A/N: Thank you to those that left reviews and to the rest of you for sticking with this story. Nearing the end now.

Thanks to Captainrick944 for the beta.

There wasn't really much to use from "Chuck Versus the Colonel." So, this chapter is mainly a rewrite of "Chuck Versus the Ring" along with one scene was carried over from an earlier episode, "Chuck Versus the Dream Job."

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Chapter 23: Happy Families

Stephen Bartowski contacted his daughter by phone. He'd told Chuck and Sarah he was nervous about this, but Chuck had assured him that Ellie would be fine about it. However, Sarah was pleased that he took her suggestion to call when they were over with Ellie and Devon, so they could support him.

Ellie didn't recognize the number and was going to hang up, but Chuck caused her to drop the phone. When he picked it up for her, he seemed to accidentally accept the call. Ellie glared at him for his clumsiness but took the phone back from him.

She clearly recognized the voice immediately. "Dad?"

Chuck had decided to admit he gave her phone number to his dad after tracking him down online, so he called out, "Hi, Dad."

Ellie, thoroughly confused, put the phone on speaker and placed it on the coffee table.

"I'll say it again, " Stephen said. "Hello, Eleanor. And hello, Charles, too."

Ellie just sat mute.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Chuck asked.

She stayed looking dazed but eventually said, "Pancakes."

Stephen said, "Oh, boy."

She continued, "You said you were gonna make pancakes. Well, that-that went well."

She walked out of the room, leaving her phone behind.

Chuck leaned into it. "Sorry, Dad. She's walked off. I'll talk to her."

"Ok, son," Stephen replied, sounding completely demoralized.

Chuck left Sarah and Devon to go and find his sister.

She was lying on her bed on her front with her head in her hands.

"Ellie, I'm sorry. I should have warned you. I just kinda assumed you'd be happy to hear from him." Chuck paused. "I guess a surprise of this magnitude wasn't the best idea."

She shook her head, "It's not really your fault. I'm just... so mad at him, our crazy old dad." She looked at her brother. "Aren't you mad at him?"

"I was, yeah. But then I realized that... you know, we can hate him for the rest of our lives, or we can choose to forgive him."

"It's easier to hate him," she muttered.

"Well, that may be," he replied. "But he's all we got left, El. This could be our last chance at being a family again."

"I guess," she said. She sighed. "I'll call him back."

When Ellie called him back, Stephen told her he wasn't far away. That caused her to get mad again, but Chuck and Devon managed to calm her down.

"Why don't you come here?" she challenged.

There was a pause, and then he replied. "I will."

She looked stunned. "When?"

"I can come over this evening," he offered. "I can be there in a couple of hours."

"Yes," she said.

When she ended the call, she looked at the others. "Oh my God! Dad's coming here tonight!" she exclaimed.

Chuck and Sarah grinned. This was big. Chuck could tell Ellie was still struggling with all this, so he said, "Ellie, you told us you dreamt of him returning and walking you up the aisle."

Ellie huffed.

Sarah said, "I wish my dad could be at my wedding. I miss him so much."

Ellie's expression changed as she clearly realized that this would be a way of having the wedding she wanted. "You're right."

The knock on the door put Ellie into a panic, so Chuck answered it and let their dad in.

The two men hugged each other and then walked into the living room.

"Dad," Ellie gasped.

"Eleanor," he replied.

It was a bit awkward with the two of them standing facing each other.

She finally said, "I guess I was just, uh, surprised to hear from you, Dad."

He smiled. "I'm sure you were." Then he shook his head. "God, Ellie, y-you look just like your mother."

That broke the ice, and the two of them embraced.

When they separated, Stephen was still uncomfortable. He looked around the room and saw the large television. "Big TV," he said. He smiled. "I practically invented your TV. I came up with these helix-shaped plasma crystals back in high school, um, never saw a dime for it." He drew and passed a diagram to Devon.

"Okay, well, who's hungry? I'll order pizza," Chuck said, waving his cell phone.

His dad ignored his words. "Touch-screen technology. That was one of mine. Uh, Ted Roark and I came up with it back in grad school."

Ellie interrupted him. "Dad, you went to school with Ted Roark?"

He nodded.

"The Roark Instruments guy?" Devon clarified. "Awesome."

Stephen frowned. "He took all my ideas, and, uh, I-I never got anything. Guy's a lying thief."

It wasn't on the news yet, so none that already knew, which included Stephen, could mention that Ted Roark had been arrested.

His dad was clearly spiraling, and Chuck saw an expression of despair growing on his sister's face. So, he stood and said, "Well, how about I, uh, order the pizza. Pepperoni?" No one disagreed. Sarah knew he'd order vegetarian, no olives for her.

The conversation didn't really get much smoother, but at least they were all together and talking, if a bit stiltedly.

Sarah hoped things would get easier as time passed. She was surprised that Stephen had brought clothes with him so that he could stay, and Chuck quickly tidied his old bedroom that he'd left in a bit of a mess. She would try to meet up with Ellie to make sure she was ok. Sarah didn't want her friend to be any more stressed than she already was about the wedding.

The next day, Chuck walked down into Castle for the usual briefing with General Beckman.

She started the call with concerns about men suspected of being part of Fulcrum's parent organization, The Ring. She showed their details on the monitor. She looked at Chuck. "What can you tell us about them?"

Chuck knew now was the time to let her know about losing the Intersect. "I can't flash on them, General." He frowned. "In fact, I haven't flashed since the Fulcrum Intersect was destroyed."

She frowned now. "That sounds worrying. We need to test this, because of what you retrieved from Fulcrum. We are working through rounding them up. You won't have seen some of those that we are still after. If you don't flash on them, then we can only assume your Intersect is broken too." She paused. "Whether that's like when you were an emotional wreck or completely broken will have to be ascertained.

"If it's completely broken, what does that mean?" Chuck asked.

She stared at him. "I'd still like you to continue as an analyst, even if you're not the Intersect, so it's not an immediate problem."

When Chuck told her about his conversation with the general, Sarah wasn't too bothered. "Maybe we both continue in our respective agencies as back-room analysts," she suggested.

"Based here, in LA?" Chuck asked.

Sarah looked at him. "You know that I should be able to retire completely, based on my years of service, but you've only been an NSA analyst for a short time, less than two years. Your contract probably requires you to stay for at least five."

He groaned. "Can't I claim I've had mental problems?"

She smiled. "I don't think losing the Intersect would count."

"Why not? It's a significant memory loss."

She laughed. "That it is, but not one that will help here."

"So, a few more years before we escape this life completely?" he said despondently.

She took his hand and gripped it tightly. "It'll be very different, Chuck. We won't have to go out on missions."

When Chuck took their dad shopping to get him a new suit for the wedding, Sarah went over to the other apartment to spend some time with Ellie. She loved this woman and frequently thought about how she had brought up Chuck from an early age, while, at the same time, supporting them both and getting through her own education. Ellie Bartowski was an amazing woman.

This arrival of Stephen Bartowski at her apartment was the first time Sarah had really seen her friend unsettled.

Before they sat down, the two women stood in the kitchen as the older woman poured them coffee.

"How are you feeling, Ellie?" Sarah asked.

The brunette put her coffee down and turned to her blonde friend. "I'm still mad at him. Still think he's as mad as ever, but I'm getting used to the idea that he's alive."

"And he will now be able to walk you down the aisle," Sarah pointed out. "Which Chuck tells me you always wanted."

"Ellie nodded. "He will because that's happening very soon, but will he stay in our lives or just disappear again after that?"

Sarah couldn't really answer that question. She thought the threat to their lives that had originally made Stephen leave was over now, with what had happened to RI and Fulcrum, but she couldn't be totally sure.

That uncertainty also reminded her that she never knew when or if she'd see her own father again. Not something she wanted to focus on before her own wedding.

Sarah steered the conversation to more pleasant topics after that.

The following morning, Sarah was surprised to receive a video call from General Beckman while she was on her own in Castle.

General Beckman launched straight in. "Agent Walker, there's a new role that has been proposed for you, but I thought I should talk to you about it first." The general looked unsure for once.

Sarah made no attempt to hide her feelings. "I'm sorry, General. I am not leaving Chuck for anything."

Beckman nodded. "I thought you'd say that, but still should tell you about it, so you know what it was." She took a deep breath. "You would be in charge of the new Intersect project, working in tandem with Agent Larkin. There's a new cube being built."

"Definitely not interested, General," Sarah stated. She even shuddered at the thought of working with the man again. Not only that, the impact such a choice would have on her fiancé would be devastating.

Beckman nodded. "Very well. I'm afraid Agent Larkin wouldn't listen when I suggested it might not be viable, and he will probably show up soon to try to persuade you, even though I told him not to do that."

Sarah wasn't sure she believed the woman. It was just like her to actually send Bryce Larkin. "I will inform him," she replied.

When the call ended, Sarah immediately called Chuck to join her. Casey came with him.

Chuck and Sarah would have their discussion by thoughts, but not until Casey had had his rant. Sarah realized her mistake. 'Sorry, Chuck. I wanted to discuss this before he got here.'

'No problem. We will after,' he replied.

"So, that slippery piece of shit is coming here to try to break you two up?" Casey growled.

Both of them winced at how he put it. "Essentially," Sarah replied. "For work, not… anything else."

Casey snorted. "I bet that's not what Larkin thinks."

And that was just another of the reasons for it being impossible. Sarah felt the need to reassure Chuck immediately. 'I will never sleep with him again!'

'I know,' he replied.

'Good.'

"I turned the general down and will tell Bryce the same." Sarah looked at the two of them. "If pressure is brought to bear, I'll resign."

Chuck knew this would happen eventually but was surprised that it could be so soon.

Casey just stared at her. "You? Resign? Never thought that'd happen."

She smiled at him. "I'll do that as soon as Chuck can leave the NSA, anyway."

Casey shook his head. "Amazing!" He looked at Chuck. "She really has gone soft because of you."

Sarah had to correct him. "Not true, Casey. I had planned to leave after this one last assignment."

Casey chuckled at that. "The one that became the longest of both our lives!"

"The best," she added.

He grunted. "Well, good luck when Larkin gets here." He walked off and back to the Buy More.

The couple talked quietly.

"Do you want me here when he comes?" Chuck asked.

She smiled. "I always like it when you're here, but I have no idea when he'll arrive. I'll call you when he arrives."

"If he touches you…," he started, looking angry.

She laughed. "He'll have a knife at his throat before he knows it."

That stopped his mood swing. He chuckled. "True, but I'd rather be here to see it!"

She pulled him in for a kiss.

It was around three pm when she sensed someone walking down the stairs. She looked up, and it was the unwelcome visitor.

"Hello, Bryce."

"Hello, Mrs. Anderson," he replied with a big smile on his face.

She turned and called Chuck on her cell phone. "He's here."

Turning back to Bryce, she replied, "No one of that name here. I understand she is dead. No longer exists."

His smile faltered briefly. "Has General Beckman told you about your wonderful new role?"

"If you mean the Intersect project lead that I could take, then yes." She held his gaze and said, "I turned it down."

"Oh, come on, Sarah. This is what your career has been leading to. You could move up the ranks after this."

Sarah spotted Chuck entering before she replied. "Not interested." She looked back at her laptop and ignored Bryce.

He walked up next to her. "Come on, Sarah. We'll be working out of Zurich. Walker and Larkin... together again."

"Not happening," she stated flatly. "I'm staying with Chuck."

Bryce leaned closer. "I hear Chuck no longer has the Intersect. There's nothing for you to stay for."

She pushed her chair away and turned to glare at him. "I'm not staying with Chuck for the Intersect that used to be in his head. I'm staying because I love him."

Bryce snorted at that.

She reached out her hand, and Chuck's hand enveloped it.

Bryce hadn't heard him arrive. He looked a bit surprised and then frowned. "What are you doing here? You don't have the Intersect anymore."

Chuck quickly scanned the other man's thoughts. 'Oh, fun,' he thought at Sarah.

"I work here," Chuck replied. "What are you doing here? Looks like I need to change security access to stop that."

Bryce visibly bristled. "I'm here on official business."

"Not what I heard," Sarah said. "Beckman told you not to come."

Bryce turned to face her. "She was doubtful you would take up the position, and I said I'd persuade you."

Chuck laughed. Sarah was so proud of him for doing that. Bryce quickly turned to his old friend, a smirk growing. "You don't think I can?"

"Oh, I know you can't," Chuck replied, almost gleefully. "My fiancée won't be interested."

Bryce was starting to get whiplash from all the turning swiftly between these two. However, he looked down and spotted the ring on Sarah's finger. That caused him to sit down hard. "Wow! You two getting married!" He sat there for a moment or two, trying to take it all in. Chuck and Sarah could 'read' the confusion in his thoughts.

Sarah turned back to her work and asked Chuck to look at what she was writing. They basically left Bryce to his thoughts.

"You'll never cope with stopping, Sarah. That's you giving up who you are to be with Chuck." They turned to look at Bryce. He continued, "Whether you retire or become an analyst, you'll be bored. You're a field operative. One of the best, and have been for years. However, it's not only what you're best at; you love it, too. You can't walk away from that."

"That's crap!" She snapped at him. "Yes, I was the best, but I didn't love it! I got gratification out of successful missions, but nothing more. I was going to quit before I came here but stayed because of Chuck. I am so sick of field work!" She then walked up to Bryce and stood in front of him, bent down, and started poking him in the chest as she spoke. "Chuck doesn't hold me back. He's let me explore a whole new part of myself. You held me back, as well as got us into trouble that I frequently had to bail us out of."

"Bryce," Chuck interrupted. "You're upsetting my fiancée. You should leave."

He was about to issue a 'command' to make Bryce walk away, but Sarah stopped him. She said, "Don't bother, Chuck. He's not worth it."

Chuck got the message not to bother issuing the 'command' but Both men got the other message. Bryce was not worthy of their time. Chuck smiled and Bryce was left scowling as Sarah stood, took Chuck's hand, and walked them both away.

There were some challenges at the church for Ellie and Devon's wedding, which Chuck and Sarah had to deal with.

Chuck had stopped thinking about Bryce, who had left LA. 'Good riddance,' he thought.

He managed to get past Honey Woodcomb and in to see his sister where she was getting ready, along with her bridesmaids.

"Look at you," he said as he gazed at his sister, all dressed in white. "Ellie, your dreams are coming true."

She leaned to him and confessed, "If it were up to me, I would have a small ceremony on a beach. Sand between my toes, people I love." She looked over at Devon's mom. "But we all make sacrifices for family, right?"

He smiled. "You'll love it, El."

She smiled. "I know I will." She then grinned at him. "Then, it's your turn."

That gave him a warm feeling all over. He looked over to where Honey was lining the bridesmaids up to check them out.

Sarah stood out amongst the four women in the pink bridesmaid's dresses. It wasn't just that she was the only blonde or that she was the tallest of them. She just radiated beauty, happiness and obvious love for her fiancé's sister. When Chuck looked at her, everyone else faded into the background.

Of course, Sarah knew all this because Chuck didn't hold back his thoughts. 'I love you more than words can say, too, Chuck,' she thought as she beamed at him.

'You'll be swapping places with Ellie in a month,' he thought. 'I can't wait.'

'Me neither!' She positively glowed, at least in Chuck's mind.

Chuck's watch started to vibrate, so he headed out of the room to talk to Casey.

"Hey, what is it, big guy?" he asked.

Casey grunted at being called that, then said, "There's a problem. There's a Fulcrum team heading your way. Seems they believe you took their Intersect cube rather than destroyed it."

Chuck was filled with panic. "They can't come here. This is Ellie's wedding."

"I've some marines that I reconnected with for drinks to celebrate Fulcrum's demise. I'm heading your way with them."

"No! Wait! How many Fulcrum agents?"

"About five," Casey replied.

"I can handle five," Chuck said. "Although it would be good for you and your guys to take them away."

"Done," Casey said and ended the call.

Chuck headed out to the church grounds entrance to wait for the Fulcrum men. He stood in the shadows.

Five minutes later, he saw a black van turn up, and men poured out. He watched them, amazed that they made no attempt to really disguise what they planned. They were dressed in smart suits, but carrying the weapons that they did, made their intentions very clear.

The van was within Chuck's range, so once they were all out, he 'commanded' them all to drop their weapons and go to sleep. After he heard the clatter of the guns being dropped, all the men collapsed onto the ground.

Casey and his marines turned up and were amazed to find the five Fulcrum agents slumped down as they were.

Chuck was 'reading' the thoughts of the marines and how they were totally confused when he stopped. One of the men was a double agent. Miles may have been a member of Casey's old special ops unit, but he'd turned. He was now an agent of The Ring. He planned to kill Chuck and the blonde who had been with him.

Chuck ordered him to go to sleep as well.

Casey saw Miles collapse and looked sharply at where Chuck was hiding.

Chuck put the thought about Miles into Casey's head. "No!" Casey struggled with the thought. Chuck fed him facts about what Miles had done since he left Casey's unit.

So, Casey and his team had six men to take away.

Chuck rushed back into the church, not wanting to be late. He had the rings, after all.

Sarah had tackled a problem within the church while Chuck was outside. She had seen Chuck walk out and was going to find out what that was about. However, Honey Woodcomb wouldn't let anyone go. Then, they heard some music playing. Music that didn't sound appropriate.

Ellie said, "That is definitely not the wedding march. Um, can one of you please go see what's going on out there?" Sarah took that as her cue to escape.

As she hadn't heard of any problems from Chuck, she decided to check out the music first.

When she got to where the service was to be held, she found Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel standing in front of the ones who would be playing the wedding march. They were the ones playing the music. She remembered they called themselves Jeffster. They sounded ok, but the music was not at all appropriate for the venue or the event to take place here.

Sarah walked up to them. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"We're providing some pre-wedding entertainment," Jeff replied.

"No. You're not," Sarah said, and she glared at them. She didn't even have to 'command' them to stop. One look at her expression and Lester was terrified. He lowered his microphone. Jeff, who was a bit slower, then noticed how she was looking at them, and he stopped playing. The two of them collected up their things and shuffled away.

The audience started clapping, and it was only when she turned around that Sarah realized it was for her. She grinned and did a curtsey.

"I didn't know what to do," Devon said as he walked up beside her. "I didn't want to cause a scene."

She looked at him sympathetically. "Your future wife would have caused one if she saw them here."

"True," he replied. "Thank you for taking control."

She smiled at him. "You're welcome."

As she was turning away, she spotted Chuck coming into the room. He spotted her and walked over. The two of them walked to the side, and he told her what had happened outside.

"We'll need to be aware of that in case there are any more attacks," she said.

"Yeah. Just when things should be getting quieter," he moaned.

She stopped him spiraling over this. 'We will just be more careful. Nothing we're not used to, my love.'

He smiled at her. "Love you," he said.

She headed back to Ellie, and Chuck walked over to Devon.

After that, the wedding proceeded without any hitches. If Chuck hadn't used his mind-reading / commanding abilities, it would have been quite different, of course.

Chuck was standing with Devon as Ellie started down the aisle. He thought she looked stunning. And seeing her on their dad's arm made Chuck so happy. It clearly was making Ellie happy.

As they got closer, Chuck saw the bridesmaids walking behind her. He felt guilty because all eyes should be on the bride of the day, but his locked onto those of his own bride-to-be. He couldn't draw his eyes away from the beautiful blonde that would be his wife in only a few weeks. 'God, I love you so much, Sarah!'

She smiled over at him. The smile that always makes his heart sing. 'I love you too. However, you still have a job to do here.'

That made him start. 'What?'

'You're in charge of their wedding rings,' she reminded him. He could almost hear the chuckle in her thoughts.

Needless to say, the wedding vows were perfect, and in no time, Chuck had a brother-in-law.

Partway through the evening, Morgan walked up to Chuck and Sarah. He'd told his friend earlier that he was quitting the Buy More and moving to Hawaii with Anna. As he walked up, Chuck said, "I can't believe you're actually leaving me."

"All right, don't, Chuck. I'll cry," Morgan replied. "We don't want that now, do we?"

Chuck smiled. "I'm happy for you, buddy."

"We both are, Morgan," Sarah added.

"I think that you are going to be the greatest Hibachi chef in the world," Chuck said.

Morgan frowned. "I don't know, man. This whole... 'making your dreams come true thing' is hard. And the bigger the dream, the harder it gets." Both of the two he was with could 'see' his thoughts in turmoil. "You know, on one side, the girl you love. And then, on the other, life as you know it."

Chuck looked at the woman he loved. She looked back with as much intensity. They were both going through thoughts about the changes they were facing. Sarah the most. 'I want it, Chuck, even if it'll be hard. I want you.'

'Well, you've got me, whatever happens,' he thought back.

Morgan continued, "It's just, you know, friends and family, and a job you can't stand. I don't know, man. I should just go with Anna, right? But then I, uh..." He looked at the couple in front of him. "I'm overthinking this, aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, you are," Chuck replied. "Go with your heart, buddy. Our brains only screw things up."

Morgan nodded.

'Is that what you think? Or are you just saying that to help Morgan?' Sarah asked.

'To help him.' Chuck looked into her eyes, those eyes that captured his heart a long time ago. 'My brain can screw things up, but now that it's linked with yours, it rarely does. Or maybe that's your brain putting it straight.'

'We're good as a team, Chuck,' she thought. 'We help each other with our failings and our insecurities. We don't make mistakes between us, and I don't think that's just our linked minds. We're good for each other.'

'We are,' he replied. Then, he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "And the mind-blowing sex just adds to it."

She whispered back, "With or without the mind-link. I can't wait until we get home!"

He gave her a lingering kiss before replying, "Me neither."

They all waved Ellie and Devon off on their honeymoon. The newlyweds wouldn't be seen again for two weeks.

Stephen had gone home, promising to keep in touch and visit them all frequently.

Casey had dealt with 'the disturbance' and reported it to the general, so Chuck didn't have to get involved in that.

Chuck and Sarah had danced a lot at the wedding, so they were both tired when they returned to Echo Park. However, they still 'danced' the night away in bed once they got there.

A/N: One wedding successfully completed. That's the end of season 2. The next chapter can be regarded as an epilogue.