A/N: Okay I know I took some license (okay a lot of license) with the DC television/comic universe and Chuck. The nidus of this story was in a failed prompt for a much better fan fiction writer. She encouraged me and voila! As usual with my Chuck Soup (or should I say DChuck Soup) I tried to utilize bits from the show. On the DC side? Mainly but not entirely the CW's Arrow and not even close to canon. Please, just don't kill me in the reviews. Regardless, this was fun ;)

As always I want express my thanks to my beta, yeahokaycool, for putting up with this mess and making it better. I did tweak a few things before uploading the story, so all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: No ownership is stated or implied to the DC universe characters, shows, or comics in this work. No ownership is implied or stated with the characters of the television show Chuck or of Chumbawamba's song Tubthumping either. No profit is being made.

1. I Get Knocked Down

Dammit! How did Laurel do this? Sarah was 25 miles from Starling City. She had walked east and then hitched a ride south to Gateway City to catch a bus north to Seattle. She never got on the bus and was now parked in the back seat of a state trooper's car.

"That's right Ms. Lance. Right where you said she'd be. No ma'am... No trouble at all…. You're welcome...We'll be in Starling City in 45 minutes.

Previously...

As Sarah sat in Chief Detective Lance's office, she pondered her situation. A few weeks ago, her dad, using the alias "Jack Burton", had been picked up on racketeering charges from a cigarette smuggling job he was involved in. The con was going to be on the store owners and their illegal suppliers, but he got caught in the middle. Before he could figuratively pull the trigger, and get out with the cash, the Arrow got involved. Then things went to hell in a handbasket.

Sarah's dad was headed to prison, and "Jenny Burton", at 15, was in police custody and en route to juvenile services. At some point, Sarah was interviewed by a statuesque blond woman who looked more like she could be her older sister (if she had one) than the Assistant D.A. that her card identified her as.

"Hello Ms. "Burton" (she actually used air quotes!). My name is Laurel…"

"No, it's not."

"Excuse me?"

"Your name's not Laurel. Your card reads "Dinah Lance, Assistant D.A." It's lying or you are."

"That's rich. Tell me "Ms. That's-Not-Your-Name" should I address you as Jenny, Katie, Rebecca, your birth name Sarah ...or your Dad's nickname for you, Sam?"

Sarah's eyes grew big as saucers. A cold feeling ran down her spine as she realized that she wasn't just poking a bear, but a Kodiak coming out of hibernation. She gulped and decided on a strategic retreat. "Sarah ma'am, thank you."

"That's much better… Sarah. Now let's discuss what's to be done with you, shall we? A friend of mine...at...WITSEC...has suggested...an opportunity for you. You seemed to be doing well at Meadow Branch High School in the Glades. In fact, according to school records you were one of their brightest students. In addition, there is no evidence that you were involved in your father's dealings. So here's the deal..."

She had been given a new surname by Witsec, "Walker". She suspected it was probably just the next one on the list but she preferred to think of it as a synonym for "Strider" from Lord of the Rings, it had been one of her favorite books. She liked Strider's quiet strength and his honor. Also, that most people didn't know his true identity.

The ID was surprisingly more than just an alias. It was air-tight, including a birth certificate and social security card. Sarah didn't find this out until she decided to run.

She had picked the lock on the lockbox that her foster parents kept in their bedroom. She had just been looking for cash but took the documents as well when she found them. She didn't feel too bad about taking the money since she left an IOU. Whether she ever made good on it was another story, but it made her feel a little better.

Sarah didn't have much of a plan. Her dad had an old girlfriend she had got along with in Seattle. Sarah thought she would allow her to crash on her couch until she could find her mom. As she sat in the backseat behind the cage in the patrol car, she thought, so much for my plan.

Laurel entered her office and spotted Sarah. "They left you uncuffed here?"

Sarah merely held up the picked handcuffs, smiled and waited for the yelling to start. It didn't, much to her surprise. Laurel just let out a small laugh.

"He wasn't kidding." she seemed to say to herself. "Sarah what are we going to do with you?"

"It is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability." the girl replied.

"Don't quote "The Great Escape" to me, you're not the only one that likes classic movies. How long did it take you memorize that anyhow?"

"Not long, I'm pretty good that way."

"Interesting… Sarah. Help me out here. Why did you run?"

"Honestly?" Laurel's face showed no sign of guile to Sarah. That and the fact that Laurel wasn't even upset with her per se, at least not what she was expecting. It seemed that she really wanted to help her. Maybe her dad was wrong. Maybe there were people that did things without concern for their own self interest. Maybe Laurel was one of those people. Sarah decided to take a chance. It wasn't much of one as she wouldn't be any worse off for it but she would let Laurel in...just a little bit.

"Honestly."

"Look...well...I know you're trying to help Ms. Lance…"

"Laurel. My friends call me Laurel."

That threw Sarah even more. She looked to her left and to her right before looking directly at Laurel and trying to reason with her..

"Okaaay...Laurel. My foster parents are nice but staying with them is boring. And I know I don't belong, so I just thought I would get out and try to find my mom."

"I actually have people working on that Sarah. I dare say they are a wee bit more capable than you. Ever wonder how I knew your aliases? In the meantime I can't have you running off and I don't want you to end up in Juvie. I have to agree with my friend, it would be such a waste." Laurel seems to take a moment as her brow furrows, debating with herself, "Tell you what, stay with me. I promise it won't be boring."

Sarah tries again to reason with the woman before her. "Ms….Laurel. I don't want to be a bother or a burden. I'm not a good person, and you don't need me being associated with you."

"Not a good person? Nonsense, I'm around bad people all day long and you're not a bad person." Laurel says with conviction. "Sarah Walker is whoever you make her. Right now and from here forward. I think she's a good person who belongs wherever she wants to be, and I think you should too."

A week later, Sarah found she couldn't argue with Laurel's assertion that she would keep her from getting bored. Sarah had turned 16 on her birthday last July and now she was starting her junior year at The Blackthorne School. It was one of the last all girl schools in the state, but had resisted going coed because it was also the premier private high school in Starling City, with patronage from the city's movers and shakers like the Queens, the Merlyns, and most recently, Palmer Technologies. In fact, Sarah had been awarded a scholarship from Palmer Technologies to cover her tuition.

In addition to attending a school with a rigorous academic curriculum, Sarah was also encouraged to participate in afterschool activities such as gymnastics for a sport and the Chess and Language clubs. She excelled at languages and was being trained in several. She also studied the violin to fulfill a music requirement.

Any other free time Sarah had was taken up by the uncle of Laurel's self defence instructor/personal trainer Ted Grant. John Casey was a gruff bear of man in his late forties. He was a master of several martial arts ("Who do you think trained Teddy?") and tough.

Ostensibly, he was training her for self defense. Sarah thought he sometimes got defence and offence mixed up. He growled a lot and was hard on her, but never deprecating. Disrespectful? Maybe in a hardass kind of way, with the use of unflattering nicknames like "Wuss", "Girly" and "Princess".

He said "People will say all sorts of things to throw you off. You need to recognize that, be hardened to it, and stay in control." The severity never wavered, but she got the feeling he was developing a grudging respect for her and her ability to master his lessons.

Blackthorne may have been worlds away from other schools she had gone to over the years but in some ways it was just like every other school she had attended. The girls there were very sharp with their insults about her looks, particularly her braces and her hair. Sarah just felt awkward, out of place. The girls who went to school here may have been the daughters of the rich and powerful, but the treatment was the same as in the Glades.

Sarah might have found it unbearable if she hadn't been befriended by Olivia Sharp. Olivia was attending the school on a scholarship from the Queen Foundation for children from the Glades. Olivia was a tall girl like Sarah. She was about her age and wore her curly brown hair in a messy bun. She had hazel eyes that sometime looked blue and sometimes green unless she was angry. Then they were a dark grey.

Currently they were looking a bit grey. "Don't worry about those girls, Sarah. They're afraid of me. You'll be okay."

"Thanks Olivia."

"No problem. I'm from Central City but my mom and I live in the Glades now. They think everybody from the Glades is a violent psycho. Annnd I might have mentioned I'm good with knives. It's like "The Incredibles". They respect me because they fear me. You're not like that. That's what I like about you. You don't judge and you keep your cool."

"Don't give me too much credit, but I've grown up with all sorts of people from all sorts of places. I try to get to know a person first before I make an opinion...and I used to live in the Glades too."

"How come we never met? I went to Morningside…"

"And I went to Meadow Branch. Plus, I just moved here from San Diego..."

When it became known that Sarah used to live in the Glades, the other girls just ignored her too.

"So where are we going Ollie?" Olivia had grabbed Sarah on a rare day with nothing going on after school. They were on a bus with a route Sarah was unfamiliar with.

"You know the Buy More down on Solomon?"

"The one on the edge of the Glades before you get to Downtown?"

"Yeah that's the one. A friend of mine works there part time. He got me a deal on an iPad. We're going to go pick it up." Olivia said matter of factly.

"That's so cool. I want to get one too. Laurel got me an internship with one of her friends at Palmer Technologies, so I'm saving up. But why do you need me to go with you?"

"Well this guy that got me the deal, I think he likes me but I just want to stay friends ya know? With you there things won't be awkward." Olivia thought about her friend at the Buy More. "Well, maybe less awkward."

As Sarah and Olivia enter the Buy More through the automatic double doors, a blast of cold air overtakes them from the A/C unit in the vestibule. Sarah finds it a little disorienting and looks around the store to see which direction Olivia is headed. She sees her walking toward a counter in the center of the store.

As Sarah approaches the counter, Olivia is already engaged in a conversation with two boys. They are wearing matching green polo shirts with Buy More emblazoned across the left upper chest area and yellow nametags on their right.

"Sarah this is my friend Morgan and his friend…"

"Best friend."

"...best friend Chuck." Olivia finishes with a slight exasperation.

The shorter boy, Morgan (with a full beard?), steps forward and gives Sarah a hug. The tall boy's, Chuck?, her eyebrows raise up with surprise.

"Wow! I didn't know people still named their kids Chuck or...Morgan." replies Sarah, obviously blindsided by the awkward show of affection.

Chuck replies "Yeah, well my parents were sadists and Morgan was found by carnival freaks…"

"..But they raised me as one of their own. So! Olivia, come right this way, milady…"

Morgan quickly pulls Olivia to the other side of the store. "...Your iPad awaits…"

Chuck reaches over to Sarah and shakes her hand. "It's good to meet you Sarah...and Olivia of course." His hand is so warm in contrast to the cool air conditioned store. The warmth seems to travel up her arm and she is almost hesitant to let go. He's slim, almost a slim as her, with broad shoulders and dark wavy hair that looks a month past due for trim, on the edge wildness.

"Thanks. It's good to meet you too."

"I'm sorry if Morgan freaked you out with that hug. He can be a bit touchy feely."

"Well he had better be careful with Ollie...I mean Olivia." she snarked.

Sarah has to look up to see his face, which at 5'9" was unusual for her. He was at least a half a foot taller than her. And his eyes seemed like they couldn't decide if they were brown or green and had little flecks of gold in them.

Chuck looks over his shoulder to see Olivia with a yellow Buy More bag in hand rebuff Morgan's attempt at another hug. "Ollie huh? It suits her. Yeah, I hear you. She seems quite...impressive." he says before turning back to Sarah

Chuck turns back around just as Sarah processes his description of Olivia. Her brow is furrowed. All she can think of is her braces and her frizzy mousy hair as she drops her head and feels the burning on her cheeks. Why should I care what this Chuck guy thinks?

Sarah drolly replies "That she is."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, nothing...So how do you know Olivia?"

"We met at school. How do you know her?"

"Wha..Me? I don't … I didn't meet her until today...sort of...kinda…" Chuck sighs in defeat. "What I mean is that Morgan knows her from school too and he talks about her all the time so I feel like I know her. And when I say all the time, I mean all the time!" His eyebrows shoot up and giggle slips out of Sarah.

She is rewarded with a blinding smile as he continues. "Morgan and I play Call of Duty online and Olivia drops in sometimes to play on our team and we talk over the headsets. Morgan usually dominates the conversation. I guess he doesn't get a chance to talk to her much at school."

"Anyway when she and Morgan set up the plan for her to pick up her iPad, she mentioned she was bringing this cool girl with her, a friend of hers. Morgan said Olivia was smart and funny so I switched my schedule around to give Morgan some moral support. Today is the first time I've met her."

"Well she is smart and funny," Sarah agreed. "And that cool friend of Olivia's must have bailed because I'm the only friend she brought with her."

"Coulda fooled me," was his only reply before Olivia strode up with anxiety painted all over her face.

"Sarah! Look at the time! We've got to get going or you'll be late for that thing you've got to do and get in big trouble! See you Morgan, thanks. See you Chuck." And Olivia hustles Sarah through the Buy More and out its front door.

Morgan just stares at the retreating forms of the two girls. "Dude! I think she digs me!"

Chuck just smiles and shakes his head. Morgan, ever the optimist. " So... Morgan...tell me about Olivia's friend…"

"So what was that all about?" Sarah asks as they slow their walking speed down.

"He's not following us, right?"

Sarah looks back to see Morgan at the front door of the store, turn and go inside.

"Morgan wasn't giving me a deal on the iPad. It was a gift. A "friend gift" is what he called it. Then he wanted to give me a hug. I like Morgan...sort of... but I was afraid he was working up to asking me out or something. I needed to get out there."

"Chuck said you met him at school?"

"I know Morgan from when I went to school in the Glades. He lives in my neighborhood with his mom but I don't see him much now that I go to Blackthorne. We mainly just keep in touch online."

"Chuck seems...nice."

"Yeah, he does. I've never met him in person but we've talked when I would play Call of Duty with him and Morgan online. Morgan says he's some sort of computer genius. I don't know about that but he is kinda cute."

"Yeah, he is."

"Yeah..Hey...Hey! I see that look. Don't you even think about it. Glades boys are no good…"

"You just said he was nice."

"You know what I mean. Did you see where Morgan and Chuck work? If they're lucky they will keep those jobs but that's the best it's ever going to get for those guy's. You and me...well we've been given a chance to do better, be better than that. Trust me, and you should know, nothing good ever comes out of the Glades."

Sarah just looks over her shoulder at the Buy More before they get to the bus stop, considering her friend's advice.

A/N: This is new for me, chapters that is. So we'll see how it works out. I'm not sure the chapter titles really work with the story but I really wanted to use the lyrics from Tubthumping since it was in Chuck vs. The Cougars