A/N: So after finishing Chapter 14 and getting an overwhelming response in reviews, it - oddly enough - took me a while to find the correct wording for this chapter, which is why it's right on time and not a few days early. There won't be much Charah this time, but a return to it is imminent ;-P.

A humongous thank you to the readers and the reviewers, and a warm welcome to all those who have newly favorited and/or followed this story.

Jon: No worries, I have no real intention to follow the 'will they, won't they?' – arc. There might be a little trouble in paradise on occasion, but it's not going to take as long as it did in the series. Ellie and Awesome spying on them? I did consider that, but feared that would be overkill, lol.

fezzywhigg & Jimmy_144 & pizza: Thanks, I wasn't sure if I did the kiss justice, but given your reviews, I guess I did ;-)

sevenrez: Thanks. Seeing as Sarah is pretty closed off, I feared that her saying her feelings part would be too early on, but in order to further the story and clear the air between them, I felt it was necessary, plus it lead to some Charah, which is always good :-).

Nerdtastic78: There'll be a return to Charah in 16, ;-). No spoilers, though this chapter might be considered a set-up for it.

RABCentralIL: Sam/Sarah's nowhere near super spy butt kicking mode, lol. Her victories over Casey so far can only be attributed to her rage, but I'll return to that in a later chapter. One of the things that bothered me in the series was extremely slow development of Chuck into a spy. You kinda learn of his intention to become one after he uploaded the 2.0, but before that, it felt like he didn't really do much to improve his 'survival' skills.

Shutupnkissme313: Carina will definitely have a bigger role than she had in the series, and with Sarah being on the road to becoming a spy, she'll be of influence in that development, ;-). Bryce/Bryan, yup, that was in the plans and will happen, lol.

Nomadic Nerd: Ha, Shaw will serve a purpose in a later chapter. Hated the whole Shaw-romance storyline in the series, so I will definitely not go there. Setting him on fire might be an idea, but seeing as he was such a cardboard cutout, it might not be more than a flash in a pan.

As always, reviews are most welcome and very much appreciated... Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Chuck'.

Lost in the memory of that one moment last night, she walked out into the courtyard. Maybe the practice kiss, as a front for their audience, had meant nothing to him, but to her it had meant a lot. Well, more than a lot, even if it had come with confusing, if not conflicting, feelings about whether it had really been for their cover's sake or not.

"Morning," Carina shattered her thoughts, almost causing her to jump a good foot in the air with a start.

She cursed inwardly; she should have checked the courtyard. Carina sat on the edge of the fountain, watching her curiously, so she was not that hard to miss. There was no Chuck or Casey waiting for her, which struck her as a little odd.

"Casey had something important to discuss with your boyfriend," Carina smirked.

"He's not my boyfriend," she was on edge immediately.

"Oh? Coulda fooled me," the redhead laughed amused. "From the looks of it, that kiss seemed quite real."

Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. Chuck had spotted them, but she had never considered that it would lead to teasing and mockery.

"Can't really blame you. He is kinda cute-ish in a nerdy way," Carina needled her. "If you're in that kinda thing."

She rolled her eyes and glanced at Casey's front door, hoping they would come to her rescue soon. The DEA-agent was a handful and she was in no mood to let her good mood be ruined.

"So," Carina did not back down. "Was it real?" She asked with a meaningful eyebrow raise.

"No. Chuck spotted all of you, which is why we-"

"All of us?"

"You, Bryce, Casey."

The redhead burst into laughter, and she felt dumbstruck. What had she missed?

"Really, Sam," Carina hiccuped as she tried to suppress her laughter. "Two out of three know it shouldn't be more than a cover."

Again she rolled her eyes. It still had been practice, in public, which had been the point.

"Not Sam," she said with a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice. "But Sarah."

Carina looked at her sharply, like a predator would its prey, all the merriment gone. It was unnerving to be scrutinized like that and she restrained her need to fidget. From what she had heard and picked up about the DEA-agent, one had to be careful around her because Carina was quite unpredictable. In other words, she was trouble.

She had to stay on guard, not giving the woman an inch in word and action. Unsure how long it would take for Chuck and Casey to discuss whatever was so urgent, she reluctantly sat down next to Carina.

"No matter what you think, Sam."

She raised an eyebrow sardonically. It would take a long time for people to get used to the name, she was sure of that, but the sooner people started calling her Sarah, the better. Even if she still had to talk to her mother about the name change.

"Fine, Sarah. I'm not the enemy. And if you really want into the spy game, I could teach you a useful thing or two."

Somehow that offer left her unsettled.

In the meantime, he looked at his nerdy partner and shook his head. It was a fine mess Chuck had made of things last night.

"You're an idiot, Bartowski," he sighed.

"I think you already said that, three times," Chuck countered.

"Are you sure the kiss meant nothing? Because it looked pretty damn real to me," he growled annoyed.

"For the fifth time, I clocked you, Carina and Bryce. If we want to sell the cover, there's going to be some pda involved, Casey. Are we going to have this discussion over and over again?"

"Do we have to?" He countered, not entirely buying into the cover excuse.

Chuck looked to the side, clearly thinking about his answer, and shook his head: "No. Message received."

"As long as we're clear on that," he grumbled.

The last thing he needed was added stress to their young partnership because Bartowski and Walker were too busy being lovey-dovey on public display. He liked the woman, like he would like a younger sister, and she had asked him for his help to grow stronger and defend herself, not relying on others to come to her rescue each time she would run into trouble. He found it admirable, and if Bartowski would do anything to jeopardize her potential, he would see to it that he would answer to him as well. The hard way. He cracked his knuckles.

"Anything else?" Chuck asked sounding somewhat worried.

He nodded slowly: "Any ideas on how we are going to keep Miller in check?"

His partner chuckled: "Appeal to her reason?"

"That's asking for the impossible," he guffawed.

He had not wanted to stir up more trouble, but it did bother him a lot. Instead of confronting her with his findings, like her sneaking out to kiss Chuck in the park, he had kept quiet. Unusually quiet for his standards, but he needed to think, needed to come up with a plan.

Involving Jeff and Lester as the amateur spies they claimed to be seemed more appealing each passing minute, but what if he was wrong? What if it was just his best friend acting all weird because she was, obviously, head over heels in love with the lanky nerd and had no idea how to act on that?

Still there were too many things that could not be explained with a simple case of lovestruck. Casey. How did the incredible hulk fit into all of this? Or Carina, who insisted on calling him Bryan, when she damn well knew that his name was Bryce. If it had been just Chuck, it would have made sense, but too many players were involved in this charade.

But what if he was wrong? That it was simply a weird coincidence. If he would sic the two crazies on his best friend, it would be a clear sign that he did not trust her or her judgment, and he could lose whatever remained of their already crumbling friendship. He heaved a deep sigh; it felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

She had left work a little early to beat traffic so she could change at home before driving to her mother's place. It had been quite a while since she had last gone to visit her, but she did not want to do this over the phone. She owed that much to her mother to do it in person.

She pulled over and checked the rear-view mirror, to see Chuck's car pull in the parking spot behind her. 'Of course,' she thought while she rolled her eyes.

After taking the keys from the ignition, she got out of the Nerd Herder, locked it and went over to his car. She tapped on the driver's side window and he rolled it down.

"If you wanted to come along," she began.

"Surveillance," he cut her off. "Someone has to keep an eye on you."

"Still it could saved either one of us some gas. I don't suppose you want to go in first and secure the place?" She offered with a deep sarcasm to her voice.

It was not that she was angry with him, but it did annoy her that she could not take one step without someone following her. Like she could not use the bathroom without a guard at the door. Going to see her mother was something very personal, and the government had just intruded. Again.

"I don't think that will be necessary," he answered while he reached into the backseat and pulled his laptop to him. "I know that this isn't ideal, Sa-rah, but it's the best we can do for now."

She took a deep breath and looked at her mother's house. As long as she had the Intersect in her head, she would have at least one shadow, if not two or three if Carina were to be permanently added to Team Walker. She shuddered at the thought.

The redhead DEA-agent had been nice to her as the day progressed, but she could not escape the thought Carina had a hidden agenda. Especially after the latter continued insisting on calling Bryce Bryan, just to get a rise out of him.

She turned away and was about to head towards her mother's house when he called her back: "Hey, Sarah."

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Sammie!"

She looked up and saw her six year old cousin Molly barreling towards her. Immediately a big smile broke out on her face. It was amazing that the little girl remembered her because it had been quite a while, and gosh, how she had grown.

"Molly," she smiled, kneeling and catching the girl in her arms.

Molly hugged her tightly, and she returned the favor. The girl backed out of the hug after a good minute and stared at Chuck.

"Who's he?"

"Molly," she warned her. "I'd like you to meet Chuck. He's," she searched for the right words because she did not want to lie to her cousin. "A friend. Chuck, this is my cousin Molly."

Her mother stood waiting for her on the front porch with a deep frown creasing her brow. It reminded her of the day she was brought home with a police cruiser after her dad had been arrested for fraud.

She swallowed nervously, and got dragged up the steps by Molly. How was it that her mother possessed the ability to make her feel like a child instead of the grown woman she was with a single look?

"Why don't you go inside, Molly?" Her mother suggested.

The little girl nodded and disappeared into the house.

"Mom," she said with a warm smile.

"You're not in trouble, are you?" Her mother asked pointedly.

She shook her head: "No. Why?"

Her mother took a deep breath and looked in the direction of Chuck's car: "Looks like an unmarked cop car. Surveillance."

'Thanks, dad,' she thought bitterly. Of course her mother would assume the worst with all the cons and stunts her father had pulled over the years.

She shook her head in denial again: "That's Chuck."

Her mother gave her a stern look: "Who's Chuck?"

'Thanks, Chuck,' she thought sadly. Now her mother would want to know all about him, and what his relationship with her was. The last thing she had wanted to do today was lie to her mother, and now she had to.

"He's," she began. "He's... my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, huh?" Her mother inquired while she moved to the steps of the porch. "Then what's with the two cars?"

She had to think quickly, improvise her way out of this fine mess. Deflections for anything her mother might ask.

"He's on call for his second job," she offered the first explanation that came to mind. "If he gets called away, I don't have... to go with him."

She glanced at her mother's face. If her mother was buying the explanation, she was definitely not showing it. It seemed more the opposite in fact. The next question her mother posed was proof of that: "So why is he staying in the car?"

"Well, meeting the family's kind of a big step," she answered before adding in thoughts: 'If our relationship were remotely real.'

Her mother cracked a smile, the tension completely gone from her face: "I guess you've got a point there, child. But, surely, he must be hungry. He can join us for dinner."

"No, it's not-"

"I insist. Either you invite him in or I will," her mother cut her off with a smirk.

'Fine!' She kept herself from rolling her eyes at her mother's insistence and went to talk to Chuck.

He leaned back in the driver's seat with his laptop resting against the steering wheel, reading up on the latest preparations for Carina's mission. It looked easy, but with Carina in the lead, that was not saying much.

He shrugged a little when there was a tap on the window again and he turned his head to see Sarah – he got it right this time – leaning down. After putting the laptop in the passenger's seat, he rolled down the window again.

"Can I just talk to you for a second?" She asked sounding hesitant.

"Sure."

"I need to ask you a favor, and feel free to say 'no', preferably with a recognizable shake of your head, but, uh, could you," she paused and looked over at the house. "Would you, uh... Mom wants me to invite you in for dinner."

"You know," he grinned from ear-to-ear, curious as he was as to learn more about her. "That's a great idea."

"No, it's not," she immediately objected.

He schooled his face into a neutral expression to hide his hurt. Besides how bad could it be? She knew his sister. Would it be so bad to be introduced to her mother? He leaned over, closed the lid of his laptop and slid it under the seat.

"'No' is the answer."

She stepped back when he got out of the car, closed the door and locked it. He wondered why she was protesting this so much. Whatever she had told her mother, it had prompted a dinner invitation, and quite frankly, he was starving.

"You're supposed to say 'no', Chuck," she muttered upset.

"Just to get our stories straight... What did you tell her?"

"I might have mentioned that you're my boyfriend," she answered. "And that meeting my family would be a big step."

"If we were really dating," he nodded, a little more understanding to where she was coming from, but it was too late to turn back now.

If he would get back in the car now, it would raise a lot more questions with Sarah's mother than the both of them could probably answer without jeopardizing the asset's safety or national security.

As they walked to the house together, she told him a little about Molly's sad past. Of how her parents had been killed in a horrible car accident when she had just been a baby, and how her mother had taken guardianship over her aunt's little girl without a second thought.

"He seems a real gentleman, sweetheart. Polite, well-educated and well-mannered. Wherever did you find him?" Her mother asked with some disbelief as they washed up the dishes.

"At Westside Medical."

"What?" Her mother sounded shocked.

"Had a bad fall after my birthday. Ellie had me checked out. He gave me a ride home."

"What?" Her mother exclaimed even more shocked. "You got hurt and you didn't call me?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that he's Ellie's little brother," she said with a victorious smile.

"Now that you mention it. They do look a bit like each other. So Ellie finally did it? Getting the two of you together."

"Hmm-mmm."

"So if that's the case, why are you so glum?"

"I just don't want to raise your expectations for a relationship that seems doomed."

"Why is it doomed?"

"Because he's not into me."

"Oh, trust me, sweetie. During dinner, I've seen the way that boy looks at you and he's into you."

"Really?"

Her mother nodded, accompanied with a grand smile: "And it's pretty obvious you're into him."

The fact that her mother could read her like an open book made her uncomfortable. Then again, her mother had always been good at reading her since she did not like to talk about how she was feeling. It was an acquired skill with her.

"I won't push, sweetie," her mother sighed when she did not engage. "But it's been a while since you last came and visited us, so forgive your old mom if I'm a bit curious."

She chuckled, happy that her mother would not force the issue. After clearing away the dishes, they sat down at the kitchen table with a mug of tea. Molly had insisted that her new friend Chuck would tuck her in and read her a bedtime story, so that left the two of them alone.

"So how have you been?" Her mother inquired curiously when the silence became too heavy to bear.

It was a valid question, one she did not have a clear answer to. Her mother, the support who never judged , always worried and was always full of advice, belonged to the group of people whom she could tell nothing now. Whom she had to lie to, to keep them safe.

"Busy," she answered after some contemplation.

Now it was her mother's turn to chuckle: "Good answer, now out with the truth."

It was hard to lie to the people closest to her, but it was even harder to lie to the woman who had brought her into this life and who had raised without much support of her father. Who had been apprehensive of letting her live with her father in her teen years but had agreed to it because he still was her father.

"Just busy. Life got a bit hectic, but things are settling down," she elaborated.

Her mother shook her head and gave her an amused look. It was really unsettling how much of a read her mother could get on her.

"You never were much for telling what is really going on, but again, I won't pry, Sam."

She picked up the mug and took a sip while staring out the kitchen window, into the night. Now was as good a time as any.

"About that, mom," she began.

"I know I asked you before but you're not in trouble, are you?" Her mother asked alarmed.

Quick shake of her head to deny, she took a deep breath and placed the mug back on the table.

"No," she said, though it felt like a lie.

She was in trouble, just not the average run-of-the-mill trouble with the authorities or the justice system. It was painful having to sit at her mother's kitchen table and downright lie to her mother, so she went back to her original plan.

"It's about my first name," she began anew.

Her mother laughed softly: "You want to change it."

She stared at her mother with her mouth agape. How on earth did she know? Emma looked at her with a highly amused expression on her face. It had caught her completely off-guard, and it must have showed because her mother continued: "Not the first time you mentioned it, but looking at you I have a feeling you will go through with it this time. There's definitely something different about you since the last time you visited... You seem more confident."

She looked down at her hands, desperately trying not to start fidgeting. If her mother already caught on about the name, what else had she noticed?

Her mother studied her from across the table and she began to feel uncomfortable even more. A long silence passed and it became harder and harder not to fidget. It felt like her mother could see right through her. It was quite unnerving to be honest.

"I won't stop you, but you will always be my little Sam to me," her mother added with a wry smile. "Not sure how your dad will feel about it. We haven't exactly been in touch the past few years," she added bitterly.

Knowing her father, he would have no objections, because in the few years that she had actually wanted to be part of his life and had lived with him, she had had quite a few aliases, with Jenny Burton being the most memorable in a bad way. It had been her senior year when her father had been arrested and she had been returned home in a police car, after her father's affidavit that she had been no part of his criminal endeavors.

She shook her head: "Doubt it'll be a problem with him. With his love for aliases."

Her mother laughed warmly: "You got that right, sweetie."

A/N 2: Apparently upon editing the last few lines got deleted, leaving the chapter at a rather abrupt end, but it should be fixed now.