A/N: Sorry I left a little Aussie slang in the last chapter, swimmers can sometimes refer to swimsuit/swimwear/speedos/bikini. I will try harder to remove all antipodean references in the future.
For anyone interested in what is happening with New Directions, I seem to still have some interest in a sequel. During writing this story if I come up with some ideas that fit I will work on a sequel.
Chapter 3
Jenny and Chuck were out running and it was taking all of his self control to not look at Jenny with her assets jumping around in her bikini top. Jenny seemed to recognize this and kept trying to engage him in conversation as they ran.
"So Chuck you were on the athletics team back in school right?" asked Jenny.
"Yeah, was also in the basketball team before it got disbanded" said Chuck
"Yeah, I saw a few of the basketball games" said Jenny.
"We were pretty terrible" said Chuck.
"Maybe the team didn't have what it took to be successful, but by what I could see, you certainly wouldn't look out of place on any of the teams you played. In fact I seem to remember you almost gave the team a win from the sheer number of three points you landed" said Jenny.
"You are very kind Jenny, but I can handle the fact that I suck in team sports, so how many games did you watch?" asked Chuck
Jenny was annoyed, Chuck should realize that it was not a failure of his that the team sucked.
"I think I might have seen all the games" said Jenny
"Why did you waste your time?" said Chuck.
"I don't think it was a waste of time" said Jenny
"Ok, so what value did you get out of it?" asked Chuck.
"I get to see some guys jumping around in singlets and skimpy shorts", said Jenny smiling
'Well I was really only wanting to watch one guy' thought Jenny.
"Jenny, I'm just going to do some sprints, but I will slow down so you can catch up" said Chuck.
"Maybe you won't need to slow down" said Jenny winking.
Chuck took off, Jenny knew that he was one of the fastest runners in school, but she wasn't too bad herself.
Jenny tried to keep up but it was obvious that Chuck was still a very capable sprinter. He quickly accelerated away from her, Jenny then saw him slow down and almost stop on the spot, turn and then quickly accelerate back towards her.
Jenny watching Chuck sprinting towards her was a frightening sight, his arms were pumping and his face was straining it made him look much larger and more intimidating then she had ever seen him before. He had run past where she was at could feel the rush of wind; she looked over her shoulder and saw him coming back towards her this time catching up much more slowly.
'I wonder if he is getting an eyeful from behind' thought Jenny with a little smile.
Chuck had finally caught back up and Jenny could see a smile on his face.
"Looks like you have lost none of your speed" said Jenny.
"I try to keep in shape" said Chuck.
"You play any sports back in DC?" asked Jenny.
"Nah, no team sports" said Chuck.
They were running and talking, Jenny was finding it difficult to keep the conversation going with her continual puffing, while Chuck seemed to be talking normally. Jenny kept looking in Chuck's direction while they were running admiring his form. Chuck noticed someone carrying a longboard up ahead and was turning bringing the board towards their path; it was heading in Jenny's direction and at the current speeds would likely hit her.
Jenny was just enjoying the run and seeing Chuck running in his speedos when Chuck disappeared and she heard a huge bang just to the left of her. She quickly reacted and that was when she found Chuck and the remnants of the longboard.
"Chuck you ok, what happened?" asked Jenny.
"Oh I just swapped to the other side of you and ran into the board, luckily only my hand hit it" said Chuck.
The surfer wasn't happy, with what was left of his board.
"What the hell did you do to my board, I'm gonna kill you?" said the surfer.
"Calm down dude, you weren't looking where you were swinging the board and you hit me while I was running" said Chuck.
Jenny was starting to get nervous and Chuck could see this.
The local lifeguard came running over and looked at the surfer with his hands in an offensive position.
"Hey settle down, I saw the whole thing. You were not watching what you were doing, he" said the lifeguard indicating Chuck. "Must have seen that and you were going to hit the girl in the head so he let it hit him instead. You'll be lucky if they don't sue you for negligence" said the lifeguard.
"No we don't want any trouble" said Chuck.
He took Jenny by the hand and pulled her away, Jenny noticed the effect the touch had on her as her breath hitched.
"Chuck, the lifeguard thought you saw it coming?" said Jenny.
"Nah it was just pure luck" said Chuck.
They kept running, Chuck was kicking himself, he should have just accidentally fell into Jenny and controlled her landing it would have been the smart thing to do, and why did he feel the need to protect her. It was more instinct then anything else, like his life was entwined with hers
It was time for them to head back and so they turned around and started running back towards where their towels were. Jenny tried to trip Chuck, Chuck saw it coming and reacted to block the move.
"Hey, how did you do that?" asked Jenny
"I have had some martial arts training for fitness, I guess it eventually sinks in if you do it enough" said Chuck.
"And why did you try to trip me Miss Burton anyway?" asked Chuck smiling.
"Because I wanted to see you land on your ahhhh…." said Jenny until Chuck tripped her and caught her in one move lying her down carefully on the ground. He was jut standing over her and they were jut staring into each others eyes.
Chuck closed his eyes; Jenny thought he was going to kiss her but instead quickly shook his head grabbed her hands and pulled her up.
'What happened there, I though I could see something in his eyes then he closed them. It's like he has feelings for me but doesn't want to show or doesn't like that he does' thought Jenny.
Without any further problems they made it back to their towels and were packing up.
"Well Chuck thanks for an interesting time and the run. When do you think you will be back to finish the fence?" asked Jenny, she really only wanted to know when she would see him next.
"I will be over tomorrow about 9am?" said Chuck.
"Ok well I'm off to work, I will see you tomorrow" Jenny said with a smile.
Chuck realised that the feelings he was having that were also being reciprocated were starting to complicate things.
He decided he would call up Morgan, while the bearded one wasn't an expert on such matters; he still needed someone to talk to.
He headed back to his room when he got there he made the call to Morgan.
He discussed the situation at Warwick and Morgan filled him in on what was happening back at work.
'Looks like Daniel had really screwed the pooch.' thought Chuck
Morgan suggested that he start opening up to Jenny and see where it led to.
There was one thing that he knew he wanted to do while in town, he wanted to go see Ellie's old boy friend. He worked at the local hospital; he was just starting out when he left.
Chuck didn't even know if he would be at the hospital today, he only knew that he still worked there.
He walked into the front door of the hospital and walked to the reception.
"Hi, I wanted to see Dr Devon Woodcombe if he was available?" asked Chuck.
"May I ask what it is about?" responded the receptionist.
"Um its personal, just let him know its Chuck Bartowski" said Chuck.
Shortly after he saw a man in a doctor's coat walking down the hallway.
"Chuck, is that you?" he asked.
"Devon?" asked Chuck.
"Yeah it's me" said Devon.
The face has a few more lines on it but looking at the smile and at the eyes he could tell it was Devon.
"I haven't seen you since,.. yeah how have you been?" asked Devon.
"Yeah I guess its been ten years, I came back into town for the high school reunion and wanted to check how you were doing" asked Chuck.
"Wow lets grab a coffee in the cafe" said Devon.
On the way to the cafe they started talking.
"So Chuck how have you been?" asked Devon.
"Ok I guess I kind of disappeared for a while. Things got a little too much for me and had to try and get away from the things that reminded me that I was alone. Since I have been back in town I have been reminiscing a bit about Dad and Ellie" said Chuck.
Devon just nodded not sure what to say.
"So what have you been up to?" asked Chuck.
"Well I stayed in town obviously, I eventually started dating again and 3 years ago I got married and my wife is pregnant with our first child. I am now head of surgery here, it's not a big hospital but I kind of like the pace. Gives me a chance to get out and surf and other things." said Devon.
"Wow you are going to be a dad, I am sure you will make an awesome dad" said Chuck.
"Thanks, yeah it's pretty big, been out buying up all baby related things. Sure gets expensive when you all add it up" said Devon.
"I am sorry I haven't been in contact. Talking to people from before just reminded me of how much I had lost. I would love to meet your wife and child after the birth" said Chuck.
"That is ok Chuck; I tried to get in contact for a while then guessed that you didn't want to be contacted. Why don't you come over to dinner tonight I am sure Eve would love to meet you" said Devon.
"Yeah thanks that would be great, you sure it will be ok with your wife?" asked Chuck.
"It will be fine Chuck, so what have you been doing with your life?" asked Devon.
"Ah I am working for an Insurance company, an actuary" said Chuck.
"Wow that is the last thing I expected. While you were at school I would have pegged you for an engineer. Then of course you had the time in the army" said Devon.
Chuck looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, sorry I tried to chase you down 3 months after you left, I wanted to talk. I couldn't find you but your uncle told me you joined the army. I checked again a few years later and heard you were deployed in Afghanistan. So how did you end up as an actuary?" asked Devon.
"Yeah well, long story. Yeah Uncle Lang was really the only guy I spoke to over those years" said Chuck.
"You know Chuck you never did tell me how you happened to end up with an African American Uncle?" said Devon.
"Dad didn't have a great family life, his parents died when he was very young. Uncle Lang was at the same foster home and they kind of looked after each other and became more like brothers." said Chuck
They talked more reminiscing about old times until Devon said he had to get back to work.
"Here is my address, 7pm for dinner. Make sure you show up" said Devon.
"I will, it's strange after all that has happened you are probably the closest I have to family" said Chuck.
Devon gave him a hug.
"Wow, dude you have buffed up. Chuck even though we were never officially family, I always thought of you as a brother" said Devon.
"Thanks Devon" said Chuck.
Chuck said his goodbyes with Devon and headed out back to his hotel room. Chuck decided it was a good time to squeeze the run in so he got changed and headed out. His run was pretty uneventful he was only out for thirty minutes and then had a quick swim in the hotel pool.
Chuck was just relaxing by the pool when he saw two unsavory looking characters coming in. he could see they were both carrying and looked more like mob muscle then professionals.
'Why would guys like that be here in Warwick?' thought Chuck.
Chuck watched the men for a while, he then headed into his room for a shower, Chuck was a little on edge. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew the arrival of the mobsters wasn't a good sign. After his shower he got ready for dinner, before he left to go to Devon's he packed all his essentials and put them in his hire car.
On his way over his mind kept going over the two men and what they could be doing in town. He arrived at Devons house; It was a nice house, probably fitting for the Chief of Surgery for the local hospital.
He went up to the door and knocked.
A brunette woman opened the door.
"Hi, you must be Chuck. I am Devon's wife Eve, come in" she said.
"Hi Eve" Chuck said.
Eve was pretty, she had brunette hair and green eyes, and looked like she kept in shape before the obvious baby bump came along.
Chuck handed her a bottle of wine he had purchased on the way.
"Its non alcoholic, but I have no idea how it tastes" said Chuck.
"Well, it will be a surprise for all of us then" said Eve.
Eve showed Chuck in and he caught sight of Devon.
"Hi Devon" said Chuck.
"Hi Bro" said Devon.
They put the bottle of wine in the fridge and sat down in the lounge room, Devon brought a beer in for Chuck. They just started talking freely both Devon and Eve about their life. Chuck could tell that Devon was happy, but occasionally sadness came over his eyes, but only for a split second then disappeared.
"So Devon told me you work in Insurance, not Health insurance? We are currently having some problems with health insurance at the hospital?" said Eve.
"No, Life insurance" said Chuck.
"Ok well we will keep the poison out of your dinner tonight than" said Eve smiling
"So you are a broker or insurance salesmen, where are you based?" asked Eve
"Yeah, back in DC, a life insurance actuary" said Chuck.
"So bro, spill it how did you go from army to insurance" asked Devon.
"I guess I wasn't cut out for it" said Chuck.
"You were in the army? What regiment where you in?" asked Eve.
"75th"responded Chuck without thinking.
"The 75th, but there the rangers" said Eve.
"Chuck, you were a ranger?" asked Devon.
"Let's talk about something else" said Chuck.
Devon could tell that Chuck wasn't comfortable talking about his time in the Army and considering he had been stationed in Afghanistan and a ranger he would have seen combat. Chuck's Uncle Lang mentioned that he was being awarded some medal, and his uncle was very proud, apparently it was a big deal. He would have to ask Eve if she knew anything about it.
"So Chuck what made you join?" asked Devon.
"After Dad and Ellie, kind of felt I had nothing and I wanted to make a difference. To rid the world of evil I guess were my thoughts" said Chuck obviously only saying part of what he was feeling.
Devon could tell that Chuck had gone a little dark.
"So you came back and went straight to Uni" asked Devon.
"Yeah, I came back and hit the books, graduated and there you go" said Chuck.
"So what are you doing in town, have you seen anyone else?" asked Devon.
Yeah, well went to the reunion then have also been to the Electronics Shop I worked at when at school" said Chuck.
"What Busgangs?" asked Eve.
"Yeah Chuck here was a bit of an electronics wiz" said Devon.
"It was just something to pass the time" said Chuck.
"You should have seen the devices he created ..." said Devon but Chuck interrupted.
"Yeah that was a lifetime ago Devon" said Chuck.
It was then that Devon remembered that he and Ellie's father was a wiz too and it probably was something Chuck was trying to forget.
"While I am here I am also fixing up the old house, fence, roof and will need to get a plumber out and a few other things" said Chuck.
"You still own the house?" asked Devon.
"Yeah never sold it, it has been managed as a rental the last ten years" said Chuck.
"You got a tenant in there now?" asked Devon.
"Yeah, Jenny Burton is living there" said Chuck.
"Jenny Burton?" asked Eve.
"Yeah, why you know her?" asked Chuck.
"Yeah, she runs the shelter in town, it mostly food for the underprivileged and a battered woman's shelter. I work in the ER and she has brought a few women in that are a little worse for wear" said Eve.
Chuck nodded his head; he hadn't thought about that, it probably wasn't a very nice job.
"She is also a local artist, rather talented too" said Eve.
"Yeah I noticed, I had bought a couple of her works before I realized who it was" said Chuck.
"So how well do you know her Chuck?" asked Devon.
"We went to school together. We kind of didn't talk much back then though" said Chuck.
Chuck saw Eve elbowing Devon. Chuck could tell Devon wanted to say something.
"You don't know anything about her dad?" asked Devon.
"No. Should I?" asked Chuck.
"Her dad was a con man; he ripped some people off in the town and then cleared out leaving Jenny behind. This was just after…., about ten years ago" said Devon.
"Jenny was hated in the town, but she didn't leave. She started working at the shelter as a way to deal with what her father had done." said Eve.
"Wow that must have been awful. She shouldn't have to pay for her fathers actions" said Chuck.
"I think most people thought she would do it for a short while then clear out. She just kept at it and never left" said Devon.
Devon and Eve were in the kitchen.
"Eve, Chuck seems to be pretty dark about his time in the Army" said Devon.
"Devon it is pretty bad over there, it wouldn't surprise me if he had PTSD. Those rangers are right at the front line" said Eve.
"His uncle told me he was awarded a couple of medals while in Afghanistan and he was proud of him" said Devon.
"What medals where they?" asked Eve.
"Dunno one had medal in it the other had cross" said Devon.
"Distinguished flying cross" asked eve.
"No but now that you mention it I think it was Distinguished Service Cross. The other I think was a pretty ordinary one like a purple heart or something" said Devon.
"The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest awarded in the service Devon" said Eve.
"What does that mean?" asked Devon.
"Devon it means that Chuck is pretty much a war hero" said Eve.
Devon raised his eyebrows.
"Awesome" said Devon.
"Well not really, it means he has been in some really bad stuff, probably should be dead and he probably saved a fair few lives" said Eve.
The rest of the dinner went fairly uneventfully and it was time for Chuck to leave. He said his goodbyes and promised he would call back in before he left to go back to DC.
Chuck couldn't stop thinking about how Jenny must be feeling; he decided that he would go to the shelter to see how she was going. Maybe even talk to her, he could tell her what made him leave Warwick and she could talk about why she stayed.
He parked out the front of the shelter, it was approaching ten pm.
He walked in the front door and a large man came up to him.
"Can I help you son?," he asked.
"Just wanted to see if Jenny Burton was available?" asked Chuck.
"What's your business? Jenny normally doesn't take visitors this late especially male" he said.
Chuck wasn't sure what was going on.
"Look I am not sure what you think I am doing here, but I am Chuck an old friend of Jenny's we went to school together. We had our reunion on the weekend and I just wanted to check to see if she was ok" said Chuck.
"She is fine, but I will see if she is available to talk. Stay right there don't move" he said.
Chuck could hear the man's side conversation clearly and could tell he was surprised by something Jenny had said. He hung up the phone.
"You can go in her office, it is at the back of the main room" he said
The man went over to behind the counter and buzzed Chuck in.
Chuck was walking to the back of the room when he saw Jenny come out excited.
"Hey what are you doing here?" asked Jenny happily.
Chuck just shrugged "Just wanted to check you were ok, well no that is not the whole truth. I just wanted to let you know if you needed anything or just wanted to talk I was available…. Oh crap, I don't know why, but I have always had difficulty talking properly around you. Not sure why, I don't have that problem with anyone else. Look I was talking to some friends in town and well, you came up in conversation" said Chuck.
Chuck could see the look on Jenny's face go from happiness to fear.
"Jenny look, can we go in your office to talk?" said Chuck
"Ok" she said hesitantly.
They went in and Chuck closed the door, and Jenny started getting worried. Chuck could see that she was kind of freaking out.
"Jenny it's ok I am not going to hurt you. In fact look, I went through some things which was the reason I left Warwick when I did. I found out that you have had some things as well. It saddens me that you feel you have to go through what you have, because of the things your father did. I guess what I am trying to say is, if you want to talk I am here? We can both talk about our experiences and how they affected us, maybe we can both help each other" said Chuck hopefully.
Chuck could see a look of relief on Jenny's face but could tell that she still wasn't comfortable.
"Chuck, I am sorry you found out that way. I should have told you, I guess I was happy that you were one person I could talk to without judging me for what happened" said Jenny.
"Jenny you still can, ..." said Chuck and took a deep breath
"Jenny a week before graduation my father and sister were killed in a car accident, ok well it wasn't a car accident there was an explosion and at the time the police were not able to explain it. I just couldn't stay around in town, because everything reminded me of them" said Chuck.
"Oh shit, I am so sorry Chuck I never knew" said Jenny.
"It's ok Jenny, I tried my best to keep it a secret. I have spent the last ten years of my life trying to forget about my life up to that moment. Then lately I didn't like the person I had become, and when the school reunion came up, well it was an opportunity to go back and try to reconnect with my old life again. I told you because I guess I trust you and I want you to know you can trust me" said Chuck.
Jenny reached out and took Chuck's hand in hers," Chuck, I would really like it if we could become friends, good friends. I don't have many and maybe I can help you reconnect to your old life and you could help me move on with mine" said Jenny with a little smile.
Jenny saw Chuck give her a big smile, a smile she hadn't seen for ten years.
"Jenny I would like that too" Chuck said and pulled her into a friendly hug.
Chuck heard some commotion coming from the front of the building.
"Jenny what is that, it sounds like someone is yelling out the front?" asked Chuck.
Jenny walked over to a set of monitors pushed some buttons and a video image of a guy kicking another on the ground. To Chuck it looked like the guy on the ground was the big guy that buzzed him in at the front door.
"Oh shit I think it is a husband, and he is trying to get to his wife we are protecting" said Jenny starting to freak out.
"Can he get in?" asked Chuck.
"Well if John my security has been taken out then yes...he is still kicking John. He will get in and who knows what he will do" screamed Jenny.
"Do you have somewhere you can take the women and lock the door?" asked Chuck.
"Yes, but.." said Jenny but Chuck Interrupted. "Take them and don't open the door till you hear my voice" said Chuck.
'No I can't let Chuck go out he will get hurt, he took out John Casey' thought Jenny
But before Jenny could do or say anything Chuck had opened the door and quickly closed it again making sure it locked.
"Hey friend no need to be violent, we can just talk about this like adults" said Chuck.
Chuck saw the man turn around, he could see pure rage in his eyes. He suspected that he was also on drugs maybe pcp, he probably isn't feeling any pain.
The man started running towards Chuck, Chuck moved out of the way at the last second and saw the man run into the wall and bounce off with no ill effects.
The man threw a punch that Chuck easily blocked with his left hand, Chuck quickly responded to the open body with a crippling punch to the solar plexus with his right.
Chuck then went behind him it hardly appeared that Chuck had touched him, but the man collapsed into Chuck's arms.
Chuck grabbed some handcuffs that were on the guard and handcuffed the man. Chuck then went back to check on the man Jenny called John.
"John, are you ok?" asked Chuck. Chuck could see that he was regaining consciousness.
John tried to struggle to his feet but screamed in pain. "Jenny the women the guy is going to get them" he said with difficulty.
Chuck realized that he wouldn't be able to see the man unconscious behind him.
"John its ok, he is unconscious and I used your cuffs on him. I think that you probably have some broken ribs and maybe some internal injuries you need to stay still and I will get you some medical help" said Chuck.
Chuck called Devon as he wasn't sure what after hour's services they had in the town. As a favour to his Bro, Devon said he would meet John at the hospital and Devon made the necessary call to get an ambulance from the hospital to pick him up. Chuck then called the police to get them to pick up the husband.
While he was waiting for the ambulance he took his phone out of his pocket and called Jenny and explained that everything was ok and she could bring everybody back out.
"So Chuck is it, who are you?" asked John Casey
"Just a friend John" answered Chuck.
"That guy was army, returned from Afghanistan messed up though. Was beating on his wife so she came here." said Casey.
"Its ok, he is not going anywhere other then a cell" said Chuck
"He was in a rage how did you stop him?" asked Casey.
"Just lucky I guess, you must have worn him out, I didn't have to do much" said Chuck.
"Bullshit, I don't know how you did it, but you probably saved my life and Jenny's too" said Casey.
Jenny came running out and saw the scene but missed the conversation.
"You ok Chuck?" asked Jenny.
"I'm fine, John though needs some urgent help, I have organized an ambulance for him and doctors will be waiting" said Chuck.
Jenny just looked between the three men two on the floor and Chuck.
"What happened to him?" asked Jenny pointing at the raged husband unconscious on the ground.
"That's what I want to know" said John.
Jenny looked at Chuck.
"I think maybe whatever he was on finally ran its course, I didn't have to do much, mostly just put Johns cuffs on him" said Chuck.
Jenny went back in to look after the shelter and Chuck waited with Casey.
"I would appreciate if we could let this slide, and not make a big deal about it" said Chuck.
"Chuck, ok look, I will not tell anybody, but at least tell me how you brought him down. I am ex marines and I had no chance" said Casey.
"Well jarhead as a courtesy from one ex servicemen to another, rangers but not many people know. Just a regular Joe now but I keep in shape" said Chuck.
"Nice to meet you son, you seen combat?" asked Casey
"Afghanistan, just remember to keep this between us" said Chuck.
Casey got to the hospital and had several fractured ribs that had also pierced a couple of organs and required surgery. Casey will recover but will need rest, Jenny was worried what she was going to do for security now that Casey was out of action. Chuck made Jenny agree to let him take the front counter for the remainder of the night but Jenny did not want Chuck in any danger.
After the shelter went into lockdown and Jenny's morning crew took over, Jenny and Chuck left and got some well earned rest.
Before Chuck went to sleep he made a couple of calls to an old rangers buddy of his that he hadn't spoken to in years and said he would help out at the shelter over the next few days.
Chuck drifted off to sleep to be welcomed by his ever present nightmare.
A/N: Ok so we now have a little more information about Chuck's missing years, please review