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

A/N: Okay here you go. Love the huge amount of story alerts I have got but to actually hear what you thought was good or bad about the chapter helps a lot too. Sorry again about the lack of updates but I have been really pissed about Chuck being on the bubble and it was hard to find my muse again. But no she is back so hopefully the updates will come faster now. I know this is a little bit shorter of a chapter than I promised but it just kind of seemed right to end it here.

Chapter 3

The walk to the front of the Buy More seemed to take years to Chuck. His shift had ended nearly forty minutes ago but he continued to fix the old computers, not yet ready to face the real world. He walked dejectedly to the front; his shoulders noticeably slumped while his tie had been loosened to the point where it was just barely staying around his neck. He dragged his feet and kept his head low, not really listening to the faint music that came from his I-pod's headphones but grateful for the distraction it provided.

Morgan noticing his best friend's foul mood and left his customer in the middle of a potential sale to walk after Chuck determined to question him, much to the loud protest of his former customer.

Chuck noticed Morgan's attempt to get near him and decided to keep his head down and walk a little bit faster as if he didn't see or hear him. Chuck however had forgotten Morgan's intense need to feel close to him and was surprised when Morgan broke out into a full on sprint to make it to Chuck before he made it out of the store, "Chuck!" the diminutive man yelled, "Hey man what has gotten into you?"

Chuck continued to ignore his friend's comments and kept on walking out the door. He had nearly made it to the Herder when Morgan actually managed to run in front and place himself between Chuck and the car. He groaned, mad at his friend who had been able to catch him, but mostly mad at himself that he let Sarah affect him so much. Ripping the I-pod's headphones out of his ear Chuck decided to finally acknowledge his presence, "What do you want Morgan?" Chuck lashed out verbally at Morgan, who was stunned by the harsh tone his voice had taken.

Morgan visibly recoiled at the tone but quickly came back at Chuck, his own anger mounting at his friend's harsh treatment, "Dude seriously what is with the tone? You haven't been this mad since I leaked the beta version of the last Call of Duty game."

Once again trying to ignore his friend Chuck began to walk past Morgan to try and get into his car. Morgan not backing down though continued to block his path moving side to side to compensate for Chuck's movements. Chuck gritted his teeth together and growled out the next few words, "Morgan. Get out of my way."

When Morgan refused to move from his position Chuck did something that neither of them really expected. He gathered his strength and shoved Morgan, who tripped over his own feet and landed on the cold, hard pavement the shock evident in his wide eyes.

Chuck himself was just as shocked as Morgan if not more so. He tried to gather himself and held his hand out to his friend who in turn refused it. Morgan picked himself off the pavement, and brushed the dirt off of the back of his khakis never taking his eyes off of Chuck. Neither of the two spoke for a while until Morgan managed to find his voice, "Okay man I get it. You are just not in the mood right now," he paused trying to formulate something to say next, "But dude. That was just not cool. I don't care how mad you are. Think of all the times we have been there for each other," Chuck stared at Morgan, "Okay fine maybe think of all the times you have been there for me. Either way man, I was just trying to help you. I don't know what got you like this but I think I can forge a guess. Sarah?"

Chuck visibly tightened up at the mention of her name and his hand's formed fists that he held at the side of his body. His eyes became steely and unreadable much like Sarah's did when Chuck talked to her about their relationship. Chuck realized this and became even more detached from the situation forcing himself to look unfazed and emotionless on the outside, 'Well I learned from the best,' Chuck thought to himself referring to Sarah's repeated voyages into what he liked to call, 'Agent Mode' when confronted with real emotions.

Morgan however saw the subtle differences in his best friend and knew that his guess had been spot on. When he figured it out the Buy More employee tried to think of something to say that would cheer Chuck up but realized that maybe it would be best if Chuck was left alone with his thoughts for the moment. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head at Chuck before starting to slowly walk back into the Buy More. He had made it about fifteen feet away when he stopped determined to at least try and help Chuck. He spun around on his heels and called out to Chuck. Chuck had still not moved from the spot in front of his car but tilted his head at the sound of Morgan's voice, "Hey buddy I want to leave you with at least one piece of advice tonight so that I don't feel horrible tomorrow," Chuck made no move to stop him so Morgan continued, "Is all this crap you go through with her really worth it?"

Chuck turned around towards Morgan and opened his mouth. But found himself unable to come up with an answer.

"I mean at times you are as happy as I have ever seen you. But some days it's just… Well it's like Jill times five," Morgan looked down at the ground before continuing his walk towards the Buy More, "Just think about it man," he called over his shoulder before the electronic doors closed behind him with a faint hiss.

Chuck looked at the now closed doors before his gaze slowly started to redirect to the tops of his shoes. He buried his face in his right hand furious at himself for how the situation had gone. He knew that he would have to find some way to make it up to his bearded friend but realized that tonight's mission would interfere with any plans. Chuck quickly fished in his pockets until he found his keys and unlocked the Herder.

Slipping behind the wheel, Chuck let himself sit there wallowing in his own self pity at his own impossible situation. Morgan's question shot around his mind like someone had unleashed a virus that just continued to grow and eat at him. Even now after sitting in the car for nearly five minutes he was still unable to answer his friend's question.

Letting his head rest on the rubber steering wheel in front of him Chuck made up his mind. Tonight after the mission Chuck would confront Sarah one last time and let her decide if what they had was worth the trouble.

***

Casey strode across the courtyard over to the window of Chuck's room and prepared himself to enter the nerd's bedroom. He quickly shoved the window frame up until it was open enough to allow him to slip inside. It was nearly nine o'clock and Chuck was nowhere to be seen. Casey walked around the rest of the room and peered out into the hallway to see if Ellie had distracted Chuck.

Luckily Captain Awesome had a late shift tonight so he would not be a problem.

Casey's head whirled around when he heard the unmistakable sound of a car screeching to a stop in front of the apartment complex. Casey's hand unconsciously went to the back of his jeans were his gun was hidden and pulled it out, his thumb deftly flicking off the safety.

Making his way back to the window Casey gave a snort when he was who had been driving the car, "Your boy toy isn't here yet Walker," he saw a small flash of guilt across her face but she quickly replaced it with the stoic, emotionless face she normally kept for missions, "I wonder if this would have anything to do with your… talk with the asset earlier," Casey pondered aloud never giving up a chance to try and rile up the usually unflappable Agent Walker.

Sarah just shot him an icy look and didn't even bother verbalizing her thoughts. She walked up to the window that Casey had just left and scanned the room inside as if the NSA agent had somehow missed Chuck, "Do you know if he left work yet?" She asked Casey trying to keep her voice down to avoid attracting any unwanted spectators.

Casey snorted and looked at her with annoyance, "The idiot should have. He got off about an hour after me so he should be here by now," Casey stated, "Unless of course something you said to him caused the nerd to back out."

Sarah heard the veiled challenge that laced Casey's words but refused to give him the satisfaction of accepting it, "Agent Casey your mission is to protect the Intersect. Am I correct in saying this?" Casey nodded begrudgingly not liking where Walker was going with this line of questioning, "Then I would really prefer if you actually took your assignment seriously rather than trying to piss me off."

Even though Casey loved to push the CIA skirt's buttons, he knew that she would only take so much and right now he had reached that invisible boundary that even he wouldn't pass, "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm sure if you just check the tracker in his watch you will see that the little twerp is fine."

Sarah looked at Casey for a few more seconds before turning away and pulling out her own phone. She mumbled under her own breath about how stupid she was. She had let her fear about Chuck's whereabouts compromise her own thought process, and though she hated to admit it, she hadn't even given a thought to checking one of the GPS locators on Chuck's person. Her thoughts were interrupted when a small beep came from her phone and Chuck's small dot began to transmit his location.

Sarah hadn't even noticed that Casey had snuck up right behind her and was peering over her shoulder at the phone's screen, "See I told you. He is in his stupid little car and will be here any minute now," Casey exclaimed proud that he had been right in this case.

Casey turned around and started off for his apartment without another word to Sarah who mindlessly followed him lost in her own thoughts. The two agents walked around the apartment in silence gathering up the necessary supplies for the mission.

***

Chuck's car turned into a parking space about five minutes later and the lanky nerd stepped out of the car quickly chugging the last of whatever energy drink he had picked up at the gas station. He walked over to the, 'Morgan Door,' which he noted was wide open. Chuck just shook his head and made a mental note to yell at Casey about keeping his window open later, and threw his bag into the room before closing the window.

He stuck his hands in his pockets to keep them from the surprisingly cool night air, and walked across the courtyard to Casey's apartment. He lifted one hand up to knock on the door but before his hand could make contact with the wood, the door opened, and on the other side of it was none other than Sarah Walker, the one person he as of yet hadn't gathered the courage to talk to. Even though he had decided he would talk to Sarah after the mission he had not really had a clear plan on what he should say to her yet. His lack of confidence in the current situation caused his greeting to be rather terse. A quick, "Hey," was all she got before Chuck made his way past her into Casey's living room.

Sarah stood at the door momentarily stunned by Chuck's cold welcome. She rebounded quickly and slammed the door shut and began to berate Chuck about being late, effectively stopping the flood of emotions Chuck's actions brought her, "I thought we talked about this earlier. You need to start taking these missions seriously, part of that is making sure you get here on time," she said emphasizing the last few words, to convey her disapproval of his tardiness.

Chuck sunk into one of Casey's leather armchairs and leaned back calmly taking every condescending word that Sarah threw at him. He knew that acting as if he didn't care would annoy the hell out of Sarah, but at the moment he felt that if he did actually try to talk to Sarah he would end up saying something stupid, which would just make the situation worse. So instead he chose to get up and pour himself a glass of water. He took small sips of the cool beverage and leaned against the kitchen counter, opting to instead address Casey while still avoiding Sarah piercing eyes, "So Casey are we ready yet?"

The NSA quickly looked up from the gun he was currently assembling, towards Sarah before giving Chuck a stern glare. The glass made small noises as Chuck's hand experienced involuntarily tremors, but even though he was clearly nervous and uncomfortable he continued to hold Casey's gaze until the man relented, "Well since you finally thought that you could fit us into your busy schedule, I guess we have to go now."

Unlike most other times Chuck remained silent, nodding at Casey before setting his glass down and walking to the door. Casey grunted at Sarah who remained standing looking at the spot where Chuck had been leaning just a few seconds earlier. He got up and slung the large black bag, that contained what he happily called his, 'toys,' or in other words, a lot of guns. He had started to follow Chuck out the door but stopped when he was at the doors threshold, "Before we leave I have to ask you something."

Sarah remained in the same spot she had been standing but turned towards Casey while absentmindedly twirling a knife around her fingers. She didn't say anything but waited for the inevitable question. She had realized at least one thing about Casey in their nearly two years of working together, once he picked up a scent he would never stop. It was one of the aspects of Casey that made him an amazing field agent, but one of the most horrible people you could ever have involved in your social life.

"Is all this crap you go through with Chuck worth the end result?" he asked. The confusion in his voice was obvious and Sarah was stunned by the question.

She had expected Casey to just say something along the lines of, 'What the hell are you doing?' or something else that she could lie her way through. This time though there was no wiggle room for Sarah. No way that she could turn the question back on him to keep her feelings pushed down where Casey would never see them. So she decided to take the coward's way out, and instead refuse to answer.

They stood there facing each other Casey's eyes probing Sarah for any movement that would give away her true feelings on the subject. Eventually the silence was broken by the sound of the Crown Victoria's horn. Chuck had clearly gotten sick of waiting and had inadvertently ruined a moment that could have been beneficial to his and Sarah's relationship.

Without taking his eyes off of his blond partner Casey spoke up, "I guess your boy is ready, even if you aren't."

Sarah finally found her legs again and starting to walk towards the door. Casey smirked at her and muttered under his breath, "Why do I get stuck with the most annoying couple in history," he held the door open for her and they stepped out in the courtyard both of the agents mentally preparing themselves for their mission.

Next Chapter: The mission. Sarah and Chuck finally talk, and to top it all off the events that start Chuck down his dark path will finally be put into motion.

A/N: Again thank you so much for reading this. Review people, come on you know you want to hit that button!