A/N: I'd like to thank my beta, a Texan, for getting the dialect right on this chapter. This will end the International Incident episode. Is there a cliffhanger? Does a bear defecate in the woods?

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"Too bad I don't have a jacket and tie," Chuck said, as they headed to the restaurant. "I mean, it would be the right thing to do."

Sarah stopped and turned to him. "Why would you wear a jacket and tie?"

"I would think if someone as amazing as you said yes to marrying me, that I would go all out," Chuck said with a shrug.

"But what if I said that I just wanted to go out and celebrate," Sarah countered.

"Well, then we wouldn't be going here," Chuck told her. "See, this is a get-a-reservation place. That means I would have had to plan it; hence, a coat and tie."

Sarah grabbed his hand and led him back to the surveillance van. "Uh, Sarah, what are we doing?"

"I have a few sets of clothes in there, in case we needed them for an emergency. I'm pretty sure I have a coat and tie in there," Sarah explained. "You're right. If you had planned all of this, you would have on a coat and tie."

Casey and Anna gave them both a strange look as they returned to the van. "Everything okay, Walker?" Casey asked.

"Fine," Chuck told them. "Sarah just thought I needed a wardrobe change." Anna shook her head at Casey, urging him to silence. Sarah had opened a locker and ruffled through the clothes that were hanging in there. She pulled out a coat, grabbed a tie, and they headed back out, shutting the door behind them.

"Does either of them have a clue the other is in love with them?" Anna asked.

"Not one damn clue," Casey grumbled. "Not one."

Outside, Sarah was helping Chuck by tying his tie for him and then running her hand down it, removing any wrinkles. "You okay?" Chuck asked her. She shrugged, and he took her hand. "Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?" She locked eyes with him and started to speak when the door to the van flew open, startling both.

"Here," Casey said, clipping a tie clip on Chuck's tie. "Microphone in there. Here's a receiver, Walker. Make sure and insert in the ear that's away from the target."

"Thank God you told me," Sarah said, putting in her ear. "All those years in the CIA and they never told me that."

"What's got you snippy?"

"Nothing. Come on, Chuck, let's go," she told him, looping her arm through his. Casey watched them walk off, shook his head, and went back into the van.

Chuck put his hand over the microphone and looked at her. "You okay?" She nodded. "You sure." She gave him a smile.

"I get tired of Casey forgetting that I was a spy, and know how spycraft works. I don't like the way he talks down to you sometimes," she said softly.

"It's his love language," Chuck said with a shrug. "He probably never was a very traditionally affectionate man, and his time in… well, everything he has done, has done nothing to nurture anything like that. Plus given the society we live in, and how hard it is for men to express that they care for other men…" Chuck trailed off and shrugged. He looked at her. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Every damn time I think I know everything about you, you show me something new and knock me on my ass," Sarah said. She pulled his head to him and kissed him on the cheek. "We have a job to do but…" she swallowed, almost looking frightened. "Later, we need to talk, okay? Nothing bad, just… talk."

"Okay," Chuck said, squeezing her hand. "So, where are we from?"

Sarah grinned. "How do you feel about being from Texas?"

}o{

"I didn't realize they were going to sit us right next to them," Chuck said, nervous.

"Hey, here's how we do this… you lead, and I'll follow," Sarah told him, squeezing his hand. "I'm used to playing off others."

"If you need to lead at any point, feel free to take over," Chuck told her. He started to walk up to the maître d' but paused and turned back to her. "I assume that's how Friday nights go." Sarah nearly burst out laughing as he turned back to the maître d'. "Howdy, pawt-nah, reservation for Charles Charles."

The maître d' managed to not roll his eyes… only just, and led them to their table, right beside Diego and his girlfriend. "Howdy," Chuck said, nodding at him. "I must warn you, me and the soon-to-be missus are here to celebrate, and I hope we don't get to rowdy."

"He proposed!" Sarah drawled, showing the couple the engagement ring.

"But more importantly, she said yes!" Chuck finished. Diego and his girlfriend laughed as Chuck and Sarah took their seats and looked over the menu, talking about the selections in their Texan accents.

"Hi," the girlfriend said, sticking out her hand to Sarah. "I'm Heather, and this is my boyfriend, Diego." Diego nodded to the couple. "I just have to know, what led you to ask her?

Chuck thought for a second, then looked Sarah in the eye. "See, she sees th' best in me. She encourages me to be my best self, and gives me th' strength to do it," Chuck said in his Texan affectation, holding her hand, looking directly into her eyes. "So how could I do anything but ask her to spend th' rest'a my life with me? I love her more than I even know how t'say, and trust me, I talk a lot." A wet giggle left Sarah's lips as she smiled at him, fighting back tears. "I love her and want to spend th' rest'a my life with her."

"I love you, Baby," she said softly. "And that's why I'm gonna spend the rest'a my life with you." With that, she leaned forward and kissed him, feeling complete.

"That is so amazing," Heather said, fanning herself. "I'm gonna need a minute, and with that, she got up and hurried to the bathroom.

"Is everything okay?" the waiter asked.

"Everything is fine," Diego told the waiter. "This amazing couple here just told us how they got engaged, and my girlfriend… well, she loves love."

"Very good," the waiter said.

"Hey, any chance I can thank the cook for this fine meal?" The waiter nodded, and gestured for Diego to follow him. "Be right back, folks," Diego said, grabbing his briefcase. Chuck and Sarah watched him walk off.

"Chuck, that's gotta be the handoff," Sarah said softly. Chuck nodded. "Come on." Chuck followed her, silent, looking a little… off. "You okay?"

"Forgive me for what I'm about to say, but Sarah Walker… you can kiss." She couldn't help but grin over that, even though she knew she shouldn't.

"Walker, this is an open line," Casey said into her ear.

"Never had any complaints," she told Chuck. She worried maybe she shouldn't have, that he would freeze up, or stumble.

"Is okay that I envy Friday-night-me a bit?"

Damn. She almost stumbled from that.

"Again, you're both on an open line," Casey said, sounding nauseous. Chuck didn't have an earwig, so she ignored Casey.

"There he is, and the case," Sarah pointed out. They snuck past the kitchen.

"What do we do?" Chuck asked her.

"I have an idea, but…" she trailed off, and looked at him, nervous.

"I trust you," Chuck told her. She saw the door to the kitchen about to open and she grabbed him and kissed him. It wasn't any regular kiss. It was like there was a bomb about to go off and melt them both. It was like this was their last moment on earth, and she needed him to know, in that second, she chose him, and only him. They heard a clearing of a throat, and pulled away.

"Jesus," Chuck gasped.

"Sorry," Sarah said. "He was jes being all sweet and stuff, and I had to…" Sarah trailed off and shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. Diego chuckled and shook his head. "Did'ya taste somethin' back there?" Diego looked confused. "There's somethin' on yer lip." Diego wiped at his mouth. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket. "Here, let me." She reached up to wipe at something, the handkerchief getting close to his nostrils and then she quickly pushed it, covering his mouth and nose. His eyes rolled back into his head. "Help me get him into the bathroom," Sarah told Chuck.

The two dragged Diego down the hall and into the bathroom. They found a private watercloset, and pulled him in there.

"Sarah?" Chuck asked, looking shocked.

"He won't remember the last five minutes," Sarah told him. She grabbed the briefcase, took it to the sink and looked at it. "I think I can pick this lock."

"You think?" Chuck asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I totally can. I just didn't want to appear to be over-confident."

"Sarah," Chuck said making her turn to him. "It ain't braggin' iffin' yew kin back 'er up." She thought she might melt, but there was time for that later. She spun and began fiddling with the lock.

"Casey, do you want pictures?" Sarah asked.

"Yep, and then we'll go from there," Casey replied. Sarah got the case open, and Chuck had his phone out. Casey listened but heard nothing. "What's going on?"

"There's… there doesn't appear to be anything," Sarah told Casey. "I'm going to take pictures of the papers, but… Casey, it looks like… it looks like an application packet for a kid to go to college."

"There are tax returns, those are needed for the FAFSA," Chuck said. "And here is a printed off copy of the FAFSA." He looked at Sarah. "This is… this is about someone going to college."

"Maybe they're targeting someone at college to turn them or something," Sarah offered, confused. "Look we got everything."

"Wake him up and get out of there," Casey told them. He leaned back in the chair and looked over at Anna. "You got any ideas?"

"Nope," Anna replied. "It all sounds weird to me."

"Me too," Casey agreed.

}o{

"This makes no sense," Chuck muttered, sometime later. The four were in the Castle Security office. Casey and Sarah were on a conference call with Beckman. Chuck was doing a deep dive on Phillip Smith, the person who's records they had found in Diego's briefcase. Anna was going through the pictures Chuck had taken, to see if they had missed anything.

"What did you find?" Anna asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Chuck told her. "It seems that this Phillip Smith does have an uncle, named Diego Matez, who does not reside in the US. Why he has Phillip's info, I have no idea. I've gone through everything of Phillip's, and – no disrespect meant to the boy – there doesn't seem to be anything about him that just screams he should be recruited."

Chuck turned the screen toward Anna. "He has a good GPA, but not outstanding. Test scores are good, but not outstanding. Played a little baseball, but at best seemed to be a defensive specialist in the outfield, and wasn't super athletic."

"In other words, he's just a normal high school kid," Anna said.

"Yep," Chuck told her.

"Either there never was anything of importance to the United States in that briefcase, or the switch already happened," Casey said, walking up to the two.

"Beckman doesn't know which, either," Sarah added. "Sometimes you get bad intel."

"I mean… this is… well, bad," Chuck said.

"It happens," Casey said with a shrug. "You got paid, there doesn't seem to have been a hand-off at any point. It happens, sometimes. You did your job perfectly."

"Well, if we're done, I'm tired," Anna told the three.

"Good-night, Anna, good job," Sarah said. They watched her walk out. Sarah turned to Casey. "Do we follow up?"

"Nah," Casey said, shaking his head. "If Beckman wants us to follow up, she'll tell us. Night." The two watched Casey walk to the door and leave.

"So, have you got time for us to talk for a minute?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah-yeah, uh, I can," Chuck told her.

"Roof?"

"Yeah, let me run to the restroom and I'll meet you up there," Chuck told her. He wiped his hands on his pants, stood, and hurried to the restroom. Sarah took a deep breath, turned, and left the office to go upstairs.

}o{

Zondra sat at a table in the small diner, enjoying her slice of pie. She looked up as the bell over the door dinged, signaling someone's arrival. She watched as the woman walked over to Zondra's booth, sliding in across from her. The waitress showed up, and her companion ordered a slice of pie, and coffee.

"How did it go, Caitlyn?" Zondra asked.

"I'm still not sure how they did it," Caitlyn admitted. "I never saw them the night before, and it didn't even dawn on me until after the whole thing was over that they might be your mark."

Caitlyn slid a folder over to Zondra. Zondra opened it and looked at the pictures of Chuck taking picture of the contents of the briefcase. The point of view of the pictures were from inside. "He didn't even notice the camera in there."

"Who would," Caitlyn said with a shrug. "While Diego did give them opportunity, they played everything off well. Hell, I thought they were in love."

"Love?" Zondra asked, looking up at Caitlyn. Zondra reached in her bag, pulled out a photo, examined it then pushed it over to Caitlyn. "Is this the woman Chuck was with?"

"That's her," Caitlyn said. "I swore she was in love with him."

"I didn't know she was that good," Zondra muttered. "And him?"

"Oh, God, he all but swooned over her, "Caitlyn said, shaking her head. "And the way he came up to me, telling me how Diego had slipped in the bathroom, knocking himself out… he was good, Zondra."

"And Diego?" Zondra asked.

"Nothing's changed, he just wants to see his nephew graduate from college, and walk the line," Caitlyn told her. "He's completely out of the life."

"Good," Zondra said, nodding. "I'm glad something good came out of my time in the CAT Squad."

"That woman, she was your partner in the CAT Squad?"

"She was," Zondra confirmed. "She thought I was a traitor. I thought she was a traitor." Zondra rotated her arm, feeling it catch a bit. "We both got in some good shots." Caitlyn sat there, amused. "Fine, we kicked each other's ass, and put each other out of commission for a while."

"Both now in civilian life," Caitlyn said. Zondra nodded. "We even?"

"I told you that you didn't owe me, that if you do this, it was a favor for me," Zondra told Caitlyn.

"Uh-huh," Caitlyn said with a grin. "We even?"

"I owe you," Zondra said, a grin on her face.

Caitlyn stood, then paused. She thought for a moment, decided not to say anything, and left. Zondra sat there, looking at the pictures, staring at the one of Sarah. "Sarah Walker making others believe she's in love. I didn't think that was possible." She sat there quietly, trying to think of her next move. Her boss had given her a job to do, and Zondra Rizzo didn't fail jobs. She didn't like what she had to do, but she was going to do it.

She just hoped she could live with the consequences.

}o{

She had her arms resting on the ledge of the wall, looking out over the city. They had to talk, clear the air between them. He was her best friend, her partner. And she couldn't lose him, she couldn't, but she didn't know how much longer she could keep going on this way.

"Hey," she heard behind her. She spun and saw him there, looking nervous. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.

"Hey, you," she said softly. He walked up to her. She leaned against the wall.

"So, you said we needed to talk, and that it was nothing bad, but…" Chuck trailed off. "Trying not to spiral here, but I gotta say something, Sarah. I know the last few days we've been… a little morethan normal." Sarah nodded. "If I've said or done anything-"

"Hey," she said quickly and gently, shaking her head. "You've done nothing wrong. Nothing at all." She blew out a breath and looked over to her left, over the ledge and took in the view. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Chuck replied, as she looked back at him. He was looking right at her. "Yeah, you are."

"I didn't mean me," she said, gently swatting at him. "I meant the city." She reached over and took his hand. "We had this talk a few days ago, but I think we need to again. You're my best friend, you're my partner."

"You're mine, as well, but you can't tell Morgan; he would be able to take it." Sarah grinned. He licked his lips, and with courage he didn't know he had, continued. "But lately, I've been feeling… something more. Okay, actually that's a lie. I've been feeling something more for a long time, and I thought it was a one-way street."

"When you say more?" Sarah asked. Chuck swallowed. "Hey, you can tell me anything, okay?" Chuck nodded.

"I'm crazy about you, Sarah. I have been for a long time, but you're right, we have this bond… this business, this friendship, that means the world to me."

"It means the world to me too," Sarah told him. She squeezed his hand. "And, it's not a one-way street."

"It's not?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, I wasn't kidding about those Friday night dreams," Sarah told him, making him chuckle. "And honestly, it sometimes happens when it's not Friday."

"So, what do we do?" Chuck asked.

"I don't want to lose what we have. You mean the world to me," Sarah said. Chuck nodded, disappointment on his face, and Sarah couldn't help herself, she pulled him into a hug. "I'm not gonna lie, there is a huge part of me that wants to try this."

"There's a huge part of me that wants to try this," Chuck told her, still holding her, his breath hitting her ear and her neck, making her shiver. She pulled back a little, just to look him in the eye. "I do think you're the one who said if we were to blow this thing up, we needed to really do something."

She couldn't stop the smile coming to her face if she wanted to. Her head was telling her to run fast, run far, but her heart… her heart knew what it wanted. Yet, she stood there. "Chuck, it would probably be a really bad idea."

"Probably," Chuck agreed. The two hadn't separated; if anything, her grip on him had become a little tighter. "But if there was anyone I'd trust to help me make an absolute, complete and utter mess of this, it is you."

"You sweet talker, you," Sarah said. "IF we were to do something, and we broke up, it would make things awkward around here."

"So awkward," Chuck agreed. "And think how uncomfortable we make Casey and Anna now. If we were to try something and break up, the uncomfortableness would just skyrocket."

"Fly off into the stratosphere," Sarah agreed. If Chuck didn't know better, she had somehow moved a little closer. Their lips seemed to be much closer together than a minute ago.

"And," he said in a low voice. He swore she shivered. "Ellie and Morgan."

"Oh, God," Sarah agreed. He didn't know how, but she was even closer than she was a second ago.

"Sarah?"

"Yeah, Chuck?"

"You wanna blow things up?"

"Chuck."

"Yes, Sarah?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

A/N: I REALLY like that line. Hmmm? Oh, what's up next you ask.

Sarah Walker voice over: Next time, on Private Eyes, a little episode we like to call No Presumption of Innocence.

"Think we made a mistake?"

"I'm going to need some time to consider it," she said, and then kissed him again.

"How much time?"

"All the time I can get," she told him, capturing his lips with hers, again.

"Sarah?"

"Chuck, I'm trying to kiss you senseless," she said, half-kidding, half-not kidding, in fact, more like ninety percent not kidding. "What?"

"Did I live up to Friday night dream me?"

She was silent for a moment, and then gave him a lecherous grin. "Friday night dream you has nothing on the real thing."

Huh….I think they might have done something…and it wasn't playing Parcheesi.