A/N: Sorry this took so long. Consider that my hiatus. I've been busy with work and life. Hopefully my uploads will become more frequent but for now, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

September 18, 2009

Glendale, California

Castle

12:35 pm

"…and now it's time for your new mission." General Diane Beckman paused to make direct eye contact with each member of her team. "Finding Daniel Shaw is your number one priority. He was a member of this team and it's our responsibility to clean up the mess he made. From the information we have, we must assume that Shaw is alive and rogue. I've transmitted files over on all of Shaw's previous missions and his profile for our new Agents. Any questions?"

After a brief pause, Barker spoke up. "Do we have any leads, any starting point?"

"Your starting point is to read every one of those files. I need you and Roberts to know everything about Shaw." She paused once again to leave room for any more pondering questions, but none were spoken. With a nod in conclusion, she pushed a key on her keyboard and the screen returned to the NSA logo.

Sarah was the first to leave the line of agents standing in front of a blank monitor. She stalked out of the conference room and down the hall to the dojo. Everything that had happened with her team was a lot to handle. She thought that she had dealt with all of her problems with the disintegration of her team when she was in Europe…when she was with Chuck. But the reality of the situation is that everything was falling apart.

Taking a right, she walked into the locker room and opened the only occupied locker; her own. However, with a new female team member, she wouldn't be the only one taking up space in the woman's locker room. She grabbed her set of workout clothes from her locker. Pulling up her shirt, favoring her wounded side, she discarded it and turned to inspect her stomach in the mirror. It was almost completely healed. The only problem was that the scar would always be there as a reminder of betrayal. Slowly, gently, she ran her soft, warm fingers over the small dent in her otherwise flawless skin.

The thing she hated most about this tiny imperfection is it's meaning to her personally. She knew that it was the beginning of her team's decay. First Bryce's insanity, then Daniel's disappearance. Trying to consider the fact that Daniel went rogue was incredibly difficult for Sarah. She has very few people that she can trust in this world and her partners have always been people she's had to trust, or it could cost her life.

The creaking of the locker room door opening startled Sarah out of her faze and she noticed she was standing in the middle of the empty room with just her bra and pants on. Not wanting a confrontation with the new member of her team just yet, she snatched up her gym clothes and walked to another section of the room to dress alone. Once she was finished, she walked out of the locker room into the dark dojo.

Castle's dojo was dark, apart from a light in the far left corner of the room. It sprawled a long shadow across the matted floor of a woman with clenched fists; this new team member immediately intimidated Jill. Agent Walker might be Jill's 'colleague' on paper, but she knew that Sarah Walker was her superior. Not only because she had more experience and years as a spy, but her whole presence was one of a true leader. Unsure of how to proceed and not wanting to make a bad first impression, Jill cleared her throat. Sarah turned around in a relaxed manner, which surprised Jill. From what she had heard, Sarah Walker was one of the best spies, but wouldn't any great spy have reacted more quickly to her presence in the room?

Jill watches Sarah approach her and as soon as she comes within two feet of her, Sarah throws out a punch to Jill's face causing her glasses to shatter and fall to the floor. Surprised but not frozen, the brunette uses her forearm to block the next blow from the blonde. As soon as Sarah shoots another punch towards Jill's face, the victim takes hold of the attacker's fist and twists quickly, rapidly. Jill kicks the front of her shins and watches as Sarah slams onto the floor. However, she has a quick recovery and swings both of her legs in an arc and sweeps Jill's legs, causing her to fly onto her back. Sarah pounces and pulls the brunette's arm behind her back and slams her face into the ground. Knowing there was going to be no way to break free of Sarah's pin to the padded floor, Jill relaxes and attempts to catch her breath. She hears her opponent whisper "Not bad" as she releases her grip on Jill's arm and stands. Sarah put her arm out and grabbed hold of Jill's to pull her up. Then she bent down and lifted the broken glasses. Handing them to the brunette, she said, "Sorry about this, I just needed to see what I'm working with. And I'll pay for those…" Sarah said sheepishly, gesturing to the glasses.

"It's no big deal. I've been thinking about contacts for a while anyway." With a nod, Sarah left the dojo. She wasn't in the mood to deal with other people. Walking into the locker room, she was startled by the presence of Cole Barker.

"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you, Love." He spoke slowly in his masculine, British accent.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Sarah spat out, annoyed by the new team members interrupting her schedule.

"I was going to work off some energy with you, but I seemed to have entered the wrong changing room." He said charmingly, with a small curve to his lips.

"Seems so. And I work out alone." She said curtly as she passed by him to grab her clothes.

"Ouch." He slurred out while putting his hand lightly on her stomach. His eyes caught sight of her almost-healed bullet wound. "You in any pain, Love?"

"I'm fine, Love." She retorted and walked to the other section of the locker room, and he was smart enough not to follow.

September 21, 2009

Burbank, California

Grocery Store

12:46 pm

It was a hot, sticky September day and Chuck stood in a long line waiting to be checked out. Wiping the perspiration from his brow, he glanced at his watch wondering when he could get out of this air condition-less store. He was at the very end of the line for this cash register and held a small basket of groceries for his parents. As he repetitiously tapped his heel to the floor, the light of a nearby register flicked on and his eyes popped wide open. "Register five's open." Said the cashier less than enthusiastically. By sheer instinct, Chuck jumped out of his place in line and began speed walking to the new register. Unfortunately, his un-coordination kicked in and he stumbled over his own feet. Normally, he would have caught himself before he hit the floor, but instead he toppled into a magazine rack and fell face-first into the tile floor. Many children giggled and pointed and got scolded by their parents who were trying not to laugh themselves. One man checked to see if Chuck was okay, but no one made an effort to help. Chuck looked in front of him at his groceries sprawled across the floor and sighed loudly. Just as he retrieved his basket from the floor, a brunette walked over and bent down picking up his assortment of items from the ground. He grabbed the last of the items and straightened, smiling.

"Thank you," he said sincerely while flashing one of his large grins.

As she straightened and smiled back, she giggled, "It looks like you're more of a klutz than I am." Right as Chuck caught glance of her entire face, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he flashed. Agent Jill Roberts, CIA, Project O Mellor. When the flash was over, Chuck shook his head, ridding himself of the dizziness. As soon as his mind was clear he realized something important; Project O Mellor. That was Sarah's team! But he knew of all Sarah's team members, and this woman wasn't one of them. In fact, Sarah was the only woman on her team. Although, with the absence of Larkin and Shaw, it would make sense if they recruited new Agents. Wouldn't his parents have told him of a change in their team?

Before he could finish processing the thought in his head, a delicate hand was on his arm, steadying him. A concerned look spread across Agent Robert's face. "Are you okay?" She asked. She grabbed the basket from his hand and led him to the doors of the grocery store. "I think this heat is getting to you. Have you had any water today?"

Still shocked by the coincidental nature of this whole situation, he sputtered before answering, "W-what? Yes, I've had some water."

"Are you sure, you don't look so well." She went to grab something from her bag and Chuck immediately tensed. Maybe she knew who he was and she was reaching for her gun. He wouldn't be surprised if their boss has briefed them on his situation and flashed his picture on the monitors a few times. This would mean he would be stuck in their containment cell again, but this time he would have to pretend he didn't know who Sarah was. He would have to pretend he hadn't vacationed with her in Europe, that he hadn't seen every beautiful inch of her body, and that he wasn't completely in love with her. Wait, in love? Was he in love with Sarah? He knew that he cared about her more than he did most people, but love? Before he could delve any further into that lingering question, he remembered what was immediately pertinent. The gun. As she was about to pull her hand from her purse, he grabbed her wrist and watched as she gave him a shocked expression. "It's just a bottle of water. I was going to drink it later, but I think you need it more than I do."

Surprised by the innocence in her expression and voice, he let his hand slide away from her wrist as he accepted the water and unscrewed the cap. The whole time he was taking generous gulps, he made complete eye contact. As he pulled the bottle away from his lips, she asked, "Would you like to go out for some lunch." When he hesitated to answer, she continued, "Just so I could make sure you're okay." Normally, he would have politely declined that invitation, but something made him change his mind. Utter curiosity, maybe? He wanted to see what exactly was going on with Agent Jill Roberts. Did she know who he was? If she did, she wouldn't be able to pull a gun on him because she doesn't have one with her. When she pulled the water bottle out of her purse, he couldn't see any weapon. No one would be able to wear a sweater or jacket on a day like today, so she would be unable to hide a weapon under her small t-shirt or shorts.

Instead of using his usual response, he said, "That sounds great." Followed by one of his signature smiles. As they walked to a nearby restaurant, they talked about their occupations – all of which were fake. Jill apparently was a paper-pusher for a small business while Chuck worked for a computer company. This however, seemed to interest Jill. She must be the tech-savvy member of the team. He knew Sarah was good with computers, but not good enough to understand much technology talk. Jill, on the other hand, was starting conversations relating to computers, hardware, etc. He was impressed and now eager to go home and read her file to see what subjects she excelled in.

They entered a small restaurant and somehow sidetracked onto the subject of computer and videogames. She explained that her friend used to play Zork and that she used to play video games in high school and college. She seemed like she was telling the truth, but Chuck found it highly unlikely, as much as he wanted to believe what she was saying. Unfortunately, the likelihood of an agent for the CIA to play text-based video games like Zork is very low. But she did seem to know a lot about what she was talking about, so maybe she was more sincere than he first perceived. Needing to know more about this situation before he continued any sort of real conversation with Jill, he said, "I need to run to the men's room." Once out of sight, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Sarah.

Do you know Jill Roberts?

He was relieved when she responded a few minutes later, not wanting to take too long in the bathroom.

She's one my new partners. Why?

At least now he knows that his flash was correct, but he still didn't know if anything she was saying was remotely true.

I'm eating lunch with her.

Chuck smiled as he sent the message and right as he was about to leave the bathroom, his phone vibrated.

Don't screw with me, Chuck!

He wrote back one last response, laughing to himself.

;]

It was rare that he could fluster or even get a shocked reaction out of Sarah, so he was going to enjoy this moment to its fullest. He knew that she was probably in her office or hotel room pacing back and forth, wondering if he was being truthful or not. Going through scenarios in her head until she found one that suited her. After this he'd drive over to her room and explain everything, but for now, he was going to enjoy making her wonder.

Once he got back to his seat, he saw that their food had been delivered and he decided to enjoy the meal and the rest of the conversations as if they were completely normal; as if he didn't know that she worked for the CIA and that he was currently being hunted by them. What he thought was going to be a meal of investigation turned out to be something he enjoyed because real or not, the Jill Roberts he was talking to was a lot like himself.

Sarah was going over some files on Shaw when she heard the door to her room open. Instinctively, she reached for the knife on her ankle holster. Ready to throw her weapon at her approaching target, she stopped mid-movement when she saw who it was. When Chuck's face appeared from around the corner, she immediately relaxed and put her knife back in its rightful place. Quickly, she remembered his text from earlier today and her mood suddenly flipped. She retrieved the knife again and stood. She began running her fingers along the sides of the small silver blade, careful not to touch the sharp edge. As she walked closer to him, she avoided making eye contact, purposely making him uncomfortable. Once she reached him, she slowly, carefully slid the side of her knife down Chuck's chest. As the silver edge reached the bottom of his shirt, she put the blade against the first button of his button-up shirt and popped it off. She continued popping each and every button off with the blade of the knife until he was left with his shirt wide open. Chuck looked down, astonished and scared. He knew Sarah's interrogation techniques weren't always orthodox and he wasn't about to experience the blunt of her anger while she had a knife in her hand. As she was about to bring the knife blade to his bare chest, he flashed. Immediately he brought his hand up and clenched her wrist and twisting her forearm until she released the weapon and yelped out in pain. If it were anyone else but Chuck, she would have fought back full force. But it was Chuck, and she backed down.

He bent down and lifted her up over his shoulder with much protest from Sarah. Chuck ignored everything she said until he plopped her down on the bed and sat next to her. "Now, what's wrong?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you went on a date with another woman. You went on a date with another CIA agent. You sent me a cryptic message telling me you were going out with my partner. And then you didn't care to explain what was going on."

"We never did label our relationship, so I suppose I'm allowed to go on a date with another woman."

"Oh, well I didn't peg you as the type of man to have sex with more than one woman at a time, but if you don't do some fast talking, I don't think that will be a problem."

"This is a new side to you, Sarah Walker. Jealousy." Chuck scooted closer to her on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. "I would never cheat on you; even if we don't label our relationship." For a second, she relaxed into his embrace until she realized that she wasn't finished, she still hadn't gotten any answers.

Sarah sat up straight and put on a stern expression. "Explain. Everything."

Of course, Chuck obliged.

Shaw's leg was healing, but he still wasn't able to walk. Everyday, Jessica and a personal trainer would come in and slowly work his legs, increasing muscle. In the past few days, he finished the psych-evaluation. It was an invasion of privacy and complete misery. Having someone probe into your thoughts to find out if you're the right person for Fulcrum wasn't Daniel's idea of fun. However, now that it is over with, he can focus on getting his leg thoroughly healed. He was beginning to cope better with the idea of not being a government agent. It was what he worked towards for so long, the only thing he was able to strive for; to be a better agent. But now he wasn't an agent, he was on the other side. Somewhere the line became blurred and he crossed over to 'the bad guys'. Although, he wasn't entirely sure if Fulcrum was the bad guys. They didn't do everything like the government did, but the CIA had Shaw do some shady things in the past. He was beginning to think that he just joined the good guys.

The door to his room opened and he saw Jess's face. He had been transferred to a larger and more comfortable room. It had a television, loveseat, double bed, mini-fridge, and small bathroom. He was currently located on the loveseat with his injured leg propped up on an ottoman. The television was on even though he wasn't watching it. Jess came in and sat down next to him. She lightly bumped her shoulder against his and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Good, the leg is feeling better. The therapist says that in another week or so, I'll probably be able to start walking on it with crutches."

"One step at a time, Daniel." She said sweetly as she lightly placed her hand on his propped leg, rubbing it slowly up and down. If he didn't have his leg numbed most of the time, he probably would have a larger reaction to her soft touch, but the doctor often gave him medication later in the day to help deal with the pain. Right about now, he wished that he wasn't on any medication, because he yearned for her touch. He had grown close to Jess over the last couple of months and he couldn't help but smile every time she came in the room. It was difficult enough being partners with an extremely beautiful woman; the fact that Sarah had chosen Bryce over himself was always a large blow to his ego and his feelings. Now he was incredibly attracted to this woman, physically and emotionally, but he couldn't make his move for two reasons. One, because his legs had seized to work and he didn't want to make her deal with the obligation to take care of his broken body; she often did it anyway, but he didn't want to put her in the position where she was forced to take care of him. Two, because she became a widow several years ago and he wasn't sure if she was ready to move on; he didn't want to be the one to rush her into something she wasn't ready for, especially since he was actually beginning to care for her.

When Jessica caught sight of Daniel staring at her hand on his thigh, she slowly lifted it and pulled her hands into her lap. Sighing, she said, "I know you won't be looking forward to this, but it's time to start a new section of your training. First you'll be working on identification. Do you think you're ready for it, or do you need a break? Because I'm sure I can get the boss to hold off for a few days if you need it."

"No, let's just get this over with, shall we?" She nodded and brought over his wheel-chair and helped him onto it. It was time for Daniel to face an all new battle, but at least he has someone to go through it with him.

After Chuck told Sarah everything about his interaction with Jill and she was thoroughly satisfied with his answer he got up from the bed and walked over to the table Sarah was working at. When he began looking at the files on the table, Sarah got up from the bed and said, "You probably shouldn't be looking at that," as she tried to pull the file out of Chuck's hands.

He gave her an incredulous expression. "Sarah, I could easily go onto my computer and get these files." He said tapping the folder onto his hand.

"I don't need you looking at my files, if you want to go home and illegally access government files, then go ahead."

Putting the file down on the table he turned and put his hands on her shoulders, "I just want to help. I know what happened with Shaw. Just let me in, Sarah."

She sighed and lifted her hand to her forehead. "Chuck…this is my job. It's all I have. I can't lose it. I'm already risking it by being with you. Without my job, I have nothing." He looked at her face, all her vulnerability showing. He pulled her in and tenderly kissed her. Slowly he pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. "You have me. I won't leave you with nothing. Never."

Looking into his rich, brown eyes, she lifted her head and kissed him passionately. Lifting her hands to his neck, she let one play with the hair on the nape of his neck while the other pulled his head down to hers. He grabbed her by the bottom and lifted until her legs twined around his waist. Kissing the soft skin at the base of her neck and trailing kisses down her collarbone, he fell backwards onto the bed. As she began nibbling his earlobe and kissing the sensitive skin below his ear, Chuck flipped her from on top of him so he was leaning over her. "Sarah." He whispered. Mmmm, she purred seductively. "I need you to trust me."

"I do." She whispered into his ear while playing with the hair on the back of his neck. "Always