Disclaimer: I still do not own Chuck as much as I wish I did.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews it really motivates me to keep writing with my caffeine induced spurts. Sorry for the long wait in between posts I will try and get better. Also I am looking for a good Beta-reader that I can bounce ideas off of and look my work through before I post. Contact me either over my profile or send me an e-mail, I will probably respond faster to an e-mail. NOW ONTO THE STORY!!!

Chapter 2

Chuck slowly followed Casey into the Orange Orange rubbing his shoulder and mumbling under his breath about Casey's behavior. He walked slowly over to the door that led down to the secret facility. In a rare act of kindness Casey had left the door slightly ajar so that Chuck would be able to get in easily.

Chuck shoved the door behind him until he heard the loud metallic click that announced that it was now locked. He walked down the stairs looking down at Sarah and Casey, both of whom were already sitting down waiting for him.

Neither of the agents verbally acknowledged his presence, although Sarah threw a small smile his way before looking back to the monitor. Chuck followed her gaze over to the monitor, when he reached the base of the stairs, and noticed that General Beckman was already waiting.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Bartowski, now if you would please sit down we can finally start this briefing," Beckman said the disdain for Chuck's tardiness clearly evident in her voice.

Chuck opened his mouth as if to make a sarcastic comment but decided against it, and opted instead to just take a seat.

Without preamble Beckman launched right into the briefing, "Your mark's name is Roy Parini, he is a former Navy Seal and civilian contractor for the CIA. He has been suspected as a Fulcrum operative ever since he went off the grid nearly two years ago. It looks like we caught a lucky break as he was spotted on a camera entering LAX three days ago."

Beckman posted the somewhat grainy, black and white picture of Parini and Chuck felt the familiar sensations overcome him as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

A cow grazing in an open field.

Parini's dossier and full details on all missions from the SEAL's.

Several bank statements from untraceable accounts in the Caymans.

Several reports on assassinations in the last two years.

A cow grazing in an open field.

Chuck slowly came out of his flash and shook his head trying to refocus on the world around him. Sarah and Casey were both looking at him having noticed the familiar effects of a flash. Sarah spoke up first and asked, "What did you see Chuck?"

"Well not much really, the guy is like Christopher Lee in, The Man with the Golden Gun, he is basically a killing machine. Apparently he is now an assassin for whoever bids the highest. No real home the guy just floats around to wherever his job takes him. The guy's only distinguishing feature is the lack of a middle finger on his right hand," Chuck rattled off trying to process the information the Intersect had fed him, "I wonder what he would do if someone cut him off on the highway," seeing the confused looks on the other's faces he continued, "I mean I'm not saying I do it, but if a guy just cuts in front of me while I'm driving I might want to flick him off. I mean I guess he could always just use the other hand to flick someone off but still…" Chuck slowly trailed off noticing the harsh look that General Beckman was shooting him.

"Thank you Mr. Bartowski for your… Unique input on the situation, but feel free to keep your inquiries about others to yourself in the future," Beckman stated her tone making it apparent that she had not found his speech funny, "Now back to what we are actually here for. The asset is right. We have been suspecting that Parini has been an assassin for a while now. We were hoping that the Intersect could tell us what he was in L.A. for."

Casey snorted, "So basically the asset's information was useless," he stated sending Chuck a grin, "Great now we found another job that you can't do."

Chuck searched his mind for an effective come back, but found none so instead he just crossed his arms and dropped back further into the chair. Sarah could sense Chuck's anger towards Casey so she tried to change the subject, "If we don't know why he is here General, what do you want us to do?"

Beckman now fixed her stare on Sarah, "Find out why he is here, of course. Unfortunately we have no idea where Parini is right now, but we do know where he will later tonight. We intercepted an e-mail to one of Parini's known contacts which shows that a meeting will take place tonight."

Casey looked shocked at this turn of events, "General when you called me you told me that this would be an offensive mission, not just another surveillance operation," the disappointment was so evident on Casey's face that Chuck and Sarah both had to try and suppress grins. Sarah was able to keep herself from aggravating Casey, whereas Chuck couldn't help but annoy him, and shot a huge grin his way.

"Don't worry agent Casey, the mission is not about surveillance, it is about gathering mass amounts of intelligence on Fulcrum motivations and objectives. Instead of doing a simple reconnaissance, agents Casey and Walker will attempt to apprehend Parini at the meeting and bring him into Castle where you will extract any information pertaining to Fulcrum by any means neccesary," Beckman stated plainly, "The asset will monitor your video feeds to see if he flashes on anything to suggest that Parini's contact is with Fulcrum as well."

Casey quickly spoke up obviously very enthusiastic now that he was guaranteed some action tonight, "Do we have any information on his contact?" Casey asked.

"The contacts name is Nassir Maumood; he is a former Republican guard during Desert Storm who just came back onto our radar after five years underground. That is all the information we have for you on this assignment. I trust that you will be able to handle it on your own from this point," Beckman said before terminating her connection, leaving only a blank screen.

Chuck was staring off into space and asked, "What does a guy do all by himself for five years?"

Casey grunted at Chuck, "Oh you know he probably just went and worked at a crappy job, and cried about his former girlfriend for a while. It seems like a very productive way to spend five years," he said sarcasm lacing every one of the words.

Chuck let out a fake laugh, "Oh ha-ha Casey very funny," he began to walk away when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

Turning around he was met with Sarah's eyes gazing at him, "Chuck we need to talk," she quickly turned back to look at Casey who was pretending to not listen to their conversation, "Alone," she stressed.

Casey grunted again and stood up, "Sorry about that. Guess I just couldn't wait for another episode of this stupid soap opera you two have been stars in," he said sarcastically before walking up the stairs and back over to the Buy More.

Chuck looked confused and apprehensive not knowing exactly what this was about, "So Sarah what do we need to talk about?"

"Chuck I know that I… We have told you this before but it is imperative that you stay in the car on this mission. Parini is extremely dangerous and Casey and I can't be worrying about you during this mission. Plus we have no clue if he has any backup while he is here," Sarah said her eyes now gazing into Chuck's trying to get him to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"I get it. I get it. Stay in the car Chuck," he replied sounding annoyed and tired with the situation.

Sarah shook her head at him her anger slowly building, "No Chuck you do not get it! Do you have any idea what would happen if Parini found out you were involved. If for some reason Casey, and I screwed up?" Chuck's silence gave her the answer, "Exactly you have no idea. He would destroy you, and not just your physical body, he would kill everyone that you ever cared about and make sure that you had to watch every single one of them unable to do a damn thing about it. Chuck you need to know this no matter how hard it is for you, no matter what happens to me or Casey; you cannot let him find out who you are. You mean too much to…" Sarah paused able to catch herself before revealing too much, "… to the mission."

Chuck looked at her resigned to his fate and decided to not try and push further, "Okay fine I promise I won't leave the van under one condition."

Sarah sighed but sensed he wouldn't budge, "Name it."

"Stop the act."

"Stop what act?" Sarah asked her confusion written on her face.

Chuck looked surprised that she didn't get what he was hinting at and looked down at the floor in defeat, "Forget it. I get it I mean all of it was a mistake anyways right? Nothing that happened between us was real anyways so why should I even care," he started off speaking to Sarah but by the end of his little speech he was speaking mostly to himself.

Sarah just stood there in shock. He had never been that upfront with her about their relationship under the fake relationship before, but there was nothing she could say. If she did acknowledge it Chuck would again have the false hope that they had a future. The agent Sarah and the women Sarah battled within her to decide what to say, but as always the agent won out and she stood there stoic and unmoving, not trusting her voice enough to speak.

Chuck turned around and walked away a defeated man, "I forgot to mention that Ellie wanted you over for dinner tomorrow, that is of course if it fits in with your busy schedule," he said without even bothering to turn around while ascending the stairs.

Sarah finally shook herself out of it and responded, "That sounds fine Chuck."

The only way Sarah knew that he had heard her was the small wave her threw her way before turning the corner out of the facility.

Sarah sighed and sat down her head slowly dropping into her hands. She sat like that for a minute looking nothing like the person she showed to the outside world. She got up and walked over to the punching bag that was hung downstairs determined to keep her mind off of Chuck.

***

Chuck slowly made his way over to the Buy More but stopped about halfway over and slowly let himself slide down the side of a parked car. He had tried to be strong and wait for Sarah to eventually realize that they were perfect for each other, but the continued rejections were starting to get to him.

He let his head drop into his hands and tried to think about anything but the blond goddess, her role as his cover girlfriend a constant reminder that he could never truly have her.

He sat there mulling over his thoughts before finally gathering up the courage to go back into the Buy More and live his normal boring life. Chuck quickly walked through the front doors and sped to the back of the store. He strode into the cage and as if on auto pilot began to fix the old computers, determined to keep his mind off of Sarah.

A/N: For all you Charah fans I added in the scene at the end for you otherwise it would have been just a filler chapter. No matter what your opinion is give me your review. Reviews do make me write faster. Also as I said earlier I am looking for a beta so anyone who is interested can contact me.