Published November 6, 2020

A/N: In 2007, UCLA wasn't a great football team. They were barely bowl eligible at 6-6 and lost their bowl game, ending the season below .500. Stanford was worse, finishing the season 4-8, but not that much worse. In a game at Stanford, the home team probably should have been the victor, or at least the game should have been close. It wasn't. UCLA won at Stanford 45-17. That was the beginning of the season, September 1. By November, UCLA was in the middle of losing 5 of 6.

Chuck had a fictional game, so UCLA won a blow-out in a road game in November, even though that's when they were losing to almost everyone. Devon lamented UCLA wasn't playing a better opponent, USC. That year, USC finished the season #3 with an 11-2 record and won the Rose Bowl. (UCLA's home field, but they weren't there.) USC beat UCLA 24-7 during the season. For the game, blame the Stanford band for not taking the field before the game was over. (Actually, Stanford also lost that infamous game against Cal in 1982. If the band took the field, UCLA might have won by more. Never mind.)

A Stanford fictional win might have been less plausible than a guy downloading a supercomputer into his head. In 2020, they currently are not scheduled to play, even fictionally. It's just as well that there is no caravan originating in Echo Park.

The PAC-12 was the PAC-10 back then. That game's over by the time this chapter starts, when davida6 beta'd. He's not to blame for the UCLA Bruins beating the Stanford Cardinal, or anything here. Though, he's a Wisconsin fan who attended Rose Bowl victories over both UCLA ('99) and Stanford ('00).

November 11, 2007

Ellie walked out of her room holding a pile of clean towels and washcloths for the bathroom cabinet. She saw Sarah shut the door to Chuck's room, stop, and look down to her hands. She was turned away, but she seemed upset.

"Sarah, are you ok?"

Sarah put on a smile before facing her. "Yes, Ellie. I didn't know you were here." For a spy, it wasn't a good fake smile. Ellie could easily see through it.

"I got back from the laundromat a few minutes ago." Ellie raised the pile in her arms. "I'm folding. That's unimportant. I can tell something is wrong. What is it?" Ellie gestured with the towel pile down the hall to the main room. "Let's go sit down."

Ellie put the towels on the table and stopped in the kitchen. She grabbed two wine glasses, an opened bottle of red, a full bottle of white, and an opener. Back with Sarah, she said, "You look like you need something." Ellie raised the glasses and bottles to indicate she meant them, before setting them out. "Or would you prefer something harder? We have a bottle of Scotch up…" She pointed to the kitchen, then lowered her hand. "You probably know where."

"This is fine. Thank you." She skipped a glass and took the bottle of white. Ellie offered the opener, but Sarah passed, using a throwing knife that was concealed in her black vest . The vest over her shirt wasn't only for fashion. For a spy, It was functional, for a spy. Sarah also withdrew a case from her pocket and took a red pill. Then, she took a long drink directly from the bottle.

It was worse than Ellie had thought. She opened the red to fill her own glass while Sarah was titling back her second gulp. Ellie brought up what she thought the problem must be. "What went wrong on the mission?"

Sarah stopped, "What did Chuck tell you about the mission?"

"Chuck didn't tell me. First, he was strongly against going to Stanford. Then he did a 180, wanting to go back to the school he hates, this time with his spy-protector. Why would you want him in a crowded stadium where he could flash on anyone? There had to be another reason. It was obvious that it was a mission. Also…" She tilted her head down towards the disc Sarah held in her lap.

Sarah took another drink straight from the bottle. "It was your fault we were there."

"Mine?"

"You gave Chuck that overdue library book. He figured out the library code. The day before, we were looking for Chuck's old Professor Flemming—"

Ellie knew that name as the horrible man who had believed Bryce over Chuck. "You're finally going after that man for what he and Bryce did to Chuck? Good. How is that my fault?"

"It's more complicated than that. Flemming was a CIA scientist who tested and recruited students to be agents."

"He was one of you?"

"Yes, but he made a serious mistake."

"Are all CIA scientists bad? First, Zarnow. Then, the Laszlo guy I knocked out. Now, Flemming."

"I don't know. I'm not impressed with the common sense of someone who was supposed to be one of us. He has no sense. Flemming copied his recruiting records, and a foreign spy-for-hire came after him to steal them. Bryce was Flemming's contact, and Flemming didn't know Bryce was dead. He called Bryce before going into hiding. We originally convinced Chuck to help because he flashed on his old student ID."

"What!?"

"There's more. Flemming was shot trying to hand Chuck a code. When Chuck saw the library book, he realized the code was a library location. No flash needed. He's just brilliant."

"So the reason he suddenly wanted to go to Stanford was a mission related to this code. What happened?"

"We got the intel where Flemming had stashed it." Sarah held up the disc. "Is Morgan around?"

"Why do you want him?"

"He might plausibly destroy this by accident."

What was on that disc? It had to be something bad for Sarah to want Morgan to destroy it. "I can break it in half. What's on it?"

"They wouldn't believe you would do something like that by accident. I don't think Morgan would, but he has a reputation as Chuck's screw-up, best friend. It'd be believable. I wish this disc didn't exist, but I can't simply lose it. They wouldn't believe that either. Casey filed his report when Chuck and I were at the game—he was at Stanford, too, for the mission. Casey's already reported part of the bombshell of what we saw. He asked me to get the disc from Chuck so we can turn it in."

"What bombshell?"

Sarah took another drink from her bottle. There wasn't much left from what was once a full bottle. "What I'm going to tell you is a bigger secret than even Chuck having the Intersect."

Chuck having the Intersect was supposed to be the biggest secret. No one was supposed to know a computer of computer secrets was in his brain. What could be bigger? She waited for Sarah to continue. There was no point of pressuring her about something that big.

"This disc has videos of Flemming's recruitment interviews." That would be big. It had the identities of CIA agents. Ellie thought Chuck being the human Intersect was a bigger secret than that, though. Sarah continued, "Chuck's name is on it."

"Hold on. Chuck never told me he was recruited by the CIA."

"He wasn't. As Chuck's roommate, Bryce intercepted Flemming's invite to the interview and went in his place."

Ellie didn't know what to say. Her glass was empty, so she refilled it.

"Casey just knows Chuck's name is on the disc, but there's more. This disc has a video. Bryce was already in the CIA. He said he didn't think Chuck would survive working in the CIA. This disc contains proof that Bryce and Flemming conspired to frame Chuck for cheating."

They had proof that Bryce screwed up the last five years of Chuck's life. He and Flemming conspired to destroy Chuck's life. Ellie was too shocked to react.

Sarah finished off her bottle and said, "The video makes it look like Bryce framed Chuck to save him. If that's what he was doing, my first thought was maybe Bryce had a good reason to email the Intersect to Chuck."

"That is big. You mean Bryce might not have been the horrible person we thought he was. Sorry. I now you and he—"

"No. Bryce was a bad person and a bad spy. He didn't just put the answer key under Chuck's bed. He and Flemming said Chuck was selling it. That couldn't be proven without falsifying money trail. This extra lie resulted in Chuck being kicked out of school instead of failing one test. The simple cheating accusation would have voided his test results so the CIA wouldn't want him. If Chuck challenged the more severe charge, it might have blown Flemming's cover. At the least, the CIA would have fired him. It could have put all of Flemming's recruits at risk of being exposed. Bryce's identity as a CIA agent would have been revealed. It was irresponsible and reckless."

Sarah tried to drink from an empty bottle. "Fast forward to a few weeks ago. When Bryce destroyed the Intersect lab, he emailed a copy to Chuck. The generous view of that was that he was keeping a back-up in a person he knew could retain it who he trusted. However, that doesn't track. Bryce did that as he was about to be caught, right before he was shot. If he thought he was going to get away, there was no reason to email it. What value would it be to send it to Chuck? If he emailed it before getting caught, it was only a risk to Chuck. Bryce was passing stolen, extremely secret information."

Putting the empty bottle on the table, Sarah continued explaining how wrong what Bryce did was. "What would happen to Chuck? Two government assassins were sent after him: Casey and me. I found a way to not put Chuck at risk, which is why I broke in. Casey had orders to keep Chuck alive, but I was expendable, which is why his team came at us so hard. Both he and I are sent when someone might need to be killed."

That entire thing was not what Ellie expected. No wonder Sarah was upset. The doctor was also surprised with how much the spy could drink without slurring her words. Spy tolerance must be amazing.

Ellie realized, "That's why Chuck flashed on his student ID. Chuck was already in Federal records."

"Yeah, but not in regular records, or I would have been given information about his aborted recruitment in my initial briefing. Chuck's test results were invalidated to keep him off the recruitment path, but by sending the Intersect to him, he's back on the CIA radar. Now it's different because Chuck already has the Intersect in his head. They no longer want to officially recruit him into the CIA. His identity needs to be kept more secret than that. The bigger complication is with the disc, they'll know the truth."

With nothing in the empty bottle, Sarah looked frustrated. Ellie saw her eye the other one, so she slid it closer. Sarah snatched it and drank out of this second one. Sarah didn't seem drunk, yet. It must be a spy trick.

The spy continued, "Chuck didn't simply do great on the test. He's amazing. There's something special about him. The night we met, you said Chuck got 98%. Since then, I've done some research on Intersect competency test results. The test is multiple choice and was given to a hundred agents and people in the state department. A random guess gets you 20%. Most people do a slight bit better, almost by accident. Maybe subliminal images help. The average is in the 30s or 40s. CIA field agents have excellent situational awareness and notice things. Many CIA recruits were in the 50s or 60s. I took the test myself and was proud I got 62%, There are results from a CIA agent and from an analyst, each with photographic memory. They scored in the low 80s. I thought Chuck's 98% had to be incorrect. However, in the video of Flemming and Bryce, Flemming said Chuck got 98%. I know Chuck doesn't have photographic memory, but there is something special about his brain. It's more than him being brilliant."

Ellie didn't know about the others' test results, but she always knew Chuck did that well—He said so. Why would he exaggerate about something like that when he never had to? He was on a full ride to Stanford for a reason. "Chuck did really well on all of his tests in school."

"Impossibly well. The CIA knows about Chuck flashing on his student ID. They know about Chuck being in Flemming's records. Now, they will know just how amazing Chuck is and that he has a special ability to hold the Intersect in his head. The disc has to be turned in. I can't really have Morgan 'accidentally' destroy it, as much as I wish something like that could happen."

Ellie tried a positive spin. "Chuck can be cleared."

"No, he can't. They let Chuck become assistant manager at the Buy More because he controls his work schedule. Since Big Mike is not hands-on, Chuck can still get away when he's needed to help on a mission. That's part of why it was so easy for him to go to Stanford on short notice. With the information on this disc, the CIA will never let him work somewhere else. With evidence of how special Chuck is, they will never let him go."

Ellie frowned, "Does that mean you're stuck here?" She had thought that Sarah wanted to be "really dating" Chuck, not that she wanted to complete her mission and move on to the next one.

Sarah waived that off, "I don't care about that. I'm worried about Chuck." Sarah put down a second empty bottle and stood up, lifting the disc. "I have to turn this in."

Ellie could see Sarah was broken up about this entire situation. She wasn't upset about being chained to Chuck. She was upset there was video proof of how special Chuck was. She was upset about the idea of Chuck staying firmly under the CIA's control. She was thinking about him more than herself. As his big sister, it was always clear to Ellie how much Chuck liked Sarah. The other way around seemed to be the case, but the spy's motivations weren't always clear. Otherwise they'd already be a real couple. The last couple minutes cleared that question. It wasn't something that Sarah was faking for the benefit of the cover. Sarah was completely torn up about it. She cared about Chuck at least as much as he cared about her.

With Sarah having had so much to drink, it was Ellie's chance to get more of the truth from Sarah. Normally, as a skilled spy, Sarah could make Ellie think whatever. Most people thought Chuck and Sarah were completely in love. In front of Ellie, Chuck was transparent that his feelings were real. Sarah didn't have to keep up the ruse, but she often tried. Since she sometimes slipped, it often looked like she felt the same way. Sarah was good, but some of what Ellie had been seeing had to be real. This was Ellie's chance to get Sarah to say something. Ellie started, "You and Chuck—"

Sarah held up her hand to cut her off. "I know what you think, and I know what you want for Chuck. It doesn't matter what he wants. It doesn't matter what you want for him. It especially doesn't matter what I want. Chuck is classified as an asset, not an agent. The CIA has strict rules about asset/agent relationships. If they think I'm emotionally compromised and can't control the asset, they'll assign another agent to assess the situation, and I could be sent away, permanently. I don't trust anyone to take as good of care of Chuck as I will. He's too important to the country and…" she trailed off.

Ellie could hear the unspoken "to me." All along, Ellie hadn't known what to think of Chuck and Sarah's fake/not-very-fake relationship. Sarah had said she was protecting Chuck from her, like she was damaged goods. It was more than that. Sarah was in a no-win situation. She really cared about Chuck as a person, but she couldn't do anything about it. If the relationship was more than a cover, Sarah and Chuck would be parted. Sarah would rather be near Chuck and keep him safe than start something real and risk being sent away forever.

Fixing her face, Sarah stood up and started towards the door. This conversation had proven she was more as concerned about Chuck as she was about doing her job. Since her job was to protect Chuck, it was reassuring that either way was good. Ellie put a gentle hand on Sarah's forearm in support because she finally understood how the spy was balancing her duty and with what she wanted as a woman.

Sarah said, "Don't worry." She pulled out that pill case that Ellie had caught a glimpse of earlier. "Spy trick. It neutralizes up to a bottle of whisky so I won't be driving under the influence back to my apartment. It's useful on a mission when you need to drink a mark under the table without getting impaired."

Ellie realized Sarah had misinterpreted her gesture of support, thinking the doctor was going to tell her to not drink and drive.

Meaning an alcohol-neutralizing pill, Sarah asked, "Do you want one? It still works if you take it soon enough."

"No. Only two glasses. With this bombshell, I want the buzz." Sometimes she needed to get a little drunk.

Sarah guessed what she was thinking. "You can't get drunk with these pills, but sometimes the psychological effect of knocking back a bottle still helps. Fortunately, no nasty side effects, like throwing up or hangovers. If you don't have to drive, you can skip the pill, like you are."

This was one of those cases in which it would be simpler if Sarah just stayed all night with Chuck and didn't have to drive anywhere. It was so obvious they both wanted that.

Ellie asked, "Is Chuck going to be ok?"

"For now. He's starting to think Bryce might not be all bad. Chuck needs a chance for this to sink-in. If he has a chance to process, it might help him to accept it. It can be reassuring to think that Bryce might have had some good intentions. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. If he did have good intentions, he was incompetent and reckless. After working with him as much as I did, that theory is plausible. On the other hand, he could have been a complete traitor. Five years ago, he was interested in getting Chuck's college girlfriend away from him. That's also plausible. Either way, I won't let Chuck start thinking of Bryce as a saint. I know my old partner was not a saint. He wasn't even a very good spy to have as a partner. You met Carina. She's a loose cannon, but she's a far better spy and a far better teammate. Having a boyfriend was nice, but there were several reasons I was happy when I was no longer assigned to work with him as my partner."

Ellie gave Sarah a hug goodbye before she left. Ellie was starting to feel the effects of her two glasses, but one thing was clear. Chuck was really important to Sarah and not because of his test scores. She really cared about him, maybe even loved him.

A/N: With the existence of the red pill, there's no future fun in the women going out for mojitos. The pill is almost an ex deus machina because Sarah isn't sleeping in Chuck's bed and she shouldn't drink and drive, but I have used the pill in another story. david6a gets credit for the pill's color and the clever nod to The Matrix.

In canon, we know what happened to Bryce because of his actions at Stanford. Nothing. After "Chuck vs the Alma Mater," he was thought to be dead, so there was nothing to do. A short while later, after "Chuck vs the Nemesis," Bryce left for a deep-cover assignment in a tux his size that was conveniently stashed in the home theater room. In other words, he got a special assignment, not a punishment.

(TPTB needed Castle for the wardrobe in season 1, though I guess it would have been an escape route that didn't allow for the Klingon/bullet-proof vest showdown. I used Castle as an escape route near the end of "The Intersect Couple vs Flashing." I used it as an entrance to a besieged Buy More in part two of "Chuck & Sarah vs Their Next Adventure." In season one canon, who knows where the tux came from. It doesn't matter in this story because Bryce never wore it.)

For Bryce in the show, there was no consequence for keeping a promising candidate away from the CIA, blowing up the Intersect, killing a Federal guard, nor putting the Buy More on Fulcrum's radar, putting the human Intersect at risk. It took awhile, but it didn't end well for him.

What happened to Flemming, though? He was skewered with a crossbow, but he survived long enough to make it to the hospital. What's next for him? Like Bryce, he lied to the CIA, hiding a promising candidate while risking exposure of the CIA recruitment program. Then, he illegally copied CIA files. Somehow, the bad guys discovered what he did, so who knows what he was doing with the information. Copying a disc wouldn't lead to someone showing up at his lecture or even breaking into his house. Somehow, they knew about the disc. His actions had to be leaked some other way. (Maybe opening the disc on an insecure laptop? That would mean the laptop had already been hacked. Possibly, or maybe something else?) Assuming Flemming recovered in the hospital, then what? First, fix the two m's in his desk nameplate to match how the rest of the world spelled the name. He'd have to legally (fictionally) change his misspelled last name, too. (Or maybe the Intersect had his name spelled correctly, the nameplate was wrong, and he liked having his name misspelled for all of the students to see.) But what after that? He wasn't going to be working at Stanford anymore. That's for certain.

Anyway, in this story, Ellie now knows the truth about the 49-B. It just so happens that the "Chuck vs the Truth" parallel is next, "Ellie vs the Truth."

Song:

- "Harvard Diss Track" by Fleet Street Singers (Check this out on You Tube.) Sarah went to Harvard. Chuck went to Stanford, and his school is not looking too good. This song balances it out a little.