A/N: Well, we've reached the end of the road. No shootouts or bombs exploding here, just a warm fuzzy send off for Chuck and Sarah. I wanted to thank, one last time, all those who have reviewed and/or PM me about this story. Speaking of incredibly supportive reviewers, there's a phrase in the third paragraph that is taken straight from David Carner's brilliant Life Unexpected/Expected series, but with his express permission.
Epilogue: Chuck versus Barbie Part 2
"You know," Ellie said to Sarah as they sat on the riverbank watching Chuck and Devon pack up the raft, oars and cooler following their trip down the Class IV whitewater section of the river, "I've done a number of these type of trips with Devon-and on the rare occasion Chuck. But I've never had as much fun as on this trip. It was so great to have you here with me."
Sarah felt an immediate sense of satisfaction at hearing the compliment from Ellie. Ellie's remark made it sound as though Sarah had come along to accompany Ellie rather than Chuck. In a way, she had. Sarah had always admired how disarmingly genuine, intelligent and accomplished Ellie was. Sarah had both reveled (on a personal level) and regretted how quickly Ellie had welcomed Sarah into their family. Sarah hadn't realized how much she was missing such acceptance in her life, but felt self-contempt at the way she was forced to continue to repay Ellie's openness and caring with lies and deceit.
Sarah was also, truth be told, a little intimidated by Ellie. Ellie had not only accomplished so much in her own life, but also shaped the incredible man that Chuck Bartowski had become. Ellie was big sister, surrogate parent and confidant-at least until the Intersect had invaded Chuck's life, bringing with it the CIA's and NSA's best agents, not to mention lies, intrigue and far, far too frequent brushes with death and serious injury. Ellie would be madder than a baptized cat if she ever found out about Chuck disarming bombs, getting shot at, jumping out of a plane, getting pushed off a balcony while tied to a chair with Casey…
As with any conversation with Ellie, Sarah felt a swirl of emotions. There was the challenge of trying to intellectually match up to such a formidable woman. There was the sense of pride at not only being accepted, but embraced by the other woman in Chuck's life. Then there was the sense of guilt over her role in deceiving such an inherently good person, and the greater guilt at forcing an equally inherently good person in Chuck to do the same, against his personal nature.
"I have to ask you something," Ellie continued a moment later, shifting her intense focus from the men to Sarah. Sarah involuntarily stiffened momentarily. She began to mentally review the day's events to try to identify any possible slip ups that Sarah or Chuck may have made. Did she show off skills beyond what a frozen yogurt vendor would be expected to have? Had Ellie managed to spot any of the "just in case" weapons that Sarah had stashed on their trip in order to comply with the Agency's 30 foot rule? Were she and Chuck acting differently after the huge step their relationship had (repeatedly) taken during their safe house adventure?
Sarah and Chuck had rushed to pack their bags to head out with Awesome and Ellie shortly after returning from buying-and repeatedly breaking in-one of the new off the books safe houses. The house was tucked away on a backroad in Hollywood Hills, bordering up on Griffith Park, an underground passage would be built from the basement of the house into the park. Aside from being an ideal location close to Burbank in case of another attack on Castle or a threat to the apartment in Echo Park, the house was also postcard quality picturesque.
(Three days earlier)
Sarah had known from the minute she saw it that it would be theirs. The only problem was that she had liked it so much that she wanted it to be theirs. But a safe house wouldn't be a safe house if she and Chuck were living in it year round. It wasn't a fancy mcmansion like some of the nearby houses owned by tv and movie stars. The natural growth trees around it provided privacy from nosy neighbors. The bungalow with wood walls and a cedar shingle roof seemed perfectly situated in the copse of trees that took up much of the property. The location on the side of the Santa Monica mountains also provided a gorgeous view over greater Los Angeles.
While the house didn't have the white picket fence and red door of her deeply buried childhood dream, it was comfortable and cozy. In other words, it was perfect for Sarah Walker, while also meeting the security requirements of Agent Walker. It helped that Chuck had loved it as well.
Chuck and Sarah had played deeply in love newlyweds at the realtor's office during the closing. Sarah had surprised Chuck after they signed the multitude of papers to buy the property, when she had rushed to the Porsche and driven to a storage facility instead of heading over to the house. Chuck had been further surprised by the moving van parked at the storage facility that Sarah had pulled up next to, quickly jumping behind the wheel of the truck. They had just as quickly driven off the the house.
Sarah was practically bouncing up and down with excitement when she put the truck in park in the driveway to the house. "Let's go look at our new house, Mr. Carmichael!" Chuck was starting to come to the realization that she was as excited about this private time as he was, as impossible as that sounded in his own head. She then jumped out of the cab and ran around to the back to roll up the back of the moving van. Chuck poked his head around to see it filled to the top with furniture and furnishings for the safe house that were all stored behind a huge king size bed, which would have to be taken out before anything else could be accessed.
"Don't you mean the NSA's new house, dear?" Chuck had said in a teasing voice as he helped Sarah move the bed frame into the master bedroom.
"Chuck," Sarah responded while turning all of her attention to the lanky man who she had decided was her future. "The NSA officially knows nothing about this house. They have no record of it, and-more importantly-no surveillance in it, on it or around it. Now, did you want to have a discussion about the deed to the house, or did you want to get this bed made so that Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael can properly christen their new home as a wildly in love newlywed couple would?"
In hindsight, she was glad that they had already put the bedframe down, as Chuck would have definitely dropped it on hearing that, and a trip to the emergency room was definitely not on the agenda for things Sarah wanted to do in their new home. "The box with the sheets and pillows is next. Then you can carry me over the threshold, and we can get in the bedroom and admire the view." She started laughing when she saw how fast Chuck could move when properly motivated.
Two hours later, she and Chuck were sampling the vegetarian pizza (no olives) from the nearest pizzeria. The boxes with food for the pantry, as well as every other box, was still in the back of the moving van. They had needed to refuel before trying to move the rest of the belongings into the safe house. They decided to enjoy the pizza while watching an incredible sunset, before they would begin the work of actually unloading the truck. The next morning they finally made it outside to actually begin unloading the rest of the van. Who knew sunsets could be an aphrodisiac? Although he denied it, Sarah was pretty sure that Chuck was limping slightly. A grin spread across her face when she remembered which particular event likely caused the injury.
After unloading the rest of the boxes and furniture from the moving van, Sarah had given Chuck a massage on their bed. By the time the "massage" ended, they had showered and climbed into the van to drive back to get Sarah's Porsche before heading for dinner. Early on in the massage, they had agreed that there was no harm in waiting to move the boxes and furniture out of the foyer for the next time they visited the safe house.
The following morning, Sarah decided that waking up next to Chuck was only topped by waking up next to Chuck in a secluded, surveillance-free bungalow in the mountains. She was already looking forward to their upcoming trip to Cambria to buy a beachfront cabin-the second of their ultra-secret off the books safe houses. Having seen the photos online of how romantic that house was, Sarah was confident that the progress in their relationship would only continue to develop. Hopefully they would have good weather for viewing the sunset over the Pacific from the bedroom window. Then she could compare the romantic effect in the mountains compared to beachfront.
She wanted to talk to Chuck about suggesting to Beckman that the getaway weekends and couples rafting trip would signal to the outside world that their relationship was progressing quickly to the next level. She wanted to come right out and tell Chuck that they should move in together, but even thinking such a step was huge for her. It was easier to pretend that they needed to sell it to Beckman. But she was sure that after how much closer they were that she wouldn't be content any more with just the occasional sleepover-or a surveillance monitored sleepover.
She had to figure out how to convince Beckman to discontinue surveillance in the apartment once she moved in. There was no way she was allowing that part of their relationship to stagnate. Judging by the goofy grin that had been on Chuck's face, she was highly confident that he would be amenable to a more permanent sleeping arrangement. Especially a more permanent sleeping that was surveillance free.
(Present day)
A blush graced Sarah's cheeks as she recalled their moving day celebrations. As Sarah did a mental review for any mistakes during the rafting trip, Ellie broke the silence, "What is up with Chuck and the pink Barbie life jacket?" As a laugh slid from Sarah's lips, Ellie continued, "I mean I always have encouraged Chuck to look his best, especially now that he's out and about with such a beautiful girlfriend," Ellie nudged Sarah with her shoulder. "And don't you worry, I'm already after him to get a haircut. It's getting a little on the long side, and will start making those funny animal shapes before you know it."
Sarah frowned at the last part. She happened to think that Chuck looked brilliant with long hair, and secretly loved to run her fingers through the curls at the end when they would cuddle up on the sofa for movie nights. This was especially true when the movie night was a "cult classic" which usually meant a lot more nerdy than Sarah would choose, so his curls provided a welcome distraction from the film.
What was the normal dating protocol when it came to deciding about a boyfriend's hairstyle? As his girlfriend, did she have veto rights over his appearance, or did that decision still rest with Ellie as his big sister/surrogate parent? Sarah's causal arrangement with Bryce had been much simpler, although infinitely less special. The only time either made any comment about the other's appearance was when it was based on how best to achieve mission parameters, not personal preference.
"But his hair aside," Sarah let out a relieved sigh as Ellie shifted the conversation, giving Sarah time to try to find out what "normal" was when it came to dictating a boyfriend's style, "what kind of a bet did my brother have to lose to wear a Barbie lifejacket in public?"
"Actually," Sarah responded, oblivious to the soft smile that appeared on her face as she looked to Chuck, "it was Chuck who bought the life jacket, and Chuck who decided that he should wear it today."
Ellie Bartowski was a highly observant individual. It was a necessary skill set in her given profession. Ellie was pretty confident that Sarah wasn't aware of the look of love that she would get when she would speak about Chuck during the couples weekend, letting her guard down. Back when Jill had been in the picture, Ellie had watched her carefully as well. Chuck had been infatuated with the beautiful, yet nerdy, woman. But Ellie hadn't thought it was real love-or maybe she just hoped that it wasn't love. But Jill had never let her guard down around Chuck, never truly embraced being part of a couple with him.
Although Ellie had been relieved when things had ended between Chuck and Jill, she hadn't been happy. Not when the end result was Chuck going through so much pain. But those dark days were well in the past now. It had taken far longer than she expected, but she knew that the experience with Jill, with all of the betrayal and pain, made this experience with Sarah so much more special. Ellie had to work hard to school her own features as she looked at the special woman who was so completely and utterly besotted with Ellie's little brother.
Ellie knew that Chuck Bartowski was a great guy. She also knew that Chuck himself didn't realize how great he was, but she saw that Sarah clearly did. She also knew, as she watched Chuck and Sarah share a secret smile, that someday in the not too distant future that great guy was going to marry the great girl seated on the ground beside Ellie.
Ellie felt a warm glow at that realization. For the longest time their family had only been her and Chuck. Then Devon Woodcomb had come along, not just sweeping her off of her feet, but going out of his way to befriend her nerdy baby brother. Despite Chuck's protestations, Ellie refused to think of Morgan Grimes as family— well, maybe a second cousin three times removed. But their family had grown, and it now included a woman that Ellie was already thinking of as her sister.
All they needed was a scrap of paper and a ceremony to make it official. Ellie knew without a doubt that Sarah was "it" for Chuck, and had been thrilled to realize that Chuck was "it" for Sarah as well. A little push here and there might help the two of them along the way to making things official. At least the two of them had finally stopped with the "it's complicated" crap. Of course it was complicated. Love always is.