Chuck and Sarah Run – Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck but I wish I did.

Sarah stirred, waking slowly, resisting the return to consciousness. Feeling warm and comfortable, she stretched her feet, making her suddenly aware her feet were intertwined with Chucks. Lifting her head, she realized she was laying on her left side, her back pressed against Chuck's chest, her right hand holding Chuck's, their fingers intertwined.

Letting go of his hand, Sarah slowly moved to "her side of the bed," watching Chuck as she moved. Chuck stirred restlessly for a moment, making smacking sounds with his mouth before drifting back into a deeper sleep. His hair was a mess, having been damp when the two of them had drifted off to sleep.

How did I wind up like that? Sarah thought, distinctly remembering going to sleep flat on her back, with the covers pulled up to her chin, holding on tightly with both hands. In fact, she had been close to the edge of the bed after moving over when Chuck asked her to change sides of the bed, telling her they slept better when she was on the left side of the bed.

She watched Chuck sleep. He was peaceful resting there in the bed, right arm still reaching out to where Sarah had lain just a few moments ago. This is not the first time the two of us have slept like this. Real or not, we slept together like this on a regular basis.

Sarah turned to lay on her right side and watched Chuck as he slowly woke up, realizing she had done this before as well. Chuck opened one eye, blinked, and then opened his other eye. Slowly a big smile emerged on his face before Chuck yawned, stretched and then smiled again.

"Sweetie, it's your turn to take a shower this morning. Let me go to the bathroom real quick first," Chuck said, quickly getting out of bed and hustling to the bathroom. Sarah heard the door shut and the water faucet was suddenly cut on. Moments later, Chuck emerged and entered the bedroom where he promptly dove back on to his side of the bed. "All yours Sarah," Chuck said as he pulled a pillow over his head.

Within minutes Chuck was snoring gently, once again sound asleep. Sarah stretched, realizing she felt rested and ready to face the day. Did I always feel like this in the morning? Does sleeping with Chuck help me rest better?

Not wanting to consider the implications of the much needed night of rest she had just had, Sarah got out of bed and began searching in her suitcase for the clothes she would wear that day. She paused as she looked at Chuck's backpack. He had said her "female maintenance" items were in there.

Sarah felt a moment's indecision about searching Chuck's backpack. Agent Walker quickly dispelled her qualms. I need my things and I need to know what he has in there. If he wakes up, I will simply tell him I was looking for my things, Sarah thought.

Reaching into the backpack, Sarah found two large zip-lock bags containing her make-up, toiletries, hair products, brushes, curling iron and just beneath her hair dryer. Chuck murmured in his sleep, causing Sarah to quickly take her items and her clothes with her to the bathroom, leaving the rest of the backpack unsearched.

Sarah locked the door behind her and turned on the water in the shower, letting it run to get hot. She used the toilet to relieve herself and finished undressing, noticing Chuck had left three towels on the sink. How does he know I use three towels she thought before quickly realizing it would be something a husband would know about his wife.

Stepping in the shower, Sarah let the hot water run over her body. She washed every inch of her body and then her hair before finally turning the water to cold for a few minutes. Turning the water off, Sarah reached for the first of the three towels, drying herself and her hair. Tossing the first towel on the floor, Sarah stepped out of the shower and picked up a second towel and wrapped it around herself, using it as a robe. Finally, she picked up the third and final towel, wrapping her damp hair with it. Once attired, Sarah began her morning routine of brushing her teeth, putting on her makeup and doing her hair for the day.

Pleased with the work she had done, Sarah removed the towel covering her body and put on her underwear. She slipped on her form fitting black jeans and noticed she had brought two blouses with her, one purple and slightly faded and a salmon colored blouse that looked brand new, but of a somewhat outdated style.

Wondering why she would have a blouse in such good condition that was slightly out of style, Sarah picked up the salmon colored blouse and ran the fingers of her right hand over the material. She knew there was a reason she seldom wore this blouse, that in fact she had never worn it. Why did she purchase the blouse and then never wear it?

A sudden, bright light struck Sarah, blinding her with its intensity, bringing with it immense pain. It lasted only seconds, leaving her gasping for breath and feeling slightly unstable on her feet. As quickly as it happened, the episode was over.

Sarah stood up straight, testing her balance and slowing her breathing. The intense pain was gone. Looking down, she saw she had dropped the two blouses. Bending over to pick them up, Sarah suddenly realized the reason she had never worn the salmon colored blouse.

Immediately, Sarah felt her stomach sink, as a memory of hurt came flashing back. She was standing in her hotel room with Chuck and Bryce standing before her vanity mirror, putting on their bow ties before that evening's mission. She was wearing a beautiful salmon colored gown, in fact she had bought the blouse at the same time, thinking Chuck would like how the color matched her own. Sarah remembered the hurt when Chuck had told her he didn't care for the color on her, remembered how she felt like Jenny had so many times in high school. How she had felt ugly and unlikeable. She remembered the look on Bryce's face, puzzled by her reaction to Chuck's insensitive comments.

Sarah flung the blouse into the bathroom garbage can and sat down suddenly on the toilet. Chuck doesn't like that color, or does he? I don't remember, but I know I never wore that blouse because of the awful way he treated me that night.

Looking at the worn purple blouse Sarah realized she wore the blouse regularly. Maybe Chuck likes me in purple. Immediately, Sarah pulled the blouse on over her head and stood to look at herself in the mirror, turning from side to side to check her appearance.

Suddenly she felt a cold feeling creep over her body as Sarah realized a memory had come back. Should I tell him Sarah asked herself? Just as quickly Agent Walker appeared in her mind. No, keep the fact to yourself. The memory is probably real. It feels real. It even explains where Beckman may have gotten the first inkling I had compromised myself with the asset if Bryce told her about my reaction to Chuck being a jerk. No, until I know I can trust Chuck I will keep this memory to myself.

Unlocking and opening the door, Sarah poked her head out, looking in each direction for Chuck. She could hear him in the kitchen, the smell of pancakes and bacon drifting through the air.

"Sweetie, is that you?" Chuck called. "Breakfast is almost ready."

"It's me. Breakfast smells great," Sarah said as she walked through the living room and entered the kitchen. Chuck smiled as he looked at her.

"You look wonderful," he said, his eyes taking in every inch of her. "You always look so pretty in purple," he added, laughing.

"What's so funny Chuck?" Sarah said, her ire rising quickly. "Is this some kind of secret? I hate secrets. Tell me what's so funny!"

"It's nothing really, well, actually it is," Chuck explained. "You see, I'm not always the most observant husband at times. Sometimes I certainly was thoughtless and insensitive as a boyfriend, whether as a cover boyfriend or real boyfriend. I wasn't laughing at you by the way. I was laughing at myself and the pickle I got myself into with Casey over this salmon colored dress you wore on a mission."

Intrigued, Sarah wanted to know more, needed to know more. She stomped her foot and crossed her arms, giving Chuck her most intimidating glare. "Spill it. No secrets."

"Well, you see, ah, it's kind of embarrassing. Bryce always made me feel really insecure, especially where you are concerned. He had just showed up again, alive, after we thought he was dead. Beckman had ordered you and Bryce to go undercover as the Andersons and I had to be a waiter at this party the mark was hosting. He and I were engaged in a sort of a pissing match about you while you were getting ready and out you came, looking stunning in this amazing red, or salmon colored dress," Chuck told her.

"I thought to myself, great, just great, Bryce will get to dance with Sarah all night in that dress, sexing her up. He'll get her back, just like that. It made me so mad, so jealous. And then you asked us how you looked. Like an idiot, I told you the dress was nice but I didn't like the color," Chuck admitted. "Evidently, well, not evidently, I really hurt your feelings. So much so, Casey picked up on it. Yeah, Casey, stone cold, cold school Casey. You might not remember it, but Casey really made a point to me of never doing that again."

A sudden sheepish look spread over Chuck's face as he admitted, "I could be oblivious to your feelings sometimes. Casey taught me to compliment you when you dressed up. He always said it was the right thing for me to do, to make your lady feelings feel good. Casey was right, too. You always seemed to just glow when I told you how wonderful you looked. It always made me feel better too, that just a few words from me made you smile like you did, and sometimes, you even acted kind of girly, which was always just the best."

Chuck sighed and looked down as he served the pancakes and bacon onto paper plates. "Would you like some juice," he asked, indicating two glasses of juice already poured on the counter.

Sarah sat at the kitchen table and let Chuck serve her a plate of food. "Juice would be nice," she said, watching Chuck set his own plate down before retrieving the two glasses of juice and bringing some plastic silverware.

Chuck had placed syrup on the table Sarah noticed. She reached for the bottle and poured some over her pancakes. She sat the syrup down and reached for her juice, taking a sip and setting the glass down. Fixing her gaze on Chuck, Sarah glared at him, indicating she knew there was more to this story and Chuck had better be forthcoming.

Chuck looked at Sarah, his face still bashful. "There's a bit more to the dress thing. Casey bought you a purple dress to wear to our mission at your high school reunion. I learned a lot about you that night, about Jenny."

At the mention of Jenny's name, Sarah immediately felt her emotional guard come up. She glared at Chuck with anger. "Don't talk to me about Jenny! She's off limits to you Chuck! My past is my past and it's off limits," Sarah shouted at Chuck. "Do. You. Understand!?" she shouted, rising from her chair.

Chuck pulled back, his eyes wide and his hands raised in front of his chest in a defensive posture. "Sarah, it's ok. I won't mention Jenny again. I promise. Sometimes I forget how you felt when you were Jenny. See, proof I can be an insensitive jerk sometimes, ok?"

Sarah slowly sat back down and continued eating pancakes, her anger at the mention of Jenny and high school subsiding. How much does he know? How badly did I compromise myself? Why did Chuck have to bring Jenny up?

"Chuck, I'm going to go sit on the porch and do a visual sweep of the beach area. I would like to be alone to think for a little while. Thank you for breakfast. The pancakes were good," Sarah told Chuck in a matter of fact manner before rising. She carried her paper plate and plastic utensils to the garbage can and disposed of them. Sarah quickly went to the bedroom and retrieved her sidearm and several knives, concealing them about her person. She exited to the porch and sat down in one of the chairs, starting her visual sweep of the terrain, looking for threats of any kind.

Chuck remained sitting in his chair at the kitchen table, baffled by Sarah's reaction to his story about the dress and his mentioning of Jenny. I thought we had worked through a lot of her issues from when she was Jenny. Guess not. Guess the memory loss has really messed Sarah up again in more ways than I thought.

Still, her reaction to the story about the dress itself was interesting. Why would she react like she did to my complimenting her appearance? Sarah always liked it, always, when I complimented her on her appearance. Unless she was really mad at me, it always got a smile out of her. Chuck sat and stared at the remains of his breakfast, wondering about Sarah's sudden reaction. "Something's going on with her, something she's not telling me," Chuck whispered to himself.