The Secret Agent vs. The Doctor's Daughter

Chuck looks at the basement with astonishment that was only been reserved for little eight years old kids at Christmas time. Every time he walks down the stairs, he could feel his heart start to race. The air around him seems to sizzle with excitement. At times, it feels like he is dreaming. The basement is like a present that refused to stop giving. Chuck never knows what he is going to find. It is always a surprise. For Chuck, that is saying something.

Chuck Bartowski's life has been a series of incredible events. He absorbed the nation's secrets in his head after reading an e-mail sent by an old college friend. Once the heads of the CIA and NSA realized what happened, they sent out their best agents to protect Chuck: John Casey and Sarah Walker. After all, he did not know kung fu at the time. Chuck fell in love with Sarah the first moment that he saw her. It did help that she was/is an attractive blonde with moves that put men in the hospital. The good news is that she fell in love with him.

Of course, Chuck can not forget the fact that he has been on several missions that has not ended with his death. With the Intersect in his head, it was inevitable. Chuck could not complain too much. His secret life led him to find his estranged father. With the life that he had led, it would take a lot to surprise Chuck.

This basement proved Chuck wrong.

Chuck found out that his father was a key individual in creating the Intersect. This fact alone made his father a target to various secret organizations. In the end, his father was killed by one of their agents. After Chuck found justice for his father, Chuck received an e-mail from his father. It was his father saying good bye. The e-mail also revealed a hidden basement underneath Chuck's childhood home. It took Chuck a month to simply absorb the fact that his father kept Chuck's childhood home. To add a hidden basement filled with gadgets and binders filled with information, it was a lot of information to simply absorb.

After he did absorb the facts, Chuck made a decision.

He had to show his sister the basement.

Ellie Bartowski is standing in the middle of the basement, staring at the shelves of boxes, each labeled with some mysterious name. Ever since Chuck brought his sister to the basement, Ellie has been very quiet. After she finishes staring at the boxes, she starts to stare at the devices. It is an odd sight for Chuck looking at his sister surrounding by boxes and gadget while still wearing her hospital clothes.

Chuck figured that it would be best to pick her up since Devon, her husband, had a late shift at the hospital. With his girlfriend and John Casey on a CIA/NSA mission, Chuck figured this was the perfect time for him to show his sister.

Ellie takes a deep breath and places her focus on her brother. Chuck Bartowski is sitting on the stairs watching his sister. He is wearing a dark blue t shirt and worn out jeans. He is wearing his chucks. She could see that he is wearing a lot of apprehension on his face. Chuck looks at his sister face to see that she is concern, worried and slightly confused.

"OK. Tell me one more time." said Ellie to her brother. The way his sister said it, Chuck knew that his sister had to think about it.

"Dad, send me an e-mail a month ago right after we brought Shaw down. Think of it as his final good byes to me. In it, he said that he had been a spy for the past twenty years."

"Our dad was a spy." It was not a question that came out of Ellie's mouth. It was a statement that she was trying to wrap her brain around. While it did not take Chuck long to absorb the concept, he had a lot of experience in this sort of thing. His sister did not.

"I never really knew how extensive it was. I just assumed that his role was just on the Intersect project." said Chuck, admitting his own ignorance about his father. Still, his father was very good at hiding it.

"OK. I am slowly accepting that fact that our dad is a spy. Did he say who he worked for?" ask Ellie.
"According to the e-mail, he did not work for any agency. He was doing this on his own."

"Scary thought. Why?" ask Ellie the questions that Chuck figured she would ask. It was part of the reason Chuck took his time in making his decision to reveal all of this to his sister. He wanted to have answers for his sister.

"He said that there are people out there that no one could touch. He said that he had to do something about that. He also said that he was doing it to protect us."

"That's a scarier thought." Ellie did not bother hiding her concern over the thought.

"Yeah, I know." Chuck did not bother hiding his own concerns over the same thought.

"Does that mean that someone is looking for us?"
"I don't know. I don't know if he means the broad sense of it or if he meant specifically." Chuck breath in the air to prepare what is going to come out of his mouth. "I think that he meant that he is specifically protecting us from something out there."

"Why?"
"Look at the file on the desk." Chuck points to the file. Ellie turn to see it. When Ellie walk into the basement, it was not the boxes of files that caught her eyes or gadget, it was the box on the desk. It had a binder that is right beside it. She resisted the urge to look at it. Now, she had no choice.

She approaches it like it was a bomb. She could feel the apprehension in her body. Finally, she simply grabs the binder and look at the side. She drops it when she saw the name.

"Mom." Chuck could hear the surprise, the fright, and the small bit of anger in her voice. He had it when he saw the box. He did not want to warn his sister about it. Chuck knew that his sister would not believe it if he said it. It was not the fact that she would have thought that he was lying, it was the fact that it was too unbelievable.

"Yep."

"Did you read what's inside?" ask Ellie as she turns to face her brother.

"Yeah. It has everything that Dad found out about Mom ever since she left us, Ellie. Dad has been looking for Mom ever since she left."

"Oh god." This was what Chuck has been wrapping his mind for the past month.

"Yeah. In the e-mail, he said that everything that he did was for her. I don't know what dad means by that. It just brings up more questions then any answer."

"How does all of this started? Why? What does this have to do with Mom? Those are just the ones that are coming to me." Ellie look around for a chair to sit on. Once she realizes that there was none, she leans on the table.

"Tell me about it. I got too many questions in my head to figure out which ones is the right one." Chuck lost count on how many sleepless nights he had.

"OK." Ellie calm herself down. "So, how did Sarah take all of this?"

"She doesn't know."

"What?" Ellie's reaction told Chuck everything.

"I haven't told anyone yet. You are the first one." said Chuck.
"Why?" ask Ellie to her brother.
"Dad didn't want me to tell anyone. He wanted all of this to be a secret. But I'm not dad. I figure that since this is a Bartowski thing that you should know first. Beside, I owe you one since I kept me being a spy a secret." Ellie saw that her brother is a little embarrassed by this fact.

"Thanks." said Ellie. She looks around the room very carefully. "So, what are we going to do?"

"That's why I have you here." Ellie look at her brother in confusion. "Look. I promised that I would stop being a spy. Considering what dad left us, I can say that is going to be an easy thing for me to keep." Ellie nod in agreement with her brother's statement.

The last will of Stephen Bartowski was found in his cabin about two weeks after his passing. It was like Chuck expected. It was in a box sealed up by a computerized lock. It can only be opened up by a finger print of both siblings. What they found was a letter to Ellie and three titles. Chuck got the trailer in the desert and the childhood home. Ellie got the wooden cabin. The letter was his father way of saying goodbye to Ellie. It also stated that both siblings divided up in half what was secured in safety deposit box in a bank in New Mexico. When they opened up the safety deposit box, money became the last thing either Bartowski siblings had to worry about again.

"But all of this. This is a game changer, Ellie. If I go down this road in finding out why Dad was looking for Mom, there is a chance that I may meet some very bad people. I may have to break my promise to you to even figure out any of this. But I don't have to."

Ellie look at her brother.

"What I can do is simply lock this door and forget about it. I can pretend I never found it and no one would know about it. All you have to do is tell me what you want me to do because you are my sister and I wouldn't have you worry about me. I made a promise and I will keep it." Chuck made sure that he spoke each word clearly to his sister to show his sincerity.

His sister looks around at the devices and the binder. She then places her focus on the box and binder on the desk that she had been leaning on.

"There is only one problem, Chuck." said Ellie after staring at the box and binder.

"What's that?" ask Chuck.

"There could be someone out there looking for us." point out Ellie to her little brother. The statement sent a chill to both siblings.

"I know."
"Mom is out there and we actually have a chance to find her."

"I know."

"You think that I am going to have you forget about all of this." said Ellie in disbelief.

"I don't know." Said Chuck with his own disbelief.

"No, Chuck. I am not going to say that. You are my brother and I am going to protect you. I also know you will protect me. Ignoring all of this is not going to help either of us to do that. Especially now." Ellie look around at the basement. "You have Sarah. I have Devon. Let's not forget Casey and Morgan. If someone is really looking for us, I rather that we are ready to stop them. We have people now that count on us to protect them."

"I do want to point out that Casey and Sarah do a pretty good job in protecting themselves." counter Chuck.

"It doesn't matter, Chuck. Do you think that they can protect themselves if they don't know what could be coming."

"No."

"Exactly. I hate to say this, but whatever Dad was doing, we have to find out what he was actually doing. If for anything else, we can't always look over our shoulder, hoping that everything will be alright." Chuck nod in agreement.

"So you want me to find out what is going on." ask Chuck, wanting to be sure that he heard his sister correctly.

"I hate to say this, but yeah. We need to know what is going on. We have to be smart about this. You don't do anything beyond researching. You have to tell me what you find out before taking any action. If you do something, I also want you to take Sarah with you." Chuck look at his sister. He could tell that it was hard for his sister to say this statement.

"OK." Chuck had to agree. It was the right thing to do.

"God, this is so surreal." Ellie look at the basement.

"Yes, it is."

"So, what else does Dad have down here?"

"Beside research, he has plenty of devices that he invented."

"Like what?" ask Ellie who look at the weird device that looks like a metal helmet that is hanging from one of the shelves.

"I don't know. I have been figuring that one out…"

DING DONG!

The moment the door bell rang, both sibling jumps. Chuck nearly fell from the step that he was sitting on, while Ellie jump back.

"What was that?" ask Ellie.

"Door bell." reply Chuck who is still finding his heart.

"Really?" Ellie did not bother hiding her sarcasm.

"What do you want me to say?" said Chuck as he stands up from the floor. He starts to rub the dirt off of his butt.

"You could tell me who knows that we are here." ask Ellie.

"No one." reply Chuck.
"Not helping, Chuck." answers Ellie. Chuck look at his sister and realize what he just said and the implication of the statement. He starts walking up the stair.

"Stay here. I am going to lock the basement. There is a laptop on that second shelves on the right. Turn it on and it will log on. You should be able to get Morgan, Devon, or even Casey in case something happens."

"Even in the basement?"

"Dad made this basement as a command center and a panic room combined. You probably could reach the President if you had to." reassure Chuck to his sister

"Nice thought." Ellie's concern subside a bit. "Be careful."

"Always." Chuck walk up the stair and into the small room. He turn the light switch on and off in a specific motion. The hidden basement door closes up as Chuck walk out the room. He walks into the living room when the door bell rings again. He moves the table cloth that covers the television set. Underneath it was a traq gun. Chuck picks it up. He slowly approaches the window adjacent to the door.

Chuck walk to the side window to see a postal man walking away from the house. If it was an assassin, he was giving up too easy. Chuck watch as the man walk into his truck and drives away.

Chuck walk to the front door. He turns the front porch light on and off in a specific rhythm and wait.

His father was paranoid. Even before Chuck knew the truth, his father took steps that seems tremendous unnecessary to him. Chuck remembers when his dad only allowed Chuck to eat ice cream that was bought from the store. His dad said that ice cream from an ice cream truck was too dangerous. At that time, he said it was because of bacteria in the truck. Now that he knows the truth and the fact that Chuck was a spy, those methods did not seem extreme at all.

When Chuck found out that there was an X-ray device underneath the front porch, Chuck wonder why there was not one installed at the apartment complex.

Chuck walks back to the television set and completely removes the cover. He turns on the old television. The television screen reveals that the package that the postal man left on the porch was a simple box. He waits for a few more seconds as the screen turn black. The television screen reveals the package's content.

It is a CD.

Chuck walk back to the front door and turn the x ray off. He opens the door and surveys the neighborhood and pick up the package. Chuck look around the neighborhood from the porch, hoping that this was not a decoy to lure him out. Once satisfied, Chuck closes the door and walk back to the basement.

"Chuck!" yells out the concerned Ellie as the door open.

"It's alright. Dad got a package." Chuck walk down the stair to see his sister relived. She has already set the laptop up on the desk beside the box that had his mother's file.

"You have to be kidding me?" said Ellie, not bothering to hide her disbelief.

"No. It is addressed to him." Chuck look at the package as he approach the desk. There is a mailing label specifically addresses to Stephen Bartowski.

"Who would send dad a package?" ask Ellie.

"I don't know. Scanner shows that it is a CD." Chuck places the package on the desk.

"Scanner? There is a scanner?"

"Yeah. I found it a week ago. Pretty good too."

"You are forgetting one thing, Chuck."

"What?"

"Dad was paranoid. We barely knew where he was. Who would know that there was a possibility that he might be here?" Chuck realizes that he had been at this too long that he had forgotten to ask the right question.

"Good point. Let's open it up and find out." Chuck takes out a small key ring that has a disk on it. He slides the cover to the side to reveal a small knife. Chuck use the small knife to opens the package. True to the scanner's word, it is a CD. As he looks at the CD, Chuck realizes what he did. There was a strong possibility that he just erased the content on the CD. Chuck put the CD in the laptop drive and waits. The laptop accesses its media player. A screen appears and it is showing a dark room. Chuck let out a sigh of relief.

A woman sits down in front of the camera. When Chuck saw the woman, his heart skipped several beats.

"Stephen Bartowski." said the woman in the computer screen. "Hi. You do not know who I am, but I know who you are. More importantly, I know your son. I would not be contacting you if it was not important. I need your help."

Chuck presses a button to pause the recording.

"Chuck." Ellie look at her brother with concern.

"Oh boy."

"Chuck, what is going on?"

"It is kind of complicated."

"Un-complicate it."

"I know that woman." said Chuck. He resists the urge to tell his sister what he really knows in fear that his sister would send him to the mental institution: Her name is Jenny and she is part of the alien species called Time Lords.