Sarah had moved in under orders, though deep down, it made her happy. Had she met Chuck under different circumstances, she would have been more willing to show her true thoughts and desires. In her own way, she always showed how much she cared about Chuck and the twins. And had the need for twenty-four seven surveillance not been required, she wouldn't have been as afraid to let her guard down more often. Maybe allow parts of their fake relationship to be real, even if it could only be their secret.

At some point in the night, the twins had made their way to Chuck's room. Though it didn't happen too often, finding Chuck and Sarah in the same bed wasn't anything new to them, but sharing a bed with three other people, two being children, was something she was still getting used to. The shifts of the mattress coupled with tiny, familiar voices made Sarah relax. Those voices and shifts belonged in the apartment.

Over the past two years, Sarah had learned how to tell the twins apart, most of the time. They were no longer the seven-year-olds she had met but were now edging their way to nine and sleeping in their own room more often until the suburbs. They were growing up and into their own personalities and appearances. Kelley's hair color was changing naturally from its genetic, dark brunette to a brunette with a reddish hue. Maya's eyes went from their deep, chocolate to a green. She took notice of these changes, not for her notes, but for herself. She wanted to be prepared for the off chance that this fake relationship had a chance of becoming real… the first time something had been real since she last saw any member of her family.

Whenever she had stayed the night, and the twins joined them in Chuck's room, she always woke up to feel little arms around her. Usually, those arms belonged to Maya. Kelley was a major league daddy's girl while Maya was a little more independent. The maroon, princess pajama dress told her the usual arms were hugging her. Sarah's free arm instinctively went around the little girl who snuggled even closer, if that was even possible with how close she already was. Sarah's back was to Chuck, and Maya's form was nestled into her gut.

Chuck laid flat on his back. Other than his arm being wrapped around Kelley, he was as straight as a board. The blanket covered them as if they'd been mummified. Only his head was in the open air. The top of Kelley's head was barely visible under the covers.

The seven A.M. alarm beeped, and Sarah turned it off. She rolled over just enough to let Kelley continue sleeping, but both twins awakened with the motion.

With a smile on her face, she said, "Morning, Chuck. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Well, busy day. Lots to do…" She got out of bed right after Maya who climbed back in the bed to wake Kelley. "Uh, so, shower. Do you want to go first or...?"

"I'm good," Chuck replied, constantly changing the location of his gaze. Sarah was in one of his shirts and her underwear.

"You know, I know this whole 24-hour supervision thing isn't exactly great, but when the CIA finds us a new apartment, at least we'll have separate rooms. I mean, consider yourself lucky. At least you didn't have to move in with Casey, right?" She hid her excitement through a series of chuckles, then left for the bathroom.

"Lucky us," Chuck said to himself before turning to see Maya still trying to wake Kelley. "She's awake, May (My). She doesn't need CPR." The will to get out of bed finally came around. He picked out his clothes and got ready for his own shower. Then he told the girls to get dressed. Ellie was already making breakfast for everyone, so he didn't ask what they wanted to eat.

When both Chuck and Sarah were done in the bathroom, Ellie pulled them into a surprising bear hug. She was overjoyed that Chuck and the girls were moving in with Sarah. From the moment she met Sarah, she could see the woman as her sister-in-law and the twins' stepmother, maybe even mother.

"I'm just, I'm very excited for Chuck, for the four of you to be moving in together. It's still happening, yeah?" She asked. Her voice sounded desperate either for Chuck to finally, officially be moving on with his life, or for her and Devon to finally have their own place as they write this new chapter of their lives together.

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely," Chuck confirmed. The doubt in his voice went completely ignored by Ellie and Devon. But the twins heard it.

"Great. Did you find a place yet? Not that I'm trying to rush you or anything."

"Take your time, bro," Devon said. He was calm. While he agreed with Ellie, he was in no rush to make Chuck feel unwelcome. "No pressure. You two lovebirds need to find a nest where you can let the worm wiggle free."

"Thank you, Devon," Chuck said through grit teeth. He looked over at the twins. Then to Sarah. She may as well have been truly embarrassed. Even a spy can't hide that feeling he thought.

"Sarah, please tell Chuck that not everything in that room has to survive the move," Ellie said, still excited.

"I'm making a list," Sarah replied.

"Making… making a list, are you? And of what, may I ask?" Chuck hesitated. Did he really want to know?

"Oh, well, where should we begin? Maybe the Tron poster that you've had since you were 12," Ellie retorted, either forgetting the value it held for Chuck, or not wanting the reminder of that sentiment.

"Dad gave me that poster."

"I know. He loved that movie," Ellie said, seeming to regret her words. "Have you had any luck finding his address for the wedding?" Chuck had promised to try and find their dad so he could fulfill one of her wedding day wishes. To walk her down the aisle. He was still working on it, but so far, was coming up empty. Such an answer was expected, but it kept the flame of her hopes, which were slowly diminishing, from being extinguished altogether.

"So, uh, how did Morgan take the news that he wasn't gonna get you as a new roommate?" Sarah asked hoping to change the subject.

"Daddy hasn't told him yet," the twins said with smiles on their not-so-innocent faces. They really did like making people uncomfortable as evidenced by their smiles and the sheepish look on Chuck's face.

"I don't have the heart," he answered. Maybe Bryce was right. I don't have the heart for this line of work.

Things happened so fast. First, Sarah took the twins with her to Orange Orange so they could go to Castle without anyone from Buy More seeing them. Then, while Chuck was trying to tell Morgan they weren't going to be roommates, Casey came along and practically dragged Chuck toward one of the Buy More entrances.

Sarah was packing paper files. The twins had packed whatever items from their Castle room that would fit in their backpacks. Two changes of clothes and the rest was mostly toys.

"What's going on? We moving?" Chuck asked, still confused by the rush of motion.

"No-tell motel time for Chuck and minis. A secure bunker in an undisclosed location," Casey answered, swiftly removing a full filing box from the common room table.

"Seriously, what's with the boxes?"

"Cole Barker was picked up 12 hours ago by Fulcrum. We spent the entire night looking for him and failed." Casey was getting angrier by the second. It was like a blemish on his record. "Langley thinks when he talks, they're gonna come here looking for the three of you."

"We're taking you off the grid," Sarah continued.

"Wait, what about my sister? Is she in danger? Awesome? Morgan?"

"First priority is to get you safe," she said referring to all three of them. "Then I'm gonna come back and make sure everybody else is okay," Sarah assured

As if fate had other plans, there was a perimeter breach. Casey exited the armory, tossing a rifle to Sarah who caught it expertly. Casey made a recording for whoever might be sent to clean, explaining why they abandoned Castle.

"This is it. We're gonna die underneath a yogurt shop," Chuck said. Kelley and Maya hid behind Sarah as the five of them hugged the walls to the back entrance. Warning lights and alarms blared. Chuck kept trying to put himself between Sarah and the girls, not only so he could talk to her, but so they wouldn't get hit first.

"Sarah, Sarah, we need to talk… If I knew this was gonna happen..."

"Later," Sarah cut him off. This wasn't the time for that kind of conversation, if there ever was a time for it.

"Chuck, get back!" Casey ordered.

They only place Chuck's whole body was going to be hidden was behind Casey while the twins were still able to huddle behind Sarah's crouched form.

To everyone's surprise, the breach was Cole. He was bloody, and clearly beaten to the point of collapse, but he didn't say a word. Maybe Chuck and the twins weren't going away after all.

Cole wrapped his own injuries while Sarah questioned him, telling her he'd taken out eight or nine guys.

Chuck couldn't believe his ears. The twins were still with him. It wasn't going to be like the suburbs, but they were clingy again, and he didn't have the heart to say they couldn't be a part of this. In his mind, they had every right to hear what Cole was saying because it affected them, too.

It went against Casey's better judgement, but with Cole's return, both agents opted to have all three of them close.

"We're supposed to believe that he took out nine guys and escaped a Fulcrum holding facility all by himself? Please… I don't think we can trust this guy," Chuck said.

"He's not lying," Kelley said.

"But he is bragging," Maya continued.

"I've done nine before," Casey said. This was information Casey never shared. It wasn't even in his files, so this was the first time Chuck had heard of Casey fighting that many people at once.

"You've taken out nine guys?"

"Just saying it's doable," Casey shrugged it off.

Chuck went back to observing the interrogation in time to hear Cole say, "I didn't tell them anything. It's not my first dance, Walker. If I talked, then Chuck, the kids, Casey, you... are all in the crosshairs… Not an option."

"Why come back here after you escaped?" Sarah asked.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe." It was a simple line that would have worked on any woman. Sarah almost felt it working on her.

Kelley and Maya were playing on the floor in front of the common room table in the space between it and the computers and monitors. Beckman didn't like that they were where they could hear mission details, but none of the agents, nor Chuck himself, wanted them even as far away as the playroom two doors down the hall.

The twins were less afraid knowing they were surrounded by agents, especially one they had almost called Mom on occasion.

"Thanks to information provided by Mr. Barker, we now know that FULCRUM is protecting a man that goes by the code name Perseus…" Beckman began. The twins stopped playing. The look of a flash that used to only be recognized by Chuck was in their eyes. Had anyone noticed the flash, they would have asked what the twins saw.

"Perseus is the head scientist behind Fulcrum's effort to build their own Intersect, "Cole said while dropping an open file in front of Chuck only for him to come up with nothing. "I spent the past year undercover trying to get close to him, but only the inner circle is ever allowed contact with the man."

"Intel tells us Perseus is attending a formal event tonight at the Swiss Consul's office. The State Department has arranged invitations for the two of you," Beckman said referring to Sarah and Casey. Both Chuck and Cole tried to get themselves a physical presence in the mission. "Neither Agent Barker nor Bartowski will be going on this mission. Fulcrum is still actively searching for the four of you. Mr. Barker and Mr. Bartowski will stay in Castle and monitor by remote feed. If you recognize anyone, you'll have radio. The twins will remain in their playroom until Agent Walker and Major Casey return to Castle."

"Well, at least no one's telling us to..." Chuck started. He had high hopes because he didn't hear four very specific words. Casey was quick to crush those hopes.

"You heard the General. You stay in the bunker."

"And there it is." The four words Casey and Sarah were always telling him, and he seemed to have a hard time listening to.

Once the video call came to an end, Sarah ushered the twins to their playroom. Having them in the briefing room was one thing, but to plan a mission, they were likely to be a distraction, especially to Chuck whose attention needed to be on protecting them through the big picture, not just the immediate present.

Don't forget to feed the lion Kelley telepathed to Chuck. How she had gotten through his monitor to say that baffled him.

The mission will be fine Maya said after cutting off the link. How much trouble do you think we'll be in for sending Daddy the wrong addresses for Grandpa?

I don't know. He's never yelled at us before… I don't think we'd handle it well…

Yeah… Aunt Ellie would be mad, too.

Even if they find out Grandpa is Orion…

And we've been in contact with him all this time.

General Beckman would have us in a bunker before we could blink.

Kelley re-established the neural link they shared with Chuck and Maya opened the optical link. Chuck had no idea they were capable of this. No one related to the Intersect project knew of this. It was as if the Intersect was a learning computer. A futuristic Johnny Five, if you will. Because Chuck hadn't connected with it the way the twins had, removing it from his head was going to be a cinch if such a thing was possible. For the twins, the removal process was going to be a bit harder.

Through the optical link, they saw a tray of crab cakes go by, and Casey taking one.

"Casey, you got a bogey. A tray of crab cakes coming in on your 10:00…" Cole glanced at Chuck, not quite sure what the younger of the two was doing. "I'm just trying to be helpful, okay? Works up an appetite on missions."

The lion is fed Maya thought.

Now to get the mouse away from the cheese…

And back to the safety of the cave.

The cheese was the Fulcrum agents who had convinced Perseus that he was doing the right thing by helping them. They had used all the right words to make him think he was still working for the government.

At least twice, Chuck had tried to open the feed to the playroom, but Cole stopped him. Cole did care about Chuck's kids, but if he checked on them, Chuck's attention would have been away from Casey's video feed. He wouldn't have seen the man who was now ID'd to be Perseus.

Daddy and Cole are leaving…

And no one has told us to stay in Castle…

Beckman did, Kelley… We need to stop them…

What about Casey? Or Sarah? They're in danger…

And what about Daddy? Cole just gave him a gun…

Kelley looked up from what her hands were doing to the playroom door… That's not good… He'll Barney Fife himself…

Chuck wasn't the one to introduce the twins to tv shows from the fifties. That was all Jill.

By the time Kelley had manipulated the now manual door, Chuck and Cole had already left. Leaving without telling them wasn't something he wanted to do. Although they would technically be alone while in Castle, Morgan was in the store above them, so someone was always there, whether that someone knew it or not.

Kelley and Maya continued their silent conversation. They didn't want Castle's cameras to record the spoken, written, or even typed word.

The next day found all four Bartowski's, and Devon, in a hospital room with Chuck sitting in a wheelchair and a solid cast up to his knee. Ellie had gone all Doctor sister on him and didn't give him a choice about a visit to the hospital.

You were right… He Barney Fife'd himself with a windowsill Maya thought. As much as they loved Chuck, they knew the only guns he could handle without shooting himself or someone else in the process were suction dart, water, nerf, and virtual. Anything that bordered on the real pieces was out of his realm.

"Is the cast absolutely necessary?" Chuck asked.

"Yes," Ellie deadpanned. "It could be a hairline fracture. Better safe than sorry. I'm going to go find you some crutches."

Devon said he would take the twins home now that Chuck was situated, and Ellie was taking care of him until his release. As the door to his exam room closed, the doctor Chuck had accidentally shot was in a neighboring hall. He was yelling at the attendees because they wouldn't let him leave. They couldn't let him leave without report his gunshot wound.

Chuck followed Perseus out of the hospital. He tailed him all the way to his lab where there were computer towers and files that reached the ceiling. He flashed on the file with the codename Orion on the cover. Perseus thought it was amazing, but to Chuck, it was a nightmare.

Busgang, a.k.a. Perseus, had said Chuck was the one they had been talking about. So, either Fulcrum knew about the twins and didn't tell everyone, or Kelley and Maya were a better kept secret than he was.

"So, Perseus was killed?" Kelley asked.

"Yeah. But before that, he said that only Orion, the creator of the Intersect, would know if it could be removed." Chuck was expecting the twins to flash when he said Orion, but when he didn't get the reaction he expected, it was unsettling.

They were leaps and bounds ahead of him since they were too young for field work. And aside from school hours, they had loads of free time to kill. Chuck had none of that. If he wasn't at Buy More or taking care of the girls, he was at Castle or working a mission.

"You didn't flash. When did you flash on Orion's name?" He inquired. He went from telling them an Intersect story, to a soft interrogation. They knew about Orion and didn't say anything.

"We didn't," Maya opened.

"We were star gazing with Mommy before learning she was Fulcrum," Kelley said next.

"She was pointing out the constellations…"

"Then she got to Orion's belt…"

"And we didn't hear the rest."

The move was off. He would have loved to live with Sarah. But to have her in his life as an unattainable treasure was crushing him. She had told him no every time he asked if they could have a real relationship. If only he knew what her deepest desires were… desires that were being suppressed with each passing day from the moment they started working with each other.