Never Enough

I don’t own Chuck

Sarah sat in the NSA substation, wondering if she had done the right thing. She blew out a frustrated breath, wondering her next move, when the doors opened, and in walked a man and a woman. Sarah swallowed, stood, and prepared herself. The woman shrieked, as she rushed to Chuck, pulling him into a hug. “Thank God,” she murmured, squeezing him tight. The tall blond man was hugging both of them, saying, “awesome,” over and over.

Chuck pulled away, turned to Sarah, and mouthed, “Thank you.” She nodded, and looked away, shocked at the emotion that she felt.

}o{

Earlier

“Okay, so, here’s the plan, it’s risky, but…” Sarah trailed off.

“Anything that doesn’t involve me getting a bullet in my head is one that I am down for,” Chuck told Sarah. “What about your boss?”

“I told him I was preparing for you now, that it was going to take an extra day,” Sarah began. “I told him that I thought I could pull this off tomorrow because there would be less witnesses around.” Chuck nodded. “I have a friend, that knows someone in the NSA…” she trailed off. “I’m not sure if they’re currently on speaking terms…”

“Do I even want to know what happened?” Chuck asked.

“Well, my friend, she was going by Carina Miller, last time I saw her….Chuck?”

He was holding his head. His face looked like he had having a mini stroke. “Red head, might be mistaken for a Swedish model?” Sarah nodded. “Wow. She has done some…ahem, stuff.”

“How much is in there?” Sarah asked.

“A lot,” he told her. He shook his head. “Some of it I don’t know if I’m old enough to read,” he muttered. Sarah snorted. “I’m sorry, you just told me you haven’t-”

“I haven’t, I don’t know what Carina has done,” Sarah told him. “She believes in using all weapons available to her.”

“She should be certified a WMD,” Chuck muttered, and then realized what he had said. “I’m sorry, you said she was a friend-”

“Carina is who Carina is, but I also believe she embellishes,” Sarah told him. “So, is there anything in there about Prague, and John Casey?” Chuck’s face went weird again. “I’m sorry, does that hurt?”

“It’s not pleasant, but I bet it feels better than a bullet in the brain,” Chuck told her. “I know how to get in touch with him, and his superior, General Beckman.” Sarah’s eyes went wide. “I can get you a secure connection on a phone, if you want me to?”

“You can?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah,” Chuck replied shrugging.

“Wow, what all is in that Intersect?”

“Oh, that’s not the Intersect,” Chuck replied. He scratched the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed. “Head of the Nerd Herd,” he reminded her. “It’s all me.”

}o{

Now

“Agent Walker,” the shorter, older woman said. Sarah had been watching the mini-Bartowski reunion. Sarah turned toward General Beckman. “I have spoken to Director Graham and he has agreed about Major Casey being a witness to Mr. Bartowski’s death. It will look like you found him, hacking into a computer, trying to steal government secrets.”

“Thank you, General,” Sarah told her. “And Chuck’s family?”

“As we agreed, they will be brought on by doctors to work with the NSA,” Beckman told Sarah. “We told Graham it was to keep an eye on them and make sure they weren’t spies.”

“So I go back to DC tomorrow night, and resign,” Sarah said, nodding. “What about your presence here in California?”

“I simply told Graham I am a little more hands on than he is,” Beckman said with a grin. “You will fly back with me. Once you go in to resign if I don’t hear from you in two hours, I will contact you and then Graham.” Sarah nodded.

“He won’t kill me,” Sarah told Beckman.

She nodded and continued. “Chuck will stay here, guarded by Major Casey. If you do not return, for whatever reason, Chuck will go ahead with the plan.”

“I’ll be back,” Sarah told Beckman.

“I believe you,” Beckman told her.

}o{

Earlier

“General Beckman?” Sarah asked into the phone.

“This is. Who the hell is this?” Beckman asked.

“Agent Sarah Walker, CIA, I have information that you may find useful,” Sarah replied.

“Agent Walker, this is highly inappropriate,” Beckman told her.

“I agree, but so is the Director of the CIA killing personal enemies using CIA operatives, and hiding the fact that the Intersect is in a civilian hands with a CIA kill order out on him,” Sarah said.

There was silence for a second. “We need to discuss this face to face, where are you?” Beckman asked. Sarah gave Chuck a look. If he was wrong not only could he be dead, but so could she.

“Trust me,” he said softly. She did. She didn’t know why, but she did.

“Burbank,” Sarah replied.

}o{

Now

“So, this looks like you’ve done this before,” Chuck said, glancing at Casey. Casey looked at him and then back to the tarp laid on the floor. “You know what, how about you don’t answer that.”

“You talking about actually killing people or making it look like we killed someone?” Casey asked. Chuck turned to Casey, eyes wide, then turned his gaze quickly back to the tarp.

“How about not scaring the hell out of the guy who we have to keep protected?” Sarah asked.

“What do you have for brain matter?” Ellie asked. Chuck turned to her slowly, a look of “what are you doing?” on his face. “What? I’m a neurologist, what can I say, I’m curious.”

“What about blood?” Devon asked.

“Pig’s blood,” Casey answered. “Pig’s brains as well.”

“Nice,” Devon replied.

“I’m gonna need a really long shower after this is over with,” Chuck muttered. Sarah was watching Chuck, and saw that he was struggling a bit. In the past, she had never cared about assets, or civilians as far as their feelings were concerned. She kept innocents safe, but this, this was very new to her.

“You okay?” she murmured, coming close to him, his hands on his bicep.

He turned to her. “Yeah, just…this is a lot.”

“I know, but after today, it’s gonna get a lot harder,” Sarah warned.

“You say that, but if you knew how squeamish I am,” Chuck began. Sarah couldn’t help but smile at him. “Uh, so, after you get back, how does this work?”

“We’re going to have some funds set up for us by the NSA,” Sarah said. “For your protection, and Casey’s we’re going to be staying in the same room, okay?” Chuck nodded. “Any preference to a cover name?”

“Charles Carmichael,” he said, and then he swallowed.

“That was kinda fast,” Sarah said.

“Well, I may have sometimes thought about who’d I be if life hadn’t gone so bad.” Sarah nodded. “So, guess I should lay down?” Sarah squeezed his arm and stepped back. Chuck walked over to the tarp to lay down.

“Ooo,” Ellie said, excitedly. “Let me do the brains.”

Chuck looked at Sarah, trepidation on his face. “Trust me,” she mouthed. He gave her a smile. He did.