Sarah vs The Apology

A/N: So this story is "canonish" and takes place after S 3 Ep. 14 Chuck Versus The Honeymooners. It was inspired by an opinion of another fan. I believe it was from the "Oh, Chuck Me" blog and probably by Francesco Scinico. I say probably because I can't find the specific reference. He is very thoughtful, though, and has a lot of opinions on the accursed season 3.

Update: The concept (although a different agent involved) was also touched on by 2old2write in his story "Chuck vs The Diary." and in "Res Red Test '' by arcaneobsidian.

Many thanks to WillieGarvin for his beta work but as always, all mistakes are mine.

All characters are the properties of Warner Bros.(I think) but definitely not me and no profit is made or intended...just having fun.

Sometime after 26, April 2010

Washington DC

"Thank you agent Walker for attending this debrief in person. I assume the project in Los Angeles is moving forward as expected?"

"Better than expected, General. Thank you for asking."

"Of course, of course. Now to the matter at hand.."

"General...It is unusual for a face to face meeting like this to be scheduled. Usually a video conference is sufficient. Should I be concerned…?"

"I don't know yet. But specifically to answer your question, this meeting concerns a delicate situation and quite frankly I would like to keep this situation in a small circle, if possible."

"I see."

Agent...Sarah, I need your feedback on a situation. Thankfully the threat has passed and the damage was minimal but you are one of the best agents I have worked with. You are one of the best regardless of the organization and I would like your opinion on this case."

"Absolutely, General. Anything I can offer, I will."

"The story begins, as it often does, with desire. A top agent in their day, familiar with all aspects of intelligence techniques, had worked their way up the ladder and had finally seen the rewards of their labors. They were successful in many areas, but they were especially successful with one project of national importance. But they wanted more. As I said ...desire."

"It was then they were approached by a man with a way to satisfy that desire…"

Sarah was starting to get intrigued. After recent events with Carina and the arms smuggler Karl Stromberg, she suspected that the General was referring to some sort of honey pot situation. "General, both Chuck and I were both involved with Agent Miller's last case in Los Angeles…"

"No, this is not about that particular situation... "

"Of course, please continue."

"This man offered the agent an even greater opportunity to succeed…"

The General seemed to be looking at the far corner of the room, but soon refocused on Sarah.

"Do you remember what you told Chuck when we were trying to teach him how Jill Roberts would try to turn him into her asset?"

Sarah's face blanched. She raised her eyebrows in question. This was starting to get uncomfortably pointed in her direction.

"You of all people should know that everything is recorded in Castle, Sarah."

Sarah had put those memories of that time out of her mind. She would much rather relive the train ride from Paris. It took her a minute before replying.

"A good spy knows what their mark wants. She will test you when you are most vulnerable...emotionally exposed."

"Well, to continue our story, the agent was tested. The project was in a state of upheaval. Personnel changes, questionable futures. The man promised stabilization, even more success, if only he would be permitted to have his man work with the project. The agent agreed.

"The new man...well, he had his own agenda. He had been working in obscurity for some time, but due to the project's focus, had risen quite rapidly to a position of high esteem. He was now in place to have his way. And he did. So much so that the agent could not control him, could not rein him in once he was in place. He practically destroyed one agent and compromised another one before he was stopped."

"General, this is an interesting story but why tell me? Why am I here? So far I have heard nothing that I can offer any help with, much less in a personal meeting."

"I understand Sarah, but that will come...I hope. The meaning of the story is that even experienced people familiar with certain techniques of manipulation can still fall prey to those techniques. If you haven't already guessed, the agent was me. I wanted you to know that because I want to apologize."

"Apologize? I don't understand."

"We have retrieved Daniel Shaw's personal effects, his notes...and his video logs."

Sarah feels an ache. An ache in the pit of her stomach that starts to radiate. She tastes bile in the back of her throat. Memories of her betrayal and fear. Fear that she hopes she never has again. Yes, she feared for her life, but what feared most was not seeing Chuck again. Fear that she would meet her eternal sleep with her image of him broken on the ground.

"General…"

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I made a deal with the devil and was coerced to insert Agent Shaw onto your team. Apparently what was considered exemplary intelligence work was simply one man's ambition, obsession with the death of his wife and the need for revenge.

"After his ascension to become the head of the Ring operation and his receipt of a full debrief on the Intersect team, he decided on his course of action. He had no use for the Intersect. He considered it too unreliable, too unstable. He was aware of what happened in Prague…"

Sarah could feel her eyes sting. Did they know? Did Shaw know?

"...How Chuck had utterly failed after having shown so much promise. So he set his eyes on a more reliable, dependable and most importantly, successful member of the team. Someone he considered an apex predator, but one that could be controlled if properly cultivated. A personal enforcer, if you will."

"NO! Hell, no. General, Daniel trained Chuck, pushed Chuck against my wishes. Against Casey's wishes. How can you say that he didn't value the Intersect? He wanted a working Intersect agent. He and Chuck were both in agreement."

The General noticed that Sarah didn't even address the other implication.

"Perhaps it appeared that way, but his video logs say explicitly otherwise. Remember 'a good spy knows what their mark wants.' You just said Chuck wanted to be a spy…"

"But it makes no sense to invest that much in a person you don't believe in. Daniel spent a lot of time with Chuck."

"It actually does. You see, according to his log he saw your concern for Chuck as an obstacle to his plans. Remember he knew of the team before you knew of him. He studied the videos of you, Casey and Chuck in Castle. He saw the connection between you and Chuck and identified your concerns about Chuck being a spy. He saw you watch the security video, Sarah."

That Bastard! That was for her! It was only for her.

"Your vulnerability was Chuck. He needed to eliminate him before he could cultivate you.

It was after that that he decided on a plan of action. He needed to separate you from the Intersect, from Chuck. Pushing Chuck would accomplish that one way or another. Chuck would fail and be removed from active duty. You would be emotionally exposed or he would have a working Intersect agent loyal to him operating in a far off posting. Either way, you would be isolated. Fortune fell into his hands when Devon Woodcomb was mistaken for Agent Carmichael. He had his opening. He was able to manipulate some Ring contacts and flush Sydney Prince out and observe the team."

"He pushed Chuck to become a spy like himself, like you. The belief being that your strained relationship with Chuck would break and you would separate yourself from Chuck. He was confident he would be able to turn your loyalty to him. However, the connection between you and Chuck, strained as it was, was too strong and he was frustrated in his attempts with you. Do you remember the reports you were writing at that time?"

Sarah remembers trying to be professional but (even if she didn't admit it to Chuck) she was aware of the mild flirtation and extra attention she was receiving from Shaw. It was unwanted and she did mention it in her reports at the time.

"Dr. Woodcomb being involved with the President of Costa Gravis was happenstance. Dr. Woodcomb being mistaken for Agent Carmichael was coincidence, but the appearance of Hannah Christianson was enemy action. She was employed by 60mn, a Paris based company that is associated with the GDE. Which also happened to be where Evelyn Shaw had been 'employed.'"

"We're unclear of the logistics involved as they were not mentioned, but this mission to Paris was the second time Chuck was put in danger by Agent Shaw without backup and not having all the facts of the mission or its objectives. The first being the Prince incident. I should have pulled the plug on the project but was prohibited by POTUS."

And I should have protested more.

"The fact that Hannah Christianson was on the same flight and happened to have the seat next to Chuck on that flight and then tracks him down 6000 miles away and immediately tries to initiate a romantic relationship should have been a red flag. No one thought to run a background check?. We ran an entire background check on the sandwich girl and that was at least plausible."

"Another damned brunette" Sarah grumbled. "I was so worried about Chuck spying and changing and that it didn't even cross my mind to check on her. Then Daniel assured us she was clean."

"Makes sense. He was controlling the flow of information and dis-information," General Beckman replied dryly. "Whatever else that would have been found remains a mystery. There is nothing to see now and "Hannah Christianson" has physically disappeared as well."

"I can see your case for believing Chuck was manipulated, General, but I was never compromised."

"Really Sarah? Sarah, you were the primary objective. Always. There was never any question with Shaw. Hannah severed your connection to Chuck which was tenuous to begin with after his return from Prague. You were isolated and he knew it. He purposefully made sure he was the only one you could confide your personal concerns. Being the sympathetic ear, making sure you knew that the both of you shared the same feelings. He made sure you knew he was attracted to you. You were seeing Daniel Shaw romantically within days after Hannah seduced Chuck. You became Shaw's right hand."

"It didn't happen that way...I cared for him and he cared for me. At least until he found out I assassinated his wife. I wasn't his right hand…"

"Sarah, listen to yourself. I suppose he cared for you, but only to the extent of having you as an asset. Again, we have his video logs. As for the rest, who backed up the benching of Chuck? He was being actively trained and then nothing. No attempt to continue training even with the Intersect malfunctioning. No attempt to solve the fact that the Intersect had stopped as soon as you were romantically linked with Shaw. Who allowed Shaw to attempt to kill Chuck when Castle was taken? What would have happened if Chuck hadn't walked out of that door in Castle? What if he had spent more time securing Castle?He was moments away from death from his own team."

"General Agent Casey was there as well. He didn't interfere…"

"It is my understanding that he was in the process of intervening but that's not the point. You were on camera allowing Shaw to move forward with the destruction of Castle. And what about the Red Test, Sarah? You have gone on record objecting to its continued administration and yet you administered one to Chuck knowing it would affect the dynamics of the team. After Chuck's attempt to engage with you after the Red test, you rebuffed him and reiterated your intention to accompany Daniel Shaw to DC…"

"Those were orders from you General. I was just doing my duty."

Sigh "Yes they were my orders to you. I'm well aware. The point remains. You were leaving the operation to go with Daniel Shaw to head up the Ring task force. Followed by the embarrassing display of emotions after he left for the Ring headquarters. The point is that you had no objections and video recordings in Castle reveal that was still your intention even after Chuck single handedly saved Shaw and the operation against the Ring. You accompanied Shaw on two spur of the moment missions with no backup after that. The truth is you were Shaw's agent up until he tried to kill you."

Sarah knows that's not true. Well, not entirely true. Although she hadn't been done with Daniel until after Chuck's proclamation of love for her in Castle. Well at least on a personal level. When laid out as the General described…it didn't look good and she wondered. She and Chuck had reconnected before the mission to the warehouse and the revelation of her Red Test. But she had gone on that mission and the one to Paris without a thought or concern, while Chuck was left to languish in some sort of spy limbo without a word of objection or concern expressed to Daniel.

Sarah was roused from her thoughts when the General added " I was serious in my admonition before. I am very happy for both you and Chuck, but please be careful. This whole sad affair got away from us when we stopped thinking like spies and let our emotions rule. Emotions are great but we can't let them make us victims to predators like Daniel Shaw."

Sarah studiedly agrees." You've given me a lot to think about General. I don't think I have anything to add…at this time... but I may follow up after I've had time to consider your revelations."

"Good. I would expect nothing less. Now let's put that to rest. I think you understand now why I wanted an in person meeting just between us. I also don't think Chuck needs to be privy to this information either. Moving on, I have a new mission for you and Chuck. I will contact you both in Burbank within a week or so."

The meeting ended, Sarah headed to Reagan airport and home to Burbank with a lot on her mind and her heart. She and Chuck could have been done so many times but they still got together. In spite of an apparent full on attack, they made it and she was going home. Home! What a concept. It has been a long time since she had a home. She has lived in many places, but now she has a home because Chuck loves her. He loves her! Sarah makes herself two promises. One: she is going to make love to that man as soon as humanly possible and two: She will spend the rest of her life loving and learning from him.

A/N: The idea that Sarah was being manipulated to become an asset is very intriguing to me. Do I think this happened? Not really, just some crappy writing by tone deaf writers but it was neat to explore. Francesco Scinico does have some opinions on the matter that are quite thought provoking.