Chuck vs. the Beautiful Letdown
Chapter 10: On Fire
CAST (in order of appearance):
Elizabeth Reynolds – Yvonne Strahovski
Chuck Bartowski – Zachary Levi
Veronica Mars – Kristen Bell
Keith Mars – Enrico Colantoni
Bryce Larkin – Matthew Bomer
They tell you where you need to go
They tell you when you need to leave
They tell you what you need to know
They tell you who you need to be
Friday, March 6th. Sunny, but cold.
Four hundred days exactly since Sarah Walker had plunged from the Vincent Thomas Bridge into the frigid waters of Long Beach Harbor. Four hundred days since Chuck Bartowski's world had disintegrated in a split second.
Four hundred days that Elizabeth Lisa Reynolds had spent in exile on Catalina Island.
Eight months now she had been working as a low-key analyst for the CIA, since that day that Director Graham figured out exactly where she had gone and walked into the computer shop she worked at. She had since purchased the computer shop – with the CIA's help, of course.
But there was just something so unsatisfying about it all. Sure, Beth Reynolds knew computers inside and out. The problem was, she had Chuck Bartowski to thank for that – and every time she thought of him, she felt like she died a little more inside.
Right at the moment, though, she was on one of her rare trips to the mainland. The CIA had asked her to look into a rather suspicious group of people living down in Chula Vista. So, early that morning, Beth had gone down to the dock and gotten on board the San Diego ferry.
The small bag slung over her shoulder contained everything the modern, on-the-go spy needed – her MacBook, her iPhone, her digital camera, her Colt M1911A1 handgun. She smiled to herself at the ironic juxtaposition of high-tech and low-tech – and almost immediately, her smile faded again as she considered what Chuck might think of it.
Everything inside you knows
There's more than what you've heard
There's so much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words
"So, your dad is cool with his only child's boyfriend being a video game designer, right?" Chuck asked nervously. He was on his way to meet Keith Mars for the first time, and he never did well with meeting the parents.
It only made it worse that Keith was the sheriff of Balboa County.
Veronica smiled. "Chuck, his only child is an FBI agent. I think he'll consider you to be the voice of reason in my life."
"Well, thank God," Chuck replied with the slightest bit of sarcasm. "But me? The voice of reason? Come on, now. My 'conscience' is Morgan Grimes, for goodness' sake."
Veronica laughed. "No, Chuck, I think you misunderstand. You have to consider who my only two long-term boyfriends have been – a psychotic jackass and an uber-rich kidnapper. After them, you're a breath of fresh air."
Chuck allowed himself a bit of a smile – which almost immediately faded. "Wait. Your dad's a cop. That means he carries a gun. What's he going to think of the fact that I've never shot a real gun?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Veronica replied. "After all, I can protect myself."
Chuck rolled his eyes. "After your attempted demonstration of firepower in the restaurant on Wednesday night, I don't doubt it one bit."
Veronica frowned. "That Carina bitch started it."
"What, are we in kindergarten now?"
And you're on fire when he's near you
You're on fire when he speaks
You're on fire burning at these mysteries
With time to kill, Beth headed down to the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. It was one of her favorite parts not just of the city, but of the entire state of California. She had gone there on a family vacation when she was a little girl – one of the few happy memories of her childhood.
She parked herself on the patio of the Dublin Square Irish Pub with a gigantic mug of coffee. Though she wouldn't have objected to having an authentic Irish Coffee at the pub, she had a strict rule against drinking when she was on assignment.
Hell, up until about four months ago, she had hardly drunk ANY alcohol in years. However, the stress of hiding away on Catalina Island had caused her to start drinking again – a LITTLE bit. More than once, she had asked herself if it was worth it.
But she knew that she couldn't go back. Though she thought that MAYBE Director Graham would let her, the NSA would kill her and hang her head on a pike outside of Fort Meade. It had perhaps not been the best decision she had ever made, but one she was going to have to live with.
Beth finished her coffee and left Dublin Square, heading down Fourth Avenue toward the waterfront. She loved the smell of the salt air coming in with the coastal breeze – a bit of a reminder of her old home, in Boston.
When she reached K Street, however, she saw something that made her heart sink again. The San Diego Convention Center sat less than a block away, with signs on the outside that proclaimed it to be the "Home of COMIC-CON!"
She bowed her head and blinked rapidly, trying to will the tears away. It had been at Comic-Con that Chuck had been introduced to his new handler – his new handler who, according to Director Graham, Chuck had started a relationship with.
A REAL relationship.
Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything you are
Give me one more chance to be near you…
Chuck reluctantly followed Veronica up the steps into the apartment complex. Every step he took brought him that much closer to a law enforcement officer with a gun who also happened to be his girlfriend's father.
"Come ON, Chuck!" Veronica called. "My dad isn't that scary!"
Chuck sighed. "If you say so."
He jogged up the rest of the steps, reaching Veronica just before she put the key in the lock. She looked at Chuck, smiled, and shook her head.
"You'll be okay, Chuck," she said softly, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.
He nodded. "Okay."
Veronica unlocked the door and pushed it open –
And a rapidly moving mass of fur came blasting through the door, knocking Chuck on his butt. Terrified, Chuck almost screamed like a little girl, but fortunately for him, the air had been knocked out of him when the pitbull knocked him over.
But – it wasn't attacking him. No, it was licking his face furiously.
"Wow!" Veronica exclaimed, not bothering to keep the laugh out of her voice. "Backup LOVES you!"
Chuck cringed. Backup's breath smelled horrible. "Well, could you get him off of me?"
'Cause everything inside me looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I'll take
Beth turned away from the waterfront. She didn't want to see the Convention Center.
Sighing again, she started walking east down K Street, toward Petco Park. Nobody was there right now – the Padres were in Arizona, for spring training.
Beth's dad had promised her for years that he'd take her to Phoenix for a week one year for the Cactus League. "We'll go see the Cubs," he had promised her. "The Cubs, and the Giants, and the White Sox, and the Rockies…"
But they had never gone. Now, her father was in a mental institution in Boston. Her mother had been dead for over seven years.
One day, she was going to go to Phoenix for that week in March. It just couldn't be with who she wanted it to be with.
Pulling her iPhone from her purse, Beth looked at it for a moment. Bad idea, her brain told her. Put the phone away.
But instead of putting the phone away, Beth entered a series of keystrokes that would block any caller ID. Then, she dialed a number that she had committed to memory. It wasn't stored in her phone. It COULDN'T be stored in her phone.
She heard it ring. Once, twice, three times…
And I'm on fire when you're near me
I'm on fire when you speak
I'm on fire burning at these mysteries, these mysteries
Backup backed away from Chuck, a happy grin on the pitbull's face as he panted. Chuck slowly pulled himself up off the concrete.
"You must be Chuck!" he heard a voice say from within. As Chuck's eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of the apartment, he saw a man who was two or three inches shorter than him, about forty pounds heavier, and with a whole heck of a lot less hair.
"Yeah, I'm Chuck Bartowski, Sheriff Mars," Chuck replied, sticking out his hand.
Keith Mars' hand froze halfway to Chuck's, and he regarded the younger man curiously. "No," he said. "See, you don't look like somebody I might have to lock up someday. You can call me Keith. I don't ever want to hear you call me 'Sheriff' again."
Chuck smiled. "Yes, sir."
"No 'SIR' either!" Keith retorted, grinning and grasping Chuck's hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
"You always made Logan and Duncan and Piz call you 'Sheriff'," Veronica grumped from the kitchen.
"I always figured I'd have to lock one if not all of them up," her father shot back. "I mean, look at them. Logan the bum-fight organizer, Duncan the kidnapper, Piz the underage drinker. What a group of ruffians and scoundrels."
That was when Chuck's phone rang. He pulled it out – NO NUMBER AVAILABLE, it said. He frowned at the phone.
"Can you excuse me a minute?" he said. "I'll be right back."
I'm standing on the edge of me
I'm standing on the edge
Of everything I've never been before
And I've been standing on the edge of me
Standing on the edge
The phone rang a fourth time. Beth was about to hit the end button –
"Hello?"
She froze. It was him.
Then Beth panicked. She felt like she was about to start hyperventilating. She brought a hand to her mouth. She couldn't say anything. Couldn't make any noise.
If she did, then she KNEW that Chuck would know it was her –
"Hello?"
Beth clenched her eyes shut, fighting away the tears that threatened to spring out. She gasped – and the noise was picked up by the phone.
"Who is this?!"
IT'S SARAH! she wanted to scream. She wanted to tell him. She wanted him to know that she was alive, that she was in San Diego.
But she couldn't. If she was alive, then the CIA could use her against him again. That couldn't happen.
Beth willed herself to move her thumb to the end button and press it. The call ended – and the iPhone slid from her hand, dropping to the ground below.
It bounced, but didn't break. Beth bent over and put her hands on her knees, taking a moment to collect and calm herself.
She took a deep breath, and let it out again. Bending over further, she picked up the iPhone. She stood –
And ran smack into the chin of a man walking down K Street, talking on his own cell phone and not paying attention to where he was going. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "I am SO sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," he replied, rubbing his chin as he bent to pick up his cell phone. "It's not your fault – I wasn't watching where I was going."
Beth just about had a heart attack. She knew that voice. She knew that voice almost as well as her own – and she couldn't be around the source of that voice. That would be disaster.
She tried to run. She willed her feet to move, but they wouldn't go anywhere. He was standing up – oh God – oh no –
Bryce Larkin looked into Beth's eyes, and regarded her curiously for a moment. She steeled herself, waiting for the moment of recognition –
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She looked at him – and realized she had been holding her breath. She let it out slowly. "Yeah, I'm alright," she replied, letting her voice slip back into its old Boston accent.
He smiled. "I'm really sorry about that," he said. "I just wasn't watching where I was going. I should be more careful."
Beth shrugged. "These things happen."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Bryce replied. "Well, sorry again."
And with that, he headed away from Beth, down K Street.
After he turned the corner, she pulled out her phone again and hit redial. This time, the call went directly to voicemail.
"Hi, you've reached Chuck Bartowski. I can't come to the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name, your phone number, and a brief message, I may or may not return your call. It mostly depends on whether or not I'm in the mood."
His voicemail beeped, and she just stood there for a moment, breathing. Finally, she disconnected the call.
"Chuck… I'm so sorry…"
And I'm on fire when you're near me
I'm on fire when you speak
Yeah, I'm on fire burning at these mysteries
These mysteries… these mysteries…
You're the mystery… you're the mystery.