a/n: HE'S BAAAAACCCCCKKKKK Chapter 9, Sarah Walker, The Early Years

I don't own Chuck

She had been moody all morning, and Chuck was fairly sure he hadn't done anything to make her that way… or was that the problem? Was he supposed to have done something? He had done something, but maybe he hadn't done it right, or enough times, or-

"I can hear you thinking over here," Sarah said with a smile. Chuck looked up, giving her his most innocent look. "Chuck," she huffed. "It's not you."

"What's not me?" he asked.

"You're really going to play this game?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. She got up from her work station, and walked over to him, dropping her fingertips on his shoulder and dragging them across his back, lightly, watching him shiver. "You never win."

"I like losing," he told her, making her chuckle. "That really came out wrong."

"So, I need to go do something, some personal stuff," she began. Chuck nodded, his lips pressed together. "And I'm used to doing stuff on my own, because it protects me." She paused, searching for the words. "That's not true… it helps me ignore what happened in the past." Chuck stayed silent, feeling she wasn't done, that she was searching for how to say what she wanted to say. She looked him square in the eye. "If I let others in, I feel like they might take advantage of me with that info… like others have in the past."

Chuck remained quiet, and reached out to take her hand. She gave him a soft smile. "So, I may have to go to San Diego for a week to ten days. And… I may have to deal… with my past." She pressed her lips together, working on gathering courage to say the next part.

"Sarah, if you need to go alone, I understand," Chuck told her.

She gave him a sad smile and shook her head. "No, I want you to go, but I know you, and your questions, and-"

"Sarah, whatever you need, I'll do," he told her. She nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. "Your call."

"Let me see if I can get it cleared," Sarah told him. "It will be a bit."

"Okay," Chuck said, watching her head downstairs.

"Hey, numb-" Casey stopped himself, growled, and made a face. "Bartowski, don't you have a meeting with Devon for lunch?"

"No," Chuck replied. "I don…." Chuck trailed off, seeing the look Casey was giving him. "Was that today?" Casey rolled his eyes. Chuck hopped up and ran out of the room.

"Christ, he's worse at this than I am."

}o{

"You sure you don't want some of my shake? Good for little Chuck." Devon offered, extending the blended green mixture in Chuck's direction. Chuck shook his head, quickly and violently. "So, what is…" Devon trailed off, his features going frosty. Chuck followed his gaze, and saw his sister, walking beside an older man. He was as tall as Devon, bald, and bespectacled. "Hernandez," he growled.

"That's Dr. Hernandez?" Chuck asked, in disbelief.

"Watch, watch," Devon said, tapping Chuck on the shoulder. Hernandez said something, and Ellie threw her head back, and laughed. "She never laughs at my jokes like that."

"Devon, buddy… he's waaaaay older than her," Chuck began.

"More experience, more patience where it counts, if you know what I mean," Devon told him.

Chuck shook his head, not wanting to think about his sister in that manner, in any way. "He's not in shape like you," Chuck continued.

"But he's funny, and funny can always overcome this," he said, running his hand down his body. "And, let's be honest; one of these days, I won't look like this, and Hernandez… he'll still be funny."

Chuck narrowed his eyes. "By the time that happens, you do know there's a good chance he'll be dead, right?"

"Doesn't matter, there's always a Hernandez out there," Devon said. There was a page over the intercom for Devon. "Dude, sorry, gotta go."

"It's good, I think I know what I need to do anyway," Chuck told him. "Hey, Devon," Chuck said, stopping Devon at the door. "She loves you. Not Hernandez. You."

"Yeah, but I have to keep winning her," Devon reminded him.

"While that's true, you also have to trust her, and maybe not be so critical of yourself," Chuck reminded him.

Devon was silent for a moment. "Was that for me? Or for you?"

Chuck started to reply, couldn't, shut his mouth, and pointed at Devon, grinning. "See ya, buddy," Devon said, and headed out the door. Chuck stood, and exited the room, seeing Ellie.

"Hey, Chuck, I'd like you to meet Dr. Hernandez," Ellie told him. Chuck held out his hand, and Dr. Hernandez shook it. "He was telling me about his vacation with his boyfriend down in St Croix."

"Really?" Chuck replied, crossing his arms and grinning. "St Croix?"

"I know, I know, we've been together about six months, but sometimes you know, you know?" Dr. Hernandez replied. Chuck nodded knowingly. "Do you know when I knew?" Chuck shook his head. "I came out to my family years ago, and they disowned me. A few months ago, my father died, and I went to the funeral. I was heartbroken, I never got to reconcile with him."

"That's terrible," Chuck said, the smile gone, concern covering his face.

"It was, but that whole time, Frank, he just held me, he just let me experience the emotions I needed to." Dr. Hernandez sighed. "Sometimes the tears have to fall, the pain has to pass through you, so you can heal, you know?" Chuck nodded, understanding. "Sometimes, there is nothing more you can do, than just be with someone. Not try and fix it, but let them know you are there, no matter what. And that's what Frank did that day."

"You've got yourself a keeper, it sounds like," Chuck said.

"Thank you, I think so." Dr. Hernandez glanced at his watch. "Lovely to meet you, but I must go. Eleanor, I will talk to you later," he said, heading down the hall.

"Not a word to Devon," Ellie said softly. Chuck turned to her, a smile across his face. "What can I say, sometimes a jealous Devon is kinda fun."

"I do not need to hear anything else," Chuck said, shuddering.

"So, why are you here? More 'brotherly' advice?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, but Dr. Hernandez just gave it to me." Ellie smiled at him, and put her arm around his back, walking him down the hall. "Sarah and I may be gone for a few weeks, she has some real-life business to take care of, in San Diego."

"What kind?" Ellie asked, concern on her face.

"Don't know," Chuck admitted. "But, she asked me to go for support, and I'm gonna go, and just listen."

"You're a good one, little brother," Ellie told him, kissing his cheek. "And remember, not a word to Devon."

"And miss hearing Hernandez begin growled by Awesome?" Chuck asked, making her laugh. "Not a chance."

}o{

Chuck was walking through the living room when he heard the disembodied voice. "Mr. Bartowski, are you decent?"

"Beckman?" Chuck said, looking around. "Yes. But where are you?" The TV popped on. "You can do that?" She gave him a glare. "Right, NSA. Duh."

"Chuck, the TV was provided by us. I made sure a connection was installed. However, I have been hesitant to use it because of you and Agent Walker's…"

"Relationship?" Chuck offered. She sighed and nodded. "Sarah is at Ellie and Devon's. I can run get her."

"That won't be necessary, Chuck," Beckman said, making him pause in his tracks, her using his first name. "Agent Walker has taken me up on my suggestion that you accompany her, on her trip to San Diego."

"Your suggestion?" Chuck asked, confusion on his face. "General, what's going on?" Beckman started to answer. "Wait, don't," he said, holding up his hand. "This is Sarah's story, her personal story."

Beckman grinned. "And that, Chuck Bartowski, is why I wanted you with her. What I can tell you, is much more has come to light with the removal of Langston from this team. Agent Walker has many personal things to deal with, and she is going to need your support."

"I can do that," he said with a smile. "Uh, how long will I be gone?"

"A couple of weeks," Beckman informed him. His eyes widened. "Is that a problem?"

"I'm not sure about lodging, and that kind of thing," Chuck told her. Beckman grinned. "Why do I get the impression that you're enjoying this?"

"Mr. Bartowski, have a good time," she said, cutting the feed. The door opened, and Sarah walked in as Chuck spun.

"Did you know Beckman can contact us on this TV?" Chuck asked.

"I did. She told me it would only be used in case of emergencies," Sarah said, crossing her arms. "What happened, did she say we couldn't go?"

"Uh, no, no, she uh…" Sarah stared at him, and he dropped his head. "She told me that you took her up on her suggestion for me to go with you to San Diego."

"Oh," Sarah said, wincing. "I can explain."

"Sarah, you don't have to, I trust you," he said. "Apparently I need to go pack." He turned and headed toward the bedroom, but stopped. "Unless you already have, for me."

"Come on," she said, walking up to him, and taking him into the bedroom. "You pack, and I'll talk."

"You sure?" he asked. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

She shook her head at him and grinned. "This is it, Chuck, you're going to learn my past. It's your last chance to run."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, turning to her, his hands on her shoulders. Her gaze held his, and he could see her fighting tears. "I don't judge who you are now, based on then."

"But that made me who I am," she argued. Chuck sighed. "My dad is a conman that went by Jack Burton when I lived in San Diego."

The flash began. Chuck blinked.

"How bad is it?"

"He's not a great guy, Sarah," Chuck told her, making her chuckle.

"Yeah, well, his daughter Jenny Burton wasn't, either," she said, resigned.

Another flash began, and he looked at her.

"You shouldn't have flashed on that."

"Why not?"

"Because it was supposed to be taken out of my record, and no one know about it," Sarah told him. "Was there…"

"What?" he asked. "Sarah, I don't care about any of your past, and now seeing all this, a lot of things are making sense."

She was silent. "Was my picture in there?"

A slow grin crossed his lips. "Yeah," he said dreamily. "And let me tell you something, you were gorgeous even back then." She gave him a look as though he had somehow suffered a traumatic brain injury. "Sarah, it was in your eyes, your soul. You are an amazing person, and it just comes out of you." Her face softened. "I'd have been tongue-tied around you, even then."

"For someone who keeps saying they're tongue-tied around me, you always seem to know just what to say," she told him. He looked away, a blush on his face. "Or were you talking another type of tongue-tied?"

He whipped his head back to her, his eyes wide, as she bounced her eyebrows.

}o{

She had asked to pick the music for the trip, and he let her, a little excited, because Sarah wasn't much for music. It sounded like high school all over again, specifically 1998. Tubthumpin was on repeat, along with other songs from that era. She pulled up to a nondescript spot when they got to San Diego, and parked the car. She turned off the engine, and let out a deep breath.

"Come on," she said softly. "It's time you found out some stuff." She opened the door, and he opened his quickly, following her. She led him through bushes and trees until she found the tree she was looking for. She squatted down and stared at a section of the ground. "It was right here," she said softly.

"What was?" Chuck asked her, not understanding.

"This is where Langston offered for me to join the CIA." She looked up at Chuck. "I was sixteen years old. Me… Samantha Lisa Cook."

Chuck began a long flash, but never took his eyes off hers. She waited until he finished, and looked at her, with shock on his face.

"How could they do that to you?" Chuck asked her. "How was that legal?"

"I don't know, Chuck," she admitted. "I was sixteen years old. I hadn't been called my real name in years, and I was made a member of the CIA."

"I'm sorry," Chuck told her, offering her his hand. She stood, and he pulled her into a hug. "I am sorry I wasn't here for you, that your father was what he was, and that you had no one fighting for you, the way you fought for me." She pushed away a bit, looked up at him, and gave him a sad smile. "I get why you fought so hard for me early on, to protect me."

"I never wanted anyone to have to go through what I did. Especially you, Chuck," she said, looking up at him and holding his gaze. "You are the one person who has peered into my life, soul, and everything about me, and not only didn't recoil in disgust, but pulled me in close."

"Well, I'm here. Whatever you need, however you need it, I'm here."

"I know," she replied, pressing her cheek to his chest, and holding tight. "And you'll never know what it means to me."

}o{

Sarah took Chuck to her grandmother's house on her dad's side. She explained when her grandmother passed, it had gone to Sarah, but she never knew because of Graham. This was one of the many things that Beckman had discovered as Graham had been relieved of his Intersect involvement, and apparently his duties as Director of the CIA. Sarah and Chuck spent the day going through the house, and by the end of it they were both exhausted. The two decided to go out to dinner, and were enjoying their meal when it happened.

"Jenny?" They heard a female say. "Jenny Burton?"

Chuck took Sarah's hand, under the table, and let her squeeze it. He didn't know the back story that well of high school, but he could guess from his own high school days, it couldn't be good.

"Jenny, it's me, Heather Chandler," a woman said, walking up to their table. "Well, Heather Ratner now. I married Mark Ratner." Sarah had a blank look on her face. Chuck did not know that blank look, but he did… he had just never seen it on her. It was fear. "James Buchanan High, class of '98? Go, Cougars!"

Sarah gave a tight smile, and nodded at her. "Heather, of course. Um, how have you been?" Chuck could tell Sarah truly didn't care, and really wanted Heather to go away. Apparently, that wasn't happening, though, because Heather turned and signaled to someone.

"Oh, my God, Mark, look who it is," Heather said to the man who was apparently Mark. "It's Jenny Burton."

"Who?" Mark asked. Chuck noticed Mark looked nervous, and sweaty… very sweaty.

She gave her husband a look. "You remember, Jenny Burton from high school. You know, the one."

"Oh, yeah," he replied, looking around. He gave her a wave. "Hi, Jenny. Here for the reunion this weekend?"

"That's this weekend?" Sarah asked, her eyes wide. "Oh, no, I'm not much of a reunion person."

"Mind if we join you?" Heather asked, sitting down.

"Hi, I'm Mark Ratner," Mark said, extending his hand toward Chuck, and that's when the flash hit him.

"Are you okay, Chuck?" Sarah asked, her eyes wide.

"The iced tea, brain freeze, sorry," Chuck said. "Hey, not to be rude, but uh… we're sort of dealing with some stuff, and-"

"No, it's okay, Chuck," Sarah told him. She turned to Heather and Mark. "We'd love for you to join us."

"So, are you two married, dating?" Heather asked.

"Dating," Sarah told her. "And… I go by Sarah Walker now."

"Ohhhh," Heather said, nodding knowingly. "Daddy."

"Uh, Dear," Mark said, looking pale. "I really think we ought to leave them alone."

"You don't look too good there, buddy," Chuck said.

Mark hurled at that moment.

"Annnnnndthat would be why." Chuck saw two men watching Mark leave the restaurant, and he began to flash.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked.

"You know when you see someone else hurl, how it sometimes makes you hurl?" Chuck asked.

"We picked a couple of winners, huh?" Heather said to Sarah.

}o{

They were sitting in the living room of Sarah's home in San Diego that she had only recently learned about. Chuck waited, patiently, as Sarah spoke on the phone. "Hey," she said, walking in. "So, Casey is on his way to San Diego. He's going to trail Ratner, to see if he can find those two guys. Chances are his gastric distress messed up the handoff."

"Sarah-" Chuck began.

"So, we'll probably have to go to the reunion, watch Mark, and then find the buyers. We catch them, come back here, let me finish dealing with all of this-"

Chuck stood, walked up to her, and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm okay," she mumbled.

"Are you?" Chuck asked. "Or are you doing… 'The Sarah'?"

She pulled away, and gave him a look. "Excuse me?" she asked, tucking her chin.

"It's that thing you do, when you don't want to deal with something. You lower your head and barge straight ahead, putting work first," Chuck told her. "Sarah, this is me. We both know you shouldn't be on this mission."

"Then how do you get into the reunion?" Sarah asked.

"What about you, and your greater good?" Chuck asked her.

"Chuck," she said with a soft smile. "You are my greater good." He blushed at that. "I'm really going to need my boyfriend, my partner, on this one."

"That's what I'm here for. We've got this unspoken deal." She gave him an amused look, twisting her lips. "She protects me physically, and I try to protect her emotionally. But I really can't, because everyone has emotions, and that's okay. So, I'm just here for her afterwards. I still think she got the short end of the stick in the deal, but maybe not, because she really likes to punch things."

"I don't like to punch things," Sarah told him. Chuck raised an eyebrow. "I'm just good at it, and it releases stress."

"So do hugs, and you're really good at those," Chuck replied gently. "Let me do my job." He held his arms out, and she came over, sat in his lap, and put her head against his chest. "Tell me, what is it about people making fun of you about your father? That's just… weird."

"It is, isn't it?" she replied, shuddering. "You sure you're ready for all of this?" Chuck nodded. "Fine, you asked for it." She stood up and took his hand. "Take me to bed and hold me."

"My pleasure," he told her, a soft smile on his face.

"Anyone else would have taken advantage of the situation," she said with a grin. "Hell, I would have."

Chuck shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a hell of a guy."

"You are," she murmured, leading him to the bedroom. "You are."

}o{

Chuck walked into Sarah's house – that was weird to say – a few days later, with a bag of food in one hand and a frozen patty in the other. "Hey, I got you something for your eye, and for your stomach."

"Have I told you I have the best boyfriend, ever?" Sarah asked him, grinning, and then wincing as the cold patty went on her face. Chuck made a hissing sound. "You should see the other girl," she told him with a smile.

"Don't care, she hurt my girl," Chuck told her, gingerly touching her face.

"Your girl?" Sarah asked lifting an eyebrow.

"If that's okay me saying that, yeah. My girl," Chuck told her.

"I think that's perfect," she told him.

"So, Beckman pleased?" Chuck asked.

"Very," Sarah replied. "Apparently, those Russian thugs work for a Russian arms dealer named Volkoff."

"And your high school bully, Richard Duffy?" Chuck asked, grinning.

"Casey offered to hold him up and let me kick him some more, but I told him there were other things I could do to work out those issues," she told him, smirking.

"That reminds me, I need to get new business cards," Chuck said, a serious look on his face. Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Somewhere on there, I'm putting down that I am Sarah Walker's other things."

She laughed, and pulled out the burger, giving him a look of love. "Split it?" she asked, pulling out a knife.

"Guuurrrrrl," he said, making her giggle. "No, that's yours… but it's still hot that you have a knife. I love you Sarah."

"I love you, Chuck," Sarah told him, leaning over to kiss him. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, you're never finding out," Chuck said.

}o{

Somewhere

"I have taken out the target," the female voice said into comms.

"You know the procedure," the digitized voice came. "We need facial recognition."

The woman sighed, grabbed the terrorist's head and snapped a picture. "This had better be the right Farrokh Bulsara."

"It is, Frost," the digitized voice answered. "That will take care of him, but he's started a mess by taking out Volkoff's weapon."

"Can you take care of it?" she asked.

"Yes," came his digitized reply. "You don't trust me?"

"Stephen, you left our son and daughter!" Frost hissed at him.

"It's Orion!" he replied.

"Right," Frost replied, rolling her eyes. "It's you and it's a secure network. Now, can you help him?"

"I can," Orion said, cutting the feed. "I know the problem," he muttered to himself. "The same problem I had… have. He fell in love with a spy."

A/N: Now, before you yell at me…this is a ChuckQuinn production… that's not gonna work, is it? Tom Sawyer is going to be VERY different, but that's sort of the point of all of this, isn't it? The maniac does what he wants, I'm just along for the ride.