A/N: In a word, awesome. That's how I feel about this chapter. I hope you do too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. Or Sarah either for that matter, or Ellie, or Captain awesome or even Morgan. Anna on the other hand…nope not her either.

Bartowski Secret Headquarters, Somewhere outside Arlington, Virginia 2014

Sarah woke up slowly. The pain hitting her as her senses became aware. She groaned slightly. She wanted to move her arm but it hurt too much. "You ready for your pain killers?" Chuck asked from beside her. She opened her eyes and turned her head slightly so she could see him.

"Yes, please."

She winced as Chuck helped her sit up and tucked a pillow behind her.

He put two pills in her right hand and held up a glass of water for her. She swallowed the pills and then drank half the water. She hated that she was going to be slightly loopy for their first Christmas back together, but she couldn't make it through the pain without it yet. Her surgical incisions were much better, but she needed reconstructive surgery on her shoulder and that wouldn't be happening for at least another month. Until then her left arm was stuck in a sling. She leaned back into the pillows and closed her eyes.

"You're not cuddling me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"It's worth it," She murmured through a wave of pain and nausea.

"Maybe to you, but I can't stand hurting you."

"It hurts more, not touching you." Chuck sighed and took her hand. She smiled slightly. "When do we get to have sex?" Sarah asked.

Chuck laughed. "I think probably after they fix your shoulder."

"I can't wait that long."

Chuck snickered. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Just give me something to bite down on and let's go for it."

"Thanks for that visual. That's just what I want for our first time since we got back together."

"I'm tough, I can take it."

"I know you are. Just wait till you get your shoulder fixed. I'll never leave you alone."

"Mmmm that sounds nice. Can we go on a vacation?"

"Sure, anywhere you want."

"Someplace warm?"

"As soon as you're better."

Sarah frowned. "My scars will show."

"They make you look tough."

"But I'm not a CIA agent anymore. I'd rather look sexy for my boyfriend."

"You always look sexy."

Sarah grinned. She disentangled her hand with Chuck's and started running it over his body. She'd gotten decidedly little physical contact since the doctors let her come home. Not that she knew where home was, or that they knew where she was. Chuck's address was classified.

When her final mission in Prague had been set, she'd had no clue how she was going to find him. It ended with a sting at 'the Boss's' house. Olga was on the inside while two SEAL teams took the outside. She'd tracked down Dimitri Krevczech in his study as soon as the shooting had started in earnest, but ended up in a gun battle with his body guards. She taken three rounds one that slipped under her vest at the shoulder and shattered her shoulder joint. Another in the leg that was mostly soft tissue and had gone all the way through and a flesh wound on her hip that she was worried was going to leave a nasty scar right beneath her bikini line.

Olga had thought she was dying. She was relatively sure of it, in fact. The mission was over and she was prepared to tell director Hayes that she was done being a spy. He'd wanted to wait, stretch the mission profile out. Nail more of the crime family's contacts, but there were too many people that were wary of her. Three people had made attempts on her life and one of them had come very close to killing her. She had a promise to keep and she wanted to go home. That's why as she'd lain there bleeding out on the polished mahogany floor she'd been sad more than anything; she really wanted to see Chuck again.

When she'd woken up in a hospital bed, she felt like she'd been run over by a freight train. She was quite literally shocked to be alive, but not nearly as surprised as she was to find her hand grasped firmly in someone's warm hand. Unable to talk, she'd squeezed the hand as hard as she could, which had amounted to almost nothing, but it worked. A head appeared above her. "You're awake!" a familiar voice said. "Thank God, you're awake. What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed!" he'd said angrily.

Unable to speak she'd looked at him with pleading eyes and he'd forgiven her with a kiss to the forehead. "Thank you, for making it back," he'd told her.

The next day when she was strong enough to talk, the first word she'd uttered was, "Home."

As it turned out, she didn't have to tell Director Hayes that she was leaving the field. He'd come in and informed her about a week after she'd woken up. Her injuries were severe, she'd need many months to recover, reconstructive surgery on her shoulder, which would never be 100% again. He'd presented her with a medal and a signed letter of thank you from the president himself. Then he'd delivered the news. She wasn't cleared for field work anymore. They were concerned that she'd lost her edge. She could get recertified for field work if she wanted when her shoulder healed, but she'd have to prove her body could still handle it. He'd offered her either a desk job or a retirement package and she hadn't thought for even thirty seconds before she told the CIA goodbye.

It had been another two weeks before the doctors had finally allowed her to come home. She'd been shocked by the nerd centric décor of Chuck's 'secret lair.' There were electronics over nearly every surface of the home. A large plasma screen was mounted on the wall. There were two more in the second bedroom that he used as an office when he worked at home. Sarah had kicked all the electronic gizmos out of the bedroom when she arrived to convalesce. She didn't need little lights blinking at her or things beeping, it reminded her of her hospital room.

He had stayed home every day to take care of her and Chuck told her every day that he loved her. Faced with such an assault of open affection she wondered how she'd ever left him in the first place. She'd missed him so much during their time apart, but especially during the last year. If anything it had crystallized for her exactly how much she needed Chuck and she felt selfish that she needed to finish her career with the CIA first. He was right, she had almost died. She wouldn't know what she would have done if she heard Chuck had been killed. She didn't like to think about it. It must have been just as bad or worse for him.

"Feeling better?" Chuck asked her bringing her back to the present. The painkillers were starting to take effect. She hurt just as much, but she cared less.

"Mmmhmm," Sarah mewed.

"Santa came," Chuck said softly.

Sarah opened her eyes and made eye contact with Chuck. "Santa?"

"Yep…"

"Did he bring me something good?"

Chuck frowned. "Doesn't he always?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "I like Santa."

"You want to go open your stocking before your drugs knock you back out again?'

"I don't want to fall asleep again. I don't want to miss Christmas."

"I know."

"If I fall asleep today, no working, okay. I want you to stay with me."

"I promise."

"Help me up?" Sarah asked.

"Of course."

Chuck walked to the other side of the bed and wrapped his arm around her as he pulled her up. "Upsie Sarah," she giggled. She leaned her weight on Chuck as he helped her around the bed.

"Hey, you're supposed to be using your leg, not putting all your weight on me. You heard what the doctor said. You need to start putting weight on it."

"Spoilsport. It's fun to lean on you." She did put a little more weight on her own legs though. Chuck guided her into the living room. Her stocking was hung by the plasma TV which happened to have a video of a roaring fireplace on it. "Cute," she told him. "Where's your stocking?"

Chuck shrugged. "Ellie's I'm guessing."

Sarah frowned. "Have you been home at all since you left?"

"Twice, but it's really hard not being able to tell them anything."

Sarah nodded. "That's the rub of the covert life."

"Yeah, I guess."

Sarah pulled the first item out of her stocking. "Ah good, toothpaste."

Chuck smirked at her. "Can't have Christmas without toothpaste."

"That's a fair point." She reached into her stocking and found a bar of Godiva's "Ah, the real reason I love Christmas so much." Sarah broke off a piece and popped it in her mouth. She found a pair of goofy reindeer ear rings and took a moment to put them in. She hadn't worn any since she woke up at the hospital without any. Chuck had to help her, as she couldn't do it on her own.

"Very classy," Chuck advised her.

"Thanks."

She got through a few more fun items before she found the distinctive white box at the bottom of her stocking. Oh, how the anticipation had built. She couldn't wait to see what charm she'd got this year. Sarah flipped open the lid and found a platinum band with a diamond solitaire staring at her. She flipped the lid back closed and stared at it. The ring was still there on the other side of that lid. She opened it and peeked just to be sure. Yep, it was still there. Her eyes sought Chuck's. Unable to speak she asked the question with her eyes, but he just raised his eyebrows and waited for her question. "Is this what it looks like?" she asked.

"Does it look like an engagement ring?" Chuck replied with his own question.

"Yes…" Sarah agreed. "But…" She tried to wrap her head around the situation. "Well traditionally aren't these accompanied by a question?"

"I already asked you."

"Years ago… Ask me again!" she ordered.

"Okay, which name would you like me to use."

"Sarah!" she insisted. "What else do you call me?"

"Sarah Walker," Chuck started before kneeling before her. "Would you like to become my wife?"

"Yes, I would like that. Are you asking me to BE your wife?"

"Indeed I am."

"Then, yes, please."

"Would you like some help putting that on then?"

Sarah looked down at the box, then frowned. "But my hand is all covered in my sling. I won't be able to see it."

Chuck shrugged. "We can put it on the other hand for now." Sarah nodded vigorously and Chuck slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand. Then he kissed her. She grabbed behind his head with her one good arm and pulled him down on top of her. It was painful, but she didn't care, she wanted to feel his weight on her. She wanted to believe this was real. Chuck allowed her to keep him on top of her for a few minutes before he pulled away. He sat on the couch with her head on his lap and caressed her face and head. She eventually got sleepy and spent most of the day nestled in Chuck's lap until he eventually got up just to move.

He made her dinner, and then despite her protests, fed her bite by bite. She felt guilty that she hadn't gotten him a present. He bought her a shopping trip to replace most of her wardrobe. What she had in Prague was mostly gone, most everything else she had was several years out of style or didn't fit quite right anymore. She didn't have any idea what kind of wardrobe she would need. She was newly engaged, but had no clue what her next job might be. After dinner Chuck delighted her, by pulling several of the latest bridal magazines out of a closet. He thought she might want to have a look, even if they didn't have a date yet. They hadn't even talked about a date yet. Sarah wanted to know more about her future before she decided when to start changing it.

"We're really bad at sex," Sarah declared once Chuck had her settled in the bed for the night and she was preparing for the triple dose of her pain meds to let her stay asleep.

"What do you mean? I've always thought we were pretty good at it."

"On the rare occasions we can actually figure out doing it. We got engaged today. I WANT SEX!"

"I see what you mean," Chuck acknowledged. "Hmm…let me see what I can do."

He gave her a slow tender kiss being very careful not the hurt her and then slowly he began to let one of his hands wander over her body. It felt heavenly. It had been a year since Chuck had taken liberties with her body, yet her body quickly remembered the feel of his hands. He eventually slipped her pajama pants off and she offered him all the encouragement she could. She winced when she titled on shoulder for a brief moment and Chuck looked hesitant. "Please?" she whimpered and he continued using his fingers and his tongue in fabulous and amazing ways.

"Thank you," she whispered later as he rested his head upon her thigh. She allowed her fingers to play though his hair.

"You're welcome. I hope it didn't hurt too much."

"Best I've felt in ages. What can I do for you?"

"Just get better."

Sarah pouted. "Please?"

Chuck laughed. "I've got it handled."

"So that's your secret!"

Chuck laughed harder. "Take you're pain meds."

"You know every time you don't want to talk about something you can't just pump me full of drugs."

"No, but it'll work for a few more weeks." Chuck trailed kisses up her body until he reached her lips. "Goodnight future Mrs. Charles Irving Bartowski."

"Great, another alias," Sarah deadpanned.

"You only have to change your name this one last time," Chuck assured her.

"Sounds like a very good deal." She swallowed her pain medication and patted the bed next to her. Chuck settled down and she put her arm around him. "I love you," she told him.

"I love you," Chuck answered

Her pain medication caused her thoughts to go dizzy and after a while she felt Chuck moving away from her and realized that she'd been asleep. "Don't go," she begged.

"Sarah, I don't…"

"You weren't hurting me she cut him off. I'm much better, just please curl up with me tonight. Please, I need you."

"Sure," he answered. Chuck turned off the remaining lights and then nestled in close to her his head resting on her good shoulder and he draped an arm over her. At first it was too close to one of her stitches but he moved and she finally fell asleep with Charles Bartowski in her arms again.