Author's note: I am a professed slow writer and I kind of ran out of time on this challege.

I think its caused this chapter to appear a bit rushed in places. Sorry. I had a much larger storyline planned, but I had to shrink it down in the interest of time. Sorry Natty- I had actually planned on introducing Bryce, just to kill him!

But like I said...I ran out of time! Hopefully Chuck doesn't appear too out of character. Enjoy! (Sorry about any grammar...that kind of took a second seat too.)

Sarah's Porsche, Near Hotel Row, El Segundo, CA

Chuck slumped in the passenger seat of Sarah's Porsche. He stared intently out the windshield trying to ignore Sarah the best he could.

He was angry. Chuck had waited patiently throughout dinner for Sarah to confide in him about Ellie. But to his utter disbelief, Sarah never said a word. Hadn't the last four months meant anything to her? Was he simply her 'mark?'

Chuck couldn't find another reason to explain her lack of trust.

Chuck knew something 'dangerous' had occurred with his sister. When he first overheard Sarah's phone conversation, he had felt a sharp pang of betrayal when she didn't immediately confide in him at his apartment.

But his confidence in their relationship quickly overcame his initial feelings of distrust. Of course, she would confide in him; they were in this 'thing' together. Hadn't he professed that his love for her was limitless? Hadn't he shown her that countless times in the last four months, since their relationship had turned real.

But as he sat across from Sarah in the restaurant, it had finally hit him. She was 'faking' her feelings for him. His epiphany hurt so deeply that it made his chest hurt and he had to blink away the tears in his eyes. Sarah's betrayal made Bryce and Jill's look paltry in comparison.

Chuck watched Sarah as she attempted to make small talk with him. He saw that she looked strained and it was not lost on him that she excused herself from the table every so often. He knew that her explanation of 'using the restroom' was actually a cover to call Casey and her bosses.

How could he have been such a fool?

Each time Sarah would return to their table, she would put on a happy face for him. It made him sick to think she had deluded him so completely and for so long. How could he have ever thought that she would like a guy like him?

-o-

Sarah was distracted throughout dinner as she tried to have Agent Hunt's report refuted. It had to be an error. She didn't think for a moment that Ellie had been turned, or that the young doctor had been targeted by a terrorist organization. Sarah had worked too hard to assure that Chuck was off-grid. There was almost no possibility that a rogue intelligence agency would be able find Chuck. She had guarded Chuck's identity more avidly than her own. She cared for him and their relationship too much to ever be careless.

Sarah just had to keep it together until the truth was revealed. She didn't know what she would do if Chuck or Ellie were truly exposed. She didn't want to consider the possibility.

As they ate dinner, Sarah couldn't help but think that she shouldn't keep Chuck in the dark about Ellie. But she didn't want to worry him unnecessarily and she told herself, that it was professional appropriate for a handler to keep information from their asset. But the rationalization felt weak even to herself. Was it professional pride that kept her from telling him about Ellie? She wasn't sure, but she avoided looking at Chuck in the eyes.

Her omission seemed to hang between them during dinner and it made her feel increasingly uncomfortable. Sarah started to realize that the longer that she kept the situation from him, the more upset he would be. However, Sarah was confident that she could make Chuck come around.

Sarah knew they had plenty of time, but she looked at her watch and remarked, "It's time to go or we're going to be late." Sarah wanted to leave because it was becoming too uncomfortable sitting across from Chuck. His eyes seemed to be too penetrating; too all knowing. Sarah knew it was silly, but his eyes seemed to be condemning her from across the table.

Sarah grabbed the check and threw some money down on the table. She stood up anxiously and said, "This is my treat. Come on, let's get out of here."

-o-

Chuck tried to hide his anger. He knew Sarah was nervous and they had plenty of time to make their rendezvous location. She was just trying to distract him or maybe she even felt some guilt. Chuck didn't know. But her behavior all seemed to make sense to him now.

It was always about a mission with Sarah. In this case, he was supposed to accompany her to a surveillance van where they would monitor bad guys at a hotel party through the hotel's security cameras. He was supposed to look at the bad guys faces and flash like a good little boy.

For his performance Sarah would pat him on the head and make him think that they were in a 'real' relationship. It was all about control over him.

He wanted cry out at her; to scream at her duplicity.

But he didn't. Instead, Chuck calmly followed Sarah as she grabbed his hand and led him out of the restaurant. He didn't trust himself to speak. He knew that if he confronted her in the restaurant he would break down and he didn't want that. He already had embarassed himself too much in front of her.

-o-

They silently drove to the surveillance location. Sarah noticed Chuck's pensive mood but shrugged it off. She knew that he sometimes became quiet immediately before a mission.

-o-

When Chuck and Sarah arrived at the parked surveillance van, they quickly hopped into the vehicle and joined Casey and Hunt who were already inside monitoring the party.

Chuck saw Sarah give Casey an almost imperceptible nod indicating that she needed to speak to him privately. His handlers quickly jumped out the van telling him that they needed to check the perimeter. It was just one more lie. Chuck knew better than to believe her story.

He had been lectured enough about this type of surveillance job to know that his handlers were breaking protocol. They weren't supposed to leave the van unless it was important. Chuck felt acid in his stomach. Their departure confirmed that Ellie's situation was serious.

He tried to stay calm in the cramped van as his handler's discussed Ellie's situation outside. Chuck leaned his back against the cold metal of the van's cramped interior wall. His pain from her betrayal started to be replaced with indignation. How could Sarah and Casey treat him this way? Did he deserve to be treated as something less than human?

He reminded himself that he was just a mark to her; and the property of the government. Of course they didn't see him as a person. He was just something to be used.

Chuck's blood began to boil as he considered his lot in life. He needed to confront his handlers; to make them see that he was a human being. Chuck started to stand up in the close quarters of the van when Agent Hunt stopped him.

"Where do you think you are going?" inquired Agent Hunt aggressively.

"Out to talk to Casey and Sarah," replied Chuck with irritation. He didn't need one more person reminding him of his lowly status.

Agent Hunt also knew that the senior agents were talking about Chuck and his sister. He knew the conversation was not for the ears of the 'computer nerd' and the rookie agent took it upon himself to keep Chuck in the van.

"They are having a private conversation. You're not needed out there," stated Hunt with authority.

Chuck contorted his face in dismay. "Well, I need to talk to them about something privately too," rebuked Chuck nastily. He started to move towards the door.

Agent Hunt didn't like Chuck's tone or lack of respect. If fact, the junior agent noted that Chuck often would disobey Casey and Walker. But they ignored his adolescent behavior for some unknown reason. It was sickening. He even suspected that Walker had a thing for the nerd.

Chuck was just a computer nerd. Agent Hunt certainly wasn't going to take any lip from the likes of him. The agent was going to make sure that the nerd listened when he spoke.

"Don't move asset or I'll be forced to make you sit down," warned Agent Hunt icily.

Chuck stared at Agent Hunt with hatred in his heart. He was tired of his handlers pushing him around and now this rookie agent was attempting to do the very same thing. He wasn't going to continue to everyones' punching bag.

"If you want to stop me then you are going to have to shoot me," replied Chuck sarcastically. Chuck locked gazes with the rookie agent.

Chuck realized that it would be relief if Hunt killed him. It would put him out of his misery and Ellie would be safe. He was tired of letting life get the better of him.

He let out his breath and moved towards the door of the van. He was not going to play it safe any longer.

Unable to ignore the threat to his ego, Agent Hunt reached for his gun and pointed it at Chuck. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I will shoot you."

Hunt realized that it was a mistake when he had raised his gun. But he didn't want to lose face to the nerd. He prayed that Chuck would back down.

Chuck studied Hunt. He knew that the agent didn't know that he was The Intersect. He saw the indecision in the agent's eyes. It would serve the government right if a very junior CIA agent killed him accidentally.

The government would lose their plaything, and all of Sarah's deceptions would have been for nothing. It was ironic and fitting revenge for their treachery.

Chuck couldn't stop the crazed laugh that left his mouth. He was tired of being The Intersect and having his heart ripped out by Sarah. Fate had never been his friend. All he could think was that his death would be a big fat red stain on her precious service record.

Chuck reached for the door handle and he heard the roar of the gun as it went off. Instinctively he lunged forward as he felt a whooshing of air near his head. He deftly unlatched the door of the van and rolled out of the van and onto the pavement in the street.

-o-

Casey and Sarah were in deep conversation about Ellie when they heard the muffled gunshot from inside the van. Both agents turned in shock. Thoughts of Fulcrum filtered through their heads, but neither could quite fathom what had just happened inside the van.

The agents pulled their guns in unison and rushed towards the vehicle. As the agents reached the van, they saw Chuck lying prone in the gutter. They held their breaths as he laid quietly unmoving. Finally, Chuck seemed to regain in wits and began to crawl away from the doorway and out of the line-of-sight of Hunt's weapon. Seeing Chuck inch away, Sarah knew that Chuck was unhurt.

She then turned her attention to Hunt. Sarah screamed fiercely, "Hunt, throw your weapon out or I am going to shoot the whole God damn van and you to smithereens."

Casey looked at Sarah quickly and smirked before aiming his weapon at the van.

They heard Hun'ts meek reply from the van, "Stand down agents. I was only trying to secure Mr. Bartowski." The agent started to inch his way out of the van with his hands raised. "I told him not to leave the van but he intentionally disobeyed my orders."

Sarah saw red. She grabbed the front of Agent Hunt's shirt and pulled him out of the van and onto the ground. "You think that warranted you to draw your weapon on him?" yelled Sarah. "Don't you know how valuable he is," screamed the blond agent as she kicked Hunt in the ribs.

Sarah was about to level another kick when Casey grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Hunt.

Casey started to say something to Sarah, but she turned fiercely towards the NSA agent. Casey dropped her arm and took a defensive stance ready for her attack.

They agents were shocked by their instinctive actions. They stared at each other for a long moment. The time allowed Sarah to regain control of her anger and she relaxed her body. Casey sighed. The situation was a cluster. He needed to separate Walker from Hunt before she killed him. He told Sarah to go check on Chuck with a pointed tilt of his head.

Sarah was relieved when Casey told her to check on Chuck. She her eyes drift towards her asset. She was shocked to see that he had crawled away from the vehicle and was now several yards down the street. He was walking away from them with his shoulders slumped.

It made her heart stop. Chuck normally wouldn't leave a scene like this. The Hunt incident must have really gotten to him. Sarah had to make him understand that it was all a stupid rookie mistake.

She holstered her gun and told Casey she would be right back. She took off at a run towards her asset.

"Chuck, Chuck…wait up," yelled Sarah as she quickly closed the gap between them. When she got close she grabbed his arm and swung him towards her.

She was taken back when she saw his cool eyes looking at her. Concerned, she asked, "I'm sorry about Hunt. It was a rookie mistake. Are you okay?"

Chuck remained silent but pulled his arm from her grasp. He broke their eye contact and he stared at the ground.

This was definitely not a normal Chuck reaction. Sarah eyed him warily and tried to embrace him again. Sarah's heart quickened when he batted her arms away.

"Chuck, come on…you're safe now. Talk to me. Agent Hunt didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know your worth…"

Chuck interjected by laughing fiercely. "Yeah, my worth…."

His words were so bleak. Sarah wanted to comfort him. She tried again to embrace him, but he pulled back fiercely. This time Chuck looked her in the eye and spoke to her.

"Don't you get it yet? I don't want you to touch me," seethed Chuck.

Sarah's head snapped back in shock and she stepped back from him. Sarah had never heard that tone from him before. Nor had he ever rebuffed one of her advances. His rejection stung.

Sarah stared up at him with a mixture of hurt and confusion. "Chuck, have I done something…"

He interrupted her inquiry by stating, "I need to speak to Beckman and Graham."

His words alarmed her. "Chuck…I…Chuck…I think you should calm down so we can talk about what's bother you. Hunt didn't…."

"Now! Don't you get it? " Chuck yelled.

Wanting to calm him down, Sarah pulled out her cell phone and dialed Graham's direct number. She explained about the incident and that Chuck had requested to speak to him and the general directly. After a few minutes, she looked back at him.

"They are both on the phone," replied Sarah. She hit the mute button. She felt suddenly powerless to stop whatever was about to transpire.

"I've set up this conference call against my better judgment. This thing with Hunt was a mistake Chuck. Don't say something that we will all regret. You could ruin everything we've worked for…."

Chuck stared coldly at her. He didn't even react to her words.

Sarah's intuition was in overdrive. A voice in her heard was telling her not to let Chuck talk on the phone. But Sarah ignored this feeling. She was being silly.

Sarah gulped down her sense of dread and offered the phone to Chuck.

He stared at the phone for a second. Chuck knew that it held his destiny. Rallying his courage, he took the phone from Sarah's hand. He knew that he was finally taking responsibility for the direction of his life.

"Hi Director, General. Yes, I know I had a close call with Agent Hunt. I know it was a rookie mistake. That's not the reason why I asked for a conference call."

Sarah's eyebrows furled in confusion. Her insides suddenly felt like they were going to melt. She held her breath.

"I hadn't realized before that my freedom was endangering Ellie. Yes, I am aware of the situation with my sister. I couldn't bare it if something happened to my sister because of me. That's why I'm requesting to be placed in a secured facility."

Sarah chocked as she heard his words.

"Thank you for granting my request."

Chuck handed the phone to Sarah without looking at her. She took the phone and held it to her ear. She listened as she received her orders to turn Chuck over to Casey for transport to an underground holding facility.

She ended the call and turned to him. With tears running down her eyes, she asked, "Why would you do that? Why would you give up on us?"

Chuck gave her a small laugh. "Come now Sarah, you can stop acting now. We both know it was all a game. I was just a mark. Why else would you hide the truth about Ellie from me. I wasn't worth the trouble to treat like like a human being..."

Her eyes widened in shock. "No Chuck…you don't understand," cried Sarah, as she tried to grab his hand.

Chuck flinched at her touch and pulled his arm away from her. "No, I think I finally do. Your job is done here. Casey will be doing the honors of escorting me to my dungeon."

"No Chuck…." Sarah whimpered as tears fell down her face.

"Just stop it okay. You showed me how you really felt about me when you hide Ellie's situation. Your not big on words but you sure can tell a guy how you feel through your actions," yelled Chuck.

"It was real Chuck…you don't understand. Our relationship was real," wailed Sarah.

"No Sarah, it wasn't a relationship. Even love has its limits," replied Chuck as he turned and walked towards the van and his destiny.