This chapter is a long time coming. I struggled a lot with where I was going with certain elements of the storyline and after completely re-writing my ideas and taking some time off I have written another chapter. I hope its not inconsistent with the previous couple.
I do not own Chuck.
"Hey sis," said a weary Chuck. He had just got back from the mission briefing. Explaining to the head of the CIA that he had been knocked unconscious by a blank had not been a fun experience.
Ellie smiled at him with tight lips. It was saying, 'be brave.'
"Hey little brother," said Ellie from her position on the edge of the fountain, "what's bothering you?"
"Same old," replied Chuck. Despite his dismissive response, he joined his sister on the stone surface.
"Is it bad to lie to the people you care about?" Chuck asked cryptically.
Ellie looked over at him. This was a conversation that they had had many times before.
"Not if its to protect them," Ellie replied.
Chuck thought for a moment and then said, "We've always lied to people but this time its different. This time I'm hiding the truth because I'm scared of Fulcrum finding out what I know."
"Don't let fear guide you Chuck," warned his sister, "You are Chuck Bartowski! Computer super genius and the most logical person I know. If keeping a secret will help protect people and aid in defeat of fulcrum then its worth lying to your friends and family. Besides, its comforting to know that you've got something up your sleeve."
Chuck looked at his sister for a moment, trying to work out how she got so wise.
"You really think we can do it don't you? Defeat Fulcrum, I mean."
"Yes."
"Thanks sis," Chuck said, getting up.
"Sit," ordered Ellie, "there's something else bothering you isn't there."
"Not something," admitted Chuck, "Someone."
- 0 0 0 -
Graham sat down with his drink and resisted the urge to let out a sigh. It wasn't that sighing itself was a bad thing but it was involuntary and once you let in one involuntary action, you opened the floodgates for many more. He had dark circles around his eyes and his lips were set in a permanent snarl – the past weeks hadn't been kind on him.
He drank a mouthful of the drink and coughed quietly. Whatever he was drinking, it was strong. It was dark in his office, as the sun had set while he was still working and he still hadn't turned on the lights. His reading lamp was on but it didn't provide much illumination. He raised his glass to his lips once more but paused before he drank anything. He put the glass back down on his desk with a dull clunk and sat up straight.
Something wasn't right. Graham hadn't been a field agent in a long, long time but he still had the instincts that had allowed him to rise to become the director of the CIA. He opened the second draw down as quietly as he could and pulled out the CIA standard issue side arm that he kept in there. He flicked off the safety and stood up. He moved to the wall beside the door and waited. There was only one way in and out of the room and he had it covered.
Almost three minutes passed with no sign of movement. Just as Graham started to relax the wall exploded outwards. The director of the CIA was flung across the room. He landed head first into his overly large desk, amidst a pile of rubble.
"Hello Graham," said a voice. Graham must have blacked out for a moment because was a figure standing over him.
Despite his situation – he could feel blood pooling around his head – he launching himself at his attacker. The man – someone who Graham recognized but couldn't quite place – was taken by surprise and the director tackled him into the remains of the wall. Graham raised his fist to deliver a punch but he couldn't do it. He had no energy left. He swayed on the spot for a moment, feeling his vision slip away. He died still on his feet.
- 0 0 0 -
"Now that's unexpected," Chuck muttered to himself. Through a security cam, he was watching Sarah Walker walk into the courtyard outside his apartment. Why would Sarah be coming to his apartment? He had been sent no communication from Beckman and Sarah had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to be involved with him. He went to let her in.
"Sarah," Chuck greeted as he opened the door.
"Graham's been assassinated," Sarah said immediately as she pushed past him, "Our operation has been shut down and I have been ordered to report to the new director. Of course, I'm not going to do that considering that the new director is probably fulcrum. We're on our own."
Chuck immediately forgot about all of the things he was going to say to Sarah and started thinking about the situation."
"What about Casey?"
"He's on his way," answered Sarah, "he's implementing situation Romulus."
Situation Romulus was a plan devised by Chuck and Sarah only days ago to make it look like Castle had been attacked and Sarah and Casey were both wounded. It involved fake footage implanted into the feed is Castle as well as suitably wrecking the inside of the base. In the even of a Fulcrum take over, they could make it look like they were either dead or dying.
"Beckman?"
"I don't know."
Chuck paused for a moment, thinking.
"There's a piece of the puzzle missing," Chuck thought out loud, "The intersect makes sense; replacing Graham makes sense. But if they have control of the CIA why would they take Lazslo? Why wouldn't they just wait until they control the CIA and then just legally seize whatever he's working on?"
"There are certain projects within the CIA that are directly overseen by a representative of the president. They're normally highly dangerous," Sarah suggested.
"We need to find out what he was working on."
"Shall we grab his handler?"
"No," replied Chuck, "I am going to grab his handler. You are supposed to be dead and will lie low."
- 0 0 0 -
Special Agent Ericsson almost groaned as he sat down. It had been a long day searching for his escaped asset and there was nothing he wanted more than to sit on the bench and watch the seagulls. He raised the cup of coffee to his lips and sipped at it. It burned his mouth but he didn't mind. The pain was far more effective than the caffeine would be.
A man sat down next to him, which mildly annoyed the CIA handler. This was his bench – he wasn't really in the mood to be sharing it.
"Nice evening for watching the gulls," the man said quietly, "wouldn't you agree Agent Ericsson?"
Ericsson immediately tensed up.
"You don't remember me do you Ericsson? We met at Carly's party."
Special Agent Ericsson relaxed a little at the sound of the code word; not entirely but a little.
"Ah yes, I remember your face now. What did you say your name was?"
The man paused. Ericsson couldn't decide whether his fellow agent was deciding what to tell him or whether the man just spoke at a leisurely pace.
"Carmichael," the man finally answered.
Any tension that had left his body returned immediately. He knew that name – everyone in the CIA knew that name although no one really knew who or what it was. Ericsson weighed up his options and decided that caution was the best strategy.
"And what can I do for you, Mr. Carmichael?"
"You can live," Chuck replied cryptically.
"Would you mind elaborating?"
"Not at all, Agent Ericsson. That coffee you're drinking has been spiked."
Ericsson immediately spat out a mouthful of coffee.
"The poison will have reached your bloodstream by now and you will die in no more than two minutes. Its effectiveness relies on heart rate so I suggest you refrain from making any sudden movements. In fact, I would keep very still if I were you."
"What do you want?" Ericsson asked, carefully controlling his breathing in order to keep his heart rate down.
"I would like to offer you a trade: Give me the password to your secure server and I will provide you with the antidote to the poison."
"Doesn't sound like much of a choice."
"That's the point, Mr. Ericsson."
The CIA agent evaluated his situation. He recognised that he couldn't outsmart Carmichael while he was dying or dead. He would have to give him the code and get the antidote. Only then could he fight him.
"Its 'Six six eight four four seven one'"
"Thank you," replied Chuck, "I just need to check that."
He pulled out a small handheld computer and typed in the number. He looked at the screen and then pulled a small vial out of his pocket and passed it to Laszlo's handler.
"And as promised – the antidote."
The agent downed the contents of the vial immediately.
Chuck grimaced and stood up.
"Thank you for your help, Agent Ericsson."
"I can't let you leave, Carmichael," threatened the CIA agent. He hadn't stood up but he had moved his hand closer to his gun holster.
"You can't stop me," countered Chuck, "In fact, you're probably feeling a little drowsy right now. The poison I put in your coffee was nothing more than a bluff. And the antidote? Sedative."
Chuck walked away, leaving the unconscious CIA agent on the bench.
- 0 0 0 -
Sarah sat down on the edge of the fountain. She had been ordered to go there by Chuck's sister. Ellie had a strange ability to get people to do what she wanted.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Sarah asked.
"Chuck," Ellie replied monosyllabically. For someone so eloquent, she could be very short with her language.
"He's a great agent," Sarah carefully avoided the topic.
"I didn't say that I wanted to talk about agent Carmichael. I said I wanted to talk about Chuck."
Sarah stared into the middle distance, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Ellie. Chuck's sister had one of those piercing stares that could shame you into giving up your darkest secrets.
"What are you afraid of Sarah?"
"Emotions are liabilities," Sarah started to explain, "I have spent my entire adult life working to become a better agent so when the time comes I can protect my country. That time has come and I need to be the best that I can."
"You think Chuck is emotionless?"
"No, of course not," Sarah replied, aghast that Ellie would suggest such a thing, "He's the most caring person I know."
"Yet he is, by your own admission, 'a great agent.'"
Sarah smiled at Ellie's clever use of logic.
"It doesn't hurt to let someone in," added Ellie, "in fact, I would say that having something – someone – worth fighting for is vital."
"I've never had anyone to fight for," admitted Sarah, "I've been in relationships before, even ones with fellow agents but I never felt like I do now. I've never been afraid of losing them."
"Have I become a coward Ellie?" she asked.
"No, of course not," soothed Ellie, "love hurts and all we can do is be brave."
Sarah made an involuntary jerk as Ellie said the word 'love'.
"How do I reconcile killing people?" Sarah suddenly asked.
"Killing isn't wrong if in doing so you save many other lives."
"I've killed a lot of people Ellie. I'm afraid that if I start letting my emotions in I'll let their ghosts in too."
"Chuck's afraid of the same thing," admitted Ellie, "so he refuses to use guns and only ever knocks people out. We might have defeated Fulcrum by now if he wasn't so moral."
Sarah was shocked. She didn't expect Ellie, the compassionate doctor, to be advocating murder so freely. Strangely it was what Sarah needed to hear. She realised that she didn't need to completely block out her emotions.
"I made a right mess of things with Chuck," admitted Sarah, going back to the original topic.
"I know that this may be a difficult for you," Ellie suggested, "but you could try telling him the truth."
"Believe it or not, that's what Chuck's been trying to get me to do all along."
Apologies for taking so long over writing this.
Thanks for all the reviews that I have had. I really do try to take everything into account so please write them.