Posted May 28, 2019

A/N: Now that I don't have anything on hold, I was left vulnerable to plot bunnies that attack while re-watching season 1. I couldn't stop myself. Unlike my other non-crossover stories, this one starts as an AU. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nobody else owns anything here, so why would I?

Disclaimer 2: No beta. Why would I sucker/obligate/subject anyone into reading this when they didn't want to? However, if you PM me corrections, I'll fix them.

Late October 2007

"Chuck! Time to get up!" Ellie called from the hall outside Chuck's bedroom door. "I know it's your day off, but no wallowing in bed all day! Morgan better have gone home last night because I'm coming in!"

Chuck had been a mess for the past two weeks. It was the worst he had been since after Stanford. One day he was going to art auctions with his beautiful new girlfriend. His morale had been the best it had been in years. A few days later, Sarah was gone, and Chuck was sullen, only going to work and lying in bed. Last night, she actually invited Morgan over for a video game marathon/therapy session while she was at her night shift. She called Devon to check-in after 10, and he said Morgan had come out of Chuck's room once for grape soda, but the little man had shook his head and didn't look optimistic.

Ellie opened the door, holding one hand above her eyes as she entered her brother's bedroom. Earlier, she had seen the rinsed popcorn bowl by the sink, so apparently Chuck had cleaned after Morgan left, but there was still a chance Chuck's annoying little friend was passed out on the floor. No need to risk it.

"Ellie?" said a voice in a whisper. That wasn't Morgan or even Chuck. That was a woman's voice.

Ellie lowered her hand, only to discover Sarah in bed with Chuck. To say Ellie was shocked would be an understatement.

Sarah quietly extracted herself, removing Chuck's arm from where she had held it tightly, keeping him spooned at her backside.

Ellie opened her mouth several times, but never spoke because she couldn't figure out what to say. When Sarah left a couple weeks ago, Ellie figured she'd never see the blonde again, but there she was standing next to Chuck's bed wearing only one of his T-shirts and a pair of boxers.

Sarah held her finger up to her mouth and said, "We should be quiet. Chuck was up late last night. Let's talk in the kitchen."

Sarah quietly passed, lightly pulling Ellie's wrist to turn the woman as she walked by. That light pull was probably a good thing because Ellie was so surprised she had trouble thinking clearly enough to start down the hallway. Sarah let go of Ellie and kept going. Ellie took a few slow steps away from Chuck's room.

When Ellie finally traveled the few feet to the kitchen, Sarah was well into preparing her breakfast. She had never stayed over in the month in which she had dated Chuck, but she seemed to know where everything was. She had prepared a bowl of Devon's healthy grain cereal, a bowl of the Berry Loops that Chuck normally ate, two glasses of Orange Juice, and two more bowls of blueberries and strawberries.

Sarah tilted her head to the dishes in the sink and said, "It looks like you already ate, but would you like me to fix you something?"

That broke Ellie out of her state of dazed amazement. The kitchen was her domain, and she didn't need anyone offering food from it to her, no matter how much she was walking around in a cloud. "No thank you. Here let me help you." Ellie carried a bowl and a glass over to the end of the table. Then she sat down directly to the left of Sarah's spot. Sarah brought the remaining food, setting a place in front of the unoccupied third spot to Sarah's right.

Ellie said, "Sarah, it's wonderful to see you, but I don't understand. What's going on? Are you back?"

Sarah finished swallowing a bite before saying, "For my job out East, I had a work trip to LA. I didn't tell Chuck because I didn't know until late last night I'd have any free time. When I had the chance, I came right over here because I missed him so much. I'm only here until tomorrow. Then I have to head back."

"Don't get me wrong. It's wonderful to see you, Sarah. But it sounds like you're doing it to him again."

"Doing what to him?"

"Leaving him to spiral further into depression. He's been a mess since you left. He said you two were over."

"I didn't know he had it so bad. That's horrible." She sounded genuinely upset at the thought of Chuck's misery. "I thought we might not see each other again, so we agreed on a clean break. It's not like I wanted that, but breaking it off seemed the most fair to him. I haven't been doing great either, pretty much just working and sleeping."

That was like Chuck. Ellie said, "I never understood what your job was. You had a job in DC, came out here and worked as a food service employee for about a month, then went back to your old job, which apparently needed you to go back there. What is so important to allow those kinds of demands on your life?"

Sarah didn't answer immediately. She took another bite of breakfast and a large drink of juice. She started, "When I came out here the first time, I didn't know if I'd ever go back to DC. I wasn't desperate for a large amount money, so after starting dating Chuck, I got a job at the Wienerlicious to be close to him. When circumstances changed, Chuck and I talked about it. While he might not have liked it, he understood why I had to go back."

Sarah stopped talking before she actually said anything about what she did. Instead, she said, "Chuck's up."

Ellie wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion at the abrupt halt to the answer. She hadn't heard anything. How could Sarah have known? Then Ellie heard the thud of a body hitting the side of the hallway. A moment later, she saw Chuck scramble to the opening just outside the dining room, before stumbling when he slid past the entrance, falling backwards onto the ground.

"Ow," he said.

Sarah immediately darted to his side. "Chuck, are you alright?"

Chuck quickly sat up part-way and enclosed Sarah in a bear hug, the best he could do while half on the ground. "You're real—not a dream."

Sarah laughed and said, "Yes, Chuck, I'm here."

She couldn't say anything else because they were kissing. A lot. Ellie had never made a point of looking, but their kisses before had always seemed almost chaste pecks on the cheek. As a spectator who was also a sister, she figured she should to clear her throat.

That immediately separated the couple. Sarah helped Chuck to his feet and indicated the cereal and fruit bowl she had previously made for him. She said, "Your breakfast is there. You ought to have the fruit too, so I fixed you some."

Chuck's face was the darkest red Ellie had ever seen as he went to grab the milk and sat at his designated place. That was the PDA-averse brother she knew. As he silently took his spot, he was not quite able to meet her gaze. Ellie trying to sound like she was just talking about normal stuff, not that the world had been flipped upside down, said to Chuck, "A few minutes ago, before I took a nap after my night-shift, I decided to wake you up so you wouldn't sleep away your day off. I'm lucky I didn't take in that bucket of water like I did a couple weeks after Stanford, because who do I find but—"

"Sarah is here!" Chuck abruptly interrupted.

Ellie laughed as she repeated the obvious. "Yes, I can see Sarah is here." She looked over to Sarah and saw a big closed-mouth grin on the woman's face as she ate more of her breakfast. Sarah had positioned Chuck close to the corner of the table and had moved herself closer as well. Ellie didn't have to be a spy to tell when under the table, Sarah put a leg over Chuck's. Chuck's little yelp of surprise was a confirming indicator. His eyes were already completely wide, and if anything, they widened further in surprise. Sarah just pleasantly continued chewing.

Ellie was happy for her brother, though he seemed just as surprised as she was. "What does this mean?" she asked.

Sarah put her hand on Chuck's on the table and said, "I needed to see Chuck, so I came by late last night. I'm really happy to be here with him, but I don't know what this means for the future."

"How did you even get in?" Ellie asked. "I know Devon would have at least told me if he knew you were here when he left."

Sarah explained, "I came in Chuck's window. I've heard it called the 'Morgan door.'"

"And to think I was going to get that nailed shut. I hadn't realized it would allow in good things too."

Sarah soberly said, "I still have to return back East tomorrow. Chuck and I will talk about what this means for our future, and we'll let you know. We need a different plan because that one wasn't good for either of us."

Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but Sarah cut her off. "I know you must have opinions about what is best for Chuck and ideas to make this situation better. I care about Chuck too, but I have to go back to work. I don't have a choice. Chuck understood before, but now, I know we need to try to figure out something else. Please give the two of us a chance to find a better solution."

Ellie mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key—not that it really kept her from talking. She bounced up, gave Sarah a hug from the side, and said, "I'm so glad you're here." Then she rounded the corner, giving Chuck another hug as he sat with a spoonful of cereal half raised. She quietly squealed, "I'm so happy for you." She straightened herself, took a deep breath, and pointed over her shoulder. "I don't know how I'll sleep now, but I really need to try to get at least four hours so I'll be awake when Devon gets off his shift. You're joining us for dinner tonight." That wasn't a question, and Sarah just nodded at the order. Ellie grinned and practically skipped back to her room, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

Sarah leaned across the table and gave Chuck a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her meal. Chuck resumed eating as well, though he repeatedly looked over at Sarah in amazement. Under the table, he had a grip on Sarah's leg which had remained over his own, a pleasant ability of a girlfriend with extremely long legs.

Sarah finished first and seemed content to just stare at Chuck. Chuck hurried to the end, even eating the fruit because she prepared it. Sarah cleared the dishes, giving him a kiss before she left for the kitchen.

As Sarah rinsed the dishes in the sink, Chuck can up behind her and said, "What now?"

Sarah put down the bowl she was rinsing into the bottom of the sink and pulled Chuck's arms around her before going back to rinsing. With dishes stacked next to the sink, she rotated to face Chuck, putting her arms over his shoulders and weaving her fingers through his curly hair. "As much as I'd love to head back to bed, we really shouldn't, so we're not still there when Ellie gets up."

The ramifications of that thought startled Chuck. "Meep."

"We should shower and get ready for the day. You first. I have to get my suitcase from my car." She punctuated the idea with a peck on the lips. "Don't worry. I'm not leaving until tomorrow."

Chuck leaned in for what ended up being a much longer kiss. Sarah pushed him off, turned him towards the exit of the room, and swatted his rear lightly as he left.

The night before

Chuck woke to the pleasant smell of vanilla. He felt a breath against his neck, so he opened his eyes only to see locks of blonde hair. He felt the attached head move and a nose nuzzle against his neck. He pulled back a little to make sure, and yes, he saw it was Sarah. It was another one of those good nights of sleep because he was dreaming about her again. He wasn't sure it would come—whether it would be one of those good nights or if he had been too exhausted when Morgan left after 1.

The clock said it was 2:30. That was strange, because normally his dreams were timeless. It was a better dream, though. It felt more real. He looked back to his bed companion to find her staring back into his eyes. She moved up a little and their lips met.

Definitely a better dream.

The next morning

Chuck didn't understand how he could get so lucky. He had thought he would only see the woman of his dreams again in his actual dreams. Last night, though, he woke to find that woman with her head on his shoulder and her feet entwined with his. That had never happened before. She woke too, and what followed was a make-out session over twice as long as he ever remembered. After a long while, she spooned him behind her back, and the two of them drifted off to what must have been real sleep. None of it was a dream.

Chuck heard a light tap on the window and saw Sarah smile and wave to him as she headed out to her car. He quickly gathered his stuff for a fast shower because he didn't want to be away from her for long, especially considering the little time she was back.

A couple minutes later, Chuck stood under the shower head and heard the door of the stall open and shut. Right after, two arms reached around him, and he felt a naked woman pressed to his backside. When Chuck's brain rebooted, he turned around to look at the wonderful surprise. A blonde, leggy Valkyrie had joined him. He thought maybe the shower wouldn't be quick after all.

Later, after Chuck and Sarah had dressed for the day, something that took a while with repeated interruptions of knowing smiles and other activities, Sarah settled onto Chuck's bed and motioned to an empty spot for him to join her.

Chuck claimed the spot, and Sarah took a strong grip of both hands. He spoke to her for the first time since the kitchen. "It seems like last night was not a dream, which means I'll have to go back to my previous rankings of 'best dream ever' and not put last night into the top spot. What I don't understand is why. I don't flash anymore, so I don't understand why I'm lucky enough to have you here."

"Not a dream," Sarah confirmed with a little laugh. "I'm here because I felt I needed to be here. I really missed you. I didn't realize how much. Even though we didn't get to sleep until about 3:30, which is 6:30 Eastern Time, I don't think I've ever felt so rested."

"As happy as I am that you are here, are you going to get into trouble? I'm not your asset anymore."

"You're right. You aren't. That means I can do what I always wanted. Like this."

Sarah leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. It quickly intensified with the two of them falling to lay on the bed. After a minute, Sarah rolled Chuck onto his back and pushed up to get into a sitting position. Chuck followed her to reclaim his previous spot. Both of them were still breathing heavily as Sarah said, "Before we talk more about our future, I need to know. I can tell you like having me here, but we've slept in a bed together and have showered together, but all we've done is kiss. Is there something I should know?"

"I'm normally respectful of women, even in my dreams. I've never had one in the shower with me. I didn't want to presume."

Sarah smiled and said, "You're sweet." She pressed her lips near his ear and said, "I'm here until tomorrow. Stop respecting me so much." They resumed kissing.

After another minute, they parted with Chuck, saying, "Wait. Wait. Wait. We need to talk. You didn't say if you're going to get into trouble. Are you even supposed to be here?"

Sarah scooted back a little to a 'safer' distance, maintaining Chuck's hands clasped between her own. "Officially, I don't have to report until Monday. Last Tuesday, I returned to DC after a successful mission in… that's not important. Anyway, I turned in my mission report on Wednesday, and later that day, I was contacted by a friend of mine to see if I wanted to help her with her mission in LA. She had planned reaching out to me when she heard I was stationed in this area, but delayed her mission when she discovered I had been recalled. I hate downtime between missions and part of me wanted to be near you, so I jumped at the chance to join her. Most agents frequently ignore the HR downtime guidelines, but I've never followed them. After Carina and I broke-in last night and acquired her mission's objective, I realized I didn't have to be back until Sunday. I ended up here."

"What's this mean for us, now that I don't have the Intersect?"

Two weeks earlier

Chuck knocked on the green door to Sarah's long-stay hotel room. Quickly, almost as if she was waiting for him, Sarah opened the door.

"Chuck, thanks for coming." She pulled him into the room for a full body hug. Chuck was just starting to hug back when she released the hug and shut the door. Chuck noticed all signs of personal effects were gone from the room. A single suitcase stood next to the bed.

Chuck didn't know what to do next, but Sarah saved him by speaking again. "I have to go soon, but I'm so happy I got to see you again before I have to leave." She smiled and gave him another strong hug.

Despite having a gorgeous woman in his arms, Chuck was not feeling upbeat. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't put on those stupid sunglasses that I found on my desk—"

"Chuck. Stop. We've gone over this. They scanned the glasses and found a single partial fingerprint that wasn't yours. It was a match for the designer of most of the parts of the Intersect, Orion. Our best agents haven't been able to find him for almost a decade. He somehow figured out you had the Intersect and decided to suppress it so you can no longer flash. You didn't choose that, just like you didn't choose to download the Intersect to begin with. Casey's surveillance showed a black-out when the glasses were dropped off in your room, and while that doesn't help us track down Orion, that's another sign it was him because the general consensus is only he could find out you had the Intersect and could also hide his tracks so well, circumventing Casey's surveillance system to drop-off the glasses.

Chuck still looked upset, so she continued. "He just seems to want to be left alone. Nothing bad happened to you. You wanted to get the Intersect out of your head. We're not sure if that's technically possible, but suppressing the Intersect is the next best thing, and he did that. Without a new Intersect being built, we don't have the capability to reactivate the one in your brain."

She ran her fingers through his curly hair and said, "This mission has been the best of my career. I was ordered to spend my time with a really great guy, and we even got to occasionally kiss for cover." Chuck blushed a little. "I only saw this mission ending one of three ways: You no longer had access to Intersect intelligence so I was reassigned, you were put in a secure, underground facility, or something bad happened to one of us. I never saw another option. I'm disappointed I don't get to stay near you, but I'm really happy for you that you got out of this mess."

Chuck still was a loss for words as his heart was breaking. He had never wished he could flash. Flashing again would be worth it if Sarah could stay with him.

Sarah gave him a full kiss that lasted a few seconds. He was too shocked to fully take part. After it was over, Chuck noted that there was no one else around. That wasn't a cover kiss. She wiped a tear from her eye, took a step back, and grabbed her suitcase. As she was exiting out the door, Chuck thought he heard, "I'll miss you."

Back in Chuck's bedroom

Sarah said, "Now that you don't have flashes, I'm officially not your handler. I'd like us to be boyfriend and girlfriend without a cover. I shouldn't have come back this time, but that didn't stop me. I don't even know when I can come back."

"It doesn't matter," Chuck quickly said.

"But you might meet someone who fits better into your life and isn't going to be halfway around the world it two days."

"Any time with this mythical woman couldn't possibly be better than a few minutes with you."

Sarah's smile was so bright Chuck almost needed normal sunglasses not loaded with Intersect programming. She said, "Seriously, I don't know when I'll be back. Officially, the CIA doesn't even know I'm here. Director Graham doesn't care when I go on new missions during by designated downtime. When I don't ask him for a new mission early, something which happens maybe once a year, he knows I'm probably working with Carina. The two of us used to be on a cross-agency team together and trust each other. If Graham checked on Carina's mission, he'd see it was in LA, so he'd easily figure out I was here."

"Director Graham?"

"He's not director of the whole CIA. That's a political appointment. He the Director of Special Operations and my boss," Sarah explained

"You work for the director of all special ops in the CIA." Chuck was impressed.

"When on a mission, I report to whomever is in charge of that operation, but otherwise, Graham is my boss. He recruited me when I was in high school, so he's been more directly involved with my career than most agents. When I was your handler, he was the only person with clearance to know why I was really here, so he was my mission supervisor as well as by regular boss."

"Wow."

"It's no big deal."

"Maybe to you."

"It does make this a little tricky for us. He puts up with a lot from me, but he knows I always follow the protocols he has to enforce and get results. Agents aren't forbidden to have relationships with civilians, but it's generally discouraged. The civilian has to pass an extremely invasive background check, although you've already had one that makes that check look like nothing. Graham won't want me to be distracted from my job, and I don't want you to be pulled back into the spy-world. I'm almost certain he'll be ok with us. I could see you between missions, as long as he's happy with the results that he keeps seeing. It's just not fair to you."

"You keep saying that, and I disagree. Why do you think it's not fair?"

"I'm disappearing tomorrow, and you won't know where I'll be or when I'll be back. I've heard long distance relationships are hard and military couples are strained during a deployment, but this is worse. I won't be able to do things like securely video chat with you while I'm on a mission. You should be able to have a normal life without me in it. After feeling so good this morning from just one night at your side, I'm being selfish and would like more."

"Then call me selfish too. If the only way I can be in your life is this way, I'll take it. Who needs normal? You want to be here when you can. I want to be with you whenever possible. We'll take whatever we can get."

Chuck had never seen Sarah look so happy. She positively glowed. She gave Chuck a quick kiss and then quickly stood up off the bed. "We need to get out of this room soon, or we'll still be here when it's dinnertime." Sarah pulled Chuck down the hall.

The day after Ellie's discovery

Chuck woke Sunday morning to find himself alone in bed. He and Sarah had stayed up until almost 3 o'clock, and she caught an early plane in the morning. He knew he should be tired, but he somehow felt more refreshed, lighter.

He turned and saw two notes on the other pillow which Sarah never used. The first simply said, "I'll miss you." The last time she said that, it worked out pretty well. The second was a reminder: "Buy more condoms."

A/N: What if Stephen Bartowski did something about his son having the Intersect as soon as he could get the suppressor device from his place? Chuck and Sarah wouldn't get to be stay a cover couple, but they also wouldn't have asset/handler restrictions.

This works as a one-shot, but enjoy the rest if you want.

Obscure nerdism explanation for the chapter title: Balance Point is the name of the New Jedi Order novel that was published the year after Chewbacca's last appearance in Vector Prime. (It was the next hardback in the series, after four intervening paperbacks.) This story begins after Sarah mission to help Carina get the diamond from Señor Wookiee.