Hi everybody! OK, this is the final chapter of "Chuck Vs. the Strange Bedfellows". Hopefully, I'll have less of a delay between sections this time. Sadly, nothing is ever guaranteed. I thank all of you for your patience, for reading my stuff, and special thanks to those who have provided reviews.

Thanks as always to my wife and Anon for editing my stuff.

I don't own any characters from Chuck.

Let's go!

The stink of ammonia burned her nostrils and brought Dr. Jill Roberts to a choking consciousness. Her eyes began to tear up, but she hardly registered that as the next sensation – that of horrific pain in her back, joints, and head took precedence. After her coughing wave subsided, she moaned twice. Once in response to the physical pain, and once more when she realized her current situation.

She was trussed up. Her body was leaning against a wall, while her wrists and ankles were bound together in front of her, tightly. There was virtually no give, and the cords were digging into her flesh and impeding circulation. Her head was allowed to move, and she could see her partner, Vincent Smith, in a similar condition. In his case, he still appeared drugged, though conscious. He might have been better off, she wasn't sure. She certainly did not value the experience of being quite conscious but terrified.

The frowning figure of Stephen Bartowski, the elusive Orion, was standing over them. The used smelling salts were in one hand. A pistol with silencer was in the other, and was pointed at her. Noting that she was awake, Orion ever so slightly bowed his head.

"You wanted to talk, Dr. Roberts?"

With Sarah speeding, the drive time was cut in half. Even so, Chuck Bartowski was in hell. Ellie had been hurt. There had been a break-in at the house and Ellie had been hurt. That was all his father had told Sarah. God damn him. Sarah had explained to Chuck that his father was in the midst of this insanity and didn't have time to go into details. Chuck could understand that, on the surface. He even could understand why his father had called Sarah, not him. First, Sarah knew how to summon the appropriate support. Second, Chuck would have gone hysterical – much as he was doing now – and no help would have come from that. Yet, for all of this logic, Chuck burned with resentment at how he had been told. Ellie was his sister, and for the longest time, they were the only family each other had. The reason was that first one parent had abandoned them, then the other. Chuck understood why his father had done that, but at times like this, the old hurts stung, badly. Sarah hadn't been part of that family either. She was the spy who had come into his life, bringing love and excitement. But also deadly danger. Miraculously, in the space of more than two years, Chuck had been flung into the life of a spy, and never seriously been physically damaged. Oh, sure, he had been in danger of dying any number of times, but Sarah and Casey had always gotten him out of it. And the only time that he had been injured to any great degree was when the New Intersect first manifested itself. He had recovered though. The fact was; there was only one person who had come too close to death since Chuck's spy life began: Ellie.

She had been poisoned by that ex-gymnast mercenary. It was only luck that she had survived. And even though it had been a coincidence that she had been targeted then, that still did not dent Chuck's certainty that if he had been normal, that fate wouldn't have befallen his sister.

Now, she was hurt again; he had no idea how badly. There had been a "break-in". Sure, there was a possibility the break-in might have nothing to do with the spy life. A possibility so miniscule that it could be easily ignored. No, this break-in had something to do with him, or Sarah, or Casey, or… his father? Did somebody find out that the man known as Orion lived there, and Ellie was paying the price? That didn't seem likely. Orion had successfully hid from bad guys for years. However, this was also the man who said he had his own security system for the property. Surely, your normal run-of-the-mill burglar wouldn't be able to take two steps toward the house without his father pouncing.

Every so often, Chuck would spot Sarah glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. She was concerned about him, he could tell. In fact, initially, she had driven more slowly, so she could hold the steering wheel with one hand, while using the other to hold his. Chuck had thanked her, but told her to not worry about him. He needed her to focus on getting them there as soon as possible. She had complied, but she was still worried for him.

They hadn't had the time or inclination to tell Casey. The Colonel would complain about it later, but Sarah had felt it was best not to involve him until they knew everything about the incident. So, they had let him sleep, and left.

Sarah was talking to Chuck about how they should approach this incident with Devon. Chuck's brother-in-law knew most of Chuck's secret (save the Intersect), but nobody else did and they needed to keep it that way. Chuck barely heard her. After awhile, she must have noticed that, because she simply stopped talking. All his thoughts were on Ellie. He hoped that Sarah would understand that. He thought she would.

He kept holding his breath around every turn, hoping the next one would bring them to the hospital. The heavy breathing started making him a bit dizzy, but he worked to pull himself together.

They finally arrived.

"We waited until after everybody was asleep to initiate contact. We didn't know Ellie would wake up. She startled me." Jill said all of this quickly.

"Oh? And here I thought you planned to use my daughter as a hostage against me. Vincent has done things like that before." Orion had pulled up a chair and was sitting several feet away, facing both of them, alternating without pattern the direction toward who he was pointing the gun.

Vincent nodded his head at that. "I have, Orion. Hostage-taking works. When you want an enemy to surrender, assuming your enemy cares more about his loved one than himself." Vincent smiled then, to Jill's astonishment. Did he want Orion to shoot them?

"However," Vincent continued, "Dr. Roberts and I haven't come to you as enemies this time."

"Friends?" asked Orion with a cold voice.

Vincent's smile turned sour. "Never friends. Colleagues."

Orion matched Vincent's expression with one of his own. "But I prefer us as enemies, Vincent."

"And I'd prefer to still be tracking you down under the auspices of Fulcrum," replied Vincent. "But Fulcrum is dead. Murdered by the Ring. The Ring that is even now targeting your son."

"You know this, how, exactly?"

"I've made it my business to seek vengeance for Fulcrum. I picked up Dr. Roberts en route, and she is of a similar mind. We've been tracking the Ring, just as I've tracked you in the past."

"I always stayed a step ahead of you. Have you had any better luck with the Ring?"

Vincent frowned, "Not as much as I'd like. Their leaders still elude me. However, Dr. Roberts and I were able to find one agent and we've made the best of it. We managed to partially disrupt an operation to murder FBI agents during a Triad sting."

Orion tried to keep his face inscrutable, but Jill had studied men for years, and she could read them well. Even this man. He was uncertain.

Vincent could tell the same thing. "You know who else was there at that operation, don't you?"

When they found the room, Ellie was sitting up in her hospital gown, considering the hospital food in front of her with the usual distaste one would expect when faced with hospital food.

"Ellie!" Chuck gushed in obvious relief. He rushed to her side and then paused. "Um… Is it safe to hug you?"

Ellie grinned. "My head was hurt, not my ribs. C'mere."

The two hugged. Sarah felt her own tension dissolve as Chuck's did. She had been worried for him, but also for Ellie, herself, and it was good to see her friend awake and talking, after not knowing what type of shape they might have found her in.

That release of tension lasted only until Sarah glanced at Devon. Sarah's stomach dropped. He was looking at her. He did not look the least bit happy to see her. A moment later he turned his head back to his wife and Chuck as they released each other, and just like that, a grin came to Captain Awesome's face. Sarah had never seen this with Devon. It was so fluid; he might have been a spy himself. Or an amazing actor.

"So, you gonna tell me how you got in trouble this time?" Chuck asked, playfully. "And, ah, what's the damage?"

Sarah wished Chuck hadn't done that. Not asking about the injury; they both wanted to know the answer to that. Asking about the specifics of the event. If Devon's look toward Sarah had been any indication, the significance of this occurrence had not been lost on him. They needed to discuss this, but without Chuck's sister present. Ellie didn't know, and Sarah wanted to keep it that way.

"Oh, just a concussion. Nothing major. The doctors want to keep me awake for awhile longer to take a couple of more tests, but from the looks of things so far, I should be fine." Surprisingly, Ellie was talking as if this was a normal occurrence.

"Thank God," said Sarah. She truly felt that way, but part of her also wanted Devon to know that she felt that way.

"As for what actually happened-"

"Hon," Devon interrupted, "I'm not sure now's the time to be discussing this. You don't need the stress."

Bless him, Sarah thought. He gets this.

"Oh hush, I'll be fine," said Ellie, waving dismissively. "You didn't treat me like porcelain when I broke my leg."

"This time, it's your head!" Devon protested.

"Bartowskis have thick heads," Ellie said crisply, to which Chuck smirked. "Anyway," she continued, "what can I tell you? I came downstairs, ran into a burglar, got into a fight, tripped over my own feet, woke up in a room I didn't know we owned, and here we are."

Sarah and Chuck looked at Devon, who seemed a bit uncomfortable but shrugged. "That, uh… that about sums it up. The burglar got away, and Steve called the cops."

"Uh…" said Chuck, "Room you didn't know you owned?"

"Panic room." Ellie replied very fast. Getting a concussion seemed to speed up the tempo of her speech. "We have a panic room. Dad didn't tell us we had a panic room, but he never told us when he was leaving, so I guess a panic room is reasonable."

She suddenly burst into tears.

The reaction of all three was immediate. Devon rushed over to Ellie, and though Chuck obviously wanted to hold his sister, himself, he stepped back so his brother-in-law could get to his wife. Sarah for her part, stepped forward, then stopped. Who was she? What role did she have here? She was Ellie's friend, yes, but…. What if her presence in the Bartowskis lives had led to this? So, instead, Sarah moved to Chuck and ever so gently placed her hand on his back, hoping it would reassure.

"I'm sorry," Ellie sobbed. "It's just hitting me now, I guess. I was terrified. That woman was in my house and she had a gun."

"The burglar was a woman?" Chuck asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yeah, skinny type. Short light hair, far as I could tell. But it was the weirdest thing. I must have been out of my mind, because it makes no sense, but at one point, she said something to me, and I could have sworn that her voice sounded like Jill of all people. Isn't that crazy?" Ellie paused from her sobs and looked up, then gasped, horrified. "Oh God, Chuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. Of course, it's not Jill."

Numbly, Sarah Walker turned her head to find her boyfriend in shock. She could feel it in his back. He had gone rigid. She thought he might have turned to stone then, and it was only she who was keeping him from falling over. She could understand that.

She was feeling much the same way.

"You're saying that you saved Chuck's life, but you can't prove it." Orion looked as if he were trying to stare Vincent down, but even bound and at the mercy of another, Vincent didn't seem the least bit intimidated.

"We can't prove that we specifically saved your son, no," agreed Vincent. "We do have photos of the scene, however, including pictures of your son's team, as well as evidence of the treachery against the FBI agents. Two pictures show Doctor Roberts shooting some of the enemy who would have otherwise shot the FBI agents, and in one case, your son."

"And how did you learn about this Ring operation?" asked Orion.

"We're spies too, Orion," replied Vincent. "Fulcrum was a subsidiary of the Ring, even if most of us did not originally know that. We're familiar with Ring tactics because the Ring was the source of the training."

Jill interrupted, "Why do you think the Ring decided to purge Fulcrum in the first place? Even if we didn't know much about their ultimate goals, we might know enough to be a threat."

Orion looked at her sharply, and Jill recognized an expression of utter distaste. "Only because you botched too many operations to still be useful to them."

"That belief was a mistake on their part," said Vincent, his voice cold.

"Orion," Jill couldn't help the pleading tone of her voice, "the main operative we know of- That person knows that Chuck is the human Intersect, and has known at least since the Triad sting. That operative knows where Chuck lives. That information must have been given to the Ring by now."

"Who is this operative?"

"We can't"- Jill was in the process of responding, but was interrupted by Vincent.

"Mei-Ling Cho."

Jill looked at her partner, disbelievingly. They had agreed to hold this information until Orion had proven he would work with them.

Vincent returned her stare. "A show of good faith, Doctor."

"Mei-Ling Cho," repeated Orion. "You have proof of this?"

"Photographic proof," confirmed Vincent. "Perhaps, you can bring her in, have her interrogated by Beckman's people."

"You wouldn't suggest that, though," said Orion.

"No, I wouldn't. Cho is only one agent, and I'm guessing that the agents you already have in custody haven't talked. But follow her, and she might lead you to more important targets."

"If these people know about Chuck, why haven't they taken any action against him?"

"We don't know," said Jill. "They may be waiting for something, but we're sure they're watching every move Chuck and his team make. Orion, it's only a matter of time before they do something."

"And yet," said Orion, his face darkening," you both know about Chuck too, and you're the ones who hurt my daughter tonight."

He looked at her in such a way that Jill felt herself begin to sweat.

Chuck and Sarah made their apologies, saying they needed to get some fresh air, and that they wanted to give Ellie and Devon some space to themselves. Neither was fooled. Ellie kept apologizing to Chuck about bringing up Jill, insisting that she was, of course, mistaken. Devon, for his part, kept looking at the two of them significantly. Ultimately though, neither kept Chuck and Sarah from taking their requested break.

Sarah took Chuck's hand. It felt clammy and loose in hers. She whispered in his ear to not talk about it until they got back to her car. He weakly nodded in agreement. He looked haunted.

They got into her car, and sat in silence for more than five minutes before he began to talk. He was looking down at his lap, not at her.

"This is my fault."

She expected that he might say something like that, even though it simply wasn't true. It wasn't his fault Jill had escaped them.

"I let her escape, Sarah."

Sarah stopped breathing for a moment.

"Jill had a chance to escape during the firefight in the Fulcrum recruiting center. She came back to save me instead, and told me where Dad was being held. So, I let her go."

He paused, still not looking at her. Maybe he was waiting for her to hit him? Arrest him? Kill him?

Sarah didn't know what she felt. Shock? Yes, perhaps. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more she wasn't surprised. Jill had always been Chuck's weak spot. His judgment when it came to that bitch was non-existent. That Jill Roberts had that effect on Chuck was what made Sarah hate her so much.

Sarah should have been angry. She should have thrown Chuck to the wolves, let Beckman toss him in a bunker, never to see the light of day again. She should have broken up with him, then and there.

Instead, to her own astonishment, Sarah found herself speaking to Chuck in a comforting voice, as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Chuck. We'll find her and bring her in."

Chuck's voice was odd as he said, "But I don't want to bring her in, Sarah."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat again. She didn't know where her initial reserves of understanding were coming from, but if he was actually suggesting that they let Jill stay free-

Sarah's thoughts in this direction stopped abruptly, as Chuck finally turned to face her, and she saw in his eyes something that she had never seen before.

His eyes seemed full of cold rage as Chuck spat out, "I want her dead."

"I swear to God, Orion, I never wanted to hurt Ellie."

Why had she? Jill found herself searching her mind for explanations, for herself, as well as the man interrogating her. She found something approximating the truth, and she grasped at it. She simply didn't have time to come up with a better lie.

"Chuck was always good to me; even when I was working against him, he always gave me another chance. He let me go. He did. I wanted to help him. Part of me…. It was unrealistic, I know, but part of me wanted there to be another chance for us. And when Ellie recognized me, breaking into her home with a gun, I panicked, because I didn't want Chuck to know that I had done this. I lashed out. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for her to get hurt. Her or Chuck. Especially Chuck. In spite of everything I have ever done, I love your son."

"You hurt him, Dr. Roberts. All you have ever done is hurt him."

"No, I saved his life. Don't you understand?"

"Orion," Vincent said, "You can turn us in, or kill us here and dispose of our bodies, but that would be a waste. You know the threat, maybe better than we do. As long as the Ring exists, your family is a target. Use us as a resource to help you take the Ring down. That's why we came to find you. We believe nobody is more capable in this war than you."

Orion looked at Vincent, and said quietly, "You may be of use."

"And me?" Jill asked.

Orion turned back to her. "They say you should know your enemies as well as your friends, perhaps better. Well, I know Vincent Smith. He spent years chasing me, always dogging my heels. I know his capabilities, and his values. Twisted as he is, Vincent has a kind of honor. I've studied you too, Dr. Roberts, ever since you wheedled your way into my son's life and set in place the string of events that led him to get kicked out of Stanford and be miserable for years. For all that, I've never been able to figure you out. You're an enigma to me. I do know one thing about you though." Orion raised his pistol toward her head. "You're not hurting my family again."

Jill had time to scream before he pulled the trigger.

Vincent's face remained impassive as he watched pieces of Dr. Roberts skull and brain splatter the wall behind her. Her body twitched for a moment, then went still. When Vincent turned his gaze away from her, he found Orion lowering his gun, and staring at what he had done. Vincent wasn't sure if Orion's expression was one of regret, or something else.

"That was unprofessional," said Orion. "That's why I didn't ask you to do it."

Vincent said nothing.

Orion pointed the still smoking gun at Vincent. "I know you don't fear death, Vincent, so I know you're not going to lie to me when I ask you this. Can you work with someone who sometimes does things that aren't always professional?"

Vincent Smith thought about it briefly and then gave his answer.

To be continued in "Chuck Vs. the Ghost"