A/N: Sorry, last chapter I said a hint of angst was coming, I do mean in future chapters. It has to do with Chuck's backstory and Sarah's reaction to how he chose to deal with things. But enough foreshadowing, we have a chapter to read? Who was following them? That's a great question.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

As they pulled up to Chuck's parents house, Sarah wondered what was going on. "I'm sure Ellie called my parents and told them what happened," Chuck said gently.

"How would your parents know about my dad?"

Chuck sat there, wincing, and not from the pain in his head. "Ellie might have mentioned you, your mom, and your dad to my parents the same day we met in the Buy More. Ellie may have also got you an invite for Thanksgiving." Sarah shook her head. "And if I know Ellie, it's not so much an invite as it is…well…."

"A strongly worded suggestion?" Sarah offered.

"You have a better chance of ignoring gravity," Chuck told her. "Come on, let's go meet the parents."

"If they had you and Ellie I'm sure they're wonderful," Sarah told him. Chuck blushed a little, and grinned at her. He led Sarah over to his parents, no one noticing the black van that had followed them from the hospital.

}o{

Some time later, Ellie and Devon arrived at the Bartowski home with Emma. Chuck hadn't realized Emma and Sarah didn't live nearby, and had been staying at the hospital. Now that Jack had passed…

"Well, they'll stay with us," Mary insisted, after she learned they had no where nearby to stay. "Unless, you want to go back home, that is."

"No," Emma said shaking her head. "I like it here, and now that we're not on the run anymore…" she looked over at Sarah, who nodded. "I barely know you," Emma said looking at everyone in the room. "But I know you more than I've known anyone else for more years than I want to count." Sarah reached over and took Emma's hand and squeezed it. "I'm tired of running. I'm not sure we can even stay in our house since Jack has passed."

"Are you keeping your name as Emma?" Sarah asked her mom. Emma nodded. "Good, because I feel like a Sarah, you know?"

Chuck looked over at Ellie. What would their life be like without their parents? He prayed he never knew.

}o{

"So I've made some calls," Mary said a short time later. "It appears that my lawyer friend believes you will be able to get a home here, paid for like your current deal between Jack and the government."

"That's a relief," Emma replied.

"But it could take a while," Mary added.

"That's fine," Emma told Mary. "Listen, Sarah and I have been talking-"

"You are staying here, Emma," Mary told her, in a no-questions-asked tone. "Your husband has done an amazing thing and right now, the last thing you need to do is be driving back and forth."

"We agree," Emma told Mary.

"Oh," Mary said, looking the tiniest bit embarrassed. "Well then, I interrupted you. What were you going to say?"

"There are a few things we need to get from back at…well, our old house." Emma looked over at Sarah. "Sarah hates it there, and really doesn't want to go back. I was wondering if you and Stephen would come with me?"

"Mom would like some adult friends," Sarah deadpanned. Emma swatted at her daughter.

"Could we do it in a weekend?" Mary asked. Emma nodded. "That sounds amazing, but I guess when would be the question."

"I also need to find a job," Sarah said.

"You have no rush," Mary assured Sarah.

"No, I need to do something," Sarah said, shaking her head. "Chuck, what about the Buy More?"

"Whoa!" Ellie cut in. "You do NOT need to go there, but you might have the right idea," she said, a smile on her face.

}o{

Carina scrutinized Chuck's head. "And you sure he has no brain damage?"

"I didn't say that," Ellie replied, giggling. "I just said that the accident didn't cause any more damage."

"Man, you must feel so loved," Zondra said in a low tone to Chuck.

"Soooo loved," Chuck replied. "What do you two think? This isn't a pity hire."

"Oh, hell no it's not a pity hire," Carina agreed. "That girl has strength, pent up frustration, and isn't afraid to knock down a damn wall. Plus, she had some great ideas on how to decorate."

"I like the idea, but we figured you'd whine and bitch about the women to men ratio," Zondra added.

"Why would I care about that?" Chuck asked. Zondra and Carina shared a look and both shrugged. "If you two think she can help, then I'm all for it."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure she stays away from you when you work on plumbing," Carina teased.

"She's fine, it was an accident," Chuck told them. He looked over at Sarah. "Can I tell her?"

"Sure," Zondra answered. Chuck grinned and walked off. Zondra turned to Carina. "Is he…is he…"

"Yup," Carina replied. "I do believe our boy is coming out of that terrible slump he has been in for…" she checked her watch and then looked over at Zondra. "Years."

"We're not getting involved, right?" Zondra asked.

"Hell no," Carina said. "But we will sit back, and judge the hell out of them." The two bumped fists and shook their heads, seeing the trainwreck coming from miles away.

}o{

The next day found Chuck at the Buy More. Sarah had gone with Carina and Zondra to work on the house. Chuck had noticed Big Mike looking extremely nervous, and eventually Big Mike called Chuck into his office.

"Son," Big Mike began after he had Chuck sit. "There comes a time, when a baby bird has to be pushed from the nest."

"Are you firing me?" Chuck asked.

"Not so much firing you as reminding you that you do have your own company, and maybe I am taking advantage of your loyalty," Big Mike told him.

Chuck was stunned. Big Mike took Chuck's Nerd Herd ID, herder keys, and key to the store, and then asked Chuck to leave by the back door.

Chuck didn't even thing about how weird that was, he was so caught up by what had happened. He walked out the back door, down the steps, and was heading to the side of the building to then turn and head to the front where his car was. He never noticed the black van he walked past. He never thought about the sound of the door opening, until two hands grabbed him, yanked him into the van, and slid the door shut.

A/N: Oh no. Someone has grabbed Chuck and pulled him into a van….you want a preview? Orrrr….how about another chapter? I'm a big softie this time of year. (Besides there's no good way of previewing the next chapter without giving away who's in the van.) On with the story.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Chuck screamed.

"Will you shut up, moron," the big man said, clamping his hand over Chuck's mouth. "I'm one of the good guys." Chuck nodded frantically and the man removed his hand from Chuck's mouth.

"I believe you, I do, and I don't doubt you at all, even though you do drive a creepy van that some would think is a murder van," Chuck blurted out quickly.

"Huh," the big man said, glancing around. "You have a point.

"Please don't kill me," Chuck begged.

The man reached into his coat pocket and Chuck turned away, one hand over his face, the other one covering his groin. "What the hell, Bartowski?"

"Oh, God, you know my name, it's a hit!" Chuck whimpered.

"For the love of God, I'm John Casey, US Marshall," he said, holding the ID out. Chuck slowly put his hand down that covered his face, leaned forward and examined the ID. He then looked at Casey and back at the ID.

"So….not gonna murder me?"

"Nah….too much paperwork," the big man said, frustration in his voice. "Listen, I'm trying to save your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Chuck replied. "I'm sorry, Mr. Marshall, sir. My girlfriend broke up with me, after I went bankrupt…and sulked…it was bad." Casey stared at him. "I figured you'd have better intel than that."

"Walker, numbnuts, the blond, " Casey growled at Chuck.

"Sarah? Girlfriend? I'm afraid you have me mixed up with someone else," Chuck protested.

"Christ," Casey growled, putting his head in his hands. "I'm trying to keep Burton's wife and kid alive, and I end up with a damn circus of morons."

"Wait, Sarah and Emma are in trouble?"

"You're finally catching on," Casey told him, raising his head. "Burton's wife refuses to listen to me, so I thought maybe I'd see if you can convince your girlfriend that-"

"She is not my girlfriend," Chuck insisted.

"Fine, she's not your girlfriend. So can you convince Walker that she's in danger?"

"They are tired of living that life Mr. Marshall, Sir, Casey, Sir…sir."

"Casey is just fine," Casey muttered. "You need to convince her, else…else we have to do this the hard way."

Chuck yelped, and did the Morgan again to protect himself. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Christ! I am not going to hurt you!" Casey shook his head. "Maybe I should go in there and tell your boss to rehire you."

"Wait, you got me fired?" Chuck asked.

"No, I got you freed from that hellhole, right before the Christmas rush," Casey told him. "I need you to help me if you won't tell her to go back to witness protection."

"So you knew I wouldn't?" Chuck asked.

Casey tilted his head, giving him a look as though the village had lost its idiot, and Casey had found him. "I'm trying to be nice here, but let's be honest, if she was your girlfriend, it's pretty obvious who wears the pants in that relationship."

"I'd hate to see how you are if you're being mean," Chuck muttered. Casey glared at him. "Right, you're being nice, got it. So how can I help?"

"You're good with computers," Casey began.

"The market didn't think so," Chuck muttered.

"Kid, your protection software…it was amazing, too ahead of it's time, and, most importantly, didn't have a known name," Casey told him. "Hell, we still use it."

"Really?" Chuck asked. "It does have some holes now-"

"We hired Skip and he's patched them all," Casey said with a shrug. "You got caught in business, not because you made a bad product."

"But what exactly can I do?" Chuck asked. "I'm not breaking any laws-"

"I don't want you hacking, just…looking," Casey told Chuck. Chuck gave him a speculative look making Casey sigh. "Okay, kid, try and keep up. Most members of the mafia-"

"Can we not use that word, I don't want to get my kneecap shattered by implying something that may or may not be true," Chuck cut in.

"Fine," Casey growled. "Most of America's organized crime families…." Casey paused to see if Chuck wanted to object, but Chuck nodded for Casey to continue. "They have a code…a system if you will. Being part of La Cosa Nostra," Chuck winced at Casey saying that, but Casey continued, "required you to behave by rules. Over the years, the rules have changed, and as more young turks have come along, those rules have been completely ignored."

"Young turks?" Chuck asked.

"The newer generation that tend not to respect the old way," Casey explained. "Also, a person had to be Italian to be part of-" Chuck made a face, making Casey roll his eyes. "Fine, a part of 'This thing of ours.'" Chuck didn't look very happy but didn't say anything.

"Two things happened, one, many within organized crime got taken down by the RICO acts, or tax evasion. Two, other scumbags in other countries, wanting to be scum, started their own version of organized crime. You have the Red Mayfia, the Armenian Mafia, and there are several different organized crime units of oriental descent that have popped up over the years."

"This is absolutely fascinating, but what in the hell does it have to do with Sarah and Emma?" Chuck asked.

"What it has to do is, her dad didn't piss off a normal mob boss," Casey told him. "In the old days, Jack died, that was it, game over, but this crew…they've watched all these other gangs and mobs come in and have slowly taken over organized crime and the violence has skyrocketed. As far as they're concerned, Jack's family owes." Casey paused, looking right at Chuck. "Now, there is a silver lining."

"Thank God," Chuck muttered.

Casey slapped a file on Chuck's lap. "This is Salvadore Armone. They call him 'Little Sammy.' They call him Little Sammy because he wants a seat at the main table so to speak." Chuck nodded. "IF he could get retribution for what Jack did…." Casey shrugged. "Maybe he would get there, but if he were to go away…no one would really mind, because he's like one of those little dogs that just yaps a lot."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Chuck asked.

"Shut up the yapping dog," Casey said with an evil grin on his face.

A/N: So, I'm not trying to, or asking you to read/buy my books, but I've had a LONG time interest in the mob. One of my novels is literally titled This Thing of Ours. I mean, not that the mob exists…*pulls at shirt collar* What? You want a preview…..my goodness…..finnnneeee

"Do you know that Blondie said she has never been able to take a walk in the park?"

"What?" Carina said, stunned. "Did they keep her inside twenty-four/seven?"

"No, but unnecessary exposure was frowned against," Zondra told Carina.

"They'd really frown if they knew about my unnecessary exposure," Carina quipped. Zondra rolled her eyes. "You know, with Chuck back, and nothing to do but paperwork, it would probably be a good reward for her to go to the park. We could get Chuckles to take her, not that you and I are trying to fix them up, it's just logical given what all we have to do here."

I see Statler and Waldorf are Statler and Waldorfing…..come on back next time for more shenanigans. Take care of yourself friends.