a/n: Chapter 5, Things Change

I don't own Chuck.

"I'm sorry Agent Walker, what did you just say?" Beckman asked. Sarah couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth, but she had said them. She had just told General Beckman no. It had all started when Chuck had found a bug while Devon had been asking Chuck for permission to marry Ellie. When they had finished talking, ending with Chuck both hugging Devon and giving him his blessing, Chuck had told Casey they needed some corndogs so they both went over to the Weinerlicious. She had watched Chuck's face as he had told both of them at the same time what he had found, and the looks on their faces confirmed Chuck's worst fears, someone was bugging them. Casey admitted it wasn't one of theirs, and they would need to contact Beckman. Chuck had pulled Sarah to the side and handed her Awesome's engagement ring. He took her hands, looked her in the eye, and told her if he had to be taken away, make sure Awesome got that back. Chuck walked back to the Buy More, depressed, and Sarah's heart sank as she watched him. She knew in that moment, this was it. This was where she had to do whatever it took to save Chuck, there was no other option. That realization gave her hope that she didn't know she was missing in her life, and without Chuck, she would have nothing. All of these thoughts raced through Sarah's head as Beckman said Chuck would have to go to a secure government facility.

"I said, no, General," Sarah said. "First, we need to bring Chuck in on this." Casey looked at her in shock, she looked over at him, and knew she needed him on board with this. "Casey, he comes up with hairbrained ideas all the time that work." Casey grunted, but relented.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, General, but she's right," Casey agreed. Beckman's eyebrows about shot off of her head. Was the plan the Major put in place actually working? Was Casey actually agreeing to all of this? Maybe he hadn't lost his soul during all those missions over the years.

"Secondly, you know what might make someone think there are government spies here? Our covers," Sarah said. Beckman was intrigued. She nodded for her to go on. "The employees at the Buy More think I'm either an escort on the side, or selling drugs out of the Weinerlicious. Let me say that again, General, the Buy More employees think something is up." Beckman winced. If those morons thought something was going on, she couldn't finish that thought.

"You really shouldn't drive that Porsche," Casey muttered. "You do stick out like a sore thumb in it." Sarah glared at him.

"Then add in Casey, who stands out amongst the nerds at the Buy More. He looks like a steroid freak amongst that bunch of string beans." Casey shrugged his shoulders, she was right. "And then there's Chuck. The man who is clearly more intelligent than the whole bunch put together," Sarah added, exasperation bleeding out of her voice. "You have to admit, General, it's kinda suspicious."

"I see Chuck's rubbing off on you in more ways than one," Casey muttered where Beckman could hear. Beckman tried to look stern but the grin on her face told them she wasn't. Sarah attempted to look affronted, but Casey was right. Casey spoke in a normal voice. "She's right, General," Casey said. "As much as I hate to say it. We have a NSA station here in Burbank we can have him work out of if worst case scenario comes along, but in an underground bunker? It won't work, the nerd will quit flashing, and Walker here will pout."

"I won't pout, I'll just be his full-time guard," Sarah retorted.

"Agent Walker, you can't be his full-time guard," Beckman said.

"Try and have someone take him from me," Sarah said, her eyes narrowing. Casey grunted and grinned, and Beckman was taken aback. Well, that escalated quickly. It was obvious who her allegiance was to. While that could be problematic, it also could be used in her favor. Walker would guard Bartowski with her life, CIA or not. She had two choices here, go hardcore NSA, or be human and let these two have some kind of life. Beckman thought about how she went wrong with Roan, and right, and that thought made her shiver a little. She decided to be human, and call Roan later.

"Noted," she said. "Underground bunker is off the table, and Sarah, you are the best protection for Mr. Bartowski." Sarah nodded. "You may be right about your current covers, but right now we need to find that transmitter."

"Let Casey and I talk to Chuck about what to do," Sarah said.

"Sarah, how would you feel about 24-hour protection for Chuck?" Beckman asked.

"You're gonna have to make sure she has plenty of protection," Casey replied. Sarah backhanded Casey in the chest, but she wasn't sure he was wrong. Beckman smirked.

"I can handle it," Sarah replied.

"As of now, we shut down the Weinerlicious," Beckman said. Sarah almost did a fist pump with a "Yes!" She had been hanging around Chuck way too long, and not long enough. "We'll figure out something for your covers after this is over."

"Nobody tell him, or he'll have us setting up a detective agency or something," Casey said. Beckman and Sarah both looked at him. "What? I mean I'm the muscle, he's the brain, and she's actually runs it all." Sarah turned to look at Beckman.

"Nah," they said together.

-ooooo-

"Focus, Chuck," Sarah said, having explained everything to him.

"You now before I met you, my name was Charles Irving Bartowski, since I've met you it's been Focus Chuck, no last name, just Focus Chuck," he muttered. Sarah was glaring daggers.

"I'm pretty sure she's called you other things, those apartment walls aren't that thin," Casey said, with a straight face. Both Sarah and Chuck turned to look at him.

"I can't help it that she does things that make mprhmphm," Chuck began before Sarah clamped a hand over his mouth.

"We need some idea of what to do to find any more transmitters," Sarah said. Chuck licked the palm of her hand, making her move it, and then backhanding him in the chest.

"We really need to talk about the amount of physical violence you have pent up," Chuck said to her. Sarah looked at him, an amused smile on her face.

"I thought she used you to release that pent up frustration," Casey said. Chuck started to retort, saw the look on Sarah's face, and thought better of it. He noticed the green shirts wondering around the Buy More and a thought came to him.

"Can I use them?" Chuck asked, looking out of the theater room, at all the green shirts and nerd herders. His idea might make Beckman an alcoholic, but it was an idea. Sarah and Casey shared a look, both thought it couldn't be that bad, and then nodded. They were wrong.

-ooooo-

Beckman took a drink of scotch, blinked a few times, and stared back at the screen. She couldn't have heard what her two agents just told her, could she? "He did what?" Beckman asked. Sarah took a deep breath.

"He told Big Mike that he had been contacted by a wealthy investor," Sarah began. Beckman filled her glass again, and downed it. "Chuck told Big Mike that there were transmitters in the store. It was a game to him, to see how well the employees knew the store."

"He bought that?" Beckman asked.

"General, Chuck brought in doughnuts with him, Big Mike was a little preoccupied," Casey explained. Sarah gave him a grateful nod.

"So, the goal was to see how many transmitters could be found, plus the receiver," Sarah said. Beckman pulled up the bill in front of her which was all the damage in the store, plus the "reward" for finding the transmitters. "Twenty-nine total transmitters, plus the receiver."

"You have to admit, General, it was genius," Casey said. Beckman just stared at them.

"I thought it would take a few days, but you three," Beckman trailed off. "That does it, he's crazy, insane, nuts even, but Bartwoski has been more of a pain to our enemies than he has ever been to us. Walker, what do you need to keep him safe?"

"He needs to get out of the Buy More, ma'am, he's dying slowly in there," Sarah replied.

"Hell, we're all slowly dying in there," Casey muttered.

"He can't grow in there, General, it's stagnant, and it's suck the soul out of him," Sarah continued.

"It's sucking the soul out of me, and I thought my soul had been sucked out a long time ago," Casey muttered. He stopped and thought about what he said as Sarah slowly turned to him. He shook his head quickly. Sarah turned back to Beckman.

"General, they're idiots," Sarah finished.

"General, he needs his friends and family, if Chuck Bartowski feels appreciated, he will go to the ends of the earth," Casey added. Beckman nodded.

"Do you have any ideas?" Beckman asked. Sarah took a deep breath.

"I have one, and I'll admit it's a little crazy," Sarah began. "It was one of Bryce's ideas, kind of, and now, I've taken it, plus Casey's detective agency idea and merged it." Beckman was staring at Sarah. She held up one finger, poured two fingers into a glass, drank it in one swallow and then nodded.

"An art recovery agency," Sarah said. Casey turned slowly to look at her, like she was crazy. "Wait, hear me out, it actually is kinda what we do, and it would be legit so our comings and goings wouldn't be in question."

"I hate you," Casey muttered.

"You're the muscle and guns," Sarah said. Casey straightened and grunted.

"I don't hate it as much," he said. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I have a degree from Harvard in International Business," Sarah began. Beckman nodded. "I recover stolen and lost art that insurance agencies are on the hook for. Chuck plays the part of my computer guy, tracking sales, bank transactions, yada yada."

"And I break into places and physically get things back," Casey said.

"Well, we all do," Sarah said. "But, for the cover, yes." Casey nodded, straightened, and turned to Beckman.

"It's not a bad idea, General," Casey said. "In fact we could find a few of these art thingys, and maybe even pay for some of our own way."

"General, you need to put Chuck on a salary," Sarah said.

"Agreed," Beckman said. "But Chuck is going into 24 hour lockdown with you, Sarah."

"You want me to follow him all the time, General?" Sarah asked.

"No, but I need you to be with him, and if something goes wrong be able to go to a 24-hour protection," Beckman said.

"General, he's going to balk," Sarah said. Beckman gave her a look. Sarah sighed. "General, Chuck is trying to be 'cool' about things." Beckman was fighting a laugh. "I know, I know, but he's going to worry about my feelings and if I want him there." She rolled her eyes. "I love him, but it's exhausting somedays," she said. She blinked. What had she done? No, she hadn't just said that. She hadn't. She looked at Casey who was grinning, she looked at Beckman, who had her own grin.

"Agent Walker," Beckman began, and she was quiet for a second. Sarah's mind raced. She had an extraction plan to get him out. She thought she could take out Casey if she had to, and that would give her a bit of a lead. She could get Chuck, get in the Porsche, and be at the first safe house in 25 minutes. "It's about damn time." Sarah blinked. What had just happened? She looked at Casey, he grunted in amusement. "How do you feel about Chuck living with you?" Sarah shrugged, and grinned shyly.

"Christ, Bartowski broke her," Casey muttered. Sarah back handed him. "You have more lady feelings than he does now."

"Casey!" Beckman said.

"General, I can't say these things to Bartowski anymore. It would be counterproductive to my male role model thing," Casey said. Sarah's eyes narrowed. Casey winced as he realized what he had done.

"You are behind all of this," she said, grinning. "You like Chuck."

"That's a damn lie," Casey sputtered.

"Really, then what about Ilsa?" Sarah asked. "He made sure to handle your, ahem, lady feelings where you wouldn't be hurt." Casey was steaming. "Casey it's okay to admit you like him."

"HE MAKES ME FEEL THINGS!" Casey bellowed. Sarah stood there smirking. Beckman was trying not to burst from laughter. "I apologize, General."

"It's okay, Major," Beckman said. "Now, about Mr. Bartowski."

"General, to your earlier question, I don't mind him living with me," Sarah said. "Although separate rooms might be best starting out."

"I give you a week," Casey muttered.

"That's five days longer than I give him," Sarah muttered back. Casey lips twitched trying not to laugh.

"You two have this?" Beckman asked. "There is an apartment in Echo Park we can acquire."

"I think Walker has this under control, General," Casey replied. His phone rang, and he looked down. "The moron, I mean analyst is calling." Beckman cut the feed. "What is it, Bartwoski?"

"There's something weird going on at the Buy More," Chuck said, in whispered tones.

"Bartowski, it's the Buy More," Casey replied.

"The delivery girl, one that some might call attractive if they weren't in a relationship," Chuck added.

"Nice," Casey said, Sarah smirked.

"Is flirting with Jeff and Lester," Chuck finished.

"I think your phone's been hacked, Bartowski," Casey said.

"Chuck are you sure?" Sarah asked. "Have you hit your head?"

"While I admit that is a more logical explanation than what I am seeing, you know what, hold on," he said. A second later Casey got a notification for incoming media. He watched the attractive delivery girl flirt with the two biggest morons of the Buy Morons.

"That has to be a spy," Sarah said.

"Or an escaped mental patient," Casey said.

"Twenty-nine transmitters, and a receiver," Chuck added. Casey and Sarah looked at each other.

"Spy," they said together.

-ooooo-

"I can't believe we had to search a garbage dump to find that ring," Chuck said.

"I can't believe you dropped it in there," Sarah replied. They were standing outside the apartment looking in at Awesome and Ellie. Awesome was about to propose. The spy in the Buy More had been caught by Chuck and Sarah, and while on the back dock of the Buy More, a hug had turned into much more, and the ring slipped out of Chuck's hand and fell into the industrial trash bin behind them. Chuck had muttered something about they had just cleaned all the food out of the fridge that Jeff had been scared to eat. Something about that terrified her. She had fought revolutions with a fork, but Jeff, he was scary. "This is something for family," she said, starting to leave. He caught her hand.

"Yeah," he said softly. "It is." She nearly melted. She didn't care how he smelled from the garbage bin, or the fact a banana peel was sticking to his hair, which she reached up to pull off, she wanted him. A life with him. Four feet in.

"Okay, but after that, we need to talk," she said. She could see him muttering in his mind, over and over, "play it cool, play it cool, play it cool." "It's a good talk, Chuck," she said grinning. Chuck and Sarah walked inside, and Ellie was squealing she was so happy. They talked for a few minutes, but Chuck and Sarah knew they should give them some time alone.

"I really need to move out," Chuck said, looking at the apartment. "They deserve their own space."

"Need a roomie?" Sarah asked. Chuck looked at her, confusion on his face. Sarah grinned shyly. "This is kinda what I was talking about," she said, taking his hand and leading him over to a different apartment. She took a deep breath at the door, fished out a key, opened the door, and led him inside. "So I was thinking about moving here to help with the new cover job." Chuck did a double-take, trying to process everything.

"Okay, wait a minute," he said. "Are you telling me you're getting a new job and a new apartment close to me, because that is great! I know how much you hate smelling like sausages." She just looked into his eyes. He was spellbound. He was assuming nothing, not being resentful like he could be with his incorrect assessment, and was genuinely happy for her. Parts of her were fluttering, and she would deal with that part, but it was going to be a minute, because she was going to have to explain some things to him.

"Okay, first off, I just asked you to be my roommate, but you kinda missed that," Sarah said. Chuck looked at her.

"Sarah, are they making you-" he began, but she laid a finger on his lips before he spiraled out of control.

"Listen, this is preemptive," Sarah said. "I want to be near you, so what we have here is the best of both worlds." He was listening. "There's two bedrooms here," she said, nervously. Sarah Walker was nervous? Chuck was dumbfounded. How was Sarah Walker nervous? He reached up, took her hand and gently removed it from his lips, but he kept her hand in his.

"So I'd have my own room," he began. She nodded, looking a little disappointed. "What if I wanted to have a sleepover?" She looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Or, what if we had company? That wouldn't look right, given our cover."

"So, it's about the cover," she said, with a look on her face that scared him a little.

"No, ah, it's about me trying to tease you, but you're not about that life, so, Sarah Mae Walker," he asked, looking at her to see if he had guessed right, and by her head shake he assumed again he was wrong. "Can we move in together?"

"No," Sarah said, an amused smirk on her face. Chuck was confused. She took a deep breath. "It's Lisa." Chuck stood there a minute, processing.

"Sarah Lisa Walker," he said softly, like he was trying out her name for the first time. She loved the way it sounded coming out of his mouth. It sounded like a delicious treat that fed her hunger. She had to stop, they had much to talk about, and if this kept up, they'd be communicating but it wouldn't be through words, at least coherent words. "Can we move in together?" She reached her hand behind his neck, and slowly pulled him down for a kiss. It started out slow, but it gained heat quickly. Her thumb played across the back of his neck. His hands wrapped around her waist, and she realized she had hooked one of her legs around his. She pushed him back gently, and he laid his forehead against hers. "Just to make sure that was a yes, right?" She grinned and nodded. "If you want me to have my own room-" he cut himself off, seeing the look she was giving him, like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "Right, sharing a room," he said with a grin, and the one he got in return warmed him.

"Now, we need to talk about this next part, because, Bryce," she said, blowing out a breath.

"You know for once, he's not ruining the mood," Chuck said, grinning. She smiled, and placed a hand on his chest. She hoped he thought it was to keep him at bay, the real reason, she wanted to touch him, feel him, she had to tell him this quickly, or it would be a while, and would that really be so bad? "Sarah?"

"Right," she said, gathering herself. "Bryce had this idea a long time ago for a cover job about him being an art thief to get into a gang." Chuck pulled back and looked at her, curious.

"I'm not real good at the stealing part," he said. She gave him the look. "Right, being quiet."

"But the part I was thinking was art recovery," Sarah replied. "I could pose as an art recovery expert."

"Oooo, is that like an art detective?" he asked. She gave him a look. "Right, shutting up," he said making a zipping motion. She slightly shook her head, she didn't believe him in the least.

"Anyway, you would be the computer guy that did the tracking and …what?" she said, seeing him nearly explode.

"I do the typity, typity," he said. She rolled her head back, sighed, and couldn't keep the amused smile off of her face. She brought it forward and looked at the guy she loved, the guy who exasperated her to no end. She reached up, undid his tie, and unbuttoned the first button on his shirt, making his eyes grow very wide.

"Yes, Chuck, you do the typity, typity," she said, as she moved against him and nuzzled her lips against his neck. She felt him swallow. "You use those fingers and you find things that need to be found."

"Is there anything right now I need to find?" he asked.

"Chuck," she replied, a little breathless. "Are you being forward?"

"I don't know," he replied, reaching behind her, untucking her shirt and moving his fingers along the bare skin on her back. "I'm just offering my girlfriend my services in case she has lost anything and needs me to find it."

"That's such a good boyfriend," she said, trailing kisses up to his ear, and taking the lobe between her teeth. Chuck thought his eyes might cross. "Now, about Casey."

"I really don't care about Casey right now," Chuck said, his fingers circling around the side, and dipping under the waistband in her pants.

"Chuck, focus," she said, her breath hot in his ear.

"Trust me, I'm focusing," he replied, in a strained voice.

"Casey is the muscle, he finds things, that gets everyone out of the Buy More and gives us cover to better do our jobs," she said, pulling his shirt out from his pants, and moving her fingers over his bare skin on his back as she kissed his jaw.

"We need all the cover," Chuck said.

"Or none at all," Sarah replied. "By the way, I have the fridge already stocked with water, you know in case we need to rehydrate."

"Good lord," Chuck choked out, and with that, he bent his head and found the spot on her neck. He took one hand, scooped it under her hips and picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist.

"There's no bed," she said.

"Damn, unfurnished apartment," Chuck muttered.

"Floor burns are okay," she said.

"Sarah, I couldn't do that to you," Chuck said, sitting her back down. "Besides, I enjoy the view from the bottom." Sarah raised her eyebrow, grabbed her shirt, pulled it off, tossed it at him, and pounced.

"Who's your mamma!"

-ooooo-

Chuck and Sarah were sitting with Devon and Ellie having dinner. Ellie was grinning ear to ear. First she and Devon had gotten engaged, now Chuck was moving in with Sarah, and the best part, he was leaving the Buy More.

"A lot of changes happening," Ellie said. Chuck nodded. That's all he felt comfortable doing. Parts of him hurt that he didn't know could, but it was worth it. SOOOOOO worth it. "Chuck are you okay?" Chuck luckily had his mouth full.

"Oh, he's sore," Sarah explained. Chuck started to go red. "He was such a great guy and helped me move all my stuff in." The CIA moving team had been doing just that during dinner, but Ellie and Awesome really didn't need to know that.

"I've got an ointment that will help with that, Chuckster," he said. Chuck braced himself. "Plus its good for the wang, if you know what I mean."

"He really doesn't need that, Devon," Sarah answered, almost proudly. Ellie's eyebrows shot up and Chuck swore he saw her vibrating. Devon held up his hand, and Sarah high fived him. Chuck wanted to crawl under the table and never come out.

"Chuckster," Devon said appreciatively.

"Now that we're done talking about," he began.

"Your wang," Devon said. Chuck nodded.

"We didn't really talk about it," Sarah said, enjoying the teasing. Ellie broke out into laughter. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Chuck looked at her and smiled.

"No, it's fine, you're part of the family," Chuck said. Ellie held up her glass.

"You are, Sarah," Ellie said. "To family," she said.

"To family," they all said together, toasting their glasses.

a/n: Thanks for reading.