A/N: With FanFiction still not sending out email notifications, it's hard for readers to know when a new chapter is published. So, it's so pleasing that some of you are still reading this and leaving reviews. Thank you so much. I agree that season 3 without Daniel Shaw is better. However, some episodes revolve around him and so are hard to rewrite, such as this one.
As usual, this was beta'd by Capt Lil. Thanks, my friend.
This chapter covers the events of "Chuck Versus the Fake Name," one of the most upsetting episodes. For me, that was not because Sarah told Shaw her birth name, but because Chuck slept with Hannah and drove Sarah to Shaw. Grr. Neither happens here, obviously.
Don't Walk Away
Chapter 9: Names
Sarah was joining Chuck for a stake out at lunchtime, but she wanted to ask Ellie something first. She knew the doctor was doing a half-day and would be heading out soon, so she sat at the fountain to wait. This had been the spot for a number of conversations since she first arrived in Burbank, some good, and some not so good.
"How many times have you sat there contemplating life, Sarah?"
She looked up at the brunette. "A lot," she replied. "And a lot waiting to talk to someone."
Ellie sat next to her. "Is this one of those?"
Sarah nodded. "I'll be helping Chuck make dinner tonight when you and Devon come over."
Ellie grinned. "He's told me about your terrifying speed at chopping fruit and vegetables. He says you're deadly with a knife in your hand."
Sarah almost winced. Too close to the truth, Chuck!
"He says he's cooking your favorite." She looked at her friend. "Is that Chicken Pepperoni?"
Ellie snorted. "I like it, but that's mainly because it's the only thing he cooks for others." She looked at Sarah. "It's what he was cooking for you last year for the date you had to cancel."
Sarah laughed at it being his one and only dish, but tried not to think about the night Graham was killed. "You'll have to teach me some other dishes."
Ellie nodded. "Will do."
"I hope you don't mind but I've invited someone else."
Ellie groaned. "Morgan?"
"No. He's off on a date with Anna. She's someone we met on our trip to Paris who's now working for Chuck at the Buy More."
Ellie narrowed her eyes. "She's not a threat, is she?"
Sarah loved that her friend was now as protective of her relationship with Chuck as she was of Chuck himself. "Looking out for me, Ellie?"
Ellie huffed. "You know how clueless my brother is. She'd have to kiss him before he'd realize she was hitting on him."
Sarah burst out laughing. "She's not interested in him. She's as much of a nerd as he is. Their connection is bits and bytes, not anything else. She became my friend before him, though."
"God! You're not interested in another nerd, are you?"
Sarah laughed hard again. "There's only one nerd I take to my bed."
Ellie shuddered. "I asked for that, didn't I?" She then looked at Sarah. "I see his humor is rubbing off on you, but you're good for him, and I think he's good for you too."
"He is."
Ellie hugged her. "I'm glad you overcame all your problems." She looked at her watch and stood. "Gotta dash. Look forward to meeting your friend."
Sarah and Chuck were just finishing lunch, sitting near the edge of a rooftop restaurant while waiting for the latest mark to come out of the hotel across the street.
"I thought you didn't want dessert," Chuck commented as she scooped some of his with her fork.
She grinned. "I don't. I want yours. See, my dessert is contained within your dessert. I like it better that way."
He rolled his eyes. "Typical."
They both hear Casey's voice coming through their earpieces. "The vehicle in question has arrived."
They looked across and watched. They saw a man walk out of the hotel, heading toward the car.
Casey continued, "I have the target in sight."
They got up and rushed down the stairs to get over there as quickly as possible.
The man almost reached the car when he dropped to the ground.
Casey muttered, "Night-night." He'd tranq'd the man.
Sarah and Chuck reached the man and loaded him in the back of the car. Chuck climbed into the back with him and Sarah drove them away.
Chuck had flashed on the man when General Beckman had first told them he was in town, and showed them his image. "Rafe Gruber is a martial arts expert, a sharpshooter." Sarah remembered him looking at her. He knows I'm just the same, but not freelance.
Now they had him in one of the interrogation rooms, the general told them more, "He is one of five people who can hit a target from half a mile away. The fact that very few people have seen his face has kept him off the radar for a while."
Casey grunted. "Not impressed with his abilities."
Beckman glared at him. "Well, The Ring is. A couple of weeks ago, they apparently wired a million dollars into his account. We need to know who The Ring wants dead."
"I'll get it out of him," growled Casey, reaching into his bag of weapons. He pulled out a blow torch and fired it up. A flame burst out of the barrel end. "This'll do." He turned to the interrogation room.
Chuck had visibly winced at the use of the blow torch and stopped him. He pointed to the table with Gruber's possessions. "We should check his phone first."
Casey sighed. "Go ahead. Hack into it."
Sarah watched Chuck work his magic. He was quickly through the initial protection and was scanning messages received. After a few minutes, he sighed. "Why do people have such important information stored so insecurely?"
"What is it?" Casey growled. Sarah was with him on this.
Chuck turned the phone around to face the two agents. "Meet the target."
Casey grunted in surprise and Sarah's jaw dropped. "Shaw?" she said quietly.
"It seems that The Ring didn't think he died," Chuck commented.
"So, there's nothing to torture out of him," grumbled Casey.
"Sorry, big guy," Chuck said.
Casey said, "He doesn't know about Shaw. Let's play with him anyway," Casey said, grasping the blow torch he'd put down.
Chuck jumped up. "Let me talk to him first, Casey. Maybe he'll tell us why it's taken him two weeks to turn up."
Casey glared at him, then relaxed his shoulders. "Go ahead, Bartowski. Bore him into telling you."
Chuck entered the room, with Casey following. Sarah watched and listened. Gruber looked up, then back down again without saying a word. Chuck spoke before even sitting down, "Two weeks is a long time before reacting to a payment. You have doubts about the target?"
Sarah wondered how Gruber would react, but didn't have to wait long. He looked at Chuck and said, "Why would I tell you anything?"
Casey lit up the blow torch. "I can think of one burning reason why."
Chuck stayed standing and waved Casey back. "You're probably overdue anyway, but being held here just guarantees it. Ready to return the funds?"
Gruber shrugged. "I never fail."
Chuck shook his head. "Your target will soon be in the wind. You've already failed." He leaned forward. "What's it like to be a failure?"
Gruber snarled at Chuck and then turned to Casey. "I'll take the torture over this man's questions."
Chuck held up Gruber's phone. "Pathetic security on this, Raif. Another of your failures. So, we know your target. Why take so long to get here?"
Gruber sat back, obviously refusing to talk.
Casey started walking toward Gruber, but the phone in Chuck's hand rang. Casey grabbed it off of him and answered. "Gruber," he snapped.
Sarah and Chuck listened to Casey's side of the call.
"'course I'm ready."
"Yeah, yeah, I know where that is."
"I'll be there."
When he ended the call, Gruber smirked at Chuck. "So, not too late."
Chuck shrugged. "You're still not getting out of here." He reached for the tranq pistol stuffed in the back of his waistband and fired a dart into the seated man.
Sarah shook her head. Her boyfriend was getting far too free with shooting people with that.
Casey would be meeting the local Ring team that afternoon. They'd said they wanted to discuss the assassination. All three of them suspected they may have found out that Shaw was dead and wanted their money returned. Beckman agreed and a team of NSA agents were assigned as backup. Whatever the motives of The Ring, the local team was going to be captured.
The plan was that Casey would dress as and pretend to be Gruber.
Chuck would also be in disguise. Sarah had objected to that when Chuck offered. He'd looked at her apologetically. "Sarah, I'll be able to flash on anyone in there to identify the Ring agents."
She tried to stay calm as Beckman was watching them. "You can do that from the van, or we can capture everyone and vet them later."
Casey stepped in. "You might not get an image if they check me for cameras." Then he added, "He'll be safe. I have no intention of dying there."
"First sign of trouble, we'll call for the team to move in," Chuck said.
"Then I'll be with that team," she stated.
She was still unhappy with the plan, but as they walked out of the Orange Orange over to the Buy More, she stopped him, grabbed his face and kissed him.
Pulling back, she said, "You better be safe, Chuck!"
He nodded and replied, "I will, my love."
He took one of her hands and walked her over the parking lot. When they reached the Nerd Herd station, Hannah looked up at them and grinned. "I'm sure he spends more time with you over there than in here, Sarah."
Sarah smiled. "Well, he'll take over from you for a few minutes, so that I can talk to you."
"Ooh. Thanks, boss," Hannah said as she quickly stepped out of the Nerd Herd space.
Chuck had agreed with Sarah inviting Hannah as a friend. He thought it might be weird if he invited her.
Sarah and Hannah walked over to the Audio Visual Theater. Sarah remembered when this used to be the place to hold video conferences with Graham and Beckman. That was a difficult time for Chuck and she was so glad that was behind them.
As the two women sat, Sarah said, "Tomorrow night Chuck and I are cooking dinner for his sister and husband. We'd like you to come."
Hannah looked unsure. "Won't that be awkward, me and two couples?"
Sarah hadn't thought of that. "It's not about couples or family, just a friendly meal together. We see you as a friend, and would like you there." Then she thought about her partner. "Casey lives in the same courtyard. Would you mind if he came too?"
Hannah laughed. "He's a bit old for me!"
Sarah winced at the thought of Casey like that. Hannah placed a hand on Sarah's wrist. "Sarah, I'd love to come. I was joking about Casey. I'm not looking for a boyfriend. Invite him if you want. It's your meal. I can talk to anyone."
Sarah beamed at her. "Great. See you then."
Sitting in the van with just the ability to listen to what was happening, Sarah was always going to worry about her boyfriend being possibly surrounded by Ring agents. She had to remind herself about how he defeated five armed Ring agents when he downloaded the current Intersect.
Casey had planned for he and Chuck to arrive in his Crown Vic, but Chuck had pointed out that it was not the sort of car an assassin for hire would drive, so the NSA had provided a Dodge Viper.
They had just gone into the building while Sarah was sitting in the van, fretting. She thought that this must be how Chuck felt when she and Casey left him in a van and he worried about her safety. This was worse, though. She was a trained and an experienced agent, whereas he was just an analyst. No, an Intersect-wielding analyst, she reminded herself.
She heard voices coming through from the mikes sown into their shirts.
"Hey, boss, someone to see you."
"Well, well, well, Rafe Gruber. Your reputation precedes you."
Casey sounded quite like Guber when he replied, "This is my coworker. You may call him Jack. Jack doesn't talk much."
"I know you from somewhere?" a different voice said.
Sarah had no idea if they were talking to Chuck or Casey, until the latter replied, "Doubt it."
It was still worrying.
"When we had previous dealings with our mutual friends, you had more trepidation about letting us I.D. you," the man continued.
Casey replied, "Not many people have seen my face and lived. Consider it an honor. Who's my target?"
The man sighed. "We've just found out that the target is dead. Someone else took him out. So, you aren't needed. We want our money back."
Casey growled, "You contracted and paid me. I don't do refunds for your mistakes."
The man said, "You are surrounded by my men. You don't have a choice."
Chuck then said, "A room full of Ring agents. Only ten of you."
"Along with the two at the entrance and two at the rear exit. Plus, the two snipers upstairs," the man replied.
"Too much information," snapped another guy.
"No, it's perfect," Sarah muttered. The NSA team will have heard this too.
She jumped out of the van and directed the men.
Keeping out of sight of the snippers was the hardest part of the plan, but they managed. Sarah coordinated the attack at the entrance and rear, then sent three men up the stairs before the rest rushed into the main room.
She saw the two seated men and took them out with tranq darts, after first hitting Casey and Chuck, as agreed. That would preserve Casey's cover as Gruber in case it was needed again in the future. The rest either surrendered or were shot by the NSA team.
It was a successful raid.
The tranquilizer used in this time was short acting, so the four men would recover in two hours.
The NSA lead took Casey, while Sarah took Chuck in the Viper.
Sarah thought about taking Chuck home, but as she was in the Viper rather than her Porsche, she decided to take him to Castle. He and Casey would recover together.
Gruber would be recovering in a few hours. Having thought about what Chuck had done, she concluded that a tranquilized Gruber was a safer option. He was notorious for escaping custody, so when he was taken away, he ought to be kept under.
The NSA leader turned up with Casey and the two of them took him and Chuck down into Castle.
She asked the man, Major Richardson, to stay while she called the general. "You'll be getting instructions from her. If your team has to transport Gruber, keep him tranquilized. He's too much of a risk otherwise."
Beckman appeared on the screen and Sarah immediately explained why Chuck and Casey weren't on the call and Richardson was.
Beckman almost smiled. "So, you've tranquilized Colonel Casey?"
"He expected it," Sarah replied, but couldn't keep the smile off of her face.
The general looked at the Major. "Your team will do the interrogations of the Ring agents. Call on this team for any assistance and report anything useful you find to both myself and them. Gruber has to be dispatched to DC. Do not risk him escaping."
Richardson said, "Agent Walker has already advised that he should be kept tranquilized."
Beckman nodded her agreement. "Use the long-acting doses." She sat back and looked at both of them. "Well done."
Sarah thanked her but added, "Without Casey and Chuck pushing the Ring team for information, it would've been harder. Infrared heat signatures wouldn't have worked in that building. Some sort of shielding."
Beckman nodded. "Good teamwork again."
Sarah would have to pass that praise on to the other two. "Thank you, General."
After the call ended, she sat and looked at the two unconscious men slumped at the table. They should recover in an hour or so, then they'd both need to get over to the Buy More for their cover jobs.
As Sarah showered, once back home, the memory of Casey and Chuck recovering from the tranquilizer entered her head. It made her grin.
xxx
"I hate you," was the first words uttered by Colonel John Casey as he became conscious and glared at Sarah.
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Oh, you're breaking my heart!" she gasped, placing a hand on her chest.
"Shut it, Walker," he growled.
"You did agree to it," she reminded him in a normal tone as she handed him a glass of water.
He grunted and took the glass and quickly knocked back the water.
"The general praised the good teamwork."
He snorted. "My best work pretending to be an unconscious rogue assassin."
With that, he stood. She was surprised he wasn't shaky on his feet, but watched him head up the stairs to go back to work over at the Buy More.
Chuck took a further fifteen minutes before he recovered. His eyes lit up when he saw her. "Always a lovely sight to wake up to, even when I feel like shit."
She gave him a kiss on his lips before handing him his water.
"Casey's already back at work," she said.
"He would be!" Chuck muttered. "Hope you didn't have to give him a kiss."
"Ugh, no!"
It took Chuck another five minutes before he was stable enough to walk. She gave him a kiss after helping him up the stairs. As she watched him walk out of the Orange Orange and across the parking lot, she had a flashback to when they were living in the suburbs undercover. This felt the same, seeing her man go off to work, but now he really was her man.
xxx
Her grin about Casey's mood was replaced by one of both nostalgia and happiness. Chuck really was her man now.
She had these moments of thankfulness for how things worked out recently, which all stemmed back to her conversation with Chuck on the station platform in Prague. Life would've been so much harder if they'd not had that.
She finished her shower, dried off and went to get ready for dinner.
She and Chuck had prepared the meal which was in the oven. He didn't really need help with his Chicken Pepperoni, so instead she'd prepared her signature dish. Chocolate Souffle. She'd joked to him about it. "No destroying this one."
"I was young, inexperienced and easily frightened back then." He did look embarrassed.
"Young?"
He'd shrugged. "Well, the other two were true."
It took her a while to decide what to wear. This meal felt significant somehow. She ended up choosing a blue dress that she knew Chuck liked. Mind you, he liked her in everything. Then she smirked. And in nothing, too!
Sarah had invited Casey to the meal, but he was in too foul a mood to accept. She decided not to tell him he was being ridiculous.
When Hannah arrived, Chuck told Sarah to be with her and that he'd finish off in the kitchen.
"You have him quite domesticated," the brunette teased. She'd deliberately said it loud enough for Chuck to hear, but Sarah decided to correct her, "That's not me. He's so much better there than I am."
"I think dessert will disprove that," Chuck called out. She blew him a kiss for that.
Sarah was about to offer Hannah a drink, but then there was another knock at the door, so she let Ellie and Devon in and made introductions.
Hannah looked appraisingly at the two doctors, then Sarah, and finally over at Chuck. "Is it a requirement to be tall and beautiful in this family?"
Ellie smiled. "I like this one."
"I'm not family," Sarah commented with a shrug.
"Both Ellie and Hannah snorted. ""All but," Chuck's sister commented.
Sarah was surprised at the warm feeling that suffused her on hearing that. Ellie regarding her as family was deeply touching. She felt she'd already been accepted. If only she could tell them about herself.
She had to shake herself out of that line of thought and quickly asked what each wanted to drink. Devon chose a beer, but both women said they'd drink the wine Hannah had brought.
Sarah thought Chuck's Chicken Pepperoni was delicious and the others seemed to think so, too.
"So, Hannah, I hear you worked in Paris," Ellie said.
"I did."
"That must've been awesome!" Devon chipped in.
Hannah nodded. "It was while it lasted."
This was the most subdued Sarah had seen her friend. Not surprisingly, it was still upsetting for her. Thankfully, Ellie picked up on that. "Well, Buy More's gain." She looked at Sarah significantly.
Sarah wasn't sure what Ellie was going to say, but she got in first. "Mine, too. I don't have many friends." Ellie smiled.
Hannah reached a hand to Sarah's. "I wouldn't have this without you and Chuck." Sarah squeezed her hand and smiled.
"So, when're you taking me clubbing?" Hannah asked unexpectedly.
"When she takes me," Ellie said with a smirk.
Sarah looked at both women. "Let's set a date."
"Aren't Devon and I invited?" Chuck asked.
No!" Ellie and Hannah said simultaneously.
Sarah grinned at him. "Doesn't look like it, Chuck. You'll have to take me on another night."
"Doesn't he take you every night?" Hannah asked.
Sarah realized she'd set them up for that, but Chuck blushed furiously, Ellie snorted and Devon laughed out loud.
Hannah smirked. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."
"Chuck says that sometimes," Sarah responded straight-faced, and then grinned.
"Ok. Can we raise the level of the conversation?" Chuck cut in.
"Sorry, boss," Hannah said, but she didn't really look sorry. The conversation did change to topics Chuck was happier with, though.
Sarah's souffle was as popular as Chuck's Chicken Pepperoni had been.
Ellie grinned when she saw it and turned to her brother. "Keep seated, Chuck." Hannah looked puzzled, so Ellie explained. "This idiot decided to show how clever he was when Sarah first came to dinner. He yanked the tablecloth off the table from underneath everything, including Sarah's chocolate masterpiece. Everything seemed to go ok, but then the lit candle beside it tipped over and the souffle caught fire."
Hannah gasped. "Oh my god!"
"Oh, it gets worse, " Sarah said. "He rushed it through to the bathroom, put it in the bath before getting in with it and stopped the flames with the shower and his feet." It was pretty upsetting at the time because it showed he didn't trust her.
Chuck looked embarrassed. "I panicked and overreacted." Sarah knew he said that so that the other three thought he meant the flames, but she knew it was also a repeated confession to her about Zarnow. "I'm so sorry, Sarah."
She smiled. "I forgave you… eventually." That was for both, too.
When she'd served it out, everyone thought it was delicious.
"God, I wish I'd had some of this back then!" Ellie said.
'Hmm. So do I,' Sarah thought, looking meaningfully at Chuck.
After everyone had left and Chuck and Sarah had cleaned up, they headed to bed, exhausted. However, something was playing on her mind. "Chuck, when you had to take on a false name, it made me think of all the names I've had."
He looked at her. "My woman of mystery and many faces." He smiled. "And many names."
"I had many as a child, too, thanks to dad."
He just nodded, but said nothing. He knew about her and her dad's con life before she joined the CIA.
She hadn't yet stripped out of her bra and panties, but sat at the end of the bed, patting the space beside her. He sat, looking puzzled.
"You once asked me my real name," she continued.
He smiled. "I did and found out your middle name."
She grasped his hands and locked eyes with him. "A female spy's original name is supposed to be her most private secret. One they are never supposed to let anyone know." He nodded his understanding. "For me, it was already a meaningless name. I haven't used it since I was seven, but I still kept it from you." She held his gaze. "I was born Samantha Lisa Richards, daughter of Emma Jane and Jake Richards in San Diego on July 30, 1982."
His eyes widened. "Wow! I never thought I'd find that out!"
"It was important to you, and I trust you with that information, Chuck."
He pulled her to him and embraced her. "I will never share it with anyone."
She kissed his chest. "The name is so insignificant to me now. I've been Sarah Lisa Walker for twelve years now. Almost twice as long as I was Samantha and, more significantly now…" She pulled back and looked at him. "I've been Sarah Walker to you for over two years. That's who I want to be known as." There was a reason she would change it and decided to mention it. "Unless I have to change my last name at some time in the future." She said it as a tease with twinkling eyes, but if he ever asked her, she would definitely say yes.
He looked a bit stunned, but responded quickly, "That would make someone the luckiest guy in the world."
She released his hands, grabbed his face and pulled him into a deep kiss. 'And I'd be the luckiest woman,' she thought.
After the kiss, they forgot their tiredness and were soon in bed making love, slowly and tenderly, holding their gaze throughout.
'God, I love everything about him so much!' was her final thought before they finished together.
A/N: I hope that people who were upset about her name in the episode found this better.
The next episode, "Chuck Versus the Beard" was all about The Ring trying to find what information Shaw had on them, so with him gone, it needed significant changes, but that's done now and with my beta. Hopefully, something for next week.