A/N: One-shot rewrite of part of "Chuck Versus the Hard Salami." Here, Lou Palone sees Stavros and his men capture Chuck and Sarah. When Casey turns up, she tells him and they track the car to its final destination. She learns a lot more about who the three are and the relationship of the other couple. This is 100% Charah, but told from Lou's perspective.

This was beta'd by Captainrick944. Thanks, my friend. I have added to it since the version he saw, so don't blame him for any mistakes you spot.

Captainrick944 also suggested the title, which is better than my "Down the Lou" which I liked because Lou and Chuck relationship was effectively flushed down the toilet after how he behaved. However, the story extended, so it didn't seem right anymore. Besides, 'loo' is British slang and may not be understood by all.

Lou's Pickle

Stavros had left her with her smuggled goods, and she was going to open the crate when Chuck walked up to her. "Well, hello, Lou. If that is, in fact, your real name."

His attitude sucked. His words deliberately trying to hurt her.

"Chuck, what are you doing here?" she demanded.

He continued to be a shit. "I think the question is, what are you doing here?"

She felt like punching him in that smug face. "None of your fucking business!" Then, she thought about how he must have found her. "Were you following me? Have you been spying on me?" she shouted at him.

The bastard replied, "Hold on a second, don't try and turn this around on me."

"You bet this is being turned on you, you bastard!"

He grabbed a crowbar and started to pry open her crate. "I'm not the one- I'm not the one smuggling... You know, what is this? What is this? Illegal, illegal things with my boyfriend."

He had the crate tipped as he pried the side off. The meats fell to the ground.

His rant faltered. "Is that- what is, what is that?" he asked in a quieter tone.

"Sopressata. . What'd you think was going to be in there?" she asked angrily.

"I, uh, I didn't quite know," he said. "I just saw you with Stavros, and I suspected the worst."

"Right, well, congratulations, Chuck. Your suspicions have been confirmed. I'm a smuggler."

He put his hand on his wrist for some reason. "You should probably keep that down. Someone'll hear you, okay?"

She wasn't going to keep it down, though, so as she started to pick up the meats, she snapped, "I know it's illegal! There's no additives or preservatives in it. It takes ten days to clear customs, and by then, it's gone bad. Okay, don't get me started on the FDA crap!"

As she stood back up, he stood there, looking ashamed. Well, he fucking should!

"I'm sorry, Lou. I made a really big mistake."

"Looks like I did, too," she replied, pushing past him to get away. She hated him right now. How could she have been taken in by him?

Looks like I did, too," she replied, pushing past him to get away.

She thought she had finally found a good guy, someone who treated her better. Hell, his ex-girlfriend even said he was. How wrong that was!

When she got to her car, she realized that she was actually missing one of the sausages, so she reluctantly turned around and went back. She really hoped that he would be gone by the time she got there.

Sadly, that wasn't the case. To make matters worse, as she arrived, so did his ex!

She decided to listen to it. It would probably confirm her suspicions that the two were an item again.

She thought back to that conversation she previously had with Sarah in the Wienerlicious.

xxx

She felt nervous around his ex for some reason. There was something a bit scary about Sarah. So, when called into the Wienerlicious it was like being invited into the lion's lair. However, she put a brave face on it.

"Nice to see you again," she lied.

"You know, he's a great guy," Sarah told her. Sarah looked ultra-serious.

"Yeah, um, I've had the same opinion so far, too," she replied.

Sarah's eyes locked with hers. "It's not an opinion. It's a fact. Don't hurt him."

She was taken aback by the words and the intensity of the look Sarah gave her. "Okay. Wasn't planning on it. Thanks for the heads up, though."

She got out of there as fast as she could.

xxx

Sarah quite obviously wasn't over him. Maybe the same was true of Chuck's feelings for the beautiful blonde.

"Hey, what happened?" Sarah asked.

"I blew it... Again," he replied.

Lou agreed. He'd blown it with her for good.

Then, she noticed Sarah was holding a pistol. What the hell?

Before she could get her head around that, something else shocking happened. Stavros and his men turned up, also holding guns. "Yes, you did, Chuck," Stavros stated. He held up what looked like the lapel badge Chuck had worn to the nightclub. "You most definitely blew it."

She watched in horror as Stavros's men took the gun off Sarah, tied the two of them up, and put them in the trunk of the car they had arrived in.

As they drove off, she thought she should do something. She noted the license plate but didn't know who to call.

Suddenly, another man burst onto the scene. She had seen him in the Buy More with Chuck. He also was carrying a gun. Did everyone but her carry guns around now?

She opened the door further and called, "Hey!"

He swung around, pointing the gun at her. She quickly put her hands up. "Are you with Chuck?" she asked as she stood looking at him.

"Yeah! Where is he?"

She started down the stairs. "Stavros and his men took him. And his ex."

"I should be able to track him, but…." The guy then noticed something, and she saw him pull a watch out of a glass of liquid. "Idiot!" he muttered.

"I got the license plate number," she said as she reached him.

"Good!" he snapped. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"Hey! What're you doing?" she gasped out.

"I need that number!" he growled.

She yanked her elbow out of his grasp and glared at him. "If you promise to save Chuck, I'll give it to you, but you will NOT manhandle me again!"

He looked at her with some obvious appreciation, then frowned. "Give!"

She told him the number, and he rushed off with his phone to his ear. She found she wanted to go with him, so she rushed after him.

"What sort of agents are you and Sarah?" she asked the man as he drove.

He frowned. He looked like he was going to lie, so she added, "and don't say FDA as firearms like that…" she pointed at the one he was still holding. "… cannot be standard issue for them."

He grunted. He was silent for a while, then said, "NSA."

"Security?" She was surprised. "How the hell did Chuck get caught up with you? And what have you dragged him into?"

He barked out a laugh.

"And what's that for?" She demanded.

He sighed. "Your ex-boyfriend and his dad are smuggling weapons into the country."

She was shocked into silence for a minute. Then asked, "And how is Chuck involved?"

He grinned. "Because his girlfriend works with me."

She was the one who growled this time. "So, they are still an item!" It wasn't a question now.

He chuckled.

She sat and fumed. She had been fooled by Chuck and by Blondie. Somehow she doubted the woman's name was Sarah at all. She obviously wasn't a hot dog seller any more than this guy was a salesman. Or… or Chuck was an IT support guy, for that matter. Was he a spy too?

She turned to the guy driving. "Which agency does Chuck work for?" That started him coughing. "Or Blondie?"

His cough turned into a laugh. When he eventually stopped, he just said, "Don't call her that to her face!"

Lou remembered the gun Sarah was carrying. She was obviously not to be trifled with. Chuck didn't seem like that. "You haven't answered my questions."

He glared at her. "Why should I?"

"Well, unless you are going to dispose of me, I could tell the people you are pretending to work with." He glared at her. "You, Blondie and Chuck."

"She's CIA, and Bartowski is working with us."

That was interesting. "So, she's not his girlfriend, then!" She grinned at him for getting that information. For some reason, they were just pretending to be together. Maybe she would give him another chance after this was over.

He glared at her before he silently turned back to the road.

He had been tracking the vehicle using something on his phone, but the dot had now stopped moving.

They arrived at the location ten minutes later. She recognized where they were. "This is the dock where they bring in my meats."

"Yeah, and probably where the weapons arrive, too," he uttered.

He grabbed his phone and made a call, then turned to her. 'I have men arriving. You stay in the car."

He leaped out and ran over to the building as two vans arrived and men poured out.

She sat for a while but wanted to know what was happening. She got out and ran over. She knew where the security office was, which wasn't where she heard gunfire. When she got there, her eyes were caught by a camera feed on a huge crate. Why have one on that?

Then she saw movement. WTF? Chuck and Blondie rushed to the crate and managed to pry off the front.

The bomb that appeared took Lou's breath away. The couple stared at it too. There was a timer that Lou managed to get the camera to zoom in on. Less than a minute remaining!

Blondie bent down to it, masking the countdown. She looked around at Chuck and asked him something. Lou wished she could hear them. Chuck was holding his head in his hands.

"Get out of there," Lou yelled at the screen, but obviously, neither of the two that were in it as she panned back heard her.

They were arguing, and Blondie pulled her gun on him. Lou gasped, but Chuck seemed to mock the woman.

Blondie lowered her gun, and they both looked at the timer, standing closer together.

Lou wanted to look away but couldn't. She was about to watch them get blown up.

Suddenly, Blondie closed the distance between them and grabbed his face, and kissed him hard.

Lou gasped. That looked like her desperate to get a kiss from the man she'd hidden her feelings from before they both died.

Chuck reacted and kissed her back.

If this wasn't so tragic, it would have melted Lou's heart. Her hand was covering her mouth.

The bomb did not go off, and the two parted and looked breathless. Hell, she would, too, after a passionate kiss like that!

Blondie obviously looked uncomfortable. Chuck muttered something to her.

Lou guessed this must have been the first time Blondie had shown her true feelings for him. Lou felt sorry for her. Then she heard people outside and realized she needed to get out and back to the car.

When they took her back to the deli. Blondie stayed with her as Grunt took Chuck away.

"I don't know what we can do with you," Blondie said, shaking her head. "You can't tell anyone what you know." There was a hint of threat in the way she said that.

"I have no intention of doing that. I don't want to be ridiculed!" Sarah frowned, so she felt she had to explain. "Who'd believe me if I said that two guys in the Buy More and a girl in the Wienerlicious were actually spies."

The blonde slowly nodded, looking slightly less concerned.

That wasn't what Lou wanted to talk about. "You love him, don't you?"

The shocked expression gave Blondie away. "What?" she tried to cover her reaction.

"I saw you in front of what looked like a bomb. You were on camera, and I saw you. I've never seen a more passionate kiss."

Blondie slumped down into a chair and put her head in her hands.

Lou placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not allowed to love him, are you?"

A very small voice came from within those hands. "No."

"He doesn't know, does he?"

Blondie looked up at her. "He can't know."

Lou knelt before her. "Sarah, he should know."

The fear on the woman's face was palpable, and tears were obviously about to escape.

"Sarah, I don't know what's going on between you, but you obviously both feel the same way about each other. It's why he couldn't commit to me. I should hate you, but I don't. Tell him how you feel." She held the blonde's gaze to emphasize the next words. "You'll regret it if you don't."

Sarah, as Lou had decided to call her now, stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "I will." She sounded nervous but determined.

The next morning, Lou saw Sarah drop Chuck off at the Buy More. She couldn't see in the Porsche, but when he got out, he lingered as he looked in at the blonde before turning away.

When she had parked it outside the Wienerlicious, Sarah walked over to the deli.

Lou smiled at her as she walked up to the counter. "Looks like you did more than tell him."

The dreamy look in her eyes and the blush answered Lou's question before she nodded. "Thank you for the push."

Lou smiled at her. "You're welcome." Then she leaned forward and asked, "how was it?"

Sarah grinned. "Best night of my life. I think he broke me!"

Lou leaned back again and mock glared at her. "I should have taken him when I had my chance."

Sarah obviously didn't agree. However, she looked over her shoulder and leaned closer. "Casey and our bosses can't know."

Lou placed a hand on Sarah's. "Your secrets safe with me."

Then Sarah's phone rang. She quickly answered it, then looked at Lou. "Seems I'm about to find out what's in that container."

"Hope it's nothing to upset you," Lou said. "Or me, now my meat supply is over."

Sarah nodded and rushed out.

Lou watched her drive off in that Porsche. Being a spy obviously paid well if she could afford that. Certainly, a lot more than being a deli owner.

A few days later, Chuck came and apologized once again to her. She brushed it off, even though she did still feel hurt. She told him that she was glad he and Sarah were actually together now rather than just being in a cover relationship.

He looked surprised. "You know?"

She smiled, "I told her to admit how she really felt about you. I'm assuming a night of passion isn't the end of it."

He smiled and took on the same dreamy look that Sarah had on her face when after that night. "I hope not."

His eyes came back into focus. "Her ex turned up and tried to entice her away."

Lou gasped. "No!"

"I keep wondering if she would have gone if we hadn't had that night together."

Lou shook her head. "She's too into you, Chuck." She wasn't going to say that Sarah loved him, that was for her to say, but it was obvious.

Well, it looked like she really had missed out on dating a good guy. She wished them both well.

One good thing came out of this. Chuck and Sarah managed to find a way around the ten-day customs ruling for her. She also had two more regulars in the deli. Watching them together did cause an occasional twinge, but Sarah was now a friend, so Lou didn't hold it against her.

The two lovebirds seemed to come here to escape being observed. She kept a table near the back, most out of sight for them at the time they always arrived.

The looks they gave each other shouted love. Lou really hoped someone would look at her like that someday.

After seeing them together like that, she decided to bring back a grilled sandwiches she had removed from the menu when she'd been mad at Chuck. The newly named "Charah" was very popular with the couple and was a hit with others, too. Previously, people had avoided one that seemed to be for a specific individual. Very few knew that it was still personal. Her new friend, Sarah, had hugged and thanked her for it, along with everything else.

A/N: Lou was always a risk-taker. Here, she was quite determined to rescue Chuck and Sarah, or at least make sure they were ok. Would she have encouraged Sarah as she did here? Maybe, maybe not, but I like to think she would, and that it was all that Sarah really needed to get into a real relationship with Chuck, in spite of her fears and insecurities.

Thoughts?