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 still don't own Chuck.

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Sisters

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Sarah was having such a good time. She was actually in the last place she would have predicted tonight, sitting in a bar with her soon to be sister-in-law having a drink and sharing funny stories.

Okay, so maybe she was feeling a little guilty. She wanted to spend the rest of the night with Chuck, making him forget Seth Roberts even existed… and if that went well, maybe his own name. But Chuck insisted. This was Ellie's night off. Besides, he wasn't expecting Sarah to be home tonight anyway. So he had promised Morgan they could hang out. And it was still early. There was plenty of time to have a couple of drinks with Ellie and still get some forgetting time in with Chuck later.

And one thing was for sure. If Morgan was coming over, Sarah really didn't want to be there. She didn't dislike Morgan. Not really. It was more like discomfort than dislike. But his bizarre connection to Chuck was, well, bizarre. She was absolutely not jealous of him. Well, okay. Maybe she was just a little. But it was more uncomfortable than jealous. Morgan had never been in her room before. Chuck promised that he would make an honest effort to keep him from going through her clothes. But he was just teasing, right? Oh God, let him be teasing.

Fortunately being with Ellie quickly drove any lingering thoughts of Morgan examining her collection of panties away. They simply shared a bond. Sarah quickly found that she could actually relax around her. And that was something that simply never happened to Agent Walker. Their conversation turned quickly into more like giggling. No matter what they talked about, Sarah invariably found herself laughing so hard that her sides hurt.

And they talked about the same thing that best friends always talked about… men and clothes, but mostly men. Well, two men particularly. Of course Sarah was at a disadvantage. Whenever the conversation got at all intimate Ellie would cover her ears and make funny noises so that she couldn't hear. That never failed to initiate another session of giggling.

Okay, yes, so they were hit on… a lot. But really, did they expect anything else? Two beautiful women sitting alone in a bar was simply too inviting of a target to pass up. Sarah was so used to being hit on in bars that she barely noticed it. Ellie certainly had been hit on before. But she was clearly surprised by the increased intensity that being with Sarah Walker brought. They had so many drinks sent to them that they quickly had a line of many more than they could possibly drink. Fortunately only a very few of the men were actually so bold as to try and come over and join them. Even more fortunately, it turned out that Sarah was something of an expert at gently but firmly thanking them for the drink then letting them know there was zero interest in anything further. They almost always got the message, which was fortunate for them. Sarah Walker rejection phase two wasn't very pretty.

Sarah was torn as they left the club. She was having such a good time with Ellie that she didn't want it to end so soon. But Chuck was waiting for her. She probably should have been more aware as they walked to the alley where they had parked. It's just that she was having such a relaxed time. Threats didn't seem possible. But she knew something was wrong the instant that she saw the man leaning against her car. For one thing, who would be so stupid as to touch her Porsche? Brain dead, right?

Sure enough, two of his buddies jumped out of the shadows.

Mr. Brain Dead pulled out a knife. "Nice car," he sneered. "I'll take the keys… and your purses."

Naturally Ellie's eyes became saucers as she tried to back away from the knife as far as possible.

Sarah, on the other hand, was busy with other thoughts. Sonofabitch, did that moron just put fingerprints on my car? So she turned to him. "You're not holding that knife correctly," she said calmly.

Ellie was clearly trying to take charge and protect her younger sister. "Sarah," she hissed. "What are you doing? Just give him what he asks for."

Sarah turned to Ellie. "But he's not holding it right," she insisted with a calm smile. Then she turned back to the man. "You're not holding it right. You're going to get hurt holding it that way. If you're intent on being a small time hood, at least try and be a competent one."

The mugger was clearly impressed with Sarah's attempt at career counseling and was also plainly very interested in hearing her advice. "Shut the fuck up, bitch," he snarled as he brandished the knife menacingly. "Just give me the purse and the keys."

Suddenly the knife was clanging down the alley courtesy of a Sarah Walker kick. "See," she said. "I tried to tell you. You were holding it wrong. I'm not really the kind of person who says 'I told you so' but…"

Normally Sarah would have followed up her first kick with a second one to his jaw, ending his night. But this bastard was scaring Ellie. And he put his greasy hands all over her sparkling glass. That couldn't be allowed to stand. So she allowed his two buddies to relatively easily grab her arms.

"Damn," the mugger said as he vigorously shook his hand in pain. "That hurt. You shouldn't have done that." He reached back to throw a punch at her that would have been devastating… had it landed. And after all, she was being held in place by his two buddies.

This small time punk had never heard of Sarah Walker. That on its own wasn't all that unusual, most hadn't. But it also meant he would have no way of knowing that her favorite fighting weapons were not her arms which the men had secured. It was her legs which were foolishly left totally free. He was also unfortunately unaware of the physics involved, probably didn't even know what physics meant. So he didn't realize that Sarah was going to be able to use the two men holding her as leverage. At least he didn't realize it until she had landed an absolutely devastating kick deep into his groin that had five times the power had she been standing on her own. Naturally, his knowledge came a beat too late and he went down in a howling heap, the pain in his hand suddenly forgotten, and his night of mischief over.

Sarah quickly brought her heel down into the ankle of the man on her right. Of course he dropped her arm like a hot potato. That left the man on her left, well… pretty much screwed. He had a hold of Sarah's left arm with both of his. With her right arm free and no way to block her punch, the right fist directly to his eye sent him to the pavement not really knowing where he was.

That left the only man remaining upright… sorta anyway. He was still hopping up and down on his one good foot. Sarah's kick directly under his ribcage sent him down for the count with no other thought than trying to breathe.

The fight, if you could call it that, had lasted for a grand total of about fifteen seconds. Sarah just turned calmly to Ellie who was standing there with her mouth hanging open. "Are you ready?"

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As soon as they were in the car and the adrenaline from the fight began to wear off, Sarah kicked herself. Now she had to explain this to Ellie, who was still just sitting there staring at her in wonder. Maybe she could make it a joke. "Those self defense classes really paid off," she said.

No sale.

"Bullshit," Ellie said firmly but with no sense of anger. "Don't even try it, Sarah. I took self defense classes. I was the best one in my class. And I couldn't begin to do what you just did. When are you going to tell me?"

Sarah tried to play dumb. "Tell you what?" she asked.

"Come on, sweetie," Ellie said, probably a little more frustration coming across than she really intended. "We're best friends, right? We're going to soon be sisters. If you don't trust me enough to tell me why a beautiful girl who drives a Porsche and fights like a ninja is pretending to work in a yogurt shop, fair enough. Just tell me that. My feelings might be a little hurt. I'll be disappointed in you. But please don't insult me by expecting me to believe this steaming pile at face value."

Sarah sighed to herself. This was the worst thing that could have happened. Blowing her cover to Ellie put her mission at risk. Beckman would be furious. It might even make Ellie less safe. But she was absolutely right. Ellie was practically her sister. Maybe it was time to start acting like it. "Okay, Ellie," she finally said. "I can't tell you everything. But I will tell you enough to let you know that I trust you. Before I begin, I just want to get something on the table. I need you to trust me a little as well. I'm looking out for you here. There is a really good reason I haven't been honest with you. I really need you to let me finish before you get angry. And, Ellie, I fully expect you to get angry. Deal?"

Ellie just nodded, clearly surprised by Sarah's tone.

"One other thing," Sarah continued. "I'm committing a felony by telling you any of this. You'd be committing that same felony telling anybody else. I'm not so naïve to think that you're not going to tell Devon some of it. But it's vital, not only to national security, but to your, Devon's and especially Chuck's safety that no one learns what I'm going to tell you."

That actually got a smile. "Okay," Ellie said. "I get it. You're making fun of me here. Just how is being a hooker vital to national security? My safety? Is your pimp coming after me?"

That broke some of the tension in the car. "I'm not a hooker," Sarah replied with a laugh. "Although I understand that sometimes it might look like it. Trust me. You're not the first person to call me a hooker. But they usually say whore." She handed Ellie her ID.

Ellie skeptically looked at the ID for a long moment. "Is this real?" she finally asked. "You're in the CIA? Since when?"

"I've been with the Agency for about ten years," Sarah replied calmly. "I was recruited out of High School."

"What are you doing here in Burbank?"

Sarah took a deep breath. That was the real question wasn't it? "My initial assignment was to control and protect Chuck," she said. "To justify my always being with him, I assumed the role of his girlfriend."

Ellie took a moment to carefully parse what Sarah was saying. "Initial assignment?" she asked. "So your relationship with Chuck is fake? I don't believe that. What is your assignment now? Protect him from what?"

Sarah couldn't help but smile at the perceptiveness of Ellie's questions. "There were actually several questions there," she said. "Where to start? I'm not trying to double speak you, Ellie. But I'll admit it's complicated. My relationship with Chuck started off fake. No sense in trying to deny that. It hasn't been fake for a while now but it also wasn't openly admitted. By the way, an agent being in love with her assignment, that's completely against the rules. Remember in your kitchen a few days ago? I was being punished, was ordered to tell Chuck that I was in love with someone else so another agent could take over for me and get close to him. That's why I was so messed up for a few days. As of that day, I no longer have a current assignment. Technically, I'm still an agent. I'm still going to protect Chuck. But as soon as the threat to Chuck is resolved, I'm resigning and we're going to be married. It was a tough sell. It's not the kind of job that you're normally allowed to resign from. But my superiors already know how I feel. Protect him from what? I'm not going to tell you any specifics. It would be a long story and you wouldn't believe me anyway. Let's just say that Chuck has a very unique skill. In fact he is the only person in the world with this skill. There are organizations that would seek to capture him and force him to use that skill against his will. I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Is Chuck in danger?"

Sarah though for a moment on how to answer that one. She didn't want to freak Ellie out any more than she was already. But the last thing she was going to do was to be dishonest to her in any way. That day was past. So she finally settled for the truth. "I guess that depends on how you'd define danger," she said. "This organization is actively looking for him. If they captured him, it would be horrible beyond imagination, for him, for us, and for the country. When they finally killed him they would be doing him a favor. But don't worry, Ellie. I'm not going to ever let that happen."

"How are you going to stop them?" Ellie asked skeptically. "I mean, I understand that you can handle yourself. But you're making it sound like there is a whole organization after him."

"I'm not alone," Sarah said. "And they don't know that it's Chuck that they're after. If they ever find out, he wouldn't be able to survive long. That's why it's so critically vital that no one hears about this. That's why we've demanded that he stay working at the Buy More. An underachieving nerd working in a Buy More is the last place they'd suspect."

"So Chuck is not an underachieving nerd working in a Buy More," she said. The relief in her voice was plain.

That got an even bigger smile. "No, Ellie," Sarah said. "He is most definitely not. That's the good news. He is a hero, one of the biggest in the country's history. There are so many things that I wish I could tell you, but trust me. If you knew you'd be just as proud of him as I am. He's saved countless lives, including both of ours."

That got a smile from Ellie. "You really are lovesick aren't you?"

Sarah actually had to pause for a moment to gather her composure. She reached over and grabbed her best friend's hand. "I honestly didn't know what love was," she finally said, her voice so soft that Ellie had to strain to hear. "I thought that love was for suckers and dreamers. I was all about duty. I lived for the next mission. Ellie, I'm not the sweet blonde, the girl next door. That's just an illusion, a mask to fool people. I've done things that make being a whore look like Mother Teresa. Then I met Chuck. He's not like anybody I've ever known. I fell for him almost the first day. And, Ellie, here is the amazing part. He knew me, knew what I really was… and loved me anyway. Wow. I fought against that for a whole year. I made him and myself and anybody who was forced to be around us miserable. But no matter how much crap I dished out to him, no matter how big of a bitch I was to him, he just wouldn't go away. He stood by me and loved me when anybody else would have long ago given up. So now, thanks mostly to you, I do know what love is, what it feels like. And it can simply be awful, hurt worse than anything you've ever experienced before, make you wish you'd never been born. But it can also make you feel like you can flap your arms and fly. That's where I'm at right now, about ready to start flapping my arms and show you how I can fly. I'm frankly still learning how to deal with it. Chuck has had to put up with things that no man should have to put up with. I want to be everything that he needs. So yes, I'm totally lovesick."

"He is incredibly lucky," Ellie said. "To have someone who loves him that much. How can I help?"

Sarah knew immediately what Ellie meant. She wasn't talking about helping with Fulcrum, or the CIA, or the danger. She was talking about helping her best friend. "You're doing it," she said, again very softly so that her voice wouldn't break. "If maybe sometimes I could talk to you. I really don't know how to be a wife. My instincts are totally the opposite. I… Ellie, sometimes I just don't know what he needs. I'm trying so hard, Ellie. If I could just maybe talk to you…"

"Of course," Ellie said. "Sweetie, come on. You know that you don't have to ask me that. For one thing, stop trying so hard. The honest truth is that he loves you just as desperately as you love him. I can't imagine any couple more perfect for each other. Just maybe relax a little and enjoy it. But I'd love to talk, anytime of the day or night. Maybe in exchange you can tell me some exciting stories of life as a beautiful CIA Agent. I'll bet you have some."

Ellie suddenly grinned at Sarah's distressed look. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said. "This would just be between us. Chuck would never have to know."

"That's not it," Sarah finally said. "I'm not going to hide anything from Chuck. He already knows a lot. I'm more worried about you."

That clearly surprised her. "Me?" Ellie asked. "Why are you worried about me?"

"I'm not ashamed of anything that I've done as a spy," Sarah said. "I'm absolutely not. I've made the world a safer place. I've brought down drug cartels, kept legitimate governments from being overthrown. I've even kept terrorists from getting nuclear weapons. But hearing some of those details might make you feel differently about me."

"Sex?" Ellie asked. Then she smiled. "I'm sorry. That's the first thing that jumps into my mind. I've probably been watching too many movies."

"There has been some," Sarah admitted. "Not much, but some. It's simply a fact of life in this business. Other agents use it a lot more. It's my last resort. No, I'm worried more about you finding out about all the people I've killed. My nickname was The Enforcer."

"How many?" Ellie asked.

That broke some of the tension and Sarah laughed. "I haven't exactly been keeping count," she said. Then she got serious again. "It might be fifty. But they were all bad. I hope that doesn't change things between us."

Ellie firmly shook her head. "That's just silly," she said. "We're sisters. You were doing a nasty, uncomfortable, but necessary job." Then she smiled. "Tell me about the sex," she said.

That totally broke the tension in the car and they both started laughing. "How about this?" Sarah responded. "I worked with a partner for a couple of years. Her name is Carina. I'll tell you some of her stories. But I'm warning you, Ellie…"

"She's pretty wild."

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