Chapter 21
I don’t own Chuck
Three weeks ago
“Okay, what exactly do you want to know?” Chuck replied.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” Chuck told her. She grinned at him. “Sarah, I’m easy.” She burst out laughing. “Not sure that was necessary,” he muttered.
“Okay, let’s start at the beginning, about Morgan and how you knew where you were.”
“Fine, Morgan is all about that ET life, and I don’t mean Entertainment Tonight.” Sarah snorted at that. “He knows ALLLLL about Lake Pend Oreille.”
“Does he know or does he think he knows?”
“How about both?” Chuck offered. Sarah chuckled and nodded. “He does know it’s one of the deepest lakes around and submarine testing happens here. He also thinks he knows about USOs.”
“You mean UFOs, right?”
“Oh, no, ma’am,” Chuck said, making her laugh again. Unidentified Submersible Objects.”
“Really, these things exist?”
“California has all kind of sightings,” Chuck explained. “Here, in Sandpoint, Idaho, if I had to guess.” Sarah’s mouth dropped. “Come on, Sarah, it’s the biggest town that’s near the base, about thirty minutes away, if I’m remembering correctly.”
“Okay, so, how do you know we are here though?”“Morgan has made me watch a LOT of videos and he’s pointed things out to me,” Chuck explained. “He would pull up videos side by side and show me geographic landmarks. I’ve come to know them by heart.”
“Wow,” Sarah said softly.
“Also, kinda your fault as well,” Chuck told her. She looked confused. “All my training about listening to what’s going on…the constant helicopters.”
“Wait, you heard those? I mean they’re not quiet or anything, but how did you know?”
“Sarah, this place is in the middle of nowhere, so, how else would would things get in and out. Plus, it makes sense some military base had to be nearby to get me here, you wouldn’t trust a normal airline.”
“You don’t need the Intersect to be a spy,” she said softly.
“Lot of good that has done me,” Chuck told her. She gave him a look, and he shrugged.
“Okay, so, you know where you are because of Morgan and my training.”
“It’s okay to be proud of that last part.” She grinned at him. “The next part…maybe it’s too many comic books, too many spy movies, but….don’t you find it a bit odd that your friend, who left the CIA over being upset that her boyfriend was killed, now lives, near this base, with a former CIA husband and kid?”
“It is a little convenient,” Sarah replied. “She was very disillusioned by the CIA after what happened.” Chuck gave her a look, and motioned her to continue with that thought. “She might not have left, but went to work off book at a black site, like this one.” Chuck nodded. “Okay, tell me everything you think is going on.”
Now
“I’m so glad you could be here,” Chuck said as they were eating dinner. “And I don’t know how to thank you enough. This has been hard on Sarah. I just hope no one figures this out and your husband and child are put in danger.”
“Oh, my husband is former CIA, he can take care of himself,” Susan said, looking down at her plate and cutting the steak. Chuck and Sarah exchanged a glance.
Three weeks ago
“Okay, what are you thinking?” Sarah asked.
“I think we have the worst possible luck,” Chuck told her. “IF they figured out I am the Intersect, and they know I have disappeared, then they looked into who left the CIA, NSA, and other government agencies around the same time. To figure out if anyone is guarding me, or any agent who isn’t being assigned something right now.”
“Okay, that’s simple enough to do,” Sarah said, nodding. “So then what?”
“Then you have to actually find me,” Chuck pointed out. “Identify me.”
“Okay, flaw in your idea,” Sarah pointed out. “I asked Susan to come in a little while back, and she reminded me that was a bad idea.”
Chuck tilted his head. “And what did that do, psychologically?”
Sarah stared at him and then shut her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It helped me establish trust in her,” she said. She opened her eyes and looked at Chuck. “Damn it.”
Now
“So, your husband…wait, don’t tell me, it’s probably best if I don’t know his name,” Chuck began. “How did you two meet, or can you tell me.”Susan winced, but her face showed humor. “Sorry, that’s need to know.”
“Oh, we know about need to know, don’t we Sarah,” Chuck said, grinning at Sarah.
“Do we ever,” Sarah replied, taking a drink.
Three weeks ago
“She told me she couldn’t come in, it would jeopardize her husband and son,” Sarah told him.
“I need to ask you something,” Chuck said tentatively.
“Ask me anything,” Sarah told him, making his eyes widen. “I’m not saying I’ll answer it, but you can ask me anything.”
“Where were….we,” he said gesturing between them. “When you made that offer?”
“You were sitting by the creek and I had just been sitting there, watching you.” Chuck was silent for a moment. “Guess we need to talk about that at some point.”
“I mean normal people would, but us?” She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “So, I would say your mask was down and she might have known we were…having issues?”
“Are you asking if we were having issues, or trying to frame it nicely?” Sarah asked. Chuck mimed zipping his lips, making her chuckle. “Yes, she knew that.”
“And she started asking to have dinner with you, after we had straightened things out….we have straightened them out, right?” Sarah nodded. “So, she has your trust, you’re not thinking anything about her asking to have dinner with you, and we’re finally on the same page.”
“Same page? More like same book, probably same chapter, but same page?”
“I think you like it when you are on a different page than I am,” Chuck told her. She winked at him.
}o{
Now
“So, may I ask what finally happened that you two fixed whatever was wrong?” Susan asked.
“We finally got on the same page,” Chuck told her. He turned to Sarah. “Right?”
“I mean, I’m not happy about us being on the same page, but he’s right,” Sarah replied, taking a drink.