Right Place At The Right Time

Right Place At The Right Time
Author’s Note
In this chapter, we spend a little time with Morgan. He’s Chuck’s roommate, still working at the Buy More. He also tells his sister, Ellie, about Sarah and how this new arrival has already begun to change his life. Since this story takes place when they’re younger, both Chuck and Ellie are still in university. Ellie also isn’t the overprotective, controlling big sister from the show. Here, she’s simply Chuck’s loving sister rather than a mother figure.
I hope you enjoy the chapter. There’s much more to come if you’re interested in following along. I suppose I’ve come to realize that reviews are one way to gauge the life of a story. Are they necessary? That’s entirely up to you. Are they appreciated? Absolutely. I appreciate every single one of them. I’m now posting my stories on three different platforms, so I hope you can find one that works best for you.
I don’t own Chuck or any of its characters. They belong to people who apparently prefer to keep pretty little things tucked away where they can collect dust.
Chapter 5
The Weight Of It All
Chuck pulled his car to the curb across the street from his apartment and shut off the engine. For a few moments, he simply sat there with both hands resting on the steering wheel, staring through the windshield without really seeing anything. Eventually, he reached over, picked up his computer bag and a couple of textbooks from the passenger seat, then glanced down at the empty coffee cup sitting in the center console. A faint smile crossed his face. It was nothing more than a disposable paper cup, but somehow it had become the only physical reminder of the time he and Sarah had spent together before everything had changed.
He gathered his belongings, climbed out of the car, and slowly made his way across the street to the apartment. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside and was immediately greeted by the familiar sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from the television.
Morgan was stretched out on the couch with a controller in his hands, completely focused on a single player game of Call of Duty.
Without looking away from the screen, he spoke.
“Well, well, well. Looks like the mystery man finally returned from his top secret destination.”
Chuck couldn’t help smiling.
“Hey, Morgan. How’s it going? What are you playing?”
Morgan finally glanced over at him.
“Just a little single player Call of Duty. I’ve got the closing shift at the Buy More tonight, so I figured I’d squeeze in a little gaming before work.”
He paused the game and tossed the controller onto the couch.
“But enough about me. Let’s talk about you. Where have you been? Who is she? And why would you disappear with a girl you met only a few hours before you left?”
Chuck laughed quietly and dropped his computer bag beside the kitchen table.
“Those are all good questions.”
Morgan folded his arms.
“And?”
Chuck leaned against the counter.
“And I actually have good answers for every one of them. I’m just… not ready to talk about it yet. One day I will. Right now isn’t the time.”
Morgan studied him for a few seconds before giving a slow nod.
“Okay.”
He could tell something serious had happened. Chuck’s usual awkward enthusiasm was missing, replaced by a quiet heaviness Morgan had rarely seen before.
Changing the subject, Chuck wandered toward the kitchen.
“Is there anything to eat?”
Morgan answered without missing a beat.
“Nope.”
Chuck opened the refrigerator anyway.
“What happened to the leftover pizza?”
“I took care of it this morning.”
Chuck slowly turned around.
“Morgan… that pizza was three days old.”
Morgan shrugged as though there was nothing unusual about that statement.
“It tasted fine.”
Chuck stared at him in disbelief.
“You do know food goes bad.”
Morgan grinned.
“Chuck, you of all people should know that pizza doesn’t go bad.”
He pointed proudly toward the empty pizza box sitting in the recycling bin.
“It gets better with age.”
Chuck shook his head and laughed despite everything weighing on his mind.
“One of these days you’re going to end up in the hospital.”
Morgan picked up his controller again.
“Maybe.”
He flashed his usual confident grin.
“But it’ll be worth it for great pizza.”
“Besides,” Morgan continued with a grin, “pizza only gets better the next day when you’re hung over.”
Chuck laughed and shook his head.
“That’s where you and I are completely different, Morgan.”
Morgan pointed at him with a satisfied smile.
“More for me.”
Chuck let out a tired sigh.
“I’ve had a long drive, and I’m exhausted. I need to check my assignments and figure out what I missed while I was away from school.”
Morgan nodded without pressing him any further.
“Yeah, no problem, buddy. But if you feel like playing some video games later, just let me know. I’ll be here. I don’t have to leave for the Buy More until around four thirty.”
Chuck smiled appreciatively.
“Cool. Thanks, Morgan.”
Gathering his books from the dining room table, Chuck picked up his laptop along with the empty coffee cup and quietly made his way to his bedroom.
The moment he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, the emotions he had managed to keep under control during the drive home came crashing down all at once.
The room suddenly felt far too quiet.
He stood there motionless, staring at nothing as one thought after another flooded through his mind.
Why did I leave her?
The question repeated itself over and over.
Why did I walk away when she so obviously needed me? Why did I listen? Who was Graham to decide where either of us belonged? What gave him the right to direct people’s lives as though they were pieces on a chessboard?
Deep down, Chuck already knew the answer.
The FBI held all the authority. They were trying to protect Sarah, and despite how much he hated the decision, he couldn’t honestly say Graham was acting out of anything other than concern for her safety.
Knowing that, however, did nothing to make the loneliness hurt any less.
Chuck carefully placed the empty coffee cup on top of his dresser.
He didn’t toss it into the trash.
Instead, he positioned it neatly and precisely, almost reverently, as though it were something far more valuable than a simple paper cup. To anyone else it would have looked like garbage waiting to be thrown away.
To Chuck, it represented the beginning of something that had changed his life forever.
He stood there looking at it for several quiet moments before a small, melancholy smile appeared on his face.
“I miss you, Sarah,” he whispered.
The words surprised even him.
He had only known her for barely twenty four hours, yet somehow the apartment already felt emptier without her. He couldn’t explain it. He didn’t understand why someone he had met only the day before had become so important to him. All he knew was that leaving her behind had been one of the hardest things he had ever done, and for the first time in his life, going home no longer felt like coming home.:::
But every time Chuck closed his eyes, he saw Sarah’s face.
He saw the sadness in her eyes, the trust she had placed in him after knowing him for only a few hours, and the hope she carried whenever she looked at him. Somehow, despite everything she had endured, she had looked at him as though he represented a future she had never believed she could have. Every time he remembered that expression, his heart tightened.
What is it about her? he wondered. What did I see in her that makes me feel like this?
He searched for an answer but couldn’t find one.
Finally, he stopped trying.
I’m not going to question it anymore.
He had never experienced anything remotely like this with another person. It wasn’t simply attraction. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t even the excitement of meeting someone new. Whatever it was, it reached far deeper than anything he had ever felt before.
Then there was the kiss.
The memory replayed in his mind over and over again.
It had been awkward, hesitant, and wonderfully imperfect. Neither of them had known exactly what they were doing, yet somehow it had felt absolutely right. It was a kiss he knew he would never forget, the first kiss that had ever truly meant something to him and one he already found himself longing to experience again.
His thoughts continued racing until another realization struck him.
He had no way to contact her.
Sarah no longer had her cell phone. The FBI wasn’t allowing her access to a computer, and as far as he knew, the safe house didn’t even have a landline she could freely use. He seriously doubted the agents guarding her would simply hand her a telephone whenever she wanted to make a personal call.
Chuck let out a frustrated groan and ran both hands through his hair.
“I can’t believe I left without figuring out a way to contact her.”
That thought bothered him more than anything else.
He did have Director Langston Graham’s business card sitting in his wallet, but he doubted calling that number would accomplish much. Graham was a busy man, and Chuck suspected any request he made would simply disappear into the FBI bureaucracy until someone eventually decided it was convenient to deal with it.
As another realization settled over him, his heart sank even farther.
He didn’t even have a photograph of Sarah.
Not a single picture.
All he possessed were the memories of the previous twenty four hours, memories of a frightened young woman who had unexpectedly become the center of his world. They lived only in his mind now, and he silently promised himself that no matter how much time passed or how difficult the days ahead became, he would never allow those memories to fade.:::
Chuck collapsed onto his bed and stretched out on his back, crossing his feet as he stared at the ceiling. His bedroom suddenly felt much smaller than it ever had before. His mind raced from one possibility to another as he tried to figure out how he could somehow get a message to Sarah and let her know that he hadn’t abandoned her. He wanted her to know that he was thinking about her every minute, that he intended to keep every promise he had made before leaving the safe house.
The problem was that he had no idea where to begin.
The FBI had never given him a clear timeline for when Sarah would be moved to the protected residence in Burbank. They had simply told him it would happen soon. The more he thought about it, however, the more his imagination began filling in the gaps with darker possibilities.
Government agencies weren’t exactly famous for honesty.
They were known for secrecy, manipulation, and withholding information whenever they believed it served a greater purpose.
What if they had lied to him?
What if they had only told him about Burbank to give him hope and make him leave peacefully? What if Sarah wasn’t being relocated at all? What if she was actually being held somewhere against her will? What if they had stripped away every freedom she had left and were keeping her isolated because it was more convenient for their investigation?
The questions spiraled through his mind one after another.
Each possibility sounded worse than the last.
The more he allowed himself to think about it, the angrier he became, even though he knew he had absolutely no evidence to support any of those fears. Everything was built on speculation, frustration, and the helplessness of not knowing what was happening.
He remained there for several more minutes until he finally let out a long breath and sat upright on the edge of the bed. Running both hands through his hair, he realized that lying there imagining worst case scenarios wasn’t accomplishing anything.
He needed information.
He needed facts.
More than anything, he needed to know what was happening to his girlfriend.
Almost instinctively, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and scrolled to one of the people he trusted most.
His sister.
Ellie answered on the third ring.
“Hey, little brother,” she said warmly. “What’s up? I haven’t heard from you for a couple of days. Is everything okay? How are classes going?”
Chuck smiled despite everything weighing on him.
Although they both attended UCLA, their lives rarely overlapped on campus. Ellie was completely immersed in medical school, spending nearly every waking hour studying, attending lectures, or completing clinical work. Between her demanding schedule and Chuck’s computer science courses, they often went days without seeing one another even though they lived in the same city.
Chuck was studying computer engineering while Ellie was pursuing medicine. Their worlds could not have been more different. They attended different lectures, spent time in different buildings, and surrounded themselves with entirely different groups of people. Even so, nothing had ever come between them. Their bond had only grown stronger over the years, and they had become as close as any brother and sister could possibly be.
Deep down, Ellie was more than his sister.
She was his best friend.
She was the one person he knew would never let him down, the person he could always turn to when life became overwhelming. No matter what problem landed in his lap, Ellie would find a way to help him carry it. She had always been there when he needed someone, and he knew without question that she would come running if he ever found himself in real trouble. The feeling was completely mutual. Chuck would have done exactly the same for her without a second thought.
“Yeah,” Chuck said, trying to sound casual. “Everything’s fine, Ellie.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
“Chuck,” she replied gently, “that doesn’t sound like everything’s fine.”
He closed his eyes.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
Chuck hesitated.
“No… nothing like that.”
He sighed quietly.
“Listen, Ellie, is there any chance I could come by and see you? I really need to talk to you about something, and… I think I need to do it in person. If that’s possible.”
Ellie didn’t hesitate.
“Well, I’ll be home around seven or seven thirty tonight. Can you make it over then?”
Relief immediately washed over him.
“Yeah. Yeah, that would be great.”
“Good.”
“I’ve got a few things to take care of at school first, then I’ll head over afterward.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chuck smiled for what felt like the first genuine time since leaving Sarah.
“I love you, Ellie.”
“I love you too, little brother.”
There was a warmth in her voice that instantly made him feel a little less alone.
“I’ll see you tonight. And hey, Chuck.”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together. We always do.”
Chuck felt a small knot in his chest loosen.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “I know we will.”
“I’ll see you later, Ellie.”
“See you tonight.”
Chuck ended the call and slowly lowered the phone into his lap.
For the first time since driving away from the safe house, the weight pressing on his chest eased ever so slightly. He still didn’t have the answers he was searching for, but at least he had somewhere to go and someone he trusted enough to help him make sense of everything that had happened. Sometimes that was enough to keep moving forward.
He might not like whatever answers were waiting for him, but he would face them when the time came. From that point on, he would make his own decisions and live with the consequences. No matter what the FBI wanted, no matter what Director Graham expected of him, Chuck knew one thing with absolute certainty. He was not walking away from Sarah.
His eyes wandered around his bedroom, and an overwhelming sense of emptiness settled over him. He found himself searching for the girl who had somehow captured his heart in less than a day, yet all he could find were memories. Her frightened blue eyes, her shy smile that hid behind her braces, the sound of her laughter after they had both cried, and the awkward but unforgettable kiss they had shared replayed over and over in his mind. He smiled sadly and whispered into the quiet room, “I will find you again, Sarah. They will not keep us apart. That much I promise you.”
With a deep breath, he pushed the emotions aside and powered on his computer. His coursework from the previous day appeared on the screen, and he immediately immersed himself in the assignments. Problems that would have frustrated or overwhelmed most students seemed to unfold naturally before him. There were certainly questions that forced him to slow down and think more carefully, but for the most part his mind recognized patterns almost instantly. He would read a problem, mentally organize the information, and within moments the solution would present itself. Many of his professors had commented on his remarkable ability to absorb information and retain it with very little effort. They often spoke about his talent as though it were something extraordinary, but Chuck had never viewed it that way. To him it was simply how his brain worked. More than once he had found himself wondering if everyone processed information the same way. Why else would the answers seem so obvious? He had never considered his way of thinking unusual because, from his perspective, it was perfectly normal.
A quiet raspberry escaped his lips as he shook his head at his own thoughts and returned to the keyboard. His fingers moved with practiced speed, and before he realized it nearly an hour had passed. The final assignment was complete, and moments later the printer hummed to life, producing neatly organized pages. Satisfied, Chuck gathered the papers into a folder, headed for the shower, and quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes. A few minutes later he grabbed his backpack, locked the apartment behind him, climbed into his car, and started the short drive toward UCLA, hoping that burying himself in school for a few hours would keep his mind from drifting back to Sarah, even though he already knew it wouldn’t.
He needed to speak with a few of his professors to find out if there was anything else he had missed while he had been away. There were probably lectures that had already been uploaded online, along with additional assignments he would need to complete if he wanted to stay caught up. Once he had everything organized, he planned to drive over to his parents’ house in Encino to see Ellie and, if they were home, spend some time talking with his parents as well. After everything that had happened over the last twenty four hours, being around family suddenly felt more important than it ever had before.
His father was a brilliant professor at UCLA, spending far more time conducting research than actually teaching classes. Chuck had always admired his intelligence, even if his father often became so absorbed in his work that the rest of the world seemed to disappear around him. His mother worked in law enforcement, although exactly what she did had always remained something of a mystery. She kept her career completely separate from family life and rarely, if ever, discussed her work. Growing up, Chuck and Ellie would occasionally overhear quiet disagreements between their parents about her job, but they had never viewed it as anything unusual. Despite the occasional tension, their parents always found their way back to each other. His mother would sometimes disappear for several days at a time before returning home and resuming work from an office somewhere in downtown Los Angeles. Chuck had never questioned it. Their careers were their business, and he had always had enough going on in his own life to worry about.
Now, however, everything felt different. Learning that both the FBI and the NSA had been quietly monitoring him for years had completely changed the way he looked at the world around him. Every passing stranger, every parked car, and every unfamiliar face suddenly seemed suspicious. Whether anyone was actually watching him no longer mattered. The feeling had settled into the back of his mind, leaving him constantly aware of his surroundings in a way he had never experienced before. It was an unsettling realization that privacy, something he had always taken for granted, might have disappeared long before he ever knew it.
After finishing everything he needed to do at the university, Chuck pointed his car toward Encino. The familiar drive gave him a brief sense of comfort, and before long he pulled into his parents’ driveway. He climbed out, walked up the front steps, and let himself into the house without knocking. Everything was exactly as he remembered. His father was tucked away in his home office, no doubt buried beneath another mountain of research, while his mother was nowhere to be seen. She was probably at work, wherever work happened to take her that day.
He had no idea where his mother was, and Ellie had not made it home from school yet. The one thing he did know was that he was absolutely starving. His parents had always kept their refrigerator packed with enough food to feed an army, and Chuck had never been shy about helping himself whenever he came over. It was time to raid the family reserves.
Within minutes he had assembled a colossal sandwich that looked as though it belonged in a deli display case rather than on a dinner plate. Without bothering to grab a glass, he twisted open the carton of chocolate milk and took a long drink straight from the container. Music wasn’t playing, but that never stopped him from entertaining himself. As he piled another slice of turkey onto the sandwich, he began doing a ridiculous little dance around the kitchen, swaying his shoulders, spinning once with the milk carton in one hand and his oversized sandwich in the other. He would never be mistaken for a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, but making himself laugh had always come naturally.
The front door opened just as Chuck completed an overly dramatic spin.
Ellie stopped in the doorway and folded her arms across her chest, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smile.
“Chuck, would you sit down if you’re going to eat that? I really don’t feel like cleaning sandwich guts off every surface in the kitchen.”
Chuck froze in the middle of another move, slowly turning toward his sister with the carton of milk in one hand and the half eaten sandwich in the other.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said with a sheepish grin. “Do you want something? I made extra.”
Ellie laughed and shook her head.
“I’ll make myself a salad in a little while. Come here, Chuck.”
She opened her arms.
“I missed you, little brother.”
Chuck’s smile softened as he crossed the kitchen and wrapped her in a warm hug.
“I missed you too, sis.”
They held each other for a moment before Ellie kissed him on the cheek and gently steered him toward one of the kitchen chairs. Chuck sat down, placing his oversized sandwich on the table while Ellie settled into the chair across from him.
She studied his face for a few seconds before speaking.
“So,” she said quietly, “talk to me. You sounded pretty shaken when you called this afternoon. What’s bothering you?”
Chuck looked down at the table, suddenly unsure where to begin. Everything that had happened over the last day seemed almost impossible to explain. After several seconds he finally looked back up at her.
“How do I put this, El?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh.
“I met someone.”
Ellie raised an eyebrow but remained silent, allowing him to continue.
“Her name is Sarah. I’ve only known her for a little over twenty four hours.”
He paused again, knowing how unbelievable the next words were going to sound.
“And I know you’re probably going to think this is completely crazy…”
A small smile crept onto his face despite everything that had happened.
“…but I think she’s the one.”
If Ellie had ever been capable of looking completely dumbfounded, she had just perfected the expression. She stared across the kitchen table at her younger brother, her mouth slightly open, trying to process everything he had just said.
“What?”
She leaned forward, pointing a finger at him.
“Chuck, I need a lot more information than that. Don’t you dare leave anything out. Who is she? What’s her story? Why has she managed to steal my little brother’s heart in barely more than a day? I want answers, Chuck. Right now.”
Chuck nodded slowly and began at the very beginning. He told her about the frightened girl who had suddenly sat down at his table in the food court. He described the fear in Sarah’s eyes, the way she had looked over her shoulder every few seconds, convinced someone was hunting her. He explained how he had given her his shirt, his cap, and his sunglasses, hoping she would blend into the crowd. He told Ellie about the drive back to his apartment, the news report, the desperate trip to San Diego, the discovery of Sarah’s parents being arrested, the encounter with Director Langston Graham, and the revelation that the FBI had been watching Sarah for more than a year. He even admitted that both the FBI and the NSA had quietly kept files on him for years because of his abilities with computers.
He left nothing out.
He told her about Sarah’s tears, her fears, the nightmares that had already begun haunting her, and the awkward first kiss they had shared before the FBI separated them. He spoke about the promise he had made to never abandon her and how powerless he had felt walking away from the safe house. He admitted every emotion he had experienced, no matter how irrational or embarrassing it sounded. For nearly thirty hours his life had been turned completely upside down, and he wanted Ellie to understand every moment of it.
“I don’t know if the FBI is telling me the truth,” he said quietly. “I don’t know if they’re protecting her or if they’re keeping her somewhere against her will. I have no idea where she’s being held because they transported us in a darkened van. I couldn’t see where we were going, and I couldn’t figure out where they took her after I left.”
Throughout the entire story, Chuck rarely looked up. His eyes remained fixed on his hands resting on the table, almost as though the answers might somehow appear there if he stared long enough. By the time he finished speaking, the kitchen had fallen completely silent.
Only then did he lift his head.
He hadn’t even realized tears had begun slipping down his cheeks.
Without saying a word, Ellie reached across the table and wrapped both of her hands around one of his.
“My little brother,” she said softly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “When Cupid finally found you, he really didn’t hold anything back, did he?”
Chuck let out a quiet laugh, although there wasn’t much humor behind it.
“No,” he admitted. “I guess he didn’t.”
His smile disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.
“I need to find her, Ellie. I need to know she’s all right. I need to know if she needs me.”
He hesitated for only a moment before asking the question that had been weighing on his mind ever since he left the safe house.
“Do you think Mom might be able to help? Maybe she knows someone or has some way of finding out where Sarah is. I don’t even need to see her. I just need to know she’s safe.”
“Well,” Ellie said with a thoughtful sigh, “I guess we’ll have to ask her. But you know how secretive Mom is. If she can’t tell us something because of her job, she won’t.”
Chuck leaned back in his chair and slowly shook his head.
“I don’t care, Ellie. If she can find Sarah, I expect her to do it for me. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Ellie gave him a patient look that only an older sister could manage.
“Okay, little brother, you need to calm down. You know that attitude isn’t going to get you very far with Mom. If you go in demanding answers, she’ll shut the conversation down before it even starts.”
Chuck rubbed both hands over his face, trying to settle his emotions.
“Yeah, well, maybe it’s time she remembered she’s our mother and not just someone who comes home to the family every once in a while.”
Ellie understood exactly what he meant. Their mother had always loved them, of that neither of them had any doubt, but her career had often come first. There had been birthdays she had missed, dinners she had skipped, and countless evenings when she had simply disappeared without explanation. It had become normal for them, but that didn’t make it any easier.
“You’re right,” Ellie said quietly. “You should talk to her first. If things don’t go the way you want, then I’ll step in and help.”
Chuck nodded, grateful to know he wasn’t facing the conversation alone.
“What about Dad?” he asked. “Do you think he’ll be able to do anything?”
Ellie slowly shook her head.
“I doubt it, Chuck. He’s been really distant lately. He’s buried himself in some research project, and I honestly have no idea what it is. He goes to work, comes home, locks himself in his office for hours, goes to bed, and then starts all over again the next day. I don’t even think Mom and Dad sleep in the same room anymore.”
Chuck lowered his eyes and let out a disappointed breath.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “That sounds about right.”
The conversation drifted to lighter topics for a while, but it always found its way back to Sarah. They talked for another forty five minutes, exploring every possibility they could think of, even though neither of them had any real answers. Eventually Chuck glanced at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall and realized how late it had become. He had stayed much longer than he intended, and he was fairly certain Ellie had pushed aside her own schoolwork simply to be there for him. That realization filled him with gratitude, but it also brought a small measure of guilt. As much as she wanted to help, she still had a demanding life of her own waiting for her.
“Listen, Ellie,” Chuck said as he stood up and gathered his things, “if Mom decides to make an appearance back here, can you let me know? I need to talk to her. Please tell her it’s important and that I need her to make time for me.”
Ellie looked at him with the same caring expression she had carried her entire life whenever Chuck needed help.
“I’ll do my best for you, Chuck. You know that. I always will.”
He smiled softly, knowing she meant every word.
They stepped toward each other and shared a long hug, neither one of them wanting to be the first to let go. After a moment, Ellie pulled back and placed both hands on Chuck’s shoulders, holding him at arm’s length while giving him a playful but serious look.
“You drive me crazy sometimes, Chuck. You really do. But you’re my little brother, and I will help you however I can.”
Chuck gave a small laugh.
“Thanks, Ellie.”
“If you need to talk, call me. Leave me a message if I don’t answer. I will get back to you as soon as I can.”
“I know you will.”
They hugged one more time before Chuck finally stepped away. He walked out of the house and made his way back to his car, his mind still racing with questions and concerns. He didn’t have any answers yet, but for the first time since leaving Sarah behind, he felt like he had someone standing beside him.