A/N: Hey, guys! This is an AU story idea I had a couple of months ago. Since I was writing Chuck vs. the Rogue Spy, I tried not to let it distract me too much, but I still had to write its short prologue. I thought I'd post it and see what you think of it.

Note that although I am hoping to write this story next (Rogue Spy will be completed this week), I don't know when I'll be able to update.

As usual, thanks to the fantastic mxpw for his beta.

Prologue

Encino, March 2007

Chuck Bartowski was late.

Hurrying out of his Prius, he took the time to check if work had left any new messages. The new Intersect Computer update was just up and running, and had given them more problems than expected. He wasn't sure that going to D.C. this week was very good timing.

He had parked his car next to his sister's Highlander on the sidewalk. Walking up the familiar pathway to the front porch, Chuck thought one more time that he'd never get used to the new paint on his childhood house.

The door didn't take long to open after he'd rung the bell. "Hey, little brother," Ellie greeted. "Running late?"

"Hi, Ellie," he answered, bending forward to kiss her cheek. "How long have you been here?" he asked, hopeful. Maybe he wasn't that late.

She laughed. "I just got here five minutes ago."

Chuck closed the door behind him, before turning back to his sister. "Phew!" he said.

Stephen Bartowski chose that moment to come out of his office. "I thought I heard the door," Chuck's father said with a smile. "We'd better go before your mom swears not to cook ever, ever again."

"I heard that," Mary said, from the living room.

On their way to join her, his father asked, "Everything okay with the I.C. update?"

"I think so. Fitzroy is monitoring tonight."

"Oh boy," Stephen said with a chuckle, "let's hope there won't be any emergencies."

Chuck laughed. "Dad!" he said, shaking his head, before approaching the chair his mom was sitting on. "Hi, mom." He distributed a kiss on her cheek.

"Hi, Chuck," she said. "Traffic?"

"The usual," he answered, and entered the kitchen to wash his hands. "Is Awesome working?" he said, loud enough for Ellie to hear him.

"Yeah, car accident on the Five. He'll be at the hospital all night."

"Can you bring back the salad, Frowny Face?" Chuck heard Mary ask. He groaned inwardly at the moniker. His mom had taken to calling him that when he was in middle school. Apparently, he used to frown a lot back then. "You know, if he came to work for us—"

"Mom," Ellie cut her off, "not again."

"Have you given it anymore thoughts? That's all I'm asking."

"I don't think Devon wants to work for his girlfriend's parents, no offense."

"Why?" Stephen said. "We're cool."

"I just worry," Mary went on. "You two are so busy all the time."

"We're less busy than Chuck," Ellie said.

"Thanks," he answered, taking his seat at the dinner table. Ellie smiled irreverently at him. "I don't have a girlfriend to go home to. That's why I work a lot."

"Maybe you don't have a girlfriend because you work too much," Ellie said. "And spending all of your free time with Morgan isn't helping, by the way."

"Again: thanks," Chuck said.

"The new agent we're recruiting is pretty," Stephen said. He gave Chuck a look not at all subtle, which made Ellie laugh.

"I don't know if working with his girlfriend would be such a good idea," Mary said to her husband.

"You just offered a job to Devon," Chuck interjected.

"It's different. They're doctors," Mary said, as if it explained everything. Perhaps she caught his thoughts because she carried on, "What about Jill? We've seen how it went."

"That's true," Ellie commented.

"The new agent is really pretty, though," Stephen told his wife.

"And her record is impressive," Mary admitted.

"Who is she, anyway?" Chuck said, feeling the need to stop them. "I might as well know her name, before you two start sending invitations for the wedding."

"Sarah Walker," Stephen said.

Chuck did his best not to react, but he was surrounded by three people constantly working with and/or being spies. They caught his microsecond hesitation.

"You know her?" Mary asked. She sounded suddenly more excited.

"I, uh, I've met her a few times," Chuck replied. "She's Bryce's partner."

"Oh," Ellie said. "She's the agent we saw last month at the cafeteria?" Her eyes widened at the realization.

"Yeah."

"She is pretty," Ellie said. "Wouldn't it be a little awkward, though? Stealing Bryce's girlfriend?"

"I'm not stealing anybody!" Chuck said, and laughed, despite a hint of exasperation in his voice. His family was so intrusive sometimes. He was only twenty-five—that left plenty of time to find a girlfriend. "Besides, I think they broke up."

"See?" Stephen told him. "She's free."

Chuck wanted to tell them to get real. He had a brilliant future in front of him, sure, and on his good days, he could admit that he was a catch. Still, Sarah Walker seemed a little bit too far out of his league. He really hadn't spent much time with her—the few times they had crossed paths—but there was just something about her.

"Even if she wasn't, she won't be Bryce's partner for much longer," Mary said with a wink.

"Do you guys recruit on criteria other than 'Potential girlfriend for our son'?" Chuck asked, gesturing with quotation marks.

"Sometimes," Stephen joked.

"I'll have you know that it was your friend Zondra that recommended her to us," Mary said.

"Oh," Chuck said, knitting his eyebrows together slightly.

That was surprising. After her collaboration with the Intersect Division on the Ring task force, thanks to Chuck's recommendation, Zondra had been offered to join them, but she'd refused. She had told Chuck that she wanted to vary her experiences in the field, before settling down—or semi-settling down in the Intersect Division's case. "Not yet," Zondra had said, admitting that the nature of the work was enough to interest her in a few years, however.

Chuck would have assumed that Sarah Walker would feel the same way as her ex-CAT Squad partner.

"I didn't know," he said. "She didn't tell me."

"If you already know her," Stephen said, "you could meet with Agent Walker this week. Since you'll already be in D.C."

"Um," Chuck said.

Mary jumped in. "That would save Agent Cooper the trip."

Considering his father's snerk at that, Chuck wasn't fooled by his parents' intentions. It looked like he was going to see Sarah Walker soon.

He wouldn't admit it to his family—especially not to his family—but Chuck realized during dinner that he was looking forward to it.