Author's Note: I tried to write this chapter on Friday, but I was bored out of my mind. I couldn't put a sentence together. I had to wait 'til Sunday. Some of you have been waiting for it, so, next chapter: Chuck, Sarah, and all their drama. In the meantime, here is chapter 5...

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Muddled

Casey was not having a good day so far. He had already been chewed out by Beckman during that first phone call when he told her all about his encounter with Bartowski. He'd put it off as long as he could because he knew what her reaction would be, but this morning he decided it'd been long enough, so he bit the bullet.

"He said what!"

"Yes, general. He also said that you shouldn't bother trying to take him because he's taken precautions and he has proof."

"He thinks he can tell me what to do?" She spat out. "And what were you doing colonel? I sent you there to take Bartowski, not buddy up with your old asset!" Casey cringed. "Did you follow him?"

"No ma'am."

"Did you plant trackers on him?"

"No ma'am."

"Did you do anything?"

"No ma'am. I thought I'd wait for you to see Bartowski's proof and decide how you want to proceed before I made another move."

"I don't care what his proof is! I'm bringing him in and you'll be lucky if I don't boot your ass straight to the Kremlin when this is done. I know how much you and the Russians like each other." She quickly hung up.

He did not enjoy being yelled at by that woman. He had respected her when he first started serving under her command but this thing with Bartowski had gone far beyond the call of duty. This was now personal, and John Casey did not approve of using government resources to settle personal scores, he also didn't appreciate being threatened. For now, though, he would have to let it go. Hopefully, whatever Bartowski had up his sleeve would get Beckman to finally let this thing go so he could move past this assignment.

Not forty-five minutes later, Beckman was calling again.

What's she want now?. "General?"

"Not for much longer, just like you won't be a colonel for much longer either."

"Excuse me?"

"Your services are no longer required. You are hereby honorably discharged colonel. Your country thanks you for your service, John." With those parting words, the call was over.

Casey tried to call the general back but didn't get an answer; he moved on to her secretary. "This is Colonel Casey; patch me through to the general."

"Ah, Colonel Casey, yes; General Beckman left instructions. Where would you like your benefits to be sent?"

"What?"

"Your retirement package? Where should we send the paperwork?"

"Retirement? Is that what she's calling it?" He growled out. "I'll get back to you."

"Very well, sir."

Casey was pissed. What the hell had happened between the two calls with Beckman? How in the hell had he ended up losing his job? It wasn't that he particularly cared for keeping his job anymore; its appeal had worn off over the past few years. But, damn it, this was not the way he wanted to leave. Forced into retirement? He deserved better than that after everything he'd given for his country.

He had an idea of who could give him some answers and where he'd be. Casey knew Chuck would show up sooner or later, and now he had nothing but time. He grabbed his jacket and keys, and stormed out of his room.

Casey knew the car parked in front of the Woodcomb home didn't belong to either Ellie or Devon, or any of their friends. Chuck was already inside. He wouldn't have to wait around. He left his Vic, and stomped his way to the front door.

Before he could knock on the door, he heard someone coming up behind him... fast. He turned and saw Walker racing towards him. Ah... hell. What was she doing here? Was she seriously going to try to take him on? Casey didn't want to deal with her crazy ass right now. "Walker?" She didn't stop. "What the hell are you doing?" No answer. Crap...

She leapt towards him and his only choice was to restrain her before she could do anything stupid. He wrapped his arms around her as she crashed into him and their momentum drove them straight into the door. Next thing he knew, they were on the floor. She was struggling to free herself and he was having a hard time keeping his hold. She was stronger than the last time he'd seen her.

"Casey?" He ignored Chuck's question.

"Damn it, Walker! What the hell is wrong with you!" He wouldn't be able to hang on much longer.

"Sarah?" Casey felt Sarah go rigid as she finally registered the sound of Chuck's voice and he loosened his grip. Well, at least the idiot's good for something.

He watched her head snap up and she breathed out, "Chuck..." Ugh... here we go with the feelings. Casey rolled his eyes.

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Sarah Walker sat in her car, intently watching the Woodcomb residence from down the street. It had become somewhat of a habit during the past three years, after all news of Chuck had stopped coming in from her agency contacts. Sarah knew with the propagation of Intersect agents and the destruction of the Ring, the government didn't really care about what essentially amounted to an obsolete computer. A walking, talking computer, but obsolete, nonetheless. All the information in the original Intersect was now outdated and of use to no one. Charles Bartowski didn't rate high enough to be on anyone's radar, except for General Diane Beckman's, that is. Sarah knew there was still a hunt on for Chuck coming out of the NSA, specifically, the general's office. She was out for revenge, and Sarah didn't put it past her to come after Ellie and Devon if she got desperate enough. That's why she had taken it upon herself to keep an eye on them. It was the least she could do, she thought, after failing so miserably in her mission with Chuck. Usually, she would stop by an hour before she had to get to work and make sure that nothing had changed, that they weren't in any danger. A smaller, but not insignificant part of her, though, hoped there was a chance that Chuck would contact his family, maybe even show up at some point; and, as much as she berated herself for still thinking those thoughts, she didn't want to miss her chance if that happened. Over the past eight years, the memories of their time together had melded into a romanticized version of their relationship and she wanted nothing more than to see him again.

Today, however, things were different. She had gotten a call from one of her contacts as she was about to head to work telling her something big was happening. General Beckman had received a call from Casey, after which she was livid. There hadn't been anything on Chuck in years. Sarah knew Casey was in L.A.; maybe they were finally going to move on Ellie and her family. Sarah quickly decided she needed to stay there. She called into work saying she was taking a personal day, and quickly readied herself for a fight. She knew she was nowhere near as good as she used to be before she uploaded the Intersect, but she also knew she would do everything she could to protect Chuck's sister.

Two hours after she got the call, she saw a car pulling up to the house. There was only one occupant, and it definitely wasn't government issued. She knew Ellie was still inside, and Devon had left with his daughter earlier. When the driver didn't move to exit the car right away, she reached for her binoculars and looked into the car.

Chuck.

The binoculars fell from her hands as Sarah's body froze and her mind reeled from what she'd just seen. A tornado of thoughts began swirling around in her head. After all this time, he was here, torturously within her reach, and she couldn't move. She lost focus as one thought was quickly replaced by another. She saw him exit his car and make his way to the door. She saw him knock. She saw Ellie answer and throw her arms around him, all the while wishing she was the one touching him. She saw them make their way inside; and all throughout she willed her body to move, to no avail.

Sarah kept staring at the white door long after it had closed, knowing full well that everything she had been longing for was right on the other side. All she had to do was move the few hundred feet that separated her from Chuck... and yet, she couldn't make herself move an inch. She had no idea what she was going to say, what she wanted to say. She'd imagined many times seeing him again, but she never got passed the initial lock of their eyes on each other, the smile she would give him.

Now that he was here, though, things were playing out differently. She wasn't feeling entirely like she thought she would. She knew she had to go in there, but she had to think through how she would play things. Unfortunately, she didn't get much time because five minutes later, she saw a Crown Victoria pull up behind Chuck's car.

Casey.

He had a scowl on his face and she was sure he was here to do Beckman's dirty work.

No matter what she was feeling at the moment, the danger to Chuck she perceived overrode everything else. She jumped out of her car and ran straight at Casey, fully intending on taking him down. She couldn't fire at him, he was too close to the house; she'd have to fight him.

By the time she got near him, he was in front of the door. She wasn't as quiet as she used to be so he turned around when he heard her coming.

"Walker?" His eyes narrowed, "What the hell are you doing?"

Sarah didn't answer. Instead, she launched herself, trying to take him down to the floor where his height wouldn't be an advantage. It worked, but he got her in a bear hug on his way down, and they both went crashing through the front door and into the house.

She heard Casey shouting at her, but all she wanted to do was get out of his hold. She cursed herself for being so weak now. She would've had no problem taking him out before. She hated the Intersect, for more than one reason.

And then, she heard his voice calling...

"Sarah?"

-0-

Sarah went still and her head snapped up to face Chuck. Casey's arms relaxed around her and she shifted her hands to the carpet on either side of Casey.

"Chuck..." she breathed out.

The penetrating gaze was enough to make Chuck completely self-conscious. He was not expecting Sarah to come bursting through Ellie's door; and he definitely had not expected her to come crashing through while being restrained by Casey: What the hell was up with that? He'd being hoping to see her again and talk with her, but this was not the way he'd envisioned it happening. He had not prepared himself to deal with Sarah. He knew there was a lot they would have to talk about, a lot he would have to apologize for; but having her here so soon, with that intense stare fixed on him, he was more uncomfortable than he ever thought possible. Even though he was the one looking down at her in her less than graceful position, she held all the power. He felt like he was the one being judged, liked he had wronged Sarah greatly and was now going to be put to task for it. He felt like the old post-Stanford Chuck, and that did not sit well with him.

In those few moments, his resolve started to build. He wasn't going to revert; he was going to stand up for himself.

Adrenaline had taken over. In the blink of an eye, Sarah's eyes narrowed, a fierce look came over her and she vaulted off of Casey barreling straight toward Chuck.

Drawing her hand back while making a fist, she shouted, "You bastard!"

The resolve he'd been building disappeared in an instant; Chuck was completely taken aback by the turn of events and froze in place.

Registering the aggressive action, the Intersect took over, instantly compelling Chuck into a defensive move.

As Sarah's fist pushed forward, Chuck reached out with his right, grabbing her wrist and pulling down, spinning her around with her own momentum. Her back crashed into his chest. In her moment of disorientation, he grabbed her right wrist with his left hand and her left with his right, pulling them tight across her torso. He hooked his left leg around both of hers, rendering her, essentially, immobile.

The entire exchange took seconds, and all Sarah could do was blink as she tried to understand what just happened. Ellie stood mesmerized by the scene.

Casey, on the other hand, knew exactly what happened and he was not happy. When he saw Sarah gunning for Chuck, he was about to smile at the hurt she was going to inflict upon the dumbass who seemed unsure of what to do, but then he saw the flash overtake him.

He growled out, "You son of a bitch! You have the 2.0! You lied to me Bartowski."

"No, Casey, I just didn't tell you the whole truth."

Sarah had recovered and started using the only means she had to try to break free: she tried to headbutt Chuck so he'd release her. Every time she did though, Chuck just moved his head and kept his eyes on Casey. "Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down. We need to talk and we can't do that if you're trying to rip my head off the entire time," Chuck said calmly.

"Apparently, I wasn't the only one to be less than honest," he said looking at Casey. "I thought you said she couldn't fight anymore?"

"No, Moron. I said she was done as a field agent. I never said she still couldn't kick your ass, or the majority of other people's for that matter. Of course, that was before I knew you went for the upgrade. She's a lot faster and stronger than the last time I saw her, but her reflexes took too much damage from the Intersect. I think you can tell she'd get herself killed as an agent."

"Hey! I'm right here!"

"You also need to calm down if you want Bartowski to let you go."

"I'm going to kick his ass and then I'm going to kick yours Casey!"

"Oh, for the love of-" Casey reached into his waistband, pulled out his gun, and fired two shots.

Sarah looked down at the two darts sticking out of her chest and then turned her quickly drooping gaze on Casey, "I'm so gonna ki-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as her body went completely limp and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Chuck was now holding Sarah's seemingly lifeless body up, and man was she heavy. With a strained voice he called out to Casey, "What'd you do that for!"

"You saw her; she wasn't going to calm down and we need to have a conversation."

"Yeah, but now all you did is make her even angrier. What are we going to do when she wakes up?"

"We?" Casey said laughing. "I don't think so, Bartowski. You. That right there," he said pointing to Sarah, "Is your problem. I'm sure you'll think of something. I mean, you are the one with the degree from Stanford, right?" He said, tapping his index finger to his head mockingly.

"Ha...! Good one..." Chuck said, not at all amused by Casey's antics.

"Hey, you wanted her, now you got her." Casey turned serious. "Okay, enough of this. Let's talk. I need some answers."

"Fine, but let me put her somewhere first." He looked at Ellie, who was just blankly staring at them. "Uh... Ellie?"

"Huh?" She blinked dumbly.

"Which room do I get? She's going to be out for a couple of hours, so I want to put her on a bed."

"Oh... right! You can put her in your old room."

"I'll be right back," he said as he headed to his room.

"Uh-huh," she said as she sat back down on the couch. She wasn't expecting her brother's return to go quite like this.

As Chuck was coming back into the living room, he heard...

"Babe? What happened to the door?"

Devon was at the threshold with Clara at his side. This sucks, Chuck thought as he let out a sigh and shook his head from side to side.

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Author's Note: I really wanted to tranq someone at some point, didn't really matter who, it just turned out to be Sarah. Also, I stopped this chapter here just in case the conversation between Sarah and Chuck isn't as long as I think it's going to be, it gives me a bit of a buffer; some may call it filler. This is what happens when I don't know what's going on with a story; things rearrange themselves all the time.