A/N: I think I may have lost a few readers with the last chapter and some that reviewed commented on the angst; sorry about that. This chapter will help, I think.
Thanks, as always, to MarkeyDeSad for the beta work, but also for the scene where Zondra gives Chuck some advice, which I was easily adapted to fit in here. Thanks, my friend.
Last time, Chuck rushed away from the book signing with Zondra, leaving Sarah unsure what to think. He was either going on a spy mission or flying somewhere with his girlfriend, the spy who would be used to lying. A bit of repair work is needed from Team Charah.
The Novelist
Chapter 4: Secrets
Ellie didn't know what to do. She had just witnessed Chuck and Sarah's hopes of a relationship take a step backwards.
If Chuck had only explained himself better things wouldn't be in such a mess, but of course he didn't. He was the best at ruining his chances of anyone she knew. Although, she suspected that Sarah was pretty bad too. It was obvious that she didn't believe him about Zondra. To be fair, Ellie herself wouldn't if it wasn't for her conversation with the woman.
Her quandary was whether to tell Sarah what she knew about Zondra. It wasn't her secret to tell and, she suspected, one that the woman kept close to her chest.
Her conscience wouldn't let her blurt it out, but she really wanted to fix things. She had to fix things; these two would screw it up completely.
Then, she remembered Team Charah. If only she had Zondra's cell number, she'd ring her, but she hadn't got that; the only details exchanged were hers when she gave Zondra her card. Shit!
Ellie watched Sarah signing copies of her book; she was appearing interested in what the people said to her, smiled, asked what they would like her to write, if they hadn't already told her and wrote as required. To most observers, she would seem to be happy to be there. Ellie, however, noticed how she clenched her jaw when not talking. Sarah was acting.
When the line petered out, Sarah just stood and walked out of the store without a word. Ellie had to rush to catch up with her as she strode away down the street.
"Sarah, what's wrong?" she asked, knowing full well what it was.
"Nothing," snapped the blonde.
Ellie grabbed Sarah's arm, stopping her walking. "Something's wrong. Where are you going?" She noticed Sarah's jaw had tightened that much more and that she now looked angry, too. In addition, her eyes looked watery.
Sarah was so upset, she couldn't face talking to anyone, least of all the sister of the man that had lied to her. She just felt like getting away from everyone, and clear her head, before going back to her room and probably cry herself to sleep. She just said, "I don't want to talk about it. I just need to take a walk." She focused on Ellie. "I need some alone time."
"Will you join me for dinner?" Ellie asked.
"Probably not," Sarah replied and pulled her arm away and walked off, leaving Ellie standing there. Shit. Shit. Shit!
It was a good job the NSA wanted them on a dedicated flight as they were to both receive in flight briefings and Zondra and Casey a full array of weapons to take in addition to their normal ones. That meant a guaranteed direct flight, and faster than normal. However, it was still going to be a thirteen-hour flight.
For Chuck, all he could think about was Sarah Walker and how they had parted.
He knew it hadn't gone well. That was partly the way he had responded to her questions, but he now guessed that leaving with Zondra strained things too. All he wanted to do was call Sarah and talk, but he couldn't do that as he didn't have her number. He could call Ellie for that, but not in front of Zondra in the cab and then, when they arrived at the airport, Casey was there, grumpy as shit. He grabbed Chuck's arm and virtually dragged him to the plane. "Nearly missed it, you idiot."
He knew he could text Ellie, but also wanted find out how Sarah had reacted to him leaving, before he called the beautiful author.
There was limited space on the plane, with the three of them cooped up together, along with the expert on the weapon they were after, who spent a large amount of time explaining every last detail.
Originally, Chuck had hoped to avoid much involvement, but he slowly realized he was key to this mission because of his IT skills. He, in effect, was the lead agent for stealing the software and disabling the weapon such that it would be useless.
He got no time during the flight when he could make a call. He would have to wait to call his sister when they reached Tokyo, or later. Damn!
The analyst providing the briefing droned on and on for what felt like hours and was in fact hours. A couple of times Zondra nudged him to wake him up and he found the guy glaring at him before repeating what he had been saying. Eventually it was all over and Chuck had repeated back what he had learned. One of his abilities was his memory, near perfect memory, so once he had something stuck in his head, it stuck. The analyst was impressed and looked on him with respect; he even praised Chuck for it. Casey, of course, grunted. Zondra, however, patted his shoulder and smiled at him. She knew of this ability; it had saved them a few times.
However, taking on so much new information was tiring and, not only that, his body clock was still in East Coast time, so it was now early hours of the morning. He settled back for some sleep. In spite of his concerns about what Sarah thought about him, he did succumb very quickly and slept through until Zondra woke him as they approached the airport in Tokyo.
They were finally in their hotel in downtown Tokyo. Zondra had been to the city three times in her five years with the CIA, but only once since she transferred to the NSA, four years ago.
The people here in Tokyo were the same, but the technology had increased since her first visit.
She thought back to her final visit here while in the CIA, just as she had on her last visit.
Zondra had been part of a team of four women that had been set up to infiltrate one of the drug cartels in Latin America. It was a cross-agency team with her companions being Carina Miller, from DEA, Amy Moore from NSA and two of them from the CIA, Jesse Thompson and herself.
They were highly successful, so successful that Langston Graham, CIA Director, sent them against Augusto Gaez, the head of the 'Gentle Hand' mercenary organization. This was a much harder mission and they had many setbacks, always seeming to be one step behind Gaez.
They tracked him across the globe, but he and his team had always disappeared when they reached the location he was supposed to be in.
That time in Tokyo had been a turning point, Augusto's team had apparently been hired by one of the Yakuza groups to assassinate the leader of one of their rivals. The CIA had found out about this while Graham, who normally assigned them was not available; a temporary replacement sent the clandestine attack team, with instructions to once and for all capture or kill Gaez.
It was one of Zondra's proudest moments to be the one whose sights lined up between his eyes and that was it, all over for him and, ironically, for her team who were immediately recalled to be debriefed and disbanded.
On return to the States, they were surprised to hear that Graham had been temporarily suspended and had been under investigation. He was found guilt of being part of a rogue faction, called Fulcrum. Apparently, Gaez also reported into them.
What was worse, was that Zondra and her team were under suspicion of being part of that organization too, because they worked for Graham. The Interim Director, James, argued on their behalf as they had removed Gaez, but that cloud remained. So, Zondra resigned, having had enough of the CIA's internal politics.
The NSA quickly snapped her up. She later found out that was from a recommendation by her ex-colleague, Amy. Amy's glowing praise of her cool, calm nature, her leadership of the team and her skills with weapons, did the trick.
She always regretted being unable to meet with Amy and to thank her, but unfortunately Amy was killed on a mission before she could do that.
Now, like last time she came here, she remembered that time, both the positive and negative events and feelings.
God, the feelings. At one time she had completely buried all feelings. It was the best way to do all that was expected of her in the CIA, for Graham. A robot had no feelings, so couldn't get hurt from them.
Then she met Angelica. She had felt different around her from the start, but the more she was with her the more she was attracted to her. It wasn't long before they were together, in every sense of the word. She'd suppressed her attraction to women from the start of her training at the Farm, just like she'd suppressed all other feelings, but Angelica released them.
In a way, she should be grateful to the corrupt Langston Graham. If she hadn't been driven to leave the CIA and joined the NSA, she would never have met the love of her life.
Unfortunately, that love of hers was back in Los Angeles, still working in the NSA field office there, so Zondra was here missing her. Focusing on the mission would help to some extent, but there would still be some down time and that yearning would fill the gap.
Then, she remembered Chuck's new crush. Talking to him would help fill the gap too. This half of Team Charah would do whatever she could to ensure that they got together.
She chuckled at how sleepy Chuck was. She and Casey had almost had to carry him from the plane to the SUV where he slept and then drag him up to his room and place him on the bed. Casey had grunted, "Just leave him like that!" However, she had, at least removed his shoes.
They wouldn't need him until this morning, so he could sleep the night away without causing them any problems. One of them would wake him for breakfast.
With that in mind, she thought about the time back in DC. It would be a reasonable time to call his sister, so she did.
"Zondra?" Ellie Woodcomb responded.
"Hi, Ellie. Can you talk?"
"Oh my God, yes! I've been dying to talk to you all night, but didn't have your number."
Ellie sounded so desperate that it worried Zondra. "What's happened?"
"Sarah's shut down completely. I am so worried about her," Ellie rushed out.
Zondra recognized Ellie's tone of voice. God. She's as bad as her brother. Over dramatizing. "Ok. Calm down and tell me about it," she suggested.
Ellie told Zondra about what she had noticed about her brother in front of Sarah and the latter's reaction at the time and after he'd left for the airport, with her. With Zondra hauling Chuck away being the significant event to push Sarah over the edge.
Zondra cast her mind back to when she'd walked toward him and Sarah. Sarah had just said, "She seemed very interested in you. Are you sure?" Then he'd dithered and hopped from foot to foot, saying nothing.
Zondra was focused on them getting away as they had been late, so she paid little attention to the author and just told him they needed to go. She literally had to drag him away from Sarah. Apparently that had caused a problem.
Ellie continued, "She is obviously thinking you are a couple and he won't tell her why. I think that's because he is keeping your relationship a secret."
Zondra was coming to that conclusion, as well. She frowned thinking about her conversation with Sarah. She had told her that Chuck was just a friend, same as he had obviously said as well. Why didn't Sarah believe her, let alone the man she was interested in?
The answer was obvious when she thought about it. She hadn't said it explicitly, but what she had said to Sarah obviously enabled her to guess that Zondra was a spy herself, someone trained to lie. So, she had tested Chuck as well and he behaved like that. Shit!
Zondra groaned. This was going to be another person who knew, but she really liked Chuck, loved him like a brother in fact. She really wanted him to get together with Sarah Walker, that amazingly beautiful and talented woman.
She signed and said, "Ellie, You can tell her that I don't like men and that I turned him down, but please, no one else. Angelica and I are a secret from this world I work in and I want that to remain the case."
"Oh, thank you, Zondra," Ellie virtually gushed.
"Do you think she'll believe it?" Zondra asked.
"I hope so," was the reply.
So did Zondra, then she reconsidered. "No, better idea, Ellie. Give me her number and I'll talk to her."
"She doesn't answer calls from unknown numbers," Ellie told her.
"Well, you tell her my number and to expect a call."
After noting Sarah's number, she hung up.
Sarah felt like shit. She never remembered having felt so miserable in her life.
She hadn't slept a wink last night, only tossed and turned. Now, after missing breakfast she felt empty. Her stomach felt just as empty as her heart did.
She knew this wasn't helpful for the book tour, but she just didn't give a damn.
She also knew that being angry with Ellie wasn't fair, she hadn't done anything wrong. Although, if she hadn't snuck off to see Chuck, Sarah wouldn't have followed her, so maybe it was Ellie's fault after all.
Sarah decided to change into her running clothes and go out for a run. Might clear her head.
She strapped her phone to her arm and plugged in her earphones. Music might help too.
She knew Ellie would probably call to make sure she was alright, so she'd answer her while running.
She was just about to leave when a text message came through. She looked at it, unsurprised that it was from her editor. The message, however, was a surprise.
Zondra is going to call you about Chuck
Sarah really didn't want to talk to that woman, but was instantly worried about Chuck. Is he hurt?
Her worry overrode her logic. Had she been thinking rationally she would have known that Ellie would be told first, not her, and Ellie didn't indicate any problem.
She froze, waiting for that call, then thought she should acknowledge Ellie's text.
Ok
She sat down to wait for the call and it only took a few minutes of waiting, though it seemed hours. Then, her phone rang. She answered immediately, "Is he alright?" The fear in her voice clear to the person on the other end.
Zondra chuckled. "Well, he slept a lot of the way here, then Casey and I had to virtually carry him from the plane and the same here at the hotel. We dumped him on his bed and he's probably still sleeping. However, I think he's just tired. I understand he didn't get much sleep the night before because his head was full of a certain beautiful blonde author."
Sarah grinned at that thought. "So, you're really not together?"
"Blondie, he helps me at my work, but that's as together as we get." There was a pause, then a sigh. "People don't know this about me, so you can't tell a soul. This information is 'need to know' only and now you, as well as Chuck and Ellie, qualify." She took a deep breath. "I'm not interested in men."
Sarah took that in and responded with, "Oh."
Zondra laughed. "Surprise!" she exclaimed in a cheerful voice.
"But…" Sarah started.
"We'll get to the buts in a bit, but I also want to clarify something that Ellie thought when I told her. Beautiful though you are, Sarah, I'm not interested in you either." Another chuckle. "Well, I am as a writer… oh, and what you do for my friend."
Sarah cut straight to that last point. "What I do for him?"
Zondra didn't mince words. "I've never seen him so happy, Sarah."
Sarah felt the warmth grow from her chest to her extremities. "Thank you. He made me happy, and now you've told me that, he still does."
"Now, those buts?" Zondra prompted.
Sarah swallowed hard. "I am worried about him going on missions with you, Zondra."
Zondra sighed. "So, you have guessed what I do, then. I am always so careful, but my fangirl side blew it, didn't it?"
Sarah chuckled at that. "Sorta."
"Please keep that to yourself, Sarah."
Sarah shook her head, even though Zondra wouldn't see it. "Ellie deserves to know."
Zondra was silent for a few moments. "Neither of them has told you about their past, huh?"
That wasn't a response that Sarah expected. "Noo." She drew that out.
"Ask her about it, Sarah. I think you'll see why she really shouldn't know."
"I'll do that, but I'm worried too. What does he do?"
"I can't tell you that. What he does, what we all do, is classified. Think of your character and what she has to keep secret. It's like that for real."
Sarah understood that but… "Does… does he go with you into danger?"
Zondra paused again, making Sarah worry more. "Not usually."
That was encouraging, but the way she said it? "Oh, god. He is going to in Tokyo, isn't he?"
Another long pause. "Casey and I will keep him safe, Sarah. Trust me, we're very good at what we do."
"I'm gonna be a bundle of nerves until I hear you're all back in the States," Sarah confessed.
Sarah shouldn't have been surprised by the next question. "You really care for him, don't you?"
She hadn't really thought about him in that way. A potential boyfriend, sure, but if anything happened to him? Her feelings for this guy were out of control! Her reply was clear, though. "Yeah, I do."
"I'll encourage the big lug to call when he can," Zondra replied, with an affectionate voice.
"Thank you, Zondra," Sarah breathed out. Then, she remembered their previous conversation. "Oh, and when you get back I would love to take you up on your offer. Ellie wants me to introduce a love interest for Rebecca. A really agent's views would help." Then she realized how that sounded and, worse, what it implied. "That person would be a guy, but I guess what you looked for would still be relevant."
There was another silence, so Sarah rushed in with, "Sorry, is that too personal?"
Zondra sighed, "Not sure I'll be much help on that. I didn't 'look for' anything. We just met and that was it for me."
Sarah clapped her hands once. "Like me with Chuck?" Then she realized how OTT that sounded. "Sorry, getting carried away there."
Zondra laughed out loud. "Yeah. Got it bad?"
Sarah slumped. "It's stupid, isn't it? I've only seen him twice. Known him less than three hours."
Zondra hummed. "It happens, Sarah. It changed me completely. Love at first sight does happen."
Sarah tensed. "I didn't say that I love him, Zondra."
Another chuckle. "Keep telling yourself that, Blondie."
Sarah was shocked. This spy really thought that of her.
Zondra said, "Look, I need some sleep too, so I need to go. We will keep him safe and bring him back to you. Okay?"
Sarah acknowledged that and they ended the call.
Sarah added the phone number to her address list, under 'Z'.
She then slid back onto the bed; all thoughts of a run vanished.
Ellie was pleased when her phone rang. She snatched it up. "Sarah!"
"When's the flight?" Sarah asked.
"4:35," Ellie told her.
"So, we have time for some lunch before we leave here?" Sarah's voice sounded hopeful.
Ellie had been thinking they would eat at the airport, but if eating here is what Sarah wanted… "Sure."
They arranged to meet in the lobby at ten to twelve and head out for an early lunch.
Ellie had to hold in the squeal when Sarah added, "Find somewhere private, away from others. Then, we can have a chat while we're there."
Sarah had kept quiet through the ride over, but now they were sitting at the back of the restaurant, she was worried she'd forced Ellie to choose somewhere deserted because no one liked the place or worse. "Why's it so deserted? Did you buy the place for an hour?"
Ellie chuckled. "It doesn't get busy until around one."
Sarah visibly relaxed. "Good."
"So, what do you want to talk about, "Ellie innocently asked.
Sarah gave her a look that said, 'You know!' She cleared her throat. "So, Chuck isn't dating Zondra."
"No, he's not," his sister stated emphatically.
"I'm sorry I flounced off last night," Sarah quietly replied.
Ellie was pleased that Zondra had told her directly because she was not sure she could have convinced Sarah herself. She placed a hand on the arm Sarah had on the table. "I thought as you did until Zondra told me. I then worried about how he took that rejection."
Sarah looked sharply at her editor, pulling her arm away. "Rejection?"
Ellie flushed, realizing she had said too much and that Zondra hadn't mentioned it to Sarah. "Oh. I shouldn't have mentioned that."
"Well, you did. So, tell me," Sarah commanded.
Ellie sighed. "You mustn't let Chuck know I told you." She waited for Sarah to agree before continuing.
Sarah stared at her, thinking, 'Not another secret!' However, she replied, "I won't."
"I tell Chuck never to tell women he talks to about it in case it scares them off." Ellie stopped and chuckled. "I think you're beyond the scaring off phase."
Sarah smiled. "Into the chasing off phase," she admitted.
Ellie laughed, then sobered up and continued, "He had a terrible experience at college." She took a deep breath, feeling bad for telling Sarah this, but she had to now. "He proposed to a girl there." Sarah gasped, but Ellie didn't stop there. "She rejected him in front of all his friends and hers."
Sarah's hands were over her mouth now, but Ellie could see the horror in her eyes. "Oh, God. How awful."
Ellie nodded. "I tried to set him up with dates when he came back to LA, but he wasn't over her, often telling the girls about her, which didn't get or hold onto dates. He became despondent and refused to talk about women with me." Ellie remembered that awful time in their lives so vividly.
"So, you thought Zondra's rejection will have upset him?" Sarah quietly asked from behind her hands.
Ellie nodded once again. "That was why she told me her secret. She explained it to him, apparently, and it reduced his anxiety."
This was a lot for Sarah to take in, but she wanted to know something else.
"I'm thinking you two used to be really close at one time," she said, hoping that would cause Ellie to open up.
"We still are!" Ellie retorted, but then slumped back into her chair. "We just don't see each other so much now, since he moved out."
"Was that when you married?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah. Before that he lived with me and then with me and Devon." Sarah could see Ellie's thoughts drifting back to that time.
Something seemed wrong with that scenario. "Where were your parents?"
Ellie focused back on Sarah's face. "They died when we were young." She paused, then continued. "I was sixteen and Chuck twelve." Before Sarah could protest, she said, "We were too young, but managed together. It made us much closer, fending for ourselves, both needing the other."
"Wow," was all Sarah could manage to say.
"He's all that's left of my family now," Ellie lamented.
Sarah now saw what Zondra had meant about the siblings. And why Zondra advised against making Ellie aware of what Chuck now did for the government. She knew Zondra was right and she would have to keep that secret from her friend.
Chuck was shaken awake by Casey. "Breakfast time, so no more beauty sleep."
Groggily, Chuck asked, "How long have I got?"
"Thirty minutes to get to breakfast, then we leave forty-five minutes after. Zondra wanted you to get some food down you before we go," Casey replied as he walked out of Chuck's room.
It still bothered Chuck that door locks provided no barrier to Casey or Zondra.
He finally looked at his clock and did a quick calculation. If it was seven in the morning here in Tokyo, it would be six in the evening the day before in Washington. He wished he knew the time Ellie and Sarah were catching their flight to Chicago, but suspected they would be aiming to get there in time to have dinner. If that was the case, they would probably be in flight now, as it would be five in the evening in Chicago at the moment. God, these time zone differences are a headache!
He would take a shower, go for some breakfast and then call Ellie and, maybe, Sarah.
Chuck wished now that he'd been able to call his sister when he first woke up. Or better still, been awake when they got to the hotel and called then. As he'd stood in the shower with the water jets smashing into his head, the doubts had started to assail him again.
Now, as he placed his breakfast tray, with the few items he'd collected from the buffet, down onto the table, he had fully reverted to his normal state, knowing full well that Sarah would not be interested in him as a boyfriend. She was too good for him. She'd reject him, another in the long line of ones who had.
He looked up into the dark brown eyes of another woman who had rejected him, admittedly for a very different reason, but she still had.
Zondra knew that look. She had been with Chuck long enough to recognize it, but probably would have guessed it just with her ability to read people. "Chuck, you are going to call her, aren't you?"
Chuck looked at Zondra with overwhelming skepticism on his face, along with a significant amount of despondency. It hurt Zondra to see the complete lack of confidence and self-belief in his hazel brown eyes. She wasn't used to it when it came to his job performance, but when it came to personal matters, especially involving women it was always the same. He just couldn't fathom that any woman would find him attractive, let alone want to go out with him. It also killed her that she felt partially responsible for his condition. She huffed out a breath and held his gaze, she needed to get through to him.
"Chuck, I'm telling you; you need to ask this girl out. Believe me, she is very attracted to you."
He barked out a surprised laugh and his eyes hardly changed, still reflecting his complete skepticism.
"Right, cuz me asking out women has worked out so well in the past."
Zondra let out another deep sighed and tried again.
"Look Chuck, just because we share the same taste in romantic partners doesn't diminish your sex appeal. I am telling you; the ladies find you irresistible, especially that gorgeous blonde, Sarah. You gotta ask her out! I'm not kidding on this one...and, and if you don't...I'll tell Casey about when you tried to kiss me on that mission!"
She was sure that would work and felt it more so when she saw him blush a lovely shade of pink. He'd made her promise never to tell Casey about the attempted kiss, as Casey would never let Chuck live it down. He'd never stop cracking jokes at Chuck's expense.
That kiss had preceded and lead to him asking her out later that night. He was convinced that her pushing him away was just because they were still on the mission.
She watched him sag in front of her and she knew she had gotten through to him; her blackmail was working. She didn't feel a bit bad for doing it. After all, it was for his own good and she knew from her conversation with Sarah that the author would be more than receptive to his advances. She grinned at him as she heard him assent to her plan.
Chuck knew he wanted to do it, but had been spiraling and stalling as he often did. This push from Zondra was all it took to firm up his resolve.
"Man, that is a low blow Zondra. Fine! You win...I..I...I'll get her number from El and call Sarah." He was going to leave it at that, but thought he'd add one more thing before Casey joined them. "...but...But you have to promise...like pinky swear this time, to never ever tell Casey."
Just before Chuck finished speaking he heard the telltale footsteps to the side of them. They both then heard an amused grunt. "Don't tell me what?"
Zondra controlled her face better than Chuck, but her heart sank on hearing those words just as much as his did. She was trying to think of a reply, when Chuck answered.
Chuck deliberately slumped his shoulders, turned to the big guy, sighed and stated, "That I had planned not to take a gun on the mission."
Zondra was impressed at his quick thinking.
Casey gently lowered his tray to the table before responding. "You ARE taking your gun, Bartowski," Casey growled.
Chuck hastily looked at Zondra and replied, "I've already been told that and have agreed to it, reluctantly. I just didn't want you ribbing me about it."
Casey grunted and lowered himself into his seat. "Well, I will now."
Chuck groaned dramatically. Zondra had to school her face and hold in the chuckle. Chuck was really playing Casey.
Casey looked down and started eating his breakfast with gusto.
Chuck looked over at Zondra and just nodded, acknowledging that he would do what they had agreed. He quickly finished the meagre breakfast on his plate and then stood up. Zondra saw the resolve in his eyes and hoped that it lasted until he got to his room and made the calls.
Ellie and Sarah were waiting for their luggage when Ellie's phone rang. She looked at it and saw who it was, she motioned for Sarah to join her. "Hello, little brother," she said as she answered it. She was watching Sarah at the time and saw her eyes light up.
"Ellie, I need Sarah's number," he replied.
She chuckled. "I'll send it, but we're waiting to get our luggage. I'll pass you over."
Sarah eagerly took the phone from her. "Chuck?" she asked, while grinning.
"Hello, Sarah," he replied, warmly. Then, he remembered why he was calling. "Sarah, about Zondra-"
She cut him off. "I know all about Zondra, Chuck."
That threw him. "All about her?"
She smiled to herself. "Yes, ALL about her. We talked this morning."
"That would be when I was fast asleep," he intoned.
She chuckled, "So I understand."
"Well, good. I'm glad you know," he said, even though he wasn't sure it really was a good thing.
"Gotta go, Chuck," she said as Ellie wheeled up to her with both their cases. She looked away slightly and whispered, "You take damn good care of yourself, Chuck Bartowski. I want to see you safely back in Los Angeles."
He gulped, but replied, "Will do."
Sarah felt better after that discussion and turned to join Ellie.
Chuck, meanwhile was now happy that Sarah wanted to see him when he returned to Los Angeles, but also worried whether Zondra would get in trouble for telling her secrets to Sarah. All her secrets.
A/N: Next time, the mission.
Any thoughts on this chapter?
