Good agent, bad agent

A/N No points for originality today, but I can't believe they let the episode end like that. Anyway, I had to do this to get me through the week, hopefully it helps one or two of you too. I don't own Chuck.

Chuck stormed into Castle. He barely looked at Sarah when he passed her. He was feeling so many things at the moment – guilt over getting Ellie's hopes up just to have it dashed, not knowing whether his mother could be trusted, trying to figure out what to make of Sarah's behavior…

"Chuck, wait," Sarah pleaded. He wasn't supposed to find out that way, exposing her like that. She wanted to tell him herself. She couldn't warn him beforehand, but she was never going to keep her involvement a secret.

"Not now, okay, Sarah. I need to talk to my mother. I'm assuming you're keeping her here?" His tone lacked the warmth which she had become accustomed to.

"Yes, but she's not going anywhere and we need to resolve this first." Sarah was adamant not to let his anger fester. That's what she did after Prague and she knew from experience that it only causes hurt that could have been avoided.

"You want me to thank you for kidnapping my mom? Or for not telling me what you were planning?" He turned away from her, but Sarah held her own. She grabbed Chuck's arm and spun him back.

"There wasn't time to warn you." She did the right thing. It wouldn't be this hard if it wasn't.

"But there was time to get a mission in place, snipers and all?"

"I did my job, Chuck. It's my duty…our duty to ensure…"

He cut her off. "You didn't trust me enough to let me know what was going on. What happened to our rules? Or do they only apply when it suits you?"

"This has nothing to do with trust or our rules. She's your mother, Chuck. You shouldn't be expected to make a decision like that. I had to protect you. She's a double agent. She went rogue. I did what I had to."

"How can you be so sure that she's a double agent?" Sarah picked up the file from the desk and held it out to him. He didn't take it. Instead he asked "Where did you get that?"

"Casey knows someone who can retrieve expunged records."

"Did you know he was doing this?" Sarah expected the question, but she hoped he wouldn't ask. "Did you know?" Chuck asked again when she didn't answer.

"Yes." She placed the file back down again.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I was hoping…"

"…that I wouldn't find out?"

"…that she was telling the truth. For your sake and for Ellie's. I didn't want it to turn out this way."

"You should have told me. You should have trusted me."

"I do trust you. And maybe I should have told you…" Sarah was starting to lose her patience, "…no, you know what, Chuck…if I had to do this again, I would do the same thing. I was looking out for your blind spot and I don't regret it. I am sorry your mom isn't who you thought she was and I'm sorry Ellie was disappointed, but it's not my fault."

Chuck closed his eyes and pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger. This day has not turned out as he expected. Not that he really knew what he had expected. "Maybe we should continue this later. I want to talk to my mother and get her side of the story. I need you to just give me some space."

Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "You want space? Fine. She's in room 3." She grabbed her keys and purse and headed up the stairs. Halfway she stopped and turned around. "I trust that you are not going to help her escape."

Chuck stared at the closed file for a long time. He knew he should read it, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. A part of him didn't want confirmation. The rest of him knew he didn't need it. He slammed his hand down on the desk. It didn't make him feel better. Now he only had a burning palm to add to the mix. With a heavy sigh he made his way down the corridor. He entered the access code and the door slid open. In addition to being locked up, Mary's wrists and ankles were also cuffed to a chair. Chuck recognized Casey's handiwork.

"Is this really necessary?" Mary's voice didn't hint at any emotion.

"I don't know," Chuck responded steadily. "Is it?"

"Look, Chuck, I don't know what your girlfriend told you, but surely you're not going to believe her over your own mother?"

"Sarah. Her name is Sarah."

"You didn't answer my question."

"It doesn't matter who I believe. What matters is the truth." Chuck was conflicted. If he believed Sarah was telling the truth that would mean that his mother was lying. You shouldn't be expected to make a decision like that.

"I told you the truth." She's a double agent. She went rogue.

"I have your file, mother. Are you going to tell me or do I need to read it?" Mary's expression didn't give anything away.

"I did what I had to." I did what I had to.

Chuck took a deep breath to calm himself. "Would that be walking out on me and Ellie? Or forcing dad to spend his entire life looking for you? Or betraying your country?"

"Don't make the same mistake your father did, Chuck. She's just like me you know." It didn't escape Chuck which questions she was evading. That gave him his answer.

"I may not know you that well, mother, but I think it's a safe bet that Sarah is nothing like you."

"Don't be naïve, Chuck. Sooner or later she's going to leave. There will always be that one mission that's too good to resist. Agents don't settle down, no matter how much they want to. Believe me, I tried." If you ask me for real, my answer would be yes.

Chuck shook his head slowly. "Forgive me if I don't start taking advice from you now." Chuck stood up a little straighter. "Tomorrow morning two of our agents will take you to DC. I suggest you get some rest."

"What about Ellie? I'd like to see her."

Chuck stepped out of the room and turned. "It's best for Ellie if you didn't."

"So you're going to lie to her?" Chuck couldn't believe that she could speak about her family, her children, with so little emotion. She is not the same woman he remembered.

"I…Sarah and I are going to protect her and the baby." He punched in the code to close the door. "Good night, mom." His voice was barely audible as the door slide shut.

Back in the conference room Chuck grabbed his messenger bag he headed for the door. He had to apologize to Sarah and thank her. And just hold her. He wasn't the only one having a bad day. She made a really tough choice today and all she got was a request for space. The thought stopped him in his tracks. He swiveled around to the computer and typed in a password only he and Sarah knew. Within seconds the bugs in their bedroom were activated. His legs nearly gave out when he saw the open suitcase on the bed. His fingers fumbled with the keys of his phone and he jumped when he heard the ringtone behind him. Lifting his mother file, he found Sarah's cell phone. He cursed silently. He ended the call and dialed Devon's number.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Devon wasn't sounding like his awesome self.

"Hey, Devon," Chuck responded, frowning at the background noises he asked "where are you?"

"We're at the beach. Ellie needed to take a walk." Chuck pinched his phone between his ear and shoulder and turned off the surveillance. It was up to him to stop Sarah.

"How's she holding up?"

"Not awesome, Chuck."

"Devon, listen, I know I need to talk to Ellie, but I have another emergency to sort out first. Please just tell her I love her and I'll talk to her later?" Chuck took the stairs two at a time and was out the door before it barely opened.

"No problem, bro. Is everything okay?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Chuck wished he felt as confident as he hoped the sounded. He really needed to end this call so he could focus on getting to Sarah before it's too late. He spotted Casey in the isle by the toasters.

"Let me know if I can help."

"Will do, Devon, thanks." Chuck pretended to be still in conversation as the passed Casey. With his head down, he bumped into him without it looking suspicious. Glancing up in mock surprise, he expected Casey to give him a look that could make a bouncer cower, but instead Chuck saw a look flashing across his face that shook him a bit. If John Casey seemed regretful over how things turned out, Sarah must be feeling a hundred times worse. Focusing again on getting to Sarah, Chuck pushed down the guilt over what he'd just done. He doubled back through the store and exited through the loading dock at the back.

"Sorry, Casey," he mumbled to himself as slid behind the wheel of the Crown Vic. It was faster than the Nerdherder. He's glad he talked Sarah into giving him pick pocketing lessons after convincing her that it could be a useful spy skill. She probably wouldn't have if she'd known that he'll use it to commit grant theft auto.

Chuck sped down the freeway, rehearsing what he was going to say. He was deep in thought and it took a few moments for him to register the siren and flashing lights behind him. Hitting the steering wheel out of frustration, he pulled over. Grabbing his wallet out of his pocket to pull out his license, he realized that he was technically driving a car that didn't belong to him. This was not going to end well. He wondered if it would be okay to tranq the officer and explain himself later. In court if he have to. He decided to play it by ear. Opening his wallet, his eyes fell on a picture of Sarah.

"Do you know how fast you were going, sir?" Chuck didn't answer. His finger was tracing her jaw line in the photo.

"Sir?" The officer tried to get his attention again.

Chuck sighed and turned the picture so the officer could see. "This is my girlfriend. I've said some awful things to her, now she's at home packing. I need to stop her." The officer looked up from the wallet to Chuck's forlorn face and straitened up.

"Was that the fastest this car can go?" His voice has lost the sarcasm of before.

"I don't know," Chuck answered truthfully.

"Then it's time to find out. Where to?" Chuck just stared at him dumbfounded. "Where do you live?"

"Ecco park." The officer turned and jogged to his patrol car. "Try to keep up," he yelled over his shoulder before jumping in.

Chuck stopped in the bedroom door, breathing a sigh of relief that Sarah was still there. Packing, but still there. He remembered the last day he saw his mother pack, but she was wrong earlier. Mary Bartowski wasn't crying as she was folding her clothes.

"Sarah?" Chuck took a step closer, but then Sarah's demeanor changed and he stopped in his tracks.

"I've booked a room at the Marriott for a few days," she spoke softly. "I think a little space would be good for us." She went to the closet to retrieve a couple of blouses. She wasn't looking at him. Chuck knew that words were not going to have the desired effect right now. He needed to act. He walked past her into the closet.

Sarah was watching him in her peripheral vision. For a brief moment the thought that he was going to help her pack crossed her mind. Another tear escaped. She wiped it away with the back of her hand before focusing her attention again on folding, but her hands stilled when he placed his suitcase next to hers and opened it. "What are you doing?"

"Packing," Chuck answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Chuck, you don't have to. I'll go…"

"If you go, I go. Can't have you wandering out there homeless." There was no trace of humor in his voice.

Sarah frowned. "I told you I got a room at the…"

"I'm your home, Sarah," Chuck turned towards her, "so if you leave me, that makes you homeless. And me hopelessly lost." He lifted her chin with his finger to capture her eyes. He hated seeing her hurt, especially knowing he caused it. "I'm so, so sorry for everything I said earlier. I should have taken a minute to listen to you and think it over because then I would have realized that you were right." He took a small step forward and wrapped Sarah in a tight embrace.

"What happens now?" she asked against his chest.

"Casey is staying in Castle watching my mother until the agents show up to take her away."

"I'm really sorry about that, Chuck."

"I know." Chuck rubbed a soothing hand over her back. He led Sarah around the bed and sank down with her on his lap. "You would think I'd be used to you protecting me by now."

"And that I sometimes have to do things you're not going to like, but that won't stop me." Sarah pulled back and locked gazes with him. "Can you accept that?"

Chuck nodded solemnly. "The same goes for you. No yelling at me for detaining you. Deal?"

"No deal, Chuck."

"I'm going to do it anyway. You have this horrible habit of wanting to run into burning buildings and nightmare gas." He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Sarah, I know I say I love you quite often, but I don't think I've ever told you...I will always love you, no matter what."

Sarah rested her forehead against his. "I love you too, Chuck. Nothing's gonna change that."

"Even if I broke the law?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"I might have stolen Casey's car."

A/N I'm a little conflicted as to what to make of Mary Bartowski right now and am sure looking forward to find out what happens there. For this story she had to be the bad guy…uhm…agent though. Sorry about that. And sorry about me getting all iffy on Sunday. The new chapter of 'Anniversaries' is coming along, I just need to work on the flow a little more, it will be up on Monday.