A.N.: For better or worse, here's chapter 3. As usual, big thanks for my reviewers and bigger thanks for my beta, KittyGoddess415...seems the further along I get, the more help I need. Please keep the reviews coming. To be honest, I didn't think I would care that much about the reviews but, ends up, I like 'em.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or anything else to which I might make a cultural reference.

"…Casey, it's Sarah!"

Back in the van, Casey could see Carmichael's heart rate and respiration spike. Damn, Carmichael, why don't you just broadcast our social security numbers?

"Delta, watch your vitals and maintain comms protocol."

There was a gash on her forehead and a stream of dried blood down the side of her face. Carmichael felt for a pulse. It was a little weak but to his relief, it was there.

"Casey, we need a medic. She's hurt."

"I'm already on it, Delta. I have your visual. Sit tight.

Carmichael knelt in front of Sarah and methodically began to search her for more injuries, but then found himself mesmerized by her presence. All this time and she still had this effect on him. Damn it, life just couldn't cut him a break.

He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and let it out slowly. By the time the medic and the rest of the assault team swarmed in, Charles Carmichael was back in control.


UCLA Medical Center Harbor City

Over the years, even before the CIA, Sarah Walker had conditioned herself to wake up but still appear to be asleep. Such was the case, now.

She groggily surveyed her body for damage. Where am I?

Opening her eyes with the barest slit, Sarah scanned the room. Her eyes fell on the tall form slumped in a chair.

"Chuck…wha…," she croaked, barely able to speak. Whoever it was quickly got up and moved into the light.

John Casey, she realized, not without a bit of regret. Still, if Casey was here, Chuck would not be far. If Casey noticed the fleeting look of disappointment, he didn't mention it.

"Walker, glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

Sarah brought her hand up to her forehead, feeling the tug of the IV.

"I feel like shit. Head hurts. Bad," she groaned.

"The shit part is a hangover from all the drugs in your system. The headache part, well, it looks like you gave someone reason to smack you on the head. You have a slight concussion," said Casey as he leaned over to inspect her bandages.

Sarah remembered some of it. She gave a couple of the Fulcrum agents more than enough reason to smack her on the head.

"For the most part, you're not in bad shape," continued Casey. "Doc said you'll be back on your feet in a day or two."

"Casey, uh, where is…," Sarah hesitated. She looked down and saw she was wringing her hands.

Casey chuckled. "Don't worry, Walker. Your boyfriend's next door asleep. He's been here the whole time. He hadn't slept in two days and I finally convinced him to go take a nap as long as I woke him up when you came to."

Boyfriend, Sarah thought ruefully. Really and truly, was he ever my boyfriend? She looked up.

"Thanks, Casey."

"For?"

"For pulling me out of there."

"Well, no need for thanks. Just doing our job but on behalf of the team, I accept your gratitude," said Casey. He paused for a few seconds. "Just so you know, it wasn't me."

It was Sarah's turn to pause. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it was a team effort, but technically, I didn't pull you out. Carmichael did."

Sarah absorbed this. "Where were you?"

"In the van."

"Was there an assault team?"

"A small one, for backup."

"So, Chuck came in…by himself…took out four Fulcrum agents and two attack dogs…by himself," Sarah repeated.

"Three down permanently…one taken alive…two tranq'ed dogs." After a moment, Casey added, "Carmichael doesn't believe in killing animals. He says it's not their fault."

Sarah nodded. That sounded like Chuck. "I take it he finally got control of the Intersect."

Casey smirked. "You could say that."

"I want to see him," Sarah said as she drew in a deep breath.

Casey turned his back to her as he stared at the wall.

"Well, I promised Carmichael I'd wake him as soon as you woke up. What'cha say we let him sleep a while longer? I think there's a few things you might need to know."

Casey turned around and looked at Sarah solemnly. "No jokes, no bullshit. Before I get started, is there anything you need to know? Something that can't wait?"

Sarah nodded. "Why do you keep calling him Carmichael?"

Casey looked her square in the eye. "Because Chuck Bartowski died the day you left."

Sarah looked at him with question in her eyes.

"Well, he would say it was later than that but it really started when you left. We'll get to that. Anything else?" asked Casey.

"Uh…hmm, any…any girlfriends?" asked Sarah, a little embarrassed.

Casey shook his head. "Sad but no. We'll get to that, too."

Sarah's mood lightened, her heart fluttered a bit at his answer, and then she was immediately ashamed. But maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late.

Casey grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the bed. He checked his watch as he sat down.

"Let's get on with it. Carmichael seldom sleeps more than four hours at a stretch and he's already been down for two. You just think Carmichael was a mess before…he absolutely imploded after you left. I have never seen anyone so completely and utterly destroyed."

Tears began to stream down Sarah's face. I didn't want to leave…I had to.

"Walker, how about you keep it together until I finish?" snapped Casey and then a little softer, "Please."

Sarah nodded, sniffing a little.

"Anyway, Carmichael was a mess. We were failing mission after mission. He was misinterpreting his flashes and had no physical control, whatsoever. We were down to the wire. Beckman was about to pull the plug on the Intersect project and the Intersect."

She looked at Casey in disbelief. He put his hand up. "No, I wouldn't have done it but Beckman would've sent someone who would."

Sarah felt sick at her stomach. Oh my God, she thought. I wouldn't have been here to protect him. Goddamn it, Beckman promised me!

Casey went on. "You know, they kept sending replacements for you. Six in all. One way or another, they all had to be reassigned because of him. After the last one, Carmichael told Beckman no more fake girlfriends. That he and I would just go it alone."

She stared at him.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't sound like me but Carmichael and I have gotten to be really good friends. You don't know how many nights I had to listen to the lady feelings pouring out of his drunk ass." Casey shook his head. "I feel for him. He's a good kid and doesn't deserve any of this," he said sadly.

Casey fixed Sarah with a icy stare. "He certainly didn't deserve what you did to him," he said.

"Casey…," started Sarah.

Casey once again put his hand up. "Keep it to yourself for the moment. Still my dime."

"Ellie pushed him to date. That was pretty much the same charlie foxtrot as your replacements. Some first dates, not too many seconds. Carmichael did find one girl he kind of liked. They were at the beach and got attacked by a mugger. He came close to killing the punk and the girl hauled ass."

Casey saw Sarah wince. He didn't care.

"He came home, went to his bedroom, and didn't come out for almost two days. Chuck decided that he and the Intersect couldn't co-exist and with you gone, there was no reason for Chuck to continue. So it was Carmichael that came out. Fumbling, bumbling, pain in the ass, Chuck Bartowski was gone."

Casey wondered if he should stop. He needed Walker and the last thing he wanted was for her to have a nervous breakdown. Casey thought about it for a second and then hmphed to himself. Too bad. The CIA skirt was going to get every last gory detail.

"Carmichael was a completely different person. He trained hard. No movies, no video games, no dates, no fear, and no emotions. He started easing away from Ellie, Devon, and Morgan. Carmichael still joked around but it felt forced…like a cover. And not only was he gaining control of the Intersect but he was finding new capabilities."

Casey stopped for a moment. "You know, I shouldn't be telling you this. It's highly classified and since you are not on the project anymore, you don't really have a need to know."

Sarah looked at him with surprise. "Casey, you have to be kidding me. This is Chuck we're talking about."

"I know, Walker, but I'm responsible for his safety. Of course, these days it's more about protecting him from himself but I take it more seriously than anything I ever have before. And over the years, I realized that means protecting the whole man."

Casey looked at Sarah with mild disgust. "I learned that from you even though you forgot it along the way."

"Okay, I'll keep going but only because I think it's in Carmichael's best interest." He let out a long breath.

"So, he is gaining all of these new abilities. They're broke down in three types. First, he still has his old fashioned flashes but now he can force-flash and browse for information like querying a database. His second is a processing ability. He can process ciphers, crack codes, do complex math, and a lot of other cool shit…"

Sarah smiled inwardly at Casey's use of the phrase "cool shit". Chuck's not the only one that's changed.

"…He can run combat simulations and all in the background while he is doing other things."

He was speaking with something akin to awe and pride. Sarah was really starting to like this new version of Casey.

"And finally, the most amazing thing of all. Intersect 2.0's physical manifestations. Of course, he can flash on physical abilities like Kung Fu. We know that from…that night."

Sarah felt a little sad for Bryce. She had loved him, just not the way she loved Chuck.

Casey continued. "But it goes a lot deeper than that. It "boosts" him physically all the way around. That's Carmichael's term for it…boosting. Carmichael's fast. On a regular day, he's faster than anyone I have ever seen. His reflexes are incredible. And if he needs a little extra, he can boost and temporarily become faster and stronger."

"As we know, he can flash on any number of skills: fighting, weapons, spy craft, but even though they fade once they are no longer needed, Carmichael can then learn that skill at a much, much faster rate than a normal person. Six months at kung fu and he was already at a black belt. He's a force to be reckoned with even without the Intersect."

Sarah suddenly spoke. "Delta."

"What about Delta?" asked Casey, curiously.

"A rumor about this bad-ass operative on the West Coast code-named Delta. Chuck's Delta, isn't he?"

Casey nodded.

"Okay, let me get this straight. I have been gone not quite three years and in that time, Chuck's become James Bond."

Casey actually laughed. Sarah was not sure she had ever seen Casey actually laugh. Out loud.

"Well, more Jason Bourne crossed with the Terminator, but yeah, that's about the gist of it."

This was hard for Sarah to wrap her head around but there was one thing that really concerned her.

"Casey, has it changed him? Is he like…well, us?"

Casey thought for a moment. "Even though Carmichael says Chuck is dead, he retains Chuck's baseline morals. He still has this unshakable sense of right and wrong. He would still sacrifice himself for just about anyone and there are a couple of things he just won't do, no discussion."

"Like?"

"Like assassinations. Carmichael will not kill an unarmed person in cold blood. Hell, for a long time, you couldn't get him to make a kill shot in combat. There's no telling how many enemy agents there are in federal detention that were knee-capped courtesy of Carmichael's refusal to kill."

Sarah smiled. That sounded like Chuck.

"What else?" asked Sarah.

"Seductions. He won't do seductions."

Sarah really smiled because this pleased her to no end. "Why?"

Casey shrugged. "Carmichael just says it's not his thing. He told Beckman not to push him about it if she wanted his continued cooperation."

"But you don't believe that," said Sarah.

Casey did not speak. He just shook his head. Sarah stared at her legs for a full minute, tapping her fingers on the bed sheets.

"And your theory is…?"

Casey smirked. "Oh, it's no theory, Walker. Like I told you, Carmichael and I have become friends. We used to tell each other a lot of things when we were blitzed. He probably doesn't even remember telling me."

This drinking thing kind of worried Sarah. Many agents had gone down that road.

"Does Chuck drink a lot?"

"Not anymore."

She was relieved to hear that, but that brought them back to the subject at hand.

"Quit dragging this out, Casey. Please tell me why he won't do seductions."

Casey's face softened. "Because of you, Sarah. Deep down, Chuck feels like he's cheating on you. That's why the dating thing never really worked out for him, either."

Casey had used her first name and Chuck's real one, so she knew he was serious. It did not surprise Sarah because she felt the same way. She started to tear up again. This time, Casey let her go.

"We weren't expecting you but your timing's good. He doesn't have a life, Sarah. He doesn't read, watch movies, or hang with family. Emotionally, Chuck's not a wreck. He just isn't there. For me, it's fine…it's just who I am but this isn't Chuck."

Casey's face got very sad. "All of this just keeps getting easier and easier for him and one day, he's going to crack and when he does...let's just say, that's not a comforting thought with someone as lethal as Carmichael. So, you hanging around?

Sarah nodded through her tears. I never should've left. I was stupid.

"You're not going to up and leave again?"

Sarah shook her head. No way in hell.

Casey stood up and said, "Good, let's see if we can get Chuck back. Oh, and a warning, Ellie hates your guts. She blames you for her estrangement with Chuck. You're going to have to be really patient with her."

Again, Sarah nodded. She would fix that too. "Got it."

Once more, Casey fixed Sarah with a look. "You knew about their abandonment issues. Leaving like that was the worst thing you could have done. You didn't think it through but now you might have a second chance and you'll probably be saving his life. Don't let me down…don't let them down and don't be shocked. Chuck's different."