A/N: Thanks to those who responded to the last chapter with reviews and PMs or commented on the Chuck FanFiction Facebook group page; a small response, but I thought that might happen after such a long wait. Of course, it might just reflect that people aren't interested in this story! I'll continue anyway, for a while.

Beta thanks to MarkeyDeSad. He pointed out a number of things I needed to correct or emphasize in this one. His life is incredibly busy right now, I'm so grateful he could find time to help me with this.

Hannah has been taken away, but they still have Shaw around and a problem for Sarah …

From Paris, With Love
Chapter 5: Shaw & Gruber

Shaw was back and Sarah was going to do what had been suggested by General Beckman; as she put it, "Play him a different way. Act like you are unsure about a relationship. String him along." He still made her skin crawl, but at least she wasn't going to have to try to seduce him.

Now they were on a mission, sitting together in a café at the front of a hotel pretending to be a couple while waiting for a mark to come out.

Shaw had just taken some food off of her plate. She wanted to stab her fork into his hand as he did so, but played the game. "I thought you didn't want dessert."

He looked at her. "I don't. I want yours. See, my dessert is contained within your dessert."

"Listen, Shaw..."

He interrupted her, "I like that. Keep it a last-name basis. Impersonal. Very sexy, Walker."

"I don't think we should see each other in a non-work capacity." Ever. Ever. Ever!

"Oh, is that what this is?" he teased her, because this was very much a mission.

Play the unsure card, she reminded herself. "Look, I-it's just, it's becoming a pattern for me to get involved with the guys that I work with, and I really need to put a stop to that before it starts."

"So, this is a preemptive breakup?"

"I need to stop mixing my personal life with my professional life." No, I don't. I want to mix it all the time with my Chuck!

"I'd be a liar if I didn't say I was disappointed, but I get it." Then, he leaned forward, talking into his mic, "The vehicle in question has arrived."

Casey's voice came through their earpieces. "Roger that."

Sarah spotted the man walk past them toward the car. "The man is on the move."

Casey replied, "I have the target in sight."

The man spoke sharply to the parking valet who handed him the car keys, then dropped his tip on the floor. As the young man bent down to pick it up, Casey fired the tranquilizer dart. "Night-night."

Shaw and Sarah ran out and caught the man before he slumped to the ground. They loaded him into the back of the car, handcuffed him and then both jumped in, Sarah driving it off and back to Castle.

As the three of them walked away from looking at the man, secured in a cell in Castle, Sarah described him to Casey. "Rafe Gruber is a martial arts expert, a sharpshooter. He is one of five people who can hit a target from half a mile away. I mean, the man is a chameleon. It is a miracle we even got a hit on his location. Very few people have seen his face."

Casey grumbled, "Big deal, not impressed."

Sarah replied, "Well, The Ring is. They wired a million dollars into his account."

"Enemy of my enemy is my friend, kind of thing," Shaw stated. "We need to know who The Ring wants dead."

"There's nothing this clown can do that I can't do. I'm perfect for this mission," Casey insisted.

Shaw asserted his authority. "Still, we're going with Bartowski on this one. He'll assume Rafe's identity in order to learn the Ring's target. The Intersect is performing. He can do this. He's ready." He looked at Sarah. "Right, Walker?"

Sarah shrugged, looking at Casey. "Chuck wants to be a spy." As if that makes him right for the job, she thought.

Chuck came in at that point, sliding down the rail of the stairs. "Hello, team Bartowski." It was almost as if he wanted to prove he wasn't ready. When he reached the bottom, he opened the box he was carrying showing donuts. "Tempt anyone with a tasty treat, huh?"

Shaw looked bemused. "What's with him?"

Casey knew what he needed to say. "Stallion had a date last night; must have gotten lucky." He avoided looking at Sarah, but she could see Shaw turning her way, so she frowned.

"So, what is going on? Who's this guy?" Chuck asked looking at the image on the screen.

"That is Rafe Gruber," Casey replied.

Chuck flashed, wondering why his image alone didn't trigger it. "Wow, old Rafe boy's not such a good guy now, is he? What are we doing with him?"

Shaw answered, "Not we, Chuck. You."

"You're about to assume an alias," Casey told him.

Sarah gazed his way, keeping an emotionless look. "You're going to become the world's most dangerous assassin."

This was a lot for him to take in and Chuck felt in a daze for a while. As he did, Casey went back to the prisoner to check on him.

When Chuck finally looked up, Sarah started to explain what was needed to take on someone else's identity. "Becoming an alias, Chuck, is unlike anything you've had in your spy training before."

Shaw continued, "Under the most stressful conditions, you'll have to react only like Rafe, not Chuck."

Chuck seemed to try to puff himself up, but came out sounding rather pathetic. Sarah knew he was still acting the idiot, but thought he might have gone too far with what he said. "Guys, please. I think I know a thing or two about acting, all right? I happened to play Perchik in my high school's production of Fiddler on the Roof… And I was really quite good-"

Before he finished bragging, Shaw slapped him in the face.

Chuck recoiled. "Ow! Ow! What'd you do that for?"

Shaw replied, "I'm proving a point."

Sarah wanted to hit Shaw for doing that, but he did indeed have a point. She said, "Everything you think and feel, Chuck, even your innate reflexes have to change."

"The kind of people that Gruber associates with will kill first, ask questions later," Shaw added.

Still trying to straighten his jaw, Chuck answered, "Yeah, okay fine, I get it. What's the plan?"

Sarah explained that, "Well, Casey is going to elicit the details from Gruber, whom he's meeting, where and when. Then you'll go in as Gruber, take his place."

Chuck didn't look convinced. "Well, good luck there. It's gonna be tough getting information like that out of a top assassin like Rafe."

Casey walked over dumped his bag on a chair and rummaged in it, finally pulling something out. "Nah, I can be very persuasive." He lit the blow torch and walked back out again.

Chuck rushed after him and entered the room with the prisoner behind him. "Hey, let me talk to him for a second."

"Step off, Bartowski. I got a job to do."

"Yeah, well, hey, so do I, okay? I've got to learn about Rafe so I can get into character for my mission." Chuck turned to the man tied up in front of him. "For example: Assassin is not normally a booth one finds at Career Day. How'd you initially get interested in this line of work?"

Gruber muttered under his breath, "Why would I tell you anything?"

Casey caused a five-inch flame to appear. "I can think of one burning reason why."

Chuck interrupted, "Okay. How about this one: What was your most difficult hit?"

Gruber turned to Casey. "I'll take the torture over this man's questions."

Chuck took on his voice. "Roger that. I'll take the torture over this man's questions."

Then a phone rang in Gruber's belongings. Gruber muttered, "Hey, it's just a phone." Then Casey covered Gruber's mouth with his hand as Chuck picked the phone up.

Chuck used the same voice again, "Gruber here… Of course I'm ready. Who do you think you're dealing with?" He paused again. "Yeah, yeah, I know where that is. Across the street from the cupcake place." Then, Chuck growled, "Because I like cupcakes, that's why… Who doesn't like a good cupcake?" Casey rolled his eyes. Then Chuck finished with, "I'll be there."

Casey was quite impressed. "Not bad, Bartowski."

Chuck turned to him, replying in Gruber's voice, "Who the hell's Bartowski?"

The meet wasn't until later, so Chuck and Casey headed over to the Buy More for their shifts. Sarah checked on the chains fixing Gruber in place.

Shaw hovered in the doorway watching her. She knew he was there but tried to ignore it. "You okay in here?"

Sarah answered, but didn't look up. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be out in a sec." She heard Shaw walk away.

Gruber leaned forward. "I see how that guy looks at you… I bet he has no clue what to do to a beautiful woman like you…" He chuckled. "But I do… I will take such good care of you, sweetheart."

Sarah had heard it all before. Ironically, of the two of them, she'd rather be alone with Gruber than Shaw. She finished her checks and walked out, without saying a word.

She found Shaw in the next room that looked through the one-way mirror at Gruber. "All set," she told him.

Shaw replied, "Quick thing I gotta do first." He walked back in the direction she'd come from. Sarah guessed he'd been listening too, when he punched Gruber in the jaw, knocking him and his chair over. Sarah shivered at what she saw. Is he really that determined to get me, or is it an act?

Shaw walked back in. "Okay, ready when you are."

Sometime later, Chuck had returned to Castle and was now dressed for his mission in dress shoes, pressed dark gray pants, a white shirt and a black zipped jacket. Even his hair looked controlled, slicked back. "Come on… I can pass for a cold-blooded killer, right?"

Sarah looked him up and down. She acted cool and as if she was judging him, while all she really wanted to do was wrap herself around him, kissing his face off. He really does look good!

Chuck spotted Rafe in the other room, lying on the floor but still shackled up. "What happened to Rafe?"

They all looked, but no one commented. Then they all looked at Casey putting a jacket on. "What? Imbecile can't go in alone."

Sarah was happy Casey would be going with him, but couldn't say anything in front of Shaw.

Chuck asked, "Hey, where am I going?"

Sarah replied, "Chuck, Rafe wasn't going to meet with your usual spies. These guys are a little more old-fashioned."

As she sat looking at him, she really hoped that he managed to pull this off and wished she'd called the general to intervene. This stringing Shaw along was making everything riskier.

"Hey, boss, someone to see you." The guy introducing them walked back out.

Two men were sitting together. One looked up. "Well, well, well, Rafe Gruber. Your reputation precedes you."

Chuck, the gravel voiced Gruber-clone, replied, "This is my coworker. You may call him John."

"How ya doin'?" Casey asked.

Chuck glared at him. "John doesn't talk much." The meaning was very clear to Casey. Shut up! I'll do the talking!

The same man peered at Casey. "I know you from somewhere?"

"Doubt it," Casey muttered.

The man turned back to Chuck. "When we had previous dealings with our mutual friends, you had more trepidation about letting us I.D. you."

Chuck growled, "Not many people have seen my face and lived… Consider it an honor." He took a cup off of their table and knocked the contents back, regretting it instantly. Then he continued, "Look, I'm not much for foreplay, so forgive me if I'm a little rude. Who's my target?"

The man was looking passed Chuck again, at Casey, asking his team, "No one thinks this guy looks familiar?" He asked Casey, "You got cousins in Philly?"

"No," Casey replied.

The other guy interrupted the first, looking at Chuck. "I'm a huge fan of your work. Can I ask you something? What was your toughest hit?"

Chuck slammed the cup down on the table, leaning threateningly at the guy. "You want to know my toughest hit?"

"Look, I was just asking."

Casey pulled on his sleeve. "Yeah, take it easy, boss."

"You shut your mouth!" Chuck snapped at him, then turned back to the guy who asked. "You think it's okay to ask a guy you just met something personal like that?"

The guy looked nervous as hell. "I really didn't mean no disrespect, I swear."

Chuck stood back and laughed and the others then joined him, mostly in relief, it seemed to Casey.

"Your toughest assignment's always your next one. You forget that, then you die."

Meanwhile, in the van, Sarah and Shaw were listening in.

"You okay, Walker?"

She wasn't really. She knew Chuck was so much better than before and Casey was with him too, but that didn't stop her worrying when he was out of her sight. She still saw his protection as her role, even if he no longer needed it. However, she replied differently, "Yeah, yeah, it's just this alias thing. It must be a lot for Chuck. He's not a very good liar."

Shaw replied. "Listen to him. He's completely living the lie."

And Chuck was, she realized. Shit! Is this my fault? Have I dragged him so far into this world that he is starting to become the perfect liar? No! He's just playing a role and playing it well.

She shook her head slightly. "I know, but he's not like you and me. We're both used to living somebody else's life."

Shaw was happy to point out. "That's the job."

She needed to do this for the act, but this was more than that now, she was really feeling this. "Yeah, but where does the job end? I can barely remember who I am anymore."

No! That's not true! I'm Sarah Walker, girlfriend of Chuck Bartowski, who sometimes plays the role of Agent Walker, CIA Assassin.

Realizing that was how she now saw herself was quite a revelation. Transitioning from full-time agent, who happened to be Chuck's girlfriend, into the reverse had happened without her noticing it. However, she found she preferred it that way around and couldn't wait to tell that to her boyfriend.

She came back to the present when Chuck asked what they really wanted to know. "I'm a busy guy, so what's the name? Who do our mutual friends want me to kill?"

The second guy started, "The guy's name is..."

Then the first man pointed back at Casey. "I remember now! You look like this hotshot snipper I served with a while back. Name Alex Coburn, ring a bell?"

Chuck was thrown as he flashed, but turned in Casey's direction looking at him in a different light. Then he turned back to the man and growled, "What are you trying to say?"

That man stood as he drew his gun. "Simple. This guy isn't who he says he is. Maybe he's some kind of Fed."

Shaw threw his headphones down. "Damn it! Casey's been made. We need to get them out of there."

Sarah controlled her panic, but said, "How are we supposed to do that without getting everybody else killed?"

Shaw's next words belied his previous ones. "We need that name, Walker. We need to know who the Ring wants dead."

Chuck, meanwhile asked, "Are you implying that this guy, my guy, is a cop?"

The gun was pointed at Chuck now. "That's exactly what I'm saying. So, what does that say about you?"

Chuck grabbed the man's gun so fast the guy had no chance to react. Chuck spun on his heel, hit Casey with the butt of the gun. "If he's a cop... I'll kill him myself."

Chuck stood back and let the men move in and wrestle with Casey. Eventually, they manage to tape him to one of the chairs.

Now, Chuck had the gun pointing at Casey, panicking about what to do. He needed to stall and the only way was to interrogate his partner, but he had to make it look realistic, hurting his friend in some way.

"What are you waiting for? Quit stalling," the lead guy said.

Sarah told him otherwise. "Keep stalling, Chuck. We need more time. We're waiting for backup."

The man snapped, "Time's running out. Kill him."

Chuck took the gun away. "I'm not a murderer. I'm an assassin!"

"What's the damn difference?"

Chuck snarled, "What's the damn difference? I don't kill because I like it. I kill because it's a means to something." He looked back at Casey. "In this case, information. Information that I wouldn't get from a dead guy per your suggestion!"

They all shrugged, seemingly acknowledging that. Chuck pointed the gun back at Casey. "Now you're gonna tell me, who's your informant? Who's the leak?"

Casey muttered back, "Why would I tell you anything?" Then in a quieter tone that only Chuck could hear. "Sell it."

"Wait!" The lead guy said, walking back and picking something up. "I got something special for occasions such as these."

Chuck took it from him and rolled the bag open, finding various tools that could be used for torture. He gulped and pick one up turning back to Casey. "Tell me what you know!" Casey just nodded to him to go ahead and Chuck had to do it or they'd both be dead. He pulled out one of Casey's teeth! Casey's groans and cries made Chuck feel sick, but it was all necessary to convince the guys here.

Just then, Feds burst in. "Move! Move, move, move! Everyone, move it! Move it!"

One of them pined Chuck against the bar and opened the mask showing who it was to him. He went into a spiral, thankfully not raising his voice enough for anyone else to hear. "Oh, my God, Sarah! Sarah, I'm freaking out right now! I've never been so happy to see you in my life!"

"Stop it!" she hissed. "You're not you, you're Rafe. You have to be him in this situation. Think what he would do. Live the lie." She hated saying it, but right now that was important.

Chuck flashed, then started fighting, pushing and kicking Sarah away first, then taking out the others. While he did this the two main guys made a run for it. Chuck followed them. Once outside, he said, "Come on, move! We gotta split up!"

As the other two started to run, one turned and said, "We'll contact you later with your assignment! Rafe, You're incredible!"

"Yeah, whatever. It's my job," he replied and ran the other way.

Inside, people were picking themselves up. Shaw lifted his visor and said to them, "Good work, team."

Sarah freed Casey who said, "Wow, Bartowski really sold it. For a second, I hardly even recognized him."

That hit Sarah hard. What have I done to my kind, lovable Chuck?

When Sarah got back to her room, Chuck was already there, as she'd asked, sitting on the end of her bed. She was so glad she'd gotten him a key.

He stood up as she walked in and she rushed to him, placing her hands either side of his face and kissed him, hard.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. They caressed each other for a few minutes, still kissing each other.

When they finally came up for air, Chuck asked, "What was that for? Because I played the part so well?"

"No, Chuck." She stopped, thinking about what had been playing in her head on her way here. She buried her face into his chest. In a very small voice, she told him, "You're going to think I'm being stupid, but… I wanted to reassure myself that you weren't changing; that you're still my Chuck."

She felt his voice rumble in his chest as he replied, "Of course I am."

She pulled back and looked into his gorgeous brown eyes, feeling tears forming in her own. "I felt like I was losing you to this world of lies, Chuck. You being sucked into the world I'd introduced you to. You, the kindest person I have ever met, who hated lying, suddenly doing it so effortlessly and the violence too."

He tenderly stroked her hair as he spoke with such conviction that he cut through her fears. "I haven't changed, Sarah. Like you told me, the lying is just an act. I hated having to hurt Casey and need to apologize to him about it. I felt sick doing that to him. And pushing and kicking you nearly ripped my heart out. I never, ever want to hurt the woman I love."

The kiss that followed expressed their love as much as his words and holding each other was just as important. Neither felt the need for more.

After half an hour, she told him her plans for the following day. Unsurprisingly, he was less than positive. "Going to his room is a really bad idea, Sarah. What if he drugs you or… or overpowers you?"

She sighed. "I don't want to do this, but I feel it's necessary. Casey is to lure him away with false leads on his wife's killer, thus showing Shaw's lack of commitment to the team, but hasn't had time to do that yet.." She locked eyes with her boyfriend. "However, Hannah has already confessed they were working together to separate us. Now she's been arrested, he'll soon discover his partner has disappeared. I doubt he knows she's a Ring agent, so he will assume we've unearthed their plan, or at least suspect us. We need to move quickly."

Chuck was about to continue his objection, so she spoke first. "I have to do this, Chuck. I am sure I can best him; I've taken out larger men than him when prepared. I'll also avoid drinking anything."

His worry was endearing, but she was confident, at least she thought she was.

She then moved swiftly on to something else she needed to discuss with him before she did this. This was going to be hard for him to hear. "Chuck, I will have to make him believe he is becoming special to me." Chuck frowned and she winced as she saw it. "He isn't. You know that, don't you? Only you are important to me, my love."

"So, what will convince him of that?" Chuck asked.

"I have to tell him something that is extremely valuable to a spy, that a spy would not share with anyone." She paused for a moment.

She held his gaze. "Chuck, you know I didn't tell you my real name when you asked a couple of years ago?"

He looked at her sharply. "I was desperate to know something about you and thought that was something so simple. You're going to tell him?"

She blushed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. A spy's real name is supposed to be their most prized secret. Back then, I thought it was mine. I was wrong. My most prized secret was, even then, my love for you, something no one could know. Hell, even I didn't know it then!"

They both chuckled at that and she pulled him to her and kissed him.

Sarah then pulled back and told him, "Chuck, my birth name is one I haven't used since I was seven. Dad changed our names so regularly, I almost forgot it. My mom is the only one who used it and I'll never see her again."

She gripped his hands. "My name is Sarah Walker. That's the only name that means anything to me because it's the name you know me by. When you say that name, it means something. I am proud to be Sarah Lisa Walker. Samantha Lisa Carter is a name dead and buried to me, in my ancient past."

"So, your birth name was Samantha?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sam, but please never call me that. It's the name of the seven-year-old who abandoned her mom. I hate the name." She looked in his eyes, those eyes she could stare at forever. "Shaw doesn't know that. He'll think he has something valuable to me, especially when I tell him I haven't told it to you."

He nodded, understanding. "I love Sarah Lisa Walker. I'd love Samantha Lisa Carter too, if you wanted to be called that, but now I know what you prefer, and especially why, you're my Sarah."

"God, I am yours, Chuck just as much as you're mine," she declared and dived in for another kiss, one that reassured them both of their love for each other.

After they separated, however, Chuck stated. With deep concern on his face, "It's still a very dangerous game, Sarah."

She smiled hearing the name she liked. "I know, but that's my life, Chuck. Always dangerous."

He gripped her hands. "Maybe we can change that, Sarah."

She pulled him to her and hugged him hard. "I hope so, Chuck. Sometime. Once we've dealt with the threat of the Ring."

After a further fifteen minutes, Chuck headed to Castle, hoping to find his friend.

Casey and Shaw were both there.

Chuck walked up to Casey. "Um, hey, Casey, I'm... I'm sorry about your tooth."

"That's all right. At least you got one with a cavity. Saved me a trip to the dentist." He paused and looked at Chuck for a moment. "You did good work, Chuck… Proud of you."

At that moment two men came out with Rafe Gruber between them. Shaw walking behind them.

Gruber snarled at Chuck, "You think you can be me?"

"You shut your mouth," Casey muttered.

"Where are you taking Rafe?" Chuck asked.

Casey told him, "Interrogation. Just wish I could do it myself."

"You think you can be ME?" Gruber shouted the last word moving toward Chuck as if to head butt him.

Casey pushed him and his head hit the desk, just missing a pen. No one noticed him eying up the pen. Nor did they notice him pick it up and place it in his pocket.

Shaw ushered him and the men out of the building after putting a black bag over Gruber's head.

Chuck turned back to his friend. "Uh, Case, back there on the mission, I flashed on the name 'Alex Coburn.' Who is that?"

Casey grunted. "You mind your damn business." He gave Chuck a very pointed look and walked away leaving Chuck even more desperate to know more about Alex Coburn. He would also talk to Sarah about this when he could.

Chuck had returned to his sister's apartment, still having to pretend he wasn't with Sarah. He was sitting with Devon and Ellie eating another of her wonderful meals. He'd really missed these meals. Being with Sarah at her hotel had been wonderful in many ways, but home cooked meals, especially Ellie Woodcomb meals were a noticeable absence.

Ellie had been dying to talk about this for a couple of days now. "So, Morgan mentioned a new Nerd Herder that he thought was interested in you, Chuck."

"Hannah," Chuck mumbled.

"Was that 'Hannah'?" she asked.

He nodded, but said nothing more.

"So, tell me about this Hannah," she pushed.

He put down his fork and sighed. The last thing he wanted to talk about was that Ring agent who had been nearly naked in his bed the previous night. However, his story needed to match up with what Morgan told her. "I met her on my flight to Paris and she had the same job as me, but then lost it. I suggested she apply at the Buy More if she ended up in LA. She did and got the job." He picked up his fork and took another mouthful.

"So, she followed you here?" Ellie's voice was rising. She was obviously getting excited and he wanted to cut that off, but had to tell the whole story.

"I see it that she ended up here as she'd nowhere else better to go."

"Pfft!" Ellie exclaimed. "Stop putting yourself down. She followed you, little brother."

"Well," he started the hardest thing to tell an overexcited sister. "We went on a date and ended up back here."

The squeal was upsetting because it was so inappropriate. "I thought I smelled perfume in the apartment, although I noticed two different scents there, but maybe the one that smelled like Sarah's was from some time ago." She winced having said that. "Maybe you need to wash your clothes to get her smell out of them… including what you're wearing now," she rushed out.

Chuck hadn't thought about either scent, but thinking about Sarah's now made him think of her and how he wanted to be with her tonight.

Ellie noticed his dreamy look. She recognized it and her excitement rose that little bit higher. "So, when will we meet this Hannah?"

Chuck came back to earth and faced his sister. "You won't. It didn't work out." He restarted his food.

"Hold on!" Ellie snapped. "You bring a woman back here on a night when Devon and I are out. Take her to your bedroom and it didn't work out?" She glared at him. "What did you do to her?" she almost shouted.

"She's not Sarah," he replied, as if that explained everything. And to him, it did.

"If you still want to be with Sarah, win her back from whoever she's with!" demanded his sister.

He sighed. "She's not with anyone, El. She just doesn't want to be with me." That was a lie, but not that long ago, a truth. He wondered, did that make it less of a lie?

"Well-" Ellie started.

Chuck cut her off. "I'm not going to force myself on her, El." Not tonight, at least, he thought. "I don't want to talk about it."

Devon found other things for them to move onto and the rest of the meal progressed better.

Sarah had returned to Castle to drop her things off and to leave her report. Once she'd done that, she stood and watched the feed from Ellie's dining room, wishing she could be there with them.

She turned as she heard Shaw place a bag on the table behind her. "I picked up some takeout. Care to join me?"

This uncertainty thing was easy to play when she quite obviously was missing Chuck, so turning him down would seem right for that role as well as her natural distaste for the guy. "Oh, uh, no, thanks. I'm not hungry. I'm clocking out. Have you got this covered?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, looking disappointed.

She headed out as fast as she could go. She'd get something to eat on the way back to her empty hotel room.

The next morning, Big Mike, Lester and Jeff had been cooking something for a demonstration. They called Chuck over for a tasting. Just as he escaped from them, he saw Anna putting down the phone she'd asked him about earlier, Rafe's phone, which he'd thoughtlessly left at the Nerd Herd desk. He rushed back and asked, "Who was that? What did they want?"

She looked up at him. "Um, it was a wrong number. They were asking for some guy named Rafe."

So, he knew who'd called. He'd be in trouble with Shaw for not taking that call. "That's odd. What did you tell him?"

"Um, I told them that this was a Buy More phone. Uh, but the guy? He just wouldn't listen, and he kept saying that he would be here, in like, two minutes." Anna then walked away to deal with a customer.

Chuck was now in full panic mode. He worked on his appearance to change into Rafe, gelling his hair, removing his tie and Nerd Herd ID badge and stealing a jacket that a customer had put down.

He just made it out of the store and was about to call Casey on his watch, when there was a shout from behind him. "What do you think you're doing with that watch?"

He turned to face the two men from the previous day, wishing he'd been able to contact Casey first. "I can explain."

"There is no explanation. Give me this watch." One grabbed his arm, the other snatched it off Chuck's wrist and stamped on it.

"For a bad ass killer to own such a piece of crap watch? Crazy!"

"So, we bought you a little present, though 'bought' is a very loose term," the other said.

"Look at that. Gold. Wow. It's very understated," Chuck stated in a monotone voice, looking at the gaudy thing now on his wrist.

"What are you doing here at Buy More, anyway? What, are you getting some speaker wire to, uh..."

Chuck cut him off. "What do I look like, a workaholic? A man's got to have hobbies other than murder. I was here browsing music."

"Hey, you saved us from getting pinched yesterday, huh? What a guy. Ooh, I could hit you."

Chuck looked at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Never seen anything close to what you pulled off, Rafe."

"The trick is making it look easy," Chuck informed them. The fact that the Intersect was what did it, was obviously not for sharing.

"You did us a favor, and in turn, we did you a favor. We tracked down the location of the guy you're supposed to kill. Good news, huh?"

Chuck tried to act cool. "Good news?" He paused for a second. "That is very good news."

Sarah really did want to move this forward with Shaw, but as she stood outside his hotel room, she started to have her doubts. What if Chuck was right and he overpowered her like she'd feared before. No. I can take him on!

She knocked on the door and he opened it, wearing only a towel around his waist. Shit! "Oh, I'm sorry if this is a bad time."

"No, Walker." He stood back. "Come on in."

She did, and felt even more uncomfortable. "Listen, Shaw, I just wanted to say, um..."

"What?" he prompted.

She looked away from him. "I'm sorry. Can you please put some clothes on?"

"Oh. Yeah."

He walked into his bathroom and started to dress, or so she thought, so she started, "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night."

He looked out, still topless "No apology necessary." He walked out and pulled a long-sleeved t-shit on over his bare chest.

Sarah just wanted to leave. This wasn't going how she thought it would. "Okay. Um... Well..."

Once dressed he asked, "You okay with this whole Chuck/Hannah thing?"

That wasn't what she expected from him, but at least he thought there was a Chuck/Hannah thing. She had to lead him on a bit. "Thank you for asking. But that's not really the change that I'm having trouble with."

Meanwhile, the two guys took Chuck to a hotel and up to a room on the seventh floor.

As he walked in, Chuck asked, "So, who's the mark? Who am I taking out?"

"He's in the hotel room right over there." The finger pointed at a high rise in the distance.

The other guy said, "Got a girl with him. A real hot piece of tail. I think they're going to plow."

"Perfect distraction," Chuck muttered.

"We set this up for you," said the first guy, pointing at the rifle. "We hear you're one of five guys that can make this shot. It's over half a mile away."

Chuck just nodded. "Well, apparently, my reputation precedes me. Again."

He sat down, put on the headphones they had placed there, realizing he was going to be able to hear his mark and the 'hot piece of tail.' There was no sound yet, so he looked through the eye piece. At Daniel Shaw. Shit! I'm supposed to shoot Daniel Shaw!

He panned slightly to the right including the next window and there was Sarah talking to Shaw!

Then the sound came through and he heard Sarah speaking. "It's just really difficult to see Chuck become a different person."

Shaw replied, "That's the mission, Walker."

She sighed. Some of this was indeed worrying her. Maybe if she spoke about it here she could work out what to say to Chuck about it. "No, it's not the mission. It's... Everything… It's how he pulled out Casey's tooth, and how he burnt that asset a couple of weeks ago, and the way he lies to everyone. I mean, it's so easy for him."

Shaw walked over to her and explained how he saw it. "Chuck's changing. He's becoming a spy."

"I know. I know. But lives are being affected here."

Chuck started to wonder if this was really bothering her.

Shaw said, softly, "Sounds like he's not the only one who's changing."

Sarah explained more, "It's like I'm watching Chuck disappear, and the further he gets from who he is, the..." She walked away from Shaw in the other window, as far as Chuck was concerned.

Shaw continued softly speaking to her. "It's okay. Talk to me, Sarah. Come on."

Sarah led him toward the past story she'd discussed with Chuck. "Well, the more I want to remember who I am- who I was before all of this-"

Shaw injected his thoughts and Chuck cursed him. "Well, if this is you, I like you."

Well, this was the secret moment. "I want more. I've been on this assignment for almost three years, and I've never told anybody my real name."

Shaw immediately asked, "Not even Chuck?"

"No. Not even Chuck."

He pushed to know, "So, what is it?"

Suddenly it was hard to say it. She realized she didn't want to tell him after all. She looked away and puffed out a breath. However, that was the enticement. "Feels so weird to say it out loud."

Shaw urged her more. "Yeah, it's just, you never seemed like a Sarah."

She lied. "It's 'cause I'm not."

"What is it, Rafe?" one of the guys asked Chuck, who ignored him as he was listening to the exchange.

"I'm Sam," Sarah told Shaw. "My real name is Sam."

Shaw stepped closer. She couldn't run now. "Well... I'm going to kiss you now, Sam."

"Sam," Chuck repeated. Somehow, hearing her tell Shaw still stung. But not as much as seeing Shaw kiss her. He stood up.

"Sam?" one of the guys asked. "Who's Sam? The guy you're supposed to whack is Daniel Shaw. The organization that had us contract you thought this Shaw guy was dead. Turns out, he's just not dead yet." He pulled out a photo of Shaw. "This is the right guy all right. So, who the hell is Sam?"

Chuck told them. "Sam... Sam's the girl. My girl." He thought back to when she wasn't. "Me and Sam are on again, off again. Driving everyone in my life a little crazy."

One of the guys muttered, "I hate those 'Will they or won't they?' things."

Chuck realized these two were softies at heart and could be played. However, that last comment nearly made him laugh. He and Sarah had been through over two years of that!

The other guy said, "If you and this girl love each other so much, what's keeping you apart?"

Keeping a straight face, Chuck said the words used over those years, "It's complicated." Then he added the mistake he'd made in Prague, "Sort of came down to a question of work."

"What are you gonna do? You got your priorities straight. Right?"

Chuck needed to get over there.

The other guys suddenly said, "Wait a second. The guy you're supposed to whack is banging your girl?"

God, I hope not! That would be rape!

However, he replied, "It sure seems that way, doesn't it?"

"Huh. Jeez, this unlucky guy is about to get double dead."

Across in the other hotel, unknown to Chuck, Shaw's phone rang. "Do we have a situation?"

Casey, in Castle responded, "I tried contacting the agents transporting Gruber, but they're not responding. They checked in yet?"

"No," Shaw told him.

Casey cursed, "Damn it!" He slammed down the phone, then picked it up and dialed a different number. "Get me Bartowski's last-known location."

"What are you waiting on, Rafe?" Chuck was asked. "Ice him!"

Chuck shook his head after taking off the jacket he was wearing. "I can't do it. A bullet's too good for this guy."

Realization hit the two guys. "Yeah, you gotta look this jerk in the eye before you cap him."

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I'm going over there. You two stay put," Chuck instructed them.

"Don't worry, Rafe. We got your back."

The other said, "Anything weird goes down, I'll take out the whole room. I ain't a marksman like you are, but I make sure they're all dead."

Chuck replied, "Yeah, that's... real good." He turned and left.

While this was happening, Rafe Gruber dialed his own number calling the phone Chuck had left in the jacket. With that he traced the phone's location and headed that way. Casey did the same from Castle.

Ten minutes later, Chuck arrived at Shaw's apartment and hammered on the door, shouting, "Open the door! I know you're in there! I will kick this door down!"

Shaw opened it and saw Chuck standing there. Chuck shoved him backwards.

Sarah was surprised to see her boyfriend. "What's going on?"

Chuck pointed at her. "Shut your mouth! I'll deal with you later."

"What's your problem?" Shaw asked as Chuck marched up to him.

"My problem is that nobody messes with Rafe Gruber." Then in a quiet tone, as he grabbed Shaw's t-shirt, "They're watching us."

Sarah heard his words too and walked behind the two men.

Shaw nodded slightly and stated, "I'd like you to remove your hands."

"No, no, no," Chuck responded. "These are the hands that are gonna kill you, Shaw."

Sarah joined in, "What are you doing?"

Chuck continued, loudly, "You stole my girl. I'm going to end you for taking Sam!" At the back of his mind he was thinking, You dared to kiss her, you bastard!

Shaw looked over at Sarah, shocked that Chuck knew her real name, Sarah looked shocked too, that he'd mentioned it. Both realized Chuck must have been listening in to their conversation. Shaw looked coldly at Chuck and said the words he thought were true, thinking this part was for real. "You had your chance and you blew it."

Chuck punched the bastard in the face but Shaw then forced him to the floor, fighting back.

The three didn't know, but at that point Gruber walked into the room with his phone, shooting the two guys in there.

Chuck and Shaw were mostly out of sight in the other hotel, fighting as they were, so they were lucky or Gruber might have shot them. However, he did spot Sarah and headed over.

Chuck and Shaw rose and Shaw got a lucky hit in, knocking Chuck to the floor again.

Sarah knew Chuck was acting the part, as did Shaw, but at the same time both men kept punching each other. Their true feelings showing.

Chuck started to rise and Shaw closed in to hit him again. Sarah called out, "please stop!"

Shaw hesitated for a moment and Chuck lurched up and hit him hard on the jaw. Shaw fell backwards hitting his head on the table.

Chuck was fairly sure Sarah knew the score, but he made sure by telling her, quietly, "I'm trying to sell myself as Rafe! They're across the street with a sniper rifle. They're gonna kill all of us!"

"No, I'm gonna kill all of you."

Both of them turned to see Gruber standing in the doorway, pointing a gun at them. Sarah attacked him first, but he was too quick for her and threw her across the room. She lay still where she landed.

Chuck moved in, having flashed first. Gruber didn't stand a chance and was soon flat on his back, unmoving. Chuck rushed to Sarah to revive her. She was starting to come round, when Chuck heard a voice behind him.

"You got it bad for this blonde. Can't say I blame you. I'm gonna make it easy on you. Take her out of the equation." Gruber raised his gun.

"No!" Chuck cried out, feeling Sarah slump against him, but Gruber also slumped to the floor with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

Sarah opened her eyes and took in the scene in front of her. Gruber dead and Shaw unconscious.

She shifted in Chuck's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss, so grateful that the two of them survived.

Across in the other hotel, Casey congratulated himself. "Five people in the world can make this shot, huh? Guess I'm one of them."

Shaw's head wound was more severe than they thought and he was taken to the hospital for observation, still unconscious.

Back in Castle, each explained what had happened to the general on the screen in front of them.

"So, you hit Shaw pretending to be Gruber?" Beckman asked, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.

"Yes, General. And he was acting as if I was too," Chuck replied, keeping a straight face.

"They both were acting so well, I'm amazed either were still standing," Sarah noted. Her smile was hard to contain.

Beckman looked at Sarah. "What happened to just making Shaw think you were uncertain about your feelings?"

Sarah huffed. "I was worried he would realize Hannah had gone and be on to us. I felt we needed to draw him out faster."

"And your goal was…?" Beckman asked, pointedly.

"I know. No goal. I just wanted to make sure he stopped pushing Chuck to do these crazy missions."

Beckman stared at her for a while, then turned to Casey. "And why hasn't he been drawn away?"

Casey's turn to huff. "Not had time, General, with this mission coming up."

"Well, I suggest you make time now, while he's in the hospital. Leave a trail that takes him away from these two."

"Yes, General," he replied.

As she ended the call, Chuck and Sarah turned to Casey. Chuck spoke first, "Thanks, Casey." He shivered at the thought of what could have happened. "… for saving the love of my life."

Sarah squeezed her boyfriend's hand, then walked over to Casey and hugged him, before saying, "Yeah, thanks, Case. I owe you one."

He just grunted. "Just wanted to prove I could make the shot."

Chuck and Sarah went straight back to her room for a night of passion.

Shaw was still with them, but not that night.

They expressed their love for each other in their embraces on the way to her room and making love in her bed once they got there.

They got little sleep, but neither wanted it, not just for the great sex, but because both had felt they were losing the other in some way during the past 24-hours and needed to talk about it, between the intense moments. Both expressed their fears and both reassured the other about theirs.

One of the things Sarah made sure to tell Chuck was how she now saw herself as his girlfriend first and agent second, rather than the other way around. The love making that followed that revelation was exquisite.

By the time sleep overtook them, both felt more secure, surer of their future and completely sated.

The name Sam was never mentioned.

A/N: Yeah. I hated that episode, especially Chuck sleeping with Hannah which led to Sarah realizing she'd completely lost the nerd and so going with Shaw. Here, Shaw got one kiss in, but no more than that.

Please leave a review with any comments on this chapter or just tell me if you're still interested in the story.