Okay, so I did promise another chapter this weekend if there was interest and there appears to be. I want to thank you all for your reviews, it means a lot. Also, I just want to say I know that the majority of the first chapter was exactly what happen in Chuck vs the Marlin. To be fair I did warn you all in my author's note last chapter. Okay so on to Chapter 2. This is all Original work and dialogue so I hope you like it.
Chapter 2
Sarah paced the concrete floor of Castle. Casey stood by as they waited for General Beckman and Director Graham to conference in. Casey watched her wearily. He certainly didn't expect things to turn out the way they did tonight. Disregarding their direct orders to go after the Fulcrum mole together, he chose to go alone, sending Sarah after Chuck, fully expecting her to return with him.
Casey was about to speak when the monitor came to life and their superiors appeared before them.
Sarah approached the screen. "General, Director." She greeted them. "The Fulcrum mole is in custody, we can stop the transfer….bring Chuck home. There's no need for him to go into hiding."
"Agent Walker." Director Graham addressed her. "As pleased as we are to hear that the mole has been captured, we have no intention of reversing the transfer. The asset is secure."
Sarah's face fell. "What?...Why?"
"Director, there is no longer a threat to the intersect. His identity is safe." Casey chimed in.
"Major Casey, Agent Walker." Beckman spoke up. "The matter is not up for discussion. The truth is Bartowski should have been placed in a bunker a long time ago. The outcome was inevitable; it was just a matter of time. The CIA is taking responsibility for the asset. You'll be glad to know that your assignment in Burbank is has come to an end."
Sarah and Casey looked at one another. Completely shocked by what they were hearing.
"You are to shut down operations. Major, you will be shipping out to rejoin your former special ops team in Afghanistan in the morning." Beckman finished.
"Agent Walker, I expect you at Langley tomorrow. You will be briefed and receive your new assignment." Graham spoke up.
Sarah stood speechless before them.
"Good work team." Graham added before disconnecting with them.
"I can't believe this." Sarah said turning her attention to Casey. "A year on this assignment and this is how it ends? They lock him up anyway?" Her voice getting louder the more she talked.
"Walker, it's out of our hands now." Casey replied.
"No!...No Casey… I promised him... I told him I would keep him safe. I asked him to trust me… And what am I supposed to tell Ellie?"
Casey sighed; his eyes fell to the floor. "Tell her he's dead."
Sarah looked up at him in shock. "What?"
"Tell her he's dead. She'll grieve for a while, but eventually move on… If she thinks he's out there somewhere, that he just up and left for no good reason…she won't understand. It'll be easier on her if she thinks he's dead."
"Easier on her? Listen to yourself. Obviously you don't know Ellie." Sarah shook her head. "No…no, Casey I can't. I won't do that her." She swallowed hard. "I'm going to find him."
"What?"
"I'm going to find him and bring him home."
"Walker, how exactly do you think that's going to work? What do you think you can just show up at the underground bunker ask for him and everyone will just step aside and let you take him? It's a rogue mission Walker, you'd be going against the CIA. If they catch you, you'll go to jail for treason."
"I don't care Casey!...I promised him." The last few words barely audible.
Casey grunted.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
"The nerd really got to you didn't he? And here I thought it was purely some kind of weird infatuation you had for the guys you work with, but it's more than that. You really fell for him."
"What? Don't be ridiculous Casey. Chuck is my friend; he's my asset, nothing more. I made a promise to him and I intend to keep it."
Casey gave her a knowing look. He extended his hand to her. "Agent Walker."
Sarah shook his hand.
"I know we didn't start off on the right foot with one another, but for what it's worth, working with you hasn't been all terrible."
Sarah smirked. "Likewise Casey."
"Oh, I almost forgot." Casey reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. "I got this off the Fulcrum mole. I think it's the engagement ring Chuck was holding for Devon. The one that went missing." He placed the piece of jewelry into Sarah's open palm. "I figured you'd know what to do with it."
"Thanks." She replied, looking down at it.
With that Casey grabbed his belongings and headed out of Castle. Sarah's eyes remained fixated on the ring in her hand. She would see to it that Devon got it back, but in the meantime she had bigger fish to fry. Fish that went by the name of Ellie Bartowski.
The next morning….
Sarah had waited patiently outside of his apartment, hidden from sight, waiting for Ellie to leave for work. She figured it was better this way. She had had a pretty rough night. Sleep was impossible. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was a distraught Chuck being yanked away and forced into a helicopter. His eyes pleading with her to help him.
Sarah watched as Ellie finally emerged from the apartment. She proceeded towards her car. Sarah watched her get inside and waited until she pulled out onto the road. Once the coast was clear she approached his window. She carefully opened it and slipped inside his bedroom.
Sarah looked around taking in her surroundings. The video games, comic books, the Tron poster. She had never really thought about it before, but if one didn't know better, they may have thought they had stepped into the room of a pre-pubesant boy. She never found any of it juvenile though. For him it just fit, she actually found it kind of…well…adorable.
Her eyes locked on the picture frame that graced his night stand. She picked it up and ran her finger over the photograph it concealed. It was the picture she had taken of them at Halloween. Their first and only real picture. She smiled at the memory of that night. Sarah went to set the frame back down on the nightstand but hesitated. She lowered herself to the bed and took a seat on it's edge. Sarah flipped the frame over and removed the backing, followed by the picture. She tucked the picture into her jacket pocket before placing the backing back on and returning the now empty frame to the night stand.
Sarah noticed the time displayed on Chuck's alarm clock. She didn't have much time if she was going to make her flight to D.C. She still had one more stop to make before the airport.
Sarah stood up and made her way through the apartment. She decided to leave the note on the dinner table, where it would easily be found. She had typed the letter but penned Ellie's name on the front of the envelope. Fortunately with her expertise spy skills she was able to forge Chuck's penmanship perfectly.
Sarah placed the letter on the middle of the table and made her way out the door. One last mission to complete before shipping out.
Devon was making his way across the cafeteria, with his fresh coffee in hand when he spotted her. He grabbed a lid for his cup and made his way towards her.
"Sarah?"
She looked up nervously when she heard her name.
"Sarah what are you doing here?...You okay?" he asked. It was quite obvious to him that the girl seemed somewhat troubled.
"Hey Devon. Yeah I'm fine."
"What brings you by? People don't usually frequent hospitals for the heck of it."
Sarah smiled. "Actually I came to see you Devon." She paused to gather her thoughts before continuing. "I'm leaving town for a while but before I left….well Chuck had asked me to give you something. It's kind of important."
Devon looked at her with confusion. He watched as she pulled the ring from her pocket.
Sarah could actually hear Devon breathe a sigh of relief. "My grandmother's ring!"
Sarah smiled in response as she handed it off to him. "I was beginning to think maybe Chuck had lost it. He really kind of blew it for me and Ellie last night." Devon said, referring to his botched proposal after Chuck had failed to show up with the ring.
Sarah knew she was going to have to sell this if it was going to work. She didn't realize the tears would come so easily. She looked down at the ground before speaking again. "Yeah, he's sorry about that….things…well things got a little crazy last night." Her words softened and drifted off.
"What do you mean?" Devon asked, the concern now evident in his voice.
Sarah looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Sarah?...Wh…what happened?"
"I just… I don't want to get into all the details Devon…but…you should know…Chuck and I…we broke up last night." She choked out the last few words through the tears.
"What? Why?" Devon was completely taken by surprise by her admission.
Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter, it's for the best… you know."
"I don't understand Sarah, you guys are perfect for each other….Wait, is that why you're leaving town?"
"I just need some time away… you understand? …Please tell Ellie I said goodbye." Sarah offered him a smile before turning to walk away.
Devon just stood there dumbfounded by what he had just heard as he watched her make her way across the lobby and out the door. Ellie was going to be heartbroken over this and what about Chuck? The guy was absolutely crazy about Sarah. Poor Chuck was all he could think as he watched Sarah disappear out of sight.
Sarah darted across the parking lot of the hospital to her car. She jumped inside and pulled her key from her pocket. She hoped Devon had bought her heart broken girlfriend act. She wiped the tears from her eyes. It surprised her how quickly she was able to bring them on. Usually she had to really concentrate and work at it for a while. What surprised her even more was her inability to stop them as they continued to fall from her eyes, despite her best efforts to control them.
Sarah stared blankly out of the window of the plane. She would be landing in D.C. soon as ordered, where she would receive a new assignment, maybe even a new identity for all she knew. It didn't matter though. Whatever they threw at her, she was determined to track down Chuck. She would find a way and do whatever it took to free him. To give him his life back. No matter what the consequences.
It was just before dinner time when Devon arrived home from his double shift at the hospital. He was anxious to see Ellie and tell her about his impromptu run in with Sarah earlier. Of course he would leave out the part about his grandmother's ring.
He walked through the door to find Ellie sitting at the table. A blank expression on her face and a piece of paper in her hand. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear him come in. In fact he had called her name three times before she even noticed he was there.
"Babe what is it?" he asked coming to stand in front of her.
"He's gone." She said handing him the piece of paper.
Devon took it from her and read.
Ellie,
You have no idea how much it pains me to be writing this letter to you right now. My only hope is that you may one day find it in your heart to forgive me.
I know how much you care for her and you have always been our biggest supporter. It saddens me to have to tell you that Sarah and I broke up last night. It was a mutual decision on both of our parts and we have vowed to always remain friends, but it still hurts. I think we both just came to the realization that we were at different places in our lives and we wanted different things.
I am leaving town for a while, I don't know how long I'll be gone or really where I am even going. All I know is I can't be here right now. There are just too many memories.
I feel like I need some kind of change in my life. There has been too much here holding me back, and it has been for some time now. The Buy More, the safety net I have with you and Devon. I just need time to figure things out, like what I really want to do with my life, because God knows I don't want to spend the rest of it stuck behind the Nerd Herd desk at the Buy More. Maybe I'll try that whole backpacking around Europe thing for a while.
I hope you understand my decision. I'm sorry to say goodbye like this in a letter, but I know if I did it in person you would try to talk me into staying and I really just need to take this time for myself. I love you immensely. You are the best sister a guy could ask for and you know you have always been so much more than that to me. My phone has been shut off, so don't bother trying to call it. I am cutting all ties for the time being until I find some of the answers I'm seeking. I love you and I wish you and Devon all the happiness in the world.
Love,
Chuck
Devon turned his attention back to Ellie. "Honey I'm so sorry."
Ellie shook her head. "I can't believe he would just leave like this."
Devon wrapped his arms around her. "Clearly he's hurting Ellie. I saw Sarah earlier and she was a wreck."
"What?" Ellie looked up at him.
"Sarah was at the hospital earlier. She seemed kind of distraught so I asked her what was wrong. She told me they broke up. She was pretty upset about it. She actually started crying."
"Oh my God! Well did she say what happened?"
"She didn't want to talk about it. She did want me to tell you goodbye though."
"Goodbye?" Ellie questioned.
Devon nodded. "Yeah. I guess she was leaving town too"
"This is ridiculous! I don't understand any of this. How can Chuck just leave like this? He had to know how much it would kill me, especially after our history with our parents leaving."
"Honey he's hurting. He's not thinking straight right now."
"That's all the more reason for him to be here Devon. He needs us right now. He needs me!"
"Ellie he needs to do this for himself. Remember how long it took him to get over Jill?"
Ellie wiped at the tears making their way down her face. "God Devon, it took him over 5 years to get over her. His feelings for Sarah go far beyond anything he ever felt for Jill...How will he ever get over her?"
Devon wrapped her in his arms and pulled her closer. "I don't know Ellie. I just don't know."
Chuck laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. The bunker was not like he had imagined, there were no padded walls nor were there bars on the windows. Actually there weren't any windows at all. The whole complex was completely underground. It reminded him a lot of Castle but much fancier. His bunker in the complex was the size of a small one bedroom apartment. He had a small kitchenette, a bathroom, living room area and the bedroom that he was currently in. The walls were all the same. White and plain. No décor of any kind. It seemed almost sterile. There were cameras in every corner of the rooms. The only room he didn't see any in was the bathroom, of course if Chuck learned anything over the past year, he learned that just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.
'I can't believe I use to complain about the few cameras Sarah and Casey always had on me back in Burbank.' He thought to himself as he continued to stare at the ceiling.
It had been late last night when Chuck arrived at the bunker. He took a quick shower and tried to sleep. He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Despite that, he still couldn't sleep. His mind kept drifting back to Sarah on that rooftop and how everything unfolded that night. Never in a million years would he have dreamed his day would have ended like that.
He looked around the room one last time, this was his life now. A life of solitude, cut off from the rest of the world. And here he thought things were bad before, having handlers tracking his every move. What he wouldn't give to have that life back right now. A single tear made its way down his cheek and he closed his eyes. Sarah's words kept running through his mind.
'Save you later.' She had said. She promised to find him, to fix this. Chuck trusted her more than anyone, but how could she possibly fix this?
Alright so there you have chapter 2. Hope you all are still interested. I would appreciate any reviews you want to throw my way. As always, thanks for reading.