I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

This story follows in the universe created by Chuck vs The Negotiation and continued by Chuck vs Taking One For the Team and Chuck vs The Sexy Handler. If you haven't read those stories, this isn't going to make much sense. I would recap them here – but that would just be rewarding laziness now, wouldn't it? Anyway, this is the story of Chuck and Sarah facing their worst fear. What happens when Chuck is forced to embrace the intersect? Can he remain the same guy that Sarah (and all of us) loves?

Just up front – I will never, ever write a story that doesn't have a happy ending. Mostly because I don't want to read stories like that. So I'm sorry if that ruins this for anyone. But just keep this in mind. When this gets tense (and it will), when it gets dark (and it will), when it looks like all hope is lost – things are not always as they seem.

Just a fair warning. There will be a substantial character(s) death. Who? I'm not saying, lol. Just like on the show, nobody is safe.

As always, thanks to my good friends Happydayz and Brickroad. Not only for teaching me stuff like good grammar, but for keeping me honest with the characters. I appreciate all of your help more than you'll ever know.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review.

Hello Baby Kate

- - - -

It had instantly become the highlight of Chuck's day. Oh, he knew full well that the nurse that had taught the infant parenting class meant it as a shot. Her implication was fairly clear. The dad got off far too easy in this having-a-baby deal. And taking the early morning feeding was the least that the lazy bastard could do. Okay, so she didn't actually say 'lazy bastard' out loud. But that's certainly what her eyes and body language were saying. But the joke was on her. Not only was Chuck willing to take the early feeding – he was looking forward to the opportunity to have his own alone time with his new daughter.

There was one thing that Chuck had to admit he had not anticipated. And that was the overwhelming sense of responsibility that hit him every time he looked at Kate. After all, Chuck was a pretty responsible guy. He was the intersect for goodness sake. But that responsibility was nothing like he felt now. Baby Kate was, well she was perfect. But she now depended on him totally. And he was never – never going to let her down.

To be sure, the first couple of weeks after bringing her home were awkward. Actually, awkward didn't begin to describe it. They were hell – pure terror filled hell. Sarah was always exhausted. And worse, sometimes Kate would cry – and they would just look at each other. Neither really knowing what to do. After all, she was changed and fed and burped and – well, all of the obvious things – and yet she was crying.

That really bothered Sarah. More than bothered her, it drove her crazy. After all, she was perfect at everything. She expected to be a perfect mom. And what kind of mom would let her baby cry without fixing it? Chuck really wasn't sure which was worse – listening to Kate cry. Or listening to Sarah being frustrated. And actually, he knew which was worse. A frustrated Sarah was not much fun – at all. Especially with the hormones working on her. Sometimes she would cry. But mostly she just got angry. And since she really couldn't get angry at Kate, guess who took the brunt? Chuck knew that she was just venting. She really didn't mean the things she was saying. It still made for some very long days. But little by little they worked through it. Every day got a little easier. And eventually, they even settled into somewhat of a routine. It was funny, the more relaxed Sarah became, the less Kate cried… and the more relaxed Sarah became.

It was now even getting to the point where Elise would actually venture out of her room. Poor girl – she spent six weeks trapped inside of that room. At least Casey and Janice could just stay away. After all, they were still in the honeymoon period of their new relationship. And their friskiness still grated on Chuck's last nerve. Six weeks? He was sure that the nurse was kidding. Six weeks without sex? That couldn't be right – could it? And Casey and Janice obviously took great pains to make sure that Chuck knew what he was missing. After all, revenge was – well, it was fun.

But that was over. Chuck looked at his watch. Fortunately, those six weeks were up twenty-two minutes ago – not that he was counting. So he smiled at his daughter who was softly sucking on her bottle. "Happy birthday, baby Kate," he whispered. "But it's your daddy who is getting the present." It was also time to turn the tables on Casey and Janice. If they were uncomfortable with how icky Chuck and Sarah were before – they should get ready. They haven't seen anything yet.

- - - -

Adam Colson had just finished the most exciting seven months of his life. Okay, so it was a little freaky being the only survivor of the intersect attack. On the other hand it turned out to be a life changing experience. This intersect thing was a godsend. Oh, it took a little getting used to. But once he had mastered it, it was like having super powers. No matter what scrape he got himself into, the solution simply flashed into his brain. If he was surrounded by cops, simply kung fu your way out of it. Locked in a room? Simply pick the lock using the schematics that popped into your brain.

Money was surely no longer a problem. Whenever he needed some, all he had to do was flash on a secret bank account. Those rich oil sheiks would never miss a few hundred thousand dollars. It allowed him to live like a king.

And the women. Sweet lord, the women. Adam had always been decent with the ladies. After all, he had the benefit of the seduction training like all field agents. But now it was like he had mind control powers. Hell, maybe he did. Because when he looked into their eyes they were simply defenseless. He always seemed to know exactly what to say and how to act. It was getting to the point where he started making a game of picking out the most challenging woman in the bar and seeing how quickly and how far he could get her to go. Lately, that meant picking an obviously married woman and taking her away from her husband. And one of the best things about the intersect was he no longer had a conscience. So that meant, if on the odd occasion the foolish girl decided that she wasn't willing, Adam wasn't above taking what he wanted. After all, what right did a mere mortal have to refuse a god anything that he would ask? It never took much 'convincing' for them to come to that same conclusion.

It was so great that, for a while, Adam almost forgot about getting revenge. After all, whoever had done this had given him a great gift. But as time passed the burning desire slowly returned. There was a principle involved here. He had been attacked. Not that he cared that much for Fulcrum. He didn't. But whoever did this was trying to kill -- him. It was personal. And that simply couldn't go unpunished. No, he needed revenge. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out who had done this, find the people that they loved, and make them pay. He decided to make it a game. Hell, it would be fun. And there was no reason not to. There was absolutely zero risk.

After all, he was now a god… And the gods were angry.

- - - -

Chuck had a fairly static routine established with Kate in that early morning feeding. While he was waiting for her bottle to heat up he would change her. He always took the time to look at her fingers and toes. Which was becoming a little silly -- there were always ten of each. After all, it was highly unlikely that a finger had fallen off in the night. But one could never be too careful. And they were perfect. Chuck was always amazed at how perfectly detailed they were. Kate's little fingers were so adorable – right down to her perfect tiny fingernails. Then while she was taking her bottle he would softly tell her a story.

Every night Chuck would pick up the story at the point they had left it the previous night. He had already gotten past the point of falling in love with Sarah and their war with Fulcrum. And naturally, he had to skip most of the scary parts. He certainly wouldn't want to give her bad dreams.

Chuck smiled as he watched his daughter contentedly taking her bottle. "Let's see," he said softly. "Where did we leave off last night? Oh yeah, your Uncle Casey and Aunt Janice. Well, Kate, sometimes being in love takes some work. Their relationship is really not that much older than you are. And neither one of them had ever lived with anybody before. They were both used to doing their own thing. And just like when we brought you home from the hospital, we didn't know what we were doing at first. Well, they had some growing pains of their own…"

- - - -

To call Janice and Casey a match made in heaven didn't quite fit. For one thing, they were too much alike. They say that opposites attract. Well, they weren't opposites. In fact they were the opposite of opposites. And since neither one was good at expressing feelings, little things grew more and more annoying. It was getting to the point where, outside of the bedroom, they didn't talk at all. And sex, even mind blowing sex, could only carry you so far.

There was one saving grace -- living next door to Devon and Ellie had really done wonders. Ellie and Janice had grown very close. So close, that if Sarah was totally honest, she would admit to being a little jealous.

Ellie couldn't help but smile. Janice looked so perplexed. "Are things getting better?" Ellie asked. Even though she could tell by the look on Janice's face that they weren't. So it was a good thing that Ellie was taking her out for a drink. It really looked like she could use one. And, truth be told, Ellie was looking forward to hearing Janice's seduction stories. So, it looked to be a good night for them both. Janice could get out of the house for a while. And Ellie could finally find out what she'd been wondering about.

Janice pounded the steering wheel in frustration. "I don't know," Janice said with a sigh. "I love him, Ellie. I mean I do. And I know that he loves me. But sometimes I just want to shoot him."

"That's all men," Ellie laughed. "I want to shoot Devon sometimes."

"No," Janice said. "I'm not being figurative. I mean I want to take out my gun, point it at him, and pull the trigger. Maybe not kill him. Maybe just clip him in the leg or something. He's such a neat freak. And I'm… well I'm not. If he cleans up my makeup stuff in the bathroom one more time…"

"You have to talk to him," Ellie said. "You have to let him know that you're not happy."

"How can I do that?" Janice asked. "That would crush him. He would take that as I have doubts. I want to shoot him – not hurt him."

"Don't you have doubts?" Ellie asked.

For the first time, a smile came to Janice's face. "I know that it sounds like it," she said. "But I really don't. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him. I love him. I can't live without him. But, Ellie, sometimes…"

Ellie just grinned. "It doesn't sound like you can live with him," she said.

"I know," Janice sighed. "So that just leaves shooting him."

- - - -

One side benefit of Janice and Ellie getting close was that it took most of the strain off of Casey and Devon. True, they weren't quite to the point of being close friends. They simply didn't have that much in common -- yet. But now that Janice was around, Devon no longer had to fear any possible romance between Ellie and Casey. Okay, so that was always silly. But it was there. So removing any doubt made a huge difference.

One thing that they found that they did have in common was baseball. They both actually enjoyed sitting and watching a baseball game while drinking a beer. And truth be told, it usually ended up being more than one beer.

"Tell me, John," Devon said. "It must be a lot of fun being a spy."

Casey turned is head to look at Devon in amazement. "Why would you say that?" he asked. "It is mostly nasty, dangerous work."

Devon just laughed. "But it must be fun to spy on someone," he said. "Knowing what they're doing without them being aware."

"It can be," Casey admitted.

"This game is boring," Devon said. "Why don't you give me a demonstration?"

Casey frowned as he stared back at him. "This is not a game, Devon," he said quickly.

"I know," Devon said just as quickly. "I'm not talking about anything real. How about we just find the girls and spy on them? I'm sure they won't mind. And it would be a good demonstration. If we get caught, no biggie. I'll buy you a scotch."

Casey had to admit – it might be fun to show Devon his skills. And he always wanted to know what Ellie and Janice were talking about. So he smiled. "Okay, Devon," he said. "You win. Let me grab my equipment."

- - - -

Chuck looked down at baby Kate. Either the story had soothed her or it had bored her. Whichever it was, she was fast asleep. "Well, Kate – that didn't turn out too well for them," Chuck whispered to his sleeping daughter as he gently kissed the top of her head. "They found out some stuff that they probably wished they hadn't. But, don't worry about them. They all worked it out -- eventually. I'll tell you how tomorrow. That reminds me. If Aunt Janice ever wants to talk to you about boys – come and get me."

So Chuck, rather reluctantly, put her in her crib. Then he stood and watched her sleep for a few minutes. Chuck didn't have much experience with babies, but he could already tell – Kate was going to look like her mother. And that meant trouble. How to keep the boys away? Especially with Janice, and now Elise, egging her on. But that was tomorrow's problem. So he sighed and climbed back into bed. But as soon as he snuggled into Sarah, she surprised him. She turned around to face him.

"How was she?" Sarah asked. "Was she fussy?"

Chuck was stunned. There was no hint of sleep in Sarah's voice. And that in itself was unusual. "She was perfect," he said. "She is such a sweetheart. She is really starting to look like you."

"Do you know what today is?" Sarah asked.

"Of course," Chuck said as he bit his lip to keep from laughing. "It's Thursday."

Well, that was clearly the wrong thing to say. "It's Thursday?" she repeated. She rolled over and faced away from Chuck.

Chuck could tell by the hurt in her voice that something was wrong. So he rolled over and spooned into her. "What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Sarah had to wait for a moment to compose her voice. "I've been so horrible to you," she finally said. "I didn't know what I was supposed to do. And I don't handle that feeling very well. I've been frustrated and bitchy. And I've taken it out on you. I'm so sorry. I know that I've probably driven you away -- but I never thought that you would forget…"

Chuck squeezed her tightly. "Sarah," he said. "I haven't forgotten. I was just teasing you. I know what today is. I've been counting the minutes. It's Thursday. Six weeks and one day after…"

Sarah's initial reaction was anger. But that quickly faded as she breathed a sigh of relief. He was going to pay for teasing her – but right now she was far too relieved to be anything but happy. She could feel the tenseness leave her. "The longest dry spell in our history," she finished his sentence.

"Not counting the first two years," Chuck said as he kissed her neck. "Are you sure that you're ready for this?"

Sarah rolled over to face Chuck again. "You're joking, right?" she asked. "I've been counting the minutes too. You're forty-five minutes late."

"Well," Chuck said with a grin. "I'm sorry I was late. I was feeding Kate. But in my defense, in the labor room you said that I was never going to touch you again. I believe the phrase 'cutting it off' was used.

That had them both laughing openly. It was a moment that they hadn't shared in a long time. They just held each other and laughed. It felt so great. After a long moment, Sarah touched her lips to his. Naturally, the kiss quickly intensified.

"I'm so sorry," Sarah said as soon as the kiss broke. "Lately I've given all my affection to Kate. And all I've left for you was my anger and guilt. I've been so awful to you. Please understand how much I need you. How much I've missed you. How very much I love you."

"Sarah," Chuck said. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. I understand that having our first baby is a challenge. I think it is for anybody. It's going to get easier. I'm really proud of you. You're doing so great. And I've never, not for one second, questioned if you love me. I love you too."

"I know," Sarah said. "Hopefully the worst is over. I'm sorry that I said that in the labor room." Just before their lips touched again, she whispered, "And for the record, I've changed my mind."

- - - -