CHARMING'S AUTHOR'S NOTE #1: Hello everyone, welcome to Nev and I's first collaboration; Nev has been my beta for several months now and one day he pitched the idea of a collaboration and then pitched a collection of one-shot stories about out favorite characters dealing with the shutdown's that we're dealing with right now. From that original idea this story happened and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Now I'll turn it over to Nev so he can say a few words.

NEV'S AUTHOR'S NOTE #1: A few months ago, after England had experienced it's first lockdown, I wondered how this team would cope if that occurred in LA - my first Chuck fic idea. Since then it has really happened, but these stories will not reflect the awful times we are all experiencing, just how it might affect the team. My original idea was a set of one shots, each covering one period of time in the Chuck story and how they cope. I'm not a writer, so sent outlines of each to Charming and he thankfully agreed to flesh them out. The first grew and grew as he did and became too large for a single chapter (obvious at 15,000 words and it was still not finished), so we'll be posting this as a multi-chapter fic. Then, if we do the other stories, they'll have similar titles.

All Alone, Together: Lockdown 2007

Original Story

By nevr

Written by

CharmingCharles2896

Chapter One:

The Space Between Us

Burbank, California

November 9th, 2007

Things were getting bad all over the world; this new virus wasn't messing around. Most of Europe and South East Asia was already shutdown hard; it was as if life just stopped all over the world. The United States hadn't shut down just yet, but the order was expected any day now. Chuck Bartowski was not usually a man who worried about his sister or her boyfriend going to work, but in light of the emergence of this new disease, he was a wreck every damn day and he hated it. Everyday for the last week Ellie and Devon had come home completely exhausted, more exhausted then he'd seen his sister since she was in medical school at UCLA. When it came to his spy handlers, they were a different story; Casey didn't seem to be fazed by this whole thing at all. The gruff Marine Major had simply grunted and gone on a rant about the time in Cambodia where he thought his insides were about to turn to liquid. Sarah Walker as far as he could tell wasn't exactly scared by the prospects of contracting the virus, instead she seemed to be more worried about him being at home with his sister and her boyfriend without his handlers for what could be a protracted shutdown if things didn't improve.

Chuck didn't know what to think about Sarah's reaction from General Beckman and Director Graham when the two leaders of Team Intersect had announced that the CDC was about to issue a shutdown order in the coming days. The news that had surprised everyone was the announcement that Team Intersect was going to be benched for two weeks until results of the shutdown could be collected and interpreted. This news had meant very different things for the three members of Team intersect. For Major John Casey this meant at least two weeks without having to deal with Chuck and his nerdy bullshit as Casey had so eloquently put it with a smile before he'd left the briefing in the home theater room. The Buy More was one of many businesses that were about to be shutdown; grocery stores with limited capacity, restaurants offering take out services, and medical facilities were the only things allowed to be open during the shutdown. This meant that for the next six weeks Chuck was furloughed and stuck at home. The one person Chuck was feeling the worst about was Sarah Walker, god she was so amazing. The poor CIA agent was staring down the barrel of six weeks alone in her hotel room at the Maison23 without the prospect of visitors for at least the first two weeks.

Sarah didn't even have a freaking TV, which was the first thing Chuck talked to Sarah about after the briefing. The Buy More was closed for the day and it was up to Chuck and Casey to close up the store per Big Mike's orders. The three team members of Team Intersect exited the home theater room and simply stood there looking at each other.

"Okay so that was interesting news; I guess it pays to be connected to US Intelligence if we're going to be getting CDC news two days ahead of time." Chuck said matter-of-factly, Casey and Sarah could only nod in agreement.

"Personally, I'm looking forward to it, just me and my movies for two whole weeks at least, talk about the perfect vacation." Casey said as he went to leave the Buy More; that reminded Chuck that he needed to talk to Sarah.

"Hey Sarah," he began; she looked to have been off in another world as her head snapped back to looking at him.

"Hmm?" She answered.

"Do you have a TV at your hotel room?" It was an innocent enough question, but from the look on Sarah's face you'd have thought he'd asked her what her bra size was.

"No, I specifically had it taken out of my room when I got into town, need to focus on the mission and all that. Why do you want to know?" Chuck gave Sarah a strange look and replied with a small chuckle.

"Because we're exactly two days away from a protracted nationwide shutdown and it's highly likely that you'll run out of things to do in about three days." Chuck said cutting right through Sarah's façade, he knew her too well for his own good, that was for sure.

"I don't know if that's exactly fair." Sarah said with a hint of hurt, Chuck simply gave Sarah a look that did nothing but scream get real sister. Sarah finally rolled her eyes and conceded his point.

"Sarah, the king of the nerds is asking to set you up with a killer set up on an affordable budget." Chuck said proudly, which simply made Sarah's knees go weak; he was sexy when he was confident. Sarah paused and thought for a moment, she could say yes and let her nerdy cover boyfriend do something for her, which she knew would make him happy, or she could say no and watch him get all pouty. The thing was, this was her private space, and she didn't want distractions like television in her private space. Her hotel room was her place to find peace, to find her center.

"Thanks for the offer Chuck, but I think I'm good." Chuck simply shrugged, he knew her and while he was right he would respect her wishes.

"Well Beckman said it's only going to be two weeks so how bad could it be?" Chuck said nonchalantly as both Chuck and Sarah walked out of the Buy More.

Burbank, California

December 13th, 2007

Thirty-Four Days Later…

"My hotel room… shit; I'm still only in my hotel room… Every time I think I'm gonna wake up in his apartment. When I was in DC for the first time after coming to Burbank it was worse. I'd wake up in my lifeless apartment and find nothing, a home that wasn't home. I hardly said a word to Graham, until I said yes to going back to Burbank… back to him. When I was here I wanted to be there, when I was there all I could think about was getting back to Burbank… to him. I'm here a month now… waiting for a mission… getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and my feelings for him get stronger. Each time I look around, the walls move in just a bit tighter, strangling me, smothering me…" Sarah stared up at the ceiling, fading in and out of sleep, she was alone… horribly alone; she had no idea that loneliness could feel like this, she'd been alone before, but not this alone. She had her goldfish Shark, but he didn't talk much. She often thought about her asset, she had no excuse to talk to him, to call him, not without sending her superiors the wrong message. It was just a cover, a mirage, a shadow of a real relationship, at least that's what she was supposed to believe.

Everyday her willpower to stay away was growing thinner and thinner; everyday her desire to hear his voice grew stronger. It was only supposed to be two weeks, how bad could it be? The answer is awful, truly awful; everything was closed down, everything but grocery stores, doctors' offices, gas stations, and take out. The Buy More wasn't deemed an essential business so Chuck was furloughed; he was at home with his sister and her boyfriend the aptly named "Captain Awesome" but Chuck was alone too. This virus was no joke and it had consumed the world like a brush fire from hell; the powers that be had thought two weeks of this shutdown would be all that was necessary to stop the virus, but they were wrong… so very wrong. Masks were a requirement in public, social distancing was recommended but hardly ever followed. Ellie and Awesome were working like dogs, insane hours, horrible risks. Chuck spent most of his time alone waiting for his sister and Captain Awesome to come home safe; at least that's what she'd heard from her superiors the few times they'd called her to check in. At least Chuck had his video games to occupy his time and satisfy his need for human interaction. That was an urge Sarah had never really felt the need to satisfy, that is until she'd come to Burbank and a certain nerd had shown her what life can be like. Now she ached for human interaction, ached to be together with someone, anyone.

No missions, no briefings, nothing at all to occupy her mind; left alone to her own devices she'd quickly exhausted her minuscule library of reading materials. She'd tried to fill out her time by hitting her heavy bag. She'd hit it until her hands ached, until the bruises on her knuckles were as black as the darkest night. She was alone in this hell, this prison of alone…

Outside of her hotel prison a nerd and his protector rode the elevator; both were glad to be out of their respective homes, glad to be seeing another human being. Neither had heard from Sarah in a month and it worried them both; Casey was sure that she could handle it, he'd once spent two weeks inside a wall in Costa Gravas so he had no doubt she could handle the alone time. Chuck wasn't so sure that Sarah could handle it, he knew the person inside of her, the real person, or at least he thought he did, and what he saw was a social butterfly that'd had her wings clipped since she was a child. He knew that deep down she ached for human interaction, real genuine human interaction. She wasn't the ice-cold agent that she made everyone believe that she was; he knew that the previous seven years had been hard on her. She'd done some horrible things for her country and they had hurt her on the inside, but she'd buried those feelings deep inside of her. Chuck knew those feelings were still in there, still eating away at her, taking a piece of her soul one day at a time.

As the elevator dinged signaling that they'd arrived on the eighth floor Chuck and Casey both straightened up; the doors opened and the sign in front of them showed them the way. A single left turn and then a long walk down the hallway was all that separated them from the third member of their team. As the two of them arrived at room 832 they both secretly took a deep breath and Casey knocked. There was no answer; Casey knocked again and once again no answer.

"Walker, you in there?" Casey said towards the door loud enough to be heard inside; when there was no answer, they both shared a look. Casey reached into his back pocket and pulled out a device, it looked like a typical key card, but it had a chip in the end of it. Casey stuck the special key into the card slot and sure enough the door unlocked. Casey depressed the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open. As the two male members of team Bartowski stepped into Sarah's hotel room they were both shocked by what they saw. The room was a mess, take out containers and dirty clothes were strewn around the room haphazardly. There were books and loose papers all over the room.

"Walker?" Casey said as they both slowly walked into the room; Chuck saw a piece of paper on the floor with some writing on it, he grabbed it and read it silently to himself.

Alone, I miss them all, alone so alone; a life alone, an existence forged in solitude. NO MORE! I want to see them all again, but I'm here alone in my posh prison. I don't deserve to see them again, I'm dirty, stained by blood… SO MUCH BLOOD! A blunt instrument whose existence was simply to serve her corrupt masters. NO MORE!

I am alone, SO ALONE!

Chuck was worried as he looked around the room, Casey walked around the bed and there she was on the floor. She didn't look alive, but the sound of her shallow breaths signaled that she was merely asleep.

"Here she is." Casey said before kneeling down next to her and gently trying to rouse her. "Walker, wake up" she didn't react so he shook her shoulder a bit harder. As Casey continued to try and awaken the sleeping beauty, Chuck simply looked at his watch…

6:31 AM

"Oh boy… not a morning person, she's gonna be so grumpy." He mused to himself as he watched Casey pick up Sarah and fireman carry her into the bathroom.

"Casey what are you doing?" Chuck asked as he chased after Casey only for Casey to close the bathroom door in his face. Chuck simply stood there and listened; Casey was grumbling like an angry grizzly bear. The sound of the shower curtain opening told Chuck exactly what Casey was about to do.

"Casey I wouldn't do that!" Chuck's words died on his lips as he was interrupted by the ear shattering screams of CIA Agent Sarah Walker who was NOT a morning person.

"COLD!" Came a familiar feminine voice before there was a load of loud screams and a considerable racket followed by deafening silence. Chuck didn't know what to think, should he try to open the door and risk seeing something he wasn't meant to see or simply wait for the victor to open the door. His impatience got the better of him and he reached for the doorknob, only for the door to open quickly. All thoughts died as he saw her, it had been a month since they'd seen or spoken to each other. She looked like a drowned rat, but she was as beautiful as ever. She had a sour look on her face and said nothing; he didn't know what to say to her, but he wouldn't have to wait long for her to act. She simply closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly; Chuck was stunned, this was the last thing he'd expected. She was soaking wet and it was getting him all wet, but the feeling of her head nestled into his chest felt good.

"Hello Sarah," Chuck said cautiously as she simply enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her.

"Hey Chuck." Came the muffled words of the blonde CIA agent into his chest.

"Uh Sarah, you're getting me all wet." Chuck said nervously to her as she simply snuggled further into him.

"Yeah." She said simply, behind the two of them Casey had finally gotten back to his feet after Sarah's surprisingly brutal reaction. He saw Chuck and Sarah hugging and he had to stop himself from throwing up. He gently touched the growing bump on the top of his head and winced in pain.

"Stop playing grab ass, we've got a briefing to get to." Casey said as he forced himself past Chuck and Sarah in search of something he could use as an icepack.

XXX

In Casey's Crown Victoria two of the three occupants of the car had grumpy scowls on their faces. In the front seat Casey was driving with one hand and holding a Ziploc bag full of ice cubes against the bump on his head with his other hand, a scowl plastered all over his face. In the backseat a very tired and very grumpy Sarah Walker was still cuddled up into Chuck's side. She wore a grumpy facial expression, but Chuck could see that it wasn't because of the present company. Chuck for his part was feeling pretty good, the team was back together once again and as an added bonus the woman he loved was cuddled up close to him in spite of the fact that there was no need to protect the cover. That piece of paper had said she felt alone so if she needed a moment then he'd give it to her. They'd had to borrow some towels because all three of them were varying degrees of wet. Sarah obviously just changed into new clothes in the bathroom after drying off, but for Casey and Chuck it had meant dealing with damp clothes. The silence was a bit unsettling for Chuck's liking, but there wasn't much he could do with a grumpy NSA assassin and a very grumpy albeit adorable CIA wet work specialist.

"I just want to say, it's great that we're all back together again." Chuck said finally breaking the silence; Casey simply groaned to himself while Sarah smiled a small smile into Chuck's shoulder.

"Okay that's cool, good to see you too Casey." Chuck said, which made the formerly grouchy CIA agent laugh silently into his chest. Sarah pulled away from his chest and spoke to Casey with a smile on her face.

"Come on Casey, don't lie, you've missed us."

"Maybe a little." Casey said indignantly, which only got laughs from the back seat.

"So I asked Chuck this question earlier, but have you heard from Graham or Beckman since the shutdown started?" Casey asked Sarah as he pulled onto Burbank Blvd. and made his way towards the Buy More.

"Graham called me once to give me an update on the both of you, but that was nearly two weeks ago. The lack of missions has been driving me crazy." Sarah said as she nestled back into Chuck's side, she had to smile as she felt Chuck shift and finally put his arm around her and pulled her in even closer.

"Yeah, video games with Morgan is fun and all, but eventually it loses its luster; I've been so stir crazy that I've been teaching myself how to cook for the last three and a half weeks." Chuck said to the surprise of Sarah.

"Anything in particular?" She asked suddenly hungry for some Chuck... er something cooked by Chuck; yeah, that's what she meant.

"Mainly Italian dishes, I've really mastered homemade pizza, but my eggplant parmesan is coming along." He said and suddenly Sarah was hungry for both Chuck and things cooked by Chuck.

"God, I haven't had a home-cooked meal in a month, not having a real kitchen sucks." Sarah said to nobody in particular, Chuck was starting to get the picture that Sarah's last 34 days had been very lonely and very hard on her; Chuck filed that bit of insight away in his mental database of all things Sarah Walker for later.

"Well Ellie and Awesome won't get home until much later today so after we're done with whatever Beckman and Graham want, we could swing by my place and I could fix you something." He said quietly to her and she didn't know if she was going to smile until her face split in two or cry her eyes out; this man was too good to her.

"I'd like that a lot Chuck." She said up to him, meanwhile up in the front seat Casey was just listening to the two of them in the back and he couldn't help but smile. While he may be a hard bastard, he still had a heart and what he saw was touching. The shutdown had changed Walker that was for sure. She'd missed him and she wasn't afraid to show it.

"Maybe this shutdown will be the kick in the pants Walker needs to do something about their will they-won't they crap." Casey said to himself as he watched Sarah hug Chuck's torso like he was the only thing keeping her rooted to this earth.

"That woman is a goner and she knows it." Casey smirked to himself as he pulled the Vic into the Buy More parking lot and pulled around to the back of the store.

"Okay, we're here let's get this over with." He said as he turned off his car and exited; his words seemed to pull Chuck and Sarah out of their little moment, which he did kind of feel bad about, but they had a job to do. Chuck and Sarah both quickly separated and exited the car to join Casey at the back door to the Buy More. The cameras in the Buy More would be active so the frustrating distance between Chuck and Sarah reared its ugly head. He didn't fault her for the mask going back up, she had to be a spy now. They made their way into the home theater room and quickly got the video call up and running. The three members of Team Intersect all sat down on the couch as the small laptop screen showed a waiting symbol.

"If we're only doing the call on this tiny laptop why not do it at your place Casey?" Sarah asked, Chuck answered before Casey could.

"All of the tenants in Ellie's apartment complex are at home right now and they all know that you're my girlfriend so if you were spotted sneaking in and out of Casey's apartment while I'm supposedly home next door it would be a bad look and possibly blow your cover. Even if I was seen sneaking in and out of Casey's place with you that would still raise questions about our motives." Casey had to admit that he was impressed by Chuck's answer; Sarah simply nodded completely understanding why her superiors had no doubt called the meeting at the Buy More.

"If we have to do this briefing tomorrow, we should use the big TV." Chuck grumbled as he tried to see any detail on the tiny laptop screen. Just then the small laptop screen came to life and the faces of Graham and Beckman both appeared. Graham's normally buzzed hair was longer now and almost poofy, and Beckman looked about the same. The general's hair was longer than any of them had ever seen it before and a hint of grey hair had appeared that betrayed the fact that she got her hair dyed that red color. It was obvious both of them were operating from home.

"Hello team, let's get right down to it; Mr. Bartowski, you told Major Casey that you had flashed?" Graham asked cutting right to the chase.

"Yes Sir, I was er…" Chuck glanced at Sarah quickly before continuing. "Trying to access the Maison23 security system to see if I could check on Sarah." As Chuck said that she could see a hint of embarrassment in his features and she had to admit she was touched even if she was a bit skeptical that this story was the whole truth. "I hadn't heard from her in a while, so I was worried, I couldn't see her on any of the cameras in any of the common areas, but I did spot a pair of men who the Intersect suspects to be members of the Chechen Islamic terror organization the Al Kaadi Group." Just then he brought a picture of two men up on the screen and continued.

"According to the Intersect, these two men are the Abdulayev brothers, I don't know what their intentions are, they could just be quarantining for all we know, but the fact that they're in Burbank raises alarms. If these two are in fact the Abdulayev brothers then these two have never set foot in the United States so being here right now makes very little sense unless they were planning something." As Chuck finished speaking a swell of pride filled Sarah's heart and made her feel just a bit lighter, he was such a surprise sometimes.

"Regardless of why you made this discovery, this is good work Mr. Bartowski, these two being in the United States is a concern. It appears that they're in room 827, which is just down the hallway from your hotel room Agent Walker." Director Graham said to the team before General Beckman cut in.

"Okay team, get into that room and see if you can find anything out, if they're dirty then take them both into custody, if you can't determine if they're clean or not then forward a tip to the FBI Anti-Terrorist Unit." General Beckman was going to hang up, but Chuck spoke quickly.

"What if the Intersect was wrong and these guys are completely clean and innocent?" Sarah and Casey both gave Chuck a sideways look, but he held fast with his question.

"If you can prove that they're clean, then just leave them be." Chuck simply nodded appreciatively as Beckman ended the call. Now alone the three members of Team Intersect all stood at the same moment and made their way out of the home theater room. Just as they were about to pass through the door back onto the sales floor they heard a commotion. Three heads ducked back behind the curtain and slowly peeked through it one atop the other. They quickly spotted the offending sound when they saw Jeff and Lester stumbling through the store into Big Mike's office.

"Jeffrey, you moron, there's nothing in here!" Came a very drunk sounding Lester as he stumbled out of Big Mike's office.

"Now what are we going to do, I need my mid-morning buzz to last until at least 9:00 AM." Jeff said as he himself stumbled out of the office. Sarah ducked back in and looked at her watch.

7:45 AM

"It's not even eight o'clock, those guys are…" Sarah said as she peered back through the curtain.

"Easy targets." Casey said predatorily as Chuck heard the sound of Casey's sidearm getting cocked and ready.

"Casey, you can't shoot Jeffster, they may be idiots, but they're innocents." Chuck said in horror, Sarah had to agree with Chuck and ducked back into the home theater room to agree with him.

"Chuck is right, they're innocent civilians Casey." Casey simply harrumphed and stowed his sidearm.

"Goddamn it, I haven't killed anything in weeks and my trigger finger is getting itchy damn it!" Casey whispered grumpily.

"I know big guy, but as much as they make me want to kill them some times, save it for the Chechens." Chuck said as the three of them watched Jeffster stumble out of the Buy More and into the parking lot.

"Yeah, the Chechens." Casey said as they all three silently exited the home theater room and made their way back to Casey's Crown Victoria.

Once they were all inside Casey's car Sarah turned to Chuck and once again took up her previous position against his side much to Chuck's glee. One thing was nagging at her brain and she just had to know.

"Tell me the truth, how did you really find the Chechens?" Chuck swallowed nervously, but answered her anyways, because if he couldn't trust her with this secret then who could he trust?

"So, the part about worrying about you was true, I was worried, but to be honest there's more to it than just that. You see, back in my Stanford days I was a bit of a hacker and last week I was getting exceedingly bored so I hacked into the Maison23 systems and began looking around for something to flash on, anything that would get us a mission." Chuck said but Sarah cut in.

"Wait, you're a hacker? How is that possible it would have shown up in your file?" Sarah asked curiously, Chuck looked up front and then back to Sarah and swallowed nervously before he finally spoke.

"Nobody but Bryce, Morgan, and my own sister know my secret; have either of you heard of Piranha?" Chuck asked and suddenly both agents had a bad feeling.

"Yeah, I was briefly part of a task force that wanted to hunt Piranha down and recruit him, but we lost track of him back in 2002… right when you got kicked out of Stanford, oh my god!" Sarah said as she finally put it all together; in the front seat Casey shook his head, this all made so much sense.

"Wait, you're Piranha?" Casey asked as he came to a stop at a red light, Chuck simply gave him a nervous smile and nodded.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit, I was a white hat; I never stole, I just broke in to places to point out faults in people's security, I never stole from anyone I promise." He said quickly hoping he hadn't just incriminated himself. Sarah was stunned, she'd heard stories about Piranha, he was a ghost, but he was easily the best out there. His sudden disappearance had shocked and confused everyone; had he been caught? Had some other country captured him? Had he simply retired? There was a question that never got answered.

"Relax, we're not going to arrest you Chuck." Sarah said to her asset as she saw a hint of fear in his body language, Chuck visibly relaxed and spoke.

"So yeah, I'm probably the greatest hacker on the planet, but I don't do that sort of thing anymore, except yesterday when I hacked… you know what you already know the story so I'll just shut up now." He said nervously, Sarah simply nodded when another question popped into her head.

"So, if you're retired then why'd you hack the hotel systems again?" Chuck simply chuckled at that and spoke as the car came to a stop at a red light.

"I was losing my mind with boredom, and I knew Casey was too." Casey spun around angrily and looked at Chuck.

"What do you mean, I've been just fine for the last month." Casey said a tad bit too angrily.

"The war movies you've been watching nonstop for the last month have been getting louder and louder and louder until last week at four in the morning. I'm just minding my own business sleeping like a normal person when suddenly out of nowhere there's this massive racket." Sarah smirked at Chuck's story because he was telling it only as he could… with a passion and zeal that of child on Christmas day.

"It was just explosions and gunfire sounds everywhere so I knew he must have been watching Patton for the thirtieth time; the desert ambush scene is loud as hell and filled with those classic 1970's movie explosion sounds so I knew he had to be watching Patton again. I nearly had a heart attack and I'm glad Ellie and Awesome weren't home because they'd have been scared to death and very angry with you. You've seen what my sister is like when she's happy to see you so just imagine that kind of intensity but filled with anger." Chuck said and he swore he heard Casey swallow nervously; Casey could help the nervous gulp as he imagined Ellie Bartowski whacking him over the head with her trust frying pan. Sarah couldn't stop the giggle from escaping her mouth at Casey's reaction to the idea of an angry Ellie.

"Okay so maybe I've been a little stir crazy." Casey admitted silently as he drove them all back to Sarah's hotel room; Sarah simply laughed with Chuck, it felt good to be with her friends again.

NEV'S AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: If you don't like us using the lockdown idea, that's my bad, so don't blame Charming! Obviously the good parts of this are all mine (not). Seriously, I have to thank him for turning my 800 word outline into this multi-chapter fic. Hope you're enjoying it as much as we did working on it together (across the pond).

CHARMING'S AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: So that was chapter 1, we've already written the entire story, which is five chapters and an epilogue in total so expect regular updates every Monday morning eastern standard time. As always if you wish to opine, feel free to leave a review, we fan fiction authors don't make money off of our hard work so your reviews both good and bad are really the only repayment we get. It's the connections made and the happy readers that act as repayment for authors like us; so please leave a review and let us know what you think.

Until Next Time :D