Sarah was running, running faster than she had ever ran before in her entire life. She felt silly running across town, but it was an emergency, and he car was out of commission. Her hair flew across her face wildly as she ran, she hadn't had the time to put it up when she received Chuck's SOS text. The text had sent her in such a frenzy that she hadn't even been able to grab her gun. She was in her Orange Orange outfit with her usual knives strapped against her thighs. Honestly, the knives were the only thing she needed when it came to defending Chuck. She could do it without her gun, and now that Chuck could Kung-fu his way out of problems she felt better, but still a little uncomfortable, about leaving him alone for a few minutes. It was texts like these, however, that made her want to just buy a nice little apartment with him and stay attached to his hip permanently so that he could always be with her, and she could always be protecting him. Sarah wanted to protect him from everything. This meant he had twenty-four seven protection from terrorists, ex girlfriends, Casey, and even simple things like paper cuts.

Sarah kept running, the text playing out in her mind like a worn out pop song, "Need help. In a lot of trouble, do NOT bring Casey." In her mind, she could see her Chuck being tortured by a Triad, or kidnapped by a ring operative. Those thoughts made her run faster. They made her run so fast that the soles of her shoes were starting to burn through. She had to get there in time, she had to save Chuck from whoever was causing him to need help. Chuck was her guy, and if he wasn't safe she'd probably have a heart attack and die. Of course, she'd never admit that. She'd never admit to anyone how much she truly cared about him, how much she truly loved him. Just the context of the word love made her uneasy. She had always been taught not to fall in love. Yes, she had loved Bryce, but in a different way than Chuck. Bryce was a bonified hardcore spy who was able to push his feelings deep into his body and bury them away. Chuck on the other hand was a real guy. He was someone who had grown up always wanting love, imagining it in his head over and over again. He thought about the type of woman he would end up falling for. Someone beautiful and strong, someone who was independent. He found that in Sarah just as Sarah had found things in him.

Finally, after around fifteen minutes of running (thank GOD she was so fit), she got to Chuck and Morgan's place. Sarah seriously contemplated kicking down the door and busting in like a bad ass, but she feared that Ellie or Morgan might walk out and see her, so she just knocked frantically. She knocked as if she were an eager trick or treater, fast and loud. That lasted for at least two minutes before she heard the sound that made her heart skip a beat. A blood curdling scream that sounded like it came from a small girl. Her mind automatically went to Chuck. It sounded similar to his scream, but not totally. She tried to play that scream and his scream over in her head, quickly analyzing it before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't him, but someone else. Morgan, perhaps? Sarah finally got tired of wondering what the heck was going on and picked the lock. She was swift when it came to lock picking, and she was inside in less than a minute. "Chuck?" She slowly walked through the house, making sure to look in each room, just in case Chuck was laying on the floor dead or something, which was definitely a thought that she shuddered at. "Chuck if you're in here you need to answer me!" Another blood curdling scream and she reached down, grabbing a knife. "Hello?"

What happened next was something that she had definitely been unprepared for. A small child ran out of Chuck's room. The little girl had to be no older than four. She was wide eyed and innocent, something Sarah wasn't used to. The small child had little brown curls falling down her back and was in a pink ballerina tutu. Sarah quickly put her knife back where it belonged, so that the girl didn't see it. Before she could say anything the child ran up and grabbed her legs in a hug. A hug that literally melted Sarah's heart. "My name is Libby! I'm four!" She said with a crooked smile. The little girl was perfect in every way possible, like an angel. But it didn't make since. Chuck was in danger and there was a four year old running around his house? Was this kid some kind of midget terrorist? That was highly unlikely, and Sarah wanted to kick her self for even considering that. "Are you Sarah?" Libby looked up at her with those big blue eyes and Sarah couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I am Sarah. Do you know where Chuck is?" Libby's face was blank, she obviously had no idea who Chuck was. "He's got curly brown hair, and he's cute, funny, tall, pretty much amazing." She was lost in Chuck land for a second before having to come back down to reality. "He lives here Libby, do you know who I'm talking about?" The little girl, who was a very animated little child, put on her best thinking face she could muster and nodded, holding her arms up so that Sarah knew to pick her up. "I know where he is, but I don't call him Chuck! I call him Grover!" Sarah grinned as she held onto the tiny doll like child, Grover, she liked that.

When Sarah walked into the room, Libby on her hip, she witnessed something both terrifying and adorable. Chuck holding another curly headed baby who was big enough to hold her head up, but little enough to not know how to crawl yet. When he saw Sarah, he smiled a smile that Sarah could only describe as godlike. A smile that made her get this weird feeling in her entire body that she figured was butterflies. She had never gotten butterflies from anyone in her lifetime except for Chuck, and she didn't want to admit that she actually liked them. "I see you've met Libby." He smiled again and walked towards Sarah and her pint sized new friend, "She's an awesome, just like her sister here. This is Marleigh, also known as Baby Awesome." Both he and Sarah laughed at the nickname as they sat down on the bed, side by side, each holding a child. "You know Chuck, I could lock you up in Castle for scaring me with that text like that!" She looked at him in the eyes, her fingers running through Libby's perfect curls. "I'm sorry, I realized after I sent it that you would probably thing I was being hung by my toes or something, but I really do need your help. Two Awesomes is just way too much for me to handle and I needed someone I could trust with a child to help." He bounced Baby Awesome in his arms and looked at her, clearly not done with his rambling, "I figured, I trust you more than anyone I know, so you were the only person I could trust with someone else's kid." Butterflies entered her chest again and she wanted so much just to reach over and grab him in a kiss, but she knew not to let her guard down. She heard Carina's voice in her head talking about the "cardinal rule of spying," and that was what stopped her from succumbing to her raw feelings for the man in front of her. "You know Chuck, I can handle anything. Bombs, assassins, guns, you name it. Kids? I'm not too sure... I've never really been around a kid." She looked at both Marleigh and Libby, who were starting to fall asleep and felt uneasy. She honestly didn't know what to do. "It's okay, I'll teach you." He reached down and grabbed her hand with his free hand, and she automatically felt unstoppable.


With the girls asleep, it gave Chuck and Sarah some time to just relax and enjoy each other. No missions, no guns, just the two of them and their pure, but hidden, love for each other. The first fifteen minutes of "Charah" time was pretty uneventful. They didn't speak much to each other, just sat side by side on the couch flipping through random television shows about doctors, lawyers, and the occasional spy. Chuck was the first to talk, "Are you hungry? I can make you some food if you want. I'm not the best cook, but I know how to boil water and start the microwave." Sarah laughed at his comment and nodded. "A little. Want me to help? Not only do I know how to start an oven, but I also know how to make sure whatever you put in the microwave doesn't burn the house down." She winked and stood up, walking towards the kitchen. She was feeling unusually funny today, and she actually kinda liked it. "So, Grover, what do you have in mind?" She opened up the fridge and looked in. There was a whole lot of "Morgan food" in there. Stuff like string cheese, pudding, and lunchables. "Did you just seriously call me Grover?" Chuck opened up the cabinet and got out the essentials like flour, sugar, and cooking oil. "You must have talked to Libby!" He said as he watched Sarah open up some string cheese and eat it slowly. "You know, Morgan's going to know you took that. He counts his snacks every morning to make sure I don't eat any." Sarah shrugged and finished up the cheese, "Eh, I'll have the CIA give him a lifetime supply or something." She pulled the regular cheese out of the fridge along with some butter and held it up, "I'm thinking let's go old school and make grilled cheese." Chuck quickly agreed and put the flour and other things back into the cabinet, then got out the bread. "I think I can handle that."

Two overly burnt sandwiches and a smokey living room later, the two of them decided to grab the girls and go out for lunch. "You grab Marleigh and I'll get Libby," Sarah said while turning off the fire alarm and throwing away the charred sandwiches, "I thought you said you could handle grilled cheese!" Her eyebrows raised, watching Chuck's priceless expression. "And I thought you said you could put out the fire if I burnt the house down." Chuck smirked and walked into his room, picking up the small baby who was already awake from her nap. "That only applies with the microwave, not the stove." Little Libby was also wide awake and sitting on Chuck's bed, her arms automatically shot up towards Sarah when she saw her. That was the first moment in Sarah's entire existence that she had ever considered having a child of her own. A child she wanted with Chuck. Sarah picked up Libby and shook the thought of her having a family with this guy who was her assignment out of her head. If he had had those mutual feelings, then he would have run away with her in Prague when he had the chance. She understood that he wanted to be more than Chuck Bartowski, frequent girlish screamer and nerd herd worker, but what she didn't understand is that when she gave him the chance to run away with her, he had shot her down. It hurt her more than she would let anyone know. Carina had seen the pain in Sarah's eyes last time she was in town. She had seen how much Sarah honestly was in love with this guy. John Casey did as well, but he didn't give two flying flips. He didn't understand it, and he really didn't care to sit down and try to. Someone else who saw the love, was Libby.

Libby wasn't like a normal child. She was more sensitive to peoples emotions than most children were. She knew when someone was sad or angry or happy just by looking into their eyes or hearing their voice. She was only four, so she didn't understand exactly what these feelings meant, but she understood love. Not in a full out adult love kinda way, but a sweet, innocent love. The kind of love she knew her mommy and daddy had. Libby loved everything. She loved flowers, and princesses, and the color pink. She especially loved when she saw two people who loved each other. Things like kissing made her say eww, just like any other small child. Hand holding? That was perfectly acceptable, so was hugging.

"Sarah," Libby said during a moment of alone time. Chuck and Sarah had gone to a restaurant with the two small girls, and Libby had asked to go to the restroom, mainly so that she could talk to Sarah without Chuck or Marleigh, who was too young to understand anyways, listening in. "Yes Libby?" Sarah held the child's hand tightly, her over protective instincts coming through. "Do you love Grover?" The sweet child looked into Sarah's eyes, holding the gaze until she got her answer. "Of course I love him sweetheart, he's my best friend." Libby shook her head, the braids that Sarah had put in her hair swinging back and forth, "No. Not like a best friend. You love him like Daddy loves Mommy don't you?" A lump formed in Sarah's throat, she couldn't lie to a child could she? Sarah was used to lying, and she figured that children were lied to all the time. Santa was a lie, wasn't he? Libby's sweet face continued to hold Sarah's gaze, she was analyzing her facial features, trying to figure out what Sarah was thinking about. Before Sarah knew it, she was nodding at the girl. "Yes. I do." Libby gleamed and wiggled down from Sarah's arms, then went into the toilet stall to use the potty. "I knew it." She said quietly, but loud enough for Sarah to hear. Sarah really liked this kid.

Libby came out of the bathroom and walked towards the sinks. She liked to at least attempt something by herself before asking for help, so she stood as tall as she could on her tippie toes to reach the soap. Sarah watched, amused at the little girl. The sink was taller than she was, and there was no way that three foot Libby could ever reach the soap. "Sarah, can you lift me up so I can wash my hands?" She looked defeated, her eyes fell to the ground and Sarah felt a twinge in her heart for the child. Sarah lifted her up and stood her up on the sink so she could do everything by herself. "You know, " Sarah said as she too washed her hands, "I couldn't reach the sink till I was seven years old. So don't feel bad sweetheart, you'll get it eventually." Light found its way back into Libby's eyes as she reached for the paper towels and dried her hands. Then she jumped off the sink into Sarah's open arms. When they got back to the table, Chuck was feeding Baby Awesome something that resembled blended green crayons.

"That.... Looks pretty disgusting." Libby nodded in agreement and then lost herself in playing with her letter shaped french fries, spelling things like Sayruh N Grovur with little hearts beside it. "It's supposed to be Organic peas and cabbage. Good for the growth of the infant, but if it was up to me I'd just put some fries in a blender and feed that to her." Chuck smiled and pulled a tiny piece of fry off of his plate and fed it to Marleigh, who chewed it with her three tiny teeth the best that she could. "Would you like to try some?" He grinned and held the spoon up to Sarah, who shook her head quickly. "No thank you. I'd rather not get food poisoning!" Chuck shook his head, spoon still out with the blended crayon on the end. "It's organic Sarah ! It's perfectly acceptable to eat. If you want, I can make airplane sounds and you can eat it that way. Or a gun, if you'd rather have it like that." Chuck started to twirl it around, making quiet bang sounds that had Libby laughing so hard she almost fell. "Okay, ONE bite. But if I die, it's on you." Sarah closed her eyes and put the spoon in her mouth, swallowing quickly. "That was pretty nasty. How do babies eat that stuff?" Chuck shrugged and took a bite of it too. "No clue, but hey, you're alive." He winked and that was the end of the baby food discussion. A few minutes later, everyone was finished with their meals and it was time to go. Chuck and Sarah both stood up, grabbing the kids. Libby, who had begged to pay for the dinner walked up to the waiter and handed him the fat check, (which was only 20 bucks but they paid in all ones to make her feel special). Then they were off to their next adventure. The Zoo.