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 promised BrickRoad that I would make Bryce a bad guy. I don't think he is here. But he clearly has a different perspective than Chuck does.

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. And you've done great. Keep the comments and reviews coming.

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 Price

x-x-x-x-x

General Beckman wasn't happy. And when the General wasn't happy, she made sure that nobody was happy. And currently the person in her crosshairs was Sarah. "This is outrageous," she growled. "Agent Walker. Care to explain to me what in the hell happened last night? How you decided totally on our own to pass off your assignment to another agent, one with a lower security clearance?"

The entire team was in the FBI office standing more or less at attention. Sarah looked particularly uncomfortable. "Yes, ma'am," she started.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Laura interrupted. "I went to Agent Walker and asked…"

"Agent Carter," Beckman interrupted briskly, the anger plain in her voice. "If I wanted to hear the sound of your voice, I'd have asked you a fucking question. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'll get to you in a minute," Beckman said. "Agent Walker, I'm waiting for an explanation."

There was really nothing for Sarah to say except tell the truth. "Yes, ma'am," she began sadly. "I'm afraid that I can no longer accept such an intimate assignment without the approval of my fiancé. That's the agreement that I made with him."

Beckman buried her face in her hands. "This is exactly why agents can't fall in love," she said. "I should have my head examined for agreeing to this arrangement in the first place. National security now finds itself at the whim of a jealous boyfriend. Agent Walker, we still don't know the location of that party. Do I really have to remind you how important this is, what an amazing opportunity we have been given? I understand that you have an appointment with West this morning? What are you going to do?"

"Well, ma'am," Sarah began cautiously. "I'm going to apologize for missing our meeting last night and ask for another test. Hopefully he'll ask me to kill Seth. We're ready for that."

"And what if he doesn't?" Beckman demanded angrily. "What if this pig wants you to crawl under his desk and compare your blowjob technique to Agent Carter's here?"

The anger in Sarah's voice was plain. "I'm afraid that's up to Chuck," she said. "He's hardly a jealous boyfriend, he's my soul mate, my very life. And I'm fairly confident that I know what he's going to say about me crawling under any desk and delivering a blowjob to Peter West this morning, or any morning when it comes right down to it. I find it hard to fault him for that. In all fairness, I'm not sure why you're surprised in any way. I made very clear when we agreed to this arrangement what was going to be #1 in my list of priorities. Nothing has changed. I'm not prepared to stand here and apologize for that. With all due respect, I understand better than anyone how important it is that we gain West's confidence and seize this opportunity. Any implication otherwise is simply wrong, and ma'am, quite frankly insulting. I'll admit that perhaps I didn't follow protocol last night. Things were moving too quickly for that. But I firmly believe that my actions were fully consistent with my obligations to my mission and duty, both to the country and to my future husband. Agent Carter did a better job than I would have anyway. She deserves nothing but our thanks for an amazing job well done. And as far as her security clearance, I didn't divulge any sensitive information to her. To answer your original question, naturally I would react to the mark's mood, but I'd probably claim that I'm still not feeling well, promise him his blowjob and much more after the party, and naturally, kill him in some grotesquely painful way just before it was time to pay off."

Beckman took a deep cleansing breath and let it out very slowly. "Let's all calm down a little," she said. "Maybe this will work out. Now does anyone have any ideas on how we can influence West's test?"

Chuck was as angry as anyone. But he also knew that going on a rant against General Beckman probably wasn't the smartest thing at this time. The fact was she didn't get it at all, had it all wrong. This wasn't jealousy, not at all. It was him protecting the love of his life. Laura said it better than he ever could have. Sarah wasn't like most spies. Even if she wouldn't ever admit it, using sex on missions made her feel guilty. That wasn't healthy. And since Beckman obviously didn't give a fuck about her well being… well, that left him. "Yes, ma'am," he finally said. "It's really fairly easy."

Chuck certainly wasn't the General's favorite person at the moment. So she made no attempt at keeping the skepticism from her voice. "Care to enlighten us, Agent Bartowski?" she asked with a sarcastic emphasis on the word 'agent'.

Chuck ignored the inferred shot. "Yes ma'am," he said with a wink directed at Sarah. "Haven't you ever heard the story of Br'er Rabbit and the Briar Patch?"

All Beckman could do was shake her head. Why was it that when Bartowski explained something to you, you still didn't understand a damn bit better? "Actually," she muttered. "I haven't. Perhaps you'd care to broaden my horizons a bit."

Now it was Chuck's turn to shake his head. "You've never heard of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby?" he asked incredulously. "You're kidding." How do you get to be a General? It can't be based on brains. Then again, she sure as hell didn't sleep her way to the top. "It's quite famous. The hero tricks the villain into doing what he wants by begging him not to. That's what Sarah will do. Plead with him for some other test. Make him jealous of Seth Roberts, consider him a rival, and want him dead."

Beckman could only continue to shake her head. But she had learned one thing over the past year. He was almost always right about these kinds of things. It was uncanny. "I'll take your word for it," she sighed. Then she addressed the team. "I want Agent Walker to wear a wire," she said firmly, the veins on her neck clearly visible through the monitor. "After what Agent Carter went through last night, I don't trust this pervert. Agent Casey, I want you to accompany Agent Walker to her meeting, monitor the situation from the car, and be prepared to support her. Agent Carter, take Chuck back to the hotel and wait there with him. We'll talk about how to proceed with the opportunity that was presented to you last night after we find out what happens this morning."

"Yes, ma'am," Casey and Laura said crisply at the same exact time.

"Agent Walker," Beckman said without much of her earlier anger. "I understand what your priorities are. And, yes, you're right. You've been very forthright in expressing them. But I simply can't have an agent on this important of an assignment who I can't control."

"When we get back to Burbank, we're going to talk about making some changes."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sat across the desk from Peter West. "Sir, I'm so sorry," she said with a sigh. "I take assignments seriously. I just wasn't physically able to come to your room last night. I was actually really looking forward to it."

West looked at Sarah closely. She wasn't dressed nearly as sexy today as yesterday, wasn't even wearing makeup. She clearly wasn't feeling all that well. But even with all of that, she was still the sexiest thing he had ever seen. "Laura said that you were ill," he said. "I trust that you are feeling better today?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah said. "I'm assuming that I had a touch of food poisoning or something. I'm feeling better than last night. Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll be fully recovered. I hope that Laura was an acceptable substitute."

"Laura was great," West said with a small smile. "But I was really looking forward to seeing you last night. I had been thinking about it all day."

"I know, sir," Sarah said sadly. "I feel terrible. Please tell me how I can make it up to you."

"Well, Sarah," Peter said calmly. "There is still the matter of your test. You do know what I had asked Laura to do?"

Here it is, time to see how smart my fiancé really is. "Yes, sir," Sarah said with a sigh. "I was just hoping that we could think of something else. That is something that I really don't want to do."

"Maybe we could work something out," Peter said as his eyes narrowed. "Tell me. What's really the matter, Sarah? You're not in love with him?"

Let's see if Chuck is right about how jealous this macho pig will get. "Of course not, sir," Sarah said softly. "Don't be silly. Agents don't fall in love. It's really sort of embarrassing. It's just that Seth is the best at… well… you said to be frank. Seth is the best fuck. It's just something that he's very good at. I'll miss that."

"Really?" West asked with a smile. "Sarah, I thought that you wanted to prove to me your loyalty? This is how I'm asking you to do it. Is there a problem?"

Sarah fought to keep the grin off her face. Of course Chuck was right. He is always right. When will everybody stop questioning that? "No sir," she said with a sigh. "I said that I would do anything you asked and I meant it. Can I bring him by this afternoon?"

"Come at two," Peter said with a smile. "Make it something not so messy. I just had the office redecorated. You are aware that this has to be public?"

"Yes sir," said Sarah sadly. "Don't worry, sir. I know just what to do. It's actually a specialty of mine."

"Excellent," Peter said with a smile as he stood. "Invite Laura to come along and I'll give you the details for tomorrow's party after it's over."

"Yes sir," Sarah said with a soft smile as she stood to go.

"You know, Sarah," Peter said as he put his arm around her. "You still owe me a special night."

"Absolutely," Sarah quickly agreed. "Maybe after the party I can come see you. Laura and I are pretty competitive, especially when it comes to men. Whatever she did for you last night, I promise I'll be better."

"Better?" Peter asked in mock horror. "That would kill me."

"No sir," Sarah said in a sexy pout as she walked out the door. "We can't kill you."

As soon as Sarah left the office her face broke into a grin. She couldn't wait to rub Beckman's face in how exactly right about everything Chuck had just been. And as far as West…

Well, maybe we can kill him. Yes, we most definitely can.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Chuck and Laura opened the door to his room, he noticed that she quickly had her gun in her hand. One more glance and he knew why. Bryce was sitting on the chair waiting for him. "Relax," he said calmly. "I'm not an enemy. I just want to talk to Chuck."

Laura didn't relax, far from it. In fact she conspicuously racked a round into the firing chamber, but not until she had pushed Chuck behind her protectively. "Chuck," she said without taking her eyes… or her aim off Bryce's chest. "Who is this?"

Chuck struggled with how much to tell her. After all, she wasn't cleared to know anything about the intersect. It would be hard to get into too many specifics without referencing it. "This is Bryce," he finally settled for. "Agent Larkin, actually. He was my roommate in college. He was also Sarah's partner for a while. They were… well, they were also a couple of sorts once."

Bryce turned his charming smile towards Laura. "Care to stop aiming your gun at me?" he asked. "Maybe we can be friends."

Laura did lower her gun. But she also didn't put it away. This guy was with Sarah once? That made some sense. He was her type, pretty boy all the way. "Okay, Agent Larkin," she said with no hint of humor. "You said that you wanted to talk to Chuck. Talk."

"Fair enough," Bryce said. Then he turned to Chuck. "I'm worried about Sarah. What have you done to her?"

Chuck bristled at his implication. "I haven't done anything to her," he said firmly.

"You're trying her hands," Bryce insisted. "Sarah is a spy. There is no room for jealousy here. She knows what she's doing. You're just going to get her hurt."

Chuck had heard just about enough. "Fuck you," he said dismissively, intentionally drawing out the words. "Don't pretend that you care about Sarah. It's really insulting. You don't give a fuck about her as a person. Oh sure, you always had her back physically. You'd look forward to situations to save her, but only so that she'd thank you later in bed. If you knew her at all, if you ever bothered to look past her tits, to get over your own selfish jealousy, you'd know that she was never happy as a spy. She was faking it. Of the two of us, I'm the one looking out for her. That is fully going to continue as long as I live. And, yes, perhaps she isn't as good of a spy now, at least not by your standards. But she's happy. So if you'll excuse me, this conversation is beginning to bore the hell out of me."

Bryce headed for the door. "You don't know what you're doing," he said sadly. "You're messing with her head. You don't have a clue what you're doing to her."

Laura stopped Chuck's angry retort with a single look and a subtle shake of her head. Then she followed Bryce into the hallway. "You said that you'd like to be friends," she said as she turned on her brightest smile. "I'm not sure that's going to happen. But you're wrong about Sarah. Chuck is exactly what she needs. In any event, if you ever, and I mean literally ever, talk to my partner like that again, I'll gladly shoot you between the fucking eyes and swear it was a tragic accident. Do we understand each other?"

As soon as Laura was back in to room, she stepped up to Chuck. "He couldn't possibly be more wrong if he tried," she said. "Sarah was really with that jerk? He sorta makes my skin crawl. You're the one who is looking after her. Thank you for that. I understand it's not easy. Please don't stop."

That got Chuck's biggest grin. "You don't have to thank me," he said. "I love her. Thank you for being there for her last night. I'll never forget it."

Laura shot Chuck her own grin. "You don't have to thank me either," she said. "I love her too."

"I know," Chuck said softly. "Maybe it's time that you and I started to be friends."

"I'd like that."

"Platonic friends," Chuck said playfully. "Without benefits."

That got them both laughing. "I guess I had that coming," Laura sighed. "Platonic friends with a man? That will be a first for me. But what the hell? I've already had a lot of new experiences on this mission."

"Let's go down to the casino and maybe have some fun."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah got in the car, Casey started to laugh. "You know, Walker," he said as he started the car. "A month ago if someone told me that Sarah Walker would have blown off an assignment because she was in love with Chuck Bartowski, I'd have laughed in their face. But the truth is I'm very impressed. I can't pretend to understand what you see in him in the romance department. But I have to admit, he is a true genius."

"I guess," Sarah said sadly.

"That went exactly the way he said it would," Casey continued as he snickered.

Sarah just looked out the passenger window. "He's with Laura right now," she said. "I wonder what they're doing."

Casey did a double take. "Come on, Walker," he finally said with a sigh. "Really? Do you realize how stupid that sounded?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked as she turned to look at Casey for he first time.

"If you're worrying about Chuck betraying you, I don't know what to tell you," Casey said with a laugh. "I've never seen anybody have it so bad, except for you maybe. He would walk barefoot over broken glass to bring you a glass of water."

Sarah thought about it for a minute. Then her face slowly turned into a smile, and then a grin. "I guess you're right," she said. "I'm being silly. And you're right about him being a genius. He's incredible. I'm so proud of him. What would we do without him?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Casey and Sarah returned to hotel they had to walk through the casino. Of course to get anyplace in Vegas you had to walk through the casino. That was by design. So it wasn't unusual for their attention to be drawn to a crowd gathered cheering around a craps table. As they got close, they recognized Chuck and Laura. They could see that Chuck was the shooter and Laura was standing beside him. The relaxed grins on their faces clearly said that they were having a good time. Laura playfully blew on Chuck's hand as he threw the dice and another roar come up from the crowd.

"Oh my goodness," Casey said as they approached. "Look at that pile of chips. He must really be on a roll."

But all Sarah could see was Laura throwing her arms around Chuck's neck as they celebrated. Chuck playfully picked her up by the waist and spun her around as the other gamblers were busy patting him on the back.

Chuck was just getting ready to shoot again when he spotted Casey and Sarah.

"Hey guys," Chuck shouted with pure joy as his eyes widened in recognition. "I love this game. I've just hit eight straight passes. I'm up over two thousand dollars."

Sarah didn't respond. Suddenly she turned and quickly left the area. She basically ran towards the elevators.

"What's wrong with Sarah?" Chuck asked Casey with sudden concern as he tossed the dice. "What happened on her assignment? Did something bad happen? Did that pig…"

The crowd groaned as the dice showed snake eyes and Chuck's turn as shooter was suddenly over.

"Relax," Casey said with a smile as he shook his head in amazement. "The meeting went exactly like you said it would. You really don't know what's wrong with her, do you?"

Chuck's confused look told Casey all he needed to know.

"She's jealous, dumb ass."

x-x-x-x-x

It took Chuck a moment to cash in his chips before he could go after her. When he finally made it into the hotel room, he could see Sarah lying face down on the bed. Her head was buried in the pillow. There was no sign that she was crying, so that was good news. But she was clearly hurting. Without saying anything Chuck walked to the bed and plopped down beside her. "Wow," he said softly as he gently rubbed her back. "I guess I just did what the most evil men on the planet couldn't do. I mean, they had guns and knives and sometimes bombs. They've hit you and choked you and sometimes even tortured you. But they could never make the great Sarah Walker cry. If it wasn't so horrible, I'd feel a little proud."

"I'm not crying," Sarah said without lifting her head. "What makes you think that I'm crying? Just because I cried in front of you once doesn't mean that I'm a sissy."

Chuck snuggled into her as best he could. "Okay, maybe you're not a sissy," he said softly. "But jealous, Sarah? Seriously? I mean, I know that you've had a pretty bad morning. I'm very sorry about that. But if I gave you any reason to hurt, then I'm ashamed of myself. I'm the one in this relationship who is supposed to be all childishly jealous. You keep saying that if I really knew how you felt about me, I'd feel silly for being jealous. Well, I think that goes double for you. You should know that I would do anything before I would let you be hurt."

Sarah rolled on her side and buried her face into Chuck's chest. "I know," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm being pretty stupid. I understand that."

"You're being very stupid," Chuck said in his clearly teasing voice. "Amazingly stupid. How could you possibly think that I would ever look at another woman? And even for the sake of argument, if I ever did fall on my head and want to cheat on you, do you really think I would pick Laura, the same woman that betrayed you the first time? I might as well take your gun and shoot you." Chuck grabbed her and rolled onto his back. Sarah rolled with him leaving then in their favorite position. "I thought that you trusted me more than that? Does this mean that I can't be friends with her?"

"I'm honestly embarrassed," Sarah said as she finally looked up at him. "I want you to be friends with her. I want that a lot. I do trust you. I'm not making an excuse, but I'm having a tough day, so when I saw you hugging her… I'm trying, Chuck. I really am. You just don't know how hard it is."

"Huh?" Chuck asked in amazement. "You don't think that I know? Of course I know."

Sarah's eye widened as she watched Chuck's reaction.

"I've had to stand there and watch you make out with Bryce Larkin," Chuck said. "I had to sit there and watch a man's hand inside your bikini on his yacht. I had to look into his eyes and see his smug look as he prepared to take you below and fuck your brains out. I've had to go to bed knowing that you were planning on being in bed naked with someone who you once married. I had to watch you walk out that door knowing that you were going to be the sex toy for some Fulcrum pervert for the night. I know that most of those things were for missions. But believe me; I know exactly what it feels like. It sucks. There's no other way to say it. It may be the very worst feeling in the world. So if I made you feel like that, even for a second, I'm so terribly sorry. You should never have to feel like that. You're the great love of my life."

"No," Sarah said as she finally smiled a little. "I'm the one who is sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. I was being stupid."

"Did anyone ever tell you how adorable you are when you're sad?" Chuck asked with a grin.

"Actually, yes," Sarah replied with a grin of her own. "It was a class at the academy. Seduction through pouting."

"They have a class about that?" Chuck asked, honestly amazed.

"Well," Sarah said slowly. "It wasn't really technically a class. More like a workshop. You wouldn't believe the things they taught us there."

"Wow," Chuck said with a sigh. "Someday you're going to have to tell me more details about the Academy."

Sarah winced at his comment. She wasn't going to hide anything from him, ever. But she also wasn't in a mood to deal with his reaction to the details of her Seduction School final exam just yet. "Can we talk about that later?" she asked as she reached up to kiss him tenderly. "I'll gladly tell you every detail… about anything really. I'm not going to hide anything from you. But can we please wait for a calmer time? Maybe on our honeymoon."

Chuck smiled at the thought of a honeymoon. "We can wait," he said. "Do you honestly think that our honeymoon is going to be a calmer time?"

"Good point," Sarah said as she felt the blush come to her face. "Maybe after we get back. There will definitely be a recovery time involved. I'm sorry about today. You were really on a roll down there."

"You think so?" Chuck asked in a teasing tone. "Maybe. She's cute and everything. But come on, she was with Casey. I mean, that's disgusting."

"I'm talking about the gambling, smart ass."

"I'm up over two thousand," Chuck said with a smile as he kissed Sarah a little more urgently.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your luck," Sarah said between ever more intense kisses. "You do realize that I'm going to go down with you after I get back this afternoon and help you lose it all back?"

Chuck rolled so that Sarah was flat on her back with him basically on top of her. "Fine," he said. "Hopefully you didn't ruin my luck, just moved it to a new location. The honest truth is that you've had a pretty bad morning, a lot of it because you were defending me. I'm feeling guilty about that. Just for the record, it's not that I'm jealous."

That got a genuine smile. "I know," she said with a sigh. "You're looking out for me. You're the only one who ever truly has. I realize now how right you are. It's sort of a big reason why I was so foolish a few minutes ago. I can't lose this. That would end me. The thought honestly panics me a little. I guess that means I'm going to be a little extra clingy for a while. You have no reason to feel guilty."

"I'm doing something wrong," Chuck said. "If you even have that thought in your head, if you have any anxiety about me, then I'm letting you down. So I still do feel guilty. I'm hoping that you'll let me make it up to you."

Sarah seemed to consider that. "You're not doing anything wrong," she said softly. "Please stop thinking like that. The honest truth is that I don't deserve you. You've been so perfect. This stupid, stupid needless anxiety is all me." Then the twinkle in her eyes became plain. "But I'm also guessing that it would be selfish of me to not allow you to work off your guilt. Just how do you propose to do that? Flowers? Expensive jewelry?"

"Well actually," Chuck said as he began to unbutton her blouse. When it was lying open he slid his hand into the top of her bra. "I was sort of thinking that I'd use the same technique that you've been using."

Naturally, the idea of Chuck actually making the first move in bed had Sarah's senses instantly on the edge. For a moment all she could do was enjoy the sensation of Chuck expertly massaging her left breast. "You're going to use sex as a commodity?" she asked hopefully, making no effort to keep the desire from her voice.

"Is that okay?" Chuck asked. "It's sort of become our thing, right?"

"It's far more than okay," Sarah sighed as she relaxed and allowed him to continue to undress her. She waited patiently, letting him do all the work, only sitting up a little to allow him to take off her shirt and lifting her hips to allow him to take off her pants. Once she was completely naked she forced herself to just wait there for him. Fortunately she wasn't forced to wait for long as he began to slowly kiss his way down her body on his way to the promise land, gently but firmly pushing her knees apart to give himself total access.

Once her moans told Chuck that his efforts had her suitably close to the edge he sat up and took a moment to admire his handiwork. "You're so beautiful," he said. Indeed, the sight was amazing. The most beautiful woman in the world was lying there naked waiting submissively for whatever he would do next, not so calmly perhaps, but also not moving as she wordlessly acknowledged that he was completely in control. "It's like a dream. I'm afraid that if I touch you, you'll disappear."

"Maybe you should find out," Sarah said softly. "Quickly. I understand that you're taking the lead. But I'm on fire here."

"Don't worry," Chuck said. "I'm not going to tease you. Just let me grab a condom."

But Sarah grabbed his arm. "I think that maybe we're done with condoms for a few years," she said. "Don't you?"

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Chuck asked softly. "You don't have to do this for me. I'm very willing to wait until you're ready. Beckman would have a cow."

"Fuck Beckman," Sarah said. "I'm completely done worrying about what she thinks. She doesn't care about me. I'm a tool to her. As soon as we end Fulcrum, I'm thinking it'll be time to talk about moving on. And I'm very sure. Chuck, the honest truth is that I want it a lot more than you do. It's all I've been thinking about lately. I can't wait to see you as a dad."

"We'd better hurry up and get married," Chuck said with a grin. "We don't want our daughter doing the math someday."

"Our son will be very good at math," Sarah corrected him. "It runs in the family. Now speaking of hurrying, we'll talk about getting married in a few minutes. First you have some work to do. Babies don't make themselves, you know?"

"One mission at a time, Chuck."