Posted October 17, 2021

A/N: Last chapter, Casey found out that Walker had let Chuck mix his chocolate with her peanut butter and was going to move in with him. She stood up to Beckman and got Graham to go along with her well-reasoned plan. She then threatened Casey that he better not follow any illegal orders after the Beta Intersect came online. The last thing she did was ask Casey to be an NSA snoop, like all NSA agents liked to do. He was asked to do a background check on Morgan's new girlfriend, Alex McHugh.

The always valuable beta, davida6, provided a lot of useful suggestions about observing a date from a dark car outside… No, that doesn't sound right. He wanted to hear what Morgan and Alex were saying… No, that doesn't sound right either. He thought it would be better if Casey heard more, and he was right.

Evening of March 8, 2008
Outside The Last Dragon restaurant
Casey's Crown Vic

For the second time that day, Casey struggled to find his calm center. This time, it wasn't because of something he had missed out on last night. He had moved past that and the tactical move Walker was making because of it. This time was a bigger deal. In a way, it was something he missed out on for twenty years. He couldn't do anything about twenty years ago, but it was a bigger deal now.

With Casey parked in a dark car along a quiet street, the problem was right before him. Inside The Last Dragon restaurant, the beautiful daughter that he didn't know he had was on a date with the bearded troll. How could he make the problem go away? He had to figure out how to disrupt the date so it would never happen again.

Part of him wanted to walk in and join them at the table. Morgan would probably flip out and run away. Alex would see him for the coward he was. Except… Morgan sometimes showed a spine, doing things like trying to get Chuck the assistant manager job, when he had gone to prevent a bomb from going off, killing who knows how many civilians. The little man couldn't do anything to the hardened Marine, but he might do something unexpected, making himself look foolish, but incredibly brave. Bravery was an admirable quality. Casey needed a plan in which Morgan couldn't come out looking good to Alex.

New idea: all he had to do was drive through the front of the restaurant and end the abomination of a date. The new Vic could do that. That was the good thing about American cars like his.

He didn't want to kill both of them. If something happened to the idiot, it happened. If he survived, his running would not look good to Alex. That's assuming he survived. He couldn't come out looking like a hero if he didn't come out at all. Walker said to stay away from Chuck because he hadn't done anything. Morgan was different because he took Alex on a date. In Casey's book, that made him fair game. All he had to do was take out one and not the other.

Maybe he needed to wait for her to go to the restroom. Or maybe he could have her pulled away to a restaurant phone call. Fortunately, he had gotten ready, before the "date."

Morgan didn't have a car, but he had somehow borrowed Ellie and Devon's. Ellie probably wanted Morgan to date more than anyone else, so she probably offered. That meant Morgan didn't ruin things with handlebars on the first date. Since Casey didn't know it was going to happen, he didn't bug the car, but he already had a tracker on it, so following them to the restaurant was easy.

Casey also managed to bug Morgan's clothes. He couldn't pull it off at work because Morgan wasn't wearing his Buy More polo or windbreaker, but this was one of those times where it was useful to be a professional spy. The audio bug was on Morgan's phone. It didn't feel right to the NSA agent follow his daughter using government resources, but he got the audio to play though the stereo on the Vic.

"What is it?" Alex asked. "The way you are looking at me."

"It's just… You're like… Wow. And you're here with me." Morgan actually sounded amazed by something other than a video game release.

"Yes, I am. And you are here with me. I'm not working, and we have no chaperones."

Casey had to admit, Morgan was doing well. He didn't say anything about previous girlfriends, which was good on a first date. He was biased as a father, but Alex was an upgrade over Anna. And Carina wasn't real.

The two continued to flirt. Casey was glad he hadn't eaten right before this "mission" because he'd have trouble keeping it down. They were too cute, and there were some things he didn't want to hear. Unfortunately, Morgan hadn't screwed up yet. He had actually held the door for Alex like a gentleman. He hadn't pulled out her chair, though, because that would have been overboard for a capable, young woman. He seemed to be staring at her a lot, but she was doing the same to him.

Alex said, "After meeting you a week ago, I was so happy when you came back to The Pie Shack. Some of the very old customers are always sweet, and I'm really nice back, but that's waitressing at a place that gets a lot of regulars. You're the first person I looked for every time the door opened."

Casey was late by more than a day? Chuck and Sarah must have been doing a "friend thing" and inviting Morgan out to eat, where he met Alex. They hit it off, but he didn't ask her out until the second time they saw each other, which was less creepy than it could have been.

Morgan said he worked at the Buy More. As a non-college grad, he admitted he couldn't be ambitious. Alex said it didn't bother her, even though she was in college. Working there meant he worked nearby where he could meet her. That was a good point. The stupid Buy More cover job was partially to blame for the disaster playing out in front of him.

The most surprising thing was Morgan hadn't screwed up. He was awkward around customers in the store, but he was just respectful enough and just self-deprecating enough that Alex was clearly charmed. She was showing all signs that she was having a good time.

Before Casey could decide exactly what to do, the passenger door opened. He thought that it was locked. It could only be… Walker calmly sat in the passenger seat. He quickly turned off the volume on the surveillance before his partner asked with concern, "Is she a threat to Chuck? What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," He breathed out. "She's perfect."

Walker's level of concern did not change, though he suspected it was for a different reason. She asked, "What do you mean? Why are you here?"

"The problem is she's on a date with your boy toy's idiot friend." If Casey had known about his daughter a week ago, he could have prevented this disaster.

"Morgan? He's been a friend to Chuck for a couple decades. You have no right to keep a nice young woman away from him. You're supposed to protect Chuck by protecting Morgan. It doesn't work the other way. We aren't tasked with protecting everyone else."

"In this case, I have every right." He handed Walker the file on his daughter.

Walker turned on the overhead light and started reading. "She doesn't appear to be a security threat. She seems like a bright, college student with no criminal ties. Like you said, nothing is wrong with her. Why do you look like you're going to kill someone?"

"It's not her. It's him," Casey explained.

"I know you don't like him on principle. You like virtually no one who's not in the Marines, but I have a feeling this is more. What do you have against Morgan?"

Definitely, it was more. "He's not good enough for her," Casey growled.

"Who are you to—"

He interrupted, "I was not born John Casey."

"And I wasn't born Sarah Walker. They do that with spies. They give us new names to cut off ties from our former lives…" Walker paused as she started figuring it out. "You're military. Before you were a spy, you were already in the Marine Corps. Her name is Alex. Was someone in your platoon named Alex?"

Casey grunted a half-laugh. "You could say that. My name was Alex."

"So what? She has your old name…" The spy was almost there. She asked, "How long ago did you become a spy?"

"Twenty-one years." Casey could tell the instant Walker figured it out, so he filled in the part she might not be sure about. "Alex was named after her father, who died in the line of duty."

"But you didn't really die."

"No, I didn't. Alex was raised by her mother, who never married, after her fiancé 'died.'"

"Fiancé," Walker repeated. "You didn't know?"

"No."

"That's awful, Casey. I don't want to think of the pain of knowing your child grew up without you being in her life." She paused as if she was thinking about that. Maybe she somehow understood. "I'm sure you've seen my unredacted file."

Walker had assumed correctly. A few months ago, Casey wanted to know more about his CIA partner. The agent's file was harder to get than most other agents, but it wasn't impossible to get. Her father was in prison, and her mother was out of the picture. It was a typical bad upbringing that most spies had in some shape or form. Her history was worse than all others he had seen, but it wasn't surprising. Casey grunted to admit he had seen it.

"You know I lived with my father when he was arrested. The reason there's no mention of my mother is because I ran away from her with my dad years before. It wasn't twenty-one years, but it was close. That means I understand, as well as anyone. I was far too young to realize what I was doing, just like you didn't know you were leaving behind the person who would grow up to be this lovely young woman."

"Now, you understand why I have to protect her," Casey said.

Instead of agreeing, Walker gently said, "Morgan's a good person. The reason he and Anna broke up and got back together so many times is he was never the one to end it. It was all his crazy ex. She's a woman who willingly works with two people who are sexual harassment lawsuits-waiting-to-happen, but she doesn't report them to corporate HR. Ellie goes on and on about how Morgan drives her nuts, yet she keeps asking him to family dinners. Deep down, she knows he's a good guy. And I've seen Morgan and Alex together."

That's right. He hadn't met Alex, but Walker had. "What's she like?"

"I can truthfully say I like her, but now that you know about her, you can find out for yourself." Casey knew Walker was a great judge of character. "When Morgan and Alex were together, there were sparks. They were probably a little like how Chuck and I were together at the beginning." Casey started to growl. "That's a good thing. They had immediate chemistry, like Chuck and I did. Months later, Chuck still makes me happy. Hopefully, Morgan will continue to make Alex happy the same way."

The volume of Casey's growl increased. Walker said, "I didn't mean that way. I mean Chuck makes me feel special when he looks at me, and I feel great inside when I look at him, knowing what he feels about me."

Casey grunted, and Walker correctly inferred he didn't want to hear any more about her and Chuck's lady feelings. She said, "This isn't a blind date, and Alex liked what she saw this morning. They didn't even wait a day. He can be one of the most loyal people on the planet. You don't have to worry about him mistreating your daughter."

Casey didn't react to that because he didn't know what to say. Walker didn't have the best record with men, having dated Larkin. Larkin might be working for the CIA again, but to Casey, he was still a traitor that killed someone when blowing up a government lab. That wasn't Walker's fault. It just underlined Walker's bad history of choices in men.

Despite having a bad romantic record with men, she was doing better. For Walker to have been as focused as she was with her new plan of moving in with Chuck, she had to be absolutely certain she was making the right choice. Casey hated to admit it, but even if Chuck was a questionable romantic choice, the geek had proven himself a hero over and over. Whatever Casey thought of Chuck, he was an upgrade from the traitor. This same, improved judge of character was saying Morgan was good for his daughter.

Then, Walker made another good point. "If your daughter's first impression of you is a person that tried to ruin her chances of a budding relationship with a new man in her life, she might choose him over you. You might never have the chance to get to know her."

Walker didn't know how to relate to real people. She could be friends with Chuck and Ellie because of them, not her. Asking Walker was like asking the blind to lead the blind, but he did it anyway. "What do you think I should do?"

The CIA spy turned up the volume car stereo so they could hear the audio bug. She must have figured out what Casey was doing, listening in on the date. "That's a weird move."

"I need to make sure she is safe."

"Morgan is harmless. She doesn't know you exist."

They both listened for a minute. They were both laughing. Then Alex said, "I'd go to The Dark Knight with you." That was coming out in July. It seemed like Alex thought they would still be together then.

"But it might not be as good as the last one, and it's not really a date movie. Chuck and I will wait in line like we always do."

"Maybe it won't be as good, but we'll sit together in a dark theater... you know... and if it's a good movie, I'll want to see it, too. We can do that later. Chuck and Sarah are moving in together, so they can be a couple somewhere else in the theater. Plus, Sarah is like Vicky Vale, even she's though not in those Batman movies, so she ought to go with Chuck."

"That's what I called her, the day she walked into the Buy More and met Chuck. I've known Chuck forever, but if I handed him over to someone, Sarah's a good one. That means you have my full attention now, and I like everything I've seen."

"I see something you have… on your… let me get that."

Even from this distance, he saw Alex lean forward to wipe something from Morgan's beard and then stick her finger in her mouth. Then she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. She was pulling back when she laughed and lightly smacked Morgan on the side of the face. He shook out his head, and they both laughed. They were both really into each other. It was a great date.

Sarah had a useful suggestion. "I'm moving in with Chuck next weekend. Ellie's having a dinner party afterwards. You and Morgan will be invited. Morgan will be allowed to bring a date. Assuming this date continues like it is going now, he will bring Alex, so that's when you can meet. Do not make her first impression of you one that you can never repair."

Casey grunted again. Walker was right. He might not like the idea of his daughter dating Morgan, but his head hadn't completely processed the idea of having a daughter, so it really couldn't fathom her dating anyone. Morgan was better than most of the people he saw every day at the Buy More. At least Walker didn't suggest he take his old fiancé, Alex's mom, as a date. Having a "ghost" come to her door and ask her to dinner was a sure way of giving her a heart attack.

He started the car and put it in drive. "How did you get here, Walker? Should I let you out or do you need a ride?"

"I'm right over there." She pointed at a Porsche parallel parked down the street a block away. "When you got this new car, I made sure I had the GPS code so I could always find my partner."

He wasn't surprised, so he grunted in acknowledgement. Casey hadn't shared the GPS code with anyone, but Walker knew Casey would get GPS tracking for his new car after the Lon Kirk mission. If anyone could break into his place to find the code, she could.

Now he just needed to get ready to talk to the person he didn't know existed.

A/N: Casey didn't order drive thru, like he did at the same place in "Chuck vs the First Date." Morgan and Alex's first date completed without an interruption from the NSA agent. Disaster averted. Not in this chapter: Morgan and Alex went dancing afterwards at a club. Casey didn't interrupt that either. The new couple didn't have to go to Barstow (only to be interrupted by Alex's dad) or to Paris (only to be thrown in the river).