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

Kate is feeling pretty good about herself. She finally passed one of her mom's tests. That alone has her grinning. Since she is feeling her oats, perhaps a little payback is in order. After all, both Elise and Janice have some payment for past transgressions on their tab. Even Mom has some coming. Kate also found out that playing men might not be as horrible as she once thought. Will Alex agree?

There is also the little matter of Daniel Shaw to deal with. That's quite a to-do list.

Oh, one more thing on that list. She has to save her mom. She has to kill Sarah Walker.

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.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review.

The Death of Sarah Walker

x-x-x-x-x

The first thing that Sarah thought of when she heard the knock on the door was the girl's exercise – but then she looked at her watch. It was much too early for them to have completed their assignment. Even if they were successful, it would take some time for them to come up with a plan, and work up the nerve to execute it. So she just cleared her throat. "Yes," she called.

The door opened a crack and one of the guards called out. "Excuse me ma'am," he said. "Colonel Blum is here to see you."

"Send him in," Sarah said.

"Yes, ma'am," the guard nervously replied. "Actually, ma'am, he is asking if you will come out here and speak to him in private."

Sarah groaned as she walked to the door. If Blum wanted to speak to her in private – this couldn't be good news. When she got outside, there was no sign of Blum. The guard didn't look familiar. Perhaps he had been relieved. "Where is the Colonel?" she asked.

Heather stepped out from around the corner. She had a handgun pointed directly at Sarah. "Here I am," she said with a grin. "I promoted myself. Please put your hands on top of your head – slowly."

To say that Sarah was shocked was – well, a tremendous understatement. She was also very proud. But she also had no choice but to follow Heather's instruction. As soon as she had her hands on her head, Kate and another solder popped out from around the same corner.

"Agent Walker," Kate said firmly. "You are under arrest. Turn slowly face first and place your hands high on the wall."

As soon as Sarah complied, Heather kicked her legs apart and frisked her. "You're lucky," she said. "I was searched by two men. They spent a half hour checking for weapons inside of my bra. Now, slowly put your left hand behind your back."

As soon as Heather had the cuffs on Sarah, Kate stepped up to face her. "Here is what is going to happen," she said. "You're going to call your husband out here by telling him that the Colonel wants to speak with him. And please, Agent Walker – I know the tone of your voice very well. Don't insult me by trying to tip him off. I don't want to tranq him – but trust me - I will if you make me."

It was only a matter of a few seconds before Chuck was similarly secured. Finally Sarah figured out what was bothering her. "Where are my guards?" she asked.

"They are safe," Heather said. "They are secured in our car."

Kate and Heather led Chuck and Sarah back into the room where Alex and Sparky were sitting. "Good news, guys," Heather said. "You're rescued."

Sarah couldn't keep the grin from her face. "Congratulations," she said. "You passed. I'm very proud. Now release us – and we'll go celebrate."

Kate seemed to consider that – for an instant. "I don't think so," she said. "We still have some information to find out." Then she nodded to her two new friends. They stepped outside for a moment. When they returned, they had Janice and Elise with then. Their arms were secured behind their backs. With another nod, the men quickly put them in chairs and secured their legs, much like Kate had been this morning.

"You see," Kate began as she paced back and forth slowly in front of them. "There are some things about this assignment that have always bothered me. Tell me, Agent Beckman, who is your very best friend in the world?"

Janice just stared straight ahead.

"Come now, Agent Beckman," Kate said as she stepped up to her and unbuttoned the top button of her top. "Don't tell me that you're going to be stumped by the easy questions. This could turn into quite a show. Now, once again - who is your best friend?"

"Sarah Bartowski," Janice finally said. She was clearly trying to suppress a grin.

"You made an excellent choice in answering," Kate said soothingly. "Agent Walters, who is your best friend?"

Elise was also trying to suppress her grin. "Chuck Bartowski," she answered.

"Very good," Kate said. "See, was that so hard? Here is my problem. Are you going to expect me to believe that your two best friends could go rogue – and you wouldn't follow them? You must be rogue as well. So, tell me, Agent Walters – who is your Ring contact?"

Suddenly, the smirk was gone from both of their faces. "I don't have one," Elise said.

"Come now," Kate said as she stepped up to Elise and unbuttoned a couple of buttons. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"This is an exercise," Elise said. "We don't have contacts."

"Now see," Kate said as she unbuttoned the rest of Elise's shirt. "I would really like to believe you. I really would. I just don't. Agent Beckman?"

"She's telling you the truth," Janice said. "Come on, Katie. This is an exercise."

"This is really embarrassing," Kate said to Elise as soon as Heather had opened Janice's shirt. "At least Agent Beckman had the good sense to wear a bra – even though you can see right through it. You really do like to show men your boobs, don't you, Agent Walters? Alex, Sparky, please take Agents Bartowski and Walker into the other room. Alex has seen Elise's boobs one time too many already today. And Sparky, even though we haven't discussed it, I think I can safely say that this is an experience that Heather prefers you not to have. We'll join you in a second. Our associates here will finish the questioning."

"Heather, Katie," Janice said – while clearly trying to keep from laughing. "Come on. I understand that you're having fun. Okay, you got us. But we have nothing to tell them."

Then Kate turned to her two new friends. "Private King, Private Farley," she said. "You have been brilliant today. Thank you so much for your assistance. Your country thanks you for your service. These two rogue agents clearly have a contact that is much higher up the evil food chain then they are. It is imperative that we find out his name. Lives are at stake. You need to continue their interrogation."

"Katie," Elise said with a grin. "Okay. Look – I know that you're pissed at me. I'm sorry that I showed Alex my boobs this morning. You're simply making too big a deal out of this. Stuff like that just happens in this business. If it will help, I'll let you show Joe your boobs. You did great today. You've proved your point. I'm really proud of you. Let's go celebrate."

Kate just smiled – at her two privates. "Be careful, men," she said. "These two are highly trained agents. I think you can tell that they will say anything to try and get an edge. They will pretend that they like you – and they are quite persuasive. Don't fall for it. Unfortunately, they're both also very used to being naked with unknown men. So that's probably not going to be enough to get them to talk. You may even have to get – well, a little creative. As soon as they've told you the name of their contact, knock on the door. You're authorized to use any means necessary – just as we've discussed."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Alex, Sparky, Chuck, Sarah, Kate, and Heather were safely in the other room, they all busted out laughing.

"I'm so proud of you," Sarah said. "That was amazing. I'm actually embarrassed that you got the drop on me so easily. I had no clue. But how far are they going to go in there? They can't answer the question. They don't have a contact. Please don't let anything happen that they won't be able to explain to their husbands."

"Those guys aren't really going to do anything," Kate said as soon as she could control her laughing. "Don't worry. They are both scared to death. They have been instructed to just sit there and glare at them for a while."

"What do those men think is really going on here?" Alex asked.

"They think that they are assisting undercover Agents Moore and Bartowski in capturing some rogue agents," Kate said. "It was easy."

"Okay, sweetie," Sarah said. "You did great. Now - release us and we'll go celebrate."

"Not quite yet," Kate said. "For one thing, you need to learn how it feels to be helpless. It's an awful feeling, isn't it? But the big thing that we need to talk about is Agent Walker. What's it going to take to kill her?"

Sarah sighed. "Agent Walker is officially dead," she said. "The guys actually had her on life support earlier anyway. You finished her off."

"Good," Kate said with a grin.

"One thing that you might want to consider," Chuck said. "Okay, you did good – in an exercise. You're feeling your oats. You deserve a little fun. And while Agent Walker may be dead – trust me on this - you really don't want to piss Elise off. She is pretty good at getting revenge. I think that she'll be willing to take what's happened so far as good natured fun. But if she thinks that you're gloating… Well, she might become motivated to get back at you. If I stay cuffed much longer, I might just get motivated to help her. God help you then."

Of the two girls, Heather was clearly the more nervous about pushing their advantage too far. Finally she stepped up. "Yes, sir," she said quickly. "We'll release you now. Come on Katie, I think that we've proved our point."

x-x-x-x-x

Daniel Shaw was beside himself. After all, he had just driven half way across the country – in a big rig – with a body stinking up the cab to find Sarah Walker's sister-in-law. And when he finally got to her place, she wasn't there. Not only that, she clearly hadn't been there in several days. He even went to her hospital. All they would say was that the Woodcombs were on indefinite leave – and nobody knew where they were – or when they would be back.

Shaw tried all of the usual tricks to find her. First he got his people to trace their credit cards and cell phones. No luck. Their phones hadn't been turned on for days. There had been a huge cash withdrawal from their account five days ago – but nothing since. They had simply fallen off the grid.

This was getting a little ridiculous. How could Sarah Walker always be one step ahead of him? Was she really that good? It was time to turn up the heat – and find out.

x-x-x-x-x

Kate and Alex were finally back in their room. It had been a great celebration. The entire team was in great spirits. Even Janice and Elise had calmed down – a little. After all, they enjoyed a well played joke as well as anybody. Truth be told, they were both very impressed with both girls – but especially Kate. She had really grown. It also didn't hurt that they didn't like Agent Walker any more than the rest of the team. So it was hard to hold much of a grudge. But the clear highlight of the evening was that Casey had been released from the hospital and was able to join them. The very first thing that he did was to hug Elise and shake Sparky and Alex's hand to thank them for saving his life. Alex and Sparky were clearly moved. After all – John Casey shaking your hand and telling you that he was proud of you didn't happen often. It was a very big deal.

That's when Kate first noticed it. Alex was down. She could tell by his eyes. It was pretty obvious to her all evening. He was trying to look like he was fine. Nobody else even noticed. But something was clearly bothering him.

So, naturally, the first thing that Kate did when they were back in their room was to ask him about it. At first he tried to deny that anything was wrong. But Kate knew him too well.

"Come on, sweetie," Kate said. "Do you really think I can't tell when something is bothering you? Please talk to me. Is this about my exercise today?"

"Katie, I'm fine," Alex said. "Your mom told me that if I acted badly, it would make you unsafe. That's the last thing I would want. So, I'm fine… really. Let's forget about it. Don't worry - I'll get over it."

Kate's frustration was plain. "I don't want you to get over it," she said. "I want you to talk to me so that we can deal with it."

"I feel horrible," Alex said. "This is childish and petty. I promise, Katie, I don't think of you as a possession…"

"But you don't want to think of me flirting with other men," Kate finished his thought.

Alex just nodded. "I'm sorry," he said sadly. "I'm letting you down."

"No. sweetie," Kate said. "I'm the one letting you down."

"But," Alex said. "You had no choice. It was an assignment."

"That's true," Kate said sadly. "I had to do that today. But that's not how I let you down. I keep telling you that you can depend on me to take care of you – and then when I get a chance to do just that, I keep letting you down. I know that you're insecure. The very first thing that I should have done was to grab you and made sure that you were okay. But I let myself get caught up in feeling good about myself – and then the celebration. I'm so, so sorry."

"Promise me something," Alex said. "As hard as this is, Mom is absolutely right. You have a powerful weapon. Please don't let worrying about me keep you from using it. I need to know that you're going to do whatever it takes to be safe."

"Okay," Kate said. "I promise. But I also need you to promise me something. You need to believe me when I tell you what really happened. Sweetie, I was biting my lip to keep from laughing at those men. I'll admit that I was having a good time – laughing at them. They were ridiculous. And really, the only thing that I did was have one more button open on my top then I normally would have. It is how a lot of women would dress anyway. I have no clue why those men acted so foolishly."

Alex just sighed. "I do," he said. "You just don't realize what men are thinking when they see you. I know that makes me sounds bad – but I'm trying hard to not think of you as a possession."

"Why?" Kate asked. "Alex, I sure as hell think of you as a possession. You're mine. When I heard about Elise trying to seduce you today, I wanted to scratch her eyes out. The only reason I didn't is because you came through for me. I'm still pissed at Elise. If I saw a strange woman flirting with you in a bar it would be an immediate throw down. Why in the world do you feel that you have to apologize for not wanting your fiancé flirting with a strange man? You shouldn't like that. You should be pissed at me for not explaining it to you."

"I'm not pissed at you," Alex said. "I'm pissed at me."

Kate couldn't help but smile. "I know," she said. "That's a big part of what makes you so special. Yes, you're incredibly sweet. Yes, you worry about my feelings more than you do your own. I get all that. I appreciate it. But that just makes what I did worse. I should have made sure that you were okay. That's my job – and I blew it today. I'd like you to forgive me. I learned a tough lesson today, I promise that I'll work hard to make sure that I never make that mistake again."

Alex sighed. "I don't need to forgive…" Alex paused as he saw the look on Kate's face. "Fine, I forgive you, okay?"

"Thank you," Kate said with a grin as she unbuttoned her blouse. "Alex, I'm really sorry if it looks like I'm always using sex to apologize for my failures – or to reward you. I need you to understand something – I do feel guilty – but what's about to happen is far more because I love you than because I feel guilty. The good news is that most spy couples struggle with this same issue to some extent. Elise and Janice both told me the way that they make this very same thing up to their husbands. I liked Janice's the best. It starts by me telling you a little story. I think that you might find it a tad interesting."

x-x-x-x-x

The men were gathered in a cheap motel room just outside the base. It's usually where dependants stayed while they were waiting for their housing to be ready.

"We need one of these kids," the one who was clearly the leader said as he passed out pictures of Chuck Junior and Kate.

"Why?" one of the men said. "What's so special about them?"

"I don't know," the leader said. "Shaw wants them for some reason. I don't know his plan. But hopefully he has one. We are no longer covert. Half of our group is already in custody."

"We'll never get them on the base," the man said. "We wouldn't get ten yards."

No," the leader said. "That's true. We'll have to wait until they come outside for some reason. Post men outside the gates. Once we've identified one of them, follow them – and call for backup."

The orders were pretty clear. "Yes, sir," was all that the man said.

x-x-x-x-x

Elise was just about to resume Joe's victory… umm… assignment when there was a knock at the door. "Kate," she said as she opened the door. "Alex, come in. What can we do for you?"

"We came…" Kate said. "I mean, I came… to make up with you. I'm sorry that I got so upset about you flashing Alex. It was an assignment. I should have understood. I've been a bitch to you all day."

Elise just grinned. "It's okay, sweetie," she said. "Actually, I think I was a bitch to you first. Does this mean that you're not going to show Joe your boobs?"

"Yes," Kate said with her own grin. "It does. Sorry, Uncle Joe."

Joe's face showed his confusion. "Umm, that's okay," he offered weakly.

"Actually," Kate said. "We were hoping that you two could help us. I was just talking to Heather. We're all struggling with how to help each other through the… the…"

"The jealousy?" Elise finished her thought.

"Yes," Kate admitted. "It's easy to tell ourselves not to be jealous. It's a lot harder to actually do. You two have been through it. We were sort of hoping that we could talk about how you guys deal with those issues. There's a place just off the base that's a short walk. Would you two like to go get a drink?"

Elise nodded. "That sounds like fun," she said with a sideways glance to her husband. "And it sure beats our other plans."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "Great," she said with a grin. "Heather and Junior are already there. They are going to save us a table."

As they left the room, Joe pulled Elise back in for a second. "Lise," he whispered nervously. "What was that last part about? Why on earth would Kate show me her boobs?"

x-x-x-x-x