glared at his father. The man that had caused him and Ellie so much pain. The man that nearly destroyed their futures. Of course, he and Ellie turned out fine. If anything, after their father's departure, they had gotten closer than they already were.
"In three weeks time, the US government is going to ask you to provide a cellular network for them," said Stephen. "And I think you should sign the contract."
"Legend doesn't even make cell phones." Chuck rolled his eyes. That crazy father of his, always thinking that people were after him. "And how would you even know about the government wanting to ask me to build them a network?"
"Because I told him." Chuck let out another yelp, and jumped back into the front door as he saw his old college roommate seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Bryce Larkin smiled. "Good to see you again, Chuck. Legend Enterprises?" Bryce made one of those sarcastic (I'm about to punch you, but not really, because we're buddies) movements. "I knew you were going to make it big!"
"Bryce?" Chuck couldn't believe his eyes. His old best friend from college, who he hasn't seen since graduation, was standing on his front porch! What the hell? "What…what's going on? Who else is hiding out in my bushes?"
Chuck gazed over at the large bushes and trees surrounding his house. He was going to have to call someone to cut them all down in case Charles Manson or someone scarier, like Tony Robbins, is hiding out there.
But for the most part, Chuck was happy to see Bryce again. Even if the creeper popped out of nowhere like some sort of brown haired, blue-eyed ninja. After all, Bryce was one of his best friends.
"I'm an agent of the CIA," said Bryce, causing Chuck to nearly have a heart attack at the revelation. "I've been with them since we were juniors in Stanford."
"What—how?"
"They recruited me, of course!" Bryce laughed, and clapped Chuck on his shoulder a little too roughly for Chuck's liking. Chuck winced. "But your dad recruited me before they did. Anyway, I leaked false information that your company is building satellites for cell phones, and gave them the schematics of those satellites."
"But…we're not doing anything remotely close to that! We're just writing software! We might make games, and build our own computers, but…you know what? That doesn't matter right now."
"I've made the schematics," said Stephen. "I designed five satellites for your company. Four of them will be used for civilians, and one of them would be used for the government—mostly all of the agencies of the government."
"But why?"
"We should talk inside," said Bryce. "Is your sister home?"
"No, Ellie's on call right now."
"Well, can we come in then?"
"Yeah, give me a second." Chuck fumbled with his keys until he found the right one. He unlocked the door, and stepped aside to let Bryce and his father step in. When they did, Chuck flicked on the light switch.
Bryce whistled, as he walked around the large foyer. "Wow, Chuck…you did pretty well for yourself."
Chuck shrugged, feeling stung when his father didn't even seem remotely impressed. Yeah, he was angry with his father, but at the very least, he should have received a pat on the back for what he's accomplished in a short amount of time. "Thanks, Bryce."
"You got anything to drink?" asked Bryce.
"Yeah," Chuck replied. "What do you want?"
"Got any whiskey?"
"Of course," Chuck said happily leading Bryce and Stephen to his game room. Chuck opened up the liquor cabinet. "Let's see…60 year old scotch. It was a gift from Ted Roark."
"Do you have any Johnnie?" asked Bryce.
"Yep."
"I'll just go with that, man, straight up," said Bryce, settling into a large couch.
"One Johnnie Walker, coming right up." Chuck poured a double shot of Johnnie Walker into a glass. He looked over to his father, and added, "Do you want anything?"
"The same."
After filling three glasses, Chuck handed two of them to Bryce and his father.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Bryce suggested.
"Yeah," Chuck agreed. "So why does the government need new satellites? Don't they have their own carriers?"
"They do but they're compromised," said Bryce. "There are rogue operations calling themselves Fulcrum and the Ring. They have operatives in the CIA, so the CIA wants to set up a new cellular network. They're going to tap into their agents' phones to see who's working for who, and all that other crap."
"That sounds like fun for the CIA, but what does that have to do with me?"
"Bryce and I have our own operation," said Stephen. "And I'm building a super-computer called the Intersect. It's a computer that would hold vital information that we need, and we download the information into a subject's brain—"
"My brain," said Bryce smugly.
"Yes, precisely," said Stephen. Chuck just sat with his mouth hanging open. None of this was making any sense. "Bryce has been able to get me some intel, but we need more."
"Wait…" Chuck held up a hand. "How is any of this even possible? Downloading intel into a person's brain? That…even if that were possible, wouldn't their brains fry?"
"I've developed a new encoding system, molecular encoding. I use a series of images, and inside each of them, there are hundreds of hidden intel," said Stephen.
"Remember Fleming's class, Chuck?" Bryce asked. Chuck nodded in response. "Well, Fleming and your dad went to school together. He's been looking for recruits for your father's Intersect. You and me, well, as far as we know, we're the only two people in the world who'll be able to download the Intersect without it frying our brains. We can retain a lot of information. Luckily for you, you don't have to download the Intersect."
"So you're working for the CIA?" Chuck asked his father.
"No, I work for myself," Stephen replied. "And your mother."
"Mom?" What the hell?
"It's time that you know why your mother and I left," said Stephen. He shot down his glass of scotch. "Years ago, your mother was an agent in the CIA. When you were ten years old, your mother left because she found out about a rogue operation. They called themselves the Omega Initiative, and your mother's a double agent. She's fighting them from the inside…"
"Mom was in the CIA?" Chuck asked in disbelief.
"Yes…"
"But…" Chuck didn't know what to say. "How many rogue groups are there?" Chuck asked in disbelief. "Fulcrum, Ring...and now, Omega?"
"Fulcrum and the Ring are a part of Omega," said Bryce, "But they think they're their own operation…"
"What? That doesn't even make sense!" Chuck didn't know why, but he started laughing. This was all some elaborate prank. It had to be…
"Omega started up Fulcrum and the Ring so they could use them to distract the CIA from themselves," said Stephen. "Omega's still the main threat. The CIA just doesn't know that yet."
"How can they not know?"
"Because, Omega has people everywhere, Charles," replied Stephen, "CIA, NSA, Fulcrum, the Ring, the president's cabinet, the Pentagon, FBI, MI6, Interpol. They manipulate people already in those agencies. They threaten them.
"Their main goal is to start a global economical meltdown. After that, people will become desperate and scared…desperate for some sort of help, and scared for their families. That's when Omega makes themselves known. They'll promise the people that they'll fix it. In their fear and desperation, the leaders around the world will elect Omega into full power, creating a worldwide monarchy. It will only go one way: people will want to rebel. So of course, there will most likely to be a worldwide war to try to overthrow Omega. But it'll end with millions or even billions of lives lost."
Okay, this was obviously all a big joke. "What is this, Star Wars?" Chuck laughed. "Something like that won't ever happen…"
"It'll happen, Chuck," said Bryce. "If we don't stop it, it's going to happen."
"That's why we need your help, Charles," said Stephen. "We need you to sign the deal with the government, so that we can obtain the intel that we need to find the Architect, Omega's leader."
"But can't Mom find the…the Architect?" asked Chuck, "I mean, if she's in Omega, then she should be able to find them, right?"
"Only a select few know who the Architect is, Mary Bartowski isn't one of them," said Bryce. "But along with the intel we get from the satellites, I'm going to break into other facilities to steal their data. And hopefully, we'll be able to find out who the Architect is."
"But…but…monitoring peoples' calls? That's an invasion of privacy! It's unethical!"
"Chuck, it's only monitoring those who work in the CIA and NSA," said Bryce. "And agents gave up certain rights when we signed up. It's fine. The civilians will have a normal, untapped satellite."
"Won't the government know that you guys are tapped into their system?"
"Seeing as I'm building the satellites," said Stephen, "No. They won't know."
Chuck didn't say anything. This was all way too much information to process all at once. His mother was a spy? She still is? A global totalitarian government and an all out rebellion? Holy sh…
Chuck turned to his father as his father said, "So, Charles…some people are born heroes, and others need to be asked. Are you ready to become a hero?"
Orion's Den
September 29, 2007
Chuck stood in front of the punching bag in front of him, trying not to think about his father so that he could flash. Once he cleared his head, he felt a wave of knowledge in different forms of martial arts rushing into his brain. He began picking and punching the bag. After several minutes, the bag crashed down into the ground.
"Whoa, Chuck," called Bryce's voice from behind him, "Calm down there, killer."
"Damn it," Chuck mumbled as he threw off his gloves. That was the tenth time he had kicked off the punching bag.
"You don't really need to train anymore, you know," said Bryce, wheeling himself over to Chuck. "You've got the flashes down…"
"I know…I'm just…" Chuck sighed, and plopped down on the ground, "It's been a long day, man…"
"I could imagine," said Bryce sympathetically. "You run into your childhood best friend who just happens to be in the CIA, and is most likely looking for the other you. Then you find out the plans for the extraction tomorrow changed, and…that stuff with your dad…"
"I don't know how you forgave him," said Chuck, gesturing to Bryce's wheelchair.
Bryce shrugged. "Sometimes…sacrifice is required," he said, "At least I'm still alive, right? I'm just sorry that…because of what happened, you had to be dragged into all of this…"
"What are you talking about? It's not like you asked that Omega agent to throw you out of a freaking office window!" It was just like Bryce to feel like it was his fault that Chuck had decided to download the Intersect.
"I should have been able to prevent that—"
"The past is the past, man," said Chuck. "It just sucks what happened to you…"
"I'm over it now," smiled Bryce. "So did you call Sarah yet?"
"Yeah," Chuck replied. "We're going out for coffee in the morning."
Bryce nodded.
"So…she really asked about me whenever you worked together?" asked Chuck, perhaps a little too hopefully.
Bryce chuckled and nodded. "Ever since I told her what year I graduated, she asked me if I knew you. I told her we were friends in passing or whatever…you know the story, Chuck."
"Yeah, but," Chuck couldn't hide the smirk that was forming involuntarily on his face, "What did you guys talk about?"
"What are you? A twelve year old girl?" Bryce laughed. "And we didn't talk about much…I was too busy with…"
"Carina?"
"Yep." Bryce's smile faltered a bit. "That's the one thing I do regret though. Having to leave her…" Chuck clapped Bryce on the shoulder, and nodded. "Yeah, but Orion sent me in here to let you know that the update is ready."
"Joy," Chuck deadpanned, getting off the ground. "We still have any aspirin left?"
"Picked some up this morning," Bryce replied. Chuck hopped on the back of Bryce's wheelchair.
"All right, Speed Racer," he laughed, pointing ahead, "Let's go!"
Chuck rode on the back of Bryce's electric wheelchair back to his father's office. When they arrived, Chuck stepped off the wheelchair, and passed his father without a word.
He laid down on a cot. "I'll take it from here."
When his father and Bryce left the office, Chuck took a deep breath. He stared up at the monitors that were plastered up on the ceiling. Exhaling, Chuck grabbed the remote connected to his bed, and pressed a red button. A series of images flashed quickly, and Chuck felt his head growing heavy as the images embedded into his brain.
Penrose Medical Center—Vancouver, British Columbia
February 19, 2006
Chuck got off the elevator on the fourth floor. He walked over to the nurse's station. An elderly nurse smiled up at him.
"Yes?" she asked in a pleasant, but tired voice.
"I'm here to see a…Bruce Leonard?" he said.
"Oh, yes…" the nurse typed away on the computer. "He's in room 434."
"Thank you," Chuck smiled.
"Not a problem, hon," winked the nurse.
His smile faded as he walked down the brightly lit corridor, searching for his friend's room. It seemed like it was only minutes ago when he received a phone call from his father.
"Bryce has been compromised," his father had said, "Omega agents found him in his apartment, and threw him out of the window. He's still alive. Go to Penrose Medical in Stanford, Connecticut. Arrange for him to get back to Encino as soon as possible."
Chuck wasn't even able to get a word in before his father hung up on him.
He stopped when he reached room 434. He winced when he saw Bryce. His body wrapped in a cast. His face swollen and covered in bruises. Chuck felt his heart wrench for his friend.
The door was open, but he knocked on the doorframe anyway. "Hey, Bryce," he called softly.
"Come in, Chuck," came Bryce's muffled reply.
Chuck stepped into the room. The monitors beeped. The oxygen tank behind Bryce hummed. He walked over to the chair by Bryce's bedside and sat down. Although he should, he wasn't able to look at Bryce. He was scared to see his once jovial, energetic friend unable to move because of all of the plaster that covered his body…
"Broken spine," said Bryce bitterly. "Probably won't be able to walk again…"
"Christ…" Chuck mumbled, feeling terrible.
"I didn't tell Omega about you," said Bryce. "Or Orion…or Jill. They don't know where you guys are or what you even look like. The secret's still safe."
"How did they find out about you?"
"I got caught," Bryce said simply. "I found Daniel Shaw a couple of nights ago. I flashed on him and saw that he was in the Ring and Omega. So I chased him for awhile. I asked him where the Architect was. We were in an alley, and he wouldn't tell me anything. Just as I was about to shoot him, the fucking cops came. Shaw got away."
Bryce took a deep breath.
"Anyway," Bryce continued, "I was at home. I guess Shaw found out where I lived somehow, and he broke in. Beat the shit out of me. Kept asking me how I knew about Omega, and I didn't tell him anything. So he threw me out the window."
"Does he know you're still alive?"
"No. I was technically dead for about five minutes before the paramedics came."
"Well…he's going to know soon enough, won't he?" asked Chuck, pouring water into a cup, placing a straw inside and handing it to Bryce.
"No," said Bryce. "The CIA sent Carina and Sarah after him shortly after. They got him."
"Good riddance…" Chuck mumbled. "So the CIA, they still have no knowledge of Omega?"
"They don't. Like I said, Shaw was also in the Ring, so that's what the CIA thinks."
Chuck nodded. "Wouldn't it help us if the CIA knew about them? Omega?"
"No. There are too many Omega operatives on the inside," Bryce replied. "You know how they work, man. Omega manipulates people into joining them. At my count, there are at least five deputy directors in the CIA that Omega manipulated into working for them. But anyway, you just missed them."
"Missed who?"
"Carina and Sarah."
"They were here?"
"They came to say goodbye. I'm no longer an agent, Chuck. I talked to Director Graham, and asked him to make it so that Bryce Larkin is dead. All my records in the CIA were destroyed."
"But, Bryce…"
"It's the only way. If Omega gets word that I'm still alive, then they'll try to find me again," said Bryce. "It's fine. This way, you, your dad, Jill, and me are all safe."
"So if your records were destroyed, then what does that leave you with?"
"A new name, Bruce Leonard, and a severance package."
"You and Carina…?"
"We can't see each other anymore," said Bryce. For the first time since Chuck got here, he heard the sadness in his friend's voice.
"What do you mean you can't see each other anymore?" Chuck inquired, "You guys are—"
"It was upon Graham's insistence. It's for my protection and hers," said Bryce sourly. "Look at it like this, Chuck, if the Ring or Fulcrum or Omega find out that I'm still alive and…having a relationship with a CIA agent, then they'll be able to use Carina to get to me. If they get me, then they'll use her again to get information out of me. And while I won't ever compromise our team, I know I won't be able to live with myself if anything happened to Carina on my account…"
"You don't have to be on the team anymore, Bryce," Chuck insisted. "You've done enough!"
"As long as I'm still breathing, I'm going to do my part for the team. I won't be able to do much, but, damn it, I have to do something. There's nothing left for me anymore." Chuck saw that tears were forming in Bryce's eyes. "You know…you're the only real friend I have in this world? Pretty pathetic, right?"
For a long time, neither man said anything. Chuck sat by Bryce's bedside, his fingers and jaws clenched in anger and sadness. The sacrifices that Bryce had made for his country. The years Bryce spent putting his life on the line to protect the millions of faceless people that can never know what Bryce had done for them. The things they make you give…
"I wish you could have met her, Chuck," said Bryce, his voice shaking as tears streamed from his eyes. "It would have meant…it would have meant a lot to me if you…liked her."
"I would have liked her, Bryce. I'm pretty sure she's a special girl if she was able to put a stop to your man-whoring."
Bryce let out a laugh, and immediately, he began to cough. "I'm tired, Chuck…"
"Yeah. I know." Chuck stood up, and laid a hand gently on Bryce's shoulder. "Thanks for everything that you've done to protect us."
When Chuck got to his hotel room, an hour later, he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed his father's number.
"Orion, secure."
"Yeah, whatever, I'm secure too," snapped Chuck. "Dad, Bryce is paralyzed from the hip down. I'll be able to get him transported to Encino by tomorrow afternoon."
"Understood."
"And Dad? Is the 2.0 ready?"
"Why?"
"Because when it is, I'm going to download it."
"I'm not going to let you do that, Charles! It's too dangerous—Fleming's got a few candidates that will be able to—"
"No," Chuck said firmly, "Bryce was paralyzed because he was protecting us. I can't let you bring in another person. I have to do this—and I will."
"I don't want you to be a part of this, Charles! I won't let you!"
"I was a part of this ever since you made contact with me. I'm going to download it. There is no point in bringing some random kid into the team and endangering their life, and explaining everything to them when I'm fully capable of handling the Intersect."
September 30, 2007
Just as Chuck was about to leave through the front door of his and Ellie's house (he hated calling it a mansion…or an estate for that matter), Ellie walked in. She had worked the night shift at the hospital last night, and Chuck noticed that she had bags under her eyes. He felt Ellie's eyes scanning his hopefully casual in a 'No, I didn't spend forty minutes trying on different shirts and pants' outfit.
"You got a day date, Chuck?" asked Ellie, smirking at her brother.
"Why would you think I have a date?" Chuck asked lamely. He knew that Ellie probably knew him better than he even knew himself. In fact, he's surprised every day that he was able to keep Ellie in the dark about Operation Orion.
Ellie sniffed the air. "Three sprays of cologne means you're going on a date." Ellie smiled triumphantly as Chuck's poker face failed him.
Chuck smiled guiltily. "You got me, sis."
"Ha! You can't keep anything from your older sister," she chuckled.
Chuck made a movement toward the door. "Yep, well, I gotta get going—"
Ellie grabbed onto Chuck's arm. "So who's the lucky lady? Anyone that I might know?"
A cough escaped Chuck, and he quickly cleared his throat. Was it okay to tell Ellie that Sarah was in town? Was it actually safe to expose Ellie to a spy? But what if Sarah wanted to see Ellie, and he tells her that he didn't tell Ellie that she was in town, and then her feelings get hurt because he didn't tell Ellie about her? Oh, this damned life of his…
"Um…I uh…Sarah's in town," he spat it out, and immediately regretted it. Ellie's mouth spread into the widest grin he had ever seen.
"Sarah Walker?" she cried. "Oh my gosh! She's in town? We haven't seen her in ages!"
"Yep…"
"Remember how you guys used to fall asleep together on the couch after eating too much junk food and watching The Goonies over, and over, and over? It was so cute!" Ellie reminisced. She clapped her hands together happily. "What about the time you guys learned how to dance like the New Kids for the talent show? That was freaking adorable! And, and, and—"
"Okay, Ellie, I got it!" Chuck cried, holding his hands out in front of him to calm his sister down from squee-mode.
"When did she get in? How did you guys meet?"
"Uh…she came in yesterday, I think. I was at the BuyMore with Morgan, and she was at the Nerd Herd help desk. I ran into her there," Chuck replied.
"Oh! Remember how you would always wait by the mailbox to see if she would write? It was so sad, but so cute…you loved her…"
"It was sad," said Chuck, smiling coyly. "Thanks for bringing that up again…"
Ellie's face fell. "I'm sorry, Chuck…I know it was hard for you, but her dad wanted to leave, you know? It's not like—"
"It's been forever, Elle," Chuck smiled. "I'm over it. I'm just happy that I get the chance to catch up with her, you know?"
Ellie nodded, and she got a look in her face. Chuck knew that look very well, and braced himself. "You should invite her over! We could all have an early dinner…I could make some lasagna, and we could all catch up! I miss her too, you know."
"Yeah," said Chuck. Is it a good idea to bring a spy over? Well, if she wanted to, she could just find out where he lived with a couple of quick clicks with a mouse. I don't think I have any Osiris gear, or anything in here…I should have double checked. "I'll ask her if she wants to come over."
"Yay!"
"But we can't stay long," said Chuck, remembering his mission later tonight.
"Why?"
"I…" Chuck began. What excuse was he going to use this time? "I actually have to…go to a party." Ellie raised an eyebrow at him.
"A party?" she asked skeptically.
"Yep…you know how it is," Chuck laughed, shrugging. "I gotta go to all those lame launch parties."
"What are you launching?"
"Oh, it's not one of mine," said Chuck. "It's…I don't even know who. My assistant just tells me where to go, and so I do."
Chuck offered his sister a lame smile.
"Well, okay, then," said Ellie. "You should ask Sarah if she wants to go!"
"Um…she starts her new job tomorrow," Chuck remembered. "So I don't want to like…guilt trip her into it or anything, you know?"
"Yeah…well, have fun! Call me if you're bringing her over!"
Even on a Sunday, LA traffic was the worst. He was about twenty minutes late to the coffee shop. He quickly scanned the—overly decorated to the point where there was barely enough room for the patrons to sit—shop, and felt his heart drop when Sarah wasn't there. Maybe she left? He should have called her; let her know that he was running late because of traffic.
Or maybe she too was running late because of traffic? He let out a huff of air, and took a seat at the first empty table he saw. Not too long after he sat down, a barista approached him.
"Sir, you can't sit there unless you're a patron," said the barista. Chuck looked up, and saw a young man, most likely a college student, with a glazed look in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Chuck. "Um…I'm meeting someone…uh…just a tall, drip for me, and two chocolate croissants, please."
"Is that for here or to go?" the boy groaned.
"Didn't I just say that I was meeting—for here, please."
"You're going to eat two chocolate croissants by yourself?"
"I'm meeting someone…"
"Whatever," said the barista, walking away. A few minutes later, the barista came back with two chocolate croissants and a cup of black coffee. "We usually don't actually bring coffee to the table. I wanted to spit in your cup, but I didn't…"
"Oh, well…I'm sorry, and thank you?" Chuck offered. The boy rolled his eyes. Chuck handed him a twenty. "You can keep the change. For your trouble."
The boy sighed, "Whatever, dude…"
Chuckling to himself, Chuck stared down at his coffee. For some reason, the barista's rude behavior reminded him of one of the few pieces of advice he had received from his father when he was a boy: The key to good business is customer service. You want your customers to leave happy. That way, they'll come back. Remember, son, 'Please' and 'thank you' go a long way.
July 13, 1986 (Age Five )
Chuck and Sarah sat in his living room. Markers were strewn all over the floor as they began tearing a cardboard box down. Both Chuck and Sarah wanted new bikes, but their parents told them that they were too expensive. Sarah came up with the brilliant idea of making a lemonade stand. "We can make at least…TEN dollars!" she had cried happily after she suggested it. "That can get us like…four bikes!"
They began to laugh when they were finally able to flatten the box. Sarah handed Chuck a black marker.
"Okay, you write out 'lemonade,' and I'll start drawing the lemons!" she cried, already setting out to work. Chuck stared at the marker. They ran into their first speed bump—he didn't know how to spell 'lemonade.' Sarah looked up at him when she noticed that he wasn't doing anything. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know how to spell 'lemonade,'" Chuck admitted. Sarah looked at him thoughtfully, and back down to the piece of cardboard. She bit her bottom lip.
"Uh…we'll sound it out," she suggested.
Chuck stuck his tongue out slightly, as he uncapped the marker. "It starts with an L…" he drew a large, backwards L onto the cardboard.
"Uh-huh…and there's an 'em' sound…uh…'em…'" Sarah bit down on the cap of her marker, and squinted her eyes in concentration. "I think there's an I after the L."
"You're right!" Chuck cried, drawing out a shaky, vertical line.
"Then an 'M.'"
Chuck drew the M out. "What comes after the M? Lemonade…lem-on-ade …"
"And then…an N…"
"After that, there's an A. I remember seeing an A on Betty's stand…"
"Okay…A…and then there's a D and one of those silent E's, right?"
"Uh-huh…"
Chuck drew out a D, but paused when he came to the E.
"What does a silent E look like?" he wondered. Sarah took the marker from his hand.
"I think it looks like this." She drew a lower-case, backwards E onto the cardboard.
The children leaned back to admire their work. LIMNADE.
"Looks good," Chuck said.
"Yep! I'll take this outside, you bring out the sugar, okay?" Sarah grabbed the sign off of the ground, and ran out of the front door.
Chuck jumped up to his feet, and ran into the kitchen. He pulled a chair from the smaller kitchen table, and placed it in front of the spice rack. Chuck climbed up on the chair. There were two glass jars, both filled with white powder, and he grabbed the one on the left. Hopping off the chair, Chuck ran out to his front yard where Sarah was propping up the sign they had just made against the table.
"Mommy told me that we just needed to add the sugar," said Sarah, taking the jar from Chuck's hand, she began to pour the powder into a large jug filled with lemonade and ice. "And we have to stir."
Chuck nodded, and grabbed the wooden spoon that had been laying on the table. He stirred the mixture, and gave another satisfied nod. "Okay, we're ready."
And so, the two children waited. They waited some more. A little more. Then Sarah stomped down on the ground in frustration.
"No one's coming!" she cried.
"Maybe…" Chuck began to think. "Oh! We should shout that we have lemonade!"
"Shout?"
"Yeah, like this," Chuck took in a deep breath, and then he bellowed as loudly as he could, "LEMONADE! LEMONADE! RIGHT HERE! LEMONADE!"
Sarah giggled, and followed suit.
"LEMONADE!"
"LEMONADE!"
Finally, after days (it seemed like days, in all actuality, it was thirty seconds later), Stephen approached the two children, and gave them a smile.
"Did I hear you two were selling lemonade today?" he asked. The children nodded. "Well, I would love a cup of ice cold lemonade, please."
Chuck poured a cup of lemonade, and handed it to his father. "Five cents."
"Charles…" his father scolded. "The key to good business is customer service. You want your customers to leave happy. That way, they'll come back. Remember, son, 'Please' and 'thank you' go a long way."
"Oh…"
"We're sorry," Sarah chimed in. "Thank you so much for buying our lemonade! Please, we hope you enjoy it! Please!"
Stephen chuckled, and handed the children a nickel. "Thank you very much, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it." He took a sip, and he fought to keep his face from scrunching up. Recovering quickly, he patted his stomach. "That is some good lemonade, kids!"
"Thanks, Dad! We can give you one more!"
"Oh, uh…I'll just come back later when I get thirsty again," said Stephen, clearing his throat. "Well, kids, good luck today, okay?"
"Okay! Thank you!" Sarah cried, waving happily.
Over the next hour, Chuck and Sarah had five more customers. Happy that they were going to be rich, neither Chuck nor Sarah realized that they had poured salt into the lemonade mix.
September 30, 2007
Staring warily at his possible spit-filled cup of coffee, Chuck stood to toss it in the garbage. He'd just have to order another one. As he turned to head to the bar, he saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen: Sarah standing in front of the entrance to the shop, her blonde hair was styled in loose curls, her bright blue eyes shining brighter as she scanned the little coffee shop, and it was all topped off with a casual, light blue sundress.
It was hard to believe that someone who looked…so beautiful, yet so innocent can be a spy. He wanted to shout out to her, but he couldn't, when she took his breath away as she bit her bottom lip and bounced up on her toes a bit while she gave the shop another once over. She was just so…gah…cute.
"Sah—" his breath caught in his throat, so he quickly cleared it. "Sarah!"
Chuck watched as Sarah's eyes snapped over to him, and she smiled apologetically as she walked over to him. She had a bounce in her step as she gave him a wave.
"Sorry that I'm late," she said when she reached him. "I got a call from my bosses, and it went on way too long…"
Chuck waved off the apology. "It's fine…I just got here like five minutes ago. LA traffic is the worst…"
"Yeah, for sure…um…" Sarah smiled bashfully up at Chuck. As she leaned her face toward his, to give him a quick peck on the cheek, Chuck held his arms out, and reached for a hug. They both stepped back, and let out nervous chuckles. Sarah recovered first, and went in for a hug. "Sorry I'm late," Sarah repeated.
"Oh, no," Chuck once again waved off the apology. "It's fine."
"Yeah, so…uh…" Sarah brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Chuck thought he could see her blushing, but she had her face down, so he couldn't be sure.
"Why don't you have a seat?" Chuck asked, gesturing to the table he was just sitting at. "I got you a chocolate croissant…I thought you'd like it, because…well, who doesn't love chocolate?"
"Uh…yeah…I'm allergic to chocolate…" Sarah looked up at Chuck with a serious expression on her face. Chuck's face fell.
"Oh, I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have ordered something before you—" he stopped when Sarah grinned widely at him. "—got here," he finished, and smiled, catching onto Sarah's joke. "Allergic to chocolate…that's a good one…"
Sarah began to giggle. "Ohh…I got you, didn't I?"
"Indeed you did. Well played, ma'am," he chuckled. "But yeah, why don't you have a seat, and I'll get you something to drink…"
"I can get the coffee, Chuck," she insisted. "Besides, you saved me probably around twenty bucks yesterday—"
"Seriously, Sarah, it's fine," said Chuck, smiling. "I want to buy you a cup…"
"Fine, but next time we go out, it's on me. Deal?"
Chuck felt his face warm. "Deal."
Minutes later, Chuck set down a paper cup filled with chai tea in front of Sarah, who was picking off tiny pieces of her croissant and popping them into her mouth, and sat down.
"So, uh…what have you been up to?" he asked, tearing his own croissant in half. "You know, since we last saw each other?"
"Let's see," said Sarah, "Uh…went to Harvard…"
"Awesome…" Chuck nodded.
"Studied business…"
"Boring," he said jokingly, grinning. Sarah shrugged.
"It was, but I really didn't know what else I wanted to do," she said, smiling.
"I always figured you would be like…the next Mia Hamm or something," Chuck laughed, "A bad ass soccer player, you know? Or maybe you could have been the woman who actually makes the WNBA worth watching."
Sarah laughed, and shook her head. "Oh, man…I was actually on the soccer team at Harvard."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, only in my freshman year though," she said, shrugging. "I wasn't very good…"
"I find that hard to believe." Chuck took a sip of his coffee. "If I remember correctly, Sarah Walker was the best center forward in the Encino Parks and Recreation league…"
"That was when we were like nine," Sarah scoffed, grinning.
"I'm just saying, you were the natural athlete out of the two of us," said Chuck, "And I was the nerdy one."
"You weren't that nerdy," said Sarah. Chuck gave her a deadpan look. "Okay, let me rephrase, you were a nerd, but you were the lovable nerd."
Chuck shrugged.
"Seriously," Sarah insisted, "remember the other nerdy kids? They always got shoved into lockers and stuff, but you never got shoved into a locker."
"That was because if anyone shoved me into a locker, they knew that you would kick their butts," Chuck laughed. "After you left, you would not believe how many kids shoved me into my locker."
Still chuckling, Chuck looked up from his croissant, and saw that Sarah's smile had faded. There was a look of sadness in her eyes. "Is that true?"
Upon seeing the look on Sarah's face, Chuck immediately regretted saying that. He meant it in jest, but that damn look on her face was enough to make his heart shatter.
"It was a joke," he said, smiling up at her. But Sarah had a stern look on her face. The same look that was able to extract any information from him when they were children. "Okay, so I got shoved into my locker a couple of times," he admitted, "But it's really not a big deal! If anything, it helped me deal with my claustrophobia, and if it makes you feel any better, the guys that shoved me into my locker work as janitors for my company! One of them likes to solve math problems on the white boards…"
Chuck stared hopefully at Sarah, waiting for her to crack a smile. He was relieved when a hint of a smile formed on her face.
"So…uh…what have you been doing before you came here?" Chuck asked, swirling his half empty cup around, forgetting that he was talking to a spy. Sarah shrugged.
"After I got my degree in business, I started working as a market researcher for a small toy company in Boston," she replied. "Worked there for a couple of years, I moved up to assistant manager, and then we went under."
"Yikes, I'm sorry…"
Sarah shook her head. "It's not your fault. Kids these days and their damn videogames…"
"Hey!" Chuck playfully frowned, "Don't knock on videogames, Sarah. They didn't do anything to hurt you."
Sarah laughed. "They made me lose my job…"
"Touché," he chuckled. "My bad…but at least you have a new job now, right?"
"Indeed," Sarah agreed.
"Speaking of which, how did apartment hunting go?"
"Oh, uh…when I got this job, I thought it was going to be permanent," she replied, "But I got an email from my bosses yesterday, telling me that it's only a temporary gig until they find a permanent manager."
"Oh...how come?"
Because she thinks she'll find Osiris, he answered himself silently.
"I work for a company in New York called ESI, Emerson Security Industries, and they bought a small subsidiary," Sarah explained. "I think it's called Langman Electronic Security or something like that. To be honest, I can't remember."
Chuck laughed.
"Anyway, ESI wanted me to be an office manager for the LA branch, but now, they say the job is beneath me," she said, shrugging. "So I'm only going to be acting manager of LES till they find a suitable replacement."
"How long do you think that'll take?"
"I don't know," Sarah replied, finishing off her croissant, and wiping her hands on a napkin. "It could be in a couple of weeks, months…I don't think I'd have to stay for more than a year."
"I see," said Chuck, thinking that Sarah was definitely going to stay around longer than a year. There's no way she'd be able to catch him…
"But I might stay if…" Sarah didn't finish her statement. Instead, she began to cough. A little theatrically, Chuck noticed. Either way, for some odd reason, he felt lighter…
"You okay there?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine," she gasped, again theatrically, waving a hand. "So um…how's Ellie doing?"
"Ellie's good actually," Chuck replied, a little disappointed that Sarah didn't finish her previous statement. "She's dating an awesome guy. It's a little sad though…"
"Do you not like him?"
"Oh, no…like I said, the guy's awesome," said Chuck laughing. "Ellie's thinking about moving out, and I don't know…I'm just used to having her around. After my parents left, Ellie did a lot to take care of me, and…you know..."
Sarah nodded understandingly.
"But I'm just being a baby," he laughed.
"No, it's understandable, Chuck…"
He shrugged, and drank the rest of his coffee. "So I told Ellie that you were in town, and she wanted to know if you wanted to swing by the house for a bit…if you don't want to, it's fine, but yeah…"
"Sure," said Sarah, "I can't stay long though. First day of work is tomorrow…I need to get some stuff ready. But I could probably just swing by and say 'hi' to Ellie for a bit."
"Excellent," Chuck smiled, getting up from his chair. Sarah mimicked him, and they walked side by side out of the coffee house.
"Excuse me," said Sarah politely. Chuck looked over to see that she had bumped into someone standing in line to get their coffee. Sarah bumped into…
"Jill?" he asked, staring at his teammate who was standing next to some guy. Chuck felt a flash coming.
A humpback whale
Christopher Andrew Scott
DOB: 6/16/1985
Fulcrum Field Agent
A humpback whale
Chuck winced as he felt a tiny migraine.
"Oh, hey, Chuck," Jill smiled, widening her eyes a bit. He could tell that she was trying to say, "What the hell are you doing here?" But honestly, he could have asked her the same question. At least she knew that he had a coffee date…granted there were a million Starbucks on this block alone.
Sarah glanced over at Jill, and then back at Chuck.
"Oh!" Chuck cried, "Sarah, this is my old friend, Jill Roberts. We went to Stanford together, and she runs the pharmaceutical department at Legends. And Jill, this is Sarah Walker…my…uh…friend." He finished lamely.
"Hi," said Sarah, almost icily, shaking Jill's hand.
"Nice to meet you," said Jill, looking a little nervous.
Sarah gave Jill a tightlipped smile in response, and there were a couple awkward minutes of silence.
"Well…Sarah and I are going to go," said Chuck, nodding to the male Fulcrum agent. "Take it easy, you two!"
After saying hasty goodbyes to Jill and that other Fulcrum agent, Chuck and Sarah went outside of the coffee shop.
"So…uh…where did you park?" he asked.
"What?" asked Sarah, looking slightly distracted.
"Your car?"
"Oh, I walked here," said Sarah, pointing down the street, behind Chuck. "I'm staying at that hotel down the street."
"Oh, cool beans…" Cool beans? Really, Chuck?
"Yeah, I guess…should I get my car, and meet you at your place, or…?"
"I could give you a ride there and back," said Chuck. "That's not a problem."
"Are you sure?"
"Like I said, 'not a problem," Chuck smiled.
Sarah nodded. "Okay, then."
They began to walk down the street where Chuck had parked his car. As they got closer, Chuck took his keys out of his pocket.
"So you and Jill went to Stanford?" asked Sarah.
"Yep," Chuck replied. He looked over at Sarah looking as though she had more questions. To spare her, Chuck said, "We used to date, but it wasn't going to go anywhere."
"Oh! I know how that goes…" Chuck noticed that Sarah now had a certain spring to her steps.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah…I used to date this guy at Harvard," said Sarah. "His name was Wally, and wow…"
"What?"
Sarah laughed. "I met him at the gym, and so when we started dating, we used to hit the gym a lot. For some reason, he really wanted me to lift weights. He'd stand in front of me while I was doing leg curls or whatever, yelling at me, 'pump it! Pump it, Sarah! Puh-push it!' Eventually, I started to get these hideous man arms…and we broke up." Sarah smiled up at Chuck, and gave him a happy shrug, while he laughed.
"Wow…" he sighed, still chuckling.
"He ended up getting expelled when they found steroids in his room," Sarah giggled.
"Are you serious?" Chuck asked, laughing harder.
Sarah nodded.
Two and a half Hours Later-Orion's Den
Chuck squeezed into the tight armor, as Jill walked by.
"Jill!" he called. Jill turned to face him.
"I didn't follow you to the coffee shop," she said quickly.
"What are you—I wasn't…" Chuck shook his head. "No, I was just going to tell you, I think Sarah made you as Fulcrum today."
"No she didn't," Jill laughed.
"Well, why else would she have given you the stink-eye?" asked Chuck, taking a shirt off its hanger.
"Uh…maybe because you introduced me as 'an old friend from Stanford?'" she suggested. "Us girls know that 75% of the time, a guy introducing his date to another woman by saying that they're an 'old friend' is code for 'my ex-girlfriend.'"
"Why would Sarah be bothered that you're my ex? I told her that you were after we left the coffee shop." Chuck pulled a pair of slacks over his suit.
"Are you blind, Chuck?" Jill snorted.
"What?"
"Did you not see how Sarah was looking at you?" She rolled her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Chuck asked, tying his necktie. He pulled on his wrist computer over his shirt.
"She's clearly into you…CIA or not, no girl can fake a look like that," said Jill.
As Chuck pulled on his raincoat, and grabbed his mask, he smiled to himself.
"If you say so…" he said, pulling his mask over his face. The mask left his mouth exposed, and he gave Jill a frown. "But just in case the CIA is onto you, be sure to watch your back, Jill."
"I know, I know," said Jill, rolling her eyes once more.
Thirty Minutes Earlier—Casey's Penthouse
Sarah walked furiously into Casey's penthouse, and threw her purse down to the ground. Everything was going fine. Sure there were a couple of speed bumps here and there, but for the most part, everything went well. And she didn't even have to lie to Chuck too much. Yes, she had to lie about her job, and she had actually met Wally at the Farm, but…other than that, she was honest. And honesty is really difficult for Sarah.
Seeing Ellie again went well too! They caught up, they laughed, they reminisced over old times, and they both teased Chuck a bit, but not too much to actually hurt his feelings. And Chuck's house? Holy crap…Sarah had been in mansions before, but Chuck's was something else. It was elegant, but homey, but it was also so…him. Instead of those picture books on his coffee table, Chuck laid out gaming magazines and some issues of Justice League…
And even when Chuck drove her back, they had a good time. They shared some more laughs, and they even playfully flirted.
So why the hell didn't he give her a kiss goodbye?
Ten Minutes Earlier
"So that wasn't too awkward, was it?" Chuck asked as he drove Sarah back to her hotel.
"No, it wasn't," she replied. "Well, there was the part where Ellie found the old videos of us practicing the New Kids dance moves…but other than that, it was fine."
Chuck laughed. "I don't know how Ellie finds those things."
Sarah giggled. "You know, I have to tell you something."
"What's that?"
"I'm actually surprised that you don't have one of those…computer butler thingies that you see in movies," she laughed. "I totally thought you would have a computerized butler for your house."
"Well…I actually designed one," Chuck admitted.
"Really?"
Chuck laughed. "No."
She playfully smacked his shoulder. "Jerk, I believed you!" That just made him laugh even harder.
They rode in a comfortable silence. Sarah just enjoyed feeling…alive again. The last time she felt so alive was when she and Chuck used to sneak out of their hotel rooms at night. Well, there was also that day where she had to parachute on top of a roof top to take out some Saudi terrorists, but that was a different feeling.
She jolted slightly as Chuck parked his car.
Before she knew it, they were already in front of her hotel. She wanted to suggest that maybe they could go to the Pier or something, but she knew that she had a mission tonight.
"I was just wondering," Chuck began, "Uh, in honor of your new job, even though it's only temporary, would you like to go out for dinner tomorrow night? You know…to celebrate?"
Sarah had smiled so much today that her cheeks hurt. "I'd like that. Pick me up at six?"
"Okay, then…uh…let me get your door." Before she could protest, Chuck had already gotten out of the car, and was jogging around to open her door. Sarah stepped out of the car, and smiled up at Chuck once more.
"Today was really nice," she said softly.
"I agree..." Chuck kicked a pebble on the ground to the side.
Sarah looked up at Chuck expectantly. Okay, Walker, she told herself, Just wait a bit, and he'll kiss you. Patience…
Chuck's eyes were locked onto hers, and she felt her heart beginning to beat faster.
"So," Chuck blinked away, looking at his watch. "I should get going."
What? Are you serious, Chuck?
"I'll see you tomorrow night," he said, giving Sarah a quick hug.
"Stupid!" Sarah kicked a bookshelf, causing Casey's Reagan statue to fall to the ground.
"Mr. President!" Casey yelled, rushing over from his desk. Sarah didn't even bother to laugh as Casey inspected the bronze statue for damage. "What the hell, Walker?"
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, still fuming. Maybe Chuck has a girlfriend? She never really specifically asked him if he had a girlfriend. Maybe he's just not into her?
"What's crawled up your ass?" Casey asked, snapping Sarah back to reality as she saw him placing the statue back on top of the shelf.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Nope," he replied, walking back over to his desk. "You know I could give a shit about your lady-feelings."
"Heh…" Sarah huffed, following Casey.
"So we gotta hit up the docks tonight," said Casey. "Beckman says that Fulcrum's shipping their computers to their new headquarters. Probably a chance that that masked freak will be there…"
Fulcrum…
Sarah pushed Casey aside, and sat in front of his computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Sending Graham an email," she replied. "Chuck ran into his ex, and I'm pretty positive that I saw her with a Fulcrum agent…I remember seeing him a couple of months ago…"
"So?"
"Chuck's ex also works for him," Sarah replied. "Which means if she's Fulcrum, then Fulcrum may be trying to get something from him…I'm going to ask Graham to run a background check on her."
A/N: Can you guess where this is going to lead? I can tell you that there will be some exciting stuff in the next chapter. Even though it'll only be the third chapter, it'll be a (as Fedak and Schwartz like to put it) gamechanger.
I don't know if I did a good job showing it, but I tried to make Chuck wary of Sarah one minute, and head over heels for her the next…I thought it would be…I don't know…funny if Sarah was the one who knew what she wanted and Chuck was the one that was slightly confused about what he wanted, only because Sarah's CIA.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I've included a short timeline about Operation Orion. Do you have to read it? Well, not really, but it does explain when Bryce and Jill got recruited by Orion, and why Chuck wears something over his armor.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are like hugs, and I haven't been getting too many real hugs lately because I'm sick! :-(
Operation Orion Timeline
1994-Mary Bartowski makes contact with Stephen. Informs him about Omega. Stephen begins working on a beta version of the Intersect, and adopts the name Orion
1995-Mary warns Stephen that Omega has heard chatter that someone is building a super computer that is able to download intel into a human mind. While Omega's not sure who Orion exactly is, to protect his children, Stephen runs away.
1997-Stephen discovers that if anyone were to download Intersect beta, their brain would overload. He makes contact with old college friend George Fleming, who teaches Stephen how to make embedded images. Stephen gathers all the data he has, and compresses them into hundreds of images (sort of like a Zip file), and begins work on Intersect 1.0. Stephen then asks Fleming to conduct a test on his students so that he could find a subject for Intersect download.
2001-Chuck and Bryce take Fleming's class. Chuck scores a 98% on the subliminal imaging exam, while Bryce scores 95%. Stephen recruits Bryce, and informs him that, through the data he collected, the CIA will recruit Bryce in 2002. Bryce is skeptical…
2002-When Bryce is recruited into the CIA; he learns that Orion wasn't lying. Stephen tells Bryce (Orion Codename: Cygnus) about Omega and their plans, and Bryce becomes Orion's double agent in the CIA. Later, while watching out for his son, Stephen notices that Chuck's girlfriend, Jill Roberts, is about to be recruited by Fulcrum. To protect his son from getting hurt, Stephen informs Jill that Fulcrum is a rogue government operation. After talking to Bryce, Jill decides to join both Operation Orion and Fulcrum as well, with the intention of helping Orion by providing him intel about Fulcrum. Chuck, Bryce and Jill (Orion Codename: Athena) graduate Stanford.
2003-Chuck breaks up with Jill when he decides that the two of them have too much in common, and starts up Legend and Jill both collect enough secrets from their agencies, and Intersect 1.0 is complete. Bryce downloads the Intersect. On Bryce's first mission for Orion, he finds, and interrogates an Omega operative. After learning the operative wasn't going to talk, Bryce shoots him.
2004-The CIA discovers that the Ring and Fulcrum have operatives planted within the agency, and they plan on issuing tapped cell phones to their employees. However, they discover that their network is compromised, and they need a new one. After hearing about this, Stephen has Bryce inform Director Graham that Legend Enterprises are currently building satellites for cellular telecommunication networks. Stephen plans on gathering additional data for the Intersect through these satellites.
2005-Stephen and Bryce make contact with Chuck. Sometime in November, Chuck signs a contract with the CIA and the NSA, and Legends Enterprises branched out to telecommunications. Stephen begins to work on Intersect 2.0, which will allow the human subject to download many different skills: martial arts, foreign languages, computer hacking, code breaking, gymnastic skills, etc. Chuck's adopts Osiris as his Orion Codename.
2006-While out on a mission for the CIA in Vancouver, Bryce flashes on Daniel Shaw, originally believed to be a Ring operative, but is also a member of Omega. Bryce pursues Shaw, and overpowers him. Bryce tries to learn about the Architect's location, but Shaw didn't know. Just as he was about to shoot Shaw, local authorities distracted him, allowing Shaw to run. Shaw discovers Bryce's location, and attempts to interrogate Bryce about how he knows about Omega. Bryce says nothing, and in his frustration, Shaw throws Bryce out of a four story window. Bryce survives the fall, but his spine was crushed on impact, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Director Graham informs Bryce that all of his records were destroyed, and Bryce is released from the CIA with the new identity, Bruce Leonard. Bryce breaks up with Carina upon hearing this (for her protection, and the protection of those in Operation Orion).
Stephen planned on getting a new subject for the Intersect, but Chuck wouldn't allow that to happen, so he downloaded the 2.0 instead. Chuck invites Bryce to live with him and his sister. Bryce declines and lives inside Orion's Den in Encino.
Before the Intersect 2.0 was completed, Jill, worried about Chuck's safety, began work on perfecting a military experiment called liquid armor. After six months of research, Jill finally perfects it. The armor is lightweight (15 pounds), and allows the wearer to be flexible.
As Chuck felt "exposed down there" due to the armor's tightness, he insisted that he wear something over the armor, and because of his public image as the CEO of LE, Chuck decides that he'll have to wear a mask when out on Orion's missions. One night, while reading the graphic novel The Watchmen, Chuck gains inspiration from the character, Rorschach, and also, The Green Hornet. He decides that that's who Osiris will be the basis of.
2007-In January, the 2.0 was completed, and ready for download. After downloading the Intersect, Chuck begins to train so that he could learn how to properly use it. As Bryce is no longer apart of the CIA, and Jill is suspected by Fulcrum as being a double agent, Chuck's secondary objective, next to finding the identity of the Architect, is to break into agency facilities to acquire intel for future Intersect updates. In March, Chuck, as Osiris, goes on his first mission: to break into an NSA facility in Houston, Texas and gather intelligence. The mission was a success. In later months, Osiris was successful in acquiring intel from one other CIA and NSA facilities, two Ring bases, and one Fulcrum base.
In September, Chuck and Stephen get in an argument over which base to break into next. Not wanting to disappoint his father, Chuck, as Osiris, gave in, and broke into a joint CIA/NSA facility in Washington DC. Director Graham and General Beckman discovered that Fulcrum's headquarters were located in LA, so they sent their two best agents, Sarah Walker and John Casey to find and capture Osiris.