Disclaimer: I don't own "Chuck", nor do I own Sarah. Carina owns Sarah, as you will come to see, and I'm not sure who owns "Chuck". Heh.
A/N: Okay, just something I've been working on for a little while now. So Sarah was pretty down in the dumps after "Vs. The Breakup", so it occurred to me that something must have happened to brighten her spirits, because she was kind of back to normal in "Vs. The Cougars". This is my way of exploring what may have happened to make Sarah a little happier. Okay, that's mostly BS, this is my excuse to write some Sarina, haha. And it's also a way of fulfilling a promise to the great MXPW to write more Sarina. Originally, this was going to be a oneshot, but after starting it up, I realize that it's best done in two chapters. Hopefully, you'll agree.
NOTE: This story involves FEMSLASH. If you're not comfortable with that, or if you don't like it, then you shouldn't read it. Also, this fic is currently rated "T". Depending on what happens in the production of the next chapter, it may change to "M", but I can't say for sure just yet, but keep an eye out for that. Thank you for reading!
Yvonne Strahovski
-and-
Mini Anden
in
Carina vs. The Breakup
Chapter 1: A Friend in Need
The following takes place the night
of Chuck's infamous "fountain speech"...
Sarah was coming to the harsh realization that she didn't have many, or possibly any friends. And this was a night when she truly needed someone. Chuck had become her sounding board, he confidant, and her best friend since she came to Burbank over a year ago, but she couldn't very well talk to him about this. He was the one, after all, that broke her heart.
There was Casey, but she was relatively sure that the Major wanted nothing to do with her "lady feelings".
There was Bryce, but he'd just left, and honestly, Sarah wasn't sure that he didn't have something to do with Chuck breaking up with her.
Of course Ellie and Anna, the only two women she really knew in town still thought she and Chuck were a happy couple, so talking to them about her problems was right out.
So Sarah poured her heartbreak and her feelings into the only "friend" she could find: a bottle of Knob Creek 9 Year Old.
Unfortunately, the alcohol didn't have the desired effect. She'd wanted to become numb. To not remember how it felt to feel. But that wasn't happening. As every drop of the brown fire-water passed through her lips, she just remembered more what she'd lost. She'd lost someone she cared about. She'd lost the chance for real love. She'd lost Chuck. And that thought stung more than the bitter taste of bourbon ever could.
……
The first rays of morning light were beginning to shine through her window. It was then that Sarah realized that she'd gone to sleep (or more accurately, passed out) not in her bed, but on her couch. She groaned, already feeling the stiffness that spending the night on a sofa would curse her with that day. Blindly, she began to reach for the bottle that she knew she'd left beside her. But there was nothing there. She began to feel around furiously for it, but still found nothing.
"Looking for this?" asked a voice Sarah hadn't expected. "You can take the girl out of Kentucky, but you just can't take the love of good bourbon out of the girl, can you?"
The blonde was immediately on her guard, or as close as she could be to on her guard in her hungover state. She leapt to her feet, stumbling only slightly, and faced the unknown figure that sat in her bed, in the shadows.
"Relax. I'm not here to hurt you," said the voice. Then the, yes, it was a woman, was walking towards her. It was…
"Carina?" Sarah asked timidly.
Carina laughed softly. Then seemingly appraising Sarah's appearance, she spoke again. "You look like shit."
Sarah scoffed. She might be a little worse for wear, but she thought that was a little harsh. But looking in the mirror across the room, Sarah had to admit, she'd looked better. But she couldn't let Carina know that. She couldn't let Carina win. Straightening her posture, Sarah stuck out her chin, and eyed Carina defiantly.
"False bravado? Yeah, that's the move I was waiting for," Carina said flippantly. "Jesus Sarah. I haven't seen you like this since 'Bryce is a bastard fest oh-six'."
"Bryce was a bastard," Sarah said defensively.
"Oh, I don't disagree with you. If I remember correctly, he yelled at you for going off mission to save him, and then he broke up with you for a little while. So what happened this time? Is it that analyst?" Carina asked.
"Chuck," Sarah corrected. "And I don't want to talk about it."
"Yes you do," Carina said flatly. "You always want to talk about it, but you're scared. So come; sit," Carina said, sitting down on the bed and patting a spot beside her. "Come tell Carina about all your problems, and we'll figure out how to solve them."
"I don't want to," Sarah reiterated. But even as she said it, she was moving towards Carina and taking a seat beside the other woman.
"So what happened?" Carina asked. "Did he cheat with some whore? Want me to cut his balls off for you?"
"No!" Sarah said quickly. "He didn't cheat on me, and I don't want you to hurt him."
"Then what?"
"I'm not good enough for him," Sarah said sadly.
"Sarah, I've seen the nerd. I promise you that you're plenty good enough for him. In fact, you're better than he deserves," Carina said assuredly.
"There's more to life than physical beauty, Carina," Sarah said harshly.
"You're right, of course. There's sexual prowess. But I don't think this Chuck could be that great of a prize in the sack."
"Carina," Sarah grumbled.
"What?"
"It's…" Sarah paused. "He said I'm not normal. That I could never be normal."
"That's what has you upset?" Carina asked, stifling a laugh.
"It's not funny!" Sarah growled.
"No, it really is, Sarah. He's right. You're not normal."
Sarah's face fell into a harsh frown. Emotion filled her eyes, and it looked for all the world like she was on the verge of tears.
"You're extraordinary," Carina amended.
Slowly, Sarah started to smile shyly. "You mean it?"
"You know that I do. And I don't care who this boy is. If he can't see it, then he doesn't deserve you." Carina reached over and hugged her friend. The gesture was short lived however, as the red head pulled away with a disgusted expression on her face.
"What is it?" Sarah asked worried.
"So how long did your work out before you started drinking?" Carina asked in reply.
Sarah looked down to notice that she was still wearing a sports bra and track pants. She ducked her head, smiling sheepishly.
"Umm…about three or four hours," she answered softly.
"Uh-huh," Carina said. "So are you going to go yourself, or do I have to drag you?"
"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.
"Shower. And quick. Then get dressed, because we're going out."
"Out where?" Sarah asked.
"First shower, then we'll talk about it. You smell like a zoo right now."
Sarah took her top off, balled it up, and threw it at Carina playfully. After all their years of friendship, and sometimes more, there was no sense of discomfort in being naked in front of the other woman.
……
Stepping out of the shower, Sarah finally felt human again. Even the searing pain she'd felt in her chest since Chuck had made his manifesto of what he wanted in a woman and outright excluded her from consideration had been minimized for the time being to a dull ache.
Sarah walked out of the bathroom wrapped in her towel. Her scant covering drew playful a wolf whistle from Carina. Sarah glared at the other woman with mock outrage, then arching an eyebrow, she dropped her towel on the floor and playfully sauntered to the closet completely nude.
Sarah unthinkingly pulled a random bra and panty set from her drawer. Examining the articles, she realized it wasn't her sexy underwear. In fact, it might be her un-sexiest underwear. A plain pair of white cotton panties and the matching bra.
She felt Carina approaching behind her.
"Trying to prove that you're normal?" Carina asked.
"What?" Sarah said, spinning on her heel to face her friend.
"No lacey boy shorts, as per your usual?" Carina asked, pointing to Sarah's underwear selection. "Figured you were trying to be 'normal'. Whatever that is."
"No, not at all. I didn't really think about it," she said, slipping the bottoms on and turning back around.
"Well, if you are, it won't work. I still think you're so much more than that," Carina said, reaching up and massaging Sarah's shoulders firmly but affectionately.
Sarah relaxed under her friend's touch. She had to admit that there was still a lot of pent up tension there, and Carina seemed to know exactly where to find it. Of course she would, after all these years. This certainly wasn't the first time Carina had rubbed her shoulders.
"That feels soooo good," Sarah groaned.
"I know," Carina chirped. "You remember when I used to do this while you were studying?"
"I do," Sarah admitted. "It was great then, and it's better now."
"Feeling better?" Carina asked softly.
"Uh-huh," Sarah muttered. "So are you going to tell me where we're going today?"
"Weelll," Carina drawled. "As soon as you put on a bra, and some clothes, we're going to…" she paused. "Know what? Just get dressed. It's a surprise. And I've made reservations, so hurry your pretty little ass up."
……
"You know, it would help if you told me where we were going," Sarah grumbled.
The blonde was speeding through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The top was down on her Porsche, both women's hair blowing in the wind, and Carina was instructing her at every turn.
"You could just let me drive. That would cut out a lot of the unnecessary confusion," Carina said.
Sarah looked at her passenger with an expression of horror. "You think I'd let you drive my baby? Have you gone completely off your rockers?"
"You and this damn car," Carina huffed. "Sometimes I think you love this car more than you love me."
"Carina, you're my dearest friend," Sarah said solemnly. "But you're right. I do love the car more than I love you," Sarah finished with a grin.
"Here!" Carina suddenly shouted. "Right here."
"A spa?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Carina nodded. "You're going to get a manny petty, a massage, a nice steam –"
"I don't need those things," Sarah said cutting Carina off.
"Well, need them or not, you're going to get them. Then you're going to go get your hair done, and we're going to buy you a new dress."
"Why are we doing those things?" Sarah asked.
"Because if I'm going to take you out on the town tonight, I need you looking your best," Carina teased.
"So where are we going tonight?" Sarah asked.
"Anywhere you want, Sarah," Carina said softly. "Now," she said, her voice regaining strength, "let's get your day started."
……
Carina relaxed in her seat outside the dressing room at the small boutique she'd taken Sarah to. She felt very much relaxed from the trip to the spa, and she was sure Sarah felt the same way. It had been a long time since either of them had been truly pampered, after all, and in their line of work, they deserved days like this every now and then.
The last time she'd been in town, it had been all work. Well, it had been mostly about work. There was that one moment they shared in Sarah's hotel room. It was right after Sarah had ordered her to go on a double date with that little bearded man. She couldn't remember his name now, but she thought it started with an "M". But when Sarah had come back to her room from work that day, Carina had been there waiting. Sarah yelled at her for disobeying an order and trying to get Chuck to talk, and then Carina had yelled back about having to date Marlin. Or was it Martin? Whatever. But the argument quickly turned physical, and then it turned into something else altogether. Sarah was always a lot of fun when she was pissed off, and Carina knew better than anyone how to get her friend's goad.
Carina continued to daydream about that encounter the previous year, which was maybe the best sex she'd had, maybe ever. And that ridiculous, but sexy outfit Sarah had been wearing from that lame fast food place only made it better. Her impure thoughts were not helped when Sarah peaked out of the dressing room to call Carina in, wearing only panties and covering her breasts with her arm.
"So what do you think?" Sarah said, holding up two dresses as Carina walked into the small dressing room.
"I think you're a giant tease for bringing me in here to look at dresses," Carina replied.
Sarah slapped her playfully on the arm. "I'm serious! The black one?" she asked, holding up a simple but elegant black cocktail dress. "Or the blue one?" she then asked, putting forward a low cut, blue number.
"I already told you what I thought of them," Carina said.
"Yes, you did. You said I looked great," Sarah said flatly.
"You do!"
"You said I looked great in both of them! How am I supposed to decide?" Sarah asked indignantly.
"Buy them both?" Carina supplied. "But really, the blue one is really more you, I think. Not that you don't look great in a black cocktail dress, but the blue one really brings out your eyes." She paused, then looked down at Sarah's chest. "And your tits."
"Chuck loves me in blue," Sarah said without thinking. Then a sad expression started to form on her face as the words seemed to take hold.
"Hey!" Carina demanded. "That's enough of that. Today is not about him. It's about you! And you do look great in blue. At least, I've always thought so," Carina said wistfully.
Sarah smiled at her friend, causing Carina to smile back. Then, before she knew what she was doing, Carina leaned in and kissed Sarah. It was soft, and kind of chaste at first, but as it went on, Carina started to feel that rush that she always felt with Sarah. She pushed the blonde woman's back hard against the wall of the dressing room. Carina began to demand entrance into Sarah's mouth with her tongue, and Sarah, as she always did, acquiesced. Sarah wrapped her leg snugly behind Carina, holding the red head's body tight against her own as their lips continued their dance.
"Hey! Only one person in the dressing rooms at a time," shouted someone from outside, bringing Sarah and Carina out of their passionate moment. They both pulled back, flushed from the exertion, but Carina still had a predatory glare on her face as she looked at Sarah.
"Um, the blue one it is, then," Sarah said, diverting her eyes.
"Yeah," Carina asked, licking her lips as she stepped out of the dressing room.
A/N: And that's it for chapter one! I think you know where chapter 2 is headed, haha. Oh, and for those interested, I'm also going to do a companion piece that goes into detail about the moment Carina is daydreaming about waiting for Sarah outside the dressing room. Depending on how smutty it gets, and I think it will be filthy, it may only be posted on LiveJournal. If that's the case, I'll make sure to let everyone know. I look forward to your reviews, and thanks for reading. you guys are awesome. Peace.