A/N Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

"Bartowski?"

"You have no idea what your brother can do."

"He has no regrets."

"Because you're his daughter."

"My father?" Ellie looked ready to laugh or cry. "My dad is Orion? You're telling me Stephen J. Bartowski is a government scientist?"

"Oh, God no," muttered Beckman vehemently.

"But–"

Casey spoke up. "I think what she means, Ellie, is that your father was a government scientist, not that he is one."

"Your father, El?" asked Devon, remembering the twitchy little man he'd only met a few times. "That nice old guy?"

"That 'nice old guy'," said Beckman, as if the words tasted bad, "Has been a thorn in the government's side, and my own, for years now. He brought far too much baggage to the project, and only the fact that it brought Chuck to the project as well has made any of the agony worth it."

"You mean Fulcrum, ma'am?"

"No, Casey," said Sarah. "I think she means Ted Roarke."

"That psycho," sneered Casey.

"'Roarke Industries' Ted Roarke?" asked Ellie. Chuck loved those computers.

"The very same," said Beckman. "He founded his company and made his fortune, based on ideas he stole from your father. He was also the founder of Fulcrum, a secret group of rogue agents within the CIA. Agent Larkin stole the Intersect to keep it away from them."

"Talk about a one-trick pony," muttered Casey. "Guy couldn't do anything except steal from other people."

"So Dad went to work for you to get away from him?" And then when Roarke followed him into the CIA he disappeared completely.

"I wish I could say I knew," said Beckman, "But your father's motivations were never clear. The evidence says otherwise, since he's gone back into hiding, even though Fulcrum has been destroyed, and Roarke himself is dead."

"Dead?" Oh, poor Chuck. The guy was his hero.

"Killed in custody," said Casey. His custody. By a guy he'd trusted.

Following the news was not a priority on a honeymoon. "By who?"

"That's what we need Chuck to find out," said Beckman.

"Bryce mentioned a group called the Ring before he died," said Sarah. "They were cleaning up loose ends."

That math didn't add up. "Wait. Bryce died two years ago."

"Not enough," growled Casey. A guy he'd shot, who lived. Something wrong with that.

Devon caught it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," said Beckman, "That Agent Larkin was revived in the ambulance by a Fulcrum team, which thought he had the Intersect. We intercepted his body in transit, and he went back to work for us, deep undercover."

All Fulcrum's fault. "Can't get much deeper than dead."

"He was at your wedding, Ellie," said Sarah. "I was supposed to go with him, when they put the Intersect into him, but I changed my mind. Or really, I couldn't change my mind. I couldn't leave Chuck."

I know that, but.. "I don't understand," said Ellie. "Why would you have had to leave? Chuck still needed you, didn't he?"

Sarah smiled. Yes, but not for that. "Not as a bodyguard. Once Roarke learned about you two, he forced Orion to build a new Intersect, but your father tricked him. Instead of putting the data in, he built one to take the data out. Chuck was free of it. With no secrets in his head, there was nothing he needed me to protect."

So untrue. "Just his heart!"

Sarah raised her hand again. wiggling her ring finger.

"The CIA had built another Intersect computer," said Beckman, "Modified somehow, and Agent Larkin was supposed to receive the upload that same night. But the Ring was there instead, and Agent Larkin was killed before he could get it."

"So now the Ring has it?" What was Chuck supposed to do about a government conspiracy?

"Fortunately not. Agent Walker–at the time–went to Agent Larkin's assistance, with Colonel Casey, and Chuck followed."

"What?" Why?

"Because he's Chuck," said the General, seeing the real question in her eyes. "Your brother, faster than lightspeed."

Casey groaned. He'd never live that down.

"While Sarah and Casey were pinned down by the Ring, and eventually captured, your brother figured out how to get into the Intersect Room where Agent Larkin was safe, but dying. He gave Chuck a device to destroy the Intersect forever."

Destroy a computer? "He didn't, did he?"

Beckman shook her head. "Over the last two years, he'd seen the danger, he knew the odds."

"More important, he knew the odds against us," said Casey.

"He uploaded it again, didn't he?" asked Ellie, not really a question. "Why would he do that? What could the secrets in his head do to save you?"

"We think…I think he meant to use himself as a bargaining chip," said Sarah. "He was going to give himself up to save us."

"Did it work?"

"No," said Casey. "This group is more ruthless than Fulcrum, they would have cut their losses, eliminated all of us, except…"

"Except what?"

"Except Chuck," said Sarah. "The modifications to the Intersect were skill sets, to give the user abilities he didn't have to learn."

"Suddenly Chuck knew kung fu, and took out all the bad guys single-handed."

"Ouch," said Devon. They probably didn't give Chuck time to stretch first, not that he ever stretched.

"Yeah, that's what he said," said Sarah. "Our entire honeymoon, he was taking hot soaks every night. Fortunately I also know techniques of therapeutic massage."

"Yeah, you wouldn't want him to stiffen up," said Devon.

"No, Doctor Woodcombe, that's true," said Beckman quickly, as jaws dropped all around. "Thank you for your expert medical opinion. You'll be pleased to know that Sarah's task at the moment is to improve Chuck's stamina and conditioning, for exactly that reason. Isn't that right, Sarah?"

"Uh…yes, general, that's exactly right. Chuck has a lot of skills I, I mean, we haven't checked out yet. I'd, that is, we'd hate to accidentally hurt him."

Devon sipped his coffee, nodding his agreement with that approach. "Doctor's first rule. Do no harm, or as we used to say at UCLA, 'don't sideline when you baseline.'"

Casey grunted his approval. "Good rule." He'd seen more than enough training accidents in his day.

"Once you two get to DC, Ellie, you'll oversee a systematic study of the skill sets," said Beckman. When Ellie nodded, she continued, "And the other training, Agent Bartowski?"

Sarah stopped smiling. "As ordered, General."

"What 'other training', General?" asked Ellie suspiciously.

Beckman frowned at Sarah, who frowned back. Finally she turned to her involuntary hostess. "Before your wedding, after the Intersect had been removed from Mr. Bartowski, I extended an offer for him to continue working with us, in an analytical position, but he refused."

Sarah gasped, drawing Ellie's attention as she seemed to sink in on herself. "What's the matter, Sarah?"

"It's all my fault." Sarah looked up at Ellie. "It wasn't Bryce, it was me."

"What was you?"

"He said he was leaving ," said Sarah, tears starting to fall. "He said he was leaving and he wanted me to leave with him, but I was scared and said I was going with Bryce and that was exactly the wrong thing to say and exactly the wrong way to say it–"

"Breathe, Sarah!" commanded Ellie. She waited until Sarah stopped crying. "When was this?"

Sarah stared down at something. "The night before the wedding."

"But you decided to stay?"

Sarah nodded, still looking down. "At the beach. You looked so happy, he looked so proud…"

Proud? "Didn't you tell him?"

"I was about to, we were dancing, but then Orion came up and said the Ring had Bryce and…and I…had to go after them." After Bryce. Again.

"He went after you, didn't he? Not Bryce."

Sarah nodded.

"You think he uploaded the Intersect again for you? Re-enslaved himself for you?"

Sarah kept nodding.

"Do you love him?" Ellie took the deer-in-headlights look for a yes. "Then you know what you have to do, don't you?"

What Sarah had to do, apparently, was to run away from the monitor without even so much as a by-your-leave to her commanding officer. Who looked unhappy, but not about Sarah.

"I wouldn't call it enslavement, exactly."

Ellie rounded on her, and this time even the General flinched. "Was he asked? Was he given a choice?" she hissed. "Was he even paid?"

"Yes," said Beckman, glad there was one question in there she could say 'yes' to. "Eventually. He paid for your wedding with it."

"He what?"

"Ted Roarke invaded the church at your wedding. He demanded Chuck bring him the Intersect or he'd kill you."

Casey weighed in. "Chuck did what he had to do, to save you, protect the Intersect, and capture Roarke, all in one fell swoop. You can see why the General wants him working for us. Of course, the church was a little worse for the wear…"

He said he forgot my rings. "I don't care," said Ellie, "I wanted the beach wedding anyway."

"And Chuck knew that," said Beckman, trying to sound a more positive note. "He used his compensation to make your dreams a reality, with a little Marine Corps assistance."

Casey gave a happy little rumble. Good times.

"You chose some very nice flowers," said Ellie.

Not him. Miles chose the flowers. The man had good taste, even if he was a traitor. Casey didn't show her that part. "Thank you."

Thank you. Colonel John Casey was saying that. To her. She should be saying that, to all of them. They had protected her brother, while he'd turned a year and more of unwilling service, danger, and foolish heroics into the afternoon of her dreams. A lifetime…She stood, eyes tearing, mumbling 'excuse me' as she fled the room by memory.

"Babe?" Devon stood and followed.

Beckman checked her watch again, making a small 'hmp' of approval.

Casey was fluent in grunt. "Yeah, I thought she'd crack half an hour ago. Good thing she's a civilian, otherwise she'd be after my job."

"Your job?" asked Beckman.

Movement on the monitor drew their attention, as Sarah came back. Her eyes were puffy and a bit red, but the rest of her face was under control. She looked a bit surprised at the empty spaces, but not enough to forget protocol. "My apologies for leaving so suddenly, General. Where are Ellie and Awesome?"

Having heard the man speak for five minutes, Beckman fully understood the nickname. "We told her about Chuck's sacrifice for her wedding. She had much the same reaction you did." What was it about that…that…that Chuck?

Sarah smiled. "She's crying in her bedroom, isn't she?"

Casey didn't make a show of being disgusted this time. "Sounds like it."

"Good," said Sarah, visibly relieved. "I was wondering when it would all hit her, should have known it would have something to do with Chuck."

"Speaking of your husband, Agent Bartowski," said Beckman sternly. "I thought I made it quite clear that you were to do everything in your power to get him to accept agent's training in Prague."

Fortunately Sarah the wife had told him in no uncertain terms to reject any such offer, long before Sarah the spy had received that order. "He refuses, ma'am, but we are developing our team dynamic. He picked up the finger signals right away-" she wiggled her fingers 1-2-3-4 "-and we've been building from there."

Beckman took what she could get. "Good. Agent or not, we need him on the team."

"Don't worry about that, General," said Casey. "There's no better team player than Chuck Bartowski."

"You got that right," said Ellie, coming slowly back into the room. "Sorry about running off like that."

"Nonsense," said Beckman, as the couple came back to the couch and sat. Ellie waved to Sarah, and Sarah waved back, but didn't interrupt. "We were all quite impressed that you managed to hold yourself together as long as you did. I have a position open on my staff, if you ever care to join up."

Ellie looked grateful for the offer, but…"No, thank you, General. I'm a doctor, not a soldier. I don't do weapons."

Beckman gave her a long, somewhat sad, look. "That, doctor, is where you're wrong. That's why we need you."

Ellie looked ready to argue, but all she finally said was, "Which part?"

"I don't understand the question."

Not everyone had Ellie's logical mind. "You said I was wrong, what was I wrong about?"

Beckman shot a glance to Casey, part of their own team dynamic, and he responded. "The skill sets are weapons, Ellie. Chuck may not be a soldier, but he has the weapons, and he needs to learn how to control them."

The General took it from there. "When we learned that the skills had successfully manifested in Chuck that first night, we offered him training in one of our European facilities, but he's refused all our efforts to persuade him so far."

I'll bet he has. And what 'other training' has Sarah been doing? "I hope you're not expecting me to join your recruitment effort."

Crap. "No, Doctor, but in the absence of such training, we need you to study the skills and help him learn to control them in other ways."

Ellie nodded. "Now that I can do, but just to be clear, General, I'm joining this team for Chuck's sake, not yours."

So long as you join it. A vast future opened up before her, now that these two extraordinary people were on board, and General Beckman was suddenly aware of all the things she had to do to protect that future. She didn't hide her sigh of relief, knowing how Ellie would take it. "Thank you." She stood. "You have made my life easier and harder at the same time, and I must be going. Mr. Clark?"

Her assistant reentered the room. "Ma'am?"

"The Doctors Woodcombe have joined the team."

He nodded to them both. "Congratulations, Doctor, Doctor. Welcome aboard."

Beckman spoke to Ellie. "Let Mr. Clark know your housing requirements and other needs, and we'll have everything waiting for you in DC." Mr. Clark had a card ready to hand to Devon, having anticipated his General's needs, as usual. "As early as possible, please, whatever housing you choose will have to be modified appropriately. You will receive a notice of the upgrades and operating procedures ASAP. Study them carefully, especially the communication protocols. I doubt that we'll ever meet each other in the flesh like this again, but we'll have a lot to say to each other over the next few months, I dare say." She looked at Devon. "You should be aware of the procedures as well, Doctor, although I can't say I would ever like you to have to use them. In your case it's more in the way of knowing what not to do." She gave a sigh, the happy sound of someone looking at a job well done. "Well, I believe that covers it. Now the Colonel and I must be going. Doctors, I look forward to seeing you in Washington."

"General, if I may have a few moments with the Woodcombes? It's in the nature of a personal request."

She was inclined to be magnanimous. Orion's children were on the team. "Certainly, Colonel, we'll expect you at the transport." Soon.

"Yes, ma'am."

They waited until she left, taking some of the entourage with her. Mr. Jones came in as she went out, with their bags, as promised. Casey had a word with him before he left, then went back to his hosts. "I hope you don't mind, but I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure, John, what do you need?" asked Devon, always ready to help someone he considered a friend.

"As soon as we get under way, the rest of the team will be removing most of the equipment from this area. This apartment will still be covered, now that you've been read in, but the scope will be much less than it was."

"Will we be watched like this in DC, too?" asked Ellie, already beginning to regret her choice, but working to accept its consequences, whatever they happened to be.

Casey drew himself up proudly. "I'll be taking personal charge of your security, Ellie. Don't you worry."

Ellie made herself not worry. "What can we do for you?"

Someone knocked on the door, and Casey went to open it. Mr. Jones stood there, with something in his hand, but with the sun behind him Ellie couldn't see what it was. "Thank you," said Casey, taking the object, and he shut the door again. He went back to Ellie and held out a tree. "Would you mind transporting my bonsai with you? I can't trust these troglodytes not to break things."

A/N2 One more chapter in DC, and that should take care of this little prequel.