CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #1: Hello everyone, I finished revisions for chapter 9 of my current multi-chapter story "Contrition" expect that on Thursday. Anyways you can thank MyNameIsJeffNImLost for inspiring this little one shot. I read the first chapter of their wonderful story "Ellie vs the Ninja" and I was instantly inspired to write my own story focused on Ellie, who is criminally under utilized in this community if you ask me. Anyway I noticed that Casey and Ellie don't really have many positive interactions before the truth about Chuck comes out so I sought to change that.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #2: If you'll notice I don't ever refer to Casey as well... Casey in this story, that's because the way i write, the character in question is referred to as the name that the character the moment focuses on refers to them as. In this case Ellie only ever calls Casey, John so in this story he is referred to as John instead of the conventional Casey. With Ellie being the central focus of the moment the names are what she perceives them to be. An exception would obviously be Carina continually calling Morgan, Martin. Anyways i'm getting off track, enjoy this story and make sure to leave a review. Reading your thoughts on my work both good and bad really makes this all worth it, just knowing that somebody enjoyed my efforts and maybe just maybe that story brightened their day makes it all worth it to me.

A Secret & A Promise

A Story By

CharmingCharles2896

Two Weeks After Graham's Death…

She didn't know why John had wanted to come into her apartment; her younger brother was out with his girlfriend Sarah. Either way she handed John the cup of coffee, black and bitter just like he wanted it and sat down at the dining room table with him.

"Okay John, what's on your mind?" Ellie said calmly as she observed the oft stoic friend of her brother, he didn't look very stoic at the moment which was interesting.

"Just wanted to check in, I heard Chuck had been planning to quit the Buy More and go backpacking through Europe, but suddenly none of that happened. Just wanted to check if you thought he's okay." Ellie nodded to John, she knew there was something else bothering him and she had an idea what it was, but she'd humor him for now.

"Yeah, we were all so excited for him, but for some reason he just didn't do it and went right back to being a loser at the Buy More. John gave Ellie a surprised look. "Look John, I know he's my brother and I love him to death, but he's so much better than the freaking Buy More." John simply nodded and looked down at the cup of coffee.

"Okay john what's really bothering you?" Ellie asked again, she saw him hemming and hawing over something so she decided it was time to cut through the BS. As she laid a gentle hand on his fore arm to grab his attention she spoke calmly.

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that you're in the NSA?" She felt John tense up but he didn't respond.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I simply work at the Buy More with your brother." John said hoping to stave off the disaster that was unfolding before his eyes. Ellie gave John a displeased look.

"Really John, you are Major Jonathan Thomas Casey formerly of Marine Force Recon right? Now you work with the NSA as Chuck's bodyguard. Chuck's supposed girlfriend is Sarah Walker of the CIA, but that isn't really her name; you both are here to protect my younger brother and something called the Intersect, which I still am fuzzy about. Bryce Larkin was somehow involved in all of this, he dated Sarah at one point and he's dead, but now he's not actually dead. So did I miss anything John?" Ellie asked calmly with a smile, she could see the subtle hints of worry on John's face, he did his best to hide them behind a mask of indifference, but she could see through it. Finally John blinked and the mask was gone.

"How long have you known?" Ellie simply kept on smiling and answered her brother's protector.

"Five months give or take a few weeks; my genius brother has it all written down in a big diagram on the back of his Tron poster. I am a clean freak so one afternoon I went on one of my cleaning binges and guess what I discovered?" Ellie asked rhetorically, John simply nodded with an unsurprised snort.

"Moron's gonna tell the whole god damn world if he isn't careful!" Ellie had to hide a giggle at John's reaction to her big reveal. Now that the BS had been thoroughly dispensed of, it was time for Ellie to get at what was really bothering John Casey.

"So John, what's on your mind?" Ellie asked with an understanding smile; John looked conflicted but she saw him take a deep breath and speak.

"Two weeks ago a newer version of the Intersect, a piece of technology that pulled your brother into the spy life was supposed to go online. My superiors ordered me to terminate your brother the evening that the newer version went online." As Ellie heard the word terminate her whole body tensed, but she kept her cool and listened to John say more words consecutively then she'd ever heard him speak. "All week I felt like it was wrong, your brother is a good person and he didn't deserve it… doesn't deserve it. Then the night came for me to do it and I was actually going to do it. The mission was coming to a close and Chuck was planning a big dinner for Sarah and himself, I think he was planning on asking her if she wanted to go to Europe with him." Suddenly things started to make sense with her brother's mood in recent weeks. She saw the dark look on John's face as he continued to recount the tale.

"I came into your apartment through the window in Chuck's room with a silenced pistol. Chuck was rehearsing what he was going to say to Sarah when she arrived for their dinner. He had made Chicken Pepperoni and was setting the table; poor sap had no idea I was there. He was looking forward to this bright future with Sarah not aware that I was about to murder him in the middle of his kitchen with two shots to the back and one to the head." Ellie was horrified by what she was hearing, but the despair on John face gave her pause.

"I drew my pistol and aimed it at his back from the shadows of the hallway over there." John said pointing over his shoulder at the hallway. "Just as I was about to pull the trigger there was a knock at the door, it was Sarah. Chuck was so happy to see her, but she looked sad. She told him that the new Intersect had been destroyed. A vital component that we'd just retrieved had been a Trojan horse and the whole thing exploded, Sarah's boss Langston Graham, Director of the CIA was killed in the blast. He recruited her out of highschool at the age of 16 so they went way back. Sarah told Chuck that they had to cancel their date and head in for a briefing." Ellie was riveted by John's story and the sense of relief she felt when Sarah arrived with the bad news allowed her to release the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Poor guy was crushed, here he'd thought he was about to be free to live his like he used to and finally date Sarah for real, but that was all gone now." As John said that last part Ellie's eyebrow raised in confusion, upon seeing this John elaborated.

"Those two kids are so in love with each other it's disgusting, but they aren't allowed to actually date. She's his handler and he's her asset so that kind of fraternization is strictly forbidden. Everything you see is an act for your benefit, but underneath it is real feelings." Ellie simply nodded, suddenly the last several months of Chuck's relationship made so much more sense.

"Thank you for telling me this, I know it must have been hard." Ellie said earnestly. "Now why don't you tell me what part of that has you so wound up John." Ellie said hoping to coax out what was actually bothering him.

"In the Corps you know who the enemy is, you kill the enemy and protect civilians. We were taught that we did our jobs so people like you, and Devon, and Morgan, and Chuck can live your peaceful little lives without the fear of bad actors from around the globe wanting to destroy America. Honor, country, corps, those are the values of a United States Marine; I've been an assassin for so long and I never questioned who I was killing, because it was always for the greater good. Terminating Chuck Bartowski simply because he was pulled into a world he doesn't belong in through no fault of his own is wrong and yet when they ordered me to do it I didn't even flinch. Yes I tried to argue that there could be another way for all of five seconds, but at the end of the day I was going to do it, I was going to murder a close friend of mine because of a goddamn order. I was going to rip apart an entire family because I was ordered to do it for the greater good; we are supposed to be the good guys, we are supposed to look out for people like Chuck not murder them because it's politically expedient. All they said was that Chuck served his country as a patriot and he would die for his country as a patriot." As John finished his rant Ellie was shattered, the government that she always thought cared about the people, thought so little of her amazing brother.

"What kind of person murders an innocent person because they were given an order to do so? When did I sell my soul to the greater good and become a blunt instrument? Those are the qualities of a Nazi, not a Marine." John asked Ellie as the true source of his distress came to light; as much as Ellie wanted to be mad at John and scream at him she just couldn't will herself to get angry. Seeing how much it was tearing him up inside made her pity him if anything. Ellie took ahold of John's hand and gave him a gentle squeeze to let it know that she was there for him.

"Listen John, you had a moral dilemma and you're struggling to deal with it emotionally; I guarantee you that Sarah has had a similar moral dilemma that tore her apart inside. What you have to decide right now is how are you going to deal with it? The way I see it, you can do the right thing and reclaim your soul, or you can continue down the path you've been on and sell even more of your soul for the greater good, whatever the hell that is." As Ellie finished John simply nodded and lifted his head to look at her.

"Listen Ellie, you can't tell anyone…" John began to say, but Ellie simply stuck up her hand and interrupted him. She knew that was as close to a thank you from John as she was ever going to get so she simply spoke to reassure him.

"Don't even worry about it John, I can pretend to be the blissfully ignorant older sister. I'll simply go on acting like I don't know, just like the last five months." John simply nodded and stood up; Ellie stood up as well and followed John to her front door. Before John left he turned back to Ellie and spoke once more.

"Just so you know, Chuck and Sarah don't know about the termination order. You are one of three people in the entire word that knows about it so keep it to yourself." The tone of John's voice made Ellie's blood run cold, he may be a big softy once you got to know him, but he could be freaking scary when he wanted to.

"You promise to keep my brother safe and nobody will ever find out what you almost did." Ellie said with an equal amount of strength, John simply nodded with a small smile and disappeared into his own apartment. Ellie was standing alone in the courtyard simply taking in the moment she'd had with the oft stoic John Casey, she'd seen more emotion in the five minutes just now than in the five months prior combined. The sound of a car pulling up grabbed Ellie's attention, she looked down the tunnel that led to the street and saw Chuck and Sarah walking next to each other silently. As they got within fifty yards of the complex she saw them grab ahold of each other's hand and put on the happy couple mask. Like flipping a switch they went from silent to laughing and playfully joking with each other. Knowing what she now knew she had never had any idea just how much they put on a show for those around them. As they got to the tunnel Sarah stopped them both and leaned him to say something into Chuck's ear. Ellie couldn't see her lips, but she saw Chuck nod. Ellie simply leaned against the doorway and observed the two of them. After Sarah had finished telling something to Chuck, Ellie watched the two of them share a kiss that quickly turned into something a little more than just pretend. After they broke apart Chuck was left there speechless and simply watched Sarah walk away. Chuck turned on his heels and acted like he hadn't seen Ellie the entire time, even though she knew better.

"Hey El, didn't see you there." Chuck said as he walked up to his sister and gave her a hug. Ellie reciprocated the hug and then let Chuck walk past her into the apartment. As Ellie went to close the door she glanced back towards the street and saw Sarah looking back at Casa Bartowski wistfully before she climbed into her Porsche and drove away.

"Poor girl, one day it'll all work out between those two; until then I'll simply play my part in all this until Chuck feels comfortable telling me." Ellie mused to herself as she closed the door. That was exactly what Ellie did for another year and a half. Every day she played her role as she watched her brother leave to become a spy as far as she could tell, return home and fall into a depressed stupor, get Sarah back in his life, fix things with Sarah, until the fateful day when Shaw made his move to take over the CIA and NSA. The entire time all she'd wanted to do was tell Chuck that she knew what he was struggling with and make all the pain go away, but she made a promise to a certain stoic spy and Ellie Bartowski kept her promises. John never spoke of their talk again, but Ellie noticed a difference in him after that day. He'd softened quite a bit towards her brother and the life he wanted to live. In Ellie's book the talk with John had been a good thing even if it did fill her heart with crippling terror for the fate of her little brother. Regardless Ellie was proud of John, he kept his promise and kept her brother safe so Ellie could only be thankful for that and hold up her end of the deal.

CHARMING'S AUTHORS NOTE #3: So what do you think? I know Casey's a bit talky in this story, but he has shown the ability to be rather eloquent at times so just deal with it I guess lol. Interestingly I think Ellie actually would have been very accepting in the show in this situation. Obviously Casey is broken up about the whole thing so he probably isn't a threat any more. Let me know what you think in a review!

UNTIL NEXT TIME :D