Best Laid Plans
Part I: Volkoff

Chuck vs. the Desk—Chapter 1

This is my first big story. It's going to be multi-chapter, split up into sections, with each section representing an 'episode'. I plan to write every episode in full before releasing it in sections; once every week. Hopefully this will keep it as continuous as possible, since writing an episode takes a while. Read and review (especially the action-y bit, it's my first time and it's hard to do them well), many thanks :).

~Disclaimer: Chuck belongs to NBC and Warner Bros., not me. If it is for sale, please let me know so I can buy it. However, until then, I make no money from this. Please don't sue me!~

A North Korean flag
Nuclear launch codes
Kim Jong Il
Funeral
Engravings
A map of South Korea

FBI insignia
Agents shooting a civilian
U.S. Treasury vault codes
Money
Incinerator

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Reports on subliminal messaging
Result: Failure
CIA TS/SCI stamp

"What?" Chuck exclaimed in shock as the last flash registered with his brain, "is nothing sacred to you people?" he continued under his breath. The other flashes didn't bother him at all, since he knew they had already been taken care of, but the last one came as a bit of a shock. A shock his nerdy gaming side did not at all appreciate.

"Thank you, Patient INT-4. This session is now complete. Please exit from Door 7 and re-join your NSA handler." The grating, metallic voice of the voice synthesizer echoed through the large room, causing Chuck to groan as he sat up, before taking a cursory glance around the stark NSA lab bathed in harsh, white light. He was beginning to feel the onset of a flash induced headache as he clambered off the large grey MRI bed and hobbled over to the door where Casey was waiting. "Why do I have to go through these tests…" he thought, before remembering as his brain recovered from the multiple flashes, "Oh yea, I ordered them performed on myself. Idiot, Chuck. You're an idiot." Reaching the large steel door, emblazoned with a giant number '7', he paused, steeling himself for whatever snide remark Casey would have for him. Perhaps it would just be the standard "move it, moron," but as he caught a glimpse of himself reflected in the polished steel, he decided to expect something stronger. However, as he swung open the door, he felt warm arms throw themselves around his chest as squeeze tightly, as soft lips pressed to his face. "mmm… you're not Casey," he mumbled into Sarah's lips, "far too soft, and pretty," he added as he pulled back to look at his… girlfriend? It seemed to fit, until he felt she was comfortable to be more, anyway. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she smiled back before hugging him again. Chuck felt his headache drain away as she rested her head on his shoulder, and he reached over to kiss her again.

"Urgh," a groan came from next to the door, "save the lady feelings for home, we're professionals here at Fort Meade."

"Oh, hey Casey," Chuck grinned brightly, one arm still wrapped around Sarah, "you look happy."

"Move it, moron. I have to babysit you until you get back to Langley."

"Come on, Chuck," Sarah said, tugging his jacket, "we can catch up at your office."

|CHUCK|

One month earlier…

"Good work team," Beckman's voice came from the screen in front of them, "despite Mr Grimes'… mishap, you managed to successfully apprehend former Special Agent Shaw and retrieve the Governor device."

Calls of "thank you, General" sounded out in the secure room at the Burbank FBI field office—the new temporary HQ for Team Bartowski since the Buy More was destroyed—where Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Morgan were being debriefed by a surprisingly elated General Beckman.

"However," Beckman continued, "there is some fallout to deal with. Due to the creative way in which Agent Bartowski exposed Mr Shaw as a traitor, we—that is myself and the CIA Director—believe that his identity as a field agent has been exposed to too many international clandestine organisations to allow him to continue effectively." Beckman's words rang out through the room, stilling any smiles on the faces of Chuck, Sarah and Casey; who knew what was coming next. Morgan looked at them, clueless, but still able to sense that all was not right.

"What is Chuck's current status then, ma'am," Sarah laced the 'ma'am' with all the displeasure she could muster, and hoped Casey would back her up. "Of course he will," she thought, "maybe not two years ago, but now that Chuck is a full Agent…"

"Agent Bartowski will have to retire from the field, obviously, however, we have also been discussing restarting the Intersect project, and Chuck, as the only current Human Intersect, is the best person to lead this job. He is being recalled to Langley as Head of Intersect Operations."

Sarah smiled as she heard that. Chuck wasn't getting put into a bunker, he was getting a promotion. She barely registered the screen click shut as she turned round to face Chuck and hugged him. "What's wrong?" she said, feeling his discomfort immediately and pulling back to look into a grimace, rather than the usual happy grin.

"Hmm? Nothing, nothing's wrong," Chuck said, smiling more fully now. He stilled as Sarah continued to look at him intently, her blue eyes meeting his brown, before she eventually shook her head and smiled back.

CHUCK

Sarah collapsed into Chuck's office at Langley in fits of giggles, followed by a suitably muted Chuck. "I can't believe you tried to use your analyst pass to get up here!"

"Hey! It's not my fault that I have three separate IDs and they all look the same," replied Chuck, who was trying in vain to maintain a look of indignation as a smile tugged at his cheeks.

"The look on that Agent's face!" she laughed out, falling into the visitor's chair and bursting into another fit of giggles before finally managed to get Chuck to break.

"Yea, okay, that was pretty funny…"

"Pretty? It was hilarious!"

"Okay, okay," Chuck said, holding his hands up in defeat and sitting in his chair opposite Sarah, "anyway… how was the mission?"

"It went well," Sarah nodded, "well, as well as things can ever go for us… surely you have the file though Chuck?"

"No, I don't actually. I tried to get it while you were on the plane, but they said it would be too suspicious if I keep getting files on you." He smirked slightly as he said the last bit, leaning in.

"Mmm, Agent Carmichael, have you been trying to spy on me?"

"I guess," whispered Chuck, "that all depends, Agent Walker," he closed the gap between them, "on whether or not you want me to."

There was a loud 'thud' as Chuck fell forwards off his chair and onto the floor, just as Sarah came crashing down on top of him. "Thank god," Chuck managed to sputter out in between laughs, "we haven't managed to get a desk in yet, or that could have hurt a lot more."

"I was actually going to ask you about that. You've been here for about three weeks and haven't managed to get a desk yet?"

"I can't find one that fits… and why do you care so much about the desk anyway?"

"Well…" Sarah purred, kissing down Chuck's neck whilst still lying on the floor, "it would have been the perfect height."

Chuck's breath hitched, and he rolled over so he was straddling her on the floor. "Don't. Start something. You can't. Finish," he hummed between kisses to her neck and lips.

"Who says I can't finish it?" the reply came just as Sarah flipped him over so she was sitting on top, pressing lightly down, "a desk would be preferable, but the carpet burn would be so worth it."

"Just be glad there are no cameras in here," Chuck said, as she leaned in to kiss him again. Just as their lips met there was a loud, incessant buzzing from the telephone mounted on the wall. "Agent Carmichael?" came the voice of the receptionist, "I have a General Beckman on the line for Agent Walker, the register says she's with you?"

Chuck groaned as he felt Sarah get up and reach over to the phone, "yes, I'm here," she sighed into the grill, "put Beckman on."

"Agent Walker?" Beckman's voice came out from the phone, "are you secure?"

"Just me and Chuck here ma'am"

"Okay, good. We have analysed the electro-magnetic pulse device that you brought back from your last mission, and intelligence is pointing towards a factory in Moscow. I need you to go out there now for initial reconnaissance before we formulate a strategy."

"Yes ma'am," Sarah sighed. She had just come back to Washington after a month long series of missions tracking these EMPs halfway around the world, and now, more than anything, she wanted to spend some time with Chuck, "will I be receiving any backup on this mission?"

"Colonel Casey will be meeting you at the airport in one hour."

The phone clicked as Beckman disconnected the line, and Chuck stood up from his chair and sighed, turning to face Sarah. "Sorry," she said, smiling weakly at him.

"It's okay," he replied, sighing heavily.

Sarah smiled and hugged him, pressing a kiss on his lips. "I promise, when I get back, the first thing I will do is take some of my time off and we can spend a couple of weeks, just you and me."

"Okay," Chuck said, plastering a smile over his face and trying to cover up that that was not what was really bothering him.

"This one shouldn't take too long anyway. Besides, I've got Casey there to look after me."

"Ha. Like you need anyone to look after you," Chuck joked half-heartedly, "come on, I'll drive you to the airport."

|CHUCK|

"I miss Chuck," Sarah thought glumly as she sat in the back of the surveillance van for the fifth hour that day. She had arrived in Russia two days ago with Casey—who was currently sitting in the front of the van, watching the target with pair of high power binoculars—and spent the rest of that day in her hotel room trudging through the stacks of files Beckman had faxed to her. Now she was sitting here, in a Moscow side street, watching a large factory where the EMPs had been traced to for the second consecutive day, all so that they could find some sort of low security window in the patrols where they might be able to slip in and plant some bugs tomorrow.

"There goes the guard," Casey grunted from the front, "same time as yesterday. Looks like we've got our window."

Sarah nodded in agreement, "Yep. I say we head back to base and prep for tomorrow." In truth, she just needed to sleep. They had been watching the place for almost forty hours straight and she was shattered. Besides, she wanted to call Chuck anyway.

"Alright, let's pack up and head back," Casey said, before starting the engine and pulling away from the towering red and white chimneys of the building.

It did not take Sarah long to notice the small blue sedan trailing three cars behind them that would, had it not been following them for five minutes, have been completely inconspicuous. It slipped onto the road as they were passing Moscow's brand new business park; currently consisting of one completed skyscraper: A towering pair of glass fronted buildings, with a large 'V' logo emblazoned in stained glass across the top. The point that the car had been following them was, however, disturbing. It meant that at the very least the mysterious EMP suppliers suspected them, and probably knew that they had been watching the building for two days. "Casey."

"Yea, I see them. Blue sedan, three back."

"Do you think we've been blown?"

"Possibly. Abort?"

"Don't go back to the hotel. Take the next exit onto that freeway and circle round, see if can lose them."

Casey obliged, swinging the van across three lanes of traffic and onto a slip road. "I'll take this one, head east. Should be able join back up with the industrial ring ro—"

"Casey!" his head snapped back, wondering why Sarah had interrupted him, "we're boxed in!" Sarah had just noticed it; the four white vans now surrounding them must have moved in whilst she was talking to Casey. As she was silently cursing herself for not paying more attention, she saw a shadowy figure through the blackened windows of one of the vans. "Gun!"

Casey swerved through a small gap between the van in front and the van to the right. Glass scattered everywhere as bullets thudded into the white CIA surveillance van, creating a spider web on the back window as they embedded themselves in the bullet proof glass.

"We need to lose them Casey!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

"I'm getting my toys out." Sarah called back, pulling out the most enormous weapon; an M249 light machine gun, otherwise known as 'the SAW'.

"What they hell are you doing Walker? We can't go live here!" replied Casey, for once not jumping at the opportunity to blow something up.

"How exactly do you plan on getting out then?" As if to prove Sarah's point, there was a thud and a bang as one the tyres caught a bullet, and exploded all across the road.

"Damn' it!" yelled Casey, as the van swerved out of control, "Of all the things to not have installed!" he continued, lamenting the lack of run-on-flat tyres, "Get your gun out Walker. And get me mine."

Before Sarah could grab the huge Gatling machine gun, loaded with a three metre chain of incendiary rounds, out, the blue sedan pulled up beside them. Three men jumped out from it and pointed grenade launchers at the window. There was a smash as gas canisters tore through the van, releasing white fumes as they went.

"Gas!" yelled Casey.

"I'm activating the beacon. It'll alert Chuck."

Before Casey had time to comment on the 'breaking of protocol', that this was a black op no one should know of, he was out cold. Sarah saw blinking visions of men in balaclavas jumping into the van before her world also went black.