A/N: After looking over the comments to the last story, I saw that the parts of that story that got the most positive reviews were the parts that focused on the relationship between Chuck and Sarah. I decided to try to write a relationship-centric story that did not include action. I quickly realized that action in storytelling was a crutch for me. Any time I needed to move the plot line forward, I would throw in a car chase/shootout/high altitude jump/etc. With that being said, this story is not fluff, it is an intersect free take on how our two favorite characters could have met and fallen for each other. There are several writers on this site who excel at writing fluff, and others who can blend some fluff with some angst. I would fail miserably at fluff. Don't expect this story to be turned into a Hallmark movie any time soon, although I aim to avoid angst.
The inspiration for this story came from an author's note from one of David Carner's many stories, where he mentioned owning a Bartowski/Grimes 2016 poster. I had originally envisioned a full Chuck/West Wing crossover, but it has been a long time since I've watched West Wing (even though I've got the box set), and for the life of me I could not figure out how to reconcile Roan Montgomery with White House Counsel Lionel Tribby. There is still a very small amount of crossover, but it's about 97% a Chuck story. The premise of the story is that Chuck, who had defused a bomb in an LA hotel and then got pushed into running for President, is the target of an assassin. A debate against Jed Bartlett is the setting where the CIA loans out an agent who had searched for said assassin to the Secret Service.
A couple of disclaimers-although I'm sure some will ignore these and complain anyway. I know that Chuck (both in canon and in this story) is too young to be eligible to run for the presidency. But Chuck as a reluctant leader was too tempting, and it creates the opportunity for an intersect-less Chuck to cross paths with Sarah Walker. Also, this story is not intended to politicize Chuck in one way or the other. I made it a debate for the Democratic primary mostly as a way to tweak Casey, although the story wound up focusing pretty tightly on Chuck and Sarah so Casey didn't get as much teasing as originally anticipated.
Without any further ado. I give you Chuck vs. the Debate.
Chapter 1 The Candidate
Morgan Grimes entered the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware, his eyes looking around at the preparations rapidly underway. So far in the campaign, Chuck had exceeded the expectations of everyone except for Morgan and Ellie who had known all along of his capacity for greatness. Nevertheless, the pressure was on for a good showing on the debate. With the Pennsylvania primary looming, it was a make or break week for the campaign.
As Chuck walked over putting a hand on Morgan's shoulder saying, "Hey little buddy, so are we ready for Monday night? Isn't this spot amazing? Do you realize that in half an hour you could be in Philadelphia, in an hour be in Baltimore, get to DC in an hour and a half, or get to New York in two hours? How amazing is that? And so much history. Don't even get me started on the history. Everywhere you look there is something vital to the history of our country."
"History, Charles Irving? History? What is amazing about this location is how close we are to getting real Philly cheesesteaks! I can almost hear the onions grilling, almost smell the provolone cheese melting over shaved ribeye. But we've got to wait until after we survive the next couple of days. Crab cakes down in Baltimore, or real New York pizza. Man, the possibilities are endless."
The two lifelong friends fell quiet as they watched the man approaching them.
"Gentlemen, I can't tell you what an honor it is to finally meet you," announced Joe Biden as he walked up the two men. The silver haired patrician of the Democratic Party was beaming his trademark smile as he walked up and began shaking both of their hands. Chuck realized the smile was intended to put people at ease around the former Vice President. But he also noticed the intelligence behind the gaze of Joe Biden, observing and noting every detail as he interacted with the Chuck and Morgan.
"Son, I got to tell you. What you did disarming that bomb at the hotel, that took guts. Saved a lot of lives a day. But I'm just as proud for what you did afterwards, standing up and speaking your mind when others try to capitalize on the event, pushing their own agendas. That took a whole lotta guts too." Biden said, continuing to smile broadly at Chuck. "Chuck… Can I call you Chuck?"
"Certainly sir," Chuck said he tried to not be overwhelmed at the experience. "All I did was to speak my mind, I really don't see that as being all that brave."
Biden slowly shook his silver mane, his smile never wavering as he looked on with appreciation of the young man before him. Pointing a finger at Chuck's chest, Biden continued, "That right there? That's why people like you, why they embrace you, why they believe in you. You have the courage of your own convictions, and yet you're not arrogant about it. Politics can be brutally difficult field, but it can also be incredibly rewarding as well. You get to meet a lot of amazing people, and more importantly you get the opportunity to do a world of good in a world that desperately needs good people."
"Now, I've known Jed Bartlett since he was a wet behind the ears economics professor at the University of New Hampshire. He is as wily as they come, but he's a good man and an honorable man. I'll give you a free tip. You need to respect him, he's about as smart as they get, but you don't need to fear him. No matter how it goes Friday night, embrace it, enjoy it, and then you'll be able to look back in the future with no regrets. But between us, I know you're gonna do great. Knock them dead."
With that the former Vice President clapped each man on the shoulder, broke out the trademark grin that was oddly reassuring and walked off towards a group of people already clamouring for his attention.
[Nineteen Months Earlier]
Chuck at been shopping at the Burbank Buy More when he overheard Eduardo having a crisis about Camilla's ballet recital and the missing video tape. With some help from friends in the store, Chuck of been able to re-create the recital, much to the relief of Eduardo, Camilla and her mother. Afterwards Camilla had beamed and asked Chuck if he would come to her next dance recital.
[Eighteen months earlier]
Chuck was walking alongside his new friends Eduardo and his daughter Camilla heading back from her successful recital. Although he had stood out in the crowd, partially for his height, but mostly as he was not a dance mom fixture, Chuck had really enjoyed the evening. However, as he, Eduardo and Camilla were walking on the sidewalk passing the Hotel Grand Ambassador just down the street from the recital hall, a police car with its lights on quickly came to a stop right by the hotel entrance. As the officers in the vehicle opened the doors to get out, Chuck overheard the radio advising the officers that there was a bomb in the hotel ballroom, connected to a Prism Express laptop computer. Quickly pushing Eduardo and Camilla back the way they came on the sidewalk, without thinking Chuck rushed inside to assist the police by disabling the laptop.
Inside the hotel, the police officers had been skeptical about the lanky young man, but they knew that an accident on the 405 meant that the bomb squad wasn't going to arrive before the timer on the bomb went off. Despite their best efforts, they knew that evacuating the whole hotel in time would be impossible. They decided to put their trust in Chuck, and he quickly proved their decision to be a wise one. Once the laptop was disabled, Chuck had momentarily freaked out when it dawned on him of the consequences if he had been wrong. He also knew that if he was wrong, it would have been one more death added to many others. However, as he had been right, there were no deaths.
When one of the officers had asked him for his phone number, Chuck had assumed that she needed his full contact information for her report. Unfortunately, Officer Kayla Hart took his response to mean that he wasn't interested in grabbing a drink with her and didn't pursue the opportunity. Chuck was oblivious to the missed opportunity.
Afterwards, the media had a field day with the story. The unassuming Stanford grad who had formed a video game company with his best friend, creating an unexpected but wildly successful hit first game, had saved the day. When Eduardo and his wife shared with the media that Chuck was coming back after watching their young daughter's ballet recital, the media been tempted to think that Chuck was too good to be true, especially given his reluctance to interview, but his personable nature quickly won over everyone.
Chuck's sister Ellie had been thrilled when she learned that Wired magazine was going to put the heroic young entrepreneur on its cover, but she then got frustrated with Chuck once the magazine came out featuring him with his un-kept hair, a pair of baggy blue jeans and faded red T-shirt. Her hopes that his newfound celebrity status might help him in the dating scene had been crushed by the magazine cover showing off his less than fashionable attire and desperate need for a haircut.
Although she had initially been furious with her brother for risking his life, based solely on her fear of losing him, Ellie had been proud of the man he had become when she read the flattering article. One of the first questions posed to him about the hotel bomb incident had been a soft question designed to flatter him and make him more comfortable opening up for the more substantive portion of the interview. The question asked was why he had decided to be hero, the guy who ran into a hotel full of people to disarm a sophisticated bomb. However, it was Chuck's honest and immediate answer that had set the tone for the rest of the interview. "I wasn't the only guy to run into that hotel to deal with the bomb. The ballroom was full of men and women from LAPD who had run in there before me. I had heard the radio call about the Prism Express and was confident that I could shut it down. Those officers, they went in only knowing there was a bomb on site. They were the brave ones."
Wired had also spoken with a number of the officers present at the scene for the story on Chuck. One had joking mentioned how Chuck had been calm, cool and collected during the whole process of convincing the scene commander that he could help and then with disabling the bomb. The officer laughed at how once the bomb was neutralized, then Chuck turned green and nearly puked.
All of the officers mentioned how, instead of hogging the spotlight after saving the day, Chuck had turned deferential, telling the officers "I don't know how you guys do this day in and day out." The officers weren't sure how to tell him that massive, computer controlled bombs were part of the day to day experience in the LAPD, even for members of the bomb squad. But Chuck wasn't having any part of that. Instead, he had gone through the room to shake the hand of every officer there and thank them for their service.
The officers didn't mention that after the fact, one of the police captains had approached Chuck, who had said "Oh, were you in the room too? I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there. Things were pretty crazy. Am I right?" Captain Milbarge mumbled something and walked quickly away while the officers nearby laughed at the inadvertent dig Chuck had rendered the the senior officer known more for his grandstanding than his police work, as the man had actually stayed well clear of the hotel until the all clear had been given.
The article had gone on to discuss not only the popular, high quality games that Carmichael Industries cranked out, but also the highly rated educational software that had become part of the curriculum at schools throughout the country. The educational software was very popular with the students, and beloved by teachers who raved about how it had not only gotten kids interested in subjects they had avoided before, but test scores had shot through the roof after the software started being used in the classrooms and computer labs. The article noted that it was impressive that the software had generated $1 million in sales for Carmichael Industries despite the fact that it was provided free of charge to schools both public and private, and that sales only came via the general public who were still able to buy the software at a ridiculously low price.
A/N 2 Familiar faces make their appearance in Ch. 2. I plan on posting at least one chapter per week, with ten chapters in total. Thanks for reading!