A/N: I know, I know…it's been a while…sorry for the delay and I truly hope this might be sorta worth the wait…thank you to everyone who's let me know that they like this story and I'm apologizing again for the long wait…sorta sidetracked with other scribbles…and reading all of the other great stories here…now for the disclaimers…don't own Chuck…don't make money doing this(make a little money doing that, but that hardly counts)…and still banging away like a blind monkey, beta-free…still having fun so please insert the standard thank you to the writer who got me started…thanks, Jim!…last ,but certainly not least, thank you to all of you who have alerted or favorited this or any of my other stories…thanks so very much for your support and your valuable time that you give in the form of reviews…remember, I may not always answer reviews but I always read and enjoy them…good or bad, they all help! JT

Sarah Vs. The Strong Swimmer - Chapter 27

Sarah Walker opened her eyes and turned her head slightly, focusing on the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table on Chuck's side of the bed, surprised to find that it already after six. She'd become accustomed to the alarm going off precisely at six and she wondered if her fiancé had forgotten to set it the night before. She remembered they'd been quite 'busy' the previous night and maybe she'd 'busied' him so much that he'd simply fallen asleep. Promising herself to ask him later, she was about to drift back to sleep when she noticed that the 'bilge' under the comforter where her pregnant belly was located seemed to be three times it's normal size…and it was singing. Pulling the covering back, she smiled when she realized that her 'bulge' was a certain curly-haired nerd who had recently begun talking to their twins, telling them stories about whatever had happened the day before. She'd come to love hearing him speak to her belly, constantly amazed and touched when he spoke to her rapidly expanding mid-section, the soft vibration of his voice, coupled with his deliciously warm breath, often leaving her so aroused that his stories were almost always followed with her grabbing him and throwing him onto his back, pinning him beneath her as she would scratch her favorite kind of itch.

Something about this morning was different and as she listened to the sound of his voice she realized that he wasn't speaking to the twins…he was singing, softly. Refusing to move a muscle, almost afraid to breath for fear of interrupting him, Sarah couldn't believe what a wonderful voice her fiancé possessed and she couldn't believe she was just finding that fact out. The words sounded familiar but she couldn't positively identify the song, promising herself to ask him about it later. All to soon the soft crooning ended and she quickly brushed a tear from her cheek before Chuck could see the evidence of the effect of his voice on her.

Slowly moving his head, Chuck trailed kisses upwards until he found her neck where he paused and then started to nibble his way to her ear lobe, leaving a fiery trail that had her breathing heavy as her hands found their way into his curls at the back of his neck, pulling him to her lips. When they finally broke to catch their collective breath, Sarah felt herself smiling.

"I didn't know you could sing like that…it was beautiful, Chuck."

"Uh, thanks? I don't usually sing when people can hear me" he replied, sure that he was blushing at the unexpected compliment. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't wake me but we can add that to the list of things that I won't mind you waking me with."

"Good to know" he answered before leaning back in and capturing her lips with his. Before the kiss could deepen, Chuck gently pulled away, not wanting to make himself late for his morning run…again. "I gotta go" he told a now pouting Sarah as she tried to entice him into staying by grabbing his ear lobe and pulling him towards her chest that was suddenly thrust in his direction.

"Oh no you don't, Miss Walker. Casey's still pissed at Carina about the 'couch incident' and I'm not going to get him mad at me by being late again" he said as he slipped from her grasp and quickly slid to the side of the bed, getting to his feet and taking two steps away just as Sarah lunged across the bed, her hands grasping at the empty air where he'd been moments earlier. He smiled until he noticed the hungrier than normal look in her eyes at which point he grabbed his clothes and shoes before escaping to the bathroom, worried that Sarah wouldn't care about pissing off Casey as long as she got what she wanted…and it sure seemed that she really wanted him.

"You have to come out of there sooner or later, Chuck Bartowski" Sarah called out, the desire in her voice giving it a husky timbre. "I really like your singing, Chuck, but when you get out of there I'm gonna need you to do a little yodeling in the valley…well, actually, more than a little."

A couple of minutes later she heard the bathroom door open and she found herself giggling when a puzzled looking face appeared in the doorway.

"Yodeling in the valley?"

"Singing to the little man in the boat" Sarah replied and laughed at the blush that accompanied Chuck's sudden realization about Sarah's request.

"You naughty minx" Chuck answered, his head disappearing from the doorway as Sarah started moving towards the edge of the bed. "I'm going for my run" he called over his shoulder as he hurried towards the front door, ignoring the calls for his return to the bedroom. "I'll make it up to you when I get back" he added before stepping out the door and gently closing it behind him. Turning away from the door, he found Carina and Morgan seated on the fountain's edge, both of them staring in his direction while John Casey stood off to the side, obviously trying to ignore everything that was going on around him. He was less than halfway across the courtyard when he heard the door open behind him.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Chuck?" Sarah called after him.

Seeing Morgan's eyes open wide and watching the smile grow on Carina's face, he had a good idea what he'd find when he turned around.

"Christ, Walker" Casey growled, "put some clothes on."

Chuck spun around to find his fiancé standing in the doorway, wearing the same clothing she'd been wearing when he'd left their bed…none. Re-tracing his steps, he stepped back into the apartment, pushing Sarah ahead of him and closing the door once he was back inside.

"You do realize that you walked out of the apartment naked, right?"

"Actually, Chuck, I never stepped out of the apartment. Now, if you hadn't forgotten to give me my kiss before you snuck out, I wouldn't have had to remind you, now would I? Now kiss me, go for your run and gird your loins for your return home."

"Gird my loins? Really?"

"Oh yeah, Mr. Bartowski. I have plans for you that most definitely include your loins and the longer your wait to give me my kiss, the longer it will take for you to finish your run and the longer it takes for you to finish your run, the longer I have to plan how I'm going to allow you to make it up to me…" she was suddenly quieted by soft but firm lips that found hers. Just as she began to reach her hands for the man standing in front of her, he was gone again, the door closing behind him before she could catch her breath.

Chuck had signaled Casey and the pair were almost out of the courtyard when he heard his front door open again.

"Run Forrest, run" Sarah called out, "just remember, you're going to have to sing for your breakfast when you get back"

"Yes ma'am. I love you to" Chuck called back before turning the corner and stretching out his legs as started his run.

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Chuck had been concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Noting that the sounds weren't heavy enough to be Casey, he readied himself and sidestepped and ducked just as Carina swung an open hand towards his ass. Feeling her hand breeze past him, he skidded to a halt and lightly bounced on the balls of his feet while his partner whirled and closed the distance between them. Just as Carina launched a punch towards his chest, he heard footsteps behind him and he dropped and rolled to the side just as Casey stepped into the space he'd just vacated, huffing in surprise when Carina's fist landed in the middle of his chest. Before either of his partners could recover, he was back on his feet and after darting in and slapping the back of Casey's head, he spun to his right, reached out and slapped Carina's ass before taking off, hoping to put some distance between them before the two agents could catch up.

As Chuck settled back into an easy rhythm, he thought back to the first day Casey had decided to incorporate the spy version of tag into their run and he winced, remembering the feeling of the older man's ring when he'd smacked him on the back of the head. "what the hell, Casey?" he'd asked and been rewarded with a second smack before the bigger man had fallen into step beside him with a grunt.

"You need to start listening as well as watching when we run, Bartowski. From now on, I'm going to catch up with you and smack you at least once every time we go for a run…and so is Carina" he announced just before he felt the smack on his ass that announced that his other partner had joined the 'game'.

"Do you think Sarah is going to appreciate the two of you smacking me around?" he'd asked, beginning to worry when Carina fell into step on his other side.

"What, are you going to tell on us?" Casey had asked with a snort.

"Sorry, Chuckles, but it was your fiancé's idea. She wanted us to step up your training and agreed with us that this would be a good step" Carina added.

"Sarah told you to smack me on the ass? I find that hard to believe, Carina."

"You can ask her, if you want. She told me that grabbing your ass was definitely out of the question but I could smack your ass whenever I wanted, as long as it fell under the rules of the game" Carina had explained with a big smile.

"And just what exactly are the rules?" he'd asked.

"Don't let us catch you un-aware" Carina had responded before reaching out and smacking his ass again.

Casey had simply offered an affirmative grunt before smacking him in the back of the head…again.

The next day, Chuck had decided he'd simply outrun his partners, sure that his stamina would allow him to keep ahead of them. He'd been wrong and Sarah had chuckled when he'd returned home, out of breath and sore from the repeated 'tags' he received once he'd winded himself. By the end of the second week he gotten good enough that he usually avoided his partners and their solo attacks at which point they'd switched up and started double teaming him. Four days later, he'd managed to avoid them both and decided to sprint the last leg of the run only to have Carina step out in front of him when he'd rounded a corner and the two of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs, which was where Casey found them when he caught up to them about thirty seconds later. Sliding to a halt, he'd pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a quick pic which caught the two of them still trying to un-tangle themselves, Chuck's hand ,unfortunately having landed on Carina's ass.

"Wait until Walker gets a look at this" he'd said with a snort before pocketing his phone and jogging away, leaving both Chuck and Carina struggling to catch up, sure that Sarah might find the photo funny, except for the whole 'Chuck's hand on Carina's ass' part of it. When they'd finally run into the courtyard, they'd found Casey and Sarah standing together, the older agent looking insufferably proud of himself and Sarah tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest, looking less than happy. They'd both begun offering an explanation of the photo, each telling Sarah that it wasn't what it looked like and then Carina had started sniffling while blaming the whole thing on Chuck, claiming he'd groped her because he just couldn't help himself and that Sarah shouldn't blame her for being so hot and irresistible. Chuck had looked to his side, ready to tell Carina to stop making shit up when he noticed the tears in her eyes. Not knowing what the hell was going on, he couldn't figure out what to say and simply stood there, shocked. The sound of laughter from across the courtyard got his attention and he turned to find Sarah and Casey both doubled over. Confused, he looked back to his side to find that Carina had joined in the laughter, obviously in on the joke.

"Oh, very funny, guys" he'd blurted out, walking away from Carina and moving around Sarah and Casey as he headed for his morning shower, already beginning to think of some way to get even for the joke that he still failed to see the humor in. He'd already climbed into the shower when he was joined by his fiancé who was still giggling. He'd closed his eyes while turning to rinse the shampoo from his hair when he'd felt Sarah press close to his back and begin washing him, her hands wasting no time in drifting below his waist.

"I'm sorry, honey" she'd said, "Casey thought it might be funny to give you crap about 'groping' Carina and she just jumped in. I'm sorry" she finished as her soapy hands continued their effort to make it up to him.

Chuck wanted to say that everything was alright but he decided to let his blonde angel finish her cleaning before telling her that everything was ok…because it really was.

Later, over breakfast, he'd told Sarah that everything was ok and she'd smiled in relief before coming around the table and lowering herself into his lap, putting her hands around his neck kissing him senseless.

The sound of fast approaching footsteps snapped him back to the present and he whirled around, ready to face whichever of his partners had decided it was time for round two. He'd just braced himself when a body barreled into him, knocking him down and leaving him gasping for breath. Before he could move, he felt someone rolling him onto his stomach and his arm being wrenched behind him as someone snapped a cuff around his wrist. Recalling what Sarah had taught him about evading capture, he threw his free elbow backwards as he bucked his hips upwards and was rewarded with the feel of his elbow making contact followed by a popping sound. The weight on his back suddenly disappeared and he rolled over and quickly got to his feet.

"You brote my node, Chuck" Carina blurted out, the hands on either side of her nose doing little to slow the flow of blood.

Chuck gaped at the sight of his partner on her knees, looking at him in disbelief. He wanted to offer his help but he didn't know what to do. Before he could say a word, Casey jogged up and after taking in the scene, he knelt beside Carina and slowly helped her get to her feet. "What did you do, Bartowski?"

"I heard someone approaching, I turned and then before I knew what was going on, Carina tackled me and then started trying to cuff me. I remembered this move that Sarah taught me and then…"

"Wud?" Carina asked, not believing what she'd just heard.

"Well, Carina, it looks like Walker just broke your nose…again" Casey said, trying, and failing miserably, to keep a smile from his face.

"Oh, vedy fuddy, Casey" Carina replied before lashing out, her foot finding Casey's shin, leaving him hopping around on one leg while he cursed.

"What should I do, Casey?"

"Go get the wagon, Chuck, so when can take Carina to the hospital to get her nose set" he answered and watched as his partner hesitated for a few seconds before turning and jogging towards the apartment complex. Turning back, he tried to hide his smile before speaking again. "So, Carina, do you get something like frequent flyer miles for all the work you keep bringing to your doctor?" he asked and then stepped quickly back when his partner tried to kick him…again.

"Yur fuggin hilarious, Casey!"

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Sarah and Chuck both looked up when Carina walked into the waiting room, the white tape contrasting sharply with the discoloration that was already beginning to show around her eyes. Before either of them could get to their feet, Morgan was at her side, gently wrapping an arm around her waist.,

"I can walk, Martin. Walker broke my nose, not my leg" Carina spat out, immediately regretting the words and tone they'd been delivered with. "I'm sorry, Morgan" she said as she grabbed for his hand at her waist, refusing to let him let her go. "Would you take me home, please."

"Of course, whatever you want" he replied as he guided them past Chuck, Sarah and Casey who stood together, watching the odd couple leave. "Could we stop for ice cream?" they heard the tall woman ask.

"Of course"

"And could we watch that movie you're always talking about…Star Words, isn't it?"

"No, it's Star Wars, and of course we can watch it. I'm sure Casey won't mind if we use the big screen" Morgan's voice drifted back to them.

"Stay off my new couch!" Casey yelled after them and after exchanging looks with Sarah and Chuck, turned and hurried after them, promising himself to do whatever it took to keep his furniture safe.

"Do you think he'll shoot them?" Chuck asked as he stared into his fiancé's eyes.

"No…maybe tranq them, but I'm fairly certain he would actually shoot them."

"Maybe we should go, just to keep an eye on things?"

"Yeah, maybe we should."

A/N: Duex -been a while so I hope the feeling is still right…let me know.