CHAPTER 1: The Inner Desire

Friday 1800

Both Chuck & Sarah trying to diffuse what seems like a faux Bomb. Sarah asking
Chuck to run away while she tries to diffuse the Bomb.

Sarah angrily shouts at Chuck "Why are you so stubborn?"

Chuck didn't want Sarah to die replies "I see this as a rare moment of courage, I
don't know where this is coming from, I think you bring out the worst in me."

Sarah curtly replies "And you in me!"

They both look at each other trying to fathom the uncertain situation. Sarah still
unable to understand what is happening. Her thoughts spiraling onto Chuck as
she has failed in her mission to protect Chuck. She thinks if She is going to die she
might as well see what it feels like to cherish the soft lips of Chuck Bartowski. She
wants to see what it feels like to kiss a man who could make her jealous.

Chuck closes his eyes. Finally, she gives in to her desires. She Starts kissing Chuck,
hoping he reciprocates which he does after a brief interim as he is too
flabbergasted at the mere thought of kissing the woman that he loves so much.
They both start kissing each other passionately forgetting everything that is
happening around them. Finally, after several moments, they come to their
senses and separates from one another.

Sarah embarrassed "I don't think we are going to die but this looks like an
awkward situation."

"Seems perfectly fine to me" replies Chuck.

After the incident, Chuck became sure that Sarah does feel something for him but
he is unsure about a lot of things as to why she would say she doesn't see a future
for them together under the influence of the truth serum, however, she kisses
him when she thinks they are both going to die. She tries to push him away when
he advances towards her, but she always likes to be near him, and she laughs at
all her stupid jokes. Sarah Walker is an enigma wrapped in a maze box to Chuck.
He hopes he could somehow understand even a small part of her.

Chuck kept calling her again and again trying to fix up a date with her, all his calls
kept going to the voice mail. Meanwhile, Sarah was torn emotionally between her
duty and her feelings which has surfaced because of Chuck. Her inner desires of
having a normal life, family with Chuck which has eluded her entire lifetime kept
knocking her knees to the ground. She is unable to hold her own in the whole
debacle. She keeps remembering the day she met Chuck and how in a short
amount of time he has turned her life upside down. Before Chuck she didn't even
know what caring for someone was, all she saw were peoples as either marks to
be toyed with and dispose of when not required or civilians from whom she
should keep her distance. Chuck has shown her what feels like to care about
another Human being, his honesty and kindness has moved her to her core.

Sitting on her bedside she kept thinking about the situation until she receives a
message from Casey to come to the rendezvous point where the alleged bomb
was present. Reaching there she was shocked to see her former partner and lover
Bryce Larkin inside the bomb as it opened. Bryce was in an unconscious state with
tubes attached to his body.

Later Sarah comes to Buy More in search of Chuck. She finds him behind an alley
of racks shuffling through hard drives. As soon as he sees her, he stops doing what
he is doing and jumps up to her. She looked like she hasn't slept the whole night
yesterday and was in distress.

Sarah half-heartedly greets chuck, "Hi Chuck!"

Chuck starts to stammer "Hello Sarah, it's good to see you. Oh! It's so good to see
you here. How have you been? You look pretty… as you inadvertently always do.
With that said, why are you here...?"

Sarah feeling slightly amused at his rambling and at the same time unable to
understand her feelings tells him that Bryce has returned and wants to talk to
him.
Chuck in a confused tone "What! Bryce is alive. The same Bryce that got me
kicked out of Stanford, the one who sent me the Intersect, and your former
boyfriend is back from dead. How is it possible

"I don't know but he wants to talk to you only" says Sarah

Chuck inquiringly "Me, Why Me? I don't know anything about what's happened to
him"

"Chuck, I don't know but we have to follow protocol."

After thinking for some time Chuck decided to meet Bryce.

They reach the CIA facility where Bryce was held captive in an open room with
dimly lit lights. Bryce was plugged onto a life support system. He looked
unconscious.

Casey nonchalantly "Glad you are here. Talk to the traitor and find out what is he
doing working for the Fulcrum."

Chuck in an afraid tone says "I am afraid to talk to him. What if he attacks me?"
"Don't worry Chuck, Casey and I are just outside in case anything wrong
happens." Sarah tries to relax Chuck.

"I am still not comfortable with the plan."

Casey in an irritated tone "Just go inside moron!"

Hesitantly Chuck goes inside to find Bryce now seated in a chair with his hands
strapped to the arms of the chair. He looked pale and weak.

"Hi, Bryce. You wanted to talk to me?" Chuck trying to maintain distance between
him and Bryce.

"Prove to me that you are Chuck."

"I have my ID and my Nerd Herd desk Card if you would like to see, Chuck says
Jokingly."

Bryce says something in Klingon

"Come on Bryce. You're making me look bad."

"Say it!" Shouted Bryce

"HIja' HIja" Chuck said in a meek tone.

"Come near me, Chuck. I want to show you something"

"We have to stop Chuck from getting near Bryce" Shouted Sarah

"You're right. Let's interfere" Casey added. 

Sarah signals Chuck on his earpiece to not go near Bryce and come out instantly.
Chuck on receiving the cue comes out of the room at that moment itself.

"Guys! What happened? I was kinda getting some intel from Bryce" Chuck
inquires.

Casey sarcastically "Moron! We don't know Bryce's intentions and we don't know
what he would do to you if you go near him. He is very dangerous."

After Casey disappears Chuck and Sarah are alone.

Sarah tries to diffuse the awkward situation "I think I should go too"

"Sarah we need to discuss the incident"

"Not now Chuck"

"Why? What happened Sarah?"

Without replying Sarah leaving Chuck awry.

Bryce meanwhile finds a pin that falls down from Chuck's pocket when he was in
his room. He uses the pin to open the handcuffs and he hurries down the hallway.

Upon seeing Bryce, a guard charges towards him, Bryce takes him out with an
upward kick to his face. On hearing sound, two more guards come running
towards him. He takes them down instantly. Bryce uses the elevator shaft to
escape from the facility.
Meanwhile, Chuck and Sarah are having a thanksgiving meal at his house in Echo
Park when Casey interrupts them. Ellie, Chuck's Sister invites Casey and asks
Chuck to get him a chair from his room. Chuck obliges and goes to his room to get
a chair where he finds Bryce. Chuck is shocked to find him there.

On seeing Bryce Chuck is Shocked "Bryce, what are you doing here and how did
you escape the facility?"

Bryce replies coldly "I came here to talk to Sarah. I want you to ask Sarah to meet
me in the room"

Chuck angrily "And why should I follow your order?"

"Because of Fulcrum, because if I don't talk with Sarah, Fulcrum will come looking
for me and it will not be good for any of us. We need to alert the CIA about my
condition. I'm not rogue Chuck."

Chuck in an irritated voice "Why did you send the intersect to me?"

"I don't have time for this Chuck. Please just call Sarah."

Chuck thinks for a moment then finally asks Bryce to wait in his room while he
calls Sarah.

At the Dinner, Chuck sees all of them enjoying the feast. He gestures Sarah to go
to his room. Sarah on Chuck's cue goes to his room discretely. On arriving there
she finds the room empty, while going through the room she hears a faint noise
of a door creaking and she looks behind her to see Bryce standing opposite her.
His lean, tall stature shining in the backdrop of the light coming from the
backyard. She jumps towards him and tries to inflict a jab at his jaw, he defends
himself by moving himself away from the hit.

"You're getting a little rusty Sarah!" says Bryce.

"Why do you care? What do you want from me?"

"I am not rogue Sarah. I want you to trust me"

Suddenly Chuck comes to his room to check in on them and sees them wrapped
around each other, Bryce trying to control Sarah's anger, Chuck perceives it they
engaging in a fight and he charges in. Hearing someone come in Bryce lets go of
Sarah and escapes out of the Window albeit Morgan's door.

"Hi Sarah, what did Bryce say?"

"We should go out" replied Sarah

"Ok! Let's go."

Seeing them going out Casey excused himself too leaving Ellie dumbfound as to
what has transpired all of them at once to go out. Chuck and Sarah go to Casey's
apartment to find Bryce there. Sarah immediately drew her gun out. 

Bryce started to explain "Sarah please listen to me. The Intersect was a deep
undercover project until I realized, I was working for a rogue agency within the
CIA named Fulcrum. So, I had to run away. I was part of a project named Sandbox;
I am not a rogue spy."

Chuck flashes on the name Sandbox and verifies the authenticity of Bryce's words.

Chuck explains his flash "He's right. CIA did have a project named Sandbox."

Suddenly Casey comes in and before they could react Casey fires his revolver at
Bryce leaving him flat on the ground. Hearing the voice Chuck falls down too and
becomes unconscious causing Casey to smirk in amusement.

After some time Bryce wakes up. Sarah picks him up.

Seeing Srah picking up Bryce, Chuck jabs "I fell too!"

Sarah ignored Chuck at the moment. She is trying hard to shut Chuck out unable
to realize what Chuck is doing to him. How to face him. She has left her whole life
in isolation, keeping away from people, shutting them away. Suddenly Chuck
comes into her life and opens a whole new world to her, a hidden desire to have a
normal life which she has been deprived of ever since her childhood after she
decided to run away with her father and joining the CIA, later on, didn't help
either. It was just lies and deception in her life.
After contacting Beckman, The NSA general, and Graham; CIA head, Bryce gets
reinstated into the CIA. Bryce after his formal meeting with the Generals comes
out wearing a Black Tuxedo with a bowtie looking like a professional spy.

"Guess it's time to go!" says Bryce 

"Where are you going, Bryce?"

"Deep Undercover hunting for Fulcrum. I Can't even tell you, Chuck. Goodbye."

Bryce goes to Sarah and holds her hands

"Guess it's Goodbye."

Sarah has tears in her eyes.

"Sarah, We will always have Omaha," Bryce says and leaves 

Sarah was in emotional tethers at the moment. She is unable to understand her
feelings. Being with the man she loves could lead to his death and going away
with the man she loved or she thinks she loved until she met Chuck, she didn't
know what Chuck was. Chuck was a CIA asset and Sarah was his handler, being
emotionally involved with Assets is not allowed in the CIA and that has been
engraved into her right from the first day at the CIA training at the Bootcamp.

Chuck on hearing the conversation between Sarah and Bryce thinks maybe Sarah
will leave him to go with Bryce. That night Chuck goes to Casey's apartment and
brings him some leftover turkey Sandwich from the thanksgiving dinner.

"Hi, Casey. I thought to drop by and bring you some leftover turkey Sandwich"

"Thanks, Bartowski but I have work to do"

As Casey was trying to close the door, Chuck interrupts him.

Chuck asks "What does Omaha mean Casey?"

"Probably some code. Bryce is going deep Chuck, if Sarah wants to join him, she
should do it now."
Sarah's leaving!

Casey smirkingly "Don't worry Chuck, I am sure CIA has a great collection of
beautiful female CIA agents in its catalog. We will surely find you someone in
place of Agent Walker."

Chuck departs after his conversation with Casey to call Sarah.

Meanwhile at Sarah's apartment. Sarah has packed her bags with her gun and
passport kept on her table. She receives a call on her landline from Bryce. At the
same time, she receives a call on her cell phone from Chuck. Unable to decide she
thinks hard. Her mind saying to run with Bryce but her heart wanting to stop by
with Chuck. Finally, her mind wins over her heart and she decides to go with
Bryce because she doesn't want to hurt Chuck. Being with Chuck could lead to his
demise as she is not able to control her emotions when present around her.

The next morning Chuck comes to buy More to find Sarah's Porsche not present
on her parking spot. He thinks she has left with Bryce and accepts his fate yet
there is a glimmer of hope in her mind.

Casey says to Chuck "Sarah's gone, Chuck. Stop looking at the Weinerlicious."

Chuck jumps up "What! I wasn't looking at Weinerlicious."

At the briefing, Beckman comes on to the screen along with Graham.

"Is everything all right? I want to inform you that Agent Walker has requested to
join Bryce and will not be continuing her duties as your handler Chuck." says
Graham.

What General! When did this happen? asked Chuck

"Yesterday night she called and today morning she mailed me a letter confirming
the same." replied Graham. 

Chuck didn't say anything. 

"I would like you to meet your new handler, Chuck. Her name is Kate Parker and
she should be arriving right about now." Beckman added coldly. 
"Hello Everyone! sorry got a little late. I am Kate Parker"

"I am John Casey, Agent Parker"

"Hi, Agent Parker. I am Charles Bartowski but people call me Chuck"

"Hello, Chuck," said Kate excitedly.

Beckman says to everyone before turning off the screen "That's all team. I will
leave you all to know each other. If some mission comes up, I will let you know."

All in Unison "Ok general."

CHAPTER 2: THE TORN-UP WORLD

It's been five days since Sarah left Chuck to go with Bryce and Chuck has hardly
been focused on his work. He has been an emotional mess since her departure.
He has hardly gone to work even when at work, he doesn't talk much. He spends
most of his time alone. For 3 days since he learnt about Sarah's departure, he
didn't get up from his bed. Ellie and Devon, Elie's boyfriend has been worried
about him. They tried to console him many times that Sarah will come back. Last
week he quit Buy More citing personal issues. Chuck has stopped taking Casey's
call. He has directly told Beckman of his refusal to work. The thought of Sarah just
leaving with Bryce without even a goodbye has been too hard for Chuck.

Beckman after some consideration thought it would be best to give Chuck some
time to heal as it could lead to major catastrophe seeing that Chuck is the only
remaining Intersect and the government cannot lose him. Kate & Casey has been
ordered to stay put in Burbank for the time being.

This morning Ellie comes to Chuck's bedroom to motivate her brother.

Ellie shouts at Chuck “Chuck get up. I am tired of seeing you like this, mopping all
the time. Sarah will come back. I am sure she loves you too and she will come
back.”
Chuck says dejectedly "She's gone Ellie and won't be back. She left with Bryce."
Immediately he tries to backtrack his words at the mention of Bryce.

Ellie on hearing Bryce’s name sprang up “With Whom? Bryce, your old friend, the
guy who got you kicked out of Stanford. I thought Bryce died.”

Chuck tries to control hi slip up “No..No..No Ellie. This is not the same Bryce. This
guy is someone else. Bryce Larkin is dead. Although I think, Bryce must have a
reason to get me expelled out of Stanford. I shouldn't be too hard on him.”

Chuck obviously could not tell Ellie about his whole CIA stint and how Bryce in
order to save him from getting recruited into CIA got him expelled from Stanford.
The CIA wanted Chuck to join their Omaha project because of his genius brain.

“If you say so. However, you are getting up today and going to work, that is an
order.” Said Ellie

No matter how much he wanted to stay in his bed but he couldn't defy his elder
sister. So reluctantly, he got up. After getting freshen up, he reached the kitchen
for a meal of fruit loops and milk.

“So, Chuck what is your plan for today?” inquires Ellie.

“Don't know El. I was planning on sleeping all day before you deprived me of that
privilege.”

“Very funny. Why don't you look for a job?”

“I have a job sis which I can get anytime Sis. Besides who will give a job to a guy
who has been dismissed from the college?

Ellie replies “I'm not talking about Buy More, I’m sure you can do whatever you
want Chuck. You need to believe in yourself. You're the most amazing person I
know and sometimes I don't think you realize that about yourself. Promise me
you won't let the departure of Sarah hurt you so much that you will go back to
your old state before Sarah. I can't see you like that anymore Chuck. Just do it for
me.”

“Ok.. Ok.. Sis. I will do it. I will start to look for a job.”
Ellie smiled “Good.”

Right that time Devon walks in after his Night shift at the hospital.

“Hello Chuckester!” greets Devon

“Hi Awesome! How was the shift?”

“Same old Chuck. How are you feeling today? Ready to take on the world now?”

“What!..” Chuck suddenly realized Devon doesn’t know about Cover Job at the
CIA says “I am feeling much better”

Awesome!

After the breakfast Chuck calls his best friend Morgan.

“Hey Buddy, where are you?”

“Hi Chuck. You know at the Buy More. When are you coming back, Buy More is
not the same without you man.”

“I am thinking of not going back to Buy More anymore. I want a real job Morgan.”

“You telling me Buy More is not a real job?” inquired Morgan.

“Don't take me wrong buddy but I want to do something that excites me”

“So where shall we start our Job hunt?”

“Our Job Hunt?” Chuck said Mockingly

“Yeah; where will we work then Chuck?”

“Ok. Let's see, we will meet and discuss. Meet me at Weinerlicious in half an
hour”

“You got it Chuck.”

At the Weinerlicious-
“So, how's Buy More?”

“Not same without you Chuck. Whole Nerd Herd division is broken without you
man. Big Mike is going crazy. However, leave all that how are you dealing with
Sarah?”

Chuck says flatly, “I'm sorry to hear about Buy More buddy, things will improve
there. I am starting to come to terms that Sarah is not going to come back. I
should move on.”

“Good for you. I know just the way to make you move on.” Morgan said excitedly.
“How about we go to the Tech expo this weekend at Roark Instruments. You can
meet someone there or land into a job with the freaking Roark Industries. What
do you say? Its been so long since we spent some time together, just the two of
us.”

“Ok!” replied Chuck.

Its 4:00 AM in Budapest, ten days after Sarah has left Burbank, Sarah is awake
laying on her bed with Bryce sleeping next to her. She hasn't slept properly in
nearly the whole time she has left Burbank. She doesn't feel loved, she is
definitely not happy. She keeps imagining Chuck and her fortune of Solitude that
was Echo Park; the place where she shared many dinners together with Chuck
and his family. She keeps imagining Ellie, who was like an elder Sister to her, one
which she doesn't possess. She keeps thinking all the late-night movie marathon
with Chuck where they just snuggled onto each other enjoying each other's'
company as Sarah has no interest in movies or music whatsoever. She just
enjoyed Chuck's company.

In the hindsight she keeps thinking whether it would be fair to Chuck if she stayed
with. Chuck wants a normal life with her, which is one thing which she can't give
her as much as she wants too. Chuck is her Asset; he is her guy but the situation
surrounding them doesn't allow them to be together. She couldn't believe her
luck. Coming with Bryce was like running away from commitments. Bryce did love
her but he isn't Chuck and Sarah knows that. She has been an effective spy but
happiness has eluded her since she left Burbank.

Hearing her rumbling between the sheets led to Bryce waking up. Bryce has been
happy to get what he wanted, Sarah. He was a spy always going as per book same
as Sarah was before she met Chuck. For Bryce duty always comes first, same as
was with Sarah. Sarah didn't realize the change until she went on a couple of
missions with Bryce.

Bryce in a flirtatious tone “Hi Sarah Baby, why did you get up?”

Sarah replied coldly “Don't call me baby. I am just not feeling sleepy.”

Bryce tries to contain the situation “OK! OK! I wont call you baby. What is
troubling you?”

Sarah replies, “Nothing much I have just have a lot on my plate.

“You can talk to me anytime you want Sarah”

“I know”

With that Bryce again went back to sleep. Her thought wanders off what Chuck
would have done if he had found out that she can't sleep. She imagines he would
have entertained her; Chuck would go to any length to make her happy. Mere
thought of Chuck made Sarah smile.

Sarah and Bryce reach for the briefing at 0900 from Graham.

“Good Morning Sarah and Agent Larkin”

“Good Morning General”, Sarah replied.

“Good Morning Sir” so did Bryce.

“You have to go to Siberia today. There has been fulcrum activity there. We would
like you to infiltrate one of the offices of Roark Industries there in Siberia. You will
go there as a potential client. Details of the same have been couriered to you. You
will receive them shortly. Find out anything about Fulcrum there.”

“Ok General!”, both Sarah and Bryce said in unison.

“Good Luck!” Graham said before disconnecting the call.

There was silence in the room which was getting a bit tensed for Sarah. To diffusr
the situation she said “I think we should get ready fast if we are to reach at time.”

Ok. You freshen up first then I will get ready unless…

Unless... what?

“Nothing. We should get ready.” Bryce said sensing hostility in Sarah’s voice.

In the past, this would have led to them having shower together but now things
have changed. Bryce has been noticing these differences in Sarah's attitude. She
has been more distant to him. His charm hasn't worked on her even a bit. She has
been quieter than her usual self. Bryce wasn’t able to figure out what has
happened to Sarah. Sarah even refused to go in any mission as the alias Mrs.
Anderson, their long time cover before her assignment in Burbank with Chuck.

Roark Instruments' office was a typical Tech office building with walls covered in
glasses to reflect the sunlight. Opening a tech office in Siberia could cause certain
concern, However, Chevy Roark, the founder of Roark Instrument has deflected
such accusation by merely stating that it's a data management office
predominantly.

“So how do you want to go about it?” asked Bryce.

Let’s just go as Business Partners and we pretend that we want to improve our
cyber security.

Okay! Sounds good.

“Lets go” Sarah said to Bryce.

Inside the office they were asked to meet the head of security, Mr. Volkoff. Alexi
Volkoff was a man of sturdy build, in his mid-forties, who looked like he would
shoot first ask questions later. He looked rather puzzled seeing someone coming
to their Siberian office for cyber security as opposed to going to their
Headquarters in Pasadena, USA.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs…!” Volkoff greeted them.

“Its Sarah walker and Bryce Larkin, we are not together. We're just Business
partners.” Sarah said coldly. Bryce flinched at her words but replied cautiously.

“Hi, I am Bryce Larkin and this is my business partner Sarah Walker. We are here
to discuss about improving the cyber security in our firm. Considering the
importance of data security in our firm we would like to redesign our network to
prevent any unprecedented intrusion in it.

“Ok. Before this goes any further, allow me to show our hospitality. What would
you like, any beverage or drink?”

“No thanks” replied Sarah.

“It's all right. Please don't trouble yourself” said Bryce.

The next hour was spent with Bryce and Volkoff discussing Network and Cyber
security, which Sarah had no idea about. Bryce being a Computer graduate from
Stanford was easily able to understand the discussion, Sarah was just nodding her
head in agreement. Sarah kept thinking of Chuck in midst of discussion and all the
nerd talk was making her regret her decision of leaving Chuck. She kept looking
around for any clue, but nothing came her way. In the mid of the meeting she
excused herself to go to the ladies' room.

“Please Excuse me. I need to go the restroom” said Sarah and left.

Once outside Sarah got into action. She searched the area to look for any clues
which could connect Roark Instruments to Fulcrum. Everything looked so clean,
its looked like exactly what it says it is. In one of the notice board she found a
pamphlet for a Tech expo at their HQ next week. She noted and decided to
enquire about it with Volkoff. Sarah enters the room and sits at herb chair. Bryce
and Volkoff still busy with their discussion. Finally, after some time the meeting
got over and they shook hands with each other. Just as they were about to leave,
Sarah enquired about the Expo.

Sarah inquiringly "I noticed some pamphlet about Tech Expo next week outside."

Volkoff in a serious tone "Ohh! That’s Mr. Roark's' idea. Every year he organizes it
to unveil new products or services at the Expo."
"Okay. Thanks." Said Sarah.

Both Bryce and Sarah got up to leave the building. Once outside, Bryce and Sarah
got into their Mercedes to depart for their hotel.

Bryce asked Sarah "Anything you could muster about Roark?"

“Nothing much. Just the Expo, which I asked Vokoff.”

“Me neither. Only thing I could figure out is that the system has very good
security. My codes couldn't penetrate the security system of the firm. There's
something shady definitely going on here.”

“Let’s have a call with Graham and discuss our next plan” remarked Sarah.

In the call with Graham, he asks them to go to the Roark’s office for the Expo. He
advised them to be discreet there. As the call was about to end Graham asks
Sarah to stay there, he wants to talk to her privately. Sarah just nodded.

Graham inquires "How are you, Sarah?"

“I'm not sure I follow Sir!”

“The Intersect is not functioning back in Burbank. Bartowski has stopped going on
missions, is there anything you want to tell me?”

“What? How is Chuck? When did this happen?” Sarah exclaimed.

“Calm Down Sarah. Bartowski’s fine. You still haven't answered the question
about you and the Intersect. Why did you leave so urgently?”

“There is nothing to tell General. Chuck was my asset but he isn't anymore. I
needed to get out of Burbank. Bryce was my partner and we were a good team
before so I wanted to continue the good work with him.”

“Okay, if you say so. Keep me posted if anything comes up.”

“Sure General.”
Graham was getting anxious about what to do with the Bartowski, he still couldn't
figure out how much impact did Walker had on him. He contemplated assigning a
new Agent to protect Chuck, someone tough and Casey-like, although he never
assumed Walker would become so doe-eyed with Chuck. He hated Chuck for
converting his best Agent vis-a-vis his wild card enforcer into someone who does
not have complete control over her emotions.

Finally, he decided to send Agent Miller to be his protector. He had to pull some
strings, but he thought given the predicament that Agent Carina has already met
Chuck, she would be able to handle him emotionally. CIA still needed Chuck for
another around six months until the new Intersect is up and running smoothly.
 CHAPTER 2: THE TORN-UP WORLD
It's been two weeks since Sarah left Chuck to go with Bryce and Chuck has hardly
been focused on his work. He has been an emotional mess since her departure.
He has hardly gone to work even when at work, he doesn't talk much. He spends
most of his time alone. For the first three days since he learnt about Sarah's
departure, he didn't get up from his bed. Ellie and Devon, Elie's boyfriend has
been worried about him. They tried to console him many times that Sarah will
come back. Last week he quit Buy More citing personal issues. Chuck has stopped
taking Casey's call. He has directly told Beckman of his refusal to work. The
thought of Sarah just leaving with Bryce without even a goodbye has been too
hard for Chuck.

Beckman after some consideration thought it would be best to give Chuck some
time to heal as it could lead to major catastrophe seeing that Chuck is the only
remaining Intersect and the government cannot lose him. Kate & Casey has been
ordered to stay put in Burbank for the time being.

This morning Ellie comes to Chuck's bedroom to motivate her brother.

Ellie shouts at Chuck "Chuck get up. I am tired of seeing you like this, mopping all
the time. Sarah will come back. I am sure she loves you too and she will come
back."

Chuck says dejectedly "She's gone Ellie and won't be back. She left with Bryce."
Immediately he tries to backtrack his words at the mention of Bryce.

Ellie on hearing Bryce's name sprang up "With Whom? Bryce, your old friend, the
guy who got you kicked out of Stanford. I thought Bryce died."

Chuck tries to control his slip up "No..No..No Ellie. This is not the same Bryce. This
guy is someone else. Bryce Larkin is dead. Although I think, Bryce must have a
reason to get me expelled out of Stanford. I shouldn't be too hard on him."

Chuck obviously could not tell Ellie about his whole CIA stint and how Bryce in
order to save him from getting recruited into the CIA got him expelled from
Stanford. The CIA wanted Chuck to join their Omaha project because of his genius
brain.

"If you say so. However, you are getting up today and going to work, that is an
order." Said Ellie

No matter how much he wanted to stay in his bed but he couldn't defy his elder
sister. So reluctantly, he got up. After getting freshen up, he reached the kitchen
for a meal of fruit loops and milk.

"So, Chuck what is your plan for today?" inquires Ellie.

"Don't know El. I was planning on sleeping all day before you deprived me of that
privilege."

"Very funny. Why don't you look for a job?"

"I have a job sis which I can get any time Sis. Besides who will give a job to a guy
who has been dismissed from college?

Ellie replies "I'm not talking about Buy More, I'm sure you can do whatever you
want Chuck. You need to believe in yourself. You're the most amazing person I
know and sometimes I don't think you realize that about yourself. Promise me
you won't let the departure of Sarah hurt you so much that you will go back to
your old state before Sarah. I can't see you like that anymore Chuck. Just do it for
me."

"Ok.. Ok.. Sis. I will do it. I will start to look for a job."

Ellie smiled "Good."

Right, that time Devon walks in after his Nightshift at the hospital.

"Hello Chuckester!" greets Devon

"Hi, Awesome! How was the shift?"

"Same old Chuck. How are you feeling today? Ready to take on the world now?"
"What!.." Chuck suddenly realized Devon doesn't know about Cover Job at the
CIA says "I am feeling much better"

Awesome!

After breakfast, Chuck calls his best friend Morgan.

"Hey Buddy, where are you?"

"Hi Chuck. You know at the Buy More. When are you coming back, Buy More is
not the same without you man."

"I am thinking of not going back to Buy More anymore. I want a real job, Morgan"

"You telling me Buy More is not a real job?" inquired Morgan.

"Don't take me wrong buddy but I want to do something that excites me"

"So where shall we start our Job hunt?"

"Our Job Hunt?" Chuck said Mockingly

"Yeah; where will we work then Chuck?"

"Ok. Let's see, we will meet and discuss. Meet me at Weinerlicious in half an
hour"

"You got it Chuck"

At the Weinerlicious-

"So, how's Buy More?"

"Not same without you Chuck. The whole Nerd Herd division is broken without
you man. Big Mike is going crazy. However, leave all that how are you dealing
with Sarah?"

Chuck says flatly, "I'm sorry to hear about Buy More buddy, things will improve
there. I am starting to come to terms that Sarah is not going to come back. I
should move on."
"Good for you. I know just the way to make you move on." Morgan said excitedly.
"How about we go to the Tech expo this weekend at Roark Instruments. You can
meet someone there or land a job with the freaking Roark Industries. What do
you say? It's been so long since we spent some time together, just the two of us."

"Ok!" replied Chuck.

It's 4:00 AM in Budapest, ten days after Sarah has left Burbank, Sarah is awake
laying on her bed with Bryce sleeping next to her. She hasn't slept properly in
nearly the whole time she has left Burbank. She doesn't feel loved, she is
definitely not happy. She keeps imagining Chuck and her fortune of Solitude that
was Echo Park; the place where she shared many dinners together with Chuck
and his family. She keeps imagining Ellie, who was like an elder sister to her, one
which she doesn't possess. She keeps thinking about all the late-night movie
marathons with Chuck where they just snuggled onto each other enjoying each
others' company as Sarah has no interest in movies or music whatsoever. She just
enjoyed Chuck's company.

In the hindsight, she keeps thinking whether it would be fair to Chuck if she
stayed with him. Chuck wants a normal life with her, which is one thing that she
can't give him as much as she wants to. Chuck is her Asset; he is her guy but the
situation surrounding them doesn't allow them to be together. She couldn't
believe her luck. Coming with Bryce was like running away from commitments.
Bryce did love her but he isn't Chuck and Sarah knows that. She has been an
effective spy but happiness has eluded her since she left Burbank.

Hearing her rumbling between the sheets led to Bryce waking up. Bryce has been
happy to get what he wanted, Sarah. He was a spy always going as per book same
as Sarah was before she met Chuck. For Bryce duty always comes first, same as
was with Sarah. Sarah didn't realize the change until she went on a couple of
missions with Bryce.

Bryce in a flirtatious tone "Hi Sarah Baby, why did you get up?"

Sarah replied coldly "Don't call me baby. I am just not feeling sleepy."

Bryce tries to contain the situation "OK! OK! I won't call you baby. What is
troubling you?"
Sarah replies, "Nothing much I have just have a lot on my plate.

"You can talk to me anytime you want Sarah"

"I know"

With that Bryce again went back to sleep. Sarah's thoughts start to wander off
what Chuck would have done if he had found out that she can't sleep. She
imagines he would have entertained her; Chuck would go to any length to make
her happy. The mere thought of Chuck made Sarah smile.

Sarah and Bryce reach for the briefing at 0900 from Graham.

"Good Morning Agent Walker and Agent Larkin" said the General.

"Good Morning General" Sarah greeted Graham

"Good Morning General" Bryce greeted too.

Graham started giving them instructions "You have to go to Siberia today. There
has been fulcrum activity there. We would like you to infiltrate one of the offices
of Roark Industries there in Siberia. You will go there as a potential client. Details
of the same have been couriered to you. You will receive them shortly. Find out
anything about Fulcrum there."

Sarah and Bryce in Unison replied "Ok General"

"Good Luck!" Graham said before disconnecting the call.

"So, I think we should get ready fast if we are to reach on time" Sarah said flatly.

Bryce replied mischievously "Ok. You freshen up first then I will get ready
unless…"

"Unless...?"

"Nothing. We should get ready. You go first."

In the past, this would have led to them having shower together but now things
have changed. Bryce has been noticing these differences in Sarah's attitude. She
has been more distant to him. His charm hasn't worked on her even a bit. She has
been quieter than her usual self. Bryce couldn't figure what has happened to
Sarah. Sarah even refused to go on any mission as Mrs. Anderson, their cover
before her last assignment in Burbank with Chuck.

Roark Instruments' office was a typical Tech office building with walls covered in
glasses to reflect the sunlight. Opening a tech office in Siberia could cause certain
concerns, However, Chevy Roark, the founder of Roark Instrument has deflected
such accusation by merely stating that it's a data management office
predominantly.

Bryce asks Sarah "So how do you want to go about it?"

"Lets just go as Business Partners and we want to improve our cybersecurity"

"Okay. Sounds good" replied Bryce.

Inside the office, they were asked to meet the head of security, Mr. Volkoff. Alexi
Volkoff was a man of sturdy build, in his mid-forties, who looked like he would
shoot first ask questions later. He looked rather puzzled seeing someone coming
to their Siberian office for cybersecurity as opposed to going to their
Headquarters in Pasadena, USA.

Volkoff greeted the couple "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Larkin"

"It's Sarah walker and Bryce Larkin, we are not together. We're just Business
partners" Sarah said coldly. Bryce flinched at her words but replied cautiously.

Hi, I am Bryce Larkin. I am here to discuss about improving our cybersecurity.

Considering the importance of data security in our firm we would like to redesign
our network to prevent any unprecedented intrusion in it.

You are right Mr. Larkin. CyberSecurity has become very important in this age of
data. Before this goes any further, allow me to show our hospitality. What would
you like, any beverage or drink?

No thanks, said Sarah.

Bryce too replied "It's all right. Please don't trouble yourself"
The next hour was spent with Bryce and Volkoff discussing Network and
Cybersecurity which Sarah had no idea about. Bryce being a Computer graduate
from Stanford was easily able to understand the discussion, Sarah was just
nodding her head in agreement. Sarah kept thinking of Chuck in midst of the
discussion and all the nerd talk was making her regret her decision of leaving
Chuck. She kept looking around for any clue, but nothing came her way. In the
mid of the meeting, she excused herself to go to the ladies' room.

"Please Excuse me. I need to go the restroom"

Once outside Sarah got into action. She searched the area to look for any clues
which could connect Roark Instruments to Fulcrum. Everything looked so clean, it
looked like exactly what it says it is. On one of the notice boards, she found a
pamphlet for a Tech Expo at their HQ next week. She noted and decided to
enquire about it with Volkoff. Sarah enters the room and sits in her chair. Bryce
and Volkoff still busy with their discussion. Finally, after some time the meeting
got over and they shook hands with each other. Just as they were about to leave,
Sarah enquired about the Expo.

Sarah inquiringly "I noticed some pamphlet about Tech Expo next week outside."

Volkoff in a serious tone "Ohh! That's just Mr. Roark's' idea. Every year he
organizes it. He unveils new products or services at the Expo."

"Okay. Thanks." Said Sarah.

Both Bryce and Sarah got up to leave the building. Once outside, Bryce and Sarah
got into their Mercedes to depart for their hotel.

Bryce asked Sarah "Anything you could muster about Roark?"

"Nothing much. Just about the Expo which I asked Alexi"

Bryce replied "Me neither. The only thing I could figure out is that the system has
very good security. My codes couldn't penetrate the security system of the firm.
There's something shady definitely going on here"

"Let's have a call with Graham and discuss our next plan" said Sarah.
In the call with Graham, he asks them to go to the US for the Expo. He advised
them to be discreet there. As the call was about to end Graham asks Sarah to stay
there, he wants to talk to her privately. Sarah just nodded.

Graham inquires "How are you, Sarah?"

"I'm not sure I follow Sir!"

"The Intersect is not functioning back in Burbank. Bartowski has stopped going on
missions, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"What? How is Chuck? When did this happen?" Sarah replied in frustration.

"Calm Down Sarah. He's fine. You still haven't answered the question about you
and the Intersect. Why did you leave so urgently?"

Sarah replied "There is nothing to tell. Chuck was my asset but he isn't anymore. I
needed to get out of Burbank. Bryce was my partner and we were a good team
before so I wanted to continue the good work with him."

"Okay, if you say so. Keep me posted if anything comes up." Graham said before
disconnecting.

Sarah: Sure General.

Graham was getting anxious about what to do with the Bartowski guy, he still
couldn't figure out how much impact did Walker had on him. He contemplated
assigning a new Agent to protect Chuck, someone tough and Casey-like, although
he never assumed Walker would become so doe-eyed with Chuck. He hated
Chuck for converting his best Agent vis a vis Wild card enforcer into someone who
doesn't have complete control over her emotions.

Finally, he decided to send Agent Miller to be his protector. He had to pull some
strings, but he thought given the predicament that Agent Carina has already met
Chuck, she would be able to handle him emotionally. CIA still needed Chuck for
another around six months till the new Intersect is up and running smoothly.
 Chapter 3: Preclude to the Intersection

Chuck wakes up in his bed around 7:00 am with a thin leg wrapped around his
torso. He thinks that he is a dream where Sarah is still there at the Burbank and is
in his bed. The sweet agonizing pain that was manifested inside Chuck when
Sarah came to his room for pretend sleepovers came haunting back to him.
Chuck moans, “Oh Sarah, what are you doing?”
Another leg comes upon his torso and starts to reach his navel region. After
reaching the navel region, it starts to draw small circles there. This eludes tingling
sensation in Chuck and he starts to think something fishy is going on.
Chuck opens his eyes to see Carina lying next to him and laughing at him.
Chuck sprung up from his bed and