P.N./ Well, here's a new addition to the 'Challenge'…I want to extend a big 'Thank you' to JustMyLuckiness for this great contribution. If you haven't taken the time to get to know his story Nightshift, please check it out, you'll be glad you did…after you read this, of course. Please remember that anyone is more than welcome to add to this little AU…just drop me a note. Either with a PM or by sending it to jaytoyz at yahoo…the only rules are that Chuck and Sarah are going to get together and…well, I guess that's really the only rule. If you have an idea, write and send, it'll get added. Eventually I'll be reorganizing the chapters so they follow a timeline but, for now, anything that gets submitted, gets added. Come play in the sandbox…you'll be glad you did. If you liked the chapter, reviews would be great or you can send JML a PM. JT

A/N: Greetings! jaytoyz gave me the idea for this chapter's contribution to his awesome collaborative effort, and darn it all if it didn't start my wheels turning. After all, writing the canon's Carina on a mission at the Hedonism resort was way too much fun!

This takes place approximately seven months after Chuck's faked death, right around the end of season 1 according to the canon timeline.

Oh – the mention of the blonde skank early on is a backhanded tribute to Adorable Psycho. If you haven't read those, I strongly urge you. Those are so much fun!

Hope you all enjoy!

I don't own Chuck or the resort in question. I'm making no profits from this.

Chapter XX – 7 months ACD

Chuck's eyes got huge at the General's instructions, "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath as his forehead found the table.

"Now THIS is my kind of mission!" Carina purred excitedly as she slowly caressed Chuck's back, "Oh don't be so sad, Chuck. I promise I will take care of you on this trip. You'll be in very good hands," she finished with a lascivious tone and a wink.

Casey just grunted and wandered back to the armory to find a gun to clean. Better them than me. I wouldn't want to get drunk and do something stupid like get an embarrassing tattoo.

Chuck rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh as they walked into the resort, "You have got to be kidding me," he groaned. The overly-excited nature of his companion wasn't doing anything for his mood either. Carina spent the flight to Jamaica almost bouncing off the cramped airplane walls. After the third time she climbed over him to walk up and down the aisle, he had given in and slid over to the window seat. Some of her trips over him had taken much longer than he thought was necessary, and as he scooted over, Chuck could have sworn he caught a fleeting glimpse of disappointment on her face.

After an hour of her bubbling excitement, Chuck had mentally shut down and pretended to sleep so he could have an excuse to go over the mission objectives. Two operatives from a heretofore only rumored group known as Fulcrum were holding a meeting to pass some data which, if in the hands of the CIA, would provide crucial insights into the group's goals and structure. So far, the whispers about Fulcrum seemed more fairly-tale than hard fact, but the one thing every rumor agreed on was that they were trying to supplant the current intelligence agency leadership to further their own goals.

I really wish they had chosen a difference place for this meeting, Chuck thought ruefully as he stared up at the sign reading 'Welcome to Hedonism!' above the door. He heaved another sigh and allowed Carina to drag him inside.

As they walked in, the blonde concierge behind her desk took a long, up-and-down look at Chuck and broke into a hungry smile. "Welcome to Hedonism," she drawled, sticking her chest out just a little bit more than was necessary, "My name's Sam. What can I do to – I mean what can I do for you today?"

Carina rolled her eyes at the slip, but became much more possessive when she saw Chuck smile back at the receptionist and blush. She linked her arm firmly through Chuck's and kissed his cheek before shooting a death glare at the perky blonde behind the counter, "Excuse me, but my boyfriend and I would like to check in."

Chuck's eyes grew huge as Carina reached down and squeezed his ass, "Hi-o!" He hurriedly reached down and removed Carina's hand, taking the opportunity to clasp it in his own, "Yes, we would like to check in, Miss…" he blushed as he looked for the woman's name tag and saw that it was clipped to the bottom of the strap of her bikini top, directly above her… "Havealot. Miss Havelot," he stammered as an oddly feminine growl sounded to his right. "We would like to check into our room."

Carina pasted on her best fake smile and turned on the saccharine charm, "Preferably one with soundproofed walls. We can be a little…loud," she finished with a salacious wink. If possible, Chuck turned even redder.

The concierge looked down at her computer in embarrassment, but quickly found their reservation, "Yes, Mr. Carmichael and Miss Callaghan. I have you in one of our best suites. Room 969," and with that statement, she handed Chuck a card.

Looking over his shoulder, Carina's eyes flashed in amusement and anticipation when she saw under the room number two words: 'au naturel'. She smiled her thanks at the concierge, and this time the smile reached her eyes. It quickly left when she saw the concierge's eyes follow Chuck's ass all the way to the elevator.

Once she sent the bellhop on his way with a saucy wink she made sure Chuck saw, Carina whirled on him with fire blazing in her eyes, "Just what the hell was that?"

Startled by her sudden aggression, Chuck blanched and dropped his backpack, "What was what? What the hell are you talking about?"

Hands on her hips, she faced him with a death glare, "Downstairs! What was with you flirting with Skanky McPerkyboobs? We have a cover to maintain, Chuck!"

"Why are you so angry? All I did was smile at her!" a sudden thought occurred to him, "and while we're on the subject, what was with that flirty wink you threw at the bellhop?"

A dozen thoughts, none related to their cover, flew through her head, but it was easier to fall back on the mission. During their six months working together, she found herself fighting an attraction to the nerd with increasing difficulty. Something about his warm eyes and equally warm, welcoming personality drew her in, and it didn't hurt that he was very easy on the eyes, once she saw past the Nerd Herd exterior. So many nights wondering if his hands were good for more than delicate electronic repairs…

"You forced me to when you were flirting downstairs. I had to flirt a little so it didn't seem like you were the only one ready to step out on us!" Chuck returned her glare, but she cut off his response with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Enough! We're on our vacation, Chuck, not here to bicker about your strange attraction to blonde skanks. We need to get ready to figure out who the Fulcrum agent and his contact is. I think our first step should be to unpack, get a little rest, and then head down to the beach to play up our cover and see if you flash on anyone."

Sighing in defeat, Chuck nodded, "Ok, that's a good plan," he turned to pick up his bag when a rustling caught his ears. As he looked for the sound, Chuck saw a flourish of floral fabric puddle on the floor out of the corner of his eye. Turning fully, his brain shut down completely, focused only on extremely alluring display of jiggling skin as he saw his fully nude partner walk away from the sundress on the floor with as much sway in her hips as she could manage. "Carina!"

Her musical laugh floated back toward him, "Check the room information, Chucky. We have to maintain our cover...so to speak."

He turned his gaze – with extreme difficulty – down to the key envelope and saw the words 'au naturel'. "Dammit. Weren't you just saying something about maintaining a cover, Carina?"

Later in the day, after each had taken the time to shower, they made their way down to the beach. Carina giggled to herself at how Chuck turned from pasty white to blushing so furiously that he looked sunburned at her bikini. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard him mutter something under his breath as they walked out toward the beach.

"What was that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Realizing he was caught, he stopped on the sand and looked her in the eye – after stopping twice on the way up – and said, "I said your 'bathing suit' really looks more like postage stamps held together with dental floss."

Carina cocked an elegantly-manicured eyebrow and cocked her hips. "Are you complaining, Mr. Carmichael?"

"I, well that is to say, I'm not…you know what, I'll just go with a safe 'no' on that one. You look…amazing. I'm just not really used to being around a woman like you," he stammered out.

If anything, Carina was even more surprised, "Really? You're not a virgin, are you, Chuck?" There aren't many women who could resist that boy-next-door charm and those eyes for too long. He can't be a virgin!

"No! No, I'm not. It's just..."

When Chuck trailed off in frustration, Carina saw something in his expression that triggered her sympathy. He looked pained, as if the conversation dredged up something out of his past. She reached out and took his hand in hers and squeezed gently, "What is it?" she asked in a soft voice.

He dropped his head in defeat before turning and walking toward two empty beach chairs in front of them. It did not escape his notice that Carina never let go of his hand. Once they set their bags around the chairs, she took his hands and leaned in for a kiss. Noticing how he tensed up, she whispered, "Just to reinforce the cover, Chuck," at which he visibly relaxed.

After they broke apart and sat back on the chairs to ostensibly soak up the sun while they watched people around them in various states of undress, Carina fixed him with a stare that was at once smoldering and demanding. "Why are you so flustered around me?"

Chuck ran a hand through his hair, "You asked if I was a virgin. I'm not, but it's close. My last girlfriend was also the only girl I ever slept with. We dated for the last two years at Stanford. When," he paused to take a breath and collect himself, during which Carina noticed how upset the memory made him, "when my roommate framed me for cheating, she dumped me and slept with him." As Carina's mouth gaped, she noticed his hands were shaking.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a thin brunette woman a couple hundred yards away, behind Chuck and to his left, openly staring at him. The way she was hungrily eyeing Chuck in his Speedo stirred something in Carina she couldn't identify, but it compelled her to jump up. "Chuck, I think you should roll over. Let me rub some sunscreen in while you tell me more about that stupid skank."

He tried to protest, but she was already kneeling by his chair and squirting the lotion into her hands. Without any more futile protests, he rolled onto his stomach. Carina's talented hands began working the lotion into his skin, simultaneously working the kinks out of his muscles. "Now, Chuck, what does that crazy woman have to do with you being so skittish around me?"

"Ohhh," – Carina hit a particularly sensitive spot just then – "She was very…reserved. Whenever we were together, she insisted the lights be turned off. I never even saw her naked. Then she turned around and slept with my roommate after he got me expelled. My only date since then was when I ended up getting recruited."

Carina's hands momentarily stilled. She was distracted by both his painful history and the surprisingly developed muscles he normally hid. "Chuck, I'm…that's terrible. I can't believe anyone could be that cruel to someone as nice as you are."

He grunted as she found another sore spot, "Thanks, Carina. Five years later, I'm not sure it makes much of a difference. Now because I'm just a loser who got kicked out of college, I can't ever get a job and move up in the world, and girls look at me and see a studio apartment and massive debt in their future."

Her hands found the last of the knots in his back. "Trust me, Chuck. You're far from a loser. You just need to find the right woman who sees you for who you really are."

Chuck looked at her in surprise at the softness of her tone, but as he opened his eyes, he saw a crowd of frat boys eyeing the back of her bikini. He quickly rolled over, stammering out, "That's good, Carina. I feel a lot better. Why don't I rub some suntan lotion onto you?"

Carina looked disappointed for a split second, but when she realized that meant Chuck would be rubbing lotion all over her body, she brightened up and quickly took his place on the chair, untying the string on her top as she did. Chuck glanced over his shoulder and was glad to see the frat boys were ogling someone else now that he switched positions with Carina. He turned back to his friend and partner, and momentarily lost his breath at the amount of perfectly tanned skin on display beneath him.

Taking a deep breath, Chuck squirted some lotion into his hands and started in the middle of her back at the safest place. Taking her groans of pleasure as a positive sign, he started a deeper massage.

"You got up awfully fast there, Chuck. Were you getting a tad…uncomfortable?" she purred as she shifted her shoulders at his touch. Who knew nerds would be good with their hands in other ways?

"I just wanted to make sure I took my turn helping you out. Fair is fair, Carina," he said warily. Her back was rapidly running out of real estate. Fortunately, she solved that problem for him by pulling her coppery hair away from her neck and then folding her arms back along her body.

As he started massaging higher, he became mesmerized by her neck. Normally hidden by her hair, when the hair was swept up, its length and delicacy belied her inner strength. So entranced by her deceptive beauty, he didn't hear the first two times she asked him a question, despite the vibrations in his fingertips from her speech.

"Wha – what did you say?" he stammered rapidly as he started rubbing the suntan lotion much faster.

"I asked you if you could tell me more about this ex of yours. Unless it's too painful, I mean. She sounds like a real bitch. I just can't believe someone would do that to you." Her eyes were still closed, hiding her true alertness to his touch. She knew exactly when he got distracted, and that was her time to ask him a sensitive question.

Still stammering after being caught staring, he started answering without adding his normal filter, "Well, we were introduced earlier at Stanford by my roommate and frat brother, Bryce," he felt her muscles suddenly tense at this revelation, "but at the end of my senior year, she slept with him right after he framed me for cheating and got me expelled."

Her breath caught as he started moving down her back again, but this time it wasn't because of his touch. Sarah's ex Bryce also went to Stanford, and the blonde had mentioned something about a problem he had right before graduation, but then the two had broken up under some dramatic circumstances. Chuck's friend Bryce had to be the same guy. The espionage world was smaller than most would expect, but for her to be working with the former roommate of her best friend's ex-boyfriend was just too strange of a coincidence to be believed easily.

Carina mentally chuckled when her masseur skipped over her ass and started working on her lower legs in an effort to prolong the experience. "Well, if it helps, I think she was a bimbo. You're a great guy, and even if it's not a remotely real relationship, you're a pretty awesome boyfriend, Chuck."

Chuck stopped rubbing, temporarily struck mute at her sincerity. "Thank you, Carina," he said quietly.

"You want to thank me properly? I'd like to be able to sit down this week, ok?" Carina replied saucily.

"Huh?" he replied dumbly.

Huffing at his denseness – but secretly thrilled she could reduce him to a babbling moron with just a flirtatious tone – she wiggled her posterior. "My butt, Chuck. I don't want to have to deal with a grilled ass this week."

This time she was sure she broke him. "Huh – wha – yea-…" Chuck trailed off, completely incoherent.

Carina giggled. Oh he was too cute for words when she did that to him. He'd need a little nudge in the right direction if he was going to fit in at Hedonism, so she reached back, untied the string at either hip, and flipped the back of her string bikini bottom down.

Seeing her exposed bottom finally broke Chuck out of his stupor. With shaking hands, he squeezed more sunscreen – mostly successfully – into his hands and started rubbing and massaging the example of physical perfection before him.

After a few moments of each enjoying their sensations, Carina looked over her shoulder and said, "Now how about making sure my front won't burn either, big boy?"

"Chuck? Hello? Oh dammit!" Broke him again, she mentally giggled.

Later that evening, after Carina generously allowed Chuck some time to recover from the sexually-charged atmosphere at the beach, she insisted they get ready for the masquerade party. After a couple hours though, they needed to prepare for the mission. In deference to her partner's lack of experience with women, she opted to ignore the nature of their room and at least put on some underwear, although when Chuck saw her choice of garment, he turned as red as if he got sunburned at the beach.

"Dammit, Carina! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Chuck's bulging eyes quickly dove back to the desk in front of him after seeing her attire.

Carina smirked to herself and stood with her hands on her hips, purposefully cocking them at an angle designed to catch his eye. He's so cute when he gets nervous around me. "Chuck, seriously, you have to stop getting nervous when you see a lot of skin. This is a club devoted to showing skin, so you'll see a lot of it. What if you have to entertain someone with our mark?"

Chuck swallowed hard at the thought, but when he saw what he took as derision in her eye, gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to travel slowly up her entire body – my God her legs go on forever! – without gulping in intimidation. Charles Carmichael wouldn't be scared. "I can do this."

Cocking an eyebrow, Carina looked at him inquisitively, "Are you sure? These people play for keeps, Agent Carmichael."

His face set in determination. Chuck stood up, strode purposefully over to Carina and grabbed the sides of her face. After a moment of gazing into her clear blue eyes, where he saw strength, purpose, and what he hoped was desire, he leaned in and kissed her as if his life depended on it. Several moments later, they broke the kiss. Carina had to catch her breath and blink a few times to clear her vision. When her eyes focused again, she saw warmth and caring in Chuck's own eyes, but also steel. "Charles Carmichael is fine," he said in a much deeper voice than normal. With that, he walked into the bedroom. It was several minutes before Carina calmed the fluttering of her heart and the wobbliness of her knees.

"This is ridiculous," Chuck whispered into his microphone.

Carina looked across the ballroom at him and grinned. "Do you mean the fact that we're trying to find someone at a masquerade party where we don't know their name or what they look like? Or do you mean the fact that our faces are the most covered part of our bodies?"

Two very voluptuous masked women sauntered past Chuck, tracing their fingers along his arms, then giggling and jiggling their way past him as his chest turned bright red. "How about all of the above?" he asked in a strained voice when his gaze returned to eye level.

"Relax, Chuck. You said the Intersect has sound and video to go with the pictures. Maybe you'll flash on someone's voice," Carina soothed. Chuck needed to be calm if their mission was going to have any chance of success. Still, she had trouble keeping her own eyes at eye level. If she hadn't seen it the day before on her much-longer-than-needed sunscreen application, Carina herself wouldn't have believed how well-built Chuck was.

She needed to be on overwatch, so she took a position by the bar, which was elevated above the main ballroom floor. This vantage point gave her the ability to track Chuck's movements as well as keep an eye on everyone, so she could follow if he had to chase someone. They had spent the afternoon going over a plan of the entire building, so she had the escape routes memorized.

After twenty minutes of politely – and not-so-politely – turning down the advances of numerous masked partygoers, she heard Chuck's shaky voice in her ear, "Carina, I think I have something. I just flashed."

She brought her wrist up to speak into her own microphone, "What did you see?"

"You couldn't have phrased it any better than that tonight?" Chuck's voice came through the microphone with all its indignation.

"Stay on target, Chuck. The mission, remember?" Carina started scanning the room for both her partner and any threats when she heard the urgency in his tone.

"Well, I just flashed on a mole on one of the guests here. There was something oddly familiar about it, but I can't figure out why I think I've seen that particular mole before…"

"Focus, Chuck. What did the flash tell you?" Carina cut in insistently as she started moving to where she'd seen him last. They had to move fast.

He let out a breath, "Nothing good. I think she's definitely here to meet someone and pass some stolen CIA data," a pause, "she's headed out the southeast exit. I'm following her now."

Just as Carina made to follow Chuck to the exit he mentioned, her vision was obstructed by another flirtatious guest. Every time she tried to cut around him, he slithered over and blocked her view. Frustration mounting, she gave up hope of avoiding a scene and twisted so that the man was behind her. She took a breath and shouted, "Let go of me, you creep! I said no!" at the same time as she swung her fist backward into the man's groin. As he doubled over in pain, she threw her elbow back into his face. Just as all nearby attention was on them, the man hit the floor, out cold. Carina ran for the exit to a smattering of applause.

She caught up to Chuck outside, staring out into the darkness. "Chuck! What's wrong? Where's the Fulcrum agent?"

Chuck didn't move. Carina almost didn't think he had heard her until he whispered, "I lost her."

Moving around in front of him, she saw his face – he had taken off his mask in the chase – was ashen, like he'd seen a ghost.

"No more delays, Chuck. You want to tell me what that was all about last night?" Carina fixed him with a determined look.

Chuck sighed. Carina had been gracious enough to give him space for the evening, but it couldn't last. Her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her at the resort's restaurant as they had lunch the next day. "I flashed on a mole. There were images of dead bodies and a code name, Agent Sandstorm, but no faces."

Carina pursed her lips. "That doesn't give us much to go on. There wasn't anything else in the flash?" She gazed again around the restaurant as their food was delivered. When they were seated, she purposely took the seat backing to the wall, facing the entire rest of the seating area, to keep an eye on their surroundings. That and so that I will be the only thing Chuck sees, she thought with a mental smirk.

Disappointed, Chuck shook his head. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it. Staring at the wall above Carina's shoulder, he absently took a sip of his pop, trying to figure out where he'd seen the mole…

"What is it? What's gotten you so out-of-whack since last night?" Carina prodded as she speared a cucumber with her fork.

He shook his head to clear the distractions, then looked into Carina's blue eyes. She was focused on the mission, but there was concern in her gaze as well. She was worried about what freaked him out. Time to come clean. "Well, there was something about that mole…"

"You told me about the mole, Chuck. You told me all about what you saw about Sandstorm and her involvement in Fulcrum," her impatience finally got the better of her.

"No," he said, shaking his head and chuckling softly, "not the mole as in a mole inside the agency. I flashed on a mole, a skin imperfection. There was something not in the flash though. I could swear I'd seen that mole before somewhere."

Something about his tone piqued Carina's curiosity even further, "What are you talking about? You flashed on someone's mole you'd seen before? That can't be possible. Lots of people have moles," As she looked at Chuck, something in the restaurant caught her attention. There was a woman at a table across the room that was paying them far closer attention than would normally be warranted, especially since Chuck was facing away from her. Carina tensed as she watched this woman stare at the back of Chuck's head.

"It was…" he trailed off as the blush climbed up his face, "just inside the woman's left breast…I could swear I've seen that exact mole before…"

Chuck kept talking, but Carina's attention was fixed on the woman, who had gotten up and was making her way over to them. Every male – and some female – eye in the restaurant was on her, as she wore an extremely small black string bikini designed to flaunt her every asset. "Um, Chuck? Is there any particular reason why a random woman wearing next to nothing would be staring at you for the last twenty minutes and is now making her way over here?"

His head snapped up, eyes wide and alarmed, just as the brunette reached their table. From behind him, he heard a voice ask, "Chuck? Chuck Bartowski? Is that really you?"

Chuck plastered a strained smile on his face and turned in his chair. Same hair, same bangs, same glasses, same eyes, same heartless bitch. "Hi, Jill."

"How funny is this? We randomly meet at a resort in the Caribbean after almost six years?" Carina rolled her eyes at the brunette's gushing. The peculiar emphasis on the word randomly didn't escape her notice, but she couldn't tell if Chuck caught it too.

"So funny," Chuck replied slowly.

Jill turned to signal their waitress, and as her body rotated and she reached her hand up, Carina saw Chuck's eyes drop down to Jill's chest. In the process of fixing him with an icy stare, her eyes followed his and then the two turned back to each other with a look of shock. They had each seen the tell-tale mole that Jill's bikini top did nothing to hide. Turning back to confirm, Chuck caught sight of a jagged scar on the back of Jill's hand. The flash hit without warning, though he was able to cover it by faking a sneeze. Carina noticed the flash and cocked an eyebrow at Chuck.

Seeing that Jill was still looking for their absent waitress, he looked at Carina's inquisitive expression and wearily nodded. Holy shit. Jill's a Fulcrum spy.

When Jill turned back, the two broke their nonverbal conference and smiled at their new companion. "Chuck!" she exclaimed, "I have to get going for a spa appointment, but it's been so long, would you join me for a drink later on? I'd love the opportunity to catch up."

He looked at Carina with a questioning expression, "What do you think, honey? Would you have a problem with that?"

Carina most definitely did have a problem with Chuck seeing his ex-girlfriend again, but this was the perfect chance to get the drop on the traitor. "Not at all, sweetheart. I'll find something to do. You go right ahead," she said with a saccharine smile.

"Great!" Jill bubbled, "Meet me in the bar later on and we'll find somewhere quiet to…talk."

After she left, Carina stood up and led the way to the elevator.

"The Intersect wasn't the only thing giving you a flash today," Carina grumbled as their door closed behind them.

Still caught in the surprise loop of finding out that his ex was not only a spy but also a traitorous spy, Chuck ignored her jealousy. He sat heavily on the bed and put his head in his hands before turning to his partner for help. "How am I going to do this tonight, Carina? I've never gone solo before."

Carina looked at his spooked expression and sighed. She had to put her own jealousy aside for now and help him deal with this situation. "You're going to be fine, and you won't be totally solo here. That other Fulcrum traitor is here somewhere, so I have a plan to handle both of them."

Chuck still looked nervous, so she sat next to him and rubbed his back soothingly. "Trust me, Chuck. You're going to be fine. Don't think of her as the girl that ruined your life six years ago. That's a really long time to be intimidated. You're a spy now. You have the Intersect, and you have me here for backup. She should be scared of you. I believe in you, and you can handle this.

He looked at the faith in her gaze and took a deep breath. "Ok, if you think I can handle this, then I'll do my best. What's this plan you mentioned?

"I couldn't believe it when I saw you sitting in the restaurant today, Chuck," Jill gushed with what Chuck could now tell was false enthusiasm.

"It was really…lucky…Jill, but why can't we stay in the bar? Why do we need to go find somewhere else?" he asked while struggling to keep up as Jill not quite marched him down a hallway.

She huffed. "It was way too noisy back there! I never would have been able to hear you over that commotion. There's a room just over here that will suit our purposes just fine."

So saying, she guided him through a door before closing and locking it behind them. "Now, I have a few things I'd really like to ask you, Chuck Bartowski," she purred as she leaned in.

Avoiding her mouth, he turned his head so that he was speaking directly into her ear. "I'll bet you do, Agent Sandstorm," he growled.

Jill snapped out of their pseudo-embrace. Her overly-friendly façade was long gone, replaced by the dark anger of a traitor caught out in her lie. "Nicely done, Agent Carmichael," she spat, "but we were on to you. There's no way a CIA agent is here randomly, even with your bimbo girlfriend." Her hand whipped inside her jacket and drew out a small pistol. She pointed it directly at his heart, growling, "Get on the floor, now."

The hate in Jill's eyes shook him, but he tried to hide that. With a smile, Chuck shook his head. "I don't think so, Jill. After what you did to me at Stanford, do you think that little popgun you have can scare me? Go right ahead. Shoot me right in the heart, but do me one favor: make it permanent this time."

A growling voice behind him caused Chuck to stand up straight and raise his hands. Jill smiled over Chuck's shoulder at her partner. "No, but I bet he can scare you just fine."

Chuck turned back from looking at the gigantic handgun behind him with a wistful smile. "You never took electrical engineering and most of your physical science was way too early at Stanford."

The brunette looked confused. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

He laughed mirthlessly. "How familiar are you with magnets, Jill?"

As soon as he said the word magnets, the door behind Jill splintered open. She turned in surprise, but the only thing she saw was a fist hitting her forehead. Jill was unconscious before she hit the floor.

Carina looked up from the unconscious brunette on the floor, only to see Jill's partner wrap a beefy arm around Chuck's neck and point his gun right at Chuck's head. Her eyes grew huge, but she raised both of her arms, showing the Fulcrum agent her finger was out of the trigger guard. He slowly backed out of the room, dragging Chuck with him. Carina made sure Jill wasn't moving on the floor before following after Chuck.

She caught up to them in the resort restaurant's kitchen. Chuck was still being held prisoner. Carina rushed in against the wave of restaurant employees rushing out. Good. At least with them out of the way, there won't be any collateral damage.

Once she was through the swinging metal doors, she brought her gun up and aimed it at the Fulcrum agent. "Let him go," she ordered in a slow, distinct voice. To Carina's left was the hot grill – still on after the cooks ran out – with Chuck and the Fulcrum goon behind two separate food preparation islands to her two o'clock position.

Chuck nodded enthusiastically, "I think that's a good plan, actually. Why don't you just let me run al…" his voice cut off as his captor jammed the muzzle of his gun against the bottom of his chin.

"No one's going anywhere," the man growled, "and if you don't put your gun down, nice and slow, I'll put a bullet straight up the kid's skull."

Carina didn't see any other choice. Chuck had to be kept safe, so for now, they had to play along. She raised her hands, then slowly started lowering her gun to the floor. Just as the gun made contact with the tile, Chuck's eyes got large and he shouted, "Carina, look out!"

A feral shriek sounded to her right. She turned and saw a blur of skin and brown hair rush at her with a huge knife. Carina tensed, then just as Jill reached her, she grabbed at her legs and launched Jill upward with all her force. Jill's shriek of rage turned into a scream of pain as she flipped through the air and landed ass-first onto the grill. "Hey, Chuck! Did you order the rump roast or the chicken breast?" Carina shouted as Jill shot off the grill and ran to the freezer, screaming the whole way. "Chuck?"

He wasn't paying attention to Carina's witticism. Chuck had used the commotion of Jill's attack as a distraction and twisted away from the other Fulcrum agent. He was just running for the shelter of an industrial refrigerator when Carina turned. Chuck's erstwhile captor was bringing his gun up to shoot him. Quickly gauging the distance, she saw that Chuck would never make it in time. Carina brought her gun up and fired faster than she ever had before. Her aim was true; the agent went down with a single bullet through his temple.

After frantically checking his own body for wounds, Chuck looked up and stared at Carina in amazement. "Nice shot, Carina! You saved my life, again."

Carina smirked, masking her inner relief. "You say that like it's a surprise, Chuck! How many times does this make now? Seven? Eight?"

"Only seven, Carina. Taipei doesn't count." He grinned ruefully and reached down to pick up the dead man's gun. In the midst of watching Carina's familiar eye-roll, Chuck saw a shadow behind her. "Carina! Duck!"

He was almost in time. Carina started to drop, only to feel the serrated edge of a knife on her throat. "I should make you climb up onto that grill," Jill hissed, hate dripping from her voice, "but instead I'm just going to kill you."

Chuck brought the gun up and pointed it at Jill. "Let her go, Jill."

"Or what? You'll shoot around her to get to me? You couldn't make that shot if your own life depended on it, Chuck. You're still just a nerd. You always were, and you always will be. Bryce could have made that shot, but not you." Jill tightened her grasp on Carina as she growled at her former boyfriend.

Oh, Jill. That was a huge mistake, Carina thought to herself. She saw Chuck's eyes narrow and his muscles tense at the insults.

"This doesn't have to be this way, Jill. You're not like this! You aren't a killer! Let her go and we can talk. You don't have to take this step." Chuck pleaded for Carina's life. He wasn't sure what kind of deal they might be able to arrange, but he had to try to get Carina away from Jill.

"You don't understand anything, Chuck. You never did. There's nothing you can tempt or threaten me with. Fulcrum will take care of me or rescue me if you somehow capture me. I'm that important. Put your gun down and walk into that freezer. If I'm in a good mood, I might call the resort to let them know you're in there, in a day or two of course."

"Carina, remember Dublin," Chuck said through clenched teeth. Her mind flashed back to a similar situation they encountered on a previous mission, only with the roles reversed. She nodded as much as she could with the knife to her throat. Chuck pulled the hammer back on his gun as Carina pulled her right knee up and forward. With a deep breath, she drove it backward into Jill's knee, snapping the joint and its tendons with a loud POP. Jill shrieked in pain again as Carina dropped to the floor.

Jill's fury gave her the strength to ignore the pain in her knee. She brought the knife up, intent on striking a killing blow to the redhead on the floor in front of her. Carina saw only the point of the knife and the blazing hatred in Jill's eyes. Certain she was about to die, her life flashed before her eyes just as Jill's arms started down. Chuck had never killed anyone on a mission. He preferred using a tranq pistol instead of a real gun, always pointing out the value of later interrogation. He never…

Three shots rang out in quick succession. Jill's body fell backward onto the floor, lifeless. Carina scrambled to her feet and saw two holes drilled straight through the woman's heart and one through her forehead. She turned to Chuck and saw him standing with his arms extended, holding the pistol. His eyes were wide and staring. She ran around to his side and pushed his arms down, pointing the gun at the floor before taking it from his nerveless hands and flipping the safety active.

"Chuck! Chuck look at me. Are you ok?" She took his face in both her hands and forced him to look her in the eye.

"I…I…I killed her! Carina, I just shot my ex-girlfriend!"

"NO! You saved my life! You didn't kill your ex-girlfriend, you saved your friend! You have to think that way," she saw the guilt and remorse in his eyes as she paused, "don't do this! Don't go down that road. I've seen too many people feel too much guilt after their first kill. Trust me, Chuck! If you hadn't shot her, she would have killed me. I'm alive right now because of you!"

Looking up, Chuck saw the honesty and earnestness in her gaze. He started to calm down, and as his breathing returned to normal, his hands stopped shaking. "Thanks, Carina."

She smiled at him and patted his cheek. "Let me handle the cleaners. Why don't you go up to our room and try to calm down a bit? I shouldn't be down here that long, and then I'll meet you back upstairs and we'll go from there, ok?"

Chuck smiled his thanks and wrapped Carina in a hug that went on for a few seconds longer than she expected. She pulled back in surprise, but he was already on his way out of the kitchen. Carina fished for her cell phone out of her pocket and called for a cleaner team, wondering all the while what was going through her partner's mind after his first kill.

A cautious Carina pushed open the door to her suite and peered inside before fully entering the room. The click of the door closing echoed through an eerily silent entryway. "Chuck?" she questioned the emptiness.

"In h-here Ca- Carina," she heard a stammering voice call out. Uh-oh.

Carina walked quietly into the suite, fearing the source of his stammer. Sure enough, Chuck was lounging on the king-sized bed, but his head was cocked at a strange angle and his legs were spread wide. Several empty minibar bottles littered the bedspread. Oh, Chuck.

"Hi, Chuck. Started the party without me, eh?" She worked to keep her voice upbeat, knowing the thoughts going through his head.

"Too many th-thoughts, running through my noggin. Just too much. I needed to stop thinking so fast," he started to ramble, "I just wanted to stop the thinking, you know? It was like a flash, but w-worse because it was j-just a repeat of the…the shot. I saw her go down; saw the life leave her eyes. I just needed to stop thinking about that, you know? I needed to make the thinking stop, so I started the party early. Think the DEA will spring for the minibar?" He looked up with such pain and agony in his eyes that Carina's heart broke, though her training kept the reaction hidden.

She slid next to him on the bed and took his current bottle out of his hands. "I want you to listen to me very carefully, Chuck Bartowski," when his drunken gaze moved back up to hers, she fixed him with a steady gaze that left him no room to avoid her eyes, "You are NOT a killer. You took her life, but you did it to save mine. She was going to kill me if you didn't do something. Killers don't kill to save lives, they kill for only the sick pleasure they get in taking life. You are NOT a killer. You are a lifesaver, literally. You are MY lifesaver. Do you believe me?" Carina punctuated this last question by taking her hands and grasping his cheeks, forcing him to see her seriousness.

When Chuck looked in her eyes, the affection he saw dissolved the self-loathing binge he'd been on ever since he got back to the room. For the first time, he saw Carina shooting Jill's Fulcrum contact, instead of himself shooting Jill. Carina saved his life too. If it wasn't for this beautiful woman sitting here trying to make me feel better, I would have died today.

Carina caressed his cheeks with her thumbs, and as the silence dragged on, something in their eye contact crackled. The emotion was almost palpable. Later on, neither would remember what the catalyst was. It might have been a blink, or a hitch in breathing, but in a moment, they had gone from silently staring into each other's eyes to passionately crushing their mouths against one another, as if trying to absorb the other person's essence. All the stress, tension, and adrenaline bleeding off from their near-death experiences culminated in that one effort. Carina momentarily felt guilty for possibly taking advantage of a less-than sober friend – whom she'd been trying to get in bed for months – but she rationalized that away at the urgency in his actions. It was, after all, her shirt that went flying first.

The sun's first rays cracked through the shade, falling on Carina's face and waking her up. Damn sunshine. How the hell did the window get open? She muttered a curse and cracked one eye open, noticing her bra hanging from the curtain rod. Apparently in the frenzy, it had cracked the blinds when it flew to its current perch.

How the hell am I going to handle this? Carina wondered as she looked around the room at the evidence of their night of life-affirming passion. The last night had been…amazing, she thought ruefully. Chuck would probably agree, but knowing his history, she guessed that he would probably want this to become a regular thing, with all the trappings – and bindings –of relationships. She wouldn't mind the regular sex, but being a girlfriend…she shuddered at the implications.

Chuck started stirring at her movement. She felt his body tense at the unfamiliar setting and surroundings. His eyes opened slowly, looking down at her first before looking around the room. Noticing her face looking up from its position on his chest, his face broke into an ear-to-ear grin. "Good morning, beautiful," he whispered, voice still raspy from sleep.

"Hello, handsome," she smiled back guardedly.

Chuck almost saw her walls go back up and mentally sighed. She was already pulling away, but he had to at least try. "So, about last night,"

Carina got up, pulling the covers away with her as she retreated into the bathroom. "Yeah, that was really something, wasn't it?" she called out, "Where did you learn to do that thing with your stomach and the Jell-O?"

The memory clicked. "You know, I have no idea!" He laughed hollowly. "So, I guess we should sort of talk about what this means, right?"

"Means for what?" Carina asked, poking her head out of the bathroom and looking at him quizzically.

"For us. Last night was incredible. I don't think I've ever felt more connected to another human being. I just thought since we did…all of that…last night, that maybe it could lead to something…more," Chuck trailed off, looking at his hands instead of her.

Carina's head popped back into the bathroom, before continuing the conversation in an oddly disembodied way. "Oh Chuck. Last night was…amazing," she sighed out, "for me too, but does it have to be anything more than one night of release? We were both running on pure adrenaline last night, and with the bleed-off of saving each other's lives, it's only natural that we celebrated life after facing death together," she finished in the bathroom and walked out – fully clothed – to sit on the bed next to Chuck.

His head was down, refusing to look her in the eye. "So that's it? We shared that life-changing night and it's back to the way things were?"

She reached out and lifted his chin with a finger. Their entire future partnership hung on Chuck's understanding and acceptance of what she was about to tell him. "No. We shared one life-affirming night, celebrating our continued existence entirely thanks to each other, and now we go back to a friendship with a deeper understanding of who each other is and who we are to ourselves. This life isn't good for relationships or love, Chuck, and I'm not wired that way either. You were amazing last night, and if the opportunity ever…arises," she said with a salacious wink, "again, you can bet I'll jump on with both legs, but I'm not looking for anything steady."

Seeing the truth in her eyes, Chuck decided that he'd rather keep her in his life as a friend and partner and occasional lover – though he wasn't sure if he'd be willing to give her another piece of himself like the night before again – than push the issue and lose her entirely. So, he nodded, but in spirit of compromise, he pushed for one more thing, "Can I at least kiss you one more time?"

Carina smiled. "Of course. You're the best kisser I've ever met," she smiled, genuinely happy that he understood and accepted her. She leaned in and they shared one last tender, affectionate kiss, but each knew in their hearts that since the kind of passion that enflamed them the night before is rare and fleeting, this kiss was also a farewell kiss.

P.N.2…Here's the perfect chance to let JML know what you thought about this latest addition to Sarah Walker:Broken Beyond Repair. Also, if you think you might have a chapter to add to this story…send me a PM or email.