Chapter 3
Song Recommendation – Watching the Detectives – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I don’t own Chuck.
Chapter 3 – Under Investigation
Burbank, CA
For the next four days, Lou Palone became the most thoroughly investigated deli owner in California. Sarah and Casey approached the assignment as a genuine security investigation, but Sarah privately knew she was asking for more scrutiny than the situation strictly required.
Every morning, Sarah received another folder waiting at Casey’s apartment.
By the second morning, the stack of folders had become a silent reminder of what Sarah was doing. She had requested a thorough investigation because Chuck's safety demanded it.That was the official reason. The unofficial reason was harder to admit. If Lou had a secret, Sarah wanted to find it. If Lou had a weakness, Sarah wanted to know, and if Lou was exactly who she appeared to be, Sarah wasn't sure what she would do with that answer.
Every afternoon, another agency report arrived.
Every evening, another possibility quietly disappeared. Each clean result removed another reason Sarah could use to keep a Chuck and Lou relationship from moving forward, and she was beginning to understand that the investigation might ultimately force her to give him exactly what he wanted.
Casey joked that Sarah would have the investigation wrapped up in an afternoon. He knew the files would probably be clean; what he didn't know was whether Sarah was looking for a security problem or an emotional excuse.
Sarah insisted they vet her thoroughly. She used the language of protocol. Complete financial review, personal history, travel, contacts, and behavioral assessment, but Casey recognized the intensity behind the request.
Casey noticed she was reading every page instead of skimming.
Sarah kept secretly hoping to find something disqualifying the entire time.
XXXX
On day one of the background check, Sarah visited Lou's Deli undercover as an ordinary customer.
She watched Lou interact with customers.
Sarah had expected the first visit to produce something useful. A nervous reaction. An unexplained phone call. A customer who seemed to know Lou too well. Something.Instead, the investigation immediately began moving in the opposite direction. Every ordinary detail made Lou look more genuine, and every genuine detail made Sarah's job more difficult.
Lou remembered customers by name.
She gave free soup to an elderly regular.
She hired a high school student who needed a first job.
She closed early one evening so she could deliver food to a sick neighbor.
Sarah wrote in her notebook: "Displays consistent compassion. No indication of deception." She stared at the sentence for several seconds before closing the notebook. It was the kind of conclusion an investigator was supposed to want. Sarah found herself wishing she could write something else.
She hated writing it.
XXXX
Chuck wasn’t allowed to date Lou yet. Instead, he stopped by the deli for lunch almost every day.
Sarah watched from across the mall. Chuck and Lou sat at a table and talked for nearly twenty minutes. Neither realized Sarah was watching from a distance. They were simply enjoying each other's company.
Sarah remained far enough away to avoid being noticed. She told herself that she was protecting Chuck, but as she watched him sit across from Lou, she realized the surveillance was revealing something the paperwork couldn't.Chuck was happy. Not excited. Not distracted. Happy.Sarah had seen Chuck happy before, but usually it lasted only until the next mission or the next flash.This looked different.
Sarah noticed something she wasn't expecting. Chuck looked different around Lou. There was no nervous performance, no exaggerated charm, and no attempt to hide behind humor. He simply looked comfortable because he could finally relax. No cover. No lies. No missions. Just be Chuck.
That realization hurt Sarah more than she could have ever anticipated. It wasn't that Chuck was falling in love with Lou; Sarah wasn't ready to call it that. It was that Lou had somehow given him permission to relax, and Sarah realized how rarely Chuck had been allowed to do that since the Intersect came into his life.
XXXX
On day two, Casey made them coffee at his apartment. Without asking, he set a cup beside Sarah. She barely noticed. She was reading Lou's financial records for what had to be the fifth time.
Casey watched Sarah turn another page. He had stopped pretending not to notice.
She wasn't looking for new information anymore. She was looking for permission to reach a different conclusion.Casey had seen that look before in agents who were fighting something they couldn't shoot.
Casey looked over her shoulder, "You've already read that."
"I know,” she replied.
Casey grunted, "You missed something?"
"No."
"Then why are you reading it again?"
Sarah slowly closed the folder. "I don't know." She did know, of course. She was looking for something that would make the decision easier.
Casey sat down across from her. "Yes, you do."
Sarah sighed, "I keep expecting something to be there."
"And?"
"It isn't."
"Because there isn't anything to find." Casey let the words sit between them. Sarah had asked for the investigation because she wanted certainty. The problem was that certainty was beginning to point in a direction she didn't want.
XXXX
On day three of the background check, Sarah continued to review reports on Lou. Every report Sarah received said the same thing.
Clean.
The report in front of Sarah was remarkably ordinary. That was becoming the most remarkable thing about Lou. Every database, interview, financial record, and observation told the same story: Lou was exactly who she claimed to be.
Lou Palone. Owner, Lou's Deli. No criminal record. No outstanding warrants. No civil lawsuits. Excellent credit. Taxes are paid on time every year. Business profitable. No unexplained income. No offshore accounts. No suspicious travel. No known association with foreign nationals. Absolutely nothing.
Sarah turned another page.
Volunteer work. Every Thanksgiving morning, Lou closed the deli for the day so she and her employees could prepare sandwiches for the local homeless shelter. Every Christmas Eve, she donated food to families who couldn't afford holiday meals. Several customers had written letters praising her generosity.
Sarah paused over the volunteer records. There was nothing strategically valuable about them. That was precisely why they mattered. Lou didn't volunteer because anyone was watching. She had been doing it for years, long before Chuck had ever walked into her deli. Sarah closed her eyes briefly. A person didn't manufacture a history like this overnight.
Sarah frowned. "This woman is impossible." She meant it as an expression of frustration, but Casey knew what she really meant: Lou was making it impossible for Sarah to find a professional reason to stop Chuck from seeing her.
Casey looked up. "No. "She's normal."
Sarah almost laughed, "I'd forgotten what that looks like."
Beckman began receiving updates, and every background report and investigation confirmed that Lou Palone was exactly who she appeared to be.
XXXX
On day four of the background check, Sarah visited the deli one final time. Not because protocol required it, but because she needed to be absolutely certain.
The lunch rush was beginning. Customers filled nearly every table. Lou stood behind the counter, making sandwiches almost faster than Sarah could follow.
Yet somehow she greeted every customer by name. "Hi, Mrs. Alvarez. The usual today?"
The elderly woman smiled, "Please."
Lou noticed another customer waiting. "Just one second."
She finished wrapping the sandwich before walking around the counter.
An elderly man struggled to carry his tray. Without saying a word, Lou picked it up herself. "I've got it."
"You don't have to," the elderly man replied.
"I know," she smiled, "I want to."
Sarah watched the entire interaction. Nothing about it felt rehearsed. It was simply who Lou was. She was genuinely nice. That mattered more than any database result. People could fake records; they were much harder to fake when they didn't know they were being observed.
A teenage employee accidentally dropped an entire tray of sliced tomatoes onto the floor.
The young man immediately looked terrified. "I'm sorry! I'll pay for them."
Lou shook her head. "No, you don’t need to. Accidents happen."
She handed him another tray. "Take a breath. We've all been there."
The teenager smiled with obvious relief. Sarah quietly wrote another note. Treats employees with respect. Displays patience under stress. Leadership style: supportive.
Sarah looked down at the notebook. The page was filled with observations about Lou's character. Compassionate. Patient. Honest. Protective. Trustworthy.The words looked less like a security assessment and more like a recommendation for someone Sarah wanted to approve.She didn't like that distinction. She stopped writing and wondered, when had this become a personality profile instead of an in-depth security investigation? She looked at the notebook and realized she had documented Lou's kindness, patience, loyalty, and compassion with the same precision she normally reserved for identifying threats.
XXXX
As Sarah prepared to leave, the bell above the front door chimed. Chuck walked inside. He hadn't noticed Sarah sitting in the corner booth. He wasn't looking for her.
He smiled when he saw Lou. She smiled even bigger, "Chuck!"
Chuck replied, "Hi Lou, I was just getting lunch."
Lou laughed, "Funny, I was just making lunch. Would you like me to make you a ‘Chuck Bartowski’?
Sarah watched from across the restaurant.
For nearly twenty minutes, they talked while Lou prepared sandwiches between customers. Movies. Books. Old arcade games. Science fiction. Favorite restaurants. Embarrassing childhood stories. The conversation flowed effortlessly.
Sarah watched Chuck settle into the conversation as though he had forgotten that he was supposed to be nervous around women. With Lou, he didn't seem to be trying to impress anyone.
Neither of them struggled to keep it going. Neither dominated it. They simply enjoyed each other's company.
Chuck laughed harder than Sarah had heard him laugh in months. It was the kind of laugh Sarah had almost forgotten existed. Not the nervous laugh he used during missions. Not the awkward laugh he used around intelligence officers. A genuine laugh, completely relaxed. The laugh of the man underneath the Intersect, underneath the missions, underneath all the secrets.
Sarah realized something that surprised her. Chuck wasn't pretending to be anyone. For perhaps the first time since receiving the Intersect, he was simply being himself.
XXXX
Outside the deli, Casey leaned against the wall waiting. "You done?"
Casey had been waiting long enough to know that Sarah was going to come out with the same answer she had written in the report.Clean.He was also waiting to see whether she would admit what the investigation had done to her.Sarah walked through the door.One look at her face told him everything.
Sarah nodded.
"You watch them?" Casey asked.
She replied, "Yes.”
"And?”
Sarah looked back through the front window.
"They're good together." Sarah hated how difficult the sentence was to say. It was the conclusion of the investigation, and it was also the truth she had spent four days trying not to reach.
Casey wasn't surprised. "I know."
Sarah looked at him. "You knew?"
"I watched them too."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "For security."
Casey grunted, "Sure."
He took another sip of coffee. "You hoping she'd suddenly start speaking Russian?"
Sarah couldn't help smiling. "No."
"You hoping she'd meet with Fulcrum?"
"No."
"You hoping she'd rob a bank?"
Sarah laughed despite herself, "No."
Casey became serious, "You're looking for something that isn't there."
Sarah looked back toward the deli, "I know."
Casey folded his arms, "Walker… I've known a lot of spies. I've known good ones. I've known bad ones. I've never met anyone who wanted to find evidence against someone because they wished they weren't a good person."
Sarah quietly answered, "I don't wish she were a bad person."
Casey grunted again, "What do you wish?"
Sarah didn't answer because she already knew. She wished Lou had been dangerous. She wished there had been a hidden account, a suspicious contact, or a secret identity. Anything that would have made the decision simple. Instead, there was only a kind woman who genuinely liked Chuck.
She wished Lou Palone had never walked into the Buy More and met Chuck.
XXXX
Two days after their investigation of Lou Palone, Casey and Sarah were in Casey’s apartment.
General Beckman's image appeared on the main screen, "Agent Walker, status."
Sarah stood beside the conference table. A thick investigation file rested in front of her. "General, the background investigation is complete."
Beckman replied, "Proceed."
Sarah opened the folder. "No criminal history. No foreign intelligence connections. No unexplained financial activity. No suspicious communications. No indications of coercion. No evidence of hostile intent." She delivered each finding like an intelligence briefing, refusing to let her voice reveal how much the conclusion mattered personally.
Beckman listened without interruption, "Continue."
Sarah continued, "Miss Palone owns her business outright. Her employees speak highly of her. Her customers describe her as dependable. Neighbors report no unusual activity.”
Casey added quietly, “She's boring…"
Sarah glanced at him.
Casey continued, "…In the best possible way.”
Beckman folded her hands. "Psychological assessment?"
Sarah paused. "Emotionally stable. Compassionate. Honest. Protective of family. Demonstrates empathy. Loyal."
Beckman noticed the slight hesitation. "Motivation?"
Sarah took a slow breath. "She genuinely likes Chuck Bartowski." The admission was harder than any of the others because it wasn't merely an assessment of Lou's motives. It was an acknowledgment that Chuck had found someone who made him happy.
"For what reason?"
Sarah answered without looking at her notes, "Because he listened when she was scared that her phone was broken. He treated her with respect. He didn't laugh at her. He made her feel important."
"And?” Beckman asked.
Sarah smiled despite herself, “She thinks he's funny. She likes that he's kind. She enjoys how awkward he becomes when he's embarrassed."
Sarah heard herself describing Lou's feelings and realized how much she had learned about them.Not because Lou had told her directly, but because Sarah had watched. She had listened. She had noticed every smile Chuck brought out of Lou, and somewhere along the way, Sarah had begun comparing those smiles to the ones Chuck used to give her.
Casey looked sideways at Sarah and thought, “Sarah sure knew an awful lot about Lou's feelings.” Casey suspected Sarah had similar feelings for Chuck.
Beckman asked one final question, "Agent Walker…based solely upon your professional investigation, would you recommend Lou Palone as an acceptable civilian companion for Mr. Bartowski?"
The room became perfectly silent. Sarah could hear the faint hum of the equipment in Casey's apartment. Every report was in front of her. Every question had been answered. There was nowhere left for her to hide behind uncertainty.
All of it pointed toward exactly the same conclusion. There was only one honest answer.
She closed the folder. "Yes, General." The answer was professional, honest, and devastating. Sarah had spent four days looking for a reason to say no. Instead, she had discovered that the only responsible answer was yes.
Beckman nodded once, "Very well."
Beckman pressed a button on her console, "I am officially authorizing Mr. Bartowski to pursue a relationship with Miss Lou Palone."
The authorization was now official. There would be no ambiguity. Chuck could date Lou.
Sarah had investigated her. Sarah had recommended her. Sarah had effectively opened the door.Now she would have to live with the fact that she had done the right thing and still felt as though she had lost something.
Sarah felt her heart sink. She had known this moment was coming, but knowing it intellectually had not prepared her for hearing Beckman authorize Chuck to pursue a relationship with Lou.
"However…"
Both agents looked up.
Beckman continued, "The approval is conditional. If circumstances change. If Miss Palone becomes aware of classified information. If she finds out who Mr. Bartowski really is. If she becomes the target of a hostile organization. This authorization will be immediately revoked… Understood?"
"Yes, General," Sarah and Casey answered together.
Beckman looked directly at Sarah one last time. "You've done an excellent investigation, Agent Walker; your professionalism reflects well on the Agency.”
The words should have felt like praise. Instead, they felt like punishment. Sarah had done exactly what an exemplary agent was supposed to do. She had protected Chuck, investigated a potential vulnerability, and delivered an honest recommendation. The fact that the result broke her heart was something she could not put in the report.
After the transmission ended, Casey remained silent for several moments. Finally, he picked up the authorization envelope from the table. "You going to tell him?"
Sarah nodded, "I have to."
She accepted the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper bearing the NSA and CIA gold-embossed seal.
CIVILIAN CONTACT AUTHORIZATION
LOU PALONE
STATUS: APPROVED
Sarah stared at the page. APPROVED. The word seemed almost absurdly simple after four days of interviews, surveillance, financial analysis, and emotional turmoil.
Now she had to deliver it, and with it, she would give Chuck the CIA’s approval letter to pursue the life she secretly wished he would have with her.
XXXX
End Chapter 3