We wait. Sorry for the long wait. Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 9—The Maze

Casa Bartowski

Chuck was rushing. He knew Morgan would be over in a minute. He'd just finished dressing. By the time he left the room, he'd come to the conclusion that if they wanted to see his rear, they could. He'd lost it about the fifth time back and forth from the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.

Chuck was still amazed, "How'd she do it? She always looked so beautiful. She didn't have that much of a head start. I can barely get done shaving and she's already to go.' Sarah had her hair full and flowing. She was already dressed in her T-X leather jacket and matching leather high heel boots, blue jeans, and a loose cream blouse.

Chuck and Sarah came out the door together and headed over to Casey's. They went directly to the conference room. Chuck wasn't that surprised to see Casey and his Dad in black polo shirts and slacks, about the same as yesterday. Chuck brought his Dad over to see what he had started the night before. Casey and Sarah were already busy checking their morning emails. Casey looked over to Sarah and said, "Ah, you don't need to get any electronics equipment. We'll have video screens and sound installed. And don't worry; Chuck will be impressed with the selection."

"Well, while we are talking about that, I looked around Ellie's apartment and noticed some changes I'd like." Casey rolled out the drawings and Sarah started pointing to the areas she wanted changed. "I'd like a vault installed here and here. There should be enough room to extend the bathroom and add a bit more storage here. The second bedroom is nice, but we don't need another king-size bed in there. I'd like the extra room. Do you think that if we found the right furniture, you could arrange to get it set up by the time we got back?"

"Roger that, we're on it," Casey picked up his cell and began to coordinate activities. He knew Sarah would arrange to have the furniture delivered, but his teams would have to sweep them for listening devices.

Sarah saw Chuck and his Dad bent over looking at Chuck's display. She was walking over when she heard an "Aces Charles, Aces." She looked at the display and it just looked like lines and pointers. A little puzzled, she asked, "Chuck, what have you got there?"

Steven answered first, "Charles has practically reinvented the Intersect. What he started last night is truly awesome. He has built something that should fill in the blanks." That comment drew 'I always knew he had blanks' look and grunt from Casey. "Okay, you must have realized the Intersect has dated information in it. I think Chuck has made something that will keep his information fresh. It allows him to model interactions, patterns and nodes; and use those for advanced searches. The search looks a lot like the search mechanism he used to find my network. It can do multiple searches at once. But it is more than that. I'll work with Casey to enhance the searches on raw data and reports. But enough with business go ahead and go out with Morgan."

Chuck passed the files and access over to his Dad's computer and logged off. Chuck and Sarah got to the courtyard just when Morgan and Anna walked in. The sequence did not change. Morgan gave Chuck a bear hug. Sarah stepped in and gave Morgan a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she gave Anna a hug.

Anna was back to her look. Her hair was in double high pigtails. Each side had a color ribbon to match her blouse and skirt. The big difference was the also matching long haired Yorkie. "Meet Chico. He's my favorite. I just don't know what to do. Hawaii has a quarantine law for dogs. We are going to leave in just a couple days." Anna almost had tears in her eyes and was looking at Chuck and Sarah like they could make a miracle for her.

Morgan began, "We've even asked my Mom to come over and help. Only problem is Big Mike would come over too. I…I just can't…I just won't pay for Big…"

"Its okay buddy, don't worry we'll think of something. But first we have a little shopping to do. So should we get going?" Chuck was pointing toward the parking lot.

"Wait, I can't believe I am ahead of you on this Chuck." Morgan was prepared and Sarah was amazed. Morgan brought out his laptop. He showed them the searches he had done that morning. Sarah was so happy that Morgan had taken the time to do that. She saw Chuck's big smile of relief too. After five sites that looked about the same, they found themselves looking at a Beverly Hills furniture store. There was a style selection showing several chairs in fabrics, ultra suede and leather. But the store had three styles that looked interesting: one an old western look, another Mediterranean look and something from one of those architects with a modern business look to it. Chuck and Sarah nodded and agreed that would be the next stop. "Just a second, we have to take Chico for a quick 'walk,' and we'll be right back."

Anna came back and asked, "Say could we leave Chico here while we are out? I have his carrier in the car."

"Of course, no problem. We can put him in the apartment kitchen and he'll be just fine." Chuck went with Anna to get things set up. Sarah gave Casey a quick report on where they were headed. It went off like clock work. Chuck explained they had rented a van in case they decided to bring anything home. Casey had the best route under surveillance. And Chico was put in the carrier. Smooth with only one remaining problem.

They got to the furniture store. Pulling into the parking lot, they all thought they had made a mistake and had driven to a Large Mart. The building was huge. "Oh this doesn't look good. We could get lost in there forever. And this isn't the forever, I'm looking for. Casey's right, remember Casey's right, no it can't be…yes, it can. Casey's right…nothing can be worse than going in without a plan.' Chuck knew the next few hours were going to end badly for someone.

The Maze

He knew it could be a trap. He worked his way around her as best he could. He felt lucky that she would let him go for some relief. It seemed like they were looking, feeling, even smelling everything. He seemed to be doing it everywhere, it took so long. Everything looked the same, just shades of gray. He saw them moving and then he was trapped. There wasn't much he could do. He felt tried anyway. He was so tried and decided the best answer was to lie on this bed. It felt rather hard with a pale topping and cardboard to rubbery feel to it.

Chuck knew this would get better. Sarah was here and she'd know what to get. He drifted off to sleep as he listened to the salesman go on and on about the various lines and styles of the furniture. Chuck was thinking that the architect's furniture sounded a little sturdier and something they should look at. While Sarah seemed to be taking it all in, she took a copy of every brochure. Anna and Morgan just began to wonder around. Chuck woke with a start and started thinking that he had to get out.

It was clear, he could see it. If he just pressed down here and moved off the bed, he might be able to slip away from everyone. It worked. This venture had become a cage but it was open again. He could get passed the kitchen tables and chairs and passed the first set of furniture. He found the opening and went for it.

Chuck thought everyone was just behind him. When Chuck turned around, Sarah and the others were gone. Chuck felt like the time his Mom left him in the grocery store. Chuck never quite remembered why, but it was a scene from his youth he always remembered. Chuck was at the grocery cart but his Mom was not there. Chuck did not know where his Mom was. Chuck just knew he had to help. But he did not know where they went.

He looked all around and got through the opening. He knew there would not be much time. They could be back at him at any second and try to trap him again. He went down the corridor. It seemed rather small. He was out on the other side when the first alarm went off. He dashed back in the corridor and back out the other side. The next alarm went off and he could see the flashing red light. Making a dash for the back of the coach he ducked his head behind it.

Chuck couldn't figure out what to do. Sure Chuck still had his GPS watch on; Sarah could find him at anytime; but first she needed to be looking for him. Chuck saw the Fire Truck and Police car out front and wondered what was happening. With all the alarms and sirens Chuck was beginning to wonder whether this was a good idea or not.

He wasn't sure but if he rounded the next corner, maybe…

Chuck heard Sarah and the salesman. Sarah was looking through the material chart. She looked up at Chuck, "Chuck, is this okay with you?" She saw his head nod in agreement and knew it was over. They had made their selection. Morgan and Anna came back and agreed it would be a good choice.

Casa Bartowski

Meanwhile, the protection detail was at each window. Casey had taken over surveillance. Steven was watching the external cameras. All alarms indicated movement in Ellie's apartment. Casey knew the previous crew had been on too long. They had reported seeing an Ewok. He did not see anything in the apartment. Before taking the doors…

A/N Next up shortly.