A/N: The story comes to an end here. As the chapter is so short, I've called it the epilogue, but that doesn't make the events within it insignificant.

This is my last chance to thank all of you for reading this very different sequence of events from what we watched in the show after the start of season 2. Thanks particularly go to those that left reviews which received my responses, and those that PM'd me to discuss further. Thanks also for the favorites and follows. All of this was important to me, as there have been no stats recorded since mid-September, so zero views recorded for the whole story. Your support is much appreciated.

Obviously a big thank you to my beta, CharmingCharles2896, who helped me understand the situation back in 2008 United States, as well as performing the other beta tasks. You're a star, my friend.

Elusive Intersect

Epilogue

May was a sad month for Chuck because his sister married Devon and he couldn't attend.

The couple had originally planned to marry earlier, but Ellie was too despondent. No mother, no father and no brother being able to attend was hard for her.

Chuck had to persuade her to continue. "You can't put your life on hold, El."

"I just wish you could be here with us," she replied.

"I'm so sorry, Sis," he replied.

"We both wish we could be with you," Sarah said. Sitting beside her boyfriend, she could see the tears in both their eyes. "But it's just not safe."

"I know," Ellie replied. "I'm just so glad you are both safe… and together."

"I love him so much, Ellie. He's not getting rid of me!"

Ellie smiled at that. "We're having a short honeymoon in Hawaii, but hoping to come to Spain in the fall."

Chuck's eyes lit up. "We must find somewhere we can meet."

"Maybe the Med somewhere?" Ellie suggested.

That spurred Chuck into action. He wanted to make this happen but there was something else he needed to do, too.

Things seemed to change after their call with Ellie. Sometimes Chuck seemed very attentive and sometimes distracted. Sarah put it down to missing the wedding. However, it lingered after that. If he hadn't been all over her sometimes, she would have worried that the spark had disappeared for him. She still loved him just as much as ever, if not more so. She really should talk to him about it, but her fears of him losing interest in her were rising and she didn't want to push that to happen.

During some of the distracted sessions, Chuck had been spending time on the internet. Sarah started wondering if he missed gaming with Morgan? That really wasn't possible now. Maybe she should play with him?

Not tonight, though. Chuck was taking her out for dinner. He was driving them to a restaurant away from Riofrío de Riaza. He hadn't told her where, but to dress up. She had very little fancy clothes, so her choice wasn't great, but she appreciated the gesture. Obviously, he was in one of the attentive moods.

She hadn't worn makeup like this for a long time, but it felt right for the night. As she sat next to him in the car, she thought about how she liked dressing up for Chuck. His eyes had lit up when he saw her in the dress. That happened most mornings, but they were even brighter tonight.

She hadn't been paying attention to where he was taking her, just looking at the man she loved in his suit. Where he'd gotten that, she had no idea. They should do this more often. He looked so gorgeous in a suit. Then, he pulled into the parking lot in front of a restaurant and she realized they'd arrive.

The food and wine were excellent. She loved it all, but looking across the table at Chuck, made it seem almost incidental. The way he was looking at her, made her feel loved. There was nothing wrong with his feelings for her. The plates for the main course had just been cleared away and they were now waiting for their deserts.

Chuck looked nervous and she wondered why. He looked around the room. Was he waiting for someone to arrive? Why would that make him nervous? She started looking around herself. Suddenly, Chuck was beside her and dropped to one knee. She gasped, realizing what he was about to do.

"Samantha Lisa Jackson, I have never been as happy as when you entered my life. We had some hard times in the States, but you saved me from all that. Our life here is wonderful, but there is something that will make it even better." He pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket and opened it for her to see inside. "Would you make me the happiest man on Earth and agree to marry me, become my wife?"

She'd look at the ring later, but for now she dropped to her knees and grabbed his face and kissed him while tears streamed down her face. When they heard clapping, they separated and looked around. The other diners and the restaurant staff were all standing and putting their hands together while beaming at them.

Sarah realized she hadn't answered with words. "Yes!" she said as she locked eyes with him again. "I love you, James."

"I love you too, Sam."

They stayed down on their knees and kissed again, for quite a while. Eventually, she looked at the ring through her teary eyes. It was beautiful. He put it on her finger, but it was a little large. She looked at him questioningly.

"Ellie sent it," he said. "It was my mom's. She left it when she disappeared. Ellie said she'd keep it for me to give it to the special woman in my life."

That worried her. "She could've been seen sending it, or it might've been tracked."

He smiled. "She did something no one could've expected. She gave it to Bryce to send. For years she hated him, but I persuaded her to trust him." Sarah was completely stunned and looked at the ring in wonder.

Chuck took her silence the wrong way. "If you don't like it, we'll find a way to exchange it. I don't have a credit card, so I can't easily buy another."

"We will not!" she forcefully said. "I'm keeping this one, and we'll get it resized."

She'd said yes! Chuck was over the moon. All the stress over the three weeks since he'd decided to do this seemed totally justified. The worry about whether it would arrive intensified over the last two weeks, and then it turned up two days ago. Of course, then he started to worry that Sarah might not want to be married, something so alien to her expectations.

Now they were engaged and would plan to marry at some point. He knew that couldn't be when Ellie and Devon came to Spain, there just wasn't time, but at least his sister could see them and know that they were on that path to marriage.

They still hadn't finalized that trip. He'd been focusing on this engagement and Ellie and Devon had gone on their short honeymoon. He was so pleased to have asked his sister to send the ring before their wedding and that she had managed to see Bryce before it too.

So, now Ellie was a Woodcomb, and he and Sarah would be married. The names weren't what he would have chosen, but maybe Mr. and Mrs. Forster would feel right eventually.

Of course, Sarah might not want to change her name again and choose to stay as Sam Jacobs, or maybe change it to Sam Jacobs-Forster. He would let her decide. He didn't really care. All he cared about was being her husband and her being his wife. God, it felt good to think that!

The journey back to their home was a blur to Sarah. She struggled to hold in the tears of joy and when she wiped them away, she just stared at her left hand, overjoyed at what she saw there., Sarah looked at her fiancé driving the car. She'd never expected to have a fiancé any more than she expected to be in love. In the end, this awful experience turned both their lives around. Chuck was starting to feel that they'd never be together, which wasn't surprising as that was what she'd told him. She never thought they could either, but here they were… engaged!

He needed to let his sister know what had happened and she decided that the two of them would contact and thank Bryce for his part in making it happen. She thought about how Bryce must've reacted when Ellie contacted him. Shocked probably didn't express it strongly enough. Having Chuck's sister talking, rather than yelling, at him was probably surprising enough, but what she wanted him to do, even more so. Sarah wished she could've been a fly on the wall when he received that call.

She knew that planning the wedding would be a challenge, especially knowing that Chuck's sister couldn't be there, so only the townsfolk would attend. It would be a smaller wedding that she was sure Chuck would really want, with significant absences, not just his sister and brother-in-law, but also Morgan and Casey, maybe even Bryce. She would miss them all too, but she still looked forward to it.

So, one more name change for Sarah, her last one. She wished it could've been to Sarah Lisa Bartowski, but Samantha Lisa Forster still confirmed her marriage to the man she loved.

As Chuck pulled up at the gates and jumped out of the car to open them, Sarah knew that the celebrations were going to continue well into the night. Their first time making love as an engaged couple would be special, as would the many other times they could manage before exhaustion overcame them.

She already knew their life together would be special, but becoming his wife was so much more, somehow. They would be a happily married couple here in Spain, away from all the pain they'd left behind, that they'd eluded.

A/N: I'm stopping it there. The wedding would, as Sarah was thinking, be less than they wanted, but the result would still be a future together as a married couple and, who knows, bringing up one or more Spanish children.

Thanks again for sticking with me through this story. If you don't review partially completed stories, now's the time to leave one. If you've been reviewing as the story progressed, I'd still like to see your overall review. as well as what you thought of this epilogue.

It's now really close to Christmas 2023, as I publish this, so I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, or, if you don't celebrate that, Happy Holiday. Take care, my friends.

Continuation of in-progress stories and the start of totally new ones are planned for next year.