Author's Note: Hi guys, thanks for sticking with the story! I thought I'd add a little more before the holiday weekend. Those of the you in the US, have a wonderful Thanksgiving! The rest of you, have a wonderful Thursday!


Chuck Versus the Liability

Part Four

Jacob Dugan was sick of this day. By now this whole operation should have been over. But the courier the sellers had chosen hadn't been ready for the big leagues. The man was small time and stupid. He'd probably shot his mouth off at the wrong moment, maybe at some bar after a job or maybe to some buddy who'd made a deal with the cops. Either way Jansen had inadvertently screwed them. Someone had learned about their card. Luckily Dugan had been ready. He'd assumed the worst and so he'd waited, carefully watching over the activities at the fast food place. And now here they were.

Dugan should've had that card in his hands by now. Instead he was bleeding, taken out by a hostage he had grossly underestimated. By tomorrow this would all be over, but he'd probably have a fresh scar on his forehead, one to match that idiot guy he'd let on his team. That had been another mistake. Curtis was just another low-level henchmen who had no idea what the bigger prize was. The things Dugan could do with that card… there was no telling what people would pay for the weapon he'd soon be building.

Dugan tightened his grip on the girl's arm. Ellie, he remembered her name now. Already six of his men had appeared in the hallway. They'd come running when they'd heard the commotion and now they formed a semi-circle around Dugan and the increasingly frightened girl they had kidnapped.

"Let's make her more comfortable, shall we?" Dugan smiled. "Someone will be coming for her soon."

He nodded to Roberts, the only man here he really trusted. They'd worked together for years now doing all kinds of dirty deeds and making all kinds of money. Roberts already knew exactly what he wanted. They'd played this game before.

And so, as Dugan dragged the girl back to the room, the team suddenly sprang into action.

"I have to say I'm impressed." Dugan looked over at Ellie. He knew he had scared her badly and that was the point. "I didn't peg you for a fighter. Had I known, we could have done all this earlier."

"What's on that card?" Her voice was quiet.

"You can ask your brother when he gets here," Dugan shoved her through the doorway. They had to step around the group of men that had gathered there. Already they were carrying their supplies in, handling the little blocks gingerly.

"Are you going to hurt him?"

"Not if he brings my card." Dugan couldn't tell if she believed him or not. But this girl was smart, she probably didn't.

"And if he doesn't?"

"He will." Dugan had backed her into the corner now. Roberts arrived with the well-worn shackles he kept in his office. He attached one end to Ellie's ankle and the other to a length of pipe that ran along the wall. A chair had suddenly appeared and Dugan pushed her down into it.

"Have a little faith Ellie," he said. "You'd show up for him, wouldn't you?"

Of course she would. That's what Dugan had counted on. From the minute his men had snuck into that birthday party, their little cameras had sent back a live feed of the action. There was no way to know where his memory card was. But there were three people from that fast food place who could probably tell him. And Dugan, sitting far away in front of his computer had watched each of them carefully. Between the reports from his men and the birthday footage, he had easily passed on two members of the team, they were clearly better trained and would be more of a handful. But the third member… Dugan had paid special attention to him. The kid had been smiling and laughing with his sister. Their bond seemed particularly close. And love was the biggest weakness of all, the easiest thing to exploit. Once Dugan had realized that the kid didn't have the card to hand over, at least not yet, his new plan had formed easily.

Roberts handed him a freshly cut length of rope. Dugan had counted on that boy's love for his sister, but he hadn't counted on that sister being this big a pain. Most hostages, at least the civilians, curled up and cried in a corner. Oh well, one glance in the mirror at his lovely new scar would remind him to be a little more careful from now on.

Roberts hovered over them, holding Ellie in place in the chair. She struggled a little, nearly scratching Dugan as he grabbed at her arms.

"Don't-" She yanked her hands back instinctively. But Dugan was an expert at this by now. He latched onto her wrists, pulled them behind the chair then tied the knots easily. The rope was rough and he doubted she'd struggle much longer. It wasn't going to do her any good.

"Are you watching them?" He nodded towards his men by the door. Much to his delight, Ellie's gaze had wandered over to the group. Her curiosity was obvious, but it was somewhat tempered by her fear. "It's impressive, isn't it?"

He saw her expression change. She had been scared before, but there had also been just a bit of defiance. Now that was gone.

"Don't hurt my brother," she said suddenly, glancing from the team back to him. She knew exactly what those men were building now. And she'd apparently realized that her life would end here in this lousy little room. The pleading had finally started, but surprisingly, it wasn't for herself.

"Just go to the Buy More and steal the card back. It's probably still in the store."

Dugan felt no need to respond, which only seemed to make her more desperate. She twisted in the chair, trying to meet his eyes.

"There's no reason to kill Chuck," she tried again. "He's just a guy who works at the Buy More."

She didn't know, Dugan realized. He shouldn't have been surprised really. Whatever her brother did, his work was probably a secret.

Dugan resisted the urge to tell her the truth. It might be fun to watch her face when she figured out that this wasn't an accident or some horrid coincidence. But telling her would only create more drama for him and besides she wasn't his target.

As far as Dugan was concerned this whole thing was her brother's fault. The blood would be on his hands. That kid had stuck his nose where it didn't belong and there were consequences to that. He was going to learn that lesson pretty quickly. Unfortunately for her, his sister was going to learn it too.

Dugan grabbed a roll of duct tape that had suddenly appeared. Roberts thought of everything. In the end he would tell the kid exactly where to find his sister (hell he wanted him to find her, to agonize over the surprise that Dugan had left for him). But still, there was no reason to spend the next few hours listening to this girl yell for help.

"Any last words?" He kneeled down in front of her as he tore a piece of tape from the roll.

"That card can't be worth all this."

Dugan actually smiled at that. He carefully placed the tape over her mouth then grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket.

"It's worth it." He folded the handkerchief carefully. "Trust me."

He slipped the blindfold over her eyes then patted her knee. This is how he should've started the day. He could've saved himself some pain if he'd merely remembered the rules in his own game. There was no mercy in his world. Mercy was for the guys who landed in jail. He was proud to say he'd never been caught, and this was why.

Dugan turned around. They'd get their memory card, but it was always better to walk away without witnesses. Besides it was time to set an example again, to remind his enemies that he didn't play nice. This girl would die and if Dugan was right about the brother, then the kid would die too trying to save her. Love after all, was the biggest weakness. It was a liability that few people recognized.

Dugan headed out the door then glanced back at the girl one last time.

"Don't worry," he said. "You won't see it coming."


There it was. Chuck couldn't believe it. He held his breath, trying not to inhale the foul smell of fried foods again. But as he felt around behind the dumpster, he was sure he had found the memory card, taped to the back, just as Jansen had said it would be.

The courier had dropped it off behind the fast food place the day before they'd caught him. It seemed like as good a place as any. He'd wanted to make sure he got his cash before handing it over, but he'd kept it close none the less.

Chuck gently peeled the tape back and finally he could see the little card that had caused so many problems. His team had passed within twenty feet of it the previous day. It was in a tiny case. It weighed nothing. He could easily crush it in the palm of his hand. And yet people would kill for it.

In the not too distant future someone would come to empty this dumpster. He wasn't sure if anyone else would have noticed the piece of duct tape that had held the memory card in place. But he was grateful he'd found it first.

Chuck closed his eyes and leaned against the back wall of the building. He thought about Sarah and Casey and what they would say if they knew he was here. He thought of all the people Dugan could kill if he ever got his hands on this card. And he thought about Ellie, locked away somewhere, scared and alone. How could he weigh one life against so many others? How could he live with himself after making that choice? And then finally Chuck knew the answer, because really, it had never been a choice at all.

Chuck put the memory card in his pocket and walked away.


"Thanks for the update," Hoyt was finishing up his call.

Sarah couldn't believe that Chuck had gone out on his own like this. She knew that he trusted her, but she also knew he was trying to protect her. And maybe the stakes had just been too high.

"Alright then." Hoyt finally turned back to them. "Bartowski's on his way to meet Dugan. He took the decoy."

"The what?" Casey glanced over at Sarah, but she just shook her head. For once she wasn't in on the secret.

"The decoy memory card." Hoyt saw their surprise. "What, you didn't think we'd let him have the real thing did you?"

"How did you know where the real memory card was?" Sarah asked. Even if Hoyt had seen Chuck's interrogation, there was no way he could have switched the cards that fast.

"Jansen told me last night." Hoyt moved around the table, quickly packing up his things. He grabbed a few files and slipped them into his laptop case. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by the tension that had filled the room. "We, of course, moved on that information right away, but we left a decoy card in case anyone came looking."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sarah was afraid she already knew the answer.

"And how in the hell did you know about Ellie?" Casey stepped in beside her. Together they stared Hoyt down. If he was intimidated, he didn't show it. He stopped what he was doing and his expression changed abruptly. Clearly he knew which side they were on, and it wasn't his.

"I think the bigger question is, why didn't either of you mention her earlier?"

Sarah didn't answer. Casey could have easily explained that he hadn't known earlier, but he stayed quiet too.

"You two went off on your own and nearly got yourselves killed and in the meantime you let Agent Bartowski have access to the courier."

"You don't know what Chuck will do-" Sarah tried.

"But I do know what is on that memory card." Hoyt locked his eyes on her. He must have known her part in all of this, because she was taking the brunt of his wrath. "It has plans for a weapon, Agent Walker."

"What kind of weapon?"

"A biological weapon that can kill thousands of people," Hoyt leaned in closer, wanting to be sure that they understood. "It can wipe out all living organisms within a mile radius without harming the surroundings. We can take out entire terrorist compounds and not damage the intel. But obviously, if someone like Dugan was to get his hands on it-"

He stopped and took a breath.

"You knew Bartowski was compromised."

He was still glaring at Sarah specifically. But Sarah wasn't thinking about the weapon, or the thousands of people it could kill. Something had suddenly clicked in her brain. She thought about everything that had happened since the previous evening, how she'd erased all of the footage of the kidnapping, how Chuck had never even mentioned Ellie while talking to Jansen, how she and Casey had supposedly slipped away without Hoyt knowing…

Sarah had been pretty careful not to bring up specifics when she and Chuck had been down here talking. And if Hoyt had been in Castle last night and seen the kidnapping on the cameras as it was happening, then he would have been rushing to help. So she was sure that he'd missed it. If that was true, then he certainly knew way more than he should have.

"How did you know about Ellie?" This time it was Sarah's turn to ask. Hoyt put his hands on his hips and shook his head slowly.

"I tell you that your fellow agent has basically committed an act of treason and that's what you want to know?"

"I'd like to know too," Casey finally spoke up again.

Hoyt reached for a stack of files, pulled one out, then slapped it on the table in front of them.

"As you might remember, we had several teams monitoring potential buyers last night to see if anyone would make a move."

Sarah opened the file and glanced through it. Immediately she saw the photo clipped to the top page. She was staring at a picture of Jacob Dugan.

"We had intel about one of Dugan's hideouts," Hoyt explained. "We were watching it last night."

"What?" Sarah's head shot up. Casey seemed equally surprised.

"You saw them take Ellie?"

"No," Hoyt said. "We saw them come back with her."

"Then why didn't you move in?" Sarah demanded. She thought about how scared Chuck was, about how scared Ellie must surely be. She was furious at Hoyt for putting them through this. "You'd talked to the courier, you knew where the memory card was-"

"Dugan didn't come back with them right away. We weren't about to scare him off."

"Is that the real reason?" Casey narrowed his eyes. Sarah could see the muscles in his arms twitching as his hands slowly curled into fists. It was taking everything he had not to go after Hoyt.

"Colonel." Hoyt said slowly. "You of all people should know that a team is only as strong as it's weakest link."

And that was when if finally hit Sarah.

"You came to evaluate us." Her tone was more than a little accusatory, but she didn't care. Already she was feeling sick to her stomach. "You wanted to see what Chuck would do."

"And us." Casey glanced over at Sarah. "This whole thing with the courier, suddenly ordering us not to talk to him. Once Dugan took Ellie, this guy decided to turn it into a test."

"I saw an opportunity." Hoyt was only too happy to confirm their suspicions.

"An opportunity at the expense of an innocent civilian."

"Hey, this is on Bartowski." Hoyt actually seemed offended by Casey's words. "We helped him become a spy, but he's the one who wanted to stay here. He knew he was risking more than just his own life."

"Chuck came into this job under special circumstances-" Sarah began, but Hoyt quickly cut her off.

"It's exactly those circumstances that I'm worried about. This man is in possession of one of our most valuable assets. Right now he's about to turn over this card, but next time it could be the Intersect. Like it or not, we need to find his weaknesses because the bad guys are finding them first."

"This is insane!" Sarah shook her head, turning away from Hoyt. She couldn't believe it had come to this.

"Listen, these people will use anything or anyone to compromise our agents." Hoyt was really getting into his lecture now. "I had to know if Bartowski could stand up to that. And guess what, he can't."

"Could you?" Sarah glared at him, but Hoyt chose not to answer.

"The sister is a liability," he said firmly, "Don't tell me you can't see that."

Of course she could see that. That had been the biggest conundrum since she had started this mission three years ago. Chuck valued his life here, his family and his friends. At first he had needed that stability to survive the upheaval of the Intersect. So Sarah and Casey had adjusted. They had helped him keep his secret and the life he had built in Burbank. Now he could stand on his own, but everyone had gotten so used to the situation that they'd forgotten the inherent danger in it.

"Fine, Chuck will do anything for Ellie," Casey's angry eyes were on full display. "She's a liability, always has been. But we're not in the business of getting civilians killed and that's what you're about to do."

"He's right," Sarah added quickly. "If you let Chuck walk in there with a decoy memory card you'll get both him and Ellie killed. And I can't believe that a man who seems so concerned about the Intersect, would want to be responsible for losing it."

Hoyt went over and closed his laptop, then slipped it into his bag. He didn't seem the least bit worried about the repercussions of his grand plan.

"We'll grab Dugan and his team at the drop spot. If Bartowski shows with that card, then we'll catch him in the act." He hit a few buttons on one of the terminals then headed for the stairs. "Bringing that card to Dugan is a crime. Everyone here knows that."

"You are taking a huge risk." Sarah started to follow him, but Casey pulled her back.

"You two are on lock down until further notice." Hoyt barely glanced over his shoulder as he marched up the stairs. "You are ordered to stay here and not to interfere with this mission in any way."

"Agent Hoyt, please don't do this." Sarah could hear various doors closing around them. Computer screens faded to black and "Detention mode" flashed in bright red letters.

"Sorry Agent Walker, it's already done."


Jeff and Lester were at it again. They'd spotted some poor woman over in small appliances and now they were moving in, one coming at her from each end of the aisle. It was like watching lions stalk their prey.

Morgan weighed his options. He could intervene, thus saving himself from the inevitable paperwork that came with harassment complaints. Or he could hope that the woman might just run to the registers and buy the blender she was clutching in order to escape these two idiots. He erred on the side of the sale and decided to wait it out. Paperwork be damned.

As he stood there, his thoughts turned back to Chuck. Something was definitely wrong with his friend. Chuck had been moody all day. He hadn't cracked a smile when Jeff had gotten his hand stuck in the vending machine. Lester's excited ramblings about the previous evening had been met with stony silence. And then there was everything he'd seen in Castle. Spy or no spy, Chuck was not a naturally violent or angry guy. Something was off.

The woman in small appliances made a sudden beeline for the registers. Morgan sighed with relief. Jeff and Lester shook their heads in defeat as all three of them headed back towards the Nerd Herd desk.

"We had her Jeffrey." Lester started to pat his friend on the back then thought better of it. Who knew the last time that shirt had been washed? "She would have made the perfect groupie."

"Fellas, I don't think you should be fishing in these waters," Morgan knew they wouldn't listen, but he had to try for his own sanity. "The Buy More, it's too big a pond. You need to start smaller."

"He's right," Jeff nodded towards the door. "We're not gonna get any play when guys like that are around."

Morgan glanced up. There was Devon making his way through the store. Jeff was correct, he and Lester were second string on the best day. With Awesome here, there was no hope whatsoever. Already the ladies had turned their gazes on the good doctor. Devon hardly seemed to notice as he made his way over.

"Hey guys, is Chuck around?"

"No," Jeff glared at him. "And that gave us the perfect opportunity until you came along. It was bad enough competing against a stud like Bartowski."

"Indeed." Devon played along, but he was clearly confused. No matter, Jeff and Lester were already leaving. A woman in DVDs had caught their attention.

"Those little dudes are weird." Devon raised an eyebrow as he watched them go.

"Indeed." Morgan nodded. Visions of paperwork began to dance in his head, but he shook it off and glanced back at Devon. "So is there something I can help you with?"

"Not really," he sighed. "I've been trying to call Ellie all day, but I can't get a hold of her."

"Have you been home yet?"

"It's my next stop."

"She's probably still sleeping," That's what he'd be doing if Big Mike hadn't called in sick. He had to smile though as he thought back to the previous evening. "That was a hell of a party last night."

Devon tried to match his smile, but Morgan could see just a flicker of concern cross his face.

"I've tried Chuck, but he isn't answering either."

"Well Chuck was just here," Morgan said. Devon was probably lucky he'd missed him. "I should warn you man, he is in a foul mood. Ever since this morning."

"Chuck, really?"

"Yeah I know." Morgan shrugged. "He was having a blast last night, then today, out of the blue, he's like Mr. Doom and Gloom. I don't know what happened."

"Well maybe Ellie knows what's bugging him. I'll ask," Devon leaned against the counter, his eyes darting around the store. "If I can ever find her."

Morgan nodded. But slowly the wheels in his head were starting to spin. It was already late afternoon. It did seem sort of weird that Ellie hadn't answered her phone yet. Sure she didn't often answer when Morgan called, but Devon should have been another story.

"Did Ellie go home with us last night?" Morgan could barely remember the ride back to his apartment. His only recollection was Devon begging him not to puke in the car.

"No, we left early, so Chuck said he'd take her."

That's right, Morgan's memory was coming back now. Ellie had given them a quick wave as they'd left and then gone right back to her friends.

"I went to work before they got home."

Devon suddenly grabbed for his phone. Already, Morgan could hear the tell-tale buzzing of a text message. Devon glanced down.

"It's the hospital. I gotta get back." He tapped the counter twice as he turned around. "If you hear from either one of them, tell them to call me."

Morgan didn't get a chance to respond as the Buy More phone began ringing behind him. His mind had started to race as all sorts of scenarios jumped around in his head. Still, old habits died hard and his hand reached for the phone.

"Buy More, this is Morgan."

"Morgan, thank god."

"Sarah?" Morgan was surprised to hear from her of all people. Obviously she was looking for Chuck and he wasn't in the mood to be an answering service. Instead he wanted to chase after Devon. They needed to talk.

"Morgan?"

He realized he'd missed whatever she'd been saying. It didn't matter. He got ready to hang up the phone.

"Chuck's not here."

"Yeah I know, I was looking for you" Sarah said. Suddenly she had his attention. He could hear Casey's voice in the background, then finally Sarah sighed. "Morgan, we need your help."