Posted November 3, 2021

A/N: Eight days ago, Alex was invited to a dinner party celebrating Sarah moving in with Chuck, Ellie, and Devon. That night, Sarah advised Casey that going to it was a better idea than making a bad first impression by wrecking his Crown Vic to break up her date. It's finally time for the two to meet.

The delay for this chapter was not due to davida6's excellent beta feedback. It also wasn't Ellie's cooking. If that was the cause, I'd still be waiting for fictional food. The wait is over, so it's time for a meal in the story.

Sunday night, March 16, 2008
Casa Bartowski/Woodcomb
Echo Park, CA

Casey stood in the Bartowski/Woodcomb living room waiting for the moment he never would have imagined would happen. It was still difficult to imagine that he had an offspring. He was actually going to meet his daughter.

He hadn't been so nervous in years—probably since his first mission as a spy. That would be before Alex was born. How should he act? He tried to put on a pleasant face.

Ellie and Devon were in good spirits. Walker and Chuck were still getting ready. The food smelled great in the oven, and then there was a knock at the door. Ellie left her station in the kitchen and followed Devon to answer the door.

Devon answered with one of his bombastic hellos. Ellie more pleasantly said, "You must be Alex. It's great to meet you. It's good that you're here, even if you brought that one." She pointed at Grimes. The elder Bartowski had probably been worried about Chuck's friend ever since he wasn't with Anna. He had a crush on Chuck's sister for years. Ellie continued, "I've heard such great things about you."

Alex extended a hand in greeting, and Ellie ignored it. Ellie said, "None of that here for the people we like." She went for a hug. After she released Casey's daughter, she sent a little bit of a look of disdain at the little, bearded man with her, and then she smiled at Alex and went back to the kitchen.

Before following her, Devon said, "It's awesome you're here." Then, he dutifully followed his fiance.

Grimes and Alex came over to Casey, the only other person in the room. He was going to meet her! His daughter spoke first. "Hi! I'm Alex." That name wasn't something Casey was used to being said in front of him. Once upon a time, it was his name. Now, his namesake was introducing herself.

Alex did not stick out her hand. He understood what she was thinking. One hug from a stranger was enough for her.

Grimes introduced him. "This is Casey." Casey tried to smile. It was an expression he was not accustomed to putting on his face.

Alex quietly checked with her boyfriend, "This is the guy you told me about?"

Casey didn't know what that meant, but he didn't have the chance to become too concerned. Ellie announced, "She's coming!" Everyone turned and looked down the hall towards Chuck's room.

It was Walker. She was wearing a red Stanford sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. Compared to everyone else, ready, but that was the point. She was a lot more casual than everyone else. They were all formally dressed. Ellie was elegantly dressed as a hostess in a dress. Alex looked beautiful, of course, so it didn't matter what she was wearing. She looked perfect to him. Casey was wearing one of his suits. Devon was wearing one, too. (At least he was wearing a shirt.)

Even Grimes was in one. Casey didn't even know Grimes owned a suit. He probably got help from Chuck in that department. Since Chuck could get into government resources, he probably found a CIA tailor and had something made up for Grimes on short notice. Now that Casey and Walker knew about his special skills, they were going to have to keep an eye out for what he might do next.

Everyone was dressed-up except for Walker. She asked, "What's everyone wearing? I thought this was supposed to be super-casual. That's what Chuck said, so I put on sweats for his alma mater."

Ellie answered, "This is your special day, so we all dressed up."

"Then, I should be dressed up, too. I can be ready in just a minute." She turned back to change.

"No, you don't. This is your home, now, so you're dressed like you're at home. Everyone else is celebrating that you're here. You're just here for the food, so what you are wearing is perfect."

"But Chuck wasn't dressed up, either," Walker said. Ellie and Devon had knowing grins. The spy started to figure out that she had been duped. "Wait a second. Chuck said he'd be another minute. Is he changing again? I want to see that."

Ellie stopped her. "No way we're going to let you go in there to see Chuck change. He'll be a lot faster without your "guidance" and without your eyes watching him the entire time.

Walker actually pouted, but before she could go in anyway, the door opened, and Chuck was there. She said, "See, he needs my help." Chuck had finished with his tie, but his girlfriend put her hands on the tie and slid them down his chest.

Chuck said, "I've got this. I wear a tie everyday for work."

Walker countered, "I straighten it everyday." Casey knew better. It was just an excuse. She didn't need an excuse to touch him anymore.

Entering the room fully, Chuck was also dressed in a suit. It was a little small for him, so it was probably that old of his dad's. It wouldn't be good for him to wear a tailored, CIA-issue suit because Ellie would ask him where it came from.

Walker gave him a light kiss and smiled as she addressed everyone. "Thank you all for making me feel so welcome here. I've never really had a home, since I was 8 years old. Now, I have one."

Ellie said, "We're glad you're here. You were always welcome here."

Walker stepped over to Grimes and Alex and said, "Hi, Morgan. Hi, Alex. It's so great you could come." Casey didn't get a chance to join the conversation. He just watched from the side and enjoyed the fact that he was feet away from his own daughter. She was perfect.

After a couple minutes, food was ready, and they all went around the table. The seating arrangement was similar to the one at Thanksgiving, except with Anna upgraded to Alex. That put Alex between Chuck and Ellie. Continuing clockwise, it was Grimes, Walker, Devon, then him. Casey was not next to his daughter. Once again, he was in the corner and could barely get a good look at Alex.

Ellie had made two homemade pizzas for dinner. One had four kinds of meat and the other was vegetarian with no olives. For some reason that was announced. Apparently, it was really important, so Chuck had advised Ellie before she made dinner.

As expected, the food was fantastic. Ellie didn't do anything halfway when it came to cooking. After a move, you're supposed to have pizza. Most people would just order pizza to be delivered. Casey had witnessed deliveries to this household. This was a special occasion, though. They didn't go with a simple homemade pizza. Ellie actually made her own dough for two pizzas. The vegetarian had large vegetables. The meat pizza had hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon.

They all talked a little bit about Walker and what she was going to be doing at the new Orange Orange yogurt shop. It was a good thing she had a cover there that made more sense. Having someone like Scooter for a boss was completely unrealistic for someone who drove a Porsche. It made more sense for her to be in charge, and it was better cover if she had to get away easily.

Moving on to others, Ellie and Devin had enough seniority at the hospital that they were going to have a little bit more regular schedules. Previously, they always seem to have odd schedules.

Grimes said Chuck ought to be the assistant manager. Walker said that she might see about motivating Chuck on that front. Her cover was better, but they needed a better one for Chuck, too. He was doing that work anyway.

Casey and Grimes were still doing the same old jobs at the Buy More. The little bearded man surprised everyone, even Chuck, when he said he should apply to be the new Buy More Sales Supervisor. "I was just kind of doing that job, seeing what little I could do, but now I have a reason to want to do more." He looked at Alex when he said that. "Plus if Chuck is the assistant manager then I'll be his lieutenant. Why would I want to do anything other than be Chuck's right hand man?"

When it's Casey's turn to talk about his future, the weakness of his cover really came to light. The only interesting thing he could say was he was going to be spending some more time doing extra training for the Reserves. He wasn't sure how training could fit in the cover. Maybe Walker could do double-duty on protection if he had to disappear for a couple weeks. That was one of the advantages of her living with Chuck. With her around Chuck all the time, Casey could go someplace if he needed to do something for his cover. While on "training," he could still do a mission if one came up because he wouldn't really be in training for the Reserves. He could go on missions in the field. He just couldn't be around the apartment complex when everyone thought he was elsewhere. This was all necessary because his cover job was believable enough.

Finally, he got to hear about his daughter. Alex was a Junior in Psychology at UCLA. Casey didn't tell anyone, but he knew that from his background check. He had seen her transcript and was incredibly proud his daughter was doing so well. Alex was planning on continuing in grad school. The most important thing was that she was happy in college.

The pizzas were devoured. No one would get leftovers. All that was left was dessert. Ellie apologized that it wasn't a souffle. Casey understood the reference. Walker shouldn't have brought that to the first dinner. The CIA-prepared dessert raised the bar beyond her cooking ability. Ellie could actually make one of those off herself, but instead, she had key lime pie. Turns out, Grimes had been by earlier with a special delivery from Alex. She didn't bake the pie but she gave one from The Pie Shack.

While Alex said she wished she made something herself, from scratch. Devon, Chuck, and Ellie said that it was a good thing she didn't. Alex was confused, not knowing what they're talking about. Grimes said not to worry and he'd tell her later. Casey knew. Everyone was concerned a homemade pie from Grimes's date would have been a repeat of the green bean casserole incident at Thanksgiving.

Alex said, "If it means I get another great meal like this, I can bake dessert for next time."

"You don't need to." Ellie said with her eyes sparkling. "We like you. New rule, though. Morgan, you can only come if Alex is here. too."

Walker said, "You don't have to cook something. I'm not going to cook something, at least for a while. Ellie has offered free lessons."

Ellie added, "You can come, too, Alex."

Grimes's eyes you're so big, he was obviously thrilled. "Isn't she wonderful?" He was looking at Alex, not Ellie, so it wasn't as creepy as it could have been. He was saying his girlfriend was wonderful, not drooling over another man's fiancée. Casey couldn't help but agree out loud. Everyone gave him a curious look—the scariest one coming from Walker. Casey stayed quiet for the rest of the meal.

When they were finished eating, Alex said, "I've got class in the morning at 8:00 AM." Most of the table groaned at the time. Only Freshmen were supposed to have classes that early. Casey always got up early, and years ago he had training that started at 7. Alex signed up for early classes. Like father, like daughter.

Alex and Grimes said goodbye to everyone before leaving. Casey also got up to leave, but Walker grabbed hold of his arm. She quietly said, "No, not you. We need to talk."

Casey asked, "What's this about Sarah?"

"It's about how you're acting tonight."

"What do you mean?"

Apparently, Walker wasn't that quiet. Devon had been helping clear dishes, but he piped up from the kitchen, "Dude, that was totally not awesome."

Still confused, Casey looked at Walker. She said, "The way that you were looking at Alex all night."

What was she talking about? He said, "I was a perfect gentleman. I did nothing wrong the entire night."

"Ellie, Wasn't Casey creepy tonight?"

The hostess replied, "I wasn't going to say something."

Walker said, "See. That's three. I'm not going to bother to ask Chuck because you know he won't say anything against you about this."

Casey knew Walker was right. Even if Chuck backed him up it wouldn't count for anything. The other spy said, "Let's go over to your place and I'll explain it to you without the audience." After seeing her so serious after being so happy and cheerful all night, the contrast and knowing that Walker could actually back it up—a frightening combination.

Fortunately, Walker ordered, "Chuck, you stay here." Casey didn't want an audience when he was "dressed down."

Chuck nodded and told Casey, "Good luck," before Walker and Casey went back over to his apartment

Back at Casey's, Walker ordered, "Sit." She didn't do the same. "You were supposed to tell Alex the truth. Instead, you spent the night creeping out Alex and scaring Morgan."

"I did no such thing. Alex said she wanted to come back."

"That wasn't because of you. That's because of my roommates making her feel welcome. Your mission was to tell Alex. Why didn't you do that?"

Casey said, "When was I supposed to do that without blowing my cover to everyone else. You and Chuck have a better cover now. I need one, too. Even if I had one, it still wouldn't have helped. I had no opportunity to talk to Alex."

Then he realized something. "Why am I taking advice from you? It's like the blind leading the blind. It's like if Chuck led Grimes on a mission."

Walker rolled her eyes at that comparison. "Don't count them out. Also, I have more experience than you realize."

Chuck and his little sidekick on a mission would be a disaster. Hopefully, he never had to rely on that. Casey had seen Walker's file. What was this so-called experience? "What are you talking about? I've read all of your mission reports. Are you talking about babysitting when you grew up?"

"I never babysat as a teenager, so that's not what I'm talking about. I know you're mentally going through my unredacted file. Not everything is in that." What was she talking about? Before Casey could try to figure that out, Walker said, "That's not important. The important thing is you've sent the wrong message to your daughter. You have a new mission. You need to fix this. Tomorrow, I'm taking you to The Pie Shack. Alex works close. You can tell her then. Got it?"

Casey thought, "Yes, Ma'am," but he didn't verbalize that. Walker was giving him orders, and he was following them, for now. He wasn't going to make a big deal about it. Instead, he nodded once.

Walker said, "We'll go from the Buy More at quarter till three." She smiled. "Excuse me. I have to help Chuck change out of his suit."

Casey didn't want to hear something like that.

A/N: They've met, but Alex doesn't realize why it was important. Don't worry. Sarah will make sure her partner completes the mission.