Sarah vs covers, lies and ticking time bombs

A/N: For Doc in Oz who does one mean Snowbell impression. Also, tomorrow is the last day to help KenMar Rescue reach their target of 2 000 followers on Twitter – please follow? I don't own Chuck.

Chapter 8

Sarah fell across the bed with one arm over her eyes. It's been almost seven weeks since Christmas and frustration was starting to win out over excitement. Aside from a few heavy make-out sessions in the Wienerlicious' storeroom, only on the days Scooter was not scheduled to work, which seemed to be quite too few, she and Chuck hardly had any alone time. Between the Awesomes and Casey's bugs, they felt like they were being watched twenty four seven, making sneaking around nearly impossible. Ellie and Devon's presence didn't bother her that much, they had a cover to sell as far as the CIA was concerned, but some days she resented Team Intersect's thoroughness in protecting the asset. She wondered why Casey didn't just plant a camera on Chuck's forehead and be done with it. So for now they had to settle for small consolations. An extra squeeze of a hand or accidental brush when passing one another. But even though it was nice to know that every gesture meant something, it didn't do much in terms of relieving…well, things that needed relieving.

Sarah pulled her phone out of her jeans' pocket and sent a text. 'My laptop's on the blink.' After a few seconds the message alert sounded.

'What's wrong with it?'

'Don't know. I need a service call.' She smiled wickedly as she pressed the send button.

'Jeff and Lester are on the roster today. Can it wait until my shift ends?' The smile turned into a frown. Damn him and his clean mind.

'No, I guess they'll do.' She waited.

'Okay, I'll see if they're available.' Sarah had barely time to raise an eyebrow when her phone beeped again. 'Wait, what? NO!' Her smirk returned. Before she had time to reply another text came through. 'Movie night at the Bartowski's? I promise lots of non-fake snuggling.'

'Depends. Will the hands be behaving?'

'Can't promise that. You're too touchable.'

'Cute. Permission to tranq the audience?' Chuck would know she was kidding. Sort of.

'Tempting, but no.'

'This is worse than torture.'

'I know. Stay over?'

'Thought you'd never ask. My place?'

'If you can convince Ellie to pick a short movie. Gotta go, Jeff's got Tara Reid's phone number.'

'Who hasn't? Don't be late.'

Sarah's heart gave a little jolt when Chuck entered the Wienerlicious an hour later. He must have missed her too. Pity Scooter was working today.

"Hey, try this. It's the new breakfast corn dog with country sausage and syrup wrapped in pancake." With a smile she handed him the latest concoction Harry Wienerlicious had her cook up. It was probably terrible, but Chuck always complimented the wieners she fried, because that's what good boyfriends do.

"Thank you, but maybe a bit later." She frowned when he casted it aside and then her heart dropped when he said "I have some serious business to discuss. Matter of national security." Great, she thought, another mission to derail their plans. "Casey's ex-girlfriend is in town."

Sarah did a double take. "How do you know?"

"I flashed. Her name is Ilsa Trinchina, super-hot, super-sexy, and staying at the Grand Saville as we speak."

"Does Casey know?" The response was automatic. Her brain was still stuck on the 'super-hot, super-sexy'. Was it fair to get jealous over a woman he saw in a flash?

"Oh yeah. Almost ripped my head off. It must've been a pretty bad break-up. I mean, for the longest time I always imagined Casey was built like a Ken doll. You know, downstairs?"

"I don't know what kind of woman would go for a guy like Casey." She tried to keep her mind on the conversation. Chuck's gesturing added to the frustration she had to live with for the past weeks.

"I was, ahh, kind of hoping you'd help me find out. Ilsa is a civilian, she's a foreign national. The Intersect has like nothing on her except for some love letters I'll never be able to scrub out of my brain."

"You want me to go behind Casey's back, re-allocate CIA resources and violate this woman's privacy so you can find out what their story is?" She could think of so many better ways to spend a specific resource or two.

"Tell me you're not curious." Okay, she'll admit she was a little curious. Plus if this Ilsa could distract Casey for a couple of hours… Of course then Chuck mentioned that he flashed on a really long list of bad guys too.

General Beckman ordered them to infiltrate the Russian's party to see who Chuck flashed on. They almost blew the mission twice. Once when Chuck was mistaken for someone's fourth cousin, Sasha, and the second time when she broke some pig's thumb for touching what only Chuck was allowed to. And then there was Casey's ex who was not so dead and engaged to the head of the Russian mafia. Deciding that it would be best if Chuck and Casey got out of there, Sarah had to stay behind to set up surveillance. She sighed. There goes movie night.

Chuck and Casey turned up again later that evening. She didn't buy Chuck volunteering to take part in the all night stake-out. If he came alone, she might have been less suspicious of his motives, but she knew him. He was up to something and it most likely involved Casey's love life. Bad idea. She ordered them to stay in the storage room where she sat up base. It was about as effective as telling Chuck to stay in the car. After taking care of one of the security detail, she returned to the room only to find it empty. She pulled out her phone and hit speed dial. Chuck's rang a few times before he disconnected the call. Getting really worried Sarah checked the monitors. She spotted Casey sliding under Ilsa's bed while she hid her gun away. Seconds later Victor Federov entered the room. What the hell? Then she saw it. A mop of curls was sticking out from under the bed. At least Casey was with him, but Sarah still considered getting an extra pair of handcuffs for Chuck to make sure he stays put in future.

The next day passed in a blur of briefings and paperwork. Ilsa turned out to be an agent with the French Secret Service. General Beckman decided that Team Bartowski didn't need to get involved after all. Grateful for having the night off, Sarah headed over to Chuck's apartment only to find a distressed Ellie and no Chuck. Though she was anxious to find her undercover cover boyfriend, she couldn't leave Ellie by herself in the state she was in. Listening patiently to Ellie's woes about taking care of three feet on her own, a part of Sarah was oddly envious of their 'real couple problems'. At least Ellie didn't have to fear being sent to the other side of the planet if anyone found out the truth. She was about to take Ellie up on her offer for some wine when her phone rang.

Sarah felt a little guilty for leaving Ellie with Morgan, but she was more worried about Chuck. He rushed off with Casey to save Ilsa, who was walking into a trap. She knew Casey was not thinking straight which meant he could get Chuck in real danger. She scanned the wedding guest for her partners. Failing to spot them, she dialed Chuck's number. She turned in the direction of the Mexican Hat Dance and felt anger boil to the surface when Mr. Pig got up. Ambushing him, she sent him flying into a wall with a single kick. With a foot on his throat, pushing her heel slightly into his flesh, she shoved her gun in his face. "Where is Chuck Bartowski?"

Before he had the chance to answer, she heard a familiar girlish scream. Spinning around she saw Chuck and Casey fall from a really high window. Her heart stopped. Time seemed to slow down as she watched their descend. All she could think was that they had to be okay. She only started breathing again when they emerged from the water, Casey dragging Chuck out of the pool by his collar. Her relieve didn't last long. Several Russian mobsters had their guns aimed directly at them. Snapping into agent mode, Sarah raised her gun and approached the gang. Victor verbally confirmed her fear that one little girl with one little gun was not going to stop him. Then she caught Ilsa's eye. They were in the same boat. Their guys were in trouble. Sarah knew what Ilsa wanted her to do and nodded slightly. Making a move to put her weapon down, Sarah kicked it through the air and grabbed another from a surprised gunman to her right. Ilsa caught the gun perfectly and aimed it at Victor's head, forcing his men to surrender.

The ride home was quiet. Sarah was still mad. At Chuck for always getting himself into trouble and nearly causing her to have a heart attack. And at Casey for acting unprofessional and nearly getting Chuck killed. She got that he had to save Ilsa, but he should have asked her for help, not Chuck.

"You know," Chuck was the first to break the silence in the car, "Casey's taking Ilsa to his place, so…" Sarah shot him a look. Then she glanced up in her rearview mirror and made a dangerous U-turn. "On second thought, I might be safer with surveillance around." His joke didn't have the desired effect. Sarah's eyes were still shooting daggers and he sighed. He placed a hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. "Look, I'm really sorry, but how about you yell at me tomorrow?" Without responding, she parked the car in front of her hotel. Sarah didn't need to look at Chuck to know he was giving her big puppy dog eyes. She ran a hand through her hair and let out a breath, wondering if she'd ever get used to all these emotions coursing through her. After years of being detached from everyone around her it was rather exhausting.

"Okay," she finally turned to Chuck, "unless I don't feel like yelling tomorrow." Chuck quirked an eyebrow and then a smile spread across his face. She smiled back. "Come on," she said softly as she got out of the car.

They made it to the elevator before Sarah shoved him against one of the walls and almost surrounded him with her body. It was her way of making sure he was really still in one piece. When the doors slid open, she reversed out of the cart, dragging Chuck with her. Without their lips breaking contact, she managed to locate her key, but after several failed attempts to get the door open, Chuck pulled back. He took the key from her shaking hand and unlocked the door. He barely kicked it closed behind him when she attacked his lips again. Chuck pushed her away gently. "Wait," he breathed. "I forgot something."

Sarah reached up to unbutton his shirt. "I have some in the bathroom," she replied shyly. Looking up she met Chuck's confused gaze.

"You have flowers and chocolates in your bathroom?"

It was Sarah's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Valentine's day." He gave her a sheepish look. "I forgot to get you flowers and chocolates. I screwed up our first Valentine's day." Sarah's fingers stilled. She forgot too and she knew how important these things were to him. Reaching up she placed a soft kiss against his lips.

"It's okay, Chuck, don't worry about it. All I need is you."

He pulled her closer and her arms circled this neck. "That's very gracious of you, but I still wanted to make you feel special."

"Nothing's stopping you," she replied seductively. "I'm here, you're here, there's no bugs…"

Chuck's pout turned into a brilliant smile. "Tomorrow I'm buying you the biggest bunch of gardenias a BuyMore salary can afford."

Sarah was surprised. "How did you know?"

"Hey, I'm not a totally incompetent boyfriend."

A/N: I messed with the timeline and some details of this episode a little, so please overlook that. Also skimmed most it to make way for the fluff given that it's Valentine's Day. Don't get mad at Chuck for forgetting, I'd rather see my boyfriend tomorrow than receive a bunch of delivered flowers, but that's life. Have an awesome week guys.