I still don't own Chuck. But I do own Janice Beckman. So that's something I have going for me.

I just read the synopsis for Chuck vs The Colonel and it looks like the show has thrown down the gauntlet. It looks like I am really going to have to ramp up the fluffy Charah goodness if I want to stay ridiculously ahead of them. Needless to say, I accept this challenge. Thanks to Happydayz for the ideas and for holding my virtual hand through all the angst on the show. It looks like we may have weathered this storm. And, of course, thanks to BrickRoad for keeping me on the straight and narrow. And even though she likes Cole, I forgive her.

Ok. It's time to get serious. It's about time that the good General got a real good look at Sarah's gun, don't you think? And maybe Chuck can get a real good look at... something. And maybe Casey can get a real good look at... well you get the point, lol.

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If you're a Chuck fan (and if you're not, boy are you reading the wrong story), 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.

The Crack

- - - -

Ellie tore through the bag that she had packed in a panic. How could her conservative nightgown not be in here? Now what was she supposed to do? She was already here in the bathroom getting ready for bed.

"I swore I put it in here," Ellie whispered to herself.

But it just wasn't there. After looking through the bag some twenty times Ellie was forced to accept that. The only thing that was there was her normal nightgown. And while it wasn't so shear as to be transparent, it didn't hide that much either. And it certainly wasn't something that she would want to wear in front of John.

"It looks like I have no choice" Ellie whispered in despair as she opened the door. "Maybe it will be dark in the room and I can get right into bed. At least there are two beds."

But there was no such luck as Casey was sitting up in one of the beds watching television. The room, although not well lit, wasn't dark either. Casey did a double take when he saw what Ellie was wearing.

"Here it comes," Casey said to himself as he stood and locked eyes with Ellie, not trusting himself to look anywhere else.

When Ellie felt Casey's eyes met her own, she simply froze, not knowing what else to do. They both stood motionless for a long moment just looking at each other. Both were afraid to move. Finally Casey broke.

"I'm sorry, Ellie," he said softly. "I just can't. Please don't be offended. I think you're great."

"Can't what?" Ellie said in confusion.

"I can't do this," Casey said with the confusion evident in his own voice. Finally he simply blurted out. "I can't sleep with you."

"Oh, thank God," Ellie said with a cry. "I can't either. I'm sorry if I led you on. I'm just worried about what you're going to do to Chuck."

"Ellie," Casey said with a smile finally coming to his face. "You don't have to worry about me doing anything bad to Chuck. I'm here to try and help him. I brought you here to help me do that."

"Do you promise?" Ellie said as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"I promise."

- - - -

Either Janice had stopped and picked up some sleepwear or she had always had it and the underwear thing was just a ploy. Whichever it was, she was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee in a fairly conservative robe when Chuck came out of the bedroom. Without asking she handed him a cup of coffee.

"How did you sleep?" Janice asked.

"Not that well," Chuck said with a sad smile. "I haven't slept alone in a while."

"You didn't have to sleep alone last night," Janice said with a sly smile.

"Yes, I really did." Chuck said with his own grin. "Have you seen her throw a knife?"

"You really love her," Janice said as her smile turned into a grin. "Don't you?"

"Yes," Chuck said. "I really do. Haven't you ever been in love?"

"Not like that," Janice quickly said. "The first thing an agent is taught is never to fall in love."

"But you're not an agent anymore," Chuck said softly in protest.

"But I'm still trained," Janice said without looking at Chuck. "I'm going to get dressed and run home for a few minutes. I have some contacts that might be able to help with Sarah's dad. Do you need anything while I'm out?"

"I'm good," Chuck said with a smile. "You're a really good friend. I'm glad that Sarah has you."

"I owe her," Janice said softly as she finally looked Chuck in the eye.

"Ask her about it someday."

- - - -

Sarah had driven through the night and she was getting tired. She was currently on I-15 and had just passed the Vegas strip. It was actually pretty anticlimactic. You could see the strip from the mountains from about fifty miles away. So by the time you actually got there, you had been looking at it for an hour and it was fairly boring. And while that would have been the landmark most people would look for, Sarah wasn't interested. Sarah had her eyes peeled for quite another place altogether. And her heart started beating faster as she finally spotted it. It was a little motel just on the Nevada side of the California border. And although Sarah didn't have any time to waste, she couldn't help herself from getting off the freeway. And as she sat in the parking lot of the motel and wedding chapel where her and Chuck had been married she had to smile at how big of a dump it was. Under normal circumstances Sarah Walker would have never set foot in such a place. But that day was nothing close to normal. Sarah pulled into the parking spot directly in front of the room that had served as the location for their wedding night.

"Well, wedding afternoon, actually," she said to herself with a smile.

Sarah could remember every single detail about that day, every sight, sound and smell. But mostly it was filled with the memory of Chuck being so nervous. It was so adorable. He was so nervous that he could barely say I do. He was so nervous that it actually made Sarah a little nervous. Although she would never admit that.

That afternoon in that room wasn't the first time they had made love. That would have been the night they got engaged. And it certainly wasn't the hottest. Far too many nerves for that title. That would have been the night that she told Chuck about the baby.

"Or was it yesterday before I left?" Sarah wondered with a sad smile. "That was pretty hot. Maybe they were tied for first."

Whichever one was hotter; there was one thing that Sarah was absolutely sure of. It was the day that the Sarah Walker she knew herself as died. And in her place was this new Sarah Bartowski person. It took some getting used to. But she was really starting to like this Sarah Bartowski person. She was starting to like her a lot. And another thing that she was sure of. She was dying to take her brown eyed husband back in that room and try and improve their hotness score. How could you possibly miss someone so badly after just ten hours? As Sarah sat and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes she vowed that she would bring Chuck back here… soon. As she reluctantly pulled back on the freeway Sarah had a look of determination on her face that would have made General Beckman run for her life had she seen it. Sarah softly whispered to herself.

"Time to get our life back."

- - - -

Casey and Ellie were checked out of the hotel. And after the tension of last night was over, they found that they actually got along. It turned out that Casey was a great listener. And since Ellie was a great talker, that made for a great potential friendship. They were just finishing breakfast at the restaurant in the lobby when Casey's cell rang. He could tell that it was Brian.

"Casey," he quickly answered.

Ellie could see Casey's eyes widen as he listened to the call. As soon as he ended the call, Casey grabbed Ellie's arm.

"Come on," he said quickly. "We have to hurry."

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked as she got into the car. Casey had already started it and had pulled away even before Ellie could fasten her seat belt. Casey's answer both excited and scared her.

"We're going to find your brother."

- - - -

Sarah had finally arrived in L.A. She went directly to the FBI office and parked in a ramp across the street. She made sure that she parked in a spot that had a strategic view of the building entrance. Sarah already had a pretty good idea where Beckman was staying. It was the same hotel that all the out of town guests stayed at. But she wasn't taking any chances. That was one of the characteristics of Agent Sarah Walker. She never took chances. So she sat and waited. And as it turned out she didn't have very long to wait.

At just about noon, Beckman's considerable motorcade began to stir. After all, the head of the NSA didn't stroll the streets alone. She had a six person protection detail that traveled with her anywhere she went. One good thing, it made them very easy to track. Sarah was able to follow them from a very safe distance. And they led her to exactly the hotel that she was thinking. Sarah quickly parked the car down the street where she could still see what was going on.

"You're making this easy," Sarah said to herself with a smile.

And Beckman was making it easy. She was only in the hotel for about twenty minutes before she came back out and the motorcade was on the move again. Assumedly back to the office.

"Well, General," Sarah whispered to herself humorlessly.

"I've got you now."

- - - -

As Casey drove to the address that Brian had given him, he tried to bring Ellie up to speed.

"Sarah's first partner is a woman named Janice Beckman," Casey said. "I had a hunch that she might be helping them so I had Brian stake out her house. This morning, she arrived, stayed for an hour and then left again. Brian had a surveillance aircraft track where she went. And that's where we're going. There is a good chance that Chuck and Sarah are there."

As Casey pulled into the driveway, Ellie turned to him.

"John," she whispered as tears started to form. "Please, you promised me."

"Don't worry," Casey replied with as much of a reassuring smile as he could muster. "I'm trying to help them. If you see a gun today, don't freak out. They are going to be pretty nervous. Stay calm and everything will be ok."

As they walked up to the front door, Casey knocked on the door. After a long moment the door opened and Casey was looking at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Hi," Casey said with a smile. "I'm sorry to bother you. But we're looking for Chuck Bartowski. Is he home?"

"Sure," Janice said with her own dazzling smile. "Please come in. I'll go get him."

As soon as the door closed behind them, Casey and Ellie were looking directly down the barrel of Janice's Glock.

"Hands on your head," she ordered firmly as her feet were spread firmly in a perfect firing position.

"Please don't shoot," Ellie said in a frightened voice. "I'm Chuck's sister."

"Right," Janice replied sarcastically. "And I'm the Easter bunny."

"It's ok, Janice," Chuck called as he came bounding out of the bedroom.

"This really is my sister."

- - - -

Once Sarah was sure that Beckman had left the hotel, she drove to a fast food restaurant to freshen up a little in the ladies room. After all, she had been in the car for the last twenty two hours. And she needed to make sure that her hair looked nice and her makeup was reapplied. Just before she entered the hotel lobby, she unbuttoned the secret weapon button on her blouse.

The clerk behind the counter couldn't get to Sarah fast enough.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes," Sarah said with her most dazzling smile. "I'm here to see my aunt. Do you have a message for April Beckman?"

"I'm sorry," the clerk said as he looked through the papers. "There is no message for an April."

"You're kidding," Sarah said in a pout. "She must have forgotten. She was going to leave me a key at the front desk. Now I can't get in."

"Look, Jim," Sarah said softly as she read his nametag. "I'm really tired. Do you think you could give me a key? It would be a huge favor."

"I don't know," the clerk said slowly. "We're not supposed…"

"Please, Jim," Sarah said as she leaned forward to allow him a good look down the front of her blouse. An opportunity that she saw him take full advantage of. "I'd be so grateful."

"What's your aunt's name?" the clerk said with a sigh.

"Dianne Beckman," Sarah said with the smile of victory.

As soon as Sarah was comfortably in the room, she knew that she had a few hours to kill so she relaxed on the sofa and picked up the phone.

"Yes, this is Dianne Beckman. I would like to order some room service."

- - - -

General Beckman was just getting back to her room after a long unfruitful day. It was the latest in a series of long unfruitful days. She was getting very frustrated. After all, she wasn't used to dealing with disappointment. She had an entire staff dedicated to making sure that she was never disappointed. But Chuck and Sarah had simply dropped off the face of the earth. It just wasn't possible. Every person in the Denver area knew what she looked like. They had to go to a store or restaurant sometime. And she knew that the clock was ticking. She had to find them soon. There was only so long that she would be able to keep a lid on this. Pretty soon her superiors were going to start asking questions.

As she entered her dark room she sighed to herself.

"I'll find you Sarah Walker. You can't stay hidden forever."

As soon as she turned on the light, she immediately heard the unmistakable sound of a handgun racking a round into the firing chamber.

"I've got good news," said Sarah as she pointed her Glock at Beckman's head.

"You've found her."

- - - -