A/N: Just got to thank garnetflint for acting as editor on this chapter, and to all my readers. I probably won't have gotten this far without you guys.

Chapter 41

Sarah stared at the door, mentally psyching herself up to see what lay ahead. Beyond it laid General Beckman and whoever was in charge of the Agency now. Sarah had been in the field for so long that she was completely in the dark about the politics that happened behind the scenes and couldn't even fathom who could be her new boss now, but her lack of knowing wasn't what bothered her. No, it was the inevitable fallout that messy ops brought that put her on edge. Somebody had to pay the price when things went pear shaped and it was inevitably the field agents that was left with the tab, no matter what impossible situation they were faced with. And that was just when Agency people were involved.

Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose as she felt a stress induced headache coming on. They weren't common now compared to when she was a teenage but... oh who was she kidding? It still sucked, especially since she was as powerless to help as she was back then. The fate of Chuck and his friends now hung in the balance as well as her father's now. All were now privy to information they shouldn't have been in the first place. Once they had gotten off the plane in D.C. everyone was separated and taking in for de-briefing and nobody had been forthcoming with their location.

Even Bryce's location was unknown despite her history with him and the Intersection projects but at least she had Stephen Bartowski to look after him. The man often called Orion hacked an intercom to tell her that he was aiding in the treatment for Bryce's Intersect overuse so she knew that much at least. From what she could gather, Chuck's father felt some responsibility for Bryce, if nothing else, and that with him around Chuck wouldn't face any imminent danger. Still, the not knowing where he was, or even how he was, made her nervous. People she cared about had a history of bad things happening to them, to the point that she once believed herself to be cursed, and being left in the dark now was like torture.

Still, nothing would get done just standing here, and so, with much trepidation, she gripped the door handle and heaved it open. To her relief, Chuck was there, dressed up in a suit that looked a few sizes too big for him. Her guess was that it was lender from Casey, who was similar in height if not build, and seeing the two seated across from each other it wasn't hard to see her come to that conclusion. Morgan and Anna were there too; both dressed formal for the occasion. To her surprise, it was Anna and not Morgan who looked the most agitated being stuck in such stuffy clothing, but then again she never pegged her for the pantsuit wearing type. At the head of the table sat General Beckman, who looked no worse for wear despite being kidnapped, and a Latino man she didn't recognize. Sarah mentally kicked herself for not being able to place the man, especially since his appearance here suggested he was to be her new boss, and vowed to not be caught unprepared like that in the future.

"Glad you can make it on time Agent Walker, " Beckman said without her usual sarcasm. "Please take your seat. I was just bringing Director Hunter up to speed about the Intersect but we'll be focusing on the aftermath of this mess."

Sarah nodded to Hunter as she sat beside Chuck, who had somehow managed to save it for her. Hunter said, "Thank you General, there's been a lot to go over since my predecessor was murdered by his number two so I appreciate the patience. I heard whispers about the Intersect project but you know how unreliable the rumour mill is."

"It's a good thing too. I couldn't have come up with a better misinformation campaign if I tried," Beckman agreed with him.

Morgan shifted in his seat uncomfortably, and Chuck knew he wanted to ask a question. It almost felt like high school all over again. "Uh... sorry to break in here, but uh... why is that important?"

Chuck stepped in, knowing full well Beckman wouldn't be happy playing Ms. Exposition. "Let me answer that for you buddy. A project like the Intersect is just too big to keep completely under wraps so if someone gets wind of it, the good guys can confuse any prying eyes by having contradictory information floating around. "

Sarah added, "One of the best ways to gain Intel in the field is to listen to gossip. The unusual details usually crop up then and if you're under cover it's one of the safer ways to get the lay of the land. Using misinformation, our side can get any spies to send back false information that we can later take advantage of their false assumptions."

"Thank you Mr. Bartowski, Agent Walker for handling that little aside. Now that's taken care of, let's delve into the particulars of this whole snafu." General Beckman's face seemed even more severe than usual, making Chuck squirm and Casey's frown deepen. Needless to say, Sarah knew that bad news was to follow.

"First of all," she continued, " there's the matter of this mysterious party involved. From what your combined reports suggest they're well-funded, well trained and know too much about how our organizations work. So far, the NSA hasn't been able to dig up much on this party other than a few rumours attributed to the so called 'Ring' organization. Has the CIA managed to find out more about these people?"

Hunter frowned. "I'm afraid not General. Amongst the bodies recovered, we've been able to ID that they were mostly mercenaries and the few that weren't had links to the defunct FULCRUM group. Since that organization was dismantled it's not that unlikely they've found employment with other groups. Sadly, these operatives didn't surface until recently so their most recent affiliations are unknown to us."

Casey cleared his throat. "What about that man Ryan Anderson? He's the one calling the shots the whole time. Did you manage to dig up anything on him?" he asked, almost unable to stop himself from calling the man an incompetent spook.

"Thanks to the descriptions you and the others in your, well let's say team, provided we have a decent composite sketch of your Mr. Anderson. So far we weren't able to find anything in our databases but considering that they've been compromised we've reached out to other members of Nine Eyes to see if they have anything either. They've yet to get back to us, so we're following up other leads in our investigation."

Chuck's eyes shot up. "Wait a sec, go back a second. You're saying your systems were compromised? Was it just the Intersect stuff or..."

Beckman sighed, an ominous sign if ever there was one. "This cannot go any further, do I make myself clear?" she asked as she levelled her harshest stare at everyone (thought it seemed to settle on Chuck too long for his liking). A round of Yeses came from the around the table without hesitation, an unusual feat considering Anna just loved to stir up trouble with authority types. The General cleared her throat before continuing.

"The Juno system, in order to be most efficient, requires access to the most up to date information and thus had a direct connection to both the CIA and NSA's data warehouses in order to run periodical updates," she explained.

"Sounds like they had ample time to send you a real nasty gift, " Anna commented.

Casey snorted. "Not likely. Protocol dictates that a site fails to call in every few hours it's put into digital quarantine. That way, if someone tries to hit us like the Ruskies they'd get locked out."

"So how... you know what I'm stepping on your toes here. Go ahead General, " Chuck said sheepishly.

"Good to see you're showing some decorum for once, " Beckman noted coolly. "It occurred after Colonel Casey reported in that the site was secured. The virus was nested in what appeared to be a benign program at the time that initial scans failed to register as a threat. Hours after the system was supposedly scrubbed it went into effect and managed to infect every major database in both of our organizations." She paused a moment to drink from a nearby mug, and Sarah guessed she might have had more than coffee in it.

"The only silver lining to this was that not all of our backup files were infected. A set was kept separate from our active work environments but unfortunately they're months out of date. As of now there's only one place where all of our Intel exists that we can say for certain wasn't compromised."

"Well, that's great news! All you need to do is grab that baby and upload it," Anna chimed in. A look around the room proved that it wasn't going to be that easy. Chuck adopted his "bad news" face, staring at the ground while Sarah's jaw clenched so tight it looked like they'd need the Jaws of Life to open up again. Casey took the news better out of the three, but bore a look that said, "damn I NEED to shoot something". Anna knew. You can read a person by the way they handle Black Friday, and right now Casey had that same calm but scary look in his eyes. "Uh... right guys?" she added unconvincingly.

"I wish it was as simple as copy and paste, " Sarah told her. "But where the data is doesn't have a USB port."

Morgan dumbfounded nodded along with her, and Anna knew something was up. But what could it be?

Chuck sensed her confusion and finally spoke up. "It's in my head, " he said. When she still looked baffled, he elaborated, "Remember the imaging room? When I started the process I wasn't able to close my eyes in time and I got uploaded with all of that data. It must have been crammed in with whatever I had before because I can feel it now." He paused to swallow and Sarah gripped his hand to calm the flow of nerves that threatened to overwhelm him. "I'm now officially government property."

"Not exactly Mr. Bartowski. There's the whole matter of slavery being illegal and besides, it's just the Intel currently sitting in your head that we need, " Director Hunter pointed out.

"Same difference. Don't forget I was around during Project Prometheus. What's to stop you from declaring me a spy and dumping me in a bunker in the middle of nowhere for the rest of my life? "

"If only it was that simple Mr. Bartowski. That would have been the ideal solution..." the General began.

"So you say, but considering the fact we got a major leak what's to say that a new arrival wouldn't raise suspicions for these people?" Sarah cut in.

Beckman shot her a dirty look before continuing, "AS I was saying Agent Walker, that would have been the ideal solution a few years ago but things have changed. Both the CIA and NSA are already on the hot seat with the Senate after that snafu with Dr. Woodcomb, and with the situation in Hawaii the way it played out the public's blood is up. Any action against a family member of his would be under immediate investigation even if we faked Mr. Bartowski's death and left a suicide note."

"That just sounds peachy to me," Morgan muttered under his breath, though he didn't feel as confident as he tried to sound.

"And there's the matter of Orion. We have the man's co-operation for the first time in years and we can't risk jeopardizing what little good faith we've established with him by antagonizing Chuck, so we have to take alternative measures," Beckman concluded sourly.

Sarah noticed in the past that she was the definition of a control freak, and any concession over a situation would definitely be agonizing for her. "In other words, she has to compromise, and that could mean nothing but good news for Chuck," Sarah noted to herself.

"Sorry, I feel like I'm playing catch up here. Who's Orion?" Anna asked before quicly adding, "I mean, can you tell us without having to blast us to bits?"

Casey took the opportunity to respond. "His identity is classified Wu, but knowing you that isn't enough to stop you from doing something stupid. All you need to know is that he's a researcher on some sensitive projects and that Chuck built a rapport with him in the past. And don't pester Bartowski about this. Not even having Ambassador Wu as a father is going to save your neck if you dig too deep!" Casey said harshly, though Chuck could see why. Anna was an anti-authoritarian as they came but even she knew there was some lines you didn't cross, especially with the black ops stuff. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, as the old saying goes and for once he understood why.

Thankfully, Anna seemed to accept this explanation and she nodded along. "Yeah, that's fine. Must be one hell of a friend you made during your secret second job Chuckles if he'd be willing to go out a limb like this for you."

"He's a hell of a guy, " Chuck told her and left it at that. It still felt weird talking about his father, even directly, and he didn't feel safe enough to talk about him even indirectly. "Lousy abandonment issues flaring up again, " he noted sarcastically but even trying to downplay that in his head felt wrong. Some hurts never go away, even after you learn the reasons why they happened.

"So what do you propose then?" Sarah asked.

"We put our heads together and I think we have a solution, " Hunter told her.

"It's more like your solution. It's definitely not something your predecessors would have decided upon but then again I have no other options at this point," Beckman conceded.

"Are you going to ship Chuck and the rest of us off to the International Space Station?" Morgan asked cautiously. After the expensive setup he saw in Hawaii nothing was too ridiculous to consider.

Hunter cocked any eyebrow at the suggestion. "Nothing so outlandish Mr. Grimes. It's a fact that you, and Ms. Wu are privy to government secrets no civilian should be aware of, and Mr. Bartowski now is the only remaining repository for the bulk of our intel. It's problematic for free agents to just run around with such sensitive information, but if you were government employees though, that would be a different situation entirely."

Chuck looked at him, shocked to say the least. "Wait, are you suggesting that you want to HIRE us instead?!"

Hunter smiled, and for once Chuck didn't notice a drop of menace behind it (a rarity in this line of work). Sarah and Casey just looked on dumbfounded, though for different reasons entirely. "Exactly, " he said. "It's the simplest solution. I've been looking over your record and I have to say you hold some promise. Your academic record is top notch and your work on the projects done during your previous contract with the Agency is nothing short of marvellous. Throw in the glowing recommendation from Professor Fleming during your time at Stanford and I must say that I'm surprised you hadn't been recruited sooner."

Chuck cleared his throat nervously. "I, uh, have to say that I'm liking the praise but I don't think I'm cut out for that type of work. I mean, it's exciting but I don't think I could ever be comfortable with the aspect of having to hurt someone on command. No offence to you Casey, or you Sarah, but you know me." To that Casey gave grunt #90, "Of course".

"Hurt someone... wait a minute you think I want to put you in the field?" Hunter asked confusedly. "Why would you think that?"

"I discovered while doing background Prof. Fleming that he made a recording with Bryce. I found out he wanted to recruit me to Omaha when I was helping to extract him a couple years back," Chuck said. "And Bryce got angry when Fleming said he wanted me to be "drafted" instead of being recruited right after graduation."

"I've seen the recording as well and from the way the conversation went, it's not hard to draw the conclusion that Fleming wanted Chuck to become an Intersect host, " Sarah added.

"And I assume that Agent Larkin also came to that conclusion as well, " Director Hunter noted. "Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it was a spot on the R&D team that we wanted to recruit Mr. Bartowski for, not as an operative and definitely not as a guinea pig for the Omaha process."

"What?!" Chuck and Sarah exclaimed simultaneously.

"It's true. Fleming thought Chuck's retention levels were high enough to have him serve as a candidate but it was his exam scores that brought our attention to him. He scored the highest we've ever seen in computational theory and the paper's he submitted for Advanced Algorithms made him stand out from our usual recruits." Hunter said doing his best to hide his excitement. "If you were able to graduate instead of being expelled Mr. Bartowski we would have put you to work on the encoding process for the Omaha arm of the Intersect project. We could have pushed ahead on it instead of trying to reverse engineer Orion's work on the project. Hell, Omaha could have been stable by now instead of slowly killing our best and brightest!"

"Surely you must be exaggerating, Director Hunter. I've seen Mr. Bartowski in action and I have to say that he's far from the savant you're painting him to be, " General Beckman said coldly.

"I've read your reports, and I have to say you're bias lies in seeing him as a field agent. It's true his instincts in battle aren't ideal ," Hunter said.

"You can say that again," Casey added.

"But when you consider his work off the field, well, you can't ignore the facts. He managed to break FULCRUM encryption on one of their devices in an afternoon, and we both know that NSA's best cryptographers had been struggling for years to pull that off. And there was the matter about him making contact with Orion, the ghost that baffled the Agency and the NSA for years. Just how did you manage it anyways Mr. Bartowski? Colonel Casey couldn't even hazard a guess and Agent Walker couldn't really give any concrete details."

"I created my own little search engine to look for any references to him. But I didn't do it alone. Anna really helped me get it running. I doubt I'd have it nearly as stable or efficient if it wasn't for her handy work," Chuck told him.

"Ah shucks, you're too kind," Anna added.

"It appears the two of you work well together then. Good, I was going to assign Ms. Wu to to the same team as Mr. Bartowski, "Hunter told them. "It's a good thing too. Normally some people might balk at the idea of hiring you, considering how volatile your dismissal was from your last job. "

Sarah's eyes shot up. She smelled a contradiction there. "Wait a minute, didn't you claim you quit the Buy More?"

Anna eyes furrowed. "I did! I did it the same time Morgan did. If you don't believe me, ask Chuck! He was there picking up his last paycheck when I stormed into Milbarf's office."

Hunter opened one of the folders he had sitting in front of him and flipped through a few pages. It was pretty sizable to Chuck's surprise, but considering how protective the CIA was of their secrets it did make sense to read up on someone you're entrusting such important details to. "Oh yes, my mistake. It was the previous job before the Burbank Buy More. It was at Livingston Inc. if my records are correct. "

Anna's face went pale at the mention of the place and she practically shrank in her chair. Chuck didn't even know that she once worked for Roark Industry's main competition but considering her reaction what happened there must have been the worst. Morgan spoke up, "We don't need to go into that, right? I mean, it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, and really, Casey and Lady General Beckman, did I get it right?" he asked Beckman. She just nodded curtly and he continued, "Good, I suck at remembering names. Well it looks like neither of them really care and like I said it doesn't matter for the now."

Chuck noticed his buddy's awkward attempts to steer the conversation away from Anna's old job. He wasn't sure about the details but he knew he wasn't going to let Morgan stumble. "You're right buddy, it doesn't matter. Anna's got a solid track record now, and that should mean something. You don't go from Nerd Herding at a BuyMore to being a One Lady Dev shop in Hawaii if you didn't have the skills or the drive to get the job done after all, and I haven't heard one bad thing about her performance. On top of that there's the numerous the side jobs and projects we worked on that were no walk in the park. It's more than enough to make her look good on paper, right Anna?"

By now she recovered enough to respond. "Yeah. Can't say that I handled things perfectly in the past but nobody can call me a software slouch, " she said, nodding gratefully to Chuck.

"It's why I thought you'd be good for the role. Now moving onto Mr. Grimes, " Hunter said as he thumbed through another folder. Morgan gulped and had to do everything in his power to suppress his instinct to hide underneath the desk. "I can't say that your academic record was stellar and I have to be honest for awhile I had a hard time coming up with an idea about where to put you. Your... eclectic skill set just didn't match any roles either of our organizations have to offer."

Morgan's eyes shot open and began to dart left and right. "Are you going to whack me then? Put me out to pasture and say I went away to a farm upstate to stay with the horses?" he asked panicking, his voice going up an octave or two.

"It crossed my mind, " Beckman admitted coolly, so much so Sarah had to wonder if she enjoyed seeing Morgan squirm. "But in the end it could cause too many complications. You've been seen in the presence of Mr. Bartowski and Ms. Wu before and after the incident, and any cover story wouldn't past muster if an investigation occurred. And one would occur considering the political weight Ambassador Wu can toss around. "

"Good old Mr. W,"Morgan thought to himself. He knew Anna's old man didn't appreciate him that much but he always knew he had to get on his good side, if nothing else but to put Anna's mind at ease. Now he had another reason: serving as a good deterrent against deep-sixing him in the middle of the ocean. Maybe see if he'd like a traditional Mexican dinner like his mom used to make.

"Since we couldn't come up with a good solution, the matter was set aside to cover where the weekly briefings would occur," Beckman told the team.

Chuck groaned. "Are you going to have me sort through a million documents in case I Flash?"

"Perhaps, though there's other matters that you could help with. Weekly updates about your projects as well, " she said. "Considering that there's still a leak we haven't plugged yet, we need a secure location that wouldn't arouse any suspicion if you frequent it regularly. Thankfully, such a location already exists in Burbank."

Sarah's eyes shot up. "I thought that location was decommissioned," she told her, all the while trying to fight down memories of burnt batter and fried oil. To this day the phantoms of those smells haunted her like Lady Macbeth's damnable spot.

"Not fully Agent Walker. All equipment was shipped out and the entrances walled off to avoid prying eyes. The majority of the infrastructure is intact and the CIA still holds ownership of the property."

"There's a secret spy base in L.A.? You got to be kidding me. You'd think somebody would have noticed something like that by now!" Anna exclaimed.

Casey gave his skeptical grunt. "You've been living on the same island as a facility for over a year now and you haven't been the wiser the whole time. The reason is simple: most folks really don't want to be aware if something is out of the norm and you're not an exception. It's just easier to accept something new and make it the new norm."

"So, where do I fit in?" Morgan asked meekly.

Hunter fielded this question. "You're going to be working at the front to this facility Mr. Grimes. The best camouflage to having a facility like this where we're expecting a considerable amount of foot traffic is to run a business to hide what's happening in other parts of the building. In the past we were using an Orange Orange franchise as the front but it was turned into a Japanese restaurant after previous operations finished in the area. From what I hear their speciality is sushi and teppenyaki, so you'll fit right in. "

Morgan swept the sweat off his forehead, looking relieved. "Whew, I'm glad it wasn't a Weinerlicious. I love those corn dogs but man, lederhosen just isn't a good look on me."

"Oddly enough, it WAS originally a Weinerlicious before we took possession, " Hunter added. "Funny you should mention that."

Anna and Morgan exchanged a look. "Wait a minute, THAT was the super secret spy base?!" Anna exclaimed. "Holy cow Morgie, you'll be working at the Weed Shop!"

"Pardon me?" Beckman said curtly.

And at that moment, Chuck went into motormouth mode. "Well you see, General sir m'am, since Sarah had to close the Orange Orange down so often to run... I mean to oversee my work, rumours, nasty ones at that, began popping up and a lot of people jumped to the conclusion she was running a grow op out of the basement."

Beckman shook her head. "An unexpected development due to protocol I see. At least there's the appearance that there's new management running the establishment so those rumours would have subsided by now. Do you think you'll be able to handle the day to day responsibilities of chef?"

"Ready? I've been training all year for this, " Morgan said as he puffed his chest out.

"Glad to see some enthusiasm for once, " Beckman said. "With that out of the way, we need to discuss security protocol. Since the intel currently sitting in Mr. Bartowski's head includes those from the CIA and the NSA this is going to be handled jointly."

Sarah nodded. "I would like to volunteer for this joint task force, " she said coolly, doing her best not to betray her eagerness. "I have the experience protecting VIPs, working with Intersect Hosts and I'm familiar with L.A. area, plus I've participated in inter-agency operations before."

Hunter shook his head. "I'm sorry Agent Walker, but I'm afraid that wouldn't be prudent at this juncture. Your relationship with Mr. Bartowski is well known by now, and we got the paperwork to prove it."

"Paperwork?" Anna mouthed mystified to herself.

Casey, unknown to her, mastered lip reading and quietly gave her and Morgan an explanation. "She must have given Bartowski as next of kin. Serious commitment in this line of field, practically announcing you're going steady." Morgan nodded and gave him the thumbs up. Although cautious about Sarah at first, he'd warmed up to her over time and was glad he finally got confirmation he wasn't going see Chuck get subjected to a repeat of Jill. Well, minus the drug charges of course. How she got involved cooking meth before Walter White made it trendy still baffled him to this day.

"As such, " Hunter continued, "it's obvious that your personal feeling would be a hindrance for the security team."

Sarah stomach plummeted at this casual declaration and she had to swallow her rage before it came out. How dare he freeze her out?! From day one she'd been dedicated to Chuck's safety, even when Graham offered to have another agent take over "babysitting duty". If she was on the outside, it was all too simple for Hunter to send her half way across the world and send in another agent, one that would be all too willing to pressure Chuck into taking too many risks, or hell without her there nobody would stand up to Hunter and Beckman if they turned around and deemed it better to disappear Chuck and co. The thought of Chuck, her beloved Chuck who always did the right thing even when he knew he'd get screwed over, who gave more to his country than anyone else she knew, just rotting away in some Black Site for the rest of her life made her guts churn.

She quickly glanced at Beckman, noting the odd calm that looked out of place on her usually dour face. "You're just loving this, aren't you General?" she noted bitterly. Beckman was too keen to dehumanize Chuck and was all too willing to dig into her for showing any compassion to her most valuable asset.

She willed herself calm to avoid looking weak and distraught before speaking up. "Sir, I must protest. Who else are you going to find on short notice that's read up on the Intersect project, and has experience monitoring Intersect Hosts? I've looked at the field guides and they're woefully inadequate for helping to deal with Flashes. And don't even get me started on the side effects from prolonged use!"

Hunter paused to take sip of water, taking his time. It was an old interrogation trick to purposely let the subject stew for a moment, either to make them nervous or to let their anger bleed out. "I understand your concern Agent Walker, which is why I'm getting another Agent from the Omaha program to server as his handler. Not one of the green ones either. Also, I don't want you on the team because there's another role in mind. Something different than the usual undercover work you're used to."

General Beckman took over. "This horrible attack on Kahni'auka is being treated as a wakeup call to the current administration and the President himself is pushing for greater co-operation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies. No formal name has been adopted yet, but an idea has been put forth that several areas designated as having heavy criminal and terrorist traffic would have a task force of sorts assigned to them. to help co-ordinate efforts to identify and deal with these threats. Members of these task forces will be recruited from different organizations, ranging from the FBI and the US Marshalls to members of the Intelligence field."

Hunter fixed his look directly on Sarah's. "I'd like to nominate you as the liaison in the LA area. With your excellent track record in the field and with analysis, coupled with your working knowledge of the region and your experience co-coordinating inter-agency efforts I believe you'd be the best candidate for the role. MI6's Cole Barker had nothing but good things to say about the experience during his debriefings, and from what I read Colonel Casey never failed to sing your praises in his after action reports."

"What can I say, Walker's the most competent spook I've ever worked with," Casey said with a shrug. Truly high praise from the man that can say so much without uttering one solitary word.

Sarah was floored by this news, so much so the revelations slowly trickled. She wasn't being sidelined after all. Her new boss not only wasn't going to throw her under the boss but from the sound of things was going to promote her into a very new and very high profile role. And best of all, she could still see Chuck and there wasn't anything Beckman could do about it. It literally was the best news she'd heard in years and yet she found herself hesitant to celebrate. Like her father taught her, you never (or at least rarely) get something for nothing. She was sure her new boss wanted something out of the deal but for the life of her she couldn't think what.

Out loud she said, "What can I say sir? I'm honoured that you think I'm up for the task. But surely there's more qualified agents for the role, or at least some with more experience as a case worker. The bulk of my work's been in the field and I doubt there's going to be much call for deep cover work in this position."

Hunter tapped his chin a few times, a quirk Sarah attributed to absentminded habit while thinking, if it wasn't an outright affectation of course. "It's true that there are more experienced case workers out there, but none of them had such a diverse resume. Besides the work in the field, there's the experience you've had with the Intersect projects plus the reports of your efforts in Operation Prometheus shown that you're quiet adapt at wearing several hats. We need someone who's capable of adapting to changing demands of the job, someone that can analyze the situation and can follow through without blindly resorting to following the Farm's playbook. "

"Definitely. The Farmer's Almanac let me down too often in the past, " Morgan said solemnly, to which Anna rewarded with a poke to the side.

Hunter leaned forward and looked Sarah in the eyes. "I know that we've never got the chance to work together but from what I've read, there's nobody better for the role. I know there's not much to go on right now considering how new the job is, so I won't be expecting a response now. All I ask is that you sleep on it and let me know come the following meeting."

"Wait, there's more?" Chuck asked. "I thought we covered everything today."

"Impatience as ever Mr. Bartowski, " the General grumbled. "It's for discussing the details of your new situation. On top of the details you and your cohort will need to know to do your new jobs there's also the matter of briefing you on your new security detail. You're covered during the day but you still are housing important Intel in your skull off the clock so we need to have eyes on you, neutral eyes. Agent Walker is adequate in her line of work but she is, shall we say, too close to the situation, " she said pointedly.

"Oh, well uh thanks for letting me know. Guess I did jump the gun there," Chuck chuckled nervously. Inwards he thought,"Crap, I hope they don't put cameras in the apartment. It was odd having Sarah watch me play Halo without me knowing and it's going to be super weird if someone else is going to peep on us whenever Sarah wants to sleepover. And geez, is she really taking potshots at Sarah now? Damn, hope she doesn't hold a grudge. Well, on the bright side I will have someone watching Trent. I can't always be there to stop him from stealing pictures of Ellie again."

"Wouldn't be the first time, " Casey chimed in and Beckman snorted at the jab.

"If there are no additional questions that will be all. We are to reconvene at 11:00 hours to cover the minutia of your new arrangement. In the meantime Mr. Bartowki, Grimes and Ms. Wu are to remain the custody of Colonel Casey and Agent Walker. You are dismissed."

Everyone save Director Hunter and General Beckman rose from the chairs and left, some bearing relieved looks as they quickly exited the room. As soon as the door closed, Beckman turned to face Hunter. "I hope your idea works Director. Bartowski's always been unruly in the past and with his cronies around now they're bound to cause more headaches in the future."

Hunter smiled. "I'm well aware of your interaction with the man, and to steal your term, I'm afraid you're too close to this too. You're too hung up on his actions that you don't see the heart of the matter. "

Beckman snorted. "He's an undisciplined layabout. What's more to see from your ivory tower?"

"It's not spite that drove him you see. No, Charles Bartowski doesn't seem the type to hold a grudge, though he has every right to. I'm surprised you didn't see it before. It's the one thing the military cherishes above all else after all."

"Oh, stop with the riddles and get on with it already!" Beckman snapped at him.

"I apologize General, I love my theatrics, " Hunter said as he leaned towards her. "It's loyalty. Loyalty is always a key factor whenever he went off script. I've read mission reports where he'd had to do the boring jobs, the real scut work and not once did he complain. I read he even accompanied Agent Walker and Colonel Casey on an infiltration job in the sewers and carried off his role without question. But as soon as someone he cares about is in peril, that's when things get messy. "

"Well that's a nice and tidy argument, but how about the time he disappeared with Walker?" Beckman pointed out.

"General, you've had him under invasive observation, threatened to label him an enemy combatant numerous times and you've placed the lives of his family members in jeopardy, not to mention that whole snafu with Forrester assaulting his now brother-in-law. Needless to say you didn't exactly get in his good graces," he explained. "But I think it was self preservation that caused him to rabbit in the end. "

"I don't follow, " Beckman said. To even the trained eye she looked honest but Hunter knew otherwise.

"I beg to differ, but that's neither here nor there. Best not dwell on mistakes almost made, " Hunter told her cryptically. "Getting back to the topic at hand, if we were to appeal to Mr. Bartowski's sense of loyalty we'd ensure his co-operation for the near future, and possibly beyond. He'd no longer be an outsider in his mind, but part of a team. You'd like to think otherwise but he'd be too occupied trying not to let his new co-workers down that he'd be more co-operative. And if he's co-operative his friends will fall in line behind him."

"For your sake I hope so Director Hunter. It's your neck on the line if this blows up in your face."

"Then for everyone's sake, let's hope it doesn't. It's not like we can afford to disappear him now anyways."

0-0

Chuck undid his tie as soon he stepped out of the meeting room and Morgan followed suit. His nerves were still on edge from the million and one worse case scenarios he was anticipating and the tie around his neck felt too much like a noose right now while Morgan, well, he never was the white collar type. "Wow, feels like we got out of the principal's office with just a slap on the wrist," he said.

"I'll say! Is it always this intense?" Anna asked him. "I don't know about you guys, but the lady General gives me the willies."

"It's called presence Wu. She's been in the shit so much she could stare Death himself down without even blinking, " Casey told her, with just a hint of admiration. Or at least that's what Chuck would tell her later. Casey's default mode was "gruff" so it was hard for her to tell.

"Well she must be one majestic lady to have your support, " Morgan said without a hint of irony (just the way Casey liked his small chatter. That, and to the point.)

"So we have the day to ourselves it looks like. So what do we do now?" Chuck asked the team.

Sarah wondered to herself just that. She was honestly surprised that they weren't ordered into a safe house for duration of the day but considering the fact that she wasn't keen to sit on her hands until the next briefing she wasn't complaining. "Maybe make a fun day out of it," she said out loud before she realized it and the idea surprised her. She rarely had downtime and when she did, she usually spent it alone. Normally she'd take solace in her solitude in D.C. but the idea didn't sound so appealing now, not with Chuck with her.

Sarah pressed on."Like Beckman said we don't have anything lined up for today, and I think we're overdue for some R & R."

"Wonderful, now you're volunteering us for babysitting duty on our off time?" Casey complained

"Yeah, you know that doesn't sound like a bad idea, " Chuck agreed with her, completely ignoring Casey. "Since Bryce is going through the whatever therapy there's not much we can do right now anyways. And knowing myself I'd just get mopey if I stayed in today."

Anna nodded. "I hear you Chuckles. Kind of like what happened to my old man before he got out of the hospital. So, what's fun to do around here?"

"Well... there's a good rock climbing gym I know of that's got some good instructors for first timers. And there's the Smithsonian as well. Knowing you guys there's bound to be a lot you'll love in there."

"Sweet! I always wanted to check out the Air and Space Museum, " Chuck told her. "Have you been there before?"

"Oddly enough, no. Ever since I moved to D.C. I've meant to check it out at least once but I never got the chance, " Sarah admitted.

"Classic tourist syndrome, " Morgan added. "I hear you. Hey, there's bound to be some great flea markets we can check out. And the food! Well, there's bound to be some great places to check out around here for lunch and/or dinner."

"Well it looks like I'm outvoted here and I'm not the type to go AWOL, so if we're going to do this let's do this right. This is the capital after all and that means we do the best, none of that fast food crap you can find anywhere. We hit Jaleo's for lunch and The Blue Duck for dinner. "

"What's good on the menu Casey?" Morgan asked interested. "It being my first time in the very heart of our great land of ours I want to sample the finest dishes around."

" Jaleo's got great tapas and a quail done just right. And The Blue Duck's got Braised Bouchot Mussels that's out of this world," Casey said almost dreamily.

"Cool, thanks for the advice. Say, you guys think me and Chuck can squeeze in some arcade time? My Xbox is still on the island and I've been hankering for some digital mayhem," Morgan told the group.

Casey grunted and Anna nodded to him. "Don't worry Major, sorry, Colonel Grumpy Pants, we won't bore you to tears today. You still got your Gameboy Morgan so you'll manage."

Chuck patted his arm."Don't worry, we can do that some other time buddy since we're going to be in the same state again. Say, maybe you can suggest something to do Casey, considering you're stuck with us for the whole day."

Casey gave grunt #29, "I might consider it". To Chuck he said, "Yeah, I got something in mind if you little girls are up to it. "

"Let me guess, the gun range, " Sarah guessed smirking all the while. Casey looked mildly shocked and she explained, "Just like you to want to fire off a few rounds for fun."

"What can I say, it's therapeutic. If you think you're up to it, I'll even show you how to fire a real gun Bartowski. Might even let you squeeze off a few rounds, "Casey offered.

Chuck smiled at the offer. He knew Casey wasn't the most in touch with his feelings so he had the inkling that including Chuck in one of his favourite activities was a big deal. Well, either that or he wanted Chuck to stop cringing every time he heard gunfire. No matter how you diced it, it was Casey being nice. It was as rare as a unicorn and as awe inspiring to see.

"Sure, that'll be great. I always wanted to see what it'll be like to handle a Glock after playing the first Half-Life."

Casey grunted. "The Glock's a over-hyped piece of crap. I'll get you started on a Smith and Wesson .38, a good weapon for a first timer. Might even get you to fire my Colt 1911 if you're up to the challenge."

Morgan perked up. "A .45? Man, that's sounds awesome! Think I can try out a shotgun while we're at it? I got to see if I can handle one in case the zombie apocalypse breaks out."

"Well it's a ridiculous premise but at least you're thinking practically. I seen those Romero movies and hitting a moving target in the head isn't something your average civvie can pull off. Better to have the stronger stopping power and just hit them in the chest than waste time getting the perfect shot and getting overwhelmed, " Casey admitted.

Sarah chuckled to herself at the sight. It wasn't everyday she seen the Colonel engage in such a nerdy conversation but she guessed it was the survivalist in him that caused them to find common ground. Who knew the two, such polar opposites, could bound over guns and zombies of all things.

"But since this is your first time holding a weapon, " Casey continues, "a rifle would be a better choice. Easy to load and fire, and you got the rifle butt to absorb some of the kickback. The gun range I know got a Lever-Action Winchester like the one the Duke used in westerns they can lend out. Might be a good fit for you too Wu."

"Ah nuts, I was hoping I'd get the chance to use one of those grenade launchers," Anna faux pouted.

"Sorry Wu, those are military grade only and the place is a civilian range. But I might be able to let you fire off some the pricey stuff if you behave today. I know a guy that knows a guy that has a few rounds of Dragon's Breath kicking around."

"Ohhh, sounds mysterious. Real exotic," Anna cooed. "So what is it?"

Casey grinned. "12 gauge incendiary shotgun rounds. If your firework display is any indication you'll really get a kick out of it. One shot of this can practically melt a target in seconds."

"Dammmmmmmn," Anna said in awe. "You got yourself a deal, but only if making kissey faces isn't considered acting up. "

"If I can stop you from running into traffic every five minutes I'll take it."

"You know, the gun range doesn't sound so bad now. You think you can show me how to hold a pistol?" Chuck asked Sarah.

Sarah thought it over for a moment. She was loath to get Chuck involved with the rough aspect of the job but it would come in handy in the future if the leak wasn't plugged in time. Plus she'd get to be nice and close with Chuck, adjusting his stance and his grip so he'd shoot straight. Just the idea of having him close so close to her while Casey disapprovingly looked sounded amazed. "You got it, but it comes at a high price."

"Double scoop mint chocolate chip?" Chuck offered.

"It's like you read my mind," Sarah said. "And now to seal the offer," she added as she stole a kiss from him. The surprised look on his face was priceless, just priceless. The memory was a gift to say the least and she hoped, no, believed that she'd get more opportunities to surprise and delight him. Hope was a contagious thing after all and for once she had it in abundance. No matter what the future held, she would face it head on with this group of loyal oddballs and weather whatever might come. With that happy thought in mind, she took Chuck's hand and off they went to start the beginning of their fresh start together.

The End of one tale and the Beginning of many more.

A/N: In case anyone was wondering, I had it so the CIA planted the cover story that Jill's disappearance and the manhunt for her was due to her involvement in the drug trade. With her skills as a chemist it wouldn't have been a stretch and the Agency definitely wouldn't want any mention of FULCRUM getting out.

Can't believe it but I finally got to finish this bad boy. If you told me at the start that my small story would've ballooned to be the size of a novel I wouldn't have believed it but thanks to the support and interest from the Chuck community at large I knew I couldn't do this in half measures. I want to thank jaytoyz and garnetflint for being such amazing beta-readers. They've caught all of my grammar flubs without fail and given me much in the way of good council on this tale. Also want to thank phnxgrl and ersk4 for always leaving such encouraging reviews, and everyone else that's reviewed, followed or simply took a gander at my story. We've all carried a love of this great TV series, despite its bumpy history, and I'm glad that I got to share my love of it with you all.

Don't worry about this being the end though. I have a few more ideas for Chuck and crew, and I hope to be able to share it with you all in the near future.