A/N: Folks, this is the final installment for this fic. Instead of rewriting it, I decided to cover almost the entire third season in one chapter and the easiest way to do it was by having Chuck and Sarah finish telling Ellie and Devon about their escapades.
Thank you all for reading and for your reviews and comments.
Chuck & Sarah vs the Whole Truth
"So, what you're telling me is that, until just before Devon and I left for Africa, you were playing with my brother?" Ellie asked. Chuck and Sarah looked at each other.
"Um, not exactly, Ellie," Sarah said.
"Maybe we should tell them everything. Set the record straight," said Chuck, his hand soothingly rubbing Sarah's arm as they sat together facing Ellie and Devon. Sarah looked into his eyes and nodded.
"We are listening," said Ellie, encouraging them to continue. "But, before you start, I'd like a clarification on something you already mentioned: Devon too told me that the stripper at his bachelor party was a CIA agent. Did it all happen as you told me back then, Chuck?"
"Yes, sis, Alex, as we said, was here for a specific mission. Basically, her job at the party was over when she tranqed Devon and got his key card. Casey and I knew the truth, but the others, Morgan included, thought that he'd just passed out drunk. That was when the idea to pull a prank on Devon with the photos surfaced. Alex didn't want to do it. She might be an agent who will stop at nothing to get the job done, but Devon is just a civilian whose taxes pay her salary. One of the people her job is to protect. She's just like Sarah and Casey in that respect, a consummate professional, but a decent person as well. Casey didn't like it either, but he had to tell her to do it to maintain her cover."
"I see. Sarah, please continue."
"OK, here goes. I kept up the act for about a week. And then the whole Generalissimo business came along. Devon was called to the hospital to treat him, while Chuck and I were tasked with protecting him."
"The information Devon gave me suggested that there had been an attempt on Goya's life. The invitation to the consulate dinner was convenient for us, as we could easily get in and keep an eye on the Premier," added Chuck.
"And, Ellie, you were right when you said that I still had feelings for Chuck. Remember, after I took you away from the Premier for 'girl talk'? I was planning on dropping the charade and getting back together with Chuck after the mission. Our dance simply reinforced my decision."
"But then, instead of the real assassin, Devon tackled Casey, who was in disguise because he was a wanted man in Costa Gravas for helping the anti-communist rebels there. They called him El Angel De La Muerte – The Angel Of Death. Devon was feeling bad about screwing the op, so he offered to help us get Casey back. When Goya was poisoned again, we took the opportunity to get in as Devon's associates. Sarah was the nurse."
"You should have seen her babe," said Devon. "She took out two guards armed with automatic weapons with just her fists."
"She's my kickass ninja spy girl," said Chuck proudly and kissed her.
"I haven't yet returned the nurse's uniform to the Castle wardrobe, and you could use some more TLC after your fight with Shaw," Sarah whispered to Chuck and had the satisfaction of seeing him swallow hard before she continued. "Anyway, we found Casey, who'd beaten the real assassin in hand to hand combat, but had been shot in the leg by another guard. Chuck flashed on field surgery to remove the bullet."
"He's got the hands of a surgeon," added Devon. "You should have seen it babe, it was awesome."
"He did all that? He can't stand the sight of blood or needles!"
"He had to and he did. And then we were free, with the gratitude of the Premier as well. I was going to Chuck's to kiss and make up when I got a call that the Ring had mistaken Devon for Agent Carmichael – Chuck – and had taken him, intending to try and turn him."
"As Casey said, it was because Devon looks like a spy, while I look like… me. There was no indecent exposure charge against Casey, sis. I made that up to explain Awesome's absence. We managed to take down the Ring cell and keep Devon safe, but we met the bane of our existence."
"Otherwise known as Daniel Shaw," said Sarah. "The General put him in charge of our team for all Ring related missions. Which brings us to the next mission: Chuck on the plane to Paris. Shaw, idiotically I might add, had Chuck go over my and Casey's objections and he hadn't even fully briefed him. He might have wanted to test him, but he should have been smart enough to realize that you simply don't do that on important missions. Fortunately, Chuck made it back."
"I couldn't have done it without you and Casey. The advice you gave me over the phone and the other thing you did, which is classified, saved my life."
"Shaw's actions had me very worried. The plane thing was strike two; strike one had been when Casey had to pull a gun on him to get him to let us back Chuck up when we were trying to save Devon from the Ring. So I decided to put my plan for getting back together with Chuck on hold, at least until I could figure out what Shaw was up to."
"You should have told me, Sarah."
"I had to sell it, hence me not telling you anything. I know it hurt and I'm sorry, but I did it all for us. What I didn't count on was Chuck coming back from Paris with some extra baggage."
"Hannah," said Ellie.
"Hannah," Sarah confirmed. "Yet another brunette coming after Chuck. Lou and Jill were not much of a problem, but Chuck and I were still apart when Hannah came into the picture."
"The mission in Dubai was next," Chuck said, trying to steer the conversation away from the subject of Hannah. "I had to cultivate an asset. It's as difficult as it sounds. On top of it I had to watch Sarah in her underwear pretend she'd slept with him."
"Pretend?" Ellie asked.
"Twilight tranqs," Sarah said. "They make you forget what happened in the last five minutes."
"Back on topic," said Chuck. "Manoosh, that was his name, had reverse-engineered Intersect glasses for the Ring, but figured he'd make more on the open market. We had to follow him to Weap-Con in Dubai. Casey loved it, of course. In the end I had to burn him. It was hard, but I kept reminding me that he was not just a nerd like me, but he was designing weapons for profit. He's in government custody now."
"Chuck took it really hard. I saw him on the surveillance feeds. He was drinking Johnnie Walker Black, as per Casey's advice. Casey also said that Chuck was becoming a spy and it was a good thing. I was not so sure. I didn't want to lose the Chuck I fell in love with. I wanted to go to him and comfort him, but… I didn't know what to say or do to make it better."
"The tickets to Paris?" Chuck interjected. "I know I told you at the Buy More about the supposed install in Paris, but I also got the idea to give you a trip as a gift, hence the tickets. The CIA happily obliged. They must get a kick out of fulfilling my strange requests, ha-ha. First the rose petals and pecan pie, I acted on Devon's script, by the way, and then the tickets. They are still good. You can use both them and a CIA apartment. The French Secret Service will also be glad to help, I fancy. All it would take would be a call from Sugar Bear to one of their agents."
"El, I know how I acted when Chuck gave you the tickets. I was still freaked out by the spy business and I hadn't yet reclaimed my awesomeness. Sorry about that."
"No problem, honey, especially since we can still go to Paris. Now, tell me about the next mission, Sarah."
"The next mission was to recover a chemical weapon shipped to the US inside the display base of the Mask of Alexander."
"Shaw screwed up royally on this mission," said Chuck.
"He did. First of all, he got trapped in the vault and we had to bring Chuck in to get him out. It would have been simple, except for one detail: a certain new Nerd Herder. Hannah. She insisted on following Chuck on his service call. She unwittingly caused a few problems, but none too serious."
"We did, however, have to reschedule the operation for later, just before the exhibit was to open. And Sarah had to pose as Shaw's fiancée, wearing yet another red dress."
"That's it! I'm burning every red garment I own!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Please don't. I like you in red. We managed to get the mask, but the Ring lured Hannah to the museum and trapped her inside the vault. They told me to get them the mask back to them if I ever wanted to see her alive again."
"And then Shaw screwed the pooch again," continued Sarah. "He got the canister out, but also released the gas – cyclosarin, which is a lethal gas. He and I were exposed to it. Chuck flashed and told us there was an antidote. He went to the museum with Casey and he tricked the Ring agent into revealing the location of the counter agent, gave it to me and Shaw and also rescued Hannah."
"Shaw made yet another mistake, his third big one on this mission. Sarah, being much lighter than him, was affected by the gas quicker. So he carried her to the museum. But he took her inside instead of waiting in the van for me to get the antidote to them. He was made by the Ring."
"And then Morgan and I caught you and Hannah making out in the home theater room of the Buy More. I was not happy that you had broken up with Sarah, but I was glad you were moving forward with your life and not revisiting the Jill years. It was a lesser of two evils kind of thing. I definitely preferred Sarah over Hannah; I love her like a sister, ever since you two hooked up."
"Thank you Ellie. Although I think you'll hate me when you hear the whole story."
"I didn't take a frying pan to you when I learned that you are a spy. What makes you think I'll hate you now that you and my baby brother are back together?"
"Thanks Ellie. The next assignment was a tricky one. Chuck had to pose as a notorious hitman."
"It was no big deal really, as I-"
"Chuck, if I hear the 'Fiddler on the Roof' line again, I will hurt you."
"Shutting up now."
"Good. Where was I? Oh, yes. Chuck did a good job selling it, he even impressed Casey. But one of the mobsters Chuck had to meet with to get the details of his contract used to be a Marine. He recognized Casey, even called him by his real name."
"I'll take it from here, Sarah. You see, Ellie, they thought he was a cop. I couldn't kill him, so I had to buy time for Sarah and Shaw to bring backup. I did it by 'torturing' Casey. I ended up yanking out one of Casey's teeth. Fortunately, it was the one with a cavity, thus I saved him a trip to the dentist and he even thanked me for it."
"I didn't see it that way. I was watching my Chuck disappear and a cold hearted agent gradually take his place. All this made me want to remember who I used to be before my CIA days. I told Shaw that much, and in a moment of weakness even told him my original name."
"What she didn't know at the time is that I was watching and listening. Shaw was the mark I, or rather Rafe the hitman, had been hired to kill. It hurt me immensely to witness that scene."
"Sarah, you said you told Shaw your original name. Don't you mean your real name?"
"Ellie, the way I feel it, my real name is Sarah Walker, which has also been my legal name ever since after high school. The name you got to know me by, the name I had when I found true love. The name on my birth certificate is-"
"Sarah, you don't have to tell us. It's very personal and I understand if you don't want to. You'll always be Sarah to us, anyway."
"I want to tell you, Ellie. It's Sam. The name on my birth certificate is Samantha Lisa. But I am Sarah Lisa now and I like it that way," Sarah said and hugged Ellie.
"Ellie, Sarah and Shaw also made the chicken pepperoni you liked so much. Only Devon knew I hadn't cooked it, because I told him."
"Uh, Chuck, only I cooked. I had Shaw just do the necessary shopping. He can't cook to save his life. The only thing he knows is nuking frozen TV dinners in the microwave. The Crock Pot I got for him still sits in Castle, unused."
"Looks like I turned you into a proper cook. Do me a favor and don't let my brother cook ever again. You and Morgan can do wonders in the kitchen."
"Ha-ha, you got it, Ellie. Back to the story: the real Rafe escaped and found us; me, Chuck and Shaw. He was going to kill me, but Casey took him out with one shot from over half a mile away. Also, opening up to Shaw and dating him was another part of my plan to find out what exactly he had in store for us and to control him to an extent. I realized that he wanted to use Chuck not as a spy, but as a weapon against the Ring, as he believed they'd killed his wife. The following mission made me want to get him as far away from Chuck as possible."
"In the meantime I had broken up with Hannah because I didn't want to drag her down into a web of lies. But the emotional hell I was going through affected my ability to flash, so I was benched."
"And that occurred at the worst possible moment, because the Ring, now aware that Shaw was alive, concocted an elaborate hoax to get him away from his base. Ring agents, under the pretense of evaluating the store for sale, searched the Buy More and found our base. Devon was the bait to lure me, Casey and Shaw away."
"Morgan stumbled in on my secret back then. I told him everything, as I thought we were going to die. He made me realize that I still loved Sarah, no matter how hard I was trying to deny it, even to myself. And the Intersect 2.0 came back online when I got my emotions in check."
"I watched the interior surveillance afterwards. Chuck kicked ass and took names down there. Even Morgan knocked one of the Ring Agents out."
"I'm impressed," Ellie said.
"What Sarah forgot to mention is that Shaw was going to activate the Castle self destruct protocols, while Morgan and I were still inside. Sarah begged him to give me some more time. Good thing she did, too."
"After that I knew that I didn't want Shaw anywhere near Chuck. Beckman had ordered us to DC, so that would have been covered. I would be away from Chuck, but I believed it was a small price to pay for keeping him safe."
Before they could continue with the story, there was a knock on the door. The pizza had arrived. Chuck took the delivery and paid, while Sarah went to the kitchen to get them all some beer from the refrigerator. When they had all settled back down and devoured a slice each, Sarah picked up from where they had left off.
"The next mission was one full of dangerous complications. At first it was simple enough. We had to evaluate the security in a CIA installation. We did it quite easily."
"And then the trouble began. You see, Casey had been contacted by the same man who had originally recruited him for the NSA, who also happened to work for the Ring after being dismissed. He blackmailed Casey into stealing something for him."
"Chuck saw him and mistakenly assumed it was another spy test for him, so he jokingly ratted Casey out to Beckman. She had me arrest him."
"You see, Ellie, before he became John Casey, he was Alex Coburn. He had a fiancée and she believed he was dead. But Keller knew about her and told Casey that he'd kill her if he didn't steal something for the Ring."
"It was an experimental pill, used to suppress emotions. He should have told us from the beginning. This way we could turn it into a legitimate mission. He made the same mistake Chuck and I did when we ran off to rescue your dad. He forgot that it all works out better when we handle matters as a team."
"He wanted to protect us, give us some plausible deniability."
"True, but we could have gotten Beckman's support had he come clean."
"You're right as usual, honey."
"I know. In the end, Casey and I took Keller and his men out, and Chuck saved Kathleen. He had to take the pill tough."
"For a while I was the Terminator; the perfect spy and a ruthless killing machine."
"He almost killed a Ring operative with his bare hands. Scared the living daylights out of me. Seeing him cold and emotionless like this only increased my fear that the old Chuck was slipping away."
"One look at you was enough to bring that old Chuck back, Sarah. The power of love."
"One crisis averted. That day Casey also learned that he had a daughter."
"It's kinda strange, you know," said Ellie. "One would have never guessed that sweet little Alex is actually John's daughter."
"Yeah… Casey didn't know that Kathleen was pregnant when he faked his death to become a spy, sis. After the mission he was dismissed from the NSA."
"And then came Chuck's final spy test."
"It was fun, at first. All I had to do was tail a guy and obtain a picture of his contact, a mole inside the CIA. I even threw a stakeout dinner, with the appropriate music, for Sarah, in an effort to win her back."
"It was as romantic as it sounds," agreed Sarah. "And it was working, until he had to leave to tail his first mark."
"I'll leave out the part where I was clinging naked to the wall of a five-star hotel."
"You were a naked spy, Chuck."
"You heard that?"
"Hard not to, you had your mike on. I also got a good view of your backside on the surveillance. I still have the disc." Sarah winked seductively. There was laughter all around.
"I was so happy to have passed that I gave Casey his old gun as a present."
"What we didn't know was that Shaw had another test for Chuck: his Red Test."
"What is that? Sounds ominous," Devon said.
"It is… It's the ultimate test for a fledgling spy. To kill a mark outright. Shaw ordered me to tell Chuck to kill the mole. Which would have been superfluous, as his Carmichael file already had two kills up to the time. I'm referring to Bernie Ominsky and Bill Bergey we've already told you about. Casey and I reported them as legitimate kills, to make Chuck look more authentic on paper."
"I was faced with a huge dilemma. I didn't want to kill anyone, but if I didn't then I wouldn't be a spy. In the end I decided to arrest him and let the CIA take it from there."
"Chuck chased him through the Union Station marshaling area. I was following them and the next thing I know, the mole was dead and Chuck was standing over him, gun in hand."
"You killed him, bro?"
"Uh, no, Captain. What I'll tell you now must be kept secret. Nobody else must know, okay?" Devon and Ellie both nodded. "Good. When I told Casey that I passed the spy test, he knew that I hadn't yet been given my Red Test. He followed me and killed the mole with the gift gun I'd given him."
"I didn't know that at the time… I thought that it was the end of the Chuck I'd fallen for. I blamed myself for it. I said I didn't love you anymore. It wasn't true… I hated myself for my part in ruining a great man, as I believed. Also, the memories the worst day of my life, my own Red Test, came flooding back. After all those years I still remember every detail… It had been a traumatic experience for me." Sarah had tears in her eyes as she said that. Chuck just hugged her. Ellie rose from her seat and soothingly stroked Sarah's back.
"Sarah, it's OK," she said.
"As Beckman believed I had passed the test, she called me to DC for my formal induction and to give me my next assignment. It would be in Rome, no less. I'd even get to choose my own team. And I wanted Sarah in it."
"But I couldn't bear to face Chuck, not after what I believed I'd done to him. So, I declined, saying I was going to DC with Shaw."
"I knew I had to resort to drastic measures to win her back, without betraying Casey's trust by telling her what had really happened at the train tracks. So, with help from Devon here, Casey and Morgan, I crashed Sarah and Shaw's dinner date. He always took you to fancy establishments, baby."
"I know. I was getting a kick out of being wined, dined and given expensive presents like those earrings from Tiffany's, while knowing he'd never get me between the sheets. But I really was surprised to see you at the restaurant."
"Then I tackled Shaw through the restaurant window, babe," said Devon. "After that you had to bail me out of jail."
"You did all that for my little brother? I suppose I should thank you."
"You should thank them all, sis. Anyway, I took your advice and went all out, pulled out all stops to get my love back."
"First he saved Shaw. He was driven by vengeance, as we told you, so he volunteered to go on a suicide mission to allow us to target a major Ring facility for an airstrike. Chuck locked me in the Castle and took off to save him."
"The Ring had found his tracker and removed it. Fortunately, Jeff and Lester had been following Shaw to prove to me that they are good stalkers – it's as creepy as it sounds. They told me the location of the Ring facility. I went in, got Shaw out and planted the tracker."
"Casey got me out of the Castle and I drove there in time to see the airstrike. And then I saw Chuck carry Shaw to safety. He told me he'd done all this because he knew how much I cared about Shaw. I never cared about him. I always loved Chuck."
"As I already said, I went all out to win Sarah back. I told her I loved her, kissed her and asked her to run away with me. I told her I'd be waiting for her at Union Station."
"I was packing to join him. My Chuck was not completely gone and I couldn't stay away from him. Casey came to my hotel room and told me the truth about Chuck's Red Test. I was elated. My Chuck had never changed, he was always there. As I was leaving to meet Chuck at the train station, Shaw came and told me that we had a new mission."
"There was a reason the Ring wanted Shaw alive. They wanted to show him something. They did and managed to turn him."
"How did they do that, bro?"
"They showed him footage of my Red Test. His wife had been my target," said Sarah.
"You killed his wife?"
"Until recently, I didn't know who it was. They'd just given me a photo, a time and a place and told me to kill her. We may never know if she'd really been turned by the Ring or if she'd just been set up."
"Shaw wanted revenge. He wanted to destroy the CIA and kill Sarah. But first he wanted her to know what she'd done. He took her to a Ring warehouse, where footage of her Red Test was playing. I got there with a tactical team, after Casey told me how to get help, only to find Shaw apparently forgive her. Beckman benched me from Rome for ordering an expensive rescue operation without proper authorization. She also ordered Sarah and Shaw to DC."
"I appreciated the tank though." Sarah kissed him again.
"I was devastated. I got drunk, played Guitar Hero and tied Morgan up with game controller cords when he tried to take my whiskey away. Then Sarah came and admitted that she still loved me. Afterwards, we went on a mission with Shaw to get the Ring Director and the Cipher for the Ring Intersect."
"It looked like Shaw had saved us and killed the Ring Director," added Sarah. Ellie and Devon just listened in rapt fascination, as they did most of the time during Chuck and Sarah's confession. "He and I were ordered to Paris, to find where the Ring had the components for their Intersect manufactured. We didn't know he was setting me up to kill me. Chuck and Casey followed me to Paris and saved me."
"You should thank Morgan too."
"Morgan?"
"Yes, he was the first to realize that Shaw had been turned. He noticed that his fight with the Ring agents had been faked. He also talked Casey out of his funk and into helping me, after Beckman wouldn't listen to me."
"Chuck found me and shot Shaw to save me. We thought he'd killed him. After that we got back together. You and Devon were going to Africa, so we decided to quit the spy life and run. I'll have to thank Morgan for helping save me too."
"You can help me protect him from Casey, now that he's seeing Alex."
"I can do that. Back to the story: we took a train to Zurich. We thought that this what each other wanted, to just be together. We didn't leave our compartment for a couple of days."
"I think I know why. It must have been awesome," Devon said.
"Yes, we were making up for the lost time and yes, it was really awesome, Devon. Unfortunately, when we decided to actually get out of said compartment and have breakfast in the dining car, the spy world caught up with us. I flashed on a Basque terrorist and Sarah saw that one of the men with him was armed."
"We investigated, separately at first. Then we agreed to do a final mission, under the radar. We would turn the terrorist over to Interpol."
"Thus we became Mr. and Mrs. Charles from Texas. Mrs. Charles was amazing."
"So was Mr. Charles," Sarah said in a Texas drawl. They kissed again.
"What we didn't know was that he had already turned himself in and his men were in fact his Interpol escort. In the meantime, Casey and Morgan found us and came to get us to come back. We'd already drugged the two Interpol agents and caught the former terrorist, so we just waited for another team to pick him up. Casey and Morgan let us go and they were waiting for the new Interpol team, which turned out to be Arnauldo's former terrorist buddies posing as agents. We took them down eventually and were about to run again when he made us realize that we wanted to be spies together. We even got Beckman to approve of our relationship."
"She even said that it was about time." Sarah's smile couldn't be wider.
"And then you guys left for the Congo."
"And we got our next assignment. We had to recover some software and we were teamed up with another spy couple, who'd been married for thirty years, or rather kept divorcing and remarrying for thirty years."
"After the mission they decided to retire and recommended us as to take their place. I also convinced Sarah to move in with me." *lingering kiss*
"We had to remodel your apartment too, as Morgan had trapped the bad guy's female Bengal tiger inside and she turned it into an oversized kitty litter box. Another fun project for the CIA cleaners." They all laughed heartily.
"Then it all went south… The Intersect went on overdrive. I was even committed to a CIA psychiatric facility. We did manage to get another mission completed though and Sarah saved me again. Justin, however, was still manipulating Ellie, in order to find Dad. My condition was worsening, but Dad found out about the 2.0 and built me a device to counteract the overloading. I've already told you all about that and what happened with Shaw before he killed Dad, as well as everything after that. We should have told you about me being a spy from the start. That way you'd know to come to me when Justin first approached you."
"In retrospect, keeping you in the dark was very short-sighted," agreed Sarah.
Ellie and Devon contemplated what they'd just heard. Then Ellie rose from the couch.
"Sarah Lisa Walker," she said. "You told me I might hate you and I told you I wouldn't. I don't and never will hate you. You kept Chuck alive for a long time and thanks to you he's finally living to his true potential. He did a lot of good before quitting the CIA and I'm proud of him. I'm proud to call you a friend, too. In fact, you are more than a friend; you are a sister to me."
"Thanks, Ellie, it means a lot to me." The women hugged again.
"So, everything is as it should be," said a new feminine voice from the courtyard.
"Carina?" Sarah asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Didn't I tell you that I'd come to visit again?"
"This is your sister, right Sarah?" Devon asked.
"Yes."
"Well, don't just stand there, come in," Chuck said and went to open the door. Carina entered and was formally introduced to Ellie and Devon.
"So, Chuckles and my baby sister are finally back together. And I seem to recall I heard you say that Morgan hooked up with Johnny's daughter… I didn't know he had one."
"How long have you been out there?" Chuck asked.
"Long enough to hear everything."
"There isn't a mission you want our help for, is there?" Sarah asked suspiciously.
"No, not this time, sis. I'm on vacation."
"In that case, can I get you some pizza?"
"I'd love that, thanks. I'm starving."
After pizza and some small talk, it was time for a movie. Afterwards, Ellie and Devon retired to their apartment, Carina returned to her hotel room and Chuck and Sarah went to their room.
"What are you going to do now, Mr. Regular Guy?"
"I think we need a vacation. Then I'll start looking for a normal job."
"I love you, Chuck Bartowski."
"I love you, Sarah Walker."
THE END
