A/N: Thank you for all the follows and reviews, they're very much appreciated! I won't give anything away but a lot of people mentioned the romance label. I promise it is coming, but it will take a bit to get there and there will definitely be some twists when it starts. All I can say is: enjoy, and don't assume you know or don't know where this is headed, even when it might seem obvious. I'm tricky like that ;) But I think most of you will be happy with where things ultimately end up. Happy reading!
For what felt like the millionth time, Chuck was sitting alone on his bed with his wallet open in front of him, staring at the photo he always kept in one of the protective sleeves. It was a photo of Sarah on their wedding day. He had taken the photo himself during a rare private moment. She had a look on her face that could only be described as pure joy and full of love. Chuck felt the same deep ache in his heart that he felt whenever he looked at the photo, but at the same time it was the most precious item in his possession.
Chuck was grateful when Gertrude Verbanski had volunteered (at Casey's request) to take Sarah's place within Carmichael Industries. It had allowed him to bury his grief over Sarah by burying himself in work. But since Beckman had put a stop to what had lately been their only work, Chuck now found himself wallowing in depression most days.
He had asked Casey to look into any reason why Beckman would have made such a request, and had even considered ignoring the request entirely since Beckman was not in charge of him or his company. However, Casey had returned from a private meeting with one of his old NSA contacts and had, in his typical gruff manner, told Chuck that whatever was going on was serious enough that he couldn't get any details beyond the fact that if they didn't voluntarily stop their data retrieval contracts, certain members of the government would force them to. Beckman's request had essentially been the polite way of ordering them to stop. Chuck had asked if there was any way around it, but one look from John Casey made it clear that they really didn't have a choice in the matter, which only fueled Chuck's imagination as to what was actually going on.
With a sigh, Chuck carefully slid the photo of Sarah back into his wallet, and stood up, intending to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. That was the exact moment his computer, which he swore was off, went nuts. Chuck jumped back in alarm as the machine seemingly came to life with a mind of its own, emitting loud strange noises that sounded like a cross between an old modem connecting to the internet, except three times as loud, and a piece of metal shrieking as it scraped against another piece of metal. The screen also came to life, emanating colors and patterns that looked like what Chuck imagined someone on LSD would see. At first Chuck wondered if maybe this was some kind of intersect-based attack or download, but after a moment or two he realized he wasn't having any reaction to it, other than his ears were hurting from the noises and the colors flickering and shining from the screen were giving him a bit of a headache. He turned away, hoping to avoid getting spots in his vision from the bright light, and almost as soon as he did, everything stopped. No noise, no colors. Chuck turned back toward the computer and saw the screen was still on, but it was just black now.
"Great, now I have a possessed demonic computer I have to fix" he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, green words appeared on the screen.
"What the hell?" Chuck exclaimed, stepping closer to the screen to get a good look at what was on it. It was a message:
CHUCK. TRUST NO ONE. YOU ARE NOT SAFE. BEWARE THE OVERSEER.
Chuck barely had enough time to finish reading the message before the screen went blank. It took another moment to realize his computer had completely powered off all on its own. He remained frozen in place, staring at the now-dark screen, contemplating the implications of what he had just read, while also wondering how on earth someone had managed to do what he had just seen. He then wondered if this could possibly just be some strange dream. He pinched his own arm.
"Ow!" he hissed at the feeling of pain he received. "Ok, not a dream... so now what?"
Sarah Walker gave a sarcastic wave to the CIA prisoner transport vehicle as it drove off. Beside her, Carina couldn't suppress a grin. Sarah turned to her and saw the grin.
"What?" she asked, smirking back.
"When I was assigned to be your partner to help bring you back up to speed, I wasn't sure how much work it would take to get you mission-ready. Now here you are taking out the last remnants of what used to be the network for The Ring, and you're barely breaking a sweat. It's like you never missed a beat."
Sarah grinned and shook out her blonde hair, which she'd grown back to the length she'd remembered it being.
"It's like I told Beckman when I asked to be put back into service, I didn't forget any of my training, and I have all my memories right up to..." her voice trailed off.
"Burbank" Carina finished for her. "By the way, for someone who went through what you did, you really don't talk about it."
"So?"
"So if something like that were to happen to me, I don't think I'd be able to just up and ignore it like you do. Especially since you're-"
"What?" Sarah snapped. "5 years behind the times? Out of the loop on current events? Damaged? A possible liability?"
"Married" Carina responded firmly before Sarah could continue with any more accusations.
"Oh." Sarah suddenly couldn't look Carina in the eyes and looked down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable.
"Look, first of all you're not a liability or damaged as far as I'm concerned. You didn't even need a month of re-training before being cleared for active duty. As far as being five years behind the times or out of the loop, you've been fully briefed on everything the CIA felt you needed to know to be an agent again. I have no doubts about you as a partner, an agent, or a friend so do us both a favor and don't bring it up again. There's no need. You've more than proven yourself."
Sarah brought her gaze back up to meet Carina's.
"Thank you"
"BUT" Carina said firmly
"There's always a but" Sarah replied, trying to sound like she was pouting, but a hint of a smile played at the corner of her mouth. "What is it?"
"But there's a Chuck-sized elephant in the room that you seem hell bent on ignoring. I know you don't remember the guy, but I do. I also remember what an impact he made on you. In fact, I think he made an impact on you even after you lost your memory. So I can't figure out why you refuse to open up about your feelings on the whole thing, especially to your closest friend."
"Feelings can get in the way of our missions. You know the rules. You used to remind me of them more than anyone else, even Bryce."
"That was a long time ago. Things change Sarah."
"Something I know all too well"
"Then you know that opening up might help you. I don't see how it could hurt, just so long as you don't try to do it when someone is shooting at us."
Sarah smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind." Her expression became more serious as she continued: "I'll talk to you about it when I'm ready, I promise. But please don't push me on it."
Carina nodded towards the ring on Sarah's left hand.
"Will it be before that comes off?"
Sarah looked down at the wedding band and engagement ring and a sad smile crossed her face.
"I hope so. To be honest it's actually not something I'm looking forward to. I don't like the thought of what he's going to feel like whenever the time comes. Listen I promise we will talk more about this later but for now lets load our gear up and get out of here. I'm starving. Taking out henchmen can really work up an appetite."
Sarah walked over to their car, popped the trunk, and began the process of putting their gear in. Carina didn't move from where she was standing, she just watched Sarah work for a minute.
"IF the time comes" she whispered.
"Agents Walker, Miller, excellent work today" CIA Director Michael Avery said.
Sarah and Carina stood in front of the large monitor which displayed the video transmission they were receiving from Director Avery. The room they were in was part of their base of operations. It was similar in many was to Castle back in Burbank but it also had some notable differences. There were no holding cells, and the armory was more than double the size of the one in Castle. It also had its own amenities: several bedrooms, three separate bathrooms with a sink, toilet, and shower in them, a full kitchen, the conference/computer room the two agents currently occupied, an exercise room, and a soundproofed firing range. It also wasn't located beneath a Buy More.
"You rounded up the last remaining members of the mercenary group that The Ring used to provide muscle for FULCRUM. That leaves only a few more targets before we can say we've officially gotten rid of every last remnant of The Ring. You two are exceeding all expectations."
"Thank you Director Avery. Carina and I are looking forward to making The Ring nothing but a memory."
"Good. I'll contact you with your next assignment in a few days, but in the meantime enjoy some well deserved rest."
The screen went blank as the connection was terminated.
Carina turned to Sarah, an eyebrow raised mischievously.
"A few days off might just give us the perfect opportunity to-"
"No" Sarah interjected firmly. "I told you I'd talk about things when I'm ready."
Carina looked shocked for just a moment, then put on her most innocent looking smile
"Walker, that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say it might give us the perfect opportunity to have some fun if you're up for it."
Sarah grinned and let out a chuckle.
"When it comes to you and fun, the question isn't am I up for it, it's can I keep up with you?"
Now Carina grinned.
"That's the spirit Walker!"
Chuck had just finished returning a customer's repaired computer to them when Morgan practically ran up to him, an excited look plastered all over his face.
"Chuck, I got it man. Just the thing to pull you out of your rut.
"Morgan I'm not in a-"
"Yeah yeah I got it, you can save the I'm not in a rut routine for another time. You are not gonna wanna miss this"
Chuck sighed.
"Alright, what is it Morgan? And please don't say a double date with you and Alex"
"Not a bad idea and one I'm definitely filing away for later but no, it's not that. What would you say if I told you a major video game tournament is coming to Burbank this weekend?"
"That it's further proof our civilization is in a decline?"
Morgan gave an exasperated sigh.
"No, you'd ask me which video game tournament and I'd tell you its the California state Call of Duty Modern Warfare tournament. You'd then ask me which one since there are three of them and then I'd tell you its our favorite one, Modern Warfare 2, at which point you'd ask me how we get in and then I triumphantly tell you we already got in, I have a connection that scored us a spot and with my mad skills and the intersect in your head we are a lock to win this thing!"
"Your connection is either Jeff or Lester isn't it?"
"Not important, all that matters is we are in and are going to win"
"No. No, I'm not going to use the intersect to win a video game tournament Morgan."
"Okay, okay, not a problem you're naturally skilled anyway, we can win it on skill alone"
"Morgan-"
"Chuck, come on. You need this. We don't spend a lot of time together anyway. We need some bro time. Come on man don't make me beg."
Chuck sighed deeply
"Alright" he relented. Morgan pumped his fist and ran off shouting "We're gonna win!"
As it turned out, the video game tournament was held at Large Mart, which gave Chuck some motivation to actually try. Somehow the store had gotten the company running the tournament to let them host it as a tie-in to some new video game being released. Chuck didn't particularly care about the new game. But he certainly cared a lot more about winning once he and Morgan arrived and were recognized by several Large Mart employees, who immediately began taunting them, boasting no Buy More employee would have a prayer of seriously competing. As they started to increasingly get on his nerves, Chuck began to reconsider the idea of using the intersect to crush them.
"Charles, Morgan, I see we have some help in crushing these Large Mart micro brains"
Chuck turned around and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Lester and Jeff standing there, looking their usual confident and somewhat creepy selves.
"Hello Lester" he replied, flashing his best fake smile. "I had a feeling you two might be here, seeing as you got spots in the tournament for me and Morgan"
"Indeed we did" Lester replied, attempting to ooze an air of superiority that Chuck saw right through. "After Jeffster's premier concert that you helped us put on a few months back, we felt we owed you one. Consider us even."
Chuck's fake smile froze on his face as the memory of everything else involved in creating that "concert" flooded his thoughts. Almost instinctively he reached for his wallet, suddenly feeling a desperate longing to see Sarah's face.
Morgan noticed Chuck beginning to spiral and quickly stepped in.
"So Lester, Jeff, what say we team up to take out the Large Mart players before we battle each other for the title? You know they're probably planning the same thing."
Lester closed his palms together and closed his eyes as well, as though deep in thought. After a moment he opened his eyes and spread his palms wide.
"Of course my Buy More brethren. Jeff and I would be honored to join you in glorious victory over those smug Large Mart pricks" As he said this his tone changed from sounding holier-than-thou to annoyed as he referenced the Large Mart employees.
"Hey Lester, what if they betray us?" Jeff asked, staring at Chuck with his somewhat creepy unblinking gaze.
"Jeff, fear not, they wouldn't dare. They know we would squash them with our superior gaming skills while also banning them from our next concert"
"You have another concert?" Chuck asked, genuinely surprised
"Not yet, but we will, Lester has a plan" Jeff responded confidently.
Chuck turned and flashed Morgan a knowing grin then turned back to the pair.
"Well no worries gentlemen, we will honor our agreement." Then he lowered his voice to make it sound almost cartoonishly serious "Let's go kick Large Mart's ass."
The tournament was in full swing and more intense than Chuck expected. There were roughly 100 players, and many of them were quite good. Sure enough, the Large Mart employees tried to gang up on Chuck, Morgan, Lester, and Jeff, but were surprised when all four teamed up to counter their attack. Chuck got a particularly strong feeling of satisfaction when he found a perfect hiding spot and managed to take out Large Mart's best player using a sniper rifle from an almost insane distance.
As the tournament wore on and players were slowly eliminated, Chuck realized that he and Morgan (as well as Jeff and Lester) were in good shape to maybe win the whole thing, though eventually that would mean they would have to eliminate Jeff and Lester. He was just about to whisper to Morgan to ask when they should make their move to take them out when suddenly their screens went blank.
"What the heck? A power outage?" Morgan asked, annoyed.
Chuck looked around and saw that it wasn't just their screens that were off, everyone else's had shut off as well. Then he looked closer at the monitor in front of him and suddenly realized the screens were still on, just black, and a sudden chill ran down his spine.
"Oh no not again" he said to himself.
Suddenly green words appeared on his screen. He heard gasps and looked around, and saw that the same words had appeared on every tournament players screen, and they all said the exact same thing:
TRUST NO ONE.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the second chapter! I won't always be as quick with getting chapters out but I'll do the best I can to keep the wait times to a minimum :)
