So here's the next chapter to Chuck Versus the Unrequited Love. In original I wanted to cut this whole story into just four chapters, not including the prologue and the epilogue, so it could also be somewhat visualized as an actual episode. But guess what? That's a whole LOT of words that needs to fill up 15 minutes before a commercial, so... I just decided to stick with what I'm doing now, which is... well... NOT that plan.

For all of you Chuck fans, I deeply apologize if any of the characters are too OCC-ish, but I've tried my best to keep them in character, especially Casey (because I have to keep his 'don't-mess-with-me' attitude while revealing his more "human" side/lovey-dovey side. haha.). Please review and tell me how I'm doing on that.

Please, please, PLEASE R&R!

Disclaimer: Chuck (c) Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak
Claimer: Everything else, including Lara Clark (c) me


Chapter One: Meet Lara Clark, CIA Gov. Operative

Morgan Grimes, Chuck's best friend, was poking around the Buy More, and saw a very attractive black-haired woman entering the store, her small blue purse at her side. She was wearing black slacks and a red button-up T-shirt, with the first top button undone. Her hair was tied up into a neat ponytail and she looked around with curious, searching golden eyes. She wore flat black heels which, surprisingly, didn't make a sound every time she took a step.

"Who's that?" Lester Partel asked him, not taking his eyes off the woman carrying a small blue purse.

"I have no idea," Jeff Barnes replied, also staring at the same woman as the other two were, "But I know one thing..."

"She's hot," both Lester and Jeff said at once.

Morgan looked at them both. "Maybe you two should go talk to her," he suggested, "By the way, have you guys seen Chuck? He told me he just went on his break 15 minutes ago."

"Not here, and we're not going," Lester stated.

The spiky-haired brunette sighed, "Are you guys just going to stand there all day or go talk to her?"

The girl's eyes suddenly fell upon them, and she walked towards them.

"Oh my gosh!" Jeff exclaimed, "She's coming this way!"

"Quick, act professional," Lester ordered.

"Excuse me," she asked, "but does John Casey work here?"

"Casey?" Morgan repeated, "Yeah, he does work here. Not too sure where he is right now, but-"

"I'm sure we could help you..." Lester cut off, grinning.

"Lara?" A voice gasped.

They turned and looked to see John Casey and Chuck Bartowski standing there.

"Casey!" Lara Clark exclaimed, running into his embrace, "It's been so long!"

Before she could say anything else, he cut her off by tightly pressing his lips against hers, his arms wrapping around her.

Chuck was deeply surprised by the sudden display of emotion the major had. If he had known any better, he could have sworn that Casey and Lara were a real couple.

"So how have you been?" Lara asked.

"Pretty good. You seem to be great too," he responded, a somewhat half-forced smile on his face.

Morgan, Lester and Jeff walked over to them.

"Casey, you know this woman?" Morgan implored.

He nodded. "How could I not know my own girlfriend? This is Lara Clark."

"Your girlfriend?!" both Jeff and Lester cried out.

Back off, she's mine, he thought, resisting the urge to break both their necks, Wait a sec. Did I just think that?! What the hell is wrong with me?!

Morgan smiled. "Never knew you were the type to have one," he commented.

Lara pulled out of Casey's embrace and looked at Chuck. "You must be Chuck Bartowski. Casey's told me so much about you," she greeted, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Chuck replied, a bit taken aback. She's like the complete opposite of Casey! How could she have been able to fall for him? He thought, this is crazy! Insane, almost! Casey! Our Casey! The 'you're-dead-Bartowski' Casey! Fall in love with someone?! It's completely uncalled for!

"Um... Chuck?" Morgan said awkwardly, "You're kinda spacing out there."

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"

Moron, Casey thought, you'd better not be thinking ways how to tease me about this later. Or else I'm going to be thinking up ways of how to kill you.

"Lara's going to start working with us at the Buy More," Jeff said rather excitedly.

"Really?!" Chuck exclaimed, "I mean- well, that's great! When are you starting?"

She grinned, her golden eyes sparkling. "Tomorrow!" she announced, "I've already arranged everything with Big Mike."

"So if you need any help, I'm Lester Partel, this is my buddy Jeff Barnes, and this is Morgan Grimes," Lester introduced, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask."

She chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm sure Chuck and Casey will help me. But it's good to know that I'll have friends to support me."

"It's good to have you back," Casey said, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist and pulling her against him, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," she whispered, "It's been far too long since I've last seen you."

"Whoa, long-distance relationship, much?" Jeff noted, "You know, they don't usually last very long you know."

"Where were you coming from?" Lester inquired.

"Washington, DC," she replied, smiling warmly up at Casey, "I work with computers in one of the local businesses there."

Casey bent down and planted a kiss across her lips. "So what brought you to Burbank, California? You never told me that on the phone," he lied smoothly, as if the fact was real.

"Well..." he began, "When you told me about your job at the Buy More, as well as all of your mini adventures when assisting Chuck with his Nerd Herd supervisor duties, I kinda wanted to come. My mini adventures aren't as exciting as yours, so I applied for the job a day after you told me I could stay with you until I found an apartment for myself."

Anger flashed across his eyes for a moment as he knew that she just made that up. But then he seemed to be able to calm himself as he remembered it had to be a believable cover-up and said, "Right, right. Now I remember."

Suddenly, Big Mike, their boss, stalked over with a huge grin on his face. He shook Lara's hand warmly. "You must be Lara Clark. It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Big Mike, owner of this Buy More store. My, my, you're so much cuter in person than you were on the phone," he greeted.

"Whoa, you'd better back off there, Boss," Morgan commented, "She already belongs to John here."

"Guys, you shouldn't make her sound like an object. People aren't objects, remember?" Chuck said.

Lara smiled. "Thanks Chuck," she thanked, hugging Casey's arm, "But in any case, Morgan's right. John Casey is my boyfriend."

Big Mike laughed, "Sorry for that little random flirting there. Anyway, Chuck, John, why don't you two take the rest of the day off and help make Lara feel right at home. After all, she is starting work here tomorrow."

Without warning, Sarah walked through the doors of the Buy More and walked over to them. "Hey guys," she greeted, looking at Chuck, "Hi Chuck."

"Hey Sarah," he replied.

"Oh, is this Sarah Walker? Chuck's girlfriend that works at the restaurant next door, Orange Orange, was it now?" Lara said cheerfully, "Casey's told me so much about you too! He's told me about you and Chuck's current relationship and everything!"

"And I take it you're Lara Clark? Casey's long-time girlfriend? I've heard about you. Casey's told me about you before, and how you two have a long-distance relationship," Sarah replied, holding out her hand.

She shook it and Lester suggested, "Why don't you four go on a double date or something, since John and Chuck have the day off?"

"That's a great idea! The happy couples could get some alone time," Jeff added, grinning like a moron, "If you know what I mean."

"Sounds like a great idea!" Sarah exclaimed, grabbing Chuck's arm, "Let's go!"

"Uh- we'll see you guys later!" Chuck stated as the four of them walked out of the Buy More, heading over to Orange Orange.

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The group took the secret entrance down to the 'Castle', where Casey went to change into his completely black-coloured outfit. He had his black T-shirt, black jeans, black hiking boots, and his black leather jacket.

"Wow, Casey, you haven't changed one bit," Lara commented, leaning against the table.

"First things first," Casey announced, glaring at Chuck and Sarah, "don't ever, and I mean, EVER bug me about my love life."

Funny thing was, both of them ignored him.

"So you're Agent Lara Clark of the CIA?" Chuck inquired, trying to ignore Casey's continuing glare at him.

She nodded. "Yes, I've been with the CIA for some time now. Over 6 years, at least," she replied, "I met Agent Casey just a few years back. We were investigating a large drug dealing organization, but we were taken off the case after it was seen that things were getting to dangerous. We worked together as undercover operatives for two years before we had to split. It was actually only a month after we started working together that Casey discovered his true feelings for me."

"Come on, Lara, don't talk about that," the major whined, crossing his arms gruffly, "Things may have changed since then. I may not be the man I once was."

She looked at him with curious golden eyes. "No, you're right. You've... softened... even if it's just a tiny bit," she informed, touching his chest gently and smiling at him teasingly, "Reminds me of when I made you soften up too, from your super hard core reserve, sheesh!"

"But if that's true, how come General Beckman kept you two on the job?" Chuck asked, recalling that the general was considering taking Sarah off the job after her feelings were compromising her duty as his handler.

"Because we managed to prove that our mission was more important that our feelings for each other. Sure, we still had our feelings, but we always made sure that our duties came before our love for each other," Casey explained.

Chuck grinned. "So you mean you still love her?"

He shot him a glare. "Can it, Bartowski. Don't make me strangle you," he threatened.

"Casey, be nice," Lara scolded.

"Can you blame me? He's a complete moron!" he exclaimed, "He's risked so many of our operations before!"

Sarah glared at him. "Come on, Casey, he's been a major asset to the team too in many missions too," he argued.

"You lovveeee her," Chuck sang in a teasing voice, knowing that either Sarah or Lara would save him from Casey's wrath. At least, that's what he was hoping. "And I was thinking that you wouldn't get another lover after what happened with Ilsa Trinchina."

"That's it, Bartowski!" Casey shouted out angrily, quickly advancing towards him.

"No, Casey!" Sarah yelled, but a moment too late.

As the major through an angry punch towards Chuck, a quick hand grabbed his fist, twisted it behind his back, and pinned him against the table. "NSA Major John Casey, I told you to be nice. So don't go throwing random punches at the first nerd who makes you angry by teasing you about your love life," she scolded, her golden eyes stern, "It only means that you're only admitting it all the more that it's real."

"W-Wow," Chuck breathed, "You can defeat Casey in a fight?"

She looked back up at him, still keeping Casey pinned against the table. "Of course not, I only caught him with his guard down this time," she elaborated, looking back down at her fake boyfriend, "Now, are your emotions more controlled now?"

"Just let me go, damn it!" he yelled furiously.

She let go of his arm. "Fine, fine," she said, crossing her arms, "You're so pushy sometimes, you know that?"

Sarah smirked at Casey, "And you say Chuck and I fight like an old married couple."

"Shut it, Walker," he snapped back.

"I'm afraid you're not as intimidating when Lara's with you," Chuck informed.

Casey glared at Lara. "This is all your fault, Clark," he accused, "You started this."

"Two things," she began, unfazed by his anger, "One: It's actually your fault because you started it. And two: You're still cute when you're mad."

He walked up to her, his face just inches above hers. "And you know what? You're pretty cute when you're not pissing me off!"

She smiled. "Uh huh..." she said sarcastically, "I already know how you feel about me. I remember the exact day in which you told me you loved me."

"What?!" Chuck exclaimed, "Casey proclaimed his love? Like, actually talked about his true feelings for someone he cared about?"

"Can it, Bartowski!" both Casey and Lara scolded irritably.

Hmm... Maybe they have more in common than I thought, Chuck thought, shrinking back.

"Sorry, Chuck, but you just really don't want to deal with him when he's irritated and extremely pissed off," Lara told him, "Like he is right now."

Okay, maybe they don't have that much in common, except for the fact they're government agents assigned to protect me, he rethought, Lara yells at me to tell me not to piss Casey off so he won't kill me. But Casey yells at me because he wants me to shut the hell up. Hmm....

"Why do you defend him? You know very well that he deserves a world of hurt!" Casey growled at Lara.

"Because he's the asset, and we're the handlers. We're supposed to protect him, not kill him," she argued, "Save your assassin's training for the Fulcrum agents." She shook her head, looking at her digital watch which was also had an internal communication device. "Well... it's almost lunchtime, so why don't I take you guys out to lunch? My treat," she offered.

"Sure, why not?" Chuck said, "We've got the day off, after all."

A low growl escaped Casey's throat as he glared menacingly at the human Intersect. Lara sighed and then turned to Chuck and Sarah. "Why don't you two meet us upstairs at Orange Orange? We'll join you in a few minutes," she told them.

"Okay, don't take too long alone, you two," Sarah teased, eyes sparkling as she and Chuck took the stairway out of the Castle.

Once they were gone, Casey glared at Lara. "What do you want?" he growled, still irritated.

"You'd better behave yourself at lunch. We don't want you strangling our Intersect," she informed him.

He crossed his arms stubbornly. "So you kept us both here just to tell me that?" he scowled.

She touched his arm and moved closer to him. "Casey..." she said quietly, "I've missed you. I've missed us being together." She closed her eyes and hugged herself against him. "It means a lot to me that we get to work together again," she whispered.

The major was taken aback for a moment before wrapping his arms around her tightly, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. In truth, I've missed you too. There hasn't been a mission-less night where I haven't been thinking about you and hoping that you were okay, he thought, Oh crap. Did I just really think that?! Maybe I still do have feelings for her. Damn... if I can't keep my feelings and emotions in check, I won't be able to protect that idiot Bartowski. But... I can't let my feelings for Lara just disappear. Love doesn't work that way, unfortunately. Maybe this is how Walker and Bartowski feel about their so-called fake relationship.

"Casey, I'm not sure whether you feel the same, but I think I still care for you," Lara mumbled, "Like... I think I still love you."

He took her face into his hands and stared deep into her golden eyes. "I still love you too," he admitted. Then he pressed his mouth against her warm lips, kissing her deeply. Her arms snaked around his neck and pulled him even closer. Casey pinned her against one of the Castle walls and they continued to kiss and make-out passionately.

Suddenly, Lara placed two fingers against his lips as he advanced in for another kiss. "Enough, Casey. We've got to worry and take care of Chuck, remember?" she reminded, sighing in satisfaction, "Our mission comes before each other."

The major sighed in both content and in annoyance. "Right, right. That damn Bartowski," he said, pulling away from her, "Let's go."

Gently, the CIA agent planted a small kiss on his cheek and smiled, grabbing her dark red jacket. "Okay, Chuck and Sarah should be upstairs waiting for us."

"I'm glad that they didn't see us kiss like that. They would never let me live it down," Casey said.

She chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't be so mean."

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Upstairs, Sarah and Chuck were actually watching footage of what was happening down at the Castle. They had seen Casey and Lara kiss and everything. They were using the special TV that was secretly imbedded in the Orange Orange.

"Oh yes we would," both of them said in union, grinning at each other.


I hope you liked this chapter of the story!

Please, PLEASE REVIEW! (and give me feedback on how I'm doing so far! It really helps me out!)