AN: HELLO! I'M BACK... AGAIN... SO THIS STORY HAS GOTTEN SO MUCH BIGGER THEN I ORIGINALLY THOUGHT IT WOULD, BUT THAT'S A GOOD THING SO WHATEVER.

AN: SO THIS CHAPTER IS A LITTLE ANGSTY AND IN ACTUALITY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN ALMOST A DOZEN TIMES THAT'S WHY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO POST CHAPTER 7.

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE FEEDBACK AND REVIEWS ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU CONTINUE TO REVIEW AND GIVE ME FEEDBACK WHATEVER IT MAY BE.

The Trip Up North

By CharmingCharles2896

Chapter 8: Nothing is EZEE

Gino's East Pizzeria

Chicago Illinois

As Chuck and Sarah walked out into the parking lot they hesitated to look at each other and they both remained silent. The rest of lunch had gotten awkward now that Chuck and Sarah were officially never together. Sarah could tell that no matter how much Chuck said that he was okay he wasn't. As they got back on the highway Sarah kept stealing glances at him trying to find a way to fix this, he was hurting she could tell.

"Listen Chuck just talk to me please, I can tell you're hurting just please." Chuck gave her a strange look that she really couldn't decipher.

"Well aren't we full of ourselves." Sarah raised an eyebrow as she saw Chuck's facial expression change from one of surprise to one of anger. "I get that you're like the most amazing woman ever, but you don't have to act all high and mighty. I love you but that doesn't mean I obsess on every… little… thing you do. If you really think I'm that pathetic then wow I was wrong about you." Sarah visibly winced at his little tirade and realized the error in her ways.

"Hey sorry that came out wrong, that's not what I meant. What I mean to say is that I care about you to much to see you so quiet and sad over something that doesn't have to be like this." Chuck's head snapped back to look at her as she drove.

"What did you say?" he asked as Sarah turned away to look at the road.

"I said that you shouldn't let this get you down." Sarah deflected.

"No what did you mean by something that doesn't have to be like this?" Sarah looked into his eyes and panicked.

"I don't know okay! Just stop being all sad and depressed." Chuck huffed in annoyance.

"I told you the first time I'm not sad, really I'm not. I don't want an argument Sarah so lets just drop it." Sarah nodded and they both fell silent, she just couldn't believe he was okay with this. It kind of hurt her feelings that he was totally fine with her leaving, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away, if she continued down that path she'd start crying and never stop.

XXXXXXXXXX

Port of Los Angelis

12:00 P.M.

Nikki, Casey and Agent West walked quietly down the side of the large warehouse clad in tactical gear. Nikki had tracked Butch to this location so it was a 50/50 chance he was here. Casey stopped at a large door and silently signaled for west to prepare to breach, Casey stood back and kicked the door in they walked in and found nothing out of the ordinary, just large stacks of boxes. Nikki could feel that something wasn't right and she quickly readied her weapon.

"Hey Casey, we aren't alone in here, I can feel it." Casey and Agent West both nodded and checked their weapons. Casey told west to check the big office in the back while Nikki and Casey continued. This warehouse was dark and only the sound of drafting winds within it could be heard.

Meanwhile Agent West kicked the door in and walked inside, his Glock 17 drawn and at the ready. There was a desk inside the office with a large stack of papers on it and he quickly approached the desk only to feel a tiny prick on the back of his neck. He pulled the dart out and new he was in trouble. Casey and Nikki heard the sound of boots running quickly by them and they snapped into fighting stances. The first shot whizzed by Nikki and hit a box full of fireworks behind her causing it to explode in a colorful array of reds and blues. The two agents dove for cover and tried to assess the situation, Agent West was gone and they were being shot at. Casey rose to his feet and fire off a rapid succession of shots killing several enemy combatants.

"We walked into an ambush, shit." Yelled Nikki as she killed yet another person, "Casey lets get the hell out of here, Agent West is dead and I don't feel like joining him." Casey reluctantly agreed and they made there way outside to their van. As the two shaken agents drove away they never realized that in all the chaos a tracker had been planted on the van.

"We need backup if we ever want to catch this lunatic." Said Nikki as they walked down the stairs into castle. The two agents quickly contacted General Beckman and reported their situation.

"I agree Agents, we'll send you some army rangers, you need some serious man power and this special battalion should do it. This guy is too dangerous to be left alive." After the short conference Nikki turned to Casey and spoke in a nervous tone.

"So Agent Casey, I was wondering if you'd be interested in getting a cup of coffee? That was my first piece of action in a while and I'm, um, I'm…" Casey could tell that the bitchy new girl had a whole different side to her and decided what the hell.

"Sure Nikki how about 5:00 O'clock? I have to get back to the Buymore." Nikki smiled and nodded as Casey went to go change into his Buymore uniform.

XXXXXXXXXX

Casa Bartowski

Same Time

Ellie and Awesome stumbled into their apartment and simply dropped their things on their way to bed. To say they were tired would be and understatement, they both needed to shower and get cleaned up but neither of them moved. The sound of the phone ringing jolted them both up off the bed as Ellie stumbled to retrieve the phone. When she answered the phone she spoke in the most unintelligible voice ever.

"Ello? Well Butch, what do you want? No he's out of town can I take a message? Fine goodbye." She hung up the phone and shuffled to the bathroom to shower and lose the hospital funk she had going on. Devon was completely unconscious snoring on the bed as Ellie stepped into the shower and felt the refreshing feeling of the water cascade over her face. As she stood under the warm flow of water she had to think about her poor troubled brother. He had been so irritable and angry the last couple weeks and she hoped that resolving whatever was wrong with his relationship with the ever-confusing miss Sarah Walker would return him to normal. Ellie yelped as she felt the strong arms of Devon Woodcomb wrap around her waist and pulled her close.

"I thought you were asleep." Said Ellie as he smiled and kissed her neck causing her to shiver,

"I was but I'm getting a second wind and hopefully a third." Ellie laughed as he picked her up in his arms and got his second wind.

A long shower later Ellie and Devon laid on their bed thoroughly exhausted after a second, third and surprisingly a fourth wind. Ellie looked up and the ceiling while cuddled up close to Devon, she just couldn't stop thinking about Chuck and Sarah. She couldn't help but wonder if Sarah was truly good for Chuck, it seemed like since they'd been dating he'd been happier but he'd also been sadder too. He seemed like he was always worried about something to do with her; it wasn't a healthy way to live and she couldn't shake the feeling that Chuck and Sarah were arguing right now.

Meanwhile in Sarah's Porsche…

"No!" Sarah slapped his arm playfully,

"Why not? I've already done it, what's the big deal!" Chuck retorted as he began to pout, which made Sarah fall for him even harder then she already had.

"Chuck you've driven so much this trip I feel bad already, if you do anymore driving then I'll have to find some way to repay you." Chuck's eyebrows rose at the suggestive comment.

"I don't even know how to respond to that." Sarah grinned as a perfect opportunity to tease Chuck presented itself. Sarah put the cruise control on and leaned over towards Chuck, getting really close to him while still keeping an eye on the road, she was a spy after all.

"Well, we could find a hotel and I could rip your clothes off, but that's too time consuming. How bout this? Lets switch positions." Chuck tentatively nodded unsure of were this was going. They quickly stopped and did a Chinese fire drill, once back in the car Chuck merged back onto the highway and looked at the predatory look in her eyes and knew that nothing good could come of this.

"Sarah," he said with a hint of fear in his voice. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I guess that's up to you, heads or tails." Chuck took a moment to think before answering.

"Heads." Sarah got a look of wanton on her face as she got up close to his ear and began to suck and nibble on his earlobe causing him to shiver involuntarily. She pulled back to look at his face and simply said.

"Good choice." She trailed off as she began to kiss slowly down his neck towards his belt. Chuck laughed nervously as he struggled mightily to keep his eyes focused and on the road.

"Sarah, whoa, what's happening here right now?" Sarah paused her assault on his belt and looked up at him.

"Well I was gonna repay you for all the driving you've done." He seemed to get more nervous as she spoke and by the time she had finished he was sporting a strange look on his face.

"Sarah I don't think that's such a good idea, I mean I'm flattered but I don't want to crash this car." Sarah nodded and sat back in her seat.

"I can understand that, but you would've been really happy with my repayment." Sarah let that hang in the air and had to smile at the dirty look Chuck gave her.

"You're such a tease Ms. Walker, what am I going to do with you?" she smiled at him and spoke in a sultry tone.

"Something dirty I hope." Chuck simply shrugged and refocused on the road, which made Sarah laugh heartily. Sarah lightly punched Chuck in the arm; Sarah saw that Chuck was holding in a laugh so with her interest peeked she spoke.

"Okay Chuck, what's so funny?" he tried to hold in the laugh, but it came out pretty wet.

"Not only are you no longer driving, your plan to score failed miserably." He let out a hearty laugh and Sarah realized that she got played.

"Hey you played me, I'll get you back for that." Sarah stuck her tongue out at Chuck and turned to look at the road.

Chuck had to smile at the back and forth banter they had going on and was relieved that the angst of earlier was starting to fade.

"So Sarah I gotta ask what are you're parents like? The picture I have in my mind portrays a beautiful blonde woman and her equally beautiful daughter and a husband who dresses a little out of style for the times and has a bit of scruff on his face he's kind of slimy looking but he's really a teddy bear on the inside once you get to know him." Sarah gave him an amused look.

"A daughter? So you're saying I have a little sister? HA! Yeah right my parents didn't even really want me at first. I'm the only reason they ever got married. My dad isn't the marrying type he would rather live the life of a drifter always moving. You've got it pretty right though,s that's them in a nutshell. My mother was always very beautiful and I always had the slight suspicion that she gave up her career to take care of me, she was a model after all." Chuck nodded in understanding and went quiet for a minute.

"Sarah… do you actually want me to meet you're parents?" she couldn't look him in the eyes so she looked at her hands.

"Honestly… no, no I do not. I'm afraid of what you'll think of me after meeting him, my dad that is. He's a con man so he's super paranoid. It actually terrifies me to think of either you changing your opinion of me after meeting him or them completely rejecting me in front you. I think that scares me the most, I love my parents and if they reject me I'll… I'll…" She trailed of and looked away trying to hide the sadness and shame in her eyes.

"Hey look at me, regardless of what they think of you I'll always love you and you can take that to the bank you here me. I love you that much." She gave him a grateful smile knowing that he understood.

"Hey Chuck?"

"Yeah." He replied

"Thank you for doing this with me. Without you I don't think I could ever go back to them, it scares me so much." He simply smiled and took her hand in his and gave it a good squeeze.

Back in Burbank…

Devon handed Ellie her cup off coffee as he sat down on the couch next to her. He watched as she snuggled closer to him and sipped her coffee. Ellie sighed and looked at the TV completely at piece. It had been far t long since they had just sat down and watched TV.

"Hey Devon?" Ellie asked calmly. "Do you think that Chuck and Sarah will work out there problems? I would really like to welcome her into the Family if you know what I mean." Devon simply looked down at her and smiled.

"Yeah I think they will, they're good for each other." He kissed her on the top of the head and sat back to watch the TV.

Back on the Road…

After an hour and a half stuck on the Dan Ryan Expressway they were finally out of Chicago. They had both settled into a comfortable silence and were actually making fairly good time. They were about halfway to Detroit now and Chuck could honestly say he had learned more about Sarah then he had in the last two years and he hadn't loved her as much as he did now. Now that he knew a little bit about her upbringing things made a little bit more sense, she did a good job of hiding the pain from her childhood and he wished he had more time to help her with her issues as she had with his. Chuck wished he could make her understand and convince her to at least try to stay, but she seemed resigned to leave and suffer alone. Gosh how he wished he could change her mind, it truly saddened him that he couldn't change things, Chuck knew that leaving was literally the worst thing that could happen to Sarah at the moment. Sarah was living the closest thing to a normal life she had ever known and she was going to lose it without any say. He looked over at her and smiled a bittersweet smile; she looked so beautiful as she stared out the window at the factories passing by in the window. Sarah was so relaxed that she quickly fell asleep; Chuck looked at her and couldn't help but think. She is so beautiful. Chuck sat back in his seat and put the cruise control on. Meanwhile Sarah was having a dream.

It had been several years since Sarah had left Burbank and today was the day that she would return to him. She had been waiting for this day for a very long time. She had decided not to call him but to surprise him instead. Sarah was honestly a bit nervous, but she quickly pushed down those thoughts. She had heard from Beckman that Chuck didn't have the Intersect anymore and was leading a fairly normal life. Sarah walked up to the door and knocked a couple times. She heard his voice through the door.

"Just a minute!" moments later Chuck opened the door with a bright smile on his face and a cute little girl in his arms. The smile dropped off his face as soon as he saw her and was replaced by a look of shock.

"Sarah?" she gave him a timid smile.

"Hello Chuck, and who is this cute little girl?" said Sarah while looking at the child.

"Well Sarah this is my Daughter Rebecca." Sarah's smile was gone at the mention of a daughter, which meant there was a mother.

"Oh… uh, so can I come in?" said Sarah nervously; Chuck stepped aside and Sarah entered Casa Bartowski, she sat down on the couch and Chuck sat on the adjacent love seat. Sarah could see the distance between them and it saddened her to an extent.

"So Chuck, how have you been?" he looked conflicted, why is he conflicted? She mused to herself.

"I've been good… as you can see I have a child now and…" There was a sound at the door and they all turned to see it open.

"Mommy!" Rebecca got down from Chucks lap and ran to the beautiful woman at the door.

"Hey there cutie," The woman picked up Rebecca and carried her. "Hey sweetie, who's this? I didn't know we where having guests." Sarah saw the exchange between Chuck and this mystery woman and knew that Chuck was married.

"Sarah this is my wife Hannah. Hannah, sweetie this is Sarah, the woman I've told you about." The look of realization that appeared on this Hannah person made Sarah very nervous.

"Oh my god hi! It's so nice to finally meet you. I'm Chuck's wife Hannah, please stay for dinner, we'd love to have you." Sarah smiled and nodded.

Dinner went fairly well, but there was definitely a tension in the room between Hannah and Sarah. They all made there way into the family room, each of them enjoying a beer.

"So Sarah, what are you doing these days?" asked Hannah in a faux happy voice.

"Well… I don't know really I just got in town this morning from DC so I still need to look for a job." Hannah nodded and Chuck cut it.

"So that means you're living in Burbank now?" he tried to temper his excitement, but he didn't do a very good job. Hannah noticed and cleared her throat.

"Sarah, can I speak to you in private?" Chuck became alarmed.

"Is something wrong honey?" asked Chuck, she gave him a smile and spoke.

"No just girl talk, you know." He nodded and watched as Sarah and Hannah went to another room. when they got into the other room the happy façade that Hannah had dropped off and was replaced with a look of hatred.

"Okay you listen and you listen good you hear me?" Sarah nodded "I will not let you steal my man, that is not an option."

"No, I would never try to steal him from you, honestly I wouldn't.

"No, you won't cause I don't want to see you around him ever again, stay away from my Chuck." Sarah's eyes went really wide.

"What? No please, I need him, please don't take him away from me completely; all I want is to be friends. He's the only family I have I'm begging you not to do this, I need him." the tears were in full affect now as Sarah realized that there was no happy ending to this story.

Chuck looked over at her in the passenger seat, she had tears running down her cheeks and she kept repeating the same words over and over.

"No please, I need him. Don't do this, please." She whimpered quietly and it told him all he needed to know.

"Sarah, Sarah wake up you're having a bad dream. Sarah, it's okay it's only a dream." Sarah's eyes opened slowly and she looked at him tentatively.

"How long was I out?" she sat up nervous and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, about two hours, are you okay? It sounded like you had a pretty bad dream. Do you want to talk about it?" Sarah smiled at him.

"No I'm fine, it was just a dream." She wiped at her eyes once more and smiled at him if only to reassure him that she was okay. Truthfully she wasn't okay, but she didn't need to burden him with those lonely thoughts. She couldn't put that kind of pressure on him because she knew if she did he'd never try to move on in hopes that she'd comeback eventually. She couldn't do that to him, he deserved to be happy with someone who could love him without any baggage. She couldn't do that but he deserved it, so she'd do what she always did, she'd bury those feelings deep inside and put up walls around them.

A Dingy Warehouse

Los Angelis, California

Same Time

Agent West felt his senses return to him slowly, one by one. First was hearing, silence. Then smell, it smelled musky and dirty wherever he was. Then he regained his eyesight, or at least he thought he did, but all he saw was black darkness. Suddenly West was blinded by a piercing white light, he squinted to try and see his surroundings, but to no avail. He heard footsteps… Agent West used all of his focus and training to stay calm and get any semblance of a sit-rep. He knew he was strapped to a flat surface, a table more specifically, but other then that his situation looked pretty bleak.

"Well good afternoon Agent West of the FBI, I'm so glad you're finally up, I've got big plans for you." West turned his head and spotted Butch approaching him with what looked like a toolbox.

"Where am I?" West asked nervously, which caused Butch to smile sadistically.

"You're in a warehouse outside of LA and we have lots to discuss so let's get to it, shall we?" West swallowed nervously and watched Butch pull up a chair next to him and sit down. Butch grabs the light above West and turns it over his shoulder revealing some kind of bomb, it looked crude and home made.

"You see that bomb over there? Well I'm gonna cut you open and put it inside your body, I'm gonna turn you in a walking time bomb." West tried to sit up, Butch just pushed him back down and continued. "Furthermore, you're gonna help get me captured; see it's all part of an elaborate plan. By the time I'm done I'll have killed everyone Chuck Bartowski Loves, then and only then will I let him die as slowly as possible. I'm going to make him watch as I cut up his older sister and watch his beloved Sarah bleeds to death. Actually, no I'm gonna do something even worse, I'll make him choose who dies first." Butch laughed maniacally as he grabbed a small remote.

"You see this? This is the remote to that time bomb over there; just before you guys capture me I'll activate the bomb, which will explode exactly 36 hours after activation. Here's the thing, if you tip them off I'll simply kill you and then kill your family, yes I'm talking about your sexy wife and the kid you love so much." West's eyebrows shot upwards at the mention of his family.

"You… you're crazy."

"I'M NOT CRAZY!" yelled Butch at the top of his lungs; West flinched away from the harsh words. Butch got up and grabbed a set of knives and the bomb and sat back down at the table.

"Okay lets get to work shall we?" West swallowed nervously and spoke in fear.

"Aren't you gonna knock me out or something?"

"Of coarse not, what's the fun in that?" Butch simply laughed and started cutting while West screamed until his voice went away.

Back on the Road…

7:40 P.M. Michigan Time

Sarah and Chuck had just entered the city of Detroit when Sarah told Chuck directions to their next stop, honestly he had his doubts about the place, but Chuck took her at her word and pulled in.

EZEE GENE'S

Sarah and Chuck got out of the car and headed inside to tiny bar. It wasn't the cleanest bar in the world, but it was charming.

"Go sit down for a minute I'll be right back." Chuck sat down and watched Sarah walk up to the bar. There was an old fat black man with a big grey beard and his associate behind the bar, Sarah stepped up to the bar and got the black man's attention. His eyes bulged out of his head at the sight of the beautiful blonde in front of him until it dawned on him. The black man squinted and smiled.

"Hey Bill, take over for a few." The man nodded and the big black man stepped out from behind the bar and looked at Sarah.

"Little Sammy is that you?" Sarah smiled at him and replied

"Hello Ziggy, long time no see." Chuck watched as they hugged.

"My, my Sammy you look beautiful and so grown up." He was simply shocked to see her.

"Oh just so you know my name is Sarah now." Ziggy smiled and patted her on the back. Chuck watches the two of them walk over towards him.

"Chuck, I would like to introduce you to an old friend of my fathers. This is Eugene Ezekiel Smith, but he goes by Ziggy." Chuck stood up and shook Ziggy's hand and said hello. "Chuck Just so you know, Ziggy used to help my dad and I on a few con jobs every once and while." Ziggy nodded and look from Chuck to Sarah then back when it dawned on him. His hand flew to his mouth

"Oh my gosh, Little Sammy is in love, never thought I'd see the day." Chuck laughed nervously only for Sarah to do something that completely shocked him.

"Yes, I am and might I say that it feels great." Chuck looked at her in complete shock; she was really sending him mixed messages today. One minute Sarah says they're never together then the next she's in love and it feels great, Chuck could really use some clarification at the moment.

Ziggy pulled up a chair and sat down with the cute couple in front of him.

"So tell me what brings you to my little slice of heaven?" Chuck looked at Sarah unsure of what to say.

"Well, we are going up to glen arbor to visit daddy. This will be the first time since 1998 that we'll have seen each other, the reason we're here is because we need a place to crash for the night." Ziggy nodded and looked at his watch and spoke.

"Well we won't be closing for several more hours so you two can head up the stairs in the back and hang out in the guest bedroom until we close, you two look like you could use a nap." Sarah nodded and signaled for Chuck to get up.

"Thank you so much Ziggy we appreciate It." he nodded and spoke.

"Don't mention it, you two go get your bags while I call upstairs and tell my wife that you're here." They nodded and got up to get their bags. When Chuck and Sarah got back to the car Chuck really laid into Sarah.

"What the hell is wrong with you? One minute we're never together, the next we're madly in love. I can't take the mixed messages anymore so make a decision. Either we're together or we're not, either way you have to stick to it, cause I can't take the second guessing anymore. Remember I love you and that won't change, but please just cut me a break." Chuck grabbed his bag and went inside leaving a stunned Sarah behind. Sarah just sat back against the door of her Porsche with no idea what to do. Chuck was right; she was being inconsistent. Honestly Sarah was just as confused as he was, she remembered what he had said this afternoon in Chicago.

"You know what Sarah I think I'd rather have you now and find a way then spend my last few weeks with you miserable. We'll find a way Sarah just have a little faith and trust me. It's up to you Sarah it always has been." He was willing to give it a try and had put the ball in her court so to speak. The problem was that she knew that if she gave in to her heart and started dating him it would be impossible to leave. Oh well our happiness never did matter did it. Sarah smiled in that self-loathing manner that she was so good at as she grabbed her bag and headed inside. Once inside she looked around and couldn't spot Chuck. Must have gone upstairs. Sarah mused as she walked up the small staircase in the far back corner of the bar. As she stepped onto the second floor Sarah was greeted by a beautiful white woman with long flowing brown hair. She looked to be in her early 50's but could easily pull off forty if she really wanted to.

"Hello, you must be Sarah, it's so nice to meet you; I'm Felicity, I'm Ziggy's wife." Sarah nodded and shook felicity's hand. "Just so you know, your boyfriend seems kind of upset, he's in the guest bedroom which is the first door on the right." Felicity point at the hallway behind her to which Sarah nodded.

"Just so you know dinner is at 9:00 if you two want to join us." Sarah gave felicity a gracious smile and nodded. When Sarah got to the guest bedroom she took a calming breath and entered. Chuck was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at his hands, she could tell he wasn't feeling to great at the moment.

"Chuck…" she walked into the room and sat on the bed next to him. He looked so sad and dejected.

"I'm sorry I keep getting upset." He said quietly "It's just… this is it for us, after this trip I will never see you again and I guess I'm just not handling it well. Look at it this way, you can always check up on me from DC, you know you can. Once you leave I'll never hear from you I'll never see you again. You are the love of my life, I love you at least a hundred times more than I loved Jill. But the sad reality is that you could die on a mission six months from now and I would never know. I guess I'm just having a hard time accepting that." He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, which were about to overflow with tears. "So please just understand that it's hard hearing you say that knowing that I'll never be able to actually call you mine. I can't even imagine what this must be like for you, I hope you'll miss me just as much, but I would understand otherwise." Chuck went back to looking at his hands; he heard a sniffle and felt Sarah's hand that was rubbing small circles on his back recede. There was a palpable sadness in the room.

"You have no idea how hard this is for me Chuck, I'm gonna miss you more then I've ever missed anything in my life. You are the greatest man I have ever known and yes I could die, but I don't want you thinking about that kind of stuff. Sarah kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed.

"Can you please just lay down with me and hold me." he looked over at her and nodded. Chuck laid down and spooned her into him and wrapped his arm around her torso. Chuck could hear her sniffle and had to match them with his own. With tears streaking down their cheeks they both fell into a restless sleep.

AN: SO... WHAT'D YOU THINK REVIEW! THE NEXT CHAPTER MAY TAKE SOME TIME CONSIDERING I'M GOING TO COLLEGE SOON. UNTIL NEXT TIME :D