A/N sorry I have no clue the geography of CA so just go with the flow ya?

Chapter 12

"Damn it what is the code." Morgan Grimes swore at the number pad in front of the security door. He wanted to get in there to get some gear for his trip. Casey had left it there when he left the apartment to go gallivanting around with Verbanski, but he made sure it was locked and right now Morgan wanted in. He had packed everything else he needed for this impromptu trip to find chuck and he only had this and one other item to grab.

He punched in another sequence of numbers and waited for the green light. When it didn't come but flashed red and made another obnoxious beeping sound.

"Fuck you!" He shouted punching the keypad. It just made another beep sound.

"Morgan!" He quickly turned around to see his beautiful girlfriend standing behind him, arms crossed and looking exactly like her father right now.

"Hey, sweetie. Uh…what are you doing here?" He asked her curiously, trying to act as innocent as possible. She just glared at him.

"I could ask you the same thing." She replied simply. Morgan stood there staring at her for a moment trying to come up with some logical reason for why he would need to get into her father's private armory that she would believe but none came to him.

"Morgan? I'm waiting." She said patiently. He couldn't help but feel the swell of his heart as he stared. Even when she's interrogating him he couldn't help but feel the love and patience she seemed to have in a never ending abundance. Morgan stood up straighter, clearing his throat.

"I have something to do Alex, and I can't tell you what or where but it's important that I get in here. So please if you have the code, let me in." He stated simply. He had learned from Chuck that sometimes the best way to get what you want or need from a girl and you're most likely up to no good, it's usually easier and more effective to just lay out what it is you want as plain as possible. Morgan smiled fondly of thinking that, especially since he could see Alex wavering slightly.

"You're going after Chuck aren't you?" She said easily, impressing him yet again with her ability to just know things.

"How did…"

"My dad called. He told me what the General said and that you didn't seem to take it well. He figured you'd come here. What he didn't' figure would be you trying to break into the armory." She said.

They stood there in silence for several minutes, Alex waiting for him to explain, Morgan not quite sure what to say. He was starting to feel anxious. He was wasting valuable time. He had to get going. He turned his pleading eyes on Alex, begging her to understand. She nodded a minute later. She got it. She stepped up to the panel and entered a long sequence of numbers, it beeped green and the door slid open.

"I'm going with you Morgan." She said simply, turning away from him to enter the room. Morgan gapped after her.

"Absolutely not. This is going to be dangerous. You have to stay here." He protested but stopped suddenly when Alex turned around again to face him, tranq gun in her hand pointing at him. Morgan gulped loudly and held up his hands in surrender. Alex leaned closer to him.

'Chuck may be your best friend, but I love you. And I will support you, and be there for you, and fight beside you. And if that means going off into unknown danger then so be it. Because then I'll at least be doing something usefully besides just sitting at home worrying. At least I'll be with you and keeping you out of danger. You will NOT be keeping me here. Either I go or neither of us goes." She demanded.

"I have to go! I need to save Chuck. They're going to kill him." He protested. She just nodded again and turned away, grabbing a few more boxes of ammo and stuffing them in the bag he had.

"Then I guess we've better quit arguing and get going then huh?" She said directly. Morgan just sighed, giving up. He really didn't want her to go, not knowing what kind of resistance they were going to encounter. But he was secretly glad she was going with him. He would have back up but mostly, she would be able to assist him with some of the harder decisions. He'll freely admit that where Chuck and Ellie are concerned he's probably not always in the best frame of mind to make rational decisions.

"Ok, that's all the gear we should need." Alex said zipping up the bag and grabbing three Kevlar vests. (One for Ellie) "Anything else we need?" She inquired walking past Morgan into the living room. She set the bag next to his other bag that had clothes and food and such. He noticed wish a small smirk that there was another duffle, most likely hers sitting with the other two.

"Just one more. And I'm not quite sure how to go about getting it." Morgan confessed. She looked at him inquiring. "We need to get their dads computer." He finally spat out. She quirked her eyebrow.

"That laptop with all the Intersect stuff on it? Why do we need that?"

"It's just a theory, but Chuck has the Intersect right? He's been acting out based off intel in the Intersect. Maybe Ellie can configure it or something to help him or to take it out." Alex looked at him dubiously.

"Morgan that makes no sense." She said.

"I know but Sarah said he started flashing and shaking and getting information mixed up during the set up. What if the Intersect is making him more unstable and taking it out can….Look, it doesn't hurt to take it." He finally said.

She agreed. Whatever it was, somehow that laptop, and their fathers work factored into those two's lives in one way or another. She reached into the bag she just set down and took out two tranq guns, handing one to Morgan who looked at her questioningly.

"If we're going to get it we may need these. I think Devon is home. Do you know where the computer would be stashed?"

"I know all Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb's secret hiding places. I'm sure I can find it. First place to look is her bedroom."

They walked out the door with a plan. She would go through the front, knocking to try to detain Devon while Morgan would sneak through the Morgan Door and creep through to Ellie's room to snag the computer.

Morgan heard Alex knock on the door as he hid behind some foliage by the window. He heard them converse before going inside and closing the door. Quickly he tapped the top of the window to unlock the window and opened it slightly allowing himself entrance.

As he landed softly on the floor he thought for a moment how odd a super-secret spy with two protectors wouldn't think that perhaps they should make it harder for people to break in. Shaking that thought from his mind he walked quietly around the bed to the door. He cracked it open to listen to where Alex was with Devon.

Morgan opened the door a little wider, about to exit but stopped looking down at the nightstand by the clock. He felt a pang of sadness overcome him. Picking up the photo that sat there, he could feel his eyes water up. It was of Chuck and Sarah; she was dressed as Slave Leia. He remembered that day. It was long, and it was painful. He remembered Chuck yelling at him to get it together. It hurt him, even though he was right. They had made up, but what Chuck had said hit him hard. But he did take it to heart and though he was still a screw up goofball, he worked on improving himself. And now look where he was. He owed it to Chuck.

A noise from the kitchen brought him back to the mission at hand. He looked through the crack again, seeing Devon exist the kitchen with cups of steaming tea. Once he had past Morgan exited the bedroom finally and snuck into Ellie's. The place was a mess, and the only thought that ran through his head was how pissed she was going to be when she came home.

He quickly went through the room, going through all the hiding places he knew of and some he thought were good spots but were never used. He didn't find anything. Finally he searched the common areas, the worst hiding spots and still no computer. He was beginning to get frustrated. He had to find the damn thing.

"What are you doing?" A male voice started him from his search. Morgan jumped hitting his head on the bottom of the bed from which he was looking under. He scooted out to see an angry looking Devon looking down on him.

"Uh…hi Devon. I was just, you know…looking for something." Morgan stuttered scooting further out from under the bed.

Devon reached down and with one hand got Morgan standing up right again glaring down on the smaller man.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" He demanded again. Morgan didn't know what to say. Devon seemed really mad, which so was so not Awesome and so not him. He rarely ever had to deal with an angry Devon. Whenever he was the center of his rage Chuck would run interference while he made a hasty escape and would suffer until Ellie came home and rescued him. He recalled times after that Devon seemed extra nice to Chuck for a while. Ellie didn't care what Chuck did, nobody and she means nobody would use anger at her little brother.

"Well, you see…I'm searching for…me."

"Where is Ellie's dad's computer?" Alex said simply behind Devon, cutting off her boyfriend's stuttering.

"Why? What are you going to do with it?" Devon demanded turning away from Morgan finally to his relief to deal with the girl behind him.

"We need it. Where is she hiding it?" Alex repeated not answering his question. They stared down for a few minutes before Alex got tired of the game. She pulled out the tranq gun from the back of her jeans and pointed it at Devon.

"You're actually going to shoot me? I don't think so." Devon taunted, getting really annoyed by the whole situation. Alex just quirked her eyebrow again, and held the gun straighter.

"Well I am John Casey's daughter. Don't test me. Either tell us where it is, or I'll just tranq you now and we'll search the whole house. The choice is up to you. But just know, your wife may need it, and you're preventing her from getting it." She stated. Morgan was impressed by this, and was suddenly very glad she invited herself along. Devon thought about it for a moment before he nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but I want to come with you." He said. Alex nodded her acceptance and he put his hands down and walked out to the living room past her. Morgan looked at her wide eyed in shock that she would let him come with them, but she just gave him the Casey wide eyed stare that would normally accompany a grunt saying "shut up and follow my lead."

They exited the bedroom, finding Devon in Chuck's room going through a box in his closet.

"Ellie wanted to keep it in here. Away from Clara and figuring most would think she would have it and wouldn't look in here. Though, it seems kind of ridiculous considering two spies live in this room. But I think she was a little distraught." He found the computer and stood up and dusted it off a bit.

He handed it over to Morgan's outstretched hand and plastered the normal Captain Awesome smile upon his face for the first time.

"So where we off to?" He said. Alex just motioned for Morgan to exist through the window with her head. Once he was safely on the other side she raised the tranq gun at Devon once more.

"Sorry Devon, but I think its best you stay here. Ellie has enough to deal with." With that Alex shot two tranqs at him. He looked down at his chest stunned for a second before looking at her shocked.

"So not awesome Alex." He said before collapsing on the bed. Alex took care to arrange him so he'd be somewhat comfortable and removed the darts. She looked around the room quickly deciding if they needed anything else before making her own exit.

"Did you have to shoot him?" Morgan said as she approached him and grabbed one of the bags at his feet.

"We can't take him and if we left him awake he'd call the others and we'd lose the time we have to get a good lead." She said quickly walking out the gate and towards some vehicle he'd never seen before. She popped the trunk and threw her bag in and motioned for him to do the same.

He set the bags in the front handing her the laptop which she put under the back seats and surrounded by soft things for protection before getting into the front seat. Morgan followed jumping in the passengers quickly and putting on his seatbelt.

"And why couldn't we bring him? We could use some muscle you know. And speaking of muscle where did you get this car?"

Alex put the keys in the ignition but didn't turn the engine. Instead she turned best she could to face him, grabbing his hand and holding it in both of hers.

"Look, Morgan, he couldn't come because he's an unknown variable. One we don't need." Morgan tried to interrupt, to ask what she means. But she tightened her grip and shushed him.

"There is no doubt he loves Ellie, Clara, and Chuck, but from what you told me on when he learned about the GPS chips, there's really no telling how he's going to react. He's a nice guy, and his family is in danger. You know how he is about the spy life and Ellie. I think it's the one thing about Chuck he hates and can't stand and now it's come in and kidnapped his wife and child."

"Are you suggesting that Devon 'Awesome' Woodcomb MD would do something stupid and hurt Chuck to protect Ellie and Clara?" Morgan asked incredulously. Alex stared at him for a moment.

"My father committed treason to protect a woman he abandoned by faking his own death to serve his country. If I've learned anything, it's that people do things they wouldn't normally do when their families are in danger. And right now, Chuck is the cause of that danger and no matter how much he love Chuck, Ellie and Clara comes first." With that she turned away from him and turned the car on.

"We need to go north. Jeff and Lester traced his car going north for about 80 miles. He switched cars at one point; they found him at a rest stop with Clara. They tracked him at various rest stops until he stopped at about 4am at another rest stop where they were at for just under two hours. They saw Ellie get out of the back of the car to the front."

"By herself?" Alex interrupted. Morgan nodded. "Well, she may have been kidnapped but she appears to be cooperating now."

"Well the guys gave us about 40 miles to check out. They check all available cameras in all directions but weren't able to trace him. There's not much in that area but desert so they believe there might be something out there and that's where they went. They gave us the most probable route to check first. And if that doesn't pan out they gave me a map of the most efficient way to back track and check elsewhere." Alex was shocked.

"Wow…for idiots they are really smart." She said impressed.

"I know right? I see why Chuck kept them around. I gave them raises. I think they deserve it." Morgan sat back and relaxed as Alex pulled the car onto the street and started towards the freeway.

"Where did you get this car anyways?" He inquired again about it.

"Oh, when you guys came back from DC and you told me about the termination order I figured at some point you'll escape and go look for him. So I bought the car from a friend. She agreed to keep the title in her name for now and I paid cash. That way it will give us a little more time since they don't know about it yet."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Morgan reached over and intertwined his fingers with her right hand and brought it to his lips, laying a tender kiss on it.

"You know I Love you right?" Alex just smiled and squeezed his hand tighter as they drove.

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Ellie placed the damp cloth across Chuck's forehead mopping up the sweat that was there. He shook violently as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. She could tell he was clamping his jaw down tightly trying not to scream in pain but that didn't stop the moans and whimpers from escaping him.

He had somehow convinced her that he should start to detox. He couldn't take it anymore. He either got off the drug or he'll end up killing himself. She agreed to a trial. After feeding and bathing Clara and putting her to bed in the Tangled sleeping bag in the corner with her toys, Ellie led Chuck to the next room.

It had clearly been an observation room. The giant two sided mirror seemed daunting as her brother laid upon it. He had insisted she strap him down, afraid of the flashes and what they could make him do. In the car while confessing his sins, he had confessed to unknowingly doing and hurting people and things. He didn't remember the acts and he was afraid of what losing control of the Intersect would do, especially with his sister and niece so close, so she agreed.

He had been lucid for a good couple hours before he started sweating heavily. The convulsions started and he became restless soon after, followed by the flashes. His body jerked violently as his eyes rolled back and he tossed his head back and forth in obvious pain.

Ellie stood over him not quite sure what to do for him. That's not entirely true, she was a doctor, but it hurt so much to watch him. This was exactly why doctors weren't allowed to treat their family members. She saw tears falling down the side of his face and she reached down to wipe it away, only to have him move his head away from her quickly and be engulfed in another flash.

"Chuck. Chuck can you hear me?" She said loudly. He gave no indication of a response. She decided it was time to pull him out of this. She was afraid of the damage the Intersect was having on his mind.

"Chuck, I'm giving you the drug now." Still nothing. She grabbed a needle on the tray next to her. She took a spoon and opened up one of the capsules and pours the powdered substance on it before using a lighter to liquefy it. She drew it into the needle after a moment and then injected it into her brother's arm.

Tossing the needle back on the table she stood watching her brother as everything settled down and he begun to breathe a little easier. It took several minutes before he was able to blink his eyes open slightly enough to see her.

She was relieved. Chuck held his hand out as far as he could and she grabbed it, squeezing it tightly as she mopped the newly damp cloth over his face again.

"How…how…" He started but couldn't seem to get enough air in his lungs to ask.

"About 6 hours. " She said. Chuck just nodded his head and looked around the room before finally settling on Ellie again.

"Is that progress?" He asked desperately.

"No Chuck it's not." She wanted to lie and say yes but Ellie felt she couldn't do that to her brother. Chuck closed his eyes again, his face scrunching up in pain, fresh tears started to creep from the corner of his eyes. "Oh sweetie. We'll figure it out. I promise Chuck. I'm not giving up." She had to take a deep breath to prevent herself from crying outright.

"Ellie. I can't do this. I can't." He gasped out. Ellie leaned down to him. Putting her arms around him the best she could. Chuck leaned in as close as possible sobbing his sorrows out. After a while Ellie eventually pulled away from him, placing her hand on his forehead to make sure he looks at her.

"We will figure this out Chuck. We will. Don't give up yet. We just need more time, the flashes are….." She stopped mid-sentence her eyes widening. She stood up straight running her hand through her hair in thought.

"What is it Ellie?" Chuck inquires worried. Ellie bit her lower lip thinking. Chuck recognized this look. Ellie figured something out and was mapping out a plan in her head. He just laid back and let her work it out. A few minutes later she focused back on him.

"We need to get the Intersect out Chuck. That's what's causing the worse of it." She said coming closer, talking fast in the way she always did when she figured out a puzzle.

"What are…?"

"It makes perfect sense Chuck. The withdrawal from this drug is going to be painful and miserable yes. It blocks emotions and feeling. You're likely to be emotionally unstable for the rest of your life. You can't escape the side effects of this thing." She said softly. Chuck looked away then for a moment before making eye contact with her once more to continue.

"But what about the Intersect?"

"The Intersect runs on emotions Chuck. You've proved that over and over again. Whenever you were unstable emotionally it would glitch up. When you were hurt or sick it would be too." He just stared at her as she desperately explained this concept to him. "You're going through withdrawal. Your body is going through something traumatizing and its causing the Intersect to act up, which causes more pain. If you're going to survive this Chuck we have to remove the Intersect." She said finally.

Chuck stared at the ceiling thinking over what she said. She was right. He didn't know why he didn't just jump to do it. She was right. And he really didn't care about the Intersect anyways. While it did bring him Sarah and some meaning to his life, the object itself has caused him nothing but pain, grief, and worry.

"Let's do it." He said simply. Ellie nodded enthusiastically and reached down to unstrap him from the bed. He sat up slowly and rubbed his sore wrists as she unstrapped his ankles.

"I'll need dad's computer. It has the removal program on it."

"I'll go get it. I want you to stay here with Clara where's its safe." He slipped from the bed but immediately lost his footing and fell to the floor. Ellie who had tried to catch him fell with him.

"How about you sleep for a few hours before you go." She suggested. Chuck wanted to leave right away but knew he wouldn't get out of this. Ellie could be a real monster when she feels you should rest.

"I want you to stay here while I'm gone ok? With Clara. Do not leave for any reason. There are plenty of supplies." Ellie nodded understanding and helped him back on the bed. She pulled the sheet up that was kicked on the floor and covered him up placing a small kiss on his forehead like he was a little child.

"I will Chuck. Get some sleep. You'll need your strength." She whispered to him and left the room. She closed the door quietly and leaned up against the wall, closing her eyes she slowly slid down it till she was on the ground before hunching over and finally letting the tears fall.

"This has to work." She sobbed quietly to herself.

A/N. I wish to apologize. I was not meaning to imply i would stop posting the story if i didnt get reviews. I just meant that i haven't gotten many so i wasnt sure if the direction i was going was being well recieved. Thats how i kinda gage. I've never had an unfinished fic and i'm not going to start now! Next post hopefully tomorrow, probably Friday.

MissMonk