A/N: Wow. Seriously, wow. When I started writing this story, I never thought that the response to a Chuck/Carina romance would be as good as it has been. You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for the great reviews!
As usual, I have to say a huge thank you to Grey Alchemist, luvgreen19 and jaytoyz for helping me work through the grammar mistakes and look out for plot continuity.
Chapter 21 is my version of Chuck Versus the Other Guy, and then is my final break with canon.
As always, I don't own anything here, especially the characters or dialogue.
Chapter 21
I'm still the same guy.
Chuck was having the most delicious dream. Carina was doing the most amazing thing with her tongue, but then something tickled his chin. He woke without opening his eyes, feeling silky, warm skin pressed against him. So it wasn't just a dream. Love is a choice and she chose me. Chuck smiled and slowly traced the tips of his fingers up and down her back and side. Carina rewarded him with a shiver that jiggled all the right places against him. Further tracing confirmed what both delighted and disappointed him: she was wearing clothes. All things considered, that was probably for the best. While they had confessed their love the night before, he wanted their first time together to be slow, tender, and loving, not a frenzy of hormones.
He opened his eyes to see the copper-colored hair that tickled him from a wonderful dream into an even better reality. Carina stretched luxuriously, and purred as she looked up at him. "I haven't felt that safe all night in a very, very long time. Thank you for keeping the bad dreams away," she said softly as she punctuated her compliment with a soft, gentle kiss. Her glance fell down to the bullet scar on his shoulder. A single tear fell out of her eye directly on the scar, which she then kissed away.
Chuck leaned forward and captured her lips again. "That wasn't your fault, and you are never allowed to feel bad about it again. With that kind of stress, only forgetting one guy is amazing. There wasn't any permanent damage done, so no more guilt, ok?"
She nodded with a shaky breath and kissed him, pulling back to stare into his eyes and run her fingers through his bed head. Just as they were about to go in for a deeper kiss, Chuck's phone began ringing and Carina started laughing. The phone ringing, itself, wasn't that funny; it was the ringtone that started her giggles. She had to bury her head in his chest to muffle the sound of her mirth.
"Where did you get that ringtone?" she managed to gasp out.
Chuck had a Cheshire-Cat grin on his face as he brought out his phone, which showed the frowning face of Diane Beckman to the tune of We Welcome You to Munchkin Land from the Wizard of Oz.
"Yes, General?" he asked. Carina was barely able to contain herself.
"Agent Bartowski, we have a time-sensitive mission for you related directly to Agent Walker's safety. I need you to get to Castle immediately. Since you're now alone in Los Angeles, I've arranged for the DEA to loan us Agent Miller to help you with this mission."
"Y – yes, ma'am. I'll get Carina over to Castle right away." Chuck disconnected the call and looked down at his…girlfriend? Lover? He wasn't sure exactly what to call her, but at the moment labels weren't important.
She beat him to the punch and, after kissing him again said, "I know, I know, the Wicked Witch of the East wants us at the Emerald Palace. Let's go, Dorothy."
He grinned back at her as they got out of bed, taking the opportunity to ogle her once more. "So does that make you Toto?"
"Woof," she growled playfully as they looked for clothing appropriate for the morning briefing.
They stood in front of the monitor in Castle, a respectful distance apart though each wanted to hold the other's hand.
Beckman got directly to business. "We have an urgent situation. Our forensic team was able to recover this video from the wreckage of the Ring's bunker. The woman is Agent Eve Shaw. Daniel Shaw's deceased wife."
"Well, this is all very touching, General, but what does it have to do with Sarah?" Chuck's brusque tone was due more to losing time in bed with Carina than to truly cavalier feelings about Sarah's well-being.
"Keep watching. The data drive the Ring recovered from the mole's body. We now believe it contained footage of a Red Test conducted on the night of Agent Shaw's death."
Sarah! "Sarah! Sarah killed his wife! Did you know?" Carina was stunned that such a vital facet of team composition would have been overlooked.
Beckman's tone was calm but firm. "I assure you. I had no knowledge that Agent Walker was responsible for Eve Shaw's death."
"If Shaw has seen this, if the Ring played him this video…Oh, my God. Oh, my God, General, where is Sarah right now?" Chuck started to panic. Sarah might have chosen someone else, but she was still his friend and she still protected him for years.
"Shaw said they were following up a lead on the Ring Director in Paris," answered the General with a shake of her head.
"We have to go! Things may not have ended very well between us, but Sarah's still our friend and an agent of the United States of America, and she's in danger. Carina and I will be on the next plane to Charles De Gaulle."
Chuck was insistent, but Carina looked at him thoughtfully. "So, after all the stuff she put you through over the last few months, you're still going to risk your life over her?"
Beckman looked on as Chuck turned to face Carina. "With as many times as she's saved my life over the last three years, the least I can do is try."
The General nodded. "Bravo, Chuck. Shaw said he was setting up a meeting with the Ring Director at this café in central Paris, using Walker as his cover. Good luck, agents," and she ended the call.
Before Chuck could ask why she seemed reluctant to rush off to Paris to save her friend or awkwardly remind her that he didn't have leftover feelings for Sarah, Carina leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "Loyalty to your friends, even ones who've slipped away, is just one of the reasons I love you." She was rewarded with his trademark face-splitting grin and an enormous hug before the two went to Castle's armory and storage rooms to pack what they would need for Paris.
After ending the call, General Beckman sat back for a moment and picked up her desk phone. "Vivian? Diane Beckman here…thank you, they're doing nicely. How's your husband's father holding up?...That's too bad…My condolences…Yes, I'll be at the ceremony…Listen, I wanted to talk to you about a possible trade…You had the same thought I did…Excellent!"
Carina stretched her legs and settled into the spacious first-class seat. Beside her, Chuck had a thoughtful look on his face.
She looked at him and asked, "What is it?"
He winked at her and leaned in for a kiss. "I was just thinking about the last time we flew to Paris."
After a dubious chuckle, Carina wondered, "What about – being poisoned or the fight in the cargo hold?"
"No, neither of those, actually. I was thinking about what you said to me about love."
"What about it?" Carina took a sip of water as she waited for his thoughts.
Chuck smiled. "Well, your speech on love really stayed with me after that flight. I think that's one of the biggest reasons I wasn't down in the dumps about Sarah leaving. I mean, it did frustrate me that I wasted so much of my life on chasing her, but I wasn't sad that she left with Shaw. If anything, it just helped really clear my feelings up. You were there for me when I needed someone. You've always been there for me, and I hope I've been there for you."
Carina looked down at her lap. "I wasn't there for you when I ran away to Mexico," she muttered to herself.
He leaned over and lifted her chin with a finger. "I forgave you for that a long time ago. I know why you thought you had to leave and it's fine, I promise. Besides, you're here right now and that's all that really matters."
"Casey, are you ready to go?" Chuck called over his microphone and heard a grunt of assent over his own earwig in response. "Ok, Carina and I are set up across the street from the café. After the Director leaves, he's all yours. We'll handle Shaw."
Carina took a sip of coffee and shifted position next to her boyfriend. After Chuck stopped talking to Casey, a car pulled up to the curb and Shaw got out alone. He quickly walked around the car, opened the other door, and dragged Sarah out. Something wasn't right; Sarah wasn't walking completely under her own power. Shaw almost carried her to the outside table.
Chuck and Carina watched as they sat down at a table with a balding man. They seemed to have an animated conversation, and at one point Shaw handed over a thick folder. "Head's up, Casey. He just turned over the documents. Something's wrong with Sarah." Carina whispered in his ear. "Carina thinks she's been drugged."
"Roger that, moron. Keep your eye on Sarah. I have the long-range tranq rifle on the Director."
"Got it, Casey. The meeting's over. The Director got up, and they're just sitting there," Carina chimed in. As soon as the Director turned the corner, they heard two puffs over their communications. Immediately after that, Casey called for the cleaner team.
Carina and Chuck kept their eyes on Shaw and Sarah. After a moment, Shaw grabbed Sarah's elbow and hauled her to her feet. He started guiding her toward a nearby bridge.
They sprang into action, cocking their respective pistols. When Shaw got her to the apex of the bridge, he pushed her to the railing to look into the water. They couldn't hear what was being said, but when Shaw started to lift her, Chuck ran out onto the bridge.
"Stop it, Shaw! Let her go." Chuck had his pistol pointed at Shaw's heart.
"Drop your gun, Chuck. None of this is your fault. I haven't told them your secret yet, but if you don't walk away, I will kill you." Shaw's features were wooden and unmoving.
Chuck cocked his gun and took a step closer. Shaw re-aimed, saying, "I'm warning you!"
"Please! It doesn't have to be like this!" Chuck said desperately, "This isn't you, Shaw. You can't do this!" He lowered his pistol.
Shaw started to lower his own arm when his eyes seemed to lose focus. After a tense moment, he replied grimly, "No, Chuck. I can, you can't." Shaw brought his arm up to fire, but Chuck was quicker.
Chuck yanked his gun back up and fired three times, all impacting on Shaw's chest. Unfortunately, Shaw had prepared for a double-cross by the Ring and was wearing a bulletproof vest. All the impacts did was push him back from the edge of the bridge into the street. As Carina ran to bring Sarah back from the edge of the bridge, she saw what was about to happen before Chuck could.
For the rest of his life, Chuck would swear that the wooden thunk made by the truck which just crested the bridge sounded like someone taking a metal bat to a two-by-four. Before the truck could stop, it hit Shaw center mass with enough force to fling him through the air. Unfortunately, Shaw's momentum carried him directly into the opening of a sewer that was undergoing daytime maintenance. The weight of his bulletproof vest was too much for him to float, and Special Agent Daniel Shaw, formerly of the CIA and the Ring, sunk to the bottom of a Parisian sewer, never to emerge again.
Carina and Chuck ran to the sewer opening. "Should we make sure he won't come out of there?" Carina asked as she glanced down into the murk.
Chuck looked at her with an odd expression. "He got run over by a truck and flung into this sewer, wearing fifty pounds of Kevlar. How exactly would he come back from that?"
Shaking her head, Carina took Chuck's hand as they walked back over to where Sarah lay on the bridge. "You're right. That sounds more like some lazy TV show than reality."
The next morning, Chuck's phone beeped insistently, driving them out of a deep sleep. He groggily reached over and fumbled around the nightstand by the hotel's king-size bed. After a couple attempts, he answered the call, only to hear Beckman's assistant say, "Agent Carmichael, you have a video conference with the General in half an hour. Please be presentable." The woman disconnected the call without any farewell.
He dropped the phone with a groan. The movement of the bed combined with his sound of disgust woke Carina, who lifted her head from his shoulder with a sleepy smile and puckered her lips for her morning kiss, which Chuck happily obliged. She stretched, grinning slightly as she felt the pleasant ache of muscles that hadn't been used in a long time.
As the aches intensified memories of the night before flooded back to her. After they got Sarah safely to the US Embassy, the rush of the successful operation overtook them back at their own hotel room; the evidence of a night of life-affirming passion lay all about them. She turned her head, glancing around the room, looking at socks hanging off the back of chairs, pants strewn haphazardly on the coffee table, and her bra doing lazy circles on the ceiling fan. "You really know how to get a girl's attention, Agent Bartowski."
He laughed softly. "When it's someone I truly love, that's easy."
Carina rewarded him with a blinding grin and another passionate kiss. Her tongue was demanding entrance to his mouth, a move he knew would inexorably lead – given their current state of undress – to round…he lost count somewhere last night…but they simply had no time. "Sorry, but we have exactly," he checked the clock on his phone's display, "twenty-seven minutes to get 'presentable' for a video conference with Beckman."
Carina grumbled playfully, but smiled and replied, "Fine," somehow drawing the word out until it sounded ten syllables long.
They managed to make it out of the shower in less than twenty minutes by helping each other…wash up. It was tantalizing and unsatisfying all at once. Chuck reveled in the feeling of her smooth skin made slippery with soap. The clothes she usually wore disguised some of her figure, making it easier to hide weapons, he surmised. Right now, however, his hands were becoming intimately acquainted – again – with those curves, feeling how his wet and soapy fingers traced slippery patterns over soft, supple flesh. She shivered every time he hit a spot on her sides just above her pelvic bone. Interesting…I'll have to remember that spot.
For her part, Carina found muscles on Chuck she never would have expected. He showed the world the lanky nerd image, but his agent training had some delicious muscles forming. There was a burgeoning six-pack of abs there in the front, and when he lifted his arms above his head, his biceps bulged out to the sides so much she couldn't resist pressing up full-length against him and squeezing. All of his reactions to those sensations were priceless.
At the appointed time, they stood in front of Chuck's laptop when the General's conference came through. Beckman's usual sour face looked over her glasses at the two agents standing together on her screen. She launched into her debrief without preamble, "Would either of you two care to explain why a civilian was involved in last night's rescue operation?"
Chuck raised his right hand with the index finder extended and said, "Ah, General? That was my decision and I…"
Carina cut in, "It was both of our idea, ma'am. We had a two-pronged operation. Casey gave us the flexibility to go after the Ring Director at the same time as Chu-Agent Bartowski and I neutralized Shaw."
Bartowski stepped forward, "I know it wasn't protocol, General, but we really needed a third person we could trust, and since we don't know how deeply the Ring has penetrated…"
The redhead jumped in again, cutting Chuck off mid-sentence, "And Casey was the only one we could trust with this operation and Chuck's identity on such a short notice."
Beckman sat in silence watching her agents try to cover for each other. The gestalt between them was amazing, especially since they were never official partners. Truthfully, she wasn't even that angry about Casey's presence on the mission. Protocol dictated his dismissal at the very least for his actions with the Laudenol, but if she'd had her way, Casey would have remained on the team with a slap on his wrist.
"I've heard enough. I won't reprimand either of you for involving Colonel Casey on last night's mission," Beckman pronounced.
Chuck turned to the monitor with a question written on his face. "Colonel Casey, General?"
Beckman's face soured as she said, "Yes, Agent Bartowski. All Colonel Casey wanted in return for the Ring Director was his full reinstatement. He got it, but I have a surprise in store for him. Now, I need the two of you back in Burbank immediately. There will be an Air Force jet waiting for you at Charles De Gaulle," she instructed as she sorted a stack of papers on her desk.
"Ah, immediately, ma'am? We were kind of hoping for a couple more days in Paris." Chuck asked with a hopeful tone.
"I'm sorry, Agent Bartowski. The technicians at our Paris station were able to pick up some vital data off Shaw's Ring communicator. They're sending it via courier to Castle, where we'll need you to look it over as soon as possible. We may have a chance to take down the entire Ring if this works."
Carina took Chuck's arm and smiled. "Don't worry, General. I'll make sure he gets back to California in one piece."
That actually got a smile out of Beckman – or at least as much of a smile as she ever gave anyone – "I'm sure you will, Agent Miller. Oh, Agent Bartowski, there is one more thing," two loud knocks sounded through the door, which Carina went to go answer. When she came back in, she was carrying a package about the size of a shoebox.
"For your flight back, you've been granted permission to fly on a government jet which will get you back to Bob Hope airport in a little over half the time that flying commercial would take, but there is one condition."
Chuck gulped as Beckman's face took on a look of mischief, "Yes, ma'am?"
"Open the box, Chuck," the tiny general instructed firmly.
He slit the paper open and, upon opening the box, found two red size-14 Converse Chuck Taylors. However, these were different than normal: someone had spent a good amount of time sewing glittering red sequins over the canvas spanning each entire shoe. Carina burst into uproarious laughter at the sight, which only increased Chuck's confusion. "General?"
Beckman looked at him sternly. "The Air Force personnel on your flight back have been instructed to not allow you on the jet unless you're wearing those shoes," by this time Carina was on the floor with tears streaming down her face, "Click your heels on the plane and you can follow the yellow brick road back to Burbank."
Chuck wouldn't let it go, though. "How did you know?"
Beckman silently cocked an eyebrow. "Right, right. Sorry," Chuck apologized.
Beckman ended the conference and Carina stood up slowly, wiping her cheeks. Chuck turned to her with a rueful grin and said, "Shall we head back home, Toto?"
Beckman waited until the Air Force jet was over the Atlantic before calling an apartment in Echo Park. Once that call ended satisfactorily, she dispatched teams of agents to the apartment complex. With her orders conveyed, she initiated yet another video conference to Paris.
Her entire body ached. The pain all over was the first sensation Sarah recognized as she swam back to consciousness.
The last thing she remembered was Daniel trying to push her over a bridge, and before that, sitting at the café, slowly losing control of her own muscles. Daniel was with the Ring! Just as he was about to push her over, she remembered he stopped and looked around. There was some commotion, but she was too far gone at that point and just slid to the ground.
Just then, a laptop beeped. Sarah sat up in confusion. She was back at her hotel room. How in the world did I get here? She slowly reached over to the nightstand and picked up the beeping computer. When she opened it, Beckman's frown greeted her.
"Agent Walker, I trust you're feeling better this morning?"
"I'm alive, ma'am, but I don't remember much about last night," Sarah said slowly, running her fingers through her tangled hair.
"That's to be expected. Shaw slipped you a derivative of our twilight drug. It tranquilized you just enough so that you were awake but without control of your movements. Forgetting the events immediately after he administered the drug is unsurprising," Beckman explained.
"So, what happened, General? I remember the café, and Shaw talking to the Ring Director, but after that I just have foggy memories of the bridge and someone stopping Shaw, but I never saw their faces, or I don't remember them," Sarah was still trying to process the evening.
The General thought for a moment before responding, "A young couple, very much in love, saw Shaw about to throw you into the river and intervened. They were able to get you back to your hotel room based on the ID you were carrying and your room key. Once you were safely in your room, they got the management to send for a doctor to check you out before they left."
Sarah shook her head slightly, wincing as her headache made itself known again, "Do you have any idea who they were at all? I owe them my life. I'd like to thank them for saving me."
Beckman frowned, saying "They knew you would want to know their identity, but they specifically told the hotel concierge they wanted to remain anonymous. They mentioned something about random acts of kindness."
The next question was the hardest. "And what about Da – Shaw?"
The General's frown grew even deeper. "Special Agent Daniel Shaw turned to the Ring. He was meeting the Director to turn over sensitive documents that would have enabled them to build their own Intersect. We have since taken care of him. He is no longer a threat."
Sarah looked at the laptop screen with a heavy sigh and asked the General, "Shaw was with the Ring; Chuck's an Intersect agent, and Casey's a civilian. So where does that leave me? What do I do now, General?"
Back at Castle, Carina was looking over some of the documents Shaw stored in his desk for clues to his Ring contacts while Casey was back in his favorite place: the armory. Chuck found the box from Paris containing Shaw's Ring phone. The station techs left a note explaining where the sensitive data was, and he lost no time in cracking it open inside the base's Farraday cage.
He opened the Contacts folder on Shaw's Ring communicator as per the instructions where he found labels for – among dozens of other Ring agents – the five Ring elders and a calendar marked for the Joint Security Summit in San Diego just over six months from that day. Shaw was dumb enough to use their real names to identify these people?
"Holy crap!" Chuck shouted when he saw the information.
Carina came over quickly from the computers. "What? What's going on?" she asked.
"You're never going to believe this, Carina…"
Just as he started to explain, the video conference monitor beeped and the General appeared. "I take it you've found what the Paris office located?"
Chuck and Carina leapt to their feet and walked to the conference table where Casey joined them still wiping down a pistol. "Yes, General. We have the information we need to nail the leadership of the Ring."
"As skilled as you are, even with the Intersect, taking down the entire Ring is too big of a job for one agent. For an operation of that size you'll need a partner at the very least, Chuck," Beckman looked at Carina and paused as if she was leading up to something else, "probably a full team."
She pressed a button off-screen and the display split in half, revealing a woman Chuck only knew after he flashed as Vivian Maxwell, Director of the DEA. Carina's eyes got bigger, but she remained silent as her heart started pounding in her chest.
Director Vivian Maxwell leaned forward and tented her arms on her desk. "General Beckman has kept me informed about your association and involvement with her Los Angeles team, Agent Miller. What concerns me is why my own agent did not report such actions."
As she tried to explain, Carina paled slightly, "Well, you see, I was in the area on my leave of absence and Chu-Agent Bartowski needed my help and…"
Maxwell cut her off, "There's no need to explain yourself now, Agent Miller. As I said already, General Beckman has kept me informed. The question before us now is what to do with you."
Carina started talking, but before she could get out a full sentence, Beckman's chuckle caught her off-guard. "Oh, put her out of her misery, Vivian."
Director Maxwell rolled her eyes but smiled slightly. "Diane and I have agreed to a…trade…of sorts. Henceforth, Agent Carina Miller, if you accept, your employment will permanently transfer to the CIA effective immediately."
Chuck's eyes got huge. "Do you mean…"
Beckman sighed. "Yes, Agent Bartowski. If you two want, you will be partners in the mission to destroy the Ring."
Chuck and Carina turned to each other with huge smiles while Casey grunted. After quickly communicating without words, they looked back to the screen and said in unison, "We'll do it!"
The two directors smiled at their subordinates. "Will you be able to maintain this partnership in the face of everything you will encounter in this mission?" Beckman asked.
Carina nodded and spoke for them both, "Absolutely, General. We'll be able to handle anything the Ring throws at us, just the way professional partners should."
Maxwell chuckled and Beckman sighed, "Do you think we're idiots?"
"Uh, no, Ma'am?" Chuck responded.
"You two have been under observation for some time. It's become blindingly obvious that your…professional partnership…is just the tip of your relationship. However, this is an extremely unique situation. The protection of the Intersect," at Chuck's flinch and raised finger, Beckman nodded, "yes, Agent Bartowski, Director Maxwell is aware of the exact disposition of the Intersect itself. Anyway, the protection of the Intersect is our highest priority."
"Precisely, Diane," Maxwell chimed in, "which is why we've decided to pair the two of you up. Who better to protect the Intersect than someone with a vested interest in his safety? Who better to protect the Intersect than someone in love with him?"
Carina gaped. "You knew?"
"It was fairly obvious, but were not completely sure until Eleanor Woodcomb confirmed it this evening," Beckman confirmed.
Chuck took one of his hands and raised it in a question, "You…you spoke to Ellie, General?"
At that precise moment, Castle's doors flew open and two agents escorted two other people wearing black cloth bags over their heads inside and down to the conference table. Chuck's mouth dropped open. He'd seen the same clothes before. As the bags were drawn off their heads, Ellie and Devon's confused faces looked around Castle.
"Yes, Agent Bartowski. I spoke extensively to your sister. Just now I mentioned you would need a team to support you. Meet the rest of your team. Eleanor's neurological training will help us understand how the Intersect works, and Devon's cardiothoracic surgical skills will be used in case one of you gets wounded." Beckman paused to allow the four team members to take in the situation.
"Dr. Woodcomb – ah, Eleanor – affirmed to us that the two of you have been in love for some time and only recently admitted that to each other. With the departure of Agent Walker," Ellie's face blanched when she heard Sarah confirmed as an agent, "it would seem this partnership will be ideal. Thank you, Vivian. We'll handle it from here, and I'll get you the name of the agent I'm sending over by the morning."
"Thank you, General. Good evening all, and good luck in your fight." Maxwell blinked off, leaving only Beckman's face on the monitor.
"Now, I believe the five of you have some things to discuss. You have one week to come to terms with the new team dynamic, and then we'll talk about where your new team will be based. Los Angeles may be too well-known to the Ring for continued use." Beckman reached forward and disconnected the video conference without a farewell, as usual.
The five people sitting around the conference table were left to stare at each other and wonder what would happen next. Ellie finally broke the silence with eager eyes, asking, "So are you two together for real?"
Carina goggled. "You've been brought to a secret CIA base, and your first question is if he and I are dating for real?"
Chuck laughed. "Yeah, that's her first question. The rest is just details."
After looking to Chuck for his confirmation that Ellie really had focused on the dating issue first, Carina sighed and turned back to Ellie, "Yes, we're together and we've already said we love each other too." Ellie squealed and ran around the table, giving them each hugs in turn. Devon just grinned and said, "Awesome job, bro."
When she was done squeezing them almost to asphyxiation, Ellie went back to her chair and folded her hands, almost vibrating in excitement. "Now, what was this Intersect thing the General mentioned?"
Chuck shared a glance with Carina and Casey before smiling at his sister. "Well, it all started a few years ago. Remember that birthday party you threw for me when you invited all those doctors and nurses for potential dates?"
Carina winked at Ellie. "Good thing none of them ever worked out."
For her part, Ellie flushed and looked sheepish, but answered, "Yeah, I remember."
"Well, after the party, I got an email…"
Six months later, the reconstituted Team Intersect was riding a string of success against the Ring that had the Elders on the ropes.
It was one week until the Joint Security Summit and Chuck and Carina were making their final plans. It was also the week Chuck was going to repay a debt four years old.
He'd planned the evening meticulously. Carina's favorite restaurant in the greater Los Angeles area before the team relocated to Chicago was an Irish pub in Santa Monica not far from the beach. He remembered she told him once that it combined the two best things about her world – other than him, of course – the beach and Irish culture.
Chuck reserved a corner booth weeks in advance, as soon as he realized when and where the Ring Elders would be at the Joint Security Summit. Carina was expecting a wonderful night out, but when she saw where Chuck was taking them, she positively glowed. The food was exquisite, the atmosphere perfect, and their conversation flowed without interruption.
As Carina gazed across the table to look in his eyes, she thought about how far her life had come in the year that she'd lived in Los Angeles. She had gone from being completely alone in the world – 'Can't let anyone get to know you. Might have to leave them in five minutes or shoot them in the head' – to having a lover and a family. Their partnership flourished based on their complete mutual trust. When they went up against Ring thugs, their fighting style was graceful and poised. When they had to infiltrate a party, they were confident and smooth, knowing at a glance what the other's next move would be.
As Chuck looked across into Carina's eyes, he too was thinking about the last few years. When Sarah first came into his life, he was adrift, floating through life solely on inertia. Jill had crushed him on top of Bryce's betrayal, but when he admitted it to himself, the inertia was his fault. He could have rebounded at any time, could have finished his degree at UCLA or any other school, but something kept him back. Sarah's arrival and her initial pursuit of him were exhilarating, but by the end of their first date he knew it wasn't real. The next three years were a frustrating roller coaster, always getting close before being shoved back. Carina's return and their blossoming relationship helped him understand that it wasn't that he wasn't good enough for Sarah, she just made a different choice. Carina chose him, and this night he would show Carina that he was choosing her.
After a final after-dinner drink, they made their way to the beach and walked slowly, hand in hand, enjoying the simple pleasure of being together. The two were strolling along when Carina saw something ahead of them she couldn't explain. It appeared to be something on fire on the otherwise deserted beach. When they got close, Chuck drew her into a passionate kiss, mashing their lips together. As he broke the kiss, her eyes were glazed and she stayed frozen in place.
He took her hands and slowly drew her forward, until she could see the fiery circle was actually a heart-shaped arrangement of candles in the sand. She gasped at the display, in the center of which was a small X scratched in the sand. Chuck drew her into the heart before he turned to face her directly.
"I tried to think of the most eloquent way to say this, Carina, but there really aren't any words I could put together that would be better than if I just said this from the heart, so I'm just going to say it: you're the best partner I could have ever asked for, in every sense of the word. You're the only one I want by my side in a fight, you're the only one I want by my side when there's no one else but us, and you're the best friend I've ever had. I've been grateful every day that you chose me," Carina drew a sharp breath as he continued, "Starting tonight and for every night from now on, I promise to choose you, too."
Chuck got down on one knee and took Carina's hands again. "Carina Miller, Cassandra Williamson, Maria Elena, Tara Callaghan, and whatever name you want me to call you, will you marry me?"
Breathlessly, Carina nodded and managed to gasp out, "Yes! Of course I will, Chuck!"
He smiled and brought the box up, opening it slowly to show her that in the bed of green velvet rested a beautifully crafted white gold engagement ring. The square-cut diamond nestled in between two glittering emeralds. It was elegant, but simple and understated. It was perfect. A single tear rolled down Carina's cheek as she whispered, "It's beautiful, Chuck."
As he slid it on her left ring finger he said with a sly grin, "I hope this makes us even for the diamond I owed you."
She grabbed his arms and brought him up, mashing her lips on his. "I love you, now and forever, Chuck Bartowski."
"And I love you, now and forever, Tara Callaghan." That was their last coherent thought until the nighttime sea breeze blew out the last of the candles.
A/N: The next chapter is the epilogue that brings us back to the beginning. I wrote the prologue the way I did for a reason, and you'll see why next time. No spoilers or teasers, you'll just have to wait for Monday. It's worth it, I promise! :)