Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I DO own the story Bryce told. It's part of a larger story that actually happened to me. I was Bryce in the actual story, by the way.

A/N: How on earth do you write a "Happy Birthday Zach!" fic and have Chuck only utter one line? Well, read on and find out, haha. Just some lighthearted fun, and a look back on Chuck's years at Stanford. A big thanks to the great MXPW for his input on the piece, without which Bryce may have gotten alcohol poisoning, hehe. And for now, that's about it. Happy birthday, Zach Levi! And thank you for reading, and please review. Thanks!

A non-descript bar
September 29, 2006
Palo Alto, California

"I don't understand, Bryce. Why did you bring me here? We have a week off before our next assignment, and you bring me to some hole-in-the-wall bar in the bay area?"

"What, you don't like it?"

"Well," Sarah paused. "Look, I just thought you'd want to go somewhere a little more romantic…" Sarah answered, a small look of mischief crossing her face.

"Romance is in the eye of the beholder, Agent Walker," Bryce said with a knowing smirk

"Okay, fair enough. But if you want to be 'holding' me tonight, maybe you should tell me what the appeal of this place is," Sarah teased.

"Really? Are you going to tell me something real about you?"

Sarah shrugged, focusing her attention completely on the half empty bottle of Yuengling that sat in front of her. Wasn't it enough that she shared with Bryce her love of beer? That's not something she let just anyone in on. Sarah Walker was a champagne girl as far as anyone but her partner knew.

Bryce sighed. "Well, despite that, I'll throw you a bone, I suppose."

"I thought I said you needed to provide me some romance before that happened," Sarah joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Touché," Bryce replied. "I guess you did. But do you want to hear the story about this place, and why we're here, or not?"

"Yes, please," Sarah said weakly.

Bryce was silent for a moment, clearly turning something over in his mind before speaking.

"Okay, so six years ago tonight, right here in this little bar…"

The same little bar
September 29, 2000

"Bryce, you've had enough!" Jill said, irritation coloring in her voice.

"No!" Bryce demanded. "I said I'm doing twenty shots for my friend's twentieth birthday, and I am a man of my word."

The sheer amount of alcohol he'd imbibed was clearly evident in his speech.

"Shhh!" Jill hissed. "We're all supposed to be twenty-three, remember? Or are you too drunk to recall that we're here using fake IDs?"

"I'm supposed to be twenty-eight," Bryce corrected the lone female in their party of three.

"Well, whatever, but I'm thinking it might be bad if the people that run this place figure out that we're all underage!" Jill replied in an angry whisper

"Bryce, buddy, it's really not necessary that you keep going. I won't be offended if you stop at…what are you at now? Eighteen?" Chuck asked, trying to defuse the tension that was building between his roommate and his girlfriend.

"No Chuck, it is necessary. I need to do this in your honor. And now, I need to do this because you," Bryce said, pointing a drunken, accusing finger at Jill, "challenged me."

"I didn't challenge you, Bryce. I seem to recall telling you that it sounded like a terrible idea," Jill said rolling her eyes.

"Don't break out the revisionist history on me now, you spin…person."

Jill growled in frustration. "Fine, I won't. What I will do is take these," she said, removing the remaining two "Jager-Bomb" shots from the table.

September 29, 2006
30 Minutes Later

"So what happened then?" Sarah asked, now very attentive to her partner-cum-boyfriend's story.

"Then, in retaliation, I ran around the bar stealing drinks off of everyone's tables until all three of us got 86'd." Bryce laughed a real, genuine laugh at the memory.

"Oh my god," Sarah said. "And you weren't banned for life?"

"Well, yeah, I was. So, if you could not mention to them that I'm Bryce Larkin that would be great," Bryce joked.

"So why come here? We don't have to report back in for six days. Why not go see this friend?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"Well, I came here, because it was a good memory of my best friend. I didn't go see him because, well, we haven't spoken in over three years." Bryce had a very pained expression on his face following his admission.

"I guess that's the rub of the covert life," Sarah said wistfully. She didn't have anyone important that she had left behind for the job, but she knew it was a problem for many of her colleagues.

"It's more than that," Bryce said, a far off stare on his face.

"Something you want to talk about?" Sarah asked. She was horrible about talking about her feelings in general, and her past in particular, but she knew that on occasion it helped Bryce to talk it out.

Bryce sighed heavily. "Walker, I love ya, but if I told you…"

"You'd have to kill me?" Sarah asked with a bemused smirk and a quirked eyebrow.

"Nah," Bryce answered.

"No?" Sarah questioned.

"Well, I mean I've never been into necrophilia, so my plans for you for this evening really have nothing to do with death," Bryce said, trying to hide a grin.

"Oh is that right? Just what do you think is going to be happening tonight, Agent Larkin?" Sarah asked with a teasing tone to her voice.

"I can show you better than I can tell you," Bryce said, continuing the banter.

"Oh yeah?" Sarah asked seductively. "Check please," she shouted to their waitress.

As the pair walked out of the bar, Bryce took one last look at the scene of one of his best memories of his carefree college days. Happy birthday, Chuck…wherever you are.

A/N: Okay, that about does it. Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to your feedback. Happy birthday Zach Levi! You guys are awesome. Peace.