A/N: You have my sincerest apologies for the long delay. Christmas stuff, you know? I did write a whole other story during the delay which is currently being posted, called The Stocking and I hope you'll check that out as well. That story is now finished and I'm concentrating on this one. This story is considerably longer, but I'm hoping to have it wrapped up before the NFL season runs out. Wish me luck.
Disclaimer: You know those really rich guys with the fancy suits and really fast cars? Well those are the guys that own Chuck. They work for NBC. I work in IT and I own very little.
Chuck watched the paper for the next few days, but didn't see any mention of the East Hills Strangler. Sarah assured him that if the police were investigating and building their case it wouldn't be in the paper, but Chuck was still uneasy. He couldn't help but feel if something happened before the man was captured, it would be his fault.
"Bartowski!"
"Yes, Big Mike,"
"You're coming the company Christmas party tonight aren't you? You seem to find a way to skip out on all company events lately."
"I'll be here."
"Good, I'd have to have to discipline you over missing a party. It's going to be even better than last year."
"I'm sure that's a relief to everyone who attended last year."
"Quiet, Bartowski, or I'll make you chairman of the Christmas party committee next year."
"I'm sure we'll all have a fantastic time, sir."
"Where is Grimes? He was supposed to make sure that the food was here by now."
"I think he's closing the sale on a Zune at the moment."
"No kidding, somebody finally bought one of those things?"
"I think the 85% markdown is probably what actually sold it."
"Well good job Mr. Grimes. I can't wait to get those off my sales floor."
"Is there anything else sir? I'm about to break for lunch."
"Lunch? Good work, Bartowski, keep it up."
***
Chuck made his way to the Orange Orange.
"Hey…Sarah," Chuck said awkwardly as he walked in.
"Hi, Chuck!" Sarah replied giving him her trade mark smile.
Chuck walked to the counter unsure of how to say what he'd came to say. So he started with something easier. "I'm sorry you have to go to this thing tonight."
"What…why?"
Chuck stared awkwardly at his shoes and tried to fight the urge to blush. "It's Christmas Eve and you're spending it at the Buy More at a badly catered Christmas party…"
"Yeah, so…"
"Sarah, I know you hate Christmas, but this is a stretch even for you. Nobody enjoys the Buy More Christmas party…well except Jeff and Big Mike."
Sarah shrugged. "It's no different than any other date. Besides it's always an interesting time hanging out with you among your minions."
"Minions?" Chuck smiled and finally made eye contact with Sarah.
"Oh, come on, Chuck, you think I'm thick? Everybody in that place looks up to you. You know you practically run the place, right? You have no management authority and you spend most of your time working for the CIA, but everyone in that store looks up to you…even Big Mike."
"Come on, they don't even listen to me..."
"Yes, they do," Sarah cut across him. "They all do."
"Sarah…"
"Chuck, Casey works there. You should hear his reports to General Beckman. He thinks you should be recruited into IAD. He's become rather insistent about it. It's been causing strain with General Beckman."
"What that?"
"They protect the country's computer networks from attack, it's a part of the NSA. Agent Casey thinks you'd be an incredible asset to them."
"John Casey?" Chuck asked in disbelief.
"Don't sound so surprised, he's been pushing this since the new Intersect got destroyed."
"What do you think about it?"
"I think you'd be great at it," Sarah replied. "But I think you have bigger things in your future." Chuck looked at Sarah skeptically. "Chuck, how many times do I have to tell you that you can do anything?"
"You don't think it would be a noble cause?" Chuck asked.
Sarah surprised him by reaching out and touching his face. She ran her thumb across his cheekbone. "I think you're far too valuable to waste sitting in a cubicle in Fort Meade, Maryland."
"Fort Meade, that's not far from DC, that's where you're from right?"
"Chuck, that was just a line when I first met you. I had to be from somewhere."
"But there's a grain of truth in lies that CIA agents tell, it makes it easier to cover, right? I'm betting you've lived in DC at some point."
"Chuck, you shouldn't make your future career decisions based on the fact that it's located near a city where I sometimes rent an apartment."
"You're right," Chuck smiled. "Where should I base my future job search? You know Sarah regionally speaking?"
Sarah gave him the hesitant look she always gave him when she was trying to decide whether to flirt or quote the company line. Today she chose flirting. "I don't know, Chuck. There's been a lot of CIA chatter about South Africa lately, do you speak Afrikaans?"
"Do you speak Afrikaans?" Chuck countered.
"Not at the moment," Sarah replied staring straight at him.
"Should I learn Afrikaans?"
"It's hard to say," Sarah shrugged ending the flirting. "You shouldn't do it because of me."
"Well, how should I pick my future career?
"You should think about what you really want out of life and then work out how to get it."
"But I already know what I really want out of life." Chuck stared straight into Sarah's eyes. She flinched and looked away.
"Chuck…"
"All right, I know, too far. Here you are being all charitable and making my dreadful evening bearable and I cause another uncomfortable conversation."
"They aren't uncomfortable," Sarah said softly. "I wish I had a different answer, but there just isn't one."
Chuck nodded. "Yeah I know. But hey, you're coming over tonight right? Nothing like sleeping together while Casey listens to break up awkward conversations!"
Sarah smiled at Chuck's joke, but it was a fake smile. Chuck knew her well enough to tell the difference. "Hey, you're going to have a good time tomorrow. I Charles Irving Bartowski do solemnly promise, you'll have fun."
"It's not you…"
"You just hate Christmas. I know. But tomorrow's going to be the first step towards Sarah Walker's all new outlook on Christmas. I've got plans, I'm going to make the Grinch that lives inside Sarah Walker into a fan of Christmas.
Sarah gave him a genuine smile. "You know, I actually hope you succeed."
"It's in the bag, baby." Chuck gave Sarah a cocky grin. "Remember bring pajamas for tonight. Preferably something you'd enjoy wearing in front of both your father and I at the same time."
"Now If I wore a teddy in front of both my father and you, do you think that would make me more uncomfortable, or the two of you?"
Chuck grimaced. "You like me; therefore you wouldn't do that to me."
"I think it might be worth it," Sarah laughed.
"Evil, evil woman." Chuck shook his head. "Store closes at eight, be there or be polygonal in nature." Chuck just heard Sarah snort as the door slammed shut behind him. Hey it was worth making a fool out of yourself to get a pretty girl to snort, especially Sarah.
***
"So where's your girl, Chuck?" Lester asked.
"Or did she get a better offer for tonight?" Jeff Chimed in. It was five minutes after eight and Jeff was swaying slightly.
"Jeff, did you forget about Big Mike's rule about no spiked Eggnog at the holiday party?"
"I didn't forget. Did your girlfriend forget that you're waiting for her?" .
"Come on, guys, she'll be here. Sarah's a great girl. She'd never let Chuck down," Morgan replied, coming to Chuck's defense while watching Anna flirt with Cliff from the stock room.
"Thanks, buddy, I'm sure she'll be here soon. She's probably just getting ready, you know how…" Chuck stopped short. Sarah walked into the front doors of the Buy More. She was wearing a short black cocktail dress. It was hugging her in a way that caused Chuck to burn with jealousy as the eyes of every Buy More employee and the handful of dates in the store turned and stared at Sarah. She was scanning the store seemingly oblivious to the looks she was getting. Chuck headed for her and she made eye contact with him just as he started moving towards her. Sarah's face lit up, as it always did when she spotted him. Chuck's heart wanted to stop. Unfortunately, before Chuck could reach her Sarah was engulfed in the hug of a jubilant Big Mike who appeared to have been sharing Jeff's stash prior to the party.
As Chuck walked up he could hear their conversation.
"You, look way too fine, to be hanging out with this bunch of losers."
"Oh…uh…thank you," Sarah muttered.
"I've never seen what you see in Bartowski. He's a fine employee, don't get me wrong, but you seem like the kind of girl to be on the arm of management."
Sarah gave him a very un-Sarah giggle. "What can I say. Chuck's the only man I've ever found that can satisfy me. He's amazing…" Chuck frowned as he took in this exchange Sarah turned towards him with a feral look. "Sorry, I'm late honey," she said throatily. Sarah took one step towards him and slid a hand behind his head. She pulled him insistently down to her level and proceeded to start a searing open mouthed kiss.
Cover kiss, cover kiss, cover kiss, Chuck chanted to himself inside his head. Sarah was teasing his lips trying to deepen the kiss. But Chuck pulled back, aware that the entire store was watching them. "Uh uh," Sarah whispered and she pulled Chuck back down wrapping both arms around his head and locking him in her embrace and she finally enticed Chuck to open his mouth wider and intertwined their tongues. With most of Sarah's weight on him, Chuck had little choice to put his arms around Sarah for balance allowing him to feel just how thin the material of the dress was and how soft her skin was beneath it.
When she finally let Chuck go, he was panting. He was also frozen, that was the second hottest kiss he'd ever engaged in and it took him at least twenty seconds to remember the entire store was staring at them. "Uh," Chuck said smartly as Sarah slid next to him and put her hand into his. She gripped his fingers tightly and turned them towards the rest of the store.
Sure enough, the entire Buy More crew was staring slack jawed and Sarah's display. Chuck felt his face heating up. "Was that a cover kiss?" Chuck asked.
"Something like that," Sarah replied as she tugged Chuck towards the bar.
"So not entirely a cover kiss?" Chuck asked dreamily.
"No, not entirely," Sarah shook her head. "Every person in this place was staring at me when I walked in. I didn't wear this dress for them. I wanted to make sure they knew exactly who this dress was for." Sarah turned and smiled tightly at him.
"Well, if you didn't want to attract attention you could have just worn something…simpler."
"You don't like it?" Sarah stopped and turned towards him a frown firmly planted on her face.
"No, no," Chuck backpedaled. "You look resplendent, I'm blown away. But if you didn't want us, you know ogling you, you could have worn something less eye catching. Like…a bikini," he joked.
"Resplendent, I like that one." Sarah pulled Chuck's arm around her and they continued walking towards the area where the food was setup. "I didn't say I didn't want anyone ogling me. I said I wanted to be clear about who I wore the outfit for." They finally reached the counter and Sarah picked up a sparkling apple juice. Then she turned back and winked at Chuck. "Have I been clear?"
Chuck's voice cracked. "Crystal…clear…" The gaze Sarah was giving him was positively intimidating. "Ma'am," he added.
"Ma'am?" Sarah raised one eyebrow towards him.
They walked away from the bar towards Jeff and Lester. "Sorry, but you look like you want to attack me…and well, I mean, you are a trained assassin…" Sarah gave him another very disconcerting wink and then turned to Jeff and Lester. "Hey, guys, Merry Christmas." She hugged both of them causing little shivers of pleasure in each.
"You look amazing," Lester offered.
"Yeah, you're hotter than my Mom," Jeff added.
"Oh, thanks guys. I just wanted to look nice for Chuck."
"Chuck doesn't deserve you," Lester insisted. "It's unnatural."
"Oh, trust me, guys. I'm the lucky one." Sarah gave him an adoring look and both Jeff and Lester looked like they were going to be ill. "Hey, isn't that your neighbor?" Sarah asked jerking her head to where Casey was standing by himself looking awkward. "Let's go say, hi." Sarah pulled him away.
"You're really on a roll tonight," Chuck said as they walked away.
"Well we don't spend a lot of time with your coworkers, but it's important they believe our cover." Tonight is a big deal, girlfriend wise. I'm just trying to do it properly."
Chuck pulled her up short. "Is that what this about really? The dress, the flirting, the kiss this is just to protect our cover?"
Sarah gave Chuck a serious frown and for the first time all night, her confidence seemed to waver. "I…I guess I hoped you would enjoy all of this…"
"You're great, you know I think you're great. If any of this were real…if some of it was more than just a show…you have no idea. I can't even believe how amazing you look. I just wish…" Chuck looked away.
"Chuck…" Sarah said softly bringing his eyes back to her. "I'd wear this dress for a cover, but I didn't wear it because of our cover. I'd kiss an asset for a cover, but I wouldn't give someone who was just an asset that kiss for this cover. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, our relationship, is a cover. That doesn't mean I consider my time with you, to be work. If I can use tonight to help protect our cover, great, but I'm here to protect you and because I want to be here…with you." She tugged on his hand. "Now come on, let's go talk to Casey."
***
"Having fun, Walker?"
"Yes, actually, I'm having a very nice time." Sarah took a sip from her glass. "You?"
"I can think of a million better ways to spend a Wednesday night other than hanging out with these losers. Casey scowled. "That was quite a performance you two put on. Getting your jollies a day early?"
"We had to sell it," Sarah replied evenly.
"Yeah, well, color me not buying it. You two are spending way too much time together. I think you've lost your edge, Walker. And, you," Casey poked Chuck in the chest. "Better enjoy it while you can get it, because there won't be any pretty girls once you and Sarah blow your cover and you end up in a NSA hold facility."
"Agent, Casey," Sarah growled.
"Hey, I'm the only here who isn't playing pretend. He's pretending that you're really his girlfriend. You're pretending you don't really have feelings for him. This is going to end and end badly. I only hope it doesn't end with a dead Intersect or worse."
"Worse? How could it be worse?"
"Torture, moron. If Fulcrum finds you, they're going to make you wish they'd just kill you."
Chuck swallowed harshly. "You know just because you hate Christmas doesn't mean you have to make it miserable for everyone else," Sarah said angrily.
"I figured you'd be with me on Christmas, Agent Walker, most undercover agents hate the holidays."
"It's not my favorite time, but I don't have to ruin for the rest of the world." She nodded her head towards Chuck.
"Well maybe if you stopped coddling him, he might have a flash now and again and we could catch some bad guys."
"Casey," Chuck cut in before the argument could escalate. "I think you need to have a little Christmas fun."
"What?"
"Go get yourself a glass of the eggnog and meet us back in the break room. I'll round up the usual suspects."
***
Two eggnogs later, Chuck had the Nerd Herd plus Morgan, Sarah and Casey on the media wall of the buy more. They had quickly hooked up four XBOXes on the media wall and three in the home theater room. :"Okay, were splitting up teams for Halo. Morgan you are with Anna, Jeff, and Lester. Casey, Sarah and I will be in the home theater room."
"Come on, Chuck, that's not fair," Morgan whined. "I wanna be on your team. Have Sarah and Casey even ever played before?"
"Are you kidding I don't play video games, you dorks," Casey barked. Sarah just shook her head.
"It's easy," Chuck assured the two of them. "Don't worry."
"Were gunna own you Bartowski."
"Just give us ten minutes to go over the controls and play a practice match. You guys can warm up too." Chuck gave them a smile. "Then were gunna break your hearts."
"Dude, two rookies? We're gunna fry you," Lester boasted.
"Just don't cry this year," Chuck patted him on the shoulder.
Chuck to Sarah and Casey into the home theater room and sat them both down at their XBOXes and logged them in. "Chuck do you really think this is fair? I really don't know how to play."
"Are you kidding? We're team Bartowski, just do what I say and we'll kill them."
"Ridiculous," Casey sneered.
Chuck spent a couple minutes teaching each of them how to maneuver how to pick up weapons, how to aim, how to use a sniper rifle. Casey seemed to pick up the weapon usage easily enough. Sarah was agile and elusive, but not particularly accurate with her weapons. Chuck recommended she find a shotgun or a rocket launcher and keep her shields up.
"First and foremost, this isn't like a real battle simulation. You're going to die a lot. The object of the game is either to get their flag or die less than they do. I'll handle most of the killing and I'll try to protect you. Try and stick together. One on one, you'll probably not represent much of a challenge to experienced gamers. Although Jeff's had a lot to drink, so he may be a little easier to hit. Are we ready? Casey just shrugged, Sarah looked like a dear in headlights. "What's wrong?" Chuck asked.
"I'm not sure I can do this, I don't want you to be ashamed of me."
Chuck whispered conspiratorially. "Just stay by me, I'll protect you. Help me out when you can and watch my back when I have the sniper rifle."
"Okay,"
Chuck setup the game and then walked out to media wall. "Load em up," he ordered.
***
Capture the flag
The first map they landed in was a fortress on either side. "Run to the middle," Chuck yelled. "Get a weapon and then protect our base."
"What happens when we run into them?" Casey asked.
"You won't, I'll have the high ground."
"Sarah get to the roof of their fortress. I'll keep you clear." The frag ticker started running as Chuck wasted Masterchief after Masterchief. "Casey, grab that shotgun and fall back, they're going for our flag."
"Already?"
"Sarah, hop down and grab their flag. Don't try and take it, just jump up and throw it on the roof."
"I'm dead!" Sarah cried.
"Good job, I'll rally to that flag. Go back and protect our flag with Casey."
"They took it!" Casey yelled. "I'm dead!"
"Gottem!" Chuck yelled back. "Sarah, where are you?"
"I'm lost in a tunnel somewhere."
"Get up here…"
"I'm trying,"
Blue team has captured the red flag.
"Guy's I'm running out of ammo…"
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure where I am."
"Sarah, behind you!"
"What, never mind… Damn it, they killed me."
Red team has captured the blue flag.
"Okay rally at our flag."
"But I have their flag," Casey interjected.
"Really? Where are you?"
"I have no idea,"
"Well, come to our fortress."
"What about the other team?"
"They can't stop you, I just killed three of them."
"Damn, I'm dead," Casey muttered. "Damn sniper."
"Where were you?"
"In the middle."
"I'm coming."
"Sarah, where are you?"
"Right behind you,"
"Oh…cool. Um, guard our flag, I'm going to go get theirs."
"By yourself? Chuck it's too dangerous."
"I'll be fine, just go."
"But Chuck…"
"Seriously, just guard our flag…"
Red team captures the blue team's flag.
"Damn it, somebody guard our flag!"
"I've got their flag."
Blue team captures the red team's flag.
Game over…
Blue Team: Kills: 59 Deaths: 28 Flags: 2
HerdNerder: Kills: 49 Deaths: 2 Flags: 2
MajorScary: Kills: 6: Deaths: 11 Flags: 0
SmokingHottie: Kills: 4 Deaths: 15 Flags: 0
Red Team Kills: 28 Deaths: 59 Flags: 2
Morginator: Kills: 14 Deaths: 13 Flags: 1
Misslestud: Kills: 4 Deaths: 22 Flags: 1
WuMaster: Kills: 6 Deaths: 17 Flags: 0
DaBoss: Kills: 4 Deaths: 7 Flags: 0
"Dude, Lester, where were you?" asked Morgan.
"I'm not going out there when Chuck is on a killing spree. That's crazy. The dude is a stat killer.
"You had forty nine kills? When the heck did you have time to do that?" Sarah asked.
Anna, Jeff and Lester snickered as Morgan replied. "If he can see you, you're already dead. The dude's just scary."
"Okay, round two!" Chuck barked.
***
Single flag
"Oh, crap, single flag."
"What's that mean?" Casey asked.
"It means there is only one flag and to win we have to defend it for four minutes."
"How hard can that be?"
"Damn they beat me to the sword. It can be damn hard! They're coming in the truck, lookout, get the speeder!"
"What?"
"I'm dead, again." Chuck muttered.
"Me too," Sarah added.
"So am I…"
"Well this is going to be short…"
"Run to the sea wall, they're taking our flag to the other side of the map. We have to stop them! Crap, I need a gun!"
Red team captures the blue team's flag.
Game over...
Red TeamKills: 5 Deaths: 2 Flags: 1
WuMaster: Kills: 1 Deaths: 0 Flags: 1
Morganator: Kills: 2 Deaths: 0 Flags: 0
DaBoss: Kills: 2 Deaths: 1 Flags: 0
Misslestud: Kills: 0 Deaths: 1 Flags: 0
Blue Team Kills: 2 Deaths: 5 Flags: 0
HerdNerder Kills: 1 Deaths: 2 Flags: 0
SmokingHottie:Kills: 1: Deaths: 1 Flags: 0
MajorScary :Kills: 0 Deaths: 2 Flags: 0
"That's what you call fun, Bartowski?" Casey jeered.
"Okay, well that round wasn't fun. Don't worry Team Bartowski is still working on our chemistry," Chuck replied calmly.
"We owned you noobz," Anna snickered.
"What's a matter Chuck, does your lady need a real man to take care of her?" Lester laughed.
"Okay round three."
Snipers
***
Blue TeamKills: 110 Deaths: 41 Flags:0
HerdNerder: Kills: 62 Deaths: 9 Flags: 0
SmokingHottie:Kills: 26: Deaths: 21 Flags: 0
MajorScary: Kills: 22 Deaths: 11 Flags: 0
Red TeamKills: 36 Deaths: 117 Flags: 0
Morginator: Kills: 22 Deaths: 17 Flags: 0
WuMaster:Kills: 8 Deaths: 36 Flags: 0
DaBoss:Kills: 4 Deaths: 40 Flags: 0
MissleStud:Kills: 2 Deaths: 34 Flags: 0
"Okay, what the hell was that, I thought you guys hadn't played before," Lester whined.
"We haven't, moron, it's called good tactics," Casey replied.
"Well that just sucked. I say we switch up teams," Morgan suggested.
"You and Chuck can't be on the same team this year, Morgan," Anna said bitterly.
"Oh, come on… how about a little rocket ball?" Morgan suggested.
"Rocket ball?" Sarah squeaked.
"Okay, here we go."
Rocketball
***
"So that was an annual holiday tradition?" Sarah asked in the cab on the way back to Casa. It was almost three in the morning and Sarah and Chuck were both quite tipsy. Casey was showing signs of inebriation, but claimed not to be drunk. Someone had definitely spiked the eggnog.
"Yeah,"
"Can we play that game again sometime?" Sarah asked.
"Maybe," Chuck replied we don't really play that one anymore.
"Why not? That one's kinda fun."
Chuck shrugged. That one is super old. It's just a holiday tradition. On Christmas Eve the Nerd Herd plays Halo at the company Christmas party. We've been doing it since my first year. The faces have changed a bit. Larry and Carl aren't there anymore and now we've got Lester and Anna."
"Who are Larry and Carl?" Sarah asked.
"Well, Larry was the Nerd Herd supervisor when I started at the Buy More. He works in corporate IT for some giant mega corporation now. Carl was one of my coworkers under Larry, back when it was Larry, Jeff, Carl and I. One day he just stopped showing up for work. Nobody knows what happened to him. He's presumed too high to remember where he works. If he ever comes down enough he might be back someday. I don't know, he had a bit of a heroine problem."
"How can a Nerd Herder afford a Heroine habit?" Casey asked.
Chuck shrugged. "Beats me, maybe that's why he left?"
"Goodnight, Casey," Chuck offered and she led Sarah towards his apartment. Casey only grunted in response. "Merry Christmas," Chuck said over his shoulder as Casey disappeared into his apartment. "Does he seem to be getting more surly to you?" Chuck asked Sarah.
"Don't mind him. Agents hate the holidays."
"Yes, well, I'm gunna fix that one agent at a time. Once we get you enjoying the holidays then I'll start on Casey."
"It's been pretty good so far," Sarah said mischievously. It was the mischievousness that made Chuck want to groan. He loved it when she was playful.
***
Sarah walked out of the bathroom wearing very respectable satin pajamas. Chuck went in and brushed his teeth after she came out and got settled. They settled down for the night, but as Chuck shut off the lights Sarah was watching him.
"Chuck?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for tonight. It was fun to see you in your world."
"Uh…you're welcome."
"What's wrong?"
"It's just…I don't think of that as my world anymore. The Buy More is just a place that I'm waiting out until the next place."
"What I meant was, someplace you felt totally at ease. I've never seen you like that. When we were playing you literally owned that battlefield."
"I'm really good at that."
"You're really good at a lot of things. You need to have the confidence in your real life that you have in your video game life. You did things that nobody else in the game could hope to do tonight. I see that same potential in you every day."
"Did you wait until the light was off, so you wouldn't have to see me blush?"
Sarah's hand came of the darkness and cupped his face. "I like making you blush. I do sometimes wish you'd make it more of a challenge. Merry Christmas, Chuck."
"Merry Christmas, Sarah."
"Merry Christmas, Casey," they said together, then broke into laughter.