A/N: Oh hey. This chapter is a *big one* so strap in. Thanks to those of you who've followed us this far. This is THAT moment David keeps rattling on about with his ISH business.

Disclaimer: We don't own CHUCK and we aren't making any money.


Sarah had never before in her life been so grateful towards an inanimate object as she was towards the watch Chuck was wearing on his wrist, along with the tracking device they'd imbedded inside of it for his safety.

It was easy to find him, and even easier to follow him and Longshore up onto the roof. The extraction point.

She'd forced herself not to dwell too hard on the fact that this was it. This was the moment she'd throw in the towel, so to speak. She'd made the decision almost at the beginning of this whole operation, hadn't she? To protect Chuck even if it meant forsaking everything the CIA taught her to be, even if it meant leaving the CIA behind altogether.

And now she was going to be pitting herself against a man who was known for extracting people. This was what he excelled at. He wouldn't excel at it tonight.

Tonight, she and Chuck were leaving Los Angeles. She would be the only thing standing between him and a potentially long stint in a bunker, without his family, without his friends.

But she had to get there in time.

Sarah sprinted as fast as she could out of the door to the roof, skidding to a halt and grabbing the railing as she burst out into the cold night air, the wind whipping at her hair as she took the stairs two at a time up to the roof.

"LONGSHORE!"

The agent's hand went directly for his gun as he spun to face her, but he eased up a bit as he realized it was her. The asset's handler. She took a few long, settling breaths as she moved across the roof towards them. "Is there a problem, Agent Walker?" he asked, his hand still hovering at his holster. Asshole.

She knew he was just doing his job but still… The fact that he felt the need to keep his hand near his gun pissed her off. And she felt a rush of anger. These people were supposed to be protecting Chuck, the way she was protecting him. After everything he'd done to help them, they should've all been doing everything they could to make his life not complete and utter shit, and instead, at the slightest threat, they were throwing him underground. Because it was easier for them. Maybe keeping him out here, letting him continue living his life as best he could, was just too much work for the intelligence agency leadership. Maybe he cost them too much money. Too much manpower. They needed her and Casey on other missions.

Sarah knew she was letting herself run away with the bitter thoughts, but she was bitter. And every second she had to stand here watching on his face the mixture of relief at her arrival and terror that he was in this situation in the first place, she was becoming even more bitter.

"Sarah. Sarah, thank God you're here," Chuck breathed, and he lifted his hands to hold them up by his shoulders. As an agent, she typically swept her eyes around her surroundings every time she entered a room or walked into a new situation. And yet, it took her until that moment to notice he was in handcuffs. Like a fucking criminal. As if he'd done something wrong. "I don't-I don't wanna go yet, Sarah. I can't," Chuck rushed out, his voice shaking.

She wanted to ask why he was in handcuffs. She highly doubted Chuck had tried to attack the agent, even if he was taking him away from his life as he knew it. So why in the hell had Longshore done that? She was enraged by it, perhaps overly so. She felt it coursing through her veins, unbridled.

Instead of attacking the man who'd done it, she reeled herself in a bit and shook her head at Chuck, the slightest of head shakes. She needed him to be calmer, but she couldn't blame him if it didn't work out that way.

"Agent Casey has found the Fulcrum mole, Longshore. He found her. It's all over, so we can hold off on transferring Chuck to a holding facility."

Longshore looked confused, and then he narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Lowering his hands to his sides, he said, "If there was a change in the operation, I would've been contacted. I have my orders."

Damn it. "Your orders have changed," she said without blinking an eye. "That's why I'm here." She was careful not to flick her gaze to Chuck in any way, knowing Longshore was smart, that he'd see she was bluffing.

"You are not my contact, Agent Walker. I got my orders from way above your pay grade."

"Look, this isn't about your orders, Longshore. This isn't necessary. We don't have to do this. It's a judgment call. I'll personally hold Chuck here until we know for sure. Until we get word from Casey that he's taken the Fulcrum mole into custody. I'll stay with him. And-And if we have to extract him, so be it. But we owe it to him…" This time she did meet Chuck's eyes. "We owe it to him to give him a chance."

"His cover is blown, Walker!" Longshore said in a strong voice. "He's gone!" He then reached out and clamped his hand down around Chuck's wrist, starting to yank him back.

"No!" she snapped. "I take full responsibility, okay? I'm responsible. I've been lead on his protection for months now. I can handle this."

"It isn't about whether or not you can handle it, Walker. When I'm given a job, I finish it. I don't know what this guy's deal is, but Director Graham told me under no circumstances to let anyone near 'im. To make sure he gets on the chopper and to the extraction point in one piece."

"I'm not just anyone, Longshore. Chuck is my asset. He's my guy." She felt a lump in her throat, hearing the desperation at the end there. She doubted Agent Longshore was moved by desperation, by tears, begging even. But she needed to try, to buy them some time. She didn't want to hurt him when he was just doing his job—a job Graham had given him on purpose it seemed, with express orders not to let anyone near Chuck. Casey, she wondered? Had he meant Casey? Or...was it her, too? Longshore wouldn't be able to read between the lines there. He wasn't read into this operation, the Intersect. He had no idea who Chuck even was. He was just following orders.

But she'd do what she needed to do. And she felt the cool steel of her S&W pressed against the small of her back.

"Please," she tried. "Just give us more time. Please! Longshore, you don't-you don't know what he's done for his country. He deserves better than this. If-If you knew, you'd wait. Trust me."

The agent didn't seem fazed by her appeal to his patriotism, his empathy. It figured. He had a reputation that was just as icy cold as hers.

She looked at Chuck again. He was staring at her, pleading with his eyes. As if he was willing her to save him from this. And yet he wasn't fully freaking out, almost like he'd...seen this coming. Had he been waiting for this day, preparing himself for it? She needed to do everything she could here. She tried to convey that she was here for him with a look of her own.

"Longshore, he's saved lives. You couldn't possibly even begin to know how many lives. Give us time. Give him time."

"I'd appreciate it," Chuck half-squeaked, spinning to look at the agent beside him. "I really would. Not-Not that I'm any more of a hero than any other person with a badge, but I just...I don't wanna live like that if-if I don't have to. But if I do, I'll-I'll go, okay? I won't struggle. I haven't struggled through any of this. I've-I've made it really easy, Longshore. Right? A bit of time. Please." And he raised his shackled hands up. She hated that metal around his wrists more than anything she'd ever hated before.

The agent turned to give her a tired look then.

"Please don't do this to him without even giving him a chance." She subtly snuck her right hand behind her then, slipping her fingers over the stock, ready to use it if she had to. Chuck might be traumatized to watch the man standing next to him go down in a red mist, and maybe he'd be afraid of her for the rest of his life...but he wouldn't be in a bunker. And eventually she'd find a way to get him back to his life again.

"Okay." Longshore shook his head as if he was already regretting giving in. "You got one minute. That's it. Just one."

She had a slight reprieve. There were things she had to say to him, to reassure him. He wasn't getting on a fucking chopper or ending up in a fucking bunker. But she needed to get Longshore to a point where he would let Chuck go. Or...she needed to find a way to...well, get him out of the way.

Sarah took her hand off of her gun and carefully slid up closer to Chuck as Longshore let his arm go and stepped back, away from Chuck to give them a bit of privacy. She angled her body away from him so that he couldn't see the gun she'd stored in the back of her pants, and then she turned to face Chuck fully, searching his face.

"I'm not ready, Sarah. I'm not ready to disappear."

"No, I know, I know," she said softly, nodding. She wasn't ready for him to disappear, either.

"I-I need you to talk to Ellie." His eyes darted to the side and then back at her, and he seemed to be making a genuine effort not to freak out, to be calm, to be...everything that he always was. "And to Morgan, and my friends." How could she tell him she was getting him out of this? All she could do was look into his eyes, try to reassure him. She didn't want to give Longshore any reason not to trust her until they came to the moment when she had to act. "And-And tell 'em...Tell 'em…" He swallowed hard and looked away for a moment, before looking back at her. "I dunno, Sarah. You think you're not good at saying the right things, but you are. You-You don't say a whole lot, at least not compared to me," a small crooked breathless smile accompanied that but she didn't have it in her to smile back, feeling the tears start to form, damn it. "You don't say a lot, but when you do say stuff, it's...More often than not, it's exactly the right thing. So-So maybe you can think of somethin' to say to 'em. Like, like if I'm supposed to be dead? Tell 'em something that'll make it okay, that'll make 'em feel all right."

She nodded, her eyes welling up. What could she say or do? All she could do was listen. Until she had an opening to make her move, she just had to listen to him.

"Just...make sure they know how much I love 'em." He looked right into her eyes and paused for a long time, and then his gaze flicked up over her shoulder, almost like he was waiting for something, for someone else to show up. As if he hadn't quite given up hope just yet and that was why, wasn't it? That was why every last fiber of her being ached to fight for him. It was why she yearned to be everything he seemed to think she was. "You can do that, right?" She nodded a little, feeling his hands slowly move to take hers. They were somehow warm, and they weren't as clammy as they usually were when he was terrified. They were just...comforting, his fingers sliding over hers, squeezing. She squeezed back, trying in vain to convey something, anything, that would let him know she was here to rescue him, not to say goodbye.

He was spending this last bit of time outside, before being whisked off to a bunker forever for all he knew, making sure his people would be okay, that they wouldn't suffer with him gone. And she felt like her insides were dying.

"Of course ya can," he said gently, leaning in just enough to make her knees shudder. "You're Sarah. You can do anything."

She finally smiled up at him, sniffing, resisting the urge to blink at the tears because that would mean looking away, and she didn't want to do that, not even for a split second.

"And-And hey, there's—there's a silver lining to this, you know?" he said with a wet chuckle, and she could see the tears starting in his eyes, as if the reality of his situation was finally settling in, the fear really kicking in. And still he stood here, being so purely...Chuck. "Because...because we're not workin' together anymore. You-You won't… You won't be my handler, Sarah. And I'm not...I'm not gonna be your asset." He had a look on his face, then, one she didn't expect. There was still fear but there was something else. A spark of...determination. "We can go on a date. If this all...goes according to plan. Which, right now...it looks...I dunno. Just...You can—You can come by my cell maybe? And we can hang out. And you can tell me who the president is." He wanted her to smile, maybe even needed her to smile. She felt it, so she let out a breathy huff of amusement, grinning as much as she was capable of.

She subtly glanced at Longshore as she purposely ducked her head shyly. The moment was coming. She could feel the nerves in her body starting to awaken, the adrenaline rearing its head.

"And maybe…" He held onto her tighter and she felt his thumbs stroke over the backs of her hands, so tenderly that the tears threatened to fall. And then they did fall. "Maybe we can...say how we really…" He swallowed thickly and looked over to Longshore, then back at her. "Sarah, Sarah...there's...there's something I need to say. Something I have to say before all of this...before it all goes down. Whatever is about to happen here, I need you to know this...You have to know. Whether this is the last time I...I ever get to see you again or, or not." Her heart seized in her chest. "You gotta know…"

"I know," she said steadily, in spite of the tears in her eyes. They weren't in her voice. "I know, Chuck."

Of course she knew. She'd known this whole time. How could she not know when he let her see it every single day? It was a gift and a curse. It made her job, her existence so much more difficult, and yet it felt like it...saved her at the same time. It hurt her to the deepest depths of her soul to see the yearning in him, and yet it made even the most unbearable days so much more bearable.

She knew. She knew with everything in her.

There was a slightly confused look in his face then, but before he could say anything else, Longshore's voice carried across the roof.

"Time's up."

Annoyed, she glanced over at the frustrated, impatient agent. They'd gotten longer than a minute. And that meant it was almost time to make her move.

Sarah turned back to Chuck, her hands still in his. She let out a rough breath, licking her lips. This was it.

"Goodbye, Sarah," he said quietly. And as he tried to slip his hands out of hers and move away to join Longshore again, she held fast to his hand and reached behind her back for her gun.

"Chuck." He glanced back at her, then seemed to notice her hand reaching back. His eyes widened. "Get down."

}o{

Where was Casey? Or Beckman? Or some agent they were possibly sending to get him out of this? What was the plan? He was almost certain Longshore wasn't a part of Beckman and Casey's plan. This was the CIA extracting him, but Casey would come right? Casey was going to show up and call Longshore off of their new NSA recruit. He'd fix it all. And then Chuck would be able to tell Sarah what he'd nearly just told her before she interrupted him.

She knew? She couldn't know. She couldn't know because Casey hadn't told her, and Chuck was sure he hadn't told her himself…

But Chuck had to trust them, both Casey and Sarah. In the last few months, that trust had gotten under his skin, melded itself to his bones, and he knew to believe what they were saying to him. He knew inherently to listen. So he knew Casey wouldn't let him down.

And that was why when Sarah told him to get down, his legs buckled under him and he hit the ground like someone had cut the strings holding him up. He didn't know why, and it didn't matter. She'd told him to get down.

He jolted as he heard two gunshots. Looking up at Sarah immediately, he saw she was pointing her gun at Longshore, brow furrowed in confusion, and then he looked over at Longshore who now lay dead on the roof, blood pooling out from under his head. ...Had she...?

But then Sarah spun and before she could pull the trigger, her own gun was shot right out of her hand. She yelped, cursed, and hefted him off the ground. "Go! Go, go go! Staircase! That way!"

Chuck felt her hands on him, the gunshots continuing, bullets smacking against the ground at his feet. He didn't glance over his shoulder to look at who'd killed Longshore, who was trying to kill him and Sarah. He just ran, feeling Sarah almost shoving him to get him down the stairs and out of sight.

A bullet pinged off the railing right next to his hand and he screamed, throwing his arms up and half-falling the rest of the way down the staircase. Movies made it look a lot easier to run when your hands were cuffed together than it actually was, he decided as Sarah shoved him inside of the door as another bullet cracked the plaster just over his head.

"Shit!" he heard Sarah snap as she dove in after him. "Go! Go, behind here!" she breathed, yanking him behind cover and holding her finger to her mouth.

"I listened to the receiver," a woman's voice echoed through the room a few moments later, and Sarah's grip on his bicep tightened.

They both looked up at each other, eyes wide. "She knows," they both whispered. That bunker was probably the safest place for him, as far as the CIA was concerned, and maybe...considering they didn't know about General Beckman recruiting him to the NSA...they had been right to send Longshore to get him and take him someplace safe.

"Do you know how many agents are looking for Bryce Larkin…?" Sarah caught his gaze and pointed to the right, towards another door. "Go that way," she silently mouthed, and he immediately followed orders. "And all this time, the Intersect was right here," the woman continued, her voice getting closer. "Wait until my superiors find out…"

Sarah grabbed Chuck again and swung him around behind another cover. If he tried for the door, the enemy agent would spot him. And he could see her sneaking through the room with her gun in one hand, Sarah's gun in the other. He'd be dead.

"Sarah," he whispered, forcing her blue eyes to find his. "What if-What if I surrender and you run? That'll maybe buy us some time. Time for Casey to catch up." She wouldn't know the full meaning of that, not yet anyway. "And you'll be free to come back and save me. Right? Or-Or I mean, I just go into another cell than the one the CIA was gonna put me in. What's the difference?"

"Torture," she replied immediately.

He paled. "Okay, we'll shelve that idea." Even in this dire situation, the slight upwards tilt of her mouth made his heart race even more than it already was. In a much better way.

"I only have one question for ya, Chuck." The woman lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers around the gun she held. Even in the darkness of the room, through the fence he and Sarah were hiding behind, the barrels and pipes obstructing his vision, the diamond glinted mockingly on her ring finger. "Who's the ring for?"

Oh, shit. God damn shit fuck.

"She has Ellie's engagement ring," he whispered, sending Sarah a panicked look.

He watched as Sarah's gaze dropped, her tongue darting out to lick her lips thoughtfully. "Okay. Distract her." And with her usual amount of unending determination and grit, she stood up and moved away from him.

"What? How?" He reached out to try to grab her and pull her back under cover but she shrugged him off easily, disappearing from sight. What? What the hell? How was he supposed to do that without getting a bullet in his head like Agent Longshore?

His mind going a mile a minute, it didn't quite coordinate with the rest of his body, and his legs straightened themselves out so that he distractedly stood to his full height. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned. There was the agent, looking right at him through the fence, both guns pointed at him.

He screamed and ran, not knowing where he was even going. But he was going anyway. Right back towards the door Sarah had pushed him through before, back to the staircase that led to the roof.

Well...shit.

"Chuck!" the woman barked behind him, and he spun at the top of the stairs, holding his still cuffed hands out in front of him. "I'm not gonna go away."

Not that he thought she would.

"Okay look! Look, look, look. You really wanna take me in? Fine. All right. But you're gonna have to sweeten the deal a little bit," he said, backing up the last few steps and moving onto the rooftop helipad once more.

"Hey, listen...okay? The CIA? They're offering me a nice padded cell, real cush, can ya beat that?" He was just buying time, but he was gonna run out of funds real soon here. He could see how pissed she was. He and Sarah hadn't made this easy for her and she was impatient, pissed. "I enjoy a good steam, ya know? You guys think you can get me a steam room or somethin'?"

"I don't think you're really in a position to bargain, Chuck."

He spotted some movement behind her then. Her back was to the staircase, and a blonde head slowly eased up into view, that deadly agent look plastered on Sarah's face as she slowly climbed up onto the roof behind the enemy agent. Chuck did his best not to move his eyes from the agent, not wanting to clue her in on the world of hurt she was about to experience.

"I have two guns. What do you have?" she asked.

"Me."

Oh shit, that was a line. And she timed it so well…

Right before Sarah tackled the other woman to the ground with a ferocity that made Chuck think this lady was freaking done for.

Sarah rolled up into a crouch and blasted the other woman in the face not once, but twice.

But then the enemy agent brought a leg up and around to crack it into the back of Sarah's skull, swinging the other around to smash it into the CIA agent's face. It sent Sarah to the ground, landing on her back hard. But just as fast, she did an epic move Bruce Lee would be proud of, leaping straight onto her feet from her back with a mighty swing of her legs and adjustment of her weight.

All he could do was watch, though, as Sarah was punched and kicked again. He could run at them, help her, but what kind of help would he be now? If he'd already been trained, maybe…

"HEY!" Everyone spun to look as Casey appeared at the stairs, gun in hand. Chuck turned back to see that Sarah had used the distraction to her advantage and had kicked at the enemy's leg, smashing her fist into her face and grabbing her by her shoulders to spin her. "BARTOWSKI, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Casey bellowed.

But Sarah had brought the enemy agent down to the fencing at the edge of the building, kneeling over her, pinning her there and punching her. She had this.

"Move, Chuck!"

Oh. Oh, move. He was stepping to the side, spinning back to watch as Sarah was now pinned to her back, right on the edge. Oh, oh no.

Just as Casey raised his gun to shoot, Sarah got her hand around the other woman's neck and yanked her to the side, obviously having lost a sense of how far they were to the edge. The women rolled over the edge and plummeted to their doom.

"SARAH!" Chuck yelled, dashing to the edge of the roof. He felt the sickening sensation of loss before he even looked over the edge, terrified about what he would see…

But then he spotted both women painfully squirming around inside of a dumpster that had saved both of their necks. Relief rocked through him as he watched Sarah climb to her knees and give the enemy one final knock-out punch.

"Had a feeling that girl was dirty," Casey growled. Chuck turned to give him a flat look. The NSA agent just shrugged. "What?"

Chuck crawled to his knees and held on tight, leaning over the edge. "Sarah, you okay?" he called down.

She was standing in the garbage, gasping for breath, but she held up a hand. "Fine. Yeah. Can someone maybe help get me out of here, though?"

He and Casey looked at each other and nodded, making their way to the staircase and into the building. They'd take the safer route down.

Casey called in to get shawarma girl—aka Lizzie, apparently—brought in by the feds, and Chuck hoisted himself up to help Sarah climb out of the dumpster. "Maybe call the dump truck and just have them take her away in this," she groused over her shoulder as Casey got off of the phone.

Chuck kept a close eye on her as she eased herself to the blacktop and pushed her hands through her hair, still trying to catch her breath.

Sarah hadn't killed Longshore. Her gun was pointed at him...would she have shot him to get him off of that roof and away from the CIA? She hadn't been read into the NSA's plans yet. Was she prepared to do something that drastic? Take a man's life? What had been her plan in that moment before Lizzie had shown up to kill Agent Longshore instead?

And he wondered if any of that was going through her head as she choked out a cough and rubbed the back of her neck, looking pretty sore.

His phone buzzed then and he took it out to glance at it. It was Awesome, asking his "bro" where in the hell he was. He needed the ring. He was planning on popping the question soon. "Soon as in like an hour ago, bro," he'd finished it off with.

"The ring," Chuck said out loud.

"It's probably on her finger," Sarah muttered, off-handedly, even as a dark van swept in and pulled up close. Casey had his badge out immediately, they all exchanged a few code words or something—Chuck didn't know—and the agents climbed into the dumpster to grab Lizzie who was just starting to come to.

"Wait, wait," Chuck exclaimed, hurrying towards them as they started dragging the cuffed Fulcrum agent away. "Lemme see her fingers."

The agents looked at him like...well, like he'd just asked to see a Fulcrum agent's fingers.

Casey grunted and nodded at them, so they shrugged and let Chuck approach. He was smart enough not to get near her, merely looking at her hands. It wasn't there. Dear holy mother of God shit buckets to Betsy, the ring was gone.

"It's not there! It fell off her finger! Where's the ring?" he yelled in Lizzie's face, but she just spat at the ground at his feet. "Ew! Gross!" he barked at her, then sprinted around to the dumpster. "Is it still in here? How did the ring come off? Why did Awesome's grandma have such fat fingers?"

"Chuck, it's okay—"

"No, it isn't!" he said, trying to climb back into the dumpster. But his foot slipped on something wet on the side of the thing and he fell flat on his back. "Ow! …Ew! What was that? I don't wanna know, actually."

"Look, kid, we'll just find one similar enough. American tax dollars will pay for it. He won't even know it isn't the same one," Casey said with a shrug.

"The nonchalant attitude you have about using taxpayer money for… You know what? That's not the point, Casey! I was given a task by my future brother-in-law and I failed at that task!" he snapped, climbing back to his feet and brushing himself off.

Sarah finally climbed to her own feet, stretching her arms over her head with a wince and holding her lower back in pain. "You didn't fail, Chuck. You've saved lives. You've kept yourself out of a bunker."

"Have I, though? She listened to the receiver. She knows I'm the Intersect."

"You heard her, Chuck," Sarah said, lowering her voice and limping a little closer. He almost put his hand out to set it on her arm, her hip...somewhere to make sure she was okay. Part of his current panicked condition was that he thought she'd died for a full second and a half. "She didn't tell her superiors yet. She's the only person besides us and Beckman and Graham who knows about you. And she's in our custody. She's going in a dark hole where she'll never be able to tell anyone. You're safe. And free."

Not free. No. But he had a path he could take that might make him freer than he'd been the past few months. Beckman and Casey were giving him a path. And maybe...just maybe Sarah would be freer too. Whatever that meant.

Chuck just shook his head and glanced over his shoulder at the dumpster. "Look. You guys can...you can take Lizzie in. I'm staying here until I find that ring. Maybe it seems like it's just symbolic to you, and maybe that doesn't mean anything, and I get that, I don't judge you guys for it. I'd think the same thing if I were in your shoes. But I need to bring Captain Awesome that ring or I'm the worst brother to ever walk the planet. I'll agonize over it for the rest of my life, I know I will. So...you do what you have to do. I'll do what I have to do."

Casey rolled his eyes and grunted, following the agents with Lizzie. Sarah stared at him for a long time, and then she huffed and walked up to the dumpster, bracing her shoe on the groove in the side, grabbing the nasty corner, and hoisting herself up to straddle the top, half in and half out.

He just gaped at her as she took a small flashlight out of her back pocket and turned it on. Then she looked up at him, holding her hands out to the side expectantly. "I'm sure as fuck not gonna be the only one digging through other people's nasty-ass garbage to look for this fucking ring, so are you coming or what?"

Chuck grinned at her, not even caring if he looked a little dreamy staring up at her, hanging half inside of a dumpster, a smudge on her cheek, a piece of paper in her tangled hair, a look of extreme reluctance on her features.

He was absolutely positive he was looking at unrivaled beauty, both inside and out. Honestly.

And then he shook himself and cleared his throat. "Right. Yes. Right behind ya. Into the dumpster we go."

They tag-teamed the dumpster for what felt like hours, passing the flashlight back and forth, using the light from their phones, trying in vain to find the ring. Chuck nearly cried twice, frustration getting the better of him.

And he kept ignoring Awesome's texts until said texts stopped altogether. As long as he eventually showed up with that ring, all would be forgiven. He knew. That was how Devon Woodcomb operated. It was why he was Captain Awesome. But Chuck needed that God damn ring.

"Okay, I have to say it." Sarah straightened up, popping her back a little, rolling her head on her shoulders. The sun was starting to come up, the dark sky lightening just a little, pinks and purples dotting the horizon. Chuck just kept looking, his vision blurred he was so damn tired. "We're never going to find this thing. This dumpster is endless, Chuck. It's endless. And the ring could be anywhere in here."

"Okay, well...we aren't gonna find it with that attitude." He realized then how ungrateful he sounded. He was tired, frustrated, still panicking, worried sick that he'd really lost such an important heirloom. But she'd been here next to him searching for the ring for what amounted to almost three hours now. She could've left him here. And she hadn't. So he turned and looked at her. "Sorry. I actually do appreciate you. Seriously."

She sniffed in amusement and started looking again, having since pocketed her flashlight. "Yeah, I know. S'all right. I'm going to have to shower for three hours straight in pure bleach, but it's all right. Weirdly enough, this isn't my first time in a dumpster."

"That is weird."

He laughed as she smirked and threw a balled up fast food wrapped at him. "Ew!"

"You deserved it," she chuckled, bending back to her task.

They were picking at garbage methodically, still looking for it a few minutes later, when Chuck moved a pizza box and saw something he absolutely and definitely didn't need to see. "Oh, okay. Whoa. Wow. Ladies' feminine product. Okay." He turned away from it completely and kept digging. "Are you, uh, are you sure that Lizzie didn't have the ring on her?"

"When they took her away, all she had on her was the receiver." Something in her voice let him know the smell was getting to her again. He emphathized. He really did.

"Well, it has to be here somewhere then."

"Ya know, what Casey said is right. If we can't find it, we can just replace it for you. And he won't know."

"Look! Look, it was Awesome's great-granny's ring and it's gonna be my sister's, okay? It has to be that ring. Even if it's covered in coffee grounds and miscellaneous DNA." He tossed cupcake bits down at his feet in frustration.

He'd been avoiding a certain corner of the dumpster because there was a diaper there. But he felt like he'd covered every inch of his side of this damn thing except for there...and God, he'd have to touch it. He'd have to touch the diaper. It's just baby poo, it's just baby poo, it's just baby poo...no big deal…

Chuck made a grossed out sound and moved it to the side, careful not to look, and then he glanced down at the barbecue pan someone had tossed. Shifting it a little, he saw something glinting amidst the crumbled donuts. He shook it like he was in the gold rush panning for gold and caught sight of the diamond. "Oh. Oh, Sarah. Sarah!"

"What?!" she snapped.

He snagged it out of the pan and held it up in the light. "This is it! HO HO HOOOOO! I FOUND IT! I'VE GOT IT, SARAH!"

Knowing he had a shit ton of missed calls and texts from Awesome, he clambered for the side of the dumpster. "Let's go. Let's get back. Awesome's probably having a fuckin' heart attack right now."

He reached in to help Sarah out and they raced to Sarah's car.

She paused at the door. "Oh, God. My nice seats...this is the worst day ever," she groused. "My Porsche is gonna have garbage seats."

"I'll clean it myself. Deep clean. I promise," he said, and he got in, watching as she winced at seeing him sitting in her pristine passenger seat.

Groaning, she got in as well, then raced through the streets of Los Angeles back to his Echo Park apartment. When she pulled up next to the sidewalk, Chuck didn't even wait for her to stop before he tumbled out of the car, nearly strangling himself with the seatbelt.

He went straight for his window, the Morgan door, and climbed into his bedroom, stopping for just a moment to take a deep breath and pulling the ring out of his pocket. The diamond was a little smudged—probably donut grease—so he wiped it off as best he could with his tie, the only partially clean thing on him, he thought to himself.

And then he hurried out of his bedroom and down the hallway into the living room.

Awesome sat still as a statue on the couch, Ellie fast asleep with her head pillowed on his lap. They'd had their romantic night, but Awesome had missed his opportunity to propose, apparently, before Chuck's sister fell asleep. Damn it. He was late.

But better late than never, he hoped.

As he walked around the couch, Awesome turned tired, panicked eyes up to look at his future brother-in-law. He gave him the most 'what the hell' look Chuck had ever seen on his face, hands spread. He thought there was maybe even a smidgeon of anger, or more like frustration maybe.

"I'm so sorry," Chuck breathed, shaking his head. And then he held the ring up for Ellie's future fiance to see. "It might be a little dirty…" And then he tossed the ring in Awesome's direction.

He caught it and turned it in his fingers, a beaming grin on his face. "Way to go, Chuck. Always knew you could handle my family jewels. ...So to speak."

Why was he like this?

And he'd have to deal with 'this' for the rest of his life. Chuck smiled at the thought.

Ellie shifted in her sleep then, letting out a long sigh, nuzzling the pillow between her head and Awesome's lap. The abject fear reappeared on Awesome's face then as he looked down at her and froze, the ring clutched between his fingers.

"Uhh...You know, when she's sleepin' real hard like that, sometimes if you pinch her nose, you…" The other man was giving him a look as if wondering why he was even still in the room. He got the hint. "Right. Well, I'm gonna—Right. Okay."

He left through the front door this time, easing the door shut behind him. He saw Sarah was waiting there for him, right next to the door, leaning back against the wall in exhaustion. Again, she'd had the option of leaving, and she hadn't. She was right here. Waiting.

"Mission accomplished," he drawled, leaning against the doorjamb so that his shoulder was just barely brushing against hers.

"Honestly, I can't believe you pulled that off. Odds were stacked against you on this one. And by odds I mean a whole lot of garbage." She sent him an amused but bone-deep tired look.

Chuck snorted. "I can face infinite dumpsters' worth of garbage odds with you at my side." She turned and gave him a long look, the corners of her mouth turning up just enough for him. "And anyway, it'll make one helluva story at their wedding." She was silent and he turned to see she was giving him a look that very clearly said Really? Oh. "Which I'm never allowed to talk about under fear of death, understood, I have other material," he rushed out in a tired, droll voice.

But Sarah had already turned away from him, glancing towards the living room window. "You wanna…?" she asked, her quiet voice dripping with mischief.

It did something to him, and he raised his eyebrows teasingly. "What, spy? You?" he flirted.

She grinned and swung around to ease up against the window, peeking into the room. Chuck followed behind her, his heart in his throat, knowing what he'd see when he looked in… His sister was taking this big step with the man she loved, a man Chuck loved in his own way. They were adding one to their little family. And Ellie—God, Ellie was going to be so happy.

There was a lump in his throat as Sarah stepped back and let him have the prime view at the window. He felt her at his shoulder as he watched his sister say the word—one easy, simple word—and throw her arms around Awesome's neck.

Without warning, an emotional bubble popped in his chest and he let out a breathy chuckle. Relief, happiness, the knowledge that his sister was going to have everything she wanted. It was what she deserved. "She looks so happy," he muttered in a voice raspy with emotion.

"Yeah, she does," Sarah said, her voice still quiet.

There was silence between them for a few seconds as Ellie and Awesome pulled out of the hug and kissed. Ellie took the ring from him and giggled at the way it slid so easily onto her finger. That would need to be resized, he thought distractedly. He'd maybe let Awesome take care of that himself. He didn't want to be responsible for the damn thing ever again.

And he thought he was incredibly lucky to be standing here right now, that he would be around to get it resized for them if they needed him to, instead of in a bunker somewhere with them thinking he was dead or missing or something.

"I couldn't leave 'em yet," he murmured.

"That isn't something you have to worry about now, Chuck. Lizzie's not going to be telling anyone who you are."

There was something tentative in her voice, though, as if she was too tired to mask it with confidence and reassurance. She still didn't know about the NSA's offer. She thought things were going to be the way they'd been before. And he couldn't tell her now, not when they were both so exhausted, not in this moment that was supposed to be about Ellie getting engaged.

"Maybe not this time," he said. "But...it feels like they keep getting closer. Eventually they might find out about me, about who I am, what I have." And he needed to be ready. The NSA was going to make sure he was ready. "We'll have a lot more to worry about than just a receiver then."

She was silent for a good chunk of time. And then she said, oh so quietly, "Think you should go in and congratulate Ellie?"

Chuck knew she changed the topic on purpose. And she knew that he knew. She respected him enough to know that tactic wouldn't work on him. But he let it go. He had a lot more to tell her about the future of this operation and how all of them were proceeding. Just...not now.

He turned his head towards her, just a bit. "You wanna come in with me?" he asked.

There was a long pause again and he could feel her gaze on the side of his face. He was careful not to actually turn to face her and look into her eyes. He didn't know why. "Oh. It-It's family time…"

Chuck used a voice as quiet as hers to answer. "I know."

And then he moved to the door and opened it just a little, beckoning her with a bit of a smile. He wasn't going to force her to answer with words, because he knew she struggled to use them sometimes. He just paused there, and she smiled a little, looking reluctant even as she nodded.

He fought back a grin and opened the door wider for her to let her walk in first. And because he couldn't help it, when Ellie and Awesome turned to face them, Chuck burst past Sarah and gathered her teary sister up in a tight embrace. He lifted her off the floor as she squealed, then set her down again, cupping her face, using his thumb to wipe one of her tears.

His heart was so full as he saw sincere, blossoming bliss in her green eyes, in her smile. "Guess we're adding one to this family of two, huh?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Heck yeah you are!" Awesome boomed and Chuck was gathered up in a tight hug, thumping him hard on the back.

"Sarah! Oh, I'm glad you're here too!"

Chuck turned just enough to see an obviously tentative Sarah Walker hanging off to the side with a happy but slightly unsure look on her face, like she wasn't as sure as he was that she should be a part of this. But then his sister practically pounced, squeezing her tightly.

"Congratulations," Sarah said, squeezing back.

"Thank yooou!"

And then they broke apart and Sarah offered a hug for the groom-to-be, laughing as he picked her up off the ground and spun her in a little half circle. Chuck was just glad Awesome didn't pull...well, an Awesome, and say something about his relationship with Sarah. Something about adding a fourth someday. Maybe he was practicing tact, even as he knuckled Chuck in the shoulder purposely. Or maybe he was just too happy for himself right now that he didn't think about it. Either way, Chuck was super grateful.

Instead, he watched as the real couple went in to hug again, staying with their arms wrapped around one another as they faced the not-as-real couple. Chuck slung his arm over Sarah's shoulders.

"So...wedding tomorrow then, orrrr…?" he teased.

"Shut up," Ellie groused, rolling her eyes as Sarah giggled, her own arm wrapping around his waist. He felt it acutely as her hand squeeze his hip, and he pulled her in closer, leaning his cheek against her hair.

He wasn't out of the woods. None of them were...not yet. There was so much coming up. It was like being in the car on the 15 on the way to Las Vegas with nothing but rocky desert on either side of you, but seeing the tall hotel casinos and the pyramid and Eiffel Tower looming in the distance, getting bigger and bigger…but if Las Vegas was just a bunch of hard decisions and truth telling and training to be an NSA agent instead of drunken gambling and debauchery.

He was going to stay in this moment, though, for as long as he could. As Ellie dashed to the kitchen to make mimosas, as if the orange juice made the celebratory champagne more appropriate for nearly seven in the morning.

"Uh...do you think either of us should be having champagne after not sleeping all night?" Sarah asked under her breath as Awesome moved to help his newly-minted fiancee.

"Nope. But I'm just going to do it anyway and enjoy it." He didn't take his arm off of her shoulders or pull away as he turned to look down into her face. "I'm going to enjoy all of it."

}o{

He watched her leave, waving at her. Today had been close. Today had been the thing he dreaded most since she and Casey had come into his life. It also hit home how far she was willing to go to save him. Sarah had been ready to shoot Longshore to save him. She had been ready to throw her career away for him.

Chuck took a deep breath and let that settle over him. In the past few weeks they had acknowledged there was...something. She would do anything for him. He would do anything for her. This would protect her…make her mad as hell, but protect her. He had to trust that what they had could overcome this. He had to believe that she would one day forgive him. But if she didn't, he could live with it, because he couldn't live with himself if he didn't do this. He couldn't be the guy that got Sarah fired, or had her quitting the CIA. Whatever happened next, he was okay with it. He hoped for the best, but was prepared for the worst. He owed her everything, and it was time to do what was right by her. It was time for Chuck to take responsibility into his hands.

He took a deep breath and decided it was time...it was time to fix this… That, and he really didn't want to go back to the apartment right now because Awesome and Ellie might be celebrating. He walked over to Casey's apartment and knocked on the door. The door opened and Casey was standing there with a smirk on his face and a pen in hand. Like he'd expected this knock to come.

Chuck took the pen, walked into the front room, and saw papers on a desk in front of the TV monitor. General Beckman was on the monitor, standing there, with dare he say, a proud look on her face. "Are you doing this of your own free will?" He gave her a look, and she chuckled. "I do understand this is probably not the way you wanted to join us, Mr. Bartowski, but you do have a choice."

"I really don't," Chuck replied. He saw a certain look on her face. "I don't have a choice while getting to lead the kind of life I want." Beckman nodded in understanding. He wasn't sure how she could understand, unless she knew how he felt about Sarah. "For the record, I get to stay here?"

"Yes, Chu-...Agent Bartowski," Beckman replied. Chuck's eyes widened. "After you sign on, I'll tell Director Graham that you are now an NSA agent and due to NSA security concerns, only agents that currently know about the Intersect are allowed on the team."

"So Sarah and Bryce?" Chuck asked.

"There are a handful of others, all who have been thoroughly vetted by the NSA," Beckman replied. Chuck nodded. "Agent Bartowski, he's not pulling Sarah from the team. As much as I don't like some of the things Langston Graham does, he does not mess with success."

"Plus it isn't like Graham ever tells Walker anything," Casey added. "So you tell her when you're ready."

"But it should be soon, Agent Bartowski," Beckman said. Chuck nodded and leaned forward to sign, but stop and stood upright again holding the pen. Beckman chuckled.

"I have a few questions," Chuck said. He felt Casey glaring at him. "What about when the Intersect gets taken out of me, or there's a new one, or…whatever?"

"If there is an updated one, we would prefer you are the one who uploads the Intersect," Beckman replied. "If it is removed from you, you will have the opportunity to become a regular agent." Chuck furrowed his brow. "Agent Bartowski, I am under no illusion that you are what one would call a normal NSA agent. Could you kill someone for the mission? I believe so. Would it be right to try and turn you into an assassin? No. We will train you, we will make you an agent, but I would be a fool to try to stuff you, a round circle if you would, into a square hole. We need to use your skill sets that you have. Also, you watch too many movies." Casey chuckled beside him. "You have romanticized what this job is. Much of it is surveillance, and with your ability to flash, you make things much easier. I could put you in a room, have you watch multiple monitors, and give us data to make decision-making faster, better, and more effective. However, that puts you at risk. I am making you part of our...well, for a lack of better word, our A-team. You three have created this…er..."

"Strange, General?" Casey offered.

"Exactly," Beckman replied. "This strange unit that is incredibly effective. You're making Graham look like a damn genius, which I'm not a fan of, but what can we do? Agent Bartowski… Chuck...we are fighting something in FULCRUM we do not understand, and you are helping the greater good."

"Like Casey," Chuck said softly.

"And, Walker," Casey added. Chuck looked over at him and nodded. He bent down and signed all the papers. And then he stood up and looked at them. "Now what?"

"Now maybe you can go tell your partner," Beckman said, with a disapproving look.

"Uh, General, about that," Chuck began.

"Stow it, Bartowski," Beckman ordered. She grinned. "I've waited so long to say that. I don't care WHAT you two do." She drew up and looked at him. "I've had to listen to you two dancing around whatever it is you two are dancing around all this time. And you, Major Casey!" Casey's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "You are as bad as they are, driving him nuts with all your innuendos." She paused. "You three are a team now. Act like it. Major, begin his training. Bartowski, talk to your partner and…whatever else you have to do that makes this less annoying for me."

With that, she cut the feed.

"What the hell just happened?" Chuck asked.

"I think the General just told you to get laid," Casey replied.

Chuck stood there a second staring at the spot where the General had just been. "I'm an agent." Casey turned toward him but Chuck was staring straight ahead at the monitor still. "I'm an agent."

"Christ," Casey muttered.

"Don't freak out."


A/N: This is fine….this is fine….SC! Is this fine?

It's fine, David. Please review, folks. It means a lot! Thanks!

-SC and DC