A/N: Still with me? Great. And, if you were one of the ones who left a review for the last chapter, thanks. Much appreciated.

This continues the AU version of Alma Mater.

Healing

Chapter 10: Stanford

When they got to the university, the weather was perfect for the game, but not for Sarah who not only had to wear gloves, but also long sleeves and full length pants. It made her wonder whether California was the right place for her.

Chuck was completely out of it. Coming back here was not something he wanted, and it showed. "This is really freaking me out," he said to her. "It's like nothing has changed."

There were a lot of people milling about. The turn out for the game was impressive, if somewhat claustrophobic for Sarah. Chuck recognized that and steered her away from the crowds quite quickly. She smiled at him, glad that he was so considerate, in spite of how he was feeling himself.

Casey joined them, as grumpy as ever.

Chuck pointed across the quad at the building at the far side. "That's the library."

He started to walk that way and then stopped. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know, I figured this'd be tough, but this place... is just a lot to take in, you know. I used to have so much fun here, and then..."

"And then?" she prompted him.

"It was the worst day of my life, getting kicked out of here. Having to hear Ellie's voice when I told her I was coming home. Packing up all my stuff and leaving, as Bryce just stood there. He said I brought it on myself."

She frowned. "Why do you think that Bryce betrayed you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. He's had four years to call and set the record straight. And now that he's gone..." he trailed off and looked lost in thought.

"You know what? Forget it," he finally said, seeming to brighten up, but Sarah could read him, and knew that was just him pretending. "Bryce has betrayed a lot of people, hasn't he?" he added.

Chuck set off at a faster pace and Sarah followed just behind him. Casey muttered something, but Sarah couldn't make out what.

When they reached the library, Chuck seemed to realize he didn't have his ID but muttered that it was probably invalid now anyway. However, Casey caught up and handed it to him. "You need this."

Chuck looked at him. "It won't work anymore."

Casey replied. "I reactivated it while making Walker's and mine."

The cards got them through the security barrier, but Sarah noticed the guard making a call. She nodded to him for Casey to handle. The older agent wandered over and she saw him show his NSA ID and say, "National Security."

Chuck took them to the third floor and looked around to familiarize himself. Then, he headed off with the two agents following close behind. He finally pointed. "There. There, that row."

Sarah looked. It didn't seem any different to the others. "Well, at least Magnus hasn't beaten us here," she said.

"Get the book, Bartowski," Casey muttered.

Chuck lifted down a thick book and Casey snatched it off of him and shook it. Nothing fell out. "No intel here," he grumbled.

Chuck's eyes widened and then turned back to the shelving. "Hold on." He reached directly under the shelf where the book had sat. He pulled something down, she couldn't see what, but then retrieved a disk in a case. He smiled at them. "The intel," he said. "The book number was just a way to mark the spot."

"Let's get out here before Einerson makes the connection with the book number," Casey said.

They quickly made their way out of the library, but not before a librarian appeared by the security guard. "You still owe the library $294. 68 in late fees."

Casey gave him a card, "Bill the NSA."

Once outside, they planned to leave immediately, but Chuck spotted their adversary. "Einerson, over there, he pointed at us."

Sarah looked and the man was running toward them along with eight others. All three of them started to run for the car.

They managed to reach it, but as he unlocked it, Casey was hit in the top of his left arm with a crossbow bolt.

The force of it squashed him against the car. With his right hand he threw the car key to Sarah.

Chuck helped Casey into the back as Sarah dived into the driving seat. Casey scooted across and Chuck sat beside him. Sarah shouted, "Buckle-up later. We're going!"

The car shot out of its space heading away from the Icelandic shooter.

"Shit! He's firing again," Chuck shouted, almost immediately.

The man would be much closer now. "Duck!" she cried as she quickly turned left.

The bolt shot through the window by Chuck who was bent double, and nearly hit Casey before exiting through his window. "Bullet-proof but not bolt-proof," Casey grumbled.

Sarah quickly got them out of the parking lot and headed back toward LA. As always, she drove fast, but wished this tank handled and drove as fast as her Porsche.

She looked in her rear mirror and saw that Chuck got Casey's seat belt fastened and then he did his own. He made no attempt to remove the bolt. "We need to get that out," she said.

"No. We need to get away," Casey said through gritted teeth.

"I'm going as fast as this tank can go," she growled.

Casey just grunted, not even up to defending his prized possession.

She threw her phone back to Chuck. "Get help."

"An NSA team is here, just not at the university," Casey said. "Get my phone from my pocket."

She briefly watched Chuck get the phone out of Casey's pants pocket and Casey told him the security code.

Soon, Chuck was talking to the NSA leader who told his team to follow. "A car and two vans," Chuck told them after finishing the call.

"The car might help,, but the vans will be useless," Sarah grumbled.

"Unless we stop," Chuck replied. "They want the disk, so won't fire any rockets."

"There's two of us to their nine," she pointed out. "At least until our team catches up."

"Three," Chuck replied, holding up his tranq pistol.

"He's right," Casey said. "I know a place we can… make a stand. And the team will know it well."

Sarah couldn't believe she was going along with this, but let Casey give directions as Chuck made another call. She just hoped that the Icelanders didn't see them turn and went straight past, but then she realized that would mean they'd lose track of the bad guys. Not a good plan. She hoped they could seek a place to hide and then she'd have time to move the car to make it visible and get back to the two of them.

Sarah turned off the freeway when Casey told her. All she could see was a dirt track that led over a small hill rise and an area to the right where a number of vehicles had obviously parked.

"I thought you said we could take a stand here," she said.

"Not here, but in the place on the other side of the hill," Casey replied. "I'm assuming you'll drop us off and bring the car back up here."

She drove on and over the ridge. Down a deep slope was what looked like a small town, not just a single building that she was expecting.

The tires skidded a bit, but she made it down. She felt like she'd gone back in time. The town looked like something you'd see in a western.

"Old film set, maybe from before they started just putting up the building fronts," Chuck commented.

"Yeah," Casey replied. "Drop us off at the first building. Go in and get a broom you'll find in there. You'll need to sweep the track as you return back to us."

Sarah rushed in, feeling the pressure of time. He was right, a broom was just inside.

When she got back to the car, Chuck and Casey were out. The older man was waving away the younger one who looked like he was fussing over him.

"We'll be further in," Casey said. "Third building on the right."

She climbed into the Crown Vic and headed back up, being careful to follow in the tracks left on the way down.

The freeway was fairly deserted and she could see a long way back from the parking area. No cars were approaching. She parked the car and set off back to them. She had to sweep the tire tracks into the parking lot as well as those on the way down. It would seem odd if there was only one set of footprints, hers, so she swept those, too. She hoped the men would think they'd not used the track to get down to their hiding place, but was aware that was a stretch of the imagination.

After her sweeping behind her, the track looked even less drivable, as she'd hoped. That would be the reason for going down on foot, for the three of them as well as Einerson's men.

She got to the set and walked to where the tire tracks made a circle. She swept all of that and then started following the two sets of footprints.

She stopped sweeping for a moment, but then changed her mind. No point leaving footprints to where they were hiding. So, she turned back and started sweeping again. She'd been keeping an eye out for followers, but was relieved to have seen none.

Once in the building Casey had mentioned, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned the broom near the entrance.

Casey was sitting by a window that he had slightly ajar. He still had the bolt in her left shoulder, but had a gun in his right hand. "You might want to walk over the road to a different place," he muttered.

He was right. No point both of them being in one place.

"Take the kid with you. I can feel his concern, even though he's finally shut up."

She looked at Chuck. "I'm worried about the bolt still being in him," he said.

"Get him out of here!" Casey growled.

She grabbed Chuck's hand and the broom as she pulled him out. "Get over there quickly," she said and started sweeping again as she walked slower.

The new 'house' had a second floor, so she headed up to find a good spot.

Chuck followed her. "I need a place to shoot from, too."

She groaned. She found a good location and told him to use it. "I'll be in the next building along," she told him.

He didn't look happy about that, but knew it was sensible. "Be careful," he said.

She knew that was how he thought, but it still felt odd, someone worrying about her. "You be careful, Chuck." She stopped herself from saying he was more important than her.

After more sweeping, she headed upstairs in the next building along.

There was still no sign of anyone. She started to wonder if the Icelandic team had driven past before she made the car visible. If they did, the first people they'd see would be from the NSA. She talked into her watch to tell Chuck.

"I know that," he replied. "I'll wait until you start shooting before I do."

So, now it was just a waiting game.

Sarah, being the closest to the ridge, saw the men first. One looked over, and then disappeared. Then, two looked over. They were too far away to make out who they were, but the NSA men would've just driven over the ridge, so it had to be Einerson and his men.

"They're here," she told her partners.

The men spread out before starting down the slope. Sarah wished that she had a rifle. She could've picked each one off easily, but with just a pair of guns, they were too far away.

However, Einerson was easy to spot now. He was the only one carrying a crossbow. He was also further back than the others. Clearly, he was willing to sacrifice his men, pushing them forward in front of him.

There were twenty of them, including him. More than she'd expected and certainly more than they'd seen on the campus. She just hoped that between them, they'd have enough bullets.

She was surprised when Casey shot first, but then thought he was probably trying to draw their fire. There was nothing wrong with his right hand. Two men dropped with just two bullets.

The other seventeen rifle-bearing men opened fire and she saw the outer wooden cladding of Casey's building start to splinter and the window he was at shattered, although not before he took out one more man.

Sarah got started, using both of her guns, and took out two on her side. She hit another, but only in his shoulder. However, as that was the arm holding the rifle, , he dropped it and fell back.

Bullets were now raining her way, too.

She had to find another window when hers shattered, but not before shooting another man. She wondered how quickly Casey would get to another window.

They were down to twelve men plus Einerson.

When she found another window, she saw that with their bullets stopping, the men had started to run forward. Einerson was staying back, but had his crossbow raised. She shot another two men advancing, and that slowed the others who focused their bullets her way. They had no cover but just kept coming.

Before ducking back, Sarah noted another man drop, so Casey must be firing again. So, now nine and Einerson.

A bolt hit the wall behind her, so the crossbow man must have fired. She kept down.

Where the hell were the NSA teams?

When she peeked out again. There were no men visible. "They've gone behind us," Casey said. "Einarsson and five your side and four mine."

"Shit!" Ten men who could now hide in doorways were far more challenging.

She rushed to the back of the building. There were less windows here, probably because they weren't needed for filming which would've been on the main street, but it did raise the question why there were any.

She peeked out and saw two of the men creeping her way. She eased the window open and shot both.

There was no return fire, so she suspected the other three were below. She heard a door below creak open. That meant that at least one of them was in with her.

She lowered down to the floor and slid along to the doorway.

She stayed there and saw one of the men reach the top of the stairs. She'd still be a fairly easy target, so she shot him and he fell back down the stairs. She heard a grunt, so he must've fallen into one of the others.

Another bolt hit the door frame above her. The angle suggested Einerson had stayed downstairs.

There were still two men and Einerson, probably all in with her.

She quickly moved back into the room and none too soon as a bolt shot up through the floor where she'd been lying. Shots were then fired and came through the floorboards, too. This wasn't good. She had to get out or she'd be hit for sure.

She put one gun away, ran and dived out through the door. She grabbed the rail in front of her and swung over it, dropping down to the floor below. It was a risk but she couldn't think of anything better. She immediately saw the two men in the room below and shot the nearest one easily, but the other dived out of the way.

She heard a thump behind her and dived to one side while turning.

Thankfully, she didn't shoot, because Chuck was in the back entrance doorway having just tranq'd Einerson.

He looked up and fired again and there was another thump. She guessed that he'd shot the last man.

She knew Casey was at risk, but she couldn't stop herself from rising, running to Chuck and wrapping her arms around him. He dropped his pistol and held on tightly to her waist as he whispered, "I had to come. You were in danger."

She should've told him off and then gone to help her NSA partner, but she just clung to the man who, once again, had saved her rather than been saved by her.

In the silence, she heard vehicles arriving. Hopefully, they'd help Casey.

Chuck kissed the top of her head and she just clung tighter.

Casey had been taken by one of the NSA teams. They were going to get him the medical treatment he needed.

Sarah reported to Langston Graham. He was pleased and wanted the intel to be sent to him. Chuck waved his hands at her, indicating he didn't want that to happen.

"Will do, Sir," she replied.

When she ended that call, she looked at her cover boyfriend. "I had to say that."

He nodded. "He can have it, but not before I look at it. There could be answers on this disk about why I'm in the Intersect."

She nodded. "I guess we better get back to Echo Park quickly, then."

He grinned at her and they trekked back up to the parked car and set off.

Sarah stood behind Chuck as loaded the disk into his computer.

There were a series of files, grouped together under an individual year. Under each were names. Chuck clicked on a random one.

"There are videotaped interviews, and testing data, too," Chuck said. "Each of these people are students."

"Exactly," Sarah replied. "Students that were recruited into the CIA by Fleming. Ten years' worth. It's all their current information." She looked at Chuck. "No wonder Magnus wanted it so badly. Foreign governments would pay for that."

"Look at this, right next to 2002. Bryce Larkin. Bryce joined the CIA our junior year?"

"We have to get this to Graham as quickly as possible," Sarah said.

"No, wait, that's me," he said, pointing at his own name under 2003. "I'm in here, too."

Sarah knew she probably should stop him from looking at it, but this was the whole point of the delay. He turned to her. "I never had an interview, any more than I applied to join the CIA."

He clicked on the video recording that was supposed to be his interview.

The two of them watched as Fleming called his assistant to send Chuck in, but it was Bryce that entered. He and Fleming argued about Chuck. She got him to start again, so that they could really take in what had happened.

xxx

Fleming stated into a microphone, "Test subject 0326. Bartowski. This will be his first interview."

He then called to his assistant, "Send Chuck in."

Bryce opened the door. And Fleming said, "Bryce? This isn't a good time. I'm waiting for another student."

"Chuck Bartowski? He never got your message."

Fleming was facing away from the camera, but they could hear the confusion in his voice. "What are you talking about?"

Bryce, facing the camera, sat down and replied, "You put Chuck on the CIA recruitment track?"

"It's not up to me, Bryce. They want him for the Omaha Project."

Sarah gasped on hearing that.

Bryce stated, "That's a military operation. They'll turn Chuck into-"

Fleming cut him off. "I'm required to send all the top test results to the Agency.

"I want my friend out of this," Bryce stated firmly.

Fleming responded, "He's a perfect candidate. Keywords in his essay responses correlate to 98 percent of the images in the exam."

Bryce leaned forward. "You don't get it. Chuck's a good person. He's got too much heart for this kind of work. He's no operative." Bryce hit Fleming's desk and raised his voice, "You can't put him out in the field. He won't survive."

"The Agency is not gonna let go of a recruit this promising," Fleming replied. "The amount of information he can retain."

Bryce looked like he knew the answer to his next question. "They're not gonna give him a choice?"

"He's in no matter what," Fleming replied.

Bryce looked away for a moment, then faced the professor again. said, "If he cheated on the exam, copied all the answers... it would invalidate the results, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now you're going to help me, professor."

Bryce stood and walked out of the room and the recording ended.

xxx

Chuck just stared at the screen. "Bryce framed me for cheating to save me. Why didn't he just tell me that?"

Sarah had worked that out. "He couldn't. They had already recruited him."

"If he had a reason for getting me kicked out... maybe he had a good reason to break into the Intersect, too."

Sarah hated this line of thinking, but had to admit it seemed reasonable. "And maybe he had a good reason for sending it to you."

"I just wish I could talk to him," Chuck muttered. "It must have torn him up to not be able to tell me."

Typical Chuck. He seemed to have forgiven Bryce already., and felt sorry for him! "No one can know about this. For your own safety, okay?" she said. He nodded. "So, can you remove your records? The test results and this video recording?"

"Sure."

She watched as he did that. Then, she placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Sorry about all this, and the lack of real answers, Chuck."

He placed a hand over hers. "It's more than I had before. And thank you for letting me see this."

"You deserved to see it," she replied.

As she walked out of the room, holding the disk, she thought about what they'd just found out. Bryce had just made the decision on Chuck's behalf, not giving him any choice, and had virtually ruined his life. Her ex-partner had been wrong to do that.

She was also aware that it had upset her far more than it should have done. She was falling for Chuck almost as fast as he was falling for her.

God, help us both!

A/N: Not so very different from canon, although this Chuck isn't afraid of using a tranq pistol and joining in. A real gun would be quite a different story.

I'd really appreciate a review, if you have the time.