Story [Chuck] Redux - AU

I freely admit to being an uber-Chuck mark, and even tho it's been some time since I wrote anything, this one wouldn't leave me alone. Most, if not all, of the familiar faces will be showing up, but perhaps not where you'd expect or with the connections to each other that you're used to. As for how long this will go for. I really can't say at this stage. I have enough ideas to cover the time period covered by the pilot episode which should be about 4-5 chapters or so, but anything beyond that is up to the Will of the Bunny. As always, no claim of ownership on my part is being made, just wanted to play in Chuck's sandbox for a bit and maybe kick over a few castles. Right, lets see where this one goes....

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REDUX.

Ch. 01

?Come on girl, you can't hide in here all night.?

?Gee, and here I was thinking I'd have some say in what I do, given that it's my birthday.?

?What about the party? All these people??

The young blonde's jaw tightened as her teeth clenched, but other than that she didn't move from where she was, laying flat on her back staring at the ceiling with her hands behind her head. ?What about them? Last I checked, the party and everyone invited was your idea. I told you I didn?t want to have anything like this.?

Ellie sighed in frustration. ?Right, because staying in here and moping is so much better, isn?t it?? No answer was given, and after an awkward silence she spun on her heels and marched out, closing the bedroom door behind her with more force than she?d meant to use. Her footsteps faded down the hall as the third occupant in the room spoke up.

?She?s right, you know.?

?Anna, not now. Please??

Anna Wu got up from the chair and took a seat on the edge of the bed, dropping a hand onto her friend?s leg and rubbing it gently. ?I just wish you?d stop beating yourself up over what happened. It wasn?t your fault.?

Sam rolled onto her side and gazed at a photo frame sitting on her bedside cabinet, containing a photo from an earlier time. A happier time. Even after all this time she still felt the pain, although she?d long run out of tears. ?Then why did he do it? Why?d he make it seem so easy??

?Gee, I don?t know. Maybe because he was a rampaging idiot?? Sam chuckled, and Anna threw one arm around her shoulders in a quick hug as she sat up. ?I mean sure, Cole might have had the whole foreign-accent-to-die-for thing working for him, but he broke up with you by sleeping with your best friend and then skipped the country when you found out. Doesn?t sound too clever to me.?

?I guess not.? They sat side by side for a moment before Anna grabbed Sam by the hand and jumped to her feet.

"Come on, you aren't going to get over Barker by sitting here all night."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Right, because I've done so well with getting over it in the past."

?That?s because you won?t let yourself get over it. Right outside this apartment there?s a host of hot single doctors for us to choose from.? Anna grinned at the expression on Sam?s face. ?What, you think I was going to let you have all the fun??

Sam waved her hand towards the TV in a half hearted last ditch attempt to get out of it. "What about the movie we were watching?"

"Don't even try it. We can watch it any time. Besides, we?ve both seen it so often it?s almost memorised anyway.? She turned the TV off and dragged Sam towards the door. ?C?mon girl, let?s go have some fun!?

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Carina scanned desperately through her contact list as she moved across the car park towards her vehicle. She knew that a pursuit team wouldn?t be far away, and she couldn?t be sure her exit strategy was secure. Given the amount of intel she had uploaded, and how deep the rot in her organisation had set, the only way to be sure was to send the data straight away to the one person she knew for sure she would able to trust with it. Just as she found the name she was looking for, a shot cracked and she went down with a bullet in her chest. She stretched out with the last o