In the previous chapter, we left Chuck on the beach with a wine bottle and a huge decision, and we left Shaw and Mandy discussing possible grounds to fire Chuck. What did Chuck decide? Did he REALLY get fired? Read and see…

Longer A/N at the end.

Not What it Looks Like

Chuck hung up the phone. He knew Morgan was right, he just didn't know if he could go after her. He looked down at the wine bottle he had picked up at some point. The red liquid looked so comforting. He slowly raised the bottle to his lips and took a swallow. Nope, wine definitely wasn't going to cut it. He needed something way stronger.

He decided to go home. He needed to think, and drink, and maybe not in that order. When he got to his house, it was entirely dark. Apparently Morgan was not home yet. He made his way into the kitchen and opened up his half-empty bottle of Johnny Walker. Chuck knew in the back of his mind that drinking was not going to help anything, but he didn't care.

He drank, and then he drank some more. He was on his third glass -or was it his fourth- when the realization came to him that he still hadn't given Sarah the CD and he needed to. But he wasn't sure if he should tonight, even though Morgan had pretty much told him that he had to go after her.

He needed to make a decision. And finally he did.

He would go after her. He would follow her to the ends of the earth if he had to because he loved her. It was in that moment that he decided that whatever it took, he was not going to lose his Sarah to Daniel Shaw, a man he knew was only using her; what for, he had no idea. But it was clear Daniel Shaw had an agenda, and Chuck didn't want Sarah anywhere near that.

He got in his car but then remembered that he had forgotten one very important detail. He was just a little drunk. He picked up his phone and called a cab.

The cab arrived, and Chuck got in the back seat. "Where to sir?" The driver asked in a monotonous tone, suggesting that it was pretty much the only three words he said day in and day out.

"Ummm, uhhh."

"Son, I can't take you anywhere until you know where you're going." The driver stated the obvious.

Chuck laughed nervously and held up his finger, digging his phone out of his pocket with the other hand. "Just one second."

He dialed a number on his phone and held it up to his ear.

"Morgan, quick question…Where does she live?"

x-x-x-x-x-x

Shaw eyed Amanda, a hint of excitement in his eyes. "What is it?"

She motioned at his computer, "Do you mind?"

He rolled his desk chair back a ways, "By all means."

Amanda plugged the flash drive in, and pulled the files up. "There you go," she said, stepping out of the way so that Shaw could roll forward and take a look. Amanda watched him as he perused the files. Then he looked back up, Amanda's eyes were hopeful.

"Are you freaking crazy?" Shaw snapped, not giving her a chance to reply, he continued, "A mix CD? How the hell am I supposed to fire him for a mix CD? Last time I checked, it was legal to make these things."

Amanda bit her lip, and then said in a very small voice, "Well he made it during work hours, Mr. Shaw."

Shaw leaned back in his chair and chuckled, "Ohhh, Amanda." He shook his head and laughed a little harder. Then he became serious. He yanked the USB drive out of his computer and tossed it at her. "Get me something better."

Amanda turned to leave, but stopped when she got to the door, and turned around, "He made it for Miss Walker, sir."

"Still not grounds to fire him, as much as I hate to say it. Amanda, I have to cover my ass on this one. Chuck is a good employee, and he's done good things for this company." Then in a lower, mumbling tone he said, "I just can't stand his sorry existence."

"But Mr. Shaw this is against all the rules. We have a time frame on this video game and he's messing around with music CD's for your girlfriend!"

Shaw shrugged, "I can't do anything but give him a warning. I'm sorry Amanda, dear, I really am. But you do like your boss, don't you?" He asked, getting up from his desk.

"Yeah, I like him enough, but…"

"But you like the idea of a promotion better." Shaw cut her off as he put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the door.

Amanda looked up at him, startled, "Well…"

"Mandy, you don't have to get your boss fired to get the promotion. I can figure out another way to get rid of him. There are…other ways." He finished, removing his arm from around her shoulder and giving her a slap on the ass, grinning mischievously.

Amanda stumbled forward through the doorway. When she stopped, she turned around, and met his grin with a disgusted scowl. Then she just shook her head and walked away.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck made good time in getting to Sarah's new apartment complex. It was quite a bit more upscale from the one she had been living in before, probably one of the many perks of dating a millionaire, he thought bitterly. He entered the building, and managed to slip in after a tenant before the door closed. He marched briskly up the stairs, but slowed his pace as he approached Sarah's door. Finally, he was standing in front of it, and he raised his hand and knocked.

Sarah flung the door open, and her blue eyes got wide in surprise; clearly she had not been expecting him. She seemed at a loss for words, but finally managed to choke out a fast and high-pitched, "Chuck? What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" He asked simply.

She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him pass through. He walked right past her into the living room where he made a beeline for the CD player.

Sarah had followed him, "You still haven't told me why you're here." She noted as she sat down on the couch.

Chuck pulled the CD out of his coat pocket and held it up, "This should explain it." He put the CD in and pressed play.

The music started playing, and Sarah got a confused look on her face, "I don't understand."

He turned around to face her. "It was Bryce's last gift to you. He asked me to make it for him to give to you, and I never finished it. That is, not until today." He paused for a moment, and chuckled a little, "He said once that he couldn't wait to give it to you, because when he did, he and you would dance to the whole thing."

Sarah smiled and looked down at her lap, "It was one of the things we enjoyed doing the most together." She said simply.

He walked over to where she was sitting on the couch and held out his hand, "Now I know I'm not Bryce, but Sarah Walker, would you give me the honor?"

She smiled again, and put her hand in his. He pulled her up off of the overstuffed sofa, and began to sway to the music with him. She felt his strong arm make its way around her waist, she leaned her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt at home.

They were silent for several minutes, just holding each other, living in the moment. Then Chuck spoke, "So you and Shaw, like are you real serious, or what?"

Sarah hesitated, "Uh, I don't know, you know, it's... different."

"Different how?" Chuck probed.

"Than with you," She answered simply.

Chuck looked down at her, "You know I…" He trailed off when his phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket. "It's Shaw." He pushed the ignore button. "It can wait."

He went back to swaying Sarah back and forth, and back to talking as well.

"What I was gonna ask you before the phone rang, or what I was going to say anyway, was that I've been um…I've been thinking a lot about what it used to be like between us. Before Shaw, and my job at Castle and all that, and I've just been thinking about what life would have been like for us if we'd made different decisions back then…If I had made a different decision back then. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess now."

Sarah buried her face deeper into his chest, and when she did, she immediately smelled the familiar stench of alcohol. "Chuck. . .have you been drinking?"

"Um…yeah, well, you know, I…" At that very moment his phone began to ring again.

Sarah backed away and motioned with her eyes toward his phone, which he had set on the end table after the first time it rang. "You should get that."

He picked it up and saw that it was Casey. "Yeaaaah." He pushed the answer button, "This is Chuck."

"Bartowski, how far have you gotten into this investigation?"

He glanced up at Sarah, who for some reason was just staring at him.

"Uh, no sir I haven't begun running those diagnostics on that component yet."

"What the hell are you talking about, Bartowski? I just got a visit from the FBI. Stop messing around, this is serious business."

"Are you sure there's something wrong with the program?"

"What the fu…Are you drunk Bartowski?"

"I happen to have it with me right now."

"It? It what?"

"You know…IT" Chuck emphasized the 'it', hoping Casey would understand, which he did.

"You're with Sarah?"

"Yes, I am. God I thought you'd never figure that out!"

"Bartowski, I don't know why you're there, but don't do ANYTHING. I need you and the bearded monkey to get over to my place PRONTO."

"Yeah, sure no problem, but can I just ask…"

Click

Chuck glared at his phone for a second before putting it in his pocket and glancing up at Sarah. He gave her a sick smile, as if he had bad news he did not want to share.

"Was that Daniel?"

"Uh, no, but it is a work emergency. I gotta go."

"Well then don't I need to go too?" Sarah asked.

"Nope, just a minor glitch in a program. Don't worry about it. But this conversation we were having," He paused for a second as he put on his jacket, "It is not over." With that he turned and hurried out the door.

Morgan and Chuck drove over to Casey's house. When they got there they were escorted to the kitchen table and sat down. Casey sat down as well, and gave them a disapproving grunt.

"Okay, Casey, enough with the small talk, what's up?" Morgan said.

"I need you two to lay off. I mean, really lay off. Apparently the FBI is investigating Daniel Shaw…"

"And somehow Sarah's involved?" Chuck cut him off, "Oh my god."

"I don't know if Sarah's involved, but I can't have you guys spying on her or Shaw. We can't be interfering with a government investigation, got it?"

"Yeah, got it." Both Chuck and Morgan answered simultaneously.

"Good, now get out of my house. And for heaven's sake Bartowski, get a change of clothes, and maybe a shower. You smell like a distillery."

Five Minutes Later, In the Car:

"Lay off? What does he mean, lay off? Morgan, how can we just sit back and watch Sarah do this? I mean how can we…"

"Chuck, Chuck, wait, we don't KNOW if Sarah's involved in any of this, remember?" Morgan tried to calm his friend down. "Maybe she's just an innocent bystander."

"Morgan, you don't know Sarah like I do. And she spends more time with Shaw than my arm spends attached to my shoulder. Trust me if there was something to know, she'd have a pretty good idea of what it was."

"So, from logical deduction, either there's nothing to know, or, Sarah's in on it, is that what you're saying?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah I guess." Then Chuck turned his head to face Morgan, "Buddy, you gotta help me find out!"

"Sorry pal, no can do. There are a lot of stupid things I'd be willing to do for you, but interfering with a federal investigation…"

"I know buddy, it's probably not exactly in your top ten, but still…"

Morgan shook his head, "Not exactly in my top ten? Chuck, it's not even on the list!"

Morgan pulled into their driveway and put the car in park. Then he turned to Chuck and gave him his most serious expression. "I am going to ask you to please just do what Casey said and lay off. Don't do anything stupid. It's not worth it."

From the look on Chuck's face, Morgan knew that Chuck wasn't going to listen, and he was right. The next day, Chuck sat at his desk, once again doing nothing. He had dealt with a few software glitches in the morning, but the afternoon was all but dead. Slowly the day turned into evening, and all Chuck could think about was how Sarah could end up not being the woman he thought she was.

What if she really was in on a scheme with Shaw? It was hard to believe, but it could be the reality of the situation, and it certainly would clarify a lot.

He had heard Casey's and Morgan's warnings, but did they really think he would heed them? Chuck had to laugh quietly to himself at that thought. His Sarah could be in trouble, and what was he supposed to do? Sit back and watch? No, Chuck Bartowski was a man of action, and when it came to the woman he loved, nothing was going to stop him.

He knew Sarah was gone for the day, so he made a decision. What could a little snooping around her office hurt? He was trained to investigate. One could say it was in his blood. If there was something to find in that office, Chuck was sure he would find it.

He walked casually toward her third-floor office and made sure that Morgan wasn't around.

Satisfied that he wouldn't be seen, he entered the office and standing in the doorway, he took a quick sweep of the place with his eyes. Nothing seemed amiss. He went over and sat down at her desk. Opening the top drawer, he wasn't surprised at what he found: Post-its, pens, a stapler, rubber bands and suchlike. He closed it and was about to move on to the next drawer when his leg brushed up against something under the desk. Peering under there, he saw a brown leather briefcase.

It caught his interest so he picked it up and set it on the desk where it would be easier to get a good look at it. The case was locked with a four digit combination. Chuck racked his brain to think of what the combination might be. Sarah was smart, she wouldn't have made this easy, but the numbers she chose would have had some sort of significance, he knew that much.

Chuck tried every combination he could think of; her birthday; his birthday; Shaw's birthday; phone numbers; different anniversaries—all to no avail. Then he realized there was one combination he had not tried, which was the anniversary of Bryce's death. He turned the numbers to line up 0-1-1-5. When that still didn't work, Chuck angrily slammed his hand on the top of the briefcase.

It was at that very moment that Morgan walked in, shuffling a stack of papers and humming a tuneless song. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Chuck. Chuck looked up at the same moment and gave Morgan a blank, yet petrified stare.

"Chuck, what the hell are you doing?" Morgan rushed over to the desk and turned the briefcase around as if to examine if any damage had been done.

"I dunno, I guess I just thought maybe whatever's in that case might give us some clues, you know…" He trailed off.

"US? Give us some clues?" Morgan screeched, "You leave me out of this Chuck! This is NOT my investigation. I am not taking any chances here! Do you realize I could get fired for this? I could get fired for this Chuck!"

"Morgan I'm-I'm sorry, I…"

Morgan held up his hand, and turned away, shaking his head, "Just go home Chuck."

Chuck took a breath to say something else, but Morgan held up his hand to stop him again, so he sighed bewilderingly and exited the office.

Morgan grabbed the briefcase to put it back in its place, but when he grabbed the handle, the case opened wide, spilling the contents onto the floor. "Ahh, shit!" He muttered under his breath, bending over to pick up the spilled items. He knew they were private items, but there was really nothing he could do about seeing them, and what he saw shocked him. He picked them up and instead of putting them back in the briefcase where they belonged, he spread them out on the desk to get a better look.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah checked her coat pockets for the third time, and then checked under the couch cushions for the fifth time. She simply could not find her cell phone. She brushed the hair out of her face and put her hand on her forehead in frustration. Where on Earth did I put it?

Then she remembered, in her office she had two chairs with a table in between them, and during her boring lunch hour, she had set the phone on that table. Oh well, it looked like she was going back to the office. That was okay though because she knew Morgan would still be there and she wanted to talk to him about some work that needed to be done the next day, as he always appreciated a heads-up.

When she entered her office, she saw Morgan sitting at her desk which was totally normal. But when she realized what he was doing, she gave a sharp, horrified gasp, "Morgan what are you doing?"

Morgan looked up, and he chuckled, "What am I doing? Huh, I think the better question Miss Walker is what are YOU doing?" He held some of the papers out at her as she took a seat in front of the desk, "Care to explain yourself? You've got pictures, notes, tapes, all having to do with Shaw. Sarah if I didn't know any better I'd think you were a crazy stalker!"

"Morgan it's not what it looks like, you see, I—I " Sarah faltered, "I…"

"You what?"

"Morgan I'm an FBI informant. I'm dating Daniel Shaw purely so that I can feed information of his criminal activities to the Feds."

Morgan stared at her silently and in shock. His eyes were bigger than the full moon which happened to be out that night.

"Well, say something?"

"Y-you're serious?" He finally managed to croak.

"Yeah I'm serious."

"Sarah this is awesome! This clears up everything! Just wait 'til I tell Chuck, he'll be so relieved and…."

"Morgan, Morgan no, wait, Chuck can't know. No one can know. Not even you can know. I need you to promise me that you can keep this a secret. Please, Morgan, I'm begging you. If there's ever a chance that I'll actually get to be with Chuck, this secret has to be kept. Do you understand?"

Morgan's excitement had died down and he hung his head and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I understand, and I won't tell him." With that he shrugged and walked toward the door. Before exiting, he turned around, "You can trust me Sarah."

She nodded, "I know, Morgan, and thank you."

Morgan didn't say anything, he just turned and left. Sarah watched him go, and bit her lip to keep from crying. She hoped to God that she really could trust him because a Federal investigation and her future with the man she loved depended upon it.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Well, it's been a long time coming hasn't it?

Big, huge, special thanks to BdaddyDL, ArmySFC, supesfan18, and Nirvana12. You all have been my lifesavers when it comes to not only this chapter, but the whole story!

Thanks to Rockchick4jc for her awesome beta job~

And I know you're all going to hate me but this is going to be the last chapter for a while. I need to stop writing indefinitely and take care of some personal matters. I do not know how long it will be before I start writing again, but be assured I do intend to finish this story if it's the last thing I do!

Until then, I will still be posting updates on Twitter. Follow me if you want SeaJay28.

Thank you all for reading,

SeaJay28