Chapter 5: The Truth and Other Strange Things

Chuck's head was spinning. His entire world had been rocked by his meeting with—whatever that guy's name was. Everything he thought he knew about anything had been turned upside down.

He was apparently, through no fault of his own, caught up in some kind of government initiative that involved computers, and lots of intelligence, and a bunch of other stuff Chuck didn't really understand. And Bryce was involved. Bryce had gotten him involved. And Sarah.

That may have shaken Chuck more than anything. Since being imprisoned, the only thing he had to hold onto really was her. But now, it appeared Brutus was just there to play him. To make him spill about this Intersect, or whatever.

A part of him didn't want to believe it. After all, the woman he met claiming to be Sarah didn't really sound like her. But then, he wasn't talking to her through a vent in the bottom of an empty, echoey cell, either.

And the (supposed) Sarah's logic did seem sound. It made sense why she would be nice to him to try to pull out his secrets. It made sense that his captors would provide him a sympathetic ear to pour out his heart. It made sense, but somehow it just didn't seem true.

Chuck's head was spinning.

He barely registered being aggressively escorted back down the dark hall, to his even darker cell. He was pretty much checked out as he was unshackled at gunpoint, and shoved unceremoniously through the cell door. He was still trying to piece everything together until he heard the crash of that same door slamming behind him.

Chuck sighed. True, he'd been in prison for days, but now it really felt like a prison. He felt more alone than he could ever remember feeling. Even after Stanford. At least he had Ellie and Morgan then. Now he had no one.

He thought he did, just hours before. He thought he had a friend. Someone he could talk to. Brutus. But this Agent Walker had made it abundantly clear that she was just trying to get him to talk, and it had worked like a charm.

Chuck collapsed on his cot, curling up on his side. He buried his face in his hands and closed his eyes, wishing somehow that everything that was happening to him would just go away.

His head still ached from the attack in the hall earlier, and his face still stung from the slap he received from Agent Walker after voicing his doubts that she really was the Sarah he'd come to know. Of course, she'd apologized, but it didn't make the pain stop.

He heard the tray holding his lunch clatter to the floor, and he looked up briefly, but he didn't feel like eating. He was too tired, and the gravity of his situation had destroyed whatever appetite he may have had.

But at least he'd learned some things about why he was imprisoned, finally.

The Intersect was a computer that held all the intelligence secrets of the United States. The physical computer had been destroyed, and Bryce, for whatever reason, had sent the information to him.

It sounded too ludicrous to be true—that the government would put every one of their secrets in one computer, and that the information could be sent in a single e-mail, but the people that told him about it were very serious.

Also, they suspected him of being involved with Bryce. They thought he was in on the plot to steal the secrets, and no matter how many times he denied it, they didn't seem to believe him.

He tried to explain that whatever it was Bryce sent him was still on his computer, but they said when they took the computer from his home, that it was no longer functional. Apparently Bryce had seen fit to accompany the secrets with a nasty little virus. Or Morgan snuck in and did something to destroy it. Either way, his computer wasn't working, and they couldn't get the information they desired.

But they wouldn't let it end there. The man and this Agent Walker were convinced that Chuck would have a copy of the file somewhere, and they were determined to get that information from him. Chuck wished he could help them. He really did. Maybe then, they'd let him go home.

But he had nothing to tell them. His computer was usually backed up on an external hard drive, but it had crashed the previous week, and he hadn't had time to reformat it since.

Still they persisted. For hours, it seemed, they asked him the same question, over and over.

"Where is the Intersect?"

He'd almost told them about the visions he had the first time he heard of this Intersect. But he didn't want them to think he was crazy. Being in prison was bad enough. He didn't want to end up in an asylum, so he kept his mouth shut.

Finally, they'd given up and ordered he be taken back to his cell.

"Chuck?"

What was—Sarah? Why would she still try talking to him? And why was she using her "Brutus voice" again? Did she really think he was that naïve?

"Chuck, are you okay? What did they do to you?"

Chuck threw his forearm over his eyes.

"Why are you pretending you weren't there?" he groaned. He was too tired, his head hurt too much to be anything but blunt.

"I was—what are you talking about, Chuck?"

He almost rolled his eyes, but one, his head hurt too much, and two, she actually sounded sincere.

"She's a spy, she's good at lying," his conscience whispered to him. But that didn't seem right. He'd had his doubts all along, but maybe…

"Sarah, what color are your eyes?"

There was a moment of silence, a moment that seemed to Chuck to go on forever. Finally, Sarah answered.

"Um, my eyes are blue. Why are you asking?"

Chuck felt his shoulders relax. He wasn't sure why he was so relieved that his Brutus didn't seem to be the evil Agent Walker from the interrogation room, but he was.

"Oh thank God," he said.

He rolled off his cot, and quickly crawled over to the vent. "They lied to me," he said. "They told me you were a spy, and that you weren't really a prisoner, and that you were just trying to pump me for information. And then there was this woman who said she was you, but she had brown eyes, so—"

"Whoa, Chuck, slow down," Sarah said.

"I'm sorry," Chuck said bashfully. "I tend to ramble sometimes. I'm just so relieved that you're not really a spy."

"Chuck?" she said.

"Yes?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "You are a spy, aren't you?"

"Yes," she said. "Well, at least I was. I'm not sure what I am now. But I wasn't trying to trick you."

Chuck was torn. She admitted she was a spy. How could he trust her? Especially after the way he was treated by those other spies. Like he was a criminal when he'd done nothing wrong.

Still, she'd admitted that she was a spy. She'd admitted it. And she didn't have to. And she seemed genuinely concerned about him. But then, this could be another trick to get him to talk.

"Chuck, you're thinking very loud."

"Right, sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay. Look, I know it's hard for you to trust me right now."

"And you're sure you're not a mind-reader?" Chuck joked lamely.

"I'm sure," she said, and Chuck could hear a smile in her voice. It really was Brutus. "But here's the thing. I want to help you get out of here, and I've been thinking a lot about the things you told me."

"Have you come up with anything?" he asked.

"Okay, I don't want them to overhear this, so lean really close to the vent, okay?"

He wasn't sure why, but he did trust her, and he did as she instructed.

"You said you looked at those pictures, right?" she whispered so soft, Chuck could barely hear her.

"Yes," he whispered back.

"Chuck, I know where the Intersect is. You are the Intersect."

Chuck felt like fainting.

Disclaimer: I still haven't received one plugged nickel for anything relating to the Chuck universe, which belongs to someone else. I also don't know what a plugged nickel is, and I'm too lazy to Google it.

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. If I had to blame anyone, it would be Frea, for making me doubt myself as a writer. Just kidding, of course. In fact, she went out of her way to apologize if she'd actually done that, which she hadn't. No, there's no one to blame but laziness and real life. Work, and other things have taken up a big portion of my time of late, and I don't see that changing in the near future. Still, I'll try to devote a few hours to this story every day, but I can't give you any timetable as to when the next chapter, or any future chapters will be out. It's just going to happen when I have the time and motivation. But I assure you, this story WILL be finished, so have no fear on that front.

Also, a quick thank-you, and a shout out to catrogue for taking the time to proofread this chapter, and catching some embarrassing mistakes before I put this out there for public consumption. And on her phone, no less! Thank you, Cat!

As to the actual story, we probably have two to three more chapters in this, what I consider to be the prologue chapters, or Act 1. There will be three acts. The second and third will probably be a bit longer, and will have a much different tone than these first seven or eight, but I won't spoil you as to how.

In the mean time, I hope you're still enjoying this little tale of mine, and thank you so much for taking the time to read it. You guys are awesome. Peace.