A/N: Glad you're still with me on this story. If you were one of the ones who left a review for the last chapter, thank you. Much appreciated.

This chapter covers the second half of Nemesis in all its AU glory.

Healing

Chapter 13: Pineapple

Sarah went with Bryce and the armed men that Graham sent. She wanted to make sure he got on the CIA jet that was waiting for him.

While in the back of the van, sitting opposite his ex-partner, Bryce said, "Will you come with me?"

Sarah was shocked that he would ask. "Why would I?"

"I'll probably be assigned to take down Fulcrum. I can't think of a better partner."

He was beyond belief. "You just don't get it, do you? I was tortured and then raped multiple times after you left me. Yes, the mission is always more important than the individual operatives, but it was days, Bryce!"

He seemed to ignore that. "I thought that if you were no longer doing assassination missions, you'd want to take on a major threat to our government."

"Don't you try that with me!" she snapped. "Protecting the Intersect is vital to the nation's safety."

"Baby sitting Chuck?"

Sarah felt like punching him, but forced herself to be calm. "Working with him. He's in an analyst role now." That wasn't strictly true yet, but she was hopeful.

Bryce looked surprised. "I expected him to be your asset."

"He's made a huge impact already. Both Graham and Beckman are impressed with him." That was true.

"Good for him. So, why do you need to stay with him?"

"Because he still needs protecting and I don't think anyone can do that as well as I can."

Bryce looked at her for a while, then said, "Do you have feelings for him?"

"have you heard nothing about me since we parted? I'm the cold assassin who has no time for anyone. I just do my job." She decided to explain more. "My cover here is as his girlfriend, and sometimes I have to hold his hand." She thrust her glove-covered hands out. "So I wear these to avoid contact. Thankfully, he's PODA-averse, so I don't have to be seen kissing him."

"Phew! That's bad."

He said nothing after that until they pulled up beside the jet.

"Good luck here, Sarah. I don't envy you."

"Thanks, Bryce, and good luck to you as well."

He stepped forward as if to hug or even kiss her, and she stepped back further. He got the message and nodded before climbing the steps into the jet.

She caught a taxi back to the apartment.

Sarah unlocked and opened the door into their apartment, and stepped inside.

She felt nervous about talking to Chuck. She wasn't sure if he was still with Casey, but this was where she needed to have that discussion, so she'd wait for him here.

She instantly noticed that he must've been back. The place looked different. It took her a moment to see what it was. Everywhere looked tidy and spotless, including the kitchen which had things they hadn't washed earlier.

"Sarah!"

She turned and Chuck was rushing toward her. Both of them spoke at the same time, saying, "I'm sorry!"

He froze just before he reached her. "Oh god! You're leaving me!" he gasped.

Sarah frowned, "Why would I leave you?"

Chuck looked confused. "So, you aren't apologizing because you're going back to rejoin Bryce?"

She groaned. "Chuck, I would never work with Bryce again, but I have no plans on leaving here. How could I manage without the only man whose touch doesn't repulse me?" He sighed in relief. "Not only that, have you forgotten? I love you." That brought his smile back.

She then wrapped her arms around him, her face pressed against his chest. "Besides, it's my job to protect you. How could I do that if I left?"

He pulled away and asked, "So, why're you sorry?"

"I keep snapping at you. I'm not good at relationships and worried that I was ruining it. Then, I thought about me interrogating Bryce and how upset that concept made you. I wondered if you'd realized that you'd made a mistake. I didn't go ahead with it, but d'you think less of me now?"

It was a lot for her to say. Much more than normal. Chuck just pulled her back to him and kissed her, showing her rather than telling her that he wanted her. She clung to him and kissed back just as fervently. They were both breathless when the kiss ended.

Sarah smirked at him when they separated this time. "I think that maybe we're both a bit oversensitive."

He chuckled. "A bit?"

"Seriously, though. Did my behavior make you think less of me?"

Chuck looked seriously at her. "I thought you hated having to do interrogations."

Sarah sighed. "I do, but this was… different. Bryce didn't rape me himself, but his delay getting me any help caused it. I've hated him for that for years."

"He didn't mean for that to happen," he said.

She stared hard at him. "Like when he saved you from joining the CIA? He didn't mean to ruin your life."

"He didn't," Chuck replied.

She looked frustrated and went and sat down. "You see the world through those rose-tinted glasses, Chuck. You look for the good in everybody. I'm not like that. Life has treated me like shit, so I see it as shit. If I saw it like you do, I don't think I would've survived as long as I have."

Chuck knelt in front of her. "I want to make it better for you."

She looked fondly at him. "You already are doing that, Chuck, but I still see the warts." She took a deep breath. "I'll try not to be such an angry bitch in future."

"Angry, but not a bitch," he quickly replied. "And I'll try not to be so judgmental."

"And we both need to avoid dismissing each other's ideas," she added.

He couldn't resist saying, "Especially when I'm right." She punched his arm. "Oww!"

"You deserved it," Sarah replied. She stood. "Time for bed."

When they finally climbed into bed, she immediately shuffled back against him.

"Good night, my gorgeous girlfriend," he said after kissing her neck.

"Good night, my gorgeous boyfriend," Sarah replied.

She knew he didn't see himself that way, but he didn't argue about it.

When Sarah sat at her desk, she phoned and booked an appointment with Dr. Dreyfus for the following day. She knew she couldn't put it off any longer.

She hoped that she and Chuck could prepare her for it after dinner.

However, before starting the cover work, she sipped her coffee and began considering it on her own.

The man seemed to be honoring the doctor / patient confidentiality and wasn't telling Langston Graham everything. He also seemed to be encouraging her to get closer to Chuck, even kissing. He wouldn't know about the passion behind that yet, though. Nor would he be aware yet of fact that bodily contact with her boyfriend was good rather than repugnant as it would be with anyone else.

How much of all that should she share with the doctor? That was the real question.

She couldn't decide, and would talk with Chuck about it in the evening.

She pushed those thoughts aside, and looked at what she needed to reorder for the Wienerlicious.

Sarah was worried about the Fulcrum agent that was loose. She knew he wanted Bryce and may still think he was in the area.

She'd finished the coffee she'd bought earlier from Lou's and was now just drinking water from her refrigerator as she watched her various video feeds.

It was now mid-morning, and the Buy More looked busy. Chuck was looking bored at the Nerd Herd desk, which made her smile. The parking lot was busy but nothing looked suspicious. Was she worrying unnecessarily?

When she saw two black SUVs with dark-tinted windows pull up outside the Buy More, she perked up. As armed men got out and entered the store, she recognized one of them. Tommy Delgado.

Sarah alerted both Chuck and Casey, and then grabbed her gun and ran out into the main part of the Wienerlicious. Amazingly, it was empty. "Grab your weapons," she shouted to Tracy.

She saw four men in black converging on them and wished she had brought her tranq pistol. As soon as two of them entered, she fired her guns, taking both men out immediately.

Sarah heard Tracy fire and one fell down outside. The final one was more cautious, but no match for two women armed with three guns. He was soon dead as well.

"Help me drag them back into my office," she called to Tracy.

In no time, the evidence was gone, apart from some blood stains that would need to be clear later.

Putting the closed sign on the door, the two women looked over to the Buy More.

People were pouring out and Sarah could hear an alarm going. She didn't want to call either Chuck or Casey and distract them, but she was desperate to know what was happening in the store.

Sarah's phone rang and it was her boyfriend. "Casey and I are in the Home Theater. Delgado's down, but there's still six of his men out there."

Feeling relieved that he was ok, she calmly said, "I'll come in through the back entrance. Hold on."

"Use tranq pistols if you can. I don't want people to get killed."

"We'll be there as fast as possible," Sarah replied and then hung up on him.

She knew he'd want to help and was glad he had a tranq pistol in his bag, but she just hoped he'd not try anything stupid. She had to get there before he did.

The two women sprinted around to the back of the Buy More and in through the loading dock. Tracy was just following, not knowing the layout at all.

Sarah had just turned a corner and was on the final stretch to get to the main floor when two men blocked her way.

Even as she lifted her gun, she knew she'd only have time to shoot one of them and the other would shoot her.

The thought that flashed through her mind was who would protect Chuck after that?

She shot and both men dropped. Looking over her shoulder, expecting to see that Tracy had shot the second man, but the young woman nodded ahead of them.

Confused, Sarah looked ahead again and saw Chuck with his tranq pistol in hand waving to her. She was shocked, but in a good way.

That lasted about a second, because she then saw a man appear behind Chuck, raising his gun to shoot him in the back. She reacted instantly.

The look of shock in Chuck's eyes as her bullet only missed the side of his head by an inch would be burnt into her mind. Surely he doesn't think I'd shoot him?

Realization appeared on his face as a body fell to the floor behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the corpse.

He was only just turning back when she reached him. All she wanted to do was kiss him, but she knew there were still three more Fulcrum men in the store. She pushed past him and ran further in.

"Sarah-" he called, but she ignored him. She had to make sure no more men tried to kill him. She heard Tracy talking to him, so knew that he was at least temporarily safe.

The sales floor she reached was deadly quiet. That was both surprising and a bit disturbing. Had the men overpowered Casey? Killed him? She had to be careful as she looked for him.

Suddenly, Casey appeared before her, looking worried. "The moron ran this way," he said, as he tried to pass her.

Sarah grabbed his arm. "He's fine. Tracy is with him. There should be three more of them out here."

"You think I'm an amateur? I took them out."

She relaxed and let go of Casey's arm. "Then they're all done."

The two of them walked back to where she'd left Chuck and Tracy. What they saw made Casey laugh and she couldn't suppress a smile.

Chuck was lying on his front, with Tracy sitting on his back, holding one of his arms up in a painful looking lock. "I had to subdue him or he'd have run after you, Sarah."

"Not fair," Chuck muttered.

As Tracy released him and stood up, he started to rise and Sarah bent down to him, stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers. She wanted to kiss him so hard, but with the audience, couldn't. "How many did you tranq?" she asked.

"Four," Chuck replied, in a very subdued voice. He knew he shouldn't have gotten involved.

God, he took out nearly half of them on his own!

They heard shouting from the main room. "That'll be the NSA containment team," Casey said and rushed back to talk to them.

It was all over and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

"I nearly lost you."

She looked back at Chuck who was very pale. "I nearly lost you, too," she replied as the thought of that happening hit her.

They just stared at each other, neither able to say more.

"Just kiss him, for god's sake!"

They both looked at Tracy who was now standing looking at them, fists on her hips. "You both need it," she added.

She had obviously worked out they had feelings for each other, but how would she know Sarah could cope with the physical contact?

Thinking about that wasn't worthwhile, especially with Chuck's lips so close. Sarah closed the gap and made him fully aware of how she felt about him.

The containment team were dressed as firemen and prevented anyone reentering the store while they 'contained the fire.' In reality some of them took the bodies, alive and dead, out the back, while others put the store back together.

Sarah told them of the bodies in the Wienerlicious.

She looked at Casey and without having to say anything, they led Chuck and Tracy to Casey's car.

Chuck was looking shaken, but Sarah led him to the front passenger seat. He looked at her questioningly, but she nodded in Tracy's direction. She got into the back with the younger woman.

Tracy was shaking. Sarah knew exactly what this was like. Tracy had killed someone for the first time in her life and the realization of that had now hit her.

Without thought, Sarah pulled her to her and Tracy's head pressed against her shoulder, shuddering.

They almost reached their destination before Tracy moved away. "Sorry, Sarah. I should be stronger than this."

"First kill is hard," Casey said from the front. He'd guessed what had happened. "I have some Johny Walker that'll help."

As Casey drove them to Echo Park, Chuck explained what he'd done, with Casey adding what Chuck was omitting.

"Before I tell you that, you have to know about the Buy More crisis word," Chuck started.

"Crisis word?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. Maybe if I tell you what happened earlier, it would help. Tomorrow is Black Friday, the craziest retail day. Morgan explained to Jeff, Lester and Anna that if we lose control of the store, we would be in a pineapple situation.

"Lester was confused and I had to explain that if the impossible happened, something unbelievable… nuclear strike, earthquake, whatever… anyone of the team could initiate a full Buy More evacuation by uttering one word. Morgan added that the word could never normally be spoken." He looked at the others. "That word is pineapple.

"Well, Delgado and his team qualified. He turned up and told me that he was looking for a certain computer and that he had seven trained killers stationed throughout the store and had already neutralized Casey. I saw two walking him toward the front of the store with a gun to his back. He also said four were capturing you two.

"He said he'd happily execute every last person in this place if I made things difficult for him and that I should take him to Bryce Larkin.

He was leading me to the front of the store when Jeff rushed to me stating the registers were down and what should he do?

"Delgado leaned close to me and said he'd kill Jeff if I said more than one word."

Sarah had been listening intently, but now laughed. "Pineapple?"

Chuck nodded. "Jeff ran off and Delgado led me further but then I heard Morgan's voice coming from a loud hailer. 'Ladies and gentlemen, we have an emergency. I need everyone to leave the store in an orderly fashion. Anna, pineapple.' She must've set off the alarm which started blaring. Panic set in immediately and customers and staff rushed to get out of the building. Delgado got swept up in the mass of bodies.

Sarah could imagine it.

"It was instant chaos," Casey confirmed, sounding amused. "I got away from my captors too."

Chuck continued, "I rushed back to the Nerd herd station and grabbed the tranq pistol from my bag. Keeping the pistol close to my body, I set off. I knew I had to get to Delgado, the leader, first. It was really satisfying seeing him drop. I took out another two of the men before Casey grabbed me and dragged me into the Home Theater."

Casey explained, "The idiot was out there where trained killers could shoot him. I called for a containment team."

Sarah noticed Chuck glare at Casey. "He has an array of firearms in one of the chairs in there!"

"Of course, I did," Casey growled.

"Anyway, once I knew you were coming in the back entrance, I knew the remaining men could be too much for the two of you so I set off."

"In spite of me telling him to lock the Home Theater doors and stay down," Casey grumbled.

"You know the rest," Chuck said, looking at Sarah.

"Chuck took out one of the three that went out the back," Sarah said to Casey.

After that they sat in silence as Casey drove.

Chuck was silent as he and Tracy walked with Sarah into the courtyard. Casey had gone ahead.

Between them, they'd overcome the whole of the Fulcrum team, one way or another. Seven were dead, but four, including Tommy Delgado, were alive, and that was because of Chuck. However, Sarah knew how Chuck's brain worked now. He'd be thinking it was all his fault, that none of it would've happened if not for him. She needed to convince him that it was not his fault. That blame lay with Bryce Larkin, if anyone.

Casey poured a glass of his whiskey and sat Tracy down with it, then set up the call to their bosses for the three members of the team.

The two agents told Director Graham, on the left side of the screen, and General Beckman, on the right, what had happened. Chuck just sat with them, saying nothing.

He looked up at the two facing them when Graham spoke to him. "Chuck." Graham never called him that. "You handled the situation well. Just like you have in the past." Sarah knew he meant Zarnow's visit. "The general and I need to discuss this, but well done."

"I'm impressed, too," the normally stern woman commented.

"Thank you," Chuck replied.

"We will process the Fulcrum team appropriately," Graham said. Chuck visibly shivered at the thought of what that meant. "Delgado will hopefully be a good source of information."

Sarah took Chuck back to their apartment. Casey had told them he could look after Tracy. As they approached the apartment, she said, "This was not your fault, Chuck. They were here for Bryce. Do not blame yourself." He nodded.

She wondered if she was going to have to push him to talk about his feelings after such a dramatic day, but that wasn't necessary. As soon as they entered the apartment, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the couch.

His first words were, "I thought I was going to lose you! For real, this time, not just you leaving with Bryce." He locked eyes with her. "I can't lose you, Sarah!" The desperation in his voice was matched with what she saw in his eyes.

That wasn't the only thing happening, though. When Sarah thought he was going to be shot, even though her training kicked in and she stopped that from happening, she'd had exactly the same thoughts as he just expressed. And that feeling had lingered, growing, if anything. It was rather unnerving to feel that way. But she was unable to squash it down.

"I felt the same, Chuck," she admitted. "I feel it now, too. We're as bad as each other."

It wasn't a sexual desire, her mind and body were still not ready for that, but an almost overwhelming desire to hold and, basically, love this man.

"I just want to hold you and never let go," Chuck confessed.

That reminded Sarah about how she felt each morning, when she woke up with him wrapped around her, and her clinging onto him.

She got up and sat upon him, legs straddling him. She rested her forehead on his, and the contact that not long ago would have sent her running, felt good. "I want that, too," she whispered. "More than you can possibly imagine."

Sarah pressed her lips to his and, when he opened his, the kiss deepened.

All the feelings she had for Chuck Bartowski poured into that kiss. He responded. It was the best kiss she'd ever had, need and love expressed so clearly. All other thoughts were disappearing from her head as she sank into it. Worrying about what to say to the good doctor would have to wait.

A/N: The session with Dreyfus will be part of the next chapter. Good luck, Sarah.

It'll be a few weeks before I publish that next chapter, as I'm not going to be around. Off on another touring vacation, which may or may not feed into another story.

If you've got the time, please leave a review for this chapter. Thanks.