So hi guys, LB here, also known as the person who...shot Beth. :o I know, I know...a lot of you probably wanted to shoot me at that point, but...well, in my defense, can I just say I had to shoot her? AC doesn't seem to think that's a legitimate reason...but I digress. You know the drill: Beth & AJ: ours, Everyone else (practically): not ours'. Right, now that that's outta the way, first, I wanted to say writing this has been an awesome ride-nine parts later, and our Versus the Ring co-op is done! Kinda amazing. And kinda like...whoa. Second, I wanted to thank everyone who's been reading this-the fact y'all have stayed with us is amazing and really makes us happy. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have!

"Merde, this is ridiculous," AJ muttered to herself, wiping her eyes. She'd said goodbye to the bride and groom, then had made her exit. She'd forgotten to set aside clothes to change into, so she'd run upstairs quickly and pulled on the first thing she could find, which happened to be her Nerd Herd uniform. Forgoing her tie and ID, the white blouse and gray skirt were inconspicuous enough. After adding a well-worn pair of classic black Converse to the equation, AJ had hung her bridesmaid's dress in the closet and had headed out, but not before checking the floppy drive of her old laptop. Inside she'd found a disk of some kind, though she hadn't had a chance to look at what was on it. Now she was sitting in the parking lot, waiting for a cab and trying to convince herself she was making the right decision.

"Somebody call a cab?"

AJ looked up to find a cabbie sticking his head out of the driver's seat window of his taxi.

"Yeah, that's me." Grabbing her duffel, she tossed it onto the backseat before climbing in herself.

"Where to?"

Where to indeed. For a moment, AJ thought about going to the Orange Orange to make sure the others were alright. Maybe Mr. B. was right; maybe she could help. But no, that's what they did for a living, they'd be fine. Still, she was running early, and she didn't particularly want to spend hours at the airport.

"Holy Cross Cemetery please."

"You got it."

Sitting back, AJ looked out the window without really looking, the streets were so familiar. Memories blurred together as she thought about biking to the movies with Chuck and Morgan and driving with them to work. She thought about having yogurt with Beth and Sarah discussing their love lives and having lunch with Mr. B. as they discussed the mechanics behind televisions. She thought about going to the beach with the Bartowskis and going to the Buy More employee picnic with her friends. So many memories, spread through time. It was sad to think about leaving the place where they had all taken place.

"We're here."

AJ sighed, and nodded to the cab driver. "Thanks. Would you mind waiting? I won't be long, and I'll pay you double for any inconvenience."

"Sounds fair to me."

With a slight smile, she stepped out of the vehicle and walked past the open gate into the churchyard. Though she missed her Gran daily, she hadn't been to visit since the burial, not wanting to dwell on the monumental loss any more than necessary. Now though, well, she didn't know when she'd get the chance to drop by again.

She found the tombstone easily enough. It wasn't too hard, considering there weren't any other graves with giant lobsters for headstones. AJ laughed a little when she remembered the look on her family's face when they'd first seen it.

"You always were a helluva lady," AJ said, carefully taking a seat in the grass with her skirt fanned around her crossed legs. "Hey, Gran. How've you been?"

Running a finger over the intricately carved word "Grandmother" on the lobster's side, AJ gathered her thoughts as the tears began to fall. It had been seven months; it shouldn't still hurt as bad as it did.

"I miss you, Gran, so much. 'M sorry I didn't bring flowers; partly it was because I didn't know I was coming and partly it was because I remember you thought bringing flowers to a grave was kind of stupid anyway. I remember when Father found out you'd told the groundskeeper back in Maine to stop putting flowers on Pops' grave, boy was he mad. But anyway, that's not why I'm here.

"Truth is, I'm here to say thank you. I dunno why you never told me Chuck and Ellie still lived at the Bartowskis' old place, but it's sure been nice seeing them and Morgan again. That's why you left me the apartment, isn't it? Because you knew I'd find them again. You always were ten steps ahead of the game."

Breaking off, AJ picked at the unruly grass below the lobster's legs for a moment before continuing. "I made some new friends too, you know. Ellie's husband, Awesome, and Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah, for starters. And then you know that gruff guy who lived next door to you, Casey? Turns out he's not so bad, and his roommate Beth's really sweet. They're good people, all of them, and I had so much fun getting to know them, whether it was for the first time or all over again.

"Plus, guess what? Casey and Sarah and Beth and Chuck, they're all spies. Oh, and Mr. B. too. Can you believe that? Half the people I know are honest to goodness secret agents. But I bet being as smart as you were, you already knew that."

The thought caused AJ to pause. Had her Gran known? There was no way of knowing for sure, but it did make her wonder if Mr. B. had been onto something when he'd been talking about having a calling.

"I guess you're wondering why I'm leaving then, if everything's so great. But the thing is everyone's leaving. Beth and Sarah and Casey are all getting reassigned, and Chuck's looking for something new to do. And Morgan, well, do you remember Morgan? He and his girlfriend are moving to Hawaii. I don't like her. I bet you didn't either. But the point is they're all leaving, and well, aren't I supposed to be the one who leaves? I've never been the one who's left behind before, have I? 'Cept by you. You left me here, and now you can't tell me what to do. So I'm gonna do the only thing I know how to do and leave before I'm left."

Sniffling, AJ hugged the stainless steel lobster.

"I wish you were still here to guide me. I miss you, and I love you. Maybe…maybe I'll come back someday, but I can't say for sure. So until then, take care of yourself, okay?"

Full on crying now, AJ let go of the lobster and stood, blowing a kiss towards the ground.

"You okay?" the cabbie asked when she stepped back into the taxi, passing her a box of Kleenex.

"I'll be fine," AJ assured him.

"Where to then?"

"The airport, please. And step on it."

When they arrived, AJ paid him and, duffel in hand, made her way inside. Because she was taking a redeye there weren't many people around, so it was all too soon that she found herself boarding the plane. As it took off, she found that she was tearing up once more. Catching her last glances of Burbank in the darkened window, she tried to convince herself that she'd made the right choice. "It was time for me to go," she said to no one in particular. "I had to go."

Beth woke up to a darkened room. Feeling around, she noted she was in her own bed, in her own room. She vaguely remembered going to the hospital for her shoulder, and then getting in a car to go home. Everything else was a bit fuzzy though. She tried to get up, and fell back with a slight 'oomph'. Damn shoulder. Lying back, she noticed it was heavily bandaged, and she was wearing…well, it wasn't any of her clothes, whatever she was wearing. But she didn't have time to think of that—she was hungry, and wanted food. Making sure not to disturb her wounded shoulder, she started to get up again, only to fall back in surprise when her roommate's stern voice sounded to the left of her.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Well hell, why on earth was he on that side of the room? She sat up, turning fully in bed to look at John. He was lying as best he could be a fold-up bucket chair, his legs stretched in front of him with his arms crossed behind his head. He turned her way, but didn't make a move to get up.

"Well, I'm plannin' on gettin' up to grab a drink. And somethin' to eat."

"You need your rest."

"It's just a shoulder wound—I'll be fine. Isn't that chair a bit uncomfortable?"

He growled slightly at the mention of it being 'just a shoulder wound', finally standing up to move over towards the bed.

"Not as painful as getting shot. What the hell were you thinking?"

"You know, you say that an awful lot to me."

Sitting down next to her, John kissed her forehead. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I…" she paused, looking down at the covers. "I lost it. I couldn't stand the thought of him smirking, acting as if everything was fine when there were three men who'd never get to smile again. My temper snapped. And he could have…he could have killed you. He did hurt you. I couldn't let him get away with it."

"He wasn't going to get away with it."

"I know, I just, I mean, he killed those Marines. Didn't even bat an eye. How could he do something like that? I mean, I've seen some pretty bad things—it's all part of the job, but to, for lack of a better term, assassinate them? And not even look 'im in the eye…it's inhuman. It's horrible…they were good men. Adrian, he, we talked when I was at the apartment—he asked me if—" She broke off, her voice shaking slightly. "They were good men. They had so much of their life left, and it was just…snuffed out. I hate it. I hate it so much. And I could have been there. I could have been there to help—I thought about stopping by after the wedding—I had free time and it wouldn't have taken long. If I'd joined you…"

"Don't even think it, Beth. Had you been there, that traitor would have killed you too."

"But I could have—"

"—You couldn't have. If he had no problems shooting three Marines point blank, do you think he'd have a problem killing one CIA agent?"

She pulled her legs to her, resting her head on her knees. "I know but…I knew something was up with him! I didn't trust him; I should have said something. But instead, I just chalked it up to him being shy and didn't say anything and now four good men are dead and I couldn't even help! I mean, Jeremy had a family back in Louisiana; Adrian had his eye on a gal back home—I didn't even get to know the third man. And he killed Bryce too. It just isn't fair!"

She hugged her knees closer to her, as best she could with her shoulder bandaged, and broke into quiet tears. Wrapping his arm around her, John cradled her to him, mindful of her injury. His next words were quiet, but they held a no-nonsense tone.

"Life isn't fair, Tulip. Good men die all the time—it's something we fight every day. We fight to protect others, including men like Crawford and Thompson. Maybe if you had mentioned your suspicions, something would have been different, but more than likely, nothing would have changed."

Beth stayed silent, just looking down at her covers, and John sighed. It would take time before she accepted what he said—he knew her well enough to know that. A slight change of subject, he chuckled, saying, "Have to admit, you gave him some good hits—broke his nose."

She managed a small smile, shrugging. "He deserved it. I hope my groin hits were just as good."

"I have a feeling they were solid; you didn't get to see it, but he fell to his knees with your last kick."

"Good. I hope I kicked 'im so hard he choked on his balls."

John looked at her in surprise, and she blushed. Admittedly, she didn't use that phrase often, but in this situation, it fit.

"Never thought I'd hear you say such a phrase."

"Hey! I'm not all sweet and innocent."

"Yeah, you're a real streetwalker, aren't you?"

She laughed, reaching for his hand and entwining her fingers with his.

"John?"

He turned at her words—though she had just been laughing, her voice had turned serious.

"What is it Beth?"

"I—you…when I thought I lost you, I only wanted to, but you—aw, hells bells. I'm not being very articulate, am I?"

"No, but I'm enjoying watching you try."

"I just, well, with Chuck having the Intersect again, does this mean…you're staying?"

"Haven't talked to Beckman yet officially, but the answer's probably yes. What about you?"

"I'm still—I don't know. I know Beckman had something planned, but I don't know what. I stand by what I said earlier though—no matter where we are, I wanna try and make…whatever this thing we have is, well, I wanna make it work."

John raised an eyebrow. "This thing?"

"Well, yeah, cause I don't really—I mean, we were roommates, and then friends, and then we kissed, but then you were leaving and I was leaving and—"

He cut her off mid-sentence, placing a finger to her lips. "Be my girlfriend."

Her lips parted in surprise. She stared at him, and he continued. "Say you'll be my girlfriend. Simplifies this 'thing' as you're calling it. So…will you?"

Smiling, Beth used her good arm to pull him closer to her, kissing him before pressing her forehead to his.

"John Casey, nothin' would make me happier in the world than bein' your girl. My only question is why did it take you so long to ask?"

AC here, hey LB, wasn't it my turn to write the A/N? Lol, only joking. So, there you have it, the end of VTR. AJ's gone, Beth's leaving...& Beth & Casey are officially a couple! Review & let us know what you thought? Pretty please? It'd make our day! Also, if you're sad to see this end (I know I am), never fear. Next up we have a shorter co-op & a return to our individual pieces on CVTCS:Beth & CVTCS:AJ. So thanks for reading, & I hope you continue to enjoy Chuck Versus the Chuckless Summer.