The Little Bearded Man and his Soulmate

"I thought Casey said he'd be here by now." Sarah wasn't quite at the point of tapping her toe, but Chuck could see the tic working through her neck as she fought off the desire to do so.

"He said seven."

"Are you sure? Because it's seven twenty already."

"Well, maybe he said seven thirty and I just forgot." Chuck toyed with the fish he probably wouldn't get a chance to eat. They'd had reservations, but neither he nor Sarah had ever figured on actually having the opportunity to eat before all hell broke loose, as it typically did on any mission involving Chuck, Chuck and Sarah, Chuck, Chuck and Casey, Sarah and Casey, or just Chuck, really.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Sarah blinked and stopped herself from looking around the restaurant for what was probably the millionth time. "Ate earlier." She shrugged a bit self-consciously. "Never though we'd have the chance to actually eat here."

"Yeah, me neither." He chased his fish around the plate with his fork.

"This is not like Casey," Sarah said. She frowned.

"I'm sure he's fine, Sarah." He reached out and put a hand on her arm. She stilled, then looked down at his arm. When she looked up there was a hesitant smile on her face.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Chuck took a bite of his fish. "Look on the bright side, at least we get to enjoy a nice dinner on the government's dime."

Sarah's smile grew a little more pronounced. "The company's not so bad either."

"And hey, we should order some wine. Expensive. That'll teach Casey to be late." He grinned at Sarah and got the desired answering smile he lived for.

"Ha, well, as the person who has to reconcile all of our receipts, maybe we shouldn't."

"I say we live a little." Chuck waved the waiter over, opened his mouth to order, and remembered that he was more the type to drink a bottle of Boone's Hill with Morgan and the other Nerd Herders than know expensive wines. He glanced helplessly at Sarah.

And just like that, she was ready to spring to the rescue. In French, naturally. He could only lean back and watch, impressed, as she pointed to the wine. He'd never really understood French could be so hot before.

When the waiter had smiled indulgently at the geek and his too-hot date, he leaned forward. "Wow. Did you just order, like, escargot or something? Because it makes me nervous when you order in French."

"Does it? Nervous, really?" Sarah raised an eyebrow, a smile threatening to spill out.

"Okay, maybe it's just the slightest bit attractive." Chuck held up two fingers, close together. "Just a bit."

"Ha-ha."

"But, seriously, that was a no on the snails, right?"

"No snails." Though Sarah frowned just a little bit. "Escargot is actually really good. Why don't you like it?"

Chuck absently glanced all over the restaurant just to make sure that Casey hadn't showed up. It really was out of character for him to be running so late. "It's not dislike so much as it is...fear."

"Honestly? You fear it?"

"I fear the snail," Chuck said seriously. "It's...slimy."

"You've never had it. How do you know it's slimy?"

"Morgan, of course."

Sarah's smile was almost unintentional. "Oh. Morgan."

Chuck chuckled a little at Sarah's reaction. "Still with no faith in the bearded one, I see."

Sarah shook her head, still smiling. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that."

"I'll have you know that Morgan actually has a very...diverse palette."

Sarah smirked. "Winning 'Mystery Crisper' does not make anybody an expert on French cuisine."

"Ahhh," Chuck said, a single finger waggling in the air, "but it does make you an expert on eating slimy things."

Sarah rolled her eyes and looked around the restaurant again. "How is Morgan, anyway?"

Chuck arched an eyebrow. Sarah frowned in response. "What? Don't look at me like that. I care."

Chuck smiled easily. "As usual, he's screwed things up with Anna. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say it involved grape soda, his beard trimmer, and Anna's favorite shirt, or so she told me."

Because the sommelier returned with the wine Sarah had selected, conversation fell off for a minute. Chuck indicated that she should do the tasting, as he didn't have the first clue, and she nodded her approval. He smiled over at her as the wine was poured.

"You know," Sarah said once they were alone again (still no Casey), "Morgan is the only individual on the planet that could cause trouble with a beard trimmer."

"Well, you have to admit that the beard is a thing of beauty."

"Mm." Sarah took a long sip of wine.

Chuck had to wonder if drinking wine right before a mission, even if it was only a simple case of data retrieval, was smart. But Sarah had rarely steered him wrong, so he took a long sip.

Okay, maybe he should consult Sarah every time he went to the liquor store. That was damned good wine.

"Individual is probably the operative word in that sentence," he said, pointing the wineglass at Sarah.

"Think Anna will take him back?"

"I never know. It…takes a special breed to date a man like Morgan Grimes."

Chuck took another drink of wine. "And unfortunately for Morgan, that special breed has always been hard to find."

"Anna has always seemed to be able to tolerate him better than most."

"Yeah, but even Anna has her limits," Chuck said. He took another bite. His fish was even better complemented by the wine.

"What Morgan needs is somebody like him."

Chuck mock shuddered. "Two Morgan Grimeses in the world?" He leaned a little forward and lowered his voice. "I think the important question is, though, would her beard be as impressive as his?"

Sarah's shudder looked far more real than his. "I'm not even sure I want to think about that."

Chuck sat back with a grin. "What he really needs is somebody crazier than him."

"So Jeff and Lester?" Sarah said. She had an amused sparkle in her eye and it was obvious she was fighting a grin.

"Ha ha ha," Chuck replied. Then he grinned slyly. "I was thinking more like Casey."

He could see that idea take hold, and watch the various stages of shock as they roamed over Sarah's face. It normally wasn't expressive, but sometimes her expressions could take more twists and turns than a Hitchcock film. He saw the idea hit, the thought grab on…the images start to form.

And there it was: another shudder.

"You're trying to give me nightmares," Sarah accused.

Chuck did his best to look innocent. "What's the matter, Sarah?"

She gave him a sour look and deliberately set her wineglass down. It was a shame that he'd probably put her off her food for a few hours, as the wine really was quite delicious. "You know what's the matter."

"Morgan and a female Casey would be a perfect match."

Surprise overtook the picture show of Sarah's face. "A female Casey?"

"Oh, sure, why not? Morgan may appreciate the struggles of the gay and transgendered communities, but…oh, Sarah." Chuck pretended disgusted shock. "You weren't just imagining Morgan and Casey, were you?"

"What? No!" Surprise switched to panic.

He had to laugh as he took a drink of wine. "Just messing with you."

Sarah wrinkled her nose at him. It was pretty cute.

"But, no, think about it. Morgan and a female Casey. It'd be perfect. Morgan could do all the talking, and Fem-Casey could grunt and keep him in line, and just shoot things whenever he pulls something particularly…Morgan-ish."

Sarah just stared at him for several seconds. "Sometimes it scares me how you come up with this stuff."

Chuck stuck his tongue out at Sarah, who feigned outrage. He just stuffed his face with flounder and grinned wide.

Sarah shook her head, a smile on her face. "Too bad. I think he's the only one."

"Yeah, Casey probably would have fit in real well with the Highlander."

Sarah gave him a blank look. He felt his cheeks warm. "You know, 'There can be only one?'" Sarah only smirked. Chuck sighed and said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm a nerd."

"I think it's cute." This time, it was Sarah's turn to blush.

They both grew quiet and found their dinner plates suddenly very fascinating.

"He is the only one, don't you think?" Chuck really didn't mean to sound worried, but he couldn't even imagine a world with multiple versions of Casey running around.

"Casey or Morgan?" Sarah grinned cheekily. "I'm not sure which thought is worse, more than one Casey or more than one Morgan?"

"Did somebody say my name?"

Both Sarah and Chuck looked up at the same time, surprise on their faces. "Casey!" Chuck said.

Casey just looked confused. "What are you two doing here so early?"

"Early? You're late," Sarah said. She frowned and stood up.

Casey growled. "I'm never late. Idiot must have gotten the time wrong."

Chuck was getting up as well. "You said seven!"

Casey rolled his eyes. "I said eight, moron."

"No, you said seven."

"I said eight."

And on it went, all the way out to the back room of the restaurant, where they would don their tac gear to infiltrate the safe in the room right above.

Sarah rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath as she followed them, "And suddenly, Morgan doesn't look so bad."