Warning: Just like the show, there are going to be significant character deaths still coming. I don't want to spoil any specific chapters so I'm going to post this warning in every chapter.

I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything.

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The Race

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Swimming is a little like sex. The harder you stroke, the faster you finish. – J. Casey

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Chuck was so wrapped up in figuring out a strategy for how to fix this with Sarah that he actually missed the fact that she was back. Of course she still looked upset. At least her body language appeared that way as she purposely stomped toward him. He instinctively knew that he should say something to try and calm her down. "Sarah," he said softly. "I'm so…"

But Chuck never got a chance to finish his apology. Because much like this morning, he suddenly found himself flat on his back with his blonde bride on top of him and her lips firmly attached to his. Unlike this morning, the ground wasn't nearly as soft as this morning's mattress had been, so it was something of a jolt. She was soaking wet and under normal circumstances he probably would have normally noticed the shock of her cold, wet bikini pressed against his chest. Except for now he was too consumed with what was inside that bikini pressed into his chest… and it may have been wet, but it was anything but cold. Sarah had her hands behind his head and was most definitely putting everything she had into letting him know that she was sorry.

Sarah was clearly relieved when Chuck returned her kiss with such vigor. In fact it was probably as intense as they had ever necked outside of the bedroom. Their tongues danced for a good long while. Sarah quickly made her apology official. "I'm so sorry that I got mad," she said as soon as the series of long kisses broke. "I… look, Chuck, I have this temper. But that was just me being stupid. I'm not mad at you. I love you. You haven't done anything wrong by being respectful. I'm just frustrated with the situation."

"I get that," Chuck said softly was he rolled them over to their sides. "I'm sorry that you're frustrated. And I can understand how you've come to some of the conclusions that you just did. But you're simply wrong about some things. If you would just take a deep breath and give me a chance, I think I can explain it better."

Sarah just nodded.

"You're not entirely wrong," Chuck began cautiously. "I'll freely admit that the first few times we made love I was very conscious of making doubly sure that you had a… what did you call it… oh yeah, an e-ticket ride. I had been waiting for a very, very long time, I wasn't exactly sure what your expectations were going to be, and I wanted to make sure I'd get another chance. In hindsight, I'm more than a little embarrassed by that. In my defense, our immediate future was still very much in doubt at that time and maybe I was trying to make sure that you would have something to fight for. Okay, so maybe I'm not so proud of that line of thinking. I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I guess I'd appreciate some forgiveness."

Sarah just smiled.

"But that hasn't been true pretty much since we've been back from Cancun," he continued. Now it's more… Look, you've been used your whole life, by family, by the greater good, by men. I just want to go the extra mile for you to know that I'm not using you, that I honestly worship you. I think that you deserve to know that. I know that you're an actions-speak-louder-than-words kind of chick. So yes, I enjoy it when I can get a reaction out of you in bed. It makes me feel great to know that I've just made you happy in a way that no one else can. I can't tell you how it makes me feel when you give me something that you've never given to anybody before… trust to allow yourself to totally lose control with me. You're allowing me to be with you with absolutely every single wall down. I can hear that the person I love is helplessly moaning in pleasure, that I'm the only person in the whole world who has ever had that experience with her, and best of all, I'm going to get to do it all over again tomorrow. That's so much better than sex to me. Tell me, is that wrong?"

Sarah couldn't quite blink the tears from her eyes. She tried to speak a couple of times but nothing would come out. "I feel about an inch tall," she was finally able to get out. "Of course it's not wrong. It's the sweetest thing I've ever heard from the sweetest guy in the whole world. It makes me feel like such a bitch to get mad at you when you're being so perfect. But Chuck, all I'm trying to get you to see is that it works both ways. Yes, I love that you worship me and that's how you show it. But you also have to let me worship you a little sometimes. I need that same great feeling of knowing I've done something just for you to make you feel great. Don't I deserve that same chance?"

Chuck wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "First, please don't refer to yourself as a bitch," he said softly. "Even in jest. I hate that. It's kind of a hot button word for me. I've known my fair share of bitches. Trust me. You're not even close to being one. And to answer your question, of course you do. If I've been cheating you out of that then I'm very sorry. That was never my intention. I've just never thought of it that way before. This is not an excuse, well maybe it is, but it's probably not a very good one. I spent two full years of having to be close to you every day and being totally in love with you but knowing that I couldn't actually touch you. We were sleeping in the same bed and I was terrified that I would wake up one morning with my hand up your shirt and get a knife stuck in my arm, or even worse you getting freaked out and leaving or getting reassigned. So I sort of conditioned myself to stay away. I built a fence in my mind. I told myself that if you ever were going to allow us to happen, you'd let me know by making the first move."

Sarah smiled, and nodded. "I know that you did," she said. "And that's the only way we could have gotten through those times. I appreciate the respect you always showed to my position more than I could ever tell you."

"Don't thank me," he said. "I got frustrated and tried to push you into something that just wasn't possible. Then I gave up a couple of times and went after other girls."

"I know you were frustrated," she whispered. "So was I. And you're right. There have been a couple of dozen times over the past two years where I was silently begging you to make a move. If you hadn't been so respectful of our situation, we'd have surely ended up making love. Then I would have had to do something drastic afterwards to deal with it. Thank God those days are over. We're together now."

Chuck nodded. "Please don't get mad at me," he said. "But I just have to ask this. You said that if you couldn't get yourself in the mood that you would fake it. Have you ever…"

Sarah did a double take at the hurt in his voice as it trailed off. That was such a stupid thing to say. It played right into his deepest fears. Agent Walker had faked it before with men, lots of times. She knew that this was something that she had to fix… right away. "I'm sorry that I said it like that," she said as she reached over to kiss him. "But you misunderstood what I was saying. What I meant was that you don't have to ever worry about telling me that you want something. I'm going to make sure that you get it. The only thing I've ever faked with you is when I was pretending not to be in love with you. I faked that for two years. It really sucked. So no, Chuck, I've never faked anything with you."

"Please don't ever fake anything," Chuck said softly. "I don't want that. If you're not up to it sometime, it's okay to say so. I'll understand. There's always tomorrow."

Sarah smiled. "This discussion is so moot," she said. "I can't imagine you ever grabbing me and me not being instantly in the mood. I didn't want to come down here to the lake today because I wanted to stay in the room and practice ripping your clothes off. But if it's important to you, I promise that I'll never fake anything in bed with you."

"Thank you," Chuck said with a nod. "That does help. But there's one more thing I need to say to you. And I know this part makes you a little crazy so bear with me, but yes, you're one of the most beautiful women in the world. You just are. I know with my head that it's stupid to allow that to bother me, even worse it's frustrating you. You've never once acted like you're too good for me, even before we were together. But you're so beautiful that it's honestly a little intimidating. In my world when a guy like me makes a pass at a girl like you, the very best that can happen is that he gets laughed at. I'm sorry about those thoughts. I know that's not how you feel in any way. But I guess I'm still in that mode of waiting for you, and honestly I've haven't had to wait all that long lately anyway. After two years of putting you on a pedestal, now you're expecting me to order you to perform acts for my amusement just because I might have won a bet, and one that you were clearly trying hard to lose at that. When I say that I worship you, that's not hyperbole. You're so amazing. I find something new every single day that makes you even more amazing. So I'm sorry if treating you like an object simply doesn't come naturally to me. Even when it's only pretend, it makes me feel like a pig."

"I understand," Sarah said with a sigh. "That's so sweet. And I don't want you to change. But here is something that I'd like you to consider. I'm comfortable asking you for anything. Because I know that you would kill yourself trying to give it to me. Sweetie, I want you to be just as comfortable. And it hurts me a little when you're not, because you should be. The truth is that you're telling me that you're intimidated about asking me for something and you're worried that I might be faking with you. If that's true I must be doing something wrong. I have some serious work to do if you don't understand that I would kill myself trying to give you anything you asked for just as much as you would. It means that I'm not good at being a wife. And I hate feeling that way. So maybe that's something we could work on together, just like I'm working on talking more about my feelings. Sometimes I have to force myself. But I do because I know that you deserve it. And it's honestly getting a little easier. Maybe I can get that same thing from you. I'll try hard to be as patient with you as you have with me."

"Wow," Chuck said softly. "Now I'm the one who feels an inch tall. Sarah, if I'm making you feel anything except perfect, then I've got some changes to make. Just promise me one thing. If it ever gets to be too much, if you ever feel that I'm treating you disrespectfully, please tell me."

"Okay," Sarah said with a silly grin. "I promise. I also promise that if your flapping your arms and flying around the room gets annoying, I'll tell you. That sounds just about as likely."

That finally got the laugh she was looking for. "Deal," he said. "I'll work on it, I promise. In fact if we were home, I'd start working on it right now."

Suddenly the twinkle was back in Sarah's eyes. "Why do we have to be home?" she asked slyly. "This blanket is pretty comfortable."

Chuck just looked around nervously. "Here?" he asked. "Sarah, please. Don't make me do this here. Carina is right over there. She could walk up any second."

"I don't know," Sarah said with a fake pout. "You promise me that you'll work on being more aggressive and yet the first chance you get, you chicken out."

Chuck looked at her nervously. "Okay," he finally said as he reached over and kissed her. "If that's what you need. Can we please hurry?"

"Chuck, I'm just teasing you," Sarah said with a laugh. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with. I just want you to understand that no matter what you want or where you want it, it's going to happen. I'll find a way to make it happen. For one thing, Carina wouldn't bat an eye. She'd probably take some notes and write us up a report later giving us pointers on how to maximize our enjoyment. But we can take baby steps if that makes you more comfortable. Let's compromise. As soon as we get home, you take the lead and collect your bet winnings with zero guilt. The more wild you get, the more you'll prove to me that you're trying. The next few hours are going to be all about you, deal?"

"Okay," Chuck said reluctantly. "I'll act like a pig if that's what you really want. But then I get to spend some time taking care of you."

"You have a deal," Sarah said with an even bigger laugh as she stood up. "I'm afraid that you might be misunderstanding me a little. When did I ever say that I wanted you to stop doing that?" Then she got a little serious. "Look, I understand that in some ways we're pretty different. Maybe that's one of the reasons we're so in love with each other. The CIA Academy has pretty much taken away any modesty that I might have once had. I know that you're not totally comfortable with that stuff outside the bedroom. I'll try hard to remember that and respect your boundaries. But I'm not going to feel right until I fully apologize for my stupid outburst earlier. And actually there is something that I owe you anyway."

Chuck could only look in wonder as her bikini top hit him in the chest. Quickly the bottom joined it lying on his chest.

"There," she said with a grin with her hands on her hips. "Now you're officially the first person to see me take it off. I know that we're not in the bedroom, but please don't try and deny that you enjoyed it. The other thing about the CIA Academy is that I'm trained to notice these things. I can see from here that you did."

Sarah just stood there wearing nothing but her huge grin and posed for a long moment watching her incredibly cute husband turn redder by the second. "By the way, just for future reference, where does this fit in with your girls-like-me-laugh-at-guys-like-you theory?"

The question was clearly rhetorical because she didn't wait for an answer. "Now technically this doesn't count as you being aggressive because I'm the one doing the asking," she continued. "I understand that we're out in the open. But I'd honesty be quite impressed if you would just lie back and enjoy watching me apologize properly. Or do you want to wait for later in private?"

Unfortunately Chuck didn't really get a chance to choose because Carina was approaching. She was purposely making a lot of noise to let Sarah know that she was coming. If it had been anybody but Carina, Sarah would have quickly gotten dressed. But it wasn't until she saw the horror in Chuck's eyes that she grabbed her suit from where it was still resting on his chest and started to put it back on. She was still tying the top when Carina got to them.

"Damn," she said sarcastically as soon as she got to their spot. "You're still dressed."

"What's up?" Sarah asked with a grin.

Carina took a quick look at Chuck's red face as he was lying on the blanket totally unsuccessfully trying to act cool. But the red face wasn't the only tell. "I can see that something is clearly up," she teased with her own grin. "If Chuck can walk, you guys should come down to the lake."

"Casey and Misty are going to race."

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Well, the first thing that Chuck did when they got down to the lake was to dive in the water, for umm, rather obvious reasons. Misty was casually swimming laps in pretty much the same way that Carina had been earlier. She wasn't swimming hard at all, clearly just warming up for the main event. When she was comfortable that she was suitably warmed up, she walked out of the water where Casey was still bone dry.

"Don't you think you should stretch or something?" Misty asked in concern. "That's a long swim. I'd hate for you to pull a muscle… or something. But even if you do, a bet's a bet. You're not getting out of it by faking an injury."

"Don't you worry your pretty head over my muscles," Casey said with a laugh. "I've already won this race with you once pretty comfortably."

"What did you bet?" Carina asked. If she was feinting innocence, she was doing a good job.

Actually Sarah had wished that Carina hadn't asked. For one thing she was pretty certain that she didn't want to know. For another, she was sort of anxious to get this race started, or at least Misty back into the water. Like she feared, that orange t-shirt may as well have been orange colored cellophane once it got wet. The redness that was well into Chuck's face clearly said that he had taken at least a small peak. It was hard to fault him for that. Misty was an amazingly beautiful woman.

Misty waited for Casey to answer. But when it was plain that he wasn't going to, she grinned. "When I win, I get a night of pure romance. Casey is going to take me out for a nice evening. Ellie is going to tell him all night what to do to be romantic, and he's not going to complain or grunt once."

"And what if Casey wins?" Chuck asked.

"Well," Misty said as her grin turned a tad bashful. "Then Casey gets a night of… umm, his choosing."

Naturally, Carina couldn't let that hanging curve ball go by without taking a mighty swing, even if she had no clue what a hanging curveball actually was. "In that case, I imagine he might get in a grunt or two," she said.

It was hard to tell who was reddest, Casey or Misty, but they were both eager to get this started so they got into the water. Carina joined then to act as the starter.

As soon as they were off, Sarah laughed. "Casey being forced to be romantic," she said. "I can't wait to see that."

"Too bad it's not going to happen," Chuck said wistfully. "I've been swimming with Casey. No way Misty can stay with him."

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Sarah said cautiously. "I think she has a chance."

"No way."

"Umm," Sarah said with something of her own grin. "Our usual bet?"

"Deal," Chuck quickly answered with a smile. Then he lowered his voice so only she could hear. "You know, Sarah, you don't have to keep losing these bets with me. I get it. Be careful what you wish for. I'm going to disgust you tonight with how big of a pig I can be. You're going to be proud of me, after you get done being nauseous."

"That's nice," Sarah said with a laugh. "Bring everything that you've got. I'm looking forward to it. But haven't you looked up Misty's file?"

Chuck just shook his head in confusion.

"You should have," Sarah said as she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling over from laughing. "Misty swam for Iowa State. She still holds some records there. She was the very last cut from the Olympic team. There is no way for Casey to beat her unless she wanted him to."

Chuck looked up… and was stunned by what he saw. Misty had already opened up a twenty yard lead and was clearly just starting to hit her top speed. She looked like an arrow effortlessly gliding through the water. "Wow," Chuck said as soon as he could pick his jaw up off the dock. "She hustled him."

"She sure did," Sarah said. "Just like I just played you." Then she playfully tackled him off the side of the dock.

When they popped up out of the water, Chuck could barely touch bottom. It was over Sarah's head so she put her arms around his neck. Not one to pass up such an opportunity, she quickly pressed her lips to his. Normally, Chuck would have resisted such an intimate make out session in front of Carina. Not that he had much choice in this case. His deceptively strong blonde goddess had both hands wrapped around his head. The truth was he couldn't have gotten free had his life depended on it. But maybe their earlier talk had some impact. Maybe it was that she looked so incredibly cute with the water dripping off her face. Or maybe it was that their tongues dancing felt so darned natural. The fact that Sarah had taken one hand away from the death grip around his neck and had slid it inside his swimming trunks might have even been a very slight factor. At least that was under the water and out of sight. But whatever the reason, he was giving just as much as she was.

Okay, so maybe Carina wasn't very surprised by Sarah, she was clearly out of control and had been all week. But she had never seen anything like this from Chuck. He was usually so bashful. And normally she would have stood there and enjoyed herself by making fun of them. But given the pep talk she had just given Sarah, there was no telling where this was quickly going. So she started to swim a lap, just to be out of the way in case they wanted to move this to the dock… or back to the blanket.

Sarah was pretty stunned herself. She hadn't expected anything like this from him, especially with Carina standing there gawking at them. All she was thinking was a quick kiss or two. But when she felt his mouth open and his tongue seek out hers, well she never was one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She wasn't sure which felt better, his tongue skillfully playing with hers… or the fact that he was clearly putting his fears aside just because she needed him too. Maybe it was a tie, but whatever the reason she was quickly on fire. "Ten more seconds of that," she whispered in his ear between kisses, "and we're going to need to go back to the blanket and put this fire out. Maybe you can pay off your bet."

Chuck simply grinned at her. "Hey," he said. "You're standing in a lake. I guess some fires are pretty hard to put out. Besides, you haven't even won yet."

"Okay," Sarah sighed as she reluctantly broke the embrace. "I guess we can wait until we're home.'

"It looks like I'm not going to be the only one disgusted tonight."

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Misty was back to the dock at least a full minute before Casey. Carina and Sarah quickly jumped into the water to greet her, apparently overcome with joy at the huge milestone for their gender, akin to winning the right to vote, that Misty's victory clearly represented. They acted like a baseball team after the final out of the World Series as they tackled her and vigorously celebrated as they romped playfully in the shallow water.

Chuck might have actually enjoyed the view under other circumstances. After all, Misty's t-shirt was still invisible, and both Sarah and Carina's bikinis were moving around an awful lot. Neither spy seemed overly bashful about hiding their assets from, well, the asset. In fact Carina was almost certainly intentionally flashing him. But he was currently too bummed over being so overtly played to pay attention… well, much anyway.

It wasn't losing a bet that stung. Truth be told, he was looking forward to paying off more than he was about collecting his own winnings. It was more that she had played him with inside information. He wasn't angry… at all. It was well played on her part. In fact he was very proud of her. He just knew that he had to get even somehow.

And poor Casey was completely exhausted. He had put so much energy into trying in vain to keep up with her that he could barely pull himself up onto the dock. All he could do was to sit there helplessly and watch the celebration while trying to catch his breath.

Chuck actually felt sorry for him, well, a little anyway. Although he honestly wasn't sure what he was most sorry for, Casey, his bruised gender, or himself. They were all in there somewhere. So he went and sat next to him on the dock, in a silent show of fraternal solidarity or something.

Misty noticed him sitting there so forlornly and broke herself away from the celebration. She sat on the other side of Casey and put her head gently on his shoulder. "Are you okay," she asked. "You look tired."

Casey didn't have the breath yet for a long conversation. "How did you get so fast?" was all he could get out.

"Umm, yeah," Misty said as she started laughing. "I may have forgotten to mention that I swam in college. I may still hold some records at Iowa State. I got invited to tryout for the Olympic team."

"But I beat you easily last time," Casey protested.

"I know," Misty said. "You were really nervous. I wanted you to win so you wouldn't feel guilty about… well, you know."

"You played me?" Casey asked.

"Maybe a little," Misty said as she continued laughing. "Are you mad at me?"

Casey just shook his head.

"Good," Misty said. "Now give me a kiss to prove it."

Okay, so Casey wasn't normally any bigger fan of PDA than Chuck. But he was currently too tired to put up any protest. "I'll get even," he panted as he leaned in for a very quick kiss, just enough to show that there were no hard feelings. Frankly that's all he had the breath for.

Misty was clearly relieved that he was taking this well. So now she was ready to rejoin the victory party in earnest. "Take you best shot," she said playfully with a huge grin as she danced off for her celebratory beer that Carina was holding up in the air for her. "Maybe it's actually better that you didn't win," she called over her shoulder. "You don't seem to be in any shape to umm… collect your winnings anyway."

"She hustled me," Casey growled, more to himself than Chuck as he watched her chug her victory beer. He was just starting to catch his breath.

"As it turns out, Misty almost made the Olympic team," Chuck said. "If it makes you feel any better, I got played at the same time."

"It doesn't make me feel better," Casey growled. "Not even a little bit."

"Okay," Chuck said. "Fair enough. But there's an old saying – He who laughs last, laughs best."

Casey looked at Chuck quizzingly. "What is going on in that pea-brain of yours?" he asked.

Chuck just grinned. "She's planning on using Ellie to help her collect her winnings by instructing you what to do, right?"

Casey nodded sadly. "This is a nightmare," he said. "That's actually the worst part. Ellie will have a blast putting me through the wringer. I can only imagine what she'll have me doing."

"Not so fast," Chuck said. "Maybe we should examine this situation we find ourselves in a little more closely. Ellie is my sister. And I might have a card or two left to play here. I'm pretty sure I can make her see reason. There might just be a story or perhaps an unfortunate rumor that she wouldn't necessarily be wild about leaking out."

Casey's head picked up. "You mean…"

"Exactly," Chuck said with a grin. "What if it turned out that Misty and Sarah didn't exactly like Ellie's instructions so much?"

"Okay," Casey said. "Why would you do that? You might get cut off."

"Not very likely," Chuck said with a short laugh. "Have you seen her lately? And I suddenly find myself with a dog in this hunt. I'm going to go get us a beer before Carina and Misty chug them all. As soon as I get back, I'll tell you the plan. But one thing's for sure…"

"Payback is a bitch."

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