Chuck vs The New Intersect

Chapter One/Prologue

Chuck stood perfectly still, staring at his former handlers. "Hey guys, I know kung fu."

His former handlers stared back, not knowing what to say. The stand-off lasted for a few seconds.

"I know kung fu," Chuck repeated slowly. With a very confused tone and measured breath, he continued. "I'm not supposed to kung fu. How do I know kung fu?" Slowly he turned and looked at the first generation Macintosh and the now-dimmed Intersect Cube. "Oh yeah."

Sarah's eyes followed Chuck's gaze and joined him in looking at the machine in the center of the windowless room.

She was momentarily overwhelmed with a mixture of pride and fear, allowing only a brief audible gasp. "You downloaded it again?" she asked as a question, even though she already knew the answer.

Casey grunted, breaking his silence.

Chuck slowly spun around, silently counting the number of motionless bodies on the floor. He stopped when he saw a small crimson pool of blood. "Bryce is dead."

Sarah steeled herself before she responded. "Yes. We know. Did he do this to you? Did he make you put it back in?"

"No. I did this. He was already... he was already shot when I found him. He told me to destroy it. To end it all."

Chuck finally brought himself to look Sarah in the eye. "But I couldn't. It's too important. I knew I could handle it. I had to do this. I wanted to do this."

They all stood silent again for a few seconds before Casey cleared his throat. The other two shifted their attention to him. "Chuck? Can you undo these ties? We need to call in a clean up crew and get Beckman on the phone. And figure out what to do now."

Chuck shifted his wait and began to close the distance between him and the NSA agent. "Oh. Yeah. One sec, lemme just... OW! WHAT THE...!" He crumpled over in pain.

Sarah and Casey were to him instantly and instantly in agent mode. "What's wrong? Talk to me!"

Chuck's eyes rolled back into his head for a brief second before he shook it off. In a somewhat monotone voice, he responded. "I injured myself while taking down the traitor and his team. My Intersect programming assessed the situation and determined the most effective course of action was hand-to-hand combat, but my body's lack of requisite muscle conditioning resulted in multiple muscle tears and strains in virtually all muscle groups and joints. Most severe are tears in the biceps brachii and brachialis near the posterior proximal radioulnar joint, followed by a strain of the semimembranosus muscle and distal semitendinosis tendon, resulting in fluid build-up around the tibial nerve. Additionally, I experienced hyperextension of the anterior glenohumeral joint while attempting rapid lateral rotation. Typical recuperation time is 3 weeks of rest, followed by 2 to 4 weeks of physical therapy. Surgical correction is necessary roughly 37% of the time."

Casey grunted questioningly. "Come again?"

"I, uh, pulled every muscle in body doing my best Stretch Armstrong impression while, um... whatever the hell it was I did back there. I feel more like Bruce Vilanch than Bruce Lee." Chuck's expression slowly changed from confused apprehension to a slight grin. "I sounded pretty smart just now. I mean, I said it. And I didn't make it up. The Intersect diagnosed that and I don't doubt it's the absolute correct prognosis. But, yeah, that was kinda neat how that worked. Absolutely terrifying in some, ok many, ways, but still neat. Oh wow, I probably know as much medical stuff as Ellie and Captain Awesome." He paused for a breath as his was overwhelmed by his own excitement. "I'm not feeling so good."

Casey cocked an eyebrow. "Chuckles. Hey. Yeah, you. Look at me. Undo these damn ties before you hyperventilate and pass out. I'm not going to carry you out of here."

Chuck pushed himself up very slowly and released both Casey and Sarah. The NSA agent was immediately on the phone and pacing back and forth. Twenty minutes later, a crew was on site and leading the enemy agents away and preparing Bryce's body for transport back to Washington.

Sarah and Chuck were standing along one wall, consumed by their own thoughts while watching quietly over the scene in front them when Casey came over. "Let's go. Conference with Beckman in 30."

Twenty minutes later, the trio was at the Orange Orange, preparing to descend into the Castle.

Chuck was gingerly navigating his way down the 23 stairs. "Ouch." Step. "Ouch." Step. "Ouch." Step. "You know, this can't be up to ADA spec. This place has 'OSHA violation' written all over it." Step. "Ouch." Finally at the bottom step, Chuck shuffled to the nearest chair and collapsed into it and dropped his forehead on the desk in front of him with an unceremonious thud. "Ouch," he spoke into the tabletop. "Add concussion to the list."

Sarah sat down next to him and rubbed his back, avoiding his swollen shoulder. She struck a devious expression as she tucked a stray curl behind his ear, leaned in and whispered to him. "Don't worry, when we're done here I'll take you home and give you a nice relaxing sponge bath to sooth those achy bones of yours."

Chuck's head shot up, eyes bulging, cheeks already blushing rosy red. He quickly winced, though. "Ow! Make that concussion and whiplash." He then smiled despite the new pain. "But it'll be worth it."

Across the room Casey muttered to himself.

Seconds later, General Diane Beckman appeared on screen in front of them and immediately began the debriefing, choosing to forgo a greeting and other formalities. "Colonel Casey, Agent Walker. What the hell happened today? I want an explanation and I want it… wait a second. Mister Bartowski, didn't I clearly establish that your involvement is no longer necessary? Why are you present? What is going on here?"

All eyes were on John Casey, who suddenly refused to make eye contact with anybody.

The General was impatient. "Well? I'm waiting. I want to know how the day started with the Intersect cube in our possession and ended with Ted Roark, a room full of Marines, and Agent Larkin all dead and the Intersect cube destroyed. I hope for the sake of your careers you have a damned good explanation for this disaster."

Casey finally spoke up. "General, there is one more bit of information I didn't inform you of on the phone. I wanted to wait until I could be absolutely sure we were secure and there was no chance of anyone intercepting our transmission or even just overhearing me."

Beckman leaned forward, and raised her brows. "Well? Spill it."

"Larkin was killed in action and the Intersect Cube was lost, but the Intersect itself…"

"… is in me."

"It's WHAT!"

Chuck stood up, ignoring the pain in his legs, and repeated himself. "It's in me. Bryce… Agent Larkin was already incapacitated when I found him in the Intersect room. It was evident that he wasn't going to survive his wounds." Chuck gulped, not looking forward to how Beckman was going to react to the next part of the story. "Casey and Sarah were holding off Miles and his crew a few rooms over but I could tell they were outnumbered and outgunned. So rather than let the Intersect fall into enemy hands, I downloaded it into myself and then destroyed the cube."

The General was nonplussed. "Well, Mister Bartowski. Welcome back to the fold. You, of course, realize that you are now property of the United States Government again." She paused to sigh, as if wondering who or what entity she'd pissed off in a past life. "I'm reinstating Operation Bartowski for the time being."

Sarah spoke up, worry evident in her wavering voice. "The time being?"

Beckman folded her hands and focused her attention at Sarah. "Yes, the time being. As I'm sure you recall, I ordered the asset placed in a secure bunker once already. I'm doing it again. Your team, as well as now Castle itself, has become compromised. I've had enough of this. It's time to do what should've been done two years ago."

Sarah stood up, "But you can't!"

She was immediately cut off by the figure on the video screen. "Yes, I can, Agent Walker. And I will. Agent Casey, you will arrange for transport to Wash…"

Nobody noticed Chuck's eyes flutter. "No, he won't. I'm not going into a bunker."

"Excuse me, Mister Bartowski. I am in charge here. You will go. Colonel Casey arrange..."

Chuck stared her down, eyes unwavering. He spoke firmly and deliberately. "No. I am staying. And Sarah and Casey are staying with me."

Everyone was taken aback by Chuck's sudden assertiveness.

"The Intersect has just taken it upon itself to inform me of Scenario Seven. I assume you are familiar with that little exercise, General?"