Summary: Bryce and Jill reminisce over drinks about their time as spies, the people they've met, and the relationships they've had to leave behind. Time-line is somewhere in the very near future. Pre Bryce/Jill and implied Chuck/Sarah.

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews for chapter 1! It made me really excited to write a chapter 2. I really hope you all will enjoy the continuation of this story. I think I have a firm grasp on where I want this to go, and it should get fun. And for all you shippers out there, don't worry, there will eventually be real live Charah, I promise. Finally, a ginormous thank you to timewalker05 for some terrific ideas to punch this chapter up and even more so for making it readable for all of you. This fact that I didn't get a note back with the edits that said "So, you've seen the English language before, right?" is absolutely astounding to me, and I am eternally grateful.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. He belongs to NBC, Warner Bros., College Hills, and Sarah (yes, Sarah owns Chuck and she will claim her prize one day...I do believe). I also don't own any of the other characters in the fic, they belong to all the previous parties (although Sarah doesn't own the rest of them).


Hidden Fulcrum Instillation, Interrogation Room

Jill startled awake, quickly taking in her surroundings. I'm in a dark room. Arms are bound. Legs…yep they're bound too. The walls appear non-descript; no one else is here, so Bryce must have escaped. Okay, where am I and how did I get here?

As the adrenaline from waking up bound in a strange place began to wear off, the aches in her muscles and joints became evident. Then like a tidal wave, the memories of the past…well she wasn't exactly sure how long she'd been here. She had lost concept of time, but the memory of how she had gotten here and what had happened to her here all too evident now.

I wish I could have forgotten for good she thought wryly.

Torture was one of the worst parts of the job even when just observing the act. Taking said torture was as bad as it got. I didn't talk though, she thought, allowing a brief moment of pride to sink into her otherwise somber demeanor.

As she thought back to how she had gotten herself into this mess, though, the pride disappeared and was replaced by an array of other emotions ranging from fury at herself, to self pity for what she had to endure, to longing for someone - anyone really - to come in guns blazing to be her hero. It had all started like any other mission…

40 Hours Earlier, Outside a Hidden Fulcrum Base

"I hate recon work," Bryce stated for what must have been the fiftieth time since they'd been sitting there. "Don't get me wrong, it has it's place; but after we find what we're going to find, it just seems anti-climactic to just drive away and let someone else do all of the heavy lifting of actually infiltrating and destroying an operation like this," he added exasperatingly.

"And if there's one thing I have learned about you Bryce Larkin, anti-climactic just isn't your style," Jill teased in a sultry voice. "With you, there's always a…Very. Satisfying. Climax."

Bryce looked over at his partner of six months sitting across the van from him and flashed her the most devious smile he had in his repertoire. "Why, Agent Roberts, I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about."

Jill reached out to trace a seductive touch up Bryce's arm and over his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, before continuing her hand's journey up his neck, around his very sculptured jaw line, and finally settling on his lips.

Eyes closed, Bryce wondered what the hell this woman was doing to him to make him react like this. He was a trained agent for God's sake. He should be immune to her wiles. But he knew he was starting to develop very non-agent like feelings for his long time friend and current partner. He also knew that, right now, he wanted to do very non-agent like things to her. But they still had a mission to wrap up, no matter how boring and pointless it seemed.

"Alright, let's hurry up and finish this. You've started something that requires finishing. And while I would love to finish it right here, right now…" he trailed off as something on the monitor in front of him caught his eye. "Wait a second. He's not supposed to be here today!" Bryce exclaimed excitedly.

"Who?" Jill asked, puzzled by the sudden change of topics. Turning to the monitor to which Bryce seemed to be glued; she saw exactly what he saw. Ken Adams was a key member of Fulcrum's lead council. Although the elusive "Elders" made all of the decisions in the organization, their intelligence and potential courses of action were all filtered through, and usually devised by, the lead council. The lead council in Fulcrum was essentially the cabinet of the cabal; and no one held more sway, and had more intimate knowledge of the direction of Fulcrum, than Ken Adams.

This cell was supposed to be small potatoes as far as Fulcrum went. It was believed to be little more than a glorified weapons locker. The workers here were way down the food chain as far as Fulcrum operatives went. At least that was what all the intelligence they had led them to believe. But if Adams was here right now…

"Alright, the nature of this mission just changed," Bryce said preparing himself for combat. "We let Adams slip through our fingers at that summit six weeks ago, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it happen again."

Although this was only supposed to be a recon mission, Jill knew he was right. If they had a chance to bring Adams down, then they had to take it. She knew he would crack under interrogation and provide them with mountains of intel that could potentially strike a catastrophic blow to her former organization. "You're absolutely right. We have to take a chance if there's a possibility that we could get our hands on him," she stated flatly. But something about him being here today bothered her. "We have to be careful though. If he's here, then there is going to be a lot more security than we have been able to identify. He wouldn't walk into any operation that wasn't extremely secure. It would be too big of a risk."

Bryce nodded at Jill, who was checking the magazine and sights on her primary sidearm for the third time before dropping the Beretta 92G Elite 1A (a gift from Bryce upon completion of their most successful mission) to her side.

Bryce exited the van first, followed closely by Jill. They entered the hidden Installation on the vacant ground floor, slowly making their way up the embankment beside the stairs to remain hidden by the solid banister of the stairs on one side, and the wall on the other, towards the second floor where they knew Ken Adams and the majority of the Fulcrum agents present to be.

As they reached the top of the stairs, they were greeted by an empty space. Looking around quizzically, Bryce started to take his first step onto the second level. Before his foot could make contact with the ground, however, he was greeted by the sound of many, many weapons being readied. At least sixty men, all armed to the teeth, gave up their covers, revealing an army of what was certainly not the low level lackeys they had believed worked here.

Knowing that there was no chance of surviving a fire fight with such a collection of armed men, Bryce and Jill turned to flee back down the stairs… only to be confronted with another band of weapons ready assassins. The pair placed their firearms on the ground and raised their hands in surrender.

"Bryce and Jill went up a hill…" a smug, gravely voice spoke over the ominous silence that had overtaken the building. The two partners turned towards the sound of the voice. "Agent Larkin, Agent Roberts, I really do appreciate your joining us here today. You know intelligence agencies used to have to work much harder than this to set up a trap. The fact that two of America's top agents would fall so easily into such a set up is really quite sad. Kind of reinforces my belief that we are doing the right thing in Fulcrum to ensure that the current establishment is replaced with a much more stable, and much more - and please pardon the pun - intelligent system," Adams finished.

Looking at each other, a nearly imperceptible eye movement from Bryce let Jill know what to do next. Bryce had Jill's body largely obscured from the group in the room in front of them; and with her back to army behind them, she was able to deftly retrieve a flash bang grenade from the front of her belt and quickly toss it into the room in front of them before the men knew what was happening.

Hiding their eyes until they heard the familiar explosion, Bryce and Jill quickly began to make their way across the room. "Out the window," Bryce shouted back to her. "There's a fire escape that leads down to the first floor. When we get outside, we can call for reinforcements."

Picking up a chair that sat near the window, Bryce hurled it through the glass that was over six feet off the floor. Jumping up and grabbing onto the pipes that ran overhead in the old, decrepit looking building, he propelled himself up onto the window sill and reached back to pull Jill up to him. Jill grabbed his hand just as the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rattled off the concrete walls of the Fulcrum base.

Jill's hand fell limp from Bryce's grip and she crumpled to the floor. Bryce looked quickly down at her now still form, and then back up at her assailant who'd trailed them here from the first floor. He aimed again and fired at Bryce. Bryce was just able to duck out of the way and hurry down the fire escape back towards the van. "I'll get you back Jill. Just hold on. I'm coming," he silently vowed to himself as he drove away from the Fulcrum base and headed towards a safe place where he could regroup and formulate a plan to rescue his partner.

Present Time, Interrogation Room

Jill stared at the walls. Not that there was a whole lot else to do when you are left bound in a dark empty room. She knew Bryce would come for her. She hoped that he got there in time, and avoided capture. No, think positive. It's the only way you'll make it though this, she scolded herself.

"Ah, Miss Roberts, I see you're awake," the Fulcrum interrogator codenamed Revan said as he stepped into the room.

"And I see you're just as ugly as you were a few hours ago," Jill spit venomously.

"Jill. Can I call you Jill?" he asked. Not waiting for a response, "Jill, you know what we're trying to do here. You know deep down, you still believe in our cause. Now I don't know what kind of…" he paused, "…feelings," he said the word as if it were poison, "you have developed for Larkin. But you know personal feelings must take a back seat to the greater good. The greater good that Fulcrum will introduce to the world."

"There is nothing good about your plans," Jill said through gritted teeth, putting an edge to the word 'your.' "There's no greater good when it comes to Fulcrum. There's not even a lesser good. It's all evil!" she finished, her voice growing angrier with every word.

"Jill, you know what we hope to accomplish. You know it will make for a better future for everyone. And I promise, Bryce Larkin never has to know you betrayed him. You can leave here, say you escaped and didn't talk, and go back to playing house with "Double-O-pretty boy." Just tell me. Where. Is. The. Intersect?" he said strongly, seemingly trying to stare a hole through Jill.

Maybe if I just tell him, he'll let me go. He's right, Bryce doesn't have to know. She let that thought ruminate for a minute. Then you will have doomed the best person you have ever met to at the very best be stationed in a hidden government bunker for the rest of his life. More likely he will be found and captured by Fulcrum, and then tortured. Then eventually he will be relieved of the torture when you or another agent finds him and carries out the termination order that has been levied against him. No. She couldn't do that to Chuck. She couldn't do that to Bryce. She couldn't do that to herself. She couldn't even do that to that bitch Sarah Walker. She had to hold her tongue for all of them. Bryce would be here to rescue her soon. She just knew he would.

A Parking Lot Outside a Diner on the PCH

"You're sure about that, Chadwick Real Estate?"

"Absolutely. Do I ever make mistakes? Okay, don't answer that. But you know where my information comes from, and it doesn't make mistakes. It's the large office building with only one business. It's 769 North…."

"Okay, okay, I just wanted to be sure. I can't afford to screw this up."

"You're not going to screw it up. You're going to save the day like Super Agent Bryce Larkin always does. Who is this partner of yours you are trying to save anyway? When do we get to meet her?"

"Chuck…" Bryce stated with a warning tone.

"Alright, alright, I get it. If you told me, you'd have to try to kill me only to be gunned down first by Sarah and Casey," Chuck joked. "I was just thinking we could double date sometime."

Bryce let a small smile slip through despite himself. "Fine Chuck. Next time we have an assignment together, the Andersons and the Carmichaels will paint the town red."

"Sounds like a plan buddy. And take care of yourself," Chuck said. Then he added, "And your new special lady." He thought to say one more thing, "Good luck Bryce."

"Thank you Chuck. Watch out for Sarah. Now get back to work fixing computers!" Bryce said in a joking manner to end the call.

It was amazing how his old friend could always lift his spirits. He had really needed that more than he allowed himself to think about. The past two days had been hell for Bryce. Jill being captured by Fulcrum brought many issues into his mind. First, he hoped she had survived. Then he hoped she hadn't talked yet. Lastly, and probably the biggest issue that had surfaced in his mind though, was the fact that he had completely fallen in love with Jill Roberts. He couldn't lose that. Not now. He put on his shades and put his black BMW M3 into gear as he dialed a secure line that he knew by heart.

"Beckman secure."

"Secure. This is Bill Brasky. I've sent over the coordinates of our target. Send a tactical team and plenty of medical personnel. No one moves until I give the order. When I have her out, they can do what they like."

With that Bryce cut the call and focused back on the road. "Just hang on Jill. I won't let you down."

A/N: Again, thank you all for reading, and thank you to timewalker05 for the beta. Now if you guys could just find it in your heart to leave a litle review, I would be ever so happy. Let me know what you think about where this is going, and what you'd like to see happen. I make sure to read every review, and I promise anything you say will be taken into account moving forward. You guys are the best. Peace.