Hi readers! I hope you all are still with me. I feel absolutely terrible for making you guys wait this long! For some reason, the second half of this chapter didn't want to come out. On the plus side, I'm pretty proud of the results, and it's the longest chapter yet! I hope you guys like it :)

The honeymoon turned into a business trip with five little words from Chuck's mouth.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I want to buy it," Chuck repeated.

"You want to buy the Burbank Buy More?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I think I do," Chuck said.

"For nostalgia?" Sarah asked. "Look, I know you and Morgan have a lot of memories there. You and I have a lot of memories there, and I'm certainly not in any position to belittle your ideas since I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life, but Chuck…you could do anything. You could do anything. Why would you want to own a Buy More?"

"It's our Buy More," he said. "It's our place!"

"Sweetheart…" she sighed. "I know this must be hard for you…"

"No, Sarah…it's ours. It's our base. It's the perfect cover," he continued. "Beckman and the CIA wouldn't have invested so much money into rebuilding it and turning it into a base if it weren't the perfect cover. The official Intersect Project may be over, but all of that about the Buy More is still true."

"Maybe, and it was a great cover, but sweetie…we don't need a cover anymore, remember?" she sighed, hating it as much as he did.

"What if we did?" he asked.

"What?" she asked again.

"Okay, so I just thought of this about ten minutes ago, so this has absolutely no development to it yet, and I'm kind of just making it up as I go along, so just go with me, okay?" he rambled. She nodded.

"Okay," she agreed.

"What if I told you that I think I might know of a way that you could still be a spy? Would you be interested in that?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, of course, but…by purchasing the Buy More?" she asked.

Chuck held up a finger and made a 'not-so-fast' noise. "You said you'd go with me."

Sarah nodded firmly. "Sorry," she said. "Shutting up."

"By purchasing the Buy More and everything underneath it," he said. "We have 877 million dollars. We buy the Buy More and Castle, use some of our money to re-outfit it, and open our own intelligence agency. You and me…together…with Casey and Morgan, of course."

"Freelance spies," she muttered, a smile forming on her face.

"We go into business for ourselves," Chuck said.

"Our own business…" she said softly.

"Yes, but…what are you thinking? You know more about the business side of this spy stuff than I do. Is this even possible or is it just a pipe dream?"

"Well…" Sarah said, thinking it over. "We do have all of Volkoff's resources at our disposal. We have a base. We have an excellent cover. We'll have to come up with a plausible cover story as to why we bought the Buy More, but that should be easy enough. We'll need a lot of equipment since the CIA probably wiped Castle clean, but…this might work."

"So you're on board?" Chuck asked. "Because this is our money, so it's our decision."

"Well, there's a lot to talk about before we do anything, but I'm definitely interested," she said with a smile.

"And I'll need permission for full disclosure," Chuck said. "No more lying to Ellie."

"Of course," Sarah agreed. "She might even prove to be an asset if she can get your Intersect back."

"You think she could do that?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know, but she's brilliant. She knows more about the science behind it than any of us do," Sarah said. She bitterly added, "I'm sure the CIA would've fired her, too, if they could."

"Who needs the stinking CIA?" Chuck said, hoping to avoid another angry anti-CIA rant from his wife. "We don't need them to be spies!"

"Yeah!" Sarah said, her enthusiasm growing. "They can take our badges away, but we're still the best spy team in the country."

"Maybe even the world," Chuck suggested.

"We'll show them," Sarah said.

"Mrs. Bartowski, do you agree to not quit the spy life and go into business with me?" Chuck asked with a grin.

"I do," Sarah smiled. "Mr. Walker, do you agree to not quit the spy life and go into business with me?"

"I do," he said. They crashed their lips together for a long and fiercely passionate kiss. When Chuck finally pulled away, he grabbed his phone and asked, "Cancel the dinner reservations?"

She nodded. "We have a lot to talk about."

They started their conversation full of excitement and in fantasy land, marveling over the promise of life without federal orders, punishment suspensions (because, they knew, they had had more than their fair share's worth of those,) and jumping through the government's hoops. They could choose their own missions, make their own decisions, and work wherever and with whomever they wanted. Chuck was even growing excited over owning the store he once wasn't even sure he wanted to assistant manage.

At some point during the conversation, Sarah had swapped her bra for her pale yellow nightie, and Chuck had stripped down to his boxers and a thin white t-shirt. Chuck sat against the pillows and the headboard on the bed as they talked, while Sarah lay sprawled across the middle of the mattress on her stomach. During a lull in the conversation, Sarah suddenly shot up, moving to her knees to face Chuck.

"Do you think the CIA will block the sale of the Buy More?" she asked.

"Why would they do that?" Chuck asked. "Could they do that?"

"Because it's us, and from the sounds of it, we didn't exactly leave things on such good terms," Sarah said. "And they're the CIA, Chuck. They can do anything."

"They won't," Chuck said with confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked.

"Because it's the Buy More," Chuck said. "They'll take the first decent offer they get because nobody should ever want to own a Buy More."

"Unless they have an ulterior motive," Sarah grinned.

Chuck winked. "Exactly."

"They'll see right through that," Sarah said, her face falling again.

"I've worked there since 2003, Sarah. Purchasing the store with my newly acquired money might just come off as establishing job security for myself now that I'm newly married and hoping to start a family someday," Chuck said.

"Let's hope," Sarah said. "This Decker character won't be too pleased when he finds out what we're up to."

"No," Chuck agreed. "And hey, there's our cover story! Bad economy to be looking for a new career…purchase the Buy More for job security."

Sarah shrugged. "Works for me."

The conversation quickly turned to their team. Bringing Casey into their new business was a given, and Sarah agreed that even Morgan had proved himself useful a time or two.

"Do you think Casey will like our idea?" Chuck asked.

"Are you kidding? We're going to tell him he gets to keep shooting people. He'll be thrilled," Sarah said. "And Morgan stays in place as General Manager?"

"Yes," Chuck said immediately.

"Is it weird that it's not one of us?" Sarah asked. "Doesn't management usually change when a store is under new ownership?"

"Maybe, but I can't take that away from Morgan," Chuck said. "I'm much more comfortable in my Nerd Herd position anyway. Maybe we can make you co-assistant manager."

Sarah looked mildly horrified. "What?"

"By name only, of course," Chuck said. "You wouldn't have to actually do anything…and you would look pretty cute in the uniform."

"The uniform?" she asked.

"Gray pleated skirt, yellow button-down, Buy More vest," he said. She raised an eyebrow at him as she could practically see his mind drifting back into fantasy land. "You could strut through the store in your cover outfit, like you used to, and I could sneak away from the Herd desk and whisk you off to the Home Theatre Room…or the storage closets…you know, like old times."

"I knew you were riding on nostalgia here," Sarah said, shaking her head.

"Maybe a little," Chuck admitted, focusing his mind back on the present.

"I believe I did most of the whisking anyway," Sarah grinned.

"You're a woman who knows what she wants," Chuck said with a wink. His face softened into a lovely smile and he added, "And yet, you're just going along with my completely random, totally not-thought-out, spur-of-the-moment dream. You're amazing."

"Chuck, it's my dream, too," Sarah said. "I'll admit you surprised me with the Buy More thing, but it's great. You and Casey and Morgan are the best team I've ever had."

"Better than the CAT Squad?" Chuck asked slyly, having heard several more stories about the formerly ferocious foursome at their wedding.

She laughed. "So much better than the CAT Squad. None of you are traitors…that I know of, anyway, and with four women…things could sometimes get a little…well, for lack of a better word, catty."

Chuck shrugged and put on one of his adorable grins. "Plus with your new team, you get to come home with me."

"Yeah, well, not having that with the CATs wasn't for lack of trying on Carina's part," Sarah muttered.

"What?" Chuck squeaked. Sarah just glanced up at him with an amused look that was almost daring him to ask her if she was serious or not. "Okay, I don't know if you're kidding right now, but if you're not, I'm not sure I needed to know that!"

She simply kept grinning at him and flopped back onto her stomach.

They talked logistics of a freelance intelligence agency well into the night and the following morning, filling page after page of the hotel complimentary notepads with things they didn't want to forget. They finally stopped when Sarah seemingly lost the ability to remember something they had just discussed. She managed to make her way up to the top of the mattress, but they fell asleep amid written notes and plans and a reminder for Sarah to call her lawyer once they woke up.

Chuck woke up late that morning, which amounted to only a few hours after they actually went to sleep, to find his wife sprawled over three-quarters of the bed. His leg ran into a stack of rumpled papers containing their doodled plans from the night before as he stretched against his small corner of the mattress; he quietly snuck out of bed to gather everything together and give his muscles a proper stretch. They had fallen asleep on top of the covers, so once Chuck was through cleaning everything up and putting their notes somewhere safe, he collapsed in between Sarah's spread legs and gently rested his chin on her cotton-covered stomach.

When the extra weight against her middle didn't wake her, Chuck grabbed the pale yellow fabric that had bunched around her hips in her sleep and peeled it from her skin. Pushing it to just below her waist, he pressed his mouth to her belly in a kiss. He gently nipped and licked her flat stomach until he felt her stir. Sarah awoke on a small giggle and used her elbows to push her upper body off the mattress.

"Hey," she mumbled in a voice heavy with sleep. Chuck looked up at her and laughed as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Whoa, someone's not ready to be awake," Chuck laughed.

"If you know that, why did you wake me up?" she muttered.

"Because I don't want to be alone," he said.

Sarah let herself fall back onto the mattress with a groan and snuggled into her pillow. "Chuck, we stayed up until after four A.M. talking," she said. "That was only five hours ago."

"I know," Chuck said.

"We haven't done that since we started dating," Sarah reminded him. "And I needed more sleep then, too."

"We were planning our futures," Chuck said. "I think it was time well spent."

They shared a smile, and Chuck began stroking her hips as she tried to slip back into sleep. He slipped a finger beneath the top hem of her panties, caressing the strip of skin where the material had been resting, and she popped one eye open to shoot him a look.

"Chuck," she warned. "So not awake enough yet."

He slid her panties a little down her hips and kissed her newly uncovered skin. "Are you awake enough for me to kiss you?" he asked.

She sighed, burrowed further into her pillow, and mumbled, "Yeah…" in a very unconvincing tone.

He chuckled against her stomach, sending vibrations through her body, and she lifted her hips, allowing him to pull the white lace down her legs.

"If you fall asleep while I'm doing this, I swear…" Chuck muttered against her.

"I won't," she promised, threading her fingers through his hair.

He reached up and grabbed her hand, tangling his fingers up with hers. Chuck moved their joined hands to the mattress so they were resting against the side of her hip. Their fingers played together as his mouth caressed her, and Sarah kept her eyes closed, lazily chanting his name. He kissed her until she stopped shuddering and then moved up the bed to snuggle beside her as she caught her breath. Sarah turned her head, and the couple shared a steamy good morning kiss.

"Hey," she whispered again.

"Hi," Chuck said, smiling as he gave her another little peck on the lips.

"Do you want me to return the favor?" she asked, sliding her leg against his.

Chuck wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face into the space between his shoulder and his neck. "Maybe later," Chuck said. "That was about you."

They were quiet for a while, simply basking in the comfort of being wrapped in one another's arms. Sarah broke their tranquility by suddenly turning and reaching for her phone.

"Oh, I have to call the lawyer!" she remembered.

"Okay…if that's what you want to think about right now…" Chuck muttered.

She shot him a look. "It's already late enough in California, and it's Saturday there! I should've called earlier," she said.

"How did you become so tight with this lawyer anyway?" Chuck asked, fearing the answer he knew was almost certainly coming.

"Oh, Graham set me up with him years ago," Sarah shrugged as she scrolled through her contacts list. Chuck sighed.

"And there it is…" he muttered. "It's a CIA lawyer? Sarah!"

"Oh, he left the CIA years ago," Sarah said with a wave of her hand. "We're okay. Are we ready to do this?"

"Make the call," Chuck nodded.

Sarah waited while the phone rang. Once the lawyer answered, she identified herself and apologized for calling him at home on a Saturday evening. She told him she never would've done that otherwise, but her reason for calling was a bit urgent. Her jaw dropped open after she had paused to allow the lawyer to respond. Chuck watched with interest.

"No, I'm not looking to get out of my marriage already!" Sarah exclaimed.

Chuck frowned, deciding that, between that comment and the pre-nuptial agreement this man had drawn up for Sarah a few weeks before their wedding, he was not going to be this lawyer's biggest fan. Sarah rolled her eyes and waved her hand at Chuck again, telling him not to dwell on it.

"I'm calling because Chuck and I need your help," she continued.

She switched the call to speaker phone and gave the lawyer the abridged version of their dismissal from the CIA, their extraordinarily generous wedding present, and their new desire to purchase the Burbank Buy More from the CIA. Chuck filled in the blanks as need be, frowning again as the lawyer chuckled at the prospect of the formerly supreme Agent Walker buying an electronics store.

"You want to buy the Burbank Buy More from the CIA?" the lawyer laughed. "What are you playing at, Walker?"

"Nothing!" she replied. The lawyer's silence on the other end of the call told Sarah that he knew better than to believe that. She sighed and, with a grin, said, "Okay, look, the less we tell you at this point, the better. Can you do it?"

"Anything for you, Sarah," he said. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes," Chuck said immediately.

"Yes," Sarah said.

The lawyer promised to look into it and make procuring the store for his newly-married clients his top priority. Sarah thanked him, apologized again for the hour at which she was putting in her request, and ended the call.

"So now we wait?" Chuck asked.

"Now we wait," Sarah confirmed.

"I don't like that guy," Chuck told her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "He's kind of like Graham. He's…protective of me."

"Well, I guess I can understand that," Chuck said. He kissed her cheek, stroked her arm, and rolled onto his back. He shot her a grin and said, "You can return the favor now."

Her mouth dropped open again, this time on a laugh. When she had finished laughing, she swung a leg over him so she was straddling him and placed her hands on his chest.

"Is this my payback for the impolite things my lawyer said?" she asked.

"You bet it is, baby," he replied. "And also, you know, because you offered."

Sarah leaned down and kissed him, stroking the inside of his mouth with her tongue. Chuck raised his head off the pillow to meet her for the kiss, his hands on her lower back and neck to hold her in place against him.

"As you wish," she smiled, reaching for his boxers.

Their lawyer called back as they were getting ready to leave the hotel a few hours later. Despite the late hour in Los Angeles, he had utilized some of his old CIA contacts to uncover the asking price for the Buy More and needed to talk finances with Chuck and Sarah. Within an hour, they had decided on amounts for an offer, a counter-offer, and a maximum they were willing to spend. With a promise to make an offer first thing Monday morning, the lawyer said he'd be in touch.

Chuck and Sarah went to a restaurant reminiscent of the one they went to on their first date. Sarah wore a brown sundress, her hair loose around her shoulders, while Chuck wore a dark blue button-down shirt and a pair of nice jeans. They were sharing an appetizer when Chuck commented, "Your mood has brightened considerably since our last meal out."

She smiled. "I have a lot to be happy about. This is proving to be an excellent trip."

"You didn't think it would be?" Chuck asked in surprise.

"I didn't expect it to be quite so eventful," she said. "And…I have to admit, I am getting a little anxious to get home."

"You are?" Chuck asked.

"Start our business, redesign Castle," Sarah said. "I mean, I know it's not ours yet…"

"It will be," Chuck interrupted. He paused and said, "Sarah, do you think we'll be okay…you know, as business partners? We haven't really considered that."

"Well, why wouldn't we be?" she asked, taking a moment to contemplate that herself. "We've been working together in some capacity for our entire relationship."

"Yeah, but we had Beckman to keep us in line, and now with us in charge…let's face it, you and Casey are much more professional than Morgan and I are," he admitted. Sarah chuckled. It was true. Chuck continued, "I just don't want us to turn into enemies, you know?"

"I think we'll be all right, Chuck. I mean, I'm sure we'll disagree sometimes, but that would be true whether we were going into business together or not," she said. She winked at him and said, "We'll be okay."

The formerly white clouds in the sky started down pouring just as Chuck was signing the credit card slip to pay for their meal. The sound of the rain suddenly pounding hard against the roof caused both of them to slowly look up. They looked back at each other with alarm.

"We walked here," Sarah said.

"Yes, we did," Chuck said.

After checking out a radar and realizing the rain wouldn't be stopping in any period of time that was acceptable for trying to wait out the storm in the restaurant, and after becoming thoroughly soaked during a few failed attempts to hail a cab, they decidedly to simply make the most of the rain storm and walk back to their hotel hand-in-hand. They were almost there and passing the entrances to the beaches when Sarah suddenly began pulling Chuck towards the sand. He pulled right back.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trust me, Chuck," she smiled.

They continued holding hands as Sarah led them down the beach, stopping when they were just a few inches from the spot where the rough waves were crashing against the shore. Sarah tossed their shoes back behind Chuck and told him to sit. Chuck sat down on the sand and she sat close to him so the lengths of their bodies were touching. She slung her legs across his thighs, and they snaked their arms around one another.

"What are you doing?" Chuck asked again.

"You have been incredibly sweet and romantic with me this entire honeymoon, so if you want a sexy, romantic moment on the beach, I want you to get it…even if that water is way too cold," she said. "We're already drenched now anyway."

Chuck captured her lips in a hard, passionate kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth as soon as she parted her lips on a slight gasp. Her hands cupped his face, sliding against his slippery skin as he continued to kiss her hungrily. Chuck clutched her thigh underneath the darkened, clingy fabric of her dress, the sand from his fingers scratching against her skin.

"I know it's not quite From Here to Eternity," she breathed, panting lightly in his ear.

"It's better," he groaned, seeking out her lips again.

The rain fell around them as they leaned into another series of hot kisses, moaning as their lips connected again. He pulled her onto his lap, and she moved to straddle him, resting her bare legs on the sand beneath them. She deepened the kiss, tasting the rain and something so wonderfully Chuck. Their bodies were rapidly becoming coated with the sticky, wet sand they sat on, so Chuck and Sarah slowed down to let their heated make out come to a natural end. Chuck reveled in the little noises that escaped Sarah between each soft kiss, and he clutched her wet hair as he pulled away, placing his lips by her ear.

"I wish I could make love to you right now," he whispered, stroking her bare upper back with his free hand. "Right here. On the beach. In the rain."

Sarah moaned at the prospect and leaned her forehead against Chuck's, eyes closed, hand still wrapped around his cheek. "I don't think that would be very smart," she said, recalling the patrol car she'd seen at the top of the beach. With a wicked grin, she added, "But in the rain on our balcony might be kind of fun."

"Let's go," Chuck muttered, pulling her in for one more kiss.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review if you've got some time!

Also - as just a little informal poll - how do you guys feel about authors changing their names on this site? I've been thinking about changing my name here to match my Tumblr name, but I know there's a bit of a notoriety thing here, and I don't want to lose all my readers. So...I'm just curious. Does an author changing their screen name completely throw you off?