I was looking through my documents trying to clear up some space on my hard drive and found this little fic. It's set right after Sarah and Casey capture Chuck's mom at the end of "Chuck vs. the Aisle of Terror," so it's not up-to-date on the character of Frost/Mary Bartowski, unfortunately. I love the Sarah/Mary spy pairing on the show, by the way. Not many women can say they have that kind of bond with their future mother-in-law.

Also for those of you wondering, I have not, repeat, HAVE NOT forgotten about "Chuck vs. The Mini Skirt." New chapter is about two-thirds of the way done and I'm adding in a new character who you might know. (She's a spy and has red hair...). Ellie, Awesome, and Alex are also in there.

Mother vs. Girlfriend

"Don't think we're done here," Casey warned the prisoner as the interrogation was put on hold. Sarah had her arms crossed and was staring off into space with her jaw locked tight. She resisted adding anything and moved to follow Casey out of the room.

"Some girlfriend," she heard Mary Bartowski say.

Sarah turned around, leaving Casey to exit by himself. "Excuse me?"

Mary was sitting in the chair on the other side of the table from Sarah. "I was just wondering how someone could kidnap their boyfriend's mother and feel like she was at all justified."

Sarah pressed her thumb against the screen next to the door and it shut with a 'whoosh'. Sarah then stepped towards her and said, "That's funny, because I was just wondering how a mother of two could walk out on her kids without so much as a goodbye." Sarah saw a flicker of emotion in the woman's eyes and realized that after an hour of useless interrogation, Sarah finally knew what her weakness was. She softened her voice. "How could you?"

Mary leaned back in her chair and sighed. "It's a long, complicated mess. I don't want to go into it. Especially with you."

"What is your problem with me? I took you into custody, yes, but there's something more than that," Sarah observed impatiently.

Mary smirked. "You're a good spy. Good instincts." Sarah watched intently as she spoke. "Take a seat."

Sarah never took orders from a victim of interrogation, especially when she was the interrogator, but things had moved beyond that. This was Chuck's mom. And she was Chuck's girlfriend. The spy world came second.

Once Sarah sat down in the chair across from her she said, "Well?"

"Chuck tells me you're dating," she said, eying the blonde. "Like I said before, I don't know anything about Chuck. However, I do know quite a bit about Charles Carmichael. …Including his team." Sarah was shaken by this but didn't show it. Not until her next words. "Tell me, Jenny, why should anyone believe a word you have to say?"

Sarah visibly winced at her old name. "What? You think I'm conning him?"

"Not conning," Mary said in her raspy voice. "That's such an ugly word. Actually, Sarah, despite my disapproval I have to admit I'm impressed. How is it that you managed to get this far?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked cautiously.

"Did you really think no one would piece it together? Let's start from the beginning," she said getting comfortable in her metal chair. "The daughter of a conman who undoubtedly was guilty of her own crimes is caught by the director of the CIA. But little Jenny Burton wasn't arrested, was she? No, she was given a job. A new life. A new identity. Switch now to Sarah Walker, who during her first assignment murdered a valued member of the agency." Sarah had tried to block that out of her mind. "Interestingly enough, there were zero ramifications. Flash forward to your first partner. The Andersons were cute, weren't they?" Mary was clearly enjoying this as Sarah got more and more upset. "Bryce was a looker, I see how you fell for him." Mary saw the look on Sarah's face. "Oh, sweetie, you do know your habit of falling for co-workers is well documented, don't you? Here's what interested me. Agent Larkin was not just a CIA agent. He had some pretty close bonds with Fulcrum—"

"Which I was an integral part in eliminating," Sarah argued.

"That you were, Sarah. That you were. And I guess it's just a coincidence that the same time Fulcrum was destroyed and Bryce Larkin was killed, you started looking into a new faction. The Ring. They'd be cool to work for, huh?" Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Well, Daniel Shaw sure thought so." Sarah's muscles tensed just at the mention of his name. "And look at that? He was your next boy toy, wasn't he?"

"I didn't know he was working for The Ring," she tried defending herself.

Mary tilted her head, patronizingly saying, "Of course not, Sarah. It's a total coincidence that the day after my son seemingly killed Daniel Shaw and ended The Ring, you and he went off grid in Paris. Quite the happy ending. But, see, Sarah, after you've gone out of your way to "make friends" with Fulcrum and The Ring through Larkin and Shaw, I could only ask myself, "What does she want from my Chuck?" Chuck's a loyal agent. You know that. He's special. And, you know, the only thing I could come up with was… Me. You seemed pretty adamant in helping Chuck find me. Thinking of joining Volkoff, are you?"

Sarah jumped out of her seat. "That's absolutely ridiculous! Everything you've just said is so far off base I don't even know where to start!"

Mary smiled slowly. "So you're saying that by piecing together the information I found through documents and files, I've come up with a completely inaccurate assumption about your life, motives, and loyalties?"

Sarah froze. She couldn't believe it. Chuck's mother had completely turned the tables on her.

"That's what you think I'm doing," Sarah stated.

She nodded. "We actually have something in common," Mary said. "What was the thing that bothered you most out of all my conclusions?"

Sarah didn't have to think to answer. "That I was using Chuck."

Mary nodded again. "I love my son, Sarah. And I can tell you do, too. Think about if I had told Chuck this story about you."

"He wouldn't believe it," Sarah told her quickly.

"I know," Mary said with raised eyebrows as she looked at the table. She then looked at the agent. "Because he loves you. He'd even get angry at me for suggesting such a thing. Chuck protects the people he loves, even from someone else he loves." She looked at Sarah firmly. "You're not doing yourself any favors turning Chuck against you."

"He's too trusting," Sarah argued. "We can't base our actions off of his emotions, it would be completely irrational."

"Sarah," she drawled, "Chuck doesn't love the people he trusts, he trusts the people he loves. That puts us in the same boat. He loves both of us, but who can he trust?"

"Why would he trust you?" Sarah asked accusingly. "How can he just push aside the fact that at any moment you could just up and leave him again? Twenty years is a long period of time to just forget, no matter how much he may want to."

"It was complicated what I had to do back then," Mary said vaguely.

"Remember how you said I was a good agent with good instincts?" Sarah said as she leaned forward. "Well, a good agent wouldn't take that for an answer, and my good instincts tell me to not commit to anything you try and convince me." She stood up and pushed the chair in. "So I'm going to go home, where I live with my boyfriend. And yes, thanks to your not cooperating, chances are we're going to fight about what happened. I hope you know that if you had been in my position, you'd have done the exact same thing." Sarah walked over and put her thumb on the sensor. "See you tomorrow, Agent Frost."

Mary Bartowski watched the blonde spy leave the room until the metal door slid shut behind her. She had a feeling this was just the first of many encounters with Sarah Walker.