I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

It is decision time for Team B. Now that they know about the plan to kill Alex, all bets are off. But who better to plan their next move than Chuck? But, as usual, the bad guys have more evil up their sleeve.

I'll be sure to post warnings on chapters that have violent or sexual situations. I'm going to keep this T – but I might dance on the edge for a bit.

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Local Office

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To Kate's credit, she wasn't crying – not yet anyway. But her eyes got pretty big as she read the transcript. Now they were darting around the room looking for somebody - anybody who could reassure her.

Finally, Mom stepped up. "Come on Kate," she said as calmly as she could. "Settle down. Nobody is going to hurt Alex. We're just not going to let that happen. But you can't panic. In this business, if you panic, you're dead."

Kate was clearly shaken. "How can you stop them?" she asked as she struggled to keep her composure. "You don't even know who they are."

Janice answered before Sarah had a chance. "Because we have a secret weapon," she said. "Katie your dad has already figured out what we're going to do. And when he tells us, we going to listen to him and tell ourselves that we're doomed. His plan couldn't possibly work – but somehow it will. Trust me."

Kate has narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?" she asked timidly.

"Because, sweetie," Sarah said with a smile. "That's how it always works. We've known about this plan to kill Alex for about a half hour. That means that your dad has had the plan worked out in his head for about twenty-five minutes now. I'm not really sure what he's waiting for. He probably wants to be dramatic."

"Well," Chuck said. "I actually do…"

"I forgot to tell you, Katie," Sarah interrupted. "Be prepared… You're going to hate this plan. We all are. After all, we always do. But they always work."

"Oh, and Katie," Janice added with a smug look. "One or more of us is going to have to do something really disgusting." When she noticed the way that Chuck was looking at her, she just shrugged her shoulders. "Hey – we always do."

Finally Casey had had enough. "You're leaving out the part where something happens that boy genius hadn't thought of and one of us gets choked or stabbed or captured – or loses half a lung," he growled. "So can we just get on with it?"

"Okay," Chuck said with a grin. "Here is what…"

"Oh," Sarah interrupted. "Alex. Before we start, I want you to understand that some things you're going to learn here this afternoon are incredibly classified. Not even our sons know about most of this yet. So, you can't talk about this to anybody. There are about twenty people in the whole world who know about this."

Alex just nodded.

Chuck's grin was starting to fade – rapidly. "Okay," he said – with more than a little touch of annoyance. "Can I now speak?"

It was silly – but Sarah hated it when Chuck was clearly annoyed at her. She always had hated it. The flush was clearly into her neck when she nodded. "Sorry, sweetie," she said meekly. "Go ahead."

Chuck flashed a quick smile towards Sarah to let her know that he wasn't mad. "Okay," he began. 'Let's start with the things that we know. We know that Shaw wants revenge on Sarah for killing his wife – and that goes beyond simply killing her. He could have easily done that many times. He is clearly trying to break her spirit. He developed an intersect update that he believes has me thinking that Sarah and he are currently in the middle of a long term affair. He must be going to use that to his advantage somehow. We also know that political enemies of Janice are trying to get to Kate. But I'm afraid that's all we know. There are several things that we need to find out. We really don't know how those two things are related. We also don't know who these people are – or what their bigger agenda is. And we're not sure why they are really after Kate."

"That last part's pretty easy," Janice said. "They don't want me to run for President. They know that I would do anything to protect Katie. They are trying to get her to do something embarrassing enough that I would withdraw rather than have it go public."

"Really?" Kate asked. "Embarrassing? Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sarah said as she glared at Janice. "How about something like a tape of her winning a wet t-shirt contest?"

Janice's face turned red – for the second time today. That was a new record. "Maybe," she said softly.

"Morons," Kate scoffed. "They don't know me very well. I would never…"

"It almost worked," Alex interrupted softly, more to himself than anybody. In response to Kate's look he continued. "Katie, now it all makes sense. That's why they seduced your boyfriend into breaking up with you. That's why they sent your parents out of the country. They were trying to isolate you and make you lonely. That's why Julie was acting like your best friend and trying to get you to go out with her. That's why she kept running girls at me and guys at you. It's why that pretty boy Hunter put on the full court press."

"Oh my God," Kate whispered. "You're absolutely right. They had me sloppy drunk and half way in the car. That's why they fought you so hard. If you hadn't been there…"

"We'd be watching a tape of you, Hunter, his two friends, and who knows who else right now," Janice finished her thought gently. "They know that I would have withdrawn to keep it off the internet."

Kate could feel the tears quickly fill her eyes. "Aunt Janice," she said. "I'm so sorry. I almost just cost you the presidency."

But Janice just smiled. "Why are you sorry, Katie?' she asked. "For being twenty-one and beautiful? That's a pretty silly thing to be sorry about. You're not the bad guy here. Remember, being president isn't that important to me. You, Katie – you're important to me. That other stuff is all secondary. If anyone should be sorry, it's me. You're a target because of me."

Kate nodded – but she still couldn't quite blink the tears from her eyes. So she just snuggled into Alex a little closer. "Thank you, sweetie," she whispered. "I love you."

"Alex is a real hero," Sarah said with her own eyes shinning. "Why should we be surprised? He saved the day. And that's why they're so desperate to get rid of him."

"I still don't understand something," Kate said. "Why are they so afraid of Aunt Janice becoming President? They're talking about kidnapping Robbie… and killing Alex. I mean, I know that politics at this level is a brutal business – but that's some pretty serious stuff."

"I think that's pretty easy too, princess," Casey said. "They don't want Janice to become Commander in Chief. They know that with her background, she'll ask some embarrassing questions and be in a position to deal with the answers. I think that we've only seen a glimpse of how far they will go to keep that from happening. I think that Elise may be in very serious trouble. We need to do something to protect her."

Thinking about Elise got the room quiet. After all, she was three thousand miles away.

Finally, Alex spoke up. "So," he said. "We can't take this crap from them. What do we do about it?"

Chuck totally expected that sentiment – but frankly, given the people in that room, he was surprised that would come from Alex. Surprised and more than a little impressed. It changed the mood of the whole room. He looked around at everybody nodding in agreement. "We give them what they want," he said with a smile. Then he noticed Kate's jaw drop. "Come on Katie," he quickly said. "I didn't mean a sex tape - of course not that."

"Good," Kate said as a sly smile appeared for the first time. "Aunt Janice said that your plans usually involved someone having to do something disgusting."

Now it was Chuck's turn to get red. "They really don't want to kill Alex," he quickly changed the subject. "They just want him out of the way. There are two ways to make them think that has happened. They both each have their own advantages. The easiest one is for Alex to just sleep with Julie. She'll think that her plan worked."

Both Alex and Kate quickly raised wordless objections.

"I didn't think so," Chuck said with a smile. "So that means that we send him out of town for a few days – maybe something to do with Senator Casey."

"I could send him back to Burbank," Janice said. "He could open my local Senate office there."

"I'm not leaving Kate," Alex said firmly. "How many times do I have to say it? No matter how hard or crazy or even dangerous it gets, I'm with her. I have her back. I'm not running. You couldn't drag me away from her."

Sarah reached over and put her hand on Alex's neck. "We know," she said. "Alex - sweetie, you don't have anything to prove to us - not anymore. We're not asking you to run. We're asking for your help. Casey will go with you to help in setting up the office. After all, there are some people in danger there as well. You heard about our friend Elise. I agree with Casey – she is in serious danger. And our two sons also have people watching them. It would be nice to introduce them to the Colonel."

"But, Kate…" Alex said.

"Kate is safe," Sarah said. "Trust me, Alex – we'll make sure of that. She won't ever be out of our sight. Janice and I would gladly kill anybody with our bare hands who tried anything. The honest truth is that right now she's safer with you in Burbank. If they think that she's alone, they'll take their time and seduce her properly."

Janice got up to leave. "I'll go back to the office and make the announcement," she said. "That way, Julie will know."

"Okay," Chuck said with a soft smile. "In a minute. There is still something that we have to deal with. None of these bad guys are in the intersect. My information is ten years old. I need an update."

"That would be nice," Sarah agreed. "But how are we going to get you an update?"

"General Beckman told us that there is one sitting in Shaw's safe," Chuck said softly. "We need to get in there and get it – without him knowing of course."

"Easy," Janice said. "He's not home all day. We'll just break in and steal it."

"I wish that would work," Chuck said. "But he is the Director of The CIA. His residence will have a world class security system. And the details of his system are too new. They won't be in the intersect."

Sarah groaned loudly. "I can see where this is going," she said.

"I'm really sorry," Chuck said. "You know how sorry I am. I'm not crazy about the idea either. But we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Janice tried to keep in her giggle – she really did. But it came out anyway – very wetly. "See, Katie," she said. "I told you that someone would have to do something disgusting. This time it's your mom. Now that I think about it, it usually is…"

x-x-x-x-x

He sat in his office and let out a big sigh – but of relief for once. Finally one of those morons was able to bring him some decent news for a change. After all, the new icky sweet couple must not be too hot and heavy if she was going to let him go to California without her for a week. Maybe she was having second thoughts. It was hard to believe that such a geek would have a shot at such a babe anyway.

So now that Kate Bartowski was single again – it was full steam ahead. Perhaps now, Agent Walters could actually be of some benefit – before her tragic demise. He made a mental note to send her some instructions.

This might all actually work out and have a happy ending for everybody. After all, Janice Casey really didn't want to be President. It was such a big job – for such a beautiful lady.

x-x-x-x-x

Kate and Alex were snuggled on the couch. They had been for quite some time. Chuck and Sarah had just left. Alex offered to go back to his place for the night so that Chuck and Sarah could stay in Kate's bed – but Sarah wouldn't hear of it.

"No way," Sarah said with a sly grin. "Alex, you live here now. There's no way that we're kicking you out of your own bed – especially not on your last night together for a while."

So finally, they were alone. "Do you think they like me?" Alex asked softly.

"Well," Kate said haltingly. "I don't think I would say that. Not really."

Alex's body went limp. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know that I acted like a bumbling idiot to your mom this morning… and then I probably came on too strong in the car coming back here. What should I do?"

Kate just laughed. "Come on, Alex," she said. "They don't like you. They're crazy about you. I think they love you more than they do me. If they weren't already together, I'd be worried that they would want you for themselves."

"Okay," Alex said in a confused tone. "Was that last part supposed to cheer me up – or creep me out?"

"A little of both," Kate teased. "They love heroes. And that's what you are."

Alex got quiet for a second. "I'm not a hero, Kate," he finally said softly. "Your mom and dad are heroes. Janice and the Colonel are heroes. Even you're a hero. I just did what I had to do. I was scared."

"And that's what makes you a hero," Kate replied as she gently kissed him. "If it was easy, nobody would be impressed. You saved Janice the chance to possibly become President. And, more important, you saved me from a horrible night. They wouldn't have killed me. They just would have made me wish I was dead. That probably would have messed me up for the rest of my life. Alex, you saved my life that night. You can downplay that all you want – but everybody knows that it's true. Trust me, my mom is not easy to impress. And she's a pushover compared to Uncle Casey. I saw the way they looked at you. It was respect – and love. They were looking at a fellow hero."

Alex just sat there and held her.

"My mom told me their story in Vegas a few weeks ago," Kate said. "She told me all about how my dad never thought he was a hero either. He always thought that he was just a guy doing what he had to do – just like you. She was kidding me earlier that I had picked a guy just like my dad. She also told me that there could be a lot worse person to be like. She told me that she's really proud of me for finding you so quickly in spite of everything else that is going on. She's really rooting for us."

"Rooting?" Alex asked. "What does that mean? We're already together, right?"

"Of course," Kate said. "Rooting was a bad choice of words. Excited might be better. She wants us to be permanent."

Alex sat up. "Permanent?" he laughed. "What does that mean? Why Kate Bartowski, are you proposing to me?"

But to Alex's surprise, Kate didn't laugh. If fact, she didn't say anything for a while. "No," she finally said. "That should come from you. And it should be romantic – and well planned – and maybe a little sappy. So, I'm not proposing – but I'm… waiting."

"Don't you think maybe I'd look a little foolish?" Alex asked. He was speaking so softly that Kate had a hard time hearing him. "We've known each other for six weeks. We've been living together for two days. People will call us fools – fools who rushed in."

"Some people might think so," Kate said with a smile. "Not me. When you're sure, that's all that matters, right? And I'm sure. I have been for – whoa three whole days now."

"Almost four for me," Alex said with his own smile. "I'm sure too. Are you positive that's what you really want? Are you sure that this isn't the case that maybe you think you want this because your mom wants it so bad?"

"No way," Kate said with a grin. "I sort of have a confession. I was daydreaming about our wedding before my parents even met you. I hope that you're not going to ask me to explain how I know that I'm so sure. I can't. I just know that I am."

Alex grinned back. "I have my own confession," he said. "Me too. So how about now?"

Kate just shook her head. "Didn't you hear me? Romantic… well planned… maybe even a bit sappy. Oh… and a big rock. That's a must. I can wait for a few days for you to pull that off… not much longer."

"Okay," Alex said with a smile. "Now that I've received my assignment, I guess we're ready to proceed. Let's see, it's almost Christmas. You do realize that at the rate we're going, we'll have a kid by New Year's Day. We'll definitely need to look for a bigger apartment. Maybe we should start looking into the schools around here. He'll be starting first grade any day now."

"He?" Kate questioned with a grin. "What do you mean, he? Our first child will be a girl. It's a family tradition. Besides – I've kind of daydreamed about that too. But can we wait until Aunt Janice is President?"

"I think so," Alex laughed. "We're going to be pretty busy for the next couple of years. Dodging bad guys, planning a wedding – oh, and getting Janice elected President. I think that we have enough on our plate."

"Tonight's our last night together for a few days," Kate said as she kissed Alex again. "Should I go find Slutty Girl?"

"Not tonight," Alex whispered as he leaned in to kiss Kate. Quickly the kissing turned passionate as he began to slowly unbutton her blouse. "How about we try something different tonight?"

Kate looked in amazement at Alex. This was incredibly exciting. Alex had never taken the lead in the physical department. As a matter of fact, before he even had her naked, she was quickly - and helplessly on fire.

"If I'm going to swim with the big fish," Alex said with a sly grin in between kisses as he scooped Kate up and carried her into the bedroom. "I need to start carrying my own weight in the seduction department."

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