Better late than never, with these stories. Never forgotten just busy with life. Take a look and let me know what you think. Reviews are always welcoming. I don't own anything, I just write for the love of the show and these two interesting, beloved characters CHUCK AND SARAH.

CHAPTER 2 – ALWAYS – SECRETS

An out of sync beep stirred Chuck out his so called trance as he continued his vigil, while still holding onto Sarah's hand. The world around him busied itself with daily tasks and procedures as hospital personnel catered to Sarah. The constant tugging of his heart he knew he couldn't sit around and wait for the answers to come to him. He had been faithful sitting beside Sarah for days now as the tubes and wires kept her alive. He reminded himself that they were only temporary, at least it gave him some hope that he would see her blue eyes once again.

Grabbing his jacket he opened the door and turned right towards the stairs at the end of the hall. Casey looked up just in time as he saw how determined Chuck's steps were. Placing the paper down that he was reading he half ran to catch up to him. "And where are we going?"

Chuck didn't answer him at first as he rounded the first set of stairs going down. Flashing his badge, he rounded the second flight of stairs. He turned to face Casey as he was struggling to find his id. When Casey slipped his badge back into his pocket Chuck replied. "I can't sit around and wait. I have to do something. Sarah wouldn't want me to sit and feel sorry for her or me for that matter."

Casey gave Chuck a slight smile. "So where are we going to start?"

Sarah's last known address

Chuck waited as Casey jimmied the lock to the last known address that Sarah supposedly had stayed at. Double checking that they weren't being followed or 'eyes' were watching them as they slipped in. The daylight gave a slight glow over the walls of the very sparse conditions. It was obvious that Sarah was in mission mode due to the way her place looked. Chuck walked around the room as Casey searched the other room. Chuck sat down on the small bed that had a blanket that she used as a make shift pillow and a sleeping bag. Some of her clothes were stacked next to a bag, which Chuck assumed she was leaving for somewhere. 'Maybe home?' Chuck hoped.

Chuck watched as the sun cascaded across the wall. It seemed to jump over some unevenness of the wall. Getting up he started to tap at the wall, hoping to find something. Casey walked back in the main room and joined in. In no time, they had found a way into a secret room. Sliding the wall out, enough to walk through, but not to move around in. Casey and Chuck used their phones to shed some light into the small closet like space. Casey passed the first box and files to Chuck as he placed them on the small table, returning for the second as Casey slid the wall back. Lifting the lids of the two boxes, each containing some sort of recognisance but on who or what still remained a mystery. Turning to the files they didn't have anything that could tie or explain the five W's as for Sarah being in India and the day of the blast. Chuck grabbed a chair not sure where to start. Again Chuck looked the around the room and couldn't help notice the similarities of the room - its sparseness, lack of furniture, lack of life to which this room portrayed and the life Sarah had lived. It was so much like Sarah's life the simplicity of being a spy, having the ability to live a chameleon life the adrenalin the excitement then in a flash the loneliness, fear. He had heard stories of her life with her dad and had the opportunity to meet him.
Nevertheless, life on the run, the cons, the jail visits but most of all the secrets kept – was way too much for a child to bear or even to partake in. It was never a life for a child but her saving grace, Chuck believed was when the CIA came a knocking. Not the best career choices but without the CIA he would have never met her, fallen in love with her, trusted her and would even die for her.
Casey moved the box furthest away from Chuck, which brought Chuck back to reality. "So how do you want to go about this?"
Chuck grabbed his jacket and left. Casey followed but kept his distance. He knew exactly where he was going back too. Beckman had arrived with Langston Graham. They were talking to the doctors who pointed to Chuck as he came around the corner. The Doctors nodded, turned, and then headed in the other direction. Beckman turned to face Chuck and extended her hand to greet Chuck and Casey. Chuck smiled just to exchange pleasantries. A small part of him felt that the CIA had let Sarah down. That it took them four months to locate her or to know where she was. Hearing the same old jargon for weeks on end that they were doing the best they could with what they had. 'Those words had lost their touch when Sarah didn't come back shortly after Casey did.'
"Chuck." Beckman spoke. "I just informed the doctors. That Agent Walker…"

Chuck looked at Beckman. "I mean Sarah had made you her next of kin." As Chuck continued to listen. After the incident in Paris. Sarah had arranged to change her spy will to add you as her next of kin. So in the events that something happened to her you would be able to make the necessary arrangements or decisions." 'What were her reasons? Was it because of Shaw had done to her or the fact that they had finally expressed their love for each other both literally and biblically.'
Whatever the reasons were, hoping it was the latter he was forever grateful. As Beckman continued to talk or more like debrief them Chuck nodded, said his goodbyes then walked into Sarah's room. Beckman turned to face Casey. "So how is he doing?

"Hard to tell - we found Sarah's apartment."

"And."

" She was definitely looking into something, trying to keep something quiet or someone was looking into her.''

"Send me what you can. I am staying at the Taj Mahal Palace. I plan to stick around till we hear more about Agent Walker. I have also reserved a suite for you and Chuck. You two can head over there anytime."
Casey nodded. "Thank you and will do General."
Chuck took his jacket off and hung it behind the chair as he pushed it closer to the Sarah's bed. Looking at her vitals they seemed to be stable. He had listened to his sister and Captain Awesome enough times to look at the monitors and know what was going on. Sliding his hand under Sarah's hand and bringing them to his lips. Placing a kiss then another he placed both of their hands along side his cheek. Scooting closer he caressed her forearm with his other hand.
An hour went by Chuck's phone vibrated in his pocket. Letting go of Sarah's hand. He got up and saw that it was Ellie. Swiping right he placed the phone to his ear.
"No change really. "
"Vitals? Stable. "
"No I haven't slept."
"I promise."
"No, thanks, Casey's here and..."
"I will. As soon as I hear anything different. "
"Love you both."
Chuck clicked the button on the phone sliding the phone back into his pocket and returning to his seat.
A WEEK LATER
The doctors had removed a few of the dressings and gauze from Sarah's face and arms. Relieved to hear that Sarah's hadn't been burned as was first diagnosed. Just the effects from the blast. Her external injuries would heal in time, her broken ribs and other injuries that were not so evident would need more time to heal. The biggest concern now was that she was still unconscious.
Chuck returned after the nurses had left her room. After changing her bedding and giving her a bath. Chuck's heart skipped as he laid eyes on her. Walking up to her, kissing her on the forehead he lingered a little longer than he usually did the past few days. Chuck noticed the monitor adjusting to his presence he kept his head closer to hers. Again seeing himself the change. He quickly walked to the door looked out. When he saw no one, he closed the door and slid in alongside Sarah. Instinctively Sarah rolled her head over to his shoulder. Chuck felt a tear roll down his cheek. Whispering ' I love you' closing his eyes.
Chuck was startled out of his sleep. "Oh sorry." A nurse whispered. Checking Sarah's vitals. Never scolding Chuck for laying on the bed she grabbed a blanket and gave it to Chuck. Turning off the lights the room was lit with the lights from the street. Chuck kissed Sarah's temple and went back to sleep.
The next morning Casey walked in carrying two coffees and some warm Malabari Parotta from a local coffee shop. Chuck swung his legs down towards the floor and got up.
"Thanks."
Chuck took the lid off the coffee and took a sip. "Anything?"
Chuck took another sip. "It's maybe nothing but she moved her head?"
Casey looked at Chuck then at Sarah. "When I laid down beside her she moved her head."
"Did she open her eyes?"
"No." Chuck looked out the window.
"Well that's a good thing?"
Chuck looked back at Casey.
Casey squeezed Chuck's shoulder. "It's good because there's still hope."
Chuck placed his free hand onto Casey's hand. "I hope so."
Finishing their breakfast. Casey filled Chuck in on his hypothesis with the items that Sarah had stored. Chuck didn't disagree but was very curious of the fact that either someone was watching her or she was watching them. Spending the rest of the day at Sarah's apartment the two of them went through every box and tagged their piles of what Sarah was really looking into. Grabbing the files Chuck tossed them into a bag. Casey returning from taking a load down to the car. "I don't think we are alone."
Chuck looked up. "Why?"
Casey walked over to the window, Chuck followed. Moving the curtain slightly. "See that man leaning against the light pole?" Chuck looked. "And the other guy with the black pants and the flower shirt."

Chuck looked to his left. Closing the curtain Chuck leaned against the window sill.
"They were here when we arrived and when I came back they were still in the same spot. The closest guy walked across the street and looked into the window of the car as I headed back inside. Grab what you can and let's go. We can head back to the hotel. At least we know where we stand there. Not sure how long Sarah has been under the microscope. Maybe these men are responsible for the bombing."

Chuck didn't care for what Casey had said but he understood why he said it. They couldn't really trust anyone and maybe that is why Sarah had stored herself up in this apartment. Casey went out the front doors while Chuck went out the back and headed into the crowd. Casey figured that one would follow him and the other would head upstairs, seeing that Chuck wasn't with him. Sure enough when Casey drove off looking in his rear view mirror the men did exactly what Casey thought. Casey drove a few blocks but managed to lose the first guy due to the amount of street dwellers limiting his progression. Turning back Casey noticed a man walking that towered over the people around him. Honking, Chuck turned and tossed the bag in the back seat and slipped into the front as Casey drove off. Looking out the back window Chuck wanted to know where the men went. Edging slowly through the crowd Casey filled Chuck in.
Pulling up to the hotel. The bellhop opened the car door as they stepped out. Chuck grabbed his bag while Casey whistled for a trolley to take the other boxes upstairs to their room. It was kinda nice that Beckman was fitting the bill. They hadn't been on a mission for some time as Sarah had been their primary focus for the last four months. As Chuck walked the stairs to the elevator, he looked out towards the crowded cityscape and wondered how Sarah ended up here in India.
Entering his room the fan gave the room a slight breeze, which helped with the heat but this, was twice a hot as LA maybe 4x as hot. Casey entered through the small hallway that connected the two rooms. Grabbing two cold beers they sat down on the couches and started going through the boxes. Like every mission before this, they tried to keep an open mind but this one was different because it evolved one of their own. Leaning back, Chuck put his feet up on the table. "Casey what was Sarah really like before she came out to LA to protect me?"
Casey looked up surprised by his question. "You know this story; you have heard it a thousand times."
"Well tell me again for the 1001th time."
Hearing her story was always exciting but to hear it from someone like John Casey made her almost legendary. However, there were still so many secrets still uncovered, untold but whether it was his pay grade or title they may never be spoken.
"Why the nostalgia?"
"Something does not look right. Sarah has always been specific with her reports and Intel. But, everything she has in these files are...
Chuck looks up at Casey. "Sloppy?"
"And?"
"And what?"
"There's always an and..."
"Not sure. Lots of short hand and stuff I can't decipher."
Casey reached for the file that Chuck was looking at. Opening the file, he flipped a few pages then flipped back, looking up at Chuck.
"It must be some code or style she has developed over the years. Most agents rear to this to cover their tracks in case their Intel gets into the wrong hands."
"You too?"
"Somewhat. I use numbers along with letters. I sometimes I mix random words to mix things up. But if the person who ends up reading them - really knows you then they can easily read between the lines so to speak. So maybe you can figure out what Sarah was trying to hide or not hide."
HOSPITAL
Kissing Sarah he explained to her that he had brought flowers. Her favourite. He had bought them from a local flower shop who's owner name Fazeem had expressed great interest in such a tall handsome American.
Turning towards Sarah. "After hearing his story. I ended up buying 2 dozen. Therefore, you had better wake up soon to look at them. The last time I bought you these flowers you were also in the hospital, after... I'm thinking these flowers are either a bad omen or a sign of hope."
Sarah's vitals jumped a bit. Chuck walked over and grabbed her hand. "Ok Agent Walker. This is the second time your vitals have jumped. So I am hoping and praying that you are either tired of sleeping or you love my stories. I can continue if you wake up. "
Chuck looked over at the monitors. Nothing.
Chuck took the lid of his coffee and took a sip as he opened the file that he had started looking at back at the hotel. Based on the timeline. This was the first pile of notes that Sarah had put together. But looking at the dates the pages dated back to spring 2005. Almost two years before she arrived in LA. As he read the pages, they didn't make much sense as to why she was here or if they had any connection to the last mission that Casey and her were on.
Chuck started making his notes and after few files read, he started to put some of the pieces together. He hoped that reading these they would answer the questions to the Sarah chronicles that he had heard so much about; the wild card. Knowing that Sarah was not waking up anytime soon. He grabbed his laptop and using a few secret key strokes he watched as Sarah's file opened up. He had not opened her CIA file in years. He promised himself that he didn't need to know her past even though it might have answered a lot of questions as to why she was the person she was. However, one must trust the person they love even if the love between them is challenged, even strained. Chuck told himself that it wasn't because he didn't trust her but if by chance her past could help her now then the secrets that she was keeping needed to be told. Chuck looked at the pages and pages of missions and the reports but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Scrolling down to 2005, he read files that included the CAT squad. Several joint missions with Carina. Most he had heard about. And one that wasn't like the rest. Even the wording was less impressive. Chuck came across a name that was associated with Sarah's handler named Kieran Ryker. Chuck didn't know that she had a handler maybe he assumed that every agent starts out that way; but Sarah. Reading further Sarah stated that things had been rocky between them that she felt that he was keeping secrets, not following protocol. So when they were given a mission in Budapest, Sarah was given at the time, Intel that seem legit. She was told to take out some men that had set up residence in an upscale mansion. Sarah was led to believe that the men had killed several women and children and were deemed a threat to society and had to be taken out. 'They' also had in their possession had a package that needed to be deposed of. After sneaking onto the grounds, she placed an ear piece into her ear and listened to her instructions. 'Find the men, do what is needed and dispose of the package.' Reading on Chuck relived the mission through Sarah's words to the events that led up to and what followed. As Chuck came to the end of the paragraph, he scrolled up and down and was unable to find out anything on the 'package'. Doing a search nothing came up. It was either purposely omitted or.
Closing his laptop he got up and looked over at Sarah. Leaning against the ledge and finishing the final sips of coffee. Chuck wondered why he didn't flash. Everything else about Sarah's missions up to this point was fair game, why not this one. And where did the rest of the file go – who were 'they' and where did this 'package' go?
Chuck looked up as the nurse from the other day came walking in holding a clear bag. Placing it on Sarah's table. She turned to face Chuck. "Here are her belongings that she had on her at the time of the blast."
Chuck walked up to the bag and thanked the nurse. Holding the bag in his hand he flipped the bag over to get a glimpse of what was in the bag. Unsealing the bag he took the items out one by one and placed them on the table. A pair of sunglasses with a broken arm, an apartment key - assumedly for the apartment she was staying at. Some loose change. A kit that contained a lock pick and other tools. A burnt cell phone, a piece of metal or plastic burnt pretty bad, another key. Some paper with some burnt edges that had some numbers on them. And finally her black leather jacket.
Returning them to the bag he held onto the phone and the key. Twirling the key in his fingers, he wondered what it opened. He flashed on the phone - nothing more than your typical burner phone. But maybe he could figure out who she was calling or who was calling her.
A small feeling overcame him as he sat down next to her. Did he really know her?
Casey had return taking on the grunt work as his personal duty. Plus he despised hospitals, and he wasn't one to sit around and share feely emotions. Therefore, Chuck let him be. Checking in frequently but not over staying his visit. He kept Chuck informed. Casey had found out that Sarah was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bombing was in retaliation for some governmental decision.
Casey looked at the bag. Then looked at Chuck. "Her belongings?"
"Yeah her jacket has seen better days."
Casey lifted the jacket off the table as it left the table he sensed that something was still in her jacket. Looking for her pocket. Chuck got up and as Casey held it. Chuck checked her pockets and came across a hidden pocket sewn in along the hem of the jacket. Casey took out his knife and gave it to Chuck. Chuck ripped the lining without ruining the jacket even more. Out fell something that looked like a transmitter or another phone. Bending down and picking it up. Still not sure what it was it exactly he swore it look just like the other phone he had just pulled out of the bag. Casey reached for it and examined it. Chuck looking to see if Casey had an explanation.
"Not sure what it is, maybe some communication device, it's not a phone?"
"CIA?"
"Maybe? Not saying it's not but it's not something I have seen."
Chuck took it from Casey, walked over to the chair, and sat down.
Staring at the device Casey said his goodbyes as Chuck acknowledged without saying a word. Looking back at the device it had some likeness to a sat phone but there was no way to hear or speak into - twisting and turning the device seemed daunting. Giving up for the time being. Chuck put the device into his jeans pocket. Glancing towards the table, he noticed the few files that Casey left. Grabbing them Chuck sighed deeply as he returned to his seat. The files seemed to be a start to answering some of his questions. Opening the first few pages. The name Ryker came up again. Maybe, this might be the paper trail, he needed. Chuck read Sarah's rough notes in each file and the more he read, he started to figure out her style of writing. It was indeed short hand, which allowed Chuck to flash and decode the page. The more he read the more it looked like a journal. Almost like Sarah's and Casey's video reports. If Sarah and Casey knew that, he knew that they reported every mission in video form things would be a whole lot different. Not that Chuck knew exactly what was being videoed taped but he had an idea.
Reading Sarah's words he got an insight to what happened to Sarah after she and Casey were supposed to come home after looking for a man named Volkoff. Sarah stated that Casey and her had signed off on the case and transferred everything to MI6. Sending Casey ahead she wanted to make sure that the hand over went smoothly. Sarah was going to meet Agent Cole again while she waited for her flight home. Meeting briefly, as he had to connect another flight to continue the hunt for Volkoff. He promised to report if anything changed and in exchange, MI6 wanted her to look into a few thing for them. Cole reported that MI6 had joined forces with Interpol on some cold cases. Sarah agreed to use her contacts back in DC. It was the least she could do for Cole for taking on this mission that she stated was the one that would never end. Reading on he noticed that Sarah had written his name on the side with a heart drawn around it. She was always full of surprises. Getting back to reading in between vital checks, bathrooms breaks and stretches which ended up with a coffee run or two. Cole's main objective was that he wanted Sarah's help to look into an incident that surprised him by having the name that Sarah had been associated with; the name was Ryker. Her handler.
Besides being Sarah's handler, from Coles Intel he had a sketchy past that seemed to follow and interfere with his missions in around the time that he was paired up with Sarah. MI6 believed that many of his captures were unnecessary and the other people he so called apprehended where never seen again.
Sarah never mentioned any of this behaviour. 'Maybe she didn't know about it.' Chuck thought.
Chuck continued with Coles file, which consisted of two names that he wanted Sarah to look into. Nathan and Amy LaFlemme. Two French scientist that created many patents involving genomes extraction. They were working on a top-secret experiment during the same time as Sarah and Ryker were in Budapest.

Chuck put down the file. The one person that could answer his questions now was unconscious. The second person that could answer his questions was either dead or hiding and by the looks of these files, he wasn't one to mess with. If Ryker was the who Sarah was looking into, what was she searching for and was it worth it.

Chuck grabbed Sarah's phone and grabbed his phone charger plugging it in. Waiting for some battery life, he was able to get Sarah's phone working. There was only one number on the phone, which made this phone a burner and untraceable. Chuck brought the number up and looking at the number it was clear that it was a number from United Kingdom. Dialling the number, he hoped that whoever was on the other end would have some answers for him.