Chapter 18 - Epilogue
February 7, 2011. 11:00 AM, Casa Bartowski
"So the gas was inert?"
"Completely," Chuck answered. He took another sip of coffee, and watched his companion do the same. "I was sure we were finished when that vial broke," he admitted. "I didn't know how to react. Sarah told me I jumped on top of her, as if I could protect her from the gas like that. Pretty stupid, huh?"
"Love isn't always rational," responded Mary Gunter Bartowski.
"I guess not. I'm still not really sure why we weren't killed."
Mary smiled somewhat sadly. "Because he did it after all."
"Who?" Chuck asked in confusion.
"Your father. Long ago, he had the chance to develop something that would generate a chemical change, making the Agent harmless. He was told not to, but I guess he did anyway."
Chuck began to understand. "The second sensor." His eyes narrowed, and he reached over to the side table to grab the reason he'd asked his mother to visit. "Then this actually was true?"
Mary looked surprised when she saw the notebook. "How did you get that?"
"Ellie found it with Dad's things. At first I thought it was a true story, then I wasn't so sure, but it details the Klebichok agent, and how he created those sensors."
Chuck's mother took the notebook and leafed through it. "Oh it's true. To some extent." She paused. "But the names are different in here. How did you know it was him. Or me?"
Chuck pointed to his head. "The Intersect."
Mary laughed. "Of course. He would do that."
Chuck went to the kitchen to retrieve the coffee pot, and refilled the two mugs. "So you two really had a mission like that? With the Klebichok Agent? Romanova?"
"There was a mission. Our first one together, actually, back when he worked as an independent contractor the CIA. And yes, it involved the Klebichok Agent. There was never a Romanova though." After a sip of coffee, Mary explained. "Believe it or not, your father had a bit of a creative side, so he decided he wanted to try his hand at writing. He took some elements of missions that actually had happened, changed the names, and then embellished a bit."
"And what about Roan?"
Mary laughed. "It's a funny thing about your father. He never saw himself as a real hero, even when he was defusing bombs or retrieving chemical weapons. I always tried to tell him he was, but he never believed me. He had this idea that a true hero would be someone like Roan Montgomery." Her tone was faintly mocking when she pronounced the name. "He followed Roan's career, and patterned his character after what he thought Roan was really like. Of course, had he ever actually met the man, he might have changed his mind," she added ruefully.
Chuck decided the less he knew about any encounters between Roan and his mother, the better. "Don't you want to hold on to it?" he asked, when Mary handed the notebook back to him.
"It's yours. He gave it to you – one final gift from him."
Chuck nodded, finally understanding.
February 7, 2011. 7:00 PM, Casa Bartowski
"Hmm," Chuck said, studying the little piece of paper.
"What is it?" Sarah asked as deftly picked up another piece of Kung Pao chicken with her chopsticks.
"My fortune. 'Don't just live for today, because tomorrow never dies.' Geez, these things keep getting more and more obscure."
"You were expecting another message from your father?"
Chuck shrugged. "Not even secret fortune cookie communiques would surprise me at this point. I guess I never really knew him that well."
"Well, your Mom was right," Sarah responded. "That's why he left that story for you to find. To get to know him better. See a different side of him."
"You mean the side that lied to the government about deactivating a chemical weapon?"
"The side that does what he believes in, no matter what the consequences," Sarah corrected. "Apparently, that runs in the family. And actually, I was referring to Steve Bartowski, amateur writer."
"Yeah, I'm not sure that part's going to run in the family. I don't see myself as the writer type. Though when I told Morgan about it, he seemed pretty excited. He said he was going to turn one of our missions into a screenplay."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I think the General might have some concerns about that."
"That's what I said. He told me she'd have to relent if he made her character 30 years younger, and played by Megan Fox."
Sarah rolled her eyes as she cracked open her own fortune. "These are confusing. 'Your family and friends are your quantum of solace.'" She put the fortune aside. "Where is Morgan this evening?"
"Dinner at Casey's. Alex is trying to make peace between them."
"It's good that Casey is willing to give Morgan a chance."
"I guess you do whatever you can when you're a father. Whether it's humoring your daughter's boyfriend or writing semi-fictionalized novellas with encoded messages for your kids."
"That's why I know you'll be such a great father." Sarah smiled. "And yes, I have thought about what it will be like when we have kids. Little curly-haired boys running around, getting into trouble."
"Or cute blonde girls, being the life of the playground."
Sarah took her fiancee's hand. "I'll be ready soon, I promise. But I think we should take some time to enjoy being married first."
"Even if I'm more Steve Bartowski than Roan Montgomery?"
"Because you're more Steve Bartowski than Roan Montgomery. You know, Alex can have her James Bond fantasies. I'll stick with the real thing." Sarah stood up, and headed away from the kitchen. "Are you coming, Mr. Bartowski?"
"Coming where?"
"To do what those Bond movies never actually show," she smirked.
"Be right there." As he finished putting away the dishes, he looked over at the living room table, where the notebook sat. "Thanks, Dad," he said quietly, then headed off to the bedroom.
The End
Chuck Bartowski will return
Well there you have it. I tried to keep this one moving at a pretty quick pace, and hopefully I succeeded. I don't think I did as good a job with the 70's setting though, other than the occasional pop culture reference.
I hope everybody enjoyed it, and I thank you for sticking by the story from beginning to end.
I've added a list of all of the Bond references in the next chapter. I managed to sneak in almost all of the Bond titles in, other than "Goldeneye" (too many "gold" titles to work in easily) and "Moonraker" (lousy movie, lousy title).
Thanks again, and as always, please review to let me know what you thought of the story!
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