A/N: The last week was a bit busy for me, and I didn't have much time to write, meaning that about two thirds of this chapter was written today. It was originally intended to have more action, but it kind of ran away from me and including everything would make it too long. Still, I hope you'll like it. By the way, if you spot any glaring mistakes, feel free to message me and they'll be corrected immediately.

As always, thank you for your constant support.

Chuck saved his work with a smile and stretched as a yawn escaped his mouth. His arms were still extended above his head when he caught a movement in his peripheral vision. And then he almost tumbled out of his sinfully comfortable office chair in surprise. Stretched on his office couch, in all her glory, was his beautiful girlfriend, shoes kicked off to the side, reading a magazine.

"Sarah," he squeaked, "what are you doing here?"

"I decided to come and see you," she replied sweetly. "But you were so adorable, concentrating on whatever you were doing and I didn't have the heart to interrupt. So I just sat here and waited for you to finish."

"And I didn't even notice you come in? You've got mad ninja skills, babe."

"I'm a spy," she reminded him. Getting up, she padded over to him and straddled him as he sat in his chair. She kissed him, long, slow and with plenty of tongue. "A very happy spy," she said after breaking the kiss.

"Then I take it that today's meeting went well."

"Better than well… it was, to quote Devon, awesome. You should have seen Carina's face when she saw me sitting next to my Mom and Molly in the café. It was priceless."

"Don't get this wrong, but you sound awfully pleased with yourself."

"Why not? I got back at her for all the pranks she's ever pulled on me, including sneaking into my place, pretending to be a burglar and making me fight her."

"She dared to do what? Wasn't she afraid for her life?"

Sarah shrugged. "She's a DEA agent, Chuck. Her training was a lot like mine, so we're equals. She got over the shock quickly, though. You can guess the rest."

"I think I can," he said, holding her tighter to him. "I've been to a few family reunions."

"After I made her cry, we agreed on one thing: She and I are so going to spoil Molly rotten," Sarah laughed. "I also talked to Scooter when I went to the Double O for my shift after meeting my Mom, Molly and Carina. I told him the truth, namely the part about having regained my memory, leaving the classified stuff out, of course."

"Poor Scooter," mused Chuck. "He must be devastated to see you go."

"Oh, I'm not leaving the Double O yet. I told him I'd stick around as long as it takes to find a suitable replacement for me. I owe him at least as much. I mean, he hired me and gave me my first paycheck in advance, solely on your word. He showed considerable faith in me and I want to return the favor and not leave him high and dry."

"Just when I think it isn't possible to love you any more than I already do, you come up with a surprise like this one and, well, it makes me love you even more."

"You're such a sap, Chuck. A lovable, adorable, nerdy and handsome sap that is mine and mine only." Just to drive the point home, she kissed him. The kiss quickly deepened and was on the verge of becoming something else entirely when her phone rang.

"You better answer that," he said against her lips.

She grumbled and reluctantly pulled away from him, reaching into her jacket pocket and retrieving her phone. "Walker," she said curtly. She listened to what the caller had to say, ending the call with a "fine, call me again when you have something concrete."

"Who was it?" Chuck asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It was Casey. Apparently the NSA picked up some chatter about a meeting potentially related to our open case. When we have more to go on, he and I are going to investigate further. Hopefully, we'll soon put this to bed and then I'll be able to focus on the more important things… like my family… and the man I love…" She claimed his lips with her own again and the kiss quickly escalated to something borderline inappropriate for a workplace when Chuck's hands reflexively cupped her perfectly shaped butt.

Suddenly, he broke the kiss, causing her to growl in frustration. "Wait a second, Sarah. Did you just hint at leaving the CIA?"

"So what if I did? Let me be totally honest with you, Chuck. Before you came along, I only had my parents. They were separated and although I tried to see each of them occasionally, it didn't feel right… It didn't feel like a proper family. Now, they're back together, raising Molly, and I was also lucky enough to fall in love with a great guy. That is you, by the way. As an agent I've done some things I am not proud of, but they were necessary to get the job done. Hell, I almost died after the last operation I took part in. The months I spent trying to discover myself were hard, but also amazing, because they proved I can live a normal life. And I want that… with, your family, you, my parents, my baby sister and my friends. I'm happier than I ever thought I'd be. I'll never regret my career as a spy, because it led to us meeting."

"Ever since my parents told us how they met, the CIA kind of has a special place in my heart. My parents found each other and we found each other because of the CIA." A loud dinging sound startled him. "What the hell was that?"

"When I saw how busy you were when I got here, I thought you might be hungry when you were done. What were you working on that had you paying so much attention, anyway?"

"Um, nothing much… I was basically goofing around online."

"Chuck! I know you better than you think. Care to try again?"

"Basically, I was indeed goofing off," he insisted and swiveled his chair sideways so that they could both look at the screen. "I was checking the company's Facebook account. I make a point of checking the social media pages and respond to the users as best as I can. Today, someone had an interesting suggestion about the Nebula Gamer accounts. He thought we should add a message board for users to exchange views on the games, exchange tips and even make suggestions or requests. I think I'll pirate Manoosh away from Dad again and have him help set it up. Your turn now: What did you do while I was working?"

"I cooked," she replied proudly. "What you heard was the oven timer in the break room." She laughed at his incredulous expression. "I went grocery shopping before deciding to drop by and I thought it was a good idea to whip up something to eat. As usual, I got the recipe from Mom's blog, naturally. You're going to love it. Come on."

Crisis averted, he thought. He knew how close friends Sarah and Ellie had become and if Sarah got wind of his secret, namely finishing the last of the credits he needed to get his Stanford degree, the surprise he had so carefully planned for his family and friends was as good as ruined. She had no reason not to believe him and in any case he had been on Facebook – taking a break after submitting a completed assignment.

-o-

A few days later, Chuck and Sarah were in her apartment where they were planning to spend a lazy evening. Sarah was regaling him with stories of her day at the Orange Orange, giving special emphasis to the part about training her replacement. Things were going smoothly and she believed she would be able to stop working at the fro-yo place by the end of the month at the latest.

In turn, Chuck told her about his day at Nebula Games. He and Manoosh finally had the message board feature up and running. To make things easier for users, membership to the aforementioned message boards had been added to their accounts automatically, a move that had gained a lot of praise.

"You know, I have a premium account all set up and ready for you," he confessed at some point. "You can activate it any time you wish."

"Chuck, I'm not a gamer!" Sarah protested. "It's sweet though. But you don't need to spoil me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of everything myself."

"Believe me, I know. I've seen you in action. The offer still stands. All you have to do is pick a username and a password, activate the account and play on all our sites to your heart's content."

"For the moment, all I want to play with is you," she said seductively, running a finger down the buttons of his shirt."

"Aha! I knew you want me for my body!" Chuck joked.

"Well, your brain and your heart are both parts of your body, aren't they? Of course, the rest of your anatomy is also useful to me. Shall we take this to the bed?" She got up from the easy chair by the window and walked the short distance to her bed, enticingly shedding her white Capri pants on the way.

He shook his head, laughed and took off after her. He'd barely reached her and put an arm around her waist when her phone rang.

"It's Casey," she informed him after looking at the caller ID and accepted the call. "Walker."

"We know where the meeting is going to take place," Casey told her. "We still don't know the players, but there's a good chance one of them might be the Shaw character that was with Decker up at the lake."

"Okay," she drawled. "What else can you tell me?"

"The message we intercepted was rather vague, but it did mention someone coming or being from Rhode Island, undoubtedly some kind of code. It's going to take place at the Grand Ambassador tomorrow, under the cover of a charity costume party. The problem will be getting us invitations on such short notice. We may have to go in as staff."

Sarah knew the pros and cons of going undercover as either a guest or staff at a function. She definitely preferred to go in as a guest, since it enabled her to go pretty much anywhere and mingle with the other guests and the hosts, while staff had more limited freedom of movement. In any case, it was better to have people in both as guests and staff. She said so to Casey and he agreed, promising to see what he could do.

"Did you mention a function at the Grand Ambassador?" Chuck asked after she and Casey ended the call.

"Yes. I'll have to go in undercover. The problem is how."

"I could get us in," he said nonchalantly.

She fixed him with a steely glare. "You can do it better than the CIA and the NSA," she said, disbelief oozing from her voice.

"Hello! In case you've forgotten, I'm a millionaire and I can definitely secure a couple of invitations to such an event on short notice."

Sarah smiled and kissed him. True, he had made a lot of money, but just by looking at him no one could guess that. He lived a simple life, not flaunting his wealth and he also supported worthy causes. "I'll be even more impressed if you can get us costumes," she added.

"Do you have something specific in mind, or do you trust my judgment?"

"Any costume should work, provided I can hide a gun and some throwing knives somewhere in it."

"Then I guess the Princess Leia bikini is out," he grumbled good-naturedly. "I'll see what I can do. When is the fund raiser?"

"Tomorrow evening," she replied. "I know it's not much time, but…"

Chuck cut her off with a finger on her lips. "It's not going to be a problem. I've done more with less time available. Let me make some calls and see if I can get invitations for three. Then we'll see about the costumes."

"Two," Sarah corrected him. "We'll need invitations for two, or just for one, if Casey goes in as staff. You don't have to come. You're a civilian, Chuck."

"Two things," he said. "One, I've got the Intersect and I can more than take care of myself. Two, it's better if you're accompanied. There are lots of assholes on the circuit, looking for good looking single ladies to hook up. And there are of course the usual gigolos looking for women to leech off of. Before you say anything, I know you can scare them away with a single look, but they can be distracting. If I go with you, you won't have that kind of problem at all. So, what do you say, Sarah? Shall we go to a charity costume party as each other's date?"

"Sure," she replied. "But I get to have veto power on the costume selection, got it?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Agent Walker. So be it. I'll start making calls."

-o-

The moment Chuck showed the doorman at the hotel their invitations, they were ushered in with no problems. He had found them matching outfits, too. Tonight they were Han Solo and Princess Leia from the Moon of Endor Strike Team. He was lucky to have a suitable Han Solo outfit in his closet from Halloween a few years back and it still fit him perfectly. All he had to do was call in some favors for a friend to come up with the pants, smock, camouflage poncho, belt and helmet for Sarah. She already had a pair of suitable boots to wear. Only instead of a prop gun, she had her own Smith & Wesson automatic in her holster. At her insistence, Chuck also carried a Walther P99 in his holster instead of the Mauser Broomhandle-based prop gun from the Return of the Jedi.

"I wonder what Casey is wearing right now," he whispered in her ear when they entered the ballroom where the event was being held.

"We'll soon find out," she replied, noticing that the staff members were also in costume. Sure enough, she soon spotted Casey. "There he is," she said, discreetly pointing him out to Chuck.

He followed her gaze to where Casey was standing behind a bar. "Man, this is precious! He's Jayne Cobb!" He noticed Sarah's confused look and hastened to explain."Jayne Cobb is a character in Joss Whedon's short-lived but cult hit show Firefly and its movie sequel, Serenity. I half expected to see him as Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket though. He does look like the actor who played both Animal Mother and Jayne Cobb."

"If you say so," she said. "Keep your eyes open for anything and anyone suspicious."

"Check with Casey," he suggested. All three had miniature radio receiver earpieces on and concealed microphones for their short range radios. He heard her inquire to Casey and the big man's reply. Everything looked normal so far.

Chuck had just managed to steer clear of an annoying guy he knew from Stanford when he spotted another familiar face after snagging a couple of champagne flutes off the tray of a passing waiter and handing one to Sarah. Seeing the older man sitting at a table he had an idea, a sort of epiphany, actually.

She sensed him stiffen next to her. "Did you see anything, Chuck?"

"It may be nothing," he replied guardedly. "Casey, tell me again about the man from Rhode Island. Was he mentioned in so many words?"

"According to the transcript it was the man from RI. Why are you asking?"

"I just saw Ted Roark. He's the majority shareholder and CEO of Roark Instruments. RI might mean Roark Instruments instead of Rhode Island. It would certainly fit."

"Care to explain?" Sarah asked, curious about how he'd come to this conclusion.

"Ted Roark is a conniving bastard. He tried several times to steal patents from Dad, but without success. He even lost a major lawsuit and had to pay Dad a lot of money."

"I'll keep an eye on him and check with HQ," said Casey. "If he knows you, stay clear of him."

"He doesn't know I'm involved with the CIA," Chuck pointed out. "But I don't like him, so staying away will be easy."

Casey got back to them a few minutes later. "The plot thickens," he announced. "Roark Instruments is the company that lost the bid for the development of the Intersect to your father's company. Also, the guy he's talking to has been identified as Special Agent Daniel Shaw, CIA."

"Did you just say Shaw?" Sarah hissed. "The odds against him not being the same Shaw that was in cahoots with Decker are astronomical!"

"I know. He's also not supposed to be in LA. CIA records have him as staying in a hotel in Vegas."

"He must have accomplices covering his tracks," Sarah took an educated guess.

"Roark might recognize me, but I'm not sure anyone can recognize you and Casey in your costumes," said Chuck.

"In any case, we should proceed with caution," Sarah pointed out. "Casey, ask HQ to send you more information on Shaw." It wasn't long in coming after Casey relayed her request. According to Graham, Shaw had been a candidate for the Unit, but had been rejected as unsuitable. "Shit," she muttered. "He knows about the Unit and he and Decker also had samples of the Serum."

"Sarah, I recall you mentioning a correlation between the U Project and the Omaha Project," Chuck interrupted the two agents' conversation. "And Roark is definitely aware of the latter."

It hit Sarah with the force of a loaded freight train at full speed. "Crap! They want to create their own Intersect-enhanced Unit and use it for their own nefarious purposes!"

"For an industrialist like Roark, providing the necessary equipment off the books is easy," added Casey.

"He can provide the pods as well," she said. Casey had by necessity been briefed on the particulars of the U Project, so he knew about the pods and their use.

"This is big, all right," said Casey. "I'll call Graham and Beckman and have them sequester the Unit as a precaution. Hijacking it and, um, reprogramming its members is easier than raising one from scratch."

"Do it," she urged him. "Chuck and I will keep an eye on those two." She turned to her boyfriend. "Dance with me. It's the easiest way to stay close and not arouse suspicion." She pulled him to the dance floor and put her arms around him. Fortunately, the band was playing a slow piece and she buried her face in the crook of his neck, keeping her eyes on their suspects.

Chuck also used their closeness to hide from Roark, but the precaution was superfluous in any case, since the computer magnate had his back turned to them. He still didn't want to take the chance of Shaw recognizing him though.

"Another guy is joining Roark and Shaw," Casey's voice crackled through their earpieces. "Bartowski, do you recognize him?"

"Um, no," replied Chuck after taking a look at the tall balding man who'd joined the other two at their table and turned them to enable Sarah to take a peek.

"It's getting from bad to worse," she growled. "I know this guy. He's in the Unit. His name is Vincent Smith. He's a Lieutenant in the Army Reserve and was recruited by the CIA for the Unit. We both took part in the Philippines operation."

Just then, the band finished the piece they were playing and the dancing couples, Chuck and Sarah among them, applauded. Smith happened to glance in their direction and unfortunately got a good look at Sarah. His eyes widened momentarily as he recognized her and spoke urgently to his two co-conspirators.

"Fuck, Smith made me," Sarah cursed. Her hand went to her holster, hoping that there wouldn't be a shootout inside the crowded ballroom. Apparently, the bad guys also wanted to avoid such an occurrence and they hastily got up and made their way to one of the emergency exits located behind the nearest curtain.

"Go after them!" Casey commanded. "I'm right behind you!"

"Chuck, stay here and wait for us," Sarah instructed him.

"Like hell," he shot back. "You can't go after them alone. I've got your back."

Moving as fast as they could without alarming the other guests at the party, they made their way to the exit. Sarah peeked around the half open door and saw movement. The three marks were heading towards a back exit.

"That way," she told Chuck and Casey, who'd reached them in the meantime. Together, the three made their way cautiously to the exit door, suppressed guns drawn and at the ready. The door had not yet swung closed when they reached it. Roark, Shaw and Smith were running towards a parked SUV when Casey carefully looked outside. Smith fired his weapon and Casey took cover behind a dumpster and returned fire.

"You're too late, Walker!" Shaw taunted her and fired his gun as well. Smith had obviously told him her name. "Nothing can stop us now!"

She fired half the rounds in her pistol's magazine at Shaw, but the SUV was bulletproof and they had no effect on it whatsoever. "Shaw! You're going to die screaming... and I'm going to watch. Am I telling the truth?"

She got no answer, because they were already driving off. But she was sure he'd heard her. Her first priority was to ensure the safety of her family and Chuck's, because who knew what Decker and Roark had told Shaw.