A/N: Last chapter retold S3E7. Chuck and Sarah working together to secure a chemical weapon, stopping The Ring from getting hold of it. In the process they saved Hannah earning her gratitude.
This chapter is the retelling of S3E8. I found this to be one of the hardest episodes to watch.
For those that left reviews, thank you. I really appreciate them.
No beta, but thanks again to my pre-reader, JohnnyRayChandlett, who has helped me reshape this into what you see.
Disclaimer: No ownership of Chuck or money made from it, unfortunately.
Prove Yourself
Chapter 14 – Gruber
On the previous evening, Sarah and Chuck had finally found time to discuss the handler / asset relationship. She first talked about the standard one, where the asset was usually either a criminal or a foreign agent; in either situation, the asset was being forced to help the handler, and the agency he or she worked for, against their wishes. When the goal has been achieved, the handler would dispose of the asset, either by detaining them or. Most often, be killing them. That was part of the handler's responsibility. For that reason, the handler could not, under any circumstances, develop feelings for the asset, other than contempt. If they did, they were deemed 'compromised' as had happened to Sarah the previous year. The 49b evaluation.
Then, they discussed how different Chuck had been to the standard asset. He was an innocent American citizen who willingly helped Sarah and Casey. He should never have been treated as an asset, but then the people deciding with 'the greater good' in mind, did not care much about Chuck Bartowski, beyond the fact that he housed the supercomputer to end all supercomputers in his head. His handler, Sarah, had never really seen him as one, but had had to play along with what her superiors expected. If their working relationship had been partners back then, she is sure they would have started a true relationship long ago.
This conversation reassured Chuck on a number of counts. He now understood more clearly what Sarah had been going through for their first two years together and why she behaved as she did. The way he gripped her hands as she talked suggested he appreciated her pain during that time. He now could see the difference, in her mind, between the two asset situations. He also understood that what had happened to Manoosh was the best outcome for him. Sarah and Casey had been told to eliminate Chuck when they thought he was a traitor when he received the Intersect. Manoosh was a real traitor, trying to sell the glasses to the highest bidder, not caring if that was criminal organizations, terrorists, or foreign powers unfriendly to the United States. However, he was just bunkered and not killed.
By the end of the conversation, Chuck was much more relaxed about Manoosh's situation.
This morning, Sarah is on a mission.
She spots that Eleanor Woodcomb, Chuck's sister is leaving her apartment. Sarah rushes to her door and out to catch her. "Ellie, hold on a second," she calls.
Ellie looks over and smiles, "Sure. What's up, Sarah."
Catching up to her, Sarah smiles. She always enjoys talking to this woman, her friend. "You know that Chuck and I are having you and Devon over for a meal tonight? Would you mind if we had other guests?"
Ellie's smile dropped. "Morgan?"
"Not sure about him, but we met someone on our way out to Paris and she's now working at the Buy More. I'd like to invite her."
Ellie frowns, "She followed Chuck back to the Buy More? She's not after him, is she?"
Sarah beams at her friend. "Looking out for me, Ellie?"
Ellie huffs. "You have to keep an eye on my brother. He's clueless. She'd have to kiss him before he'd realize she was hitting on him."
Sarah bursts out laughing. "Well, she started that on the plane, but I sorted that out. She's a friend of mine now."
Ellie looks at her for a while, then replies, "You're good for him, Sarah. Okay." Then she pauses. "What're we having?"
Sarah smiles. "Chuck's Chicken Pepperoni. He says it's your favorite."
Much to Sarah's surprise, Ellie groans. "I hate that tasteless crap."
"Oh. Well, I'll be helping him. I'll make sure it's better," Sarah assures her.
Ellie grabs her wrist. "Thank you, Sarah. Gotta dash. Look forward to meeting your friend."
"I thought you didn't want dessert," asks Chuck looking at his girlfriend across the table from him.
She grins. "I don't. I want yours. See, my dessert is contained within your dessert. I like it better that way."
They are sitting near the edge of a rooftop restaurant, while waiting for the latest mark to come out of the hotel across the street.
They both hear Casey's voice coming through their earpieces. "The vehicle in question has arrived."
Chuck can't resist replying, "Roger that."
Sarah rolls her eyes.
Casey continues, "The man is on the move. I have the target in sight."
They get up and rush down the stairs to get over there as quickly as possible.
The man is just about to get in the car when he drops to the ground.
Casey says, "Night-night." He has tranq'd the man.
Sarah and Chuck rush to him and load him in the back. Chuck gets in with him and secures his seat belt.
Sarah drives them away.
The man is securely chained to a chair in the interrogation room in Castle. The general is on the screen in the main area, briefing the team. "Rafe Gruber is a martial arts expert, a sharpshooter. He is one of five people who can hit a target from half a mile away. Very few people have seen his face."
The passport of Rafe Gruber appears on the screen next to her.
Sarah sees Chuck flash. He says, "Wow, old Rafie boy's not such a good guy now, is he? What are we doing with him?"
Casey grunts. "Not impressed with his abilities."
General glares at him. "Well, The Ring is. They wired a million dollars into his account. We need to know who The Ring wants dead."
"I'll get it out of him," growls Casey, reaching into his bag of weapons. He pulls out a blow torch and tests it. A flame bursts out of the barrel end. "this'll do." He heads to the door to the interrogation room.
Chuck leaps up. "Let me talk to him first, Casey. I think we need to understand him to work out how he works."
Casey glares at him, then relaxes his shoulders. "Go ahead, Bartowski. Bore him into telling you."
Chuck enters the room, with Casey following. Sarah watches and listens. Gruber looks up, then back down again without saying a word.
Chuck looks at Rafe. "How'd you initially get interested in this line of work?
Sarah is confused. That seems to be going too far back into his past.
Gruber replies, "Why would I tell you anything?"
Casey lights up the blow torch. "I can think of one burning reason why."
Chuck quickly says, "Okay. How about this one: What was your most difficult hit?"
Gruber looks at Casey. "I'll take the torture over this man's questions."
Casey grins and moves towards him. As he walks past a table with Gruber's jacket on top, a phone in the jacket pocket starts up. Casey turns off the torch, grabs the phone and answers it.
Sarah and Chuck, listen to the conversation, just hearing Casey's side of it.
"Gruber."
"'course I'm ready."
"Yeah, yeah, I know where that is."
"I'll be there."
Chuck heads back over to the Buy More and Sarah goes with him. She has someone to talk to.
She walks up to Hannah, who is sitting at the Nerd Herd desk. "Hi, Hannah, can I have a quick word?"
Hannah looks up. "Sure, Sarah."
"Chuck and I are cooking dinner tonight for his sister and husband. We'd like you to come."
Hannah looks at her dubiously. "Won't that be awkward, me and two couples?"
Sarah hadn't thought of that. Damn! I'm still no good at this relationship stuff!
She noticed Casey walking across the shop floor and looked back at Hannah. "Casey lives in the same courtyard. Would you mind if he came too?"
Hannah laughs. "He's a bit old for me!"
Chuck is waving to her and pointing at Morgan. Sarah looks back at Hannah. "What about Morgan?"
Hannah looks thoughtful. "He is being really nice to me." Then she refocuses on her friend. "Sarah, I'd love to come. I was joking about Casey. I'm not looking for a boyfriend. Invite either of them; or both. It's your meal. I can talk to anyone."
Sarah grins. "Great. See you then."
"Why does Chuck have to go with you?" Sarah shouts at Casey.
Before Casey can answer, Chuck places a calming hand on Sarah's arm. "So I can flash."
She turns on her boyfriend and snaps, "You can do that from the van, Chuck!"
"You might not get an image if they check me for cameras. I have no intention of dying there," Casey states, quietly.
"I need to go with him, Sarah, I'll be fine," Chuck says.
Casey never needs help. She can't help feeling this is Chuck wanting to be a spy again, but holds her tongue. She doesn't like it. "If Chuck gets hurt, I'll kill you Casey!"
Casey nods. "Noted."
Sitting in the van with just the ability to listen to what's happening, Sarah was always going to worry.
Casey and Chuck were going to come in Casey's car, but Chuck had pointed out that it was not the sort of car an assassin for hire would drive, so the NSA had provided a Dodge Viper. Casey had complained when he tried to get in behind the wheel, but they have adjusted the pedals and the seat and he was finally able to get in. He didn't like it because it wasn't like his Crown Vic, but this did seem more appropriate for the assassin.
Now they had gone into the building and Sarah is sitting in the van; fretting. This must be like Chuck felt when he had to do this. No wonder he hated sitting in the van when she was putting herself at risk. She tells herself that this is worse. She was a trained and experienced agent, whereas he was just an analyst. She knows it's true, but also knows that Chuck never thought about that, just that the woman he cared for was putting herself in danger.
She huffs, feeling frustrated and anxious. She also wonders if Chuck is just doing this to make her realize what he had been going through all those times before.
She hears voices coming through from the mikes sown into their shirts.
"Hey, boss, someone to see you."
"Well, well, well, Rafe Gruber. Your reputation precedes you."
Casey says, in a similar voice to Gruber, "This is my co-worker. You may call him Jack. Jack doesn't talk much."
"I know you from somewhere?"
That has Sarah worried again. Is that Chuck they are talking about?
Casey replies, "Doubt it."
Although relieved it isn't Chuck, Sarah knows this isn't good.
"When we had previous dealings with our mutual friends, you had more trepidation about letting us I.D. you," the man continues.
Casey comments, "Not many people have seen my face and lived. Consider it an honor. Who's my target?"
The man ignores his question and continues, "No one thinks this guy looks familiar? You got cousins in Philly?"
"No." Casey again.
Another voice. "I'm a huge fan of your work."
Casey grunts.
Sarah is glad that Chuck is keeping quiet. He's not a very good liar or actor, in spite of what he might think.
"I don't have time for this," says Casey. "What's the name?"
"I remember now! You look like this hotshot sniper I served with a while back. Names Alex Coburn."
"What are you trying to say?" asks the second person.
"Simple. This guy isn't who he says he is. Maybe he's some kind of fed. They both are!"
Sarah sits forward. Damn it! Casey's definitely been made. They're both in trouble.
She has to get them both out of there. She knows that they need that name, but they're not going to get it now. What they might get is killed. Shit!
Thankfully, she'd come prepared with a full backup team. All dressed as FBI agents. She instructs the team leader, "Storm the place."
She's dressed the same, so she leaps out of the van and heads in with them.
She hears Casey say, "Don't be stupid. Jack and I are assassins for hire. If I get too much work, Jack takes new jobs on. It's what we do."
She hears gunfire, then she's into the building and running through to the main room at the back.
Entering the room, she sees Chuck and Casey on the ground and two older men with Feds all around them. Chuck has a Fed kneeling on his neck. Casey is in the same state, but with blood pooled underneath him. He must be alive for the agent to be like that.
Sarah walks slowly, while desperately wanting to run. She kneels down by Chuck and orders the agent away. She leans down to him and whispers, "Flash and take us out with your hands and feet."
He nods and she gets up with her gun pointing at him.
He suddenly leaps up and pushes her back so forcefully that she hits one of the tables and slumps to the floor. She has her eyes almost closed, but manages to watch him in action. It's been a while since she last saw him do something like this. It is pure magic.
In no time, all the Ring agents are down. Chuck bends to Casey to help him up to escape, pretending to still be Gruber, but Casey can't get up. She hears him say, "Go! It's up to you now."
Chuck nods to Casey and gets up. He looks around the room and, seeing Sarah, walks over to her and appear to be checking her out. He never does that!
He lifts her head and leans down, whispering, "Sorry." Sarah is about to say she likes him looking at her whole body in public, although his timing is a bit off, when she feels a sharp pain in her neck. As\ she loses focus and heads towards unconsciousness, she realizes he's stuck a tranq dart there.
She just hears Chuck's voice saying, "Come on. There'll be more Feds here soon."
She blanks out.
Sarah starts to recover. Then she remembers Chuck leaving. She sits up rapidly, which makes her head swim. She cries out with panic in her voice, "Chuck?"
No reply is coming. She looks around her. She's in Castle in one of the cells, lying on the bed.
She gets up and, after staggering for a few seconds, makes her way out.
When she gets to the main area, she starts a video call to General Beckman.
Beckman is at her desk and looks up. "Agent Walker. Why haven't you contacted me before?"
Sarah is confused. "Why, General?"
"I've been trying to contact you. Any of you. None of you answered my calls."
Sarah takes a deep breath. "I was the victim of a tranquilizer dart, General. I've only just come to."
Beckman looks worried. "By whom?"
"Chuck," Sarah replies, unable to suppress her frustration at all.
The general looks surprised. "Why the hell would he do that?"
Sarah replies, trying to keep her agent face on. "Covering for Casey and trying to be a spy, I think."
"Where are you now?" the general questions.
"Castle."
"And where is Colonel Casey?"
"I don't know, Ma'am."
"Find him then you both can find your analyst."
"I intend to." She reaches for the end call button.
Beckman then barks, "Stop! That's not all and not what I was calling about."
Sarah pulls back. "Sorry, General. What was it?"
"Daniel Shaw. He's out again."
Sarah is shocked and somewhat uncomfortable hearing that. She almost shouts, "What?"
"There must be someone in the CIA who is working with him. We are trying to find out who that is."
Fear settling in, Sarah asks, "Do you think he's coming here again?"
The general pauses and then says, "Yes. He may already be there."
Sarah is filled with panic now. "Chuck!"
"Before you go rushing off searching the whole of LA, is Gruber still locked up there?"
Sarah hadn't thought about Gruber for hours. "I don't know, General."
"Go and check that first. I want to know how many problems we have."
Sarah goes to the interrogation room where she saw him last. The chair is on its side and the chains are loose. Shit!
She rushes back to tell the general.
"Find Casey first." With that the general ended the call.
Where the hell do I find either of them?
Then she realizes she hasn't tried using her phone. She calls Chuck but gets no reply, so she calls Casey.
He replies instantly, "Walker. You're alive."
"Yes, Casey. Where are you?"
"Hospital. Just had a bullet removed from my leg. Where are you?"
"Castle. Someone brought me here and placed me on a bed in one of the cells."
"Sounds like Bartowski."
"Casey, he knocked me out with one of his darts."
He chuckles. "I wouldn't have risked that! The nerd has guts."
She grumps. "We've got three problems."
He questions that, "Three?"
"It's not just that Chuck's gone missing. Gruber has escaped and Daniel Shaw is back."
"Shit!"
As she's talking, she notices an email has come through to her CIA account. Hoping that it will help find Daniel Shaw, she opens it. Her jaw drops. "I have to go, Casey. See if you can find Gruber."
"Wha-" She cuts him off and rushes up to her car.
Sarah approaches room 1127, gun in hand. When she gets there, she bursts in. No sign of Chuck or Daniel Shaw.
Suddenly, there is an arm around her. She starts to struggle, but then a cloth is placed over her mouth. Chloroform!
Once again, she passes out.
"Welcome back, Agent Walker." She opens her eyes to see Daniel Shaw, sitting in front of her. She looks down. She is tied to a chair. There is an empty chair next to her, which somehow worries her more than her own.
"Where's Chuck?" she hisses.
He smirks. "Oh, I don't have him, but I guessed you'd come if you thought he was here."
She is frightened to ask the next question, but knows she has to. "What do you want from me?"
"I couldn't find Bartowski, so I thought I'd lay a trap for him." He grins. "You're the bait."
At least he doesn't know I'm his wife's killer.
"How will he know where to find me?"
His grin widens. "Oh, I texted him from your phone."
"You bastard!"
"Now, now. Don't be rude."
The door bursts open. Shaw calmly points a gun at the new arrival. "Ah. Agent Bartowski. Do join us."
Sarah twists around and sees Chuck. He looks haggard. He quietly states, "You hurt her and I'll kill you."
"Oh, good. A lovesick agent. Didn't you know, spies don't fall in love."
Chuck is about to respond when he sees Sarah giving him a glare and a slight shake of her head. She didn't want him to mention Evelyn Shaw.
Shaw throws a rope to Chuck. "Be so kind as to tie yourself to the chair next to the woman you find so attractive."
Chuck obviously can't see a way to get to him, so, with slumped shoulders, he complies.
When Chuck's legs are tied, Shaw moves quickly and ties Chuck's arms behind him and to the back of the chair.
"There. Cozy. Now we can talk." Shaw sits back in his chair.
Sarah wonders how she can get loose. She looks over at the door, which is still open. If Chuck distracts Shaw, maybe I can break the chair on the frame.
She is about to turn back to Chuck when another individual appears in the doorway. Gruber!
"I must start shutting and locking doors," Shaw mutters, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Rafe Gruber and I'm gonna kill all of you." He shoots Shaw, obviously recognizing him as the only one untied. Shaw falls to the ground.
Gruber kneels down in front of Sarah and lifts the gun towards her head.
"No!" Chuck cries.
Gruber chuckles, "You got it bad for this blonde. Can't say I blame you."
She closes her eyes, expecting Death, her constant companion for all the years in the CIA before Burbank, to take her.
Chuck suddenly bursts into action, breaking the chair he was sitting on as he rises.
Sarah is terrified that he will get shot instead of her. She cries out "No…"
She winces as she hears a shot. Oh, God! No! No!
She can't bear to look at her lover's dead body. She leans forward and starts crying.
"Hey! None of that." She opens her eyes and sees Chuck kneeling in front of her, smiling reassuringly.
She bursts into tears. Tears of joy. "Oh, Chuck."
He unties her and pulls her up and into his arms. She wraps her arms around him, sobbing into his neck. "I thought I'd lost you, Chuck."
"And I was worried I was going to lose you, Sarah." She realizes he is holding her as tightly as she him.
She leans back and looks up at him. "How'd you find me, Chuck?"
He tries to look away. "I… I…"
"And why the hell did you tranq me?"
He holds his hands up, placatingly. "I can explain."
She glares at him. "Go on."
"Casey's cover was blown. Those guys would never trust him. I took on the role of Rafe Grubber."
"You what?!"
"It was the only way I could think of, Sarah."
She huffs. "That doesn't explain how you found me."
"Daniel Shaw was the target. I was in a room in the hotel way over there. With a long-range rifle." He pauses. "I wanted to shoot him when I saw him grab you and tie you to the chair, Sarah, but I just couldn't pull the trigger."
She places her hand on the side of his face. "I know you couldn't, Chuck."
He looks at her quizzically. "How? You weren't there."
She smiles. "I don't think you could ever kill anyone. You're my sweet Chuck." She leans up and kisses his lips.
They are still holding each other, when Casey limps into the room. "Get another room!"
She looks over at him and asks, "How'd you find us, Casey?"
Pointing at Chuck, Casey responds, "I tracked his phone. He left it with the two Ring agents we saw before. They were both dead. You, Bartowski?"
"N.. no. They were covering for me."
Sarah snaps at him, "We'll talk about that later." She turns back to Casey. "So, how'd you know we were here?"
"Saw you through the rifle sight. That's a nice gun."
"So, you followed me over here?" Chuck asks.
"Only just now. First I shot Gruber with the rifle before he shot you." He kneels down and checks on Shaw. "He must've dodged Gruber bullet. Looks like it missed his heart and went through his chest and shoulder. His head is bleeding. Must've hit it on the corner of the table on his way down."
"Pity!" Sarah replies. Neither man question her meaning, both knowing it could be either sarcasm or regret that Shaw was still alive.
The NSA team had collected Gruber and Shaw and taken them away.
Casey, Chuck and Sarah are now back in Castle. Beckman is facing them.
"What the hell is wrong with the CIA, General?" Casey barks.
Sarah and Chuck turn and stare at their partner. He never raises his voice to a superior.
Looking back at the screen, Sarah sees the general is also taken aback. Then Beckman's countenance darkens. "It seems that there are more rogue agents in the CIA than we thought," she growls.
Sarah frowns, not sure what the general is implying.
Chuck understands instantly, however. "So, some that let Shaw free and helped him away from the secure prison and others, Ring infiltrators, that made that organization know he was out and tracked him to LA."
"Correct."
"So, a CIA secure prison is not secure at all. What a surprise," snarled Casey.
Sarah spoke for the first time on this call. "How can we fix this, General."
The general, obviously in as bad a mood as Casey, snaps, "You can't!" Then, she sighs. "I am in discussions about this with my peers. We need to beef up security and surveillance at those sites."
"Thank you for letting us know, General," Sarah replies.
"Can we be notified as soon as Shaw gets out next time, General?" Chuck asks.
Sarah and Casey look at him. Casey with surprise, Sarah with worry. He's implying the security Beckman has indicated would not be sufficient and that she withheld that information this time. She won't like that!
Beckman simply nods. "I have demanded to know immediately if he escapes again, to give you more time to prepare."
Sarah is surprised by that, too. Beckman doesn't think the CIA security will be worth shit, either.
Sarah will talk to both her partners about how they can prepare better, in advance of any notification.
"Thank you, General," Chuck says, acknowledging she is doing the best she can.
The general nods and, just before disconnecting the call, says, "And thank you, team, for taking out all three threats."
Sarah had invited Casey to the meal and Chuck had done the same with Morgan. Sarah was extremely glad that Hannah had offered to come early and help her with the cooking.
"But Sarah, this is my dish!" Chuck complains.
Sarah looks at him. "I have it on good authority that it's 'tasteless crap,' Chuck."
He'd gawps at her. "Ellie told you that?"
She gives him one of her iciest stares. "Yes, but you can't let her know I told you. She'd never trust me again."
His shoulders slump.
"I can liven up anything," Hannah chirps up.
"We'll love you forever, if you can," Sarah exclaims.
Hannah grins. "Not into threesomes!"
Chuck chokes and Sarah laughs out loud.
Chuck has just brought the pepperoni over to the table.
Ellie sniffs and gasps. "Oh, my God, Chuck, this looks amazing. And smells amazing, too."
Chuck looks embarrassed and then looks at Sarah and Hannah.
"Actually, El, I didn't make this."
She looks up at him. "Huh?"
"Sarah and Hannah made it using my basic ingredients, along with some of Hannah's spices," Chuck admits.
Ellie raises her eyebrows and looks first at Sarah and then at Hannah. Then she says, "Hmmm." Nothing more.
When they start eating, Ellie exclaims, "Chuck, I've been telling you for years that I love this dish. And it's been horrible. And now, I can tell you, honestly, that this is fantastic."
Chuck huffs. "You could've told me before, El."
"I didn't have the heart."
They all snicker and tuck in to their meals.
As the meals progress, Hannah talks to the two men either side of her, Morgan and Casey, but also looks up and talks across the table to the other four. Sarah watches her. She seems to be having a great time. Nothing more than friendly banter, although Morgan seems to be trying to hold her attention. Casey says very little unless someone speaks to him, as always. Hannah does get him talking more than most, though.
Hannah seems to animate when talking to others, but also pull them into that, adding sparkle to their words, too. Sarah is quite jealous of that skill, but she's happy for her friend.
Sarah can see there not will be any romance for Hannah resulting from this meal, but at least she seems to be having a good time.
Sarah wonders if she could match Hannah up with someone else, then admonishes herself. Who am I to try to play matchmaker!
Devon and Casey helped with clearing the table. Sarah and Chuck had to chased them out after that. They could load the dishwasher and needed no more help.
Casey is the first to leave, claiming his plants needed him more than the people there. Everyone laughs, but Sarah knows that statement was a true reflection of Casey's thoughts.
Morgan had obviously been trying his best to woo Hannah all evening, with no success. She had firmly, but politely, made it clear that she wasn't interested. She hadn't told him to back off, or anything like that, but by the end of the evening he has obviously got the message. He is still chatting to her and smiling a lot, though, so he obviously still enjoys being with her, even though she will obviously never become his girlfriend. He leaves happily, after Chuck promises a game's night later that week. Sarah rolls her eyes thinking about that.
Ellie grabs Sarah, giving her a big hug. "Thank you, Sarah." Sarah pulls back to look at her friend. "It wasn't just me that did all this, Ellie."
"You gave us reason to believe in Chicken Peperoni again," Ellie whispered in her ear.
Sarah laughs, "Well, I had help on that, too."
Ellie leans back to look at her friend. "You organized it all, Sarah. You're not only good for Chuck, you're making a difference to all of those around you. Thank you."
Sarah could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks. She's embarrassed. It's times like this that she wishes she had never been an agent, just a normal girl with no secrets.
Chuck joins them and says to his sister, "Don't I get a hug?"
Ellie grabs him into one of her hugs. Sarah hears what she says, "You look after this girl, Chuck. She's a keeper."
Even though that's what Sarah would really like, her job doesn't fit with such a concept. That makes her feel sad, so she turns away.
Hannah had been just behind her, so sees Sarah's expression. "She moves to Sarah and says, quietly, "Something wrong?"
Sarah shakes her head and pulls Hannah into a hug. "Thank you for saving the meal, Hannah."
The smaller woman chuckles. "Spice of life, Sarah."
Hannah looks at her and says, "Thank you for inviting me into your family meal. You're a good friend, Sarah."
I've never had friends before and now I'm being called a great one!
Chuck has just closed the door after Devon & Ellie left and comes over to join them.
"I'm sorry for the lack of eligible bachelors, Hannah," Sarah apologizes.
Hannah grins and looks up at Chuck. "It seems the best has already been taken."
That makes Chuck blush and Sarah chuckle. "Damn right!" Sarah replies and then grins back.
Sarah is more determined than ever to help Hannah find someone.
Chuck settles down on the couch and holds his arms open, waiting for Sarah to get into one of her favorite positions, snuggling up to her boyfriend. She doesn't do that, but sits at the end of the couch, waiting for him to sit up. "We need to talk," she says.
He obviously knows he's done something wrong and gulps, before sitting up. "I'm sorry, Sarah."
She glares at him and simply says, "For…"
He rushes to get his words out. "For pushing you so hard, for tranq'ing you, for pretending to be Gruber when Casey was shot, for going with the Ring agents, for leaving them with the rifle without thinking. for rushing to take on Shaw… for all of it."
She relaxes a bit. "And for not kissing me enough to make up for all of that!"
He moves over and leans to her and kisses her. She has to acknowledge that it is a wonderful kiss. However, she eventually pushes away from him. "Chuck, you're not an agent. What you did was risky for an agent, let alone an analyst. I was terrified when you disappeared and didn't answer your phone. Then you appeared and I was first sure that Shaw would hurt you and then that Gruber actually killed you. You can't do this to me, Chuck."
"I was just trying to do what I could for the mission," Chuck whines.
"So, you did what you said you wouldn't do. You became a spy!" She snaps.
"What should I have done?" His voice is slightly raised.
"Use that big brain of yours and think of a different way!"
He places a hand on her arm. "This was the only way, Sarah. It moved the mission forward, in spite of Casey being recognized; it kept you safe, at least until you tried to take Shaw by yourself." Sarah winces at that and the frown he gives her.
He continues, "When I saw Shaw had you, I did lose it, Sarah. You are the most important thing in my life. I would do anything for you, so I didn't think twice about coming to save you. I love you and this is part of what goes with it. You'd do the same for me."
He's right, she would. He's also right that she shouldn't have tried to take on Shaw without backup. She was stupid, too. There was nothing she could do about his final point, but will do all she can to make sure the spy aspect never happens again.
She gets up and pulls him up off the couch. "Take me to bed. We can take our minds off the dangers faced by the other."
He grins, "You'll take my mind off everything and anything, Sarah."
She grins back.
For the next two hours, what they do is as mind blowing as they expect and neither of them are able to think about anything else.
A/N: So, a retelling of S3E8. This was one of the worst episodes, with Chuck sleeping with Hannah and Sarah telling Shaw her birth name, then agreeing to be with him. I hated it all. No Sam here and, although Shaw appeared again, neither he nor Hannah broke the Charah relationship.
As always, let me know what you think in a review.