Chapter 9

A/N – Thanks to those who left reviews, it is nice to hear from folk that they are enjoying the story. A special note of thanks to michaelfmx for being the beta reader and for his valued input.

October 2009- 15 miles from Roy & Bandt Mitchell's Farm , Minnesota

Continued from chapter 8….Sarah said, "When I met you, almost from the start, I subconsciously knew that you were that other road for me, the one that is less travelled. For the longest time I was standing there staring down the two roads…trying to make a decision….which way do I go. No longer. I want us, Chuck."

Sarah was looking intently at Chuck after she finished talking, to gauge his reaction. She didn't have to wait long for the smile. The smile started in his eyes. God, she loved those brown eyes of his. They had a thousand shades depending on the light, from a deep copper color to a dark chocolate and everything in between. Then his generous mouth formed the smile that always warmed her. The kiss that followed was far better than the first time she really kissed him, when she thought they were both going to die. That kiss was about desperation and an end. This kiss was about a new beginning, about a commitment to each other. Reluctantly they broke off the kiss and parted for air.

All too suddenly a shadow crossed Chuck's face. "Sarah, when you say you want us….I mean that's great…it's fantastic …..It's something I've dreamed about… I want us to….…but I think you need to take a hard look at me…I may not be someone you want to hitch your wagon to. Look at it logically. I'm living with two senior citizens on a farm under a false identity. You, on the other hand are this stunningly beautiful woman. You are the best agent in the CIA. Now that Graham is gone you can have an amazing career with the CIA. Who knows maybe become a deputy director.

"I'm an average looking guy. I have nothing to show for the four years I spent at Stanford. I have $3,452.54 to my name. I owe Devon and Ellie at least $20,000 and don't know how I will ever repay them. My last real job had me earning $12 an hour…and …oh ….yes ….let's not forget ….. I've got this giant bull's-eye painted on my front and back. I have the life expectancy of someone living in medieval London at the height of the plaque."

Sarah shook her head, thinking to herself, 'He really has no idea how amazing he is.' In the years ahead she had a lot of work to do in order to build up his self-confidence. She then reached over to her pannier and pulled out an envelope. "Chuck, you're wrong, we have a number of options. Notice the word 'we'…..let me say it again…..we… have several things we can do and…. we have the means to do it."

Chuck's eyes widened, he was now hanging on her every word.

Sarah handed Chuck the envelope and said, "This morning you asked me who Mr. Campbell was when I told you Agent Sarah Walker was in Spain and that I had taken the identity of Mrs. Sarah Campbell to travel over here. Go ahead Chuck, open the envelope."

Chuck opened the envelope and pulled out two Canadian passports. The first one was for Mrs. Sarah Campbell, the second one was for Mr. Charles Campbell and when he flipped the page and saw the photo….. he was looking at himself. His mouth opened slightly in astonishment.

"Chuck, I've spent the last year preparing and perfecting the two best cover identities I've ever prepared. Everything I've learned as a spy has been poured into these two identities. We don't need to look at it now but there is a 30 page PDF in my phone with our back story. We call the back-story a legend. It will stand up to intense scrutiny. Keep looking through the envelope Chuck."

Chuck saw driver's licenses, SIN cards, health cards, credit cards and a picture. The picture was of a white bungalow with a red door nestled in amongst several trees. There was a dock and a boat. The house was situated overlooking a lake.

Finally Chuck looked up, "Sarah, is this all for real …I mean …..the identities and …..the boat…the house?"

"Yes. If we…Chuck…notice the word …we…. want to assume these two identities everything is in place, including our house. Oh and about the money concerns. Everything is paid for plus we have $600,000 in 'our' bank account up in Canada waiting for us."

Chuck had a look of disbelief on his face. "Sarah, how did you get so much money?…I mean …." His voice trailed off with embarrassment because Sarah's money wasn't really any of his business.

"Chuck, I've been able to practically bank all my salary for the last 8 years. When I'm on an assignment the government covers all my expenses. My only real indulgence over these last eight years was the Porsche. I got it through Carina, she told me about a DEA auction of goods confiscated from convicted drug lords and their henchmen."

Chuck did the math in his head it still didn't make sense to him. "Sarah that still wouldn't explain all the money you seem to have."

Sarah smiled at him, he didn't miss much. "Chuck, seven years ago, one of the people I was assigned to investigate by Langston Graham was a man called Hamish Menzies. He was a Scottish financier/banker who, it was rumored, had acted as the banker for the Israelis in Europe. I checked him out and quickly confirmed he was indeed helping Mossad with their European operations.

"Graham was of two minds what to do with Menzies. His concern was that Menzies was doing this strictly for the money and one day he might choose to help other organizations that might not be friendly to the United States. Chuck, I liked Hamish and he seemed like a decent guy. I investigated him fully and found out that his mother, Esther, was a holocaust survivor. She had survived being in the Sobibor death camp. That was Hamish's motivation to help Mossad, not the money.

"I was convinced that he wasn't a threat to the United States and convinced Graham in my written and verbal reports that he could help us from time to time. Menzies had been a financier/banker for a long time and he was fully aware how close he had come to getting on Graham's black list.

"He was very grateful to me for helping him. He offered to invest my money and teach me how to move it around so that not even the CIA could ever find it. That very day we made a pact with each other, as long as Menzies didn't help terrorist organizations, he would have my support within the CIA. For his part, he would invest my money for me and keep it hidden. Over the last eight years he has tripled the money I've sent him."

Sarah could see the disbelief flee from Chuck's face. She smiled to herself. Each minute that passed she felt just a little more in touch with him. She took a breath and in a hesitant voice added, "Another option is…. to make a deal with the Devil…..make a deal with Beckman."

Chuck's eyes narrowed and she could see that he had serious misgivings about what she was about to say.

Chuck said, "Working with her, and forgive me that includes the CIA, is like being in the room with an 800-pound gorilla. I mean, at any moment they can stop being nice and instead of peeling a banana they will tear your body apart limb from limb."

Chuck looked away from her and stared, seemingly at nothing. Finally his eyes focused and he said, "Working for Beckman would only work if we have a clear and unbreakable 'sunset clause'."

Sarah squinted as a splash of sunlight washed over her eyes. "Chuck, help me out, what do you mean by 'sunset clause'?"

Chuck explained, "I mean a clear date and time when we can walk away. No double crosses, no threats or trying to leverage you or me or our relationship to make us stay.

"Sarah, I'm not cut out to be a spy or an agent. Don't get me wrong, some of it is exhilarating. Parts of it I love doing. Breaking into computers and networks and extracting their secrets is an amazing high for me. But do I want to seduce people, lie to them to serve the greater good?

"Honestly, can you see me completing that Red Test you told me about ….to see if I have a killer instinct…...in order to become an agent? And more to the point, Sarah, do you want to go back to being a deadly assassin. Do you want to even entertain becoming Beckman's enforcer, especially after what you have just shared with me?"

Chuck grabbed his water bottle; he took a drink and collected his thoughts. Sarah waited.

"No, if we ….notice Sarah, I said… we." That earned him a smile from her. "We will have to work with Beckman in a different way. We need more control of what we do and how we do it. And we need that 'sunset clause' in place. So help me out Sarah, I mean this is your world. What might work, so Beckman gets some of what she wants and I might get the chance to see my sister, Devon and Morgan again? And most importantly we get to be a couple."

Sarah reached for his hand and said, "Leave that to me Chuck, I have some ideas. We'll come back to this. But, first, I want you to tell me why you were smiling when I told you that everything changed in March of this year..….remember you smiled at me and told me you would tell me your story."

Chuck laughed, "Okay, where do I start…it was in Odessa, Texas that we came up with the plan."

Over the next hour, while they ate lunch under the towering 100 year old black walnut tree, Chuck told Sarah about arriving in Odessa and about his hacker friend Rigel. Sarah grabbed Chuck's forearm really hard when he revealed that Rigel and Orion were the same person and that Orion was his dad. She was shocked as Chuck told her almost verbatim about the confrontation with Beckman and how they had managed to pull that off.

Sarah became visibly upset when Chuck told her how he and his dad had arranged the incident on the USS Winston Churchill. In fact she stood up and started pacing back and forth. "Chuck, you do understand that I'm still an agent of the CIA. The fact that you and Orion altered the firing order for those missiles was a serious crime against the United States."

Chuck was taken back by her reaction and his voice rose sharply, "Sarah it was a 'dry run' exercise. No missile was ever going to be fired. That's why we chose that day and that time."

They both looked at each other. Chuck was now angry, "Sarah, think back to what I told you about creating, in the government's mind, the perception of power. That is the game changer. Dad was correct. I have absolutely no doubt that, if my dad and I had failed to create that illusion of power, the NSA and CIA would continue as before. They would eventually capture me and my dad, use us until we had nothing more to contribute. And after that, well most likely they would put us both in shallow graves. All of it justified by national security. Can you tell me that wouldn't be a crime? Remember Sarah, where the law ends….. Tyranny begins.

"What I will say is this, we never hurt anyone, and we left all their databases and systems fully functional. And now, because of the Beckman Doctrine, we have re-introduced accountability and Senatorial monitoring to avoid having another Langston Graham run amok. Where's the crime? Who was the real criminal? "

Chuck had really gotten himself worked up by this point. He rose to his feet and stared at Sarah, looking her right in the eye. His cold demeanor as he spoke gave Sarah a chill.

"You can still do your duty Agent Walker. But….. tell me what your duty is. Are your loyalties to people like Beckman or is it to the Constitution and the Laws of the Land? The termination order issued against me was a crime but guess what?….. No one, not Beckman and certainly not Graham… will ever be held to account for it. Hell, if Casey had actually killed me they probably would've given him a promotion."

Sarah realized she couldn't continue to have divided loyalties. Either, she truly believed in Chuck and that he was on the side of the angels, or she was an agent of the CIA and her duty was clear, she had to secure the asset for Beckman. It was the word 'asset' that triggered something in Sarah. It gave her a moment of clarity, a way to break through her struggle. Chuck Bartowski wasn't an asset, he was a kind, gentle and decent man. She would never let anyone 'handle' him or use him as if he was something to be consumed and then finally discarded.

Sarah's shoulder's sagged and, in a whisper, she said, "Chuck, I already told you. I choose us. At this moment the only orders I'm going to follow are to protect you and follow my heart….in that order." She was staring at him intently. When she was angry her blue eyes were a darker cobalt color. Chuck saw her eyes soften to an azure color and she moved into his arms. "Chuck, I swear life is never going to be dull around you, exhausting, but never dull."

They went back to their bikes, loaded the panniers, and started cycling back to Roy and Bandt's farm. As they were riding side by side Chuck reached out and touched her on the shoulder. "Sarah, you still haven't told me…. how did you find me? How did I screw up, what did I do wrong?"

Sarah smiled and laughed, "Chuck you didn't do anything wrong. The only time we came close to catching you was when you tranquilized Carina. If Carina really had wanted to she might have tracked you down. But she didn't, she let you get away. The other time we might have caught you was when you told us about Altaf Hakim being in Gallup, New Mexico. By the way, we captured him and you saved a lot of lives. That particular selfless act wasn't lost on Beckman and the CIA. But no one, and I mean no one, was looking for you on a bike. Chuck, it was you, Devon, Ellie and Lance Armstrong who gave me the clues and allowed me to finally figure it out."

Chuck looked a little bewildered. "I know I didn't tell you where I was going and I can't believe Devon and Ellie would talk to you. I certainly don't understand why you would be talking with Lance Armstrong?"

Sarah looked over at him, "Two weeks after my extraordinary meeting with Beckman in April, I contacted her and asked for permission to talk with Ellie and Devon." Chuck braked and stopped his bike. "Wait a minute, you've seen Ellie and Devon…I mean when? How is she? Sarah…." Sarah calmed Chuck down and they started to slowly ride back to the farm as she told him the story.

May 5, 2009 Castle – 9:30 am

General Beckman's visage filled the screen. "Agent Walker, this is an unusual request. Please explain to me once again why I should contact the Director of the FBI?"

Sarah collected her thoughts and went through the logic again. "Ma'am, I need to talk with Ellie Bartowski and attempt to reestablish a basic level of trust. I'm pretty sure that she and Chuck have some way of contacting each other in an emergency. I want her to contact me if Chuck feels he is in danger."

General Beckman looked skeptical. "Agent Walker, you don't honestly think that Ms. Bartowski will tell you where her brother is, do you?"

"No ma'am. I do think, however, that if Chuck gets into some sort of trouble he will contact her. That's all I'm hoping to accomplish."

General Beckman pursed her lips and finally nodded. "Very well, I'll contact the FBI and have them set up the meeting."

May 7, 2009 Maison23 Burbank – 7:30 am

Sarah set out in her Porsche for the drive to Sacramento. She could have hopped a ride on the G5 but wanted time to think and plan for her meeting with Ellie and Devon. She would meet FBI Agent in Charge Mac Showers outside the Woodcomb residence at 4:25pm. She had plenty of time.

After eight years of being and agent, Sarah noticed certain things normal people missed. She was always checking her mirror and looking for signs that she was being followed. Some agents told her 'you develop a sixth sense'. Sarah always believed it was training and following procedures that kept you alive.

She had just gotten onto highway 5 north when she saw a blue Corolla with a small dent on the driver's door with a young blonde driving. As the blonde passed her car Sarah noticed the blonde woman took a quick peek at her and then accelerated past her. Sarah smiled to herself, there was no threat.

About forty-five minutes later another blue Corolla passed her. The women who was driving was a brunette. She took a quick peek at Sarah as the Corolla took the off ramp. It was then that Sarah noticed the small dent on the driver's door. Two different drivers, but two blue Corollas with the same dent? Sarah called Beckman on a secured line.

Beckman answered, "Beckman secure."

"Agent Walker secure. General, I'm being tailed. I've spotted one of the cars. I suspect it is a four or five car surveillance team. That's all I know at the moment. I can't proceed to the meet with the Ellie and Devon until I know who they are and what they want."

Beckman said, "Agent Walker, they are not NSA. Hold on." Beckman came back on the phone five minutes later. "I've just checked with Director Collier at the CIA and it's not his people. I think we need to assume its Fulcrum."

Sarah and General Beckman talked for a further twenty minutes and came up with a plan. Beckman sent Sarah the GPS coordinates for a quarry just south of Stockton. It would take her about three hours to get there. Sarah for the next three hours pretended not to notice the five cars who were discreetly following her. One car smoothly handed off the surveillance to the other in a practiced routine.

Sarah pulled the Porsche off the highway three hours later at exit 426, two miles south of Stockton and headed for the quarry. She drove down a long, single lane approach road that passed through the deserted site. She pulled into a dead end area. There were two huge piles of broken concrete behind her. She got out of the Porsche, checked her gun, put it in the pancake holster at her back and leaned against the hood of her car. She then put her ear bud in and activated her wrist mike. She clicked the mike once and heard a click back in her ear bud. She then clicked twice and heard two clicks. Finally, she clicked the mike three times and heard three clicks back. She waited.

Five minutes later five cars came rushing into the quarry and effectively blocked her in. Five men and two women quickly got out of their cars with guns and sub machine guns drawn and quickly formed a semi-circle around her Porsche. The two men on the flanks looked for any threats to the side. One man in the middle turned around with his Heckler-Koch mp5 and looked for any threats behind them.

There was an eyrie silence for almost two minutes as the seven people waited. At last, one of the female Fulcrum agent's took a step forward and said, "Agent Sarah Walker, where might you be going on this lovely day. Fulcrum would like to invite you to come and chat with us about what you were doing for such a long time in General Beckman's office?"

Sarah took a step towards the group and said, "I will have to decline your offer. But, instead let me invite you to come over to my place. I think there is a mole somewhere that needs to be ferreted out and you all can help us find out who it is."

This agent was obviously the alpha, the leader, and nodded for one of her men to move forward and disarm Sarah. He took one step forward. Suddenly a puff of dust and a red blossom appeared at the center of his chest. He dropped to the ground as if he had been a puppet and all his strings had just been cut. No gun-shot was heard.

Sarah looked at them and said, "Very slowly, very carefully put your weapons on the ground or die where you stand, your choice."

There was a moment when nothing happened, but slowly their leader, the woman, complied and dropped her gun to the ground, the others followed. Sarah with her gun now drawn continued, "Now, on your knees. Keep your hands on top of your heads. One false move and you will die." Sarah spoke into her wrist mike, "Okay, move in and secure the prisoners."

Off in the distance, three hundred and fifty yards away in three carefully selected spots, Delta snipers in Ghillie suits stood up with sound suppressed rifles and walked towards the Fulcrum agents who were kneeling in the dirt.

Sarah called Beckman once the prisoners were secured. Sarah informed Beckman that there had to be a Fulcrum mole in her office. Beckman listened carefully and swore when Sarah related what the female Fulcrum agent had said. They both agreed that Fulcrum was on a fishing expedition. They still didn't know Chuck was the Intersect, it was okay for Sarah to go ahead and meet with Ellie.

Beckman and Sarah agreed that until the interrogations were all completed she couldn't go back to her place at Maison23. Castle would be on lockdown until Beckman figured out how, where and when Fulcrum started following Sarah.

It was a forty minute drive to Sacramento, for most mortals. Sarah figured she could do it in thirty minutes. She would be in plenty of time.

May 7, 2009 Sacramento- Woodcomb's Residence – 4:30 pm

Sarah and FBI Agent-in-Charge Mac Showers walked around to the back of the Woodcomb's house. They were headed towards a pool nestled in a landscaped area. There were dozens of different flowers: irises, daffodils and day lilies. Ellie Bartowski was sitting down on a patio chair. She was wearing a summer dress with a flowery print. Blue, red and yellow colors on a white background. Ellie locked her eyes with Sarah as soon as she and Mac Showers came around the corner.

Sarah, for some reason she never quite fathomed, was always slightly nervous around Chuck's sister. Ellie was every bit as intelligent as Chuck. There was something about the woman's psyche that let you know she was a formidable lady. Ellie didn't handle betrayal well. Sarah had lied to her, and knew this little get together could quickly spiral into an unmitigated disaster. She would rather be back in the quarry….it might just be safer.

Sarah had chosen not to wear any makeup and had pulled her hair back in a simple pony tail. She had a light blue blouse on and jeans with a white belt. Sarah took a big breath and said to herself, 'Oh, Ellie I hope you'll believe what I'm going to tell you today, for Chuck's sake'.

Before Sarah got to the patio, she spotted Devon coming around the corner of the house. He was in his cycling gear and was holding a towel. He was mopping up the sweat on his face, arms and legs. They all arrived at the patio table at about the same time. Ellie was sitting there and hadn't taken her eyes off Sarah. There was a long awkward silence.

Mac Showers cleared his throat and said, "I will leave you to talk. Ellie I will be over by those trees." He walked about 50 feet away where a chair was waiting for him under a large sycamore tree.

Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out two cubes that were about half the size of a Rubik's cube. She pulled her cell phone out and turned it off. "You both might want to turn off your cell phones before I turn these on." Ellie and Devon looked at each other with raised eyebrows but took their phones out and turned them off. "Devon, keep an eye on Agent Showers."

Sarah then yelled, "Agent Showers, you might want to remove your listening device." Devon saw Agent Showers quickly pull something out of his ear. Sarah turned the two jammers on and, for a moment, there was a high-pitched squealing sound. Sarah looked into Ellie's eyes and said, "I don't want anyone listening in to our conversation, not the FBI, NSA or CIA. This is just between us."

Ellie watched Sarah closely as she reached down into her bag and pulled out a file with documents and laid it on the table. "Ellie and Devon, thank you for letting me come and talk to you. I've explained to my bosses why I wanted to talk with you both today. But first let me bring you up to date."

Sarah pulled out the termination order dated September 15th, 2008 and then the cancellation of the termination order issued on March 15, 2009 and pushed them across the table. Devon and Ellie read both of them and pushed the two documents back towards Sarah when they were finished.

Sarah sighed inwardly, she could see that Ellie was coldly furious with her. Sarah then pulled out the Presidential directive ensuring that Chuck and his family would not be harmed. She pushed the directive across the table. Devon and Ellie read through it twice. Finally Ellie spoke, "How do I know this isn't fake? I mean after all, everything with you people is either a lie or a partial truth hidden in a much bigger lie."

Sarah was ready for this. "Devon, take this document and please have your dad confirm with the President's Chief of Staff that this is not a fake document. I believe your dad knows the number to call. The White House has been informed you might call." Devon got up and left. Ellie noticed that Sarah wasn't wearing any makeup and that she had lost weight. Ellie could see the strain around Sarah's eyes and the beginning of worry lines on her forehead.

"Ellie, Devon will come back and confirm this is real. Chuck is now protected by order of the President. The US government is now obligated to protect Chuck. But he is not safe from foreign intelligence agencies and from a certain American splinter group called Fulcrum. I'm very worried about him." Sarah bit her lip, God that sounded so lame.

Ellie's voice was like a whip, "Sarah, you and Casey tried to kill him!"

"Ellie, I didn't know about the termination order. Do you want to know why? They only told Casey and not me because they believed I was compromised. They believed I had strong feelings for your brother and wouldn't carry out the termination order, or try to stop it. And you know what? They were right!" Ellie was surprised by the emotion in Sarah's voice but still wasn't buying any of it. Sarah had fooled her and Devon completely for months.

"Just a minute ago I said I was worried about Chuck. That was a lie. I'm heartsick over him." Sarah paused for a moment to calm herself. Then she added very quietly, "I miss him so much, maybe even more than you do."

Ellie couldn't hold her peace. "I seriously doubt that Sarah. After all, he was just a job, or what is it you people say? Oh yes, a mark. It was your job to make him like you. My God, Chuck hadn't seriously been with a girl since Jill, so he must have been such an easy patsy. Show him a little kindness, a little attention. My God, you could hardly even call it a seduction; it was more like a slaughter."

There was fire in Sarah's eyes as she looked at Ellie and told her, "I never slept with Chuck! "I never seduced Chuck, he meant far too much to me. We had to appear as if we were a couple. I was told several times by my bosses to have sex with Chuck to try to control him. I refused to do it, not because I didn't want to…..believe me Ellie…when I say this….I did want to. Not for the NSA or the CIA but for me, Sarah Walker. But at the end of the day I didn't have sex with Chuck because that would have been like throwing gasoline on a fire. Things could have easily spiraled out of control. I wasn't going to play fast and loose with Chuck's freedom or his life."

Ellie and Sarah were both leaning across the patio table, almost as if they were going to arm wrestle. They were glaring at each other. Sarah leaned back and reached for the file and pulled out the letter Chuck had written to her back when he went on the run. She handed it over to Ellie.

Ellie took the handwritten letter and sat back and read it once and then again. As Ellie was reading the letter Sarah was biting the inside of her cheek. Sarah could recite the letter Ellie was now holding verbatim.

Sarah's attention wandered as Ellie read Chuck's letter. When she was exhausted from playing the perfect CIA agent looking for Chuck, she would take the letter out and re-read it. Sarah's eyes drifted and when she looked back at Ellie she was surprised. Ellie was staring at Sarah but this time a lot of the hostility in her eyes was gone.

Ellie noticed that the letter from Chuck had been read many times. She also couldn't miss the places where moisture had slightly blurred the ink, from Sarah's tears. Ellie was still pissed with Sarah but she was coming around to believing that Sarah would never hurt her brother.

"Sarah, I need to ask you some questions. I need you to tell me the truth. Tell me one lie and this meeting is over. Are you willing to do that?"

Sarah sighed, "Ellie, I won't lie to you but I may not be able to answer every question if the answer is classified."

Ellie started, "You did not know about the termination order?"

"No. There is no power on Earth or under Heaven that could make me harm him or betray him."

"Do you love Chuck?"

"Yes. Ellie, but I couldn't tell him that. If Casey or Beckman found out, they would whisk me away and I would never see him again. But you can see from the letter he knows me too well …at some level Chuck knew I was in love with him."

Ellie leaned in, "Are you in charge of finding Chuck?"

"Yes, I'm the team leader."

"What happens if you catch Chuck?"

Sarah sat back for a moment to gather her thoughts. She always held her cards close to her chest. That's one of the things that had kept her alive. Her training told her to lie or deflect on Ellie's question, her gut told her something different. This was the moment to connect with Ellie. This might be the start to repairing her relationship with Ellie. But if she was wrong, then she might end up in Leavenworth for 10 or 15 years.

Sarah leaned closer to Ellie. There was only a foot separating them now. "Ellie, if you want to destroy me, if you want to punish me and have me put into jail, all you have to do is repeat to Beckman what I'm about to tell you.

"If I find Chuck, I'm going to give him a choice. It will be his decision and I won't influence that decision. I will either run away with him and we will get so far off the grid that the NSA and CIA will never find us; or we will come back to Burbank together and continue to work for them. But know this Ellie; I will be by his side. I will not be separated from him again. My prime directive, God I'm starting to sound like Chuck, will be to protect and keep him safe." Sarah sat back and took a deep cleansing breath.

At that moment Devon came back to the table. "Babe, it's all true. And you're not going to believe this; I just spoke to the President of the United States. Chuck is protected. Sarah is telling us the truth…..Ellie, there's more, the Government has a check for Chuck when he returns. They're giving him back pay. It's a year's salary as a senior analyst with the CIA. Sarah what does that amount to?"

Sarah did a quick calculation. "Between $97,000 and $115,000, it depends."

The tension that had been present throughout the meeting lessened. Sarah whispered, "Ellie, Devon…. Chuck is still in danger. Do you know where he is?"

Both of them shook their heads no. Ellie's tone was laced with sadness. "No Sarah, I don't know. He will only contact me only in a dire emergency. That's the way he wanted it."

Sarah then said, "Ellie, is there any place he might go to. A place you travelled to as children or as teenagers? I also need to know how Chuck escaped. Was it by car, boat, plane or bus? If I know that I can narrow down the search parameters. Please Ellie, you know I won't let anyone harm him." Ellie could see raw emotion in her face as Sarah whispered, "Please…..I'm begging you."

Ellie felt badly for Sarah, "Sarah, Chuck told us not to talk with you, Casey or anyone else from the intelligence community. I'm going to honor his request. I won't betray my brother's trust.

"However, I do believe you love him and that if you find him you will do what he wants to do….you know…. going off the grid or coming back to Burbank. So I have a dilemma.

"Chuck would never fall in love with someone who isn't very smart. Sarah, you already know the answers to your questions. Part of the answer is staring you in the face, the other part of the answer Chuck told you. Think back to when we were all together in times past and we were friends. At least I thought of you as a friend. I have no idea what you really felt."

Sarah was confused and hurt by Ellie's last remark. This was neither the time nor the place for Sarah to tell Ellie that she was the only non spy girlfriend she had ever had. Sarah realized that she couldn't push either of them any further. "Ellie, if we find Chuck I will tell you about it, whether my bosses want me to or not. If Chuck is in trouble call me and I will do anything and everything to reach him and help him."

Sarah went to grab the two electronic jammer cubes, but before she switched them off she paused. "Ellie, being with you, Devon and Chuck, and being treated as part of your family was …listen….. you have no idea what it meant to me. Trust your gut Ellie, I loved being a part of your family, I think at some level you know that." She switched off the jammer cubes and said goodbye.

Sarah had a great memory for faces, places and past conversations. Part of it was innate and part of it was CIA training. She also loved puzzles and Ellie had given her clues but as of yet they weren't making any sense.

Sarah had been driving for an hour when she turned on the radio. The broadcaster was talking about how Lance Armstrong had placed second in the Tour of Gila, in New Mexico. The newscaster went on to say that he and his Astana team would be entering the Giro d 'Italia. Sarah wasn't paying too much attention as the announcer talked about allegations from the French authorities that Armstrong was doping.

She smiled to herself and remembered her first meeting with Chuck and how he had told her about Captain Awesome. Devon looked great in his cycling gear when he came to join them on the patio. Devon never quit he was always exercising. All of a sudden Sarah sat upright in her seat. She pulled her Porsche to the side of the road and shut the engine off. Ellie said, 'Part of the answer is staring you in the face'.

She was almost certain that Devon had helped Chuck go on the run. The problem was she could never find any direct evidence. Sarah and her team of analysts had gone through Ellie's and Devon's finances with a fine tooth comb. Almost every cent had been accounted for. Nothing had gone to Chuck.

Devon wasn't a spy but he was a sports nut. She knew he loved cycling. A week after the Beta Intersect went live, Devon had Chuck out running. Why? Ahhh, because….. Chuck needed to be in shape. Why? Chuck wasn't going to do a Forest Gump and run across America. Sarah smiled to herself. Of course, Devon and Chuck had used the bicycle as his means of escape. Brilliant and unorthodox, escape on a bicycle ….it is just too absurd. Yes of course that had to be it. Then Sarah's hopes sagged …great there are what….. 35 million regular cyclists in America. Shit.

Sarah was still excited though, now the second clue, 'the other part of the answer Chuck told you. Think back to when we were all together in times past and we were friends.'

Sarah started up the Porsche and got back on Interstate 5 south. The 'get together' Ellie was referring to couldn't have been in the apartment at Echo Park. She and the analysts back at Castle had gone over all the recordings looking for clues to where Chuck might have gone. Every place that had been mentioned at those get-togethers had been checked out.

No, the four of them must have been out to dinner somewhere. But standard protocol called for Sarah to file a written report about items discussed when she was out for dinner with Chuck, Ellie and Devon. She and the analysts had already gone over all of those reports and followed up on any places Sarah had put in the reports.

Sarah knew that she kept things out of the reports, especially when she had been drinking a little too much. Come on think! Then it suddenly came to her! It was Ellie's birthday party. They had all taken a cab because Ellie wanted to party, she wanted to have fun. It had been a great evening. Sarah still remembered making a conscious decision to also have some fun, and for one night just be Sarah, not Agent Walker. She remembered her hangover the next morning. That must have been when Chuck said the name of the place they visited when they were kids.

October 2009- 15 miles from Roy & Bandt Mitchell's Farm , Minnesota

Chuck remembered Ellie's birthday dinner as Sarah was talking. It had been a great evening but he had paid a stiff price the next day. It was still worth it just to see Sarah having so much fun. "So Sarah, how do you find one cyclist amongst 35 million? Pretty tough, if you don't know where to look?"

Sarah looked over at Chuck. "Don't be so smug Chuck. I concentrated on looking at CCTV cameras and any satellite coverage in the Gallup, New Mexico area going back as far as November 2008. It took a long time to go through the archived satellite and CCTV data. But in June one of the archived tapes from a satellite showed a lone cyclist heading towards….Las Cruces. But the trail was too cold. It was now June. That one lone cyclist could be anywhere by now. Beckman and the analysts at Castle thought I was mad suggesting you had escaped on a bike. They continued to explore other areas. In the end I was the only one at Castle still searching for a cyclist.

Every night, before I went to sleep, I tried to remember what happened at Ellie's birthday party and everything you had said that evening. I was just drifting off to sleep when I remembered coaxing Ellie into trying a Mimosa. We were all a little drunk and laughing. Then it finally came to me.

Ellie was having difficulty saying the word Mimosa and you were tipsy. Chuck, your speech was a little slurred when you said, "Ellie, isn't…..isn't that…the….the place in Minnesoppa…. You know where Mom took us to visit her grandmother…Mimosa, Minnestota?" I remembered Ellie putting her finger on your chest. "Chuck, it's Miloma… Minnesoppa… you great big goof."

Miloma Minnesota was about 15 miles northeast from Worthington and 25 miles from the Mitchell's farm.

Chuck nodded his head in approval, "Well done Ms. Walker. So after that 'Mimosa and Miloma' revelation, how long did it take for you to spot me?"

Sarah was proud of finding him and said, "It was late September, I finally got a clear image of you from one of our satellites. You were taking off your helmet between the house and the barn. The timing was perfect, you looked up at something in the sky…a hawk or something….and when I zoomed in…I was pretty certain it was you. That night I couldn't sleep and I started planning on coming out here to find you."

Later That Evening Roy & Bandt Mitchell's Farm , Minnesota

The meal with Roy and Bandt had been amazing. Everything they ate that evening had been grown or raised on the farm. Bandt had deemed it a special evening and had produced 2 bottles of her homemade elderflower wine. Sarah sat back in her chair and felt content, her stomach was full and she was enjoying her second glass of wine. After desert they all pitched in and helped Bandt clean up.

Chuck and Sarah grabbed their coats and a couple of blankets and headed back out to his bench that sat behind the old weathered barn. It was going to be a crisp, clear night with a full moon rising in 15 minutes.

Sarah snuggled closer to Chuck as he put the blanket over their legs. Chuck took a breath. "Sarah, I guess it really isn't practical for us to stay here with Roy and Bandt?' Sarah's wistful response was, "I wish we could Chuck. They adore you and I'm sure they would eventually accept me. But they are in danger if Fulcrum ever came out here looking for you." Chuck was very still, staring up at the moon. Sarah knew that her coming here to the farm meant the end of Chuck's sojourn with Roy and Bandt. Being here for the past five months had changed him… for the better but it was time to leave.

Chuck cleared his throat, "So I guess we should leave tomorrow or the next day. What do you think we should do Sarah? Go off the grid or go back and work for Beckman?"

A/N – We are now in the homestretch. The next chapter will be the last one for this story.