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.

If you read the original (and good decision, BTW) you'll notice that some basic things have changed. In fact the number of chapters has changed. I've added new scenes and deleted others. Most of the scenes of this chapter were in the original in some form. But they were spread out in three different chapters.

I'm currently on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. So to those who reviewed the last chapter, I apologize for not responding. But to Moo I'd like to say, come on. You simply can't judge Sarah as merely Chuck's girlfriend. She was never just that. Especially in early season 2 when this story is set. Chuck needs protection. That's Sarah's job. Doing her job doesn't mean Chuck is a cuckold. Not fair, Moo. Try signing a review sometime so I can respond to you directly.

I realized that when I changed the rating, fewer people would read the story. It simply doesn't show up in the default list. I guess I'm surprised by how many fewer. But it can't be helped. There was no way to tell the story I wanted to tell and keep it T. You'll see why soon.

Anyway, it's probably now more important than ever that the few of you that remain stay vocal.

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.

The Rock

x-x-x-x-x

Well Sarah was sure right about one thing. As soon as Casey was comfortably back from his 'goodbye' kiss and into the sales area, he could see what must be Laura Carter walking through the front door. Even though he had seen her picture, the live shot was ten times better. Sarah was right again, she was absolutely gorgeous. She looked like she had just stepped off the page of a swimsuit calendar.

"Where does the CIA find all of these babes?" Casey said under his breath.

At about five feet, six inches, Laura Carter had jet black hair that hung over her shoulders and sparkled in the light as she walked. She had a very fair complexion with absolutely no hint of imperfection and perfect sparking white teeth. One was immediately drawn to her big green eyes. She certainly carried an air of girl-next-door innocence about her. But when you looked closer she also clearly knew what she was doing. Once you could tear your attention away from her eyes, the main feature that stood out at you was her beautiful long legs. And, based on her choice of skirts, she obviously knew it. The slit was definitely high enough to get your attention. Every eye in the store, of either gender, was on her as she walked confidently up to Casey.

"Hi," Laura said as she stuck out her hand with a dazzling smile. "Are you John Casey?"

Casey was a trained agent. He had been around and worked with beautiful CIA Agents before. Of course there really wasn't any other kind. But even having said that, he was a little taken aback at how truly lovely she was. He also knew full well why Agent Carter was here. Yet when he looked up he found himself looking into the green eyes of very possibly the most beautiful woman in the world. He actually had to take a moment to calm his voice and make sure he didn't sound like a four year old. "Yes, ma'am," he said hesitantly as he accepted her hand and shook it softly.

"My name is Laura Carter," she said in a friendly but businesslike tone. "I'm looking for Sarah Walker."

Casey knew how the game was played. "Sorry, Miss Carter," he said with a smile. "I've never heard of her."

Laura was totally expecting that response, would have been disappointed in anything else. After all, they were both covert. "Come on, John," she said softly as she leaned in so that only Casey could hear her. "My name is actually Agent Carter. I'm Sarah's best friend. We roomed together at the Academy. Sarah's told me all about you. I went over to that Orange Orange place where she works looking for her but she wasn't there. Do you know where she is?"

"I'm sorry, Agent Carter…" Casey began.

"Please, John," Laura interrupted softly with her softest smile. "This isn't an official visit. I'm on leave for two whole weeks. Hopefully we can be friends. Call me Laura."

Casey was quite possibly looking at a Fulcrum Agent, a traitor who was working against every single thing he believed in. But in spite of everything he knew, Casey still couldn't help the tingle at seeing that amazing smile. "Okay," he said with his own smile that he hoped looked appropriately calm. "I'm sorry Laura, but you just missed her. She went to clear up something with her ex husband for a couple of days. She just left for Vegas a few minutes ago."

Laura looked at him critically. In that stupid salesman green shirt, he didn't look like an agent. This had to be the worst cover in the history of the NSA. I'll bet he curses this assignment every night. But once you looked a little closer, he clearly wasn't a TV salesman. In fact, he was pretty damn sexy, in a tall, dark, smoldering sort of way. Clearly he wasn't Sarah's type. She went for the pretty boys. Truth be told, this John Casey was more her type. It actually gave her more than a little hope that maybe fucking this guy into submission wouldn't be such a chore after all. "Shoot," she said in disgust. "You're kidding. I knew that I should have called. I was trying to surprise her. We haven't seen each other in a couple of years. Is her dad still in San Diego? When did he get out of jail?"

Playing dumb about Sarah's past was actually pretty easy. All he knew was what was in her file anyway. "I'm not sure," he said awkwardly. "We try not to talk about our prior lives too much. You know Sarah. She's pretty private. And with the life we've both led, well, it makes things much less complicated."

Laura thought about it for a moment. That actually made a lot of sense. There were tons of things about her that Seth didn't know about, nor care. And Sarah was more private than she was, incredibly so. And it was actually good news for her mission. She now knew more details about Sarah than he did. That was always a good position for a spy to be in. "So," she said with a grin. "She has never told you about me?"

"I'm afraid not," Casey said with his own grin. "I'm very sure I would have remembered."

He was flirting with her. Not only was that a very good sign for her objective, she could clearly feel the tingle in her own loins. "Well then," Laura said with a sly smile. "What time is your lunch? We can go back to my room and get better acquainted. Maybe we can order some room service and I'll tell you some wild stories about your gal that you'll never hear from her. There's no way you could say no to that. I promise that you'll have fun." Maybe I'll have some fun too.

"Sounds like a good time," Casey said with a smile. "Actually I have the afternoon off. I can go right now if you're ready."

x-x-x-x-x

"So," Laura said as she popped a French fry into her mouth. "Have you guys set a date?"

"Not yet," Casey said as he sat his beer bottle back on the table. "We're not in any hurry. Actually our current thinking is that we might wait until this assignment is over. We're actually pretty much together now. Who knows where we'll land next? It almost assuredly won't be together. That never happens, right?"

"You say that Sarah is going to see Seth," Laura said with a smile. "What do you know about him?"

"Is Seth her ex husband's name?" Casey asked. "I guess that alone would answer your question. We've agreed to never ask questions about each other's past. It's a lot less complicated that way."

"Really," Laura said softly. "Most couples would be curious."

"You know the life we lead," Casey said with a laugh. "If we had to explain every time we slept with another person or betrayed someone, that's all we'd be doing. We decided that we would just start from scratch."

"I hope you won't be offended, John," Laura said with a smile. "But you don't seem like Sarah's type to me at all."

That got a serious laugh. If you only knew. "I'm not offended at all," Casey said. "I'm always thinking the same thing myself. I'm not sure why she wanted to get engaged. We've agreed not to demand anything from each other. Sarah is pretty liberal about whom she… um… whom she…"

"Fucks?" Laura suggested with a smile. Wow. So maybe Sarah has changed a bit. That was actually good news, as long as she stayed the hell away from Seth. "It's okay, John. I've heard the word before. Most agents are pretty free about who they fuck, right? It comes with the territory. She's trying her best to adjust. You can't believe how many hours I've spent on the phone talking to her about it. You probably don't know how uptight she was. That's what broke up her first marriage. She got tired of coming home from a mission and finding him in bed with someone else."

"Really?" Casey asked. "That doesn't sound like the Sarah I know at all."

Suddenly Laura had her strategy. This was going to be easy… and a fair amount of fun. "She's really been struggling with it," she said. "That's for sure. She's not going to make that mistake with you. Maybe she's even over-compensating a bit now. If she's not careful, she's going to turn into Carina. Is what she tells me about you true?"

"I don't know," Casey said. "What did she tell you?"

"That you are the best fuck she's ever had," Laura said with a grin. Men loved to hear that, even when it wasn't even all that believable. "No offense, John, but I was skeptical. Last time we talked she told me to come and find out for myself."

When Casey looked up, she already had unbuttoned her shirt. Since the bra was pretty much non-existent, he was basically staring at her pert breasts. "Really?" he asked with a grin as soon as he could tear his eyes off her chest.

Laura was now rolling her stockings down those incredibly long, toned legs, leaving her standing there in only her panties. "Really, really," she said. "Not to put any pressure on you or anything, but she stuck up for you. I don't think she'd like it if I couldn't agree with her. After all, we're pretty competitive. And there's something else you should know. I'm not that easy to impress when it comes to fucking. I'm something of a connoisseur. For me, 'best fuck ever' is quite a mountain to climb."

Casey just sat there and watched as she slowly slid down her panties and then playfully tossed them at him as she stood there naked posing.

"So, John," Laura said with a seductive smile as she reached over to kiss him.

"Maybe you should make sure that I get your very best effort."

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was back in his apartment smiling broadly. One thing was for sure. He had always been an admirer of the competitive nature of agents. It was a characteristic that was common for military types as well. But, he had to admit, his admiration was never higher than it was right now. He was so caught up in reliving his afternoon that his cell phone ringing startled him. One look at the caller ID told him it was Sarah.

"Casey, secure," he answered.

"Walker, secure," was Sarah's sad response.

"What is your status?" Casey asked.

There was a long pause. "I've made a decision," Sarah finally said slowly after a huge sigh. "John, I'm not coming back."

"What do you mean?" Casey said in a confused tone. "You have an assignment."

"Seth is my first love, John," Sarah said as she fought to keep from breaking down. "I didn't know this was going to happen. I don't understand it myself. But I still love him. I have to find out if it can work. I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me."

"Sarah," Casey said softly. "Please don't do this. Please."

"I'm sorry, John," Sarah said as she began to cry. "I need you to take care of things there."

"Sarah, please," Casey said as his own voice broke. "You don't understand what this kind of betrayal does to a man. It can destroy him."

"I know," Sarah said. "I never meant for this to happen. I swear. I need you to be strong. I'm afraid that we're going to be on opposite sides from now on. I'm not going to insult you by telling you that I love you. But I need you to know how much I respect you."

"Sarah, please," Casey said. "I'm begging you. Please think about what you're doing, who you're hurting."

"Goodbye John," Sarah said. "I'm counting on you."

"Sarah, no…" but Casey was speaking into a dead phone.

Once he realized that the line was dead, Casey simply dropped the phone on his desk and slumped in his chair.

x-x-x-x-x

Seth Roberts answered his cell phone.

"Hi, Baby," Laura said. "How is Vegas?"

"Great," Seth said. "I'm up over two hundred bucks at blackjack."

Laura let out an exasperated sigh. "No, baby," she said. "I meant do you have your new assignment?"

"Not yet," Seth said. "He is waiting until I introduce him to Sarah. I can't wait until he sees her. His eyes are going to pop out."

"Yeah, about that," Laura said. "I just had lunch with her new fiancé."

"Lunch?"

"Well, we ate first," Laura said. "That's two bets in a row that you owe me. You know what that means?"

"What did you find out?" Seth asked.

Laura grinned at Seth so obviously changing the subject. Oh there was no way in hell that she was letting him off the hook on his one. Whenever he won one of these bets, he demanded that she hit her knees and stay there until whatever debt she had accumulated was totally paid. Even though it was a duty that Seth wasn't particularly good at, and didn't pretend to enjoy, she was going to enjoy every second of his payment. But she also struggled in how much to tell him about lunch. Oh, normally she would be eager to brag to Seth about being the recipient of a particularly good fuck. He sure would and often did brag to her. And John Casey had just stunned her. It was maybe not the best in her life, but it sure as hell was the best she could remember. He put Rock to shame. He was Rock… on steroids… with actual foreplay. Maybe Sarah and John did make some sense after all, if she was getting that on any regular schedule. But rubbing Seth's face in it probably wasn't so smart right now. Especially given the request she was about to make. Besides, she had something entirely different planned to rub Seth's face in. "He's pretty good, actually," was what she settled for. "I was surprised."

"No, smart ass," Seth replied. "I mean what did you find out about Sarah?"

Laura paused for a moment. "I never would have believed it," she finally said. "It looks like she is on the level."

"Really?"

"I heard them talking on the phone," Laura said. "She broke up with him. She said that she was still in love with you and had to see if it could work. The poor bastard was close to crying.

"See," Seth said triumphantly. "I told you. She's completely crazy."

Laura still wasn't convinced. "What exactly did she say to you anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know," Seth said dismissively. "It was a bunch of babbling bullshit about how she was lonely and she missed me and how she didn't mind the other women as long as I was up front with her. She said that we could have an open relationship, that when we were together she would come and be my obedient little wife. That she would do anything I asked to prove to me how much she'd changed."

"She said that?"

"She said those words exactly," Seth replied. "I seriously think I can get her to do anything. She's crazy."

Laura paused for a moment. "Let's find out."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure yet," Laura said thoughtfully. "Let me think of something to test her really good. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Okay," Seth said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Seth," Laura warned. "You remember your promise don't you?"

"I guess."

"Please, baby," Laura pleaded. "Don't make me act all psycho jealous. You promised me."

"But you are psycho jealous."

"That's right," Laura quickly agreed. "I am. And if I hear that you have touched her before I get there, I'm going to hurt you."

"Come on baby," Seth scoffed. "Just how are you going to hurt me?"

"Are you really going to challenge me here?" Laura asked incredulously. "Seth we have a deal. You're getting rewarded quite generously. If you fuck with me on this, I'm going to wait until you're sleeping and cut you. And I think that you know where. And, baby, you know beyond any doubt that I will do it."

"Okay," Seth said laughing. "You win. I won't touch her. When are you going to be here?"

"I can't get a flight until tomorrow," Laura said. "I'll be there about noon. I love you."

"I'll see you then."

"Thank you, Seth," Laura said. "You won't believe how I'm going to make this up to you."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah ended the call with Casey, she just stood there sadly as she let her phone fall to the floor. After a couple of minutes, Chuck, who had been standing there holding her hand all the time, bent down to pick up her phone. Then he took her into his arms.

"Do you want to tell me why you're still acting so sad?" Chuck asked with a concerned smile on his face. "I'm sure that Casey has been dumped by fake girlfriends before."

Sarah lifted her face from his chest to look at him. "It's got nothing to do with Casey," she said. "I'm worried about you. I've been acting like such a bitch. I'm afraid that I'm damaging you… us. I don't know what to do."

But to Sarah's surprise, Chuck scooped her up, carried her to the bed, and sat down beside her. "We need to talk," he said.

Sarah nodded tentatively, obviously afraid of what he was going to say. The fear was clearly present in her eyes.

"In the first place," Chuck started. "I believe that we've agreed that you will never refer to yourself as a bitch. That's a hot button word for me. You're not a bitch. Okay?"

Sarah nodded.

"Here's the deal," Chuck said. "We talked last night about some of my behavior that needed to change. I didn't like being treated like a child at the time. In the future I hope that we can find a better way to make your points. But after I thought about it for a while, you did have some valid points. I'll seriously make an effort to think things through better, to protect the Intersect better, not because I spent a night on the couch, but because you've convinced me that you're right. But now we need to talk about some of your behavior that needs to change."

"I know," Sarah whispered sadly. "I'm not treating you very well. I get that. You have every right to be mad. But Chuck…"

"I don't think that you do," Chuck interrupted with a soft smile. "I'm not mad at you, at least not at anything I won't quickly get over. You just proved to me that you don't get it by what you said. You're afraid of damaging 'us'. You clearly have a misconception of what 'us' really is. You obviously think of 'us' as this fragile thing, a gentle flower that constantly needs to be protected lest it wither and eventually die. You're constantly desperately trying to nourish that flower with things like wild sex. I guess I can forgive that part. But if you had a clue in that pea brain of yours, you'd realize that you're worried about nothing, that 'us' isn't fragile at all. 'Us' is a force of nature. It's been tested for the past year by everything the world could possibly throw at it. 'Us' has come through every one of those tests not even breathing hard. It couldn't possibly be damaged. It's the foundation, the bedrock, the one thing in your life that you can depend on always, always being there. You can count on me, Sarah, on us. I can count on it too. Maybe it's time we started acting like it. I'm sorry that this has taken so long for me to say. Pastor Bob told me that it was time to man up. So that's what I'm going to do."

Sarah suddenly realized that she had never needed to hear anything before in her life like she needed to hear that from Chuck. The emotion was part relief, part shame… well, mostly relief. Before today she would have died before she broke down in front of him. But he was totally and undeniably right. He was her rock. It was time to start acting like it. So she made absolutely no attempt to keep the tears from streaming down her face. She wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck, held on as tightly as she could without hurting him, and openly sobbed.

"So," Chuck continued into the top of Sarah's head. "Here is the truth about 'us'. We're going to continue to disagree on things. We're going to fight, if I know us, pretty vigorously. Over the next sixty years I'm going to spend a few nights on that uncomfortable couch, sometimes by my choice, and sometimes by yours. I'm going to continue to struggle sometimes to understand you and you're going to struggle just as much at other times to understand me. But none of that really matters, does it? We don't have to ever worry about 'us'. 'Us' won't be fazed. 'Us' couldn't care less. And Sarah, here is the very best part. 'Us' is something that will guide the rest of our lives, something we're going to pass on through our kids and they through their kids. 'Us' is going to leave a mark on the world that Chuck or Sarah individually never would. 'Us' is forever."

It was the first time that Chuck had ever seen Sarah Walker cry this openly. In fact he could feel her heaving sobs. And that was actually a very good sign. So he didn't try and force the issue. He just sat there with his arm around her waist, allowed her to cry, and silently figure out for herself what this meant.

Eventually he could feel her sobs ease. "Since when did you get so smart?" she finally asked between softly kissing his neck. "I'm embarrassed. Pastor Bob told you to man up? Doesn't he know that I'm supposed to be in charge here? I didn't see that one coming. That's fairly annoying."

Even though he couldn't see her face, Chuck could hear the smile in her voice. "I am called a genius for a reason," he said facetiously. "Surely you've heard something about that. Everybody says so. He knows that you're in charge. So do I. This is a temporary role for me, only when you need me. I'm sorry that you're embarrassed or annoyed. There is no need to be."

Sarah finally lifted her head to grin at him directly. "I'll get over it," she said with a grin. "Now that you've properly put me in my place are you going to punish me? There isn't a couch to sleep on. But I've been bad. I'm really hoping that my punishment includes being naked sometime soon. Man-Up Chuck has me sort of on fire here."

Chuck reached over and began to unbutton her blouse. "I can see that," he said. "Bad girls usually don't get to pick their punishment. I'll tell you what. For tonight here is what we'll do. You have to let me be the guy in charge… all night. Tomorrow, you can go back to being in charge. But tonight you have to be the girl. I think to symbolically reinforce 'us' as a rock, I have another rock to show you."

That got them both laughing. "Just how much girl do I have to be?" Sarah asked as her grin broadened and she lifted her hips to allow Chuck to ease off her pants. "Help me out here. I don't have much real life experience. Do I have to tell you how big and strong you are? Lie on the bed and moan and tell you how much of a stud you are? Beg you to go harder. Oh God, Chuck, you big strong man, you rock. Harder… Harder… Please fuck me harder. Is that what the girl does? Something like that?"

Chuck smiled as he lovingly eased her down on the bed dressed in only her contented grin. "It'd be a nice touch," he said as he began to kiss down her neck. "Maybe try it without the attitude."

Sarah resisted the strong temptation to push on Chuck's head to hurry him up a little. His kissing trip south seemed to stall a bit at her chest. But she quickly decided that he was in charge tonight. Whatever pace he chose would be fine… as long as he got there… soon. Tonight her hands were going to stay by her side. And he was going to be treated to whatever moans he could inspire. There would be no biting her lip tonight. "How about this?" she asked softly, making no effort to keep the tremble of desire from her voice. "I love you. You're my rock, and not just in a sexual sense. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I promise that I'm going to get better at telling you that more often. You deserve it, and so much more. Was that better?"

"That was much better," Chuck admitted as he reached her stomach.

"You're still going to do the 'harder, harder' girl thing though, right?"

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was still sitting there waiting when he noticed a secure message on his laptop.

Team,

Attached is a transcript of Laura and Seth's phone conversation. Confidence remains high. Proceed with current plan. Report status as soon as practical.

Good Luck,

General Beckman.

When Casey finished reading the message, he finally lit the cigar that he had been nervously playing with. He took a sip of his scotch as a huge grin crept over his face. He didn't really have much time to celebrate. After all, he had to be on the road to Vegas in a couple of hours. He really had enjoyed letting Laura Carter bug his cell phone. As he took a drag on his cigar he laughed out loud.

"Chuck Bartowski may be a whiny, genuine pain in the ass." Casey said to himself. "But he is sure as hell a genius. That worked exactly like he said it would."

As Casey went over the day's events in his mind, he couldn't help but think that he wasn't the only member of team Chuck that was going to get lucky that day. Then he couldn't help but laugh again.

"I sure hope that's the only bug that Laura gave me."

x-x-x-x-x