A/N: Well here is the next chapter. I apologize for splitting this up into two chapters but it just kinda went that way. I promise to have part 2 posted no later then Sunday. I know every one is looking for the Chuck and Sarah reunion and I promise you that it's coming but I wanted the story to follow Sarah's mission and part of that is observing Chuck to see what has changed in his life, other than the physical changes. Anyway, I don't own Chuck because if I did there would be no Shaw in the xmas episode, which by the way is supposed to have someone kissing Sarah and it's not supposed to be Chuck and the same is supposed to happen to Chuck. Not sure I'll watch that episode. Enjoy the story.
Sarah sat on her bed against the headboard and looked down at the small pad of paper in her hand. She was studying it while slowly chewing on the cap of her pen. The words on the paper formed a list that she had written down. Sarah made a promise to herself before she came back to Burbank and that was to get Chuck back and she was treating it as seriously as she did a mission. She didn't want to blow what could end up being her one and only chance to get back together with Chuck. Sarah didn't want Chuck to know she was in town until she knew everything that may have changed in Chuck's life since she had left. She wrote down a list of objectives that she was going to follow to the letter and hopefully when she completed the list, her and Chuck would be together, forever this time.
The first item on the list was making initial contact with Chuck, which she did earlier in the day at the Buy More. Most of the list involved watching Chuck to see who his friends were. Did he still hang out with Morgan, did he still live with Ellie and Devon and most importantly, did Chuck have a girlfriend? These were some of the things she wanted to find out before she ever made contact with Chuck and as hard as some of the answers might be, she was going to follow through with the plan from beginning to end.
Sarah sat behind the wheel of her vehicle and was sipping on her coffee. Beside her was a small white bag containing several chocolate croissants. She was licking off her fingers to get the remains of the first croissant when she looked up and got an answer to another question on her list. Chuck still lived in the same apartment complex because when she looked up she could see Chuck and Devon come through the entrance of the apartments what was strange was they both had shorts and a t-shirt on along with what appeared to be running shoes. She watched as both of them started to stretch their hamstrings and lower back muscles. Sarah made a quick mental note, Devon didn't look near as big as he used to, now that he stood next to a much larger Chuck. She watched them finish their stretching and then starting jogging in the opposite direction that she parked at. As much as she wanted to follow, Sarah new that even Chuck might pick up on being followed and she didn't want to take that chance. It was about thirty to forty minutes later when she noticed Devon and Chuck arrive back at the apartment complex.
Wow, was the first thing that came to Sarah's mind as she could see that both men's t-shirts were completely soaked with sweat which made the shirt cling tightly to their bodies. Chuck's white shirt was pretty much see through at this point and it hugged his skin like,…like a second skin. Sarah checked to see if the heater was on because all of a sudden it became quite warm in the car and she had to open the windows to help let some the heat out that her body had just put out. Sarah wondered what Chuck would look like with out any clothes on and immediately started the car after that thought and decided that a very cold shower was needed. It wasn't on her list, but a cold shower was going to become a common practice for the rest of this mission. She would return tomorrow to gather more information and decided that the air conditioner was going to become her new best friend for the foreseeable future and at the very least, it would stop the windows from fogging up.
Sarah returned the next morning and just like the day before, Devon and Chuck came out and went on their run. When they returned, she waited in her vehicle and about thirty minutes later she observed Chuck come out wearing his nerd herd uniform and get into a blue Mustang and then drive off. Nice vehicle Chuck, she thought. Just minutes after Chuck had left she observed Ellie and Devon walk out of the apartments and as they went to their vehicle she noticed that they were wearing their scrubs from the hospital, so she knew they were heading off to work. Sarah looked over the remaining vehicles that remained and noticed a black older model Ford Crown Vic. Sarah was glad about one thing, even with all the changes Chuck had made, some thing always remained the same and with that she headed to the apartment of none other then John Casey.
As Sarah entered the courtyard, it felt like she had never left. She could see the fountain that provided a lot of memories. Good and bad, depending on the day. She walked up to Casey's door and took a deep breath as she lightly knocked. She looked up as the door opened and was met with John Casey wearing a scowl on his face. "What are you doing here Walker?" Sarah smiled at Casey and replied "Nice to see you too Casey." As Casey motioned her into the apartment, she told him that she was on two weeks of vacation. "So you could've went anywhere in the world and you chose to come to Burbank for you vacation?" Casey new damn well and good why Sarah was here and he was not happy about it. "Walker, do you know what you did to that kid when you just up and left?" Casey took a deep breathe and looked Sarah right in the eye, "I was the one who had to listen to and deal with all the lady feelings and anger that Chuck was going through, not you." Sarah kept eyeing her feet as Casey continued to tell her how devastated Chuck had become after she had left. "You didn't even care about the moron enough to at least stop and say bye to him before you left. It wouldn't have hurt him as bad if you had talked to him and explained why you were leaving. Casey looked at Sarah and said, "He knows you left to go with Bryce." Sarah's face paled at his last statement. "How did he know about Bryce?" Casey went on to tell her that they were getting ready for a mission and he had slipped up and told Chuck that the information that they had received came from her and Bryce. "I didn't leave to be with Bryce, and there was nothing but a working relationship between the two of us. In fact I haven't had a relationship with anyone since leaving Burbank." Casey looked at her again and told her that somehow Chuck was able to move on from the idea of her being with Bryce and decided to make some changes in his life.
Sarah had heard bits and pieces from missions that Chuck and Casey had been on and had heard mention about one of the agents being fairly large. She always assumed that they were referring to Casey and had no reason to believe that Chuck was the one they were actually talking about.
Casey knew Sarah had seen some of the physical changes but he new she had no idea about the training that Casey had put Chuck through.
Sarah admitted that the physical changes that Chuck had made were quite impressive but was curious if there was anything else that she hadn't seen already. Casey went and sat in his recliner and looked at her. "This is not the same Chuck you left two and a half years ago Sarah. You already know Chuck started running and working after you left but what you don't know was, he had requested that I train him. He wanted to be trained in hand to hand, shooting and knives. I trained him just like they train agents at the farm and I'm not going to lie, Chuck learned very quickly and it surprised the hell out of me." Sarah looked over at Casey, "How well did Chuck take to the weapons training?" He told Sarah that Chuck was almost as good as himself with the shooting and may be on par with her with the knives but that he was in a league all his own when it came to hand to hand combat. "What do you mean by that Casey?" Casey took another sip of his coffee, "Lets put it this way, I don't like sparing with him any more. I'm tired of getting my ass kicked by him. Chuck has gotten very strong with all the weight training he has done, and he hits like a freight train and it's next to impossible to get him a hold of him because he uses his speed and strength to get out of it. This isn't the intersect that is doing these moves either, it's all Chuck." To say Sarah was shocked was an understatement. "I'm telling you Sarah, I wouldn't feel overly confident if I had you as backup against Chuck, he is that good." Casey then went on and tell her that even though Chuck was more confident and built like a brick shit house. He had the ability to kick pretty much any ones ass but was still just as mild mannered and even tempered as he had been before she had left. Family and friends were still the most important things in Chuck's life and Casey doubted if that would ever change, no matter how much training Chuck had gone through. Casey and Sarah both knew that Chuck's personality was what made him unique and neither of them wanted that to change. The world needed more people like Chuck.
Casey looked over at Sarah "If you would like to see what Chuck can do, be at Castle tomorrow at 1700 hours. Get there a little early and I'll set you up in one of the spare offices and then you can use the cameras in the dojo to watch Chuck in action on the monitors." Sarah was actually quite excited at the idea of watching Chuck in action. "I'll be there Casey, just don't let Chuck know that I'm back in Burbank. I want to let him know on my own when I feel the time is right. My whole future depends on it." Casey grunted and said "For what it's worth Walker, I hope you and the kid get your happily ever after, God knows you both deserve some happiness in your lives." Sarah thought to herself, Chuck was all that mattered to her and she was prepared to do what ever it took to get him back. She had never failed a mission and she sure as hell wasn't going to start now. "Thanks Casey, it really means a lot coming from you." Casey took another sip of his coffee and then peered at Sarah, "I will deny ever saying anything to about the both of you guys and your lady feelings but know this Walker, if you hurt him again your going to have to deal with me." Sarah's eyes started to fill with tears as she looked at Casey, " I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving before, I won't make the same mistake again and I will never hurt Chuck again, I give you my word." When Casey stood up, he said to Sarah, "Seeing is believing. I'll see you tomorrow at Castle, don't be late."
On the drive back to Sarah's hotel she was somewhat overwhelmed with all the information Casey had told her. Chuck was an agent and now it made since when she had heard about an agent Charles Carmichael. Chuck wasn't playing an agent, he was was one and not only that, he was a badass. Sarah had to admit, she was proud of Chuck and all he had accomplished since she had left. She was looking forward to watching Chuck and Casey spar the next day. Was Chuck as good as Casey had said? She would have answers to that and hopefully more as she continued with her mission.
