Thank you for reading my story today. And please do review with your feedback afterwards which is always essential to the development of the story, good or bad, so long as it's respectful. PM's are also very welcome if you would like to discuss anything with me.
Time for some Bryce Larkin bashing this chapter, sadly. Bryce gets a lot of hate in Chuck fictions - I don't know why. Sarah was Bryce's girlfriend before Chuck. And he got him kicked out of Stanford to stop the CIA either turning him into a Lazlo type guy that would have been kept in a bunker for all of his life by the government, or a field agent. I don't know what Project Omaha was going to be so it could have been either scenario. Bryce is a good guy, and I've been guilty of a little Bryce bashing myself to be honest. In New Beginnings, I first had Bryce Larkin as an abusive boyfriend. After looking back on the story a few years later I changed it to Shaw because I realized eventually that Bryce isn't a douche. But sadly in this story, he is! I'll have to try and make him a good guy in my next stories that I do to make up for that, though in my future Medieval one if I ever get around to that one, he's also a bad guy!
I should make a new Chuck fanfiction slogan: LEAVE BRYCE LARKIN ALONE!
Note: Text in italic are flashbacks to what caused Chuck to be in the position that he is in, in the present day.
Chapter Two
South Kensington
London
United Kingdom
2007
It was now the morning after Chuck's explosive return to Sarah's life that if measured on the Richter scale, would be quite literally off the charts…
Sarah had woken first, though had she ever gone to sleep in the first place? There was so much going through Sarah's mind as she attempted to comprehend the fact that she thought she would never see Chuck ever again, only for him to turn up at her home looking like he'd gone fifty rounds with Mike Tyson!
And to say that Sarah got out of bed with a spring in her step this morning would be an absolute understatement. She flew out of bed like a rocket, well not literally… But almost.
Yawning away, Sarah headed straight for her bedroom door not realizing a big mistake she had just made, as Sarah followed the same routine that she'd done for her five years of living here so it was completely understandable to act and behave as she had done for so many consecutive years as she subconsciously behaved like she had no guest with her, which meant that what Sarah was wearing right now was one of several of her bed time nighties slash lingerie sets which were extremely revealing. Sarah wore them for comfortability and not for somebody specifically because it was already extremely warm outside even at this hour of the morning with it being one of the warmest June's on record. If Sarah ever had an early morning post delivery, she would NEVER open the door in her present attire and she would insist on putting on a dressing gown at the very minimum and even then she'd received ogling stares from delivery or postmen, not that she'd paid any attention to them in the first place though so she wouldn't have known the effect that she'd had on other people.
As Sarah left her bedroom her first thought was to check in on Chuck. One part of her brain knew that she wasn't dreaming, and Chuck the man of her dreams, the man she cherished and idolized was sleeping in the same house as her. The other half thought that she was dreaming. Was this all just one big dream? Sarah had to open the door to the room he was sleeping in just to check that sobering thought alone! And she did just that. Moving to the door, she opened it quietly, afraid to peep her head in just in-case it actually was some kind of sick dream, but when she did, she seen him under the duvet, still sleeping peacefully more than fifteen hours since she left him to sleep alone, which was the furthest thing she wanted as she wished nothing other than to stay in that bed with him. To soothe him... To comfort him... To love him… Sarah tried to shake those thoughts from her head, as Chuck was already going through enough without his best friend coming on to him, he'd had a traumatic couple of weeks and that might push him over the edge. Which would be bad for him, and bad for her as she may never see him again.
Shaking off all of those thoughts, Sarah continued into her spare room acting like a complete stranger and intruder inside her own home as she crept in tiptoeing like a burglar. Arriving at the edge of the bed which along with everything else in this particular room was fully IKEA'd, she spoke soft and lovingly "Chuck..." Sarah whispered but received no response or acknowledgement as he continued to sleep peacefully.
"Wake up Chuck," Sarah said as she continued to attempt to wake him and it took a few tries and a few soft rubs of her hand onto the duvet before she finally got a response from him...
Chuck was now beginning to wake up now, albeit very slowly. "Where am I?" Chuck managed to mumble out groggily as the daylight hurt his eyes and he found it very hard to open them and accustom himself to the daylight while being unaware of his surroundings as he moved a hand to his forehead trying to start his brain and shake off fatigue.
"You're with me Chuck, Sarah," Sarah replied as she spoke in that same soft, loving tone while sporting a very warm smile on her face as she said those words.
"Oh yeah, right. Hi," A sleepy Charles Irving Bartowski replied.
"Hi, how did you sleep?" Sarah asked with her hand still on the duvet as she talked to Chuck who still had his hand on his head and was looking up at the ceiling of the room and not at Sarah.
"Like a baby," Chuck said drowsily as he yawned and still felt in a tired state as if it wasn't enough sleep.
Sarah giggled sweetly, she couldn't help it. Chuck always was so unbelievably infectious to her.
Chuck had now began to sit his head up now so that he could look at the girl, or now more appropriately woman he'd known longer than anybody in his life who had given him safe shelter when he had nobody else left in the world to turn to.
He then turned his head to the right of him to look at Sarah and what a BIG mistake that was!
"Crikey!" Chuck exclaimed before putting a hand to cover his face to stop himself from gaping at his best friend.
A look of shock appeared on Sarah's face surprised at Chuck's outburst.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked completely unawares of anything that had happened for Chuck to react like that to her.
"Sarah, um, um, er, ah, uh." Chuck stammered and stuttered in response, unable to explain that he was looking at his best friend in a semi nude state in an extremely revealing nightie.
"Chuck, what's wrong?" Sarah asked more sternly this time.
"What you're wearing, Sarah," Chuck managed to say as he moved his hand away to look at her once more.
And then it hit her. "Oh!" Sarah replied as she darted her glance from Chuck to look at her body to study what she was wearing before immediately moving to put her hand to cover her mouth in embarrassment as her faced turned beet red. "Um, I'll just go and ah, uh, put some clothes on!" Sarah said while pointing at the door before running out of the room.
Chuck couldn't help but gape and watch her run and his eyes were glued to his best friend and they should not be, she was his best friend but he couldn't help it. She looked more beautiful and deadly than anybody he had ever seen before in his life. Awkward… So freaking awkward… Chuck thought to himself…
When Chuck next saw Sarah, she was now dressing gowned up wearing matching slippers and the truth was that it still wasn't that much better for Chuck as his best friend still looked highly attractive, her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and her golden legs on show. Chuck had been completely unable to start his brain in the twenty minutes since seeing his longest serving friend in a semi nude state. She was the most perfect thing that he had ever seen! This woman had aged SO well!
"How do you drink your tea Chuck?" Sarah asked as she interrupted Chuck's thoughts as the young pair sat in Sarah's dining room together.
"Laced," Chuck responded instantly with no train of thought to his words, as he was still thinking about the encounter with his best friend and how she had woken him.
"I beg your pardon?" Sarah responded in a confused state not grasping context of the response.
Chuck immediately snapped out of his thoughts in extreme embarrassment. "Sorry, Sarah! I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing or saying this morning," Chuck replied laughingly as his hand shot to his heart apologetically.
"Ok..." Sarah laughed back awkwardly.
'He's acting very strangely.' Sarah thought to herself, not knowing the effect that she had, had on him.
Forty minutes later
Sarah and Chuck were now finishing eating breakfast together and were catching up and were locked away in conversation…
"Wow, you should watch your weight," Sarah joked to Chuck on seeing how much he'd just eaten for breakfast.
"Sarah, I've been on the run for like a week," Chuck replied in defence of his astronomical appetite.
"Like that makes it better! I'll have to make you come running with me. I usually go running most mornings," Sarah replied with a warm smile while holding her warm coffee mug in her hands.
"No thanks, I've been through enough torture already!" Chuck jokes causing Sarah to laugh with him.
"Sarah, I don't think I ever did ask you why you joined the Police after graduating from Oxford. I thought you always wanted a career in the courts?"
"I wanted something more adventurous. My life was already boring and dull and I wanted a job where I could live a little," Sarah replied while taking sips of her coffee in her dining room.
"Do you regret it? Or was it the right decision?" Chuck replied while also doing the same actions as Sarah and drinking from his mug.
"No, I love it. It's the only thing I've got," Sarah replied despondently as her head stooped briefly in resignation.
Chuck noticed Sarah was unhappy and he didn't know how to respond to it. "As long as you're happy," He said glumly.
'I'm not happy without you.' Sarah thought to herself on hearing his response as she looked into his eyes.
"I'm sorry that bitch and your friend did that to you Chuck," Sarah said venomously as she changed the topic to something else. Sarah has been feeling livid ever since yesterday on hearing how Chuck had been treated by his former girlfriend and friend. Sarah would never in a billion years treat anybody as loving as Chuck as he has been treated if she was lucky enough to be with him, she'd cherish and worship him endlessly.
"Sarah, I was too trusting. How could I have been so stupid? I got played big time by them all right. They took everything. I have nothing left..." Chuck replied in a strong tone of despondence.
"Chuck, they just took advantage of you. Many women would kill to have a man as nice and as loving as you and I know you probably won't believe that but I can assure you that it's true. You will find somebody one day that will cherish you and treat you as you deserve and you don't have nothing left. You have me," Sarah stated powerfully as the two young adults exchanged eye contact with one another as they drunk coffee. "But now we need to go to the Police Station and get you the help you need now. I had better go and start getting myself ready," Sarah said as she began to stand up from where she was seated.
"Okay, I'll wait," Chuck replies and Sarah nods her head before walking to her dining room door slightly but stopping because Chuck was talking again, "Oh hey Sarah do you think I could use a shower?" Chuck asked as he felt quite dirty and embarrassed over his present state of disarray.
Sarah stopped and turned back around to face Chuck once more, before replying "Chuck, my home is your home. You can do whatever you like in it. You of all people don't even need to ask. There's one in the room you slept in," Sarah stated warmly.
"Oh ok, thank you Sarah," Chuck says sincerely.
"I wish I had clean clothing I could provide you with but sadly I don't unless you want one of my dresses?" Sarah says before beginning to laugh at her own joke.
Chuck joins in laughing with Sarah, before responding "I think I will pass thank you."
"Are you sure? You looked good with my makeup yesterday," Sarah quirks jokingly.
"If you tell anybody about that Sarah, I'll deny it then kill you," Chuck laughs out to her.
"It will be our little secret then," Sarah replied as she smirked.
"Our secret," Chuck agreed.
Sarah giggled sweetly on hearing his response.
"I'll see you soon."
"Ok," Replied Chuck, before the two young adults began to depart to do different things inside Sarah's home...
Chuck and Sarah were now inside Sarah's car after taking an hour to get ready. Sarah was dressed in one of several of her business suits with her hair tied back and Chuck had showered but sadly did not have any clean attire.
The brief silence in the journey thus far was interrupted by Chuck speaking "Hey Sarah, so um do you have flashing blue lights in this?" Chuck asked as he surveyed around Sarah's car to look for the intended item.
"Oh, you big kid!" Sarah laughed as she glanced to her left to look at him briefly.
"What can I say?" Chuck replied humorously.
"Never change, Chuck. Never change," Sarah replied with an enormous grin while glancing at him again briefly.
"I don't intend to," Chuck said confidently while waggling his eyebrows at her causing Sarah to nudge into him briefly.
"Ow, that hurt," Chuck stated in response to Sarah's physical action.
"Baby," Sarah retorted.
"So, do you have them?" Chuck asked eventually after a few more seconds of silence.
"Yes, but I'm not showing you because I'd get in trouble," Sarah replies to Chuck's question.
"Ok, then I'll have to do it myself," Chuck says before immediately then beginning to imitate the sound of police sirens.
Sarah immediately began bursting into laughter, before swatting his arm with her own.
"Ow," Replied Chuck in a deja vu moment.
"Don't be a baby. I barely touched you," Sarah laughed out with great satisfaction.
"Oh yeah? Then what's this feeling I have here?" Chuck replied as he pointed to his right arm with his left.
"It will be worse in a minute," Sarah warned as she glanced at Chuck once more.
"Shutting up now..." Replied Chuck as he zipped his lips shut.
"Good boy," Sarah agreed.
"I'm not a boy, if you hadn't noticed I'm a man now," Chuck stated proudly.
"No, you're still a boy," Sarah joked back.
"Ok, stop this car right now missy and let me out. We're not friends any more," Chuck stated offendedly.
"No, I won't. Consider yourself kidnapped," Sarah responded laughingly.
"Some police officer you are. Tell me Sarah, do you always break the law?"
"Only with you Chuck," Sarah replied with a smirk as she then moved to affectionately touch his arm...
New Scotland Yard
Central London
Sarah and Chuck had just arrived at Sarah's place of work.
"So, here we are," Sarah stated on parking her unmarked police service vehicle.
Chuck by now was feeling incredibly nervous on being minutes away from telling his story to law enforcement. Sarah noticed this of course and soothingly rubs his arm "Don't worry Chuck. Just tell them the whole truth and everything that you told me, you'll be fine. Ok?" Sarah said reassuringly to the most important person in her life.
"Ok, let's go," Chuck responded after being convinced and motivated by Sarah that everything would be ok. Sarah and Chuck then exited her vehicle and begin to walk toward the entrance to Scotland Yard. Entering reception a few minutes later, Sarah shows her identification to the desk sergeant on duty situated in the reception. "Good morning, ma'am." the Duty Sergeant said to Sarah.
"Good morning. This visitor is also with me," Sarah replied while glancing at Chuck. The duty sergeant then turned her glance to Chuck and took a long moment to study him before looking back to Sarah. "He'll need to sign in ma'am," the duty sergeant replied before shifting her glance at the visitors log. Chuck then proceeded to sign himself in as a guest of the building, and then Sarah led Chuck through the building. Sarah was taking Chuck to an interview room on the floor that she worked on as a plain-clothes CID (criminal investigation department) officer which was on the second floor, though the department that would almost certainly be responsible for the required police work with Chuck would be the Counter-Terrorism Command department, to which Sarah was not part of. But she did know a few of the officers in there, as did her friend Carina so she had necessary contacts if required but she was sure it wouldn't be required, as she would turn to her boss Detective Chief Superintendent Williams for help firstly.
Sarah and Chuck had now arrived on the floor that she works on and Sarah began to lead Chuck towards the two interview rooms on the floor when suddenly, a familiar face headed straight for them.
"Hey, Sarah!"
Sarah paused to look in the direction of the voice of Detective Constable Carina Miller her best friend and sometimes very annoying pest.
"Wait right here Chuck. I'll be right back, ok?" Sarah asked him, as she was unwilling to introduce him to Carina as Carina knew who Chuck was to Sarah and so she wanted to speak to her alone.
"Ok." Chuck replied.
Sarah then walked away from Chuck and over to Carina.
"Carina, hi," Sarah said reluctantly as her only priority right now was getting Chuck help. Nothing or nobody else mattered to her.
"Why didn't you answer your phone last night? I tried calling you to get you to come out with a couple of guys," Carina said as she tried to engage in conversation with her best friend.
"I was occupied," Sarah stated flatly.
Carina scoffed before replying, "You, occupied? You barely leave home."
"Well I was, so there. I don't really have time to chat right now, I'm kind of busy," Sarah replied as she began to get a little frustrated.
"Who's that over there that you was just with?" Carina asked inquisitively.
"A friend of mine. He has some information," Sarah retorted passively hoping that Carina would drop the conversation and leave her alone for now.
Not satisfied, Carina pressed on, "Which friend?"
"None of your business," Sarah stated with venom.
Suddenly, Carina began to walk away from Sarah and straight towards Chuck.
"Carina, where are you going?" Sarah asked as she raced right after her.
But Carina had already walked over towards Chuck and had now arrived within touching distance of him.
"Hey, I'm DC Miller, but my friends call me Carina," Carina said as she introduced herself to Chuck.
"Hey, I'm Chuck, Chuck Bartowski a friend of Sarah's," Chuck said to Carina with a warm smile.
Carina took a moment to register what he had said, "Oh, hey Chuckles! I've heard so much about you! You're Sarah's childhood best friend and crush, right?" Carina said with a huge smile to Chuck.
"Am I?" Chuck asked nervously as he rotated his glance between Carina and Sarah as Chuck and Sarah immediately went crimson red and Sarah glared daggers at Carina.
Sarah inside her head was thinking how she could kill Carina right now. Strangulation was her preferred method at this exact moment.
"Carina, piss off," Sarah demanded venomously.
Carina ignored her friend, and continued her conversation with Chuck with a smirk on her face, "So Chuckles, why are you here? Have you been a bad boy?"
"None of your business!" Sarah replied and before Chuck had a chance to speak she then grabbed Chuck's arm and took him into Interview Room Two.
"Wait here Chuck. I'll be back soon, ok?" Sarah said to Chuck as she smiled warmly at him and waited for a response.
"Ok, Sarah," Chuck responded and smiled back at her.
Sarah then left the interview room with Carina still stood out in the hallway.
"Are you still here?" Sarah asked with distaste to her best friend.
"Don't worry Sarah, I'll keep Chuckles company," Carina stated cheerfully as she then watched Sarah glare menacingly at her before Sarah then began to reluctantly walk away before Carina then proceeded to walk into Interview Room Two to find out more about her friends best friend and crush.
"So, Chuckles… Tell me all about yourself. I want to know all about the man that is my best friend's crush..."
Sarah paced along the corridor to find her supervisor, and on arriving outside the door of Detective Chief Superintendent Ken Williams, she didn't even bother to knock and waltzed right inside.
"Sir, you need to hear this!" Sarah exclaimed to her boss on arriving inside.
"Have you ever heard of knocking, DS Walker?!" Her boss stated unpleasantly with distaste on his best detective charging into his office.
"I'm sorry, sir," Sarah replied unapologetically as she was extremely worked up right now and protocol was the furthest thing from being at the front of her mind.
"You had better have a good reason for waltzing right in here," Chief Superintendent Williams stated to Sarah.
"I do sir, it's something absolutely massive. Trust me, you need to hear what this walk in who I went to school with has to say right now. It's a matter of national and overseas security and we'll also need a liaison and representative from SO15 present!" Sarah exclaimed to her boss in her worked up state.
Suddenly, the Chief Super's face turned deadly serious.
"Ok, you've convinced me. What is it?…"
Ten minutes later
"Ok, DS Walker, I'll get in touch with counter-terror command right away and alert them to this immediately. I'll have someone sent down right away to liaise with you."
Sarah nodded her head and Chief Super Williams continued, "Which room?" he asked Sarah.
"He's in interview room two sir," Sarah replied to her boss.
"Ok, I'll make the necessary arrangements and join you shortly..."
Twenty minutes later
A representative of Counter Terrorism Command had now arrived down on the floor of CID to listen to the interview.
"You're telling me that this guy has access to United States Nuclear Transportation information?" The Counter Terror officer said dumbfounded to Sarah as he took in Chuck's state of disarray behind the interview room screen.
Sarah glared at him distastefully for his comments about Chuck and wanted nothing more than to hit him before replying, "Listen to what he has to say," Sarah said with a bit of malice in her tone to her police colleague.
The three police officers then enter the interview room that Chuck was inside and they all moved to sit down to begin the interview.
"Are you ready to start chuck?" Sarah asked him as she sported him a warm affectionate smile.
"Yeah…" Chuck agreed and nodded his head.
"For the tape, interview of one Charles Irving Bartowski with DS Walker CID, Chief Superintendent Williams CID, DS Wilkinson Counter-Terror." Sarah said into the tape recording.
"Ok Chuck, tell us what happened." Sarah said to the most important person in her life as she smiled affectionately at him once more.
"It all started when I met a douchebag called Bryce Larkin..."
Stanford University
1999
Chuck Bartowski was presently sitting on a bench on campus in Stanford University as he read through a Scientific Engineering C++ book.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by a guy holding a football.
"It's pretty brutal huh?"
Chuck looked between the book and the guy with the football before replying, "Oh yeah. Yeah, only reason I signed up was 'cause I'm building my own version of uh." Chuck paused to cough nervously. "It's kind of embarrassing actually."
"What?" The guy with the football replied.
"You don't remember that old computer game Zork, do you?" Chuck replied.
"You are likely to be eaten by a Grue."
"Holy crap you do remember Zork!" Chuck stated astonishingly.
"Yeah, I loved that game. I mean I haven't thought about it in a while."
"It's probably a good thing," Chuck admitted.
"I disagree. It's 1999. Next millennium belongs to the geek."
"I'm Chuck by the way."
"Bryce, nice to meet you..."
Present Day
"He later introduced me to a girl called Jill Roberts…"
'Bitch!' Sarah cursed to herself.
Stanford University
2000
"Hey Chuck, I met this girl that I'm sure you would really like to meet."
"Oh?" Chuck replied to his college friend Bryce.
"Yeah. A proper geek. She plays EverQuest and all kinds."
"What? No way! Really?" Chuck replied gobsmacked.
"Yeah, I think she even plays Zork." Bryce replied.
"I would very much like to meet her," Chuck laughed.
"I'll take you to meet her now. Let's go..."
"Great," Replied Chuck, as he followed his college friend Bryce Larkin...
Present Day
"We dated for a while and things went very well. Myself and Bryce even started our own business together..."
Stanford University
2003
"Well… Here's to a very successful business together, Chuck." Bryce stated to his friend and new business partner as they officially just launched their computer software company together.
"You two are going to be so successful." Jill stated as the three friends celebrated the launching of Chuck and Bryce's business.
Present Day
"Is all of this relevant?" DS Wilkinson asked tiresomely as he was a very busy man and had many duties to attend to.
Sarah smirked as she was enjoying her best-friend's excessively long storytelling.
"I'm getting there!" Chuck replied before continuing with his story, "They stole money from me in 2005 and fleeced me of everything that I had and then they both relocated together and ran off leaving me broke.. I lost my business and got a job in the Buy More. I needed the money for bills and to pay the mortgage on my home..."
Buy More
2005
Chuck had just arrived inside the Buy More in Burbank. He heard that they were hiring for the Nerd Herd and he needed the money and employment urgently. He had spoken to somebody called Big Mike and was told to come to the store today over the job posting he had came across.
Chuck walked over to the desk of the Nerd Herd to find somebody that could direct him to this person called Big Mike.
"Hey guys, I'm looking for someone. Could you help me?" Chuck asked to a short Indian guy and a bald guy that looked like Sam Kinison.
"Hello?" Chuck asked after a few seconds after being completely ignored by the two guys in white shirts who were engaged in a heated conversation with each other.
"Sorry, excuse them. That's Jeff and Lester, and they're in deep discussion over how many twinkies the bald one ate yesterday," a guy with a beard jokes as he walked up to the proximity of Chuck.
"Ok." Chuck laughed weirdly as he quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm Morgan," the bearded guy said to Chuck.
"I'm Chuck." Chuck replied as he nodded his head at Morgan.
"How can I help you man?" Morgan replied.
"I'm looking for Big Mike, about a job," Chuck replied.
"You sound British. You're pretty far away from home to be looking for a job?" Morgan replied jokingly.
"Yeah..." Chuck agreed dejectedly.
"Right this way. Follow me…" Morgan said to Chuck.
Present Day
"But then I eventually lost my job and I was about to lose my home and become homeless, which I now am..."
Buy More
2007
Chuck had just arrived inside Big Mike's office. "Bartowski, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to let you go. They are closing the store. The deal with subway fell apart and we have to get rid of all of our staff. I'm sorry Bartowski," Big Mike said sincerely to his best worker.
"It's not your fault. Thank you for giving me a job for the past two years," Chuck replied dejectedly as he then departed the store with his best friend Morgan, both of them now jobless like the rest of the Buy More staff.
"It's not as bad as it looks, Chuck." Morgan said in an upbeat tone.
"Morgan, how could it be any worse? I don't know what I'm going to do... I'm about to be homeless…" Chuck replied with his head in his hands.
Present Day
"I turned to computer hacking for money, just to pay my bills. I had nothing left and I was desperate. Back in college my alias online was the Piranha... I really needed the money. I was subsequently contacted online, and was offered a substantial payment of cash in exchange for me hacking into the Department of Defence. I was desperate, and about to be homeless so I agreed to the proposal. I was told not to look at the information that I obtained, otherwise I would not be paid or worse. I was threatened and intimidated… But I looked at the information..."
Chuck paused nervously and looked at Sarah for help and she smiled lovingly at him which encouraged him to continue as he knew she would protect him.
"It turned out the information that I had obtained by hacking into the DOD was nuclear convoy routes that are used to transport nuclear materials around the United States. I swear I didn't know or I would have never done it!" Chuck stated as he began to panic erratically and worked himself up into an absolute frenzy on seeing Chief Superintendent Williams and DS Wilkinson's eyes light up.
Sarah so desperately wanted to run to the other side of the desk and embrace and comfort him through his present crisis.
"Do they have the information?" DS Wilkinson asked Chuck with a very serious and extremely worried look on his face.
"No! Never!" Chuck stated vehemently, before continuing, "I panicked and I went silent as soon as I opened the information I had hacked on realizing what it was and how extremely dangerous it was!" Chuck stated truthfully before continuing further, "That's when they appeared and began following and threatening me and they told me that there is no where I could run and they said they could find me anywhere I went. They even told me they had connections in Britain as they knew I was from here." Chuck paused for another moment, before continuing, "They told me I had a week to hand over the information that I had hacked and if I didn't give them it they would kill me. Then an explosion in my apartment happened not long after and my best friend died in it. We were coming home to collect something..."
Echo Park
2007
"Morgan, I don't really want to go in there man. It just reminds me of everything that has happened and what I've lost..." Chuck said dejectedly to his best friend as they stood outside his home that Chuck was about to lose in a matter of days.
"I get that buddy. I'll go in and just collect what we need," Morgan offers and Chuck nodded his head in acceptance.
"We'll work through this buddy. We'll find new jobs. And we'll be room-mates," Morgan said as he tried to lift his best friend's spirits.
Chuck breathed out a deep dejected sigh as he stood yards away from his front door and Morgan continued on and opened the door when suddenly, an almighty explosion occurred inside Chuck's home. The blast sent Chuck flying backwards and he blacked out and lost consciousness...
Present Day
Chuck had to wipe the tears from his eyes as he painfully recalled how Morgan had died when he had opened the door to Chuck's home. Sarah once more wanted to run around the desk to him and console him lovingly but she had to remain professional as a police officer. She had already comforted him for an hour yesterday when he had first told this story to her.
"What caused the explosion?" Chief Superintendent Williams asked Chuck in a concerned tone of voice.
"I was told by the FBI who had visited me in hospital that they had found explosives that had been traced to a black-market sale. I was officially ruled out as a suspect because the investigation determined that I was the intended target. At the time of me leaving the USA, they had still not identified the perpetrators. I was still in the hospital recovering and a doctor had also broke the news to me that Morgan had died in the explosion and that's when I seen that same person again once more who had threatened me previously. He was at the hospital. That is when I then panicked and fled the country. I had no money as I was broke so I used Morgan's credit card to get here and that is everything that has happened to me in my pathetic miserable life."
Chuck finished as he began to sob and it broke Sarah's heart as she felt her own eyes glossy on seeing the mental trauma that the man she loves is experiencing.
Chief Superintendent Williams and Detective Sergeant Wilkinson both breathed out enormous deep sighs because of what they had just heard. What Chuck had just revealed to them was quite literally mind-blowing. A nuclear terrorist plot. Police work could not get any bigger than that! They took a moment to collect and gather their thoughts. Sarah once more smiled warmly and affectionately at Chuck as she sat opposite him.
"You've very brave, Chuck," Sarah declared to him and Chuck smiled weakly at her.
"Do you possess that information that you obtained through the hacking?" DS Wilkinson asked Chuck.
"Yes, it's right here on this," Chuck replied as he shows the USB flash drive in his hand.
"We need to secure it immediately," DS Wilkinson stated in an extremely concerned tone of voice to Chuck.
"Absolutely," Chuck agreed and he placed it on the desk.
"For the tape, Chuck Bartowski has just surrendered the extremely sensitive information that he possesses and is fully cooperating with the investigation," Sarah stated as she smiled affectionately at Chuck once more.
"Will I get in trouble here?" Chuck asked nervously as he glanced at the three police officers sitting opposite him.
"You didn't commit an offence in this country. But if you return to the United States you will be in deep trouble. And they might even request your extradition," Chief Superintendent Williams declared truthfully to Chuck.
Sarah interjected in defence of the man she loves, "I have known this man my whole life and he is not a bad person. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body and he would never hurt anybody. He is a British citizen that is cooperating fully. He was threatened with murder and he was coerced and he just made a very bad mistake. He had lost his business and he was about to lose his home and he was not thinking straight or rationally." Sarah paused and Chuck smiled at her, which she returned once more before continuing, "As an attempt has already been made on his life, and as he has been in contact and unknowingly connected with a terrorist cell, who have told him they have connections in the U.K., he needs witness protection." Sarah demanded as she glanced at the two other police officers in the room and they nod their heads in complete agreement with their colleague.
"I will only work with Sarah," Chuck stated suddenly which caused the two male police officers to frown their eyebrows.
"It's a Counter-Terror investigation. DS Walker is not a terrorism detective," DS Wilkinson responded to Chuck.
"Tough. No Sarah, no more cooperation," Chuck warned with a resilient tone of voice.
"We can second her to you as a special liaison between the witness and the departments necessary," Chief Superintendent Williams interjected and offered which caused Sarah to nod her head in complete agreement while feeling extremely thankful inside for what her boss just did for Chuck and herself.
"Very well. I'll see what I can do. Wait here," DS Wilkinson said as he then stood up and departed the interview room.
"I'll be in my office if you need me DS Walker. I'll give you two some privacy now," Chief Superintendent Williams stated to Sarah.
"Thank you, sir," Sarah replied, as the Chief Superintendent then departed the room leaving just Sarah and Chuck alone.
As soon as they were alone, Sarah took Chuck's hand with her own and smiled affectionately at him.
"How did I do? Chuck asked nervously.
"You were amazing. I'm so proud of you," Sarah stated with a sparkle in her eye as she gazed affectionately at him.
"What happens now?" Chuck asked anxiously.
"You'll go into witness protection. We'll protect you until those people who coerced and threatened you have been dealt with. The investigators in counter-terror will be liaising with officials in the U.S," Sarah replied.
"Will I see you?" Chuck asked as he made eye contact with her.
"Of course. A special liaison essentially means that I'll be liaising twenty-four seven between yourself and counter-terrorism officers, as well as witness protection and also firearms officers," Sarah revealed to Chuck.
"Guns? I didn't think our police used them here other than when absolutely necessary?" Chuck asked Sarah.
"Chuck, you're part of a terrorist plot in where they have attempted to acquire access to nuclear information. I won't take any chance with your safety. It comes before everything. I will be arranging twenty-four seven armed protection for you. Trust me." Sarah said with more conviction attached to her words than she had ever used in her life.
"I do." Chuck replied immediately as they then began to play around with each others hand that they were holding onto inside the police interview room...
End of Chapter.
Please review, thank you.
In the next chapter, Sarah is assigned as special liaison between Chuck and the respective police departments necessary to carry out the investigation and to protect him.
