Introduction

-Hello fellow Chuck fans. This is my second attempt at writing a fan fiction for this show. It was my favorite while it aired and I continue to re-watch episodes at home. Anyway, I should tell you all up front that I tried to write this story solely from Sarah's perspective. The show was called Chuck so he was the main focus and we learn more about Chuck then Sarah. So I started thinking about the events from her perspective, what she felt, why she acted the way she did and wrote to that. Each chapter takes place during or around the events surrounding the corresponding episode. When all is said and done I hope to have one chapter for each episode. A Herculean task I know but I do enjoy this show so much.

-A few other things to note: I tried to get away from a strict narrative of the events we saw each week and come up with creative ways to tell the story. You can tell me how I fared after the first few are out. As always I would love to hear your feedback, whether positive or negative.

-The next thing is that whenever you see something italicized that is strictly Sarah's thoughts.

-As of this posting I have the first 16 chapters written. I have also lost my beta reader so if anyone is interested in helping me make these readable please let me know.

I would like to thank Aoife McEvoy for beta reading and helping me with the story. So without any further introductions here it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

The Beach

Burbank, California

Sarah and Casey sat in her car and discussed who was to handle Chuck now that they had received their orders. She saw how John Casey interacted with Chuck: his cynicism, cruel disposition, cold blooded shoot-first-and ask-questions later attitude; and was insistent that she be the person to handle Chuck. Casey reluctantly agreed but told her that he was sticking around to make sure she would do her job.

Sarah walked out on to the sandy beach, found a nearby tree, and watched Chuck. He just sat there, staring out into the water as the waves rolled up onto the shore, only to be pushed back out again.

Sarah had her orders. Graham was clear. Protect him. Get him to work for us. Do what it takes. Do what it takes. Those words, that phrase, had been her motto, her guideline, her guard rail, the needle that had pointed north on her compass when things got hazy and the line between right and wrong blurred.

That phrase echoed inside her now as she stared at him. Something deep inside her told her that the motto that had guided her did not apply in this situation. She didn't move - couldn't move. All she could do was stare at him and wonder what he was thinking. I don't even know what do. She had to give him time to process what had happened this evening. She need time to process these last several days.

Several Days Earlier

Burbank, California

Buy More

Sarah approached the Nerd Herd desk and watched as Chuck dropped the phone he had been holding when she stopped in front of him. He had been repeating the phrase Vicky Vale, Vicky Vale over and over again but now she had his undivided attention.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Sarah said with a big beautiful smile. She looked at Chuck and was struck by his deep brown eyes.

"Not at all." Chuck looked to Morgan, who stood next to the desk, and then back to her. "Uh, that's from Batman." Chuck explained to her.

Sarah gave a playful, flirtatious response. "Because that makes it better."

Chuck laughed nervously.

Sarah continued with the playful banter going on about names, and Chuck mentioned sadists and carnival freaks. When that line of conversation was exhausted Chuck asked her, "How can I help you..." he paused searching for a name.

"Sarah." She eagerly replied.

"Sarah." He repeated.

"I'm here about this." Sarah laid her broken phone on the counter.

Chuck picked up her phone, told her what was wrong with it, and what he was doing to fix the problem.

Sarah made sure to look at him while he worked on her phone, that way when he was done, he would be looking in her smiling blue eyes.

"Wow, you geeks are good." She continued to flirt when he handed it back to her all mended.

Chuck gave her a quick correction about being a nerd when they were interrupted by a dad who forgot to use a digital tape to record his daughters' ballerina recital.

Chuck turned back to Sarah, told her he was sorry, implying he wanted to stay and talk, but that work was calling him away.

Sarah smiled back, hoping to get a reaction out of him. Instead, he walked away from her to help the desperate father. Despite that seeming set-back, she had heard the conversation between Chuck and the dad, and was intrigued to see his solution to this problem.

Sarah watched intently as he leaned in close and whispered quietly into the little ballerina's ear. She didn't hear what he said to her, but whatever it was caused the girl to smile.

The music started. As Sarah watched the girl start to move her mind instinctively went to the little baby she had just rescued on her last mission. That little baby was going to have this; a family that cares for her, and the opportunity to be a ballerina. I gave up everything. I gave up my mom so she could have one.

Sarah continued to watch as the ballerina twirled and danced and she smiled for the little baby. Her mind then switched to her childhood. For a few brief moments Sarah was a little girl again. Maybe it was the exhaustion she felt but did not show. Maybe it was that Chuck had struck a chord somewhere within her emotions, hitting on her wants and desires. Whatever the reason, Sarah pictured herself up there doing what she never got to do in all her years with her own dad.

He will never know what he just gave me. Thank you, Chuck. This is no ordinary man. His actions told her that he was a normal guy, but his association with Bryce spoke of spies, distrust, and disloyalty. She did not know which to believe.

Sarah paused as the music stopped. She took a deep breath. Snap out of it. Bury your feelings. You have a mission to complete. My feelings and thoughts can't matter. All that matters is that I have to find out what he knows. Someone else might know he is here, or be here at any moment.

Sarah waited by the desk, smiling, when Chuck began to make his way back over to where she was, but he was stopped by another store employee and began talking to him.

Don't come on too strong. Leave your card. I have no other subtle options.

Sarah reached inside her purse, grabbed her card, set it down on the counter and walked away. As she exited the Buy More, she made sure to look around and check out who else was there. She wanted to be sure that no one else was there snooping around.

Sarah's Apartment

That Evening

After breaking the computer before being able to see what was on it, she went back to her apartment and waited for his call. When it didn't come, she decided that the following day she would take matters into her own hands.

As she laid in bed and tried to get some rest, a thought kept reverberating through her mind. Chuck has to be working with Bryce. Chuck seemed like a nice, normal, regular guy. But no one can be that nice of a guy, can they? Is he?

Her mind was filled with more questions than answers. He walked away from me to help that little girl. From me; No one does that to me anymore. After she joined the CIA, Sarah had blossomed into the beautiful woman she was today. Men did not walk away from her willingly.

Sarah's Apartment

The next day

Sarah decided a date would be the perfect opportunity to keep eyes on Chuck and watch out for Casey, once she found out he was on the case. When she went to the Buy More to make the date, it went as easy as she thought it would. However, she couldn't help but smile back at him when he gave her a goofy, excited grin about the evening to come. It would be an evening that she would remember for the rest of her life, in great detail.

Sarah wanted to be extra cautious around him during the date. She donned her typical date-with-an-asset attire, complete with an ankle strap loaded with throwing knives, hair sticks dipped with a toxin, and a Kevlar vest under her shirt.

"You're on your own on this one, Sarah." Graham told her through the phone.

"I don't know about this guy, Graham." Sarah responded, shaking her head and giving a shrug of her shoulders.

"Nice guys aren't sent government secrets."

There came a knock at the door. Sarah put the clip into her gun and went to answer the door. "What should I do if he runs?" She asked him and slid her gun between her shirt and her jeans, making sure it was secure.

"Kill him." Graham's responded.

Sarah opened the door and saw Chuck standing there, smiling ear to ear, and holding a bouquet of flowers. She knew immediately that she would have a difficult time putting him down, if that was necessary.

The Date

He took her to a Mexican restaurant that serenaded its guests with mariachi music. It was the perfect mood music and Sarah found herself completely taken in by the atmosphere. The totality of everything had her wrapped up and believing this was a real date.

The way he talked, his witty sense of humor, and disarmingly attractive smile made it easy for Sarah to want to be honest with him. She felt safe with him. Not a, because she has hidden weapons kind of safe, but rather a comfortable kind of safe she had always felt when she had been at home, especially as a little girl.

As they talked about Chucks normal life, Captain Awesome, and why Sarah wasn't funny, the first few cracks were made in the wall she had built to protect herself and keep others from knowing the real Sarah Walker. Chuck was extremely easy to talk to and that made it difficult for her to stay on point.

This isn't a real date. I have to keep up my guard up. I have to be combat ready. Casey and his team could be anywhere. But he can't know and this has to feel like a real date.

"But I did just come out of a long relationship so I may come with baggage." Sarah explained.

Baggage. That is an understatement. My partner just betrayed me and everything I stand for. You seem like a normal guy. Please don't be associated with him.

Without missing a beat Chuck responded, "Well, I can be your very own baggage handler."

That statement caught her off guard. When she looked at him, he looked as surprised as she was. It was almost as if he couldn't believe what he had just said.

Did he just say what I thought I heard?

There was a momentary silence between them, both wondering what to do or say next. Sarah sure didn't know. She did what came natural to her. She remained silent and quickly glanced at their surroundings. I see no one here. We're safe, for now.

Chuck broke the silence by asking about the ex and Sarah changed Bryce to Bruce. Chuck laughed at Bruce and brought up the name thing again, much like what happened at the Buy More.

When Sarah asked about any secrets or women he had, the mention of having someone back in college worried her. Why? She didn't know. This date was supposed to be part of a job but with every passing minute it felt less like a chore and more... normal, more like a real date.

"Normal"… What a thought. Sarah couldn't remember the last time she had felt normal, not to mention the last time "normal" could be used to accurately describe herself. She wasn't even sure if she knew what the word meant anymore. Being surrounded by so much of the abnormal definitely takes its toll on a person, which is probably why being around this seemingly genuine guy was so refreshing. She didn't know, really know, any normal guys and just the thought that a normal guy would be attracted to her was intoxicating. It almost made her feel like a normal life was within her reach. Almost.

When he explained that the woman was in his past, she felt the slightest bit of relief.

She laughed and smiled at him with sincerity that she wasn't even aware she still had. "I like you, Chuck." The words just rolled off her tongue naturally. And she meant it.

Unbeknownst to her, those words, in that very moment, planted the seeds to their future.

By the time they left the Mexican place and walked to the music club, their conversations flowed with ease. The laughter, smiles, and looks they gave each other were genuine, heartfelt, and real. Sarah was completely one-hundred percent enamored with Chuck and he had her undivided attention.

The Beach

Burbank

Sarah took a deep breath. If only.

The wind began to pick up and her hair blew gently in the wind as a shiver shot through her.

Sarah sat under the tree she had found. Darkness was still all around her. Her gaze shifted to the man that sat several hundred feet in front of her. All she could make out was his silhouette set against the darkness of the night.

Why did it have to change?

The Rest of the Date

At the club Sarah spotted NSA agents and, almost like it was instinct, formulated a plan. The physical transformation made was slight, but the mental metamorphosis prepared her to do what was necessary to follow orders. She no longer thought in terms of "date" and "Chuck". The emotional attachment that may or may not have been forming was severed in an instant. The only thing that mattered was neutralizing the enemy, and getting the asset out of harm's way.

Sarah acted on her plan and pulled Chuck out onto the dance floor. She danced seductively, using her body and hands to distract and move around him on the dance floor while taking out the agents one by one. Upon seeing Casey, she grabbed Chuck's hand and led him out of the club to his car.

She drove his car in reverse down the street as fast as it could go while avoiding losing control of the Herder. She made a quick turn and the car went backwards down several flights of stairs used as a walkway between buildings.

Once the car stopped she explained the situation to Chuck. "Those men will hurt you. They're from the NSA and they're after you." Sarah said excitedly, the adrenaline from the chase still racing through her.

"Me, why? Wait, Why me? I'm nobody. I'm the supervisor of a Nerd Herd at a Buy More. Maybe one day I'll be assistant store manager and I don't even know if I want that job." Chuck continued talking. Under any other non-life threatening situation Sarah might have thought his nervous chatter to be cute, but not now.

"You know what, that's not your problem." Chuck slowed his speech. "But that is." He pointed out the window to the SUV that was barreling down the street at them.

It slammed into the Nerd Herder and spun it around several times. Sarah and Chuck got out of the car and took off running down the street.

"Let's go, Chuck, move." Sarah told him right before he tripped over the fender that had fallen off the Herder, and he fell to the ground.

Sarah turned and saw the SUV was now gunning for her. She stood straight up and stared at Casey for several long seconds. She then looked around for an escape and saw a blockade pole in a hole in the ground and got an idea.

She waited until the last possible second, then with lightning quick speed took a throwing knife from her ankle strap, spun, and threw it at the emergency blockade button, hitting it dead center. She then turned around, crouched behind the blockade poles, and let the SUV slam into the pole, stopping it dead in its tracks.

She took out her phone, requested air EVAC, and led him to the top of a building. When they reached the top of a building she asked him about Bryce, told him that he was her former partner, and that he went rogue on her.

Chuck told her he sent him an email with a riddle that he solved and that he saw lots and lots of pictures.

He knows the secrets. He's the intersect.

Sarah heard Casey coming and told Chuck not to freak out. That she would need to point her gun at him.

Casey came walking up the stairs looking annoyed at how things were going. After some talk about who Chuck belongs to, Sarah had her gun was pointed at Chuck while Casey had his gun pointed at Sarah.

After a wisecrack about gun play and pancakes, Chuck turned and started to run away.

"Chuck, no!" Sarah screamed. Please do not make me shoot you.

He stopped suddenly and explained to Sarah and Casey how he knew they were going to kill General Stanfield with a bomb. He told them about the Serbian demolitions expert, the NSA's intercepted blueprints of the hotel, and the CIA's file of schematics of a bomb in Prague.

After they decided Chuck knew the government's secrets, Sarah asked him if there was a way to diffuse the bomb. Chuck told her to ask for Bryce's help. That very moment she dropped the bombshell on Chuck.

"Bryce is dead. He died sending those secrets to you." Sarah told Chuck.

"Bryce is dead?" Chuck repeated.

Chuck and Sarah shared a moment of shock and pain as they looked at each other.

The sound of a gunshot startled Sarah back into reality. She instinctively backed up a few steps, turned toward Casey, and pointed her gun at him.

Casey convinced Chuck to help diffuse the bomb and the three of them took off for the hotel.

Once inside Chuck defied Casey's orders to stay in the lobby and led them through the hotel to the conference room by the fastest route possible.

When they entered, Chuck quickly scanned the room for and found the bomb. It was attached to a lap top with a countdown timer on the screen. Sarah asked Chuck if there was anything he remembered about the bomb when she and Casey's limited knowledge about bombs did not come up with a solution.

Chuck's phone rang at that moment. He answered it, took a few steps back, leaving Sarah and Casey to try to come up with a solution. When he hung up the phone, he bent down between Sarah and Casey, "Okay, okay. I have an idea." Chuck told them.

Casey reached out, tried to stop him with another wisecrack about the X-Box and X-Men that Sarah didn't get.

Chuck explained what the computer was and what he could do. He turned to Sarah, "I think I can do this. I can do this, please."

Sarah took a deep breath. From somewhere inside her a voice told her he could do it. Trust him. Maybe it was from what he had shown her on their "date." Maybe it was that he did not wait in the lobby but come with her to the bomb. Whatever the reason, she decided to trust him.

"He's our best shot." She told Casey.

Casey let go of his hand and Chuck began to work on the computer while the timer continued to count down. When it got under three seconds Sarah had a momentary twinge of doubt. But the virus he searched for worked its magic, fried the laptop, and shut it off.

She smiled at him, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You did it."

After the realization that he could have been wrong, Sarah saw Chuck's giddy excitement turn to an expression of fear. She reached down, putting her hand on his shoulder to reassure him, as he was still kneeling on the ground.

The Beach

Burbank

She had stopped watching him, for how long, she didn't know. The darkness of the night had been replaced with the light from the sunrise.

It was a new day. Could it be a new beginning? Was Graham wrong about Chuck? Was he really just a nice, regular, nerdy guy?

Do what it takes. I can't. Not with this guy.

Then it hit her.

I will do what it takes. I will do whatever needs to be done to protect him from anything and anyone. He deserves that. I will do it, not for the CIA, and not because Graham told me too. I will do it for the life I will never get to live. I will do it for him, for Chuck.

She stood up, took a deep breath to strengthen her resolve, grabbed her boots - which she did not remember taking off - and walked up next to him.

"How long you been here?" Chuck asked her.

"All night." Sarah replied, and then sat down next to him.

"There's nowhere I can run, is there?"

"Not from us." I don't want you to run from me. If you do, I can't keep you safe.

Sarah looked at him and wondered what he was thinking as he stared out into the water.

"Talk to me, Chuck." She told him gently.

"Yesterday, I was making eleven bucks an hour fixing computers. Now I have one in my brain and I can't figure out why Bryce did this, why he chose me." He paused, turned his head and looked at her. "What are you going to do with me?"

"For now, you go back to your own life. We'll protect you and you'll work with us." You have nothing to fear. I will to whatever it takes to do my job. I always do.

"And my sister, my friends; are they in danger?" He questioned.

"Tell them nothing to keep them safe." Sarah looked out into the water, paused, and then looked back to Chuck. "I need you to do one thing for me."

"Yeah."

Her eyes locked onto him. With all the sincerity and hope she had, she said softly, "Trust me, Chuck."

He turned to face her and looked into her eyes. They held the same smile he saw at the restaurant. He gave her a smile and a look of trust.

They held the look for several long seconds. Their hearts holding a deep and meaningful conversation through their eyes that neither one of them was ready to hear.

Sarah finally looked away, breaking the inaudible conversation, and then gently leaned her shoulder into his, subtly trying to communicate that this was the closest thing they were both going to get to normal for a very long time, but somehow… that was completely okay with her.

Sarah's Apartment

Early morning

Chuck was her mission now, her asset. She could not afford the luxury of feelings for they would only get her into trouble and cause her pain. She knew she had to push them down.

Spies do not show emotion. She thought to herself. My feelings practically shot me last time and I will not allow that happen again.

Sarah felt exhausted. She hadn't had much sleep over the past several days and she needed to get some rest. She climbed into bed, but something gnawed at her. She picked up her phone and cycled through the pictures of her and Bryce during their time in Cabo. The happiness that she saw in those photos was now marred with the fact that he had betrayed her. His betrayal had been two fold in her eyes, both professional and personal. Yet she desperately tried to hold on to the way she had felt about him, but it was a war with herself that she could not win.

He betrayed me. Did I really care for a man that would betray his partner? What we had was good; was real? It had to be. Will I ever find something like that again? Will I ever find something real?

Those questions still haunted her. Just when she had thought she had pushed them away, they came running back to her.

A few tear drops fell rolled gently down her cheeks.

Be strong. He is gone. And at the end of the day you are all you have left.

She wiped the tears away and fell back into her bed, wishing more than anything to just fade away with the ounce of humanity still left within her.