The end is in sight. There will probably be about one more chapter after this. Hope everyone is still enjoying. Please let me know what you think.

Chapter 19

As the dust settled from the explosion, flames engulfed what was left of the warehouse. There were no signs of Chuck or Sarah.

"I'm going in!" Casey exclaimed as he rushed towards the building.

"John wait!" Dan called out to him.

Dan no sooner got the words out and another small explosion erupted from inside the building. Casey was caught in it's path, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard. Agent Malloy and Dan were by his side in seconds.

"John!" Erin called out as she ran to him. Kneeling down next to his motionless body, she cradled his head in her lap. "John...are you okay?"

"Uhhh….yeah." Casey replied opening his eyes. He tried to sit up. "I gotta…help…them."

"John, no, you're hurt…Stay here, I'll go."

"No Erin." Casey protested.

"No, I will go." Dan chimed in. Reaching out he caught hold of her arm and stopped her in her tracks. "You two stay here."

Before anyone could protest any further McKinley ran towards the building. Casey watched as his father disappear into the flames.

Dan struggled to see through the smoke that filled the air and burned his eyes.

"Chuck!….Sarah!" he called out to them.

Dan moved slowly through the debris, searching desperately for the two agents.

"Chuck!" he called out again. Dan stopped and listened when he thought her heard something. He called out again. "Chuck?"

He heard the coughing from across the room. He strained his eyes to see through the smoke and then he spotted them. Chuck slowly moved as he came too. Dan rushed to his side to help him. An unconscious Sarah lay underneath him.

"Chuck?"

"Dan." he coughed as he struggled to sit up.

"Come on we have to get you out of here." Dan grabbed his arm and tried to help him up.

"Oh my God Sarah!" Chuck fell back to the ground. He knelt beside her unconscious body. "Sarah."

"Is she okay?" Dan asked.

"I don't know. It looks like… she hit her head." Chuck coughed again. "I have to… get her out of here." Chuck struggled to get on his own feet, stumbling in the process. Dan reached out to steady him.

"You okay?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chuck bent down and attempted to pick up Sarah but lost his balance again.

"Chuck stop, I got her." Dan bent down and took her from his arms, hoisting her up in his own arms.

"Thank you Dan." Chuck replied as he steadied himself.

"Come on let's get out of here. Follow me." Dan retraced his steps and headed back through the smoke and the flames in the direction he had entered the building.

Fire rescue had just arrived on the scene and was getting ready to move in. The medics had arrived and were tending to Casey.

"There they are!" Erin shouted as she watched Dan emerge from the flames carrying Sarah. The medics moved in and took her from him. Dan turned back and went after Chuck who was lagging behind. Moments later Dan emerged with Chuck. His arm draped around his waist for support.

Chuck immediately made his way over to the medics who were tending to Sarah.

"Sarah!" He knelt beside her and took her hand into his.

"Sir you need to back up and give us room to work." one of the medics said.

Another medic tried to put an oxygen mask on Chuck but he pushed it away.

"Chuck leave the mask on." Dan ordered. Chuck finally conceded.

The medics had placed another mask on Sarah as they continued to take her vitals. After a few minutes of oxygen Sarah began to cough. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Sarah!" Chuck pushed his way back in next to her.

Sarah struggled under the hands of the medics. "Miss you need to relax." they tried to soothe her.

Chuck tossed down his oxygen mask and moved in close so she could see him. He grabbed her hand once again.

"Sarah."

Her eyes shifted towards him.

"It's okay baby. I'm right here."

After a few moments the medics removed Sarah's mask.

"Miss can you tell me your name?" one of the medics asked.

"Sarah." she coughed. Her voice weak, her throat scratchy.

The medic shone a light in her eyes to check her pupils.

"Sarah do you know where you are?"

"The…ring…headquarters." she coughed.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"There was…a..bomb…it exploded." she continued to answer their questions.

"Sarah you hit your head, we're going to get you bandaged up here in just a minute. I'm going to have you sit up…nice and slow now." The medic said slowly guiding her to a sitting position. Chuck moved in behind her to help support her. He brought his arms around her and she leaned against him.

"Good. Now just sit still for a few minutes until you get used to being upright. I'll be back in a few minutes to take care of that head wound." the medic gathered his supplies and walked back over to the ambulance.

Chuck squeezed her tightly, she leaned into him, turning her head to bury it in his neck.

"Chuck, what the hell are you doing here?" she finally said breaking the silence between them. "You and Dan are supposed to be at the safe house, How did you get here?"

"Oh, I…uh…I kinda drugged the guards."

"What!" Sarah sat upright and turned to look at him. She moved too quickly, causing her world to spin. Her hand flew to her forehead.

"Whoa…whoa, easy there." He pulled her back in his arms. She closed her eyes until everything stopped spinning. Once it had she opened her eyes again. Slowly she turned to meet his gaze.

"Chuck, what were you thinking?" she asked calmly.

"I was thinking my team was in danger and they needed my help. I was thinking the woman I love needed me and apparently I was right."

"Casey and I had the situation under control. Chuck you could have been killed."

"Sarah, you could have been killed, you almost were. And to be quite honest, it didn't look like you and Casey had the situation under control. There's nothing wrong admitting you needed help. We're a team remember?"

Sarah was silent, she didn't really know what to say, so she just settled back into his arms. Chuck gladly accepted her. He leaned down and brushed his lips against the top of her head.

Before either of them could say anything the medic approached with the dressings for Sarah's head wound. He immediately went to work cleaning it and applying the dressings.

"Alright, that just about does it." He said applying the last piece of tape over the bandage. "You can take something for pain if you need to." he turned his attention to Chuck. "Observe her closely tonight, watch for any signs of a concussion or head trauma. Sudden loss of consciousness, blurred vision, confusion, throbbing or sharp stabbing pains, vomiting. If she experiences any of that get her to an ER immediately."

Chuck shook his head. The medic packed up his supplies and left the two alone once again.

"Thank you." Sarah said breaking the silence between them.

"Thank you?" Chuck questioned, not sure what she was thanking him for.

She turned to face him. Her eyes met his. "For saving me"

He reached out with one hand and cupped her cheek, guiding her face closer to his. He leaned his forehead against the side of her face. "I thought I was going to lose you. I'm sorry about leaving the safe house, but Sarah, I just couldn't shake this feeling that you were in danger… When I couldn't reach you on the phone, I called Casey. He told me about finding the hideout, the line went dead, I figured you guys were in trouble, no one else knew about your mission…I had to come Sarah."

"I'm glad you did." She turned to look him in the eyes. She reached out to stroke his cheek with her hand. "You were incredible tonight….I've never seen you like that…You are a great spy Chuck."

Chuck laughed. "What can I say, I've learned from the best." he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her waiting lips. Afterwards her eyes met his again.

"Maybe I'm a little overprotective of you. Force of habit I guess…I just…I don't want to lose you…I love you Chuck Bartowski."

"I love you." he replied pulling her body closer. He wrapped his arms securely around her and held her tight. Sarah captured his lips with hers once again.

"You two alright?" Casey said as he approached with Agent Malloy at his side.

Chuck and Sarah looked up them.

"Yeah." Chuck replied. "We're okay. You?"

"I'm fine. The Feds have Lazlo and his men in custody. Walker I just spoke to Beckman on the phone, gave her a heads up on what's going down. One of our agents was able to secure some of Lazlo's intel before the explosion. We have a list of names of ring operatives. It's been sent to Beckman and she already has a growing list of double agents being taken into custody. We have a briefing with her tomorrow at noon."

"Did you tell her everything Casey?" she turned her attention to Chuck.

"No, of course not. She still doesn't know about Chuck or McKinley being alive or our classified mission that led to all this." Casey motioned to the chaos happening around them. "I'll let you break that news to her. You are the one heading up the intersect project after all, it's only right she hears it from you."

Sarah nodded in agreement.

Dan approached the group of agents. Casey looked up at him and then turned his attention to Chuck. "Well it looks like you two are sprung, there's no need to keep you two under lock and key any longer."

"You mean I can go home?" Chuck asked, a smile spread across his face as he glanced down at Sarah.

"Yup." Casey replied. "You both can." He glanced at Dan momentarily. "You'll both be needed at the briefing tomorrow though. If you need to you can crash on my couch for one more night." Casey said as he glanced back at Dan.

Dan was shocked that Casey was even offering. "Thank you John. I appreciate that."

Casey nodded in response. "I'm going to go check in with the clean up crew and make sure we're set here. I should be heading out in a few minutes. I'll drop you off at my place then I'm going to head over to castle to work on my report for Beckman. Walker, I told her about the explosion and your injuries, she's not expecting your report before the briefing tomorrow."

"Thanks Casey." she replied.

Casey nodded and headed off in the direction of the clean up crew. Erin followed.

"So are you heading home then Chuck?" Dan asked.

"Umm…probably not until tomorrow."

Sarah turned in his arms to look up at him. "What?" She was confused.

"Well it's kind of late, I don't want to be waking Ellie and Devon. They'll have all kinds of questions for me. Besides, I need to keep an eye on Sarah tonight, I'm thinking maybe we should go back to your place for the night." He said turning his attention to her.

"Sure."

"You think you're ready to get up and head out?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded.

Chuck stood up and reached down to help her to her feet. "Easy now." he said as she stood up. "You okay?" He asked once she was up on her feet.

"Yeah."

"You ready to go?"

Sarah nodded. "Oh…what about all your things at the safe house?"

"I can go just go up and get them some other time, it's nothing important." Chuck placed a protective arm around her waist.

"Well don't you think that when you go home to your sister's tomorrow that she might think it's weird that you don't have any luggage being that you've been gone for months now?"

"Oh…yeah, I guess I can head up there after the briefing tomorrow."

"Why don't we just go back up tonight and spend the night there, we can pack up your things in the morning and then head back to Burbank."

"I don't know Sarah, I was kind of looking forward to not having my every moved monitored by guards, being able to relax and not worry about who's watching me."

"Chuck the guards will be gone. It'll be just you and me." Sarah smiled up at him.

Chuck raised an eyebrow. "Alright, if you want to we can go." Chuck turned his attention to Dan. "I can grab your things for you while I'm up there."

"Thanks Chuck, I appreciate it." He patted him on the back before walking away, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

Chuck turned his attention back to her and wrapped his free arm around her waist, bringing her to face him. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You do know that you need to take it easy tonight right. Nothing but relaxing." he said to her.

"I know. I was actually thinking about taking a nice warm bubble bath when we get up there."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Well that does sound relaxing." He pressed his lips softly against her forehead. "Let's get you out of here."

With his arm around her waist, Chuck guided Sarah down the dirt road to where he had parked the car.

"Thanks for letting me stay at your place tonight." Dan said as Casey brought the car to a stop outside his apartment complex.

"It's no big deal." Casey replied.

"Yeah John, it is."

Casey handed him the key to his apartment. "I'm not sure what time I'll get in, but help yourself to whatever you need."

Dan took the key from him. "Thanks." he said as he stepped out of the car. The back door of the Crown Victoria opened and Erin stepped out.

"It was nice meeting you Agent Malloy." Dan said extending his hand to her.

"You too Agent McKinley." she said shaking his hand. Dan turned and walked towards the apartment, Erin climbed into the front seat and closed the door.

"Do you want me to drop you off at your place or do you want to go to Castle with me?" Casey asked Erin as she fastened her seat belt and Casey pulled back out onto the road.

"John, what's the deal with you two?" she asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You and Agent McKinley. What's the deal?"

"What? It's nothing."

"John, it's not nothing." She reached up and placed her hand behind his neck. Casey looked at her and sighed.

"It's complicated." he said.

"Tell me John." she said caressing the back of his neck.

"He's my father." the words were barely audible.

"What?….your father?….but….you seem so….distant….almost like…strangers."

"That's because we are strangers Erin."

"I don't understand."

"I haven't seen my father since I was twelve years old. Not until two weeks ago that is. I thought he was dead….we were told he was dead."

"Who told you he was dead?"

As he continued his drive to Castle, Casey told Erin the story of his father's death and their recent reunion.

Chuck flipped on the light switch as he and Sarah entered the cabin. It was a whole different atmosphere without guards standing post. It was just him and Sarah. The way he preferred it.

"How you feeling?" he asked turning to her and taking her in his arms.

"Good, a little tired."

"Do you need some aspirin or something?"

"No, I'm good."

He smiled at her. "Why don't you sit down and relax. I'll go draw you a bath." he walked her over to the couch and sat her down. Chuck leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I won't be long." he said heading in the direction of the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Chuck emerged from the bathroom. Sarah sat on the couch, her head rested on the back cushions, her eyes closed.

"Sarah, it's all ready." he announced as he approached her. Sarah did not respond.

"Sarah?" Chuck moved in closer. He sat down on the couch next to her. "Sarah!" still no response. Chuck began to panic. He took hold of her shoulders and gave her a shake. "Sarah!"

Sarah's eyes fluttered open. "Huh..What?" she jumped up.

Chuck's hand flew to his chest as he settled back on the couch with a sigh of relied.

"What is it Chuck?… Are you okay?" she asked, obviously confused by his behavior.

"Sarah, you just scared the hell out of me."

"What?"

"I was calling your name and you weren't responding….I thought with your head injury….I thought something was wrong."

Sarah smiled. "I was just sleeping Chuck. It's been a long day. I'm tired." She reached out and took his hand in hers. "Look, I'm fine, really, it's just a little bump on the head, I've had much worse…stop worrying."

"I'll never stop worrying about you." He replied. Sarah leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

"Come on." he said, standing up. He extended his hand to her. "Before your water gets cold."

Sarah's eyes lit up when she entered the bathroom. Chuck had drawn her the most amazing, most inviting bubble bath she had ever seen. Candles lit the room and soft music came from a cd player that Chuck must have brought in.

"Chuck, you didn't have to do all this." She turned to face him.

"I wanted to." He smiled at her. "Go on, get in, enjoy it."

Sarah slowly removed her clothing and Chuck helped her into the tub. She settled into the warm water and closed her eyes as she rested her head on the back edge of the tub.

"How is it?" Chuck asked.

"It's the most incredible bath I've ever had."

Chuck smiled. "Good. I'll leave you to enjoy it. Just call me if you need anything."

Before Sarah could protest, Chuck had exited the bathroom.

Chuck didn't even make it to the living room before he heard her calling out his name. Chuck quickly rushed back to the bathroom.

"Everything okay?" he asked peeking his head through the door.

"You said to call you if I needed anything."

Chuck stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"What do you need?" he asked approaching her.

"Well I could use some help washing my back." she held out the washcloth to him.

Chuck flashed his grin. He moved in and sat down on the edge of the tub and took the washcloth from her. Sarah sat upright and turned slightly so Chuck could reach her better. He went to work washing her back. He ran the soapy wash cloth sensually over her bare skin. Sarah closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his touch.

"That feels good." she said . She opened her eyes and turned to meet his. Sarah grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss quickly became heated. Chuck teetered on the edge of the tub struggling to keep his balance as Sarah continued her attack on him. Sarah moaned against his mouth as he leaned in to deepen the kiss. Sarah's hand clasped behind his neck pulling him in closer, while the other continued to pull him by the shirt. In his attempt to accommodate her, Chuck's hand slipped from the edge of the tub causing him to come splashing down on top of her.

Sarah erupted in laughter. Chuck laid there for a moment trying to recover from the initial shock of falling in the water. Sarah brushed the bubbles from the top of his head. Chuck looked up at her with a smile. He was too adorable for words, how could anyone not fall head over heels in love with this man.

"Sarah if you wanted me to take a bath with you , all you had to do was ask."

Sarah smiled as she leaned back in to capture his lips.

"Maybe….you….should….take these….off." Sarah said between kisses as she tugged at the now wet shirt that clung to his body. Chuck just smiled and with a little help from Sarah his clothes were lying in a soaking wet heap on the bathroom floor in no time.

"How's it coming along?" Erin asked, coming up behind Casey and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I'm just about done."

Erin began massaging his shoulders. "You're so tense."

"Mmmm…That feels good. Thank you."

After a few minutes enjoying the feel of her hands work their magic on him, Casey swiveled around in his chair to face her. She ran her finger over the bruise on his forehead caused by the events earlier in the evening. Casey slowly ran his hands up the sides of her hips gently caressing them. She clasped her hands around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. Erin stepped in closer to him and climbed up on his lap. She placed one leg on each side of him so that she was straddling him and settled down on to him. Casey's hands made their way from her hips up her sides and around to her back. She toyed at the buttons on his shirt while trailing kisses down his neck.

"Erin?"

"Hmm?"

"We probably shouldn't do this here."

Erin stopped kissing him and looked up at him, confusion on her face.

"There's surveillance cameras everywhere. " Casey clarified.

"Oh…well do you want me to stop?" she asked.

Casey wheeled across the room in his chair over to a control panel and flipped a couple of switches, shutting down the cameras. "Not at all." he finally replied as he went in for a kiss. Erin happily obliged.

"Are you ready to get out?" Chuck asked as he trailed kisses down her neck. Sarah's back rested against his chest.

"Not yet." she replied. "I wish I could just stay like this in your arms forever."

He wrapped his arms tighter around her and gave her a squeeze.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you." he replied. Sarah turned her head to look back at him. He brought his hand up to caress her cheek as he leaned down and kissed her.

When their lips parted, she relaxed back into his arms. A few minutes passed before she broke the silence between them.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"Coming home, seeing Ellie. She'll have lots of questions."

"I know. You know I hate lying to her."

"Do you know what you're going to tell her."

"The truth….well as much of it as I can. Like I told her when I left. I was offered a new job, I was training. I'll just have to be a little more vague when it comes to what exactly the job is."

"She's going to be so happy to see you."

"I know, I'm excited about seeing her too."

"She invited me for dinner tomorrow night, Maybe you could surprise her and show up with me."

Chuck smiled thinking about his homecoming. "Yeah, that would be nice. You know what else is going to be nice."

"Hmm?"

"Not having to fake a relationship with you. Not having to hide my feelings for you, being able to love you openly and without any reservations. Everything can be out in the open. Well almost everything, I don't suppose we can go around telling everyone about our unusual career choices."

Sarah laughed. "No I don't suppose we could and I am glad that we don't have to fake our relationship anymore. It could be pretty awkward at times. More importantly, I'm glad that I don't have to hide my true feelings for you." her voice trailed off.

"What is it?" he asked giving her a nudge.

"I just…I just feel like…we've wasted so much time…..Time we could have been together…and it's my fault. If I could have just been honest with myself and with you about how I really felt…If I wasn't such a coward…"

"Hey…hey, You're not a coward Sarah. You are the bravest person I know." he shifted her in his arms so that she was facing him. "The past doesn't matter…What matters now is the present and the future….Our future… together. It's all that matters Sarah."

"I don't deserve you." tears began to well in her eyes.

"What? That's crazy. How could you think that?" he looked at her with shock.

"You're too good for me. You could do so much better than me."

"I highly doubt that Sarah."

"It's true. You know, you think you are lacking somehow, that you can't measure up to guys like Bryce or Cole. What you don't know Chuck is that it's them who can't measure up to you? You are incredibly charming, intelligent, funny, thoughtful, the most caring person I have ever met, not to mention extremely adorable. You are incredibly special Chuck."

"Adorable? Just what every guy wants to be called."

Sarah smiled. She turned to face him. Slowly she shifted her body so that she was straddling his lap.

"I believe I said extremely adorable, not to mention exceptionally sexy." Her lips lingered on his neck. Trailing kisses down his neck line.

"Sarah?" her name escaped his lips. She continued to kiss her way across his collarbone.

"Sarah….Hey." he brought his hand up to her chin. She pulled away to meet his gaze.

"Sarah…Don't ever think that you aren't good enough…As far as I'm concerned, there is no one in this world good enough for you…Never forget that." He wiped at the tear that was trickling down her cheek. "You Sarah Walker are truly phenomenal and I am the luckiest guy in the world that you would even show me the time of day."

"Chuck, please…don't say such things."

"I only speak the truth Sarah."

"Chuck, I'm nothing more than a child con-artist turned agent…I've done some terrible things…I."

"Stop! That's not who you are!… Sarah, I know you… Look, I realize there is a lot about your past… your childhood…that I don't know, maybe never will… but I know who you are. That little girl did what she had to do to survive the hand she was dealt… And I'm glad she did, because if she didn't I might never have met her."

"But Chuck.."

"What did I say about the past? None of that matters. You need to let it go Sarah…please just let it go…There is nothing from your past that could ever change the way I feel about you…nothing."

Sarah collapsed against his chest. He could feel the wetness from her tears fall on him. "I love you." She said.

"I love you Sarah."

A few minutes of silence passed as they clung to one another, just enjoying the closeness of one another.

"I think it's time to get out of the tub Sarah…you're turning into a prune." he smiled when she sat upright, her head finally leaving his chest. She looked at her hands and laughed.

"I suppose I am." Sarah slowly moved off of him. She flipped up the switch on the tub allowing the water to slowly begin to drain out of the tub as she stood up. Chuck followed suit. He grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around his waist. He quickly retrieved a towel for Sarah and held it open for her as she stepped out of the tub. He quickly wrapped it around her in attempts to block out the chill in the air. His arms wrapped securely around her from behind. She closed her eyes as she leaned into him. His lips grazed her forehead.

"Wanna go snuggle?" he whispered in her ear. His hot breath sending shivers down her spine.

She turned in his arms, a grin spread across her face from ear to ear. He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers.

"I was thinking maybe we could do something else before the snuggling." She leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips.

Chuck pulled back ending the kiss a little too soon for Sarah's liking.

"Agent Walker, you are supposed to be taking it easy tonight. You know relaxing."

Sarah smirked. "I have every intention of taking it easy. What I had in mind will be very relaxing." She met his lips again with hers.

This time he was much more receptive. Sarah took hold of his hands and pulled him towards the bedroom.

As she stood at the foot of the bed, Sarah released his hands. With one swift motion, her towel fell to the floor. She backed up and climbed onto the bed. Chuck's eyes never leaving her. She crooked her finger at him indicating she wanted him to join her on the bed.

Chuck slowly made his way towards her.

"Chuck?" She propped herself up on her elbows.

He stopped just as he made it to the edge of the bed.

"Yeah?" he responded as he practically drooled over the sight in front of him.

"Lose the towel Chuck."

Chuck's grin spread from ear to ear and in one swift motion, his towel fell to the ground.

Another chapter down. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading. Please leave a review.