Author's Note: I know what I said but I've been thinking about this for a while and finally decided to go ahead with it. This is a follow up to The First Seventy Two. This is going to be more like a series of one-shots that, together, will tell an overarching story. Also, this won't have much of a plot. It's just an excuse to write light, fun snap-shots of an evolving relationship, really.

*Update: If you're just reading this for the first time, please ignore all Author's Notes from here until chapter 5. Originally, this story was set up to jump around in time, but that was no longer working for me. It was getting hard to let the story flow. So I went ahead and moved the chapters around so they're in chronological order. That's why the A/N's would probably not make sense you, and probably the reviews for the first 4 chapters won't either. I don't know if those automatically switch around or they stay the same.

You may have guessed: I don't own Chuck.

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The Talk

September 29, 2007

12:00 am

Chuck lay on his side of the bed staring at the ceiling. His good arm was under his head while his cast-laden arm rested on his stomach. In the past week and a half his life had drastically changed and he wondered if he wasn't in way over his head, especially when it came to the woman lying next to him. He wasn't sure whether she was asleep or not but he didn't dare look over. Even though she'd said they would have a talk at some point, it hadn't happened yet and after the incident with Zarnow and the whole having accused her of trying to kill him and his sister fiasco, things had been awkward to say the least.

The world of distrust these spies seemed to live in was so far removed from his own. That was the world Sarah lived in, she wasn't the normal woman he thought she was when he first met her. She had been Bryce's partner and that didn't help any. The thoughts that brought about, added with the stress of his new-found reality, got to be too much and, admittedly, he may not have reacted well. Chuck felt bad and he'd wanted to apologize but with the cameras and Casey being around all the time he hadn't had the chance to do it properly. That, of course, all led to moments like the one he currently found himself in where they had to maintain the cover relationship while not knowing where they stood in their actual non-cover one, if they were even in one at that point. He sighed deeply in frustration.

Sarah lay on her side, facing away from Chuck. She knew he was awake but couldn't bring herself to turn around. Everything had been so good between them for those first couple of days when they met. They were the first real happy moments she'd had with anyone else in years. She knew they needed to talk but she'd never been one for talking, let alone being the first to do so. She'd been angry that Chuck hadn't trusted her and thought she could have actually killed him but after she thought about it, she couldn't blame him. After all, he was new to her world, he didn't know how things worked; and, even if just for a few fleeting moments, she hadn't trusted him either because of his connection to Bryce. She'd soon realized there was nothing there but a past friendship but by that time there was a strain between them and fixing things wasn't turning out to be easy. She heard his deep sigh. This was the best, and maybe only, time they would get to talk freely in the foreseeable future. She had to force herself to speak up.

"Chuck?" She spoke softly but didn't turn around.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" He turned to face her but looked back to the ceiling when she didn't move.

"No," she answered, "but we do need to talk."

"Now?" he whispered. "What about the cameras?"

"They're off," she replied. "I'm in charge of your security this weekend, remember?"

"Right, so Casey's not watching? Nothing's being recorded?"

"No. It's just you and me."

"Oh... okay." Finally they get some time alone together and it comes at such a murky time. It'd be so much better if Chuck knew whether he could even touch her or not. He waited for her to start but after a few moments nothing else came. "Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"You said we needed to talk?"

"Right." She didn't know exactly how to start. This wasn't the kind of thing she was good at.

"How 'bout I go first?"

"Yeah, okay." It was a relief for her not to be forced to address their issues first.

"I'm really sorry about the way I acted," he began. "I know I should've given you the benefit of the doubt but it was just too much for me to handle and I got scared."

"It's okay, Chuck." Sarah still didn't turn to face him. "I was mad, but I'm not anymore. I know how it must have looked like to you and I can't blame you for the way you reacted."

"Still, I'm sorry... I should've trusted you more."

"Yes, you should have," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"Okay. It's just... when I first met you I thought you were this girl in trouble with those two guys, you know?" He spared a glance over to her. "And then, as it turns out, you're this bad-ass CIA Agent." He shook his head in the dark. "It was harder to accept than I thought it would be and, in the confusion, I forgot about the amazing girl I got to know."

"Well, I may have forgotten about the wonderful guy I met for a while there too," she offered.

His head snapped to the left. "What? What does that mean?"

"Well, I'm a spy, Chuck. We just happen to meet at the same time that Bryce is running around stealing the Intersect and getting me suspended, and you just happen to be the guy he chooses to send it to, what was I supposed to think?"

"That I was just a nerd at a bar bored out of his mind?" He answered. "And also, that for whatever reason, that damned Bryce Larkin keeps screwing me over?" He looked over at her quizzically. "Seriously though, how much of a threat did you think I was? I mean, I broke my hand on the first punch I threw."

She scoffed. "You didn't break anything."

"The cast says otherwise," he argued.

"The cast says Ellie babies you too much," she retorted. "Anyway, after Bryce sent you the Intersect, I couldn't be sure you weren't just pretending to be who you said you were and weren't using me for whatever reason."

"And now?"

"Now I'm sure that you weren't lying to me," she assured. "But I've been trained to question people's motives. It's what's kept me alive this long." She changed the direction of the conversation. "Look, we're both sorry about the misunderstandings, right?"

Chuck nodded in agreement, then remembered she wasn't looking at him. "Oh, right," he voiced.

She finally turned to look at him and offered her hand. "What do you say we forget about the whole thing and just get some sleep? We can continue talking later."

Chuck scooted over to her. She took his hand and wrapped it around her midsection as she spooned into him. "Ooh, that's kind of cold," she said as the cast made contact with her stomach.

Chuck grinned. "How's this?" He pulled the blanket over her and then placed his arm over her once again.

"Much better." A moment later Sarah spoke again, "When are you getting that thing taken off, by the way?"

"I'm hoping in a couple of days, but you know Ellie."

Sarah chuckled. "Yeah. She's quite something. Good night, Chuck."

"Night, Sarah." He gave her a small squeeze, then shut his eyes. For the first time in days he went to sleep with a smile on his face.

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September 29, 2007

8:15 am

There was a chill in the air when Chuck awoke. He found himself still wrapped around a sleeping Sarah and grinned. This was the way he much preferred to wake up. Now that they'd talked about the rough start to their new dynamic they could get on with figuring out how to handle their relationship going forward. He placed a kiss on her shoulder and lifted his head to look out the window. It was raining. That explained the chill he was feeling. He inhaled deeply; it was invigorating and oddly refreshing. Of course, it could've been that for the first time in two weeks they could just be Chuck and Sarah, two normal people. No spy-related anything to impose on them. He gently moved from under the blanket and got out of bed. He readjusted the blanket securely around Sarah and made his way to the kitchen. Cereal and orange juice definitely didn't qualify as a fancy breakfast in bed but it was the thought that counted, he figured.

The smell of pancakes and bacon coming from the kitchen let him know Ellie was awake. He smiled as he walked into her line of sight. "Morning, sis." She was dressed in her hospital scrubs.

"Hey, Chuck." She smiled back. "You're just in time."

"For?"

"I have to leave for my shift. I made some breakfast for you and Sarah, I already put away some food for Devon, so don't worry about him," she started. "I was going to knock on your door to let you know but I didn't want to wake Sarah up, now I don't have to," she said as she moved from around the counter. She grabbed her things and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys later?"

Chuck nodded. "Thanks for breakfast, El." It looked like Sarah got lucky, so did he. Chuck moved to grab a couple of plates when Ellie closed the door. He loaded them with pancakes, bacon, and eggs. The buttered toast was all him. He poured two glasses of juice and loaded everything on a breakfast tray, along with some syrup.

He made his way back to his room. The smell of the warm breakfast woke Sarah up. She smiled when she saw Chuck carrying the tray of food over to her side. "Wow... breakfast in bed," she started, "I didn't know you could cook like this."

"I can't," he admitted. "You have Ellie to thank for all this; I was planning on cereal and juice," he said as he placed the tray over her lap. "Good morning." He leaned in and placed a small kiss on her lips.

"It sure is," she replied with a bigger smile.

Chuck grabbed a chair, placed it next to the bed, and sat down. "What do you say we eat breakfast and go back to sleep?"

"Chuck, I'd love to do that but—"

"But what? We have the day off from work. There's nothing going on with our other job," he started, "It's raining outside, we have the place to ourselves until this afternoon." He paused for a moment before stating emphatically, "No cameras and no Casey, Sarah. When is that going to happen again?"

"Well, when you put it that way." She reached with her hand and brought him in for a deep kiss. "How can I resist?"

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Author's Note: I can't blame it on writer's block or lack of time because I knew what I wanted to write and I actually had plenty of time to write. A couple of things happened though, one about a week and a half ago, the other this past week. The latter was the straw that broke the camel's back. Not only did I not want to write anymore, I didn't want to read either. I forced myself to read two updates. Thursday was the low point. I was angry all day. To the point of wanting to take my stories down, but not before posting one last chapter just so I could write a scathing A/N. Good thing I'm not an impulsive guy. I've calmed down, read a new chapter of Fake Empire and Say something by minirix. Really re-energizing. I'm ready to write again.