Castle Awesome 2010

Disclaimer: Some people own Chuck and some people don't own Chuck. I'm in the don't own Chuck category. If have Chuck and would like to sell Chuck to me at a reasonable price, I'm listening.

Sarah was acutely aware that something was wrong the moment she woke up. Her head jerked up and she slid her hand out to the other side of the bed. Chuck wasn't here. She pulled her gun out from under her pillow, checked the magazine and removed the safety. She pulled the covers back and put one foot on the floor when the door opened and she felt Chuck's presence in the room.

She didn't know how she could tell it was him, but she knew and she let out a breath. It had been a difficult year. Fulcrum was gone, wiped out, completely and utterly destroyed. They'd still managed to have a few brushes with terrorism, but the hardest part was that Chuck hadn't flashed in eleven weeks. General Beckman was retiring and was of the opinion that the human intersect project should be shut down. Chuck hadn't had new info updated in twenty six months and his flashes had been less and less frequent.

Nobody would tell her what was going on and Sarah was becoming paranoid. "Chuck, are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yes, I'm fine? What's wrong?"

"I woke up and you were gone…"

"I just got up for a minute, I'm fine."

Sarah let out a very large breath. "Sarah, what's going on?"

"I was just worried, that's all."

"About what?"

Sarah was worried how this assignment was going to end. She couldn't bear to lay all of her concerns at Chuck's feet. Nobody should have to hear the kind of things Sarah worried about. "Chuck…my mission here, if you don't flash soon, they'll call me back."

"Oh…yeah, I guess, that's probably true." Chuck turned on the light exposing the fact that she was holding her gun. "What did you think was going to happen?" Chuck asked nodding towards her gun.

Sarah sighed. "I'm afraid they'll grab you and put you in the cell. That they'll say they are protecting the country or something."

"You think they'd do that?"

"I wouldn't let them."

"But you think they could try."

"You believe me when I tell you I won't let them take you, don't you?"

"Yes, I've always believed you. You've never been willing to let them take me. It's one of the reasons I love you."

Sarah tucked the gun back under the pillow and knee walked across the bed and pulled Chuck to her. "I love you, too. I don't know what I'm going to do when this assignment is over… They'll reassign me…"

"You could quit."

Sarah put her head on his shoulder and hugged him tight. "I'm a spy, Chuck. What do you expect me to do, be a housewife?" Sarah realized what she said, but it was too late too take it back now. Chuck had never even talked about the possibility of them getting married, but she'd been thinking about it all the time lately.

"You can't be a spy forever."

"I'm good at this…"

Chuck cut her off. "You're great at it. But you can't do this forever, what's your exit strategy." Sarah couldn't look at him, she couldn't. "I see, so you're planning to just end up KIA and not worry about it."

"I have to assume…"

"Damn, Sarah, you aren't ever planning on being done?"

"In a few years, if I'm still alive… I don't know."

"Do you love me enough to marry me?"

"What?" She looked up at him. He was giving her a hard look. There wasn't even a hint of amusement.

"Do you love me enough to marry me, here today, do you love me that much?"

"Of course,"

"Do you want to get married?" Chuck asked.

Sarah had never had a panic attack. Ever. But her breath suddenly wouldn't come. Chuck ran to Ellie and Awesome's kitchen and was back in fifteen seconds with a paper bag. She finally managed to ask. "You're proposing to me?" she clarified.

Chuck shrugged. "I'm telling you that I love you and that I don't want to spend the rest of my life without you. I don't know what that means. We can't be married if you're going to be a spy and I never get to see you. We can't be married if you have to do things that a married woman can't do…we can't be married if I'm not allowed to know if you are alive or dead. But if you want to spend your life with me more than you want to be a spy, we'll make it work.

Sarah's voice choked. She did want to spend her life with Chuck. But she was afraid to not be a spy. It was the only thing she knew how to do. "Chuck, I…" love you. I want to spend my life with you. I don't ever want to let you go. "can't…yet."

Chuck nodded. "Okay."

Sarah blinked. Her emotions overwhelming her. "Okay, what?" she asked her voice squeaking just slightly.

"Okay, not yet."

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked.

"Well, you didn't say no, that's a step." Chuck shrugged. "I'm not giving up. I love you too much. I've waited this long. I can wait longer."

"Chuck, if I'm still a spy, we won't be together…"

"Can you come visit me between missions?" Sarah shook her head and a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"Well that just sucks," Chuck said nonchalantly. He reached over and rubbed her tear away with his thumb. "You'll come back won't you?"

Sarah tackled him. Chuck over balanced backwards and landed hard on his back, Sarah on top of him. "I love you," she kissed him. "I will do everything in my power too come back."

"Still the human Intersect," Chuck wheezed. "You aren't supposed to hurt me."

Sarah kissed him again, straddling his body. "Wimp."

Chuck slid his hand under Sarah's pajama top and gently rubbed her side. She closed her eyes reveling in the feel of his hand on her skin. It was as close to sex as they got. It'd been so long since either of them had actually had sex she wondered if this might be just as good. She moaned as Chuck began to explore further. "This no sex thing is killing me."

"God damn it," Sarah muttered. "Screw the CIA I want to have sex with my boyfriend."

She reached down and pulled the hem of her pajama top over her head. Chuck gasped and thrust against her. "You like this do you?" Chuck nodded vigorously causing her to giggle. She levered herself up so that she could slide his pajama bottoms off. "You know, I've been waiting for two years for the second half of this show."

***

Chuck and Sarah did not get up early for Christmas. Eventually, Ellie came and knocked, but they ignored her. She was nestled in the crook of Chuck's arm it stretched down her body and was keeping them pressed tightly together. This left Chuck's other hand free to explore her naked body. It was dangerous. He'd already set her off three times since their early morning wake up. Despite his protests that he just couldn't anymore, his hand kept playing with fire.

"How am I supposed to live without this?" Sarah asked.

"You don't have too…as soon as it's been too long you'll just come home."

"Home? I've never had a home."

"Where ever I am? That's your home. I'll keep the stuff that we've collected and that you can't take with you and we'll make a cover story for Awesome and Ellie and then you'll come home and we'll be together." Sarah turned over in his arms and started kissing him again.

Sarah rose up and Chuck muttered, "Again? I'm only a man, Sarah and I'm out of practice."

She giggled in response. "No, I want to go find out what Santa brought me." Sarah could just faintly detect Chuck blushing. "Wow, now I really want to know." She rolled off of him and stood up.

"You know you are amazingly perfect," Chuck announced. It was Sarah's turn to blush. She was suddenly feeling shy, knowing that Chuck was examining her. What if he found a flaw he didn't like? But she stood there and let him look. It was only fair.

"Can I put my clothes on now, its cold out here?"

"Do I get to see you again?" Chuck asked.

"Well…yeah….I'm guessing tonight. Unless you don't want to?" Chuck's face broke out into a smile so wide it must have made his cheeks ache. "Nice poker face."

"I don't want you to question my desire to see you naked."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Sarah pulled on her pajama bottoms. When she was finished dressing she walked over and hugged him again. "I'm the luckiest girl in the whole wide world," she told him.

"You certainly are," Chuck nodded. "How somebody could do so many crazy and dangerous things without a scratch… OW!" Chuck rubbed his shoulder where Sarah had punched him.

"I meant because I have you, you idiot."

"Right, I'll try and remember that."

***

Ellie and Awesome had long since finished breakfast when they got down stairs. Devon made some crack about Santa babies and got himself whacked by Ellie.

Sarah chose to forgo breakfast and took her coffee over to open her stocking. There would be chocolate in her stocking, there was always chocolate. She dug through the hair products and toothpaste and sure enough there it was CHOCOLATE! Chocolate after sex was so much better than chocolate instead of sex.

Sarah had stuffed several large pieces into her mouth and was waiting for them to melt when she realized Chuck was watching her with an amused grin. "Wha? I'mb humbree," she mumbled. When the chocolate had melted enough for her to talk again she added. "It's your fault." There were two jewelry boxes at the bottom of her stocking this year. The first one was a locket. It was gorgeous the front was adorned with a gold S and on the back was a C. She fidgeted with the clasp but couldn't open it.

Finally, she gave up slid over to Chuck. "Does it open?" She asked

"Of course." He took it from her and started pulling on the little gold pieces, pushing some in, pulling some out, then he pressed the clasp and it opened. He handed it back to her. "It's coded, so it can only be opened if you know the right combination. If you don't know the combination it's nearly impossible. It's made by a man in Simi Valley the damn thing in nearly indestructible. You'll render it inoperable before you break into it."

On the inside was inscribed just one world. 'Always' On the other side was a picture of Chuck and Sarah. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and there temples were pressed together as they looked at the camera. "It's amazing. This must have cost a fortune." Sarah looked up at him a question in her eyes. Chuck didn't have this kind of money.

Chuck shrugged. "You needed a way to keep me with you." His words crushed her. He'd already known that she would leave. He'd assumed she wouldn't stay with him. Somehow he knew her better than she did. She was agonizing over it and Chuck already knew.

She opened the second jewelry box and found a silver charm in the shape of a princess cut diamond. He took it from her and carefully connected it to her Charm bracelet. "Diamonds," he explained, "mean forever. So," he said, fingering the little C and heart he'd got her last year. "You have Chuck, and his heart, forever…"

Sarah grabbed at him and pulled her lips to his ear. "I'm coming back."

"I know you are." Chuck nodded. "I trust you."