Hey everybody. Two chapters to wrap up this story. Now we've had our three weddings (Morgan/Anna, Casey/Ilsa, and Chuck/Sarah), our funeral (Ilsa), the two retirements (Casey & Ilsa), and the birthday (Jimmy). But what will happen at the reception, and how will Ellie react to knowing the truth? Or is there still some elaborate lie that can explain everything? Only one way to find out.

I do want to thank eLyrics for the words to Chuck & Sarah's wedding song. I admit, it is probably the least-shocking part of the entire story.

As always, please leave reviews. If you haven't before now, it'd be a good time to get them in. We're running out of story quickly.

Mailbu, California
September 24, 2011
4:00 PM PDT

Ellie sat on the couch in the living room of the beach house Chuck and Sarah rented for the weekend. Devon was afraid to go near her and everybody else sat in silence. No one wanted to be the first to say something and have their head bit off by the enraged Ellie. Chuck and Sarah had given thought in the past to telling Ellie everything once they were safely away from Burbank and admitting the truth wouldn't have put her in danger. Having Ellie find out in this manner was the worst possible scenario. Both of them wished like hell they could have traded places with Alex or Ilsa, who were outside coordinating the clean-up with the NSA. They explained to the guests at the ceremony that the helicopter accidentally crashed, and the pilot was injured. The NSA erected a series of tarps to cover the locations of the helicopter and the destroyed SUVs. The local police carefully shuttled everybody away from the beach and escorted them to a hotel near the reception hall to keep an eye on them until the investigation was completed. For now, they believed the movie story.

"Enough with the silent treatment! I want answers! Who was trying to kill us?"

Ellie would not be denied an answer, but everybody was still hesitant. Devon carefully sat next to her on the couch.

"Babe, it's a little complicated to…"

She turned to Devon. Her eyes shot daggers at him. "Well, someone better simplify it right now!"

Devon slinked away slowly to the opposite end of the couch, almost cowering in fear of his wife. Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Morgan, Stephen, and Jimmy looked at each other, each trying to decide who should explain.

Stephen finally broke the silence. "Ellie, it's my fault."

Her head snapped around to her father, but she was still livid. "What are you talking about?"

Stephen exhaled slowly and looked at the ground. "It has to do with something I invented many years ago, when you and Chuck were still kids. It was a computer program that could take huge amounts of information and convert that data into subliminal images so that a person could retain it and recall it at will. It caught the attention of the government, and I went to work for them developing the program, which was called the Intersect, for most of the 80's and 90's. But my involvement was top secret, and I couldn't tell anybody. Not you, not your mother, nobody."

"You've been working for the government?"

"Back then I was. I never wanted things to end up the way they did. But they wanted to put this to use in the military and our intelligence services, and they wouldn't let me walk away. That's why I never said anything, even after my involvement was done. It was to keep you and Chuck safe. Unfortunately, he ended up being involved anyway."

"What do you mean?"

Chuck spoke up next. "Ellie, do you remember the birthday party you threw for me four years ago?" Ellie nodded. "That night, Bryce Larkin sent me an email. The email contained a series of images, and I saw all of them. What I didn't know is those images contained all of the secrets of the various intelligence agencies of the United States."

"Wait, Bryce Larkin? The guy who got you kicked out of Stanford and stole Jill from you? I thought he was an accountant."

Chuck shook his head. "He was an agent for the CIA. The Agency thought he was a traitor when he stole the information, but we found out later that he was trying to keep the data from falling into the hands of an enemy organization: Fulcrum. And it turned out the reason he got me kicked out of Stanford was that he was trying to prevent the government from putting me in an underground bunker to work on a special program called Project Omaha."

"You see, Ellie," Stephen continued. "You have to have a special type of mind to handle all of the data the Intersect had. Only a few people in the world can handle it. Chuck is one of those people. He was able to keep and recall every secret in the government, and he was even able to do things he could never do before, simply by accessing the data on how to do them."

Ellie turned to Chuck. "So you decided to work for the government in spite of everybody trying to keep you out of it?"

Chuck hesitated. "The government wasn't sure how I got my hands on all of that data, so they sent two agents to investigate." He stopped and pointed at Sarah and Casey. "My very first night, I helped stop an assassination attempt against a NATO committee member. They wanted to put me in an underground cell for the rest of my life, but I insisted they had to leave my friends and family out of it. I refused to let the government tell you I died in an auto accident or something. So Sarah and Casey stayed around to keep me safe from harm, and I helped them accomplish their missions with the knowledge I possessed. The things I was able to do went beyond what almost any normal person could. That's why they had to protect me. John is really an agent for the NSA and worked at the Buy More as a cover. Sarah is a CIA operative and pretended to be my girlfriend so we could justify her being around me all the time to protect me."

Ellie's blood pressure shot up fifty points. "You mean this whole wedding was a fake?"

"No, Ellie! Not at all," Sarah quickly replied. "Like Chuck said, we needed a reason for me to stay close to him all the time. That's why I got the job at the Wienerlicious. Eventually, we converted it over to the yogurt shop so we could build a facility underground to assist us with our casework. Chuck agreed to let me pretend to be his girlfriend. But as time went on, it became harder and harder for us to just pretend. We…finally ended the charade and admitted we were in love with each other. And we never looked back."

Sarah pulled her chair next to Ellie and took her hand. "Ellie, we didn't want to keep you in the dark like we did, but we were doing that to protect you. The less you knew, the safer you'd be. But all of the times that you had me over, all of the wonderful things you said, all of that was real. You kept telling me I was one of the best things to ever happen to Chuck. But believe me, Chuck was the best thing to ever happen to me. I consider myself so fortunate I made a family here."

Ellie gazed at Sarah and saw a bit of sadness in her eyes. "Then, your father? He didn't miss his flight?"

Sarah looked down at the ground and her grip tightened on Ellie's hand. "It's a long story, Ellie. But he was unable to make it to the wedding. And honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to see him again."

Ellie was subdued. Clearly this was a sticking point with Sarah. She would have to ask her about it someday. But enough drama had taken place today, and an inquiry into the Walker family tree was far from necessary.

Ellie looked towards John Casey. "Wait a minute. If you're really an agent, does that mean all of those stories about you being drunk and urinating in public…"

Casey nodded. Devon moved back next to his wife on the couch. "That's my fault, Ellie. You wanted to know what was going on, and I'm a horrible liar. I panicked…I froze up, and John was kind enough to let the lies stand."

"What?" The anger returned in Ellie's voice. "You knew the whole time? And you never told me?"

"He couldn't," Casey replied. "He found out completely by accident. Sometimes this job got a little too close to the two of you. Anything that looked even remotely like one of us doing something shady was part of a mission. Devon telling you horror stories about me? We were trying to flush out an enemy agent. His bachelor party? A setup to get Devon's access card for the hospital to capture a known terrorist. Those pictures you saw were faked so he thought he passed out drunk. The stripper was that CIA agent you saw outside, Alex Forrest. Devon never did anything wrong at the bachelor party."

Ellie turned to Morgan. "Morgan, did you know the whole time, too?"

"No, not the whole time. But something happened at the Buy More where they tried to find Chuck and took over the entire store to do it. It just happened, you know? El, everybody kept the big secret for your benefit. But it's good now, because Chuck and Sarah won't be in danger anymore. They're going to Washington, D.C. and are going to work nice, normal jobs. You know, no more James and Jane Bond stuff."

Ellie turned to Chuck and Sarah. "So, you were telling the truth about moving to D.C.?"

Chuck nodded. "Yes. I'll continue to work for the CIA, but I'll do it there. Sarah is going to work at George Mason University."

Ellie grabbed the glass of water someone got for her and sipped it slowly as she processed all of the information from the last fifteen minutes. It was more than overwhelming, and she had to breathe in and out a few times to focus herself. She then noticed Jimmy sitting quietly on the arm of Stephen's chair, avoiding her gaze like he had the entire time.

"Then, who are you? I saw you at Chuck and Sarah's engagement party. You didn't say five words the whole night. Why does everybody know you?"

Stephen replied before Jimmy could say anything. "Eleanor, do you remember when I was away from home for most of 1990? Then I came back and spent all of my time with my computer? The reason why is we tested the program on a college student at the University of Illinois. It failed miserably. We were told the man was driven to insanity and committed suicide. Everybody was devastated. I was distraught over letting that happen, and I became obsessed with finding out what went wrong. That's why I was so withdrawn for all those years. I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you why. But it turned out the CIA lied: he didn't kill himself. He was able to handle the Intersect, just like Chuck could."

Stephen then gestured to Jimmy. "This is that man. He works for the CIA now, and he's going to take over so Chuck can leave the field."

Ellie looked at Jimmy. "But how did Chuck and Sarah know about you? I never met you before their engagement party."

Jimmy finally looked at Ellie. "Actually, you did. Do you remember about two years ago when you were taken hostage in the hospital? You were rescued by Sarah and a patient? A very large person who told you he worked for the FBI trying to track down organized crime?"

Ellie's mouth dropped open in shock. "Jimmy? Jimmy Slade? But you…you died in an auto accident. I was at your funeral. Everybody acted like you were dead!"

"They thought I was. Sarah and Casey were kidnapped by the same organization that attacked the wedding today, and Chuck and I had to rescue them. They thought I died blowing up the building to allow them to escape. But the CIA got to me just in the nick of time. Nobody knew I was alive until about a year ago. I spent that time training to be an agent, just like what Chuck, Sarah, and Casey wanted."

Ellie recalled the damage she saw on the beach. She counted at least four SUVs and a helicopter. All of that firepower was held off by just four people? Just so Chuck and Sarah could get married?

"Obviously you were successful, based on what happened today," Ellie told Jimmy.

Jimmy nodded. "There are a lot of people who will do whatever it takes to protect Chuck and Sarah. And you as well."

Ellie was silent for a moment. "Wait. This enemy organization. The ones you said took me hostage and attacked today."

"The Ring," Chuck replied.

"How did they even know about the wedding? How could they…" Ellie's breath caught in her throat. "I told them. I put that announcement in the paper." She put her hand over her mouth and her face went pale. "This is my fault. I did this."

Casey made a subtle gesture to everyone. Devon, Morgan, Stephen, and Jimmy followed him out of the room. Chuck and Sarah grabbed Ellie's hands as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"I could have killed us today! I told them where you were!"

"Ellie, please! This wasn't your fault," Chuck pleaded, but Ellie wasn't paying much attention. "You didn't know about us. You thought you were being a good sister by helping us with our wedding."

"I'm so sorry. God, I am so sorry…"

"Please don't be, Ellie," Sarah replied and held Ellie's hand tightly. "If anything, you helped us realize we belong together. You always treated me like one of the family, even when Chuck and I were having problems. You made us see what we meant to each other when we didn't realize it ourselves. You didn't put us in danger, you helped us stay together."

"Ellie, you're the big reason why I've made it this far," Chuck added. "You were always there for me, especially after Mom left and Dad stopped parenting. I could always rely on you. So please don't think you put us in danger. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have had this day in the first place."

Ellie slowly calmed down. She wiped a few tears away. "I wish you would have told me."

"Ellie, it was for your own good," Sarah gently replied. "Everybody else found out purely by accident. We tried to keep you out of danger as much as possible. Unfortunately, it didn't always work out that way. When we took you to the hospital four years ago, when your wedding was ruined, when we made up the lie about assisting the FBI, all of that was meant to keep you safe. Like Jimmy said, there are a lot of people who tried to protect you. And that's because of how important you are to all of us. We'd give up our lives for you."

"You always wanted the best for me," Chuck told his sister. "And that's what today was. In spite of everything that happened, this was still the greatest day of my life. I married the woman I loved. A woman you adored from the beginning. You said we belonged together. You were right. And we want you to celebrate that with us."

Ellie took a deep breath and looked at her brother and his new bride. "Promise me it'll be a quiet evening?"

Chuck and Sarah laughed. "Oh, we would enjoy that as much as you."

They stood up and helped Ellie to her feet. She hugged them tightly before the three walked to the kitchen where everybody else had retreated. They left the house to drive to the reception hall. Everybody was in a mood to party.

Malibu, California
September 24, 2011
7:00 PM PDT

The reception line was ready to conclude. The mood was much calmer and even festive. Everybody was ready to enjoy celebrating Chuck and Sarah's marriage…once the police let them leave the hotel.

The investigation wrapped up an hour ago, and the guests talked to the police about anything they noticed about what went on at the ceremony. None of them saw the explosion of the helicopter; they simply saw it go down. They weren't aware of it crashing until they heard the sound. However, the police and the NSA were able to convince them it was an accident and that the pilot would recover. The truth was as far from that as it could be, but the story told was adequate enough for everybody. Although the NSA wasn't sure how they would get everybody invited to the premiere of the Expendables sequel next year.

Jimmy ran into the reception hall just as the line was breaking up. He was lucky enough to find a clothing store that was still open and bought himself a new suit. He wasn't expecting to attend the reception, but the suit he wore was beyond repair, thanks to the gravel he slid down.

"I think I like this suit better than the first one," Sarah said in a jocular tone as she hugged Jimmy.

"Don't even start," he growled. "I could have saved $2,000 had I known that in the first place. Good luck to me getting the government to pay me back for the suit that got ruined."

"What took you so long?" Chuck asked as he hugged him.

"You try finding a store that sells suits in Malibu. Nobody wears them here. I had to drive to Nordstrom's in Thousand Oaks. Gee, aren't I lucky shopping malls usually aren't crowded on Saturday afternoons?"

"Are you done?"

Jimmy looked at both of them. The 'no whining' sign was definitely lit. "OK, sorry. Just a little frazzled from the day. But now I get to relax and enjoy myself."

"No you don't," Sarah replied. "We want you to do something for us tonight."

"I was kind of hoping to have a quiet evening."

Sarah walked to a table behind the reception line and picked up a folder. She handed it to Jimmy. "This is our wedding song. This is the song for our first dance. And we want you to sing it."

Jimmy glared at them. "OK, you do realize most bands actually have a person to do the singing, right? And I'm going to go out on a limb and say this band has one of those."

"We wanted someone who was special to us sing the song."

"Oh, and they didn't make it tonight? That sucks."

Sarah was becoming irritated quickly. Chuck gently stepped in front of her before she could do something to Jimmy. "Come on. You can't turn down the bride on her wedding day."

"Really? You're actually going to play the bride card on me?"

Sarah shrugged. "I only get to do it once. Do you know the song?"

Jimmy opened the folder and looked at the sheet music. "Sure, I know the song. But your dance is in less than ninety minutes. I don't have any time to practice."

"You don't need to practice," Chuck replied. "You do your best work when you're improvising."

"Please?" Sarah asked. "You said it yourself: you'd never turn us down for anything."

Jimmy shook his head and gave a snarl Casey would be proud of. "I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass one day." He looked at the sheet music again. "I better find a room and try to get the notes right. Preferably soundproof, or I'll make Roseanne Barr sound like Pavarotti."

Jimmy turned and quickly walked away. Chuck and Sarah turned to the crowd, which was standing around chatting amiably. The line at the bar was still appreciably long.

"Ready, Sarah?"

Sarah looked at her smiling husband and ran her hands over his face. "To celebrate the greatest thing that ever happened to me? Absolutely."

Chuck gently ran his fingers through her hair and gave her a kiss. He gazed into her crystal blue eyes.

"I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too."

They started walking into the reception hall.

Chuck paused. "He wouldn't really sound like Roseanne…"

Sarah gave a dismissive wave. "He's just nervous. That's a good sign."

"True. At least tonight should be much calmer than today was." Chuck thought for a moment and glanced at Sarah. "Not that I could blame you, but you're not armed right now, are you?"

Sarah gave him a huge grin. "Of course not, sweetie. But just to let you know. The garter is on my right leg. Definitely not the left. And please don't use your teeth. Not that I don't want you to, but it'd be safer if you didn't."

Chuck eyed Sarah nervously as they walked to their table at the front of the hall.

~/^\~

Alex Forrest walked through the crowd with a glass of wine. She packed a cocktail dress in the hopes Jimmy and she might go out following the reception, but the dress was put to use a little early. She spotted Ellie sitting at her table watching Devon talk to Morgan and Casey.

"Dr. Woodcomb?"

Ellie turned and spotted Alex. She smiled and extended her hand. "Given you saved my life earlier today, I think you can call me Ellie."

Alex shook her hand and sat in the seat next to her. "You should give Devon credit for that. You're married to a wonderful man."

Ellie nodded in agreement. "I guess. It's just that I'm still a little upset about all of this being kept from me. Especially by Devon. I thought he would trust me more than that."

Alex smiled. "To be honest, the guy is so faithful to you; he made my job much harder two years ago."

Ellie gave Alex a look. "I'd rather not rehash him getting wasted and having his picture taken with a stripper, even if it was actually a CIA agent."

"No, you don't understand. Devon was completely innocent. He didn't want a dance from me, and he didn't even drink much at the party. We had to tranquilize him in order to get his keycard. We took the pictures to make him think he simply passed out and had too much fun. Obviously you were never meant to see the pictures, but we were trying to keep him from knowing what we were really doing. I admit I didn't regret my actions then, but I'm sorry about them now. Thanks to Devon, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey were able to help apprehend a terrorist leader. They probably saved thousands of lives by doing that. Believe me; I've never met anybody as loving and faithful to their wife as Devon."

Alex pointed the table two away from them. "Although I'm guessing Chuck will be the second one. He loves Sarah as much as Devon loves you."

Ellie smiled. "He found the right woman."

"I agree. They taught me a thing or two." Ellie gave an inquiring glance to Alex. "We…actually…didn't get along at first. I'll spare you the details, but they helped me out of a dangerous situation when they didn't have to. I made a mistake during a mission, and they saved my life. And because of them, I ended up meeting a wonderful person. He's funny, handsome, and very compassionate. Pretty good agent, too."

Ellie looked at Alex for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Jimmy?"

Alex nodded and smiled. "It's amazing what this job will do to you sometimes. Well, I should let you get back to Devon. I just wanted to thank you for being patient with everybody. Chuck and Sarah think the world of you."

"Thank you, Alex. And thank you for helping out today."

"My pleasure, Ellie."

Alex walked over to her table as Devon returned to talk to his wife.

"Babe, you OK?"

Ellie nodded. "Agent Forrest told me the truth about your bachelor party. I'm sorry for ever doubting you…"

Devon took her hands. "Don't be. Honestly, I didn't know myself until well after the fact. I hated myself more than you hated me for what happened. But I'm a lucky person to be with you." He gently touched Ellie's stomach. "And even more so now."

Ellie gently pulled Devon to her and gave him a kiss.

Malibu, California
September 24, 2011
8:45 PM PDT

The lights dimmed throughout the reception hall, and a spotlight illuminated the dance floor. Chuck and Sarah stood just outside of the spotlight as the band got the crowd's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Chuck and Sarah are about to share their first dance together as husband and wife," the band leader announced. "They asked a close friend of theirs to sing this beautiful song. And now, please join me in giving a warm welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Chuck and Sarah Bartowski!"

The crowd applauded, and Chuck's eyes went wide. "You're not going to be Sarah Walker?" he whispered. "Or at least Sarah Walker-Bartowski? Your name is way cooler than mine."

Sarah grinned and kissed Chuck. "It's Mrs. Sarah Bartowski. Get used to it."

They walked out into the middle of the dance floor hand-in-hand as Jimmy went to the microphone. He opened the sheet music to the first page. The band began to play. They slowed the pace of the song and gave it more subtle jazz and blues overtones.

Birds flying high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For you and me

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For you and me
And I'm feeling good

They looked into each other's eyes as they slowly moved on the dance floor. It was a moment that felt so right. For those minutes, there was nobody except them and their song.

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For you and me
And I'm feeling good

"You wouldn't believe how tempted I am to just take you out of here right now and start the honeymoon," Chuck said with a look on his face Sarah would always remember.

She laughed. "I don't think Ellie would like that. And we've put her through enough today, don't you think?"

Chuck nodded begrudgingly in agreement. "Is this how you always pictured this moment of your life?"

Sarah smiled. "This is even better than that."

"Sometimes I think about everything we went through to get to this day. It was so difficult sometimes. But now that we're here, it was all worth it."

She pulled him down to her and kissed him. "I agree."

Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun, you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For you and me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel

It's a new day
it's a new life
for you and me
and I'm feeling good

The crowd applauded, although it took Chuck and Sarah a moment to realize the song was over. They waved to the crowd and went to get their next dance partners. Chuck went to find Ellie, and Sarah tracked down Casey.

"Come on, father of the bride," Sarah said to him with a smile as Casey tried to do his best imitation of the Invisible Man.

"You're going to make me regret walking you down the aisle?"

"I thought you said you needed to practice for when your daughter got married."

"And I did. Threatening the groom is my specialty. My work is done."

Sarah grabbed Casey's hand and forcefully pulled him out of his seat. "Let's go, Dad."

Sarah and Casey got together on one side of the dance floor while Chuck and Ellie danced on the other side. The crowd watched them dance to Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.

"So, give me the honest scoop, Case. Is civilian life boring?" Sarah asked.

"Not as bad as I thought. Mr. Bartowski was wrong, though. I don't have a lot of time. I'm always doing something."

"Well, you're running a business. That probably takes up a lot of your time."

Casey nodded. "True. I guess I just thought I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I left the government. I thought maybe I'd miss working as an agent. Haven't missed it so far."

Sarah grinned. "Maybe it's not so much of having the right thing to do, but the right person to do it with."

"Good point. That I do have."

Sarah looked over Casey's shoulder at Ilsa, who was smiling. "I've got some bad news for you, John. I don't think you're done on the dance floor tonight. Ilsa's champing at the bit to dance with you."

He gave a quiet growl. "That's what I was afraid of. I guess you have to sacrifice to make marriage work."

Sarah laughed.

"How are you feeling, Ellie?" Chuck asked her as they danced.

"Better, I guess. All of this is just so overwhelming. It's still hard to believe my little brother has been this secret government agent. And that the woman you married was originally sent to guard you. And I spent all of that time thinking John Casey was a drunken hooligan."

Chuck laughed. "Believe me, what you thought is not as far from the truth as I would like. Casey is…unique. But he saved my life more times than I can count. Sarah, too."

"But what happens to you now? Why can't you stay in Los Angeles? Are you still in danger?"

"Hopefully not anymore. Sarah and I wanted to leave the spy business so many times before. This was the first time they would actually let us walk away. I guess I could have found a job elsewhere. But Ellie, you wouldn't believe the number of people I helped by being the Intersect. And I'll still get to do that, only it'll be in a much safer environment. Behind a computer in one of the most secure buildings in the country. And when I'm at home, well, I think Sarah can keep an eye on me."

Ellie grinned. "Now THAT I don't doubt. So, you leave the field and Jimmy takes your place?"

Chuck nodded. "That's how all of this was possible. The new Intersect is designed for him. It was the way the project was supposed to go. You remember him saving you in the hospital, right? He didn't have any training at that time. Now he's been an agent for a year, and he's already one of the best. I can't even imagine how much better he'll be once he downloads the Intersect."

"I still can't believe he came up with that whole FBI story. Given what I know now, it was actually a pretty good lie. It made total sense."

"You can't believe it? I think Sarah was more shocked when he thought that up than when he took out those two armed guys with only a pair of scalpels." Chuck paused and smiled. "Half of the things that happened to me in the last four years I still can't believe, even though I was right there. You might not have known a lot about what I went through, but you knew the most important thing of all. Before I did, in fact."

They looked across the dance floor at Sarah and Casey. "I knew it was only a matter of time with you and Sarah," Ellie told him. "It just felt right. I never got that sense from any of your other girlfriends. But I got it from her long before you two finally got together."

Chuck gave Ellie a hug. "Thanks, sis."

The song ended, and the next song began to play. More couples went out on the dance floor as Chuck escorted Ellie back to her table. Morgan and Anna were getting up from their table to dance.

"Morgan, is it OK if we forego the best man/matron of honor dance? I think I only have enough left in me for one more, and I want to save it for Devon later on."

"Oh, not a problem, El. I understand completely." He put his arm around Anna and gave a big cheesy grin. "Besides, I have my dance partner for the night raring to go."

"Thanks, Morgan." She walked away from them. "And thank you for not looking in my bedroom windows anymore," she called over her shoulder.

Morgan turned to see Anna's icy glare. "Sweetie, I haven't done that in years!"

Anna's stare dropped another ten degrees. "Yeah, that made you look better." She yanked him onto the dance floor.

Chuck leaned over to Ellie. "Oh, that was mean."

Ellie smiled. "I know." The two siblings broke up in laughter as Ellie returned to her seat.

Malibu, California
September 24, 2011
10:00 PM PDT

Jimmy managed to avoid everyone for most of the evening. He figured between his A-Team imitation earlier in the day and his singing tonight, he had humiliated himself enough for one day. He just wanted to sit in the background and stay out of the way.

"Hi, Jimmy."

Jimmy looked up to see Ellie standing there. He immediately got up and pulled out a chair for her.

"Dr. Woodcomb, hi," Jimmy replied as if he just had twenty cups of coffee. "Can I get you anything? Water, juice?"

Ellie carefully sat in the chair. "How about you call me Ellie, sit down, and just relax."

Jimmy immediately sat back down and did everything but relax. "Yes, Dr. Woodcomb." Ellie glared at him. "Sorry, uh, Ellie."

Ellie shook her head and smiled. "You're worse than John Casey, and that's saying something."

"Sorry," Jimmy replied.

Ellie exhaled in annoyance but decided it was best to change topics. "You did a really good job with their wedding song. It was beautiful."

Jimmy shrugged. "It's a good song. I just tried not to embarrass myself."

"Chuck was telling me you came up with the idea of taking over as the new Intersect. I have to say, I am so relieved he and Sarah won't be risking their lives every day. And I have you to thank for it."

"Well, you know, Chuck deserves to live the life he wants. Both of them do."

"But what about you? What do you want to…OK, this is driving me up a wall."

"What?"

"I have never had anybody avoid eye contact with me as much as you. You did it at the engagement party, you did it earlier at the house, and you're doing it now! I could scream at Morgan, but he would at least look at me once or twice. What is going on?"

Jimmy shied away. "Sorry, Dr. Woodcomb…"

"I swear, if you apologize one more time…"

"It's…I…" Jimmy was quiet. "Whenever I see you, my mind goes right to that day in the hospital two years ago."

Ellie was confused. "Why should you be ashamed about that day? You saved my life."

"It's just that. I didn't save your life that day. I was the reason it was put in danger to begin with. Those guys were after me, and you got caught in the crossfire. You didn't deserve that. I…" Jimmy looked down at the ground again.

Ellie's voice softened. "Chuck told me a little bit about what happened that day, and I asked Sarah about the rest. Let me ask you something. How long had you known them before it happened?"

"I don't know. A week, maybe?"

Ellie nodded. "And Chuck said you didn't have any sort of training. Yet Sarah trusted you enough to try and rescue me. There was no way she would have tried what you two did with anybody else. Maybe not even Chuck at that time."

Jimmy shook his head. "I'm sure Sarah would have come up with another idea if she couldn't trust the person who was with her."

"Uh-uh," Ellie replied. "She told me she thought about what would have happened had you not been there. She thought her only other option would be to throw the scalpels from where she was, thirty feet away. But she figured she had a 1 in 500 chance of saving me that way. And even if it worked, her cover would have been blown and the CIA would have sent her packing. But she saw what you could do, even if you couldn't. She knew she could count on you to rescue me."

Jimmy was still looking at the ground. Ellie grabbed his arm.

"Hey," she prompted and waited until he looked up. "There are a lot of people who could have put me in danger but very few who could have gotten me out of it. Chuck and Sarah trust you, and that's good enough for me. You gave up your life to save them, so I don't want you being ashamed of that day ever again. Understood?"

She exhaled deeply, as the long night combined with her pregnancy was starting to take a toll on her. "And now you'll have to help me up because I definitely overdid it tonight."

Jimmy gave a small smile and walked around to Ellie. He grabbed her hands and gently pulled her up. She put her arms around him.

"Thank you for looking out for my family," she said as she hugged him tightly.

Jimmy nodded. "Glad to it Doc…Ellie."

They turned to see Chuck and Sarah join them.

"Will you two be calling it a night soon? You probably have a few things left to do," Ellie said with a smile.

"We're heading out in a little while, but we wanted to make sure we thanked everybody, especially those people who helped out today," Chuck replied.

"Plus, there's one person I haven't danced with yet. He's been hiding the entire night," Sarah said as she glared at Jimmy.

"Uh, yeah. That was on purpose," he countered.

"You have to dance," Chuck told him. "If the bride wants you to dance with her, you can't turn it down. Isn't that the rule, Ellie?"

"That is the rule."

"I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one day," Jimmy grumbled. "It's bad enough I helped turn your wedding into a circa 1980's Schwarzenegger flick, but I took a great Nina Simone tune and turned it into Michael Bublé. And I mean BAD Michael Bublé."

"Really, is there any other kind of Michael Bublé?" Chuck quipped.

Sarah grabbed Jimmy's hand and twisted it backwards. "You are going to dance with me or I will beat the hell out of you in front of everybody," she hissed at him.

Jimmy grimaced and glared at Sarah. "Fine."

Sarah's expression turned from irate to delight in an instant. She led Jimmy to the dance floor. Ellie turned to Chuck.

"Has he always…"

Chuck shook his head in frustration. "Don't get me started."

Ellie pointed to their father. "Dad seems to be getting along with one of Sarah's friends. The redhead over there?"

Chuck looked over, and the headache that started a moment ago increased quickly. "I, uh, better go talk to Carina before she ends up as our stepmother."

Sarah finished pulling Jimmy out to the dance floor. She took his arms and put them around her. She then put her arms on his shoulders.

"Now, you are going to listen to me, and I don't want to hear a single sarcastic comment from you. Got it?"

Jimmy quietly nodded. He had seen this side of Sarah enough times to know messing with her would not be a stellar career move.

"First of all, we knew The Ring might attack, but Casey, Ilsa, Alex, and you held them off, just like we knew you would. You saved our wedding; you did NOT ruin it. Clear?"

"Crystal," was Jimmy's subdued reply.

"Second of all, we knew you'd do a great job singing that song, and we were going to have you sing it, even if we had to explain it to Ellie. So no more lame comments about it. Understood?"

Jimmy nodded.

"Now…most of all…Chuck and I knew this day would eventually happen. But I don't even want to consider how much more difficult it would have been if it wasn't for you. You've helped us out in more ways than we could ever know. And it wouldn't be the same if you weren't here to share this day with us."

Sarah hugged him tightly and gave him a kiss. "Thank you for everything you've done for us."

A smile slowly came to Jimmy as they embraced. "My pleasure, kiddo."

They continued to dance for a few moments.

"So how's life in the land of happily ever after?" Jimmy asked.

She smiled. "It's everything I hoped for. I feel so lucky."

"Luck is what happens to people when they didn't really earn something. Believe me, you earned this day. Nobody deserves it more than you. In fact, I think life still owes you a few more singing canaries and a couple of horse-drawn carriage rides."

Sarah gripped him tightly and kissed him again. "This is why I get so mad at you when you're negative. Because you know you don't have to be. You were always so much better than that. In fact, there's one big advantage you have over both Chuck and Casey."

Jimmy furrowed his brow in confusion. "What?"

Sarah grinned. "I don't get neck strain talking to you. Those two are so tall! At least with you we're almost the same height. In fact, I wear the right heels and I'm taller than you."

"Yeah, I'm the Tom Cruise of the spy world," Jimmy replied with not a small amount of annoyance.

Sarah looked at him. "Did you talk to Alex? Did you tell her about being the new Intersect?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I was about to earlier, but The Ring interrupted us, and I've been trying to stay out of everybody's way since."

"You have to talk to her."

Jimmy nodded. "I know. I'm just worried about what will happen next."

Sarah held his face in her hands. "Look, whatever you two have to do to make this work, I know you can do it. She's been through a lot, too. But you're the best thing she's had in her life since John, so…"

Jimmy stared blankly. "John? Not John…"

Sarah quickly shook her head. "No, not Casey." She gave Jimmy an odd look. "She never told you about her fiancé?"

"What fiancé?"

Sarah looked down at the ground for a second. "Alex was engaged ten years ago. She was going to work for the FBI, and she met a man named John O'Shea. She was completely in love with him."

"He left her?"

Sarah was distressed. She shook her head gently. "He died in the Pentagon on 9/11. She hasn't been with anyone since."

"Oh, God. She never said a thing to me." Sarah could feel Jimmy's entire body slump. "I never should have let it get this far. I wish I knew…"

"Jimmy," Sarah forcefully replied as she pushed his chin up to look into his eyes. "Trust me: she needs you right now. And it's pretty obvious you need her. Like I said, you two can work it out."

The song ended. Sarah straightened Jimmy's tie and adjusted his jacket. "I think it's time Chuck and I got on to the next part of the evening. But promise me you'll talk to Alex."

"I will."

Sarah smiled and hugged him. "Thank you for being part of our family."

Jimmy gave a slight smile. The one he had that Sarah knew was genuine. "Thanks, Sarah."

He turned to watch Sarah find Chuck. They hugged Ellie and departed hand-in-hand. He turned and looked around the reception. About half the crowd was still there, most of whom were either dancing or abusing the open bar. The band had another thirty minutes of play time left. He walked along the back of the hall and spotted Alex. She closed the distance between them.

"Where have you been tonight?" she asked.

"It took me a while to buy a new suit, and then I had to practice for Chuck and Sarah's song. After that, I…just wanted to stay in the background. I figured I did enough for one wedding."

Alex gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I admit that was straight out of a TV show today."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "So, does that mean Casey was Hannibal?" Alex started laughing harder. "And you're the good looking one, so you're obviously Face. Which must make me Murdock, 'cause I do the crazy stuff…hey, Roger Murdock! That works!"

Alex grinned. "But that means Ilsa has to play Mr. T."

"You know, I heard rumors about him and George Peppard..."

Alex laughed hysterically at that image. "Oh, you did not!"

"Hey, Leslie Nielsen said it best: everything I say is true except for the facts."

Alex's laughter subsided, and she looked out at the dance floor. "Do I finally get to dance with you?"

Jimmy shrugged. "As long as you don't try to break my hand off like Sarah did."

"As long as you go out there, your hand is safe."

They took each other's hands and walked to the dance floor. They held each other closely and moved gently to the music.

"We never did finish our conversation from earlier, James," Alex said. "What did you want to tell me?"

Jimmy couldn't meet her gaze. "I was going to talk about something I had to do, but I…look, don't be mad at Sarah, but she told me about your fiancé." Alex grew silent. "I didn't realize you were in love with someone once and...I...got closer than I should have. I don't know. I just felt something special and I probably should have respected what you went through, and I'm sorry I…"

Alex put her finger gently over Jimmy's lips to quiet him. He slowly looked up at her, and her blue-green eyes sparkled as she gazed into his.

"I'm not mad at Sarah for telling you that. I should have told you long ago. You're right; I was in love. I was head over heels in love with John. We were going to start this great life together. He was handsome, sweet, never forgot to buy me a gift on a holiday, and I thought he was everything I wanted. I was devastated when I found out he was killed in the Pentagon. I didn't want to feel that way ever again. I…I just shut myself off. I refused to let anybody in. And that's what you saw when you first met me. It took me a long time, but I finally realized it's easy to fall in love when you're 22 and on top of the world. Things were so perfect for so long. But then the world came up and gave me a healthy dose of reality. I didn't handle it well. I…I hated everything and everyone for what happened to me on 9/11. And of course, the CIA wasn't going to get me to stop hating; they used it to their advantage. I didn't want to be close to anybody for the rest of my life…until I met you."

Alex slid her hands on either side of Jimmy's face. "I often think about John, and I know how I felt about him. But as much as I was in love with him, I'm even more in love with you."

Alex gazed into Jimmy's royal blue eyes for a moment. "We've been through so much since we met. It hurt me when they sent you off to London. I treated you shamefully in San Diego, but you wouldn't be pushed away and you stuck by me when I needed you the most. Then what you said at my father's grave...and risking your life to rescue me..."

Jimmy's eyes widened, and Alex gently stroked his cheek with her hand. "It was easy for me to fall in love with John because life wasn't difficult then. But after all we've been through, there's no question I am completely and totally in love with you, James."

Alex pulled Jimmy's face to her and placed her lips tenderly on his. Jimmy pulled her closer to him as their kiss increased in passion. She ran her fingers through his hair as they shared such an intimate and loving moment. They embraced each other to the point of suffocation.

"I love you, too," Jimmy whispered ardently in her ear.

Alex shut her welling eyes and tightened her grip on him, thankful for being given an even greater opportunity at love than the one she was lucky enough to have ten years ago. She kissed his ear and neck over and over as she held him before pulling back and kissing him hard on his strong lips once more.

"James, please tell me what was wrong earlier. What did you want to tell me? Why couldn't you tell me in the hotel?"

Jimmy breathed deeply to calm himself. "You know about the Intersect project, right?"

Alex nodded. "I know a few things. I know Chuck is the Intersect and all of his skills come from it. I know you were an Intersect at one point."

"Chuck had his Intersect taken out. Sarah and he are going to retire from being field agents and work in D.C. But for that to happen, I had to become the new Intersect." He started to shake. "I'm…I'm sorry, Alexandra. I did this before I even knew I was in love with you or how you felt about me. And I couldn't go back on my commitment."

Alex stood there and continued to caress Jimmy's face. "You gave up what you wanted for someone else?"

Jimmy looked down at the ground and nodded. Alex held his face tightly and tilted it up to face her. "I'd be something of a hypocrite to get mad at you, since that's one of the things about you I fell in love with."

Jimmy put his hands on her face and drew her in for a kiss. "I don't want to lose you. But I don't know what will happen when they put in the new Intersect. They may send me off alone, they may keep us apart. For all I know, this thing might kill me."

Alex stared at him with the most determined look Jimmy had ever seen from her. "Just let them try to keep me away from you. I'm not giving you up, no matter what."

They stood in the middle of the dance floor and kissed passionately, not even knowing if the band was still playing or if anyone was there.

Malibu, California
September 24, 2011
11:15 PM PDT

Chuck and Sarah arrived at their rented beach house. They wouldn't leave for their honeymoon until Tuesday, but a ten-day trip to Paris and Rome awaited them. They couldn't think of a more romantic way to spend their first days together as husband and wife.

Chuck unlocked the door to the house and suddenly hesitated. He looked at Sarah.

"OK, wait. Am I supposed to carry you through this door or the bedroom door? Actually, you've taken on a half-dozen guys unarmed, so I'm sure it's probably demeaning for you…"

Sarah grinned, wrapped her arms around Chuck, and leaped into the air. Chuck caught her and carried her inside, kissing her joyously as he kicked the door closed.

"I'll carry you through both, just to be on the safe side," he replied with a grin.

She gently stroked his face. "Are you sure you can carry me all the way up the stairs?"

"Are you kidding? I'd carry you to Miami if you asked me to."

Sarah raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "All the way to Miami?"

Chuck hemmed and hawed at that. "OK, maybe Santa Monica."

Sarah laughed as Chuck carried her up the stairs to their bedroom. Morgan and Anna were put in charge of preparing the bedroom and did their assigned duties to the letter. A bottle of champagne was chilling near the bed, and there were rose petals everywhere.

Chuck put Sarah down gently. She kept her arms around him and gave him a kiss. "Be right back," she whispered into his ear.

Chuck watched her walk into the bathroom and took off his jacket. He removed his tie and set about to pouring them some champagne. He held the two glasses in his hands and waited patiently. When Sarah stepped back into the bedroom, Chuck stared in open-mouthed shock and wondered how he was able to keep the champagne flutes in his hands.

Sarah was wearing a white charmeuse and lace long gown with spaghetti straps. The straps crossed down her shapely back to hold up the satiny train of the gown. Chuck was fairly certain he just saw his first angel.

Sarah's smile was more beautiful than it ever had been before. "How do I look?"

Chuck didn't say a word. He couldn't even move. Sarah walked up to him to see if he was still blinking.

"Chuck?" she asked sweetly. He still didn't react, so Sarah tried kissing him passionately to snap him out of it. Fortunately, that worked.

"Sorry. I…I…just got my breath taken away."

She gently caressed his face. "That was one of the things that made me fall in love with you: how you always look at me with wide-eyed joy, no matter how long we've been together."

Chuck smiled and handed her one of the champagne flutes. They interweaved their arms and took a drink from each other's glass.

"No matter what words I use to describe how amazing you are, they're still not enough."

Sarah put her champagne flute down and Chuck did likewise. They held each other. Chuck was surprised.

"What's wrong, Sarah? You're shaking."

Chuck gently steered her to the bed and they sat down. "I guess, Chuck…I…I used to think about whether or not I would have this moment in my life, whether I deserved it. You always picture what this might be like, and this is so beyond what I had hoped, it scares me a little."

Chuck gently brushed back her hair and kissed her. "This is beyond what I had hoped, too. I never imagined someone like you would be the person I'd spend the rest of my life with. But now, I can't think of anybody else I would want to be with. I love you more than anybody could possibly know."

Sarah gazed into those puppy-dog eyes and could feel her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. She grabbed Chuck firmly and kissed him with every last bit of passion and energy in her soul.

Malibu, California
September 25, 2011
1:00 PM PDT

Sarah looked out over the balcony at the Pacific Ocean. She thought of everything that happened to her in her life. Moving from town to town as a kid, having to pull cons with her father to survive, the ridicule she faced in school, the day Langston Graham handed her his business card and gave her the name Sarah Walker, her hard work through college and agent training, her Red Test, her torrid affair with Bryce, and the day she walked into the Buy More. She hated herself for so long and didn't care what she had to do to be successful. But then she saw a different side of life. One where she could trust the people she worked with, where she had friends, where people became family to her, where people would give up their lives to protect her, and where people would love her for who she was, not who she pretended to be.

The man who gave all of that to her walked out on the balcony and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey beautiful," Chuck said as he kissed her.

"Hey yourself," Sarah replied and returned the kiss. "How do you feel today?"

Chuck looked out at the ocean while keeping his arms wrapped around her. "Like all is right with the world." He smiled. "Of course, I always felt that way when I was with you."

She smiled and held his arms tightly against her. "Everything does feel right today. It never felt so right in my life." She turned and kissed him lovingly. "I don't know if it's even possible to love you more today than I did yesterday, but I do."

Chuck gave her his best smile. "I love you, too." He gave her an impassioned kiss.

A beeping sound from the bedroom interrupted them. They looked into the house with a little confusion.

"Is something wrong? Nobody would call today, would they?" Chuck asked. Sarah didn't have an answer. They walked inside to Sarah's ringing iPhone.

"Why would Alex be calling?" she asked before she became upset at what Alex might say. "I swear, if Jimmy didn't talk to her last night…" She slid the button to answer.

"Everything OK, Alex?"

"He's gone."