A/N: Once again great work from Artemay enables me to bring this to you, all mistakes are mine and anything good is hers. Sorry for the delay in an update on this story just getting used to working with a beta. I should also have an update on Highschool Reunion within the next few days.

Once again I do not own Chuck and I make no money from these stories

Chapter 3

Like a thief in the night, Chuck was able to get out of bed and into the shower before Sarah had even noticed. Sarah kicked herself, realizing she had let her guard down. and mistakes like that normally resulted in the loss of lives.

While Chuck was in the shower Sarah decided it was time to call the Director and give him Chuck's full name for the background check. She picked up her phone and called the number from memory,

"Graham secure." the Director responded impatiently

"Walker secure, I have the civilian's name for the background check. His name is Chuck Bartowski, but I believe Chuck is short for Charles," said Sarah.

"Ok Agent Walker, leave it with me and I will let you know if if he's a threat," said Graham.

She hung up the phone, letting out a large sigh as she threw it on the bed.

'Why can't I just have a normal life? I have done my fair share in Government work. And who am I kidding? A person like Chuck could never have any real feelings for someone like me' thought Sarah.

By the time Chuck was finally out of the shower and dressed, Sarah was ready and went straight in showing off her lingerie selection with a smile. Noticing the effect she had on Chuck gave her a nice healthy glow as she closed the door.

Before she started the shower she leaned on the back of the door trying to calm the surge of emotions coursing through her body.

'He has no idea of the effect he has on me, those eyes just pull me in and then the smile makes me forget who I am and what I am doing here. He would be dangerous if he used those weapons for evil,' thought Sarah.

She finally started the water and began washing herself, taking care of the dressings that Chuck had applied the day before. She was able to remove them and would get Chuck to put fresh dressings on if needed before they left for the conference.

When she finished, Sarah dressed in simple denim jeans and a blouse. Despite the simplicity, she was still able to attract Chuck's stare and it was obvious he approved.

"What, you like this better then the lingerie?" asked Sarah.

"What,? No! it's just in the lingerie you looked amazing, but that's not surprising because you're a beautiful stunning woman. But what you do to these jeans and shirt can't be explained, you really are a goddess," said Chuck.

"Well thank you for the vote of confidence. You know you look dashing yourself is that a Fiovaranti?" asked Sarah surprised.

"Oh yeah, I save this one for special occasions," said Chuck.

"Special occasion of listening to someone's presentation, did your boss buy you the suit?" asked Sarah.

"The suit is mine," answered Chuck.

Sarah was still a little taken back by Chuck wearing a $10,000 suit to a presentation, but what she did know of this man kept her on her toes.

They got into a limousine waiting outside of the hotel and were taken to a large conference and convention facility.

They walked into the center and entered a large auditorium that looked almost full. It seemed as though thousands were in attendance, allowing for standing room only.

"Oh, looks like we are going to miss out on a seat," said Sarah disappointed.

It was then that an elderly gentleman came over to Chuck.

"Charles, here is the seat you requested," he said.

"Thanks Robert," replied Chuck.

Chuck then directed Sarah to take a seat.

"Where are you going to sit?" asked Sarah.

"I will probably need to give them a hand with the presentation," said Chuck.

"Oh ok," said Sarah.

Disappointment was obvious on Sarah's face, she thought she might get a chance to find out more about him or look at his expressions during the presentation to see what interested him.

Everyone's conversations and murmuring stopped when a man came out onto the stage.

"Welcome to the International Conference on Electrical, Computer engineering and Communications Technologies. I am glad we have a good crowd for this morning and I am sure it has nothing to do with the pastries and coffee served either. This conference is to get the leading academic, research and Industry minds in our field together to discuss the future of our field and the challenges we all face."

Looking around to all the people Sarah found herself feeling a little out of place, she thought this was some nerd conference talking about computer games, but this is something completely different. Even though she had only known Chuck for a short while she had known him to be very smart but one of the leading minds in his field, that was something altogether different.

"So taking these lofty goals in mind I would like to introduce our keynote speaker for the conference, who will discuss the discoveries and implementations that he has been responsible for in changing the face of everyone's future. This man is a giant among intellectual giants and we should all be honored to have this opportunity to hear his presentation," he said.

'This guy sounds like he would be lucky to fit his head in this auditorium,' thought Sarah.

"Can everyone give a warm welcome for Dr. Charles Irving Bartowski," he said.

She couldn't be sure but their definitely was a loud noise either it was her jaw hitting the ground or he was getting a thunderous applause. Sarah couldn't believe it, she wasn't coming to listen to a presentation with Chuck, she was going to listen to Chuck's presentation.

'I am going to teach that man a lesson' thought Sarah.

Throughout the presentation Sarah was in a state of shock. When it wasn't because of the actual topic of the presentation, it was the apparent confidence and charisma he had while talking to everyone.

The presentation was about a major breakthrough in quantum mechanics and how it translates to a major breakthrough in quantum computers.

"Through the use of algorithms that have been specifically designed to take advantage of quantum parallelism we are able to resolve problems within seconds that would take today's current computers thousands, if not millions, of years," said Chuck.

'Well that certainly sounded like a big deal, I am sure if things like that got in the wrong hands they could wreak some havoc,' she thought.

"Certain types of problems are better suited to the use of quantum parallelism; one specific problem is the basis of many of our current cryptography algorithms. The use of this technology can effectively negate confidentiality and integrity mechanisms within today's systems" said Chuck.

'Oh fudge,' thought Sarah.

Chuck brought up a prompt on the screen being displayed in front of the auditorium.

"This number here is RSA-2048 which has 617 decimal digits; I take a copy of this number here paste it into this field here. Now when I click this button it will put this number through an algorithm that takes advantage of quantum parallelism, and of course using one of my quantum computers," said Chuck.

Chuck clicked the go button and within ten seconds it had returned with the number's factors.

"Now that may not mean much to some of you, but to give you an idea the most common key length in use today is 1024 bits and 309 decimal digits. The time taken to resolve that is not measurable, it takes less time to resolve it then for the screen to display the result," said Chuck.

"The existence of quantum computers is not really a new phenomenon, but what is new is the discoveries that have been made in quantum mechanics to take these mostly theoretical and laboratory based versions into the main stream" said Chuck.

The presentation went further into the physics of what had been discovered and now used within the technology being presented.

There was a break in the presentation and Sarah had to make a phone call, she left the auditorium and found a place to make the call.

"Graham secure."

"Walker secure, but in public," she responded.

"Glad you called Agent Walker, we have some information on your civilian," said the Director.

"Yes sir?" she replied

"Dr. Bartowski is the pre-eminent source on advanced computing and is one of the few people in the world that is likely to be able to understand the device you took. You are to ensure that nothing happens to him so we can use him to provide an initial analysis of the device," he said.

"What are you saying Director? What are my orders?" asked Sarah.

"Agent Walker you are to use any and all means necessary to ensure his cooperation and compliance in providing an analysis of the device. After that you will await further instructions," said Graham.

"Yes sir, but I am supposed to be on leave," said Sarah.

"Agent Walker, you seemed happy to be in the man's company before, and now that I have ordered it, you have reservations. I am not sure I understand the issue here, Agent Walker?" said Director Graham.

"Sir this man is kind, honest, trusting and caring, he does not belong in the world of deceit and espionage," said Sarah.

"Well by the sound of it, your job should be pretty easy. I expect daily status updates and expect the good doctor's review of the device to be complete within the next three days," said Graham.

Before Sarah could respond she could only hear a dial tone.

'This definitely wasn't the kind of lesson I wanted to teach you Chuck,' thought Sarah sadly.

Sarah let out a big sigh and was sad as another opportunity to just be a woman was lost.

'I'll go back to the room and pack my things, I am not sure Chuck would be too happy for me to stay here under these changed circumstances,' thought Sarah.

After Sarah had arrived back in the room the only thing she wanted to do was lie down so she hopped back into bed, she found herself a little disappointed that the maid service had been so thorough, so any smell of Chuck was gone from the bed. Sarah mentally chastised herself.

'I can't act this way towards him, at least not anymore,' thought Sarah.

She climbed under the covers and started hugging a pillow and quickly went off to sleep.

-#############-

Some time later Sarah felt Chuck gently rubbing her shoulder to wake her up, she opened her eyes and looked straight into his chocolate pools and was lost, she couldn't help it. She started smiling until she remembered her conversation with Director Graham.

Chuck obviously noted the change in her outlook.

"What happened? You thought I was someone else, some super spy James Bond type?" asked Chuck.

"No Chuck, I knew it was you. But then I realised who I was," responded Sarah sadly.

"Sarah you're not making a lot of sense," responded Chuck.

"Yeah I know, sorry but we need to talk," said Sarah.

"Oh, sounds serious," said Chuck.

"Yeah, well that's because it is, my Director has requested that I take you into protective custody and request that you help the US government with a problem," said Sarah.

"Sarah, are you telling me that your Director has told you to develop me as an asset?" asked Chuck.

Sarah was speechless for several seconds.

"Um.. how do you, how are you familiar with that terminology?" asked Sarah.

"Well it's rather obvious and well, I am not too thrilled about it. What can I supposedly help them with anyway?" asked Chuck.

"Seriously Chuck, after the presentation you just gave you can't see a reason why the government might want your assistance?" asked Sarah.

"So that's what it's about?" asked Chuck.

"Well no not specifically, but it's about the device I recovered, the Director wants you to do a preliminary analysis on it," said Sarah.

"Oh ok, well hand it over," said Chuck.

His normal smile disappeared; Sarah was concerned at how much that had affected her. pulling it out of the hidden location she handed it to Chuck.

He started looking at the device from different angles before finally opening it to reveal complex components; Sarah was quickly losing focus on the device until she heard a noise come from Chuck.

"Huh, you are kidding me?" said Chuck.

"What?" asked Sarah.

"I know precisely what this is, because it's mine," said Chuck.

A/N: If you like this story or any stories on this site (or even if you don't ;-)) please give us a review. I promise the next update will not take as long.

I am sure that some of you will dispute the accuracy of me saying that Quantum Computers are mostly theoretical and Laboratory versions. Yes I am aware of D-Wave and either you can believe that they do not exist in this AU or that the D-Wave example is not a true implementation of a quantum computer it's up to you and I will not enter into a debate and therefore will not provide my view.