Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any one from the show Chuck, I just wrote this story.

Okay, this is the vague prequel to my previous oneshot called Casey and Sarah vs the Final Mission. This loosely details some of the missions that led up to it and basically helps develop their relationship.

I am going to comment to those who reviewed the oneshot:

Vandevere- Yes, I agree, Casey needs a real girl. Yeah, I think by that point Chuck and Sarah won't be that close. This is an AU after all.

Ricky- You most certainly are not. I think that Casey and Sarah just click sometimes. I was also pleased that I managed a fight and a love scene at the same time. It worked out great.

Julie- Yeah Sarah/Chuck are cute but Sarah/Casey have these amazing moments of chemistry sometimes that I can't resist. Yeah, I know that these are short but sometimes I just can't write a lot in one sitting and it becomes easier to keep up with if it is nice and short for me.

Iamdarthrevan- wow, you are ridiculous! This is a Sarah/Casey fic! There's no way I am gonna stop! Chuck and Sarah are cute but this story is all about Sarah/Casey! Jeez! If you don't wanna read that ship, don't read my story!

Sorry if the grammar sucks, I wrote it kinda fast. (Edit: The grammar did really suck, but hopefully that is no longer the case as I just went back and reworked this chapter. For more on what I mean about this rework, read the bottom author's note.)

Okay! I hope you like my story!

Tap tap tap

John Casey was an impatient man. He, as a rule, would wait for no one. He never cared about the excuse or the occasion; he simply hated waiting. Now, however, he seemed to have no say in the matter, so wait he must.

He stood outside an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, tapping his foot roughly on the hallway's cheap carpet. Beside him stood his mission, Charles Bartowski, or Chuck as the man often insisted. Casey, however, tended to mentally call him the Intersect. It helped the agent compartmentalize so as to separate the mission from the lanky and sometimes whiny Nerd Herder. Right now though, his fellow Buy More employee was not the only member of the team annoying him.

"God, what is taking her so long?" He grumbled as he began tapping his foot even harder.

Chuck started nervously and exclaimed, "Could you stop that? Please?"

Casey merely scowled at him in answer so Chuck turned back to face the door, giving up on controlling his most reluctant babysitter. "She's coming alright? Just give her a minute."

Casey growled, "It's been ten already and we don't have time to waste to wait for her to finish dolling herself up. We have to be there by 8:00 if we want to have any hope in intercepting the swap and that's not even counting the time we need for prep work and briefing."

Chuck knew all this already and had heard all this on the last two missions. He was positive Casey just enjoyed grumbling.

Now was not the time to point that out though, so instead Chuck tried a different tack. "Well, she's the one that will be doing the distracting so she's probably just making sure everything is set. Besides, doesn't she have to be absolutely convincing and alluring if we want to intercept this big mega swap you guys keep talking about?"

Casey sighed. He didn't wanna admit it but the kid had a point. If he wasn't so annoyed he might have even said so. Instead he just grunted in response. It wasn't a full surrender though, so Chuck continued, "Unless you can pull off distracting a group of super important arms dealers with your body alone?"

Casey groaned in agony. Why did he have to be stuck with the nerd? He just heard from a contact at the NSA that Aarons, an old friend in the academy, had just been assigned a mission to infiltrate a model society and stop a string of murders. Casey doubted very much that stopping this particular murderer wouldn't involve going out with at least one of the super models on the island. But where is Casey? He was stuck waiting outside a CIA agent's apartment with the world's most awkward human brain-trust.

Before Casey could begrudge his circumstances further, the door finally opened and Sarah stepped out. She wore a low cut black dress with feathers around the hem and a few on the neckline. Her medium-length blonde hair was fluffed to hang seductively around her face. With smoky eyeshadow and red lipstick, her makeup was something of perfection. Even Casey couldn't deny how striking Sarah looked and it showed. Sarah smirked satisfactorily when she stepped out and said to the boys, "You two better close your mouths or you'll stick out at the club."

Casey hadn't even noticed that his jaw had dropped but he was quick to close it in an attempt to hide his attraction to Sarah's appearance. The trio then went downstairs to their waiting surveillance van. The drive to the club was passed in silence as Casey was busy driving, Walker checking the equipment and Chuck tried to remember his role for the night while chowing down on his "mission sub sandwich" that he'd packed for the occasion.

When they arrived at the club where the deal was set to happen, Sarah took point to remind the others of their parts. "Okay, so I go in with Chuck and we say that we are the heirs to the Bartlett Company. Since the actual heirs don't get out much it's the perfect cover. Once we show them our ID we shouldn't have any problem getting to the meeting. And Casey," she turned to the NSA agent sitting in front of them, where he was facing them, "You are the-"

"-I know, I know," He cut her off, waving his hand impatiently. "I'm the help. Quick question: why am I always the one manning the bar? How come Bartowski here never has to serve drinks?"

Chuck looked offended. "That is not true! Remember that time we investigated that elite Russian agent group? I had to serve the drinks then."

Casey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, for a minute. That was right before you got pulled into a Russian fiesta and were praised as the guy's second cousin, once removed."

"But I still had to serve the drinks," Chuck added though he was less confident now.

"Guys!" Sarah interrupted. "That isn't important right now. All that matters is the success of this mission. If we manage to get a hold of that list we might be able to take down several underground crime rings. Besides, has any one else noticed that I am always the one who has to distract the severely unattractive men? Honestly, I'd like to see you two try that."

"Let's just go," Casey groaned, regretting starting that particular conversation.

Dropping the subject, the three stepped out of the van and checked their comms one last time. Casey nodded to Sarah as a sort of salute. It had become a tradition of theirs when they started a mission and they split up- a passing of a torch. The nod said "Look out for Chuck", "Good luck", "I'll be on comms if you need backup" and more. He didn't even remember who started it and when. They may have their differences in operating procedures but they had their nod.

He felt more confident about the mission when she nodded back with her signature game face. The nod between them meant the mission had officially begun. He nodded once more to himself as he watched Sarah and Chuck stride purposefully towards the entrance. He intended to give them a head start before going around to the service entrance. First things first, he wanted to see them safely in the building before following. Also, even if Walker annoyed Casey on occasion, John couldn't help but admire her determined walk.

Casey shook his head to rid himself from distractions and muttered to himself, "Stay focused, Casey. You have a job to do."

Despite his words, he couldn't stop his eyes from following the agent and the Intersect as they made it the rest of the way to the building, past the bouncer and into the bustling club. The door closed behind them and Casey made himself refocus once more as he began to make his own way across the street.

He had a mission and that's what mattered, he reminded himself.

It was then that all plans went out the window as the club exploded.

Author's Note: The first chapter is over. And if you liked it you have to review!

I will only tell you if Sarah and Chuck made it out okay if you review!

(Edit: This chapter has been re-edited in 2015 since it was originally written in 2008. So if you happen to be rereading this and it seems different, that's because it is. I just found a lot of issues with grammar and the usual mess you find when you reread a fic you wrote in ninth grade after you've graduated college with an English degree. So anyway, changes abound in tone, dialogue, grammar and so on. I just wanted to improve on what was there so there you have it. I hope it is better now. I also edited the oneshot I wrote for Sarah/Casey. Next up on the editing block is chapter 2!

If you like the changes or just enjoy the fic in general, review!)