A/N: Hey all, I'm still alive and kicking! Things should start speeding up here soon, so I'm hoping if not next week, then the week after I can be back to updating twice a week. I enjoyed this chapter a lot, and I included a small Mass Effect reference for anyone who manages to catch it! Thanks once again for all of the great reviews, you guys are absolutely awesome and a huge motivation for me! Reading your reviews always makes my day better, so please, keep it up! lol

As usual, I do not own Chuck, though I very much wish I did. I am the owner of quite a few Navy Blue shirts, however, thanks to my job. If anyone cares. No? Imagine that. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Chuck vs. the Sins of the Father

March 23, 2009

2234 Pacific Time

Casa de Bartowski-Grimes

"This is everything I have so far," Chuck said, as he showed his homemade evidence map to Sarah and Casey. His hunt for Orion – his father – had taken longer than he had anticipated. But displayed on the back of his beloved Tron poster were all of the relevant facts he could find. They had decided not to go to Beckman, not yet. Not until they were sure that they could get Stephen into safe keeping and that Beckman wasn't going to shove him in some hole somewhere.

Chuck was reasonably sure that they could trust Beckman, but not enough to hang his own father out to dry, despite their past. Though he knew it shouldn't surprise him anymore, he had been astounded when Casey had agreed with him and decided not to go to his direct superior.

Chuck and Casey were now alone reviewing the evidence as Sarah came into the room. After eating breakfast that morning she had rushed into the bathroom and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach. Chuck had followed her in and held back her hair, soothingly running a hand along her back until she was done. After asking if she was ok, she simply waved him off with a smile and pulled out her toothbrush, saying she would be in in just a minute.

The door opened and Sarah walked in, looking no worse for wear despite her Morning Prayer session with the porcelain god.

"Are you ok, Sarah?" Chuck asked, quickly rushing over to her.

"I'm fine, Chuck. The hospital food just didn't agree with me last night, let's get to work. I was able to run a search on the mainframes in Castle," Sarah said. "I found this."

She held up a piece of paper with a single set of GPS coordinates.

"Sarah, that's treason," Chuck said, concerned.

"No, it's following a hunch and gathering Intel before reporting to my superiors." Sarah said mischievously.

Chuck smirked as entered the coordinates into his phone. "100 miles outside of Barstow…who's up for a road trip?" Chuck asked.

March 24, 2009

1039 Pacific Time

GPS Grid Coordinates: 35˚19'47.9" N, 115˚14'52.7" W

Hidden Road in the Mojave Dessert

Casey pulled the Crown Vic up to the old silver Airstream trailer. He stopped the car and got out, looking around.

"Pretty exposed…that's an advantage as much as a risk. Although, since we've never come close to catching Orion, I'm guessing he's more of an up-and-run kind of guy rather than dig-in-and-fight. Parking on a cliff means he has a good spot to rappel down unnoticed while they still think he's surrounded. Actually…" Casey trailed off as he walked around the backside of the trailer and looked down. "Ok, rappel point, but no rope. If he left he didn't leave that way."

Chuck took all this in silently. He stood staring at the trailer, unsure what to make of it. His father – his father – was Orion. And he was possibly hiding in an old beat-up trailer thirty feet in front of him. Chuck took a deep breath and prepared to face whatever answers lay on the other side of that door. He began to step forward – and he froze; he couldn't do it, whatever lay on the other side of that door, he did not think he could face it.

Salvation presented itself in the form of Sarah. She was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, with her hair tied up in a bun behind her head. Chuck swore Sarah owned more outfits than any woman he had ever met, even Ellie who had a variety of outfits in just her scrubs let alone her off-duty clothes. Sarah pressed her hand on his lower back.

"It'll be ok, Chuck. Casey and I are both right here with you." Sarah kissed him on the cheek.

"So uh, I guess you had to break a few rules, huh?" Chuck asked, hesitantly. "I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but you didn't have to do that for me."

"Chuck, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you. Believe it or not, Casey feels the same. We're here, Chuck. Go on, knock."

Chuck took a deep breath. "I couldn't find him; the man didn't want to be found. I mean, you guys had to illegally access all of the government's databases to…"

"Chuck," Sarah interrupted. "It'll be good to see him. Yes, for your questions about the Intersect, but mostly for you."

Chuck looked at her, took a deep breath, and walked the rest of the way to the trailer. He knocked three times on the door, and waited. Casey joined them and waited to Chucks right, Sarah on his left. After a few moments, no one came and it seemed apparent that no one was going to.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said as she placed her hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it soothingly. Chuck looked at her sadly as Casey placed his large hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, the three jumped as the door quickly swung open.

"Dad?" Chuck asked. Standing before him was the man who had raised and then abandoned him. He was much more ragged than Chuck remembered, but other than that everything was the same – the same timid, paranoid demeanor, the same long, wispy blonde hair, and the same mousy eyes. "Dad, is that really you?"

"It's me, Charles." He said, after a pause. "Come in, son, we have a lot to discuss."

They all ambled inside and sat in the tiny kitchen/living room, shoulder to shoulder as Stephen Bartowski moved around the kitchen, preparing to make coffee.

"Dad, I promise, we're fine. We had breakfast this morning."

"Nonsense, Charles." Stephen said with his head still buried in the refrigerator. "You came all this way, I want to make you some coffee. I came up with some schematics once for a coffee pot that would brew 12-cups in less than thirty seconds. Unfortunately my designs were stolen before I could do anything with it."

Chuck shook his head in disbelief. Same crazy old dad.

"Dad, I want to introduce my friends to you." When Stephen didn't pause, Chuck continued. "Dad, this is my good friend, John Casey, and my girlfriend, Sarah Walker." Chuck thought he heard his dad snort, but he couldn't tell over the sound of the moving jars and bottles in the kitchen. Stephen gave no outward sign that he heard him, however.

Chuck turned to Sarah. "I'm sort of freaking out here, Sarah."

"I know." She said. "But he's your father, and he seems happy to see you."

"You think?" Chuck said, snapping his head around. "I saw it more as just a lack of recognition followed by shock."

"You take cream?" Stephen called from the depths of the fridge.

"Huh?" Chuck asked, startled. "Yeah. No. Whatever's fine. Sarah, I can't even remember if I take cream." Chuck said in a rush.

"Just relax," She said, grabbing hold of his arm.

"How?" Chuck asked. "I haven't seen my dad for like, ten years, and now I'm sitting in his living room/kitchenette while he's making us coffee. Plus, let's just say the last I saw him he was kind of…I mean he tended to be a little, what's the word? Crazy." Chuck picked up a picture off the table, a side-by-side photo frame of him at bat during little league and Ellie smiling with her softball mitt.

Stephen walked over with four mugs of steaming coffee, and the three began to enjoy their beverages.

"So good to see that face again," Stephen said as he leaned against the counter.

Chuck laughed lightly. "Yeah, yours too. So uh, you been doing ok?"

"Who cares about me? Tell me about you."

"Uh, well, you know, there's not much to tell. Graduated from High School, went to Stanford…work at a Buy More." Chuck said.

"Stanford? Not bad." Stephen said, nodding in approval. "He was always a genius, this one."

Sarah smiled as she looked at him. Casey rolled his eyes.

"No, not like you." Chuck said, modestly.

"You're right. He was smarter." Stephen said proudly.

Stephen took a drink of his coffee as he collected his thoughts. "What about Ellie, how is she?"

"Oh she's great, actually, really great. She's a doctor now, and in a few weeks she's going to get married to, well, to an awesome guy." Chuck said.

"Ellie's getting married?" He asked.

"That's actually, mainly, why we're here. At least the first reason. Ellie was really hoping…I was really hoping…that you could come and walk her down the aisle." Chuck said.

"I don't think she would want me there," Stephen said, standing up and walking away.

"Of course she does, Dad! And so do I. You've been gone for so long Dad…we need you."

"It's not a good idea, Chuck. But tell her that I'm happy for her."

Chuck's jaw fell open; he could not believe what he was hearing.

"She's your daughter, don't you want to be there? Haven't you ever wanted to be there? Or are you too busy, being Orion?" Chuck asked, scathingly.

Stephen's head whipped around quickly. He said nothing, but simply looked at his son, frowning.

"Dad, you need to tell me everything you know about the Intersect, right now. The secrets, the lies…they end now. I'll start. Bryce Larkin prevented me from being recruited into the CIA in college, getting me expelled, in fact, so that it didn't happen. Five years later the Intersect ended up in my head, and John Casey from the NSA and Sarah Walker from the CIA were sent to protect me. A year after having it, I joined the CIA officially and became a full agent –"

"No!" Stephen yelled loudly. "Charles, I never wanted you to become a CIA agent…I ran and hid to protect you and Eleanor, I didn't like what the government was doing with the Intersect so I quit and I knew they'd always be after me. I always kept an eye on you though, on both of you. That's how I knew the CIA wanted to recruit you and why I convinced Bryce to prevent them from doing it." Stephen stopped talking and a deathly silence fell over the trailer.

"What did you just say?" Chuck asked quietly yet menacingly at the same time.

"I think your handlers should step outside for this, Charles." Stephen said uncertainly. "I don't trust the government."

"Dad, we can trust them. They aren't my handlers anymore, they're my partners. And more than that, Casey really is my friend and Sarah legitimately is my girlfriend. We can trust them."

"Then you're a fool, son. You should know better than to trust either of them, and if you don't know by now that seduction is one of the most effective tools in the female CIA agent's arsenal then you must not have been paying much attention."

Sarah and Casey tried to shrink into the couch as they could feel the anger emanating from Chuck – Stephen had clearly crossed a line. Chuck stood up to his full height, towering over his father.

"Don't you ever, ever insult Sarah or Casey again, Dad. Sarah is not like other CIA agents, Dad. She has never once used sex to complete her mission, she told me that and I believe her completely because that's how it works when you are in a relationship. Don't you dare insinuate that she has done anything so derogatory. And besides, even if she had, it was in the service of her country. On top of that, both of these two amazing people behind me have put their lives on the line time and time again for me directly and for everyone in this goddamn county, so do not belittle that, ever again. I trust these two with every bit of my life and soul, a lot more than I trust you with it."

Stephen stood and looked at the wall, incised, but clearly cowed by his son's words. After several long, tense minutes Stephen took a deep breath and spoke.

"Fine, son. You're right, I haven't been there for you and I don't blame you for not trusting me. If you trust them then I will have to take your word for it, I owe you that much. Sit down, and I will tell you everything you want to know."

Chuck sat back down on the couch and Sarah placed her hand gently on his knee to soothe him. He covered her hand with his own in appreciation. Stephen pulled a chair around from the kitchen and sat down facing them.

"First question, dad. If you know so much about our lives, how did you not know that I had become a CIA agent?" Chuck asked, his curiosity at his father's reaction getting the better of him.

"That was my doing, Chuck." Casey said, proudly. "Did you not think it was strange that no one ever once referred to you by name while you were at the Farm, or that you were in a barracks completely to yourself? Even in the CIA, that doesn't happen. We went through quite a lot of trouble registering you under multiple different identities so that even the people training you didn't have a clue who you were. No one outside of this trailer, Bryce Larkin, and General Beckman know that you're now an Agent. Even your paychecks go into my account first where I then transfer them to my 'extra' savings account."

"Wow, Casey. That must have taken quite a bit of work. I'm impressed." Chuck said. Casey shrugged sheepishly. After all, logistics and computer forgery weren't exactly John Casey's specialties – those lie in shooting and blowing things up.

"Well, that solves that mystery." Stephen said. "So…the Intersect. As I suspect you know from talking with Howard, I came up with the idea and created the team, the resources, everything. But when I found out what the government was planning on doing, I could not sit by and let it happen. So I hid. I ran. I watched you and Ellie from far away, never able to come back to you if I was going to keep you safe. It…destroyed me. Every minute that I was away from you two was torture, but I cannot express how proud I am of the two of you for coming through like you did. No other kids could have done it, that I am sure of. And despite your recent career ambitions Chuck, even after what I did to prevent this…I'm still extremely proud of you son – and all you've done." Stephen took a deep breath, wiping his eye as he complained unconvincingly about the dust in the trailer.

"When I had heard that the Intersect had been downloaded into a human host – successfully – I couldn't believe it. I did everything I could to find out the identity of the poor soul who had it in his head…you can imagine my shock and outrage when I found out it was you. But it's ok, son. I know how we can take it out, I just need access to your government resources, and we can get it removed from your head."

Chuck looked uncertainly at his father. They had reached the point he had been dreading – the moment he must decide if he still wanted the Intersect or if he wanted it removed. He loved what the Intersect allowed him to do but at the same time...it was hell not knowing what would may or may not trigger a flash. He couldn't even spend a peaceful day with his sister or his girlfriend without some flash or another being triggered most days. He decided to stall.

"Is that possible, Dad? How?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, son, it's possible. The how…is a little bit more complicated. Have I ever told you about my college roommate?" Chuck shook his head no. "My roommate's name was Ted Roark. And now that you know I'm not crazy, yes, he really has been stealing my designs for years. And this includes the Intersect. What I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy…but Ted Roark has been building an Intersect, and his components are housed within the complex of his downtown headquarters."

Once again, stunned silence fell over the trailer, only this time there was a high amount of skepticism infused into it.

"Dad, there's no way that's possible. Why do you think that?" Chuck asked, despondent as he began to wonder if maybe his dad really was crazy.

Instead of answering, Stephen just walked off into the back bedroom leaving his three house guests stunned.

"Way to go, Bartowski. You spooked, uh, Bartowski." Casey said.

"Guys, I'll be honest, I don't know what the fuck is happening or going to happen next…so yeah, be ready, I guess." Chuck trailed off, clearly uncertain as to what to do next.

Stephen came back quickly with bundles of paper in his arms. He laid them out on the table and Chuck quickly recognized them as blueprints for computer components. Stephen picked up one compacted yet complete looking design on a transparent sheet – the kind they used to make for overhead projectors.

"This is the design schematic for the Intersect computer," Stephen began before picking up a color map with a legend on it. "This is the visitors map for Roark Instrument Headquarters in L.A." Stephen laid the two pictures on top of each other and there was a collective intake of breath from the other side of the table. It was a perfect match.

"Dad…this is…this is unbelievable! We have to tell Beckman, now!" Chuck said, standing as if to demonstrate the urgency.

"No, you can't tell her you've talked to me! Aside from trying and failing to hunt me down again, she'll haul all three of you in for treason. Here, use this, son." Stephen handed Chuck a blue post card and he looked it over, seeing an advertisement for the launch party of Roark's new operating system.

Chuck's eyelids fluttered. Mountains by a lake. Computer components. Rios, Roark Instruments, Virus. Fulcrum. Mountains by a lake.

"Well, that'll do it." Chuck said.

"You need to add some information to the flash though, Son. I'm assuming it didn't say anything about an Intersect?" Chuck nodded. "Ok, so tell her that you saw the schematic and the map next to each other in the flash, and take it from there. The CIA is going to tell you something about a virus in the software, but it doesn't work, I already disabled it. Use this as your in, and then get to this room and steal the Intersect cube." Stephen said, pointing it out on his blueprints. "After you have that, I can get a program together and we can remove the Intersect."

Chuck looked at his father with disbelief in his eyes, but at the same time, it all made sense. He had the proof staring him in the face, and his flash confirmed it. He had no choice but to trust his father – a concept he was definitely not used to.

March 25, 2009

1300 Pacific Time

Castle

"It seems Chuck's flash matches a lot of chatter we've been hearing about Roark Instruments lately. The CIA now believes Ted Roark's latest software may contain a virus that, if released, could cause irreparable damage to the world's computer networks. Mr. Bartowski, we have a mission that is right up your alley, you will be sent in as a new RI employee. You will see if you flash on anyone or anything. Your interview is in two hours." Beckman finished and prepared to terminate the conference.

"General, just a moment." Chuck said, before she could press the button. She paused and scowled at him. "General, as I said I looked at the code myself and someone has been in the software to prevent the virus, and they don't seem to have noticed this yet. What about the rest of my flash, that Roark has an Intersect?" Chuck asked eagerly.

"Ah yes, a giant Intersect that is housed within the entire complex itself? We have dismissed that claim." Beckman said, waving her hand absentmindedly. "There just isn't anyway that that can be possible Chuck, my scientists have assured me. Good luck on your interview." She said as she ended the conference before she could hear anymore pointless interruptions.

Chuck turned to his partners who merely shrugged.

"About the best you could have expected, Bartowski. Let's get to work." Casey said.

They gathered up around the main table in Castle and laid out their vast collection of recently acquired blueprints for Roark Instruments. They had already been studying them for the last few hours before the briefing, and they were beginning to narrow down the best path to the Intersect Room. Chuck walked over to the computer and ensured that they were in electronic lockdown – no signals could make it in or out of Castle so they could review sensitive Intel. The computer blinked a green status light at him, but he still covered all the cameras in the room with various articles of clothing just to be sure.

"Little paranoid there, Bartowski?" Casey sneered at him.

"Unless you really want to deal with Beckman's pissed off face when she finds out we're going off-mission, I think you'll forgive me a little paranoia." Chuck said, patiently.

Casey muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like the word pussy. Chuck ignored him and continued reviewing the plans. He sat down, memorizing every hallway, office and electrical closet that he found on the plans. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he was aware that his partners had moved back and forth from the table several times as he sat there. Soon, he felt a soft hand grip his elbow.

"Chuck, sweetie, are you ok?" Sarah shifted her grip, sliding both of her hands under his arms as she rested her chin on his shoulder. Chuck leaned back into her as he continued looking at the plans.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just getting as prepared as possible. In the zone, you know how it is." Chuck said.

Sarah squeezed him. "At least you haven't broken out the Chardonnay yet, Piranha." Her tone was light, her eyes ablaze with laughter.

"I see you've been talking to Morgan." Chuck said with a laugh.

"Well, I figured it's high time I started getting closer with your best friend. I am going to be around for a while, after all." Sarah said happily.

Chuck put down the pen he had been holding and placed both of his hands over Sarah's. "I like the sound of that."

"Good, me too. But I wasn't talking about the mission when I asked if you were ok. You had a major development in your relationship with your father, unless you've forgotten already. How are you holding up?"

Chuck paused for a few minutes as he considered his feelings. Despite the fact that their meeting today had gone nowhere close to how he had imagined it over the last several years, he was happy to see his father again. And he was even happier to know that he had a legitimate reason for leaving them, even if it didn't matter in the end.

"I'm…alright, all things considered. Honestly. It's going to take a long time for us to repair things and get back to any sort of real family, but at this point I'm just happy that he's alive. And I'm definitely happy that he got to meet you."

Sarah smiled and kissed his cheek as she pulled him to his feet. "Come on, we need to get you dressed for your interview." Sarah paused as she put a hand to her mouth, rushing off to the bathroom with a short apology about the hospital food still acting up.

March 25, 2009

1535 Pacific Time

Roark Instruments

Chuck followed Drew around the corner of RI as they continued the tour of the building.

"And around here you'll find…" Drew trailed off as the doors down the hall opened and out stepped Ted Roark himself, surrounded by a swarm of employees. Chuck wasn't sure if his opinion was swayed because of his father's Intel, his father's past with Roark, or if maybe his spydey senses were tingling, but something just seemed off about Roark.

"Hey Ted, this is Chuck, our new employee." Drew said with a smile.

"Hey! Welcome to RI." Roark shook his hand genially. Well, he's certainly friendly, Chuck thought.

"Never wash that hand again," Roark said, pointing at their joined hands. Ahh friendly but smug, great combination. The staff members laughed as Roark enjoyed the attention.

Chuck smiled. "Oh, I never will sir."

"No sirs around here," Roark said, looking around before indicating one of the women in his group. "Except her." Everyone burst out laughing again, clearly used to Roark's antics, as Chuck joined in awkwardly.

"Okay, Ted. Just wanted to say it's an honor to be here at your company."

"Oh, easy big boy you already got the gig! Ready to take over the world?" Roark asked.

Very funny jackass, too bad my dad has already beaten you.

Chuck smiled as the group left, and Drew left him alone to explore some more as he left with Roark, giving Chuck an ID before he left to allow him access. As soon as he was alone, he held his watch to his lips.

"Alright guys, I'm alone and starting on some recon."

"Roger, Chuck. We're still in the cameras, thanks to you. We'll watch your back. Your tie is crooked, though." Sarah said in his ear. He rolled his eyes and fixed it, looking up at the nearest camera and holding up his hands as he turned for them like a fashion model.

"Much better, smartass. Now get to work before I tell Ellie it was you that ripped her favorite sweater while you tried to get it off me the day I borrowed it, and that I did not, in fact, get it caught on the door getting out of my Porsche." Sarah's tone told him she was not bluffing and he practically ran down the hallway as she laughed in his ear.

Chuck procceded down several corridors from memory, finally finding the one that his father believed to house the Intersect room. He walked down to a reinforced door with a large panel next to it that displayed scrolling sequences of numbers. There was a small window in the door and he peeked through it. On the other side, he saw a large table dominating an all-white room, with several technicians inside. In the center of the table was a large cylinder that housed the rotating Intersect Cube.

"Sarah, I found it. Security is pretty tight though."

"Can you get in?" Sarah asked.

Chuck looked more closely at the panel and felt his eyes roll into the back of his head. Two fluorescent microbes under a microscope. The correct sequence and location of numbers to select on the keypad. Two fluorescent microbes under a microscope.

"Wow. Yeah…yeah, I can get past it, Sarah. I could use a diversion though, any ideas?" Chuck asked, still surprised that he was able to pull that flash out.

"Hmm…I'm thinking…pineapple." Sarah said, mischievously.

"Pineapple, here? Sarah Walker, I like your style. Give me thirty seconds and do it."

Chuck ran down the hallway to the janitorial closet and dodged inside. Seconds later, the alarms began blaring.

"Okay, Chuck, I think you're clear. Five techs just came out of the room, how many did you see?"

"Five, we should be good." Chuck said as he cracked the door open, peering down the hallway. Finding it empty, he dodged outside and went back to the keypad. He tapped in the correct sequence and the door hissed open. Chuck slipped inside and two screens popped out on either side of the table. Back-lit with the red lights from the fire alarms, the table reminded him of the battleship scene from Batman Forever. Chuck smiled as he sat down at one of the stations and began forcing his way into their systems.

"Okay…and…done!" Chuck said to Sarah. He hit enter and uploaded his Trojan horse virus, simultaneously siphoning their systems into the CIA database and wiping their own at the same time. Chuck stood and disconnected the cube cylinder from the table, sliding the assembly into his empty laptop bag. He slipped out the door and headed back down the empty hallway at a jog.

"Sarah, are there any crowds I can slip into left in the building?" Chuck asked into his watch.

"Several groups are still working their way down the stairs from the top floors. If you hurry, you can join in and get lost in the crowd." Chuck did as she said and found the aforementioned crowd still in the stairs when he got there. He made it to the ground floor and joined the swelling crowd in the parking lot, making a clean break for his Camaro and radioing to Sarah to meet him back at Castle.

March 25th, 2009

1806 Pacific Time

Casa de Bartowski-Walker-Grimes

"Perfect Chuck, really well done!" His father exclaimed as he inspected the cube. "I told you I wasn't crazy. Now we can start preparing to take that program out of your head."

Chuck was standing in the kitchen while his father sat at the breakfast nook. Sarah in the living room, watching the father and son as they talked. He caught Sarah's eye and gave her a meaningful look before he pressed on.

"I'm not so sure yet, Dad. Yes, I wanted it out before, but that was before I was a spy. I just don't know yet what I want to do." Chuck said.

"Son, this thing was not designed to go into someone's brain. That is not what I had in mind when I came up with the idea. And what's more, I don't want you being a spy either, that's the entire reason I left in the first place! I wanted you and your sister as far away from this life as possible."

Chuck's cheeks began to flush as the anger rose up inside him. "You don't want me in the spy life? Well maybe you should have thought of that before you left with no explanation, Dad! Maybe if you wanted any say in what I did with my life, you should have stayed around and trusted that we would have figured things out."

Stephen rose form his chair and prepared to respond to Chuck's argument, but he was interrupted as the door flung open wide. Both Sarah and Chuck began reaching for their weapons, but they froze when they saw Ellie enter the room, followed closely by Devon and John Casey who was clearly trying to stall her.

"John, we can talk about the therapeutic effects of a bonsai tree later, right now…I'm….starving. Dad?" Ellie's jaw dropped and her eyes went as wide as Chuck had ever seen them go. How could he forget they were supposed to have dinner tonight? Chuck berated himself internally as he stared at his sister.

"Hello Eleanor!" Stephen said in a brave stab at friendliness.

Ellie said nothing, she simply stood and stared. Chuck tensed and Sarah walked to Ellie, gripping her arm to try and break her stupor. Devon appeared just as stunned as the rest of them and Casey very conspicuously evacuated the area, fleeing as fast as he could from the stampede of lady feelings that appeared inevitable.

"Ellie? Ellie, say something." Sarah said softly. Chuck felt a rash of gratitude towards his girlfriend, an emotion he seemed to experience on an almost daily if not hourly basis lately.

Ellie finally closed her mouth. "Pancakes." She said loudly.

Chuck furrowed his brow in confusion as Stephen looked scared.

"Oh boy." Stephen whispered.

"You said you were gonna make pancakes!" Ellie said, and Chuck could hear the beginning notes of Hurricane Ellie brewing in her voice, and found it strange that the public address sirens weren't blaring yet.

"Where have you been? You left me, you left us! You left your two kids – children – to fend for themselves, right after your wife did! And now you show up in Chuck's apartment without any warning? I had better hear a damn good explanation here, Dad! Well?"

When Stephen stumbled over his words as he tried to answer, Ellie simply walked up to him, slapped him – hard – and turned on her heel, storming out of the apartment.

"Ellie!" Chuck yelled, breaking the stunned silence. Awesome left to follow his fiancé and Chuck and Sarah looked at one another while his father lightly touched his cheek.

"Well, that probably went better than I deserved." Stephen said softly.

"Dad, you have to tell her the truth. She deserves to know just like I did. You don't have to tell her everything – in fact, don't do that. I don't want her to know that I'm a spy. But tell her why you left, that there was a reason, and make her believe it. I'll go talk to her first, and calm her down." Chuck walked from the kitchen and Sarah interlaced her fingers with his.

"I'll go with you, Chuck. I've had my fair share of parental issues, maybe I can help."

Chuck kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, Sarah. Dad, feel free to help yourself to anything you need."

The two left the apartment, but stopped dead on the doorstep. Through Ellie's window they saw John Casey, of all people, holding Ellie as she cried as Devon looked helplessly on.

John Casey struggled to resist grunting at the predicament he found himself in. Throughout his life, he always shied away from feelings and emotions, with the exception being Kathleen, his first love. She was the only person who had been able to coax out the well-hidden proof that he was not simply a soldier. Until now, that is.

Damn you Bartowskis, Casey thought. He didn't know what it was about this family, but Ellie, Chuck and even the pretty-boy doctor along with Walker, had opened up some long hidden flood gate inside of him, and he was feeling emotions he hadn't felt in years. And he was well and truly pissed off about it.

Despite his anger at putting his feelings out on display, however, he simply could not stand by and watch as Ellie Bartowski cried – especially when he knew that he probably caused some of these same tears to fall from Kathleen's eyes all those years ago.

So, here he sat; a Major in the United States Marine Corps and an operative for the National Security Agency, and now apparently he was adding 'shoulder to cry on' to the list. John mentally shook his head as he began to speak.

"Look, Ellie. I won't pretend to know what you're feeling right now. In fact," he gave a nervous chuckle, "I probably know least of anybody here. But what I do know, is I've been on the other side of these feelings. Quite a few years ago, when I was young and stupid, I was in love with a woman named Kathleen. She meant the world to me. But one day, I was asked to serve, and this meant leaving Kathleen behind. It was hard, harder than anything I had ever done in my life, including boot camp at Paris Island. But you know what, I did it to serve, to give other people the chance to live the life that I was giving up. I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, but your dad left for a reason, and he left for very similar reasons to why I left my girlfriend behind. Please, give him a chance to explain, and just know he did what he did for you."

Ellie looked up at the gruff man holding her, and was clearly shocked at his words. It could be that she had never heard the man speak that much before, or maybe the fact that they had never shared so much as a handshake and now he sat holding her while she cried. But despite everything that had happened in the last few minutes, Ellie smiled.

"John's right, Ellie. You don't know anything about why your dad left. Give him a chance to explain, and even if it doesn't satisfy anything, I'll be right there with you. We all will." Devon said.

Almost as if to prove his point, the front door opened and Sarah and Chuck walked in. Sarah rushed to her side and Casey silently thanked her for extricating him from that duty. He walked away from the couch while the two women held each other and headed over to Devon and Chuck.

"Thanks for that, John. I've never heard you talk so much before, but that seemed to really help. I had no idea about any of that." Devon said in awe.

"Yeah, seriously, thanks Case. I would never have expected to see you do that." Chuck said, also shocked.

"Don't get used to it mor – Chuck. Your lady feelings are just infectious, that's all. I'm over it." Casey said gruffly as he walked over to the fridge to get himself a drink. The table was already said with food on it, and Casey paused to sniff at the food appreciatively.

The door opened and Stephen Bartowski stepped inside.

"Ellie, I'm sorry for springing myself on you like that. Can we talk?" He asked, timidly.

"We'll give you guys a minute." Casey said immediately. Walker and Devon joined him, as they headed out to the courtyard.

"So Casey…Chuck's finally rubbing off on you, huh?" Sarah asked, teasing him.

"Stow it, Walker. I'm not an unfeeling robot you know. I just know how to keep it contained when it's important, unlike you." Casey snarled.

"That's not healthy to keep things bottled up like that, John." Devon said. Casey had momentarily forgotten the doctor had joined them, and he let the subject lie. After a few more minutes, Devon spoke once more.

"How do you think it's going in there?"

"Well, nothing's been broken yet, so that's a good sign." Sarah replied. Fifteen minutes later, the front door opened. Ellie, now dressed in scrubs, stepped out and looked at the party holding vigil in the courtyard.

"I got called in to work. Things are by no means good, but we talked. I'll talk to you more when I get home, sweetie." She said as she kissed Devon on the cheek. She left without another word, and the group headed back into the apartment.

"Almost seems wrong to eat without the chef, but it'd be a shame to put such a good meal to waste." Casey said as he sat down. Sarah glared at him for making that his first priority, but the group began to amble over to the table, choosing to join him.

"How'd it go?" Sarah asked as Devon hovered nearby.

"About as well as could be expected," Chuck said. "He told her in general terms why he left, and after she got over the shock she was beginning to accept it before she got called in. She's still angry, but I think things will be ok."

With that happy news, they sat down and began to eat the delicious meal Ellie had prepared. Halfway through dinner, however, all hell broke loose.

As Casey was savoring his mashed potatoes and gravy, a cacophony of beeping and flashing began from Chuck's, Casey's, and Sarah's watches and cell phones, and a strange computer/cell phone contraption mounted on Stephen's wrist began blinking a warning as well. Casey briefly had time to register that the contraption on the elder Bartowski's wrist looked an awful lot like the cellphone rig Chuck was so fond of before the door inched open and a small metal cylinder was tossed inside, bouncing twice before settling near the table.

Casey's brain quickly caught up with his mouth. "GRENADE!" He yelled loudly, as Chuck pulled Sarah to the ground, and Devon and Stephen scattered in different directions. Luckily it was only a flashbang, but despite preparing for its effects, Casey still felt the bone-jarring explosion and was disoriented for several moments. When he regained his composure, he took a quick survey of his surroundings – judging from the obvious evidence of the darts sticking out from all of their bodies, they had been tranqued as well with no way to tell how much time had passed. The table was knocked over and food was splattered everywhere. Chuck and Sarah lay on the ground still, groggily shaking their heads as they shook off the effects of the grenade followed by the tranqs. Casey's long field experience with tranqs plus his larger body bulk allowed him to shake off the effects earlier. Devon was shakily beginning to stand, his face white as a sheet. Casey had to do a second more detailed glance to be sure – Stephen Bartowski was no longer in the apartment.

"Chuck! Your dad!" Casey yelled as he charged to his feet. The other spies needed no additional prompting as they followed suit, pulling their weapons as they charged for the remnants of the shattered door. As they piled into the courtyard, they were just able to glimpse the squealing tires of a large black van with Roark Instruments splashed on the side before it disappeared into the night. They sprinted for their cars, only to find the tires on all five vehicles in the parking lot – including theirs – were slashed. Pounding feet sounded behind them and they all spun, pointing their guns at the new threat. A startled Devon jumped, throwing his hands in the air.

"What the hell is going on?" He screamed.

Chuck lowered his gun. "Shit. Devon, don't freak out."

March 25, 2009

2107

Casa de Casey

Chuck, Casey and Sarah sat around Casey's table, Chuck using his computers to hack into surveillance satellites as Awesome paced back and forth.

"This is so not cool bro, we really need to call the police." He said for the thousandth time in an hour.

"No, we already told you Devon, no police." Sarah said.

"But why? Whoever they are, they tried to kill us and kidnapped your dad. You still haven't told me that, or why any of you have guns. Why are we not reporting this to the police?" Devon demanded.

"Because we are the police, Devon!" Chuck yelled, losing his temper completely.

"Chuck!"

"Moron!"

Clearly his partners were not pleased, but he had more pressing problems at the moment.

"Guys, if you have a better story to tell him, then have at it. Anyone? Bueller?"

Casey and Sarah were silent and stared at their feet.

"That's what I thought. He can handle this. Devon, for the last two years I have been a high-level CIA asset and Casey and Sarah were assigned as my handlers. Long story short, I'm now an agent for the CIA, and the men that took my dad tonight have been after him for years. We can't call the police because the government has been infiltrated and we can't trust the police. We need to do this on our own. Do you understand? You can handle this right, tell me you can handle this?"

Devon was frozen in shock. "You're being serious?"

"Devon, I need you to be cool about this. A team is going to come clean the apartment and I need you to cover for us with Ellie, okay? I need you to be awesome. Can you be awesome?" Chuck asked.

"You're a spy, Chuck?" Devon asked, clearly still shocked.

"Yes, Devon. We all are. And we need to get to work, can you do this for me?"

"This…this is awesome! I knew you weren't a loser working at a Buy More! Yeah!" Devon's infectious excitement brought a reluctant smile to Chuck's face – before he looked at his partners and remembered what they needed to do.

After a short but heated conversation, Chuck convinced Devon to head back to his apartment and wait for the cleaner teams.

After a few minutes of arguing over where to look, Chuck headed back to his apartment with Sarah to gear up and get ready to start searching. With no real idea of where they went, Chuck knew they were grasping at straws but they didn't have much other choice. Chuck walked into his room with Sarah and immediately stripped out of his nice dinner clothes, sliding open the hidden compartment in their closet and revealing their mission clothing behind their normal clothes.

He paused as the panel moved out of the way, looking down at his feet while he rested his hand on the door frame. Suddenly, Chuck gave into his frustration and pounded his fist against the frame.

"Chuck…" Sarah said softly as she appeared at his side, lightly gripping his arm. "Talk to me, Chuck. We're going to get him back, I promise."

Chuck turned to face her, as usual her angelic face calming him despite her worried frown. Chuck leaned back against the door frame, pulling Sarah in close. She responded in kind, pressing her body in tight and leaning her forehead against his.

"Why can't life just be easy for once? Is a normal dinner so much to ask?" Chuck asked exasperatedly.

"You know Chuck, this pretty handsome kick-ass spy once said something to me. I don't think we'll ever be normal. Unfortunately, it looks like you were right and this is about as normal as it's going to get for us. We're going to make it through this, though. Together, like we always do."

Chuck smiled and kissed her. "Thank you, Sarah. Sorry for the melodramatic freak-out there. Just a little on edge with my dad being back and all, you know? And now before we can even start to figure stuff out he gets taken again. I guess this just underlines why he went into hiding in the first place."

"Well, let's go get him back then, and fix this." Sarah said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Sarah pushed herself away from him and sauntered into the closet, making a show of stripping down to her barest layers. When Chuck tried to kiss her, she pushed him back, and grabbed a set of black thermal-regulating undergarments. She dulled the sting of her rejection by kissing him soundly once more, then silently began to get dressed.

Chuck followed suit, putting on his own pair of the undergarments which would help obscure his thermal signature from any cameras that their enemies may be using. On top of those, he put on a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeve navy blue Star Wars shirt with the symbol of the rebellion on the left chest. Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she pulled on her own pair of jeans. They weren't necessarily skintight, but they certainly accentuated her slender legs and shapely rear. She smirked as they left Chuck visibly frozen for a few moments.

"See anything you like, Chuck?" Sarah asked.

He shook his head like a dog after a bath. "Sorry, Sarah. I swear I've gotten better about that, but you still shut my brain down from time to time."

She kissed him on the cheek. "That's the way it should be."

Chuck smiled as she pulled on a nice white blouse and buttoned it. He lifted her dark green tactical vest off the floor and made sure the steel plates inside where secured before handing it to her and doing the same with his own. Next came a riggers belt with a thigh holster that they helped each other fasten on their legs before sliding their respective weapons into the holsters, sound/flash suppressors sticking out the end. They each fastened a similar pouch on their left thighs, Chuck's containing his mini-laptop, cables and other electronic equipment; Sarah's contained a quick-access medical kit. After checking all of their pouches and ensuring all of their gear was in their preferred locations, they attached Velcro patches to the front and rear of their vests – impersonating members of the DEA today. They attached their helmets to the rear of their backpacks, wanting them in case they ended up in a firefight but not wanting the extra weight on their heads sooner than they had to. Sarah pulled her hair into a ponytail and stuck it through the opening in the back of her khaki hat with an American Flag patch on the front. Chuck chose a black fitted Comic-Con hat and placed it backwards on his head. To top it off, they each donned a pair of OD green ear protector/radios. These were similar to the ones he used for shooting practice, in that they had a small microphone to pick up ambient noise and which turned off when noise spiked above a certain decibel. In this case, however, they had a boom microphone as well, and a wire led into the communications hub, which then led to the large encrypted radios on their back.

Chuck and Sarah assisted hooking each other up, and then checked each other over to make sure everything was secure and they weren't forgetting anything. As a final measure, Chuck attached a second holster with his tranq gun to the front of his vest. Sarah lifted two rifles from their arsenal, handing Chuck a suppressed HK 417 rifle, keeping a Remington R11 RSASS semi-automatic sniper rifle for herself. Casey was usually the better marksman, but lately he's been in more of a run and gun type of mood. Chuck laughed to himself as he considered the ever-changing shooting moods that Casey went through in a month - he swore Casey was worse about that than Sarah was with her shoe preference, but he would never tell either of them that. Chuck was pouring over the GPS readings of the area again when the computer beeped three times, the telltale warning of an incoming conference from General Beckman.

"I'll take it in the living room, Chuck. You keep working on that." Chuck nodded his thanks and kept working.

Sarah walked into the living room and flipped the TV on. General Beckman filled the screen.

"Agent Walker, this situation is out of hand. Stand down immediately."

"General?" Sarah was thoroughly confused.

"You went behind my back, found Orion, neglected to tell me that you found Orion or his identity and relationship to the Intersect. Further, you ignored your orders and proceeded on an unsanctioned sub-mission that I specifically told you to ignore, and on top of all of that you have now lost Orion. I cannot allow you three to go wandering around Los Angeles on your own trying to save him and causing who knows what kind of trouble." Beckman was clearly furious.

Sarah wanted to argue the point, but the fact that she was fully decked out in tactical gear would not have helped her to persuade Beckman that they were in control.

"It's over, Walker. The Human Intersect Project has become too hard to control. I can't afford to wonder anymore if this team or Chuck Bartowski is a liability. Chuck is going into lockdown and the two of you will report to Fort Meade immediately."

Sarah bristled. "You're making a mistake, General!"

"I have made my decision, Agent Walker. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Beckman did indeed look apologetic, but whether it was genuine or not was another matter.

As Sarah's panic deepened, she switched tactics. "General, Chuck isn't going to go down without a fight, you know he won't."

"That's why there won't be one." Beckman said solemnly. "Chuck trusts you and Casey, Sarah. He believes you would never betray him. Use that. Go to Chuck, tell him that we intercepted his father and that he's back at Castle. Major Casey has already been briefed, he will be waiting there and he will tranq Chuck. Then you will both wait for the extraction team to arrive for his transfer. He will be safe and you will return to your job. For his own safety, even you will not know where he is. I expect you to remember your duty, here. That is all."