Present Day

CIA Agent Sarah Walker headed into the bedroom she shared with her fiancee, Chuck Bartowski. She located him at his computer reading some of his favorite websites. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Chuck, the pizza's here. Everybody's ready."

Chuck closed the current web page and got up. As he got up he heard a ping from his computer. Chuck and Sarah saw on a request from an independent on line videocom service appear on the video screen.

LorenzosMommy wants to videochat. Accept?

Sarah asked, "Lorenzos mommy? What kind of call sign is that?"

Sarah noticed the blood drain from Chuck's face. He replied, "Someone I met in a chat room awhile ago. It doesn't matter."

Sarah put a "I don't buy it, buster." face on, then said, "Chuck. Sweetie. You're lying."

Chuck couldn't get the sweat to stop coming and said, "Please don't overreact."

Sarah softened a bit but said, "Talk." Her tone of voice said, "That is not a request."

Chuck said, quickly, "Lorenzo is the name of the Roberts family cat. Jill always called herself Mommy when talking to that cat." He quickly added. "I swear, I don't know why Jill would contact me now."

Sarah nodded and said, "Don't answer until we're ready to trace her signal. If she considers it important, she will call you back."

Chuck replied, "What if it is important?"

Sarah said, "Then she will tell us from her holding cell." and headed out to the main room where Ellie, Devon, Morgan, and Alex were waiting. She took a slice of pizza from the table, and headed out the front door towards Casey's apartment.

As he sat down at the table Morgan said, "Oh, I sensing there is trouble in paradise."

Chuck replied, "I told her not to overreact. I just got a video-chat request from Lorenzos Mommy. Is she overreacting?"

Ellie spat out the pizza and said, "Look let her do what she needs to do. Don't make trouble."

Chuck said, "I'm worried. Not because of Jill but there must be a horrible situation going on for Jill to risk capture by contacting me. I fear Sarah might be letting her hatred for Jill override her objectivity."

Morgan said, "Chuck, it is also a valid viewpoint that you let Jill override your objectivity."

Chuck said, "I know. Guys, I'll try not to make mistakes."

Sarah took that moment to return and went right to Chuck's computer. Chuck followed her and saw that the videochat request had cancelled. Sarah sighed, and set up new tracing software.

And thus started the great quiet period. Throughout the rest of the evening. Nobody felt like talking because of the big white elephant in the room. The unpleasant silence was interrupted an hour later by a knock at the door. Chuck looked through the doorhole and opened the door when he saw Casey. Casey started with, "Hey Bartowski. Got a surprise for you."

Sarah walked up to Casey and asked, "Is there a real trace of the fugitive?"

Casey continued as if Sarah hadn't interrupted, "After Walker told me what happened, I tried to get the most recent information on Roberts I could find, to try and figure out why Roberts would contact here. I managed to pull up a video file that was presented to Beckmen and the brass about a month after we last saw Roberts along with testimony confirming the video files authenticity. You might find it interesting."

The group entered Chuck's bedroom and saw Casey pull up a remote connection on the computer to download a video file. The file showed two screens. They seemed to display both sides of a video-chat conversation. On one side was Jill Roberts just as she appeared when they reunited. She even wore the same blue blouse. The other side showed Stephen Bartowski.

Stephen started with, "Jill, good to see you."

Jill replied, "Good to see you to, Mr. B. I have something important to tell you."

Stephen said, "Let me go first. I tried to hack into that base under the Buy-More so that I could monitor the activities of Chuck and his team. Unfortunatly I need you to set up a remote connection for me from inside. Can you do it?"

Jill replied, "Not without being detected. When they let me down there Agent Casey and Agent Walker kept a close eye on me. Look what I have to say is more important than that. Fulcrum agents saw me making out with Chuck."

Stephen yelled, "You what? You MADE OUT WITH CHUCK? Jill you are still a Fulcrum agent and Fulcrum has forbidden you having anything to do with Chuck. No matter how much you want it, until Fulcrum is gone, you can't have a relationship with Chuck. Now, one way or another, you will have to hurt him again. Believe me, once Fulcrum is gone, I would love to have you as a daughter-in-law, but it can't happen now."

Jill put her hand to her forehead, sighed, and replied, "I know. I shouldn't have done it. I have been so lonely and have missed him terribly. I was just flustered that he forgave me, despite the fact that he doesn't know the truth about why we broke up. It has affected the way I think. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

The frown that appeared on Stephens face subsided a bit. "In all the years of knowing you, I could never stay angry at you."

Jill continued, "It has put me into a bit of a spot. Fulcrum witnessing the make-out was the latest in a series of incidents which has caused several Fulcrum agents to doubt my loyalty. I'm getting the increasing feeling that I'm about to get "retired", and yes I am using the word "retired" the same way the movie Blade Runner uses the word "retired."

Casey interrupted the video by saying "Geek."

Back on the screen, Stephen sighed and said, "Well, we have to deal with issues as they are, I guess. Allright Jill. Here's the plan. I would like to thank you for your years of service as my double agent. All you have is one final mission for me. You are to trick Fulcrum into helping you break into the base under the Buy-More. Once there you will set up the remote connection I need to monitor Chuck and his handlers. I will place my friends in the rear parking lot of the Buy-more who will arrest you as you head out. You will stay in prison for several months. Hopefully you will be safe there. Once Fulcrum is gone, I will get you out."

Jill said, "You don't need to see the rest of that video." It took the group assembled a moment to realize that Jill's voice wasn't coming from the computer but from Chucks Window which she was crawling in. Jill continued, "Not that I have anything to hide, but the rest of that video is just planning and some personal stuff that isn't really relevant. You basically get the jist of that video, right?