A/N: I wanted to post this earlier today, but there was big doings around here. My daughter got her braces off today. And there was much rejoicing.

Thanks for reading and please review. I don't own Chuck. But I do have a happy, smiley teenager in my house.

Chapter 3 – Dangerous Liaison

The team had decided that in their first espionage priority was to liberate and reacquire Orion's laptop from the CIA in order to try to get the Intersect out of Morgan's head. They kicked around some ideas while eating their pizza, but the plan was nebulous at best. They realized, however, that they had other, more immediate matters to take care of before they could go on any missions.

Lunch was finished and the pizza boxes, paper plates and soda cans had been discarded and/or recycled. They still sat around the only furniture in Castle, the conference room table on borrowed Buy More chairs.

"I have a question," Jen said, raising her hand. "How are the employees of the Buy More going to take to you being the new owners? Won't that raise questions?"

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I mean, I get the impression that Chuck has never had tons of money." That was met with a round of chuckling affirmations. "And although you could say Sarah inherited it from a long lost wealthy relative or something, honestly, why would you buy the Buy More?" They all looked at each other. "If I had that kind of money, I would do something else with it," Jen stated.

"She's right," Casey said. "In this crappy economy, a big box store is a terrible investment. Jen should say she's the new owner."

"Thanks, Casey. Now I'm the crappy investor," she teased.

Casey smirked and gave a good humored grunt.

Chuck nodded, "Casey's on to something, here, though. You're right. The Buy More employees will know something weird is up if I'm," he heard Sarah clear her throat and quickly corrected himself, "we are the new owners. I agree with Casey. Jen should say she's the new owner."

Jen shook her head, "No one will ever believe I'm a wealthy business owner. Besides, some of them know I'm librarian."

Sarah interjected, "Okay, so then you can be the representative of the owners."

Jen had an incredulous look on her face. "I don't know anything about business. I'm a librarian, remember?"

Sarah nodded and said, "Jen, Chuck and Casey are right. You need to be involved. We'll just say you're the face of the new owners who want to stay anonymous. It would also be a great cover for you. It would explain why you would be around the Buy More all the time."

"But it's so easy to find out who the owners really are," Jen argued. "All they would have to do is a quick search with the county clerk's office and…" she trailed off when she realized who she was talking about. "Yeah, who am I kidding? They would never do that." She thought for a moment and then said, "But why would the new owners choose a librarian as their liaison with the employees?"

"Liaison," Morgan held up his hand to give a high five to Jen. "Good one."

Jen's eyes dance as she slapped Morgan's upheld hand. "Don't change the subject," she warned with a laugh.

"Jen, you are also a researcher, right?" Sarah began. "If anyone asks, and I seriously doubt they will, just tell them you were hired by some people who live in the area and wanted to invest in their community. You did the research and found out that the Buy More was for sale. Their purchase of the Buy More was a perfect way for them help keep jobs in the area. They were so pleased with your research and heart for the neighborhood, they asked you to continue to work for them as their representative with the employees. And all this is true because you will be our representative," Sarah finished triumphantly.

Chuck grinned proudly at his wife. "Sarah, that is a great idea." He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Oh! And," Morgan nearly came out of his chair, "you can get all of the stuff we need for Castle but say you are buying it on behalf of the owners for another business, which is also true! And it makes the Buy More look profitable."

They waited as Jen weighed this most recent request. Finally, she smiled and said, "I have to admit, it is a good idea. I can't think of a reason for me not to do it other than I have to deal with the guys upstairs."

"You've already shown that you can handle Jeff and Lester," Casey responded. "You had them running out the door the first time you met them," he smiled crookedly at the memory of Jeff and Lester hightailing out of the Buy More to the nearest library.

"Yeah," Jen's eyes twinkled, "that was pretty funny." She waited a beat and then said, "Okay, I'll do it."

A cheer arose around the table.

Jen smirked and said, "You people are crazy, you know that, right?"

Sarah's eyes danced and said, "Yeah, we know. And we wouldn't have it any other way."

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Jen left soon after she was anointed Chuck and Sarah's liaison to the Buy More. She had asked and received permission from them to "do what she needed to do to make the Buy More a successful business." That had elicited an evil grin from Jen. The other four had looked at each other with curiosity.

At that point, they decided it would be a good time to go through Castle and figure out exactly what needed to be done to re-outfit it. With notepad in hand, Morgan trailed behind Chuck, Sarah and Casey as they walked through each room and jotted down the items as they rattled them off. They needed to buy laptops, some desktop computers, monitors, get the internet up and running, wifi installed and security cameras set up in both Castle and the Buy More. They had already purchased all new tactical gear, but they still needed to acquire some weapons. Sarah and Casey would be in charge of that.

The most vigorous discussion took place between Chuck and Morgan when deciding which gaming platform they should install. They discussed all of the different platforms and their pros and cons. Casey was disgusted with the conversation from the very start and wandered away. Sarah was amused at first, but when they delved into the minutia of VGA resolution and angular fields of view, she stepped between the two with her hands on her hips.

"Okay, I'm duly impressed with your über-nerdiness. However, don't you realize that we can actually afford to buy all the different platforms that are available?"

Chuck and Morgan smiled sheepishly at each other when they realized she was right. They could afford more than one platform.

"Can we set them up in separate rooms?" Chuck asked her with a sly grin.

"You're such a nerd," she smiled and kissed him. "Of course you can put them wherever you want, as long as they don't get in the way of our spy work."

"Yes, Mom," he teased. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she almost slugged him. She decided he deserved a fate worse than that.

She stood on her tiptoes, her face an inch from his. She placed one hand on his shoulder and slid the other hand into the front pocket of his pants. She moistened her lips and feathered them against his ear. She whispered, "You call me that again, Chuck, and you will be doing 'inventory' in the supply closet all by yourself for the foreseeable future." To put a fine point on it, she gently blew in his ear and moved the hand in his pocket, ever so slightly. She smiled to herself when she felt his body jerk and saw the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Her point made, she removed her hands from him, turned and walked away, flipping the quarter she had liberated from his pocket into the air.

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With their list of electronics, equipment and supplies needed to outfit Castle they headed back upstairs to the Buy More. Each and every employee wore a fearful look. Rumors ran rampant about the new owners one of which was that the new owners were Amish and all the men working at the store would have to grow beards. Another said that all the employees would be fired and replaced by replicants. Every computer in the store was occupied by a Buy More employee either updating his or her résumé or scanning job websites.

"The natives are getting restless," Chuck said as they stood in the center of the store, surveying the frantic employees. "Morgan, you need to call a meeting and let them know what's going on."

"They won't believe anything I say," he replied, shaking his head. "I've given them the impression that I don't know what's going on either. They need to hear directly from the owners."

Sarah pulled out her iPhone and said, "Let me text Jen and see if she can come in for a meeting with the employees tomorrow morning. Maybe that will keep the riot at bay." Her fingers worked quickly over the touchscreen. Within a minute, the phone chirped indicating she had received a reply. She read it and said, "Jen says she can be here tomorrow morning before the store opens. She also sent a 'winky' emoticon thingy." Sarah's eyebrow rose at that. "I wonder what that's about."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Chuck said. "Maybe she's just excited about meeting everyone tomorrow."

Sarah nodded noncommittally, not really listening. She knew her friend and she knew was up to something. Sarah didn't know what it was, but figured it would be interesting. Jen was rather…unconventional. She really wanted to be there tomorrow, but couldn't figure out how she could explain herself attendance. She wasn't a Buy More employee and she couldn't say she was the owner. She shook her head and thought, I'm a spy. I'll just hide myself somewhere and no one will know I'm there.

Chuck turned to Morgan and said, "Buddy, call a meeting for tomorrow morning. Tell them that they will be meeting with the representative of the new owners and that everyone needs to be there."

"Yes, sir," he said and saluted. Something was still bothering Morgan and he hesitated for a minute. He grew serious and said, "Chuck, we'll be able to get this thing out of my head, right?"

Chuck put his hand on Morgan's shoulder and looked him square in the eye. "Morgan, I promise that we will do everything within our power to make it happen. We just have to figure out a way to do it." Chuck smiled at his friend and added, "I've had the Intersect taken out or suppressed three times now. I think we can figure out a way for that to happen once for you."

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Chuck and Sarah sat at their dinner table, empty plates in front of them, leisurely sipping their wine. At the center of the table sat a bouquet of gardenias, a peace offering from Chuck. She had assured him that all was forgiven and promised that when supplies came to go into the supply closet, she would let him know. When she murmured something about doing terrible things to him with binder clips, sticky notes and a label maker, he was both excited and a little fearful.

Sarah picked up their plates and put them in the sink while Chuck carried their glasses of wine to the living room and set them on the coffee table. He sat down on the sofa and Sarah plopped down next to him a moment later. He put his arm across her shoulders and she snuggled down next to him.

They sat comfortably together for a few moments, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Chuck thought about how, when he first had the Intersect in his brain, all he wanted was to get it out. Then, when his father had successfully removed it, he purposely downloaded the Intersect 2.0. His mom had then suppressed it during his conflict with Volkoff. His dad's computer had reloaded it only to then have Decker and his thugs suppress it again just before the wedding. His success in getting the antidote for Sarah and saving her without the Intersect proved to him that he could certainly be a spy without it. He turned Jen's question over in his mind: "If you could get the Intersect back, Chuck, would you want it?" He had deflected answering the question at the time because he really did need to talk to Sarah about it and he really didn't know if he wanted it back or not.

He came out of his ruminations and smiled when he realized Sarah had his hand in hers and was twisting his wedding band around and around on his ring finger. He loved the gold band she gave him. As soon as she had placed it on his finger, he realized the ring had the important role of letting the world know that he belonged to Sarah Bartowski. He looked at the extraordinary woman sitting next to him and lovingly kissed her temple.

She turned her face up toward him and gave him a dazzling smile. He grinned back and then gave her a gentle kiss. When it ended, she nestled back down into him. He sighed and asked nervously, "Sarah, can we talk about the Intersect? About whether or not I should get it back? I mean if we can get it back?"

He wasn't sure what kind of response he would get from her, so when she grinned up at him, he found himself grinning back in relief. "Why are you grinning?" he asked.

His breath caught when he saw her blue eyes shining. "I love the fact that you didn't want to answer that question until you and I had a chance to talk about it first. Even more than that, I love the fact that our marriage took priority over everything else, including our spy life or the Intersect. I love the fact that we are partners in every way."

He was sure she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He really was the luckiest man in the world to be married to her. Married. He still had a hard time wrapping his head around that. He smiled at her as she continued.

"Chuck, you know I'll always love you, whether or not you have the Intersect. I think my time in Thailand has established that fact." He nodded. "You have also proven yourself to be an excellent spy, both with and without the Intersect. I have to point out, though, that you are the only person who seems to be the perfect host for the Intersect. So if there needs to be a person in the world with the Intersect, it should be you."

He thought about that for a minute. There had been others with the Intersect in the past: Hartley Winterbottom, his own father, the two Gretas, even Agent Tool-of-the-Century. She was right, though. He was the only person who had used the Intersect successfully for any length of time.

He looked into her eyes and said, "So the question is, 'Does the world need the Intersect?'"

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It was 7:55 am and the employees of the Buy More milled around expectantly near the front of the store. The greenshirts tucked in their shirts and the Nerd Herders straightened their ties. Sarah was hanging out in Morgan's office until Jen came in. She was going to hide behind some displays in the back of the store and watch the meeting from there. Chuck, Morgan and Casey spoke to each other in low voices, trying to act as nervous as the other employees. They didn't have to act, too much, though, because they were curious about this meeting. What exactly was Jen going to do? The woman was a 5 foot 2 inch librarian, wife and mother from Pasadena. She didn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of men.

Morgan's phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket and read the text. "Jen's here. She wants me to get everyone lined up. Chuck, can you go open the door for her?"

"Sure, buddy. Let me just text Sarah and tell her to get into position. She wanted to watch this," Chuck said. He sent a quick text and then saw Sarah move into position. He walked toward the front door and prepared to unlock it.

Morgan raised his voice and said, "Okay, everyone. Line up. The new owners' representative is here. Her name is Jen Hatch and you need to give her your full attention."

Lester's head shot up at the mention of Jen's name. He leaned into Jeff and whispered loudly, "Isn't she the librarian?"

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. She really knows how to rock her 'mom-jeans,'" he burbled.

Lester leered. "Do you know what this means, Jeffrey? If she is involved, we'll never have to do another minute of work in this place. We can do nothing and collect our paycheck. This will be epic!"

Jeff nodded and happily thought about hours of uninterrupted nap time in the Home Theater Room.

It was exactly 8:00 am and the employees were lined up shoulder to shoulder. Chuck unlocked the front sliding doors. He did a double take at the woman who strode purposefully toward him. The first door slid open and then the second. He stood stock still, his mouth hanging open.

Morgan stood in front of the line, his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide.

Casey stood with his thumbs hooked through his front belt loops. A hint of an approving smile formed on his lips.

At the back of the store, Sarah put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. Oh, this was going to be good.

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A/N2: Next time on Return of the Ninja Librarian:

Every head snapped toward Skip and his piece of paper. He held it reverently in his hand like it was the Golden Ticket that would get him into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.