Jeff wearing Chuck’s watch and carrying his phone. That has disaster written all over it. Hehehehe

Oops ... so Morgan has his phone ... even worse...

And Chuck and Sarah acting all weird, too. Surprised Chuck didn’t freak out seeing all the weapons in the HT sofa.

“Lester is ‘gunning’ for you...” Interesting choice of words. Hah! Another chance for Chuck to spiral out of control.

Poor Morgan, caught up in Chuck’s web of lies. How long will he be able to hold out when questioned?

Casey in Bennigan’s ... with Jeff and Lester. HEHEHEHEHE ... how did Casey restrain himself?

“It’s my job...” How long will she stick to those words?

I think I wrote about half this review before getting distracted. Then forgot to come back. Just found it still here in incomplete form. Guess I better get busy reading... Sorry!

Great story. One kinda big tweek to canon and away we go. Too bad Ryker couldn't go more painfully, but, then, I'm a mean SOB that way. Chuck and Sarah 'dancing' with each trying to sacrifice themselves for the other. Casey considering calling Kathleen at the end.

Nice stand alone AU that could be extended, if you wanted. It'll get re-reads, regardless. Thanks for adding to the obsession.

Great little story like Sarah remark "if you harm my Chuck" but the end was really caboom and with both jerks out of the way now they three can live an act as best team in the intelligence community well done.

Thanks for the explanation on the end always thought that REACON is some kind of Marine spec ops.

Well the buy morons and that include Morgan have at least some purposes in this story...

Looks like it we have Prague much earlier in this story nice...

great start lets see what happened next

When Ryker showed up and shot Casey, I was wondering how you were going to get them out of the corner you'd written them into. I didn't see it until Ryker tossed Sarah's gun behind him, and then I was like, "Aaaand now Casey for sure isn't dead!"

Really loved exchange of moments when Sarah tried to leap between Chuck and the gun, and Chuck turned her leap into a twist and a drop that left *him* between *her* and the gun. So very Chuck. :) And that moment of tranquility he experienced when he accepted his own death as a price for her life: beautiful.

I liked the moment when Casey made Chuck stop talking, so Sarah could finish what she was going to say. Nice flourish taking out Beckman along with Graham, but making it clear that Chuck is still stuck. A new Director, a stronger relationship between Chuck and Sarah, a Sarah who has decided she belongs with Chuck more than she belongs with the CIA, a Casey who's considering making amends, and a dead Ryker so much earlier in the timeline has all sorts of possibilities! You are not obligated to write any of them. :) And nice job with the subtle, roundabout reference to Molly. If there's a follow-up vignette I'd love to see, it's the revelation of Emma and Molly to Chuck, and their first family get-together.

The double meaning of the opening line, set off by itself, "John Casey's eyes opened.", was a masterful touch.

You don't need to be down on yourself for how long it took to write this story. Stories take as long as they take, and you always have to balance writing with all the usual family and work responsibilities you have. That's healthy and right: Art should be in service of Life, not the other way around. Other authors in this fandom are in a different place and maybe have more writing bandwidth. But however long you felt it took, I think you did a phenomenal job. By the third chapter, you were starting to find a confident voice, and by the time you got to the end, you nailed it the whole way through. Your descriptions and pacing were great. You did an excellent job balancing action, dialogue, emotions, characterization, and tense plotting. A lot of people don't know how to end a story, but you did a great job, and didn't let the story overstay its welcome. You left me feeling both satisfied and eager for more. :) And the quality of your prose by the end was leaps and bounds more effective (for me :) than the first draft of chapter 1 that you sent me! You're doing it, man! You're a real author! :-D

Thanks so much for this great read.

Oh, this chapter was heartbreaking and perfect, with Chuck finding his calm and confidence in the most dangerous moment possible, caught between two people he loves. Casey's mien is just right. Sarah's hard show breaking down into desperation is just right. The tension with Ryker coming on Casey's heels is excellent. Great re-use of canon, as usual. Nice moment to remind us of Casey's proposal to Alex. I am LOVING this story. It's got such great energy and pacing, and your voice is so sure and steady. Excellent AU!

I loved the scene with Sarah in the bathroom before she went out to meet Chuck.

Sending Ryker is a great choice—we all know he can't be trusted and we want him dead. And he's personally dangerous to Sarah, beyond even the threat to Chuck. I'm looking forward to Casey shooting him. Or whatever you have planned. It's going to be good. And I'm so glad Chuck and Sarah found each other so much earlier in your AU.

Nice job, once again, with reusing character beats and dialogue in this context.

Really nice reuse of canon in your AU context. The way this devolved into a game of musical chairs with Chuck's watch and mobile phone was pure Chuck perfection: Jeff naturally found and picked up and put on the watch. Morgan was looking for Chuck but found his phone instead, and then (trying to be helpful, it's all perfectly reasonable and in-character) put the phone in Chuck's bag. Sarah and Chuck are distracted and don't notice. Casey's thoughts make complete in-character sense, and Lester's dialogue about the board games at Bennigan's is spot-on. You captured the perfectly-understandable and hilarious cluelessness amidst the high-stakes spy-world tension beautifully. I feel like this chapter is also where your voice and prose style shifted into top gear: the pacing is great, the dialogue flows naturally, and you found a great balance of show vs. tell. Oh, this is good stuff!

The ice cream brands line from Chuck had me smiling. I liked Sarah's fantasy of braining Jeff, and her realization that it wouldn't work. The fantasy was both funny and a very effective way of depicting her rage/frustration. Lester's dialogue, misogyny, and reaction to Sarah's threat was perfect, as was the unplugged camera giving Chuck and Sarah some privacy. The phone call with Casey was note-perfect for all three characters. I can't wait to read more!

I really like how you're portraying both Sarah's internal life and Casey's internal life, and I'm very interested in where you take this story, now that Sarah is aware of the threat to Chuck's life. Great job with the echoes of canon dialogue when Sarah is wondering when Chuck will realize he can have anything he wants. Looking forward to more, and don't sell yourself short! All the best things about this chapter are all *you*. :)

Nicely done. I have no problem with Beckman and Graham shuffling off this mortal coil. I hope once you've rested your quill and replenished your ink, that you will start on another story. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing this story with us. I do hope you write an epilogue or two.