Chuck versus The Marlin

Double Edition.

Moment one: Chuck and Sarah say goodbye.

Chuck took in every ounce of his surroundings, he tried desperately to see what was around him but Longshore was leading him away so quickly he barely had a chance to catch his breath. This would be the last time he'd see the night sky with the moon sneakily hiding behind the clouds, the last time he would see the buildings twinkling below him in the darkness and the last time he saw Sarah.

"Longshore!" See! He was even still hearing her sweet voice in his head. They both span around anyway. But no, he hadn't imagined it! Here was Sarah racing towards him. He hoped there was a change of plan and Sarah would be taking him back home.

"Sarah thank God you're here listen I don't want to go yet -" He started to babble, before Sarah interrupted and started to talk to Longshore about the circumstances, Chuck zoned out, only hoping to be freed. He heard something along the lines of Sarah saying that it was all going to be okay now, his heart pounded with hope. He thought that he was right not to intervene as they negotiated .

Longshore, however, was having none of it. Sarah's eyes glistened with desperation as she begged for more time.

"Okay." He snarled. "You have one minute."

One minute? One measly minute was all she had left with him? She felt like she was slowly cracking, it wasn't going to be long before she just broke open and everything would come tumbling out.

"I'm not ready Sarah, I'm not ready to disappear." Chuck said, his voice thick with emotion.

"I know." She nodded solemnly.

"I need you to talk to Ellie and to Morgan and my friends and tell them - I don't know. Look, if I'm supposed to be dead just say something that will make them feel okay, make them feel alright." He looked deeply into her eyes to find that they were filled with tears, desperate to get out. If she felt nothing, would she be this emotional?

Sarah couldn't speak as he asked her if she could do that for him, so she just nodded again as she battled with the lump in her throat. She knew that if he said something- anything now about the situation, he would open the floodgates and she wouldn't be able to stop it no matter how much she fought with it.

"Of course you can, your Sarah, you can do anything." He said, She smiled as she watched him nearly cry like she was about to. She couldn't do anything though, she couldn't stop him from being taken away, she couldn't take him in her arms that moment and kiss him and tell him how much he meant to her.

"Hey, there's a silver lining to this too, you know. We're not working together anymore which means.." He probably wasn't going to see her again so he didn't hold back. "..So we can go on a date. You can come by my cell and we can hang out and you can tell me who the president is. And maybe uh.." He took her hands in his even though they were tight together with handcuffs. "Say how we really feel.." I think I'm in love with you. He wanted to say. She looked at him with pleading eyes as if she wanted to say so much more..

"Times up!" Longshore shouted, transporting them both back down to the cruel, cruel earth.

"Goodbye Sarah." He said as a tear trickled down her cheek - he felt a little relived in all of this that she had finally let something escape, that let him know that she was human.

He turned away as he took half of her heart with him. It took all she had not to fall to the floor sobbing her heart out, crying how she couldn't live without him, how it wasn't worth doing anything if he wasn't there. It was then Sarah realised, it was more than just a crush. She had let herself fall so deeply that she couldn't even regret it anymore. As she finally admitted it to herself, he was walking away. Don't go! She still felt his hand on hers, it tingled but slowly ebbed away until she was left with the raw coolness of her own hands.

"Chuck!" She shouted. He turned around so that their eyes reconnected and sent volts zinging through the air into their bodies. "Save you later." She sniffed as he did that cute half smile he always did.

Chuck walked towards Longshore, just as he was nearly there, Longshore gasped as a shooting sound erupted into the cool night sky. He fell to the ground, Chuck wasn't sure whether he was unconscious yet or not.

"Get down!" She shouted, suddenly Sarah Walker the spy, her other half had taken over, thank God. Suddenly her gun was shot from her hands as she glanced over to see the woman she had had a fight with earlier. They both ran down the steps into a hidden away corner.

Chuck tried to compose his breath for a moment and as he wondered what would happen to him now. He crouched down next to Sarah. He didn't even want to consider leaving her ever again, Sarah the super spy had taken over now but she had given him a glimpse of what she really felt and a glimmer of hope shone over his pathetic excuse of a life. He didn't have time to think about that now, he closed his thoughts off for a moment - half hoping to revisit them later.

Moment two: Ellie and Awesome's engagement

"You can only keep him here for so long, you realise that, don't you?" Casey said as a fresh wave of emotion washed over Sarah. Don't say that! She wanted to scream. She watched as Chuck hugged Ellie and Awesome tightly, congratulating them on their engagement. She felt fiercely protective of him, she wouldn't let anybody hurt him, ever.

She tore her eyes away from Chuck for a moment so that she was face to face with Casey, he looked knowingly into her eyes as if he could see a cold, bleak future ahead of Chuck. He gave a helpless shrug and turned to walk into his own apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

Sarah turned back to the window, she should probably make a move now, but she couldn't turn away, they were a proper family, whereas she had none - well none that wanted her or ones that weren't dead or sleaze-ball conmen.

Ellie felt somebody's eyes on her. She whirled around so that she was facing the windows and she met Sarah's tearful eyes. She took in her face and her tear stained cheeks, almost immediately she forgot all about the proposal and felt only concern for Sarah. She gestured her hand in a waving motion, telling Sarah to come in, but she shook her head but smiled and turned to walk away.

"Chuck!" Ellie hissed.

"Yeah?" He jumped a little.

"What's wrong with Sarah?" She asked, pointing to the window.

Chuck followed her finger but only saw Sarah walking away. It was a family time to him, but she was his family, whether she liked it or not.

"Don't worry El, crack open the champagne and I shall be back momentarily." He smiled so convincingly that Ellie could only grin in reply.

He ran after Sarah, shouting her name so loudly that people from china could probably hear him. Sarah carried on running as tears sprouted down her face, she didn't want him to see her like this. Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, she was almost at her car when she felt his hand grip her waist. She almost fell to the floor with the new impact of feelings that had just hit her. She turned around so that she was facing him, she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes because she knew that she would break down.

She pulled away but he insistently grabbed her hands, in the end she gave up and decided to hear him out. He put his hand underneath her chin, trying to get her to look up at him.

He sighed but kept his hands on hers. "Sarah." He said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just leave me alone Chuck, just know when your not wanted okay?" She shot back at him, shrugging her hands away.

"You don't mean that, Sarah." Chuck replied blocking her car door.

"I do!" She shouted. "Just go away, okay? You're never meant to see me like this!"

"But you're only human. I know you're a kick-ass super spy most of the time but it's nice to know Sarah the person. That's the person who I fell.. That's the person who I know. Come on, can't you just drop your rock hard exterior for two minutes and have a civil conversation? I know who you are, just be who you want to be, no one's watching you." He was panting by the end of his big speech, Sarah pushed him out of the way of her car door, opened it and slid in the seat.

"Get in." She said, smiling half heartedly. Obediently, he climbed in bedside her as she sped off to the only place that she knew she could be herself. The beach.

When they arrived, Chuck reached out for her hand as they walked towards the sand. She gratefully accepted it and reassured him with a sympathetic squeeze. She felt such a rush of love for him that moment that it took all she had then and there to not reach out and kiss him hard. She found a spot on the sand that was the perfect distance away from the tide, but in the place where the sun was just right.

She sat down and he sat a safe distance away from her, but he was still close. He understood that if she wanted her to open up to him, then he needed to give her some space. He gazed at her intently and she looked back at him as if she were thinking what to say next.

"Just watching Ellie, you and Awesome it just reminds me of what I don't have." Sarah sighed. "You must hate me. I don't talk much, I can't say anything about my past and you can't be with me."

He nodded and thought for a moment. "Sarah, I talk enough for the both of us. I don't care who you were in the past - as I've said before I know who you are now and that's all that matters to me. You know how much I care about you right? You don't need to worry about stuff like that, I'm the worrier, remember?" He smiled and put his hand up to her face.

"I'm no good at this sort of stuff, and we can't be together, Chuck." She drew her attention back to the sea, it was quite therapeutic to watch the tide go in and out.

He got up and repositioned himself so that he was sitting right in front of her. "Do you not feel anything?" Chuck whispered daringly.

"I-" She stopped and looked up at his intense gaze that burned into her very core, it made her heart beat with excitement but also dread. Her whole body shook with pure anticipation and she couldn't made it go away. When are you just going to be brave, Sarah? She asked herself. Like Chuck said, you are a human being and it's time you started acting like one!

"Maybe." She squeaked as if she were pledging a solemn wedding vow.

Chuck was a little surprised even though he had suspected it. A woman like her, gorgeous, smart and extremely talented had possibly fallen for him. Him! Chuck Bartowski. He didn't think that she was in love with him but at least she sometimes considered having a relationship with him. He felt the zing in the air grow stronger and suddenly it was pulling him towards her.

"I know this sounds weird.. But.. Can I just.. Hold you?" He whispered as she nodded, she un-tucked her knees from beneath her chin and just let herself go floppy. She shuddered (in a good way) as he wrapped his warm, tender arms around her and it shocked her a little as he slowly lifted her onto his lap. She caught his eye and all her guilt washed away. For now there were no cameras, no audio devices, it was just them in their own little world.

He pulled his arms tight and she rested her head on his chest and listened to his beating heart. She pulled her arms away from her chest and pulled them around him. She couldn't believe this was happening right now, she listened to the sea as she watched he sunset in the distance. Despite the strange situation, she had never felt happier in her life, she didn't want to pull away from his embrace. Chuck moved down and kissed her on her forehead.

"Is this all we can ever do?" He asked.

"Yeah. You understand though, right?" She replied, looking up at him.

"What if I were to do this though?" He couldn't stop himself this time, he rested his forehead against hers and wrapped his arms around the small of her back. She was terrified, she didn't know whether it showed on her face or not but she felt small and venerable. She felt as though she was being attacked by all these raw emotions and they were winning.

Heck, she wanted them to win. She closed her eyes and pushed him back on to the sand, she pressed her lips up against his and let her tongue explore his mouth. Her whole body exploded with desire as her temperature rose by several degrees.

Chuck ran his hands through her hair and felt like he never had before as his tongue danced the tango with hers. He felt a little tired though, he opened his eyes whilst kissing her and found that she was doing the same. She tore herself away from him.

"We can't." She said, even though it was breaking her heart.

"Just once more." He gave her one last passionate kiss as they both stood up whilst entwined to one another.

"Don't say a word." Sarah smirked as she walked ahead of him.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" He laughed, catching up with her and taking her hand and whirling her around and around until they got to the car.

Still smiling, she started the car and drove quickly and deposited him home.

"Goodnight, Mrs Walker." He said, shutting the door behind him. "One day real soon I'm going to take you on a real date."

"Okay." She laughed disbelievingly. "Goodnight." She didn't want to think about what just happened, she clutched the steering wheel and sped off into the night - silently hoping that everything that had just happened would have been a blissful dream.

Review please! Commence season two!