NOTES: I chose to do my first story on this time line in the present day, planning to go back afterward and explain the details of how it all happened, because some of it is pretty complicated (That favorite word of spies everywhere!). The reason I made that choice is because of how this set of stories got going. I asked myself what might follow from the finale of Season Five. Somehow the first thing that jumped into my mind were Chuck's daughters, and it kind of expanded from there. I realize that starting in 2020 instead of 2012 makes this first story kind of confusing, because there are hints and references to stuff in the past that I haven't covered yet. Hopefully it'll all make sense as we go.
I'm also trying to be more or less 'canon compliant', which means we can not skip over the last two episodes of Season Five. Quinn really did a number on Chuck and Sarah's happy ending back then. Metaphorically, Quinn punched their happy ending in the stomach, snatched Sarah's knife away from her and used it to slit the happy ending's throat, and then kicked the corpse on his way out. If we look at the last season without our shipper glasses on, we know that their old happy ending is gone, if there's to be a new one, they and the rest of the cast have to build it fresh.
A point about that cast. This is a Chuck-the-show fanfic, not just a Chuck/Sarah fanfic. It's about all the characters, not just those two. Chuck and Sarah, Ellie and Devon, Casey and Alex and Morgan, Carina and Zondra, Lou and Jill and Heather, Emma and Molly, Roan and Beckman and Lester and Jeff, all have their lives and roles to play. They are interacting with Chuck and each other and the larger world.
Time does not stand still. Shaw is still alive at the end of the finale. So is Leader. They might turn up in these stories.
In fact, one of the main themes of this story, and the other stories in the same story-world, is that time does not stand still. If something screws up someone's life, the world doesn't stop and wait for him or her to fix it. When Quinn wrecked Chuck and Sarah's happy ending...life went on. The world did not stop and wait for Chuck and Sarah to put it back together.
Some people have questioned Ellie as a spy. That's understandable, she's a doctor and a neurologist during most of the seasons, and has no desire to be a spy. Well, keep in mind, it's been eight years since the finale. That's three years longer than the gap from Chuck getting that email from Bryce and the Season Five finale. Chuck went from being the Buy-More nerd and hopeless case to the effective agent of S5 in five years. Ellie has had eight years, really more, because we can see her starting down that path in spite of herself in Seasons Four and Five, and she has more help than Chuck did. There was even a hint in canon that Ellie might someday be a CAT (episode 4x15).
So it's not hard to see how Ellie could have become an effective and experienced agent by 2020. Now, back in the old days, she and Devon did not particularly want to be agents...but Chuck had no desire to be an agent in Season One, either. Things change, and Ellie is a Bartowski. Her parents were/are spies, her brother is a spy, she is already entangled in that world, like it or not. How likely is is that she can get back to a 'normal' life...especially since she is one of the very few people who has proven that she can understand and reliably improve the Intersect in canon? What are the odds that Ellie would be permitted to return to a normal life? Or Morgan? Or Alex? Or any of the main cast? They know too much about too many people and too many things, do they not?
Since we're starting eight years into the timeline (post-finale), there's been some confusion about the order of events. So, let me clear up a few points that might not be obvious: Sarah was without her memories for about three months after January of 2012, when the finale happens. During that period, Sarah leaves Chuck, and eventually divorces him. She engages in several missions for the CIA during this period, returning to her former life as much as she can, though she's five years behind the times there too. During her amnesiac period, she does several things that she will later regret (the divorce foremost among them, but there is other stuff, too).
She regains her full memories in April of 2012, and then, for (you guessed it!) complicated reasons of her own, she does not immediately return or contact Chuck, though she does contact Morgan and Ellie. Chuck understandably doesn't take this well. But she does have reasons, whether they are good reasons or not depends on who you ask.
During this period, Chuck refounds Carmichael Industries again, this time in partnership with Ellie, who creates the cover of 'Elaine Carmichael'. We'll put off the details until later because they are kind of complicated, but they hire some old friends and acquaintances, and in secret Chuck and Ellie begin resuming some of Stephen Bartowski's work. A complicated tense relationship emerges between Chuck and Ellie and the government.
Sarah eventually meets Chuck again in late November of 2012, on mission, and by then Chuck's life has gotten...complicated. He's started a sort-of-relationship with someone else. Which doesn't mean he's necessarily over Sarah! Sarah finds out who her rival is in December of 2012...and she is Not Happy about it. To put it mildly.
Things get messy and complicated. Charlotte-Mary and Stephanie are born in 2014, how that comes about is a story on its own. How Chuck ends up as custodial parent of both of the girls, and why, that too will be revealed later. (Yes, we'll find out who Stephanie's mother is in this story. I'm trying to work up to that naturally. But the details how how she got involved with Chuck will wait, because they're complicated.)
So, onward...!
CHUCK vs. THE NO-WIN QUESTION CHAPTER SIX: Business and Pleasure 4...
The Los Angeles offices of the JIA, 9:20 a.m. local time...
"Hi yourself, Mr. Carmichael," Sarah said. She had stepped back a little, but her arms were still around his neck, and she showed no signs of removing them. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
Chuck tried to find his voice, but somehow looking into those sapphire eyes made that difficult. The warmth of her amrs on his neck added to the distraction.
"I-uh-I mean you look great today-not that you don't always look great, I don't mean to imply-wait, are we on camera?!"
Sarah smiled. "It just so happens, Chuck, that the surveillance systems for this hallway are down for maintenance at the moment."
"Really?" Chuck smiled. He stepped back slightly, reluctantly, and removed her arms from his neck to hold her at a slight remove. He really did not want to, because she felt so very good up close, but he needed the blood supply returned to some other organs.
In his mind, he heard Casey's voice, "Think with the right head, Numb-nuts! In this business you've got to do that!"
"So when did the maintenance period start?"
"About five minutes ago," Sarah replied calmly, the corners of her mouth turned up and her eyes dancing. Her eyes danced very beautifully, Chuck noted. Focus! Chuck commanded himself.
"Nice timing," Chuck replied, trying without much success to get back into his 'Charles Carmichael' mindset. He wanted to do that partly because he was, in a sense, on opposition or at least rival territory here, and partly because he knew it would annoy her. Sometimes it was fun to annoy her. "Interesting that it perfectly matches my arrival here. Did you trick it out of a six year old again?"
"I saw your Suburban in the parking lot on the surveillance camera," Sarah admitted. "After that it was easy to track you into the building. As soon as I knew which corridors you were using, I moved to cut you off at the pass."
Chuck sighed, and said, "I'm into the lion's den for a meeting with your bosses, Sarah."
The two started to walk through the maze of corridors. "Let me know when we're being watched again," Chuck whispered.
"Will do," Sarah whispered back.
"So what's the meeting about?" Sarah asked in a conversational tone.
"Classified and all that," Chuck replied, managing to get some of his 'Carmichael' voice back. "You know how it is."
"Would it have anything to do with the mysterious terrorist action in Naples a couple of days ago?" Sarah asked. "It's been all over the news."
"Why would you think it had anything to do with my firm?" Chuck asked in return, getting more and more back into his 'cover'. He knew it was working because he caught a flash of irritation from Sarah.
"Rumors spread, Chuck. The grapevine from Langley and Meade has it that a good number of your firm's people have been spotted in Naples and Rome over the last weeks. Then the rumor mill had it that Elaine Carmichael herself was seen in Naples, just before these mystery-terrorists blew up a social gathering in that same city. Is Ellie OK?"
"Ellie is fine," Chuck replied, and then, with a smile, he added, "And I'm afraid I can neither confirm nor deny anything about her movements. Proprietary information, you know."
"Chuck, keep using that voice and you may arrive at your meeting with black eye," Sarah warned him. "Save Carmichael for when the cameras are on. I want to talk to my ex-husband, not that cardboard cutout."
"Ellie is OK, and yes, she's in Italy," Chuck whispered. "I really can't say much else, you know I have to keep my clients' information close to my vest. I'm only telling you this much because I'm sure everybody in this place who matters already knows it anyway."
"Probably true," Sarah admitted. "Like I said, the rumor mill is churning, and it starts churning fast when C.I. is involved."
They came to another door, but before Chuck could open it, Sarah caught his shoulder. "Cameras on past this door," she whispered. Then she added, still whispering in his ear, "Chuck, tell Ellie to be very, very careful. If some of the rumors going around this place are to be believed, quite a few active-duty Russian SVR personnel may be involved in whatever you guys are doing over there. It may be a lot bigger than it looked when you started."
Chuck looked down at her for a moment, and nodded his understanding. He knew she would understand without him having to say more. Aloud, he asked, "Will I see you after the meeting?"
"If you can get out of there before noon, probably," Sarah said. "I should have just enough time for lunch, if you want to talk some more."
"I'll try," Chuck said. "Damn, I hate these things."
"Better not to keep them waiting, Chuck," Sarah reminded him.
"I don't mind keeping them waiting," Chuck replied, "it helps them to remember that they're just human beings like the rest of us."
"Very, very powerful human beings," Sarah reminded him. "Don't forget that!"
"True," Chuck sighed. "Anyway, once more into the breach!"
With that, Chuck vanished entirely, and Charles Carmichael opened the door and went on, while Sarah Walker returned to the training session with her students.
State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA, 12:50 p.m. local time...
"And let me repeat, the contract is very specific on this, there is to be Napa Valley and only Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the hotel rooms after the concert, and Mr. Barnes wants three two-liter bottles of grape Crush as well, on ice. The steaks are to be prepared medium well with A-1 sauce already applied when Mr. Barnes and Mr. Patel return. Mr. Barnes wants baked potato with butter, sour cream, and chopped M&M's, and a Caesar salad with ketchup on it. Mr. Patel wants fried onions and a skewer of zucchini in garlic butter with his steak.
"Mr. Barnes wants a bucket of crushed ice and a large pre-chilled glass mug waiting for him as well in his hotel room after the concert, he will prepare his own drinks for his meal, Mr. Patel wants a glass of Chardonnay with a shot of Nyquil ready to sip with his meal. He also wishes a bucket of crushed ice. Remember, that is to be crushed ice, not cubes, not shaved ice, for both artists. That was specified in Section 9 Clause 4 of the contract.
"This should all be ready for them and in place by the time they return from the concert. Room service should have no reason to interrupt their rest after the concert is over."
"Yes, Ma'am," the hotel manager replied wearily.
"Now," the woman continued with brisk efficiency, "before the concert, Mr. Barnes will remain in his hotel room until thirty minutes before the opening number. We can have him on the stage and ready to go assuming the hotel can make sure he is uninterrupted on his way out. We need you to make sure you can keep the crowds back when it's time for Mr. Barnes to proceed to the Pavilion. We will assume responsibility once he is in the car."
"I understand, Ma'am," the long-suffering hotel manager replied. "We have done this before."
"Very well. We will deliver a vintage Missile Command arcade unit to the hotel at 8:00 a.m. on the morning of the concert. It must be in place and connected to power by the time Mr. Barnes arrives around noon. Mr. Barnes likes to 'loosen up' with a few rounds of Missile Command before a performance. You should be aware that this machine is vintage and in excellent condition, and has sentimental value to Mr. Barnes. I will be wanting to confirm the insurance status of the device with your insurance representative today."
"He's ready at your convenience, Ms. Wu," the manager replied.
The manager had been running the Storlyn Hotel for over twenty years, and this was by no means the first time he had had to deal with temperamental musicians, self-absorbed actors and actresses, and other assorted riff-raff, as he privately tended to regard them. Granted, they were very well-paying riff-raff, and it was his job to keep them happy. He usually succeeded in this task, which was part of why the hotel owners paid him well.
"Also, Mr. Barnes wants a bowl of M&M candies in his hotel room, with no brown ones in the bowl. The candy should be placed on a wooden stand to the right of the gaming system. Section 9, Clause 12. The presence of a brown M&M entitles Jeffster Incorporated to reduce all fees and other financial obligations to the Storlyn Hotel by fifty percent, as specified in Section 9, Clause 13."
How original, the manager mused, van Halen was doing the brown M&Ms thing years ago!
The manager had come to the State Farm Arena to meet with a Ms. Anna Wu, who was apparently the band Jeffster's manager, negotiator, and whatever-else-needed-doing officer. Even as she had been going down the list of requirements in the contract with the hotel manager, she had been pacing through the stadium, checking to make sure the lighting, the sound gear, and the other paraphernalia were properly installed. She had been asking hard questions of the union guys setting up the stage, demanding if the appropriate weight support and electrical and signal connections were being installed. The hotel man noticed that Ms. Wu did not seem in any way intimidated when arguing with burly construction men twice her size.
Of course, the short skirt of her business suit might have made the labor representatives a bit more amenable to reason, the hotel manager mused. It really was a very short skirt, not so much 'office appropriate' as 'start a riot', he thought.
As she was going over Mr. Barnes' and Mr. Patel's expectations for the carpeting and television options in the hotel rooms, her phone rang. She pulled out a compact iPhone and answered it.
"Yes, this is Ms. Wu. I see, put him on...hi, Lester, it's Anna. Don't worry, we're going track you down. Yes, calm down. Okay, now Lester, I need you to go look out the window. Is the sun shining? It is? That's good, that tells us you're probably in the Western Hemisphere! Now, is the sun rising or falling? OK, good, now, is it in the northeast or the southeast? That'll tell us if you're in the northern or the southern hemisphere, we need to make sure you're not in South America. That's great, that means you're probably within 1000 miles of where you're supposed to be!"
The hotel manager started in disbelief as their manager worked out the location of one of her employers by tracking the sun. From the sound of it, apparently one of her stars not knowing what continent he was on was not that unusual a situation. OK, I thought I'd seen it all with crazy celebs but apparently Jeffster are in a league of their own!
"OK," Wu was saying into the phone, her face a mask of concentration, "that's probably the best we can do from the sun alone. You'll have to risk contact with a human being. From the position of the sun, it's probably over 90% likely that you're in the United States, so it's not that big a risk. Now, what are you wearing? NO, I don't want to do that! I need to know if you're legal to be seen in public!"
The manager shook his head. League of their own? Hoo boy. Sounds like we're talking a whole new level here.
The Joint Intelligence Alliance Regional Headquarters, Los Angeles, CA, 10:00 a.m. local time...
After parting from Sarah, Chuck continued further into the headquarters complex, until he arrived at a door that opened into what looked like a perfectly typical office complex meeting room. Windowless, the room had a table with a dozen chairs along one side, and opposite the chairs was a very large video screen. Laptop computers rested at each seat. The only things slightly unusual about the room were an American flag in one corner, and of course the armed guards outside the door.
A few other people were already in the room. Chuck recognized the west coast senior CIA 'unofficial agent', a regional FBI bigwig, the West Coast head of the NSA 'secret branch', and the only woman in the room, a tall redhead with whom he was unfamiliar.
"Ms. Bennett," the CIA man said to the redhead, "I'd like you to meet Mr. Charles Carmichael, one of the owners of Carmichael Industries. Charles, this is Allessandra Bennett, she's a new assignee to my section."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bennett," Chuck said, nodding politely.
"The same," Bennett replied. Chuck had guessed her age, at first, to be late twenties, but now he revised that upward somewhat, she seemed very poised and self-assured to be part of such a meeting at a young age. She was not beautiful in a classic sense, but she was definitely on the sweet side of attractive, more like a 'girl next door' than a fashion model. Her red hair was neatly styled, her makeup restrained, and her skirt-and-top would have been appropriate for any office in any business in the country.
Chuck decided to no waste time, and activated the Intersect to see if he already 'knew' anything about Bennett. Moments later, the familiar flow of information happened, he suddenly 'remembered' information he had not known he knew.
Allessandra Bennett, real name: Kay Miller...age 36...graduated Yale...degree in political history...recruited by CIA while in university...speaks seven languages...trained in seduction techniques by Roan Montgomery...Langston Graham's 'special squad'...Project Omaha candidate...associated with 17 confirmed kills, suspected of involvement in 5 suicides, deep cover experience...expert in computer programming and hardware operation...trained paramedic...psych profile classified by order of Director Langston Graham...
The flow of information lasted only a second or so, and it left Chuck much more cautious about the innocuous-seeming redhead seated two seats down from him.
If she had been one of Graham's 'special agents', then he could safely assume that she was not only dangerous, she was perilous. Sarah had been another of Graham's 'specials', if this woman was part of the same background as Sarah Walker, then it was best to treat her as a land mine waiting to be detonated.
I'll have to talk to Sarah about her, see if she knows her, Chuck resolved.
The screen lit up, and another woman, this one much more familiar to Chuck, appeared larger-than-life on the display. General Linda S. Conroy, the successor to the recently retired Diane Beckman, looked out and slightly down at the men and woman sitting at the table, and smiled.
"Thank you all for coming so promptly," Conroy said, "I'll get right to the point since I'm sure everyone has other things on their plates right now."
Chuck was still not quite used to the change from Beckman to Conroy. The two women were both very similar, and very different. Conroy had been a protégé of Beckman, from what Chuck understood, for a number of years, they had come up through the ranks together, linked both by friendship and being among the few women in the higher echelons of the military intelligence world. He still did not know all the details, but some sort of falling out had occurred, when Beckman was a colonel and Conroy was still a major. After that their relationship had been a combination of cooperation and rivalry, and he knew that Beckman had not been pleased to learn that Conroy had been chosen as her replacement.
"If I had known that that woman was going to be my replacement I would have delayed retirement long enough to prevent it," Chuck recalled Beckman telling him.
Be that as it may, in the months since Conroy was head of the JIA, Chuck had not had any major problems from her...but it had been a short and relatively calm period, too. Chuck certainly did not trust her, but that in itself was nothing special. He had not trusted Beckman, either, in the earlier years of their relationship, and for good reason. In the case of Conroy, the jury was still out.
"Two months ago," Conroy was saying, "a Chinese Intelligence operation penetrated a laboratory in the Russian Federation. They killed most of the personnel, captured several of the key scientists working in the lab, and extracted a sample of a new strain of mutated fungus. Some of the Chinese operatives are listed on your individual screens. We haven't identified everyone involved, of course."
"My company engaged in a bio-containment operation in Asia last year," Chuck said. "A new strain of coronavirus, we barely got it contained before it would have been too late. We were never sure if it was artificial or not."*
"We're still not either, Mr. Carmichael," Conroy said. "But this organism most definitely has been modified to be worse than natural. Both selective breeding and genetic engineering have been used, from what we've been able to discover. Unfortunately, we have no direct sources to interrogate. The Chinese extracted the key people and killed most of the rest, we're working from second-hand sources and deep-cover people in China."
"What's so bad about this new organism that it's got us this worried?" the CIA regional chief asked.
"It's a strain of fungus," Bennett said from where she sat down the table. "It's actually a derivative of a disease that afflicts wheat, called 'stem rust' or 'black rust', most commonly. The natural strains can wipe out an entire crop, if they get into it early and conditions are right. It looks like this lab was working to make this stuff nastier, more destructive and also affective more kinds of cereal grains."
"Was this a Russian government op or private?" the FBI man asked.
"We're not sure yet," General Conroy said. "Obviously the Russians will deny official involvement once they find out we know about this, whether it's true or not. It might be true, even under Putin there's still a lot of under-the-table crap going on in Russia that the state doesn't control. He's reigned in the oligarchs, but not entirely tamed them."
"So just how bad a problem are we looking at?" Chuck asked. "How nasty is this stuff?"
"We can't be sure yet, Mr. Carmichael," Bennett said from her place at the table. "But apparently the Russian scientists had managed to produce a fungal form that would reliably wipe out all forms of wheat and wheat derivatives, and is resistant to most forms of treatment and protection. If it's as bad as those reports indicate, it could be used against any nation-state substantially dependent on wheat for its food supply, with devastating effect."
"Which would include the good old USA," the FBI man mused. "I grew up in the Midwest. Wheat fields to the horizon."
"We don't think this thing would utterly destroy the wheat crop," Bennett went on. "It's not that powerful. But it would wipe out enough of it to make food supplies tight, drive global prices for bread through the roof, it would be ideally suited for bioterror or blackmail."
"The 'Arab Spring' of 2010," Conroy said, "was driven in much by high wheat prices, which led to destabilization across the Middle East. Whatever good or bad came of that, it was still instability on a grand scale. We don't need that sort of disruption within the USA, and this thing, if it's as bad as we think it is, could possibly do it. Even if there was enough food to get through the crisis, the economic damage would need at least a generation to repair. It getting lose in another country would be only marginally less bad, from the U.S. point of view, the disruptions would still affect us in a big way."
"So do we know where this sample even is?"
"Yes," Conroy said, "we do. Surprisingly. That's what brought this matter to a head right now. The Chinese no longer have it. It seems that about three weeks ago, a Chinese intelligence officer went rogue, taking the samples and some of the data with him. He's gone off the grid, except for a message sent to various intelligence agencies and diplomatic services around the world.
"He says he's planning to surface, in the not too distant future, and provide this fungal strain for sale to the highest offer. He's included some details and supporting evidence for what it can do, and now many of the world's governments and some private actors know about. It's still being kept quiet, but that can't last forever.
"Right now, we're scouring the world to find him, and so are most of the other governments. I wonder if he realized what he was setting in motion, but it's done. A lot of the private players are seeking him too, either to buy what he's selling, to take it, or just to neutralize him and destroy the fungus.
"Which brings us to why we want to hire Carmichael Industries for this project," Conroy said. "One of those private players that knows about this thing and is apparently trying to locate the rogue agent is Wild Card."
Chuck felt a chill run down his back at that code name, and was suddenly acutely aware that everyone in the room was either looking at him directly, or very obviously avoiding doing so. He had to use the Intersect for a moment, to suppress a sudden strange impulse to blush.
"We believe that Wild Card may actually have intel on the identity and location of the Chinese rogue agent," Conroy went on. "If that is so, she could help us cut short the process and deal directly with the threat. Unfortunately, there is an adversarial relationship between the U.S. Government and Wild Card. She is unlikely to be willing to assist us. Which leaves us with Carmichael Industries and you, Charles."
"General," Chuck said, "Wild Card does not work for me. I don't have any influence over what she does or does not do."
"Yeah, right," Chuck heard the CIA representative mutter to his left, and what sounded suspiciously like a suppressed snicker came from the general direction of the NSA representative, who had been quiet up until now. Beside him on his right, the FBI man looked as if he could barely contain laughter. Bennett, though simply looked toward Chuck calmly, with an appraising expression on her face.
"Be that as it may," Conroy said, her face calm but her eyes expressing her opinion of Chuck's claim of no influence, "it's no great secret in the intelligence community that Wild Card has often worked alongside Carmichael Industries. At the least, she would probably be more likely to listen to you than to us."
"I...do have a contact path," Chuck admitted.
The CIA representative, who was a man in his early sixties, muttered, "Is that what your generation is calling it now?" just loudly enough that everyone heard, but could pretend not to have heard.
"But just because I can get a message to her doesn't mean she'll do or not do anything," Chuck insisted.
Conroy looked down from the screen, clearly amused at the situation. "Well, I'm prepared to trust to your persuasive ability, Charles. We've nothing to lose by trying, and we will of course pay Carmichael Industries at our standard agreed rates for your assistance. Or do think hazard pay is called for?"
"Only if I send Walker along with him on this one," the CIA representative said, and then the laughter broke out in earnest. Chuck blushed again, Intersect or not, and wondered why things like this seemed to keep happening to him.
To be continued...
NOTES: Yes, BTW, 'Wild Card' is a code name assigned to a woman who happens to be Stephanie Bartowski's mother.
*Yes, that's why 2020 is normal in this world and everything is open. There was no world-wide covid-19 outbreak because Chuck and Ellie and their people contained it in time in 2019, with a little help from Verbanski and someone else.