A Common Spy Problem

A/N: Happy Leap Day! That's all I have. Oh, wait, some advice – if you're a guy, and you see a woman on her knees, RUN!

Hats off to Frea O'Scanlin though, she did twice as much as I have. I hope the feeling in your face return soon.

As always, Nervert, worked his magic, for which I am eternally grateful. Even if he suggests at 3 am that I need to write a joke. Nothing's funny at 3 am, but I hope you like my joke, N.

Thank you, yes you, for sticking with this story. It was intended to be a one-shot. It was a one-shot, marked complete and everything, yet here we are, two weeks short of a year later, with the longest story I've ever written and more reviews that I could ever hope to receive. Thank you to everyone who has added to the 408 this is currently standing on. Wow!

I don't own Chuck, Borrowed Hearts, or any other sitcom, rom-com, 'any'-com this reminds you off.

Chapter 19

Chuck knew.

The thought replayed several times in Sarah's head. Everything started to click – Chuck's strange behavior, being distant the one minute and kissing her senseless the next, the expression on his face when she told him Mauser had been arrested… And then she realized something else. There was only one way Chuck could know.

"You came back, didn't you? Christmas eve…the tree lot…" She couldn't bring herself to elaborate.

"Bartowski! Walker!" Casey called in a loud whisper from across the courtyard. "Get decent and get back here!"

"Give us a minute," Sarah replied, but didn't wait for a response. Chuck had taken advantage of the distraction and had climbed through the window.

Cursing under her breath she followed. His bedroom was empty, so she made her way down the hall to the bathroom. When Chuck emerged, she pushed him back inside, closed the door behind her and locked it.

"What are doing? Casey's waiting for us."

"Then he waits," Sarah stated flatly.

"But you just said the mission comes first," he pointed out.

"The mission can wait too."

"Well, which is it? You can't just change the rules…"

"Chuck," she cut in, "stop changing the subject."

He threw his hands up defensively. "Sarah, I meant what I said. I don't want to fight."

"Me neither, but we need to talk."

"Yeah, but Casey's going to…"

"Chuck," she interrupted again, knowing her frustration was starting to show. "Why didn't you go back to the Buy More that night like I told you to?" she asked before he could come up with another excuse to delay the inevitable.

Chuck leaned back against the sink, grabbing the side with both hands. "I shouldn't have left you alone with him in the first place." She opened her mouth to protest, but he was faster. "Sarah, don't. I know that conversation by heart."

For a moment they just stared at each other.

"Look, it's not that I don't appreciate you doing everything you can to protect me," he continued, "and I'm not trying to make your job more difficult, but I can't just stand by and do nothing, not when it's my fault that you and Ellie were in danger."

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose as more pieces fell into place. "You told Mauser about the Intersect."

"He was threatening to have Ned shoot Ellie. What else was I supposed to do?"

They both knew the textbook answer to that one, but neither verbalized it. At least, Sarah thought, Fulcrum didn't figure out on their own who the Intersect was, and with Mauser dead, Chuck was safe. For now.

When the silence stretched too long, she felt she had to say something. She crossed her arms over her chest, straightened her spine and met his gaze.

"Does that mean you understand why I shot him?"

"Do you?" Chuck countered, his response taking her by surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you shoot Mauser, Sarah?"

All she could do was stare at him in stunned silence. That was not how she'd expected the conversation to go. Surely Chuck was supposed to be angry that she hadn't been completely honest, or at best, disappointed in her. That she could deal with, but she had no idea what to make of this situation, especially when Chuck reached out and curled his fingers around her wrist to pull her closer. She obeyed without thinking about it, and when she was standing in front of him, he dropped his hands down to her waist.

"Look, I know you're a spy and spies keep secrets, but so do I." He tapped a finger to his temple. "I have a head full of them. I'm also your boyfriend, so you can tell me anything. You can trust me."

"It's not that," she admitted, "I do trust you. I just didn't want you to look at me and see a killer."

"I see a spy who's great at her job," he answered simply.

Sarah shook her head. "You saw me shoot an unarmed man who was handing himself over."

Chuck let out a sigh. "I did, but I know you. There had to be more to it than that."

The faith he had in her shook her. She'd taken for granted what it must have taken for him to blindly put his life and freedom in her hands all those months ago after she'd done nothing but deceive him and even pulled a gun on him. And now, after everything he'd seen, what they had become, he hadn't lost that. He believed in her and she didn't want to lose that.

Sarah took a deep breath, weighing her words carefully before she spoke. "He was important to Fulcrum, important enough for them to launch a rescue operation. And he said all of Fulcrum would find out about the Intersect and then…" She couldn't bring herself to repeat Mauser's threat. "I was protecting you and your family."

"So you had no choice?"

"There's always a choice, Chuck. I just couldn't risk it. I couldn't risk you. But I don't know if it was because you're a valuable asset or because…" Chuck pressed a finger to her lips, silencing what she was about to say.

"That was reason enough," he paused, dropping his hand as his eyes searched her face, "so no more second guessing. Either way, this was never about that. It's just…when you lied and then started to avoid me I didn't know what to think."

Fighting the lump in her throat, Sarah leaned her forehead against Chuck's. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a slow learner. After the debacle with my dad…no more lies, I promise. And no secrets," she added.

"No lies and no secrets," Chuck agreed.

Sarah pulled away and looked at him. "So are we good?"

"Actually," Chuck smiled, "I think we're awesome."

Sarah felt lighter as they made their way across the courtyard, hand-in-hand, to Casey's apartment, despite the fact that her partner was probably going to give them an earful for being late. It would be worth it though, she thought, as she stole a glimpse at Chuck. His curls were still wet from the shower he'd insisted on taking, claiming that he smelled like the outside of an elevator. She had been tempted to join him, but that would've been pushing it.

"Well aren't I just the luckiest NSA agent in all the land. You actually decided to show up before sunrise," Casey remarked sarcastically from behind his computer screen when Sarah and Chuck entered the living room. He glanced down at their joined hands. "I guess it's all bunnies and rainbows again on cloud lust," he grunted in disgust.

"Casey," Chuck complained, but just when Sarah was about to squeeze his hand in warning to not go there, he let go and crossed the room towards Tyler who was hunched over in the easy chair. "Isn't it enough that you're adding to his brain and liver damage, do you have to give him back and neck problems too? What's wrong with you?"

Casey shrugged. "The idiot looks quite comfortable from where I'm sitting."

"He's not an idiot," Chuck protested. "He's actually a pretty decent guy."

"A decent guy wouldn't have assassins hunting him like a turkey the day before Thanksgiving," Casey countered. "He's an idiot, Bartowski, just like you."

"Casey!" Sarah warned. "Don't you think you've done enough for one day?"

Casey glared at her. She glared right back.

"Guys," Chuck interrupted their silent standoff, "I know why their trying to kill him. I know why they want him dead."

Sarah rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. The lack of sleep was catching up with her and the fact that it was nearly three in the morning didn't help matters much. She felt a hand drop on her shoulder, giving it an affectionate squeeze before a cup of coffee appeared before her. She smiled up at Chuck as he turned around, slipped onto the desk and closed the folder she'd been working on, sliding it outside of her reach.

"You need a break," he declared.

"How's Tyler holding up?" she asked after taking a sip.

"He's asleep." Chuck gave her a worried look. "Please tell me the worst thing that's going to happen tomorrow night is that he'll open with 'Ullo Cleveland'."

"He'll be fine," Sarah assured him. "C'mon, it's us." That didn't seem to convince him, but Sarah didn't take it personally. Knowing Chuck, he was worried about all of them. "Do you know what you need?" she whispered seductively, running her hand up and down his thigh. "A little distraction."

Chuck let out a low chuckle. "Too bad this place is bugged to the hilt."

"The supply closet isn't."

He grinned and then let it drop when he realized she was being serious. "Sarah, we can't do that."

"Why not?" She cocked her head to the side and gave him the most innocent look she could muster, catching her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyebrows raising slightly.

Chuck cleared his throat as his eyes darted between her and Casey cleaning his weapons in the adjourning room. "Well, for one, he keeps his gun oil in there and judging by the size of his collection, we're going to be interrupted a lot."

"We can leave him a couple of bottles outside the door," Sarah suggested.

"Like that's not gonna be a dead giveaway." Chuck caught her hand and entwined their fingers. "What about tomorrow night after Tyler's concert? We'll stay in, order take-out, borrow The English Patient from Ellie…"

Despite predicting his next move, Sarah still laughed when Chuck did his patented eyebrow dance. Then she sobered. "If we catch Gambir there will be debriefings and paperwork, plus we have Ellie's New Year's Eve party after and you still need to cheer up Morgan," she reminded him.

"Morgan is going to Las Vegas with his mom and Big Mike, which in itself should be disturbing enough to distract him from his Anna-troubles; knowing Beckman, the debriefing should be abrupt and the paperwork can wait."

"Which leaves Ellie," Sarah pointed out.

Chuck thought for a moment. "I can get us out of that," he replied. When she gave him a skeptical look, he added "It's just a party. The only people we'll hang out with is Ellie and Awesome anyway, and we see them basically every day. It's no big deal."

"I seriously doubt your sister is going to see it that way. You know how she gets."

"Just trust me," Chuck replied. He leaned in for a quick kiss. "My plan is foolproof."

Sarah smirked. "That's what I'm afraid off."

Sarah knew she should have expected the mission to go wrong. Team Bartowski's missions had a habit of panning out that way. But in the end it worked out, she kept telling herself as she pushed through the crowd. The large number of civilians should've been reason enough to abort, not to mention the fact that Gambir had gotten the better of them yet again, having handed out concert tickets to random teenagers in exchange for them wearing similar raincoats and baseballs caps. She and Casey had wasted precious time trying to find Gambir, only to end up with a bogey every time. He had given them the slip, and to add insult to injury, he had taken out the guards posted outside Tyler's dressing room to protect him and Chuck.

People were blocking her from each angle and if felt like she was barely moving forward. That was probably also due to the fact that she was desperate to get to Chuck, particularly after hearing him mention 'very large knife' over her earwig.

The earpiece crackled to life again. "Sarah," she heard Chuck speak, "we're running to the stage. He's right behind us."

"Chuck, are you okay?" she asked into her watch.

"Yeah, yeah," he assured her. "Just get us out of here."

Determined not to let him down, she made her way to the platform. From there she had an unobstructed view of the stage. Tyler appeared seconds later, followed closely by Chuck. The crowd got even noisier and streamers were released from the ceiling, but Sarah barely noticed. Chuck, who'd kept to the edge of the stage had suddenly stepped forward, revealing Gambir behind him. Her eyes darted between the two men as she tried to figure out what to do. She caught sight of Tyler and she could clearly make out what he was telling Chuck.

Brilliant, she thought. Chuck, however, hesitated. A movement from Gambir drew her attention back to him and when she spotted the knife, ready to be thrown, everything inside her went cold. "Chuck!" she yelled, "Jump!"

As soon as she saw him and Tyler landing safely on a sea of hands, she took off down the stairs, shoving people out of her way. As desperately as she wanted to get to Chuck, she had to find Gambir first and eliminate the threat. Reasoning that the terrorist would go after Tyler and Chuck, who were both clearly visible as they were literally rolling on top of the fans, she started moving in the same direction, ducking under armpits as she scanned the crowd. She spotted Casey first, and then the back of Gambir's head.

"You think I look mad," Casey commented, nodding in her direction, "Wait until you see her."

Sarah waited until Gambir spun around, surprised. He stabbed at her, but her reflexes were faster, grabbing his wrist and twisting, not letting go until the knife dropped and she heard the satisfying sound of bones breaking. Then she landed a left-right-left combo. For the grenade, the night club and the dressing room, she added in her mind. Gambir staggered, but Sarah didn't give him the chance to recover. Her elbow struck the side of his jaw, knocking him out cold. Casey caught him as he collapsed, putting him in a headlock and snapping his neck. Sarah turned away, breathing a sigh of relief that it hadn't been her this time, but also grateful that there was one less psycho in the world.

She immediately started looking around for Chuck, wincing when she saw the crowd dropping him to the floor a few feet away. She reached him just as he had climbed to his feet, dusting off his jeans. Breathing easy for the first time in what felt like ages, she wrapped him in a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he assured her, but when she gave him an affectionate squeeze, he let out an "Ow".

Stepping back immediately, her fingers ghosted over his arms and chest. "Are you hurt? Did you get stabbed?"

Chuck caught her hands in his and shook his head. "I think I'm gonna have a whole bunch of tiny bruises. These people have really pointy fingers." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I'm fine," he said again. "I promise."

"Okay, good," Sarah breathed, this time wrapping her arms around his neck.

Tyler Martin was barely recognizable from the egotistical rock star that had showed up in Burbank a couple of days before. He sincerely thanked Chuck and Sarah for saving his life and reiterated his promise to have his tattoos removed, but a hint of the old Tyler peered through when he reminded them to send him some of the 'magic' tranquilizer Casey had him on for nearly his entire stay. After they'd said their goodbyes, Tyler turned back one last time.

"Hey, Chuck," he called across the courtyard. "Can I give you some advice?" He gestured towards Sarah. "Do the drummer boy. You never know." He winked suggestively and with that, he was gone.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked, both amused and a little worried.

"Oh, nothing," Chuck replied nonchalant, but the faint blush crawling up his neck gave him away.

Sarah fixed him with a skeptical look and crossed her arms over her chest. "Chuck," she warned in a low drawl, "no secrets, no lies."

"Okay, fine," he conceded. He cleared his throat. "Would you like to come over to my place?" he asked in a horribly fake British accent, causing Sarah to bit down hard on her lip to avoid laughing. "I'm in a band," he continued, "and I'd like to show you my drums. I'm the drummer boy. Come they told me, param pa pam pam." Then he held up a hand. "Don't laugh," he said in his normal voice, "that's how I lost my pants."

Despite his request, Sarah couldn't help herself. Chuck joined in, oblivious to the fact that they might be annoying the neighbors.

"They actually fell for that?" Sarah asked in between bouts of hysteria.

"They were assassins," Chuck shrugged a shoulder, "they didn't really care."

Sobering, Sarah slipped her hand into his and entwined their fingers. "Well, I care. Very much." Chuck smiled down at her and dipped his head, but before their lips could meet, his phone rang. He pulled away, grumbling under his breath as he took it out of his pocket.

He answered it with a "Hey, sis". Sarah could make out the words 'work', 'party' and 'hospital' from Ellie's end. "Yeah, that sucks, but at least you get to celebrate…No, unfortunately Sarah and I won't be able to make it…That little problem she has…" Sarah quirked an eyebrow and Chuck glanced away. "Yeah," he continued, "I'm gonna go home with her and make sure she's okay…I don't think there's a need to bring her in…Okay, I'll do that…See you, El, and Happy New Year."

"I think you have some explaining to do," Sarah pointed out after Chuck had hung up the call. Guilt was written all over his face and he couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"Okay, Sarah, listen," he started to explain, "I think we should each be allowed to keep one secret. One teeny, tiny secret that wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Chuck," Sarah folded her arms again, causing him to retreat slightly. "I'm a spy. You can't keep secrets from a spy. Do you really think I don't know that you'd just referred to my supposedly spastic colon?"

Chuck's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "How did you find out about that?"

"Director Graham," she emphasized, "mentioned it last year during my performance evaluation."

"Oh, my gosh. Sarah, I'm so sorry, but you were late for that briefing and I didn't want you to get into trouble and it was the first thing that I could think off, nothing personal, I was actually reading this article in one of Awesome's magazines…"

"Chuck," Sarah cut him off, barely able to hide her amusement. It had not been funny at the time, but she'd gotten over it. "Are you going to stand there and ramble all night or take me back to my place for some pa rumpa pum pum?" Unlike Chuck's, her accent was flawless.

His jaw dropped in surprise and Sarah couldn't help but snicker. Before Chuck could think of a retort a grunt from Casey interrupted them.

"Giggle-Dee and Giggle-Dum, get in here. Now."

Chuck and Sarah shot each other what-now looks as they filed into Casey's apartment. He was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, motioning them closer with a jerk of the head. Sarah snapped immediately and indicated for Chuck to stay put. She crossed the room to Casey, her face stoic and her spine ramrod straight.

"Problem?" she asked.

Casey looked from her to the kitchen. All the cupboard doors and drawers were open. "Is nothing sacred?" he growled.

Sarah tilted her head slightly and frowned. "Like agreeing that I would not be flirting with the mark, but then forced to do so anyway?"

"You abused my car."

"You blackmailed my boyfriend."

"It was a joke."

"You're not funny."

"Doing a fake British accent is not fu…"

Sarah's mouth fell open when Casey crumpled to the floor. Her head snapped around to Chuck who was looking from the pen in his hand to Casey's lifeless form and back to the pen.

"It was a joke?" he offered lamely.

"Casey has no sense of humor," Sarah pointed out. She hunch down and pulled the dart from his neck. "Come on," she called Chuck over her shoulder. "Help me get him to the chair."

"In a minute," he replied.

He scrawled something on a piece of paper before joining Sarah to help drag Casey to the easy chair. They propped him up on it, curled his fingers around the "I'm very sorry I tranqed you"-note.

"How do you think Marine metabolism compares with rock star metabolism?" Chuck asked.

"Do you really want to stick around and find out?"

Chuck shook his head vehemently. Then he grabbed Sarah's hand and they scurried out of the apartment.

A/N: For those of you following It's a Wonderful Cover Life, that story has taken on a life of its own and is going to be longer than originally planned. Therefore, two things: One, it will henceforth be known as my early Christmas fic for 2012, and; two, updates will be rotated between Cover Life and Spy Problem. Grease and Inconvenient Truths will be back-burned. Once one of these are done, I'll pick up on of those. For All That We Are is still a side project, to be updated as and when I get time to work on it.

I need a nap.