A/N: first of all, thank you all for your reviews, the alerts and the favorites, and for just giving this story a chance. It really means a lot.

Here's the second chapter, now focusing on our favorite female spy. I know most of you are going to hate me after this, but trust me, this is all necessary for what it's coming. This is a Chuck & Sarah story, and I couldn't write it any other way, so if you can get through this chapter, you'll be happy about how things turn out later on.

Obviously, I own nothing.

Chapter Two

Jenny Burton died on Christmas morning of 1996. That day, she was awoken by her father urging her to gather her stuff. They left in a hurry and they never looked back. She had managed to convince her dad to take her to her friend's house though, where she left a small envelope with a picture inside. The only picture she had with him.

She was used to leave rooms, cities and even slight feelings of comfort and belonging behind, but she had never had to walk away from a friend before. She discovered it was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. With tears in her eyes, she'd tried to convey what their friendship had meant to her, but words seemed so shallow.

He had taught her that people could be good. That people could be nice. That people could actually care about her without asking too many questions. But, more importantly, he had taught her she could care about people too.

Ever since she had first seen his huge smile and his warm eyes, she'd wanted to tell him all about her and know all about him. But she knew it was too dangerous. Mostly for her. She couldn't risk being rejected by the only person who seemed to genuinely care about her. She couldn't let him know where she came from, what she was. The daughter of a conman, who often helped her father with his jobs. A felon. A broken soul.

He was too good for her and she'd known that from the beginning. But how could she refuse herself the luxury of a friendship? How could she deny herself the pleasure of seeing that smile for as long as she could?

So when the car crossed the California border, a piece of her died. Jenny Burton ceased to exist. It wasn't just a name or an alias anymore, it was a portion of her being, what she had been when she was with him.

There was going to be another name, another town, another con. But she knew she was never going to be the same. Because the best of her had stayed in Burbank, in the memory of a curly haired boy.

As she looked through the car window in the passenger's seat, trying to deal with the terrible pain that was threating to rip her heart, she vowed to never let her guard down again. There was too much to lose and she knew she wouldn't be able to take it.

February 2004 – Washington DC

Sarah Walker got into her apartment and collapsed on the bed. After a twelve-hour flight she only wanted to take a nice bubble bath, get in her pajamas and sleep for three days. She had expected her partner and –something like a – boyfriend to be at the airport waiting for her, but he didn't show up. He must've had a mission, she thought. The truth was, even if they had been sleeping together for almost a year now, they didn't have much in common, except for the need to release the adrenaline of a mission with each other. For her, it was the perfect relationship: no emotional attachments –she was lousy at relationships in general –, separate apartments and good sex. Besides, she had to admit they made a hell of a good team in the field.

But even when they didn't talk much about personal stuff, she could tell something was going on with Bryce lately. He wasn't his usual carefree self anymore and he always seemed worried. Plus, the month before he had disappeared for three days and then came back claiming that he needed a vacation so Graham had given him those days off.

And the past week, when she was required as a backup in New Zealand, he'd had to stay in DC, while she was busy babysitting DEA Agent and her former partner Carina Miller, who had requested her specifically. So, after Carina took down the international drug dealer –almost causing World War III in the process – she said her goodbyes and came back to the US hoping to have a talk with him about what was going on.

She called him from the airport, but he didn't pick up. So she headed to her apartment and was now lying in bed, eyes closed and about to fall into an exhaustion induced coma. The only thing that prevented her from doing so, was her phone when it started to ring. Dragging herself out of bed and towards the kitchen table, she picked it up.

"Walker"

"Agent Walker, I'm calling to congratulate you for the successful mission in New Zealand" she'd never quite understood why her boss seemed to be so fond of her, but the truth was he had saved her, and she kind of liked him in a father figure sort of way.

"Thank you, Sir. But if anyone deserves the credit is Agent Miller"

She heard her boss laughing in the other end of the line and she had to smile. After all, Graham knew Carina and her ways, since he had been the one to introduce them. "I'm sure she was invaluable for this mission, but if there's a reason this whole thing didn't end in an international incident, that's you, Walker".

"Thank you, Sir"

"Now I want you to rest and be back on Monday, not one day before, you got it?"

"Uh, yes, Sir". Sarah wondered what she was supposed to do with all those free days and finally decided she didn't care. She didn't get a vacation too often and she would find a way to make the best out of it.

"Oh, and I have news about Agent Larkin too. He's on a mission in Valencia and he will be returning next week".

"Oh, ok, thank you for letting me know, Sir".

"I'll see you on Monday, Agent Walker" and with that, he ended the call.

She glanced at her watch which showed it was already 8 pm. She decided she was too tired to take a bath, so instead she took a quick shower and went straight to bed. She fell asleep instantly.

A knock on the door woke her up the next morning. At first, she thought she was dreaming, but when the knocks became louder, she realized there was someone at her door.

"I'm coming" she groggily said. It was 10 am. She opened the door and found herself facing no other than…

"Bryce!"

"Hey, honey" he said with a grin, leaning to kiss her.

"What… what are you doing here? Graham said you were in Valencia. You weren't supposed to be here until next week…" Sarah was too sleepy for her own good. Her mind wasn't as fast as it was when she'd had a cup of coffee.

"Oh, that. Yes, I've already reported to Graham. Turns out the intel we were looking for wasn't in Valencia, but I have a lead that points to Rio".

"Rio? As in Brazil?"

"Yeah. Look, I came here because I need the box. My flight leaves in two hours".

She looked at him for the first time since he'd gotten into the apartment. Even when he was sporting his trademark smile –more like a smirk, she thought –, he had bags under his eyes and he didn't look so good.

"Bryce, are you ok? What's going on?" she asked with concern.

He frowned "What do you mean 'what's going on?' I just told you, I need the box, that's it. Seriously, honey, you have nothing to worry about" he winked at her.

"Uh… ok, you know it's on the closet… go ahead" Sarah said, not sounding very convinced at all.

Bryce went to look for what he needed and Sarah made some coffee. She was still having trouble to remain awake, even if she had slept more than twelve hours. She was having her first cup when he came back to the kitchen.

"So, how did the mission go?" he asked, pouring himself a cup.

"Uh, you know. Just like every mission with Carina. Crazy, dangerous, exciting" she said with a smile.

He chuckled "She always knows how to make things interesting, that's for sure"

"Yes, that she does" she looked at him intently. She was pretty sure something was wrong with him. "Look, Bryce, I'm your partner… you would tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"Of course, Sarah. You're the only person in the spy business I trust, and you know that" she could see in her eyes he was telling the truth. But still, she couldn't help that feeling of uneasiness that had assaulted her since he had shown up. She also noticed he had said "the only person in the spy business" which made her wonder if he had any friends outside the CIA. Either way, it wasn't the right moment to ask.

"Ok, so I have to go now" he said, washing his mug and grabbing the small box. "I'll see you soon" he added, walking towards the door. When he was at the doorknob, he turned around and with a serious look told her "Take care, Sarah" before closing the door behind him.

Well that was weird, she thought. Bryce had always been reserved, hell, every spy she had ever met was, but he had never looked so… somber.

Anyway, there was nothing she could do about it now. Once she was wide awake she remembered she had nothing to do until Monday. What am I supposed to do with myself for four days? She wasn't used to have so much time in her hands, so she decided to start with a shower.

Once she was clean and dressed, she sat on the couch to think about her options. She could always go to the shooting range, but she wasn't really feeling like it. She could go to a bar that night, but nor Carina nor Bryce were there to go with her. Those thoughts depressed her. She had no one. She hadn't spoken with her father since he'd been arrested while she was in her senior year of highschool. She knew he'd gotten out a few months ago, but didn't know where he was. And, to be honest, she was still quite angry at him.

Sarah Walker was a loner, she trusted no one and didn't do the emotional attachment thing. But it was times like this that made her wonder if it was worth it. What she'd give to have someone to lean on, just to talk to. Her mind drifted to those few months in Burbank, where she had spent the best days of her life in company of one sweet, innocent boy. She wondered about him sometimes. He must've gotten out of college by now and he would be working at some complicated computer thing. She smiled a little as she thought about how good he was with them. Countless times she'd had to stop herself from typing his name in the CIA database. She was done with her past and he certainly didn't deserve the intrusion in his life. He could've forgotten her, for all that she knew. But she knew she would never forget him. Even after all this years, the memories of the times they had spent together came to the rescue when she felt alone and depressed, like right now. She could only hope to find that connection with someone again. Wiping a tear from her cheek, and suddenly feeling nostalgic, she went to the closet, opened a shoe box and took the book out. It was still wrapped in what was left of the wrapping paper he had used, but she hadn't had the heart to throw it away. She opened it and smiled as she sat back on the couch and started to read.

Sarah was surprised at how well she'd adapted to have nothing to do, so when the alarm clock went off on Monday morning, she almost turned it off and kept sleeping. But her cell phone prevented her from doing so as it started to ring. "Walker" she said groggily. "Agent Walker, I'm calling you from the Director's office" said a woman's voice in her ear "He had to left DC urgently, but he said you should report to Agent Johnson and he will give you your next assignment" "Uh… ok, thank you, I'll be there in an hour". The line went dead and she went to take a shower. As she got dressed, she thought about how strange was that Graham himself had left DC. Something big must've happened. Of course, Graham had been a legend in the agency back in the day, but once he was named Director, he never went on the field again. And, in all the years she'd been working for him, he had never left DC. Whatever it is, it's none of my business, she thought while she was in the elevator. She greeted the doorman of her building and got into her black Porsche. Fifteen minutes later, she was outside of Johnson's office waiting for her new assignment. Suddenly, she could hear screaming coming from the inside of the office, and a few minutes later, three terrified looking analysts came out and rushed through the door.

Sporting a serious look, Johnson stayed in the threshold and said "Agent Walker, please, come on in".

She did as he said and came into the office. She sat down at his sign and waited for him to start talking.

"Agent Walker, I'm sorry about before, we're just trying to improve our security after a breach we had yesterday" I wonder if it has something to do with Graham's impromptu trip, Sarah thought.

"I talked with Director Graham and he said you're the best for this new mission. We think there's a rogue group inside the CIA and we want you to help us find out who they are and what they want" said Johnson, changing the subject. He had her full attention now. "For some time, some of our intel has been disappearing and now we had a security breach in our database. We believe this rogue organization wants to take down the entire CIA and they'll try to do it from the inside. We don't know who we can trust, so you can't tell anyone about this mission, and there's not going to be any records about it, just in case they can access our files. We can't risk to tip them off. So, Agent Walker, you think you can do that?"

Sarah frowned. After her dad was arrested by Graham himself, the CIA had been the closest thing to a home she'd had. Her job was everything to her, and knowing that someone was actually working to destroy it was unbearable. She looked up to Johnson and asked "What do you need me to do?"

March 2004 – Washington DC

Sarah walked through the long hallway that led to Graham's office. When she got there, he was waiting for her. He wasted no time in formalities as he asked her "So, how did it go?". Sarah looked at him in the eye "It's been taken care of".

"How many?"

"I don't really know. But I counted twelve when I got into the base to plant the bomb".

"That's good, that's good. Great job, Agent Walker, your country thanks you". Sarah nodded and turned to leave, but she stopped when she heard him say "I'll be sending you the details of your new mission tomorrow". She just nodded again and left.

She knew she was not going to sleep at all that night.

A/N: and that was chapter two. Please, leave a review, even if it is to tell me how much you hate me for including Bryce on it. I'll try to update soon. Until next time.

Coming next:

As the analysts took his computer and headed out of his bedroom, he couldn't help but think about his bad luck. Once he'd finally decided to let go of his past… this happened. He let out a bitter chuckle. A thought assaulted him and he turned to face the man, who was looking at him intently "Do you… is my sister home?"