We open up where we left off with Chuck, Sarah and Casey in the apartment.
Graham: Hello, Agent Casey, Agent Walker and Mr. Bartowski. Agent Casey relayed that you needed to discuss something with General Beckman and myself.
Chuck: That is correct. I have requested this meeting to discuss my future and I needed to talk to both of you on the matter.
Beckman: I am assuming that this has something to do with Fulcrum?
Chuck: No, it is more on a personal note. But before we start the discussions, I would like to ask that it be between you too and myself. I would like to make sure that Agents Casey and Walker are excluded from the meeting.
Both Casey and Sarah look at each other. They did not really expect Chuck to exclude them. There was something ominous in Chuck's decision to keep them from knowing what he was up to. The problem Casey was having is that he continually sweeps his apartment for bugs so there would be no way to listen in on the conversation. Chuck had been smart to not tell him till just before the meeting that he would be asking for them to leave.
Graham and Beckman both look at Casey and Sarah. They were not expecting this from Chuck either. They could see that he was serious and would have to go along for the time being.
Beckman: Agents Casey and Walker, if you could wait out side until further notice.
Casey/Sarah: Yes General.
You see Casey and Sarah leave the apartment. They do not like this one bit as they felt that they were part of a team. The three of them had been working with each other longer than any team that Casey or Sarah had been with in their entire careers. Sure Sarah had worked with Bryce quite a lot, but it was usually a mission then they would be reassigned to different missions then back together again. Nothing for this long all at one time.
Chuck hears Casey grunt as he closes the door. He knows that Casey is not happy with his request. He would really not be happy if he finds out what he had done.
Graham: Ok Mr. Bartowski, what is it that you want to talk to us about. I assume that you realize that as the intersect, that you cannot just go off by yourself without us.
Chuck: First, I want you to know that I have requested the Lie detector to make sure that you know I am telling the absolute truth. I believe that Casey set it up so that you would get the readings as we speak?
Beckman: That is correct. I am not sure how that will help though?
Chuck: I want to let you know that neither Casey or Sarah know what I have done! I have done all of this on my own and they had no part in it. I am sure that they would have stopped me if they had known. I want to make sure that you are sure that it I am telling the truth!
Graham: I think we get the picture and yes the detector says that you are telling the truth. But I don't like the direction that this is headed Mr. Bartowski!
Chuck: Good, and I don't think you will like the direction either. But I also know that you ordered to have me carted off. That is evident from the Longshore incident. It actually scared me more than Fulcrum does to be honest. Song starts playing in background
Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9852hq0W0&feature=related
Both Graham and Beckman notice that Chuck seems to have reflected on the incident. The readings on the detector shows that he is telling the truth as well. This was a decision that they had made without discussing the possible problems that it may cause. They recall that both Casey and Walker had some misgivings when they issued the order.
They both realize that this meeting is the backlash from that decision. Now the question is what had they caused the intersect to do. They had backed Chuck up into a corner and just like any animal, he was fighting back when faced with no other option. Chuck snaps back to where he had left off.
Chuck: I did not ask for all of these secrets and I have played by your rules completely. I am not nor will I ever do anything to harm my country! Please confirm that my last statement is true.
Beckman: No one has ever questioned your integrity Chuck! We were just trying to protect you from Fulcrum.
Chuck: By placing me in a Bunker?! You don't even know who all the Fulcrum agents are. You could have been putting me right into their hands! Both Sarah and Casey have put their lives on the line and I would do no less for them. Though I would rather do it from the car. ( a brief smile on his face. )
Graham: So you just expect us to not do anything?
Chuck: I am covering my bets to make sure you don't put me away somewhere! I also know that you will probably kill me when the new intersect comes on-line. Please don't try and deny it.
Graham: I have no knowledge of this? Why would you think that Mr. Bartowski!
Chuck: Well, maybe because I read it from the NSA Server transmission files! If you don't know about it, then I would suggest that you talk to General Beckman more often. Right General.
Beckman: How did you get the file Mr. Bartowski? That order has not been issued!
Chuck: Well, it is still a possibility so lets keep moving on.
Graham gives Beckman a serious look and you can tell he is pissed. This is one of the projects that he was personally working on. To have a field resource such as Chuck at a teams disposal. Though he would not have picked Chuck to be that resource, but he has proved more than adequate for the job.
They watch as Chuck pulls out a flash drive and plugs it into Casey's system. Chuck goes to the drive and pulls up a file. To both Beckman's and Graham's amazement it is a list of agents for the last few years.
Chuck: As you can see, I have a list of all of the agents that Professor Fleming had recruited from Stanford. I have also obtained several agents from the NSA as well in the list. I have this list encrypted on several disks and stashed in various locations throughout the city. I also have several project files that I have not read or open with the exception of one. That would be the standing orders from General Beckman! I am sure that you would agree we don't want these to get out! The only way for them to get out is if I disappear either to an underground bunker or dead.
Graham: How did you get these files?! We don't respond well to blackmail Mr. Bartowski!
Chuck had been able to obtain most of the names from the disk he had brought back from his mission at Stanford. When he had placed the disk from Professor Fleming into his computer, he had some software that makes a virtual disk out of it. All of the contents had been on his system since the day he had opened it. Chuck had installed this software to speed up his games, but it had come in very handy after all. He was now using it to bargain for him's life and that of Sarah as well. If this worked there would be no kill order and Casey would not have to kill him and Sarah if she got in the way.
Both Beckman and Graham start looking through the list of names and this would cause almost all of the agencies agents to be compromised. It would take years to recover from such an exposure. A few of the names on the list were:
Daniel Holland
Aaron Pelman
Jeanne Leitenberg
Marc Paltavina
Trey Coscia
Jaclyn Poko
Chris Della Penna
Paul Marks
1995
Aimee O'Shea
2000
Jessica Queller
Jeremy Maerten Guarisc
2001
Dorian Velinov
2002
Bryce Larkin
Sarah Yang
Skye Allyn Stolnitz
2003
Charles Bartowski
Scott Bauer
Then Chuck pops up a list of the project names that he has downloaded. They are all extremely sensitive but a few names are critical and would severely damaging if Congress were to get a hold of them! Graham also notes that if Chuck had actually opened two of them he would have been shocked. The projects Omaha and Mephistopheles are of major concern and directly relate to Chuck.
Graham: Are you saying that you have not read any of these projects Chuck!
Chuck: That is what I am saying. I have not read any of them and I will not as long as we can come to terms that all of us can live with! You can check the detector to verify that.
Beckman: The results agree with you, but I am not very happy with you Mr. Bartowski. What is it that you want?
Chuck: What I want is to have some choices with my life! Let's get the big issues out first.
I will work with you on any assignment that you need me for. I am not stupid and I will not ignore my duty. As much as I would like to have the secrets removed, I don't see it happening. Also the data will become outdated at some point.
I will not try and run away, but I do expect to have some time by myself. That means no handlers stalking my every move. I will drop off the grid from time to time with some form of check-in process that you require. I will keep in contact with one agent that will know of my location even when off the grid, but not lurking around.
I will keep a GPS tracking device on my person at all times, but it will not always be on. I will activate it if I run into any problems. The only time it will not be on is when I am on personal time. Unlike a real agent, I cannot always separate the job from real life.
I want Agent Walker reassigned for the next two weeks. If after that time she wants to join back up then she can. I am sure that you know that I feel deeply for her, but I want her to make up her own mind. She must not be told anything other than she is being reassigned. After the two weeks, I would like for you to give her the choice to come back. NO other information can be relayed to her to effect that decision!
Agent Casey is given the choice to become my one agent contact or get reassigned. I know he misses out on the action. If he does decide to stay, I will go on any mission that you decide Team Chuck is needed for. Anywhere in the world, but I want frequent flier miles from the trips. ( smiles but quickly stops after looking at Graham and Beckman )
That the Kill order is reascended and that there is no possibility that Sarah will be hurt if a certain person were to carry it out. If it is necessary, then I would like Agent Casey to be the one to do it.
I am taking a vacation right after this meeting. I will leave all but one tracking device and it will be off for the two weeks unless I run into trouble. I will leave a message with Agent Casey tomorrow on where I will be going. At that time you can send someone else to keep track of me but not to interfere with my vacation! No bugs either and I will know.
Last but not least, I would like you to replace Casey's car that I blew up. I still feel guilty that he never got it replaced.
Graham: Is that all? And why should we not just bring you in now.
Chuck: As I said I have copies of this information in several locations throughout the City. I have created a Deadman version of a worm that is already working its way through the internet and will activate itself every 30 days looking for my response. ( he doesn't mention that there is also a worm inside of the NSA computer structure ) If I don't give it, then it will provide the GPS coordinates of those disks to several key Congressmen and several Newspapers that I have selected. By now the worm is on several thousand systems and is self sustaining.
I give my word that as long as I am able it will never reach anyone. I have no intention of ever revealing this data, but I am no dummy either. I am doing this to make sure the ones I love will never be harmed. If anything happens to them, it will send these disks out immediately. There is no room to negotiate on that part.
Now you should be able to verify that I have not lied about anything. If this is not acceptable to you then we have a problem.
Beckman: And what happens if Fulcrum were to capture you? This would cause the data to be leaked!
Chuck: I have thought of that and a phrase has been added to send all of the disks to a specific person with instructions to provide the disks to the correct person. As long as my family can be contacted, then the disks will not be sent, as long as they are fine. If they are not reachable, then the disks go to the original selected targets. I also have the flash drive with all of the data encrypted as well.
Graham: It seems that we don't have much of a choice at this time Mr. Bartowski. But from this point on you are part of the agency. There is no leaving the agency once you are in.
Chuck: I can live with that. One more request.
Beckman: I think you have already asked for quite a bit. What is this last request?
Chuck: If Agent Walker decides to come back, is it permitted to have a real relationship? Not that she would want to, but just hypothetically?
Graham and Beckman look at each other and put the voice on mute. They discuss this between them. Graham and Beckman both agree that Chuck is deeply in love with Walker and this is a major way to maintain his loyalty! It would be tricky if she decides not to come back but they can worry about that later.
At this point it looks like they have him still working for both agencies and at his own request instead of by force. They also have Agent Walker as a backup to help control him if necessary. All of the statements show that he is telling the truth and he has always helped with all missions without any questions to date. Both Beckman and Graham feel that the risk is minimum and the reward is huge.
Graham: We have discussed your requests and feel that we can accommodate them. Yes it would be permitted for her to have a relationship. The CIA has never kept that from happening, but agents know that they could be reassigned at any time.
Chuck: But there are plenty of Agents that are married and still work for the CIA right?
Beckman: Yes, that is true.
Chuck: That is Great! You will give Casey and Walker a chance to leave correct? They are the only people I trust, but I am sure there will be others if they want to move on. ( with a sad tone but he tries to not show it ) Agent Walker will be reassigned for the two week without any additional information as well!
Graham: Yes, we will see to it. She will know nothing up till after two weeks and then will be given the option to return. She will not be influenced by us.
Chuck: Thanks, because I would be able to detect it if you do! So that I don't have to face either of them after you talk to them, I will be leaving. I expect to be on a boat to Cabo by tomorrow, if things work out. If not I will be flying. You can have an agent,other than Casey or Walker, contact me when I get there. I will keep my phone with me which can be tracked in case of any issues. Thanks for being understanding.
Beckman: Remember this Mr. Bartowski, if you pull anything like this again, we will have you eliminated with prejudice. Do you understand!
Chuck: ( gulps ) Yes Sir, I mean Ma'am, I mean Yes General!
Graham: I think we are done here. Send in Agents Casey and Walker when you leave.
Chuck: I will go get them right now.
Chuck gets up to go and the probes pull him back down. Then he tries to pull them off and keeps saying ouch, ouch, ouch, till all of them are off. He gets up to leave and trips over the wires and falls flat on his face. He pops up and walks towards the door like nothing happened. Both Graham and Beckman look on as they see him fumble all over the place. As he close the door you can hear them say.
Beckman: And we have the intersect in his head. I feel like I was just watching a Benny Hill show.
Graham: It is amazing that he has lived this long. We wont have to kill him, he will do that himself.
Chuck leaves the meeting sweating from the stress. He has won this time but there is no telling how long it will last. He knows that they will not be putting him in a bunker but may decide to kill him sometime in the future. Well, there is no sense worrying about what might happen. It was always a possibility from the very first time he meet Sarah and Casey.
He was free for now and so was Sarah and Casey. Heck for all he knows they may come out of the meeting and shoot him just from what he did. Well he will be free either way. He steps out of the door of Caseys apartment and looks straight at Casey and Sarah. He sure hopes that they understand, but at least Sarah will be safe.
Chuck: Batter up. They want to talk to you two now. I just want you two to know that I have enjoyed our time together. If nothing else I enjoyed the excitement even though I am not an agent.
Casey goes first towards the door, but Sarah waits for him to go in. She looks at Chuck and sees that he has done something that will change all of them forever. She looks him in the eye, he can see that she is sad. She reaches out and grabs his hands and pulls him closer. She is not sure what to say but Chuck knows that she is different somehow.
Sarah: Chuck, no matter what happens just know that I care about you. I know it doesn't make sense to you but it is hard for an agent to commit to any type of relationship. I am trying to tell you that I have put you over the job, but I don't know what more you want?!
Chuck: Sarah, I don't know anything about being an agent. Maybe you have done what you say, but I never saw it. All I have seen or hear is for the job. Even the kiss, which I thought was right, you said was a mistake! Sure things were stressful, but you are used to it and I am not.
Sarah: I was confused and we were about to die. Then other things complicated it even more. I told you I am not good at relationships.
Chuck: Neither am I, but I know that I need a real relationship. I am releasing you from being my handler. Go enjoy the good life again. ( suddenly Chuck leans in and kisses her gently on the lips and then hugs her close ) I will miss you a great deal Sarah. Maybe when your ready you will come back for me. I will always love you. You can trust me on that. The song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx53c_6h-W4&feature=related .
Chuck looks down and walks past her to his apartment. He walks straight into his room and closes the door. He is thankful that Elle and Devon are still at work. He goes to his stereo and puts on the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKpZzcGjlFw&feature=related while they are talking to Graham and Beckman. He is glad that he doesn't have to be there for it. After the song ends he grabs his bags and heads for the beach. He needs to do some soul searching and that is the perfect spot.
Casey and Sarah walk into the room and stand in front of the TV screen. They see from the expression on Beckman and Graham's face that something serious must have been discussed. Sarah is very nervous that the order to terminate Chuck was about to be given. She has never seen Graham look this upset before.
Beckham: Well you seem to have both been correct. The intersect has some new abilities and one of them has put us in a corner. You are both to be given the choice to either stay part of the team or get a reassignment. He was very adamant that you Agent Walker be reassigned.
He seems to feel that you need more excitement in your life Agent Walker! He also admitted that he is in love with you and it seems that he wants to protect you. The good thing about this is that you do still have some control over him. At this time you are to stay away from the intersect and we will protect him from a distance.
Casey: I am sorry, but did you say we are to stay away from the intersect? What about Fulcrum? How can we protect him from a distance?
Graham: The intersect has planned to be on vacation, away from the Buy More, for the next two weeks. You are to stay away from him for those two weeks. You are only to have contact with him if he requests it. IS THAT CLEAR! We will have someone else assigned to the intersect for the next two weeks.
Casey/Sarah: Yes Sir!
Beckman: The good thing is that the intersect has made it clear that he will remain an asset to us. He has also made it clear that any attempt to send him to a bunker will end badly. Your assessment of Chuck was dead on. It has become apparent that his value as both the intersect and a asset to this team is worth the risk. There will be a increase of the missions that he will be going on in the future.
Graham: One last thing Agent Walker. You will leave for D.C by this weekend for reassignment.
Beckman: You have your orders, any questions?
Casey: Not at this time.
Sarah: Will I be coming back Sir?
Graham: That remains to be seen Agent Walker.
The screen flickers off and leave both Casey and Sarah wondering what Chuck said to Graham and Beckman. He must have something serious over them. What could he have to cause them to agree to his demands. Sarah looks deep in thought and Casey is studying her. He has already made up his mind but it is a struggle for Walker. She was not given the option to stay.
Casey looks back on his time with Chuck and realizes that they have had some pretty good missions. That he has a real solid team, though Chuck does scream like a girl a bit to often. He also knows that Sarah is more than just the job and is a good partner. He will miss working with her, but there is no way in hell he will ever tell her that. It seems that if he stays they will be expanding the area of their missions. This puts a slight smile on Caseys lips.
Sarah can only think about what Graham said. She is to be reassigned, but he has also said they would have two weeks to decide. Why was she not given that option then?
Will she be able to get back Chucks trust? She should have no problem with having a relationship with Chuck and it seemed that they were actually encouraging it. But how can she do that if she is reassigned? Another problem is that Chuck may be expecting her to try and have a relationship for the job now and he will not let her if that is the only reason. She has never been good at relationships and it will not be easy to change her training. They have always trained an agent to not get attached, but she would have to.
Maybe she should not fight being reassigned and let Chuck move on. If she did though how would she be able to protect him. How would she be able to live with herself for throwing away such an honest, loving, kind man. Her heart ached from the thought of not seeing him again. Another fine mess and there is no training on how to get out of this one.
Casey: I am sorry that you never got to straighten out you mess with Chuck, but you brought it on yourself. Now you have been reassigned by you boyfriend even!
Sarah: Thanks Casey, just want I needed to hear! I know I screwed up but I don't see you trying to have a relationship. Other than the one you had with your car!
Casey: Well, you have a tough decision to make Walker. You can either have a real relationship,if he will trust you that is, or you can just walk away. After all with you being reassigned, I am not sure you will even get the chance.
Sarah: Duh, figure that one out all by yourself! Sorry, I did not mean to do that.
Casey: It is nothing but a thing Sarah. I hope you make the right decision. You could actually have a real family and still be in the CIA. You do realize they gave you the ok to have a relationship and not just a cover right Walker? That is if they let you come back.
Sarah: Seems that way, but then again things are never that simple. ( sad look on her face )
You see Sarah leave and head towards Chuck's apartment. She knows that they told her to stay away but she needs to talk to him. As she gets to the door she knocks on it, but no answer. Casey is watching her from his window. He should go over there and stop her but he just cannot bring himself to do it. Besides he is on vacation for the next two weeks. Maybe he will head to Mexico for a few weeks.
Sarah rings the doorbell, but still no answer. She walks over to his window and opens it. She climbs in and looks for Chuck. She sees that he has taken some cloths and the picture with him and her in it. He has gone and she has no idea where he is going. She will not get to talk to him before she has to leave for D.C. She sits down on his bed then sees that the stereo was on.
She reaches up and pushes play to hear what he was listening to. The Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKpZzcGjlFw&feature=related and she can instantly relate to the words. She feels that she has just made the biggest mistake of her life. All she can do is hope that she gets another chance with Chuck.
We pan to Chuck at the Santa Monica Beach. He is sitting there thinking about all of the times that him and Sarah had come there. The walks on the beach with the setting sun. How it had felt so real and yet she insisted that it was for the cover. How sweet her lips tasted like a perfect peach when you first bite into it. He could still feel her slender body under his hands and the sweet sweet smell of her hair. How he could get lost in her eyes forever.
The more he thought about it the worse he felt. How she has ripped his heart to shreds without her even knowing it. He realizes that he did not truly love Jill and that is was actually a good thing that they had not made it. He no longer felt angry at Bryce for taking Jill and he sure could not blame him for loving Sarah either.
All he really wanted was for Sarah to not hide behind the job. A simple clear, I want to be with you Chuck is all he really needed. Even with the last two kisses, it was Chuck of all people that had to instigate it! How hard is it for her to just kiss him for crying out loud.
After several more minutes he heads to the hotel that he had gotten for the night. It was not the Hilton but it would due. It had a queen size bed with a frig and microwave. He was not hungry and just wanted to sleep off the day. He needed to be at Crystals early tomorrow to pick her up for Magic Mountain. He needs to be rested, he will not take out his problems on her! Chuck thinks to himself, well you set her free now, I sure hope she comes back. Soon he is asleep.
We pan back to Sarah in her place packing to head back to D.C. She is looking at what little that she actually has here. She never got a real apartment even after all of these months. She thinks that if she had really wanted, she could have done so much more. How she was always ready to leave at a moments notice. She realizes that everything she has been doing is just what the job needed and nothing more.
A hotel instead of an apartment, just the bare minimum of what is needed to live here. If she was in Chucks shoes, she would be wondering as well. All he signs point to her leaving at any time. How can you have any type of relationship with the threat of leaving is dangling over your head.
Her mind wanders back to the last time she saw Chuck. How he had wanted to be with her, but was forcing her to leave. How he had actually kissed her, tenderly but still with passion. How is it he can be such a nerd but still kiss better than Bryce. He put his emotions into the kiss with just enough force to cause her to feel the heat from it. The way their lips parted like two long time lovers refusing to leave each other. Everything in that kiss was begging to be returned. OMG how can I be so stupid. All he wanted is for me to return a simple show of affection! It was always Chuck that put himself out there even when we kissed! I never thought that something so simple would mean so much to him.
She looks at the suitcase she has packed and that this may be the last time she is here. She is so much the job that the man that truly loved her sent her away. Her hand is holding the heart that he had given her. As she realizes this, she puts her head into her hands and starts to cry. She had not cried for many years, not since before she joined the CIA. That last time had been the driving factor for her joining the CIA in the first place. Just like then, she is running away from her heart. You hear the song start playing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22yHMCjNtk8
End Part 8
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