Casey could feel the muscles in his jaw tightening as he struggled to remain polite to the elderly woman who was asking about every nut, bolt, and screw that came in the plasma screen TV she was looking at. She'd been there for more than an hour, the entire time drilling Casey on every possible aspect of buying a TV she would never see again. She had explained it was for her son and that he lived in Montana and only came to visit once every 4 years and he had 3 children and the oldest one would be going to college in Washington next Spring and blah blah blah.
The secret agent's fist clenched but he kept it to himself. "Ma'am, the TV will be fine no matter how many miles it had to travel. It's not made of cardboard."
The woman seemed to completely miss the sarcasm in Casey's voice because she retorted with, "I didn't know they made cardboard televisions."
Finally, after twenty more minutes of questions, the woman decided on the TV she wanted and, with Casey's help, managed to get it up to the front to pay for it. After that, she recruited him to help her take it out to the car and put it in the trunk, promising to be careful and not drop it.
Forcing a smile, Casey waved as the woman pulled away, almost crashing into a telephone pole on her way out of the parking lot. Rolling his eyes and letting go of a heavy, irritated sigh, the agent turned and walked back into the store.
The customers were scarce tonight, considering it was Christmas Eve, but there were still enough to warrant him staying until close. Not that he had anything planned tonight anyway, when you're a spy you never really celebrate Christmas unless its for a job. Still, it didn't mean he wanted to stay here all night either.
"Hey Casey." An annoying yet familiar voice called from around the corner. The older man turned to see Chuck standing behind the Nerd Herd counter, waving him over excitedly.
Gritting his teeth, Casey trudged over and stopped in front of the smiling young man. "What do you want?" he snapped, his voice a little harsher than he meant it to be.
Chuck's smile faltered for a second but was replaced almost immediately. "Uh, n-nothing. I just wanted to see if you wanted to stop by later for Christmas dinner. I mean, Ellie's cooking tonight and Sarah's going to come over and-"
"Can't."
"Huh?"
"I said I can't. Sorry."
Chuck shifted his weight a little and looked down. "Oh, well that's okay.
Casey nodded sharply and turned to leave. It wasn't that he didn't want to but seeing Chuck with Sarah was frustrating. He hadn't realized it until recently but anytime he knew Sarah would be somewhere with the young man, Casey felt himself get irritated just thinking about it. He wasn't sure why, but it bothered him nonetheless.
"Hey Casey?"
"What is it Chuck?!" he snapped again, jerked from his reverie by the other man's voice.
Chuck jumped a little and looked nervous. "Uh…Merry Christmas."
Sighing, Casey managed a nod. "You too, kid." And with that, he turned and walked to the back of the store to finish working.
OooooooooooooO
Flurries of snowflakes swirled through the cold night by the time Buy More closed. Casey slid into his jack and pulled the keys to his rental car out of his pocket. A growl rumbled through his throat as he remembered exactly why he was in a rental car and not his Crown Vic. The memory of Chuck blowing up his car still tap danced through his mind and he had to fight to keep himself from killing the younger man for about a week after it happened.
"Casey!" The man in question called from somewhere behind him.
The agent sighed and turned. "Yes?"
"I'm glad I caught you." Chuck grinned as he ran up, his breath coming in short white puffs. "I wanted to give you your Christmas present."
"Thanks but you don't have to." Casey protested, trying to stop Chuck from digging into his jacket pocket to retrieve a small box.
"Too late, already did." The younger man pushed the box into the other's hand, grinning as he did so.
Casey watched him for a second, wondering if he and Morgan had gotten into some of Lester's eggnog again. Instead of asking, he carefully opened the box and stared, his eyes widening suddenly. "Is this-?" he started but Chuck cut him off before he could finish.
"Uh…heh, yeah. I felt really bad about destroying your car and you told me the only way I could make it up was to buy you another one so…"
"Chuck, I was kidding."
"Well yeah, but you locked me in the closet and super glued a picture of a Crown Vic onto my forhead a few days ago so I figured you were serious." Chuck shifted nervously, his hand buried deep in his pockets. Inside the box, he'd taped the newspaper ad along with the keys to a 1987 Crown Victoria, a small sticky note with the words "Merry Christmas" resting on top of them.
For the first time in his entire life, John Casey was completely speechless. He stared at newspaper ad along with the keys for a long time silently, no words coming to mind.
"Chuck…" he said finally. "I can't accept this. I'm sorry, it's just too much."
Chuck smiled softly and shrugged. "Maybe so, but you've saved my life more time than I can count and how do I repay you by blowing up your car?" He laughed quietly. "I know it's not the same but-" he never finished as the older man suddenly scooped him into a crushing hug.
Chuck yelped, startled by the reaction. "Casey…?"
The other man didn't answer for a few seconds but continued to hold Chuck close to him, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you…" he whispered after a minute.
Smiling, Chuck returned the hug. "Your welcome." The two sat in silent embrace for a long minute, nothing but the snow falling around them.
"Hey Casey, not to ruin this moment or anything but if someone sees us they're going to get the wrong idea…"
"Do you care?"
"…Not really."
"Good, cause neither do I."
Aww, they would make such a cute pairing. I just love it!