A/N: It's been a minute, hasn't it. I'd been talking to PeterOinNYC about this one. We're gonna have to deal with some stuff, and lately, I've not been in the mental shape to deal with it. Thank you to my beta who pointed out a few things and allowed me to correct them. Take a deep breath, it's time to deal with some things. J2P 45.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

The trip to San Diego had been different than any other car trip Chuck had experienced with Sarah. Their first car trip, to their first date, had been filled with frustration, and humor. Their car trip from their first conference together had been filled with a taste of anxiety, a lot of romance, and some serious lust.

There had been the four-wheeler ride on the beaches of Hawaii, that was full of love, more lust, romance, love, and even more lust. There had been the drive to save Chuck's father, that was filled with determination. But this drive… this was a drive for which he had not been prepared.

"Am I doing the right thing?" Those had been the words out of Sarah's mouth within seconds of beginning the trip to San Diego. The tension in the car, the anxiety… a knife couldn't cut through it. Chuck wasn't sure a mortar shell could dent it. He knew what she meant, but in that moment, he decided to choose humor.

"I have no complaints," he replied, never looking at her. He could feel her gaze on him, and in that moment, he realized he had made the wrong choice.

"Chuck," she said flatly.

"Okay, sorry," he blurted out. "I don't know Sarah. There's not really a handbook titled My Friend's Dad Hates My Friend, But Thinks Of Me As A Daughter And Promised To Make Me a Cake For My Wedding." He paused, thought about not continuing, but couldn't help himself. "It would be a very narrowly targeted audience, if there were one."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you're trying to make me feel better," she began. "At least, that better be what you're attempting to do over there."

"My lady, what else would I be doing?" he asked honestly. He felt some of the tension ease with that. She reached over, took his hand, and let out a long sigh.

"I know you are, Chuck. I know. But… Jesus, this thing is so complicated."

"So complicated," Chuck agreed.

"And every time I think I have it figured out, here comes another thing on top of it," she continued.

"More complications," Chuck said. Sarah just shook her head. "Listen, how about this." She glanced at him, and gave him a quick smile, encouraging him to go on. "We go, we taste the cake, and see. Maybe it tastes horrible." Sarah snorted. "What?"

"When I taste this cake, I'm going to make noises," Sarah told him. "I need you to not get jealous." Chuck began to laugh. "Chuck, I'm serious… It is soooooooo good."

"It's not that good," Chuck replied. Sarah gave him an amused look. "As good as when I…" He bounced his eyebrows twice.

"You know when I…" Sarah began, and then bounced her eyebrows three times. Chuck nodded, having no idea what she was talking about, but wanting to go along with it. "It's better than that."

"No!" he said, over-exaggerating.

"Yes," she replied in a certain tone that made Chuck's eyes widen. "Too far?"

"Too far, unless you plan on turning the car around right now, us going home, and starting our trip a few hours late," Chuck said, flatly.

"I'll make it up to you, promise," she told him, blowing him a kiss. "Thank you, Chuck," she said softly. "This isn't easy."

"Well, I sort of thought that's what being together and getting married was about," Chuck said with a shrug. "For us to be there for the other, in the hard times."

"I knew I kept you for a reason," Sarah told him.

"You mean other than for the…" Chuck trailed off and bounced his eyebrows four times, making her burst out into laughter.

}o{

Sam Rizzo physically looked exactly like how Chuck thought Zondra's father would look; a tall, physically imposing man that Chuck thought might give Casey a run for his money, if the two ever got into a physical confrontation.

Sarah had opened the door, walked in a few feet, and just stood there, watching the man Chuck would find out was Sam Rizzo. "Sam," Sarah said. The man looked up at Sarah, and a frown covered his face. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are," Sam replied, looking angry, coming around the corner. "And how dare you? How dare you say that?"

"Uh, Sarah," Chuck began. Sarah waved him off.

"You will address me by my proper title," Sam continued, stopping right in front of her.

Chuck saw the smile appear on Sarah's face. "I've missed you, Pappa Rizzo," she said softly. A smile burst across Sam's face, as he grabbed Sarah, and spun her around, laughing. He sat her down, and then grabbed her in a hug again.

"How are you?" he asked, pulling away, and holding her hands. "You look amazing, so happy." His eyes widened. "Wait!" He looked over at Chuck, and back to Sarah, and then down at her left hand. He turned to Chuck, grabbed his hand, and began to pump it vigorously. "My boy! You've won her heart!?"

"Pappa," Sarah said gently, trying to save Chuck from Sam's excitement. "Yes, I'm getting married, and I was hoping that what you told me long ago… well…"

"You want me to make your cake?! I would be delighted!" Sam nearly bellowed.

"I need to let Chuck taste it," Sarah reminded him.

"Sam!" came the voice from the back. "It's your wife on the phone!" The joy on Sam's face crumbled.

"Listen, let me have my helper get you some samples, and then you come back later, for a proper tasting, okay?" Sam asked. Sarah nodded. Sam started to head to the back, paused, and then turned back around. "Is she happy?" Sarah nodded. "Good," Sam replied.

He walked toward the back, and when he got to the door that separated the front from the back, he turned to them. "I hope it's Molly," he said softly. "Then we truly would be family." With that, he turned, and went into the back. Sarah and Chuck shared a look, stunned.

}o{

"You okay?" Chuck asked her, later. The assistant had brought them different types of cake to try, in a to-go bag. The two had gone back to the car, and drove to the hotel in silence, each of them playing over in their mind what had happened.

Once at the hotel, Sarah got them checked in, and up to their room. She was standing there, staring at the cake slices on the table in their room, when Chuck had spoken.

"I feel like we missed something," Sarah told him. Chuck nodded. "I feel like… something was off, Chuck."

"While it is none of my business," See Three Pee Oh began.

"Don't let that stop you," Chuck muttered.

"It did seem that when Mr. Rizzo found out that his wife was calling, he was unhappy," See Three Pee Oh finished. "Sarcasm is not a good look on you, Master Chuck."

"I'm sorry, Three Pee Oh," Chuck replied. "The whole thing in the bakery has me off my game, plus I have to go with Casey tomorrow to meet Casey's mom, and look into this whole thing." Sarah gave him a look. "That's all I can legally say. My hand still wants to cramp from all the non-disclosure forms I signed."

"Want me to rub it out for you?" Sarah asked.

"Powering down, powering down," See Three Pee Oh said, frantically.

Sarah's eyes went wide as she realized what the assistant thought she had meant. "I didn't mean-"

"Shh… I wouldn't mind the privacy," Chuck told her.

"Sorry," she said, picking up her phone. "We need everyone to try the cake." She paused and winked at him. "After that… we can take care of all your cramps."

"I think my lip is cramping," Chuck told her.

"You catch on quick," she said, firing off texts as she chuckled.

}o{

Chuck again found himself surrounded by his female co-workers, all of them ready to try different cakes.

"Casey not joining us?" Chuck asked Carina.

"No," Carina replied. "He had no desire to be a part of, and I quote, "a hen party." Those were his words, so I'm going to tell you all something you don't know."

"Carina, maybe you shouldn't, you might regret it," Chuck warned her. Carina snickered. "I had to try."

"You're a good dude, Chuck, but this is something you can never tell anyone, okay?" Everyone nodded. "So first, I don't know who Casey's father is – even Diane doesn't know his name – but he's Russian." Chuck gasped. He had been around Casey enough to know his general disdain for Russians. "She was in Russia on a mission, that went well. One night, after it was all over, she decided to cut loose and… well… nature took its course."

Chuck shuddered, and tried not to think about it. "And he has no idea?"

"None!" Carina stressed, making everyone laugh even harder. "To make things worse, she is dating a man he cannot stand, named Roan Montgomery… and he works at the very facility you and Casey will be investigating."

"This is going to be amazing," Chuck said, laughing his ass off. He turned to his fiancée and Zondra, and noticed the look on both of their faces. They had taken bites of the cake, and it had apparently not lived up to the memories they had of it. "You know the best sauce is hunger, but the second best might be nostalgia."

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say," Zondra told him. Sarah, Molly, and Carina were trying not to laugh. "If that were true, foods we used to think were good would taste good, even if they don't."

"That's what I meant," Chuck protested.

"Well, it's not what you said," Zondra told him. She got up. "I have to go." With that, she left the room.

"Did I do something?" Chuck asked.

"No," Molly told him, the normal humor gone from her face. "This is harder on her than she is letting on. Give her some time. She shouldn't have snapped at you like that, but Zondra… well…"

"She gets broody," Chuck said with a shrug. "I'm okay. I just want to make sure she is." Molly gave him a look. "This cannot be easy on her."

"Jesus, Curls," Molly muttered as she left.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone," Carina said, a knowing grin on her face.

"Did I do something?" Chuck asked, turning to Sarah.

"Yeah," Sarah said softly wrapping her arms around his neck. "And now I'm about to do something… to someone…"

"Please God, let it be me," he pleaded…

It was.

}o{

Chuck spent the next day beginning his audit of all the departments at the San Diego branch. Casey had asked him if he thought he could get everything done in a week. Chuck had been quite proud of himself when he told Casey he planned on being done at the end of the day. That was when Casey had informed him that he meant the whole branch, not just the current department he was auditing.

Chuck came back to the hotel, exhausted. Sarah was fired up, working one on one with a potential client, and promised him she'd be up to the room soon. Chuck knew that look. He'd had that look on his own face many nights when working. It was the look of an imminent big breakthrough, and you didn't quit on that until it was done. He gave Sarah a kiss on the forehead, told her he loved her, and for her to do what she needed to for work. He'd started to head up to the room when he was grabbed, spun, and kissed within an inch of his life.

"What was that for?" Chuck asked when she finally let go of him.

"For loving me, trusting me, and letting me do my job," she told him. Chuck grinned, and floated back to his room. He had just come out of the shower, wearing his night-time comfy clothes, when he heard a knock on the door.

Well, that wasn't true… it was more of a pounding.

"Zondra," he said, opening the door, having not even looked through the keyhole. "I'd recognize that aggressive-aggressive pounding anywhere."

Zondra came into his room, giving him a look. "Aggressive-aggressive?"

"Well," he began, shutting the door, "some people are passive-aggressive…" Zondra began to chuckle. "And now you understand."

"Listen, about last night," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, a twinge of embarrassment on her face.

"Think nothing of it," Chuck began.

"Don't do that," Zondra said, cutting him off. Chuck was taken by surprise. "Chuck, I treated you wrong, and I shouldn't have. You were trying to be funny, and maybe I wasn't in the mood for it, but you were trying to make me smile."

"I was," he admitted.

"Thank you," she said. She stood there a second, sighed, and pulled him into a hug.

"What is going on?"

"We're hugging you idiot," she said, softly.

"Oh, I didn't know we did that."

"Well, I didn't because the last people I hugged that I felt were family…" she trailed off, and pushed away from him. She wiped at one of her eyes. "I need your help, but it's going to require you to leave this room."

"Give me five minutes," Chuck told her, rushing to the bathroom. He came back out, grabbed some clothes, and rushed back in.

"Idiot," she said with a smile.

}o{

"OH MY GOD!" he yelled, taking another bite of the cake. "This is amazing!"

"It's my dad's cake," Zondra told him softly. Chuck turned to her. "I don't think my dad is doing the actual baking at his bakery. I think… I don't know what I think. I made that cake from the old recipe, and… whatever the hell we ate last night, that wasn't what my dad made. Or if he did…"

"What do I need to do?" Chuck asked, realizing how huge this potentially was going to be.

"Just be you, Curls," she told him. "Just be you."

}o{

She stood in front of the door for a moment, took a deep breath, and opened it. She motioned Chuck to follow her.

"I'm sorry, we're closing soon," they heard Sam Rizzo's voice call out from the back.

"Pappa," Zondra said. It was clear, concise, and a second later the door to the back, burst open, Sam Rizzo standing there. He stood there, shock on his features, staring at Zondra. "Pappa, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" he asked, emotion in his voice. "What am I doing?"

"Pappa, that's not your cake. I would know your baking anywhere," Zondra continued.

He was silent a second, and then a grin began to cover his face. "So, you know my cooking?"

She tilted her head at him, and Chuck saw the playfulness on her face. The family dynamic that she missed, that she craved… it was here, in front of her. "Pappa, I've eaten your food for most of my life. Of course I recognize your cooking, and that… that sorry cake was notyour cooking."

"Shh," he said, looking over his shoulder, heading towards her. "Not so loud." He thought for a second, and then looked as though he'd made a decision. "Wait here, please." Chuck could tell the man was nearly begging. Zondra nodded, and they watched him go through the back door. A few minutes later, the door opened. "Come on," he said. Zondra started toward the door. "You too, Sarah's fiancé… Chuck, is it?"

"Come on, Chuck," Zondra told him. "Dad doesn't bite. Growls a lot, but doesn't bite." She turned to her dad. "He's my best friend, just so you know."

"Good," Sam said with a nod as she went through. Chuck headed through the door behind her. "Thank you," he said to Chuck.

"No thanks necessary," Chuck replied. "Your daughter is a hell of a woman."

"That she is," Sam agreed. "That she is."

}o{

They were sitting at a table in the back when Sam finally came to join them. "Sorry, told your mother I had a client that wanted me to work on their wedding cake."

"You lied to mom?" Zondra asked. Sam shrugged and sat down across from them. "What is going on?"

Her father was silent for a moment. "You know how our country was when your mother and I married," Sam began.

"Mom and Pappa were born in Iran," Zondra explained. "Women's rights weren't the greatest there, and they still aren't."

"We moved to Sweden sometime after our marriage, but decided to come to America before Zondra was born," Sam continued. Chuck nodded. "I don't know if you know about LGBTQ rights in Iran… basically, there aren't any."

"We won't even talk about how many gay Iranians are pressured to have gender reassignment surgeries, so they won't break the law," Zondra told him.

Chuck looked shocked. "You're kidding!?" Zondra shook her head. "Okay, I didn't realize it was that bad."

"Your mother and I grew up in that… culture," Sam continued. "I don't think what she was… taught, has ever truly left her."

"Has it left you?" Zondra asked softly. Sam looked away, tears in his eyes. "Pappa?"

"Damn it," he swore softly. He looked Zondra right in the eye and took her hands. "When you told us… I knew. I've always known. Your mother thought it was a phase, but I knew. I love you Zondra. I failed you."

Chuck wanted to leave and give them some privacy, but he was sitting beside Zondra, and she would have to move for him to get away.

"Your mother… that stuff has been ingrained into her head," Sam continued. "But that's no excuse for me going along with her, and that's how I failed you."

"Pappa," she said softly, squeezing his hands. "Why aren't you baking?"

"Because I'm miserable, and I miss baking with you," Sam told her. "I miss our bond, I miss what cooking meant to the two of us." Tears were running down both Rizzo's cheeks. "I can never ask for your forgiveness, for what I have done, but will you please let me try to do right by you?"

"I'm getting married, Pappa," Zondra told him. Sam smiled and nodded. "To Molly, Sarah's sister."

"God, I would love to make a cake for the both of you," Sam told her.

Zondra was silent a second, and looked over at Chuck. "Chuck?" she said softly.

"I can't tell you what to do, Zondra. I can only tell you I'm here to support you, no matter what you decide," Chuck told her.

"He's a good one," Sam cut in. Zondra turned back to her dad. "Whatever you decide, I accept. I can't ask you to forgive me."

"I forgive you, Pappa," Zondra told him. She stood up, and so did he. The two hugged each other, and Chuck did his best to look away, and give them the privacy they deserved. Tears flowed freely down all three of their cheeks.

A/N: We good? Cause I need a hanky. Next time:

"Zondra's mother believes what Zondra's mother believes, wrong or right." Chuck nodded to indicate he understood. "In Zondra's mom's mind, her pulling away from Zondra is what is necessary. In her mind, with her beliefs, something awful is going to happen to Zondra."

Chuck was silent for a moment thinking about that. "But that doesn't make it right, right?"

"Absolutely not," Casey agreed. He looked pained for a moment, like he was about to have gas, and then continued.

And this one is probably gonna hurt too. Take care friends.