Thanks for all the reviews! As for this chapter, I answered a few questions but added in a few more questions this chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 4 – Chuck vs the New Teammate

Langley, Virginia

January 3, 2011

7:50 AM Monday

Chuck stepped off the elevator with a carton tray with 4 lattes and a bag of croissants. He walked down the long hallway, passing a few agents along the way. He smiled briefly as he passed them and a few analysts. Once he got to the door leading to the waiting room to the Director's office, he smiled at Graham's assistant. "Hey Emily, how's the married life going?"

"Depends, is that coffee for me?" she replied hopefully.

"Of course. Tell Graham I'm here?" Chuck replies giving her a croissant and latte while leaning on the wall, not wanting to sit in a chair.

"Sure. One second." She pressed the intercom and said, "Agent Bartowski is here, Director."

"Emily, what did I tell you about slipping up with his name in public?"

Her face paled and she apologized. Chuck just laughed at the expense of her discomfort.

"Come in here, both of you." Graham said after a few minutes.

As they both walked into Graham's office, Graham smirked and said, "I would reprimand you, but I figure if I tell your sister that it will be punishment enough for you, Emily."

"Yeah Alex can be a bit of a stickler with all those rules and protocols." Chuck replied fondly.

"Yeah no shit, she's a little bit of a bitch about it to be perfectly honest." Emily replied with a smug grin.

"You're a little early, Chuck." Graham added, "The briefing wasn't meant to be until 8:30."

"I couldn't sleep and finished my morning run. Thought we could catch up, I haven't been stateside in this area for a while." Chuck replied with a yawn.

"Are you sleeping alright?" Emily asked concerned.

"Best as can be expected for a field agent I imagine, I still have the occasional nightmare." Chuck replied. "I just haven't slept much since my red test." Chuck shrugged, obviously used to dealing with it.

Emily frowned and tried to change the subject, "How was the Woodcomb Christmas? Sorry Paul and I couldn't make it, we had to spend Christmas at his parents' house this year."

"Casey almost killed Morgan for kissing his daughter. I almost broke my cover trying to peal him off the bearded fellow. He did appreciate you getting Ilsa assigned to the team temporarily, Art." I wonder what strings came attached with that.

"The French DGSE required the service of a few CIA agents to be loaned to them for a few months on an extended operation. We had no operations in need of French agents for the immediate future and Ilsa happened to be on leave. That's all it was." Graham tried to reason.

"Or you want Casey on my team." Chuck replied knowingly.

"I am not that transparent, Bartowski." Graham dared him to argue the point.

Yes you are, everything is always about an advantage for the CIA. Not that I would complain about working with John again.

"Hey Graham, can you tell me when my sister will be back stateside? We haven't seen each other for a while, she couldn't make Christmas this year as you know. She didn't even call." Emily inquired sadly.

"She was in deep cover, no outside calls. You know better than that, it could put you or your husband in danger." Graham reprimanded.

"I know, I didn't think sitting behind a desk would be this difficult." She replied, missing her days of being a field agent.

"It's the life you chose; at least you got that choice." Chuck said while sending a glare in Graham's direction, which he just responded with a shrug.

"Time for you to man the phones, Emily."

"Thanks for the coffee, Chuck" She said as she opened the doors and then closed them to man her post. Even though Emily was an ex-field agent, she could still handle herself. She was the perfect assistant for Graham, someone able to protect him if the need arose. He also had her keep up with the same regiment from her active duty days, gun range twice a week and keeping in top shape. She also was able to stay in the loop with how her sister was doing, which was one of her main motivations for accepting the position. She didn't expect to have more of an extended family with Chuck and his group of friends and family. She even became close with Ellie, even though they were on opposite sides of the country. She figured it helped Ellie having some regular contact with someone in Chuck's life.

Chuck turned to take in the view of the outside world. It wasn't often these days that he could just relax and take it all in, what he was fighting for. Chuck started remembering the fantastic Christmas he had just had back home in Burbank, but was interrupted by Graham. "I thought I would give you a few minutes to let the news sink in, Chuck. You might want to sit down."

"What?" Chuck said unmoving from his spot at the window, he just adjusted to face Graham.

"It is about a new addition to your team. She will be reporting directly to me when I have her sent under deep cover. But she will be sharing intel and interacting with your team. She will be under your command when she is working directly with you. Her code name will be Helen. I'm sending her on assignment to infiltrate the Ring after this briefing is over with."

Chuck nodded in acknowledgement and smirked. We could really use some more recent intel with the Ring. Hopefully she is good at infiltration. "Have I met her?" Chuck asked curiously, Graham never broke news about a partner or team member like this before. Unless it is…

Graham pressed the response button on his intercom and Emily's voice came out, "Agent Walker is here."

"Oh. I see." Chuck said and looked back out the window. This should be interesting; I suppose she also has the Inducement of enemy personnel part covered too. Chuck remembered when he first got control of the Intersect data flashes and flashed on Sarah's file. She had a perfect string of successful seduction and assassination missions. The only failed assignment was her Burbank assignment. Chuck figured that was only because she left, no doubt she would be the one to kill him if the need arose. She was the last person outside his family that he trusted completely, up until he became a full spy. He mused that now there are a few spies among them that are considered family, primarily: Casey, Emily, Jill, Cole, Ilsa, Roan, and Forest, he was starting to warm up to Carina though. Even though he considered Graham a father figure, he didn't trust him at all. Roan and Forest had spent a lot of time training him, Roan had his work cut out for him, that's for sure. Chuck mused. Chuck had initially disliked Cole, but after he endured a torture for a few weeks without giving up anything about him or his team, he earned his trust. Chuck still felt in debt to the MI:6 agent.

A few seconds later the doors opened, Chuck saw a flash of black hair out of the corner of his eyes.

"Good to see you again, Director." Sarah said.

"Sit down, Walker." He replied gruffly, wonder how exactly this conversation would unfold.

Sarah turned to look at the other agent in the room. She didn't recognize him, granted he was facing away looking out the window. I can't remember the last time a man didn't turn to look at me when I entered a room, odd. Maybe he is gay. Sarah frowned and looked back at the Director.

"You have a new, permanent team assignment. This one isn't negotiable. There will be no repeat of you leaving for Larkin or another agent." The threat in his voice and his face was more than enough for Sarah to receive the message. Fuck this up and you'll have a burn notice placed on you.

"What is the assignment?" Sarah asked with interest.

"Have you heard of Prometheus, Althea, or Ismene?"

"I've heard a lot of rumors about Prometheus and Ismene for taking down Fulcrum, but barely anything on Althea. Should I have, sir?"

"They are your new teammates. You will still be reporting directly to me when in deep cover, otherwise, Prometheus is your superior. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. When do I meet them?"

"You know, it is rude not to introduce yourself, Prometheus." Graham said, enjoying himself.

"Does that apply if you've technically already met though?" Chuck quipped as he turned around and got a good look at her for the first time in quite a while. Yeah I suppose Helen still fits for her.

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. No…how…why did this happen?

"I'm sure you might have lots of questions of how I became an agent, if not, that's even better. Either way it can wait until later." Chuck replied, in his usual voice – not devoid of emotion, no bitterness, no added meaning, no hopefulness…just Chuck.

"Do I know the others?" Sarah asked, still in shock.

"In a matter of speaking, you know both." Chuck replied cryptically. "You'll meet one of our teammates on the flight to Europe; the other you will meet once you make it back to our base…Walker is coming back with us, Art?" Chuck asked realizing they hadn't gotten that far in the briefing. He could have told her who was on the flight back with them, but he felt in case something caused Sarah's cover to be blown and she was tortured for information, at least she might not give up their main aliases or identities.

Sarah noticed how friendly the Director and Chuck seemed to act around each other, she was actually slightly jealous. We used to be that way before I fucked up and left Burbank, both of them.

"Yes, but she will be going directly back to an undercover mission, as I mentioned earlier. Your new assignment will be infiltrating the Ring, Walker. We need more reliable intel from people we can trust. Even with your past, I know you won't betray your country."

"Yes sir." Sarah replied with regret.

"You're both dismissed; this was mainly an introduction since you were both in town. Enjoy your flight." Graham said with his amusement evident.

Both agents left the room. Once outside, Chuck exchanged goodbye to his former trainer's sister. Sarah thought the exchange was overly friendly, maybe an ex or good friend.

"Did you drive yourself here?" Chuck inquired as they got on the elevator.

"Yes…that's all you've got? After all this time?"

"We're going to be stuck on a plane for over eight and a half hours, plus refueling. I'm sure it can wait until then."

He's so distant now. I still can't believe he is working for the CIA, not to mention one of the two agents credited with taking down Fulcrum. It also seems Graham is hand picking his teammates for taking down the Ring and future organizations. I wonder how heartbroken I left him; he seemed to really be into me when I left. Good thing I left as soon as I did, if I hadn't…I don't even know what would have happened. I know I would have fallen for him, hard. It was too dangerous for both him and me. Hopefully he doesn't hate me.

Private Hangar, Reagan National Airport

January 3, 2011

9:15 AM Monday

The trio had taken off a little over an hour and a half ago. Introductions were awkward to say the least. Everyone had arrived separately to the private airstrip at Reagan National Airport. Chuck introduced Sarah to Jill Roberts, not saying who she really is. Sarah was rather pissed that he didn't trust her enough to not betray Jill. They hadn't met before, but Sarah still remembered Jill from Chuck's Stanford days. Both were visibly unhappy to see each other. Jill blaming Sarah for Chuck becoming a spy, still not happy how that turned out, while Sarah was a little jealous of them being close friends and maybe more and that she had lost Chuck's trust.

Chuck went to the cockpit after the airport staff closed the entrance to the plane, Sarah noticed that there were no pilots. She was even more surprised when Chuck began the startup sequence. She looked at Jill and she responded with a shrug. …When did Chuck start flying jets? I suppose it makes sense if he actually is Prometheus. Sarah sighed and sat down at the front of the plane and looked out the window as the plane took off down the runway and into the sky. She really wanted to talk to Chuck and see where his head was at, she spaced out thinking back to when she left.

Bryce had just shown up to her hotel after she didn't return his call the previous night. She didn't expect him, thinking it was Chuck, since she hadn't returned his calls after Bryce left the Buy More and they hadn't spoken since. However, she was surprised to see Bryce, she thought after she ignored his call that he would already have left. He managed to convince her to leave with him, she still felt something for him, and she felt she was getting too close to her asset. She knew if she stayed around, that she would fall for him, hard, which wouldn't help keep him safe. Bryce was able to play off those feelings, both her feelings for him and whatever she might feel for Chuck by claiming it was safer for him if she left. She was baffled that she admitted that to herself, considering Chuck and her had only shared one real kiss and the rest were all cover related. He was just too much unlike her, too much unlike a spy, but he was far from normal. She knew that was her main attraction to him.

She told Bryce to meet him to meet outside at her Porsche, in case anyone stopped by. She quickly packed a suitcase, nearly everything she had fit perfectly into the case, always ready to leave at a moment's notice. She left the few things owned by the CIA on her bed, including a few guns and clothes. Before she turned the handle to leave the apartment, she looked around her apartment and whispered, "Goodbye Chuck" to the empty apartment. She knew that Graham would be pissed she left her assignment, but ultimately if she said she left because she was becoming compromised, whether that was true or not, he would let it slide, at least she hoped. As she was making her way to the elevator, the last person she wanted to see at the moment stepped off – Chuck.

Chuck took in her deer in the headlights expression and her travel suitcase and small carry-on size bag and asked her, "I see you chose to leave, were you planning on even saying goodbye?"

Sarah, unable to speak, just nodded a no in response. How did he even know I was choosing between leaving with Bryce or staying? It must have been fucking Casey.

He just nodded to her in response and turned to leave back down the elevator, if she wasn't planning on saying goodbye he felt that he shouldn't bother.

Sarah watched as her former asset just upped and left, without another word. She became worried about him, that was a very unChuck thing to do. He was never a man of no words. Why should I even be caring about his feelings? A CIA agent shouldn't be worried about them. She sighed and thought that it would be the best thing for him, no distractions for either of them. He can continue working with Casey and then eventually have the Intersect removed. It is best if I leave now, before he also falls for me. I'm sure he'll move on quickly. She tried to convince herself. She composed herself and entered the elevator and made her way out to Bryce.

Sarah was taken out of her thoughts as Jill grabbed a couple bottles of water from a small fridge and made her way to the cockpit.

"Hey Chuck" Jill greeted him as she closed the door.

Chuck looked up as she passed him a bottle of water and he thanked her. "You left for the briefing pretty early this morning."

"I couldn't sleep." He replied matter-of-factly.

Jill became concerned and asked softly, hoping it wasn't the case. She hated seeing him in pain. "Nightmares again?"

"Yeah, my red test again. I still see the life fading from his eyes. They were the same color as mine; I can't help but see myself in those eyes." Chuck replied sadly as he turned the auto pilot on and faced her.

"Do you regret what you've become?" She asked quietly, while she placed her hand on his and rubbed small circles with her thumb.

"I miss what part of myself I've lost, but…I know what we do isn't meant to be easy. I'm directly and indirectly protecting those I care about. There is nowhere else I would rather be. If I was stuck in a bunker or killed, look at what might have happened to Morgan. He would be in a ditch, with no one finding his body because of that Triad gang. Luckily we were in the area and Graham held up his side of his agreement." He replied sadly. "Besides, this is the best thing for Ellie."

"What's the deal with Sarah, why is she here?" Jill asked slightly annoyed.

"Graham assigned her to our team, but she is going to be infiltrating the Ring operation in Europe to feed us intel. It seems Graham is still pissed at her though." Graham can hold a grudge with the best of them. He was really pissed when he found out she left with Bryce, but he had to go along with it or he would lose face with Beckman.

"How do you feel about her being on the team?"

"I don't know yet. I used to hate her for leaving."

"Did you love her?" Jill asked, almost regretting that she asked the question.

"No. I'm sure of that. Maybe if she stayed longer I might have. I was definitely attracted to her and felt she was a good friend that I could trust. I wanted to see where our relationship could have gone if she gave us the opportunity."

"You sure about that, didn't you become a spy because of her leaving?" Jill asked, still not convinced.

"Yes, I became a spy because she left…" Chuck started but was interrupted by Jill. "So how could you not have loved her if you gave up so much of yourself because of her?" She said angrily, still missing the man he was before all of this. She didn't like all the changes that had come over him.

"It had nothing to do with romantic feelings. I still hate her because of her leaving…well no, not hate…I just blame her for what I've become. If she hadn't left, I wouldn't have been thrown to the wolves all by myself. Once she left, there was no advocate for what's best for me. Me, not what was best for the fucking Intersect. Not two weeks after she left, I was given the choice of a bunker or being killed unless I joined the CIA. I like to think that if she was there, she could have held off Graham and Beckman's ruthlessness, she was really good at it. I trusted her from the first night I met her because she did exactly that. Once I caught her leaving, without the intention of even saying goodbye…I just lost it. I knew it was only a matter of time until I was thrown into a bunker or maybe even killed. My missions over the following weeks suffered, I flashed less due to paranoia and bitterness. Casey just blamed it on the stupid little nerd being heartbroken. It would seem that Beckman and Graham shared the same thoughts. Graham pretty much said as much when he gave me the ultimatum on the beach."

Jill continued rubbing circles on his hand throughout his confession, she believed his reasons. She knew this life was tough on him, never being able to completely trust someone. Luckily there was enough of him from pre-CIA left in him that he let out between missions. He was surprisingly good at compartmentalizing. She was confident of that since he did save her from a life in prison or being executed for treason after she was found out to be Fulcrum. Not to mention securing herself on one of Graham's top groomed CIA teams. She couldn't believe that it had already been around two years since then. "I'm surprised Graham didn't tell her it was you who saved her back in 09." They were essentially making their way towards becoming a Special Operations Group in the Special Activities Division; they gained their training through experience on the job.

"Well, it was my second mission, the first since my red test. They both interacted so much with Fulcrum while undercover, he wouldn't risk them talking." Chuck replied, in amusement. That had been a satisfying mission. He had to rescue the partner of the man who ruined his life, for the second time, Bryce Larkin. By making Sarah leave with him, he had caused Ellie pain beyond the point of forgiveness in Chuck's eyes, he would forever be known as his Nemesis. Even though he was still alive and not in a bunker, he could clearly hear the pain in Ellie's voice every time they talked over the phone. Devon and Morgan also filled Chuck in on the occasional visible sadness in Ellie since he left for DC. They said it has gotten better since he started visiting for most major holidays and as time went on. She also seemed not to completely buy that he is just an analyst. She was rather pissed he wouldn't elaborate on his job a few weeks ago over Christmas. He hated lying to her more than anything; he owed her so much after their parents left them. To make matters worse, they could rarely talk, at least during training they at least talked once or twice a week for an hour or so, but since he took on missions…she would be lucky to have a call once every few weeks.

As for his Nemesis, Bryce had left Sarah for dead in order to save his own ass, even though he could have probably saved her, leaving her in the hands of Fulcrum. Graham hadn't told either Sarah of her rescuer or Larkin, he wanted to keep the fact that he was a part of the CIA a secret, even from them. Only his few instructors, Emily, and Graham had known that he was an agent by then. By the time they got there, Sarah was so out of it that she couldn't remember who saved her. She spent a few months recovering before returning to active duty according to Graham. That was also the same day that he met Emily, Alex Forest's sister. He rescued her too, but she had only just arrived and was relatively unharmed. She had been engaged at the time, to her husband. She had requested a desk job after that, not willing to gamble a life with her future husband. Chuck had also gained a good friend that day, she helped talk about spy related problems with him. They helped each other on occasion, since she couldn't talk to her husband about it. Chuck liked the perspective of someone out of the active duty side of the CIA; Graham had allowed it, as long as there was no talk of classified missions on his part. Chuck had access to her unredacted file through the Intersect, so she was able to talk about her past missions, as long as they had a device to counter surveillance, just in case someone was listening. So Chuck kept it vague and Emily understood and was fine with it, they made it work.

Her husband was given a cover story that she was kidnapped in a foreign country and Chuck was part of the effort to rescue her. He just assumed Chuck was some kind of negotiator or soldier and refused to take no for an answer when he asked just to be one of the groomsmen at their wedding. Her husband, Paul, wasn't an idiot and knew she did something on all her business trips, but he trusted her and didn't press the issue. He also liked Chuck, so he always tried to make a stop to catch up with Paul when he was in town.

"How do you think she will react once you tell her it was you?" Jill inquired.

"I haven't decided if there is a need to bring it up or not. I honestly don't care how she would react to it or not. I've moved on, we have too much on our plate for me to worry about her feelings. She obviously stopped giving a rat's ass about me, almost 3 years ago on the dot."

"You can't let her go undercover like this; she is obviously affected about it, regardless of how you or I feel about her. You need to get her mind on the mission or she could get her killed. I know you would never forgive yourself if that was the case."

Sarah drifted off to sleep after giving up on waiting for him to come out of the cockpit; it had already been over an hour since they left DC.

I had planned on including a mission or two this chapter centered on Sarah, but the Jill discussion kind of got away from me. So expect that either next chapter or the one after it. I'm going to try and get another chapter out for Lady Feelings either tomorrow or Monday. Please leave a review!