A/N : It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's not Superman. Nor is it Supergirl.
This. Is. An. UPDATE !
*cricketscricketscrickets*
Yep. That happened. Deal with it!
I know it's been a while - an eternity - since I've updated but- BUT! I've been working, studying for my finals and come on- this is my last year of high school so I kinda have to graduate because I don't think I can survive another year of high school without maiming myself or some other idiot.
So I'm extremely sorry, I've been writing since I finished my exams and - unfortunately - this fic is soon coming to an end. And when that day comes, it will be BIG! For me, at least.
Without further ado, here's the twelfth chapter of Ghosts In New York City
(untitled Traitors ** gasp ** Who might that be?)
DISCLAIMER : I didn't own Chuck or White Collar two years ago. I still don't own it now.
"We have a problem."
Chuck couldn't help but snort as he entered the federal building, attracting a few odd glances. He ignored them. Six hours had passed since Devon had called, telling him that his sister never got to Burbank. Worse, she hadn't even got on the plane and didn't appear on any flight lists to California. If he wasn't worried by then, the spy surely was when Bryce had called him a few minutes after he'd hung up with his brother-in-law. Sara Ellis and Elizabeth were missing. So yeah, saying that they had a problem was the biggest understatement of the century.
As he got closer to the White Collar division, the smell of caffeine assaulted his senses, teasing him. Chuck groaned, rolling his neck, and swore that he would hug the person that had the godly idea of making coffee. Sarah and Casey were already sipping their own cups, the former reviewing numerous files while the latter was busy cleaning, assembling and loading guns. Neither bothered to look up as he passed by. Bryce was sitting at his desk, his legs propped up on it and his laptop bouncing up and down his knee. Without looking up from his work , the pretender took a cup of hot breuvage and held it to Chuck. Smiling tiredly, the young man took the breuvage and thanked him with a pat on the back. He took a sip and, swallowing the bitter drink, asked as he leaned against the table:
"Got anything?"
The blue-eyed man sighed, running fingers through his tangled short hair as he replied:
"Nope. Except for the smalls notes we found at the Burke's. What about Ellie?"
"Nothing yet, either. Awesome won't leave the airport until someone gets him news. News that gotta be good. And guess who has to be that someone? This guy!" Chuck said, pointing two thumbs at himself in fake enthusiasm.
Wincing, Bryce straightened in his chair, oblivious to his friend's staring. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was sticking in a million directions and his usual perfect attire was wrinkled, somewhat dirty. Chuck hadn't seen the man so tired since their senior year in college, during which Bryce had to balance a new life filled with espionnage and final exams. Frowning in concern, Chuck asked:
"You okay?"
"Sure" Bryce replied, a humorless smile plasteredai on his face "My girlfriend's been abducted by a bat-shit-crazy terrorist and a good CIA agent gone rogue, my cover's been blown and my team doesn't trust me anymore. So yeah, I'm ectasic, Charles!"
Chuck rolled his eyes as Bryce stood up, flattening the wrinkles on his button-up with his hand, his fingers playing with the end of his tie. As he started to walk toward the governemental duo, Chuck stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.
"I trust you, Larkin, Bryce Larkin."
The blue-eyed man seemed genuinely surprised by the words coming out of Chuck's mouth. Bryce quickly covered it and, ignoring the lump forming in his throat, smirked as he teased:
"Why, Chucky, it must be the end of the world or I must be extremely exhausted because I just heard you say that you trust me."
Ignoring the use of his old - and annoying - nickname, Chuck snorted and shook his head as he playfully pushed off Bryce. The brunette sent him a cheeky grin, winking before turning away from him. The Human Intersecret sobered as his brown eyes fell onto the opened laptop. He let himself fall into the chair and brought the computer closer to him when suddenly, an unseen window popped on the screen. The sudden apparition made himself slighly jump. Not that he would ever admit it. He was supposed to be a goddamn spy. Not that Casey would ever admit it. The situation got even freakier when a message in green digital numbers appeared a few seconds later.
"What the holy hell.." Chuck muttered.
Or at least, he thought he muttered. Chuck realized that he obviously didn't when three confused heads turned toward him. Frowning, Bryce walked back to his cubicle and leaned to see over his computer screen over the spy's shoulder. His frown deepened when he saw the new opened window. Bryce then muttered:
"Dude, why would you open a decoding program?"
"I didn't, it just appeared out of nowhere" Chuck retorted, his eyes still focusing on the small black window.
Then suddenly, the numbers changed into letters and the message turned itself into an adress:
111 JOHN STREET
NEW YORK, NY.
See ya there :) TD
"What the hell does that mean?" Casey growled, leaning over Chuck's shoulder to see the screen.
Bryce shot a blank look at the older agent, raising an eyebrow. This small affront earned him another menacing groan and a deadly glare. Sarah rolled her eyes at the two men while Chuck seemed oblivious to the exchange. Worried by the lack of reaction, the blonde woman put a hand on his shoulder and murmured softly:
"Chuck?"
As if startled out of a transe, the Human Intersecret let out a yelp before turning in his chair and facing three concerned and confused expressions. Dizzy from the Flash he had just experienced, Chuck blinked a few times, his hands nervously fidgeting with the Governor. Another minute passed before he finally spoke
"There's an abandoned warehouse in Battery Park, used to belong to Archi-Tectonics."
"Must be their hide-out." Bryce muttered, leaning against his desk, his arms crossed.
"Or a obvious trap." Casey countered. He rolled his eyes when his teammates and the former spy stared at him "Come on, I'm not an idiot. Don't need a super computer in my head to guess what that last line meant."
"Well, right now, it's the only lead we got!" Chuck argued, slightly irritated, getting up.
"Well, right now, you're off this case, Bartowski." The colonel growled. "Plus, your sister was taken by Roark, which made you emotionally instable."
"And still, Beckman called me to the rescue when you were hitting a brick wall."
The two men were now standing toe-to-toe and a small crowd had gathered around Bryce's cubicle, curiously watching the exchange. Bryce was watching it with an amused smirk on his lips while Sarah seemed ready to intervene if things went south, her eyebrows frowned in concern. That was the moment Peter chose to join the small group, followed by Diana and Jones. With a frown on his face, the federal agent:
"What's going on?"
Bryce lost his smile as glares were sent his way. Clearing his throat, he grabbed a pad and pen, quickly writing the informations they had gathered so far. He threw the pad at his S.O, explaining:
"We got a lead. Well, we think. That adress could lead to Roark and the girls."
"How do we know it's not a trap or another one of your crazy plans?" Jones intervened, crossing his arms.
Casey smirked smugly at Chuck, taking a few steps back while the latter rolled his eyes at him before falling back into the chair. Sarah sighed and leaned over Chuck's shoulder, asking:
"Can't you track down the IP adress or something?"
"Yeah, sure- Come on! You have got to be kiddin' me."
As soon as Chuck had tried to open a new tab, the small window had vanished and the computer's screen was, now, black. Turning toward Bryce, the Human Intersecret offered him a weak smile before saying:
"It seems that your computer has crashed."
"No shit, Sherlock." The pretender deadpanned, leaning over to close his laptop. Running his fingers through his brown hair, he added, frowning, "Aren't you supposed to be working as a Nerd Herder?"
If they had been alone, Chuck would've given him the finger. But as all eyes were on him, he just glared at his former best friend. That's when Sarah's phone chose to ring. Frowning at the unknown number flashing on the screen, the blonde woman brought the phone to her ear, asking:
"Yes, who is this?"
Bryce sighed, letting his head fall in his hands as Peter and his team discussed whether they should or not follow Roark's directions. He startled when he felt a hand frantically tapping his shoulder. He looked up to see Chuck up and alert, worried about his fiancée's obvious distress. Frowning his eyebrows, he muttered:
"What is it?"
"It's Shaw." The blonde mouthed in reply.
Bryce straightened and, in a flash, was beside Sarah. He mouthed back:
"Put it on speaker."
Without a word, Sarah put it the speaker on, set it on the desk and, after clearing her throat, she asked:
"What do you want?"
"Always the blunt one, aren't you?" Shaw's smug tone retorted, chuckling a little.
Bryce frowned his eyebrows when he saw Chuck's jaw clench and his fists tightened, his knuckles going white. The former spy could also hear Casey growl behind him and see Sarah glaring at the phone as if the device had insulted her. Whatever Shaw had done to his old team, Bryce felt sorry for him. He wouldn't want to be at the end of their fury.
"You heard the question, Shaw, answer it." Chuck intervened, obviously getting annoyed.
"Yay! Chuck is here! I really missed, buddy. Hey, you know what? If Bryce was here, we could have a party. Wouldn't that be awesome?"
All heads turned to the fake conman, as if they expected him to intervene. Bryce looked up to Chuck, the latter giving him a small nod. The young brown haired man sighed, running his fingers through his hair:
"You know me, Shaw, I'm not one to miss a party."
"That's the spirit, Larkin. Well, I hope your FBI friends are around because I'm only saying this once."
The A and White Collar teams exchanged uncertain looks as Sarah sighed and asked again:
"What do you want, Shaw?"
There was no reply at the end of the line, which worried the agents greatly. After a few seconds of silence, a beeping noise made them all jump. Turning back to his computer, Bryce was surprised to see it turned on, a message written across the screen.
'press play.'
Gulping, Bryce slid down in his chair and obeyed the written order. His eyes widened when Shaw appeared on the screen, his lip stretched in a smirk. All pretense was gone. Shaw's hair was back to black, his eyes back to Brown and he was wearing a dark suit. Ellie was standing behind him, two burly men by her side. Bryce could feel all heads turned in his direction and Chuck's breath was hot on the back of his neck as the Human Intersecret leaned in closer to the screen.
Still grinning like a freaking psychopath, Shaw waved at the camera and shouted:
"Hey, the whole Scooby gang is here. Fan-tas-tic."
While looking at the screen in disbelief, Sarah ended the call before finding her way next to her husband-to-be. Chuck turned his hand toward her and was greeted by a weak smile. He returned the smile and held out a hand which the blonde immediately took in hers. The gesture was not missed by Shaw, the latter grimacing and groaning in disgust:
"Urg, too much PDA."
Casey was the one to groan as he glared at the screen and barked:
"Shut the hell up, Shaw. Now, tell us what you want."
"Which one is it?" The rogue agent wondered aloud, faking confusion "Should I shut up or tell you want I want? It's a bit paradoxical, Colonel. But then, again, you're not a man of many words. No, you prefer to talk with your fists. Or guns, occasionaly."
The only response he got was a growl. Letting out a small laugh, Shaw stuffed his hands in his pockets and composed himself, his eyes still shining with mischief.
"Alright. You know how us, villains in movies, usually bore you, heroes, to death with the way I plan to bring all of you to your knees and then, dominate the world. However, this isn't a movie. Well, this isn't that kind of movie. So I'll go straight to the point."
"Please do." muttered Diana as she stood behind Bryce.
If the timing wasn't so terrible, the former spy would've turn around and crack a smile, maybe laugh. But the timing was horrible, so he just rolled his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek to restrain a laugh.
"I want to make a deal." Shaw announced with an ounce of hesitation.
The response was immediate.
"Have you lost your mind during your time in prison or have you always been this stupid?"
"No way in hell that-"
"Are you serious?! Do yu know w-"
"I'd rather make a deal with the Devil."
Bryce and Chuck, however, remained silence as their partners and teammates procesed to tell Shaw that stricking a deal wouldn't be possible. The former roommates exchanged a look and an almost invisible nod before Chuck took a deep breath and asked, loud enough for him to be heard from every person in the room:
"What kind of deal?"
Everybody stopped shouting and every pair of eyes turned toward Chuck, questioning his sanity.
"The kind of deal that you can't refuse, Chuck." Shaw retorted, cocking his eyebrows to emphasize his words
"Excuse me, I think that any of us, federal agents, can refuse making a deal with a criminal who just escaped from jail." Peter intervened, getting annoyed by the man's confident behaviour.
"Oh believe me, Mr. Burke." Shaw scoffed humorlessly. "I don't want to make a deal with the FBI, nor with the CIA or NSA or whatever team you're working for. I want to make a deal with Spy Wonder and Super Nerd over here." he added, pointing at Bryce then Chuck.
As Peter was clearly about to argue further with Shaw, Bryce held out a hand to stop him and gave him a look that said let me handle it. The senior agent scoffed but said nothing as he crossed his arms against his chest, taking a few steps back. Turning back to the screen, Bryce ordered:
"It would be really nice if you'd stop speaking in riddles and tell us what this 'deal' is really about."
"Well, it's more a trade than a deal, really. Let's just say I have something you want and you have something I want as well."
"And what would that be ?" Chuck asked, sarcastical and confused at the same time
All pretense was gone when Shaw stepped up and stared into the camera lense.
"The Intersecret."
Gosh, worst hungover ever. Eva. Everrrrrr. Wait- Have I been drinking? Me think not. Feels like though.
Those were the confused thoughts of one Sara Ellis. The strawberry blonde knew she was awake, she knew she could be blink or even open her eyes. However, there was a difference before 'knowing' and 'doing'. Sara hadn't reached the doing stage yet. Either she was definitely - unconsciously - hammered or she had a concussion. It was definitely the latter, Sara thought when she felt the small wind hit her - obviously - bruised and cut covered face. Her hands felt hot too. Like really hot. Burning hot.
Snapping her eyes open, Sara couldn't restrained the whimper that escaped her mouth. The sudden sunlight streaming from the blinds made her squeeze her eyes shut once more. Her headache was getting worse and if the sticky and hot liquid flowing from her forehead meant anything, Sara had obviously been struck to the head. Opening her eyes again, this time more slowly, the redhead carefully took anything that she could see in. Sara could see that she was locked in some sort of office. Which was humongous, by the way. So much place and so little furniture. Such a waste.
Sara slightly shook her head when she noticed that her mind was going places. Again. Didn't work. Her head was throbbing from the action and thinking and her hands were still burning. And ached, Sara suddenly noticed. So when she tried to pull her hands closer, Sara wasn't surprised to found that she couldn't. Though she couldn't see her hands, the cold metal bitting her wrists made her think that she was probably handcuffed. The heat was probably coming from the heater she was chained. Typical.
With the last spark of hope she had, Sara started pulling at her restrains. Immediatly, she stopped with a wince, grimacing as red marks appeared on her wrists.
"Well, that was stupid."
"I agree."
Sara was startled by the sudden apparition of a young woman in the room. Unconsciously, she leaned against the heater, trying to put distance between the intruder and herself. The latter sent a small smile before walking closer to Sara.
"Don't worry," she said in a soft, gentle voice, "I'm not here to hurt you."
Tilting her head, Sara observed her. The woman seemed younger than her, she had long blonde hair that fell in curls on her shoulders and green eyes that matched the knee-length dress that she was wearing. She was also wearing thigh-high boots, making her way taller that she was supposed to be, Sara thought. Noticing the difference of weight, the brunette knelt next to her, smoothing her dress. Pushing back her hair, she said, still smiling:
"If anything, I'm your ticket out of here. And the same thing goes for Mrs Burke, right there." she added, tilting her head to the side.
Sara followed the gesture, her eyes widening as she saw Elizabeth's unconscious form laying in a corner.
"So don't do anything stupid and everything will be fine. Got it?"
The strawberry blonde slowly nodded, not trusting her voice. The other woman grinned wider, then said, sticking out a hand:
"Ouh, by the way, I'm Alice."
Sara cocked her eyebrows in incredulity, giving the blonde woman a look that clearly said 'seriously?', then raised her cuffed hands so everyone could see. Alice's mouth formed a little 'o' as she realized a mistake, then she giggled, letting her hand fall to her side.
"Oops."
"Yeah. 'oops." Sara retorted, her words dripping with sarcasm.
Alice giggled again – and seriously, if the strawberry blonde hadn't been cuffed to a radiator, she would've made the blonde choke on her stupid giggle -, pushing back her hair so she could take off her necklace. A necklace that had a key as a pendant. Sarah restrained a scoff; Roark was taking paranoia to an all-new level.
Gently, Alice unlocked the handcuffs, grimacing as she heard Sara wince. She let out a satisfied sigh as the strawberry blonde started massaging her bruised wrists, bringing them to her chest, as if she were afraid someone would hurt even more.
"You're free to go, now!" Alice announced in a cheerful tone, then winced before adding "Well, not really, but you get my point."
Was she for real? Sara thought, still staring at her. A small chuckle escaped her lips, surprising herself and the blonde at the same time. The latter shot her a small, hesitant smile, not knowing how to respond to that reaction. From the corner of her eye, Sara could see Elizabeth stirring into her sleep and, apparently, the movement was also noticed by Alice. Sara could swear she saw a little bit of fear and apprehension in the other woman's eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it came.
"It's almost time." Alice announced as she turned back to face the strawberry blonde woman.
"Almost time for what?" Sara asked, cocking her eyebrows in confusion and tilting her head to the side.
As the question left her mouth, the door opened and a grey haired man entered the room, wearing an expensive suit and a smug smirk.
"Time for the truth to be told, Ms Ellis."
"Alright." Peter said as he stormed into his office, Bryce following behind "You are going to tell me everything about that Intersecret thingie and why, you two morons, actually accepted to meet with that Shaw."
The senior agent sat in his chair and stared at the former spy, excepting an answer. Bryce sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, avoiding Peter's gaze as he replied:
"It's classified, Peter. I don't really know what I can tell you", he added with a shrug of his shoulders.
"My wife, your girlfriend and Bartowski's sister have been abducted by some crazy terrorists so I don't really care." Peter snapped, now glaring.
Inwardly groaning and cursing Chuck for all the troubles that he had brought him when he arrived in New York City, Bryce let himself fall on the chair facing the FBI agent. Looking up, he stopped himself from swallowing as Peter glared daggers at him. Clearing his throat, Bryce started playing with his tie as he explained:
"Chuck already talked about it when his team agreed to work with us on the case. The Intersect is a government server of vast encoded data connected to every intelligence agency in the United States, such as the CIA and the NSA. It was created by Orion, after September 11th ."
" 'Orion'?" Peter asked, frowning his eyebrows in confusion "Who the hell is Orion?I"
"He worked with Roark, no idea what his real name is. Roark accused him of stealing his ideas, saying that he was the one who invented the Intersecret."
"And what do Roark want to do with this... Intersecret?" The senior agent questionned, twirling in his chair.
Bryce hesitated a few minutes, clenching his jaw before replying:
"He wants to download it. In his brain. Or Shaw's brain."
Peter stopped his chair and stared at Bryce, his eyes wide-opened.
"You're shitting me?"
"Nope."
"But isn't downloading a super-computer in his brain going to kill him?"
Again, he hesitated to answer the question. Thankfully, Diana barging into the office and annoucing the arrival of General Beckman interrupted the interrogation. Bryce was the first to exit the room, quickly followed by the two FBI agents. Clearing her throat, Diana asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets and faking nonchalance as they went down the stairs:
"So did you learn anything you new about this Intersecret?"
"Yep.", was Peter's simple reply.
"And did you believe anything he say?" The young woman insisted.
"I don't really have a choice, do I?"
Chuck watched, weary, as Bryce strolled toward them, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Casey and Sarah's heads turned at the sudden arrival. Frowning his eyebrows in concern, Chuck asked:
"Hey, you okay?"
"Bartowski, I swear to freakin' God, ask me that question again and I'll shoot you." Bryce snapped.
The Human Intersecret took a few steps back, raising his arms in surrender while Casey let out a low whistle and Sarah glared at Bryce, narrowing her eyes at him. The former spy sighed and ran his fingers through his messy brown hair before turning around to face the small redhead.
"General", he greeted.
"Larkin." Beckman shot back. "Can I just say that this plan is extremely stupid and dangerous?"
"Thanks, General. I wasn't aware of it." Bryce deadpanned, his blue eyes stuck on the small briefcase the older woman was carrying.
The smaller woman rolled her eyes at him and placed the case on the desk. The A team watched as Bryce took a deep breath and opened the briefcase. Sure enough, a simple pair of sunglasses was in it. Sarah and Casey exchanged a glance while Chuck's eyes were stuck on the content of the briefcase. The White Collar team – plus Mozzie and Alex – approached the small group, observing the glasses, unimpressed and in a complete silence. Quickly broken by Jones.
"I still think that you should wear a mic."
"You have my laptop, you can hear anything, we don't need a mic." Bryce retorted.
"What about kelvar jackets?" Sarah proposed.
"What about a gun?" The former spy mimicked in a sarcastical tone, ignoring the dark glare the blonde sent him. "Sarah, it's a simple trade : the Intersecret for the girls."
"More like a stupid trade." Casey muttered. "Still don't understand why we agreed to it."
"I agreed to it because I didn't want to be the one to explain to Devon why his wife died." Bryce snapped, closing the briefcase. "So just stick to the plan, stay in the van and everything will be fine. Got it?"
Bryce ignored Casey's menacing growl and looked around the room, so that everyone could see he wasn't messing around. Satisfied, the fake conman put on his jacket and took the suitcase, announcing:
"We're ready to go."
Chuck and Bryce exchanged a glance before getting out of the van. The Human Intersecret could feel his fiancée's worried gaze as he walked toward the warehouse. Stopping abruptly, Chuck turned around and waved at Sarah, shoting her a small smile. The blonde smiled and waved back before the vans' doors closed and Chuck disappeared from view.
A few feet away, Bryce watched the couple's farewell, a lump forming in his throat. Trying to clear his thoughts, he shook his head and cleared his throat, hoping to attract his former best friend's attention. Chuck slowly turned around, clutching the briefcase in his hand as he walked past Bryce, muttering :
"Let's get this over with."
Bryce gave a small nod before following him. As the two men arrived in front of the warehouse closed doors, they were greeted by two strong looking men, who immediately took the briefcase from Chuck, before ordering them to spread their legs and arms so they could check them for weapons or other things.
As a guard patted his leg, Bryce felt a smirk appear on his face as he said:
"Don't let those hands wander too high,we're both taken men, aren't we Chucky?"
The only response he got was a scoff from Chuck and a growl from the man checking him. The two men were both dragged into the warehouse. Bryce's smirk disappeared as he saw Ellie being manhandled by two men and Shaw smirking at their arrival, a gun in his hand.
"Chuck, Bryce! Welcome!" Shaw greeted, his arms wide-opened "First of all-"
A second later, Chuck felt a bullet rip his flesh as it went through his arm.
"Motherfuck- what the freakin' hell is wrong with you?" Chuck yelled, biting the inside of the cheek, pressing the wound with his hand.
"Call it revenge. You shot me, I shot you." Shaw retorted cheerfully, shrugging his shoulders."
"You son of a bitch, I'll shot you through-" Ellie shouted, fighting against the hold of her guards to get to her brother."
Shaw turned toward her, a mocking finger on his lips, then gestured for the guards to let her go. They obeyed the order before restrained Ellie from getting to the two men. The woman glared at them, then ran her fingers through her messy hair and went to sit in a corner, bringing her knees up to her chest. The guard that greeted both Chuck and Bryce at the doors handed Shaw the briefcase.
"Ah!" The rogue agent sighed, satisfied "Thank you very much, Wilson."
Grabbing the radio that was sitting on the table, Shaw muttered something inaudible into it before passing the small box to another person, as if he was afraid they would take it back from him.
"You got what you wanted, Shaw." Bryce shouted, clenching and unclenching his fists nervously, watching from the corner of his eye as Chuck stumbled on his feet "Now, it's time for you to respect your end of the bargain."
The rogue agent slowly turned around, a mischevious grin on his face. A grin that scared the shit out of Bryce and that gave Chuck the urge to throw up. Or maybe that was because of the blood he was currently losing. Trying to stand tall, Chuck pushed back his shoulders, wincing in dolor as he did so. Even though he thought he was discreet when he did so, Chuck couldn't help but think that he was the reason Shaw was chuckling. Asshole.
"Don't worry, Larkin, I'll respect my end of the bargain. Sarah, Ellie and Elizabeth will be released,unharmed." Shaw assured.
Where are Sara and Elizabeth, by the way? Well, Ellie is here. Ellie is safe. Don't worry. No need to- Chuck. focus.
Chuck closed his eyes for a few seconds, clearing his throat and clenched his fists, oblivious to Bryce's nervous and worried glances.
"Then, do you want?" The former spy asked, keeping his eyes on his former best friend.
"I think it's more about what do you really want, Larkin." Shaw retorted, cocking an eyebrow.
If the former roommates weren't already confused, they were now. The two men shared a look before Bryce turned back to Shaw, snapping:
"What the hell does that mean?"
The rogue agent scoffed, crossing his arms and retorted, raising his eyebrows :
"You're not going to stand here and tell me that you don't blame Chucky for blowing your cover?"
Yes. No. Two voices in Bryce's brain fought for dominance. The fake conman had to close his eyes, hiding any sign of conflict. How could've Chuck know that he was still alive, living in New York and working for the FBI? He had every right to react the way he did. Bryce understood and didn't blame Chuck for anything. BUT- Did he really have to attack him in the middle of the city? Did he have to work on the same case as his team and, eventually, force him to blow a cover? To ruin this new life.
"What the fuck are you-"
"I mean-" Shaw interrupted Chuck, the latter glaring holes into his head "if the CIA hadn't tagged along, you would be living as Neal Caffrey, conman extraordinaire and trustworthy FBI consultant. Bryce Larkin, however, doesn't have a team to cover him, betrayed his girlfriend and got her abducted."
He's right. HE'S WRONG! He's-
Bryce's blue eyes snapped open. They were cold, emotionless and determined. The brown haired man looked up at Shaw, who was expecting him to speak up, then shot a look at Chuck, the latter looked confused, disoriented and a bit mad. Taking a breath, Bryce said:
"You're right. The CIA has this way to get under your thing."
"You've got to be- Bryce, the guy's using you. The fuck you doin'?!" The Human Intersecret protested, his speech a bit slurred.
"I'm not an idiot, Bartowski!" the former spy spat, glaring at Chuck
Shaw, standing a few feet away, seemed to be enjoying the show, while Ellie observed the two old friends, a bit fearful of the outcome. Clearing his throat, the rogue agent walked to Bryce and proposed:
"You can still save Sara, you know. You can go back to being Neal Caffrey, conman extraordinaire. You just have to cut off a few ties first."
Bryce froze as he felt the criminal slip a weapon into his hand. Instinctly, the blue-eyed man clenched his fingers around the object, a finger finding the way on the trigger. He could hear Chuck suck a breath. He didnt know if it was because of the pain or because he had seen the gun clenched in his hand, though. Both, perhaps. Looking up at his former roommate, Bryce noticed that the spy's gaze was stuck on the weapon.
Chuck's hand was still wrapped around his wounded arm, crimson blood oozing through his fingers. Swallowing, the tall man took off his head and held it in front of him as he stared into Bryce's crystal eyes:
"Bryce, liste' me. Y-ya don' this. He playin' w-with yo' head. Sa-Sa-"
His body was trembling, a small pool of red liquid had appeared on the floor and his face was incredibly pale. Still, Bryce didn't find himself to care as he slowly raised his gun, the barrel of it pointed toward his former best friend. His hands were still and his face was bare of any emotions.
"I don't have to listen to you, Chuck."
His brown eyes wide-opened, the spy raised both of his arms, forgetful of his injury as he did so.
"Lo-look! I'sowry B-Bryce, 'kay? I'm-" Chuck stopped himself, annoyed by his stuttering "Is tha- ya want to hear? I'm sorry."
The former spy didn't even blink as he retorted:
"I'm sorry too."
Then without an ounce of hesitation, Bryce Larkin shot Chuck Bartowski and watched as he fell, dead, on the dirty floor of an abandoned warehouse, deaf to his sister's agonizing screams.
A/N : you know what's agonizing ? the length of this chapter!
Yep.
Anyway, I really like that you liked this chapter, that it was up to your expectations, that I portrayed Shaw correctly - Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer in Arrow is good and loveable and goofy, so I tried to make Shaw really ruthless, watching clips of his fights with Chuck or others -
I really hope people are still reading this. Cuz this chapter in particular has been the death of me, because of this huge game changer!
Anywoo : nerds, I love you, please review and I'll see you soon.
KC out.