I don't own Chuck. Actually, I don't own much of anything.

I posted chapter 8 a few days ago. The site messed up and it didn't show up as updated so nobody has read it.

This is not new content. In fact, it is almost ten years old.

Look, I get that interest in things Chuck has waned. That's as it should be. So, while I'd always love to hear from you, I'm not doing this for hits or reviews. I'm doing this for me. Hopefully you can enjoy it as well.

Playing Scrabble

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Chuck stretched his arms in the air as he loudly yawned. Having a full time job at the Buy More, not to mention the full time job of missions being the human Intersect was a lot to handle. Add to that the new full time job of keeping Sarah's seemingly insatiable sex drive under control, and it wasn't leaving a lot of time for sleep. At least he was in the cage today. He probably wouldn't be very effective with customers anyway.

Being awakened at four in the morning by that rat bastard, Bryce, and the four, no wait five, strenuous workouts with Sarah had conspired to make him unusually tired. Even the several cups of coffee hadn't helped all that much. On balance, probably no one would feel all that sorry for him. But he was still tired. It wasn't helping that the clock was agonizingly dragging. When he last glanced up at the clock, it was only ten. He felt like he had already been here for ten hours and it had been only two.

They were going to have to talk to Beckman. Having to do this mind numbing job every day while worrying about the night's mission, wasn't only not working… it bordered on cruel torture. He understood that the Buy More was a good place to hide the Intersect. But there had to be something else. Beckman wasn't very sympathetic to personal concerns, but he could make a reasoned argument that she might accept. Of course he would have to leave out the part about Sarah's insatiable sex drive. Beckman probably wouldn't be all that interested in that. Or rather, she'd be very interested and put a stop to it.

At least in the cage, Chuck had time to think. As he stopped to contemplate his mood, he felt several different emotions. One of the main things in his head was fear. This was the most dangerous mission they had ever attempted. Sarah was going to be in the cross hairs of that danger, like she usually was. Those Fulcrum guys were ruthless. And their target was one of the Elders. Who knew what they knew… or how they knew it? If they suspected something, things could get very bad, very fast. She'd be basically on her own for a while. They wouldn't know the location until they tailed her there. So even if it wouldn't tip them off and blow Sarah's cover, backup couldn't get there in time to do her any good.

Another emotion was anger. How could Bryce barge in and say those things? Chuck had held off pressing Sarah about her relationship with Bryce. They were clearly a couple once… but what kind of couple? Sarah called it a hookup between spy partners. But he saw them kissing in his bedroom last Thanksgiving. That wasn't a kiss between two spy partners. Maybe it was time to press her for the truth a little. Sarah said that Bryce was jealous of him. That was hard to believe. Bryce never had a problem with the ladies. But even if it was true, he had no right to lash out at them like that. And the way he treated Sarah? That was simply unacceptable. Chuck vowed to himself that he would never treat her that way again. Not only that, there was the high probability of him ratting them out to Beckman. When he asked Sarah about it, she laughed and told him not to worry. What did she know about Bryce that had her so sure?

But if he was being honest, overwhelming those other thoughts was pure bliss. Yesterday had marked a significant change in their relationship. Sarah was fighting her demons and thinking about the future. She was talking about their kids, even suggested that he propose. That was a wonderful surprise, at least so soon.

Even their lovemaking… last night was different. Before, Sarah took charge and it was hard and fast… ripping clothes off… at least it started that way. Last night was gentler. She actually allowed him an opportunity to set the pace. Chuck's style was to slowly ratchet up the passion until it was white hot… and stay there for as long as possible. They were definitely learning to take the time to truly enjoy each other.

It was funny. He expected to be intimidated in bed by the goddess that Sarah Walker represented. But the truth was, he was anything but. Unlike the other women that Chuck had been with, he seemed to know exactly what to do with her. Gone was the awkward clumsiness that had dominated his other experiences. And Sarah? She was the strong, silent type. She was John freaking Wayne. At first she was obviously biting her lip to avoid showing her feelings. That had changed. Now she openly moaned her pleasure. Chuck loved to hear that. Every move that she made was simply perfect.

They just clicked… in bed and out. It was a testament to their undeniable chemistry. Of course he found her incredibly attractive, who wouldn't? But it was more than that. It was comfortable and exciting at the same time. Chuck could tell that Sarah had relaxed as well. She was much more comfortable and at peace. Whatever the reasons, it was fantastic.

Of course there were still complications… and here came one walking by, right on cue. "Damn, Bartowski," Casey growled as he passed the cage. "Are you telling me that I have to live with that look on your face all the time now? What did Walker do to you last night anyway?

Realizing in horror what he had just said, Casey tried to retreat. "No," he said quickly. "Forget that I said that. I don't want to know."

Of course, Casey dished out barbs at him regularly. So if he expected any mercy, well he wasn't going to get it. Chuck refused to let him off the hook. He took a moment to pretend to consider the question. "If you must know," he said. "We stayed up all night playing scrabble. Sarah is the best scrabble player I could ever imagine. The way she handles those letters is amazing. Casey, she can come up with words that would just defy imagination. She has this thing where she holds the letter, holds it, holds it, makes you almost scream in anticipation, them bam, triple word score. Every time we would end a game, she would beg me until I would agree to play another. I think that her begging for the next game was the best part. We played four, no wait five times last night."

Bull's eye. Casey extended his gun to Chuck with the handle forward. "Bartowski," he said. "What part of, I don't want to know, don't you understand? Either shut the hell up or shoot me. It's your choice."

As Casey walked away, Chuck got in one last parting shot. "I don't know what it is about hot chicks and scrabble," he called. "Carina asked me to play last night too. Too bad, she's not nearly as good of a player as Sarah is."

Chuck chuckled to himself. Target engaged and destroyed. At least Casey wouldn't be bothering him any more today. Of course he would want revenge. But that was part of the game they played. He glanced up at the clock. It was only another hour before he could go over and see her. Let's see, that's only 3,600 seconds.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck finally was walking across the courtyard. He could see Sarah through the window waiting for him. She had lunch waiting for both of them sitting on a table. Well lunch might be an overstatement. It was a wiener and a soda. Too bad Lou was pissed at him. He was dying for one of her deli sandwiches. But she'd surely spit on it. That kinda limited their lunch options within the courtyard. Anything except for wieners and they had to drive. He fought the urge to run. After all, he had to maintain some level of dignity. But it wouldn't be undignified to walk fast… so he picked up his pace.

As usual, Sarah's smile lit up the already bright room as soon as she saw him. "Hi," she said.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't a great conversationalist. But the loving kiss more than made up for it. "Hi, yourself," Chuck said. He put his arms around Sarah's waist and squeezed. "I really missed you."

Sarah laughed. "It's only been four hours since we were in the shower together," she teased. "But I know just what you mean. I missed you too. It's great isn't it?"

Maybe the Orange Orange was starting to grow on him. "I can't tell you how sexy you look in that uniform," Chuck said. "Do you think we could sneak back to your place for a minute? I'm not really all that hungry." Of course, he was teasing. Sex wouldn't be remotely possible for a while… even with a goddess. Before now, he would have bet a lot of money that five times in one day was impossible.

Sarah knew he was teasing… about going back to the room. Her place was too far away for lunch. If they wanted a quickie, it would have to be in Castle. Under current circumstances, that wouldn't be smart. "Down boy," she teased. "As much as I admire your enthusiasm, I think I may have created a monster here. I'd love nothing better but we don't have time. We'll have to wait until after work. We have a few minutes before we have to be at Casey's."

"Okay," Chuck sighed, thankful that she hadn't called his bluff. At least he would have some time to recover.

Sarah looked at him for a long moment. "Damn you," she teased. "Now you've got me thinking about it. How am I going to work all afternoon? Look at me. The teenage boys are going to be all over me today."

It was a miracle. One look at her chest poking through and he was suddenly recovered. Now he knew exactly how the boys felt. "Tell me about it," Chuck replied with a grin. "I don't have any teenage admirers, but I think I put about five hard drives in one computer."

Sarah's smile turned evil. "I think I know how that computer feels," she said. "The drives were very hard. If it's like me, it can't wait for the sixth… um… hard drive… very hard."

What was it about her that got him so fired up? Now this was serious. Chuck shook his head. "Okay," he grumbled. "This is cruel. You either need to stop saying those things to me or take me home and do something about it."

"Sorry," Sarah giggled. Of course, she didn't look in the least bit sorry. "We can wait, I guess."

"There is actually something serious I need to talk to you about," Chuck said.

The tone of his voice got Sarah's attention. "Okay," she said. "I'm listening."

Chuck hesitated. He didn't want this to come out badly. And it wasn't anything that she didn't already know. He just wanted it on record. "About last night," he said as he grabbed Sarah's hand. "You called Beckman and changed the terms of the mission last night. I get why. We have a… um, I guess you'd call it a rule. I can't get jealous on missions. Sarah, I don't want it to seem like I'm just obeying a rule. I want to make sure you understand how I feel about you using your… umm, your assets on a mission. I get that's a huge part of your training. You're an incredibly beautiful woman and making men lust after you leads them to make mistakes. I would never want you to feel that your hands were tied behind your back because of me. So this isn't me following any rule. This is what I honestly feel. I don't want you to not do the things you need to do because you're worried about how I feel. Now don't misunderstand, I still think there's a line that nobody should expect you to cross. I just want you to be safe. I really don't care if you come home with a couple of extra fingerprints or show some guy who isn't going to survive the night some skin. Just come home, okay?"

Sarah nodded. How sweet was that? He wasn't fooling anyone. That was hard for him. It would be hard for anyone… but he also meant every word. How could you not love him? "Okay," she said. "That means a lot to me. Thank you for understanding."

Chuck laughed. "At least, now you'll be able to work this afternoon," he said. "I think I've effectively put out the fire."

Sarah shook her head. "Trust me on something," she said. "You didn't put out anything. In fact, you just poured gas on that fire. The teenagers will be talking about this day for months."

Indeed, her high beams were suddenly extra visible. "The boys are in for a treat," he teased. "Does this always happen to you?"

Sarah shook her head. "Only when it's you," she said. "Make sure you come over and pick me up as soon as you can after work. We'll work on identifying your fingerprints as soon as we get home. I'll show you some skin and maybe someday soon, you can tie my hands behind my back. That might be interesting."

"Come on," Chuck whined. "Now you're just being cruel."

Sarah couldn't keep the laugh in. She had intentionally calmed down the daily goodbye kiss after that first day. But it was far too late to avoid being on fire all this afternoon anyway. So she went for it. She put her hands behind his head and pulled him in. Her lips crashed into his and probed for his tongue. It didn't take much probing before their tongues were dancing for a long moment. Finally the kiss broke.

"Sarah," Chuck whispered as he could feel the red creeping up his face. "People are watching us."

Sarah knew that he wasn't comfortable with PDA. Normally, she'd try and keep it behind closed doors to keep from embarrassing him. Today she just couldn't help it. "Remember," Sarah whispered back.

"As soon as you can."

x-x-x-x-x

If Chuck thought that the morning moved slowly, the afternoon was twice as long. It didn't help that Jeff and Lester saw the goodbye kiss and started inventing ways to have fun at Chuck's expense. Their latest tactic was to give Chuck a standing ovation every time he entered a room. Anna said that it was the hottest thing she had ever seen. Even Big Mike tried to get Chuck to move it to in front of the Buy More. He reasoned that it would be good for attracting traffic to the store.

About mid afternoon, Chuck walked up to Casey. "I need to talk to you," he said.

Casey was still stinging from his defeat this morning. "Chuck," he growled. "I told you that I don't want to hear any more scrabble stories."

Chuck couldn't help but smile. "No," he said. "Nothing like that. I just wanted you to know that Bryce visited us last night at Sarah's place."

That got Casey's attention. "Larkin was there?" he asked in surprise. "What did he want? Besides the obvious?"

Chuck considered how honest to be. The truth was that Casey was right. Bryce wanted a lot more than just the mission related things. And it would be nice to have someone to talk to about it. But Casey probably wasn't the best choice. That would just give him too much ammunition to take shots. So it would probably be best to stick to spy matters. "A lot," Chuck replied. "He wanted Sarah to try and infiltrate the Fulcrum organization for a longer period. He wanted her to get inside so she could feed us as much knowledge of the organization as possible. He said that was the only way to nail them."

Casey shook his head. "That would be suicide," he said softly, mostly to himself. "These Fulcrum guys aren't stupid. Sarah will be lucky to fool them for a few minutes tonight. No way would she be able to fool them once they start checking up on her. Even worse, it would lead them to you. Please tell me that she's not going to do it."

"She was thinking about it," Chuck replied. "Bryce told her that it was her duty and you know what that means to Sarah. I had to talk a long time but I think I convinced her to stick with the original plan."

"Larkin's a dick," Casey growled. "Next time I shoot him, it's going to be in the head. Do you want me to talk to her?"

Chuck was relieved that Casey would agree with him on the risks. "I'd appreciate it," he replied. "She's feeling pretty guilty. She stills feels like it's her duty. It would help her if you could let her know she's making the right decision. It would mean a lot coming from you. You know what she's going through and she respects you."

Now Casey was suspecting that Chuck was going to take another shot. "She respects me?" he asked incredulously. "Very funny."

Chuck just smiled. "Now don't be getting all misty eyed," he said. "I said that she respects you."

"Not that she likes you."

x-x-x-x-x

The instant that the clock struck quitting time, Chuck sprung towards the door. He sprinted across the courtyard to where Sarah was waiting. After all, dignity was overrated.

Sarah was grinning from ear to ear as she watched Chuck running towards her. He barely broke stride as he grabbed her hand and headed towards the Nerd Herder. About half way home Chuck regretted that he had driven. "We'd be home by now if we had taken the Porsche," he moaned.

Sarah was having far too of a time watching his eagerness. Usually, it was her that was dragging them towards the bed. "Chuck," she teased. "You've already run two red lights. Please be careful. Passion is no good when you're dead.

Chuck thought about teasing her about warning him. He'd seen her drive. When she was in a hurry, public safety wasn't much of a consideration. "We've got about forty five minutes before we have to leave for Casey's," he explained. "I'm hoping to get in two games of scrabble."

"Scrabble?" Sarah questioned, still grinning.

"Sorry," Chuck said.

"It's an inside joke."

x-x-x-x-x

It was amazing. Even though they were headed for their most dangerous life and death type mission, it was a much calmer Intersect and his handler that drove to Casey's apartment. As it turned out, they only had time for one game of scrabble… but it went into overtime. They were really getting good at this. "Wow," Chuck sighed. "That was incredible."

Sarah could only nod her head in agreement. She didn't even have anything in her life to compare it to. She had stopped trying to figure out why they clicked so well in bed. "I'd say it was way beyond incredible," she sighed.

As they approached Casey's, Sarah turned to Chuck. "Sweetie," she said. "I'm sorry to have to end this glow. But it's time I got myself into mission mode so that I don't get killed tonight. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely," Chuck replied seriously.

"Before I do," Sarah said. "I want to tell you something. Things don't always go as planned on a mission. Even if you hear something that surprises you tonight, don't worry. I know what I'm doing and I won't let you down. Trust me?"

"Without hesitation," Chuck said. "What are my orders, Agent Walker?"

Sarah smiled at him. "Three things," she said. "Listen to Casey, stay safe, and be there when we're done. Okay?"

"Understood," Chuck said. "And Agent Walker?"

"Yes?" Sarah asked.

"I just want to tell you that you have no reason to worry about me tonight," Chuck said softly. "And if you see Sarah sometime tonight, please let her know that she shouldn't worry about me either. And, if it comes up, please tell her that I love her and I can't wait to see her again."

Sarah knew that it wasn't the time to get emotional. So she blinked the tears away. "I'm pretty sure she already knows but I'll be sure to tell her," she said.

"She's a lucky girl."

x-x-x-x-x

They arrived at Casey's just as the conference was beginning. Casey and Bryce were standing in front of the screen waiting for everyone to arrive. When Chuck noticed Bryce, his heart sank. He immediately looked to see Sarah's reaction. He didn't expect to see any… and he didn't. She was definitely in agent mode. Even he couldn't read the expression on her face.

As always, Beckman took charge. "Okay people," she said. "Let's make this short. We've got a lot to do and very little time to do it. Agent Walker?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah responded.

"I understand from our earlier phone conversation that you want to alter tonight's planned mission slightly. Is that still your intent?"

Chuck looked up and saw Bryce's smile. It was the smile of victory. He had won. Suddenly Chuck understood his real motive. Is she did this, she'd be gone for months. When she got back… if she ever did… she would be different. If he couldn't have her, nobody would.

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah answered.

"Okay. I agree," Beckman said. "It's a risk, but getting Walker into that meeting with a wire will be huge. Proceed as we discussed. Major Casey, you will take the Intersect with you and tail Agent Walker. Once you have identified the meeting location, you will notify Agent Larkin. Agent Larkin will dispatch our strike force to that location. Major Casey, while our strike force is in route, you and the Intersect will attempt to identify any Fulcrum agents in the vicinity. This is the time where Agent Walker will be in the most jeopardy with very little backup. Once Agent Walker is clear, we'll move in. Major Casey, you'll need to stay in the vicinity until the strike force has neutralized the location. We need to have the Intersect available to identify any Fulcrum agents trying to escape. That may take some time. Agent Walker will be on her own until you are able to leave the scene and find her. At that point, you can assist her in detaining Jim Smith." Beckman paused to make sure everyone understood. "Any questions? Good. Well you have your orders. I don't have to tell you how much is on the line tonight. Good luck everyone."

Bryce's look of victory had turned completely around. "Sarah," he said. "I've never been more disappointed. I never thought you'd be the one to shirk your duty."

Chuck was seeing nothing but red. This crap had to stop. But when he took a step towards Bryce he felt Casey's hand on his shoulder pulling him back.

Casey stepped up to Bryce and threw an overhand right that would have knocked down an elephant. The punch landed directly on Bryce's nose. Bryce fell to the floor in a heap, blood flowing from the obviously broken nose.

Casey towered over Bryce as he lay bleeding. "Larkin, if you ever talk to my partner that way again," he growled.

"There won't be enough left of you for an autopsy."

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