A/N: Welp. That happened. Now what?

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck


"I'm telling you Mr. Barker, it's not something you want your first foray into acquisitions to be," Sarah said into the phone. She looked up as she heard the door open and saw Carina standing there, scowling. Sarah internally winced over that. She was beginning to think that threatening to fire Carina was a step too far.

"Listen, go after Acme Aviation," Sarah continued. "It's fits more with what your company does, and I'm telling you that if you follow the outline I'm going to send you, you can triple your profits."

She listened for a second, feeling the huff behind her. Carina had written that proposal months ago, and Sarah had always meant to act on it. It was one of those things she would get around to when there were no 'big fish', so to speak. Acme Aviation would make someone some money, but not a lot of money… at least not what Sarah considered a lot of money. If you're gonna do this job you have to run with the big dogs, Darlin', she heard her father's voice in her head.

"And, it's emailed to you now, Mr. Barker," Sarah said sweetly. Her voice then turned to ice. "Mr. Barker, let me give you some advice. Right now, you have information to make you and your company some money. Use it, because if I find out you are still trying to buy Constellation Electronics, I will not rest, until I own your company and personally fire you." She heard silence on the other end. "Do you understand, Cole?" She listened to the answer and smiled. "So good to do business with you Mr. Barker, have a nice day." With that she hung up.

"God, you've got a hard-on for that Bartowski guy," Carina grumbled. Sarah whipped her head around at Carina. "I'm sorry, did I not bow correctly?"

"Carina," Sarah began.

"Save it, boss," Carina replied, making Sarah wince. "What? You are."

"Carina you're my friend," Sarah began.

"My friend who said to me, 'Find out who in the hell we're up against to buy out Constellation Electronics, or don't bother coming back to New York'," Carina reminded her.

"I was angry," Sarah began.

"I don't give a fuck," Carina responded, making Sarah's eyes go wide. "There was no reason to treat me like that."

"Carina," Sarah tried to begin again.

"Save it, Miss Walker," Carina replied. "I am here to give you an update, as you requested." Sarah nodded. She would make it up to Carina later. She had to.

Sarah was bothered by how much she reacted like her father would have when she realized Chuck had been playing her. Every time she thought about him, bile and anger consumed her. Him stumbling with his words, trying to make it seem like he really didn't know who she was or why she was there. He had tried to seduce her, and it pissed her off. She had bought all the lines he had fed her. She really thought he was that good of a guy.

She had to give him credit; for a split second, for just one millisecond, she thought that maybe it was true, maybe he didn't know. But no one could be that naive of how his business worked. No one that successful.

So when she had come back to her room, hell-bent on not only acquiring Constellation Electronics, but tearing it apart, bit-by-bit in front of him, Carina had been the unfortunate soul to see her first. Sarah's plan was simple. Either she would acquire the company, or no one would.

"As you know, Barker Enterprises is a small company, not really able to compete with us financially… or in douche-baggery either, it would seem," Carina began.

For six days, Sarah had worked non-stop figuring out how much money it would take to out-bid companies, or find out their weakness to make sure they would never acquire Constellation Electronics.

"It's just business," Sarah said with a shrug. "I don't know why everyone takes things so personal?"

Carina just glared at her, looked back down at her notes and continued. "National Services Acquisitions is a no-go."

"How do you know that?" Sarah asked. Carina gave her a flat look. "I need facts, not your opinion."

"Fine," Carina said with a huff. "Former Air Force general Diane Beckman founded the company after her windfall from her divorce from her ex-husband, Roan Montgomery."

"I don't need that many facts," Sarah began.

"You get what you get," Carina snipped. Sarah nodded. "Their son, John-John-"

"Wait, John-John?" Sarah asked. Carina nodded. "Who the hell names their kid John-John?"

"I have no idea," Carina replied, irritated. Sarah clamped her lips shut. "He had just inherited his trust, yes at age forty he was just able to access his trust."

"Beckman didn't trust men at all, huh?"

Carina snickered. "Game recognizes game, huh?" Sarah's eyes widened with that one. Carina kept going. "And he had his sights set on Constellation Electronics. After buying a nacho sampler for one Martin Grimes-"

"I think it's Morgan," Sarah interjected.

"That night when I called him Martin, he didn't seem to mind," Carina replied.

"Carina! You slept with him?"

"You said to find out or I'd lose my job," Carina replied with a shrug. "Anyway, after I loosened his lips with the Nacho Sampler, he told me everything John-John and Beckman do is very strict and military-like, and Chuck will never sell to them."

"Carina, you didn't have to sleep with him," Sarah said, upset that had happened.

"Wasn't a lot of sleeping," Carina muttered. Sarah blew out a breath. "Last night, I met with Daniel Shaw of…" she flipped through her papers. "Hell, I have no idea what it's called. I've been calling it Two by Four cause the man is BORE. ING."

"Tell me you didn't sleep with him," Sarah said, rubbing her head.

"I didn't, because I spiked his drink and made sure he missed his meeting with Martin this morning," Carina told Sarah.

"CARINA! You can't do that!"

"I did, and I did what I had to do to keep my job," Carina said. "I did what had to be done! Don't you get all holier-than-thou on me, after you told me it was get it done or I was fired!" With that, Carina stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Sarah, furious, grabbed her bag, and headed for her car for a drive.

Where, she didn't know.

}o{

Carina watched Sarah's Porsche fly out of the parking lot, reached over, picked up her phone, and called Daniel Shaw. "Danny," she said when he answered. "Thanks for giving me the heads up that you were going to pull out of the acquisition." Carina listened a minute and laughed. "Yeah, I did let her think I slept with Martin." She listened for a second. "Fine, Morgan, whatever his name is. I also told her I spiked your drink."

She listened for a moment. "No, I won't go out with you, you're boring." She listened again. "Daniel…ya boring." She smiled. "Well, if you ever find yourself needing someone in a professional capacity, let me know, I may not have much longer left. Bye."

With that, she hung up. She scrolled through her contacts until she came to a name that she was told never to call unless it was an emergency. Right now, it was an emergency.

She hit the call button. "She did tell me that she was going to fire me," Carina muttered to herself. "Seems like the least I can do is give her a good reason."

}o{

Sarah found herself sitting on the beach, staring at the ocean, troubled. For the past few days, she had thought about just returning to New York. To see her dad. He would understand how mad she was, and he would have a plan. The problem was, it was becoming more apparent by the minute she was not her father's daughter.

The thought of Carina sleeping with Morgan to find out info bothered her. The thought of Carina drugging Daniel unsettled her. Her father… her father would have said it's just business, you use the tools you have.

Sarah couldn't ask herself, and certainly no one she worked with, to do that. She blew out a rough breath. Why did he have to be like everyone else? Why couldn't have Chuck been real?

She had to admit, he had played her perfectly. Most of her was impressed with him, if she were being honest. It was the other parts of her that worried her. Those parts… those parts questioned things. Those parts asked, did he truly not know? She couldn't help think about two things he had said to her. The part about walking on the beach, the sand touching his feet, and his favorite movie.

"Ah, screw it," she muttered, reaching down to slip off her shoes. She stood, her feet sinking into the sand, and in that moment, the rush of the waves sounded a bit different. The air off the water felt different. She was feeling the world as Chuck did, and in that moment, she had to wonder, what if? What if he didn't know? But if he didn't then how in the whole hell did he run his business as well as he did?

She was in a no-win situation. She wasn't her father, that was clear, but at the same time, she wasn't the person she wanted to be. She gathered her things and trudged back to her car.

She had no idea what to do.

}o{

Sarah opened the door to her room and paused, stunned to see him sitting there.

"Hey, Sar," Devon said, a sad look on his face. "Wanna talk?" Sarah couldn't reply, she was too busy fighting tears. "Hey," he said gently, standing. He didn't get to say anything else, because she had crossed the distance and was hugging him, as tightly as she could. He wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Sarah. It's gonna be okay."

}o{

An hour later found the two of them sitting in a greasy spoon that if you didn't know Awesome better, you'd swear he would never eat in. From the time he blew out his knee in college until he decided to retire from football, he found himself in here, once a week, having a milkshake. But not just any milkshake. It was a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup chunks, with Bailey's, topped with whipped cream.

Awesome had taken Sarah here a few times after she had moved in with the Woodcombs, and never would let her have the shake, due to her age. But today… today, he insisted this was what the doctor ordered.

"God, this is amazing," Sarah told Devon, making him grin. "Hey… how's Chuck?"

"Eating a Costco-sized tub of cheese balls, if you want to know the truth," Devon told her. "He told me all he wants to do is explain things to you, but he can't. I asked him why, and he just kept saying he can't."

"I might have told him I never wanted to see his lying, conniving face again as long as I live," Sarah said with a wince. "I might have overreacted."

"Might?" Awesome asked.

"Listen, Devon, he told me that he owned the company I was trying to buy. He told me that the man I had been trying to find for weeks, was him. No one, and I mean no one, can be that good at what they do, and be that detached to the business," Sarah insisted.

"He can," Devon said. He watched her deflate like a balloon. "And deep down, you know that."

"Devon," Sarah began, but stopped. She took a drink, and sighed. "He's incredible, I want to be with him, but I need to see if I can do my job, and in that instant, when I felt so vulnerable…"

"You thought you got duped again, huh?" Sarah nodded. Devon was silent for a moment. "You know he told me before everything went sideways that he told you what his favorite Christmas movie was, but he tried to change the subject so you wouldn't watch it."

"Scrooged," Sarah said. "Why would he want me not to watch it?"

"You sure you want to hear this?" Devon asked. Sarah nodded. "Chuck said you were trying to find your way. He said you were on your journey, and he was afraid if you saw the movie that you might identify with the main character and feel bad. He wanted you to change because you wanted to change, not because a movie influenced you."

"Am I that bad as a person?" Sarah asked.

"No," Devon told her, taking her hand and squeezing it. "You are a wonderful person, Sarah. You care about people, but in business you do what you think you have to, what your father would do."

"I was going to buy his company and destroy it, making him watch," she said softly.

"Was?" Devon asked.

"I owe him a chance to explain," Sarah replied. "I had come to that conclusion before you showed up." She was silent for a second. "He's my navigator, Devon."

"No, you just think he is," Devon told her. "Chuck just gave your inner navigator a nudge."

Sarah nodded, and was silent a second. "Carina called, didn't she?"

"She did," Devon said. "And she said to make sure that you knew she did not sexually harass me." He cleared his throat, uncomfortable.

"What else?" Sarah asked, sighing, knowing it was Carina.

"She really wanted to," Devon said.

"Of course, she did," Sarah said, making Devon laugh.

}o{

Carina was sitting on her bed, watching Netflix, wondering if she had made the right decision when she heard a timid knock on her door. Carina frowned, rolled her eyes, and wondered if Daniel had figured out where she was staying. She grinned, thinking about torturing him for a while before cutting bait.

"Listen," she said as she grabbed the doorknob and opening the door. "I know I said we couldn't go on a date, but I'm bored, and what I'm thinking about doing doesn't require… a… date." She stood there, stunned to see Sarah in front of her, looking… contrite? Had she ever seen Sarah like this? "Sarah?"

Carina wanted to be mad at herself for showing concern, but at the end of the day, the two were friends.

"I'm so sorry, Carina," Sarah began, unable to hold back tears.

Carina's eyes went wide. Who was this and what the hell had she done with Sarah Walker?

"I'm so sorry," she said again. "I got my heart broken, and I overreacted to you and…" Sarah began to cry. Carina looked around for help, rolled her eyes, sighed, and gently put her arms around Sarah, causing Sarah to cry louder.

"Listen, can we do this in the room?" Carina asked. She did have a reputation to maintain after all. Carina gently led Sarah inside, and wondered who, exactly, had warmed the Ice Queen's heart. A heart Carina swore had been locked away.

}o{

"Are you in love with him?" Carina asked.

Sarah nearly spit out her water. After some serious crying, and telling Carina everything, the two had been silent. A good silence. The kind you used to ponder the next move, knowing your friend had your back.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sarah asked.

"I mean, you did go bat-shit crazy, Sarah," Carina told her. "I've seen you get played before and you got even, but you did it…"

"Cold?" Sarah asked.

Carina nodded.

"Calculating?"

Carina nodded again.

"And this was just an emotional warpath of a woman who had been wronged by a man that she somewhat cared about?"

"If this is somewhat care about I'm getting the hell out of town when you figure out you love him," Carina muttered. Sarah gave her a look, but her heart wasn't in it. "What can I do, Blondie?"

"Really? After everything I did to you, you're going to help me?"

"Sarah, I knew you were acting like an idiot," Carina began. "Never did I think you went and fell in love."

"I never said I fell in love," Sarah argued. Carina tilted her head and gave her friend a look. "I like him, Carina, a lot."

"Obviously," Carina replied. "What can I do to help?"

Sarah looked embarrassed. "Is there a way we can get a movie to play in my room, on my TV?"

Carina pulled her chin back, surprised. "Okay, didn't see you going to porn to get over him-"

"Wait? WHAT!?" Sarah said, putting together what Carina was saying. "I'm trying to watch a movie he loves, and figure something out."

"We can do that," Carina told her. "Although porn might calm you down more." Sarah glared at her. "Fine, what's the movie."

"Scrooged," Sarah told her.


A/N: Next time

She yanked the door opened, and stopped dead in her tracks, in shock. There stood Chuck, his fist raised as if to knock on the door.

"Chuck?"

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Carina said, watching and grinning.

"Listen, I know you said you never wanted to see me again, and-and I will leave if you want me to, but all I am asking if for a chance to explain what happened," Chuck began. He took a breath, and continued. "I swear to God, Sarah, I had no idea that you were here to buy my company. I have had nothing to do with the company for months, and-"

COME ON! You had to know this was coming. It's me, it's Christmas. See you soon.