A/N: As you may have seen from my avatar, the last surviving WWI veteran died yesterday morning, so I'm dedicating this chapter to all those men and boys who gave their lives in the trenches over 90 years ago. Lest we forget.
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Sarah had called her contact in Fulham as soon as she and Chuck had left the airport in order to make their new identities available for use as quick as possible. He had informed her that it would be a couple of days for the relevant government databases to be hacked and the new information to be implanted within them.
This had been made easier by the lapses in data security that the Home Office had suffered in recent years; a laptop with benefits information found by the wrong people or those in the business of setting up fake identities, usually for illegal immigrants, would give those people the information required for a believable forgery. The actual paper documentation was easy to obtain; several former KGB agents had settled in Western Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union and they had the means to obtain passports, or at least believable fakes, along with the other required documents to believably be an EU citizen.
Sarah had specifically requested that their immigration record note that she and Chuck had supposedly entered the UK after a couple of years living in France in order to throw the NSA off the trail. They would be looking for recent immigrants from the USA who used one of Sarah's known aliases, or they would also be picked up by the facial recognition software.
Her contact had apparently come through for her on this request and he had called her on her new mobile phone barely an hour ago to tell her that he had managed to get two American passports with both Italian and British visa stamps. She could pick them up the day after tomorrow once their information had been deposited in the many government databases.
Once they had the passports, Chuck and Sarah would be able to start their new life properly; they could buy or rent a house once they had identification that wouldn't raise too many red flags. Sarah had had her fill of big cities after spending the best part of seven years staying in big city hotels in cities such as Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing.
The Beijing mission had been particularly strange because her cover had been that of a CIA agent. Admittedly, it was a CIA agent who had screwed up pretty badly and was on an embassy assignment, but it was a little close to home for Sarah to be very comfortable in her cover. Still, that mission, like all the others, had been a resounding success for the then rising star of the American Intelligence circles.
If only my trainers could see me now, thought Sarah as she climbed back into bed with Chuck after heading into the bathroom to take the call from her contact. He was still sleeping, as he should have been, after Sarah's raging hormones had lead to a very long but very enjoyable night. The mid-morning light was seeping through the curtains but there wasn't really much to do but wait for the new identities to become available, so she settled her head on Chuck's chest and tried to get some sleep; it had been a long night for her too, of course.
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Chuck woke from his slumber first and he was surprised to notice that Sarah was sleeping literally on him, her legs intertwined with his, and her shorter stature resulted in her long blonde hair tickling the bottom of his chin. All in all, quite a pleasant thing to wake up to, but Chuck really had to use the lavatory and couldn't quite figure out how to leave the bed without waking Sarah.
In the end the old 'hug and roll' did the trick, which came as somewhat of a surprise, but it warmed Chuck's heart to see how comfortable the normally jumpy former CIA officer was in his arms. The cute little groan she let out as he detached himself from her almost made him fall more in love with her in itself, but then she just rolled over and carried on sleeping, completely oblivious to him, at which he had to smile.
Chuck finished his morning routine and returned to the hotel room, noting that Sarah was still occupying the bed, and had in fact managed to spread out to cover nearly the entire bed with various limbs. He looked at the clock, and seeing it was nearly one pm, thought that it was probably a good time to get going and do something with their first full day in England. He shook Sarah awake, and noticed the terrible combination of raging hormones and spy instincts as she grabbed his hand and flipped him over the other side of the bed with very little effort.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" she shouted, "I told you not to wake me up like that!"
"I forgot, okay," said Chuck defensively, "I wasn't expecting you to go all crouching tiger, sleeping dragon on me."
"You forgot," huffed Sarah, "what are you going to forget next, my birthday?"
"I don't know your birthday!" protested Chuck.
"And whose fault is that?" said Sarah, poking Chuck in the chest.
Chuck, don't bait the crazy person, it's not worth a castration, thought Chuck.
"Errr...mine?" said Chuck tentatively.
"Why would it be your fault? I never told you my birthday! You never listen to me!" shouted Sarah, running into the bathroom.
"What the hell happened there?" muttered Chuck to himself, as he set about fully unpacking the rest of his stuff to give Sarah time to cool off.
A teary eyed Sarah returned to the room shortly after Chuck sat down to begin unpacking, and she ran over to Chuck, burying her head in his chest.
"Oh, Chuck. I'm so sorry I yelled at you, please forgive me?" she said through tears.
"You don't need forgiving," said Chuck, "now where did Angry Sarah go?"
"Why?! Did you like her better? Is that it? You want to leave me for someone better?" shouted Sarah, swinging rapidly back to angry mode.
"Sarah, calm down, you're getting jealous of yourself," said Chuck, laughing. But his laughter tailed off as he saw Sarah glaring his way, "errr, I didn't mean to laugh at you. I'd never leave you for anyone. Why would you think that?"
Sarah's glare faded as she went back to Teary-Eyed Sarah, and she hugged Chuck fiercely again. "I'm just so scared that you'll realise I'm not good enough for you, and then you'll be gone," she admitted.
"You're not good enough for me?" said Chuck incredulously, "you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I never even dreamed someone as fantastic as you would be interested in me. Okay, I dreamed, but I never thought it would happen. If there were words to describe how much you mean to me I'd say them, but there aren't so I can't, so I'll just have to go with I love you and I hope you know it means much more than just that."
"You mean that? A trained killer is the best thing to happen to you?" asked Sarah, confused and touched at the same time.
"Let's go through everything you've helped me with since I've met you, and then I defy anyone to call you just a trained killer. You're more than that, and I'm not just talking about the diamond stealing and bomb defusing. Anything you wanted you could have."
"Hey!" shouted Sarah, throwing a pillow at him, "you can't take my lines and use them against me!"
"I can and I have," said Chuck, laughing. "Seriously though, I wouldn't have made it through my first week as the Intersect without you. I'd be in a bunker in Moab or some other place if you hadn't saved me. In Daytona, if you hadn't tried to hold off those SWAT guys, Fulcrum might have taken me and who knows what would have happened then? Sarah, even discounting all the stuff you did because of your job, you helped me and you're still helping me grow into someone who is somewhere near being worthy of you."
"Really? You don't think you're worthy of me?" said Sarah quietly, as if she were struggling to get the words out.
"Nobody is, Sarah," said Chuck softly, before standing up off the bed. He forgot Sarah was clinging on to his neck which caused him to lose his balance and fall back onto her. Chuck was staring directly into Sarah's eyes, and he didn't think that an entire Fulcrum hit squad could have stopped the magnetism between them leading to a mind-blowing kiss.
All thoughts of a serious discussion with Sarah were driven totally from Chuck's mind as his arms gave out and he fell onto Sarah from a very short distance. Or at least, he would have done if Sarah hadn't shifted under him slightly, so they ended up on their sides, facing each other with eyes closed as they let the passions overwhelm them.
It would be a while before Chuck was in any fit state to make any coherent sound, let alone have a discussion about the various pros and cons of working for another government.
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They had both drifted off to sleep after those particular rounds of love-making and it was nearing four in the afternoon when Chuck's eyes snapped open once more. Sarah was snuggled closely to him again, and he was content to revel in the moment for a little while.
Watching his beloved sleep was one of his favourite pastimes; she looked so carefree in comparison to her wakeful hours, in which she was constantly on the lookout for any possible danger. Chuck noticed every time she walked into a room the way her eyes would dart around, assessing available exits and potential threats. This inevitably took a toll on her, and she always seemed tense while she was awake; it had been too fully ingrained in her to be alert at all times for it to dissipate as suddenly as mist on a country road.
It always seemed to relax Chuck too. Sarah's agent senses were too honed for her not to notice any approaching danger, even in her sleep. With Sarah was one of the few times he had felt safe since that fateful email on his birthday. It was amazing he could somehow trust a sleeping woman, albeit a kickass-ninja sleeping woman, to protect him more than he could trust himself to protect his own body.
Sarah was feeling much the same way. Well, not exactly; she couldn't trust Chuck to protect her body more than she could trust herself; that just wasn't his way. But what she could trust him to do was to protect her heart and fix her soul. He'd gone a long way to doing the second thing completely, but there were still a lot of demons yet to be exorcised from her past. Every day he seemed to get her past one of her issues though.
She always felt like breaking down in tears of joy at somehow getting this man to fall in love with her. Whether it was the pregnancy hormones or just a natural reaction, she wasn't sure, but what she was sure of was that she wanted a gold band on her finger as quickly as possible.
Sarah slowly opened her eyes to see Chuck's large brown eyes staring back at her. He smiled as he took in her lidded expression, still heavy from sleep, and she smiled warmly back at him, giving him a chaste kiss which was nothing like the fires that burned earlier, but more like the embers of a furnace. Extremely hot, and it provided the foundation for a larger fire sometime in the near future. Chuck looked like he had something on his mind, so she looked at him expectantly and waited for him to share his thoughts with her.
"Sarah, I've been thinking. Do you really want to work for the government again? I know we talked about this last night, but I think we should start as quickly as possible if you want to do it," said Chuck.
"I've been thinking about that too. I do want to continue with government work; it's been too big a part of my life for too long to let go totally at once, but what about the normal life you said you wanted? We can't have that if we're both spies."
"It won't be totally normally, I admit, but I'll take that if it means having a happy Sarah in my life. Besides, we won't really be spies like you used to be with Bryce. We'll be more like 'covert cops' if you get what I mean by that. I really think we should do it."
"Are you sure that's what you want?" asked Sarah.
"Yes," said Chuck a little uncertainly, before adding more forcefully; "Yes, that's what I want."
"Then how about we go now before the hormones make me change my mind again. Ooh! That reminds me, we need ice-cream! We really need ice-cream. And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate."
"Actually, it's about four twenty now, so it might be a little late by the time we get to Thames House," reasoned Chuck.
"They're spies, Chuck," said Sarah with exasperation, "they don't work 9-5."
"Maybe not, but civil servants do, Sarah."
"Fair point, we'll tell the cabbie to drive quickly. It's not that far from here anyway."
"And where do you propose to find a taxi around here? We don't have time to call one, and I don't see a taxi rank anywhere."
"This is London, Chuck. Cabs are like rats; you're never more than thirty feet away from one. Trust me, we'll find one."
"I trust you, shall we go?" said Chuck, motioning towards the door. Sarah was already way ahead of him though, and she was halfway across the room before he'd finished his sentence.
Outside the hotel Sarah's cabbie theory was proved almost instantly, as one of London's distinctive black taxis rounded the corner. They clambered in after Sarah flagged it down, and Sarah was also the one to give the directions.
"Thames House please, mate," she said, slipping into a flawless Hackney accent.
"Gotcha," said the cabbie, showing a similar yet slightly different accent, "what part of Hackney you from?"
Sarah racked her brain for any road name she had seen in one of her brief trips through that part of the capital, "Garrison Lane, you know it?"
"The road next te The Crown pub?"
"That's the one."
"Course I know it, I grew up on Cattell Road. Me dad used to run the pub for a coupla years, that was 'fore he passed on though. Shame, great man my dad. He played a couple of games for West 'am y'know?"
"Really? Anyone I might've seen?" said Sarah, keeping up the conversation.
"Probly not, he was before your time, love. Your dad might've seen him though. Full back my dad was, scored against Liverpool in 64/65. 'Is finest moment, he always used to tell me."
"Sarah," whispered Chuck, "what the hell is he on about?"
"Soccer, Chuck," she whispered back. "Now be quiet, I don't want him to know we're American; cabbies always overcharge you then."
"Got ya, my lips are sealed," he answered.
The rest of the journey went pretty much without incident. Sarah and the cabbie ended up swapping anecdotes about growing up in Hackney, although of course, Sarah's were all completely fabricated. Chuck marvelled at how Sarah managed to keep up a believable accent when apparently it changed depending on the road you grew up on. Either that was sheer luck on Sarah's choice of road, or she knew way too much about the nuances of British accents.
They got to Thames House at around a quarter to five, and Sarah paid the cabbie while Chuck tried to get his head around the protocol for such a thing as going rogue from one agency and defecting to an allied country. If anyone knew Sarah would, so he would just leave it to her to do all the talking, lest he cock it all up by saying the wrong thing.
Sarah joined him on the marble stairs leading to the grand entrance to Thames House. The headquarters of the Security Service, known as Military Intelligence: Section 5 until the mid-90s, was an imposing building, as befitted the base of operations for nearly every domestic security strategy dreamed up by the various suits in Westminster.
They walked through the glass doors looking for all the world as if they belonged there. Or at least, Sarah did. Chuck was lagging behind, looking around in amazement at the mix of old and new styles that adorned the reception hall.
"Yes, can I help you?" asked the receptionist on duty.
"Err, sure," said Sarah, racking her brain for the code phrase to use when requesting help from a friendly agency, "I was told you might be able to help with an import/export problem I've been having."
The receptionist seemed to notice the use of a code phrase, at least going by the slight widening of her eyes as it registered with her.
"Yes ma'am, I can take you to see Mr. Evans now. He's meeting with the Home Secretary at the moment, but I'm sure he can squeeze you two into his busy schedule. His office is just at the end of this hall, I've told his aide you're coming, so you're expected."
"Thank you, I doubt we'll need to bother you again, Miss..." said Chuck sweetly, fishing for a name.
"Fisher," answered the receptionist, before hurrying back to her desk, blushing madly.
"Chuck, if I haven't told you before I probably should've. Tone down the charm, please? I'd hate to have to cause serious damage to one of the girls who tries to hit on you, which will happen eventually. And you'd be on the couch for playing a part in that, so it's in your best interest to only aim the charm offensive at me. Got that?"
Chuck gulped nervously, before quietly saying, "yes ma'am."
Sarah smiled at the effect she could still have on him. She didn't know why she enjoyed messing with him a little. Hell, she knew she couldn't put him on the couch anyway; she'd never get to sleep. Still, Chuck couldn't know that or he'd run riot, like an eight year old who had figured out how to get cookies without his parents noticing. She smiled at thinking of Chuck acting like an eight year old, which was the face she ended up greeting the Director General's aide with.
The aide tried not to focus on that smile, a smile that had turned much stronger willed men than he into putty in Sarah's hands, and his job was made much easier when he saw the ring on Sarah's finger. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his eyes away from Sarah and checked in on the meeting currently going on. The Home Secretary was standing to leave, so the aide rushed to open the door for him. As the Home Secretary departed, he ushered Chuck and Sarah into Mr. Evans' office, shutting the door behind them as they entered.
"So, Agents, what can the Security Service do for you?"
"Well, we're not technically agents anymore. Or at least, I'm not," answered Sarah.
"Would you like to elaborate on that?" asked the Director General.
"I'd prefer to tell you my intentions first, sir. I was formerly employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, and my fiancé also has some experience in working for that agency. We would like to transfer that experience to the Security Service as we recently left the USA to settle in England permanently."
"If you are as experienced as you say you are, you would certainly be an asset to this agency. Providing your story checks out, we would be happy to take you on as agents. Both of you. We will need your names to carry out the checks."
"Sir, I realise this might be difficult, but the reason I left the CIA is because my fiancé was formerly a joint NSA/CIA asset. We fell in love so I was reassigned, but I found out they were going to remove him into protective custody, so we ran. That's how we ended up here. I promise, that was the only reason I went rogue, out of loyalty to my fiancé."
"He really means that much to you?" asked the Director General.
"Yes sir. I'd do anything to keep him safe. Anything."
"Really? I think you two would be an effective team, but I'm afraid that I will have to inform my counterparts at Langley and Fort Meade. I'm sorry, but it's protocol."
"Sir, have you ever heard of the Intersect Project?"
"Of course I have, but that was a failure wasn't it? It got blown up or something, and the Human Intersect went mis...wait, what are you implying? I know the Intersect project was joint CIA/NSA. Is your fiancé the Intersect?"
"He is, sir. We've discussed it, and he would be willing to use that Intelligence to Britain's advantage, if you would let us be made agents."
"SIS recently completed their own Intersect, but we're yet to find anyone who can absorb the Intel safely. If your fiancé can do that, then it is in our best interests to make you two agents. I heard from General Beckman and an as-yet unnamed SIS agent about the effectiveness of the Human Intersect and the team associated with him. Britain would be a safer place; I am sure, with our own Intersect team in place. Do you agree to these terms?"
Sarah was shocked. She was expecting all of this to backfire and she would be forced to either run again or give up Chuck, but her last ditch attempt had apparently worked. She and Chuck both said "Yes" as quickly as their brains could process the words, and the Director General smiled at their coherency and faith in one another. These two could go far, he thought.
"Now, if you've gone rogue, as you say you did," began the Director General, "then the Yank agencies will be looking for you, so you'll need new aliases. We can't officially get you the right identification; if it got out we'd be crucified in the press. Do you have any contacts that can get you the proper documents?"
"Yes, sir. They should be ready soon," answered Sarah.
"Good. Do you have any aliases you want to use? We can issue your agency badges now to save trouble. You'll need to go through training like any other recruit, but agents of your experience should have no trouble."
"We used a lot of aliases escaping from the US government. Can you give us a minute?"
"That's fine, discuss away."
"Please, can I be Han this time?" asked Chuck.
"Chuck, this is important. We'll be going by these names for the rest of our lives. Do you have any serious suggestions?" said Sarah, slamming Chuck's suggestion down.
"I guess Starbuck's out then," said Chuck, sulking a little.
"Of course it is! Now be serious or you'll be Bryce freaking Larkin!"
"Wow, okay then. That's a big threat. How about Charles Pugh?"
"That's better, Chuck. Don't worry; I couldn't call you Bryce for the rest of my life. It'd be too awkward for one thing. Now I have to think of mine. Good thing I'm used to this. Sarah Lloyd. What do you think about that?"
"I definitely like the sound of that, but you'll be Sarah Pugh soon enough," said Chuck, smiling.
"We've made our decision, sir," said Sarah.
"I heard," answered the Director General dryly, "who's Bryce Larkin anyway?"
"Not important, sir. Let's just say it makes my fiancé nervous when his name is mentioned."
"What do you mean by that? It's just he shows up whenever something good happens between us. It's like he has a sensor," said Chuck.
"Right..then..." said the Director General, "what are your chosen aliases?"
"Sarah Lloyd and Charles Pugh," answered Sarah.
"Well then, welcome to the Security Service, agents-in-training Lloyd and Pugh."
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A/N: I normally put this at the top, I know, but I didn't want to take focus from that message. Thanks to SarahLisaWalkerFan101 for her beta (and to Zerectica for encouraging her to finish it). Your other suggestions will make it in at some point in the near future. Here comes the usual begging for reviews: Please, please, please, please review; I leave in 3 days, so if you want another chapter before then we'll need to have at least 25 reviews. I know I'm cruel, but what can you do?