Chuck opened his wallet and tossed it to Morgan.
Morgan snatched it out of mid-air and looked at the photo. “You and Sarah as Mal and Inara? Yeah. Wow, actually…”
He looked up at his best friend. “You guys actually look really good together. You must…”
The words came hard. It was almost like letting go of something. “You must really be in love with each other.”
Chuck nodded. “Yeah, Morgan. We are. In fact…”
He paused, as if carefully considering his words. But, if he couldn’t be candid with Morgan, he couldn’t be candid with anybody.
“I’m gonna ask her to marry me.”
Morgan’s mouth dropped open, like a beached fish trying to breathe. “You… what?”
“Why wouldn’t I, Morgan?” Chuck mused. “I’m in love with her, she makes me incredibly happy… I just want to wake up every morning to find myself next to her.”
“Whoa,” Morgan breathed, trying to absorb it all. A hand to his forehead, he practically stumbled to the door and wrenched it open. “ELLIE!”
“Morgan, what are you do-“
Ellie came running into the room, cutting Chuck off. “Morgan? What’s wrong?”
Morgan turned and looked at Chuck. “Tell her what you just told me. Don’t leave anything out.”
Chuck turned and looked at his sister. “I’m going to ask Sarah to marry me.”
Ellie’s eyes went wide, and then a smile plastered itself on her face. “Oh, Chuck!” she practically cried for joy, throwing herself at her brother and wrapping him in a big hug.
Then, almost as soon as she had embraced him, she backed off again. “Do you have a ring?” she asked.
“Uh, no,” Chuck said. “I just made this decision in the last day or so.”
“Come with me,” Ellie demanded.
“Uh, Ellie, I kind of have to head for work pretty quick here. Can’t this wait?”
“CHARLES BARTOWSKI.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chuck followed Ellie into the bedroom she shared with Devin. Ellie opened the jewelry box on her dresser and pulled out a small silver ring. She turned and handed it to Chuck.
“This was the ring that Dad gave to Mom when he asked her to marry him,” she said softly. “I found it in my jewelry box after she left us. She left it with me, and I’d like to think it was for something like this.”
Chuck just stared at it. The ring was simple, but elegant. The silver needed a little polishing, but the diamond still gleamed like the day it was cut.
Ellie took the ring back out of his hand. “I’ll figure out a way to get Sarah’s ring size, and then I’ll get it sized,” she said.
“Ellie, you don’t have to-“
“I’m your sister, Chuck, don’t argue with me on this. Next. Have you asked her father?”
Chuck looked at his sister with a look he might have given a small child. “Ellie, you know I can’t-“
She held a finger up to her lips as Morgan, having finally collected his wits, joined them in the bedroom.
“You’ve got to figure something out, Chuck. Devin at least did the courtesy of asking you before he popped the question, yes?”
“True, but –“
“No buts, Chuck. This is something you’ve got to do.”
Chuck sighed deeply. “Alright.”
John Casey had just finished moving yet another BeastMaster Grill – his tenth, by his count – when Chuck came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
He whirled around, ready for a rumble, till he realized it was just Bartowski. “Dammit,” he gritted through his teeth, “how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?”
“I need to ask a favor,” Chuck said, skipping over all the apologies and the greeting, something that Casey found odd.
“What?”
“I need to somehow get in touch with Sarah’s father.”
Casey gave him a strange look. “What would you possibly need to talk to her father about?”
Then it dawned on Casey. “No. Not a chance.”
“Casey, you’re the only person I know who could possibly talk Beckman or Graham into getting me clearance without telling Sarah.”
“I cannot and will not do it, Bartowski.”
He turned to walk away.
“Casey.”
There was just something about Chuck’s tone of voice – maybe a touch of desperation, maybe a touch of determination – that stopped Casey in his tracks. He turned back toward Chuck.
“Please. This is possibly the most important thing I have ever done in my life, and I want to do it right.”
Casey looked back at Chuck for a very long moment. Finally, he said, “I’ll make a call. But I can’t make any promises.”
“As long as you make the call. Thank you.”
Chuck’s phone rang at 5:00 AM. He groaned, and rolled over. “Number unknown,” the phone said.
“What the hell…” He sighed, and pushed the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Bartowski, this is General Beckman. If Walker is there, say, ‘Yes, ma’am, I am the Nerd Herd Herder on call’.”
“Yes, ma’am, I am the Nerd Herd Herder on call.”
“Alright. Major Casey called me and said you needed to get in touch with Agent Walker’s father.”
Chuck thought quickly. “Yes, ma’am, it sounds like you’re getting the correct information from your server.”
Beckman was quiet for a moment. “Not bad, Bartowski. Listen carefully. Tell Agent Walker that you’ve been called on a Nerd Herd call. Major Casey will be at your apartment in five minutes. He’ll pick you up and take you to Los Angeles International Airport. From there, you will take American Airlines flight 222 to Boston. You will be met in Boston by NSA agents, and receive further instructions at that time.”
“Alright, ma’am, that sounds like it’s going to be a full day job. I’ll need to get in touch with my support staff, but we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
He disconnected. Rolling over, he saw Sarah looking at him through sleepy eyes.
“Nerd Herd call?”
“Yeah,” Chuck replied. “It’s a massive web hosting server crash down in Newport Beach. I’m probably gonna be gone all day, and not be back till pretty late.”
“Aww,” Sarah complained. She sighed. “Oh well. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
“Yeah,” Chuck confirmed as he got out of the bed.
He was ready to go within two minutes, kissed Sarah good-bye, and headed out the door. Casey was waiting for him.
“Let’s go, Bartowski.”
When the flight landed in Boston, Casey and Chuck were met personally by General Beckman. “How was the flight?”
“Not bad,” Chuck said, settling back in the back seat of the NSA Suburban. “Although…”
“Yes, Bartowski?”
“I’m a little disturbed with how easily I was able to lie to Sarah this morning.”
General Beckman sighed. “Bartowski… Chuck… listen to me. Lying to her about this does not make you a bad person. It does not make you any more corrupt. You’re doing this because you love her, right?”
Chuck nodded.
“Then she will understand, especially since it will give her the chance to talk to her father for the first time in years.”
“I hope you’re right,” Chuck said.
General Beckman changed the subject. “There are certain things you need to know about Agent Walker’s father. First of all, do you know her real name yet?”
“Yes,” Chuck replied. “Elizabeth Lisa Reynolds.”
Casey looked over at him. “No shit.”
“Forget you ever heard that, Major,” General Beckman ordered. “Alright. Agent Walker’s father. Marcus Lind Reynolds. Sergeant Major, United States Army, retired. He served in Operation Desert Storm, came back with a pretty severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It got worse, and worse, and then, when his wife died in 2001, something snapped in his mind, and he now suffers from a selective sort of amnesia.”
She paused for a moment. “Basically, anything that he perceives as negative, his mind blocks out. This includes the fact that his daughter is serving in the Central Intelligence Agency. As far as he is concerned, six months after his wife died, his daughter dropped out of U-Mass and moved away from home. He hasn’t heard from her since except for the occasional postcard.”
“My God,” Chuck whispered.
“Elizabeth Reynolds was an only child. Before she left home and became Sarah Walker, she set up a trust fund to put her father into a home where he would be very well taken care of. And that is where we are headed now.”
Chuck nodded. He was silent the rest of the way.
The convalescent home was located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. It was housed in a very large mansion that must have been close to three hundred years old.
When they entered, General Beckman asked to see Sergeant Major Reynolds. The attendant told them that he was in the common area, and showed them the way.
“Sergeant Major Reynolds?” the attendant said as they came up behind a balding man who, despite what Chuck had been told about him, still looked to be in fairly good physical health.
He turned around, and seeing General Beckman’s uniform, leapt to his feet. “OFFICER ON DECK!” he called out. Three other men in the room jumped up and snapped to attention, just like Reynolds.
“At ease, men,” she said. The men all relaxed and returned to their seats.
“Sergeant Major Reynolds?” Beckman asked.
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m General Beckman,” she said. “I’m with the United States Air Force.”
“Mark Reynolds,” he replied.
“This is Major John Casey, also USAF,” Beckman continued, indicating Casey, “and this is Chuck Bartowski. He’s here to talk to you about your daughter.”
His eyes went wide. “Elizabeth? Is there something wrong with my Beth?”
“No sir,” Chuck replied, shaking his head. “She’s actually a friend of mine. Well…”
He paused. How was he going to explain the whole situation to a man with selective memory loss?
He decided the truth was the best option. “She’s more than a friend,” Chuck said. “I’m in love with her.”
Reynolds’ eyebrow went up. “REA-lly.”
“Yes, sir,” Chuck replied. “I met her about ten months ago. We were originally… co-workers… and we became friends, and then we became more than that, and we fell in love with each other.”
Reynolds studied Chuck’s face for a moment. “Where do you live, son?” he asked.
“Los Angeles,” Chuck replied.
“Hmmm,” Reynolds mused. “You didn’t fly all the way across the country for no reason.”
He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “You want to ask me for my permission to marry my daughter, don’t you?”
Chuck’s mouth went dry. “Uh… yes, sir, yes, yes I do.”
Mark Reynolds nodded. “You said you love her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you take care of her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you provide for her?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Will you be faithful to her and remain with her no matter what?”
“Of course.”
“How much does she mean to you?”
“Sir, she means more than anything else in the world.”
“Does she mean more to you than your country?”
Chuck froze. How did he answer that? How did he answer that question in front of two people who had dedicated their lives to protecting the United States and a third who had fought in battle on America’s behalf?
Again, he decided the truth was the best course.
“Sir, I am proud to be an American, and there’s no where else I’d rather live. But if it came down to a choice between… Elizabeth… and America, I would choose her.”
Reynolds just looked back at him for a moment. Then, to Chuck’s surprise, he started nodding.
“Good answer, son, good answer. God knows I wish I had made that choice with Elizabeth’s mother. But I didn’t. I neglected my marriage for the Army… even after they diagnosed me with that PTSD crap…
He was beginning to get choked up. His eyes filled with tears, and his voice became rough. “And I still remember to this day the day I came home and found her, the half-empty bottle of Ambien on the nightstand… they tell me I don’t remember most of the bad things in my life, but…”
His voice broke. “That is something I pray to God every day I could forget, but I never will.”
Chuck realized he’d been holding his breath, and let it out. He looked at Beckman and Casey, and realized that Casey’s fists were clenched, and Beckman’s eyes were shining with tears.
It took Chuck a moment to find his voice. Finally, he said, “Sergeant Major Reynolds… I swear to you, your daughter means more than anything else to me in the world. She is now, and will always be, the most important thing in my life. I love her like nobody else, and nothing will ever be a higher priority.”
Mark Reynolds looked at Chuck. “Then, Mr. Bartowski, you have my permission and my blessing. I have just one request – could you please arrange for me to speak to her on the phone?”
Chuck nodded. “Absolutely.”
Chuck and Casey were on American Airlines flight 223 out of Boston's Logan Airport, headed back to Los Angeles. The flight landed just before ten P.M.
Casey drove Chuck back to the apartment complex, but as soon as Casey was inside his apartment, Chuck got into the Herder, and drove to Sarah's building in downtown. He headed upstairs, and went to her room.
He was about to knock on her door when his phone rang. "Shit!" he hissed.
Chuck pressed the answer button and very quietly, said, "Hello?"
But it wasn't quiet enough. Sarah had heard the phone, and came to the door. "Chuck?" she said when she opened it. "I thought you weren't going to be back until later."
"Just a second," he said to her. He listened to the phone for a moment, and said, "Yes, absolutely. She's right here."
He handed her the phone. "It's for you."
Sarah looked at him with a puzzled look on her face, but she took the phone. "Hello?"
She was quiet for a moment, and then her eyes went wide, and almost immediately began to brim with tears.
"Hi, Daddy..."
