The WHO ARE YOU Compilation Chapter 25: Entry TwentyThree, a chuck fanfic

Entry Twenty-Three

John Casey sat opposite a new, large, black plasma screen, next to a picture of Ronald Regan, and a several newspaper articles about his current President, Barack Obama, all from different locations. It was good, he reflected, to keep up with news from different places. It gave an individual a more rounded opinion of things going on in the world. It let a country know your friends, and your foes.

To be a good spy, you must be totally aware. At this moment, Casey should feel totally aware. He was sitting in his security level 1 apartment, amongst apartments that contained the most important intelligence assets and agents in at least the United States, if not the world. He was watching security feeds of said apartments. He had a gun beneath his shirt, and a rifle in a concealed compartment underneath the table he was sitting next to.

But something felt wrong. Something felt seriously wrong. He couldn't place it, and by watching the feeds on the screens next to him, his worries were nothing more than that exactly. But still.....

Ellie wasn't really sure where Chuck had gone. Devon had nearly fallen over the couch to ask her, and when she'd said that she didn't know, he'd run out of the front door and hadn't come back yet. He did that sometimes. Not so much before they had gotten married, but Devon had done a few weird things since they'd been married.

Small things, and they didn't change how she felt about him, but they were just… weird. Things like insisting that they go to different restaurants after having spoken with John. Or asking her to do the shopping with John, or coming home from work and going over to hang out with John. In fact, John Casey had become much more a part of their lives after they'd gotten married.

Ellie didn't mind, she loved Devon, and in a way she loved John. He was sweet and quiet, and occasionally paranoid. She was convinced he had a child somewhere.

They had moved out for a while, her and Devon, but it just didn't work out, and after Chuck had moved upstairs to another one of the apartments with Morgan (the thought of those few months still gave her the chills), and eventually, Sarah, there was no reason why they couldn't take back their old apartment.

Being married to Devon was all she had ever wanted and so much more. Now that they had moved back, he'd seemed to have forged a real friendship with John, and grown closer with Chuck. They made an odd trio, and Ellie was sure she had seen Sarah with them a few times, which just made an even weirder quartet. She shook her head of the thoughts and turned her attention back to her magazine.

Sarah loved to work out. To build up a sweat and clear out her system was something she enjoyed more than the average exercise-freak. Though missions promised adrenaline rushes and injuries that would make the Weak's blood run cold, a good, hot sweat was something that missions lacked.

The castle had been completely transformed after Intersect 2.0 had wound its way up inside of Chuck's head. Though she was unhappy with the cause, the new gym that had been built beneath the 'In'n'Wait', (her 'new employer'), was not a reason to complain.

It was a large space, lined with metallic doors and walls and filled with an assortment of punching bags, pull up bars, a treadmill fitted with monitoring equipment for Chuck, and mats that were pulled out for 'kung fu' practise (as her oh-so-eloquent boyfriend had dubbed it).

In reality, it was a training facility for the new Human Intersect 2.0. In her mind, it was her space. A room designed and fitted with only her specific needs in mind, apart from the lack of knives and a Chuck. She used it whenever she had the chance. With Chuck now in even more danger, it was more important than ever to keep her fitness levels up, her fighting skills fresh, and teach Chuck what she could of martial arts.

Sharp left. Right jab. Right kick. Centre shot.

Her punches hadn't changed. She still hit, the bag still swung. But there was something not quite right about the positioning of the bag. The colour of the bag. The size of the bag. The height of the damned bag was completely wrong. Everything was wrong.

She dropped her hands and sighed. She walked away from the punch-bag and picked up 2 black duffel bags. She turned around to face her beloved space, the treadmill that let her and her body avoid the leering gazes of too many men as she did her daily exercise.

The punch bag had never felt right. Though now well beaten and with a sufficient number of holes to be passed as experienced, it was still new. It still felt like a foreign object. As she looked around the gym, she realised that though some days it felt like her personal haven, it just wasn't right.

She missed Chuck. She hadn't seen him since this morning, and her left hand had been cold since they had parted ways and he'd slipped his hand from hers. As she exited the small gym she switched off the lights and entered the code to lock it for the night.

She slung both bags over her shoulders and headed up the stairs towards her new love. She scanned her iris, exited from the backroom, walked around the counters and left the shop. She smiled as she spotted her most recent object of affection, who seemed equally as happy to see her, glistening in the last remnants of the sunlight.

Opening the small boot of her new, black Audi R8, she smiled as she reflected upon how lucky she was to get a fat pay check at the end of each month. She deposited the duffel bags, and took up her position of joy inside her baby; the drivers seat. She checked it was in neutral, before switching into first and taking off into the sunset.

Chuck was a man of honour. Devon knew that after having lived with him for 5 years. He was caring, and sweet, and Devon would have no problems with him… if he wasn't so frigging good at everything.

'Chuck… give a bro a chance!' Devon protested as Chuck scored yet another strike. Chuck flashed him a smile and a shrug.

'I guess this is just another one of my unknown talents' he joked. Devon laughed and marked the strike on their scorecard.

Ever since him and Ellie had moved back into their old apartment, Devon had been integrated into Chuck's world. He wasn't allowed to know about missions, and he didn't ask, but he was, as one General Beckman had put it, 'a vital part of the Agent Carmichael's training regime', should he so choose to be involved.

He hadn't said no, he was a patriotic man and he loved Chuck as a brother-in-law, but even so… it didn't really feel as though he was being offered a choice in the matter. Chuck had dubbed it 'coercive persuasion', and though he'd never like to admit that his government might not be all it was cracked up to be, he privately agreed with Chuck.

'No offence Devon, but I think this is the most enjoyable training exercise so far' Chuck's eyes sparkled with excitement as he handed over the bowling ball to Devon.

Devon laughed as he took the offered ball and tried yet again to beat Chuck's score… with no luck. 6 pins fell over, with 3 left on one side and 1 on the other. The words 'SPLIT' were formed on the overhead screen.

'Tough luck, Devon' Chuck patted Devon on the back, 'I guess you just don't have my skillz' he broke into what was clearly not a smooth dance move. Devon let out a loud laugh, and then joined the nerd in what could only be described as brotherly display of love.

Devon didn't live near to his fraternity brothers anymore, and he had left home a long time ago. Ellie was his family now. Ellie and Chuck had been his family for 5 years when a new member had joined them; Sarah. He tried not to think about the blond spy's relationship with Chuck, because it made his head hurt, but he knew that they were in love, and that was all that mattered to him.

Things had undoubtedly become a little complicated on the night of their rehearsal dinner following his investigations into a certain John Casey, but the man was always around. Though at first the thought of spending more time with the man who had tried to kill him had been daunting, he began to understand the man, and trust him with the very thing John had tried to take; his life. Not just his life, but frequently Ellie's too, after he realised the kind of danger that the Bartowski family faced.

John took well to his insisted accompaniment of Ellie on shopping trips, and she seemed to enjoy the company.

Chuck had become more of a man than Devon had ever thought possible. He had been a decent man before he learned of his secret, but now he had turned into some kind of superhuman. He had no idea what went on on those missions, but if Chuck was some kind of debonair James-Bond super spy, then he sure was good at hiding it.

All he knew was, some nights there was a light on in the apartment above his, and other nights he couldn't hear or see anything, from Chuck, Sarah, or John across the courtyard. He didn't get told, and he didn't ask. Truth be told, he didn't think he'd want to know what happened when they weren't home those nights.

As he watched Chuck celebrate his latest strike he shook his head of these thoughts. All this government business was too complicated to think through.

Chuck hadn't been bowling since he was 8. Fact.

Chuck liked going out with Devon. Fact.

Chuck loved Sarah more than anyone in the world. Fact.

Chuck wanted to be a spy. Fact.

Chuck was handling the new Intersect 2.0 well. Error.

Chuck loved Sarah more than anyone in the world. Fact.

Chuck wanted to be a spy. Fact.

Chuck was handling the new Intersect 2.0 well. Error. It was the last line that was causing problems for Chuck, because truth be told, the new intersect was causing more problems for Chuck than anyone but Sarah knew.

The new flashes hurt. They hurt on impact, they hurt during the action, and they hurt him after they occurred.

Bryce was right, he wasn't made out for this kind of work. And that was fine with Chuck, he hadn't needed to put himself into this kind of work.

Until that email.

Until the second attempt at the intersect had failed.

Until his sister's wedding day.

With each momentous day, he was coerced a little more into his alternate life.

Chuck didn't like to have regrets, because they messed with his mind, and he became unable to live with the present. So Chuck didn't make mistakes. He made the wrong decisions sometimes, sure, but they weren't mistakes. They were a chance for him to learn; an invaluable part of life.

But if he had to choose the time he'd gotten closest to making a serious mistake… it had been his decision to download the Intersect 2.0. Sure, Casey helped him through it. Devon put in all he had to make him adjust to the change too, though Devon himself was mostly clueless as to what brought on all of his sudden injuries. And Sarah… well, Sarah was no longer the unresponsive Sarah that so often occupied the blonde spy's shoes.

To be clear, Team Bartowski, was no longer Team Bartowski. Sure, they were still the same on the outside, but a lot had changed over the past 9 months. Thinking about it now, Chuck supposed that it must have all happened when Sarah had moved in with Chuck, the first night to be precise…

Umm… so the bathroom's just down there on the left… and this is the kitchen…' Chuck pushed his hands in the pockets of his jeans awkwardly, 'The bedro - '

'Uh, Chuck?' Sarah said softly, ' I know where everything is, I had summer surveillance, remember?'

'Oh yeah… well then I guess you know about the bed situation… so I can just take the sofa… ?' Chuck gazed uncomfortably at the sofa, not seeing the CIA agent dropping her bags and beginning a slow walk towards him. 'I guess maybe we should have taken the apartment that the CIA offered because- WOAH!'

'Sarah?' The woman in question was tugging Chuck down the hallway, 'Where… are we going?' They reached the bedroom and Sarah stood Chuck in front of the bed.

'Chuck?' Her tone was clear cut, and when he responded with a confused look she continued, 'How many of us are there?' She gestured between them.

'Two?' Chuck guessed.

'Right. How many places are there on the bed?'

'… two…'

'Right. Then we don't have a problem' She smiled brightly at him and walked back towards her 's leaning up on one elbow next to Chuck, hair falling around her face and a look that seemed to combine curiosity, love and lust in her eyes. The light was dim, and moonlight seeped through the blinds. Her hand was warm as it reached underneath the covers and over Chuck's shoulder, creeping up past his collarbone to the curls behind his head.

'Happy birthday Chuck', she whispers, and it's so dark, and she's so close and she's only coming closer to him and he thinks that if she comes any closer he'll just die over from the intensity of the moment. But she does come closer, and he doesn't die. Chuck can feel her warm breath on his face, feel her legs curling around his as she inches ever closer. He watches her closely as she reaches him, finally closing his eyes as her body's leaned over him so close now that their torsos and lips finally touch -

It's thanksgiving again, and he 'fell of a ladder screwing in a light bulb'. Ellie's practically a crowd as her hands manage to reach every part of his head at once, trying desperately to help him.

He's swatting away her hands with cries of 'I'm ok'. He sends a look 'Get me out of here!' over to Devon, who manages to pry his wife off his brother in law by mentioning that he might have smelled something burning, and, 'could it be the turkey?'

Sarah's standing in the corner, concern etched across her features. She's holding a glass of wine, but clearly hasn't touched it. He smiles sheepishly at her, and she bites the inside of her lip, but puts on a smile for the rest of the evening. It is thanksgiving, after all.'CHUCK!' The anguished cry emits from her lungs and it pierces the air but unfortunately not the tyres of the van that Chuck's body has been dragged off in. He was fiercely fighting a gang of Ring members one moment, and the next his shoulder had been thrown back harshly, as though shot.

He doesn't remember much apart from more physical pain than he thinks he's ever felt, and then blonde hair around his face and teardrops on his face. An ambulance.

Later on there's Sarah clutching at him tightly in her sleep. He promises himself not to hurt her anymore, but –

It's the first time she's shouted at the General, really shouted and argued. It earns her 2 weeks suspension and a severe warning that if she values her job, there won't be another misunderstanding. But Sarah's upset, because Chuck's hurt again, and it's more than beginning to affect her.Because Chuck wasn't handling the Intersect 2.0 well. Sometimes he couldn't differentiate between who was on Team Bartowski and who was a Ring agent. Sometimes, he couldn't contain his emotions, and when he became too emotional he couldn't control his actions, and people got hurt. Namely, Sarah got hurt.

When he turns to Devon, who's taken advantage of Chuck's reminiscing to practice more of his bowling skills, and says that he's just about ready to finish up here, if he is, the older man agrees. An evening with Ellie is what he could do with, to deal with the pain of losing multiple times to Chuck.

'Alright, Chuck. You win', Devon laughs and holds up a hand for a high 5, 'good game, dude. That was awesome', he says as Chuck complies to his request and smacks his hand against Devon's.

'Yeah, thanks Devon, you were right… I did need that', he smiles, '...I think Sarah said she's ok to pick me up from here so if you wanted to shoot off home…'

'Cool, thanks bro, and fantastic game tonight', he's picking up his things, 'shall we say… re match next week?' They reach the exit to the underground car park.

'Sure, next week sounds super' Chuck replies. Devon points at him, and with a final wave, exits towards his car.

As he waits for Sarah in the car park, he's pulled back into his thoughts.

'Control yourself, Agent Walker' The General barked, a cold glare on her face, 'We were told you were a good agent, not a useless, emotional wreck' She spat out the words without a hint of emotion on her face. Sarah's face is beginning to crumple, her confidence with the General will only last so far, especially in front of Casey and Chuck.

'HEY!' Chuck's on his feet shouting too now, his face contorted with a deep expression of loathing and rage, 'DON'T YOU CALL HER USE - ' and then his body's spasming as a flash shakes him to the core.

'Chuck!' Sarah shouts, disregarding the General's questions of what's going on, she rushes to his side and tries to hold him still, but it looks like he's having a fit, and she can't stop the spasms that pulsate through his veins, throwing his body around. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but then neither she nor Casey has ever seen him like this before.

And then he's lashing out -He'll never forgive himself for the bruises he gave her that day, and he's vowed to keep his temper under control, renewed the promise to never hurt her again.

He's brought out of his memories by a honk and the flash of artificial lights off of a stunning black beauty, with an even more stunning beauty sitting inside. She sends him a smile that almost makes him think that he should pad himself up whenever he sees Sarah, because surely, one day his knees will give in and then he'll be glad of the external protection.

She lowers her window and asks with a smile that promises more, 'Ready to go, Mr. Bartowski?'

He leans through the window inside the car and the scent of her shampoo immediately hits him. It's sweet, but not sickly so, a soft fragrance that he wishes he could name; she must have been working out beforehand. He captures her lips and she giggles because his nose is cold from standing in the cold car park. Her lips are warm against his cold ones, which only makes him lean closer. That, and she's lifted a hand from the steering wheel to pull him closer with a hand around his neck.

He must have forgotten to breathe, because he's panting now, though he's sure it's not been more than 10 seconds.

'Mmmm…. Get in here' she growls. He jogs around the front of the car, and when he's inside the wonderfully warm car that just smells like his favourite person in the world, she asks him, 'Did you have a good game?'

'Yeah', he tells her, and then he pauses, 'I knew I'd feel like this for Ellie but…. I'm really going to miss Devon'

She looks over at him as she exits the car park and pulls a hand from the wheel to hold his. 'I know.' She whispers.

Ellie wasn't really sure where Chuck's gone, and neither is Devon, or Casey. In fact, no one seems to know where Chuck and his girlfriend have gone, but every month there's a postcard. It's always the same message.

---- not

It's ^ complicated. (Anymore).

The Pioneers