A/N: Thanks to those that left reviews for the last chapter and beta thanks to my friend Capt Lil for this one.
This chapter loosely covers the events of "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler." I originally planned to skip this episode, but then decided it was worth a small chapter. I know that a large part of the episode was about Chuck learning the role of a handler, and the challenges associated with that, but here, as he's not to become a spy, he doesn't need to know any of that.
Don't Walk Away
Chapter 7: Nacho Chips
Chuck told Sarah about the event that happened when he was at home that morning…
xxx
Chuck was surprised when he received a video call from the general at home.
Sarah had been called by Casey to discuss the security in Castle, leaving Chuck on his own on his day off. He'd planned to lounge around and then take a shower before joining Sarah for some lunch.
"General? Sarah isn't here," he said as her face appeared on the screen.
"That's fine. It's you I wanted to talk to first," she replied.
He sat at the end of the bed, wondering why she would say that.
"We have a mission that needs your skills," she started.
"My skills are always available to the agents," he replied, feeling annoyed because she knew that and was acting like he didn't always help.
Beckman looked at him. "You might have to be the agent on this one." She saw his frown, so rushed to explain. "We've traced a large sum of money from an offshore ring account into a civilian account. I want to know why. What's the money for? The civilian's name is Manoosh Depak." His image appeared on the screen. "He trained as a computer engineer, but dropped out of MIT after his freshman year."
He suddenly felt like she wanted his help because he'd dropped out too. However, she knew why that was the case, and this couldn't be the same.
She continued, "We sent a virus that will have destroyed the CPU of his custom computer, and we've bought up every series eight CPU within thirty miles. He'll come into the Buy More to replace it. We need you to develop him as an asset, like an agent does. Find out what he's doing for the Ring."
Chuck saw several flaws in what she was telling him, but focused on the main one. "I can't be a handler, General, but I'll find another way to get the information you need."
She stared at him for an uncomfortably long time, then said, "Fine, but we need that information urgently." She ended the call.
He sat and thought about her team's actions. First of all, a virus that destroyed CPUs? The Irena Demova virus did that, but effectively destroyed the whole computer in the process. They had one that just took out the CPU? Had they based that on the porn virus? He had visions of NSA analysts watching porn at work as they extracted the virus. He had to stop thinking about that, but it was amusing.
If he had time, he could write some firmware and embed that in one of the CPUs and sell that to the guy. Unfortunately, he hadn't been told of their plan, so he doubted he'd have enough time. He'd have to fall back on spy techniques and plant a bug on the guy and track him down.
Then he thought of a better idea. Why not just capture the guy and let Casey or Sarah interrogate him?
He called Sarah to tell her about the call and his alternative plan.
Once he'd done that, he decided to take a bit of time to learn more about Manoosh Depak.
xxx
As Chuck rushed down the stairs into Castle, Casey grumbled, "Took your time."
Chuck ignored that and gave Sarah a quick kiss before answering. She was overpowered by his scent. "Phew!" she said, waving her hand in front of her face. "Did you decide to soak yourself in your cologne rather than shower?"
He blushed but rushed out. "I had to find out more about this guy." He pointed at the image of Manoosh Depak on the main screen.
"And?" she asked.
"He's a genius and he's developed something that the CIA is after as well as the Ring," he said. "Something portable, but a game changer. Both of them are courting him."
"He's playing a dangerous game," Casey growled.
Chuck nodded.
"Did you find out where he lives?" Sarah asked.
"He's good at erasing records and security cameras, but the latest stunt by the NSA has thrown him a curve," Chuck replied. He saw both Sarah and Casey's frowning, and obviously thought he better just answer the question, "Currently, he is staying in the same place as you, Sarah."
"So, he's probably heading back there once he has the CPU," she said.
He nodded. "Yeah, but wouldn't it be better to bring him down here, like I suggested?"
"We'd have to bring him through the busy yogurt shop," Casey said. It clearly wasn't a good idea.
"We'll tranq him at the hotel. We can always bring him here after dark," Sarah said. She stood and headed up the stairs.
"You heading back to the hotel?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "Make sure he gets a CPU, Chuck. And then one of you let me know the car he leaves in."
Chuck's basic idea was good, but this was a better adaptation. She was still proud of him for resisting the general's idea. She shuddered at the thought of him having to go through the handler / asset crap.
"He's just entered the store," Casey said, pointing at an image of the Buy More entrance. "Get over there."
Chuck rushed up the stairs after her. She stepped out of the way at the top so he could get to the store quickly.
Everything went to plan. No hitches to work around.
Sarah spotted Manoosh arrive at Maison23 in the car Casey told her he was driving. He rushed into the hotel clutching the CPU Chuck had sold to him.
She followed him to the elevator. Once in, he quickly pressed for the fifth floor before glancing at her to know her destination. She smiled at him. "Thanks, that's my floor, too."
She moved to the back of the elevator and leaned against the wall.
Manoosh seemed nervous and she guessed that he wasn't comfortable around women. She took note of that, but was unlikely to need that information.
He stood back to let her go first, so she had to do that, but then stopped to look in her purse as if she was looking for her key, which meant he passed her. She walked in the direction he'd taken, shortly behind him.
He'd just opened his door and stepped inside, when she shot a tranquilizer dart into his back. He slumped to the floor, dropping the CPU.
She rushed in, moved him into the room and closed the door before calling Chuck, knowing that he and Casey would be on their way. "Room 511," she told him.
"I'll let Casey know," he replied. "I'm bringing my laptop so that I can erase the security footage of us going into his room."
She was pleased at his thoughtfulness. "Good."
She pulled Manoosh further into the room, sat him in his chair and tied him to it.
Then, she looked around the room and spotted the man's briefcase. That would be a good place to look for any portable device, although she then also spotted his suitcase. She sighed but started the search.
Sarah let them into room 511. They saw that she'd bound Manoosh to the only chair in the room. He was slumped forward. He'd be unconscious for a while.
On the bed, she had a number of items that she'd taken from either the suitcase or the briefcase.
"Which were from the briefcase," Chuck asked.
"At the end of the bed, with his laptop," she replied.
Casey homed in on a strange triangular item. "This must be it."
Chuck snorted. Sarah smiled, knowing what he was going to say, because she recognized the item from when she'd accompanied Chuck when he went to buy some more of his cologne. "No, Casey," Chuck said. He picked it up and opened it and squirted. "Shaving cream."
"Ok, smart ass, what then?"
Sarah knew that nothing looked promising. Chuck scratched his head.
She hated saying it, but said, "Could he have stored it somewhere else?"
Casey grunted. "We'll have to interrogate him, after all."
"If it's portable, he'd keep it close," Chuck said.
"So, which of these things?" Sarah asked.
She was looking at him, when Chuck seemed to have an idea. "Remember when Bryce last visited me?" She cast her mind back, but before she could reply, Chuck grabbed the glasses case and took out the sunglasses he found inside it.
Sarah and Casey got close as he opened the arm. To Sarah, inside it looked just the same as the ones that Bryce had left with him. "This is it, guys!" Chuck said.
"Hidden in the glasses?" Casey asked, sounding doubtful.
Chuck put them on even though Casey tried to stop him. Sarah was horrified.
Chuck gasped and she thought something awful must've happened. However, he kept them on for a minute and then removed them.
"That was stupid, Chuck!" she snapped at him.
"It was like when I'd downloaded Intersect 2.0 and then had to face the Ring agents."
She gawped at him. He handed the glasses to her. She looked at them dubiously.
"They seem safe," he said, which got a glare from her. "Try them," he said, ignoring her expression.
Sarah carefully put them on. She gasped once they were fully on. She quickly removed them. She looked at both men, awe on her face. "Instant and temporary skills acquisition!"
"Wow!" Casey said. "Definitely a game changer. No wonder the CIA and the Ring are after them."
"Hey, did you empty his pockets?" Chuck asked.
Sarah pointed at the desk. In the middle of the other items, There was a Ring phone. "I guess he has a hotline to them," he commented.
Sarah nodded. "Looks like they're the ones he's favoring."
"So, we still have something to talk to him about," Casey said, rubbing his hands together.
Sarah rolled her eyes at his excitement. There was no way she was going to let him loose on the guy.
The tranquilizer lasted until the evening. Because of the Ring phone, they decided not to take him to Castle. They didn't want the Ring to find the place through any device locator capability.
"I could find that and disable it," Chuck offered.
"Telling them the device had been tampered with," Casey growled.
"Yeah. That's true," Chuck acknowledged. "But what if they decide to come here? D'you want Ring agents swarming over the hotel?"
"I certainly don't want that," Sarah said, shuddering at the thought of anyone being hurt in her hotel.
They called the general and she appeared on Chuck's laptop as the three of them sat closely together. She listened to the events that had occurred. She looked at Chuck approvingly. "So, you did find an alternative."
He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Well done."
Sarah felt so proud of her boyfriend. He was better than an agent in many ways.
The general then looked at the whole team and said, "So, now you can use him to draw out the Ring team."
Sarah saw Chuck's jaw drop, but she'd expected this. She knew Chuck wouldn't like it, though. "Yes, Ma'am."
"We haven't had a chance to interrogate him yet, General," Casey said.
"Find out what he knows and then go after them," Beckman said, and ended the call.
As Sarah expected, Chuck instantly turned to them. "He's a civilian!"
"Who's already playing with fire," Sarah responded. "The Ring will be after him anyway."
Chuck's shoulders slumped. "I guess."
"Not only that, Chuck," Sarah said. "We'd already agreed that him being here was a bad idea."
"We could just take the phone somewhere," Chuck suggested.
"And what if they call him?" Casey asked.
After they decided on a location, Casey arranged for the local NSA to provide additional resources.
They used the backstairs at the hotel, so weren't seen leaving. On the drive over, Chuck removed all security footage of them being there.
Once at the planned location, Casey went to talk to the NSA agents that turned up. Sarah and Chuck sat Manoosh down.
As Manoosh awoke, Sarah was sitting opposite him, with Casey beside her.
"What the fuck?" Manoosh cried as he realized that he was tied to the chair.
Chuck wasn't hanging around for the interrogation. He'd been standing by the door behind Manoosh. He quickly left the room, but probably heard Casey say, "You've been a very naughty boy, Depak."
Sarah knew what Chuck planned to do. He'd move to the room across the hallway and open up the Ring phone he was carrying in his hand. He'd promised not to deactivate it at all, but he was curious about it. She'd not mentioned that to Casey in case he blew up about it.
She looked back at the man in the chair. She picked up the sunglasses. "You were planning to sell these."
Manoosh's eyes widened on seeing her holding the glasses open, but then he got himself under control. He actually smirked. "Who'd want to buy a pair of sunglasses?"
She smiled sweetly and leaned close. "Because of the skills they endow on the wearer."
That shook him. "You've put them on?"
She leaned back and nodded. "Who were you trying to sell them to?" she asked.
"I- I wasn't," he replied.
It would've seemed almost magical to him when one of her knives appeared in her hand, holding it to his throat. "We don't have time for your lies," she hissed.
"You- you weren't even wearing the- the glasses!" he gasped, looking at her with fear in his eyes.
"I don't need them," she said. "Now, talk!"
"The CIA," he quickly replied.
She pushed the blade so that the tip just pierced his neck, drawing blood. "And?"
"An organization called the Ring," he rushed out.
She pulled the knife away and stepped back. "Oh, yes. You have one of their phones. D'you think they'll track you here?"
He gulped and obviously hadn't considered that. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere that no one will hear what happens when they arrive," she said dismissively.
"What did you expect to happen once you sold it to them?" Casey asked.
Manoosh looked at him. "Who the hell are you both?"
"Answer the question," Casey snarled.
Manoosh seemed to get some confidence back. "I'll be rich, and then I'll start a company of my own, to make more glasses."
Casey barked out a laugh, which clearly disconcerted Manoosh.
His eyes snapped back to Sarah as she said, "The Ring won't let you get away. They won't even pay you. They'll bunker you and force you to make them exclusively for them."
"That- that's not what we've agreed," he stuttered out.
"You moron!" Casey snapped.
"They don't want to do business with you," Sarah stated. "Once you hand over the glasses, they'll capture you and that'll be the last anyone will see of you."
"What d'you want me to do?" Manoosh asked.
"The Ring will contact you, yes?" Sarah asked. He nodded. "You will follow this script as you talk to them."
She put a sheet of paper in his lap. He read it and then looked up, worried. "You want them to come here? I'll need the glasses."
Casey laughed again. "Not happening!"
"They won't get to you," Sarah explained. "We'll take them out."
"There'll be too many of them for the two of you," Manoosh said.
"We're not stupid," Casey said dismissively. "We're not the only ones here."
The door suddenly burst open and Chuck rushed in waving the Ring phone. Sarah saw it was flashing. She turned to Manoosh. "Time to follow the script."
Manoosh gulped, but nodded. Sarah took the phone from Chuck and held it in front of Manoosh. She answered the call and he said, "Hello."
With the phone on speaker, they all heard the annoyed reply, "Where are you and where's our prototype? If you haven't got it, we'll kill you."
Manoosh quickly replied, "Whoa, slow down, chief. Yes, I have the prototype. Still have some kinks to work out, which are what I'm working on right now." That wasn't part of the script, but Sarah didn't object to it.
"We want to see it," the man at the other end replied. Then, he ended the call.
Casey had been on his laptop, but grumbled. "Too quick to trace, but I guess they're coming."
"Why are you doing this?" Manoosh asked. "You already have the glasses."
Casey leaned close. "Because the Ring is evil and needs to be eradicated."
"That doesn't include you," Chuck said as he moved into view.
Manoosh stared at him. "You're in on this too?"
Sarah glared at her boyfriend. He wasn't supposed to be seen. "Not important," she quickly said, to stop Chuck from responding. She fired another dart into the seated man.
"Time to take out some Ring agents!" Casey said with a grin on his face as he called the NSA team.
There were eight Ring agents, arriving in two cars.
Remembering Chuck when he downloaded the Intersect 2.0, Sarah wondered whether Manoosh could have defeated all of the men like her boyfriend had back then if he had the glasses on.
That obviously wasn't tested. They were captured in the traditional way. A couple of them grabbed guns, aiming at the larger force of NSA agents facing them, but were summarily shot before the oldest of the Ring team, who must be the leader, told them to surrender.
Sarah turned to Chuck who was standing beside her, watching what happened. Apart from frowning when the two men got shot, she didn't notice him react at all.
"You didn't flash on anyone?" she asked. "Not even the leader?"
"No. Not even him," Chuck replied.
She could see he was worried about that, so felt she should reassure him. "Not all of them will be in the Intersect, Chuck."
He looked at her. "But we're relying on that."
"No, we're not," she replied. "It helps, but isn't the only thing we have in our favor." He raised an eyebrow. "We're the best team, even without the Intersect." She grinned at him. "After all, we have your brains on the team."
He smiled. "And the most kick-ass super-spy."
She appreciated the compliment, but after a brief chuckle, said, "I'm not a super-spy, Chuck."
"You are in my eyes," he replied, deadly serious.
She should be planning to reprimand him for the mistakes he'd made today, but she pushed those thoughts aside. They'd succeeded in everything and they needed to celebrate later.
"Well done, team," the general said to them once they returned to Castle.
"What's going to happen to Manoosh, General?" Chuck asked. Sarah knew that was worrying him as he watched the guy get taken away.
General Beckman looked at him. "Well, after the glasses were crushed under your foot, accidentally I hope, the CIA will want to encourage him to recreate them."
Sarah had been with Chuck when that 'accident' occurred. She wasn't going to mention that it was deliberate, but guessed that the general knew.
"The world is a better place without them, General," Chuck stated.
"I agree," she said. "So, the NSA will not be handing him over. However, his intellect will be utilized on other projects."
"In a bunker?" Chuck asked nervously.
"I think he might function better in the light, don't you, Chuck?" Beckman said. Her look spoke volumes. She had no intention of repeating the plans originally considered for Chuck himself.
Sarah watched Chuck's face as he recognized that. "Thank you, General," he said.
She nodded and ended the call.
Sarah grasped Chuck's hand and pulled him toward the stairs. "Come on, we need to celebrate."
Casey guessed what she had planned and grunted in disgust.
"We're going home, aren't we?" Chuck asked as she pulled him up the stairs.
"Unless you want to make love in the car… or in public," she replied.
"No, the apartment is best," he replied excitedly.
A/N: If you have time to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.