A/N: Some more swimmer…hope you like…don't know why but this chapter seemed just a little off…maybe just the ending?…well, I'm sure that you'll let me know…chapter's a little short but just felt…I don't know…next time-'the mish'…La Ciudad? Yep…MI6?… Yep…More fun with Jeffster?…not out of the realm of possibility…serious mental health issues?…no thanks, already got some…well, not serious…just fun…pondering Jeffster…yeah, there's problems in that area atop the neck… JT

I can claim no ownership of anything Chuck related…at least nothing that lends itself to me making money…but I really want that 'Jeffster' video that I described…somebody, please make that happen…I can't be the only person who's life would be made forever better by that video. No beta. Hey, feel free to add your, or anyone else's Shaw punishment to that community I threw together. One shots, chapters, whole stories…just make sure that danny boy is mistreated and it's welcome.

Thanks Jim.

Sarah Vs. The Strong Swimmer - Chapter 21

Chuck and Morgan had been busy most of the day and despite a few unexpected problems, they'd gotten all of the day's jobs finished. As they walked through the front door of the apartment, they'd been surprised to find John Casey and Carina both sitting on the couch, game controllers in their hands.

"Moron" Casey had offered as a greeting without looking up from Super Mario Kart.

"Martin" Carina said with a smile on her lips as she appeared to be concentrating on her driving.

"Right…well, always a pleasure to see both of you" Chuck responded as he headed towards the kitchen. Turning the corner, he stopped and stared. Sarah was bent over, checking something in the oven, and Chuck just couldn't take another step. "I've changed my mind…I really do like seeing you in the kitchen!"

Slowly straightening up, Sarah turned around and smiled. Closing the oven door behind her, she stepped over to Chuck and threw her arms around his neck. Her kiss took his breath away and she left him feeling a little dizzy when she suddenly broke the kiss and backed away. "I love it when you objectify me, Chuck Bartowski. Now, go get changed…Casey and Carina have been waiting…you've got seven miles to do before dinner."

"But, honey…it was a really rough day at the office and…"

"Office, Chuck? Oh, you poor baby…I didn't know. So, was that the office… at the arcade on the pier…where you and Morgan spent over an hour?"

Chuck's mouth fell open and then closed with a snap. "You've got me lo-jacked, don't you? Are you tracking my phone?"

"Of course not…"

"Then how?…oh, Morgan's phone?" Chuck asked as he watched his fiancé's face. Seeing her sudden look of guilt, he pounced. "A-ha…gotcha…you…you…big sneak."

"Well…duh" she answered with a smile as she wrapped her arms back around his neck. "Remember" she whispered into his ear, "you knocked up a spy." She punctuated the statement with a gentle nibble on his ear. "Now, go get changed for your run."

"Yes ma'am" Chuck mumbled as he turned and headed towards their room.

After doing a quick visual of the kitchen, Sarah wandered out into the living room and watched as Morgan grabbed a controller and after plugging it in, slid into the space on the sofa between Casey and Carina. She almost laughed out loud when, within a minute, he'd wrecked into Casey's cart, giving Carina the perfect opening to grab the lead.

"Way to go, moron" Casey growled. "Do that again and I'll wreck you…and don't think your 'girlfriend' is gonna protect you…Martin."

"It was…an…accident?" Morgan said as he seemed to almost shrink closer to Carina.

"Let me get this straight…you accidentally veered across the track and t-boned me…allowing the woman whose lap you're almost sitting in to take the lead?"

"Uh…yes?"

Before the conversation could go any further, Chuck appeared at Sarah's side, startling her because she hadn't heard him approaching. "Leave Morgan alone" Chuck said, the amusement evident in his voice. "Lets get those seven miles done. Morgan, why don't you go home and get cleaned up…maybe we'll have a Mario Cart night…I'll give you a call later."

"Sounds good Chuck" he said, already on his feet and offering his hand to Carina who smiled at his gesture.

"Thanks…Martin" Carina said with a wink as she got to her feet. "Uh…" she said , looking down at her hand that Morgan still had held in his. "…Morgan?…Are you planning on joining us for the run?"

Morgan looked down and then dropped her hand like it was suddenly burning him. "Sorry" he mumbled.

"Smooth move, Romeo…I can see why the ladies are just beating down your door" Casey said before turning and heading out the front door. "Let's go, Chuck" he said back over his shoulder. "Hansen…whenever you're done swooning…" he added with a snort.

Walking over to stand beside Sarah, she watched as Chuck followed Casey out the door. "He sure is fun to watch when he's walking away" she said to Sarah.

"Carina" Sarah said in a quiet voice that carried a hint of a threat, "is that nose healed yet?"

Without another word, Carina was out the front door, leaving Morgan standing near Sarah. "So" he started, "…need some help with dinner?"

"Morgan…did you drag my fiancé to the arcade this afternoon?…while you were supposed to be working?"

"Wow…would you look at the time" he replied, looking down at his wrist that lacked a watch, "…I guess I better get going….have Chuck give me a call, ok Sarah?" he said as he hastily made his way out the front door and closed it behind him.

Sarah smiled to herself as she walked back to the kitchen, mentally going over her 'to do' list so she could have everything ready when Chuck got back from his run. She was looking forward to this dinner, sure that she'd done everything right. Finishing her mental checklist, she smiled to herself when she decided to add one more thing to her 'to do' list…her fiancé.

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Chuck had been surprised when Casey and Carina both matched his pace, taking up positions on either side of him. They began going over plans for the mission, making sure that he understood that there would have to be back up plans for the back up plans. They both asked about the persons of interest he'd flashed on, insisting that he tell them everything he could recall. When he started talking about the MI6 agent, Carina seemed to perk up until he described the agent as being five foot ten and very average looking.

"What's wrong, Hansen?" Casey asked. "Hoping it was Cole? I figured he'd already buttered that muffin."

"Shut up Casey! You're just jealous because he knows how to get out of handcuffs…naked. Maybe I should have him tell you how."

"Do I even want to hear this story?" Chuck asked.

"No!" both Casey and Carina answered at the same time.

"What…who is this Cole…some sort of James Bond?"

"Oh yeah" Casey said, "a regular Roger Moore."

"More like …Daniel Craig" Carina replied with a growl.

"Yeah, right…more like that Remington Steele tool…all wrapping, no substance"

Casey shot back.

"Casey, he was great in that Matador movie. Just because you haven't liked a Bond since Connery, that doesn't mean that they all sucked."

Chuck had taken a step back as he watched something he never could have imagined…two actual spies arguing over an imaginary spy.

"Thanks for your amazing insight, Hansen. Got anything good to say for Lazenbee?"

"Well, no. I did hear that his dad owned the studio and that's how he got the part."

"You're crazy, Hansen…everyone knows he got the part because he had photos of the director in a room full of naked midgets…"

"Oh please…you have no clue. I'll bet Chuck knows. Right Chuck?" Carina asked and when she didn't get an answer right away, she broke her eye contact with Casey and looked around. "Right Chuckles?…" she asked before realizing that the he was nowhere to be seen. "Casey, where the hell is Chuck?"

"Oh great, Hansen…first afternoon on the team and you lose Bartowski. Can't wait to tell Walker about this."

They both stopped and looked around, finally noticing that Chuck had stopped jogging and stood several hundred feet behind them. Exchanging quick glances, they turned and jogged back to where he stood, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"What the hell?" Casey asked as he slapped Chuck on the back of the head.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Carina echoed, punching him in the shoulder.

"I'm sorry…I guess I better tell my very hormonal fiancé that I caused you both to be so distracted, with your talk about James Bond, that you lost track of me. Does that sound about right?"

"That's not really necessary" Casey said after exchanging a glance with Carina who was lightly touching her nose.

"Yeah, that's not really something she needs to hear about" Carina agreed, nodding her head.

"Ok then…I'll just forget about it…I just hope I don't have a bruise…" he said as he rubbed his shoulder, a smile on his lips. "I guess I could just tell her that I slipped…or something. Maybe, if someone was to go to the grocery store and get some Chunky Monkey…Sarah's current favorite…I could think up a really good excuse."

"Are you trying to blackmail one of us?" Casey asked, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Blackmail is such an ugly word…I prefer to think of it as me, encouraging one of you, to do something nice for my very hormonal fiancé." Before either one of them could respond, Chuck resumed jogging, leaving them behind…a satisfied smile on his face. "Oh, I really hope you both enjoy the food tonight …" he said as he looked back over his shoulder, "…and you make sure you tell her how really great it is" he finished before turning back around.

"Damn, he's getting good" Carina said to Casey.

"Yeah…but she won't be pregnant forever…sooner or later…it's payback time."

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Chuck just couldn't believe how great the dinner had been. The food had been delicious…everyone had agreed on that fact and had mentioned it several times. Each time Casey or Carina said something, they would glance quickly in Chuck's direction and he began to worry that Sarah might begin to wonder what was going on. As soon as he'd finished his second helping of lasagna…it really had been that good…Chuck excused himself to start cleaning up. With a handful of plates, he made his way into the kitchen and started cleaning them off before loading them into the dishwasher. He wasn't paying attention and when Sarah wrapped her arms around him, he jumped and almost dropped the plate he was washing off.

"What is going on, Chuck?" Sarah asked in a hushed voice. "Are you feeling ok? Was I too rough on you in the shower earlier? I couldn't help myself…you know how I get when…well, whenever I'm around you."

After putting the plate down, he spun around in Sarah's arms and placed a loving kiss on her forehead. "Everything is wonderful. I can't believe how great the food was…well, I take that back, I can believe it. You can do anything you set your mind to…the food tonight just proves that."

"Chuck…what's really going on? You've been acting jumpy since we all sat down at the table."

"I guess I'm sorta worried about the mission. We went over lots of stuff this afternoon but …well, I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

"Charles Irving Bartowski…" she hissed as she tightened her hug, "…you will tell me what's really going on or I'll…"

"I blackmailed Casey and Carina into saying that everything was great tonight" he blurted out, somehow managing to look sad and terrified at the same time. "…I mean, everything is great…so, they aren't lying or anything…except maybe about the garlic bread…but probably not… it's really great…just a little garlic-y…and Carina brought the 'Monkey' cause I'm sorta blackmailing her and Casey…wait, I already said that…and …"

"Chuck…slow down and breath" Sarah said with a smile. "Now, what are you babbling about?"

"Well, this afternoon…while we were jogging and going over plans for the mission, Casey and Carina started talking about James Bond and they got distracted and didn't notice that they'd gotten ahead of me and…"

"Stop right there, Chuck…are you telling me that you're blackmailing two government agents because they slipped up?" she asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Well, yeah…sorta" he answered sheepishly.

"And there was nothing wrong with the food…it was actually good?"

"It was great!" he told her, the truth evident in his eyes.

"Ok…so what else are we going to make them do?" she asked with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Uh…what else are 'we' going to make them do?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Oh yeah…I can't believe you've got them over a barrel…wait a minute, what else happened…did Carina make a pass at you…did Casey threaten you…what happened?"

"Well, I sorta suggested that I might have to talk to my 'very hormonal fiancé' about their slip up and…it snowballed from there. I just wanted tonight to be perfect and…Sarah, I'm just not cut out for this sneaking around crap…hell, this is just between friends and I feel so guilty about the blackmail…well, a little guilty…and about keeping it from you…and…"

"Chuck Bartowski" she said gently, staring into his eyes as she placed her hands on either side of his face, "you are the most wonderful man in the world and I'm so lucky to have found you. I don't ever want you to change…not one bit" she finished before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. One small kiss led to another and before either of them knew what was happening, they'd lost ten minutes and only Casey's sudden appearance in the kitchen followed seconds later by Carina brought them back to reality.

"Are you trying to make me want to blind myself? Really, can't you two wait until after your guests leave?" Casey asked while sliding past the couple to place the stack of dishes in his hands into the sink. "I'm out of here. Tomorrow morning, Bartowski…don't be late" he said as he turned to leave. Pausing, he looked back. "Walker…thanks…the food was great. Hansen…running with us tomorrow?"

"Yeah…see you then. Night Casey. So, what's next? Movie?" Before Chuck or Sarah could answer, Morgan's voice sounded from the front door and both Chuck and Sarah were amazed to see the small smile suddenly appear on Carina's face. "Never mind…I think 'Martin' and I have a rematch scheduled…I'm gonna figure out how to beat him at Mario. Well? You guys coming?'she asked as she turned and headed out towards the living room. Pausing, she looked back. "Well…the more the merrier" she said before turning back around. "Alright, 'Martin'…Super Mario…put up or shut up…"

Chuck and Sarah exchanged smiles before they followed Carina out of the kitchen. "The dishes can wait for a few minutes" Sarah said as she grabbed Chuck's hand, pulling him towards the living room after giving him a quick kiss. "Besides…" she added, "…after you and Morgan lose to Carina and I…you'll have help to get them done…"

A/N: Not sure how I feel about this one…let me know.