Previously…
Chuck hesitates. He's entranced by the gun peaking out of the back of the nurse's scrubs. As a rule he's never touched a gun…well a real gun. Paintball with Awesome doesn't count.
If you try to escape, I'll pay a personal visit to everyone left in your family.
Chuck gulps. He reaches for the gun…
Present: Casa Bartowski, Calfornia
Ellie sighs has she tucks her id badge into her purse and hangs the bag onto the coat rack. She slips off her shoes and pads towards the kitchen. She goes about her new post-work routine of pulling down a glass from the cabinet, grabbing an opened wine bottle from the fridge, pouring a class, and heading down the hallway.
She pauses at Chuck's bedroom and pushes the door open and stares inside.
It's quiet.
She steps into the room and gingerly gets on the bed and leans back against the pillows. She takes a sip from her glass looking around the room.
She sniffles. She sets the wine glass down and picks up one of Chuck's comics resting on the night stand and begins to read.
"He's read that like a thousand times."
Ellie jerks, looking up from the comic book. Somehow Morgan managed to get the Morgan door open without her noticing, because he is sitting on the open windowsill.
Ellie gives a small sad smile and pats the bed beside her. Morgan carefully gets up and moves to sit to by Ellie. He grabs an Xbox control that's lying on the bed and begins to play.
The button mashing from the controller fills the room.
Ellie goes back to reading the comic.
It's not quiet anymore. She can almost pretend it's her brother sitting next to her.
Sometime later…
A firm but muffled knock, knock, knock drifts into the room. Morgan pauses the game as Ellie slips off the bed and leaves to answer the front door.
Ellie looks through the peep hole in the door. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before carefully turning the locks and opening the door.
It's Detective Mauser.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Ms. Bartowski, but I have an update on your brother's case. Do you mind if I come in?" He says grimly. He's holding a briefcase in one hand and a case file in the other.
Ellie swallows before nodding her head and moving to let the detective enter the room.
CIA BUNKER Conference Room, Location Unknown
"Roberts hinted Fulcrum's interest in Bartowski extended beyond the Stanford list and Larkin confirmed this last night," Casey said as he leaned back in his chair.
Casey is seated in a small bland conference room. General Beckman sits across from him. Her sharp eyes track his every move. Her hawkish eyes make up for her diminutive size.
Casey knew she'd been livid with the CIA for the collapse of Project Omaha and now with everything else…he knew heads were going to role.
"Where are we at with Bartowski's external drives?" She asked.
"Analysts are still trying to break through the fire walls. I looked over some of the files Roark handed over to the FBI. Based on what I read, it's going to take us time to get through them. We can thank Bartowski's team for our own cyber security." Casey responded.
"What concerns me is Orion's interest in him. We need to know how Bartowski fits into all this. I doubt we have documentation on all the projects he was working on for Roark. We need to know where his loyalties lie." Beckman said.
Casey leans forward in his chair pressing his arms on the table. Casey holds in a grunt. They'd be lucky if the scrawny kid was all there. After Sarah injected Chuck with the sedative at Meadow Brooks, he'd yet to regain consciousness. They didn't know what state he'd be in upon waking…if there'd even be a person there.
General Beckman clears her throat. "Agent Casey, I need you to keep an eye on Walker and Larkin. I doubt-"
Whatever Beckman's doubts where, Casey never found out. White security lights started flashing intermittently as an alarm starts sounding. Seconds later the conference phone on the center of the table rings.
Earlier: CIA Bunker Hallway
"If you try and escape, I'll pay a personal visit to everyone left in your family."
The phrase kept repeating over and over in Chuck's head as he stumbled down an empty hallway. Flashes of Jill's bloody body cut across his vision as he staggered into the wall.
Chuck didn't know where Tommy was. No signs of Mike or Ike either.
He hadn't seen anyone else since he knocked out the woman. Empty hallway after empty hallway. To be honest he wasn't sure he'd actually been rescued. This could be a new game by Tommy.
Chuck's head is killing him. He leans into the wall as he runs his free hand across his face. He kept seeing double vision. His other hand curls tighter around the gun he'd picked up. At first it'd been cool to the touch but it'd warmed from his sweaty palms.
He'd seen enough action films to know his odds of getting out were low. He was more likely to run into a gun toting maniac or catch the eye of security before he got really far. And he'd never been good at paintball so the gun was useless.
"It's all a lie." Jill's voice cut in. Chuck squeezes his eyes closed.
Breathe. Think. Ellie's in danger. Ellie is in danger.
If he couldn't get out, he could get a message to her…and to do that…
Chuck looks down the hallway. There were several doors that were evenly spaced apart. Some had windows…others solid. Their contents most likely unknown. But there had to be a computer or phone between the two. If he'd been thinking earlier, he would have grabbed the computer from the nurse, but his emotions got the best of him.
Chuck stumbles towards the closest door, one of the few with windows. He peers inside. It's dark. His hand grabs the handle and gives it a turn. The door opens. Chuck lookes behind him before slipping into the room. His hand drags along the wall till he hits a light switch. Flicking the lights on, he then closes the door behind him.
Another Hallway, CIA Bunker
Bryce and Sarah walk down the long white corridor. Sarah eyes Bryce as they make their way towards the medical wing.
This whole mission was a shit show. It had exposed so many things about her partnership with Bryce. She wasn't sure she'd ever trust him again. Bryce had kept so many things from her. He'd lied to his superiors, gone rogue…and perhaps the worst part of it all, she was pretty sure he was still doing all of those things.
God. What a mess.
And despite all this, here they were, partnered together…again…to sort out the Bartowski problem.
Honestly, Sarah wishes they were headed towards a night off and separate hotel room. She was exhausted. She easily hadn't slept in twenty-four hours. The nurse hadn't even reported if the man had woken up yet.
Sarah catches Bryce looking back at her as they rounded a corner. His gaze moves past her. He swallowed like he had something to say, but nothing comes out.
They continue down the hallway. They both tense when the emergency lights start flashing and an alarm begins to ring. Sarah pulls her gun as Bryce does the same.
"The infirmary." Bryce whispers. Sarah nods and the two carefully make their way towards Bartowski. The two work in silent tandem as they make their way around empty corridors.
Most of the agents and staff had been sent home before the team arrived. Graham wanted to keep this off the record as much as possible.
However, before the two could go much further, Bryce's phone began to ring. Without stopping, he pulled it out with one hand, keeping the other on his gun.
"Larkin."
There was a brief pause before some of the color left Larkin's face. Sarah whipped around the corner clearing it before Bryce followed.
"Copy. We'll secure the asset." Bryce closed his phone and slipped in back into his pocket.
He looked at Sarah. "Someone's hacked into security. They've been methodically taking out cameras and landlines around the base. Silvey hasn't reported in. We need to get to Chuck now. He's a sitting duck if Fulcrum's here. "