Chuck Versus the Real Undercover Relationship

Chapter 9: Running to Stand Still

Sarah was the first to wake next morning and did so very drowsily, which told her that she slept extremely well…years on the move with her dad meant that had been few and far between, especially as she got older…she turned on her left side and her eyes immediately fell upon her sleeping Chuck. He was on his stomach, she knew instinctively he must have been restless through the night. Unsurprising given his life and their current circumstances. Sarah could not help but feel awful that running was even necessary…damn Fulcrum, damn government. She looked at the nightstand clock which read 7am, with a sigh she gently kissed her husband who did not stir. Getting quietly out of bed Sarah went to take a shower, making a mental note that they would probably be wearing the same clothes multiple days in a row, it was a safe bet that laundry was not going to be a regular activity, sex on the other hand was a nice distraction for them both. She smiled as she shut the door because if it was up to her they would have sex all the time, but that wasn't practical. Still, ending the night like that was perfect. With notable effort she pushed her desire down and set to shower for the day. 20 minutes later Sarah dried her hair, let it sit in its naturally wavy state. Coming out, Sarah realized that Chuck had moved again, onto his back this time, muttering incoherently in his sleep. As she put her hardly worn clothes back on her, her phone started vibrating on the table in the room…an unknown call.

Sarah muttered with tense uncertainty. "Not Casey…" After hesitating she answered the call quietly. "Who is this?"

A blunt, cool female voice answered. "Geez Walker, why so curt. Oh wait, stupid question you're on the run with your husband, so it's Bartowski now. Crazy thing you two as newlyweds, running away from rouge and real government at the same time, but you always acted on instinct, so I'm not surprised."

Sarah returned to the bathroom and shut the door before responding in a light hiss. "Carina isn't it the dead of night in Shanghai?"

Carina was more business-life. "Yeah but I can't work on busting this drug ring at night, so I'm calling you about the fake government thing. I have a tech nerd friend in the DEA, who did some digging on this Fulcrum, and well, Amy is with them. Has been since we all went our separate ways by all appearances. I was pretty mad when he told me, did not even know she joined the DEA, let alone that she was faking allegiance…you should apologize to a certain CAT for you know what."

Sarah could tell that Carina was carefully sidestepping the CAT's splitting up, Sarah had much more immediate things to worry about. She was subdued but tense. "Maybe when my husband is safe from the possibility of death or a bunker."

Carina was lightly sympathetic. "Fair enough, I'll let you hook yourself back to your husband then Walker." She gave a blunt but friendly farewell. "Try to stay alive long enough to enjoy being married since you were crazy enough to pop the question two months in, you know? Give yourself a shot at having some spy kids." She chuckled. "I did not think I would see you settle down, no offense."

Sarah bantered back in surprise. "You're encouraging sex for what it's meant for? I think you're going soft Carina, and for the record I didn't think I would settle down either, not that this is settled…"

Carina responded teasingly. "Hey, if I am soft then you are a puddle of goo. God help anyone that gets between you and that nerd you love so damn much Sarah." She hung up at that, Sarah laughed at her friend's candid observations before leaving the bathroom.

Chuck had twisted himself free of the quilt looking somewhat sprawled on his back now. Sarah climbed quietly back in the bed, staring at him with something between worry and contentment. She kissed his chest gently rubbing one hand down along it, stopping short of his groin, clearly in debate…she could tell he was sleeping still, but his morning erection was readily apparent.

She met his ear in a quiet whisper. "Chuck…" No response whatsoever…she gave a small smile…it had been an emotional and exhausting night for him. Not that it wasn't for her, but Sarah knew she was used to unpredictability, Chuck had not had that as an adult until the Intersect found its way into his head. She put a lid on her libido and simply used his chest like a pillow again. Sometime later the ding of a text alerted Sarah, though she was hardly asleep at all. She checked her phone, this time, it was Casey. A small list of personal information related to Harry Tang…SS number, various financial records and some digital info; usernames passwords etc…with a message at the end.

Hopefully this is enough for Bartowski to do his thing. We got a non-lethal truth serum to use on the other Buymorons; tells me Beckman and Graham want Chuck back under their thumb ASAP…I will keep you posted but I would get moving. The longer it takes me to find you the longer we control what the three of us do without being controlled -Casey

Sarah pocketed her phone and climbed back on the bed, making sure to gently rouse Chuck. Her voice was calm in his ear. "Hey sleepyhead…we need to go." She nibbled his ear affectionately. He gave a low exhale. Sarah was really trying not to jar him awake, she kissed his lips tenderly and stroked his curly hair purposefully slow, Chuck responded slightly, but he did not wake. Sarah decided with a smile to arouse him more explicitly, she stroked his erection slowly from the base to tip and gave a louder exhale but still did not wake. Sarah wore a tight-lipped smile, her inflection calmly blunt. "Note to self, Chuck Bartowski is a stubborn sleeper…" She carefully teased the head of his cock with her tongue.

He gave a groggy drawl of pleasure. "Mmmm…I'm tired."

Sarah gave a light teasing response. "Clearly, but at least you are finally coherent."

Chuck just mumbled groggily. "Time is it?"

Sarah moved up, dropping her hair gently against his face. "A little after 8am."

Chuck allowed his eyes to open now. "You smell good."

Sarah nodded with a smile. "I took a shower and used Watermelon scented shampoo." Sarah continued with a faux sad inflection. "I thought it would help wake you up." She gave Chuck an exuberant kiss on his lips and pulled back with a nonchalant smile. "Oh well, we have bigger fish to fry."

Chuck raised his eyebrows in mild disappointment. "You've been teasing me awake?"

Sarah gave a tight smile and ran her hand casually against his member, squeezing lightly, making Chuck moan a little in both pleasure and protest. Sarah's response was playfully dismissive. "Um it's was less teasing and more arousing."

Chuck smiled. "Well I'm up now, so obviously it worked."

Sarah shifted to recent events. Her voice gently blunt. "Good because Casey got a lot of Harry Tang's personal information and he warned me that Beckman and Graham got their hands on a non-lethal truth serum to use on the rest of the Buy More staff. He thinks that they want any excuse to get you back under their thumb quickly…" She placed a finger over her husband's lips to prevent interruption. "An ex CAT squad member is part of Fulcrum according to Carina." She spoke more quickly now. "I meant it when I said I needed Casey to keep playing his role, which means he'll be in pursuit of us soon and that's why we need to leave as soon as we can."

Chuck nodded yawning himself awake. "I'll be quick and then we hit the road again." He got out of bed, gathered his hardly worn clothes and shut himself into the bathroom to shower.

Sarah gathered their bags quietly…on the road again. She wasn't very familiar with music, but that was one song she grew to hate because she always felt it was mocking her for continuing to stay on the move with her father and run cons even once she knew what that meant for other people, now she had to be on constantly moving again. Yup, Sarah didn't like that they would be on the road again, but the next destination gave her solace, even if they were only going to warn of Fulcrum, because what, or rather, who she left where they were going was the target of an entire rouge espionage organization now.

II

Meanwhile back in Burbank Casey vetted (indirectly so as not blow his cover) the other Buymorons, including Morgan, all of whom were ignorant of Fulcrum. Especially Jeff and Lester, not that Casey expected either of them to appear useful to anyone, let alone a rouge spy organization. He left their restrained interrogation hating them even more. By the time he finished at 9am he was extremely irritable making his update to Beckman and Graham unusually lacking in professionalism.

His greeting was blunt frustration. "The rest of the Buymorons are clean."

Beckman was indifferent. "You are sure?"

Casey grunted hard. "I have heard numerous confessions in the last two hours; everything from theft of store supplies and, I watch chick flicks, to, I'm doing one of my employee's moms…" Casey knew this was Grimes mother and Big Mike but omitted specifics because it was irrelevant to the operation. His voice rose quickly as he continued. "…the only serious crime anyone at this store is guilty of is Lester Patel pumping Jeff Barnes brain full of exhaust fumes…I was tempted to not call in a tip to Burbank police, but it's not Barnes fault he has to sleep in his van." He calmed himself. "The point is nobody else here is a part of Fulcrum, and I have wasted time that I could have spent getting Walker and Bartowski to trust you."

Graham thought he misheard. "I think you meant us."

Casey's filter suddenly left him completely. "No, I meant you, both of you. Like it or not Chuck is smarter than all of us, but do you rely on his natural intelligence…no your only concern is playing keep away with what's in his head, reducing a kid who did nothing more than open an email and got dragged into this mess, to property."

Graham was aggravated and stiff. "National security—"

Casey talked over him sharply. "Spare me the spiel about national security. Do you really think you can stop Fulcrum by playing scared? No, a united front is the only way Fulcrum goes down, but you've convinced your greatest analytical weapon that the U.S government is hardly better than the organization trying to capture him and torture him."

Graham was curt. "Getting soft Major?"

Casey gave a dark grunt. "I just know a losing strategy when I see it. Larkin himself said Fulcrum is all over the place. Bartowski is the only one who has put a name to any members, hacking the CIA to do it, that was Chuck, not the Intersect."

Beckman was surprisingly unphased by Casey's lack of professionalism. "You believe we should trust analysis of Fulcrum to Chuck Bartowski?"

Casey nodded. "Yes, he seems to know how to be an analysist instinctively. Sometimes his methods are outside the box, and he makes no apologies about hacking without ethical standards, but he's not in anything for personal gain." Casey finished with notable admiration. "He makes spies look bad, maintaining morality even though he was thrown headfirst into this world, and a situation he was dragged into unwittingly."

Graham was no less irritated. "Morality is admirable, but it he cannot be given unrestricted freedom just because he is effective and a good person. The way espionage works means people like Chuck would make decisions for personal reasons that there is no room for with all we do."

Casey grunted deeply. "You know, I have gone so long with my emotions buried that I towed the company line about how emotions make us weak without much thought but watching Bartowski over the last year, I think that's a pathetic excuse thought up to escape accountability. You have me tasked to kill a completely innocent man the moment he becomes replaceable. Someone I will continue to point out did nothing more than open an email, something millions of people do every day. I didn't sign up to execute the average citizen and without this mess Chuck is as average as it gets. Walker might be taking protecting Chuck into her own hands, but she is doing the same thing she did when she hid that baby, making the choice between what's right and what is easy. Something we could all stand to do a little more."

Beckman was measured. "Your passion is noted Major. However, Sarah acted radically going AWOL with the asset when we told her that she would still act as his protective detail until things calmed down, he was not going to an isolation tank and yet she acted as if he would be held captive and tortured by us." She sighed hard looking at Graham. "I believe their relationship is authentic, she is the best in the CIA, griping about their personal attachment at this point would be like complaining that your car is stolen when you left it unlocked. Did she undergo a psyche eval when you recruited her?"

Graham gave reluctant confirmation. "Yes, I ignored it…"

Beckman gave Graham a dark look. "Of course, you did, I don't even need to ask what the assessment was, the things Walker did both before this assignment and during it make easy to guess, the only thing more dangerous than a spy that is a trained assassin is a spy that is a trained assassin with needs far beyond what this job can fulfill, that she excels when not fulfilled by this job is remarkable."

Graham looked at Casey with a stiff face. "Can you bring them back to Burbank?"

Casey replied with a measured grunt. "A spy who is good at staying on the move and making herself physically invisible with a nerd who is good at making himself digitally invisible, like finding two invisible needles in an invisible haystack."

Beckman's response was blunt. "Not coming back with Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski is not an option, is that clear Major Casey?"

Casey nodded indifferently. "Understood." Privately he hoped that he at least moved the needle somewhat, but it was too difficult to tell right now.

III

Sarah drove silently in the more than two hours since they left the Malibu motel, driving north, humming quietly to songs that she took a liking to: Fake Empire, I Melt with You, and The Promise to name a few. It wasn't until they crossed into Bakersfield, and a suburban neighborhood, that she said or did anything notable, checking behind them routinely.

Chuck was curious why they were driving through a densely populated neighborhood, but it was Sarah's somewhat antsy glances behind them that left him most concerned. "Has someone been following us?"

Sarah replied evenly. "That's what I'm watching for…I think we're good."

Chuck nodded uncertainty. "Okay, but we've been driving for two hours…why Bakersfield and why suburban Bakersfield…do you have a safe house around here or something?"

Sarah gave a subdued response. "You could say that, this neighborhood is in its own little bubble of tranquility in California, which makes it the last place anyone would be looking for a CIA trained assassin. Still I did not think I would be coming back here so soon, but I have to warn mom that an entire organization is looking for Molly."

Chuck was surprised. "Wait, we're visiting your mom?"

Sarah nodded. "For a little while yes, mostly because I cannot just blurt out over the phone that an entire evil organization is looking for Molly and hang up, this is face to face news."

Chuck nodded agreeably. "That explains why you have been so quiet."

Sarah nodded. "Like I said I didn't expect to come back here so soon, maybe ever, but Fulcrum is probably statewide, and Ryker is actively looking for my daughter…" She was sounding like a determined mother now, and that surprised her. "…I battle with the idea that she is safer with me, maybe because I protected her while surrounded by gunfire and crossed continents. More and more it feels better than waiting for Fulcrum to find them."

Chuck asked a logical question. "Why not just pull strings to put them both in permanent protective custody?"

Sarah answered the question bluntly. "I guess it is like Bryce's spur of the moment decision to send you the Intersect. I wanted that baby in the right hands but asking my mother to relocate would have made an already burdensome situation completely unfair, she's been through enough…" Chuck noticed Sarah trail off without elaborating. Her tone was more serious now, matching the stony expression on her face. "Besides, that would have meant CIA strings and Molly would have likely been groomed like I was, it was the last thing I wanted for her." She hit her fist against the wheel in frustration. "I don't know what to do. Dad and I took steps to make sure mom was buried, unknown to anyone, and then I pull a Dumbledore and leave a baby on her doorstep. It's just, at the time I thought Ryker was acting alone." Guilt entered her voice now and she glanced briefly at Chuck. "My mother she…" Sarah trailed off again, not wanting to elaborate.

Chuck raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, clearly distracted, and wanting to break the uneasy tension hanging over Sarah. "You're familiar with Harry Potter?"

Sarah appreciated the break in tension, giving him a quick sideways smirk. "I've lived life Chuck, chaotic and very unorthodox, but far from under a rock. I came to really appreciate fantasy epics as a mental escape during spurts of downtime with work, the black and white nature of good versus evil stories, especially those."

He chuckled getting back on track. "I didn't think you lived under a rock, but heavy reader is not something I expected to learn about you." He was serious again. "If you want to take the burden off your mother I could talk to Ellie and Devon about sharing Molly between the four of us?"

Sarah was dismissive of this. "I can't extend this burden to your family Chuck."

Chuck held up his wedding ring hand in reminder. "Hey, we're married remember! That means Molly is my family too."

Sarah smiled but continued dismissively. "Even so, it's a big ask of Ellie and Devon illegally fostering a baby. It would be unofficial until Fulcrum is dealt with because official records are traceable and given the wider situation, they would be stuck watching her most of the time."

Chuck acknowledged this but he knew Ellie and Devon were excellent with kids, they were specialists in their chosen medical fields—neurology and cardiology and dealt with babies on a rather frequent basis—something told him that they would be more than willing to help. Ellie had effectively been Chuck's only parent since he was about 11 years old, and Devon was awesome. They could manage and it is not like Chuck and Sarah wouldn't help when able. Still it was a big ask.

Chuck answered casually. "I will loop them in while you visit with your mother. I will use the burner phone you brought, this is way too much to put in a binary email."

Sarah noted the first part of his words. "You are coming in too, I want mom to meet the man that changed my life, that I fell in love with and married and has given me more normalcy than I have ever had my entire life."

Chuck blushed slightly, he still wasn't used to being so completely appreciated by any woman, let alone by someone as wonderful as Sarah, he was getting used it though, if only because Sarah turned threatening whenever Chuck went into denial about her choosing him.

He answered her with a quiet smile. "Okay, meeting my mother in law while on the run from government of two shades isn't what I pictured but then again nothing has gone how I pictured it would since we met."

Sarah laughed admitting the same thing. "I know, I pictured a lot of back and forth not so covered relationship drama between us, like the kind they force on TV."

Chuck laughed again, looking at his wife with a rhetorical expression. "Luckily this is real life, not a TV show, but if it were, they'd name it after me." He grinned.

Sarah smirked clearly thinking this absurd. "So, you CAN be self-centered on occasion. No offense but shows named after people in a show is just vague and lazy. You'd need something like Nerds and Spies, gives the backdrop of the story without spoiling the core of it."

Chuck questioned her with a smile. "What is the core of it?"

Sarah smiled giving a simple answer. "Us." She squeezed his hand affectionately.

Chuck seemed to think better of such a show. "They would just play up the personal drama, keep the audience guessing if we love each other."

Sarah had just pulled up to her mother's house. She leaned against Chuck gently smiling. "Well, I love you and nothing will ever change that."

Chuck smiled back. "I love you too, home sweet home. You ready?"

Sarah nodded, her voice emotional. "Yesz."

They kissed briefly before getting out of the car as Sarah prepared to surprise her mother with yet another unexpected development in her life.

IV

Sarah knocked calmly on her mom's back door. It was a little bit before it opened.

Sarah gave a soft response. "Hi mom."

Emma was flummoxed. "Honey! I didn't expect you to come back ever when you left. Please come in, sit down. Are you on break from a mission?"

Sarah smiled as she sat down. "I brought my mission with me." Sarah looked at Chuck as he sat down. "This is Chuck Bartowski."

Emma was confused. "Why would you bring a mark with you?"

Sarah understood the assumption. She had in the past used her mother as a sounding board about work, more so early on, before her deeds became so morally wrong that she couldn't bear to disclose them any longer.

She chuckled a bit. "Marks don't realize their marks mom, Chuck is an asset and I'm his handler." She squeezed his hand with a rather girlish smile. "I prefer to call him my husband though."

Emma stared at the ring on Sarah's hand in shock. "When you left a year ago settling down was, I was always worried…what changed?"

Sarah was happily cryptic. "I found my sense of normal like you wanted."

Emma glanced at Chuck. "He isn't what I expected."

Sarah blushed. "He's not a spy but he's good at catching people by surprise."

Emma was further caught off guard. "I'm so confused."

Sarah looked at her husband with a casual smile. "Chuck was sent an encrypted email that contained the most classified government secrets. You know how curiosity killed the cat, well curiosity turned Chuck into the most vital intelligence asset, and I am assigned to protect him, his handler."

Emma seem to wrap her head around things as she saw them from what she knew about Sarah's job with the CIA. "So, this is fake then, I guess fake normal is something."

Sarah shook her head. "No mom, this is real; Chuck is an incredibly selfless person, he found your little girl mom, the girl buried under the spy and when I realized that I rediscovered myself I had to marry the man that gave normal back to me."

Chuck was modest. "She's exaggerating, I just work at Buy More fixing computers."

Sarah wore a casual smile. "He does this quite a bit dismissing his worth to the people. I am trying to break him of it, but it is more difficult than a lot of my other missions."

Emma was suddenly emotional. "I see it, the light filling your eyes you're happy and whole. You found love protecting a man? That doesn't surprise me." Emma smiled at Chuck. "She may have been persuaded to join the CIA, but she stayed because she has always had a heart to protect people who couldn't protect themselves." She whispered encouragingly. "Go see her, she will be up any minute anyway." Sarah teared up and left the room silently.

Chuck smiled brightly. "I was nervous to meet you, now I'm excited. I don't know much about her, aside from her real name, her father and that she hates olives on her pizza."

Emma chucked, answering with notable emotional emphasis. "I'm not surprised. She was always a tough little thing. Growing up mostly with her father she always kept to herself, never let anyone in…I worried about her a lot, but there was something else in her when she was very little, before she became enamored with her father. As much as she kept to herself, she was always willing to befriend kids no one else paid attention to, some of them even had a range of special needs, from physical—like cerebral palsy, to mental—like Downs…even kids from fractured families like hers. I think Sarah has always been drawn to people dealt bad circumstances, inspired by them."

Chuck smiled. "That says a lot, my sister raised me, our parents abandoned us before we were teenagers."

Emma gave a melancholy smile. "See that's my daughter, that's why she joined the CIA, and why she has a daughter, and a husband now." Emma sighed. "She never loved the CIA, Samantha, she was vulnerable after her father's arrest and I was struggling with depression over realizing that he'd played the long con with me. With no other relatives to turn to, all she had was the offer in front of her." She hesitantly held Chuck's hand in appreciation. "You, and that baby changed her. Thank you for loving my daughter even with the baggage she has had in her life."

Sarah reappeared smiling with Molly in her arms. "Well, he did offer to be my baggage handler on our first date but that was before he knew so much of it." She kissed the top of Molly's head. Her voice was happy but subdued. "Especially this little one."

Emma smiled. "I haven't filled adoption papers. I knew you would come back for her."

Sarah was dismissive. "Mom I cannot raise her I'm a spy. I just came back to warn you that Ryker is not alone he has an entire rouge organization called Fulcrum is looking for her."

Emma was no less certain. "Like I said I knew you came back for her. Besides if they are looking for her, they will find her and she is best protected by someone that can defend her when they do. That's not me, it's you."

Chuck looked at Sarah. "I meant what I said. It's no trouble for Ellie and Devon to help and between the four of us."

Sarah was still intensely dismissive. "Chuck it's absurd bringing a baby into the situation when it's already a mess."

Chuck countered. "Molly is already a part of Fulcrum's plans and they won't stop, and while I think you did a great job hiding your mother's identity, information can always be found. You are the best source of protection this baby has, and I'm proof of that because you've protected me."

Sarah was torn. "Chuck…"

He continued. "Let me at least loop in Ellie and Devon and go from there. You were alone when you decided to leave Molly here, you aren't alone anymore."

Sarah continued thinking practically. "Chuck, we're running from the prospect of you in a padded cell I cannot uproot Molly from stability like my dad did."

He nodded agreeably. "I wasn't suggesting that we continue AWOL with a baby, but my point is that if things calm down and we can go back to Echo Park, Molly has a place…"

Emma was reassuring. "I don't know why you are AWOL, but I will keep her safe until things calm down, until you are ready."

Sarah sighed. "Your MS, it's worse…"

Emma shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."

Sarah pressed. "I never should have asked you to look after her with that on your plate too, not when I knew you were diagnosed when the CATS disbanded, I'm sorry."

At Sarah's words, Chuck noticed it, visible tremors in Emma, not in the sense that they were violent, but Ellie had diagnosed MS as a neurologist, so Chuck knew the signs. He turned to Sarah. "Well that settles the debate, I'm definitely looping Ellie and Devon in now." Sarah handed Molly to Emma, she gave brief whine at the separation before becoming content in Emma's arms. Sarah pulled out the burner phone and gave it to Chuck, he dialed his sister.

Emma spoke quietly. "I think she likes when I hold her because of vibrations from the MS, so at least it's good for something, just enough that she feels a small massage."

It was several minutes before Chuck hung up the phone, reasonably chipper. "Well, once I got Ellie to calm down enough to listen to me—we Bartowski's spiral and my sister is still getting used to my predicament—" He added seeing Emma's look of concern. "She said that they'd gladly take Molly. I told her I would give you their address, she agreed MS is enough to deal with without adding a baby on top of it."

Sarah dropped her head on Chuck's shoulder with a grateful smile. "You and your sister amaze me Chuck."

Emma was emotional. "I barely know you but Samantha—"

Sarah cut tightly across her mother. "That's not my real name mom, birth name sure but it wasn't uttered beyond my childhood, the first of many false names. The one thing I am unquestionably grateful to the CIA for is giving me a real name, even if they spent so many years molding my identity, the name itself is who I am. I am Sarah Walker, Sarah Bartowski…Sarah."

Emma caught herself and continued. "Sarah, does and she wasn't much for knowing anyone, especially as she got older, so thank you for giving her everything her parents and the CIA couldn't, which is what I wanted for her all along." Chuck nodded.

Sarah melted. "Thanks mom." Sarah felt her actual phone ding, a message from Casey, she ignored it for the time being and gave Chuck a look of departure. "You ready to go?" He recognized the question was staged only so that Emma didn't ask questions. "Yup." He gave Emma, Ellie and Devon's address. He gave reassurance. "Ellie said she would check your MS too. She is currently enjoying a little time off but being a neurology nerd, she has all manner of necessary medical equipment. Maybe she can find a way to help contain your symptoms. I don't mind saying that Ellie Is the smartest brain scientist around." He decided to indirectly mention Casey. "She has a neighbor that gives a slight stalker vibe but he's alright, just likes to broadcast a rough exterior but he's much friendly then he looks. Just didn't want you to be surprised if he's lurking when you get there."

Emma gratefully shook his hand. "Thank you for everything, Chuck."

He grinned. "That's what family is for."

V

Back on the road Casey's call was returned on speaker as Sarah began to drive to a hotel near the northern border of California.

Sarah focused on what they just came from. She was calmly blunt after his greeting. "Hello Casey, before you say anything, I need a very important favor from you."

He gave a slightly annoyed response. "Aren't I doing enough favors for you already Walker, and yes I know it's Bartowski now but since we knew each other before Chuck, I am sticking to Walker."

Sarah agreed. "Fine, you can add it to the number of favors you get to cash in, this is personal and important."

They heard Casey grunt. "Fine, what do you need?"

Sarah was blunt. "My mother is bringing Molly to Ellie and Devon in echo park I want you to be around."

Casey was incredulous. "Have you lost your mind Walker?"

Sarah sighed. "Maybe, but my mother has steadily worsening MS, the symptoms will be too debilitating to take care of Molly long term, and since my in-laws and husband insisted. My mother didn't need to have the weight of my world, of protecting Molly in her life. That, and Molly has been marked by Fulcrum just like Chuck has and protecting her became my job when I rescued her. When they come after her and they will, I'm the best defense she has. I will kill any, and everyone who comes after her the same way I would for Chuck, she's my daughter."

Casey grunted in understanding. "If you know a storm is coming, the place that offers the most protection is the best place to be. A hiding place, and protection are two different things, I get it Walker…sorry about your mother."

Sarah was grateful. "Thanks Casey. Now what did you call about?"

He sighed. "Graham and Beckman want you back in Burbank. They ordered me to find you and bring you back."

Sarah sighed. "Can you push that back until my mother gets to echo park with Molly? I want you around when she gets there?"

Casey grunted nonchalantly. "Yeah, I'll call tomorrow morning for your location. I already let Graham and Beckman know that you two would be difficult to find. Take the day and get somewhere, plus it will give Chuck a chance to dig into Tang as part of Fulcrum."

Chuck responded bluntly. "That's my priority once we're off the road again, thanks for his personal information Casey."

Sarah was blunt. "We might not come back as soon as they want, I trust myself on the run more than Graham and Beckman."

Casey gave an acknowledging grunt. "Just keep me in the loop, I still have to play my role and find you, they insisted, and so did you."

They said goodbye. "I know, thanks Casey."

VI

Fulcrum was moving rapidly, spreading across the CIA/NSA off-shoots, gaining dedicated people, but they were not expanding capital, and lack of territory meant they operated in the shadows of the government entities from which they gained quiet support. Moving out of shadows required independent money…even after months the baby was nowhere to be found.

Ryker was with Edgar, the former in deep thought. "We have been thinking too practically, assuming that Walker rescued and hid the child without emotional attachment; an orphanage, or public safe haven where they would get placed in foster care."

Edgar guessed with a hint of surprise. "You don't think so?"

Ryker shook his head. "We've searched those channels for a year, and I have searched independently since Walker escaped me with the baby in Budapest. There is nothing down this road." He finished bluntly. "We need to shift our focus."

He leaned in casually. "To what?"

Ryker was blunt. "More personal, Walker is a loner and appears to have no friends or family—why I requested to be her handler—I knew she could keep a secret, I just didn't think she would steal the secret. The question is where did she hide it?"

Edgar was practically optimistic. "You have to ask yourself, where you think Walker would most trust the safety of a newborn baby?"

Ryker answered with fair certainty. "With herself."

Edgar finished surprisingly optimistic. "Everyone has a back history, I think it's time we dig into the life of Sarah Walker that predates the CIA, as much as we can find."

Ryker nodded. "Agreed, but for now people above us have new wide scale information."

They left Ryker's office together…this summons was usually useful.