Summary: Sarah's decisions have led to a horrible result Never did she realize just how much she could ruin the man she had thought was above ruining. Timeline is post finale with spoilers through 2.20. Anything beyond First Kill is assumption and me making stuff up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. But then again, you probably already knew that.

A/N: Alright, this is an idea I have had for a long, long time. It's a little darker than anything I've done to this point (not that I've done that much, but still), but I think it could be interesting. Every time I read a fan fiction in which Sarah abandons Chuck, or does something to make him feel betrayed, I've always wondered why Chuck doesn't snap. Why would Chuck never lash out the best way he knew how. That is what this story is about. Chuck gets revenge for being hurt. I haven't given up B&JvC&S by any means. This will just be a side project to start with. Something else to keep me fresh for my other story. I don't know how quickly updates will come with this one, or even if I may eventually just leave it as a one-shot (not likely, I kind of like the possibilities). Anyway, I would appreciate your reviews and feedback as to what you think of this beginning. Is it something you would want to read? Let me know. Also, if you have any ideas for where you think this should go, please feel free to let me know as well. I love suggestions and they almost always make my writing better. Anyway, that's about all. Here's the Prologue for Sarah vs. Ashes of an American Flag.


Black Rock

Barstow, CA

January 13, 2010

8:38 PM PST

She sat all alone in her cell, chained to the walls. In many ways, she'd been the last line of defense against Fulcrum. The CIA was losing operatives at an alarming rate. Most of them met their death at the hands of the enemy agency. Still there were always some agents that simply defected.

Traitors were a group Sarah Walker could never understand. But so many of her own had turned. How could they betray their country? That wasn't the question that she really wanted to ask herself however. She really wanted to know how he could betray her.

Deep down, she knew exactly why he did it. She'd driven him to this. She'd driven the one man she'd loved the most to become the one thing she despised the most. Now, all was lost. Despite her best attempts at fighting of the uprising of the cabal, the fault for the Intelligence Community's failure to stop the threat was largely at her feet.

No matter how hard she tried to tell herself that she'd done nothing wrong, the words rang hollow in her head. Every day since the tide turned decidedly in Fulcrum's favor, she had fallen for at least a few minutes into the 'what-if' game.

What if I had just stayed? No you couldn't stay. You risked his life by being there.

What if I had found some way to stop him? And how pray tell would you have done that Agent Walker?

I could have shot him! I could have ended the threat right there! Both sides would have been equal.

Could you have really killed him Sarah? No, I couldn't have. I loved him too much. I could never believe that he would actually go through with it. I didn't even tell anyone about what he said until it was too late.

The thoughts were painful. The memories of her time with Chuck were almost unbearable. She'd sacrificed the thing that made her more happy than anything else in the world. And for what? For nothing. Her sacrifice had not paid off. In fact her sacrifice was the very cause of the current threat to the country she'd been pledged to protect.

A good soldier would fall on their sword now, she thought to herself. But they won't even let me have that dignity, she added ruefully to her thoughts.

She closed her eyes. Despite the feeling of her arms being pulled from her sockets, her utter exhaustion began to grip her body. Maybe when I wake up, this will all be a dream. Fulcrum will have lost, and Chuck will be safe and sound back in LA where I left him. And I'll be doing my job making sure life is safe for him and for all the Chuck's of the world. The last part made her even sadder. There was only one Chuck in the world. There was one man that had that million watt smile, and that magnetic personality. One man that could make her melt with his eyes. One man that had every really cared about her. One man that she'd ever really loved. And she, herself was responsible for ruining him.

Sarah thought back to the day the situation began its downward spiral.

Sarah's Hotel Room

Los Angeles, CA

May 2, 2009

5:22 PM PDT

"Why would you do this?!" Sarah was enraged that her former asset would spit in the face of all that she had worked to do for him.

"I did it because it's the right thing to do! The country needs me Sarah!" Chuck wasn't backing down from his stance. When the nerd made up his mind, it was a near impossible task to change it.

"And what about you? What do you think you will get back from the country that needs you?"

"It's not about what I get back Sarah." Chuck paused, taking a deep breathe. "It's about making this a better place to live. It's about protecting everyone that can't protect themselves." Chuck looked down, deciding he needed to come completely clean with the blond. "And…it's the only way I could keep you in my life."

As much as she wanted to be touched by the last part of his statement, she couldn't help but feel angry that this wonderful man would give up himself at least partially for her. What had she done to deserve that? She could think of only one way to keep him from making this mistake.

"If you insist on this course of action, Chuck," Sarah stopped momentarily to collect her thoughts. "I will not be your handler." She raised her hand to quiet his protest. "Our feelings for one another will make the job impossible. Can you really go back to us just being a cover?"

Chuck shook his head. "No Sarah. I can't, but why-"

"We can't work together if I'm more worried about you than about the mission! I thought you would have learned that by now. So Chuck, the choice is simple. Either you can have your real life back. You can get a job you love. You can find some special girl that will love you as much as you deserve to be loved. You'll live a long happy life…no Intersect. No lying or spying. No covers. Just real happiness." Briefly Sarah wished she could live that life with Chuck. But no, her place was not here. She was needed elsewhere, and Chuck deserved better than a girl with the baggage she carried.

"Or…you can go back to being the Intersect. You can give control of your life back to the government. You'll be assigned a new CIA handler who will not care about your well being. They'll only care that you're alive. And eventually, they'll decide they don't need you anymore and you'll be locked away in some bunker, never to see the people you love again. Or they'll just kill you." Sarah broke eye contact so that he couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. "But either way, Chuck, I have to leave. I have to be out of your life. I have a job to do. And as much as I love you, and as much as I want to stay here and live your dream life with you, I can't."

"Wait, you love me? You can't just say that and then leave Sarah! I won't let you leave!" Chuck's anger was brimming at this woman that could so completely screw his life up and then leave like it didn't matter.

"What are you going to do Chuck? You can't keep me here. I told you, I have a job to do!"

"If you walk out of that door Sarah…" Chuck contemplated whether or not he should continue with the line of thought. Gathering his resolve, he indeed continued. "If you leave me, you won't have a job to go back to." His words were cold and ominous. Neither was characteristic of Chuck Bartowski.

Sarah laughed humorlessly despite herself. "And how are you going to manage that Chuck?" she mocked.

"If you leave me here all alone, I will get re-Intersected. And when I do, I'll end your precious CIA. Sarah, you know on what this battle hinges. I happen to know the man that is building the new one. If he was to allow me to download it to myself…which he would…and something was to happen to the new computer, I'd be the only one left."

Sarah did not like where this was going. Was he honestly saying that he would…

"I'm sure Fulcrum would be quite happy to have the one and only Intersect at their disposal. More to point, I'm sure they would be quite thrilled to have in their camp the only man capable of making a new one and the man that can carry one in his head."

"Chuck, you don't know what you're saying! They would torture you…they would-"

"Not if I willingly joined their ranks!" Chuck was now yelling at the woman he loved. "I promise you Sarah, if you leave me, Fulcrum wins. End of story. If it is really the CIA keeping us apart, then I see no other option than to destroy the CIA."

"You don't mean that Chuck. I know you would never do that." And Sarah truly did know that Chuck would never do that. He could never turn to help the evil organization he'd helped to fight for so long.

"Try me Sarah."

His words hurt. To know that she could upset him so much that he would threaten to do the unthinkable. To know that she had hurt him so thoroughly stung her to her core. Deep down, she knew she was doing the right thing however. In time, he would get over this hurt. He would move along with his life, and live a happy peaceful existence. And one day, he'd forget that Sarah Walker had ever existed. She really wished the last one for him. One thing was certain though…no matter what he did, or where she was in the world, Sarah Walker would never forget Chuck Bartowski.

"Goodbye Chuck." Sarah grabbed the handle to her luggage and began to roll it towards the door. "I hope you find happiness some day. Please do that for me. I do love you." She slipped on her shades to hide the tears now falling from her eyes. "And I'll never forget you." And with that, Sarah walked out of the door to her home for the past nearly two years. She walked away from the closest thing to normal she'd ever walked away from Chuck Bartowski's life forever.

Or so she thought.

A/N: So what did you think? Should I keep going? Yes? No? Maybe so? Too dark? Not dark enough? I realy am an open book on this one you guys. It's certainly new ground for me. Anyway, I welcome and look forward to your comments. As I say at the end of every piece I've written, you guys are awesome. Peace.