A/N: I still don't know how many of you are reading this little tale, as stats are still not being updated. Email notifications have started coming through, but sporadically. What a great system! Anyway, thanks to those that left reviews for the last chapter.
Thanks once again to CharmingCharles2896 for the beta'ing this story. I hope you're reading his amazing AU Chuck story, "The Monster You Made Me." Definitely one of the best Chuck stories written.
In this chapter, Sarah finally catches up with Chuck…
Elusive Intersect
Chapter 6: Reunited
Sarah pulled into the motel and exited the car.
She felt shaky, as crazy as that was. Sarah Walker, the Ice Queen, was shaky about seeing Chuck! She had to lean against the car for a moment before setting off. It wasn't just that she was overwhelmed with her feelings for him, and had decided to admit them to him. It was also the relief of finding him alive rather than turning up and seeing him with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. On top of all that, what she was doing and going to continue to do for him added another layer to her unease.
Eventually, Sarah felt able to head in. When she reached the receptionist, she said she was here to see her boyfriend, but could she pop to the restroom first.
"The restrooms are popular today," the girl muttered after pointing the way.
Sarah quickly got into the elevator and headed up to Chuck's room. Bryce had obviously gone in, so she tapped on the door.
Bryce opened the door and smiled at her.
"I hope you checked it was me," she said, seriously.
"Oh, I did," he replied. "I've informed him of his status. He's all yours."
Sarah pulled Bryce into a hug, feeling the tears forming. "Thank you so much, Bryce," she whispered into his ear.
He pulled away. "You're welcome, you both are." He smirked and continued, "Don't kill him."
She smiled weakly, "I'll try not to."
"See ya, Buddy," Bryce called to the man now sitting at the end of the bed watching them. Then, he was gone.
Sarah looked at Chuck, she wanted to smother him in kisses, but stopped to just take him in. His disguise was good.
"You look older, Chuck," she said.
"The stress of it all," he joked.
She always liked the humor he used when nervous. She continued, "You did that well with makeup. I'll probably like how you look when we're both the appropriate age. I'm not keen on the tattoos, though."
He looked shocked at her words. She smiled. "You are not getting rid of or escaping from me now, Chuck."
"Really?" he asked incredulously.
In that moment, Sarah remembered what she'd wanted to do first. In a flash, she rushed to and sat beside him. Then, cupping his face in her hands, Sarah kissed him. Really kissed him. Just as in front of the Bryce bomb, she pushed her tongue through his lips. He responded quicker than the last time, grasping her shoulders and kissing her back with equal passion.
She'd planned to kiss him repeatedly to really make him know how she felt about him, but this one lingering kiss was so good that she never wanted it to end. She couldn't hold back the moan of pleasure. Sarah's hands crept around him, the fingers of one hand going into his curls and the other clasping his neck, both pulling him in more.
The need for air finally stopped them. They both struggled to catch their breath as their lips separated. She rested her forehead on his.
He finally spoke, "I didn't think you wanted me."
Sarah swallowed hard. She wasn't going to lie. Pulling back, she looked into his mesmerizing amber orbs. "Chuck, I've always wanted you." Chuck gave her a stunned look, in total shock as she continued. "The asset/handler regulations are strict. I've been terrified of being sent away. I could've used sex to control you, but, unlike Carina, I don't do that sort of thing. However, having genuine feelings for you is the ultimate no-no. I'd be seen as compromised and get sent away."
Chuck was clearly processing what she'd said when he spoke, "Compromised?"
In that moment, Sarah decided to give him the blunt and honest truth. "A handler may be told to eliminate an asset at any moment. A compromised one wouldn't be able to do that, let alone be trusted to do so."
"And that's what has now happened," he responded, getting a nod in return.
"I'm so compromised that I've gone rogue to protect you," she said quietly.
Chuck gasped upon hearing that. "You're abandoning your career for me?" She nodded. "I feel awful doing that to you," he muttered.
Sarah grabbed Chuck's shoulders. "You listen to me, Chuck Bartowski. I'll admit that it hurt when you didn't trust me. I know I've been pulling you in a thousand different directions where our relationship is concerned, but I thought you knew I would do anything to protect you." She took a deep breath. "You mean everything to me, Chuck. This whole mess has had me scared to death that I wouldn't get to you in time. Now that I'm with you, no one is going to separate us."
Chuck just sat there aghast. He was struggling to put words together. The woman who so rarely said much, had said a lot and completely overwhelmed him, the man of many words. Sarah thought about how demanding she had sounded, was that really the impression she wanted to give him? She dropped her hands to his shoulders and made sure he focused on her. "Chuck, I've assumed you wanted us to be in a real relationship. I hope I'm not wrong, but even if I am, I'm going to get you away from here, away from all of this danger, somewhere safe."
In that moment, he realized his silence was probably making her nervous, so he got his mouth working. "Being in a real relationship with you would be a dream come true. Please never doubt that."
The smile that spread across her face was truly wonderful to see. Her eyes sparkled too. "God, you're so beautiful, Sarah," he said.
Pulling him in, she started peppering his face with kisses, ending with another deep one like before. They both moaned into this lasting kiss. When they separated, he smiled one of his smiles that made her heart flutter.
Much as Sarah would have liked to continue kissing him, she was aware that they needed to work out what was best to do about the mess they were both now in. "Chuck, I want to keep kissing you, but we need to plan. Can we start with you telling me what you've found out that triggered you running, just in case there's something I'm unaware of?"
Chuck would rather have more of her amazing kisses, but he spoke up and told her what he'd found out. "Director Graham has a team working on a new Intersect, they call it Intersect 2.0. When that comes online and is downloaded into a number of agents, he and Beckman believe I shift from being an asset to a threat and want me eliminated. Beckman had already ordered Casey to kill me when that happened, I heard her confirm it to him."
This was what she had worked out, but hearing it confirmed was still awful.
"I didn't like the idea of that, clearly," he joked.
She gripped his hands. "I knew nothing of this." She looked into his eyes, willing him to know this was true.
He nodded. That matched what he knew. "When I ran, Casey was ordered to bring the termination forward."
Sarah knew this as well. "I was told to capture you, but to not hesitate if you tried to escape." She wanted him to know her orders.
"I heard," he replied. "Why do you think the orders were different?"
Sarah sighed. "Graham may have realized I was compromised. However, he knows how seriously I take my responsibilities. On this assignment, my chief responsibility was to keep you safe, so he may have just worried about conflicting orders." She shook her head. "I just don't know."
"Bryce told me about the terrorist thing. I didn't think they'd do that," he admitted.
She hadn't learned anything new. "How come you knew all this and evaded us?"
He blushed, not liking to boast. "I have an app monitoring yours and Casey's calls. I heard when Graham and Beckman called you, as well as when you talked to each other."
"So, you knew I wanted nothing but good for you," she said, feeling hurt again. "And yet, you still evaded me."
Chuck sighed, hating that he'd hurt her. "Sarah, I was so confused. I knew your orders. I also know you follow your orders, just as Casey does."
She interrupted him there. "Casey doesn't want to follow this one. That's why he's deliberately searching in the wrong direction."
"Why?" he asked, looking puzzled.
"Because he knows it's wrong and because he thinks that you are a great partner," she replied. "You've softened him, Chuck," Sarah replied with a soft smile.
Chuck snorted at that thought, before she spoke once again. "So, you've listened to us, but didn't know about the terrorist designation because I switched off my CIA phone." Thinking about that further, she went to her pocket and got the burner she'd bought.
Sarah tried to hand Chuck the new burner she'd bought for him, but he declined it. "My phone is better," he told her.
"How is it better?" she asked.
"More features," he replied.
He obviously wasn't going to elaborate, so she just nodded and took the burner back. "Well, you need to know the one I'm using."
"Give it to me and I'll send a message to mine," Chuck said, extending his hand.
She handed it over and soon had his contact down as "EI."
"EI?" he questioned.
"Elusive Intersect," she replied with a smile.
He laughed. "Not a very good one, it seems."
She said, "You had three of the best searching for you, but you still eluded us for a long while, we were lucky, too."
"So, what now?" he asked.
"What were your plans?" she responded. "What were you going to do next?"
"Maybe find some job off the beaten track," he said. "A farm hand or something like that."
She thought that would be something they wouldn't consider. "Where would you sleep?"
He blushed. "Some offer accommodation at the farm. I was hoping to find one of those."
"It all sounds a bit tenuous," she said.
"I was originally going to cross into Mexico, but then Bryce found me and I ran again," he replied.
"The border patrol will get your details, so that's not an option," she said. After he seemed to have dried up, she said, "Do you want to hear my suggestion?" Chuck nodded eagerly.
Sarah was pleased that Chuck seemed to be trusting her to protect him again. "In about one hundred miles, I have a safe house that I set up in case anything ever threatened you again. It's in a forest with no tracking for a thirty-mile radius and no other dwellings for miles and miles."
Chuck just stared at her, unable to say anything. For Sarah, his silence was unnerving. He normally found it hard to stay silent, but when she wanted him to say something, anything, he clammed up like this. She found she had to say something to fill the silence. "When Conway nearly took you away after the bugging of the Buy More, I realized that could happen again. I took steps in case I ever had to do something to keep you from a bunker."
"You're amazing," Chuck blurted out. "You know that, don't you?"
She shook her head. "I'm selfish. I don't want to lose you."
He pulled Sarah to him and kissed her fiercely, she just succumbed to it. They started to caress each other passionately. Sarah knew how this would end if she didn't stop it, so she pushed him away and spoke breathlessly. "We have to get out of here and get you to that safe house." Chuck was gasping for breath, but he obviously recognized that she was right and nodded.
He stood and walked to where he'd dropped his backpack and grabbed it, slinging it onto his shoulder. "Lead the way."
Sarah stood with a smile, and kissed him. "We'll continue this when you're safe," she said softly, "I promise."
Sarah grasped Chuck's hand and led him out of the room and down the stairs to exit.
The receptionist watched them go with a small smile on her face.
Chuck sat next to Sarah, silently looking ahead most of the time. Occasionally, he would turn and look at her. She looked at him when he did that and smiled. After about twenty miles, while still looking ahead, she said, "I'm just so happy to have found you."
"I'm glad you did," he replied. "I was missing you like crazy."
She chuckled. "We're as bad as each other. Nothing more than a couple of love-sick teenagers." He gasped and she quickly turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied. "You said we were love-sick."
She realized she had said that and how he'd taken it. Her dad had always told her love was for suckers and the CIA had said spies don't fall in love. "I didn't say we were in love, Chuck," she rationalized.
"Well, I'm in love with you, Sarah," he replied.
She'd suspected that, but this was the first time he'd said it. She couldn't say anything after that. She drove on in silence thinking about her feelings for him.
Sarah remembered how upset she was when she thought he was in danger, and then nearly crying when she or Bryce repeatedly failed to stop him. She had burst into tears at the service station when he left and she didn't know where he'd gone. That was an extreme reaction from someone who was not in love.
"When I missed you at the service station, I broke down and cried," Sarah said softly, not making eye contact.
"I know, I watched the camera feed," he replied.
In an abrupt change, she slammed her foot on the brake, causing both to jerk forward. Fortunately, the airbags didn't activate. "Chuck! You've modified traffic recordings, haven't you?"
"Y-yes," he stuttered.
"You have to erase that recording!" she demanded. "They can't know that I was there."
He nodded. "I will, when I have a strong enough signal." Sarah eyed Chuck for a moment before sighing and nodding.
She set off again, driving a bit faster. "You can do it at the safe house, then."
A/N: A relatively brief initial reunion because she needs to get him away and out of sight, but both of them now know how they feel about each other.
On to that safe house in the next chapter, which will be a bit longer appearing because I won't be able to do the update for a week or so.