Chapter 21:

Chuck had nearly forgotten the way Sarah could make him feel; really—all hairs standing on end, heart through the chest, fall to your knees—feel. The sensation of her fingers running through his hair was intoxicating; the sweetness of her lips was a drug. And though their reunion was tinged with the salt of tears, it still felt as close as he'd ever know to heaven on earth.

She kissed him slowly at first, savouring the moment like the last piece of chocolate or bite of Crème Brûlée, relishing the taste of his mouth on hers. Her fingers wrapped around the curls of his hair and she laughed softly in his ear as she nuzzled her cheeks against the roughness of his chin. Chuck relinquished all control, allowing her to dictate the pace. His needs were simple. He just wanted her, every inch of her.

But as they tripped and fumbled their way down the hall and into the bedroom, he could feel the dynamics change. She was no longer teasing when she kissed him; the exchange grew deeper in its complicity, its demands. She clung to him, her hands desperately seeking out the touch of his flesh, but it was the look in her eyes. The fear that this could at any moment end, that gave rise to Sarah's urgency.

"Sarah," he whispered, gasping for breath. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," she said, but her kisses were no less frantic. "I know. I just—"

There was a knock at the door.

Sarah laughed softly as she nibbled at his ear. "I just missed you, Chuck."

"Sarah..." He tried to get in the rest of his sentence but she was doing everything in her power to distract him. "Sarah..."

There it was again. He was sure of it.

"Sarah..." He broke away from the kiss. "Sarah, I think—"

"You need to stop thinking."

As tempted as he was, Chuck couldn't let it go. "No...no..." He captured her face and pulled her close so they saw eye to eye. "Sarah...I think there's someone at the door."

She looked at him like she didn't understand. Then as if to prove his point, they both heard an unmistakable rap at the door.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked, noticing at once the change that came over her.

"It's okay, Chuck," she said, but there was an urgency in the way she slipped her clothes back on. "Please don't be frightened."

"What? Why would I—" As if to answer, he heard the distinct sound of a gun being loaded. "Where did you—" Chuck stopped himself. "Right, you have one…I forgot."

She cast a worried glance his way and then looked guiltily down at the weapon in her hand.

"I'm sorry," she said briskly. "I'll see who's at the door."

Her words rang all sorts of alarm bells in Chuck's mind. He fell out of bed trying to catch up to her. "Wait! I'll come with you—"

"No!" she hissed, pushing him firmly back. "It's too dangerous!"

"Sarah! I'm not going to let you go out there alone."

"Chuck—"

"Sarah, I don't remember how this used to go, but I'm sure you do. And I'm sure I did not sit back and let you face danger alone."

When she pursed her lips, Chuck knew he had hit a bull's-eye. It was a war of wills and when the pounding at the door started up again, she finally relented. "Fine but stay behind me," she warned.

Seeing her with gun in hand, Chuck wouldn't dream of disobeying the order.

.

Chuck was forced into a crouching position behind the door so he had no idea who it was on the other side until he saw the flicker of impatience in Sarah's eyes.

When Chuck heard the voice, his suspicions were confirmed. "Jill's alive. We've got her but there's still no sign of Chuck."

"I know," she said, setting her gun down. She flipped on the hallway switch but held fast to the door, barring entrance.

"How?" Bryce demanded, his tone full of barely concealed anger. "Sarah, I told you not to do anything stupid—"

Sarah glanced at Chuck behind the door and gave the slightest nod. Chuck smiled and got back onto his feet, peering over the edge of the door.

Bryce jumped back, looking as if he saw a ghost. Brows furrowing deep in concentration, the man pushed his way into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Chuck?" he whispered, staring in disbelief.

"Surprised to see me?" he asked, standing in his week-old clothes. Bryce was immaculately dressed as always, but for some reason Chuck still felt like he could hold his head up high.

"Why didn't you call?" Bryce demanded, turning his attention to Sarah. "You could have saved us hours of searching."

Sarah clenched her jaw. "I would have," she said tersely. "Eventually."

"We're sorry," Chuck added. He placed a steadying hand on Sarah's arm, squeezing it gently as a warning.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Bryce," Sarah finally said, though she sounded more annoyed than anything else. "I should have called earlier. We were distracted."

Bryce grunted, not completely satisfied with the answer. "I'm sorry too. I didn't think we'd see our old friend again."

Chuck flinched. The reminder of events past left everyone in an awkward silence.

Bryce looked over the two of them, his hand combing through his neatly gelled hair.

Don't be a jerk, Chuck reminded. "Do you feel like dinner?" he asked.

Bryce looked relieved by the offer. "Yeah, that would be great."

Chuck looked down at his wife. "Sarah?"

She had one of the strangest expressions on her face. "Depends on what we're having…" she said. Chuck wasn't sure what she meant by that, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.

_

"Pancakes!" Chuck announced, setting the first stack down on the dining table.

"For dinner?" Bryce asked, looking dubious.

"Well there isn't anything in the house except for pancake mix," he responded, nearly wielding his spatula as a weapon. "What were you expecting?"

Bryce shrugged. "Steak? Mashed potatoes and gravy?"

Chuck wrinkled his brows. High expectations indeed. "Sorry, Bryce, nothing of the sort here." He double-checked with Sarah and she smirked, looking terribly pleased for someone with such a meagre meal.

"Well, this is all we have. Take it or leave it," Chuck said. "There's another batch coming up."

Bryce's arms remained crossed and he eyed the slightly burnt, irregularly shaped slabs of dough with suspicion.

"Your loss," Sarah said, ignoring the utensils set out and using her hands to lift the first one off the stack. "Chuck, wait up!"

She followed her husband back into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as Chuck attempted to flip a pancake using the momentum of the pan.

"Are you sure it's safe for you to stand there?" he asked, grimacing as the pancake flipped in the air and landed half in-half out of the pan.

Sarah suppressed a laugh; her cheeks bulging with food. "Do you want me to try?"

"I am quite capable," he said, his eyes fixed in concentration.

She rolled her eyes. "Clearly," she said. "Hurry up, I'm starving." She stole another pancake from the bottom of the stack, biting off more than she could chew.

Chuck glanced worriedly at her. "Sarah…why isn't there any food in the fridge?"

She shrugged her shoulders but he saw behind the aloofness. "I ate it all."

"Down to the last ice cube?"

She finished the rest of the food in her hand in two bites. "Down to the last ice cube," she confirmed. Her eyes were bright with daring and Chuck knew he would never win the argument. But it only served to confirm what he already knew—that he had been a complete and total idiot for ever doubting his wife.

Pushing the dark thoughts aside, he focused on his cooking.

"I never knew you liked pancakes so much," Chuck remarked, handing her another.

She smirked at him, her mouth too full to reveal a wider smile. "Yeah, who would have thought I'd miss your cooking."

The banter had started out so innocently, but in an instant the light in her eyes had faded. Chuck realized even though they felt comfortable enough to talk about the past, it would never bring them any happy memories.

"Here," he said, lifting the pancake off the pan with his spatula. "Hot off the press—" Chuck spun around too quickly and the floppy flat-cake slumped off the end of his spatula, falling to the floor.

He cursed softly under his breath for being such a klutz. "Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Sarah said and lifted the pancake off the floor, folding it in her hands.

"Sarah! There's plenty of other ones; throw that away."

The blond haired woman wrinkled her brows. "Why? This one's perfectly fine."

"Don't put that in your mouth," Chuck warned, pointing with his spatula. "It came off the floor."

"Five-second rule," she said and took a defiant first bite. "Besides, the floor's clean enough to eat off of."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Since when?"

Sarah laughed, nearly spitting up pancake pieces. She wouldn't say, but Chuck did notice that the tiles were cleaner than he remembered.

"Since always, Chuck. Pay attention."

_

Talk was short at the dinner table. Sarah wasn't in nearly as playful of a mood when seated beside Bryce, and conversation steered decisively towards the situation at hand.

"We have Jill in a holding facility. She'll be transported back to D.C. as soon as we have the flight arranged."

A smidge of guilt crossed Chuck's mind. Jill had been caught because she trusted him. Because she had waited for him.

"Chuck?" Sarah's hand hovered over his. "You okay?"

He nodded absent-mindedly, afraid to let on that he might care for the accused. "So what happens now?"

Bryce sighed, clasping his hands out in front of him. "Well now we try to take down as much of their organization as we can. They're still at large."

"I could show you where they kept me. It's in the industrial district about an hour's drive away…"

Bryce shook his head. "It's too late. They'll have cleaned the place out; it won't even look like they've ever been there." He raked his hand through his hair, allowing the longer strands to spill in front of his face. "With any luck we'll get her to talk."

Sarah arched her brows. Bryce caught the look and shrugged. "Yeah, I know," he acknowledged.

Sarah picked at her pancake, her expression severely subdued. Chuck looked at the two of them, too oblivious to understand the implications of what this all meant. He didn't even know who Jill worked for or what they were after.

"So we have no idea where they've gone," Sarah said. Bryce seemed to confirm her suspicions with his silence.

The blue-eyed man sighed, running his hand through his hair. "We're back to square one."

Sarah put her half-eaten pancake down, refusing food for the first time this evening. If nothing else, it was a sure sign that things looked grim.

Bryce finally broke the news. "Sarah, once they hear Chuck's back they'll want him underground."

Sarah raised her brows. She didn't resist.

"Sarah?" Chuck caught her gaze, but her expression left nothing to look forward to.

"It's okay, Chuck," she said, rubbing her temples. "We'll figure this out."

"No. Who's they? Why do I have to go underground?"

Bryce slammed his fist onto the table. "Don't you get it, Chuck? These people aren't going to just let you go. They're going to hunt you down."

Chuck looked to Sarah but her silence seemed to reiterate his meaning exactly.

"You spent two weeks with them. You've seen their operations," he reminded.

"No!" Chuck held up his hands defensively. "No, I didn't. They put me in a room in front of a computer all day. I never saw anything."

Bryce didn't look convinced, and Chuck knew if he couldn't even convince his friend, he had little chance of convincing the powers that be.

"It'll be temporary," Sarah said, gently taking his hand. "It is the safest thing to do right now."

Chuck couldn't be appeased though. "What about Ellie and Awesome? What about my friends?"

Sarah chewed at the corner of her lips, her eyes filled with indecision.

Bryce beat her to the punch. "They'll be fine. Don't tell them anything. The safest thing for you to do is to disappear."

"NO!" Chuck was surprised to hear Sarah's voice join his in unison. Bryce too.

"No," Sarah repeated, easing back down into her seat. "We'll take them with us."

"No!" Bryce stared at her as if she had gone insane. "Sarah, you know we can't. You can't expose Chuck's secret."

Chuck clutched his head in frustration, feeling ready to tear out his hair. Secrets, this was all about secrets. Secrets he kept from his family, secrets Sarah kept from him, secrets he'd hid from Jill—

"Oh my God."

Sarah leapt out of her seat. "Chuck? Chuck, what's wrong? Are you alright?" She ran to his side and hovered, just short of shaking an answer from him. "What's wrong? Does your head hurt?"

Chuck had to take a minute to calm himself. "Yeah..." he said slowly. He held Sarah still, seeing as how she seemed to need the assurance more than he did. "Yeah. I just realized something."

"Like what?" Bryce demanded.

"I wouldn't have to go underground if you caught these people, right?"

Bryce didn't answer him.

"Chuck?" Sarah asked, her brows peaked with curiosity. "What is this about?"

Chuck licked his lips, still trying to figure out how to explain the whole situation without sounding crazy.

"You said you didn't know where they've gone—"

"No. And any trace of them will have been wiped by the time you lead us back to their facility," Bryce reminded tersely. "We're wasting time here," he said, standing to his feet. "Pack your bags. We have to go."

"No." Chuck jammed his hands into his trouser pockets, standing his ground.

Bryce did a double-take, then realizing that Chuck was serious, bared his teeth. "What do you mean no?" He looked to the blond for support. "Sarah, you know I'm not playing around here. We have to go."

Sarah's shoulders slumped forwards in resignation as she looked up at her husband. "Chuck," she said, taking his hand. "As much as I hate the idea...if we don't go along with Bryce, they're going to remove us by force." She squeezed his hand and looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Please tell me you understand."

Chuck wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist, reassuring her as well as he could without drawing too much attention in front of Bryce. "I do," he said. "But I'm not going to hide underground."

"Come on, Chuck!" Bryce exclaimed. "This is for the best. I'm just trying to do you a favour."

Chuck read his friend's expression of impatience easily; the man was doing nothing to hide it.

"I know," he said, and found the sudden irresistible urge to smile. "That's why I'm going to do you a favour."