A/N: Okay, so a day late, but the jetlag was my excuse, with a short filler here. . As I've been reading some of the great "classics" on the site, I've come to a sort of revelation that my stories are all quite similar. Frankly, I'm not quite fond of them and I don't think I myself would commit as a reader when there are stories out there far better and incredibly more diverse, like "Ready at your hand" by Dettiot (Go read that if you haven't. ) Anyway, I've got a mountain of stories I have to put endings to, because I owe it to you guys as readers. So while I'm working on my boring stuff, and moping, my question is this: does anyone have any ideas? Something new and cool to try out? If so, give me a holler (PM me….) and maybe we can do a collab. If not, I could always use ideas for the millions of stories I've already got so…..that works too. Thanks for listening….here's the next piece.

Chapter Eight…finally:

"Alright team." Jack Walker straightened up his tie, whiskey glass finally emptied as he rose from his chair, turning to the heating projector that was going to display their next assignment. "Now how many of you noticed that a few of our ladies here went AWOL for a little while?" He grinned knowingly, aware that the me there were indeed smitten by his daughter and her friend. "Wait….don't answer that." He chuckled and turned to the board.

Chuck was sitting across from Sarah at the table. Their last encounter was almost one week ago, and Jack hadn't given him a second to see Sarah alone; any time he didn't need Chuck, he was forcing Sarah to get complete info on the assignment, which Chuck still knew nothing about. Carina shouldered Sarah as always, and Chuck landed beside Hannah, much to Sarah's dismay. Granted, the two had never really gotten the chance to reach the topic of jealousy….exes….or really anything, for that matter. But the look she threw at Hannah was enough to start a revolution.

"Well, it's time to get the rest of you kids in the know." Jack announced. "Miller and Sarah here have been collecting data on an entire company the CIA seems to be struggling with; they call themselves 'Fulcrum.'" Jack stated wryly. "Looks like our buddies over at the CIA couldn't deal with them all that well, so since we showed up Verbanski's squad, they gave us the go ahead to root out these pests."

The picture of Fulcrum landed on the screen, their symbol. Chuck squinted at it; he'd never seen it before in his lifetime. How could they be such a threat and so unknown?

"Kids…." Jack leaned back in his chair. "Take it away."

Sarah cleared her throat, sitting regally as she glanced over her papers. "Looks as if they're an elite team of both agents and scientists; some are even government rejects. They don't do the little stuff; they only deal with big time trades, often concerning components for what they're building."

"And that is?" Bryce asked curiously. He was leaning forward, head propped up by his elbow on the table.

"Well, that's what we need to find out…." Carina stated matter-of- factly. "The CIA was unsuccessful…their agents were burned on the spot."

Casey whistled lowly. That was more like what he was used to dealing with.

"Nuclear? I mean, are we even talking weaponry?" Chuck asked.

Sarah shook her head, only able to keep eye contact with him for a moment. "No. The CIA keeps logs on the selling and purchase of those kinds of materials….it's something else. But whatever it is, it's got sensitive government information involved, which makes our mission top priority."

The team nodded in agreement.

"However…"Jack began slowly. "We can't just infiltrate their base and shoot it out like a one and done deal…"

Casey's sigh of annoyance was almost humorous. "And the reasoning behind that?"

"We know far too little about them, or what they're doing. Only recently, we managed to intercept a list of their known operatives…." Jack clicked a button on the handheld remote and the slide shifted to a list of about fifty names only. "Sarah's done a background check on each one…."

"And we will be following them until one leads us to something. For now…I'm narrowing the list down. Until then, training is to be continued at double our normal pace; this is serious."

"Chuck, you'll assume full responsibilities for furthering Hannah's technical training, got it?" Jack demanded. Chuck nodded in silence, watching Sarah swallow hard.

"Sarah…" Jack began. "Take care of Shaw's training too. Got it?"

Sarah nodded sharply and Jack clapped, terminating the meeting. "See you all here tomorrow at nine o'clock sharp…with answers."

-0-

Once the meeting was adjourned, Chuck was able to wait until they all fled to the gym before sifting quietly through to Sarah's office. Two knocks later, he gained entry and shut the door behind him.

"Hey…" he gave her a Bartowski smile, even more so when she reciprocated the act. She'd been hard at work, narrowing the list for possible suspects.

"Hey." She replied, dropping her pen, starting to rise when Chuck gently held her down, turning around so that he was behind her.

"Stressful day?" He questioned softly, his words seemed to soothe her a great deal.

"You don't know the half of it." She replied.

"Well…" he slid his fingers onto her back, causing her to shiver slightly. "I'm told I'm an expert….." he began to massage her gently, easing away all her pain. "-at helping with that…"

"Chuck…" Sarah bit back a groan, melting at his very touch. "You don't have to…"

"It's the least I can do for you, boss…" Chuck smiled, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her neck. He could almost feel the spark coursing through her. So much for taking things slow, though she wanted to take him right then and there.

"It's just…this workload is heavy." She sighed.

Chuck kneeled beside her desk, glancing at her list. "Need help?"

"Huh? No, you really don't have to-"

"Well, we can have a reward system?" He suggested with a grin, to which she once again smiled.

"I like the sound of that…" she leaned towards him, stopping when she saw a look of shock cross over his face. "Chuck?" She asked, tracing his line of sight to the list. "What's going on?"

"It's…..her…." Chuck blinked. "Right there…..Jill Roberts."

"Yeah, she's the bio-chem leader there." Sarah nodded. "She's one of their leading researchers."

"I…..i knew her…..I know her." Chuck stammered, regaining his composure. "We went out…back in Stanford."

Sarah knew that jealousy was a completely inappropriate response. Though she felt it strongly, she kept it buried under work, which was indeed a priority. "What?" It was like a slap to the face.

"I know where she lives now…..we broke up a while ago but I don't think she moved after leaving…" Chuck began. "She was signed up to join the CIA…..she quit…..that's what she told me. We broke up, because of it."

"Chuck…that makes you a valuable asset. Does she know you're CIA?"

Chuck shook his head. "I was sworn to secrecy so I told her things weren't working out between us…"

"Which puts us at an advantage…" Sarah began. "Look Chuck, I'm sorry about your past….I know it's hard, but we need you to use her to get this organization down."

"Are we…..going to kill her?" Chuck could kill, he'd had a red test…..but never someone he had a strong personal relation to…Never someone he thought he loved.

"No….I hope it doesn't come to that. Can you do this, Chuck?" Sarah began. "Can you carry on for the team?"

"I yeah…..I guess." Chuck nodded.

Sarah rose, Chuck mirroring her actions. "I'll tell dad. Until then….we have about a week of training. I'll see you in the gym?"

"Yeah…" he nodded, turning to leave.

"Oh! Chuck!" Sarah pulled him back.

"Yeah?" He asked wearily.

"Trust me…." She placed a tender kiss on his lips, leaving him craving more.

"Always." Chuck grinned against her lips.

-0-

"So this chick is Chuck's old flame?" Carina asked as she and Sarah made their way down the hall to the training gym.

"Yes." Sarah sighed, for what seemed like the millionth time. "But it was in college…."

"And chuckles here dumped her?" Carina rose a brow.

"Yes…why are you so intrigued?"

"Oh….no reason….it's just that Chuck here seems to be a secret womanizer…." Carina smirked.

"You and your mind games, Miller."

"Seriously. When you really look at him….he's hot, Walker."

"Please….lay off." Sarah glanced up at her, knowing full well she knew about their status.

"Oh. It's not me you need be worrying about…" Carina smirked, opening the door. Shaw was already in, pumping iron as usual. Hannah was sparring with Chuck, rather….intimately for Sarah's taste. And she trusted Chuck fully, it wasn't him she worried about. It was the damn brunette skank.

"There you go, just remember to be quicker on the left." Chuck's words were soft….Sarah wanted to learn a thing or two from him later. As if reading her mind, Carina taunted her once more. "Better go claim your territory, Walker."

"He's fine….they're just sparring." Sarah replied nonchalantly, though she fooled no one. She stepped over to Shaw. "How long have you been here…..?"

Shaw smirked. "Just my usual hour and a half….but now I'm ready for some real action."

Sarah reciprocated the flirtatious smirk. "Yeah?" She sauntered forward, grabbing Chuck's attention as well. "Want to…." She licked her lips. "fight a little?"

Chuck leaned over the railing, inches above Sarah's face. The two had to bottle up any urges, and there were plenty; competitiveness was overcoming them all.

Carina leaned back on the bench. "This should be great."

"Hannah and I could kick your asses any day of the week…." Chuck feigned some harshness so it wouldn't merely look as if he and Sarah were flirting. Sarah saw the twinkle in his eye and winked.

"Oh? How about you and Shaw here go at it, and I'll see what Hannah's been up to….." Sarah smirked.

Hannah looked confident, smiling as Shaw and Sarah entered the mat. At Carina's shout, the couples leapt at each other. Sarah was obviously not ready for Hannah's surprisingly fast left hook. Sarah was hit slightly on the cheek, and would've been kissing the floor if she hadn't dodged slightly at the last moment. "You're getting better…" Sarah stated approvingly, narrowly avoiding Hannah's flurry of punches.

"Chuck's a great teacher…" Hannah's flirtatious tone was all Sarah needed to ignite the flame of fury in her stomach. Within seconds, she lashed out a low leg and swept Hannah to the floor, using all her inner restraint to keep from sending her down with a roundhouse. It was no match for Sarah; she had years more experience and she was frankly much more talented. That was to be expected from the leader.

Glancing up, she felt her heart race a little when she saw Chuck's bleeding lip and Shaw's bloody nose. They were able to keep it off the mat as the two bruised and battered each other for victory. Shaw gained the advantage and threw Chuck down. Only then was Chuck able to launch himself into a kick and land Shaw down, pinning him with disturbing accuracy.

"Okay, that's enough….." Carina decided to be useful. "Newbies…" she glanced at Shaw and Hannah. "Come with me, there's work to be done elsewhere." She led them out, tossing Shaw a towel for his nose. The door shut.

Sarah smiled after Carina. Despite all her jabs and taunting and ridicule…she was a good friend. Sarah smirked as she approached Chuck, who was breathing hard on the floor. Chuck swept his leg out and tripped her, managing to catch her on top of him, with only the preciseness of a trained agent.

"Using my own move against me?" Sarah smiled.

"So…..How was Hannah?" Chuck smiled, watching her role her eyes.

"She was good. Are you happy?"

"Not yet…" he grinned. "I wish I could kiss you…."

"And why not?" she rose a brow, her body aching for him.

"Shaw busted my lip…." He replied, leaning back.

"As if I haven't tasted blood before…" She teased, instead placing a kiss on his jaw.

"That's not going to be enough…" he sighed as the two rose, walking over to his water bottle and towel to clean his lip.

"Sarah…" he began, turning to her.

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking…..we should go on a date?"

"A date?" Sarah smiled, feeling like she was eighteen. "That's your formal way of asking?"

Chuck laughed, pulling her into his chest. "Sarah Walker, will you go out to dinner with me tonight?"

"My curfew's ten o'clock…." She replied, glancing up at him.

"We can be at my place by then…." He grinned, finding her lips. He cherished the taste, the feeling as he held her closer, as close as he could. She felt her arms go around his neck.

"Okay…..Mr. Carmichael…" she grinned. "You may court me. Do your worst."

A/N: fun and angst. So anyway, I will see you all soon. Don't forget to PM me if you're interested in helping with a brand new collab idea or even any of my old stories that are unfinished, including this one. I'll credit you happily. Thanks a million, I love the reviews. Keep em coming, and I'll do the same with the chapters. Until then, as always, have a great one guys.

-LLC