TheGame19

It takes a couple seconds to say Hello, but forever to say Goodbye. - Anonymous

Surprise, surprise. The mission when off without a hitch. Well, Casey and Hansen got hitched and Chuck breathed a sigh of relief. Carina was safely locked away with Casey and no longer a temptation to him. Several of the North American Fulcrum Council members were either dead or wishing they were. Now he could concentrate of things that were important – fixing Sarah Walker and… not much else.

Miranda called him within minutes of his arrival at his apartment. He wondered again if she somehow had surveillance on his place. The paparazzi had finally gotten bored with him and moved on to harass someone more worthy of him, like Carrot Top or Paris Hotel.

"Chuck, you really have to buckle down and get serious about finalizing the design changes. They want to ship the first units before the end of the month, baby, and they really need your approvals and some input."

"Fine. Set it up. I'll call the General and tell her that she's on her own until I get my 'other' job done. Jesus, Miranda, you are a joy-sucker."

There was silence and then a sniffle and then she started to cry. "I – I'm just trying to protect your interests, Chuck. It's important to us that this game be a success." First 'baby' and now 'us'. This needed attention more than the damned game.

"Miranda, are you free tonight? Dinner at my hovel and then we'll go over every thing and set up an appointment to knock it out so we can ship on time, OK?"

"Fine. I'll be there at seven, OK?"

He called a local Indian restaurant and ordered for the both of them and told them he'd pick it up at 6:45. Then he called Ellie and told her he'd returned but had dinner plans. Lastly, he called Casey and told him his plans for the evening and that he and Carina had the evening off. Things were still tense between them. Casey was hag-ridden by guilt. Chuck was sorry he had to bring up Bermuda but the big weenie was going to let Carina slip through his fingers. And he couldn't shake the sight and feel of Carina – another man's wife – from his mind.

Next he called Dr. Kogyo and confirmed his arrival and their meeting. They'd meet at his hotel room and go over the files. He expressed hope that Dr. Kogyo would be able to do something for her pain and that money was no object. He'd fund his research himself if necessary.

Beckman had assigned discrete surveillance on Walker. She was not going to risk losing his services by letting Walker do something stupid like either disappearing or suiciding. Both were unacceptable.

Her agents reported that she had a cache of vicodin and had obviously not been taking them for pain but rather preparing to take them all at the same time and overdose. He'd replaced them with harmless look-alikes and turned the real drugs over to his supervisor. They'd searched her apartment during one of her physical therapy sessions. She reported this to Chuck via email. She also suggested he ramp up the timeline if he wanted to have a live patient.

Westwood Marriott
Westwood, CA
10am

Chuck met with Dr. Kogyo and was assured, after a lengthy examination of all Sarah's tests and files, that his procedure would reduce her pain levels and allow her to lead a normal life. The only caveat was that there was the risk of developing arthritis in later life, but that was a small problem decades away. He was more than willing to perform the procedure as soon as the patient was available. Chuck was ecstatic and agreed to pay his living expenses until the operation could be scheduled. He teleconference with Dr. White and the two researchers agreed to meet in Baltimore and examine Sarah as soon as possible.

NSA-LA
Wizard's Den
12:30pm

Chuck conferenced with General Beckman and made arrangements as planned. Beckman would contact Walker and offer the 'experimental procedure' gratis. Beckman assured Chuck it would be handled quickly.

"Agent Bartowski, after all this is done, what are your plans? Do you plan on pursuing Walker or is this just some elaborate way of purging your misplaced feelings of guilt? Chuck, what if she doesn't care anymore? You're taking a huge financial risk here. Have you considered your feelings in this?"

"My feelings don't matter. General, this is not the kind of discussion I ever imagined having with you." He laughed bitterly. "I'll move on, General. It won't be easy but I'll adapt. I'm good at losing the girl. You might say it's my strength." Again, the bitter laugh.

"Do you remember what I told you when we sat here early that morning? I'd do what I could provided it didn't negatively impact the team? Do you see where I'm coming from, Chuck? Your attitude, your outlook and your mental health are all critical to our missions. I…"

"Pardon me, General, but have I ever not done what I set out to do? Have I failed any assignments since she left? No. I moved on until another opportunity presented itself. I want her whole and healthy. As for me? There's always the Odessa Option. Please expedite the operation. Advise if you need any more money. Thanks for everything, General. I never… well, thanks." He disconnected.

He'd never considered that once she was healthy that she wouldn't want to start a relationship. He'd been blind to the possibility and now, he didn't know what he'd do. It was all he'd thought of, all he'd slaved over, getting her healthy. Knowing that it was out of his hands, he could only trust in some higher power to make things right.

Unbeknownst to him, several higher powers were working in concert to achieve just that result – if you considered Casey, Carina and the little General as higher powers.

"Casey, secure."

"John, General Beckman. Congratulations to you and Carina. It's about time. Now, what is Agent Bartowski's 'Odessa Option'?"

"Oh, shit."

Sarah Walker was surprised when General Diane Beckman called her and wanted to meet with her that evening. She didn't go into detail, just that it was an important opportunity for her and the Agency.

Their meeting was brief. "Sarah, there is an experimental procedure that has been developed as a result of the horrific crush injuries of 9/11. I'd like to offer you the opportunity to participate in some clinical trials. If successful, you will be able to walk, pain-free. You might even be able to requalify for agent status in the NSA. Are you interested?"

Sarah would meet with the two researchers the following morning. Beckman ramped things up and shortened all the time periods. She wanted Walker on her feet and in position with weeks not months. She emailed Bartowski. There would be no Odessa Options in the future. Not if she could help it.

"Sarah Walker."

"Casey, Sarah. How are you?"

"Well, unless you've had a sex change operation, shouldn't you say 'Carina' or 'Hansen'?" She laughed.

"I got married. You boyfriend pushed us into it, thank God. We were dancing around, fighting, he threw me out on my ass, and then I pushed him a little too hard and I discovered that Chuck Bartowski is an evil son of a bitch. Thank God."

"OK, you got my attention. What did the Boy Wonder do that made you so damned angry?"

"He made me look at myself through his eyes. I was whoring on to him, offering him what I thought he needed and what I definitely needed with no strings and he basically called my bluff. If I didn't love him so much I could easily hate him."

"Confused here. Too many 'he's. Put proper names in place, please."

"I came on to Chuck and he scared the shit out of me. I thought he was going to rape me, honestly, but all he wanted me to do was admit I loved John Casey and would say 'yes' if he asked me again to marry him. It took him a little less than a minute to get me to admit it. Sarah, he was freaky scary."

"Chuck would never 'rape' anyone, Carina. That's just not him."

"I wasn't sure. I was close to peeing my pants but he'd already got them off me. Then when I finally admitted it, he went down to Casey's room and told him he had 30 seconds to ask me to marry him or he was going to screw my brains out or words to that effect. We got married 2 hours later. Plus we tore Fulcrum's leadership to shreds."

She was jealous, incredibly jealous. She'd been with Chuck and now she was married to Casey. "Well, congratulations. I hope you know what you're doing. Boy Wonder never…"

"Stop. Don't you dare demean him. He's not a boy. He is a wonder though."

"Fine. He's an agent now so I suppose that's working out all right for him. I see he's got a new girlfriend. His lawyer?"

"I called to tell you I got married, not to have you rag on Chuck. He's my partner until…well, until things change. Right now it looks like he's committed to another five years with the intersect."

"Wait, I thought he was retiring for medical reasons after the Bermuda episode. Why would he do that?"

"When he reloaded the intersect he made a deal with Beckman. He got what he wanted and she got what she needed. Well, she got what she needed. I think Chuck… never mind. Listen, I called you to ask you a question. Doesn't matter how you answer it as long as it's the truth. I'm never going to call you again, count on it."

"So ask your question, Hansen. I mean Casey. Wow, that's a mind-blower."

"Do you love Chuck Bartowski?"

"I don't want to talk about it. It's over and done with. I told you I have someone else in my life now. Let it go. That was years ago and I've changed."

"You sure have. Goodbye, Walker. Enjoy your new pain-free existence."

"Carina, wait…, Carina?" She was talking to dead air. What did she mean, 'pain-free existence? How could she know anything about what Beckman had offered?

She popped another Vicodin but they didn't seem to be working any longer.

Chuck picked up dinner and then drove to his apartment. He'd retained the old cleaning lady from his Venice condo so he knew the place was spotless. He'd pop dinner into the warmer, change and then prepare for Booth's lawyerly assaults.

Chuck thought about how much he was like the painter guy.

Once there was a man who dreamed of incredibly complex landscapes, beautiful portraits, and fantastic colors but when he awoke all he could draw was crudely disproportionate stick figures.

He needed to put down on canvas that his dreams created. It became an obsession with him. He enrolled in art school where he learned to mix paints, brush techniques, proportions and perspectives. Finally, he graduated.

But all he dreamed about now were stick figures - perfectly proportioned stick figures.

As he changed clothes he thought back over his conversation with Beckman. And then he rehashed his conversation in the rain with Sarah in Baltimore.

It hit him like a freight train and left him stunned for a moment.

Fine, she was lying about the boyfriend but what if she wasn't lying about her feelings for him?

She'd never actually told him she loved him.