You guys are the best! Thank you so much for all of the warm reviews! I'm so happy you like my story! Hopefully I'll be getting up the next chapter a bit quicker, but no promises.

Disclaimer: If I owned Chuck, Charah would've been together latest by the beginning of season 3.

The tension in the air was almost palpable, the President's irate question going unanswered while the 3 people it had been posed to were roasting under his fiery glare. After several long moments which felt infinitely longer to the torture-trained government operatives, the President's voice snapped out again.

"I don't like to be kept waiting."

Showing either courage or foolishness, General Beckman spoke up. "Mr. President, I'm not sure what precisely it is you're asking."

Hayes looked like his head was about to explode by this point. He opened his mouth before closing it again. Closing his eyes, he counted backward from 10 taking a deep breath before answering.

"General, you have no idea how lucky you are that I'm a career politician; I'm used to dealing with people ticking me off by saying stupid things. Agent Walker, you seem to have had no idea about this termination order, I'm thinking that means you're the best person to ask; how badly have the people I employ to keep my citizens safe treated one of those same citizens?"

Sarah was a little taken aback to get put on the spot like that, but her spy training served her well in recovering quickly. She took a moment to consider her answer, both what to say and how far she should go. This was dangerous ground she was treading considering that Beckman was listening, but the President looked none too happy with her just then, and besides, this was for Chuck.

"Well sir, Chuck has been putting his life on the line since the very beginning. He's saved a lot of lives, military and civilian. But all he's ever really gotten out of it is being in the room when we get a 'well done.' He receives little credit and no personal or professional respect. Rarely is he ever referred to by name, only 'the asset' or the 'the intersect'."

"That is standard procedure for an asset, Agent Walker." The General interrupted glowering, throwing Sarah's train of thought off, however she was able to pick up the General's train just fine.

"But he's not a normal asset!" she practically yelled. The President, who had looked pretty unhappy with Beckman for interrupting, stopped his rebuke and turned back to the agent. He, along with Casey, appeared quite curious as to what she meant by that.

"Assets are usually cultivated because they've gotten involved in something, either by carelessness or by design, or even from being manipulated. Chuck is none of those. He is no more or less than a victim. He had absolutely nothing to do with the intersect or the spy world before he was sent that email, even peripherally. Despite the fact that we showed up in his life all guns blazing he's never complained about the things we've asked of him, even some pretty extreme ones. He's objected, sure. Not to would've made him suicidal. But actual complaining after we answered him? Not once. We've put him into potentially deadly situations with no training, with nothing to protect him but the promises and skills of 2 people he'd just met whom the only thing he knew for sure about them was that they lie for a living. Beyond not complaining, he's gone out of his way to help. He even disobeys our orders to stay out of danger when he thinks he can help. And for what? We haven't given him so much as a thank you."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "No, I take that back. We've given him plenty. We've given him the need to lie to his family and friends repeatedly. Chuck's a naturally honest person, sir, and he is tirelessly dedicated to his loved ones. He hates having to lie to them. Even without them finding out about the lying we've caused some damage to his relationships with them. He misses or comes late to important occasions because he's out with us and has to make up excuses for why. Instead of thanking him for this, we've asked for more and threatened him when he raises objections, then we threaten him again just because.

Numerous times there have been discussions of locking him in an underground bunker. Once the CIA even tried to actually abduct him and go through with it. Chuck is a social animal. He's a people person. He wouldn't survive. He'd go insane in short order."

She swallowed a quick lump in her throat as she brought up the next point. "We've also damaged his opportunities to pursue his dreams. Chuck wants nothing more than to live a normal life with a woman he loves, but he can't pursue a woman showing interest. We obviously can't put priority to his feelings above national security, but do we have to act as if they don't matter at all even when there's no conflict? He's gone through a lot of pain in his life sir, and we've brought in a ton more."

"He's also caused a fair number of problems with his conduct, Mr. President." General Beckman chimed in.

"Because he's in a world he doesn't know!" Sarah shot back, beyond the point of showing respect to her superior, especially since technically Beckman wasn't her superior. "You keep expecting him to react like an agent and get angry when he doesn't despite the fact that he doesn't know how an agent would react. We all do." She said, looking down at the ground for a moment.

The President was silent, apparently deep in thought before speaking again.

"You've been pretty silent, Major Casey. What do you think?"

In other circumstances Sarah might have laughed at the trapped look on Casey's face, caught as he was between the question from the President, the glower from his longtime superior officer, and the venomous glare his partner was sending him due to his previous revelation and the position he was now in. He opened his mouth, not quite sure what was going to come out, when the discussion was interrupted by a chime from Sarah's phone. Looking down, she read the text message quickly and swallowed thickly, her face displaying a stream of powerful emotions for just a moment before quieting down.

"Agent Walker?" The President asked, wondering what could get a career spy so moved.

Instead of answering (a bold move considering the source, but Sarah wasn't quite thinking about just then) Sarah simply slid the phone across the table to Casey. Curious, the NSA agent turned the phone to him to read the message still displayed on the screen.

'Sarah, please don't kill Casey. He was doing his job and was caught in a terrible position. Besides, it's kind of comforting that if someone was going to do it, it would be someone who might at least care. Tell the big guy he's my friend and I forgive him.'

Chuck

John Casey hadn't cried in over 20 years. He didn't cry now. But it was one of the closest he'd ever come in his career, and it was all because of Bartowski.

'Rat Bastard.'

Casey slid Sarah's phone back and turned back to the President.

"Mr. President, I have to concur with Agent Walker. To be honest I haven't really thought about it from that perspective, but we have been fairly hard on the kid considering his background, and he's acquitted himself with honor. He's a trooper, sir. Maybe not the kind we're used to, but a trooper all the same."

He turned to Sarah and communicated with her in the way only partners who've seen their share of action together can. He gave the slightest nod to her and an almost unnoticeable glare that said 'you tell the kid I said that and… well I won't kill you because I'd probably die if I tried but I'll never admit that, and you still won't like what I'll do'. Or something to that effect.

"So you don't agree with the termination order you almost carried out?"

The President's edgy tone snapped the partners back to the screen. "No, sir. I don't, and I said as much when I was given the order."

"Would you have done it, major?"

Sarah snapped her head around to look at Casey, honestly curious to hear his answer. Beckman appeared quite interested as well. For that matter… so did Casey.

"Honestly, sir? It was the closest I've ever come to disobeying a direct order, but yes, I think I would have. It's simply too ingrained in me to obey orders, no matter what I think of them. But every second that I keep protecting him makes it all the harder." He shared a look with Sarah, their eyes connecting and telling each other that they were back in sync. Partners to the end. And they'd team up to slaughter anyone who tried to get them to admit it out loud.

The President just sat there in silence for several moments, considering the 2 partners and their impassioned defense of their charge, before he spoke again.

"Why does he do it? What motivates him to act the way he does, especially in light of what you're saying about how he's been treated?"

Both Sarah and Casey considered the question for a moment, looking to each other. Casey saw an idea pop up in those bright blue eyes and nodded for her to take the lead.

"Mr. President, let me tell you a story. The first time I met Chuck Bartowski we didn't know what had happened to the intersect data after being sent to him, or why he of all people had received it. I was sent in to find out. I approached him at his workplace and started flirting with him. He seemed pretty interested." Sarah turned and shot a glare at Casey when he grunted in amusement.

"ANYWAY, while we were talking, a man ran up hysterical with his small daughter in a tutu behind him. He frantically told Chuck that he had recorded his daughter's ballet recital and couldn't get it to play. Turns out he didn't realize that his digital camcorder still needed tape. The man looked like his life was over, talking about how his wife was going to kill him. Chuck just looked at how distraught this man was, and despite the fact that he was a victim of his own mistakes to no fault of Chuck's, despite the fact that Chuck was talking to a woman showing interest (something he hadn't been doing much of for a long time), Chuck dropped everything and commandeered part of the store to stage an impromptu ballet recital for the girl.

As he and his coworkers finished setting it up Chuck saw that the ballerina was looking anxious, so he got down and asked her what was wrong. The little girl told him that she was always in the back of her recitals because she was too tall. Chuck just gave her this look and said that he knew a secret- that real ballerinas are tall. The ballerina smiled, nodded, and gave her recital.

This is the man we're dealing with Mr. President. He cares about people so much. He does what he does because everyone can find a place for themselves in that unnaturally big heart of his. Sometimes to his detriment."

Hayes nodded as the Sarah's tale wound down, his eyes distant as he considered what he had heard. Casey even reacted with an interested grunt- he'd never heard that story before. The General just sat in her office, her expression unreadable. Finally, after a long moment, Hayes looked Sarah right in the eye and spoke up.

"Agent Walker, I have an assignment for you."

Thrown by the statement, Sarah tilted her head questioningly. "Sir?"

"It's pretty clear that when I asked Mr. Bartowski about something he wanted that could make this whole ordeal worth it to him he lied when he said there was nothing. Do you concur?"

Sarah smiled slightly. "Yes, sir. As I said, Chuck has many talents, but lying isn't one of them."

Hayes grinned. "Doesn't surprise me at all. His face is too honest. Well, Agent Walker, your assignment is to figure out exactly what it is that he was thinking of. Tell him that short of a tactical nuke, I'll do whatever I can to make it happen. Tell him that he deserves it, and it's the least we can do. This country is not an ungrateful user of people and as long as I have any say in the matter her heroes will never have to think it is."

Sarah blinked back the emotion that wanted to well up in her eyes as quickly and unobtrusively as she could.

"Thank you, sir." The words were simple, but the emotion behind them was anything but.

"Mr. President, with all due respect, I'm not quite certain that is appropriate. Mr. Bartowski is still a government asset that falls within certain guidelines of-"

"General Beckman, if anything has become clear to me in the course of this conversation, it's that your definition of what is appropriate is grossly off. Something we will be addressing while Agent Walker carries out her assignment." Hayes finished his snappy retort, his glare positively daring Beckman to say anything. She wasn't that dumb.

Hayes nodded to Sarah, who got up and left the room, feeling her partner's solid gaze of support on her retreating back. Casey knew she'd find Bartowski, and he knew if anyone could worm what he'd been going to say out of him, it was Walker.

'Now the only question is, is She going to be ready to hear it?"