Chapter 11

I don't own Chuck, I just enjoy writing stories about it.

Many thanks for the reviews, tips, and critiques I've received so far. I don't have an editor or a beta reader so if I screw something up you guys are the only way I know. You guys keep me focused on finishing this story as well. Sorry I haven't been taking the time to personally reply to the reviews lately but I hope the chapters I have been pumping out make up for it.

I know some people will have problems with the Ellie and Bryce scene. I know Ellie has had dogs before and probably is very comfortable with them. But I took some creative license so that I could try to write a scene like this. So bear with me dear reader, it really has little impact on the overall story.

In response to a few peoples concerns I want to point out two things.

1. Yes I know the character from Chuck as we watch it is spelled Sarah. I spell it differently to denote the change in her identity. Her new cover is Sara White.

2. Some people think that things have just been too easy for Sarah and Chuck. This story so far covers about a month of time. A glossing over of about 3 weeks time and an in depth study of a few days. It took them 2 years to get together, and they deserve happiness. But in the world they live in who knows if there truly is a happily ever after. And who knows what the next 2 weeks will hold much less the next 2 years for our adventurers.

David walked into the house to yet another scene he didn't understand. Sara was rolling around on the floor playing with Bryce. Chuck was standing there apparently laughing at the situation. And Ellie was unconscious on the floor. As he kneeled down beside her she started to come to. David helped her sit up, "Are you okay babe?"

Ellie gave him a sleepy sounding reply, "Mmmm I think so, Sara and I had this wonderful talk and a lot of wine." Ellie leaned close and in a conspiratorial whisper she told David, "She loves him, I mean like really, really loves him."

David laughed, "I know babe its pretty awesome."

Ellie grimaced, "Then I think I passed out from the wine and dreamed that Sara told me Bryce was back from the dead.....again."

David laughed, "Well not back from the dead. Bryce come here boy."The doberman padded over to the couple. "But he is here. Ellie meet Bryce, Chuck and Sara's new dog."

Ellie leaped to her feet, "Ohthatsabigmeanlookingdog" By the time David made it to his feet Ellie had made it up to sitting on the bar and had her feet pulled up under her. Bryce was sitting on the floor looking at her with what most would consider confusion. Ellie thought it looked like the dog was trying to figure out where she would taste best if he bit her.

David tried to calm her down, "Yeah he's big but he's a good tempered dog and well trained."

Ellie squeaked out, "That...that....that's a doberman. Killer dog...." Bryce continued to sit near her, looking very docile, a hand signal from Sara meant that the dog wouldn't move no matter what.

Chuck spoke up, "Sis calm down, look just introduce yourself to him. I mean look at him he hasn't made any aggressive moves. You don't think he could jump up there if he wanted to?"

Ellie kept looking between the dog and her brother for several minutes, her eyes flicking back and forth constantly. Finally Ellie took a deep breath as if to steady herself and then climbed down from the bar. When she was standing on the floor again she started reaching out towards Bryce. She was standing so far away that she had to do this comic pose of standing on one leg and stretched all the way out to reach him. Bryce sniffed her fingertips and then licked her.

Ellie screamed and fell forward on her face. Sara made a quick hand gesture and Bryce rolled over on his back next to Ellie. Ellie started scrambling up but stopped mid rise and look quizzically at Bryce. The dog was laying there on his back, paws in the air, his tongue lolling out from the side of his mouth, and generally looking as scary as a teddy bear. Ellie paused for a moment studying the dog. She tentatively reached out a hand inching it over towards the dog. Ellie very gently began petting Bryce's stomach. Bryce gave that universal puppy groan of contentment. Ellie relaxed visibly, "Okay you may not be a killer dog."

Sara gave the signal for Bryce to stop following her command and the dog rolled onto its stomach only to stay laying on its belly as Ellie continued petting him. Sara joined her in petting the dog. Bryce looked happy to let the two of them continue forever. Ellie looked around the room before commenting, "He really is a beautiful dog once you get past how scary he looks."

Chuck groaned, "Somebody named Bryce that gets all the ladies attention....Why am I not surprised?"

As it was getting late the two couples wound down the night. Goodbye's were said and hugs were given. As Chuck, Sara, and Bryce made their way back to the house Chuck spoke, "Well things aren't normal yet. But whatever you did got us back on the road to normal. Mind if I ask what you two talked about over there?"

Sara turned on her smile full power and loved the fact that she could still make him miss a step with just a smile after this time, "Oh nothing you don't already know. I just told her our story from the beginning. She needed to understand that I truly do love you. That I was ready to throw everything else away to be with you. And that this was your choice. And the right choice, because you always do the right thing. It was a session of girl talk we really should have had a long time ago."

Chuck let her into the house, "I can only imagine how hard that was for you. Feelings and the past are not something that you talk about easily. Thank you for fixing our family."

Sara gave chuck a mysterious smile, "I'm sure I can find a few ways for you to thank me...."

Chuck grinned as he followed Sara to the bedroom, "Well I wouldn't want you feeling unappreciated now would I?"

General Beckman looked over her desk at her guest, "These are the top 5 candidates you came up with?"

Her guest replied, "Yes but you must know that my team gives this a less than 10% chance of success. The situation has just gone on too long."

Beckman massaged the bridge of her nose, "I know, but its a delicate situation. It doesn't help that the two previous attempts have been utter failures."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, "As you well know the first subject was chosen when we were still building a profile of the subject. The window of opportunity snuck up on us. We chose someone outside of the espionage lifestyle that we thought would be compatible and brought them together. But we realized too soon that that was a bad decision."

Beckman nodded, "Yes I'll admit the first attempt was rushed. But the second one? Come now you had plenty of time to prepare for that one."

The Doctor looked offended, "Yes we did and you personally made the choice on who would be sent to the subject. We gave you every bit of Intel we had on her and there was no way we could have known she was Fulcrum if you didn't."

Beckman sighed, "That's true enough. And as much as I hate to admit it my attempt afterwards was a complete failure. I'm far from qualified to choose someone for this."

The Doctor agreed, "Yes that was quite a poor choice. Had I been asked I would have told you trying to force another agent on him and hoping her similar looks and stature would be enough for him to be comfortable with her was a bad idea. Our profile shows that the subjects IQ is very high. Genius level without a doubt. Plus when you factor in his pattern recognition abilities he would realize an agent trying to seduce him for just that. The interaction with the Agent known as Carina have shown us that the subject has plenty of willpower to resist the fairer sex if he's not interested on a more personal level. Not to mention my team thinks there's a very real chance the Agent would harm anyone taking that course of action with the subject. Which is why we are relegated to this plan of action... or inaction as it is."

Beckman waved her hand over the folders, "Do you have a favorite among these?"

The Doctor picked them up and pulled one out, "Yes I do." The Doctor hands Beckman a folder. "Christina Terrell." He picks up another folder. "She matches the subject in almost every area we profiled. We also believe the sister will bond with her very quickly due to compatible personalities and the fact that they share a history at the same college. There is even a chance that the sister may have run into her at some point but we could find no history of friendship with either the sister or the brother in law."

Beckman looked up, "And you really think she can pull this off."

The Doctor shrugged, "We are past the point of trying to force anything. I don't even want to imagine the repercussions of trying something like that. The subject and the Agent are a far from ideal pairing. The subject is very open with his feelings and his life. The Agent tries to hold everything inside, partially due to her training and partially due to her life before the agency, but eventually the dams break and things come pouring out. Christina has a similar background to the subject. Mother died at a young age. Father became a workaholic and was never home. Partially raised by a sister who died a few years ago. Tends to talk to open up to her co workers about her feelings easily.

The subjects love for nerd culture and all the trappings therein almost rule his life, he has never developed a taste or a comfort with higher society functions and pursuits. The Agent has a tendency to feel adrift in the subjects world without any point of reference. Whereas Christina is comfortable with nerd culture. She enjoys video games as a past time, has an affinity for electronics, finds puzzles intriguing, enjoys comic books, and shares the same eclectic musical tastes as the subject.

Also Christina matches every one of the visual cues we found that the subject responds to. And while her base photos don't show it if you will look deeper in her file you will find she has the ability to be stunningly beautiful by most standards. Her sister attempted to get her away from the nerd culture at one point and got her into the pageant circuit. Christina did very well and ended up turning down several offers that would have gotten her into a line of work that allowed her to take advantage of that beauty.

And while that is my favorite choice. I don't think that choosing any of the other four would really change the chances of success. As I said before, this will not happen by force.

So we are left with putting what some of the best psychologist's in the world consider the perfect match for the subject in close proximity to him and hoping that nature takes its course. As I said we give this a low percentage chance of working. The subject has a tendency to be extremely loyal, almost to a fault. But if the Agent follows her profile then she will attempt to distance herself from the subject throughout his training in order to better prepare him.

People who train together tend to form a certain bond. Between the distancing and the training bond there's a slight chance this may work. Honestly though I don't expect it to, but I follow orders General and you have your candidates. I look forward to reviewing the Intel as this unfolds. Should make for some interesting reading at the very least."

General Beckman stood up and shook hands with the Doctor, "Thank you Doctor, you know the way out."

Sara woke up to find that there was light streaming in from every window, and to find that instead of cuddling with Chuck she was cuddling with a pillow. "How can he do that? Bryce was one of the best spies I've ever known and even he couldn't get out of bed without waking me....." Sara stretched like a cat before grabbing a robe and padding down to the kitchen. She found coffee already made and grabbed a cup before looking around the house for Chuck. Movement from the backyard caught her attention and she went to investigate.

A smile slowly crept over Sara's face and eventually took over the entire thing. She was standing in the archway of the back door looking out upon the yard. A cup of coffee cradled in both hands as her eyes followed the scene in front of her. Chuck and Bryce were in the back yard running to and fro apparently playing some sort of game that was a mix of tug o' war and keep away.

Sara couldn't get over the irony of it all. No matter what the agency sent to Chuck he managed to bring out a different side of it. He had reawakened the human side of both Sara and John. He even seemed to be wearing down the General little by little. She had slowly been allowing the team more leeway than she ever would have in the beginning. And now he had that trained CIA police dog running around the yard playing like an overgrown puppy.

Sara's thoughts shifted focus for a moment. She looked up and the view in front of her had changed. Now there was a little boy in the mix. He has a curly mess of brown hair on his head and Sara thought she could just catch the glint of bright blue eyes. Her eyes misted as she watched the scene for a moment, "He threw the chance at that away, at least for the time being. But possibly for ever. I might hate him for that if I didn't love him so damned much."

Sara's daydream faded as Chuck began to make his way for the house. He was giving her that smile that she liked to think that was only for her. With a couple of deep breaths she was able to blink away the half tears that had formed. She smiled back at Chuck as he walked up the steps and spoke, "Good morning angel. Sleep well?"

Sara nodded, "Mmmhmm I could have woken up better though."

Chuck laughed, "Didn't really have a choice on that one. Bryce woke me up because he had to go outside."

Sara looked down at the dog, "Someone will be here Monday morning to have you a doggy door installed. Nobody messes with my morning snuggling with Chuck time."

Chuck chuckled, "So last day before we go back to work. How would you like to spend the day?"

Sara thought for a moment then spoke, "I want the day to end just like it started. I want a normal day. I want us to spend the day together here at home. I want to cook my signature dinner tonight. I want Ellie and David to join us for dinner and maybe a movie. Then I want to go to bed with you. As you once said before our first real date. No guns, no flashes, no fights, and no spy stuff. Think we can pull that off?"

Chuck shrugged, "With our lives the odds are against us. But I promise you I'll do everything I can to give you your day."

Sara smiled, "That's all I can ask for."

Who knows whether it was luck, fate, or the intervention of some higher being. But Sara got her normal day. They spent the day like most any other young couple in love would. Meals were eaten, conversations were had, love was made, and happiness infused the house. After the dishes were cleaned up from dinner the couple once more retired to the bedroom. Sara managed to thank Chuck for what she described as the most perfect day she could remember having while talking was still an option.

Finally in the darkest hours of the night Sara was laying in bed snuggled up to Chuck. She relaxed in the sounds of his breathing and the rhythm of his heartbeat. Before sleep she took the time to file away as many memories as she could about the day. Her last thought before she drifted off was, "Tomorrow it begins."

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.
-William Ellery Channing