Ch. 15 A Return To Academia
A/N: Ellie and Mary aren't the only ones looking to make sure that Chuck and Sarah don't get so caught up inside their own heads that they lose sight of what's important. Time for the initial meddler to stir the coals so to speak. Our thanks again for the reviews and support. It's always fascinating to see where people think the story should go next, and it leaves us wondering how they will take it when they see where the plot is actually heading.
Roan sat in his office in Langley, unaware of the gathering shadows as the day outside transitioned into even. He was absorbed with reading the NSA After Action Report on the rescue of Charles. He had made it a point to read over most of Sarah's reports during her time in the field, keeping an eye out for any indication that the toll on her psyche was getting too heavy. But Sarah usually worked alone. Her reports were…antiseptic.
Despite the fact that the NSA report suffered from detachment through the constant use of military phrasing, it still precisely detailed the destruction of the Fulcrum base. And all of the Fulcrum agents unfortunate enough to have been inside it at the time of Sarah…no, the Wildcard Enforcer's assault. The photographs accompanying the report ruined any thoughts he had earlier entertained of eating dinner.
"Neutralized multiple threat axis while safely exfiltrating the professor," Odd that the reports always refer to Charles as 'the professor' or 'Mr. Bartowski'. Normally, they would describe someone of his status as an asset or the package. Roan put aside the report.
He picked up another folder, this containing more recent pictures of Sarah. He immediately noted that all of the pictures had been taken from a considerable distance, even though a college campus should have permitted far more close observation.
"Hmm, you seem to have made quite the impression on the NSA personnel my dear." In fact, the IC grapevine had been buzzing about the latest exploit of the Ice Queen. She had been elevated from legend to full blown myth. "But the Ice Queen had become infamous for being unflappable." He laid the folder down, shook his head and chuckled. He felt like he was experiencing deja vu; a calculating CIA agent charmed by a nerd. A grin began to grow on his face.
He glanced back to the folder of photos of her walking around campus, a haunted look in her eyes as she was lost in her own world when not in class. He frowned as he thought over the images, his lips pursing together as he connected the dots. "If I didn't know better, I would say that you are…lonely…Sarah." He glanced at the calendar, noting that the photos were taken a mere three days after her return to campus. It seems that Charles works his magic quickly, all the more impressive considering how oblivious he is to the effect he has on those around him. Or more particularly, on Sarah.
Roan reached inside of his desk for an off the books burner phone. He scrolled through the contacts for a rarely used number. And more's the pity. "I did have to give these two a push once, maybe it's time once again to give them a bit of a nudge." He hit the dial button.
The phone was answered quickly, and Roan could feel the fear that practically radiated out of the phone in his hand. "Roan, is everything ok? Is my family safe?"
"Relax, my dear. Everyone is perfectly safe. However, there is someone close to me who no longer appears to be ok." Roan paused, unable to avoid his habit of playing up theatrics. "Tell me, Eleanor, about your brother and Sarah Walker. And their time together at the cabin."
"What's wrong with Sarah? Is she hurt? Do I need to drive up to see her?" Roan simply grinned. Ah, the Bartowski charm. Finding a wayward stray and adopting them as part of the family.
"While I'm sure that Sarah would welcome your visit, I suspect that you might not be the exact Bartowski that she would most like to spend time with." Ellie let out a snort.
In a playful tone, with no trace of the concern she had voiced moments earlier, Ellie continued. "Why Roan, are you calling me to tell me that Sarah misses my brother as much as he is missing her? For her sake, I hope that is not the case because he is a complete sourpuss these days. Mom had been worried that Chuck might have suffered some trauma from the kidnapping and rescue. Depression, anxiety, both. That sort of thing. But he was fine when he got there. Full of life and laughter." She paused for a moment before continuing in a stage whisper. "And worshiping the ground that Sarah walked on."
"If we hadn't been so happy to get him back safe and sound, we would have been disgusted by the two of them. Right up until the day that Mom decided that there were too many people at the cabin. 'Too many people risks exposure.'" Roan laughed aloud at the spot on impression of Frost. "The minute that Sarah drove off, Chuck vanished and Mr. Grumpy-pants showed up. Moping around everywhere, right up to the time that he, my mom and dad took off for whatever government secure site they went to."
Roan leaned back in his chair, a freshly shaken martini in hand. "This is why I reached out to you. You're the only one, my dear, of the entire Bartowski clan clever enough to avoid government entanglement." Laughter tinkled over the phone.
"Roan, even though we women know that you are just trying to flatter us, we can't help but be charmed by those smooth words of yours. Besides, if it weren't for government service, my Mom never would have met my Dad." Ellie let out a soft gasp. "You're going to set them up, aren't you?!"
Roan quickly moved the phone away from his head as an ear-piercing squeal threatened to rattle the windows of his office. "It appears that I have a willing co-conspirator. I had thought of building on what your brother started when Sarah first enrolled at Stanford. We're going to need your mother's help, I'm afraid…"
}0{
As she headed towards a nearby wine station at the graduate student/faculty mixer, Sarah thought back over the last month following the rescue in Barstow. She had quickly realized that the cabin where she had taken Chuck wasn't located on any map she could find. With the legendary Frost not only protecting Chuck, but being his mother, Sarah felt comfortable that she was leaving Chuck in good hands. But leaving the following evening had still felt wrong.
She thought back to the morning when she had woken early to map out a convoluted route to get to I5 for her lengthy drive back to Palo Alto. Alone. Stephen Bartowski had assured her that he could handle looping the footage on traffic cameras so that no one would be able to trace a route back to the Bartowski cabin. Mary Bartowski had remained silent, but Sarah hoped that the matriarch of the family agreed with the extra level of discretion Sarah was showing to ensure that Chuck would stay safe. Stephen had approved of her plan, but Sarah was certain that Mary Bartowski was a tougher sell. And that her approval, or the lack thereof, could make or break this connection that she had with Chuck. A connection which Sarah desperately wanted to develop further.
Sarah had surprised herself when she had given Ellie Bartowski her cellphone number before leaving the cabin. The spy phone, not one of her burners. After Ellie had given Chuck a full checkup, she had insisted that Sarah get one as well. Especially after Chuck informed his family that it had been Sarah who had singlehandedly freed him from Roark's Fulcrum base, killing Roark in the process. Between the compassion Ellie showed her, as well as the teasing over the Virginia Hall gambit, the two formed a quick bond.
Frost had given her a cool, level glance at the revelation that Sarah had eliminated the man behind Chuck's kidnapping. "You couldn't have left him alive for me to deal with him?" Sarah had returned the look in kind. "It didn't seem like the best course if I wanted to get Chuck out of there unharmed." Frost didn't flinch. "So, you killed a traitor?" Sarah refused to back down or be intimidated. "I killed the man who threatened Chuck." Tension crackled in the room as the two determined women refused to blink while staring down the other.
Frost finally gave her a smile. A small one, but a smile nonetheless. "You'll do."
The trip back to Palo Alto had been demanding. Sarah knew that Chuck was safe, that his family could keep him secure. But her instincts were screaming that she should be the one to see to his needs, to keep him out of danger. It had been a constant struggle not to turn the car around. Intellectually, she knew that this was the best course of action. She also knew that it was entirely possible that Frost would have had them relocate to another safe house the moment Sarah was out of sight. It's what Agent Walker would have done in her place. Sarah had forced herself back into the role of Agent Walker in order to get into the car and drive away from where her heart wanted her to stay. Throughout Sarah's decorated career with the Agency, she had always been able to switch into agent mode in the blink of an eye. She had to force herself not to think through why it was that she struggled to became Agent Walker when it came time to drive away from Chuck.
She had been disappointed, although not surprised, when Chuck hadn't returned to campus. She had befriended the classmate whose revelation about Chuck teaching her computer science course had put Sarah on the path to locating her secret admirer. Mei Ling had been disappointed that her favorite teacher was teaching remotely for the foreseeable future. The loss of Ted Roark must have been a major blow to Fulcrum, but it made sense for the IC not to take chances with someone as uniquely capable as Chuck or his father.
Sarah had turned her focus on to her courses, wowing her professors in the process. Aside from Mei Ling, Sarah's academic ascendancy hadn't earned her friends among her classmates. Some of the more cocky men had tried to become "study partners" with her, which she rejected out of hand. It was clear what kind of partners they were actually hoping to become, and she wasn't having any of it. There was only one study partner she wanted…and it was more of a tutor…she shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind.
One of the women hadn't made any secret of the fact that she believed that Sarah was sleeping her way to success with the professors. Unfortunately for her, one of those professors was walking up behind her as she spouted some of her vitriol and unfounded accusations. The professor had not been impressed. He deviated from the lesson plan by having an impromptu debate with the only two participants being Sarah and her accuser. He had left the choice of literature up to a straw poll among the other members of the class.
Sarah had demonstrated her encyclopedic knowledge of Chaucer, making her debate opponent look foolish in the process. The professor had strongly suggested the other woman drop the course rather than face a disciplinary proceeding for her slander against both the professor and Sarah. As the woman was hurrying from the lecture hall, the professor told her that he would be telling his husband about the day's events. The laughter from the assembled class had chased the impertinent young woman from the lecture hall.
Up to Thanksgiving, the bright spot in her life had been the frequent phone calls and text messages from Ellie Bartowski. The young doctor had confessed that she had suspected that it had been Sarah who had posed as the budding Stanford journalist to get information on her brother. Sarah had cringed when she learned how Ellie had dug into social media to verify her suspicions about the phone call. Ellie had decided that, for a spy, it was terribly romantic.
Ellie had laughed hysterically when Sarah told her about the literature debate. While in college and medical school, she too had classmates who tried to spread unfounded rumors that her success was attributed to her looks and presumed skills in the bedroom, rather than just being smarter and better than her detractors. Her now fiancé, Devon Woodcomb, had taken considerable offense on her behalf and quickly let it be known that his girlfriend wasn't a cheater.
Ellie had been heartbroken to hear that Chuck's disappearance had been on what would have been, according to her, their first date. "You seriously got not only a Star Trek uniform, but the one for Seven of Nine? Oh my god. Chuck would have lost his mind. You would have been his favorite person on the planet just for wearing a Star Trek costume to a party. But that catsuit? Oh, I would have paid money to have seen his reaction to that." Ellie paused momentarily. "Do you still have the costume?"
Sarah had blushed, glad that Ellie was on the phone instead of in person. "Yes. I bought it, so it's tucked away somewhere. I don't get to many costume parties, so I don't know if it will ever be used again." What she didn't tell Ellie was that she had kept the invitation to the Maus party and had it professionally framed. In her entire off campus apartment, it was the only personal decoration on the walls.
The weeks had gone by without any word from Chuck. Not that Sarah had expected to hear from him. After a kidnapping and near death experience, she was sure that the Federal government and his own family were keeping Chuck very secure.
}0{
Sarah zipped her tan leather jacket a little more closed as she made her way to Green Library. She and Mei Ling were collaborating on a writing assignment, and Sarah wanted to get set up at her favorite corral before Mei Ling showed up. Their friendly academic rivalry was pushing Sarah to do her best in each class. But the rivalry fled from Sarah's mind as her feet stopped dead in their tracks as her right hand moved towards her messenger bag of its own volition.
Someone had been here. Sarah knew that the thought was a little foolish. She wouldn't be the only student to use this particular corral. But her heart rate spiked as her eyes focused on the piece of paper taped to the back of the chair she always sat in. She forced her eyes away from the note, sweeping the room to verify that which she had established when she had approached the corral. No one was anywhere near her.
*There is a little something waiting for you in the live drop. I'm sorry that it has taken so long to get it to you. -Secret Santa*
Sarah's heart was pounding in her chest. She recognized the handwriting on the card. In a rush, Sarah cast aside her backpack so that she could reach under the corral in order to grab whatever it was that he had left for her. Her breath hitched as she opened the package to see a blu ray copy of Tron. She had been pestering Ellie for months about movies and tv shows that Chuck liked in order to better understand the man who so fascinated her. But Sarah had steadfastly refused to watch Tron.
That wasn't going to happen until she could watch it with Chuck. When Ellie had heard that one, she had squealed so loudly that Sarah was halfway convinced that her eardrums had been ruptured. After several glasses of wine each that night, Sarah had speculated aloud on what she would do with her Secret Santa once she got her hands on him. Ellie had cracked up. Her statement "I would say get some, girl. But seeing as how we are talking about my baby brother, I'll go with 'eww' instead." Sarah had laughed, realizing there was quite a wine buffer between Ellie and sobriety.
}0{
(November 21st)
"You are coming to Thanksgiving dinner."
"Good morning to you too, Ellie. So nice to hear from you. Why yes, I am doing great at half past the ass-crack of dawn." Sarah knew that she was being snarky, but in her defense she hadn't had her morning coffee yet. Despite the prevalence of amazing coffee places in Northern California, Sarah had coffee beans shipped in from Baby's Coffee in Key West, Florida, a holdover from a party there with Carina that was legendary even by Key West standards. Today was feeling like a Death By Coffee kind of day. Sarah stumbled out of her bed and down the hall to her kitchen to get the beans ground up.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good morning. Rise and shine. All that good stuff. Still doesn't change the fact that in four days you are going to hop in that ridiculously fast car of yours and come to Echo Park." Ellie spoke with certainty, as though it had already been agreed upon. "I know that you are going to be on break, and that you don't have any family in the area." A pang of guilt felt like a punch in the gut, as she hadn't come clean with Ellie about her mother and "sister" living in San Diego. But, they had been rather distracted at the time by Chuck's rescue and the attempt on her father.
"Uuuh. Who is going to be there?" Sarah glared at her coffee maker, as though that would intimidate the device into brewing the coffee faster. She had climbed to the top of each of her classes, and had been pushing hard to stay there. At this point, caffeine was about as necessary to her day as oxygen.
Ellie was quiet for a moment too long. Sarah's stomach dropped at the realization of how that question sounded. "I didn't mean him, Ellie. I wouldn't expect him to come out of a safe house for Thanksgiving dinner. Despite how much I'm sure he wants to in order to see you." Sarah now felt like a heel for rubbing salt in the wound of Ellie's forced separation from her family.
"I'm sorry, Ellie. I hadn't thought about the fact you've been separated from your whole family."
"No, it's ok. I get to do secure videochats with him and our parents. I know that it's killing him not to be able to come. But I'm ok with him getting killed figuratively if that means that he's not getting killed literally." Ellie let out a slow exhale. "Even if I didn't like you so much for just being you, I would love you for a lifetime for saving my brother. But, to get back to your original question, it's just going to be you, me and Devon." Sarah let out a laugh at how the determined doctor had put her first on the list of attendees. She didn't mind at all that she now had to change her turkey day plans.
}0{
Sarah had been nervous as she approached the door. She knew that there was no threat on the other side. The concern was that all of the facets of her life that she worked so hard to keep separate seemed to be converging. And she didn't know if that would be very good, or ruin everything.
Sarah had been eager to see Ellie again. They had quickly formed a tight bond over the couple of days that Sarah had been at the cabin before Frost and Orion had declared it safe for her to return to Stanford. As Ellie knew that she was CIA, there was no need for cover stories and half-truths. But at the same time, Ellie was the big sister of the man who Sarah was smitten with, so there couldn't be full disclosure on every topic of conversation.
Mary and Stephen would have liked for Sarah to stay longer at the cabin, but Frost and Orion knew that more people meant more risk of being discovered. Agent Walker knew that they were right, even as Sarah longed for as much time with her Chuck as possible. In the end, Agent Walker had been the one driving the car out of Big Sur on a roundabout route to Sacramento where Rebecca Franco had bought a train ticket to Palo Alto.
Emma had been excited when Sarah had mentioned that Ellie had invited her for Thanksgiving. She and Molly had decided come up to meet Sarah there. None of the Bartowskis knew about Sarah's "sister". Emma had brought a ridiculous amount of food to make up for the surprise appearance. But it was Molly who was beside herself with excitement over meeting Ellie and Awesome. For a kindergarten project, Molly had picked doctor as her future profession.
Molly had finally run out of patience with her big sister and had pounded on the door herself. Ellie had thrown open the door, momentarily startled at seeing more than just Sarah there. But after half a beat, Ellie had given Sarah a trademark bone crushing hug before squatting down to be at eye level with Molly. "And who do we have here?"
Molly's impatience to meet the two doctors lost out to her nervousness at meeting someone new. As Molly quickly ducked behind Sarah's legs, Sarah handled the introductions. "Ellie, sorry for springing this on you, but this is my mom, Emma, and my little sister, Molly. Molly, this is Dr. Ellie." At hearing that this was one of the doctors, Molly quickly bounced back in front of Sarah, her earlier nervousness already forgotten.
Sarah watched as Ellie looked from Sarah to Molly, and Emma to Molly. She knew how brilliant the young doctor was, and how she had likely spotted telltale indicators that neither Sarah nor Emma shared DNA with Molly. But in addition to being a brilliant doctor, Ellie was Frost's daughter and knew how to keep a secret.
"Well, hello Ms. Molly. It is sooo great to meet Sarah's sister. Your sister and I are already good friends, and I'm sure that you and I will be great friends too." Ellie stood back up and extended a hand toward Emma. "I'm so happy that you and your daughters are here. This will make for a truly special Thanksgiving." Emma bypassed the hand and wrapped the doctor in a quick hug. Except that while Ellie was all for a hug instead of a handshake, she wasn't going to put up with the quick nonsense.
When Emma was released from the hug, she picked up several bags filled with containers of food. "I hope that these dishes make up for me and Molly crashing the party." Ellie just dismissively waived her hand. "There's no 'crashing' going on here. I really am thrilled that you are here. It was going to be a pretty empty holiday, but now we will have a house full of… people." Emma rather suspected that Ellie had been about to say family.
Helping Emma with some of the dishes, Ellie led them into the apartment. "Besides, whatever we don't finish off, I'm sure that Chuck's furry pet will drop by to eat later." As both Sarah and Emma looked confused at the pet reference, they both heard a booming voice cut in, "Now babe, you know that you love the guy." Devon Woodcomb strode into view, looking like he had just stepped away from a fashion shoot. Ellie gave him a withering stare, causing him to just laugh. "Deep…deep down you love him - a little bit. It's awesome to meet the three of you." Devon flashed a perfect smile, with perfect teeth, that made Emma a teensy bit jealous of Ellie. Then Emma flashed a smile as well, but this one due to the fact that her hyperaware daughter wasn't the least bit distracted by the handsome doctor who was sweeping her up in a hug.
Molly began bouncing up and down. "You're Doctor Awesome!" Devon, Sarah and Emma all laughed at the exuberant declaration. Ellie dramatically sighed, "Not another one. At least she's adorable when she uses that nickname. Chuck on the other hand…"
The dinner had been full of great food and great stories. With the dishes put away, Devon was helping Molly take care of an "injured" Chewbacca action figure. Ellie had retrieved the toy from the guest bedroom. Once Molly and Devon, and by extension Emma, were occupied, Ellie had led Sarah down the hallway to the bedroom.
"This is officially the guest bedroom, but unofficially, it's Chuck's room when he's in town." Sarah had walked into a room that had all of the earmarks of her favorite nerd. There was a Tron poster framed on the wall. A plethora of sci fi action figures. And a bookcase with graphic novels, fantasy novels and comic books. While she loved getting more insight into Chuck, seeing his belongings made her long to see the man himself.
Suddenly the tv came to life. "Would you like to play a game of chess?" Chuck's beaming face appeared on the big screen television.
Sarah immediately sat upright. "Chuck! You can't do that. You can't just throw out hints as to where you are when you are in protective custody." Chuck immediately looked chagrined.
But it was Ellie who spoke next. "Oh, my god, Sarah! You knew that quote? My brother dragged you into his nerddom that quickly? Devon, honey, we need to have an intervention for Sarah. She just picked up on a movie quote from War Games." Sarah gave a squinty eyed glare at Ellie, making her crack up. "The fact that you not only knew that it was a movie quote, but which movie means that you are just as big of a nerd as your brother." Ellie's jaw dropped open, but her eyes sparkled with laughter. Devon rolled over on the sofa, laughing hysterically. "She's got you there, Babe."
On the screen, Chuck winced. "Uh, yeah. Mom now picked up on the fact that my question was a hint to where we are." He leaned back over his chair to yell into the room behind him. "But it was the kind of hint that only really cool kids could figure out, Mom!" Sarah flushed as she realized that Chuck thought that she was cool for knowing one of his favorite movies.
"Speaking of movies," Sarah cut in, "you promised me a showing of Tron. When are you going to pay up, mister?" She had never thought of herself as particularly funny, but Chuck apparently found her so. "I'm hoping that we won't be here too much longer. There hasn't been any chatter about me, Orion or the Intersect since you wiped out most of Fulcrum. I'm hoping they let me return to Stanford soon."
Sarah tilted her head to the side and glared at the screen. "Does this look like Stanford to you? I thought that you were supposed to be so smart. I guess Ellie got most of the brains for this generation of Bartowskis." Ellie let out a whoop and delivered a high five to Sarah. Immediately after that, she delivered a substantial glass of Malbec to her. Sarah's eyebrows jumped up. "Your sister doesn't skimp on the wine, does she?"
Chuck smiled, before looking curiously at the screen. "What, uh…kind of wine is that?" When Sarah showed him the label from the first bottle that they had already emptied, Chuck let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's from the private stock that she and Devon brought back from Argentina when they went to a spa/vineyard in Mendoza to celebrate their engagement. She never breaks that out for the public." Sarah quickly sat upright, in doing so missed the glare that Ellie sent her brother's way.
"I love Mendoza," Sarah said excited. She had been there for several weeks on a mission once, and the mission had necessitated her staying at one of the vineyards in the area. "Where did you two stay?"
"The Vines Resort & Spa," Ellie said. Suddenly she bounced in place with excitement. "The six of us should go there. We can book one of the bigger villas. It will be great!" Sarah froze in place, while Chuck looked desperately uncomfortable.
"Uh, sis? That might be presuming a bit much. I mean, Sarah and I haven't been on a date, and you want her to travel out of the country with the whole family?"
Sarah quickly came unfrozen. "We haven't been on a date? What did you call that meal at the quaintest bistro that I could find in Carmel-By-The-Sea? I could have swung by some convenience store/gas station along the way, but no." Ellie's eyes widened as she smiled at her brother's shock. "Chuck Bartowski." Ellie winced at that. She knew what was coming as Sarah continued. "I picked out a romantic little spot where the two of us could enjoy a meal. You don't consider that to be a date?!"
Ellie came over to sit next to Sarah to give Chuck the stink eye. Again. Chuck cut his eyes away from his computer screen before audibly gulping. He then swiveled to look at the other side of the screen. "Dad? Dad? Where are you going? What do you mean you 'know that look on your mother's face'?" Chuck glanced off screen towards his mother with his face going pale, before looking back and forth between Ellie and Sarah. "I, um, guess that I call it a date?"
Sarah gave a flat look at the screen. "Just remember, I'm a trained assassin." Chuck swallowed hard as his eyebrows rose. "Noted." Sarah gave him a demure smile. "Good." From offscreen, Sarah heard Mary Bartowski chime in as well. "I'm a trained assassin too, son." Chuck whipped his head over towards his mother. "Et tu, Mom?"
Mary, however, was having none of it. "A meal for two at a bistro, Charles? A bistro in Carmel-By-The-Sea no less?" Chuck at least had the good grace to look embarrassed as Mary leaned in to look in the camera. "Ellie, maybe we should bring Sarah and leave Charles behind."
Chuck simply hung his head while the women in his life laughed at his expense.
A/N2: The stupid Intersect and Fulcrum conspiring to keep these two kids apart. But, we did get some banter, and it did start to get fluffy. These two are crap at communicating, but fortunately, Ellie and Mary were on hand to straighten things out. Sarah's Secret Santa has finally made an appearance in this story.