CHAPTER 36

After finishing his third test, Chuck made his way home and took a shower, changing before he planned to head back to the hospital. He was coming out of the hall when Devon entered the apartment holding flowers.

"Chuck. Just the guy I was looking for." He walked to Chuck in the kitchen and handed the flowers over. "These are for you."

"Wow, Devon," he said looking them over. "Thanks. I've never received flowers from another man before, but I definitely appreciate it."

"They're not from me, Chuck."

Chuck gave a quick nod. "Well at least we won't have to break Ellie's heart."

Devon chuckled, but quickly grew serious. "They're from Sarah's ex. I intercepted them before they got to her room. This guy won't take no for an answer."

"Indeed," Chuck said with a sigh. "Well, thanks for looking out."

"Hey, that's what bros are for," Devon said raising a hand which Chuck clapped and clasped briefly.

"Right." It felt nice having Awesome look out for him. The closest he'd had to a brother before that was Morgan, and he was more like a little brother. The prospect of having an older brother watching his back left Chuck smiling until Devon left the room and pulled a card from the flowers, quickly dialing the number.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, you know what Bryce, I almost bought your little speech, but-"

"Who's Bryce?"

Chuck tilted his head upon recognizing the voice. "Von Hayes… Von Hayes, we've been looking for you."

"Who is this?"

He could salvage this. Chuck took a breath and told him, "Jorge Carmichael."

"Uh, who?"

"The waiter. The waiter you got fired."

"How did you get my number. I-I sent the flowers to that female agent."

"Yeah, yeah, well, you know, I'm her supervisor and your little case has made its way up the food chain. So you're gonna be dealing with me now. If you want to stay alive, you need to tell me where that microchip is."

"Don't worry. I have it, it's safe, just… Just don't let those people catch me, okay? Just get me the hell out of here, Jorge. I'm-I'm-I'm living in a Lamborghini. You-you can't imagine how little legroom there is."

After brief negotiations, Chuck hurried across the courtyard, pounding on Casey's door until he opened it and he walked inside without an invitation. Though Casey was clearly annoyed, that faded when Chuck told him he'd found the microchip. Casey called Bryce and told him the plan before setting it all in motion. With a spare text to Sarah apologizing for not being there, they went to the train station to meet Von Hayes, not knowing she was busy questioning the Elfin Psycho's driver.

Once he saw Von Hayes approaching, Chuck got up with the bag and made his way to his spot in sight of Casey and Bryce. The software magnet was clearly nervous as he asked, "Have you got the cash?"

"Yeah, I have. It's right here," he said showing him the wads of cash in the bag. "Do you have the microchip?"

Hayes held up the key chain. "Alright, give me the cash."

"Set the chip on a chair," Chuck said with a nod toward the wooden benches. "I'll set the bag down and you can take it."

"What? Should-shouldn't we just exchange them? I've never done a handoff before. I'm really not used to this spy stuff."

"It's a little stressful, but you'll be fine," Chuck offered sympathetically. "Here, I'll set it down first, then you can just sit, drop the key chain on the seat next to you, pick up the bag as you stand and be on your way, okay?"

Chuck bent over, setting the bag on the ground as he pretended to be tying his shoe, but that was when he noticed the man with the shaved head scanning the station. Hayes had just started to lean over and set the key chain down when he noticed and followed Chuck's gaze, spotting the thug reaching for the gun in his waistband.

"You told me I could trust you," Hayes said running away from him.

"No. No, no, no, wait!" Chuck exclaimed watching three men chase after Hayes.

"I can never get a break," Casey said throwing his paper down and going after them telling Chuck, "You. Stay here this time."

With a motion to Bryce, the CIA agent left his seat to join the pursuit, leaving Chuck alone holding four and a half million dollars. "Don't you need this?"

But he was Chuck Bartowski. Of course he didn't stay. So he ran after them and came onto the platform with the federal agents in a standoff with the goons.

"Hold on! Wait! Don't do shoot," He said coming to a stop behind Hayes. "Excuse me, gentlemen. May I have your attention, please?" He started moving around Hayes to stand between the goons and agents, turning to face the former. "I'm holding four point five million in unmarked bills. Now I'm not sure the going rate for thugs-for-hire, but I'm feeling pretty confident that it's a lot less than this. Now if you want it let us go and the money is yours. Or you can die horrible deaths in a hail on gunfire. The choice is yours, really."

The lead one stepped forward, turning his gun on Chuck before reaching for the bag and leading the others back down the stairs.

"That was amazing!" Hayes rushed up to hug Chuck. "Thank you, Jorge."

"Don't mention it," he said patting the man's back.

"No, no, no. Don't encourage him," Casey said pulling Hayes off him and yanking the key chain from Hayes' hand.

"You know a little appreciation wouldn't kill you," Chuck pointed out, watching Casey hand the microchip off to Bryce. "I mean I did get the microchip back."

"You also gave away four point five million in taxpayer dollars."

"As if there isn't a tracker in the bag or the bills aren't being tracked," Chuck muttered as Casey went to the staircase. "Where are you going?"

"To get it back before before they all split up," Casey said waggling his head to emphasize the obviousness.

Chuck followed Bryce and Hayes down to the station, Bryce holding Hayes' arm to keep him in front of them.

"You know I don't need Casey to tell me I'm a good at this," chuck said following them, knowing it didn't matter but he was being petty. "The fact of the matter is it's not really as hard as it's cracked up to be anyway."

That was when the elfin psycho turned from the counter and put her gun to his head saying, "Okay, let's try this one more time." Bryce pulled the gun from his waistband and spun around on her. "The microchip, please," she said watching Hayes take off past her, focusing her gaze on Bryce over Chuck's shoulder. "The Microchip, now."

"Release the kid first."

"'Kid'?" Chuck said incredulously, "We're born the same year."

"Give me the chip and I'll let him go," she said before adding a disingenuous, "Promise."

Bryce glanced toward a tall poster board where he saw Sarah peeking from behind it. As quick as it was, Chuck noticed the glance and bit back a smile before turning his head slightly toward the Fulcrum agent. "You know I wasn't kidding before about getting fed up being held at gunpoint."

He watched Bryce raise his hands and kick his gun over to her. "The Chip?"

From the corner of his eyes Chuck saw her kneeling to pick up the chip. He'd contemplated a lot of ways to deal with stuff like this the past few months let alone all the time since he first felt the agent press a gun into his side before shooting Morgan. But he had seen first hand how quickly things could go wrong, and as much as he'd imagined it he never tried it. So though he might have been able to turn and kick the gun out of her hand, or maybe even knocked her out with a kick to the face, he didn't risk it.

If he was alone again, if he was back at the pier with just him and Morgan, then he would. It was almost odd how clearly he was certain of it, not because it was some scenario he imagined but because he knew exactly why he didn't in this moment. Because he didn't have to. Sarah was there, Bryce was there, and Casey would show up soon. Either they would find a way to deal with this, probably by shooting the elf, or she'd take him and either he'd grab the chip and leap out of the car, or they would rescue him. There was no reason for him to risk his life when it was safe in their hands.

"There," said Bryce. "Now release him."

"Sorry," the elf said backing them away.

"Predictable," Chuck said shaking his head.

"Got it?" Bryce asked staring at Chuck.

"Yeah, I got it," Sarah said trying to aim at the inches bobbing around Chuck's shoulder as they moved backward.

"Take it," Bryce said coolly. But when nothing happened he said, "Take the shot, Sarah." Bryce turned to her as she stared at Chuck, who simply smiled at her as if assuring her it would be okay. "Sarah, take the shot! Take it!"

A gunshot rang out and Chuck winced feeling the Fulcrum agent collapse behind him. After a quick pat down of himself he saw Sarah lower her unfired gun and chuckled to himself. Looking behind him he saw Casey with the bag of money and Von Hayes, exclaiming, "Well, you want something done right… you do it yourself."

Though Sarah's face was colored by apprehension and concern and Bryce's touched by surprise and a flicker of disappointment, Chuck looked to her with reassuring smile. At least until he turned around saying to the downed agent while holding out his arms toward the agents in either direction, "This is why we're better than you."

Once cleaners came and cleared them, Chuck headed home while Casey and Sarah dealt with handing off Hayes and the others.

He was entering the courtyard just after sunset when yet again Bryce strode toward him from out of nowhere exclaiming, "Chuck."

"Gaah!" Chuck turned to him, startled and holding up his hands in frustration. "What did I say about the entrances?"

"We need to talk about Sarah."

Chuck rolled his eyes, taking a step toward the apartments. "Didn't we already do this."

"She had a chance to take the shot back there and she didn't. She hesitated and almost cost us the microchip and your life."

"Did she? Or did you?" Chuck asked turning on him. "You're the one who was with me. A trained agent didn't notice the elf lady standing suspiciously at an empty teller? Didn't think to maybe give her something that wasn't actually the chip?" Seeing Bryce frown, setting his things down, Chuck shook his head saying, "Besides, it didn't matter. I knew Casey was there, Sarah was there, and you were there. Even if you couldn't stop her, I'd have grabbed the chip and leapt out of her car or you three would have rescued me and the chip before anything happened. It's not like I don't have a distress beacon on my watch and phone."

"That doesn't change the fact that she didn't take the shot."

"And did her job, protecting me," said Chuck. "Not risking my life to shoot the top of some agent's head who could barely see over my shoulder."

Bryce shook his head. "What happened to you telling Casey to take the shot? Shoot through your shoulder for my heart?"

"You were the guy who got me kicked out of school, slept with my girlfriend and sent me the Intersect to ruin my life who suddenly was alive again and holding what I thought was some lethal drug to my neck," Chuck said with a shrug. "I may have been angry at the time."

A smirk crossed Bryce's lips before falling into a solemn expression. "She won't survive like this. And it will be on you if she doesn't. So what are you going to do about it, Chuck?"

"I don't know, Bryce," he said with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll tell me. What am I supposed to do?"

"You'll do the right thing. You always do. That's why I sent you the Intersect in the first place." Bryce picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder with a smirk. "It belonged with someone better than the Bryce Larkins of the world."

A small part of him might have felt sorry about that comment if Bryce had seemed even slightly upset by it. "Bryce," Chuck said to the departing Bryce, spotting the sunglasses he left on the bench where his bag had been. Picking them up he held them out for him. "Your glasses."

"You keep 'em," said Bryce. "If you're going to be a real spy you're gonna need them."

Chuck shook his head, handing them over. "I'm fine being me. I don't want to be a real spy."

"From what I've seen it's a little late for that, Chuck," Bryce said taking them from him. "I'm sure you hate me right now, but someday you're gonna realize I was looking out for you. I have been all along."

With a solemn nod, Bryce turned and left Chuck in the courtyard, watching him leave once again before turning and heading into the apartment. She greeted him with a hug asking, "How's Sarah?"

"Fine, I think," he said stepping back.

Ellie held his shoulders and searched his face. "And you two?"

Chuck shrugged. "I don't know, El."

"Well, I invited her to dinner to celebrate her being a bridesmaid," Ellie said cautiously. "I hope that's okay?"

Chuck shook his head. "Even if we weren't anything, I know you're her friend, and I want you to continue to be her friend even if we don't work out. She needs a friend like you. She deserves it."

Ellie beamed, rubbing his shoulder. "She deserves you too, Little Brother."

Chuck clicked his tongue. "And you call yourself her friend."

Smacking his shoulder, Ellie made her way toward the kitchen. "Food will be ready in an hour."

Chuck took the time to head into his room, falling back onto his bed with a sigh. It felt like he'd been running a marathon the last few days, at least emotionally. He didn't think he was so bad he'd still be exhausted from his sprint while holding Sarah.

While he didn't agree with Bryce, he did know he had to get better. He should be able to handle situations like today without relying on his team. Maybe he could tell Ellie to work with Orion on some kind of combat upgrade. Teach him kung fu or how to shoot better, whatever might be useful.

After a few minutes musing on things he could suggest for a combat upgrade, Chuck sat up and saw a pair of glasses sat on his desk with 'For a real spy' scribbled on a post-it note beside it. Sliding off the bed, Chuck shook his head, picking the glasses off the desk and moving over to his window which he saw was unlocked. Clicking the lock back, he walked over to the mirror and slid the glasses on, looking them over with a shrug. They weren't really his style, but then neither was being a spy like Bryce.

As he went to remove them, he saw a brief flash of red before texts appeared on the lenses. OCULAR IDENTIFICATION. Then as he lowered his hand, and furrowed his brow with a whispered, "What?" two panels slide back near each hinge and images flooded the lenses.

Chuck stood there for three minutes, listening to the audio coming through the speakers at the tips of the glasses and reverberating through his skull until suddenly it went silent and he saw the words on screen: Intersect Update Complete. Then he fell back on his floor with a thud, groaning, "I hate Bryce Larkin."

He was sitting up, pulling himself onto the bed when the door opened and Ellie asked, "Everything okay?"

"I'm fine," he said pulling the glasses off, noticing the pair of smoking chips on either side. "I… I just got an Intersect update."

"Oh," Ellie said stepping into the room and closing the door, "it arrived already?"

"What?" Chuck asked turning to her. "You knew about it?"

"We finished it a few days ago," she explained. "Orion said he'd compile it and send it through a secure carrier. Said it was someone he trusted."

Chuck laughed, shaking his head. "Was that why Bryce was here?" The whole Von Hayes thing did seem like the kind of job they could've handled on their own.

"Bryce Larkin?" Ellie asked. "He was here?"

"He showed up the other night," Chuck answered, shrugging as he got to his feet, not realizing he'd said just enough for Ellie to gasp as she pieced it all together.

"Oh god! He's her ex?" Ellie's hands covered her mouth. "Sarah dated Bryce Larkin?"

Chuck turned to her and frowned. "Yes."

Ellie groaned, rushing over to hug him. "Oh, Chuck. No wonder you've been so miserable."

"Thanks for sugar coating it, Sis," Chuck groused, but smiled and hugged her back.

"I thought he looked like an asshole," she said with a grin once they separated. "I shouldn't have let Devon stop me from going over. I could have let him have it."

"It's fine, El. What they had was in the past. Sarah told me herself."

"Good," she said firmly, crossing her arms.

"So what's on the update exactly?" Chuck asked looking around but failing to flash on anything.

"Nothing too complex. Some languages, a bunch of survival stuff Orion suggested," he light tone grew sharper as she concluded, "and I made him put in as much as he could about disabling a bomb."

"Thanks," he said with a nod. "So is it any different?"

"The skills should feel smoother than the intel flashes. We'd have to overwrite them to make those smoother, but without the intel it's almost impossible, and at that point it'd be better to wipe them and recompile them. Other than that it should work like normal, except you can should be able to force it somehow." Seeing him arch his brow she shrugged. "It's hard to know for sure since we can't really test it. Try willing it, I guess?"

"So Green Lantern it," he said with a nod.

Ellie shrugged. "I'm going to just say yes."

Taking a breath, he looked down and thought on a language, and suddenly felt a a stream of words flood his mind in a flash. It was at least as fast as the normal flashes, but didn't feel like the information was being dragged out of some pit, instead it was like a lever was switched, releasing a torrent of information.

Chuck knit his brow and raised his head, looking to his anxious sister before saying with a smirk, "Ellie… Je connais le francais."

AN:

This is another instance of calling Bryce out on stuff, which is always fun, but I think he's the type to ignore stuff like that and not let it get to him much.

The ending isn't quite "I know Kung Fu", but according to google translate it's "I know French."