I finally went and did it – I wrote something. Pure fun. Roll around in it and enjoy, because the angsty stories are lurking in every dark corner…; )
Intended as a series of connected one-shots.
A huge thank you goes to DrMcDuck, who provided encouragement and invaluable feedback. You are a Webbed Wonder of Wisdom!
(And readers, if you have not read Sweet Home Alabama or the Watcher, why are you still here reading this?!)
A/N – I do not own Chuck. Just taking it out for a little test drive…
______________________________________________________________________
Prologue
Sarah devises a plan
-x-
Sarah acknowledged that she had a screwed-up view of the world in general, and relationships in particular, but there were some things she now knew. This was one of them. She knew that men came in different flavors and assortments – she had sampled a few – but in its simplest core, she now understood the hard way that there were essentially two kinds. There were some men, like Bryce, dangerous and exciting, but with a hardened quality that could never bend. These were the men that should transmit warning signs like "Proceed with Caution", "Dead End", or just the simple "Dip in Road."
Then, there were men like Chuck. Charming, with an achingly kind heart. He wasn't perfect, but he was pliable. From her vantage point on the sofa, she regarded the man in question, still wearing his pajama pants and now enjoying a bowl of sweetened cereal for lunch. He had his shortcomings, but so did she. The defining difference was that men like Chuck could be gently molded by the right woman, formed and shaped with the proper touch, and after two years, Sarah was becoming certain that she would be that woman. Oh, it was still "complicated." After being on the cusp of finally telling him her true feelings, Chuck had made the snap decision to re-Intersect himself. It was a self-sacrificing, noble, and crazy reason that only made her care more deeply for him, and they now found their status hovering in the gray space of a real-fake-for-the-cover relationship.
Sarah was not going to let these circumstances deter her. Now that she finally had accepted what her heart had told her long ago, she would bide her time, while ensuring that when all of this done, and the Intersect was removed yet again, he would be molded to exactly the man she would be spending the rest of her life with.
She gazed up at him over the book she was pretending to read. It was time to test the theory. It had to be a small start – a new haircut, new hobbies, new wardrobe, or new skills to take him out of his comfort zone: these were all possibilities. She did not want to change the endearing qualities that made Chuck 'Chuck'. Instead, she considered this an upgrade – Chuck had Intersect 2.0, now Sarah would upgrade him to Chuck 2.0. This plan was not about manipulation, she thought. It was about using gentle, but persistent, feminine sensibilities of persuasion to…
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He broke Sarah out of her thoughts and she returned his question with a smile. Not knowing what she was finding so amusing, Chuck returned the smile, while he attempted to smooth down his hair, and then continued to shovel in the spoonfuls of cereal.
Sarah's own version of the Man Plan was now commencing.
Little did she know that within a week, the first opportunity to upgrade Chuck's skill set would present itself.