A/N: Thanks for continuing to read this story and obviously thanks to those that took the time to leave a review. As I write this, I've started writing chapter 9, so don't worry, there's still more to go.

Mixed views on the interaction with Dr. Dreyfus in the last chapter. Sarah wasn't happy about having to see him, especially as she'd had such sessions for two years when she first got back to the States. We'll see him again in later chapters.

An AU version of a season 1 episode this time…

Healing

Chapter 6: The Expert

Six days later, Sarah was working in the Wienerlicious. It was her second day after taking up the manager role and training her assistant from the NSA. Tracy Davies was a twenty-three year old blonde. She wasn't as tall as Sarah but she was attractive, which was perfect for the clientele that frequented the place, and that her manager disliked.

The daytime during the previous week had been pretty horrible, both the heat from the cooker and serving the customers. The smell was bad, too. The ridiculous outfit she had to wear was demeaning. It was also what brought a lot of the customers in. Drooling teenagers made her feel sick and she had to avoid eye contact, but the older male customers were worse. She felt threatened under their gaze. Twice in the last week, she nearly thrust the tongs she used to extract the wieners into the leering faces of men who leaned across the counter.

At least no missions had come in during that time. It was ironic that in the past, she would've been going as stir crazy as Casey was now. Apparently, he was so wound up that he nearly hit Harry Tang for criticizing how he treated a customer. Tang was lucky that Chuck distracted the NSA agent and prevented that from happening. Sarah, on the other hand, wondered if that would've removed Casey from the role, and maybe from Burbank altogether.

She smiled as she thought that at least she'd had some target practice during the week. Chuck had introduced her to his computer games, some of which were shoot 'em ups. It wasn't using a gun, but it had been an enjoyable experience. Chuck had beaten her for the first few games, but that was because he was used to the controls, and after a while she was winning some, too.

She'd told him it would be different with a normal pistol and he suggested they went to the arcade by his beach one lunch break and he could demonstrate his skills. So, they had taken an early lunch break and gotten there late morning the day before, when it was still fairly quiet.

She'd beaten him every time with the electronic guns, but it was close. He was really good. She wondered about suggesting Casey go with him there to blow off steam, but doubted the NSA agent would go for it.

As if he sensed her thinking about him, she saw Casey walking across the parking lot toward the Wienerlicious.

Tracy was serving some customers, so Sarah stepped out to one of the outside tables.

"Beckman has contacted me," he said as he sat down. "She's sending the foremost expert on the Intersect to assess whether we can get it out of the moron's head."

"And get it into a more appropriate head, I presume," she replied.

"Probably," Casey replied. She held his gaze and he held his hands up. "I wouldn't want it."

"Nor me," she replied.

"He'll apparently be here tonight," he said.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Zarnow. Dr. Jonas Zarnow. I've never heard of him before."

Sarah hadn't either, but if he was NSA, that wasn't surprising. This all felt a bit off, though.

"He shouldn't see Chuck," she said. "We can't have anyone know he's the Intersect."

Casey nodded. "But he may have to if he's going to remove it."

"We need somewhere we can control the interaction," she said.

"I know just the place," he replied, pointing across the parking lot.

"Very well. What time?"

"He's arriving at 9pm."

She looked up as she recognized a car arriving on the back of a truck. She suddenly felt much happier. Casey followed her glance. "A Porsche?"

"Shipped over for me," she replied.

He grunted. "My Crown Vic arrived this morning."

She almost smiled at that. It fitted his personality perfectly. Then she thought about her own car, which was so different to what everyone thought of her.

She wandered over to the man who had just gotten the Porsche off the back of the truck. Casey walked back to the Buy More. "I'll tell Bartowski he lost the love of his life."

She snorted at that ridiculous comment, but focused on the gleaming black vehicle in front of her.

She showed her ID and he got her to sign for the car before handing her the keys. He then got back in his cab and drove off.

She was going to hop in the car and take it for a spin, but her phone rang. Looking at it, she saw it was Director Graham.

"Walker, secure."

"Has Casey told you about Zarnow?" he launched straight in.

"Just," she replied.

"I don't trust him," Graham said. "I would rather have the Intersect in an operative's head, but one in the CIA, not the NSA. The general would obviously prefer the opposite. Keep a close eye on this Zarnow character."

"I've told Casey that Zarnow can't see Chuck," she told him.

"Good." He paused. "How are you doing?"

She couldn't tell if he was concerned for her or just being polite. "I'm doing ok," she replied.

"Dreyfus hasn't reported in. He said he would only do so if he was concerned. I presume he's still monitoring you."

Sarah was due to see him in a few days' time. She and Chuck hadn't kissed again and she suspected she should do so before that. "He is," she replied.

"Good. Call me with your thoughts after Zarnow has been there."

"Wow! A Porsche!" Chuck exclaimed when he saw her car.

"The only good thing in my life," she admitted. She noticed his smile drop and realized that there were now more things. She gripped his hand and squeezed it. "You and your family aren't bad, though."

He smiled again after looking down at her hand. Holding his hand had become second nature to her now. Something that she wouldn't have believed only a short while ago. She found it comforting at times, too. The gloves made a huge difference.

She let go and walked around to the driver's side of the car. Once inside, he felt a lot closer than in the rental, but that didn't worry her.

"Chuck, there's someone coming to see you tonight. An Intersect expert, apparently."

He looked at her. "Do you know his name?"

"Dr. Jonas Zarnow," she replied.

He visibly flashed and looked shaken. "I didn't get anything about the Intersect. All I got was about recent times. He's been feeding American science secrets to North Korea for at least two years."

Sarah grabbed her phone and called her boss. When she told him what Chuck had said, Graham replied, "I'll tell the general. You should trap him."

"I'll tell Casey," she replied.

As she ended the call, she said to her passenger. "Looks like this evening is going to be quite different to what the doctor expected."

Almost as she left the parking lot, Sarah received a text, she glanced at it. "Casey's already home," she said. "We've got a video call in twenty minutes. At his place."

"Wonderful," Chuck muttered.

She said, "Look on the bright side. You'll get to see the bosses."

"And that's the bright side?"

She didn't reply and just put her foot down. He gripped his seat and she smiled. "I forgot to tell you that I like to drive my baby fast."

He said nothing but looked pale.

On arrival in Echo Park, Chuck let out his breath as if he'd been holding it all the way. Sarah quickly got out and walked around the car. "Come on," she said. He struggled to get out and she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

"Are our journeys all going to be like that from now on?"

She smiled at him. "You want me to go slower?"" He nodded. "Seems criminal with a car like that," she said.

"If you want a living Intersect, you'll do it."

She halted. "You know you're more than that to me," she said without thinking.

He frowned. "Just what am I to you, Sarah?"

"You're my cover boyfriend," she replied immediately, but then frowned as she heard herself say it. "You're also my friend, Chuck," she admitted. "My only friend here."

His smile was infectious. "You've also got El and the captain, but thank you, Sarah. I see you as a friend, too, as well as my protector." Then, he added, "So, less of the racing car driver, huh?"

"It might take a few massages to persuade me," she suggested, while trying to keep a straight face.

"Ahh, but those lead to kisses," he replied, doing some sort of eyebrow dance.

She laughed. "If you think that'll encourage me, you're sorely mistaken, you goof."

He looked seriously at her. "So, what would encourage you?"

She groaned. "My next appointment with Dreyfus."

"That's in two days, right?"

She nodded. All pleasure gone from her drive had now disappeared.

"Come on, you two." They looked up and saw Casey waving them to his apartment. They hastened there.

"And you're sure about this?" General Beckman asked Chuck after he'd told the two on the screen in front of the three of them about his flash.

"I am," he replied confidently. Then, he asked, "How's he getting here?"

"He's driving to you from Austin, where he's based," the general replied.

"That's over twenty hours of driving," Sarah estimated. "I'm surprised he didn't fly."

"Less than fifteen at the speed you drive, Sarah," Chuck commented.

Casey snorted. "Been scaring him in your car?"

"Can we intercept him on his way here?" Chuck asked.

"No. You should still go ahead with the test," she said. "We need to know what can and can't be done."

Sarah was going to question the value of that, but Casey spoke first. "Can we trust anything Zarnow says, General?"

"He's the only expert we have," she replied. "It's worth hearing, even if we don't trust everything."

They had just set off for the meeting, all of them sitting in Casey's Crown Vic, when the major received a call from the general. It came through the car's speaker system so they could all hear it. Sarah wondered if Casey was comfortable with that, but he said nothing to indicate it was a problem.

"I instigated a full check on Zarnow's activities over the last few years. Bartowski is right about his link with North Korea," Beckman stated. "It is imperative that he is caught after the test."

"We plan to, General," Casey replied.

She ended the call.

"It must be around midnight in DC," Chuck commented.

"Our job doesn't operate standard hours, Bartowski," Casey replied.

Chuck kept quiet after that.

They got to the Buy More an hour before Zarnow was due to arrive, which enabled Chuck, Sarah and Casey to get everything set up as they wanted.

"I wish I knew the car he was arriving in," Chuck complained as he tapped into the traffic camera system. "I could've monitored him from much earlier. "As it is, it'll just be as the car, or cars, enter the plaza."

"There may only be one," Casey said. "But, if not, Walker and I can still take out any threats."

Chuck looked dubious, so Sarah added, "We'll be fine."

Chuck walked with her into the A/V room. "So, with the room rewired for the test, when the images start, I just say what they are," Chuck confirmed the plan.

"I'll have painkillers and water for you when it's over," she said.

He looked at what she placed beside him. "I can't use that, Sarah."

"It's not a gun. It fires darts containing tranquilizers. There are six darts in it." She held his gaze. "Just in case we're not fine."

After seeing him in the arcade, she was sure he'd be a good shot, but she needed to tell him one significant difference. "Chuck, unlike the electronic gun you used in the arcade, this pistol will have some recoil, so be prepared for that."

He swallowed hard, but at least he nodded.

At 8:55, two cars arrived and one parked in front of the Buy More. On the surveillance, they could see two men sitting in the one that parked further away. A solitary person exited the close one, and retrieved a case from the rear seat. Sarah went to open the door to let him in.

"Doctor," she greeted him.

"Agent Walker, I presume," the man spoke with an Eastern European accent.

She led him to where Casey was standing. "Dr. Zarnow?"

Zarnow nodded. "Agent Casey."

"Thank you for meeting us at a neutral site," Sarah said.

Zarnow opened his case and took some things out. "I don't understand why I can't see my patient."

Sarah replied, "For your safety, we're keeping patient X's identity a secret."

Zarnow looked around. "Does patient X work here?"

Casey scoffed at that. "Patient X, who knows all the Intersect secrets, works in a Buy More?"

Zarnow nodded. "Ridiculous, of course." He finished his prep work and spoke into the microphone in front of him, "After the tone, the test will begin."

Sarah obviously couldn't see what Chuck did, but she heard his comments. "Uh, dog…. Hippopotamus…. Fat guy…. Ugly building…. Really beautiful woman at the beach." She smiled at that one.

Then, he said, "Cardinal One is the top Moscow spy in the White House office of.…"

Another image must've appeared because he changed what he was saying. "The plot to assassinate President Carter was orchestrated by.…"

This switching continued. She knew he would have an almighty headache after all this.

"Northrop Davies voting computers have been approved by the DNC, MC and CIA…."

"Oceanic flight 815 was shot down by surface-to-air.…"

This continued for several minutes until Chuck said, "Okay, well, that's just a picture of a turtle."

Zarnow looked at the two agents. "Your patient is phenomenal. We never imagined this."

Sarah asked, "What didn't you imagine?"

Zarnow shook his head. He didn't reply to her, just continued his ramble. "One person seeing all the Intersect images. All our secrets in one mind." He really looked amazed.

Casey asked, "Can you remove the secrets, Doctor?"

Zarnow thought for a moment. "Yes. I think I can."

He started packing his case, preparing to leave, but Sarah said, "Thank you for that, Doctor, but you can't leave."

Zarnow moved incredibly quickly, pulling out a tranq pistol and shooting the two in front of him.

Sarah slumped to the floor, just as Casey did.

Sarah slowly started to wake up. Panic instantly kicked in as she remembered being hit with a tranquilizer dart. She'd been captured! Was she going to be treated as she was before? Tortured and raped? She felt the darkness buried in her mind rising to the surface.

"Hey, it's ok," a soft voice said.

She opened her eyes and Chuck was standing over her. God, my need to protect him has been completely unsuccessful.. He must've been captured, too.

She was lying on a couch and realized she wasn't bound at all. She started to sit up and he stopped her with gentle pressure on her shoulder. "Let yourself recover," he said.

She couldn't just lie there and felt ok, so she pushed his hand away and sat. She was in the room he'd been in.

"What happened?" she asked.

He looked troubled. "I had to use that tranquilizer pistol."

Realizing what that meant, her eyes widened. "Where are Casey and Zarnow?" she asked.

"Out where Zarnow shot you," he replied.

She got up and rushed through. Casey was starting to revive, but Zarnow was still out for the count.

She quickly grabbed a zip tie from her bag and dealt with the doctor.

"There are two men at the entrance, too," Chuck mentioned.

She remembered them in the other car. She looked at him in shock. "You tranq'd them, as well?"

"I had to, Sarah. I couldn't let them get to you." She was sure he just meant her, not her and Casey. The way he looked at her was full of concern for her wellbeing.

She felt overwhelmingly grateful. She grabbed his face and kissed him, putting all her thanks into it. Neither opened their mouths, but the kiss lasted quite a while.

As she released him, she saw that he had his eyes closed. As he opened them, he said, "I must tranq more bad guys."

She smiled and slapped him lightly on his arm before reaching into her bag for more zip ties and heading to the doorway. As she tied them, she thought about what Chuck had done. Each man had two darts in his chest. Chuck had been accurate, from wherever he'd been hiding.

She also thought about her impulsive reaction earlier, kissing him to say thanks. She'd not even thought about it, just done it. She was definitely changing. Is that a good thing?

When she got back, Casey was sitting up and talking to Chuck.

"So, none of them saw you?" the NSA agent asked.

"I knew that was important," Chuck replied.

Casey looked at her as she walked up to them. "He opened the door, sneaked out and tranq'd Zarnow, then took out his two men, as well." Casey looked amazed. "I didn't even know he had a pistol."

"Sarah left me with one."

Casey frowned. "You could've been caught!"

Chuck looked at him and sarcastically replied, "And you think Zarnow would just walk away from the person with the Intersect in his head?"

"It was risky, though," Sarah commented. "Those men at the door had normal guns."

Chuck blanched but looked at her. "I heard what he told them on his phone. He was going to capture me to sell me to the North Koreans, but…." He paused, then said, "He was going to sell you, too."

Thoughts of being raped hit Sarah hard and she staggered.

Chuck continued, "I had to save you from that, Sarah."

She looked at her savior, still reeling from what might've happened to her.

"Thanks for caring about me, too," Casey snarked, but Sarah could see that he was both grateful and impressed.

The bosses would probably give them both grief, which they deserved, but Chuck had saved the day. Of course, she and Casey could avoid mentioning Chuck's involvement, and, knowing him as she did now, that would probably be his preference, but she believed it was important for Graham and Beckman to know that he wasn't a total waste of the Intersect and credit should go to him.

Whatever else, things were definitely getting interesting.

A/N: I thought about Zarnow capturing Sarah as he did in the show. Her reaction on waking suspended from her wrists would be very different. She'd probably regress into the state she'd been in years before, and even Chuck would struggle to help her out of it. I decided not to go there.