A/N: I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the number of reviews the first chapter received, more than I've received recently. Thanks to all that left them. I'm so glad people are enjoying the story so far.
Thanks again to CharmingCharles2896 for the much appreciated beta of this story. It was a great help.
So, the hunt progresses as Chuck continues to fleeā¦
Elusive Intersect
Chapter 2: Searching
Sarah had received a text from Bryce on the burner phone. It had come through while she was on the other phone with Graham.
Just picking up a rental at LAX. Will be at Maison23 in less than an hour
She wanted to head straight out in her own car, with her own thoughts and not talk to anyone. She sent a text back.
I'll not be there. Out in my own car
Sarah knew that would piss Bryce off, but she wasn't totally comfortable with working with him. She certainly didn't want Chuck seeing the two of them together.
Damn it, Sarah! Where do we meet?
She thought about directions to search.
You search to the East. Will contact later
In that moment, Sarah thought about switching the phone off before heading out, but decided against it. Bryce might actually find Chuck and she'd want to know immediately. She did, however, put it on silent.
Sarah hastily grabbed what she needed, including spare clothes, and stuffed them in a backpack. Her knife holster was now strapped just above her left ankle, while a Kevlar vest adorned her body, just in case, and she also had her favorite pistols. Now prepared, Sarah headed down to her car.
As she set off for Casey's apartment, she just hoped that Chuck would trust her and let her near him rather than keep hiding.
Casey and Sarah had reviewed all the traffic camera recordings, starting overnight in the Echo Park area. A taxi had driven toward the complex at 11:00pm and left shortly after. Casey took down the taxi company and registration, but then used traffic cameras to follow the car. It headed south into an urban area and virtually disappeared. There were no cameras there.
"Do you know of anyone he knows there?" Casey asked.
Sarah shook her head. "I think that's to throw us off."
Casey grunted his agreement. He started searches for Chuck on any speed cameras in the surrounding area. The only significant finding was a camera not working at a bus stop. The two agents looked at each other. That was too much of a coincidence.
Checking buses that stopped there, particularly overnight, gave them the clue on the route away that Chuck had probably taken. Obviously, there would be many places Chuck could have left the bus, but maybe the driver would help them there. After a quick search, they found the details of the bus company and that was the next stop for them.
Casey looked at his partner. "I'll leave this to you. As I said, I'm heading north."
"Thank you for this, Casey," Sarah replied as she headed out.
Chuck smiled to himself. He had placed trackers on Casey's Crown Vic and Sarah's Porsche, so he was able to watch them head out from the apartment complex. He was pleased that Casey headed in the wrong direction completely, whereas Sarah drove to the bus station. She was on his trail. He was confused as to why Casey wasn't with her, but pushed that thought away.
Chuck couldn't help but wonder if the bus driver, who Sarah was probably going to talk to, would remember where he got off the bus. He'd been heading mostly in a southerly direction, though he had been steering well away from San Diego. Now, Chuck would head inland, away from the coast.
He packed up his things and set off once more.
The visit to the bus station was beyond frustrating for Sarah. The driver worked the night shift, starting after 6pm. Because of the bus driver's schedule, the station manager refused to call him in early, as he wouldn't then be able to complete his next shift. Sarah could understand this, but that didn't help her.
Considering Sarah was CIA, she had no jurisdiction here. She called Casey to discuss it. He agreed to join her to use his NSA influence. Neither one of them would contact Beckman or Graham, that would be counterproductive.
With plans made, she had to wait for Casey to arrive. He'd headed a fair way north and it would take him nearly two hours to arrive, then they'd need to exert that pressure to get the guy called in.
If Casey's badge was insufficient, then she'd just have to wait for the man to come in normally. If she was honest, the desire to get Chuck away from all this was driving her more than anything else. She was actually pleased that Chuck was eluding them. However, if Beckman brought others in, then that could change dramatically.
She called Bryce on the burner and gave him an update.
"I don't think he'd sleep rough, so would probably check into a motel, somewhere taking cash," Bryce told her.
"I know that," she snapped at him. "But where?"
"Okay, calm, Sarah. I know you're worried about him, but I think he's more capable than you think."
She sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry."
She told Bryce the route the bus ran and he said, "I'll drive it, looking for motels."
"I think he's smarter than that," she replied. "He won't just go into an easy one to find."
"That's all we have at the moment," Byce replied.
Bryce was right, of course. Once the call was over, Sarah sat and waited for Casey.
Chuck got a notification that Sarah was using her phone, followed by a second notification that Casey received her call.
He listened to their conversation. He could hear Sarah's frustration as she was stalled at the bus station. If it wasn't for his feelings for her, he'd be glad. All the same, Chuck knew he should move on.
The end of the call was interesting though.
"If your badge alone is insufficient," Sarah said. "You can't ask Beckman to exert pressure."
Casey snapped back, "I'm not stupid, Walker!"
"Sorry, I'm just so on edge," Sarah replied softly.
He sighed. "I know you are. If that happens, what are you going to do?"
"I'll wait for the driver to come in normally," she sounded so dejected, which was odd to Chuck.
"You'll find him, Walker," Casey replied, sounding almost consolatory.
"I just hope I can convince him, Case."
Casey just grunted.
Chuck sat thinking about that. What was it Sarah was hoping she could convince him of? Was she going to try to trick him into returning with her? That she was on his side? Chuck knew with absolute certainty, that if she decided to seduce him, he'd be putty in her hands.
But why was Sarah so on edge and why did Casey sound sympathetic? Was she really worried about his safety? She had, on a number of occasions, almost had a fit when she thought he was at risk. Were the feelings she showed at that warehouse really demonstrating how strongly she felt for him, Chuck, rather than the Intersect she was protecting? Chuck shook his head. He couldn't work this out, he just had to get moving.
Bryce was using everything he knew about Chuck to aid his search, but he recognized his information was probably five years out of date.
Would Chuck still turn to cheese balls when under pressure? Would he even have the capacity to carry them? Bryce decided to ask in convenience stores along the route anyway, especially ones without any surveillance cameras. If Chuck was going to get any sort of food, that was the sort of place he would go.
Bryce would also try the motels as he'd suggested to Sarah. She was probably right that it wouldn't be ones directly on the route, so he'd veer off for both those and the convenience stores.
All of this was probably going to be fruitless, but he had no better ideas.
Sarah watched Casey arrive and ask to talk to the station manager. She stayed seated as she felt he would have more success without the fretting girlfriend,
Inevitably, Casey's badge alone was of no use. He tried blustering, but the station chief just quoted rules, regulations and the safety of his staff.
Casey threw his hands in the air and walked over to where Sarah was sitting quietly.
"You'll have to wait. I need to get up north again. Good luck." He walked out.
Sarah had expected this, so she sat back down and thought about Chuck. She knew he was a computer wizard, though it was now obvious that he was more skilled than they'd expected. Being able to loop the security feeds and then disable that camera, or more likely, hack into the servers, wipe the records, and set the camera as defective, was not something any old computer technician could handle. Even though it was causing her a lot of stress, Sarah was proud of Chuck and his abilities.
In what was a monumental moment for Sarah, she'd actually acknowledged her feelings for Chuck to Bryce. She thought about those feelings now. Having admitted them to Bryce, she let her own walls down enough to really consider them.
As she sat in the bus station waiting for the driver to arrive, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, while still having arms free to hold two guns blazing at any that would threaten him. She'd even go after Graham and Beckman, if necessary. Thinking about that, Sarah had to admit that she was so compromised. If it hadn't been drummed into her by her dad and the CIA, she'd be convinced she was in love with Chuck Bartowski.
Chuck continued to move. It was probably foolish, but he had wondered about crossing the border into Mexico.
At some point, he'd have to change cars again. The one he was driving would eventually be discovered, but that was for later. Even as Chuck continued to put distance between himself and his pursuers, he was missing the lovely blonde agent. He wished he knew if he could trust her or not. A part of Chuck was sure that if he could, she would spirit him away and no one would find him. He had no evidence to support that, just an inbuilt belief in her abilities and who she was as a person.
As he thought about her, he realized that failing to find him would be a black mark on her scorecard. Would she be in trouble for that? The powers that be couldn't suspect her of aiding him because she was in DC, but would they suspect she would delay the search in some way? He hoped not. He loved her and wished her nothing but the best.
Pablo Ramos arrived at the station slightly before his shift. The station manager had obviously taken a shine to the beautiful blonde who'd waited patiently, and directed Pablo to her. With her opportunity to get information finally at hand, Sarah explained she was looking for a man who had left her, thinking she didn't love him and that she was trying to find him to set things straight. She told him where Chuck would have gotten on the bus.
"But why not just walk away? Why leave so mysteriously?" Pablo asked.
"He thinks my uncle will hurt him. He's ex-military and works for the NSA. He came here, but your station chief turned him away, thankfully.
"I just want to find the man I love," she concluded.
Pablo looked at her sympathetically. "What does he look like?"
Sarah realized she didn't know what Chuck had done to disguise himself. "He's so frightened of my uncle, he probably tried to change how he looked."
Pablo sighed. "So, how can I help?"
"He's very tall, nearly 6'4" although he may have stooped to reduce that."
Pablo's eyes lit up. "Oh, there was a tall goth guy that got on, probably around there."
He sat and tried to remember him.
"Goth?" she asked, rolling her eyes for show. "He always fancied being one of those." That wasn't true, or at least she didn't think so. It was a reminder that she didn't really know Chuck as well as she thought. Then again, Chuck had told her about his sister's goth phase, so maybe it was genetic.
Pablo clicked his fingers. "I know where he got off." He told her.
Sarah quickly took the details. "Thank you, Pablo."
"I hope you find him and you two lovers can get back together," Pablo said. "Good luck."
Sarah nodded and watched Pablo walk away, presumably to begin his work. She sat there for a few moments, considering. "Lovers," she whispered to herself.
Sarah called Bryce to give him an update. He chuckled. "I can't imagine Chuck as goth guy. Mind you, I can imagine him singing that Cure song."
"What Cure song," she asked, intrigued.
"I forgot that you don't know music. 'Friday I'm in Love' by The Cure. You should listen to it." He paused. "I'll carry on sweeping the area looking for him, then I'll stop somewhere for the night." There was a longer pause before he said, "I assume you won't join me?"
"I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but, no, the Andersons are a thing of the past."
"When you find Chuck, and I'm sure you will, don't break him," he replied and ended the call.
That last remark brought a smile to Sarah's lips. She wasn't sure if she'd cope with what Bryce was suggesting. Chuck already seemed to have broken her impervious shell. However, she was sure that she'd enjoy the breaking she was now imagining.
Sarah forced herself to refocus on the search at hand. By the time she would get to the town Chuck had reached earlier in the day, it would be evening and harder to find leads. She wondered about heading back to her hotel and starting afresh in the morning, but instead decided to go to that town and find a motel to sleep.
Just as Chuck wouldn't want to use hotels, nor did she. Leaving a trail was not part of her plan. As Sarah drove there, she thought about the trails she was leaving. Her Porsche would be an obvious thing. Should she abandon it and get a rental? Her phone was another. Maybe she should buy a burner or two, in addition to the one she had for use with Bryce. All of those thoughts confirmed her future plan. Find Chuck and secret him away, both of them going off grid. Permanently.
A/N: So, two on his trail and one deliberately not doing so.
This is set in the canon time period, so the year is 2008. Because they are relevant to the tracking used by all in the story, there are a lot more traffic cameras than there were in reality back then. You'll have to ignore that inconsistency.
Please let me know your thoughts on how all of them are getting on so far, and how you see this progressing. I really enjoy reading and responding to all reviews.
