Author's Note: I'm baaaaaack! Sorry for the long wait for a new chapter. I'm hoping to not have such a long drought between chapters from here on out.

To those of you who asked in your reviews of the last chapter, I don't think I'm that old (only 37) but I do love retro television shows, hence the reference to the show Adam-12 in the last chapter. It is actually available on Netflix, and I highly recommend it...so much better that the crap that passes for cop shows today.

Anyway, this chapter will see some pretty significant Charah action, both of the spy variety and the romantic kind. After this chapter I will be skipping ahead a little in the timeline and we will get to see more of Team Bartowski battling Fulcrum, and other villains.

Sunday, July 17, 2006

Maison23

Los Angeles, CA

0700 hours

"Any further leads on who offed the cell?" Sarah asked. The members of Team Bartowski were meeting via video conference to go over the events in Puerto Rico yesterday.

"Nope. Other than the name Sidney Prescott, who this Officer Mendez was seeing, we have no leads." Casey said. "And she seems to be a ghost; no one can remember much about her. A handful of his co-workers seem to vaguely recall seeing her briefly at different times but nothing else."

"Sidney Prescott?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah." Casey said. "Did you flash?" Chuck shook his head.

"No." Chuck said. "But that name is one I know. That's the lead character in the Scream trilogy." At the blank looks from the rest of team, Chuck continued. "Scream? High school students stalked by a masked killer who turns out to be two loser film geeks looking to commit the perfect crime and get revenge for the affair the lead character's mother had with one of their fathers'? Come on people! It was a mega-hit!"

"God you are such a Nerd!" Carina said over the comm link. "How did you become a badass Marine, Chuckles?" The rest of the team laughed.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Jack exclaimed. "That name on the apartment list! Thomas Riddle. That's from Harry Potter! That's Voldemort's real name!"

"Oh dear, God. I'm surrounded by Nerds." Casey groaned.

"Two names associated with fictional characters?" Sarah said. "Why would anyone in their right minds use aliases from popular culture?"

"Well, for one, I think it's obvious that it's not so outlandish." Alexandra said. "After all, none of us, or the cops, made the connection other than Chuck and Jack."

"True." Casey said, reluctantly. "I also think it was a message. They're fucking with us - well the intelligence community as a whole. They know that that likelihood of most of us picking up on something like this would be slim. But at the same time they know that eventually someone would figure it out."

"Fulcrum?" O'Day asked.

"Maybe." Harper replied. "Although it's a bit out of style for them. What about the officer's family?"

"Both the mother and sister were found by NYPD a few hours ago, dead. Cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head, execution style. The bodies were dumped in the river." Price said. "No physical evidence on the bodies, so no leads."

"Damn." Harper said. "Obviously whomever was behind this jihadi cell has cleaned up their mess. I wonder if the cell even realized they were being used?"

"Probably not." Chuck replied. "First, the very structure of most terror cells means that they very rarely have direct knowledge of their superiors. Under the right circumstances, an outside source would have no trouble highjacking a cell. Second, the mission was to kill Americans; most of the types that end up in the cells aren't that bright to begin with. Full of blood-lust and ego. As long as the mission they were given jived with their worldview, it wouldn't have raised their suspicions."

"Ok. Well, there's nothing more we can do right now." Harper said. "I've requested the local FBI, law enforcement, and other agencies keep us in the loop if they discover anything else. And just to be sure, they're each going to be getting a phone call from both the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security. Casey, I want you and your team to return to Quantico." Casey nodded.

"What about us?" Sarah asked.

"As of the moment, I don't see a reason for you to return early. Your team has the next 48 hours off." Harper said. "In light of Chuck's impending family nuptials, I've arranged for a secure suite in Vegas for the team. Tell Ellie that you arranged for transport back to the East Coast from there."

Sunday July 17, 2006

Casa Bartowski

Echo Park

Los Angeles, CA

0830 hours

"So are we all taking one car?" Morgan asked. He and Alex had just arrived at Ellie's apartment a few minutes earlier and were sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee with Ellie, Devon, Chuck and Sarah.

"I don't mind if everyone rides with us." Ellie said. she owned an Infiniti JX-35 SUV that could seat six.

"Actually sis, Sarah and I are going to drive our rental." Chuck said. "Since we're going to be in Vegas, we decided to change our return flight and leave out of Nellis AFB."

"Why don't you just return your rental here and we'll drop you off?" Morgan said, eagerly. "I've always wanted to go to Nellis." Chuck rolled his eyes; he knew Morgan's eagerness to drop him and Sarah off was related to the plethora of UFO conspiracy theories surrounding the base and its connections to the so-called Area 51.

"Yeah Chuck, why not?" Ellie said "It would be a lot of fun all of us driving together."

Shit. Chuck thought. I should have saw this coming. How the hell do I get out of this one? Luckily, Sarah was prepared.

"Sorry guys." She said. "First, the current security posture at most bases means you wouldn't be allowed on. And second, well, let's just say that I have a couple of side activities that I want to do with Chuck on the way that we wouldn't be able to do if we all rode together."

"What could you possibly want to do that you couldn't -" Alex started, then stopped as realization hit her, a blush creeping onto her face.

"Road sex! Awesome!" Devons said, high-fiving Sarah and Chuck, who were both now blushing.

"Anyway." Ellie said, trying to steer the conversation away from her brother's sex life. "That's fine. Morgan and Alex can ride with us. We need to decide where we're going to stay."

"Actually, sis, I've already taken care of that." Chuck said, going with the pre-arranged plan. "I got us all rooms at the Venetian." Ellie's eyes widened.

"Chuck, that's pretty expensive!" She said.

"No problem Ellie." Sarah said. "Consider it a wedding gift from us. Besides, we can get discounted rates since we're military."

"Thanks Sarah, Chuck." Ellie said.

"So should we get going?" Devon asked. With that everyone got up and after putting their used coffee mugs in the kitchen sink, grabbed their bags and exited the apartment.

Sunday July 17, 2006

Interstate 15

Outside of Barstow, CA

"So that was good thinking with my sister." Chuck said, looking at Sarah. Chuck was seated in the passenger seat of the rental car, Sarah having insisting on driving for the first leg of the road trip. Ellie, Devon, Morgan and Alex were about a hundred yards in front of them. Ness and Burton had left an hour ahead to secure the route and the hotel. O'Day and Price were following Chuck and Sarah at a discreet distance.

Sarah grinned back at Chuck. "Thanks." she said, reaching over to him with her right hand to gently stroke his leg. "But I hope you realize I wasn't just making an excuse not to ride with them."

"Sarah...I thought we agreed to wait!" Chuck said.

"We did you big goof." Sarah said. "But it hasn't stopped us from doing other things. And I plan on continuing that process on this trip."

Sunday July 17, 2006

Interstate 15

Outside Primm, CA

"Son of a bitch, there they go again!" Price exclaimed. "I thought it was just an excuse they were using not ride with his sister." She was sitting in the passenger seat of their government sedan, watching the tracker that was on Chuck and Sarah's car. This would mark the third non-gas, non-bathroom break stop that the couple had made. Next to her in the driver's seat, O'Day chuckled.

"Looks like they're real dedicated to maintaining the cover." O'Day said grinning before turning slightly more serious. "Seriously though, I'm glad to see them happy. From what Casey, Jack and Carina have said, neither one of them have had an easy life and they've both been hurt bad in the past. They deserve to be happy. Besides, you've seen them; if ever there were two people made for each other it's those two."

"Ah, well aren't you the romantic." Price said smirking. "But you're right. They seem to complement each other. And they're definitely some of the best partners I've ever worked with. So when do you think their own wedding bells are going to happen?"

"Heck if I know." O'Day said. "I do know Carina's keeping book on it though. I hear even Harper placed a bet."

"I bet Walker's going to love that when she finds out."

Sunday July 17, 2006

The Venetian

Las Vegas, NV

1530 hours

Chuck and Sarah arrived at the hotel about an hour after Devon, Ellie, Alex, and Morgan. While Chuck was checking them in, Sarah called Ellie to let them know they were there. Plans were made to meet in the lobby at 1600; Ellie and Devon needed to go to a jewelry store to pick out rings and wanted Sarah and Chuck to help them. Afterwards they would meet up for dinner with Alex and Morgan before heading to the Wedding Chapel.

"We're all set." Chuck said walking over to Sarah. Together they walked towards the bank of elevators just off of the Lobby, rolling there small Samsonite suitcases behind them. Sarah pressed the button to go up. A minute later one of the elevators opened and they stepped in. Unusually for the time of day, they were the only ones in the elevator. Once the doors closed, Chuck reached over and pressed the button for their floor.

"The room number the desk gave me matches what Harper gave us at the briefing. O'Day, Price, Ness and Burton have the rooms on either side of us. They all interconnect." Chuck said.

"What about Morgan and Alex?" Sarah asked.

"Across the hall." Chuck said.

A soft ding indicated that the elevator had arrived at their floor. When the doors opened they exited and turned to the right, walking down the hall, before stopping at their room. Chuck slid the electronic card key into the lock and opened the door. The two agents stepped inside and closed the door.

The room was more accurately a two-room suite. The main sitting area had a couch, two chairs, a large screen tv and a bar. Off to the directly behind the sitting area was a door leading to the bedroom which featured an in-room jacuzzi for two, a king sized bed, and a small bathroom.

"Hey guys." Burton said walking through the connecting door to the room next door on the right, with Ness following behind. "About time you got here."

"Maybe if the hadn't pulled off to play 'hide the salami' so many times they would have been, said Price walking in through the connecting door to the room next door to the left, with O'Day following behind. Chuck and Sarah blushed slightly.

"You're just jealous Price." Chuck said.

"Alright enough about our love life." Sarah said. "We have to meet Ellie and Devon in the Lobby in 20 minutes. They want to go pick out their rings."

"They have a destination in mind?" O'Day asked.

"They want to go to 'The Jewelers of Las Vegas'. Apparently it's owned by the family of one of Devon's frat brothers." Sarah answered.

"What about dinner and the ceremony?" Price asked.

"We're going to meet Morgan and Alex at B&B Ristorante in Restaurant Row for dinner." Sarah said.

"Devon and Ellie have a reservation at the Treasure Island Wedding Chapel for 1930." Chuck added.

"Well, since O'Day and Price had to babysit you during the ride here, we'll take over protection for the jewelry trip." Burton said.

"And we'll check out the chapel." O'Day said.

Sunday July 17, 2006

The Jewelers of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV

1645 hours

"What do you think of this one?" Ellie asked, pointing to a white gold men's wedding band. The foursome had been looking at wedding jewelry for 45 minutes. Most of that time had been spent looking for Ellie's ring. They had only just started looking for Devon's.

"I don't know babe." Devon answered. "I'm not really a white gold fan."

"Great." Chuck muttered to Sarah. "And here I thought things would speed up now that Ellie had finally picked a ring." Sarah chuckled softly.

"I know." Sarah whispered. "This is getting ridiculous. You told me they've been engaged for a while; I would have thought that they would have looked at rings before, at least enough to know what they liked. I know I already know the type of ring I want when we get married."

"Oh really, Sarah." Chuck said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you forgetting a few steps...like an engagement?" Sarah blushed, embarrassed. She hadn't meant for that come out like that, especially now. Truth was, she had come to the conclusion that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Chuck. But they had both agreed to take thing slow. She was afraid that if she told him, it would cause him to panic.

Before she could say anything to recover, a shout at the entrance to the store grabbed her and Chuck's attention. Two men, both dressed in suits and ties, carrying shotguns had just walked in and knocked the guard by the door unconscious. Sarah almost missed the sign of a flash on Chuck's face, only catching it out of the corner of her eye. The taller of the two pointed his shotgun in the air and fired a round.

"Everybody freeze!" he shouted. "This is a robbery!" Pandemonium broke out as customers screamed. Another blast took out a display case. "Quiet! Or the next one goes in someone!"

The shorter of the two moved forward from where he had been removing the guard's pistol, tucking it into the front of his trousers. He pointed his gun at the customers and employees.

"Everybody move to the center of the store and sit down!" he ordered. Quickly the 15 people in the store moved towards the center of the store, which was open and sat down. Chuck and Sarah took a spot next to Devon and Ellie near the back of the group. Chuck looked over at Ellie; she looked completely freaked out. He flashed her a quick smile to reassure her.

"Chuck, did you flash?" Sarah whispered, just low enough for Chuck to hear, while in the background the the robbers were ordering the patrons to remove their wallets and jewelry. As he reached for his wallet, Chuck responded.

"Yeah. Sarah we're going to have to do something. These are the Gecko brothers." Chuck said. Sarah gasped; the Gecko brothers were an extremely violent pair of robbers who usually left a trail of bodies wherever they went.

Sunday July 17, 2006

Across the street from The Jewelers of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV

1700 hours

"This is taking forever." Jason Burton complained as he lowered his binoculars. He and Samantha Ness were providing overwatch and surveillance for Chuck and Sarah while they went shopping with Devon and Ellie. "How long does it take to pick out rings?" Next to him, Samantha chuckled.

"Obviously you've never been married." she said.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Burton said. "You know how it is, this job is tough on the social life; even before we joined this outfit." Ness nodded in agreement. The long hours and being on call 24/7 did make the life of a law enforcement officer difficult in the romance department. Add to those things the danger involved in the job, and it became very hard. She was just about to respond when she noticed Burton tense up.

"Shit!" Burton exclaimed, reaching for his radio. Ness looked towards where his eyes were looking, and saw the two men in the store, one of them knocking down the guard. "This is Nightshade, we have a situation at our location. Looks like a robbery but I'm not sure. Omaha 1 and Omaha 2 are inside. Roll local PD; tell them there are two undercover Federal agents inside, and put a tactical team on standby!"

Sunday July 17, 2006

The Jewelers of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV

1705 hours

"Shit." Sarah whispered. Though her and Chuck were both armed, using their weapons presented two problems. First, there were a number of people between them and the Geckos; there was always the possibility of someone getting hurt if they engaged in a shoot out. Second, doing so would result in them having to at least partially blow their covers. There would be know way to simply pass off being armed as no big deal to Chuck's sister.

While Sarah was thinking of a plan, the shorter of the two Gecko brother's began walking around, collecting valuables into a bag, while his brother covered the group. Once he was done, he moved off and started smashing jewelry cases, scooping up merchandise.

"We need to get closer to them." Chuck whispered.

"I know, but how?" Sarah asked.

"You two, in the back!" shouted the taller of the brothers, "What are you talking about?"

"Uh..Uh nothing." Chuck said, playing the stuttering insecure nerd he use to be.

"Come here. Now." he said. "You too blondie." Chuck and Sarah exchanged brief glances; this might be the break they needed. If they could just get close enough to get the taller of the Geckos, they might have a clear shot at the shorter brother. Slowly they stood up and made their way towards him. Once they were about three feet from him, he ordered them to stop. Meanwhile, his brother had made his way to the display cases on the side of the store to the right of where Chuck and Sarah were now standing.

Suddenly police sirens were heard racing towards the bank. A moment later two black and whites skidded to a stop outside the bank.

"Shit! The cops!" the taller Gecko said, shouting to his brother. The shorter of the brothers ran over to his brother.

"How the fuck did they get here this fast?" he said. For a moment, the two brothers took their eyes away from Chuck and Sarah and the hostages. Chuck and Sarah looked at each other; this was the opening they needed. They gave each other a slight nod and sprang into action.

Moving almost as one, both Chuck and Sarah took one step forward and using their hands knocked the barrel of the shotguns out of the line of fire (each in the opposite direction of each other) at the same time pivoting towards the gun, grabbing the just behind the trigger guard and rolling the gun upwards so the stocks hit each of the brothers in the face, knocking them back, then wrenching the guns away. A moment later both Chuck and Sarah had taken two steps back and had the shotguns pointed at the brothers.

"Don't move!" Chuck shouted. "Get on your knees! Hands interlocked behind your head!" The two brothers, stunned from the quick turn of the events, hesitated.

"I'd do what he says, assholes!" Sarah shouted. "I won't hesitate to blow your fucking heads off!" Both brothers slowly did as they were told; still stunned that someone had gotten the drop on them.

Sunday July 17, 2006

Treasure Island Wedding Chapel

Las Vegas, NV

1930 hours

"You may now kiss the bride." The wedding officiant said, as Devon and Ellie embraced and Chuck, Sarah, Morgan, and Alex clapped their congratulations.

Chucked grinned as he watched his sister and her new husband. Both he and Ellie had come a long way. When their mom and dad had first run off, neither brother or sister could have imagined that they would have made it the point in their lives they were now at. Not many people, abandoned by their parents, would have not only managed to keep themselves together and out of the social services system, but then for one of them to go to medical school and become a doctor, while the other went to Stanford and everything that Chuck had done since, was almost a miracle. He was thankful that Ellie had found Devon; Chuck had liked the man almost from the moment he met him for the first time. And he liked how his sister had grown since she started dating Devon.

Glancing to his side, his grinned widened a little more, watching Sarah. Before her, he had thought he would never find someone he loved as much as he had loved Jill. But what he had felt for Jill paled in comparison to what he felt with Sarah. Despite his best efforts to not fall to far, too fast, he knew without a doubt that battle was over. He wanted nothing more than to full engage in their relationship. Especially after today.

Chuck's mood slipped a little as he remembered the events in the jewelry store. They had been incredibly lucky. The quick police response once Jason had alerted the LVPD to the situation had given Sarah and him the needed distraction at just the right time. If not for that, there was a good probability that he or Sarah would have been injured at the very least. Of course, even their success had caused some problems. To say that Ellie was beside herself over what went down was an understatement. His ears were still ringing from the shouting that had occurred after they had all been released from the scene.

Chuck sighed; his sister was still acting like it was her duty to wrap him in bubble wrap. Though he and Sarah (and Devon) had vigorously defended their actions, Ellie still saw it as her baby brother being put in danger. And Chuck knew that Ellie's campaign to get him to leave the Marines was going to kick off full blast again as soon as the wedding high wore off.

Sunday July 17, 2006

The Venetian

Las Vegas, NV

2200 hours

"Well that was an interesting day." Chuck said as he slumped down onto the couch. Next to him, Sarah was also relaxing.

"You aren't kidding." Sarah said. "I'm not sure what was more harrowing, the robbery attempt or Ellie's lecture to us afterwards."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Chuck said, embarrassed. "Ellie means well but she still sees me as her little brother that needs to be protected. Don't get me wrong; I love her and appreciate the concern, but sometimes I just wish she'd not at like i'm eight."

"I think it's sweet, in a way." Sarah said. "You think she's going to turn up the pressure about leaving the Marines?"

"Probably." Chuck said. "But even if it wasn't for the Intersect and what we're doing, I wouldn't want to leave the Marines. But getting Ellie to accept that is going to be difficult." Sarah leaned over and gave Chuck a quick kiss.

"Don't worry Chuck, I've always got your back. Even with Ellie." Sarah said. Sarah noticed a pensive look pass on Chuck's face. "What's wrong, Chuck?" Chuck looked at Sarah and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Sarah, I need to tell you something that's been on my mind all day." Chuck said. Sarah reached out and grabbed his hand and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Go ahead Chuck; you can tell me anything."

"Thanks." Chuck said. "Look, you know I'm crazy about you; head over heels really. But it's more than that. Sarah, I am completely, hopelessly in love with you. I know we said we'd take things slow, and I'll go with any pace you want, but I need to say this. You are my end game. I don't care how long I have to wait, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I knew it weeks ago; but after today and what happened, I decided I couldn't go another day without letting you know, even if nothing comes of it right now."

Tears began trickling down Sarah's face as Chuck spoke. Unbeknownst to him, he was giving voice to the same feelings she had been dwelling on for several weeks and most notably, since the robbery earlier in the afternoon. She leaned forward and captured Chuck's lips in a passionate kiss. A moment later, she broke off.

"Oh Chuck." she said, lovingly. "I feel the same way; I have been fighting wanting to just scream it out to you for weeks too. I was afraid if I said something, it would chase you away. The truth is I was jealous as hell during the wedding ceremony. I wanted it to be us." Chuck's smile instantly made Sarah's heart swell even more that his speech had. "Don't get me wrong; I don't think I'm ready to run to the wedding chapel right this second, but you're my end game too Chuck."

"So if I want to marry you, and you want to marry me, I guess this means we're...engaged?" Chuck asked.

"Yes." Sarah said, smiling. "Though I don't think we should broadcast it beyond the team, just yet. After all, you just introduced me to Ellie; I think we need to let her get use to the idea that she's not the only woman in your life now, not to mention we need to figure out how to get her off your back about your career."

"Yeah, you're right." Chuck said, then stood up. "But that doesn't mean we can't still get you a ring." Sarah stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Ok, but not tonight." Sarah said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "There's something much more important we need to do tonight to celebrate."