A/N: Well guys, we've reached the end. I originally intended on stretching it out a few more chapters, but in my heart I feel as though the characters of this incredibly wild AU have all reached their destinations. This story has helped me grow in so many ways. Over the course of these twenty-six chapters, I've found my voice, I've found my creativity, I've found my way. Chuck is so much more than a television show to me, and this was just one of many ways to pay tribute.
To my fans: Having a fanbase has been one of the most important things throughout this experience. I'm in college for acting right now, and having everyone following this story and commenting truly shows me how wonderful and helpful fans can be. I read each and every comment carefully, and try to take everyone's constructive criticism and turn it into a chapter.
Now, I know that I have never finished a story before as an author on this site, so I will mark this moment in my calendar. 11/25/2015, the day I finished my first story. EVER. Chuck vs The News Anchor has been one helluva ride, and I am so thankful to have written these characters for so long. I started this story in my freshman year of high school, and to finish it as a sophomore in college is bittersweet.
So here's one last note:
This chapter is my longest yet, and I pulled an all-nighter to finish. I have placed a time jump into this chapter, only to show us what life for the Bartowski clan is like after a few years. I think you all deserve a good ending, and I hope I have fulfilled your hopes for a great ending. Thank you all again for sticking with this story. Comments are always welcome, even if I'm finished with this one! Also, there's a contest for best fanfiction story going on, so please head over to inkitt .com /fandom2 and vote for Chuck vs The News Anchor! Tell all your friends ;)
-Charahfan44
The cancer in Jill's body didn't take long to overtake everything. Within only a few short weeks, she was on her deathbed. Of course, Katelyn was there with her every day after school, sometimes with Chuck, other times Sarah. Katelyn was the only thing Jill had to look forward to until she was gone forever. On one particular day, Jill had texted Sarah, asking her to come visit alone. Despite everything that had happened between Chuck and Jill, Sarah and the latter were becoming friends.
"Hey," Sarah gently tapped a sleeping Jill. "Everything okay?"
"I have a weird feeling." Jill blinked slowly.
"What do you mean?"
"Sarah, I'm not going to be here much longer."
"Don't talk like that-"
"Listen to me." Jill interrupted. Sarah looked at the dying woman with sympathetic eyes. "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"Katelyn adores you. She adores you more than anything in the world. I need you to stay with her."
"I would never leave her."
"I figured." Jill smiled weakly.
"Did you need the reassurance or something?" Sarah joked, smiling back.
"No, my favor is for you to stay with Chuck as well. As much as he seems fine on his own, he wouldn't come back from losing you."
"I didn't ever plan on leaving."
"Me either." Jill stared Sarah straight in the eyes. "Sarah, he's going to need you more than anything. Chuck doesn't exactly deal with death. And I get it, you don't ever plan on leaving. But one day something might happen, and you ay have the thought to bolt. Life sneaks up on you, believe me. So I'm asking you to stay. Through the tough times, through the silent times, through the awkward phases. Stay."
"I promise. I'm not going anywhere." Sarah placed a hand on Jill's.
"I didn't think I'd like you."
"Oh, I thought I'd hate you." The two laughed together, Jill's laughing turning into a coughing attack.
"Katelyn is going to take it hard."
"I know."
"Protect her for as long as you can. I'll do my best from up there." Jill gestured to the ceiling with her head.
"You're not a bad person, you know."
"I left my family."
"You were scared."
"Doesn't matter."
"Jill, I think you've more than made up for everything."
"Because I'm dying."
"Either way, you got to say goodbye."
"I guess so..."
"Mom! Look what I got!" Katelyn's voice burst into the room before her body did. She ran in, clutching a piece of paper tightly in her hands. Sarah slightly stepped to the side, giving Katelyn plenty of space to talk to Jill.
"One-hundred percent? I told you." Jill smiled at her daughter.
"She's been helping me with my math." Katelyn looked guiltily towards Sarah.
"Good, you know I'm terrible with numbers." Sarah laughed, trying to ease Katelyn's mind. "How'd you get here, anyway?"
"Dad gave me a ride."
"Where is he?"
"He was parking the car."
"I'll give you two a minute." Sarah left the room subtly, trying not to disturb the two brunette's.
"Trying to escape?" Chuck came face to face with his wife as the both turned the same corner in sync.
"Not a chance." They kissed, and smiled at each other.
"What're you doing here?" Chuck asked.
"Jill asked me to come."
"Is she okay?"
"I think we should talk to Katelyn."
"Right." Chuck looked down, clearing the lump forming in his throat.
"You're allowed to be sad." Sarah placed her hand on his arm and rubbed it reassuringly.
"I'm fine." He forced a smile.
"You should go spend time with them."
"Where are you headed?"
"Home. I have a few things to take care of."
"You sure you don't want to stay?"
"Yeah, you guys should be with her. She needs family." Sarah kissed Chuck once more, and then walked away. Chuck watched his wife disappear behind the white walls of the hospital and sighed. When he got to Jill's room, he immediately noticed how bad she looked. Katelyn was talking away, and Jill was trying to keep focus and listen.
"Hey, K, will you go get me a coffee?" Chuck asked his daughter, hinting for some privacy with his ex-wife.
"Sure, I can take a hint." She looked to Jill. "I'll be back."
"I'll be here." Jill smiled and placed a hand on her daughter's cheek.
"I wanted to say something to you in private." Chuck sat in the chair next to Jill's bed as soon as Katelyn left the room.
"Sarah told you I wasn't doing so well."
"She did."
"You knew this day would come, Chuck."
"I did."
"I don't want a long sappy goodbye. A handshake will do."
"Jill."
"What? I'm dying, you have to abide by my rules."
"I love you."
"I know."
"Do you? When you left, I felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer and smashed me into a million pieces. That's how bad it hurt. I get that it sounds girly and stupid, I do, but you broke my heart. That doesn't mean I ever stopped loving you. The day you showed up again, I thought Sarah and I were going to hit a rough patch because the second I saw you, all of those old feelings came back. All at once. I didn't think I could love two people at once, but I do. And I want you to know that I forgive you. I completely forgive you."
"Chuck. You can't forgive me."
"Too bad, I already did."
"I don't deserve it." A single tear ran down Jill's face. Chuck wiped it gently, smiling at her.
"Everyone deserves to be forgiven."
"I was afraid to die alone. That's why I came back, I'm a coward."
"Coward or not, you gave us closure. Thank you."
"Dad, here's your coffee." Katelyn came back in, holding a cup in her hand.
"Come sit." He patted his right leg.
"I'm not two." Katelyn sassed.
"Just do it, please." Chuck's face turned serious.
"I don't want to." Katelyn refused, finally figuring out what was happening.
"Katelyn."
"No." She looked at her mother. "You are not dying." Jill's eyes grew heavy, and she struggled to keep them open.
"I can't fight anymore." The older brunette mumbled. Katelyn wandered over to Chuck, sitting on his lap and taking Jill's hand in hers.
"I love you. I want you to know that. Having you back has been great, and I won't ever forget you." The teen said, tears falling from her eyes.
"I love you, too. I'm proud of you." Jill smiled one last time, took one last breath, and finally let the blackness take over.
The Bartowski household was silent for what seemed like forever after Jill's death. Katelyn had an especially black cloud hanging over her head every day. Going to school didn't even seem to take her mind off of her mother. The funeral was planned for a week after Jill's passing, and it crept up on the family before they knew it. Katelyn had decided to go straight home after the service, skipping the celebration of life. Sarah and Chuck accompanied her, not knowing what to say.
"Thanks for being so great about all of this." Chuck looked to his wife, who was sitting next to him on the couch downstairs.
"Of course." Sarah said, stuffing her face with her third sandwich of the day.
"Have I been forgetting to feed you?" Chuck laughed, noticing the excessive amount of food.
"I think I've been forgetting to feed myself." She laughed back.
"We should go talk to her, shouldn't we?"
"We should." The two got up, making their way upstairs. Sarah was the one to knock, making sure it was soft. There was no answer, but the adults entered anyway. Katelyn was on her bed, crying into her stuffed rabbit, still wearing the clothes from the funeral.
"Baby..." Chuck made his way over to his daughter, wrapping her in his arms. Sarah watched with sad eyes as the teenager sobbed into her father's chest.
"We didn't get any time." Katelyn cried.
"I know, shh." Chuck tried his best to console her. Sarah's motherly instincts took over, and she joined the two on the bed. She stroked Katelyn's hair, with as much love and comfort as she possibly could.
"She told me that she would protect you from heaven." The blonde said softly.
"Heaven is too far from here."
"We'll all be there someday. But until then, we have to live our lives as happily as possible." Chuck added.
"I miss her so much."
"And that's completely normal. It won't ever get any easier, but you'll learn to live with it. Sorrow is a tricky thing." Sarah said.
"But we'll always be here if you need to talk." Chuck squeezed Katelyn tighter.
"I know." Katelyn forced a smile at the two. Sarah couldn't help but feel an unusual wave of nausea, as she kept stroking Katelyn's hair.
"I'll be right back." She got up quickly, heading straight for the master bathroom. As soon as she got to the toilet, all three of her sandwiches entered the porcelain bowl. After she was done, she sat back and wiped her mouth. She looked straight ahead, not thinking about the main underlying reason for her sickness. She got up, washed her face quickly in the sink, and went into the bedroom to lay on the bed.
"Everything okay?" Chuck entered the room.
"Yeah, I think the meat on those sandwiches were bad."
"Must've been."
"How's Katelyn?"
"Sleeping. I think the crying tired her out." Chuck sat down on the edge of the bed, removing his shoes.
"I took a good amount of time off from work." Sarah blurted.
"I figured. How'd that go over?"
"Fine. I'll be back, and they already have a filler." Sarah sat up, draping her arms around her husband's shoulders.
"That's good."
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You loved her."
"I did."
"And you aren't the slightest bit sad?"
"I mean, I'm sad, but I'll be okay."
"Chuck."
"Sarah."
"I'm your wife. I'm the one person in the world that you can let your guard down with. You just have to talk to me." Sarah looked into Chuck's brown eyes and held him close as she watched his face change from straight to sorrowful. She had never seen Chuck break down, but holding him as he cried was the moment she realized that she had truly seen all of one person.
"You should probably go back to work soon, don't you think?"
"Katelyn." Sarah smiled as the teen entered the family kitchen.
"Have I really been that much of a hermit?" Katelyn asked, noticing the brightening of Sarah's face.
"Kinda. But I'm glad you're out of your room."
"Anything for food." Katelyn laughed.
"You in the mood for anything specific?" Sarah asked.
"Cap 'n' Crunch?"
"I think we can make that happen."
"How are things?"
"Good." Sarah frowned with confusion. "You may be a hermit, but you've still been here."
"I know, but I really haven't talked to you or dad. You guys are good?"
"We're fine." Sarah said with a smile.
"Just fine?"
"Great?"
"Mom, that was the fakest smile I've ever seen." Katelyn raised an eyebrow.
"He's been working a lot lately."
"I've noticed."
"Hence the question in the first place."
"He just has a habit of burying himself in his work when he doesn't want to face the real world. I don't want it to affect you guys."
"It hasn't, I promise."
"So what's with the fake optimism?"
"Who says it's fake?"
"Alright, I'll play your game. But just know that I'll find out whatever it is sooner rather than later." Sarah swallowed hard as Katelyn went about getting her cereal. She had big news to share with Chuck, she just didn't know how to say it. Just like that night, Chuck had been getting home past midnight, and Sarah had been getting tired really early in the days. She forced herself to stay awake, because she had finally decided to talk to him about her secret.
"You're up late." Chuck walked into the bedroom with a slouch in his shoulders and exhaustion in his eyes.
"You look like hell." Sarah replied.
"Thank you, it's my latest trend." Chuck fell into bed with a heavy thud, his eyes closing immediately.
"I have something I want to talk to you about." Sarah turned on her side, facing him.
"You're finally going back to work?" He asked, his eyes remaining shut.
"Kinda. It ties into work."
"Okay."
"You should probably sit up." Sarah bit her lip. Chuck opened his eyes and sat up, looking at his wife worriedly.
"This doesn't exactly sound good."
"I'm not sure it is exactly good. I mean, it is. Or isn't. I don't know what to think, and I'm really nervous to tell you, especially because I don't know how this is going to work with our schedules and Katelyn and-"
"Babe, breathe." Chuck placed his hands on Sarah's shoulders, smiling.
"I'm pregnant." She stared as Chuck's face turned to stone. "Chuck?"
"Hmm?" His eyes didn't move.
"Are you okay?"
"Pregnant."
"Yes."
"Pregnant."
"For the third time, yes I'm pregnant."
"We can't go to New York."
"I know."
"Your job..."
"Is not more important than my family. Which is why I wanted to talk."
"How long have you known?" Chuck's eyes snapped back into focus.
"A few days."
"And you didn't tell me before now?"
"You've been working a lot, and Katelyn is still upset about Jill. I just didn't think it was a good time."
"Sarah, we're having a baby." As soon as the last word left his mouth, Chuck smiled his Chuck Bartowski smile. "We're having a baby." He started to laugh.
"What is happening?" Sarah asked of Chuck's sudden mood change.
"This is a great thing." He stood up on the bed, pulling Sarah up with him. "Sarah, you and I created this." He placed a hand on Sarah's stomach and smiled.
"We did." Sarah smiled back, and placed her hand on top of his.
"We're going to be fine."
"I know we are." Sarah leaned in for a kiss, which of course evolved into something more.
"What the heck is-" Katelyn entered the room, quickly covering her eyes as she noticed the make out session between her parents. "God! I would say get a room but I guess in this case, it's my fault."
"We were actually just-"
"No need to explain. Really."
"We were just talking about how there may be four Bartowski's hanging around the house soon." Chuck finished. Katelyn's eyes darted to Sarah.
"You're pregnant?"
"I'm pregnant." Sarah smiled.
"I'm totally going to let you guys finish celebrating." Katelyn walked away wish a smile.
"Hey," Sarah yelled to the hallway. Katelyn's head popped back into the room from around the corner, "I love you."
"I love you too, mom." Katelyn walked away once more, her face more lit up than before.
"Man, do we have a lot to plan." Chuck stated.
"And I couldn't be happier."
SIX YEARS LATER
Sarah paced back and forth in behind the front door, waiting for the doorbell to ring from the outside. Katelyn hadn't been home in almost seven months, due to her busy schedule at Syracuse. Majoring in Broadcast Journalism and interning at Central7 News in New York gave Katelyn no time to stop by the house. Luckily she had a few weeks off at Christmas to come home and catch Sarah up on life.
"Mommy, I need help with my letters." A petite version of Sarah appeared at her mother's side, holding a pencil and a piece of paper.
"Oh Harper, I forgot." Sarah winced at her own fault. The name Harper was a tough one to choose. Sarah and Chuck fought for months before they settled on the name. Neither of them had wanted to name her after someone, because they wanted to give her a name that she could make her own.
"That's okay." The five-year-old smiled up at her mother. "Is Katy here yet?" Harper was the only person in the world that Katelyn let call her Katy.
"No. Still waiting." Sarah crouched down to her daughter's level, taking a tiny blonde curl in her hand. "You want to wait with me?"
"Yeah!" Harper's face lit up.
"Still waiting?" Chuck appeared behind his daughter, holding a laughing two-year-old in his arms.
"Unfortunately." Sarah mumbled.
"She'll be here." Chuck laughed at his wife's irritation. "You know how she loves to keep us waiting."
"I see you got him to stop fussing." Sarah nodded to the toddler in Chuck's arms.
"Of course, this kid is a tank. I told you that food always does the trick."
"He's his father's son, that's for sure." Sarah sassed with a chuckle.
"I'm daddy's daughter." Harper frowned, always wanting to be the center of attention.
"You most definitely are." Chuck handed Levi to his mother, picking up Harper with his now free hands. "You better stay that way, too." He tickled her. Sarah smiled at the picture of their family. She looked down at the little boy in her arms and admired his soft brown hair. While Harper had inherited Chuck's curls, Levi was stuck with the straight strands of Sarah's genes. The ringing of the doorbell broke through her thoughts.
"It's Katy!" Harper squealed. Sarah immediately grabbed the door with her free hand and swung it open.
"Did someone call the Morganator?"
"Uncle Morgan!" Harper was just as excited to see the bearded wonder.
"Katelyn still not here yet?" Morgan noticed Sarah's disappointed look.
"Not quite." Chuck said.
"Well, we brought some cookies to eat while we decorate." Ellie wandered to the door, with her daughter at her heels.
"Hi, Sophie!" Chuck set Harper down to greet her cousin.
"Wanna go play ponies?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah, let's go!" The six and seven year olds raced upstairs.
"Let me help you with that, sis." Chuck took a box from Ellie's hands and helped her carry it into the kitchen. Morgan trailed with his own set of boxes, laughing along with his best friend and wife. Sarah walked into the nearby living room, setting Levi into his little play pen. Feeling a cold breeze, she realized that she had forgotten to close the front door. She turned around, only to find a grown up Katelyn pulling a suitcase into the house.
"Did you forget that California doesn't get snow?" Sarah laughed at the bundled brunette.
"I guess so, I'm totally sweating under this coat." Katelyn laughed back. Sarah walked up to her eldest child, hugging her tight.
"It's been way too long."
"I know. I'll try to come back more often, I promise." Katelyn let go of her mother and smiled. "Damn, you're old."
"Beats looking like crap." Sarah teased back. "God, I missed you."
"Ditto." Katelyn looked to the moving figure in the living room. "Holy crap, Levi is huge!" She walked over to her little brother and picked him up.
"Wait until you see Harper."
"Where is the little squirt?"
"Upstairs with Sophie."
"Dad?"
"Kitchen."
"Did you invite Aunt Molly?"
"Of course I did."
"Where's she at this year?"
"Cabo with the newest boyfriend."
"At least she gets a vacation out of this one." The two walked into the kitchen, where Katelyn was surrounded by hugs and questions. Harper and Sophie made their way downstairs, hearing the commotion. As everyone asked Katelyn about her time at Syracuse around the marble counter top of the island in the kitchen, Sarah watched from the doorway. Everything had turned out more perfectly than she could have imagined. Thinking back to the day she reconnected with Chuck in the middle of a grocery store, she couldn't help but smile. Her life had been forever changed for the better, thanks to Chuck and Katelyn Bartowski.