Sorry about the delay guys! Life has been a little crazy lately and a couple of the scenes weren't quite working right. But I hope that the fact that this is the longest chapter yet.
Spoiler alert! I don't own Chuck or any of its characters.
see you on the other side! :)
The dance party continued in the bullpen but Shawn noticed that Sydney had disappeared. So had Gus for that matter…
Gus was the easiest to find, he'd stepped into the conference room and was on the phone. "Mom, relax I'm fine." … "Yes, Sydney's fine too." … "I'll keep you posted." … "Yes Mom." …
He looked up and Shawn could see the relief on his face that he had a reason to get off the phone. "Mom, Shawn just stepped in. I've got to go."
"Don't worry Mrs. G, I'll take good care of Burton for you." Shawn received a glare from Gus as he hung up the phone.
"Apparently, this is all over the news."
"Well, duh." Shawn sat down in a chair and put his feet up. "Have you see Syd?"
"I thought she was out there dancing." Gus nodded behind him.
"She disappeared about ten minutes ago." Shawn turned to face Gus. "You know something?"
"What?" Gus plopped down in the chair beside him.
"This needs to happen more often. I know its only been a couple of weeks, but how much has this happened?"
"What? Being trapped in a police station?"
Shawn rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "I'm actually being half what serious for once."
"I thought serious Shawn came with a disclaimer. Like with Nadia."
"It didn't when Dad was shot." Shawn shook the memory of that time away.
"That was different."
Shawn turned to face Gus. "I thought I was the one to take us off topic."
"Shawn, what is it?"
Shawn let out another sigh and got up and paced around the table. "I could really go for a pineapple smoothie right now."
"Now you're changing the subject." Shawn turned to see Gus giving him the all too familiar get to the point look.
"This, us."
"What about us?"
Shawn faced Gus from across the table. "In the last 11 months, I've found out I have a kid and I've gotten married."
"Crazy isn't it."
"And maybe I'm just worried that…" Shawn looked down, confused at his own thoughts.
"Shawn." Shawn heard Gus get up and walk around the table. "Do you really think that all of this is going to split us up? I'm afraid you are stuck with me."
"It's really the other way around." Shawn felt the smile return to his face.
"When we get out of here, we'll have a movie night. No Sydney, no Jules, no cases, just you, me, Red Vines, smoothies, popcorn, and Austin Powers."
"You know buddy, that's the best idea you've had in a long time." Shawn pulled Gus into a hug. "Now let's go track down Sydney. I'm sensing her mystery caller might help us get out of here."
"Who's her mystery caller?"
"Lassie tipped me off on that one. It has to be a CIA contact." Shawn opened the door and the volume increased. "She's somewhere quiet, I've noticed Sydney can party with the best of them, but she needs her quiet after awhile."
"So we have to find somewhere quiet." Gus had to raise his voice a bit to be heard over the volume of music.
"That means she's not with the gang unit, they're having a Netflix marathon."
"Really, what are they watching?"
"Alias, last I heard."
"Isn't the main character of that a spy named Sydney?"
"Weird isn't it." Shawn opened the Chief's door and slipped inside.
"What can I do for you Mr. Spencer?" Shawn jumped and whirled around to find Chief Vick at her desk.
"Chief, I umm…" Shawn looked around but didn't see Sydney. "I was looking for Sydney, have you seen her?"
"Not since she started that." She nodded to the dance party. Shawn turned to see Gus back in the middle of the crowd. "Something wrong Mr. Spencer?"
Shawn sat down with a sigh. "Ever wonder if you're missing something, something that's right in front of your face?"
"Are you getting a vision or vibration or… whatever it is that you get?" She gave him a hopeful look.
"No, it's a regular feeling in the pit of my stomach. I've had it for over a week now." But in the last few hours, the feeling had grown. Whatever he was missing, it was key to the mess they were in now. And that one was a pretty song hunch. "But I'm sensing whatever it is, it's the key to this mess."
"Well, I trust you'll figure it out."
"Sure thing Chief." Shawn started to get up.
"One more thing Mr. Spencer."
"Yeah Chief?"
"It's going to be a year in a couple of weeks isn't it."
Shawn nodded. 'Yeah, Sydney wants to go back for a few days."
"Are you going with her?"
Another sigh. "Yeah, we'll go for a week. If you lose your Head Detective…" Shawn had seen him checking flights.
"That would be like Christmas for him."
"Sydney's words exactly."
"It's hard to believe it hasn't even been a year…" Shawn followed Chief Vick's eyes out into the bullpen and saw the party simmering down, a few last dancers having a party.
"She's touched everyone here. More than you did…"
"More than I did when?" Shawn turned back to see her watching him.
"Do you realize our percentage of cases closed went up exponentially when you started working as a consultant? That the morale in this station, even though people didn't always want to admit it, went up?"
"I mean look at Lassie." Shawn nodded to where he sat with his feet propped on his desk, tie completely gone.
"Detective Lassiter would never have loosened up like that. You did most of the work."
"And Sydney did her share, they're pretty close."
"You know why right?"
Shawn had been wondering about it. "She latched onto him early on… almost like a… like a…"
"Like a what?"
"Like he was a security blanket."
"Maybe to her he was, he still kinda is." She leaned forward on her desk.
"Come again?"
She let out a little laugh. "In the space of three months, Sydney completely leaves the life she's known and comes into completely new territory."
"Yeah, but she chose to." Shawn didn't get where she was going with this.
"Yes but there's one bit of familiar. One thing Sydney is familiar with…" She started as Shawn heard the door to her office open and close.
"is police stations, and usually the head detective." Shawn turned to see Lassie coming to take a seat beside him. "I realized it after the whole Peters case. I was the bit of normal, I guess I still am, that she could turn to as she got used to all this."
"But she's adjusting."
"Especially after the Peter's case."
Shawn had to agree. "She's really opened up since then, I guess that was the last barrier. Now if only she'd stop being a smart mouth so often."
The room filled with laughter. "You're one to talk Spencer. If she's anything like you, she'll never grow out of it."
"True, I guess I'm getting a taste of my own medicine. What a year it's been. What are you doing in here anyways Lassie? You were all comfy on your desk two seconds ago."
"Sydney texted me, she wants to see us in Interrogation Room B." Lassie waved his phone. "She said to bring you too Chief."
"Well, I'm curious." Chief Vick got up and Shawn followed her example.
They left the office and headed down to the interrogation room and Shawn heard footsteps behind him. "What's going on?"
He turned to see Jules. "Sydney's got something."
"Good, cause I need to get out of here." Gus was right behind him.
Shawn followed Lassie as he waved them in. To his surprise, the rest of the group didn't follow and Shawn had to assume they went into the observation room.
Sydney was sitting in a chair, clicking a pen. "That you Pops?"
"Since when do you call me Pops?"
She shrugged. "I guess since now."
He went to take a seat beside her but she shook her head. "Nope, other side."
"Are you going to interrogate me?" Shawn felt his eyebrows rise in surprise and he circled the table and took a seat. Lassie uneasily took a seat beside Sydney. "Am I a suspect?"
"Not this time, sorry Lassie." Sydney's comment earned a brief smile from him.
"Then what is this about?" Shawn's response came at the same time as Lassie's.
He turned to face him. "Let's never do that again."
Lassie nodded. "Agreed."
"Dad, I need you to think back and tell me everything you know about Francesca Gomez."
1999- Washington DC
"We're going to stop for a lunch break here." Shawn held onto the bar as the driver of the tour bus brought the bus to a stop. "Welcome to the Old Post Office Pavilion. There's plenty of restaurants and shops inside and if you have enough time you can go up to the observation deck. Be back on the bus in an hour."
Shawn hung up the intercom and chatted with people as he exited the bus. Finally, the bus was empty and Shawn let out a sigh of relief.
"That bad Spencer?" Shawn turned to Barry, the driver.
"You know how it is Barry, living the dream." Shawn stepped out of the bus and closed his eyes for a second as he enjoyed the sunshine. "Cause it's everyone's dream to sound like a walking guidebook."
"Are we going to look at the pretty dresses Mommy?" Shawn turned to see a little girl barely missing running into him as she run into the arms of… no, it couldn't be
It couldn't be Becca, and if it was, when did she have a kid?
Shawn stumbled through the crowd, trying to catch her when he found himself laying flat on the ground.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Beside him lay a girl with the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen. And to his surprise, the thoughts of Becca disappeared.
"I wasn't paying attention." Shawn stood up and held up his hand to help her up. "Shawn Spencer."
"Francesca Gomez." Shawn picked up a little bit of an accent. "I wasn't paying that much attention, I was looking for somewhere to eat."
"I was heading to get some lunch too, if you don't have any plans…" Shawn dusted himself off.
"I'd love to dine with you Mr. Spencer.
Shawn held back the shudder. "Mr. Spencer is my father, call me Shawn."
"Daddy problems Shawn?"
Shawn led her over to the door. "You could say that."
After they went through the metal detectors, Shawn led her down to the food court. They selected their choice of restaurant and sat down at a table.
"You're not from around here?" She commented.
"I could say the same for you."
"I'm from Chile, came up here for school." She took a sip of her drink and a strand of hair fell across her face.
"You're a long way from home." Shawn brushed it back behind her ear.
"Where's home for you?"
"Technically, California. But lately, I've been wandering around the country, doing a little bit of this and that."
"Finding where you belong?"
"Yeah." He noticed a tattoo on her arm that looked like a phoenix. "Fan of Journey?"
She looked down at her arm and her hand brushed across the tattoo. "Yeah, you could say that."
The next hour passed faster than Shawn thought possible and he happened to glance at his watch. "Oh, I hate to run but…"
"Back to the bus?"
"Yeah."
She wrote something on a napkin. "Call me when you get off."
"So what happened?" Lassie snapped him out of the memory.
"How many times?" Shawn turned to Sydney, not sure if that comment was directed at him or to herself.
"I'm starting to ask myself the same question." Shawn decided to answer it before turning back to Lassie. "I mean I called her that night and we met at a bar."
"Did you love her?" Shawn turned to the 2 way mirror when he heard Jules' voice.
Shawn let out a sigh. "At the time, I thought I might. But…"
"But what?" Jules' voice came over the speaker at the same time as Sydney in the room.
"Looking back over the years, over all the one night stands, over the few girls that actually got the title of my girlfriend, I…"
"You and Mom were too young." He looked over to see Sydney staring at the wall, away from everyone. "She said it several times, that if you guys had waited, maybe it would have turned into love. But both of you were so young, so…"
"far from the people we'd become." Shawn got up and knelt in front of Sydney. "And sure there were times where I wish that night would have never happened. But I learned that its times like those that make us who we are. Plus, you're one awesome kid, kid."
Shawn turned away from Sydney and circled the room. "I was in DC for another three months after that, summer ended and so did my job so I left. But we spent a lot of time together; she seemed to get me. You know what I mean?"
"Did you stay in contact with her?" Lassie asked as he sat back down.
"Please, this is Shawn we're talking about." Gus' voice came over the intercom.
"He's got a point. Long distance isn't really my thing." Shawn leaned back in his chair. "Hate to ruin this moment and everything, but seriously kid, how many weapons do you have on you right now?"
Sydney tried to look innocent. "What do you mean?"
"I've seen two guns and at least one knife."
"That's it, I've been cutting back."
Shawn exchanged a look with Lassie. "And I thought you were bad."
"So did I."
"You met up with her again though." Sydney eyed him.
"I was on my way back here, but I'd run out of cash in Chicago so I worked for a few months in a pizza kitchen…"
2005- Chicago Illinois
"Shawn, can you make a delivery before you take off?" Shawn looked up to see the owner, Noona at the counter.
"Sure thing." Shawn finished wiping down the table and headed to the counter.
She went into the kitchen and came out with a couple of boxes. "These need to be delivered to this address. She paid with a card over the phone." Noona handed him a sheet of paper.
"Ok." He picked up the boxes.
"And then you go out and have a little fun, you hear me? I don't want to see you back in here until your next shift."
"Yes Noona." Shawn rolled his eyes at the comment. He was working as much as possible, finally ready to go home.
Strapping the bag to the back of his Norton, Shawn headed for the Aon Center, luckily traffic wasn't that bad and it only took him about ten minutes.
He parked his bike and made his way inside and pass the front desk. Amazing what access you could get with pizza. Shawn double-checked the address and was thankful for the elevator when he saw he was going up to the 80th floor.
80 floors later, he made his way down the hall and found the office suite. Stepping inside, he heard raised voices.
"Well I'm sorry Agent, you don't have any evidence."
"Please, we both know it's a matter of time before we find some and I'll enjoy locking you away for a long, long time."
Shawn paused, uncertain of what he should do. He looked around and noticed a girl who couldn't be older than ten, sitting by the office door. She was looking through one of those I Spy books.
Behind the door, the voices continued to argue and Shawn sat the pizzas down on a table and knelt down in front of the girl. "You got lobby duty?"
The girl let out a sigh. "Yeah, nothing new."
"Shawn." He held out a hand.
"Sydney." She shook it.
"What are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for new stuff, the stuff they want you to find is too easy."
Shawn sat down beside her with a laugh. Taking a quick look at the picture, he turned to Sydney. "How many buttons?"
He watched her study the picture. "47."
"How many of those are red?"
"16"
Shawn studied her for a second; it wasn't often that he found someone with a knack for this like him. "Alright, close your eyes."
She looked at him for a second before doing so.
"What time does the clock say?"
"4:42 and 37 seconds."
The door opened and a blonde woman in a suit stormed out. "Sydney, we're going."
"Ok." Sydney shut her book and jumped up. "Thanks for doing that, it was fun."
"Sure thing kid." Shawn watched as they left the office.
"Who's out there?" A voice rang from the office. In the back of Shawn's mind he recognized it.
"Noona's Pizzeria. I have a delivery."
"Good, I'm starving." A woman came out of the office and Shawn stopped cold when he saw her.
"Francesca?"
It was her turn to stop cold, she turned to face him and Shawn saw surprise fill her face. "Shawn? Shawn Spencer?"
"How've you been?"
She came over and Shawn wrapped her in an embrace. "Been good? Did you find your groove?"
Shawn let out a sigh. "Not yet."
"What? Pizza delivery isn't your calling?"
"Nope and neither was rock climbing, ski instructing, or working in a South American vineyard."
"Sounds like you've been all over."
"Yeah." He picked up her pizzas. "Now I'm starting to think there's no place like home. Never thought I'd think that."
"How about we catch up?" She took the pizza. "I need someone to help me eat this. I have some wine in the fridge."
"Now how can I refuse that offer?" Shawn followed her into her office.
"I wasn't in Chicago for much longer, honestly ten years on the road had caught up with me. I figured I'd come back here, hang with Gus for a bit and then hit the road again." Shawn turned to Sydney. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"Apparently, Francesca still has feelings for you. She's the one holding us hostage in this station."
"What? No way, I mean sure she went from student to top of the Aon Tower in six years but that doesn't mean…"
"It can." He looked up to see Lassie staring off, slightly behind him for a second before looking between him and Sydney. "How many times did the two of you run into each other?"
"More than we thought." Shawn's response came at the same time as Sydney's.
Alex took the cup of coffee that was handed to him and sat down on the back bumper of a van. He'd finally gotten the file Sydney had asked for at least an hour ago and figured she had her reasons for asking him for it.
He felt the van dip slightly and looked up to see Sarah settling down beside him. "So what mess did she get herself into this time?"
"I wish I knew." Alex flipped through the file trying to find whatever it was that Sydney was hoping to find.
"What's the situation in there?" Sarah nodded to the station, only visible because of the spotlights pointing that way.
"According to Sydney, everyone is waiting this out. There's a couple officers with gunshot wounds from the initial confrontation but they are stable."
"Demands?"
"Not yet, our leading lady hasn't graced us with her presence yet."
"Do they have anyone in there?"
Alex shrugged. "Sydney thinks there's a mole."
"So she's playing snuff out the mole, her favorite."
"Right up there with let's get a cavity filled." Alex's comment caused both of them to laugh. "How've you been, Sarah?"
"Good, how's your little one?"
"Growing like a weed, she starts kindergarten in a couple weeks. How's Chuck?"
"Good, he's around here somewhere. They had to find a place to park the car." She nodded to the ever-growing crowd. "It's getting a little crazy."
"I'm hoping they'll start going home now that its getting dark."
"When do people ever do what we want them to do?"
"This is true." They were laughing again as Alex heard some arguing coming from three approaching figures.
"Guys, really?" Sarah got up and went over there. "I leave you alone for a few minutes…"
"Casey started it." Morgan pointed to Casey who quickly shot him a glare.
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Alex got up from the van. "Nice to see you again Colonel."
"Likewise Temple, what do we have here?" Casey nodded to the police station.
Alex turned to Sarah and found that Chuck's arm had wasted no time finding its way around Sarah's waist. "Hopefully you guys can help me figure it out."
That's it for now! Hope you guys enjoyed it.
see you next time... :)
