A Common Spy Problem
A/N: What do know, Kate's still alive. I am running on about 10 hours sleep over the last 3 days though, so this note is gonna be short, but I do have to point out how awesome Nervert is. He has to suffer through the first draft and make this better for you all, so please give him a proverbial pat on the back, he deserves that and more. Any mistakes are mine, however, as he hasn't seen the rewrite and changes.
I don't own Chuck.
Chapter 13
The black Porsche tore through the Buy More Plaza parking lot, barely missing a green shirt hauling a washer-dryer to a customer's car. Sarah snagged a spot from in front of a silver Toyota Corolla, lifting her hand in a brief apology without looking while quickly locking her car. Seconds later she was in the Orange Orange freezer, trying to gain access to Castle. After her first unsuccessful attempt, she took a deep breath and punched in her code again and stood absolutely still for the retina scan. The red warning flashed across the screen for a second time. Biting back a curse, Sarah located the hidden button under the access panel cover and activated the camera.
"Casey, I can't get in. I don't have access." Nothing happened. "Look, I think Chuck's in trouble." She held up Chuck's watch in front of the lens. "I found this in the fountain."
The door hissed open and she rushed down the stairs, catching the last bit of Casey's "…best damn partner I ever had." Sarah would have given Forrest a smug look, had she not been working so hard to stay in agent mode. That was what Chuck needed from her now, but some anger surfaced when Forrest stepped in her path, snatching the watch from her grip.
"We'll take it from here. You were fired, remember?"
"Then there's nothing stopping me from kicking your ass." Sarah shouldered Forrest out of the way.
"Agent Walker, I'm warning you…"
"You lost the asset!" Sarah snapped back. "You haven't even been Chuck's handler for a day and not only did you not protect him as you're supposed to, you didn't even realize he was missing!"
"How do we know this isn't a ploy to get your job back? You could have…"
"Enough!" Casey cut Forrest off, stepping out of the way to give Sarah access to the computer.
She pulled up the surveillance of the courtyard and sped back through the footage. All three agents watched as Chuck was being handcuffed and a bag was pulled over his head. Sarah shot Forrest an accusing glare.
Then Casey turned to Sarah. "We lost the surveillance signal from Ahmad's heart. There's gotta be a connection between the signal's disappearance and Chuck's abduction."
"I don't understand. Isn't the GLG-4000 specifically designed to track deep inside the Afghani caves?"
"You need at least six feet of solid steel to block that signal." Forrest seemed to have gotten her voice back.
Sarah and Casey shared a brief look. They were thinking the same thing. Sarah wasted no time calling up the location of the last place Ahmad's heart registered, overlaying it with the satellite image at Casey's suggestion.
"A bank vault?" Casey asked.
"That would do it."
"Good job, Walker."
Sarah could almost feel Forrest's eyes boring a hole in her skull at Casey's second compliment, but again ignored the other agent as they grabbed their gear and headed out.
With guns drawn, the three agents made their way to the lower part of the bank where the vault was located. Sarah caught a glimpse of Chuck, wearing a white lab coat. Before she could react, Forrest called out his name, alerting Ahmed's men in the process. The door swung closed, locking Chuck inside with the bad guys. Sarah stayed calm, but swore to herself to make good on that ass kicking she had promised Forrest earlier. At least she'd leave the Agency on a high note as far as she was concerned.
Sarah set to work to crack open the vault. It would have gone a lot faster is she hadn't had to stop twice to fight with Forrest over the merits of blowing the door open. Chuck was locked in a confined space and the overpressure would kill him. . As it were, she was scared that he could inhale too much of the gas. Forrest's attempts to get Chuck to turn the gas off, had been unsuccessful, and she had refused to hand over the walkie so Sarah could speak to him. Casey yelled at Chuck, but that didn't work either. Sarah suppressed her irritation and focused on the task at hand. Just as Forrest threatened to get the nitro again, Sarah heard the last tumbler click into place and pushed the door open.
Leading the team inside, Sarah could breathe easy for the first time since leaving Chuck's bedroom. He was propped up against a wall, seemingly unharmed. She holstered her weapon and offered Chuck her hand, pulling him to his feet. He was clearly surprised to see her.
"You came for me?"
"Always." She gave Chuck a once over, making sure he was okay.
"Hey, Sarah, guess what? I think I'm super stoned."
"Yeah, I think you are." Sarah returned his goofy grin with a toothy smile of her own, paying no attention to Casey and Forrest who were rounding up the Ahmad's men.
"And guess what else?" Chuck asked, attempting an eyebrow dance, but failing miserably.
"What else?" she played along.
"I love you."
Sarah was momentarily speechless. She noticed Forrest freeze, her attention on them, while Casey did his best to pretend he hadn't heard. Turning her back on the other agents, Sarah stepped closer to Chuck and lowered her voice.
"Chuck…" She didn't really know how to respond to that, but her silence didn't deter him.
"'s true. I love you and Ellie loves you and Devon thinks you're awesome and not just because he thinks everything is awesome…and you're like my sister."
"Sister?" she found herself asking, still stunned.
"What? Oh, no, no, not like that…definitely not…I mean look at you…the two of you…you're both such babes…so gorgeous and inappropriate…it's inappropriate to say that about my sister, I mean, but you're both gorgeous, yet so nice…it's like…you should be more like Frosted…Forst…Forrest over there, with the CIA and everything, but you're not…you're just…you're everything…and that's why I…"
"Bartowski!" Casey interrupted, "You're making my ears bleed."
Chuck shot Casey an indignant look, and Sarah used the opportunity to grab Chuck's hand and drag him out of the vault before he could say another word. They stopped short of the stairs.
"He just had to go and ruin it," Chuck complained.
"Chuck, he didn't ruin it." Sarah's heart was still beating loudly in her ears. His declaration had been unexpected and she wanted to believe him, but she kept telling herself that he didn't know what he was saying. Ten minutes ago he was going on about how ladybugs couldn't all be ladies. Her gaze dropped and she swallowed before looking up at him. "Chuck, would you do me a favor?"
He nodded solemnly.
"Tell me again tomorrow." If he did, then she would know it wasn't just the effects of the laughing gas, but if he didn't… Sarah couldn't decide which prospect scared her more. Their new relationship status was fairly new and she didn't want anything to jeopardize it.
"Even the part about my sister?" Chuck asked, oblivious to her concerns.
That elicited a small smile from Sarah. "Yeah, even that part."
"Agent Forrest, am I to believe that you were trying to blow up Ahmad and the asset? What exactly were you trying to achieve?" General Beckman leaned forward, peering over the rim of her glasses.
Sarah noticed the slight shift in Forrest's demeanor. Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, she thought as Forrest tried her best to hide her discomfort.
"Wait, what?" Chuck spoke out of turn. "You tried to blow me up?"
"General, if I may," Casey cut him off and Beckman nodded, urging him to continue. "We can all agree that Agent Forrest has displayed poor judgment during the course of this assignment."
Forrest opened her mouth to protest, but the pointed look from both Sarah and Beckman silenced her.
"In light of that, I also want it put on record that I disagree with her assessment of Agent Walker."
Sarah clenched her jaw at Casey's statement in an effort to not let it drop to the floor. She sneaked a glance at him, but his eyes were fixed on the monitor. Sarah did catch Chuck staring at Casey, surprise clearly written over his face.
"As per my report," Casey continued probably the longest speech Sarah had ever heard him give, "I believe that Agent Walker's personal entanglement with the asset, as Agent Forrest put it, would actually benefit the team."
Beckman leaned back in her chair and raised a critical eyebrow. "How so?"
"Agent Walker's feelings," Casey spat out the last word like it tasted bad, "causes her to be more focused, as she has proved today."
Sarah carefully studied the woman on the monitor. Casey had just made the same argument she had when Beckman initially found out about her and Chuck. Beckman's face, however, gave nothing away when she turned toward Forrest.
"Thank you for your services, Agent Forrest. You are dismissed."
"General," Forrest spoke up for the first time since the briefing had started. "Are you going to send a copy of Major Casey's report to the CIA Director?" Sarah could detect the faintest hint of panic in her voice.
"Of course, Agent, that is protocol."
Sarah almost felt sorry for Forrest when she merely nodded in response to Beckman's short and somewhat sarcastic answer, and turned on her heel.
"Okay, team," Beckman brought them to order as soon as Forrest was gone. "Major Casey, your report will invalidate Agent Forrest's, so Agent Walker, welcome back to team Bartowski."
"Thank you, General," Sarah controlled her elation, answering in her most professional tone. She was glad to have her job back, but there was another issue the General had yet to address. Sarah kept a close eye on the General's finger, expecting the usual abrupt ending to the briefing. Instead, Beckman took a sip of water and returned the glass off screen.
"Now as for your request to have a personal relationship with the ass…Mr. Bartowski…"
Chuck shot Sarah an optimistic look, but she didn't return it. He'd been crushed so many times over the past year, she too to some extent, she didn't want to get his hopes up just yet. The road ahead might not be as smooth as he was probably thinking it would be.
"I will allow it, but…" Beckman quickly added when Chuck looked like he wanted to say something, "There will be rules."
"So there are rules for breaking the rules?" Chuck asked, earning himself a jab in the ribs from Casey's elbow.
"Quit while you're ahead, moron," Casey whispered under his breath.
"What are the rules, General?" Sarah asked in an attempt to get Beckman's attention off the boys.
"You will keep your relationship low-key. That is not negotiable."
Chuck stepped out of Casey's reach before addressing the General again. "I don't understand. All this time Sarah and I had to pretend that we were in a relationship when we weren't and now that we are, we have to pretend not to be?"
"I will explain it to him, ma'am," Sarah intervened, not wanting to risk Beckman changing her mind. This was more than she had hoped for. "And, General, thank you." The words seemed inconsequential to what she was feeling, but she had a suspicion that Beckman would know what this meant to her.
Beckman nodded in response and looked from Chuck to Sarah. "I must caution you that mixing your personal and professional lives is dangerous. No one outside of this room is to be made aware of the real state of affairs."
"Understood, General."
"Very well." Beckman moved to disconnect the link. "I'll leave the logistics for you to sort out." With that the screen went black.
Casey grunted an excuse and disappeared into the armory. Sarah suspected he'd reach his quota of lady feelings for the day. She, on the other hand, was a bag of mixed emotions and Chuck seemed stunned.
"So," Chuck eventually broke the silence in the car, "we are a real couple. Finally."
"You're only making that distinction now?" Sarah asked with a smirk before turning her attention back to the road. Chuck had been relatively quiet since the briefing and she had no idea what was going on in his head. He didn't act at all like she had expected he would, but his question set her mind at ease.
"Well, no, I guess…the afternoon at the hotel?" he tried again.
Sarah huffed. "Is that the kind of girl you take me for?"
"What? No? Of course not." She could hear the panic in his voice. "That's not at all what I meant. I just…"
"Chuck," Sarah gave his knee a squeeze. "It's a joke. Remember those?" A quick glance in his direction confirmed her suspicion that he was blushing.
His hand covered hers, keeping it in place. "Well, thank you for confirming you're not a cannibal," he shot back.
"I thought you always wanted to meet a cannibal?" she asked innocently.
"An evasive spy will do, I guess." He shrugged and then turned in his seat to face her. "So, when?"
"When, what?" she misunderstood on purpose. Though she'd shared more of herself with Chuck than she thought she ever would with anyone, talking about her feelings still made her uncomfortable. Old habits were hard to break.
And Chuck, being Chuck, understood. He turned her hand over, drawing lazy circles with his finger on her palm, not saying a word. His touch sent a shiver down her spine. She watched him in her peripheral vision. He was still smiling, but his shoulders had sagged a little.
Her grandmother had once told her that relationships were give and take, and that her father took too much, which was why her mother left. She had been too young to understand at the time, but as she grew older, the pieces had fallen into place. She loved her father, but she didn't want to be him. It was time to give.
"When you told a little girl that real ballerinas were tall," she eventually said, "I knew there was something." Sarah briefly snaked her fingers through Chuck's and then let go to shift gears as she pulled up to the apartment complex. She could feel his eyes on her. "What?"
"You've always protested, like, a lot." Despite the humor in his voice, she still felt a little twist in her chest.
"Chuck, it is…was complicated, trying to hold onto someone you can't have, but can't stand to lose…" Sarah took a deep breath. "And for the record, I lied when we under the influence of Pentothal." She finally faced him.
"You can do that?" Sarah only smiled in response.
Chuck was deep in thought for a moment. "I lied about my aversion to PDA, so that should make us even."
His confession took Sarah by surprise. "Why would you do that?" She had one explanation in mind and she didn't like it one bit.
"I just figured, having to pretend to be someone's girlfriend must have been tough on you, so I didn't want to make it harder." Chuck shifted, avoiding her gaze and mumbled something she couldn't make out.
"I didn't catch that."
"I said mainly I didn't want you to think it was fake."
Sarah dropped her head back against the seat. "I can tell the difference, you know." The minute the words left her mouth, she knew what they'd sounded like and quickly changed the subject. "Chuck, you do understand that we can't suddenly amp up the PDA. People might get suspicious and we have to keep our relationship on the down low, like Beckman said." She made sure to catch his gaze again. "If any other agent suspect that we're allowed to break the asset handler protocol, that could blow your cover, and there are still a lot of double agents out there."
"Yeah, I understand. No PDA." He didn't look happy about the prospect.
"That's not what I said. We can adjust it gradually."
"What about…the other stuff?"
"Casey and I will split surveillance duties. Of course my surveillance will be of a more personal nature," she winked and Chuck responded with a lopsided grin.
"And all date nights won't be mission related, right?"
Sarah let out a small laugh. "No, but I will be bringing a gun, you know, given our tendency to get into trouble."
Chuck nodded. "Agreed."
Sarah straightened and pulled the key from the ignition. "Now you're making it sound like a business deal."
"It's not. We haven't shaken on it yet." Chuck's comment earned him a raised eyebrow which quickly lowered when his hand moved to cradle the side of her face. She moved closer to meet him halfway, ignoring the handbrake digging into her hip.
A knock on the passenger side window caused them to jump apart.
"The food's getting cold." Ellie didn't bother to wait for a response and Chuck and Sarah stared at her retreating form.
"What was that all about?" Sarah asked as they got out of the car.
"I should have warned you, she's angry at me and Devon." Chuck held out his hand and Sarah took it, linking their fingers. "She saw pictures from the bachelor party and jumped to the wrong conclusions and then she caught me trying to sneak his card key into his bag, so now she thinks we've both betrayed her."
Sarah stopped short of the courtyard gate, her voice guarded. "What kind of pictures?"
"Well, Devon was unconscious after Forrest tranqed him and it seemed like she was all over him. Ellie thinks he lost his card because the two of them were...you know."
"Damn it. What didn't she screw up?"
"At least she's gone now." Chuck sighed in resignation. "I just wish she hadn't hurt my family."
Sarah shared the sentiment. "We'll fix this."
"How?"
"After dinner ask Devon to help you clean up so Ellie and I can talk in private." The prospect scared her a little, but she knew this was important to Chuck. It was important to her too. Ellie was the closest she had to a 'normal' friend.
"Are you sure you want to do that? Maybe if we leave things be, they can work it out."
"Probably, but it's not fair to put them through that because the CIA messed up."
Chuck gave her a wistful smile before pulling her in for a hug. "Thank you."
Dinner was over far too soon for Sarah's liking. She still had no idea what to say to Ellie to make things right, but she knew she had to do something. Despite the polite conversation, the tension could be cut with a knife. Chuck had followed through on the plan and started to clear the table as soon as they were done. Devon didn't have to be asked to help, and as soon as the men made their way to the kitchen, Sarah and Ellie retired to the living room.
Sarah took a sip of her wine before turning to Ellie. She decided on a direct approach. "Chuck told me what happened at the bachelor party."
"Which version?" Ellie asked with a hint of cynicism.
"Ellie, look, Devon would never cheat on you. Anyone can see he's crazy about you. Don't you trust him?" A part of Sarah wished she could tell Ellie the truth of what happened, but she knew that wouldn't be feasible.
"I thought I could, but I guess I was wrong. People let you down." Ellie's words hit close to home for Sarah. This was worse than she thought.
"Not everyone," Sarah answered quietly, her eyes automatically turning towards Chuck who was busy loading the dishwasher.
"Do you trust Chuck?"
"Of course," Sarah answered instinctively, her gaze snapping back to Ellie's.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't." Sarah could tell Ellie regretted the words the instant she had spoken them. She had a good idea what Ellie was referring to and though she didn't particularly wanted to discuss that topic, Sarah realized that perhaps it could help her convince Ellie to give Devon the benefit of the doubt.
"If you're referring to Jill Roberts who was in town a couple of weeks ago, I know all about it. Chuck told me they had dinner and he also assured me that nothing else happened."
"And you believed him?" Ellie asked, still skeptical.
"Yes. Completely." Sarah knew she had the benefit of actually knowing Chuck had told the truth. She couldn't blame Ellie for her doubts as she didn't have that same luxury. Still, Sarah was well aware that Devon hadn't been lying. Damn Forrest. "Actually, it brought us closer, because it made me realize that I don't want to risk losing him."
Ellie didn't respond. Instead, she swirled her glass, staring intently at the dark red liquid.
"Ellie, do you really think Devon would jeopardize everything you have for one reckless night with a stripper? Or that Chuck would let him? He wouldn't let anyone hurt you."
Again Ellie said nothing and Sarah felt like she'd hit a brick wall. She caught Chuck's eyes over the counter and shook her head slightly at the unspoken question. She saw him whisper something to Devon before disappearing down the hall. He returned a few minutes later with a small duffel bag and stopped behind the couch, placing a hand on Ellie's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"If it's okay with Sarah, I'll crash at her place tonight so you and Devon can have some privacy," he spoke to the back of his sister's head.
Ellie reached forward to put her glass on the coffee table and straightened. "Thanks." Her response was barely audible.
Chuck led the way to the front door and gave Ellie a hug goodbye. When it was Sarah's turn, she whispered "Promise me you'll think about what I said." Ellie simply nodded and sent them off with a small wave.
By the time Sarah got into bed, she was completely exhausted. Chuck shifted closer and with his hand on her hip he prompted her to turn on her side. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her back against his chest.
"Thanks for letting me stay. And for saving my life again and for talking to Ellie." He dropped a kiss on her exposed shoulder.
"You don't have to thank me for any of it, Chuck. I'm just sorry I couldn't get through to Ellie."
"Honey, you tried, but not everything can be solved with one conversation."
"Do you think they'll work it out?"
"Yeah. Besides, a lot of good things happened today. Let's hope some of our luck has rubbed off on them."
"Luck?" Sarah asked. Though no competent spy would ever admit it, they relied on that probably more often than they should. Today had been one of those days for her.
"Well," Chuck responded, tightening his grip, "corny as it may sound, I am the luckiest guy in the world."
Sarah wiggled out of his embraced and rolled around, pushing up on one elbow. She cupped the side of Chuck's face with her free hand, tracing a thumb over his lower lip. "I'm the lucky one."
"It's not a contest," he smiled.
"We'll see about that." She closed the distance between their lips. "Just remember," she whispered, "I am very competitive."
Sarah claimed his mouth with an intensity she didn't know she possessed. Chuck took her up on the challenge, slipping his hand into her hair, keeping her close, and when his arm hooked around her waist, she slid a leg across his and allowed him to pull her fully on top of him. They parted for a quick breath.
Still panting, Chuck reached up and nuzzled the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met. Sarah moaned in response. "I'll take the point," he teased against her skin.
"The night's still young," she breathed.
Her back arched when he trailed a hot path up the length of her throat, causing their bodies to touch in just the right places. Sarah felt Chuck shiver at the contact. "Now we're even."
A/N: No teasers today, I'm afraid, but I can tell you that Chuck vs. Santa Clause is up next. Now some of you Charah fans probably think that I had forgotten something in the latter part of this chapter, but I haven't. All I'm saying is trust me. See you soon.