A/N: This is the final chapter for this story. I hope to post the first chapter of Chuck versus The Syndicate by next Saturday. I am working on the outline and just start writing early in the week. Thanks for all the reviews and follows. If I had not received those, I would have closed out and been a one story person. I'm enjoying writing almost as much as I'm enjoying reading.
Chapter 14 – Home
It's just past two in the morning when they arrived at their dream house.
"Sarah, are you sure you want to stay here?" Chuck looks over at her sitting behind the steering wheel of her Lotus.
"Yes, I'm sure. I want to be with you, I'm not leaving my husband." Sarah says as she reaches over and touches his face.
"Sarah, you do realize I have no furniture?" Chuck asks with narrowed eyes.
"Chuck, don't you want me to stay with you?" Sarah looks slightly confused and worried. She is holding his hand.
"Of course I do, I'd be crazy not to want you to stay with me." Chuck gives his nervous smile.
"Then what's the problem?" Sarah tilts her head and shifts in her seat.
"I want you to be comfortable, and the floors are kind of hard. The apartment still has the bed, most of the covers, and all of your clothes." Chuck shrugs.
"You know what you're right, we should stay at the apartment until we get our new furniture." Sarah starts the car and begins to back out of the drive.
"Wait! I need clothes." Chuck puts his hand on her arm.
"Not tonight." She states as she continues to look over her shoulder to back out.
"But what about in the morning?" Chuck is still trying to get her to stop.
"Chuck!"
"Just let me run in and grab a few things." He states as she puts the car in park, and he opens the door.
He hears the engine shut off. "I'm coming in too."
As they step through the door, Sarah is hit with memories. The picnic night, carving their name, and the night Quinn almost succeeded in having her kill Chuck.
Chuck can see her face as she stands in the middle of the living room where Quinn shot him.
He watches her as she slowly moves to the kitchen entrance and runs her fingers along their carved names. He turns and quickly ascends the stairs.
In just a few minutes he is back down stairs.
"I'm ready. I got what I needed." She turns and smiles with tears in her eyes. He walks up and hugs her. "Don't worry we are going to make happy memories here."
She just lets out a little laugh and smiles a weak smile.
"Chuck, promise me we will never replace that carving. It saved our lives." She is pointing at their names.
"I have an idea." He walks up to her and kneels at her feet. She giggles as he takes a foot and places it on his extended leg and rolls up her pants leg. He then pulls one of her knives loose from its holster.
He then puts her foot back down, stands and walks to the doorway. There he begins to carve a straight line under their names.
"Chuck, what are you doing with one of my good throwing knives?" She tries to sound upset, and even puts on her mad face.
"Your smart, you tell me." Chuck smiles. He is not scared of this Sarah.
"It looks like a line." Sarah deadpans with a straight face.
"Look the carving says 'Sarah plus Chuck,' so this is an equal line. One day we'll carve the names of our children under that line. Get it Sarah + Chuck = ?"
"You are such a nerd! My sweet lovable nerd." Sarah smiles as she hugs him looking at the line.
She pulls away and starts for the door, stopping to grab his bag. She turns and smiles a playful smile.
"Chuck, do you remember that movie we watched about the navy fighter pilots?"
He nods, "Top Gun?"
"Yeah. I remember this one line that is very appropriate right now. Chuck, you big stud take me to bed or lose me forever." She turns and runs out the door.
Chuck smiles and gives chase.
-o-
It's three in the morning as they enter the apartment through the Morgan door.
Chuck strips down to his boxers and t-shirt while Sarah changes into Chuck's Sanford shirt.
They slide into bed, and Sarah rolls over to face Chuck, "I love you and I need you."
Chuck smiles and extends his arm to allow her to move close to him. They take the time to enjoy where their kisses lead them.
Just before dawn, they are both sound asleep.
-o-
Carina awoke and moved down the hallway. She noticed Sarah's door was closed so she slowly opened the door and peeked in to find Sarah lying with her head on Chuck's bare chest and her bare arm and shoulder out of the covers. Carina quietly closes the door smiling.
She puts on a pot of coffee and waits for the warm liquid to finish brewing. The past few days have been flying by and she wonders if this is how it will always be working with her best friend, her friend's husband, and John Casey. She can see why Sarah enjoyed working with Chuck and Casey. The sense of family and team is intoxicating.
The coffee pot beeps indicating it is done brewing the morning nectar. She pours a cup and mixes in her sugar and creamer and heads outside. She takes a seat on the edge of the fountain and begins to enjoy the morning sun. She is enjoying herself when Casey arrives with his own cup of coffee.
"Carina."
Looking up she can't really see his face for the sun behind him. Shielding her eyes, she smiles and wishes him a good morning.
"John, is it always like this with the team? Things moved so much faster than it has ever moved on other teams." Carina is still squinting trying to see the mass of a man above her.
"Yes. It's because of the Intersect. The down time waiting for information from an analyst is greatly reduced during missions. However, that can mean that we catch longer breaks between missions, or it can mean we have another mission right behind the last one. We can't really tell when the Intersect will activate with information." Casey shrugs and decides to take a seat.
Carina rubs her neck as she relaxes it by placing her head in a more normal position. She wonders how Casey handled Chuck and Sarah's relationship.
"John, how did you manage the transition to being on a team, and to their developing relationship?" Carina motions to Sarah's window.
"Hmmm. I knew within months there was something going on with them and I teased them, mainly Bartowski because he was so love sick. However, he was not so lovesick that he wouldn't date someone else if Walker pushed him away to maintain her composure, or to lie to herself about being compromised. She would get so jealous and protective when other women came into the picture. That is when I knew, she was hopelessly compromised."
Carina nods. "I knew she wanted Chuck on our first mission together, but I never saw this coming."
"Tell me about it. She was hurt with Lou, and nearly devastated with Jill, but that crap Chuck pulled in Prague almost ruined her and him. Chuck practically placed her hand in Shaw's hand, but in the end he took my advice and kept fighting for her."
"Your advice?" Carina asks as one eyebrow drops and the other raises.
"Yeah. I had just learned about Kat and Alex, been kicked out of service, and was at a low point. I caught a glimpse of how lonely our lives are once we are done serving for the greater good. Sarah's record of falling for her partners said she wanted a life beyond spying and Chuck never asked for this, well not back then, so I wanted them to have what I gave up."
Casey takes a sip of his coffee and frowns. I hate it when my coffee gets cold.
"Wow. John, do you regret giving up a life with Kat?" Carina does not look at him but she does see him in the corner of her eye.
"Sometimes." Casey shrugs. He then turns his head and looks towards Sarah's window.
"Chuck slept over." Carina states while following his gaze to the window.
"I figured as much. It makes sense with her memories back. I'm really happy for them." He keeps staring at the window with a quizzical look on his face.
"What is it, John?" Carina has been watching him.
"Sarah. I wonder if she told us the truth about Quinn. I sure hope so, because I don't think Chuck could take it if something happened." Casey looks her in the eye.
"I don't see any reason to doubt her." Carina states as she stands up. "Come on, let's refresh our cups."
They walk together into the apartment. They stop when they hear the sound of someone sick in the bathroom.
-o-
Sarah woke suddenly. She sat up and then realized she is home in her bed with her man, but she feels like she's going to be….
She quickly runs to the bathroom and closes the door behind her. She barely makes it to the toilet before she looses anything left from what she ate last night.
What is wrong with me? I've never had sleep depravation issues before, well not like this. A headache sure, but ... Oh no!
She doesn't hear Chuck enter the bathroom. Suddenly she feels him lift her hair from around her face.
"Go away! I don't need any…" Another round of heaving begins.
"Help? Yeah I can see you've got everything under control." Chuck looks worried, but can't help being a little sarcastic.
Sarah takes a deep breath, "I will be fine. I don't want you to see me this way. Please!" She pleads while sitting back and placing her face in her hands.
He smiles, "And break my promise to love you in sickness?"
"Chuck, I'm ok. Help me up and let me brush my teeth." She says holding her hand out to him.
"Ok. Here you go, babe. I'm going to go and make you some toast. I hope you're up to going out today, we have a few things to do, before I take you home." Chuck says smiling.
She just waves him away. He closes the door.
This is the third morning in…. I'm only sick in the morning. It was about a week ago I… we took down Quinn. I was gone for two weeks before that. I was captured for about a week before that. So it has been four weeks since the train… I know nothing happened with Quinn, but Chuck and I… no way!
-o-
"Chuck, are you ok?" Carina asks as he emerges from the bathroom.
"Perfect and you?" He asks looking at her and Casey.
"We're fine, and you're fine. How's Sarah, Moron?" Casey hates when Chuck tries to cover up things.
"Good morning, John. Nice to see you're in a cheery mood today." Chuck quips as he steps into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and make Sarah toast.
Casey follows him and just watches for a minute. When he sees Chuck begin drinking his coffee he speaks.
"Coffee huh, so I guess the water and toast is for the sick one?" Casey crosses his arms and steps into the middle of the doorway.
"Fine. Sarah is feeling a little ill. Probably a side effect of not enough sleep." He steps past them with his plate of toast and a glass of water.
Casey looks at Carina. She clears her throat.
"Chuck, she was sick yesterday morning as well."
-o-
Sarah exited the bathroom while tightening her bathrobe, and entered the kitchen to find everyone looking at her.
"Good morning everyone. Look guys, I'm fine. I'm sure I just need a little more sleep and I'll be as good as new."
They all just smile as her words hit their ears, but it's Carina's words that are running through their heads.
"Oh hey, I made you some toast." Chuck steps forward handing her the plate.
Sarah smiles as she takes the plate and moves to the table. "Chuck, could I get some orange juice as well?"
"Sure, honey." He is thrilled with the opportunity to care for her.
Sarah downs her water and her juice and begins to nibble on her toast. Everyone else grabs some juice and joins her at the table.
After a few minutes Sarah excuses herself and makes her way back to the bathroom. She moves to the cabinet under the sink and reaches up to the hidden ledge she built in a few years ago. She looks at her retrieved item, and sighs. Chuck, looks like we need to talk. She places the item back in its hiding spot, flushes the toilet and exits the room.
-o-
A few hours later.
"Sarah, are you ready?" Chuck is standing in the door way as Sarah finishes selecting her clothes.
He watches as she puts on a blue t-shirt that Chuck loves, and turns to look at him. She sees him smile and shake his slightly.
"What?" She asks, curious as to why he shook his head.
"Nothing. It's just… well, it's just that you're so incredibly beautiful." His smile widens as he stares at her.
"You know, I'm so glad I can remember how good your compliments made me feel, because they still take my breath away." Sarah moves in and standing on her tiptoes, she kisses him.
"Ready?"
She nods and he takes her hand.
"Where are we going? I really need to pack for moving to our new house."
"You mean our new home." Chuck corrects her with a smile and a hug.
"No, I said what I meant. I'm already home." Sarah keeps staring at up into Chuck's eyes.
He has a very serious look on his face.
"Sarah, do you want to stay in the apartment. If you do, I can move back here until you're ready to move into the house."
Sarah begins to laugh.
"I don't think you understood me." She moves to him and pats his chest, right over his heart. "This is my home. The house is where we'll live and raise our children. Remember Sarah plus Chuck equals…"
Chuck just smiles and leads her out of the apartment and to her car. She doesn't notice him nod to Casey and Morgan across the courtyard.
-o-
About a half hour later.
"Chuck, why are we at a furniture store? I thought your furniture was supposed to arrive at the house today?" Sarah asks as they walk in to the store.
"Sarah, provided we find stuff in here, it will arrive today." He says waving his hand at the various living room, bed room, and dinning sets arranged around the store.
"You lied to me? What would have happened if I had not decided to come home until I remembered?" Sarah does not look happy with Chuck.
"Well, this was always plan A." Chuck shrugs.
"And plan B?" Sarah asks with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, about that… well, if that happened, I was going to get stuff for a guest room and hope one day I could get the rest of the furniture with you."
"Always planning ahead." Chuck smiles as Sarah makes the statement.
They begin to move around the store and before too long they select a living room set, a dinning set, and a bedroom set.
"Well, that about covers it." Chuck turns to look at Sarah and the sales lady. "Ready to pay for all our selections?"
"Chuck, we're not done. It is a three bedroom house, so we need to setup the guest room." Sarah tilts her head a sighs like she can't believe he isn't thinking about he guest rooms.
"Don't you mean guest rooms, plural?" He half smiles as he slightly shakes his head side to side to give a little mocking head roll. He also raises one eyebrow to show he is picking at her.
Sarah squints her eyes and opens her mouth with a look that says you did not just make fun of me. "No, I meant what I said. I have plans for the other room."
"Like what, a gym? We already have one of those at work." Chuck is genuinely curious.
"Ok. Chuck do you trust me?" She takes both of his hands.
"With my heart." He looks directly into her eyes.
"Then close your eyes, and let me guide you to the furniture area I have in mind."
He doesn't say a word. He simply closes his eyes so tight his face wrinkles up.
Sarah laughs, as she begins to pull him along.
"Ok, open your eyes." Sarah stands there looking at him for a moment, and then she turns and waves her hand toward the furniture.
"Which one do you like?" She asks still looking at his face.
Chuck stands there a moment with a look of bewilderment. He starts to speak, closes his mouth, and then starts again.
With his eyebrows lowered he asks, "Why would we need nursery furniture?"
She smiles from ear to ear, and shifts her weight to one leg, and places her left hand on her stomach.
Chuck's eyes follow her movement, and as he looks at her hand. She is wearing her rings. Wait, she is covering her… and it's nursery furniture…
"Sarah, are you… are you? You're…"
"Chuck, you're going to be a daddy." She is smiling with tears in her eyes.
"We're having baby? We're having a baby!" Chuck whoops loud enough for people to turn and look. He points to Sarah, "We're having a baby!"
Sarah just laughs. They quickly pick out a bassinet, crib that converts into a toddler bed, a small clothes chest, a changing table, and a dresser.
"Ok, everything is paid for. Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski, I need one more thing. Will this be take away or delivery?" The sales lady asks.
"Take away"
"Delivery"
"Chuck, unless you know something I don't this isn't going to fit in my car." Sarah looks at him with a question on her face.
"I do. Casey and Morgan are outside with a moving truck ready to help us. Carina is waiting at the house with most of your stuff from the room."
She just smiles. "Oh my lovable nerd! You've got my permission to keep me amazed my entire life."
-o-
"Chuck, the truck will be here soon." Sarah states as she stands in what will be there living room planning. "Chuck?"
She turns and sees Carina looking at the doorframe between the living room and the kitchen. "I think he's out back with John talking about patio furniture and grills."
She continues to stare at the carving as Sarah looks out the front window.
"Morgan's here."
-o-
Carina is helping direct the boys as they bring things off the truck. When she sees Casey carrying a bassinet she grabs Sarah's arm.
Casey looks at Carina who just covers her mouth before speaking, "Sarah, are you going to have a baby?"
"Yes. I took a home pregnancy test this morning before I left the bathroom, and then I drank all that water and juice for an excuse to return when it should be completed."
She notices fear flash across both Carina and Casey's face.
"Trust me. I have all my memories, and nothing happened with Quinn. The time that Chuck and I spent alone on the bullet train was fruitful so to speak."
"Can I be called Aunt Carina? I'm your cover sister after all." Carina is all smiles.
-o-
A little later that day.
"And, that should do it." Chuck stands up and turns on the entertainment center. "Everything is set and should be in proper working order."
"Chuck, what is that little black box with the single light?" Carina is curious.
"That is the new Apple TV. It can play our iTunes library, sync our iPads and Macbooks, and we can watch Internet based movies and television shows."
"It can play music?" Sarah's interest is piqued.
"Sarah, since when do you care about music?" Chuck turns to look at her with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I found a song on iTunes I want you to hear." Sarah states. "I placed it in our library."
"Ok. What is it called?"
"You're My Home by Billy Joel." Sarah smiles at Chuck.
He plays the acoustic guitar heavy ballad, especially enjoying the final lines about his love being his castle, his cabin, his instant pleasure dome, and how he needs her in his house for it to be home.
"And that my love is what I was telling you this morning!" Sarah stands on her tiptoes and kisses him.
The sound of a throat being cleared makes them all turn to the monitor.
"Sorry to intrude team." General Beckman is on the screen. "We have a lead on our friends."
"Well we know I hooked everything up right."
There is a knock at the door.
"That should be your newest team member. With us having two Intersects working on the team, I wanted another security team member. Someone please answer the door for Agent James Fisher."
Carina exits and returns with a dark haired man slightly taller than Morgan and about the same height of Sarah and Carina when they are barefoot, he has a build similar to Casey and apart from the height looks to be a younger version of Casey.
"Mr. Grimes," General Beckman speaks directly to Morgan, "will you accept reinstatement to the team?"
Chuck stands there not speaking outwardly. Now I know why my parents always got mad when I asked if Morgan could stay over with him standing there. How can I speak up and not hurt his feelings? Well-played Beckman. Well played.
-To Be Continued in Chuck versus The Syndicate