Thanks to everyone that gave me a mention in the Awesome Awards thread, especially since I've been so horribly lax in updating this story. And even more especially since there are so many great authors here. If I could give you all a little percentage of 'Chuck', I would.

But I can't, since I don't own it.

The Bride

"I'm not so sure about this veil."

Sarah studied her reflection in the mirror as she said this. She did have a sense of what looked good on her, after all, thanks to years of dressing up for undercover formal events. She knew exactly what to put in to elicit the biggest reaction from a mark. Still, none of those little black dresses had been as important as this white one, and it wasn't for any mark.

Despite that, Sarah knew that a small part of her didn't like the veil because of the reduced visibility. Even if the rest of her knew that assassins wouldn't be lurking behind every corner during her wedding.

"I think it looks great, Sarah."

Ellie's words didn't change Sarah's opionion. Instead they reminded her of her future sister-in-law's own wedding. When assassins actually had been lurking behind every corner. Still, that was a long time ago now. If not in time exactly, at least in her life.

Unlike most women, Sarah hadn't spent much of her younger years dreaming of her wedding day. Life with her father had been spent on less girly things, like trying to convince stockbrokers that she was the long-lost product of a one-night stand. Taking advantage of men's baser needs and insecurities was something she had long understood. The mysteries of wedding dress shopping, not as much.

Fortunately, she had brought backup. Sarah had come to think of her new friends in wedding-dom as her 'team,' fellow agents ideally suited for a mission such as this one.

Eleanor Woodcomb was clearly the veteran of the group, being a recent bride herself. She knew exactly where to look, what to ask for, and what to demand. And she knew when to offer the perfect words of encouragement or advice. It was like having one's own wedding handler. Or as most people would call it, Sarah supposed, her matron-of-honor (or maid of honor, as Ellie insisted on being referred to).

Anna Wu's skill set was more geared towards espionage. She'd manage to learn about special sales by listening in to other women's conversations, tricked another bride-to-be to give up on her perfect dress by pretending to be a sales lady, and had even used some intimidation tactics while discussing prices. Casey had once told Sarah that he thought Anna would make a good agent. Sarah could believe it.

Her other two bridesmaids were on separate missions. Dinah was covering the home front, covering today's self defense class. Dinah brought a lot of experience to her role in the company she had founded with Sarah and Anna. She understood the business side, which Sarah certainly didn't. She also was a good teacher, both to the students and to Sarah herself. While she hadn't known her as long as she had Ellie and Anna, Sarah had come to appreciate Dinah as a partner.

The final bridesmaid was on a mission of a different sort. Of course, none of the other bridesmaids understood Carina's real job, and assumed she was on a sales call, rather than trying to intercept a shipment of high-grade heroin. Sarah had known Carina much longer than she had known the other bridesmaids, yet her role on the team was still as-yet undefined. So far, all she had done was try to convince Sarah she was making a mistake, which had led to a long, tiresome phone call the previous night.

"Isn't Chuck going to be amazed at how beautiful she is, Anna?"

Ellie's question returned Sarah's thoughts to the present. She smiled at the brunette, and then turned to Anna, who nodded mutely.

"Everything ok, Anna?"

It took a moment for Sarah to realize that Anna had been quiet for the last half hour or so, which was unusual. She silently admonished herself for being too deep in her own thoughts to notice. Agents, and friends, don't focus on themselves, though she had been told that brides sometimes do.

"Yeah, I'm great."

While Ellie didn't possess Sarah's interrogation skills, it was clear that the doctor didn't believe Anna either. "Sure you are. What's going on?"

Anna sighed. "Morgan and I broke up last night."

Sarah resisted the urge to say "Again?" Ellie didn't.

"Yeah, I know."

"What happened this time?"

"He was supposed to meet me and my parents at dinner. Instead, he went off to buy some comic book. With your fiancée, by the way." Anna pointed a finger at Sarah.

Ellie gave Sarah a surprised glance. "He's still buying comic books? You haven't gotten him to stop?"

Sarah was surprised by the question. She couldn't imagine anywhere safer than a comic book store. And she'd seen enough in her life to know that spending a few hours a week with comic books was a harmless way to spend time. And secrets did too much damage.

Sarah gave her two bridesmaids a more abbreviated response. "No. Why?"

"Well, it's a bit…childish," Anna responded.

"Chuck isn't a child. Believe me. A comic book won't change that. And why should I want to change Chuck? I love him the way he is." Sarah still found herself surprised when she stated this aloud.

"Well yeah," Anna mumbled, "if I could date Chuck, I'd be happy with him too…" She looked, alarmed, after saying this. "I didn't mean it like that."

Sarah's glare lasted only seconds. After all, she wasn't really worried about Anna. And she was still trying to understand the thought of changing Chuck. She guessed that, even despite the many years' advantage Ellie had on her, she still knew Chuck better. And that wasn't just because of the missions and the CIA.

But had she changed? Sarah looked back in the mirror. Was the woman staring back at her the same person she'd been before Chuck?

"I'm not so sure about this."

The helmet certainly looked ridiculous, but that wasn't why Sarah objected. It was the purpose behind it.

Despite this, she put it on, and glanced at her reflection in the compact mirror. It looked something like a batting helmet, though without the bill in the front, and there were several tiny sensors inside.

"It's the only way, Sarah."

Sarah turned to look at the man who had said this. Stephen Bartowski stood at the other end of the Castle conference room, patiently waiting for her. He came over to her, checked the fit of the helmet, and nodded approvingly. Then he turned back to his laptop, and typed in a few brief commands. "Ok. We should be all set."

"It's not going to work."

Stephen Bartowski glanced back at his son as this was said. At first he appeared to be offended, as if his skills were being questioned. But after a moment, he nodded.

"Maybe, maybe not. But this is what Beckman wants. It's the only way she'd agree to let Sarah go."

Sarah remembered when Chuck's father had told them of his conversation with Beckman. After the General's initial reaction about Sarah's plan to leave the CIA, she was amazed that Orion could get her to change her mind so easily. Still, the General's final request, while odd, had been firm. Sarah would help build a new Intersect.

Sarah supposed she should be flattered that Beckman had felt that her skills were valuable enough to be uploaded. She'd never really considered where all of the fighting, bomb defusing, and other skills in the Intersect had come from, but she supposed it made sense that they had to come from actual people. And now they were building one based on her.

Still, it felt dehumanizing more than anything. That they could take a small piece of her, and discard the rest. Even after all of her years of faithful service. But she could get over it. It made it even more clear that the sacrifice she was making was completely worth it.

She turned to Chuck, who was smiling at her. She could see the amusement in his eyes, probably at the sight of her in the helmet. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

"I can't believe Beckman thinks that she can just replace you this way," Chuck commented, immediately turning serious. "There's way more to you than your brain. Not really what I meant," he added hastily at Sarah's raised eyebrow. "But you're a great Agent because of a lot more than what's in there," he said, pointing to her head.

"I'm not disagreeing with you, son. But it's what she asked for. And it's what we're giving her." Stephen glanced over at Sarah, but she barely noticed as she was still staring at Chuck. It was amazing how he could always say the exact right things.

"Uh son, maybe you should go upstairs and wait." Orion glanced back at Sarah. "We need her focusing on what she's doing. And any other thoughts creeping in her mind will throw things off."

Sarah felt herself flush slightly at that. She wasn't sure about the idea of having a father-in-law who spoke so matter-of-factly about sex. In a way, he was like a shorter, more techno-savvy Carina.

This brought Sarah's thoughts back to the conversation she'd had with the DEA agent right before the wedding dress fitting two weeks ago. She'd expressed surprise and amusement at the mention of Sarah's marrying Chuck, but downright shock and disappointment at the mention of leaving the CIA. Her feelings were clear. She was giving up her own career, her own self, just to be a typical housewife. All of Sarah's arguments had fallen on deaf ears. Instead, Carina kept telling her that she'd changed, and that change was for the worse. What she'd expected to hear from the General, she'd been disappointed to also hear from her supposed friend. Still, Carina had agreed to be a bridesmaid, though this may have been some last-ditch ploy to talk Sarah out of it.

"Now, we should be just about ready." Stephen said after Chuck had left, bringing Sarah's thoughts back to the present. "Where's your sparring partner?"

"Here." John Casey mumbled as he walked in from Castle's armory.

"We got it," Stephen said an hour later, as Sarah wiped her brow. It had certainly been a good workout. They had simulated every imaginable battle scenario, with Casey coming at her from various angles and positions, wielding a varied arsenal of weaponry. Of course, Sarah had been ready for all of them.

"So we're done?" she asked in response.

"Well, we'll still need to get some marksmanship scenarios, which we can do off-site tomorrow. But the hand-to-hand combat part should be finished."

"Good," Casey groaned from the floor.

Sarah looked down in concern. She clearly hadn't had the worst part of this particular job. She held out a hand, and the male agent grabbed it and returned to his feet.

Sarah removed the helmet and handed it to Stephen, who took it along with the laptop and headed upstairs.

"You alright?" Sarah asked Casey.

"Been worse," Casey rumbled. "Been better, though. You certainly seemed…enthusiastic."

"Sorry." Sarah could see curiosity, and possibly even concern, in Casey's eyes, and she couldn't resist the temptation to take advantage of the rare opportunity. "Casey?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I've changed?"

The NSA Agent looked momentarily surprised, then amused. "Changed? You mean, has Bartowski messed you up?"

"Well, no," Sarah responded, though she knew that, in a way, that was what she was asking. "But am I the same person I was when I started this mission?"

Casey shrugged. "In some ways, I suppose not. But for the most part I'd say no. Why? Is this about Beckman?"

Sarah sat down on the exercise mat. "Not just her, I guess. Carina told me that I never would have abandoned the CIA before this mission."

Casey snorted. "Carina. Has it occurred to you that maybe she doesn't actually know you that well? How often has she seen you the last few years? For that matter, how often did you see each other before this mission?"

Sarah had to admit that Casey had a point. After they'd left the academy, Sarah and Carina had only managed to meet up between missions, and that had been occurring more and more rarely.

"So you don't think I'm abandoning the CIA? Abandoning my country?"

"You've done more for this country than anyone could hope for. And as for the CIA? Carina has it wrong. It's the CIA that's changed. It's not about the agents any more." Casey waved toward the other room. "It's all about Intersects now. Trying to 'build' an agent, rather than train one. Bartowski had it right. Sticking your brainwaves in some green agent isn't going to work." Casey smirked. "Then again, you're talking to somebody with a very low opinion of the CIA to begin with."

Sarah sat there for a few moments, considering Casey's words, before he spoke again. "So to answer your question, no. Bartowski didn't turn you into a marshmallow. You always were one."

Sarah felt her lip curl up in a smile. "Thanks, Casey. So what about you? Aren't you being pushed out too?"

"Probably. But maybe I can slow down the 'progress' a bit."

Sarah stood up. "Well, just be careful out there."

Casey smiled ruefully. "As long as I'm not facing you, I think I'll be fine."

"I'm serious." Sarah debated whether to say more, not knowing how it would be received. "You know, I never had an older brother…"

Casey held a hand up, but didn't appear upset by the statement. In fact he smiled slightly. "I'll be careful, don't worry." His eyes narrowed. "But don't take this to mean that Bartowski's my brother, married or no."

Sarah smiled. "Of course not." As she headed towards the stairs, she turned back briefly. "Vaya con dios, John."

"Vaya con dios, Sam."

"So, you going to miss this place?" Chuck asked Sarah as they headed off to lunch. She turned around to study the Orange Orange. With the CIA soon behind her, along with any need to access Castle, she would no longer be slinging yogurt for the rare customer.

"Not really." Sarah didn't say anything further, and she could feel Chuck's eyes studying her.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah." Her talk with Casey had helped. She didn't hold any bitterness toward the CIA, but she didn't disagree with what he had said about the agency. She really didn't fit in anymore. She wasn't sad for herself exactly, but felt sad anyway.

"If there's one thing all those years at the Buy More taught me," Chuck spoke up, "it's that your job doesn't define you."

Sarah smiled, wondering how Chuck always managed to know what she was thinking. Would it be so bad if he had managed to rub off on her a bit?

"So, you working this afternoon?" Chuck asked.

"Well, I've got one class to teach, and then I've got a mandatory bridesmaid meeting after that."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Ellie?"

"Yup."

"Sarah, you know how much I appreciate your letting her be a part of all of this." Chuck took her hand.

"Of course. But I'd be totally lost without her."

"Well, I'm glad anyway. I can't imagine her not being a part of our wedding."

"Yeah, and could you imagine how she would react if she found out we were already married?"

Chuck shuddered. "I think I'd rather face Fulcrum again. Especially now that she's taking your class."

"She's doing well, too, so you'd better be careful."

"Well, you're a great teacher," Chuck leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. "So, off to lunch?"

"Actually, I want to take a quick shower first."

"Yeah, you are kind of sporting the hat head," Chuck grinned at her.

"Hmm. Just for that, I'll be taking this shower alone."

Sarah could tell that Chuck's pout wasn't serious. "Ok then. I'll meet you at the restaurant in an hour?"

"Of course." After another quick kiss, Sarah watched Chuck leave. No, there was no question about it. She had made a lot of decisions in her life, but never as good as the ones she'd made lately. She enjoyed teaching. Even if was on a smaller scale, she was still making a difference. And she got to be herself doing it. The self that the CIA, Beckman and Carina didn't know, but Chuck – and apparently Casey- did. And marrying Chuck, there never really was a question about that.

Sarah found her car in the shopping center parking lot, got in, and drove away from her old life, without even a glance in the rear view mirror.

It's occurred to me that the chapter about 'The Bride' had less wedding-do than any of the other chapters, and that is a bit odd. But, much of this story has come to revolve around Sarah's choice to leave the CIA (and the show went and removed all of that conflict with a train ride and an 'It's about damn time') I figured it was something that made more sense than a bouquet throwing scene. Hope no one's too disappointed. The next, and last, chapter will be more wedding-focused.