A/N: I found some minor spelling mistakes in the prologue, and got them fixed, hopefully they weren't too noticeable.

Chapter 1 - Route to Graduation

Stanford University,
Stanford, CA,
1600 (UTC-8),
January 25, 2002

Chuck Bartowski walked out of the examination room with a smile on his face, he had just finished his last exam for his undergraduate degree. It was Professor Fleming's subliminal image test. This was one of his 2 back up tests. Chuck was sure he already completed the requirement to graduate with, double majors in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and a minor in applied sciences. But just in case someone decided to play a trick on him, Chuck took 2 extra tests to make sure he would graduate. Now that the plan was all coming together, he felt like quoting Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith, before he could stop himself, he whispered to nobody with a smile, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Flashback to the day Chuck created the plan.

Echo Park,
Burbank, CA,
2030 (UTC-8),
September 12, 2001

Chuck Bartowski had just announced hie decision to join the Navy to the rest of his family, right after dinner. He didn't want to miss a home cooked meal made by Ellie, especially when it could be his last, if his sister became so pissed that she was kicking him out. Fortunately, that did not happen. Ellie still gave him an earful though, eventually, Ellie relented, with two conditions. Of course there were conditions! One, he must complete his degree at Stanford; two, he would always try his hardest to come home to her. Despite how worried Ellie knew she was going to be, she was so proud of her brother, and she told him so. After all, this was how she raised him, to always place others' needs before his own.

Bryce and Devon didn't get off so easy though. Ellie berated them for not trying their hardest to dissuade her brother, even though, Ellie knew it wouldn't work anyway, she did know her baby brother after all. Still, that didn't stop her from kicking Devon to the doghouse for the night.

Chuck watched this scene with some amusement, but mostly, he felt sorry for his 'brothers', he didn't want them to pay for the decision he was making. But there you go, that's what you get for having an overprotective big sister. Naturally, Chuck decided to share his brothers' pain, and chose to stay with Bryce and Devon in the living room.

Echo Park,
Burbank, CA,
0000 (UTC-8),
September 13, 2001

The three brothers were lying on their respective makeshift beds, none of them were sleeping. Chuck knew if he wanted to join the Navy, he was going to need a plan. He wanted to join as soon as possible, so he had to graduate as soon as he could. Chuck wasn't exactly the fittest guy you see around the campus, in fact, he was a proudly self-acclaimed 'professional nerd', so he would have to get on with physical conditioning soon. Chuck did not need any help to graduate faster, but he knew he would need help with physical training, naturally, the two 'brothers' lying next to him came to his mind. Captain Awesome could easily pass off as a fitness model, and Bryce was a star athlete.

Since no one was sleeping, Chuck broke the silence in the living room. "Guys, I am going to need a plan, and I am going to need your help."

Devon loved Chuck like his own brother, so the answer came easily for him. "Sure thing, bro!"

Bryce was honestly bored with lying down doing nothing, "Let's get started now, buddy! Shall we?"

The three brothers sat around the kitchen table, and Chuck started off. "I want to join the Navy as soon as possible, there are two options, one is to join the Naval ROTC programme; the other is to attend 12 weeks of Officer Candidate School right after graduation. I am fairly confident that, I could complete my two major in Engineering, and maybe a minor in Applied Sciences within the next two quarters. Therefore, the fastest option for me at the moment, is to graduate at the end of Winter Quarter coming up, and attend OCS straight after."

"That's a sound plan, bro!" Devon was impressed.

"Yeah, Buddy! What do you need us to help with?" After living with Chuck for 2 years, Bryce knew Chuck could achieve what he just said easily.

"I am going to need your help for my physical conditioning…"

The next 4 months

Since that day, Chuck Bartowski had worked his butt off. The first two weeks were the worst, luckily, school didn't start again until after those two torturous weeks, Chuck wasn't sure he could do anything more than sitting in the Cage working, after the things his supposedly 'brothers' were putting him through every day. Bryce and Devon weren't cutting him any slacks, they both knew by getting Chuck fitter, he would have a better chance getting back home alive, and they both wanted their brother coming home alive.

Devon wrote an extremely detailed workout plan for him to work through the term, with Bryce making sure Chuck completed all of them. After another two weeks, Chuck started to find himself enjoying all the exercises. Thus, Bryce pushed him to take martial art classes with him, started with kick boxing. It seemed like all Chuck's previous clumsy limbs were full of untapped potentials, Chuck was able to pick up the moves and logic behind each move rapidly. Four months later, now, Chuck was competent in boxing, kick boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi. He also took the time to learn the background and culture behind these martial arts.

Bryce was spending most of his free time during the term training with Chuck, Chuck didn't know it, but Bryce needed all these training himself, he still haven't told Chuck that he was recruited to the CIA recently, he wasn't sure he ever will, he would never intentionally put his brother in danger.

Bryce could see how significantly, all these running, cycling, resistant training and martial arts classes, was improving Chuck's physique, even though Chuck himself was oblivious to it. Bryce didn't say anything though, he knew Chuck wasn't vain, and none of the resistance exercises were designed to put mass on him, they were just the side benefit. Now Chuck had a tall, lean and muscular frame, even most of their frat brothers were jealous of.

Just because Chuck was oblivious to his newly acquired 'guns', others especially the women on the campus weren't. More women were starting to talk to Chuck, and Bryce just stood beside him, watching with amusement, how Chuck still stumbled with his words around attractive women. Bryce had got to admit though, Chuck was getting better, he seemed to become more confident, the more women he talked with.

Jill was another story, Bryce could tell she was becoming more conflicted since coming back from summer break. She had accepted Chuck's decision to join the Navy easily enough, and she looked like she was enjoying the benefits of Chuck's new training regime. Halfway through the Autumn Quarter, a conflicted expression seemed to be permanently plastered on her face, except when she was around Chuck, it was obvious to Bryce that Jill, was hiding her confliction and whatever it was conflicting her, from Chuck. Bryce figured they would be able to solve their problems themselves, it could just be that Jill wasn't enjoying the predatory looks given to Chuck by the women on the Campus.

Little did either Bryce or Chuck know, Jill was recruited to a branch of CIA called 'Fulcrum' by her Uncle Bernie after 9.11. They instructed her to cut all ties, and she was working through how to break up with Chuck. She did love him after all.

Besides all these training, Chuck was sailing through his studies. He had talked to the Undergraduate Administrator, who agreed to allow him to graduate, as soon as he finished the exams for his subjects' requirements, in exchange, Chuck would have to promise a speech during a Commencement in the future.

During Christmas, Chuck used the break from school to apply patents for the designs of his robotic arms, and by the end of the Christmas break, he already licensed his design to several technology companies, including a company producing robotic surgical equipment, which his sister was so fond of.

End of Flashback

Stanford University,
Stanford, CA,
1630 (UTC-8),
January 25, 2002

By now, Chuck already made millions from the initial licensing fees of his robotic arm design. The royalties from this one product would keep him afloat for the rest of his life. This only made Chuck more determined to join the Navy, he wanted so badly to do something for this great country, to give something back. Given that he completed his robotic arm project on that fateful day, Chuck decided to set up his bank account so that when the royalties come in each months, half of it would be donated to a selected number of charities, that help 9/11 first responders, survivors and victims' families.

None of his family knew about his new found wealth yet, he was going to surprise Ellie, by paying off hers and Captain Awesome's student loans. He had already set up a secret account for the sole purpose of paying for Ellie's wedding. Chuck knew Bryce came from a wealthy family, and he didn't even need to take out student loans, so Chuck made something himself for Bryce, something to show how grateful he was for their friendship. As for Morgan, it was a difficult decision. Chuck knew what Morgan would want, in a nut shell, lots of video games, but he wanted Morgan to make something of himself, so Chuck secretly got him a place at a community college in Burbank to study Business and Management, hoping that was the push Morgan needed to grow out of his man-child phase.

As for Jill, Chuck had a plan ready, he was going to purpose to her, to officially make her part of the Bartowski family, he even got the ring ready. Now all he had to do was to pop the question, and he was going to do that tonight during a romantic dinner.

As Chuck ticked off the most important people in his life on his mental list, he headed back towards his room with a bounce in his steps.

At the exact moment in Jill's room.

Jill also had a plan, she couldn't drag it any longer, she had to break up with Chuck, she could tell he was getting ready to purpose, despite how much he was trying to hide it. If she knew this was going to happen, Jill would never had joined Fulcrum, now her whole life had turned upside down. Jill knew she couldn't easily convince Chuck that she didn't love him anymore, so she decided to do something she knew would work, something that would cloud Chuck's brilliant mind, so he wouldn't see right through her, and that something was to make Chuck feel so betrayed in every sense of the way.