Author's Note: First, and foremost, I gotta thank Wepdiggy for his help in calming me down and actually making me publish this chapter. I wanted to scrap the entire thing and re-do it, but he convinced me that it wasn't necessary. I'm still not completely convinced, but here you go, folks. I hope you like it, and if you don't, well...it's totally not my fault. It's his. Just kidding, it is all my fault.

Hopefully the problems with reviews doesn't happen again this time. I like it when I'm able to see what those who are reading have to say. Let your voices be heard!

Chuck knocked on the door and waited patiently for his sister to come. He looked at Carina to his side and rolled his eyes at what he saw. "Stop fidgeting."

Carina frowned and smoothed her very conservative—for her—sundress down for what was probably the hundredth time. She was shifting from foot to foot, biting down on her bottom lip, and looked longingly at Casey's apartment. She wanted to bolt to where it was safe, away from the rest of his family.

He placed a calming hand on the small of her back and she instantly stilled. She looked up at him with a hesitant smile and he winked. "Relax, Carina. You've been here a million times. This is no different from any other."

"And I hated every single one of those other times," she mumbled under her breath.

He pretended not to hear her and instead rubbed her back slowly in an attempt to comfort her. Like he knew it would, she instantly relaxed and briefly leaned against him in relief and thanks. Physical contact always settled Carina down. He pressed an easy kiss to the side of her head gently before removing his hand and putting some distance between them. The last thing he wanted was Ellie getting the wrong impression about him and Carina. Hell, sometimes he didn't even understand what was going on between them. And he had enough problems with the two of them to add that complication to the list.

After what probably seemed like an eternity to Carina, Ellie finally opened the door. There was the typical enormous smile on his sister's face and she hurriedly welcomed them into her home with a big hug for him and a slightly strained, awkward hug for Carina.

Ellie and Carina had never completely hit it off. He suspected that somehow, perhaps subconsciously, Ellie was able to pick up on the fact that Carina was not being honest with her. That didn't make sense to him, because he was positive that he had Ellie totally convinced that he didn't live a second life and there was no way that he was a better liar than Carina. The woman was a veritable Michelangelo of the duplicitous arts. It was possible that Ellie questioned the validity of their friendship. That would be just like his sister.

She would wonder why a clearly beautiful woman spent nearly every waking moment with him and yet, as far as she knew, was not sleeping with him. The issue was compounded by the fact that Carina was ostensibly supposed to be Bryce's girlfriend and yet spent more time with him than she ever did with Bryce. Ellie would only see it as a slightly different variation of the trouble that had cropped up between Bryce and Jill and the last thing Chuck wanted her to be reminded of was that. Ellie still occasionally complained about Bryce, despite the fact that they had largely buried the hatchet between them—Ellie had always taken Bryce and Jill's indiscretion to heart much harder than he had—and things were mostly back to normal. He didn't want Ellie suspecting that instead of Bryce messing with his girl, he was the one this time messing with Bryce's girl behind his back. Knowing Ellie, she'd probably think it some petty act of revenge.

That couldn't be helped, though. Chuck had flatly refused long ago to have anything resembling a cover girlfriend. Having a woman pose as a close friend was just as effective in his mind. He would not force a woman to be saddled in an involuntary relationship with him, no matter how much the woman in question might be willing to do so for the job—and Carina was extremely willing. Added to that, he had not been ready for any kind of relationship, fake or otherwise, after Jill had been killed by that drunk driver. Not only would it have been too soon, it would have also appeared too soon to everybody in his life. Beckman and Graham hadn't liked it, in fact had complained about the inconvenience of it all, but it had been one of the few conditions he had placed on his service. It added unnecessary complications to his life sometimes, but fortunately Bryce had proved unbelievably convenient and amenable to the idea of a cover girlfriend. If only Bryce and Carina actually liked each other…

The two of them stepped over the threshold and entered the apartment. Ellie closed the door behind them and shooed them farther into the apartment. "I'm so happy you're here, Chuck."

Chuck smiled indulgently at his sister. "I'm here every week on Wednesday."

Ellie sighed wistfully and reached out to adjust his shirt for him. No matter how old he got, Ellie would never stop fussing over him. "I know, I just…I miss you, that's all." She smiled a little sadly. "I wish you hadn't moved out," she said quietly, almost like she was afraid of his reaction. Ellie had had a hard time letting go when he first moved out, especially when she learned he'd be sharing an apartment with Bryce. She had been terrified he was regressing instead of progressing like she desperately wanted for him. He could only imagine how horrified she'd be if she ever learned his original plan was to move in with Morgan.

Chuck rolled his eyes exaggeratedly but kissed Ellie on the cheek. "I moved out years ago, El." He moved close and hugged his sister. He whispered into her ear, "I sometimes wish I hadn't moved out either."

Ellie pulled away from the hug with a beaming smile, extremely pleased and shuffled into the kitchen.

Chuck turned to Carina and smiled sympathetically. Carina had just stood there, quietly, completely unlike her usual dynamic self, as Ellie and he had their little moment. It was a variation of the same routine they went through every Wednesday during family dinner night. And like usual, Carina was largely ignored.

At first it had made him angry that Ellie didn't seem to like Carina and every time he would bring it up, his sister would flatly deny she held any ill feelings toward his partner. There wasn't much he could do. He couldn't force his sister to like Carina, and he wasn't about to make Carina spend time around someone she found so uncomfortable. He tried to minimize their contact together as much as possible, but sometimes it couldn't really be avoided, like family dinner night. He only wished he could change things. Carina was probably the second most important person in his life—although Morgan would argue until he was blue in the face that that wasn't true—and he really wanted them to get along. The evidence, however, did not point to a true détente any time soon.

It had been four years of awkward hugs, stilted conversations, and uncomfortable silences. Carina tried so hard too and it always broke his heart every time her effort went largely unrewarded. For her, it was like planning an attack on a Fulcrum facility: Hair had to be perfect, makeup done just right, clothes chosen to convey the right message, that she was friendly, unthreatening, honest—not in anyway like that trollop Jill who cheated on her fiancé and broke his heart, as Ellie would say—, and a series of pre-planned responses to potential questions. She was so terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing and having their already awkward relationship become even more strained that she had to plan everything out beforehand. He had teased her on more than one occasion about bringing note cards with her and she always laughed him off with an uncomfortable, hesitant giggle, like she had actually contemplated doing just that.

He placed an arm around Carina's shoulders and gently guided the both of them to the kitchen. Carina didn't so much drag her feet as she tried to pull him over to the couch that dominated the front room; anything to put off having to interact with his sister for a little longer. "Come on, I promise not to abandon you to the wolves."

Carina sighed and nodded her head slightly. She was the fiercest, bravest, most unflappable woman he'd ever met. She was the kind of woman that always had to be the center of attention and was always dynamic and full of life. She was someone who could not and would not be tamed by anything, would probably be irreverent and inappropriate until her dying breath, and yet all it took to break her cool and turn her into a meek, quiet, nervous woman was five minutes with his sister.

He would never understand why she got so nervous and timid, but he suspected it had to do with how afraid she was of her cover being blown. Carina loved her life and didn't want to give it up. He still found himself in shock sometimes when he thought of the fact that Carina had requested a permanent duty assignment as his partner—Carina almost never referred to herself as his handler, and typically only then when she was trying to make a point—over a year ago. She had explained to him, in no uncertain terms, that this was her choice, it was what she wanted, and she didn't want to hear any nonsense about giving up her life to stick with him. It had taken a little getting used to, but he couldn't deny that it gave him no small amount of comfort to know that no matter what happened in his life while he had the Intersect, there would always be somebody he trusted and could depend on to always be there for him.

Of course, her assignment was only as viable as her cover, and in her mind, it was in a rather precarious position. He had tried to explain that no matter how much Ellie might not like her, that didn't affect his feelings, but she didn't believe him. She would always tell him she knew how much weight his sister's opinion carried with him and it wasn't worth the risk. She was just so paranoid that Ellie would not approve of her, which in Chuck's mind was completely ridiculous because he couldn't understand how somebody might not like Carina.

Unfortunately, her fears were not completely unfounded; Bryce had originally been slated as his partner, seeing how they had been with the Intersect project since the beginning, but Ellie had never warmed up to the idea of Bryce being around and so it was determined that a fresh face was needed and Carina was brought in to be his handler instead. She was undoubtedly afraid of Ellie developing the same ambivalence toward her as she had Bryce—it had taken almost a year and a half before Ellie stopped acting cold toward Bryce and another six months before she'd even talk civilly with him—and the last thing Carina wanted was that kind of deep seated animosity.

Carina whispered fiercely in his ear, "I swear to God, Chuck, if you leave me alone with her like you did last week, I'll tell Casey it was you who crushed his bonsai tree."

"You wouldn't!"

Carina gave him her familiar smirk, it was faint but at least it was there, and said, "Watch me."

"I promise not to leave your side."

Carina smiled in relief and he watched some of the tension drain out of her body. "Thank you."

She plastered on an artificial smile as they walked into the kitchen. Chuck watched his sister pull a pan of lasagna out of the oven and place it on the counter. She looked over her shoulder at the two of them and smiled. "Hope you guys are hungry. Morgan called before you got here and it doesn't look like he's going to make it." She rolled her eyes, "Seems like those two idiots…um…the one that's always drunk and Larry or Leslie, whatever his name is, apparently knocked over an entire row of DVD's today and he has to stay and make sure it gets cleaned up."

Chuck frowned slightly at learning that his little buddy wasn't going to make it to dinner, but he was proud that Morgan was taking his new job as Assistant Manager at the Buy More seriously. He had always known that Morgan had it in him to be responsible.

Chuck leaned against the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and watched his sister work. "Anything I can do to help?"

Carina piped up eagerly, "Yeah, Ellie, do you need any help?"

If Chuck hadn't known his sister as well as he did, he might have missed the way her face seemed to darken, just briefly, at Carina's offer of help. She shook her head slightly and gave Carina a small smile. "No thanks, Carina, I think everything that needs doing has already been done." Then she turned to Chuck and said, "Although, you could always set the table." Then she turned back around to work on the food.

Chuck watched Carina slump dejectedly and he frowned. With a motion of his head at Carina to follow him, he started to gather the dishes for the table. He didn't know why Ellie couldn't have just asked Carina to set the table. It was such a little thing but he was sure Carina wouldn't be looking so damn pathetic now if Ellie had just thrown her some kind of bone. Carina recovered, quickly though, and hurriedly moved to help him with the table.

Chuck called into the kitchen, "So, did Devon manage to get off shift early tonight?"

Ellie responded, "Yeah, he said he would just be a few minutes late and to start without him."

The three of them worked in silence for a moment and then Ellie asked, "Speaking of boyfriends, where's Bryce?"

Chuck sighed at the suspicious, searching tone of his sister's voice. Before he could respond with a hasty lie—he had no idea where Bryce was himself, and Carina had refused to tell him—Carina actually spoke up, "He had to do a last minute conference call with some overseas clients so I don't think he's going to make it. He's trying to get them to bite on our new network security package—the one Chuck initially designed to kill that new Trojan that's been going around these last few weeks," she added for Ellie's benefit. "He wanted to explain to them just how important it was for them to take the deal he was offering and if they didn't, he would show them just why it was a bad idea." Ellie had stuck her head around the corner to look at the both of them and Carina added, "His words, not mine. You know how he gets when he thinks he's right and everybody else should fall in line," she said embarrassedly, just like if she were trying to cover up a real boyfriend's perceived foibles.

Ellie snorted and moved back into the kitchen, muttering undoubtedly under her breath about Bryce. Chuck spun to face Carina in surprise and concern. That had obviously been a lie she had just fed his sister, but what was she covering up and why had she been so unwilling to tell him about it earlier? She quickly walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him farther away from his sister. She whispered, "Graham asked him to have a talk with Walker about her escape attempt. He's not coming."

"He's what?!" he hissed loudly.

Carina looked worriedly toward the kitchen and squeezed his arm hard. He winced and tried to pry her hand away but her fingers wouldn't budge. "Quiet! You're going to make your sister suspicious."

"Why is he talking to Sarah? Nobody is supposed to see her but me." Sarah was his: His op, his plan, his opportunity. It had been him who stopped Casey from killing her, because he recognized her potential. It had been him who had talked Graham and Beckman into giving her better accommodations and treating her more humanely; because he saw something in her he didn't usually see in captured Fulcrum personnel. It had been him that she kissed in that hallway, not Bryce. Damn it, he shouldn't be thinking about that. It had been so stupid. He had deserved that punch to the gut.

Carina shrugged her shoulders and looked helpless. "I'm sorry, Chuck, but there wasn't anything I could do. Graham was insistent."

"Goddamn it, Carina, he's going to ruin everything." He was seriously considering leaving his sister's right now and going out to the holding facility. "I was this close to getting through to her. I only needed a few more days, even with the escape attempt. In fact, considering what happened between us, that probably helped."

Carina frowned and gave him a very disapproving look. Her hold on his arm tightened even more and she said angrily, "I saw for myself how much it helped. What were you thinking?" She punched him in his other arm.

He couldn't help it, he blushed as he again remembered that kiss. He had been remembering that kiss a lot since it happened. "She kissed me! I was surprised, okay?" He blushed again slightly. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh I don't know, how about not sticking your tongue down her throat!?" The last part came out as a loud whisper and Carina looked mortified that she had said that so loudly.

Ellie was coming around the corner and looked at them strangely. "Everything okay?"

Both put on big smiles and nodded their heads. "Oh yeah, El, everything's great."

Carina added, "Just fantastic."

"Riiiiight, okay, well dinner is almost done. I just have to grab the garlic bread and we can start."

As soon as Ellie was gone, Carina spun on him and pinned him with a fierce glare. "Look, Chuck, Beckman says they're hearing increased chatter about a potential Fulcrum attack on a major CIA facility in the next few days. They want to know what Walker knows and they want to know it now. So they are going to increase the pressure on your little girlfriend," she said derisively.

Chuck glared right back. "And I would have gotten that information from her willingly in just a few days. Not only that, but I would have done it without hurting her."

Carina took a step back and glared at Chuck. "You've lost your objectivity. Not hurting her is a laudable goal but that shouldn't be your primary concern and I think you've lost sight of that."

"I know exactly what my primary goal is." He leaned in close to Carina and watched her eyes widen slightly. "She's going to shut down completely after this. Let me talk to her and I'll get everything you need."

"It's too late for that, Chuck. Bryce should have already started by now."

Chuck stepped back from Carina hurriedly and couldn't help but feel betrayed. "That's why you wouldn't tell me what he was doing until we got here, wasn't it? You knew that I wouldn't be able to leave without causing a scene with Ellie."

At least Carina had the good sense to look ashamed and wouldn't meet his eyes. She only nodded.

Then Ellie shuffled into the room and motioned them to the dinner table. Chuck stared coldly at Carina and sat next to his sister instead of Carina as he planned. When Carina saw where he was sitting, she gave him the most miserable look he had ever seen but he didn't care.

They started to eat.

# # # # #

It was petty and cruel but Chuck did not say more words than absolutely necessary during dinner. As a result, keeping the conversation going with his sister and Devon, once he had arrived, was entirely left up to Carina. She had done her best to not let the dinner devolve into a completely uncomfortable, silent meal, but she had floundered more than not. There had been times where she had literally been begging with her eyes for him to come to her rescue but he had only looked at her coldly. This was a slight he had no intention of forgiving lightly.

He could forgive Carina a lot of things, in fact, he often did, but blatantly lying to him and manipulating his feelings with little more regard than a person might have for a piece on a chess board was something he had always had difficulty accepting. He had made that clear on more than one occasion and she always swore that he could trust her, her above all others. She would not lie to him unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then, only if it was for his own protection. He could see nothing of the current situation that jeopardized his safety. Now Sarah's on the other hand…

It was not right what they were doing to her. He had worked so hard to get Sarah to trust him and to believe that he had her best interests at heart. He was confident he could save her if she only gave him the chance. He could get her a deal with Graham and Beckman, bring her back into the fold and let her do what she did so well, only this time for the good guys again. She was too useful a weapon to simply abuse and then discard. She should be pointed in the proper direction and unleashed. And if he could save her life, give her freedom, and do just one act of kindness for her in the process, then so much the better. She was so sure that she deserved so little in life and he wanted to show her that she deserved so much more.

Dinner wound down and Chuck insisted that he be allowed to do the dishes. He just wanted some alone time, doing a mind-numbing, repetitive task, so he could think about what was going on. When Carina hurriedly got up to help, like an eager puppy hoping to please him, he sent her a fierce glare and she sat back down at the table with a disappointed frown. He was probably only unnecessarily fueling his sister's suspicions—she had stared at him with a concerned look on her face for most of dinner—but at the moment he didn't care.

He was just so angry. He couldn't even explain why he was so angry. He wasn't even sure that he had any right to be angry to begin with, but no matter what the reason, he was pissed. Angry at Graham for cutting his legs out from underneath him, angry at Bryce for following orders even when he had to know how wrong those orders were, angry at Sarah for bringing these confusing feelings up at all, but mostly just furious at Carina for keeping this from him and then making him mad at her in the first place. He hated being mad at Carina, she always knew exactly what strings to pull to make him forgive her. She was too damn good at manipulating him sometimes, and he usually only saw it when she wanted him to know she was doing it.

He was drying the last of the dishes when Carina came into the kitchen. He knew she was there, could smell her, could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't turn around and acknowledge her. He wanted to see what she would do. Now that he had had a chance to think about things and calm down a little, he was willing to hear what she had to say. God, he was so easy. He wished somebody would come up to him, grab his shoulders and shake some sense into him. He was already starting to forgive her, and he hated that. The more pathetic she looked, the more miserable she acted, the easier it became for him to excuse her actions. He couldn't help it, and he knew she knew that too, which was probably why she was showing so much naked emotion.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He tensed a little but that was the only indication he gave that he was even listening.

She continued on, her voice a little stronger. "I'm sorry, Chuck." He could hear her sigh and then move a little closer. "I really am sorry."

They could not have this conversation here; his sister or Devon could walk in at any moment. He turned around and locked eyes with his partner for only a second, for that was as long as he could stand the uncomfortable misery he saw there, before walking down the hall toward his old bedroom. Carina got the message because she was fast on his heels.

He spared a lingering look at his sister and Devon as he passed them on the way to his room. They were sitting close together, both staring at him and Carina as they walked passed, whispering to themselves. If he knew his sister, she was probably talking Devon's ear off with all the different theories about what might be going on between the two of them. He was going to need to do some serious damage control when this was all over, but he couldn't worry about that now.

He opened the door to his room and held it open for Carina. She stepped through, lightly brushing against him, and he tensed at the contact. He couldn't tell if she had done that on purpose, and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about it if she had. He shut the door behind him.

His room had changed a lot since he last lived in the apartment. The walls were mostly bare and seemed plain now that all his posters, pictures, and other bits of nerdery were gone. There was a lot more space now too, or it at least seemed like there was, what was not taken up by the occasional box or odd piece of furniture that Ellie and Devon kept in his room. They had converted it into a storage space/workout room/office. Still, despite all the organized chaos that had descended on the room he used to think of as home, it felt bigger than he remembered.

Carina moved into the center of the room and had her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. She wouldn't look at him, except for a brief sweeping of her eyes every few seconds to see what he was doing. She looked completely miserable and he could feel the last vestiges of his anger fade away. It wasn't really her fault. She was probably just following orders and it wasn't like she had technically lied to him.

"Just tell me why."

"A lot of reasons, I guess."

He hadn't expected that response and so said a bit harshly than he meant, "How about just picking one."

Defensively, Carina snapped back, "You started it!"

"What?" Where had that come from? He honestly had no idea what she meant by that. Were they 10? "I started it?"

Carina finally looked up from staring at the ground to lock eyes with him. She was more alive and intense now than she had been all evening. "When you told her your name; you started it then."

Oh. She meant that. "It was a gamble, I know that, but –"

She cut him off, angry and stormed toward him. She poked him in the chest hard, "It was stupid, was what it was! You thought you could turn her just like that, huh?" She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Thought you could smile at her and treat her well and she would just fawn all over you? You let your ego get the better of you, Chuck!" She stopped briefly to suck in a big breath, her eyes wide and wild, and barreled on. "Walker is so open to manipulation at this point that Bryce or Casey could have done just as well. But nooooo, YOU had to save the damsel in distress! It had to be you!" She poked him in the chest and yelled, "Well, I got news for you, Chuck Bartowski, you're not that special!"

Chuck was at a loss for words. Where was all this coming from? She had objected when he first told her about his idea, but she had quickly conceded after some brief discussion that it was probably the best plan they had. He would befriend her, get her to open up to him, and then convince her to work for them—the simple fact of the matter was that he was just less threatening than Bryce or Casey and far more believable. There was really no choice but him, and Carina had accepted that point even if she was now claiming that Bryce or Casey could have done the job just as well.

Telling Sarah his real name had only been part of the plan, the fact that it came with a guaranteed failsafe—namely that once she learned his name she'd really have no choice but to turn or else she'd probably end up dead—had only been a fortuitous bonus. He hadn't wanted to manipulate Sarah that way, in fact it made him feel disgusted with himself, but he wanted her alive and willing to help more than he wanted her to like him. He could live with her not liking him if it meant she would tell him what she knew and save herself in the process. No matter how many times he told himself that, that having her hate him would be okay, he always seemed to need to convince himself one more time. "But Carina you said that it was a good –"

She stormed on, far too overcome with emotion and anger to care about anything he had to say. "And of course I had to do what you wanted, because I'm weak." She stepped away from him, muttering under her breath, clearly talking more to herself now than she was him. "Because I can't say no, I can't handle seeing that damn look on your face when you don't get your way, and I'm the worst handler in the world. You're my asset and yet you make all the decisions!" This she clearly yelled for his ears. "I should have never made this a permanent assignment."

That was going too far. He was mad at her, but not mad enough to want her to leave. "Whoooa, Carina, stop. You are not going anywhere."

She whirled on him and gave him the fiercest glare he'd ever seen. He wanted to turn around and run. She was usually so playful and cloying when around him that he sometimes forgot she was a dangerously lethal woman that could make most men quake in fear. Combine that with the fact that at the best of times Carina was a little insane and prone to extreme mood shifts, and you had to be careful just what you said to her when she got like this. He'd even seen Casey sometimes think twice about going against Carina when she was in this kind of mood and Casey normally relished the idea of confrontation no matter who the opposition was.

"And why shouldn't I leave, huh? You don't listen to me, you do whatever you want, stupidly put yourself in danger even when I practically beg you not to do it, and you managed to somehow develop feelings for a woman that would as soon as kiss you as stab you in the back. Why should I put up with that kind of grief?"

"Because I need you," he said simply, honestly.

Carina instantly deflated at that, all her anger gone. She looked on the verge of tears, which seemed crazy to him, because Carina never cried. "I saw her today," she said, whispering. "Before Bryce, I mean."

"You did what?!"

She winced and sat down heavily atop a stack of boxes. "I had to. I had to see what she was like for myself. All this talk from Graham and Beckman about how she's so great, how they have plans for her, and Bryce going on and on and on. And you!" she exclaimed, a sad look on her face. "And you…" She trailed off into nothing, her eyes a million miles away.

"What did you talk about?" Chuck was trying to restrain his anger; she was being honest with him, even if it was a little after the fact.

"Most of the stuff I would like…not to repeat." Her eyes came into focus just before she closed them, like she was bracing herself for his reaction at her refusal to tell him what she talked about with Sarah. When he didn't yell, like she was probably expecting, she hesitantly opened her eyes. "But I may have told her that I would kill her if something like the hallway happened again." She at least looked embarrassed.

Chuck sighed and then chuckled weakly despite himself. "Oh Carina, why would you do that?" He knew why, or at least he thought he did. He walked over to Carina and slowly picked her up from the boxes so that he could give her a hug. She stood stiffly at first, but quickly relaxed and hugged him back much more fiercely than he hugged her.

"She's a threat to you." She sniffled slightly. "You might not care about that but I do. You aren't thinking straight when it comes to her."

"I know."

"You do?" She pulled back to look up at him in surprise and confusion. "I don't understand. Why are you doing all this then?"

Chuck shrugged his shoulders and pulled away from Carina so that he could pace. "Because I can't help it, I guess. There's just something about her, Carina. I can't explain it, that's just how it is."

She moved away from him angrily, "You just want to sleep with her."

"No! It's not about sex, okay? It's not like that. I really do just want to help her."

She stared at him skeptically, clearly not really believing him. So he forced himself to say more, even though he wasn't sure this next part was all that true. "I won't lie and say I don't find her attractive, because I do, but she's Fulcrum, Carina. She's a murderer and a traitor. And while I think I can help her, while I think I can give her some small amount of redemption, I don't want a relationship with her. That's just crazy."

Carina glared at him again and he hoped his words had sounded more convincing than they did in his head. He really hoped she believed him when he denied thinking about a relationship, of any kind, with Sarah. Apparently she hadn't, because she narrowed her eyes at him and asked flatly, "Who said anything about a relationship? I was talking about fucking."

Chuck groaned and ran an exhausted hand through his hair. He was not touching that. It would undoubtedly lead to an argument between them. Carina still hadn't given up on somehow maneuvering him back into her bed. "Christ, Carina, do you always have to be so…so…you?"

"Yes," she growled, "now answer the damn question."

"Why is that any of your business?"

"Oh I don't know, Chuck, maybe because you can't be trusted if your judgment is already that far gone? Let alone if you actually think you could have a relationship with that bottle blonde bitch."

Maybe he had misjudged her intentions. Maybe she wasn't actually jealous. It was possible she was only concerned about his wellbeing and maintaining operational security, but he kind of doubted it. "No! I already told you no, okay?"

She still seemed highly skeptical of his sincerity but she at least seemed ready to drop the issue. "Fine. Then you – we – need to tell Beckman and Graham. They need to pull you from this assignment immediately," she said.

"They'll say no."

"Why the hell would they say no? Beckman has to unbunch her panties at even the mention of you in danger and Graham normally doesn't even like it when you go off-site for the missions. They should be jumping at the opportunity."

Chuck stopped his pacing and looked intently at Carina. "I figured it out, you know. It wasn't hard once I stopped and actually thought about it."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was you who helped Sarah get out of her cell." Carina's eyes widened and she burned red. "Don't bother denying it. I talked to White and Blue. You might be surprised about how much they're willing to tell me, especially when they resent being given orders not to really fight back." Chuck shook his head. "She could have killed them, Carina. What were you thinking?"

"Chuck, I can explain."

Chuck sighed. "Don't bother, Carina. I know you were just doing what they told you but you should have told them it was a dangerously stupid plan."

"How did you know?"

"I guess you could say I figured it out when she kissed me and I realized that they'd been playing me as much as they played her."

Carina only nodded her head and the last thing he was unsure about snapped into place. Of course she had known, about their plans at least. "It's why they tortured her first instead of just bringing me in from the very beginning." He paused and then swallowed carefully, like the words he was about to say were difficult to force to the surface. "I always wondered about that, you know. It didn't make much sense to me. I mean, our objectives were essentially the same, only mine were not designed to make her go through hell first. But no, they had to do it their way. They had to show that they were in control," he said angrily. "They wanted to soften her up, break her down, and screw up her mind to make her more vulnerable, so that when I came in, acting like the naïve idiot I am, she'd see me as some kind of savior. She'd open up to me, develop a connection with me, do what I say. All in an effort to make her easier to control and I fell right for it." He snorted in disgust. "Classic asset management technique." Chuck wasn't really sure if he was talking about himself or Sarah there.

"I just don't think they ever thought it would take this long or that you'd lose objectivity so fast. They told me that's what Bryce is for. They think another dose of the stick will make the carrot even more tempting."

Chuck just shook his head. "They're wrong; it'll only make her dig in her heels more. And if I know you, which I do," he said pointedly when she looked like she was about to object, "then you probably did your best to ruin all the work I've done up to this point."

Carina sighed, and then nodded reluctantly.

"Figures. Well, I guess it can't be helped now, but maybe I can mitigate the damage." He walked over to the Morgan Door and opened the window. "Come on, we're going to Casey's."

Carina scrambled after him; she looked concerned. She probably knew what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I'm going to talk to them." He stepped out the window and started off toward Casey's apartment. "Don't try and talk me out of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she said wryly from his side. "I do have a problem saying no to you after all."

Chuck didn't say anything, but he did burn a furious red.

# # # # #

Casey was not in his apartment, of course, or else he probably would have been at dinner. Knowing Casey, he would have come over with some flimsy excuse about needing this or that and then feigned surprise that they were having dinner. Ellie, of course, would have immediately invited him to stay, and after hemming and hawing for a few seconds, Casey would have quickly given in to Ellie's insistence. Then Casey would, of course, proceed to eat more than everyone else combined because he had a serious weakness for Ellie's cooking. Chuck was pretty sure that's why Casey had volunteered to stay behind and watch over his sister when he moved, instead of following him like Carina and Bryce had.

It was surprisingly easy for Carina to gain access to Casey's apartment. He could see the glee and satisfaction on her face as she broke in, probably imagining all the different ways she could tease Casey endlessly about his easy security. That was a potential fight in the making; he would have to keep an eye on them when Casey eventually found out what they'd done.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Casey. That was far too easy," Carina said, grinning.

Chuck just shook his head, more than a little pleased that the playful side to Carina was back out to play.

They quickly made their way to the large TV dominating one wall of Casey's apartment and Chuck immediately started to fiddle with it. He had no intention of wasting any time. Casey was sure to have some kind of remote alarm that let him know somebody was in his apartment without his permission. They only had a limited window before either he showed up himself, which was more likely as Casey wouldn't leave the potential cracking of skulls to someone else, or he'd send somebody who might shoot first and ask questions later.

He activated the necessary program to launch the videoconference with Beckman and Graham, and then entered his authorization codes.

They soon appeared and they were not surprised.

"I can't say this is unexpected, Mr. Bartowski," Beckman said drily.

Graham added with a chuckle, "If you had waited another 10 minutes, I would have had a free lunch."

Chuck rolled his eyes and only glared at them faintly. "I wish you guys had just told me what you intended from the beginning. You agreed when I started this job that I would not be kept in the dark about these kinds of things. It was part of our deal."

Humor vanished from both of their faces. "It was necessary that you appeared as authentic as possible, Chuck," Graham said. He was the only one of the two that ever addressed him by his first name. "And while we may grant you a little more leeway than many of our other operatives, you still work for us. We still make the call, regardless of whatever 'deal' we may have."

"I can turn her, sir. Or at least I could have before you guys screwed everything up."

Beckman said, "Agent Larkin did not interrogate her if that is your concern. They just talked. Reminisced, if you will, about past history."

"Why? Why would you even let him see her?"

"He was very insistent that he be allowed to talk to her. What he had to say seemed interesting, so I gave him the go-ahead despite how much I knew you'd not like it," Graham said. He sighed and rubbed a weary hand across his face. "We think he wants to partner back up with her if you can convince her to work for us."

Carina snorted and said derisively, "Bryce only sees pretty eyes and long legs. He probably can't stand the fact that nothing happened between them the first time around."

"That may be, but frankly, we're tempted to agree with his way of thinking. You may have Walker firmly under your control at the moment, Mr. Bartowski, but Larkin is probably the only agent we have that could keep up with her and if they were to develop some kind of sexual relationship…" Beckman trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. "That would only make keeping tabs on her easier."

"She won't agree. She doesn't want to turn; you have to give her incentive to do so. She will never agree if it's him or anyone else. It has to be me," Chuck argued.

He could feel Carina's eyes staring at him hard but he wouldn't look at her. He wouldn't. He was being entirely professional. That's all. He only wanted Sarah to work with him because that would be the most productive arrangement possible. It was logical. Pairing up the Intersect with a walking, talking, breathing Fulcrum database? How could anyone not see the potential benefit to that? He had no personal stake in the manner, and if the thought of Bryce and Sarah together happened to make him sick, well, that was probably him not liking the thought of losing control over such a valuable intelligence asset. That's all. He didn't mean an actual partnership with Sarah—Carina was his partner and always would be—but he knew that she would never agree to anything if anyone but himself was involved. Or he hoped she wouldn't.

"And just what do you suggest, Chuck? Bear in mind that the idea of pairing a former Fulcrum operative with highly dubious loyalties with the Intersect is not exactly our idea of a good time," Graham said drily.

"I have some ideas about how we could run things that would limit our liability. I was thinking…"

Next Chapter: Choices, Part One - And so we begin the massive, unwieldy, overly wordy, overly long final arc to the first section of this part of the story. It's a trilogy! And like many trilogies, the middle chapter is the best. Unfortunately, you can't start in the middle because then it's not really the middle, is it? So what happens next? A lot of stuff: some crying, some lying, and a whole lotta dying.