Hi everybody! Remember me? It's been six weeks since my last conf- I mean, chapter posting. Life has been rough, unfortunately. But at last, I have a 4-chapter arc, and this may be the last one published before we get REAL Chuck back and my storyline is officially pushed into AU land. (As if it weren't always.) But I WILL continue my story, even after that.

Anyway, for those of you coming back to read this, thank you very much. I should point out to both new readers who have never read my stuff, and to old readers who have but have understandably forgotten what has gone on before, this story does tie in very importantly with prior continuity in my story. So, if you get confused, might not hurt to go back and read Chapter 2 of Postcard, Chapter 1 of Interdependence, and a good part of First Handler (especially the end). But, if you are adventurous, go ahead and read on with this and I'm sure you'll figure it all out.

Thanks to my editors, my wife and Anon, who have been VERY patient. My wife went so far as to pull up Victorian floor plans for sake of authenticity.

OK, I don't own Chuck! On with the show.

As she placed the main course on the table, and sat down, Dr. Eleanor Bartowski took a moment to bask in the love in the room, and in the good fortune that had allowed this to be possible.

Her husband, Devon, was there. Her husband. Her friends never had any doubt that she and Devon were meant to be, and in spite of a few bumps in the road, neither had she. Even so, to be happily married, coming from her family background; that was something she had never taken for granted. So, she appreciated every moment with him. She loved who he was. His enthusiasm, his joy for life, and yes, his Awesomeness.

Her brother, Chuck, was there, and he was happy. So completely happy. This, she especially did not take for granted, because she had seen the other side. Five years of pain and depression for him. She had tried to support Chuck and raise him up. Devon, bless him, had helped as best as he could. But, nothing had worked to get her brother past the funk that had immobilized him.

Until Sarah had come along. Chuck's girlfriend was by his side, and though Ellie had worried at Sarah's bizarre behavior during their last meeting, the blonde now seemed over the insecurity that had caused it. Sarah was now more relaxed than Ellie had ever seen her. She and Chuck had been casually touching since they arrived. Sure, they had shown affection in their two years together, but for some reason, it had always previously struck Ellie as a bit… forced, and Ellie had never understood why that should be. Not now, though, which was a very good sign. Sarah had brought Chuck out of his frozen state from the beginning, but the initial results had been mixed. Chuck would be over-the-moon on one day, and then miserable the next. He had acted in ways, completely uncharacteristic for him. The first time Ellie had met Sarah, Chuck's anxiety had caused him to sabotage the dinner. Worse, he began flaking on Ellie, missing planned events, not calling, even keeping things from her. After confronting Chuck on this, Ellie had come to terms with the dynamic. Chuck simply had a new love in his life. She was more worried about the effect the roller-coaster aspects of the relationship were having on him. He and Sarah had broken up twice. Now, though, at long last, they finally appeared stable. Ellie was thrilled. She adored Sarah, and looked forward to a time when Sarah would officially be her sister. Ellie thought that seemed very likely to happen. If things stayed stable.

Morgan Grimes was there. Ellie had initially pursed her lips when she learned that he was coming to dinner. However, Sarah had assured Ellie that she and Morgan had come to an "understanding", and more importantly, he was no longer going to be living with them. Ellie could live with that. Annoying as Morgan could be, Ellie had, in fact, come to her own understanding with him, and didn't entirely begrudge his self-inserted place in their family anymore, as long as he minded his boundaries. Right now, Morgan and Sarah were actually laughing together at some shared joke. It was all good.

Her father was there. This was the most surprising fact for Ellie. After ten years of absence, which he had never fully explained, Stephen Bartowski was back. He had vanished once almost immediately after his initial return, but then Chuck brought him back in time for her wedding, and her father had stayed around ever since. He had bought the house in which they currently ate. He had given this to her and Devon as his wedding gift. He was living in the cottage at the end of the property. Her father was back in her life, and as terrified as Ellie had been that he would disappear once again, he had shown no sign of doing so. With every day that passed, she found herself checking less and less to see if he was still there. She found herself thinking less about the day in which she would find him gone again. Would she ever be able to be fully complacent about this? Somehow, Ellie didn't think so. Yet, for tonight, everybody that she loved was around her. Tonight, she would put her fears aside. She would be content.

After dinner, Devon brought out the game of Life. Morgan was most excited by this, and Sarah was intrigued; however, Stephen begged off. He asked if they would mind if he borrowed Chuck for a short while. Ellie appeared a bit disappointed that not all of them would play, but she didn't make a fight of it. Sarah's expression was curious. Chuck simply shrugged his shoulders and excused himself to go with his father.

As they were walking toward the back door, Stephen pulled up his left sleeve, and began tapping a code into his arm computer. Chuck noticed. "Uh… Dad?"

"Security, Charles. Don't mind me; I'm naturally careful after being on the run for so long."

His son paused, alarm seeming to spread on his face. "You… put in a security system?"

"Nothing commercial. I do all my own security." He patted Chuck on the back. "Don't worry about it, Son. I only have it to keep peace of mind."

"Um…OK. Does Ellie know?"

"Of course not. Why should she?"

"Um, in case she sets it off."

"Never happen. Any alarms will only notify me. It's not as if the police will come."

"I see. And, ah, what would you do if the alarm should go off and it's somebody bad?"

"What I usually do. Call in a Predator drone and blow up the property."

Chuck blanched.

"I'm kidding, Charles. As I said, don't worry about it."

They walked across the lawn, and Stephen unlocked the cottage door. They entered. Stephen sat on the bed, while Chuck sat down in his computer chair.

"So, Charles," said Stephen, "Tell me about work."

Chuck hesitated, appearing uncomfortable. "Uh, I'm not really supposed to talk to anybody about my work, Dad."

"Charles, this is me. I created a better part of that database in your head."

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, you did. I know… I know I can trust you with this information."

Over the next hour, he began telling about everything that had happened since he had begun his training with the new Intersect. Stephen couldn't be certain of course that he was being given the whole story, but he thought it very possible. Charles was never a good liar, at least to people who were aware that he might have something to hide. His guilt showed on his face whenever he was being dishonest. None of that guilt was present now, so either he was telling the whole truth, or he had gotten much better at deception. Stephen didn't like to think about it being the latter. He wanted his son's innocence to remain as intact as possible.

Chuck ended with the story of the recent mission against the Triad. "Beckman will have my skin if she finds out I told you this."

"I don't care about your superior. I care about your well-being," said Stephen.

Chuck's expression changed at that. He was looking at his father strangely now.

"What?" Stephen asked.

"Dad, to what lengths would you go to protect me?"

"I left you and you sister without a father for ten years to protect you. That should give you some idea."

"I know. It's just… We had a guardian angel during that last mission. There were Triad assassins in the peripheral buildings taking out Feds. At least one of the Triad had taken up a sniper position and could have shot at us, but somebody got to the Triad first. Somebody who wasn't the Feds."

Stephen frowned. "You think that was me?"

"Was it?"

"I won't deny that I would kill to protect you, Charles. You and your sister, both. I'm capable too, but single-handedly taking out a group of Triad assassins is a task for the young. Now, if I had my drones, that'd be one thing."

"No," Chuck smiled, obviously relieved. "I think if a Predator had come through the building, even the FBI would have noticed. That still doesn't explain who saved us, though."

"I'm glad you had that help, whoever it was. Still, I can't help but worry for you, Charles. I never wanted you to live this life, and I still don't."

"Dad," Chuck sighed.

""No, listen to me. I understand you feeling a sense of responsibility. That's the kind of man you are, and I'm proud of you. You want to fight this Ring, and that is understandable. But Charles, so far, you haven't been able to detect them. Since uploading the new Intersect, you've captured a few spies who haven't provided any new leads. Your ability to flash on information has produced virtually nothing, save that Greene character, and if anything truly helpful came from that, the government isn't telling you, are they? Meanwhile, you haven't been able to truly master this thing you have in your head."

Chuck's face fell. "Thanks for pointing out my failures, Dad."

"Charles, I'm not trying to tear you down. I just want to point out to you that this life isn't for you, and for a very long time, you felt the same way. During that wedding, when I said you weren't a spy, you didn't come back to me with, 'Yes, I am.' You said, 'I love her.' That's why you went after them. Tell me, honestly, Charles, how much of uploading the Intersect was because you thought it was the only way to keep Agent Walker in your life?"

Chuck appeared to be getting angry now. "Uploading the Intersect nearly destroyed Sarah and me. She was going to give up the spy life to be with me, and then I went and uploaded the thing! You saw how upset she was afterwards. Between that and what later happened with Greene…" Chuck shook his head. "The fact that we've been able to survive as a couple through this is a miracle."

"Then, Charles, if that's the case, we can fix it! I told you before, I would find a way to take the Intersect out, and I can try again."

"No, Dad."

Stephen felt anger boil just below the surface. He tried to push it down, but perhaps Chuck detected some of it, because he pulled back away from his father.

"Dad, I talked to Sarah about this. We both agreed that this is something bigger than us. As long as the Ring exists, and I have the ability to fight it, that's what I need to do. Maybe after that's over, we can look into getting the Intersect out, but until then…"

Stephen couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "I always said things like that to your mother. 'Just this project today, Honey.' Only one project always led to another, and suddenly, I was alone with two children who didn't understand why their mother was gone. Let me tell you something, Charles. We fought Fulcrum for years, and in the end, what did it gain us? A lot of dead bodies, and it turned out, they were a small expendable part of a bigger, more dangerous whole. You're putting aside a happy life to bash your head against the wall again and again."

Chuck looked sad. "I don't see it that way, Dad. I'm sorry that it upsets you, but I've made my choice."

Stephen's eyes snapped shut for a moment at that word. Choice. He had wanted to give Chuck a choice. He really had, but Chuck didn't have Stephen's experience. He wouldn't understand until it was too late. Stephen had a responsibility to his son to protect him from this mistake. In the final analysis, Stephen simply knew better.

Chuck continued, "Dad, I don't want this to be a rift between us. I told you about what's going on, because I don't want us to have secrets from each other, OK? Respect my decision. Please. "

Stephen opened his eyes again, and willed his expression to be positive and understanding. "Of course, Charles. I may not always agree with you, but you're an adult now. It's your choice." As he smiled at his son, Stephen was glad that Chuck hadn't fully mastered the ability to see through a lie.

Chuck and Stephen had returned in time for cake, coffee, and much more pleasant conversation that went until midnight, at which point it was time to say goodbyes.

Everybody came to the front lawn of the house to do so. Hugs were shared with all. Chuck, Sarah, and Morgan piled into their car and drove off.

With the help of Ellie's Dad, clean-up only took a half-hour. After that, Stephen kissed Ellie on the cheek, winked at his son-in-law and made his way out the back door. Devon noticed Stephen pause right outside the door, roll up his sleeve and presumably look at his wrist watch. He paused then, seeming to stare at it. Pulling his sleeve back down, Stephen turned around and looked back through the glass door with a strange expression.

"Anything wrong, Steve?" asked Devon, concerned.

Stephen eyes flicked to Devon. "Ah, no. No, I just thought I-" He blinked, uncertainly. "I'm just tired and punchy."

"Well, get some sleep," said Devon, giving his father-in-law a reassuring grin.

Stephen nodded and turned around, walking back toward his cottage. Devon watched him go. Weird guy, Ellie's Dad. But a good guy. A moment later, Ellie came behind Devon and put her arms around his back. Devon grinned. "Awesome job this evening, Babe."

"The height of praise," she laughed. "C'mon, let's get to bed."

His grin widened. "Hey, I'm not tired yet."

Ellie smirked. "Of course, you're not."

They walked upstairs, flirting all the way.

Two hours later, Ellie and Devon had been asleep for awhile.

Their house was a beauty. It had been lovingly maintained. When Ellie's father had given it to them, the newlyweds had found very little work they needed to put into it immediately, aside from preferences in paint and landscaping.

Two stories. Four bedrooms for the upstairs. The master was large with its own bathroom, and they had put a king bed and a large flat screen in there. Each had taken one of the rooms for an office, though eventually, one of those was likely to become a nursery. The fourth would serve as a guest room, though it was full of storage materials at the moment.

The downstairs had a gorgeous remodeled kitchen. One door opened into the dining room another into the hall. The kitchen had a laundry room (in what used to be the pantry), with a door connecting to the huge back yard with lots of fruit trees, a garden, and play space for kids. In fact, one of the advantages of the house was that there were no alleys at either side. When they did have kids, Ellie wouldn't have to worry about them playing in the back unsupervised. With the high fences surrounding it, the only way to get to the backyard was to go through the house.

The house even had a library, which used to be the sitting room, across from the living room which used to be the main parlor. The only problem with the place was the lack of a garage. They had to park on the street, but they were almost always able to find a space out front.

Ellie was particularly fond of the foyer. She and Devon had done some work on this area, putting some tile into the entranceway. They had also replaced the closet door with cherry wood, and a new bronze latch.

Ever so quietly, that latch began to turn.