It's been a long time coming, I know. And I'm sorry for that, but I've been hit by two things that make fic-writing a real struggle. 1) Real Life got very hectic when I moved to Uni, and 2) I haven't worked up enough motivation to write for a long time. I'll try to write some more of this and Security Service when I get chance, but it's been slow going on the writing front.
Come on, Walker. Answer Bryce's call. It's the best option, professionally.
Sarah knew that, yet she still couldn't bring herself to walk the few steps to pick up the hotel telephone. She was stood in between the two phones; Chuck's smiling face staring up at her on one, whereas the other phone was a cold relic of the past. A strangely fitting metaphor considering what she was feeling at that point. Chuck, and all that he offered, was warm and inviting, and going back to Bryce could only lead to the same coldness she had felt almost exactly from the day she had driven home to see ATF and CIA agents leading her father away in handcuffs. People let you down in the end, yet she couldn't find the willpower to leave what would almost certainly be a long dance around the presumably mutual feelings between Sarah and her asset/something-else-entirely.
In the end it boiled down to two options. Choose Bryce and use her impressive skill-set in the way it was designed to be used, but at the same time doom herself to a lifetime of loneliness, never being able to form a connection with anyone. It wasn't the spy's life to form a bond with anyone; you might be forced to betray them the next time you see them. But still, it was the professional option, and she couldn't deny that she and Bryce made a good team.
But on the other hand, staying with Chuck and being a part of what was rapidly becoming an important intelligence team had professional benefits too. Then there was the increasing danger that Chuck was now under with the emergence of Fulcrum. Could she really trust someone else to take care of him?
Of course, this was all just a logical rationalisation of the real reason she was struggling to leave: she genuinely liked Chuck. He wasn't just an asset that became a chore in the end. She had at the very least found the best friend she had ever had, but with the kiss at the docks she had consciously made the choice in her head that Chuck was more than an asset to her. Although, Chuck could never know that if she stayed with him. She had to at least be outwardly professional, even if inwardly there was a constant battle between the proverbial devil and angel.
And in this case, it seemed the devil was called Bryce Larkin.