Inside Sarah Walker

Chapter 3: She's Batman

"Now I need to back track just a little, you see while all this was going on in Budapest, my old partner Bryce Larkin was also busy. It seems that he had broken into a top-secret facility and stolen some very important files. These files were called The Intersect, and they were designed to put top secret information into an agent's brain so that they could have instant access to all the information that government agencies had gathered. By putting them together they could be compared and combined for maximum use. Now this whole thing was an experiment started by a brilliant engineer, his name was Stephen J. Bartowski. That's right kids, your granddad, he was a spy too and a hero, I'm sorry you never got to meet him, he was a good man and Dad loved him very much. I didn't get to know him as much as I would have liked, but he was a kind, wise supportive man who loved his children very much, he didn't much like that I was a spy and that Daddy was drawn into the life, but he was very nice to me. He sacrificed a great deal to keep Daddy and Aunt Ellie safe, much more about his story later, a lot of this stuff overlaps and I am trying to keep it all straight.

"So anyway, Bryce steals these files, but he figured out that the people who ordered him to steal them were traitors so he downloaded those files to a special device that could hold them all. He needed someone he could trust; so, he set up his device to send them as an E Mail to his old college pal. I pieced this last part together from the stories I got from Dad and Bryce. Now I wasn't there, and I got this part of the story from Grandpa John, he was there. Bryce got out of the building somehow, he was a damn good spy. He got to the parking lot, just in time to run into Major John Casey, who shot Bryce in the chest. Freaking out yet, just before he "died" he pushed the button sending out that E Mail, want to guess to who?'

"Well, if you guessed Dad, good job, and that explains why your dad's file was on Graham's desk. My assignment was to find out if Chuck Bartowski had opened that E Mail and downloaded those files. I caught the next flight from D.C. to Burbank, California to locate and meet this guy that would have the most profound effect ever on my life, causing changes I could never have imagined."

"The first day I met your dad, he was working at a store called the Buy More, at one point we owned that store in Burbank, but that part comes much later. It's weird, but as I tell you these stories, I am starting to realize how all of these events are woven together, and if one thread wasn't there the whole thing would come apart. It makes me realize how special my life with Dad, and you guys is, all three of you.

He was standing behind a desk, labeled the Nerd Herd. His job was to fix electronic devices that customers would bring in for repair. When I walked up to him, he was standing with Uncle Morgan, oh did I forget to mention he worked there too, his job was to sell those devices to customers, he was not really very good at it, but Dad looked out for him.

"What Dad didn't know at the time, is that I was sent there by the agency to make sure he didn't have those important secrets I told you about, and if he did to make sure he couldn't use them to jeopardize national security. Oh, I told you, I jumped ahead before, and you see Dad wasn't a spy, he was just a guy, a sweet, charming man-child, his picture did not do him justice, he was adorable, just downright cute, he had the most beautiful deep brown eyes I have ever seen, he turned out to be the best person I would ever meet. Wow, I keep losing track, he distracts me that way. So anyway, I walk up to this guy, and he is on the phone, singing this weird song about somebody named Vicki Vale, yes I know you know who Vicki Vale is, but at the time I didn't."

"When he sees me, Daddy drops the phone and starts acting all nervous, he tried to explain that it was a song about some comic book character from Batman, I was pretty snide when I said, and that makes it better."

"I had him right where I wanted him, you see my job was to gain his confidence, keep him off balance, and find out what he knew." From off camera, "Your Mom was the hottest woman to ever walk into Buy More, she stole my heart instantly, I immediately got lost in her beautiful blue eyes, I couldn't even talk." Sarah looks across the room, "Charles Irving Bartowski, one more word out of you while I am telling this story and I will…." Chuck interrupts her "But Honey that is a very important part you weren't saying." Sarah raises her Voice "Chuck, don't you need to walk the dog?' We hear chuck call out, "here Shaw, come here you little bitch, who's a good girl, wanna go for walks." We hear a small dog yapping. Sarah laughs "I am going to tell you how the dog got her name a little later, suffice it so say your dad has a bizarre sense of humor." The door opens and closes. Stephen says, "that was such a weird name for a dog, I never got that."

"Now where was I, oh yes, so I hand him my phone which I had "damaged" so I would have a reason to talk to him. He takes the phone from my hand, takes a quick look at it, pulls out his screwdriver and fixes it in like two seconds. Now here's the part where I am supposed to chat him up and get him to talk with me, maybe ask me out so I can get more info.

Just then a little girl dressed as a ballerina walks up to the desk with her dad. The father explains that he recorded his daughter's performance but couldn't get it to play back. Daddy looked at the camera and showed the man that there was no tape. The little girl's dad got very upset 'oh no my wife's gonna kill me' he said. That little girl was as upset as her dad, did I tell you that your dad is my hero? He was right from the start. He turned to Uncle Morgan and said, I need the wall, I had no idea what it meant, I thought it was kind of bizarre code. He didn't think twice about walking away from a woman clearly hitting on him, to help that little girl and her dad.

"Minutes later the large TV screens on the wall were filled with images of Ballet dancers and classical music filled the store. One of the other store people had set up a camera and was ready to record when Dad gave the word. Daddy took the little girl by the hand and walked her to stand in front of the TV screens. That little girl looked terrified, Dad knelt next to her, and they talked, I couldn't hear what they were saying, I was too far away, and the music was playing. However, I could see the look on Daddy's face as he talked to her, he was so soft, so gentle, whatever he said calmed that frightened little girl, she smiled and nodded her head, and took her starting pose."

"You don't know how many times I have seen him talk to you three that way, and every time I do, I fall in love with him just a little bit more. Sarah wipes a tear from her eye. Now don't you tell him that…, forgetting that when they see this she won't be around anymore, …or I'll never get him to stop talking."

"So anyway, just as the girl starts to dance, my phone rings, it is my boss at the CIA, I didn't get to see what happens next, but I leave my card with my phone number for Dad, and I go out to my car to talk."

Off camera, the door opens and closes. "Excuse me kids, Daddy is back with the dog, he's going to want his dinner, and we all know we don't want him cooking for us." Sarah stands up and walks towards the camera, and the screen goes dark.

The screen turns back on; Sarah comes around in front of the camera and sits down. She takes a sip from her glass of wine. "Dinner dishes are done, finally got you two into bed, and I convinced your father to go play Call of Duty with your Uncle Morgan, they are Aunt Alex's problem now, I swear it's like raising a big kid. I realized that I keep calling Chuck, Dad, Molly I don't want you to think that excludes you, Chuck has always thought of himself as your dad, he loves you like his own."

"So where was I? Ah yes, my boss, his name was Graham. So, Graham tells me, my assignment is over, and I should come back to headquarters in DC. He tells me that Casey would be coming to take care of Bartowski now, and he wasn't my problem anymore."

"Now I know this is going to be hard to believe, but that big old teddy bear you call Grandpa John is a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, he's retired now but once a Marine always a Marine, and he was the top assassin for the National Security Agency. There is no doubt in my mind that he would put his life on the line to protect our family, including of course, his daughter, Aunt Alex, and Uncle Morgan, your god parents. Funny how people can change, but he used to love to say, 'I break things, I don't fix them' he was talking about people you know. "There was something about Chuck Bartowski, that made me want to protect him, can't really say what it was, I just knew I had to. Sarah smiles into the camera, bet you're glad I followed that instinct."

"I convinced my boss to give me one day to make sure there were no copies of the info, you know those Intersect files that I told you about. He gave me 24 hours to clean this whole mess up, and then he wanted me back."

"I decided the best way to make sure there were no copies, was to break into Dad's apartment and snoop around, did I mention I was a spy? At that time Dad lived with Aunt Ellie and Uncle Devon, that was before they were married. So here I am in the middle of stealing Dad's computer so I could check his hard drive, and in walks Dad and Uncle Morgan. So, there I am standing with his computer in my hands, dressed head to toe in black, you know ninja style. They are shocked and upset that I am trying to steal the computer; after all, it is a nerd's favorite toy. Uncle Morgan started to throw stuff at me, and I kicked everything back at Dad, it was funny, almost like a Three Stooges film, Sarah shakes her head, and laughs, Dad loves watching that with you guys, all four of my kids in one room laughing their brains out, me I never got it, but I love watching the four of you watching it. Uncle Morgan came at me with a golf club, I took it away and used it on him, to make a long story short, I kicked their butts, that's right Mommy is a badass, smashed the computer and got out of there."

"Well, I had no way to know if there were any copies, and to be honest I had an interest in seeing this Bartowski guy again, I still didn't know why, I just did, so the next day I go back to the Buy More again. I came up with some lame excuse why I had to leave previously and asked why he hadn't called me. He was so cute, he got all nervous, I told him I was new to the area, and suggested he show me around. I actually thought he was going to faint, your Uncle Morgan, who was in the background the whole time, pushed him into saying okay, it was adorable."

"So, Mom and Dad went out on what we refer to as our first, first date. We call it that because it wasn't really a date, for me it was a mission, you see, I was told that if Bartowski tries to run, well…. this is hard to say, I was ordered to kill him. Now I'm sure right now you are all shaking your heads, saying no way Mom would kill dad, and you're right, but I wasn't Mom, and he wasn't Dad. He was a potential threat to national security; my job was to protect people like you, who get to go to school, to work, to live their lives in peace. If Charles Bartowski had given me reason to, I would have killed him, I didn't want to, but I would."

"I have to tell you as first dates go it started out really nice, not that I'd had a lot of them. Your Dad showed up, on time and he brought me flowers, trust me I did not want to hurt him, he was so cute. We went to a Mexican restaurant El Compadre, now you know why we go there so much, it is very special to us, and had a great conversation, your dad may be goofy sometimes, but I have never met a more charming man. He told me all about your Aunt Ellie and Uncle Devon, and he told this joke about me being a cannibal, I laughed, and weirdly enough, "I said I like you, Chuck." Why do I say it was weird, it's because I meant it, at that time in my life I didn't reveal how I felt, I didn't trust anyone, and being vulnerable was not something I did? It was strange for me, for a moment in time, I forgot I was on a mission, and I was enjoying my time with Chuck Bartowski."

"We leave the restaurant, and we are walking, and talking, just a really nice stroll after dinner, a normal date. Then as we cross an overpass Chuck stares off in the distance at a bunch of police cars going by and starts muttering under his breath. I call his name, but he just keeps staring off into the distance, finally he answers, and says he is sorry he just zoned out. We go back to talking and he asks if I like music, I told him I wasn't sure, I didn't pay much attention to music. Boy has that changed, I love listening to music with Daddy, and with you, just one of the many gifts he has given me. My favorite song is Feeling Good by Nina Simone, it is the first song Daddy ever played just for me, it's our song.

"Next thing Dad takes us to a nightclub, we are listening to the live music and watching people dance. Looking over my shoulder I see, government agents coming down the stairs, including Major Casey, he got promoted later. Now to keep things in perspective I am going to call Grandpa John; Casey, I don't want you to confuse the man he was, with the man he is, Sarah laughs, your dad infected all of us with his humanity, Grandpa John took a lot of infection, and Aunt Alex played a big part in that too. So, in walks Casey with like four of his guys and they spread out looking for us, I grab Dad's hand and try to pull him onto the dance floor, to get some cover from the crowd, he tried to resist, saying he wasn't much for dancing, but I yanked him out there."

"Now take a deep breath, I may be your mom, but at the time I was a young woman, I start to dance for Daddy, sexy like, to keep him distracted. All the time we are dancing, using the crowded floor as cover, I am taking Casey's men out of action, I take out a couple with my knives, did I mention how much I loved my knives, and a couple with my hair chopsticks dipped in Tranq solution. Daddy never saw a thing he just kept staring at me, later he told me I was so hot he couldn't take his eyes off me, thank goodness he still feels the same way. I on the other had was otherwise occupied, I had to find a way to get, dad out of there to someplace safe before Casey could grab him."

"Seeing an opportunity, I grabbed Daddy's hand and pull him out a back door, we race to his Nerd Herder; oh, that was Daddy's work car. I tell him to give me the keys; he declines telling me I am not allowed to drive the company car, so I pick the lock, get in and start the car, he jumps in to try and stop me. Dad's is in full freak out mode he has no idea that we are being chased just that some insane woman, that he barely knows, has stolen his car and is driving very fast down an L.A. Street… backwards. I am in full spy mode, it was my natural state, where I Lived, total awareness and control, and ready to go. Can't say the same for Dad, he was screaming, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, but he kind of got his head together and tried to help me steer, I was impressed."

"Now this next part gets a little crazy, as am driving backwards, I tell Dad who is chasing us. Perhaps I should explain why two government agents were fighting for control of this geek. You see whichever agency controlled the geek also controlled the secrets in his head. Still today agencies fight over assets, mission accomplishment translates into bigger budgets, more weapons, operatives, and you know spy stuff. Plus, since it appeared that Bryce Larkin had gone rogue, The NSA didn't trust the CIA so much, and to be honest we didn't much trust them.

I'm not going to get too specific, suffice it to say there was a very fast car chase, I was running high on adrenalin, followed by a huge car wreck, we destroyed Daddy's work car, fortunately the CIA was able to get it replaced before morning. Later, Dad said he thought he was in the car with Batman, he is such a nerd. So, to make a very long story, much shorter we wind up on top of a building standing on the helipad waiting for the air support I called for. I ask him how well he knows Bryce Larkin; he was surprised that I knew him. He asked how I knew Bryce; I told him that we worked together at the CIA. I asked quite harshly if they had been in touch, he shook his head, then he remembered that he had recently gotten an E-Mail. I asked if he had looked at it, he told me that when he opened it there were a bunch of pictures. Now I was worried, your dad had seen those secret files, and he was in real danger.

Now kids I must tell you, your dad held it together, he had a lot of information coming at him very fast, but he was thinking on his feet. I saw Casey coming up the steps, I turned to Dad and told him to stay calm, I am going to point my gun at you, I did that to keep Casey back, they wanted Dad alive so they could use his brain, I was not going to shoot this sweet guy. That didn't seem to help Dad too much, because he didn't know that, do you remember the time Diane fell off the slide at the park, how freaked out Dad was, well when the guns came out, this was like a hundred times worse. He started looking around for a way off that roof, he ran right to the edge. I swear I thought he was going to jump, I screamed his name and he stopped, right at the edge and froze. Something was going on, suddenly, he turned and started to talk about seeing a bomber, who was going to blow up a conference at a nearby hotel, and there was a general."

"Later we figured out what was going on, we called it "Flashing." His brain was recalling the images that he had uploaded from Bryce's files, also known as the Intersect; problem was he didn't know what he was seeing and had to figure out how it all fit together, and he wasn't always right."

Off camera we hear a door open and close then we hear Chuck's voice, "Sarah, sweetie, it's late what are you still doing awake."

"Oh, hi Honey, did you have fun with Morgan?"

"It was cool, but I missed you, so how's the story going?"

Sarah answers, "I'm just at the part where I am starting to fall for you."

"Oooohhh Irene Demova one of my favorite parts", Chuck comes into frame and reaches his hand out to Sarah. "We should go upstairs and talk about it."

"Mr. Bartowski are you trying to seduce me?"

"Tell me Mrs. Bartowski, is it working, or do I have to work the eyebrows?" Chuck wiggles his eyebrows.

Sarah giggles and takes his hand, and they walk towards the camera, the picture goes dark.

Stephen stops the video playback. Stephen, Diane, and Molly let out a sigh realizing how much in love Chuck and Sarah were, and how much they miss them.

Stephen speaks up clearing his throat of emotion, "guys I need to check in with the wife, I have a feeling this is going to take longer than expected." Diane nods her head, "Me too don't want to worry Harry and the kids."

Molly stands up, "well do you guys want to stay here overnight or at our place, Jimmy is always happy to have you, and it's only a couple of blocks away, and you know we have plenty of room."

Stephen and Diane look at each other, "Stephen I'm not sure I can handle it, I miss them so much, Let's stay with Aunt Molly and Uncle Jimmy, it's been a long day." Stephen nods sadly and the three of them walk to the door, Stephen turns back, "Good night, Mom and Dad, see you tomorrow." The red door closes behind them as they leave, the house grows dark and quiet, but somehow does not feel empty.