Hey fellow readers, this is my first Chuck fanfic, so please bear any characteristics that are off. I just recently took up watching Chuck about a week or two ago and I absolutely loved it! The show was so short lived, but it was worthwhile. I can't wait until the Chuck movie. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck or any of the characters, except for the ones that you might not recognize.

This story:

-Ignores almost everything after the limo scene after the wedding so Chuck and Sarah are married and rich, Morgan never becomes the Intersect, Jeffster never find out about Castle or the fact that Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan are spies, we never find out about Verbanski and her history with Casey, Carmichael Industries is still afloat, and Sarah never loses her memories. Sounds like a perfect world, no?

-Oh, Bryce is still alive.

-The only thing that's not ignored are the events in S05E07 – "Chuck vs. The Santa Suit", S05E08 – "Chuck vs. The Baby", Chuck uploading the Intersect 3.0, Chuck and Sarah's new wish to turn Carmichael Industries into a company to counter cyber-terrorism, and the fact that Sara feared that she was almost pregnant and also the fact that part of her was hoping she was pregnant. Not all of things that appears in these episodes will be included within the story, it's just a precaution for future chapters. :)

By the way, all the street names are purely fictional. I live in New York City so I know the place fairly well, I'm just too lazy to research exact street names and cross-streets. Some places might be real or fake, it all depends on where the story is going to go as I write.

Enjoy~

Bryce Larkin walked down Orange and 9th as he brought his jacket tighter around him, huddling for warmth. He had just finished his mission to retrieve a device – codenamed Xavier – that had been stolen from the CIA that could control a person's mind with a push of a button. Who knew the CIA was such a fan of Marvel? Or maybe it was just the fact that Stan Lee had created the project in the first place… He laughed at that as he turned the corner onto Kensington to where his car was parked.

Snow lightly fell onto the streets as kids chased after one another and couples cuddled for warmth. Streets were filled with twinkly lights and people who were running errands and doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. On the corner, a lone street guitarist played a soft melody while people occasionally threw some change in his guitar case.

New York City was an extremely cold place to be during the winter, but it sure was beautiful. Well, the places that tourists visited were beautiful, other than that it was…

Bryce Larkin's reverie was rudely interrupted when the sound of a woman's laughter filled his ears. He turned around and looked for the source of the laughter, just to make sure that he wasn't going crazy, but he couldn't find her. He passed it off as his brain recalling some memory that he'd pushed back in the depths of his mind, but as he took one last glance at the people behind him, he saw the unmistakable blond tresses that belonged to her. He saw Sarah.

It had been a hell of a day.

Carmichael Industries had recently received a government contract from the CIA and NSA, courtesy of General Beckman. Their last mission before turning Carmichael Industries from a freelance spy agency into a company that counters cyber—terrorism consisted of the Ovails, a team of four dangerous brothers who owned a bar in downtown Manhattan and doubled as arm dealers. Long story short, Chuck had almost died when one of the Ovails threw a knife that was used to cut limes and lemons at his face that fortunately, he had dodged, but ended up piercing his upper right arm while Sarah had almost fell to her own death as she dangled from the edge of a ten-story building that Ricky Ovail had pushed her off of for about five minutes before Casey pulled her up. Nevertheless, it was a typical day at the office that was done all in a day's work and the team decided that they needed a well-deserved vacation.

General Beckman had thanked them and paid them for their services, wished them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and then informed them that their government contract with the CIA and NSA were still in effect if they decided to turn Carmichael Industries into a countering cyber-terrorism firm for which they were eternally grateful for. Alex had tagged along to spend Christmas with her father and Morgan and they had gone to have some quality time with one another while Chuck and Sara decided to roam around New York and sightsee before they joined their friends for dinner at a five-star restaurant, Chuck and Sarah's treat.

Sarah relayed a story about one of her missions in New York that included Russian terrorists and a fairly large bear as Chuck wrapped his left arm around her shoulders in an effort to pull her closer. Sarah had her left arm in her pocket while she moved her right arm around her husband's waist and into his right pocket which currently housed his right arm.

He hissed in pain.

"Sorry. Sorry, I forgot about your arm."

"I'm fine," he comforted her and added, "Come here. Having you by my side is worth a little pain." A classic Chuck Bartowski smile danced across his face as he wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulders once more and continued walking.

"I'm just glad that the Intersect flashed when it did." Sarah said as she placed her right hand back in Chuck's pocket and laced their fingers together.

"You can say that again." Chuck joked as he placed a kiss on top of Sarah's head.

When Sarah laughed out of nowhere, Chuck looked over at her like she was crazy and asked, "What?"

"You're just really adorable right now." Sarah admitted.

"Well, I can't object to that. I am adorable."

A large smile formed across his face as Sarah agreed, "Yes, you are."

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't give the couple with the matching black wool jackets a second thought, but he wasn't just anyone. He was Bryce Larkin.

He slipped into his car carefully, so that he wouldn't be seen by Sarah and her male companion. They looked like a real life couple, but this was Sarah Walker that he was talking about. She would never compromise herself with anybody. For her, duty was always above her personal life and from the time since they last saw each other to now, that much wouldn't have changed. Or would it have? A million questions raced through his head as he watched the couple.

Sarah looked comfortable as the man kissed the top of her head. The man that she was cuddled against was tall and looked as if he was wealthy. A silver watch peeked out of the jacket sleeve of the arm that was wrapped around her shoulder and a plaid scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck. His hands were covered by black cotton gloves as were hers and they both wore the kind of earmuffs that wrapped around the back of your head.

That couldn't be Chuck, no. The guy she was with looked wealthy and Chuck worked at a Buy More. This guy had short, jagged, fashionable hair while the Chuck he knew had unruly curly hair. No, this was definitely not Chuck.

The pair had stopped to watch and listen to the street guitarist that he passed by as the man offered her his hand and she took it. She wrapped her gloved hands around his neck and his was around her waist as her head rested on his right shoulder. The couple danced slowly in circles and as they turned, he saw how Sarah's eyes were closed and relaxed. She looked… content and genuinely happy; something that he'd never seen from her before.

Maybe this wasn't Sarah, maybe this was someone that just looked like Sarah; a doppelganger of sorts. The Sarah that he knew would've never displayed such affection in public and she definitely would never allow herself to relax even for a second unless… unless this wasn't a mission and what this was in front of his eyes was real and Sarah had actually found someone she could connect to.

As they turned slowly, the man's face slowly came in view. He would finally see the man that swept the tough, bad-ass, no-nonsense CIA agent off her feet and made her look so innocent and sweet like a regular woman in love. Someone who knew the real Sarah and loved her, someone whom she genuinely loved, and someone who melted the ice that had once surrounded her cold, fragile heart.

He could almost see the man's face now, one more turn and he would see him. Just one more turn and…

Bryce sighed in defeat as other couples joined Sarah and her mystery man on the impromptu dance floor and obscured his face from Bryce's view. He could've easily just walked up to Sarah and her male companion, but that would compromise his cover. The CIA had him fake his death yet again, so that he could go undercover and destroy a group of rogue CIA agents that joined Al Qaeda, but that was over with, so why was he so hesitant to show his face to Sarah again? Maybe it was because Sarah looked so content and relaxed with the man or maybe he just didn't want Sarah to experience the hurt that she went through last time when she found out he was alive and not dead again. Either way, she deserved happiness and this guy gave it to her, so why ruin a good thing, right?

So, Bryce took one last long look at Sarah, started the engine of his car and drove to a standing reservation he had that was waiting for him.