CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE
SUMMARY: Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Chuck."
NOTE: Please review. We Fan Fiction Writers don't get paid, we don't get famous, and we don't get nominated for Oscars, Emmys or Golden Globes. All we get are reviews. So please review!
ANOTHER NOTE: I see by the reviews that people are curious about what classic TV series helped inspire this Chuck story for me. Well, when I say "classic TV series," I mean CLASSIC – as in more than 40 years ago. I guess I'm showing my age. But if you can't figure out which series it is, don't worry, I will tell all in the last chapter. Be seeing you!
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CHAPTER FOUR – WHY WOULD WE WANT TO LEAVE THE ISLAND?
When Chuck and Sarah got up Saturday morning, it looked beautiful outside. While seated at the dining table, eating breakfast, they debated on how to spend the day. Sarah suggested a picnic to the park and Sallie enthusiastically agreed.
"Well, I guess it's settled then. We'll have a picnic," Chuck said.
"I'll make some lunch to pack and take with us," Sarah said.
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Sarah got out slices of wheat bread, put them on a plate and then got out mayo, cheese, and turkey from the refrigerator. She squeezed mayo out of the plastic bottle on all slices of bread and then got a knife out of a drawer. With a slice of bread in her left hand and the knife in her right, she spread the mayo.
The knife blade glinted in the sunlight coming through the kitchen window and for a moment, that blade seemed to glow. Sarah stopped and gazed at the knife. Something about it attracted her attention. She stared at it intently thinking that there was something … something about the knife. But it was just an ordinary knife. The blade was hardly sharp. Nothing special about it, she thought.
Yet, she couldn't stop staring at it and thinking about how it felt in her hand. It felt so right, she thought, there was just something about it, something that made her think and wonder.
She held up the knife and then flipped it up with a snap of her wrist. The knife turned several times in the air and dropped back into her hand perfectly. That felt good, really good. And it also felt right, as if it was something that she had done before, something that was natural for her.
She stared again at the knife. Then she looked around the kitchen. She saw a calendar hanging from the wall. It had a picture of mountains. She stared back at the knife and then back at the calendar. Then suddenly, quickly, she flipped out her arm and hurled the knife at the mountains photo. The knife hit the photo and stuck into the side of the cabinet from which the calendar hung. The knife hit the exact spot she had been looking at.
Sarah was shocked. How did I do that? she wondered in astonishment. Yet some small part of her mind seemed comfortable and at ease with what she did, as if she had done that before, many times before. But how? She stared at the knife stuck in the calendar on the wall for a while.
Then a small voice from the kitchen entryway brought her out of such thoughts.
"Mommy?"
Sarah shook her head as if she was breaking a trance. She gazed down at her daughter.
"Yes sweetie?"
"When are we going to the park?"
"Oh, I'm sorry Sallie. I got sidetracked. I have to get our lunch ready. Give mommy a few minutes and we'll get going. Go check on daddy and see if he's ready."
Sarah quickly got another knife and went back to preparing the sandwiches, not giving another thought to what she had just done with the first knife.
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About a half-hour later, they packed up the car, put Sallie in the car seat and then got in, buckled up and traveled to the park. It was a beautiful, calm day with hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice cool breeze – a perfect day for a picnic.
They arrived at John Drake Commemorative Park, got out, and headed to the playground with Sallie leading the way. Sallie rushed all around, sliding down the slide, climbing on the jungle gym, playing in the sand, and exploring the fort. At one point, Chuck and Sarah sat together on a bench, watching Sallie play. Sarah looped her arm through Chuck's and then leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Are you OK?" Chuck asked.
"Oh yeah. I just wanted to lean against you and be close to you. Is that all right?" she replied.
"All right? It's wonderful."
"Well, thank you. I think it's wonderful too."
They sat that way for a while, watching Sallie play. When her eyes strayed toward the swingset, she rushed over there and begged for someone to push her. Both Chuck and Sarah rose and walked over to their daughter. Sarah stood on one side of the swing and Chuck on the other and they both pushed the swing gently giving Sallie her ride.
About 20 minutes later, she declared that she was hungry. They stopped the swing and Sarah picked her up and carried her to one of the picnic tables while Chuck went back to the car and returned with the picnic basket. They spread the food and drinks out on the table and they all sat down and ate.
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"Have room for any more?" Sarah asked.
"No thanks, I'm stuffed," Chuck replied. He looked over at Sallie. "How about you little girl? You want anything more to eat?" She shook her head.
Chuck stretched out his arms and yawned. "Well, should we pack up and go home?" he asked.
"Oh it's so nice out here," Sarah said. "Let's stay a little longer."
"OK, but why don't we pack up the picnic basket and let me put that up in the car," he suggested.
They dumped the trash and put the utensils and leftover food back in the basket and Chuck carried it back to the car. Along the way, he spotted another vehicle pulling in and parking. A man and a woman got out.
"Hey there," they greeted as they walked past Chuck.
"Hi, how are you?" Chuck answered.
"Fine. Beautiful day, isn't it?" the man replied.
"It sure is. Enjoy it," Chuck said as he smiled and glanced over at the man. He was in his thirties with sandy hair and a tanned face.
"We sure will," the man said and waved his hand at Chuck. And on his hand was a silver ring with a blood red star in the center. And when Chuck saw that, he saw that ring and that man in his mind. The images went by quickly and when they finished, Chuck stopped walking and looked around him.
"Oh God, I got assimilated again, didn't I?" he moaned out loud. Yep, he was still on that island. But how did he get here? He thought and in a few seconds, he remembered that he, Sarah and Casey went on a mission and – SARAH! WHERE WAS SARAH?
He quickly turned around and saw Sarah over by the picnic table. She was standing with that young girl. They waved and when he waved back, he realized that he was still holding that picnic basket. He walked over to the car, unlocked it and put the picnic basket up.
What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do? he thought. He looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone coming after him. As far as he could tell, everything was normal. So maybe no one realized yet that he was himself again.
So what should I do? How can I get us out of here? he thought. Then he heard Sarah yell.
"Chuck! What's taking so long? Is something wrong with the car?"
The car, THE CAR, he thought. He could get Sarah and the girl in the car, drive to the ferry and get over to the mainland and get out of here. That was it. That's what he could do. He slammed the car door shut and rushed back to the picnic table where Sarah and Sallie were sitting.
OK Bartowski, he said to himself, remain calm and cool. They're still converted, so you have to play this casually, like nothing is wrong.
"What took so long?" Sarah asked as he walked up to them.
"Oh, I just had a great idea," Chuck replied. "Why don't we get in the car and take the ferry over to the mainland and let's go spend the day at L.A. and have some fun there. We haven't been there in a while."
Sarah's expression went blank and she immediately responded in a toneless and mechanical voice, "Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island." Then she looked at Chuck and smiled.
"Well, we haven't been over there in a while. Let's go and spend some time there," Chuck said.
"Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah said again. And again, she was expressionless and her voice was without emotion.
She's talking like a robot when she says that, Chuck thought. He reached down and picked up Sallie. "Come on, let's go to the car and let's get going. It will be fun," he said. Once Sallie was in his arms, he motioned Sarah to follow. Sarah hesitated for a moment, but shrugged and then walked toward the car with Chuck.
Sarah started to get in the driver's seat as she did most of the driving. But Chuck quickly handed her Sallie and said that he would drive. That robotic response she kept giving about leaving the island worried him. Would she drive somewhere else or turn the car around if he asked her to take them off the island? If he drove, maybe he could maintain control of the situation. He glanced around. Things still looked normal. He couldn't see any signs of someone coming to get him or watching him.
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Chuck kept glancing in the car's rear and side view mirrors, keeping an eye out for anyone following or watching. He wasn't a real spy and thus wasn't an expert on surveillance, but as far as he could tell, things still looked OK. They were getting close to the ferry landing. Sarah had stayed quiet in the car the whole way but appeared to be unconcerned. She was just acting as if this was a nice, fun family drive. Chuck hadn't said anything and he especially didn't mention leaving the island, not knowing what her reaction would be. The way she had spoken about not leaving concerned him. It wasn't like Sarah to speak and act like that. He wondered if she had been programmed or something when she spoke about not leaving the island. Had Fulcrum done that? Was that how they kept inhabitants from leaving the island? Or prevented them from using the ferry to leave the island? Or from even just thinking about leaving the island?
The car was just about 20 feet from the turn for the ferry landing. Chuck looked in the rear view mirror. Not a car or person in sight. Maybe, just maybe, this will work, he thought.
He turned the car left into the ferry landing entrance.
"Chuck, where are we going?" Sarah said suddenly.
Her voice startled him a little. "Uhhh…I thought we could go over to L.A. and have some fun there for the day. Don't worry, we'll come back in a little bit."
"Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah said again in that robotic voice.
"Don't worry, we'll be back. This is just for fun," he said as he drove the car into the lane which led to the ferry loading entrance. The ferry was right at the dock. The Terence Feely ferry was there. A small ferry boat, it looked liked it could carry about a dozen or more cars. We're going to make it, we're going to make it, Chuck thought.
But then, Chuck saw a barrier blocking the lane. Then a man, a dock worker waving a stop sign, appeared alongside the barrier. Chuck braked and then the man ran up to the car.
Chuck lowered the window as the man approached.
"Howdy," he said. "Can I help you?"
"Uhhh…yeah, we just wanted to get on the ferry and go visit L.A. for the day," Chuck replied. He smiled and then added, "Clear for launch?"
The dock worker frowned. "Well, I'm afraid there's a problem. We're having some mechanical problems with the engine. So the ferry is disabled for now. There's no coming or going right now."
Then the man smiled and looked directly at Chuck. "Besides…why would you want to leave the island?" he asked.
"Yes Chuck, why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah immediately agreed.
Chuck looked at Sarah and then at the dock worker. "Uhhhh…OK…is there another ferry or another way to get off the island?" Chuck asked.
"Afraid not," the man replied. "But we hope to have repairs done soon. Why don't you just come back in a couple of hours and then we can get you over to L.A. OK?"
"Ooookaaaaayy," Chuck said slowly. The dock worker smiled and walked away. Chuck sighed and gripped the steering wheel tightly to keep from slamming his fist in frustration. The dock worker stopped and turned to look back. Chuck quickly put the car in reverse, backed up, turned around and drove out of the ferry landing area.
As the car left, the dock worker pulled out a cell phone and quickly punched in a number.
"I got one. A man, dark hair, in his middle, late 20s. He had a blonde and a young girl in the car with him. The blonde was controlled but he wasn't. She called him Chuck. Yeah, that's him. They just left and they're going down Main Street."
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Chuck tried not to panic as he drove away from the ferry. He glanced over at Sarah who looked very calm. She smiled at him. "What now sweetie? Would you like to go to the beach and take a walk? It's such a beautiful day and it would be a shame to waste it by staying indoors," she said.
Before Chuck could answer, Sarah leaned toward the back seat and asked Sallie, "What do you say Sallie? Want to go the beach and play in the sand?" Sallie squealed an enthusiastic yes.
"Well that settles that. Head for the beach Chuck," Sarah directed him.
"What?" Chuck said. He hadn't been listening at all to what Sarah and Sallie said. His mind had been racing, trying to think of what to do, where they could go.
"The beach, Chuck, the beach. Head for the beach," she said.
He looked at her blankly, not sure how to respond. Then a siren blared briefly from behind them. Chuck looked in the rear view mirror and spotted a police car behind them.
"Busted," he muttered and pulled the car over to the right side of the street and stopped.
"Were you speeding?" Sarah asked, puzzled.
"You have no idea," Chuck sighed and rolled down his window as the police officer walked up.
The officer gazed at Chuck. "Good afternoon Mr. Bartowski, Mrs. Bartowski." Chuck's mouth suddenly felt dry, his mind suddenly went blank and he found himself speechless.
"Hello officer," Sarah greeted brightly. "Were we speeding?"
"Oh no, no. It's just that I noticed something wrong here on the back of your car. You may have something broken. Mr. Bartowski, step out here and let me show you," he said. Although the officer smiled at Chuck, his eyes were hard and narrow and demanded compliance. Chuck unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and hesitantly stepped outside of the car.
The officer gripped his shoulder and directed him to the rear of the car. "Right down here sir," he said as the grip on Chuck's shoulder tightened and pushed him down to a crouching position near the rear bumper of the car. The officer crouched down alongside Chuck and affixed him with a hard look.
"Want to leave the island?" he asked.
"Huh?" Chuck said.
"Yep, we thought so," the officer said. He gazed at Chuck for a moment, studying him. Then he shook his head. "Here's the thing Mr. Bartowski – OK if I call you Chuck? Here's the thing, Chuck. You know and I know that you're not under control right now. You're yourself – AGAIN!" He paused and looked at Chuck with an incredulous expression on his face. "How are you doing this? How are you –" He stopped talking, bit the bottom of his lip. "Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we need to get you back under control. So right now, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do, OK? And if you don't—"
"Something bad will happen to me," Chuck finished.
The officer grinned. "Oh no, not to you." He looked toward the car, in Sarah's direction. "You wouldn't want anything happen to her, would you?"
"Don't hurt her, I'll cooperate. Just don't hurt her," Chuck immediately responded.
"Nothing will happen to her just as long as you do exactly what I tell you to do," the officer said. He then gave Chuck instructions to tell Sarah that something was wrong with the car and he needed to take it to the island's car repair shop down the road. He would stay with the car at the repair shop while the officer would give her and Sallie a ride home. Chuck nodded and got back into the car.
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"That's nice of the officer to be so helpful," Sarah said brightly after Chuck told her what he was doing and why he was driving to the car repair shop.
"Yeah, yeah, really nice," Chuck said trying to remain calm. Mentally, he was cursing himself for failing to find a way out of here, to get them out of this prison, this mess. If only I was a real agent like Sarah or Casey, he thought. They would have found a way. He felt miserable.
"Hey," Sarah exclaimed and reached over and stroked the back of his head and neck. "Don't look so sad. It's just some repairs on our car. It's not the end of the world."
"I hope not, I hope not," Chuck replied as he pulled into the parking lot of the car repair shop with the police car following right behind him.
They got out of the car, as did the officer. "Mrs. Bartowski, you and your daughter just wait right here. The owner of the shop is a friend of mine and I'll go in with your husband and make sure that he gets taken care of. Then I'll come right back out and take the two of you home," he said.
"Thank you very much officer," Sarah replied.
The officer walked Chuck into the building. They went past the counter into a back room where three men waited.
"Sit down," one of the men commanded and pointed at the chair in front of them. Chuck sat down.
"OK guys, you have this situation in hand. I'll now go take the other two home. Be seeing you!" the officer said and departed.
One of the three men, a tall one with long black hair walked around and faced Chuck. He carried an attaché case and set it on a workbench and opened it. Chuck gazed at his face and then flashed. He saw the man working in a lab, on an operating table, and out in some field. Then he saw the man's face on reports and printouts and a name appeared in his mind – Dr. Anthony Skene, Fulcrum scientist.
Dr. Skene looked at Chuck with an intense and angry expression. His eyes darted back and forth and he seemed frustrated. "How…what…how are you doing this?" Dr Skene sputtered. "How are you doing this? How do you do it? How? HOW?"
Dr. Skene shook his head, swept one hand through his hair and paced back and forth in front of Chuck. He held his hands up and pointed with them as he talked, went over things, as if he was discussing something with an invisible audience.
"This is…you've…five, six times we've put you through this process and you keep…you resist it, you beat it, you somehow get back to normal. But how? How? At first we thought it was just one of those anomalies, those rare cases that occur. But yet, you keep occurring. We've increased the level the last few times but you still…we could increase the level again. Yes, yes, that's it. We've just increased the level slightly but this time we will increase it more, much more. Yes, yes, we'll do that, we'll do that."
Then Dr. Skene reached over to the case, pulled out a syringe and then loaded it with a clear liquid. He turned toward Chuck. "We will get you under control again. We will get you under control. By hook or by crook, we will!" he said with a triumphant look as he moved toward Chuck with the syringe. One man got on each side of Chuck and tightly gripped each arm. The doctor injected Chuck. A few minutes later, Chuck felt drowsy and then everything went black.
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"You were told to stay away from the Walker and Bartowski subjects."
"I was promised that Chuck would be mine," Jill replied.
"You know that the situation with your former boy friend changed. We needed to keep them together. We could see that the two had very strong feelings toward one another. When we separated them, the Walker subject became very angry and concerned. We determined that it would go better if the Walker subject was paired with the Bartowski subject. You know that. But you have tried to spend time with and even confront both the Bartowski and Walker subjects. You have even tried to have the Bartowski subject moved closer to you at work. You were told to stay away from them and yet you have persisted in this … this stalking."
"I was promised that Chuck would be mine," Jill repeated.
"He will be after we are successful with the Walker subject."
"I don't want Chuck near her. You don't understand, you don't realize … the two of them together, it … it … it's not going to work if you keep them together. Just look at what has happened with Chuck so far. You need to separate them, you need to get him away from her and put him with me, like I was promised."
"We have our orders and you have yours. The Bartowski subject will be yours when this is done. So until then, you are to stay away from both of them."
END CHAPTER FOUR