AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is here that there will begin to be some divergence from on-air canon. Again, the overall story arc of the show will remain intact, as it is the intention of this author to have some of the changes loop back around to canon so it mostly still works as it was on the air, which should still be considered the definitive version of what happened overall, unless Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz were to expressly say otherwise. My thanks to all of you who have favorited or followed this story so far; I hope I'm crafting something you're really liking. Moving ahead:
"Nice place," Bert commended Chuck, walking with he and Sarah through the gate of the apartment complex in Echo Park.
"Well, that's the benefit of having two doctors in the family," Chuck admitted. He unlocked the door of his sister's apartment and entered. "El, I'm back," he called out loud.
"Chuck," Dr. Ellie Bartowski Woodcomb, in her nightgown given the comparative lateness of the hour, came down the stairs, "I was starting to get worried...who's this?" she noticed Bert.
"This is Bert, he's uh, in town on personal business," Chuck introduced the spy to her, "He, uh, had a, um, fight with his wife, she shot him, and he ended up running into the Buy More for help..."
"Did hear someone got shot?" came the voice of Chuck's brother-in-law, who now came down the stairs with a concerned look on his face. "I guess she meant you; you OK, buddy?" he asked Bert, concerned, "My wife and I are both doctors if you need anything else..."
"No, I'm fine now," Bert assured him, rubbing at his chest, "They, uh, called for paramedics at the Buy More, and they got there and treated me there. Anyway, Chuck told me I'd be welcome here for the night-I don't really have anywhere else to go at the moment..."
"Well, for tonight, I guess it would be OK," Ellie nodded, "Just as long as there aren't any swarms of angry spies coming after you; we had enough trouble with spies lately, and I'd rather not get tangled up with them again for a long time to come."
"Exactly," Chuck let out a nervous laugh, "Anyway, Bert Wraydon, this is my sister Dr. Ellie Woodcomb, and her husband Dr. Devon Woodcomb, otherwise known as Captain Awesome, and a national hero in Costa Gravas for reasons too complex to explain."
"If we get the chance, we can tell you, though; it's an interesting tale," Devon told Bert, "So, your wife shot you?" he approached Bert with concern on his face, "What went wrong there?"
"I, I don't know, Dr. Woodcomb..."
"Please, call me Awesome."
"OK, um, Awesome, my wife didn't seem she was right in the head when she pulled the trigger. I think somebody might have tricked her into doing it."
"Wow, that bites. Well, glad you seem to be OK now. Anyway, come on up here, and we'll get you set up for the night in the spare bedroom," Devon gestured for Bert to follow him up the stairs. "You know, you could have called if there was a medical emergency at the Buy More," Ellie approached Chuck and Sarah, "Even if Devon and I couldn't have made it out ourselves, we could have sent somebody out to take care of him..."
"We know, Ellie, but there were two other doctors in the store at that time. They took care of Bert right away, then called their own hospital in San Bernardino to come and take care of it," Sarah spun an alibi for Chuck's sister, "We would have called you otherwise."
"That's terrible, being shot by the person you'd normally trust the most," Ellie shook her head grimly, "Do they have any leads on where his wife is now?"
"Not yet, but the police are looking for her. They'll probably find her soon enough. Anyway, Ellie, want you to know, Chuck'll be out of town for a few days. Morgan was asked to go to Washington on Buy More business..."
"In Seattle," Chuck cut in quickly, "They're opening a big new store there, and they need a manager to give, um, the staff there pointers, and Morgan was, um, chosen by management to give the lecture, and he, uh, asked if Sarah and I'd come along as his assistants to, um, help out."
"They actually trusted Morgan with that?" Ellie frowned, "After he spent his whole career at Buy More before that slacking off?" She shook her head. "Sometimes I can't understand corporate management at all."
"Oh well, that's the way it is, I guess," Chuck shrugged, "So, uh, anyway, we'll be away for a couple days. Hopefully we'll be back sooner than later."
"And not to worry, everything's going to be fine," Sarah assured Ellie. "Well, it's getting late, so I'll be heading to bed; we've got a long day ahead tomorrow."
"I'll be in a in few minutes," Chuck told her.
"OK, I'll be waiting when you're ready," Sarah gave him a hug and kiss before heading out the door. "I can tell there's something really special between you both by now," Ellie put an arm around her brother, grinning after Sarah, "I know you had some stops and starts over the last few years, but I think it's turned out really good in the end."
"Yeah, I think it has," Chuck agreed with a grin of his own, "In fact, El, lately I've been thinking, I'd...well, I think I'd like to..."
"Propose?" Ellie guessed, breaking into a wider smile, "That's wonderful, Chuck, truly wonderful. When and how?"
"Uh, that's the thing; I don't know yet. It has to be just the right situation, and I...well, I'm kind of worried I might stumble around a bit, and...that I'd blow it if I..."
"Chuck, don't overthink these things," Ellie sat down on the sofa and gestured for him to do the same, "If you love her, and I can tell you do, it'll work out fine when you try it."
"I, I hope so. Problem is, I've come to see I'm not the best communicator-although, to be honest, neither is Sarah, so I guess we're even in that regard. But yeah, I love her. She's a beautiful woman, and I want her with me for the rest of my life. And I want it to be a great wedding, even if we won't have..."
He trailed off and stared sadly at the governor again. "I know," Ellie patted his wrist knowingly, "I miss him too. I'm so glad now that you found him for my wedding. Getting to know him again helped me a lot too, even if it took a while to get there. I wish he could be here to see your wedding, to see that he would have been a grandfather..." she stared down at her chest, now showing the early signs of her pregnancy.
"I just feel so guilty," Chuck put his face in his hands, "Every day for the last several months, I've replayed the last few hours of his life in my mind. Wondered if I should have just gone with him to wherever he would have taken me. Wondered if we should have called for some kind of backup before we went into the Ring's lair. Wondered if I should have gone at Shaw right away so he wouldn't have had the chance to pull the trigger, or if I should have jumped in front of Dad and taken the bullet for him..."
"Chuck, please," Ellie took his hand, looking on the verge of tears herself, "It's not your fault at all. It's my fault if anyone's; if I hadn't fallen for everything that creep Justin had said to me and put him in danger in the first place..."
She started sniffing. Chuck pulled her into a hug. "It's not your fault either," he comforted her, although he still felt guilty deep down, "I just wish there was some way we could somehow make it right. But of course, it's too late now. At least we'll always have the memories, though..."
The two of them held the embrace for a minute before they released each other. "I'm just glad you're out of the spy business now, Chuck," Ellie told her brother, "I was starting to get worried when you were late tonight; I guess it's post-traumatic stress after what we've gone through..."
"Uh, guess so," Chuck said, fidgeting nervously, "Uh, speaking of family, though, should probably tell you, was meaning to before earlier, but didn't have the chance: I did actually hear from Mom the other night."
"You did?" Ellie's head shot up, "She actually called?"
"Right after we talked about whether it was a good idea or not for me to keep looking. Thing is, though, she asked to meet me at a certain time at Griffith Park. That's why I was away for those few hours last Thursday. I waited for close to two hours, however, and she never showed up."
"Typical. What else could we have expected from someone who walked out on her family without a second thought?" Ellie threw up her arms in disgust, "Why didn't you tell me she'd called?"
"Because...I didn't want to get your hopes up, only to have them crushed," Chuck explained, although that hadn't been his only reasoning for not alerting his sister to the call, particularly with his mother's apparent connection to Alexei Volkoff, "And as it turned out, they probably would have been crushed that time."
"For her lack of interest in my life for all these years, I couldn't possibly be crushed by any failure on her part," Ellie muttered bitterly, "She probably chickened out in the end because she didn't want to face up to her mistakes."
"Well I hope she isn't actually in trouble, Ellie. Hopefully no one did anything to her."
"Well, I hope that wasn't the case. But if she doesn't call us again, I won't be upset," his sister grumbled. She turned to face Chuck. "At least we still have each other, and that's what counts."
"I can't argue with that," Chuck agreed, giving her one more hug. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go to bed too; big day ahead of me tomorrow."
"Have a good trip, Chuck," Ellie bade him well as he headed for the stairs, "Don't let those corporate types kill you during the lecture."
"Don't worry, I'll, I'll try not to get killed on this trip, trust me," Chuck said with another nervous laugh. He strode back outside and over to his own apartment. Sarah was dressed for bed inside the bedroom, waiting for him. "Everything OK?" she asked him.
"Yeah, for the most part, Sarah, but..." Chuck shook his head softly, "I hate having to lie to Ellie at all," he confessed to her, "She should be the one I shouldn't keep anything from, and to mislead her into thinking everything's normal and OK, that this is just a regular business trip and not something that might well get both of us killed..."
"I know, Chuck. That's just the way the business works, unfortunately," Sarah told him, putting a sympathetic arm around him.
"So I've seen," Chuck shook his head, "I hate having to lie to anyone. That's why I broke it off with Hannah last year, so I wouldn't have to keep lying to her. It hurt doing it, but I almost got her killed once, and I didn't want to have to keep doing it again." He put his face in his hands again. "It was just a no-win situation with her. I love you more than I could have loved her, Sarah, but there was no way it could have ended without her hating me. Are we destined for the same?"
"Chuck, that's not who we are," Sarah pulled him close, "We understand each other. Hannah wasn't meant for the world we've been dropped into."
"I guess not-although I wish I could make it right with her somehow," Chuck told her, wondering deep down how that could be possible without Hannah immediately driving a knife into his chest, "Again, I'm glad we are together for good now, and I want to be with you from now on, but I..."
"You're the type of person who wants to make your mistakes right, I know. That's why I like you, Chuck," she beamed at him, "You have a sense of honor that a lot of people in the spy business don't have. Maybe we'll find a way to make it up to her some day."
"We'll see, I guess. I hope. Anyway, you're the lucky one, Sarah. No family or close friends; no one stood to get hurt if you lied about your spy life."
"Well, I wouldn't call that lucky. Not anymore," Sarah shook her head, "Since I've gotten to know you, I've realized how lonely I was all those years in the field. Now, I'm starting to feel like I have a family here. Like I belong."
"Enough to stay here if we give up the spy game-assuming the general lets us out, of course...?"
"By now, probably. Anything else on your mind?" she sat down on the bed, "You still look a bit bothered."
"Well...it's my mom again," Chuck sat down next to her, frowning, "I know we waited for her in Griffith Park all that time, and she never followed up on the call. So part of me's worried something's wrong, that she got found out and something terrible's happened. Or worse, that she was recalled to do something terrible. Since we know now Volkoff Industries has been supplying Lieberstan with their weaponry, maybe Volkoff asked her to take care of something there for him. I've got a bad feeling we're going to cross paths with her eventually on this mission, and that I'm not going to like what I'll find when we do. Dad tasked me to find her, but I'm starting to wonder if the quest was doomed to lead to pain..."
"Whatever it leads to, Chuck, it leads to," Sarah assured him, "You'll at least know one way or the other and have closure. And if she has turned and become on of the bad guys, just know, I have your back no matter what, you have my word."
"I know," he hugged her again, "I know I can always count on you, Sarah."
They held the embrace for over a minute. "Well, we might as well get to sleep," Sarah pulled the covers down and slid into bed, "Casey got plane tickets for Washington for two o'clock tomorrow afternoon, so we'll need a good night sleep tonight."
"You know, part of me does miss the monotony of the regular eight to five Buy More day," Chuck mumbled laying down next to her and putting an arm around her, "But then again, the excitement of getting to see the world counterbalances it pretty nicely."
"I know. Good night, Chuck," she kissed him good night.
"Good night, Sarah," he did the same. He closed his eyes, and soon drifted off into a sound sleep.
"Uh, Fernando, have you seen Jeff and Lester?" a now worried Chuck asked one of the passing regular non-government Boy More employees the following morning.
"Nope, not since yesterday," Fernando shook his head.
"I see," Chuck mumbled, staring at the governor, which read quarter after eleven. Even when drunk out of their minds, Jeff and Lester almost always managed to make it in to work by this time. As such, Chuck had been handling Nerd Herd duties entirely on his own all morning, and while he had managed the task well, he was now starting to get very worried for his co-workers' safety.
"OK, start winding it down, Bartowski," Casey approached the Nerd Herd desk, "We need to be at the airport by noon to get on the plane."
"Casey, I'm getting worried about Jeff and Lester," Chuck confessed, "They usually don't take this long to come in..."
"Stop worrying about those morons, Bartowski; they're probably dead drunk in an alley somewhere," Casey was nonplussed by Jeff and Lester's absence, "I'm sure this isn't the first time they've blown off work."
"Actually, no, Casey; they avoid doing any work here as much as they can, but they always come in regardless," Chuck refused to let go of his concern, "I just have a feeling something's very wrong here..."
"Why worry, Bartowski? Those two could get run over by a tank for all I care," Casey muttered.
"Again, wonderful people skills, Casey," Chuck threw up his arms in disgust, "Morgan, have you heard anything from Jeff and Lester?" he asked his friend, who was approaching.
"No, I haven't," Morgan shook his head, "That is rather unusual..."
"It's not our concern, Grimes, we have a plane to catch," Casey cut him off, "Did you make your arrangements here?"
"Yeah, Mike'll run the store while we're out-he thinks we're attending a Buy More opening in Seattle on corporate orders. Hope we're not away too long so he doesn't get suspicious..."
"Excuse me," a woman approached the Nerd Herd desk, "I have a question with my phone..."
"I'm sorry, Madam, but the Nerd Herd desk is closed for the day," Casey stepped in front of her with a scowl, "Please direct any and all questions to assistant manager Michael Tucker if you will."
"All right, be impossible!" the woman ranted, "I don't know why it's so hard to get any help in this store! From now on, I'm shopping at Large Mart!"
She stomped off. "You realize that if Moses Finklestein was here, Casey, he'd be rather furious right now?" Chuck raised his eyebrows at him.
"Well he isn't, Bartowski, and I wouldn't give a damn what he'd think either way," Casey growled, "OK, Walker and Wraydon are waiting down in Castle; we have..."
"Hold the phone a minute, Casey," Morgan held up his hand. A pair of police officers had entered the store and were approaching the Nerd Herd desk. "Excuse me, are you the manager?" one of them asked Morgan.
"Uh, yes I am. Is something wrong, Officer?" Morgan asked, frowning.
"No, nothing's wrong, except we found two guys walking along Burbank Boulevard looking like they were out of it, and we IDed them as being employees of this store," the second officer informed them, "We couldn't find any other address for them, so we brought them back here."
He turned to the front door, where two more policemen now led in Jeff and Lester. Both men looked dazed, with their shirts unbuttoned. "Oh, I see. Yeah, we've been wondering what happened to them," Morgan said, waving at Big Mike in the corner, "Um, you can put them back in the break room back there; we'll get them sobered up."
"Were they hurt, were they attacked...!?" Chuck worriedly asked the officers, following after them and his co-workers into the break room.
"They did appear to be roughed up to some degree, but they were unable to concretely identify their assailants," one of the policemen told him, lowering Lester into a chair next to Jeff.
"What happened, you guys?" Chuck asked the two of them.
"We're not completely sure," Lester said, scrunching his face up as he tried to remember the last few hours, "We were leaving the store at closing time, we were going to get some more drinks at Bennigan's. No sooner were we out the door when somebody came up from behind us, and everything went black. I was rather groggy when I woke up, but we were strapped down to operating tables somewhere, looked like a lab..."
"Might have been a spaceship; we might have been abducted by aliens," Jeff added, making Casey turn towards the lockers and growl in frustration.
"Uh, aliens?" Chuck's eyebrows went up, "Did they look like aliens at all?"
"Well, maybe. It was hard to tell, because we were either hung over or drugged up, but they did some kinds of experiments on us," Lester explained, burping loudly.
"What kind of experiments?"
"Something involving electrodes on our heads or something..."
"You know, the one guy kind of looked familiar," Jeff said, looking puzzled nonetheless, "I don't know why, but he did."
"Who did he look like, Jeff?" Morgan grilled him.
"Well, I called him Blinky. He looked like a Blinky..."
"Officers, I want to point out these men are habitual alcoholics and drug users. They likely imagined everything," Big Mike told the policemen with a frown, "Mr. Barnes here," he gestured at Jeff, "visibly showed up for work yesterday intoxicated. They likely went out on an all night bender and had wild fantasies."
"Well those electric shocks we got sure felt real," Lester protested.
"Electric shocks..." Chuck mused. He waved Morgan and Casey close. "You think they might have gone through something serious here?" he asked them.
"They claim they were molested by an alien named Blinky, and you ask me if they're serious, Bartowski!?" Casey growled furiously, "Tucker's right; they got drunk and had a major mental acid trip, that's all. And as for us, we have to go, now," he thrust his watch in Chuck's face, "This is the only flight to Washington the rest of the day...!"
"I know, Casey, I know," Morgan said calmly, "Well, thanks for your help, officers," he told the cops, "We can take it from here; we'll get them sobered up."
"You sure they'll be fine?" one of the policeman asked, shooting Jeff and Lester a worried glance.
"Sure, sure," Morgan said with a sharp nod. The policemen exchanged glances. "Well, just let us know if anything else happens; if we can get any leads on whoever may have attacked them, we'd like to know," another cop advised Morgan. He and his cohorts turned and left. "OK, Mike, Chuck, John, and I have to go now," Morgan told Big Mike, "You hold down the fort as manager until we get back, which hopefully won't be too long," he removed his tuxedo and slipped it onto Big Mike despite it being several sizes too small.
"This store's in good hands, Grimes," Big Mike assured him, unbuttoning his assistant manager's vest. "Skip," he called to a passing employee and tossed the vest to him, "You're assistant manager the rest of the week."
"Uh...thanks, I guess," Skip said, confused, "Um, what did I do to earn it?"
"Being nearby just now. Help me get Barnes and Patel into the home theater room until they sober up," Big Mike gestured at Jeff and Lester, "Then you can run the Nerd Herd desk until they are good again."
"Hey, I'm fine, Mike, I can handle the job right now, see!?" Jeff lurched to his feet and took several strong steps forward across the break room-straight into a vending machine, in fact, sending him tumbling to the floor. "Yeah, I see, Barnes," Big Mike rolled his eyes. He pointed to Skip, who bustled over and pulled the dazed Jeff off the floor. The two of them dragged he and Lester out of the break room. Casey slammed the door shut behind them, "OK," he pressed his palm against the ID pad that opened the secret door to Castle, "Let's get Walker and Wraydon and get going. We've got more important things to work on than deal with nonsense like this."
"So what do we do now?" the figure in the van asked the digitalized figure on his computer monitor in the Buy More parking lot.
"Now that we've confirmed neither Jeffrey Barnes nor Lester Patel is the Intersect, we're down to three possible suspects: Charles Bartowski, John Casey, and Morgan Grimes," the figure on the screen said, "So we do the same thing: grab them and scan them to see who it is."
"The police were here right now; they found Barnes and Patel and brought them back here," the man turned to watch the police cruisers leaving the Buy More lot-and in so doing not seeing the van, with Casey at the wheel, drive past him on the other side of his van and turn onto Burbank Boulevard, "The staff here's bound to be suspicious and on guard now..."
"Not when it comes from the mouths of Jeffrey Barnes and Lester Patel it won't," his superior snorted, "No one's going to believe them. Try and get Bartowski, Casey, and Grimes all at once if you can. I have to go back to Washington now-I've got a lot more pressing immediate matters to take care of..."
"So I know, you're really going ahead with what you said you wanted to do?" the man gulped, "If you try and double-cross him, you're dead for sure..."
"Not this time. I have more support than you or he realizes, and the ultimate power now, which I will use on him," the figure on the screen said firmly, "You just take care of business on your end and report back to me once you have a clear answer. And if they won't cooperate, I know exactly how you can make them talk..."