Hello again. I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but things have been a little crazy around here, and apparently 2015 is not done taking its shots at me. All I can say is I'm glad there's only five weeks left in it. Everyone keeps telling me it has to get better, but the second I start thinking that, it seems I get another sledgehammer to the produce section, to paraphrase our favorite nerd-turned-spy.

Just as a side note: I mention two of the charities that Chuck fans have been so good to over the years. Operation Smile and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. When getting your funds together to buy holiday presents, please make a donation and give a wonderful gift to kids in need.

As you'll see from this chapter, we're at the end of season one of the show, and again I'm combining two episodes into one story. This time, however, I'm splitting the chapters up. I was writing this and discovered I was already at almost 6,000 words and not even a third of the way done with the story. But I will try to have the second part of this done by next Monday. Please bear in mind I said try; I didn't say anything about succeeding. :-D

Anyway, please enjoy this new installment, which again features items that are the property of NBC and Fake Empire Productions. And for my American readers, have a great Thanksgiving. And for my non-American readers, don't work too hard this week.

Enjoy!

Grozny, Chechnya
February 12, 2004
8:30 AM MTZ

She smiled in that way Casey liked. This woman was trouble with a capital T, and it turned him on to no end. Casey never expected anyone to top his former fiancé, the woman he had to leave behind in order to continue serving his country fifteen years ago. There were so many days when he regretted that decision. But the woman in front of him, who just got dressed and was putting on the necklace Casey purchased for her, made him realize there was more to life than being a spy. This was the first time he could relax in front of someone. Even working on Roan's show during its final two seasons didn't help, regardless of the number of hot women who traipsed in front of his camera on a daily basis, a number of whom showed more than a passing interest in him.

"YA rada chto tebe nravitsya ("I'm glad you like it)," Casey said.

"ya lyublyu eto ("I love it"), Ilsa replied.

"Kotoryy seychas chas ("What time is it")?" Casey squinted as the sun streamed in through the window. "Are you insane? Come back to bed."

"And miss all the good sunlight?"

"Come on, Ilsa. It's not like the civil war is going to go anywhere."

Ilsa looked up and down at Casey's muscular form. She could tell he wanted more. The signs were quite obvious…and not unpleasant. "Tempting. But I have a deadline."

"Yeah," Casey said as he exhaled in frustration. Waiting until she returned would not be easy. "Why did I ever let myself get involved with a photojournalist?"

Ilsa put on her sweater and outer vest. "And how did I get myself mixed up with a…what do you call yourself again?"

"An energy consultant."

She smiled. "What does that even mean?"

"It means I get to sleep in late," he replied in a husky voice, clearly wanting to continue their activities from the previous night.

Ilsa sat down in the bed next to Casey and ran her hand over his chest. "Here's my offer…Mr. Energy Consultant."

"Yeah?"

She kissed him. "You stay in bed and preserve your precious energy…" she gave him an even longer kiss. "…and I'll be back before you know it."

Casey gave a gentle growl of frustration as Ilsa got up from the bed and grabbed her camera, slinging the strap around her neck.

"Bye-bye, Sugar Bear," she purred as she walked out the door.

Ilsa walked out of the hotel, checked her camera to see it was ready, and began to walk down the street. She made it half of a block when she entered a café to get some coffee. Casey remained in the bed. There wasn't much to do today, so he decided to wait and see if Ilsa kept to her word about returning quickly.

A large explosion erupted from the café, shattering windows throughout the neighboring buildings, including Casey's hotel room.

Casey quickly put on some clothes and ran down to the street. He had seen scenes of destruction like this many times, but it still put a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach to be in the middle of carnage such as what was in front of him. Small fires raged everywhere, there were injuries all around, several people attempting to stop the bleeding from being hit by shrapnel and broken glass. A few people were lying dead in the streets. Everyone had that same glazed-over look, as if they were witnessing a nightmare.

He then saw the camera.

He bent down and gently took the camera in his hands. The camera was damaged and charred almost beyond recognition. But he knew. He knew it was Ilsa's camera. Any other time, he could suppress his feelings and not experience the pain the victims around him felt. But he couldn't this day. He stared at the camera as a few tears welled up.

Ilsa was dead.

O.C. Studios – Hollywood, CA
December 10, 2015
9:00 AM PST

"Casey, did you hear us? Case? Case?"

Casey stared at the camera he was holding in his hands. They were setting up for the next episode of the show and Casey needed to be consulted on how to set up the cameras and lighting for the casket shots.

Casey eventually shook his head clear. "What?"

His camera assistant pointed to the set where the casket was. "Is this setup OK?"

Casey took a quick look at it. "That'll work. But pull back those short softboxes when they film overhead, otherwise you'll light up Slade like he's frickin' God. Bad enough he already thinks he is."

The camera crew laughed. They had seen Casey freeze like he just did every once in a while but nobody ever dared to ask him why. Some of them did know he used to serve in the military, so they always wrote it off to a case of PTSD. But taking digs at Carina and Jimmy was one of Casey's favorite pastimes, so they knew he was back to normal when he starting busting on one of them. He came off as distanced and grouchy sometimes, but Casey was a man's man, and the crew appreciated that.

Casey checked his watch. "Damn, gotta go. Good luck with the filming," he said and quickly walked out of the studio.

He was not thrilled about this. Chuck had set something up he said was very important and requested everyone's help. But since the show had to continue filming, they changed the schedule around so Jimmy was the only one on the call sheet. They would film the scenes where Jimmy was buried underground in the coffin today and the rest of the episode would be filmed over the next several days. He especially hated the fact his character, Duke Forrester, was the focus of this episode. Duke was supposed to get revenge against a rogue Army major for killing his wife, trying to kill Jen and Jill, and burying Lance. He'd have to do some actual acting in this episode, and he was nervous.

It would have been nice if Chuck had told him about what was going on, but he said that was a surprise. And the only thing more annoying than that nerd or even Walker having feelings for him was being roped into some lame activity Chuck wouldn't even tell him about.

He got into his Crown Vic and headed for Echo Park.

Echo Park – Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 2015
9:45 AM PST

Carina impatiently knocked on the door to Chuck's apartment. She wasn't thrilled she was roped into this, but nobody turns down a full VIP package at one of the best spas in Los Angeles. On the taxpayers' dime, no less. Given how many times her chances to have fun in this town had been thwarted by surprise missions, highly-dangerous situations and the occasional agent returning from the dead, she needed a day like this more than anybody. But even today had a catch.

She wasn't concerned about going to the spa, as long as the masseur was hot. It was the double-assignment she had been handed. Which was one more assignment than Sarah had, even though they were going to the same place. Both of them were to keep an eye on Ellie. But Carina also knew she had to keep Sarah's mind off of Chuck, which wouldn't be easy given how close Sarah and Ellie had become. Even though things had settled down since Bryce left…and no more injuries had been caused by any relationship angst in the past two weeks…Carina knew Sarah would be tested by Ellie today. There was little doubt Ellie wanted Chuck and Sarah to stay together, but an entire day with the two women together had plenty of potential landmines that had to be avoided. Carina would help keep an eye on Ellie to sell that things were going great, and she would also keep an eye on Sarah to make sure Sarah would sell that things were going great.

Ellie answered the door. "Welcome back, Carina."

"Good to see you again," she replied, pasting a smile on her face as she entered. Ellie wasn't the type of person Carina wanted to spend an entire day with, but she could certainly do worse. And she had to give Ellie credit for not only what she did for a living but having to raise Chuck while attending med school. She dated a few med students when she was in Tuscaloosa. They were a stressful lot.

"I really appreciate you inviting me to Ciel. It was a tough week at the hospital, and I can certainly use this. Both you and Sarah had a day off from filming?"

Carina nodded. "The episode we're filming this week focuses on Casey's character. Kind of a revenge story. Jimmy spends most of the episode trapped in a coffin, so they decided to shoot all of his scenes today to make things easier. We go back to work tomorrow."

"I was so surprised when Sarah said she got all three of us a day package. Those are really expensive."

"It was a thank you gift from the production company," Carina replied, having this lie at the ready. "We're up 15% in viewership this season, which is pretty rare for a show that's in its sixth season. They actually gave us four packages, but can you imagine Case or Jimmy at a spa?" Ellie laughed at the image. "We gave the fourth one to Sarah's assistant. God knows she could use a break."

Ellie laughed again as they heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find Sarah there.

"Hi!" Ellie said, and Sarah gave her a hug.

"Are you two ready to go?" Sarah asked. "I have been looking forward to this like you wouldn't believe."

"Absolutely," Ellie said as Chuck walked into the kitchen. "I've tried to talk Devon into doing one of these, but our schedules almost never work out. He had to go in this morning to check on a patient."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I just don't think he'd be into it. But that's just from what I've seen of him."

Ellie nodded in agreement. "You're probably right. His idea of relaxation is pulling the parachute open when you're supposed to, not five seconds before hitting the ground."

"And what are you two discussing?" Chuck asked as he walked up to Sarah and Ellie.

"Just…talking about our significant others behind their backs," Sarah replied as she gave him a quick kiss. Inside, Chuck wished that kiss could mean something, but he knew Sarah was doing that for Ellie's benefit. Still, how things were now beat the hell out of how things were before dealing with Stavros Demetrios and finding Bryce alive.

"Exactly," Ellie said in support of Sarah. "Now go away so Sarah can talk about you behind your back."

A car horn was heard outside. "That's us," Carina said.

"OK, enjoy your day off, sweetie," Sarah said to Chuck, giving him another quick kiss. She walked out the door with Ellie and Carina.

Chuck waited until he heard the limousine pull away, and then he got on his mobile phone. "Devon, it's Chuck. Ellie's gone. You can come back to the apartment now."

Ten minutes later, Devon entered the apartment with three cups of coffee and a bag of muffins from a café all three of them frequented.

"OK, you're driving me up a wall, Devon," Chuck said. "I went through a lot of hoops to make this work out. What is going on?"

Devon sat in the chair and gestured for Chuck to sit on the couch. "I have to ask you something very important. See, ever since I started dating Ellie, I've…kind of thought of you as that little brother I never had."

Chuck eyed him suspiciously. "Don't you have two younger brothers?"

Devon smiled. "Indeed. Indeed. But you seem like someone who can offer sage wisdom in confusing times. And this is one of those times where I'm really confused, bro."

Devon exhaled deeply and looked at the ground, craning his neck in the process. "Oh, man. This is harder than I thought. But I've…I've been thinking a lot about the way things are between me and your sister. And you're the man…the man in Ellie's family. So I was wondering…can I have your permission…I mean…could I marry Ellie?"

Chuck stared at him in open-mouthed shock. He figured Devon would eventually propose to Ellie, but to have the moment actually upon him became quite daunting. And that was before even taking into account Devon asking him permission to do it.

"Chuck? Is that…is there a 'yes' in there somewhere?" Devon almost pleaded.

"What-wha…Yes!" Chuck exclaimed, finally able to come back to the present. "Yes, you have my blessing."

Devon practically tackled Chuck on the couch to give him a hug. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Breathing…oxygen…" Chuck rasped underneath Devon.

Devon pulled him up and continued the hug. "Thanks so much, bro. Hey, pretty soon I'll mean that literally!"

"Yes, yes you will," Chuck replied nervously, still overwhelmed by the events of the morning. "But why did you need everyone to rearrange their schedules like that?"

"I figured you and Jimmy could help me pick out the best ring to give to Ellie. I mean, you know her better than anybody, and I'm sure Jimmy has good taste." Devon lifted an eyebrow. "Plus it never hurts to try to get a celebrity discount, right?"

"Ha ha, that's true," Chuck replied. "Except it'll be John Casey who will be joining us. They couldn't stop the production for this, so the best we could do is get Carina, Sarah, and Case the day off. Jimmy has a lot of scenes where he's by himself, so those are being filmed today."

"Is John good at picking out engagement rings?"

Chuck shrugged. "No idea. Maybe he's gone through the process before. I don't really know."

There was a knock on the door and Chuck went to answer it. "OK, Bartowski," Casey seethed. "What is so important…" Casey noticed Devon sitting on the couch. "This is not about you?"

Chuck shook his head with a smile. "Devon wants to ask Ellie to marry him and WE are going to help him pick out an engagement ring."

Casey was boiling mad inside. It was bad enough he was going crazy trying to learn his lines for the show this week and was forced to watch Chuck instead of Jimmy, but now he was roped into something he didn't get to do himself so many years ago. Unfortunately, he was an actor as far as Devon was concerned. Not a former Black Ops specialist and not Chuck's temporary babysitter.

"Congratulations, Devon," Casey replied, shaking Devon's hand in the process. Casey wasn't looking to become best friends with anyone in Chuck's family, but he certainly respected Devon for what he did. "Tiffany's, I gather?"

Devon grinned. "Just what I was thinking, John. Gotta like a man who thinks big."

"Yeah, that's me," Casey replied.

"Ready to do this?" Devon handed Casey the other coffee. "Let's head over there."

Tiffany & Co. – Pasadena, CA
December 10, 2015
11:00 AM PST

Chuck, Casey, and Devon entered the store. Even Casey had to be impressed with the outlay of expensive necklaces, rings, and watches in front of him. Although truthfully he spent more time eyeing the security system looking for weaknesses.

"What do you think of this one?" Devon asked Chuck, pointing to a traditional Tiffany round-cut diamond.

"I don't even know why you brought us here, Devon," Chuck replied. "You know your rings and you know Ellie prefers simple yet elegant."

"What do you think, John?" Casey stared at the displays but his mind was far, far away. "John? John?"

"Sorry," Casey grunted quietly. He took a perfunctory look at the ring. "Looks good, can't go wrong with that. It's like the Tommy Lee Jones of engagement rings."

"So glad you've done such extensive study on this, Case," Chuck said warily.

A salesperson came up to them. "Did you find a ring you liked?" She suddenly stopped. "You're John Casey. You're on that show. My kids think you're so cool."

Casey gave his best smile, which admittedly wasn't much. "Thanks," he said quietly. He wasn't used to being adored in person. Male fans were spit 60/40 between Sarah and Carina, but the vast majority of female fans thought Jimmy was the hotter of the two. Still, even he appreciated being appreciated. And he could probably get a few dates if he were so inclined. Unfortunately for everyone, he wasn't.

"Would it be too silly if you could sign something for my boys?" the salesperson asked.

Casey gave a conspiratorial grunt. "Guess that depends what you can do for my friend here with that ring," he replied with a hint of smugness.

"Well, given you're here and your friend has excellent taste, let's see what we can do. If you'll come this way, we'll start filling out the paperwork."

Casey and Devon walked to the far side of the display cases where the store's computer was kept. As the salesperson dealt with the purchase, Chuck eyed a customer ledger sitting at the other end of the display case. He caught a glimpse of the first name and began to flash. He saw the image of a man, some redacted documents, and a cache of weapons.

"Dmitry Siljack," he whispered to himself. "Known alias of black market arms dealer, specializing in former Soviet…"

He quickly got out his smartphone and opened the note-taking app. He typed Dmitry's name into it. He checked the other side of the store. Casey and Devon were still busy with the salesperson, and no other customers were there. Chuck grabbed the register and saw the next name, Yuri S. Gorsky. He flashed on that name as well, seeing images of a stairwell and the man's face.

Chuck typed more names: Boris Buturlin, Dmitri Brusilov, Grigory Krylov, Ivan Fyodorov, L.J. Houdyshell, Vadim Kiselyov…

Chuck shook his head clear. "Man, I'm going to have a headache tomorrow." He stood up straight and stretched to shake the flashing loose. Casey and Devon were still working on the engagement ring.

Chuck was about to walk towards them when he took one last glance at the register. He then caught the name of Ilsa Trinchina. He began to flash one more time. He saw an image of a very attractive brunette, a CIA file, and letters in Ilsa's name addressed to someone she called Sugar Bear.

He wasn't ready for the final image, where Ilsa was passionately kissing someone. That someone was John Casey.

His mouth dropped open in shock. "Ilsa Trinchina. AP photographer and rumored lover of NSA undercover agent, whereabouts unknown.

"Sugar Bear?" He put the pieces together and had the biggest grin on his face. "Sugar Bear's girlfriend's in town."

Chuck saved the document on his smartphone as Casey and Devon approached. "Devon, I have to ask Casey something. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not a problem, bro," Devon replied with a smile and handed Chuck the bag he got from the salesperson. "Gotta go use the bathroom. After all, you only rent coffee; you don't buy it."

"Eh, funny," Chuck muttered in disgust as he exited the store with Casey and walked through the mall. "I just had the mother lode of all bad guy flashes."

He opened the document on his smartphone and showed the names to Casey. "Who are they?" Casey asked.

"Mostly Russian, all traveling under aliases, fake passports."

"That means they're arms dealers, money launderers, smugglers…"

"Yeah. Apparently they're all having a douchebag convention down at the Hotel Seville. It was in the guest registry at Tiffany's."

Casey nodded. "I'll run it up the flagpole and see what command wants us to do."

"Wait, there's one name…a name I flashed on, actually…but I left it…her…off the list."

"What the hell are you talking about, Bartowski?"

A smile began to draw itself over Chuck's face. "Does the name Ilsa Trinchina mean anything to you…Sugar Bear?"

Casey grabbed Chuck by his throat, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against the wall. "You say that name ever again and I will end you," he hissed. "Nod if you understand."

Chuck quickly nodded, mostly because he wanted to be able to breathe again. Casey assisted in his nod by slamming Chuck's head repeatedly against the wall.

"Casey," Chuck warbled underneath Casey's death grip. "You're hurting the Intersect."

"What's going on?"

Chuck and Casey turned to see Devon there. Casey immediately let go of Chuck, who dropped back to the ground. Chuck stared at Devon in shock, attempting to find a way to cover for Casey.

"Case was just…there's a scene at the end of the episode where he has to take on the bad guy. He's been nervous all week because he has so much dialogue in the episode, so he was trying to practice. This was the final part right before he…I mean his character, Duke…killed his rogue former commander."

Devon shook his head. "Well then I think you have it down, Big John. Scared the hell out of me."

Casey gave a quiet grunt and walked away. Chuck tried to hand the bag back to Devon. "Dude, you have to hide that for me. Ellie is a bloodhound when it comes to these kinds of things. If I keep this in the apartment, she will smell diamond. You think you can hide it at the studio for me?"

"Sure," Chuck replied, still a little raspy and shaken from what Casey did to him. "Not a problem."

Hotel Amarano - Burbank, CA
December 10, 2015
4:00 PM PST

Chuck knocked on the door to Sarah's room. He was surprised to hear they were already done at the spa.

"Hey there," Chuck said as Sarah opened the door and allowed him to enter. "I figured you three would be at the spa all day."

"Well, something happened," Sarah replied in a mood that made Chuck wonder if the spa had done her any good.

"No, wait. Wait, I know this one. Carina…got a hot masseur who didn't massage her enough and she tried to massage him back in a very Carina way?"

Sarah grinned. "Correct. I think you've been hanging around us a bit too long."

"I would not argue with you on that, although you've certainly tried to make the experience a pleasant one."

Sarah's grin got even larger. "OK, what if Jimmy was there instead of Carina? How would he have gotten us kicked out?"

"He…would have…made so many comments about how ugly he was and apologize to the masseuse for having to touch him that she eventually got sick of it and threw him out."

"OK, how would Casey get us kicked out?"

"Ha, that's a trick question! Casey would never enter a spa in the first place."

Sarah laughed. It was the one thing she missed over the month Chuck and she had their problems. He could always make her laugh, and now that they were able to be friendly to one another, the laughter was back.

"Speaking of which," Chuck continued. "I have some serious business to discuss. Matter of national security. Casey's ex-girlfriend is in town."

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. "What? How do you know?"

"I flashed. Her name is Ilsa Trinchina. Super hot, super sexy, and staying at the Grand Seville as we speak."

"Does Casey know?"

"Oh yeah. Almost ripped my head off. It must have been a pretty bad break-up. You know, for the longest time I always imagined Casey was built kind of like a Ken doll. You know, downstairs?"

"I shudder to think at what type of woman would go for a guy like Casey."

"I was, uh, I was kind of hoping you'd help me find out." Sarah gave him a doubtful glance. "Ilsa is a civilian. She's a foreign national. The Intersect has, like, nothing on her except for some love letters that I'll now I'll never be able to scrub out of my brain."

"So you want me to go behind Casey's back, reallocate CIA resources, and violate this woman's privacy so you can find out what their story is?"

"Tell me you're not curious," Chuck said with a grin.

Damn him, she thought. It was still impossible to say no to Chuck's requests. And this one was especially tough because she really was curious.

"Tell anybody about this and I will make you disappear so that it looks like an accident," Sarah warned, although the grin on her face belied that threat. She started typing away on her laptop, attempting to find anything she could about Ilsa.

Her face paled.

"What?" Chuck asked. "What's going on? Can't we get these two lovebirds back together?"

Sarah looked up from her laptop. "I seriously doubt it, Chuck. Ilsa's dead."

Chuck stared at her in shock before a loud knock was heard on the door. He went to answer it, finding Casey on the other side.

"Miller and Slade are here, and Beckman's waiting for us," he said curtly before turning and walking back to the room across the hall. Chuck followed him out with Sarah right behind him. The three entered the hotel room across from Sarah, where the image of General Beckman was already on the monitor.

"We received your report, Major Casey," Beckman began. "Ex-KG, Eastern Bloc thugs, Russian arms dealers. Frankly we're not used to seeing this particular crowd stateside these days."

"At least not since President Reagan won the cold war, huh General?" Casey replied self-assuredly.

"You want us to infiltrate the Grand Seville?" Carina asked, ignoring the evil glare she was getting from Sarah for her antics at the spa.

"They have one of the rooms booked for a private party tomorrow night," Beckman continued. "Getting you in there to do reconnaissance would be difficult. That is a very public place."

"What about the release party?" Jimmy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We were supposed to have the release party for the five-season DVD box set Sunday night. We just book one of the other ballrooms at the Grand Seville and put out the word the release party is tomorrow night. If any of us are spotted at the Russian party while doing recon, we can give the excuse of trying to get away from the fans."

Beckman nodded in approval. "That will work. Mr. Bartowski, it's up to you to tell us what these criminal agents are all doing in Los Angeles. We'll send all five of you in, but you'll work with Agent Walker in your couple cover. You should have free reign over the hotel. If necessary, press some Russian flesh and see what you can flash on. And uh…good luck."

Grand Seville Hotel – Los Angeles, CA
December 11, 2015
6:00 PM PST

The team walked into the ballroom, where the CIA did its usual stellar job of preparing for the event. There were banners everywhere and velvet ropes installed where people could stand in line to get photos and autographs with the cast. Unlike the TV rights and DVD sales, which went to fund their missions, the money they made from autographs and photo-ops always went to charity. They alternated between Operation Smile and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Since it was for charity, it was the one time Casey and Carina didn't mind making a public appearance, and Jimmy typically hammed it up to keep the crowd in a good mood.

"I don't get it," Chuck said quietly to Sarah as they readied themselves for the crowd. "If Casey's girlfriend is dead, then who is the Ilsa Trinchina staying at this hotel?"

"Probably somebody traveling with a fake passport," she replied. "It happens all the time in Russia. People die and their personal info gets recycled like aluminum cans."

"My God, that's so horrible. No wonder Casey's so messed up."

"Here," Casey said, handing Chuck a sophisticated pair of glasses.

"Hey, Casey. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what I said earlier…"

"Drop it, Chuck. You heard the General. We've got work to do."

Chuck looked down at the glasses Casey handed him. "And what's my job, to look like the Terminator?"

"We can't all be at the Russian party at once so we'll take turns being over there. Miller is first. She has a camera on her person. Whatever it sees you'll see in these glasses."

Chuck looked at the glasses again before putting them on. He could see the Russian party in full swing. "Carina's there now?" Casey nodded. "Wow, these things are like having a pair of Google glasses."

"Only they cost $200,000. You break them, I break you," Casey snarled.

Chuck rolled his eyes in aggravation as Sarah led him to an area away from the crowd. Sarah, Casey, and Jimmy positioned themselves throughout the room to sign autographs and take pictures while a pair of assistants sold the DVD box sets.

Carina walked around the ballroom where the other party was going on, the top button on her jacket hiding a tiny HD camera behind it with a wireless feed to Chuck's glasses. She made her way slowly through the crowd, making sure she gave Chuck a good look at everybody.

"Anything yet, Chuck?" she whispered.

"Nothing so far," Chuck replied over her earpiece. "Wait. 10 o'clock."

Carina turned slightly to her left and Chuck saw an image of a man sitting down on a chair talking to a pair of very young and attractive women. He had the same flash he had on Dmitry Siljack.

"I see Dmitry Siljack, the arms dealer." Carina continued to walk through the crowd. Chuck flashed on another person. "Sergei 'Noodles' Romanov, a freelance hitman."

"OK, I'm going to need some help over here," Carina said. "We've got a room full of baddies and they're going to start getting suspicious if I stick around."

"No problem," Sarah replied. "Chuck?"

Sarah looked in his direction and waved him over. "If you'll excuse me a moment," she said apologetically to the small group of fans peppering her with questions.

As Carina went to establish her presence at the DVD release party, Chuck and Sarah walked over to the other ballroom. The two passed by the partygoers holding hands.

"Anything?" Sarah whispered to Chuck.

"Nobody new," he replied. "Just the ones Carina caught."

"JENNIE AND CHARLIE!"

Chuck and Sarah were startled and turned around. In the middle of a boisterous group of Russians drinking and dancing around, a short, bald man waved wildly at them.

"Come! Come!" the man yelled at him. "This is my favorite spy couple!" he announced to the other partygoers. "You see the show?"

The crowd started applauding, and there was no way Chuck and Sarah could walk away at this point.

"We may need a little backup," Sarah said quietly into her earpiece as Chuck and she cautiously approached the crowd.

"Come! Dance with us! Big fans of your show! We love your spy adventures!"

"Well, technically I'm not on the show," Chuck eked out but it fell on deaf ears as the music played louder and everyone continued to dance. Sarah and he didn't have much of a choice now. They joined the revelers in partying.

At the signing party, Casey took a quick look around as he finished signing an autograph. Nobody was waiting to talk to him, but both Carina and Jimmy were swamped. "On my way," he told Chuck and Sarah.

He crossed over to the Russian party and looked around. He saw the partiers surrounding Chuck and Sarah. He checked to make sure his Sig was in a reachable location.

Then he saw her.

She was sitting on a couch talking to a friend. The friend gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away. She turned and saw Casey. She stared in shock, never believing he would be here.

Chuck looked to his left as he tried to keep up with the dancing and began to flash. He saw the same love letters addressed to Sugar Bear and more images of Casey and Ilsa kissing. It was official: the Intersect had crossed completely and totally into the area of too much information.

"She's here. Ilsa is here," Chuck said to Sarah.

"Are you sure? Where?"

"Look over there," Chuck replied quietly, gesturing to his right.

Sarah saw Ilsa on the couch and her eyes widened. "Casey, stay at the signing party. Jimmy, get in here fast."

"You look just like Sacha!" the short man who waved to them yelled to Chuck. "Fourth cousin on my mother's side!"

Chuck and Sarah turned back to deal with him, but they were too late to wave Casey away.

Casey walked up to Ilsa, who stood slowly at his approach. "Ilsa?" Casey asked in complete shock.

"Oh, my God," she said breathlessly. "You're really here?"

"How did you…how are you alive? No one could have survived that blast. How did you…"

She shook her head sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"All I remember is, I woke up in a hospital in Grozny two weeks after the blast. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear. It took another two months for me to remember my name."

She then touched the necklace Casey gave her eleven years ago. "But I never forgot your face."

"Hello everybody. How are we doing tonight?"

The music and the mayhem died down as everyone turned towards a man standing on the bar and holding a microphone. Chuck flashed right away, seeing images of Soviet tanks, nuclear weapons, oil pipelines, and a flowchart of a Russian crime organization that this person was in charge of.

"Sarah, I think I know what brought all the baddies together. Him, Victor Federov. A Russian oligarch with ties with everything from the mob to a plot to overthrow Parliament."

"Looks like we have some surveillance to do tonight," Jimmy said, who had walked up to Chuck and Sarah during his flash. "I'll call Beckman and have the local office bring over all the toys."

"What brings you to Los Angeles?" Casey asked Ilsa. "Why-why are you here?"

"Please," Victor said to the crowd. "I'd like to introduce you to a woman who will make me the happiest man on Earth by becoming my wife. ILSA TRINCHINA!"

Ilsa turned as a spotlight shone on her. She pasted a smile on her face and walked to Victor, leaving Casey in absolute shock