A/N: This is the story of two very imperfect people. Sometimes imperfect people do very stupid things. Sometimes they work through it and it takes a bit. Also, it's not so much Chuck's decision that has her upset as it is HIM NOT TALKING TO HER ABOUT IT, HIS BEST FRIEND. This is written by two very imperfect people (although I say I'm more imperfect than SC) *dodges monocle she threw at me* I understand the trepidation (used my word of the day calendar there) but I pinky swear this is gonna pay off. I would also like you to remember one of the things we both wanted to do was take some of the cringe worthy moments out of this series. Deep breath, yes some of you have guessed right about where we are, but it's us, it's ish, and this is a journey we have plotted and painstakingly detailed for a year. We are SO excited to be here. I promise, it's not as bad as you think. There is growth coming, from two very imperfect people and there will be missteps. It's a journey but that light you're looking for, it's still there, and it is getting brighter. Funny thing about the light, it always seems darkest right before the dawn. Dawn's coming, and it's going to be bright, and there's no ish to that. There is a VERY original episode coming. Did I mention HOW EXCITED we are? Cause we are! Thank you for joining us, and I promise we will make it worth your while.
Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck and aren't making money.
"He didn't flash on the second file," Sarah said softly. Casey didn't respond. She ran her hand through her hair, frustrated. "What do I do?" Casey just looked at her, still silent, and she looked right back, thrusting her hand out helplessly. "I'm asking you, what do I do?"
"You're the only one who can answer that. I'm not the one who was going off on real dates with him," Casey finally said. Part of her wanted to hit Casey for that crack, because she was confused, angry at seeing Chuck again in person, and relieved at seeing him again and maybe that was why she was angry...But then she realized it wasn't a crack. He was being serious. And she supposed he was right. He couldn't answer that question. Only she could.
He seemed to take pity on her and he huffed, rolling his eyes. "Listen, he fucked up not telling you. We can all agree on that, even the moron himself. But you've got to quit fixating on the one thing you keep fixating on."
"What are you talking about?"
"You think he's going to ruin his life. That being in the NSA is gonna fuck up who he is." Sarah frowned, casting her gaze to the side. "Ain't gonna happen, though. Know why?" She looked back at him and shook her head. "Because that kid has us to make sure it doesn't happen. That ain't somethin' you or me had."
"What do you mean, it isn't going to happen? It already is happening! He purposely kept me in the dark! Me!" she emphasized, thumping herself on the chest with her palm.
Casey chuckled. "Christ, if you think that means he's not the same guy he was at the start of all this, you might not know 'im as well as you think you do. The guy's human. He's always been. You think every decision he makes is gonna be perfect?" He snorted. "Have we been dealing with the same idiot?" Sarah just stared at Casey, stunned. "Come on, I'll show you something else that will make you even more pissed at him. He's Piranha."
Sarah furrowed her brow. What in the hell was he talking about, calling Chuck a fish. "Piranha? Like...the fish?"
Casey rolled his eyes. "Pfft. Typical CIA. So fixated on foreign shit and you have no clue about what happens in your own damn country." She rolled her eyes. That was the whole point of the CIA, wasn't it? Foreign intelligence? Idiot. "Piranha, Walker. They were a big deal, came onto the scene about thirteen years ago and stayed around 'til four or five years ago before they disappeared completely off the radar. Not even a trace. Piranha."
Alarms went off in her head as she spun to face him fully. "Wait! The hacker?! That Piranha?" She couldn't wrap her head around this. "Chuck?!" Casey shrugged. "What else don't I know about him?"
"Seems the guy you thought was so morally pristine and the best decision-maker on the planet before we swept in to corrupt him isn't who you've dreamed up, huh?" Casey left the room in the same direction Chuck went minutes earlier.
Sarah shook her head, still gaping, numb even. What in the hell was her life?
}o{
Chuck's hands were flying across the keyboard finding whatever he could on Giles based off of what little they had on the guy in the file Casey gave him. Giles was apparently a gun runner that was supposed to meet a Ring courier at Frank's. Frank's was a little Italian place with good food and great music according to their website.
Chuck scouted over the floor plan in an attempt to come up with some sort of a game plan.
He looked at the photos of where Giles liked to sit and got an idea, a particular idea that he definitely did not like.
He pulled up a map, found road plans, building plans, and they all pointed to an easy way to take Giles out, but he knew what Sarah would say. He supported her in what she would say because if she didn't say, he'd say it.
"Find anything, Bartowski?" he heard Casey call out behind him.
"Yeah, but I don't like it," Chuck muttered.
"Well, since we're supposed to help you, let's hear what you have," Sarah said, following Casey in. Chuck gave her a look. She paused, a dubious look on her face. "What is it?"
"The, um, the idea I came up with sort of asks for you specifically to do a thing I'm pretty sure you are not going to want to do," Chuck began.
"She gotta pretend she actually likes you right now?" Casey asked. Chuck glared, and Casey seemed like he realized maybe now wasn't the best time for his usual shtick.
"Nope, he's in the van quarterbacking," Sarah said before he could respond. She gave Chuck that certain look of hers that told him to shut up. "If it's your plan, you have to be the eyes and ears."
She told him that he needed to listen to her, to do what she said, and he knew she was speaking from a place of experience and seniority, so he nodded in agreement instead of arguing.
"Okay," Chuck replied and turned back to the screen. He started to speak and then turned back. "I hate this, though, for the record."
"Well, this is what most of the whole spy thing is, Chuck, so if you're already having trouble, this isn't the greatest start," Sarah said without blinking an eye. "Sometimes you gotta burn an asset, or seduce a mark…" She paused, then glanced at the screen, her eyes darting over the work he'd done so far. "Is that what this is? The thing I'm not going to want to do?"
Chuck winced. "Trust me, I twisted my brain into knots trying to come up with some other way, any other way…" She raised her eyebrows and he understood it immediately. "Not because—I mean, it wasn't because I'm—It hasn't nothing to do with—" He gestured between them and cleared his throat.
"The hell are you saying? Finish your sentence," Casey groused.
"I know I'm training to be a spy, and I know spies have to burn assets and seduce marks but why force a spy to do that crap if there's even the slightest chance of there being a better way. It's not just you, Sarah, it's...the spy world in general. You shouldn't have to, but-but nobody should have to. I don't care if it's 'part of the job', it's still bad to make your people do it," Chuck said, shoulders slumping.
"Well, I don't want to do it, either," Sarah said, crossing her arms, nibbling on her lip. "But I can handle it if I'm holding the reins. Give me the reins and you don't have to worry about it."
Chuck looked at her for a long time, then nodded once. "Okay. The reins are yours."
She met his gaze for a long moment, then nodded, looking to the screen again and gesturing with a nod of her chin. "So tell us the plan."
He nodded and pulled up the specs of the building. "Van is here, where I'll be."
"Out of sight, good vantage point, not easily seen...I like it," Casey said, nodding approvingly.
Chuck pushed down the pride he felt at that and quickly pulled up the floor plans to Frank's. "Giles meets his contact at Frank's, once a week, like clockwork." He pointed to a seat at the bar. "This is where he normally sits and meets his courier. Now if Sarah sits here," he said pointing to a seat at the bar, right beside where Giles normally sat. "That's the shortest distance to the exit. The key is to get Giles into that alley off to the side of the building, through said exit. If Sarah can persuade him through that door..."
"If," she said, snorting.
"Well," he said, turning in his chair slowly, an amused grin on his face. "Casey taught me to have multiple plans for every circumstance, even if the chances of it happening aren't high." Chuck missed the significant look on her face. "I figure our other option is for you two to tranq him without anyone seeing and Weekend at Bernie's him to the van."
"Do what?" he heard Sarah mutter.
"Good job, Bartowski," Casey said, ignoring her. "Forward that to the General, and then meet us in the dojo." Chuck turned back to the computer as the other two walked off. When he couldn't hear their footsteps, he said a little prayer, picked up the file on Giles, and flashed. He let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this wasn't a complete bust just yet.
}o{
"Okay, I'm going to run through this one time…" Chuck began, but then he froze as something occurred to him. "Do we need code names?" Casey groaned. "No, I'm serious, like, shouldn't I protect your aliases?"
"The only way they'd know our names is if they hack our signal, numb nuts," Casey groused.
"I know that," Chuck replied. "...You do know this is hackable, right?" There was silence on the other end for a moment, and then he heard a soft giggle poorly covered with a dainty clearing of a throat.
Fine, she wanted to be professional, then he would be professional. He had messed up enough, so it was time to do this right. He went into full focus mode. "Sarah, by your reaction I assume your audio is good. Trace your finger on your glass if you're hearing this." He saw her tracing her finger on the glass. He was learning on the job so when a thought occurred to him, he voiced it. "Hey, should I record this to study later? You know, like spy homework?"
"If you want him, all you have to do is ask Grimes, you don't have to seduce him," Casey muttered.
"Sorry, Casey, I was just trying to learn," he sneered, making a face even though nobody could see him. He heard a soft grunt and watched as Sarah took another drink. "I don't get how you do it." He saw Sarah's eyes flicker to the camera. "How you drink the way you do on missions?"
Sarah had her head turned away from everyone and ducked it a little as she scratched her head. "You don't actually take any liquid in your mouth, and then you pretend to swallow."
"See, I never would have known that." He swore he saw a small smile on her face. He would have said more but the target walked into the room. "I have eyes on Giles," Chuck said, going completely professional. He saw Sarah sit up a little straighter, almost like his words had pulled her out of something, what he didn't know. "Good luck, Agent Walker," he said softly. He saw her glance in the direction of the camera. He watched the target sit down and watched, determined to learn something.
She was sitting there, never looking at him when Chuck heard her speak. "Can I ask you something?"
Giles glanced over at her. "Sure," he replied.
She turned toward him. "Do you ever get tired of it all?" He gave her a look. "The games, the chase, the...dance?" She arched an eyebrow at him and a smirk covered his face. "Rita," she said, offering him her hand.
"Giles," he replied, taking her hand. "Do you hit on men often?"
"Only after my ex decides he can't trust me," she replied. "He was always so jealous and always thought I was out doing things with complete strangers."
"Oh?" Giles asked, and Chuck was instantly worried. He didn't sound intrigued, he sounded...cautious.
"So, I figured I'd find out what he was worried about." Chuck watched Giles stop his jaw from falling to the floor, but just. "Care to help me find out?"
"Sorry, not interested in drama," Giles replied, nodding to her and turning back to his drink. Chuck heard Casey laugh.
"Welp, Bartowski, I hope you have another plan B besides Weekend at Bernie's," Casey quipped.
"He's lying," Chuck replied, grinning. "He's very interested in you, Sarah. There's absolutely no way he isn't interested in you. He's a red-blooded straight male with eyes and ears that work." He saw something on her face. "But, he needs a little something to push it over the top. Uh...um, I'm not sure how to do this."
"What's the plan?" he heard Casey ask.
"Maybe he needs to see the actual guy in question, and then he'll realize you're not lying, Rita," Chuck replied. He saw a smile ghost her lips. "Scratch your nose if you're okay with me coming in. I'll follow your lead once I'm in." She deftly scratched her nose. "Here goes nothing…" He was already out of the van and making his way to her side. "Coming in the front door now, Casey. Can you arrange having me thrown out after this is over?"
"It will be my pleasure," Casey replied.
Chuck rolled his eyes, straightened his clothes a bit, and headed for the door. He took a deep breath and went inside. He went straight for the bar, saw Sarah go rigid, and she leaned in to say something to Giles. She slid out of her seat and marched towards him, Giles eyes on her.
Chuck was pretty sure by the look on her face that she was using some of her actual anger she was harboring towards him to sell the cover.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Chuck asked, making sure he was positioned where Giles could see what he was saying while making sure Sarah was in a position where their mark couldn't see what she was saying.
"We're gonna have to make this look good..." she warned. He saw a struggle in her eyes. "I need you to kiss me, not-bomb style." Chuck reached for her and pulled her in quickly, but gently, and when his lips hit hers, he hated himself more than he had ever hated himself in his life. He hated himself more than he had ever hated anyone. He could have had this. He could have been with her, if only he had told her everything right from the beginning. About the bunker, about the NSA offer, about his fear of her reaction to all of it...
His stomach was in knots, and yet he was in heaven. He was putting the feeling of kissing Sarah Walker in a vault, locking it up safe, and never forgetting it for as long as he lived because this was probably going to be the last time he would ever feel this again. When they finally pulled back, her spy mask was gone. He was drowning, but he could see she was too, and he had to cover for her. Then again, fuck it.
"We can still have this," he said softly. "We can be together, please don't do this to me...to us. Give us a chance." The smack of her hand hit him in the face so hard he was shocked all of his teeth didn't fall out. He stumbled backwards, shaking his head, trying to gain his footing, when he felt two strong, familiar hands grab him.
"Okay, Loverboy, show's over. Get out." Casey began to drag him to the door, and as he did he saw Sarah had returned to her seat, and Giles leaned over with a look on his face. It had worked. The mission was going to be successful...at least the mission to take out Giles.
Chuck stumbled back to the van, pressing his cool hand to his face and hissing at the stinging sensation. He pulled his headset back on. "I'm back, guys, are we a go?" At that time Giles looked away and he saw Sarah mouth the word "sorry." Chuck started to speak when a small squeal came over his head phone.
He heard Sarah clear her throat pointedly to try to get his attention when he didn't respond.
"Getting some feedback, trying to find it," he said, hurrying. "Pull your ear piece, use hand signals with Casey, and I'll let him know when to signal you to put it back in." He saw Sarah remove the earpiece deftly.
"Nice improvising, Kid, all around." Casey replied. "We're a go. Plus, just got a message: the Ring courier is some guy named Javier." The flash began as the squeal got louder. "Taking my earwig out too, Kid. Text me when it's fixed."
The flash ended, and Chuck knew who Javier was: a hit man. There was no picture in the photo, but the list of kills made his eyes widen and his stomach lurch just a bit. Chuck started to tell Casey but he didn't have his ear piece in. He grabbed his phone and saw it was dead. "SHIT!" He swore. Morgan must have borrowed it to play a game earlier. He was running point, his team was in trouble and he had already screwed up. He had no idea what to do.
Chuck hopped out of the van, trying to figure out the best way to let Sarah know what was going on when he saw a van pull up with the band's equipment. He saw guys unloading equipment and decided, what the hell. He walked over, took the speaker he was given and started toward the door, when he tripped, crashing into the guy in front of him and causing him to hit his head on the steel door, knocking the roadie out.
"Oh, shit!" Chuck muttered. "Hey, hey, buddy," he said, patting the side of the roadie's face. He pulled his hand away, seeing blood. "Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark." Chuck looked around, leaned the roadie against the wall gently, grabbed the speaker and headed inside. "Now, how do I get to Sarah?"
"Hey, what are you doing back here?" A large man asked Chuck. His eyes went wide, and he remembered Sarah's words from a few weeks back about how he wanted to be a spy he had to do what was necessary. He looked around and saw the set list and his eyes lit up. "Well?"
"I need a huge favor," Chuck tried, knowing he was really taking a huge chance with this tack. "You ever been in love?"
}o{
Sarah glanced at Casey, who gave her a head shake. The comms had been dead for a little bit now and she was getting worried. She wanted to go check on him, but she couldn't. She was the lynch pin in this. She was the only way they'd get Giles out of here. And she had to stick to the job because Chuck wasn't just her asset now. He was on his way to becoming a spy. This was the job he'd signed up for.
Chuck was taking forever to fix the feedback and apparently he was even more of a tech genius than she'd known, so there was a good chance someone had caught him in the van. And here she was, stuck at this bar having to make this asshole Giles think she was interested.
She was stuck on what Chuck had said to her before she hit him. Why'd he chosen that to say of all things, if it was for the cover? It was good, but she couldn't help wondering how he'd come up with it… And maybe coming back wasn't the best idea.
A knot had formed in her stomach, but she had a job. She saw Casey watching her and he gave her the slightest of head nods. She nodded back. It was time to wrap this up.
And if Casey thought someone needed to go out and make sure Chuck was okay, he'd do it. She knew. So she decided to end this quick.
"Guess you were right about the drama," Sarah said, moving her hair away from her neck and feeling Giles' eyes fasten there. "Now I'm gonna have to leave here and go somewhere else."
"Maybe I was hasty," Giles said, his voice rushed, a sense of urgency and desire in him. Sarah smirked and raised an eyebrow. "I, uh, have a very important meeting here, that I have to stay for," he began.
"So, stay for your meeting," she replied with a shrug. "But afterwards…." she trailed off, her voice was dripping honey, and it was working.
She watched him gulp. "Yeah, I can do that."
"I hope so, Giles, because…" she trailed off as she spotted a tall curly-haired man leap up onto the stage over Giles's shoulder. Chuck. He was back. What in the hell was he doing?
"Something wrong, Rita?" Giles asked. He followed her gaze. "He doesn't give up, does he?"
"Some guys don't get the hint." Her brain went a mile a minute. Something had to be wrong. "Dance with me," Sarah said, grinning at him. She got up, led Giles to the dance floor, and he pulled her in as the slow jazz standard began. She saw Casey's eyes go wide as Chuck took the stage. She wasn't sure how much of a train wreck this was gonna be.
She recognized this song. My Funny Valentine by Chet Baker. When she and Chuck had first listened to it, months ago on a stakeout. Chuck's voice filled the room then as he leaned into the microphone and began to sing. She knew he was watching her as he sang and she didn't miss the significance of it, but she couldn't deal with this right now. In the middle of a mission, of all times, this was when he decided to croon at her? Giles pulled her in closer, but her eyes were locked with Chuck's.
My funny Valentine, sweet comic Valentine
You make me smile with my heart
This was a bad idea. She'd let Ellie get the better of her, she'd let her plead enough that it got under her skin and now she had made this choice and she was stuck. She wasn't the right person to be a part of this. She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough for it.
She shook herself a little, trying to block his voice, eyeing the stage and the musicians behind him. How had he managed to get up on that stage? What had he said? Nobody was pulling him off. They let him climb up on stage and start singing. He was pointedly singing to her now and she wondered if he'd given the stage manager some sort of sappy story…But would he do that in the middle of a mission? Was he that unfocused? That destructive? And she thought, in spite of everything, he wasn't. So she focused on him again, and that was when she saw him mouth the word "killer" during the short instrumental break. She pointed at Giles's back and he gave the simplest head shake. Then their eyes locked.
But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little Valentine, stay
How wasn't he understanding where she was coming from? She could have found a way to keep him safe and he could still be himself. He wouldn't have to change. He wouldn't have to become a carbon copy of Casey, or of her. He was singing this stupid song and he wasn't even listening to the stupid words. And now here she was, having to deal with him singing this freaking song the way he was singing it, trying not to let it get to her, and… That was when she felt Giles's hand start to creep.
She wasn't comfortable with where it was creeping, and she glanced up to look at Chuck… She didn't know why. His eyes went wide and she knew why. He'd given her the reins here and he was still doing this, like she didn't know what she was doing…
But then he yelled her name into the microphone. Surprised, she stepped back from Giles completely and spun to see Chuck take a running leap off of the stage. His body hit hers hard and she hit the ground even harder, but he'd managed to slip a hand around the back of her head to keep her from cracking her skull.
She heard guns clicking all around her as she tried to get her breath back. "The—the hell, Chu..." God, he'd really knocked the wind out of her.
He rolled off of her, a panicked look on his face. "The red laser sight was on his head and then it moved to your head!" he gasped out. "I had a fl—you know. Javier is an assassin."
"Where is he?" Sarah asked, her gun out immediately as she sat up. Casey pulled Giles to his feet. "Take him in," she said, climbing to her feet.
"He fuck up?" Casey asked quietly.
"Don't know," Sarah replied.
Chuck popped up to his feet, anger on his face. "Listen, you two, I didn't fuck up!" he snapped. "I get it, you're the spies, I'm the junior agent, but I did things exactly by the book. I don't know what book, but...a book. So..." Obviously fed up with them both, he stormed off, leaving them gaping after him.
}o{
He walked outside, kicking the door open. What was it going to take for those two to trust him?
He walked over to the van, got inside, and drove it back to the Orange Orange. He parked it in their underground parking lot, went inside and changed, then went through the secret passage that led into the Buy More. He needed to just get away from all of this, go home, and let his frustrations out, killing some Halo drones or something. Maybe he'd just go to sleep. Give them some time to think about how unfair they were being.
He walked out of the Buy More, heading towards the Herder when he saw her, waiting for him.
"Hey. Chuck..." she said softly.
He stopped, swallowing hard. Nobody else was here. It was just them. He had a lot to get off of his chest and maybe this time she'd let him talk. She'd hear him out. "Sarah. Listen, if I could go back in time and kick my own ass for not talking to you about all of this, I would…"
"Uh, Chuck..." Sarah said, but he wasn't paying attention, lost in his own thoughts, trying to piece together something that would make her see why he'd done what he had done. "Chuck!"
"No, I need to get this off of my chest. I made a huge mistake not telling you, and I don't know why it felt so important that I didn't except—" He felt pain explode in the back of his head and everything went black.
}o{
Chuck woke up on a bed, his head pounding. He tried to shake his head to clear the cobwebs, wincing at the pain that caused, when the door opened and in walked the roadie he'd knocked out at Frank's. "Oh. Woops. Uh...Hi there, Javier," Chuck said, putting two and two together. "Uh, you know, I think we actually got off on the wrong foot. My knocking you into that door was completely unintentional. See, I-I tripped. The speaker was real heavy..."
"I want to know who you are," Javier said in a gravelly voice.
"Nobody, nope, I'ma nobody," Chuck sputtered out quickly. "In fact, I think that I have documentation somewhere that... that proves that I'm an official nobody." Javier slowly took off his shirt the way a killer might to keep it from getting their victim's blood on it. "Wow. You are extremely ripped, sir."
"You cost me a job. And now you're going to make it up to me." He cracked his knuckles, a maniacal look in his eyes.
Chuck stood, trying to get control of the situation. "If you could just give me one second, I could explain everything. 'Cause, see, I'm—"
Javier punched him in the face, and then hit him with a flying roundhouse kick. Chuck hit the wall and slid down it, dazed.
"You're going to tell me everything, Mr. Bartowski. Who you are, who you work for. And then, you're going to tell me about the girl." Javier left, and Chuck slowly tipped over to lie against the wall in pain.
"What was I thinking?" he breathed. "Casey and Sarah are badasses...And-And me?... I'm nothing." He got up off the floor and began to examine the cell, talking himself through this. In exactly the way Casey had told him not to. But he was different from Casey and he'd always be different from Casey. He talked himself through problems, and he always had. "Okay… Why the hell do they have us in these primitive cells?"
"Probably because they are hundreds of years old," he heard Sarah say. God, was he even hearing her voice in his head now? How hard had Javier kicked him? Whatever, he'd answer the voice anyway. Maybe it'd help.
"Yeah, but they couldn't have updated anything, these guys are supposed to be part of the Ring the new big and bad spies..." That voice hadn't been in his head. The fog cleared and he realized it wasn't in his head; it was right outside of his cell. He pressed his hands against the wall desperately. "SARAH!"
"I can't pick this stupid lock," she groused. "I need you to get us out of here. He's coming back to your cell."
"There's no way we could reverse those roles, is there?"
"Chuck..." she tried.
"I mean, it's obviously no problem." He was in full on spiral. "He's built like a tank, and we know how well that worked out for me last time. Casey isn't here to catch me."
"Chuck, you can do this. You've been trained to do this."
"Sarah, you don't get it. You and Casey were right, okay. I'm... I'm not a spy. I don't work. My emotions just mess everything up. I'm great with computers, but this...no." Chuck laid his head against the wall.
"No. Chuck, listen, I was mad... and wrong. I have worked with the best spies in the world. And you know what?"
"They're on their way here to save us?" Chuck asked, hopeful for a second.
"None of them can do what you can do. You're a spy."
Chuck looked at the wall she was behind. Did she really believe that, though? He wasn't so sure she wasn't just trying to bolster his confidence so that he'd meet this moment. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't a spy. Not yet. But what if she really did believe it and some dark force was turning his head against him…? That seemed much more plausible. Yes.
"Sarah...I need you to tell me what to do." God, this was the worst ideas of all his ideas, but if Sarah Walker could maybe believe in him...
"Okay, Casey said you had been training in Aikido," Sarah began.
"Yeah, he had me watching some videos, and—Hey, will you train me in that?"
"Chuck." Oh shit, he knew that voice. That was Sarah's "Chuck we're about to die, shut up and listen" voice. "I need you to think about the video you watched where the defender grabbed the arm throwing the punch. Did you see anything like that?"
He blinked and thought back. "The one where he switched over to a headlock?" Chuck asked.
"That's the one!" Sarah replied. "When you get him in the headlock, let his momentum drive him into the wall, head first, that should knock him out."
"Okay," Chuck breathed. "I can do this?"
"You can do this, Chuck." He heard it in her voice. He could do it. The dark forces were wrong.
The door opened to his cell. "It's time for you to talk," Javier said, a glint in his eye.
"You and what army?" Chuck asked.
He saw the punch and dodged left as the fist came by, Chuck wrapped his right arm around the punch, his left around Javier's neck, and let the momentum drive Javier's head right into the concrete wall. He was out like a light. He didn't take the time to celebrate. Instead, Chuck bent down, and grabbed whatever the device was that he'd seen Javier stick in his pocket when he came in. "I have Sarah Walker," he announced at the unconscious assassin. "That—that's why I asked you and what army. 'Cause you'd...need an army to...You get it." He grabbed the keys, and headed out of the cell. He unlocked and opened Sarah's cell. She raised her eyebrows at seeing him, gaping for a moment, and then she shook herself and leapt into action.
"Let's go," she said, grabbing his arm.
"Where are we?" he asked, as they climbed up a staircase to the top of what looked to be a church bell tower.
"Mexico," she replied.
Before she could say more, he heard the sound of a gun going off and a bullet smacked into the wall by his head. Sarah grabbed him and tugged him with her behind a wall as Javier's reinforcements began shooting at them in earnest. Sarah returned fire, taking a few of them out, but Chuck knew math wasn't on her side. "I'm almost out," she said through gritted teeth. "We need to get off of this roof."
She was right. They were sitting ducks. Chuck looked around and saw a cable running from where they were to the ground. He looked down at his belt and had an idea. It was a crazy idea but it was an idea, nonetheless. He began to unbuckle his belt as Sarah turned and looked down, her eyes widening. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Zip line," he said, pointing to the cable, yanking his belt out of his pants loops. Sarah shook her head and then looked at all the guys with guns running toward them, then back at the cable dubiously. "Really?! You trusted me to beat up that tank guy in my cell, but this is where you draw the line?" Sarah gave him a look. "It will work, I promise!"
"I trust you," Sarah said then, nodding. Chuck threw the belt over the cable, Sarah wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist, pressing her face into his hair, and down the cable they went. Adrenaline burst through him, right as they burst their way into what looked like a convenience store.
He reached over to where Sarah had ended up and grabbed her arm, checking to make sure she was okay. She was.
"I can't believe that worked," Chuck gasped.
"I'm not so sure it did," Sarah replied. Chuck followed her gaze and saw men with guns approaching them. They both raised their hands as Javier leveled his own gun at them.
"Sarah, there's something I really need to tell you," Chuck said, seeing no way out of the mess they were in.
"Not now, Chuck," she said.
"Actually this might be our last chance," Chuck began, but they both looked up as they saw a helicopter. The men with guns began to fire on it as they heard Casey give off a barbaric yell, returning his own fire. Chuck and Sarah ran for the helicopter and boarded as Casey took out Javier.
Chuck shoved at Sarah's back to help her in first and dove in after her just as the helicopter lifted off again. He had no idea how Casey had known where or how to find them. All he knew was that he was alive, Sarah was alive, and they were out of Javier's clutches and headed for home.
He'd survived his first mission as an actual agent with the NSA. He was a spy.
}o{
Chuck slumped into the courtyard, exhausted. After their briefing with General Beckman in Castle, he used the shower there. Ellie and Devon may know what he was doing now, but that didn't mean they were ready to see the evidence of the missions. In the shower, he'd seen the cuts and bruises as well as felt them. When he was finished, Castle was deserted, so he ambled across the parking lot, got in the Nerd Herder, and drove home.
He was slowly walking through the courtyard, trying to figure out a way to make his legs work without them aching, when her voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"We need to talk."
He turned around to see her and blinked. Then he cleared his throat. "Yeah...okay…" He stepped towards her. "I'll go first?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm staying on, Chuck. I made a decision. I can't just walk away from this and let you die because you made a decision I don't agree with." He started to speak, but then he held his tongue, because the spy mask was gone. She just looked miserable. "I don't think you get how much you hurt me, or Ellie."
"I don't think you realize how little of a choice I actually had," Chuck countered.
She took a step toward him. "I get why you chose the way you did, but you didn't talk to me about it. I could have told you the reality of this life, the spy world. I would have. And then I would've let you decide for yourself, but with that extra knowledge of what you were getting yourself into. But you didn't trust me with that, Chuck, and I thought we were closer than that." Surprise lined his face and shock went through him and she must've seen it because she continued. "We both know I wasn't wrong to think that."
Chuck shook his head, trying to think of how to respond to her complete candidness. If he was honest, he wasn't expecting her to drop the spy mask and be this open about her feelings. And he decided to show her the respect of being just as open with her.
"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about that," he said, watching her closely. He watched her eyes widen a bit as she realized his meaning and she searched his face. He knew she was trying to decide if he was trying to be harsh on purpose, or if he was just being honest. "I thought that was how we were doing this...thing between us. That we were just supposed to know and that was enough...for then. But now...now we're both spies and it doesn't have to be that way."
"It's not going to be any way," she said curtly. "Are you not getting this? Still? Chuck, I've trusted only one man completely ever in my whole life." He felt the impact of that slam straight into his chest. "And all you had to do was trust me back. But you didn't. You've broken my trust."
"Sarah, what can I do to make this right?" He tried not to sound like he was begging, but part of him told him to get down on his knees right now. He didn't. He stayed on his feet.
"I don't know if you can," she replied quietly. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a watch. She studied him for a second like she was trying to decide what to do and what to say. "Here," she said, thrusting it at him. "It has a homing device, a built in compass, a lock pick, and other stuff you're gonna need. I'm going to teach you how to use it, and how to survive in the spy world."
Chuck took it. "Thank you," he said softly. He knew he shouldn't say it...but he did anyway. Because he was hurting. And sure, maybe part of it was self-pity. He was human. "It must be hard to work with someone you hate."
"I don't hate you," she said immediately, looking at him in frustration. "I'm not sure there's anything that could make me hate you, Chuck Bartowski. I just hate what you did."
He looked at her, not even bothering to hide what was in his heart. She knew it already anyway. Her bottom lip trembled just slightly.
"You trusted me." He put the watch on, then straightened his spine. "I broke that trust. And I guess it's up to me to earn that trust back." She looked away, and he gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist. It forced her blue eyes back to his face. "There's no ulterior motive here. I'm not angling for anything more from you than you're willing to give, not romance or even friendship, or anything else like that." She looked incredibly uncomfortable, but she didn't pull away, in spite of how much he knew she hated feeling vulnerable. "Sarah Walker, you deserve to have someone in your life you can trust." Her eyes grew wide. "I may be a spy now, but I'm living here, in this world, with my family and friends. I'm not living in the spy world. I have no intention of doing that. I'm the same Chuck Bartowski that I was before I made this decision, and you, Sarah Walker, are going to realize that while I made the dumbest mistake of my life not trusting you with the difficult decision I was trying to make, and...honestly...not being mature enough to take the potential backlash… I'm the same guy. I'm still gonna treat you the way I treat my friends, whether or not you consider me to be one of yours. That hasn't changed and it won't."
"I need to go," she said, pulling herself out of his grip and holding her wrist with her other hand, her fingers brushing where he'd held onto her.
"Yeah, I know." He cleared his throat, catching her eye and holding his wrist up. "Thank you for this, and for everything," he said. She nodded and took off.
He stood there quietly for a moment, staring at the gate she'd disappeared through. "Be the man worth figuring it out over, right, Casey?" he asked, feeling the big guy's presence.
"Yep, kid," Casey said, slapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, it's time you learn to fight. Walker can teach you that flippy shit later."
"You sure she wouldn't rather punch me?" Chuck groused.
"Why do you think I'm training you first," Casey said, heading for the car. Chuck sighed and followed.
The glorious life of being a spy.
A/N: By now some of you have figured out where we are. What about the missed episodes? Will we continue in order? We have a plan.
Please review. Thanks!
-SC and DC
