A/N: This is it, guys. Rogue Spy: the True Story comes to an end with this last installment. It's been a blast to write, and to share this crazy story with you, so thank you to every one of you that have read, reviewed, tweeted, etc. about it. Special thanks to catrogue, Jake Collin, Katsumaro, and Wepdiggy whose reviews have been incredibly fun. :)

I also want to thank mxpw, obviously. His Beta 101 on this story was awesome. When I say 101, I mean that there were 101 comments on the beta, all of them pretty hilarious. ;-)

Thank you to JoeltotheD for being responsible for so many of the funny moments in there.

I know we all miss our favorite floozy already, and there have been talks about potential prequel/sequel in the Alt-RS 'verse, but nothing's in the work right now, so we'll see.

For now, I hope you'll enjoy this ending.

Guide: Same as yesterday, the following chapter simply takes place after the last one: Echo Park, Los Angeles.

Rogue Spy: the True Story

Or What's Really Going On With Sarah Walker

The Beach, Costa Gravas

January 10, 2010

The heat from the sun, mixing with the fresh breeze, felt great against Sarah's skin. She sighed in contentment on her lounge chair.

Finally, she could enjoy a state of clothing she was comfortable with: a bikini. Some would call it a state of undress, but Sarah knew better. She had long thought that the real crime was to hide her perfect body—especially her pretty legs—under layers of unnecessary clothes, when she could be like she was now: in a bikini. A really nice blue one, too.

"Here you go," her companion said, as she handed her a delicious-looking cocktail.

"Thank you," Sarah said, and took an extra minute to watch her friend lying down on the lounge chair right next to hers. She was wearing a nice bikini as well. The green pareo complementing her beach outfit was slightly obscuring the view, but Sarah still appreciated it.

Ellie put her sunglasses on the top of her head, even though the sunlight made her grimace slightly, and she looked at Sarah with sparkles in her eyes. "I think that was definitely a good choice," she told Sarah, and gave her a broad smile.

Sarah finished sipping on the straw from her cocktail. "What was?"

"What you're wearing," Ellie said. "It looks great."

It had been a long fitting session all morning to decide what to wear. Well, it had been the activities inspired in between the fittings that had taken them so long, not the fittings themselves. Eventually, they had decided to just choose one randomly or they would have never made it to the beach while the water was still there.

Ellie raised from her chair a little, and started to lean in slowly toward Sarah. "You look great," she added before kissing her.

–––––o–––––

December 12, 2009

Sarah felt herself awakening.

The first thing she noticed was that she felt funny. She wasn't sure how to characterize it. It hurt, too.

She tried to remember how she had gotten here. Sarah's eyes popped open at the memory of the bomb explosion, and they closed just as fast. The light hurt.

"Hey," she heard, and felt a hand take hers. "Sarah? Can you hear me?"

Sarah could still hear the piercing sound the bomb had made. She recalled that Chuck had been there. He stayed with her in the ambulance, but she must have lost consciousness soon after that because she couldn't remember anything else. Where was she?

"Sarah, can you hear me?" the lovely voice asked again. Beeping sounds were also filling the room.

The hand that was going up and down her forearm in a reassuring and familiar way calmed her down, and Sarah tried to open her eyes again. She had longed for that touch for some time now. Ellie smiled at her as Sarah blinked the ache from the light away.

"Here," she said, and handed Sarah a plastic cup with ice cubes in it.

Sarah suddenly realized how dry her mouth was, and took it with her other hand. She didn't want to let go. Ellie waited patiently, while Sarah took her time re-hydrating. She took in her surroundings as she did so.

She was in a hospital room, and linked to several machines. There were several gossip magazines on her night stand. She noticed that the empty chair on her right had a hoodie laid on it. It was Chuck's, she recognized. A scarf was next to it, and Sarah thought she knew it, but couldn't place it.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah," Sarah said, and she coughed. Her voice was feeble. "Yeah," she tried again. "I think so. Thank you."

Ellie must have read the questions that were filling Sarah's mind, because she said, "You've been here ten days. The explosion put you in a coma, and it's been touch-and-go for a while, but now that you're awake, you're gonna be fine."

"And Chuck?"

Ellie smiled. "He's fine, too. Casey and Carina as well."

Carina? What did Carina—the scarf! It was Carina's. Blurry memories of Carina and Chuck talking in her room immediately hit her. Carina had come here, after she'd learned what had happened, and she'd told Chuck about them. Chuck knew.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Everybody's fine, Sarah," Ellie said, likely sensing her brief moment of panic. She squeezed her hand.

Sarah focused on her. She was in her scrubs, and she looked great but tired, probably from a long shift.

"Why did they tell you I was here?" Sarah asked.

"They didn't. I figured it out a few days ago. Devon has never been very good with keeping secrets." Unlike us, Sarah thought. "They don't know that I know."

Sarah looked at the door instinctively.

"Chuck and Carina went to eat downstairs at the cafeteria," she said. "We've got some time."

Some time for what? Sarah still felt a little tired, and she honestly wasn't sure what to say. She tried not to be affected by seeing Ellie again, but she wasn't very successful.

"I've missed you," Ellie said, breaking the silence.

Sarah frowned. "You're the one that decided we were over and went through with the wedding," she said, letting more hurt transpire in her tone than she wished.

"I know," she replied. "I think…I made a mistake, Sarah."

Sarah inhaled deeply when she realized she hadn't taken a breath in a long time. Her separation from Ellie, if she could even call it that since all they had ever done (as pleasant as it had been) was sneaking around, had been…rough on Sarah. She had never admitted it to Ellie, but she wasn't fooled. Ellie knew. Sarah knew. What they had had, it hadn't been a fling, it'd been real, and when Ellie decided she really wanted to marry Devon…

"Ellie," Sarah said, and a hint of desperation could already be heard. She was pathetic.

Ellie let go of her hand and took a few steps back. "I know, I know," she said, and started pacing. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I just…"

She stopped and looked back at Sarah. Her eyes were shining with emotions, and Sarah forgot all about her anger in that moment.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," Sarah said.

Ellie immediately rushed back to her side, taking her hand once more. "I thought I could do this, I thought it was the right thing to do, but…but it doesn't feel right anymore, Sarah."

Just when Sarah had decided that Chuck was who she'd chosen… Sarah had said "No" to Zondra, for the first time ever, and it hadn't been easy. She had decided to end things in a definitive manner with Carina as well. She was even considering telling the truth to Chuck before they could finally be together for real. And now, Ellie…

Sarah frowned. Just when she had decided that Chuck was who she'd chosen, a bomb had exploded. She'd almost died. Maybe, everything that had happened was a sign—another one. Maybe, Chuck and Sarah just weren't meant to be, just like she had thought after the Victorville incident.

Chuck didn't need her anymore. He was safe—safer without her, even. And nothing ever went right for them. And the truth was—the truth was, Sarah wasn't even sure she'd be with Chuck if Ellie hadn't broken things up—hadn't broken her heart all these months ago.

The Bartowksi charm was very powerful, and confusing—with both Bartowskis.

"I met Carina," Ellie said, interrupting Sarah's thoughts. "She's very pretty."

Ellie wasn't usually jealous. She probably knew that ultimately she was the real deal for Sarah, and so she had never been jealous about Sarah's other girlfriends in the past. That's why Sarah had always told her all about them.

"You've met her?"

"Yeah, she's, uh, she's spending a lot of time with Chuck these days."

"Oh." Sarah looked at the door again, and tried to imagine Chuck and Carina hanging out together. That was an odd idea, but surely two of her favorite people couldn't be wrong together.

When she looked back at Ellie, the brunette was looking closely at her face, searching. "It's not really like that," Sarah said, and felt her cheek reddening. "I mean, it is." She paused. "But it's over, now. It wasn't serious."

Sarah cringed inwardly. It had been kind of serious. Sarah had loved Carina. She still did in some way, and she'd always cherish their time together, but it really was over now. She'd made her choice. And why was she justifying herself? She wasn't the married one!

"You don't have to—"

"What about Devon, Ellie?" Sarah cut her off.

"I made a mistake," she repeated.

"But you love Devon."

"Of course, I do," she said, suddenly defensive. "You know it's more complicated than that."

"Yeah," was all Sarah said, and she mustered a smile in understanding.

Silence lapsed again for a while. Sarah's head was all over the place. Carina, Chuck, Devon, Ellie, Zondra—it was complicated. And Sarah was just waking up from a ten day coma, because the Ring had tried to blow her up. She was also probably being hidden from the government, right now.

"You know about the Ring?" she asked Ellie.

"I do," she replied with a nod. "Casey told Beckman. They weren't sure what to do. She's covering for you."

"Oh," Sarah said again, and hid a yawn with the back of her hand.

Ellie probably sensed Sarah's fatigue, for she reached a hand out to stroke Sarah's cheek and tuck a rogue lock of hair behind her ear. Sarah sighed. They didn't have much time left. She smiled the broadest smile she could, and waited to see if Ellie would do the same.

She did immediately, validating Sarah in her thoughts. "So…you had a few more days to think about this. What do you propose we do?"

–––––o–––––

January 10, 2010

"I think you're good," Ellie said, recapping the sunscreen bottle.

Sarah sighed in contentment. She was doing that a lot since Ellie had finally joined her a few days ago. Sarah had been here, in Costa Gravas, away from the Ring's radar and reach, for almost a month now, but Ellie had had to wait so as to not raise suspicions. Always the thoughtful one, she had said that it didn't feel right to leave everybody before the holidays, too.

So Ellie had waited. But now, to Sarah's pleasure, she was here, moving off of Sarah on the sand, after conscientiously helping her apply sunscreen to every inch of skin available—and more.

Skin protection was important. Ellie had insisted, and she was a doctor, so who was Sarah not to comply? She wasn't sure that it needed to be done every hour, but she wasn't complaining.

"I think I'm gonna go for a swim," Ellie said.

Sarah turned on her back, and rested on both of her elbows behind her. "I'm gonna work on my tan some more," she said. "I'm a bit sleepy."

Immediately, concern overtook Ellie's face and she kneeled down beside her. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sarah inwardly chastised herself for talking before thinking. Ever since the little play they had pulled off to free themselves from their previous lives and come live in Costa Gravas together, Ellie had been worried about Sarah's health. She was perfectly fine, though. A little fatigue remained, but it was nothing an afternoon nap (preferably following an afternoon delight) couldn't fix.

To fake Sarah's death completely, so that everybody would buy it, Ellie had heavily drugged Sarah. She could tell the brunette felt a little guilty about putting her through that, but it had been their plan, their choice. And Sarah didn't regret it for a second.

She felt bad for Chuck, and Devon, and all they'd left behind, but they'd move on. According to Ellie, Chuck already had with Carina. They'd be happy and safe, just like Ellie and Sarah would be happy and safe here.

"I'm fine," Sarah said, and laughed. "I'm keeping my strength up for later," she added, with as much mischief as she could.

It worked. Ellie beamed, and leaned forward. "Okay," she said, and captured Sarah's lips, more aggressively than Sarah expected.

Both her elbows threatened to fail Sarah, when Ellie's right hand came to graze her side, even as she deepened the kiss. She shivered under the other woman's fingers, and it didn't take long for Ellie to smile. Ellie pulled back and laughed, well aware of the affect she had.

For a long while, Sarah had always had a sense of confusion when she was with someone else. Chuck had come closest to clearing the confusion out—very close—but it was only with Ellie that she'd experienced the feeling that things made sense. Things were right when they were together.

"I'll be looking forward to that, then," Ellie said, as she rose to her feet, making sand cascade from her knees.

Watching—and enjoying—Ellie's walk to the water, Sarah was certainly looking forward to it as well.

Fin.