A/N: Thanks to those of you that left a review on the last chapter. It's been six weeks since that one, so sorry for the delay getting this out.

This was beta'd by Capt LiL, as usual. Thanks, my friend.

This chapter is a break from the adventures of the Intersect team as Zondra and Sarah spend time together to fully reacquaint themselves.

Casey Did It

Chapter 9: Reminiscing

Zondra and I decided to have a girls' night out, both of us determined to put that horrible sequence of events behind us.

Chuck said he'd have a night with Morgan, so I didn't feel guilty for going without him. I thought those two would probably be still gaming when I got home.

The mood as we set off for our night together was as good as it had been before the incident. It felt like we'd never parted.

Zondra had been my only real friend in the team back then, and I felt she was becoming one again. However, I couldn't deny that things were different now. I was different. I had Ellie as a friend and my greatest friend was also my lover, Ellie's brother.

Back in the day, Zondra had been so like me in many ways. Quiet and reserved. Focused on the mission. We were the solid backbone of the team. We also both liked to plan, unlike the other two who preferred spontaneity.

Neither of us were party animals like Carina and Amy. Sure, we liked to go out partying, but unlike Carina and Amy, our intentions were not to entice men back to our beds. For me, that had happened on occasion, when I got very drunk, usually after being challenged to drink more by Carina, and I know the same happened to Zondra. I for one always regretted it. It was giving up control, something that was very precious to me. I think Zondra was the same, although neither of us talked about it.

This trip out wasn't an evening where either of us would be pushed to get excessively drunk, just two women drinking in moderation together.

As we settled down with our first drinks, Zondra said, "So, Chuck. Tell me about how he changed you."

We were sitting away from others and had both checked for surveillance before sitting in a booth where even parabolic mics would fail to capture our voices.

I smiled and answered her, "He was just another assignment. Graham sent me to retrieve the Intersect that Bryce had sent to him. I think it was partly a test to see if I had gone rogue like Bryce had. I was determined to prove I wasn't. I thought I'd breeze in, wow this guy and easily achieve my goal. I was so wrong."

"You were going to seduce him?" she asked.

I frowned at those words, but they were the truth. "I'd read up about him. I didn't think I would have to do much."

"And you had to do more than you expected," she stated. It wasn't a question.

"Oh no. I didn't have to. He was overwhelmed with my charms. However, the problem was that the same happened to me." I cast my mind back to that time. "I was convinced he was innocent. Graham wanted him executed if I couldn't retrieve the Intersect but I asked for more time. I went out with him and fell for him completely." I was actually ready to run with him, to keep him alive, but I would never tell anyone that, not even Chuck.

Zondra gasped. "You fell for him that quickly?"

I nodded. "I didn't realize how much immediately. I'd never been in love before."

She snorted. "That's the Blondie I know. Carina used to call you a cold fish, but most thought of you as the Ice Queen."

I frowned. "I knew about the latter, but not that from Carina."

"Don't worry. She thought the same about me." We chuckled together over that.

"We were chased by Major Casey and his NSA crew. It got to a standoff between Casey and I, but Chuck changed everything when he declared that a visiting general was about to be killed by a bomb unless we saved him."

"The first use of the Intersect?" she asked.

"That we knew of," I replied. "He'd flashed before, too. Anyway, the three of us rushed to the hotel where General Stanfield was talking to an audience." I smiled to myself. "Chuck defused the bomb."

"Using the Intersect?"

I shook my head. "A lot of the amazing things he did were just him, no Intersect. They still are. He's an amazing man, Z."

She smiled at my summation of Chuck Bartowski. "And then he became your asset?"

I frowned. "Yeah. I had to persuade Graham and Beckman to allow him to remain in LA and for Casey and I to have joint responsibility for Chuck. I became his handler and our cover was boyfriend / girlfriend."

"Asset / handler behind that cover," she correctly stated. "So, no fraternizing? Or were you ordered to make him cooperate by using sex?"

"I don't do that!" I angrily replied. "Graham knows that and never ordered it. In fact, I'm not sure he and Beckman saw Chuck as anything but a walking computer at the start, so they probably wouldn't have considered it."

That made Zondra shake her head. "Must have been hard for both of you."

"God, it was! He didn't understand the situation between us and I never explained it to him. He was constantly trying to change the cover relationship into a real one and I had to resist or I'd be sent away."

"Resist? Him and your feelings?"

"I didn't understand my feelings for him. They scared me. He scared me. It was all so alien to me," I admitted.

Zondra nodded. "So?"

"We each broke the other's heart a number of times. The worst was when he hooked up with a girl that was a virtual clone of him, seeming perfect for him and I succumbed to that shit you mentioned because I felt I had lost Chuck."

"I already knew about Shaw," she replied. "A real arrogant bastard."

"But so persistent," I muttered.

"So, you slept with him," she stated.

"Worst mistake of my life," I said. I still felt miserable thinking about that and how it affected Chuck and I, even though he slept with Hannah before I slept with Shaw. Whatever, I felt sick at what had happened.

She could see I was struggling with this part of our story. "But you and Chuck moved past that."

That pulled me out of my slump. "Yeah. Shaw made me give Chuck his Red Test. I knew it would change him. I didn't want that, but I couldn't stop it. However, it didn't change him." I wasn't going to tell her that Chuck didn't kill the rogue operative.

"So, you went with Chuck to Rome?"

I nodded. "As partners in every sense."

"So, you've not been together long, then?"

I smiled at that. "We've been together for two-and-a-half years, really, just lovers for a short while. He's it for me, Z."

She chuckled. "I can see that in both of you."

I beamed at her. After taking a sip of my drink, I said, "We're spending too much time talking about Chuck and I. Tell me what you've been up to."

"No romance," she quickly replied.

I sighed. "There wasn't for me before Chuck."

"What about Bryce Larkin?" she asked.

"Oh, no. Stop deflecting. It's your turn."

She huffed and sat quietly for nearly a minute. "You haven't told me everything that happened to you after we split up, Blondie. I want to know, but as for me, I was held in detention for three months. They must have interrogated me every day for the first three weeks. Different techniques, different drugs, different tools. It all became a blur." The stoic brunette shuddered at the thought of that time.

I listened in horror. ""I am so sorry!" I gasped out.

"I assume you had some of that," she said quietly.

"I did, but only for a week. Graham pulled me out."

"That figures. You were his blue-eyed girl," she muttered. "I think that was why I suffered longer, too."

"What happened after those three weeks?" I asked.

She looked down at her hands. "They still didn't believe I was innocent and left me in a dark cell. Once a week I would be dragged out for more interrogation and then returned there."

I felt awful for causing all this.

She looked up at me. "It was Graham that finally brought me out of there, and took me back to Langley. I didn't know it was him initially, because he sent mute underlings. They allowed me to shower and gave me normal clothes to change into before we set off." She paused and shook her head. "Just a plain white blouse and black pants, but it was so much better than the orange prison clothes. There were even shoes with heels."

I hadn't been subjected to that treatment, so I kept silent, not wanting to rub her nose in it..

"When I faced Graham, he said he'd cleared me of the charges. He said it in a way that implied I should be grateful to the smug bastard!" She shook her head. "I stayed calm. I didn't want to be sent back. I asked about you and he just told me that you were not my concern. I had to bite my tongue. Then he said I was on probation and would be for some time. He told me where I was being sent after performing my Red Test." She looked at me. "The Middle East is not a great place for a female spy."

I shuddered at what she was implying. I certainly wasn't going to probe.

"I was there for two years before being transferred to China where I was posted until being called back here a few weeks ago."

I grasped her hands and squeezed them. She was surprised and tried to pull them away, but I held on. "It's all my fault!" I wailed.

She looked at me. "Yes. It was."

"I can't express how sorry I am, Z."

She pursed her lips. "I know." I released her hands and she quickly pulled them away.

We both sat quietly and finished our drinks, so I went to the bar to get more.

Inevitably, I was approached almost as soon as I requested the drinks. "Can I buy your drink, Darling?"

I turned and looked at the man asking. He clearly thought himself a catch. Full of himself.

"Not interested," I replied, and turned to see how the barman was getting on with our drinks.

"Aww, come on," he said.

I gave him my frostiest look. One that I knew chilled hearts. He got the message and hastily retreated.

When I got back to Zondra, she was chuckling. "Still haven't lost your charm."

I laughed. I loved her comment.

"So, back to you," she said as she took a sip of her drink.

I nodded and after a drink of my own, I said, . "I know you think Graham was soft on me, but he knew me better than anyone. He had brought me into the CIA, tracked me through The Farm, assigned early missions before I even finished there, and he's been my direct boss for most of my CIA time before he was killed."

"He groomed his blue-eyed girl," she said.

I didn't like the phrase, but agreed. "As you know, my Red Test was Evelyn Shaw. I obviously didn't know who she was until recently. I hated it and was very sick that night."

She snorted. "You were softer than me back then."

"Yours?" I asked.

She looked away before answering. "I still don't know who my target was. Some rogue Italian CIA agent. I hated it too, but as much for being in the dark as the execution itself. I didn't throw up, though."

I smiled at her words. She was always the toughest in the team.

"That Red Test was in January 2005," I said. "For the next few months, all my missions were short. Assassinations mostly. I killed thirteen more people for Graham. I just worked and slept, no downtime. I didn't want it. No time to think about my past or what I was doing.

"I got labeled Graham's Wild Card Enforcer. I think he used me to clean up his mistakes. His reputation remained unsullied while I became more and more immersed in blood." I still felt drenched in it.

"Graham had me working alone, even on non-assassination missions, which suited me after the CAT debacle."

"But you worked with Bryce Larkin," she prompted.

I nodded. "Graham didn't arrange that. Bryce and I teamed up by accident when our missions came together as one. We were so successful that Graham was forced to accept us as partners, but he never liked it."

"And you were partners in more ways than one," she said.

I sighed. "He kept trying to get me into his bed. He thought he was god's gift to womankind. After one particularly difficult mission, I finally succumbed. He was good in bed and it burnt off the stress and adrenaline from the day's events. Neither of us saw the relationship as more than that, certainly not based on love which was such an alien concept. I think now I look back, both of us were more affected by the other than we thought. His betrayal hurt so much and his death really got to me." I chuckled. "Well, his first one, anyway."

She raised an eyebrow.

"He was shot by Casey when he took the Intersect from the DNI. Everyone thought him dead. I didn't think about it at first because of what Graham got me to do and having to prove myself, but when I attended Bryce's funeral, I was very upset.

"It turned out that he didn't die and he came to us in LA. When he actually died, I was hardened, but also so in love with Chuck, that it washed over me."

"You said he was affected by you," she reminded me.

"When he saw me around Chuck, he got very jealous. His professional behavior slipped," I replied. "He tried to get me back, as he saw it. In reality, by then, my heart was already Chuck's, even though I didn't realize it."

"How did Mr. Sensitive take that?"

I laughed. "Mr. Sensitive? I guess that is part of Chuck's nature. He met Bryce at college and thought him a friend. Bryce got him kicked out of Stanford and stole his girlfriend. That was before sending him the Intersect." I shook my head thinking about that time for them.

"Bryce was Chuck's nemesis. When he found out I had more than just Bryce's work partner, thanks to Red telling him, it knocked his confidence completely and shattered his trust in me because I didn't admit it. We couldn't be together, but his feelings for me made him wish we were. Then, Bryce, my ex, turns up. Three times he did that, and Chuck was convinced he was about to lose me each time."

"But he didn't," she pointed out.

"No, but I never told him it was because of my feelings, I said I stayed to protect him, doing my job."

"Shit, Blondie! You were a piece of work!"

I nodded. "Your words are true, but if Graham or Beckman knew I was compromised, I felt sure I would be sent away. I wish I'd been brave enough to tell him how I felt, it would probably have avoided a lot of problems. Mind you, I didn't really understand my feelings myself."

"What a mess!" Zondra said.

"It was," I concurred.

It was Zondra's turn to refill our glasses. I watched her walk to the bar. She was an incredibly attractive woman, but she exuded an air of complete disinterest that obviously kept men at bay. I almost wanted to set her up with someone. She deserved happiness after what she'd gone through.

When she returned, she sat and said, "So, Bryce betrayed you?"

I drank some of my new drink as I thought about how to describe what had happened. "He disappeared at the end of a mission. Leaving was the right thing to do. We'd secured the intel we were after. He had it with him when I was surrounded by the men we'd taken it from. The betrayal was that he didn't report it and so no help came for me."

"He probably thought you dead," she said.

"Maybe, but he should still have reported it. He disappeared and when I made it back to Langley, in spite of the evidence of the torture I had received, I was suspected of being in league with him. That I had helped him get away with the intel."

"Phew! Again?" she said.

"Graham seemed to believe me and got me back to work once my body recovered sufficiently," I told her. "However, I was assigned to a handler."

"So, he didn't really trust you?"

I chuckled. "Conditional." I never liked thinking of the assignment. "It turned out that Ryker was rogue, too. I was basically working for a man who only had his own interests at heart. However, I eventually got back to Langley and reported what had happened to Graham. He seemed to accept it, but then he had a more pressing assignment for me. One caused by my ex-partner. It felt like another test when I was sent to Burbank after Chuck."

Zondra sat back. "Quite a tumultuous time, Blondie."

I nodded. "And then everything with Chuck."

She said, "You mentioned Red being here."

"Twice. First time she tried to take Chuck to her bed."

She grinned. "Typical Red. She was always jealous of you, so if she thought you wanted him…"

I nodded. "It was very early in the assignment, so I didn't realize I wanted him, but she could see it."

"She might not seem it, but she is very perceptive."

"Second time she came, she actually helped me see that he loved me at a time when we were distanced."

Zondra grinned. "Red, the marriage counselor!"

I laughed. "Well, not quite, but she was good for us. If we weren't such idiots, we could have been together from then on."

"Both?" she asked.

"Well, me at that point in time, but then both of us shortly after."

We'd already covered this, so I didn't need to say anymore.

We sat and drank in silence for several minutes. We had never needed to talk much. This evening, each of us had probably talked more than in the two years together before.

I looked at her. "It's good to have you back in my life, Z. I hadn't realized how much I missed you."

She smiled. "Me too, Blondie. Me too."

We went to a nightclub after that. She was a great dancer, and enjoyed it, although nowhere near as much as I do.

We danced together through all the up tempo songs, but none of the slow ones. During those, I really missed Chuck, but said nothing to my companion.

We lasted a couple of hours there. It wasn't tiredness that drove us away, but the men approaching, wanting to dance with us.

I was pleased that Zondra got as much attention as I did and dismissed them the same.

As we walked out, I said, "Men really like you, Z."

She snorted. "Those aren't the type of men that interest me."

"And what are?" I asked.

She sighed. "I guess I'm jealous of you. I don't want Chuck, but someone who is interested in more than a bedmate for the night."

I nodded. "I'm sure he's out there, Z. You just haven't found him yet."

She shook her head. "This romantic version of you is very different to the one I remember."

I grinned. "Happier too."

The taxi dropped Zondra at her hotel first.

"We really need to get you an apartment," I commented.

"Looks that way," she replied. "See you on Monday, Blondie."

I nodded.

When I reached the apartment complex. I wondered if we could find an apartment here for Zondra. I was still pondering that as I opened our apartment door and walked in.

I could hear a computer video game still playing in the living room. I wandered in to find that it was just playing its music and the tv flickering with a menu screen.

Chuck and Morgan were holding games controllers but fast asleep.

I couldn't help laughing.

Morgan didn't react, but Chuck's left eye opened. His spy training obviously kicked in.

I pointed at the coffee table in front of them, covered in beer cans, then over to the dining table covered in Chinese takeout boxes. "I see you've enjoyed yourselves," I observed, drily.

He grinned. "Yep."

I chuckled. "I'm heading to bed. Get Morgan off home and please tidy up, either tonight or before I get up in the morning. I'd like to be able to have breakfast."

"Sure," he said as he stood up. He opened his arms and I walked to him. His embrace was just what I wanted.

We kissed.

After that, I thought about the nightclub and said into his chest, as he was still holding me, "We went dancing. I missed you so much."

"No one wanted to dance with you?" he teased.

I grinned. He couldn't see it, but may have felt it. "Oh, lots."

He stepped back and frowned. "I should have come to fight them off."

I laughed and held his gaze. "Zondra and I fended them off quite easily, Chuck. You don't have to worry about us. However, I wish you'd been there for the slow songs. I missed you holding me." He pulled me back into his embrace. "Yeah. Like this," I said.

He turned to his friend and shook his shoulder to wake him. "Time for you to disappear, Morg."

Morgan woke up with a start, but then saw me standing in front of him. "Yeah, I guess." He scuttled out quicker than I would expect. I looked at Chuck with a raised brow.

He blushed. "I might have spent time talking about how I wanted you back and he'd have to leave as soon as you did."

I grinned. "And why would that be?"

Chuck swept me off my feet. I squealed, something I never would have done before being with him. He carried me to our bedroom.

"I take it the tidy up will be done in the morning?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I need to focus all my attention on worshiping you tonight."

I wasn't going to argue with that.

A/N: I decided the two women needed some time together, so a shorter chapter with no tension. Back to the fight against the Ring in the next chapter. Not sure when that will be, though.