A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind words and your continued support of this story. Hopefully you will have some fun with this chapter as that was my intent.

Thanks again to my Beta who still takes the time to help me with this story.

As always I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 25 – Marking Your Territory

Chuck and Sarah made it back to Chuck's apartment close to midnight. As they approached the fountain, Chuck stopped them. "One sec Sarah. I need to check with Casey about the reports he wants me to look over tomorrow."

Sarah just nodded her head as they walked arm in arm towards Casey's door. All the lights were off which was odd.

Chuck knocked on the door as he patiently waited for the big guy to answer. No response so he knocked a little harder this time. Chuck looked at Sarah like this was odd. Still nothing.

"Let me try calling him." Chuck reached in his pocket and made the call to Casey.

Before Chuck could say anything, "Chuck, you need to get to Ellie's now!" Chuck froze at the urgency in Casey's voice as the phone disconnected. He quickly looked to Ellie's apartment and could see the living room light was still on.

Sarah saw the concern in Chuck's face. "Chuck what is it?"

Chuck was already pulling her towards the apartment. "Something's wrong. Casey said get to Ellie's pronto." They both quickened their step as they reached the Apartment, grabbed the door handle, and quickly rushed in. What they saw was shocking.

Ellie Bartowski stood with her arms folded in front of a group of men sitting at the dinner table, each one with a sheepish look on their faces. Now normally this would not be surprising considering Ellie could command quite the audience, but considering the men consisted of Devon, Casey, and surprisingly his Dad… Yeah Chuck was a little taken back.

Ellie turned on her brother with anger in her eyes. "Charles Irving Bartowski, you sit your butt down here with the rest of these miscreants."

Chuck could only whimper a 'yes ma'am' as he cautiously walked over to the table and sat down. He learned long ago never to push Ellie when she was in this kind of mood.

Ellie looked to Sarah. "Sarah sweetie, you come stand with me. About time we put the men in our life in their places."

Sarah did not know the various moods of one Ellie Bartowski, but she obeyed anyway. The mood in the room was very similar to the feeling of trying to defuse a nuclear bomb seconds before it went off.

Chuck was seated next to his father who he was very surprised to see here at the apartment complex. Yeah he had been working remotely with his dad on improving the Intersect and also on his search program but his dad had been very clear about being careful about making any appearances.

Chuck then looked to Casey and for the first time ever, Chuck could swear he saw an ounce of fear in his eyes.

"Okay family." Ellie said the last part sarcastically. "It seems like the men in our family, and yes John, that means you, deem it necessary to lie to us women or treat us like we're secondary citizens."

Casey was about to object.

"Not now John. It's time to be quiet and listen."

Casey silently put his hand down and shrunk back into his chair.

"So we're just all going to have a nice little chit chat and I swear to God if anyone lies to me again, I won't be responsible for my actions!"

Chuck swallowed hard. Getting Ellie Woodcomb any madder was not a good thing in anyone's book.

"So it seems we're all just one big happy spy family aren't we? And you just couldn't keep it applicable to just us Bartowski's, you decided Devon needed to be brought into all the fun."

"For the record Ellie, I was against that." Replied Sarah placing a calming hand on Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie turned to her and gave her a hug. "I know sweetie. It's these so called men that I am pissed at."

Chuck and Casey just looked at each other like they couldn't believe Sarah just threw them both under the bus like that. It was their reluctance to have Devon come aboard, not Sarah's.

"So what do we do now?" Ellie looked to Casey with her hands on her hips and then her dad.

"Well, I will tell you what we're going to do." Ellie was more determined now than ever as she stood with arms securely folded on her chest.

Surprisingly Sarah was doing the exact same thing, giving everyone a dirty look like it was their fault and not hers.

"No longer will Devon be used as a 'field agent'. We both however will be brought aboard as medical liaisons. Also, I will be working closely with my father on any and all efforts concerning why my brother is such a important asset for the government. Next, no more secrets, no more lies. We're a family damn it and we need each other. Don't you dare tell me individually we are better than we are as a whole, so from this point on, we all are a team. We all support each other and trust each other to do what we can to make this world a better place. And to keep us all safe."

Sarah was just shaking her head in agreement, riding the Ellie bandwagon. Chuck was about having a fit, well okay deep down he was actually pretty happy. But he was supposed to be his sister's favorite, not Sarah.

"Also, at some point in time, we need to bring Morgan Grimes in on our little team." She shot Casey a look as he was about to object. "He is just as much a part of this family as any of us. Now any objections."

Chuck looked to his "team" and no one was speaking up. "Well, Ellie, we kind of don't have a say in these things. We all have to answer to a higher power so to speak."

Ellie just gave him a look like so what. She turned to the monitor in the living room and hit the remote.

General Beckman was sitting there looking out over the family.

Chuck just about fainted.

"Hello Diane." Ellie just smirked at Casey and Chuck.

"Hello Dr. Woodcomb. I see you have talked to your team." Beckman was trying her best to suppress a smile. Of course it didn't start out that way when she first accidentally spoke to Ellie when the monitor in Chuck's house was activated. After a nice long conversation the General had to agree that it made sense to bring someone with the skills of Ellie Bartowski aboard. It was dangerous, but who better to protect the Woodcombs then the Human Intersect, Orion, the one who developed the Intersect; the NSA's top assassin; and the CIA's best spy. Doesn't get much safer than that. Besides, she would definitely be a help in perfecting the Intersect for future hosts. Beckman also knew with the addition of Agent Walken, medical help might be needed on a regular basis for Team Bartowski.

"Yes Diane, I have. It seems there may be some questions. Would you like to explain what we talked about?" Ellie just looked at the men at the table and shook her head.

The General went on to instruct the Team about the, well the new team parameters. There were a few objections but the General quickly shot them down.

It was minutes later the General disconnected and everyone was speechless around the table.

"So now that that is all cleared up; I hope everyone has a wonderful night." Ellie turned to Sarah. "You want to go out for some drinks. I think we could use them."

Sarah agreed as she gave a mock disgusted look at the men around the table. Within seconds both women were gone.

The men sat still for what seemed like hours before Devon finally spoke up. "Let me be the first to say… That was so not awesome."

Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

{* * *}

{Next Morning}

Chuck was grudgingly making his way down to Castle to go over some reports about this Special Agent Shaw guy. He was not a happy camper after the Ellie incident and the fact Sarah didn't come home till early morning… and a bit inebriated at that. He thought that was very unprofressional for both his sister and fiance to act the way they did. Anyway, he decided to leave early and didn't so much as say good bye to Sarah. Not like she would remember it anyway.

Okay, he knew he was acting childish but it was unfair. He was always Ellie's favorite and she wouldn't even listen to a word he said. Then Beckman of all people even sided with her. At what point did all the women in his life get so controlling? Maybe the guys needed a night out? See how they like that.

Chuck was oozing confidence that he would show them. The men around here needed to be respected and they would show the women just how it was. Chuck nearly jumped when he felt his phone ring. He pulled out the phone and looked to see who it was. Of course, it was Sarah. Well he would show her as he hit the answer button. "Yes? What do you want?" There that wasn't so hard.

After a few seconds of no reply, Chuck looked at his phone to see that the call was disconnected. Suddenly a chill started forming in his gut as the bravado he was feeling moments earlier was suddenly edging away. Then his phone rang again. Chuck took a deep swallow as he placed it to his ear. "Good morning honey?" This was said more as a plea then an actual greeting.

{* * *}

Chuck was once again heading back down to castle, after being dropped off by Sarah this time, to go over the reports. There were a few very important facts he learned that morning as he cautiously headed down the stairs from the Orange Orange. The most important fact is he was never to leave Sarah again without giving her a good bye kiss and hug… ever. Secondly, if he ever answered the phone again the way he did the first time… Chuck stopped in his tracks thinking of what the consequences were. Just don't ever answer the phone that way again. The last very important fact he learned was that a hung over Sarah required a great deal of morning cuddling and kissing. No sex, just lots of cuddling and kissing. Okay, he could handle that as if he really even had a choice.

. . .

Chuck looked at his watch, he had been going over the information on Shaw and what he had on the Ring for over six hours straight. He knew Sarah would be coming down shortly. He couldn't help but smile, forgetting all about the morning debacle. She had called him earlier to say she and Ellie would be looking at wedding dresses all morning. This actually made him even more anxious to see her realizing how excited she sounded on the phone.

It just felt like forever that he had been stuck down here by himself. His neck was killing, his butt hurt from sitting to long, and he really wanted to go for a run with Sarah. Hopefully the new specialist would be by shortly and they could get the pleasantries out of the way.

He was attentively reading a file on Shaw that was detailing his former wife Evelyn, and the events surrounding her death. Wow, could he feel any worse? He heard the door to Castle open and just got a quick glimpse of blonde hair as Sarah came down the stairs. He never looked up as he was engrossed in the specs. It was moments later he felt the warm hands on his neck as Sarah began massaging his neck.

"Oh babe you have no idea how good that feels. I've been stuck down here all freaking day." Chuck closed his eyes and let Sarah's hands massage his neck. She must have been taking it easy on him because usually she applied more pressure when she massaged him. Either way though, it still felt good to have his neck and shoulders massaged.

He then heard the Castle door open once again. Must be Casey he thought as he opened his eyes. "Hey Sarah! Thought you would… WHAT THE HELL?" Chuck saw Sarah standing at the middle of the stairs, pure anger in her eyes. "WHO THE HELL?" Chuck jumped out of his chair, leapt away from the table, and quickly turned to who was touching him. What he saw caused him to do a double take.

"Who are you? Why would you do that to me?" Chuck was freaking out as he stared at what could only be described as bad attempt at Sarah's doppelganger.

"Well you looked like you needed some tension released, and since we are teammates now, I figured I would help you in what ever release you needed."

Chuck was shaking his head. Did she really just bat her eyes? "Look, I'm sure you were just trying to be nice, but please don't ever do that again." Chuck quickly looked to Sarah who was already reaching for one of her knives as she headed down the stairs. Oh crap, Chuck thought. If they keep damaging all the Ring specialists, there will be no one left.

He quickly met Sarah at the bottom of the stairs as he was sure she was about to throw one of her knives. He prayed that she would not use it on him. "Sarah sweetie, you have to calm down."

Sarah gave him a look that almost made him wet his pants. "Sarah please." He quickly brought up the only defense in a situation where Sarah Walker was in Def Con 4. He gave her the Bartowski smile, although very forced, and then he kissed her. It was not just any kiss but a kiss to remind her how much he loved only her. To remind her that they would soon be husband and wife.

Sarah was not about to be disarmed by the Bartowski charm. Not after going through the emotions she had just went through not to mention her horrible morning awaking without her Chuck. At first, seeing the situation she thought the worst, but then as her spy skills kicked in, she knew this blonde bimbo was up to something. Especially after Chuck's reaction when he realized it was not his Sarah touching him. She had to admit, even in her kill mode that was so damn cute how Chuck literally leaped from the table at the surprise. Either way, the bitch was going to pay for touching her property. Of course all that changed when the nerd had to go off and kiss her like he was currently doing.

Chuck could feel the tension leaving Sarah as he held her close, kissing her with all the love he could muster.

He heard the Sarah clone cough. Oh dear God please don't say anything. I have just calmed the beast; please just keep your mouth shut. Chuck broke the kiss as he wanted to get a good look into Sarah's eyes. He held her close as he made sure she could see his love for her and only her.

Sarah knew right away that she had to get control of herself. Sure there was something about the blonde bitch that Sarah wanted to cut her into pieces; but she also knew the importance of bringing down the Ring. Besides, she knew Chuck would never betray her. She still didn't like the unprofessionalism of this new agent however. The agent side of her kind of understood the need to fit in, but obviously either this bimbo didn't know about her relationship with Chuck, or the bitch knew about it and would soon be dead. But she'd give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.

Sarah quickly smiled at Chuck as if nothing had happened. She made sure to bring up her left hand for full view of the engagement ring resting there as she placed it tenderly on Chuck's face. "We need to go over some Wedding details later. Now sweetheart, I see you met the new Ring Specialist."

Chuck was sort of in shock at the quick turnaround in Sarah. Man she is good, Chuck thought. "Well actually I have not met her officially yet. I was hoping we could do that together."

Sarah just smiled and patted Chuck on the cheek. "Sure sweetheart, let's go meet our new guest." Sarah grabbed Chuck's arm and pulled him over to her look alike. She politely stuck out her hand, of course the one with the wedding ring on it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah soon to be Bartwoski, and this is my fiance, Chuck Bartowski."

Chuck went to shake her hand but Sarah squeezed his arm so tight, he quickly retracted his outstretched hand.

"My name is Sheryl Walken…"

Chuck started coughing uncontrollably as the name practically made him lose it right then and there. He quickly gained control as the pressure Sarah was applying to his arm was getting worse and worse. "Sarah, I do need that arm you know." Chuck whispered as he turned away from Sheryl.

Sarah stuck out her chest just a little bit more as she stood in front of the Ring Expert, moving her long flowing blond hair to the side. "Nice to meet you Sheryl. Hopefully your trip was pleasant."

Okay now she is just being spiteful. Chuck could only stare at the Academy Award winning acting that Sarah was putting on now.

"It has been so far, yes." Sheryl just smiled as she looked at Chuck. "Now why don't we sit down for a quick briefing? Colonel Casey should be here shortly." Sheryl sauntered over to the chair Chuck had just vacated and sat down.

Sarah made sure to lead Chuck around to the other side of the table. Where she strongly encouraged Chuck to take a seat.

Chuck could definitely tell this was beyond any kind of jealousy. Something was bothering Sarah and he needed to find out what. He pulled out the seat next to the one he assumed Sarah would sit on. Apparently, that seat was not the right one as Sarah sat down right in his lap. Normally he would not mind but this seemed a bit out of character for Sarah even now as close as they were. Yeah, something was definitely wrong.

"So Chuck…" Sheryl began but was interrupted by Sarah.

"You can call him Agent Carmichael. I think that is appropriate for your rank." Sarah just tossed back her hair as she casually leaned back against Chuck spending a little bit of time nibbling on his neck.

Sheryl did not look pleased. "Okay. Agent Carmichael… How long have you lived in Burbank?"

Chuck was about to respond when Sarah shushed him. "Agent Walken, I really don't see how any of this is relevant. How long Agent Carmichael has lived in Burbank really has no bearing on mission objectives."

Sheryl just tossed her hair back, very similar to what Sarah had just done. It was her turn to show off her fake assets. "Oh that question was not mission related. I'm just new in town and was hoping he might be able to you know, show me around."

Yep, the bitch is dead. Sarah was about to lunge across the table when Casey came barreling in. "So what did I miss?"

Sheryl stood up as the big NSA Agent came through the back hallway from the Buy More entrance. Casey stopped when he saw Sheryl. "You have got to be kidding me right." Casey looked beyond to Sarah and then back to Sheryl. Oh shit, Casey mused, this just got interesting.

"Hello Colonel Casey, my name is Sheryl Walken. I am the Ring Specialist assigned to work with Team Intersect."

Casey looked towards Chuck and saw him mouth, 'I know right'. He laughed inside as he stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Agent Walken." Casey then took a seat at the table. Oh this was going to be really good.

. . .

The meeting went relatively smoothly. Although the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. There was obviously something going on with Sarah as both Casey and Chuck could see it clearly. She never once left Chuck's lap and a few times, Casey actually thought Chuck and Sarah were going to go at it right there at the table. He could tell Sarah was pulling out all stops.

"Well team. It was very nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you." Sheryl once again looked to Chuck and gave a smile. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to freshen up and I will see you all back here tomorrow, bright and early." Sheryl then headed back down the hall.

None of the three remaining team members said a word. It was a long uncomfortably silent minutes until finally Sarah broke the silence.

"Okay guys. I'm just going to use the little girl's room and then it's back to good old yogurt shop." Sarah kissed Chuck and happily made her way to the bathroom.

Once out of ear shot, Chuck looked to Casey. "Oh man dude. Did you see that?"

Casey just laughed. "I thought we were going to have another injured Ring Specialist. I got to admit Chuck I've never seen Sarah quite like that."

"I know right? I mean it's not about jealousy, at least I don't think so. But something was definitely bothering her." Chuck suddenly had a horrible thought. "Casey? Sarah wouldn't try anything right? I mean, you know, she would never actually kill someone just because, well, I don't know."

Casey realized also what Chuck was getting at. "Wait a minute, where did that Sheryl lady say she was going?"

Chuck's eyes bugged out. "Oh man. We have got to…" Chuck was already up and about to head to check on Sarah. No need as Sarah came happily strutting by. "Everything okay Sarah?" Chuck just eyed her suspiciously.

"Whew, just some bad Italian. I would not go back there. Love you sweetie. See you in a bit." Sarah blew Chuck a kiss and what could only be described as skipping, headed out of castle.

It took Casey and Chuck both only a second to look at each other, then to Sarah, and back down the hall. Then both men were running full steam towards the bathroom.

They burst through the door and sure enough, found their worst nightmare. Agent Sheryl Walken was slumped over the toilet seat, hair dripping wet, completely unconscious.

Casey and Chuck quickly picked her up and brought her to one of the medical rooms. Casey turned to Chuck, "Let's get her some dry clothes. You take those off and we will clean her up."

Chuck quickly held up both hands. "Oh hell no. Sorry big guy, you're on your own with that. I will help with what I can, but there is no way I am doing anything with that lady's clothes."

"Fine Moron, just get her some dry clothes and get me a twilight dart. We can't let this Specialist remember what happened."

"Uh Casey, what about the giant bruise on her eye and the cut on her lip?"

"Nasty fall in the bathroom?" Casey looked to Chuck for approval.

"Well not completely a lie. And at least there's no surveillance in the bathroom." Chuck looked to Casey as realization hit them both.

"Go edit the surveillance from before Sarah goes into the bathroom. That should keep anyone from putting two and two together." Casey was thinking ahead.

"Good thinking." Chuck was off quickly to get the clean clothes and twilight dart. He would fix the surveillance after he dropped that stuff off to Casey. Oh man, how did this all go so wrong? And why did he have a funny feeling this would not be the last time he and Casey would have to cover for Sarah.

A/N: Okay I know this was a little OOC for Sarah and possibly a little AP, but come on, its Jill Roberts.

A/N: On a side note, I will be posting another story soon. This will be A LOT different then this one only in the AU sense, not the Charah sense. It will be short and will not take away from this story, but it was just something I did to help me get through the time recently.