Chuck vs. the Seventh Day, Chapter 18
CAST (in order of appearance):
The President of the United States - Martin Sheen
General Leland Stanfield - Dale Dye
Chuck Bartowski - Zachary Levi
Dr. Samuel Tyler, DCI - John Simm
General Melvin Powers - Brian Cox
General Robert Kellerman - Jim Beaver
Admiral Frederick McConnell - John Amos
General Diane Beckman - Bonita Fredericy
Secretary Linda Foster - Jenny Gago
Secretary Marianne O'Hare - Julianne Moore
Justice Ian Noble - George Takei
Senator Louis DeBlasio - Michael McGrady
Sarah Walker Bartowski - Yvonne Strahovski
Lt. Colonel John Casey - Adam Baldwin
Carina Miller - Mini Anden
Gunnery Sgt. Mitch Tucker - Terry Crews
Sen. Langston Graham - Tony Todd
Bryce Larkin - Matt Bomer
Lt. Comm. Rachel Harrison - Zoe Saldana
Captain Will Williamson - Alex O'Loughlin
Commodore Forrest Saxon - Gabriel Byrne
10:30 AM, Eastern Standard Time
February 19th, 2012
The White House, Washington, D.C.
After having the Fulcrum Eight – the "snappy nickname" the President had come up with for them – summoned to the White House, the President had then called General Leland Stanfield and asked him to come to the White House as well.
When Stanfield arrived, the President had had Chuck bring him up to speed on the events of the last six days. When Chuck finished, Stanfield looked at him for a moment, and then said, "You're the young man who disabled the bomb at the Wilshire Grand Hotel a few years ago, are you not?"
"Yes, sir, that was me," Chuck replied.
"Then I do believe I can trust you."
The President had decided to move the group to the Roosevelt Room, as it was larger and could easily accommodate all the individuals about to be confronted with the lies that they were living – in addition to accommodating an increased security presence. The President had wanted to bring in additional Secret Service agents, but while Director Tyler was willing to trust the President's personal detail, there was no time to vet other agents for Fulcrum connections, and so the President consented to bringing in CIA protective detail agents instead.
At 10:45, the group began to arrive. The three Joint Chiefs – Powers, Kellerman, and McConnell – arrived first, and they seemed surprised to see Stanfield there, and rather disturbed to see Forrest Saxon. Lou DeBlasio arrived shortly thereafter, and seemed displeased to see Sam Tyler and Art Graham.
Linda Foster, Marianne O'Hare, and Ian Noble all seemed a little confused when they arrived, not entirely sure why they had been summoned by the President on a Sunday morning. Diane Beckman, however, when she arrived, tried to immediately take charge of the situation.
"Mr. President, I don't know if you're aware of this, but you are currently harboring three international fugitives," she announced, pointing to Chuck, Sarah, and Casey.
The President looked at General Beckman with murder in his eyes. "General Beckman," he growled, "you will sit your ass down and shut the fuck up, or so HELP ME GOD…"
He left the threat unfinished, hanging in the air. Beckman, suitably intimidated, sat down and was quiet.
The President rose from his chair, and everybody rose with him. "Oh, for God's sake, sit down," he said irritably. "Let's forget about protocol for a moment – there are more important issues to deal with here."
The people in the room sat back down – the Fulcrum Eight on the President's left, Chuck, Sarah, Casey and all their cohorts on his right.
"It seems we have a problem," the President began. "And at the crux of this problem – or, should I perhaps say, at the FULCRUM of this problem, are the eight of you."
He pointed at the eight men and women to his left, and the room went dead silent. An ant crawling across the floor would have been heard.
"In the past week," the President continued, "you have put into motion a plot to remove me from my Constitutionally appointed office. You have attempted to destroy a family for no other reason than the fact that they are good, patriotic Americans. You have attempted to murder three intelligence agents, one civilian, and three military officers. You have illegally detained a United States Senator and a highly decorated task force commander. And finally, you have SUCCEEDED in dropping a bridge into the Potomac River, resulting in the deaths of the majority of a funeral procession for a soldier who died in Iraq."
The eyes of seven of the Fulcrum Eight went wide – clearly, they were not aware that Fulcrum was responsible for the incident on the Arland D. Williams Bridge. Seven accusatory sets of eyes swung toward Diane Beckman, who seemed to try to shrink under the table.
Then they turned back toward the President. The President was beginning to look like an angry god. His skin had taken on a slightly pink flush, contrasting with his stark white hair. A righteous fury seemed to blaze behind his eyes.
"He shall separate them one from another," the President said in a low, dangerous voice, quoting by memory the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall gather the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.
"And he shall say unto them on his left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment."
He stared into their eyes, one by one, and not one of the Fulcrum Eight was able to hold the President's gaze. Each of them cast their eyes down to the table as the President looked on them.
"When you leave this building," he said, quietly, "you will leave here unemployed. Each of you will resign your post before departing the White House."
General Beckman spoke again. "Mr. President, you have no hard evidence to tie any of us to these events. You have only the intelligence that comes from the head of a human being, and a rather unreliable one at that."
Chuck and Sarah were seated directly across from her. Beckman stared at the two of them, as if daring one of them to do something. Chuck rasied an eyebrow, and then wordlessly lifted his hand, and raised the middle finger.
Sarah's reaction was a little less restrained. She stood slowly from her seat and walked around the end of the table. General Beckman rose from her seat, expecting a verbal confrontation. "Agent Walker –" she started, but Sarah didn't let her finish.
Sarah pulled back her arm and socked Beckman in the face with as much force as she could muster. The NSA director fell to the floor, and Sarah stepped over her. Beckman looked up at her, fear in her eyes and blood gushing from her nose.
"Do you remember what you told me in Flagstaff, four years ago, General Beckman?" Sarah asked quietly. "You told me that as an intelligence professional, my actions in extracting Chuck from Moab were abhorrent to you. However, you told me that as a woman, you understood my motivations."
Sarah squatted down, getting as close to Beckman as she could. "Well, let me tell you something, General Beckman. As an intelligence professional, your actions in abusing the intelligence system, trying to unseat the President, and generally being a piece of shit are abhorrent to me. And as a woman, I would like nothing better than to strangle you with my bare hands. You tried to kill me, you tried to kill my husband, but worst of all, you tried to kill my CHILDREN, and for that, I should end you."
"Agent Walker…" The President's warning tone broke through Sarah's "terminator" mode, and she stood back to her feet.
"My apologies, Mr. President," Sarah said, walking back around the table to her seat. Nobody moved to help Beckman, and so she dragged herself back to her seat, keeping a hand to her nose to stanch the flow of blood.
"Well, General Beckman, let me reply to your inference that we would not be able to make a case against you," the President said. "Those of you who choose to resign before walking out this door, I guarantee you that you will be allowed to live in peace. The FBI will be closely monitoring you for the rest of your days, you can be sure of that, but you will be free to continue to live your lives. No charges will be pressed against the civilians, and there will be no courts-martial for those of you in the military."
He paused for a moment. "Those of you, however, who choose NOT to resign… well, you will not leave this building. I find it distasteful, but I will not hesitate to use extraordinary renditions on you. Is that crystal clear?"
Nobody spoke for a very long moment. Finally, General Powers cleared his throat.
"Mr. President," he said, "at this time, I feel that I can no longer discharge the duties of Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Therefore, I hereby tender my resignation, effective immediately."
"Thank you, General," the President replied. "Anybody else?"
"I also wish to tender my resignation," Admiral McConnell added, and General Kellerman quickly followed with, "I do as well."
"Thank you, gentlemen," the President said. "General Stanfield, at this time, the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is vacant. As you are currently the only sitting Chief of Staff, I wish to put your name before Congress for confirmation as the new Chairman. Will you accept this post?"
"I will, with honor," Stanfield replied gravely.
"Very good," the President said. "Now, are there any other resignations to be tendered?"
"I wish to resign," Secretary Foster said.
"As do I," Secretary O'Hare added.
Justice Noble looked up at the President. "I will resign as well."
Senator Lou DeBlasio looked across the table, first at Director Tyler, then at Senator Graham. There was hatred in his eyes as he turned his face to the President.
"I must submit my resignation to the Governor of Utah," he said through gritted teeth, "but you can rest assured that I will resign."
And then, the President's eyes turned to General Beckman. Her hand still to her face, bruises were already starting to form around her nose. She said nothing – just stared silently back at him.
The President nodded. "Alright, then." He turned his gaze to the other side of the table. "Agent Walker? Colonel Casey?"
The two rose from their chairs and withdrew their guns from behind their backs – Casey his Glock, Sarah her Colt 1911 that she had retrieved from Chuck. They both pulled the slides back and aimed the guns at General Beckman's head.
The faces of the other seven of the Fulcrum Eight had gone pale. Chuck's eyes had gone wide, but he wasn't exactly shocked.
"General Beckman," the President said, "this is your final chance."
She stared back at the President, then turned her gaze to Casey, then to Sarah, and finally, to Chuck. She locked eyes with him. Chuck looked right back at her.
Finally, she opened her mouth, and said, "I resign."
1:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time
The Fulcrum Eight were allowed to leave after filling out official letters of resignation. They were all advised that they needed to stay in the Washington area for the next few days, because it was likely that they would be called before closed sessions of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to testify regarding Fulcrum and ECOMCON.
Before the civilians and military members who had brought down the plan left the White House, General Stanfield made a brief announcement from the White House Press Room.
"This announcement is for all service men and women of the United States Uniformed Services," he said. "The ECOMCON exercise scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled. Those members on active duty will continue their regularly scheduled deployments. Reservists and National Guardsmen do not need to report to their bases. That is all."
And with that, he departed the briefing room. Chuck and Sarah had been standing in the back of the room. When General Stanfield finished the announcement, Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand and looked at him.
"We did it," she said softly. "You and me – we saved the United States government. And nobody will ever know."
"That's quite alright," Chuck replied with a smile. "I just want to go home and see our kids."
Sarah smiled back. "Let's go home, then."
As they were leaving the White House, Carina walked up to them. "Just a fair warning," she said, a flirtatious smile on her face. "I WILL be coming to collect on the debt that you owe me for getting Senator Graham out of Fort Bliss."
Chuck just smiled and shook his head, but Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You might THINK that," Sarah shot back, "but I can assure you that you will wind up floating facedown in Lake Balboa if you try it."
Carina's smile changed from flirtatious to downright seductive. "Bring it on, Agent Walker."
And with that, she strutted away, making sure to put a little extra bounce into her walk. Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes – and then noticed that Chuck's gaze was a little too fixed on Carina's behind, which earned him a smack to the back of the head.
A Secret Service Suburban delivered Casey, Chuck, and Sarah to the little airstrip in Bumpass, Virginia, where Casey's Lear 35J was parked. Chuck called Ellie before they took off to tell her that it was safe to return home. Ellie was quite pleased to hear that news.
Casey's Lear landed them at Hawthorne Airport just after 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Morgan's van – no longer the Mystery Machine, Chuck noticed – sat outside Hangar Seven, where Casey parked the Lear.
"I took your advice, Casey," Morgan said as they came out of the hangar. "Had the van painted completely white."
And so it was. But Chuck and Sarah could've cared less about that. Morgan slid open the sliding door, and out tumbled Lisa and John. They ran across the pavement, yelling, "Mama! Dada!"
Tears sprang to both of the adult Bartowskis' eyes as their children ran toward them. Chuck bent down and scooped up Lisa, while Sarah corralled John into her arms. John squirmed and laughed as his mother kissed him repeatedly, but Lisa looked solemnly into her father's eyes.
"No Ful-cum, Dada?"
"No more Fulcrum, Lisa," Chuck promised her. And with that, she smiled, and wrapped her little arms around her father's neck.
Chuck and Sarah figured that the house was still in pretty bad condition, so they told Morgan just to take them by the house so that they could collect enough clothes to stay at a hotel for the night. To their surprise, however, when they reached the house, the front end looked like nothing had ever happened.
"What the hell?" Chuck asked in surprise as he opened the front door and they stepped inside.
There, on the coffee table in the living room, was the answer. Sitting next to the cell phones that had been abandoned on the front lawn was a small card. Chuck picked it up and opened it.
"Courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration," the card said. "Now you owe me double. Love, Carina."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "She really wants to get dead," she said.
Then she turned to Chuck. "Let's put the kids down for a nap, and then" - she grew a naughty smile on her face - "let's go to bed, shall we?"
Chuck smiled back. "I think that's an excellent idea."
8:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time
"My fellow Americans, good evening.
"As you are all aware, this morning, there was a tragic accident here in Washington, DC. An F/A-18 Hornet, on a routine patrol over the city, accidentally deployed a missile which struck the Arland D. Williams Memorial Bridge. The explosion resulted in the destruction of the bridge, and unfortunately, we fear that a large number of people perished in the explosion. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of this unfortunate accident.
"Furthermore, four members of our military leadership, in addition to four members of our civilian leadership, submitted their resignations today, stating that they could no longer effectively serve the United States government based on personal feelings and their opposition to the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty. General Melvin Powers, General Robert Kellerman, Admiral Frederick McConnell, General Diane Beckman, Secretary Linda Foster, Secretary Marianne O'Hare, Justice Ian Noble, and Senator Louis DeBlasio have served their country for many years, and they are all true patriots. Their service will be sorely missed.
"Let me assure you, however, that our country will continue on, just as it did yesterday, last week, last month, last year. Highly qualified people will quickly step up to fill the void created – people who can help us determine why the accident on the Arland D. Williams Memorial Bridge occurred this morning.
"As we move into a time of transition, so we also move into a time of peace. I have here with me tonight four heads of state who have come to Washington for the purpose of meeting with me to present a joint statement expressing their support for the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty. I would like to welcome President Luis da Silva of Brazil, First Minister Ian Paisley of Northern Ireland, President Boris Tadić of Serbia, and President Viktor Yuschenko of the Ukraine…"
Author's Note: the story is not quite done. There will be one more chapter.