Unfortunately I don't own Chuck

Note this chapter contains some adult themes and language.

Part 3

France, May 2011

They kissed for hours, or so it felt to Chuck. It felt like hours, but it also wasn't long enough. He had missed this contact with Sarah over the years that she'd been gone. Website drops, eventually video calls, when he'd been able to set up secure communications, only went so far. He had not had actual physical contact with her for nearly four years and, in his view, that was four years too long.

Eventually they came up for air and he wrapped her in a tight hug, burying his face in her hair and savouring her scent which, he found, was slightly different. It seemed she'd changed her body wash to a more vanilla scent. It still smelt gorgeous though and he loved it. He could stay there forever.

"Mmmm," he moaned, running his hands up and down her back. "I missed that. I missed you so much."

"Me too," she replied, hanging on to him just as hard. "There's something else I missed too," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice as she started to drag him towards a set of stairs.

"How long have we got?" he asked, getting his feet in motion.

"I thought we might take an hour or so for lunch, or other things," she grinned, "Then your host might show you around the grounds for a few hours, then she might take you to see a few of her favourite views in the area, and then back to your hotel, drop the bikes off and stay with you til the others got back. If you enjoyed your time with her you might ask her to dinner. Kat's staying with friends tonight, so I'm sure your lady friend could be persuaded to come back to your room after dinner."

"You seem to have it all planned out," he said, pulling her back towards him and picking her up. She yelped in surprise, but surrendered to his grip. "You'd better show me the way."

So she did.

Later, she lay on the bed cradled in his arms. "I can't get enough of this," he muttered, pulling her against him, her naked breasts pressed up against his chest. "Feeling you against me feels like coming home."

"Me too," she replied, voice slightly muffled. She leaned up to kiss his chest. "I missed this. I never thought I would or could crave intimacy. I never even thought I'd want to stay in bed after sex. I never even thought I'd make love." She paused. "Thanks for teaching me Chuck."

"Thanks for letting me Sarah. Thanks for being you," he leaned to the side, nuzzling her cheek.

They stayed in each other's arms, revelling in the sensations of closeness, for a few more minutes and then she gave a disappointed sigh. "I guess we have to get up."

"I guess so," he agreed. They had, after all, gone well over the hour she'd allotted to "lunch". "We can come back to this later this evening, but I'm dying to see everything you've told me about in your calls – the wall, the cherry trees, the pomegranate, the vines," he grinned. "Who would have thought – Sarah Walker, the CIA's most-feared assassin, a builder and farmer!"

She grinned as well, cheeks slightly reddened. "I never would've guessed, that's for sure, but I really enjoy the life. There's something genuine about it that I've never really experienced. Plus, the soil's so fertile here that anyone could be a farmer," she finished self-deprecatingly.

He pulled a face. "Stop being modest. You said yourself Marcel complemented you on your productivity."

She let that one go with an uncomfortable expression. Even after six years she was still uncomfortable with taking compliments.

"Anyway," she said, seemingly reluctantly pulling herself away. "Let's get a bite to eat and then I can show you around."

Chuck had been blown away by the grounds. Sarah had well over ten acres of land in the valley comprising various fruit trees and vines. She'd also fashioned a beautiful swimming pool and patio area with the help of Marcel, the middle-aged Frenchman whose family lived nearby and who helped around the estate. She showed him her latest project, the refurbishment of a small stone cabana not far from the house, which she suggested might make a nice study for him. He couldn't help but feel warm about the fact that she had clearly been preparing for his trip well in advance as she pointed out the electric and plumbing connections, showed the walls she'd repaired and pointed out the Provencal pointing on the brickwork.

He couldn't help but love Sarah's place. It had a beautiful feel to it; the lovely secluded valley, the trees and plants, both the working and decorative ones, and the picturesque and lovingly-restored stone farmhouse which already felt more like a home than even the apartment in Echo Park where he and Ellie had lived together for a time.

Eventually though, it was time to leave and they both got into Sarah's little van for the trip to the hotel. It had been a fun afternoon, full of new discoveries, holding hands, trying cherries and almonds and stealing kisses.

"So how many times did you spy on us?" Chuck asked as they drove down the driveway. "I spotted you four times. Were there more or was your fieldcraft just that bad?"

"Four?" Sarah raised her eyebrows challengingly. "Where?"

"The first day on the road to Gordes, near Apt on the third day, the road out of Joucas a few days ago and then in Lagnes the other day when you couldn't have been more obvious."

"Sorry," she apologised, "It was just that you were so close and I couldn't resist the chance to touch you."

"But you didn't stay long on the first day. What happened?" he asked.

She turned an astonishing shade of red and he grinned. "What on earth happened?" he repeated.

She took a deep breath and flicked her eyes at him before flicking them back to the road. He was quite happy about that. The road was narrow and windy and she was driving very fast! He had been used to her driving fast – she was lethal in that Porsche she'd used to have in DC – but this was a small, rickety van and these roads were much narrower than the freeways they'd driven on in the past.

"It was your fault," her words snapped him out of his memories. "You were just so damn hot, riding up those hills in your tight cycling stuff, muscles rippling…" she faded out.

"Are you saying…?" he asked incredulously.

"It was the first time I'd seen you in the flesh for four years," she said defensively.

"You genuinely…?" he faded off, not sure he should actually say it.

She looked both defensive and exasperated. "If you're asking did I finger myself by the side of the road imagining it was you, then the answer is yes," she exclaimed blithely. "Happy now?"

"Stunned," he managed to say but was saved by the bell as his cellphone went off. Clearly they'd just entered a zone with data signal and it seemed he had quite a few messages, if the vibrations and rings were any guide.

"Guess you'd better deal with that," she said pithily.

"No, I think I'd rather talk-"

"Chuck!" she exclaimed warningly, "I may be out of practice but I still know 28 different ways to kill you, 12 of them very painfully!" She took the bite out of her words with a smile.

He grinned back, "I guess I'll check my messages then."

Most of them were from Devon giving updates on Mike's condition, two were from Andy telling him he was heading back to the hotel and then there was a final one from Devon saying what time he'd meet him for dinner.

"Mike's out of surgery," he reported. "And should be up for visitors tomorrow. If we want to…"

"What happened with that?" Sarah queried. "I thought the idea was just to push him over on the road?"

"The little shit had been at me all day," Chuck admitted. "In the spur of the moment I cracked and pushed him a little harder than intended. We were slightly ahead of the others as we planned, so nobody saw me, and it worked out OK."

"Apart from for him!" Sarah observed.

"He had it coming," Chuck said. "In the old days I would've just rolled over and taken it. Maybe you've been a bad influence on me Walker!" He grinned. "I policed the tacks you left on the road into the ditch to cover my tracks and then went down to comfort him. I certainly wasn't expecting the compound fracture, but it couldn't happen to a nicer guy!"

"Maybe I am rubbing off on you!" Sarah joked. "I've never heard you talk that way about anyone who wasn't a bad guy!"

"He is a bad guy, just not probably in the way you're suggesting!" joked Chuck and they both grinned.

"So what's the plan for later?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I should probably call Devon. He should be getting to the hotel soon. I'll say I'm inviting you to dinner to thank you for your help today and then maybe we'll go to that bar where they have the live music in the village?" he finished questioningly, "Assuming you still like to dance?"

"You know I do," Sarah exclaimed, before gesturing at herself, "But I'm not sure I'm dressed for it."

"Nonsense!" Chuck exclaimed, "You look beautiful."

"Reassuring as that is baby, you always think I look beautiful," Sarah grinned.

"And it's true," Chuck noted, "But you genuinely do look great. I was by there the other night and it's not a dress up place."

"OK," Sarah allowed.

"And then afterwards, you'll come up to my room," Chuck gave her the world-famous Bartowski eyebrow dance.

"To talk?" she sassed him.

"Among other things," he grinned back at her. "I have two questions," he added, and she nodded for him to go ahead. "How long will it take to get to the hotel, and does this thing do warp speed?!"

She smacked him playfully in the shoulder as they both laughed.

Dinner had been a resounding success. Sarah had slotted right back into her role as Nicole and they both had enough experience by this point to play to the cover that they had just met but that there was a mutual attraction between them. It wasn't after all difficult, given that there was a huge attraction. The difficult thing was not seeming too familiar, given that no-one present knew that they had been in a relationship for several years, albeit a remote one for the past four years.

They had been unsubtle enough about their attraction that the others had all noticed within minutes of them meeting up for dinner. They'd passed an enjoyable dinner with Devon and Jeff updating Chuck on Mike's condition, and Andy updating all of them on the new plans for the trip and how Mike would get back, and then Nicole talking about her life in France. Chuck did have to admit to feeling a little bad about Mike's injury, but not as bad as he otherwise might, given the man's unpleasantness.

Mike would be out of hospital the day after next and since that was supposed to be when Jeff, Andy and he were to fly back to the States, that worked out fine. Travel insurance would ensure that he got back to Chicago in one piece and Jeff and Andy would take their reserved flights as planned. Devon and Chuck were staying in Provence in order to spend a week with Ellie, who would be flying out the next day after the end of a conference she was attending in London.

The others were all "tired" and begged out of going on to the bar, leaving Chuck to host Nicole, a situation which pleased both of them.

"What did you think?" Chuck asked Nicole as they walked to the bar, interested given it was the first time she had met his brother-in-law.

"Well, I can see where the nickname comes from," she grinned, "And he genuinely is quite awesome. If you hadn't let on that he was a highly talented heart surgeon, I would've been pretty sure he was a surfer dude!"

"I mean, right?!" Chuck said. "He's sure got the vibe."

"But he seems like a good guy and I can tell he really cares about you," Nicole continued. "He certainly gave me the once over!"

"If that seemed like an interrogation, just wait til you meet Ellie!" Chuck warned, as they arrived at the bar. He looked questioningly at Nicole who seemed happy to let him lead.

"Deux verres de vin rouge," he requested from the barman.

"Not a bad accent there Chuck," Nicole complimented him, "Just how fluent are you?"

"Not fluent by any means," he admitted, as the glasses of wine arrived and Chuck handed over his credit card to pay. "But I've done two residential courses in Paris when I've been on leave over the past two years and I had a French tutor in DC. Most of what you hear is down to her."

Nicole's eyebrows rose almost into her hairline. "Her? Should I be worried?"

"I don't know, Nicole, should you?" Sometimes her jealousy was cute, sometimes wearing. "If you have to worry about a sixty year old who still doesn't know how to use deodorant despite living in the States for twenty years…" He tailed off and they both laughed and he took his credit card back from the barman, grabbed his wine from Nicole and they headed over to a free table on the terrace.

"I guess maybe I don't have to be," she admitted, "But thanks for taking this seriously Chuck, it means a lot."

"I was actually quite surprised, given how poor I always was at Spanish. But it's been fun this trip to eavesdrop on the French. They assume most Americans don't speak the language, I guess!" he grinned.

"Yes, they can be pretty rude about us Yanks when they want to be!" she agreed. "Not a lot of love lost there, but you should hear what they say about the Brits. They call them "Rosbifs" and other less complementary things!"

"Rosbifs?" Chuck queried.

"Roast beef," Nicole explained, adding "Ros-bif" with her French accent.

"Ohhh," Chuck felt a little stupid.

"You know they're worse down here than your average French," Nicole added. "Even though I'm fluent, I have a northern accent and they still treat me as a foreigner. But they'll be appreciative of you…an American speaking French – that's the sort of think they like."

"The local accent is quite weird," Chuck volunteered.

"Yeah, it's known for it. It's kind of like the Hicksville of France!" she joked. "Bieng instead of bien. It took me quite a while to get my ear in!"

"You're not kidding!" Chuck agreed. He'd struggled at first as well. They trailed off into a comfortable silence. "So, my lady," Chuck offered, "Would you like to dance?"

The smile on Nicole's face gave him his answer.

"Hey Chuckster!" Devon's voice, as was normal, carried across the whole room. Luckily there weren't that many people around this late on in the breakfast service. "I didn't think you would make it!"

Chuck hadn't thought he would make it either, but Nicole had elected to head home early because the family taking care of Katrina last night texted to say that she'd forgotten one of her schoolbooks. Given that they'd spent all night together and would be seeing much more of each other going forward, Chuck wasn't too worried, but he would have preferred having Nicole here to share out the Awesome inquisition which was certain to come. Chuck crossed over to Devon's table, bringing his plate full of fruit and meat. He did like the breakfast spread at their hotel.

"Nicole had to head home early this morning," he admitted. Best to get it out the way, he thought, rather than having Devon pumping him for information.

His brother-in-law's eyebrows rose. "You sly devil, Chuckster. She stayed the night?"

"Yeah she did," Chuck said, acknowledging the waiter who materialised at his right elbow asking if he wanted a drink. "Black coffee, please."

"And?" Devon asked as the waiter moved away. Was Devon trying to live vicariously through Chuck?

"And we had a great evening and really enjoyed each other's company, and a great night," Chuck observed mildly, starting on his melon.

"Did you get her number?" Devon asked.

"Yeah, and she'll come over this afternoon when we get back from seeing Andy," Chuck replied. "She offered to take us to some of her favourite vineyards in the area. But she has to be back by five so she can be there for her sister."

"Brilliant!" Devon gushed. He'd been vocal about getting to the vineyards, particularly ahead of Ellie's arrival.

"What did you think of her?" Chucks asked, genuinely interested.

"I liked her, Chuck," his brother-in-law replied. "She's smart, interesting and - hot damn bro, she's a looker!"

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Chuck agreed on all those points. "Do you think Ellie will like her?" he asked, interestedly. He thought that the two women would get on well but he was interested what Devon would say. He was very close to his sister and hoped the two most important women in his life would be able to have a close relationship.

"She'll like anyone that you genuinely like, little bro, and that genuinely likes you," Devon reassured him. "And I truly think she will." Devon paused. "But it sounds like you're serious?"

"I genuinely like her Devon," Chuck said. "And it's not like I have any plans. I was going to look for jobs when I got back, but I can do that remotely and maybe spend a few more weeks out here and see if it could work." Devon didn't know he'd worked for the NSA since Stanford. His cover story was that he'd got a consultancy job in DC. That covered why he was always travelling and why his job was so demanding.

"Go for it Chuckster!" Devon sounded enthusiastic. "It's about time you find a good woman. You've been married to that job for too long. You tried to hide it, but we could tell you were lonely."

Devon didn't know the half of it, but still, the sentiment was welcome. "Thanks man," Chuck replied. The conversation moved onto other topics as they finished their breakfasts.

Thanks for the reviews - please keep them coming!

Kudos to Lego Fan 123 who was the only person who seems to have a nasty, suspicious mind (or said so anyway) and thought that the "accident" may not have been an accident! The "red streak on the parapet" on the righthand side of the bridge was Sarah's way of warning Chuck that this was where she'd placed tacks on the road, which was why he allowed Mike to overtake him and get the puncture.