A/N: Part three is short and probably unnecessary but I thought there had to be some redemption for Carmen. Next chapter will be the last for this story.

Thank you guys for your reviews! If there's something you didn't like or didn't understand, please tell me before the end as it will be...the end.

Chapter 16:

Chuck walked Sarah back to her hotel even though she insisted he didn't need to. She was probably correct, but he did it anyway.

At the end of the evening she'd offered to show Chuck her room and despite every instinct that screamed otherwise, he declined, knowing he wouldn't be leaving if he took her up on that offer. As she closed the door on him ever so slowly with that expression of reluctance, he thought his knees would collapse and he would give in. He held on just long enough for her to disappear from sight.

For the entire walk back to his apartment, Chuck questioned whether he was capable of making rational decisions for himself anymore. Of course once he pictured her staring at him with those pure cerulean eyes, he knew he'd made the right choice.

Any moment this evening would have served to prove that Sarah loved him. There were probably people living on the street who had more to offer than he did yet the amazing and beautiful woman that she was had accepted him with nothing to his name.

And that was precisely why he couldn't spend the night with her.

Until he could return the same look in kind, stare into her eyes the same way with the same emotions, he was only going to disappoint her. And Sarah Walker was not someone who deserved anything less than the absolute.

And really, Chuck reasoned, after five years of being hung up on Jill, he really didn't want to jinx what was already an exceptional first date.

_

When Chuck returned to the apartment, Carmen was waiting for him. The smile that had been plastered on his face quickly fell and he shut the door quietly behind him. He walked over to the couch where she sat cloaked in darkness.

"It's okay," she said, her voice the softest he'd ever heard. "I know you were out with Sarah."

Chuck took a seat dutifully on the far other side. The space that divided them was not lost on either of them.

"I was supposed to watch you for a little while," she finally said.

Chuck was so surprised to hear her offer something about their past that he almost spluttered.

"We worked well together, you know?" she continued, her voice no more than a whisper. Her words were as vague as Sarah's, but Chuck knew quickly enough that they were speaking about things that should only be spoken in hushed voices. "Then you disappeared and I get a call."

Carmen's expression was pained as she swallowed the lump that built in her throat. She stared at him with the same intense look she'd given him in the car that day.

"I was so mad at you. If you told me what you were planning I would have called you naïve. Stupid. Hopeless."

Chuck gulped nervously with each insult. That would explain their first meeting.

"They had me keep an eye on you when you got back—"

"In case it didn't work?" Chuck wondered what would have happened if it hadn't. What would his life be like then?

Carmen shrugged but it appeared to be an affirmative. "You can't trust anyone, you know? We had to make sure you weren't…" She struggled to think of a better word.

"Faking it," Chuck finished, saving her the trouble.

"Yeah." Carmen sighed, her voice filled with defeat. "And…I thought maybe with her out of the picture, I had a chance."

Chuck looked at her sharply. Carmen had never struck him as the type but she looked every bit like a schoolgirl confessing a crush. It was only then he realized he'd never seen her blush before.

"But I really didn't know you, did I?" She laughed softly under her breath. "I was a terrible girlfriend, wasn't I?"

Chuck shook his head. "No. You were fine," he said. "I wasn't exactly a prime candidate."

Carmen didn't say anything. She wasn't going down that road.

"You're not showing any evidence of residual memories, are you?" she asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Chuck shook his head. "The less I know the better, right?"

"Yeah," she said, sadness permeating her voice. "You're not getting those memories back, Chuck. I wasn't briefed on the details but I know they wouldn't let you go if it was temporary."

Chuck nodded, swallowing back his bitterness. "I know." It was just as well that he didn't remember what he'd done over the last five years, probably safer too.

"I've been asked to go back." There was a pause where Chuck could have asked where, but he knew it wasn't something she would say. "Don't worry. I'm sure Sarah is more than capable of taking care of you."

Chuck had questioned Carmen's actions before but when she reach over and clasped his hand, he felt like the moment was real.

"Thank you," she breathed, her voice magnified by the silence in the apartment.

"For being such a nuisance?"

She smiled. "For making me realize I still had a heart. For making me see that I was still capable of caring for someone else." Carmen leaned in close, rapidly closing the distance between them. She lowered her eyes and it looked like she was about to kiss him. But then at the last moment, a smile broke across her face. "Don't worry, Chuck, nothing happened between us." She arched her brows. "Not for lack of trying though," she added with a smirk. "Sarah's lucky to have you."

Chuck didn't say anything. He knew better than to contradict her.