Posted August 10, 2019

A/N: Just because Sarah got married doesn't mean she lost all her friends.

October 9, 2007

In her grey knit bathrobe, Sarah turned on the shower. She still couldn't believe the CIA had gone for the rain shower idea when they made their additions. It was glorious. It made her always want to take a shower. This time, the shower had a purpose. A few minutes before, she had left Chuck at his sister's after a night of board games. He said he'd be along in a minute, that Ellie and he were going to have a brother-sister talk. It was even money, though, whether he'd come alone or whether Morgan would come with him. Morgan had injected himself into the couple's game, so she wouldn't be surprised if he invited himself over before he headed home on his bike. If Chuck heard the shower running, he'd probably get the hint that he was invited to join her, meaning Morgan would be quickly sent on his way, even if the bearded friend didn't catch the clue. She would encourage a video game night or something for the guys, later this week. There were limits, though. She had already vetoed Morgan's idea of the Saw IV premiere next week, after Chuck privately told her he was too scared of the Saw movies. Apparently her protector job extended to providing a viable excuse to get out of horror movies without admitting the truth to a best friend. That night, after a full night of group fun, she wanted Chuck all to herself.

Sarah saw a reflection in the shower handle. Someone dressed all in black was in her home. Only a week, and people were already breaking in! Time to stop that. She slipped a bar of soap into a black sock that was hanging to dry nearby, making a long weapon that could stretch and could be flung, with heavy bludgeoning end. She swung it in a circle over her head and went on the attack.

Sarah's first swing missed, but she circled the momentum in reverse, hitting the intruder solidly in the back. She followed with a figure-eight to build up leverage before another two quick hits. The person in black was a woman, grunting at the multiple strikes. Sarah pulled the long elastic of the sock between her hands to block two punches. Sarah wondered…but she didn't have time to think about that idea. She wrapped her sock weapon around the tall female assailant's arm to restrain it before kneeing her opponent in the gut. Then using the wrapped arm, she yanked her opponent across the room. She shoved her hard into the wall by pulling with her hands over the shoulder clad in black.

With the intruder reeling in the bathroom, Sarah hurried to the main room where she could get to the gun safe under the couch. She didn't have time, though, and she was pushed across the back of the couch, knocking over the table with Star Wars helmets from Chuck's old ComicCon costumes. She stood up and threw one of the helmets at her opponent, nailing her in the head.

Sarah was pretty sure the black one was a Darth Vader helmet. The white one was a stormtrooper helmet. She never understood why he dressed as one of the bad guys. They all lost in the movies, and Chuck was a good guy. Morgan once told her that Chuck as Han and he was Chewie because of the facial hair. That made her Leia and made Bryce Fett.

At that moment, the front door opened. The woman in black turned her attention to the new arrival. Sarah stepped it up a notch to defend her husband. Before the threat could reach him, Sarah had jumped on the woman's back, bringing her to the ground. Sarah flipped the woman so she landed on her front, spread across the room. Sarah didn't hesitant to kick the woman on the floor on the head, knocking her out.

"Um, Sarah. What is going on?"

Sarah saw her husband was alone, then took the hood off the person she had defeated. She was right. It was Carina—Carina Miller, Carina Hansen, or whatever she was going by at the moment.

"Shut the door, Chuck. We have to tie up my old friend who didn't know to call first."

A few minutes later, Carina was restrained in a dining room chair, both legs zip-tied to chair legs and her arms zip-tied behind her. Sarah was back in her clothes from the evening, and she tossed a glass of water in her prisoner's face.

The red head become alert again was a gasp. "Really?"

Sarah said, "You attacked me in my home. Then you moved to attack my husband. If I didn't like you, you wouldn't be breathing."

Chuck was in another chair to the side of the room, sitting on both hands, and keeping his mouth shut. He had a million questions, but he wasn't familiar with this one of his wife's mood. While he hadn't had to deal with it before, he could tell that he should stay out of the line of fire.

Carina said, "You need to relax. Wait. Did you say husband?"

"Yes, I did. I'm Sarah Bartowski now, and I don't take kindly to people who threaten my Chuck."

"I didn't lay a finger on him—your Chuck."

"You had just attacked me and moved to attack him. That's close enough in my book. The CIA isn't going to be happy that they have to fix the drywall and replace the table. We moved in just a few days ago, after they finished their additions. How did you get in?" Sarah looked at her new iPhone. It showed an alert she hadn't seen because she was getting into the shower.

Carina said, "I presume this guy knows about the whole cover-marriage thing."

"It's not a cover. I've been Sarah Bartowski for five weeks. We were married a week before it became my official job to make sure no one harms him. Yes, I was doing my job when I tied you up. I would have done anything to protect him before. Now, I get told by the higher-ups that I did a great job whenever I eliminate any potential threats."

"You're saying tall, dark, and curly is one of us?"

"He's an analyst—a field analyst of sorts—a really good one. Did you hear about that bombing at that LA hotel that was hosting a NATO conference a few weeks ago?"

Carina wrinkled her brow. "No. I sometimes miss things when I'm undercover out of the country, but I would think that's the kind of thing I would have heard about."

"You didn't hear about it because of Chuck. He prevented it from happening. Since then, we've rounded up several traitors. That was just the first month." She turned to Chuck and blew him a kiss. Chuck knew enough to remain quiet, but his face glowed.

"Call me impressed. I didn't know the CIA worked in the US, though."

"Chuck is important enough that we have a new cross-agency team which includes an NSA agent."

"Quite a gig you have here. I saw the highlights from your couples game across the courtyard. I thought this place was yawn-ville. It's nice to know you haven't become June Cleaver, without the cleaver. Although, I never thought you'd be the type of person to be fake-married for protection duty."

"I told you. It's not a cover. It's not fake. Before I met Chuck a few months ago, marriage was the last thing on my mind. A couple months after meeting him, before he was helping to save the world, I proposed to him. We were married in Las Vegas five hours later."

"Oh, that explains it. Vegas. That doesn't count."

"Marriages in Vegas are real, too," Sarah said with certainty.

Carina wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Really? They are? I didn't know that. And I thought it was the perfect place for my next cover marriage."

"Chuck and I are very married."

"Did he knock you up or something?"

"No. I had my last DMPA shot in August. We 'practice' a lot, though. In fact, that's what I thought we were about to do when I noticed you in a reflection. This night has turned out worse than I expected because I had high hopes of a great ending to a fun evening." Sarah glanced at Chuck and saw him turn beat red.

Sarah continued, "We were over at Chuck's sister's. The others who were there don't know what we do for the CIA and NSA. You could have broken our cover. Speaking of which… Chuck, how did you manage to get rid of Morgan? I half expected him to follow you back here, which would have meant he would have seen me throw Carina across the room."

Carina opened her mouth to protest that it was a more even match, but realized she didn't have a strong argument considering she was knocked out and tied up at the end.

Chuck said, "Ellie was trying to push him out the door with me, but Devon stopped him and was going to teach him some sort of 'how to be awesome' lesson. I assume I got out of it because I married you, so I get some awesomeness by osmosis."

"You don't need lessons. You're awesome in all the right ways for me." Sarah punctuated that with a smacking kiss on his lips. Carina groaned.

There was a knock at the door. It was Morgan. He called through the door, "It's me, buddy. Ellie kicked me out. I really need to get a 'Morgan door' over here."

Sarah harshly whispered, "Quick. Morgan is Chuck's best friend, and he's a civilian." She pulled out a knife and cut Carina loose. Chuck slowly went to the door, purposely giving them a few seconds. By the time he opened the door, the furniture was back in place and the women were sitting casually on the couch.

When Chuck opened the door, Morgan said, "I just wanted to tell Mr Walker and Mrs Bartowski goodnight." He stopped in his tracks when he spotted the woman with the long red hair that he didn't know.

Chuck said, "Morgan, this is Sarah's friend, Carina. She was in town and stopped by to say hi."

Morgan went over and took Carina's hand. "Madam Carina." He didn't seem to notice her black attire. Her face hadn't turned purple, yet, and she had managed to dry how Sarah had woken her up.

"Nice to meet you, Martin," Carina said with a flirty smile.

"The pleasure is all mine." Morgan was trying to sound smooth, but it sounded like he was trying too hard.

Chuck stepped in and said, "Thanks for stopping by, Morgan. It's late, and you have to head home, so you probably should go." He grabbed his friend by both shoulders and steered him to the door. Sarah gave Morgan a little wave and a smile.

Chuck walked Morgan out to his bike and came back in a minute. He said, "He didn't suspect a thing, however he did suggest maybe we all could, I guess you could say, have a double date tomorrow night. Feel free to say no. By that I mean, say no."

Sarah point a finger and said, "Actually, that's a great idea! It could help with the cover. Carina, you almost blew that cover earlier. We need you to help make it stronger now."

Carina said, "Sure, that could be fun."

Chuck stood there, surprised. "Ok. How's this supposed to work?"

Sarah said, "Carina can go to the Buy More tomorrow, to set it up. Tomorrow night, we could watch a movie here."

Chuck tried to smile and said, "I guess that could work. Ellie would appreciate his attention being elsewhere."

To Carina, Sarah said, "What brings a DEA agent here?"

"I have a mission, heard you're in the area, and thought you could help. I'm getting a diamond like you."

Sarah said, "I assume this is for a cover marriage."

"It's not that kind of diamond. It's bigger than yours."

Chuck said, "Um, well, we got married so suddenly, I didn't have the chance to get Sarah an engagement ring."

Sarah said, "That's ok. We're wearing the more important rings. We didn't have time to make another stop on the way to the chapel."

Chuck countered, "I don't know. You might have been going fast enough."

"I don't follow," Carina said.

"If her car had wings, we were going fast enough to get airborne. I don't know the land speed record from LA to Vegas, but we had to be close."

Sarah said, "It was mostly open freeway, easier than our escape in Pakistan."

"Ah, that was fun. About this diamond, can you help?"

"Maybe," Sarah answered. "But if I help, my team does too, both Chuck and Casey."

"Casey? John Casey?"

"You know him?"

"Our paths cross once in Prague."

"Prague? I think you told me about a mission you did there. Is he the guy?"

"Yes, that was him."

Sarah laughed, "Ok. We'll need to run it by our bosses tomorrow morning from Casey's place. He has another apartment just across the courtyard. Chuck and my guest room is a workout room. I guess you could have the couch. That is, unless you want to see if Casey has a place for you."

Carina smirked, "That's ok. They put me up in an apartment at a local hotel. I should be going. Chuck, it's been nice meeting the person that finally captured Sarah Walker. Sarah, the next time you get married, I expect an invite."

Sarah gave her a goodbye hug at the door. "There won't be a next time. Some people get lucky with the first marriage. I know this one is lasting, no matter what happens. Even if my brain is swapped out."

"What?"

"It's a nerd thing. It's rubbing off."

"Oh no. I thought you were doing another kind of rubbing."

"There's more of that, but my Chuck is a big nerd, and I think it's cute. I'm still learning all of this stuff, but some of these crazy things keep popping in my head. It means I understand him more, and there is nothing wrong with that."

Carina gave her friend another hug. "Whatever. See you tomorrow."

The next evening was enlightening. Morgan was mesmerized. Chuck hoped his friend didn't fall too hard, too fast for Carina. Spy seduction skills appear powerful. Chuck still wasn't sure how much Sarah had seduced him that first weekend in July, but it wasn't a mission, and she didn't really have to try. In the end it didn't matter because they both fell hopelessly in love with each other. One movie date night with Carina resulted in Morgan wrapped around her finger. Carina wasn't hooked herself like Sarah was. Morgan's heart didn't have a chance.

Later that night, after Morgan and Carina left, Chuck was the Nerd Herder on-call. His first support call led him to a hotel. Chuck knocked on the door to room 903.

The door was opened by a tall red-head in a short silk robe.

Chuck smiled and said uneasily, "You called for a computer support… Carina?"

"Come on in Chuckie," Carina said with a seductive smile.

Before he walked from the hallway through the door, Sarah stepped from the side to stand behind him, facing the other spy in the hotel room with a look that showed she was not amused. Carina's smile dropped. She stepped aside and let both Bartowskis into the room.

Fully in the hotel room, Chuck said, "Where's your computer?"

Sarah answered for her. "She doesn't have one. On missions, I never travel with one. Any specialized computer would be a security risk because it could fall in the wrong hands. We need to remain mobile." She leveled a serious stare at the DEA agent.

Carina said, "Can't you let Chuck out of your sight for a minute? Don't you trust him?"

Sarah said, "We sleep in the same bed. When you woke him with your call, you woke me. Chuck told me where he was going, and it was pretty clear to me who was unnecessarily taking away my favorite pillow."

"You sure got over Larkin fast."

Chuck asked Sarah, "She knows Bryce?"

Carina followed with her own question. "He knows your ex-boyfriend?"

Sarah let out a deep breath. She finally said, "Yes. Bryce was Chuck's college roommate. Chuck and I met because Bryce was doing this big proposal thing and invited Chuck, presumably to be his best man."

"Oh. There's only one reason for a spy couple to get married. At least you avoided that because from what you've told me, he wasn't a good partner, leaving most of the hard stuff for you."

"It's worse than that. I got out of the mess just in time. This isn't widely known, but since Bryce knows of you through me, you need to be prepared. Last month, he blew up a government facility on a rogue mission. He tried to frame Chuck as an accomplice. We thought Bryce was dead, but he escaped and we don't know where he is. If you hear word of him, let us know and get back-up. He's wanted as a traitor."

Carina's eyes were completely wide. That story was not what she expected.

Chuck ended the awkward silence by asking Sarah, "Was this really supposed to be a seduction attempt? I thought you just wanted to provide protection. Carina, you're modelesque, but I'm married to the most beautiful woman on the planet. I love her, and she loves me. Do you think I'm insane?"

"I get it. You two are attached at the hip," Carina said.

Sarah mumbled, "I wish."

"What was that?" Carina asked.

"That would be easier." She quietly added under her breath, "In more ways than one."

"Ok. Ok. You two are still in some kind of honeymoon phase, and Chuck ruined you."

"Quite the opposite," Sarah said. "I'm not 'ruined.' I've never been better. Chuck and I are leaving. Please don't wake me again for fake tech support. You might be keeping him away from someone who really needs him. Regular people need help with their computers, too."

Chuck said, "Carina. It'd been a pleasure, again."

Sarah corrected him, "No it wasn't a pleasure at all. Carina, like I said earlier, stop messing with Morgan. He's my friend, too. Considering the sleep I lost for this excursion, I like him more than you right now. We'll see you before the mission tomorrow. Let's go, Chuck." Sarah locked her arm through his and pulled him out the door.

"Not again," Carina said as she was smacked in the head with a flying space helmet. She fell down on the living room floor of the Bartowski apartment, and Sarah pulled off her black hood. At least this time she hadn't been completely knocked out.

"Boba Fett's helmet works as well as Darth Vader's," Sarah said quietly to herself. She had checked with Chuck which helmet was which during breakfast. It turns out he had the helmets as collectibles, not from old costumes. She hadn't decided if that was better or worse.

To the DEA agent on the floor, she harshly whispered, "What are you doing here, Carina? You might think you're sneaky, but this time I saw the silent alarm before you opened the door. That's why I hit you the instant you were inside the apartment. I know what you did earlier. Morgan is wallowing back in the bedroom, and Chuck just called my cell from Casey's to say Casey had broken his headboard in half to free himself. Chuck was asking me if he should offer to help or flee. I expect him here any minute."

"I came for my diamond. It's my mission."

"Your need for bling inspired you to handcuff an NSA agent to his headboard and steal something that was already in Federal custody? Then why would you leave the diamond with a civilian—"

"I saw Chuck's sister come out of her apartment, and Morgan was there. I thought you might have been in the sister's apartment with her, so I needed to get rid of it."

"You kissed Morgan in the middle of the courtyard in front of Ellie. She's going to be so disappointed when you leave after getting her hopes up."

Chuck entered to find the two spies sitting on the floor.

"Ok. Whatever happened here, I'm staying out of it. I would like to point out that a very angry NSA assassin is just a few feet away on the other side of that door, so Carina, it might be a good idea to be careful when you leave."

"She left the diamond with Morgan," Sarah said.

"The weapons diamond?" Chuck asked in clarification.

"What weapons diamond?" Carina asked. "I thought it was a drug diamond."

Sarah explained, "Chuck identified the diamond when we brought it back to Casey's place earlier today. We gave our report to our bosses, and the DEA no longer wants it because it's become a national security issue that is not drug related."

"Wow, Walker, you must really want a diamond, so you're taking mine."

"It's Bartowski. And I already have diamonds." Sarah pulled the large Nadan-I-Noor diamond from her pocket and held it up. "This one and the one I married. Chuck, could you check on Morgan? I found this in Morgan's bag. Carina hid it there when she distracted him with a kiss, which Ellie saw. Morgan was pretty upset because Carina is leaving town, and I was getting him a grape soda when we had a break-in, again."

Chuck left to talk to his friend, leaving the spies alone.

Sarah and Carina both stood up and started to the door.

Carina asked, "What's happening with the diamond now?"

"Casey has a courier coming to his place in about an hour. Chuck suggested FedEx, but the NSA wants to use their own people, even though we've been dealing with traitors in the ranks, like Bryce and government researchers. Casey trusts their security protocol. It'll be fine."

"So that means you'll be diamond-less again. Sorry, you'll still have the guy you call a diamond, but you won't have a diamond rock any more."

Chuck came out into the hall and said, "That's not the case."

Sarah turned in surprise, "Chuck, why aren't you back with Morgan?"

"He fell asleep, probably from a lack of caffeine. He'll be fine by himself. I'm here to give you this."

Chuck got down on one knee and held out a red box that was open to reveal a diamond ring.

Sarah hands covered her mouth, but that didn't hide her surprise or joy.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. Wait it doesn't matter, I'm already married to you. I'm already excited I get to spend the rest of my life with the man I love. I thought the same thing this morning. But I'm taking this anyway." She took out the diamond ring and immediately put it on her finger to go with her wedding ring. She pulled him up into a passionate kiss. Carina didn't groan. Quite the opposite. She did her best to hold in tears.

After Sarah peppered Chuck with several more kisses, she pulled back. "How can you afford this on a Buy More salary? The CIA doesn't want it's people in debt. I haven't had time to put your name on my accounts that I have under aliases, and that's where I have most of…what is now our money."

"My first CIA paycheck came. Then last night I asked Ellie about floating me some extra money. It turns out she was never comfortable with the idea of her brother paying rent to live with her, so she had been holding five years of my monthly rent payments in a special account. She gave it back. The ring is completely paid off."

Sarah kissed Chuck again, because she couldn't stop, but she paused to say, "I'll let Devon know if he needs a loan when it's his turn—"

"I overheard him talking to his parents about getting his grandmother's ring to give Ellie. I think we inspired him to move up his timetable."

Still holding tightly to Chuck, Sarah turned and said to Carina, "With everyone in this apartment complex getting married, you should know Casey is off limits for you. Morgan wouldn't understand and for all practical purposes, he's family."

Carina scoffed, "Don't worry. I'm not looking to become part of the next spy power couple."

Chuck kissed Sarah again and said, "I better wake up my bearded friend. I have a feeling it might be a good idea to clear him out of here so we can have this place to ourselves when you two are done here."

"Yes. Please do that," Sarah said, and she lightly swatted Chuck's rear as he left.

Carina apologized, "I'm sorry. I now understand with the Larkin thing and the new marriage, you and your team are worrying about bigger things and don't need any missions like mine as a distraction."

"Don't worry about it. You're important to me. I liked seeing you—better when you aren't breaking in. It's always an adventure. It's nice having a friend who knows what I really do also know the most important thing that has ever happened to me. Carina, you and I both owe each other so many, there's no point in keeping track. Friends don't keep score. Morgan, or Martin as you call him, explained to me that because I'm married to Chuck and he's Chuck's friend, he's my friend too. By that logic, you're Chuck's friend too. The next time you're in town, try to remember that. You mess with one of us, you mess with both of us. And remember it'll be a lot easier for everyone if you call first."

Carina said she understood and said something in Swedish. Sarah replied in Polish. They hugged and parted ways.

A/N: The Carina whirlwind makes everyone need to catch their breath before indulging in big shrimp and enjoying fake holidays.

Songs:
"Cherry Bomb" by the Runaways (used in The Guardians of the Galaxy) or "Cherry Bomb" by John Cougar Mellencamp. Your choice.
"Diamonds Are Forever" performed by Shirley Bassey