A/N: Hi. As always thanks for taking the time to read this and any reviews would be fantastic. I don't own Chuck (or Sandman).\
Chuck vs. What Once You Wanted
"Chuck. What did you want to do before… leaving Stanford?"
"Work in Silicon Valley. Software development. Something along those lines."
Waves tumbled forcefully over rocks and shells protruding from the ground in front of Chuck and Sarah, receding only to return with greater intensity. Their toes dug into the grainy sand, delicate yet coarse against their skin.
The sun brushed lightly against the horizon as they stared off into the Pacific. Their solitary spot basked in the diminishing light as the sky languidly turned from a deep blue to indigo to a striking purple laced with fiery red streaks cast from its rays.
The humidity clung to their bodies like an unseen varnish, enveloping them in a cocoon when they meagerly drew closer.
Both knew that Chuck had been forcibly removed from Stanford as a result of planted exam answers under his bed but neither would acknowledge it.
"Suppose you won't be able to get to do that now but when this is over…," Sarah whispered apologetically.
"Hm… I'm not sure if I still want to do that," his mind drifted away, mimicking the flowing motion of the waves.
"The world's going to be oyster, Chuck."
He absent-mindedly nodded in response, silent but for the thoughtful sigh that escaped from his lips. If honesty was perpetually present, then Chuck would be forced to admit the defeat that was brewing in him.
Long ago had he abandoned his ambitions as a young and passionate student, thrown into a maze of despair with seemingly no exit in sight and no light to guide his way. Its impossibly tall hedges looming overhead and inducing claustrophobia. Ideas remained nascent and never acted upon. Dreams were buried like a repressed memory.
All that he and his sister, Ellie, sacrificed after their parents had faded away had been for nought as Chuck lingered in underachievement for years.
"You must want something," Sarah reached timidly.
Chuck shrugged almost imperceptibly, almost symbolising his surrender, "The price of getting what you want is getting what once you wanted."
One would never be satisfied by achieving a goal they had set out. It was always followed by another objective, leading down a tunnel to an eventual dead end.
He shut his eyes gently for a moment, imagining himself floating in the cosmos as stars, planets and other celestial bodies hovering around him. As always, the delusion soothed him as he once again returned to his body.
"How about you? You must've wanted something," Chuck asked carefully, knowing of Sarah's reluctance to divulge her own inner workings.
"I just took it day by day, mission after mission. Didn't really want anything." Sarah knew that Chuck could relate to the state of perpetually living in the present. The past was forgotten, and the future was uncontrollable. They both languished sullenly, unhappy with the hands they had been dealt, yet unable to break out of their own predicaments.
The Intersect, the intelligence database caged in Chuck's mind, was just another sign of this.
But somehow, they had found each other, albeit locked in an impossible situation. Two kindred spirits so different, yet understood each other almost telepathically.
"When we get that thing out of your head and I leave, promise me you'll chase after those fleeting dreams you have." Sarah's voice never wavered but there was a hint of a plea.
"Only if you promise to stay," Chuck replied confidently and suddenly their eyes were in a deadlock with each other.
She quickly turned back to the ocean. "You'll probably just forget me."
"Why do you claim things so absurd?"
She smiled in response, before hoping to herself that she'll have the opportunity to return. Leaning over to Chuck, she kissed him tentatively and held it there for just a second too long. In the midst of the poignant, dying sunlight, nothing else mattered.
Then, they both once again turned to stare at the disappearing sun, now merely forming a tiny orange dome on top of the horizon, but its warmth still felt between them.
"Chuck!"
He whirled around and spotted a wisp of golden hair heading towards him. His eyes widened with almost disbelief but caught himself when he recognised her as one of the senior analysts in the financial department.
"Here's the reports you asked for. We're not doing too bad." Her enthusiasm was contagious.
"Not too bad is great," Chuck replied, receiving the report appreciatively. After thanking her he continued to his office, the heels of his shoes clicking rhythmically against the gleaming marble floor.
Reaching his destination, he immediately drew open the blinds of the slightly tinted floor-to-ceiling windows looking over at the city of LA.
He revelled at the sunlight that illuminated the room. Sitting down he was immediately drawn to the photo of Sarah that was stuck onto the corner of his monitor, producing a small smile
'Dreams really do come true, Sarah,' he thought.
Chuck had repeated this process almost every working day since he had moved his firm into this office.
It was nearing 5 years now since the whole Intersect ordeal had ended. Almost immediately afterwards, Chuck used his back-pay from the NSA to create his own software and technology company.
Starting only at home, he began procuring Government contracts, with his knowledge from the intelligence agencies giving him an advantage. Soon, he transitioned to private contracts, some lucrative, which fuelled the rapid expansion of the company and eventually led them to acquire a whole office floor.
However, he still was without a clue as to Sarah's whereabouts.
Throughout the years, the two had exchanged the occasional encrypted email or letter but recently there had been no word on her end. Chuck supposed that she was on an extended assignment but there was never any certainty.
He sighed and began flicking through the reports.
He was back on the beach with the sun hanging low and ready to dip into the water. He came back every month to picture her sitting beside him. If he blurred his eyes slightly, she would sometimes appear, staring longingly at the sunset, as if distracted by it.
While he had realised his previous ambitions, she was still missing. The price of getting what you want is getting what once you wanted. Slowly ruminating over this, Chuck sighed contently.
By all accounts she had spurred him on to he dig himself out of the bottomless pit he had once been in, now evaporating into the air around him.
Soft footsteps formed behind him, barely discernible on the white sand followed by a voice that could melt butter.
"Hi, Chuck."
A/N 2: I've been wanting to write something this for a while. I first got into Chuck in my final year at uni not too long ago when I was really clueless as to what I wanted to do after uni so I could sort of relate to the feeling of being lost that Chuck had at the start of the show.
I had been rejected by my dream job so I took a few days off for myself and got into the show and then fanfiction. But everything turned out ok.
Originally, I wasn't going to include the second half of this story (ending after the kiss between Chuck and Sarah) but let me know if you thought it was a good idea or not. Cheers!