Chuck vs. the Background Check

Song Recommendation – A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke

Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I don’t own Chuck.

Chapter 28 – A New Beginning

Castle

Burbank, CA

The following morning began like every other. Chuck hadn’t realized when the routine had become comforting. He liked knowing where Sarah would be, knowing Casey would complain about something, and knowing there would be students waiting for him in the morning.

Chuck had learned that ordinary mornings were worth noticing. After everything he and Sarah had survived, a quiet start to the day felt like its own kind of victory. He checked his tablet, took a sip of coffee, and smiled when he realized Sarah had left a note reminding him about breakfast.

Chuck arrived at Castle carrying a cardboard tray with four coffees balanced precariously in one hand. He had learned long ago that Sarah preferred a cappuccino, Casey took his coffee black, and General Beckman, whenever she happened to appear in person, preferred plain coffee, sometimes at night with a shot of bourbon.

General Beckman was standing in the Main Operations Center. Seeing her there in person immediately told Chuck this wasn’t a routine visit. Beckman rarely traveled from Washington without a reason.

Chuck smiled. “Good morning, General.”

Beckman nodded. “Mr. Bartowski.”

Sarah emerged from her office moments later. “You made the trip from Washington?”

“I did.”

Casey walked in from the training wing, still carrying a tactical training folder. “General.”

Beckman looked around the room. “I’d like to see all three of you in the conference room in five minutes.”

There was something different in her voice. Not concerned. Not urgency. Something important. Chuck had learned over the years to listen not only to what Beckman said but to what she deliberately didn’t say.

Chuck watched Beckman leave. “That’s never a sentence that ends with something fun.”

XXXX

Five minutes later, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey sat around Castle’s conference table.

For a moment, Beckman looked at them. She had commanded thousands of agents during her career. Very few had earned her complete trust. The three people sitting across from her had earned it in ways that had nothing to do with rank. They had proven themselves when plans failed, when secrets became burdens, and when trusting each other was the only way forward.

She folded her hands. “When the Intersect project began, the intelligence community believed technology would determine the future.”

She looked at Chuck. “We were wrong; it didn’t determine everything.”

Chuck shifted, slightly uncomfortable.

“The future turned out to be the people.” Beckman’s statement lingered in the room. Chuck thought about how different his life had been when he believed technology would solve everything. The Intersect had changed his life, but people had determined what he did with it.

She nodded toward Sarah. “Leadership.”

Toward Casey, “Discipline.”

Then back to Chuck. “And intelligence.”

She allowed herself a faint smile. “The three of you have transformed Castle, and changed the leading thoughts of what a successful team is and what they are capable of.”

Chuck shifted in his chair. “General, we didn’t plan any of that.”

Beckman replied. “The most important changes rarely begin with a plan.”

Casey folded his arms. “We were trying to keep people alive.”

“And now you’ve discovered and use those skills to teach others to do the same,” Beckman replied.

Chuck glanced at Sarah and Casey. None of them had set out to build a model for intelligence operations. They had kept solving the problems in front of them, and eventually the solutions became a system. Sarah exchanged a glance with Chuck.

Beckman continued, “What began as a small operational base beneath the Burbank Buy More has become the model for every regional intelligence center in the country.”

She placed a folder on the table.

“The Director of National Intelligence and all of the Agency Directors have approved a major restructuring.”

Everyone opened the folder. The first page read: ‘National Intelligence Leadership Initiative.’ Their eyes moved across the pages, taking in the scale of the proposal before they fully understood what Beckman was asking.

Sarah looked up. “What exactly is this?”

Beckman turned the folder toward Sarah. “A national program built around the lessons you developed here.”

Sarah looked at the drawings again. “You want other teams to work the way we do?”

“I want them to have the opportunity to learn what you learned without having to survive every mistake first. We want to build what you’ve created here nationwide.”

Sarah answered quietly, “That’s a pretty big responsibility.”

Chuck felt the weight of the statement immediately. This wasn’t another promotion. It was an opportunity to turn everything they had learned into something that could outlast them.

The silence was deafening. Sarah was studying the renderings. Casey was studying Beckman. Chuck thought about the fact that a place that had begun beneath a Buy More might soon become the blueprint for an entire national program.

Sarah slowly turned another page. Architectural renderings. Training facilities. Joint planning centers. Integrated intelligence classrooms.

Sarah asked, “So, you want us to establish a National Intelligence Training and Operations Center? Like Castle, only bigger?”

Chuck leaned back. “That would be one very large Castle.”

Beckman nodded. “Yes, it will become the central training academy for intelligence analysts, operational planners, and senior field officers.”

Casey leaned back in his chair. “Makes sense.”

Chuck looked between them. “It does?”

Casey shrugged. “Why not, we’ve been doing it here in Castle since it was built.”

Sarah smiled. “Casey actually has a point.”

Beckman looked directly at Chuck and Sarah. “There is one condition.”

Chuck immediately noticed the change in her tone.

Sarah noticed the change too. “What condition?”

Beckman answered. “The three of you would have to leave Burbank. The center will not be here.”

Chuck’s smile disappeared. The room suddenly felt much quieter.

“It will be located just outside Washington, D.C., at Camp Peary. We would like the three of you to relocate. We have a couple hundred acres set aside to build a facility with a lecture hall or auditorium so you can teach potential agents, and build a covert military simulation training city. We also have thousands of acres of undeveloped space for field training that you also use, if needed. You will also have an unlimited budget to build whatever you think is needed.”

Chuck looked down at the plans again. “You want us to build the whole thing?”

Beckman nodded. “Yes, from the curriculum to the operational model.”

Sarah asked, “And Casey?”

Casey answered before Beckman could. “I’m assuming she wants me there too.”

Beckman nodded. “Very much so.”

Chuck glanced toward Sarah. She met his eyes. Neither of them spoke. Castle had become home. The Buy More upstairs was where he met Sarah. Ellie and Devon were only a short drive away. Morgan. Years of memories. Everything had started here.

Sarah squeezed his hand beneath the table. Neither of them needed to say what they were thinking. This wasn’t another assignment they could finish and leave behind. It was a decision about their future.

Beckman let the silence continue. “There is no pressure to answer right now. I will be here the whole day, if you’ve made a decision before I leave tonight please let me know.”

Sarah looked back toward the General. “May I ask why us?”

Beckman’s answer was immediate: “Because no one else understands how to integrate intelligence analysis, operational planning, and field operations the way the three of you do. You don’t just work together better than any other intelligence team, but you trust one another. That cannot be taught from a manual.”

Beckman knew that trust was the part no government could manufacture by writing a policy. It had been earned through years of shared danger and shared responsibility.

XXXX

The meeting ended without a decision. Chuck and Sarah quietly started walking through Castle.

Eventually, they found themselves standing in the old Orange Orange near a surveillance monitor in the Buy More, where Sarah used to keep an eye on Chuck years ago. Morgan was enthusiastically attempting to demonstrate a home theater system to customers. Somehow, all twelve televisions were showing different channels.

Neither spoke. Chuck and Sarah had made major decisions together before, but this one felt different. It wasn’t about surviving the next mission. It was about choosing where the next part of their life would happen. They were discussing the future of national intelligence.

He leaned against the glass. “So, Washington?” Chuck said the word carefully. It represented opportunity, responsibility, and a distance from the place where everything had started.

Chuck looked at Sarah. “I don’t know.”

She watched him carefully. “Do you want to go?”

He answered honestly. “I want to know what you want.”

Sarah smiled. “That’s why I love you.”

Chuck sighed, “I always imagined we’d stay here near here, and eventually raise a family of our own.”

Chuck had spent enough time imagining the future to know that some dreams changed shape without disappearing.

Sarah remained quiet for several seconds. Finally, she said, “I’ve been thinking about that.”

Chuck looked at her. “What do you mean?”

Sarah took a breath. “I mean our life doesn’t have to stay in one building because that’s where it started.”

Chuck smiled. “You’re thinking about Washington?”

“I’m thinking about us and our future.”

“Well, there isn’t really another place we’d be making this decision for us right here in Castle, where it all began.”

Sarah took a slow breath. Then, for the first time that day, she smiled with unmistakable, almost Ellie-like, excitement. “Because wherever we go, we’ll be taking our family with us.”

Sarah’s words were deliberately gentle, but Chuck could hear something else underneath them. She had already made peace with the possibility that their home could be somewhere other than Burbank.

Chuck blinked. “Our family?”

Sarah smiled. “Yes. Our family.”

Chuck looked confused. “Sarah, what are you…”

She gently took his hand and placed it against her stomach.

His eyes widened. For one suspended moment, Chuck didn’t understand what Sarah was telling him. Then her hand on her stomach and the expression in her eyes connected the pieces.

Sarah’s smile grew. “Chuck, I’m pregnant.”

The words seemed to stop time. Chuck looked from her eyes… to her hand… and back again. “You’re…”

Chuck had spent years imagining the possibility of becoming a father, usually as a distant someday. Suddenly, someday had become real.

For several seconds, Chuck couldn’t speak. Then he whispered, “Really?”

Sarah nodded. “Really.”

His eyes filled with tears. “We’re having a baby?”

Sarah nodded. “Yes, we’re going to have a baby.”

Chuck laughed. It wasn’t a loud laugh. It was the quiet, overwhelmed laugh of someone whose entire understanding of the future had just shifted. “When?”

“About two weeks ago, I took a home pregnancy test, and it was positive. I went to the doctor to get confirmation. We have an appointment to get an ultrasound done in a few weeks.”

Chuck laughed softly. “Two weeks? You’ve known for two weeks?”

Sarah shook her head. “I didn’t know for sure until the doctor confirmed it, yesterday.”

Chuck smiled. “You were carrying this around by yourself?”

“Only until I could tell you properly. I knew enough to be hopeful. I wanted to make sure before I told you.”

Chuck looked at her. “You should never have to carry something that important alone.”

She smiled. “I know. That’s why I’m telling you now.”

Chuck nodded. “I’m glad you did.” He looked around Castle. “This is where everything started for us.”

“And now we’re standing here starting something completely different.”

Finally, Chuck’s eyes began to glisten. He wrapped both arms around her. She melted into the embrace.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Chuck had faced impossible missions with more certainty than he felt now. There was no briefing for this, no contingency plan, and no Intersect flash that could tell him what to do next.

Sarah touched his cheek. “Then don’t say anything yet.”

He pulled back just enough to look at her. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

After a few seconds, Chuck said. “So, I’m going to be a dad, and you’re going to be a mom,” Chuck said the words a second time because hearing them aloud made them feel even more real.

Sarah smiled at him, already imagining the life that was waiting beyond the walls of Castle. “You’re going to say that a lot, aren’t you?”

Chuck smiled. “Probably. I need to get used to it. It’s huge.”

Sarah rested her forehead against his. “We’ll get used to it together.”

Chuck shook his head in disbelief. “We’ve spent years helping protect other people.”

She smiled. “Then maybe this is our next mission.”

Chuck laughed. “A mission with diapers.”

He looked at her stomach again. “That sounds like a much easier mission than some we’ve been on.”

Chuck looked at Sarah and understood that the decision about Washington had changed in an instant. They weren’t moving for work. They were choosing a future for their family.

Sarah nodded, “Yes.”

XXXX

That evening, General Beckman prepared to leave for Washington. The decision that had seemed impossible that morning now felt surprisingly clear. Chuck still loved Burbank, but he was beginning to understand that home was something they could carry with them.

Chuck, Sarah, and Casey met her at Castle’s entrance.

Beckman looked at the three of them. “I assume the three of you have reached a decision.”

Chuck smiled. He reached for Sarah’s hand. “We have.” Chuck reached for Sarah’s hand before answering. Whatever came next, they had made the decision together.

Sarah nodded. “We’d be honored to accept.” Sarah’s voice was calm, but Chuck could hear the excitement beneath it. They were going to build something new together, and this time they would be doing it as husband and wife.

Beckman nodded. “I believe you will build something remarkable.”

Chuck smiled. “We’ll try.”

Casey interrupted. “They’ll overthink it especially Chuck. I’ll have to keep them on schedule.”

Chuck smiled. “There is one reason that made the decision much easier.”

Beckman looked at Chuck. “What reason?”

Sarah answered before he could. “We’re having a baby.”

For perhaps the first time in anyone’s recent memory, General Beckman’s professional expression softened completely. The news clearly meant something to her beyond the official announcement. She had watched Chuck and Sarah grow from uncertain partners into the people standing before her now.

“Congratulations.” The word carried genuine warmth.

“Thank you, General.”

“The three of you have spent years protecting this country.” Beckman’s voice remained formal, but her message was personal. Service had defined much of their lives, and she wanted the next chapter to include the lives they had built for themselves.

“I believe you’ve earned the opportunity to build a life and train the next generation, while continuing to serve.”

Casey looked toward the hallway. “When do we leave?”

Chuck blinked. “You’re already planning the move?”

Casey looked at Chuck. “Well, someone should be there to figure things out, and start planning ways to keep you two out of trouble.” There was no hesitation in his expression. Whatever complaints he might make about Washington, Casey had already accepted that his place was with the people he trusted most.

XXXX

A few weeks later, after the day’s final classes had ended, Chuck and Sarah stood together in the now-empty main briefing room. The lights were dim. The classroom was silent. Rows of desks sat waiting for another generation of analysts. The room looked different without students filling the desks, but Chuck could already imagine the people who would occupy them in the future.

Chuck looked around slowly. “This room changed my life.” Chuck looked across the empty desks and thought about the first time he had been afraid to enter Castle, then about all the people who had eventually made it feel like home.

Sarah looked around the empty briefing room. “Mine too.”

Chuck nodded. “I used to think the biggest thing that happened here was the Intersect.”

Sarah shook her head. “It wasn’t.”

Chuck looked at her. “No?”

“No. It was us.”

XXXX

He looked at her. “Ready for the next chapter?” Chuck asked the question, knowing that neither of them could predict exactly what the next chapter would contain. For once, that uncertainty didn’t frighten him.

“More than ever.” Sarah’s hand remained over her stomach, and Chuck smiled. The next chapter wasn’t just a new assignment or a new city. It was the beginning of their life as parents.

Together they walked toward the stairs to the Orange Orange. Not because they were leaving Castle forever, but because they had been entrusted with building something even greater.

The next generation of analysts. The next generation of field agents. The next generation of leaders, and soon, the first member of the next generation of the Bartowski family.

The next generation of analysts. Chuck had always believed knowledge mattered most when it was passed on. Now he had a chance to make sure the lessons they had learned would continue after they were gone.

For the final time, the doors in the Orange Orange cooler closed.

For Chuck Bartowski, Sarah Walker-Bartowski, and John Casey, one extraordinary adventure had ended. Another, filled with new challenges, new responsibilities, and the promise of a growing family, was just beginning. They would leave Burbank carrying years of memories with them, but they weren’t leaving their past behind. They were building on it.

The future no longer belonged only to the intelligence community. It belonged to them. Together. And somewhere beyond the walls of Castle, a new generation of the Bartowski family was already waiting to become part of the story.

XXXX

End Chapter 28