A/N Whoops, this is definitely not Friday or Saturday! Life got in the way. Anyway, I have two more chapters I want to get posted before the week is over, so you can look forward to that!

Okay, just to explain the relationship dynamics: Evelyn is Aaron Parker's younger sister. Evelyn married Daniel Shaw. Eve was shot, and Shaw remarried Jenn Iverson. Jenn is Sarah's sister. Jenn and Evelyn aren't the same person (though that would make a really cool plot line if they were!). Hope that clears things up!

Thanks SOO much to all who reviewed! (especially my regular reviewers, you know who you are lol!) I really can't get over the fact that people actually read this; it's very exciting :) Thanks to TeamBartowski for reminding me about Casey's term lady-feelings and to ArmySFC for the training ideas! If you have ideas on where the story should go from here, I always love to hear about them. Enough of this randomness, on with the story!

RECAP

Chuck looked at the letter, a slight scent of lemon wafting up to him from it. "What a pleasant smell," he thought to himself. He gazed at the symbols. They were the exact same as the ones on the letter Sarah had given him that first night. He gave over to the flash, his face contorting awkwardly. A pen cap. A china hutch. Ritz Crackers. A mirror. A white picket fence.

"We're supposed to show up at Jeffster's audition. We'll get our next clue there." Chuck's mouth was drawn into a straight line. "That's almost a month from now!" he exploded. "What if she hurts my dad before then?"

"They said they wouldn't hurt him, Chuck," Casey said. "We have to take their word for it." Alex, suddenly needing reassurance that everything would be okay, reached over and put her arms around her dad in an embrace, her face buried in his side. Casey was surprised, but after his shock wore off, he hesitantly put his arm around his daughter, pulling her in tighter for the hug.

No one knew what to say. Finally, Aaron broke the silence and said, "I suppose, if we can't do anything else, we should start training." The group looked at him, and he continued, "It's not like we can send Chuck and Alex on a mission without self-defense skills." They looked at each, conversing silently, and as one, agreed.


Then next couple of weeks flew by for Chuck. Parker kept them all so busy; it was all he could do to drag himself into bed at night.

Sarah was being a very good girl. Since Chuck had asked for space, she had been incredibly well-behaved about not over-stepping his boundaries. Yes, they shared a bed, but it was strictly professional... Usually. Most mornings Chuck would wake up to find Sarah sprawled out all over him, and he had to fight the urge to kiss her awake.

He knew it was time to move their relationship to the next step, but it never seemed to be a good time to do that. Sarah was always busy looking for anything that would lead her to her sister. She still worked at the Orange Orange, but instead of helping customers, more often than not she was in Castle.

Sarah had been very moody, making Casey often mumble about "lady-feelings." Just last week, she had thrown a plastic fork, very accurately Chuck remembered, at his head when he hadn't responded to her question fast enough. He shuddered to think of what might have happened if she had had access to her knives.

As hard as it was to deal with a frustrated Sarah, Chuck understood how she was feeling. He spent all of his free time looking for his dad, reading whatever he could, trying to get a flash that would actually help them find something. Unfortunately, SPI was doing an incredibly good job at hiding any and all information from him.

They had already raided the place SPI had kept Alex and Aaron when they had been captured; the place he had initially flashed on that night Sarah had come to him. It was clean. Zilp, zilch, nada. It frustrated Chuck to no end that they had to play by the bad guys' rules, having to wait and wait and wait for Jeffster's audition.

In Chuck's mind, now was the most opportune moment to start an official relationship with Sarah. They both needed the extra support because, frankly, thinking about MIA loved ones was one of the worst things to have playing through your head before you fall asleep. Chuck could think of several things he'd like to do with Sarah at night…

"Chuck, concentrate," someone said, snapping him out of his mood. He looked down at his hands, and he realized that the nunchucks in his hands were starting to slip, again.

Sarah was standing across the mat from him, nunchucks ready to attack him. Devon had cleared her for training again. He, of all people, understood the need for exercise, and how difficult it was to work out with a sling. She was lucky, Devon had said. She wouldn't even have that horrible of a scar from the bullet.

Chuck sighed, stressed from a big day at work, and especially stressed that Sarah, or Sam in retrospect, was so dead set on him attacking her. He couldn't get the image of her lying in a pool of blood in his bedroom out of his head.

He gestured, helplessly, "Sarah, I can't flash…"

Sarah mimicked his gesture, interrupting him. "I can't flash!" she said in a very good impersonation of Chuck's voice. Sarah was obviously in one of her moods. "Chuck, listen to me. You have to learn to defend yourself against me, because knowing you, you'll see my sister, Jenn, and flip since she looks so much like me. If you can't even fight against me, how are you going to stop my look alike from hurting your dad?"

"There's nothing that even says they want to hurt my dad!" Chuck argued. "We have no idea what they want. They haven't given us anything to go on since that stupid letter. What do they even want from us?"

"You know I'd tell you if I knew, Chuck." Sarah sighed. "Are you going to attack me or not? I have stuff I can be doing if we're not going to train."

Chuck took a deep breath. It was against everything he had ever learned to hit a girl. This wasn't just any girl, though. It was Sarah: sexy, tough, knife-throwing… Chuck shook his head. She was right. Jenn would look just like her. Chuck closed his eyes and imagined a taller Sarah with a tiny mole above her lip. She was going to hurt his friends, his dad, Ellie, and… Sarah. He flashed.

Before he knew what he was doing, he spun the nunchucks and started towards Sarah. In seconds, he had her on the ground, her body making a solid whoosh against the mats.

Chuck opened one eye hesitantly, trying to make it so he could see as little of what he had done as possible. Sarah started to laugh.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Chuck! That was really good. I haven't been flipped like that in forever!"

"I…I didn't hurt you?" Chuck asked in disbelief. "Is your arm okay?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Chuck, I've had way worse things done to me than just being flipped by a nerd."

"Hey," Chuck protested, "I'm not just any nerd. I'm like a super-nerd with super powers."

"Super nerd? What kind of super-name is that? What about Brainiac? I could put up with that."

"Um, no. That was one of Superman's principal foes. I'm not the bad guy!"

"You sure about that"? Sarah said, flirtily. She leaned in close, Chuck, like a magnet, drawing closer, too. Their lips met, and Chuck sighed. Sarah opened her mouth, and Chuck's tongue eagerly slid in. He had missed this so much.

They both jumped back from each other when they heard a slight cough.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Aaron said Sarah and I should switch, so that someone is keeping our cover at the Orange Orange. Devon's in the other room waiting for us, but I can wait, though…" Alex said blushing, clearly embarrassed.

"No, it's fine!" Chuck said. "We'll talk later?" he asked Sarah. Sarah nodded yes, and Chuck headed towards the cardio room with Alex.

The walk to cardio with Alex was a bit awkward. Chuck felt for Alex, it's not every day you walk in on your co-workers making out.

The awkwardness was killing Chuck, and he finally decided on a safe subject. "So, Alex, did you have fun at Morgan's last night?"

Chuck was glad he had chosen that topic because Alex instantly opened up. "It was really fun! I didn't know you and Morgan were so good at halo. Sarah and I are definitely going to have to practice."

"Eh, we're nerds," Chuck said, shrugging his shoulders. "We've spent half our lives playing video games. It's too bad Aaron and your dad couldn't have stayed longer."

Alex sighed. "Yea, I guess." Chuck looked at her, intrigued by her sudden change in her voice.

"You like your dad, don't you, Alex?" Chuck asked.

Alarm filled her face, "Yes, I do! Oh no, do I act like I don't like him? I don't mean to. Dad's really, really great. He's just not my mom, you know?"

"I understand completely," Chuck reassured her. "My parents had completely different personalities, too. Your dad is awesome, though. He loves you; it's pretty obvious that you could ask him to do anything and he'd do it for you." Chuck laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day Casey was wrapped around someone's finger."

Alex bit her lip; something Chuck had noticed was a pretty regular habit for her. "Do you really think he'd do anything?" she asked, in the same wistful voice she had used earlier.

Chuck was really interested now. "Of course!" He waited a few minutes before stopping Alex in the hallway, a few doors away from the cardio room. "What's really bothering you, Alex?" She didn't answer, and Chuck said, "I promise I won't tell anyone. I'm actually a pretty amazing secret keeper, if I may say so myself."

Alex looked up at him, her lip almost raw from biting it so hard. "Chuck, I think I'm in love with Morgan."

Of all the things Chuck was expecting her to say, that was definitely not what he was expecting. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a disgruntled noise. He quickly closed it, hoping Alex hadn't heard it.

"Aaron is a really great guy, and I know he's just my boyfriend because it keeps other guys who could potentially be a threat from hitting on me, but he's just so…. I don't know. Spy-ish I guess? Morgan is totally himself, and honest, and cute, and… Would it be too horrible if Morgan was my cover boyfriend instead?"

Chuck took his time, trying to decide how to answer her question. "You know, before I finally decided I was in love with Sarah, I dated a couple other girls. Sarah was still my body-guard, but she was also my friend." Alex looked hopeful until Chuck said, "You do know Morgan doesn't know anything about the spy world, right?"

"I know, but couldn't we just tell him? It's not like he'd tell anyone. He's Morgan, after all" she said, convincingly.

Chuck was about to answer her, but it was at that exact moment that Devon poked his head outside the door. "Time's a wasting!" He made a point of pointing to his wristwatch. "Let's get your cardiovascular muscles to scream for mercy."

They both groaned in mock annoyance, causing Devon to laugh and return to the room. "We'll talk about this later, okay?" Chuck said, Alex nodding in agreement.

Almost two hours later, an exhausted Chuck pulled himself off the treadmill.

"Devon," he panted. "You… Suck. How can you… be in such good… shape?"

Devon was still running, barely even out of breath. "Dedication to the machine, bro. It's all about the dedication. Exercise is awesome! You'll thank me for this in the long run."

Chuck groaned and waved good-bye, eager to hit the showers. Alex had left twenty minutes prior; she had a date to go on with Aaron. Chuck felt bad for her. He knew what it was like to be stuck in a never-ending spy circle of love.

The brief room was deserted. Casey was trailing Alex and Aaron, for extra security reasons, not because he was stalking his daughter, on their date. Chuck let out a big sigh, and headed towards his new destination.

"General Beckman?" he said, after pressing the necessary buttons to make the monitor come to life.

Chuck winced when he saw her in a bathrobe, hair tucked in a shower cap. That was one image he definitely didn't need in his head.

"I hope you have a good reason for disturbing my shower, Chuck." Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "It looks like you could stand a shower, too."

Chuck smiled, unashamed. "Welcome to my life, General." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I have a hypothetical question to ask you."

Beckman released an impatient sigh. "Yes?"

"Okay. So suppose, hypothetically, that you were assigned to cover date someone. Let's just say that you were incredibly vulnerable because of the secrets in your head, and your cover date was there to protect you. They're really great, but what if you want to date someone else? Would that be acceptable…hypothetically speaking, of course?"

The General's eyes just about popped out of her head. "Chuck. Are you telling me that you're in love with someone other than Sarah? After all that you two have gone through…."

Chuck back-tracked quickly, realizing how stupid he had just sounded. "No! Oh gosh, no, General. Wow. That really is my life story, isn't it? Seriously, though, I love Sarah. This is a hypothetical question. It's a completely different circumstance than my own."

Beckman's eyes softened. "Have you told her you love her, Chuck?"

"What?" Chuck retraced what he had just said. "Did I just say I love her? I didn't mean… I mean, this is all purely hypothetical. Remember?" Chuck could have kicked himself for saying something like that to his boss. "This is about Alex. She, uh, I was just wondering…"

"It depends on who she's interested in." Beckman interrupted, tying her bathrobe a little tighter while smoothing down her shower cap. "Dare I even ask?"

"Muuygun," Chuck mumbled under his breath.

"Pardon me?" Beckman said, leaning closer to the screen.

"My friend, Morgan Grimes," Chuck said, quickly, hoping she wouldn't make him repeat it again.

She balked. "You can't be serious. That bearded little thing you conspire with? Does Colonel Casey know anything about this?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so. Alex just kind of mentioned it in passing, and I thought I'd see what your opinions on it were…"

The General started to massage her temples as she interrupted him, again. "Agent Bartowski. I think that, for the time being at least, Alex would be safer with Agent Parker. After this whole SPI thing blows over, then we'll see. Don't get her hopes up." With that, the General disappeared from the screen.

Chuck stared after her, trying to decide what he should tell Alex. He headed to the shower, his original destination, thinking over his and Beckman's conversation.

Sarah knew she was breaking every rule in the book. If the enemy contacts you, you tell your superior. The superior makes the decisions on what to do after that. Under no circumstances do you approach the enemy alone.

What the rule book didn't specify was what you were supposed to do if it was your sister that contacted you. Were you supposed to ignore the fact that they were your family and turn them in? The word sent shivers down Sarah's spine. She had missed her sister so much. Sure, Jenn had made mistakes, but she was, what was it that that cartoon movie called it? Oh, right, Ohana. She smiled at the memory of watching Lilo and Stitch with Chuck's family. She wanted that with Jenn.

It was obvious when Sarah read the letter that there was a secret message for her on it. Before she had left, the two sisters had had a way of communicating when their parents were fighting, and they were supposed to be quiet: invisible ink. It wasn't hard to make, provided you had lemons handy.

Sarah looked down at the map Jenn had drawn for her on the back of the letter, and headed in the direction it dictated. She knew the location very well; it was the Chinese restaurant she and Chuck had had their first date in. Did Jenn know about that, or did she just like Chinese?

So many questions whirred in Sarah's mind. Why did she have to come alone? Was this a trap? She hoped it wasn't. She had a lot of weapons hidden away in case it was, but it would be nice to just see her sister. Scratch that, it would be nice to figure out what the heck she wanted. Why she hadn't died? What the heck was going on!

Cautiously, she hid behind a wall, glancing over both shoulders before she started to creep towards the back door of the restaurant. No one was in the alley, which meant no one would hear her if she needed help. Great.

She moved her hand to her gun, and pushed the door open. This wouldn't be the last of Sarah Walker. She still had to tell Chuck she wanted their relationship. Chuck was ready for it; she knew it. He had kissed her back today. She smiled, remembering it. She shook her head. Thoughts like that could get her killed.

She walked into the room, ready to attack if she needed to, but she lowered her weapon almost as soon as she walked in. Before her eyes was her mirrored self, sitting on a cargo box and puffing away at a cigarette.

"Hey there, baby sister. Did you miss me?"