A/N: Last chapter retold S3E5. Chuck and Sarah took out two Ring operatives on a flight to Paris and secured a CIA code key, then spent time in Paris together. Sarah also met and befriended Hannah on the flight out, who, at the end, arrived at the Buy More looking for a job.

This chapter is the retelling of S3E6.

Thanks for reviews. With Chuck and Sarah together, people do seem to like the alternative missions.

No betas in slight, but great work from my pre-reader, JohnnyRayChandlett, pointing out changes I could make to improve the chapter.

Disclaimer: I neither own, nor make money from Chuck.

Prove Yourself
Chapter 12 – Manoosh

General Beckman is briefing them. "We've traced a large sum of money from an offshore Ring account into a civilian account. I want to know why."

Chuck says, "Find out what the money is for."

She nods and continues, "The civilian's name is Manoosh Depak. Trained as a computer engineer, dropped out of MIT after his freshman year."

"Classic geek tragedy. Sound familiar?" Casey snipes at Chuck, obviously trying to accumulate his daily dose of needling Chuck. Sarah glares at him.

Beckman ignores the interaction. "We sent a virus that destroyed the CPU of his custom computer and bought up every series eight CPU within thirty miles. He'll come into the Buy More to replace it."

She pauses. "If you were an agent, Analyst Bartowski, I'd ask you to develop him as an asset and find out what he's doing for the Ring. That might still be how we have to play this."

"No!" Chuck and Sarah both shout at the same time. They look sheepishly at each other before turning back towards the screen.

The general is looking amused at their outburst. "I take it you don't like that idea."

Sarah talks before Chuck can start. "Sorry, General, but he's not an agent and even if he was, he couldn't be a handler."

Chuck looks hurt, so she has to explain herself. "Chuck, developing an asset is very tricky business. You need to insinuate yourself into their life and have them trust you completely, knowing that one day you're probably gonna have to burn them. That's not you."

He winces at the end, but is also obviously is thinking about her handling of him, in the early days. There is unfinished business between them regarding that issue, and she knows they'll have to talk about that at some time, but is pleased when he says, "You're right, Sarah, and I certainly wouldn't be able to burn him."

The general cuts through their conversation. "So, we have a problem."

Chuck looks back at her. "I think I have an alternative approach."

Beckman looks at him questioningly. "You're not thinking Agent Walker should seduce him, are you?"

Sarah turns to him, with a pained expression, fearful that he is thinking that. He knows I don't want to do that ever again!

Chuck didn't even look at her, but answers, "Of course not. I never want her to do that again."

Inwardly, she is overjoyed that he said that to the general and adds, "And I won't be from now on, General. I don't want to do them either." There it is. I said it. I'm done with men staring down my blouse, up my legs and trying to let their hands follow!

The general frowns. "Then what?"

Chuck smiles. "Well, it does involve Agent Walker, but not in that way. Manoosh is a nerd, like me, I'll talk to him and make sure he understands I'm a nerd and then Sarah will join us."

Casey and Beckman can't see what he's talking about, but Sarah guesses and nods.

The general speaks, just before Casey does. "How will that help?"

Chuck replies, with confidence. "Nerds are all alike. We don't think beautiful women would be interested in us."

Sarah is grinning now, her expectations confirmed.

"Seeing Sarah with me, as my girlfriend, will, at first, blow his mind. Then he'll want to know how I achieved it. He'll be eating out of my hand."

Casey interrupts, "Well, you better get over there. He's just entered the store."

They all look at the monitor, seeing Manoosh just inside the Buy More and looking around the store.

Chuck rushes up the stairs.

Sarah turns to look at the general when Beckman asks, "Do you think this will work, Agent Walker."

Sarah smiles, happy with how this briefing developed and that Beckman did not call her out on her decision to bypass seduction missions in the future. "Oh, yes."

"Then you better get over there, too."

Sarah walks up the stairs at a slower pace than Chuck, needing to give him some time.

As Sarah enters the Buy More, she spots Chuck talking to Manoosh, with Hannah standing with them. Sarah was so happy when she heard that Hannah had been taken on as a Nerd Herder and Chuck was training her.

Manoosh is listening to Chuck, but also eying Hannah up. Hannah is looking a bit annoyed at Chuck.

Sarah walks up to them and grabs Hannah's arm, turning her around, exclaiming, "Hannah! You got the job!" She then wraps her arms around the smaller woman.

Hannah giggles and Sarah let's her go. Hannah looks up at her friend. "You really shouldn't do that to me in the store, Sarah!" Hannah's grin makes very clear that she is not really upset.

Sarah pulls her away from Chuck and Manoosh, noticing that after a brief glance, the latter has turned back to Chuck who continues to talk IT speak to him.

Sarah wants to keep Hannah occupied, so, after putting some distance between them and Chuck, she says, "Tell me about your first day."

Hannah looks a bit uncertain when asked that. "Well, Big Mike was great and he asked Morgan to look after me until Chuck arrived."

Sarah feels her heart sink. "Your expression tells me he said something inappropriate." I'll get Morgan, if he has!

Hannah shakes her head. "Oh no, he was fine. However, he introduced me to the rest of the Nerd Herd team."

Sarah instantly understands the problem. "Oh God. Lester?" Hannah nods. "And Jeff?" Another nod.

Sarah shakes her head. "Those two are not to be trusted. With anything!"

Hannah gives her a rueful smile. "I guessed that."

Sarah smiles. "I'm glad you did. You might have to fend them off until they get the message. Have you met Anna?"

"No. She's not in until later. Apparently, she had a medical appointment."

Sarah's not so sure. "Hmm. She is less work-shy than the others, but she might just be getting over a handover."

Hannah looks surprised. "Are they all alcoholics?"

Sarah snorts. "Only Jeff, but the others do drink a lot, too."

Hannah frowns. "Am I safe here?"

Sarah puts her arm around Hannah's shoulders as they walk. "As long as you're vigilant. Big Mike tries to keep an eye on things, but be wary in the back rooms."

Hannah stops. "How come you know so much about the store, Sarah?"

Sarah's sheepish grin is telling a lot, but she also says, "I can't keep away from Chuck, so whenever I can, I come over. I've gone back there to find him on numerous occasions."

"Sarah! You're not allowed back there!" Hannah pretends to look stern, but neither believe it.

Sarah grins. "Makes it even better, Hannah." They both laugh.

Sarah notices an older woman approaching them, holding a box that she has picked up. The woman starts talking to Hannah, before even reaching them. "Can you help me, dear?"

Hannah pulls away from Sarah and says, "Yes, Ma'am. What's the problem?"

"I don't know which of these hard drives to buy for my son," the woman replies and Hannah takes her back in the direction she came from.

Sarah turns back towards Chuck and Manoosh, noticing they are now deep in conversation. Time to put Chuck's plan into action. She walks back to them and walks around Manoosh and dazzles both with one of her biggest smiles. Manoosh looks up, takes in her appearance and stops talking completely.

Chuck turns to her and says, "Can I catch you later, Sarah? I'm busy right now."

Sarah grins, "Just wanted to let you know I'll be free for lunch at 1 pm today, Lover boy."

He grins back. "Wonderful, I'll come over then, Sarah." He gives her a quick peck on the lips. He's getting better at coping with PDA.

She grins at Manoosh and says, "Sorry for disturbing you." Turning back to Chuck she says, "See you later, Chuck."

As she walks slowly away, with her hips swaying, she hears Manoosh ask, in a voice full of awe, "She's your girlfriend?"

"Yep."

"You must tell me your secret."

Grinning, she walks out of earshot. Good plan, Chuck!

Sarah is sitting in the van, with Casey, listening to the conversation Chuck is having with Manoosh in the bar. He has his usual earpiece and his watch, so he can hear them and talk back.

Chuck'd bought the last nacho cheese, which Manoosh loves and they are now sharing it. Manoosh is drunk now, but not slurring his speech yet.

Chuck is slowly warming him up with something close to his own story. "… my dad was a physicist, right, but he cracked, so when I saw myself going down that same road, I quit, dropped out of Stanford."

Sarah hears Manoosh gasp. "That's exactly what happened to me, except I dropped out of MIT. Huh. So how did an underachiever get a hot chick like that, Chuck?"

"I sometimes wonder myself," Chuck muses.

Casey grunts. "Not helping, Moron."

Chuck pauses, then says, "She says she's so impressed with my techie skills."

Sarah hums, "I am."

Manoosh replies. "I want that other hot chick to be interested in me like that."

"First off, Manoosh, don't ever call 'em 'hot chicks' to their faces, unless you're sure the girl will understand you're being playful." Chuck pauses, probably looking at Manoosh to make sure he gets that. Sarah smiles. My Chuck!

He then continues, "Well, tell me about what you do and we'll see if we can inspire her with some of it."

Sarah blinks a sudden tear of affection out of the corner of her eye. Can I rush over now, pull him away to a secluded corner, and reward him with all the hot-chick-edness I can come up with?

"I got something big planned."

Casey tenses. "This is it."

Sarah knows Chuck has this under control, but she knows he will appreciate her sharing her experience. "I know you can do this, Chuck, you just have to avoid pushing him."

Chuck asks, sounding slightly drunk himself, although Sarah can tell he isn't.. "Cool. What is it? What are you working on?"

There is a pause. Sarah worries that Chuck might have pushed him too much. Then they hear Manoosh say, "Work... won't leave me alone." His voice becomes less clear to Sarah and Casey, as he must have turned away from Chuck. "Hello?"

"He's got a Ring phone," Chuck says very clearly.

Casey jumps. "I'll run a trace."

While Casey is doing that, Sarah tries to hear Manoosh's conversation. "Hello. Whoa, slow down, chief. Yes, I have the prototype. Still have some kinks to work out. Look, I gotta go. I'm with a friend."

There's a slight pause, then he continues talking, clearer now, so he must have hung up and is now talking to Chuck again. "Sorry about that. These guys, they're a little highly-strung. Yeah. Act all tough, you know? Think they're intimidating with their secret phones. Ooh... scary."

Casey turns to Sarah. "Signal just bounced back three miles away. Ring's tracking him. We got about five minutes before they get here, tops. Time to send in a pro. You're up, Walker."

Thankfully, she has her earpiece in, so can continue to hear Chuck and Manoosh as she walks. Chuck asks, "So, you were talking about your job?"

Manoosh replies, "I'm doing something weapons-related. But that's really all I can say. I want to tell you, believe me, I do."

Sarah walks up to them and wraps her arm around Chuck's neck. "Hi, guys." She gives Chuck a peck on his lips.

"Hi, Sarah. Manoosh was just telling me about his job. I told him it would impress girls."

Sarah looks at Manoosh, nodding approvingly with big eyes to support the game.. "Only if you work in tech of some sort."

"Oh, I do. I have a weapon prototype in …" he looks down at his case, obviously realizing that the alcohol and an interested, beautiful blonde, has loosened his mouth too much. "I'm sorry, I can't talk about it."

She hears Casey. "The Ring's here. Get him out back now!"

"That's a shame." Sarah leans over to brush something off Manoosh's collar. "We girls love a secret," she purrs into his ear as she sticks a tranq dart that she's holding into his neck.

Chuck catches Manoosh.

Sarah looks at her boyfriend. "Come on, Chuck. You get him. I'm gonna get the briefcase."

Casey urgently tells them, "They're heading in! Hurry up!"

Sarah leans down and picks up the case and says to the barman, "Looks like our friend had one too many."

They are in a safe house in Los Angeles. Manoosh is lying on a bed in the bedroom next door. They are watching him through the one-way glass.

Chuck has just started pacing, looking upset. Sarah can guess what it is. She stops him and kisses him hard.

Casey grunts. "Now?"

As she pulls away, she ignores the NSA agent. "Chuck, I had to do that, you know I did."

Chuck huffs. "I just hated seeing you lean over to him, Sarah. There it is. I admit it. I'm jealous."

She tries to make him feel better. "You know that before I was with you, I would have kissed him to distract him. I can't do that now." She knows this is the simplest way to tell him how much she's changed.

Casey snorts. "Well, you're gonna have to do more than that to get the information from him, Walker."

Chuck snaps, "No, she is not, Casey."

Sarah is both surprised and pleased at how forcefully Chuck tore into Casey.

Chuck turns to her. "He started to say where his weapon was in there, Sarah."

She nods and can see what he's thinking.

They both say, at the same time, "His briefcase." Chuck pulls the case up off the floor and onto the desk.

Chuck's phone rings and he answers it. "Hello?" He looks towards the glass panel.

"Hey, Manoosh. How you doing, buddy? How was last night?" Sarah looks over and sees Manoosh sitting on the bed and on the phone.

Chuck continues, "Hey! You didn't get with my girl. You headed out with that brunette you were talking too. Don't you remember?"

Sarah grins at him, thoroughly enjoying his little tale.

"Your entire life's work is in your briefcase, huh? Well, good job Sarah saw you'd left it and we picked it up for you."

"Buy More in half an hour? Sure. Not a problem."

They watch Manoosh exit the room and hear him head down the stairs, on his way out. He has money, so will probably call for a cab.

Chuck put down the phone and points to the briefcase. "Need to open this now."

Casey growls, "Langley said don't open it. They're sending their own hazmat team."

Sarah replies to that. "We don't have time to wait, Casey."

By this time, Chuck has the briefcase open and is rifling through the contents.

"Hmm, comic book, glasses, shirt... Bingo."

He lifts out something that looks like an enlarged, purple Toblerone box. "I'm not flashing. Whatever it is, it's not in the Intersect. Do you think it could be a bomb?"

"Let me have it." Casey snatches it from Chuck. "I'll take it to Castle and check it out. You meet Manoosh at the Buy More, and give him back the briefcase, and act like nothing happened."

Chuck frowns and points at the item in Casey's hand. "What will the Ring do to him when they discover he hasn't got it?"

Sarah knows the answer is that Manoosh doesn't matter. An asset is expendable, but she manages to cut Casey off before he says that. Not a reminder that this ex-asset needs to hear. She has to keep them apart. "Let's work on that as we go, Chuck."

Sarah and Chuck have been discussing what to do since she started the car a few minutes ago.

"So, we're just going to keep an eye on him and hope the Ring don't hurt him?" Chuck is incredulous.

"Can you think of something better to do?" she asks. "You're the brains."

That brings a smile to his face for a few seconds, then the reality of Manoosh's situation takes over again. "We should tell him we've taken the weapon."

He is anxiously rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. She places a hand on his left hand, stopping it. "Chuck. We don't know that we've gotten the weapon yet."

All his movements stop. "You're right, as usual, Sarah. He might still have it in his briefcase. I just assumed when I found that object, that we'd found it."

They've just pulled into the parking lot, outside the Buy More. She turns to him, still with her hand on his. "Just keep calm, Chuck. Take the briefcase in and wait for him. I'll stay out here and let you know when he arrives and I'll follow him in. We have to play this by ear, Chuck. I've done this for twelve years now. Trust me."

He looks at her with those wonderful brown eyes of his. She wants to kiss him and take away his worries, but they don't have time for anything that might follow. "We've got this, Chuck."

"Okay." He gets out and enters the store.

She decides to talk to Casey before starting to listen to what Chuck says and hears in there. "What is the object, Casey?"

Casey sounds relieved. "Not picking up any sign of ordnance. Definitely not a bomb."

"Chuck's gone in and is waiting for him. He's still worried about Manoosh's safety." Sarah knows Chuck will also hear this.

Casey is obviously frustrated with Chuck caring. "He's building a weapon. He's no innocent."

She rushes out, "Okay. Let us know as soon as you work out what that is," Sarah doesn't want him saying any more, in case he starts saying assets are there to be burnt, or something like that.

She tells them both, "I'm sensing he still has the weapon."

"Maybe," Casey replies.

Sarah can now hear Chuck talking to someone, but it's not Manoosh.

"Chuck, you haven't come and talked to me since you returned from your trip." Sarah recognizes that voice.

"Sorry, El, been kinda busy."

"That other company really putting the pressure on?" Ellie asks.

"Well, that plus things backing up here."

"You need some time off, Little brother."

"Ahh… well … we did have a break in Paris for a couple of days."

Ellie sounds surprised. "We?"

Chuck almost gushes. "Sarah came with me. I finally got to see the city and with the woman I love. The holiday of my dreams."

Sarah is now just sitting, grinning and glowing. It was! And I was with the man I love, too.

Then she spots Manoosh getting out of a cab and entering the store. "Chuck. Manoosh is here."

"I'm sorry, El, Devon, I need to talk to a customer who left something earlier."

"Okay, Chuck. We'll talk later, right?" Sarah could picture Ellie pointing at him as she said that.

"Sure, El."

There was a pause. then Chuck calls out. "Manoosh, over here."

Manoosh replies, "Thanks, Chuck. You are a lifesaver."

"Hey, what are friends for, right? We are friends, aren't we?"

"Well, when I get back from this trip, I am going to be rich. And then I'll start a company of my own, and then we can work together. Don't worry, I won't forget you."

Sarah has heard enough. She gets out of the car to go in herself.

Then she hears Manoosh sounding like he is on the phone. "Hello. No, I told you, I'm still working the kinks out. Calm down. You'll give yourself a heart attack."

She walks into the store and can see them together in one of the aisles.

Chuck asks, "Who was that?"

Manoosh replies, "The putzes who hired me. You know, I found out they're paying me peanuts compared to what I can get on the open market. But I'm no fool. Anyway... Thanks, buddy."

Just as he finishes, Sarah reaches them. She places her hand on Manoosh's shoulder and says, "Hi, Manoosh. I see you've gotten your briefcase back."

"Yeah, thanks, Sarah. I understand you're my lifesaver."

She beams at him, knowing what that will do to him. "No problem. I hope we can be friends."

He looks a little shaken, but smiles. "I'd like that."

Then he looks over Sarah's shoulder and obviously sees something. "Sorry, guys. Gotta go." He rushes away, towards the back of the store.

Sarah turns and sees two men in black suits at the doorway, looking around. These must be Ring agents looking for Manoosh. "Casey, I think we need you here."

Casey says, "Found something." Then she hears a spraying sound. Casey grunts. "Shaving cream. It was a decoy."

Chuck is irritated. "Not a decoy, Casey. We just took the wrong thing."

Casey grunts, then says, "Wait. He's out the back, with four men surrounding him. He's wearing sunglasses and pimping himself up. Idiot's gonna get himself killed."

Sarah grabs Chuck's arm. "Stay here. I'll go out the back."

"No. You can't go back there without me, Sarah, and I'm not letting you face four men on your own. I'm coming too."

"Fine, but if they have guns, you better hide, Chuck. I'm not losing you."

They move to the back of the store and then run through to the loading bay. What they see is unbelievable. Four men with guns, lying on the floor, unconscious. Manoosh is nowhere to be seen.

Casey updates them, in a tone of voice Sarah had rarely heard. Awe. "He just took them out, all on his own. Kicking and punching until all were down. I have it all recorded. You better get back here and take a look."

As they walk into Castle, Casey is telling them, "They arrived with an older guy, who knew how to avoid being captured on film, but watch the action out the back."

They watch it a few times. Chuck is the first to say anything and it comes out in a rush. "Manoosh is the weapon. He built a new Intersect. How did Manoosh build an Intersect? I thought my dad was the only one who knew how to do that."

Casey looks up. "Well, after Intersect 2.0 was destroyed, the Ring lifted certain burnt components from a CIA warehouse. Manoosh must have reverse engineered it."

Sarah is shocked by all of this, but the agent in her reacts. "We need to find Manoosh before the Ring does." She turns to her laptop.

Chuck looks over at her. "He mentioned getting rich; that he was going to sell it to the highest bidder."

She smiles and looks up from her screen. "I got something. Manoosh just used his credit card to book a flight to Dubai."

Chuck asks, "Why? What's in Dubai?"

Casey opens up a leaflet. "Weap-con. The greatest weapons convention in the world. I go every year. I find it incredibly relaxing. Looks like I'll get to write this year's off as a business trip."

They are getting ready to leave. Sarah and Chuck are now telling his sister and brother-in-law about the trip.

Ellie is shaking her head. "Another trip? Chuck, that company is working you too hard."

Chuck grins. "Oh, I don't know, El. Another all expenses paid trip with my lovely girlfriend. What could be better." He pulls Sarah closer as he says this. Sarah beams.

Ellie turns to her. "And you. How can you take so much time off?"

"Well, Ellie, now I run the place, I don't have to be there ALL the time."

Ellie chuckles. "Or much of the time, it seems."

Devon can see they need to go and puts his arm around his wife. "Awesome. Have fun guys."

Grateful for him stopping Ellie's flow, Sarah grins at the big guy. "Thanks, Devon."

Chuck picks up his bag and turns, "See you, guys."

They walk to Sarah's car each with a bag in one hand and the other holding the hand of their love.

Sarah hears Ellie, just before they are out of range. "Aww. They're so much in love, Devon."

As they walk towards the building with the large sign saying "Weap-Con", Sarah looks over at Chuck. He looks good in his suit.

He looks back at her. "You're hot with those glasses on, Sarah."

She huffs, "I'm hot without them, Chuck."

He grins, "I know that, Hot stuff."

She tries to hold back her smile. "I meant, I'm hot here in Dubai. Almost sweating."

He is about to reply, but she shakes her head and he closes his mouth. He gets the message. What he was about to say was probably inappropriate for a business setting. He just grins.

A woman calls out to them as they pass, "Deadly pens. I've got exploding pens, laser pens..."

Casey starts to walk towards her. Sarah says, "Hey! Casey, no shopping. We're here to find Manoosh."

As she walks away, she hears the woman say, "You sir, what kind of pen do you want?"

Casey replies, "How much for the laser pen?"

Sarah shakes her head. She then hears a voice she recognizes, "Please, have a seat, get situated."

She taps Chuck on the arm and they both turn to look at Manoosh on the stage, getting ready to do a presentation.

"Ladies, gentlemen, warlords and sheiks. Welcome to the future of warfare and weapons. I have before me the most powerful weapon known to mankind. That weapon, you ask..." He turns an pulls a cloth from the object behind him. It exposes a mirror. "Is me!"

People groan and some start to turn away.

Manoosh continues, "At this time yesterday, I was a pathetic weakling." He points at the two gun-toting girls on the stage with him. "These bikini babes wouldn't even spit on me. I have no muscle, terrible allergies and am completely uncoordinated, but..." He turns around and reaches into his jacket. "Behold me now." He turns back, wearing sunglasses. "Moments ago, I was a 100-pound weakling. Now a deadly kung fu expert." People start to laugh.

"Chuck leans over to Sarah. "It's the sunglasses." She'd been thinking the same.

Manoosh grins. "Laugh if you will. Do I have any volunteers? Maybe one of you apes thinks they can kick my ass." He points at the men at the front in combat gear. Three of them get up and step forward.

Within twenty seconds, all three are on the floor. The audience starts to clap.

"Thank you, thank you. Imagine an entire army of men like me. No training involved." He takes the glasses off and waves them around. "Just throw these glasses on any civilian and voila, an army of instant warriors. So, call your banks, your kings, your dignitaries or what have you, 'cause we're going to start the bidding in five minutes. And we're gonna kick this bad boy off at $50 million. Thank you!"

By this time, Casey, Chuck and Sarah have started to move to the back of the stage, desperate to get to him before anyone else. They find him behind a screen tucking into the food there. "Ooh, nachos."

Chuck says, "Let me handle this. He trusts me."

Casey grumbles, "Just don't get soft on him, Bartowski. The only way any of us are safe is if he's under lock and key."

Chuck steps in front of Manoosh who looks shocked. "Chuck? What are you doing here?"

"I came to protect you, okay? To stop you from making a very horrible mistake. I know about the glasses. I know about the new intersect that you're building."

Manoosh frowns. "Who are you?"

Chuck simply states, "I'm with the NSA."

"So, you were tracking me? This friendship is fake?" Manoosh is obviously upset. Sarah steps out. "Sarah?"

She replies, "Sorry, Manoosh. We can't let you do this."

Chuck continues, "These are bad people you're selling to."

Manoosh snaps, "Worse than a guy who pretends to be my only friend? Or his pretend girlfriend? The truth is, I don't need friends, Chuck. Not when I've got these." He waves the glasses at them and turns to rush back onto the stage.

Chuck calls to him, attempting to stop him. "Manoosh!"

They are suddenly surrounded with guns pointing at them and are escorted back onto the stage behind Manoosh, who has his hands up, as an older man is pointing a gun at him, saying, "Hello, Manoosh. We've been looking for you. I believe you have something of ours."

They've been taken to another room and chained to their chairs. Chained!

Chuck, sitting between Sarah and Casey, starts to complain. "Wow. So now not only does the Ring have Manoosh, but also the new Intersect that he's building. That is just super."

Casey quietly states, "Good thing I bought that laser pen from the Japanese booth. It burns through anything."

Chuck can't seem to stop himself. "I thought Sarah specifically said no shopping."

Sarah leans towards him and says, in a soothing voice, "It's okay, Chuck, we'll get out and get him."

He turns to her and visibly calms down. "Thanks, Sarah. I was starting to spiral, wasn't I?"

She smiles, "A bit."

Casey tells Chuck, "Just scootch over here, grab it with your mouth. Come on. Get your mouth over here and pull it out of my inside pocket."

Sarah watches Chuck, as clumsy as ever, do what Casey has asked. If her hands had been free, she would probably have them over her eyes, both from embarrassment and then, after Casey says, 'Just be careful of the button. It activates the laser,' fearful for their lives as he bites down on the button and a beam passes between Casey and herself.

Once it's off, Casey snarls, "You aim carefully now, Bartowski. Don't you make me a eunuch. Otherwise, I'll teach you the meaning of 'eye for an eye.'"

Chuck, being careful now, manages to aim the beam down and does cut through the cuffs between Casey's wrists.

In no time, Casey has them all free. Then, he cuts through the hinges of the door, with the beam from the pen, and they're out. Looking for the Ring guys and Manoosh. They find them with the old guy, once again, pointing a gun at Manoosh's head.

As Sarah and Casey point their guns at the men, she calls out, "Drop your guns!" She notices the sunglasses crushed under Manoosh's foot.

The old Ring man, obviously the leader, says, "I'm not dropping my gun."

Casey replies, "Yeah, well, I'd rather kill him, too, than let you have him, so I guess we're on the same page."

The leader mutters, "Looks like Manoosh dies, then."

Chuck calls out, "Manoosh is not going to die. In my hand, I hold a Japanese laser pen. Pinpoint accuracy."

The man snaps, "Nobody drop their guns! He won't do it. I can see it in his eyes. He won't kill me."

Chuck, looking harder than she'd seen him before, tries to activate the pen. He can't be going to kill the man. My Chuck isn't like that!

Instead of activating a laser, a small knife extrudes from the end of the pen. Chuck just looks at it and says, "I specifically asked for the same pen you got, Casey. She gave me the wrong pen."

Casey mutters, "Just like you Bartowski, bring a knife to a gun fight."

The leader, still with the gun to Manoosh's head says, "Now, where were we? Oh, I know. We were going to kill you."

Chuck throws the knife, hitting the man's hand and making him drop the gun. Sarah is so proud of him for actually throwing it.

She and Casey then take on the other men, but the leader rushes out. Sarah has been knocked to the ground and is about to be shot by a man standing over her, when a spinning plate hits the back of his head and he drops to the ground. She gets up and sees Chuck looking worriedly at her. He must have thrown the plate. She just nods to him. I'll reward him later.

Casey rushes out, calling back to Chuck, "You secure Manoosh. He cannot walk out of here knowing what he knows."

Sarah follows Casey, in case there are more men out there. "Be careful, Chuck."

She and Casey have lost sight of any Ring agents. The leader has obviously escaped.

Casey mutters while nodding towards the entrance, "I guess Bartowski doesn't have the stones." She looks that way and sees Manoosh wave, back towards where she notices Chuck standing. Then, Manoosh turn and start to walk out. She feels so disappointed. Oh, Chuck!

Just as Casey lifts his gun, she sees Chuck reach forward onto one of the stands, grab a gun, and shoots Manoosh in the back. There was little sound, so she thinks it was a tranquillizer gun.

The man on the stand turns to the other people around his stand and says, "Another fabulous demonstration." Sarah feels a rush of relief. It was a tranq!

Casey mutters again, "I stand corrected."

Manoosh is sitting in the main area in Castle. Sarah, standing by Chuck and looking in at him from around a corner, feels so sorry for both of the nerds. The one inside, who's fate is now sealed, and her boyfriend, who brought him to this. She places a hand on Chuck's arm and quietly states, "You know he has to go underground. If the Ring finds him, then he can build them another Intersect. It's the only way." She looks at him. "Do you want to handle it?"

The look of gratitude on his face makes her pleased to have asked. "Thanks, Sarah. I will."

He walks over to Manoosh. Sarah misses the first part of their conversation. She feels she should just let Chuck handle it, but then realizes she has to listen and, if he needs it, support Chuck.

Manoosh is talking when she turns back. "… want to go home, forget this ever happened."

Chuck calmly replies, "You can't go home, Manoosh. We are sending you to a secured isolation facility. Somewhere that you will be safe."

Manoosh remonstrates, "But I didn't do anything wrong! I mean, I tried to make a few bucks, but that's not illegal!"

Sarah sees Casey walk in behind Manoosh with two NSA agents. Manoosh looks over his shoulder and sees them, then turns back, "Chuck. You have to help me! I thought you were my friend."

Sarah knows that Chuck would like to be his friend, so knows the next words will have been hard for him to say. "I'm not. I'm an NSA employee."

Manoosh is lead away by the two NSA agents.

Sarah knows Chuck will take this badly and she will have to help him through the aftermath of this mission.

Casey visibly relaxes. "Hmm. Only one way to deal with that, Johnny Walker Black."

Sarah is glad she schooled Casey not to say anything that would upset Chuck further, like "burning the asset."

Sarah is having a shower. She'd asked Chuck to join her, but he was too upset to do that. He'd said he just wanted to sit and drink some of the Johnny Walker that they'd bought on the way home. At least the shower would make her smell better after a day in Dubai and then flying straight back to Los Angeles. She spent some time thinking about what had happened out there whilst washing her hair.

Chuck had gotten far more involved in the spy side of things than she, or Chuck, wanted, but it had worked out okay. He was still clumsy, which was a worry, but apart from that, he's done well.

On the flight back, he'd told her that he'd flashed before throwing that knife, so the Intersect had given him that ability, but he'd still made himself do it, so she is still proud of him.

Should I have let him get involved more?

It's hard. She was so worried about him a lot of the time, just as she had been before Prague, but she can now see that his confidence, experience and that computer in his head make him much more capable. She shouldn't worry so much. Worry, yes, but less.

She gets out of the shower and starts to dry herself.

She remembers him throwing that plate and saving her and the expression on his face.

This real relationship brings more emotions than just love for each other. The whole caring for someone else brings the need to protect them, keep them from harm, save them when necessary. She'd been assigned to do that for Chuck, and would do anything to protect him, but it was always more than an assignment for her. Chuck had also told her repeatedly that he would do anything to protect her, too.

She loves this man, with all her heart and knows he loves her just as much. They are more than just lovers, they are soulmates.

Having dried her air enough not to drip everywhere, she wraps the towel around her and heads out to find Chuck.

She knows they needed to talk about seduction missions, but that can wait; right now he probably just needs her emotional support.

He is sitting swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

She walks over and he turns to look at her. "I know this was hard, Chuck. If you want to just drink yourself into oblivion and have me leave you alone, I'll understand."

He leans back and smiles at her. "No, I think I need you, now more than ever."

She sits on his lap and puts her arm around him. "I'm here for you, Chuck. I'll do whatever I can to get you over this."

He tugs at her towel slightly. "Whatever?"

She grins at him. "Well, you did save me with that plate."

"Hmm. I did. So, are you serving yourself up on a platter, Miss Walker?"

She leans towards him and purrs into his ear. "All scrubbed up and ready for my loving boyfriend and savior."

For the next few hours, Sarah helps Chuck recover from the last two days, in the best way possible. Of course, recovering from that, might take them both a while.

A/N: So, a retelling of S3E6. Chuck had Sarah helping him deal with Manoosh, rather than him being a handler, and Sarah didn't have to seduce Manoosh, either.

As always, let me know what you think in a review.