I still don't own Chuck. I'm not sure who does at this point.

Yeah, I know. Bad title. Not to worry… well, about that anyway. :)

One of the things that I wished the show would have explored is a Lon Kirk or Manoosh type assignment after they were together. Would Sarah have accepted that kind of assignment? Would Chuck be okay with it? She certainly flirted with men on missions after they were married. In Zoom, she reluctantly even went farther than just flirting.

And yeah, I get why TPTB didn't go there. After the debacle of the Season 3 trapezoid, they were totally afraid of any more relationship angst. But it didn't have to be like that, did it? What would be wrong with them having an honest discussion and deciding together how much personal sacrifice they were willing to make to remain spies and where that line was? I'm going to approach that from the opposite view. Now it's Chuck's decision in how far to go to protect his cover.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible.

Chuck vs Sarah

x-x-x-x-x

There was one good thing about General Beckman. The very instant that Casey called her and briefed her on the situation, she promised enough agents were in route from Langley to invade a small country. They would take Clyde Berkshire and anyone in his general vicinity into custody and find out what in the hell their plan was. Team B was to stay put until they arrived.

That naturally brought out the doctor instincts in Ellie. Casey had been unconscious for over a day. That wasn't good for a man of his age. So she insisted, like only Dr. Eleanor Woodcomb could, that she thoroughly examine him. She finally pronounced that he would probably live. But she did demand that he take a nap. Of course it wouldn't be Casey if he hadn't vigorously resisted that idea. After all, there was the very real possibility of bad guys to kill. And he reasoned that he'd been sleeping for almost two whole days anyway. But Dr. Woodcomb was having none of it. Being unconscious wasn't the same as sleeping. So she gave him some pills to help him relax and pushed him into the bedroom. Despite his protests he was quickly snoring.

Now it was time for Dr. Woodcomb to turn her attention to her next patient. "Come on, Sarah," she said. "It's after noon and you haven't eaten a thing yet today."

Sarah was frankly not in the mood to eat. Her stomach was too much in knots due to the situation with Chuck for food to sound remotely attractive. But she also knew Ellie. There was no way for the doctor to allow her best friend to not eat. So she grudgingly allowed her to order some sandwiches from room service.

Sarah was so worried about Chuck that, when the room service food arrived she allowed Ellie to answer the door. It was a sloppy mistake that an agent the caliber of Sarah Walker wasn't ever supposed to make. Indeed Ellie's eyes were as wide as saucers when the two men pushed the porter out of the way and entered the room. One was holding a gun. The other brandished a very large knife.

"Agent Walker," the big, honestly rather homely dude with the knife sneered. "Room service? Really? Pretty sloppy. We were led to believe that you were better than this."

Ellie was backed against the wall, clearly shaking, with her hands up in the air showing surrender. "What do we do?" she whispered. "Maybe I can distract them."

Sarah really wasn't in the mood for this. She was already on edge and more than a little pissed off. And these two creeps were the topper of a very frustrating day. But she had to admit, Ellie's offer was a little funny. So she turned and quickly kicked the gun out of the first agent's hand. It clanged against the door with a loud thud. Then in a single fluid motion she spun and delivered a backhanded kick to the other agent directly into his groin. He didn't exactly thud when he went down. It was more like a howling heap. The first agent was still standing there shaking his hand in pain from where Sarah had kicked him. The good news was that her patented left foot to his jaw quickly ended the pain in his hand. The bad news was that it also ended his night.

Sarah took a moment to admire the carnage she had just wrought, in about ten seconds. That had been a little fun… exactly the emotional release she needed. She picked up the gun from the floor then stepped up to the agent with the knife who was still helplessly writhing on the floor in agony, both his hands clutching… well, the affected area.

Sarah kicked the knife that he had dropped to the floor out of reach. "Who taught you how to hold a knife?" she asked sarcastically. "Did you learn from watching late night cooking shows on cable? Incompetent spies piss me off. It reflects badly on my profession." Then she grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back forcing him to look at her. "I'm talking to you," she said with zero humor. "Didn't your mama ever tell you that it's rude to not look at someone when they're talking to you? My partner would like a chance to distract you now. Please act a little distracted. But it also wouldn't do to overdo it. It's her first week." This head smacked back on the floor as soon as Sarah released it with a loud thud. "We're trying to give her some confidence… not a big head."

Then she turned to Ellie who was still standing there with her mouth hanging open at Sarah's incredible display. "Go ahead," Sarah said in a faux serious, teasing tone. "Show me what you had in mind. Distract him. After all, I shouldn't have all the fun. This has to be about sex, right? The most common technique would be to unbutton some buttons on your shirt, lean forward, and give him a look at some cleavage. That works sometimes. But it usually isn't enough. You could always take the shirt totally off. I hate to have to tell you this, but I'm afraid that no matter how many clothes you take off any sex with this creep is going to be even more unsatisfying than it normally would… for a few hours anyway. That's okay. We can wait. We're stuck here for a while anyway."

Ellie finally got her wits mostly back. "You do realize," she said in faux sarcasm. "That you're never less attractive then when you're gloating."

That got them both laughing.

"Okay," Ellie finally sighed. "Point well taken. So maybe sex isn't always the answer. I guess that maybe I've misjudged you a little. Chuck is right. You're a total bad ass."

Sarah motioned to the porter, who was also still standing there with his mouth also open. "Are those our sandwiches?" she asked, trying hard to keep from helplessly laughing again at the look of pure fear on his face… and failing miserably. "Bring them in."

"I suddenly find that I'm hungry."

x-x-x-x-x

"We're engaged?" Chuck asked. "When did that happen?"

Jill stuck out her left hand… with the huge rock. "You don't remember giving me this, do you?" she said with a sigh. "I'm sorry that you don't remember. Chuck, it was so romantic."

And actually Chuck did remember. He remembered the moment exactly. Except that it wasn't romantic at all. Jill was making that part up to push his buttons. In fact, it was anti romantic. Giving Jill that ring and helping her escape was one of those things that he had put off telling Sarah about. That had been tugging at his conscience for a while now anyway. If they were going to have 'the talk' it simply had to be put on the table. And it was almost as big a screw up as Prague. Not quite. But what he did with Jill that day while Sarah was getting shot at in the process of trying to protect him… pretty big screw up. Especially since Jill had already tried to kill her once.

Hopefully enough water had crossed over that dam so Sarah would be able to see the humor. But Chuck had to admit. That wasn't very likely. Sarah was pretty fiery. A few nights on the couch and some serious groveling were a definite possibility. But for now, he had a mission to deal with. So he put the confused look on his face. "Why don't I remember?" he asked. "And who is this rich guy who is protecting us?"

Jill's smile turned… into something else. "I'll tell you all about it," she, well, she basically purred… like a cat stalking her prey. She stepped directly in front of him, reached for the hem of her shirt, and slowly lifted it over her head. She smiled seductively as she held the shirt over her now bare chest for a moment them allowed it to slide to the floor. "Let's talk in the hot tub."

Chuck could only sigh as she watched her quickly pull off her slacks, kick them to the side, and then slowly, clearly for effect, slide down her cotton panties. She just stood there and posed naked for him for a long moment. Someday, maybe he'd be able to see the humor in this ridiculous situation. After all, Jill was being pretty transparent. Why he didn't remember was something that she clearly didn't want him to ask many details about. So she was going to use sex to distract him, knowing that he wouldn't protest. Then later she would be able to claim that she had told him everything. Pretty clever. But currently, humor was the last thing on Chuck's mind. He was as pissed as he had ever been in his life. For one thing, here was another unpleasant scene that he would have to describe to a fiery Sarah.

Chuck knew there was no way to believably hide his anger. So maybe it was something that he could use to his advantage. "What are you doing, Jill?" he snapped. "Now? Really? Since when do you ever allow me to see you naked?" It was true. Jill was always fanatically insistent that the room be totally dark before getting undressed… on those rare occasions that she actually allowed herself to get naked that is. The irony was that there was a time in his life when Chuck would have given almost anything to see the sight currently standing there before him in the full light of day. Now he just turned away in disgust.

"I know," Jill said sadly. To Chuck's huge surprise, she actually sounded contrite. The surprise of her tone caused him to turn back and look at her.

"I've been such a bitch to you," Jill continued. "I used sex to control you. I made you come crawling begging for it, doled it out to keep you on the hook, and refused it to keep you from becoming comfortable. I'm really sorry about that. Baby, you were my first serious boyfriend. This is not an excuse, but I was young. I didn't know what else to do. I was always in charge of myself. But them I met you… I knew that I was falling hard… and soon I would be emotionally helpless. That scared me. So I used sex to keep some control over things. I'm not very proud of that. It messed you up a little. I'm honestly sorry."

Chuck looked into her eyes. He realized that, in this one small detail, Jill Roberts was actually telling him the truth. Oh, it didn't make any difference. She was still an evil bitch playing on his emotions, probably just for money. "Okay," was all he said.

Jill took a deep breath. "That's over now," she said with much more confidence. "Now, whatever you want from me, you get… period, nothing off the table. I owe you that." She slowly got back her smile. "I'm actually looking forward to you calling me on that. I know you're shy about these things. But there must be some wild kinky fantasies buried in there somewhere in your massive brain. This is your night to let them out to play. So can we get in the hot tub and I can prove it to you? I promise that you'll have a good time."

Chuck knew that he couldn't possibly get in that tub with a naked Jill Roberts and explain it to Sarah with any hope of surviving the explanation process. Maybe a stall would work. "It's too soon," he said sadly. "I'm not ready for this big of a change. I need some time to adjust. Can you maybe put on your swimsuit?"

"Sorry, baby," Jill said. "I don't have one. I'm afraid that you don't either. I'll tell you what. I'll sit down in the water so you can't see anything until you're ready to play. I'm pretty sure that won't take you long. I'll turn my head until you're in."

Chuck sighed to himself. Damn, she just called my bluff. He wasn't really sure how Sarah would feel. After all, this was a mission… an important mission. But they were together, would someday be married. How much spy would she expect him to sacrifice to be a good husband? And conversely how much husband would she expect him to sacrifice to be a good spy. One thing was for sure. If he was going to screw up, it was going to be on the side of being the husband. "I need to send Ellie and Morgan an email," he said. "They must be worried sick."

"Chuck," Jill said with a warning sigh.

"I know," Chuck interrupted. "I won't tell them anything. I'll tell them that I'm okay and you and I are going away for a few days. I just don't want them to worry."

"That's sweet," Jill said as she finally stepped into the tub. "But that's not the only issue. That Sarah Walker bitch will certainly be monitoring your sister's and Morgan's email. The second you send them something it'll lead her right to us."

"Come on, Jill," Chuck said honestly offended. "Do you really think I can be that sloppy? I'll bounce it off so many relay servers using contrived aliases that it would take twenty years for anybody to track it down… even the CIA."

"I'm sorry," Jill said with a grin. "I almost forgot who I was talking to. Remember that time Bryce wrote those fake emails and you made them look real? You had the entire Campus Facility thinking that Tom Cruise was going to donate a million dollars to Stanford?"

If spite of Chuck's mood, that got them both laughing. "They were going to name a building in his honor," Chuck said as soon as he could stop laughing. "They actually ordered the plaque."

Fortunately, Jill didn't allow for Chuck's mood to stay good for very long. "Maybe we should let her find us," she said as her grin turned evil. "That's a good idea."

"I'd really like to introduce that bitch to my new superman."

x-x-x-x-x

The CIA small army had come and gone. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Berkshire. He must have been tipped off somehow that they were coming. Team B was just getting ready to discuss their next move when Sarah's laptop clanged.

Sarah,

I don't know what to do. This is all getting too real. She wants me to capture you and turn you over to her big money man. I'd really like to get in position to know what they want. But it's getting harder and harder to keep my cover. She's getting pretty touchy feely.

I need you here to help me a little. Okay, I'll admit. I really miss you and that's part of it. But it is risky. So I'll let you decide. If you show up at the Baltimore Hotel Monaco Penthouse Suite by 10:00, I'll capture you and we'll keep up the cover. Otherwise I'll arrest Jill and contact Beckman on how to find you.

I love you.

Our regular bet to keep up appearances.

I'll bet that Jill will allow me to ravage the prisoner before turning her over. She's kinda got sex on the brain. :)

Chuck

Ellie and Casey were both looking over a shoulder while Sarah looked at her laptop.

"It was smart for Morgan to have Alex's friend at work send this," Casey said. "Even with it being encrypted, having anybody connected to us send you an email would have been suspicious."

Sarah's eyes were flashing. "I know," she said. "We'll have to find a way to thank them."

"What does he mean by your regular bet?" Ellie asked.

"We spar in the gym sometimes," Sarah said. "It's fun and it keeps us in shape. Well, if Chuck used the Intersect, I'd have no chance. And if he didn't use the Intersect, he wouldn't have a chance. So we devised some rules that make us pretty even. We have a running bet. He wins sometimes and I win sometimes."

"What does the winner get?"

You could hear Casey's groan from the next county. "Oh my God!" he said. "Did you really have to ask her that?"

Sarah made sure that only Ellie could see her gloating smirk. "How much do you want to know?" she asked joining Ellie's sport. "Winner gets to pick the bedroom 'activities' for the entire night. The details can get fairly vivid. For being shy, he can come up with some very interesting 'activities.' Sometimes I lose on purpose, just to see what he'll come up with."

Ellie fought to keep from laughing at Casey standing there, sadly shaking his head. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm going to win," Sarah said. "I might have said that sometimes I don't mind losing. But I always enjoy winning. I always ask for the same thing. Chuck is truly a genius at paying off. The man has an amazing talent."

This time Casey's groan was more introspective. "This is a nightmare," he muttered.

That got Ellie and Sarah openly laughing at him. "Well," Sarah finally said. "Take care of my partner."

"I will," Casey said.

That got Sarah laughing again. "I was actually talking to Ellie," she said.

"You need to be careful," Casey said, ignoring her mild shot. "Jill Roberts wouldn't mind doing you some serious harm."

"I will," Sarah said. "Chuck will protect me. I actually would mind doing Jill Roberts some serious harm." Then she got more serious. "We might as well get on with it."

"It looks like it's going to be Chuck vs. Sarah."

x-x-x-x-x