Chuck Vs. The Frozen Heart

A/N: I do not own "Chuck", any of the characters of "Chuck" or Adam Baldwin for that matter (more is the pity) - No money is made off this and it's purely for entertainment's sake. All ratings and reviews (both good and bad - if bad preferably constructive) gladly received.

Summary: Chuck Bartowski hasn't seen John Casey show any interest in a woman since Ilsa or Agent Alex Forrest (he definitely hasn't seen him get anywhere near laid since Ilsa), which only appears to be making John more and more irritated. When his female cousin from England comes to visit him and Ellie while in town on business he desperately tries to keep her away from his life as a CIA agent - until at a mission the night after she arrives uncovers the fact that she's an agent from MI6 sent to aid in the training of the Intersect. During training Chuck discovers that his cousin has a thing for John Casey and hatches a plot with the help of Sarah, Morgan and Capt. Awesome to help get the two together.

Setting: Takes place between Episode 4 and 5 of Season 3 -  It's A/U disregarding everything after S3/EP4. There will be spoilers for seasons 1, 2 and the early part of season 3. At this point the only person other than Casey and Sarah that know Chuck works for the CIA is Awesome. For the sake of this fan fiction Shaw isn't living at Castle nor is he in charge of anything other than Ring operations. Suspension of disbelief my friends - it's worth it.

Pairings: John Casey/Tawnie Cartwright ((OFC) Main pairing), Ellie/Awesome, Chuck/Sarah (Hinted)

Warning: This fiction contains references to BDSM involving bondage and dominance/submission - if these subjects make you uncomfortable then don't read.

Chapter Warning: This chapter has no sexual content - completely suitable for your grandmother.

Beta Wanted: This story has not been beta'd and I don't have one. Please - if you'd like to be my beta feel free to contact me.

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Chapter One: Chuck Vs. The Grizzly Bear

 

'BARTOWSKI!' The harsh word could have been shouted for all the suppressed anger it held as John Casey virtually hissed it into Chuck's ear as he seized the young nerd's elbow and forcefully steered him away from the Nerd Herd desk and toward the back entrance of the Buy More. 'Get your ass to Castle, we have a briefing.' The words were growled out and Chuck looked worriedly at the marine colonel who had a death grip on his elbow that could probably break it if he tried to struggle out of it. Casey had appeared to take a few steps back in recent weeks reverting to his colder demeanor from when he had first arrived. Not that Casey had really done much warming up but Chuck had thought that after all they'd gone through together the well-built and muscled man had started to develop a soft spot for him. Obviously not.

Admittedly after saving Casey's life he had taken his blood to save a man that he had failed to kill on three separate occasions but Chuck had hoped that the whole saving part of the equation and the nice box of cigars would have made the man less angry towards him. That was until he had discovered that the lie he and Awesome had used with Ellie so she didn't know where Awesome had been was discovered by Casey and he had gotten pissed. Really, really pissed. On top of everything Shaw was still around and it was starting to get to the marine having another CIA agent around who was running the show every time the word "Ring" was mentioned.

Making they're way to the Orange Orange store they moved down into Castle to see Sarah already there. Shaw was thankfully not in sight and with that knowledge Chuck could feel Casey's grip lesson. Chuck checked his arm for the bruises he felt sure were going to start showing soon from where Casey's fingers had dug in. As Chuck moved to sit down still looking for the starting of bruising on his arm the general's face filled the screen and she greeted the team. Casey's demeanor, usually falling into a facade of enthusiasm tempered by disciplined calm at the idea of a mission, remained irritated and the general paused for a few moments when she spotted it.

'Is there something wrong Colonel Casey?'

'No ma'am.' his voice was barely more than a well modulated growl but the message hidden just below the surface was clear. Don't ask and just get on with it. Then general gave a slight cough before nodding and getting on with it.

'Remember Cole Barker?' As the general asked this question Chuck pulled a face at remembering the MI6 agent that had been making a play for Sarah from the minute he'd gotten there. 'When he reported back to MI6 he told his superiors of the Intersect project and they've been keeping updated on the situation ever since then. Recently they came forward to offer the services of one of their agents for helping train the Intersect.'

'Why didn't they come forward before?' Casey asked, cutting across the general's briefing succinctly but with just enough edge that the woman didn't glare him down as she usually would have done. Something was very off about the colonel recently.

'Their agent was already on a assignment at the time and they feel that her services would be invaluable in helping train the Intersect they didn't want to offer her services until her latest mission was completed.' This rose eyebrows all around the table. Her?

'So wait... does this mean it's not Cole Barker?' Chuck asked, raising his arm to draw Beckman's attention, the possibilities of bruises forgotten.

'That's correct.'

'Who is it General?' Sarah asked, she was sitting slightly forward in her seat now, her forearms resting on the cool material of the table top before her.

'We don't know. All we have is her age, general description and code name. We don't have any pictures or knowledge of her full name - to date MI6 have been keeping her extremely low-key and she's been spending a lot of her time working as a research for the MOD.'

'Maybe there's something on her in the Intersect...' Chuck suggested but was cut off.

'There isn't any information beyond what I can tell you now in the Intersect. This agent is deeper than deep. Which is more than a little worrying.' The general's voice was curt and Chuck inwardly grumbled wondering how it was she knew what was and was not in the Intersect about this mystery agent.

'So what? Why are you sending her to work with us?' Casey asked, shifting in his seat.

'Because we want to find out about her; The best way to do that is to work with her.'

'What can she know that we can't already train Chuck in ourselves?' Sarah piped up again and had a confused look when the general gave her a direct look.

'This was the MOD's top researcher in subconscious programming and psychic development.' The instant the word "psychic" was mentioned Casey snorted in disgust. 'Colonel Casey I find the idea as ridiculous as you do but I can't argue with results.' Casey cocked an eyebrow. 'A room full of assassin's suddenly all died of simultaneous brain aneurysms for no reason. No weapons used. Reported the agent that MI6 are sending was the only other person in the room.'

'So when is she arriving?'

'The tomorrow night. You'll make the initial meet at Blue Moon Lounge in Burbank. She'll be wearing blue and come up to the bar asking for a whiskey - Casey you'll be working as barman. You're to offer her a Jack Daniel's. The indication that it's her will be that she responds that no American bourbon should be marketed and that she wants Glenfiddich.'

'She doesn't like Jack Daniel's?' Chuck asked, quickly grabbing on to the least important detail and causing the general and Casey both to give him "You-dumbass" looks.

'I don't know. It's not important.' Beckman replied. 'Chuck, you and Sarah will go in and keep an eye on the bar and entrance to see when she comes in.' They both nodded and Chuck looked vaguely happy at the idea of just being a club goer instead of a bartender like John. Casey didn't change his expression from the disgruntled mask it had been all morning.

The general was moving to cut the line of transmission when Chuck cut across her quickly.

'Wait! What's this agent's code name?'

'Nightwolf.' The screen went black and Chuck looked across at Casey and Sarah. Sarah returned Chuck's semi-worried expression but had a look in her eyes that said she was ready for whatever was going to happen. Casey just looked pissed off still.

'Come on - We gotta get back.' he said gruffly, virtually yanking Chuck out of the chair and dragging him back to finish their shift at the Buy More.

 

.:~{(-*-)}~:.

 

'Chuck! Come quick!' Ellie's voice called across the courtyard as Chuck was about to put his key in the lock to the apartment she shared with Morgan. He looked over to see Ellie grinning at him like a mad woman and rose an eyebrow at her sudden enthusiasm.

'What's going on?' he asked, walking over and pocketing his keys, he was near dragged by his arm over to Ellie and Devon's apartment. Ellie just responded with a large grin and eyes that promised he would see. Then he heard it, an unmistakable accent. 'Tawnie?' he walked into the room and saw Awesome and his cousin Tawnie Cartwright laughing over a story she was telling him. The little redhead looked up with those sparkling green eyes of hers and one moment she was sitting with Awesome at a table drinking coffee the next minute Chuck found himself engulfed in the deceptively strong hug of a five foot two English woman. 'Tawnie, what are you doing here?' the question was half exclaimed when the woman finally released him.

'What? Girl can't come to see her favorite cousins on the other side of the pond?' Tawnie asked, her eyebrows were raised and there was a half mischievous grin on her face.

'You've never come to see us before...' Chuck said in a gentle point and got his ribs slapped lightly for his troubles.

'I've not come this way whenever I've been stateside often. Besides... never been too sure of my welcome given that the side of the family I'm from...' she left the sentence hanging and everyone got the gist of what she was hinting at. The Cartwrights were the English relatives... on Chuck and Ellie's mother's side. Mary Bartowski's sister had married a language professor from England and moved with him back to Norfolk where he was from so that he could teach at UEA. Tawnie had had limited contact with them since their mother ran off and while she had made an effort to keep in contact even after their father left them as well she had never been all that close to them. 'I came to catch up - see how you guys are doing. I'm so sorry I missed the wedding but Captain Awesome, a fantastic nickname if you ask me, has been showing me the pictures. Ellie told me you threw everything together after the first one tanked just the way she wanted. Nice going! It looked beautiful.'

Tawnie almost skipped back to her seat next to Devon at the table and started to drink the coffee again. Chuck stood there for a few more moments before it sunk in that she hadn't really answered his initial question. 'That's it? You've come to Los Angeles to catch up?'

'No silly... I came to Echo Park to catch up. I came to LA for work.' She gave him a smile. 'What about you? Last time I heard you'd gotten kicked out of Stamford... what's been going on in your life since then?'

'Chuck's been working at the Buy More, and then he finished his degree by online courses and after that he... well... went back to working at the Buy More.' Ellie responded as she sat down opposite the cheery redhead who didn't seem in the least worried about Chuck's lack of progression career wise. Chuck gave a weak smile and came to sit by them, before spotting John Casey outside a window going toward the door with purpose. Chuck lurched up and moved over to answer the door before Casey even knocked. Ellie got a strained expression on her face seeing John in the doorway and Tawnie frowned at her expression before moving to look the neighbour over covertly. The young redhead took in everything about the man that she could see from head to toes. He was still dressed in his Buy More uniform which showed off his muscled arms in the T-Shirt and the trousers left just enough to the imagination for Tawnie's active imagination to take over and fill in the blanks generously.

Casey and Chuck had a urgent whispered argument that appeared only to annoy Casey more as his mouth thinned and Tawnie took a sip of her coffee wondering what he looked like if he smiled instead. Casey turned to go after catching Tawnie's gaze in a glance for half a second and then stomping off to his apartment. Tawnie turned to Ellie.

'Who was that?' she asked with a slight grin on her face.

'That? Oh... John Casey - he's a neighbour. You... don't want to go there.' Ellie said firmly and one of Tawnie's delicate dark eyebrows shot up toward her hairline. What was it about this neighbour that Ellie wasn't so keen on? Well whatever it was, she couldn't wait to find out... so long as she had spare time while she was here. Tawnie grinned to herself as she decided that she might as well spend tomorrow spying on the man at the Buy More. How she loved uniforms that advertised where you worked.

'What's that look on your face?' Ellie asked her cousin with a worried expression and Tawnie's grin gentled into a smile.

'Don't worry - it's nothing. Was just curious.' she then distracted them with another tale about a visit to Sweden while mentally wondering what it was that had Mr. John Casey so on edge.