A/N: Hey there...guess who's back...besides Leon Russel...that's right...it's me...well, the swimmer me...not the walkabout me...actually, the walkabout me was back yesterday...what? you haven't read the latest chapter?...well, what are you waiting for?...go ahead...we'll wait here while you go and read that...no, really, I don't mind...have a good time...just not too much fun...after all, you have to leave a little room for fun here...Yeah, I know...it's been a little while...hope you haven't forgotten me...or grown to hate me because I been a bad updater...I'm sorry...just been busy...you know...with that other thing...I really shouldn't say it out loud...this thing might get jealous of that other thing...you know how that goes...two stories...both starved for my love...fighting over my affections...and then one of them gets a pencil...don't ask me how...it could happen...and the next thing you know...I'm floating face down...in some rich old dames pool...done in by an overly jealous story...a story not willing to share me with another story...another senseless tragedy...oh, the humanity...

Get better Jim...Seriously, get better!

No Beta...no beta...no beta...no matter how many times I say it...it just doesn't matter. Does it? As I am so fond of saying...I don't own Chuck! No...that's a lie...I'm not fond of saying that...there, now I've said it...and having said it, it's been said... and so it goes...Jager and brain cells...locked in a bitter battle for dominance...place your bets now...I'm not sure but i believe that Jager may be favored to win...and it's definitely flavored to win...

Please leave a review...your reviews can help end incoherant, senseless, babbling...maybe...ah, who knows...give it a try and we'll find out together... JT

Sarah Vs The Strong Swimmer Chapter 8

After helping Sarah put away everything that they'd picked up while on their shopping expedition, Chuck went into his 'office' and started reviewing the latest batch of dailies that 'aunt' Diane had forwarded to him. After almost thirty minutes he was interrupted by the alert signal, letting him know that the 'bosses' were requesting a video conference.

"Hey Sarah" he shouted out the door, " our 'aunt' and 'uncle' want to talk to us."

"I'll be right there. Just throwing on some clothes for movie night with Ellie and Devon."

"Need some help?"

"Chuck…stop doing the eyebrow dance…maybe later."

'How did she know?' Chuck asked himself.

"Because I'm a spy, that's how I knew what you were doing" she said as she stepped into the room, pulling a new t-shirt over her head. Reaching out, she snagged the extra chair and pulled it up next to him. "What?" she asked, noticing his open-mouthed stare. Before he could reply, General Beckman's and Director Graham's faces filled the monitor mounted on the wall above Chuck's desk. Seeming not to notice, he continued to stare.

"Mr. Bartowski!" the General said. "MR. BARTOWSKI!" she repeated, with a little more emphasis, finally getting Chuck's attention. "While I'm sure you find Agent Walker's breasts spellbinding, perhaps you could postpone your study of them until after we complete this briefing?"

"I wasn't…I…um…I…yes, ma'am" he stammered after whipping his head around so he would be facing forward. Sarah hid a smile behind her hand as she watched the blush creep up Chuck's neck.

"Now that you are both paying attention…let's begin. We were contacted by the Director of the DEA about a troubling development that seems to be centered in the Los Angeles area. A new designer drug has been appearing with an alarmingly jump in frequency. Normally the NSA and the CIA wouldn't be involving themselves but the origins of this drug appear to be in the middle-east and, shockingly, before that with our own research program." General Beckman paused to catch her breath.

"General" Chuck asked, "terrorists are now involving themselves with designer drugs?"

"No…at least, not in the way you might think. It appears that a rogue intelligence agency, calling themselves FULCRUM, are the ones behind the drug."

Sarah watched as the flash hit Chuck. After almost thirty seconds, Chuck seemed to regain his composure and looked back at the monitor. "General…have that many agents and scientists really switched sides?"

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Bartowski. Now, since the DEA's top agent is currently in Los Angeles investigating this drug and it's makers and distributors, who seem to be building a nation wide distribution system, we have been asked to offer what assistance we can."

"How can we help?" Sarah asked as she handed Chuck some aspirin, knowing that he would soon have a massive headache.

"Well, Major Casey is currently being briefed by Agent Hansen and…"

"I'm sorry General…do you mean Agent Carina Hansen?" Sarah asked with a concerned look.

"That's correct" replied Director Graham, finally joining in on the briefing. "Agent Hansen is on top of this investigation…"

"I'll bet she's on top of something" Sarah muttered under her breath.

"…what was that, Agent Walker?" the director asked.

"Nothing sir…please continue."

"As I was saying, Agent Hansen is heading up this investigation and after she finishes with Major Casey, she will be visiting the two of you so she can bring you both up to date."

Chuck hoped that Sarah's snort wasn't obvious to the Director or the General and after a quick sideways glance at her, he was about to ask a follow up question when the doorbell rang.

"That is Agent Hansen now." General Beckman said.

"How do you know that?" Chuck asked before noticing the small video display in the lower right hand corner of the monitor which clearly showed an outside shot of their front door. He recognized Casey and standing next to him was a very tall woman. "I'll go and let them in" he volunteered as he started to get to his feet.

"Mr. Bartowski" the general snapped, "Agent Hansen is not cleared for the Intersect so be very careful what you do and say around her."

"Yes ma'am" he answered before leaving the room.

"Director…General…may I say something?"

"Of course Agent Walker."

"Sir…Ma'am…while Agent Hansen is a superb agent, she is unpredictable and has been known to stare from the rule book…often making things up as she goes along…"

"Said the pregnant, probably compromised agent, who got knocked up by her partner…the same partner who turned out to be a rogue agent, who started the chain of events that has left us all in this position." General Beckman said, making no effort to hide her feelings about the situation.

"Agent Larkin is not the father of my child…" Sarah blurted out, "Bryce and I had stopped seeing each other before he went rogue. The father is…"

"Sarah…" came Chuck's voice from behind her, "company's here!"

"What was that, Walker? You're knocked up? Said the agent standing next to Chuck.

"Carina…so nice to see you…" Sarah managed to get out from between clenched teeth, "why don't you and Casey come on in and make your selves at home."

"Agent Walker, Major Casey and Mr. Bartowski…please go over the intel and plans that Agent Hansen has. If there is anything urgent, please feel free to contact me…if not, we'll have a briefing tomorrow morning at eleven hundred hours…" and before anyone could object, the General reached out a hand and the video feed was disconnected.

"So Sarah, who's the hunk who answered the door?" Carina asked as she turned towards Chuck and looked him up and down, like a lollipop that she couldn't wait to taste.

"Carina…this is Chuck…he's my …room mate."

"Oh, so he's available?" Carina shot back, already knowing Sarah's answer and just waiting to push her buttons, "…he looks yummy…mind if I take a lick…or two?"

"Carina…" Sarah hissed in a voice that Chuck had never heard before and, quite frankly, it scared him a little, "…there will be no licking, no touching…NO NOTHING! Do we understand each other?"

"Well, that could make tomorrow night problematic" she answered with a smirk.

"Tomorrow night?" Sarah asked, her voice still sounding very dangerous.

"Yeah…he's going to be my date…my very affectionate date…to a private party we will be attending in an effort to get information on the people who are responsible for putting this new 'shit' into circulation.

"Carina…Chuck's an analyst…not a agent. He doesn't have any experience with this sort of thing. Who's brilliant idea was this, anyway…yours?"

"No…Agent Walker" Carina started, suddenly acting very business like, "the powers that be believe that Mr. Bartowski can handle this. They first suggested I take Major Casey but I convinced them that he wouldn't seem like a player and definitely, not my arm candy…no offense Casey…and the General and the Director agreed with me."

"Alright , Carina..." Sarah said as she slowly took a step backwards, "walk us through the intel you have and your 'plan' for the party. Afterwards, Chuck and I will be going over to his sister's place for a few hours." Reaching out her hand, she grabbed Chuck's arm and pulled him towards her. Using her other hand, she guided him to his chair and waited until he had taken his seat before pulling her chair up next to his. She placed both of her hands in her lap and waited, with exaggerated patience, for Carina to start explaining.

"First things first, Walker…what's up with that t-shirt…"FUCK CLYDE…YORRICK RULES!...and the pictures of the monkeys?...I don't get it."

"Since I doubt that you've read any Y:The Last Man…I don't expect you to get it. I didn't wear it for you."

"Sarah…when did you…"Chuck started.

"Shhh…Chuck. We'll talk later. Anything else, Carina?"

"Yes…you're pregnant?" she asked as she pulled a thumb-drive from her pocket and handed it to Chuck.

"Yes."

"And Bryce isn't the father?" she continued as she watched Chuck inserting the thumb-drive into the side of the laptop he had balanced on his knees.

"No."

"So…do I know the donor?"

"No…and that's the end of those questions." She finished as re=positioned herself so she could look over Chuck's shoulder.

"Ok…Chuck, is it?...pull up the menu and open the file named 'FANTASIA'. Chuck looked up, a question in his eyes. "I know…I didn't name the shit. Now, this is really nasty stuff…at first it feels great…a huge euphoric high and a marked increase in brain activity. Users have reported that they actually feel 'smarter'. They also report that they immediately begin having incredibly vivid, pleasant dreams. That doesn't last…after a few months, the dreams turn nasty…really horrible nightmares. The 'eggheads' say drug slowly builds up deposits in the brain that they believe will lead to a wide variety of mental problems…increased paranoia, violent behavior and eventually, irreversible brain damage. The stuff is five times as addictive as crack or meth and , here's the really scary part…our techs are afraid that some middle eastern researchers may be working on a way to weaponize this stuff…that's why we have to go after these douche bags…now."

"Christ" Casey grunted.

"And this party…how is it tied in?" Sarah had to ask.

"The host…he seems to be the main source. We're hoping we can set Chuck up as an out of town buyer who's looking to set up his own network on the east coast, starting in Florida. I'll be his 'party girl' date who's hoping to make a little side money by brokering the deal."

"And after you set up the deal…you bust everyone?"

No…we set up the deal and try to work our way into more information…trace this shit back to it's roots."

"Carina…this worries me…Chuck has never done anything…"

"Sarah, it's Ok. I really want to do this. I'm sure that Carina knows what she's doing and she'll be able to keep me out of trouble…"

"Plus, we've arranged to have Casey working inside the party as well…as back up. And, you'll be running surveillance from the 'ops' van."

Sarah looked worried but forced a smile to her face. "Alright…we'll do it. Chuck…why don't you go to our room and put on that shirt I picked out for you this afternoon while we were shopping…Ok? I'll be right behind you."

Closing his laptop, Chuck set it aside and got up from his chair to make his way out of the room. Once he had stepped out of the room. Sarah was immediately at Carina's side. "You better be damn sure about this…because if you screw around and go off book…and that gets Chuck hurt…I'll end you!" she finished before leaving the room.

Carina looked over at Casey who just nodded his head, answering her unasked question. "So, that's the baby's daddy" she said quietly.

"Yep…welcome to my mission from hell."

-000—00—00—0—0

Chuck thought back to the previous night and remembered how great the food had been. Sarah and he had raved because the food was just that good. Chuck even convinced Sarah to pick out the first movie and had been pleasantly surprised when she selected "The Goonies", saying that she'd never heard of it and hoped it wasn't to scary. Ellie and Devon both chuckled but Chuck just smiled, happy to have his arm around her as she discovered…'The Goonies'.

The next day had gone smoothly with Sarah and Carina, and to a smaller degree, Casey, spending time going over the plans for the night. Sarah Had picked out his outfit for the party, including one of the new dress shirts that she'd just bought for him.

After arriving at the party, he allowed himself to be 'guided' around by Carina…which enabled her to introduce him to host who he ended up talking to for almost twenty minutes. He seemed, to Chuck, like a nice guy. As he started to walk away he noticed three guys walking in the back door and started to flash. He reached his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose…which caused Carina to ask if he was ok.

"What's up, Chuckles? I've noticed that you've been rubbing the bridge of your nose a lot…really bad headache?"

"Yeah…that's it." Chuck answered, glad that Carina had offered him his cover. He had Been flashing half of the night and his head was really starting to pound. He whispered in the general direction of his watch that Sarah and Casey needed to be aware that the trio who had just shown up were wanted gang members and drug dealers. Before he had a chance to say anything else, Carina was pushing him towards the bar where Casey was poring drinks.

"Chuck" Carina said quietly, "go hang out by the bar…the bangers that just walked in are looking for those other guys that are standing over against the far wall and things could get ugly. I'm going to go and say goodnight to our host and try to set something up for later…I'll be right back to get you…now go!"

Chuck was just a couple of steps from the bar when the sound of shouted threats made it's way to his ears. He turned back to make sure that Carina was ok and he noticed that two of the guys that had just showed up had pulled guns from their jackets. Turning back to the bar to get Casey's attention, the sound of silenced gunfire suddenly became noticeable. He had a sudden bout of dizziness and reached a hand out to grab the edge of the bar to steady himself. He looked down and wondered what the red stuff on the floor was.

"Hey…Casey" Chuck said, much quieter than he had planned. Of course, Casey had heard the sound as well and looked around before catching sight of Chuck, swaying at the bar. He hurried down to where Chuck was standing, wondering why Chuck seemed so pale. "Casey…Sarah's gonna be so pissed…this is a brand new shirt that she just bought…" he managed to say before pulling the edge of his jacket back a little bit. Casey caught sight of the blood just before Chuck collapsed.

"Walker…get a med team here…NOW!" Casey yelled into his watch

"What is it Casey…is there some problem?"

"Get the god damn med team …right god damn now! Chuck's been shot!"