A/N: Hello everybody…glad you had the patience to stick around. This chapter rewrote itself three times…hope it works. Not really in a rambling mood…lucky you. As always, the usual disclaimers apply…don't own, don't earn, don't beta…still having fun so… thanks Jim. Your thoughts are always welcome and if you haven't yet, take the time to take part in the 'Awesome' awards nominations and voting. You are the ones who read the stories here and you can take a little time and let the authors, who's stories you enjoy reading, know that you appreciate their efforts. JT
Previously in this story…ah, ok, I'll do it…a Flashback flashback, if you will…
General Diane Beckman walked in on our 'heroes'… "I thought we might start the meeting early. Will that be a problem?"
And now…
Chuck Vs. A Blast From The Past - Chapter 10
Chuck's POV : 'Shit…this could be a problem.'
Sarah's POV : 'Shit…this could be a problem.'
General Diane Beckman's POV : 'Shit…this could be a problem.'
The silence in the room seemed to stretch as the three occupants took turns looking from one to another, each of them waiting for someone to bite the bullet and be the first to speak. Chuck could feel the heat from Sarah's body because she hadn't moved, except to remove her lips from his and allow her arms to fall to her sides, since the General had walked in on them.
"General" Chuck said after clearing his throat and stumbling on the courage to break the silence that had enveloped them, "I, uh, this was all my fault" he announced, squaring his shoulders and, after a quick glance at the blonde standing at his side, locking his gaze on the diminutive woman who stood frozen in the open doorway.
"How is 'this' all your fault, Mr. Bartowski?" the General asked, her left eyebrow quirking upwards as she struggled to keep a smile from breaking free, actually looking forward to hearing how the young man, standing in front of her and seeming to radiate nervousness, would explain his responsibility for the scene she'd walked in on.
"Well, uh, I couldn't help myself and I, uh, I kissed Sar…uh, Agent Walker…against her will….uh, ma'am" Chuck said, hoping the General wouldn't notice the sweat that he was sure was now springing from his forehead.
"So, Mr. Bartowski, let me see if I have this right. You, using your one good arm" she started, her eyes dropping briefly to the cast that encased his broken arm, "managed to force your affections on one of the CIA's best agents, and this highly trained agent wasn't able to fight you off. Am I to understand that a woman, who knows close to a hundred ways to disarm and kill an opponent, was overcome by you and then allowed you to ravish her lips and leave her blushing and panting like a teenager who'd just been felt up on her first date? Is that what you're claiming the ability to do, Mr. Bartowski? Because if that's the case, I'm going to have to make sure that you're kept a safe distance from my niece" she finished, doing an amazing job of holding in the smile that had been itching to emerge.
"Well, uh, yes ma'am" Chuck's answer sounding suspiciously like a question.
"Really? Perhaps you should demonstrate this amazing skill, Mr. Bartowski. I'm guessing that someone with your training and ability won't mind kissing an older woman. I am a naturally curious woman and would really appreciate a demonstration of the skill and training that you used to overcome Agent Walker's self-defense abilities. It's been a few years since I've had to re-certify in hand to hand but I'll certainly give it the ole college try" the much shorter woman said as she walked into the room, stopping when she was less than two feet from Chuck. "Well, I'm waiting, Mr. Bartowski" the General announced, staring up into the brown eyes that seemed to be drowning in confusion, fear and, most amusing of all, embarrassment.
"I, uh, I…" Chuck stammered, wanting to take a step back but finding his legs against the room's bed which made fleeing, while not impossible, at the very least awkward.
"General, it was my fault" Sarah said as she stepped to the side, interposing herself between the director of the NSA and the man who had quite literally kissed her senseless. She felt Chuck's sudden loss of balance and fought against her urge to turn and make sure he was alright, trusting that he'd be able to sit down, all by himself. "I encouraged his behavior, and did nothing to prevent his advances. I also…uh…I"
"You what, Agent Walker? You used your agency honed, feminine wiles and seduced this poor, defenseless young man? Should I find another agent who can make sure that you don't take advantage of this poor, helpless…"
"Hey!" Chuck interrupted, getting to his feet and peering over Sarah's shoulder. "I'm not some poor, helpless…"
"Oh shut up!" General Diane Beckman barked while reaching out a hand and pushing Sarah backwards which, due to the fact that the blonde agent was standing very close to a certain curly haired nerd, resulted in the pair both sitting down on the bed, leaving Sarah pleasantly surprised when she realized she was actually sitting in Chuck's lap.
"Ma'am?" Sarah asked, unsure what she should do about the strange but pleasurable position she was currently in.
Taking a step back, the older woman gave a the room a quick once over and took note of the tray of food that was sitting near the foot of the bed. "I see that you haven't finished your food so I'm going to return to my office and I expect to see both of you within the next hour. Agent Walker, I need you to ask yourself if you are going to be able to do your job if you find Mr. Bartowski to be so irresistible" she asked and then held a hand up to stall the response that she could see Sarah was ready to blurt out. "I don't need an answer right this second. I want you to give my question serious consideration because, if the attack on the interstate showed us anything, it's that we're not the only people who understand just how important Mr. Bartowski is."
"Yes ma'am" Sarah replied, the sudden serious turn in the conversation reminding her just how close they'd come to losing Chuck just a few hours earlier. Moving slowly, she extricated herself from Chuck's lap, moving to the side but keeping her thigh in contact with his.
"General, what about…" Chuck started but was quickly fell silent.
"I've already arranged for a detail to watch the protection detail that the CIA has posted on your sister and her fiancé" the General interjected, answering Chuck's question before he could finish asking it. "I've spoken to Director Graham and we actually agreed on something concerning you, that the safety of your family is extremely important to the possible success of this project but I'm still unhappy with the attempt that he made to 'recruit' you and decided that I wanted to make sure that there aren't any more 'mis-understandings' about you and yours. I'll explain more when the two of you finish your meal and make your way to my office" she added and then turned and walked towards the still open door.
Pausing at the doorway, she turned back, "Chuck, do I need to take a page from my sister's "rules of dating' and tell you that you need to leave the door open if you're having a 'girl' over to visit? It seemed to work with my niece…"
"No ma'am. We'll be fine" Chuck answered with a small smile. "I promise to turn down the charm so that Sar…Agent Walker won't be tempted again."
"Thank you so much for that. Your government appreciates any efforts you can make towards helping Agent Walker control her baser desires" the General answered, making no effort to hide the sarcasm or the smirk on her face before turning and leaving the room, quickly disappearing into the hallway, the rapidly fading echo of her heels on the floor leaving the only sign that she'd been there at all.
"Ow!" Chuck cried softly, rubbing his shoulder where Sarah had just punched him.
"You're going to 'turn down the charm so I won't be tempted again'?"
"Well, I did promise…ow!"
"Eat your food and don't say another word about turning down you charm or you might find that you need another cast"
"Yes ma'am" Chuck answered while giving his lunch companion the 'puppy dog eyes', as his sister often referred to his special pout that used to get him out of almost any trouble he'd gotten himself into when he was younger.
"I thought you said you were going to turn down the charm, Chuck" Sarah replied with a frown that didn't carry any power at all. "Eat your food, so we can go and see what the General has in mind."
"Yes ma'am."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Agent Sarah Walker and Chuck Bartowski had been cooling their heels in the small waiting room for almost thirty minutes, waiting patiently for their meeting with General Diane Beckman. They'd arrived ten minutes early and been greeted by a stern faced young woman who made a very obvious show of stopping whatever she'd been doing, gestured towards the scattered chairs and then, without waiting to see if the visitors bothered taking a seat, turned back to the work she'd been in the middle of before being interrupted.
Once they'd taken a seat, Chuck had looked to Sarah and been rewarded with a brief shrug of her shoulders before she reached out blindly and picked up the magazine that was closest to her. Looking down at the magazines remaining on the table, he scanned the titles and then snorted when he noticed the 'Jonas Brothers Special Edition of People Magazine that was surrounded by several issues of 'Better Guns and Bunkers' and "Death to Hippies' types of magazines.
"Shhhhh" Sarah hissed at him with a 'death' glare that quickly morphed into a smile when she saw him pick up the 'Jonas Brothers' magazine and pantomime being a love struck fan who was thrilled to be holding the magazine in his hands and couldn't control himself as he bounced happily in his seat. She didn't say anything aloud but she was happy to see that Chuck hadn't taken the news that his sister and her fiancé might be in a position where they could be used as bargaining chips.
They'd finished their food before finding their way to General Beckman's office and during the meal, she kept expecting Chuck to freak out about Ellie and Devon but had been surprised when he kept the conversation light, even going so far as to tease her about the General having the hots for him and suggesting that she might have competition for his kissing abilities. She'd giggled and then, moving with surprising speed, had grabbed his earlobe, drew him in for a quick but heated kiss and then released him just as quickly.
"Do you think the General kisses like that?" she'd asked, smiling at the stunned look on his face, pretty sure it was the result of the kiss and not the question. "You are, of course, welcome to find out but I'm pretty sure that your 'charms' won't work as successfully with her as they seem to work on me."
"So, Agent Walker" Chuck said, his voice bringing her back to the waiting room, "more of a New Kids fan than Jonas Brothers?"
"New who?"
"Yeah, I guess I should've taken your advanced years into consideration?" Chuck teased her, the smile on his face taking any sting out of the remark.
"Shut up, you big doofus" Sarah hissed and had just grabbed Chuck's earlobe when the main door of the office swung open and Major John Casey, wearing his trademark scowl, all but stomped into the room.
"I 'm sure the General will be thrilled to see you abusing the moron, Walker" the big man said before making eye contact with the receptionist and then easing into one of the empty seats.
"Casey?" Chuck asked, holding out the magazine that he'd been teasing Sarah about.
"Very funny, numbnuts" Casey growled after glancing at the object in Chuck's hand. Ignoring the offered reading material, he selected the latest issue of 'Beautiful Explosions' and leaned back into the chair, his attention now focused on the magazine in his hands.
"I'm guessing they're after your time…way after" Chuck replied. I guess they didn't really have boy bands in the eighties, right Casey? So, let me guess…Culture Club?"
"Shut it, Bartowski" Casey grunted, "before I break your other arm."
"Did you see that, Agent Walker? I mentioned Culture Club and Casey flinched. He must have been a real big Boy George fan. You know, I could see him wearing one of those colorful mu-mus with hair extensions and make-up " Chuck announced in a stage whisper and then whipped his head around when he heard a snort from the direction of the receptionist.
"Bartowski, don't imagine, for one minute, that the fact that we're sitting this close, the General will…"
"The General 'will' what, Major Casey?" the woman in question asked, having appeared in the waiting room as if by magic and interrupted the big man in mid-threat.
"Nothing , ma'am, nothing at all" Casey said, getting quickly to his feet and tossing the magazine he'd been leafing through, back onto the table.
"That's good to hear, Major. Now" she continued, turning her gaze to Chuck and Sarah, "if you're done teasing the Major, Mr. Bartowski, perhaps you and Agent Walker could follow me?" the General asked and without waiting for an answer, turned and walked back into her office.
"Grab your boy toy, Walker. I'll be right behind you" the big man barked at them. "Let's find out what the hell is going on."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Chuck Bartowski watched as countless tourists moved back and forth around him, all of them lost in their own world, climbing and descending the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to either side of him. Glancing down at his wristwatch, he was surprised to find that he'd been sitting just below the top step for almost four hours, lost in thought as he considered all of the information that had been revealed during the meeting in General Beckman's office.
Besides the NSA's offer to become an operative once he accepted the new Intersect download, there had been much discussion about how to make sure that his sister and her fiancé were kept safe. The two most likely scenarios were to either fake his death and then move them into witsec or to offer them both medical positions with the NSA. Chuck had insisted that they have the choice and even managed to get the General to throw in full re-payment of their student loans, no matter which choice they made.
The meeting had lasted almost three hours and had included a brief video conference with Director Graham who had smiled…twice, while he spoke glowingly about the bright future ahead for the 'joint NSA-CIA project' and the tremendous benefit it would be to the people of the United States. He managed to avoid any mention of his attempted 'recruitment' of Chuck and Agent Sarah Walker's short stint atop the CIA's 'most wanted' list when she'd 'kidnapped' him.
General Beckman almost cracked him up when she'd curled the fingers on her right hand towards her thumb and made a up and down motion off to the side, out of Director Graham's line of sigh, while rolling her eyes when her counter-part had spoken of the 'new era' of co-operation between the two agencies. Once the video link had been severed, Chuck had immediately asked the General how much she trusted Director Graham and had been surprised by her answer. He'd figured she would warn him about trusting Graham but had been shocked when he was encouraged to have faith in the Director's belief and support of the Intersect project.
The General saw the look of disbelief on his face and went into great detail about Graham's years of service and explained that although she might not like the man all that much, she'd put her life in his hands if called upon to do so.
"We might approach our jobs from completely different angles" she'd gone on to explain, "but I'd stake my life on Langstom Graham's loyalty. He might have tried to 'recruit' you using the 'stick' instead of the 'carrot' but that doesn't mean he would ever willingly cause you harm, Chuck" she'd added before pulling out a rather thick file and sliding it across her desk to rest in front of him.
"General" he'd asked after noticing the first words on the first page…The undersigned, Charles Irving Bartowski…"what is this?"
"That's just a standard NSA contract that I'd like you to read through and then sign" she answered, holding out a pen.
"General, this thing has got to be half an inch thick" he replied incredulously.
"Well, because time really is of the essence, I took the liberty of going with the short form."
He'd looked first at Sarah and then at Casey who both simply nodded, Sarah adding a small smile. After shaking his head, he'd explained that he needed a little time to think about 'things' and asked if he could step outside to get some air. The general had simply nodded and handed him a card, telling him to call her whenever he was ready to get started or if he had any questions that they hadn't covered in the meeting.
He simply nodded and then got to his feet. When Sarah stood to join him, he'd apologized but asked her if he could have some time to himself. He'd noticed the brief flash of disappointment that was quickly covered with a tight smile and an "ok Chuck, whatever you need".
He'd left the office and, after walking and then a short cab ride, he found himself sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The four hours that followed were a filled with questions, lots and lots of questions, the biggest of which was what he would do about Ellie and Devon.
"Figured anything out yet, Chuck?" Sarah's voice asked softly and he turned to his left, not too surprised to find the beautiful blonde sitting one step above him.
"These steps are definitely harder…and colder than the sand" he answered, reminding Sarah of the last time she'd been witness to a thoughtful Chuck. "Casey?"
"He's got a jet waiting so we can fly to Burbank."
"You know what my answer is? What, is mind reading part of your training and, if so, please forgive me for those thoughts I was having earlier while we were eating lunch."
"No Chuck, I can't read minds. I just figured you'd want to talk this over with Ellie and Devon. That's why I suggested to the General that she have a jet on stand by" she replied, getting to her feet and, after taking Chuck's hand, pulling him gently to his feet. "Let's go see your sister."
"Ok."
"And, once we're airborne, maybe you can tell me what thoughts you were just apologizing for" she said with a smile as she began to lead the way down the steps.
A/N:2 The Talk with Ellie and some other stuff…next time. Thoughts?