A/N: I guess that by this point, everyone should already know that I haven't owned Chuck, and I still don't. However, I have to admit that after one hundred chapters and almost 400,000 words, I do feel a certain proprietary interest in my own little AU. It's not ownership, of course, but I kind of like these characters I'm writing about. No legal ramifications stem from that, but there you have it. Chapter 100. Big deal. Big stuff should happen in this one. How about we go take a look and see what our friends are up to? I left us with Sarah's download to Chuck of everything she thought she needed him to know before he asked her to marry him. What will Chuck do next?

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Sarah watched him dress. She always liked to watch him. His lanky frame was filling out with lean muscle from their workouts. She wondered if all girlfriends liked to watch their boyfriends dress the same way she did.

She thought of the whirlwind she had unleashed when she told him her story. When they got back to Villa Palone from the Mercurian Roma, Chuck had immediately sought out Morgan. When his friend assured him that he no longer needed Chuck to be his wingman in Rome and was comfortable enough with Lou's family to fly solo, Chuck cancelled their flights back to LA and booked flights the next day for DC. She hadn't expected that, but assumed he wanted to have the promised conversation with Ellie in person and as soon as possible.

Tony, Megan, Lou and Pietro accepted with good grace the explanation that, for personal reasons, they had to go to DC right away. They probably thought it was something to do with the FDA or something, but, as it turned out, Chuck had really told the truth and it was personal.

He was loving and attentive all the way to DC, but didn't raise the subject of what she had told him about her past. They rented a car and checked into the hotel where Ellie and Devon were staying. After dinner, Chuck left her in the room to go talk to Ellie.

He returned late and she was already asleep when he came to bed.

They woke late the next morning and made love. Not the wild passionate love that destroyed the hotel room's furniture and left stains on the ceiling. This was slow, languid, gentle and loving and lasted all morning long. She thought it was exquisite and smiled dreamily at the memory. The sun was high in the sky and they were starving by the time they decided to finally leave the hotel room.

Once she had gotten her fill of watching him dress, they left the hotel and found a quiet bar and grill for cheeseburgers (hers with extra pickles) and beer, Bud for him and Stella for her.

When their food arrived, he picked up his bottle, ignoring the glass and raised it to her. He said, "Here's to new days." The smile he gave her was warm and loving.

She clinked her bottle with his and said, smiling back, "To new days."

They dug into their food, having worked up an appetite with the morning's delightful activities.

She said, "What do you want to do today?"

"Well, I have a meeting just outside of town at 6:30, which I should probably head to at about 5:45 or so, so it looks like we have..." he glanced at his watch, "... about four, maybe four and a half hours to spend before that."

"A meeting?" she asked.

"Yup." He didn't elaborate and she didn't ask, but she didn't like him having secrets from her. "Oh, and I had the concierge make us a reservation at The Milling House at eight. With Ellie and Devon. I hope that's ok."

"That's great. That's a nice place," she said.

"Yeah, I hope so. Little fancy, but got good reviews online," he said, smiling at her over his beer bottle.

"Want to see the sights? The Smithsonian? Go back to the Air and Space Museum? Something like that?"

"Naw, I just want to be with you today. I don't want a lot of people around us. I'm greedy and I want you all to myself." She smiled at that, the most beautiful smile in the world. Helen of Troy had absolutely nothing on his Sarah.

"I have an idea," she said. "It's a beautiful day. Let's take a walk in Rock Creek Park."

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a lovely forested park in the north, well sort of northwest part of the District. We can just walk around for a few hours."

"Ok," he said. "Sounds like fun."

They collected the rental car and drove up to the park.

Maybe it was the climate change that people were concerned about, they didn't really know, but the day was a beautiful early spring day, even for February. The temperature was in the mid 50's and the sky was the blue of robin's eggs.

Sarah had been right, the park was beautiful. Chuck imagined that in the early fall, when the leaves were changing on the trees, it would be really spectacular. Even with the bare trees, the forest sparkled in the sunlight and the air was soft. They crossed a hundred year old arched bridge built out of boulders.

They walked holding hands and enjoyed the quiet of the outdoors and the woods, so surprising in the dense city of Washington. Every once in a while one of them would glance at the other with love.

Sarah wanted to ask him how the conversation with Ellie had gone the night before, but willed herself to wait for him to raise the topic.

They stopped for a while at the Rock Creek Park Horse Center and watched the riders and their mounts. Sarah said, "They do therapeutic riding here."

"What's that?"

"It's for people with various medical conditions. Cerebral palsy. Autism. ADD. I read an article that they are even using the horses for vets with brain injuries. It's all volunteer. Sounds like a great program."

"It does. You ever ride?" he asked.

"Yeah...for a summer. I loved it. My dad and I were in Louisville, Kentucky and… well… running a scam involving thoroughbreds for sale. To sell it, I had to learn to ride. How about you?"

"Pony rides as a kid. That's about it. I think I'd be scared. They are so big," he said. As they were talking, leaning on the fence, a chocolate brown horse meandered over and looked at them. He, or she, thought Chuck, leaned over to him and extended his/her nose to be stroked. Sarah reached out and stroked the side of the animal's neck while Chuck stroked the nose. After a few moments, he said, "Not that scary, I guess." As if he had been understood, the horse nodded once to Chuck and then wandered off in the other direction.

Chuck and Sarah smiled at each other. "Well," said Chuck, "I guess I know what we are going to be doing some weekend soon."

"Oh, could we?" said Sarah with the excitement of a little girl. "That would be so much fun." She reached up and gave him a kiss.

"Sure. There's a place that does rides in the Hollywood hills. I've seen it advertised since I was a kid, but never tried it. Let's give it a shot. Even if my girlish screams of terror startle the horse, I'll do it for you."

"I love you," she said. She'd lost track of how many times she'd said it that day.

"I love you, too. I'll look into it when we get home," he said.

Overall, she thought it had been a wonderful day with her Chuck. Eventually, it came time for them to leave the park, though.

He drove her to a spot by the National Mall within easy walking distance of that night's restaurant and they agreed to meet again at that spot at 7:45pm.

"You sure you don't want me to come to the meeting? I can wait in the car?" she asked.

"No, Sweetie. This is one I have to do by myself. I love you and I'll be back soon," he said.

"Ok. I love you, too," she said. She gave him a kiss to show just how much she meant the words.

She settled down on a park bench in the sunshine and took a book out of her jacket pocket on Mandarin grammar. While she was studying the book, she was also plotting how to get him to tell her about this secret meeting of his.

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Chuck parked the rental car on the street and walked up to the black SUV in front of him. He knocked on the window on the passenger side. It slid down and Agents Barker and Simmons greeted him. "Evening, Agent Carmichael."

"Hey, fellas." He handed a tray with two cups of Starbucks coffee through the window. "Black. Cream and sugar on the side. Didn't know how you took it."

"Thanks. Pretty decent of you, dude. I don't know why everyone says such terrible things about you," said Simmons with a smile.

Chuck frowned and said, "Hey...who says those things about me?"

Simmons and Barker both laughed at the old joke.

"Later," Chuck said as he was pulling away from the car.

"The Director and the Missus are the only ones home. Karen is out tonight," Barker called to him.

"Thanks, Agent Barker. Have a good one, guys," said Chuck looking back.

He walked up the drive and rang the doorbell. Graham himself answered. "Evening, Chuck," he said, shaking hands.

"Evening, Sir," said Chuck.

"I told you, here it's just Langston," said the older man.

With a slight chuckle, Chuck said, "Ok. Langston. Just don't get mad if I slip."

"I'll see my way clear to forgiving you, I think." He led them into the house and towards the living room. "Can I get you something? Beer? Glass of wine?"

"Um, just a glass of water if that would be ok, please?" Chuck seemed a little nervous.

There were footsteps from the hallway and Anna's voice said, "You men sit down. I'll get him a water."

Graham had a glass of scotch working and a pile of papers on the small table next to his armchair. Evening reading it seemed.

They sat. Graham said, "I had a call today from the head of the AISE. The Italians are very grateful for your help in taking down some asshole named Rosetti and saving the life of a little girl. Cop's daughter, he said. Some vacation."

"It was a group effort. Not only did the Italians have some top notch people of their own on the job, but Casey brought the French spy from the Federov mission with him. Lt. Col. Marie Fabron. She did a wonderful job. She and Sarah worked together seamlessly." Anna returned and gave him a glass of cold water. He thanked her while giving her a hello kiss on the cheek. She left them to their discussion.

"Spoken with typical Bartowski humility. So, what's up, Chuck? When you asked to speak with me, you said it was personal." Graham wondered if it were the same thing he'd talked with Chuck's sister about that morning. He hoped he didn't have to go through that conversation a second time in one day. Once was enough.

"Yes, it is. This has nothing to do with work." Chuck swallowed, now obviously nervous. He took a drink of the water Anna had brought for him and his hand shook a tiny bit. "I had a conversation with Sarah while we were in Italy. She told me...she told me about her life. Her story. She told me about her father. About what she did before she met you. The crime. The stealing. Dozens of cities...dozens of names. I'm glad she did, because I almost made a huge mistake."

'Oh, fuck,' thought Graham with a frission of horror. This was worse than he feared. He was just getting ready to defend Sarah...

Chuck went on, "You see, her father... the way he treated her. The things he had her do...the life he led her to...I think he's a big jerk. To my mind, I think he forfeited the right to the respect that would come to Sarah Walker's father...but you didn't. You took her into your home and your family. Treated her as one of your own children. You've been more of a father to her in the last ten years than he ever was in the seventeen years before that. And I almost didn't see it. I almost made a huge mistake." Chuck started to cry, tears spilling down his cheeks. "I almost didn't do..." Chuck stood up. "...this. You deserve every bit of the respect that her birth father forfeited...Langston, may I have your blessing to marry Sarah...your permission?"

Graham was so surprised he just sat there looking at Chuck, mouth a little agape, his mind locked. From the hallway outside the room there was stifled sob and Anna's voice said, "Say yes."

Graham stood, crying himself now. "Yes, son. Yes. Hell yes, even."

He enveloped Chuck in a hug. Moments later, Anna joined them and the three of them stood together in the living room hugging and crying.

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At exactly 7:45, Sarah stood on the spot where she was to meet Chuck. The humid air had cooled with the setting sun and created a light fog. Everything was a little softer in the mist. The streetlights were soft glowing balls up and down the National Mall. Sarah looked to the west at the Washington Monument in the distance, then turned to the east and saw the Capitol Building. Both edifices were glowing a ghostly white under the shine of their spotlights.

It was quiet and deserted in the Mall at that hour. Although the earlier nice weather had drawn out the crowds, they had disappeared with the setting sun.

For the hundredth time, she wondered about his secret out of town meeting. She trusted him, though, totally, and was confident that he would tell her when he felt it right. If not, she'd … encourage him to tell her sooner than that. She smiled a little to herself.

A shadow came out of the mist, walking towards her. She immediately knew it was Chuck. His tall frame and the roll of his walk were burned into her psyche forever, for the rest of her life. He didn't wave or acknowledge her, but came straight to her. As he got closer, the light behind her lit his face and she could see the love in his beautiful brown eyes.

When he got close enough, he stopped to look at her for a moment. From the pocket of his jacket, he took out the small red box. Without a word, he knelt down on the grass at her feet and opened the box, his eyes never leaving hers. She found herself looking at the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen.

He had decided to marry her. She would be married to him...to Chuck...to her Chuck. Forever. A joy such as she had never known overwhelmed her and tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks. Her smile widened. Silently, she sunk to her knees in front of him. Looking into his eyes, her hands trembling only a little bit, she took the ring from the little red box and slipped it onto the third finger of her left hand.

Staring into his eyes and smiling, she reached forward and took him by his upper arms. His hands moved to her hips. Almost in slow motion, their lips came together softly. Moments later, they fell together onto the soft grass, arms wrapped around each other and lips pressed together, expressing their love without the need for words. They were happier than either had ever been before in their entire lives.

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A/N2: AISE is the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna, the Italian foreign intelligence agency – the equivalent to the CIA.

A/N3: Therapeutic horseback riding programs are found in many cities and are really wonderful for the clients they treat. If you have loved ones with certain of those conditions, please look for one in your neighborhood and talk to the men and women who run them. I know from personal experience just how much they can help.

A/N4: Once again, I am indebted to LetsGoRed, joined by David Carner this time around, who graciously gave this one a pre-read for me. As usual, the parts you like are theirs and the rest is mine. Thanks, guys. I owe you another one.

A/N5: Chapter 100 is behind us. I hope its events merited this monumental chapter milestone. I've gotten Chuck and Sarah engaged years before canon, but given that the entire story started (more than two years ago!) with them in bed together we should not be too shocked, I think. Once again, thank you all for following along on this journey. If not for you and your responses to what I'm up to, I'd have quit this hobby long ago. Instead, I can promise more to come, my friends. More to come. Who here wants to see the imposing Mr. Colt and his team of dangerous mercenaries versus...Ellie? Stay safe.