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 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.

Closure

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah really didn't want anything to do with Seth Roberts, would have been very content to never see him again. And now that she was legally no longer married to him, she frankly hoped to never have to hear the name again and pretend that he never existed.

But Laura pleaded with her. What else could he possibly want than to apologize and thank her for her help? Maybe everybody could get some much needed closure. That would be a good thing, right?

Sarah still wasn't convinced. But she had promised Laura that she would work towards being her friend again. The simple truth was it wasn't going to take all that much work. They were already acting almost like old times. It felt pretty great. And the fact of the matter remained that Seth was going to be with her best friend. She was going to almost assuredly regularly hear his name, was probably going to even see him now and again. So maybe some closure would be in everybody's best interest.

When they entered the room, Seth was lying on the bed. He slowly sat up when he recognized them.

Laura rushed to sit on the bed next to him. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you sick?"

"Just tired," Seth assured her. "They told me I would be pretty tired for a few hours, an aftereffect of the drug. They are going to let me stay here until midnight to rest. Then I'll fly to Washington." Then he turned to Sarah. "I'm glad you're here," he said with a grin. "This might not be the ideal situation, but it's the only opportunity we're likely to have for some time, so I'll gut it out."

Sarah worked hard to keep her seething dislike pushed down for Laura's sake. But she also wasn't going to go out of her way to be nice. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Ideal situation? Ideal situation for what?"

"For me to collect what I'm owed," Seth said as his grin broadened. "I set up your meeting just like I promised. The ten blowjobs will have to wait. But I get one night of nothing off the table." Then he turned to Laura. "I didn't touch her," he said. "Just like I promised you. We had a deal, right?"

Laura looked anxiously at Sarah for any sign that was reaching for a knife. But she needn't have worried. Sarah was roaring with laughter. In fact she was laughing so hard that she had to lean on the table to keep from falling. "Oh, Seth," she was finally able to get out sarcastically. "Now that we're not married anymore, I finally get your sense of humor. Thanks for that." Then she turned to Laura. "I'll wait outside so you can say goodbye to your guy. Then she spun on her heel, still laughing and walked out the door. As soon as the door was closed behind her, she leaned on the wall and continued laughing.

Closure is vastly overrated.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah struggled to carry her packages and still open the hotel room door. It had been a very successful afternoon of shopping. So much so that she had more packages then she could really carry. So it shouldn't have been a surprise when she stumbled coming into the room. Chuck who was sitting at the laptop quickly jumped up to help her.

"Are you okay?" Chuck said in concern as he helped Sarah to her feet.

"I'm fine," Sarah said with a heavy laugh as she allowed Chuck to lift her up. "Clumsy but fine."

"How much stuff did you buy anyway?" Chuck asked as he started to pick up the packages that had gone flying as Sarah fell.

"Well," Sarah said hesitantly. "We were just going to buy an evening dress for tomorrow night."

"And…" Chuck said with a smile.

"Well," continued Sarah with a laugh. "When Laura and I go shopping, this is usually what happens. I hope that you don't mind."

"Why would I mind?" Chuck asked cautiously.

"I don't know," Sarah said with a soft sigh. "We are going to be married soon. I think that it's fair that we discuss it before either of us spends a lot of money. Don't you think?"

"How much did you spend anyway?" Chuck asked in mock horror.

Sarah knew that he was teasing. The fact was that most everything she bought today was for the mission and hence paid for by the taxpayers. That would probably be the thing that she missed most about being an agent, all the free clothes. But that didn't mean she couldn't tease him about it. "You said that you were up a couple of thousand gambling," she said with a toothy grin. "Well not any more."

But to Sarah's surprise, Chuck got a little serious. "You had a good time," he said softly as he wrapped her in a bear hug. "Didn't you?"

Sarah knew that he was talking about far more than just shopping. "I really did," she said with a sigh as she returned the embrace. "I missed having Laura to go shopping with. That was always our favorite thing to do. It seemed like old times."

"Then I don't care how much money you spent," Chuck said as he pulled back on the embrace to kiss Sarah gently.

"Okay," Sarah sighed as she melted into his arms. "Let me have it. I have it coming. Rub it in. Tell me how right you were about Laura."

Chuck broke the embrace with his classic grin. "Come on, Sarah," he said. "I'm not that guy who says 'I told you so' all the time. I'm the guy who makes you stand there, look me in the eyes, grovel a little, and admit how right I was."

As soon as Sarah could stop laughing, she looked him in the eye. "Okay," she said. "You win. You were absolutely right."

Chuck furrowed his brow in mock thought. "This would be the point where you admit that I'm always right about these things and promise you'll never question it again."

"Okay," Sarah said with a short laugh. "I promise. Was that enough groveling? Or did you have some more in mind? Should I maybe get down on one knee while I promise?"

"Oh, you should definitely get down on a knee," Chuck said. "Maybe even both knees. But first you forgot about the sexy strip tease you're about to do for my enjoyment that is a symbol of that promise."

"That was such a nice try," Sarah said as they both started laughing. "A really, really nice try. If you really practice for a few years maybe could actually act like a pig."

"I can be a pig," Chuck insisted. "Someday I'm going to prove that to you."

"Keep trying," Sarah said through her giggling.

"Are you going to show me what you bought?" Chuck asked as soon as they could stop laughing.

Sarah stopped laughing and got a little serious. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't show you. I bought a teddy for my next seduction mission. I would feel wrong for you to ever see Agent Walker in it."

Chuck did something of a double take. "Okay," was all he said.

"Oh my God," Sarah said. "Chuck, you know that I'm just teasing. Sarah Walker will never wear it. It's reserved for Sarah Bartowski. My next seduction mission is going to be our wedding night. I think I know enough about your tastes to know that you're going to like it. And even if you don't, I hopefully won't be wearing it all that long anyway."

Chuck didn't try and hide his relief.

"Come on, sweetie," Sarah said softly. "I'm sorry that I teased you. But don't you understand? I don't see any more seduction missions in my future. And even if I did, you have veto power, remember?"

"I was too sensitive," Chuck said with a smile. "Don't ever be sorry for teasing. If we can't laugh at ourselves… it was a good one."

"I have a proposition for you," Sarah said as she stepped back into an embrace. "I told you that you get anything from me anytime you want it. I meant that. So if you want that sexy strip tease as a symbol of my promise, I'm more than happy to comply."

"I was teasing," Chuck said. "Although I can't imagine ever turning that down. Don't forget the part about getting on your knees."

"You need to start being a little careful what you ask me for," Sarah said with a grin. "Because going forward I think you're going to be surprised by how quickly and literally you get it. But here's what I'm thinking. How about instead we take a nap and rest up for our wedding night… tonight?"

"You've only been single for a couple of hours," Chuck teased. "You want to get married today? What about the wedding we planned? With Pastor Bob?"

"I still want that," Sarah said quickly. "We can still have that formal ceremony, right? Look, I know that Bob told us that we should wait to get married until we were more ready. If you're not ready, I'll drop it. It's just that I want to be Sarah Bartowski really badly. I don't think I can explain how much I want it. I'm sorry. I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas. I don't want to wait."

"Why on earth would you be sorry?" Chuck asked with a grin. "Let's take that nap. We're ready. I want you to be Sarah Bartowski too. But I want to call Ellie. I wouldn't feel right if she didn't know."

"I've already talked to her," Sarah said with a grin. "I didn't want to bring it up to you if she was going to be hurt about it. Chuck, she was so excited that I couldn't understand her for a while."

x-x-x-x-x

"This really isn't right," Chuck said in mock disgust as they settled into bed for their nap. "You say that you want me to rest and then you climb into bed with me naked? That hardly feels fair."

"I know," Sarah said with a grin as she put her head on Chuck's chest and snuggled into him, conspicuously rubbing her chest against his. "I feel like such a tease. Maybe I want you to remember what you have to look forward to in a few hours. Trust me. You'll be thanking me for making you rest later tonight. I have quite the wedding night planned. You'll need all of your strength… and then some."

"So," Chuck said. "If I can't get a little afternoon delight, tell me about today's mission. It must have worked out well?"

"Exactly how you said," Sarah said. "He was all over himself buying it. The confession totally sold it. Someday you're going to have to tell me how you can predict those things so accurately."

"Great," Chuck said with a sigh. "I'm glad. How can I predict things? I keep telling you, I understand how pigs think. You'll see."

"Sweetie," Sarah said with a short laugh. "There is no way that you'll ever act like a pig. You just don't have it in you. Laura was going to come over and personally thank you for saving Seth. But given her normal reward system, I thought it would be better this time if it came from me."

"Nice thinking," Chuck said. "A wedding night reward?"

"It's not half of the reward that you deserve," Sarah whispered as she reached up to lightly kiss him.

"I think you might want to look around," Chuck said with a laugh. "I'm in one of the swankiest hotels on the Las Vegas strip. I'm in bed with the most beautiful girl in the whole world."

Sarah smiled at that.

"And, oh my God," Chuck continued as he arched his eyebrows and lifted the sheet a little. "She's naked."

Sarah tried her best to keep in the laugh but it came out pretty wet.

"I'm thinking I'm pretty lucky."

"Stop," Sarah said with a twinkle in her eye as she struggled to control her laughter and playfully slapped Chuck in the chest. "I'm pretty lucky too."

"So, what are we going to do tonight?" Chuck said as he rubbed Sarah's back. "We have a few hours before the wedding chapel appointment."

"Anything you want," Sarah said happily. "Well, not anything. We're resting for later, remember? But we have the rest of the night off."

"Do you think we could hang out with Casey for a while?" Chuck asked softly. "I mean if you don't mind."

"Casey?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"I feel kind of bad for him," Chuck said as he smiled at Sarah. "I don't want him to feel like a third wheel. Maybe you could talk to him for a while. You know, agent to agent."

"Chuck," Sarah said with a huge grin. "Are you actually asking me to flirt with Casey? On our wedding night?"

"Not flirt," Chuck said quickly. "Not really. I didn't mean flirt at all. Just talk about some disgusting spy stuff with him. Maybe make sure that he knows how much we value him."

Sarah's silly grin slowly transformed into a look of total admiration. "Wow," she finally said softly. "You really are the nicest man in the world."

"I know," Chuck said with a grin. "And to think I'm lying here being tortured."

"For the record," Sarah said as she leaned in to lovingly kiss him. "You get anything from me that you ever ask for. If I can figure out what it is, you won't even have to ask. That applies always, including right now. So if you don't want to rest…"

"I'm teasing," Chuck quickly said. "I can't wait to see what you come up with."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah, Chuck, and Casey were sitting in a booth having a sandwich. It was a little too early for a huge dinner but they were hungry. So they decided to grab a snack and wait and have a late supper after the ceremony. Then they would celebrate by doing some gambling… and maybe a little drinking. All three were in a great mood. Long gone was any remnant of Sarah's bad argument with Beckman earlier this morning. She had a seemingly perpetual huge smile on her face. And when Sarah smiled, it was hard to see it and not be in a good mood. Since agents didn't get many opportunities to relax, the ones they did come across were always fully taken advantage of. Casey and Sarah were engaged in their newest favorite pastime, trying to one up the other about past missions.

"There is not much more important," Casey said with a smirk, "then flying a Stealth Bomber. Do you know that they carry up to six nuclear weapons?"

"I don't know about that," Sarah replied with her eyes shinning. "But there was the time in Italy when our NATO missile launch codes were compromised and I had to go under cover to retrieve them. They could have launched our entire missile fleet. It would have started World War III."

Sarah had just dropped the big one. That mission was one of the most famous in spy lore. Sarah was actually being modest. They maybe wouldn't have been able to launch the entire fleet. That was still being debated at the Pentagon years later. But she had almost assuredly saved several European cities from being nuked. Casey maybe didn't know the specific mission details, but he knew enough to know when he was beat so he simply smiled and turned to the casino to check out the sights.

Chuck did know the mission details. And he clearly either felt sorry for Casey or was entertained by the discussion. Whichever it was he decided to help him. "Under cover or under the covers?" he asked softly with a grin.

"Yeah, Walker," Casey said, suddenly emboldened to resume the sport. "Tell us. How many missiles did you have to make… umm… stand down on that assignment anyway?"

"That's classified," Sarah said in mock seriousness. "And you," she said as she rolled her eyes at Chuck in laughter. "You are getting entirely too cocky for your own good. Don't you remember our talk about paybacks?"

The entire table was laughing so hard that they didn't notice Laura until she was slipping into the empty seat next to Casey. "Hey guys," she said as she smiled at their laughter. "Why are you in such a good mood? I mean besides this wedding thing."

"We have the night off for a change," Sarah as she tried to control her laughing. "Why are you here so early? I expected you to be, well, on your back right about now."

"Me too," Laura said as she joined the laughing. "It seems that Seth is tired. I guess dying earlier today really tired him out. He's taking a nap. I'll run over after the wedding and say goodbye to him for a minute."

"And that's all?" Sarah said skeptically. "There is no other possible reason that he might be tired?"

"Okay," Laura said with a sly smile. "I may have had something to do with it."

"Wait a minute," Chuck said softly. "You mean to say that you just had sex with this woman's husband, are going to again tonight? And you're bragging about it to her face? Isn't that pretty insensitive?"

Laura didn't know how to react so she simply starred meekly at the distance. Suddenly the entire table erupted in laughter.

"Don't mind Chuck," Sarah said as she laughed. "He's on the prowl looking for trouble."

"And he just found it," Laura said she joined the laughter in relief. "For the record, Chuck, there has been no actual sex… yet. As long as Seth's sleeping I thought I would come over here and see what you guys were up to before the wedding."

And what they were up too was having a good time. Chuck had never seen Casey in anything close to this good a mood that didn't involve a gun of some kind. Of course it didn't hurt that he was up a couple hundred at Blackjack. And it certainly didn't hurt that he was with the two most beautiful women in the city. Since Laura was a natural flirt and she knew that she better not direct any of that Chuck's way, Casey got the full treatment. Not that he complained.

The two couples laughed their way around the casino. At first they played Blackjack. Then they tried Craps for a while. Eventually they wound up at the slots. Chuck had long since introduced Sarah to his favorite drink in Vegas, the Mai Tai. Chuck knew that there was no way to talk Casey into drinking anything other than Scotch so that left Laura. After a fair amount of convincing he finally got her to try one. It became a running joke between them when she actually liked it. So Chuck insisted that he get the drinks for the rest of the night.

On one of his trips to the bar to fetch another round, Chuck locked eyes with a tall man with curly dark hair similar in color to his. That's when he flashed on the Fulcrum agent.

As Chuck was carrying the tray of drinks back to the others, Laura got up from her slot machine to help him. She noticed the look of alarm on Chuck's face right away. "What's wrong?" she said softly as she walked up to Chuck.

"See that tall man sitting at the bar with the red shirt?" Chuck asked.

"Grey slacks?" Laura said as she picked out the man that Chuck indicated.

"Yes," Chuck said softly. "He's Fulcrum."

Laura immediately switched into agent mode as she quickly scanned the room for possible threats. "How do you know?"

That would take about a year of explanation. "The Intersect," Chuck responded sadly. "It's what I do. Trust me. He is definitely Fulcrum."

"Has he identified you?" Laura asked softly.

"I don't think so." Chuck replied.

"Go tell Sarah and Casey," Laura said firmly as she headed towards the bar. "I'm going to see if I can find out what our new friend is up to."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was particularly unlucky at slots, so much so that they were starting to make fun of her. And since she was ultra-competitive, that wasn't much fun… for her. It was beginning to really frustrate her to watch Chuck constantly win and then not get a whiff herself. So when she finally hit the bonus she waited for a second for Chuck to walk up with her drink before she began to gloat. "What was Laura whispering to you?" she said with a smile as she wordlessly indicated with a flip of her hand the bonus waiting on the slot machine. "I know that you're looking for trouble tonight but you're not trying to make me jealous again, are you? Fair warning, that's probably a little more trouble than you're looking for."

"I just flashed," Chuck said. "There is a Fulcrum agent at the bar."

The slot machine was immediately forgotten as Sarah quickly snapped into agent mode. She stood and quickly scanned the room for threats. "Where is Laura?" she asked as she gently pulled Chuck behind her.

"She is going to try and find out what he is doing here," Chuck said.

"Could you tell what he was doing?" Sarah asked as she started to pull Chuck towards Casey. "Do you think that he recognized you?"

"He was just sitting at the bar having a drink," Chuck said while shaking his head. "He couldn't even see us from where he was sitting. He didn't look like he recognized me but you can never be sure with you spy types."

Casey was alerted immediately by the tone of Sarah's voice that something was up. "What's our status?" he asked softly.

"Chuck just flashed on a Fulcrum agent at the bar," Sarah said quickly. "It's probably just a coincidence but we've been way too sloppy. Laura is trying to make friends with him to figure out what he's up to. Why don't you take Chuck up to your room and I'll stay here in case Laura needs a hand."

"No way," Casey said firmly. "The last thing we can afford is for them to see you two together. They think that you hate each other, remember?"

"What do you want to do?" Sarah asked in a frustrated hiss.

Casey thought for a second. "Get a cab and take Chuck to the FBI office," he said. "That will be the safest place in the city. It's only a five minute cab ride. I'll stay down here and keep an eye on Laura and her new boyfriend."

"Chuck," Sarah said softly. "I need you to look carefully at every person that you can see. Tell me if you flash on anyone."

"I've already been doing that," Chuck said with a smile. "Nothing so far."

"Okay let's go," Sarah said as she gently grabbed Chuck's arm and led him towards the lobby. Chuck's response caused Sarah to stop in her tracks. She was so surprised that she had to ask Chuck to repeat himself. The second time she heard it was no less traumatic.

"It looks like I'm finally going to get to meet this Seth."

x-x-x-x-x