Hey, everyone! Here's another chapter! Oh! French was used in this chapter thanks to Google Translate, haha. I'm assuming it's alright. Awesome tidbits at the Author's Note at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck, no matter how hard I wish I did.

Chuck Versus The Reunion

27 May 2005

0900 Hours

CIA Building

Washington D.C.

"What exactly are you inferring?" Graham scrutinized the agent displayed on his computer monitor.

"Sir, isn't it hasty to assign Bartowski to a long-term mission?" Forrest found it strange for such a high-risk operation to be given to her partner. The man was adeptly trained – she made sure of that – but she was not yet convinced he was ready for an assignment involving significant undercover work. He hasn't even killed yet. "He only just completed his first job as an official operative."

"With notable results. The Human Intersect did well." Graham remarked as he removed his eyeglasses. "In any case, sending Bartowski off on this operation will allow him to experience what he cannot there in Los Angeles."

"But, sir –"

"You will meet with him every two weeks for an update on his status. Other than that, I need you to oversee the construction of your new base of operations." The Assistant Director did not miss the glint of interest in Forrest's eyes when he spoke of the recently funded headquarters for Team Carmichael. "I'll have a file sent to you."

31 December 2005

2200 Hours

Bar Le Defender, Hotel Du Louvre

Paris, France

The flowing melodies of the saxophone hung in the air as the gentle taps of percussion and mellow keys of piano joined in, blending together as the bar Le Defender's palliative ambience. The color scheme of crimson velvet reflected on the status of its patrons – all of whom were dressed impressively for the exclusive New Year's Eve event organized by the Hotel Du Louvre.

The soft murmur of conversation paused as a picturesque beauty aptly dressed in a black cocktail dress entered the room, acquiring the attention of both men and women as she coolly made her way to the bar. Seated, she succinctly specified her choice for a drink, "Je voudrais un verre de Paradise." The woman engaged herself with twirling an errant strand of hair around her finger while the rest of her golden tresses were secured in a tastefully loose bun, snubbing each man who strove to initiate a conversation with her.

"Un verre de Paradise," The bartender placed the drink in front of the woman with a practiced hand, acknowledging her with a wink before tending to his other customers.

Releasing an inaudible sigh, she took a sip of her drink – her mind dwelled on her partner Bryce Larkin, posing as the bartender, and his increasingly aloof behavior since the start of their assignment. He's been so distant lately… With a muted cough from the man occupying her thoughts, she concentrated on the task at hand as she compartmentalized her feelings for a later date.

For the past three weeks, they had been itinerant, traveling from places such as Columbus, Ohio to Antigua, Guatemala as they investigated Fulcrum, a hostile organization compromising of rogue agents from various branches of the federal government. The information they gathered so far steered them to Paris. Not a bad place to spend the New Year, Sarah thought positively, evoking the short, yet gratifying break she and Bryce had spent in Cabo that summer.

As she viewed the rest of Le Defender's clienteles through the proper use of her peripherals and the numerous reflective surfaces in the bar, she replaced memories of Cabo with the plan she and her partner had thought up earlier in their hotel room – she was to intercept a package intended to be transported to a member of Fulcrum. The package in particular was a USB drive containing classified intelligence from the CIA with the consequences calamitous if its contents were to fall into the wrong hands.

A bespectacled man near the entrance of the bar seemed normal enough as with the rest of the people she had held under her scrutiny. Intuition, however, prevented her from failing to notice the man's vigilance towards his fellow patrons as well as his detachment from the crowd. Must be the one. She frowned as the man began to depart. Where is he going? Damn it. I'm going to have to follow him.

Discerning the signal from his partner, Bryce gave a nod, watching as his girlfriend trailed after her mark.

Leisurely strolling into the hotel lobby, the man smiled faintly as he expertly pinpointed the location of each security camera in the foyer. The several months he had spent in Paris led him to call the Hotel Du Louvre his home as he carried on with his mission of furthering his position within the ranks of Fulcrum.

I wonder how Ellie and Awesome are doing… He thought back to his last contact with Forrest; it was the week before Christmas, and he had given her his presents to distribute to those closest to him, including a state-of-the-art tranq pistol for the stern mentor. I wish I could've seen their faces when they opened it… His confidence for his gift-giving skills was palpable on his expression in the form of a light grin before it was overshadowed with the guilt of missing another holiday. Sorry, El. Gotta do my part in saving the world.

Establishing the time from his phone, Chuck scanned the lobby before a smartly dressed man collided into him – it was strange, keeping in mind that the lobby was rather empty and commodious. He excused himself, "Sorry, are you okay?"

"Carmichael?" The man queried with a thick accent, a hand guardedly in his pocket whilst the other adjusted his glasses.

"Yes." The courier, Chuck identified the man.

Upon validation from his glasses' voice and facial recognition function, the agent nodded as he retrieved a minute box from his pocket and handed it to the Fulcrum operative. "Here you go, sir."

The taller man accepted the box, completely aware of what it contained. The flash drive. Tucking the small package in his suit jacket's inside breast pocket, Chuck separated from the courier and proceeded towards the elevator.

After witnessing the man she had shadowed consign the USB to whom she deemed as Fulcrum, Sarah watched as the enemy agent entered an elevator. He's going back to his room; I have to act fast.

"Excusez-moi," She smiled charmingly as she stumbled in front of the elevator, feigning intoxication. One of the oldest tricks in the handbook. "Je suis perdu. Pouvez-vous m'aider?"

Chuck regarded the exceptionally attractive blonde in front of him, doing all he could to keep his mouth shut as he struggled for an appropriate response given that his present state of mind had been reduced to producing no more than inarticulate babble. She's… She's really…

Sarah asked ingenuously, inwardly pleased with her effect on the man. "Etes-vous d'accord?"

"Um," He composed his thoughts, "Je suis désolé, mais parlez-vous anglais? Je suis américain." His chocolate brown eyes enamored by the woman's ceruleans as he stepped closer to the elevator's entrance, preventing the doors from closing by standing in its path.

"I'm lost, can you help me?" She repeated in English, moving unsteadily towards the Fulcrum operative in the pretense of her inebriation. "I've had a little too much wine." She stumbled once more – this time into the man.

"Yeah, sure." Chuck replied, holding the blonde up as she giggled from her drunken giddiness. "Which floor?" He moved back into the elevator as he considered the panel of buttons each labeled with the floor it traveled to.

Stepping away from the man's support, Sarah randomly pressed the button for the top floor, triggering the doors to shut. "This one," Dropping her clutch bag onto the floor, she spun on her heels and promptly jabbed at the brunette, intending to knock him out with a solid strike to the jaw.

The attack barely missed the man, who was able to duck in time.

"Whoa, what was that?" Chuck commented as he settled himself into his lax fighting stance; his brows indiscernibly contracted at the unexpected hostility. I let my guard down. Not the greatest thing to do when anyone can be your enemy.

"Hand over the flash drive," The woman commanded in the midst of her incessant assaults, which were met with the enemy agent's deflections. He's good. I'll give him that.

"Can't do that." Blocking a punch to his face, he managed to push her back, producing a groan from the blonde as her back hit the wall.

Determination flared in her blue eyes as she drew her hair pins from maintaining her updo; her hair undid itself, cascading around her face and onto shoulders like a golden wave. Flipping her head back for her hair to shift away from her face, she assessed her opponent. He's got reach and speed, Sarah noted the man's build. Not as bulky as a typical agent would be, but I can't let that fool me.

Chuck outwardly frowned as he beheld the hair pins, taking the idea that anything could be used as a weapon into mind. Might've been dipped in poison. Hope it's one I'm immune to. He viewed the woman warily as they circled each other within the limitations of the elevator, waiting for someone to make a move.

With a trained flick from Sarah's wrist, a hair pin tore through the air and pierced the man's left shoulder. She followed the attack with another as her other hair pin punctured the man's right thigh.

A sharp inhale was the only sign of discomfort the man displayed.

The poison should be affecting him by now, Sarah watched as the man yanked the lengthy pins out, his features presenting no indication of his effort to move as the poison paralyzed him. Ah! She narrowly dodged the roundhouse kick the man smoothly delivered.

"What type of poison were your hair pins dipped in? I'm most likely immune to several variants of it." He antagonized the blonde into responding with a barrage of strikes, which he capably diverted, much to the woman's rising frustration.

She furrowed her eyebrows upon realization – the man was deliberately tiring her out as he practically danced around her while she strove to land a hit. Son of a bitch! Analyzing the Fulcrum operative's movements, she took a rapid step forward, surprising the man as she successfully delivered an uppercut to his midsection.

Staggering back breathless, Chuck was unable to anticipate the woman's next move as she executed a leg sweep, knocking his legs out from under him.

"Give me the USB, or…" Sarah paused as she pulled out her gun from her clutch bag, targeting it at the man's head. "Things will get messy."

He held his hands up as he stood, wordlessly communicating that he did not want things to get messy at all. Note to self: Always bring a weapon. "Alright, alright. It's in my pocket."

"Which pocket?" The blonde probed bluntly, "You're wasting my time."

"Left inside breast pocket." He waited for the woman to move towards him to extricate the flash drive from his custody, which would allow him to swat the firearm from her hand and feasibly subdue her. Instead, she motioned for him to pull the USB out.

"Go on."

Plan B, then. He extracted the small package from his pocket and held it out for the woman, "Here."

"Drop it on the ground and kick it to me."

Chuck acceded to her order and watched her kneel down to retrieve box while she continued to train her weapon at him. With a swift kick, the weapon flew out of the woman's grasp, clattering against the ground as it landed.

Sarah snatched the small box and quickly stood up; she was caught off-guard, however, as the Fulcrum operative drove her back, effectively pinning her against the wall with her hands above her head and his knee in the space between her legs, their close proximity limited her ability to efficiently knee him in the groin. Damn him.

Reclaiming the box from the blonde, he slipped it into his pocket as he addressed her, "Who do you work for?" She can't be Fulcrum… I'm Fulcrum. Who is she? DGSE? She seems American though…

Before she could answer him, the elevator doors opened to reveal their present situation to an elderly couple aghast from what they were witnessing.

"Oh! Oh, it's not what it looks like!" Chuck attempted to dismiss the evident thoughts of the hotel's older guests. Rapidly pushing the button for the doors to close, he told them, "I'm so sorry! Please take the next one!"

Benefiting from the brunette's slackened hold, she pulled her arms free before pushing the man back. Sarah dove for her favored S&W M5906 pistol, but the man kicked it away from her reach, irritating her further as she moved for it once more, this time retrieving successfully. Aiming the gun at the man, she ordered, "Hands up!"

Hands raised once more, he eyed the gun cautiously, on his guard for he knew he had provoked the deadly blonde to her limit. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Methods of escape flooded his mind, several included eliminating the woman, which he did not wish to do.

A ding rang within the elevator, signaling that their destination had been reached at the uppermost floor. Faster than the woman could react, Chuck made a run for it, his long limbs giving him an advantage as he covered more ground. Where to go? Where to go? Glimpsing at a sign which stated that he was headed towards the fire escape, he quickened his pace before he took a sharp turn to the right and reached the stairs, skipping three steps at a time as he made his way down. Down I go!

"Sarah! I'm coming!" A man's voice boomed from a lower flight, alerting Chuck as he established that the blonde pursuing him was Sarah and that she had a companion.

Never mind, up, up, UP! He thought as he turned the opposite direction, bounding up the stairs for the roof. Inwardly thanking the training regimen he had initially began with the intention of improving his physique to match his fellow recruits at Langley, he was not as winded as he would have been two years ago.

Pushing open the doors, he was greeted with a rush of cold air and icy droplets on his face as he stepped onto the hotel rooftop. Trapped. He groaned as he looked over the edges of the roof, unable to see the streets below due to the dense fog.

"AGH!" Chuck crumpled to the ground from the shot of pain, clutching his wounded leg and applying pressure to where the bullet had grazed his thigh. Forcing the thoughts of his present agony into the depths of his mind, he clenched his jaw to view his assailant, She shot me! "You shot me!"

"It's just a flesh wound. I'm ready to do a lot worse if you don't hand over the USB." Sarah trained her gun at him, "No more games."

The injured man frowned as he weighed his options, his damp hair appeared black against his seemingly pale skin, all due to the wintry downpour. "Fine." He reached into his jacket's inside pocket and held it out for her.

Sarah approached the Fulcrum operative warily, prepared to utilize her gun if the man attempted anything unexpected.

As she neared, Chuck racked his mind for a way for him to leave with the USB, so he could complete what should have been an uncomplicated job. I need to get rid of that gun. As if his wish had been granted, a soft rumble of thunder caused the woman to briefly hesitate because of the distraction – it was just what he needed. He seized the firearm, pulling it to his right flank, as he spun around, hauling the woman along as he did.

Once she had released her grip on her pistol, the momentum caused her to fall down to where the enemy agent had been a second earlier. Damn it! Sarah clenched her fists as she strained to keep her irritation in check; the frequent role reversals that had occurred throughout the night were the main source of her ire as she watched the man chucked her favored gun over the roof's ledge.

"I'm really sorry if that was your favorite gun," Chuck stated as he backed away from the blonde, "But you were trying to kill me, so…"

Finally arriving at the rooftop level, Bryce kicked open the doors, wincing slightly as the freezing rain stung his skin while he stepped outside. A little theatrics never hurt anyone, he thought to himself as the wind tousled his hair and chilled his face.

His partner's assailant had his back to him, which Bryce deemed a fatal mistake as he advanced towards the tall man stealthily, priming himself to administer a chokehold.

Swiftly wrapping his arm around his adversary's neck, Bryce was unprepared for the man's counter as he was flipped onto his back. He grumbled at the speed of his chokehold's deterrence. This guy is alright. His eyes widened when he saw the man who had subdued him without any difficulty. "Chuck!"

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review, comment, and what not! Feel free to PM if you have any queries.

Here are some random stuff about this chapter:

- The song I had in mind for the bar Le Defender scene was 'The Fragrance of Dark Coffee (Godot's Theme)' Orchestra Version. I suggest the fourth one if you YouTube it.

- DGSE is the France's intelligence agency

- Hotel Du Louvre and bar Le Defender are real places in this work of fiction!

Translations (French to English):

Sarah: Je voudrais un verre de Paradise. - I want a glass of Paradise.

Bryce: Un verre de Paradise. - One glass of Paradise.

Sarah: Excusez-moi. Je suis perdu. Pouvez-vous m'aider? - Excuse me. I'm lost. Can you help me?

Sarah: Etes-vous d'accord? - Are you okay?

Chuck: Je suis désolé, mais parlez-vous anglais? Je suis américain. - I'm sorry, but do you speak English? I'm American.