Author's Note: I got done writing this chapter faster than I thought I would. So, for your perusal, here's chapter 4...

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Ellie

Woodcomb Residence

Encino, California

August 22, 2016

Chuck pulled up to the single story house that had been his childhood home. It held so many memories, both good and bad. He parked his car and after a few moments of letting his mind wander in the past, he got out.

Anxiously, he started making his way up to the door. The last time he had been here his family had fallen apart and he only had Ellie to rely upon. This time around, his family would be coming together again, bigger and better than it had been before. This time they would get it right, this time they would fight to stay together. Clara would never have to experience what it felt like to be abandoned by her parents, her uncle, her grandparents... she, and any other children that might come along, would have the best childhood the Bartowski's could give.

When Chuck reached the door, he paused for a moment. He wasn't sure how he would greet Ellie. Sure he had talked to her often enough, but he hadn't actually been in the same space as her in years. Could they still be as close as they had once been? Would their first meeting in so long be full of awkward moments? He had told Ellie a lot of what he had been through, but not everything. There were things he had left out, for her piece of mind. She had her own happy family and a great career. She had escaped what he had taken to calling the "Bartowski Curse." She didn't need to be burdened by the walking disaster that was the rest of her family. Chuck knew she still loved him, but he wasn't the same brother she knew anymore, he couldn't be. Surely she had changed too. It might mean that they would have to get to know each other again, but in the grand scheme of things, that was a small hurdle.

He took a deep, calming breath and knocked on the door. He brought his hand back down to his side, and waited for an answer.

A few seconds later the door swung open and there, in front of him, stood Ellie. Before he could say or do anything, she threw her arms around his neck and started squeezing with all she had. "Chuck! Oh my god! You're here!" She kept her vice-like hold on him. "I missed you so much!" She said with a cracking voice and tears running down her face.

Through a strangled voice, Chuck called out, "El-Ellie... can't breathe..."

She let go and pulled back smiling. Wiping her tears she said, "Sorry, sorry. I'm just so happy."

"Me too, El." He said smiling. "I can't believe I'm finally here."

"Oh! Come in!" Ellie stood aside to let him through. "Let's get inside."

"Wow, this place looks great." Chuck glanced around the living room. Even though he could recall every detail of what the place used to look like when he lived there, there was no mistaking that it was now Ellie and Devon's home. Pictures of them and Clara doing different things were up on the walls, on the fireplace mantle, and on the shelves of the old entertainment system set up. There was even one of Clara harnessed in, climbing a miniature rock climbing wall at a fun center somewhere. That brought a smile to Chuck's face. She was clearly an Awesome. He also felt a pang of regret, he had missed so much.

Ellie closed the door behind them and said, "Thank you. It took me and Devon some time to redecorate." There was a new coat of paint, carpet instead of the wood floors, completely new furniture, and the 72 inch TV that had been the source of an argument between the two of them.

"Hey, where is Devon? And Clara? I'm dying to meet my little niece."

"Oh, they're not here right now. Devon took Clara to the park so I could get everything ready for when you and dad got here. I worked on your rooms all morning and now I'm just finishing up with the cooking. Don't worry; you won't have to wait long. They should be back in a little while." Then she finally noticed who was missing and asked, "Chuck... where is dad? I thought you two were coming together?"

A grin came over Chuck's face as he replied, "Actually, I haven't seen dad in a month. He took off after we finally cracked the programming. He's coming later. We both felt really bad about missing your wedding and not being able to send you a gift, so he went to Russia to pick something very special up for you."

"Chuck, he didn't need to do that. I completely get why you guys couldn't be there."

"Trust me, El. You are going to love this present." He responded with the grin still plastered on his face.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Whatever... as long as he's definitely coming?"

"He wouldn't miss this for the world; he's more excited about meeting Clara than I am. She's his first grandkid, after all."

"Okay, then. Hey, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Morgan over, he doesn't know you're going to be here but I just thought we should include him. Besides, Clara loves him. He can watch her while we talk." She said as she moved them to sit on the couch.

He sighed, "It's fine, I guess. I mean it's not like I don't want to see him, but he doesn't know about all of this, and I don't feel like explaining just yet. I thought today would be just us and tomorrow I would catch up with him."

"Do you want me to call him and cancel?"

"No, it's okay. Let him come. What time did you tell him?"

"Eight."

"Yeah, that's enough time for us to catch up some."

She took his hand and started, "God, Chuck. I can't believe you're here." A slightly worried look came over her face. "So, everything is okay now? No one is chasing you anymore?"

Chuck' voice took on a soothing tone as he gave her hand a small squeeze, "Don't worry El. It's all over. No one is going to be bothering us from here on out."

"How can you be sure? What about the surveillance? They'll know you're here."

He smirked slightly while pulling out a small device, "See the green light?" At her nod, he continued, "Knocks out all of it. They won't be eavesdropping on you anymore. And, I wouldn't worry about anyone showing up. Dad and I have taken care of everything. There might be one or two hardheaded idiots out there that might try something, but we'll deal with them."

"Chuck... you and dad, what you've been through, it all seems like too much. I don't know if I would've been able to deal with it, if it happened to me, how have you dealt with it?"

A forlorn look overtook his face as he exhaled dully. "Not very well, I'm afraid. Honestly, Ellie, it all has been too much. You've seen how dad is; he's on the look out all the time, to the point of being paranoid. He's much better now, but when we first met up, you would've thought he was crazy." He shook his head. "And, I'm not much better myself. Not as bad, but I've changed Ellie... and not for the better. I was alone for a year, I knew dad was alive early on, but I still didn't have anyone right there with me to keep me grounded. Have your own government out to get you, chasing you all over the world, and that goes a long way in helping you develop a good dose of paranoia."

Ellie finally took an appraising look at her brother and saw the weary countenance clearly etched on him. He wouldn't have to run anymore, but he had a long way to go to recover from his ordeal, and that pained her to no end because she knew there was nothing she could really do to speed up the process. She cast her gaze to the floor and growled out, "I hate that woman for what she did to you; that bastard Casey, too and the government. The worst of all, though, is Bryce Larkin. I wish he was here so I could pay him back for ruining your life... twice."

Chuck sighed resignedly; he knew they'd have to talk about this sooner or later. Better to do it while they were alone. He put a hand over hers so she would look at him. "Ellie... stop. Bryce is dead. He was killed not long after I left. I can't say that I'll ever completely forgive him for what he did, but in his own way, he was trying to help. It doesn't matter now anyway, he's gone. No sense in dwelling."

"Huh... I suppose I can't speak ill of the dead," she conceded.

"Now, about Sarah and Casey-"

"No, Chuck. Don't go there." She quickly cut him off.

"Ellie, listen to me."

"No way; I will not listen to you defend them."

"Ellie, you wanted to know, so shut up and listen." Her eyes widened, it was enough to surprise her into acquiescing to his demand. "Good. Now, as I was saying: Sarah and Casey. Don't judge them too harshly. I can't say I'm happy about a lot of what they did, but after everything I've been through, I've learned to let go of the bad feelings. Casey was just doing his job, he's a soldier. He follows orders. It took me a while to understand that. He saved my life plenty of times because those were his orders, and I was glad to have him as a protector; I can't then turn around and be angry at him for following orders I don't like. How hypocritical would that be?" He gave her a questioning look, but she said nothing. "Besides, he and I have come to an understanding of sorts. He's not that bad once you figure out how to deal with him." He gave her a small smile at that.

"Okay, Chuck. I hope you really know what you're talking about, but I wouldn't be surprised if he came busting through the door at any moment," She relented.

"Good, now, on to Sarah."

"Chuck, that woman lied to me for two years and broke your heart! And that isn't even her real name! You really expect me to be good with that?"

"No. But there are some things you don't know." He waited until he had her undivided attention again. "Just like Casey, Sarah saved my life over and over. If it wasn't for both of them, I wouldn't be alive right now. That being said, she was different." He continued at Ellie's inquisitive stare. "Sarah and I... I know we used to say it was complicated but it didn't dawn on me just how complicated it really was until much later. I started falling for her from the moment I saw her, but what guy wouldn't? She, I'm pretty sure, did start having feelings for me eventually. But she couldn't act on those feelings because her job wouldn't allow it-"

"That's a pretty stupid reason," Ellie mumbled.

He let out an amused chuckle. "That's what I used to think, because I didn't understand. Even though she would not admit, explicitly, to having feelings for me, I've realized everything she did was to protect me because she cared. She was always looking out for me. She said that if anything happened between us, she would be reassigned and we'd never see each other again. What she didn't say was that if she wasn't there with me, there would be nothing stopping her bosses from throwing me in an underground bunker. After being closed off for so long, it was the only way she knew in which to express herself. She kept me with my family and I'll always be grateful for that, you should be too. And towards the end there, I think she might have even been ready to finally give us a chance. But I panicked when she told me what they were planning to do and that we had to run, so I left her behind because dad's warnings got the best of me. I ignored everything she'd done for me, and I screwed everything up. We never could seem to get it right." He finished, smiling regretfully.

"Oh, Chuck. I'm so sorry." She took hold of his hand and held it reassuringly. She felt so bad for her brother. He had been through so much. More than she would have ever wanted for him. It broke her heart because she had genuinely liked Sarah and thought she was good for Chuck, up until she found out who she really was, that is. Hearing her brother speak, she was grateful to have found Devon... and that he hadn't turned out to be some sort of spy using her to maintain some cover.

"It's okay, El. I've learned to live with it. Sarah kept telling me why we couldn't be together and I kept choosing not to listen. It hurt at the time, when she would shoot me down, but it seems to me like my persistence paid off eventually, even if I didn't get to benefit from it." Brightening up, he said, "Things are different now. I was actually even thinking about-"

Chuck didn't get to finish that sentence because at precisely that moment, the front door burst open and a bundle of entangled limbs went flying through, landing on the floor. Chuck and Ellie both sat in stunned silence, not believing the scene playing out in front of their eyes. Finally, they were able to break out of their stupor and Chuck spoke, still confused, "Casey?"

There were some grunts, and then Chuck heard...

"Damn it, Walker! What the hell is wrong with you!"

Immediately, his attention was drawn to the mop of blonde hair flailing about on top of Casey. Chuck's eyes widened as realization hit...

"Sarah?"

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Author's Note: A little bit of a heads up. While I was writing this chapter, and planning for the rest, I came to a conclusion. I think Orion is one of the best characters on Chuck. Early on in his arc there was a lot of mystery surrounding him; I thought that was really cool. I think I've had Orion pull off some cool things in this story that you know or will know of by the end (the fall of Fulcrum and the Ring, for example), and I was fully prepared to explain how he did all that in flashbacks. But now, I'm not going to do that. I want there to be some mystery left about him, at least in this story. I will go over his escape from Black Rock, but that's probably about it.