A/N: My apologies for the long wait. The holiday's were beyond busy, and my new semester starts Monday *insert sarcastic remark here* so I've been trying to get everything ready for that. Please enjoy, and remember, reviews make me write faster! Special thanks to Creedog for being an absolutely fantastic beta!

Chapter Two

Casey stood and watched as he cycled through the various camera angles of the Buy More. He had heard some in-store chatter, or rather some gossip that Morgan had returned to Burbank from his short, misled trip to Hawaii just a few days earlier. He was hoping to catch a glimpse of the tiny man-boy, hopefully alone. He needed to snatch him up quickly, without being noticed by any of the other Buy Morons, like Jeff or Lester.

Casey saw Morgan walking in slowly as he headed for the Nerd Herd headquarters. Both Jeff and Lester were sitting in chairs, watching the sad sap walk toward them with his head hanging down. Part of him did feel bad for Morgan. His freaky little girlfriend had broken his heart by leaving him for another man. Grimes was one to wear his 'lady-feelings' right out there for everyone to see. Which of course is why Casey was one to bury his feelings down deep. Keeping them out of reach of anyone, even himself.

Morgan sighed as he leaned his back against the Nerd Herd desk. Jeff and Lester were snickering behind his back. He had known that when he came back that people—mainly Jeff and Lester—would make jokes. Would talk about him behind his back. Hell, who was he kidding? They'd talk about him to his face. They were a new and different breed of evil that hell had unleashed to make his life miserable, and yet he still enjoyed their company and friendship. The worst part about all of this pain and wallowing in his own misery was that he had to do it alone. Chuck had gone on some impromptu trip with Sarah to god only knows where.

"So, Morgan..."

"Shut it Lester." Without another word, Morgan pushed himself away from the Nerd Herd desk and walked away.

His head down, his eyes boring holes into the floor, it was almost as if his only purpose in life was to escape the torment that Jeff and Lester had planned for him.

"Excuse me, do you work here?"

The scent that overwhelmed his nostrils was almost flowery. It was nice, not a smell he was used to, what being stuck with hanging out with Jeff and Lester. Looking up, the words he wanted to speak to away from the woman in front of him got stuck in his throat. Her reddish-brown hair fell just below her shoulder, and though she was quite a bit taller than himself, he could tell that her eyes were an odd shade of hazel. She was, for lack of better words, beautiful.

"Yes. I do." He said as he smiled softly at her.

"Could you help me pick out a digital camera for a friend of mine? Her birthday is coming up and I really have no idea what I'm looking for."

"I'd love too."

Casey stood on the fringe of one of the many Buy More aisle-ways. He watched as Morgan ogled over the female customer that he was helping. The woman's back was turned toward Casey, but even just seeing the back of her head, Casey could tell that she was an attractive younger woman.

"You're being kind of a creeper there, John. You been hanging out with my man Jeff?"

Lester Patel was one of those people that was easily manipulated if you knew which buttons to push, but could just as easily ruin everything that you're working toward. Casey knew that right now he had a choice. Lester could either help him, by doing something cruel to get Morgan away from the customer he was helping, or he could totally ruin his plan.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go free Morgan. I have a message for him from the 'Big man.'"

"You got it." The chuckle that followed his words made Casey almost instantly regret asking yet another moron for help.

Good help was hard to come by. He didn't understand why the General couldn't insure that they had slightly more competent people working around them. People who could be useful, and not mocking in a cruelly evil way that Jeff and Lester were. He could at least give Grimes that much credit. He might be an ignorant moron, but he was faithful, and would do whatever he could to help find his idiot best friend.

Watching in awed horror as Lester berated Morgan in front of the customer, Casey felt a slight twinge of guilt try to work itself up to the surface. Swallowing hard, he fought the feeling back down into it's place.

Morgan bowed his head in defeat and started to walk away from the verbal beating that Jeff had joined in on. As he made his way back toward the aisle that Casey was hiding in, he grabbed his arm and pulled him into the aisle. As he did so, Casey caught sight of the woman that Morgan had been helping. He couldn't help but feel like he had seen her before. She didn't give him a bad feeling necessarily, but it definitely wasn't a good feeling either

"You need to come with me. It's about Bartowski... he needs your help."

"Chuck's in trouble?"

"Yes."

It wasn't really a lie, if Casey didn't find Bartowski or Walker soon, he'd be jobless and they'll be dead. He would definitely make sure of that, even if it is the last thing he does.

Chuck sighed deeply. The sound could have been either of happiness or joy. He hated that he had to leave his friends and family behind, possibly forever, but he loved that he was here with Sarah. Watching as her chest moved in a slow, rhythmic way, he wondered what it was that she was dreaming about, and if she was truly happy to give up her life, the only life she's known, for him.

"Why are you watching me sleep? It's creepy."

"Because you're amazing and beautiful and I can't believe that you're actually here with me."

"As sweet as that is Chuck, I can't sleep with you staring at me."

"I could go grab you something? Maybe some warm milk... or something that helps Sarah Walker sleep?"

Sarah smiled sleepily at him, her hand resting on his chest. "No, I can sleep. Just not with you watching me. If you want something though, you can go get it."

He heard the implication she was making and gave in, even if he didn't want to leave her side, afraid that maybe if he did she'd disappear.

"Ok, I guess...are you sure you don't want anything though?"

"Positive."

Chuck smiled as he climbed out of bed and put on his shoes. Sarah sighed happily, before smiling back.

"Be careful."

"Careful is my middle name… well... technically it's not, but you get my point."

"Yes, Chuck, I get your point."

Without another word he disappeared out the door, letting it shut gently behind him.

"Come on man. You can't practically drag me out of the store talking about how Chuck's in trouble, and then tell me nothing."

"I can do whatever I want. You'll know when I want you to know. First thing's first, we have to get somewhere secure before I start telling you anything about what that idiot friend of yours did."

Morgan huffed angrily, as he stared straight ahead, following Casey toward the Orange, Orange.

"Frozen Yogurt? Really Casey?"

"Trust me, not everything is as it appears."

"I don't even know what that means!"

"My point exactly…" Casey stopped suddenly and turned back toward Morgan. He felt a twinge of guilt for taking out his frustration on Morgan. He hadn't betrayed him, gone rogue and left him to deal with the aftermath. "You're the only person who can help me now. I'm counting on you."

"Oh, lucky me." Morgan rolled his eyes, as he started to follow Casey again.

"I think that I might like your new attitude Morgan. Very...feisty."

"Yes, I understand, General. I'm inside of Castle. I'm hoping that Colonel Casey will return shortly."

"You mean that the Colonel is not inside?"

General Beckman ran her fingertips over her forehead. She could feel a headache coming on, and it had the names Walker and Bartowski written all over it.

"No. He is definitely not down here. I checked everywhere for him."

"You spoke to Mr. Grimes?"

"Yes ma'am. The Colonel hadn't spoken to him yet, I don't think. He seemed very withdrawn, almost depressed. I'm assuming that he would be the type to get excited to know that his best friend is secretly an asset working with the CIA."

"You're assumption is correct. Unfortunately Mr. Grimes is a bit of a wild-card. I'm not sure he can be entrusted with the asset's secret. Please make sure that Colonel Casey does not give Grimes more information than is absolutely necessary."

"Will do, ma'am."

"And Agent Buchanan?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Your job is to bring back Agent Walker and Chuck Bartowski alive, by any means necessary."

"Understood."