So, this idea for a story was first stirred by the words of Volkoff when he found out Mary had children. Kids love me! I thought, what if Volkoff discovered her family early on and tried to win her over by kidnapping them and bringing them to her? It's a pretty decent idea, I think, but I'm not too sure about my ability to pull it off. Depending on everyone's reaction to it, I might actually make this the prequel to a Sarah/Chuck one-shot I have in mind.

This was supposed to be one chapter, but it has turned into at least four. I've already planned and written pretty far ahead, so I think I may actually complete this one.

And please forgive if the dates are off, as I'm not exactly certain of the correct ones, despite my research.

For the first time ever, I actually felt like adding "I suck at summaries" to my summary. Good thing I resisted the urge.

Not to mention, I keep changing my titles. How come the best titles come to me only after I publish a story?

Oh! And GO STEELERS!

Mary and Chuck vs. the Ties That Bind

Little Chuck is Kidnapped From His Home

December 23, 1991

1:00 am, PST

Bartowski Residence, Burbank

Outside, the dark night was rainy and cool as the young boy slept fitfully, moving restlessly beneath the warmth of his blankets while gripped in the fists of yet another nightmare. While his worst nightmares had once been mainly filled with monsters and villains chasing after him and falls from high places, nearly a year ago, they had changed shape and form, into the reoccurring bad dreams that were representations of the most recent of his fears. Even though he was completely caught up in tonight's latest nightmare – which had him running fruitlessly after his sister and father, who had both just walked away from him in apathy, abandoning him to a life of loneliness, self-loathing, and pain – a slight creek of his floorboard was enough to awaken him.

Chuck Bartowski's eyes shot open, his heart beating relentlessly from both the dream and being abruptly awakened. He froze instinctively and held himself tense, his sense of self-preservation telling him that someone not Ellie or his father was in the room with him. He could hear the soft pat of muffled footsteps approaching his bed slowly and he tried his best to remain absolutely still. If he didn't give away that he was awake, then maybe the intruder would leave him alone and move along to steal whatever few valuables his family owned.

The once comfortable warmth of the blanket covering his body started to feel suffocatingly hot as he waited, his eyes tightly shut. He struggled to maintain the soft, even breaths of the truly deeply asleep. But the only thing he really accomplished was making himself feel woozy from the effort. Before long, his breaths started coming out in the ragged, uneven pants that would be a dead give away that he was awake.

He knew he would not be fooling anyone, but still he silently prayed for a miracle to occur as he felt the blanket being pulled gently away from his head and shoulders. A few moments later, just as he was beginning to fear that he would start whimpering pathetically, he heard the light sound of something small popping open, then felt the unmistakeable prick of a needle enter his arm. He hated needles.

And that is when he finally reacted, gasping. His eyes popped open and he found himself looking right into the smiling face of a man who could possibly be the devil himself. His smile was obviously meant to be a comforting one, designed to make him feel that he was safe and everything was going to be alright. Instead, it filled Chuck with a deep sinking dread and he instinctively tried to cower backward to avoid the hand that reached out to grasp his shoulder. He'd barely managed to move before the necessary effort became way too much for him.

"Hello, Charles," the man said, his British accent making him sound even more like a villain than before, and even the dulling properties of the sedative he'd just given Chuck could not stop the ice cold fingers of terror from chilling him from the inside out. "Don't be afraid; I'm taking you to see your mother. Isn't that wonderful! She has missed you and Eleanor so much. Rest now. The faster you fall asleep, the faster you will be safe with your family again."

The sedative finally did its job and before Chuck could have any reaction to this unexpected revelation, his eyes drooped closed and he slipped into the first dreamless sleep he'd had in months.

Alexei Volkoff Surprises Mary Bartowski with an Unexpected Christmas Gift

December 24, 1991

11:45 pm, MSK

Volkoff's Private Residence, Moscow

Russia was cold and snowy. She missed her home.

Not for the first time since she'd gone deep undercover in Volkoff Industries, Mary Elizabeth Bartowski – code name Frost – fingered the single, silver charm on her bracelet. Even though she probably should have left an object so personal to her behind, she had found that she could not bear to part with it. Having it around her wrist at all times almost felt as if she were still connected in spirit to the family she had been forced to leave behind.

God, it had been nearly a year since she'd broken her cover and had been compelled to tell Alexei Volkoff of her CIA affiliation, and still, every time she so much as thought about her estranged family, she was filled with a longing so intense it made it hard for her to take a breath.

Mary leaned back on the ridiculously expensive and cushy couch seat, planting her feet on the just as ridiculously expensive ottoman in front of her, and took a sip of her hot chocolate as she watched the flames in the fireplace flicker as joyfully as they could manage while being restrained from setting the whole home ablaze. She held great sympathy, and admiration, for those flames.

It did not help that this was Christmas, the first she'd ever been away from them since Ellie was born. No matter where she was in the world, no matter what the mission, she'd always found a way to make it home to celebrate the holiday with them. Until now. Even worse, she had planned for the take down of Volkoff to be her very last mission before settling into retirement to become a full time soccer mom. Which made her failure to complete her current task in the timely manner she'd expected all the more wrenching.

Mary knew there had to be a way to make it home, but she couldn't just all out kill Volkoff without first finding the database of his vast network. A database that was more rumor than anything else. The CIA would consider going against her orders to be an act of treason... and the consequences to her family would be unthinkable and swift, ending with her being left to deal with her suffering alone before they eventually turned her into someone's Red Test.

There had to be a way and every time she looked down at her bracelet, her determination to find that way was rejuvenated. She prayed that it never ceased to inspire her to keep moving forward, with her eyes fixed firmly on her ultimate goal. Going home. Being with Chuck and Ellie and Stephen.

In the mean time, until she could figure out how to make it home without endangering her family, she'd have to do her best to subvert many of Volkoff's legal and illegal dealings without turning suspicion onto herself as the cause.

Mary's keen ears heard the sound of the front door –which was all the way on the other side of the mansion – open and shut, followed by the booming sound of a voice she was unfortunately very familiar with. It sounded as if he was giving orders to his people, and for a moment, she pondered sneaking up to her bedroom while he was occupied with that part of his business. But then, she'd probably risk running into someone on the way there. There was no way a servant or one of Volkoff's men would ever dare lie to him about her being seen awake, even if she asked them to.

So, she resolutely stood up and opened the door, then walked down several hallways, not bothering to be stealthy.

"Alexei, is that you?" she called out just as she rounded a corner and into the foyer. She suppressed a shudder when he eyed her in her night clothes with obvious appreciation. For modesty sake, she hugged her arms tightly to her chest and hunched her shoulders slightly, feigning that she'd done so because she'd caught a chill and not because his gaze disgusted her. She knew that Volkoff would not notice the difference. For someone so damned intelligent and intuitive when it came to business and crime, he could be ridiculously stupid about such things. "We weren't expecting you until New Years. Did you finish your business early?"

"My darling Frost," Volkoff greeted her with a massive smile that had her immediately on her guard. He was definitely up to something and she was most likely not going to appreciate it. He opened his arms wide and strode up to her, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a hug that was even bigger than his smile. "It is good to see you again, and yes, I did conclude my business early."

He backed away from her and spoke orders in Russian into the ear of his new bodyguard – Yuri, she thought his name is – with the glass eye and an almost innocent, naive loyalty to his master.

She could hardly make out the words, they were spoken so lowly, but she managed to hear something about 'the package' and 'the bedroom next to Frost'. And when she put the words together and guessed what the words in between could be, and took in the swift glances both men kept giving her, she could feel the blood from her face drain. She knew that they were talking about a package for her. And though she could not know for certain what the package contained, her instincts were screaming at her. A mother's instincts.

For the first time since she'd finished her field training after the Farm, Mary was terrified.

"Alexei," she said cautiously, swallowing the urge to run upstairs and hopefully discover that her instincts were off. There was no way he could know. Stephen had promised to bury everything connecting her to any possible children from official records, and she trusted that he had. "What's going on? Why are you looking at me that way?"

But just because there might be no official record of her having children, it didn't mean that nobody knew about them. There were plenty of people in the Agency who had knowledge of her kids, who could have talked about them under the right sort of 'persuasion.'

As Yuri left them alone in the foyer, Volkoff grinned again at her, this time looking like a child who was impatient and excited for the reaction of his mother when he revealed his gift to her.

"Well," he responded, eagerly rubbing his hands together. "Seeing as it is Christmas, I have brought you a present, which I'm sure you will quite love." His enthusiastic smile dampened somewhat and became briefly apologetic. "I had originally intended to present you with two gifts, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to obtain both of them for you." His smile brightened again. "Oh, well, I suppose there is next Christmas! Or, perhaps, it could be your your birthday present?"

Mary forced an intrigued smile, praying that it didn't come out like the grimace it certainly felt like.

"Well, I certainly hope you don't plan to keep me in suspense for too long," she said, barely managing to force her expression match her voice's brightness. "Show me!"

"As you wish, my dear," Volkoff responded and offered her his arm, which she reluctantly accepted. "I had my men place your gift in the extra room situated next to your bedroom. Are you ready?"

"I'm absolutely ready."

As they ascended the large staircase leading up to the upper floors, she tried not to tighten her arm around Volkoff's too much. There was no way in hell she was going to let on to him that she was this close to becoming a frightened, nervous wreck. They stopped at the door to the now no longer empty guest room and he let go of her to approach the door by himself and placed his hand on the door knob. Instead of immediately opening it, he looked at her, again with a child-like anticipation that was better suited to actual children.

"And without further ado, may I present..." he began, speaking with exaggerated formality, while at the same time turning the knob and opening the door with a flourish, "...a most worthy gift for a most worthy woman."

He stepped aside and motioned for her to enter the room first. Keeping a hesitant eye on him the entire time, she slowly walked towards the door, breaking eye contact only when she reached the entry. Holding her breath, and with a pounding heart, she stepped inside the dark room, which was illuminated slightly by a nightlight. Her measured, shallow breaths hitched slightly at the sight of a child curled up on the bed, fast asleep.

There was an unnatural stillness to him that indicated that he had been drugged, perhaps more than once. Though it had been a year since she'd last seen him, and the darkness of the room dulled the outline of his face slightly, the moment she laid eyes on him, she knew it was him.

Unexpectedly, tears stung her eyes and she slumped over with a sob, both of her hands immediately lifting to cover her mouth. She could feel her body begin to shake. With great effort, she managed to stop prevent any full out trembling and pull herself together. She couldn't afford to break down right now.

Taking advantage of her tears, she let a few down her cheeks and twisted her face into what she hoped was a grateful, but tearful expression of gratitude, mixed in with a fear that Chuck being here was a dream. She was a great actor, a great liar, but she couldn't help but feel that this was beyond her abilities.

Luckily, Alexei Volkoff was a man who tended to see what he wanted to see, rather than what was actually in front of his face. When she'd first made contact with him, she'd used her observation of this trait to her full advantage. And still did. Only from now on, she would have to kick her performance up a notch, because it was so much more than her own life that was at stake here.

"I don't understand," she said with not completely faked bewilderment, stopping in her tracks just before she reached the bed. "How did you...?" She let her question trail off as she turned to him.

"Know?" he asked gently. "You do know that I have my sources within the CIA. All I had to do was find one person you worked with. One person who lived to gossip, in spite of any... non-disclosure agreements they may have signed. Just one. Add a little bit of romance, a touch of seduction, and my man was able to get the information out of this person with little problem. I've sensed that you've been unhappy lately, Frost, and I just wanted to find a way to bring you a little joy again, but I never expected..." He paused. "Why didn't you tell me you had children?"

Mary despised just how betrayed he sounded with that question and had to count to three to regain her composure. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. "I made my choice to betray everything I once stood for and to live a life outside the law, but this isn't the life for children. It's not the life for a family..."

"My dear Frost," Volkoff interrupted quietly, but firmly, giving her a stern look. Not an angry look, she realized immediately, but a chastising one, as if she were a naughty child trying to convince the teacher the dog ate her homework. "That is the flimsiest rationalization I have ever heard and believe me, I have heard plenty."

"Alexei, please..." she began to plead, shaking her head, trailing off before trying again. "I..."

He sighed dramatically then, and started taking slow predatory steps toward her, keeping his eyes focused on hers. "The fact of the matter is, you didn't think I that could have a relationship with your family." Mary stood tense when he finally reached her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "Kids love me! And now, I have the perfect opportunity to show you just how well I can get along with your children, starting with Charles. Unfortunately, Eleanor will have to wait a little longer before she can join us."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Ellie...?"

"Is fine. Unfortunately, your daughter woke up before we could sedate her... " His voice took on a wry tone. "She fought like a tiger and started screaming bloody murder. Sadly, we were forced to leave her behind, but she is completely unharmed. I really think you would be proud of her, Mary. She is quite obviously her mother's daughter."

Mary relaxed a little, though Volkoff comparing her daughter to her was a bit unsettling. She was grateful that Ellie had not been taken, too, and was unharmed, at least physically. But that was a small mercy and small mercies were still... small.

"It's not that I'm not grateful that you want to reunite me with my children. It's really rather sweet of you, but..."

"Shh shh shh." Volkoff took a step back as he shushed her, placing a finger at her lips. "This is an argument for another day. It is late and your son will need you to be at your fullest capabilities when he wakes up in the morning. I suggest you get some sleep. We have a full day tomorrow and I can't wait to show you and Charles exactly what I have planned."

Mary opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it as a weight of tiredness was threatening to overcome her. And Volkoff was right, the bastard. Chuck was going to need her when he woke up in a strange, unfamiliar place.

Tomorrow, she would have to push back the spy a little and become a mother to her son. The spy would still be present, but hovering inconspicuously nearby, ready to jump into action the moment her child was threatened.

"Fine," she stated bluntly, giving him the victory for this one battle. "But this argument isn't over, Alexei Stefanovich Volkoff. I'm not very happy with you right now. You should have got my permission before you tried to pull my children from the world that they knew and into this messed up business of ours."

"Fair enough," Volkoff rumbled, obviously pleased with himself as he backed slowly away from her and toward the bedroom door. "Sleep well and I will see you both in the morning."

Mary breathed a sigh of relief when he finally left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. She waited a few moments, listening to his footsteps echo down the hall, making sure he was really going to leave them alone for the night.

The furious beating of her heart had slowed at some point during her conversation with him, but she could still feel the aftermath of her earlier, uncharacteristic, fear and near panic. If she had felt before this evening that she'd had the weight of the world on her shoulders, it was nothing compared to the burden that rested there now.

For years, she'd thought she'd been living a charmed life, as she was able to continue to do the job she loved and manage to have a family at the same time. Up until now, she'd been able keep this dirty world of espionage separate from her family life.

Her heart aching and a thousand regrets running through her, she slowly stepped up to the bed, looking down at her peaceful, sleeping child for a few moments, before carefully climbing in and sliding under the covers. She turned to Chuck and smoothed his hair – still as unruly as she remembered, she realized with a small, bittersweet smile – with the same tenderness and attention she had earlier touched her bracelet charm.

Her regrets would soon have to take a back seat as now was time to step up the fight for her family.

Stephen, Ellie, we're coming home soon, she promised silently.

Despite her exhaustion, she kept vigil over her son all night.

Have I told anyone how much I hate that my conclusions and transitions really suck?

Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated as I'm very uncertain about my characterization and pacing.