The stunned silence that overtook Chuck and Sarah only lasted a moment as they took in the man standing before them. Chuck, who had recovered just before Sarah did, broke the silence, "Bryce?"

"What are you doing here?" Came the dual inquiries of Bryce and Sarah with Bryce addressing Chuck, and Sarah addressing Bryce.

When no one replied for a moment, Sarah repeated the question, demanding a response from Bryce. "You said I had a kid," He winced, he at least seemed to look sheepish over the matter, "I thought we could talk about that. What is Chuck doing here? How do you even know him?"

Sarah rolled her eyes before answering, "I told you when I got pregnant, and despite the fact you left the very next day, the fact you have a child should be of no surprise to you." She paused a very brief moment and added as an aside, "It almost makes me wonder if you have any other children you've conveniently forgotten."

"I was reassigned," Bryce shrugged as if abandoning her and their daughter had been no big deal, "On the phone you mentioned it was a little girl. When can I meet her?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Sarah crossed her arms defiantly, "You clearly had no interest in being in her life until now."

"Well maybe I want to start," Bryce pouted slightly and looked up and down the hall at the staff and performers who were still milling about. "Can I at least come inside so we can talk?"

"Fine," Sarah sighed, stepping back to allow him passage into the room. She felt Chuck's hand on her lower back lending her strength while simultaneously grounding her to him. Gesturing to the armchair that sat next to her vanity, she invited Bryce to sit as she and Chuck followed him further into the room. As Bryce took his seat, Sarah took a seat on the love seat, that sat kitty-corner from the chair and against the connected wall and pulled Chuck down next to her in the space closest to Bryce. Much to her relief, Chuck did not release her hand. Instead, he cradled it in his own and gently ran the pad of his thumb over her knuckles, which helped to keep her calm. "You wanted to talk, so talk."

"You haven't answered my question," Bryce looked over at them.

"What question is that?" Sarah arched an eyebrow.

"What is Chuck doing here?" Bryce repeated with an exasperated sigh.

"Chuck is my boyfriend, not that it is any of your business, he came to see my concert," Sarah explained, "Our family just left, which is what we were preparing to do."

"Still going after my sloppy seconds, huh, Chuck?" Bryce smirked.

Sarah felt Chuck's hand tightened around her own, but he did not dignify Bryce's comment with a response. Following Chuck's lead, Sarah ignored the juvenile comment. "Bruce, Bryce… I don't even know what to call you."

"You never seemed to have trouble calling things out before," Bryce grinned, a slight leer in his eyes, "I believe 'God,' and 'Oh Baby' were the most common."

"Okay, Bryce, that's enough," Chuck growled, the low tone surprising both his girlfriend and former best friend. "Cut the crap and just tell us why you are here. We all know you could have just given Sarah an address to send the forms to, I assume you had an ulterior motive for coming."

"Is wanting to meet my daughter before I gave her up too much of a stretch to be believable?" Bryce challenged his former roommate.

"In a word, yes," Chuck gave him a flat look, "You forget, I know you pretty well, despite the shit you pulled back at Stanford."

"Fine," Bryce gave in, "Seeing Chuck here gives me an idea as to how you got my secure number." He then turned his focus to Chuck, "There are only a few people who have that number or the skillset to retrieve it from where it is buried in the archives; the director would have disclosed it to you, even upon pain of death. My former partner was reassigned after being accused and then cleared of treason and was put on an assignment that required her to cut ties and go deep undercover. That just leaves one other person. Funny thing is that they have been off grid for a while now, and no one knows how to reach him or where he is. So, the question is, how did you find him, and what did you say to get him to help you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Bryce," Chuck shrugged, "Do I need to remind you of my particular skillset?"

"Oh please," Bryce rolled his eyes, "You and I both know you haven't dusted off that persona since college."

"That you know of…" Chuck challenged him, "Let's just lay this all out on the table, I know who and what you are. I found your dossier, which includes all your covers and contact information. You cause trouble for Sarah or her daughter and I will not hesitate to get you burned."

"Strong words from a hacker has-been," Bryce scoffed, "You're just jealous you missed your opportunity. If only you had done better on that test…"

"Oh, you mean the image retention test that I aced from Fleming's class?" Chuck's eyebrows raised at the surprised look on Bryce's face, "Yeah, I know about the test. I also know that I had a protector within the agency, an old friend of Fleming's who convinced him to quash the results to remove me from the agency's radar."

"Wha… how… huh?" Bryce couldn't figure out how Chuck could possibly have such connections.

"It's not important," Chuck shook his head, "And it most certainly is irrelevant to the purpose of your visit. In fact, I think it would be best if you forget I'm here and deal directly with Sarah as she is the one with whom you have business."

Bryce glared at his old friend through narrowed eyes before turning back to Sarah, who was looking at him as if he were something she had found on the bottom of her shoe. "So, can I meet her?"

Sarah sighed at his inquiry, "Bryce, that's not a good idea." Sarah shook her head, "The nature of your job notwithstanding, you have known about her since the day I found out I was pregnant and have shown no interest in being a part of her life. I'm not bringing someone into her life who is only going to disappear on her in a day or two."

"Fine, then what do you want from me?" Bryce rolled his eyes.

"All I wanted was for you to sign a document stating that you waive all parental rights to my daughter." Sarah explained, "I have not sought you out for child support or anything, and until I called and asked you to do this, you haven't bothered to come around for the past three years."

"I was on missions, and by the time I came back state side, you'd moved to the other side of the country." Bryce tried to protest.

"Oh, save it," Sarah huffed, "You and I both know you have the resources to be able to find us easily, you chose to not be a part of our lives. I would have allowed you to be a part of her life, if you had only asked, even though our relationship ended. Hell, I didn't even technically have to do you the courtesy of letting you know that I want to allow the person I marry to adopt her, since your name isn't on her birth certificate. Which is a good thing too, as I'm sure that having an alias on her birth certificate could have proven to be problematic someday. Not to mention, I'm sure the CIA would have flagged the name if I had and then where would we be?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Bryce shrugged, "As an agent, I cannot reveal my reall identity to anyone, even my girlfriends. It could compromise my missions."

"All the more reason for you to sign away your parental rights," Sarah arched an eyebrow. "Even if we were on good terms, I can't have you coming and going from her life on a whim. That's not fair to her."

"Oh, cut the shit, Sarah," Bryce rolled his eyes, "Chuck is wanting to play 'Daddy' to your little girl, and because you are sleeping with him, you are willing to play the submissive little bitch and give in to him. Well let me tell you something, I have it on good authority that he can't possibly be that good in bed."

"Hey!" Chuck moved quickly, faster than Sarah could even catch him, grabbing the lapels of Bryce's jacket and slamming him up against the sliver of wall between his chair and the vanity in the room, "Say what you want about me, I don't give a shit. But you will not walk into her home, her life, her place of business…" Bryce snorted earning him another slam against the wall, "And insult, demean, or disparage her good name or so help me…"

"What?" Bryce challenged, the taunt clear in his voice, "By your pretty floral bonnet, you will end me?"

"Something like that," The steel in the programmer's voice sent a shiver down Sarah's spine. She knew it wasn't fear, quite the opposite, but she knew that if she didn't put a stop, one or both of them would take the altercation further than needed.

"Chuck," She spoke softly, placing her hand on his shoulder, "As pleased as I am that you wish to protect my honor, it is not necessary. He's not worth it, thank you though." She gave him a soft smile as she saw him physically uncoil and release his grip on Bryce before turning her icy cold glare at the government agent, "As for you, I can see now that reaching out to you was a mistake. I only wish I could have seen the mistake I was making three years ago. The only redeemable thing about your glorified donation was the beautiful little girl that came of it. Please leave and go… wherever the rock is you climbed out from under is located."

She turned and walked toward the door to let him out, her actions making it clear she expected him to follow. Her steps stopped as it was clear Bryce did not understand the value in keeping his mouth shut.

"Yeah, walk away bitch, you were a lousy lay anyhow," Bryce snarled after her. She then heard the sound of flesh impacting flesh followed by the sound of something falling to the floor, but not before hitting the coffee table that sat in front of the love seat on the way down.

Turning, Sarah saw Chuck standing over Bryce, shaking his hand as he looked down at the man who lay prone on the floor, a bruise forming along the right side of his jaw and a cut above his eye where his head must have hit the corner of the table. At her sigh, Chuck looked up, a sheepish blush on his face, "I'm sorry, I couldn't…"

"Shh," She shook her head, crossing to him and pressing her first two fingers to his lips to cease his words, "You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you." She rose up on her toes and replaced her fingers with her lips, giving him a soft but impassioned kiss. A moment later, she stepped back, "I should probably call security to have him taken out."

"Good idea," Chuck nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Sarah gave him a small smile before stepping out of his embrace, her urge to linger in his arms apparent in the movement, and picked up the receiver from the phone on the desk and pressing the hot button for the venue's security office, she spoke quietly and thanked whomever answered before hanging up the phone. She then walked over to Chuck and guided him back to the love seat, pushing him backwards until he sat. Lifting her skirt a bit to allow the movement, she slipped off the heeled shoes she had been wearing and sat on the love seat next to her boyfriend, curling her feet up underneath her gown, laying her skirt back over top of them, and leaning against his shoulders, encouraging him to wrap her in his arms once more.

They sat in silence a few moments, neither one fully losing sight of the man knocked out on the floor. Bryce had already started to recover by the time the security guards arrived moments later. After a brief conversation with Sarah and Chuck as to the situation that led to not only Bryce's presence in the room but the bruise on the man's cheek that was about the size of Chuck's left fist, the same one that showed evidence of having been used in a maneuver similar to a left hook. The men escorted Bryce out of the room while one called ahead to make sure that and EMT was on the way to evaluate the dark-haired man.

"Are you sorry I offered to track him down for you?" Chuck asked his girlfriend as they watched Bryce being escorted out.

"No," Sarah shook her head, "I think on some level I needed the closure from that time of my life. Like I told him, I really didn't need him to waive his paternal rights as he was never listed on Molly's birth certificate. While I wish this had gone smoother, I'm glad it happened all the same." They stood silent for a moment before she looked back up at him, "How was it you were able to overpower a trained spy?"

Chuck shrugged, "I think it was a combination of adrenaline, anger over his treatment of you, and the Taekwondo lessons I took growing up."

"You know Taekwondo?" She arched an eyebrow.

"A little," Chuck blushed.

"How little?" She pressed.

"I think the shadow box with my third-degree belt is still on display at Ellie's house," He shrugged.

"Wait… You're a third-degree black belt?" She gave him an impressed look.

"Yeah, or at least I was when I was 17," Chuck gave her a wry smile, "It's not nearly as impressive as it may seem, depending on the discipline there can be up to 10 dans or degrees of black belt, so third is not really all that great. It just means I studied a long time and can perform certain maneuvers competently. I stopped attending classes at the end of my junior year of high school, I wanted to focus on getting scholarships and getting into a good college."

"Gotcha," Sarah nodded understandingly, "What got you into it?"

"You've met Morgan and me, right?" Chuck joked, when Sarah nodded, he continued, "Well, we were kinda targets for bullies as kids, on account of how nerdy we were… and are. In first or second grade, I came across some kids from our class bullying Morgan, it was looking to get physical, so I stepped in and fought the bullies on Morgan's behalf. My parents, and his, freaked out and immediately enrolled us in the first marshal arts classes they could find. Morgan got as far as his green belt and lost interest, I kept going. Turns out some of those bullies were in our class, when they saw me mastering the skills faster than they did, the bullying quickly stopped."

"Gee, wonder why," Sarah gave him a wry smile. "Were there many girls in your classes?"

"A few, back then, and even now, any kind of marshal arts outside of basic self-defense, is considered a 'boy thing,'" Chuck rolled his eyes, "I think it's a good skill for anyone who is interested to pursue, not only does it teach you to defend yourself, but more importantly it teaches you discipline and respect. Clara has grown up seeing that shadow box at my sister's place and has been recently asking about it. Devon is all for it, Ellie is still a little on the fence about it. It's not that she thinks girls can't do it, she is definitely all about the female power, she just remembers the bruises I used to get when someone got in a lucky strike, I broke my fingers a few times, my hand once because I wasn't paying attention to my technique. She's worried that Clara will get hurt."

"As any mother would," Sarah agreed, "But I agree with you, about girls doing marshal arts, sports, dance, or anything that enforces the lessons of discipline and respect they learn at home. One of the ladies in the orchestra, Deb, has all boys. They wanted to take karate, and she allowed it, but with one condition, they had to take ballroom as well. She said the boys hated it at first, but once they realized it involved being able to hold a girl in their arms, their complaints died down a bit. But enough about that, I'm ready to get out of here, are you?"

"Most definitely," Chuck nodded enthusiastically, "Do you want to change before we go? I brought a change of clothes, it's in the car if you want to meet me in the lobby or something. I brought a less formal suit to wear to dinner."

"To be honest, with the whole Bryce thing, we probably missed our reservation," Sarah pointed out.

Chuck checked his watch and nodded his agreement, "Well, there are still some places open that are good for a nice dinner out that don't require a reservation."

"To be honest, I'm not really up to a fancy dinner," Sarah shrugged, "I could really go for a casual night in with pizza or Chinese and a beer."

"That actually sounds really good," Chuck agreed, "Why don't we swing by your place so you can change into something more comfortable and we can head back to my place for pizza, beer, and a movie?"

"No need," Sarah shook her head, "I wore casual clothes in and got dressed here, they're in my bag over there," She gestured to a bag that sat in the bottom of the open closet below a garment bag. "We can just go straight to your place."

"Sounds good," Chuck nodded, "Why don't you get your stuff and we can get out of here. What kind of pizza do you like?"

"Veggie, no olives," She advised as she grabbed her duffel bag from the floor and her garment bag from the rod in the closet before joining him once more. They made their way out of the theatre; Chuck having claimed Sarah's bags in one hand while his arm wrapped around her shoulders as they walked to his car. Once he had paid for his parking and left the garage, he activated his hands-free device and ordered pizza to be delivered about 15 minutes after they were due to arrive back at his place.

The rest of the short drive was spent in relative silence, holding hands over the gear shift, fingers intertwined. Every stop light allowed them a loving glance or quick kiss and before they knew it, they'd arrived back at Chuck's condo. Both were excited for their first night alone together, no matter if it was spent eating pizza and watching a movie or if it developed into something a little more.