A/N: Another one-shot of a time when things could have gone differently for Chuck and Sarah. Based loosely on "Chuck Versus the Ex."

I started this one before Christmas last year and completed it a couple of weeks ago, but it got caught up behind beta reviews of my Anger Management chapters and COVID-19 booster reactions. This was not triggered by reading other Jill stories, I just had to get the pain of what Chuck did out of my system. Hope you like it.

Warning: This has more adult content than my normal stories, but is still T-rated.

Jilted

I've never been closer
I've tried to understand
That certain feeling
Carved by another's hand
But it's too late to hesitate
We can't keep on living like this
Leave no track
Don't look back

All I desire
Temptation
Keep climbing higher and higher
Temptation
Adorable creatures
Temptation
With unacceptable features
Temptation
Trouble is coming
Temptation
It's just the high cost of loving
Temptation
You can take it or leave it
Temptation
But you'd better believe it

You've got to make me an offer
That cannot be ignored
So let's head for home now
Everything I have is yours, oh
Step by step and day by day
Every second counts I can't break away
Leave no trace
Hide your face

All I desire
Temptation
Keep climbing higher and higher
Temptation
You can take it or leave it
Temptation
But you'd better believe it

Step by step
Day by day
Every second counts
I can't break away

Keep us from temptation
Keep us from temptation
Keep us from temptation
Lead us not in temptation

Trying to find it
Temptation
You've got to get up behind it
Put your dime in the hot slot
Temptation
But it's a million to one shot
Temptation
You think that you're right
Temptation
Your gonna face it tonight now
Temptation
Give me a breakdown
Because it's time for a shakedown

"Temptation"
Heaven 17

When Chuck arrived at the Sheraton Conference Center for the tech-support call, he had been sent to the front desk for a Bioscience conference, to fix their IT problem. He'd just fixed it, their network connection. He told the guy waiting, "Alright, the networks should now be all set up with ten-based T Ethernet connecting all the servers for the conference with a firewall in place."

He was smiling, feeling pleased to have helped, and looked towards the entrance, and then he saw her and ducked don't under the desk hoping the cloth covering it would cover him too.

"Is there a problem?" the man asked.

Chuck replied, "Can you tell me if the attractive brown-eyed, slightly egg-headed brunette with an extremely cold heart is still here?"

He answered, "She's here. Why? Who is she?"

Chuck groaned. "Jill Roberts, my ex-girlfriend. She broke my heart. I need… I need a diversion. Would it be a terrible imposition for you to pull the fire alarm?"

Then her saw two shapely ankles standing in front of the desk. He recognized those ankles, even though it had been six years. Then, he heard her voice. "Hi, I'm Dr. Jill Roberts. Is there someone that can help me with the tech requirements for my lecture?"

The bastard responded! "Under the desk."

She replied, "What?" before lifting the cloth.

He embarrassed himself further by trying to act like he was supposed to be down there, before climbing out the other side and throwing away his pocket protector. She had already recognized him.

"Chuck Bartowski," she said, grinning and looking happy to see him.

He stupidly replied, "Present. Yes, that's me."

"It's me, Jill."

Trying to act surprised, he replied, "Jill, oh, my gosh! Of course! Yes. Hi." He leaned over the table, as she did too, and they hugged.

As he stepped back, he said, "Hey, you! How are you?"

"Good," She replied.

He continued, "So good to... see you."

She seemed to be pondering, "You, too. How long has it been?"

He blurted it all out, "Five years, four months-ish, give or take, kind of in that neighborhood. Uh, what have you been up to?"

While he rambled, she had pushed her hair behind her ears. She then answered, "Uh, well, after Stanford, I got my PhD in biomedical engineering."

"Did you?" Why did I ask that when she has just told me?

She wasn't put off. "Yeah. I'm giving a presentation at the conference on infectious diseases."

He intelligently commented, "Lovely."

Then she asked what he hoped to avoid, "And you?"

Franticly thinking of an impressive lie, he replied, "And me. Uh-uh still in the computer game, you know? Yeah, I-I-I work my own, my own little, little-little company. 16, 17 - I can't remember which - stores. But every once in a while I like to do the installs myself, you know, kind of get my hands mussy."

She smiled, then obviously tried to remember something. "I'm really happy for you, Chuck. The- the last time I saw you were… you were working at a Buy More."

He winced inwardly as he said, "Ah! That was a wonderful growing experience. Really, really character building. And I wouldn't change it for the world."

Jill looked regretful. "Well... there's definitely some things I would change. Especially about us."

Before he could say anything to that, a man with a foreign accent approached them. "There you are. We're running late."

Jill turned to the man. "Oh. Guy, this is my old friend Chuck Bartowski. Chuck, this is my boss Guy LeFleur."

Chuck held out his hand. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

Guy looked at the outstretched hand. "I work with germs, so, you know." He then turned to Jill. "I'm sure your friend's busy. Has, uh, computers to fix. Shall we?"

Jill put her arm through his. "Sure." As they walked away, she turned back. "Chuck, I'm staying at the Hotel Waldron, so give me a call if you want to grab a cup of coffee."

Still trying to act cool, and failing miserably, he responded. "Yeah, uh, well, you know, I'm busy. I'll check with my people."

As she sat in Castle, Sarah could tell Chuck was tense, Beckman had just started a call with them. "Your ex-girlfriend's boss, Guy LeFleur, is the head research scientist for the European company Cole-MacGregor Pharmaceuticals. And MI6 has reports that he may have developed a bioweapon which he plans to sell to the highest bidder."

Clearly, Chuck was concerned hearing that. "Is Jill involved?"

Beckman answered. "It's your job to find out, Chuck. Casey and Sarah will surveil Dr. LeFleur. We need you to reconnect with Jill. Find out what she knows about Guy."

As Sarah expected, he responded badly to that. "Right, right, right, right. When you say 'reconnect,' you mean send her an e-mail or invite her to be my new Facebook friend, right?"

Beckman sighed. "Call her at her hotel and make a date. See if you flash on anything she says or anyone you meet."

Sarah slightly groaned. Chuck instantly started spiraling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, a date with my ex? No, General, that- that is a terrible idea. You see, she broke my heart. She destroyed me. She took all of my confidence, my mojo."

Casey questioned that, "You had mojo?"

Chuck glared slightly. "I was on my way. Oh, and by the way, she slept with Bryce Larkin."

The ever-helpful Casey commented, "Hmm. Who hasn't?"

Sarah knew Casey liked needling him, but this was hurting her too. She turned to Casey with a 'how is that helping?' look, then looked back at Chuck. "Look, Chuck, I know that Jill hurt you, but maybe seeing her again will give you the closure that you've always wanted. You have done a lot for the CIA, and we're gonna make you look good."

Casey added, "Yeah, look on the bright side. Now you can get your mojo back."

Sarah rolled her eyes. This was going to be painful.

Ellie was smiling at him dressed up for the date. "I think it's cute you get all dressed up for Sarah. She's lucky." She walked past him.

Standing at the door, he turned back. "Hey, sis."

She turned to look back. "Hmm?"

He asked, "Um... do you ever think about your ex-boyfriend, Doug Wald?"

Ellie's confusion was obvious. "No. Why?"

He continued, "Let's say totally randomly old Dougie, you know, you guys ran into each other and he asked you out to dinner to catch up on old times? What would you say?"

Ellie thought for a second. "I guess theoretically, I'd say yes."

Chuck was relieved. "I am so glad you said that. You see, I- I'm not going out with Sarah tonight, I'm actually going out with Jill."

Ellie reacted instantly. "Jill? ! No! No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

Chuck looked at her, feeling that dread seeping in. "What- what about what you just said about Doug?"

She was now standing right in front of him. "Just forget what I just said, okay? There is no scenario in which you should be going to dinner with the girl that dumped you, broke your heart and slept with your best friend." After a pause, she said, "Chuck, you bought a new suit?"

His lie came straight out, while his brain was seizing up. "I told you, coupon."

"Chuck... look, I'm trying not to be the overprotective big sister."

That brought a small smile to his face. "You? Never."

She said all the things that had been going through his head. "It's just that I know that she hurt you, you know? I don't want to see you go through that again. But..."

Chuck didn't hear any more. He had completely shut down. This is a really, really bad idea!

Sarah, dressed as a waitress with dark hair, had listened to Chuck and Jill talking at their table in the center of the restaurant; a restaurant with only NSA staff in it, other than them. She had been feeling bad for Chuck, but then saw the conversation taking a downward spiral.

Jill smiled at him. "I'm really glad things turned out so well for you, Chuck. Especially after, you know, what happened."

Chuk looked at her. "Yeah, uh... about that. Um, Jill, I- I never stole those tests."

Jill looked down. "Well, uh, that doesn't matter now."

Chuck made no attempt to stop himself. "Sure, it doesn't matter now. You know, now that I drive a fine Italian automobile and I'm alarmingly well-known at this particular restaurant, but I needed you to believe me when it did matter."

She looked straight at him, saying, "I do believe you, Chuck, and... maybe I should've believed you at Stanford. But the tests were in your room and Bryce said you were cheating. What was I supposed to think at the time?"

Sarah had a sinking feeling. Chuck responded just how she thought he would, "Yeah, Bryce must've made a very convincing argument for you to dump me and then hop right into his bed."

Sarah had already been making her way to the table before he finished.

Jill looked at him. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Sarah arrived at the table. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Bartowski, but there's a phone call for you at the bar." As she turned she gave him a 'now' glare.

He seemed surprised at her interruption, but got up and said to Jill, "Excuse me."

When they reached the bar, Sarah quietly asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

Chuck instantly responded, "Getting closure. She owes me an explanation."

Casey, behind the bar, snarled at him. "No, she doesn't. She exercised her First Amendment right to dump you. Now get back in there and find out what Guy is planning."

Sarah could see Chuck's pain and really wanted to ease it. She commented, "Look, Chuck, I know it's hard, but tonight, you have to be a spy first."

"Yeah, it is hard," he replied. Then, still not looking at her, he said, " I'm not like you, Sarah. I can't turn my emotions on and off like some robot."

Sarah said nothing, but that really hurt and he knew it. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm not acting like myself tonight."

She now felt less sympathy for him. "Are you done feeling sorry for yourself?"

He nearly shook his head, but Jill would've seen, so her just replied, "Personally, I'd like another ten to fifteen minutes of really pathetic self-indulgence, but duty calls. I'm going back in."

He turned and walked back to Jill. Sarah listened to him talk rubbish trying to gloss over the nasty remarks from before, but surprisingly, Jill seemed to accept it, saying that she liked how he was being.

Sarah didn't like that. In fact, she was feeling very uncomfortable watching Chuck getting closer to this woman, even though it was what the General has asked of him, and she had encouraged him, too. Damn the needs of the country!

Seeing him with the woman who ruined his life reminded her how she herself had been constantly rejecting his advances; pushing him away because this working relationship demanded that they do not get any closer. She herself desperately wanted that closeness, to have him as her lover, but was putting them both through this hell for the job.

His comments after Bryce left were just before she was going to suggest they actually tried a real relationship, but Chuck had squashed that.

Every day, the temptation had been there, getting stronger and stronger. Some days she felt like she just couldn't go on living like this, but she had to. She had to protect him from the enemy, the government, hell even from herself! She had no idea how much longer she'd be able to resist the temptation!

Now, it was looking like this mission was going to make him get back with this woman. A woman that he seemed to hate before, but was now maybe seeing as a possible lover again.

Again! She herself hasn't been one at all! This was so unfair! Listening to her asset hitting on a beautiful woman was killing her.

Her asset! Who was she kidding? She only treated him like an asset when she was either forced to in front of the general or when she realized they are getting too close and she overreacted. He had already carved a place for himself in her heart and wasn't leaving.

If only she could get both of them past this handler / asset rule, they could be lovers, as she so desperately wanted. She was sure that behind those words of his, he did, too.

She started to daydream about that happening, just as she did so often when she awoke in the mornings, but here she was standing on her own while he seduced this other woman right in front of her!

She then noticed Chuck and Jill getting up and realized she had drifted off into her world of pain. She better start listening again.

Jill was talking as they walked out of the restaurant, "… I'm starting to think there are some sketchy people involved. I'm probably just being paranoid. I just, I don't know who to trust."

Chuck instantly said, "You can trust me."

For Sarah, that felt just like his comment to her on the first date, "I can be your baggage handler." He just exuded charm and willingness to be involved in any way he could, but why were he and Jill only just getting to this point of the conversation?

Jill responded to his prompt, "Remember biochem? We're working on a strain of influenza, specifically how the hemagglutinin protein fuses the viral envelope with the vacuole's membrane. Did that sound like total gibberish?"

Sarah groaned as she heard his reply, "I understood completely, 'Do you remember biochem?' and then everything after that was a little fuzzy."

Jill, thankfully responded, "Okay, I'll simplify-"

Then there was an interruption, "Yo, Charles! Hey, buddy." Oh god! Lester Patel!

Then another voice, "Who's the babe?" And Jeff Barnes!

Lester continued, without Chuck even seeming to attempt to stop him! "First Sarah, now this Chiquita banana? When are you going to start sharing the wealth, buddy?"

Jill was obviously put out. "Who's, uh, Sarah? And, um, are these friends of yours?"

Chuck was clearly failing to control the situation. "No. No, they're just old, old Buy More colleagues that haven't moved on." He raised his voice, obviously talking to the other guys. "Move on. Move on."

A new voice could be heard, "Your car, sir."

Chuck replied, "Oh, thank you."

That triggered more from Jeff, "Whoa! Whose Ferrari?"

Jill questioned Chuck, "This isn't your car?"

Everything then got worse when Lester commented, "Um, the guy makes $12. 50 an hour at the Buy More. You do the math, sister."

Jill angrily turned on Chuck, "You still work at the Buy More, Chuck?"

The idiot replied, "Yes, I do."

She snarled, "You do? What about your computer business?"

He had completely lost it by then. "Technically, the Buy More offers a wide range of hardware and other things..."

Rushing through to the get to them, Sarah could just about hear Jill's voice, obviously she had walked away. "Wow, too bad Stanford doesn't offer a BA in BS, because you could've graduated early!"

Sarah got to the exit to see Chuck reaching out to Jill, who was getting into a cab. "Jill, please don't! Look, I'm not- it's not all a lie! I can explain to you..." The door slammed and the cab left.

Lester, in a Nerd Herder, reversed back to where Chuck had been left standing. "Charles, we did not mean to bust your whole little..."

Chuck snapped at him, "Just go home!" Lester drove off and Chuck turned around, looking like a complete failure, which he was.

He looked up at Sarah and just shrugged his shoulders, as if this wasn't his fault in any way at all.

She snatched the keys from the guy who was still holding them out to Chuck. She then grabbed Chuck's elbow and dragged him to the red Ferrari. "Get in!" she snapped at him.

He started for the driver's side and got a slapped arm. "No! That side!" Sarah pointed at the passenger side, as she jumped in behind the steering wheel.

Chuck finally sat next to her and she tore off, with him pinned to his seat.

This had failed because he had spent the meal just flirting with his ex, rather than getting the answers while at the table. Sarah was furious with him, but also with herself for standing in the restaurant daydreaming about having Chuck as a lover instead of listening in.

She drove straight to her hotel and got out of the car.

Chuck stayed seated, looking as frightened as he had first time she drove him in Los Angeles. She walked round the car and snatched open the door. "Get out, Chuck!"

"W- why? Why are we here?" he shakily asked.

"We need a talk and I don't want to do that at your sister's!" she snapped.

He finally got out of the car and she dragged him into the building, past a very surprised looking man at the desk, and into the elevator.

"Have I done something wrong?" he tentatively asked.

She focused on him with that her ice-cold stare that always scared him. In a very quiet, controlled voice, which was even scarier, she asked, "You don't think so?"

He gulped, "I didn't get all the details?"

"No. You just spent the evening, and government money, 'trying to get closure with your ex'! Or more accurately hitting on her!" Sarah's voice raised as she said the last few words.

The elevator door opened and she dragged him to her room, opened it and pushed him in, slamming the door behind her.

"I… I said it w- wouldn't work," Chuck tried to explain as he took his jacket off.

Sarah stood with her face mere inches from his and angrily replied, "You were finally making some progress once you got outside the restaurant! Outside where anyone would have heard, if those morons hadn't interrupted!" She shouted the next, "Are you really that stupid?"

His expression changed, hardened and he snapped back, "I did my best to get the information!"

She pointed her finger at his face, almost poking him with it. "No, you didn't, you did your best to get back into her pants! Or to entice her into yours!"

He was clearly angry now and shouted at her, "Well, no one else wants to go there!"

Sarah plunged the hand that was not in his face into his trousers, snapping at him as she did so. "Wrong!"

She grasped him and squeezed. He gasped, both from the surprise and the feeling of her cold hand on him. "W- what are you d- doing, Sarah?"

She squeezed again. "What I've been wanting to do for over a year!" Her voice had lost its anger. Other emotions were starting.

"W- why?" he managed to squeak out.

"That skank has had her time with you, with this, now it's my turn!" Her other hand snaked around the back of his neck and she pulled him down to her for a heated kiss.

Chuck pulled her other hand away and planted his on her bottom, lifting her up to be able to kiss her further. She wrapped that arm around his neck too.

Their kiss lengthened and both were breathless when it ended. She slipped from his grasp and pulled him towards her bed.

"Are- are you sure, Sarah?" he nervously asked.

He didn't recognize her expression when she replied, while looking down at his crotch, "Having held it, I am so, so sure, Chuck!"

He shook his head. "I don't want you to regret this."

She growled, "All I regret is not doing this sooner!" With that, she ripped open his shirt and pushed it off of him, then tackled his pants.

Chuck was in a complete state of shock. "W- why now?" he stuttered.

She paused a second and looked into his eyes, pouring all the desire she felt into her look. "Seeing you all over her was too much for me, Chuck! I can't be professional anymore! I need you. Now!"

He finally got his wits about him. Sarah had already unbuttoned her vest and blouse, both of which he pushed off of her shoulders, seeing her just in a bra. He froze for a second and Sarah enjoyed that, but needed more. She shed her slacks and heels and pushed him onto her bed, then pressing her body against his as she settled on top of him for another kiss.

It took her no time to remove the last barriers and moved against him, relishing the feeling and moaning into the next kiss.

Chuck had little control over what was happening, but just didn't care. He had dreamed of this, but never thought it would happen.

As she took him, both gasped.

Sarah knew it had been over eighteen months for her and, if what he said was true, six years for him! However, her memory never brought such feelings from her past. This was so much better.

Chuck twisted them over, still together, and finally took control. Sarah gasped again. So, so much better!

Every second of it was wonderful, more than she had dreamt about when on her own. Then, she reached her high and cried out his name in ecstasy. She had not had that with Bryce, who never lasted as long as her. Chuck however, did and continued until he finished too, which gave Sarah another high.

She lay there in a daze. Sex had never been this good before. Was it because it had been so long or because she had such strong feelings for him? Right now, she couldn't even think straight.

He started to get off of her, but she wrapped her long legs around him, not letting go. "Stay," she implored.

His ardor diminished, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes. Sarah could see that it had been good for him as well.

Her heart was still pounding. Giving in to the temptation was the best thing she had ever done! She had to get him to understand how she felt. Not being a talker, she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him, willing him to know her feelings for him. The kiss was as magical as earlier ones, leaving her just as breathless. God! I don't want this to stop!

She crashed her lips into his again for another deep and intensely passionate kiss. She couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips if she had tried. His chest rubbing against her felt so good, too.

Then, planting his hands either side of her shoulders, he pushed his chest off of her and looked at their bodies, still connected, and her legs around him, hooked at her ankles. She glanced down too, and it looked as good as it felt. It obviously did to him too, as she felt him ready for more. She brushed her fingertips over the hair on his chest, loving the feel of it.

Then, still in that position, he started again. Oh, God! In that position, it felt different, but so wonderful! She gasped again as she felt the difference. She relished it every time she felt it!

However, this time, she wanted to be the one in control, so she unhooked her ankles and rolled them over, bringing her knees up either side of him. She leaned back this time and took control of their movements. Chuck made that hard for her when he brought his hands to her breasts; she lost her rhythm when he did that, but the increased pleasure was worth it. Then, she started again and he joined in, making it even better.

She didn't last long, but nor did he, both cried out at the same time. This one was even better than before and continued longer.

Sarah collapsed onto him, completely spent, her head resting in the crook of his neck.

They lay like that for several minutes, neither able to move or speak.

She was the first to vocalize her thoughts. "Best ever…"

"Really?" he asked.

She pushed herself up, starting to feel hurt again. "You've had better? With her?"

Chuck brought his hands to her face. "Never! I was with her for a long time and it never felt like that! No one could be better than you, Sarah." She didn't look convinced, so he decided to tell her right now. "Not just because of the amazing sex, but because…" He had to say it. "I love you, Sarah."

She had thought he might, but hearing it was still a surprise. It didn't explain his first reply, but it might do. She wanted to know, so focused on that first. "So, why question me?"

Chuck hadn't meant to blurt any of that out, the question or the statement, although now he had told her, and she'd ignored it, he really wished he'd kept him mouth shut. He focused on giving her the answer. "I thought Bryce would have been better than me. All the girls he had…"

She realized his self-doubt was what had kept him celibate for five years before she had arrived here. It both annoyed and upset her. "Chuck," she started, wanting to get this very clear, "That was the best sex I have ever had. Bryce never made me…" She felt embarrassed saying it, but forged on. "You did three times!" Chuck clearly relished being told that.

"I think the only person who could top that would be you." she continued. His grin was infectious, so she teased, "After you get to know my needs better."

That brought reality rushing back to both of them. Each could see it in the other's eyes.

Even though she didn't want to, she lifted herself off of him and lay by his side, facing him.

He rolled onto his side too, but then asked for her to pull the sheet over them. "I can't talk while your body is distracting me, Sarah." She smiled at that additional compliment. His body was a distraction for her, too.

Once they were both covered, he asked, "What does this mean for us, Sarah?"

She knew they needed this talk. "I think it changes everything between the two of us, Chuck," she said quietly.

The look of panic in his eyes told her that he expected it to be bad. He then said what she feared he was thinking, "I can't lose you, Sarah! You are all I think about night and day!"

And that was it. Nothing about protection, the spy life, just her. His comment about love told it, too. "Chuck, you have to know that it has only been the job that has stopped me before."

"So, all the rejections?" he asked.

"Trying to keep this handler / asset relationship as the job dictates," she replied.

"So, how is that different now?"

"It's not," she admitted. "We have to find a way to hide this aspect of our relationship, Chuck."

He visibly became less tense. "So, that's what you mean about this changing everything between us? Not that you are leaving me?"

"God, no! And now that our relationship has changed, I don't want to go back to a cover, either!" She leaned forward and kissed him. When it ended, she added, "I need more of those and I definitely need more of what we did earlier!"

Chuck beamed at her. He reached to pull her back into his embrace, but she held him off. "We will still need to be cover boyfriend / girlfriend as far as the general is concerned."

Chuck frowned. "What about Casey? Will he tell her if he finds out?"

Sarah considered that for a few seconds. "I don't think he will, but he will undoubtedly rib us about it."

Chuck groaned. "So, what's new?" Then he thought back to what had triggered this wonderful end to the night. "What about the mission? Jill?"

All the warmth disappeared from her eyes. "Chuck, I don't want you seducing her."

That angered him. "So, it was okay you seducing Lon Kirk and forcing me to try to seduce the deadly Sasha Banachek, but not someone from my past."

He could visibly see the sparks in her eyes. "Chuck, I was trained to extract information from men, so Kirk was never going to get anywhere with me! And, I didn't want you to have to face Banachek, but couldn't see a better way. Jill is different."

"How?" he demanded.

"She hurt you, Chuck" she replied, as if that explained everything, but it didn't.

He stated, "You pushed me to do this. To get closure."

Sarah knew that was how she had encouraged him to do what was necessary. She had hated saying it, because he was so reluctant. Now it was her who didn't want it. She had to be honest.

Chuck watched as the agent mask slipped. Sarah no longer seemed the tough unbeatable woman he saw on missions. He was now looking at a much more vulnerable Sarah Walker. He had pushed her to this. "Sar-"

She cut him off. "No. You're right, Chuck. You do deserve closure. I take it you didn't get that in the whole meal tonight."

Now Sarah was looking at an embarrassed Chuck, who replied, "Well, yes, I did. It took the whole meal, so I didn't start questioning her until too late. As you pointed out, quite forcefully."

Sarah said nothing, so he continued, looking away from her, "And you are right. I did think I might be able to have one last night with her; maybe even start the relationship again."

Sarah had thought it, but hearing him say it still hurt. She said nothing still, frightened now that all this was going to be her first and last time with him, in spite of his words of love. Unbidden, tears started to well up. No! I am not this vulnerable!

Chuck knew his words were not something she wanted to hear. So why was she not shouting at him? He looked back at her and saw her lips quivering and tears running down her cheeks. God! I've done this to her!

He hastily explained, "I only did that because I thought I had no chance with you, Sarah. You are all I have wanted since I met you, but you kept rejecting me." He moved to her and wrapped his arms around her.

She didn't resist, but slipped her arms around his chest and pulled him closer still, whispering into his chest, "You've broken a very good CIA Operative, Chuck."

He kissed the top of her head. "I hope not. I still need her to protect me."

She hugged him tighter. "I will always do that, if I can, but we still need information from Jill."

"Can't we just go for her boss directly?"

She hated having this conversation like this, but she wasn't going to let go of him. "Maybe, but you would need to distract Jill." She pulled away enough to look at his face. "Can you do that without sleeping with her?"

His golden-brown eyes locked with hers. "I don't know if I can distract her, but I am not going to sleep with her again. I don't think I would have been able to anyway, but after you, this, I don't ever want to. I've already told you; I love you, Sarah. I'm a one-woman man."

Sarah could see both the honesty in his eyes, but also the love. She had been distracted with his other comments before, but had to address this now. "Chuck, I don't think I really know what love is, but I absolutely want you in my life and have no interest in anyone else. I haven't since I first met you."

He frowned. "But, Bryce-"

Once again, she cut him off, "Was someone I knew well. We had a connection, sure, but I didn't leave with him, even though that was an easy option. I stayed to both continue to protect you and because, even then, I knew I cared for you more than him."

He nodded. "He realized you had feelings for me last time he was here, Sarah. He told me that could get you killed because of it."

"Bastard!" Sarah's eyes were stormy now! "That was why you said there was no hope of us having a relationship?"

"He had just told me that, Sarah. I never want you to get hurt because of me."

Her eyes were staring in that intense way of hers. "Protecting you is my job, Chuck. That doesn't change, whatever I feel about you! Did you think those comments would change anything other than our possible happiness?"

He just shook his head.

She continued to glare at him for a while, then shook her head. "We are terrible at communicating, Chuck!"

He pulled her to him again. "But we connect in other ways."

Sarah felt his whole body pressed against her once again. God! We did, didn't we!

Working out how to cope on the mission and their cover could wait. She pushed him onto his back as she said, "We need that connection again. Now, Chuck!"

Sarah had left Chuck with his sister so that she and Casey could spy on Jill and her boss at their hotel. Maybe now they would get some answers.

They listened in to the tap on LeFleur's phone. They heard him order room service.

Chuck then entered the van. Casey snarled at him, obviously still annoyed at Chuck's complete screw up the night before. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd swing by and, you know, check up on Jill; make sure she's doing all right." He avoided Sarah's gaze.

Sarah tried to stay calm. "She's fine, Chuck. She came home last night and she hasn't left her room since."

Casey interrupted. "Wait, wait- shh! She's making a call."

They all heard Jill's voice before the signal broke.

Casey growled, "Damn, bug's on the fritz. We need a new one."

Sarah replied, "I'll go in as housekeeping and plant another."

Casey shook his head. "She might recognize you as the waitress from the restaurant. I'll just tranq her. She'll wake up in an hour, thinking nothing of it."

Chuck interrupted this time. "Whoa, whoa, whoa- hey, hey. I'll go. I'll go. I'll apologize for last night, she'll tell me what a giant loser I am, and I'll plant the new bug; no tranq'ing necessary."

This was just what Sarah didn't want. It would go just how she feared. Although he said he was a one-woman man, he would probably succumb to this woman's charms, just as he had been doing the night before. She had to stop this from happening.

He looked at her pleadingly, and she glared at him, her anger and her hurt fully on display to him. Casey was behind her so saw nothing.

Chuck recognized her look. He knew that him doing this was hurting her, but he wanted to correct the mess he had made, so he tried to ignore that.

Sarah could see that he was still going to do this, in spite of her feelings. She snapped at him. "No, Chuck! You screwed up last night, we are NOT going to let you mess this up by trying to screw her for real!"

Chuck felt the pain of that admonishment, but he could tell Sarah was still terrified that he would do what she had just said. He was hurt that she didn't trust him, but recognized the vulnerability in her. She was just as bad as him. He now so wanted to prove that wrong. He snatched the bugs and leapt out of the van.

Sarah was going to follow, but Casey grabbed her arm. She turned to him and he stated, "He won't screw up again, Walker."

She knew that if she made a scene and she messed this up, Beckman would see that she was compromised and she'd be out. She huffed and sat back down.

Chuck was standing outside Jill's room. Sarah and Casey were watching him via the hotel security camera. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Jill called out.

"It's the lying, yet well-meaning fool who rented a Ferrari last night," Chuck replied.

Casey commented, "Ten bucks says she doesn't open the door for him."

Sarah had to play the uninterested agent, so replied, "Make it $20 and you're on." She hoped Casey won, but knew that he wouldn't.

"I don't want to talk to you, Chuck," Jill replied.

He continued, "Okay, well, then, I'll do all the talking. I know this may come as a shock to you, but I'm here to do something totally crazy and tell you the truth. I still work at the Buy More and, uh, I still live with my sister, and I still have no idea what I'm doing with my life. I guess I just wanted you to think I was someone special, so... in order to accomplish that, I went out and got a new suit and rented a car that I clearly have no idea how to drive…" He knew he had to sell this, so his next words would get him in there, while at the same time hurt the woman he loved. He knew Sarah would be listening in. "…because from the second I saw you again, I knew that I hadn't gotten over you yet, Jill." He vowed that he'd make this right with Sarah later.

Sarah knew he would need to say things like this and he had told her last night that he loved her, but this still stabbed at her heart.

Jill opened the door, still on the catch. "Really? You haven't gotten over me?"

Chuck swallowed the lie, "No."

Jill opened the door fully. "Get in here." She turned into the room and he followed her in. "Sorry about the mess. Still working on the lecture."

As she turned away from him, Chuck scanned the room for the best place to plant the bug. "Yeah, you were starting to say last night... infectious disease or something. I don't know, it sounded like you were speaking Aramaic."

Jill chuckled, "Not Aramaic. Simple biochem 101. Oh, right. You slept through that class in college."

He was about to plant the bug under the phone in the room. "Lot of good that would do me in my current line of work."

Jill almost shouted, "Stop it!"

He clasped the bug in his hand and turned to her, trying to think of an excuse for approaching her phone. "Stop what?"

She glared at him. "Stop underselling yourself, Chuck." She walked towards him, continuing, "There was a part of last night, somewhere after getting minor whiplash in your car and before abandoning you on the side of the road, where I had a really, really nice time." She was now close and smiled up at him.

He was nervous now. This is what Sarah had said. He wasn't completely over Jill, but now he truly had Sarah as his girlfriend, he no longer felt desire for the woman in front of him. "Really?"

Jill was brushing his shirt, looking into his eyes. "Yes... so no more lies. No more deception, okay?"

His confident smile wavered as he was lying completely. He quickly dropped the bug behind him, under the table and replied, trying to sound like he meant it, "No more lies, no more deception."

She quietly said, "Good. Do you know how much I missed doing this?" She stood on tip toes and moved up to kiss him.

He just got out a quiet, "Missed doing what?" as she planted her lips on his. He reflexively responded, as if six years had never passed.

It took his mind back to their time together, but, although it was a sweet kiss, all Chuck could think about was his kisses with Sarah, which were so, so much sweeter.

They both smiled as they separated and he thought hers was genuine.

He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry, I have to get back to work, Jill. I just wanted to clear the air."

She looked at him, seemingly lovingly, "Maybe later?"

He smiled, feeling a total liar, "Yeah, later."

When he arrived back in the van, he could see that Sarah was upset. She asked, "What happened?"

Chuck's attention was on her expression, but then realized what she had asked and stuttered a reply, "Huh? Oh. Yeah, no, it was... it was great, fine."

Casey's reply added to Sarah's feelings. "She's talking about the bug, moron."

Chuck focused. "I planted it. It is planted."

"Nothing is coming through, Chuck!" Sarah snapped. "Did you turn it off?" Her eyes bored into his. "Why would you do that?"

Casey stopped that line of conversation. "Relax, these things are pretty much idiot-proof. If it's in the room, it picks up the signal. It worked, we're tapped in to her cell and the room phone."

Sarah was still glaring at an embarrassed looking Chuck. "Why are you looking like that?"

He gave her a nervous look and admitted, "She kissed me."

Sarah's face dropped. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, reassure her that it meant nothing, but couldn't because Casey was there. Then he saw the man on the screen entering the lift. He flashed. Sarah saw it and managed to push down the hurt, for now.

Chuck stated, "Uh, that dude is some kind of an assassin. His code name is Wolf Den."

Casey watched the man press the floor he required. "Eleven. That's Guy's floor."

The two agents rushed out of the van, Sarah started, "Chuck..."

He cut her off, "Yeah, I know, I know. Stay in the van."

As Casey pushed past Chuck he said, "Don't touch anything."

Chuck sat and watched Sarah and Casey get into the lift, wishing he had talked to Sarah about Jill before she had gone. She had looked devastated that he had kissed Jill. He understood that. It felt like he had betrayed her, just as Jill had betrayed him all those years ago. Well. Not that bad, he hadn't had sex with Jill this time, but it still felt like a betrayal.

Then he heard Jill dialing out and started to listen.

The other person answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Jill."

Sounding intrigued, the other woman asked, "How are you after last night?"

"I'm doing great, Shari. You're not gonna believe who came to my room to apologize."

Shari stated, "Please tell me you didn't let that loser in."

He felt like a loser. Not because of his job, but because he had betrayed Sarah's trust in him and had let Jill kiss him.

Jill replied, "Well, he looked like a puppy dog. I couldn't say no. And... I still think he's kind of cute."

Cute! She thought he was cute. The love of his life thought he was so much more than that!

Sheri sounded stunned though. "Cute? He's a computer dork that makes ten bucks an hour."

That was wrong, but who cared. Chuck pulled off the headset and slammed it down on the desk. He had to apologize to Sarah and make it up to her. He couldn't lose her for the woman who had betrayed him all those years ago.

Then he saw, via the hotel security, Sarah trying to open the door of LeFleur's bedroom. She couldn't so Casey kicked the door open.

Something large hit the top of the van, denting the roof.

As the blood-splattered face of the man they were going to see slid down the windscreen, Casey's voice came through, "Chuck, Guy is not in his room."

Chuck just said, "I know."

Casey was interviewing Jill and Chuck felt he and Sarah should listen, but he had to make things right between them. "Sarah-"

"Not now Chuck," she stated in her cold agent voice.

He turned to her and grabbed her hands. "Yes, now, Sarah!"

She glared at him but didn't pull away.

"She kissed me, Sarah, not the other way around," he explained. Then he thought of a similar situation.

He could see her getting angry. "It's what I thought would happen, Chuck. You can't resist her!"

"Like when Bryce kissed you in my bedroom!" he blurted out, thankfully quietly, then instantly regretted it.

Sarah thought back to that evening. She had let Bryce kiss her back then. She had been vulnerable and it had happened. Then she thought about their situation now. She leaned towards him, so only he could hear her hissed response. "We weren't lovers then or have you already forgotten last night?"

She was absolutely right. His face took on a dreamy appearance and he just quietly voiced, "Lovers…"

Sarah just looked at him. Her heart wasn't in this fight anymore. His visage told her that he did love her, just as he said he did the previous night. She calmed down and quietly said, "And you better prove it tonight, Mister!"

She watched him as she said that. He nodded his head and grinned at her. She wanted to just wrap her arms around him and kiss him, but knew that wouldn't be a good idea in Castle.

They both turned to watch Casey and Jill and listen again.

Casey was talking while showing her photos. "We kept an eye on you, as well. To protect you."

She looked at one of them. "That's my ex-boyfriend, Chuck. Is he involved in this?"

Sarah watched Casey as he replied. He obviously would have liked to play with Chuck, needle him, but controlled himself. "No. He wasn't involved. Your boss, Guy, however..."

Jill replied, "Maybe Guy was involved, but not how you think. Guy had discovered an antiviral serum for a strain of influenza used in a bioweapon, an airborne influenza so deadly it could kill a person within one hour if exposed. Now, a couple of days ago, Guy learned that our company secretly sells the influenza bioweapon. That's why Guy planned to present our research at the convention, so that the company couldn't cover it up any more. I guess it's up to me to do that now."

Chuck's instant reaction was to stop this. He was about to bang on the window, when he felt Sarah's hand very tightly grip his wrist. He turned to his girlfriend. Her eyes were flashing that angry, deadly look again. He tried to get her to understand. "But, Sarah, she's an innocent! It's too dangerous."

She hissed, "Not from where I'm standing!" She could see him still caring too much for this woman. "Are you trying to make me want to kill her?"

Chuck looked at her. He'd never seen her like this before. Agent Walker, jealous? "If she does the talk, the assassin will kill her, Sarah."

"It's our only chance, the only way to smoke him out. Would you rather I gave the talk and they tried to kill me?" Her tone and expression were both cold as ice.

Chuck realized this was probably what would happen if he did try to interfere. His panic shifted completely. This would be his worst nightmare! He whispered, "God no, Sarah! I can't lose you. I told you that."

The ice thawed, slightly. "Then she will deliver it and we will protect her. Right?"

His shoulders slumped. "Right."

She nodded once, pleased to have gotten through to him, but this conversation would continue later.

"Please take your seats. Giving the presentation for Dr. Lafleur will be... his associate who has been working with him for some time, Dr. Jill Roberts."

Sarah was standing on one side of the auditorium and Casey at the back. Scattered through the audience were other NSA agents, just waiting for a signal from one of them. Each were scanning the room, looking for the assassin.

Sarah was struggling to concentrate on the search for this assassin. She was thinking of one Chuck Bartowski and what he had done to another assassin the night before; that made her body tingle. After their talk this evening, there needed to be more of that!

She focused back on scanning. I have to get myself under control!

Jill started her speech after the applause stopped. "Thank you. Yes, I'm Dr. Jill Roberts, and I'm here to talk to you all today about a deadly poison that could change the course of human science. I'm honored to stand before you all today on behalf of Dr. Lafleur. Throughout the many years of our research..."

Jill stopped and watched as a man got up and ran towards the door nearest Sarah.

Casey had spotted the man too, it was Wolf Den. Just as the assassin was running passed Sarah, she put out her leg and tripped the man, who sprawled in front of her. In seconds, there were two guns pointing at the assassin's head. "You're too late. It's released."

Sarah looked back and under one of the desks was a canister leaking gas. Casey spotted it too and shouted, "Seal the room, seal the room! Ladies and gentlemen, this is an NSA emergency. No one- I repeat, no one- gets in or out."

Reality crashed down on Sarah. They were all going to die!

Chuck was sitting in the Buy More doing this stupid "lifesaving" test. He couldn't concentrate. In the conference center his girlfriend was attending a presentation given by his ex. Both were at risk, but his mind kept focusing on the word 'girlfriend'. Thinking that Sarah was really now his girlfriend was also something to put in check, and their amazing night together, even more so! Those thoughts kept creeping in and taking over his mind! He had had sex with the love of his life and it was everything he could ever have hoped for. Her gorgeous body on his- No! stop thinking it!

He tried to concentrate on this test again, then his phone was receiving a call. He looked at his phone and saw it was from Casey and stood up. "Sorry, sorry. Oh, um, I'm sorry, I have to take this. This could be an important call."

Milbarge questioned him, "Oh, I'm sorry, and this isn't important? There is no leaving the room during the test."

Chuck ignored him and rushed out of the room, answering the call. "Casey, hey, everything okay?"

Casey replied with the words Chuck had hoped not to hear, "Our Wolf Den friend released the poison. Sarah got him, but we are both still in here with the scientists. Hazmat crews are on their way. We have an hour, maybe less. You need to talk to Jill."

Chuck answered without thinking, "I really don't think she wants to see me right now."

Casey growled, "I'm passing the phone to her, idiot. We're dying here."

Jill's voice came through, sounding nervous but controlled. "I don't know how you know this man, but we need your help. You have to go to my room and get my case and bring it to the people who are coming to save us."

"H- how do I get into your room?" he asked.

He heard her ask that of someone with her.

Casey's voice came through again, "Chuck, General Beckman will have someone get the case from Jill's room, you don't have to go, but come to the conference center."

"Oh god! I can't lose you both!" he cried.

Casey grunted. "Out of our hands now." He ended the call.

Chuck rushed to get to one of the Nerd Herders.

He had just arrived in the foyer as the NSA agents arrived with the case. He immediately called Casey. "It's here."

Casey grunted and obviously passed his phone to Jill. "Chuck, follow my instructions." He opened her case and did what she said, attaching the vial to the gun with the frighteningly long needle. He felt queasy just looking at that!

Jill was sounding noticeably weaker as she spoke next. "Is there a doctor with you?"

Chuck knew there was, one had arrived at the same time as him. "Yes."

"Pass the phone to him," Jill said.

He did and watched the man talk to her. He gestured for Chuck to hand him the gun, then grabbed Chuck's arm and injected into his vein.

Chuck nearly jerked his arm away, but once the needle was in he stopped, frightened that it would break off.

He man passed the phone back to him. Jill told him, "Okay, that has a modified version of the viral strain. Now your body metabolizes the poison and the antiviral serum is going to be created from your blood."

Chuck was shocked. "Poison? Poison?! He just gave me poison?"

She huffed, obviously irritated with how ignorant he was. "Yeah. It's the only way to make the antidote. Bring the case in with you. I'll make it up when you get here, but hurry, I don't have much time left."

Chuck was stunned, but started moving. Then he heard Casey on the phone, "Move it, Bartowski, before we all die." He hurried.

Once he arrived, he looked for his partners and Jill. Sarah was off to one side, collapsed with her back against the wall. She lifted a hand to wave at him. He wanted to rush to her, and started that way, but she shook her head and pointed to the front of the auditorium where he saw Casey and Jill sitting on the edge or the stage. He rushed over to them.

Jill slid off the stage and took the case from him. She looked weak, but managed to open the case, extract what she needed and turned to Chuck, getting him to sit on the stage. "This is a medi-syringe, multi-dose injector. I am going to extract 60 ccs of your blood, put it through the centrifuge, and then you need to inject one cc of the antiviral serum into each of those infected. Okay?"

He looked away and squeezed his eyes shut as she took the blood. He almost fainted as she did that, feeling the blood being sucked out of him through the ice-cold metal in his arm. He knew that was probably just his imagination, but it felt real. When the nausea reduced, he opened his eyes. Jill had obviously taken the blood, run it through the centrifuge and created the antiviral serum. Had she done that incredibly fast or had he actually fainted? He would never know.

Jill handed him one of the injectors that she had loaded, while holding the other herself. "Okay, you take half the room, I'll take the other. One cc each. Okay?"

He nodded and took it, then he noticed Jill was about to collapse and drop her injector. He managed to grab it before she tumbled to the floor and placed it on the floor next to her. He quickly injected both her and Casey before leaping up and running over to Sarah to inject her. She had passed out by this time and he wanted to wait for her to revive and kiss her, but knew he had to get to the other people.

As he started to work in towards the center, he saw Jill revive and pick up the injector next to her. She saw where Chuck was and started working in the opposite direction.

When Chuck reached his final patient, as he was calling them, Jill had reached all of hers. Casey was now standing next to him. "You did good, Kid."

He looked over to Sarah who was walking towards him, but obviously still not fully recovered. She also had a limp. He rushed to her and placed her arm around his shoulders to support her.

Sarah looked at the man who had saved them all, her boyfriend. She wanted to kiss him, but couldn't here in front of Jill, so she just quietly said, "My hero."

Those two words meant the world to Chuck right at that moment as he helped her out of the room, favoring her left ankle.

Behind her, Sarah heard Jill asking Casey, "Are they together?"

Casey replied, "He helps his teammates and she obviously needs that support." Sarah felt like kissing Casey for those words.

Neither Casey nor Sarah was in a state to go back to Castle after they had received treatment from the medics outside the conference center, so Beckman took verbal reports from them and told them to report at 8am the next day.

Casey could tell there was something different about Chuck and Sarah, but he told Chuck to take her to her hotel and told Jill he wanted to talk to her before she left. Jill was obviously not happy about either of those, watching Chuck help Sarah to his Nerd Herder, but accepted.

Chuck drove them away.

Sarah had recovered enough and straightened up once they were out of Jill's sight. "We need to talk, Chuck."

He recognized the tone of her voice. This was going to be about him and Jill. He knew he had a lot of apologizing to do. He briefly looked her way. She didn't look as angry as he expected. "I did save everyone," he said in a hopeful voice.

"Oh, I'm going to kiss your face off and screw the hell out of you for that. Then we talk."

He looked at her and saw the twinkle in her eyes.

Sarah was still limping slightly as they entered her room, but she turned and pushed him against the door as it closed. Her bad ankle didn't hurt so much when she had her lips planted on his and her legs wrapped around him. God! I need this!

He carried her to the bed, but before he placed her on it, she dropped her legs and stood in front of him, undoing her blouse and skirt.

Chuck didn't need to be told and undressed just a quickly. When he looked at his totally nude girlfriend he froze, absolutely stunned by the beauty in front of him.

On her good leg, she hopped back onto the bed, dragging him with her. His nude body landing on hers. It took the wind out of her, but she loved it. Then he slid down and kissed her breasts. She reveled in the feeling which triggered her nerves all over. She wanted to make love, but this was wonderful too.

Then he moved down her body, saying, "I want to worship you before we make love, Sarah."

She hadn't expected this, but worship her he did. What he did with his lips and tongue almost made her lose her mind. She'd had this done before, but never as good as this. When his fingers joined the party, she released, crying out his name.

She felt shaky after that but still managed to pull him up for a passionate kiss, not caring what he tasted like. Then they made love. It was even better than the night before. Will it just keep getting better and better?

Afterwards, they lay next to each other, panting and gazing at each other.

After a few minutes, Chuck said, "About that kiss with Jill-"

She placed a finger on his lips, stopping him. "Not yet, Chuck. I want to just savor this moment with you right now."

He pulled her to him and she placed her face on his chest and her leg across his. This was what she had wanted all those months while just his handler.

After a couple of minutes, she drifted off to sleep.

They had woken in the morning, with her still resting in the position she had gone to sleep. Sarah knew they needed to have that discussion, before they arose and prepared to head to their respective jobs, but this was so good. She had dreamt of waking with him like this and now it was a reality.

His voice rumbled into her right ear through his chest. "Should we talk now?"

She leaned up and looked at him, then reluctantly nodded.

Chuck had been thinking about this before he noticed that Sarah was awake. "Jill kissed me in her room. I didn't resist because I felt I had to pretend to still be interested, but the kiss did nothing for me, Sarah. All I could think of was you and how even pretending, it felt like a betrayal."

It was her own insecurities that made her feel he would succumb, but she also knew he didn't like to hurt others, so might go along with it for Jill. His words did comfort her, though. "Thank you, Chuck."

He hadn't stopped talking. "When I knew you were all poisoned, I worried about Casey, but I didn't even think about Jill, just you and how I feared I would lose you, Sarah." The tears in his eyes, thinking back, also expressed the same feeling.

She slid up his body to kiss him, even though they hadn't brushed their teeth yet. Both felt the effect of their bodies moving against each other.

"You've not lost me, Chuck. In fact, if I have anything to do with it, you're stuck with me."

Their lower bodies expressed more, causing Chuck to smile. "With or in?"

She moaned. "In, as much as possible." She meant as often, but his response made her gasp. God, I love this!

"Jill Roberts now knows Chuck's an asset. What do you want us to do about it?" Casey asked the general as he and Sarah faced the monitor containing her image.

Beckman replied, "I want you to do nothing. The assassin Agent Walker shot was a member of Fulcrum. A rogue CIA agent. We don't know the extent of their penetration. If Jill knows something they may make a play for her."

"So, you want to use her as bait?" he asked.

Sarah pointed out, "General, uh, Chuck has real feelings for Jill. I don't think he'd approve of us using her like this."

Beckman locked her eyes with Sarah's. "That's why you're not going to tell him, Agent Walker."

The briefing continued, discussing how to proceed, but Sarah was just thinking about how to discuss this with Chuck. There was no way she was going to keep this a secret from him.

It was too early for Chuck to go to the Buy More from Sarah's apartment ,so Sarah had dropped him off at his apartment. On the way he had rung ahead as he wanted to see Ellie after two nights away. She asked him where he'd been. "Were you with Jill?" she asked obviously not sounding pleased.

He told her, "No, Ellie, I wasn't with Jill. I was with Sarah."

He had to hold the phone away from his ear as she squealed, then agreed to tell her before she left to go to work.

Sarah chuckled. "I heard that!"

"I think the whole of Echo Park probably did too," he replied.

So now, here he was drinking coffee with his sister.

She grinned at him. "I think that you had to go through all that stuff with Jill so you could figure out who the one is for you. And now that you found her you'll stop wondering about somebody else."

He couldn't agree more. Sarah Walker was 'the one' for him.

His phone rang and he looked at the caller's name. Jill Roberts. He didn't want to talk to her, so ignored it she could leave a message on voicemail.

Ellie made the wrong assumption about the caller. "Take it. Tell Sarah I said hi."

He showed her the name of the caller.

Her face grew angry. "Why do you still have her name saved?" she demanded.

The call stopped "So I know not to answer it, El."

The phone rang again. This time it was who Ellie had assumed. He answered it immediately, not leaving the room. "Hi, Sarah."

"Chuck, I'm coming to pick you up. " Chuck could tell she was worried.

He quickly reassured her. "I'm just finishing my coffee and have been talking to Ellie before going to work. Ellie says hi, by the way."

She sounded calmer. "Okay. Tell her I said hi, too. I'll see you in 10." She hung up.

He grinned at Ellie. "She says hi." He looked at his watch. "I have to quickly change, shower, then go to work."

Ellie replied, " I have to head out now. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, El, you go, I don't want to hold you up," he said.

She hugged him. "I'm so pleased for you both."

After Ellie left, he just changed. He'd showered at Sarah's. Thinking about that, the two of them naked under the hot jets of water, he was still surprised that they had actually used the shower to clean themselves as well as have amazing sex. Showering would never be the same again.

Sarah pulled up just as he approached where she always picked him up. He lowered himself into the passenger seat. "I have to tell you something before I drop you off, Chuck."

"And I love you too, Sarah," he replied.

She grinned and set off. "You know I want to kiss you, but can't where only the surveillance cameras are on us."

He grinned too, "Where are all the spectators when you need them?"

She sobered up. "Beckman is planning to use Jill as bait for Fulcrum. She thinks they will assume she knows something about their plans and will want to know what."

His response isn't what she expected. "That's stupid. They obviously aren't interested in interrogating her. They just tried to kill her."

"So, you're not worried about her?" She asked.

"I guess," he replied.

"I told her that you wouldn't approve. She said that was why I shouldn't tell you," Sarah told him.

He smiled, "So you disobeyed orders for me?"

She smirked at him. "Hey, making love to you is breaking rules, so what's this small additional thing?" She reached over and held his hand. He gripped it tightly.

He then remembered Jill had called him and checked his phone. She had left a message. "I didn't take a call from Jill earlier. Want to listen to a voice message she seems to have left?"

Sarah was pleased that he was sharing this with her. "Sure."

He put it on speakerphone. " Hey. How's my favorite secret agent? Call me and we can arrange to meet up."

Sarah growled, "Not happening!"

Chuck grinned, "You're so hot when you're jealous!"

She glanced at him with smoldering look, "You're mine now, Chuck."

He felt his arousal must be showing. "I never want to be anything else, Sarah."

Sarah gripped his hand again. They would have to find some other way to crack Fulcrum. Chuck would not be 'infiltrating' Jill Roberts!

Chuck was thinking the same, but he was grateful that Jill had come back into his life as it had caused Sarah to give in to her feelings for him. Their relationship was no longer just a cover. Jill had inadvertently helped them. He was glad that six years ago she jilted him and now he would return the favor.

A/N: Stopping this here. I know they later found out Jill was part of Fulcrum, but a lot of that following episode made little sense to me. For instance, why would she help them and risk them getting hold of the list?

The lyrics at the start of this fic were added after I had mostly written it. When listening to another Heaven 17 track, I remembered this one. It seemed a perfect fit for Sarah's time with Chuck until this point.

Reviews always welcome.