Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck.

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This story is a sequel to Chuck vs. The Fake Relationship. Shippers, I think that you'll be a lot happier with this chapter. I promise it'll all work out as it usually does. Thanks to Natty for the excellent beta. And thanks to BrickRoad for being the brains of the operation. It's her fault that the beginning had so much angst (not really but it helps me sleep better).

If you're a Chuck fan (and of course, you are), join us in the forum on this site. We would love to hear your thoughts on the show and where it's going. Since we've talked about every possible outcome, someone is sure to be right.

Trust Me

- - - -

"Are you ready to talk?" Sarah said as soothingly as she could.

Chuck just nodded but he still wouldn't look Sarah in the eye.

"Ok, Chuck," Sarah said with a sad smile as Chuck sat across from her but still wouldn't meet her eye. "You're going to have to help me here. I need you to look at me."

Chuck slowly lifted his gaze to meet Sarah's eyes. The look on his face brought tears to Sarah's eyes.

"I'm so horrible at this." Sarah said softly as she grabbed both of Chuck's hands. "But I'm not getting up from this chair until you know how I feel. So I hope that you can be patient with me."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Chuck asked fearfully.

"Sweetie," Sarah said with the beginnings of a smile. "If you had a clue how I really feel, you would know just how silly that question was. I am so in love with you that it scares me. Its taking everything I have right now to keep from breaking down at seeing you hurt like this. If there was any other way around this, I would take it. You have to know that."

"How can you say that?" Chuck asked in a confused tone. "You're going to spend the night with him? Aren't you married to him?"

"Technically, yes." Sarah slowly said with a sigh as she looked at the floor. "Here's the deal with that. I'm so sorry you have to hear this story like this. I promise I was going to tell you. I met Seth right after I graduated from CIA academy. I really didn't have any experience with men. You know that I wasn't socially active in high school."

Chuck nodded to let her know to continue.

"Seth was really the first man in my life who actually took a serious interest in me." Sarah continued. "I guess I was really attracted to that. Anyway, we had been dating for about six months when I came home early one day and caught him in bed with my roommate."

"That must have hurt." Chuck said softly.

"More than I can say," Sarah said with a grim smile as she picked up her head to look at Chuck. "He begged me to forgive him. He told me that if I would marry him, he would stay faithful. I was stupid. Long story short, we had been married for about six weeks and I caught him in bed with the same girl. I hadn't seen him since that day until just yesterday."

"I'm so sorry." Chuck said. "But why are you still married? Why didn't you just get divorced?"

"I just never thought it would matter." Sarah said sadly. "When that happened with Seth I told myself that I was never going to get married again. I decided that I was going to dedicate my life to the greater good."

"So," said Chuck with a sad smile. "That's where super agent Sarah Walker was born."

"Precisely," Sarah said with a sigh. "And that's a big reason why I kept pushing you away for so long. The CIA offered several times to get it annulled. I'm sorry that I didn't follow through but I was always on a mission. I will as soon as this is over. I promise."

"So you have loved two other men." said Chuck softly. "What's different about me? I mean, how do I know that your feelings for me will last when they didn't for the other two guys?"

"I can see how it would look that way to you." Sarah said sadly with a sigh. "I can. I mean, I married Seth. I've told Bryce that I loved him. But you have to understand. I never came close to feeling for them like I feel about you."

Chuck's eyes widened as he listened to Sarah.

"You're my best friend." Sarah whispered as the tears started to form in her eyes. "You're the only one in my life, other than maybe my dad, who even knows who I am as a person."

Chuck squeezed her hands for reassurance.

I tried my best to keep from loving you." Sarah said as a single tear ran down her cheek. "I tried so hard, Chuck, but I just couldn't do it."

"I know," Chuck whispered.

"Believe me," Sarah continued. "When the time comes, I'll be able to shoot Seth in the head without batting an eye. There is nothing he could do or say to make me feel anything for him. You could make me stop wanting to live. You could absolutely destroy me. That's the difference. Do you understand?"

"I think so." Chuck said with the beginnings of his own smile. "You could absolutely destroy me too."

"I know.' Sarah said as she matched Chuck's smile. "And that's a privilege that I take very seriously. A year ago, at the beach, I asked you to trust me. Do you remember?"

"Of course,"

"At the time that was pretty easy." Sarah said. "You really didn't have much of a choice. I was only asking you to trust me with your well being. Now I'm asking that you trust me again. But this time, I need you to trust me with your soul. Just like I trust you with mine. And I promise, I swear to you, Chuck, that I won't violate that trust. I need you to believe. I need you to know, that no matter what it looks like, I would never, ever betray you."

"I trust you." Chuck said as his face broke into a grin. "You're actually pretty good at this talking about your feelings thing. I think you've been sandbagging me here."

"You're the only person in the world that I could have this discussion with." Sarah whispered. "I hope you understand what that means."

"I understand." Chuck whispered as his grin broadened. "You'll never know how honored I am."

"Good," Sarah said with a grin of her own. "Thank you. That's important because we're going to have to talk about some tough things now."

"I don't want you to spend the night with him." Chuck said sadly as his grin disappeared.

"I know," Sarah whispered. "I don't either. But I need to gain his confidence. Don't worry, nothing is going to happen."

"And I believe you." Chuck said firmly. "I do. I just feel horrible that you have to go through that for me. Maybe it's better if I just go to the bunker. It's probably going to happen eventually anyway."

"Come on Chuck," Sarah said firmly. "You don't want that."

"I'm terrified of the thought of a bunker." Chuck admitted. "I couldn't bear not ever seeing you again. But if it could keep you safe…"

"How can you say that?" Sarah interrupted pointedly. "Didn't we just agree to trust each other with our souls? Come on, Chuck. Do you really think that there is any chance that I would let you go anyplace without me? If you end up in a bunker, every night when you go to bed, my head is going to be lying on your chest. It's starting to hurt me that you don't believe that."

"I'm sorry." whispered Chuck. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

"Thank you," said Sarah softly. "But it would still be bad. We would have to tell Ellie that you are dead. Neither one of us would ever get to see her again. I know that you love her very much. But, guess what, Chuck? I love her too. That's why I'm hoping that you can trust me enough to let me try and get us out of this. I know that I'm asking a lot."

"I trust you." Chuck said softly. "There is no one on earth that I would want protecting me more than you. But this is going to be really hard."

"I know, sweetie," Sarah said sadly as she moved to sit on Chuck's lap. "I promise that I'll keep the physical stuff to as little as I possibly can. I'll also be as reassuring as I can be."

"Thank you," said Chuck as he gently touched his lips to Sarah's. "I really, really love you."

"I know," said Sarah. "I really, really love you too."

Sarah wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck and pressed her lips to Chuck's. For a long moment they shared a passionate kiss. After a few minutes, Sarah felt Chuck's hand enter her blouse much like Seth's had earlier that day.

"Sweetie," Sarah whispered between kisses. "I'm so sorry but we don't have time for this right now. We have to be at the briefing in fifteen minutes."

"All right," said Chuck reluctantly with a sigh as he removed his hand and broke the kiss. "It's just…"

"Just what?" Sarah asked softly.

"Casey told me that is how I could know." Chuck said sadly as he looked at the floor. "He told me that if we really had sex, I would know that it was real."

"Oh ok," said Sarah with a sigh as she began to unbutton her blouse. "But we really have to hurry."

"Wow," said Chuck with a surprised laugh. "I'm so sorry. I was just teasing you. You mean that really would have worked?"

"Don't you remember our discussion about paybacks?" Sarah asked with a sly smile as she refastened the buttons on her blouse for the second time today.

Chuck's only response was a very audible gulp.

- - - -

Casey, Chuck, and Sarah were all sitting at the conference room table waiting, more or less, patiently when Beckman came online.

"Agent Walker," Beckman said crisply. "Would you care to report what you've found out on your assignment today?"

"Thank you ma'am," Sarah said calmly as she flashed Chuck a quick smile. "Using my previous relationship with the suspect, I was able to gain his confidence. Once I had done that, I learned that he is, indeed, working with Fulcrum. He was sent to determine why their Agent Lizzy disappeared. He also verified to me that Lizzy was staking out the Buy More because of some vague intelligence they had that indicated there was a possible connection to Bryce Larkin. There was no indication that they have any knowledge of Chuck. I offered to use my contacts within the Buy More to help him determine what happened to Lizzy."

"Thank you, Agent Walker." Beckman said. "And what reason did you give the suspect for being in the area?"

"Well, ma'am," said Sarah. "Using our pre established contingency plan, I told him that I was assigned to protect Anna Wu, who's father is a senior Taiwanese government official. I told him that I spotted him in the plaza and followed him to the hotel."

"And he bought that?" asked Beckman skeptically.

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah replied curtly. "I believe so."

"Very good," said Beckman. "Now, what are we going to do? I'm open to any ideas."

"Can't we just arrest him, ma'am?" said Chuck tentatively. "Just like we did with Lizzy."

"That wouldn't work, Chuck." Sarah said softly. "If Fulcrum has another agent disappear, that will just confirm that they have reason to suspect the Buy More. They would send in twenty agents to find out why."

"Ma'am," said Casey. "Agent Walker has a former intimate relationship with the suspect. Perhaps she could appeal to his emotional ties to feed Fulcrum false intelligence."

"I'm afraid that won't work, Major Casey." Beckman said sadly. "On the printer is a transcript of a conversation that we intercepted from the bug that Agent Walker planted today. I think that it is clear that the suspect doesn't have any legitimate feelings for Agent Walker. He is just angling for a sexual encounter. Do we have any idea who this Laura is?"

"Yes ma'am," Sarah said sadly as she reviewed the transcript. "She is obviously Laura Carter. She was my roommate at the time Seth and I were married. They obviously have been having a long term affair."

"If he's Fulcrum," Casey said with a grimace. "Then it's a pretty safe assumption that she is as well."

"Ok, people," said Beckman sternly. "This is some very interesting information, but we still have no plan."

"Ma'am," said Chuck softly. "As much as I'd like to think I'm special, I'm assuming that Sarah is not the only female agent to fall in love while on an assignment."

"No, Chuck," Beckman said in a rather condescending tone. "It happens quite frequently. Much more often than it should. But what is your point?"

"Maybe," Chuck said a little more animatedly. "We could convince this Seth guy that Lizzie didn't disappear. She fell in love with someone and left with them."

"Exactly, ma'am," Sarah exclaimed. "She fell in love with a civilian and followed him off the grid. We have Lizzy in custody, right? It would be fairly easy to fake some store surveillance photos of Lizzy with some man who really doesn't exist. I could give them to Seth and Fulcrum would be looking all over the world for this mysterious man who doesn't really exist. They would no longer have any reason to suspect the Buy More."

"I like this idea." Beckman said firmly. "But what about Seth Roberts? We can't have him walking around knowing that Agent Walker is associated with the Buy More. It would only be a matter of time before someone puts two and two together."

"Well, ma'am," Sarah said as she winced while looking at Chuck sadly. "I've already promised Seth that I would go with him to resume our marriage once he was done with his current assignment. He is expecting us to resume our sexual relationship at that time. Once he was away from the Buy More, we could arrest him and nobody would any longer associate him with the Buy More."

"Very good," Beckman said. "We'll do exactly that. Agent Walker, when is your next meeting with Seth Roberts?"

"Tomorrow," Sarah said sadly. "I'm scheduled to spend the night with him."

"Do you really think that is necessary?" Beckman asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah said while looking at Chuck. "I wish it wasn't but I'm afraid that it is. While I'm at it, I would like to take a stab at getting Seth to set up a meeting with his Fulcrum superior. Maybe we would nab him as well."

"Do you think that he would?" Beckman said.

"Yes, ma'am," said Sarah. "I think given the sentiment expressed on this transcript that we have a good chance of busting the Fulcrum leader, Laura Carter, and Seth Roberts. We could lead Fulcrum away from suspecting the Buy More forever."

"Excellent," exclaimed Beckman. "Let's get together tomorrow just before your meeting with Roberts. Good luck, Agent Walker. You're dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank, Sarah turned to Chuck with eyes glistening.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetie." Sarah said. "That was brilliant."

"So, Walker," Casey said with a seer. "Care to share with us what you're going to do with Roberts tomorrow?"

"It's what I do, Casey." Sarah said with a sly smile as she winked at Chuck.

"It's what I do."

- - - -