A/N: Hi! I'm back! Thank you all for your reviews, story alerts and favorites. I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this story so far.

This time I want to especially thank Aerox, who kindly offered to be my Beta and made this much better than originally was.

I own nothing.

Chapter Four

Sarah was the first one to recover, even though her pulse had gone wild and she could actually feel her blood pumping in her ears.

Chuck still had that dumbstruck expression on his face when Graham asked, "Do you two know each other?"

"No!"

"Yes!" they answered at the same time. Sarah could see the amused grin in the Director's face who was now looking intently at both of them. Before she could say anything, Chuck stood up and, looking straight to her eyes, said "Jenny, it's me. Chuck… Chuck Bartowski! Remember me? We went to school together for a while in Burbank… we hung out all the time!" and then you left [me] without a word.

She didn't answer and he felt like an idiot. Of course she had forgotten him. After all, they had been friends for just about three months, eight years ago. What was he thinking? That things could go back to the way they were when they were still in high school? Obviously, he hadn't been as important in her life as she had been in his. A sad smile formed on his face and he sat down, looking embarrassed.

Sarah couldn't think. Hell, she couldn't even breathe. The hurt in his eyes when she gave no sign of recognizing him and the defeated smile he was now sporting made her chest ache. She knew the easy way would be to deny everything, to tell him she wasn't Jenny Burton or maybe tell him she didn't remember him. And she was this close to doing exactly that. But when she saw the dejected expression on his face, her resolve crumbled, and before she could stop herself she was saying "Chu-Chuck!" he immediately looked up and met her gaze.

"You-you do remember me?" How is a woman supposed to fight those damn eyes?

"I… yeah, sorry about before… I guess it took me some time to place you." Nice one, Walker. Make him feel like he meant nothing to you, that's always a great idea.

"Oh, yeah, no… I, uh… I understand…" Even when she was sure she had seen a flash of disappointment in his eyes, he was smiling when he asked "So how have you been?"

She was just about to answer when they heard Graham clear his throat. Loudly. They both gazed at the man who was standing at the head of the table. "As much as I enjoy a good reunion, I'd like it if we could concentrate in your new assignment, and you know… the national security stuff."

Chuck blushed and Sarah looked down, slightly embarrassed that her boss had witnessed their awkward exchange.

"So, I don't think you were formally introduced." Chuck and Sarah glanced at each other across the table at the same time and quickly looked away. "Agent Walker, this is your new partner, Charles Carmichael. Charles, this is Agent Sarah Walker." Sarah Walker?, he thought, a frown forming between his eyes.

"So, as you both know, there's a rogue organization trying to bring down the CIA from the inside. They have agents everywhere and they have access to our information and resources. Agent Walker here has been working on it for a month now and we've been able to eliminate several double agents." Chuck shuddered at the thought of several people being eliminated by Jen… by Agent Walker. Unfortunately, Sarah had been watching him through the corner of her eye and she caught his expression. He must think I'm a monster.

"Yesterday," Graham continued "we found out that Bryce Larkin, who was a CIA operative, had gone off the grid, and that he had been working for said organization for quite some time before that." Now it was Sarah's turn to shudder. "Late last night, he broke into a CIA facility and blew up the Intersect, but first he managed to download it and send it to Carmichael." Right, Chuck is the analyst, the guy Graham told me wasn't working with Bryce. She was shocked that she could've actually forgotten about that, especially with how mad she was at Graham for believing this guy. Chu-Carmichael, she corrected herself. Before she could continue with that train of thought, something the Director had said struck her. "Excuse me, Sir, but what is the Intersect?" Chuck snorted and Graham shot him a look.

"Why don't you tell her, Charles?"

"Oh, sure. But please, call me Chuck. Charles makes me feel so… old," he said with a small grin. Sarah had to stop herself from smiling. He's still got it, she thought.

"So, Agent Walker," he said, "the Intersect is this machine, a super computer if you will, that has encoded government secrets on it. Apparently the CIA and the NSA were forced to share their intelligence after 9/11 and they decided to do that in this unique way." He paused and saw Graham rolling his eyes, amused.

"Encoded how?" Sarah asked.

"Well, that's the interesting part: they put all the data in pictures. Unfortunately, when Bryce downloaded the data and sent it to me, I opened the email and saw those images. So, long story short, now it's stuck in my brain."

Sarah couldn't stop herself as she started to laugh, but when she looked up she saw both men looking at her with the same serious expression on their faces. "Wait, are you telling me that Chuck has a super computer in his brain and now he knows all the government secrets?" she asked.

"That's exactly what we're telling you, Agent Walker." said Graham.

"But that's… that's impossible. That's crazy, it can't be done."

Chuck nodded and said, "That's exactly what I thought until I saw the designs for the Intersect. Of course, by then I thought it would end up in an actual computer and not in my brain…"

"You saw the designs? Why?"

"Because I was kind of, supposed to encode the secrets in the pictures."

"So you were working for the CIA then. Why did Bryce send you the email?" Sarah asked.

"Well, we're still in the dark about that one, but my guess would be that he wanted to screw me over once more before he died," he bitterly remarked.

"Once more? You knew him?" she asked, surprised that she had ended up being partners with a guy Chuck knew from his past.

Chuck sighed. After two years, it still pained him to think about it. "Yeah, I did. We went to Stanford together; he was my roommate and my best friend, until he accused me of stealing some tests and got me expelled. After screwing my girlfriend, that is."

Sarah's eyebrows rose in shock. Even when Bryce had betrayed her -and she had sworn to make him pay-, she couldn't picture him doing that to Chuck. "Did you steal the tests?" she softly asked.

"I thought it was kind of implied that I'm a decent guy…" he said, a small grin adorning his face.

"Well, we all make mistakes…"

"And I made plenty; that just wasn't one of them". She could tell he was telling the truth by the hurt in his eyes, so she let it go.

"Ok, so now you have all these secrets in your head," she said as she turned to Graham, who had remained silent during their exchange, "How is this going to work?"

Graham smiled a little when he said, "Chuck's work was to encode the secrets, but we had doctors and scientists working on a way to make it possible for a person to have the Intersect in their head. But once they figured it out, they also discovered that the information was not the only thing that could be stored on it. So they added some skills."

"Skills? As in physical skills?" she questioned.

"Yes, Agent Walker, physical skills. Basically, Chuck here can do anything you can do, but without previous knowledge," he said, while glancing at Chuck.

"So you're telling me that we would be working together… in the field?"

"That's right. But first, we need to run some tests to find out how these skills are triggered, so we can make sure that you are both safe on missions."

"You don't know how it works? Could it be dangerous?"

"We don't know, Agent Walker. But I've talked to Chuck's doctors and they told me that he had been able to flash without any pain or other complications."

"Flash?" she asked in a surprised tone.

"Uh…yeah… it's difficult to explain, but that's how it feels when the Intersect is triggered. I see a bunch of images inside my head that go by extremely fast and somehow, when it all ends I know everything about the person or thing that initiated the flash." She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "I know, it's crazy. But when it comes to these abilities it's slightly different. I've only flashed when I felt threatened and as a result, knocked out a doctor. I can't control it very well yet."

"And that's why we need to keep running these tests. But first I wanted you two to meet, so everyone could know where we're standing. Now that it's done we should wait for the complete results before we let you go in the field."

"Yes, Sir," Chuck said.

"Very good, Agents. Now I'd recommend you to go home and have some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, especially for you, Chuck."

He nodded and explained to Sarah, "Tomorrow I'll start the special training to learn to control the Intersect."

"We'll be meeting here in this room at three o'clock. Now go get some rest. I'll need you both in your best shape tomorrow," Graham said.

"Yes, Sir," they chorused and stood up. Chuck reached the door and held it open for Sarah to leave first. She started walking at a brisk pace and he had to jog a little to keep up. "Hey Je- Sarah, wait! Wait!" She inhaled deeply and turned to face him "What is it, Agent Carmichael?" She saw his face fall and instantly regretted her snarky answer.

"Uh… nothing…" He shook his head and looked down. "I just… I… I wanted to tell you that it was very nice to see you again." He grinned a little, "Even if the circumstances are kind of crazy."

She just stared at him and didn't say anything, her face never showing all the emotions she was feeling at the time. His grin disappeared when she didn't answer, and he quickly said, "I, uh… I guess I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he turned around and left.

Sarah sighed heavily. Never in her life had she ever felt like she was feeling right now. While she was leaving the building, memories of those wonderful times in Burbank assaulted her. It was the way her traitorous conscience was telling her what a bitch she had been to Chuck. As if she didn't know that already. She got in her car and speeded to her apartment. She needed a drink. And she needed it fast.

Once she was home, and with a glass of vodka in her hand, she let herself think about the latest events. First, she found out that her partner was rogue, then, Graham tells her Bryce sent an email to someone inside the Agency, an analyst, who she later finds out is her childhood friend who she hasn't seen in eight years. And that's not all… he has a super computer in his brain.

How on earth did this happen? Everything she had thought in Graham's office was still true; it was too suspicious that Bryce had sent the email to someone working in the CIA, and she had sworn she'd get to the bottom of it. But she hadn't expected the person he had sent the email to, to be someone she knew. But I don't know him, she thought. Yes, he had been her best friend, but that was a long time ago. He does seem innocent, though. He still had this aura of kindness, innocence and easiness around him, and those eyes… What the hell, Walker? She literally couldn't believe herself right now. She took a sip from her drink while she scolded herself for being so… I don't even have a word to describe it! What is wrong with me? I've been with him for less than an hour and I'm already losing focus. She took a deep breath and decided that, no matter what happened, she was going to be professional. Chuck was her partner now, her coworker, and all the personal stuff had to be left behind. She would only see him for work, and there was no way she was going to get attached again. Feelings get you killed. Satisfied with her newfound resolve, she finished her drink and turned on the TV. Lying on the couch, she did her best to concentrate on the movie that was showing, but her mind kept drifting to a lanky, curly haired analyst, who just happened to be her partner.

Chuck was lying in bed, the events of the day replaying in his mind over and over again. By now, he could say nothing surprised him anymore. Two months ago he was just an unemployed loser who lived with his sister and her boyfriend. Now, he was a CIA analyst with a super computer in his brain, and he was probably going to be promoted to Agent if the tests went well. In which case, he would be working with Jenny. Sarah, he corrected himself for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. When she had entered the room, his brain had stopped working. She was beautiful. Ok, so that was obvious for anyone with a pair of functioning eyes. But she was so confident and focused. She seemed to be… perfect. Then again, she almost hadn't recognized him. That had hurt. But he couldn't really do anything about that. Besides, she had remembered him eventually. You can't expect a girl… woman like that to remember you at first sight. But when she finally did, he thought he had caught something in her eyes, like she was in somewhat of a struggle with herself. Of course, after Graham's interruption she was all business. Even when they left the room she had called him Agent Carmichael. Yeah, that definitely hurt too, he thought, wincing at the memory. And she hadn't said it was good to see him again, nor she had given him any indication that she wanted them to be more than partners. Why would she, anyway? We don't know each other anymore… a lot of time has passed and we're not sixteen anymore. He turned to his side and closed his eyes. Even though he'd love to be friends with her again, they were partners now, and they were going to be doing some dangerous work together. So, before falling asleep he decided he was going to be professional and leave the past behind. After all, that was what spies did.

Chuck was having one of the worst days of his life. He had been punched, kicked, and flipped over countless times. As one of the doctors explained to him, the Intersect had been designed for a real spy. And apparently, real spies didn't have feelings or moral restraints, or even a conscience like he did. So it was harder for him to flash when someone stood up in front of him just waiting for him to attack them. He had never been very fond of violence, and that was proving to be kind of an inconvenience in his line of work.

When he was finally released for the day, he felt like he was going to die. Every single part of his body hurt like hell and he just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed, but he was supposed to meet Graham and Sarah in half an hour. So he headed to the showers to make himself presentable. After he was cleaned up, he went to the conference room. Graham was already there, with a short red haired woman and a large man. A very scary man. He noticed the man's blue eyes on him since the second he'd entered the room. And when he said "Hello," he only got a grunt for a response. Sarah was the last one to arrive. After she sat on the chair right next to him, with her back to him, Graham started to talk. "Agent Walker, Agent Carmichael, I'd like you to meet General Beckman and Major Casey from the NSA." The woman nodded and the man grunted again. "As you already know," Graham continued, "the Intersect was a project both Agencies were working on, so it's only fair that now that it's operational, we work together." Sarah's shifted uncomfortably in her seat and the Major smirked when he heard Graham's last remark. "Now, it's not necessary for me to tell you how important this project is, and how dangerous this mission is going to be. We're dealing with an organization that wants to take down the CIA…" Chuck noticed that the Major was smirking again, "and our best shot to stop it is by using the unique knowledge Agent Carmichael here can provide. So your job, Agents Walker and Casey, is going to be to protect him and to make sure nothing happens to him." Chuck's eyes widened when he heard that. "Are there any questions?" Both Sarah and Casey remained silent.

"Wait a second, hold on!" Chuck started. "You can't ask them to do that! Besides, with the Intersect I'm supposed to be able to protect myself… I can't let them risk their life for me." Casey grunted again, this one sounding a little less amused and a little more skeptical.

"Agent Carmichael," said the General, talking for the first time, "I don't think you understand the importance of this assignment. It's vital for national security that you remain alive. Everything and everyone else, is expendable."

"Expendable?" Chuck couldn't believe it. "How can you say the lives of these agents are expendable? They're not different than me! They are people, for God's sake". This time, Casey snorted. Beckman's scowl deepened, Graham clenched his jaw and Sarah turned around wide-eyed to face him, for the first time since she had entered the room.

"What?" he had to ask.

"Agent Carmichael, there's no other way to say this, so here it goes: the future of the United States may depend on you. So yes, we are all expendable, but you. And you'll have to accept that, if you want to succeed in this mission," Graham told him.

After that, silence filled the room for what felt like hours. Chuck was looking down at his hands, but he could still feel Sarah's gaze on him. He thought of all the innocent lives that were in danger. He thought about all the people that had already died. Even Bryce, who wasn't his favorite person in the world deserved better than that. Finally, he said, "Ok. I'll do it."

Both Graham and the General seemed to relax after that. "Good. Then we'll inform you when you are needed. Now I'd recommend you to get to know each other. After all, you're going to be seeing each other a lot." With that, Graham and Beckman left the room, leaving Chuck, Sarah and Casey in an awkward silence.

"So… Major, huh? That's pretty cool," Chuck remarked, being the first to break the uncomfortable silence. Casey looked at him with a disgusted expression. Chuck gulped. "Yeah… yeah, that's uh… that's impressive. So, what music are you in to?" This time it was shock that registered on the NSA agent's face. He heard a quiet snicker and he turned to look at Sarah, who was visibly trying not to laugh. Casey stood up and said with a grave voice, "Look, Carmichael, I'm your partner, not your friend. I have orders to protect you and that's exactly what I am going to do. But that doesn't mean I have to like you, or even talk to you." With not another word, he left the room.

"A charmer, I see…" Chuck mumbled.

"Hey," Sarah said, "don't take it personal. He's a soldier, after all. They don't talk much," she smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that. Well, I guess I will be going too," he said, remembering what he had decided the night before. But when he tried to stand up he felt a stab of pain going up his legs and he fell back into his swivel chair.

"Are you ok?" Sarah asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, I'm perfect. I may have to roll out the building, but everything's fine." Chuck couldn't remember being more embarrassed in his life.

Sarah bit her lip and decided to take pity on him "I can take you home, if you want."

"Nah, that's ok. I need some time, but I'll be fine." He tried to stand up again but he fell back again. He could feel himself blushing. "Ok, this is embarrassing."

"Chuck, it's ok. You've been training today, right?" She could see the bruises on his face, so she could only imagine how bad it was on the rest of his body. Not that she was imagining what his body looked like... For the love of God, Walker, focus! She shook her head and told him, "My first week at the farm was torture. I wasn't used to that much physical activity, so I could barely move. But don't worry, it goes away soon enough."

He smiled. "Thank you for that. I've never been punched in the face before. And I had never punched anyone either. I think even my nails hurt right now."

Sarah chuckled. "Ok, let's get you home so you can rest." She put his arm around her shoulders and lifted him a little, allowing him to stand up.

"Oh God, I think I'm going to die." He just wasn't sure if it was going to be from the pain or her intoxicating smell. Stop it, stop it, stop it. Think about something else… baseball, yeah, baseball… I don't know a single thing about baseball! He was freaking out when Sarah started to walk slowly, and then the pain was just too much to think about anything else. They finally made it to her car where she even fastened his seat belt for him. At this point he was too sore to be embarrassed.

"CIA pays well, I see." he said when she sat on the driver's seat. She only smiled as she started the car.

"So, where to?" He gave her his address, and tried to make small talk. Even when she seemed more open than the day before, she was still very quiet, so that made things kind of difficult.

"Here we are," she said, parking in front of his building.

"Thank you, I know this isn't in the job description, so I really appreciate that you did this for me. I'll see you tomorrow." He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, but when he tried to get out of the car, he saw her coming over to help him.

"You didn't think I was going to let you creep to your apartment, did you?" she asked in a playful tone. He only grunted his response, his mind being occupied on thinking about something else other than her proximity and the way she was holding him.

They made it to his apartment in the fourth floor. "Well, this is me. Thank you again."

"It's ok, Chuck, this is what partners do," she said with a tiny grin.

"Right, partners." He chuckled a little. "Ok, so I guess I'll see you at work?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then," she nodded and turned to leave.

Chuck watched her and when she was about to get into the elevator, he called her. "Sarah?"

She glanced at him. "Yeah?"

"Goodnight."

She smiled and said, "Goodnight, Chuck."

A/N: you liked it? You didn't? Leave me a review and let me know!

Until next time.