Published August 10, 2020
A/N: Before the year ends, it's time to wrap up some loose threads.
Evening of December 31, 2008
Chuck's sound-system setup was working well for the New Year's party in the apartment courtyard. ("Get the Party Started" by Pink played.) The playlist was better than what could have happened. The other day at work, Jeff and Lester heard him on the phone with Ellie talking about picking up party supplies. They jumped on the opportunity to debut their cover band—Lesrey or Jeffster or something. Having the two of them around a supply of alcohol and his home was a terrifying thought, so he lied and told them a New Year's party would be dry. Jeff set he'd BYOB it, but Chuck said there were zoning issues. That wasn't true either, but fortunately they bought it.
The courtyard was filled with about twenty people, all in good spirits. Chuck wasn't "friends" with any of them, but he recognized a few from prior parties. The neighbors never came. He wondered if they were going to start losing neighbors or if they simply went somewhere else to avoid the noise.
Sarah wasn't up for mingling; she said it seemed too much like work. Personally, he didn't see what was so in common between socializing at an embassy party with a bunch of diplomats and bringing in the New Year with a bunch of twenty-somethings. One had the public face of arms dealers and terrorists, and the other had people who were harmless. Sarah did say earlier that she was disappointed that so many people would be right outside her bedroom so she and Chuck wouldn't have privacy to celebrate together until everyone left. He did agree that privacy would be good.
The two of them grabbed a couple courtyard chairs and set them in the corner, in front of the Morgan Door. He waited for her to sit first. Instead, she stood looking at them and frowned.
"What is it?"
Sarah didn't answer right away. Then she motioned for him to take the one on the left. That's what he figured anyway, because that was his side of the bed. When he sat, he patted the seat of the other chair. She didn't claim that one, though. She pushed him back, sat sideways across his lap, and put her arms loosely around his neck.
"That's better," she said, giving him a short, but soft kiss on the lips. On one hand, it was a little silly, with an open chair right next to them. On the other hand, Sarah had long ago admitted to him that when they watched a movie with Devon and Ellie, Sarah preferred sharing a single chair with Chuck over sitting next to him on the sofa. She didn't care that they were two tall people and could use more room. She liked being smashed into him. It made her feel like she was protecting by keeping him in one place. The fact that she was all over him was a happy coincidence.
The music changed to "Until The End of Time" by Foreigner. Chuck wondered how long it was until midnight. The ball had long ago dropped in New York, but they should have some time. He looked at his watch and saw Sarah had done it again. When she was distracting him with a kiss, she had swapped their watches. Over the past week, his dad only had time to make one Governor. Chuck and Ellie agreed that Sarah should have the first one. Their dad even came around to their thinking, so he made it part of Sarah's watch. Sarah didn't agree with that decision. She argued Chuck had one more download than her, and it was her job to protect him. The votes of the neurologist and the designer of the Governor carried more weight. Most of the time, she stopped arguing, but then Chuck would discover she had reversed their watches when he was not looking. A kiss normally worked as a distraction. He didn't mind it working and didn't mind her trying again and again when he put it back.
Chuck tsked and returned it to her wrist. Since she had his, he put that back on his wrist, too. He discovered early that she didn't mind him catching her very much, because she'd just try again. However, she genuinely really didn't like him going with no watch, which would leave him without an SOS button and a tracker. "This will be easier when Dad finishes the second one."
"I suppose I'll have to find another reason to kiss you," Sarah teased, kissing Chuck again. Afterwards, he checked his wrist. That time, she hadn't tried something. He smiled at the thought of the next attempt.
"Dad said it'll be a couple days. I don't know why he'd take that long…" Sarah had a Cheshire smile and said. "You know something, don't you? What?"
She relented. "He has a cabin he was using as Orion."
"So?"
"It's secluded. He hasn't celebrated a New Year with his wife in a while…"
"So the other Governor and Hartley have to wait?"
"They have to wait while your parents have sex."
"I was going to say play cards, like cribbage or double solitaire."
"That's what they used to call it, huh?" Sarah wiggled her eyebrows. She was getting good at the Bartowski eyebrow dance, a skill she had been practicing because she wanted to have it down before actually becoming a Bartowski. Her timing needed some work. It shouldn't be used when talking about Bartowski parents doing things he didn't want to think about.
They didn't know what was going to happen with Hartley/Volkoff. Chuck's dad was confident that he could remove the Intersect from his friend's head. He even had a prototype removal device in the basement of their old home in Encino. The CIA was going to love getting their hands on the treasure trove of information in the Orion Cave.
Ellie provided some advice on Hartley. As a doctor, she was optimistic because memory has a lot of redundancy, but she cautioned that it wasn't as simple as restoring a computer backup. They didn't know if he would become Harley, remembering what he did as Volkoff, or whether he would forget almost thirty years. Remembering his time as Volkoff would give Harley incredible guilt. Forgetting Volkoff was a problem on two fronts.
First, Chuck's mom mentioned a network that Volkoff used to control operatives and arms deals around the world, called Hydra. The CIA had been leery of her upon her return. To Beckman, it helped that she brought Orion back into the fold and that her desire to protect the two Intersects was clear. (The fact Orion was a third Intersect was kept a family secret.) The CIA wanted her to go after various parts of Hydra. That would be easier for her because of her high position in Volkoff's organization, but it would help if she could get Harley to share Volkoff's knowledge.
The second complication was as Volkoff, Harley fathered a daughter, Vivian McArthur. They wouldn't want him to live with the guilt of mass murder when it was an artificial personality, but he shouldn't forget a daughter.
Those were problems to deal with after the holiday. For now, Chuck would just sit at the edge of the party, listen to good music (from a playlist he had compiled), and enjoy having the most beautiful woman in the world on his lap.
He said, "It's a good thing this chair can support both of our weights."
"Are you calling me fat?"
"No, of course not. And everyone knows muscle weighs more than fat." Sarah's glare intensified. He was almost certain it was teasing. Of course she wasn't fat. She had to be messing with him. "All I'm saying is we are both tall people, and I'm glad this chair can support me and the other tall person with me because I really like having her in my arms." Sarah's look melted into one of her "I love you" smiles, and she gave him a solid kiss.
"Lights" by Journey played. Chuck hoped Journey was good for any party, even when there wasn't a dance floor. Everyone at the party, up until that point, was a friend of Ellie and Devon, but two people that they knew arrived, holding hands. They were greeted by the host and hostess who were in their element. The new arrivals spotted where Chuck and Sarah were in the corner and waived before coming over.
Chuck's bearded friend said, "See, Alex. That makes four people you know here. I don't know anyone else here either, but this is the place to be. They're even guarding my personal entrance."
"Hi, Alex," Sarah said. "Morgan, you know that the Morgan door is normally locked, now." She motioned to the window behind her.
"I know. Now I know it's because of your super-secret job."
"Security is not the only reason why. The curtains are also usually drawn because Chuck and I might be having sex." That was true, but it didn't keep Chuck from starting to turn red. He could tell Alex was not altogether comfortable with the way this conversation was going, either. Morgan just rocked his head side to side, acknowledging that was a good reason.
At least to Chuck, it looked like Alex and Morgan were really into each other. Good for him, he thought. Although, 'whatever' he had with Carina was probably safer than a relationship with Casey's daughter. (Anna, on the other hand, was a freaky psycho.) He didn't think they were aware of the information that he and Sarah flashed on a week ago, yet. He decided to stay clear of the topic. "Glad you both made it."
Alex leaned towards them and asked in a whisper, "It's good to see a couple faces I already know. Are all of these people spies?"
Chuck answered right away, "Of course, not." Sarah didn't like it when someone called him a "spy," and she made sure people knew he was an "analyst" not an "agent." He was fairly certain it was because "spy" normally meant "agent," and she was always happier when he was safely out of the field. Technically, hacking into computer networks was 'spying,' but he wasn't going to argue with her about that. "This one," he squeezed his hold on the love of his life in his lap, "is the only one of those here. There's another one, who you met, in his apartment across the courtyard. I do computer work for our team.
Alex nodded so she seemed to understand that most of the people were civilians, meaning it wasn't a party of spooks. Chuck thought that they really should give Alex and Morgan more information in the next few days. Alex had to talk to Casey, first, but after that, they should clear up a little of the mystique because it wouldn't do any good for her to think the Burbank Buy More was full of spies. Morgan would just make the wrong assumptions, like he had with Sarah's "superpowers." If they told him just enough truth, he'd understand the importance of protecting the secret and wouldn't spout crazy theories or surmise the wrong thing.
Sarah had a different take. "But they're the enemy."
That assertion concerned Alex, Morgan, and even Chuck. No one was close enough to hear what they were talking about, but you don't just go around saying things like that. When an assassin was talking, there was a non-zero possibility that someone could end up dead. Chuck asked her, "What do you mean? These people are Devon's frat buddies and people my sister and Devon work with at the hospital."
"Different kind of enemy."
"What do you mean? You've met them before. Casey even ran background checks on virtually all of them after last year's Halloween party."
"When I met them back then, we were all in costume, and I didn't know the threat. When you first met them, it was before I met you." Chuck gulped. "Ellie told me about all of the single women she brought to see you at your birthday party the day before I knew you."
"Nothing happened. I didn't set up a date or even try to get a phone number."
"Because you talked about Jill. Ellie told me." Chuck gulped again. This wasn't going well.
That birthday party was a social disaster from his five years of self-pity, only to be capped off with an Intersect email that made him pass out on the floor. If Chuck wasn't careful, this New Year's party might also end with another injury. That party was so long ago and such a complete flop from that part of his life, Chuck had practically forgotten about meeting anyone there. Morgan was there, though. The two of them had tried to escape out the very window they sat in front of.
Morgan picked up on Alex's lack of background and explained. "You know when on the way here I told you that story you thought was funny and probably thought I made up about that fantastic rescue? I know you thought I was telling you a comic book story idea to impress you about me becoming the next Stan Lee, but it actually happened." Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "I was the hostage. Sarah was the superhero who rescued me. The supervillain that she eliminated was Chuck's evil-ex from six years ago, Jill. That's the same Jill that Sarah was just talking about. All of these people here tonight don't know her, so we're safe."
Chuck didn't want her too concerned. It was bad enough that her first time around them had led to a pineapple and an evacuation to a secret base. She didn't know about Casey being her father, yet, so she was sticking around because of Morgan. No need to undermine that. He said, "You have nothing to worry about, Alex. These women don't have anything to worry about either, as long as I keep holding Sarah." Chuck tightened his arms around the person perched on his lap.
That reassurance seemed to work for Alex. She looked around and had a new question. "How are Emma and Molly? I see they aren't here, which makes sense because this party is set up for either of their ages."
Sarah innocently said, "Who?"
"The two people I met last week. Sarah, I thought they were related to you."
"I don't know who that could be."
Morgan tried to back his date. "When the older woman originally asked for Chuck—"
Chuck cut him off. "You must be confused." He quietly said, "There were only nine of us there last week. That's what official government reports say, and that's what video evidence shows. Sarah's an only child and hasn't seen her mom in almost twenty years. Got it?" He stared at his friend trying to send some understanding.
"Oh, right. I understand." Morgan nodded his head dramatically as he spoke. "Alex, we only met Chuck's parents and the people here tonight."
Alex caught the clue. "I was mistaken. This is a parent-free party."
Chuck started coughing. There was one parent there, though he wasn't actually with the rest of the party. They needed to change the subject. Morgan didn't have a car, so he and Alex must have walked, possibly a couple miles. He suggested, "You can help yourself to a drink."
"I'm only 20," Alex said.
Alex was the youngest one at the party. Chuck didn't know Sarah's exact birthday, but he knew she was older than him. Morgan was too. Alex seemed to have a good head on her shoulders and in many ways was more mature than Morgan, but he seemed to not mind the age difference. You couldn't talk to Morgan for five minutes without getting a clue. "Our job isn't to enforce things like that, and we won't tell anyone. Besides, it's widely known that college students who are 20 drink more than people who are 22."
A couple days ago, Casey shared his "background report" on Alex with pride. It was very thorough and had things like her high school and college transcripts. Somehow he had gotten a hold of all of her school pictures through the years, going back to kindergarten. Chuck wouldn't be surprised if parts of it ended up on his refrigerator.
"Thanks, Chuck," Alex said with a smile, "but when I kiss my date at midnight to bring in the New Year, I want no question that social lubricant wasn't necessary." Morgan's eyes became circles and his mouth dropped open at the realization that he was Alex's date. It was obvious he liked that plan.
Casey was staying inside during the party, but he had a tendency of watching through his blinds. It would be a good idea to make sure Morgan and Alex were not in his sight-line. Chuck nonchalantly said, "Sarah, where do you think—"
Fortunately, she picked up on Chuck's worry and interrupted. "Alex, your… Alex, Casey wants to see you. He lives in that apartment over there. Just knock on the door. He's not planning on joining everyone out here, tonight, but he can pause whatever he's watching."
That made no sense to Alex. "Why would he want to talk to me? Is this about the other night?"
"Yeah. Part of his job is doing background checks on everyone. Don't worry. I've seen yours. You have no red flags. He's thorough, so as was mentioned, he's checked out everyone here. Since you know more of what we do than everyone else, he can give you an 'all clear' in person."
"Okay," Alex said slowly. She let go of Morgan's hand and squeezed his arm before going to see what why she was actually being dispatched.
With Morgan alone with Chuck and Sarah, he asked, "What is that really about? Is she going to get into trouble because I took her down to Sarah's Fortress of Solitude?"
Sarah didn't understand the reference, so Chuck answered for her with a little context. "Sarah can do amazing things, but she doesn't have an ice castle like Superman." He knew the name of the secret base was "Castle," but that didn't mean it was the same thing. "Alex will not get in trouble for being there. She did the right thing. Casey has something to tell her about her background."
As thick as Morgan was sometimes, he didn't miss it this time. "You do know what this is really about, don't you?"
"Alex should hear it first," Sarah said.
Morgan dropped it and started in about the woman who was most on his mind. "Isn't Alex great, though? I didn't think she'd appreciate riding over here on my bicycle handlebars, so I picked her up at her place, and we walked over. We talked the entire way, non-stop. It's been dark for hours, so it was too late to be called a 'sunset' stroll, but I thought the street lights were romantic. I hope she did. When we were talking, she laughed at all my jokes. She was laughing and smiling even about other things. She gets me; it's almost like we share a brain. We're going to be heading home late, but it's a nice night out for another long walk just holding hands. And did you hear what she said? I think a second date is a good possibility."
Chuck was happy for his friend. It was early in the relationship, but he seemed to find someone that 'fit' with him this time—a lot more than promiscuous and absent Carina and a lot more than crazy Anna. The only concern was what her dad would think about it.
The door to Casey's apartment slammed shut, and Alex stormed over. Apparently the news had not gone well. Alex remained focused on Morgan the entire way back to them. When she reached him, she put her hands forcefully on the sides of his face and planted a strong kiss on his lips.
When they finally split apart, both Morgan and Alex looked a little surprised. The party's music was "Beginnings" by Chicago, making it their song, but he didn't think that was the reason for the surprise. Earlier, Morgan had heard Alex's pronouncement of her plan, so of course an earlier kiss before midnight was completely unexpected.
Alex's fury was gone, replaced with surprise at something that affected her more than she thought it would. She licked her lips. Some people did the opposite of what their parents did. (Then some people, like the one on his lap, did exactly what a parent wanted, only to later shoot him. Maybe not multiple people, but definitely her.) Being contrary was probably a lot of what had initially motivated Alex and benefited Chuck's best friend. She wasn't simply blindly following the orders of her father, and both she and Morgan were happy with the result.
Morgan stammered a few words. "What? Not that I didn't… That was amazing…"
Sarah said in a serious tone, "Alex. What did your father say?"
"My what? I talked to that man you work with who knew my father before I was born. He said I should stay away from Morgan. Frankly, it's none of his business, so I came out here and made my view of the matter clear. I wasn't expecting it to feel like that, but I'm definitely not complaining."
Sarah pulled up Chuck's wrist, but she didn't try to swap his watch with hers. Instead, she pressed the emergency alert button. Within seconds, Casey was standing next to them in the bathrobe he had put on to binge watch a DVD set for the evening. "What's the problem, Walker?" he gruffly asked.
Sarah shut off the alert on Chuck's watch and said, "The problem is you didn't talk to Alex about what you're supposed to talk to her about. She just said you knew her father and shared your opinion about her and Morgan. I don't agree with your assessment at all. I think they make a cute couple, but what do I know? I've only been engaged a year and a week, which is shorter than others, depending on how you count it. Why did you say you knew her father?"
Casey was slow to answer because he wasn't expecting to get dressed down by someone other than his superior office, a diminutive, red-haired general. Alex cleared up the mix, "He didn't say that. I only assume that all three of you knew him or of him based on how you acted last week. He just said I should stay away from Morgan."
Sarah didn't wait for Casey to defend himself. "At least you didn't say something stupid about that. However, trying to keep her away from my future best-friend-in-law? This is the person that boosted my Chuck's self-esteem when they were only ten years old. I'd put his loyalty up against anyone in the Marines. Yes, that includes you. I completely disagree with your views on that matter. Don't you think Alex deserves to hear why you made it your business?"
In the Southern California area, Chuck had never seen a deer while he was driving a car, but "deer in headlights" was an apropos phrase. Casey nodded in resignation and quietly said, "Alex, there's something I should explain."
Alex looked to the two sitting members of the CIA to see what she should do. Sarah said, "Go ahead, Alex. We'll make sure Morgan doesn't wander off. Before Casey does something like that again, he should remember he and I have a sparring session on Monday. Chuck can take down the Internet for the building if I ask nicely. My future sister-in-law has been teaching me more about doing things in the kitchen. I'm thinking I should teach her what I know about the seasoning Elana Truffaut used. Also, I know where he lives." The way Sarah so easily had those threats ready ready made Chuck shiver. He was definitely glad she was on his side.
The threats worked as Casey looked taken back. He nodded once and said, "I'm very sorry, Alex. There's something you deserve to know." Alex followed her father back to his apartment. She just didn't know Casey was her father… yet.
Morgan asked, "What's going on?"
Chuck and Sarah refused to give him a direct answer, so Morgan went to get some finger food that had been put out.
Very shortly after he returned, Alex slowly came out, shock evident on her face as she absently came over. It was clear that this time, Casey had broken the news: He was her father. Alex Coburn was never really dead, as she had grown up believing.
When the dazed civilian joined them, "I See the Light" played on the speakers. Alex looked to Chuck and Sarah. Sarah said, "It's true." Alex's shocked expression didn't change with the confirmation.
Morgan asked, "What wrong?"
Alex answered with a question. "Morgan, if you found out something really surprising about me, would you still kiss me at midnight?"
"Of course. After whatever that was earlier, why would I want to do anything else? I can't stop thinking about how this night is going to keep getting better. What is so bad? Is this about Casey?"
"He just said, and the two of them confirmed, he's my father."
"I thought your father—"
"I thought that, too. Faking that must be part of what he does."
Sarah interjected. "Alex, none of us knew until last week—not even him."
Morgan didn't look as concerned as Chuck would expect, so it hadn't fully sunk it. He actually spoke up on Casey's behalf. "That guy is about as straight-laced as you get. At the Buy More, which I guess is not his real job, he's one of the few people besides Chuck who can be counted on to actually do what he is supposed to do. The night I was kidnapped he looked out for others by making sure Ellie and Awesome were safe. Last week, he took out a hit squad to protect us all."
He reflected aloud about the father of his date. Chuck could tell the instant it hit him. "That man has a lot of guns… Chuck and Sarah, you two need to get married. Like right away. Sarah, I talk about us being future best-friends-in-law, but if you're going to protect me from him, it might help if we drop the 'future.'"
Sarah laughed, "You're already safe, Morgan. Casey knows I already consider Chuck my husband, and he knows that I know you're really important to him. You're family. Family is off-limits. Alex, you're family, too."
"Good," Morgan said. "That means the next time I want to kiss this beautiful woman next to me, I have a superhero to protect me."
Alex shyly said, "You still want to kiss me?"
"Of course."
Questions were over as they started devouring each other's faces. To an outside observer, it was actually a little awkward looking, but they didn't seem to care.
Sarah looked at the empty chair next to them and got up to move it a few yards to the side so her legs wouldn't hang over it and so it wasn't in the direct line of sight of Casey's window. Chuck announced to the couple still making out, "It's all yours." Morgan waved an acknowledgement, but they didn't separate as the two of them took over the other chair.
It was still a few minutes until midnight, but Sarah and Chuck agreed there was no need to wait for the clock in the Pacific Time Zone as they started taking part in the tradition early.
A/N: I hope that was fluffy enough, even with a certain Marine not cooperating. Everyone still doesn't know everything, but people know most of what they should know. On the fluff-side, at least Chuck and Sarah spent most of the chapter with their arms around each other.
That's it for the Intersect couple is this AU story that parallels the first half of season 2 (with some of season 4 mixed in). Many of the story lines from the second half of season 2 no longer make sense: the Mauser shooting fall-out, Best Friend with no Anna, Suburbs UST, Cole as a PLI, the 49-B, Dream Job when Chuck has two good jobs, and the searches for Orion/Stephen. The Intersect 2.0 doesn't make as much sense with two Intersects, one of whom already has many 2.0 skills. Also, in case I haven't been clear… Bryce is already and still dead. So, I'm calling it for this story. (I said that after "Chuck vs His Former Handler," but ended up writing "Chuck & His Roommate vs the Next Mission," so you never know.) Someone did give me a one-shot idea last week and an idea for the start of an incomplete one-shot idea that has been poking my brain since June of last year.
Chuck's playlist:
"Get the Party Started" by Pink
"Until The End of Time" by Foreigner
"Lights" by Journey
"Beginnings" by Chicago
"I See the Light" by Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi (It came out after the timeline of this chapter, but why not?)