A/N: I just love the Fanfiction system. This story is still at zero views, some are still blocked from reviewing and now no email notifications are coming through, whether that's for new chapters for a story or writer that a reader is following, or the writers getting notified about reviews. Sigh. Anyway, thanks to those of you that managed to submit reviews. Much appreciated.

As before, thanks to Writesalott for the beta. She's found some aspects about the state of the previously submerged boat confusing. If others are finding the same, the reasons will be linked to what happens at the end of this chapter.

Chuck vs The Triangle

Chapter 5: Discoveries

Sarah's eyes fluttered open. Chuck immediately said, "You're safe, Sarah. You're on board your boat. We're heading to your dad's cavern."

She focused her eyes on him. "Chuck?"

He took hold of her hand. "I'm here, Sarah."

"I was bound and sitting next to Alexi Volkoff…."

"We rescued you," he replied.

She wanted more than that, but then her bladder made its presence known. She needed to rush to the bathroom. "It must be nearly a day since I last had a pee," she called over her shoulder as she hastened there.

After that she climbed wearily back into bed, she looked at her boyfriend, still sitting on the side of the bed. Chuck being here was wonderful, but the last thing she remembered was being bound and stuck in that chair while Volkoff taunted Chuck, who had crazily arrived on his own. She'd been terrified for his safety. The demands for the Intersect were what she'd expected, but the fact that Chuck had actually had one in his hand before everything went black had been a surprise.

Sarah tried to get him to tell her about the rescue, but all he would say was, "It was a team effort."

He shifted the conversation to what had happened to her, asking questions instead of answering them.

"Well, I like to walk from the boat to my place," she began. "I stayed late last night." She stopped and smiled ruefully at him. "I missed you. I never used to feel lonely, but you've ruined that for me, Chuck. Anyway, I was taken as I walked away from the boat. I think they used chloroform on me. I woke up bound as you saw me."

He pulled her in for another kiss. "Sarah, I was so scared that they hurt you."

"I'm not hurt, other than my pride," she replied. "I should never have let them capture me!"

"Well, you're safe now," he said.

"Are we safe, Chuck? Won't Volkoff come after us again? And what about the CIA?"

He couldn't answer that other than to say, "We need somewhere to hide, permanently."

"But Matt, Janine and I still need to earn a living," she said.

"Why not go to Bermuda as you planned?" he asked.

She thought about that. "We should change the name of the company and the boat. And Matt should be the front man, instead of me."

"And you and I can live on the island together," Chuck replied.

She looked at him teasingly. "So, you assume I'll shack up with you?"

"I really hope so," he honestly replied.

"You know that a relationship would normally become more serious first," she said.

"I couldn't be more serious about it," he replied.

She looked at him coyly. "That's not what I mean, Chuck. You still haven't made love to me. We haven't even explored each other's bodies!"

He swallowed. "Well, I know your body is gorgeous and I have held onto your waist," he reminded her.

She felt they'd been talking too much and needed to stop that. She took his hand and placed it on her right breast. "You haven't touched me here, though." She still had her bra and t-shirt on, from yesterday, but neither cared.

He gasped. "Not until now."

She grinned. "Well, you need to do that, when we can. Preferably after I've had a shower."

"You have to know that I want to kiss you all over. Every part of your amazing body."

Her eyes widened as that sent a thrill through her. "God, that will be wonderful!"

He reluctantly released her breast and wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her into his embrace. The kiss he gave her was deep and definitely stirred up their feelings.

"We're nearly there," Matt called down to them.

They both quietly cursed him for the interruption, but then, Sarah said, "Come on. Let's go up and join them."

As Chuck headed over to his parents' boat with Matt, Janine held Sarah back for a quick word. She handed her a coffee and sat her down. "Chuck was amazing, Sarah. I drove him over to the warehousing district. He told me to avoid detection, so I parked out of sight, away from where he was going. It must have been over four hundred feet.

"So, he went on his own to get you. I don't know how many men he faced, but he had this device he hoped to use on them. He calls it the Disruptor. Something his dad created. He'd tested it before going there, and said it worked fine, but it was still incredibly brave."

Janine shook her head at the memory. "He came back carrying you over his shoulder, just like we've seen firemen carry people out of burning buildings."

Sarah gasped. "All that way?"

"Yep," Janine replied. "I've never seen anything so amazing. Or someone so determined."

Janine grasped her hand. "He loves you, Sarah. We can see it in his eyes. He'll do anything for you. Don't let him go."

Sarah's emotions were all over the place. What Chuck had done, alone, was a bit much for Sarah to take in. She was emotionally overwhelmed by all he's done, and too emotional to speak. She just nodded.

Janine continued, "We can see it in your eyes too, Sarah. I'm not sure if you've acknowledged that yourself yet, but it's obvious to us."

Sarah felt unsure whether she should argue or agree, so just kept quiet and drank her coffee. Janine left her to it.

Once Janine was gone, Sarah sat and thought about what she'd just said. 'She's right. Neither of us have used that word, love, but both of us are thinking of being together. I do love him.'

That gave her a warm feeling throughout her body. She was in love and loved in return.

She finished her coffee and went in search of her boyfriend.

Chuck and Matt were on his dad's boat, and checking it over. It was mostly dry and a few towels in the remaining areas would complete the job. The seating was all faux-leather, so none of that suffered much from being immersed. Of course, the inside was stuffing and may well be waterlogged, but pressing on it strangely didn't sound like that.

Chuck looked at Matt and grinned. "Time to put it to the test."

"Hopefully, the engine hasn't suffered from the water," Matt said.

Chuck nodded. He knew his dad would have made modifications to the boat. It's what his dad always did. Chuck was confident the engine would start and he was right. When they heard the sweet sounds of the engine coming to life, Chuck couldn't help but admire his father's skills.

Chuck noticed Sarah walking onto the boat to join them, but turned to Matt and said, "This boat will even out distance speed boats. Dad was a brilliant engineer."

"As is his son," Sarah said, as she walked into the wheelhouse.

Chuck shook his head and said, "I'm not in the same league as dad."

"Maybe not," Sarah acknowledged. "But you still managed to track his boat down, unlike anyone else. You're also a hero. My hero. Janine told me everything that actually happened when you rescued me."

Chuck flushed. Matt left them at that point, executing a strategic withdrawal.

Chuck sighed. "She probably overplayed it."

Sarah grabbed his hands. "Janine never does that. In fact, usually she does quite the opposite." She looked lovingly at him and added, "You are so unlike most men, Chuck. You're embarrassed by your achievements, aren't you?"

He was now fully blushing. "Yes. Talking about it would feel like boasting."

She nodded. "I wanted to know how I was rescued. You weren't telling me, but Janine stopped me on my boat. If she hadn't told me, were you determined to keep me in the dark?"

He flushed an even deeper color. "I guess."

She sighed. "Being modest is one thing, but hiding things from me is not on, Chuck. I hate secrets, as much as lies. I had that throughout my time with dad. I don't want our relationship built on that."

He nodded. "Sorry. I'll do better." He took a deep breath. "So, in the spirit of complete openness, I have something to tell you."

"Should I sit down?" she asked nervously. Her insecurities kicked in. Suddenly, everything Janine had said seemed wrong and Chuck's previous words, too. She braced herself for bad news.

He calmed, sat down, pulling her down with him, and gazed into those gorgeous blue eyes. "I love you, Sarah."

Sarah was overwhelmed. She'd gone from thinking they both loved each other to being afraid she was wrong in the space of about twelve seconds. Then Chuck's words, those three small and yet pivotal words, had fixed everything. She was overwhelmed, but overjoyed too. Janine had been right about him, about everything.

Before Sarah could reply, Chuck rushed into his blustering ramble, "I know it's ridiculously soon to be saying that, but you have occupied my thoughts since I met you. Focusing on the boat and everything else has been difficult when your face fills my mind's eye. You are it for me. If you don't feel the same way, it's better that, I know now."

She reached forward and cupped his face with her hands. "How could I feel any different? I felt so strongly for you before you left. Since then, you've rescued me. I've never been in love before, Chuck, but I am now. You captured my heart so quickly, it's a bit unnerving, but you're the one for me too."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. His hands snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

When they separated, he grinned and said, "Wanna go for a spin?"

She laughed. "Yes, if this boat is really fast, I definitely want to experience that. I also want to see and understand this Intersect cube."

He chuckled and brought it out of his pocket. "Let's use it out there before we come back to the cavern. I'm not sure how well it would operate here, with all the rock above us."

"I'll just tell Matt and Janine what we're doing," she said, slipping out of his embrace.

It was strange not being in control, letting someone else navigate the boat out of the cavern. However, she controlled her drive to do it, and let Chuck be in charge.

He obviously took it slowly initially, but once they were in the open waters, he let it rip.

It was like being in the passenger seat of a sports car when the driver floored the accelerator. The G-force was amazing, forcing her back into her seat. "Holy Shit!" she cried.

He grinned at her. "I did say it was fast!"

She looked at him, aghast. "Shit, Chuck. There's fast and there's FAST! This is unbelievable! And how the hell does it operate so well after being submerged as long as it has? And the fuel tank wasn't affected either?"

"Dad's engineering has always been amazing. I never even thought it might not work, but you may be right that it's odd." He shrugged, and then grinned and beckoned her over. "Want to try it?"

She nodded furiously. Chuck slowed it down and let her take the controls. "Let me sit down first," he said.

Remembering how it felt less than a minute early, she didn't want him getting hurt, so waited. Once she saw he was sitting where she'd been, she grinned at him, turned and pushed it to its limit. She immediately realized that when Chuck had been driving, he hadn't got up to full speed. The pressure was even more intense now than before.

She felt so exhilarated. She'd never felt like this before. She let out whoops and screams of joy. Going fast made her feel alive.

Then, she thought about how much fuel this would be guzzling and slowed right down. He guessed why. "I checked the fuel level before we set off. Mum and dad hadn't used much. Oh, and dad engineered it to require a lot less than other boats. This could probably race at this speed right around South America."

"Your dad's a fucking genius!" she exclaimed.

He nodded, but looked sad. "He was."

She brought them to a halt and kneeled down in front of him. "Sorry, Chuck. I didn't think."

He stroked her face with the back of his fingers. "We don't know what happened to them. They may still be alive somewhere."

She nodded and sat beside him. "Let's see his other invention."

Chuck brought out the Intersect cube. "What do you want to ask it?"

"Do I just speak to it?" she asked.

He nodded. "Once I switch it on, yes." He slid a small part of the surface to one side and pressed the exposed button before sliding the cover back, and looked up at her expectantly.

She asked the first thing that came to her mind. "What happened to Stephen and Mary Bartowski when their boat sank?"

Chuck frowned. "I doubt it'll be able to work that out."

"Analyzing," a voice sounded from the device.

Chuck smiled. "That's dad's voice."

"How long until you have an answer?" Sarah asked.

"Probably two hours," the machine replied.

Chuck just gawped at it for a few seconds, then realized what was probably going to happen. "It will just say that there is inconclusive data."

"We'll know in two hours," she said.

She got up and walked along the corridor to the bedroom where she'd left the stuff she'd brought with her. She looked at the bed. There was strangely no smell of damp from the mattress. She bent down to feel it. It didn't even feel wet, in spite of it being an ordinary mattress, nor was there any algae covering it, as she would have expected. This was bewildering. However, she decided she still wouldn't want to lie directly on it.

She pulled out a blanket and sheet from her bag and put those on the bed, then walked back to Chuck in the wheelhouse. "We need to drop anchor here as neither of us are going to be in the wheelhouse."

He frowned, "Where will we be?"

She gave him a sultry look. "In the bedroom."

He rushed to the controls and looked at the display showing the depth, which was ninety-one feet. He then flipped a switch marked 'Anchor' which lowered it.

He turned back to Sarah. "Done."

She reached for his hand. As they walked to the bedroom, she said, "I'm sorry I'm not wearing anything sexy, Chuck."

"Sarah, you'd look sexy in a black bin bag!"

She laughed. "Well, my bra and panties set will at least be better than that!"

What Sarah was wearing was more than enough. Besides, it didn't stay on long.

As promised, Chuck kissed her whole naked body before moving to the main event. By the time he finished kissing, Sarah was begging him to make love to her.

Their eyes locked as they finally joined. Both gasped as that happened, with pupils dilating. The whole experience was wonderful. They finished together, crying out the other's name.

Neither were virgins, although not hugely experienced, but each felt that nothing had ever been so good before. They clung to each other afterward, neither wanting to release from the euphoria.

When they'd recovered, they made love again. Slowly and deliciously.

After two hours had passed, they dressed and wandered back to the wheelhouse.

The Intersect hadn't finished, but Sarah spotted something that made that irrelevant. "Chuck, there's two boats approaching!"

Both realized that they had foolishly left the Intersect cube unattended and they could have been boarded whilst otherwise engaged.

Chuck quickly flicked the anchor switch to raise it and looked at the navigation system screen. This was more capable than others. He pressed a button beside it. An incomplete circle of dots appeared beside each boat. On each, the gap was cycling around the circle. Then the name of the boat and owner was displayed. They were both CIA craft.

"Looks like we need to give them a demonstration of the speed of this boat, Chuck," she said.

"Yeah, we'll head back to the cavern, but not directly," he replied. "Take a seat."

She sat down. They were still facing in the direction they had originally. Chuck decided to circle back after initially continuing ahead. Fortunately, the two boats were approaching from the starboard.

He immediately pushed the speed to the maximum.

For those on the other boats, this one must have seemed to go from a stationary position in front of them and then disappeared visually and from the navigation system displays.

They hadn't returned directly, but due to the speed possible, in less than forty minutes, they were approaching the cavern. However, before that, the Intersect had confirmed it had an answer. However, neither Sarah nor Chuck had been able to check the answer, being so focused on their escape and checking for pursuers, either visually or on the navigation system.

Chuck slowed down to navigate into the cavern.

The other boat was no longer there, so Matt and Janine must have left.

When Chuck dropped the anchor, they looked at each other. "What did you find?" Sarah asked the Intersect cube.

"They are no longer on this planet," was the answer.

Chuck's shoulders slumped. Part of him had hoped they'd survived, but now he knew that wasn't the case.

"That's a strange way of saying it," Sarah commented. She asked the Intersect, "So, where did they go?"

Chuck didn't expect the cube to know about heaven and wished she'd just kept quiet.

"To another planet, having traversed the wormhole," the Intersect answered.

Neither of them spoke. They just stood there in shock at the words. "What wormhole?" Chuck finally managed to ask.

"The one the aliens opened up," Stephen Bartowski's voice replied.

Chuck shook his head. "This is getting crazy!"

Sarah wasn't fazed. "What aliens?"

The Intersect replied, "The same ones that have been in the Bermuda Triangle for many years."

"What's the probability of this being true?" Chuck asked, having finally gotten his wits about him.

"99.99%" was the reply.

Chuck was completely floored by this and sat down hard.

Sarah, on the other hand, wanted to know more. "Did these aliens sink the boat?"

"No. They… relocated it to the ocean floor."

"And why did they do all this?" she asked.

"For the Intersect on board," was the reply.

"Shit!" she cried. She turned to her boyfriend. "They might come after this one, too!"

Both of them were chilled at the next words from the Intersect. "They have."

The same voice then came from behind them. "Hello, Son."

They both turned quickly and saw four beings standing behind them. Chuck's mom and dad stood in the middle, flanked by two shorter purple-skinned creatures with no hair and eyes that protruded slightly.

Both Chuck's and Sarah's jaws dropped at what they saw.

"I'm not keen on you with black hair, Chuck," Mary Bartowski said. "Oh, and don't be alarmed by our friends."

Chuck fainted. Sarah just managed to stay conscious. Not knowing what to do, she said, "I'm Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah Walker." It seemed so pathetic, but it was all she had in her.

A/N: Ooh, a reminder that this is all happening in the Bermuda Triangle!

So, more about Stephen Bartowski's inventions, but also maybe a hint at what might have happened to the boat.

I'd love to see what you think in a review, if you have the time.