It was dark by the time Chuck arrived back at his apartment, and the low lights glowing in the courtyard gave the area an ethereal, contemplative feeling. Instead of going to his front door, he pulled a chair over from his sister's patio set over to the fountain and sat, feet propped up on the fountain ledge, staring at the water flowing down the multiple tiers of the water feature. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the slip of paper his father had handed him. He already had the phone number memorized but needed something to do with his fingers as he turned the folded piece of paper over and over in his hands, as he thought over everything his father told him. He wasn't sure if knowing the reason behind the departures made his parents' disappearances better or worse or if he was going to tell Ellie about meeting with their father after being so long apart.

'One issue at a time,' He thought to himself, 'Helping Sarah, and Molly, is the more pressing issue now. The real question is, should I tell her first or try to reach Bryce first to see if the contact info that dad gave me is still good…'

"You look deep in thought," He heard a voice from behind him, accompanied by the sound of a metal chair lightly dragging along the flagstone of the courtyard. Looking to his right, he saw his sister, still in her scrubs from her shift, pulling up the other chair beside him and adopting the same pose as himself, leaned back in the chair, feet on the edge of the fountain, looking up at the water bubbling out of the top, pooling, then trickling down from one reservoir to the next. "What's on your mind, little brother?"

"Have you ever had a time where helping someone you care about winds up dragging up something from your past you'd rather not revisit?" Chuck cast a look over to his sister.

"Outside of the times I took it upon myself to take care of you because Mom and Dad were not available?" She countered, "Not really, but I struggle sometimes when I have to treat a kid whose parents don't seem to care or want to be involved in their child's treatment. What's going on?"

"So, you know that I have been working on helping Sarah find her ex, and that it led to the CIA?" Chuck started, Ellie simply nodded for him to continue, "Well I found him, or at least his most recent contact number."

"Okay, I follow you so far," Ellie nodded, "Are you worried about reaching out? That he'll figure out how you got his contact information?"

"No, well yes," Chuck sighed, "But no, not for the reason you are thinking. It turns out I know her ex, and he knows about my hacking ability, has even protected the Piranha on a few occasions."

"Oh God, please tell me it's not…" Ellie started.

"Her ex is Bryce Larkin," He gave his sister a pained look, "Apparently, he is not an accountant, but a spy with one of our country's top covert agencies. I don't know why he gave her a fake name aside from guessing he was undercover at the time as his apartment on the Upper West Side was being paid for by a shadow company that is a front for the CIA."

"Does Sarah know?" Ellie inquired.

"That one of the people who made my last year at Stanford a living Hell is the same man who fathered her child?" Chuck raised an eyebrow, "No, I only just found out, I don't know how I'm going to tell her… about everything. My history with him, the CIA, everything."

"In my experience, being completely transparent is best," Ellie advised, "Take her through the steps, how you traced the information she gave you and where it led. If she doesn't know you were, or are, a hacker, you might want to let her know. Tell her that you found his contact information and that you knew him in college. Do you know that the contact info you found is still good?"

"It's as reliable as you can get in such a situation," Chuck gave a small shrug, "But I haven't tried calling it yet, if that's what you're getting at. This is Sarah's thing, I'm just the source of information right now, I think it's best if she makes the first attempt at contact."

"Probably a good idea," Ellie nodded, patting her brother's knee as she stood, "Well, I say just be as honest as you can be and see what she wants to do. I'm going to head inside, I've had a long day and I'm exhausted, and that was before your little crisis. Put that chair back when you're done, if it's still here come morning, I have a key and know where you sleep."

"Message received, Sis," Chuck snickered, "Thank you for being my sounding board."

"Any time," Ellie gave him a small smile, "I love you."

"Love you too, Elle," Chuck returned her smile and watched as she picked up her chair and carried it back to its place beside the small table in the alcove by her front door. "Good night."

"Good night, Chuck," Ellie gave him one last supportive smile before heading into her own apartment.

Chuck had awoken the next day, still not completely sure how he was going to explain everything to Sarah, but secure in the advice that Ellie had given him the night before. When he called Sarah to inform her that he had found the information they had been looking for, she invited him to join her for lunch as none of her students had scheduled mentoring during her lunch and prep period. Getting the time off wasn't difficult for him, as there were no meetings at the office and the game was currently in post-production, leaving it firmly in the marketing, accounting, and distribution departments hands. Confirming the time, he offered to pick up lunch from Lou's, which was on the way to the school. Sarah gladly accepted and told him that she was looking forward to seeing him that afternoon.

The morning had been slow for Chuck, mostly reviewing reports from the various departments within the company and giving some direction to those who needed it. He also spent some time drafting up new ideas for software and games as well as reviewed previous ideas to try to figure out which to pursue next, not wanting to rest on the laurels of his company's past achievements. He set up a meeting with the department heads to toss around ideas for future projects and narrowed his list of suggestions down to a first-person shooter, an educational game, and an updated form of their security software.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was more or less done with the tasks he had laid out for himself for the day, which meant he had the option of not returning to the office that afternoon, if Sarah needed him a little longer than just for lunch. When his watch's alarm alerted him to the fact it was time to go, he grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone, sliding the latter two into their designated pockets in his pants, and headed out the door. A brief stop at Morgan's desk ensured the whole office would know shortly that Chuck would be out of the office, potentially for the remainder of the day.

The drive to Lou's was relatively short, and she had his order waiting for him on the back counter for pick up when he walked in. She handed him the bags and drink carrier along with an envelope addressed to Sarah, informing him that she wanted to invite Sarah to her baby shower to get to know her better. He nodded his understanding and gave Lou a friendly kiss on the cheek before heading out once more and toward the high school.

The check-in process didn't take too long when he arrived at the front office. The secretary, a woman in her mid-40's, made quick work of checking his ID and having him sign in before handing him a visitors pass and directions toward the performance arts building which housed classrooms for the band and choir as well as the school's off-off Broadway sized theatre. As Chuck made his way down the outdoor corridor toward the building, he noticed a few students give him a double take, almost as if the recognized him. Figuring they were probably gamers who had read an article about Orion Games, he shrugged off their reactions and continued on to Sarah's classroom.

Arriving at the door, he could hear the second period band students rehearsing, Mrs. Tucker on a small square platform, arms and baton waiving gracefully through the air as she led her students in the piece they were playing. He saw Sarah standing behind and off to the side of the band's director, organizing some paperwork on a nearby table. When Chuck saw Mrs. Tucker bring the band to a stop, he quietly tapped on the window of the door, catching Sarah's attention and giving her a small waive.

Sarah gave him a smile and walked over to the door, the eyes of a few of the students following her as she let the tall, curly haired, man into the room. Mrs. Tucker likewise noticed her distracted pupils and turned to see what had caught their attention, "Charles Bartowski, you better have a really good note from your sister for being nearly a decade late for class." She demanded, hands on her hips, a stern look broken by the grin on her face.

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Tucker," Chuck grinned back at the older woman, "I seemed to have misplaced my flute. I still can't find it, erm, Peaches must have eaten it."

"Don't you lie to be, Mr. Bartowski," She crossed her arms, "You know I know that fool dog ain't around anymore."

"Oh, right," Chuck feigned embarrassment, "Um, I mean aliens, that's right, aliens must have abducted it… and Morgan right along with it. I mean it was weird, there was this glowy light then zoom they were both gone and on top of it, I woke up 10 years later, and in a whole different part of the valley! Can you believe that?"

Sarah was standing beside her boyfriend trying not to laugh at his antics as Mrs. Tucker rolled her eyes, "That has got to be one of the worst excuses I've ever heard, but as I can no longer issue you detention, I will allow it." She then turned to her students, who she had heard whispering behind her back, "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Charles Bartowski. He was one of my students, and one of the best first chair flutes I've ever seen come up in my bands."

"Miss Walker?" A young girl raised her hand from the French horn section, catching the younger teacher's attention, "Isn't he the guy you played with at the beach last month?"

Sarah gave the student a confused look, "I'm not sure I understand the question, Bridget."

"You know, the video," The girl tried to explain, seeing the still puzzled look on her assistant director's face as well as the man who'd just come into the room, "On YouTube…"

"Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Chuck whispered, having sidled up to Sarah.

"Not a clue," She whispered back.

A flute player who happened to be sitting nearby them rolled his eyes and pulled his smart phone out of the side pocket of his book bag, quickly pulling up the video and handing the device to them. At first the video was a little shaky as whomever had taped it had tried to make their way through the crowd while a guitar and violin duet could be heard. "I mean that is you, isn't it, Miss Walker?" The student asks pointing to the blonde violinist who was standing on a park bench in beach wear.

Sarah and Chuck nodded mutely as they watched the video, Sarah swaying along with the melody she played on her violin as Chuck played his guitar and sang through 'Hallelujah.' After watching the clip a moment longer, Chuck stopped the video and handed the phone back to the young man to whom it belonged.

"I didn't realize anyone had filmed that," Chuck murmured in Sarah's ear.

"Mr. Bartowski," Mrs. Tucker lifted her eyebrow, "Just as when you were a student of mine, there are no secrets here.

"I was just saying I didn't realize that anyone had taped us," Chuck shrugged.

"How could you with your face fused to Miss Walkers?" A student from the brass section chuckled.

"Mr. Epps, you just got yourself polishing duty," Mrs. Tucker turned to the young man in the back row.

"Perhaps we should take this into the office," Sarah suggested.

"Probably a good idea," Chuck agreed before turning back toward Mrs. Tucker, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a disruption. Miss Walker and I just had a few things to discuss over lunch and I was a tad bit early."

"Well seeing as we only have a few minutes left of class, it wasn't a bad time to interrupt," Mrs. Tucker shrugged, "So long as one of those sandwiches in that bag are for me."

"Of course," Chuck nodded, a wry grin on his face, "Last thing I need is the wrath of Big Mike coming down on me for not making sure you got a good sandwich, especially since I brought one for your lovely assistant director."

Gladys Tucker just rolled her eyes, "Miss Walker knows where my desk is, just leave it there and get about your business."

A young woman holding a clarinet hesitantly raised her hand from the center of the first row, when the director gave her a nod she spoke, "Well seeing as we only have a few minutes left of class, would it be too much to ask for a small performance?"

Chuck and Sarah shared a look before Chuck spoke, "I don't carry my guitar with me everywhere."

"There's one in the back," Sarah suggested, "Assuming Mrs. Tucker doesn't mind."

"You might as well," The older woman rolled her eyes with a defeated shrug, "There ain't nothing else I can accomplish today with the time we have left."

Sarah gave a small nod and quickly ducked into one of the practice rooms, returning with her violin in one hand and an acoustic guitar in the other. She handed the latter to Chuck, who quickly threw the strap over his shoulder and checked the tuning of the instrument. Once he gave Sarah a nod indicating he was satisfied, Sarah turned to him and whispered, "Follow my lead."

Mrs. Tucker stepped down from the director's stand and indicated for the pair to stand front and center. Sarah and Chuck stepped forward into place as Sarah raised her violin to her chin as she began to play Libertango as she had nearly a decade before. Chuck smiled at the memory and joined her, improvising the guitar part as he had their first time playing together, much to the fascination of the students. As they played, some students sat transfixed at how they worked with and off each other playing with the harmony and melody as they went, while others listened casually as they quietly packed up their instruments and sheet music.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect as the bell began to ring as the last notes of the piece rang out through the room. The students clapped for the performance and quickly left the room to get to their next classes or lunch breaks. Chuck lifted the strap over his head and handed the guitar back to Sarah who quickly put the instruments away in the practice room.

"That was some very fine playing, Charles," Gladys complimented him with a warm smile, "You compliment Sarah well… in more ways than one I suspect."

"Thank you, Mrs. Tucker," Chuck blushed.

"Please call me Gladys," The older woman corrected, "The students are gone and you're an adult now, I think it's okay for you to use my first name."

"Alright," Chuck nodded, "Then could you please call me Chuck? Charles is so formal and that is not me at all."

"Okay, Chuck," Gladys smiled before walking over to the table where the bag of sandwiches had been set before the impromptu performance and pulling out the wrapper with her name on it, "You're a good boy, my Michael has always said you are. You be good to our girl here."

"I will, I promise," Chuck nodded, before turning to the hall where he saw Sarah standing, a small smile on her face, "I would never dream of not being anything but good to her."

Gladys nodded her approval, momentarily placed a gentle hand of support on Sarah's arm, and walked past the younger woman and into her office, closing the door behind her to give the younger adults their time together.

"So, where do you want to do this?" Chuck asked.

Sarah arched an amused eyebrow at him for a moment, causing him to blush at the unintentional innuendo, before a smile spread across her face. "We can use one of the practice spaces, one of them has a large table we can eat at as we talk."

"Sounds good," Chuck nodded, grabbing their lunch and their drinks and following after her.

The room Sarah led him to contained a few music stands of varying quality and a stack of chairs along one of the side walls and a 6 ft by 4 ft table along the far wall. While Sarah put the loose sheet music that had been scattered across the table into the correct folders then stacked them on a corner of the table, Chuck set their food and drinks down and collected two chairs from the stack and carried them over to the newly cleared table.

Once they'd settled in their seats, he quickly doled out their food. He sat a half of a turkey and muenster sandwich they'd tried on their first date and a small side salad in front of her along with a bottle of water, her favorite meal from Lou's. When he pulled out his sandwich, he noticed she arched an eyebrow at the pastrami and sauerkraut sandwich he'd ordered for himself. "Don't worry, I brought breath mints, just in case" He assured her, "I know better than to kiss you after eating this beast, I was just craving a good pastrami on seedless rye."

Sarah simply nodded, opening her salad and the packet of raspberry vinaigrette that came with it, drizzling it over the vegetables and taking a bite. "So, what did you find out?"

Chuck paused, chewing his bite of sandwich a moment longer and taking a swig of his water. "Getting right into it, huh?" He sighed, "I thought we'd eat first then talk about it."

"I only have 45 minutes for lunch, Sweetie," Sarah reminded him spearing another bite of her salad, "Might as well multi-task."

"Okay," Chuck nodded, "Well, as you know, I have been looking for Bruce for the past few weeks." When Sarah nodded her acknowledgement, he continued, "I found out very quickly that Bruce Anderson is not a real person, that name is an alias. After quite a bit of tracking, I found out that the alias was actually a cover for a man by the name of Bryce Larkin."

Sarah furrowed her brow at the look on Chuck's face, "I take it there's more to him than just using a false identity while he was in New York."

"Yep," Chuck sighed, "Sarah, Bryce works for the CIA as a field operative, he's a spy. Furthermore, I don't think he was running away from you after you told him about Molly, or at least it may not have been the only reason he disappeared. Around the time Molly was conceived, Bryce was reassigned to an operation that took him overseas, although it wouldn't surprise me if he saw being able to escape his responsibilities as a benefit of his new assignment."

"You seem pretty confident in that," Sarah searched his face, chewing slowly as she processed his words.

"I am," Chuck admitted, "I know, or at least knew, Bryce pretty well. Remember the guy I told you about, the roommate and best friend who slept with the woman I was going to propose to?"

Sarah gasped, "No…"

"Yeah, Bryce freaking Larkin," Chuck huffed, "He has a way of involving himself in my life and gumming up the works. Not that I'm complaining about this particular intrusion, I mean it led to you coming back into my life, not to mention the creation of one of the most adorable little girls I know. Although, I do have to admit I'm a little biased, having feelings for her mother and all."

"Yeah, she's pretty great," Sarah nodded, a smile on her face, "I hear her mother ain't half bad, either."

"Are you kidding? Her mother is one of the most fascinating and wonderful women I've ever met," Chuck beamed down at her, "I would venture to say that I may just be falling for her in a permanent kind of way."

"I hope so," Sarah giggled, "Because I hear she has no intention of ever letting you go. I know for a fact she fell for you long ago, and never truly recovered. Some would even say she loves you."

"That's good to hear, because I love you too," Chuck admitted. The pair reveled in the moment a bit longer before Chuck got back to the reason for his visit. "In any event, I was able to track down Bryce's contact information. I have to admit, I had some help, I was caught by another hacker accessing the CIA servers and he offered to help me. Turns out this hacker is a former, or perhaps a distanced disgruntled, employee. He said that he is confident that the number is still good."

Chuck dug in his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "Ball's in your court now," He spoke softly as she stared at the piece of paper in her hands, "I can't and won't tell you what to do. You can call him, or not, you did say that his name isn't listed on Molly's birth certificate. Technically, you don't need his permission for anything from a legal standpoint; at least not according to my frat brother who is currently practicing family law."

Sarah nodded her understanding before folding the paper and putting it in the pocket of her slacks. She placed her hands over his and looked up into his warm eyes, "Thank you," She spoke softly, "For everything you did and do for me. I can't express how much it means to me that you would risk yourself like you did to help me find him."

"It was nothing," Chuck blushed humbly, "I would do anything for my girls." His eyes then sparkled in mischief, "Besides, there's no power in the 'verse who can stop the Piranha."

"You are such a nerd!" Sarah rolled her eyes and laughed at him.

"I'm your nerd," He smiled at her.

"That you are," She grinned up at him, "You might want to grab one of your mints."

"Why?" Chuck did his eyebrow dance.

"'Cause I'm gonna kiss you," She smirked.

Chuck quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin of altoids, popping one in his mouth and crunching down on it, all without breaking eye contact with his girlfriend who, as soon as he'd swallowed, grabbed his face and pressed a kiss to his lips. As she pulled back, she nipped at his lips, causing him to growl low in his throat and reach out to her, moving her from her own chair to straddle his lap as he deepened the kiss. They were quickly losing themselves in each other when a rap on the door caught their attention. Foreheads pressed together, they turned to see who had knocked to see Gladys giving them a knowing look and an eye roll before she sauntered off to her office with a cackle.

"Perhaps we should save this for home," Chuck murmured.

"Your home or mine?" Sarah giggled, "'Cause I gotta tell you, mine is a little crowded with my mom and Molly there as an instant audience. I really need to get my own place."

"Whatever happened to the condo in Echo Park?" Chuck asked as Sarah slowly removed herself from his lap and resumed her own seat.

"I was outbid," Sarah shrugged, "Now I'm back to square one, and with the season opening being this weekend, and the final rehearsals, I have no spare time in which to look."

"Have I told you how much I am looking forward to seeing you perform," Chuck gave her a supportive smile, "I haven't been able to watch you perform live since high school."

"Well, I hope I have improved a little since then," She joked.

"Oh, I'm sure you have," Chuck stated confidently then checked his watch, "Well I'd better get going, our time is almost up."

Chuck stood and began collecting their now empty water bottles, wrappers, and containers tossing them in the bag in which they'd come. Sarah watched him for a moment, chewing on her lower lip contemplatively, "Chuck?"

Her voice was so soft, he almost didn't hear it over the sound of the paper bag crinkling as he loaded it up with their trash. When she placed her hand, softly, on his wrist he turned and saw the serious look on her face. She nodded toward his chair, indicating that she wanted him to sit.

"What is it, Baby?" He asked, concern lacing his voice at the serious look on her face.

"Do you mind waiting a minute?" She gave him a hopeful look, "I don't want to do this alone." She quickly rose, exited the room and entered her office to retrieve her cell phone. A moment later, she returned and took her seat across from Chuck. Pulling the paper out of her pocket, she quickly dialed the nine digits and hit the send button. Setting the note on the table beside her, she reached out with her free hand to hold Chuck's, seeking out his support and strength.

The phone rang a few times then went to voicemail. She listened to the message for a moment, caught between frustration and relief that she didn't have to actually speak to him, before the beep signaled for her to leave her message. "Um, hi, this is, erm Sarah Walker. We knew each other a few years ago… back in New York. I um, I don't know if you remember or not, but I got pregnant shortly before you left, we have a little girl, her name is Molly. I'm not looking for child support or anything, we're good with that, but since you have made no attempt to contact us, I'm assuming you are unable to be her father, which is fine. I um, actually met someone, it's getting serious, and someday he may want to adopt her. Your name isn't on the birth certificate or anything, but I still thought you might want to know, maybe consider officially signing over your parental rights to reduce any hiccups. You don't have to come see her or anything, I just need your address to send you the paperwork. Give me a call back, my number is (818)555-3964. Um, for what it's worth, I don't regret our time together, because it gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for. So, I guess, thank you, bye."

She hung up with a sigh, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She felt Chuck gently squeeze her hand, causing her to look up and see the support, love, and compassion brimming in his eyes. "So, I guess that's it then, balls' in his court now," Sarah spoke softly.

Chuck nodded and stood slowly to his full height, a slight tug on Sarah's hand had her joining him. He wrapped her up in his long arms, causing her to nuzzle into his chest as he pressed kisses to her head and temple as she relaxed into his embrace. "I am so proud of you," He whispered, "That was a really brave thing to do, especially since you didn't have to."

"Yes, I did," She nodded, "You laid yourself on the line to get that number for me, the least I could do was use it. Thank your hacker friend for me."

"I will," He promised, making a mental note to do just that the next time his father contacted him. Any further conversation was interrupted by the bell, signaling the change of periods, ringing out. "I guess that's my cue to leave. If I don't see you sooner, I will see you Saturday."

"Your tickets will be at will-call," Sarah nodded, "I left enough for you, Ellie, Awesome, Clara, as well as my mom and Molly at the desk."

"Okay," Chuck nodded, "I love you." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

As the pulled back, she whispered against his lips, "I love you too." She watched as Chuck gathered their trash and give her one last smile before heading out of the practice room. She saw him duck into the office he shared with Gladys to say goodbye before heading back to the classroom and into the hallway as she quickly put the chairs back on the stack before straightening her clothes and using her phone as a mirror to check her makeup before heading out to the classroom to start the daily warmups.