A/N: Hello again! It's been a looooong time, I know…

Originally, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but I wanted to update this story, so here it is. I'm not really comfortable writing Chuck and Sarah–sort of– together, so you'll have to bear with me. A huge thank you goes to Aerox, who, as usual, made this much better than it was.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Chuck. Duh.

Chapter Eleven

Chuck was lying in his bed, debating whether he should call Sarah or not. They hadn't seen each other since that impulsive–and yet amazing–kiss they had shared four days ago. Simply thinking about it made him grin like a fool. Devon and Ellie had gone back to Burbank and the CIA apparently had no use for the Intersect after the virus incident, so he had plenty of time to evaluate his next move. The only problem was, he wasn't sure about what he should do. If it would've been up to him, he would've asked Sarah out immediately, but he wanted to give her time to process things. After all, it wasn't like she had been extremely receptive until that night. So he had decided to back off a little and give her space. Even if that meant having to physically restrain himself from calling her or dropping by her apartment, which was exactly what he had been doing for the past few days. If he was honest with himself, he wanted nothing more to see her, talk to her, hear her laugh. He missed her terribly, and the most egotistical part of him hoped that she felt the same way about him.

He finally decided four days was long enough, and reached for his phone, which was lying on the bedside table. Before he could dial though, it rang. He sighed when he noticed it was Graham. Apparently, the bad guys' vacation was over.

"Carmichael," he said into the phone, trying to disguise his annoyance.

As always, his boss was all business. "Agent Carmichael, something urgent has come up. We'll be having a briefing in 30 minutes."

"Of course, sir. I'll be right there." When he heard the line go dead, he tossed his phone to the middle of the bed before running a hand through his hair in frustration. It seemed like every time something was about to happen that could potentially be something good for him, someone had to go and screw it all up. He sighed, got out of bed, and started to get ready for work.

After he had a quick breakfast, he put on his tie and his suit jacket and stepped into the hallway. Two seconds later, he watched as the door from Casey's apartment flew open and a sleepy-looking Major made his way to where he was standing.

"Morning, Casey," Chuck greeted in a cautious tone, knowing that if he didn't get his 'beauty sleep' as he jokingly called it, the Major got especially grumpy and… well, mean.

Casey surprised him by greeting him back. "Morning, Carmichael."

As they headed towards the elevator, Chuck commented, "Nice weather, huh?"

"Well, it is May," he heard Casey mumble. Seeing he clearly wasn't in the mood to talk–which, to be fair, shouldn't have surprised him at all–he kept quiet during the ride to the CIA headquarters.

All of a sudden, he realized that Sarah was probably going to be there too and his palms started to sweat and his mind went crazy. How should I greet her? What should I say? What if she thinks I didn't call her because I regret kissing her? She could've called too, so why didn't she? Why didn't I call her sooner? And why didn't I think of all of this before? Oh, God, I'm an idiot! Noticing he was close to hyperventilating, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. When his breathing finally evened out again, he noticed they were already there and Casey was urging him to get out of the car.

As they both made their way to the conference room, Chuck focused on calming down, telling himself that everything was going to be just fine. Surely Sarah wasn't mad at him and he had definitely not blown his chance with her. As soon as he entered the room she was going to smile at him and he was going to do what he should've done after kissing her. Overcome his stupid fears and ask her out on a proper date. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. Feeling a little better with his new resolution, he opened the door and got in. The first thing he noticed was the tension in the air. Frowning, his gaze shifted from Graham to Beckman, who were sporting similar somber expressions. Chuck quickly turned his sight to Sarah, who was seated stiffly in one of the swivel chairs placed around the table. He took a seat next to her, and she smiled weakly at him. He wondered if it was because of the horrible news they were obviously going to get or because how much of a jerk he had been in regard to their… thing... which wasn't quite a thing now that he thought about it. Well, it could be a thing, but they would need to label it first and to do that he would have to talk to her and oh God, he didn't call her. He didn't have much time to adequately freak out though, because General Beckman broke the uncomfortable silence clearing her throat. The three spies turned their heads to her.

"I'm afraid we have bad news, team," she said. No surprise there, Chuck thought. "For the past two months, the CIA and the NSA have been working hard on building a new Intersect." Chuck's mouth dropped in shock. Why hadn't anyone told him about that? He knew the circumstances in which he had been forced to the upload were far from ideal, but he had thought he was doing a good job. He trained hard, he was effective in the field and he and his team always got the job done. He felt Casey tense next to him and lean forward like he was going to say something, but he kept quiet. Sarah, on the other hand, didn't.

"What do you mean 'a new Intersect,' General? I thought you were satisfied with our team's performance?"

"We are, Agent Walker. But the Intersect was never meant to end up in Agent Carmichael's head in the first place."

"Actually, that's not true, General. Professor Fleming thought Chuck would have made an excellent candidate back in college, but Bryce Larkin made sure that wouldn't happen…" Chuck gave Sarah an astonished look. She was talking fast and she sounded agitated for some reason. Why was she defending him like that? Why was she talking back to a superior and why, for the love of God, was she interrupting them in the middle of a briefing?

He tried to stop her before she got herself reprimanded. "Sarah, really, it's…"

"No, Chuck! It's not ok!" Her outburst made him frown. He was sure he was missing something important; something that had made a perfectly obedient and expert-in-hiding-her-emotions CIA Agent yell in the middle of a briefing. But then again, it would take a special brand of moron to miss that.

"Sarah, what are you talking about…?"

"Enough!" At Graham's firm tone, Sarah looked down, a little flushed, and Chuck stared at her, worried about what she was thinking. "As General Beckman was saying before she was rudely interrupted..." He looked at Sarah and Chuck could see her clench her teeth. "...we've been trying to build a new Intersect with the schematics Agent Carmichael provided us. But that is not the problem here."

"What is it, sir?" Chuck asked, genuinely intrigued.

"FULCRUM has the advantage once again. Yesterday afternoon, one of the agents we had carefully selected to rebuild the Intersect disappeared, taking the cipher with him. As you can see, FULCRUM's men are everywhere, and they are closer than we thought. Now they have the cipher and we don't know what they are trying to do with it, but it can't be good. It's definitely not good for us, because until we get it back, we can't run the upload in our agents."

"Do we know where to start looking for it?" Casey asked, talking for the first time since they had gotten into the room.

"We believe the mole is going to deliver it tonight. We've spotted this man..." He pressed a button on the remote he held in his hand and a familiar face appeared in the screen behind him, "...in a hotel near our facility. We think the only reason he stuck around instead of running away after we captured Roberts is because he was supposed to be a part of the drop."

"So our old friend Leader is back," Chuck mumbled.

Graham continued as if he hadn't heard him. "For now, we have agents following his every move and surveillance at the hotel. We will know soon enough if he has anything to do with this whole thing. Your mission is to retrieve the cipher once we find out where it is."

The three spies nodded and silence filled the room. Not for long, since Sarah seemed eager to know something. "And what will happen to Chuck when the new Intersect is up and running?"

So this was it. She was worried about what they were going to do with him after they got real, trained CIA agents to upload the Intersect. He hadn't even thought about it himself, but it had been the first thing to come to her mind, if her earlier outburst proved anything. He wanted to kiss her right there, but he knew it was impossible, so he just settled with smiling at her. A smile that she didn't return, he noticed. Oh crap, she was pissed about him not calling. But damn it, how could he know? He only ever had Jill, and she was just a short walk over the quad away. No phones necessary. Hell, if anything, he was the rookie in this weird thing they had going on.

"What do you mean, Agent Walker?"

"Well, the General just said that the Intersect was never meant to end in Chuck's head. What are you going to do with him when you finally put it where it was always supposed to be? What happens with Chuck then?" Her tone was defiant and tinged with something else. It sounded like she was worried. But that was insanity. The Sarah he had come to know, and the stories that he had heard about her never spoke about her having a single fiber in her body that was capable of something as inane as worry.

Graham looked Sarah in the eyes for a few seconds and then shifted his gaze away. "Well, the normal procedure would be to get rid of the old Intersect if it proved to be a threat to National Security." Chuck gulped and he felt Sarah tense next to him. Anger seemed to be radiating from her body, and it felt like he was sitting next to a furnace. "But since Chuck has demonstrated he can be an asset for the Agency, and a very good agent in the field, it's up to him whether he wants to remove it or keep it and stay here working with us and with this team."

Chuck let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and gave Sarah a comforting look. He already knew what his answer would be when the time came. There was no way he would chose to come back to the life he had been living before. A life in which all the excitement he could get came from kicking Morgan's ass in Duck Hunt. A life were he was just a worthless loser. A life without Sarah. He calmly said, "I understand, sir, although you can imagine what my answer is going to be."

Beckman nodded. "It's settled, then. I want you to be ready to move as soon as we contact you with information about the cipher. But for now, you're dismissed."

Everybody hurried to left the room, but Chuck stood there and waited for Sarah near the door. Hopefully he could take her mind off of the fact that he didn't call. So when she looked up, he smiled at her. "Thank you." She seemed confused, so he felt the need to clarify, "For fighting for me in there," he said as they both got out of the room and walked through the long hallway that leaded to the front entrance of the building.

She smiled. "You don't have to thank me, you know you would've done the same for me."

He knew it was true. "Still. You didn't have to do that and I appreciate it." He squinted a little when they got outside and the morning sunlight hit him. He recognized Casey's silhouette sitting in a bench, looking as impatient as he always did. He smiled and nodded towards him. Sarah followed closely as he made his way to the bench. "Hey Casey. Enjoying the beautiful morning?"

The Major gave him one of his menacing looks and said, "No, Carmichael, I'm waiting for you. You don't have a car, remember?"

Well, that is new, Chuck thought, grinning a little. Even though he appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but tease him. "That is so sweet of you, John." He heard Sarah's muffled chuckle and his smile broadened. Casey just glared at him and mumbled something unintelligible. The truth was, while he would rather be swallowed whole by the ground for his faux-pas, he needed to talk to Sarah before he left and with Casey in the middle, that conversation would turn out to be a little more awkward than he had originally planned. So he thought of a good lie to tell him without sounding like he was trying to get rid of him. "But I have… to go shopping, so I'll walk." He failed. Badly.

"You're going shopping, Carmichael?" Casey asked with a hint of a smirk, obviously aware of his plan.

Chuck shifted his body weight to his right leg as he scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. "Yes. I mean, well, I have to go… to the grocery store! That's it. I need to buy… stuff, so I was planning to do that on my way home and I don't want you to be late… to your apartment."

Casey narrowed his eyes, but, surprisingly, let him off the hook. "Ok." He stood up and started to walk away. When he had made a few steps, though, he turned around, now visibly smirking, and said, "Have fun shopping, Carmichael."

Chuck swallowed, mentally kicking himself for his inability to think on his feet and the lame excuse he had given. He was sure Sarah thought he was an idiot. But when he turned to look at her, she was smiling broadly. His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't let out any words.

Sarah seemed to notice it, because she broke the silence. "So…"

"So…" Chuck croaked. "Look, I don't… I don't really have to go shopping, I was just trying to get rid of Casey so we'd be able to… talk," he finished awkwardly.

She bit her lower lip, trying to hide her smile. "Oh." She pretended to get serious. "And what did you want to talk about, Chuck?"

"I… I, uh… I wanted to apologize for not calling you after… you know," he blurted out. His palms were getting sweaty but he took a deep breath and said what he needed to say. "I just don't want to pressure you or anything but I don't want you to think I'm a jerk either, because I really like you and I've been meaning to call you, but I didn't know how you were going to react, and really I'm kinda new at this so if you think about it, I…"

Suddenly, Sarah's lips were on his and he couldn't think about anything but how ridiculously good it felt. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and he snaked his own around her back, pulling her closer. He just wanted to stay there forever, enjoying the feel of her body pressed to his, kissing her like there was no tomorrow, in… a public place. Whoops. He felt his cheeks tinge scarlet, and slowly started to pull away, breathing heavily, but keeping her in his embrace. Her eyes were still closed and she was smiling. "I was afraid you were having second thoughts," she said, after a few seconds, as she opened her eyes and hard blue met soft brown.

He chuckled happily. "Seconds thoughts? About you? I'd have to be crazy."

She looked at him warily, and he could see disbelief, vulnerability and hope in her eyes. He shook his head with a small grin and softly kissed her again, trying to show her that she could trust him, that she didn't have to be insecure about what was going on between them. "Hey, you wanna get out of here? Maybe go grab some coffee or something?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, her heart skipping a beat when he held her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. He guided them to a little coffee shop two blocks away, but all she could think about as they walked hand in hand was how normal she felt. Right now, she was just a girl going to have a coffee with a guy. A sweet, nerdy, wonderful guy. The truth was, she had been freaking out for the past four days. She wanted to talk to him, badly, but she didn't want him to feel like he owed her anything. After all, it had been just one kiss. Granted, it had been amazing—although too short in her opinion—but maybe he hadn't felt anything. Which would've been really unfortunate, because it had kept her awake for most of that night. She had stopped herself from calling him a number of times. She had even tried to convince herself it hadn't been that great, and that she didn't care if he didn't do anything. But as good of a conman as she was, she couldn't con herself, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't remember being so attracted to anyone else before and every time she thought about him, she felt that weird thing in her stomach again. It was amazing. And downright terrifying.

As Chuck opened the door for her and led them to a secluded table in the corner of the shop, she reveled on the fact that for some crazy reason he had chosen her. He knew her, knew where she came from, and still wanted to be with her. As far as she was concerned, that was nothing short of a miracle.

A waitress came and took their orders, interrupting Chuck, who was telling her how he had stumbled into the place the second day he had been in DC. After the waitress left, she turned around only to find Chuck staring at her with a bright smile on his face. She returned the gesture almost involuntarily. He had such a gorgeous smile, it was contagious, and she was glad that was the case. She had never smiled as much in her life as she did when she was with him. And it was there, sitting in a small coffee shop in DC, reunited with her old friend slash new boyfriend, that Sarah Walker could say for the first time in her life, that she was happy.

Chuck was ecstatic. His casual second breakfast with Sarah had been even better than he thought it was going to be. She had appeared to be so happy that he had actually started wondering if she wasn't feigning her enthusiasm for his sake, but all his doubts where soon discarded when she leaned over the table and kissed him right on the lips, after he said something stupid about how her reputation was going to be ruined when Casey found out what they were doing.

They had both agreed to take things slow, and he was still kind of stunned by the fact that she actually wanted to be with him. Guys like him weren't supposed to get girls like Sarah. But she kept defying the natural order of the universe every time she held his hand or smiled adorably at him. She had to be crazy. And, to be honest, he was sort of hoping she remained in the state of insanity that had led her to him in the first place.

He had just opened his apartment's door, feeling pretty good about himself—actually, he felt pretty good about everything, everywhere right about now—when someone grabbed him and pulled him inside. He was caught by surprise and he couldn't flash fast enough. He wasn't even able to see the stranger's face. His legs buckled and everything rescinded into darkness.

Chuck woke up with a horrible headache. As he tried to focus his blurry vision, he realized he was still in his apartment, but he was now strapped to one of the chairs in the dining room. Everything was dark except for a small lamp that belonged in the living room, but had been settled a few feet away from him. The bright light drove a nice big spike into his cranium, so he instinctively closed his eyes, desperately trying to figure out a way to get out of there.

He heard some rustling near him, but didn't dare to look at his captor. Instead, he kept his eyes firmly shut and waited. They were probably going to torture him, he was sure of that. After all, it had been drilled into him from day one that this was what happened to CIA personnel that got captured. He could accept that, although reluctantly, because he had known from the start it was one of the risks that came with the job, but he couldn't believe how easily they had found him. And if they had found out about him, they most likely knew about Casey and Sarah too. He gritted his teeth and his breathing grew shallow when he imagined what these rogue agents were capable of doing to his partners. Or maybe they had already gotten to them. He clenched his fists, trying to calm the boiling rage he was feeling. If he ever found out that they had touched even one hair on Sarah's head, he'd make sure they would pay. Each and every one of them. Although, given his current position, the odds on him coming out alive weren't quite in his favor.

"There's no need to get so angry, Agent Carmichael," said a voice that came from the other end of the table.

Chuck slowly opened his eyes, fighting back the pain. "I wouldn't be so angry if you hadn't broken into my apartment, tranqued me and then strapped me to my own chair," he sniped back.

"I know it was all a bit… excessive, but you are a CIA agent and I didn't want to take any risks. I needed to make sure you'd listen to me before you tried to knock me out with some complicated Kung Fu move that fancy Intersect of yours teaches you."

Oh, crap. So this guy knew about the Intersect. How had FULCRUM managed to get that Intel? Graham had told him the Intersect project was top secret, and even if the CIA was planning to upload it in other agents, no one was supposed to know he already had it in his brain, except for his bosses, his partners and the few people who had intervened in the follow up of those weeks after the accidental upload. But he couldn't for the life of him imagine Dr. Jones selling that information to a rogue organization. Either they had found out by their own means or he was a horrible judge of character. And he prided himself on being a really good one. He lightly shook his head to get his thoughts in order. Right now, top priority was finding a way to get out of his restraints and do whatever he could to apprehend the guy who had tied him up so securely that he couldn't even twist his wrists.

"I imagine this is going to be a shocker to you, but I'm actually here to help you," said the voice, and this time, it sounded like it was coming from a place closer to his chair.

Chuck tried to find a shadow, something that might give him a clue as to who this guy was, but he couldn't see anything. His head was still throbbing and he was starting to get really annoyed by this man and his cryptic ways. "Oh, yeah? Is this your way of helping me? I don't even want to think what you'd do if you were to torture me," he answered sarcastically.

"I am not here to hurt you, Charles." He spotted a figure standing behind the lamp, but the light was too bright and he couldn't see his face.

Chuck swallowed. "I'm having a tough time believing that FULCRUM sent you to help me and not to hurt me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm sure you can understand how these straps can be confusing."

To his surprise, he heard an amused chuckle. "I'm not with FULCRUM, Charles. And I am going to help you, if you let me. But first, if you want me to untie you, you have to promise you're going to listen to me."

Chuck thought about it. The way he saw it, there were two options: this guy was crazy and had no idea what he was doing, or he was just too good and didn't need him tied up to a chair to kill him. Considering his current position didn't exactly give him the chance to defend himself, he decided it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to be able to move his limbs if the stranger was lying, which was very likely. If he was going to die, he was going to make sure to put up a fight. "Ok. I promise," he heard himself saying.

"No tricks, Charles. You gave me your word."

The man took a step towards him and Chuck gazed in his direction. The damn light was still in the way so all he could see was just a tall figure standing a few feet away from him. He closed his eyes again, cursing the tranq dart. What do they put in those things? "I won't try anything," he said out loud. He heard the stranger take a few more steps towards him until he knew he was finally standing right in front of him.

"Good," said the voice again, and this time, Chuck thought it sounded vaguely familiar. Letting out a breath, that could've very well been one of his last ones, he slowly opened his eyes.

Recognition immediately smacked Chuck in the face. He knew who this man was. How could he forget? The rage that he had felt when he thought of Sarah being harmed returned with a vengeance, and instead of shirking away, he looked his captor straight in the eye.

"Long time no see, dad."

A/N: I would really love to know what you guys thought about this chapter. I'm already writing the next one, so it shouldn't take me too long to post it.

P.S. this site hates me, so it'll probably change everything after I click "Add chapter." I'm sorry about that.