Chapter 2

A/N Sorry for the inconsistency in chapter one. Hopefully, I've corrected the mistakes.

"Chuck...did you just flash?"

The question was still ringing in his ears. He raised his head even higher and looked into the eyes of...Yvonne? No, there was something different in this woman's eyes. He saw something in those eyes. Was it...love? No, Yvonne was involved with someone else. He had to admit that she was beautiful, and they got along well together. He also had to admit to himself that he was not adverse to a relationship with the beautiful Aussie. He shook his head again and turned his attention to...Adam? A shiver went up his back as he looked into his eyes...cold and determined. Something he only saw in Adam's eyes when they were filming. Adam was really a big 'teddy bear' in real life and would not hesitate to give you the shirt off his back. Something was wrong, and it was creeping him out.

"Chuck, honey, whats wrong?"

He looked back at the woman and almost under his breath so as not to ruin a scene, he whispered

"That's not in the script? What's going on?"

He chanced a look around, but saw no camera's or crew for that matter. Now he heard a familiar voice grunt at him

"What are you blabbering about Bartowski?"

The woman turned to the man and gave him a hard look and said

"Casey...can't you see that's somethings wrong with Chuck? Stop the Mr. Tough guy routine."

Her eyes were glaring at Casey. He just looked at her and grunted. The room suddenly filled with laughter and they both looked to the source. Sarah again got a worried look on her face, and Casey just smirked at the younger man. Bartowski had finally lost it.

"You guys had me going there for a minute."

Zac was now laughing so hard that he couldn't stand. The looks on his co stars faces were priceless. Somehow they had gotten the crew to pull this elaborate joke on him, and he had almost fallen for it.

"Real funny guys...now where is the rest of the crew? Isn't it time for lunch break?"

He stood up and said to no one in particular

"Okay, Robbie...very funny. You getting back at me for that prank I played on you last week?"

No one answered and Zac again looked at the other two people. They still had the same looks on their faces. Now he was getting a little worried. How did he get here? They had been in the Castle set, and now they were...in a room that looked like the set, but it was a real room. How had they gotten him here without him knowing it? Had he fallen asleep?

"Josh?...Vik?...Hey, Scott, come on guys where are you?"

Zac was beginning to get scared now. Where was he? He slowly sat back down and after a moment he looked up again with a worried look on his face and said

"I'm dreaming again right?...this is just a dream that has turned into a nightmare right?"

He dropped his head and rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was more tired than he thought.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he jumped, looking up into...Sarah's eyes. She could see that he was upset and...scared? She had never seen this look on Chuck's face before, and she was worried about it. What was wrong with him? Who were the names he had called out? Were they friends she'd never heard of or what? She leaned down to give him a kiss and he flinched as she touched her lips to his. What was wrong with her Chuck?

Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat came into the room and the sound again made Chuck jump. He looked up and saw...Bonita on the monitor. But that couldn't be her. His eyes went wide as she looked at him. She seemed very intimidating and he was so unnerved, that he slightly shrank back a bit, a movement not missed by the other two people in the room with him. Sarah looked directly at the screen and said

"General, something is wrong with Chuck. I think this last mission had affected him in some way."

Casey just grunted, but it was obvious that he was worried about the kid. He wouldn't want it to get out, but he had, over the last two years, grown fond of the moron...he was his moron. He looked back at him and saw the look of surprise and worry on his face. Something was wrong, but what?

"Mr. Bartowski, what is the matter?"

The slight woman said as she continued to let her eyes bore into his very soul. He gulped and tried to stand, but it was difficult. He was getting the feeling he had been pulled into the twilight zone. He finally managed to stand and he looked at the woman.

"Uh...well..."

How was he suppose to say this?

"I'm waiting Mr. Bartowski."

She seemed to be ready to jump out at him so he just blurted it out in a strangled voice

"Okay, I'm not Chuck Bartowski...my name is Zachary Levi and I'm an actor who happens to be on a show on TV named Chuck...I'm just playing a part...I'm not the intersect and I can't flash...well unless you count what Josh calls my flash face..."

He did his patten flash face for them and then felt silly. He looked at them all and saw different expressions on each face. He deflated and sighed and said in a small voice

"Look, we were filming a scene on the Castle set and I was waiting for Robbie to call cut and suddenly I felt a dizzy spell come on...you see I didn't get to much sleep last night and well, it never came and now I find myself here...where ever here is and..."

"Enough!"

The general held up her hand and then looked at the other two in the room and said

"Agent Walker, Col Casey, I want you to take the asset to Casey's and watch over him closely. It's obvious that the mission has affected him in some way. If he doesn't come to his senses by tomorrow, we will be forced to bring him in."

Zac didn't like the sound of this. It was just like the show, they were always threatening to take Chuck to a bunker and hide him away for ever. He suddenly felt real fear at the thought of it and raised his hands and said a little louder than he meant to

"No,no,no,no,no...I'm not Chuck, Chuck is just a fictional character...I am an actor who plays that part! I'm Zachary Levi and you can't take me to some underground bunker for life...I have no intersect in my brain."

He had advanced towards the monitor, but was roughly pulled back by Casey, who grabbed his arm. He almost lost his balance as he was pulled back. Zac normally didn't lose his temper, but this man was getting on his nerves. He turned and gave him a dirty look and tried to yank his arm out of his grip, but Casey only tighten his grip.

"Let go Adam!"

Casey just looked at him and said under his breath

"Can it, moron"

"Stop calling me moron...my name is Zac...Zac Levi!"

He was mad now, and Sarah stepped forward and said

"Um..Zac? Please, just calm down. Everything will be alright."

She was worried about Chuck but if being called Zac would help him calm down, then she would try that. He looked down at her and saw the same look of love in her eyes and was again taken aback. The fire in his eyes cooled and he stopped struggling. He wanted to trust her, but he was afraid at the same time. Again he wondered where he was.

Casey, for his part was looking at Chuck with a new admiration for him. He had never seen Chuck get so fired up. Maybe there was hope for him after all. Now the general interrupted the moment as she said

"Casey, Sarah...please take Chuck home."

She had watched the young man explode at Casey, and she had to admit, she was a little worried too. He was so sure he was someone else. She hoped that this was not a problem with the asset. And she hoped that Chuck would come around. She really did like the kid, and Roan had talked about him with affection.

They had taken Chuck out of Castle and had gotten into Casey's Crown Vic. Zac sat in the back seat and said nothing. Sarah kept looked over her shoulder and she was wondering what was going through his head. It was her Chuck wasn't it? But he seemed so sure he was someone else...an actor who played the part of Chuck on TV. How could there be a TV show about this? She had never seen one, but she only watched TV with Chuck, and he had never mentioned this type of show? And if this wasn't her Chuck, how would he know about the intersect? It just didn't make any sense. She turned and looked at Casey. He had a strange look on his face. Was he concerned too? She knew deep down that he was fond of Chuck but if she ever brought it up, he'd just grunt at her. But the look right now was different. He truly looked worried.

They pulled up in front of the apartment that both Casey and Chuck, his sister and fiance lived. He parked the Vic and both Sarah and Casey got out of the car. Zac just sat there lost in his thoughts. Casey opened the back door and grabbed Zac's arm and pulled him out.

"Come on numb nuts...we're here."

Again, Zac twisted to pull away from him, but his grip was too tight.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming."

He looked upset again so Casey loosened his grip a bit, but not enough for the kid to escape. They were home before either Ellie or Devon, so no one saw them enter Casey's apartment. Zac looked around and felt that he had been here a lot...after all the apartment looked just like the set. Even the court yard was the same. Again he thought of the Twilight Zone. Casey let go of him and he walked over to the couch and dropped down. He watched as Casey shut and locked the door. Casey then pulled the blinds and turned to look at the man sitting on the couch...or to be more precise, slumping on the couch. He looked a little rumpled and tired. It was obvious that the kid was tired. Sarah had sat down next to him and was also watching him.

Sarah was trying to sort out the man before her. On the way over here, something had been nagging her, but she wasn't sure what. Something was different about Chuck, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Her spy senses were sometimes off when it came to Chuck. She reached out to brush a lock of his hair off his forehead, and as she did, she suddenly stopped in mid motion. That was it...his hair was longer and shaggier. How had that happened? He had started wearing his hair in a more professional style for two years now. She looked at him closer and notice his outfit. He was in his nerd herd outfit, Black slacks, white short sleeve shirt and gray tie, which was askew. He had his usual Chuck Taylor shoes on. Wait a minute, they had been on a mission where they were at a party. They were to infiltrate a drug dealer on his yacht. Chuck had been in a nice gray suit with dress shoes on. How had he gotten into his work outfit? How had his hair grown in so short a time? She looked up at Casey and wondered if he saw it too? She turned back to Chuck and said

"Um...Chuck...your hair is longer than it was this morning and your clothes...we were at a party and you were in that gray suit this morning? How did you change? You didn't leave either Casey or me since we got back to Castle? And your hair..."

She trailed off and saw that Casey was also now noticing the difference. The man, who had been sitting there with his head in his hands now looked up at them and sighed as he said quietly

"I told you, I'm not Chuck...I'm Zac."

TBC