I still don't own Chuck. But one good thing. In this story there are no reruns for a week.

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. And even though she likes Cole, I forgive her.

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Who Needs Enemies

- - - -

Ellie was sitting on the side of her bunk worrying. One thing was for sure. She didn't lack for things to worry about. Here she was, in jail, with absolutely no rights. Her fiancé didn't even know where she was. And not to mention that Chuck and Sarah were on the run. But first things first. She wouldn't be able to help Chuck or Devon unless she could get out of her own mess. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Casey enter the cell.

"I need to talk to you," Casey said very softly as he pulled a chair over to where Ellie was sitting and sat down. "I don't have a lot of time so I need you to listen to me very carefully."

"What," Ellie said without looking up from the floor.

"I'm going to Denver to look for Chuck," Casey said quickly. "I got permission to take you with me."

"I'm not going with you anywhere," Ellie said coldly. "Do I have a choice?"

"Technically, no," Casey said. "But, Ellie, I won't force you. It's just that if you come with me I can give you a lot more freedom then you'll have here. I can also let you go home and pack a bag. That would let you talk to Devon for a couple of minutes."

Ellie didn't say anything as her eyes narrowed.

"Come on, Ellie," Casey said as soon as he saw Ellie's face. "Relax. I'm trying to be a good guy here. I hope that when we find Chuck and Sarah that maybe you can help me talk to them. They are going to be scared. They may not trust me."

"I don't trust you," Ellie said softly.

"You will," Casey replied.

After a long moment Ellie finally responded. "Ok, I'll go. Anything beats being locked up in this cell."

"But I need you to understand something," Casey said as he took out his cuffs. "I'm doing you a favor here. I'm sticking my neck out a mile. So if you mess with me, I'll cuff you and drop you off at the nearest police station. We're not going to the beach. You're in my custody. Are we understood?"

Ellie looked at Casey for the first time and saw the determination in his eyes. "Understood," she sighed.

"Good," Casey said as he stood up. "Now turn around. I have to cuff you for appearances sake until we're out of sight."

- - - -

Sarah was so into her seduction routine that she didn't notice at first that Chuck was no longer paying attention. But she quickly recovered as Chuck reached around her to click on the article about Ellie. Sarah could tell by the color draining from Chuck's face that something was very wrong. As soon as she turned her head to the monitor, she could see Ellie's picture. Sarah quickly read the article along with Chuck.

Doctor arrested in connection with convenience store killings

Los Angeles – by The Associated Press

Diane Beckman, Assistant Chief of The Los Angeles Police Department announced the arrest of Dr. Elle Anderson today in connection with a double homicide during the robbery of a convenience store last week. The main suspects in the brutal slayings are Dr. Anderson's brother, Chuck Anderson and his wife, Sarah Anderson who are believed to be currently at large in the Denver area. Prosecutors have charged Dr Anderson with two counts of capital murder and two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. They also confirmed that they will be seeking the death penalty in connection with these crimes. Anyone who has any information regarding this couple is requested to contact their local police department immediately.

At the bottom of the article were pictures of Chuck and Sarah. They obviously had been altered to represent the current hair color and styles from the gas station video. Chuck could feel Sarah shaking on his lap. At first he could tell if she was unnerved or angry. But one look at her face quickly told him that angry was definitely the winner.

"What does it mean," Chuck said shakily. "What does it mean that they will be seeking the death penalty? Ellie didn't do anything."

"That bitch," Sarah whispered to nobody in particular, ignoring Chuck's question.

"Sarah?" Chuck said as soothingly as he could while he tried to wrap his arms around her.

"Not now, Chuck," Sarah screamed as she broke free and ran into the bedroom.

For the first time Chuck noticed that Janice was standing over his shoulder reading the article.

"Beckman is sending you a message," Janice said softly. "It looks like she has taken charge of the search personally."

Chuck didn't know what to say so he just looked into her eyes.

"The death penalty line is her telling you that if you don't give up," Janice said with a grim look.

"She'll kill her."

- - - -

Casey pulled into the parking lot of their complex with Ellie.

"I won't cuff you," Casey said softly. "But you can't leave my sight. We only have a few minutes and we have to go catch our flight."

"How long are we going to be gone?" Ellie asked.

"I would plan on three or four days," Casey said.

"What can I tell Devon?" Ellie asked with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Tell him the truth," Casey said in a matter of fact tone. "I assume he already knows about Chuck. Tell him that we're going to Denver to find him and that you're under arrest."

"He's not going to be happy," Ellie said sadly. "He may want to fight you."

"Ellie," Casey said. "Please don't let him try and fight me. I don't want to hurt him and I don't want to have to arrest him. Calm him down and we'll get through this."

- - - -

Sarah came storming out of the bedroom. She was dressed in her black mission outfit. She had her gun in her hand.

"What are you doing?" Chuck asked her as she stormed by. When she didn't answer him, Chuck grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" Chuck said more forcefully.

Sarah tried to pull her arm out of Chuck's grasp but he had a good hold. On the second attempt she was able to jerk her arm free. But instead of leaving she just stood there. Chuck could tell by looking at her face that she was really struggling. So Chuck did the only thing that he could think of. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could. At first, Sarah tried to break away. And naturally, she could have easily if she had really wanted too. But after a moment she just stood passively.

"I understand," Chuck whispered to Sarah as he continued to hold her as tightly as he could.

And just as suddenly, Sarah broke down. Her gun dropped to the floor as she threw her arms around Chuck and sobbed openly into his chest.

"It's ok," Chuck whispered as he loosened his grip a little to be able to run Sarah's back. "Baby, it's ok."

"I'm tired," Sarah said between sobs. "I'm just so tired of the people that I love being hurt because of me."

"Sarah," Chuck said firmly as he grabbed both of her shoulders had held her at arms length. "I want you to listen to me. None of this stuff is because of you. It's not your fault. You're the hero here. If you weren't here I'd be dead. And I love you so much. So much that I'm actually grateful that all this stuff has happened. Because it brought you to me."

Sarah fell back into Chuck's chest still sobbing.

After a long moment, Janice finally broke the silence.

"What are you going to do?" Janice said softly.

"I'm going to go get her." Sarah said as she used Chuck's shirt to dry her eyes. "I'm going to trade Beckman for her."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Janice said.

"No," Sarah said after a moment. "I need you to stay here and look after Chuck."

"I want to come with you," Chuck said in protest.

"I know, sweetie," Sarah said as a slight smile came to her for the first time. "I wish you could. But the truth is I'll be much safer on my own. Don't worry about me. I know just what I'm going to do."

"I'll go get you a car," Janice said as she headed for the door. "There's no way you can drive back in the car that they know about."

"Wait a minute," Chuck called to her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Janice just looked confused.

"You're still in your underwear," Chuck said with a smile.

"Unless you're looking for a real good deal."

- - - -

Ellie sat on the plane deep in thought. She was grateful to get to explain things to Devon. But that really didn't go very well. It had taken a lot of pleading to keep him from fighting John. And that would have been a mess.

And she was worried sick about Chuck. She wasn't even sure what she was hoping for. She desperately wanted to see him. That was for sure. And she missed Sarah almost as much. But a large part of her wanted them to stay hidden. As long as they were hidden they were safe. And she wasn't totally sure how much she could trust John.

And then there was that. How much could she really trust John? Why was he really taking her away?

"In his custody," Ellie reminded herself.

Ellie absolutely strained her brain to think of any possible time when she had given him the wrong impression. She had always made an effort to be friendly with him. She was a naturally friendly person, after all. But she couldn't remember any overt flirting between them. But John wouldn't be the first man to mistake friendliness for something more. And she had to admit to herself; under different circumstances she might even be interested. Not now. There was no way that she would even consider cheating on Devon. But there was something about the way that Casey carried himself. The strong silent type had always pushed her buttons a little.

So, if he did make a pass, what should she do? No way was she going to encourage him. But making a big scene wouldn't work either. She needed him to help Chuck, after all. Would it be so terrible if she let him think that he had a chance? It certainly wouldn't be the first time in her life that she had played that card. And it probably wouldn't be the last. That might actually work. She just needed to keep it from getting to far.

Just then, Casey walked up to where Ellie was sitting and wordlessly handed her a bottle of water.

"Yup," Ellie whispered to herself with a sly smile as she took a sip of her water.

"That might work."

- - - -

As soon as Janice got dressed and left, Sarah quickly kissed Chuck and twisted out of his embrace. He reluctantly let her go.

"Come on, sweetie," Sarah said as she took Chuck's hand and pulled him into the bedroom.

"What are we doing?" Chuck asked in confusion.

"I need to get some sleep," Sarah said with a smile. "I'm going to have to drive through the night. Will you take a nap with me?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sarah pulled Chuck to the bed.

But instead of lying on the bed, Sarah wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck and pulled him into a kiss. As the kiss quickly escalated Sarah pulled Chuck's shirt out of where it was tucked into his pants. She then broke the kiss just long enough to pull Chuck's shirt over his head.

"A nap?" Chuck asked with a grin as Sarah unbuckled his belt. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

"We're not going to see each other for a few days," Sarah said with her own grin as she pushed Chuck onto the bed and took off her own shirt.

"I thought you said that you needed to get some sleep," Chuck said as his grin widened.

"I do," Sarah said as she crawled up to where Chuck was lying and kissed him.

"This is going to help me sleep."

- - - -