Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, deal with it ;)

A/N: Things are starting to settle down now

Uplink2 – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like Zoe

Wish On A Bone – I'm glad, that means a lot!

Zoe Taylor

When Liam and I were finally discharged, I panicked a little. I knew his bedroom was nowhere near ready. There was barely anything in the room apart from an old bookshelf. Casey put the key in the door and I squeaked.

"What's wrong?" he asked, smirking a little like he was hiding something.

"Nothing, come on, it's freezing out here." I carried Liam in his carry case into the apartment and up the stairs, opening the door to his first room. "Oh my gosh." I sighed. It was absolutely beautiful, cream coloured wallpaper, a cot in the corner, a mobile hanging above it. An armchair nearby and the bookshelf, a changing table and chest of drawers lined along the other wall. "Casey?"

"Yeah, we were busy setting it up when we got the call from Ellie. Unfortunately, Liam came along a little earlier than we anticipated. So we have to speed things up a bit."

"It's beautiful." I smiled, picking up Liam out of the carry case.

The next week went quickly and Liam was shocking me every day with something new. On one day, I took Liam to the Castle, he was strapped to my front. General Beckman was far from impressed.

"What is that?" General Beckman asked.

"A baby. My baby."

"What is the meaning of this?" She then sighed. "Well, now I know why you took leave. To hide it from me. I thought we agreed, no children."

"That isn't quite what I was going to say or meant. This is just my way of telling you. And you probably won't be happy to hear it but John Casey and I are engaged, and you told me no children when I was already pregnant. So I haven't really broken any rules." I wanted to push my boundaries.

"What?"

"If anyone is to blame. It's me. But I am taking the back seat in this team, I can survive. Besides, Chuck is taking some Chuck time too."

"Well congratulations then Lieutenant Casey nee Taylor." She smiled before disconnecting the video call. Anger in her eyes. Liam started to wail.

"Oh no, no, no. Shhh. No. Ignore the big mean lady." I rocked him from side to side, hoping he would calm down. "There."

"Zoe!" Sarah called out. "Chuck's emergency tracker just activated." I cradled Liam's head and headed towards the computer. Both hands typed away along the keyboard. "WE have to go after him."

"You guys go. I'll direct you guys from here." I watched Sarah and Casey walk up the stairs and I sighed. "I wish I could be with them Liam. But I've got you now." I leant back a little to see my snoozing baby boy. I lay back in a chair, stroking his fluffy hair. But his silence didn't last long when the door slammed shut.

"Oh guys, I just got him to sleep." I snapped.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you would still be here." Sarah winced at the sound of Liam's screaming. I drove my wailing baby home and could not do anything to silence him.

"Oh come on." I squeaked. "Come on my little baby boy."

My little screaming baby boy. I picked up my phone and rung Casey, but it went through to answer phone.

"Casey, I need you to come home. I am really struggling here. I need help. Please, help would be good right about now." I dropped the phone of the dresser and went back to Liam who was kicking and squealing in his cot. I lifted him up, out of it.

He wasn't hungry.

He didn't want to be cuddled. That just made it worse.

He didn't need a nappy change, I checked. Multiple times.

Nothing was working.

"Oh come on, I don't want you to cry yourself to sleep," I whimpered. "Ssshhhh…" I patted his back hoping that he would calm down. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. I pulled out a baby bottle of milk and left it in the microwave for a while. After attempting to put the bottle in his mouth but he refused it. I rested Liam against my shoulder and patted his tiny little back as he wailed and screamed. "Please stop crying Liam. I know you're sad." I patted his back until I heard a slight giggle a coughing and spluttering noise.

"Eurgh. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Dad is going to regret every missing your baby years, what's the reckoning he will just say that I'm special and this is your way of either marking your territory or to say that you love me." I put my baby on the changing table and took off his clothes, wiping the remnants of sick away as he carried on wailing.

Suddenly, I was feeling wee in my face. Charming.

"Oh no, come on Liam." I fished out something to block Liam's piddling. "Really? Really?"

I slip a nappy on him and popped a baby grow on too. The crying had simmered down a little to more than sniffles and coughs. His little lungs were going to burst if he wasn't careful. I put him back down in the cot gently, normally I would let him fall asleep on me but I wasn't quite in the state to do that. When I leant over my son, his tiny fist reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair.

"No, no, let go of Mommy's hair." I pleaded, weary and tired now. I pulled the hair from his teeny fist and watched as it fell out my hand. "Oh come on." In about ten minutes he was sound asleep. And that is when I heard the door open. Footsteps up the stairs. I turned to see Casey wander into the nursery. "We are going to have to rethink this arrangement."

"Why? It works perfectly well."

"No, it works well for you! You aren't the one who has just been sick on, pissed on and had their hair pulled out, all in one evening."

"That explains the smell."

"It's not funny. I will genuinely burn these clothes. Now can you actually do something remotely useful?" I snapped, I felt a lump in my throat and brought the back of my hand to my lips. "I feel like I can't do this. I feel like I'm the only one doing this. And that, that is exactly what happened to my Mom. And you want to know what happened to her? She took her own life. It was my Stepmother and Dad who were the underground weapons dealer. My Dad ignored me and my Mom. She took her own life. She tried to take my life too."

Casey's mouth dropped open. He didn't say anything

"I know I won't ever do that, but I need your help and support. Liam needs you. Now, more than ever. You have already missed out on one child growing up, do you really want to miss out on your son's first years." I burst into tears which only set off Liam. "No, no, no. Don't cry."

"Why don't you go get cleaned up, have a bath, get some rest. I'll stay up with him tonight."

"I can't let you do that, you don't even know what you're doing."

"I can get by, off you go, go on." He ushered me out the door, like he asked of me I showered off and changed into a nightshirt. When I walked back past Liam's room, I heard silence. For the first time in a while I heard silence. I could hear my own thoughts. Casey shut the door behind himself. "See, I told you I'd be fine."

"And you didn't just use some sleep hold or sleep gas?" I asked, "We should be using normal parenting tricks. We have to be normal parents."

"Course not. Come on." He lifted me up off the floor and into our room. Casey held me close before putting me down on the bed and climbing in beside me. "Perfect, just perfect." Casey murmured burying his face in my back, his arms around my waist. We woke up, it was silent still, apart from birds chirping outside. I slowly slipped out of Casey's arms and went to check on Liam, he was sleeping peacefully.

"That's my little boy." I stroked his cheek and he moved a tiny bit. But stayed silent. I went to go and wake Casey up. He was practically sprawled out on the bed. "Good to know you like to share." I shook his shoulder. He grabbed mine and twisted it downwards. The intersect in me flashed and I slammed a fist into his wrist and the other gently to his temple.

"Ahhh, god!" Casey snapped. "Sorry, old soldier reflex."

"I know, only to be matched with the intersect two point o." I pulled him close and kissed his cheek. "The pair fit together well."

Seven months later

"Ahh, ha." Liam squeaked as he was strapped to my chest.

"No way." I gasped. "You really think so Liam?"

Morgan strolled into the house. "My turn, gimme."

"He's not a toy car. I'm not letting you use my son to get girls Morgan. Nor will you have bonding time with Casey's son. It's bad enough that you get bonding time with his daughter."

"Me? I would never do use my godson like that Zoe, you should trust me more."

"Morgan Grimes, you dog," I jinxed. "So how is everyone?" I shook Liam gently in the carry case. "Woah. Listen to him Liam, he can't string a truthful sentence together. So tell me, how is Alex? Don't worry, Casey's not in."

"That is a story for another day."

"Okay then, well, Liam and me are going to go to the Castle to see what Chuck and everyone is up to and I think you have to be at the Buy More, don't you?"

Morgan groaned and we both went over to the Buy More lot. Well, I was to the Castle and Morgan went to the Buy More. I passed a woman walking towards the Buy More and I was sure I recognised her from somewhere. I went into the Castle.

"Hey everyone, what's happening?"

"Casey's using big scary guns to scare of Volkoff." Chuck explained.

"They'll shut down the weapons," I mumbled.

"Give me Frost, or I'll kill the fat man and the indian!" Volkoff growled at the surveillance.

Casey explained a manual overdrive would help strengthen the defences.

"So you must be the SparrowHawk that everyone's been talking about?" Chuck's mother said, walking around me. "What a place to bring a child into." She was judging me.

"You don't know anything about me. Don't talk to me like you know me!" I snapped, cradling Liam's head, walking away and bumping Chuck.

"Hey, hey, hey. Cool it Zoe," Chuck said. "Why did my Mom call you SparrowHawk? What is SparrowHawk?"

"SparrowHawk is the code name given to me when I was a part of the underground weapons exchange. I headed up the majority of the operation under the order of my father Paul Bailey. Okay? The fact that she knows about it, is very, very, very dangerous. Extremely bad."

"Come on Chuck, we have to give Frost to Volkoff!" Casey called out.

"I'll stay here, I'm of no use to you, and Liam needs me alive." I watched Chuck, Sarah and Frost go up the lift and I walked to surveillance cameras. I gasped as Volkoff put a gun to Chuck's face. "Tell them the truth," I whispered. I watched in anticipation. I hoped that they would be safe.

The phone was lifted onto the desk. I listened on the speakers. Ellie. "Oh no, please no." We were all in danger. "Oh Liam, what the hell are we going to do?"

I had to get to Ellie first. I made my way out of the Castle through Orange Orange. Without even thinking, I drove with Liam still strapped to my chest. I only really noticed when I got to the apartments. I rapped on the door.

"Hey." The door opened and a heavily pregnant Ellie smiled at me. "Come on in. The others haven't arrived yet."

"Ellie, listen to me, you and Devon need to-" There was a knock at the door which made me stop mid-way in sentence. "Never mind." I pulled the hairband out and messed up my hair, giving it some volume. Change my appearance a little. The rest of the evening was tense. Chuck was trying to get Devon and Ellie out of the house. "Oh wow, I mean, this little guy's nappy needs a changing." I hoped that I would be able to get Liam out of here to safety.

"Please, let me." Volkoff held out his arms to me.

"I'm sorry, he's a little jittery around strangers."

"I insist." I slowly took Liam from the carry case.

"Ellie, you must have a changing table somewhere. Right?" I asked a little panicky, feeling my mouth getting a little dry.

"Yeah, there's this little thing here." Devon pulled out a portable changing table. I hoped to god that this could be one of those times where Liam would have filled a nappy. I watched as Volkoff changed Liam's nappy. My little boy kicked and squirmed throughout and every maternal instinct inside of me was telling me to kick the crap out of Volkoff. Chuck squeezed my arms to stop me, you could probably see it in my eyes.

"See, nothing to worry about." Volkoff smiled handing Liam back to me. I held him close to me, my heart racing. "There."

"I'm going to go put him to bed. He will be cranky if I don't, goodnight everyone." I smiled flakily. The next morning I took Liam on a walk around the Echo Park apartments, not much but he was happy and cheerful. I got a text from Casey.

Chuck got his intersect senses back… oh boy

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Quite the action packed fast paced chapter, sorry if it's a little fast :L leave a review