A/N: Anybody think Alexandra Forrest owns Chuck? Yeah, I didn't think so either.
A/N2: Another chapter without a spy plot. The spy plot rears its head next week with a call from General Beckman to … Dr. Woodcomb.
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Castle Studios, Los Angeles
Gym bags in hand, Chuck and Sarah approached the entrance to the Studio's gym. Their intention was to get in a quick weight workout before their newest team member was due to arrive at Castle later that morning.
A somewhat dapper man in a tan suit, flowered tie and pale straw fedora held the door for them as he was walking out of the building and they were walking in. Chuck said, "Thank you."
The man replied, "You're welcome, Chuck. Hi, Sarah."
Both Chuck and Sarah stopped to look at him and were astonished to see Jeffrey Barnes grinning at them. He looked...good. His eyes were clear and his hair was neatly trimmed under the hat. His suit fit and his shoes were shined. He grinned merrily at their surprised expressions.
"Jeff?...Jeff...Um...you look...um..." stammered Chuck, so surprised.
"Normal? Well, normal for a normal human? Not normal for me, I guess. Yeah. So, here's the story, Chuck. With the money the Studio is paying me, I finally rented an apartment." Jeff started to laugh. His voice sounded strong and sort of ...confident. Not at all like Jeff Barnes.
"Ok," said Sarah. Neither of them sure where this conversation was going. "Where did you live before?"
"I slept in my van, with the motor running to keep me warm," he said with a grin.
"That's a pretty strange thing to do," said Chuck.
"Yeah, it was. But, you see, I never realized that. Turns out, I've had low level carbon monoxide poisoning for years. Certainly, as long as you've known me, Chuck. You and the guys at the Buy More all thought I was just … I don't know...crazy, doped, stupid, strange, something like that, I guess. In fact, I was just sucking up my van's exhaust all night. When I stopped doing that, things came into focus again." Jeff was chuckling and shaking his head. "When I think of some of the stuff I got up to with Lester...man, I just have to shake my head."
"Wow. That's great," said Chuck. "Good for you. You seem to be good. You know, in a good place."
Jeff waved at the gym, "Well, I've got a lot of work to do. I've let things go to shit for years now, but I'm on a good path. And I'm pitching a really cool idea for a short film to the Mattocks. Wish me luck."
"Good for you, Jeff. Good for you. We'll see you around the Studio. Maybe get a cup of coffee sometime?"
"I'd like that, Chuck." They shook hands. Turning to Sarah and shaking her hand, Jeff said, "Good to see you again, Sarah. Let me know if you ever want to be in a movie." He grinned in an easy, friendly way, maintaining eye contact and not checking out her body. Not at all like the old creeper Jeff.
Sarah laughed and said, "Thanks but no thanks, Jeff. I'm a little busy lately."
"My loss," he said with a smile, a shrug, and a wave goodbye. "See you around, guys."
With that, he walked away, leaving Chuck and Sarah looking at each other with wonder.
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Castle
An hour and a half later, Chuck and Sarah were in Castle when Casey came down in the elevator with a beautiful blonde woman with a serious expression. She was dressed in a dark pants suit and blouse.
He introduced them. "Alex Forrest, meet Sarah Walker and Charles Carmichael."
She stretched out her hand to Sarah and said, "Agent Walker. It's a pleasure. Your reputation precedes you."
"Good to meet you, too," said Sarah with a smile. "Please call me Sarah. And you have a hell of a rep yourself."
Forrest, unsmiling, shrugged in dismissal of her reputation. "Thank you. I've worked hard to earn it." She turned to Chuck, "Special Agent Carmichael, my pleasure."
"Please call me Chuck," he said to her, smiling warmly and taking her hand. "Welcome aboard. We're excited to have you join us."
"I'm looking forward to working on your team," she said to Chuck, putting a touch of emphasis on the word 'your.'
He chuckled and said, "It's our team, not my team. We don't really think of it that way."
"Really? I understood that you were in command," said Forrest, confused.
"We don't have anyone in command, Agent Forrest. We sort of make our decisions together. You'll see," said Chuck with a warm smile.
She looked at him seriously, frowning slightly. "Thank you. Sorry to be dense, but I'm confused. How can you operate without a commander? That seems somewhat chaotic."
Sarah said, "Oh, yeah. It's not in the manuals, but you'd be surprised how well it works. And we have the success to prove it."
Forrest nodded and finally smiled a tight smile that made her look like she was in pain, "That you do. It's why I wanted to join you. This team is doing a lot of good work."
"Well, let's continue that together, shall we?" asked Sarah.
"I hope to," said Forrest, seriously.
"Where are you staying?" asked Sarah, trying to engage the other woman in some lighter small talk.
"They've put me at Maison 23. Your old room, I think," she said.
"Ughh. I hated the wallpaper in that place."
"I didn't notice. It had good sightlines from the window, decent egress in an emergency, and access to two major roads. It seems to fit the parameters of the mission."
"Yeah," said Sarah, with a shrug. "I guess so."
Casey said, "Come on, Agent Forrest. I'll show you around. We have a great armory."
"Lead the way, Colonel. That's my favorite part of the tour."
The two of them walked off towards the back of the facility.
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. Silently, Chuck raised his hand with his fingers crossed. Sarah nodded.
"She seems a bit stiff," she said, quietly.
"First day at school. New kid. Meeting all rest," he said. "We should cut her some slack. Hell, it's even worse than that. It's not just that she's new. She's confronted by the three of us being so close we are family. How to you fit into that mix as an outsider? I don't blame her for being a bit standoffish. At least until she gets to know us and learns she can relax."
"Yeah. I'm sure you're right. She'll loosen up in time."
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Chuck and Sarah's Apartment
Chuck and Sarah were in the kitchen preparing a big dinner for their friends and family. They were trying one of the recipes for dinner on a sheet pan. Alaskan salmon, asparagus, and potatoes. If the recipe lived up to its hype, they could drop the pans into the oven and come back later and everything would be done at the same time (although they would have to add the salmon towards the end). It sounded too good to be true, but was worth a shot. Sarah was also making a big salad and a garlic bread. They had a cold bottle of chardonnay from Cakebread Vineyards open to assist with the cooking chores, and a few more in the fridge to assist with the eating when the guests arrived. Casey was bringing a blueberry pie for dessert.
They heard a knock on the door. Wiping her hands on a dish towel, Sarah went to get the door. Ellie and Devon came in with hugs and kisses and more wine. Chuck immediately poured Ellie some of the chardonnay they were drinking. Wordlessly, he took a bottle of Corona beer from the fridge and showed it to Devon, who smiled and accepted it. "Thanks, Chuckster."
Casey knocked on the door with the pie and accepted a glass of wine himself, trading one for the other. He moved to the side of the room and sipped his wine while staring at a chess board on a small table in the corner. The board was clearly in mid game. After staring at it for a while, he moved a piece.
Ellie said, "Hey, little brother, I saw that you dropped another bit about Szell this morning. Something about money-laundering for a Columbian cartel?"
"Yeah. If I guessed right, that should set the Swiss banking authorities after him. When those guys get started they can make a big dent in freezing his holdings within the Swiss banking system. Dry up some more of the funds he would use to defend himself."
"Yo, dude. You're going to leave him penniless and in a cage for the rest of his life," said Devon.
"That's the plan," said Chuck with a serious nod. "I've emptied all his hidden overseas accounts. Gave the money anonymously to the Red Cross, UNICEF, Amnesty International..." Casey growled. "...and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation." Casey grunted happily.
"All good," said Sarah, coming out with a large plate of blistered shishito peppers and a cup of cheese sticks for folks to nosh on before they were ready to put the sheet pans in the oven.
Devon said, "I read that that Hungarian spy, Fodor, is cooperating with the prosecutors."
Casey said, "Yeah. The guy's a snake. Anything to save his own skin, I guess."
"Where do we stand on Molly?" asked Ellie. "Anything new?"
"Not really. I spoke to Josh Bolten yesterday. Just to get the latest. The President spoke to Prime Minister Gyurcsány …"
"Good pronunciation, sweetie," said Sarah. Chuck just smiled at her and gave her a head nod.
"...last week. Soon after I called him. I'm told it was a good call. The President pressed him to allow Molly to stay here and emphasized the need to keep her location secret to avoid a media storm surrounding a little girl, and the Prime Minister seemed to agree. Anyway, the ball is in the Hungarian's court now. We're waiting for a response."
Casey said, "It's a big deal. We'll have to be patient."
"Yeah. I think that's right," said Chuck.
The door to the apartment opened and Emma came in leading Molly by the hand, toddling along in her bathing suit. Emma was wearing shorts and a tee shirt with open sandals, her hair pulled back in a short pony tail. She could have been Sarah's older sister, the resemblance was so striking. "Hey, everybody. Hope we're not late." Both of them had big smiles.
"Not at all, Mom," called Sarah from the kitchen. "We were just having some wine before putting the dinner in the oven. Want some? Or do you want a dry rob roy? Chuck got you the dry vermouth this morning."
Chuck took Molly from Emma. "Come here, you little beauty."
Emma said, while making her way around the room kissing cheeks in greeting, "The rob roy would be great. Thanks. Let me run into the shower real quick, though. I still have sand on me."
Emma started towards the hallway. Chuck was bouncing Molly and said, "While you're in the shower I'll change her out of her bathing suit, Emma."
"Thanks, Chuck. Check her for sand too, please. I think I got all the sand off her at the beach, but might have missed a bit. I tried not to get any in your new car."
"Ah, don't worry about it. No biggie if you did," he said.
Ellie handed her wine to Devon and said, standing, "Nope, little brother. It's my turn with Molly, give her here." She reached out and snatched the giggling little girl from her brother.
Halfway down the hallway to the guest room, Emma stopped and turned to look at Casey across the room. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.
He looked at her with a satisfied expression and said, "Knight to Queen's Bishop Six."
Emma paused for a moment or two, staring at nothing, and then said, "King's Rook takes Knight." She smiled at him some more and walked down the hall to the guest room as Casey looked back at the board and began to curse under his breath.
Chuck said, "Now don't you listen to Uncle Casey, Molly. He uses bad words sometimes." Molly just giggled.
Ellie took Molly to the guest room to change her and Devon said, "How was baby-proofing? That must have been a challenge."
Chuck rolled his eyes a bit and looked to Sarah, just coming into the room from the kitchen. She gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Yeah, it was. I'm not even talking about the spy stuff and weapons I have lying around. Those things are well hidden. Just the regular stuff. If we did a hundred things, she found the one we forgot."
"What was that?" he asked with a chortle.
"We put the caps into all of the plugs, the child safety caps. One of the extension cords for a game set up. I forgot to put a cap into it. I came out yesterday morning to find her sucking on it," said Chuck.
"He was shocked," said Sarah with a smirk.
"Ugh," said Chuck. "You should be ashamed of yourself for that one, sweetie."
Sarah just laughed.
Devon said, "If the Hungarians let you keep her, will she and Emma live with you long term or move back to Philly?"
"Don't know yet. One thing at a time. For now, this is a temporary thing until we know their decision. I'd certainly love to have them here, but I'm not sure this apartment is the right choice. She should have a backyard, I think. And my mom would have to get a job out here. She's on leave from her job back east and it's a pretty important job at an insurance company. I don't know," said Sarah.
Ellie came back carrying a grinning Molly, who reached out for Sarah and said, "Sis."
Sarah took her with a happy smile and said, "That's right, Molly. Sister. I'm your sister and you're my sister. And that will never, ever change. Never, ever." Sarah tickled her under the chin, making her giggle.
Everyone smiled at that.
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Carmichael Industries offices
The next morning, in the offices of Carmichael Industries, Chuck's administrative assistant called to him from her desk outside his office. "Chuck, there's a Mr. Grant on the phone. Says he knows you from college."
Chuck turned from the screen he'd been studying and said, "Ok. Thanks. I'll take it."
Chuck sighed a bit before he picked the phone up. He owed this man an apology, a longstanding apology. "Chuck Bartowski."
"Hello, Chuck Bartowski. This is Joe Grant," said the man, sounding ebullient.
"Hey, Joe. Listen, I know you reached out before and I'm sorry..."
"Aww, don't worry about it. You were overwhelmed by things, so you ghosted me. I understand. But we're brothers. Can't take that away."
Joe and Chuck had been fraternity brothers at Stanford, living in the house together with Bryce and the other guys. After Chuck was expelled Joe had reached out to him a number of times, leaving messages of friendship and support and asking for a return call. When Chuck didn't return numerous messages, Joe eventually stopped calling. This was the first time Chuck had spoken to him since he moved out of the frat house all those years ago.
"Well, thanks. Yeah. I was overwhelmed. That's exactly right. The very idea of having anything to do with those memories was too painful. I actually wallowed in that funk for years. I only got my head straightened out about a year ago when I got a new girlfriend."
"Well, I'm glad you did, Chuck. And it sounds like you're on a good path. Carmichael Industries. Wow."
"I am. Thanks, Joe. Where'd you hear about us?"
"President Carroll from Stanford. There was a symposium yesterday for folks in the industry, the computer industry...I'm a VP at Microsoft up in Redmond...anyway, Carroll spoke at the symposium. Half an hour speech and the whole thing was essentially an infomercial for Carmichael Industries. Called you one of the most talented graduates of Stanford and went on and on about how cybersecurity was woefully ignored and the perils involved and the need for robust defenses, etcetera, etcetera. I cornered him afterwards and asked him about you. How you were a graduate when you had gotten expelled? When I asked him that I thought he was going to cry, I really did. He called that the worst mistake of his life. He told me that new evidence came to light last year and the school had immediately given you your degree with distinction."
"Yeah, they did. He talked about us? About Carmichael Industries? Huh. I'll be damned," said Chuck, surprised. "I didn't even know he knew about us."
"Not just talked, raved. About the work you are doing to help your clients. He hinted that you are doing classified work for the government. It's actually why I'm calling. Other than wanting to catch up, of course. I wanted to see if you would take a meeting with me and some of my colleagues here. Maybe we can help each other."
Chuck sat back in his chair. Taking a meeting with Microsoft...wow.
Joe said, "Chuck? You still there?"
"Yeah. Just seeing if I can manage to fit in a meeting with Microsoft. You know...I've got stuff going on. Gotta wash my hair. Take the car to get inspected. You know. Really important stuff." Chuck was grinning.
Joe chuckled. "Well, think about it, huh?"
Chuck laughed, "Right. Ok. Looks like I should be able to do it."
"Ok. Beginning of next week? Want to fly up to Redmond? We'll send the jet to get you."
"Sure. Email me the details."
"Will do. But before we get off, what else with your life? Married? Kids? What's going on?"
Chuck smiled. "Getting married in December and over the moon in love. No kids yet, so we are doing things in the traditional order. You'll get to meet her. She'll be at the meeting. She's my partner here and pretty much runs the place. How about you?"
"Married three years now. A two year old boy and one in the oven. Due in January."
"Oh, that's great, Joe. Congratulations. Do you know the flavor of number two?"
"Nope. We're trying to decide if we want to know. Maybe be surprised this time."
"Aw, that's terrific. Well done, my friend."
"Thanks, Chuck. It's good to talk to you again. I missed you, brother."
"Thanks, Joe. I'll see you next week."
"See you."
Chuck hung up the phone and stared at it for a few moments.
Microsoft. Wow.
He got up and went next door to see Sarah and tell her the news.
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A/N3: With permission, I took Chuck's fraternity brother, Joe Grant, from Sarah vs. Asking Chuck Out by Steelejay. Steelejay made an excellent point in that story. Even if Chuck was booted from Stanford and Bryce turned against him, he had a houseful of fraternity brothers. Surely one or two of them at least would reach out and try to keep in touch. To try to wish him well and good luck. Joe, in Steelejay's story and in mine, is exactly that sort of guy.
A/N4: All seems right with the world for our friends in this AU. Let me know how I'm doing, please.