Chapter 15: The Truth
California, Sunnydale Bay, Kingman's Bluff, December 26th, 2007
Chuck expected her to make the call? Sarah struggled not to wince. He was dumping this on her? No, he was trusting her with this? His father's freedom and life, potentially?
Because she was the experienced spy. And knew Casey better than he did. Supposedly - Casey and Chuck had spent quite some time together in the Buy More. She sighed.
Would it be bad if she told Orion that Casey couldn't be trusted and would see through the deception? She didn't really trust the man. The accident that had taken the lives of the rest of the Intersect team had been a little too convenient. And no one stayed ahead of the CIA for ten years without being a cunning and ruthless spy. Not to mention that Orion had faked his death to work for the CIA in the first place - his argument that he had done it to protect Chuck and Ellie wasn't very compelling, in her opinion. Working for the CIA wasn't that bad. Unless things had changed a lot since before she had joined up.
But if Orion left, Chuck and Ellie would still be in danger. Especially Ellie - she was leverage against both Chuck and Orion, who had proved that he cared for her.
And, most importantly, Casey already knew about Orion. All but knew for certain. He would have suspicions - especially if they claimed the meeting had been a bust. And if he suspected that they didn't trust him, he wouldn't trust them. And he wouldn't have any reason to protect them.
No, it would be best to tell Casey the truth.
"We'll tell him the truth. And if he tries to betray us…"
"We'll crush him," Caridad said. The Slayer might mean it literally.
Sarah didn't particularly care. If Casey betrayed them, Chuck and Ellie would have to go into hiding. The Council might be able to pull a few strings, but it wouldn't be enough to prevent them from having to get a new identity. And be on their guard all the time.
If Casey caused this, he deserved whatever an angry Slayer would do to him.
Chuck was relieved. Lying to Casey wouldn't have been right - or so he thought. They were a team, after all. Sarah, Casey and Chuck. It was bad enough that they had to keep lying to Bane, but that wasn't anyone's fault but hers. And Beckman's.
"If you're certain…"
Dad didn't sound as if he was fully behind this, though.
Chuck nodded. "It's for the best."
"The alternative would be worse," Sarah added.
Although that wasn't the enthusiastic support Chuck would have liked. And he still couldn't tell if Caridad hoped Casey would prove their trust well-placed, or that she could crush him. "One less person we have to lie to," he said.
After a moment, Dad replied: "You haven't told Ellie the truth about yourself, have you?"
"Uh…" Chuck winced. "We've got to maintain my cover, or she'd be in danger."
"You don't trust her to keep a secret?" Dad looked disappointed.
"Wasn't that why you faked your death?" Chuck shot back.
"You were kids at the time. You're adults now."
"She's no spy," Sarah said. "She's a civilian."
"She knows about demons and Slayers," Caridad cut in.
"As a doctor, she has a lot of responsibility and is protecting her patients' privacy," Dad said.
"She already worries a lot about Chuck whenever he helps out with demon hunting," Sarah pointed out. "If she knew about him being a spy, that would be worse."
Chuck nodded in agreement. It was for Ellie's own good.
"Were you happy about my decision for your own good?"
He clenched his teeth. That was unfair. He hadn't faked his death, making Ellie think he was dead.
But he was faking his work, his life, and making her think he wasn't risking his life as a spy. If something happened to him…
"I'd prefer not to lie to my children any more," Dad said, sighing with that lopsided smile again.
"She'll resent you for leaving her and faking your death," Sarah pointed out. "If she thinks you were kidnapped by demons, that won't happen."
"Ellie's smart. She'll realise the truth sooner or later - Chuck isn't that good at lying," Dad replied. "And I really don't want to lie to her any more. Trust me, lying to people you care about is the worst part of living in hiding."
Or living as a spy, Chuck realised as he slowly nodded in agreement.
"And if you tell her the truth now, she might forgive you sooner - it's Christmas, after all," Caridad added.
Chuck winced. Ellie wasn't the most forgiving type. And while she would be most angry at Dad for his deception and abandoning them, she would also be angry at Chuck for his lies.
He really wasn't looking forward to revealing the truth to his sister. But he nodded anyway. "So… I guess it's settled."
And then he hugged his father for the first time in fifteen years. And didn't think about anything but the good times for a while.
California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 26th, 2007
"How did it go?" Casey asked as soon as they entered his apartment. His usual grim expression faltered - was he wincing? - for just a moment when he spotted Caridad behind them. But the Slayer didn't enter. Instead, she went to Chuck and Sarah's apartment to 'check for threats'. Like Casey betraying them.
"We found Orion. And he's my Dad," Chuck told him as soon as the door closed behind them.
Casey grunted but didn't say anything.
Chuck cleared his throat. "So… he also told us about the Intersect. It has a greater potential than we thought. Though he doesn't know why I can't fully use it, yet."
"You mean he doesn't know why you can't flash on command?" Casey narrowed his eyes.
"Uh… we didn't actually talk about that." They should have, Chuck realised. But there had been so much else to talk about. "Anyway, it should also grant me combat skills."
"Combat skills?"
"Orion has an earlier version of the Intersect himself," Sarah cut in. "It provided him - or so he claimed - with advanced combat skills. His demonstration with Caridad supported his claim."
"Well, he could have trained in Kung Fu for fifteen years, of course," Chuck pointed out. "While hiding from the CIA. And hacking all their computers. But I think it's the Intersect in his head. Which, by the way, is patterned after our neural structure. Others tried to access it and died from the strain."
"The Big Brains fried their brains?" Casey chuckled. Once.
"Anyway, apparently, he was press-ganged into working for the CIA," Chuck went on, "and that's why he faked his death. And why he later erased all his information and went into hiding."
"After the rest of the Intersect team had an accident trying to download the database into their heads," Sarah added.
"A convenient accident, huh?" Casey asked.
"Yes," Sarah agreed. "I suspect sabotage - but we don't know whether it was his work, or Fulcrum's."
Chuck blinked. He hadn't thought about that. In hindsight, it was a little odd that everyone in the team would attempt such a lethal procedure. On the other hand… "Unless the first one to download the Intersect went berserk and killed the others before dying of cerebral haemorrhaging." Both spies looked at him, and he raised his hands. "Hey! I'm just pointing out that if the Intersect can turn you into a kung fu master, that might be a bad thing if your brain's also getting overloaded by all the images and pictures. You know."
"Right." Casey sounded doubtful. "You're the one who had his brain fried by this."
"I'm actually the one who didn't have his brain fried," Chuck retorted. "Because the Intersect is patterned for my kind of brain."
Casey glared at him. "And for your sister's, too, then."
"What?" Chuck blinked. "Oh my God - you're not turning Ellie into an Intersect!"
"No, we're not," Sarah agreed. "But someone might think of it if this information gets out."
"Uh." He winced. "It won't get out, right?"
Casey grunted again. "So, what deal did you make with Orion?"
Chuck couldn't tell if his question being ignored was a bad thing or not. "Uh… we kind of agreed to help him frame a drug lord for the payment and make it appear as if Orion wanted to get close to me through my sister because he wants the new Intersect. And, obviously, has no other connection to me, like being my father. It's really..."
"You want to help him hide from the CIA," Casey cut him off.
"He is my dad," Chuck told him. "And his leaving the CIA prevented Fulcrum from taking over the Intersect - we still haven't found all the traitors, have we?"
Casey grunted again. "He's a traitor."
"Technically, he's a deserter, not a traitor," Chuck said. "He didn't go to another country and told them all about the Intersect. He just didn't want to work on it any more. And he didn't want to endanger us. Me and Ellie, I mean." Why wasn't Sarah saying anything? She knew Casey best, didn't she?
"And you're planning to let him join the Council."
"Well… it would mean he'd be safe from other intelligence agencies. Relatively safe. And if he manages to get the skill part of the Intersect working, that would help a lot of Watchers, I think," Chuck said. "Like Morgan." Casey growled at that. "Perhaps Morgan was a bad example," Chuck backpedalled. "But it could be useful for saving the world."
"And if the agency catches Orion, Chuck and Ellie will become hostages," Sarah added. "They don't need Chuck as the Intersect any more once they have Orion. And they don't need us any more, either."
Casey rubbed his chin, then went over to his desk, grabbing a bottle of whisky - expensive single malt, Chuck recognised the brand and managed to refrain from making a joke about unpatriotic beverages.
Casey didn't say anything as he filled a glass with the liquor, then took a big swallow. "And you're wondering about my loyalties," he finally commented.
"Yes," Sarah replied.
"Uh, what she said. Yes," Chuck said. "I mean, it's not as if we'd doubt you, but… there's a little niggling worry…"
Casey scoffed. "We've been burned. Even if we handed Orion over, they wouldn't trust us. And they wouldn't like the information about the Intersect's full potential to spread." He downed the rest of the drink, then refilled his glass. "Not to mention that I like living in a world free of demons and doing my part to keep it demon-free."
Chuck smiled - cautiously. So far, things were going well.
But he still had to break the news to Ellie.
"Can you pass me the whipped cream? Thank you."
Chuck ignored Sarah's glance as he covered his piece of cake with more cream. Ellie didn't bake very often, but when she did, it was delicious. Ample reason not to ruin the mood - which might result in him and Sarah having to leave the apartment - before dessert was finished.
And yes, he was stalling. Besides, Ellie deserved a nice meal as well. She had cooked it, after all. Slaved in the kitchen for hours. Well, two hours, if you counted the baking. Pasta didn't take that long to make. Still…
"Out with it, Chuck."
"Huh?" He looked up.
"You've been away for most of the day on a trip and haven't told us anything about it. Just vague descriptions of the road up north." Ellie was narrowing her eyes at him. "Towards Sunnydale."
Damn, he should have expected that - Ellie was smart. Not a nerd, but as smart, as Andrew would say. Perhaps smarter, since her social intelligence was higher. Certainly smarter than Andrew.
"Chuck?"
And he was stalling again. He sighed. "Sorry, sis."
"Just tell me what you did." Ellie was quite unfairly focusing on him, ignoring that Sarah had been with him. And Caridad.
Devon nodded encouragingly. "Yes, please. It's ruining the mood a little."
Not just a little. Chuck took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "We went to Sunnydale."
Ellie nodded. "Showing the bay to Sarah?"
"Not exactly. We had a meeting," Chuck told her.
"A meeting?" Ellie sat straighter, and her frown turned into a glare. A meeting at the Sunnydale Bay meant demons. Normally. "There?"
"Yes." He sighed again. "Someone dropped me a note with the words 'kite affair'."
"What?" She blinked, then snapped her mouth shut and her glare intensified. He saw how she worked it out. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Straight to the point. No, she was evading the point. She wasn't asking if it had been Dad. "We wanted to check it out. In case it was a trap."
"You went with Caridad." Ellie couldn't complain about being left out, could she? Not after trying to keep the supernatural out of her world.
"Of course."
"And?"
He swallowed. "Dad's alive." Not a vampire.
She gasped, looking shocked before closing up, an angry expression appearing on her face. "He left us. Made us think he was dead like Mom," she spat through clenched teeth. "Left us all alone." Devon stood and moved with his chair to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
Chuck winced. "Uh, yes. Yes, he did - but he had a good reason. Kind of."
"Reason? Stop stalling, Chuck!"
"Uh. He was hunted by the CIA. Well, he worked for them on a top-secret project before he left, and he didn't want us to become hostages," Chuck explained.
"Our father worked for the CIA. And faked his death to cover that up?" Ellie's voice rose. "Chuck! You don't believe that, do you?"
"Uh… we confirmed it. Kind of."
"What?" she snapped. "How would you confirm that? You didn't try to hack the CIA, did you?"
"What? No, no." He wet his lips. "You know, Ellie, I kind of work for the CIA."
"What?"
"I'm a high-level intelligence asset for the CIA. And the NSA, technically," he told her.
"We're spies," Sarah spoke up for the first time.
"And that's Dad's fault. Kind of. And Bryce's," Chuck added.
"A spy. Spies." She was shaking her head. Devon looked caught between interested and incredulous.
"We can prove it," Chuck said.
"How? Do you have some special spy badge?" Ellie was using sarcasm. And referring embarrassing childhood secrets. Not a good sign.
"We can show you our secret base," Chuck told her. After they checked that Bane wasn't in The Castle.
California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, December 26th, 2007
"Your secret base is in a hot dog store." Ellie shook her head as they entered through the back door. She hadn't asked after Dad. And Chuck hadn't volunteered any information. They'd cover that once Elle knew he was telling the truth. Or so he assumed. They hadn't actually talked about it.
"It's a cover," Sarah told her. A little more sharply than Chuck expected.
She opened the secret door in the storage room, revealing the secret stairs before Ellie could comment further. "Follow me. I have to disable the security system."
Half a minute later, they were in The Castle.
"This… this…" Ellie was at a loss for words, it seemed.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Chuck smiled. It was his base, too, after all. A little, at least. Or a lot since it was built because of him. "And it got a supercomputer!"
"Awesome!" Devon commented.
Ellie ran a hand over the planning table. "This..." Her head snapped up, and she looked a Sarah. "How long has this been going on? With Chuck?"
He frowned, He could answer that himself. "Uh… I was recruited by her."
"She recruited you? And the CIA built this base? In Burbank?" Ellie faced him, arms crossed. "What is going on here, Chuck? With this, with you, with Sarah? With Dad?"
He smiled weakly. "Uh… good questions?"
"Good questions?" Ellie snarled.
"Very good questions. Let's see… uh…" Chuck backpedalled. "It's all Bryce's fault!"
"Larkin?"
"The guy who betrayed you?" Devon added. "This started at Stanford?"
"What? No!" Chuck blinked. "Well, in a way it did. Kind of."
"Chuck…"
He winced. The general would… well, Chuck didn't know what the general would do to him if she heard about this. But it wouldn't be pleasant. "Ok, ok. Bryce was a CIA agent. He was recruited at Stanford. And, supposedly to protect me from being recruited as well, he framed me. Dad was working with him, too, I think."
"Dad got you kicked out of Stanford on false charges?" Elie sounded outraged.
"Uh… I don't think that's the important point," Chuck replied with a weak smile. At her scowl, he quickly cleared his throat. "Anyway… this summer, I received a mail from Bryce. Which dumped a top-secret computer database into my head. A database Bryce apparently destroyed to keep it from falling into the hands of a group of traitors in the CIA."
"And in the NSA," Sarah added.
"Yes." He nodded at her.
"You've got a computer in your head?" Devon didn't seem to believe him.
"I've got the data in my head. It was encrypted in a series of images, working through a neural-optical interface," Chuck explained. "Basically, I'm a walking database with all the secrets the CIA doesn't want anyone to know in my head. Almost all - there's nothing about the supernatural in there, and Dad wiped all data about himself before he quit."
"Dad?" Ellie was still glowering. And sneaking glares a Sarah, Chuck noticed wit a wince.
"He, uh, built the whole thing. Under duress, kind of."
"That's a lot of qualifiers here," Devon said.
"That's the CIA for you?" Chuck tried to joke.
Ellie didn't laugh. No one else did, either.
"Moving on. So, the NSA and the CIA sent agents here to protect me. And built the base." There was no need to go into details there, in Chuck's opinion.
"They didn't move you to an existing base and extracted the database?" Devon asked.
So, perhaps some details were needed. "They don't know how," Chuck replied. "And they need to keep my identity a secret from the traitors in the organisation."
"We would have moved him, if not for the Council intervening," Sarah cut in. He frowned at her, but she ignored it.
"So you're a CIA agent sent to protect Chuck," Ellie said, turning to Sarah. "And the hot dog store is a cover."
"Yes."
"What about your relationship?" Ellie asked with narrowed eyes.
Uh… Chuck wet his lips.
"It started as a cover and became real," Sarah said, meeting Ellie's glare.
"And I knew about the cover from the start," Chuck hastily added.
Ellie scoffed in return and glared at him. "I bet you thought this was like one of your games."
Hey! Well… only a little. At the start.
"Chuck knows it's not a game," Sarah said. "We've been on several missions already."
"You're a spy?" Ellie sounded shocked.
"You're a secret agent?" Devon sounded delighted.
"Uh… yes?"
"How does a database in your head turn you into a spy?" Ellie growled.
"Ah…" Chuck cleared his throat again. "The database kind of works. There's this algorithm, you know, which manages to link different sets of data to reveal tips and critical information… and you don't really want those details." And he shouldn't reveal that, either.
"You're using him as a walking computer? On Missions?" Ellie whirled on Sarah.
"Hey! I want to be a spy," Chuck stepped in. "And it's well-paid, too!"
"It's dangerous!" Ellie shook her head.
Devon suddenly blinked. "Larkin was a spy, wasn't he? He wasn't a banker killed in a robbery, was he?"
"Chuck!" Chuck winced as Ellie gasped. "You're risking your life working for the CIA?"
"I'd be in danger no matter what I do," he defended himself. "Everyone wants the Intersect."
"That's the database?" Devon asked.
Oops. Chuck grimaced as Sarah frowned at him. "That's top-secret. You can't tell anyone!" he said.
"And Dad built this?" Ellie shook her head. "He worked for the CIA - after leaving us. And now you're working for the CIA. And dating a spy."
Uh. Ellie really wasn't taking this well. "Well, we're working on getting Dad off the CIA's most-wanted list. And we won't be working for the CIA forever, either," Chuck told her.
"Really?" She didn't seem convinced.
"Really!" He smiled at her.
She frowned, though. "And what will you be doing after quitting the CIA? Working at the Buy More and Wienerlicious?"
"Uh." His smile slipped. "We're kind of planning to work for the Council."
"CHUCK!"
California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, December 26th, 2007
Chuck sighed for the sixth or seventh time since Ellie had stormed out. "Perhaps we should have had Dad with us. She might have focused on him," he said, dropping his head on his arms and closing his eyes.
"Will she calm down?" Sarah asked, sitting down in her usual seat across the table from him.
"Eventually." He raised his head. "She can carry grudges. Especially when it concerns me."
"Against you or against everyone else?"
"Uh… Mostly the later," he admitted. Ellie had never really forgiven the Scoobies for recruiting him for the battle at the graduation. He saw her grimace. "Err… well, she likes you?"
"She liked me as long as she thought I was a hot dog store owner-operator," Sarah retorted. "I think knowing that I'm a spy changed that."
He closed his eyes again. "I should have played up the analyst angle. She would have liked me working in a high-paying job."
"Would that have helped after explaining why you were recruited by the CIA?"
No, it wouldn't have helped. He shook his head.
"Devon seemed to be taking it well."
"He thinks it's awesome," Chuck said.
"So, it's not all bad," Sarah said.
"Are you trying to cheer up me or yourself?" Chuck looked up at her. She winced. He sighed once more. "Well, having family rows over the holidays is a tradition, right? Not that we're a traditional family."
That made her laugh a little. "Probably."
"So, what do we do now?"
"I'll talk to her."
He blinked. "Are you sure? You saw how she stormed off? You heard what she said?"
Sarah nodded. "Yes. But I think I can explain things to her."
"Woman to woman?" he joked.
"Yes." She was smiling at him, but she wasn't very amused. He could tell.
"Sorry."
"It's nothing." She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. She was about to say something else when she suddenly frowned and looked to the side.
Chuck followed her gaze and saw Morgan coming towards the store. His friend was waving at them. "Ah…"
"I'll let him in," Sarah said, sighing as she got up.
"Chuck! Sarah!" Morgan was beaming at both of them as he entered the store. "Caridad said you'd be here. How did it go?" That explained why he was coming to a closed hot dog store on Boxing Day.
"Ellie's not speaking to any of us," Chuck told him.
"Oh." Morgan blinked, taken aback. "She doesn't like you being a spy?"
"I think that would have been OK. But the whole not telling her, meeting Dad without telling her, being a target for a spy ring that has penetrated the CIA wasn't OK," Chuck said in a dry voice. "And when she heard that we're planning to quit the CIA and join the Council…" He grimaced.
Morgan nodded, wincing. "Oh, yes. That would do it. She really doesn't like the Scoobies."
"So, you came here to ask about that?" Chuck asked. There were phones for that.
"What?" Morgan perked up. "Oh, no, I wanted to tell you that I got Kirsten handled." He grinned widely. "She was far too busy with me to investigate where you were going. Trust me, I've got this - you won't have to worry about her."
Oh. Chuck forced himself to smile. "As long as you have the situation under control…"
"Oh, definitely." Morgan nodded several times, then sighed with a dreamy expression. "I've got it."
Chuck glanced at Sarah, who frowned. "You haven't forgotten that she's a spy? A honey trap, to be exact," she told Morgan.
"Oh, believe me, I wouldn't be able to forget that if I wanted to!" Morgan replied. "She's… the things she can do… Wow!"
Chuck felt his smile slip. This was really far more than he ever wanted to know about Bane. Or Morgan.
California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 27th, 2007
This was a bad idea - Sarah knew that very well. But she couldn't just do nothing. Not when it was at least partially her fault that Ellie was mad at Chuck. And at Sarah, of course. So she took a deep breath, pasted a smile on her face and rang the doorbell.
It took a little longer than usual, but the door swung open, and Ellie glared at her.
"Hi, Ellie," Sarah said right away. "We need to talk."
Ellie frowned at her. "Did you wait until Devon's shift had started so I would be alone?"
"Yes." There was no need to deny it.
Chuck's sister glared at her. "You've got us under surveillance."
"Yes." She didn't add 'for your safety' - Ellie knew that, and mentioning it would only make her angrier.
Ellie stared at her for half a minute, making Sarah wonder if the doctor would close the door in her face, but then scoffed. "I can't stop you anyway," she said, stepping aside.
Sarah nodded and entered, heading to the living room.
"You dragged Chuck into this!" Ellie blurted out almost before Sarah had sat down on the couch. "He's in danger because of you!"
"He's in danger because Bryce sent him the Intersect," she retorted. "I'd have never heard of him otherwise."
"And why were you sent here?" Ellie crossed her arms.
"To secure the Intersect," Sarah replied. Honesty was the best policy. And Chuck would probably spoil any cover story anyway.
"The Intersect. Not Chuck." Ellie sniffed.
"I hadn't met him yet." Sarah smiled.
"So you fell in love with him, and that changed everything?" Ellie's voice was dripping with suspicion. "Love at first sight?"
Tilting her head a little, Sarah replied: "Not at first sight." Though she had liked him from the start. "That came later. After we started going out as a cover for me protecting him."
"'Protecting him'!" Ellie shook her head, scoffing. "How is letting him risk his life protecting him?"
"I'm not 'letting' him risk his life," Sarah replied. "He chose to work with us."
"Chuck 'chooses' to do a lot if he thinks it's the right thing to do. And people exploit that."
Ah. They were getting close to the core of the issue. "You think we manipulated him."
"Of course." Ellie spat the words.
"Like his other friends."
Sarah saw Ellie clench her teeth at that. "Friends don't drag their friends into danger."
"I don't think they dragged him into fighting demons," Sarah replied in a soft voice. "I think they asked for help."
"Chuck will always help his friends. And they know it."
"They haven't asked him to join the Council, did they?"
"They don't need to. Not when he jumps into a fight whenever they ask." Ellie pressed her lips together, and Sarah saw her clench her fist.
"And how often does that happen?"
"Who knows? It's not as if he told me about joining the CIA either! For all I know, he could be hunting demons every night!"
Ah. "Well, he isn't," Sara told her. "And he couldn't tell you about the CIA because it's classified."
"And why did he tell me now? Just because Dad's alive after faking his death and leaving us for fifteen years? For our safety?" Ellie's voice rose as she shook her head.
Sarah leaned back a little. Ellie wasn't crying, yet, but it wouldn't take much. "Your father's appearance changed the situation."
"And if that hadn't happened, Chuck would have kept lying to me." Ellie blinked a few times, then wiped her eyes.
"He wanted to protect you."
"Really? And how's lying supposed to protect me?"
"You can't spill a secret you don't know," Sarah told her. "And you won't have to lie to people."
"I'm already lying to my friends about demons," Ellie retorted. "What's another few lies?"
"Your friends aren't trained spies. They won't see through your lies."
"Spies?"
"Like Bane," Sarah said.
"What? She's also a spy?"
"She's spying on us for the CIA."
"What?"
Sarah suppressed a sigh. "The CIA wants to get control over the Intersect. Which means Chuck. So, since they can't just press-gang him thanks to the Council's pressure, they use other means. And since they don't trust me any more, they sent Bane."
"Why wouldn't the CIA trust you any more?"
"That's actually Chuck's fault," Sarah said, faintly chuckling. "He showed me demons, and my superior isn't cleared for that knowledge. So they grew suspicious when I stopped investigating the secret behind the Council's influence, as they see it."
"That's…" Ellie trailed off.
"I know. That's why we want to work for the Council. Once the business with the Intersect is dealt with."
"And how long will that take?"
That was a good question. Sarah winced.
California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, December 27th, 2007
"I've talked to Ellie."
"Uh…" At hearing Sarah's statement, Chuck froze for a moment in the process of grabbing his coke. He hadn't expected her to talk to his sister right away. But then, she was an experienced spy. She wouldn't procrastinate.
She chuckled. "It didn't go too badly."
"Ah." That was a relief. A small relief. "But how well did it go?"
Sarah shrugged. "She's processing what I told her. Which is," she went on, preempting his question," is just the truth about how we met and why we didn't tell her the truth.
"Why I lied to her, you mean," Chuck corrected her.
"This isn't your fault," she replied. "You did what you were told to."
"That hasn't worked as an excuse since the Second World War, I believe."
She frowned at him. Perhaps he shouldn't equate the CIA to a Nazi government. Although the CIA had been working with former Nazis after the war, hadn't it? Maybe he could flash if he looked at some history books…
"Chuck?"
"Oh, sorry," He smiled at her. "I just had a thought."
"Yes?"
"Uh, not about Ellie. A tangent. History." He nodded. "I think I should test if the Intersect offers new insights into our history. Cross-reference files and uncover the truth about historical events."
Was that a wince? Sarah's smile certainly slipped. "I don't think the CIA would be happy about you revealing past plots and blunders."
"Oh. And if it's the Russians' plots? Or Soviets', at the time?"
"That might cause diplomatic troubles if the information were made public."
"Really?" The Cold War was over, although Russia wasn't exactly an ally, was it?
"Yes."
"Alright. No making enemies of diplomats and spies. Got it."
Another frown, probably at his sarcastic tone. "We've got enough enemies already, I think."
He blinked. "Uh. Good point." After taking a swallow from his coke, he went on: "So, what's next? Other than waiting for Ellie to calm down? And waiting for an opportunity to scan my brain?"
"Handling Bane," Sarah replied. She was looking past his shoulder, he noticed.
He glanced over his shoulder and winced. There were Morgan and Bane in the parking lot, leaning against the hood of a car, kissing. If the car had an alarm it would have gone off, in Chuck's opinion. "They're practically crawling over the hood," he muttered.
"She wants us to see them," Sarah replied in a rather dark tone.
"Oh." He frowned. "An attempt to make me jealous?"
"Yes. It's an old ploy."
She had told him so before. Still… "What if she's after Morgan's secrets?"
"That's probably a secondary objective.".
"Well, Morgan's no fool. He knows about her being a spy," Chuck said. "That shouldn't be a problem."
Sarah didn't say anything, but her expression clearly told Chuck that she disagreed.
California, Burbank, Buy More, December 27th, 2007
"...and this is how you change the battery and force a reboot of the system, see?"
"Ah! Like this?"
"No. Like this? See?"
"Ah!"
"Almost. You need to keep this button pushed as it restarts. See?"
"Ah. Thanks!"
"Have a nice day." Chuck's smile vanished as soon as the man had turned away. "Some people shouldn't be allowed to buy computers," he muttered.
"He probably got it as a gift," Morgan commented. "As a professional salesman, I can assure you that none of my peers would have sold the man a device that's so obviously beyond his capabilities."
"Really?" Those people with more money than ability were among their best clients.
"I'd have sold him a Mac instead," Morgan went on.
"He wouldn't have known how to handle that either," Chuck pointed out.
"Yes, but he would have been Jeff and Lester's problem:"
"Good thing you didn't, then," Chuck told him. "Jeff's still a little jittery from the whole Slime Lord affair."
"Did he trigger again from seeing a kid playing with silly putty?"
"Fortunately, no."
"Props for making people think he was a traumatised war veteran who was wounded in an Iraqi chemical factory, by the way."
Chuck winced. Not his best excuse, but he had been stressed. The days after Christmas were hell in the Buy More. So many people trying to exchange gifts they didn't like, or having problems with new electronic devices they had bought for Christmas…
Morgan looked around, then leaned against the Nerd Herd desk. "So, any news from Ellie? Or your Dad? I'm still handling Kirsten, so there's no rush."
"Yeah, we've seen that."
"You did?" Chuck's friend blinked. "Oh. The parking lot? Or the storage room?"
"The storage room?" What had they done there? On second thought, Chuck didn't want to know. "Never mind. But you are careful, right? She's a spy, after all."
"Careful is my middle name!" Morgan grinned, then pushed off the desk when they heard Big Mike yell in the background.
And promptly backed into a customer bending over to check a USB stick on the lower shelf.
As the customer lost his balance and fell into the aisle, causing dozens of electronic merchandise to be spilt all over the floor, Chuck winced.
California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 27th, 2007
"I have to admit," Chuck said, hours later, when he and Sarah were in bed, "Bane might be a cause for concern."
"Really?"
He glanced at her with a frown. "Morgan might be a bit overconfident."
"A bit."
Chuck's friend wasn't that bad. "He's been working as a Watcher-in-training for years." And still alive, which was the most important test.
"And in that time, he hasn't passed his Watcher test, has he?"
"Just because he isn't the best at rote learning doesn't mean that he's bad at dealing with a spy," Chuck said, looking at the ceiling.
"He's not exactly a 'player', either."
"No." Chuck sighed. This wasn't the time to mention that Morgan used to have a t-shirt with 'I'm a gamer, not a player' on it. "He's had a crush on Ellie for years. As a kid. And he's been pining for Caridad for a while as well." Two women out of Morgan's league.
"That history makes him an easy mark for Bane," Sarah said. "Easy to manipulate someone like him. What does Phil think about this?"
"Oh. I don't know. Caridad will have told him, but I haven't yet spoken to him about it," Chuck told her. He sighed. "What a mess. Ellie's mad at us. Morgan's getting manipulated by a spy. And Dad's planning to fool the CIA. More than he usually does, I mean."
"You forgot Fulcrum trying to discover your identity so their agents can either kidnap or eliminate you. And the CIA planning to recruit you against your wishes."
"Right." Chuck grimaced. "I limited myself to family-related troubles." It was a good excuse for forgetting, if only for a little bit, about the spies trying to find him. He snorted. "I just realised: I'm like Dad - I'm hunted by spies because of the Intersect."
Sarah didn't laugh at his joke. But she patted his hand.