A/N Thanks to all who have reviewed, PM'd or just read my story. There is a lot of really great stuff on this site and I'm amazed that anyone would take the time to read my ramblings.
This chapter is the longest yet. It kind of took on a life of its own. Thanks to Esardi for finding some plot holes and allowing me to fix them before I put this up there. I hope it meets his and your approval.
I still don't own Chuck because if I did dead people would remain dead.
Chapter 4
The Breakup
Sarah knew she had to get to Chuck and let him know what Beckman had texted. She also knew that she had to reassure him somehow. His was Chuck after all and he would most assuredly be freaking out about now. Just last night or early this morning to be precise, they both had finally made a great leap forward and confessed their feelings openly and honestly with each other. It was a moment she didn't want to ever take back. They had decided to fight to be together openly and it was a fight they both were committed to winning. But they had decided to keep their feelings private until Chuck officially became an agent and it would be at least allowed though still discouraged. But this change of events they didn't see coming. They had not anticipated the team being broken up immediately.
They needed to figure out how to deal with this and what the intent was behind it. Sarah knew Acting Director Mitchell from back when she was in the Cat Squad and then partnered with Bryce. He had been the regional director for Latin American operations and a total sleezeball. The three times she had met him she felt like he was practically drooling on her and she needed a bath after just being in the same room with him. He was a political hack who thought that female agents should be one of the perks of his position. Fortunately she and her partners in the Cat Squad were senior enough agents that they didn't need to submit to his, ahhh well she didn't want to think about it as it made her nauseous. But she knew that some young women fresh from the Farm may not have had the same confidence or stature to put this assclown in his place. He prayed upon them like just another mark.
She knew he was up to something. He always had been. He was after political power and the perks that brought him. So she was certain that this sudden change and tearing apart their highly successful team was his idea and it was all about personal gain. What she didn't understand was why Beckman had gone along with it. She was stunned when the General just sat there and let this idiot take control of her operation. Did he have something on her? Was she no longer in control because her plans had been so turned upside down by Bryce's death and Chuck having the 2.0 instead? She really had no idea what the hell was going on under that tight redheaded bun.
Then Beckman goes and asks for another conference but at Casey's and not Castle. What was this all about? She only hoped it meant that the General had a plan or was up to something that she didn't want Mitchell to know about. But what could that be? All these questions would have to wait till they got to Casey's. First she needed to go see Chuck.
She quickly typed something on her phone and headed back to the holding area where she knew Chuck was under guard.
"Agent Smith, Agent Jones may I please have a moment with Mr. Carmichael?"
"Agent Walker we are under orders to not allow any contact with our 'guest'."
"Look Agent Smith, I understand completely but we have worked with Mr. Carmichael for two years now and if we are going to secure this facility I need to ask him a few questions before we get started."
"Mr. Carmichael handled all of our technical work and Agent Casey and I just want to be thorough so that we shut down the servers correctly and in the proper sequence. That way the data is not corrupted before they are shipped back to Langley."
Sarah smiled a small but thoroughly professional smile. "It should only take a minute."
Agent Smith glanced over to Agent Jones who nodded ever so slightly affirmative.
"Thank you, gentleman. Once I have spoken to Mr. Carmichael I will put the sequence together and give it to Agent Walsh so that he can begin the shut down procedure while Agent Casey and I prepare our final reports. After that you can take Mr. Carmichael to his home to take care of his personal effects."
With that Agent Smith entered the sequence into the lock assembly and the door slid open revealing Chuck nervously pacing against the back wall.
"Sarah, I'm fr….."
"Ssssh", she mouthed.
"Mr. Carmichael, I need you to go over the shutdown sequence for the servers so that we can have Agent Walsh begin the procedure after you have been escorted from Castle later today."
Sarah moved her head ever so slightly and Chuck saw that she wanted him to come over to her side of the table with his back to the surveillance cameras by the door.
"Mr. Carmichael, I've called up the procedure here on my phone and I just wanted you to look at it since we added the new DL 360's to the database management. I just want to make sure that the procedure is the same and that all of our data will be safed before we shut this place down."
Long ago Sarah had installed a laminate screen on her phone to restrict the viewing angles. So the other cameras in the interrogation room should not be able to pick up what was on the screen. With her back blocking the camera behind her it should have no access either. Chuck's position would block the view of the agents in the hallway.
"Here take a look at this"
Beckman texted Casey 1 pm conference Echo Park. Leave Morgan door unsecured tonight. ILY.
After a minute Chuck nodded and replied, "Yes that should work out fine. Just remember to shut down the SQL database services on the 2 back up 360's, # 7 and 8 before you begin the rest of shutdown procedure. That should stop the system from trying to failover to the backups. If you follow that the data should be fine. Just remember that the Active Directory servers need to be shut down last followed by the raid arrays."
With that Chuck nodded that he understood and Sarah hit the delete key on her phone.
"Thank you Mr. Carmichael, it's been a pleasure working with you."
"With you also Agent Walker. You are a credit to the agency. Give Agent Casey my best wishes as well."
Sarah turned around and left the cell and headed back to the control room.
"Mr. Carmichael, we will be leaving here at 17:00 for your apartment. This should give you enough time to pack and do what ever you need to do to finalize your affairs here. We expect you in the courtyard ready to leave at 05:00 hours tomorrow. We have a flight leaving for DC at 06:00."
"Thank you Agent Smith, I'll just twiddle my thumbs here for the next 5 hours."
Agent Smith turned showing no reaction and the door closed behind him leaving Chuck to his thoughts.
What was that meeting all about? Chuck would ponder that question among thousands of others for the rest of the day.
Sarah got back to the control room and gave a slight hand signal to Casey who grunted "understood"
"Agent Watkins, I need to head back to my apartment to get my laptop so I can finish the mission reports I started last night. When I get back I'll also finish the shut down procedures so that Agent Walsh, Agent Casey and I can begin shutting down this facility. I should be back in a couple of hours"
Watkins nodded and headed to the armory to continue doing an inventory of Castle's weapons.
"Agent Casey, I should be back by 15:00 I just need to take care of a couple of personal matters while I'm out."
Sarah headed up the stairs to the Orange, Orange but turned to give a glance of acknowledgement to Casey who returned it in kind.
After a half hour Casey decided to check in on Watkins in the Armory. Maybe there he can find a reason to make his own exit.
"I'm gonna miss some of this stuff" Casey said with a bit of sadness thrown in for good measure.
"Had a lot of great gunplay these last 2 years."
Watkins glanced over at Casey briefly but continued counting his inventory.
"Agent Casey there seems to be some missing items on this inventory. Care to explain?"
"Ahh yea, that's Linda and the rest of the girls. General Beckman let me take them camping last weekend. I like working in the open more than the range with some of the more 'vocal' ladies. Much more realistic. Keeps me sharp."
"Well we are going to need them back this afternoon so I can finish this up before we ship everything back to the regional armory at Edwards"
"That's fine. Seeing Agent Walker's gone and we can't get started till she gets back I'll head home and grab them. I should be back by 15:00 as well"
"See that you are, I don't want to be wasting time because of your little field escapades."
Casey grunted the #15 "Asshole"
Echo Park
12:50 pm
Sarah was already waiting in her Porsche when Casey drove up to his apartment. She had taken a longer route making sure she wasn't being followed. Fortunately Ellie and Devon were on their Honeymoon so there was no chance of running into them.
As they walked into the courtyard Sarah asked "what do you think is going on?"
"I have no clue"
"Well I'll tell you one thing I know for sure, Mitchell is behind this. He's a slimy weasel who doesn't do anything unless it benefits him somehow."
"Maybe so though I don't know him but I've heard stories"
"Yea, he gives 'creepy old guy' a new definition."
Sarah added, "What I don't get is why Beckman just sat there. How can she just let Mitchell take over the Intersect Project and gain control of Chuck? I don't get it"
"Well whatever it is I hope we find out WTF this is about."
"BTW Casey, I'm gonna need an hour with Chuck tonight, no surveillance ok? He's freaking out and I need to calm him down a bit and clue him in on whatever Beckman tells us here."
"Calm him down? That's what you call it now?" Casey said with a smirk.
Sarah gave him a look that would strike fear in a defensive lineman.
"Fine. I'll take care of the suits and put the cameras on a loop. You'll have 1 hour tops."
"Thank you. Besides we are going to need his help to figure out what we are going to do next."
Echo Park
1:00 pm
General Diane Beckman looked a lot sterner on the screen as she began this briefing. Obviously something was going on and she wasn't happy in the least.
"General, what the hell is going on? Why is our team being broken up and why are we not involved in training Chuck?"
"Agent Walker, first of all none of that is really your concern but there are some things we need to talk about. You're job is to follow orders not question them." The General clenched her hands just a bit too obviously for the Agents to not notice as she took a breath before continuing."
"Sarah, that was a bit harsh. This mess with Larkin's death and Bartowski being the Intersect again has thrown things here into a complete fubar. "
"Obviously" Casey mumbled a bit too loudly.
"Care to add something Colonel?
"No, ma'am."
"Team, this conversation never happened, understood?"
Both agents nodded affirmative.
"Acting Director Mitchell is trying to take advantage of the situation for his own personal gain. He has political aspirations and thinks that if he can grab hold of The Intersect Project he will finally be named the new permanent CIA Director. I believe he plans to destabilize things to create an atmosphere of fear in the American people. Then he plans to use that office to establish the political contacts and clout to make a run at the Presidency in 2016."
"Among other things he wants to grab a hold of" Sarah muttered.
"That's enough Agent Walker! I am privy to Acting Director Mitchell's reputation for taking "advantage" of his position but he is still your superior and you will act accordingly."
"Yes ma'am."
Beckman dropped her shoulders a bit and continued. "But as all of this conversation is off the record, as a woman in this game I would love to get the evidence to take this slimeball down but that will have to wait."
"General where are they sending Bartowski and why are we being excluded from his training?" said Casey surprisingly. He's usually not one for asking questions during briefings.
"Agent Casey, I have major reservations about this and that is why I called this meeting. But unfortunately I didn't have a reasonable alternative at the time. Besides it will be much easier to catch Mitchell in a mistake if he believes he is in charge. The man thrives on his ego. It's what drives him and that is his biggest weakness. The other we have already alluded to. I plan to use that weakness to m.. our advantage."
The General leaned back in her chair for a second and reached off camera for a glass, took a sip and placed the brown liquid back on the corner of her desk.
"But does it have to come at the expense of breaking us up or more to the point at the expense of Chuck?" Sarah felt her fury getting the best of her again.
"I'm sorry Sarah but Agent Larkin's death has created another huge mess with regards to the Intersect. I know Bryce was once your partner and I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you General, but what about Chuck?" She insisted on getting to the point. Bryce Larkin was no longer relevant or important to this discussion in Sarah's mind or heart.
"I'm getting to that"
"The asset.. excuse me, Mr. Bartowski is being sent to a CIA training facility in Zuoz, Switzerland."
"There he will be trained to become a full agent and the abilities of the new Intersect will be tested to their fullest capability."
"Why are we not involved with his training, General? We have already been cleared for knowledge of the Intersect project and our experience with Chuck would be invaluable."
"Agent Walker, I agree and that is where my reservations come from. We have always kept a lid on the knowledge of the Intersect host's identity. It has been one of the most closely kept secrets in US Intelligence. Because of that we have also decided to not mention the death of Agent Larkin. We hope that The Ring will believe that he in fact is now the Intersect host."
"But with our recent knowledge of The Ring we have no idea how deeply they have infiltrated that intelligence community. I have no confidence that we can trust those that will be involved with his training."
"Again, why are we not the ones handling it?" Casey added surprisingly. Casey was never one to question his orders.
"Because Acting Director Mitchell sees Mr. Bartowski's reliance on his teammates as a limitation. He wants to isolate him and train him to become a solo agent whose only loyalty is to him, I'm afraid."
"General, you yourself have seen that this team is stronger than the sum of its parts. Breaking us up will only lead to a stronger Ring and a less secure country."
"Noted Agent Walker. but after the failure of the Larkin upload my superiors are inclined to let Mitchell take control of the project from me for the time being because they view me responsible for that failure. I am or was in charge of the Larkin Intersect 2.0 project and the old "Buck Stops Here" adage applies in this case. Acting Director Mitchell and I agreed that Larkin was the obvious choice but it was still my ultimate decision. Agent Larkin was supposed to jump right into full 2.0 field operations while you were going to head the team trying to find other candidates for the download. The loss of Larkin and your reassignment will cause an inevitable delay in our response to The Ring. I believe that is at the root of Mitchell's plan. Eventually they will realize that Larkin is a ghost and they will become emboldened to expand their operations. By keeping Chuck under wraps while training him into the super agent the Intersect was supposed to be he can then use the full power of the 2.0 against them when it is most politically advantageous to do so. With the Larkin disaster my superiors are inclined to go a different route than I had planned. We need to convince them of the folly of that decision"
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Agent Casey, I will be assigning you to a base in Stuttgard Germany. Unfortunately we have no military installations in Switzerland and this is as close as I can get you to Zuoz without raising suspicion."
"What about me, General?"
"Agent Walker, unfortunately with your removal from the Intersect project you are being transferred back to CIA control and will be reassigned accordingly."
"What? I'm being reassigned back to regular field work?" Sarah was once again furious.
"Agent Walker, calm down and let me finish." The General gave her "the look" of annoyance.
"I have contacted some associates within the DEA and they have "decided" to request your assistance on an assignment with Agent Carina Miller in Marseille. Your history of success with the Cat Squad is of great interest to the DEA. They will get their request approved I can promise you that."
"I'm sure you and Agent Miller can work something out if you are needed to head to Zuoz."
"Thank you General." It wasn't a great option but at least she would be away from Mitchell and on the same continent as Chuck.
"General, how will we be able to keep tabs on Bartowski while he is in his training? He will most assuredly be closed off from any communication with the outside world."
"Agreed, but I will be getting daily reports and should have a good idea of his progress and safety. Agent Casey, you will be kept fully informed of Mr. Bartowski's progress and be available if the need arises. If Agent Walker is needed you can contact her in Marseille."
"Pardon me General but that's not good enough. Chuck's safety is too important to rely on daily reports." Sarah turned around and ran her hand through her hair as her frustration grew by the second.
"Agent Walker, don't lecture me on the importance of The Asset ." Sarah was stung by that last little dig from the General.
"I will be sending an operative to Zuoz to oversee NSA interests who along with filing those reports will be able to contact me at anytime should Bartowski's safety be threatened."
"Sorry, ma'am" Sarah nodded her head to show a sign of respect for her superior.
"Agents, I know this is not an ideal situation and I just want to take this opportunity to thank you both on behalf of the US Government for your outstanding work on this assignment these last 2 years. Both of you as well as Mr. Bartowski have performed above and beyond the call of duty on multiple occasions. This was and is a very unique and difficult task and you're record of success speaks for itself. I would like to continue that rate of success if not improve on it with Chuck becoming a full Agent and member of this team. I believe we need Team Bartowski together to give us the best chance of finding and defeating The Ring."
"Thank you General, we agree." both agents replied.
"Agent Casey, you will have your orders to report to Stuttgart in the morning. Agent Walker it may take an additional day to process your temporary assignment to the DEA."
Beckman then as per her pattern clicked a button and was gone.
"Casey, this isn't good. Not at all. They are going to train him into, well us. Worse than us. I can't let that happen to Chuck."
Casey turned to look at his former partner with a shrug. "Walker, he knew what he was getting himself into when he downloaded the 2.0. It's not our call how they use him."
"Casey how can you say that? You know Chuck. How do you think he is going to handle torture, or his Red Test? For me it was and is the worst day of my life. I still have the recurring nightmares. You're first kill never leaves you, you know that."
"Plus if I…ahh, we are not there with him to get him through it, it will eat him alive. He's not like us. Hell, we aren't like us before we got this assignment. At least I'm not. I can't sit back and watch a good person like Chuck turn into a monster."
"Sarah, I know things are different now, I get that. But all we can do is protect the kid as best we can and keep him safe."
"But how can we do that when we are hundreds of miles away?"
"Look, Chuck's smart. It's probably his best asset. He'll find a way to get word out if he needs us."
"We have to find a way to fix this. We have to get this team back together somehow and take down Mitchell. He's the key behind this and he needs to fall. Then we can go after The Ring together."
"Agreed, but first we need to get back to Castle, Walker. We don't want Mitchell getting suspicious."
"Fine, when you come back here with the other agents later tonight, send me a text and let me know when it's secure to see Chuck."
Casey nodded and Sarah headed back to her Porsche. As she headed back to Castle she spoke quietly to herself as she drove. "Please Chuck, I can't lose you now. You need to figure something out so I can talk to you. I can't just hope you're ok."
She wiped a tear from her eye as she pulled up to the BuyMore Plaza and checked her watch. 2:45pm. 15 minutes to spare. Before she got out of the car she looked into the rear view mirror to check her makeup for the signs of the tears she shed on the way there. "Walker, you can do this. Trust Chuck. He'll find a way. He always does."
Sarah stepped out of her car and headed back inside, laptop in hand.
Echo Park
11:14 pm Pacific
"Hey Watkins, my buddy Johnny Walker and I are going to have a little celebration of the end of this assignment from hell, care to join us?"
No response.
"Not that I'm opposed to drinking alone but you've got 2 good field agents watching a computer nerd, do you really think you can't afford to have one drink?"
"Ahhh fine, I guess one drink won't hurt. I need to get some sleep before our flight tomorrow and I'm on call at 04:00. Maybe it will help me rest. I can't ever sleep on planes, especially government transports. The noise is ridiculous."
"Yea I know what you mean but I lost some of the hearing in my left ear back in Desert Storm. Got too close to an Iraqi tank just before an A-10 got it."
"Never went military. I went straight to the Farm after college."
"Where did you go?"
"Colonel you know I can't tell you that."
"Yea, sorry it's usually just Johnny and I and he doesn't talk much till a lot later in the evening."
Casey decided that was enough chitchat as he was never good at crap like that but at least he got Watkins to drink.
"Here"
"Thanks, bottoms up."
After about 10 seconds Casey began the count down in his head. '5,4,3,2,1 annnnnnd he's out'
"Sweet dreams Agent Watkins"
Now it's time for the other 2 suits.
Casa Bartowski
11 43 pm Pacific
Chuck was in his room pacing in the dark once again. He had probably logged enough miles to qualify for the Boston Marathon since Sarah had left the holding area. But he had had time to work on a plan to keep in contact with Sarah. It was rough and it still needed a lot of work but he couldn't do that till he had a chance to look over whatever the facility was he was headed to. It will probably have to change again but it was actually pretty cool if he did say so himself.
The two agents were in the living room but they were not big in the conversation department. Hell Skip Johnson was more talkative than these guys and Chuck could count the number of times Skip actually had a conversation with him on one hand. But even those had been more pleasant than these two stiffs. Skip was just shy these guys were putz's.
Suddenly, Chuck heard a voice in the living room. Was that Casey? And was he drunk?
Chuck listened at the door and picked up a few words before the room finally was silent again.
"Johnny Walker….Nerds….. Skirts…. Morons….. Freedom…. Gun play…..Watkins is boring …. .need another….." then two pffts and two thuds.
With them down and out Casey texted Sarah.
1 hour , starting now.
Chuck turned as he heard the Morgan door open. He saw his favorite silhouette in the universe slowly climb through the window completely dressed in black. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her perfectly shaped long legs and rear come across the window sill.
"Sarah… thank god you're here but you are not helping our celibacy pact dressed like that." Chuck said with a lustful smile.
"Chuck we don't have much time and we have a lot to talk about."
Sarah rapidly walked over to Chuck's waiting arms.
"But first I really need this."
Sarah threw her arms around Chuck's neck and drew him into a deep loving kiss full of passion and desperation. Sarah's tongue begged for entrance into Chuck's mouth and was immediately joined by Chuck's exploring hers. They kissed for what seemed like an hour and yet a second all at the same time. So much had happened in just twenty-four hours. Last night in Sarah's hotel room they had declared their love for each other but now Chuck was headed to the other side of the world away from the love of his life. Or at least he thought so right then.
Their team was being broken up and all of their plans from last night were in shambles. Even though they were keeping their relationship a secret from their bosses, Sarah was still being reassigned. How could they do this to him, to them? After two years of being pushed away, two steps forward and one step back they have finally gotten to the place they both had dreamed of. Chuck loved Sarah and Sarah loved Chuck. But the CIA had other plans for them. Plans that didn't allow that love to grow.
Sarah finally broke the kiss and leaned back to look at the face of the man she loved. Even in the dim light coming from Chuck's various pieces of nerd heaven in his room she could still see the love, desire, commitment and yes fear in his eyes.
"Chuck, I have some things to tell you and then we need to come up with a plan for us, Casey included."
"I know. What happened with Beckman? I've been going crazy wondering why she didn't put up a fight with Mitchell. And what is up with that guy? I flashed on his file but watching you I got the sincere impression there was something that wasn't in there."
"What was in his file?"
"Come let's sit"
"Not much really. His various assignments, military record, political connections. Pretty boring stuff except this. Did you know he was John Mitchell's nephew?"
"Watergate conspirator, John Mitchell?"
"That's the one"
"Now I know why C.R.E.P. is so appropriate a description for this guy" Sarah chuckled just a bit at her own humor.
"Agent Walker did you just make a joke? And a political one at that?"
"Well I guess you have been rubbing off on me. Though I'd rather you were rubbing up on me." She added with a devilish wink.
"Wow another one! Does that mean you are going to be trying out for the all cannibal Olympic team soon? You know they always have openings."
Sarah gave Chuck a quick punch in the shoulder.
"Hey you started it. It was either not funny or cannibal and you are clearly now funny."
Sarah tried to stifle a giggle but was failing miserably.
With that exchange much of the tension left the room but they both knew it would have to return very soon.
"Chuck, we need to be serious"
"I know. So what did Beckman say?"
"She thinks that Mitchell is after political office. He's trying to secure the permanent CIA Director's office as a stepping stone for a run for the Presidency in 2016. She feels that he sees you as his ticket to the White House"
"So if he controls the Intersect Project they will have to appoint him Director and he will use you to enforce his political goals around the world."
"So what was all that with you then?" Chuck asked inquisitively.
"Chuck, back before I was partnered with Bryce I used to be a member of an elite team of female agents called the Cat Squad. The details are classi…"
Sarah stopped as she saw Chuck's eyelids flutter and knew he had flashed on the Cat Squad files.
"Well I guess I don't have to go into anything that could get me in trouble if I told you now…."
"Yeah, so kind of like a real Charlie's Angels? So which were you Farrah, Kate or Jacklyn.? Wait maybe Cheryl Ladd?
"Chuck, this wasn't a TV show this was real life"
"So that's where you met Carina?"
"No actually we met at the Farm but we worked together with the Cats for 2 years and that is where I first met Mitchell."
"Chuck, he makes Jeff and Lester look like altar boys."
"He's a leech and uses his position to take advantage of young female agents"
"What? I'll…"
"Chuck hold on. Nothing happened. In fact nothing happened with any of us. We were too good at our jobs and there was no way he could threaten our position to get what he wanted. I only met him twice with the Cats and then once with Bryce. He just made my skin crawl whenever he was around."
"The Cats were on an assignment in Latin America going after this drug lord that was funding terrorists named Augusto Gaez."
"Sorry Chuck I didn't want to make you flash again."
Chuck shook his head after the rather long record of Augusto Gaez popped into his head with the flash.
"Mitchell thought that one or all of us would jump at the chance to be with him and advance our careers but he ended up limping for the next six months after Carina and I got through with him."
"Next time he saw us he just drolled on his shoe but left us alone."
"What happened with Bryce?"
"Mitchell idolized Bryce. He was everything Mitchell wasn't. Handsome, charming, could talk himself into anywhere and anyone he wanted to."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up"
"Don't be. I knew that even when we were together Bryce was never exclusive with me."
"Besides most of those were for the job or at least I thought they were but with Bryce that was probably not the whole story."
"But anyway Bryce was Mitchell's dream agent and had his dream life."
"So you think he had a role in Bryce being selected for the 2.0?"
"Possibly, though Bryce was more likely always the first choice because of his intimate knowledge of Fulcrum. But I am convinced he was hoping to control Bryce and take the project away from Beckman."
"Beckman believes that he wants to send you for training and break us up so that The Ring will become emboldened and expand their threat. They are keeping Bryce's death a secret and hoping that The Ring will believe he is the 2.0. But because nothing will be happening with him they will think it was a failure. This will help destabilize things in the world and then he will show you off to the Intelligence community as his new secret weapon to fight The Ring."
"So he looks like the hero and gains the upper hand for the White House."
"You got it Chuck"
"Well we need to figure out how to stop him. Do you know where are they sending me?"
"Yes, they are sending you to a CIA training facility in Zuoz, Switzerland. Its about 15 kilometers northeast of St Moritz."
"What about you and Casey? You both are being reassigned so how can we stop Mitchell if we are no longer together and a team?"
"Well that is the other thing I need to tell you. Beckman is sending Casey to Stuttgart, Germany. It's a few hours away from Zuoz. It's the closest she can send him without arousing suspicion from Mitchell. She will also have an Agent there in Zuoz sending her daily reports on your progress."
"What about you? Sarah I can't lose you. Not now not after all we have gone through and finally know how the other feels. I can survive anything as long as I know you will be there at the other end."
Sarah reached up and gently touched his cheek with her fingers and smiled lovingly into his eyes. "Chuck, I'll always be there for you. But now I know I also need to be there for me too. I can't lose you either. Chuck, I love you. I've never felt like this before in my life and I'm not about to give it up now because of some egotistical, power hungry pervert. No matter what happens I'll be right here and you will be right here." She put one hand first on his chest and picked up his and placed it over her own beating heart. "Chuck we made that commitment to each other and I'm going to hold you to it."
"Thank you Sarah. I'm the luckiest man in the world even if my life right now is a pile of shit and that's because I love you. That commitment meant everything to me and nothing will stop me from proving that to you."
Sarah leaned in once again and kissed Chuck lightly on his supple lips.
"So where are they sending you or do you even know?" Chuck asked after they had broken their kiss.
"Well it's actually a little better than I thought it was going to be at first. I had worried that I would be at that clown's beck and call while he tried to figure out a way into my pants. But Beckman worked out a deal and the DEA is going to request I be assigned to them."
"Carina?"
"Yea, I'll be working with Carina on a mission in Marseille. There is always a lot of drug activity there and at least I'll be on the same continent as you. Besides she and I will figure out a way for me to get to Zuoz if necessary."
Chuck let out a sigh from deep inside as if a great weight had been lifted.
"Thank goodness. It's not perfect but at least when we both look up at the starts at night we will be seeing the same ones. It will help me feel closer to you."
"And me to you."
Chuck wrapped his arms around the love of his life and they held each other for a few minutes before either spoke again.
Sarah broke the silence and said. "But first we need to figure out how to get you through that training. Have you figured out how we are going to communicate?"
"Well not exactly, I'm going to have to wait to see what the conditions are when I get there but I do have something for you that will help I think."
Sarah looked at him with a look of hopeful surprise.
Chuck got up and headed to his closet. He opened the door and reached way into the back and picked up an old tattered box with a big red "S" on the sides. Sarah recognized that as a Stanford "S".
Chuck reached into the box and way on the bottom pulled out an old tired 3 subject notebook. He walked back to towards Sarah and handed it to her. On the front written in block lettering with Chuck's definitive scribble was.
"B & C's Romulan to English dictionary."
Sarah paged through it and there were words written in some language she had never seen followed by their English translations. In the second subject area was the reverse. English to whatever this language was. Finally in the third section there were some phrases translated with grammar explanations.
Everything was hand written with lots of little doodles on the edges of the pages that looked like some of the aliens that Chuck had shown her on their many cover dates at Chez Bartowski.
"What's this?" Sarah asked showing she was confused but clearly curious.
"Sarah, remember when Bryce came back the first time and he spoke to me in that foreign language asking me if I was wearing a vest?"
"Yea, Klingon I think"
"Wow I'm impressed you remembered. We are going to make a nerd out of you yet"
Sarah beamed back at his smile of pride.
"Well remember we went to school with a whole lot of nerds and quite a few people knew how to speak Klingon. So to help us in some of our fraternity pranks and games we played we decided to create a new language that only we knew and it would confuse our opponents."
"Geek"
"Nerd remember?"
"How could I forget?" and Sarah gave him a peck on the lips.
"Well the Romulans were an evil race that were related to the Vulcans so we decided to create their dialect and this is what we came up with."
"You and Bryce created your own nerd language?"
"Yep pretty much."
"Wow, just when I think I know you, you impress me even more. You are one sexy genius, Mr. Bartowski."
"Why thank you Ms Walker. I have my moments." Chuck smiled that confident smile she loved best.
"Only three of us knew the language. Bryce, myself and a friend of ours, Butch Landers. He works at JPL now and I contacted him a while back that I may need to pass on a message someday. I've known him for years and he's a great guy. Brilliant as a matter of fact"
"He'd have to be to work at JPL" Sarah added.
"So when I figure out a way to get a message out to you or maybe through Butch we can use this as a sort of code."
"That should work my brilliant spy nerd."
"Sarah I know this is going to be tough on us and we may not be able to bring down Mitchell but the one thing I am certain of is the love I feel for you. It is beyond anything I have ever felt capable of and that love will guide me through all of this. I don't know how I could ever survive this if I didn't feel it and know that you feel the same way. Without it I would be a complete and utter failure at this training facility."
"Chuck no you wouldn't have. You are still a brilliant man and would have risen to the task like you always do."
"Well, I'm happy that I don't have to answer that question for real."
"Chuck, Smith, Jones and Watkins will be waking up soon and I have to get going."
"I know."
"Chuck, but before I go I need you to hear this. I've never been great at relationships or expressing my feelings, but last night I was completely and totally honest with you. I love you Chuck and I never knew I was even capable of that till I met you. Now that I've felt it, I can't ever let it go. It's too precious to me. You are too precious to me and what ever it takes to get us through this I will gladly do it. I want you in my life. I need you in my life and I will do anything to have that real life with you. Please believe me. You can always count on me being there for you no matter what happens."
"Thank you Sarah"
"But Chuck they are going to do some horrible things to you. They are going to try and break you down and rebuild you in their mold. They are going to make you do things you could never have dreamed you were capable of doing and those will be the easy ones. The worst is yet to come after the training is completed, kind of your Final Exam if you will."
"Final Exam? How could it get even worse after the training is over?"
"Chuck, we don't have time to get into this now but if you have ever trusted me about anything trust me about this right now. When that time comes I will be there for you. Casey and I both will. I promise you that. You won't have to sit in some hotel room drinking yourself shitfaced all alone like I did."
"Ok, I trust you, I always have."
"Chuck I have to go now."
"I love you Sarah"
"I love you too Chuck"
The tears started flowing down both their faces and they mixed together while they gave each other one last deeply heartfelt kiss.
After far too short a time they broke the kiss and Sarah headed back out the Morgan door.
As she stepped out into the night and into a time of uncertainty she turned to Chuck and said."Save you later?"
"WE will save US later works much better for me this time."
Sarah smiled, blew Chuck a final kiss and was gone.
They both were about to enter a very difficult time in their lives and they didn't want to start it by saying goodbye.
A/N 2 Having a little trouble with Chapter 5 but I still hope to have it out by monday or tuesday of next week. Thanks again for reading.
