Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Chuck
Chapter 2 – Execution
Chuck let a hiss escape his lips as he stretched to put on his undershirt. Looking in the mirror he was vaguely aware that the bruise from the rope around his abdomen looked darker and meaner than it did yesterday. At that moment, he couldn't stand to his full height and had to stay hunched over or else he'd feel a ripping pain that would start above his navel all the way mid-chest. Looking at his right shoulder he gave a once over of the bandage that covered the flesh wound caused by a bullet that zipped by a little too close. Holding his breath he shoved the shirt the rest of the way down his torso and collapsed on the bed, exhausted.
After deciding that he needed to fix his current situation as the Intersect with his handlers and their superiors last night he had started to come up with a plan. Chuck's mind paused as it brought up an image of Sarah. The image of her as he had handed her his feelings again on the heli-pad right before Long Shore was shot.
Things had been strained between them after that day; Sarah had closed off any emotional holes that developed in her professional wall. Agent Walker was back in full force. Now, as his mind replayed through that night's events he realized that she hadn't said anything at all, just gave that sad watery look. As Chuck stared at the dark ceiling, he figured that if after all the times that he put himself out on the limb letting her know his feelings while she kept backpedaling and refuting any existence of any real reciprocating feelings then he needed to stop reading too much into her actions.
He needed to make a clean emotional break. Chuck sighed as he fumbled with putting on his dress shirt. Making that decision was relatively easy; actually following through with it would be the hard part. There was no way he could stop loving her the way that he did, but he had to stop reacting to that feeling. Almost impossible in his mind with how much he had already emotionally invested into their supposed relationship. He just didn't have a choice anymore.
His clock read 5am as Chuck walked out to his car to head back to the Buy More. He needed to try to distance himself emotionally from Sarah if he was to improve his performance on their team. He knew he wasn't a trained agent so that only left one avenue of improvement.
When Chuck arrived at the Buy More he sequestered himself into the cage again, locked the door once again, and turned up the volume on his iPod as he did yesterday and set it to random. He needed to wall himself away these next few days to get control over himself, to try and exorcise what demons he could, shore up what inner strength he could, and make peace with himself and the Intersect. He couldn't afford to flash on anything just yet; he wasn't ready to step back out into the real world until he could find the force within himself. Chuck allowed himself a little smile, the cage was his tree cave.
This second day of self-proclaimed exile played through as the previous days. Chuck studiously ignored all interactions with people as he focused solely and almost mechanically on the task at hand. Sarah's face showed some concern as she stood watching him for a few minutes as he worked, hunched over the desk, hands deep in a computer.
Morgan was the only person that was able to get Chuck to acknowledge and exchange a few words as he had resorted to throwing paper clips at Chuck. Even then, his exuberant explanation of the plan to pilfer the new Fracture demo only lasted a minute or two before Chuck politely declined any part of the heist and went back to work. He missed the worried glance that Morgan cast his way as he left the back room.
At 10:15pm Chuck found himself in the darkened home theater show room with the drapes drawn shut and the door locked. He was starting at the blank screen, marshaling his strength to come to him at what he was about to do. He had surprisingly completed fixes to all the remaining electronics today; he had luckily gotten a batch of easy to fix machines. As the day had slowly crawled by he had pretended to look diligent as he formulated how best to approach making the request he need for his plan.
Chuck knew that he was a not a man of physical prowess, he was not adept in the mystical arts of hand-to-hand combat, he was not deadly with the use of firearms, he was not brutally efficient with the handling of melee weapons, and he was not trained in the skill espionage. What he did know, was that he had the intelligence.
He sighed as he looked at the remote in his hand. The word intelligence was a double edged sword at the moment. He held a nation's worth of intelligence information from two rival spy organizations in his mind. He also had the intelligence of a man trained in computer engineering. What he lacked was the mental fortitude to rally his strength in dire situations and he lacked the nebulous control of the elusive intelligence that was hidden within him.
What he knew he needed was that control, that ability to gain and make mental leaps that defied logic in interpreting the data. As he punched in the sequence of buttons that he had seen Casey do hundreds of times, some part of his mind asked him whether or not he knew what he was doing.
The room became illuminated as the large LCD screen came alive, showing both directors on screen.
"Agent Casey, did you nee…. Bartowski? What is the meaning of this?" General Beckman shouted, clearly surprised.
Chuck gave a little shout as he jumped from the surprise, "Ah… well, you see… ummmm, the thing is…"
"I'm getting in contact with Agent Walker and Casey…" Director Graham ground out as he went for his cell phone.
"Wait!" Chuck shouted, "Wait, wait, wait. I wanted this conversation without their knowledge."
The two directors looked on at him, none too pleased with the situation, Director Graham's cell phone still laid open in his hand. A few seconds passed before General Beckman belted out, "Well, get on with it!"
Shocked, Chuck had been waiting for their approval to continue talking. Recovering what shred of confidence he could find he started, "I know last time we talked you had told me that I needed to get my act together or else I was going to be shipped off or my handlers replaced, and I wanted to once gain apologize for that."
He took a deep breath and continued, "I know I'm not a trained agent or even anything resembling what you would have liked to be housing the Intersect if you had a choice. Uhh, but I do know that I have it, you know, your stuff, in there swirling around.
"Well, what I'm saying is that I know that Agent Casey and Walker probably have reported my somewhat odd caveman behavior these past two days. But I've been thinking of how to be a better asset," Chuck snickered as the word came out, "Sorry. So what I do know is that the Intersect is in here," He continued as he tapped his head, "And it's not leaving anytime soon."
The two directors seemed to share a similar face telling him to hurry with what it was he wanted before they strangled him through the screen.
"Right, so, another thing I do know is that I know computers. I'm solid in the theories and in some cases the execution. I bEllieve, or I'd like to try to work on improving my access and interpretation of the Intersect information as well as the relationship modeling between the actual data itself. But the wiring of the Intersect, the human mind mechanics, that's way beyond me at this point."
Both the faces of the directors quirked up in surprise, clearly not expecting this.
Chuck continued, nothing was going to stop him now, short of Casey or Sarah busting through the door, "So what I was wondering is since I currently can only flash on something due to a triggering image or word, is if I could, maybe, you know, get information or the name of any algorithms that may have been used in the Intersect machine that was responsible for the data relationship modeling."
Chuck has spewed the last statement out quickly and stood there looking at the two very shocked director's faces.
"So," General Beckman began, "Let me get this straight. You, a civilian, who has no training…"
"Or clearance." Graham added.
"Think that in order to save your handlers from a reassignment and yourself from being sequestered to a secure facility," Beckman continued, "Hope that we will give you information to some of the algorithms used in the Intersection machine?"
Chuck only nodded his head, trying to school his features as much as possible.
"That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" Beckman announced, while Graham stood behind her, closing the cell phone in his hand with a thoughtful expression.
"Just wait, wait. Hear me out. I already have all the information in my head!" Chuck pleaded, sweat started to dot his forehead.
"I've been able to flash to get information that has lead us to successful missions these past few months but the information that I've been able to see and gather are so focused on that particular situation that it doesn't allow us to see any larger pattern or relationship amongst different events."
Chuck took another shaky breath before continuing, "Any computer, no matter how super it is, is still basically flawed in higher level relationship mapping. The Intersect machine could potentially find patterns amongst the data stored, but it won't be able to make the leap in deduction required for relationship mapping. The human mind, especially mine it seems, appears to be able to make these derivations subconsciously when brought on by a trigger. But these derivative results are so finitely focused. What I'm saying is that I'm willing to invest myself further into this to channel a broader derivation."
Chuck finished, noting his shirt was sticking to him from moisture and his hands were clammy. He hoped this Hail Mary play worked, if not, bye-bye Ellie, hello sterile wall. The two directors had their brows scrunched up in thought for a second or two before Graham stated, "Give us a minute."
The screen went black and Chuck fell to the sofa. His stomach hurt, he felt chilled to the bone, and he was a worried and nervous wreck. He kept rubbing his hands together, his right knee bouncing with nervous energy. Seconds turned to minutes and just as Chuck felt himself go into a hyper rendition of Morgan on a six-pack of Bawls, the LCD monitor came to life.
General Beckman clearly look irritated while Graham had an impenetrable poker face on while he asked, "Before we proceed any further, why is it that you don't want Agents Casey or Walker to know of this?"
Chuck released a breath of relief as he stood back up and tried to stand as straight as his stomach would allow, "I'm the one who's been messing up and they've both been doing their jobs exceptionally well. This is my improvement and not theirs." Chuck paused, sadly thinking about his fake relationship with Sarah.
"They do their job expertly and if there is any blame it is mine. They can't do their jobs any better." This final statement, as short as it was, almost crumbled him. His eyes misted as his belief solidified that all he had seen from her, in her eyes, and her comments were all just to control him, to further the cover.
General Beckman had an unreadable expression on her face while Director Graham seemed to give an almost imperceptible nod.
"We'll see how this plays out. We'll be informing Agents Casey and Walker to keep a closer eye on you as they think you're acting like a spoiled and depressed brat." Beckman stated.
Chuck raised his eyebrows at her comment, feeling hurt that Sarah would viewed him in that manner. Quickly his hurt morphed in anger as he clenched his hands into tight fists.
Direct Graham moved close to the camera, hovering slightly over General Beckman. "Report to us daily on your status, is that understood? But if anything, and I mean anything odd happens contact your handlers immediately."
Chuck nodded, a small part of his mind cheering, and even larger part wondering what the hell he was thinking.
"There was only one algorithm used in the pattern and relationship mapping programs in the Intersect. The algorithm codename is, Zebra Junction 3."
A sledge hammer to the face would have been a softer blow to Chuck's head than the pain he currently felt as not only images and code spiraled through his mind's eye. He felt as if his mind was being torn asunder. Chuck staggered back and fell onto the couch behind him, his hands covering his face, gripping it tightly, as his body convulsed in tight waves of shock, his throat emitted a wounded keening noise. He collapsed into himself as he felt like tearing his skull apart and ripping his mind out. He didn't hear the concerned shouts that repeated themselves from the two directors on the screen.
Somehow, possibly on an unconscious level, he was able to raise his right hand and pointed it toward the LCD screen, palm forward. General Beckman and Director Graham were both one button hit short of dialing their respective agents.
"No." Chuck's weak voice whispered out. "Zebra Junction 3, created by Victor Stone, computer scientist and engineer... I'm not just getting flashes of information."
Chuck paused to catch his breath, his body tightly wound together as his hand wrapped itself around the base of his skull. "I think," Chuck paused, "My mind is searching or tagging or … something."
Thirty minutes passed as the drilling and ripping pain in Chuck's mind receded to a blinding headache. He tried to look up into the apprehensive faces on the LCD screen, but the glare was too bright for him to endure at the moment. Laying himself on the couch he murmured, "The pain's receded some. I think the algorithm triggered a mental process that did a brute force query through all the images."
Chuck put an arm over his eyes, "I think I'm just going to lie here for a little."
"Check back in with us tomorrow night with your status Bartowski, we'll inform Agents Walker and Casey to keep an eye on you but will make sure they'll be away from Buy More at 10pm for your report." Graham stated, his voice softer than it normally would have been when directed to Chuck. General Beckman directed a curious glance at the CIA director.
Chuck nodded his head as the LCD went black once again and cast the room in total darkness.
He awoke to pitch darkness and rolled onto his side, only to fall off the couch. "Bastards..."
Heading to the break room he noticed it was close to 5:30 in the morning. Downing some Aspirin he sat down at a chair and rested his head on the table top as he waited for the coffee to percolate. As he walked back to the cage with his cup of coffee and the bottle of Aspirin in his pocket he realized that his internal slide show had ended. He wasn't sure when it had stopped but he felt as if area behind his eyes were rubbed raw with too coarse a sand paper and the pounding headache resonated through him. Once inside the cage he locked the door, grabbed his iPod from its docking station and lowered the volume. He needed something a bit more melodic today, as he set the instrumental song Whoracle by In Flames on repeat.
The morning brought with it the staff of the Buy More and another round of gawking as they realized how many items were actually fixed. Chuck had purposely kept a dozen items in the cage shelves to give the appearance that he still had more work to do. Currently on the table were two computers running Windows. Chuck had one defragmenting a massive hard drive that looked like it hadn't been defragged since the day it was installed and another machine performing a scan disk on multiple all the hard drives. He also had a laptop opened in front of him, as he was typing away at it. All in all, Chuck looked like the pinnacle of the aggressive, efficient, multitasking employee. It didn't go unnoticed.
"At-a-boy Bartowski! That's setting a good example." Big Mike announced to the gathered employees. "Let's see you people get to work!"
As 9am rolled by, Sarah walked into the Buy More, scanning the crowd for Chuck but not expecting to actually find him. She noticed Casey walking towards her.
"I just finished talking to Director Graham. He said to keep a close eye on Chuck since he's been so depressed lately." She whispered.
Casey scowled in response, "He didn't go home last night."
"What?" Clearly surprised, Sarah began to walk towards the back of the store. "Was he here all night?"
"Seems that way."
"I don't think he's eaten then in two days." Sarah responded in a worried tone. Casey only grunted as he gave a quick questioning glance at the CIA agent.
They stopped short of entering the back room when they saw Morgan standing outside the door tossing paper clips at Chuck. The two agents eased back so that they wouldn't be seen but were still able to hear and see what was going on. Their eye brows rose in shock as they saw Chuck pull the ear phones from his ears and turn his head slightly in the opposite direction.
"What's up Morgan?" Chuck responded in a flat mechanical voice. The voice seemed so lifeless, so unlock Chuck's normal self. Sarah stared more intently at him.
"Hey dude, you wanna get in some CoD time tonight? We haven't played in a few days and I'm starting to feel the rust settling man, it's makin' me nervous!" Morgan chirped away, his face expectant.
"Not tonight little buddy," Chuck said as he faced the screens again. Morgan visibly became worried and his shoulders slumped, until Chuck added, "How about in two days?"
"DUDE! You're on!" Morgan jumped up, his hand shooting into the air victoriously. "I might even have some new merchandise for us to try out then."
Chuck answered with a nod as he replaced the ear buds. Morgan skipped out of the room, his expression not as worried as it was only a few minutes ago. Nodding to himself, yeah, who was the bestest best friend in the whole world, Morgan, that's who.
The two agents walked into the room from their hiding spot, Casey going directly to the employee schedule. "Looks like Bartowski's in the cage today and tomorrow and then he's off for one day."
"Did you check Buy More surveillance last night?" Sarah asked, her concerned face never leaving Chuck's back.
"Not yet, I'll be checking on that tonight when I get back. Nothing obviously happened since he's still here." Casey responded as he folded his arms.
"Chuck!" Sarah called out, hoping for a reaction but receiving none.
Casey snorted, "You going to start throwing paper clips too?"
Sarah shot him an annoyed look, but her face clearly showed that she wasn't far from tossing anything that could slip through the cage.
"I kinda like this," Casey said as he began to walk back out, "Kid won't get into any trouble holed up in here." Ignoring a scathing look from the CIA agent.
Sarah stayed a few minutes longer, noticing the open bottle of Aspirin sitting at the table, sadness shown clearly in her features before she left to start her day at the Weinerlicious.
Chuck's iPod was turned pretty low and he could hear everything that was being said, it was just that he wasn't registering any conversations. While he looked like he was staring at the laptop or computer screen, if any could look at his face, they would notice that his eyes were unfocused and he was staring at nothing at all.
In reality, Chuck's mind's eye was doing all the seeing, focused inwards as he was slowly replaying his flashes and memories from the first day that he met Sarah. The first moment that he had thought of Sarah, pictured her in his mind, he was slammed with a continuous series of flashes. It took all of his will power to try to ignore what he was seeing, even then not willing to violate her personal information and records.
He imagined burying Sarah's information deep in a vault inside his mind, deeper than where he had tried to bury his feelings for her. He yearned to learn of her past, her real information, it ached all the more knowing that they were only an imaginary closed door away. He had brushed the imaginary vault door with his imaginary hand and let it sink away into the ether that was his mind. His real self hitched a breath as he physically felt the heart wrenching pain of knowing that she had never felt anything for him.
Chuck closeted the information for Casey in the same manner, not wanting to violate his trust, but did so without the emotional toil that had accompanied Sarah's information. He was just too ugly to think about.
His mind was making leaps and bounds cross referencing various bits of information that it had never considered relevant with his previous flashes. The laptop he was typing at was a demo piece that he grabbed after the first set of flashes began to occur. As fast as he possibly could, he was typing in all the information that he learned, sorting through what was new and what they had previously reported. Providing the referencing information and what he believed to be the link or relationship.
Chuck popped another two Aspirins as his headache never really dulled and his eyes ached. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch, it was noon. He had only finished the first two missions.
By 11:30pm, after missing two more visits from Sarah, Chuck sat in the dark home theater room, his head in his hands. The status update with the two directors had lasted a full hour, their shocked expressions had almost stayed plastered on throughout the full meeting as he uploaded and discussed his findings for the day. When the directors did recover, they were boisterous in their encouragement, letting him know he had done an admiral job. When asked if he felt any side effects, he only said, "Migraine."
As he promised to report again the next day, his whole being was too exhausted and mind still throbbing in pain to notice the calculating smile that Director Graham was watching him with.
During the drive home Chuck dropped by a convenience store, picking up four bottles of Aspirin before heading back home to crash. Tomorrow was his last day in the cage, his last day of solitude before stepping back into the real world. As he walked into his room and fell into his bed Chuck could only think how bad he felt from going through today's flashes. He didn't want to imagine what tomorrow's would feel like.
A quiet whispered chant to Crom began but went unfinished as he fell into a deep sleep.
He had to go through all the missions that involved Bryce and Fulcrum tomorrow.
A/N: I'm writing this while I'm listening to the In Flames discography so that would be my explanation for injecting the songs in this story. I normally don't update this quickly, definitely not one chapter a day, but traffic sucked and ideas kept popping in my head today.