Here's Chapter 17! I know that it's really short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! I promise the next chapter will be longer.

Can't Hide from the Truth Forever

Chuck was troubled; he was very, very troubled. As he lay in bed that night, he was so distressed he nearly broke out in a cold sweat. His whole body was churning with agitation at everything that had gone down in the last couple of weeks. His sister was carrying out illegitimate operations, which could result in the whole team getting shut down, AND Casey could be assisting her. Sarah was going crazy. She was being completely unreasonable, and, while the make-up sex after their heated argument was amazing, he was still concerned about her; not as her boyfriend, but as her professional partner.

It was because of this that he made a very difficult decision. Early the next morning, he found himself in Castle facing the computer screen—

"General, thank you for taking the time to meet with me…"

Four hours later…

The whole team (minus Morgan) sat at the table in the conference room. Chuck stood at the head of the table, his back facing the monitors.

"Thank you all for coming," He said soberly, "General Beckman would like to have a word with us." He clicked the screen on. General Beckman was sitting in her usual position at her desk.

"Good afternoon, Agents. First of all, Chuck, I would like to applaud you for your actions this morning, you certainly are looking out for the welfare of your team; which brings me to my next order of business." She let out a breath before continuing, "Actually, Chuck, why don't you take it from here?"

"Yes, General," he turned around to face the other four, "Agent Coleman," he began, a look of extreme seriousness on his face, "Did you or did you not deliberately disobey direct orders and illegally investigate the murder of your former handler Marcus Reed?"

"Chuck," She said quietly.

"Did you or did you not deliberately disobey direct orders and illegally investigate the murder of your former handler Marcus Reed?" He repeated.

"Chuck, don't do this!" She pleaded.

"Answer me Jamie!" He snapped.

"Yes, I did," she admitted.

"Thank you, now on to my next question, did you or did you not attempt to manipulate both myself and Colonel Casey into assisting you?"

"Umm," Jamie faltered, "Chuck, I-I…" she faltered.

"Yes or No, Agent Coleman," They heard the General say,

"Yes." She said, "I attempted to manipulate both of them."

"Did you or did you not once again disobey orders by infiltrating a known Intrepid base, getting injured and unnecessarily endangering the lives of two of your fellow agents?"

"Yes, I did," Jamie's voice was barely above a whisper.

Chuck turned to face the monitor, "Have you heard enough General?"

The General leaned forward, "Yes, Chuck, I have. Thank you." She then looked at Jamie, "Agent Coleman, the CIA has come to the conclusion that at this time, you are unfit to be a part of Team Bartowski."

"Am I being reassigned?" Jamie asked.

"Jamie," The general continued, "The CIA has put up with you for three years. You were a good agent despite your methods. However, we have come to realize that you are too much of a liability. You put yourself and others at unnecessary risk. We aren't going to tolerate it any longer. The problem is, we know that you won't change. That is why, Agent Coleman, you are hereby suspended from active duty. Agent Bartowski, please relieve Agent Coleman of her weapon."

Chuck pulled his tranquilizer gun from his waistband and pointed at her, "Slowly," he cautioned as she removed her gun from her shoulder holster and set it on the table.

"Chuck you can't be doing this," Jamie grinned a little in disbelief.

"Jamie, I'm only doing what I have to do." He used her own words against her. He then took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, "Thank you very much for your service, Jamie, you are now dismissed. Agent Walker, please escort Miss Bartowski off Government Property." Chuck instructed, "Then please come back down."

Sarah looked at Chuck like he had gone nuts. This was so unlike him. Was it possible that someone had kidnapped her Chuck and replaced him with some heartless replica? What happened to him? She silently escorted Jamie out of the Orange Orange and then returned to Castle.

"Welcome back, Agent Walker," The general greeted.

"Thank you, General," Sarah cleared her throat.

"My next order of business concerns you. Agent Bartowski gave his professional opinion today and informed me that you have been a bit, well… short-tempered."

"That may be the case, General." Sarah replied.

"He also brought to my attention that you were… what was the words he used?"

"Going Bananas," Chuck filled in.

"Ah, yes, going bananas trying to run the team." The general continued, "Which is why I have come to a decision. Agent Bartowski has shown remarkable progress as an agent over these past few months. He is professional, and has grown to remain fairly even-keeled on missions. It is because of these reasons that I am temporarily putting him in charge of Team Bartowski."

"General, you can't be serious," Casey interjected.

"Yeah, General… Wait, are you serious?" Sarah asked.

"I am serious, Agents, and he will remain in that position for as long as I see fit," With that, General Beckman ended the conference.

When the screen went blank, Sarah scowled angrily at Chuck before getting out of her seat and storming up the stairs.

"Humph," Casey grunted, smirking at Chuck, "Someone's gonna be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"How was I supposed to know that the General was gonna put me in Charge?" Chuck defended.

"You didn't know?" Casey asked in surprise.

"Seriously, Casey, I'm just as shocked as you!"

Casey turned and walked up the stairs, grumbling to himself, "Bartowski at the helm, Humph. I think I'll just go kill myself before he does it for me."

"Hey! I heard that, and, Ouch!" Chuck called after him; he then slumped into the nearest chair. He wasn't really one to cry, but he sure felt like shedding a tear or two in this moment, however he resisted the urge. Two of the most important people in his life were seething mad at him, and he knew that he was going to have to make it up to them somehow. Chuck had gone up against assassins twice his size, but something told him that making up with Jamie and Sarah was going to be the toughest and scariest thing that he would ever do. At the same time, he did not regret what he had done. Extreme situations require extreme measures, and after those measures are taken, there is usually a mess that needs to be cleaned up, or in his case, a borderline disaster. However, Chuck was prepared to clean up any mess that his actions made, even if Sarah and Jamie killed him in the process. He then stood up and started walking up the stairs, chuckling at the thought that came into his head—

Well, at least Jamie and Sarah have something in common now… They both hate me.

Well, there you have it, short and simple, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review.

Question… How would you like it if at the ends of my chapters, I occasionally put previews for the next chapter? Review or PM and let me know!