Interlude: Bent But Not Broken

I'm a rock.

Go ahead and sear me.

I won't budge an inch because I'm a rock.

Go ahead and beat me up.

I'm a solid rock.

Go ahead and leave me in the darkness.

I'm a rock that will shine all alone.

I don't break, I don't burn, nor do I decay, as I go against nature's way.

I survive. I'm a diamond.

— Gwang Jin, Creator of the masterpiece called Itaewon Class

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Fort Belvoir, NGA Campus East.

This is not good. This isn't how things were supposed to go.

Admiral Kernan had been prepared for sabotage by the likes of Beckman and Graham. He knew them well enough to expect they would try something. But at the same time he doubted they were daring enough to attempt any serious monkey business, at least while Chuck was under his supervision.

What he didn't anticipate was the involvement of an extremely successful and highly efficient elite black ops unit, whose members had now turned against the very same country they once took an oath to serve and protect till their last breath. In addition to all that, a Serbian madman thought it would be fun to bomb the very same NATO celebratory event his cousin Adam was supposed to headline. His being one of the best speakers and debaters in the US intelligence and NATO communities was a reason he was considered a rising star by colleagues on both sides of the political spectrum. In fact, Adam insisted he attend the ceremony as well but learning that Graham wanted the young Bartowski to host the government's Intersect really soured his mood and he ultimately decided not to go there, much to Stanfield's annoyance.

Admittedly, Michael had always, from his days as a small and stupid boy, to the amazingly handsome and unforgettable Admiral he was now (at least for someone around his age!), had that annoying type of super-macho persona; the kind where guys liked to pretend they were tough enough not to need any help. Come to think of it, all the cool people acted that way. That stupid nerd (who was actually pretty damn funny as long as you weren't the butt of his jokes) who used to follow Mary around all the time and pretend he wasn't hungry when she offered him food once they finished their workout session was kinda like that as well.

Not that it helped him any (as far as he knew), especially in a situation like that.

Effing Bartowski! The brat never knew when to stop, did he?

Chuck. Michael felt his stomach drop. This is all my fault. The fact that things worked out as well as they did – which wasn't very well at all, but it could have been much, much worse – seemed unreal to him.

Stupid ungrateful little bastard! Always trying to make the world a damn better place. Except Mary was merely a few years younger than me and she had children much earlier than I did – under a secret identity, for crying out loud – and that idiot husband of hers helped cover her tracks. Seriously, weren't you supposed to be an honest man, Orion? How could you let Mary hide so many... things from her own brother?

Damn... I guess Chuck isn't little anymore. But still. Ungrateful little nerd.

Poor Stephen, Hartley and...

Michael shook his head several times. He might be aging but there was absolutely no way he was old! He would argue that point to death if he had to! In the end, despite his misgivings about his wayward sister, Chuck and Ellie were his own flesh and blood. Part of his family. Just like his own children. And damn his entire being to hell if he was going to let Stephen's brat suffer due to that thing inside his head.

"How is he?" Michael asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Alive and kicking. Just a little bit battered and bruised," said a man clad in a grey suit. He was known simply by his code name – Black Terrius – and was the special agent in charge of Michael's personal security (as well as Chuck's for the most part, given how his original bodyguard asked for reassignment out of nowhere). "Mister Bartowski recorded parts of his conversation with Major Casey and Agent Walker and sent it to us. It seems he somehow accidentally downloaded most, if not all the intel while decrypting the data on that PDA. That's how he figured out the nefarious bombing plot."

What sort of trouble did you get yourself into this time, Charles? Exposed the fact that you have a supercomputer inside your brain to stop a terrorist's plot, did you? You bleeding idiot. You do realize it's going to be much harder for me to keep things under wraps now? If you came to me beforehand we could have dealt with this with much more subtlety and finesse. Now I'll have to spend time protecting you from the Wicked Witch and Prince of Darkness before we even get to think about dealing with that thing inside your brain.

The Admiral steeled his face into a grim frown. "Is he suffering any major side effects?"

"Right now? Even Mister Bartowski isn't completely sure himself... But he noticed something extremely odd about the programming."

"What did he mean by that?"

Black Terrius trailed off uncertainly, not answering right away.

"Well...?" The Admiral cocked an eyebrow at him, starting to feel a little impatient.

"Sir... It's just a theory..."

"Spit it out."

"Well, according to Mr Bartowski... how should I put it... He never really described it properly in his conversation with my NSA and CIA counterparts. But there are traces of... Orion's original programming. His... presence is there. The same genetic encoding algorithm which led to the creation of the Intersect in the past... it was there. Like a piece of the puzzle waiting to be solved. It's almost as if... it's almost as if whoever wrote this code was well acquainted with the inner workings of the Intersect..."

Michael paled. His greatest fears were now confirmed.

Oh God no... Oh please... God no... These people weren't only trying to steal government intel but they are building their very own Intersect as well! To be able to replicate one of the most ambitious, complex and highly cost-intensive projects ever undertaken by the US military... Just how resourceful and influential is this rogue spy outlet?

He straightened his back, looking up gravely. He knew, thanks to a little detective work done by an operative he trusted, that Larkin went to great lengths to remove Chuck from the CIA's recruitment drive. He also knew about Chuck's miraculous memory retention rate. Larkin being part of this rogue spy outlet didn't really sit well with him.

"I want every single piece of information out there regarding Bryce Larkin and his involvement within the Intersect project, including all of his redacted files," he barked. "Get a direct order from Dennice if you have to. Tell the dunderhead it's an emergency."

Black Terrius swallowed uncomfortably. He knew the Admiral and Dennice (the Director of National Intelligence) were old friends and even served in the same unit for a long time, but hearing him swear like this was kind of weird... and hilarious at the same time.

He didn't know whether to freak out or laugh out loud.

"Sir, are you sure it's a great idea to not tell Mister Bartowski about the you know what? What if he figures it out on his own?"

Michael nodded with a dejected sigh and let out a puff of smoke. "Sometimes I wonder why I don't just tell him myself. I kept the dark secret about his mother's identity because I wanted to spare him the pain and anguish I once went through. That didn't turn out as anticipated. All of us can attest to that. I guess I just want him to enjoy normalcy and peace in his life, as much as he possibly can."

Black Terrius frowned. He couldn't even imagine the possibility of having that thing inside his head and bearing the responsibility that came with it, as Chuck had done – unwittingly and unwillingly – for the last couple of years. That sort of stress would have turned the hairs of lesser men gray.

He blinked upon realizing what the Admiral had just said. "Wait, you mean you're going to tell him everything at some point?"

Michael simply responded with a sad smile. He glanced at the plain golden necklace with a small Starfleet insignia in the middle, always lying on the left corner of his table, hidden from most people's view. It was a birthday gift from his sister, given to him many years ago. It signified his trust in his own family, and was also a constant reminder of her betrayal.

Flashback

Growing up, he was the unwanted lazy bum of the family while his sister was the apple of their parents' eyes. They loved her unconditionally, went to all sorts of activities she took part in and always gave her the benefit of the doubt. A part of him wanted to believe they loved both of them equally, but he knew that logic was lopsided.

He was always stuck with annoying chores and was constantly berated by their parents for not being bright and intelligent like his sister, or not going outside like his sister. After a while, it reached the point where he started feeling like a failure, both as an older brother and as a person.

One day, his sister decided to approach him out of nowhere. Knocking on his door, she said, "Mike, can I come in?"

"Yeah, give me a second Mary!" Michael responded with a sigh. Moments later the door to his bedroom opened, which was fairly clean as he didn't like to give his parents any more reason to nag at him than they already did. The only exception was a little desk which had all sorts of books and comics spread over it.

"What's up? Don't you have cheerleading practice today?" He asked out of curiosity, not expecting his little sister of all people to show up today. Being the ridiculously average, underachieving, lonely shut-in that he was, he was pretty much used to being left to his own devices nowadays.

The ever charismatic and confident Mary looked away, slightly embarrassed, before presenting a gift bag to her older brother. "I skipped out today, because... because it's your birthday Mike. You never come celebrate with anyone, not even me, Mom and Dad. I get that you really enjoy reading novels, comic books and music and all that, but you really should let some people into your life. I feel like my brother is a ghost sometimes, so I wanted to get you something this year. Maybe soon we can find things we both enjoy so we can start to feel like part of the same family."

Taking the gift bag from his sister, Michael looked at her. Mary's eyes sparkled with pride of sorts, but the embarrassment was also there, easily noticeable by the fact that she never looked at him in the eyes. Taking that as a hint to open the bag, he reached in and pulled out a chain.

Lifting the chain, a rather plain necklace was revealed. It consisted of a fancy golden chain with a small charm on the end. The charm showed a distinctive arrowhead, the very same symbol from his favorite TV show of all time, Star Trek.

"I know you really like those science fiction television shows with aliens and stuff like that, so I wanted to get you something that would remind you that even if the world inside those fictional TV shows is where you really like to be, you'll always have a piece of that world here in the real one, with us." Mary blinked away a tear from her eye.

Michael looked at the necklace in astonishment, then to his little sister, then back to the necklace. "Mary, this is awesome and all, but you really didn't have to buy me this with your allowance. How long did you save up to buy this for a brother who had nothing to do with you?"

"Only a few months!" Mary replied quickly. "Only like... 5 months or so," she finished, looking away in embarrassment once again. Michael was dumbfounded. His little sister really cared for him that much? Even though he'd done nothing but fail as an older sibling? No guidance when she needed it the most, no help on homework, nothing.

And yet Mary was willing to sacrifice this much for him?

She really is the better sibling after all. Michael sighed, then brought Mary into a full hug. "You really didn't have to do it. I know you wanted to buy that fancy red dress for your prom, and you spent all your money on me. Either way, thanks Mary. It really does mean a lot to me."

Mary sniffled and buried her head into her older brother's shoulder, smiling and trying desperately not to cry. "I'm glad you like it Mike. I wanted your 20th birthday to be super special, even if you didn't want to spend it with anyone. Soon, you will be going into your first year of college and you're about to leave behind everyone you knew from high school, so if you remember anyone, I want it to be me: your one and only little sister."

"Ha! I will never forget my one and only little sister." Michael let out a smile, something that was a rare sight nowadays. Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, he let go of Mary and turned around. "Now tell me how to get this damn thing on. My hands are too big, so I really suck at connecting things like these," he joked, causing Mary to burst out in a fit of giggles.

Michael had struggled to gather the funds necessary to go to college, so he was undoubtedly a few years behind. Working two part-time jobs and saving whatever he could was the only way he could afford it; even then he was going to require the laughably high-interest student loans. Buying that red dress for his sister's prom wasn't going to be easy. Perhaps he should try for Annapolis like his classmate Andrew. He heard the Navy paid for everything, including tuition, room and board, medical and dental care costs. They even covered the cost of laundry, but that seemed too good to be true. If he managed to pass all those tests and get in, he might be able to prove to everyone, especially his parents, that he wasn't a complete failure, and that even he was worth something.

A man, who wanted to serve his country with pride and honor. A soldier. A hero. A leader. Just like his idol Captain James T Kirk.

And he would be able to use his funds to buy that beautiful fancy red dress for his sister as well.

Perhaps it was time to let the world see how cool and awesome Mary's big brother truly was.

Flashback End

"I will always carry the burden of Frost's failures and her past sins. Even if she only exists as an obstacle I have to overcome, no matter how much I despise and hate her, she and I have to live together... That's what big brothers are for, after all. I am risking Chuck and Ellie's ire by not telling them for as long as I have, but one day they will need to know. The burden placed on them isn't just going to disappear, Agent. No matter what I do, no matter what he does, it will always be the elephant in the room. To anyone involved in our world that doesn't know Charles personally, they will always see the shadow of his father's innovation over him, if they even see him at all. I could reiterate to the likes of Diane and Langston over and over again that he is a hero, not some pawn to be sacrificed in the name of the greater good. But that won't do him any good. In the end, they must form their own conclusions on the matter."

"Sir, what if they reach the wrong conclusion?"

"They can choose to make him a company scientist. They can choose to make him a field analyst. They can choose to make him the chief architect of the new Intersect. I really don't care about trivial stuff like that. However, if they think they own him and can dictate how he should live his life, or deprive him of the ability to choose what he wants to do in his personal life just because of their petty desire to control what is inside his head, then they will have something far more worrisome than their tarnished reputations and a rogue spy outlet messing with their most important operations." His eyes hardened into gleaming chips of ice, his lips curled into a menacing grin.

"Me."
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