I don't own Chuck

Ellie hung up the phone, and sat in the chair across from General Beckman's desk. Beckman opened the drawer of her desk, pulled out a bottle, and pour two fingers each into two glasses. She sat one glass in front of Ellie and watched her down it in one shot. "Second thoughts?" Beckman asked.

"No, but this could be bad," Ellie admitted.

"You should have seen the last two years," Beckman groused.

}o{

A few days earlier

Ellie walked into her office, gently tilting her neck, and sighed with relief as her neck cracked, letting the tension loose. She stopped in her doorway as she saw someone sitting in the chair across from her desk. The woman rose.

"Ellie Bartowski, I'm General Diane Beckman, and I desperately need your help," Beckman told her. Ellie stepped into her office and shut the door.

}o{

"My idiot brother has a computer in his brain…after my idiot father had it taken out," Ellie muttered, her hand on her head, pushing on her skull, trying to relieve the tension she felt because of her idiot family.

"It get worse," Beckman said. Ellie gave her a look that said that wasn't possible. "I promise you, it does."

"How? How in the hell does it get worse? You somehow got my brother to convince me he was in love with a woman, which he was not, because he had to fake a relationship," Ellie began. "And did I mention my idiot brother put a god damn computer in his head!?"

Beckman sat there, her lips twitching. It was like a dam broke and she began to laugh uncontrollably. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she bent over, laughing. Ellie sat there, looking stunned. "What did I say?" she asked softly.

"You think," Beckman began as another fit of laughter hit her. "You think that we are that good?" She had to catch her breath from laughing. "You think that we could train Bartowski…CHUCK?! You think we could make him control his emotions and make you believe he had fallen in love?"

"Well if you didn't," Ellie began. She paused as it hit her. "Ohhhhhh," she said. "No wonder he's a mess. He's in love with Sarah, and she's not in love with him." Beckman stared at Ellie and burst out laughing all over again.

}o{

Beckman took a sip of water and chuckled. "I apologize. We are under attack, we as in the intelligence communities. They want what is in your brother's head and I worry to the lengths they might go to get it. I worry the torture he might have to endure, I worry the tests they might submit him to, to retrieve what is in his brain."

Ellie sat there, frowning. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because there is no one I can trust that can help me," Beckman said simply. "And it gets worse. Your brother met up with Agent Walker in Prague, they were going to run. It would have been easier if they had."

"Why's that?" Ellie asked. Beckman gave her a flat look. "Listen, I have no idea why you think what you think."

"Agent Walker is one of the best agents I have ever seen in my life, and she is so in love with your brother it's ridiculous," Beckman replied, shaking her head. "It's damn embarrassing."

"It is," Ellie agreed, grinning.

"You're as bad as he is," Beckman muttered. "But, that is why I'm here. I need someone that thinks like him and understands him. Agent Walker is in peril because of him."

"I'm sorry, what?" Ellie asked. "You just said that she was in love with him."

"She is, and he with her, and if someone wanted your brother, the easiest way to get to him…take her," Beckman explained.

"Yeah, but can't she fight them off?" Ellie asked.

"Normally, I would bet on Agent Walker, but your brother…his actions have left her off of her game," Beckman admitted. "I feel now the only way for your brother to be safe is to be with her, until we can neutralize this threat. However, at the moment, Agent Walker wants nothing to do with him."

"What happened?" Ellie asked. Beckman looked away. "Hey, you came to me. What. Happened?"

"We knew that Agent Walker was coming to Prague to take Agent Bartowski on the run," Beckman began. She paused and considered the look Ellie had given her. "What we miscalculated was…Chuck," she said, watching Ellie's look change. "Would reject…Sarah." Ellie smiled. "We never thought that someone that in love would turn down a chance to run away with the woman he was in love with." Ellie scoffed.

"Jesus, you people are morons," Ellie grumbled. Beckman's eyes went wide. "Oh, come off it. I thought you were supposed to be smart? For YEARS life has kicked my brother in the teeth, and yes, some of it is his wallowing, but think about it. This woman, this…fucking amazing woman, cares for him, loves him, for who he is…" Ellie trailed off, shaking her head.

"But that's what we were thinking," Beckman protested.

"Have you noticed my brother doesn't think a lot of himself?" Ellie asked. "Have you noticed that he works in a damn BUY MORE!? Have you noticed that he respects Sarah Walker, and craves her respect? Have you noticed that when it comes to his well-being he will give it up for others, for their safety?"

"Shit," Beckman muttered.

"So, you're realizing you put him in an impossible situation, where the only choice he had…the only choice to prove to the woman he loved that he was worthy of her love…and might I add, that's his dumb ass brain thoughts, not mine, and definitely not Sarah's, is to become like her."

"That's impossible," Beckman replied. "Why the only way that could happen…is…."

"If someone put a damn supercomputer into his head," Ellie said.

"So what do we do?" Beckman asked.

"We tell her he's in danger," Ellie said. "These two are like magnets. They will find each other, and woe be unto those between them. When everything goes wrong, they are who the other turns to. We tell her, he's in danger-"

"He is," Beckman insisted.

"I believe you," Ellie replied. "But how do we show her?" Beckman frowned, and pulled out a laptop out of her bag. "What's this?"

"A live feed of your brother at her apartment," Beckman said, turning it on, and showing it to Ellie.

"Damn it, Chuck," Ellie swore softly.