Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or any other name brand that may be listed below.
A long time ago, in a spy base far, far away...
Even through a monitor, she was imposing. Chuck Bartowski couldn't imagine experiencing the full force of that weighty glare in person. General Beckman was addressing her team, her new team.
Casey and Forrest stood at attention in front of the viewscreen, directly behind the table in front of it. Chuck was off to the side, as far as he could be while still in the view of the camera. He was not standing at attention, nor was he paying much attention.
Chuck wasn't paying attention because he was angry, in a way he rarely ever was. He did not want to be here. Already, he missed her.
"I'm sorry Mr. Bartowski, are we boring you?"
"I was just thinking, General..." Chuck replied, coming out of his cloudy headspace.
"That's a new development," Forrest interjected venomously.
"Why don't you enlighten us," the tiny woman said with equal sarcasm. "Defending the nation can wait."
She clearly didn't want Chuck to speak again but he couldn't pass up this opening.
"Sesame Street. I was thinking about Sesame Street, General."
Mortified, Casey buried his face into his hand. Agent Forrest and Beckman settled for glaring. How Chuck wasn't on fire from the intensity of their gazes, he had no idea.
"They have a song that they play for children." He was going to pay for this, without a doubt. Chuck found himself not caring. "Maybe you've heard of it? It goes, 'One of these things is not like the other.'"
"Shut up, idiot!" Casey hissed. Beckman was shaking in silent fury.
"I know what you're all thinking," Chuck said, fully selling it. "What does the Intersect mean? What is he saying to us? Why, I'd love to tell you!" He stepped forward and began gesturing from himself, to the General on screen, and the two people in the room with him.
"Of the faces I see, one of these is not like the other. One of these doesn't belong."
Forrest's face contorted into a snarl and she started for Chuck. Casey reached over and grabbed her by the forearm, restraining her. The idiot was crossing some major lines, he fumed.
"If you're quite finished, Mr. Bartowski..." Oh yes, he was in it now.
"I know, General. I'm being a jerk." Chuck took a deep breath and turned to Casey and Forrest, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm upset and I needed to get that off my chest."
"Does that mean we can get back to the briefing, Bartowski?" Forrest spat.
"Ah...yeah... Just one more thing..." Chuck trailed off. At the three enraged faces he quickly added, "This one is serious!"
General Beckman sighed wearily. "What is it, Mr. Bartowski?"
"It's about us, the team," he said, waving his hands around. "The cover. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is going to buy that I so easily got over Sarah and found myself another blonde supermodel to go out with me."
The General quirked an eyebrow but said nothing.
Taking this as a good sign, Chuck pressed on. He'd had a lot of time to plan this, think about his new life. His post-Sarah spy life.
"So unless you plan on bringing Sarah back..." He paused and was met only with stone faces. "Right. Worth a try. Okay, so I have a proposal for going forward."
He pointed at Forrest. "Now, I understand the need for the female member of the team. And nothing personal, but she's got the subtlety of a rock."
She growled, and he spun to face her. "Easy there, tiger. You're a soldier, right Alex?"
"That's 'Agent' to you, asset." Ooookay. No first names. Gotcha.
"My point exactly. Casey can barely keep it together around civilians," to which the larger man also growled.
"C'mon, big guy. You know I'm right."
"What's your point in all this, Bartowski?" Chuck could see the General was getting increasingly annoyed when she dropped her usually condescending "Mister" in front of his name.
"The point is, General, is why not put Agents Casey and Forrest together in the cover relationship?"
That certainly got the attention of the two veteran spies.
"Look at it this way - Casey's apartment has space, so there's one less expense for you guys to cover. It puts her closer to me," something I'd like to avoid, he added silently, "So surveillance is easier."
From the softening expressions all around, Chuck could see they were giving his idea serious thought.
"And like I said before, no one would expect me to rebound so quickly. Besides, Casey and Forrest have the same sunny disposition. It's a match made in Republican heaven," he added with a cheeky grin.
It earned Chuck more dirty looks but he ignored them and focused back on General Beckman. "Well, what do you think?"
"Your ideas have merit, Mr. Bartowski. I'll take them under advisement. Do you have any further outbursts prepared?" The asset shook his head no. "Very well, picking up where we left off earlier…"
Chuck ignored the dig, because he had won a victory. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Those were in short supply, now with Sarah gone.
Gone.
Guilt contracted around his heart. His stupid, fool heart. If only he hadn't pressed her so much... She had told him, time and again, why they couldn't be together. And he didn't listen and she had been right.
They took her away.
The rest of the briefing passed in a haze for Chuck Bartowski. There was some vague talk of a mission. He didn't listen. Besides, both of his handlers would assuredly remind him of it later, and speak to him like a child.
It was like being stuck with a grumpy mom and dad.
Ugh. Don't call them that. They'd kill him if they heard him refer to them as that.
Not that they didn't want to kill him already. Sheesh. He couldn't deny the attractiveness of Agent Forrest, if you were into that kind of severe cold badass type.
Not that Sarah wasn't badass, or that she couldn't be cold, but there was a softness to her, that Chuck could read in her eyes and came out in her personality. He felt safe with her, and cared for. She was the only person in his spy life who treated him like an actual human being.
Crap, he thought despondently. If only he'd listened to her. But no, he just had to press her. Just had to keep pushing for the idea of making it real.
If only I could take it back, Chuck thought. The cover wasn't that terrible, was it? No. He was just selfish, and needy.
Having Sarah here, even if just out of reach, was better than not having her there at all.
Author's Note: As always, thanks to Zerectica for making this better than I can do on my own.
This is a shorty, for sure. When I envisioned writing this as 'snapshots', it was like this - being able to write and post small snippets like this that fit into the overall world and story I'm making here.
I hope you enjoy it.