Thank you to phathead01, sevenrez, doc2or, chucksara4ever,wilf21, Wade1978, uplink2, Jimmy 144, Nomadic Nerd for reviewing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your comments.
And as always, charakids for being my beta.
Chapter 14
"So let me get this straight. Not only did you lose the program and Chuck, but you lost Morgan as well." Ellie said surprisingly calm the next day. Casey grunted his answer, standing up a little straighter. He knew he could probably walk away and get away from it but he screwed up, they screwed up. And even though Ellie Woodcomb was not his superior he would be the good solider and take his beatings.
"Ellie, babe, I'm sure there was nothing they could do to prevent this." Devon said stepping up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, but Ellie just shrugged his hands off her and crossed her arms over her chest, piercing the spies in front of her with a hard look.
"Ellie, we…" Sarah started but was unable to finish. Casey almost felt sorry for her.
When they woke up several hours later on the cold cement floor of Stephen Bartowski's hide out it was to an empty room. After assessing the situation and whether they were safe or not Casey groaned loudly and let out a huff as he let his body hit the ground once more. It took the drug several more minutes to fully work its way out of his body enough for him to fully begin to move.
He felt sluggish and tired, and no amount of growling and grunting would help him or make him feel better. For the first time in possibly ever he began thinking that perhaps he was getting to old for this. That maybe after this he should retire or at least get out of the field. He'd hate to do it but after all these years his body felt like giving out. But he shook that thought from his mind, mentally shook in any case. He would wait till after he saved Chuck to put any real thought into it.
After an indeterminate amount of time Casey opened his eyes just a slit and looked over in Walkers direction to see how she was faring out. She sat huddled on the floor leaning her back against the wall of electronics with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees staring into space. He knew that they needed to get up and get moving but seeing the sad face on his partners features made him pause for a moment and let her take the time she needed.
He had heard what the Intersect had told her. He had heard it tell her that Chuck was still alive and someplace in that head of his. It was a lot to take in and made some of their decisions a lot harder.
Or easier depending on your point of view.
On one hand they could choose to believe the Intersect. To believe that Chuck Bartowski was still around someplace. He's been hearing it and researching it all week that the brain is big and mysterious and quite frankly after he started this assignment, he began to think that just about anything could be possible. It was good because now they knew that it was possible to get him back, at least in theory, that he wasn't gone. They weren't just stumbling in the dark hoping for the best but expecting the worse.
However he wasn't one of those positive thinking kind of yuppies. He considered himself a realist and the reality of the situation was that regardless on if Bartowski was still someplace in his mind, there was no telling what kind condition he will be in at the end of this. They had no way of knowing if it was possible to fully integrate him back into his mind, back to the way he was, to who he was. They had no way of knowing if he was even asleep in his own mind or if he was a witness to everything around him.
That thought made him feel a little sick. Knowing all what the Intersect had done. All the people he killed or manipulated. All the death, blood and lies in such a short period of time. The kid was too pure, too innocent and the thought of him being stuck to witness his body being used as a weapon without his consent, without his control could just very well break him. In that case, Casey hopped that the kid didn't live.
He wasn't heartless, he believed Chuck to be a friend, not that he'd ever really tell him in a serious way, but Chuck was. In a lot of ways, he was his first real friend he had in a very long time. And laying there on the cold cement floor as Walker sat still as a statue frozen in some state of grief he decided then and there that no matter what he would take care of it.
He understood Ellie's point, though he didn't agree with how she delivered the news to his partner. She was prepared for the worse; she was his next of kin and would be given control over Chuck's care. He respected her for taking initiative, for sticking with her brother even though he would never be the same. That he could very well just be a vegetable for the rest of his life. Hooked up to machines and left to stare into space until the day his body gave out.
But watching Sarah there, waiting for the drugs to leave his system fully so they could head out, he vowed that he would not allow that. Not for Ellie, not for Morgan and especially not for his partner. The woman sitting before him was brave, honest, and the best damn partner he ever had. But she had enough pain in her life. He knew it even though she never spoke about it. He read her file and he read her.
He would not make her suffer by stalling her life forever, visiting a boyfriend who most likely wouldn't recognize her. He wouldn't allow her to give up on life as she gave her all to assisting with taking care of Chuck, making sure he was as comfortable as he could be in whatever state he would end up in. She had just began to learn, probably for the first time what it was like to live. And though the person who showed her the way wouldn't be with her, he didn't want her to give up that gift she was given.
And most important, he thought as his mind came back to the present, listening to Devon continue to calm down his wife, he would not allow that fate to land on Chuck. Sometimes there are worst things than death, and he would not allow Chuck to suffer that, whether he was really in that lanky body of his or not. If Chuck didn't come out ok, he would take care of Chuck.
"Ok, do you guys even have any idea where they might have gone?" Ellie said letting out a breath, bringing Casey fully out of his own thoughts. He gave a small smirk as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit a few keys to bring up a map with a blinking red dot and showed it to them.
"Is that…" Sarah started reaching for the phone but Casey pulled it back with a proud grin.
"It's a GPS on the bearded moron. I planted five on him when he wasn't looking on the plane. Remind me to yell at him for not paying more attention." He said smugly. "It's not an exact location though. Bartowski must be someplace underground or a place with blockers but we have a good idea."
Mary stepped forward, hand reaching out for his phone. "Let me see that." She said. He handed it to her and waited as she analyzed it. "I know where this is. It's one of Stephens's labs not too far from here." She said handing his phone back.
"Why would he go to one of dads labs?" Ellie asked confused. Casey was wondering the same thing.
"I don't know Ellie but he is. But the question is, how did he find it? Stephen took really strict precautions with his labs. There is no way he could have figured it out." Mary argued, sitting down in a nearby chair.
"There is a lot we don't know about this thing mom. I think that's the least of our worries right now." Ellie replied. She covered her face with her hands for a moment before dropping them to her side. "So where do we go from here?"
"Easy, we go and get them." Casey said easily, his mind already planning on what would need to be packed. He hoped they had enough time to get there. He didn't like that they had been out for several hours, and even more time passed as they came back to the US. He especially didn't like that Sarah had talked him into checking in with the others before proceeding.
Though in her defense she didn't know about the GPS chips he placed on Grimes. But now that everyone was up to speed he just wanted to leave and take care of the problem. End it once and for all.
"I'm coming with you." Ellie informed them grabbing her light weight jacket from the back of the couch. Casey growled and pierced her with his hardest look.
"No, you are not." He told her plainly, leaving no room for argument. Ellie however appeared to not have heard him as she grabbed her keys and a bag that was by the front door.
"He will need a medic John." She argued. Casey was reaching behind him, getting ready to grab his cuffs when Sarah stepped between them, giving him a look before turning to Ellie.
"Look, Ellie, I understand but you can't come with us. We don't know what's going to happen. It could be dangerous." Sarah explained calmly. For those same reasons Casey didn't think Sarah should go but was being smart and keeping his mouth shut.
Ellie dropped her bag on the floor and walked towards the two spies, back straight and not looking intimidated at all despite the fact they knew hundreds of ways between them to kill her without leaving any evidence.
"I know, it's dangerous, but I'm still going. He won't hurt me."
"You don't know that Ellie." Sarah argued.
"I do actually. Because he didn't hurt Morgan, he didn't hurt mom. He didn't hurt you Sarah. If anything he'll do everything he could to protect us. He wouldn't want harm to come to us."
"Ellie, don't get confused. This isn't your brother, this is a program controlling him sweetie." Mary told her, but Ellie shook her head.
"I don't believe there really is a difference anymore. If there ever was. This thing, this program wants to protect Chuck as much as we do. I believe that. "
The room was silent as she finished her sentence, each in their own minds trying to come up with a logical counter argument that would get the good doctor to back out of this idea of going with them. Casey knew that he could always cuff her at best or drug her at worse. However he wasn't quite sure how walker would take that.
"Babe he stole that program. He knew they were coming." Devon pointed out.
"Exactly and he didn't kill them. He could have, easily, and he didn't. He tranqed them." She argued, obviously not giving up easily. "And the program, you said so yourself Sarah. He told you it would kill him. He took it to save him and Chuck. I'd destroy it too if there was something out there that could potentially kill me."
"Ellie…" Sarah started, obviously at a loss at what to say to the woman in front of her.
"No, Sarah. Don't" She said pointing at her. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said before, actually no, I'm not. I'm right in that. I'm sorry for the way I said it to you, but you don't understand." She took a calming breath as tears began to fall down from her eyes. "Chuck is my brother. I raised him. I love him. I cannot and will not let him go so easily. I will always fight for him. And if the worse happens, than I will be there with him so he's not alone."
Silence once again descended upon the room, much heavier this time at the implications of her words. Chuck could very well not survive this. This could be the end of Bartowski. Even though he was prepared for it the thought, the words being said aloud caused something in his chest to clench in pain. He didn't want to lose his friend.
"He won't be alone Ellie. He'll have us. He'll have me." Sarah said quietly, not looking at anyone. Casey grunted to his agreement. Chuck would have them, to the very end. Even if the end is a bullet through his head from Casey's gun.
"I'm still going." Ellie told them firmly.
With that final statement Casey gave annoyed growl as she turned around, grabbed her bag and headed out the door. They all stood there in the Woodcomb living room staring at the open door, nobody making a move to follow her.
"Take care of her bro." Devon patted Casey on the shoulder, breaking the silence.
"So…" Morgan said fidgeting in his chair. They were in an underground basement similar to the one in Russia.
A few pieces of pizza sat chilling in the air conditioned room as Morgan watched the Intersects fingers dance across the keys of keyboard as if it were a piano and he were composing the most delicate composition. He was reluctant to come originally but after the Intersect took out both Casey and Sarah he didn't feel like he had much of a choice.
The car ride to the airport had been silent as Morgan's anxiety rose from the man in his presence. He wasn't sure what to do or what to say so as it is with Chuck he began to babble about anything and everything under the sun. It went on for the entire car ride and up to take off on the plane.
Chuck, or the Intersect never stopped him and that caused him to spew even more nonsense out. It wasn't until they were well over the Atlantic when the Intersect, sitting next to him calmly in the aisle seat asked him in a soft voice if he wanted something to drink.
Morgan was stunned, expecting a lot of things mostly involving violence and harsh words, perhaps some yelling but being offered a drink was not one of them. He had immediately clamped his mouth shut and his eyes went wide as he stared at his friend. Or at least the physical aspect of his friend. The Intersect gave him a calm patient smile before it turned away from him to look out the window on the other side of the plane.
Morgan took that opportunity then to look around where he was. They had loaded onto a small private plane that was both cozy and cramped at the same time. It had an air of 'ritzy' to it and he wandered silently why or how the Intersect had acquired it but he was far too frightened to ask.
The Intersect proceeded from there to take care of him, something that Morgan really didn't expect. It made sure he was comfortable, fed him. Even more surprisingly stopped by a store on the way to their currently location to pick up a pack of his favorite grape soda.
A phone ringing brought Morgan out of his reverie as his body jumped slightly at the sudden noise. His gaze focused on the Intersect as It reached out and answered the phone, silencing it without taking Its own gaze away from the screen.
The Intersect didn't say anything, just listened to whoever was on the other end. Morgan internally debated on what the odds are of his survival if he shouted to the person that he was held captive and needed help. He was pretty sure it was slim to none as the Intersect was a killing machine and could take him out without even touching him. So he sat silently and waited for the end of the call.
A few minutes later it came to an end and the Intersect ended the call and for the first time turned towards Morgan in his swivel chair. Sitting on the edge, back straight and Chuck's long arms and hands held tightly in his lap, the Intersect watched him for a long minute, not saying anything.
"So…" Morgan started out nervously, not sure what to say next.
"Our friends are on the way." The Intersect told him. Morgan's brows narrowed at that, confused by the statement.
"Our fri-"
"They should be here soon Morgan. We don't have much time." The Intersect stood up then and walked to the other side of the room while Morgan followed with his eyes stuttering syllables of a reply after him. His mouth immediately clamped closed as the Intersect pressed a passcode into a pad next to a blank wall, heart jumping alarmed as a loud sound was made as it pushed in slight then up showing a room lay behind it.
The Intersect walked into the room and stopped at the door and turned towards Morgan and motioned for him to follow. He sat there for another moment thinking of what to do, thinking on what the Intersect had told him. Their friends were coming. Sarah and Casey were coming, for him, for Chuck.
"How?" He finally said bolting out of his chair and following the Intersect into the next room. He stopped at the door, his mouth falling at the room. It was completely white and the light in the room was almost too bright for him to see. He stepped into the room slowly.
"Trackers." The Intersect said and Morgan shook his head to clear the fog that took over his mind.
"What?" He asked confused.
"They put trackers on you. They are disabled by the equipment in this room, but they know where it dropped off. Mary will inform them of your location." It told him.
Morgan covered his face with his hands, his mind swirling with many questions and also a bit of annoyance at Casey for planting them on him. Lowering his hands after counting to ten on in his head he turned his attention fully on the Intersect hoping that It would finally put all this confusion to rest.
The Intersect, for Its part was completely calm as It sat in the chair in the middle of the room. He walked closer to It, keeping eye contact and trying to show no fear, though if he were honest with himself his guts felt like mush and he was pretty sure one more loud sound would cause him to need to change his pants.
"I don't understand." Morgan finally said as he stood over the form of his friend. Looking into the soft brown eyes he could almost see his friend in them, almost pretend that he was actually talking to his best friend. But he saw the difference that most people would miss. Most people would see this form and presume it was Chuck and never question that it wasn't really him. Morgan on the other hand knew different. He could see the steely difference in the way the eyes returned his stare, watching him.
The Intersect blinked Chuck's eyes and the act broke Morgan out of the trance he seemed to be in. He shook his head and looked back at Chuck again, waiting for whatever the thing had to say to him. He was surprised to see some apprehension in Chuck's body, hesitation. Something he didn't think would be programed into the Intersect, but then again, he was trained by Chuck, the most expressive person he's ever known.
"You said you wanted to help Chuck." It started, looking away from Morgan for a moment before landing his gaze squarely back on Morgan, who was nodding his head enthusiastically.
"I'd do anything to help Chuck." He said eagerly. The Intersect paused for a moment, causing panic in Morgan, wondering what the thing would ask of him.
"There is something I need you to do. And it needs to be done now, before the others come." It said.
"What is it?" he asked curiously. The Intersect sat back in the chair, arms on either side of him as he looked up at Morgan.
"I need you to turn the program on." He told him. Once again Morgan's brows narrowed in confusion as he ran the words in his head before realization came to him.
"Didn't you tell Casey and Sarah that it will kill Chuck? I can't do that." He argued backing away slightly.
The Intersect stood up from the chair It was perched in and walked towards Morgan. He backed up until he felt his back hit the wall behind him and tried to make himself as small as possible as the Intersect stepped into his personal space, crowding him and making sure there was not room for escape. He'd always been aware of his height difference between his best friend and himself, but he'd never felt it as strongly as he did at this moment.
He braced himself tightly, arms wrapped around himself and his head tucked into his chin as we waited for the punches he was sure was coming. Deciding the Intersect was tired of whatever game it was playing and was going to beat him into submission. However the pain he was expecting never came and after several minutes of it he cracked an eye open and looked up at his friend. His body sagged alarmed at the sadness that showed there, and once again Morgan felt bad for the program in his buddies head.
"You can't ask me to do that." Morgan's voice stated, shaking with fear and anxiety. But the Intersect didn't back up, if anything it crowded him further.
"I need you too Morgan. This is Chuck's only chance." It told him. Morgan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, his lungs burning from holding it in for so long.
"I don't understand. Let's give it to Ellie. Let her figure it out. She's smart. She can do anything." But the Intersect shook It's head.
"Morgan, it's no good. I'm out of time, we're out of time. Because I saved Chuck's consciousness it's corrupted the data in the Intersect and made it unstable. It was never meant to work with a human conscious in it." It told Morgan.
"No, I don't-"
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not Morgan. It's the truth." The Intersect took a step back from Morgan and turned around walking toward the chair slowly as if It were about to be placed on death row. A few minutes of silence stretched out between them as It sat in the chair once more. Placing Its arms on either side of the chair.
"I don't want to lose my friend." Morgan muttered morosely. His limbs felt like jelly as sadness overtook him and he felt his legs give out and his body slide down to the floor. He bent over and buried his hands through his head as he waited for the ache in his chest to subside, though he knew it wouldn't. He was about to lose his best friend, and he was to pull the trigger.
Sitting up his breath hitched as tears fell from his eyes. He wanted to stop them, or hide them, not wanting to show weakness to the Intersect. But the tears came quicker then, with realization that he would have never had to hide his tears from Chuck. That his friend would embrace his tears and stay with him until the tears stopped coming and then do everything in his power to solve the problem and help him through whatever it was.
"I don't want to die Morgan. And Chuck doesn't either. This is his only chance." It told him gently. "I've modified the program using the data in the Intersect. It is my hope that it is enough to render the unstable element stable enough to delete the Intersect from his mind and release Chuck."
Morgan nodded his head in understanding, though if he were honest he didn't understand any of it. It didn't make any sense. It wasn't anything from the real world. For a second he believed himself to be in some dream, one of his many dreams where fantastical things happen that wouldn't happen in the world of reality. But the prospect of losing his best friend would be one of the worst nightmares his subconscious could think up.
"Why me? Why can't we wait for Sarah and Casey. Let one of them start it. I just…"
"Because they won't Morgan. Sarah wouldn't risk it and Casey would rather put a bullet in my head and end it all. It has to be you, and it has to be now. I need you to do this for us." It pleaded with him, Chuck's voice cracking as the Intersect pleaded with Morgan to help him.
He knew he didn't have much time. That Sarah and Casey and who knows who else would be there any moment. With shaky legs he pulled himself up off the floor, bracing himself against the white wall behind him before standing tall and closing his eyes to find a calm center. He found it in his heart, thinking of all the joy he had shared with his best friend, and how much more they'd have if this thing worked.
With a resolved sigh Morgan opened his eyes taking a look at Chuck's soft eyes he nodded his acquiescence. He would do this for Chuck. For the hope that his friend would come back to him. With that thought in mind he turned towards the door and began walking out and into the main room. But he paused at the door and stared down at the ground for a moment before turning back quickly and bolting his way towards the Intersect.
He didn't care who was in control as he wrapped his arms tightly around his friends form and buried his bearded chin into his shoulders. His chest hitched as he fought the tears, not wanting to allow them to fall again. Wanting to have this moment engrained in his thoughts for the rest of eternity if things should go wrong.
He felt the lanky arms of his friend wrap around his waist and he finally let the tears go.
Far too soon the Intersect pulled back, surprising Morgan with tears of Its own falling from Chuck's eyes.
"It's time Morgan." It stuttered, gently pushing Morgan away. He nodded his understanding and turned around and headed back towards the door. "Tell Ellie, tell her, that Chuck loves her very much."
Morgan nodded his head again not turning back around, not sure if he could go through with it if he saw Chuck again.
With his head held high, he walked into the main room, the door closing softly behind him with a hiss and headed towards the console the Intersect had been pounding away at since they arrived. On the screen was a simple graphic stating 'Click Enter To Activate'. And with one final breath, and closing his eyes once more for one last prayer, Morgan hit the key.
A/N: There! The end.
I'm not serious. I'm thinking one more chapter but depending on what I end up writing I might need to write one more after. But we shall see.
Off to a steak dinner at Saylors! *drools*