"It's your birthday today?" asked Chuck turning with astonishment to face Sarah.

Sarah witnessed Chuck's eyes light up as the oh so familiar smile that undeniably made her weak in the knees appears on his face. Each time he flashed that smile she knew she was a goner but she steeled herself the best she could in order to avoid completely succumbing to it.

"No...well not exactly." responded Sarah.

Chuck's smile suddenly fell flat as he slowly stepped in front of Sarah with a bewildered look on his face. In that instance, he's thinking how could any person not know their birthday let alone her own. He made it a point at that exact moment to ask her.

"Is it or is it not your birthday?"

"Yes…" Chuck's smile reappeared. "…and no." replied Sarah in a cryptic way.

The smile that reappeared became instantly flat once again causing Chuck to close his eyes and reach up with his right hand to rub his forehead.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm having a brain freeze."

It became perfectly clear to Chuck that he's talking with an indecisive woman who had no idea if today is her birthday. It left him totally confused and to be perfectly honest it's her profession as a spy to keep people, mainly men, mentally off balance. She's superb at it and if she is in fact doing it to him now it was working superbly.

"But you didn't eat any frozen yogurt." said Sarah expressing a puzzled look on her face.

"I know."

It takes a second before Sarah realized what she was doing. In that instance, she immediately reaches over with both hands taking Chuck by his left hand and guided him back to the table they were sitting at with Cassidy. As they sit there, Sarah begins rubbing the top of his left hand with both her thumbs.

The tension in Chuck's face begins to relax as Sarah massages it causing him to gradually experience a soothing sensation that travels up his arm and inevitably all over his body. A hint of a grin appears on his face as he opens his eyes to see Sarah smiling at him. She lifts Chuck's left hand and kisses it.

"Feel better?" inquires Sarah.

Chuck's grin turns into a smile to where he breathes out through his nose a sigh of contentment. "Much."

"I'm sorry."

Chuck responds by rubbing Sarah's fingers on her right hand. She glances down tilting her head a bit to the side to where she peers up giving him a look that would cause any guy's brain to turn to mush. In his head, he tried to say out loud I forgive you but what ended coming out was something totally uncomprehendable.

Sarah found Chuck's response quite adorable and the fact she had the ability to still make him not able to form words after being together for so long meant she was doing something right. The goofy look he gave her as he nervously swallows is evidence enough for her and in her own mind it mad him even cuter than he already is.

She thought to herself that it now time to share that piece of information with him and beside he would eventually find out sooner or later through talking with her family.

"Yes it's my birthday…but no it's not today."

"When is it then?" Chuck inquired quirking his right brow.

The anticipation Chuck feels at that moment could be seen in his face as his eyebrows perk up and eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to pop out of its sockets. It took everything in his power to contain the level of excitement and intrigue bubbling within him as she gave her answer.

"November 12th." Sarah expected an energetic reaction but what she received instead was something totally different…complete silence. Chuck sits there for a moment nodding as he let the information she just revealed to him sink in. A look of disappointment appears on her face causing her to inquire what was wrong. "Chuck, aren't you going to say something?"

Chuck quickly snaps out of his brief trance responding to her question. "Yeah, sorry about that." "November 12th…this Friday. Huh…so that makes you a Scorpio." he answered with a smirk on his face.

"I guess so. I never really looked into it and besides, when I joined the C.I.A. birthdays never really seemed to matter as much." Sarah said with lack of enthusiasm expressed in her voice. "Plus, after a while you start to not care to where I ended up completely forgetting."

"Why?" Chuck asked with curiosity.

"It's not because I'm the ever so dreaded age of 30 if that's what you're thinking." chuckled Sarah. Shaking her head, she begins thinking back on the life she had before meeting Chuck. "Each mission we're assigned you don't know whether or not you'll be coming back and that is why they first tell you at the academy a spy is considered expandable. So, I put all my focus on my training and the missions setting aside things that were considered to be trivial distractions."

Chuck sat there listening intently as she opened herself up giving him more insight into her life as a top spy for the C.I.A. He couldn't help but feel sympathy for her as he reached over rubbing her left arm.

"It must have been hard on you ." Chuck softly said.

"Early on in my career it did, especially when it involved missions where a mark or someone close to the mark celebrated a birthday. "The look of happiness on their faces…" She paused searching for what to say next. "…it was just difficult to handle but I was able to cope."

The difficulty Sarah currently faced sharing something as not being able to celebrate a birthday made it all too clear to Chuck that the C.I.A took much more away from her than he thought. He could clearly see the pain and aguish within her eyes knowing a part of her, in some ways, died as she spent the better part growing up emotionally constipated like Casey.

It's at that point, a light bulb turned on his head leading him to suddenly hit the table with his right hand causing Sarah to be startled. The reaction she didn't get before is now clearly being expressed as Chuck's body language became more animated as he proceeded to stand up. Sarah witnessed a smile appear on his face and she knew by the look on his face that something is up.

"I'm throwing you a birthday party and it will be the best one you'll ever have of your entire life." Chuck excitedly stated as he quickly pointed at her.

Sarah shakes her head in somewhat disbelief at the thoughtful gesture. "You don't have to do that sweetie."

Chuck reaches down and gently takes both her hands lifting her out of the her seat inevitably pulling her into an embrace. He hold's her by the waist as Sarah wraps her arms around his neck and peers up into his chocolate brown eyes.

"I want to because I love you." answered Chuck leaning forward to softly whisper in her left ear.

Sarah's heart melted when she heard those words whispered into her left ear. She leans back to look up at him and feels the warmth in his eyes as he peered into her own. Instead of saying those three words back to him, she pulls herself up standing on her tippy toes pressing her lips against his with their eyes closing in the process.

Her mouth opens slightly allowing Chuck's tongue to slip slowly into it intertwining with hers. The sensation…the taste of his kiss was something so different than anyone she ever experienced it with and that included Bryce. With Chuck it was the thrill and passion that came from his heart as he gently held her.

When it came to Bryce it was all about the thrill and heat of the moment as he was forceful in every move that he made. Chuck far surpassed in areas of what Bryce was able to do. The thought of Bryce is quickly removed from her mind. She opens her eyes to stroke his face with her right hand.

At the same time she did that, Chuck opens his eyes giving way for their lips to separate just enough for him to smile leading Sarah to do the same as well. As they both lingered there with their faces inches away from each as their foreheads touch ever so slightly they suddenly hear the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They both turn their heads to in the direction of the source. The newest member of Team Chuck, Travis Riley, stuck half his body out the door to the back room with an apologetic look on his face.

"Hey guys, sorry to…uh…interrupt." said Travis briefly waving his hand to greet the two lovebirds.

Sarah buried her head in Chuck's chest slightly embarrassed as Chuck kisses the top of her head. He then turns to see what his new teammate wanted.

"What's up Trav?" inquired Chuck with a small hint of laughter under his breathe.

"Casey said knock off the tonsil hockey and get your asses down to Castle ASAP." Travis answered as he motioned behind him with his right thumb." "Briefing in 10 minutes with General Beckman." he added.

Chuck and Sarah turn their heads to glance up at the hidden security camera above the door then look back at Travis.

Chuck sighs and then gives his response to Travis. "We'll be right down man."

"All righty then." said Travis hitting the side of the door with his right palm. He quickly disappears behind the door leaving Chuck and Sarah along once again.

"Duty Calls." said Sarah peering up at him expressing a soft smile.

"Unfortunately." Chuck retorted as he presses his lip on hers once again.

XXX

The headlights of the black Lincoln Town car shined on the darkened paved road as it drove towards parts unknown carrying 4 occupants inside, one of which being an injured Director Graham in the trunk. All 3 men are sitting in silence and by the intense look on each of their faces its serious business. The headlights of the cars coming from the opposite direction randomly flash on the 2 other occupants inside the car.

In the front passenger seat sits an African American male, wearing a black long sleeve turtleneck shirt, mid 30's bald, and sporting a marginally thin goatee. His expression is emotionless as he reads over a dossier that containing information that possibly concerns Graham. Using a small pocket light, he takes a few seconds to read over it he turns to hand it over his left shoulder to his associate located behind the driver.

In the back seat sit's a white male, late 30's, black long sleeve v neck shirt with a black sleeveless pocketed vest worn over it. He's wearing a black beanie on his head as tufts of dark hair protrude out from both sides and the bottom back of it. He nods at his fellow associate in the front passenger seat as he too takes out a small pocket light from his vest in order to read the dossier as well.

For the 3 occupants inside the car the ride is seemingly smooth but for Langston Graham it was anything but smooth. Inside the pitch back trunk the sounds of Graham's body is shifting within the interior of the trunk itself. Seconds later, a faint cough is distinctly heard within the darkness leading to a succession of coughs. Its at that point a slow back and forth shuffling with sounds of sporadic breathing is heard.

It is apparent that Graham has regained consciousness but the severity of how badly injured he is remains unknown as he struggles in his weakened state to possibly find anything that may shed light on his current situation. After a few moments of rummaging around in the dark silence is heard as he takes hold of something and shakes it inevitably hearing some sort of liquid coming from within the object.

A crack is heard as the sound of liquid is heard being shaken around leading to a neon greenish glow shown in his left hand to gradually illuminate the pitch black surroundings. Clearly laying on his back, Graham uses the remaining strength he has left to break the other neon glow stick in his right hand at the same time he's hold the other one in his left. A few seconds later the trunk is bathed in a neon greenish glow allowing him to see.

Graham drops the glow stick he's holding in his right hand to the side allowing him to reach over to check on the injury to the right side of his head. He sees blood on his hand leading him to reach over with his right arm to wipe it off with his sleeve but he quickly places his hand on his chest grimacing in pain possibly from the force of the seat belt against his body.

His left arm suddenly falls flat next the left side of his body as the neon green glow stick in his hand rolls a few inches away from his finger tips. He thinks to himself he's been in tougher situations than this and he has to keep fighting to stay alive no matter what happens. Graham lifts his head but then quickly drops it back down because of the pain causing him to shake his head as he closes his eyes.

XXX

In the secured underground location known as Castle, Agent John Casey sits in the conference table area finishing up several reports. He paused for a moment to take in his surroundings. To Casey, Castle is no doubt a first rate facility that he most definitely feels at home in and the days of the Buy More media room were long gone as better state of the art surveillance and communications equipment were at his disposal.

When Casey first stepped through the metal doors and stood overlooking the area for the first time he breathed in that new facility smell and gave a resounding grunt of approval. He personally considered Castle his kingdom…his baby if you will even though it would be the property of the C.I.A. There were quite a few of amenities he would enjoy such as the small gym area, which included a punching bag that would certainly be put to good use.

His attention turns towards the area of all the cache of weapons being held and how he reacted when he first saw them. The hulky NSA agent remembered standing there with a gleam in his eyes feeling euphoric as if he was like a kid in a candy store. Like any kid, he found himself drooling at the wondrous sight in front of him only to pull himself together. It was everything that someone in his profession as a spy could ask for.

Now when it came to his profession as a Buy More employee that was another story. After Chuck decided to leave, he stuck around a few weeks and then quit himself but not before making one last purchase of his own. The 2 years that he worked there, he was considered the top seller of Beastmaster Grills and it was only fitting that he leave with one. It would most definitely be put to good use.

Casey continues to live by Chuck's sister Ellie and his brother-in-law Devon. He thought it best to keep a watchful eye on them since Sarah was keeping her eyes, as well as everything else on Chuck. Ellie being the woman that she is would on occasion walk over to invite him over for dinner and despite his objection he would find himself at the table enjoying a lovely meal with some conversation.

In Casey's eyes Eleanor Faye Woodcomb projected a sweet, down to earth quality that he found endearing. He truly considered Devon a lucky man for marrying such a beautiful woman such as herself even if she was related to Chuck. Casey smirked as his thoughts turned from one beautiful woman to another as he began thinking about his relationship with Jayne Richardson who he began dating.

Jayne was a sweet, down to earth girl like Ellie with a mixture of an alluring, kick-butt mystique that he saw within her former love Ilsa. According to Chuck, they were a match made in heaven despite his loyalty to Reagan, which she overlooked. They were such a match he decided to work along side her going into business together cultivating miniature bonsai trees and other assorted plant life.

The business would be aptly named J and J's Bonsai Emporium located in the same vicinity as the froyo shop. Logistically and tactically speaking, it would be a perfect way to keep an eye on Chuck as he would not only be work along side the woman he cared about, but also work on his cultivating skills as a budding horticulturists. When it came to Jayne, he was compromised both personally and professionally.

Jayne was a very smart, intuitive, kickass woman who was able to sense that there was much more to him than being a guy who enjoyed doubled stuffed Oreo cookies and was excellent at convincing you to buy a Beastmaster Grill. She would find out about his other profession by happenstance and instead of tranquing her like he usually does he gave her a choice to either walk away or stay. Jayne chose the latter.

A smirk appeared on Casey's face but it would soon quickly disappear when Travis suddenly appears taking a seat to his right at the end of the conference table.

"They'll be right down." said Travis gesturing with a nod up at Orange Orange.

Casey responded with a soft grunt giving a brief glance towards Travis.

Travis Riley stood 5'8, hazel eyes, well-toned physique, and would inevitably grow out his regulation crew cut sporting a Keanu Reeves style haircut similar to the one in the movie The Replacements. He was Chuck and Casey rolled into one as he exhibited the no nonsense hard nosed by the book mentality of a soldier but at the same time exhibiting the qualities of a caring person who had a passion for video games as well.

He assimilated into Team Chuck quite nicely as the trio became a quartet once again. He knew that coming into a well established group with a mission success rate as excellent as theirs he would not only have to bring his A game, but he unceremoniously would take the place of Chuck's dad who gave his own life in the line of duty in his final act as a spy to thwart an delusional enemy bent on world domination.

He knew he had some pretty big shoes to fill and that would cause him to doubt whether or not he was truly deserving of joining the team, especially after reading over his list of credentials as a member of Section 8. He would be equally as impressed if not more talking with his former teammate William Jax who shared stories with him, as well as Team Chuck about their exploits back in the day.

Yet, it would be Chuck himself that would take him aside not only telling him that he did deserve it, but that his dad would be proud to have him take his spot as part of the team. Travis felt an overwhelming sense of honor hearing that coming from Chuck because that meant he would no longer feel as if he was trying to live up to the expectations of a man that Sarah and Casey respected a great deal.

He wasn't fully welcomed with open arms by Beckman, Graham, or even Casey for that matter at first, which was to be expected. Beckman and Graham were basically blackmailed by Sarah's father into begrudgingly allow an outsider into their operation knowing full well he would possibly jeopardize the secrecy of Chuck's special skill set. Their concerns would be warranted but they would all for naught.

It took a while for Casey to warm up to Travis but he would eventually tolerate him just in the same fashion as Chuck. Travis knew he fit right in when he made a mistake during a mission and he called him a numbnut, which was usually reserved for Chuck when he did something that deserved a Casey-like insult. In his own way, that would be a sign of welcome approval to the team from the hulking NSA agent.

Casey peers at his watch giving a low growl to show his agitation because it would be 2 minute till the briefing with General Beckman and the two people that he sent Travis to get were nowhere in sight. He glanced up at the metal door and then turned to Travis furrowing his eyebrows expressing another low growl with an added grunt, which clearly isn't a good sign especially for him if they didn't show up.

It would be 30 seconds before the briefing would start when Chuck and Sarah made their entrance much to the relief of Travis.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Travis expressing a somewhat emphatic look up towards Chuck as if to non verbally say thank God you showed up. "You're killing me here dude!"

Chuck and Sarah responded in unison with an apologetic I'm sorry and smile to go with it towards their friend and fellow teammate. They both took a seat in the two remaining chairs at the conference table. Chuck opened his mouth to apologize to Casey but would be immediately cut off.

"Can it Bartowski." grumbled Casey shooting a glaring look towards the both of them.

In usual Chuck fashion, he irritated Casey for nearly being late and he would have further irritated him if it had not for being General Beckman appearing on the monitor with a look of great concern on her face.

"We have a high level priority situation." firmly stated Beckman with a tone of urgency in her voice.

"What is the situation General that its deemed a high level priority?" asked Sarah.

"I have graves news that concerns you." answered Beckman expressing serious in her eyes.

Casey, Travis, and Chuck witness the woman sitting before them who is exuding the nonchalant manner of DeAnna Wexler. However, that would be quickly replaced by the hard nosed C.I.A agent Sarah Walker as soon as Beckman informed the situation personally involved her.

"Is it my father?" Sarah asked.

Sarah's thoughts are going a mile a minute as the fear of her father being captured or worse but she didn't show that. She prepared herself for what Beckman is about to say steeling herself knowing in the back of her mind that if it concerned her father those responsible would surely suffer the consequences.

"No, its not Agent Walker."

A huge weight is instantly lifted off her shoulders. Sarah breathes out a sigh of relief causing to her to gradually relax from the seemingly tense situation happening. She takes a brief moment to compose herself as Chuck places his right hand on the upper part of her back giving her comforting relief as well.

"General, if the high level priority is not Jeremiah Wexler then who may I ask is it?" Casey chimed in.

All 4 look look directly into the main monitor as General Beckman who momentary pauses to briefly glance down at her desk.

"C.I.A Director Graham." answered Beckman turning her attention directly to a visibly stunned Sarah.

XXX

The unfortunate news of the abduction of C.I.A Director Langston Graham was unsettling to everyone especially to Sarah. She sat there at the table thinking it was Graham who she considered a mentor advising and guiding her throughout the better of her career as a C.I.A Agent. She not only considered him a mentor but a father figure as well as she was being given the much need approval she sorely lack from her own father.

"When was he apprehended General?" inquired Travis with arms crossed standing off to the side near the foot of the stairs.

"30 minutes ago near the vicinity of College Park." responded Beckman. We were supposed to have a scheduled meeting but he didn't show up." she added.

Beckman hit's a button pulling up images of the scene at different angles of the smashed front end of the Black Dodge Ram smashed in and then Graham's 1987 Ford Black Crown Victoria with the right side smashed in as well.

"He has good taste in cars." muttered Casey under his breathe.

"What was that Major?" said Beckman turning his attention towards him.

Casey found himself in a somewhat precarious and awkward position as Beckman raised left eyebrow awaiting his answer. Casey is visibly thrown off as he was trying to think of something to say leading Chuck to quickly intervene.

"Uh General…" interjected Chuck pointing his finger in the air. "…I think what Casey was saying is do you have any idea who may have rammed his car and abducted Graham?"

"From what we were able to gather his abduction was well calculated and possibly planned ahead of time with 2 vehicles being involved."

"How so?" asked Sarah.

"A miniature version of the jaws of life was found near the opening of the driver's side door."

"Did he leave anything significant behind…anything that would be a possible clue on who may have taken him?" inquired Travis furrowing his eyebrows.

"Negative." said Beckman shaking her head. Beckman pulls up pictures of the interior of the car.

"Other than finding his cell phone and remnants of food from the restaurant Teatro Goldoni strewn all over the interior of the car, we also found his gun on the driver's side floor which means that he sensed something was not quite right and drew his weapon."

"Did he fire his weapon at all?" Travis asked.

Beckman shakes her head again. "Negative." firmly stated Beckman. "There were no bullet casings found anywhere in or around the crash sight."

A look of concern is etched on each of the faces of Team Chuck.

"However, someone took a photo with their cell phone of the driver leaving the scene of the accident." added Beckman.

The somewhat grainy image of the man driving the black Lincoln Town car pulls up the screen. Chuck eyes begin to flutter leading him to flash on the following images:

A bowl of cherries…

A patch with claws of some type of carnivorous animal…

Dishonorable discharge documents with Graham's name in it…

A military unit codenamed Wolverine…

Dossier with the following name under his picture: Kirk Archer

Lastly the bowl of cherries agin…

"His name is Kirk Archer and he's a former member of an elite black ops squad for the C.I.A. codenamed Wolverine. He was dishonorably discharged for punching Graham in the face after he was punished for disobeying a director order." Chuck quickly spat.

"Dude, how do you do that?" asked Travis in amazement.

Chuck just responded with smirk. Beckman cleared her throat in order to get back to the matter at hand. "Excellent job Mr. Bartowski." said Beckman. "We know the who…possibly the why…and now we need the where."

Chuck shakes his head knowing the intersect didn't have the most important information needed to find Graham. In that brief moment, he thinks to himself he failed Sarah knowing how she considered him to be one of the most important men her life. His thought process was suddenly broken by Sarah speaking up.

"General, these guys knew what they were doing and the possibility of the second vehicle was used as a distraction in order to catch him completely off guard." Sarah stated as she stood up facing Beckman in the monitor.

"Agent Walker I know how personal this is for you but we need to act accordingly and in a professional manner." ordered Beckman. "It's imperative that you don't let your emotions distract you from the mission ahead."

Sarah nodded. Chuck had a curious look on his face as he pointed finger in the air in order to ask a question.

"General…uh…what is the prime directive when someone such as Director Graham getting captured?" asked Chuck.

"Excuse me?" retorted Beckman expressing a puzzled look on her face.

"What are you lip smacking about Bartowski?" grunted Casey.

Chuck glanced back and forth from Casey to Beckman as they stared at him waiting to explain himself. Suddenly, all eyes were on him putting him now in the awkward position and looking at Casey he knew he wouldn't bail him out. Fortunately, it would be Travis who knew what Chuck was talking about since he was familiar with the tv series Star Trek.

"I think what Chuck was trying to say General is what are the rules of engagement concerning the abduction of a high level government official such as Graham?" chimed in Travis as he gave a slight nod towards Chuck who acknowledged that he got his back.

"Well Mr. Bartowski, since this is a matter of great importance and he has knowledge concerning all sorts of operations known and unknown he is your top priority." Beckman firmly stated looking at all 4 members of Team Chuck.

"What are our orders General?" inquired the burly NSA agent.

"Retrieve C.I.A. Director Graham and use what you know from the intel that Chuck was able to quickly gather." Beckman ordered. "This is a high level threat and I implore you to do what your team does best."

"And that would be General?" asked Travis.

"Get results by any means necessary." Beckman said expressing a look of seriousness as she pushed a button causing the monitor to go completely black.

XXX

Note: I gave Sarah the sign of the Scorpio not knowing what the qualities it entails. Here's what I found out and this is just part of what describes a Scorpio:

Scorpios are the most intense, profound, powerful characters in the zodiac. Even when they appear self-controlled and calm there is a seething intensity of emotional energy under the placid exterior. They are like the volcano not far under the surface of a calm sea, it may burst into eruption at any moment. But those of us who are particularly perceptive will be aware of the harnessed aggression, the immense forcefulness, magnetic intensity, and often strangely hypnotic personality under the tranquil, but watchful composure of Scorpio. In conventional social gatherings they are pleasant to be with, thoughtful in conversation, dignified, and reserved, yet affable and courteous; they sometimes possess penetrating eyes which make their shyer companions feel naked and defenseless before them.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.