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: I hope you enjoy this chapter. In the next chapter, it all starts to unravel! And please review, please review, PLEASE!
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CHAPTER FIVE – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Sarah was quiet as she drove Chuck to work in the morning a few days later. She didn't attempt to make any conversation nor did she respond much to Chuck's questions or comments. She concentrated on the driving and rarely glanced in his direction.
Chuck suppressed a laugh. But at the same time, he was a little concerned that he was hurting her feelings. He knew what was going on. She thought he had forgotten their anniversary. Today was the day. Six years ago, they had gotten married. When he wandered out to the kitchen this morning after showering and getting ready for work, Sarah was all smiles and looked expectantly at him. He greeted her with a kiss and then turned to Sallie who was seated at the table eating some cereal. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Sarah still expected him to say something or pull out a gift. But he kept mum as he had a surprise in store for her later.
As they ate breakfast and he never brought up the subject, she turned quieter and colder until by the time they were headed out the door of their home, she was not speaking to him at all. And the silent treatment continued in the car on the way to work.
They were almost to Fulcrumatic and Chuck hoped that his surprise would make up for pretending that he forgot. Sarah pulled the car up to the front walkway of Fulcrumatic and put the car in park. She said nothing.
"OK then, thanks for the lift," Chuck said as he unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed his case. "I'll see you this afternoon. Have a great day." He leaned foward her for a kiss. Sarah also leaned forward but at the last second, turned her head, giving Chuck her cheek to kiss instead of lips. She remained silent and Chuck pretended not to notice.
He got out of the car, shut the front door, and opened the back door and leaned in and kissed their daughter goodbye. "See you later Sallie," he said to the little girl.
"Bye daddy."
Then Chuck turned to Sarah who looked coldly at him. He smiled.
"And by the way, I didn't forget. Happy anniversary!"
Sarah reacted with pleasure and annoyance at the same time. "Was this a joke or something? I was really upset you know," she said.
"I know you were and I'm sorry for that. But I wanted to surprise you."
"Surprise me with what?" she asked.
He moved his head a little to the right, indicating for her to look in the front seat. "Happy anniversary! I love you!" he said. And with that, he shut the passenger door and walked towards the Fulcumatic building entrance.
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The second Chuck stepped off of the elevator on the 10th floor, his cell phone rang. He looked at the screen. A picture of Sarah was there.
"Hey Sarah!" he answered.
"Happy anniversary! And I love you too," his wife purred. "And they're beautiful. I love them! Thank you so much!"
He had gotten her diamond earrings for their anniversary. He thought that she would like them and evidently, she did.
"How did you pick these out?" she asked.
"Come on Sarah, it's not hard for me to buy for you. You're so beautiful that anything would look fantastic on you," Chuck replied as he walked down the corridor to his office.
"You're sweet. I wish we were together right now so that I could show my appreciation to you."
"Wow, talk about motivation to skip out early today."
"Could you?" Sarah asked.
"Could I what?"
"Leave early today? I could make it worth your while. Sallie could go to day care and we could go out to dinner or do some … some other things. Or do both," she said suggestively.
Chuck smiled at the prospect of an early afternoon with his wife." "I'll see what I can do. Let me call you back, OK?"
"OK. I love you!"
"I love you!" Chuck said and hung up the phone.
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At 3pm, Chuck walked toward the elevator, heading out early for the day. As he figured, leaving a couple of hours before quitting time wasn't any problem. He called Sarah as soon as he got the go-ahead and told her that yes, he could leave early. She cheerfully replied that she would pick him at three after she dropped off Sallie at day care. And after that, they could have some fun, she seductively noted.
Chuck pressed the down button for the elevator and waited. Seconds later, the bell rang and the doors opened. He started to get on but bumped into someone walking out of the elevator.
"Sorry," Chuck apologized, "I was in too much a hurry."
"It's all right, no harm," a tall, light-haired man replied as he looked at Chuck.
And suddenly, Chuck saw that man inside his mind doing things – shooting a machine gun while dressed in camouflage fatigues in some desert, killing people at a restaurant, in a bank shooting people with a pistol with a silencer on it, and a list of "Top Ten Most Wanted" with the man's name and photo on it.
"Ron Grainer, domestic terrorist, wanted for 22 murders, multiple counts of bank robbery, terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, forgery, burglary, assault. Also known as 'The Schizoid Man,'" Chuck muttered. Grainer, who had already walked on, did not hear what Chuck said.
The images and the words stunned Chuck. He did not understand what happened. He shook his head and tried to figure it out. He was so distracted that it was a few moments before he realized that he had missed his elevator. He pushed the down button again and kept shaking his head, trying to clear those images out of his mind.
The elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Chuck stepped on, pushed the first floor button. "Maybe I'm working too hard," he said to himself as the elevator traveled downward.
The elevator reached the first floor, the bell rang and the doors opened. Chuck stepped out and walked toward the front door.
"You out of here Chuck?" Lois, the receptionist, asked.
Chuck stopped, turned back toward Lois. "Yeah it's my anniversary and Sarah and I are planning to go out tonight."
"Oh! How nice! You too have a good time, OK?"
"We will. Thank you." Chuck started to walk away and then stopped. "Hey Lois?"
"Yes Chuck?"
"You haven't seen any … any bad guys come through here, have you?"
Lois looked at him strangely. "Bad guys?"
"You know … people who look like they should be on wanted posters …." Chuck started to elaborate but decided that he was already sounding weird enough. So he tried to come up with some explanation but Lois did that for him.
"You mean like Miss Roberts?" she joked.
Chuck laughed. "Good one Lois," he said and headed toward the front door.
Sarah had not arrived yet, so Chuck waited at the front walkway. A few seconds later, a car pulled into the lot but it was not Sarah. After the car parked, a man in his forties stepped out. It was David Tomblin, president of Fulcrumatic.
"Hello Chuck," Tomblin said as he walked up.
"Hi Mr. Tomblin, how are you?"
"Fine, fine. I understand somebody has an anniversary today. Congratulations."
"Yes sir, sure do. Our sixth," Chuck replied.
"Excellent. You have a good time now. Be seeing you," Tomblin said and he waved at Chuck as he walked away.
And as he waved, Tomblin's coat sleeve traveled down his arm slightly and Chuck got a glimpse of a tattoo of some sort of bird.
"Snowbird," Chuck exclaimed and all sorts of images of Tomblin appeared in his mind. "Oh no, not again," Chuck groaned and he shut his eyes to try to blot out what he was seeing.
"CHUCK!" Tomblin yelled and looked back at him.
"Yes sir?" Chuck said and shook his head as the images stopped.
"What did you say?"
Chuck suddenly felt as if he had awakened from some dream or nightmare. He wasn't sure which. He looked around and suddenly wondered where he was. He was in Portmeirion Village on an island and working for the Fulcrumatic company. But I don't work for Fulcrumatic, I work for BuyMore. What the heck is going on here? he thought.
"Chuck!" Tomblin said as he walked up to where Chuck was standing.
Chuck turned and found himself face-to-face with a Fulcrum agent. And then Chuck remembered.
"Chuck, what did you say?" Tomblin asked.
"Nothing, sir … I was just … just humming and singing a tune … that's probably what you heard … just my singing," Chuck stammered and he even hummed and sang a few words to emphasize that. He heard a car drive up. He looked. Sarah had arrived. "I have to go sir. There's my ride. See you later," Chuck said as he rushed to the car, jerked open the door and hopped in.
The car pulled away and Tomblin watched it with an angry expression on his face. Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. "We may have a problem," he said as soon as a voice answered. "It may be Bartowski – again."
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As soon as he got in the car, Chuck glanced back at Tomblin and kept his eyes on him. "Fulcrum …" he mumbled. "He's Fulcrum … we were captured by Fulcrum … and they, they …."
"Sweetie?"
"WHOA!" Chuck yelled and jerked his head toward Sarah.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Sarah said. "A bit anxious … are we?" And then she smiled and arched her eyebrows.
"Huh? What?" And then he remembered that they were married. No … wait a minute … they weren't married but they had been acting like they were married, he thought. Why had they been acting like they were married? Were they undercover?
He tried to think clearly but everything that had gone on previously was hitting him like a tidal wave. So many memories were flooding his mind.
OK, think Bartowski, think, he emphasized to himself.
He tried to recall what happened. He, Sarah, and Casey were on a mission and … when was that? It was … what … a couple of weeks ago? They were on a mission and something had gone wrong. It had been a setup, a trap. He and Sarah had been captured and Casey had escaped. And then he and Sarah were taken … they had been taken to this island. And then? Then, Sarah and I … we … we ….
Chuck's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. We woke up in bed in that house and we … we were married and we had a daughter, he thought. We really thought we were married and we … we … oh my God … we … Sarah and I … in bed together … we ….
He turned his head and looked at Sarah. She noticed his look and grinned.
"My you look wild. I like that," she purred.
She had just pulled the car into the driveway of their house. No, wait a minute, this isn't really our house, it's a fake, Chuck thought. Sarah put the car in park, shut off the engine, undid her seat belt, and turned to Chuck with a smile on her face.
"Before we go out to dinner, I needed to stop at home. I forgot my purse. Come inside and help me look?" she asked.
Chuck nodded. Inside … that's good … I can talk to her inside and try to tell her that we're in danger, that we need to leave, get out here, he thought. He studied her as they got out of the car and walked to the front door of the house. She's still brainwashed or converted or whatever, he realized. How did I snap out of it? How did I do that? How can I get Sarah back to normal?
They stepped inside the house. Sarah shut and locked the door and walked down the hallway. Chuck stood there, wildly looking around the house. What to do? What to do? What to do? he repeated to himself. He had to talk to Sarah and convince her to leave, to get out of here. If he could do that, he decided, then maybe somebody with the CIA or NSA could revert her back to her normal self. But how could he convince her to leave?
"Chuck," Sarah called from down the hallway.
"Yeah, yeah?" he yelled.
"Could you come to the bedroom please and help me?"
Chuck walked rapidly to the bedroom. Gotta talk to her, gotta convince her that we need to leave, gotta talk to her, he said to himself.
He stepped into the bedroom and was surprised to find it empty – no Sarah. Then he felt hands grasp his shoulders from behind. Then the hands traveled down his arms and wrapped around his chest and pulled him back. Sarah pressed her body against his back and then nibbled on his right ear from behind. Her lips traveled from his ear lobe and down to his neck.
"I have been thinking about you and this ALL day," she whispered seductively as her lips traveled up and down and around his neck.
"Uhhhhh … Sarah … we … we … we need to talk," Chuck said. It took a lot of effort and concentration just to say that. Sarah's lips on his neck, cheek and ear and her hands rubbing up and down his chest, were really getting to him. His knees begin to feel weak.
Suddenly, her hands grasped his shoulders tightly and he was spun around. Chuck gasped, his jaw dropped, and his eyes bulged wide open. Sarah was wearing incredibly sexy and fantastic looking black lingerie – an outfit with very skimpy bra and panties that didn't leave much for the imagination, along with a garter belt and stockings that fit her fantastic legs oh so well.
She shoved him back onto the bed and sat on top of him. "We can talk after," she declared. Then her hands and her lips were all over him. Chuck could feel buttons coming undone and pulling and tugging on his clothes. He didn't know how she did it but within seconds, his shoes were untied and thrown aside, his shirt was undone and off, his T-shirt was up and her lips were all over his chest as her hands traveled downward and started undoing his pants.
"Sarah, Sarah, wait, wait, wait," he said as he tried to grab her hands. She grasped his head with both her hands and leaned her face down right into his. "I've been waiting all day. And I'm not going to wait any longer. It's our anniversary and we're celebrating. We're making love right now and then we're going out to dinner. Any objections Mr. Bartowski?" she said.
God, she felt incredible and he recalled the times that they had made love while both of them were under the brainwashing. He could remember how wonderful it felt. And now, here was Sarah on top of him, ready to make love again. But this wasn't right. She wasn't herself and he was. Those past times they had both been under the brainwashing and they couldn't help what they did. But now, he could. He couldn't have Sarah this way, he couldn't take advantage of this. This wasn't Sarah, the real Sarah, his Sarah. He had to stop this.
"Sarah! Wait! Wait!" he said as he tried to grab her hands which had his pants undone and were pulling the clothing downward. Then Sarah slid her whole body down on top of him. She grasped his hands and directed them to her body. Chuck couldn't even get a chance to speak any more because her lips constantly mashed his passionately and hotly.
This isn't right, this isn't Sarah, Chuck tried to tell himself. But Sarah didn't stop and soon Chuck didn't want her to stop. Any resistance he had was gone. He loved Sarah and he wanted her. As he started kissing her back with equal passion and intensity, he hoped that when they got out of all this and were back home, that she would understand and forgive him for being weak, being unable to resist.
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"And you sure that it is Mr. Bartowski's vehicle?" General Beckman asked John Casey from the monitor in the Castle conference room.
"Affirmative general," Casey responded.
Early this morning, Bartowski's Nerd Herd vehicle that the trio had traveled in on that mission that turned out to be a Fulcrum ambush had been located. Some scuba divers had spotted the car during an underwater outing yesterday afternoon and reported it to the police. It had been recovered today and the police had positively identified it as the car.
"And nothing was found in the vehicle?" Beckman asked.
Nothing was correct. Casey speculated that Fulcrum agents had emptied it of everything and then torched it and dumped it in the bay. The burn marks were still evident on the car but some tell-tale partial Nerd Herd logos could still be seen. In one respect, the car being empty was good in that there weren't any bodies in it, as in Chuck and Sarah's. But the car being empty was also bad in that there weren't any clues to help them.
"And so we still have no idea as to where Agent Walker and Mr. Bartowski might be? Or even if they are alive?" Beckman asked.
"That's correct, ma'am."
Beckman was quiet for a moment. Her face was impassive and unemotional as ever. Casey didn't have a clue as to what she was thinking. But he noticed that she had been referring to Chuck as "Mr. Bartowski" and not "The Intersect" as she often did. In fact, she had referred to him by his name during this whole conversation. Could the old bird actually be concerned about Bartowski? Casey wondered. Then she finally spoke.
"Have you notified Mr. Bartowski's sister about this latest development?"
"No general, I haven't. I didn't think it would be a good idea for that news to come from me as Ellie may wonder how I found out before she did. But I did tell the police that she needed to be informed about this," Casey explained.
Beckman nodded and said nothing more.
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Chuck opened his eyes and felt Sarah lying on top of him. She was naked and snuggled in close to him and her arms were around him. He had his arms wrapped around her too. He wondered what time it was, how long they had been asleep. He tried to leave her embrace but she sighed, gripped tighter and moved closer.
God, she feels incredible, he thought. Then he tried to mentally slap and kick himself and feel guilty and ashamed for what he had just done. He had taken advantage of the situation; he had taken advantage of Sarah's mental state to make love with her, he berated himself. Sarah had been brainwashed into thinking that the two of them were married, that it was their anniversary and to celebrate that. She had not been in control. But I was and I shouldn't have let this happen, Chuck thought.
But while a part of him felt guilty over what happened, another part of him felt elated. Making love with Sarah had been wonderful, above and beyond anything he had imagined and fantasized. She had seemed to enjoy it too if the moans of pleasure that she had made during it were any indication. But he still felt that it hadn't been right. Oh God, she is probably going to kick my ass and then kill me when we get out of here and she remembers all of this, Chuck groaned silently.
He tried to figure out what was going on? What was Fulcrum doing? He couldn't recall any of the actual brainwashing procedure but he could remember everything that had happened during this fake marriage. It had been just like a normal life, like he and Sarah were two normal people who had been living and raising a daughter on this island for years.
What is going on? Why are they doing this? Why did they brainwash us into believing that we're married and give us a kid? Chuck thought.
He had to do something, he had to get Sarah out of here. But how? Then he heard a hissing noise. He lifted up his head and looked. It was coming from somewhere in the room. It wasn't an air conditioner or heater … it was a …. What is that? he thought. It sounded like it was coming from the left, over on Sarah's side of the bed. Then, suddenly, he could smell and see something.
Is that smoke? Is the house on fire? he thought almost panicking. Then it hit him. It was gas. Some sort of gas was being put into the room. He quickly pulled the sheet over his and Sarah's head. "Sarah!" he yelled as he shook her. She didn't stir. Her head had been closer to the gas and evidently it had already gotten to her.
What to do? What to do? What to do? Chuck thought in a panic. He reached out and pulled a pillow down under the covers and got the pillow case off of it. He wrapped it around his mouth and nose, like a mask and popped out from under the covers. He kept Sarah covered with the sheet, hoping that would help her. He stood up from the bed and grabbed a pillow and looked over on Sarah's side of the bed.
On the wall, toward the floorboard, was some sort of nozzle from which the gas was seeping. Chuck rushed over there and pressed the pillow against it, trying to jam it. The flow of gas abated. He ran to a window and pulled it open. Then he ran to the light switch at the front of the room and turned on the ceiling fan. He started back toward the bed to get Sarah but was suddenly stopped by a hard and firm grip on his shoulder. The grip tightened and turned him around.
Standing before him was large man wearing a gas mask. "Remove that pillow, close the window and get that ceiling fan turned off. Quickly!" the man commanded as he ripped off the pillow case from Chuck's face and then tightly gripped both of Chuck's arms.
Chuck tried to struggle, tried to free himself but he could hardly move. The man was too strong.
Three more men wearing gas masks came into the bedroom. They very quickly and very efficiently carried out the man's orders. Soon the gas was coming back into the room in full force. The man holding Chuck then pushed him over to the nozzle and placed his face directly in front of it and into the gas coming out. Chuck felt woozy, the room started spinning and then everything went black.
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Ellie Bartowski sat on the edge of the bed in Chuck's room and looked around. I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry, she kept repeating to herself as her eyes took in all – the posters and art on the wall; the books, videogames, DVDs, and CDs on the shelves, the computer desk, the clothes and other items. Chuck things, she thought.
And she did manage to avoid crying as she looked at everything that Chuck had in his room. At least she did until her eyes came upon the photograph of Chuck and Sarah together, smiling and looking so happy.
I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry, she willed. And yet she did. She bent her head down and used her hand to try to wipe away the tears. She almost made it this time, she thought. She almost managed to do a complete 360 degree scan of Chuck's room and not cry. Ever since Chuck and Sarah's disappearance, she had spent a lot of time sitting in his room, missing him and Sarah and wondering if they were safe. She always tried to stress the word safe instead of alive or dead.
It had been over three weeks since they disappeared. Ellie well remembered that day. Chuck and Sarah were about to head out from the apartment in the early evening hours for their date. Chuck kissed Ellie's cheek and said "See you later sis." He then turned toward Sarah who was standing nearby. Ellie watched the two of them from where she sat on the couch. They smiled at each other. Chuck started to follow Sarah out the door, then stopped and turned back to Ellie. "Oh, I'll probably be out really late. So please don't worry," he said. Ellie heard him but she hadn't looked at him as he said that. Instead, she had been watching Sarah who had all eyes on Chuck. Her expression took on all sorts of emotions – caring, adoration, fondness, longing and wanting. And in that moment, Ellie could clearly see that Sarah was in love with Chuck.
It had thrilled Ellie. She thought that her baby brother had finally found the one. And then, Chuck and Sarah never returned or came back from their date that evening. They had disappeared. And since then, no sign or trace of either one of them.
Until today.
The police had called her a while ago. Chuck's car, the Nerd Herd vehicle that Sarah and Chuck traveled in on their date, had been found in the bay. The car was brought to the surface. Evidence of fire damage was apparent and the car was taken to police forensics. They found nothing.
No bodies. No blood stains. No personal belongs. No nothing. Chuck and Sarah could still be alive and Ellie held onto that hope. But the idea that someone had gone to such measures to remove any traces of Sarah and Chuck from the car, then burn it and dump it in the water, worried Ellie that foul play or some sort of violence had occurred.
The tears were gushing from her eyes now. No, no, no, no, she said to herself. I will not give up, I will not give up.
"Babe?"
Ellie looked up and saw Devon standing in the doorway. He walked over to the bed, sat down beside her, put his arm around her shoulders and held her close.
"I guess you heard," Ellie said between sobs.
"Yeah, I did. That's why I'm here. I wanted to be here for you."
"I'm glad you're here," she said to Devon as she leaned closer against him and then embraced him and put her head against his chest.
"Babe, we're not going to give up. There weren't any bodies in the car. So there's still hope."
"I know, I know. I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up. And I'm not crying, I'm not crying, I'm not crying," Ellie replied.
But she was. And she couldn't stop. Devon held her closer.
END CHAPTER FIVE