Chapter Eleven – Regrouping for Battle

Disclaimer: Don't own Chuck

For those who have been waiting for the villains, the first hint will come in the chapter following this, so hang in there. I think the villains will be a great challenge to Team Bartowski, who by the way, is going to be joined by a very unlikely new member!

The afternoon had been a relaxing one for everyone. They played games, watched Star Wars, Casablanca and a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey, which surprisingly enough, even Verbanski enjoyed. After a highly competitive game of Know Ya, that Morgan won, though Sarah finished a close second, the group enjoyed a spaghetti dinner cooked by Ellie. Mary had retired early, taking Clara with her. As the evening passed, each of the couples said their good nights and retired to their sleeping quarters. The rare evening of relaxation led them to leave the kitchen and eating area a mess to be cleaned up in the morning.

Sarah and Chuck…

"I've missed this," Sarah said softly as she ran her fingers through Chuck's chest hair, her head comfortably resting on his right shoulder, her chest pressed against his side with her left leg draped over his right leg.

"Yeeaaah, I missed this too," Chuck said in his goofy way. Smiling he leaned his head over and kissed Sarah's nose as he ran his left hand up and down her bare back. Sarah smiled at her husband before suddenly rolling on to her left side and pulling the covers up under her chin. She wiggled in order to press her back against Chuck's side while pulling her legs up. Sarah pressed her head against Chuck's shoulder before whispering, " do you still love me Chuck?"

Chuck turned on his side and wrapped his arms around Sarah, pulling her even closer, his reply one simple word, "yes."

"Do you love all of me," Sarah asked.

"Sweetie, I love you, but I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me," Chuck replied. "You're kind of worrying me."

"This entire ordeal has been horrible. I wish I had never uploaded the Intersect. None of this would have happened. The guilt I'm feeling, the shame for what I put our family and friends through is horrible," Sarah told him. "The things I have learned about myself, even in the last 48 hours, have been unsettling. I just need to know you love me, Chuck."

"I love you Sarah," Chuck told his wife firmly. Sensing the insecurity his wife was feeling at the moment, he added, "I like telling you I love you. Anytime you want me to reaffirm that to you, all you have to do is ask. No, let me rephrase that, I love telling you that I love you." Chuck reached around Sarah's waist and found her right hand with his and intertwined his fingers with hers, squeezing them to reassure his blonde angel.

Sarah turned her head slightly to gaze at her husband. Smiling, she softly whispered to him, "you're my hero."

Awesome and Ellie…

Ellie, dressed in a white top and blue pajama bottoms, slipped into bed, carrying her father's laptop. Awesome emerged from the bathroom to take a quick peek at his wife as he brushed his teeth. Dressed only in a form fitting pair of boxers, Awesome returned to the bathroom to finish the task of brushing his teeth. Wiping his face after rinsing his mouth he spoke loud enough for his wife to hear, "you're looking hot there babe. Time limit on your dad's computer is twenty minutes. That's just long enough for me to do some abs and tri-blasters, you know, work up that sheen that gets you hot."

"Devon, just because Clara is sleeping with Mom tonight doesn't mean I'm in the mood. It's been a long day. I have a lot on my mind about Sarah's condition. All of our possessions are in Chicago. Our plans are on hold. How will we explain this to the hospital? Devon are you listening to me? Visual contact with my eyes would go a long way to convince me you are listening," Ellie called out.

"Ok, babe. I hear ya. It's just I am so turned on by my smokin' hot wife, who restored my bro's wife's memories today, gave Sarah her marriage back, and despite the fact we hate the spy life, the danger of it, for a little while we aren't going to be able to escape it. If you're not in the mood though, I will be a gentleman, though you may owe me morning sex when we wake up," Awesome said to his wife, winking at her.

Ellie smiled at her husband, tilting her head to express her affection, "I love you. If you rub my back you just might get some morning lovin'. But right now, I'm worried about Sarah. She's already displayed a memory gap. I am trying to determine if there is a way to track her memory loss and determine if these gaps are permanent and how spread out they are, if there is a pattern."

Awesome walked around to his wife's side of the bed and sat down, gazing at Ellie with concern mixed with love and admiration. "This is part of why I love you so much Ellie Woodcomb, but you have to not worry so much. What you did for Sarah, for Chuck, heck babe, for all of us, was nothing short of awesome. I mean really awesome. But as a physician, I have to remind you, in order for you to be at the level of awesomeness Sarah will need for you to treat her until her condition is resolved, you have to take care of yourself. Everyone in Castle is under tremendous stress, including you."

Gently, Devon took the laptop from Ellie, put it to sleep, closed it, and walked to the desk in their room, gently setting the computer down. Ellie watched as Devon turned the lights off and walked to his side of the bed, slipping between the covers. Without saying a word, she quickly snuggled against his side and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep. Devon reached around the sleeping Ellie and pulled the covers up to her chin before putting his arm around her shoulders. He looked at the ceiling, realizing it would be a long time before their lives returned to anything close to normal, if indeed it was possible for that to happen.

Casey and Verbanski…

"John, I am worried. It takes a lot to worry me, and the fact I'm worried is worrying me even more," Gertrude told Casey. She sat up in bed, wearing only one of Casey's green Buy More uniform shirts.

Casey, laying on his back wearing only his four-leaf clover boxers, was staring at a spot a thousand yards away in his mind, acknowledged her with a grunt. He turned to look at Verbanski, his face blank of emotion, sending chills of fear down Verbanski's spin. She hated when Casey pulled up his walls with her in private. She had learned it was his way of dealing with fear.

Slipping under the covers she snuggled up next to the NSA agent. "Casey?" He grunted as he put his arm around her. "Why are you putting up your perimeter defenses? It's just me, we're alone and you know I will never tell anyone," she said, imploring him to let her pass inside his emotional perimeter defenses.

"Taken by surprise. All of us. I've gotten soft. Bartowski's responsible. My job is to protect Chuck, Sarah, Alex, that moron Grimes, Ellie and Awesome. Have to think about Clara and Mary and she's hard to pin down," Casey mumbled, a single tear coming from his right eye. "Have to think about you, too. When it was just me, I focused on the mission. If I died, it was the for the greater good. So be it. Fear was something I just pushed aside like it didn't exist. But now? I feel the fear. What's wrong with me Gertrude? Why is this happening to me," Casey asked.

Tears fell from the stoic woman's eyes. The realization her beloved Colonel had opened himself emotionally to her in a way she'd not believed was possible. Unashamedly she sat up again. She wanted Casey to see her tears, to see she had let her perimeter defenses down as well. "I love you John."

Verbanski ran her fingers through Casey's hair as they gazed at each other. "You're feeling fear because now it's not just you. You have a daughter who loves you and whom you love. You're team is in danger and Sarah is not at full operative capacity. That means Chuck will be less protected and if Morgan has to act as a magnet the entire team is not at full operational strength. These people matter to you. It's your job to manage them tactically and protect them."

"Ellie, Awesome and little Clara are important. They treat our wounds and Ellie, let's face it, has to manage Chuck and Sarah's Intersects. Mary is family and a valuable operative. These people are not just agents or soldiers, John. They're your family."

Casey looked at Verbanski for a long time, remaining silent and expressionless as on the stoic agent could. He turned away, his gaze locked on the door to their room. "It's more than that," he whispered. "I have so much to lose that I never had before. It changes things. There's so much more at stake." Turning his head, Casey looked directly at Verbanski with his blue eyes, eyes burning with the intensity of a laser guiding a smart-munitions to its target. "I have never felt about anyone else like I do about you. That scares me to. I can't lose you Gertrude." Falling silent, he turned his gaze to the ceiling.

Gertrude, feeling and exhilarating mixture of fear and joy lay down next to her beloved sniper, resting on his strong and powerful body. Smiling, she whispered so only he could hear, "I love you my Colonel."

Morgan and Alex…

"Are you going to have to do something dangerous? Don't lie to me Morgan. I can tell when you lie to me," Alex stated bluntly.

"Honey, sweetie, Alex, we're both tired. Let's go to bed. Everyone has been under tremendous stress these past few weeks. Besides, you're looking really hot in that t-shirt and I can see your lace panties," Morgan said as he moved his hand down towards Alex's bottom.

Alex quickly jumped off the bed and moved to the chair by the door, pulling down the t-shirt, making sure Morgan could not see anything he wanted to see. "Answer my question or consider yourself on restriction from adult activities Morgan Grimes."

"That's not fair. I'm a mature man. I have needs, needs that only you can satisfy. This is against the rules," Morgan whined.

Alex sat in silence, glaring at Morgan.

"Ok," Morgan in defeat, realizing he would not be able to change the subject. "Alex, you know what I do for a living, what I am. Managing the Buy More for Carmichael Industries is important because we need the revenue, but that's only part of my job." Morgan looked at the feisty redhead scowling at him. This is not going to be easy. I have seen that expression on Casey's face too many times right before he strikes and there's no denying Alex is his daughter.

"Spill it Morgan."

Running his finger under the collar of his t-shirt, Morgan swallowed and then began to speak, "Casey is training me for field work. I run surveillance and handle Chuck and Sarah on missions, depending on the tactical situation."

"Morgan, answer my question."

"Now Alex, don't get mad. Promise me."

"Morgan, I won't promise anything. Now answer my question. I'm starting to lose my patience!

"I am your father's magnet. There, I said it. Casey thinks I could be the best magnet in the business. Do you know what that means to me? Me, Morgan Grimes, a loser who worked at Buy More, is Colonel John Casey's magnet. My real father left us when I was little. Big Mike's great as a step-father and a huge help running the Buy More, but I don't have a father. Didn't have, really, till Casey came along. He's my friend too."

Morgan looked away from Alex, "I'm getting emotional. You know Chuck is my best guy friend right? Then Sarah came along and she took my place. I was totally cool with it because Chuck and Sarah complete each other, and besides she's smokin' hot and really cool and she just makes Chuck so happy. How could I not step aside for her you know? But then, there was this void you know? Casey filled that void. He took me on missions even though he didn't want to. He trained me, helped me grow up. I have learned what it means to be a man. And Alex, this is really important to me, he gave me his blessing to make you happy, to be with you. Of course that blessing came with the implied understanding that he will break every bone in my body before he starts the torture if I should ever hurt you. I'm part of something bigger than me now, and it's important I be there for my team. My team that serves the greater good. So, yes, I will be doing whatever Team Bartowski requires and if it is dangerous, so be it."

Alex looked at Morgan with a strange expression, confusing the little bearded man. Smiling, she stood up and walked over to Morgan, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Standing before him, she reached down for his hands. Hesitating Morgan offered them to her. Alex took his hands in hers and placed one on each side of her bottom, smiling sweetly at him. Releasing his hands she began to slowly pull her t-shirt up. With her firm, toned abdomen was exposed the t-shirt stopped. Alex spoke in a husky voice, "I love you. You are becoming one of the bravest men I know Morgan. That means a lot to me. But know this, if you don't come back to me alive, I will end you." The expression on her face gave Morgan little doubt Alex's words were a promise, not a threat.

Being a male moron, Morgan asked, "does this mean I am off restriction now?"

The next morning…

One single, piercing scream shattered the slumber of all but one in Castle. In seconds, everyone in Castle was in the briefing room, their weapon of choice in hand save Alex and the Awesome family. Verbanski stood shaking in front of the main monitor.

Turning she looked at the group. "It's gone. Verbanski Industries is gone. My headquarters, training facilities, black sites, safe houses, my accounts. All gone! Someone has destroyed everything I've built." The tough as nails spy fainted, collapsing to the floor. Devon and Ellie rushed to examine her.

Casey turned to face Chuck and Sarah, speaking in his most hostile tone, speaking as the ruthless assassin, "someone is going to die for this!"