I still don't own Chuck. I'm not sure who does at this point.

Okay, here's the deal. This was going to be about the last chapter. Then it happened. My friend phnxgrl just gave me a great idea for the story. Normally, I would say, "that's a good idea," and then pretend that I couldn't hear her anymore. J The thing is that this particular idea is really brilliant and fits right in with the story. Now I'm mad at myself that I didn't think of it. The problem is that to give this idea justice, it is going to extend the story a bit. *sigh*. I'm not sure if I'm up for that. I'm not even sure if you're up for that. So I'll see.

I would still appreciate your comments. The worst thing for an author is silence. You can't tell if you're connecting with your readers, if they're getting where you think the story is going or not. And those comments don't have to be praise. Of course, I'd be lying if I tried to say that I don't enjoy the praise. But I actually learn more from the critical comments. Just as long as you're respectful and allow me to respond, you can say anything.

Forgiveness

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Chuck led an obviously rather confused General Beckman out of the rather small hotel room and into the parking lot, eventually stopping where Sarah was smiling as she calmly talked with someone on her cell. As soon as Sarah saw them walk up, the smile faded and she took the phone away from her ear.

"Let's fully understand each other," Sarah said with very little sense of warmth or humor. "We understand that you have a ridiculously hard job that has no margin for error. But what you did to us on our honeymoon in Hawaii was unforgivable. It was so far over the line that it's hard to imagine what you were possibly thinking. You've lost the significant measure of affection, trust, and loyalty we honestly had for you. We'll never allow you to ever be in that position to manipulate us again."

Sarah took a deep, cleansing breath. "But, in fairness, you did do what we asked," she said. "Our mission was successful. I told you in Washington that would make us about even. I keep my word. And there is no question but that we have some ongoing mutual objectives. So my amazing husband here has talked me into agreeing to help you."

General Beckman was clearly confused. "How are you going to help me?" she asked.

Sarah held out the cell phone. "This is Colonel Blum," she said. "Commander of our NATO base in Germany. Don't ask me how I was able to contact him and convince him of who I was. I won't tell you. But asking for his help in recovering his missing nuclear weapon was sort of like asking Bryce to flirt with someone. He currently has a full battalion in route to assist. They have already surrounded the general area and are closing the noose. They should be here in moments. He is anxiously waiting for your authorization to deploy. When his forces get here, he'll have the senior officer immediately report to you so you can take charge of the attack."

Beckman reached for the phone anxiously. This was a great gift. Being able to tell the President that she had recovered the nuke would be huge. Being able to tell him that she personally led the assault would be even bigger.

The conversation with Colonel Blum was short and to the point. As soon as it ended, she turned to where Sarah was affectionately sided into Chuck with a grateful smile. "Agent Wa…, umm, Sarah," she said. "Chuck, thank you. For what it's worth, I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm not expecting anything approaching forgiveness from you. I just want you to know that I now recognize it was a horrible thing to do. Not only did it cross the line, it was stupid. I owe you one. If Agent Carter is ever in the mood to listen without wanting to cut off my head, I owe her an apology as well. If I might be allowed to ask, what are you going to do now?"

Sarah's face finally broke into a smile. "We're leaving," she said. "This is over for us. It's time that we got on with our lives. At this point I think that's about all I'm prepared to say. Agent Larkin will stay with you for now. After he's convinced the President that he's no longer a threat and gets his deserved hero's glory, he can decide what to do."

x-x-x-x-x

Things had finally actually calmed down enough for Steven to take an ever increasingly anxious Joan into their stateroom and give her the attention that a newlywed wife deserved. Rather predictably, that quickly led to clothes being torn off.

"Thank you," Joan panted as soon as she had recovered enough to speak. "That was incredible. I've missed this so much."

That got Steven laughing, well as much as his own lack of breath would allow. "Why are you thanking me?" he asked. "Are you under the impression that I was doing you a favor of some kind? Umm, on second thought, I sort of like you thinking that. It may come in handy down the road when I want a favor or two in the bedroom from you. In fact, I might have something in mind. How about…"

"I'm pretty sure that I know what you have in mind," Joan interrupted as she giggled helplessly. "I think that I may have created a monster here. It's pretty much what you always have in mind. We'll see. Not to brag, but I think that I'm getting pretty good at it… not Laura or Joey good, mind you… but still."

"Are you actually inviting me to participate in some sort of comparison?" Steven asked. Then he immediately responded to her look. "Hey, I didn't think so. I was just checking."

Joan smiled at his so overt backpedal. "Good answer. Carina actually gave me some ideas, things to try in that venue," she teased. "She's quite creative when it comes to sex acts."

Steven got a little serious. "You and Carina are getting close, aren't you?" he asked softly. "I think that's nice."

"We are," Joan said. "It's very nice. Someone has to convince her that she's worthy of being loved before she goes and gets herself killed." She rolled on to her side to grin wickedly at him. "Unfortunately for your near term sex favor prospects, she's also teaching me to play hard to get."

"I find that somewhat hard to believe," Steven continued in skeptical mock negotiation. "I don't suppose that the guilt of you tearing my favorite shirt in your lust crazed quest gets me any points."

"It might have," Joan admitted playfully. "But you have twenty shirts just like it. Besides, tearing your shirt is definitely not on the level of you sending me undercover as a couple with another woman. So you blew that one. No pun intended."

Steven stroked his chin for a moment in mock thought as he fought the urge to laugh. "Well," he said. "If I haven't banked enough favors to impress you, I could offer you a billion dollars. I hear that's substantially higher than the going rate… even with Carina's expert mentoring… which by the way is honestly a little creepy."

"Wow," Joan said through the giggles that were back with a vengeance. "You so have a deal. I feel like I'm fleecing you. I would have hit my knees for eight hundred million. So, Daddy, how do you like it?"

Joan's giggles came to an abrupt end when she saw his devastated look and their teasing time came to a halt. "Come on, Steven," she said softly. "You know that I didn't mean anything like that. I was just trying to be funny sounding like a hooker. I certainly didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was insensitive. The thing is, I don't know how hookers talk. That's what Joey calls Chuck when she is teasing him."

Steven finally smiled and nodded. "I was too sensitive," he said. "Can we please just forget it?"

"Maybe it's best if I remain an amateur," Joan said, clearly relieved that the mini crisis had been averted. "So you can keep your measly billion. While we're waiting for you to recover enough to cash in one of those thousands of bedroom favors you've already accumulated, and see if Carina has improved my skill any, wouldn't you like to hear the story of her devastating 'mind fuck' defeat? The story might even aid in your recovery. If you know what I mean."

Well, Steven certainly couldn't say no to that. Unfortunately, he never got the chance. Because Joan's CIA phone picked that exact moment to ring.

"That's one thing I haven't missed," Joan groaned as she went to answer it. "How many times has that thing gone off since I've been gone? If I dropped it overboard, how deep is the water here?"

Steven watched Joan's eyes widen as she listened to whoever was on the phone. "Well?" he asked expectantly as soon as the call ended.

"That was Donaldson," Joan said. They had recently become familiar with Colonel Chris Donaldson. He was Beckman's chief of staff… a by-the-book, Class A paper pusher like only the military could create. And he was leading the search for her since she went missing. "He wants to get in touch with Chuck. It seems that Jennifer Bowles doesn't like the prospect of a lifetime of solitary confinement in prison all that much. She's anxious to make a deal. She says that she has something big. And she'll only deal with Chuck. He's the only one she'd trust."

Steven rubbed his chin. "Interesting," he said. "I wonder what she has."

"She must have something," Joan said thoughtfully. "They actually brought her to England. They wouldn't risk doing that casually. So they certainly think she has something. Maybe one of the other Elders talked and she can corroborate something. If she is looking to make any sort of deal that keeps her out of prison, she must know that the price will be pretty steep. Dealing with Chuck means potentially facing Sarah again. Trust me on this; she can't be looking forward to that. I was standing right there when Sarah kicked her ass. I almost felt sorry for her. Do we trust them with Chuck?"

Steven smiled at her protective instinct. "Why, Joan," he said. "Spoken like a true mother."

x-x-x-x-x

Alexei Volkoff studied the surveillance tape carefully while Frost slept. Yes, of course he was furious. That was ridiculous understatement. But this wasn't the time for his famous rage. This plot against him was clearly well planned and executed. Without the protection of his billions, his empire would soon collapse like a house of cards. Alexei knew that better than anybody. The only way out of this was calm, rational thought.

Having said all of that, he could only shake his head at the brazenness. What person in their right mind would be so arrogant as to dare steal money from Alexei Volkoff? It went without saying that whoever it was would be dealt with in an appropriate manner. There was zero question about that. Whoever was involved in this plot would soon see loved ones suffer the horror of indignities beyond belief before their eyes, eventually be begging to be allowed to die.

This had to be connected to Sarah Walker somehow. But how? Even if Bryce Larkin was helping her, how could he have gotten through all of his defenses in the small amount of time required? It just wasn't possible, even for an intersect.

Then he saw it.

He rewound the feed and played it over and over. Of course. That was Charles. Disguised fairly well maybe, but it was definitely Charles. The man that Bryce asked him to approve bypassing his security was the other Intersect. They had used his own desire to see Sarah Walker's erotic show to get him to make a stupid mistake. They had used his own blind lust against him.

This simply couldn't be allowed to stand. Nobody played Alexei Volkoff for a fool and lived to tell about it. The problem was he no longer had the resources to put on a world wide search. One by one, messages were flooding in from the plants, each telling some variant of the same story. They had suffered an accident, were being forced to shut down, and pleading for emergency funds to continue to in good terms with the creditors. Alexei no longer had those funds. The creditors would quickly move in. He was now powerless to prevent that from happening. In fact he would have to sell the jewelry and the art collection just to have the funds to survive.

Alexei could definitely feel that old fire burning in his belly… the fire of hatred…the fire of purpose… the fire of the chase. To tell the truth, it felt rather good… invigorating… comfortable.

It was time to make the Bartowski family wish they had never been born.

x-x-x-x-x

Once Chuck and Sarah were back in the room, they told the family the good news. The new plan was to drive to Paris, act like tourists for a couple of days, and wait for The Enforcer to arrive. If they could just avoid an increasingly desperate Alexei Volkoff for a couple more weeks, he would soon be powerless. This would all be over. Oh, and they would have north of twenty billion dollars to play with.

Sarah was clearly in a giddy mood. She told the group that the middle of the Atlantic would be an ideal spot to hide, lay in the sun, eat gourmet meals, drink tequila, dance the night away, and well, use your imagination… and definitely not in that order.

Naturally the team spent little time getting ready to depart. As soon as the NATO force arrived in full combat gear and quickly surrounded the area, they were all quickly headed out to the car.

Just before she followed them, Sarah stepped up to Bryce. "It looks like this is the day for some forgiveness," she said. "I'm not sure that I'm ready to totally forgive you. But Chuck has something of a point. I have to admit, you did do everything that we asked of you. If you're making that much of an effort I guess I can too. So I guess I can let what happened go. I hope that you enjoy your glory and when you get a chance, come and see us. We'd like that." She tried to catch Chuck's eye for a moment for some sense of what he was thinking but he was talking to Ellie, just ready to walk out the door, and not paying any attention to them. So she stepped in and lightly kissed a clearly surprised Bryce on the cheek. "That was for the memory of the good times we've shared," she said. Then she stepped back with a smirk. "Tell me that you didn't read anything unintended into that. It was as a friend… a hot headed, easily pissed off friend."

"Please don't ever make me regret it."

x-x-x-x-x

With the chaptered jet that Orion had somehow arranged from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, it was a short flight to Paris. Everybody was pretty giddy. But Chuck was positively bouncing off the walls. After all, seeing the EiffelTower was pretty high on his bucket list.

Orion had booked the three couples in separate rooms. After all, Volkoff would be looking for a group. Staying apart as much as possible and not drawing attention seemed prudent. And that was fine with Sarah. Yes, she was absolutely looking forward to bonding with her new family. But there would be plenty of time to do that on the ship. Certainly, neither Laura nor Ellie complained about spending some alone bedroom time. Sarah didn't ask what their plans were. For one thing, she didn't want to know. And even if she found that she did want to know for some bizarre reason, she could easily guess.

Sarah mused to herself as she was in the bathroom getting ready. It had been a while since she had been in France. Frankly she had forgotten how aggressive the men were. It was something that you blocked out. Getting whistled at and sometimes even pinched was simply one of those things that you either ignored, or were willing to have of tons of fights over. And maybe she knew in her head that the women were at least as aggressive, but she had never paid much attention to it… until she saw that young woman so plainly hitting on Chuck as she checked them in. Fortunately, whatever homicidal thoughts she might have had at the moment were quickly driven away by the man in question being so incredibly adorable immediately shutting her down.

Even more fortunately, she had other thoughts on her mind. The last mission was finally over. Agent Walker was only a memory. It was time to call time-in on their honeymoon. And what better place to do that then in Paris? She was getting ready to deliver to her husband an experience that he would never forget for the rest of his life. And okay. Who was she kidding? It was going to be exciting for her too. In fact, her hands were trembling so badly that she could hardly brush her hair.

As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, she could see the smirk on his face. "What?" she asked with a grin.

Chuck had no choice but to join her grin. "I have to tell you," he said. "When you said that you were excited and going into the bathroom to get ready to resume our honeymoon, I pictured… well, something else."

That got Sarah laughing. "I'll bet," she said. "But sightseeing is also part of a honeymoon, right? And trust me. That something else is definitely going to happen sometime tonight… and tomorrow… and the next day."

"I get it," Chuck laughed. "Thank you for becoming blonde again. You're very beautiful. And thank you for doing this. I know that walking around Paris may be a little boring for you."

Sarah got more serious. "It's not boring at all," she said. "Sure, I've been to Paris before. I've seen the EifelTower lot's of times. But I've never seen it with you. So it will be my first time. I couldn't possibly be more excited."

That got them both laughing again. "First time, huh?" Chuck asked. "Don't worry."

"I'll be gentle."

x-x-x-x-x

A/N: I talked earlier about the idea that phnxgrl gave me. It is good. I'm just not sure there is enough interest for a new villain and another ten chapter adventure. I always said that the point where there stopped being interest would be the point where I would stop writing. I think we're about there. And there is nothing wrong with that. The show has been off the air for two years. It had to happen sometime. But I am willing to be proven wrong.

So the next chapter will start with Chuck and Sarah on The Enforcer, celebrating with their new family, figuring out how to spend the rest of their life along with Alexei Volkoff's twenty million dollars, and the end of the story.

Or it will begin in a jail cell with Jennifer Bowles telling Chuck the news that will put Team Bartowski on a new quest. They will find that most of what they had assumed was wrong. And maybe some of their anger was always misplaced.

For sure, I don't want anyone to feel like I'm holding them hostage. I'm not. I'm perfectly fine with ending here. But if I do get enough response, I do think the final quest could be interesting… and tie up things very well.

We'll see.

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