A/N: Last chapter, Chuck and Sarah finally got on the same page… Or maybe they were on the same page in everything but the answer to one poorly worded question, but it wasn't the best page for Charah. Sarah explained to Chuck that he had been asking the wrong question. When he asked what she wanted, not what she thought, he got the answer he always wished for. She also said she loved him and had all along. With that communication problem out of the way, they hurried to their bedroom, where nothing would be in their way.

Charah was cruising along for nine chapters, just in a different gear than normal. Last chapter, they went into another gear. We know Sarah liked to drive fast, but she might not have been ready for this.

In this chapter, we finally get Sarah's POV and find out what she was thinking.


Some time later

After the first time, Sarah couldn't say anything. Her head was so full of mush, she didn't think she could form coherent words. One thought was stuck in her head. She had been an idiot.

After the second time, she wanted to punch herself harder than Heather Chandler had the night before. She wasn't just an idiot. She was the world's biggest idiot. Sarah had Chuck practically under her for months, and she didn't take advantage of the opportunity. She'd woken up with him spooned at her back enough times that she knew that at least subconsciously, he was willing.

For some stupid reason she had always held back. The entire time they were together, she didn't want to risk him breaking up with her again because of what he thought they should be and she thought they could never be. If she had simply reworded his question, she could have had almost a year of bliss. Instead, she followed his lead, he followed hers, and nothing happened because they each had self-doubts.

Chuck had been too sweet, never putting her in a situation that could be construed as only because of her job. He didn't know that she wanted more with him and was open to any creative idea that would help with that.

When Bryce came to see Chuck last year on Thanksgiving night, she didn't let the opportunity pass, moving in with Chuck. At the time, a small part of her felt guilty for manipulating Chuck to get what she wanted, so she stopped pushing and let him be the guide in developing their relationship more. She was an idiot because she stopped imposing what she wanted.

But she didn't want to dwell. The past few months with Chuck were the best in her life, up until the moment after they got on the same page. What happened next was far better than she thought possible. She had had sex, but now she new what it was like to make love. Eleven months of almost, but not quite, perfect was worth it for the hundreds of months of perfect that were to come.

After the reunion mission last night, Casey gave a preliminary report to Beckman. They were all supposed to give a more complete one in a debrief over at his apartment, hours ago. Sarah wasn't looking forward to getting out of bed, but at least they were going across the courtyard, not all the way at Castle. Casey had been the smart one to realize that none of them should be seen at Buy More Plaza when they all had the day off. (Both Casey's "tank" and Sarah's Porsche were noticeable in the parking lot.)

Chuck had heard what she said she'd do months ago if he asked, and he also wanted it. Did that mean they were now engaged? They couldn't get married right away because they were asset and handler, but someday… The thought made her insides do happy flips.

A shadow descended across Sarah's thoughts. "Chuck, do you think you can keep this a secret from Casey? Beckman still calls you an asset. There are rules about the relationship between assets and handlers. I want to keep making love with you for the rest of our lives, so I don't want to risk reassignment, away from you. That means Casey can't know. He'd put it in a report, and Beckman will say I broke asset/handler protocol."

Chuck rolled away from her so she was no longer cocooned in his arms. She didn't want that, but it probably was for the best because they could think better if they weren't holding each other while naked. He questioned, "They would do that?"

"Probably."

"I want forever too, so I will try the hardest I can. If they find out, they can send me to a bunker where you can come tell me who's the President. And you would have to come for conjugal visits, because I won't cooperate without you. That is presuming that you'd want to come visit me."

Sarah wasn't happy about that attitude. After the market crash, everyone knew who was going to win the Presidential election next month, but that wasn't the problem. She corrected his thinking. "I wouldn't come to visit because you're my home, Chuck. Where you are, I am. If you're in a bunker, then I'm in that bunker with you. We're together. Hiding this from Casey is important because I don't want us to live in a bunker."

"I'll try."

Sarah automatically replied. "Do or do not. There is no try."

When she and Chuck watched the original trilogy a few months ago, she didn't watch it much because she was practically laying on top of Chuck and she enjoyed looking at him more. She knew that quote, though, because over and over the next week, Chuck kept talking like Yoda, with everything out of order. He repeated that phrase several times.

She was really happy that she learned it because saying that quote at that moment led to round three. After the third time, it really sunk in how big of a mistake she had made over and over for the past year. Part of her wanted to get mad at herself again because of how wrong she had been, but her entire body was humming too much for her to be mad.

One thing was certain. No one would ever hurt Chuck because she would never allow it, even if that meant taking out ninety-year-old hussies at the retirement home with a cane. Before Chuck, she had never thought about her future, but with Chuck, she was thinking about where she would be with him in over sixty years.

They should have reported to Casey's hours ago, so reluctantly, they both dressed. Because of Sarah's fight at the reunion, the full debrief was supposed to be when it was convenient, but it still should have been earlier. It would have been earlier if not for three rounds in the bedroom.

Getting dressed at the same time, instead of taking turns to give each other privacy, they should have been able to get ready faster, but it was a lot of fun the way they did it. Unfortunately they didn't "save water" and shower together. Maybe it was fortunate because they would have run up the water bill during the inevitable round four. Not really caring about the water supply, she looked forward to their shower tomorrow. Unlike the man she loved, she knew to make sure Ellie and Devon weren't there before she walked into the bathroom, and she knew how to lock the door.

She and Chuck simply couldn't stay apart to put on their clothes separately, meaning they basically dressed each other. It was easier to concentrate with shirts on, so Sarah's head was clear enough to apologize. "I'm sorry. We could've done this earlier—396 days earlier."

Chuck gave Sarah a quick kiss. She was a little disappointed because it wasn't a longer kiss, but they were already several hours later than they should've been for the full debrief. He said, "I love that you are counting days like I've been doing, but you're a little off."

"There was a leap day."

"It's still off. It's been 341 days since we got together under the cover."

"We could have started an under-the-cover-relationship earlier. If we had gotten together right away, we'd be at 396."

"Oh. I know the count for that, too. You must have double counted February 29th?

"No. I fell for you right after we met."

"We met 396 days ago, but our first date was 395 days ago."

"That first night is when I was dressed as a ninja and kicked you against the wall. The next time I throw you against the wall, I promise a better ending." Sarah tried the eyebrow dance she had been practicing.

What followed was a little more than a quick kiss. Because they had to do that debrief, they did manage to stay upright, barely refraining from a private and literal debriefing. They only stopped when Sarah promised to show Chuck how to get her out of a ninja outfit.

Sarah put her hair into a quick ponytail and was ready before Chuck. It helped that his shirt was inside out. "As much as I'd like to help you fix that, we both know it won't help us get over there anytime soon.

In Chuck's presence, it took a few seconds for Sarah to finish her thought. "My biggest concern is that Casey will take one look at you and be able to tell that you've been doing more than tending to my black eye." She didn't have to look in the mirror to know that increasing the blood flow throughout her entire body with kisses and your other activities had done the opposite of making the bruise on her face fade. She didn't want to use makeup because she shouldn't have a cover-reason to hide it.

She took a calming breath when she thought about everywhere Chuck had lavished her with his loving lips. Then she told him, "I'm going to go over first. If we touch each other going over there, with no one in the courtyard providing a reason for cover, it will be a clear signal that things are different under the cover. When you go over, don't look at me like you are looking at me now."

Chuck innocently said, "I always look at you like this."

"True, but… I don't know. Don't scream out loud that we just made love several times or that we're going to do it many more times."

Chuck saluted, "Yes, Ma'am."

"And since you're a civilian, don't salute the Marine Major." She kissed him as long as she dared, which wasn't much longer than a wet peck, and then she went over to Casey's.

Casey opened the door immediately when she knocked. He took one look at Sarah, grunted, and said, "You two finally tried Reese's." He backed up and let Sarah inside.

What did they do wrong? "Did you expect me earlier?"

The NSA agent grunted. "Nope."

She had been worried about Chuck, but by barely looking at her, Casey knew. Not sure what to say, she stood silently in the middle of the room and waited for her man. Casey seemed disinterested. She didn't want to talk to him about the most important thing that ever happened to her, but it was unnerving. Another knock at the door was less than a minute later, but it had felt like an hour. She didn't know whether it had felt so long because she had blown the cover under the cover or because she missed Chuck so quickly.

Not waiting for Casey, she opened his front door and saw the person she needed more than life itself. He looked very upset. Why was he crying? After a second, she realized he wasn't. He obviously couldn't cry on demand. Whatever. It was a bad attempt to fake his feelings.

Faking it didn't matter anymore, so she broke the news. "He knows."

Chuck's look immediately morphed from not-really-upset to guilty. "Is this because we should have been here several hours ago?" Sarah shook her head. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. It was me." She pulled Chuck inside by the back of the neck and laid one on him.

She and Chuck separated when their host groaned and said, "Keep it in your pants." Sarah rolled her eyes because she and Chuck hadn't even started to remove those. Later. When Casey wasn't around.

Inside, Chuck looked around like he wasn't sure what to do, waiting for Sarah's guidance. They were supposed to call Washington, but the under-the-cover-relationship had been discovered. Beckman could wait. The relationship was more important to Sarah.

She took his hand and turned them to face the NSA agent. As someone who had been conning people for almost twenty years, she wanted to know what she did wrong. "How did you know?"

"You aren't as tense."

She had been worried about Chuck's body language revealing something, but he wasn't the problem. "What did I do? How was I different?"

Casey pointed at himself, "Spy." Picking up on Sarah's disappointed look, he added, "Your whatever you want to call it—

"Under the cover," Chuck piped up, trying to be helpful.

Casey grunted. "Yeah, that. It hasn't been obvious to others. Everyone else, even Beckman, thinks you two have been a real couple for a year. I know you both well enough, though. The people who don't know about the Intersect have always thought you're a real couple, and everyone else who knows that Sarah's CIA thinks you two have been doing 'the nasty' since you started sharing a bed, maybe before. I could tell you weren't."

That didn't make sense, and it was wrong to call it that word. It was so wrong. Sarah had to correct him. "It was far from nasty."

"I don't want details."

Whatever it was called by her partner, she still didn't understand. "What do you mean since I moved in? I wasn't ordered to have sex with Chuck."

"No, of course not. The Federal government doesn't do that anymore. Talk about a career-destroying lawsuit waiting to happen. Your job was to protect and control the walking computer." She hated when Casey called him that, but she didn't correct him this time and let him continue. "When they signed-off on you moving in with him, they assumed that you would do whatever was necessary to control him. No order necessary."

"Why wasn't I given a 49-B?"

"Last year, Graham liked that you were willing to do was necessary to control Chuck."

But that was not what happened. They had never made love. "Chuck didn't force me."

"I know he has no backbone to try—"

"He was a perfect gentleman."

Casey raised his eyebrows. "Sleeping in the same bed? Sure, whatever you want to call what you did with Numbnuts. They wouldn't order you, but whatever you chose to do for the mission was fine with them. I knew it wasn't happening because you were so tense all the time, but the bosses didn't believe me. When Chuck didn't stay in the car and went after the Cipher, Beckman and Graham didn't understand why you couldn't control him, because of what they assumed you were doing. I tried to explain that you weren't—"

Sarah interrupted Casey with Chuck's reason. "Chuck says it's never safe in the car."

"That's what he says." Casey laughed at how he reversed the common joke. "That kid is so puppy-dog in love with you, it wouldn't matter what you did. Sex or no sex—he'd get out of the car to save you. He did that when you were captured by Zarnow. Heck, he jumped off a building to save you. Graham and Beckman simply didn't believe he'd do what he was doing without you two having sex."

Casey continued, talking like it was the most obvious thing in the world to him. "The way Chuck keeps deferring to you in briefings, it was clear to them that you had him under your control most of the time, but that Banacheck mission showed you didn't have the complete control that they thought you had. Since they thought you were already doing everything you could, Beckman is beside herself because she's sure there's nothing else you can do."

Sarah was mad at Chuck after that mission, but she had only forced him to take a shower. She couldn't withhold the sex because they weren't having any. She had long given up on controlling Chuck on certain things. She had learned that the best thing to do was to "guide" him. He wanted to do the right thing and followed her lead almost all of the time.

They'd have a problem Beckman thought Chuck was safer in a bunker because he wouldn't stay where he was told. Sarah didn't want that. Maybe he would see reason this time. "Chuck, if I ask you to stay somewhere that's safe—"

"I will always try to stay safe, but the safest place is by you, not alone in a car where the bad guys find me." Sarah's heart melted a little. The sweet man continued, "That means it's sometimes safer to leave the car so we are together sooner, or if you are in danger…" Chuck shrugged, saying what else was he supposed to do?

Sarah smiled at his reasoning and quickly kissed him. Whenever Chuck got out of the car, she was furious with him, but underneath, she was always thrilled to see him, knowing that with him in her sights, the impossible became possible. She could do anything.

While she secretly liked Chuck coming to her, she couldn't openly endorse him not staying where he was told. He also might take it too far. "Casey does have a point. You better be smart and not hurt yourself. If you did, you would make me very mad."

"And I don't want that. What can we do to appease the General that you practically have complete control over me?" A big smile formed on Chuck's face. When he flashed his pearly whites like that, Sarah knew it was going to be almost impossible to disagree with whatever plan Chuck came up with. She just hoped it was a good one.

Not breaking his smile, he said, "Everyone knows the girlfriend is always right, but everyone should know the wife is always in charge. We could get married." If anything, his smile got bigger.

That plan was…unexpected. She wanted to be with Chuck forever—more than anything else. She had thought they were heading that way under the cover, even though they weren't communicating. Now they were communicating, and for all practical purposes, they were engaged, just without the ring. It would take a while to go further, but she wasn't going anywhere. How could it happen now? Did he mean for the cover?

Casey provided an unwelcome voice of reason. "Our government never forces agents to have sex and never forces them to get married for a mission. That was the James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice—different country, different time, and fiction."

One look at Chuck and she knew what movie they were watching with Ellie and Devon next weekend. He hated Bond movies, but she couldn't say they were an unrealistic portrayal of the spy world in front of Ellie and Devon. Sarah leveled a stare at the other agent. "Chuck and I don't use that word. We don't 'force' each other. The problem is he and I are already engaged."

Chuck looked confused. "We are?"

"Yes." Why didn't Chuck think so? Sarah was never leaving Chuck in her heart, no matter where she was assigned. She had felt that way for a long time. When they figured things out a few hours ago, she thought they had agreed to spend their futures together because they both wanted that. This morning, she said if he was put in a bunker, that's where she would live, too. "You said you heard me a few months ago when I whispered what I would do. You said you only needed to know that I… Oh… I meant we are engaged under the cover, so under the cover, where we weren't communicating, we're engaged. We are communicating now." Maybe Chuck meant cover-married. She didn't want to only be fake-married with Chuck.

Chuck's confused expression changed to wonderment. "You really want to?"

Really? Oh course she wanted to. "Under the cover" was real to her. "Back in January, I said—"

"I know what you said. What you said is permanently burned into my brain."

Sarah could almost laugh. Chuck didn't listen when she told him to stay in the car, but he listened when she whispered things to him in bed. She wasn't sure about something, though. "I'm confused. For months, I thought we weren't doing what we did several times this morning because you thought we had to be at least engaged first."

"I love you. I only wanted to know that you love me too and that you want to be with me forever. Now, I know those things. That doesn't mean we're engaged. If we are going to be engaged, then we need to do this."

Chuck let go of Sarah's hand, bent to one knee, and reached into his pocket. Sarah couldn't move or even breathe. She couldn't believe what was happening. His grand gesture left no doubt about what Chuck was asking next. A moment later, he had something she could barely believe in his hand.

Wait. Reason took hold. She loved Chuck more than anything, but Chuck was proposing for real and they needed to use this moment for the cover. Before he said something, she cupped her hands closed over his and said, "Not yet. I don't want you to ask yet because whenever you ask, I'm going to say yes because I love you." Chuck looked disappointed for a brief instant before she explained. "I want to say yes for our under-the-cover-thing, but to placate Beckman, we need to do this for the cover. That means civilian witnesses who won't put this in a classified report. That means at dinner tonight—in front of Ellie and Devon."

He processed what she said, nodded and stood up, putting the precious thing in his hand in his pocket. He asked, "Will it be real?"

Sarah knew he was asking would it be a real-engagement or a cover-engagement. Why couldn't it be both? She couldn't look into his eyes. All she could do was stare at his pocket where that wonderful thing was. "Yes."

"Not just a cover?"

Her eyes wouldn't move from where she knew the ring was. "For the cover, it will appear real. Sarah Walker isn't my birth name, but it's my legal name, so as long as we are both willing and consummate, it will be real. I'm very willing and plan on making love with you many, many times."

Casey made a predictable noise of disgust to remind them that he was in the room. Undeterred, she continued, "Because of the cover, most people will think it's real. Beckman will think we're getting married as a way for me to control you and won't care beyond that. Casey, you, and I will be the only three that will know it's also real under the cover."

After all this time, it was so easy. She bit her lower lip. "Actually, once you ask me, it will be real."

"So if I ask you now and promise to ask you again later for the cover, in front of Ellie and Devon…" Sarah silently nodded. She had already thought they were effectively engaged under the cover. That meant there was no reason they couldn't be officially engaged under the cover. Chuck amended, "I promise to act happy when you answer. That won't be hard. I've been thinking about my dreams coming true for months. Why wouldn't I be happy when we reenact my dreams coming true?"

Sarah didn't say anything. She was sure it would look real tonight because of how she felt just thinking about the idea of Chuck proposing. Leave it to Chuck to find a way to propose in their under-the-cover-relationship, before their cover-relationship. Chuck saw her face and knew what she wanted. He went back to his knee. He was really doing it!

"Yes!"

Chuck had a teasing smile. "I haven't asked, yet."

"I've been waiting all year. Ask already!"

"Before I ask the question you're expecting, I have a request about tonight."

Why was he making her wait? The huge smile on Sarah's face disappeared, replaced with a frown. "What now?"

"I need you to promise to protect me."

"Why would I ever not protect you?"

"From Ellie. You know things like jujitsu. I might need your help to get out of a bone-crushing hug."

Sarah's flash of anger for waiting was completely gone, and she would not laugh. "At the farm, they don't teach techniques that work against people like her. You have a lifetime of experience. We'll protect each other."

"That works for me. My question…" Chuck paused, and Sarah's heart stopped.

A little grin appeared on Chuck's face. He was teasing by making her wait even more! "Sarah Lisa Walker, will you marry me?"

"YES!" Sarah dropped to her knees, put her hands on the side of Chuck's face, and kissed him for all she was worth. Casey probably grunted an objection somewhere in there, but she didn't stop. After a minute…maybe two…maybe more, Chuck stopped to put the ring on her left hand. It was perfect.

She wouldn't cry. They would be tears of happiness, but it wouldn't have been nice to do that in front of the man she regularly beat when they sparred at Castle. They still had to call Beckman, and it wouldn't be good if her face was a mess from both Chandler hitting it and happy tears.

Something didn't make sense. Sarah asked her fiancé, "Where did you get a ring?" He didn't know about the money until this morning. "How could you afford this?"

He looked especially proud when he answered. "I helped Awesome keep Ellie's ring a secret, so they helped with your ring. I shopped online and called the store. Awesome didn't understand why I wouldn't go with him to buy it, but he doesn't know about the tracker in my watch. He was able to go to the jewelry store without you knowing. We know my locker at work isn't safe, and if I hid it in my room or wallet, you'd find it. Ellie let me hide the ring in her jewelry box."

Sarah listened intently as Chuck continued to explain his wonderful conspiracy. "After you and I finally got on the same page, I didn't see any point in waiting for five years, like my future brother-in-law and your future sister-in-law. While giving you a head start to get over here, I retrieved the ring from its hiding spot. I can't tell Ellie about the 'paycheck' from the government, so she doesn't know that I already have enough money. I'll set aside the money and will pay her back someday."

Chuck had acted like a spy! He had creatively planned how to acquire her a ring in secret and hide it. She didn't like secrets, but this was a good one, so she couldn't help but be a little proud of him. There was only one thing she could do. She kissed him senseless again.

Casey said with disgust, "Will you two stop so we can do this debrief? You've already subjected me to enough."

Sarah pulled Chuck up because she wanted to get it over. She wanted to "debrief" without anyone around who wasn't engaged to her. That meant getting this mission debrief over so she and Chuck could go back to their bed.

Casey interrupted that thought by handing them each a set of ear plugs. He held another pair up, showing he had one for himself. "I'm going to distribute these door-to-door for the neighbors. I don't want to have to write a report about why an ambulance came to the apartment complex tonight, after Ellie finds out."

Then the Marine reassured them. "I'll keep it secret that you both want this to be real because no one will believe me, no matter what I say. Just keep it in your pants around me, and keep getting the job done. Also keep it out of my home, and keep it out of the closets of Castle.

Sarah smiled at a "flash" of inspiration. Her genius fiancé could probably turn off Castle surveillance so Casey would never know. If not, that was ok. With her driving, they could get from Buy More to Echo Park in no time at all.

First, she had a long debrief. (Considering how she felt at the moment, more than a minute was too long.) Then, she and Chuck went home to celebrate the beginning of their forever together.


A/N: That's it in this story of the cover and the thing under the cover. Chuck and Sarah are engaged under the cover. Above the cover, everyone will soon know they are engaged. Casey knows it's real in both places. Beckman will make her assumptions. Since it's the same above and under the cover, what's that mean? It means Charah is happy, whatever Beckman assumes.