John and Ellie had been spending most of their time off together for the past few weeks. They enjoyed intimate dinners out and long walks in the hills after work. Sometimes they'd go running together and other times they'd catch a movie on one or the others couch, he'd even taken her to a drive-in movie when he'd bought his new car. They were both fairly certain that Chuck and Sarah weren't aware of exactly what was going on between them. Casey figured that they had to know something was going on due to the sheer amount of time he spent with Ellie. But it was fun to keep them guessing. He didn't volunteer any information to Sarah and knew that Ellie hadn't said anything to Chuck as she had agreed with him that it would be fun to see how long Chuck could hold out before asking her to spill the beans. Knowing how perceptive his partner could be, Casey was surprised that Sarah hadn't called him on it yet, but figured she soon would.

She'd called him on his cell earlier and told him that she and Chuck were going to a movie. The two of them had been spending more and more time together without Casey in tow. That would have pissed him off earlier, but now he enjoyed his free time as he could spend it with Ellie. Just as he hung up, his phone rang again but this time it was Ellie. "Hi John, do you have plans tonight?" she inquired.

"Yes, but only if they involve you," That was smooth he inwardly grinned as he heard her light laugh.

"Good, because I have a surprise for you. When do you get off?"

"At three, why what's the deal?"

"I can't tell you, it'll ruin the surprise, but dress casual and I'll knock after I get home and freshen up so be ready at about three thirty okay?"

"Okay, I'll be ready. See you soon, Bye." He hung up and smiled at how he actually said goodbye to her. He never said hello or goodbye on the phone but found himself doing it with her whenever they talked. Somehow, just hanging up the phone on her sweet voice bugged him. He wondered what she was planning. They'd gone to the beach for a midnight-picnic the last time she'd surprised him. And what a picnic that had been. He grinned at the memory. Their relationship was getting heavy. While they hadn't had intercourse yet, they were definitely comfortable with each others bodies and had spent considerable time exploring and pleasing each other intimately. Casey didn't want to push Ellie. He figured when she was ready, they'd both know and until that time, he was fine waiting patiently.

Casey took a quick shower and changed into casual clothes consisting of jeans and an Ed Hardy t-shirt. He grabbed a beer and took a sip when his cell rang again. It was Sarah. Apparently Chuck had a "mini-flash", whatever the hell that was, and Sarah felt that instead of going to the movies alone, they should stay home or at least have Casey with them if they went out. This changed he and Ellie's plans. After telling Sarah about Ellie's plans for a surprise, Sarah quickly told him she would have Chuck get Ellie to invite she and Chuck along on the surprise that way they would all be together. Casey sighed as this wasn't exactly what he wanted but figured it could be worse so he agreed.

--

"Hey Ellie, what are you up to?" Chuck asked as his sister hurriedly walked in and rushed down the hall towards the shower.

"I'm going out tonight. What are you doing?"

Chuck noted that she never mentioned who she was with when she went out but he grinned as he knew it was a certain six foot four, two hundred forty pound undercover agent/friend/associate or whatever Casey was to Chuck. "Nothing" he replied "Sarah is coming over and I was hoping we could all hang out by the pool or something."

Ellie stopped in the hall and appeared to be mulling something over. "Okay, sit down Chuck, I have to talk to you."

Chuck took a seat knowing what was coming, but not letting on, deciding to just let her talk.

"Chuck, you know I'm long over my break up with Devon, and I think you know I've been spending a lot of time with John lately." Chuck nodded as she continued. "Well, it's gotten serious and we're together now. I was waiting for the right time to tell you and I asked John to let me tell you, so he hasn't said anything either. I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner, but it was kind of fun having our secret. I hope you aren't hurt or angry with me."

"Ellie, I'm not angry at all, I'm happy for you. And, you're right, I figured something was going on with you two but I have a secret to share as well. Sarah and I saw you a few months ago with John in your car. He was driving and you were on the seventy three and you were a..you were kind of making out with him as he was driving."

"You both knew and you didn't let on! what little sneaks you are" she admonished as she playfully punched his arm. "I'm going to have to get you both back, but not tonight. Here is the deal, I'm surprising John and taking him to Disneyland. It's the perfect place for a romantic date, but I have to surprise him as I don't think he'd be too keen to agree if I give him the choice. I think it would be perfect if you and Sarah joined us. He'd relax a bit with his friends along and our secret will be out without any drama. What do you think?"

Chuck actually laughed as he thought of gruff, serious, stern Casey wearing Mickey Mouse Ears and riding It's A Small World.

"What, what's so funny?" Ellie demanded.

"Oh nothing, you sure you want us tagging along?"

"Oh, it'll be fun, it's not a problem. I just want to keep our destination a surprise for John. I mean he'll figure it out once we get into the parking lot, but it will be fun watching his reaction once he figures out exactly where I'm taking him," she grinned.

That was an understatement Chuck thought. It would be fun to see Casey's reaction as well now that he and Sarah would be joining them. He suspected Casey showed a softer side of himself to Ellie. He wondered how or when Casey would tell her who he really was or if he even could. He'd struggled with them being together when he'd first spied them together, but realized their relationship was very similar to he and Sarah's except theirs was real and not a cover. While Casey was not what Chuck would consider a sensitive person, to be fair, he'd only seen the professional side of Casey so only Ellie knew what he was really like when he let his guard down. Tonight would prove most interesting for all of them he thought.

The three of them stopped and knocked on Casey's door and Sarah noted that he did a good job acting surprised at their presence for Ellie's sake. Sarah knew that Casey must have very strong feelings for Ellie to go through all of the subterfuge for her sake and that made her happy. He'd never confided in her regarding Ellie, but now that it was out in the open, maybe he would. She'd started off her tentative partnership with Casey on shaky ground but now found herself actually liking him and caring about him. She was so sad when he and Ilsa had broken up and wanted him to be happy or as happy as he could be under their unusual circumstances and now that he'd found Ellie, Sarah felt it really couldn't have worked out any better. In fact there was a time, unbeknownst to Casey that Graham had actually suggested the possibility of Casey having an orchestrated "cover" relationship with Ellie and that was just so sad. Now, he had the real thing going with Ellie and Sarah was glad because she knew with him having a personal stake in things, Ellie and Chuck both would be as safe as they possibly could be. Casey would annihilate anyone who tried to harm her, Ellie or Chuck for that matter and if the NSA, or god forbid her own CIA tried to get "creative" and pull anything sneaky with Chuck, Casey would buck it, she knew this in her heart and for some reason, it made her feel good. They were all thrown together now and were kind of their own little family with Morgan and Ana tossed in on occasion. Sarah felt a happy warm feeling come over her and smiled brightly up at Casey as they walked to Ellie's convertible and Team Bartowski set off for the Happiest Place on Earth.

--

For whatever reason, Ellie liked it when John drove her car. She liked watching him drive and concentrate. She liked being able to play with his hair or rub his thigh or kiss his neck as he drove. She also liked the freedom of being able to chat with her brother and Sarah in the back seat and watch the sights as they whizzed by. When she was with John, he almost always drove no matter whose car they took.

"So where do you want me to go for this surprise?" he asked.

"Just take the 405 to 5 south," she instructed with a smile. Casey popped the top on the convertible and was going to grab her hand but hesitated. Then he thought to himself 'screw it they know now so I'm going to hold her hand if I damn well please' so he grabbed it and pulled it into his lap. They headed off with the stereo playing, the wind in their hair and a happy Chuck and Sarah in the back.