A/N: I'd just like to thank supesfan18, uplink2, Aerox, tw200 and Doc in Oz for the encouragement to continue this. This one-shot will be transforming into a short story, at the least, that I hope will sate everyone's desire for more and answer a few questions that were left lingering including just how far Sarah will go for Chuck. As usual, no one else but me looking at this before it goes up so all errors are mine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck.


Washington D.C. - Sarah's Apartment.

Sarah Walker had widely been known in what she was now calling her Before Chuck days as The Enforcer, a wild card CIA agent who rarely stuck to the rules and always seemed to complete a mission no matter what the odds and never, ever let her emotions color her actions or let them affect hern. So it would have come as a surprise to many that Sarah Walker was about to undertake the most important mission she ever had and she was raging mad inside.

The government that had tasked itself to protect Chuck in her placed had failed, spectacularly, and because of that failure, one hero lay despondent after being sidelined by the same people who had decided that she, Sarah Walker was a liability. Because of that choice, the another hero was now missing and the incompetents that comprised the CIA's top analysts had no idea where he was except that the person who had been brought in to replace the liability had abducted him, most assuredly for nefarious purposes.

So yes, Sarah Walker was raging mad as she activated the protocol she and Bryce had dubbed Omaha. With him under deep cover in Fulcrum, it was the only way she know to contact him and any information he might have about the intersect that Fulcrum was working on would prove invaluable. The government had shown how completely useless they were at handling the situation and as she counted backwards to when she had first heard the first stirrings about Casey and the Intersect, she realized with no small amount of horror that Chuck had been gone for at least three weeks.

She sorely wished she could speak to Casey more, extract whatever shred of information he had about Forrest and Chuck.

I swear, if that bitch has so much as messed up his hair, I'm going to rip her limb from limb from limb, she thought viciously. And if Beckman thinks she can stop me, she's got another thing coming.

Sarah briefly entertained the thought that Beckman was Fulcrum herself but dismissed the notion. As impotent as the CIA and NSA analysts seemed to be when it came to the Intersect, they were probably the best at digging up the past so she doubted that Beckman could have risen to such a high position within the intelligence community if she really did have ties to the renegade faction.

Growling in anxiety and impatience as she paced the length of the room, Sarah's eyes kept flitting over to her phone sitting on the bed, almost willing it to beep or ring. Chuck was far too important to her to go half-assed into the mission so proper information and intelligence was absolutely necessary.

Her mind shifted gear and her thoughts detached from Chuck for a moment and refocused on his family. What about Ellie, what had happened to her? If Fulcrum knew that Chuck was the Intersect, and there was no denying this now, then she and Awesome were in danger. Chuck's loyalty to his family was legendary and any one of them could easily be used as leverage to help convince Chuck to cooperate.

Deciding to alter her current plan of hunting down every single Fulcrum agent that she could and extracting any and all information about Chuck from them, she quickly booked a flight to Los Angeles that would be leaving early in the evening, determined to check up on Chuck's family in his stead. This unfortunately meant she wouldn't be able to break into Casey's residence to confront him about everything that had happened but she considered it an acceptable loss.


Los Angeles, California – Bob Hope Airport

Forcing herself to not panick, Sarah reasoned that there were any amount of reasons as to why she couldn't reach Ellie or Awesome. Figuring that the NSA and CIA had already flagged her arrival in Los Angeles as a high security matter, she realized belatedly that maybe coming straight to LA with such a wide paper trail wasn't the best of ideas.

Nothing for it now, Sarah thought. I just need to make sure Chuck's family is safe, it's not like visiting friends is against the law.

Looking at the multitude of signs that hung from the ceiling in jarring neon colors, Sarah slowly made her way towards the rental counter. The overly bubbly clerk behind the counter was, according to the clerk, more than happy to help Sarah finalize the rental she had booked before flying out of D.C. But what she had not been expecting was the medium sized metallic briefcase the clerk pulled out from under the counter.

"Someone dropped this off for you a few hours ago," the clerk explained.

Thanking the clerk for all her help and insisting that she could find her way to the rental by herself, Sarah made a beeline for the restroom where, after a quick sweep, she promptly appropriated the handicap stall. Placing the briefcase on top of the seat, she stepped back and eyed the case critically, looking for any signs of a trap. She hadn't called in her trip and while she knew that NSA and CIA analysts had already picked up her departure, she doubted anyone would go to any lengths to terminate a sole agent. After all, she would be out of a job in little under a month.

Just as she was about to decide to simply leave the briefcase behind, her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket. Fishing it out quickly in case it was Bryce, Sarah frowned when she noticed that the caller ID failed to even say if it could identify the number.

"Hello?" Sarah answered warily.

"Agent Walker," an electronically distorted voice stated.

"Yes?"

"My name is Orion."

Sarah's thoughts came to a screeching stop at the name. Orion was dead, she had seen the helicopter that he was in explode in the night sky with her own two eyes. No, this had to be a trick, maybe Fulcrum was trying to grab her for more leverage on Chuck. Hanging up the phone quickly, Sarah ripped the back of it and removed the battery. She'd dispose of it later.

Sliding the stall's lock open, she paused once again as she stared at the briefcase. Deciding after a moment of contemplation, she re-entered the stall and pushed the lock back into place. She was being ridiculous, even if it was a Fulcrum trap, she was the best damn agent in the CIA. Sarah was walking into this eyes wide open and a slip up on the enemy's side could \most definitely prove beneficial in her quest to rescue Chuck.

Retrieving the parts of her phone from her bag, she reinserted the battery and turned it back on. The twenty or so seconds she waited for the phone to finish starting up, including the ridiculous flashing logo on the screen annoyed her to no end. Strange, she thought. I've never noticed it before, but ever since she had found out that Chuck was missing, her emotions and actions had been off kilter.

The moment the connection bars on the screen spike upwards to confirm a connection, her phone began to vibrate again, the caller ID once more failing to identify the caller. Tentatively sliding her finger across the screen to answer the call, Sarah exhaled slowly to calm herself.

"Please do not hang up," the electronically distorted voice said. "I promise you that I am not your enemy."

"Prove it."

"If you'll but open the briefcase I sent you, we'll be able to speak with greater ease." and before Sarah could answer, there was a click on the other end and the line went dead.

Bracing herself, Sarah slowly unlatched the briefcase that was still sitting on the lid of the toilet basin and quickly pushed it up while ducking out of the cubicle. Waiting for a second, she peered around the edge of the stall's frame and glanced inside. One look was all she needed to be convinced that the man who had contacted her was, indeed, Orion.

Sitting in the foam padded casing was a near exact duplicate of the laptop Chuck had received from Orion just prior to the arrival of Forest. She gently hefted the laptop out of the case, the metal cool against her fingers, and she was surprised at just how light it was. The ruggedized laptops she was used to were already light but this, this felt like it weighed almost nothing. Flipping the screen open, Sarah saw the laptop immediately come to life.

A couple of seconds as the machine started to light up from the internal hardware with the screen scrolling rapidly through lines of words and numbers that made absolutely no sense to her, the screen went blank before the message Stand Still appeared on it. Wondering just what was going to happen next, she was surprised by a laser grid that shot out from what she had previously assumed was the web camera and projected itself onto her.

Standing as still as she could despite having no clue what was happening, the screen remained static for a few seconds before it once again turned completely black. A message saying that the scan had successfully identified her as Sarah Walker filled her with understanding, a full body biometric scan. Sarah was officially impressed because even though she knew next to nothing about computers and hardware and electronics, it was obvious that the machine in front of her was something far out of the league of anything else she had ever used.

As Sarah watched, the screen began filling a whole bunch of letters and numbers that eventually formed what looked like the face of a man wearing sunglasses.

"Hello Agent Walker, it is good to finally speak you face to face."

"Except that's not your real face, is it?" Sarah shot back.

"Touche but I assure you, this is for the best."

"I assume this is about Chuck."

"Yes, it is. It has come to my attention that while the US intelligence community is search for him, their priority is the Intersect and not Chuck. There are very few people I can trust to put the interest of the person ahead of the Intersect. What I want to know is, are you one of those people?"

"If you're contacting me, then you already know what Chuck means to me."

The distorted image of Orion smiled at that. He was already well aware that Sarah Walker had submitted the required paperwork for her severance from the CIA. What she didn't know was that the CIA had no intention of letting her leave. The most likely scenario looked to be a burn notice, if she did not rescind her resignation. Would that change her mind, Orion wondered.

"Maybe I do, but do you know what he means to you? Does he?"

"I..." Sarah faltered. She knew that the two months away from Chuck had been amongst the most difficult she had ever endured. The fact that her thoughts would constantly flit towards Chuck was not something new, nor were the emotions she had tried for almost two years to squash.

"You'll let me know your answer when you're sure." Orion stated. "But for now, there are other things that must be done. Chuck's family is still in Burbank but they're in danger, both from the CIA and from Fulcrum.

Inside the case is a key, taped to the left side of the laptop. It opens locker 19 at the Downtown Burbank Metro Link station bike lockers. Inside, you'll find a full set of ruggedized cellphones. Distribute them as you see fit to whoever will be helping you in your endeavor.

Also inside is a set of pristine identities, completely untraceable. You know what to do with those. Good luck Sarah, for all our sakes."


Downtown Burbank – Metro Link Station

Sarah decided to huff it to the station itself after parking her car at a nearby motel and checking in. It was best to draw as little attention to herself as possible, especially given the sensitive nature of her current mission and the fact that, strictly speaking, it was a rogue operation.

No one would ever accuse Sarah of being stupid and she fully understood the implications of the mission she had undertaken at her own behest. If Chuck... When, she corrected herself, was rescued, he would be shut in an underground facility till the end of time and would never, ever have the chance to see the light of day again. When that happened, the CIA would need something to leverage against Chuck since he was, essentially, an autonomous asset. At the very top of the list was his family.

Sarah was absolutely certain that Chuck would do whatever it took to keep Ellie safe and if that meant sacrificing his own freedom, he would do it in a heartbeat. Well, she'd be damned if she was going to let that happen without a fight.

Save Chuck's family then save Chuck. Sarah kept repeating in her head, the mantra she would use to get her through the tough times that were sure to come.

Locating the locker that Orion had mentioned in one of her pass through of the station, she quickly circled back around, making sure there was no one watching her. When she was as certain as she could be that there wasn't any surveillance on her at the moment, she quickly unlocked the locker and emptied the contents into the small duffel bag she had brought along.

Next stop, Franklin Street.


Franklin Street, Echo Park, California.

After the brief detour back to her motel, Sarah made her way to Chuck's apartment. Driving at a moderate speed past the front entrance, Sarah spied an unmarked car with dark tinted windows. She could very barely make out the outline of a man in the drivers seat, though she couldn't see enough to make out what he looked like or what he was doing.

Choosing to drive by as nonchalantly as possible, Sarah parked her rental a few blocks down the road before making her way stealthily back. Her first order of business was finding out exactly how many people were watching the apartment complex.

A quick case of the surrounding area still took close to two hours thanks to how careful she had been but it was well worth it. She had identified at least three vehicles stationed at various key locations where they would inconspicuous enough to avoid detection and still be able to watch the coming and going of the apartments with relative ease.

While sneaking to and fro, Sarah also found a slight hitch in both her and Orion's plan. If the CIA, NSA and Fulcrum were watching the place, her being there could tip her hand before she was ready. Thinking hard and fast, made her way back to her car where she used one of the new phones she had acquired to contact Orion.

Orion was obviously waiting for her call because he, at least she thought it was a he, answered before the first ring had ended. Sarah quickly explained the situation to him.

"Unfortunate but no unexpected. This does make getting them to safety much more difficult, however."

"If they're just watching the place, Ellie is in no immediate danger."

"I suppose you're right. You should know, however, that the NSA has flagged your car for surveillance."

"I'm going to need your help in arranging a mode of transportation that'll at least buy me some time to get them on the move."

"That can be done but how are you going to contact them, there're going to be agents watching the sister like a hawk. There's no one else you can turn to."

Frowning at his words, Sarah pondered the situation. It was true, there would be someone watching Ellie at all times and anyone at the Buy More was out of the question, the CIA still had a substation there and would undoubtedly be watching the store. Who then... Smiling for what felt like the first time in forever, Sarah thought about the one person who was always being dismissed and overlooked in all things spy related.

"No," she replied, shaking her head even though she knew Orion could not see her. "There is another."

To be continued...


A/N: I'm actually getting a ton of ideas for this story, even as I type this sort of transitional chapter. Please let me know if you spot any errors and let me know what you think, thanks.