I checked my 401K today, and I don't own any Chuck. Or much else, for that matter.

Epilogue

The longer I stared at him, the more freaked out I got. This was not my usual reaction to Chuck's face, but there was something about the eyes that were just menacing. Or possibly stoned. It was hard to tell. I took a step back to get a better look. It didn't help.

"Kind of freaks you out, doesn't it." I turned around to see Lester standing behind me. "We didn't have a lot of money left over to do the portrait, so we got a local guy that Jeff knows. We gave him an old photo of Chuck to use, and he did what he could, but still. The perspective is totally screwed up."

I'm no expert on art. My collection is limited to the Spock painting-on-velvet I'd bought at a yard sale four years ago. But I had to agree that there was something seriously wrong with this picture.

"Still, everything else turned out pretty well, don't you think?"

I looked around, and had to agree. The Charles Bartowski Computer Training Center did have a cheerful feel to it, despite the malevolent portrait. I headed over to the side table where Jeff was serving drinks while Lester showed off various parts of the room.

"This area here is just going to be the waiting room. We're going to store the servers in there where the freezer used to be."

"Impressive," I complimented. "It's hard to believe they once served yogurt in here. And Buy More Inc. is paying for all of this?"

"They bought the building. I guess your mystery landlord was a motivated seller, so the land came cheap. Buy More also donated some of the equipment."

"Wow, I can't believe you convinced them to do that much."

"Well I guess they're just excited to have a manager now who doesn't lead a secret movie pirating double life."

"It's true. They totally love Lester as the manager," Jeff commented. "He even was able to convince them to give me the Assistant Manager job."

"Well that and nobody else wanted the job. Really, though, I think the Buy More just wanted some good PR for a change."

"Still, it's really impressive. Chuck would have loved it."

It felt weird thinking of Chuck in the past tense. In the two weeks since I'd last seen him, I'd come to terms with his new life, and I knew I'd probably never see him again. So I suppose in a way, Chuck Bartowski really was dead. He and Sarah were now living their new life, under new names, doing whatever mysterious things they were supposed to do. I figured he'd probably get a kick out of this place, though. He might be a mysterious government agent, but he'd still be a Nerd Herder in perpetuity.

"Well, have you decided about my offer?" Lester asked.

I hadn't, really. "You really want me to run this place?"

"C'mon, you'd be great."

"But I wasn't really a computer guy. I just sold stuff, remember."

"Actually, no I don't really remember you ever selling any stuff. But you'll be fine. Think of yourself as your very first student. Plus, you'll give the place the true feel of Chuck."

"Well, it's not like I've got a lot of other things going for me. Why not?"

"That's terrific. I'll show the rest of the place a bit later. Most of the classrooms are downstairs. You wouldn't believe how much space there is down there!"

I looked over to see Ellie and Devon huddled off by a corner. I could see tears in her eyes. I sighed, realizing I had to go talk to them.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Morgan," Ellie said, smiling through tears.

"Hey congratulations on your not being a murderer!" Devon said. "Totally awesome."

"Um thanks, man."

"Hey, no prob. Who'd have thought there would be such corruption at the Burbank PD though?"

The official story was that two officers at the Burbank Police Department had been involved in a piracy ring, working with Emmitt Milbarge, a local Buy More manager. However, due to internal squabbles, one of the officers killed Milbarge and the other officer, and was caught trying to flee the country. A day later, Steve gave his notice at Buy More, and took off in the car I'd finally returned to him. The last I'd heard, he'd got a job as a gofer on the set of the new Dane Cook movie.

"So are you disappointed that none of it had anything to do with Chuck?" Ellie asked.

I sighed. "I suppose." I realized I'd been trying not to look at Ellie, and finally willed myself to look up. "So you never did believe that I had found some secret about his death?"

"For a while, but I think I was fooling myself a little bit. I would have liked to have some more closure, but I guess things don't work that way. This place helps though." She looked around and smiled. "I hope you get your closure, Morgan."

"I'm getting there."

"Well don't be a stranger. In a way, you're my link to him." Ellie gave me a kiss on the cheek. At times in the past, that would have been a huge thrill. Now it just made me feel more guilty. And a little bit worried about her six-five, awesomely muscular husband standing next to me, even if he was smiling at the moment.

I guess it's hard keeping secrets from Ellie. I could understand why Sarah had a tough time facing her. Lester had said he'd tried to send her an invitation to the Center opening, but hadn't heard anything back. I wasn't really surprised, given the situation.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Anna standing by me. "C'mon Devon," Ellie said meaningfully. "Let's go mingle."

"Alright but keep me away from that portrait. Seriously not awesome artistry." The two walked away.

"Hi Morgan."

"Anna."

"I'm glad you're ok."

"Thanks." I offered her a glass of punch. She accepted, almost shyly.

"I'm so sorry about calling the cops on you. I had no idea."

"You couldn't have known. They're the police, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"So did you find what you were looking for?"

"Pretty much." I guess the answer was true. I went looking for Chuck, and I did find him. I'd hoped that somehow things would be returning to normal, but of course that couldn't happen and I'd finally come to realize that. One has to move on with one's life eventually.

As coming-of-age stories go, faked deaths and mysterious government ages are a bit unorthodox. Then again, so is having a coming-of-age story at age 26.

"So if you ever want to talk about things," Anna said, a little bit awkwardly. "You know where to find me."

"Ok." I nodded, although I wasn't sure about the idea. It still hurt that she hadn't believed me or really trusted me.

Anna put her arms around me and gave me a brief hug. It felt nice, and I guess I did miss her.

"Holy crap!" I let go of Anna and looked at her quizzically.

"Is that John Casey? There's somebody I didn't expect to see."

Casey was talking to Lester. I smiled briefly as I noted the bigger man's discomfort. Lester motioned to me, and the two men headed our way.

"You're never going to believe this, Morgan! John here has agreed to help out as a part-time teacher!"

"Seriously?" Anna and I said simultaneously.

"Yeah, who'd have thought? You two should start planning." Lester headed back to talk to Jeff. Anna smiled, glanced at Casey, and quickly headed away.

Casey brusquely motioned me to a corner of the room. "So are you Casey again? Not whatever your name was back at that house?"

Casey grunted.

"How do you people do it? Going from identity to identity just like that?"

"Names are easy. Just slip from one to another, just like going from one pair of pants to another." He glanced at my outfit briefly. "Except I've probably got more identities than you've got pants. Names don't matter anyway. You're still the same person either way."

I briefly considered asking if Casey would still be the same person if he was named Herbert P. Lukenheimer. But I decided I liked my limbs were they were. Instead I said, "So what gives? You don't exactly seem like the teaching type."

Casey grunted again. "Trust me. This is no dream for me. Bartowski may think you can keep a secret, but some of us don't live in his dream world. Randall may not have kept what she found out to herself, but there are still others sniffing around. So somebody has to be here to make sure that a certain moron doesn't let anything slip. Remember, while he may like you, I don't. So I won't hesitate to take steps to make sure you stay quiet."

I wondered whether I could resign from my new position, but figured it probably wouldn't matter. Casey would find me no matter where I was.

"So you were undercover when you were at the Buy More, right?"

He nodded grudgingly.

"And now you're teaching beginning computer courses here. How come you get all the glamorous assignments? Don't they give you a choice?"

"I had my options."

"And you chose this one?" Casey nodded. "Why?"

Casey didn't answer for a moment. Finally, in a voice far removed from his usual growl, he said, "It was my fault."

"What?"

"It was my fault. The disc with Chuck on it. I was supposed to retrieve it and destroy it like a normally do. But we were called on a mission, and I left it sitting out. And that moron Milbarge found it. Bartowski losing his family and everything, that's on me. So I need to fix my mistake."

"It sounds like it was an honest mistake. Anybody could have made it."

"Not me," Casey was back to growling.

"You know what I think? I think you liked Chuck." Casey gave me a rather frightening look in response. "No, I think you feel bad because you really liked Chuck, and didn't want something bad to happen to him." I patted him on the back.

"You want to spend the first day of your new job breathing, don't you?"

"Oh come on, big guy. I'm not buying it. I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

The look Casey gave me would lead a bull rhino to tears.

"Ok, maybe the beginning of a grudging tolerance?"

Casey stalked off, muttering "Idiots. Why so many idiots?"

I walked back into the room, and found myself back in front of Chuck's portrait. Even knowing what the painting was supposed to look like, it still didn't seem quite right to me. I could still see what Chuck looked like the last time I had seen him. The mysterious (though somewhat reluctant) hero, standing beside Sarah with a sad smile on his face. Somehow, that image was beginning to seem more real to me than the picture of the man dressed in the Nerd Herd uniform that was now hanging on the wall. I wished I could share that picture with somebody, but Casey was wrong. Knowing everything that he had sacrificed, Chuck's secret is something I would value and honor. But never share.

End

Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the story, and will at take at least 5 minutes or so before you start seeing all the plot holes you could drive a Nerd Herder (or several) through. Thank you to everybody that reviewed (and I hope everyone does so).