I still don't own Chuck. But I did just get the season one DVD for Christmas. Oh, and some 3D glasses. So I've got that going for me, lol.

Thanks to Happydayz and Truthseekr for the ideas. And, of course, thanks to BrickRoad for keeping me on the straight and narrow. I would love to hear from you. Is Beckman evil? Or is doing what she thinks is the right thing?

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It's the only reward that we get for putting ourselves out there. I want to thank everyone who has sent me a review. I really appreciate the support that you've given me. It really helps me stay motivated.

If you're a Chuck fan (and who isn't), join us in the forum on this site. We would love to hear your thoughts on the show and where it's going. Since we've talked about every possible outcome, someone is sure to be right.

The Backchannel Meeting

- - - -

"Sarah," Chuck whispered. "Are you awake?"

They had been lying in bed in the dark for some time in their favorite position. Chuck was on his back with Sarah on her side with her head lying on his chest.

"Going for round three tonight, are we?" Sarah answered quickly. And even though he couldn't see her, the smile was evident in her voice. "I must say, I'm impressed."

"Well, maybe," Chuck said softly as he switched on the light. "I mean, it's hard to imagine me turning that down. But I was really thinking about what we talked about yesterday."

"What about?" Sarah asked as she quickly turned her head to face Chuck as soon as she realized he was serious.

"About our options," Chuck said. "You told me that Casey said that our third option was to make me not a threat."

"Sure," Sarah said. "But he also said that he had no idea how to do that."

"I know," Chuck said. "I'm just thinking out loud here so this might not make sense. But how about this? If we uploaded a bunch of false data into my brain, it would probably overwrite the information that was there. I would still flash on stuff. But the information would be worthless. I'd be worthless. Would that be enough to convince them?"

"I like that idea." Sarah said quickly. "If we could prove to Beckman that you were not a risk, she would really have no choice. But who would know how to do something like that?"

"I'm not sure," Chuck said with a sigh. "But I know someone who would."

"Bryce," Sarah breathed.

"It's too bad we can't get a hold of him." Chuck said with a defeated tone. "We can't go through Beckman. It would tip her off."

Sarah rolled over so that she was facing Chuck and practically on top of him.

"Are you trying to start round three?" Chuck said with a smile in between the short kisses that Sarah was giving him. "I'm enjoying the effort but you can relax. I'm very willing."

"Maybe in a minute," Sarah whispered. "But right now I want to make sure that I have your attention. I love you. Nothing is even going to change that. You know that right?"

Even though Chuck couldn't see Sarah's face as it was buried in his chest, he could tell immediately by the tone of her voice that something was up.

"Ok, Sarah," he said as he broke the latest kiss and sat up. "Tell me what is going on."

Of course Sarah knew that Chuck could tell that something was wrong. After all, he had a sixth sense about those things. He usually knew that something was bothering Sarah before Sarah even knew it herself. And while, that was one of the things that she loved most about him, it was hard to tell him difficult things without him jumping to conclusions. And she really needed him to not jump to conclusions about this.

"Ok, sweetie," Sarah said softly. "I'll tell you. But please don't overreact. I know how to contact Bryce."

"How," Chuck asked softly.

"When Bryce was here last time," Sarah said slowly. "When I was in the hospital, he gave me a code to use. Very similar to what we gave to Ellie today. If I contact him, and he responds, he'll meet me."

"Where," Chuck asked.

"At the spot that he set up," Sarah said as calmly as she could.

"Where," Chuck simply repeated with more intensity.

"Ok, Chuck," Sarah said with a big sigh. "He set it up for us to meet at the Brookshire hotel."

"You would meet him at a hotel," Chuck said sadly as he got out of bed. "You would really meet him at a hotel?"

Sarah could tell by the look in his eyes that she had to settle him down before they could have any sort of rational conversation.

"Sweetie," Sarah said firmly. "Please listen to me. I can see where this is going and you're getting yourself worked up for no reason. I have never contacted Bryce. I've never had any reason to. And I know that you get kind of crazy when it comes to him. So that's why I never told you about this. I'm your wife. I love you. I would never cheat on you or do anything to hurt you. I hope that I've earned that much trust from you."

"This isn't about trust." Chuck said quickly. "You're right. I do get crazy when it comes to Bryce. And you're also right; you've earned a lot more than that from me. But Sarah, he wants to meet you at a hotel. You know what he is going to expect, don't you?"

"You're jumping to a conclusion." Sarah said softly. "You don't know that. Please don't underestimate Bryce. He is a good guy who genuinely cares for you."

"Now you really have me worried." Chuck said with a sigh. "Just how good of a guy do you think he is?"

"I can't win with this discussion, can I?" Sarah asked gently with a smile. "Bryce and I are over. I think that Bryce knows that. He's a smart guy. And I tried to make that clear to him last time. But no matter what he thinks, I'm married, to a wonderful man. I'm going to have his baby. I'm pretty sure that Bryce will be happy for us when he finds out."

"I hope so." Chuck said softly.

"I hope so too." Sarah said with a smile. "But if not, he'll just leave disappointed."

"I'm sorry that I freaked out." Chuck said as he pulled Sarah to him and kissed her.

"I'm sorry that I didn't trust you enough to tell you." Sarah whispered as soon as the kiss broke. "So, it's ok for me to contact him? He could really help us."

"I don't suppose there is any way for me to go with you?" Chuck asked wistfully.

"Not the first time anyway," Sarah said softly. "Bryce is deep undercover. He'll be looking for anything wrong."

"And you promise to tell me every detail?" Chuck asked with a smile. "Even if it's something that I won't like?"

"I promise." Sarah said. "Thank you for understanding. There is nothing to worry about. I'm really very proud of you."

"Round three proud," Chuck asked with a grin as he kissed her again.

"Yes, sweetie, round three proud,"

- - - -

Sarah sat in the dark hotel room waiting for Bryce. It was really lucky that he responded so quickly because they didn't have many days to waste. But Sarah couldn't shake the image of Chuck as she kissed him goodbye. He was trying so hard to put up a brave front but Sarah could tell that his eyes were troubled. But this was important. So she went to the hotel and checked in using the alias that no one but Bryce knew about. Even Chuck had never heard of Becky Johnston. Sarah made a mental note to correct that as soon as she was back home. She wasn't going to keep any secrets from Chuck. Finally there was a soft knock on the door. Even with the hat and dark glasses, Sarah could tell Bryce's form easily. Bryce entered the room without a sound as soon as Sarah opened the door and stood looking at her.

"Hi," Sarah said finally to break the silence.

"Hi, Sarah," Bryce said with a small smile as he took off his jacket. "Why are you leaving Chuck?"

"Why would you think I'm leaving Chuck?" Sarah asked in a confused tone.

"Don't get me wrong," Bryce said with a sigh. "I'm glad to be working with you again. I'm just worried about Chuck. Did you two have a falling out? He really cares for you, you know? I'd hate to see him hurt."

"Beckman called you," Sarah whispered after a moment as she finally figured out what Bryce meant. "She told you that I was going to be reassigned to work with you, didn't she. That's why you were in the area to meet me so quickly."

"Yes," said Bryce. "She contacted me two days ago and told me to prepare to debrief you to join up with me. Who is taking over for you with Chuck? Is he ok? He was really struggling with how to deal with his feelings for you. I hope that you didn't hurt him."

"You don't understand." Sarah said with a smile. "I'm not leaving Chuck."

"You're not leaving Chuck?" Bryce repeated. "Sarah, I don't understand. How could you stay with Chuck and still come and partner with me? You're not making sense."

"I know." Sarah said softly. "I'm sorry. I'll try and explain. Beckman thinks I'm going to be free to be reassigned because she is having Chuck terminated when the new intersect comes online in five – no crap four days from now."

"I was afraid of that." Bryce whispered. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you think that I'm going to do?" Sarah asked softly. "I'm going to defend my husband."

Bryce just stood and stared at Sarah. It took a long moment for the realization to come to him but when it did a huge grin came over his face.

"No freaking way," Bryce said. "How long?"

"Two months and two days." Sarah said with a grin of her own. "We went to Vegas and got married using aliases."

"Who knows about this?" Bryce said as he hugged Sarah.

"Casey, Chuck's sister, and you," Sarah replied as she returned Bryce's embrace.

"Well," Bryce said as he broke the embrace. "You've kept him alive so far. What are your plans for keeping him away from Beckman?"

"Casey is giving us a three day head start." Sarah said. "We're going to have to run. I'm pretty sure with three days I can get us off the grid for at least a year. Then we're going to run out of money."

"That's going to be tough." Bryce said. "Beckman has a lot of resources at her disposal."

"I know," Sarah said angrily. "I'm going to have to deal with her."

"She's just doing what she thinks is right." Bryce said sadly.

"What?" Sarah sighed in disbelief.

"You just have to worry about Chuck." Bryce said softly. "She has to worry about a whole country."

"Well," Sarah said fiercely. "Now she better start worrying about me."

"How can I help Chuck?" Bryce said calmly. "I'm sure that you didn't call me here to tell me that you were married."

"No," Sarah said firmly. "Chuck had an idea. If we could somehow upload false data into Chuck, it might overwrite the intersect data. Chuck's flashes would be worthless. Then Chuck wouldn't be a threat. We were hoping that you could help get us in touch with someone who could help us do that."

"Dr. Wilson," Bryce whispered to himself. "He could help."

"Who is that?" Sarah asked.

"Frank Wilson is the man who was in charge of building the intersect data file stream." Bryce said. "He is the only one who would know how to do what you're proposing. If it's even possible."

"Will you talk to him for us?" Sarah asked.

"Of course," Bryce said as his eyes sparkled. "I'd do almost anything for my best friend and his new wife."

"Not to mention the mother of his baby," Sarah said softly.

Suddenly Bryce's face turned sad as he shook his head.

"Are you sure that is a smart thing?" he asked softly after a long pause. "It sounds to me like you've got enough on your plate right now."

"No, Bryce," Sarah said as the tears welled in her eyes. "Actually, it's pretty damn stupid. But I've never been happier about anything in my whole life."

"Get Chuck off the grid." Bryce said firmly. "I'll get a hold of Wilson. I'll be in contact through our normal method. In the meantime, if you need anything, and I mean anything, contact me."

"Thanks Bryce," Sarah whispered as she hugged him.

"Tell Chuck how happy I am for you." Bryce said as he put on his jacket.

"I'm hoping that you get a chance to tell him yourself." Sarah said. "Bryce, Chuck is fairly insecure of you because of our history. A good word from you would go a long way towards making him feel better."

"He's insecure of me?" Bryce said with a laugh. "You married him didn't you?"

"He was worried that you wanted to meet at a hotel because… well, you know." Sarah said softly.

"I have to be honest. Before I knew that you two were married," Bryce said with a laugh as he walked out the door.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

- - - -