A/N We are finally moving agian. Looking forward to the next few chapters!

Chapter Ten
1st Contact

OoOoOoOoO

It had been three days since Chuck had constructed his search algorithm designed to make contact with Orion. Sarah had thought it too risky for her to access his file with the CIA. Chuck agreed and so decided to utilize his skills acquired as the Piranha in order to try and make contact with the mysterious individual. Per Sarah's instruction, Chuck was careful to mask the location of his computer while it executed the search. This was impossible to do so completely, but Chuck was good enough that his search was as invisible as possible. They planned to make contact with Orion and try and find out if intersect removal was possible while keeping Chuck's identity and location secure. After setting up the search engine crawler, Chuck had not thought much on it. His mind was fully focused on adjusting to his new life with Sarah.

For the past two years, Chuck had tried to learn everything he could about Sarah. Every passing comment, every detail of her preference, every bit of information was water to a desert plant. He drunk it all in, savoring it, treasuring it, never knowing when or if another revelation would come. The past three days had been a torrential downpour, the likes of which he had never seen before. Their proximity to Ellie made it operationally necessary for them to share a room. The CIA sprung for a California King sized bed to "minimize the amount asked of the agent and asset." Chuck and Sarah laughed privately at the CIA mover who had told them that. They had made excellent use of the spaciousness of the bed, but not for what the CIA had intended. It was the little things which were most precious to him — the way she tossed and turned in her sleep. Her incoherent speech before 8 am. The fact that she demanded 30 minutes of absolute silence before going to bed. He was taking it all in, and he loved every second of it. There was one oddity, the fact that she chose to leave most of her clothing in her suitcase rather than in their shared closet, but he did not dwell on it. The changes in their relationship, in their lives, were big ones and sudden. Sarah had been on the run her entire life, of course, her habits would be different than his, he was just happy to be with her to be in love with her and she with him, that would be enough.

The time which they got to spend together was wonderfully unspectacular. They had done the spectacular, the adventurous, the dangerous. The foundation of their deep friendship and deepening partnership (to the fullest extent of the word) was built upon their death-defying commitment to one another in literal death-defying circumstances. Both of them could honestly answer in the affirmative to the question, "Would you die for your partner?" The past three days asked a more important question, however, "Can you live with them?" Sacrificing your life takes only a moment, a split second decision fueled by love. Living with someone demands making that decision again, and again, and again.

The normalcy of the entire situation was daunting for both of them, but particularly for Sarah. Chuck was aware of this; he had studied her, learned about her. Meeting Jack Burton had contextualized so much of Sarah's behavior and action. It made so much sense of her entry to the spy life. She was used to excitement and adventure from a young age, but she did not choose that wholly on her own. Her father chose much of her life for her. All of that somehow led her into the CIA. She had not told him the details, the whole story. He would wait, but one thing was for sure, domesticity was not something she was familiar with, and it might be something that she feared.

This worried Chuck; while on the one hand, she did not seem to be enamored with the glamor and austenciousness of the spy life, she was a woman who was cultured and refined in every way he was not. He was domestic in every sense of the word. She was a fine wine from the French Rivera; he was a domestic brew from the heartland. He feared that he would not be enough for her, that their foray into normalcy would, like the suburbs mission had, lead them further apart rather than closer together. That one day she would leave him, as almost everyone in his life had.

While these fears were real, they were not overwhelming, because nothing about Sarah's actions save perhaps the suitcase, indicated that Sarah felt any of the ways that Chuck feared she did or would. Too much of their time had been spent giving themselves to one another, had been Sarah opening up to him. They had done almost everything together: organizing their kitchen and living space, cooking and eating together, and... other enjoyable things. All of this time Sarah's hands had rarely left Chuck's body. She took every opportunity to show affection to him in. He had noticed before her fondness for fixing his tie, or coat. She had often found ways to touch him. But now that they were together, and in their home, she would not stop, and Chuck had no interest in preventing her. He loved her with all that he had, and she loved him back. Everything else, the search for Orion, the Intersect, the government's control over his life was ambient noise in comparison to the melody of merry presently playing throughout his mind.

Their blessed vacation was coming to an end soon. The apartment had been set up, his injuries had healed, and Fulcrum was apparently making noise in Hong Kong. Chuck was supposed to head to Castle the next morning in order to review some files and see if he would flash on a Fulcrum assassin codenamed "Vincent." Chuck intended to get the most out of his last night of freedom. He was going to cook Sarah his famous Chicken Pepperoni. They had done takeout or eaten at Ellie's for the past few nights as the apartment was not fully ready but now that it was, and all of the necessary dishes were purchased and stored in the cupboards, Chuck would finally get to cook for Sarah. Twice over the last nine months, he had tried to cook for Sarah. Both times were, unfortunately, interrupted. The first, by the death of Langston Graham and the second by one Morgan Grimes, although, the second time was not his best effort. He was reeling after Bryce had ruined his attempt at the "Montgomery" and Sarah had shown up to make sure he was ok. God he loved her. Chuck had heated up a frozen pizza, and they were eating it in the courtyard when Morgan decided that he needed some emotional support.

He was hopeful that they would enjoy one last blessed evening together before they had to begin to pretend as if they were merely a handler and asset, and if they truly were wanting to be convincing, a handler and asset with an enormous amount of sexual tension built up between them. He had become familiar with the concept of faking it; now he must fake not it, or something like that. All of that was for tomorrow. Tonight, they were Chuck and Sarah.

"Chuck, I'm home! I'm gonna hop in the shower." Sarah exhaled catching her breath from her run.

He smiled at her phrasing; she had never called her hotel "home." "Awesome, dinner will be ready in 30 minutes or so!" Chuck replied.

Sarah walked into the kitchen where he was marshaling an impressive number of operations. Cutting boards, saute pans, ingredients all marshaled around a laptop which had a recipe pulled up and Generator^First Floor by the Freelance Whales blaring out of the speakers.

Sarah's eyes widened at the sight of him. He must have looked ridiculous with his cooking apron on and dishes all around him. But she was not laughing; she was smiling her soft smile. The one he craved, the one of surprised sincerity.

"Chuck, you didn't have to go to all of this trouble," she said sweetly.

"I wanted to. I hope you worked up an appetite, and if you hate it we can go get something it's no big deal," he replied.

"I'm sure I'll love it, it smells great, unlike me, I'll be right back." She kissed him as she walked away.

What a life he got to live. He could not stop smiling; he was in love with the most amazing woman in the world. She was a mystery, yet she made herself known, piece by piece. One thing was abundantly clear; she loved him. That made him want to sing.

He went to the computer to change the song. He needed a new tune, one to match his mood. He opened his ri-Tunes library to select a new playlist when his entire screen went black. One line of command script blinking green in the middle of the screen.

Are you Alone?

This could only mean one thing; Orion. Thoughts whirled through his head. Orion was in his system; he knew where Chuck was, Chuck had no reason to think that Orion was against him in any way. But at the same time, he had no reason to think that Orion was for him. For now, he needed to play along.

Yes.

A return question flashed before him.

How long until your handler returns?

Handler? Either how did he know… Perhaps this was a trap. Perhaps Beckman was testing him.

Who Are You?

A moment passed.

Orion. Your search algorithm was clever.

Pause...

...it smelled of carnivorous fish

Relief washed over Chuck. Whomever this was, it was not Beckman. Unless Sarah had… no, no she would not have, this was no honeypot, he knew Sarah, she loved him… it was real.

...Standby…

Chuck's entire screen locked down and went haywire the only think visual was a modulated face that looked somewhat like a Blues Brother.

"I imagine that you want to get the intersect out," Orion said candidly.

This had to be Orion; nobody else would know the strain and stress that the intersect was. Those with partial knowledge saw it as a prized possession, a key to unlock unlimited power. Those who knew it knew it was a curse. A technology too powerful too important to allow the wielder to remain as they are, the one ring to rule them all. But, Chuck did not want to lose Sarah. If he lost the intersect, she would no longer be needed to stay. Fear gripped him; he hesitated then replied:

"Yes, I want to remove it… Is that possible?"

"It is possible, but it will take time, we will need to meet, away from your handlers. They will not what the intersect removed," Orion said urgently.

"You know about my handlers?" Chuck replied. This was dangerous. If Fulcrum where to set a trap they would want him away from his handlers.

"I know almost everything about your situation, Chuck. I want to help; the government has abused you with my technology, I want to make it right," Orion said solemnly.

"How can I trust you? How do I know this isn't a trap?" Chuck replied reasonably.

"Because if I were Fulcrum, an assault team would be mobilizing to pick you up as we speak… There isn't a way for you to be sure. You'll have to trust me."

"Let me bring one of my handlers. Overwatch only, she wants the Intersect out of my head, we won't involve the higher-ups."

"No! You can't trust her, Charles. She is trained to lie; to manipulate." The modulation voice cracked in the urgency in the voice. It was odd; something felt familiar about the usage of his name, the transition from Chuck to Charles.

"She has saved my life more times than I can count, you're a disembodied voice on a screen. I want the Intersect out, but I trust her more than I trust you," Chuck said with finality; he knew that Orion may bail, but he was willing to risk it. Better imprisoned with the Intersect than free and distrusting Sarah.

"She will stop you from getting it out, she belongs to her superiors, she is duty bound to report you," Orion said almost frantically.

"You know a lot about me, enough to know I am the intersect, and that Sarah is my handler. But you do not know everything. I trust her, I will meet with you, but I will tell her. If that means that you will not show, then I suppose I will try and get the intersect out another way," Chuck finished hoping Sarah would back his play.

"If the two of you do not come alone, I will not show up. If you do, meet me at the Del Taco on San Fernando and Western at 11pm tonight. I hope you are right."

OoOoOoO

Sarah's heart was full as she got out of the shower. The past three days were what the suburbs should have been like. Free from observation, just doing normal stupid goofy things. She had never known someone like Chuck. She had been courted, that she was used to. Men had bought her fancy dinners, gifts, all playing the game of seduction. But she could not remember the last time that someone had cooked a normal simple meal just for her. She liked this, she loved him, she knew just the way to show it. She opened up the zipper in her suitcase that had her lingerie in it and smiled a devious smile.

A few minutes later Sarah bounced into the kitchen to find Chuck in an entirely different mood than the one she'd left him in. It looked as if he had finished most of the cooking, but rather than singing carelessly he was pacing frantically.

"Chuck, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Sarah, while you were in the shower, Orion contacted me through my computer."

Sarah's mind slammed into gear as she reached for her phone to check the security feed. No activity; that was good. She needed to know exactly what had happened. Chuck looked pale as if he were waiting for a scolding from her. Sarah was afraid of a trap, but also excited. If this were Orion, then they could get the Intersect out of Chuck, he could be safe, he could be free.

"Chuck, you did nothing wrong, you did exactly what you should have done. We will eat our dinner that you so kindly prepared, then we will go meet this Orion." Sarah spoke with a confidence she was not sure she felt, but she knew he needed.

"Chuck, I will never let anything happen to you, we will be okay," she added

He smiled at this and ushered her to their dining room table. It was set beautifully with a candle in the middle. He filled both of their plates and they sat across from each other.

"I don't know what it is about me trying to cook for you that leads to insane circumstances; but maybe I should give it up," Chuck offered lightening the mood.

"It has been a bit of a catalyst, but it's too sweet for you to give it up," Sarah laughed taking her first bite. "Ohh my gosh, Chuck, this is soo good… nope; even if WW3 breaks out you gotta cook for me."

At this he beamed, nerves for their meeting all but forgotten. Sarah was pleased with herself, she loved being able to make him happy, it made her happy. Whatever was to come later that evening they would face together. She was confident it was not Beckman nor Fulcrum, it made her nervous that she knew so little about Orion, but she was confident that she could handle it. That they could handle it. Chuck needed protection, but he was not a liability.

"I'm glad you like it! Unfortunately it is the best thing I can cook, so it is all downhill from here," Chuck said smiling.

"Well, between my breakfast's and your dinners we can probably survive indefinitely," Sarah replied.

"I love you Sarah Walker," Chuck said seriously

"I love you too Chuck," she replied shyly, but sincere.

OoOoOoO

Sarah pulled her Porsche into the nearly vacant parking lot of the Del Taco. It was an odd place to meet, but that was in line with everything else they knew about Orion. He was eccentric and reclusive. Sarah scanned the area. There was no place where a tactical team could disguise itself. This place lent itself perfectly to being a neutral site. Sarah exhaled and released some of the tension in her stomach. She pulled into a parking spot scanning the parking lot and restaurant. Four cars sat outside, two sedans, a jeep, and a Land Rover with tinted windows. If she was to bet, that was Orion's vehicle.

"Should we go inside? Chuck asked nervously."

Sarah checked the time: 11:01.

"I suppose so. You go in and order us drinks and french fries, I'll scan the perimeter and meet you there."

"You sure you don't want me to stay in the car?" Chuck asked grinning.

Sarah stared at him flatly not dignifying his statement with a response.

"See you in a sec," Chuck added moving inside.

Sarah continued scanning the perimeter, keeping an eye on Chuck through the window of the restaurant, but she saw nothing. She joined Chuck inside. He had a confused look on his face speaking with what appeared to be the manager of the restaurant, could that be Orion?

"Yes, Sir, he told me you and your girlfriend would show up and drive take his car home. He asked me to leave you the keys."

"Ahh, yes, right right," Chuck stammered. "Sorry for the confused look, it has been an exhausting day."

Chuck examined the keys and showed them to Sarah. Sure enough, they belonged to the Land Rover outside. Chuck unlocked the car, wincing as he pressed the button. The car unlocked.

"Chuck, there are probably directions in the car, but we should get in together. We can't separate," she said seriously.

"Got it," he said as they both reached for the car doors.

They both got inside, Sarah checking the backseat.., where she found a wiry-haired man sitting calmly before her.

"Orion," Sarah stated.

Dad? Chuck asked.