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

Okay guys. Thanks for your patience - at least to those of you who actually were patient. It's time to get back to Shaw. Did I mention that he is not all that nice?

There is one lesson that Mom didn't tell her new recruits. That loving someone was the most dangerous part of being a spy. Your enemies will always find a way to use that against you. Fortunately, she also taught them some things that might help.

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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Lessons Learned - and Forgotten

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Sparky and Heather were sitting at the table waiting for the others to arrive. All in all, it promised to be a very pleasant evening. After all, Alex and Sparky were now clearly best friends. Kate and Heather were well on their way. And while Alex and Heather didn't know Elise all that well – and Joe even less – they clearly got along.

Actually, Heather couldn't remember feeling better. First, there was their successful assignment. Okay, so Sarah made it a little less difficult than she could have. But still, she was obviously impressed. Maybe Sparky's mom wasn't so bad after all. She certainly looked more attractive as a prospective mother-in-law than she did as a drill instructor.

Then there was Colonel Casey getting released from the hospital. She couldn't claim to know him – but he had been her patient. It felt good to have helped save his life. That's why she wanted to be a doctor in the first place – to help people.

But really none of those things were the real reason for Heather's good mood. The real reason was much more – personal. Sparky was jealous. Oh, he pretended not to be – but who was he fooling? His eyes gave him away. And while Heather didn't want him hurting – that's actually the last thing she would want – she couldn't help but feel good. It meant that he cared. And Heather was desperately looking for any sign that he cared. It was one thing for Elise to tell her that Sparky was in love with her. It was even better when Kate told her that Sparky was in love with her. But she really, really needed Sparky to tell her that he was in love with her. And so far he hadn't. Sure, he had hinted at it. He maybe even danced on the edge of it. But he hadn't said it. And until he did, Heather was going to be holding her breath. In all fairness, they had only known each other for a week – quite an intense week – but still, much too soon for her to panic. After all, they had settled in to being together very comfortably. And Sparky was turning out to be everything that she could have possibly hoped for in a man – and far more. She found herself wanting to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But all that did was to make the ache in her heart from the doubt a little more real. It also made her want it – and him even more, if that was even possible. And Heather had to admit – she would love, love, love to hear those three little words from him. But what if he didn't… The thought was simply too horrible to continue.

So, if Heather was truly being honest, she would have also admitted that she wasn't all that displeased when the man she had never met before walked up and asked her to dance. Although, it was pretty bold. She was clearly sitting at a table with a date. But even that wasn't all that shocking. After all, this was a place that catered to young solders looking for fun – and a little female… umm… interaction. The testosterone level was always off the charts. But this guy really didn't look like a solder. For one thing, he wasn't wearing fatigues. That in itself wasn't all that unusual – there was always a good mixture of people in civilian dress in this place. But he also looked a little older than the average PFC looking to get laid.

Fortunately, Heather was somewhat of an expert at dealing with horny solders. So she shot Sparky a calming glance and turned her head to the man – slightly. "No, thank you," she said with a smile. There was no sense in crushing the poor guy. He took a shot – and was turned down. It was time to move on.

But clearly this guy wasn't that easily dissuaded. "Come on," he said. "One dance. What can that hurt?"

Heather turned to fully face the man, this time without the smile. "No, thank you," she said firmly. "I already have a date." There, that should end this.

But, incredibly, the man didn't leave. "What?" he said sarcastically. "Him? A date? I thought you were baby-sitting. I'll tell you what – while we're dancing, I'll buy him another Pepsi."

Heather just shook her head sadly. This guy was clearly looking for trouble. That also wasn't that unusual for this place. And from the redness in Sparky's face – he was about to find it. Then, she noticed them. The five men sitting at that table across the room staring at them. And it suddenly hit her – right between the eyes. This wasn't random. This was a setup. He was trying to goad Sparky into going outside to fight him.

Unfortunately, Sparky was far too angry to notice anything but the man – who now had sat down at the table – and was trying to grab Heather's arm. "Excuse me," he said harshly. "I believe the lady told you that she wasn't interested in dancing. Now, if you'll excuse us."

"Son," the man said. "Didn't your mama tell you that children should be seen and not heard? I'm talking to the lady. This is adult stuff."

Heather tried to make eye contact with Sparky – but he wasn't seeing her. At the moment, all he could see – was red. "I'm not really looking for trouble," Sparky said. "But if you don't take your hands off her – like right fucking now, we have a big problem."

Heather really didn't know what to do. She had never heard Sparky use anywhere close to that language before. That alone was a tip off to his mood. But she couldn't let him fight this guy. He would be fighting six of them. Something was up. She wasn't sure what exactly – this could even be an exercise – but she knew that she couldn't let Sparky go outside with him. So she did the only thing she could think of. "Okay," she said as she turned to the man. "Look, one dance. Would that be okay?" Maybe that would buy some time for her to point out the trap that Sparky was about to step into.

Heather was simply not prepared for the look of betrayal that came over Sparky's face. It completely broke her heart. Every instinct that she had was now screaming at her to explain things to him. But she didn't have the chance.

"Sorry, baby," the man said with a smirk. "It will be you and me in a few minutes - after I take care of this guy." Then he turned towards Sparky. "What do you say sonny? Would you like to take this outside?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah respected Colonel Blum. She really did. The last thing that she wanted was to appear rude to the Colonel. He had gone miles out of his way to give them anything that they asked for. And she even liked him – as far as that went. He reminded her of Casey. But frankly, Sarah was more than a tad annoyed with him at the moment. No, it really didn't have anything to do with him sneaking the repeated peeks to check out her chest. After all, most men did at some point – especially when she was dressed the way that she was – or more appropriately, how she wasn't dressed. She was completely used to that. But she had big plans for this evening - big, big plans. After all, it was time to celebrate. For one thing, she was as happy about the death of Agent Walker as anybody.

Then there was this. For the first time in almost a month, she could take a deep sigh of relief. Her kids now had an honest chance at surviving whatever this life threw at them. Not only that, they had both clearly found the one they were going to spend their future with. And they were both excellent choices. Alex was simply amazing. He was Chuck – without the intersect. There was no higher praise than that. He had already proven, time and time again, how dedicated he was to Kate. He fit in with the family as though he had been part of it his entire life. Sarah couldn't even describe how much she loved him.

And Heather – well okay, her relationship with Heather was a work in progress. But Sarah vowed to fix that. She was looking forward to doing that work. Even though she had been consumed with the defense against Shaw, it was time for a little one-on-one bonding time with Heather. Then maybe she could take Kate and Heather shopping for a while tomorrow. She really enjoyed the afternoon that she had spent with the guys. But she really looked forward to getting her girls alone. It was time to be a mother again.

But first things first - tonight it was time for Sarah Bartowski to be a wife again. After all, Chuck had been amazing last night. Sarah knew that she shouldn't be surprised. That's just how unbelievably special her guy always was. Whenever he saw her struggling, he stepped up. So tonight, it was his turn. It's funny – in the first twenty-two days of being married to Chuck she found out exactly what he liked best from her. And now, twenty-two years later – it was still the exact same thing that drove him up the wall. Of course there never was any doubt – there hadn't been since almost the day that they met. But it was still fun to remind him of what he meant to her – that Charles Irving Bartowski was her life. And truth be told, it also felt great to know that, even after twenty-two years, she could still drive him crazy. That actually made Sarah feel as good as Chuck was about too – almost.

So when Sarah heard the knock on the door, naturally she immediately assumed it was Janice. After all, Janice lived for the times that she could interrupt an intimate moment between her and Chuck. It had become somewhat of an unstated game between them. And to be honest, for the last few years, Sarah enjoyed turning the tables. They were still as competitive as ever. She was actually catching up to Janice quite rapidly in that department.

Naturally, Sarah didn't have any lingerie with her. She came to the base with only the clothes on her back the same as everyone. The closest that she could come was the see-through general issue t-shirt that was clearly two sizes too small – and her plain cotton panties. Her intention was to open the door - show Janice that, yes, her evil plan had worked – and then slam the door in her face and get back to her… umm… efforts. So imagine her surprise… "Colonel Blum," she said. "Is something wrong?"

Colonel Blum was a career solder. He had seen pretty much everything. So it was almost impossible to fluster him. But one look at the sight standing before him had his face instantly looking like a stop sign. It actually took a moment before he could find his voice. "Yes, ma'am," he could finally choke out. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you. But I have some news concerning Director Shaw."

Well, that sure got Sarah's attention. "Come in," she said quickly.

"I apologize, ma'am," Blum said as he handed Sarah a single sheet of paper. "Director Shaw's laptop was still on when we searched his room. This is the document that he had opened at the time. Does it mean anything to you?"

Sarah looked at the paper… and nodded. "Yes," she said sadly. "It does."

"It shouldn't have taken this long for this to be brought to my attention," he said. "I promise that someone will be held accountable."

"Colonel," Sarah said with a sigh. "I would never tell you how to discipline your men. But, in my opinion, they have performed at a level well beyond what anybody could reasonably expect. With the mountain of evidence to go through, it's completely understandable that the significance of this would be lost for a couple of days. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. And please convey to your men how very grateful I am for their efforts. Once this is over, you can expect a formal thank you from the agency."

As soon as Blum left, Chuck came out of the bedroom. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's Ellie's address," Sarah said with a grin. "He is clearly going after Ellie."

"But Ellie isn't there," Chuck said. "She is in Mexico."

"I know," Sarah said as her grin broadened even more. "Ellie is safe. Shaw doesn't know that."

"Wait a minute," Chuck said as her joined his wife in grinning. "That means…"

"Yup," Sarah finished this thought. "We now have a way to trap him."

Chuck's grin faded pretty quickly. "If we use Ellie as bait," he said thoughtfully. "We'll have to make sure that she is protected. That Shaw is one devious S-O-B."

Sarah's first thought was to actually take offense. But then reason took over. Chuck was fanatically protective of Ellie. He always had been. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said soothingly. "You know that I would never let anything happen to Ellie. But that's tomorrow's problem - first things first. Come and sit back down. This t-shirt is way too tight. I really need to get out of it."

Chuck broke into a laugh as he resumed his place in the overstuffed chair. "Blum saw you dressed like that?" he asked. "I'll bet that is one solder that is currently standing at attention with a smile."

x-x-x-x-x

Heather was in a near panic. She tried to plead with Sparky to sit back down – but he wasn't listening – to anything. She could plainly see that the rage had consumed him. Sure enough, the five men that had been sitting at the table all left. This was clearly a trap.

Heather picked out the first man in the bar that she recognized – and rushed up to him. This might be a little awkward. The man had actually asked her out – more than once. He was a persistent son of a gun. He was clearly one of those guys who couldn't believe that a woman – any woman wouldn't want to jump in his bed. She even had to use the fact that she was an officer to finally turn him down in a way that would get him to stop asking. "Corporal Quincy," she said. "Do you recognize me?"

Quincy looked up. He clearly had been drinking – but then again, this was a bar. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "Lieutenant Moore, what can I do for you? Have you reconsidered – or are you just in a… special mood?"

Heather could immediately tell by the way that Quincy smiled what he was thinking. Yup, this was awkward. But at this point, Heather was ready to flirt with the devil himself. So she grabbed Quincy's hand. "Steve," she said. "Are you here with any friends?"

Quincy's smile turned into more of a smirk. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "But don't worry. I'm perfectly willing to ditch them. Don't be embarrassed. Everybody gets in a… special mood every once in a while. I always thought that we would get together – somehow. If it's only for tonight – well, I promise to take good care of you."

Heather didn't have the time – or the temperament to correct his mistaken assumptions. Right now, the only thing that mattered was helping Sparky. And if letting Steve Quincy think that she wanted to take him home tonight and do unspeakable things would get him to help – well, that worked. "Okay," she said. "But not yet. First, I need a big, big favor."

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Chuck Junior had never been in a real fight with another man before. The closest he had ever come was when he hit Paul. That didn't really count – Paul didn't hit back. But he wasn't afraid. After all, he was just as big as this guy. He was in excellent shape. And, to top it off, he was a recent graduate of Mom's mini academy. So he was fairly confident that he could take this guy. Okay, so he knew Mom's lesson about fighting – end it as soon as possible. That was fine. He was willing to end it quickly. In the mood he was currently in, one punch should end it. This guy certainly deserved it.

Then there was Heather. Did she really think that he would let her dance with that guy to appease him? She must have realized what that would make her date look like. It was crushing. Maybe they didn't have what he was thinking they might have after all. She was no where to be seen. She clearly didn't even care enough to follow them outside. Honestly, that hurt far more than anything that this jerk could do to him in a fight. Maybe it was a good thing that he had held off on telling her that he loved her.

When Chuck Junior finally made it to the parking lot, he quickly found himself surrounded by five big guys. The situation now looked entirely different. Mom's words echoed in a flash in his mind. The rules are – there are no rules. The original man stood before him. "Well, Mr. Bartowski," he said with a confident smirk. "Not too smart, are you? That was way too easy. Let's see how you handle this.

The light bulb went on when Chuck Junior heard the man say his name. This was a trap – and he had stepped right into it. He could only look in horror as he saw the dart suddenly sticking out of his chest. Within only a few seconds, he could feel the blackness consume him.

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