Posted August 23, 2019

A/N: To get the truth, you sometimes need to know who's out there.

November 9, 2007

A fist pounded on the apartment front door, rattling it against the frame. Normally, it would be frightening, but Chuck and Sarah were expecting guests. There was only one person that should be, someone showing the courtesy of knocking while also sounding he was going to run over everyone when he entered. However, no one was expected for fifteen minutes. Chuck was holding a phone to order food from a Thai place, and he looked to Sarah, who was setting the table. When safety was a concern, she was in charge.

Sarah set down her silverware and pulled a gun, just in case. People she'd want to shoot for protection wouldn't knock, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. For the night's gathering, Sarah was determined to try to look like the stereotypical hostess. She wore a flowered cotton dress and one-inch heels instead of her more typical spike heals that were typically over four inches and doubled as weapons. She might have a gorgeous housewife look instead of the supermodel look, but that didn't mean she wasn't armed with a thing holster under her dress.

The plans for the evening had started as a dinner for family and friends. Originally, Sarah thought she'd like to have Ellie, Devon, and Casey over to their new apartment as better opportunity to get to know Morgan's new girlfriend, Alex. Sarah never thought she'd be a super-hostess like her sister-in-law, but it'd be fun to have people in her and Chuck's home for a change. They'd just be having delivered food, but Sarah wanted to set the table and have a more "real" dinner, even though she wasn't cooking for seven. When she set her mind to it, Sarah could cook—both food and improvised explosives. Seven was a big step up from one or two, unless she was actually making something like a smoke bomb, and she didn't want to experiment gastrically on her family and friends during her first dinner party.

The evening's objective had drastically changed. A few nights before, Ellie had been hospitalized after a poisoner had come looking for nuclear codes that had been transferred to her by a dying man when the Bartowski and Woodcomb/Bartowski couples went out for sushi. The dinner was the first night which Ellie had been home for the full day. When Team Bartowski (that is two Bartowskis plus Casey) acquired the first antidote vile, Chuck gave it to Ellie, a decision that Sarah completely understood. Just the concept of Chuck being poisoned made her a little nauseous, but Chuck being Chuck, of course she understood him saving his sister first and then remaining at Sarah's side as they worked to find enough for everyone. Fortunately, they tracked down the gymnast-poisoner, and everything turned out ok for everyone—except maybe for the man who had poisoned them. Frankly, Sarah didn't care if the little man ever did a handspring again after she shot him in the leg. Part of her thought she should have shot him again, maybe in the kneecap, to make sure.

With Ellie's hospitalization, the dinner at the Bartowskis was delayed and transformed into a "welcome home" party. Ellie coming home wasn't the only cause for a party anymore. Devon couldn't wait any longer, so he popped the question to Ellie the first hour after she returned home. There was never a doubt at her answer. Now, the get-to-know-Alex gathering was a welcome-home/engagement party. Trying to take the pressure off, Ellie told Sarah that it was just a dinner for the family and their closest friends. They'd have a full engagement party in the courtyard the weekend after Thanksgiving. The night still felt more important to Sarah than it had originally.

Through the apartment door, Casey called, "It's me. It's important." The pounding was from who they thought it was.

Chuck opened the door and said, "Please don't tell me we have to call this off because of a national security emergency. I didn't even flash."

Casey walked in, scoping the room. "No one else is here, right? The sensors didn't go off."

Sarah said, "It's just us. What's wrong?"

"You need to take Morgan into custody. Let's go."

Chuck moved to stop him from leaving. "Hold on a second."

Casey looked down. "Arm."

Chuck moved his hand which had lightly touched the NSA agent's forearm. "Right, sorry. Why don't you have a seat and tell us what the problem is?" He motioned to the couch. Casey looked at it, then looked at Chuck like he was nuts.

Sarah said, "Is Morgan in danger?" She still held her gun, though it was down to her side.

"Yes."

"From whom?"

"From me. I came to get you so I don't kill him."

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds. Sarah finally said, "Chuck is right. Sit down, take a deep breath, and tell us what this is about."

The three of them took seats in the living area: Casey in a chair and the Bartowski couple side-by-side on the couch. Sarah called Ellie and asked her and Devon to come over at 7 instead of 6:30. She said she had to do some work for a client account who was invested heavily in Asia. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange didn't open until 6:30. She had been saving that cover story for a few weeks. She figured every so often she'd need to explain why she brought Chuck home late from his day shift when he had been reviewing the dailies at her office. Apparently, no one cared why Chuck stayed late at her private office where they would not be disturbed. While Sarah called Ellie, Chuck called Morgan and asked him to bring Alex later, as well. He heard Alex in the background say that it gave them just enough time.

With the other guests delayed, doing whatever awesome and amorous things they came up with, Chuck and Sarah returned their attention to Casey. The NSA marine explained, "I completed my background check of Alex."

Sarah said, "You said Morgan was in danger from you, not her. What did you find out about her?"

"Not her—her mother."

"I haven't heard of a spy named 'McHugh.' Have you crossed paths with her before?"

"As John Casey, we've never met. I haven't seen her since before I became John Casey."

"Oh." Sarah looked at Chuck who didn't seem to understand. Casey looked like he wasn't going to say any more, so she said "It's ok, John. Chuck knows that I had a lot of fake names when I was running cons with my dad growing up. In the last two years, I've had four identities. It makes sense that you were someone before becoming John Casey."

Chuck looked to his wife curious. "Four? I know of three. Sarah Walker, Eva Anderson, and Sarah Bartowksi."

"Sarah Walker wasn't my birth name, but it was my legal name, which worked for the marriage certificate. The fourth is Sarah Carmichael."

"Oh yeah. I love her too." Chuck leaned in and gave Sarah a peck on the lips. Casey groaned.

Chuck sat back and said, "I guess when we all were suffering from the effects of truth serum the other day, I should have asked Casey what his name is."

Casey said, "John Casey has been my legal name for a long time, too. The truth serum didn't matter. Your wife and I were trained to resist the effects of truth serum in case we're captured and interrogated. We don't need something like pentothal with you because we can always tell when you're telling the truth or not telling us everything."

Sarah redirected the conversation back to Casey. "Alex's mom knew you under an old identity?"

"Kath thinks I died."

Sarah's eyebrows shot up. "Kath? You mean Kathleen? I assume you dated or something. A fake death can be awkward to explain. I've only had one, and that was a 24-hour ruse on a mark that we captured right after, anyway. How long ago was this?"

"Twenty-one years."

This stopped Sarah for a second. "That could be a problem. A big problem. Was there somebody else? Is that why you broke up?"

"No. She would never do that. We got engaged before I shipped out that last time. I didn't know she was pregnant when I went into covert ops."

Sarah carefully asked, "Are you sure it didn't happen when she was grieving, after she found out about your supposed death?"

"Alex was born about nine months after we got engaged."

"Not to put too fine a point on it, how can you be sure you're the father?"

"I'm sure. My previous name was Alex Coburn."

Sarah said in almost a clinical way, "Kathleen thought you were dead. She still could have picked that name to honor you."

"I knew you'd speculate something like that. Just to be certain, I confirmed it with a DNA test using a long hair I took from Morgan's Buy More jacket earlier today. I have equipment at my place. Also, while I was waiting for results, I pulled her electronic birth certificate record. It has Alex Coburn listed as her father."

Chuck, who could not stay quiet any longer, said, "Congratulations?"

Sarah gave a look to Chuck that clearly said he should have remained quiet.

Sarah then said to the NSA agent, "This is unexpected, but it won't be the craziest thing we've had to deal with this year. It might not even be the second oddest coincidence. The fact that you faked your death to become a spy has been a secret for two decades. It can remain so for one more night. Tonight is Chuck and my first night having this many people over, and I am not letting you ruin it. Tonight gives us a chance to get to know Alex better as a person—something that you should want the opportunity to do, especially considering the circumstances. However, tonight is not about any of us. Ellie came really close to dying much more recently than twenty years ago. Not only that, but she and Devon have something special to celebrate. Tomorrow, we can figure out what to do next. Whatever it is, Morgan is completely off-limits. He's my best-friend-in-law, whatever that means. One thing it means is he's as good as family. You need to be on your best behavior tonight, Major. Got it?"

Casey caught the order at the end and reluctantly agreed. Then he said, "She's only twenty."

Sarah said, "I don't know what you were doing at Annapolis when you were twenty. When I was twenty, I was a junior at Harvard, I had completed six months of training at the Farm over summers and school breaks, and I had worked in support on two 'low risk' missions in Europe. Alex is old enough to make her own decisions, and while Morgan can seem a little over the top at times, he's a great guy. He and Ellie were the only people that stuck by Chuck through disappearing parents and Stanford. Like I said, he's family."

Sarah got up and poured Casey a scotch. "Here. Have this, and tonight, be the sweet guy Ellie always says you are."

No major, or even minor, incidents happened at dinner. Sarah served the food on china, making it feel like a normal dinner. Sarah hadn't ventured cooking the main course for dinner, but she had prepared apple crisp for dessert. (It was simple—only apple pie filling sprinkled with Jiffy cake mix, baked, then served with ice cream. Everyone loved it.)

As they all visited with each other after dinner for a while, Morgan not-so-subtly told Chuck that he needed to talk to him in private out in the courtyard. Chuck couldn't tell him that the area wasn't really private. In fact, that area was recorded, whereas his home only had the people in the room that might overhear them.

Outside, they didn't take a seat on the fountain's edge. Morgan was too excited, rapid-firing a bunch of questions as he stood. "What do you think of her? Isn't she fantastic? It's like she just…fits."

Chuck responded, "Alex is really nice. I'd almost say that you got a good one."

"Almost? Just almost? Right. You can't say more because you're off the market. Sure, Sarah is out-of-this-world and perfect for you, but sometimes she seems almost too perfect—like Sarah Walker was this special person created just for you. Alex, though. She's perfect for me. I've only known her eighteen days, but I never thought something like this would happen to me. She wants to be around me. You'd think that I'd be more upset that Ellie is off-the-market, but I finally understand the difference between one goddess that is unattainable and another that likes me for me."

Chuck put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're counting the days. That's great buddy."

"I do have one concern. I'm not used to having to keep other potential suitors at bay," Morgan said. "Casey was doting on her all night."

Inwardly, Chuck agreed. Casey wasn't good at being subtle. It wasn't what his friend feared, though.

Morgan asked, "Do you think I have to worry about him going after Alex? That guy scares me. I've got a few years on Alex, but in many ways, she's the mature one of the two of us. We both know it. We've even joked about it with each other. It works for us because we balance each other out. However, Casey's old enough to be her father."

Chuck could barely hold in a laugh. "I suppose he is. You don't have to worry about Casey being a romantic rival. Just don't rub your relationship with Alex in his face." No father wants to see his daughter with anyone. "He has a hard enough time with Sarah and me, being that we're his neighbors, are always around him, and are in an extended honeymoon period." And he has to be around us on spy missions. "Casey has a hang-up on what he calls 'lady-feelings.' You know about his military background, right?"

"Sure. He used to serve full-time and now is in the reserves."

"That's his story." The truth is he's scarier than that. "I'm fairly sure he's still married to the service, so he's not looking to have a new girlfriend anytime soon," Chuck reassured his friend.

"Ok. If you get any signals that things are different and that I should be concerned, please let me know. I really like this girl and don't want to be put in a situation where I'm dueling for her affections. That's not my strong suit. This is one of those times superpowers would be useful."

Chuck knew of one superpower, and the Intersect wouldn't help. He said, "Don't worry. If something changes, I'm sure you'll hear about it." You'll be told to run for your life.

"Thanks. Everyone is coupling up. Well, except for the tough-guy, but he's made his choice so in a way, he is too. Sometimes I'm surprised he isn't full-time military. It suits his personality. But if his reserve job outside the Buy More does it for him, good for him. I'm really glad people like him are keeping us safe, as long as they leave the good ones for the rest of us. Let's go back in so I can get Alex away from Ellie before she tells her about my prom date."

"Yeah, that would be weird."

The two returned to the others. The ladies were laughing up a storm, while Devon was still trying to convince Casey to go white water rafting with him. All in all, the party seemed to be going well. It's not like there was a body on the floor, which earlier in the evening had seemed a possibility.

When it was time to leave, everyone profusely thanked the host and hostess. Ellie and Devon walked the few feet home with Ellie's arm tightly around the back of her fiancé. Alex and Morgan walked hand-in-hand, leaving through one of the complex's arches. Casey looked about to walk after then, when Sarah stopped him.

"Sit."

Casey looked like he didn't want to at first, but when he got a better look at Sarah's face, he realized that it was an order. He followed orders.

Sarah and Chuck joined him in the living room area.

"What was that?" Sarah asked.

"What?" Casey proffered innocence. "I was a perfect gentleman."

"Ellie and Devon were too happy with each other to notice what you were doing. Chuck, Morgan talked to you outside. I doubt it was about making plans to see the new movie, Beowulf. What did Morgan say?"

"He thought Casey was hitting on Alex," Chuck said. Sarah gave Casey a knowing look.

Casey protested, "I was just being nice."

Sarah ignored him and asked Chuck, "And what else? You might as well tell us. Remember, we have video."

"He said Casey is old enough to be her father, which is kind of ironic because he actually is her father. Morgan didn't directly ask, but I think he wants protection, or at least someone in his corner if it came to a battle between him and the big guy, here. Morgan has seen your workout equipment, and we've heard Devon say his workout routine isn't too extreme because you're in a lot better shape than he is. It's not a competition thing for Devon. It was his way of saying it can't be too much for him because your morning runs when I'm not running with you are regularly twice his. I digress. The point is I think Morgan knows that if I back him, you will do the heavy lifting."

"As the Buy More assistant manager, you're also the boss of all of the salespeople," Sarah said.

Casey scoffed, "Like this walking computer can tell me what to do."

Sarah said, "On missions, we know that if it comes down to it, I'm in charge because Chuck is more likely to listen to me, but as the professional spies on the team, we're both his superiors. However, an important part of our job to maintain his cover. For Chuck's Buy More job, you need to follow his orders because that maintains his cover and yours. Chuck, you're management. If one employee intimidates another employee in your charge, what's the next step? What's done if it's really bad?"

"We'd try to resolve it by talking to the person. If necessary, corporate HR could be pulled in. If it was bad enough, somebody could be fired. Jeff and Lester have shown the bar pretty high for bad behavior, but it's possible."

"John," Sarah seriously addressed the man who only recently realized he was a father, "if you want to do your cover job the way you should, you will not get in the way of your co-worker and his girlfriend."

Casey grunted. That wasn't a grunt of agreement, but it at least indicated he had heard.

Sarah said in a no-nonsense tone, "Obviously, we need to do something about this situation. Alex shouldn't keep thinking her father is dead, and Morgan shouldn't be motivated to keep her away from you without knowing what you're really just trying to be a good father. To Alex, you've been dead for twenty years. She might pick him over you. Tonight, I invited Alex to have lunch with me tomorrow. I'll bring her back here, and tell her the truth. I'll invite you to join us when it's time. You probably should say that your background, including the reason your death was faked, is classified and that you can't go into the details. You can tell her the truth that you never knew about her. She doesn't need to know that you're still working as a spy. You might have missed out on the chance to clean your guns when the prom date came to pick up your daughter, but it's too late for that. Alex and Morgan are clearly crazy about each other. If you want to have any kind of father-daughter relationship with her, I suggest you not make your first act trying to push away her boyfriend. From the looks of it, Alex is already on Morgan's side, so she'd choose him over the father whom she grew up without."

Casey grunted again. "Now that you're married, you're the expert on family relationships?"

"My dad is in prison, but the two of us have a better relationship than you have with your daughter, which is none."

Chuck added, "I know exactly what it's like to be abandoned by a father. Trust me, having an absentminded and missing father is worse than having a father that I thought was dead. I still love my dad, whatever his reasons for checking out. Sarah and I are here for you, as long as you don't mess with Morgan and Alex's relationship. I've known Morgan twenty years, and I've never seen him like this. Please don't try to get in the way of them being happy."

Casey reluctantly said he'd cooperate. Sarah and Chuck said goodbye to the NSA father.

Alone in the apartment, Chuck pulled Sarah into a tight hug. As they held each other, Chuck said, "It looks like Team Bartowski has a daughter to worry about."

"Go ahead. Talk what you want to talk about," Sarah said.

"What?"

"I know you want to talk about our future kids."

"Kids? As in plural? I wasn't going to say anything. I figure we'll have a little Woodcomb around here before one of ours. I don't know if you even want multiple kids, or any kids for that matter. I didn't marry you because I wanted to father your children."

Still holding Chuck tight to her, Sarah said into Chuck neck. "You married me because I drove you to Las Vegas as fast as I could."

Chuck laughed, shaking them both through their hug. "That wasn't the only reason. Sure, a family would be a wonderful thing for us to plan together someday in the future, but that's not why I let you whisk me away. I married you because I love you, no matter what our family looks like. A couple months ago, we thought we'd just have time together when we could find time between your missions. We're so great together, that was better than nothing. Now, we get to start our life together side-by-side. Who knows what the future holds?"

"I don't know our future, either. I never thought I'd be a mother, but the idea of having your kids someday is thrilling. Right now, I can't imagine how it would work. I updated my DMPA shot last week, so it's not starting soon. We need to find Orion and deal with the Intersect in your head before we make plans for a family. Then we'll see. Until then, we can keep 'practicing.' Speaking of which…"

Sarah pulled Chuck by the hand, leading him down the hall.

A/N: Casey is a week and a half late, or twenty years too late, depending on how you want to count it. He shouldn't get the the way of Alex and Morgan, anyway. Where's the tetrodotoxin, just in case?

In Nemesis's Ex, I had Chuck and Sarah get married really fast, but there won't be a Bartowski pregnancy in this one. It's not practical with Fulcrum out there. The TV show Alias has a pregnant spy and newborn baby in its finale season. Farscape had a great, post-series, made-for-TV movie with the great line during labor: "Shooting makes me feel better." There's only a couple chapters left, so there won't be something like that here.

Songs:
"Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (original or musical. The 2017 live action movie wasn't out yet.)
"Youth" by Daughter