Chuck vs the vacation

Chapter 18

No I don't own Chuck, kinda glad too. Way too much responsibility.

As always thank you for your continued support of my story through reviews.

Here is a list of old identities and new identities:

Charles 'Chuck' Irving Bartowski – Charles Ian Michaelson

Sarah Walker – Sara White

John Casey – John Reynolds

?????????? – Christina Terrell

Eleanor Fae Bartowski-Woodcombe – Elizabeth Harrison

Devon 'Awesome' Woodcombe – David Harrison

Morgan Grimes – Martin Burns

Anna Wu – Tina Cho

Carina - Rachel Erin Davis

"The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

"We do not place especial value on the possession of a virtue until we notice its total absence in our opponent."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Chuck woke up and looked over at the clock. 'After noon already. Well I guess I can't complain Sara did bring me home so I could get a nap. I have no idea how that woman isn't tired today. She acted completely exhausted last night when we went to sleep. But two hours later she acted like she had just slept a full night.'

Chuck's thoughts followed him through the house and into the kitchen where he made a cup of coffee in their single serve machine, 'I really need to thank Ellie for this, its one of the best gifts she's....'

Chuck's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gun cocking and the feel of cold steel against his head, "Put the coffee down Mr. Michaelson and slowly put your hands behind your back. Any quick moves and your girlfriend will have a reason to redecorate the kitchen."

Suddenly the man let out a scream, which was accompanied by a growl. Chuck spun around to find the man on the ground with Bryce using his arm as a chew toy. Chuck grabbed the dropped gun off the floor and leveled it at the man. Sara's voice rang out, "Bryce heel!" Bryce immediately reacted to the command and took up a position between Sara and Chuck.

"Bryce Guard!" Sara looked over at Chuck, "You okay?"

Chuck nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, that's way more effective at waking me up than coffee."

Sara ignored the sarcastic joke and turned her attention back to the man, "Mind telling me why I walked in to find you threatening my fiancee with a gun?"

The man kept quiet. Chuck sighed at him, "Look we can do this the easy way or I can let Bryce....." Chuck's head snapped over to Sara, "Fiancee?!?" Chuck looked down at her hand and sure enough there was the ring he had bought for her, "Wait I don't...." Chuck caught himself. 'What if I asked her and now I just don't remember it due to being so tired. Telling a CIA assassin you don't remember asking her to marry you might not be the smart play here. Wait a second that's the woman I love... I don't care how tired I was I would remember having asked her. Especially if she said yes."

Sara suppressed a giggle as she watched Chuck's brain work. She had found the ring in his car while driving him home this morning. He had not really hidden it, it was sitting in the console between the seats. She also knew it would take Chuck a while to get the guts up to ask so she took that problem off his hands.

Chuck found his voice again, "You know I'm kinda supposed to ask you to marry me before you say yes."

Sara flipped the guy over and started cuffing him as she shot over her shoulder, "Since when have we ever been normal? Wait do you not want to marry me?"

Chuck's eyes shot open wide, "No its not that. There's nothing more I'd like to do than marry you. I mean that's why I bought the ring."

Sara left the guy sitting, handcuffed, on the kitchen floor and stepped over to Chuck, "Well then quit complaining and just concentrate on the fact that I do want to marry you." Bryce growled and snapped his teeth at the man on the floor when he moved a bit. "But lets talk about this later. I'm gonna get someone to cover for Reynolds so he can come over. You know he would whine for weeks if he missed an interrogation."

Chuck helped Reynolds restrain the man in the chair and hooked up the polygraph machine. Chuck stepped back and looked around the interrogation room in Castle. Then he turned to John, "I'll leave you to it, this really isn't my thing ya know? But hey this guy had a gun to my head on the day I got engaged, so don't go easy on him."

Reynolds grunted at Chuck, "Don't worry I never do. Now get outta here Romeo before you start getting green around the gills."

The man sat in the chair trying to be cool, but the sweat on his brow broke the facade. Chuck raised an eyebrow as he noticed the man sweating, 'He already looks nervous. Maybe he will talk quickly..... well if he doesn't I'm sure Casey will make sure he does. It's like Cole Barker had once said, "Everybody talks." '

Chuck looked over and saw Reynolds pulling vials, syringes, and other assorted tools out of a case. Chuck's stomach did a flip and he got himself out of there and headed back to his house.

Sara was pulling on the freeway when her phone started ringing. She smiled at the picture of chuck that showed before she answered it, "White secure."

"Shouldn't that be 'The future Mrs. Michaelson secure'?"

"I'll keep that in mind in the future. I bet the General would get a real kick out of hearing that."

Chuck laughed, "Yeah I think she will think its a riot."

"So what's up? Did you miss me already? I've been gone for about 10 minutes."

"Of course I miss you already. But mostly I was just curious where you were. John's helping our guest get comfortable. And well you know how uncomfortable I am with guests."

Sara shook her head but still smiled at the fact that Chuck managed to hold onto some of his innocence even after everything, "Well why don't you go on over to Fortress? Christina is there, I had Tina and Martin relieve her. You two could play some games or something while I check on Martin and Tina. I'll be heading to fortress after that."

Chuck smiled, "That's a great idea I'll head on over. Oh and I'm going to give Ellie a call on the way. So be prepared to have to attend a celebratory dinner."

Sara peeked at her hand as she answered, "I can't wait. Oh and turn your phone down.... you know how she's going to be."

Chuck laughed, "Don't I though. Okay I'll see you in a while. I love you."

Sara returned the sentiment before hanging up her phone.

Chuck dialed Ellie after heading out for Intertech. It rang a couple of times and then Ellie picked it up, "Hey there Chuck, how are things."

Chuck smiled, "Things are great Ellie. Actually things are better than great, they are awesome. They might even be better than awesome, although I'd have to ask David what that word actually is."

Ellie laughed, "So what has you in such a great mood? Come on tell your big sis what's going on."

Chuck snickered, "Are you at least two feet away from anything breakable?"

Ellie looked around, "Yes."

Chuck stifled a laugh, "Are you in a room with a patient that suffers from heart problems or panic attacks?"

Ellie scoffed, "I'm in the doctors lounge. So spill it buster!"

Chuck took a theatrical deep breath before speaking, "Sara agreed to marry me."

Even holding the phone out at arms length, and having the phone turned down the sheer volume of Ellie's squeal still amazed Chuck. The sound died out and Chuck put the phone back up to his ear only to hear silence, "Ellie.... are you there? Ellie!?!?"

David came on the line, "Hey bro, congrats. Ellie, kinda started hyperventilating and she's taking a moment to catch her breath. What's that babe? Oh Chuck she wants you and Sara over for dinner tomorrow night. She's taking the day off to make a celebration dinner. Oh hey she want's to talk to you again. Congrats bro, this is super awesome."

Chuck thanked David and spoke to Ellie for a few minutes more. She gave him the 3rd degree about the fact that he had not actually proposed to Sara but eventually she agreed that it was about as normal as everything else in their relationship had been. Finally the two hung up and Chuck pulled into the parking lot of Intertech.

Sara made her way up to the room that Martin and Tina were running the surveillance from and knocked on the door. Tina answered, "Who's there?"

Sara replied, "It's me Sara. Nerds rule."

Tina opened the door after hearing the code phrase. Sara stepped inside and looked around, "Where's Martin?"

"I sent him over to pick up some Thai. He should be here any minute."

Sara nodded, "That's fine. I need you to shut off the surveillance until I come back."

Tina narrowed her eyes, "Why do I need to do that?"

Sara gave her a cold look, "Because I walked in the house a while ago to find a man in there with a gun to my fiancee's head. And I'm willing to bet that Carina knows something about it and I'm going to find out."

Tina's eyes popped open, "Someone almost killed Chuckles??" Tina walked over to the laptops and flicked a couple switches, "You need some help finding out what that tramp knows?"

Sara shook her head, "No she'll talk to me, I'll be back when I know something." With that Sara went out the door and over to Carina's room.

She pulled out a universal key card she had made and opened the door gun drawn. Carina was reaching for her gun when the click of a hammer being cocked stopped her. Sara growled, "Leave it on the table."

Carina's head shot up, "Sara! What are you.... Oh wow your here... Holy shit you taught that boy well..... He completely had me convinced.... No wonder he kept turning me down..... Damn that's kinda hot, Chuck finally grew up. Makes me want him even more."

Sara took a step forward, "Well I guess you should have thought about that before sending a man to my home to try and kill him!"

Carina's face was one of pure shock, "What?!? Is Chuck okay? Is he hurt? I didn't send anyone after Chuck. I've been asking for his help, I'm all alone out here. Please tell me he's okay."

Sara's phone started vibrating, she pulled it out to see John's face, "White secure."

John talked in a hurry, "Get your ass out over to Carina's hotel, I just got a panic signal from Martin's phone. At the same time our guest just keeled over dead. I heard a distinct pop before it happened, don't know for sure but probably an anti interrogation package."

Before Sara could reply the door to the hotel room was kicked open with a loud bang. Sara sputtered as she turned around, "What the...."

John heard several gunshots and then the phone call dropped. He was already running to his house when he had heard the door being breached. He tried calling Sara's phone back several times but it just went straight to voice mail. John dialed Chuck as he was starting up the Vic.

Chuck answered, "Michaelson secure."

"Man up and gear up. Sara's in trouble. Meet me at Carina's hotel."

Chuck barked out a "Roger" and hung up the phone. He barked at Christina, "Gear up, Sara's in trouble. MOVE!" before taking off at a run for the armory.

Chuck jumps in the mustang and as he starts the car his thoughts slip to Sara for a moment. Then he is hit with a flash, this one seemed to be Advanced Offensive Driving. Chuck turns to Christina as she closes her door, "Buckle up....tightly."

The mustang roars to life as Chuck tears out the parking lot. He flies through the gears the tachometer constantly staying within a couple thousand RPM's of red-line as he muscles his way through the traffic. Finally he jumps on the freeway and in the span of a few heart beats his speed climbs into the triple digits.

Christina is freaked out, and rightly so. But its the kind of freaked out you get on a roller coaster. While she's scared and getting a hell of an adrenaline rush, she also seems to know deep down that she's safe. Chuck just wouldn't endanger her like that. So she holds on for dear life until Chuck makes it out onto the freeway and then she just sits back as the mustang thunders its way down the road.

Chuck peeks into his rear view and sees that the flashing lights of Florida's finest are following him now. With a growl that is very UN-Chuck-like he pushes the car even harder, "Our exit is coming up, and we seem to have company. I'll need you to handle the local law enforcement when we get there because I'm going straight in."

Christina laughed, "Like hell you are. If Sara isn't hurt she would kick my ass for letting you go anywhere without backup. And sorry Chuck but I'm more scared of her than I ever will be of you."

Chuck smirked, "Fine we go in together, now hold on."

Chuck exited the freeway and covered the short stretch of road to the hotel in record time. With a screeching of tires Chuck brings the mustang to a stop at an angle in front of the front doors to the hotel. He was out and running inside gun in hand before most of the civilians even registered what was happening.

Chuck noticed the lobby looked perfectly normal. So he continued on to the elevators. Neither Chuck nor Christina needed to say a word at this point. They had trained hard as a team, they moved and thought as a unit. The elevator doors opened and they both peeked out in opposite directs to clear the hall. Finding it clear they made their way down it. Chuck on point and Christina walking backwards behind him. Chuck new exactly how fast to walk to keep pace with Christina without ever looking back.

When they got to Carina's door they found it wide open. A quick peek showed no one so they entered the room quickly and found it completely empty. Lying in the middle of the floor was Sara's iPhone. The screen was demolished and there was a hole in the middle of it. Chuck looked at the phone for a long moment and it felt like someone was physically crushing his heart. Christina broke the silence, "Chuck if she was dead they would be more blood. She's alive somewhere."

And just as quickly Chuck pulled back from the precipice that he had nearly fallen off of. Suddenly something occurred to him, "Where are Martin and Tina??" Christina's eye's shot open and she fell in step behind Chuck as he ran up the hall to the surveillance room.

John pulled the Vic up in front of the hotel to find several cops swarming around Chuck's mustang, 'Jesus kid, couldn't be a little more inconspicuous?"

John walked up to a cop and quickly flashed his badge, "Colonel John Reynolds, NSA. That car belongs to my partner and he's here on a matter of national security, so forget about the car and set up a perimeter around the entire hotel. No one in or out until I say so. Lock it down."

John followed the same path as the other two had a moment ago. His years of experience picked up a lot more details about the scene in the hotel room. He filed them all away as he made his way to the surveillance room. As he came up on the door he found Christina standing outside leaning up against the wall as tears poured down her face.

John hesitated for a moment before he walked inside the room. John's agent side immediately took over and began analyzing the scene, 'The perp or perps were pro's. One in the head, one in the heart. Chuck's holding onto Morgan and has that vacant look in his eye. I've seen that look in the mirror before.

Laptops were taken so we don't have any surveillance. In the other room there is very limited blood in the bedroom and both Sara and Carina are gone. Considering these guys don't have a problem leaving bodies behind that makes me think they are both alive. I'm just still not sure whether Carina is in on this or not.

It's possible that these guys were just after Carina and planned on killing Chuck just to keep the operation clean. Or perhaps they thought they could use him as leverage against Carina. Of course she could have orchestrated this whole thing. But she's always been a team player, never once got the hint that she would go rogue.'

John broke himself out of his thoughts after a moment and looked down at Chuck. 'The kids about to crack. He'll never believe it but I really hate doing this to him. I just don't have a choice, I need him functioning to find Sara.'

"I understand this is hard for you, but we don't have time to mourn. Sara's out there somewhere and we have to find her. So get it together. We have work to do."

Chuck stood up and stepped within a couple feet of John. He held out his hands which were covered in blood, "That is my best friend of over 20 years laying there, this is his blood! He's dead because of me, because I pulled him into this life. He was like my brother and now...."

Chuck trailed off as his voice hitched, "And if that wasn't enough the woman I love is gone."

Chuck pulled the phone out of his pocket and showed it to John, "I'm not even sure she's alive. We got engaged today... and now....."

"Listen here Chuck. You have fought tooth and nail to be with her since day one. And your giving up now?? You better get your shit together and help me find Sara or so help me I'll put a bullet in you myself because she deserves better than a guy that gives up on her when things get tough."

With that John turned and strode out of the room mentally ticking off the things that needed to be done. As he got to the door he paused as Chuck spoke, "Agent Reynolds!. Send my partner in an I'll start processing the scenes. Send up two guys from forensics to assist me. Keep in contact, lets do this quick and lets do this right. I'll let you know when we have this processed. You handle the local law enforcement and I'll call Beckman to give her a sit-rep."

John looked over at Christina, "Agent Terrell you heard Agent Michaelson. We need to move on this now, every minute counts. So get in there and support your partner." John walked down the hall and got into the elevator.

As the elevator descended John closed his eyes. He took a few personal moments. Though you would never be able to tell it because his face never betrayed it, John was grieving. He took a few precious seconds to grieve for the lose of two team members. He grieved for the fact that they families would not know they died trying to be apart of the fight for the greater good. And he spent his last seconds grieving for Chuck's lost innocence. 'That kids resilient, I've seen him bounce back from a lot of stuff. But this is the sort of thing that changes a man. Shatters whatever innocence he has left. I really hope we find Sara, because I don't think the kid will make it without her.'

The doors of the elevator slid open and John stepped off the elevator his badge displayed prominently, "You! Yes you officer, get me 2 specialists from the Miami-Dade forensics lab. They are to assist Agents Michaelson and Terrell upstairs. Go! You! Yes, you. Get me the OIC. Move!"

John ran his hand over his short hair and mumbled, "Christ I could use a vacation."

And so we end Chuck vs. the vacation. I'm splitting my time between the sequel to this which is still untitled and my Chuck / TSCC crossover which I'll be calling Chuck vs. Judgment Day. I know inventive eh? It will take me longer to get them out than this story did, mostly because work is pretty busy right now. So R&R tell me what you loved and what you hated. Help me make the next story even better. And thank you all for reading.

Oh and if anyone would be interested in betaing for the sequel to this or my crossover drop me a line.