A/N: Thanks for reviews of the last chapter. They are really appreciated, as are the follows, faves, and comments against my Chuck FanFiction Facebook group posts.

Although there's some hang over from the last chapter, this takes us back to an earlier season 1 episode.

Healing

Chapter 21: Playing the Part

Sarah woke up alone in bed. Chuck usually snuggled with her before getting up, so she was worried. It was probably just her fears from what could've happened if they hadn't contained the situation with the bugs. She tried to calm herself and looked at the clock. It was nearly time to rise anyway.

She slipped out of bed, put on her robe and walked out of the bedroom. The only thing different to normal was that she was carrying her knife.

She heard voices coming from the living room and her concerns evaporated. She slipped back into the bedroom and hid her knife away before walking through to join Chuck and Devon.

The blond guy looked up smiling, holding the ring that Chuck had returned to him. "Gonna propose tonight after dinner and I wanted to make sure I had it. Ellie's already headed into the hospital and I can hide it well enough for when we come home."

Then, he looked more closely at Sarah and took a step back. "Your hands!" He then looked down. "And your legs and feet."

She'd not thought to put on anything to cover herself completely. She thought quickly, "Err, yeah. I didn't wear so much to bed last night." That was true, very little in fact, just panties, but he didn't need to know that.

Devon was still confused. "But I thought you slept together now."

She sighed and had to lie. "Not when he goes out at night."

Devon looked at Chuck. "You were on call last night? I thought you'd stopped that."

"Last night was an exception," Chuck replied. He didn't lie! What an exception it had been!

Devon smiled. "Well, thanks, you two." He looked back at Chuck. "Where'd you hide it?"

Chuck blushed and Sarah was able to laugh before saying, "In with my underwear."

Devon looked sadly at Chuck. "Sorry that's the only way for you to get your hands on them."

Sarah had to stifle a laugh. Happily, they were now way beyond Chuck having to just touch her through her underwear.

After the blonde doctor left, Chuck looked at her, still red-faced.

She walked to him and gave him a kiss. Then, in a sultry voice, she said, "You know you can get your hands in my panties whenever we're alone." He surprised her by pushing her robe apart and doing just that.

She moaned and pulled him back to bed.

They got to work on time, in spite of their earlier activities.

The day was risk free, and Sarah couldn't be happier.

Devon hadn't told them a specific time when he was going to propose, but she guessed he didn't expect to do that before eating. Not only that, it would be additional pressure.

She spent some time thinking about what the other couple were about to do. Ellie and Devon had been together for a few years, but this was still a significant step to take.

She wanted to see the look of joy on her friend's face when he did propose. Would Chuck think that odd? Would he stand beside her and watch through the window? She hoped so.

Of course, that led to her thinking about her and Chuck again. They were together, but weren't a normal couple. Even without her problems, they were very different. At least now that he was no longer her asset, they could be more open about their status, but even so, a spy's life didn't lend itself to settling down into a stable relationship.

Was theirs stable in any way? Well, she never wanted to be separated from him. That was significant, wasn't it? Did that make marriage a possibility for them?

She'd acknowledged her love for him and he'd done the same for her, but although he knew a lot about her, he didn't know everything. Would things crop up and ruin everything?

She'd like to talk to him about this, but didn't want him thinking that she was pushing for marriage, something she had never thought possible for someone like her. How would it be different, though? She had to think about that.

Before they could even think along those lines, Sarah thought that she would have to be past this sexual healing challenge. Of course, that sidetracked her into thinking about sex with him. It now excited her more than terrified her. She was mentally ready for it, just physically not quite there yet.

She got herself back to the thought of marriage. The only example she was cognizant of was her parents. Not a good example at all! She knew her dad loved her mom, just was incapable of keeping a normal job and staying with her.

That seemed to sum up the life of a spy, too. If they were split up, could they keep a long distance relationship going? She thought they could. Their love for each other was strong enough, but was it fair on Chuck?

She ended up having to stop these thoughts. He wasn't proposing to her and seemed as shocked as her at the thought. She wished she knew his feelings on the subject, but wasn't going to bring it up with him. After all, she might not like the outcome of such a discussion.

"Maybe you should've refused to give him the ring until he was ready to propose," Sarah muttered as they stood side-by-side peering in through the window.

Earlier, they'd crossed the courtyard and seen Devon serving up the dinner and consumption had commenced. "Does he often cook?" She'd asked her boyfriend.

"Not often. That alone should've made my sister realize this was more than just the pasta put in front of her."

Sarah had snorted but then thought that they often ate pasta, sometimes cooked by Chuck and sometimes by herself. She didn't think it was significant, nor was it proposal food, but what did she know.

She'd looked at how much they had to eat and watched for a minute at the quantity on their spoons and frequency of mouthfuls. She therefore worked out when they should return to this window and pulled Chuck across the courtyard.

Now they were back at the window. The two at the table had slowed down and so hadn't finished their main course. They were talking and laughing a lot, but it didn't take Sarah observing them for long before she knew the score. "He's stalling," she told Chuck.

He looked incredulously at her. "How can you tell? Spy senses?"

"No. I've always been able to read people. Trust me, he's stalling."

"We can't just sit out here all night," Chuck grumbled, taking the words right out of Sarah's mouth.

"Call him and tell him to get on with it," she said.

"Won't that kill the mood?"

She looked at him. "The tense mood he's in, or the giddy, drunken mood she's in?"

"Well, the first, I guess."

"He needs a kick to move forward."

Chuck thought about it for at least a minute, during which the couple inside only took a mouthful each. "Ok."

He walked away slightly to make the call. When Sarah saw Devon get up and step away from the table, Sarah listened to this end. "Hi, Devon. Have you proposed yet, because Sarah and I want to come over to celebrate with you."

Sarah didn't hear the response, but she was proud of Chuck. "He'll do it between courses," he said as he came back and sat down.

Devon sat and said something, and pushed his pasta bowl away. Ellie obviously agreed to end that course and he carried the bowls away.

Sarah grinned at Chuck. "Showtime!"

He chuckled at her enthusiasm but, like her, leaned closer to the window.

When Devon returned he walked to Ellie's side of the table, dropped onto one knee and pulled a ring case out of his pocket.

Ellie covered her mouth with her hands before he even opened the case.

Sarah watched as the always in-control brunette doctor burst into tears before wrapping her arms around Devon's neck and kissing him hard.

Sarah could feel tears running down her cheeks. She was almost as emotional as Chuck's sister. She heard a sniff beside her. Chuck was just as touched.

"She looks so happy," Chuck said.

Sarah couldn't agree more, "Yeah, she does."

She just watched and imagined herself being in that situation. It wasn't realistic, but it had lodged in her head now.

She turned to her boyfriend, "Don't you think you should go in and congratulate Ellie?"

Chuck looked at her. "I said we were both going in."

She responded as she thought she should, "Oh, it's family time."

"I know."

Her breath hitched. He already saw her as family!

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door. He still had a key for it, so let them in.

He let go of her hand and rushed to the embracing couple and wrapped his arms around both of them.

Devon looked at Sarah, standing watching with a smile on her face and waved her over. When she got close, both men wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in.

She felt overjoyed but very tearful, Happy tears, though.

Ellie was crying so much with her own tears of joy that she didn't notice Sarah was being hugged by both men.

For Sarah, this felt such an occasion. She'd been accepted into the family and she loved it. It firmed up her mind. The next day she was going to announce that she and Chuck were now in a real relationship. Well, as real as they could get without making love.

Director Graham never smiled, but that was the expression on his face after Sarah made her announcement. It didn't really suit him, but she wasn't going to complain.

The general had ended the call when Sarah had asked her boss to stay on. Casey left them to it, but already knew because she'd already told him. He'd given them his well wishes.

"I hadn't expected this," Graham said. "It's not often that I'm surprised by the actions of my team."

"But you're ok with it?" Chuck nervously asked.

Graham looked at him. "I never thought Walker would do this. Of all my people, she seemed too hardened."

That didn't answer Chuck's question. He reached and clasped her gloved hand. "She's perfect," he said.

Sarah fought down a blush. She wasn't expecting him to be so effusive.

"If you say so, Chuck, but to answer your question, I'm happy for you both."

Both facing him squeezed hands. "Thank you, sir," they said in unison.

Graham looked back at Sarah. "I doubt you ever expected to have to fill in the required forms, but you'll both have to."

"Yes, sir," she responded.

"The general will have to know, and the major, if he doesn't already."

Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand to stop him from answering. "We'll tell him next," she said.

"How will the general take it?" Chuck asked. Sarah was interested in the director's thoughts on this, too.

He smiled even more than before. "She probably won't approve, but she can't object. You are both CIA employees, after all."

Sarah agreed and smiled back.

The briefing the following day wasn't what Sarah had expected. Sure, the general looked at them with a frown adorning her face, but she actually said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, general," they both replied.

After nodding, Beckman shifted into work mode. "We have a new mission for you," she said.

The three in Burbank all stood to attention, having relaxed a bit.

An image of a man appeared on the monitor. Sarah noticed Chuck flash, but he didn't get to speak, as the general continued, "This is Laszlo Mahnovski. We've been looking for him since he escaped from Los Robles national labs last month. We have intel that suggests he might be in the Los Angeles area."

"Who is he?" Casey asked.

Beckman didn't have to answer, because Chuck did. "Weapons designer. Massive intellect. He graduated college at fourteen. Gained his Ph.D at seventeen. He was 'recruited' at that point." Sarah noted the emphasis he placed on that one word.

The general said, "Laszlo's not the kind of asset we can afford to lose to our enemies."

The word asset made Sarah wince and she noticed Chuck do the same.

"Grade-a egghead. Got it," Casey said. "What do you want us to do with him?"

The general said, "Bring him in. And take caution."

Casey scoffed at that. "What? Is he gonna hurt us with his mind?"

She responded by showing a series of images whilst saying, "Well, here's what he did to his handlers."

Two bodies lay on the floor. Both men had blood seeping out of their nostrils and their eyes open . They were obviously dead.

Casey grunted.

After the call ended, Chuck looked at Sarah. She wasn't surprised to hear him say, "Asset! Held in a bunker from age seventeen!"

"Coulda been you, Bartowski," Casey said as he walked out of Sarah's office.

"Yeah. That's right," Chuck said. Sarah thought that Bryce had probably saved him from that when he was in his early twenties.

"And when things went wrong when I was an asset, that could've been my fate," he added.

"Not with how you were helping us," Sarah said.

"But when those bugs turned up, the general still wanted to," he pointed out.

She grasped his hand. "Stop thinking about that. We've got a dangerous man to capture."

He nodded and the kiss he gave her made her think he was going to forget that horrible time.

"Morgan's gone AWOL," Chuck said when he called her. She saw he was running out of the Buy More.

Sarah got up and ran out to join him at one of the Nerd Herders. If they were going to get Morgan, he'd be more comfortable in the back of that than in her Porsche.

"Do you have a clue on where he would be?" she asked.

"He doesn't answer my calls, so yeah." He set off.

"Gonna tell me?" she asked, only a little testily.

"Amusement arcade on the Santa Monica pier."

When they got there, they spotted Morgan. Sarah stood back as Chuck approached him. His friend was preparing to play a game. "Morgan, you shouldn't be here."

Morgan tried to divert Chuck's attention. "I picked up the sandworm costume from the dry cleaners. The ranch dressing from last year totally came out, so we're all good. We can wear it at the party tomorrow night."

Sarah knew that Ellie and Devon were going to have a celebratory engagement party. As they hadn't had a party on Thanksgiving, this would be a fancy dress party like that would normally be. She wondered what this sandworm costume was. Chuck hadn't mentioned it, but he would be going with Sarah. She remembered the discussions.

Chuck had wanted to go as Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Sarah as Emma Frost. He'd had to describe why. It turned out that Emma was a white-haired psychic, who'd been bad, but had eventually joined the X-Men, meeting Scott when he was still with Jean Grey, another psychic. Some of that fit her background, but Scott only got interested in her after Jean died. Emma did sometimes wear all-body covering white outfits, which was a tick, but that anti-hero aspect wasn't something Sarah wanted to project. People would think it was her. The fact that they would be correct made it worse. Also, Scott always had to wear eye coverings, even if only sunglasses. Sarah liked to see Chuck's eyes, so that was not good, either. Further probing dragged out of him the fact that they had a turbulent relationship, something she didn't want anyone thinking theirs was like.

So, Sarah had persuaded him that they would go as the Invisible Girl and Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four, the happy couple who eventually married. She was getting more and more interested in that concept, although she hadn't told Chuck that.

The costumes were being created for them by the CIA and would be arriving later that day.

So, she was surprised that Chuck obviously hadn't made Morgan aware of that.

Chuck ignored Morgan's comment. "You're supposed to be at work, buddy. Big Mike pointed out that you're on a double shift." Sarah briefly wondered why Chuck, as Assistant manager, wasn't already aware of that, but said nothing.

Morgan shook his head. "Dude, I've got ten big ones riding on this videogame, so I'm going to play it." He looked over his shoulder while putting the guitar strap over it, then back to Chuck. "This guy's been handing me my ass all week. Time to return the favor."

Someone Sarah hadn't noticed before walked over, also with a guitar. She didn't see his face. The two men hit the buttons together and started to play.

Chuck obviously saw the man's face and recognized him when the guy glanced his way and looked him up and down before turning back to the game.

Seeing his face, Sarah also recognized Laszlo Mahnovski, but knew that trying to take him in front of all these people was not an option. She walked up to Chuck and quietly said, "Get Morgan away as soon as you can. Then, we have to entice the guy away from here. I'll call Casey."

"Okay," he replied.

Unfortunately, Morgan was completely outclassed and lost the game far too quickly. "God damn it!" he cried.

Sarah had finished her call with Casey and watched Chuck move in. "You'll never beat him, Morg. He is so much better than you."

Morgan glared at his friend. "Thanks for the support, Pal! I needed you behind me, not against."

Chuck sighed. "I'm just being realistic, Buddy. You'll just throw all your money away if you continue to compete with this guy. AND you need to go back to your shift before Big Mike kills you. Me too, because he tasked me with getting you back there!"

"Where's your sense of adventure, Chuck?" Morgan asked.

"Upsetting Big Mike is more like suicide, Morg," Chuck pointed out. "Get back there."

"Aren't you going to take me?" Morgan said.

"I can't," Chuck replied. "I brought Sarah. Get back the way you got here."

Morgan's shoulders slumped. He put down the guitar and headed out.

"Pretty harsh."

Chuck looked around at Laszlo. "I don't know who you are, but it's you that's crushed him, not my words."

"So, he's not good enough to compete with me, then?" Laszlo shook his head. "He was better than most, just not quite good enough." He put down the guitar he was holding.

Casey hadn't arrived yet and Chuck obviously realized that they needed to wait. Sarah cursed herself for mentioning Casey. Now he was engaged with the dangerous man. "Maybe I'm good enough," Chuck said.

Laszlo scoffed, then must've seen the determination in Chuck's eyes. "Show me."

Sarah groaned quietly as they both turned to the game. Chuck picked up the guitar that Morgan had dropped.

"Ready?" Laszlo snapped.

"Ready," Chuck replied.

They both started the game. Sarah watched as the usually uncoordinated Chuck became the perfect tall guitarist. She knew from watching him on his keyboard that his fingers could move fast and with amazing precision, but seeing him playing the guitar was such a turn on for her. She looked around and was pleased to see that no one else was watching, specifically no girls. She knew she'd feel threatened if their eyes settled on her boyfriend.

She tried to focus on her current task of ensuring Laszlo didn't get away. She walked to block his escape if he darted to the side, while still being able to watch Chuck in action.

Chuck won and Laszlo was clearly impressed. "Best of three?"

Sarah wanted them to stop so that she could capture Laszlo outside, but after just glancing her way, Chuck agreed. "Sure," he replied. He reached to start the game again and Sarah noticed Laszlo watch his hand. He must've spotted the watch that Chuck had been wearing since they caught La Ciudad.

Laszlo instantly dropped his guitar and turned to run away from Chuck. He ran straight into Sarah who dodged and tripped him up. He dropped to the floor.

She leaned down, loudly saying, "I'm so sorry I tripped you, but you did run into me." She gripped his arm tightly so that he couldn't move.

Laszlo rattled off a series of questions. "How did you find me? Who else knows I'm here? Who do you work for?"

"I'm CIA and you don't want to mess with me," she hissed.

Chuck knelt the other side of him. "You really don't."

She nodded to Chuck to take his other arm and they lifted Laszlo up and guided him out of the arcade, as Sarah said out loud, "That was a nasty fall.".

Casey arrived just as they emerged and he took over from Chuck who started to watch the two agents walk away with the man who probably didn't look like a threat at all.

"Come on, Bartowski," Casey growled.

When they reached the Crown Vic, Casey cuffed Laszlo's wrists and put him in the front passenger seat, then cuffed his ankles, as well. "I've got this," he said to Sarah. "You take care of Bartowski."

Sarah nodded and watched the car drive away.

"He recognized the watch," Chuck said.

She frowned. "Yeah, I noticed. That's worrying, because Casey said it's new technology that the NSA have only just started using."

"Maybe it's one of his inventions," Chuck replied.

She nodded. "Maybe they don't just create WMDs."

They headed back to the Nerd Herder. Morgan was long gone, so they set off without him. They caught up with him just as he cycled up to the Buy More.

Sarah was back in her office, and had been there for an hour, when she got a call from Casey. She'd not thought about his task to hand over the brainiac, as he called Laszlo. "How did it go?" she asked.

"It's taking a while to arrange for people trusted to handle him, and therefore to take him off my hands. So, I'm stuck at my apartment with him. I assume you're keeping an eye on Bartowski."

She panicked. She'd foolishly assumed that Casey would drop Laszlo off and be back in the Buy More only shortly after Chuck. She quickly scanned the retail shop floor and saw her boyfriend talking to a customer with Anna. The relief that washed over her was significant.

She called Chuck once he'd dealt with his customer and explained the situation. "I think we should head back to the apartment, too," she said.

He frowned. "Because Casey isn't at the Buy More with me?"

He knew that was the rule, but he still seemed to be questioning it. "Do you think you can protect yourself?" she asked.

He obviously heard the anger behind those words, even though she tried to contain it. He sighed. "Don't get mad. I'll come over to you. We don't have to go back there. When Laszlo has gone and Casey returns, then I'll come back over here."

He was right. They didn't have to leave.

So, Chuck came and sat with her.

"Chuck, the protection piece is important. The fact that Fulcrum is interested in the place makes it even more so."

He nodded. "I know. I just don't like it."

Their conversation was halted when a suited man walked into the Wienerlicious with a nasty cut on his cheek. Sarah put the sound on that video capture. There were no other customers.

"I'm looking for Sarah Walker," he said to Tracey.

Tracey wasn't intimidated. "She's busy."

"I don't care. I need to talk to her." He pulled out his ID. CIA.

Sarah headed out there. "What d'you want?" she asked.

"I'm looking for Laszlo Mahnovski. I need to bring him in."

She didn't like him, so wasn't helpful initially. "Why?"

He looked frustrated. "Look, we tried everything we could to prevent this whole thing from happening."

"And what exactly is this?" Sarah asked,

"A mentally unstable weapons designer, off his meds, and currently running around Los Angeles."

"And how do you know all this?"

"Laszlo was my asset. I was the one who found him. I was the one who trained him, and I'm definitely the one who's going to be bringing him back. Look, I'm just going to be completely straight with you, Walker. We believe that he is looking to make a bomb. And god help whoever's in his way when Laszlo decides to go off."

She saw that he really believed all of that. "The NSA is holding him," she said. He rolled his eyes. She told him where to go.

As he left, Chuck appeared beside her. He'd obviously been listening in. "Asset," he muttered and then walked back into her office.

"Tell Casey," she said to Tracey. As she walked back into her office, she called Graham to let him know, too.

"You know you're not an asset anymore," she reminded Chuck after her call.

"I know, but sometimes I still feel like one." He looked at her. "And I was so close to that bunker."

She couldn't deny that, but she was able to comfort him once she'd locked the door. As they kissed, all thoughts of assets and bunker vanished.

Their kissing stopped when a delivery arrived. The costumes for the party. She locked the door again, so that they could try them on.

Sarah stripped down to bra and panties, and Chuck down to his boxers. When they had the tight blue costumes on, the outlines of those undergarments were visible. They stripped again and removed everything before trying the costumes on again. Both had to avoid looking at their naked partners. Once clothed again, they did look.

"God, Sarah!" Chuck gasped. "That's so tight, it's almost as if you're naked. I can see everything!"

She looked down at herself and then over at him. The outlines of their body parts within the costumes left nothing to the imagination. She looked up at him, suspected that the lust she saw in his eyes was reflected in hers. She suppressed it and stated the obvious, "We wear our underwear to the party."

When the party occurred, Sarah still felt on show, even with her bra and panties on under the tight blue costume. She'd not been uncomfortable with being looked at before the rape, but now eyes on her breasts and groin were unpleasant, to say the least.

Chuck sensed her unease and never left her side. Not only that, he sought ways to hold her so that people didn't see her front, but then she felt their eyes on her butt.

"Just think about us both alone and removing the costumes later," he whispered in her ear. That sent a very pleasant shiver up and down her spine. It helped to distract her.

Casey wasn't there. In fact, Sarah hadn't seen him much since Laszlo had been taken away by his handler. He'd turned up for the briefing the following morning, but not spoken to her. His only words being that evening as he left his apartment. "Parties are not my thing." They weren't hers either, but she was here for her two friends and for her boyfriend.

Morgan turned up, but sulked because wasn't sharing a costume with his friend. That was apparently what the sandworm was.

Ellie and Devon were very happy, though. Dressed as Adam and Eve, but with their private parts covered in leaves. Sarah was grateful for how they were attired. It took eyes off of her.

The engaged couple had to suffer comments about being ejected from the Garden of Eden for what they would be doing that night when the leaves disappeared. Devon laughed it off. "Worth it, though!"

When the party finished, the four of them tidied up the courtyard, and then both couples happily retired to their respective apartments.

Peeling off the Fantastic Four costumes worked Chuck and Sarah up, just as she'd expected.

As they slipped naked into bed, Sarah thought this was her Garden of Eden, and hoped she'd never be thrown out of it.

A/N: Next chapter will include another season 1 episode, that I decided to add before the chapter I'd already written. It's still in progress, so I might take longer than normal to publish it.

I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, if you have the time.