A/N: I think I'm expected to say something here about the ownership of Chuck, but I can't think of anything interesting or funny at the moment. I'll try again next week.

A/N2: This is the start of the fifteenth arc of the story, which I'm calling the Cipher arc. It's going to usher in some major changes to the status quo so buckle up. I hope you guys approve of where I'm taking our friends.

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Ellie wasn't really enjoying the drive. She had been bored during the part of the morning where she had driven aimlessly around Washington, DC for an hour with Sarah in a car behind her. But, she was pleased when Sarah assured her that she wasn't being followed by anyone (other than Sarah) and wished her good luck.

Another slight damper on her enjoyment of the drive was the fact that she was driving a borrowed CIA car. She was afraid to touch any buttons. She might eject herself or machine gun someone by accident while trying to turn on the lights. She laughed at herself. Director Graham...Langston...had been nice to lend the car to her. "Langston." She thought back to the morning a few days ago.

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Morning, a few days ago

Graham was visiting Fort Meade from Langley to talk to the Intersect team. They were planning a preliminary test of the Intersect technology in a few days and he explained that he wanted to get a handle on what would be happening. Two agents, a man and a woman, would be undergoing the test. One was CIA and one was NSA.

Ellie said, "It is a quick test of concept. No real information will be conveyed. We will merely be making sure that there are no adverse physical or mental side effects in connection with the Intersect process. We've had both the subjects here for the last few days running medical tests such as MRI's and CAT scans to get a decent base line, something we never got with … anyone else. We won't be moving to full blown testing of the entirety of the system until we've developed a method for removing it. If there are adverse effects that develop, we need the ability to remove it at a moment's notice. That part of the project, I'm sorry to say, is in its infancy, but we will not proceed without it."

"I understand, Dr. Bartowski," said Graham. If he objected to Ellie putting the brakes on the project until they had the removal process worked out, he didn't express his impatience. She was the only medical doctor involved at that point and the safety of the subjects was of paramount importance to her.

The presentation ended. The questions were answered. Graham had gotten what he wanted to know and thanked the members of the team. As they began to break up, he stopped Dr. Bartowski. "Excuse me, Doctor. Is something wrong?"

Ellie had thought that she had been hiding her disquiet well enough, but she supposed Graham must be a sensitive enough reader of people to have noticed.

"Nothing you can do anything about now. And you'll probably think it's none of my business in any event," she replied somewhat uncomfortably.

He spoke a bit louder and said to the rest of them in the room, "Hey, guys. Give us the room for a bit, huh?" The room emptied. He stepped forward and closed and locked the door. Taking a seat at one end of the conference table, he gestured to invite her to sit next to him.

She did. Looking at him steadily, her eyes troubled, and said, "Chuck and Sarah cut short their vacation to Rome and got to DC yesterday."

Nodding, he said, "Yes. I know."

"Ok. So...Sarah had a long conversation with Chuck. She told him about her life and he told me last night. She told him about … what you have had her doing...what you made her into."

"I'm not following you, Dr. Bartowski. What do you mean? What did I make her into?" he asked carefully.

"You took a seventeen year old girl and made her an assassin. You send her around the world to kill people."

"Yes, I did. And I do." He sounded calm and not at all defensive. "And you are uncomfortable with that. But, honestly, Dr. Bartowski, I'm a little disappointed in you."

"Disappointed in me? How does that follow?"

"I would have thought that before coming to a conclusion about something so serious you would at least listen to both sides of the story. Ask me for my point of view on the matter."

"Well, it's an exaggeration to say that I have come to a conclusion. It … just makes me uncomfortable...for her," said Ellie. She took a deep breath. "But fair enough, Director. How do you view what you have done to her?"

"If you know her whole story..."

"I do," said Ellie.

"Then you know she was a criminal when I met her."

"She was a child," said Ellie.

"She was seventeen. Old enough to be tried as an adult in every state in the union. If not for me, do you know what she would probably be up to right now? She would be the smartest, most talented, and most successful inmate in a women's prison someplace. But she's not. Instead, she's got a new identity and she's a Harvard grad."

"But the killing..." said Ellie.

"Yes. That's the crux of the matter isn't it? Killing people. We are doing that every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you aren't upset about that. But, for some reason, you look at it differently if it happens outside of a battlefield. Not wearing a uniform. Sort of an odd distinction, don't you think? An enemy of the country is an enemy of the country."

Ellie thought he was making sense, actually. Wasn't it like Sarah was a soldier? What if Sarah had joined the Army rather than the CIA? Graham continued, "I don't really understand the distinction, myself. I don't think there's anything wrong with killing the enemies of the country wherever you find them, whether it's on a dusty plain in Iraq or a back alley in Oslo. Dr. Bartowski, I spent fifteen years doing exactly that kind of work. Exactly the work I'm giving her to do. Killing the enemies of the United States. I was very, very good at it, as she is." He shrugged. "I didn't particularly enjoy that work, but I'm not ashamed of it either. I think I did good work then and I think Sarah is doing good work now."

She hadn't known that Graham had done the same work...the assassinations. That put a different spin on it, to her. He wasn't some deskbound bureaucrat sending Sarah out to do what he didn't understand. But still, killing was killing. "Don't you think there's a better way?" she said.

"Than what? Than killing some of these people? What? A long session of group therapy maybe? With all due respect, Doctor, I think that's bullshit. I was working in the height of the Cold War. These people were dedicated to killing us. And today's threats are even worse. If we can save many innocent lives by taking one or two not so innocent lives, I think it's a good bargain. I hate to tell you, Dr. Bartowski, but I truly believe that there are some people who leave the world a bit better when they leave it. I think there are people who have abandoned the norms of civilization, never to return to the fold no matter what. No convincing...no 're-education' will do it." He used his fingers to make air-quotes.

"When we can, we collect them for interrogation. It's only when that is not possible that we resort to killing them. Let's face it, we are in the information business and the more information we can gather the safer we can make everybody. It's just not always possible."

She thought about that for a few moments and found it hard to argue against him. Maybe the hard and fast moral reasoning 'all killing is wrong' might counter that, but she didn't believe that herself. She certainly understood killing on the battlefield. They had snipers on the battlefield who killed high ranking officers after all. How different was that from a form of assassination?

"Maybe it bothers you that it's Sarah...ok, Dr. Bartowski...who should it be instead of Sarah? Someone you don't know? Well, life didn't happen that way, I guess. Someone not as skilled, maybe? Someone with more of a chance of getting killed themselves or, God forbid, someone careless enough to hurt a civilian? A man maybe?...surely you aren't telling me you object because I've given the job to a woman? That doesn't sound like you at all." He was right. She wasn't at all bothered that they used a woman as an assassin. "I use her for those jobs because she's the best for those jobs. One day we may get these drones to work some kind of magic and kill the bad guys with precision from a thousand feet in the air. I don't know. But, until then, we will need men and women on the ground to do the job."

"Ok, I guess. You are making sense. But how do you have the right to do it? To make that decision?" asked Ellie, more curious at this point, her discomfort having faded somewhat.

"Me?" Graham chuckled at the thought. "You don't think these are my decisions, do you? That I point my finger and she runs out and kills someone? That's not the way the government works, Dr. Bartowski. Not at all." He chuckled tiredly. "You're a newbie to government bureaucracy. You'll see. It's never that easy. First, someone from one of a few designated agencies has to nominate a target. Then a nomination package is put before a joint committee of the number twos in the agencies composing the National Security Council. The approval has to be unanimous and the President has to be informed. If it's not unanimous, or if the target is a US citizen, the President actually has to approve. There are lawyers involved in all of this, by the way, to make sure it's all legal under US law. This procedure has been implemented for every targeted killing Sarah has performed. So, you see, it's not just me making a decision. Hell, I wouldn't want that kind of power... that responsibility." That explanation made a big impact on Ellie's view of what Sarah had been up to.

"The truth is, Dr. Bartowski, the assassinations are very tough assignments to pull off successfully. I need someone who can manage to do it and not lose their emotional balance. Sarah Walker is quite simply the best agent I have. She's fluent in ten languages. She's more than just brilliant, she's incredibly quick thinking and brave. She can fly almost any kind of plane or helicopter. I saw her act in two plays when she was in school and she's got the acting chops of an Oscar winner. She's a world class athlete. She's as beautiful as a runway model, silent as a ghost, and as deadly as a company of infantry. She could master any field she chose, and the country is just lucky she chose this one."

Ellie's discomfort with the situation had gone, replaced in her mind with the other stories Chuck told her of how Graham was a second father to Sarah.

Ellie smiled at Graham. "You win. I'm convinced. You sound pretty fond of her."

Graham grinned, "Ya think? Everyone knows she's my protégée. What they don't know that Sarah's like another daughter to me. Here's what I have in mind for her, Dr. Bartowski. A few more years in the field, then Assistant Chief of Station someplace. Then a Chief of Station spot, a good one in a really tough neighborhood. Then Langley and Deputy Director of Operations. Then Director of Operations. And, finally, my job. The first woman director of the CIA. There's no reason at all why she can't pull that off."

"Director, can you do me a favor?"

"Certainly, Dr. Bartowski," he said.

"As long as we're not among others, please call me Ellie," she said with a smile.

"Deal, Ellie. And I'm Langston," he said.

"Deal, Langston." They smiled at each other and shook hands.

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The day was sunny, if cold, so Ellie could just watch the scenery go by. She began to enjoy the ride more. She was on I-95 heading north and was just passing over the Susquehanna River and enjoyed the sunlight sparkling off the water on either side of her.

She smiled at the memory of her conversation with Langston. She had found herself quite liking him once she had gotten past her discomfort. Thinking of how fond he was of Sarah, her mind went back to that night a few days ago. Her smile widened at the memory.

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Evening, a few days ago

Ellie and Devon sat at the table in the Milling Room, a fancy-ish restaurant, and waited for Chuck and Sarah. They had only been there a few minutes when her brother and his girlfriend came into the room.

They had grass stains on their clothes and mussed hair. Sarah's lipstick was smudged and her eye makeup had run from crying, but been wiped off her cheeks. And they were both smiling the biggest happiest smiles she'd ever seen from either of them. They were radiating joy to such a degree that other patrons of the dining room couldn't help but grin as they went past.

Ellie herself was bursting and smiling from ear to ear. She said to Devon, "He did it. He did it." She was bouncing a little in her seat and silently clapping her hands in front of her face.

As they got close to the table, Ellie jumped up and took Sarah's shoulders. Sarah said, "I'm engaged. I'm going to get married." Ellie squealed and hugged her. Devon had stood up as well and gave Chuck a huge hug. "Congrats, bro. Awesome."

Ellie took Sarah's hand and examined the ring. "Nice job, little brother. It's beautiful."

"Thanks, El," he said. Ellie hugged him next while Devon hugged Sarah.

They sat. The waitress came over. Everyone at the table was beaming with smiles. The waitress said, "Well, isn't this a happy table?"

"My brother and my best friend just got engaged," said Ellie, radiant with delight.

"Oh," said the waitress, "Let's see."

Sarah, grinning, held out her left hand. The waitress ooohhhh'ed and aaahhh'ed, making them all smile.

They ordered a bottle of champagne and the waitress left with their order.

"So, tell me," said Ellie, looking at Chuck.

"Nothing to tell. I think she said yes," said Chuck.

Sarah shoulder bumped him, grinning.

"How'd it go with Langston?" asked Ellie.

"Langston?" asked Sarah with surprise, turning to look at Chuck.

"You didn't tell her?" asked Ellie.

Chuck, smiling, said, "No." He turned to Sarah and said, "It's why we came to Washington right away. I didn't come to talk to Ellie. I came to DC to ask Langston...your foster father, for his blessing. For his permission."

Sarah suddenly looked like Bubbles, her goldfish. Eyes wide and her mouth making a perfect O. "Oh, my God...what did he say?" she finally managed to gasp out.

"Well, he said, yes," said Chuck with a smile.

"No...I mean was he surprised? I mean..." Sarah was still shocked at the development.

"He started to cry. Well, I did too, I guess," said Chuck.

"You made Langston Graham cry?" She couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, Anna too. We were all three of us standing around in the living room hugging and crying," said Chuck.

Sarah started to cry happy tears, for the second time that night, "Oh, my God. That was your secret meeting. Asking Langston for my hand. Oh, my God. I ...I love you so much. I love you. I love you. Oh..." she leaned over and kissed him and kissed him and...until Ellie cleared her throat. Sarah pulled back, and said, "Sorry." She used her thumbs to wipe away the tears and makeup streaks. She was still smiling and looking at her fiancé with wonder and love and joy.

Ellie took her hand and said, "Come on. Let's go to the Ladies' and fix your face."

Ellie and Sarah made it to the Ladies' Room and Sarah washed her face. Sarah looked around and noted that they were alone. Once she'd finished drying her face with a handful of paper towels, she said, "Ellie, Chuck talked to you last night. He told you about me...about my life. I asked him to. I wanted you to know. I didn't want any secrets between us anymore."

"I know. It's ok. I certainly can't blame you for not wanting to talk about your childhood," said Ellie, with a sympathetic expression, squeezing Sarah's arm.

"I'm ashamed of it, Ellie," she said, her eyes downcast.

"Ok," Ellie replied, softly. "I guess I can see that. And you are trying to do good now to make up for it, I guess. But, please understand that I see you very differently than you might see yourself." Sarah looked at Ellie, a little surprised. "I see a child who was led into a life in the shadows and came through it and into the sunlight as a woman with her moral center intact. I don't know how, but you did. You came out of it a good person. A loving person. A wonderful person. Compassionate, kind, empathetic, loyal. Sarah, I don't know if Nietzsche was right that we get stronger from what doesn't kill us, but I know that you went through something I can only imagine and you came out on the other side strong as hell."

"Thank you for that, but you know there's more. I'm not sure I ever made it to the sunlight. You know what I do at work..." she said.

"I do and honestly I was uncomfortable with that...initially anyway, but I had a long conversation with Langston this morning and he squared me away. It's not the kind of work I could do, but I'm happy that someone can and does it well. I'm proud of you."

Sarah smiled a little, remembering that her brother had said the same thing when he discovered her history, and said, "Langston? First names?"

"Yeah. We made friends this morning," said Ellie.

"Thanks, Ellie. Thanks." Sarah looked at her seriously.

Ellie pulled her into a hug and said, "This is as good a time as any to ask. Sarah, will you be my Maid of Honor?"

Sarah pulled back a bit and looked at her with surprise and joy. This was one crazy night. "Of course. I'd be honored. Will you be my Matron of Honor?"

"Of...course..." Ellie was suddenly struck by a thought. No. She couldn't. That was too crazy. "Sarah, what do you have planned for a wedding?"

"I have no idea. I've only been engaged for like a half hour. I have no clue," she said, throwing the paper towels in a basket.

"Do you have dreams of a big wedding? A wedding on the beach? A small wedding? Eloping? Any dreams as a little girl? Anything specific?"

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. Ellie, you know my history. Marriage has been the farthest thing from my mind for...well, forever. I actually can't believe I'm getting married at all, to tell the truth. I really never thought it would happen to me. You know, my line of work and everything. I'm going to need my Matron of Honor to hold my hand throughout the whole thing. Guide me through the process," said Sarah with a grin.

"Cause I have an idea...it's kind of crazy," said Ellie. Should she do this? It was really nuts.

"Shoot," said Sarah, looking at her with curiosity.

"Ok. Don't feel pressured to say yes. I don't want to make you do something you are uncomfortable with. What do you think of...a double wedding? Two brides. Two grooms. Two officiants. A busload of bridesmaids and groomsmen. All together. We do it together. One massive party."

"Oh, my God, that's a great idea. We'll do it together. I love it. Yes, yes, yes." Sarah was bubbling with happiness and enthusiasm. "That's not crazy, it's brilliant. Awesome, as Devon would say."

The two women hugged again with enormous smiles.

Ellie said, "Come on. Let's tell the boys the plan."

Sarah said, "Yeah, I don't want them to drink all the champagne."

"Don't you worry, girlfriend. We will be getting multiple bottles of the bubbly before the evening is over."

They both laughed.

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Emma O'Donnell sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office off Lancaster Avenue, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania with Molly on her lap. Molly was sucking on a pacifier and enjoying Emma reading to her softly from a picture book. Emma smiled and remembered when Sam was this age. They could be sisters with the light blonde hair they shared.

She was called in to the exam room where a nurse took Molly's size and weight and told her to wait for the doctor. Shortly the doctor came in and examined Molly, declaring her in perfect health. They had a quick conversation about vaccinations and the doctor said, "Wonderful, Ms. O'Donnell. Please, wait a moment." He left the small exam room.

Moments later a lovely young woman doctor in a white coat came into the room. The young woman said, "Hello, Ms. O'Donnell. And you must be Molly. Hello, little one." She reached for Molly tickled her under the chin, but Molly was shy and shrunk back into Emma's shoulder.

"Hello. Are you new to the practice?" Emma was a little confused by this woman's presence.

"No. I'm just visiting." The woman gave Emma a beautiful smile. "Actually, I'm a friend of your daughter's."

Emma felt a shot of fear go through her. Sarah's instructions had been very clear. Emma's hands clenched into fists, her eyes glanced quickly at the closed door behind the doctor, and she said, "I'm sorry. I don't know what you are talking about."

"Yes. I expected that," she said kindly. The woman took out her phone from the pocket of her white coat. She tapped it a few times and turned it around to Emma, held horizontally.

A video started. There was a smiling Sarah, she said, "Mom, this is Ellie." The frame of the video moved to include the woman standing in front of her. "She and I are going to be sisters. You can trust her 100%. I love you." The video ended.

"Ok, then," said Emma with a smile. "Hi, Ellie."

"Hi, Ms. O'Donnell..."

"Please call me Emma."

"Well then, hi Emma. And hi Molly." No longer shy for some unknown reason, Molly made happy noises and pumped her plump little arms up and down. Ellie sat down on the rolling chair in the exam room. She continued, "I have a message for you from Sarah..."

"Sam," said Emma.

"Yes. We know her as Sarah though," said Ellie. "She couldn't come herself, but she wanted you to know that she's working on the problem of who is after Molly and why. She's going to fix it. When she does, she will be able to see you both. She asks that you please be patient."

"Oh, that's not a problem. I love this little muffin," she nuzzled Molly. "I'm not at all impatient. But I'm surprised. The last time I spoke to her, she seemed to think the problem was … well, best left alone, I guess."

"Yes. I can see that. But things have changed. Emma, your daughter is no longer operating on her own. She has a team now...friends. You've just met me and there's no reason for you to trust my judgement, but please believe me on this. Your daughter's team is the best, most impressive group of people you can even imagine. Your daughter, my brother and the others...Emma, I know these men and women...I can't tell you what they are capable of, it's secret ...anyway, I only learned myself recently. But ...Wow..." She made an explosion motion with her hands. "...you have to believe me...If the people who want to hurt Molly had any idea that this team was targeting them they would pee in their pants and go hide under the bed. No question. My brother is putting together some plans for them right now and those people don't stand a chance in hell. I don't know how long it's going to take, it may take a while, but I promise you they will be stopped and Molly will be safe. I promise you."

"Your brother is on the team with Sam...I mean Sarah?"

"Yes. My brother Chuck. He and your daughter are engaged to be married." Ellie showed her hand with her own engagement ring. "It's going to be a double wedding. Emma, Sarah is my best friend and she's marrying my brother. We're going to be sisters. It's really, really great." Emma thought Ellie looked as happy as could be.

Emma said, "Can I see a picture of your brother?" Ellie pulled up a picture on her phone of Chuck and Sarah with their heads together smiling at the camera, looking very much in love and very happy. "Oh, Ellie, he looks really nice."

"He's the best. And they are very happy together," said Ellie.

Emma started to cry a little. "This is wonderful news. I'm just surprised, that's all. I never thought Sam would settle down. She was always wandering off to the next adventure."

"Well, I it's hard to make predictions, especially about the future, but I'd be willing to bet that married life will not be as boring for them as it may be for other couples. They seem to find adventure whether they are looking for it or not. I predict that even when they are married, life will still be pretty exciting."

"Can you take a message back to her for me, please?" asked Emma.

"Of course," Ellie pointed her phone at Emma and pushed a button. "Go ahead," she said.

"Sam... Sarah, I love you. I'm so happy for you. Chuck looks like a really nice guy and if he makes you happy, I will love him too. Molly and I are doing fine. No need to worry about us. But Ellie tells me you and Chuck and your friends are going to take care of this and that will be great. But it's most important that you and Chuck stay safe. Don't do anything dangerous. We are safe. I love you and I miss you."

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A/N3: The procedure Graham described for a US government assassination is, slightly abbreviated, the procedure which was implemented during the Obama administration for authorizing a drone strike on an individual. I don't know that something similar had been in place before that (in 2008) with respect to CIA targeted killing outside a combat zone, but it is reasonable to assume that there was at least some procedure extant.

A/N4: Sarah can no longer be the first woman Director of Central Intelligence. Director Gina Haspel has beaten her to that milestone. And, like the fictional Graham, Director Haspel was a working spy before rising to that position (and was previously COS in a tough neighborhood).

A/N5: "It's difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future." Mark Twain.

A/N6: Thanks for following along, my friends. Let me know what you think. I told you Chuck's mind was abuzz with plans. What better plan could he be working on than to get Sarah's mom and sister out from under the Ryker threat? Might take a while, but it's in the works.