A/N: This is Charah set at the end of First Date and progresses from there. Do not own Chuck or its wonderful characters.

A Different Kind of Couple

"You're early," Chuck teased as he opened the door.

"I'm sorry Chuck, but we can't go on our date tonight." Sarah watched as there was an immediate head droop followed by putting on his brave front. Thinking it's about him when it has almost always been her shortcomings. Unconsciously a tear pricked at the corner of her eye knowing the explanation is just going to hurt him more, but with this comes a moment of true courage for her and she makes a major decision. As she lifts his face back to meet hers, "No Chuck, this has nothing to do with you or me. The cipher was a Trojan horse… Graham along with five agents were killed in the explosion." She made sure to lock onto his eyes and noticed his inevitable shift towards guilt from feeling sorry for himself while others had just been killed.

Chuck noticed the corner of her eye and instinctively brushed the tear away, before surprising her again by pulling her in for a hug, "I'm sorry that I always seem to react this way (deep breath), I know Graham was your boss, were you close?" putting no accusation in his voice.

"I guess so, he was the person who brought me into the CIA, but… that wasn't the reason for the tear. Chuck, there's something I need to tell you but it can't be done here."

Noting her not so subtle clue, "Ok, do you want to go to our spot on the beach?"

Just hearing him say 'our spot' made her heart leap with joy and the resulting smile showed it, "No, I have to go to Castle in order to get the full briefing on what happened. Come to my room tomorrow morning and we can talk there."

"Ok Sarah, I'll bring breakfast."

"Great." She said enthusiastically, before stepping up and kissing him. Unlike the frantic kiss in front of the Bryce bomb this one had control; however it still contained a soaring amount of passion with the intensity of the kiss stating love rather than need. When their lips parted neither was able to fully contain what they both felt and it showed in their faces. Seeing their feelings reflected on the other's face fed into their smiles further. Sarah took a small step backwards into the courtyard as the doorframe held Chuck up. Both just grinning and unable to look away from one another; until Sarah felt the blush creep onto her cheeks and was barely able to whisper, "Goodnight Chuck," before turning she heard his whispered reply and heard the door close. She was able to maintain this high until she sat down in her Porsche at which point terror overtook her as she realized that could be the last kiss she has with him and she would not blame him one bit.

After the door closed it took a few minutes for the synapses to start fully firing once again for Chuck. Once they did there was the immediate attempt to overanalyze the situation; finding the negative connotation he can attach to it. For the first time in a long while Chuck did not succumb to those thoughts; because there really wasn't anything negative that he could conceive of from what just happened. Granted there were dead agents, but her otherwise normally mixed signals weren't there. Her not wanting to talk here, if what she needed to say were to push him away again it would be far more prudent to do it within the NSA/CIA earshot instead of making it private. His mood not swayed from his brain adding in its two cents, he quickly wrapped the dinner placing it in the refrigerator and cleared the table leaving a note for Ellie that if she and Devon hadn't eaten after their shift they were welcome to his famous chicken pepperoni and that he was meeting Sarah first thing in the morning. Finishing that there was nothing else he could think of doing so he went about his bedtime routine and despite it being hours before he would usually go to bed; upon hitting the pillow fell completely asleep his dreams filled with loving thoughts about his kick ass ninja.

From the second she descended into Castle she could tell something was off. Casey was a little more brusque than usual, but the way his fingers were fidgeting showed that he was nervous about something. The debriefing did nothing to ease her mind as there was something different about both Casey and Beckman's attitude and it had nothing to do with the death of Graham. At best they considered him a respected colleague when in reality they were both wary enough to watch their backs around him at all times.

Before signing off Beckman was polite and considerate to her. While there were potential reasons: she had been called in certain circles Graham's enforcer; perhaps interpreting that as thinking her his protégé and that his loss would affect her more deeply than it had. Another reason was now this appeared to be strictly an NSA run op and she being CIA, Beckman wanted to act proactively to avoid the crap that brings down most interagency operations. A mixture of both would make the most sense, but the overriding feeling she was getting from the both of them was guilt and there were two reasons she could immediately come up with for that. First was the NSA planting the cipher and blowing up Graham and the new Intersects. The problem with that was if that was their plan it was stupid; doing that left everything back on Chuck and even with Casey's softening towards him she knew despite the surprising number of adventures they've been able to have he wanted back in the field full time and not hocking grills wearing a green shirt. Also Beckman was a stickler for procedure and Chuck for all his positive attributes, following military protocols was not one of them and that would drive her insane. That wasn't logical or practical and Beckman was both of those which left the second option.

The subsequent rage blinded Sarah for a moment; channeling that aggression had been a strong suit. Her strongest was being able to maintain a fairly calm disposition while allowing that aggression to allow her to 'Hulk up'. Even in her current state of confusion trying to see how all the pieces fit her nerd was able to bring a smile to her face. The momentary peace allowed her to realize one of her worst fears was almost realized.

Casey had observed his partner scrutinizing both the General and himself; so he immediately tried to leave exclaiming he had to rush home to monitor Chuck. When Sarah grabbed his arm on the stairs and turned him around he glared at her, but she did not give a millimeter.

"He thinks of you as a friend. If you think you deserve that trust then you will tell him what was supposed to happen tonight."

Casey hardened his features, but his eyes slightly drooped; the look on her face said she caught the slight tell, he let out a breath, "I suppose if I don't then you will."

"Not right away. There is something that I must know. Did Graham know about this?"

"Does it matter now?"

Sarah took a deep breath as this would solidify his concerns about her impartiality, "Yes, I had a deal with him that I would go back to the CIA and finish out my tour after this assignment as long as Chuck and his family were kept out of a bunker and safe."

Casey was a little surprised at the depth of her compromised state and as the events of the evening replayed in his mind made a vow to himself to help protect them however he could, because despite their intelligence, both were completely clueless when it came to relationships. The thought calmed him until he remembered he hadn't answered her question yet and the concerned look on her face shook him. "It's easy to say now, but you need to know this is the truth. I argued against the order. Until Graham pounded the desk threatening to send somebody else to do the job; I finally agreed to it. I couldn't let some moron come in and mess it up. Chuck serves this country with honor; he deserved to have it be as quick and painless as possible."

Sarah silently nodded, as her face hardened she released Casey's arm and although it didn't register his retreat was the fastest she had ever seen the big guy move. The realization Graham would lie about this, to her, made her consider what else he decided to lie to her about. One promise in particular, the one she based her post-CIA life on consumed the majority of her thoughts and that weighed heavily on the Agent portion of her mind trying to convince her not to go through with tomorrow. Her normal way to quell the churning emotions was to work out and despite the exhausting two hour workout she put herself through her Porsche's steering wheel found itself for the second time tonight as the shoulder Sarah leaned onto as she released the remnants of her emotions.

Making her way back to Maison 23, she had no idea if there was anybody at the desk or even in the building; spy instinct locked her door and although the shower physically relaxed her muscles her brain was still working overtime as she completed her bedtime routine. Staring at her darkened ceiling her mind was conducting one of the most brutal battles to determine which side would finally gain control. The emotional, along with the physical, toll she'd undergone in the past few hours finally was forcing her to sleep. Just before she succumbed her tongue traced her lips immediately bringing back the kiss to the forefront and pushing everything else aside. The curling of her lips occurred as she fell soundly asleep and only increased as the only dreams afforded to her were those of her potential baggage carrier.

A/N: Chuck vs. Ellie is still being finished. I was not happy with either of my endings so I took some time away from it and started back on this one as it seemed to fit. As always thanks to those who read and review.