Castle in the Air

By Steampunk . Chuckster

Summary: Sarah has opened her dream bookstore just before the holiday season, but when a corporate monopoly announces their reduced-price brick-and-mortar is going in a block away, she must band together with her fellow small businesses to fight for their lives, even if it means getting past a slew of bad first impressions to work with Chuck, the owner of the comic book shop next door. AU Charah.

A/N: Thank you for reviewing and somehow finding this story's updates even without notifications. I appreciate you folks. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or its characters, and any similarities in this fic to any corporate entities are just coincidence... shh.

Sarah Walker froze, her heart stopping in her chest, everything around them dropping away completely.

If you need further reassurance that I'm not going anywhere no matter what the truth is…I love you.

She could only stare in the pervading silence.

Chuck shifted his weight, his profession seeming to have given him the wherewithal to continue when she said nothing, her heart starting back up again. Only now it was pounding in her ears like mad, but not enough to drown out his voice.

"This is…probably the worst profession of love ever in the history of professions of love, going back to the caveman days even," he breathed, his brow furrowed miserably. And then he looked right at her again. "But I'm in love with you, Sarah. Nothing about you—your background, your childhood, your upbringing, your family, your friends, your work history, whatever else might be there—nothing is going to make me not love you."

Her family, he'd said. What did her dad do? It had to be more than just the general disrespect he'd shown him disguised as fatherly over-protectiveness.

And then his words actually struck her right in the chest. Nothing would make him not love her. He'd said those words. He'd just told her three times in the span of less than a minute that he loved her. And she believed him with everything in her.

"Please, Sarah. Trust me."

She swallowed hard, meeting his eyes.

She wet her lips slowly, finally forcing her gaze down to his neck and staring hard. "Chuck…" I love you, too. It shouldn't have gotten caught in her throat but it did. And because she needed to know, right then, in that very moment, she asked, "What is the secret my dad asked you to keep from me?"

When she lifted her eyes to his again, he pulled in a deep breath and let it out again roughly.

"He came to my shop that day out of the blue, asked to see me. So I showed him the comics and all that. That part was…that was true. He did buy a comic book from me. But then I could tell he wanted to talk about something else and I was concerned it might be something about you, so I asked him what was up. Point blank." He scratched behind his ear as she felt her heart do an embarrassing little flutter at that. "He reassured me it had nothing to do with you, that you were okay, but then he asked me to not mention it to you…but he had a business proposition."

Sarah shut her eyes and she turned her face away. A business proposition.

That sinking feeling was one she knew all too well.

"This-This is why I didn't say anything for a few days. I was struggling with what might happen if I did tell you. I don't want to be what drives a wedge between you and your dad, sure, but I also didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want you to be angry with me for thinking your dad might be doing a…erm, bad thing." He pulled his jacket all the way off, frustration in his movements.

She automatically reached out to take it from him, her feet taking her to her entryway closet, popping the door open, grabbing a free hanger, and draping Chuck's coat over it, hanging it on the handle of the door so that it could dry a little. She stayed there, the seemingly machine-like need to move and do something with her hands halting.

"Please just tell me what this business proposition is," Sarah finally spoke up in the silence. She could hear an almost begging quality to it. She looked at him earnestly. "You don't have to make excuses or explain why you didn't say anything, not right now at least. Just tell me what this thing is he asked you to keep from me."

"Okay." He nodded. "He said he wants to open a repair shop, like the kind of stuff he did for your car. Touch-ups, repairs, tire checks and tire changes…"

That sinking feeling increased. Because she'd heard this one before. Only the last time it hadn't been a repair shop, it had been an ice cream parlor. There'd been no ice cream parlor, and there'd been no Harold Lichtenstein like the small bank had thought. He'd vanished without a trace, and the bank who'd approved the loan could have given those tends of thousands of dollars to someone who actually had a small business they were starting, who genuinely were trying to build their dream.

"A repair shop," she breathed, her voice weak. "Yeah."

"And he asked if there was any chance I might be able to give him a loan."

And there it was.

Sarah slumped away from the door, moving to her couch, not stopping until she felt the cushions under her backside. Chuck followed quickly, standing in front of her, there if she needed him. But he seemed tentative about sitting beside her. Did he think she was furious with him? Maybe.

She was drowning in this revelation too hard to worry about it at the moment.

"A loan," she said hoarsely. "How, um…How much did he ask for?"

Chuck was quiet, and she saw him shuffle his feet in her peripheral.

"Chuck. Tell me."

"Um, a hundred G's."

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. "He asked you for a hundred thousand dollar loan?!"

"Yes," he said, wincing. "It-It isn't a lot for me. I've got so much more than that. That's not what bothered me." It bothered her. She was extremely bothered. She felt sick. "It was just this switch, ya know? He was kind of…erm, well…"

"An asshole?" she provided.

"I was…going to say mean. He wasn't super warm before we started dating, but when he found out we were dating, he was actively mean and cutting. But then in the garage, it was like the more he found out about me, my name, the fact that I own the beach house…" He tugged on his shirt nervously. "Sarah, I don't know how else to say this in a way that won't be perceived as…offensive. So I'm just gonna say it. It's like finding out his daughter's boyfriend wasn't just a goofy guy who owned a comic book shop, that he was actually rich guy with a lot of financial assets, made him act…nicer. And I was kind of putting stuff together in my head as he explained why he didn't want me to tell you about him asking me for a loan—"

"What was his explanation?" Sarah asked, cutting him off.

Of course Chuck put things together as Jack Burton, his girlfriend's father who he knew had been basically estranged from her for years, asked him for a loan for $100,000. He was brilliant. He wasn't a pushover, even if he had a habit of—how'd Chuck put it once?—silver lining things. He wasn't naive, or a child.

Not to mention he'd been through his own share of shit.

Chuck looked up at the ceiling, seeming pretty miserable.

Something in her chest ached to be nearer to him, to comfort him, in spite of how much inside of her was hurting. So she reached up and wrapped her hand around his. She gave it a tug, putting her other hand on the couch next to her.

He didn't waste any time. He moved to sit next to her quickly, his knee pushed into hers. And he squeezed her hand, holding it against his thigh.

"He said you're…not very good at accepting other people's help." She bristled and he rushed out, "That's him, that's what he said, I don't think that."

Sarah frowned. "He isn't exactly wrong. But he doesn't get to be the one to point that out."

Chuck's thumb stroked the back of her hand. "He said you always wanna do things on your own, and he said he taught you that, maybe inadvertently." By not being there when she needed him? Definitely. Though the idea of Jack having the lack of selfishness for long enough to understand that seemed farfetched to Sarah. "And then he, um, said even though he was glad you were like him in that way—" Sarah couldn't help the loud scoff that erupted from deep in her chest. "—this time, he can't see a viable path to starting the shop himself without some help. A loan. To cover the down payment and some starter expenses."

Shit. Sarah shook her head, staring down into her lap. He'd targeted Chuck. He'd really done it. She knew beyond all doubt there was no fucking repair shop.

"The thing is, Sarah, if your dad came up to me and asked for help, asked me for a loan, like I say, a hundred K is nothin' and I'm not saying that to boast, it's just a fact. I'd gladly give it to him, no strings attached. Only it felt…off." Sarah turned to look at him. He was clearly struggling to try to talk about his suspicions without offending her. And maybe that was the main reason he'd kept this to himself for a couple of days. She found she couldn't blame him even if she tried. "I'm sorry. I gotta just say it, it felt like it wasn't on the level. I'm not sure there's something else he—Well, maybe there's something else important he wants to use the money for. But it feels…"

"Like a grift," she filled in.

Chuck's face twisted up in an agonized wince. She slid her hand over the back of his neck, feeling a spark of guilt in her chest. She'd put him in this spot almost as much as her dad had. Of course Jack was the main culprit.

"I shouldn't have let him anywhere near you," she admitted, knowing she'd just said that out loud.

He turned a surprised look on her. "What?"

"My dad. Even if you weren't the owner of one of the most successful corporations in the country, I should've kept you safe from him. But I didn't. I opened the door for him and he used the opportunity to put a target on your back." Like the old days. When she was a kid and hadn't known any better. She knew better now, and still she'd left Chuck unprotected.

"A target?" He shook his head. "Are you saying I've…I've been targeted? By your dad?"

"Isn't that what you're afraid of? Isn't that why you think his request, his 'business proposal'," she added with air quotes, rolling her eyes, "is off? Not on the level? You think he's lying to you. Being manipulative."

"Um…" He nodded slowly, clearly pained. "It's your dad, Sarah. You have no idea how bad it feels to say this stuff to you about him."

"Chuck, you're so sweet." She rubbed the back of his neck again, leaning her weight against him and pressing her lips to his shoulder. "But I'm not gonna let you continue agonizing. My dad isn't worth it. He isn't worth anything," she added bitterly. He didn't seem to know how to respond, so she continued. "You haven't offended me." She pulled her face back just enough to meet his gaze. "I'm not angry with you for not being completely played by my dad's bullshit. You're smart. You give people the benefit of the doubt but that doesn't mean you miss stuff. And clearly you pegged my dad as much as I'm sure he tried to talk around it."

"I…did? I pegged him? Then the repair shop…"

"There's no repair shop. He has no plans for a repair shop. It's bullshit."

"Are…you sure?"

"What is it instead? After all these years of being like this, he found my mom again, found me again, and now he's turning a new leaf? He's really gonna do this? Start a business? Settle down under the name Jack Burton? For good? Take this one-time loan from my rich boyfriend and make good on his promises? I'm not saying people aren't capable of fixing what's broken inside of them, but in this case?" She shook her head, a lump in her throat. "Stupid me, I thought maybe…" She swallowed the lump. "I don't know what in the hell I was thinking, but I got fucking conned, too."

"Conned." Chuck spoke quietly, and then he hissed even more quietly. "Shit. Oh." There was a slight pause, and then he breathed with a lot more gravity, "Oh shit."

And there it was.

"I know he told you not to tell me, Chuck, and I understand why you didn't 'til now. He didn't want me to know because he knew the second I found out he asked for a loan, I'd realize he was on a job, that he'd made you his his mark."

"So what…is he gonna do with the money?" Chuck asked, and she watched as he began to hit the next stage. From befuddlement to general upset, and now she could see the anger starting to set in. It was understandable anger. Anybody else besides Chuck Bartowski, and the massive heart he was gifted with, would have been flooded with anger first.

She wasn't sure there was anything in existence that could measure her fury as she sat there with her hands balled in her lap. "That's the thing you want me to be honest about. That's it, right? You want me to trust you with the truth, and you mean the truth about my dad…"

Chuck didn't dance around it. He just nodded. "Yes."

Sarah wondered if she would ever get used to being shown so much respect after twenty-six years of disrespect and the general dismissive attitudes she'd dealt with.

Here went nothing…or maybe everything.

"The truth is there's precedent here, so I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty what he's going to do with it. The exact details of it? I don't know. Could be anything. But what I do know is he'll disappear the second that money leaves your hands and transfers into his. Maybe I'd be able to track him down eventually, but by then, the money would be gone, spent on some other wild gambit maybe? I don't know."

"So this is what he does?" He huffed, disbelief in his face as she watched him closely. He sat back against the couch, his eyebrows going up as he faced forward, hands slack on his legs. "No wonder I couldn't find anything about Jack Burton when I tried to look into him."

Sarah arched one eyebrow. "Oh?"

He winced. "Um. Yes. I didn't want to accuse him of stuff until I looked into him a little. I'm sorry. I know it's a breach of privacy—"

Sarah snorted. "Chuck, my best friend built a whole dossier on you. I don't blame you for looking into my dad after he asked you to loan him one hundred thousand fucking dollars. The utter gall a person'd have to have to make that kind of request from a bank let alone another freaking person. It just…isn't normal. You didn't find anything, huh?" Chuck shrugged. "Yeah, well… there's nothing to find because Jack Burton doesn't exist."

"I…was afraid maybe… I don't know." But then he shifted to face her better, and she was relieved he hadn't gotten up, grabbed his jacket, and hightailed it the hell out of here with the information he had so far. Then again, this was Chuck Bartowski. And fearing he might do that had been unfair to him. "There is one thing I found." Sarah looked at him steadily, curious. "An arrest was made a little over a decade ago. A guy named Jack Burton was arrested for larceny, I think it was. And fraud. He got five years but got out for good behavior after serving two. But that isn't…" Sarah let out a rough breath and looked away. "Oh. Wow. Shit. That's…that's your dad, isn't it?"

"He went by Jack Burton then, too. At least, that was who he was with my mom, and with me. It's the name I know him by. They booked him as Jack Burton when he was arrested. I was thirteen. That was the last straw for my mom. She'd had it. She divorced him during those, uh, two years. I didn't see him for a while after that. Even when he got out."

"Sarah…"

She didn't look at him. "My dad is a conman," she said in the deep silence. "Always has been, as far as I can tell. And he always will be. Apparently. Since he's trying to con you as we speak. No matter how much he convinces my mom…or me…" She dropped her chin to her chest. "That isn't gonna change." And she knew with a debilitating sort of finality: "He isn't gonna change."

}o{

Chuck looked at her, really looked at her. And it wasn't exactly that he was really looking at her for the first time. Because he liked to think he'd been able to see her from early on. At least, he'd seen the important stuff.

But now that he had the truth about her dad, about some of what she'd gone through while growing up, Chuck thought he was really looking at Sarah Walker.

The heartbreak in her face, the anger, was something he had a feeling no one else had gotten to see besides maybe just her closest confidants over the years, like Carina and…well, this was Sarah so he had a feeling that was it.

She lifted blue eyes up to meet his gaze, and he saw unshed tears there. His whole chest collapsed in on itself. And he reached up to wrap his arm nearest her around her shoulders, pulling her in against him and hugging her close.

Sarah let out a harsh breath against his neck. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry my dad is targeting you. I feared he might and I thought I had my eyes wide open, I thought I'd see it, but then things felt so… No," she corrected herself. "I'm just lying to myself if I say things felt different. They didn't really. I was just letting myself hope. Which was stupid. Because whenever I put faith in him, whenever I hope he might be better, I end up hurt. So? Here I am again."

Chuck felt the anger take his heart in a fiery grip. "You don't owe me an apology," he said adamantly. "He was given the opportunity to do better, be better, and he decided not to take it. That was him, not you."

"It's not the first time. I just hope I garner up the wherewithal to have it be the last." She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and blinked rapidly, sucking in a rough breath. "He's my dad and it's really hard for me not to want… I don't know." She shook her head.

"You want a relationship with your dad that doesn't include him trying to con the people you care about?" he asked.

She smirked bitterly and rolled her eyes. "Yes. I want to be able to lower my guard around my own fucking dad. Just hang out and do things people usually do with their dad. I lowered my guard, got coffee with him, went out for lunch, dinner, we hung out, and it felt so good. So…normal. And the whole time he was digging for info on my boyfriend so that he could steal a hundred thousand from you."

"Despicable," Chuck heard himself say, his voice deep and tinged with anger. He stared down at his own lap, his jaw clenched. He thought of that Christmas Eve dinner again, the way he'd felt a sort of resentment towards Sarah's parents, less so her mom but still her mom too, and how much it hurt to see the woman he loved be so mortified and ashamed. He'd thought so much about how incapable they'd both been of prioritizing their daughter even for a few hours.

This was so much worse, and he could tell by the shame in Sarah's downturned face that it was hitting her hard. He really wanted to grab the asshole and shake him and ask him what in the fuck was wrong with him. How did you let down your own child this badly the one time, let alone repeatedly?

How selfish did you have to be?

"Yeah, I…know." She sounded so wounded. And he didn't blame her. Maybe even against her own common sense, Sarah had let herself think that maybe Jack was sincere this time, that maybe things were changing for the better, that he had genuine intentions to be better himself. Only for the reality to crash down around her.

He was still exactly who he was. Doing the same shit he'd always done. Hurting her, and God, it would probably hurt her mom, too…considering the romantic reunion it seemed Jack and Emma were enjoying for the last month or so.

Chuck knew what it felt like to believe in someone, to give someone another chance, only to have them throw it back in his face, and it hurt so much worse when it went down like that.

He couldn't even imagine the pain when it was your own father.

Chuck slid his hand across the small of her back and rubbed comfortingly. "I don't really know what's going through your head right now, Sarah, but I hope…I hope you aren't being hard on yourself."

"Please don't, Chuck." She sat up a bit straighter, pulling her face from under his jaw. But she draped her arm over his thigh, maybe as if in an attempt to lave the bite. "I appreciate that you're trying to make me feel better, I really do. But who wouldn't be hard on themselves if they were in my shoes? He's done this over and over and over again, and I've let him. Only this is the last straw because he's going after you. I really didn't think he was capable of this level of shamelessness. He was just gonna take that loan, make off with it, and…what, I'd forgive him when he pops back up again a few years from now? 'Hey, Darlin'. I'm back. Did ya miss me?' Fuck that."

She pushed her hands through her hair. "I can't even truthfully say this is the last straw though because I get got every fucking time. Even though I knew to be careful with putting you in front of him; I even told my mom to watch out for him around you, to look for clues he was up to something. She got mad at me. Because she's been had, too."

"Jack taking advantage of the fact that you both love him in spite of everything is a stain on him, not on you and your mom."

"But we let it happen. I let it happen, and of all people, I let it happen to you."

He was desperate to rid her of the guilt where he was concerned. He understood where she was coming from even if he couldn't exactly empathize. He didn't blame her. He wasn't angry with her. He didn't feel betrayed by her.

But he understood why she clearly felt so much shame. And he knew she was right; whatever he tried to say to make that shame lessen, it'd still be there. If he were in her shoes… God, he'd feel so much embarrassment and shame.

Chuck reached over with the hand furthest from her and cupped her jaw gently, and she turned to look at him, her blue eyes wide and filled with anguish. It made him angry.

Jack Burton was scum. He was plain old scum.

"You need to know that your father's sins are his, not yours." He heard her swallow hard and he kept going. "Clearly, there's nothing you can do to make him change his ways. It doesn't matter how much he loves ya—and I think he does in his own…erm, way—he's selfish, Sarah, and he's going to do what feels right by him. With no care as to whether it's right by you, or by your mom. That's how selfish people are." He stroked her cheek with his thumb adoringly. "I don't know if there's anything I can say that won't make you heap the blame onto your own shoulders, like you didn't protect me enough or whatever it is you're feeling, but I want you to hear this from me anyway: I don't blame you for this, I'm not angry with you for this, there is no part of me that thinks you should've done more to keep me safe from your dad's cons."

Sarah draped her hand over his where it rested on her face. "The more you open your mouth and say all of this incredibly kind, sweet shit, the angrier I am at him for targeting you."

He sniffed in a sort of bitter amusement. "It's the kind, sweet shit I've got inside of me that probably makes me such a good target," he admitted. "I'm a sucker. I wanna help people. But especially if the father of the woman I love comes to me asking for help? No way am I refusing that."

"And I hate him for taking advantage. You're not a sucker—"

"Hey, listen. You don't gotta…say that. I know what I am. I don't know that I'll ever be less of one, Sarah. A sucker, I mean. I'd rather get it in the face for giving the wrong person a chance, or a second chance, than…not give 'em a chance. I guess. I can take a loss; I've got plenty."

Sarah sighed, stroking the back of his hand with her fingers. "I can't figure you out, Chuck. I know you're real, sometimes you're so very real, but then there are these moments when it feels like you're right out of a dream or something."

"Oh, I'm real. You missed it earlier because you and Ellie and your mom were chatting it up near the barbecue, but Morgan and I were playing that paddle ball thing and I stubbed my toe on the freaking ground somehow while going for the ball. It took me out. I was down for the count for a good, like…seven minutes. Morgan was this close to getting me an ambulance."

She giggled, shaking her head. "Sounds harrowing."

"It wasn't. At all. Which is my point. I'm not a dream, I'm just…a guy."

"You aren't just anything." She curled her fingers around his hand and pulled it away from her face, grasping onto it in both of her hands, squeezing tightly as she rested it in her lap. "Which is why I was so terrified to tell you about all of this. I mean, with my dad. Who he is. What he does. That he's been arrested more than once for this shit and keeps doing it because it's in his blood. At least, that's the excuse he uses." She took a slow, deep breath. "This relationship has been so freaking good so far, I mean, from the friendship at the beginning to what we have now, this romance we've got going on…" He felt a smile pull at his lips just slightly. "It is so good. And you are so good. You're good for me. And I didn't want to lose this. So I'm sorry I wasn't honest."

"You don't owe me your whole life's story, Sarah. Especially not right off the bat. It's okay." He leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. "But I gotta ask…" He really had to ask. "Did you actually think I would run away from ya when I found out your dad's a conman?"

Sarah winced, nibbling on her bottom lip. "A lot of people would…"

Chuck decided not to be offended. He imagined it had nothing to do with not trusting he cared enough about her to take that information and not be horrified by her because of it. Maybe it was more that humanity hadn't been all that kind to her, and growing up with her dad wasn't a kind experience either. Maybe it was less about Chuck, her feelings for him and about him, than it was about her general feelings about people and how bad her dad's story was.

He didn't know.

But he wasn't taking any of this out on her. He just wanted to make her feel better to the best of his ability.

"Hey." He nudged her with his shoulder and she swung her gaze back up to his. "I own the comic book shop right next door to your bookstore, Sarah. I've got nowhere to run."

Chuck watched amusement blossom on Sarah Walker's face. She raised her eyebrows, her lips full of glee even as they pursed and twisted to the side, her eyes sparkling with humor. "Well. How romantic is that…"

He couldn't stop the bubbly giggle if he tried. She beamed at him. He was so in love it was a little stupid.

He tucked some hair away from her face and furrowed his brow, wanting her to understand deep down to her bones that he wasn't going anywhere. "We'll figure it out together. You and me. You don't hafta do it alone."

"You're his target," she said wanly. "You kind of don't have a choice but to be a part of what comes next."

"Fair point." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm just trying to reiterate that I'm not running. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. I'm in this. I'm in it with you. I'm not budging. I want to be with you. I want you. I love you."

He probably had more to say, but he couldn't say anything else as Sarah lunged for him, slamming her lips into his, immediately unzipping his hoodie, pushing it off of his shoulders and down his arms, throwing it somewhere behind the couch and yanking his shirt up his torso.

They broke the kiss just long enough for him to raise his arms to help her tug the shirt off. She tossed that somewhere too and then her hands were all over him, dragging over his chest, fingers and nails digging into his back, and then she was skillfully attacking the front of his pants.

Sarah clearly didn't feel like wasting time, so he acted fast, doing his very best to get her out of her pajamas.

And when every shred of clothing was gone, he felt the chill of the room kind of get to him even as he felt her shiver a little in his arms, and he thought maybe the bedroom would be a better venue. But when he made to get up, Sarah swung her leg over him and straddled his lap, pushing her hand down between their bodies and touching him in a way that made all lucid thought drop away like it was never there in the first place.

"Here," she demanded. "Now."

Chuck could only nod desperately, grabbing onto her waist, adjusting how he sat on the couch, and letting her have the reins as she joined their lower halves.

}o{

Sarah felt acutely every single inch of his skin that pressed against hers. Every place they touched, it was like the nerves in her body sparked with an intense electricity. His hard chest was pressed against her back, some of her long blond hair trapped between their bodies, tugging a little uncomfortably.

She did nothing to fix it. Because his lips were dragging down her jaw, over her neck, her shoulder. And his hand still had quite the grip on one of her breasts.

Sarah pressed her weight into him, not wanting to be too close to the edge of the couch, pinning him against the back of the couch.

She'd since lowered her leg so that it was draped back over both of his as he spooned her from behind, hugging her close.

Sarah unclamped her hand from around his wrist where he was holding onto her chest still, and she had to flex her fingers a bit to get the blood flowing back into them. Reaching back behind her, she felt for his silky hair, loving the way it curled around her fingers, and she stroked a pattern through them, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

They were both still panting hard.

Which was why she barely got out, "I'm-I'm sorry I…said it like that…" She blushed hard. "I meant it. I mean it." She sucked in another deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart and hard breathing. "It wasn't…the way I wanted to…say it though…" she said between puffs of air.

She felt Chuck smile against the underside of her jaw. "You and me both."

"So what…you're saying…is…we're both…messes…with our…love professions?"

She'd done it.

She hadn't meant to, but it had come out.

Chuck had her teetering right on the edge of her finish as she moved in his lap, meeting her with every stroke, their eyes had met, and she'd been overcome with sensations—both physical and emotional. She'd buried her face in his hair as they'd rocked together and she gasped out, "I love you" about five or six times.

Things had continued with a sort of wildness that had ascended beyond mere intensity, ascended beyond passion, ascended beyond intimacy. She didn't know what in the hell it had been. All things at once?

But they loved each other, and with the conversation they'd just had before, the admissions, the acknowledgments, the deep understanding that this thing between them had the real chance of being a sort of impenetrable force in both their existences, the sex they'd just had…

It had ascended beyond everything.

It almost made her believe in magic, in forces beyond what science could explain.

And she was still struggling to breathe as he nodded with a panting chuckle of, "Yeah. We might be…messes."

"I meant it." She turned her face as much as she could, craning her neck a little to try to see his face as he cradled her into his body from behind. "I mean it, Chuck. I love you."

She decided saying it again now, when their bodies weren't decidedly connected, a million bolts of lightning crashing through them both as they sought ecstasy, was important. He needed to hear it like this. So that he knew it wasn't just about sex and what his body was making hers feel.

"I love you," he responded eagerly. And his hand that clutched onto her breast let go, his fingertips instead lightly stroking down her ribs, teasing her belly button. He squeezed her thigh, then rubbed to her inner thigh which sent excitement through her again. "I'm-I'm not…done, though. Is that okay? I…want more. Please."

Sarah grinned wildly, turning her face into the couch cushions. She wasn't about to fucking argue with that. "Yes," she breathed emphatically.

"But-But it's cold out here. Can we move to your room? The bed… under the covers?"

She giggled, breaking his hold on her so that she could crawl out of his embrace and up onto admittedly unsteady feet, knees that were quivering, legs that felt a little bit like lead.

Sarah didn't care. She let Chuck pull her down the hallway to the bedroom and dove into her bed with him. The realization of how big this was, how deep is was, assailed her, along with the fact that her dad tried to exploit this real connection she'd formed, and when she was overtaken with emotion, she buried her face in Chuck's hair and clung to him harder.

As if he inherently knew something in her changed, he stilled and pulled his face back, looking down into her eyes. He stroked the tears from her cheeks, made to roll off of her, not intending to continue, but Sarah tightened her arm around his shoulders, reaching down to grab his hip in her other hand, giving him a small shake of her head. "Keep going," she whispered. "Please."

"R'you sure?"

"Yes. Yes!" she repeated with more emphasis.

And when he continued, she grabbed onto the headboard of her bed and let herself feel something that was real, that she could trust, that she never ever had to fear would come back to slap her in the face.

Sarah Walker's whole existence up to that point had told her to never trust anybody ever again, not for any reason. They'd just betray her. They'd throw it back at her. It would hurt. It would break her. The way her dad kept breaking her.

Never trust again. Ever.

And in spite of that, she'd looked into Chuck Bartowski's face and she'd trusted him. With her dad's identity, his criminality. With her story. With her self.

She'd looked Chuck Bartowski in the eye and she'd trusted him.

She did trust him. She would trust him. With her body, yes, absolutely, without fail, but also with everything else.

Including her heart.

A/N: Just a few more chapters left if you'd do me a favor and see this one out with me. Thanks for reading! Please review if you're able to. Thank you again!

-SC