Another Chapter. Thank you to charahkids for fixing the errors. You really help me sound smart!
Thank you to all who have read, and those who have reviewed. (Personal thanks to each reviewee at the end.)
Chapter 9
"Damn it." Sarah swore as she tossed her phone down on the table harder than was strictly necessary. She looked up at the screens that covered one side of the room she was in at their base of operations. She watched as Chuck took a few more moments after they disconnected to gather himself before starting to get up and going for his day.
She grimaced at seeing how his white undershirt hung loosely on his body, practically drowning him in the fabric as he stood up. She didn't know what to do at that moment. She had been watching, like a hawk for the past two weeks, always checking the feeds and checking on him but she couldn't figure out what was going on. He seemed to be falling apart and she couldn't figure out why.
His last conversation with Morgan didn't bode well for her either. He had told her that Chuck was lethargic and withdrawn. That half the time he would get one or two word answers from him and he hadn't wanted to spend much time, if any with Morgan in about a week. She could tell by the sound of his voice that Morgan was taking that part very hard and she really wish she could say or do something to help him.
But Chuck just wouldn't open up to her. Wouldn't tell her what was wrong.
"You call that a plan? You're going to get us killed Larkin. No wonder you were so easy to shoot." Casey's voice rang out from the other room breaking into her thoughts. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she waited for Bryce's reply.
"I may be easy to shoot but at least you're a bad shot apparently. I'm still here after all." Bryce shot back and Sarah had to resist groaning, knowing that the fact he was alive was a sore spot in Casey's book.
"That can be re-arranged at any time Larkin."
"That's enough!" Sarah shouted dropping her hand. She immediately turned away from the bank of computers and walked into the other room to see her two partners on other sides of the table pouring over maps and data. "Can't you two stop fighting for five minutes and work?" She barked at them.
Neither said a word as they stared at her alarmed. She knew what they were thinking. She had gone crazy. Sarah Walker was deadly on a good day but she never shouted or yelled, never lost her temper. At least not with her partners, and she hated that Chuck could make her act and feel this way. Taking a moment to count to ten she finally let out a huff and faced them, arms crossed over her chest.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated." She admitted, hated to admit but she knew the others felt the same as well.
"We'll figure something out Sarah." Bryce assured her, but she didn't feel assured. It just made her feel even more depressed because she knew it was a lie.
They had nothing, there was nothing. They only had one lead, Kevin Dreyer and he was a complete dead end. Sarah believed they were chasing an imaginary terror cell at the rate they were going. Nothing matched up. They had found several Fulcrum Agents but none of them were connected in any way. They all had associates in various intelligence Agencies but they couldn't connect them to each other or to any cell activity.
"No we won't." Sarah said despondent and covered her eyes with her hands, blocking out the concerned look from Bryce and, whatever passes as a concerned look from Casey. They all stood in silence for several moments until she dropped her hands to her side and looked down at the table where they had maps of the city and dots where they located Fulcrum agents.
"There has to be something we missed. There has to be something here other than a series of unrelated events." She pressured looking closer at the map. Nothing came to mind, nothing jumped out at her and she thought about sending a read out to Chuck and see if he could see some kind of pattern.
But the thought of Chuck once again caused the tension in her body to intensify and cause her heart to ache replaying the images of last night through her head again. Seeing his long form curled up around his smaller sister like a child as he held on tight to her and sobbed whatever sorrows he had into her shoulder and neck.
There had to be more than what she could see going on, she just didn't know what it was.
"Walker." Casey's voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up from where she was staring at the map to him. His eyes had softened and he did look concerned, and if she were honest it slightly freaked her out a bit.
"I just don't know where to go from here." She admitted.
"I know Walker. And neither do we." Casey admitted as well, glancing at Bryce from across the table. "In fact, I'm starting to think that this whole thing was a ruse." Bryce quirked his brow up.
"To what end? What would having us run around chasing a fulcrum cell accomplish for them?" Bryce argued, sitting heavily in the chair behind him. Sarah wanted to know too, her mind already giving her the answer but she didn't want to accept it right away, at least without someone else voicing it first.
"Think about it Walker. What is the one thing that Fulcrum wants and would do just about anything to get their hands on." Casey asked her redundantly. But she answered anyways.
"Bryce. They want Bryce because they think he has-"
"The Intersect. Exactly." Casey finished sitting in his own chair and began piling up the files that littered the table.
"But why bring us here? Why this huge rouge?" She asked confused. "Bryce is here, we are here. Why not just take him?"
"Because they must believe that I really don't have the Intersect." Bryce answered eyes going wide as the realization hit him. "Chuck!"
"No Larkin. If they thought Chuck was the Intersect they would have taken him already. No I think they know where they can get information about it though." Casey interrupted him with a scowl.
"But it's no secret our connection to Bryce. This means they must think we had information someplace. "Sarah's heart pounded wildly as her mind connected the dots.
They were on a fool's mission. There was nothing here, there was no cell. Fulcrum wanted Sarah and Casey out of the way so they could investigate the area where they had been the past two years for any clues as to where Bryce or the Intersect was. Did they know about Chuck? About Castle?
"We have to alert the General." She said briskly heading into the other room to do just that only to stop short at seeing the General face already on the main screen in the middle.
"No need for that Agent Walker, I'm already here." She said in her typical fashion. Casey and Bryce immediately followed her into the room, stopping abruptly behind her causing her to reach out to the chair in front of her so she wouldn't fall. She glared at Bryce for a second over her shoulder before turning back to the screen.
"General, what can we do for you." Casey said coming to the front at attention, always the solider. The General acknowledged his respect and motioned for them all to take a seat, which Sarah did reluctantly. She wanted to stand and be ready to run out if she needed. To be on her way back to Burbank the second the brief was over.
"I believe it's time to inform you fully of what is going on here." She started but Bryce raised his finger to interrupt.
"I'm sorry but were you spying on us?" He asked annoyed to which Beckman's brow quirked up in the expectant answer. Of course she was. He stared back and forth between Beckman and his two temporary partners then sat back withdrawing the obvious question.
"As I'm sure you're aware by now the mission you are on is not an actual mission. We just needed to get you two out of the way and allow whoever they were going to send to come in."
"So this whole mission is fake? To get us out of Castle?" Sarah said angrily.
"In essence yes. We knew that Fulcrum would send in an Agent as a replacement to search our systems for any information on the Intersect as any information had is there."
"And Chuck? He is the Intersect. You left him there in the hands of potential Fulcrum Agents" Sarah accused, sitting up further in her chair. Beckman's own brows narrowed not liking the tone in Sarah's voice.
"I assure you Agent Walker, Mr. Bartowski's safety is of course our number one concern." With that her a series of documents show up on the various screens on the wall, all pertaining to Chuck. They looked like official documents and notes of observation as well as surveillance photos of him at the Buy More or Orange Orange. Some were of him with either her or Casey.
"What is this?" Casey asked leaning against the table in front of him. Sarah wanted to know the same thing.
"It appears that the two of you have been under surveillance by Fulcrum for several months. We were able to get ahold of the files that they have on the two of you and of Chuck. According to their files they believe that he is just a high level asset that you two are sent to protect and use when necessary on your missions." General Beckman explained. Though it made sense it didn't lesson Sarah's worry for Chuck.
"So they have no clue that he's the Intersect?" Bryce asked and Beckman shook her head.
"None at all. They believe he's just an asset."
"This is a huge gamble General. How could you just leave Chuck in their hands? What if they found out?" Sarah asked still alarmed. Casey grunted beside her in agreement.
"The Agents they sent were vetted in the highest possible way. If they weren't Fulcrum Agents they would have been perfect for this assignment. I believe Chuck is safe in their hands." She told them, Casey grunting again, this time not in agreement.
Sarah sat back in her chair and bit her bottom lip to contain the words that wanted to spill out. She understood where the General was coming from but with all due respect she disagreed with the way this entire mission was going. Placing Chuck in harm's way, even a little bit was not acceptable. Not just to her because she was his girlfriend but because of Chuck. He was a sweet loyal man whose life was a mess right now because of the Intersect and government involvement in every aspect of his life. He didn't deserve to be treated like this.
"General, if they found out about Bartowski-" Casey started, and Sarah was grateful.
"Yes I know. That is why he is currently confined to the secure room in Castle and then at home. To lesson his exposure to the Agents. Which we may have to consider on a more permanent basis. The intel he has provided the past few weeks have been superb."
"With all due respect General have you seen him? The confinement is taking a severe toll on him." Bryce said grimly.
That was putting it mildly. They had watched him none stop for two weeks as he sat in that little room or in his bedroom as he proceeded to go through all the data the General sent him. They watched as he was alone with nobody around him, barely taking any breaks, barely eating or drinking. They watched him as his appearance became more haggard. As his body slumped further into itself and withered slightly in pain as he continually flashed over and over again gathering the Intel that was required of him. That only he could provide via the program in his head.
General Beckman frowned at Bryce's comment and she too became concerned and nodded her head that she had in fact seen him.
"Yes Agent Larkin I have. As you are aware I requested you all to keep an eye on the surveillance on him and I myself have also seen it. It has been noted that Mr. Bartowski does not flourish at all in confinement."
Again Casey let out a grunt in agreement, and it caused Sarah to be hopeful. That now that Beckman witnessed firsthand how Chuck would react in such a situation that she would take placing him in a bunker off the table. But then again, that would very few other options available for Chuck. She would just have to come up with a fool proof plan for if that ever came into fruition.
"So now that you are telling us about this General does this mean we're finished here and headed home to arrest the Agents there?" Casey said hopefully, a small glean in his eyes that usually meant he was hoping they would give a fight.
"Not quite yet. But very soon. I want to you keep an eye on them via the feeds. They've been accessing more and more of Castles databanks so we are getting closer to finding out who is involved and what they are looking for. We know they are looking for the Intersect but we want more information. You are to start closing down this operation and in two days' time you are to go back to Burbank. Do not tell Bartowski any of this."
With that the screen went black as she closed off the connection, leaving the three Agents sitting there thinking about what had been revealed. The whole thing sounded like a giant mess and they were each concerned about how the cleanup will go and how those involved, namely Chuck will be at the end of it.
Sarah looked up at the wall of screens and studied Chucks form as he sat in the small room in Castle with the iPad in front of him. She watched him closely as his eyes moved quickly back and forth as he flashed on whatever he was viewing until it stopped. He would shake his head, grimacing in pain for a moment before working on the iPad logging his results. He looked so exhausted.
But at least she was going to get to go home soon. To Chuck. The first thing she wanted to do was to pick up her phone right there and call him, to tell him the good news. She wanted to see the relief on his face when she told him and maybe see a smile cross his lips. Something she hadn't seen much at all, only small glimpses when she called him and was watching the feeds. He could do with some good news right about now.
"Larkin." Casey's voice rang out breaking her concentration as Chuck flashed again. She looked between the two on either side of her. She evidently missed whatever unspoken conversation that was going on between him and Casey because with an annoyed glare Bryce reluctantly got up from his seat and left the room, leaving Sarah and Casey alone again.
She looked over at Casey expectantly but he was focused on the screens in the front. She followed his sight to Chuck whose head was tilted down in his hands, his shoulders rose up and down showing that he was taking deep measure breaths and the way he clawed his fingers into his tresses alerted him to the pain he must be feeling at the moment. They had talked about that a few times, what it was like to flash and Chuck had admitted that after multiple flashes he tended to get very intense headaches.
A small smile crept to her face at the memory of one such time not too long ago. An arms dealer was having a soiree in one of LA's swankiest hotels with Sarah and Chuck going as guests. It had been a relatively mission as missions went. Their only job was to identify who was there and maybe see what they were doing. It had been set to be a very tedious boring time with small talk amongst strangers and meeting new people.
She had been looking forward to getting Chuck out on the dance floor, remembering the first date and how he seemed to really enjoy her dancing around him. Although this time she intended on him participating more. But there were more bad guys there than they had originally anticipated and after about forty flashes they had to make a hasty exit as Chuck dashed off to a corner and quietly, or as quietly as possible heaved up the hors d'oeuvre he had consumed during the evening.
She had gotten him to her hotel room and had put him into bed before making the call to Casey to report to Beckman on the situation. Casey had mocked and made a few jokes at Chuck's expense but she could tell by the lack of sting to them that he was just as concerned as she was. She had changed into a pair of boy shorts and one of Chuck's t-shirts before climbing into bed next to him, placing his head gently on her lap as he whimpered at the movement.
Nothing was said. Nothing could be said. Chuck was in too much pain to speak or make reason of anything, only able to clutch tightly to the blanket around him as Sarah gently ran her fingers threw his soft hair over and over again in a soothing manner, occasionally stopping to rub his temple a little. She had fallen asleep sitting up with her fingers entwined in his hair still but she could still feel the weight of his head on her lap and the warmth of his body against hers.
"Do you think we should tell him?" Casey asked once again breaking Sarah's concentration. She looked from the screen to him with curious eyes, knowing what he meant but not wanting to be the one to put the words out there. They stayed like that several moments before Casey shrugged his large shoulders and indicated Chuck with a tilt of his head.
"Beckman said not to." She pointed out and he grunted. "I want to tell him." She admitted, hating that she wanted to break protocol. The old Sarah Walker would never even consider that. But that didn't stop her from feeling it now.
"I think there's more to it than what she's telling us Walker. Or there's more going on in Burbank than what we can see." He told her quietly. Sarah nodded her head agreeing.
"But what? He's always on camera. Aside from working too much….I don't understand." She let out a huff and tilted her head back to rest on the back of her chair. Nothing made any sense to her.
"He's not always on camera Sarah. There are the car rides, the bathrooms, and of when he goes over to my house."
"Don't you have security camera in your apartment?" She asked him confused. Casey had security everywhere. But he let out an annoyed grunt again.
"I do but they are jamming the signal and I haven't been able to get any visual. I'm just glad I removed all the fun stuff." He told her. She sat up abruptly alarmed.
"Why didn't you tell me this Casey?" She said angrily and he just shrugged. "Don't-..It's something I needed to know. To keep him safe. Why would you hide it from me?"
"Look, I respect you and think you do a great job. You're the best partner I've ever had and while I understand of your lady feelings towards Bartowski and I appreciate that you don't bring that crap to work. The fact of the matter is Chuck is right. If you knew something was wrong you would become unfocused and we needed to finish this mission fast." He explained furiously.
"So why are you telling me now?" She asked him. He sat back from his position and gazed at her a few moments sizing her up.
"Because now I believe that there is something wrong and you needed to know. Those are Fulcrum Agents with Bartowski right now. And I think they are doing something."
"Doing what?" Casey shrugged again at her.
"Whatever it takes to shake Bartowski." She thought about that for a moment, looking away from Casey and back to the screen where Chuck had continued on with his assigned task. She could see a bead of sweat and a sheen from his forehead as the flashing begun to take its toll on him again. "I think we should take turns keeping an eye on him more closing until we get back to Burbank."
With that Casey stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Sarah to her own thoughts as she watched the love of her life on the screen. She couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it but it made so much sense.
Could these Agents be harming Chuck? Could he be hiding it from her? From Everyone? She had no doubt in her mind if he was it wasn't to protect the Agents. She knew he would never hide anything as serious from her for that. But he would hide whatever abuse was going on from her if he felt that it would endanger her life, or made her lose focus on the object at hand.
The thought made her mad. How damn self-sacrificing Chuck could be. It pissed her off. He would endure any amount of pain and injustice just to make sure the ones he loved was safe and happy. It was something that they've argued about over and over again especially during missions when he refused to stay in the damn car.
Her hand itched to grab her phone that was still sitting on the table in front of her. She wanted to call him, to talk to him, but if she did that at the present moment with her mind the way it was now she knew she would spill the beans to him. Tell him that she was coming home.
Instead another idea came to mind and she finally reached out and picked up her phone. Waiting while the phone rang a few times she went over in her head an idea and hoped it would work, knowing the person she was calling would not say no to her.
"Hey Sarah." Morgan's voice rang out as he answered the phone. She couldn't stop the smile that crossed her face at his enthusiasm. She suddenly had gratitude for Morgan Grimes.
"Hey Morgan I need you to do me another favor." She said into the phone, she could practically hear Morgan nodding his head.
"Anything milady. Our dear friend Chuck is in trouble. I don't know what's wrong with him but, it's something serious." He said sincerely. It must be bad if Morgan noticed. But then again he was strangely attuned to anything Chuck. If she were really honest they're lucky he hasn't figured out that Chuck's a spy yet.
"I know and he won't tell me what it is. But the good news is. It's almost over." She said, hoping it wasn't a mistake in telling him. She waited till his cheering and hallelujahs stopped to continue. "But you can't tell Chuck ok? It's going to be a huge surprise. Promise me Morgan."
"Yes yes, of course, anything Sarah. He'll so love this surprise, cause you know, he really doesn't like surprises. Especially in the past couple years for some reason, he's been really against them." He rambled. Sarah smirked as she thought about how the Intersect got stuck in his head and really not shocked that he was against surprises of any form now.
"Yes, well it won't be that big of a surprise, I promise. All I want you to do is spend the evenings at his house with him. Maybe play some of those game…things…you two do. You know just don't let him be alone ok?" She asked him.
"Sure Sarah anything. I'll be glued to him like well glue." She let out a soft laugh at that.
"Well, not that close, I'd like him back with minimal effort Morgan. But, don't let him go over to Casey's place." Morgan was silent for a moment.
"You mean Casey's in-laws?" Morgan questioned and Sarah cringed and looked toward the door, hoping Casey didn't hear that.
"Uh, yeah them. Chuck hasn't said much but I think that-"
"They're bullying him? Yeah I figured that out." He said. Sarah's jaw dropped and she was silent for a moment.
"What…I mean..how…"
"Sarah, I've been with Chuck since 2nd grade. I know all there is to know about him and that includes how he reacts to bullies. Chuck Bartowski is a brave brave man and he has my complete and utter admiration for his strength but sadly that does not extend out to when he himself is being bullied. He'll protect others but himself-"
"He'll suck it up and take it. Damn it Chuck." She muttered.
"Yeah. Sucks but he'll be fine. You're coming back. And as soon as Casey comes back or those bozos find a place to live they'll be gone and away from our Chuckles." Once again Sarah couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face and admire Morgan. Once again amazed, jealous and glad that Chuck had such a friend in his life and wishing she had one like Morgan.
Sarah thanked him, promising to bring him back some souvenirs and making a mental note to pick some up from the gift shop at the airport and hung up. She stared at her phone for a few moments, going over everything in her head.
So these Agents were bullying Chuck. She knew it and now she had more proof. Her eyes narrowed angrily as her jaw clenched and she gripped the phone hard in her hands. Well they better be prepared to suffer the consequences when she gets back.
A/N: Nothing important happened today. I understand you guys wanting quicker resolution and such but its a story (More specfically my story), I want to build it up. Don't worry Sarah will get her revenge but you're going to need to just tough it out.
Neale: Because its mostly in the car or at Caseys. Don't worry, their abuse is almost over...i think.
Marc Vun Kannon: Burn man Burn. While your hypothesis is pretty good it actually is wrong. This takes place in season 2 so no Quinn. And isn't most fanfics all done already and cliche to begin with? Well I hope you stick with me on this journey but if not, I've appreciated your time and reviews.
phathead01: Thank you thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Don't worry, Chuck's suffering will come to an end soon enough, or at least he'll have Sarah.
Wade1978: My goodness did it ever!. I hated any episode that didn't have Mulder. And then when he did come back in S8 it felt awkward and he felt secondary and I hated it. And i hated that damn kid too. I have a few more Casey poke at Larkin coming up soon. ish.
Shutupnkissme313: Who knows, maybe it will be so popular the government would start making money off it.
Jace (Guest): Thank you! I really strive to keep them as close to possible as they would be on the show. I like Chuck being the timid nerd who can stand up for himself when needed but is ok with himself for taking the cowards way out. I like Sarah being conflicted with her emotions and not just blurting things out but hiding them. That is the charactors. And no, my boss did not. I actually got a reprimand by putting the actual quote of what he said to me in his account notes instead of censuring it.
Batty 02 (Guest): He does but the abuse isn't going on while in castle therefore they can't see it, only the results of it. Bring me some popcorn too. I like kettle corn but i'll settle for butter if needed.
sevenrez: Can I just say i love you. Honestly, I love your reviews and I'm glad someone seems to be appreciating the effort in which i abuse chuck lol. I LOVE the guy to pieces and i LOVE having him need Sarah to fix him. To which she shall begin doing in the next few chapters.
wilf21: oh this makes me sad! I'll miss you! *sniffle* But I understand. maybe come back after a few more chapters and see if its better? Sarah and Chuck will be back together soon. With a bigger reason to actually harm the new agents.
MrBi11: I'll have to come up with more quips like that, people love it! Thank you for reviewing! i'm glad you're enjoying it.
