For background reading regarding Chuck's accident and the beach scene, check out Chuck vs. Santa's Reindeer.

Chuck Takes Off

"Chuck!" Ellie called through his door, pounding on the wood with her fist. This was definitely not like Chuck to sleep in so late, especially when his shift was supposed to start like right now, she thought. That sweet guy from the Buy More, John, called to see where Chuck was this morning. Apparently, Chuck had told John last night that he was going to pick up Morgan today, and that John should drive himself in to work. Only Chuck never showed. Ellie tried to turn the door handle; it was locked. Don't panic, she told herself, he is probably sleeping soundly and I am going to wring his neck when I wake him up. She moved quickly through the apartment, stepping outside into the courtyard and made her way to Chuck's window; or, as Chuck and Morgan called it, the Morgan Door. She moved the blinds aside and stepped in through the open window. Chuck's bed was its usual rumpled mess, but there was no Chuck in sight. She spied a note on his dresser, beneath his Buy More identification card and the watch Sarah had given him.

"Ellie," the note began, "I just needed some time to myself for a couple days. I will be back refreshed and ready to accept your sisterly scolding. Tell Sarah I am fine and will see her soon." The note was signed simply, "Chuck."

Well, Ellie thought, Chuck has been working a lot lately, six days a week and staying late nearly every night. And I haven't helped matters by insisting he look for a new job now that he has his degree from Stanford. And he's been trying to develop a relationship with Sarah. Plus the hostage craziness at Buy More. That is quite a bit to handle for a guy who did nothing but work and play video games for five years. I'll have to start easing up on him when he returns, she thought guiltily. Her phone rang again.

"Hey, John," she answered. After explaining the situation to John, she unlocked Chuck's door and headed to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee. Devon was already working, and her shift at the hospital didn't start until noon today, so she decided to spoil herself a little with some hazelnut coffee and a trashy romance novel. She was just starting the third chapter when a knock at the door interrupted her reading.

"Sarah! How nice to see you," said Ellie, "would you like some coffee?"

"No thanks, Ellie, I was looking for Chuck," Sarah said.

Ellie felt a twinge of self-consciousness as she was wearing her old pink robe and a pair of flip flops, while Sarah looked stunning in a blue button-down shirt and a tan skirt. "He went out for awhile to de-stress, he left a note on his dresser if you want to see it," she offered.

Sarah made her way to Chuck's bedroom, frowning as she noted his watch on the dresser. She read the note. Damn it, she thought, where'd he go? You'd think he would have learned his lesson the last time he tried going off grid. Last week, on the beach, she thought all was made right between them. He pushed Mauser out of his head and embraced their cover relationship again, although how much was cover and how much was maybe a bit more than cover was up for debate. Sarah shook her head; she didn't want to get off track thinking about that right now. Chuck seemed happy enough, and he had helped track down a Fulcrum messenger on an overnight stakeout the other day. Maybe she and Casey were expecting too much of him. But that didn't explain why he just up and left. And why was his phone turned off? He must know that she would be worried. She made a hurried goodbye to Ellie and headed for Castle to meet Casey.

"Where the hell is he?" Casey demanded as Sarah came down the steps leading into Castle.

"Good morning to you, too," she replied, pushing past him and looking at the computer. "Anything, yet?"

"He didn't take the Herder, and his locator is still in the apartment, so I have jack," answered Casey.

"What about your surveillance footage?"

Casey leaned over and typed on the keyboard. "This is all there is." The camera view was from a small hole in Chuck's wall; the hole was camouflaged by the background coloring of a Tron poster. Chuck was aware of the surveillance; the camouflage was used to keep Chuck's family and friends from noticing. Casey advanced the film to 03:17. The footage contained sound and visual.

Sarah sat down and watched as Chuck's bedroom came into focus. Chuck's cell phone rang, and he rolled over to pick it up from the nightstand. He mumbled, "yeah" into the phone. A moment later, he sat up in bed and his eyes were wide open. "Now?" he asked. "But what about…?" He was cut off by the caller and listened intently. He glanced around the room. "Sure…uh, Morgan, see you in the morning." He hung up the phone, grabbed some clothes and went out the bedroom door. A few minutes later, he reentered the bedroom, locked the door behind him, and rummaged quietly in his closet, pulling out a backpack. He stuffed a few clothes into it, and then wrote a note. He took off his watch and placed it on top of the note with his ID. He looked directly into the camera for a moment, and then he took his wallet and cell phone and stepped out the Morgan Door.

"That's it," said Casey, typing on the keypad to stop the video at 03:28. "I picked up on the phone ringing, and listened in to what Chuck said, but I figured it was just his monkey-friend on the other end." Casey shrugged. "I didn't check the visual until I realized that he was missing."

Sarah forced the lump in her throat back down. Something was terribly wrong. Why didn't Chuck try to contact her? Why did he leave in the first place? Who called him? She banged her fist on the table in frustration.

"I tried to trace the call to his phone, it was scrambled and coded beyond recognition," said Casey. "I waited for you before calling Beckman." He punched a few more keys and General Beckman's face appeared on the monitor with a surly expression.

"Agents Casey and Walker, good morning."

"General," Sarah began.

"Let me interrupt," said Beckman, "Chuck is missing and you have no idea where he is."

"What's going on?" asked Sarah, sharing a puzzled look with Casey.

"Chuck has been moved to an undisclosed location pending an investigation."

Oh, God, thought Sarah, they've taken him to the bunker. She managed to keep her voice from shaking as she asked, "He's been taken underground?"

"Almost, he is scheduled to meet an agent at 10:00am this morning, and then he will be brought to the bunker. As it almost ten now, I should hear confirmation shortly."

"But why the cloak and dagger stuff, General? I could have brought him to the bunker myself," asked Casey, keeping his eyes on the screen before him. He wanted the General to focus on him, and not on Walker, who was showing signs of being upset.

"We were finally able to crack the coded messages in the possession of the Fulcrum agent you apprehended two days ago. One of the messages pertained to the acquirement of CIB, a piece of data to be found at a Los Angeles Buy More electronics store."

Sarah spoke softly, "Charles Irving Bartowski."

"Exactly," said Beckman. "You both assured me that Fulcrum would not be able to identify Chuck as a person of interest after the hostage situation, yet here is this message."

"General," began Casey, "Any Fulcrum agent aware of the Intersect's identity was eliminated that night."

"Precisely; this means that we have a very serious leak in our organization. Few people are aware of Chuck's status as the Intersect, and we need to eliminate each as the culprit." Beckman turned to listen to someone off camera. "Just a moment." She stepped out of view.

"Are we being accused?" Sarah asked Casey incredulously.

"Sounds like it," he grumbled back.

Beckman reappeared on screen. "It seems that the Intersect failed to meet his contact."

Casey looked at Sarah and noted the subtle tones of concern in her eyes. "What are our orders, General?"

"For now, you will remain where you are and maintain your covers. I will contact you later with more information. Do nothing."

Like hell we will, thought Casey, as he turned off the computer.