I present chapter 7! Yay! Thanks again to Wepdiggy and Jimmy for just being plain awesome and thanks for reading this fic as well. I also thank all of you who take time to review to give me your thoughts and encouragments. They really motivate me to write fast :) The song I listened to while writing this chapter is Bloodbank by Bon Iver (who are really good and just have great music). Anyways, hope you enjoy!

That secret that you know

But you don't know how to tell

It f—ks with your honor and it teases your head

but you know its good girl

cause its running you with red

…

Sarah felt like someone on trial, facing the jury about to find out if the ruling was guilty or not. Chuck stood in front of her, motionless with unreadable expression on his face.

"Chuck," Sarah started, letting her hand –which was still holding the smoking gun- slide down to her side. She had to get them out of this house; it was no longer safe for them. "I need to get you out of here." She tried to convey the severity of the situation with her eyes, as Chuck had always had a gift for reading them. Chuck suddenly shifted and pushed Jim off of Emily.

"Em, we need to go!" He exclaimed and pulled her off the ground. "Get some stuff together." He stopped and looked at Sarah. "Do we have time?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes," Chuck pushed Emily toward her door gently.

"Go and get some clothes," He called as he disappeared into the master bedroom.

Emily stood her ground, staring at the dead man on the floor. Blood was pooling around him and his eyes stared towards the ceiling. Sarah swallowed hard; she didn't know what to do. Her daughter had just seen her kill a man and now Sarah was just standing there dumbly, trying to figure out what to say. Thankfully, Chuck saved her.

"Emily!" Chuck emerged from the bedroom. Sarah was surprised at how forceful he sounded; how he communicated exactly what Emily was supposed to do and how quickly she was supposed to do it in one simple word.

Emily's eyes flicked to the gun Sarah was holding and for the first time in ten years her eyes met Sarah's. "You killed him." Emily's eyes told Sarah how shocked and horrified she was. Sarah had to get Emily moving; it could be minutes before Smith came back again and most likely with reinforcements .

"Chuck, Emily, we have to go." Sarah almost pleaded. Chuck put an arm around Emily.

"Emily, I know it's hard. Get your stuff; we'll talk about it later." Chuck disappeared back into the master bedroom and Emily into hers. Sarah walked to the door to the master bedroom and paused at the entrance.

"Need help?" She lamely asked. God, I am such an idiot. Chuck met her gaze, stuffing shirts and a few pairs of blue jeans into a medium sized duffel bag. Sarah could have sworn he almost laughed.

"No," He said. "What happened back there? Ten years I've been able to live normally and then suddenly I'm kicked and threaten with knives. Then suddenly you're here and..." he trailed off from his nervous babbling. Sarah had missed the way he would babble.

"I can't explain right now, Chuck, we just have to go." Sarah said softly, "I will answer questions when we get somewhere safe, okay?" She wanted to grab him right now, hug him tightly and tell him over and over again that she loved him and never wanted to leave him. But she had to get them safe.

"Okay," Chuck zipped the bag up and came up to the door attempting to exit. After sharing an awkward moment of side stepping in front of each other and trying to get out of the way, Chuck passed Sarah and he went into Emily's room.

"Ready?" He reached out his hand and Emily took it.

"Let's go," Sarah stated. "I have a car outside."

"Where are we going? What's going on?" Sarah heard Emily ask. "Dad!"

"Emily," Chuck began softly as they reached Sarah's car. "Settle down. I'll explain everything later."

Sarah quickly scanned the area, pistol in hand. After seeing nothing to lead her to believe there were any bogies in the area, she unlocked her car and slid in. Chuck and Emily followed. As Sarah pulled the gear shift into first accelerating to an almost uncomfortable speed, she pulled out her phone.

"Hardy, secure." She heard the familiar voice of Director Grayson Hardy fill her ear.

"Sir, a son of a bitch just showed up at my house." Where do I get off saying "my house"? It's not my house anymore. Sarah did her best to keep from shouting into the phone. He had promised they would be safe!

"Agent Walker? Which house?" Sarah wasn't fooled by the feigned ignorance.

"You know damn well which house I mean. You promised them full protection!" She paused, turning the car so sharply to the right it fishtailed; she thought she saw Chuck try to covertly cover his eyes. "None of this halfway crap! What happened to the agent assigned to them? Where was their damn protection?" Sarah paused, realizing she was starting to sound extremely insubordinate. "Sir."Sarah finished in a biting tone.

"Walker, I had no idea there was a breach. We pulled the agent because you were making your way home, why would he need to be there anymore?" Hardy explained. "Who was it and what did he want?"

"I don't kno – Chuck, who was that?" Sarah turned her eyes to Chuck, who seriously looked frightened at her driving.

"He said his name was S-smith," He braced himself against the dashboard as Sarah barely stopped in time to avoid rear-ending a mini-van with little soccer balls and the names "John" and "Carey" stickers on the back. Chuck shifted his body to face her. "He wanted you, Sarah. Why?"

Sarah ignored Chuck. "Chuck said it was someone named Smith and that he wanted...me." How did anyone outside my inner circle find out? That was top secret classified information.

"What?! How did-" Hardy started to roar.

"Request permission to use a safe house nearby, sir." Sarah cut in. She saw Emily mouth "safe house?" in the rear view mirror. Sarah was suddenly filled with sorrow. This wasn't supposed to happen to her family again. Emily deserved better than this; better than the life Chuck and Sarah had lived before their marriage. Emily wasn't supposed to ever have to go to a safe house, or deal with agents, or see her mother take a man's life. She shook her head ever so slightly, blinking back the moisture gathering in her eyes. Not now.

"Permission granted, Walker. Contact me when you get there. Hardy out." Sarah dropped the phone into her lap, swerving to the left to avoid a car that was honking loudly. She hadn't noticed the red light. She looked at Chuck sheepishly.

"Sorry," she muttered. "How can there be so much traffic at this time of night?" She decided to change the subject. "Are you both okay?" She asked, looking into her rear view mirror at Emily.

"Em?" Chuck shifted in his seat to face Emily.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Emily replied, crossing her arms. She looked very upset and Sarah thought she saw something glinting off of her cheek.

Sarah reached out with her right hand and pulled Chuck's chin so he would face her direction so she could assess the damage. His face had a small amount of blood running down the left side of his face. She was surprised when Chuck jerked away as if her fingers had burned him. "Sorry," she muttered again, awkwardly pulling her hand away and placing it back on the wheel.

"It's just a scratch," Chuck said. "Be careful." He cautioned when Sarah swerved again.

"Yeah, I'd like to actually see my seventeenth birthday," Sarah thought she heard Emily mutter.

Sarah stayed quiet and continued to weave in and of traffic towards the nearest safe house. She looked at Chuck.

"I will get you safe again, Chuck, I swear," She promised. She could tell by the look on his face he was biting back a reply.

"Just say it," Sarah said through clenched teeth. She wasn't mad at him, not one bit, she deserved whatever he was about to say. It was probably her fault this was all happening anyway. She'd just ruined their lives once again.

Chuck shook his head, looking out his window. Emily sat quietly in the back, still shocked probably. Her life had just radically changed. Sarah was surprised she wasn't weeping and completely freaking out right now.

"Dammit, Chuck, just say it." Sarah snapped. Great, now he's going to think I'm upset with him.

"If it wasn't for you we wouldn't need saving, Sarah!" Chuck finally expressed. Sarah knew that his mind was going back in the past. He was thinking if she had never left, they wouldn't be in this position right now. Sarah bit her lip, knowing she couldn't tell him why she left.

"You should call Ellie," Sarah stated, changing the subject. Chuck gave her an exasperated look, but pulled out his phone because - even though he knew she was just changing the subject - she was right.

"Will they be okay?" Chuck suddenly asked, his eyes getting wide. They had to protect Ellie, Devon, and their children!

Sarah picked up her own phone again and called Hardy once more. After a few words she hung up again. "He's sending three agents to their house and they'll stay there as long as we want."

Chuck nodded and Sarah waited as he dialed Ellie patiently, wondering what excuse he would use. She glanced at Emily again, who was staring at her through the rear view mirror. Sarah quickly returned her eyes to the road, unable to face those eyes of Emily's.

"Hey, El." Chuck greeted his sister. Sarah's heart sunk even further. Here she was, reintroducing lies into his life. "Don't come to the house; Emily and I are gone." He paused. "I'm with..." He looked up at her and his eyes told Sarah exactly what he was going to say next.

"Chuck, don-" Sarah started to speak.

"I'm with Sarah," Chuck conveyed. Sarah could suddenly hear Ellie's voice booming through the speaker and she flinched. What does Ellie think of me now? Probably the worst.

"Calm down. It's just a bit of reconnecting." He paused again, and Sarah could tell he was getting a lecture. "El, I want my daughter to know her mother." He looked at Sarah when he said that and Sarah understood he really meant it. That seemed to quiet Ellie. "I'll see you later, sis." Chuck hung up and he turned to face Emily, his deep brown eyes warm with concern.

"How are you?" He asked, placing a hand on her knee. Emily took his hand.

"I don't know, Dad. This is – I don't understand."

Chuck smiled at her. "You will, I'll tell you later." He turned his head to Sarah. "How long till we get there?"

"I'm not sure. Hour or two?" She guessed.

"Get some sleep, Em." Chuck told the dark haired girl knowingly.

"Okay," Emily closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest. Chuck turned back around to face forward..

"Sarah, what's going on?" He whispered. Sarah noticed their hands grazing each others on the console between them; she forced herself to resist the urge to grab it.

"I'm not sure, Chuck." She replied, matching the volume of his tone. "I don't know who that was."

"No, I meant..." He sighed. "I meant you, being back here, not just the crazy Matrix man."

"I was done, Chuck." Sarah inhaled sharply. "I was done." Her tone hinted at anguish and he caught her lip trembling.

"You were coming back?" Chuck asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, I was. But you should listen to your own advice and sleep. It's the middle of the night and you look absolutely exhausted." Sarah's voice told Chuck to go to sleep; Sarah's eyes pleaded with Chuck to go to sleep.

His face fell. "Okay," She could tell he wanted to know more, but he was going to accept her suggestion. He closed his eyes and within ten minutes Sarah could hear regular, deep breathing coming from him. She waited until she was sure he was in a deep sleep and then gently touched his left hand that dangled off of the edge of the console. When he didn't move, she allowed herself a thin smile. His hand was warm and soft to her callused one and she stroked his hand once more, wishing she could take it; but with the way he had reacted when she had touched him earlier, she was not going returned her hand back to the wheel begrudgingly.

Stop it! She thought to herself, smacking the wheel gently. She needed to concentrate on the road, had to make sure they stayed safe because this was all her fault.

Chuck sunk onto the small bed Sarah had said he could use. It was in a small room, in a small house, in a small yard surrounded by a larger than normal privacy fence with barbed wire on the inside angled so you couldn't see it until you were trying to hop over. He doubted barbed wire would stop a crazy agent, however. Emily had not stopped asking questions since she woke up; the shock had completely worn off and Chuck had repeatedly told her he'd tell her later.

Emily showed up at his door, her expression determined. "It's later," She spoke quietly and Chuck nodded.

"Okay," He patted the place beside him. "Where's -" he started to ask where Sarah was; he hadn't seen her since she'd given him his room.

"She's in the basement, getting some of the food they keep down there. None of the pantries are stocked. We have to do that ourselves." She finished, and Chuck nodded.

"Okay. What do you want to know?" Chuck smiled at her, preparing himself to be talking for a long time.

"Everything. Dad, I just saw a man killed by my mother. After a man came into our house and was getting ready to hurt both of us. He was looking for her. Why?" Emily's words came out quickly and Chuck had to strain to understand her.

"First, talk slower. Second, well, as you know now, your mom's a CIA agent..."

"When? Is that why she left? For a career?" Venom entered Emily's words and Chuck shook his head.

"She was an agent for the last ten years, Em. But before that...her and I both were." To Chuck surprise Emily threw her hands in the air.

"This would have been nice to know before the crazy guy came in and started waving a knife around demanding to know where mom was!"

"Em, you have every right to be mad but we did it for your protection," Chuck explained, hoping to calm her down. Normally, he'd be upset with her for yelling at him but in this case he would make an exception.

"Does Aunt Ellie know?" Emily fumed.

"No, she doesn't."

"You've been lying to us this whole time?" The shorter female blurted, suddenly confused and Chuck thought she was hurt. "Dad, I've always been honest with you. Didn't you think it'd be nice for me to know that my mom was CIA and you were too? That she chose her CIA career over us? That while me and you were hurting she was living some exciting life? Yeah, it would've been nice to know!" She turned and stormed out of the room. Chuck got up to follow her, but stopped when he reached the door, seeing Sarah standing at the end of the small hall that all their bedrooms were connected to. He saw hurt enter her eyes and she clenched her teeth. Then she turned around quickly and headed back into the basement and Chuck sighed, running a hand through his hair.

As much as he claimed it was for Emily's protection, he knew she was right. He'd lied to them; Ellie , and Emily. It would have been better for her to know. But he'd done what he'd done. He had followed the orders that Beckman had told him at their last briefing and what Sarah had backed up. Your family can never know. None of them. He'd just done as he was told. They worked too close to sensitive information for just anyone to know.

Sarah had told him they needed to brief Hardy on the events from earlier this morning, and so he started for the basement door behind which he'd seen Sarah disappear. "Are you ready, Sarah?" Chuck called out, pushing the door open. As he stepped down the small flight of stairs that lead into the basement, he saw Sarah, looking at something intently.

"Sarah," Chuck called again and she jerked around. Chuck saw she was holding a picture and he was certain she had been on the verge of tears. "Sarah, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded and put on a fake smile. "Um, let's get started on that briefing, then you can head to bed and actually sleep."

"What about you?"

"I won't be sleeping tonight, too much to do." She started to slide the picture into her pocket.

"What's that?" Chuck asked, glancing down at the photo.

Sarah put the picture in his hand and started for the stairs. "We'll do it in the living room, that's where the computer is located."

"Okay," Chuck said, looking down at the photo. "I was afraid I had left these at the house." He looked back up at her, after seeing it was the same photo of them when she was pregnant. Sarah paused and turned her head to face him.

"I grabbed them before we left. I told you, they're my favorites." With that she left the basement, leaving Chuck alone and staring at their smiling faces. Will I ever have that kind of happiness again? Probably not, it seems like I'll never get to live a quiet life. He slid the picture into his pocket. It was one of his favorites too.

"And that's it," Chuck concluded. He'd just finished telling this Director Hardy everything that had happened. "His name was Smith and he wanted Sarah." He paused, glancing at the blonde next to him, who was drinking a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. He wasn't sure where she had gotten it from though. I guess the CIA gives their agents Starbucks to stay awake. He looked back at the computer screen. Hardy seemed like a well built man, not overweight, just stocky with visible muscles showing on his neck. Chuck would have hated to make this man angry; he imagined it would not be pleasant for the offender.

"Mrs...Walker?" Hardy ended the sentence as a question.

"Bartowski," Chuck stated and Sarah looked him and seemed pleased; but, he couldn't be sure. "Um, misses?"

"Mrs. Bartowski is no longer an agent." Hardy explained. Oh, that's right. Sarah was done. Chuck nodded his understanding.

"Mrs. Bartowski, do you know anything about Hawkeye?" Hardy asked and Chuck looked at Sarah whose expression was suddenly blank. Then she suddenly grimaced, shaking her head back and forth.

She chuckled. "Brain freeze." She paused then started again. "Hawkeye is an inner CHAOS ring. CHAOS assigns their most talented and devoted members to this inner circle and gives them the most difficult missions. Smith is part of this circle."

"So, this Hawkeye group wants you...why?" Chuck asked.

Sarah hesitated and looked at Hardy, then back at Chuck. "Who knows, Chuck? Sometimes these things just happen. I've been on so many missions; there is no way to know how I might have ignited their interest."

Chuck suddenly felt like Sarah was hiding something. It wouldn't be the first time, but, he had definitely learned her methods of deflection when she didn't want to answer something...or wasn't allowed. So he acted like that satisfied him. He would ask her again later, maybe she just couldn't tell him in front of Hardy.

"Director Hardy," Chuck started. "Sorry, to interrupt but, on the condition of the safety of this house..."

"Worry not, Mr. Bartowski, you will be safe." Hardy finished.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean...I want this house to be safe, but not for myself. I want my daughter's safety guaranteed." He looked at Sarah and she nodded her support.

"Oh," Hardy seemed slightly surprised. He definitely doesn't have children. "I see. You wish to make her safety the highest concern of this branch?" Chuck noticed the way Sarah and Hardy were looking at each other, as if they were having a argument Chuck couldn't hear.

"Sir, Chuck makes perfect sense. I can take care of myself and Chuck has more experience than Emily, who has none." Her tone dropped lower and turned slightly demanding. "I want my daughter safe. And I want Chuck safe. I strongly suggest them as first priority, sir."

Hardy sighed. "Very well, even though I feel like your judgment is being clouded due to the sensitivity of the situation and your emotional involvement."

"Sir, my judgment would still be the same even if..." She trailed off and took a drink of her coffee.

"Even if Bartowski wasn't legally your husband and Emily wasn't yours and his daughter? You can see why I think you're more than slightly emotionally compromised." Hardy challenged, leaning forward in his seat.

"Yes, sir." Sarah's eyes flashed. "And if you think I am compromised send me someone to make sure my decisions are the most prudent, which they will be."

"Yes, perhaps that is best. Perhaps someone you two are already acquainted with?"

"That would be desirable. I want someone I trust, someone I know will protect my back. Someone I know is not a double agent and working for CHAOS." Sarah nodded.

"Very well, I'll contact you as soon as I know." The screen went dead.

"Sarah, what was that?" He motioned to her face his twirling his index finger in a circle.

"What?"

"The "brain freeze"." He made air quotes with his hands. He noticed the twitch in her face, the one that she made every time she was bluffing. "I seriously doubt a Frappuccino can give you brain freeze."

"Exactly what I said it was and obviously it can." She replied defensively.

"Sarah, I was around you twenty four seven for eight years, I think I know when you're lying and when you aren't." Chuck leaned against the desk, studying her face; she was definitely hiding something.

"Chuck, drop it." Sarah turned and went into the smallest room that she had given herself. Chuck sighed. They were back to where they started almost eighteen years ago.

And I know it well

That secret that we know

but we don't know how to tell

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