I actually have a reason for lack of update this time! (instead of the being lazy one). I had MAJOR writer's block, and it took a few days to get over. I'm dedicating this chapter to those at the board, especially BillAtWork, who had the perfect solution to my writer's block.

As of now, scrunchful is a word.

--

"Walker, get up."

She was being jostled awake by some unknown force. Sarah groaned, not wanting to get up from her current position of being curled up to Chuck. He was so comfortable, so warm…like a heater. His arms were around her back, holding her against his chest, the top of her head against his chin.

"Walker."

She opened her eyes and peeked out. Casey was standing in front of her looking impatient. "Walker, get up now."

He got her attention and she stood up, jostling Chuck when she sat up so that now he was starring groggily up at her, his hair looking rumpled and oh so adorable. She wanted to run her hands through it so badly, but then she noticed that there was barely any light coming in through the window. Looking at her watch, she realized that it was around six AM. That's when it hit her. Chuck was leaving today. Was Casey taking him now? She gripped him tightly, refusing to let go. Casey, sensing her distress, said, "Don't worry, Walker. I'm not taking him." He talked slowly and quietly, and that was when Sarah realized. He was trying to find them a way out of this.

Case threw some jeans and a T-shirt over to Chuck, and ordered him to change. Quietly, he got up from the bed, leaving Sarah feeling the empty space where he'd just been. She looked up at Chuck and their eyes connected. Feeling the love that radiated from his gaze, Sarah smiled up at him. His stare was so intense yet so soft. She almost ran up and jumped into his arms right then, and said screw it, let's run away together. But that was irrational; you needed a plan to run from the entire country.

"Uh…" Chuck started, his face turning red. "Do you guys mind turning around? This hospital gown they give you isn't really…yeah."

Sarah rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her face. She understood that he was shy about his body, and in a way it was cute. She was never really into the shy, nerdy guys before him. It was always the popular one, or the sporty guys who always knew what to say. But they did as he said, and soon he was wearing a short-sleeved brown shirt and khaki pants, trying to deliver an apology to Sarah through his eyes. It's just too early.

"Okay, look. I'm supposed to bring you in to the facility. You guys are going to be in the car, and we're going to take a pit stop. That's when you make your break. I'm inside, the car is rigged, and it goes boom." He narrowed his eyes at Chuck. "It seems whenever a car is blowing up, Bartowski, you seem to have to do with it. Take this backpack; it's got all of the stuff you need to make a clean break. Charles and Sarah Wesley. Got it?"

Both nodded.

"Listen, it's been nice working with you two. I'm going to get my ass kicked, but I figure it's better than…well, I couldn't bring myself to shoot you, or bring you down there while you keep screaming for the normal world. Hate to say it, kid, but you stuck on me."

"Thank you, Casey. That actually means a lot. What about Ellie, Morgan and Awesome?" He was almost too scared to ask. Chuck realized that he would probably never see them again, but to hear the words would be even worse. Unfortunately, his fears were true.

"Sorry, Bartowski, this was the best I could do. You'd lucky you're not going underground…unless you get caught."

He looked down and nodded. When Chuck stared back up into Casey's eyes, he saw the determination on the nerd's face. "Can I leave them a note?"

It was a challenge. Casey knew the danger extent of leaving his family a note. It was evidence; evidence that Chuck and Sarah were still alive, and in case anything happened to them, they would know. Likely the apartment would be on surveillance for a while (to make sure that they were in fact, dead) and it would cause Devon and Ellie to have to act everywhere inside the house, and they might slip up. However, Casey was shocked at how deep Chuck's gaze was. Unlike his usual goofy self, Bartowski's gaze was so penetrating that it even intimidated him. So he ended up telling the truth; neither yes nor no. "I'll see what I can do."

Chuck nodded. He would take what he could get. Grabbing Sarah's hand and giving her a reassuring squeeze, he listened to the rest of Casey's plan with an appreciation for the man who was going to save him from a CIA future.

--

"Shit. I'm almost out of gas," Casey grumbled while he looked at the gas gauge.

"What do you mean, 'out of gas'?" Sarah exclaimed, pulling away form Chuck's arms. "Didn't you fill it up when we left?"

"I did. Must be this damn car…"

"How much is left? I can't believe you would overlook--"

"Ah shut it, Walker. We have enough to make it to the next stop. Now leave me alone before I handcuff your boyfriend like I was supposed to."

Sarah nodded, satisfied with his answer, and snuggled back into Chuck, who began stroking her hair while she played with the curl that fell on his temple. She sighed contently, causing Casey to roll his eyes. He drove into the left lane, which began curving away from the long road. Soon they were stopped at a nearby gas station, connecting the pump to the car.

Casey looked back into the vehicle after sliding his credit card through the slot. "I'll be right back. You two better be here when I get back." He looked at them, trying to get the message across. Satisfied that the two weren't complete idiots, he knew that they understood and began walking toward the small store.

When he came back with a pack of batteries and coke, counting the change, they were gone. The words that came out of Casey's mouth were "Damnit", but inside he was grinning. He pulled out his cell phone and was about to press the button to blow the car up when he noticed the white envelope sitting on the steering wheel that said Just in case.

--

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief as they watched Casey see the note and pick it up. Hopefully it would be sent to his sister and soon-to-be-brother. He looked over at Sarah, completely silent, her eyes trained on the ball of fire where the black sedan sat moments before. He quietly put his dirt-covered hands on Sarah. She looked at him and smiled. After the car bomb was set off, she motioned with her eyes that it was time to leave. Chuck silently followed Sarah through the trees and underbrush, their hands connected. The backpack rattled on his back and Chuck wondered what was in there.

They walked silently for a while (he was unable to keep track of time). Suddenly, in the middle of a field, Sarah dropped down to the ground unexpectedly, causing Chuck to trip and fall onto her. He smiled, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Déjà vu," he said, remembering the not too long ago mission with the bomb. Was that only last week? It felt like forever.

Sarah smiled up at him, and brought their lips together. Chuck undid the straps from the backpack and let it slide over to the side. With the less weight on his shoulders, his arms were free to roam through Sarah's hair. He grabbed scrunchfuls of it, grabbing them tightly before letting go and running his hand through even more of the golden locks. Sarah flipped him over so that she was on top and began tracing kisses down his jaw line, then up, pausing to flick at and nibble on his ear. He gasped, eyes fluttering open just long enough to spot the backpack, lying ignored by the couple.

"Sarah, the backpack…we should prob--"

When her tongue struck his ear again, he stopped talking at once. His mind said that they should figure out the situation first, but his body wouldn't respond accordingly. Trying a second time, Chuck flipped Sarah back over and pulled back from her. "We should see what's in the backpack first. We need a place to stay."

She sighed and nodded. Chuck backed away from her slowly and unzipped the blue backpack. "Hey, he saved my purse!" Sarah exclaimed when she saw it. She looked through it. He'd taken out any ID that could be traced back to them, but kept the picture of her family that she'd kept all these years.

Besides that there were new IDs, a map-they were in San Diego right now-driver's licenses, passports, and birth certificates. Two plane tickets to Boston, Massachusetts, two cell phones ("Untraceable," Sarah explained), and a large wad of cash.

"Wait, there's something else," Chuck muttered while digging through the bag. Finally he was able to grab it-a piece of paper-and take it out. It was a note, and when he read it, a grin appeared on his face. Sarah looked at him questioningly and he handed it over.

Ellie always checks spam mail.

She peered at him, confused.

"He wants me to-well, he says I can-contact Ellie through a spam email. Ever since we were little, we would check them and see what crazy things people would say. She still does, and sometimes they're real, like those pay you for survey stuff. I could make it look like spam and contact her. That must mean he was planning on giving her a letter from me, or if I didn't give him one, tell her himself."

He stared down, going through each of the piece of papers and reading them. "I can't believe this is for real. It's just so…sudden."

He looked up at her suddenly, trying to see what she was thinking. She looked worried, but at the same time completely calm. "I know. But it's this or underground. And I couldn't let you go that easily."

She cupped his cheek moved in to kiss him, but Chuck moved away. "Sarah, how could you give up everything you've worked for for me? It just…I feel like you're going to regret it."

"Chuck…The only thing I regret is that you have to leave everyone behind. This is something I haven't experienced many times, and this is the most I've felt emotion in my entire life."

"I didn't have much choice. It was here with you or underground. But Sarah, we're always going to be on the run. At least with the CIA you had something to fall back on. Now it's…"

Sarah had placed a finger over his lips, and now he stared into her eyes, getting lost in them. "Chuck, you must not realize, then, how much I'm in love with you. There are some nights when I would just sit and cry because I've never felt quite like this and it overwhelms me. And when I look in your eyes, I forget about everything besides you. And the biggest difference between you and anyone else is that I can't imagine a life without you, dirt or no dirt." She looked down and her dirty clothes. "For now, it's dirt."

He looked at her in awe. "I can't even put into words how much I love you right now."

She smiled. "I know, because I feel the same way."

Sarah leaped back onto him and proceeded with their make out session before continuing walking hand in hand along the road, looking for a city so that they could find a place to stay. As they walked, the sun went down and brilliant colors reflected off of Sarah's face. When Chuck discovered this, he couldn't help but stop right there, pull her close and kiss her. They stood there for a few minutes cuddling while looking at the color that filled the sky. As he watched, Chuck realized that he wasn't quite sure what their plan was. But one look at the woman beside him and he knew that as long as he was with Sarah, it didn't matter. No matter what, as long as they were together, everything would be all right.

(fade to black)

--

Not really a fade to black person, but it was a special occasion.

Sorry that it's short (I think it's short). If you feel like there's something missing here, I agree with you, but I can't seem to figure out what that it. I would sit at my computer trying to figure it out, but I've heard that writer's block is sometimes caused by being too hard on your own writing, and I don't want to go through that again. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, good. Reviews are (very) welcome.

My plan is that I'll write an epilogue or another chapter, so it's definitely not done yet.