I still don't own Chuck. But one good thing. This story will never be preempted by a presidential news conference.

Thanks to Happydayz for the ideas and for holding my virtual hand through all the angst on the show. And, of course, thanks to BrickRoad for keeping me on the straight and narrow.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It's the only reward that we get for putting ourselves out there. I want to thank everyone who has sent me a review. I really appreciate the support that you've given me. It really helps me stay motivated.

If you're a Chuck fan (and who isn't), join us in the forum on this site. We would love to hear your thoughts on the show and where it's going. Since we've talked about every possible outcome, someone is sure to be right.

Home

- - - -

"Sarah," Chuck whispered softly. He felt so horribly guilty waking her up. She absolutely looked like an angel sleeping there. So much so that Chuck had grabbed her left hand and had been holding it for the past couple hours. Something about agent training must include how to sleep. Because it was only late afternoon and Sarah had been sleeping soundly for almost four hours.

"Sarah," Chuck whispered again, this time a little more urgently and accompanied it with a gentle tug on her hand. Sarah's eyes popped open immediately into agent mode.

"What's wrong?" she said quickly as Chuck could see her reach for her gun.

"Nothing is wrong." Chuck said as soothingly as he could. "We're just getting low on gas. Where should I stop?"

Sarah's smile was enough to make him forget all of his troubles, for a moment anyway.

"Gas is going to be a problem." Sarah said with a sigh. "Any gas station that we stop at will almost certainly have video. They will eventually find it."

"They're going to catch us?" Chuck asked in alarm.

"No, sweetie," Sarah said with a smile as she squeezed Chuck's hand for comfort. "We just have to make it hard on them. Fortunately there are two six gallon gas cans in the trunk. We're not going to have to stop for gas for another six hours."

"But what if they already know?" Chuck said.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Sarah said with a laugh. "Earl won't wake up for a while yet. By the time they discover what he means, we'll have at least another three hours. By the time they know it was us, we'll be five hundred miles away. That's a lot of gas station videos to look at. Even for them. It will take them days."

"Good," said Chuck. "I'm in good hands."

"Where are we anyway?" Sarah said as she yawned.

"We just crossed the Idaho border." Chuck replied. "Could we stop and stretch our legs for a second?"

"Sure," Sarah said with a smile. "We'll stop at the next fast food place. We can get something to eat and use the rest room."

So Chuck drove until Sarah indicated that he should take the next exit. As soon as they got off the freeway, there was a variety of fast food restaurants.

"Ok, sweetie," Sarah said as she directed Chuck to pull into the closest burger joint. "Seconds count here. We need to put as many miles as possible between us and where we left Earl before they figure out that we escaped. Order us some food while I go to the restroom. Then I'll wait while you go."

"What do you want?" Chuck said as he got out of the car and stretched.

"Surprise me."

- - - -

Casey was fairly sure that if he took the phone away from his ear, he would be able to hear General Beckman screaming all the way from Washington. She was definitely not pleased. Being a military officer for the past sixteen years, Casey had certainly heard his share of curse words. And he didn't hear anything from Beckman that he hadn't heard many times before. But what Beckman lacked in originality, she more than made up for quantity… and volume. But Casey knew Beckman well enough to know that she was stressed. And why shouldn't she be? Not only had she lost control of the Intersect. It was her poor decision that casued the whole crises in the first place.

"What are we doing to find them?" Beckman said as she finally took a break in her seemingly endless stream of profanity. "Were we able to get a decent description?"

"Yes, ma'am," Casey said quickly. "It was definitely them. Walker changed her hair color to dark brown. Bartowski is now blonde with a spiked haircut. We've altered their pictures to account for the new appearance and have distributed them."

"Did you get a description of the vehicle?" Beckman asked.

"I'm afraid not, ma'am." Casey said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Beckman said in a shocked tone.

"Apparently, he was scared, ma'am." Casey said cautiously. "All he can remember is the car was grey… or silver."

"This is a nightmare." Beckman said followed directly by an additional stream of profanity. "A freaking nightmare."

"Yes, ma'am," Casey said sadly.

"Let me get this straight." Beckman said. "They have a seven hour head start. Which means they could be anywhere within a five hundred mile radius. And all we have to go on is that they are driving a grey car?"

"Or silver, ma'am," Casey said as he visibly winced. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized how stupid a thing it was to say.

"Or freaking silver," Beckman repeated sarcastically. "I'm coming out there. Expect me in six hours."

Yes, ma'am," Casey said. For once he was glad that they were not on a video conference so he wouldn't have to hide the disappointment in his face.

As soon as Beckman ended the call, Casey treated the team that was still assembled in the room to a torrent of his own brand of profanity.

They mostly agreed.

- - - -

As Sarah and Chuck headed back to the car with their food, Chuck went to the driver's door and got into the car.

"Sweetie," Sarah said. "I can take a turn driving."

"If it's ok with you," Chuck said softly with a grin. "I'd like you to take a few minutes and relax. Eat your dinner. Then maybe we'll figure out a way to smile for a second while we're escaping the entire government and certain death."

Sarah unpacked the food as Chuck pulled back onto the freeway. She had to smile when she saw what Chuck had picked out for her. A chicken salad, two bottles of white milk, and an apple. Naturally, he had chosen his typical burger, fries, and soda.

"Looking out for the baby, I see." Sarah said with a grin as she handed Chuck his burger.

"Just being a dad," Chuck said with a matching grin. "But, just for the record, I'm looking out for you too."

As they ate their food, neither said much. But eventually their hands found each other in the twilight.

"I'm having a blast." Chuck finally whispered as he gave Sarah's hand a gentle squeeze.

"You are?" Sarah asked in amazement.

"Yup," replied Chuck. "Before today, I had never even ridden in a big rig. Much less made love to the most beautiful woman in the whole world in one."

"I have to admit," Sarah said with a huge smile. "I enjoyed it too."

"I'm really hoping," Chuck said with his trademark grin. "That it was a first for you as well."

"Well…." Sarah started hesitantly.

"Come on, sweetie," Sarah said quickly as she saw the look on Chuck's face. "I'm just teasing you."

Even in the semi darkness Sarah could see the sadness in Chuck's face. So she unfastened her seat belt and slid as close to Chuck as the bucket seat would allow.

"I'm so sorry." Sarah whispered as she put her head on Chuck's shoulder. "I was just kidding. I didn't think."

"Don't be silly," Chuck said sadly. "You didn't do anything wrong. This is my issue. It's ok. I really don't expect you to understand."

"You don't think I understand?" Sarah asked softly. "Trust me, Chuck. If I had to see you in anything like the situations you have had to see me in, I'd be a wreck. You'd be scraping me off the ceiling. Sweetie, I totally understand."

"I try so hard not to get jealous." Chuck said with a deep sigh. "I'm really trying."

"I want you to listen to me." Sarah said. "I've never told you this before. Are you listening?"

Chuck just nodded his head.

"You'll never know how much you mean to me." Sarah continued. "You're way more than my husband. You're my best friend. You're the other half of me. I never thought I'd ever feel this way about anyone. And it kind of scared me for a long time. So I kept pushing you away."

"I remember." Chuck said with a slight smile.

"That was cruel." Sarah said. "I'm sorry. I was just scared. I didn't know what to do. But I want you to know that is over. I know that I don't say this very often, but I love you."

"Wow," Chuck said with a little broader smile. You must really be panicked. That's the most I've ever heard you talk about your feelings."

"I am," Sarah whispered. "I don't want anyone to hurt you. But I feel especially terrible when it's me."

"I know that." Chuck said with an even broader smile. "You know how much I love you."

"I know."

"I can't wait to see you get jealous." Chuck said with a grin. "I bet it is really cute."

"Be careful what you wish for." Sarah whispered, more to herself than to Chuck as she snuggled her face deeper into his neck.

So, even though their situation was grim, Chuck had never felt better in his whole life. Driving down the now dark mostly deserted freeway, he felt himself wishing that this would never end. For an entire hour they drove as Sarah snuggled into him. Finally he couldn't help but whisper to himself.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

- - - -

Ellie and Devon finally had a chance to spend an evening together. Since it didn't happen all that often, they always made an extra effort to make the most of it whenever it did. So it wasn't a surprise at all that quickly after dinner they had found themselves necking on the couch.

"Wow, babe," Devon said as soon as he could come up for air. "You're really into this. I was afraid that you would be too worried about Chuck."

"Me too." Ellie said with a sly smile. "But the truth is; I'm not all that worried about Chuck."

"You're not?" Devon asked in pure amazement.

"Nope," Ellie said. "Don't get me wrong. I miss him. But you didn't see Sarah's eyes when she told me that she would never let anyone hurt Chuck."

"Sarah?" Devon said with obvious skepticism.

"Don't underestimate her." Ellie said. "I saw the fire in her eyes. I know that we think of her as this sweet, shy person. But when push comes to shove, she is going to turn into a tiger. I know it."

"That makes me feel a lot better." Devon said with a sigh.

"If you think that makes you feel better," Ellie said as she pulled Devon to his feet and led him towards the bedroom."

"You ain't seen nothing yet."

- - - -

Sarah gently shook Chuck awake. Chuck wasn't quite sure how long he had been sleeping. He remembered Sarah telling him that they had to leave the freeway and use back roads for the rest of the trip. He remembered stopping for gas. And that was when Sarah insisted on driving. Her instructions to Chuck to get some sleep left very little room for interpretation. But he had fallen asleep while it was still dark. It was light out now. From where the sun was positioned in the sky, Chuck guessed that it was mid morning. When he finally got his eyes to focus, he could see that they were parked in a driveway.

"Where are we?" Chuck asked as he yawned and stretched his arms.

"We're here." Sarah said softly.

That caused Chuck to become instantly alert. When he looked around he could see what looked to be an average middle class suburban neighborhood. It wasn't a cul-de-sac but it may as well have been. Chuck was looking at a ranch style house. It was very average looking. Nice and clean but modest. Chuck guessed that it had two bedrooms. He could see an attached garage.

"This is your house?" Chuck asked.

"No, sweetie," Sarah said with a smile. "Of course not. This is our house."

"Sarah," Chuck whispered. "We actually have a house in the suburbs?"

"We sure do." Sarah replied as she opened the car door. "Come on. Don't you want to see it?"

Sarah walked up the sidewalk with Chuck right behind her. When they got to the front door, Sarah took a key out of her purse and unlocked it. As she was ready to walk into the house she felt Chuck's hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Is there something wrong?" Sarah asked.

"I'm afraid so." Chuck said with a smile. "We've been cheated out of a lot of things but we're not being cheated out of this."

With that, Chuck scooped Sarah up into his arms and carried her over the threshold and into the house.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Bartowski."

- - - -