The Inevitable Destiny.

He groggily rubbed his eyes as the surroundings started making sense to him. His body – the left side in particular – was reeling from the pain Mauser had inflicted upon him; it seemed like his ribs were mostly intact, though he probably needed to see a doctor before long. Slowly but surely, his ability to move around was improving, reminding him of the many recovery sessions he had been through during federal agent training.

In spite of the lingering smoke cloud, the silhouettes of Sarah and Mauser were still recognizable; their fight was now akin to an angry lioness pouncing on a helpless rabbit. Mauser may have been a formidable fighter (as Chuck's bruises proved), but Sarah was truly in a league of her own; she had youth on her side, as well as a natural degree of tenacity that Mauser, for all his experience and strength, currently lacked. Furthermore, her movements were too quick to defend against or counter, and her grip appeared to be exceptionally strong. Right now, the large man was physically weaker and had more difficulty breathing; he had little energy to do more than flail weakly in response to her assault.

Generally speaking, Chuck did not enjoy seeing anyone in pain, but even he couldn't help but admit there was something oddly humorous about the sight of a predator being bested by its prey. A part of him found it disturbing how easily he had adapted to the sight of violence and bloodshed. The adrenaline rushing through his brain and the intensity of his heartbeat made him feel like he was in his element, at least in comparison to how he felt whilst writing reports and – surprisingly – coding software. He briefly wondered how much of that starry-eyed kid from Burbank was left, before quickly banishing all those unnecessary thoughts.

He knew it was important to identify who these people were. Their target might have been Sarah this time around, but they clearly had a vested interest in getting their hands on the Intersect – enough to steal it from, then destroy a highly secure top secret government facility. They were bound to come after him in due course, so he had to explore the other Intersect inside his head for details. Not before his savior finished taking care of Mauser, though.

In spite of the pungent smells that assaulted his olfactory organs, he headed towards the small man and searched his pockets. A moment later, he found a membership card for Club Ares, one of many business ventures owned by a shipping magnate named Yari Demetrios. Interestingly, one of Demetrios' other ventures was the catering company whose employees were in New York for that exhibition. The same company he filed a report on just the other day. He didn't know if an ambush or similarly foul event happened that day but his gut feeling was that Demetrios wasn't exactly a law abiding citizen. Perhaps his suspicions had some merit.

In addition, he found a rolled-up piece of parchment which had an address written on it. Not bothering to read the contents, he put it inside his front pocket.

He felt an all too familiar chill upon seeing an odd-looking Ford Crown Victoria in the parking lot. He once again scanned his surroundings. Everyone threatening was either dead or out cold. It was an odd feeling, as if someone was keeping an eye on him... before he shook his head in disbelief.

Nah, that can't be true!

There wasn't anything even remotely threatening around him. After reassuring himself once or twice, the feeling of anxiety and foreboding went away.

When he turned back to Sarah... Mauser was no more, as his lifeless body lay on the floor. His beady eyes had almost popped out due to the intense pressure on his throat. His expression would forever be locked in fear. Seeing his face still caked with bloody spit nearly put a hole through Chuck's stomach. It was a stark reminder that their situations could easily have been reversed if not for the timely intervention of his friend from Harvard.

Sarah wasn't exactly doing well either. Though she was in great shape compared to everyone else in the vicinity, it was hard to deny that she went through something borderline horrific. Her clothes were torn and frayed all over, albeit not to the extent of indecency.

It must have taken a lot out of her.

Walking closer to her, Chuck knelt down, grabbed her less bloody hand, and squeezed it gently. He was in awe as he saw the blonde in a new light. With her face just inches away, he could still taste the sweetness of her aura; her scent and complexion radiated nothing but beauty. Her platinum blonde hair – despite how disheveled she looked otherwise – screamed perfection. Her warmth exuded comfort he hadn't felt in a long time, which was simultaneously terrifying and intoxicating to him.

He shook his head with a fond smile. "A-are you a-alright, Sarah?" His voice was shallow and broken, marked by laborious breathing. It seemed his throat hadn't completely recovered from Mauser's onslaught yet, but he forced himself to speak. "D-did they hurt you?"

"I-I..." The words couldn't form in her mouth. The thought struck her like a stick in the face. Chuck cared about her well-being. Not just that, he cared for her more than he cared for his own life. This realization left Sarah speechless, and in a shocking moment of clarity it dawned on her how incredibly stupid and brave this young man truly was. Her body sent warm prickles and cold chills over her skin at the same time.

She embraced him as hard as she possibly could.

"How could you do something like that?"

Chuck blinked in confusion as she looked at him with something akin to admiration, but returned the embrace regardless. He didn't know what to say to make her get over the shock she felt.

"I know that was one hell of a show, but it's all over now." He rolled his eyes with a bit of a laughter.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked in a voice filled with concern.

"Ha! I am the human epitome of nerdiness, equipped with the super deadly pan fu. I won't be taken down that easily."

With the total lack of grace only an immature young man could possibly manage – Chuck rolled up his sleeve, pressed his lips to his exposed bicep, inhaled deeply, then blew a raspberry.

The resulting wet, sloppy, fart-like noise was so loud that anyone listening from a distance would have believed he shit his pants.

Sarah tried to keep her guard up – she really did – but it cracked. Her resulting grin descended into giggles, which further descended into wheezing.

"You are an idiot!"

Chuck leaned back to catch his breath, coughing slightly in the process. "Don't be like that, Agent Walker! That was just my charming side showing up."

Winding down, she tried to go back to being guarded. She did her best to glare at him but failed miserably as he kept looking at her with childishly crossed eyes. Letting out a sigh, she placed her arm around his shoulders and supported him as they walked towards the car. She winced every time he limped, further impressing upon her his willingness to take on those dangerous assassins and endure so much pain, just to help her out. She felt like hitting him for making her so worried (once he healed); at the same time, she wanted want to kiss him senseless. In the meantime, it was best not to pay heed to that and simply focus on her current predicament.

Chuck took a deep breath as they walked together. It felt beyond awkward walking in silence with her. This was a woman who was a friend, a liar, a spy, an assassin, and a former lover of his arch nemesis. Though he hadn't given much thought to Bryce (or Jill, for that matter) since he discovered his wristwatch. Before they reached her car, Chuck spoke. There were things on his mind ever since he ran into Sarah at that club.

"Thanks." Chuck let it slip.

"No. You got into this situation because of me." Sarah turned away in a failed attempt to prevent Chuck from seeing her eyes water. "You nearly died..." She stopped and couldn't go on.

"Life is full of uncertainties. You shouldn't blame yourself for that." Chuck flashed an encouraging smile, causing Sarah to tilt her head towards him as they walked. "I thought about what you said before those jerks showed up. I guess I developed a habit of keeping people at arm's length, but you coming back... changed things for me."

Sarah said nothing, merely watching him in astonishment.

"It's really strange. But you made me feel something again. I don't know what to call it. Maybe it's affection. Maybe it's happiness, or perhaps I just enjoy being distracted like this. Anyway, you made me finally realize that I have been alone for a long time. Whatever it is, I want to thank you for that."

Sarah beamed at him. Regardless of what they had been through recently, she couldn't help but feel affected by Chuck telling her something like that. She stared back at him longingly, cupping his cheek with her hand.

"I know you don't want anything bad to happen to me. I guess that's why you didn't want to go out with me in the first place. I will admit, it doesn't make any sense that you feel like that. But I don't think it matters anymore. You can trust me."

Before Chuck could come up with a proper response to that, slow clapping occurred. The human Intersect sharply narrowed his eyes as a familiar mean-looking man with a predatory grin stepped out of the Crown Victoria he spotted earlier.

"Bravo..." He taunted. "Like something straight out of a soap opera."

"Casey?" Chuck frowned.

"Been a while, Golden Boy!" The hulking figure smiled at him before brandishing his own handgun. "How's it been?"

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