A/N: I know we're 30 something chapters in, I know it's been slow, but prepare yourselves. All that building is about to begin to give you our vision of this show. Canon is our map, but we like to go off-roading every now and then. And there are some things….we're just gonna go our own way. (And if Fleetwood Mac is now stuck in your head just be glad it's not Michael Bolton, SC's all time favorite artist.)

You are sooooooooooooo lucky I still let you have that joke. So lucky. (shakes head) -SC

Disclaimer: We don't own Chuck and we aren't making any money from this fic.

Sarah kept her eyes on her director's face as Casey went through the details of what happened up in Palo Alto. She let him take lead during the debriefing because the sun was just starting to come up and she was tired.

She'd accidentally fallen asleep during the drive, meaning that Chuck had done most of the driving. And she'd been out for almost three hours, he'd informed her once she woke up at the rest stop. When she'd tried to apologize, he'd just shrugged it off like it was nothing at all.

The truth was, she'd gotten a little caught up this time in just how close she'd come to death. She'd been so sure that was it. She'd been ready for that to be it. Or maybe not. Maybe she wasn't ready at all, and that had been what left her so shaken. That she didn't want to leave just yet. Not now.

Casey could handle this part, and she'd just stand back and watch, study how her superiors reacted.

"So? You have the disc?" Graham asked, leaning a bit closer to the screen. Beckman's face was immovable.

And Casey didn't seem to know how to answer that. It must've just occurred to him that they'd both neglected to ask Chuck to give it to them. She'd purposely let him hold onto it for a bit, and maybe that wasn't professional, or well-advised. So she was batting 0 for 2, she supposed. Oh, well.

"Yessir. We have the disc."

"Good." He nodded once. "We need to make sure that gets back to us safely, and Fleming won't have died for nothing."

This time Sarah did see something...just a little something...and maybe it was nothing…

Beckman shifted her fingers where they were locked together on top of her desk, just so. Even as her face belied nothing. What was that about, she wondered? If it was about anything at all.

"Just out of professional curiosity, where did those recruits come from?" Graham asked then. "None of us contacted them."

"Chuck did it, sir," Casey said, lifting his chin a little. "He saved our asses. Went through that disc and called recruits who were still attending the university, got them to us for back-up."

"The...asset…"

"Chuck called them?" Beckman sat up taller and blinked.

"General, he thinks on his feet better than some agents I've worked with," Sarah admitted, keeping a professional mien, hands folded behind her back, spine straight. "If those recruits hadn't arrived, Magnus' men would've had us. We were outnumbered and out-gunned."

Graham was looking offscreen, his brow furrowed. "He found them on that disc, did he?"

"Yessir."

"That was quick thinking. He did good work." He looked back at her, then at Casey. "If that's all, agents, take the day off. We'll make sure Mr. Bartowski gets a day or two off as well. He's earned it."

"Sir...General…"

The screen went blank and Sarah let out a long breath, slumping a little.

"If you're so tired, why don't ya get some sleep?" Casey asked. "I'm right across the courtyard from the kid. I can look after 'im. I'm sure he'll just be sleeping himself."

Sarah shook her head. "No, we need to grab that disc from Chuck right now. We shouldn't have let him keep it for this long."

"Hmng. Somethin' tells me you knew what you were doin' letting him keep it, knowing I'd be preoccupied with the recruits and clean-up and I'd forget."

She didn't answer, nor did she meet his sideways glance. Instead, she went to his closet and popped it open, grabbing a small duffel where she kept a change of clothes. "I just need a quick refresh after that drive. Mind if I use your shower?"

Casey shrugged. "Nah. Want me to go grab that disc—?"

"No." She shook her head. "No offense but it'll be easier for me to get it." And she wondered if he'd looked at it yet, or if he was winding down with Ellie and Devon. Or maybe he'd just plopped onto his bed to fall asleep. Casey had the cameras off so she couldn't go look. She didn't really want to.

After a refreshing, hot shower, she'd be in a better state of mind. And maybe he'd have time to figure out just what it was that had put him on the CIA's radar all the way back when he was just a twenty year old college student.

It took her only fifteen minutes to shower, get dressed, stash her bag back in the closet to pick up later, and stand at the front door of his apartment. She knocked lightly, just in case everyone was asleep.

But then the door opened and Ellie stood there. She was smiling but looked confused that Sarah was standing there after she'd watched her drive off a little over two hours earlier. "Hey! Sarah!"

"Sorry, I didn't know if you guys were gonna be asleep after the all-night drive."

"Oh, no. Not yet. Come in. I don't know if Chuck's asleep yet or not, but I fed him so he might be dozing." She snorted at the way she phrased that, like he was a hamster or something. "You're not sleeping, or…?"

"Oh, I will later. I thought I'd just...um, be more comfortable here. So I went home, showered, and came back." Ellie was watching her with a strange look on her face, one Sarah couldn't decipher. "I...hope that's okay…?"

"Oh God, of course!" Ellie giggled. "It's so okay. You can show up whenever you want. Especially because you're comfortable here. I mean, you know...you know what I mean." She squeezed her arm. "I'd say he needs some cheering up after his school got spanked on the football field, but I think he probably doesn't care all that much. If anything, it probably felt a little satisfying."

"I, uuuh, I think you might be right about that." Sarah wrinkled her nose and giggled. "I'll just head in there...see what he's up to."

"Well, Devon and I are gonna go fall into bed and not get up for thirty hours, but if you need anything, just...get it. Food or whatever. Make yourself at home."

Sarah smiled and nodded as Ellie squeezed her elbow and left her alone. And as she finally made her way down the hallway, she saw that Chuck's door was open. She oh so slowly and silently snuck up to it and peeked inside of his room. He was sitting at his desk, his elbows propped on his knees, the disc in his hands. And he was looking down at it with his brow furrowed, turning it over in his fingers with slumped shoulders.

She had a feeling he hadn't looked yet, that he was working himself up to do it.

And she watched as he finally opened the case and scooted in to slip the disc into the computer. He stared at the screen for a few seconds and she thought maybe she should make her presence known.

"You didn't think we'd let you keep that, did you?"

He spun to look at her, a million little creases between his eyebrows. She'd expected him to look caught, perhaps, or sheepish. Instead, he met her gaze, even sat up a bit straighter. "I need to know, Sarah."

If he'd looked guilty, she didn't think she'd be as eager to give him what he wanted in this. But he wasn't letting them yank him around. He was standing tall, even as he sat with somewhat slumped shoulders, even though she could see he was downright terrified about what he'd learn if he clicked on his file. He was getting his own truth, even though he probably thought her superiors at the very least didn't want him to know it.

So she crossed her arms and nodded. "Okay, Chuck."

Sarah reached back and quietly shut the door as she came into the room, crossing to stand beside him as he scooted his chair to the side to make room for her. She wondered what was going through his head right at that moment. What were they about to see? Would this answer all of their questions?

She shifted her weight nervously and then turned to meet the look Chuck sent her. He was nervous. And in spite of wanting to, she kept from putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Who knew what was in that file? And she wouldn't allow herself to reassure him in case it was something really terrible, or difficult to take. She didn't want to be giving him even a speck of false hope, only to have it crushed by whatever he discovered.

As Chuck turned back and took a deep breath, he clicked on his name. A video file popped open, revealing Dr. Fleming looking into the screen. In spite of there only having been five years between this video and them finding him the other day, he looked a lot younger. As though the last five years had aged him significantly...Poor guy.

"Test subject 0236. Bartowski. This will be his first interview," he said into the camera, before turning around and grabbing his phone. "Send Chuck in," he said, hanging up the phone again.

And a few moments later, the door opened. Instead of Chuck walking into the room like she'd expected, wondering if maybe she'd have to stand here and watch the moment he was accused of cheating, the moment he was expelled… Bryce stepped into view and shut the door behind him. God, he almost looked like a kid. So much younger than he'd been a few months ago, the last time she saw him alive. But there was a lot in his face, gravity, a wiliness without the guile or charm that had first pulled her in when they were assigned to work together.

"Bryce!" Fleming said, thrusting a hand out, palm up. "This isn't a good time. I'm waiting for another student."

Bryce didn't even blink, just standing there and staring at his professor. And then he walked up to the chair and sat down. She felt Chuck spin to look up at her. "Chuck Bartowski… He never got your message," Bryce stated calmly. And she met Chuck's confused look with a steady one of her own, in spite of her insides churning in the worst way.

She squeezed her own biceps hard, nibbling on the inside of her lip, as he looked back at the screen. And she stared at the screen with him, even more worried about what she was about to see.

She had a feeling this was going to get worse, what with Bryce having just admitted to intercepting whatever message Fleming had meant for Chuck to get so that he'd miss this meeting.

"What are you talking about?" Fleming asked Bryce.

"You put Chuck on the CIA recruitment track…"

Oh God. Her hand fell onto the back of Chuck's chair and she squeezed til her knuckles turned white.

"It's not up to me, Bryce. They want the top students, with the highest scores. There is no one within the last, God, ten years or more who is this…" Fleming shook his head and looked down at his papers. "He is the only perfect score we've gotten. Ever."

"Omaha...Isn't that a military operation? Professor, they'll turn Chuck int—"

"This is information I am required to send in to the agency, Bryce. This is my job. This is the perfect candidate."

The perfect candidate. Chuck Bartowski. The man currently sitting beside her, face pale, jaw slack. The same man who'd had the brilliant, life-saving idea to call the recruits in yesterday afternoon. But this was also the guy who'd showed up at the funeral of someone who'd betrayed him, ruined his life, twice. The guy who'd turned a retail store upside down to make a self-described too-tall ballerina's day. The perfect candidate. Perfect score on his test. Perfect. Candidate.

"I want my friend outta this," Bryce said, looking the professor right in his face.

"It's not up to you, Bryce. Or me. This guy can change the world if we put this brain of his to use. Look." Fleming thrust the paper towards Bryce, but Bryce was pointedly not looking, his jaw clenched. When he didn't look, Fleming huffed in frustration and pulled the paper back, tapping it with his finger. "Keywords in his essay responses correlate to over ninety-nine percent of the images in the exam. This guy is it. He could change...everything. I can't not send them this. This is my job on the line, too."

"You don't get it," Bryce cut in, leaning forward. "On paper, he's the perfect candidate. Yeah. Maybe. But the CIA isn't just about what's on paper. This guy isn't gonna make it on a military operation, okay? He's a good person."

Sarah felt Chuck tense, and she didn't have the wherewithal to hold back the tears that flooded in her eyes. She put it together pretty easily. She knew what she was watching. And she knew what was coming next. And if she knew, a guy who'd scored perfect in the CIA recruitment test (without really even knowing what he was taking) definitely knew.

"Look, he's got way too much heart for this kind of work."

"Bryce, you're not looking at the big picture. He wouldn't be doing what you're doing."

"How can you know that for sure?"

"I've been doing this a lot longer than you. You have these ideas about what this agency is, and maybe you're basing that on your own experience, but you're going to take this kind of decision away from your friend?" Fleming asked. "This is a huge opportunity. It could change his life."

"Oh, come on, Prof." Bryce sat back in anger. "I'm not stupid. We both know he isn't gonna have a choice. That's not how this works. And you can't put him out in the field! He's not an operative. He won't survive!" He full on slammed his hand against Fleming's desk, his voice shaking. "Take him off."

Fleming let his head hang and he shook it, before looking up at Bryce again. "He's already in, Bryce."

"You've sent it already."

"No, I interview first. But they aren't gonna let a recruit this good go. He's in no matter what."

Jesus Christ. Her heart felt like someone had grabbed it in a fist and was squeezing. There was abject desperation and frustration in Bryce's face. It was a look she'd never seen on him. She'd only seen cool, calm, collected, that suave nature of his that charmed everyone he came into contact with. The mischievous flash he'd always had in his eyes, in that smirk. She'd never seen him like this. She'd never seen any kind of fight in him, not against the CIA. He followed orders. He'd always just...followed orders. That was why his disappearance, and his treachery against the government had caught her by surprise. He'd never let her see any kind of disillusionment. It had all been fun and games. And that really pounded home for her just how shallow and empty their relationship had been outside of the partnership during missions. She'd never known him. He'd never let her know him. And vice versa.

More than anything, though, he was about to completely change the trajectory of his friend's life, erase him from the CIA's radar. But he'd also ruin his life at the same time. And in spite of everything, in spite of the thought of Chuck decked out in a military operation—Omaha or whatever that was—terrifying her out of her mind, she felt angry.

She could see the gears turning in Bryce's head. And she wondered if Chuck had stopped breathing altogether next to her.

"If he cheated…" Oh God, no. This was it. The air around Chuck had gone cold. "If he cheated on the exam, copied all of his answers, that would invalidate the results, wouldn't it? He'd be taken out as a recruit…"

"Yes…" came Fleming's dubious, careful answer.

"Good." Bryce nodded once. There was no hesitation in him, no reluctance, no remorse. "Now you're going to help me, Professor." And he gestured to the camera behind Fleming's desk, causing the man to reach back and end the recording.

Sarah blinked, looking down at her boots, taking a deep, silent breath, and fighting away the remainder of the tears. They both knew what had happened then. Bryce slipped the answers into Chuck's desk, they were found, and he was expelled.

"Bryce framed me for cheating," Chuck said quietly, sitting back against his chair. She had to quickly move her hand to keep it from being crushed. "To keep me out of the CIA. He thought...he thought he was saving me, though."

And he'd ruined Chuck's life in another way. She wasn't exactly sure she liked the idea of someone like Chuck being thrust into that agency the way she was, forced to see and do the things she'd had to see and do herself. She hated idea of what that would do to him. And maybe Bryce was right to be concerned, to be protective. Chuck must've been special then, too, and Bryce was close enough to him to know it. And someone as special as Chuck deserved a normal life.

But he also deserved to decide the trajectory of his own life. Even at twenty-one, or however old he was at this point, he wasn't a kid. He was an adult. And he didn't deserve to be treated like a kid.

She hadn't had a choice. She'd had to do this or...well, she didn't know where she would've ended up if Graham hadn't appeared in the woods that day. But Chuck should've been able to make the choice for himself.

"Sarah, he thought what he did was right… I don't know… I don't know how to deal with this, with what he did to me, the decision he made for me, and why he did it. But he thought he was right. He could've just...just told me that, though. He could've told me instead of humiliating me in front of everyone, and-and sleeping with my girlfriend, too, by the way. Why didn't he just tell me the truth, Sarah?"

She hated the way he was looking at her, desperate for her to have the answer. An answer that made it all feel less awful. She didn't. She couldn't give him that. Not this time.

"Because he couldn't tell you the truth. By this point, he was already an agent."

That answer didn't seem like it was enough for him as he huffed and shook his head. She didn't blame him one bit.

He buried his face in his hands then, pushing them through his hair, before groaning and sitting back against his chair. He looked absolutely miserable. "I know I'm always givin' people the benefit of the doubt, but if-if he did what he thought was right here—I mean, if he thought he had a good reason for this, for getting me kicked out of Stanford—maybe he had a reason for breaking into the Intersect."

The perfect candidate.

"Maybe." She looked down at him, the anguish in his eyes. "And maybe he had a reason for sending it to you."

As much as she still wanted to strangle Bryce Larkin, as much as he was conceited, egotistical, and patronizing in his presumptuous actions in Fleming's office that day, he'd wanted to save Chuck. He'd been trying to protect him. And his heart had been in the right place. With how much information Chuck could apparently retain, something he'd proven by acing that test, Bryce must've known Chuck's brain would be a safe enough place to put the Intersect.

But the danger that would then put Chuck in…

And after he'd pleaded with Fleming to take Chuck out of circulation, getting Chuck kicked out of college, ruining his life…

There was still so much that didn't make sense.

"I just wish I could talk to him," Chuck said in a half-whisper. He was just gaping at the screen, and she could see his mind was going a mile a minute. Probably thinking about the same things she was thinking about. But perhaps with a little less anger than she had, since he really did tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, even if they didn't really deserve it. Then again, who the hell was she to try to assume what he was going through right now? He had every right to be even angrier than she was.

This was his life.

"It must've torn him up to stand there and watch me leave mortified and shamed that day, not being allowed to tell me why he'd done it, letting me hate him. It must've been so hard."

Chuck's voice sounded broken this time, and she looked down at him, surprised. That? That was what he was focusing on? Not the fact that Bryce had chosen his future for him, even if he had meant well, even if it was what he'd thought was best for him?

Sarah tightened her mouth and pressed against the fleshy part of her face under her eyes with her fingers to push back the tears that threatened. She needed to get out of here. She needed to take the disc and get out. She just needed to go.

This had been too much at once. The partner she'd thought had betrayed her, her country, this man ten times over…

She didn't have the full picture, it seemed. Maybe he hadn't betrayed them. Or maybe he had, and he'd had a good reason. Maybe he wasn't a traitor. And maybe he was a better man than she'd known, even if his methods were patronizing—and that wasn't even a strong enough word. What he'd done was awful. But he'd tried to rescue Chuck from death or a fate worse than that.

She was confused, feeling hurt and vulnerable, and she needed to remove herself from...everyone.

"No one can know about this," she said, struggling to keep her voice level. She walked around Chuck, feeling his gaze on her as she leaned down to eject the disc and put it back in its case. "For your own safety, okay?"

He was just sitting there, confused and hurt and vulnerable, just like her. But she needed to get out of that room and into the quiet safety of her car. Where she could work this out on her own.

Deal with the emotions that were raging inside of her.

"Sure," he muttered as she walked away from him without so much as a goodbye. She ducked out into the hallway and shut the door behind her, clamping her lips between her teeth and blinking to keep from crying.

And she walked away. She kept walking, willing her feet to keep moving until she got inside of her car.

But then her feet stopped and she looked down at the disc in her hands. She wasn't the only one who'd just been through the wringer with what was on this thing. He'd been sitting there numbly, alone, his face crumbled in a mess of awful emotions.

He was all alone, damn it. And she was walking away because she was feeling intense emotions of her own.

Letting out a slow breath, she turned and glanced down the hallway at his door, and she walked right back to it, turning the knob and pushing it open.

Chuck was hunched over in his chair, fingers buried in his hair, elbows on his knees.

He looked up at her, confusion taking over the surprise at seeing her there. "Hey. W—uh…"

Sarah shut the door and slowly walked back to him, wagging the disc in the air and raising her eyebrows. "This was a lot to take in. For you. Are you okay?"

His brow furrowed and he frowned...but then his eyes cleared a little and he let her see a small smile. "You didn't have to—" He gestured to the door.

"I know." He saw more than she wanted him to sometimes and it made her nervous, but she stayed where she was. "But first thing's first. I meant what I said. Nobody can know." She held out the disc towards him and he sat up, slowly reaching up to take it from her, their fingers brushing.

"What, um…" He looked down at the disc.

"Can you take your name off of that?" He frowned at her. "I mean erase any trace of you that is on there. Can you do that?"

"Sure. Easy." He shrugged. "But…"

She took the disc back, opened the case, and stuck it back inside of his computer, dropping the case on his desk and putting her hands on her hips. "Especially after seeing what's on here, Chuck, I can't let anyone know how close you came to being the CIA's top recruit."

He seemed to shiver at that, as though her putting it into words had brought it home for him. "You don't think they already know, do you? They seem to know everything else, stuff we don't even know. What if they knew about me all this time?"

Sarah paused at that. What if they did? ...No. She shook her head. "Listen, Chuck. Bryce went to a lot of trouble, as did Professor Fleming. They framed you for cheating, got you kicked out of Stanford, and taken off the CIA's radar." She swallowed thickly. "I didn't know Bryce Larkin the man—something I'm coming to realize even more than I already had—but I knew Bryce Larkin the spy. I saw him on missions. He doesn't half-ass anything. He wanted you taken off the radar? Then trust me, they didn't know about you." She shook her head and watched as he turned to stare at the computer, scrolling to his name and highlighting it.

"Sarah… Erasing me off of this disc...that's some serious tampering. I don't know how things work in the CIA, but couldn't it get you into some trouble?" She heard the way he focused on the repercussions for her, not even seeming to worry about what it'd mean for himself. God, the CIA would've eaten this man alive.

"Chuck, this is dangerous enough for you as it is. With the Intersect in your head. They have no idea about these tests you took, or the scores you ended up getting. If they knew they had the Intersect inside the head of a...perfect candidate…" She saw it dawning on his face. "They could easily use that in a way we'd have no way to control, Chuck. When you're just...a Buy More employee who accidentally had the government's secrets implanted into his brain, you're…"

"Just an asset," he finished for her. "And if they knew I could be more than that, that I was this close to being a recruit…" He scratched the back of his head. "You think they'd send me on missions on my own? Train me? Make me an agent?"

"I don't know what they would do with this kind of information, Chuck. And honestly, that scares me. You have to delete it." And then she stopped herself and eased back against the desk, leaning into it, shaking her head. "No, you-you had the ability to choose for yourself back at Stanford taken from you. Bryce made the decision for you...and whether it was good for you or not, it wasn't right."

She crossed her arms at her chest and gestured at the screen with a tilt of her head, flicking her eyes towards it before meeting his gaze seriously. "I won't tell you what to do here. You decide. You leave your name there, I'll take this disc and give it to my superiors. Someone will find you there eventually, they'll find out you're a lot more than just a Buy More employee, and...well, I don't know what then." Chuck looked down at his lap, almost glaring. "Or you take your file out, delete it, and they never know. Both Bryce and Fleming are dead. You and me are the only two living people in the world who know how close you were to being a top CIA recruit. We're the only two who know about that test."

Chuck nodded. "And things will continue as they are, just like this."

"Probably."

"You think I could really do this? I mean, if Bryce hadn't… You think I could've survived the CIA? Or would I be dead right now? Like Bryce predicted."

Sarah shut her eyes tightly, then shook her head. "Chuck, that's a hard thing for me to answer. You'd be trained, like those recruits were. You wouldn't be...this Chuck. There's a whole process that you haven't gone through. So it'd be...different."

He nodded. "I'd be different."

"Yeah. And...I don't know if I can make that kind of judgment."

"Bryce had no problem making that kind of judgment. I mean, he was pretty sure I'd get myself killed."

"Bryce thought he knew everything there is to know about everything. He was like that on missions, too. He always had the right way for everything and everyone else was wrong. It's how he operated. But I can't make this decision for you, Chuck. You need to make it for yourself."

Chuck reached up and tapped something on the keyboard, and just like that, his name disappeared. The names around it slid together to fill the space. The file was gone.

"Bryce was pretty sure I wasn't cut out for what you do. And while I'm sure you're right, that he was full of himself like that, he probably had me pegged in this. That isn't why I just deleted the file, though. I deleted it because you aren't sure. And you're being fully honest with me about not being sure, Sarah. We're going to move forward as is, you and me on the same page, and we're gonna take this a day at a time. No way in hell am I gonna throw another curveball into his absolute clusterfuck of a situation. Not when you're so unsure." He shook his head, and when he looked up at her again, there was resolve there.

And not for the first time since she met him, she thought about kissing him. Instead, she shifted out of the way so that he could take the disc out and put it back in the case. But God, she really thought about it. She wanted to.

He handed her back the disc and she nodded. "Okay, Chuck." And she stuck it in her pocket. "Are, uh, are you...okay, though?"

He let out a long sigh and shrugged. "No. I mean, I'm not sure what I am, but I know what I'm not and that's 'okay'. I'm not okay." He got up from his chair and went to his bed, falling onto it haphazardly and covering his face with his hands, just lying there on his back limply.

Sarah tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear and nodded. "Yeah, I don't blame you at all."

He moved his hands into his hair and he just stared at the ceiling. "For five years, Bryce Larkin's name alone made me feel like there was a black hole in my chest, devouring everything in its path. You know that feeling? Like...he was my best friend, the guy I told pretty much everything to, you know? And he up and got me kicked out of a college I'd worked my damn ass off to get into, wrote a million essays to get grants so that I could afford it in the first place… And God, he did me so dirty with that. But then sleeping with my girlfriend. And I believed the worst about him all this time. The worst. I mean, my family for the most part knows not to even talk about him, that busted-ass game night aside."

Sarah found herself snorting quietly at the way he'd said that. And she wandered over to sit on the edge of the bed next to him. "I believed the worst, too. You aren't alone."

"Yeah. I know. This must really suck for you, too." He pushed himself to sit up just enough to lean on his elbows, looking up at her with those understanding, soft eyes of his. "He was more than just your partner, and for all intents and purposes, you've all been led to believe he betrayed his country. Now it seems like maybe he...didn't."

She shook her head and turned to face him better, pulling her legs up under her body and tilting her head to rest on her shoulder as she watched him. "Maybe he didn't. But for someone who apparently cared enough about you to jeopardize his own spot in the CIA to tamper with their recruitment tests and get you tossed out when you were easily their best candidate to date it seems like...he really screwed the pooch with sending you the Intersect—harnessing you with the most dangerous possible situation he could've harnessed you with. I mean, I just don't get it."

Chuck plopped back onto the bed and shrugged, crossing his arms and turning his head to meet her gaze. "He stole it from the CIA, from the NSA, and put it in my head. For...what? Safekeeping? I mean, he chose a guy with no spy skill sets whatsoever. He made sure of that." He scoffed and shook his head.

"It's complicated," she admitted aloud, her voice still quiet. "Because on the one hand, he was trying to protect you. On the other, he took away your choice. And if I were you, that would be unforgivable to me." It was a little unforgivable, she had to admit, because it had happened to her in a sense. Graham had trapped her that day almost a decade ago. She'd really had no choice even though he'd outwardly given her one. What it had really come down to in her seventeen year old mind was a choice between the CIA and death. She'd chosen...well, not death.

"Would I have had a choice if he hadn't done this?" Sarah frowned in response to that, raising her eyebrows. And Chuck sat up, shifting to face her better. "You heard Fleming. If they'd gotten my test results, if they'd seen how high my percentile ended up being, they wouldn't have allowed me to get away."

She huffed and shook her head. "That is a good point. And yet...he still took that choice from you. It wasn't right. Even if his intentions were good."

"Are you saying I shouldn't forgive him?" He leaned a little closer, a bit of a smile playing at his lips.

She rolled her eyes at him and smirked. "I'm not telling you that. I still don't quite know where I'm coming down on all of this, except that even with that file erased, we're going to have to be extra careful. If Bryce had a good reason for doing this—and for as long as I knew him, he tended to do things with purpose even if he was an egotistical jerk…"

"True," Chuck said. His eyes widened then. "Uh, the doing things with a purpose thing, not the egotistical jerk thing…" Sarah made a face and he chuckled. "Okay, fine. Both."

She sniffed in amusement. "If Bryce had a good reason for breaking into the Intersect, and for giving it to you, taking it away from the entities my superiors represent, the entity I'm supposed to represent...that means he was trying to get it away from us. From the CIA, the NSA. Keep it safe with someone who wasn't affiliated with them…"

"He made sure of that, too," Chuck drawled in a flat voice.

She winced a little. "What this all means is I need to be on my guard with General Beckman and Director Graham...him especially maybe. I need to be careful about what I reveal to them, how much I say, how much I let them see. And I need to pay closer attention."

"I hate this."

He looked miserable. Absolutely miserable. So she put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly.

"I know. I get it. It's hard to know where you stand, and how all of this is going to play out. But you're not alone. You've got me. And Casey."

"That's true."

It was. For now. And as she leaned in to give him a comforting hug with one arm, putting her chin on his shoulder as he hugged her back, she found herself thinking that if he hadn't erased his file from that disc, he wouldn't have had her or Casey for much longer. And she was infinitely glad he'd chosen to trust her.

}o{

Casey reached forward and turned off the monitor. He'd delete the footage from the room later, after he finished cleaning his gun.

}o{

Fort Meade, MD

As the smaller woman made her way down the hallway of the medical facility, she knew she had to make a decision soon on what to do with her agent...and the CIA agent...and, well, Chuck. She wanted to call him the asset, but Graham had dehumanized him enough. It was obvious Graham's agent was flying blind...but if anyone could fly blind and excel at the same time, it was Sarah Walker. It was amazing the job she had done, and there was no doubt that Chuck was unlike anyone Sarah had ever met. Most of the men Agent Walker had met were either criminals (jerks), CIA agents (jerks), or men who thought a lot of themselves (jerks). It had to be strange to be treated like a real person, which Beckman was sure Chuck was doing. She would expect nothing less after watching the surveillance tapes.

She opened the door to the patient's room, happy to see he was recovering nicely. "Don't speak," she said gently. "We have plenty of time for that once you recover. I'm General Diane Beckman with the NSA."

"Why am I here?" the patient asked.

"Professor Fleming, I need to know all you can tell me about Orion."

A/N: WHAAAAAAAAA? You two broke Chuck and Sarah's POV?...ain't we stinkers.

(Mhm, you can smell our stink just about anywhere in the world thanks to the Internet! - SC)