Back again for chapter 4. Thanks everybody for reading and reviewing!

Thanks as always to my wife and Anon for editing.

I own nobody in the Chuck U including Wally or Judy Roberts. (Does anybody want to own Wally or Judy?)

"CASEY!" Sarah yelled. She turned away from the horrific sight in front of her, ready to throttle the man she was sure was responsible.

Her partner had anticipated this, though and had stepped back, creating distance between himself, her... and Chuck. Even with the space, Casey put his hands out to ward her away, saying with a chuckle, "Hey, this wasn't my idea, Walker. It was his."

Impossible. Why would Chuck choose to do this? "Chuck!" Sarah yelled. She turned back, much as she didn't want to see him like this.

The man had Chuck's voice and Chuck's eyes. Otherwise, his facial features, physique, clothes, and gun were very similar to what she would have associated with Colonel John Casey. This bizarre Chuck-Casey hybrid was now placing his finger to his lips making cartoonish shushing noises. "This is the hospital parking lot! You're gonna blow your cover." Then, as if sensing that the style wasn't matching his new look, he crossed his arms, affected a tough expression, nodded curtly, and said, "You need to keep your cover. Walker." He then quickly backed up a couple of steps in response to Sarah narrowing her eyes.

She angrily waved Casey to join them in the van, and then she closed the back door. She turned around and said, "Beckman got a specialist to come down and outfit you so you could get solid info on Jill, and you turn it around into a joke? What are both of you thinking?"

It was bizarre. She wasn't used to seeing a hurt face on those features, but that was exactly what Chuck was displaying. His emotions shone through whatever mask he wore.

"This isn't a joke to me, Sarah. You know very well how I feel about this situation."

"It's kind of a joke to me," commented Casey. Sarah shot venom in his direction and said, "Y'know what, Casey? I was wrong. You don't need to be here right now. Do you mind waiting outside?"

Casey looked at them both distastefully, then left, muttering how too many people were casually dismissing him today.

Sarah turned her gaze back at Chuck. "I don't get this", she said waving her hands at him.

"Roan said he could make me look like anybody I wanted. Oh yeah, Roan was the disguise consultant."

"So, you decided to turn yourself into a junior version of Casey? Why?"

"I..." Chuck seemed to be struggling with this. "I need to get into the mindset of a professional."

"Why does the professional have to be Casey of all people? Besides, you're going to Jill's house to see her parents! They've seen Casey before!"

Chuck shook his head. "They saw him for all of a minute with a different outfit, height, eyes, and voice. Besides, they're not very observant. We were able to pass off their dead best friend as heavily intoxicated. The only time you see something like that work is in stupid comedies."

"Even so, Chuck, you couldn't pick a less intimidating disguise? Why are you carrying a gun? You hate guns!"

His voice became disturbingly deeper. "I'm going to need a gun to do what ultimately has to be done. All of you have been saying that I've gotta grow up. Be ready to do everything this job requires." She saw his hand actually touch the butt of the weapon, but then quickly pull away.

Then it became clear to her. This was all about his shame for what happened with Jill. Damn her.

Chuck continued, "I have to get past the weaknesses that have led me to fail up until now. I have to be tough. I made a choice. No more compromises. No more weakness." He put his hand back onto the gun, and this time he didn't remove it.

What had happened? He had been coming out of this! She didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to comfort him, to hold him and kiss him, but not when he looked like this! Perhaps, he saw how distressed this was making her, because when he spoke next his voice seemed softer and contrite.

"Sarah, I'm not going to bring the gun in to see Jill's parents. I'm not going to try to intimidate them, either. This is just... an experiment."

"Chuck," she said, as she reached over and took his hands. She wasn't in the habit of pleading, but she thought that might be just what she was doing. "Don't let this job change you." He suddenly flinched, and his eyes widened. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, but his voice had taken on a monotone quality. "It'll be OK, Sarah. But, I need to go. Casey and I need to get there on time. I'll see you later?"

"Of course." She didn't want to let him go like this, but he was right. They needed to go on their mission, and she needed to monitor Devon and Ellie. Steeling herself, she pulled his "face" down to hers and kissed him.

Casey was his usual silent self, so Chuck took the time driving there to think.

Don't let this job change you.

Damned if Jill hadn't said something very similar to him. Right before he let her go.
He thought she had shown compassion and concern for him, but she had thrown all that back in his face by returning and hurting his sister.

And Sarah wasn't helping. How was he not supposed to change? She herself had said that the job would sometimes require him to kill. Now that he was actually becoming willing to take that step, she was trying to preserve his innocence? She couldn't have it both ways.

Then again, he reminded himself that Sarah hadn't wanted him to become a spy in the first place. If she was telling him that he needed to be willing to kill, it was probably only so he'd be safer doing this work that he had chosen. It was so confusing. At least there was one person he knew that was consistent. He looked over at the big man driving.

"Thanks," said Chuck.

Casey grunted and gave Chuck a questioning glance.

"You've always been straight with me, John; well, at least when you haven't been lying to me about 'tests' and stuff like that. Life isn't complex for you. You know your values, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to protect what you care about. Even if that means doing some things that are unpleasant."

Casey raised an eyebrow, and looked at Chuck almost thoughtfully. He then gave one quick nod, before returning his gaze to the road.

Chuck added, "I need to learn to follow your example more." He looked out the window then, so he didn't see Casey's eyes return to settle on him for a moment.

Chuck had to force himself to relax. It wasn't just the anxiety over seeing Jill's folks. This outfit was succeeding in making him feel more tense; aggressive. If this was even an approximation of what it was like to be Casey, he felt bad for the Colonel.
He knocked on the door. A moment later, Wally Roberts answered. The man didn't seem intimidated by him; of course, this man hadn't been intimidated by the actual Casey either.

"Mr. Carmichael?" Wally offered his hand, and Chuck shook it quickly.

"Thank you for taking this appointment on short notice, Mr. Roberts. The Defense Department usually tries to give a little bit more time to arrange for these meetings, but your daughter is a real find and they wanted to process her background check as soon as possible." Chuck lowered his voice and modified his normal style of inflection as Roan had taught him. It seemed to be working. Wally wasn't showing any signs of recognition.

Wally brought him inside to the living room, where Chuck was "introduced" to Judy. Chuck was initially more nervous with her. In spite of what he had told Sarah, the Roberts women were much more observant. Nevertheless, she didn't seem to pick up on anything either, though she appeared to not be in as good of a mood as her husband. "So," she said sharply, "You're here because Jill is up for a job. Is it a good job?"

Chuck nodded. "She'll be at the forefront of a group tasked with protecting our country from biological attacks. Your daughter is at the top of her field. Her work in Helsinki alone-"

Judy interrupted, "And I don't suppose that in the midst of all this, she could take the time to pick up a phone and call her parents? I mean, do you guys work her that hard that she can't make one phone call?" She looked accusingly at Chuck. Wally, meanwhile, appeared stricken.

"Judy," he said quickly, "I'm sure Mr. Carmichael doesn't actually have direct contact with Jill himself, and even if he did, I'm sure he doesn't decide her schedule."

"Er, no! No, I, uh, I'm not the person in charge of that." Keep voice low! He just caught himself slipping into his normal vocal pattern. He immediately lowered it again, but overcompensated. "I'm sure your daughter loves you both, but she's just been busy keeping the free world safe." Wally and Judy were now both staring at him.

"Dial it back, Moron!" Chuck heard through his ear piece.

Chuck cleared his throat dramatically, then coughed a couple of times. "Sorry," he said, his voice back to what he had originally intended. "Fighting off a small bout of laryngitis. So! Let's get this started shall we?"

After having them sign a series of consent forms, Chuck proceeded to interview Jill's parents using the normal expected questions. They gave all the expected answers, including that Jill was not, nor had ever been a member of the Communist, Nazi or Green parties. They didn't blink when they told him that she was not part of any organizations which would seek the downfall of the American government. Well...., thought Chuck, but he kept his expression as it had been.

Once the interview was concluded, Chuck took an internal deep breath. Now for the tough sell. "I'm sure you understand that with the level of importance of the job that Jill would be taking, we need to go a bit above and beyond the measures that we would normally take for a background check."

Judy and Wally looked at each other. "What kind of measures are we talking about?" asked Wally.

"Similar to a search warrant. We have to perform a brief physical investigation of your property, especially Jill's former quarters and her computer."

"What?" Judy almost shouted. Wally quickly turned to her and motioned for her to calm down, before turning back to Chuck.

"Sir, you don't actually expect you're going to find treasonous documents under my daughter's stuffed animals, do you?"

Chuck sighed, then leaned in and gazed at each of his marks, a look of apology on his features. "I'll be honest with you, folks. It is a new protocol, and not one a lot of us feel very comfortable about, because of the invasiveness involved. Politically, though, the government is concerned with making sure they don't put somebody in such a high level position without making sure every stone is unturned, because if something should happen, especially on an election year, you get what I'm saying? It's B.S. I know it and you know it, but I'm sure you don't want to see your daughter bogged down in the political B.S. Not when she can get the job of her dreams."

They looked at each other, and after a moment, Judy said, though in a sulky voice, "No we don't want to cause her problems."

"Thanks for your patience," Chuck said. "This won't take long, and you can both be with me every step of the way to see what I'm doing."

As it turned out, only Wally took Chuck up on that. That was good. Wally was more laid back and would be less likely to question every move Chuck made. Chuck pulled out another official form that he and Casey had concocted, and pencil in hand, proceeded to make his survey, periodically checking off a box, or jotting notes. He didn't even try to suggest looking in Wally and Judy's bedroom though Casey had pushed for it; Chuck didn't think that would go down well. Wally let him look at all other rooms though, including the attic for which Chuck was thankful.

For all of the preparations they had made though, this trip appeared to have been a waste of time. Aside from prying up floorboards, Chuck performed a thorough search but flashed on nothing. Jill's computer turned up nothing as well, though Chuck used all of his tech expertise to try to find clues. The whole thing was a wash.

Hiding his discouragement, Chuck put on an enthusiastic face, as he told Judy and Wally the good news. "As I expected, everything looks fine. I think this was the last task necessary before your daughter will be cleared, and we all are looking forward to seeing how she flies in this new position."

Wally shook his hand. As Chuck turned to Judy, she looked up and he was shocked to find that she seemed to be holding back tears. "I'm sorry, Mr. Carmichael. I had no right to put all this on you but I miss my daughter and I just haven't heard from her in awhile, and I'm upset."

Wally came over to Judy and hugged her and pulled out a stained handkerchief. "Honey, it'll be fine," he muttered.

"Um, yes, it'll be... fine," Chuck added, feeling like crap. What was he supposed to tell them?

"It's just-" Judy violently pulled away from Wally and looked at Chuck pleadingly - "She always does this, you know? Work always comes first with her. She goes for months without calling us and the strain gets to me after awhile."

Chuck tried to lean over and lightly pat her on the shoulder. She grabbed his hand.

"And this last time! I mean, the last time we saw her she sprung news that she had gotten engaged! But we haven't heard from her since then, and, I mean her Uncle Bernie had a heart attack, and just barely pulled through, and we needed to tell her about that!"

Chuck had been trying to gently extricate himself from her grip when her last words registered.

"Just barely pulled through."

A yell tore through his earpiece. "WHAT?"

Thanks DLK for giving me the impetus to add a last-minute line or two explaining how Jill's parents wouldn't remember "Casey".

Update on 2/1/10. Ayefah notified me of a couple of mistakes I made. I had originally talked about Chuck searching Wally OR Judy's bedroom. (They do sleep in the same room.) And at one point, I referred to Judy as "July". Oops. The mistakes have been corrected. Thanks Ayefah!