Episode 3x09 - Part 3
A/N This update is a lot later than promised, very sorry. My body decided to stop protesting about the late nights/early mornings and all nighters and just took over, so I finally got some sleep. Thank you very much for all the feedback on this story and allowing me to go off mission by writing a longer fic for this episode. Here's a little spoiler for you – The Final Exam is not going to be a one shot either.
Very minor editing and an alternative ending - that's all you missed.
As always, he's not my Chuck.
Chuck answered his phone on the first ring, not bothering to look at the caller ID. "Sarah, thank go...Casey? Can we do this later? I'm waiting for Sarah to call."
"Where?"
"That's definitely the last place I would have looked. It's the worst hiding spot ever."
"Okay, I'll be there in ten. Please keep an eye on her?"
"What do you mean more?"
"Are you sure?"
"What do we do now?"
"Okay...and Casey...thanks."
Chuck barged through the bedroom door. The first thing he saw was Sarah jumping up, startled.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn't think." He rushed to her side. Taking her gently by the shoulders, he pushed her back down to sit on the bed. "I'm just so glad I found you. You had me worried. I thought you were half way to Alaska by now." Chuck knelt in front of the bed and gave Sarah's knee a comforting squeeze. "Are you okay?"
Sarah didn't reply. Instead she just shook her head slightly.
"Of course you're not," Chuck said more to himself that to her. Her boyfriend just died and she pulled the trigger. Casey said it wasn't her fault, but he wouldn't elaborate. He told Chuck to get her back to her hotel where there's no surveillance. He'll meet them there and explain everything.
"Sarah, we need to get out of here."
"I'm not going to run, Chuck. I just needed...a little time." Chuck wanted to know what prompted her to hide in his bedroom of all places, considering there were more bugs in here than in the entomology section at the Smithsonian, but given said bugs, it will have to wait.
"I know. We can talk in the car okay." Sarah allowed him to lead her to the NerdHerder.
Sarah was quiet on the way to her hotel. Chuck expected that much, but after a while he couldn't take it anymore. He put his hand over hers and gave it a quick squeeze. "Everything will work out, okay?"
"No, it won't." She had to face the consequences of her actions. She shot a fellow agent. She felt remorse over that, but nothing more. She had to choose between Chuck and Shaw and she would make the same decision every time, but she just wished the outcome wasn't so dire.
Chuck decided on a different tactic. "Why did you hide in my bedroom?"
His question caught Sarah off guard. "I don't know." How was she supposed to explain something to him that she didn't understand herself? She felt safe there. She didn't know why, she just did. For the first time she noticed they were not on their way to Castle.
"Where are we going?"
"Your place. Casey is meeting us there. There's something he need to tell us."
Sarah frowned. "No, Chuck. You need to take me to Castle. I have to tell Beckman what I've done."
"I'm not turning you in, Sarah. Besides, we're not even sure yet what you did."
"I killed Shaw. You have to turn me in. You are not going to cover for me. I don't want you involved in something like that."
Chuck parked the car in front of Sarah's hotel and turned to her. "First of all, I am involved in this. You shot Shaw because of me." He held up a hand when she wanted to protest. "Second, there are circumstances that you are not aware of. That's where Casey comes in. And third..."
"What?" Sarah prompted when he didn't continue.
"I don't have a third," Chuck mumbled and took his tranquiliser pistol out of the cubby hole. "I trust Casey for now, but if he says or does anything to make me believe otherwise, I will tranq him and we run."
"No!" Sarah couldn't believe that he would even suggest it. "I meant what I said. I don't want you involved."
Chuck was not about to concede. "Fine, play it your way. I'll tranq you too and try my best to explain why I want to buy a train ticket for the unconscious woman over my shoulder." He got out of the car before Sarah could respond. "Come on, Casey is waiting."
Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. Shaw set them up. Why didn't she see it? He was working for the ring. When Chuck stopped flashing, it gave him the perfect opportunity to take out the intersect and secure the ring's future. He planned the setup at the resort to make sure Chuck would be alone in Burbank. Then he sent in ring agents under the guise of getting the information they had in Castle, giving him the perfect excuse to activate the self destruct programme. He deliberately didn't tell her or Casey about the kill switch. Casey was quite ticked off when Chuck told him it was actually in the intersect and not in the manual. Chuck didn't tell them because Shaw claimed he already did. And Shaw would probably have told Beckman that Chuck didn't activate it. No one would have suspected him.
There were still a few things that bothered her. "Does the ring know about Chuck?"
"From what I could gather when I interrogated the agents we captured, they don't. Shaw kept that information to himself to use as leverage if he needed it. Chuck is safe." Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
"Casey, why tell Beckman that you killed Shaw?"
"You had a personal relationship with him, Walker. Beckman might get suspicious as to what really went down and order an investigation. There's no surveillance of what happened, but there could be a lot of very awkward questions. This way we get the matter resolved quickly and put it behind us. Shaw has done enough damage already. Besides, you never set out to kill him. That was just unfortunately...fortunate."
"And you would do that for me?" Sarah wasn't expecting both Casey and Chuck to have her back in this way.
Casey shrugged. His radar told him there were some lady feelings heading his way and he needed to deflect. "You keep Bartowski and Grimes out of my hair and we call it even."
"Not even close. I don't know how to thank you Casey. Both of you." Chuck had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time.
Casey grunted as the he turned to leave. "Just don't beat yourself up about it, Walker. It happened. Move on." He closed the door behind him.
Sarah turned to Chuck. "Are you okay with this?"
"Of course. I just can't believe Shaw betrayed us like that. And I agree with Casey. There's no need to put your career on the line for this."
"You know I hate it when you lie."
"I'm not lying to you, Sarah."
"No, you're lying for me, Chuck."
"To protect you. That's the only reason I'll ever lie. To protect someone I care about." Chuck got up from one of the green chairs. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah. You should go, you look exhausted."
He didn't want to leave, but it was probably for the best. They all needed a good night's sleep before they brief General Beckman in the morning. After that, they'll deal with whatever came next.
"Okay. But switch you phone back on and call me if you need anything."
Sarah gave him half a smile. "I will." She reached up and gave him what was supposed to be a quick peck on the cheek. She lingered a little. "Thank you. For everything."
"That's what partners are for, right?" Chuck quipped as the opened the door. "Good night, Sarah."
"Good night, Chuck," she whispered back as he closed the door.
Her smile faltered. Her career would be fine, but what about her heart? What was she to Chuck now? A partner? A friend? An ex...something? Just when she's about to give up hope, he does something, like breaking up with Hannah or telling her they could run, but then...nothing. Maybe she was just reading too much into it. Maybe he had finally given up on her.
With a heavy sigh, Sarah sat down on her bed and switched on her phone as she promised.
"Where do you think you're going?" Chuck jumped around, holding his rubber brain key chain in front of him like it was a dangerous weapon.
"Damn it, Casey! Was that really necessary?"
"If you're acting like a moron, yes."
"I'm going home. Did you need a ride?"
"No idiot. Are you really going to drive off and leave her all by herself?"
Chuck slumped back against the NerdHerder. "She told me to leave."
Casey sighed. "Listen up, Bartowski, because I'm only going to say this once. Walker doesn't know what's good for her."
"What do you mean?"
"How bad do you think it's going to get tonight?"
"We don't know that she still gets them, Casey."
"Yeah, Bartowski," Casey answered as he turned to leave, "just keep telling yourself that."
Chuck sat in the Herder keeping an eye on Sarah's window. It's been nearly half an hour and the lights were still burning. Why hasn't she gone to bed yet? He could hardly keep his own eyes open. He sighed. This was stupid. Casey was right, she shouldn't be alone.
Chuck paced the hallway a couple of times before he worked up the nerve to knock. Before his knuckles made contact with the door, it swung open. Sarah grabbed the phone pinched between her ear and shoulder with one hand and his wrist with the other, pulling him into the room. Chuck closed the door with his free hand.
"It took you long enough."
"Uhm...I was only gone for thirty minutes."
Sarah ran her fingers down his palm and clasped her fingers around his. He returned the gesture immediately. "No, Chuck..."
"Oh." Chuck's eyes widened a little. "Oh!"
Sarah gave him a tentative smile. "I missed you, Chuck."
"I missed you too, Sarah." He pulled her a little closer.
"So I guess we're even now?" Her gaze didn't waver.
"What do you mean?"
"You ran off with a Fulcrum agent," Sarah moved her hand to the back of his neck, dropping her phone to the floor in the process, "I dated a Ring agent."
Chuck's free arm circled her back and he closed the last few inches between them. "Not our proudest moments, huh," he responded softly.
Sarah let out a small sigh. "Chuck," she whispered, "I think we should stop seeing other people."
A/N It was uneditable (is that even a word?), so this is an alternative ending. I know it's a lot shorter, but I promise some more Charah goodness in Chapter 12. I've left the original below, seeing as some of you liked it, so go ahead and pick your favourite ending.
Chuck fell onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He wished he could stay like this for at least a week. This plan has got to work. There's too much at stake. But then what? Does Beckman send in a new team leader? Another superhero-hopefully-not-turned-villain to seduce his girl? His girl? Chuck's thoughts were interrupted by his phone. He groaned. Is this day never going to end? Without lifting his head he fished it out his pocket. Tilting his head slightly, he opened one eye to read the text.
'Please unlock the Morgan door?'
Chuck bolted upright. He recognised her silhouette immediately. He opened the window and helped Sarah step inside.
"What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" He left her barely an hour ago and she promised to call if she needed anything.
"I..." Sarah hesitated a little. She really didn't think this through before she came over. "Do you still call it the Morgan door? Seeing as he lives here now..."
"Uhm...I hadn't really thought about it." Chuck frowned a little. Sarah didn't usually say much and she hardly ever made small talk unless it was for the sake of the cover. "Why are you here Sarah?"
Sarah took a deep breath. "We need to talk. It's okay," she assured Chuck when he wanted to protest, "Casey's not watching and he promised not to record. Well, at least for the next hour."
"Okay. Do you wanna sit down? Can I get you a drink or something? There's still some sizzling shrimp left over...Morgan ordered earlier..." Chuck started to ramble. He was suddenly nervous. The few times Sarah wanted to talk in the past always led to her pushing him away. They weren't together now, so she couldn't really do that. Maybe she didn't want to go through with their plan?
"I'm good thanks," she answered softly. Chuck sat down on the edge of the bed, but Sarah remained standing near the window. A quick escape, Chuck thought. He wondered if this running away thing was going to become a habit with her now. What happened to his Sarah? For the past couple of months she was acting more like agent Walker than the person he got to know over those first two years of this assignment. Before Prague.
"About your message..." Sarah trailed off. She was never good at this part, discussing feelings.
Chuck's eyes widened. After everything that they learned about Shaw and the ring and strategising about how to deal with the situation, he kinda forgot about that message. Truth be told, this was probably not a good time to deal with it anyway. They were both tired and Sarah was still processing everything that happened today.
"Look, Sarah...just forget about that. Let's concentrate on dealing with the ring issue first, okay?" That's something Chuck never thought he'd say.
Sarah felt the all too familiar twist in her chest. The Chuck she knew didn't bury his feelings. He told her and now he was taking it back. She never thought she could hurt worse than she did in Prague. But she pushed him away and when she finally tried to make it right, it was too late. She should have just been honest with him a long time ago. She needed to be honest with him now. If she was ever going to get any sort of closure and hope of moving on someday, she had to know they were truly over. She turned her back to him and stared out the window, trying to avoid looking at the fountain. That was another painful memory, but she didn't want to revisit it right now.
"I'm sorry for the way I acted when you came back from Prague."
"Sarah, it's okay. That was a long time ago and doesn't really matter anym..."
"Chuck, please let me finish. For once, just listen."
"Okay," Chuck realised how hard this was for her to open up and if she wanted to do that now, he was not going to stop her.
"I was hurt and angry. I was angry at you for hurting me and I was angry that I allowed myself to be hurt in that way." Chuck closed his eyes for a moment, wanting to apologise, but remaining quiet as per her request. "But I got over it." That surprised Chuck.
"The thing is...I didn't know how to fix this. Fix us. I wanted to, but...I thought our cover as friends was a good place to start...that it would lead to something more...something real and that we could get back what we had...and have a real relationship," Sarah took another deep breath to try and remain composed "but that didn't happen. I went too far and you pulled away from me. I lost you, Chuck."
Chuck wanted to tell her she was wrong, but he knew that wouldn't be the whole truth. She was being totally honest with him and he needed to do the same. Before he could speak, Sarah continued.
"I didn't know what that meant until Hannah showed up. I was just so confused and alone...and Shaw was there...I reverted back to what I knew...what I was comfortable with...like with Bryce. They didn't expect everything from me. They didn't even want it. Not like you," she added softly. They were both quiet for a while. Chuck didn't know who to respond to that. Sarah fought back the tears that threatened to spill over. She needed to ask him something and she wanted an honest answer. She didn't want him to be influenced by her emotional state. After swallowing hard, she turned around and met his eyes.
"Do you still love me, Chuck?"
It was his turn to be honest. "I do. I told myself that I didn't, but I have never stopped loving you, Sarah. Even if it took Morgan to make me realise that."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "If Morgan is the smart one in all of this, we are in serious trouble."
"Tell me about it." Chuck sighed. "I love you, Sarah. I'm sorry I made you doubt that. It was just so hard being around you and not being with you. What happened with Hannah...I never should have let it go that far. It wasn't fair to either of you."
Sarah suddenly felt exhausted. She sat down on the bed beside Chuck. "Don't apologise for that. I made the same mistake. We really do suck at this, don't we?"
Chuck gave her a wistful smile. "Yeah, but are you willing to try again?"
She nodded. "As many times as it takes. I love you, Chuck, and I don't want to deny it anymore. I can't."
Chuck tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "You don't have to," he answered before closing the last few inches between them. The kiss was slow, a gentle exploration of the feelings they just admitted to each other. Chuck pulled away first.
"Nothing and no one will ever come between us again, Sarah. I won't let it."
"You and me against the world?"
"Yeah," he smiled, "but maybe we should start a little smaller." He leaned over to retrieve something from the drawer of his night stand.
Sarah frowned. "What do you have there?" He handed her the object. "A signed copy of Neil Diamond's greatest hits? I don't get it." Was this another one of his auditory aphrodisiacs?
"Our hour is almost up and I figured if I'm going to bribe Casey to give us seven or eight more, it had to be something good. I can get him something different for Christmas."
Sarah smiled. How does he do that? With one small gesture, all the angst and tension from a few moments ago just seemed to disappear. She couldn't help but tease him a little.
"Wow, Chuck, what did you think was going to happen here tonight?"
Chuck just shrugged. Two can play that game. He leaned closer and whispered, "a little bit of this," giving her a chaste kiss on the lips, "and a little of this," he moved his lips over her jaw, "and definitely this." He kissed the same spot in her neck he did in Barstow and smiled when he felt Sarah respond immediately. Her breath hitched and she grabbed a handful of curls, keeping his head there. He kissed the spot again, causing her to shiver.
"You better get over to Casey's now," she whispered hoarsely as she released her hold, "and make it quick."
A/N Casey hates me right now. That was a lot of lady feelings. I know it has the same feeling as the first chapter of this fic, but given everything that happened in the show up to now as well as in my version of this episode, it was unavoidable. The elephant had to be slaughtered. I tried to cover all the plot holes – hope I didn't miss anything big. And don't ask me why Sarah send a text instead of just knocking on the window, she wouldn't tell me either.