Chuck v. Project Quantum Leap Chapter 3: That's Classified
Disclaimer: If I owned these shows, this leap wouldn’t be necessary.
Chapter Three: That’s Classified
May 24, 2011
PQL
“Ziggy, what do you mean our security clearance isn’t high enough?” the Project Observer shouted in frustration.
“Just what I said, Admiral. All details about the Intersect Project and Orion are classified, and we’ve been denied access to the data you requested,” the computer stoically replied.
Son of a-now what were they supposed to do? They needed to know what really happened the first time around, and neither he nor Sam bought the story that Orion was killed in a robbery gone awry. Ugh. Why on earth wasn’t his security clearance high enough, anyway? Surely Project Quantum Leap had to be just as classified as the joint CIA-NSA project.
Al looked up to see that he’d unconsciously walked over to the Waiting Room, where Stephen Bartowski was sitting. He was about to turn and walk away, but, no, too late for that. Stephen had spied him through the glass and was motioning for him to come in. Sighing, Al reluctantly went inside. Stephen got straight to the point.
“How’s it going? Any progress on getting me home?” Al inwardly winced; if Sam was unsuccessful, or if Ziggy had guessed wrong in predicting which event Sam was supposed to change… He clamped down on that thought, and tried to think of a safe way to answer Stephen’s question.
“We’re having some trouble finding out the details of what happened-of what Sam is supposed to change,” he began, telling part of the truth. “Unfortunately, we’re being stonewalled by the government. We were told our security clearance wasn’t high enough, can you believe that? I mean, okay, I get that this stuff is on a need-to-know basis, but we need to know it.” Stephen thought about that, and came up with an idea.
“Try getting General Diane Beckman of the NSA on the line. She was put in charge of the Intersect Project. Tell her that I asked you to call her, and that she should tell you-what? What is it?” Stephen paused, seeing Al shake his head. Al hesitated. How could he possibly tell Stephen why his plan wouldn’t work? He didn’t know who this General Beckman was, but he could just imagine how she would react to hearing that he’d just been told, by someone who had passed away, that he should phone her for help. Where was Verbena? If anyone had to tell Stephen that he was about to die-that he had died in this timeline-surely Verbena would be able to say it as tactfully as possible.
“That won’t work, Stephen,” Al said.
“Why not? General Beckman and I may have had our differences, but even so, I’m sure that if she knows that I want her to cooperate with you that-”
“You don’t understand, Stephen,” Al said. His hands started reaching for a cigar, but he didn’t light one.
“You know something,” Orion surmised. “Something that I don’t know, that you’re not telling me.” When Al didn’t respond, Stephen knew he was right. “Okay, you said that calling Beckman won’t work…Maybe something happened to Beckman? No, that’s not it…” Oh no. “Something happens to me. That’s it, isn’t it, Al? It’s okay, you can tell me.”
“We think that Sam’s been sent back in time to prevent your death,” Al muttered, refusing to look Stephen in the eye. Stephen put his head in his hands for a minute.
“I’m sorry-I shouldn’t have said anything,” Al said. “There’s no point in you worrying about it, anyway. Sam has a success rate that you wouldn’t believe. Trust me. If we’re right, then Sam is going to prevent it from happening.”
“Not if you can’t get the information you need,” Stephen replied. “It’s okay, Al. I had conjured up worse case-scenarios while you were gone. For awhile there, I was terrified that something might have happened to Charles or Eleanor or Mary.” The last name threw Al, and for a second, he wondered if Stephen had a second daughter. Then he realized that Mary must’ve been Stephen’s wife.
“I knew what I was getting into when I became a spy, Al. Thank you for being honest with me,” Stephen continued. “Right, well, maybe calling Beckman is out, but there might be another way I could help.”
SBSBSBSBSBSBSB
April 12, 2010
Burbank, California
Sam paused, wondering whether he should ring the bell again. He was standing outside of Chuck Bartowski’s home. Since he last saw Al, he had found Orion’s car parked in back of the cabin, grabbed the keys from a hook beside the front door, and, instinctively, had donned a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap before driving over to Burbank. Hmm. Had to have been a couple of minutes now since he rang the bell, but there was no answer from within. Maybe he should try Eleanor’s place. She lived just across the way from her brother. He was about to head over to the Woodcomb residence when he heard voices and footsteps approaching.
“So, you see, Casey, why you should be grateful that I was the one who discovered your secret and not, say, Jeff or Lester,” said a bearded man who wore an Assistant Manager’s uniform. His companion, Casey, grunted. True, the idea of Jeff or Lester learning about Team Bartowski was one that he would rather not entertain. Okay, he would say the idea was frightening, but as he was a Marine, he did not get frightened so easily. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t go so far as to say that he was grateful that Morgan Grimes now knew that he, Chuck, and Sarah were spies. And, while Morgan’s pep-talk may have helped inspire him to fight for his job with the NSA, Casey was starting to have second-thoughts about having Morgan join the team.
“I think I need a code-name,” Morgan continued. “What do you think of the name ‘Cobra’?”
“Morgan, listen to me very carefully,” Casey said, giving the shorter man a very no-nonsense look. “Shut. Up.” Morgan frowned, resenting that. Someone should definitely tell Casey that he needed to work on his people skills. But Casey was now just a few yards away from his home, where he kept his gun collection, and Morgan didn’t have Chuck around to back him up. Morgan would have to wait and let someone else chastise the colonel.
By now, the two were just about done walking home from “work,” or rather, walking home from their cover jobs at the Buy More. The two neighbors and co-workers were about to say good night when they noticed that there was someone in front of Morgan’s door-someone who looked very familiar.
“Mr. Bartowski?” Morgan called out.
“Oh, hi, uh,” Sam didn’t see a name tag on the Assistant Manager, and he desperately tried to remember what the man in the green shirt had just called him. “Hi, Morgan. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Grimes moved in with Chuck a couple of months ago,” Casey supplied. “Nice to see you again, sir,” he added. Casey had to admit that he was impressed by Orion. The man had done great things for his country. On top of that, he had managed to have two children, settle down, and live the “American dream,” if only for awhile.
“Oh, likewise,” Sam hesitated for a second-the name tag the man was wearing said “John,” but he recalled hearing Morgan use another name. “It’s good to see you, too, Casey.” Meanwhile, Morgan turned and unlocked the door, holding it open for the others.
“I’m sorry, was Chuck expecting you?” Morgan asked, finding it hard to believe that his best friend would have forgotten something like that. Whatever Chuck was doing in Europe, surely it didn’t trump a rare visit from his dad? Hmm, but then again, maybe it did. He had to remember that his friend was Agent Carmichael, and might be on an important assignment now. He should ask Casey about that later.
“Uh, no, Chuck didn’t know I was coming,” Sam said, as he pulled off the sunglasses. Morgan raised an eyebrow. Since when does Chuck’s dad refer to him as, ‘Chuck’? I’ve only ever heard him say ‘Charles.’ Morgan didn’t say anything aloud, though, and Sam didn’t realize that he’d slipped up.
“Maybe I should have called him first,” Sam said, though the problem with that was that Orion didn’t have a phone. “Where is he, by the way?” Sam asked. Morgan looked at Casey, wondering what to say. Chuck had told him that his dad was a spy, too, but he wasn’t actually a member of “Team Bartowski.” And if Morgan didn’t even know the details of whatever top secret mission Chuck had gone on after the fiasco with Daniel Shaw, what could they say to Stephen?
“Well, last time I checked, he and Walker were in Paris,” Casey answered, having joined Sam on the couch. He’d been wondering something that hadn’t occurred to Morgan just yet. What had happened to make Orion resurface? The spy had gone off grid, again, rather quickly after his daughter’s wedding last year. Something told Casey that there was no way that he had shown up here for a simple social call. Something big was going on here, and Casey wanted to know what it was.
“Paris, France?” Sam asked. He had no idea who Walker was, but evidently Stephen did. What was really bugging him, though, was how Chuck was able to afford a trip to France. Hadn’t Al said that Chuck works at a Buy More?
“Yeah; long story,” Morgan said. “Casey and I went, too. We just got back a few days ago.”
“You all went?” Sam asked. He had to be missing something here. Weren’t they talking about Buy More employees, making minimum wage? Wait a minute-when he overheard the two men talking earlier, Morgan had asked Casey about a code name. Was it possible that Stephen wasn’t the only spy here? Could Chuck and his friends also be secret agents?
Casey grunted, hoping they could change the subject. Orion didn’t know-or need to know-that Morgan was the newest member of their team. And, come to think of it, he wasn’t sure that Chuck’s dad realized that Chuck hadn’t quit the agency. After all, last time they had seen Orion, the man had just recently deleted the Intersect from Chuck’s brain. Maybe Chuck hadn’t confessed to his father that he had then turned around and downloaded 2.0. Well, if that was the case, he’d have to come clean now. Orion knew perfectly well that Casey was one of Chuck’s handlers. The fact that he was still living in the same complex as Chuck, and was still working at the Buy More, was a rather dead giveaway that he was still there to try to keep Chuck out of trouble. That, in turn, implied that Chuck still needed protecting, and not because of his day job as a Nerd Herder. Damn. Orion was smart. He was probably already making those connections in his mind. Not, Casey told himself, that he actually cared about the Bartowskis’ father-son relationship.
“When do you expect Chu-” Sam started to say ‘Chuck,’ again, but, as he looked at Morgan’s face, something told him to rephrase. “Uh, when do you expect Charles home?” he asked, letting the matter of why the four had gone to Paris in the first place go for now. Morgan looked to Casey for help, but couldn’t decipher the man’s expression.
“I don’t actually know,” Morgan said. “Uh, soon, maybe?” Casey didn’t say anything. He had a theory as to why Chuck and Walker weren’t back yet. If he was right, they weren’t coming back to Burbank anytime soon.
SBSBSBSBSBSBSB
May 24, 2011
PQL
Al stared at Orion. Either the spy had one helluva poker face, or he was serious.
“After I just explained to you why I’m not letting you hack into NSA or CIA databases,” Al began, “what made you think that this was a better idea?”
Author’s Note: FYI, for those readers who have only seen “Chuck,” the success rate Al is referring to is, I believe, 100%. I have yet to see an episode in which Sam doesn’t somehow manage to complete his mission. Of course, there have been episodes where Ziggy’s initial predictions were incorrect. And there’s a first time for everything.
Hope the point of view changes aren’t too confusing. I also hope that no one is out of character in this chapter.
Chapter Three: That’s Classified
May 24, 2011
PQL
“Ziggy, what do you mean our security clearance isn’t high enough?” the Project Observer shouted in frustration.
“Just what I said, Admiral. All details about the Intersect Project and Orion are classified, and we’ve been denied access to the data you requested,” the computer stoically replied.
Son of a-now what were they supposed to do? They needed to know what really happened the first time around, and neither he nor Sam bought the story that Orion was killed in a robbery gone awry. Ugh. Why on earth wasn’t his security clearance high enough, anyway? Surely Project Quantum Leap had to be just as classified as the joint CIA-NSA project.
Al looked up to see that he’d unconsciously walked over to the Waiting Room, where Stephen Bartowski was sitting. He was about to turn and walk away, but, no, too late for that. Stephen had spied him through the glass and was motioning for him to come in. Sighing, Al reluctantly went inside. Stephen got straight to the point.
“How’s it going? Any progress on getting me home?” Al inwardly winced; if Sam was unsuccessful, or if Ziggy had guessed wrong in predicting which event Sam was supposed to change… He clamped down on that thought, and tried to think of a safe way to answer Stephen’s question.
“We’re having some trouble finding out the details of what happened-of what Sam is supposed to change,” he began, telling part of the truth. “Unfortunately, we’re being stonewalled by the government. We were told our security clearance wasn’t high enough, can you believe that? I mean, okay, I get that this stuff is on a need-to-know basis, but we need to know it.” Stephen thought about that, and came up with an idea.
“Try getting General Diane Beckman of the NSA on the line. She was put in charge of the Intersect Project. Tell her that I asked you to call her, and that she should tell you-what? What is it?” Stephen paused, seeing Al shake his head. Al hesitated. How could he possibly tell Stephen why his plan wouldn’t work? He didn’t know who this General Beckman was, but he could just imagine how she would react to hearing that he’d just been told, by someone who had passed away, that he should phone her for help. Where was Verbena? If anyone had to tell Stephen that he was about to die-that he had died in this timeline-surely Verbena would be able to say it as tactfully as possible.
“That won’t work, Stephen,” Al said.
“Why not? General Beckman and I may have had our differences, but even so, I’m sure that if she knows that I want her to cooperate with you that-”
“You don’t understand, Stephen,” Al said. His hands started reaching for a cigar, but he didn’t light one.
“You know something,” Orion surmised. “Something that I don’t know, that you’re not telling me.” When Al didn’t respond, Stephen knew he was right. “Okay, you said that calling Beckman won’t work…Maybe something happened to Beckman? No, that’s not it…” Oh no. “Something happens to me. That’s it, isn’t it, Al? It’s okay, you can tell me.”
“We think that Sam’s been sent back in time to prevent your death,” Al muttered, refusing to look Stephen in the eye. Stephen put his head in his hands for a minute.
“I’m sorry-I shouldn’t have said anything,” Al said. “There’s no point in you worrying about it, anyway. Sam has a success rate that you wouldn’t believe. Trust me. If we’re right, then Sam is going to prevent it from happening.”
“Not if you can’t get the information you need,” Stephen replied. “It’s okay, Al. I had conjured up worse case-scenarios while you were gone. For awhile there, I was terrified that something might have happened to Charles or Eleanor or Mary.” The last name threw Al, and for a second, he wondered if Stephen had a second daughter. Then he realized that Mary must’ve been Stephen’s wife.
“I knew what I was getting into when I became a spy, Al. Thank you for being honest with me,” Stephen continued. “Right, well, maybe calling Beckman is out, but there might be another way I could help.”
SBSBSBSBSBSBSB
April 12, 2010
Burbank, California
Sam paused, wondering whether he should ring the bell again. He was standing outside of Chuck Bartowski’s home. Since he last saw Al, he had found Orion’s car parked in back of the cabin, grabbed the keys from a hook beside the front door, and, instinctively, had donned a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap before driving over to Burbank. Hmm. Had to have been a couple of minutes now since he rang the bell, but there was no answer from within. Maybe he should try Eleanor’s place. She lived just across the way from her brother. He was about to head over to the Woodcomb residence when he heard voices and footsteps approaching.
“So, you see, Casey, why you should be grateful that I was the one who discovered your secret and not, say, Jeff or Lester,” said a bearded man who wore an Assistant Manager’s uniform. His companion, Casey, grunted. True, the idea of Jeff or Lester learning about Team Bartowski was one that he would rather not entertain. Okay, he would say the idea was frightening, but as he was a Marine, he did not get frightened so easily. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t go so far as to say that he was grateful that Morgan Grimes now knew that he, Chuck, and Sarah were spies. And, while Morgan’s pep-talk may have helped inspire him to fight for his job with the NSA, Casey was starting to have second-thoughts about having Morgan join the team.
“I think I need a code-name,” Morgan continued. “What do you think of the name ‘Cobra’?”
“Morgan, listen to me very carefully,” Casey said, giving the shorter man a very no-nonsense look. “Shut. Up.” Morgan frowned, resenting that. Someone should definitely tell Casey that he needed to work on his people skills. But Casey was now just a few yards away from his home, where he kept his gun collection, and Morgan didn’t have Chuck around to back him up. Morgan would have to wait and let someone else chastise the colonel.
By now, the two were just about done walking home from “work,” or rather, walking home from their cover jobs at the Buy More. The two neighbors and co-workers were about to say good night when they noticed that there was someone in front of Morgan’s door-someone who looked very familiar.
“Mr. Bartowski?” Morgan called out.
“Oh, hi, uh,” Sam didn’t see a name tag on the Assistant Manager, and he desperately tried to remember what the man in the green shirt had just called him. “Hi, Morgan. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Grimes moved in with Chuck a couple of months ago,” Casey supplied. “Nice to see you again, sir,” he added. Casey had to admit that he was impressed by Orion. The man had done great things for his country. On top of that, he had managed to have two children, settle down, and live the “American dream,” if only for awhile.
“Oh, likewise,” Sam hesitated for a second-the name tag the man was wearing said “John,” but he recalled hearing Morgan use another name. “It’s good to see you, too, Casey.” Meanwhile, Morgan turned and unlocked the door, holding it open for the others.
“I’m sorry, was Chuck expecting you?” Morgan asked, finding it hard to believe that his best friend would have forgotten something like that. Whatever Chuck was doing in Europe, surely it didn’t trump a rare visit from his dad? Hmm, but then again, maybe it did. He had to remember that his friend was Agent Carmichael, and might be on an important assignment now. He should ask Casey about that later.
“Uh, no, Chuck didn’t know I was coming,” Sam said, as he pulled off the sunglasses. Morgan raised an eyebrow. Since when does Chuck’s dad refer to him as, ‘Chuck’? I’ve only ever heard him say ‘Charles.’ Morgan didn’t say anything aloud, though, and Sam didn’t realize that he’d slipped up.
“Maybe I should have called him first,” Sam said, though the problem with that was that Orion didn’t have a phone. “Where is he, by the way?” Sam asked. Morgan looked at Casey, wondering what to say. Chuck had told him that his dad was a spy, too, but he wasn’t actually a member of “Team Bartowski.” And if Morgan didn’t even know the details of whatever top secret mission Chuck had gone on after the fiasco with Daniel Shaw, what could they say to Stephen?
“Well, last time I checked, he and Walker were in Paris,” Casey answered, having joined Sam on the couch. He’d been wondering something that hadn’t occurred to Morgan just yet. What had happened to make Orion resurface? The spy had gone off grid, again, rather quickly after his daughter’s wedding last year. Something told Casey that there was no way that he had shown up here for a simple social call. Something big was going on here, and Casey wanted to know what it was.
“Paris, France?” Sam asked. He had no idea who Walker was, but evidently Stephen did. What was really bugging him, though, was how Chuck was able to afford a trip to France. Hadn’t Al said that Chuck works at a Buy More?
“Yeah; long story,” Morgan said. “Casey and I went, too. We just got back a few days ago.”
“You all went?” Sam asked. He had to be missing something here. Weren’t they talking about Buy More employees, making minimum wage? Wait a minute-when he overheard the two men talking earlier, Morgan had asked Casey about a code name. Was it possible that Stephen wasn’t the only spy here? Could Chuck and his friends also be secret agents?
Casey grunted, hoping they could change the subject. Orion didn’t know-or need to know-that Morgan was the newest member of their team. And, come to think of it, he wasn’t sure that Chuck’s dad realized that Chuck hadn’t quit the agency. After all, last time they had seen Orion, the man had just recently deleted the Intersect from Chuck’s brain. Maybe Chuck hadn’t confessed to his father that he had then turned around and downloaded 2.0. Well, if that was the case, he’d have to come clean now. Orion knew perfectly well that Casey was one of Chuck’s handlers. The fact that he was still living in the same complex as Chuck, and was still working at the Buy More, was a rather dead giveaway that he was still there to try to keep Chuck out of trouble. That, in turn, implied that Chuck still needed protecting, and not because of his day job as a Nerd Herder. Damn. Orion was smart. He was probably already making those connections in his mind. Not, Casey told himself, that he actually cared about the Bartowskis’ father-son relationship.
“When do you expect Chu-” Sam started to say ‘Chuck,’ again, but, as he looked at Morgan’s face, something told him to rephrase. “Uh, when do you expect Charles home?” he asked, letting the matter of why the four had gone to Paris in the first place go for now. Morgan looked to Casey for help, but couldn’t decipher the man’s expression.
“I don’t actually know,” Morgan said. “Uh, soon, maybe?” Casey didn’t say anything. He had a theory as to why Chuck and Walker weren’t back yet. If he was right, they weren’t coming back to Burbank anytime soon.
SBSBSBSBSBSBSB
May 24, 2011
PQL
Al stared at Orion. Either the spy had one helluva poker face, or he was serious.
“After I just explained to you why I’m not letting you hack into NSA or CIA databases,” Al began, “what made you think that this was a better idea?”
Author’s Note: FYI, for those readers who have only seen “Chuck,” the success rate Al is referring to is, I believe, 100%. I have yet to see an episode in which Sam doesn’t somehow manage to complete his mission. Of course, there have been episodes where Ziggy’s initial predictions were incorrect. And there’s a first time for everything.
Hope the point of view changes aren’t too confusing. I also hope that no one is out of character in this chapter.