Sarah Vs. the Brea in Protocol

I do not own or am in any way connected to "Chuck" or NBC.

This is the third entry in my "Sarah vs." series following "Sarah vs. the Sandwich Shop Girl" and "Sarah vs. the First Love."

While it's not necessary to read the other two stories to know what's happening here, I would still greatly appreciate it.

This story, as all in this series do, stars Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker and guest star Tricia Helfer as Alex Forrest. It is based on the second season episode 'Chuck vs. the Pink Slip.'

I hope you enjoy.

*****

With a soft ding, the doors to the otherwise empty elevator closed, leaving an exhausted Sarah Walker closed off from the rest of humanity, for the next 30 seconds at least. But they were 30 seconds Sarah relished to have.

She slumped against the back wall of the climbing car, savoring the thought of her quiet room and the soft bed that awaited her there. After the last 48 hours, there was nothing Sarah wanted more than to flop down on her bed and not wake up for the next week. But Sarah knew her rest would only be a few hours at most. By then the information she had asked for would be uncovered and it would be back to work.

Still, a few hours rest was more than plenty for the wiped CIA agent.

It wasn't the usual physical fatigue that Sarah experienced after missions this time. As a matter of fact, she barely felt any of the soreness in her muscles that she usually did after a completed mission. Truth be told, she barely did any physical exertion this time. She didn't even get a chance to fire her gun. It was one of the more unusual ends to a mission she had ever experienced in all of her years on the job. It's not every assignment that ends by bad guy getting caught because he was too busy laughing his ass off while high on laughing gas.

No, for this mission it was all of the mental and emotional turmoil that had drained Sarah of her energy. Her job as handler to human Intersect Chuck Bartowski almost came to an end because of the very reasons Sarah had been afraid of.

The unusual and against the books relationship she and Chuck shared had always scared Sarah and she had tried with every fiber of her being to keep their relationship purely professional. And while the two of them haven't done anything physical with each other (not for a few months, anyway, Sarah thought with a blush as images of a warehouse, a giant crate, and lips on hers forced their way to the front of her mind) it was quite clear to Sarah that Chuck was in love with her.

Despite the fact that Chuck had never actually used the dreaded 'L' word, it was basically implied in every conversation they had. And while that was bad in and of its self, the absolute worst part was that Sarah knew she felt the same way.

Sarah had fallen in love with Chuck.

While she was still coming to terms with this fact and everything it could mean if she every admitted it to the Nerd Herder, Sarah couldn't lie to herself about the fact merely thinking about how she loved Chuck made her closer to being giddy than she had ever been in her whole life.

But admitting it to herself and admitting it to Chuck or anyone else she worked with we're two completely different matters entirely.

After all, the mere thought that there might be a more than professional relationship between the blonde beauty and her asset caused her superiors in Washington to initiate what they called a "49B". Who knows what might have been done if the suits in D.C. knew the truth about Sarah's feelings.

A "49B" was basically an assessment of Sarah and her relationship with her asset. Another agent was sent to temporarily take Sarah's place on her team and if this agent deemed that her feelings for Chuck were more than professional and were actually an endangerment to the mission than Sarah would be replaced by the agent permanently.

Sarah had tried to play it cool and show everyone that she was professional, that there was nothing between her and Chuck other than friendship and that being relieved of her role as Chuck's handler would be only seen by her as a simple reassignment, but in actuality, it scared the shit out of her.

Being forced to leave Chuck right after she allowed herself to admit she loved the man was something that ate away at her soul every second. But fortunately with the help of a near disastrous mission, Chuck and Casey, it had been determined by General Beckman that while the relationship Sarah and Chuck shared may be unprofessional, it actually was beneficial to the team and, therefore, the country. Her caring for Chuck in a more than professional manner practically assured that there was nobody better suited for the job of protecting him from harm than Sarah Walker.

And now her would-be-replacement, agent Alex Forrest, was on the plane back to Washington that, up until a few hours ago, was meant for Sarah.

"Miss? Miss?"

Sarah snapped out of her thoughts to see a woman entering the car, holding the door open.

"Is this your floor?" the woman asked.

Sarah shook her head clear of the last 2 days and said, "Yes, thank you."

Nodding in thanks, Sarah walked past the woman and out onto her floor.

Of course, even though she wanted to forget all of this 49B business, there was still one last thing related to the past few days that she needed to take care of. The information that Sarah was so eagerly waiting for was on the forefront of her mind.

This was something she just had to do. It was a long shot and it may have been the stupidest thing Sarah had ever done, but she had to take this risk. It was for Chuck, after all.

As Sarah reached her room, the only comforting thought she could think of was that at least no one had known what she did.

Sarah had barely opened the door a crack before she instantly knew something was wrong. The air that had escaped the confinement of the room when the door opened was far too cold. She had lived in this room for almost two years and had comeback from missions at all hours of the day, in the warmest and coldest of weather, but never had the room been this cold on a return trip, even in the middle of winter.

She quietly pulled her gun out and slowly opened her door, her gun leading the way.

The reason for the unusual cold was apparent the moment Sarah stepped inside. One of her windows was wide open, the chilly breeze that was usually kept out given free rein on cooling everything Sarah owned.

Sarah also quickly knew some had opened it and who. Not because Sarah always shut the windows whenever she left her room, or because all of her years of experience were telling her that was the only explanation, but because the one responsible was standing right in front of the opened window.

"Put your hands up and move away from the window," Sarah ordered, her gun aimed square at the woman's back.

The woman gave no sign that she heard Sarah's command.

"Put your hands up and move away from the window!" demanded Sarah, firming her grip on her weapon, ready to pull the trigger if forced to.

Fortunately she didn't have to go that far, as the intruder made herself known.

"You just couldn't obey a simple instruction, could you Walker," the woman finally said, her voice a mixture of amusement and disdain.

All anger in Sarah vanished on the spot, only to be replaced with even more confusion. She knew that voice. It was a voice that she had reluctantly gotten to know over the past few days.

"Forrest!" a stunned Sarah exclaimed, her gun arm losing slack, though not dropping. What the hell was Forrest doing in her apartment? The last Sarah had heard her potential replacement was on her way back to Washington.

Forrest finally turned around to face Sarah, giving her the chance to fully take in what the older agent was wearing.

Forrest was clad in the most unusual outfit Sarah had seen her in in the 2 days Sarah had known the dirty-blond agent. She was wearing a long white coat that ended just past her knees, showing that the woman's legs were covered in long, black leather high-heeled boots. Her coat was wrapped to her body by two belt-buckles attached to sashes, giving Forrest the illusion she was wearing a robe.

But most peculiar was that Forrest had chosen to don a pair of black sunglasses, despite it being 11:30 at night, with the sun nowhere to be seen for the next few hours.

The look on what Sarah could see of her face telling her quite plainly that Forrest was pissed at her. Really pissed. What for, she had no clue, but that was the least of Sarah's worries at the moment.

"What the hell are you doing here!? How did you get in my room!?" Sarah demanded.

"Oh please, Walker. I've been at this job three years longer than you," said Forrest with, what Sarah could easily tell even through the dark lenses, an exasperated eye roll. "The better question would be how is it that you've been living here for two years but you only use the locks that came with the room."

"I -" began Sarah only to be promptly cut off.

"Forget that, though. I didn't come here to talk home improvement." Forrest took her glasses off and gave Sarah a scrutinizing glare. "Tell me, Walker, do you think we're stupid," continued Forrest in a curious voice.

"What? Do I think who's stupid?" asked Sarah, her frustration rising as Forrest refused to answer her questions.

"Me. Us. The CIA. The NSA." listed Forrest. "Do you think that little of us? Did you honestly think we wouldn't find out?"

If Sarah wasn't so ticked at Forrest's refusal to answer her, she might have been able to see what it was Forrest was trying to say. As it was, her ignorance showed its self once again as her anger got the better of her.

"Forrest! Either tell me what the hell you're doing here and why, or so help me god I will throw you out myself," threatened Sarah, moving closer to the other blonde, showing quite plainly she was ready to back up her threat.

She had barely advanced on agent Forrest when the woman finally explained what she was doing here. Unfortunately, her reason stopped Sarah in her tracks.

"What am I doing here? Well, let's see," began Forrest, feinting thoughtful concentration. "There I was on my way to the airport, ready to head back to Washington and back to a real job, instead of playing babysitter to your pet agent, when all of a sudden I got a call from General Beckman. It seems somebody from the Burbank operation base used the CIA database without permission. Apparently they were searching for some guy called Stephen Bartowski. Do you have any idea who could have possibly done this?"

Sarah's throat had gone dry. Her heart was beating the conga in her chest. She was caught. The gig was up. How could she have been so stupid?

"Well, Walker. Do you have any clue who would be so stupid as to use the database despite having been told the day before what would happen to that person if and when they were caught?" barked Forrest, the anger and contempt palpable in her voice.

All of the anger that had been surging through Sarah's body had vanished again. It had now been fully replaced by worry and regret.

Of course Sarah knew who had done it. It was her. She had illegally used government equipment to do a nationwide search for Stephen Bartowski.

She didn't regret what she had done. Chuck had wanted to know where his father, the aforementioned Stephen Bartowski, was and why he had abandoned his children ever since he had walked out on him and Ellie when they were younger.

He had come to Sarah, asking if he could possibly use the resources of the CIA and NSA to find any information he could. But Forrest had overheard Chuck's request and given the same answer Sarah had been prepared to give.

The answer was a resounding no. If Sarah or anybody used the CIA database for personal use, they would be fired immediately and could possibly be arrested and brought up on charges of misusing government equipment.

But during the brief hours that Sarah had been relieved from Operation Bartowski Sarah had decided to risk it and began a nationwide database search for Chuck's long lost father.

The system didn't come up with an immediate response, positive or negative, and having not heard anything for the past few hours, Sarah could only assume that wherever Stephen was hiding himself away from the world, it was deep. But she would eventually have the info she needed and be able to give Chuck the answers he had been longing for, for better or worse.

At the time it had seemed worth the risk. After all, helping Chuck find his long lost father was the least Sarah could do to help the man she cared so much for. But now her actions seemed to have caught up with her and now she had to face the consequences.

"I'm waiting, Walker," an impatient Forrest demanded, her arms now crossed in front of her chest, glaring at the shorter blonde.

Sarah sat down on her bed, placing her gun down next to her, looking down at the floor but without seeing it.

Gulping down the fear for her job and freedom she felt rising in her throat, Sarah came clean without looking up.

"It was me. I did it," confessed Sarah.

"Of course you did," sighed Forrest, rolling her head slightly along with her eyes this time. "And I guess you just decided that my warnings about your job and freedom just meant nothing, as long as Bartowski knows where his daddy dearest is."

"Basically," admitted Sarah, looking up at the judgmental blonde, feeling bolder now. "I knew the risks but did what I had to do to help Chuck. I'll always help Chuck, whether I get paid to do it or not."

"Even at the risk of your job?" asked Forrest, not looking the least bit impressed by Sarah's passionate defense.

"Even at the risk of my life," swore Sarah, glaring at the standing blonde.

The two of them stood there looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Forrest broke the gaze by putting her glasses back on.

"Well, that's all well and noble, Walker, and would totally convince me to let you off the hook, you know, if I was a giant, wimpy pussy like Bartowski. But the fact of the matter is that you broke protocol and, in doing so, broke the law. And now I have very satisfying duty to punish you," stated Forrest, walking over to a bag sitting next to Sarah's dresser that Sarah hadn't noticed before. Her concentration had been completely on the supposed stranger in her room, but Sarah knew that Forrest must have brought it since it wasn't hers.

"'Punish me?'" Sarah repeated. She knew that there would be some kind of punishment for what she did if she had been caught, but she was still surprised and, honestly, scared as to what that meant. "What's going to happen? Am I fired?"

The thought of being fired from the CIA terrified her. Not just because of Chuck, although that was a big worry, but because Sarah wasn't sure what her life would be without it. She had been a spy since she was 18. It was the only life she had ever known outside the times with her father. She had seen and done so much in this time that Sarah didn't know if she would be ever able to fully adjust if she all of a sudden found herself in the real world. Hell, she had been going by the name 'Sarah Walker' longer than she had her real name that was starting to except that 'Sarah Walker' was her real name now.

"If you were any other agent on any other mission, absolutely," confirmed Forrest, who was now lifting the bag up onto Sarah's vanity stand. Looking at Sarah through her reflection in her mirror, Forrest elaborated. "But seeing as how we just went through an episode showing that Bartowski seemingly can't chew his cereal without you there to walk him through it, General Beckman decided to give you a pass and let you keep your job."

Sarah let out an immense sigh of relief. Her job was safe and she could stay with Chuck, the two things she wanted more than anything.

However, despite her relief at her secured employment status, Sarah had worked for these people long enough to know that they never just let somebody off the hook like this. If she wasn't going to be fired or arrested, she knew she was going to have to answer for her error somehow.

As if reading Sarah's mind, Forrest turned around to face Sarah to say, "But Beckman wanted to remind you that she doesn't condone her agents flagrantly breaking the law whenever some geek with a crush tells them a sob story about how much he misses daddy, so she decided that you still need to be punished. And she assigned me the oh-so-pleasurable duty to see that it is done right," she finished with a smile that didn't suite her tough, no-nonsense, by the book and protocol life style. It actually gave her very striking face a look of danger.

Sarah's relief was now tainted with apprehension. Forrest was in charge of her punishment? She didn't know the woman very well and vice-versa, but Sarah knew she hadn't made a great impression on the older agent in the brief time they worked together. Sarah's seemingly constant breaking of procedure when it came to Chuck, the way she seemingly put his feelings before the mission, greatly clashed with Forrest's professionalism and strict adherence to protocol and procedure. So to hear that the woman standing in front of her was in charge of making her pay for breaking the law gave Sarah a much greater sense of anxiety than someone like Casey would inspire.

Turning her back on Sarah once more, Forrest reached inside her bag for something.

"So, what are you going to have me do?" Sarah reluctantly asked. She knew that it was best to get whatever humiliating and/or painful punishment out of the way, if it's even something that could be accomplished in one night.

Forrest seemed to be ignoring Sarah as she pulled something out for her bag. It was a hat of some kind, but Sarah couldn't tell what, only that it was blue with a black rim.

It almost looks like...a policeman's hat. But it can't be. What would she be doing with something like that? Sarah assured herself as Forrest answered Sarah's previous question.

"Well, Walker, for starters you can get up and put your hands against the wall," said Forrest in a tone that started off as light and conversational for someone as professional and serious as Forrest could ever get it but ended in a hard, commanding tone.

Sarah thought she must have heard wrong and was about to ask Forrest to repeat herself, when her ability to speak was rendered inoperative.

Forrest had turned around again and as she did she removed her coat and let it crumple to the floor. If Sarah had thought her initial outfit was unusual, she now considered it a regular church going ensemble compared to what had been hidden under it.

Agent Alexandra Forrest of the NSA was standing before Sarah wearing nothing more than the sluttiest excuse of a police uniform Sarah had ever seen. Her shirt was less a shirt and more a bikini top with sleeves. The skimpy material had four buttons but only one was in use at the moment, causing Forrest's ample braless cleavage to strain against the small plastic circle keeping them in check.

The shirt, for lack of better term, ended right below the button forming an upside 'V' of fabric as it guided Sarah's eyes down the vast amount of beautifully smooth skin of Forrest's stomach, stopping only when it reached the black leather skort clinging to the curves of her hips that was fastened around her waist.

The only reason that Sarah knew the heart-stopping, panty moistening outfit Forrest was wearing was supposed to be a stripper's idea of police uniform at all were the words, 'Police' and 'Officer Naughty' stitched over Forrest's right and left boobs respectively, the packed gun holster on her hip and the cap on her head with a knock off police badge adorned on it.

If Sarah was a cartoon character, this would be the moment when her jaw would fall all the way to the floor and her eyes would pop out of their sockets. But seeing as she was flesh and blood, Forrest just had to settle for the pleasing sight of Sarah's dropped jaw and eyes wide in surprise. This had been the absolute last thing Sarah had ever expected to happen. She wouldn't have been more surprised if Forrest had taken out a gun a put a bullet between her eyes.