A/N: Happy hump day (Wednesday)! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter. This chapter, again, is big in plot. Enjoy! I won't spoil anything right here, just read it. Let me know what y'all think.
There were far too many reviews to do personal shout outs. But my sincerest thanks go to everyone who reviews and sends me PMs. Your input, insights, and love of this story is what keeps me writing everyday. Thank you so much.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.
Previously on 'Chuck Versus The Road':
"Sarah?"
"Hmm?"
"Now that we're pretty certain, we need to talk about some things."
"Like what, Chuck?"
"Doctors, hospitals, midwifes, maternity wards…."
"Oh."
"Yeah…"
They both sat there with stupid grins on their faces. They understood the need to talk through some things, but they couldn't help but to be happier than ever. Both of them had been waiting for this for a long, long time.
"Well," Chuck began, "I guess we should talk."
"Okay," Sarah replied, her smile faltering a bit. Chuck noticed immediately.
"Hey, hey, hey," Chuck coaxed, his right palm on her cheek. "This is a happy talk, baby. There's nothing to be sad about."
"What are we going to do Chuck?" She said mildly in a panic. "You can't deliver a baby, and we're out here in the middle of nowhere and-"
He cut her off by putting his finger over her lips softly and shushing her. She quieted down and waited for him to speak.
"Sarah, after all the time you've known me, did you think I'd build this entire home and not think of that possibility?" He had a smile on his face now.
"Fair enough," she relented, returning his smile.
"Good."
"So, what's the master plan, Mr. Bartowski?"
"Well, Mrs. Bartowski, we have several options."
"Go on," she encouraged. She had moved towards Chuck, and he was now lying on his back with her chin on his chest, her big blue eyes staring up at him expectantly.
"Okay. Well, like I said, I thought that there was a pretty good chance this might happen while we're here. So, I fleshed out a few contingencies just in case. We have a few wildly different, but equally medically sound, options. The first is we go to Puerto Chacabuco. There's an American ex-pat doctor there. The medical clinic in town got an anonymous donation about a year ago and it is now one of the most modern in the entire region. The only problem is the exposure we'd get by going into town for appointments, the birth, et cetera. The second option is we use the Intersect, I gain as much knowledge as I possibly can about infant care, delivery methods, and everything else involved, and we do this on our own."
Sarah cringed a bit at the second option. Even thinking about doing this all on their own scared her. Chuck saw the fear momentarily flash in her eyes.
"Don't worry," he reassured. "That would be our last resort. And there is one more option."
"Which is?"
"We get Ellie and Devon down here."
"Chuck!" Sarah exclaimed, surprised. She hadn't seen that one coming.
He chuckled at the look on her face.
"Have faith, honey."
"Okay. How would we do that, exactly? We're still kind of…. wanted by the United States government."
"I know, I know. Before we ever left Burbank, I'd come up with separate plans for Ellie and Devon in case they ever had to run. I also planned for this, believe it or not. When I decided how remote our home was going to be, I knew there was a chance we'd need them so I made preparations…"
He left his last statement open-ended and it only took Sarah a few seconds to put the dots together.
"You built them their own house on one of our islands," she stated.
He nodded slowly, unsure of her reaction.
"Chuck, that was incredibly smart," she said, adoration and pride in her voice.
"Thanks. When we were kayaking a couple weeks ago I was praying we didn't stumble on it. You were steering, after all."
"What if we had?"
"I would've been forced to tell you. No big deal. I was always going to, it was just a matter of when."
"Good answer."
They both laughed, and Chuck was happy she understood his thought process.
"So yeah, I built them a home, and on the same island I bui-"
"You built a medical center, didn't you," she interrupted.
"Yeah," he affirmed, his voice a little shaky, unsure again. "It's got a fully operational OR, three separate fully furnished hospital rooms, and just about any medicine or machine a doctor could think of or want."
"Chuck," she breathed, disbelief showing on her face. "You did all that for us?" She motioned to her belly.
"Of course, baby. I'd do anything to keep you safe," he said, his hand coming to rest on top of hers on her stomach. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling in the dawn light. She leaned up, lips puckered. He saw and met her, their lips dancing in their age old battle.
"So how would we get Ellie and Devon down here? They have lives in Chicago, and they have Clara," Sarah asked, curious.
"Well, it's a pretty intricate plan, and it would cost a good deal of money, but I'm positive I could get them here without anyone knowing where they went."
"Explain," she demanded, now very curious.
"Okay, well, I figured if we ever needed them to come down, they'd have to have a good alibi. Doctors Without Borders. I have it arranged so that it would look like they were in southeast Asia working for DWB. There would even be locals and doctors who would attest to their presence, even Clara's. That way, if they want to go back to the States, they can. It would look like they either got sick of DWB, or they finished their tour of duty."
"And I'm guessing you have a detailed plan that flies them all over the place, and they finally make it down here."
"Exactly," he grinned. "Nobody would ever know any different. Their island isn't that far in reality, it's only about fifteen minutes by boat that way," he explained, pointing towards the rear of the house.
"I only foresee one problem with your plan, Chuck," Sarah told him.
"Convincing them to drop everything and come down here without telling them where we are, and talking them into staying for that long?"
"Exactly," she repeated.
"Well, I've given that a little thought. Now that they have over half a billion dollars, I'm pretty sure we can convince them to take a little vacation. And if we tell her you're pregnant, I think we would have to stop her from just getting on the first plane to anywhere. We need them to follow our plan exactly," Chuck said confidently.
"How do we get ahold of them, Chuck? She's not supposed to check the secure e-mail again, is she?" Sarah was concerned they'd have a hard time contacting them, considering their current circumstance.
"Who do you think you're talking to? I can get them on a secure video chat in ten minutes if we wanted to," Chuck bragged with a grin. Sarah nodded, knowing he was right. He was 'The Piranha' after all.
"Sorry," Sarah shrugged. "So, what do you think we should do?"
"It's not up to just me. We need to decide this together."
"Obviously, Chuck," Sarah laughed. "That's why I asked you. So we could discuss it and come to a conclusion," she said with a smile.
"Oh," Chuck quickly said.
"Well, what is your opinion?" Sarah asked again.
"I think we should try to get Ellie and Devon to come here," he said, slowly stroking her cheek.
"I agree. We'll keep the doctor as a backup and the Intersect as our failsafe. Sound good?" They had momentarily emotionally detached themselves from the situation in order to properly analyze their options and come to a rational decision. "But, how long would it take to get them here?"
"If the plan works like it's designed, three days."
"Three days! Why couldn't we get here in three days?"
"Because we couldn't walk into an airport with our real passports and buy a ticket to Santiago, now could we?" Chuck half joked.
"Fair enough," Sarah mock pouted, a grin eventually seeping through.
She leaned up and gave him a long kiss on the lips before hopping out of bed and pulling one of Chuck's t-shirts over her body. Chuck frowned when she covered her body up, and she smiled at his reaction.
"Where are you going?" He asked. "I thought you wanted to stay in bed all day….," he said, honestly disappointed.
"Don't worry, we can come right back. I want to go talk to Elli and Devon. You said you could get them into a video chat in a few minutes, right?"
Now Chuck was forced to prove he was right. He didn't really want to get out of bed, but Sarah was already up, so his main reason for staying put was gone. He reluctantly lumbered out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and a pair of mesh shorts. They made their way up to the office on the third floor, and, once again, Sarah plopped down in Chuck's lap as he sat at his desk.
He booted up his iMac and opened his secure web server. He broke into coding, taking a few minutes to write the proper instructions. Sarah watched with fascination as Chuck hacked completely from memory, not once taking his eyes off of the 0s and 1s. Soon, he had somehow isolated Ellie's laptop's IP address and was working his way past a few firewalls, or so he told her. When he was sure they were secure, he commandeered her screen.
Chicago, IL. Ellie and Devon's dining room.
Ellie was sitting at the table, surfing the internet, not looking for anything in particular. Ever since Chuck had told her about their newfound wealth, she and Devon had cut back their hours, spending more and more time at home with Clara. Morgan and Alex had gone back to LA, Casey making sure they were safe.
Devon was in the den, doing some kind of ridiculous workout. Ellie sighed as she read up on tropical vacations and wished they weren't stuck in the suburbia of the midwest.
Suddenly, her screen went completely black, and all that was on it was a blinking cursor.
Then, words began appearing in green text.
Are you alone, Ellie?
She tried to type, but nothing happened. She frowned at the screen.
Speak. We can hear you.
"Yes, I'm alone. My husband, Devon, is in the next room over. Who are you?" She asked, curious. She'd learned after all the secrets her family had kept to expect the unexpected.
Please summon your husband. We need to speak to both of you.
"Fine," she huffed. "Devon! Come in here, honey," she called.
Devon came in, a sheen of sweat covering his body, and sat down next to Ellie, pulling his chair close.
"What's up, babe?"
"I don't know. My computer screen went blank and then someone started writing to me, asking me to get you so they could talk to us," she explained, pointing to the screen that still held the last message to get Devon.
Devon's eyes went wide, and he sat in silence.
"Okay, my husband's here," Ellie said. "Now will you tell us what you want? Does this have to do with my brother and my sister?"
Yes. This has everything to do with Charles and Sarah Bartowski.
"Well, you better keep looking, because I have no idea where they are. And I'd never tell you if I did. They're my family," Ellie said almost angrily.
Good. You are very loyal, Ellie, and we will now reward your loyalty. We are certain there is no surveillance in your residence, so we will be able to speak freely.
The screen pixellated, going from black to blurry and then finally back to Ellie's desktop. Then, a window popped up, requesting a "secure video conference". Ellie had never seen the program before, but figured it had something to do with everything, so she clicked "Accept".
A large window appeared, and in a small box in the right lower hand side Ellie and Devon could see themselves reflected. The rest of the box was still black.
Then, suddenly, Ellie and Devon were looking at a crystal clear picture of Chuck and Sarah. Sarah was sitting in Chuck's lap, and both of them had huge smiles on their faces.
Ellie and Devon's jaws dropped, and both of them were speechless, something Chuck and Sarah had previously thought impossible.
"Hi, sis," Chuck offered.
"CHARLES IRVING BARTOWSKI!" Ellie yelled. "How could you do that? I thought you were someone trying to track you down."
"No, its just us, El," Chuck said.
"What's up bro?" Devon asked.
"Nothing much, Awesome," Chuck replied. "Sarah and I needed to talk to you two about some things."
"Like what?" Ellie queried.
"How's the hospital?" Sarah answered with another question.
"It's okay, I guess," Ellie said. "Ever since your last contact we haven't worked much. We prefer to spend time with Clara at home. And, it's the middle of winter, so it's quite cold out."
"Well, how would you like to go someplace warmer?" Chuck suggested.
"Like where?" Devon asked.
"How about you guys take Clara and come here?" Chuck said.
"You mean, with you and Sarah?" Ellie asked excitedly.
"Yeah," Chuck replied. "I have a plan to get you here without anyone else knowing. To the rest of the world, the Woodcomb family would be working for Doctors Without Borders in southeast Asia."
"Wow," Devon said, impressed.
"How long could we stay for if we came?" Ellie wanted to know.
"Well, that depends," Chuck told her. "Theoretically you could stay as long as you wanted, but if you wanted to go back, Sarah and I would need you to stay at least through September, probably October too."
"That's almost ten months," Ellie did the math. "Wait….you 'need' us to stay for almost ten months….Chuck…..Sarah…SARAH!" Evidently, Ellie had figured out the big secret.
"What is it babe?" Devon was confused.
"Devon! Sarah's pregnant!" Ellie pointed to Sarah as if that would explain everything.
"Yes, I am," Sarah piped in. "I took a home pregnancy test this morning and it came up positive. We haven't gotten a doctor's confirmation yet. We wanted to figure out who our doctors were going to be first," she said with a huge smile.
"Listen, Ellie, Devon," Chuck said. "This is a big thing we're asking of you. Sarah and I are technically still federal fugitives. But, if you want, we would absolutely love for you to come and be with us. Take some time and talk about it. We'll have another conference tonight at six o'clock Chicago time."
Ellie and Devon whispered for a few seconds, low enough for Chuck and Sarah to not make out what they were saying.
"No need," Ellie said, turning back to the computer. "Put your plan into action, Chuck. We're coming to you."
Ojos Azules. Chuck and Sarah's bedroom.
Sarah had kept her word, and as soon as they were done in the office, she dragged Chuck back to bed. They celebrated their news in their own very special way. Sarah swore up and down it was the most intense lovemaking they had engaged in in quite a while. It probably had something to do with the hormones, Chuck told her.
They were laying in bed, naked, after their third round. It was nearing midday. They were in the spoon position, Sarah backed up into Chuck, his right arm wrapped around her stomach protectively. She smiled at how fatherly Chuck was already acting. What else did she expect, she thought to herself.
"Chuck? Are you awake baby?" She asked after they had been silent for a while.
"Yeah," he answered softly. "What is it honey? Do you need anything? Do you feel sick? Are you hurt?"
"Calm down, sweetie. I'm fine. Everything's fine," she reassured, turning in his arms to face him. "I was wondering, what do we have to do from here for the plan to bring Ellie and Devon down?"
"I already did everything we needed to do from here before we left the office. Don't you remember those few e-mails I sent?" He asked.
"Um…yeah," she replied.
"Those had hidden protocols in them, activating the plan. The people involved have no idea what they're doing, they just know they're being paid to do something they think is insignificant, but when all of it is put together, it gets Ellie and Devon here. Trust me, Sarah."
"Always, Chuck," she told him quickly.
"How do you feel about this? I know this was supposed to be you and me, but-"
"Stop right there," Sarah interrupted. "I can not wait for them to get here. I love being here with you, Chuck, I really do. But it will be so much fun to have them around. And besides, they don't have to stay at our house right?" Chuck shook his head. "So we can still….you know, whenever we want," she said, doing her own version of the Bartowski eyebrow dance.
"Would it stop us even if they were staying here?"
"Probably not," she shrugged.
"I love you," Chuck whispered before he kissed her.
"I love you," she answered after the kiss broke.
