A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!
Diane Beckman sat on a park bench and watched as the snow softly fell on the freshly bloomed cherry blossoms. The late spring chill was not unusual for Washington; however the snow was and in typical beltway behavior, an inch and a half of snow had paralyzed the city. She was waiting for a meeting with a very important contact, and although she usually disliked this cloak and dagger stuff, for him she would make an exception.
As the darkness grew and a soft sodium vapor lamp came to life above her, she adjusted her coat against a cold wind as a solitary man with an umbrella entered the park. He was impeccably dressed man and strode towards the bench in slow measured movements, which in truth, was just for theatrics. She knew he would never show his face until he was absolutely sure there was no danger, but he did love to put on a show.
The face looked older and his hair had turned a light shade of grey, but the eyes were still bright and focused.
"Hello Diane. If it's possible you look more radiant then ever," he said as he sat down beside her.
"Thank you. You are looking well yourself," she replied.
"So how is Major Casey doing," he asked as he casually wiped a bit of snow off of his umbrella.
"You don't miss much do you?"
"No, but then again I never did," he replied.
"Casey is doing well," she replied.
"I'm sure he is," he laughed.
"How is your..ah..your life," she asked struggling to make conversation.
"Same always Diane, busy. But then again I'm sure you know that," he said.
"We lost track of you after that Russian thing. I thought maybe somebody finally caught up to you. Then you show up in Brazil," she said.
"Yes well Russia is a very cold place and I needed a bit of sun," he joked.
"What happened," she asked.
"Oh you know I don't kiss and tell," he joked.
"I'm being serious," she pressed.
"I know you are, and I know that you are not here with a detail, so you obviously aren't trying to arrest me. And you wouldn't be foolish enough to try to kill me, so that leaves two options. Either you are here to declare your undying love for me, which seems unlikely due to you "activities" with major Casey, or you need something from me."
"You never did miss anything did you."
"No."
"I need your help."
"I'll bet you do."
"Are you interested?"
"As much as I would love to help you Diane, I still have a rather bad taste in my mouth from the last time we worked together. Your CIA is not exactly a friendly playmate," he said.
"I know, but this time it will be different. You will be working for the NSA," she said.
"Eh same church different pew. Now Diane as much as I enjoyed out time together, I'm afraid I will have to take my leave its been..,"
"Please just hear me out. It concerns Steven's son," she said.
"What did you do Diane," he said with a flash of anger.
It was a little after 2am when they were ready to leave. Sarah left Bryce's body where it was and walked to the far end of the hanger where Selma and Alberto had already loaded Chuck on the plane. Alberto was in the back with Chuck, while Selma, a trained pilot, would be doing the flying.
"What's our status," she said as she got into the copilot seat.
"Just bringing her up now. Everything looking good," Selma said as she went through the preflight check.
"How is he," she turned and asked Alberto.
"Ok. As long as we stay below 10,000 feet we should be fine," he said.
Sarah had cut and dyed Chuck's hair to match one of the identities she made for him and slowly ran her fingers through his new hair. She missed his old haircut, but keeping him safe was more important.
"Don't worry Mija. You love the man not the hair," Alberto laughed.
"You're living proof of that," Selma replied as she winked at her bald headed husband.
"Ok we are ready to go," Selma said.
"I'll get the door," Sarah said as she jumped out and opened hanger door.
Selma expertly drove the little plane out of the hanger, while Sarah went back inside and opened several large drums. She soaked a few rags in two of them and then knocked one over on its side, spilling the contents on the floor. She then gathered all the bandages and medical supplies into a pile, along with Chuck's buymore clothes and id. Emptying his bag and wallet, she took only a few pictures out and left everything else. Satisfied that she had taken everything of value or could leave a trail to Chuck Bartowski, she lit a match and ignited one of the rags. While the fire burned, she slowly removed her CIA identification badge, and threw it in as well. In the eyes of the world, Chuck Bartowski was now dead, and so was Sarah Walker. She closed the hanger door on her way out, and by the time she reached the plane, some feint flames were visible slipping out from the inside.
"Did you match the fillings Alberto?"
"The best I can, but I'm not a dentist. Your boyfriend here has a bit of a sweet tooth," he said.
Sarah remained silent as Selma pushed the engine an upped the rpms.
"Stand by we are ready for take off," she said as she pushed the throttle and the plane accelerated down the darkened airstrip.
She expertly lifted off with 20 metered remaining on the runway and slowly climbed to her cruising altitude. They plane had no transponder, and provide she kept low and stayed out of range of the major airports, they should remain unnoticed. As Selma banked the plane Sarah saw that the hanger was now fully engaged, and was only a matter of time until every trace of her and Chuck's former lives would be gone forever. She realized in that moment just how much she had changed. Bryce was her former partner, and she had just killed him, but she didn't feel any remorse. It needed to be done, and once Graham would be able to, he would brand her a traitor and order her execution. At this moment she faced an uncertain future with no safe harbor provided by the government, but she didn't care.
Two years ago if she was in this situation, she would have been a basket case. The future is unknown, and the unknown is terrifying to a spy, but Sarah was not that person anymore, she was no longer a spy. All the skills that Graham had taught her to enable her to deceive and to kill, she would now use to love and protect. She was not afraid of the future or the unknown, because she had someone to face it with now. Her life would no longer be built on lies, but rather built on trust, and she would no longer live for the mission, but rather for her husband and children. She glanced back at the man who had rescued her heart and smiled. She would never hesitate to protect whom she loved, and would fight to the death to keep him safe.
Graham was not a man given to panic, but the reality of the situation he was facing bordered on hysteria. Not only had he failed to terminate the current intersect team, and lose his top choice for the new intersect, but now he was losing containment of the entire operation. He spent the majority of the last 20 years desperately trying to become the ultimate power broker in Washington, and now his legacy was hanging by a very thin thread.
Where did it all go wrong…he thought to himself as he looked out on the early spring snow from his office in Virginia.
Ironic how deeply the Bartowski's are involved in this…he mused
After he was able to secure the funding for the intersect project, he learned that the project had been in development longer then he imagined, and had never been successful. Since the end of the Second World War, the United States was in one form or another, trying to build the perfect soldier; and had made a major break though in the late 1960's with the development of more complex computer systems. The fusion of the human mind and a computer was an incredibly difficult challenge, but became a reality on June first 1971, as an agent designated Gemini was able to handle the download. The agent was the only one to survive the download of a pool of 120. The remaining candidates experiences severe neurological trauma caused by the intense heat associated with the highly increased neural processes, basically their brains boiled inside their skulls.
Gemini was a highly successful agent, but soon suffered extreme psychiatric problems. In a last ditch effort to save him, a new scientist, Steven Bartowski was brought in to help. Bartowski was able to redesign the intersect and did manage to stem some of the problems that Gemini experienced, but it was only temporary. Eventually the design failed and the problems returned, which lead to Gemini committing suicide; the fall out from which essentially splintered the Bartowski family.
Now Graham was going it alone as the NSA seemed to completely disavowal this operation. First, Beckman sealed castle, and now she cut off communications with him; he could smell a setup a mile away, and this certainly appeared to be the beginnings of one. His only option was to complete the mission and contain the situation, but he had already dug himself a pretty big hole. Larkin had been a mistake from the beginning, and now that mistake would cost him dearly. He always held out hope that he might be able to bring Walker back into the fold, but now that hope was gone. He had additional assets in route to Bryce's location immediately after the incident, but they were long gone by the time they got there. He wasn't surprised, Walker was his best and she was using everything she had learned to get away.
She would have made the perfect intersect…the intersect project was supposed to be my legacy, and now it was shaping up to be my albatross..he thought as the quiet snow dropped peacefully down.
"I can't believe this! Have you learned nothing from before!"
"Look I understand your reservations," Beckman said.
"My reservations? Jesus Diane you make it sound like it was only a minor mistake what happened!"
"Look just hear me out please," she begged.
"I will, but only for Steven," he said.
After telling him of her plan, Beckman sat back and waited for his response. She knew not to rush it, as he was a highly analytical man, who rarely made a miscalculation or a mistake.
30 years as a ghost will make a man careful and guarded. she thought.
"I can't imagine the hell that boy has been through. Absolutely no training and he is given this terrible hell," he said.
"We never anticipated that..,"
"That's your problem Diane! The government never anticipates! I told you to destroy this project 25 years ago!"
"We tried, but there was a need that Graham was able to constantly exploit to keep the funding alive."
"Of course they did," he said sarcastically.
"We need you help. Graham will stop at nothing to control the program, and send everything he has after the kid."
"That bastard has done enough to that family," he said.
"Well the president agrees with you," she said as she handed him a sheet of paper.
He reviewed the paper that she gave him.
"Why me," the man said.
"He wants the best," she said.
"Flattery is cheap," he said.
"Will you help us?"
"No. I won't help you."
"But...,"
"I will however help Steven's son. I owe him more then I can repay," he said solemnly.
"Thank you Hartley."
"Well Diane, always a pleasure, I will be taking my leave now. Please give my regards to the Major," he said as he got up to leave.
"Do you need anything for your..,"
He silenced her with a quick smile.
"You already have a plan? You knew about this didn't you?"
"Let's just say that director Graham and myself have had and appointment for a very long time," he said as he opened his umbrella.
"Very well Hartley good luck."
"You too Diane."
He slowly walked out of the park and seamlessly melded into the surroundings.
Five minutes later a at pulled up to the edge of the park, and Beckman got in.
"We lost him," Casey said as he merged with traffic.
"Of course you did," she said.
"We will pick him up again," he said.
"Nope John, the man is a ghost," she said.
"What's the story there Diane? What's the connection to Bartowski's father," Casey asked.
"Another time John," she said.
"Sure," he said.
"You know he didn't really look that legendary. Is he really that good," Casey asked.
Suddenly a text message from a blocked number came into Beckman's phone.
She read it and gave a smug smile.
"What? Everything alright? What does it say," Casey asked.
"It says have the major check his breast pocket," she said.
Casey reached into his pocket.
"Oh my god," he exclaimed.
"What does it say?"
"It says what do you think Major. What? How did he..," Casey said dumbfounded.