This is not an original story. It was written during the middle of season 2. The original story assumed a sequel that never happened. So there will be some brand new content in this rewrite and several new chapters at the end.

I'd like to respond to a theme expressed in several reviews of the first chapter. First off, I appreciate the feedback. As long as you sign your review and give me the opportunity to respond, I really don't have a problem with anything you say. But I am a little bemused at how little slack some of you are willing to give Sarah here.

Sarah is not a normal girl next door that Chuck met at work, dated for a while, and fell in love with. Sarah is who she is. Chuck knew what he was getting with her from basically the first day. Sarah has a troubled background, came to be how she is through some unfortunate circumstance, but now is fully a spy with blinders on, tasked with protecting the man that she also happens to inexplicitly find herself fiercely in love with in a desperate, desperate situation. And in that pursuit, absolutely nothing is off the table. She has a lot of weapons in her holster. She'll fight, kill in cold blood, lie, flirt, and, yes, if it was ever absolutely required screw. Things like morality are a luxury she's been taught that she simply can't afford. She is not in any way cheating on Chuck. Even he wouldn't say that. Yes, they disagree sometimes on priorities and tactics. He struggles a lot more with some of this than she does. She's been trained and he hasn't. But she doesn't enjoy it one single bit more than he does.

This story is basically about Sarah's evolution from half wife / half bodyguard to mostly wife / just a little bodyguard. Right now, she simply can't understand why Chuck doesn't understand, suck it up, and be more supportive. One thing that will change in this rewrite is that Chuck is not going to be bashful about telling Sarah when he disagrees with her. And he is going to disagree some. But they are going to talk frankly, sometimes shout at each other, and sometimes agree to disagree. Sarah is going to grow. Over time she'll come to realize that protecting Chuck emotionally is just as important as protecting him physically, and discover in horror that she's been dropping that ball. For Chuck's part, he'll come to realize what it is that he has and come to cherish it at an entirely different level. That growth isn't going to be completely painless, it never is. It's the romantic story that I wish the show would have told. Instead they made Chuck a spy and gave him superpowers.

Sarah is a hero. If I was in trouble, I'd want someone like Sarah protecting me. Would I want to be married to her? I think on balance, I'd say yes. Certainly I'd struggle with some of the same things that Chuck will. But he also knows that she will do anything for him… ANYTHING. That has to count for something.

I still don't own Chuck.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible.

Deception

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah's smile as she looked down and saw Seth starting to unbutton her blouse was actually genuine. In fact, it took away almost all of her nervousness. One thing that she could say about her 'husband' with complete confidence even after all these years, whatever he lacked in brains, he certainly made up for in balls. Fortunately, that was something that she was counting on. It was her only hope to pull this off. "Down boy," she said with a laugh as she took a step back. "I said that I missed you. Not that I wanted to get naked."

"Come on," Seth said with the seductive smile that he was completely accustomed to being effective with women. "A husband has certain rights, you know. It has been five years, after all."

"Nice try, Seth," Sarah said still laughing as she refastened the buttons on her blouse. "We both know that you gave up those rights when you I caught you in bed with my best friend. Remember that little detail?"

"So," said Seth sadly. "You're still pissed about that? How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

Sarah was still amused watching Seth trying to charm his way out of this. For one thing, he had never said that he was sorry. She hadn't even spoken to him since that awkward scene. Pissed wasn't even the right word. It's funny how time passing changes your perspective. At the time Sarah was absolutely devastated. But now she had to admit, she should have saw this coming from a mile away. Now she was frankly much more embarrassed than angry. If anything, she was now angrier at Laura for betraying their friendship than she was at Seth for betraying their marriage. In fact if she missed anyone out of this deal, it was Laura. Seth had unwittingly done her a huge favor. She was an extremely loyal person. She might still be married to this moron but for that fateful afternoon. Well, actually she was technically still married to this moron, but that was just semantics. "I'm not still pissed about that," she said. "It was a long time ago. But you have to admit, you're going to need to prove to me that I can trust you before we hop into bed."

"What do I have to do?" Seth said with a seductive smile. "Whatever it is, I'll do it. You have to admit, we had some good times in bed."

That got Sarah inwardly laughing again. She had to admit, Seth was her first man. He had taught her a lot about sex. Unfortunately, he also taught her that sex was mostly an activity designed for the woman to make the man happy… and to avoid it whenever possible. Seth's idea of sex was whatever she could do to turn him on and satisfy him. And for his lack of intelligence in general, he was most creative in the bedroom thinking up things for her to try. The idea of anything in it for her… not so much. Luckily for him he was a natural at charming different women into his bed… because he surely didn't get much repeat business. It was hard for Sarah to keep a straight face. Fortunately, Seth's ego would cause him to eat this up. "We had some very good times," she said with a sparkle in her eyes. "No question about that. That's the thing I've missed the most. If you want to get back to that, I'm willing to give it a shot. But you're going to have to prove to me that I can trust you. It's not going to happen today. Or tomorrow, for that matter."

"Tell me what you need." Seth said. "If I can give it to you, I will."

This was actually going better than expected. "Well," Sarah said with a smile. "You're going to have to talk to me."

"What do you want to talk about?" Seth said seductively as he stepped up to Sarah and put his arms around her.

Sarah knew that she had better quickly set some boundaries or he wouldn't listen to a word she said. He would just keep grabbing her until she was forced to either give in, or punch him. And neither would help Chuck. Giving in sure wasn't going to happen. Punching him might be a little fun… "Okay, Seth," she said firmly as she twisted out of his grasp. "Keep it in your pants. The quick seduction thing just isn't going to fly. What we had at one time was great. And, I'll admit, I miss it. I miss you. If you want for us to get back to where we were, it has to be more than just in bed. I'm willing to give it a shot. But you need to decide how far you're willing to go."

"But you're just so hot," Seth said with a sigh. "You are honestly more beautiful now than you were when we were together. How can you blame me for wanting you right now? I've been dreaming about it for five years."

Sarah breathed a silent sigh of relief. That was more like it. "Then a few more days won't hurt, will it?" she asked with a smile as she walked to the door. "I have to go. I want you to think about something. How much do you want to try again? I'll be back tomorrow and we'll talk about us. But it can't be just sex. I need more."

"Wait," said Seth as he took Sarah's face in his hands and kissed her again. "You'll get more. I've missed you too."

"Life's too short, Seth," Sarah said softly as she walked out of the room.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah left the hotel, she called Casey on her cell.

Casey was clearly expecting the call because he answered on the first ring. "What's your status?" he answered briskly much like he always did.

"Are you alone?" Sarah asked softly.

"Yes," Casey said. "I'm assuming that you're doing what you do. How did it go?"

How did it go? That was a tough one. To the spy, Agent Walker, it couldn't have possibly gone any better. But she would rather walk through fire than admit the current situation to her partner… and now friend. "That part is going okay," she said sadly. "But there is a major complication. It's complicated and I don't have the time or energy to explain it, but I was married to this guy once. Technically, I guess I still am."

To say that Casey was surprised didn't come close. "Does Chuck know?" was all he could find to say in his confused amazement.

"I assume so," Sarah said with a sad sigh. "He said he flashed on the personnel file. That is going to mess him up. I should have told him. I was waiting for the right time. I really didn't want him to find out this way. I just can't deal with that right now. I'm struggling enough as it is."

"I'll talk to him," Casey said in typical Casey fashion. "Just for the record, does Chuck have anything to worry about?"

That got Sarah seeing red for a moment. The funny thing was that she wasn't sure who she was angry at – Chuck, Casey, or herself. But as soon as she took a breath she realized there was only one person to blame for this mess. It was actually a legitimate question from a partner under the circumstances. It's just that she expected more somehow. "Of course not," she snapped. "Casey, you know how I feel about Chuck. I hate this guy. But he knows me. He is going to be hard to fool. It's going to take every bit of concentration that I have to pull this one off. Please make Chuck understand."

"Roger that," Casey said. "Do you have another meeting scheduled?"

"Yes," Sarah replied with a sigh. "Tomorrow afternoon."

"You need to wear a wire," Casey said firmly. "I want to monitor you. This guy is Fulcrum after all. You might get in trouble."

As angry as Sarah was just a moment ago, she was now just as grateful. Casey had just purposely changed the subject into professional spy mode to make this easier for her. "I can't risk it," she said. "I don't know where his hands are going to be. I can't have him stumbling across the wire by accident. I'll be okay. This guy really thinks he is getting in my pants. As long as I can keep him thinking that he wouldn't do anything to mess it up. Besides, if it comes to that I could take him with my hands tied behind my back, which is probably a position he will soon suggest anyway. Maybe I can plant a bug in the room."

"Where are you at right now?" Casey asked.

"I'm on my way back home," Sarah said. "Tell Chuck that I'll see him there."

"Don't worry," Casey said with an evil laugh. "You just concentrate on doing what you need to do. I'll knock some sense into our boy."

It spite of the ridiculousness of the situation, Casey's tone caused Sarah to smile as she pictured the scene. "About that," she said. "Do you think you could go a little easy on him? Please, he's had a hard day."

"Sorry, Walker," Casey said with a laugh. "I only know how to do this one way. And easy ain't it. Don't worry, he'll survive."

x-x-x-x-x

Now that he had a clear assignment Casey walked up to Chuck at the Nerd Herd desk. "Let's take a walk," he said gruffly.

Casey silently led Chuck to the employee break room. "I just talked to Walker," he said as he looked at Chuck warily. "She wanted me to talk to you. She's worried about you."

"What is she worried about?" Chuck asked sadly. "Is she afraid I'll find out that she might be going on a second honeymoon with her husband?"

"I think that she might be afraid that you misunderstand about that," Casey said sarcastically. "Here is a news flash for you, Bartowski. Women spies use sex to control men. They have since the beginning of time. It's the main weapon that they have. Walker is using it to try and save your ass. Instead of whining like a child, why don't you try being a little grateful?"

"Because it kind of makes it hard to be in love with one," Chuck replied sharply. "How do you ever know that she is just not playing you like she does her mark?"

"There is a very good way for you to know," Casey said as his eyes narrowed. "Do you know what that is?"

Chuck just shook his head.

"Because you actually have had sex," Casey said firmly. "If she was playing you she would only let you think that you might have sex, if you did everything that she wanted. But you never actually would. I'm going to assume for the sake of this argument that you have?"

One thing that Chuck had to admit, they had sex. Tons and tons of wild sex. Sarah wasn't kidding one bit when she warned him to be prepared to be seduced a lot. If that sounded like a complaint in any way, it surely wasn't. He could now see her completely naked without blushing even a tiny bit. The last few days had been a wonderful blur. "Of course," he said as his face became less tense.

"There you go," Casey replied with a sigh. "I'm telling you this because that's what she's doing with Seth Roberts. That's her training. She's letting him think that she will have sex with him if she gets her way. That is going to drive him crazy. It's going to consume his thoughts so that he will do anything she asks him, including telling her what he knows about you and the Buy More. But here's the rub. They'll never actually have sex. As a matter of fact, if she did ever have sex with him she'd lose all of her advantage. So she'll never let that happen."

"Okay" said Chuck as a small smile began to form. "I like that concept so far."

"I thought that you might," Casey said with a grimace. "In fact it almost makes you want to feel sorry for the guy. She is going to tease him until he is Mount St. Helens, ready to explode. Then once she finds out what she wants, she is going to leave him all alone with a big problem on his hands, if you get my meaning. The problem is that, in order to fool him, she's going to have to look like she might be willing to sleep with him. And to someone looking at them that didn't know what was going on, they might be fooled just like he will be. She doesn't want you to be that person. She is going to have to do some things that a normal fiancé wouldn't like."

"Like?" asked Chuck cautiously.

"Like flirting with him," Casey said with a grin. "Maybe telling him how much she wants him or kissing him with an open mouth. Perhaps letting his hands go to places they shouldn't or showing him more skin than would otherwise be appropriate. Things like that."

"But I don't like her doing any of those things," Chuck said firmly. "Maybe I'm being selfish but I want those things all to myself."

"No shit," Casey said with a small smile. "Who would like that? Nobody's saying you should like it. You're not being selfish. That is totally normal. There would be something seriously wrong if you did like it. And there's no question, if she did any of those things for real, she'd be cheating on you. She's really hoping that you trust her enough to know that she would never, ever do that to you."

Chuck just looked at Casey sadly.

"This is going to be very hard on her," Casey said softly. "Walker knows what she's doing. She is a pro, the very best that there is, bar none. But she knows this guy. And more importantly, he knows her. And that's tough. She's not trained for that. But she's doing this for one reason. For you, the man that she loves. So you need to ask yourself. Do you want her to get this guy who she can't stand to think for a day that he has a chance to sleep with her or do you want to go into an underground bunker for the rest of your life?"

"I want to trust her," Chuck said softly. "More than you'll ever know. But how can I be sure?"

Casey got really quiet for a long moment and his eyes sort of drifted into space. "Let me ask you something, Bartowski," he said softly. "Have you ever seen her cry? I'm not talking about some tears in her eyes. I'm talking broken down, out of control crying."

Chuck just shook his head and looked at the table.

"I have," Casey said so softly that Chuck had to strain to hear him.

Chuck's head snapped up to look at Casey in silent amazement.

"She's pretty tough, isn't she?" Casey asked rhetorically with a sad smile. "I've been in unbelievably horrible situations with her. We've seen dead bodies. We've seen people die in front of us. We've seen people that we care about being tortured. Things that would make me want to cry. Do you know what I mean?"

Chuck nodded his head sadly after a moments pause, surprised by Casey's admission.

"But the only time I've ever seen Walker cry is this past week," Casey continued. "When she thought that she would never see you again. When Beckman showed us Becky Ivan's video of you, she sat in my kitchen and bawled like a baby. She sobbed for an hour that she would never get to tell you how much she loves you. It must have killed her to do that in front of me and Larkin. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Chuck nodded in response.

Suddenly Casey's voice changed. Now it was classic Casey. "So don't ask me how you can trust her," he said in a low growl. "In my mind, you are the luckiest bastard in the whole world. The question I would ask is how do you deserve to be loved as much she loves you?"

"I know," said Chuck after pausing to wipe the tears that were forming in his eyes. "So, what should I do?"

"Give her some space to do her job," Casey said with a smile in a much softer tone. "Let her know that she doesn't have to worry about you. She needs to be able to concentrate right now or she is going to be in danger."

"But, Casey," Chuck said with a distinct whine in his voice. "She's married to him. How could that be? This is too hard."

"I don't know the answer to that," Casey said softly. "That part is not a spy thing. And you deserve to have her explain it to you very soon. You absolutely do. I'm not saying anything else. If she was standing here I don't think she would deny that herself. Just don't force it tonight. She needs to know that you're willing to wait for a few days. She needs that to be safe. I'm sure that she has a good explanation. Trust her on pure faith for a couple of days. She deserves it."

"She deserves it," Chuck agreed.

"One other thing I experienced that week," Casey said, clearly trying to lighten the mood as a smile broke out on his face. "This is totally beside the point but I remember the look on Sarah's face when Bryce showed her that he had captured Becky Ivan and then she started quite literally kicking her ass around that parking lot. I'll never forget it as long as I live. You and I have fundamentally different relationships with her. That's as it should be. But I learned something that day that apply equally to both of us. Well, actually probably more to me. She's more likely to cut you some slack. But it's something that neither one of us should ever forget."

"Never, under any circumstance, ever piss her off."

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck walked into the apartment, Sarah was standing there waiting for him. He could tell by the look on her face that she was really struggling. Chuck walked up to her and took her in his arms. Sarah immediately buried her face into Chuck's chest. "I love you so much," she said. "I need for you to know that. Those aren't just words. I really do love you. Nothing is ever going to change that."

"I know," Chuck said as he held her tight. "I love you too. And I want you to know that for the time being I'm just going to trust that you're doing the right thing. No matter how badly it looks to me, I'll wait until you're ready to talk."

"It won't be long," Sarah said. "You have every right to know every single detail. I'm just not in a spot to deal with it right now. But you can trust me. It's not what it looks like. Whatever I do, it's because I'm looking out for you. I promise."

"I know," Chuck said. "I just need you to be safe. Please tell me what I can do to help."

"You're doing it right now," Sarah said. "Thank you."

Chuck sighed as he rubbed Sarah's back gently.

"I guess normal is going to have to wait for another week."

x-x-x-x-x