I don't own Chuck

They stepped outside of the bar, and for the first time in a very long time, Agent Carmichael felt human. He turned his neck, feeling the soreness from the fight. The fight with the man that had been his best friend, his brother as an agent, and now an enemy of the CIA.

"We need to talk," Sarah told him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "There's some things you need to know, and while I'd rather do it privately at my place, I don't want you to go agent mode and worry about whether or not I might try and kill you."

"Sarah, I don't think that," Chuck began.

"I know you don't, but you still have training, and what we need is some place but private, but public." She was silent for a moment. "I know a place, but you'll have to trust me." Chuck nodded. "Okay," she replied, a soft smile on her face. "Bryce left a recording, telling everything and I need to tell you about it…it's your story…the one you don't know. If you'd rather listen to it, I understand, but I think telling it…." She trailed off.

"It's bad, isn't it." It wasn't a question. He sighed. He was so damn bone weary but he knew this was the beginning of something huge. "Okay, I trust you, let's go." Sarah nodded, and led him to her car.

}o{

Sarah took him to her beach, the one she came to when she was feeling overwhelmed. She had found it when she was injured at the farm. Now, knowing how she got injured only made her realize how ironic tonight was. She sat there for a moment, collecting her thoughts and then turned to face him. "I guess you'd like it from the beginning?" Chuck nodded. "I need to know how you thought you were brought into the CIA."

Chuck stared at Sarah for a moment and began to wonder how much of his life he thought he actually knew.

Before he could speak she interrupted him. "Do me a favor, call Graham, get clearance. Trust me, you're going to need all the verification you can get so that you believe all of this."

"Sarah, I told you I trust you."

"I know, but I haven't asked you to believe me, and now I am." Sarah stood up, and wiped off her pants. "I'm going to stroll that way a bit, get out of earshot while you call in." Chuck nodded and Sarah began to walk away. She wasn't leaving, that was for sure. When he found out what he was about to find out… She shook her head. This was going to hurt Chuck Bartowski to his very core. This was going to shake him, and she was afraid he would revert into Charles Carmichael. Charles Carmichael was a hell of an agent, the problem was, Bryce Larkin knew Charles Carmichael. They needed Chuck Bartowski. She stared at the ocean her arms wrapped around herself.

"Sarah!" she heard him call. She had gotten lost in the crashing waves. She had gotten lost in the wonder of how much of a living hell would her life have been. She had gotten lost in knowing that Chuck Bartowski had saved her, and he didn't even know it. Sarah had been on a course of becoming the CIA director's personal hitman, paired with Bryce Larkin, but what neither of them had known was who Bryce Larkin really was. It appeared only one person truly knew besides Bryce, and she had died in Paris, at Sarah's hand.

She walked back over to him, and saw by the look on his face, he was shook. "He apologized to me, Sarah. Langston Graham APOLOGIZED! When the hell have you ever heard of that?"

"Never," Sarah admitted. "But I've never heard of someone who has done the things Bryce Larkin has either. He appears to be the head of FULCRUM."

"What the hell is FULCRUM?" Chuck asked her.

"That's a part of the story further down the road," Sarah told him. Chuck stood and the two just naturally began to walk down the beach together. They were close, and it took everything in Sarah's power to not reach over and take his hand. "Do you remember how at Stanford you were recruited?"

"Sure," Chuck said. "Professor Flemming thought Bryce and I would make great spies based on our scores in his class." Chuck glanced over at Sarah. It was dark, but he could see her struggling with something. "What?"

"Professor Flemming thought you would make a great spy, Chuck," Sarah told him. "Bryce had wanted to be a spy his entire life, and again, this is all just coming out, from his taped confession he sent us."

"Wait, why would Bryce want to send a confession?" Chuck asked. "I mean, he turned on me, sure-"

"Chuck, he may be the biggest threat the world has ever seen," Sarah told him. Chuck's eyes went wide. "I'm serious."

"Sarah…the biggest threat the world has ever seen? I mean, he's good but-"

"He has stolen Project Pegasus, which I know means nothing to you." Sarah stopped and turned to face him. "He has all of our secrets." Chuck's face went white. "He said he would never hurt Molly." Chuck blinked, stunned by what she had just said. "The NSA has sent John Casey to watch over your sister, brother, and Molly. I believe him on this, Chuck. He said, even when you come after him, he wouldn't hurt her."

"Why does he think I'll come after him?"

"Because it's who you are is what he said." Chuck shook his head and looked away. The man he had thought of as a brother, had not only turned his back on him and the US Government, but was now the biggest threat the world faced?

"How the hell did this happen?"

"It's a long story," Sarah began.

"And I need to shut up and listen," Chuck said, nodding. "Sorry, I do this sometimes."

"It's fine," Sarah told him, grinning at him. "So, Bryce's parents were spies, well one of them."

"CIA, like us?" Chuck asked. Sarah shook her head.

"KGB," she told him. "He's the son of Alexi Volkoff, and a Russian spy named Inessa Petrov. He's a sleeper agent, and everyone in the US missed it." Chuck's mouth dropped in shock. "Also, the baby you saved. She's the daughter of one of Volkoff's enemies." Chuck tensed. "They don't hurt children, Chuck, you know that's one of Bryce's rules." He did, but did he really know Bryce at all?