Posted October 21, 2021

A/N: In the first story, "Morgan vs the Spies," Morgan learned about the spies around the Buy More. Before learning a little of the actual truth, he thought it might have something to do with Chuck's secret past. He was wrong about that and wrong about Chuck and Sarah, but that changed by the end, so Morgan was right… eventually. Now, he knows more than Sarah and Casey. (Ignoring the Intersect, but who cares about that? Morgan doesn't. It's better this way for everyone.)

Sarah is moving in with Chuck, but she doesn't live there quite yet. She has to move. Normal people get 'friends' to help. Is Casey one of those?

davida6 didn't keep secrets in this chapter. He just did another great job as beta.

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Moving Day
Maison 23

Casey, Chuck, and Morgan reached the door of the CIA agent. After today, it wouldn't be where she was stationed anymore because the three of them were helping her move. Casey still wasn't happy about the reason, but Walker had provided a good tactical reason that he wouldn't want to argue with.

Moving to where you were stationed was simpler for people like him in the service. You went where you were told, and if it wasn't at a base, a government crew would take care of things like installing security. CIA agents like Walker seemed to have some say in the matter of where she lived. Initially, she said no bunker, which dictated where both she and Casey lived. About a week ago, she told Beckman and Graham that she was moving in with Chuck. The higher-ups went with her call. Her reasoning made sense, but surprisingly, they went with it, rather than assert some control.

Chuck knocked on the door, and Walker said they could come in. It was a good idea not to walk in unannounced. There could be weapons sitting on the bed, and they didn't need to try to explain them to Morgan.

Inside, there was no need for concern. When Casey was drafted to help because of the size of the Vic, he thought he would be making four or five trips today. It might take more, considering this many adults and only one and a half cars. Walker's Porsche was "half a car" because it had almost no space to move things. Looking at the things on the bed, apparently Walker wasn't like most civilians with boxes and boxes of things to move. It might be one trip.

On the bed, there were a few garment bags with dresses. Those wouldn't fit in her car, but it wasn't two or three car loads, like he expected. The heavy bag for his gym in his converted-bedroom was ready to go. There was one carry-on suitcase, one large duffel, and one of those designer carry bags she could put over her shoulder. That bag was still open and there were a few weird T-shirts out on the bed to be added. They didn't look like something she would wear.

"Thanks for helping, guys." Walker greeted Chuck with a quick kiss. Ugh. Thankfully, he was the only person who would receive lady feelings like that.

Chuck said, "I've been wondering why there has been room in my dresser for more T-shirts. You have some here."

"I've been rotating some to sleep in the last few months." Casey thought that was a good cover story for keeping a change of Chuck's at her apartment. "Every few days, I get a couple out of your laundry that seem like you. When the smell goes away, I rotate."

"Sneaky. That explains why nothing seemed missing. Nothing seemed to be missing because they would always show up eventually. The missing shirts were reappearing, and new ones were disappearing."

The shirts weren't for cover, after all. Today wasn't a normal mission, like Monday wasn't, when he went to lunch with Chuck and Sarah on what ended up being a date. He looked forward to actual missions where the two of them would not share unprofessional stories like that.

Chuck grabbed the pile of garment bags, which would be easier with his height. "Where are the rest of them? I've been worried about the room in my closet."

"I store some things at the hotel dry cleaner. I have until the end of the month to figure out something else." Walker shrugged. Storage in the new Castle would help.

Morgan picked up the duffel and asked, "What's this?"

"Some extra things that didn't fit in my suitcase, like underwear."

Morgan dropped the bag back on the bed, embarrassed, and he switched to the suitcase. Casey and Chuck looked at each other like the other was going to take it. Casey had no intention of taking it. He picked up the boxing bag. His entire job was to help with that and to provide a big car. Chuck probably couldn't lift the bag.

Walker provided the voice of reason. "Chuck, Sweetie, could you please take it? You might have to make two trips." Chuck started to blush, but his girlfriend was having none of that. "Seriously? They touch things that you were touching this morning." That argument worked, and Chuck picked up the bag to carry, adding to everything else he had. He was one of those fools that overloaded and took one trip instead of taking two.

"Go ahead. I won't be long." The three left with the things they had.

The agent probably needed to secure the room before she left. The CIA would sweep the room later, pulling out their gadgets. Walker would take firearms, her throwing knives, and any other weapons.

The three men and Walker's stuff easily fit in an American car built in the 80s. It wasn't designed in some foreign country to fit in a shoe box. Driving through the streets between Maison 23 and the Echo Park apartments, a black Porsche went flying by. There was definitely no need to wait for Walker.

When they got to their destination, the speedster was out of her car, waiting for them. She had two smaller bags, one of which was for her laptop. She told them she had already been inside with her larger bag. In other words, she had been there a while.

She wasn't a "fragile flower," needing the help of "strong men," so she gave one of the smaller bags to Morgan and took the suitcase. He was the fragile flower. What did Alex see in that guy?

Casey took the heavy bag out of his trunk. Morgan hadn't said anything about it, which was a good thing because the NSA agent didn't know what the cover was supposed to be for it. Maybe Walker had already told him one, or maybe it made sense that she worked out.

He tossed the bag into his apartment. He'd put it upstairs in the home gym later. Locking up, he heard the others inside Chuck's room, because the window was open.

It was the little man who was dating his daughter. "Where do you want this? Over here by the computer? Wait, that's right, you probably don't want it here. This is where the Chardonnay goes. The Piranha needs his space."

Walker said, "What does that mean?"

"Ixnay Iranha-pay."

What were they talking about? Morgan knew something about Chuck, and Sarah didn't. Casey made his way over to the window.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought Sarah would know." Casey didn't like being left out of the loop about this new information, so he stepped through the window to find out what they were talking about.

Morgan's attention was diverted. "Hey, that's the 'Morgan door,' so that's my door. Casey gave Morgan a stern look, and Morgan flinched, looking at Chuck for assistance.

Chuck looked at Sarah, and she said, "We will be securing that now that I live here. Got it?" Morgan nodded, having understood his new place in the pecking order. She repeated her question, "What do you mean by The Piranha?"

Morgan looked completely caught. He slapped his hand over his mouth, then looked at Casey. He only did that briefly because he was still scared to look at the large man. Morgan finally said, "It was a nickname Chuck had in college because… well… Chuck got this reputation…" Chuck was turning beat red. There was obviously a sexual implication, something Casey didn't buy for a second.

Fortunately, the agony of the awkwardness ended with a phone call on Morgan's cell phone. Morgan looked and his face lit up. "It's Alex! I texted her when I realized we're going to be done early."

Ditching everyone when they might not be 'done' would be rude, so Casey snatched the phone out of Morgan's hand and started to read the message.

"Hey, Stud. Come over when you're done helping Chuck and Sarah."

Morgan said to not scroll down because there's a picture. Casey dropped the phone onto the bed before he saw something he didn't want to see. It was the text equivalent of a booty c— No. He would not even finish that thought.

Morgan said, "I should call her. Sorry to bail, but… you know… I want to say for the customary post-move pizza, but… you know… " He took the phone and went out the Morgan Door. Unfortunately, earlier that day, he had left his bike at the apartments, so he could be at her place in ten minutes. Casey did not want to "know" what Morgan and his daughter would be doing in ten minutes.

One agony was ended, but by another painful circumstance. It was too late to do something about that without coming across as the villain to the daughter that still didn't know him, so he wanted to go back to the first problem.

Chuck wasn't back at that other issue. He said, "Those two have really hit it off. We aren't going to have pizza anyway. Ellie's making homemade pizza tomorrow for dinner tomorrow night."

Enough of a food distraction. Walker didn't buy Morgan's story either. She didn't sound happy when she asked Chuck, "What did Morgan mean by The Piranha? I can understand 15 different languages. I don't know Klingon, but Pig Latin is easy enough to figure out, and I don't even count it as one of the 15. Don't try to run with his story about it being a name the other woman at Stanford called you." Her mind had gone there, too. "I know you're a good nibbler, but I also know you weren't a ladies' man and were too shy to brag about anything like that, even to Morgan. What are you hiding?"

Chuck was no longer blushing in embarrassment. That meant the name wasn't sexual. He looked worried. Walker said, "I said no secrets, no lies."

"That really isn't fair. I have that rule, but you don't."

With the look Walker was holding, Casey wondered if Chuck had a death wish. She said, "And you have all of the government's secrets in your head, something I am willing to look past as long as you tell me when you flash. This is something Morgan knows about, meaning it's a different kind of secret. Those kinds of secrets aren't allowed. When I told you the rule, you said gifts are a special category, but we are more than nine months from Christmas, and you don't know my birthday."

"It's not like it really matters anymore, but I was going to tell you in the next week. Maybe later when…" Chuck looked at Casey's expression and said, "Maybe now would be good. Fine. I'm The Piranha."

Both spies didn't understand. The obvious assumption was "The Piranha" was some kind of code name or alias, but what did that mean? Chuck said, "Right. You two didn't work with FBI Cyber Crimes, so I shouldn't expect you to know the name. Not that I committed crimes. Technically, I did because hacking into government computers is a crime, but I never copied top secret information and sold it, and I didn't blackmailed someone."

"You're a hacker?"

"Was. I haven't done anything like that since Stanford accused me of cheating and stealing test answer keys, which you know I didn't do. I could have, and I didn't want any sign that I had the ability. Morgan and Ellie know about it because I started hacking in high school to change some info in government records. That was so DCFS wouldn't do something after Dad walked out on us. Ellie was already old enough to be my guardian, but it was taking a long time to approve that because of bureaucracy, and DCFS had an appointment to interview us. I just changed it so the approval completed before they came to take me away. No one at Stanford knew about it because everyone would have wanted me to change their grades, and that's wrong."

"You're a good hacker?"

Chuck bobbed his head a little and said, "I suppose so. I've gotten into a few places, just to see if I could do it. I never did any damage, though. I assume I have an FBI file… Well, The Piranha does. Otherwise, you would have heard about me before you came."

Casey and Walker were both still skeptical. Working as a Buy More Nerd Herd didn't make you a computer expert. Going to Stanford didn't make you a great hacker. Walker wanted proof. Nodding at the computer, she said, "Show us."

Chuck was hesitant at first. "It's been a few years. Also, I don't have a bottle of Chardonnay for 'The Routine.'"

"The Routine?"

"It's this thing I did… You know what… It doesn't matter. When I started I didn't do that because I was 15. I only started The Routine in college when I was going somewhere really difficult. If you just want a demonstration, I don't have to use it to break into someplace like the Pentagon." The Pentagon!?

"Oh. I know. I'll bring up the FBI's file on The Piranha." Chuck sat at the computer and got to work.

Walker asked, concerned. "Is this safe to do from here? What if they track you?"

His fingers flew on the keyboard. "It'll be fine. It looks like I'm currently at Norfolk. If they try to find out who got in, it'll point to someone else."

"How did you get my password?"

Chuck's hands continued to madly type away. "Not yours. I don't have it, but I could probably get in if I had to. It'd feel wrong. I'd rather wait for you to tell me your birthday, but know that if you don't, I might have to look on my own, so I know when to give you a present. No, I'm using an NSA account."

Casey started a low growl. Chuck said, "Not yours. Not Beckman's either." With a flourish, Chuck finished what he was typing, and a dossier appeared on the screen. "This is Captain Pike. That's a picture of Bruce Greenwood, the actor who will be Captain Christopher Pike in next year's Star Trek reboot movie. I just created his account. According to this, he joined the NSA fifteen years ago. I'm in a hurry, so I didn't fill in his record or resume."

He joined years ago, but Chuck just created his account? He made up someone? "Captain" Pike. He was even a nerd when he was being clever. At least he didn't use some made up name like Captain Kirk.

Chuck narrated more of what he was doing. "Now, I'm logged in as Chris. He's retrieving the file of The Piranha. Here it is." He leaned back to show what he had found.

The screen showed the FBI file of The Piranha. He was inactive for over five years. There were two threat levels. One was how likely he was to get into a system: Very High. Another was the terrorist threat, based on the damage he'd done: Very Low. There were no leads, but if he was found, he was considered a top candidate for recruitment as a white-hat hacker.

Walker said, "Do you know what this means? You were made to work with us when it wasn't our choice, but both Flemming's image retention test and this FBI file both show that you were wanted anyway."

To think, Beckman had insinuated that Chuck was expendable. With how fast he went into Norfolk, NSA, and FBI systems, he was too valuable, even without the Intersect. He knew reporting this up had to be considered carefully. The Intersect information was the most important thing. They couldn't keep Chuck's skills a secret forever. Walker would probably love to have her boy toy as a field analyst.

The woman said, "Two months ago, I didn't know about two of your world-class skills." She kissed Chuck on the neck as he shut things down.

Two? Hacking and… Casey wisely went out the Morgan Door back to his apartment. Some things, he never wanted to see.

A/N: Now, Morgan no longer knows more than Sarah, but he doesn't know who Alex's father is, and Casey doesn't know what Morgan knows. Also, Alex doesn't know about anything other than she and Morgan like each other… a lot.