Just a reminder, I don't own Chuck. Though I am hard at work on my off-brand reboot "Idle Twentysomething World"

Chapter 7

"So, this is where your wild party is?"

Charles looked out the Porsche's window skeptically. They had driven small road that wound through circled around the mountains. Finally, the ground became more flat and the road straightened, leading right into a small town. To him, it looked like typical suburbia. So far he had seen several men or women walking their dogs, lawn sprinklers sputtering out water, and what appeared to be at least one quartet of fortysomething dads practicing guitar licks in their garage.

"Hey, it's not like I have an active social life around here," Laszlo protested from the cramped back of the sports car. "So I'll take any party I can get. Even a block party on a cul-de-sac."

Charles was about to respond when something struck him. "Cul-de-sac," he said to himself, then turned to Sarah excitedly. "That has to be it!" he said, still keeping his voice down. "The cul-de-sac!"

"Huh?" Sarah asked confused, briefly taking her eyes off the road to give him a puzzled glance.

"You know, the snake that eats its tail. A cul-de-sac. It must be what the girl meant!"

Sarah had returned her gaze to the road ahead, so Charles barely saw her roll her eyes. It seemed like an awfully sarcastic act for a robot, he thought to himself.

"Even if I did believe that girl was passing you secret codes, Chuck, that seems awfully thin. In any event, we're going to this thing anyway, so it doesn't really matter."

"Turn up here," Laszlo said from the back. As far as Charles could tell, the codebreaker hadn't heard a word of the conversation, which was a relief. Though he wasn't sure if that was because the man couldn't be trusted, or that he would think Charles was nuts too.

When Sarah followed suit, they did indeed find themselves driving down a short cul-de-sac. The house hosting the party was marked with a series of bright-colored balloons tied to the mailbox. Otherwise, it looked exactly the same as every other house on the road, with the same arrangement of flowers sprouting out below the first floor windows, and a front door painted non-threatening blue, right next to the two car garage. Only a few cars surrounded the house, making it appear that most of the guests were from the neighborhood. Or that hardly anyone had showed up for the party.

It became immediately clear when Charles, Sarah and Laszlo walked around to the backyard that this was not the case. Between the raised deck and the swimming pool, the house and grounds were packed. He peered through the back screen door to see several other people were mingling inside the house.

Laszlo immediately disappeared inside, leaving Charles and Sarah to scan the crowd. He immediately recognized one man seated by the pool, sipping on a blue-colored drink. "Excuse me," he said to her then headed over.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey, Charles," Morgan said, putting down his mixed drink. "Just relaxing."

"Yeah, but why here? Couldn't you just find a party like this at home?"

Morgan shrugged. "Carina's idea. Remember her?"

Charles nodded, remembering the red-headed robot. "Where is she?"

Morgan shrugged again. "Not really sure. I kind of figured we could each do our own thing here."

Charles glanced around, then finally saw Carina up on the deck, talking to Sarah. This seemed strange to him, but he wasn't too worried. Maybe they were recharging, or uploading information to each other.

"Besides," Morgan said, interrupting Charles' thoughts, "I've got my eye on somebody new." He pointed over at a younger woman seated by the pool, kicking her feet back and forth in the water.

"Isn't she kind of young for you?" Charles asked.

Morgan shrugged yet again. "You mean when she was made? How knows? Now if you'll excuse me, I think I will introduce myself."

Charles watched his friend approach the younger woman and offer her a sip of his drink. He then went over to the deck stairs and climbed up. Carina had now disappeared, leaving Sarah awkwardly talking to someone in a chef's hat by the grill. "And if you want to give your burgers that perfect zing, you've got to add the right amount of cilantro," the man was saying. Charles could see the boredom in her eyes when she looked over to see him. Instinctively, he flashed her a quick smile.

Sarah briefly grinned back at him, then looked behind him with a bit of concern. "Laszlo isn't with you?" she asked.

"He went inside."

"You'd better find him. I don't need him sneaking off, and this is the perfect place for him to get lost."

Charles nodded and headed into the house. The screen door opened up into a living room, occupied by a handful of people taking refuge from the sunshine. Various tacky pieces of art lined the walls and stood on shelves. Most followed a cowboy motif, though there were a few sculptures of lions and tigers mixed in.

Charles mostly ignored the art as he searched the room for Laszlo. He was surprised to see the two men from the Buy More, however, seated on the couch. The younger man, Lester he thought he remembered the man's name to be, was pretending to feed a piece of shrimp to a lion sculpture perched by the sofa.

"Well, if it isn't the spy," Lester said when he saw Charles, whispering the last word with a wink.

"Hey, guys, no more working at the electronics shop?"

"It lost its novelty," Lester replied. "They've got some new management there that's a bit hands-on," he added, rubbing his neck. "And you know, sometimes one just needs a break from not doing anything at work."

"Ok, whatever," Charles responded. He really didn't understand these two. "Have you seen a scraggly looking guy, dark hair?"

Lester shook his head. "Scraggly-looking isn't really the image here. This place basically screams Ivy League junior executives." He turned to the other man. "You see anyone like that, Jeff?"

"Nope."

"Hmm. Well there you go. Now you'll excuse us, we have more important things to do. You go back to saving the world." Lester gestured for Charles to move away and returned to playing with the lion sculpture.


Charles wandered around the house and backyard, closely examining everything and everyone he saw. He was looking both for the now-disappeared Laszlo, and for any clue why he was supposed to be there. Regardless of what Sarah had said, he knew the ballerina girl had spoken those strange words for a reason, and she had meant for him to be at this party.

He was also beginning to wonder why Sarah was so opposed to the idea. He had found it strange that she had been whispering to that woman Carina earlier. Was there some secret between them? Should he even trust her? He had to admit, if he was the park's adventure writer, he would have thrown in a twist or two, and a betrayal by the fembot fatale CIA Agent would certainly fit that bill.

But the more Charles looked, the less he found. All of the block partiers seemed to be minding their own business, deep in various non-spy-related conversations. He began wondering if he could tell which of them were hosts and which were guests.

Finally, he found a set of stairs leading into a basement, and worked his way downward. Below was what was clearly a man cave. Clearly, no expense had been spared, from the pool table in one corner, to the fully stocked bar behind it, to the gaming system attached to a 70-inch TV at the other end. A large la-z-boy sat in the middle of the room. Charles smiled when he recognized Laszlo seated there.

"So you make a big deal about coming to a party and then you come down here and play games by yourself?"

Laszlo didn't look up. "Eh, just wanted to see if you would bring me. Nice to know I have some leverage."

"Well, you're still going to tell us what that symbol is."

Laszlo briefly looked up and glanced around the room. "Your keeper not here?"

"She's upstairs."

"Good. I'll tell you, but not her."

This wasn't helping Charles' new-found trust issues regarding Sarah. Either way, he didn't feel like negotiating. "Fine."

"Ok, soon as this game's done, I'll come clean."

"Hey." Charles heard steps descending, and tensed up. He then relaxed when he saw that it was just Lester and Jeff. "Awesome cave," the older man said.

"Guitar hero?" Lester said, noting the plastic guitar hanging on the wall. "Perfect, we'll just have to show everyone how things are done. Your time's up, buddy," he said to Laszlo, snatching the game controller from his hand.

"Hey!"

"Alright, Man," Lester said to his friend. "What song should we do?"

"How 'bout we rock some Stones?"

Charles walked over to Laszlo and pulled him aside as the other two began setting up their game. "Alright, tell me what you know," he said quietly.

"Ok, ok," he removed the hand-copied version of the strange image. "Here's what I figured out." He winced as a few opening chords churned through the air. "Oh god, they're doing Paint It Black?"

"Never mind that," Charles hissed. "What does this mean? Is it a map?"

"Kind of, but not in the way you think. You see, it's a…"

A popping sound interrupted the song, and a moment later Laszlo fell over, a small bullet hole in his forehead.


Charles risked a brief glance back as he dove behind the couch. Two men clad in dark suits had descended the stairs, and were scanning the room with their firearms pointed forward. Several muffled shots popped, and soon the stuffing from the couch was filling the air around the room. Fortunately, the floating foam obscured the agents' vision, and Charles moved to the far end of the room. He tipped over the pool table and knelt beside it.

The room had been quiet other than the plucked guitar chords from the game. Once the table had been move, though, the sound of billiard balls bouncing on the floor roused the agents' attention, and soon another round of bullets flew through the room, bouncing off the pool table. He tensed when he sensed someone beside him. Turning, he saw that it was Lester and Jeff.

"This game isn't supposed to be this violent!" Lester complained quietly. "How am I supposed to relax like this?"

Charles saw the panic in the other man's eyes, and immediately reminded himself that this was all a game. These weren't real bullets; this was all smoke and mirrors. "I have to admit, the special effects are pretty good."

"A little too special, thank you," Jeff muttered. For a moment it was quiet again, and Charles could hear the drums kick in from the recorded version of the Stones song. A moment later, it was interrupted by another round of fire, following the crashing sound, as one bullet hit one of the bottles behind the bar.

"Oh, c'mon!" Lester yelled, looking longingly at the alcohol spilling from the broken bottles. He briefly looked over the table, throwing one of the billiard balls over towards where the men had been. They weren't there any more, and there was a thump as the ball hit the wall and rolled back across the floor. Another few shots rang out from another side of the room, and Charles struggled to hold the pool table up, as the impact of the bullets nearly pushed it down on him.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to stay like this forever. Of course, he wasn't really sure what that really meant. If he was "shot" would his stay be over? Would they just kick him out of the park? Or was he invincible, and all of those pretend bullets would simply keep missing him? He supposed that might be the case, as it seemed pretty consistent with most of the spy movies he'd seen. Still, he wasn't too comfortable with the idea of testing the theory.

If it was a game, Charles decided, he probably shouldn't be cowering behind a pool table. If he was really supposed to be a spy, he should probably act like one. He reached back and grabbed one of the pool cues hanging from the wall.

"What are you doing?" hissed Lester.

"What I'm supposed to be doing," Charles whispered. He crouched down when another round of bullets hit the table. As soon as they stopped he was going to pounce.

Only before he got the chance, a couple of thumps and a cracking sound came from the other end of the room.


Charles moved back behind the table. As he glanced downward, he saw the body of one of the agents on the ground, his hand releasing its grip on the firearm. A boot-covered foot kicked away the gun. A second later, a large set of hands grabbed the pool table and pushed it aside. He immediately recognized the green shirt and the scowl.

"Ah, Bartowski," Casey said. "There you are."

Briefly noticing Jeff and Lester, he grabbed the two, and shoved their heads together, interrupting a "Not him aga…" from the smaller man.

"Now, about those secrets." Casey grabbed Charles, pushing him down on what was left of the couch. Looking around for something to tie him down with, he grabbed the cords from the Guitar Hero controller and began wrapping them around the frightened guest.

"Hey, not so tight!" Charles protested. His complaints only resulted in an amused grunt.

Not yet satisfied with his work, Casey grabbed some of the power cords from the game console, interrupting the last strains of Paint It Black. The large host used the cords to fasten Charles more securely and then nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, where were we?"

Charles wasn't really sure what to say next. It wasn't as if he knew what was going on. The only thing he'd managed to figure out so far this evening was that no one should trust eight-year-old ballerinas. He glanced over at the lifeless body of Laszlo. "You know, you probably should have come a few minutes earlier. That guy was going to tell me something, and it was probably the exact thing you want to know."

Casey grunted. "Quit stalling. You and I both know you have everything I need in that little brain of yours. Now, do I need to drill a hole in there for them to spill out?"

"I…" Chuck paused when he heard footsteps coming down the steps. He hoped that they belonged to Sarah.

They didn't, but he did recognize the new arrival. "Hey Chuck, you ok down here? Oh, I see you've got something going on." Morgan raised an eyebrow.

The bearded man wasn't alone. His hand was interlocked with a young girl. Charles recognized her as the girl from the pool.

"Dad?" the girl asked. "What are you doing?"

Casey looked over in annoyance at the bearded man, then his face set into a dark scowl when he saw his companion. "What are you doing with my daughter?"

"Ok, well I probably should have seen that twist coming." Morgan pulled the girl's hand. "C'mon Alex. Maybe we should find someplace a bit more private." They quickly darted up the stairs, with the angry Casey right on their heels.

Charles breathed a sigh of relief. The room was quiet for the moment. Lester and Jeff were still knocked out cold, while the Fulcrum agents and Laszlo clearly weren't going anywhere.

Unfortunately, neither was he. Casey had tied the cords too tightly for him to wriggle free.

"Chuck?"

Charles looked up from his struggles to see Sarah race into the man cave. She quickly surveyed the room, seeing the bodies on the ground, before racing over to him.

"I'm sorry Sarah, Laszlo's dead."

"That's ok, Chuck," Sarah said as she examined Charles, making sure he was ok. "You're safe."

Charles could see the concern in Sarah's eyes as she studied him. It seemed so….human. He struggled for what to say as she untied the cords and let him free. "Sarah…"

"C'mon Chuck, we have to get out of here." She took his hand and let him up the stairs.

"What about Fulcrum? Are there more agents up there?"

"Actually, it's the Ring."

"Who?"

"Oh, they replaced Fulcrum now."

"But they're still the bad guys, right?"

"Of course."

Charles shook his head. This all seemed very confusing.

As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Charles saw more of the dark-clad agents, whether from Fulcrum or the Ring he wasn't sure, attack. Sarah switched to whirling dervish mode, diving onto the kitchen counter, extending a leg to knock out enemies left and right. Before he could blink, most of the attackers were down on the floor. "C'mon!" Sarah yelled.

Charles tried to ignore the bodies lying in the living room as he rushed onto the deck. He winced as he saw the burger chef now face down on the grill. Even if it was a host, that seemed like a rough way to go. With or without cilantro.

They ran through the open screen door, and into the darkness of late evening. They rushed past the pool and headed to the front of the house towards where they'd parked. Before they could get to the front, a couple of Ring agents appeared from the bushes. "Go!" Sarah yelled as she fought them off. Reluctantly, Charles did as he was told.

He thought he might actually get away until a large figure appeared in front of him. "There you are, Bartowski," Casey said, standing in his way.

"I'm sorry our little session was interrupted," the large host continued. "I'm still learning to handle having a grown daughter. I have to learn to trust her to make her own decisions. Even if I don't approve of them. Especially when it comes to who she dates."

"She could probably do better," Charles admitted. He hoped that Morgan was ok, but this wasn't really the time to argue about his prospects.

Casey grunted. "Fortunately, I now have some unresolved anger I need to work out. Lucky for me." He moved slowly towards Charles.

There was a quick blur of movement, and suddenly Sarah was there. "Don't you touch him!"

The next few minutes was a whirl of motion. Sarah matched Casey blow for blow, while Charles watched in amazement. The amount of programming this must have taken to get the two hosts to spar like this must have been very painstaking. He winced briefly when Casey grabbed Sarah's neck, but then one long leg connected with a knee and the male robot was on the ground.

Her high-heeled boot connected with his face, and Casey either let out a groan, or his vocal cords short circuited. Charles didn't care which.

They continued to the front yard, and finally the street lights gave some mild illumination. Seeing the car nearby, Charles turned to Sarah. "My God, that was amazing!"

Sarah's face showed another mixture of concern and relief. "We have to get going, Chuck. I don't think we're going to find what we need here."

"Sarah," Charles moved towards the host. He now felt stupid about his earlier mistrust for her. His feelings had been a jumble the last few days, but they were now starting to feel clear. Seeing the concern on her face when she had looked at him in the man cave, nothing could have been more human, Even if she wasn't, he realized that he didn't care any more about what she was. "I know this is…weird and all. You being what you are, but I just have to tell you how I feel."

Sarah had pressed the key fob to unlock the car door, but then had turned to look at Sarah as he spoke. As he continued, her face fell. "Chuck…"

Charles saw her expression, but pushed on undeterred. "No, Sarah, I get it. It's not really what's supposed to happen here. I mean, I guess it kind of is, but this is way more than that. It's not just some temporary thing."

"Chuck, please!"

Realizing he'd been rambling, Charles paused, gathering his thoughts. Then he started again.

"No please, Sarah, let me finish. Seeing you, everything about you, there's something real there. And I can't deny it." He moved closer till he was only a foot away from her. "Sarah, I lo…"

"Chuck," Sarah interrupted again, taking a step back. He moved a step closer to her, until she spoke again.

"Freeze all motor functions."

Charles stopped in his tracks, unable to move.


So I guess now is a good time to remind folks to please comment about how they think the story's going…