A/N: Tell me you can't see Anna and Casey in a dark room, both smoking a cigar griping about the morons at the Buy More? Chapter 4, it's time for the Hot Mess….I mean Sarah to start admitting what she can.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

Casey met Chuck in the courtyard of their apartments. "Come on," Casey said, clapping a hand on Chuck's shoulder. "You need this."

"You know what I really need?" Chuck asked.

"You don't want me to answer that," Casey told Chuck. Chuck pressed his lips together, blew out his cheeks, and nodded. "Let's pretend I care."

"You do," Chuck insisted. Casey shook his head. "Fine, I just want someone to share my life with, Casey."

"You have that," Casey told Chuck. "You can tell your CIA handler anything."

"No, I can't," Chuck replied. Casey laughed and walked away. "What the hell is going on around here?"

}o{

Casey watched the two talking. Chuck give her an alarm clock; practical, the perfect thing for an asset to give his handler. But Chuck Bartowski wasn't an asset. Chuck knew that, the Buy Morons knew that, Casey knew that… hell, even the brass had figured it out, but Walker…

He was gonna be stuck in Burbank the rest of his damn life.

He didn't know what was worse: Getting a spy to admit they love someone, or appolo… Casey's eyes went wide, and he sprinted.

"Put on Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago!" Casey told Lester. "And make damn sure it's the full five minutes, not that three-and-a-half-minute crap." Lester gave him a strange look. "What? Peter Cetera has the voice of an angel."

"I agree," Lester said, and he found the CD. The song started, and Casey turned to watch the two. "Come on, Walker. Come on," he said quietly.

}o{

Sarah heard the music begin, and realized this wasn't the normal dance music. "Look, I know we have some problems, but we do need to protect the cover."

"Yeah, of course," Chuck said, as unenthusiastically as she had ever heard. His hands slipped around her back and held her as her arms went around his shoulders.

"Okay, we have to talk. We have to, Chuck," Sarah insisted. Chuck looked at her, chuckled, and gave her a sad smile, shaking his head. "What?"

"I tried to talk to you, constantly, but the only time we talked was when you chewed me out and accused me of faking things," Chuck began.

"I know," Sarah said softly.

"So, what is there to talk about?" Chuck asked. "You've made it pretty clear I am your job."

"No, you're not my job, Chuck. You are important," Sarah insisted. "I am here to protect you."

"I know, you're here to protect this thing in my head, I get it," Chuck said. He looked away. Tears were in Sarah's eyes. She listened to the words that were being sung.

Hold me now

It's hard for me to say I'm sorry

I just want you to stay

After all that we've been through

I will make it up to you

I promise to

And after all that's been said and done

You're just a part of me I can't let go

She looked up to the DJ stand, and saw Casey standing there. TELL HIM, he mouthed.

She took a deep breath. "This song kinda nails it, huh?" Chuck turned to look at her, surprise covering his face. "You mean the world, Chuck… to me." She swallowed. "But you…" she blew out a breath. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"I am, too," Chuck said, nodding. "You're trying to do your job, and here I am, just being stupid." She was shaking her head. "Sarah, I get it. You have this amazing life, and I thought I could be a part of it, that I could be… enough."

"Chuck, no," she said softly. "No." Frustration covered her face. "Damn it."

"No, it's okay," Chuck said. "I'm a big boy, I can handle the truth. And that's why I can't move in with you. I can't keep doing this to you."

"Doing what?" Sarah asked.

"I can't keep making your life harder and harder," Chuck said. "I just keep getting lost in the cover."

"Chuck… damn it." She couldn't take it, she couldn't do it to him. "Chuck, there are rules… asset, handler… it's complicated."

"No," Chuck said, shaking his head. "What I feel for you, it's not complicated. What we can do about it, if you wanted to, that is… that's complicated." He felt her hands tighten around his neck and felt himself pulled closer.

"Is that what you need to hear?" she asked, just above a whisper. "If you knew the truth, could you move in, so I can protect you? Not the Intersect, but you?"

"What are you saying Sarah?" Chuck asked.

"These… feelings, you have… they are not a one-way street," Sarah told him.

"Sarah?"

"Chuck… I… care, for you, and I shouldn't, as a CIA agent-"

"Wait… I don't care right now about your job, and this computer in my head," Chuck said, cutting her off. "What I need to know is…" He paused and took a deep breath.

"Yes," Sarah said softly.

"Yes what?" Chuck asked, confused.

"Yes, I would date you, be your real girlfriend, be with you," Sarah said. She was terrified by what she was doing, but felt a relief course through her that she hadn't felt in years. "Chuck, you're my guy." She took a breath and said, softly, "You're my guy."

"Oh, God," he breathed.

"They know how I feel about you," Sarah told him. "They know, and they told me that we still have to move in together. There's real danger for you, Chuck."

"With you, or by myself?" he asked. She chuckled, and he grinned at her. "Okay."

"You're okay with how things are?" Sarah asked.

"Not even close," Chuck admitted. "But, at least I know what I'm doing… what…" He paused, and looked her in the eye. "What we're doing?" She nodded. "Okay. That I can work with."

"That's it?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, what the hell did you think I wanted?" Chuck asked her. "All I wanted was someone that could be there for me, at the end of the day, and understand what I was feeling. And you could, most of it, but you couldn't other parts, at least so I thought. Don't you realize if it had been how I thought, that it would have killed me a little each day?"

"But knowing you can't do anything about it isn't going to kill you?" Sarah asked.

"Kill me? No. Suck hard? Absolutely," Chuck admitted. "But, if I've got you in my corner… I do, right?" Sarah nodded. He shrugged. "What can we not handle?"

The music picked up, surprising Sarah. "This your first time?" he asked grinning. She nodded at him, smirking. "Well, it's my pleasure to be with you when you get the hear the end."

The song came to an end with one last verse.

When we get there gonna jump in the air

No one'll see us because there's nobody there

After all, you know we really don't care

Hold on, I'm going to take you there

"So, we move in together?" Sarah asked.

"Does this mean Casey won't be spying on us?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "Gonna be crowded in the apartment."

"How about you move in with me?" she asked. "No surveillance."

"No… no surveillance?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "Is that a good idea?"

Sarah didn't answer for a moment. "I'm not sure," she admitted.

Casey watched from afar. From the moron's body language, she had told him… well, some of it.

"She didn't tell him that she loved him, did she?" Anna asked, from behind.

"Nope," Casey replied. "Walker's taking baby steps."

"We need a new plan," Anna said. "Got a couple of cigars, if you're interested in tossing out ideas."

Casey turned, grinning.

"I am."

A/N: Oh lord.