A/N: So this was almost the story that wasn't but I had a lot of encouragement, namely from the infamous mxpw (his influence will become more apparent in the following chapters) and the fabulous Altonish (who took a great deal of time out of his day to make things better). Give them a round of applause, won't you?

Short summary? This is an AU inspired by some of my favorite episodes and is an alternate take on how Sarah and Chuck could have met (hmm, sound like something you might have read recently?). The irony is that the first two chapters do not feature Chuck or Sarah and for that I am sorry. It was a necessary evil.

Anyway, hope you'll stick with it and enjoy the story. I am trying hard to keep it relatively angst free. This in itself has caused me quite a bit of angst. Just ask mxpw.

Disclaimer: Chuck is not mine.

Chuck vs the Not So Ordinary Life

1. The Set-Up: Bryce

Bryce wakes in the middle of the night with another splitting headache. Years ago in a neurology seminar he learned that it could be a sign of a brain lesion; now it would actually be a relief if it were. At least then there would be answers, treatments, and maybe even a cure.

He gets up to check the perimeters (you can never be too sure) and make sure the deadbolts on his bedroom door are still intact. Then and only then does he feel it's safe to go back to sleep, well, perhaps safe enough.

Bryce lies back in bed and tried to rest and perchance, to dream. It was hopeless, as usual; the only things he could think about were those better left forgotten. He'd always been taught to live life in the moment, as if he had no regrets at all, and the mentality worked most of the time. The regret only crept up on him on nights like these, when the pain was unbearable and the quiet darkness became a prison for his mind.

He'd done some good in his life and a great deal of wrong. He thought about how he'd sacrificed his closest friendship, how he'd slept with said best friend's girlfriend (it was for his own good) and in really desperate moments that he'd never admit to his CIA appointed psychologist, he thought about her. He thought about her too often, the blond woman who had almost changed his life. He wasn't the sentimental sort, but when an attack came as it did now, he found it very hard to avoid these sorts of thoughts. If only he'd never made that promise to Dr. Fleming. How different might his life be now?

Sarah Walker would always be the one that got away. Their relationship was the briefest of any relationship he'd ever had and yet it was the one that lingered longest in his memory. He only thought of her when these attacks came on; otherwise there were more useful pursuits; the receptionist he'd employed and the barista that made his drink every morning and even his girlfriend, if he was desperate. There were plenty of emotionally available and beautiful women interested in him, but when the vice came down on his head he only thought of Sarah. He doubted she'd appreciate her role in his troubled mind, but what she didn't know couldn't hurt him.

She'd been part of the reason and now she was gone. They had both been new to the game and so eager to please then; him more so, because he wanted not only to please but also to impress. Bryce had wanted to be the kind of man she'd want to be with. He wanted to be the American Hero.

So he was, sort of, but what of it? Who knew except for a few scientists and a decorated General who made him promise never to reveal the secret?

Was he still a hero, now that he no longer wanted any part of this? It was a futile thought. No one at Project Omaha knew how to fix him. There was only one person who knew for certain and that person had long vanished.

For a brief moment in the morning, Bryce wondered, as he always did, whether or not he should even appear at the office. Ironically he liked his job. It was exactly what he thought he might be doing before his first meeting with Fleming. Now he wondered how much of a difference he was making. It was a crippling thought. The future he imagined for himself five years ago was anything but this.

Whatever his superiors might say, it seemed unlikely for Roark to be involved with Fulcrum. Bryce had been working there two years; if they were anything other than a giant technology conglomerate there would have been a slip by now.

And so Bryce adjusted his designer tie, tucked his shirt into his Armani suit and shuffled off to the office. As per usual he avoided his designated parking space and opted to park beside a baseball field and bus the six blocks to the office. Sure it was tedious but it was a necessary safety precaution. They couldn't tamper with your car if they couldn't find it.

His secretary had a stack of applications ready when he arrived in his office. He eyed her legs when he picked up the paper. He could easily think of a much better way to spend the day. He wasn't especially keen on performing the interviews personally.

He thumbed through the candidates looking for excuses for rejection until he found a name that surprised him. A candidate he couldn't refuse.

"Chuck Bartowski."

Bryce stared at the man sitting across from him in utter disbelief. He hasn't said the name aloud in over five years.

"Hello, Bryce," Chuck replied. The man in the cheap suit had Chuck's voice. He had Chuck's hair, Chuck's eyes, and Chuck's slouch as he sat forwards in his seat but it still felt surreal. When Bryce had said goodbye, he had closed the door on a possibility such as this. It was better for Chuck that way.

"How… How are you? What have you been up to?" Where have you been? What happened to you? What are you doing here? Bryce had so many questions. His gnawing conscience had even more. Could they still talk like friends after all that had happened?

Chuck hesitated. He clasped his hands together and Bryce got the sense that things have not been well. Trying to get his former best friend flunked from Stanford in their senior year should come up as a major regret for Bryce but it didn't. He'd bargained with Fleming to spare him. Fleming wanted Chuck for Project Omaha, but Bryce had struck a deal. Destroy the Cipher and Bryce would agree to be patient X. Fleming was skeptical, but Bryce's score was high enough. Fleming got his candidate, Bryce saved an innocent soul; everyone left happy. Chuck would never know, but his life could have been a whole lot worse. Bryce was living proof of that.

"I've been all right," Chuck said. It was a vague answer and it seemed that Chuck didn't want to talk about it. When Bryce probed further he got a reiteration of what was written down on paper. His resume was succinct, sparse really. He was the only candidate who'd stopped with just a page to his name. All of Chuck's answers were perfectly rehearsed. Clearly there was something that Chuck didn't want to talk about.

"I see here you graduated from Caltech," Bryce said as he looked over Chuck's sheet. See? His gnawing conscience was victorious. Bryce's betrayal hadn't turned out so badly, Chuck graduated from a very good school.

Chuck nodded in reply. "I heard you went into the military." Bryce stiffened but it was an entirely innocent remark. He remembered that it was part of his public biography on the company portfolio.

"It was a brief stint," he replied. "I realized it wasn't for me." He wondered if Chuck could tell just yet. It usually took a stranger a few visits at least but this was Chuck after all. They had a history. They had been friends.

Bryce pondered whether he should break into the usual list of questions. There were a lot of why's but the one he really wanted answered was why would his old friend who hadn't spoken to him in five years show up here?

"So..."

Chuck sighed. "Listen, Bryce, I'm going to be honest with you." He stared forwards and held Bryce's gaze. "I need a job. You may find it hard to believe that a guy from Caltech has no relevant work experience but the truth is, I haven't done much with my life and now, at the age of twenty-six, I'm really starting to regret that. I don't think you'd understand—"

"I do," he said. Bryce felt slightly offended Chuck didn't believe him when he said it.

"Are you sleeping on your sister's couch and scrounging for change under the seats so you can catch a bus to your job interview?" Chuck said it with a twist of a grin on his face and Bryce wasn't sure whether to laugh it off or give his condolences.

"So..." he said slowly.

"So I thought you might be willing to do a favor for an old friend?" Chuck grinned. Bryce envied that about him. Even though he was penniless and going nowhere fast, the man carried himself as if all of life's problems could wait another day.

"Look it was stupid to come here, but I could use a break and I thought if anyone might be willing to give me a shot… Right, I should probably stop warming this seat for the guy you're actually going to hire." Chuck stood up and gathered his jacket. "It was nice seeing you again. I'm glad things worked out for you."

Bryce winced momentarily before straightening his features. He couldn't tell if Chuck meant it or not. He wanted to believe that he did, but could Chuck really be happy knowing the guy who tried to get him expelled from college was now living their so-called dream?

Chuck was already at his office door by the time Bryce managed to find his voice again. "Chuck, wait." He told himself it was just his gnawing conscience that caused him to speak.

Later when Bryce was alone he wondered what part of him had given Chuck the job. Was he helping out an old friend who just needed a break? Was he trying to make up for a past misdeed, or was he really just taking advantage of an old friend. Did he still get credit for the first two if he was intent on fulfilling the third? It was a question Bryce couldn't answer. Still, Chuck needed him, and he needed Chuck.

If anyone could tell him the whereabouts of Orion, it would be his son.