A/N: Okay, first of all, this is a completely fictitious account. Rick Price was used because he is a well known singer in Australia and I thought using a real person would make it more exciting than if I made someone up.
Also, I think I will wind this story down. It is not as popular as I thought it might be, and truth is, I need to work on something else. I hope you like it.
Decisions
Chapter 4
After the funeral, Chuck was full of questions, but it didn't seem like the time or place. They had taken a nap at the hotel, and then Chuck read while Sarah went to the gym to work off some steam. When she returned, she took a shower and sat quietly around the room.
Chuck would occasionally glance up at her over the top of his book to gage her mood but he decided that she was still in need of her own space.
As he was reading, she suddenly started to speak.
"We've got about an hour before we need to leave for Carina's bed and breakfast."
Chuck looked up surprised at the voice in the room. "Sure, I'm ready anytime."
Sarah looked at Chuck with an intensity that he had never seen before. "Chuck, I know you're dying to ask me questions about my life. It's not been fair that I've not been more forthcoming." Sarah looked at her hands in her lap. "It's just that this has been hard for me." She met his eyes again. "And I just don't mean what happened to Bryce. I've got some concerns that I need to work through."
Chuck sat the book aside and sat up straight at that. "You have no reason to be concerned about me. I hope you're not worried about my safety or about what Carina said earlier about those tests?"
Sarah smiled a humorless smile. "No it's not that. Well, it's a little bit that. The tests are psychological tests that can predict how suited we are at working together. They have been able to predict very accurately survival rates based on the dynamics between two partners, especially ones that are…involved, as Carina put it."
"You're worried that we won't be compatible? Come on, after all that we've been through. I'll bet we get great scores." He looked at her and began to frown. "Why haven't we been tested in the past?"
"Assets don't get tested under any circumstances. Until recently, that was your official status."
He shook his head as though he accepted her statement for what it was… a statement of fact. "Why do you think Carina wants to see you?" he said, suddenly.
"Not so fast. She wants to see us both, and I don't have any idea unless it's to lecture us about being safe and taking care."
"I can't get over it that Carina is your sister. Do you know she said that you wanted me the first time we met?"
Sarah sat up straighter and pondered that. "Really, what did she say?"
"Uh, something like…she loved taking the things that Sarah wanted."
"Did she make a pass at you?"
"You mean did she make less than ten passes at me? Yeah, she did. When I asked her why, she said that she loved taking things that you wanted. She said that she bet that you didn't even know it yet but that she did."
"That bitch," Sarah said, smiling. It was the first real smile Chuck had seen her wear since that night and he smiled back because it felt good to see her look happy again.
"Hey, I'm getting hungry. You want to get something to eat before going to Carina's?" Chuck said.
"I'd like to, but I'll bet that Carina will want to go out with us. Why don't we just go over there a little early?"
Chuck got to his feet. "Let's do this thing," he said over the top seriously and followed Sarah out the door.
"How do you know which room she's in?"
Sarah just gave him that look. "This is my sister we're talking about, remember?"
Chuck accepted Sarah's explanation but wasn't really sure why. But nevertheless as she knocked on the door, he had no doubt that a tall red-head would open it.
The door swung open and Carina smiled at both of them warmly. It took Chuck by surprise. He had never seen that particular expression before.
"Come in. I've taken the liberty to order a pizza, hope you don't mind."
Chuck and Sarah shared a smile that Carina noticed.
"Put your coats on that chair and come in. I just love this place. Anytime I'm in this area I always stay here. But you already know that don't you, Sarah?"
"She knew what room you'd be in," Chuck chimed in.
"I've got Michelob and an Oatmeal Stout. The pizza's not here yet but that doesn't need to stop us from having a drink."
"I'll have the Stout," Chuck said.
"Michelob for me," Sarah followed.
Carina disappeared into her little kitchen area and soon returned with the beers. As she came back to where Chuck and Sarah stood anxiously, she noticed their mood. "Come on, have a seat, here's your beer." She waited for them to find a seat before she sat down.
They could have sat in two, large Lazy-Boy style seats but opted for the couch. Carina noticed that they sat close to one another and their free hands found each other wordlessly.
Carina sat watching them and as she did she gave birth to a small smile that began to mature with time.
"What?" Sarah finally asked.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking that had you told me when I first met Chuck that we would be sitting here in this Bed and Breakfast in these circumstances…"
"I know, it's kind of surreal," Sarah said.
"Not for me." The two women turned to stare at him.
"What are you saying, Chuck? You knew you would end up with Sarah." Carina was smiling at the audaciousness of it all, especially coming from Chuck.
"Well no, I wouldn't go that far. But there was a time maybe not long after that that I thought about the possibility of it and to me it didn't seem that far fetched." Chuck looked from one to the other. "Sarah, as good as she is at being a spy, doesn't do intimate very well. I don't mean the kind of intimate I see that you two are thinking of. I'm talking about the intimacy of two people who really get to know one another. That's scary to Sarah. Sometimes I saw her enjoying herself in our more intimate moments. It gave me hope."
"You can't argue with him, Sis…here you are," Carina said looking at Sarah.
Just thinking back to the first time I saw you two together." She looked at Chuck then. "I knew then. I knew your work, Sarah and I knew that there was more going on than just work."
"You knew more than I did, then. I knew Chuck was a nice guy but never would I have dreamed that I would fall for him," she said smiling at the man sitting next to her.
Carina's smile cleared as she asked her next question. "Chuck, I've never been clear on what your role is out in LA. Sarah said you were an analyst. But you seem to work in the field more than any analyst I've ever heard of. And Sarah is as protective of you as if you were an asset of hers."
"Chuck is not an asset. And he is more than an Analyst."
"That's interesting, but it doesn't' answer my question."
Chuck watched as the two women stared at each other. Finally, Sarah looked away with a sigh. "Carina, if there was anyone outside Chuck's team that I would trust with that information, it's you. But…this is strictly need to know."
"Chuck's team! I thought it was Casey's team?"
Sarah pursed her lips, clearly upset that she had given that away. "No, it isn't."
"That's all? That's all you're going to tell your sister?"
"Need to know."
"You don't trust me?"
"Don't pull that on me, Carina. You are probably the only person in the world I would trust to do this job. But it is need to know."
"Then it has something to do with protecting Chuck."
"Chuck doesn't need my protection."
Carina did not expect that. Her speculative expression did not hide the gears turning in her head. "I thought that was your role out in LA?"
"Need to know, Carina."
Carina started to respond when a knock at her door interrupted her. "That will be the pizza," she said getting up to answer it, seemingly forgetting about their conversation.
After paying for the pizza and flirting with the delivery guy, she put the pizza in the kitchen and brought everyone a large slice and another beer. The talking subsided as they all seemed hungry and the pizza was good.
Carina seemed to have forgotten all about the earlier conversation, so much so that Chuck was surprised by the sudden return to the earlier topic. Sarah, however, expected it.
"So, it's Chuck's team and he doesn't need Sarah's protection anymore. And yet, he is not a field agent. This just keeps getting better and better." Carina looked at Sarah and smiled and then studied Chuck with a singularly seriousness expression that made him feel uncomfortable.
"You're different now. I can see that. Whatever the initial reason for Sarah to be sent to LA is different now…because you're different."
"Carina, if you're going to keep guessing about my mission, we'll need to leave," Sarah said standing up.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. But you just told me that I was close to the truth with you're reaction."
Sarah started to say something but was cut off by her sister.
"I'm just saying, you need to work on keeping your secrets."
"You're kidding, right?" Chuck said. "Sarah keeps secrets with the best of them. I didn't even know you were her sister until a few hours ago."
"Really, she hasn't even told you about our summer together in 2003?"
"Carina! Chuck and I haven't had time to discuss my past. I'd appreciate it if you would let me talk with him privately."
Chuck looked from Sarah to Carina. "What happened in 2003?" he said with a goofy smile on his face.
Sarah wanted to be mad at him for asking but that smile just defused her anger. "Carina, do you mind?"
"I plan on telling him all about…everything. But in my time-frame."
"At least tell me that he knows who your favorite singer is?"
"Carina! Enough."
"Sarah isn't really into music," Chuck said innocently looking from Carina to Sarah.
That's when it was obvious by the expression on her face that Sarah had given up. She must have realized that Carina was not going to stop and that Chuck was going to keep asking questions.
"Fine. Fine, Carina. Go ahead and tell him. It's so obvious you're dying to," Sarah said, a little anger seeping from her voice and her shoulders stiff. But she could not stay mad with one look at the excitement written all over Chuck's face.
"No, that's okay. I can wait," Chuck said when he saw that Sarah had been upset.
At that she calmed down completely as she realized just how patient he was being with her. She knew he was aching to know something more about her. She just wasn't sure if, here, with Carina, was the right environment to open up. Carina was an unknown quantity that made her nervous.
Sarah took a deep breath before continuing. "No, Carina, tell him. It's okay. I should have before now anyway."
Chuck looked back to Carina like a young boy looking at a lollipop.
Carina was delighted to be given the spotlight. She knew deep down that this was easier for Sarah anyway. She knew how Sarah struggled with words. "Sarah had just graduated from Harvard and she arranged to have the summer off before starting her job with the CIA," Carina said.
"Harvard! You went to Harvard?"
Sarah's smile was small, almost sheepish. "Yeah, the CIA sent me."
"Anyway, she had the whole summer off and she wanted to backpack across Europe. But I convinced her to go see our mother." Both women looked at Chuck waiting for his next question. But he was in a rapt state of attention and just waited for Carina to continue.
"Anyway, our mother is Australian and lives in Australia so we planned to visit her and hike out in the bush for the summer."
"You're Australian?" Chuck said.
"No, my mother is. I'm a US citizen like my dad. Carina's dad is Australian too."
"You're half sisters then," Chuck said.
"No," the both said at once. "We're sisters." Carina finished the sentence alone. "I just happen to have a different father than Sarah." Satisfied that Chuck understood the situation, Carina continued. "Anyway, we visit mom for a couple of weeks and then we hike out in the bush for almost two months. We had a great time. But finally, we ended up in Sydney our last two weeks in Australia."
Chuck watched as the sisters shared a look. It was one of those looks that only siblings can share. A deep knowing, an understanding between one another that is profound.
"Okay, so you're in Sydney. What does that have to do with Sarah's favorite singer?" Chuck asked.
"You ever hear of a guy named Rick Price?" Carina asked.
"No, should I have?" Chuck asked.
"No, you yanks have never really heard of him, I guess. But he's huge in Australia. Isn't that right, Sarah?"
"Carina," Sarah said laughing. "That's not funny."
"I don't get it," Chuck said.
"Carina is making a sexual reference, Chuck." Sarah looked at Chuck and sighed. "Look, I was young. I had just graduated college, I had my whole life ahead of me and I met this very attractive, older guy. It didn't hurt that he could sing like a god." She grabbed Chuck's hand. "It was my first fling."
"Rick Price?" Chuck said.
"You should Google him," Carina said with a mischievous smile.
"Carina, stop."
"Oh, like you haven't gotten on the computer and YouTubed him late at night?" Carina began to laugh like a child who had just told her first dirty joke.
"So he's famous then?" Chuck said.
"Oh, yeah," Carina said. "For two weeks, Sarah was the envy of every single woman in Sydney. And a lot of married ones."
Chuck looked from Carina to Sarah with such surprise.
"Are you okay, Chuck?" Sarah asked hesitantly not sure how he was going to respond.
"Yeah, it's just so unlike the person I know. You had an affair? For how long?"
Sarah looked at Carina obviously hoping she would pick up with the narrative.
"For the rest of the time she was in Sydney. Two weeks I think. He thought she was a school teacher from New York and wanted her to be in his video, but she knew the CIA would never allow that and refused."
That's just so un-Sarah like," Chuck said, smiling in wonder.
"I dare say, you have a whole new world to explore," Carina said. "Now, that I've got that little trip down memory lane started, I hope you can finish it on your own," she said looking at Sarah.
Sarah's smile grew. "You did that on purpose. You knew how hard it was going to be for me to start talking about myself and my past and you forced me into it."
"I know my baby sister." Immediately her expression grew serious. "But that isn't the main reason I wanted to talk with you two."
Sarah knew from her sister's expression that the topic was going to be very serious and set up straighter on the couch.
"I got a text from Bryce last Saturday night," she said and waited for that to sink in.
"Saturday! What time?" Sarah had already realized that that was the night he died.
"It came in at 7:47 p.m. and I read it immediately.
Sarah felt like something was sitting on her chest. "Why did he say?"
"He said he knew you were at a wedding and that he didn't want to bother you. But he wanted to make sure I got this message to you and to Chuck."
Chuck reached down and squeezed Sarah's hand for support. But the truth was, he felt a little apprehensive knowing that Bryce left a message for him too.
"What did he say?" Sarah asked in a whisper.
"He said that he was able to see things very clearly at the moment. He said that you are going to face some tests in your future and they will be difficult. He said that you should look to your family for support during these trying times."
"That's it?"
"Well, he said something that was private for me. I thought at the time that he was being very introspective. But I was shocked when he said that he had a message for Chuck Bartowski that he wanted me to give to him. I was shocked because I barely knew Chuck and I had no idea that you two had become involved."
"What did he say, Carina?" Sarah said, the exasperation spilling out of her voice.
"Nothing really. Just when he was about to start, he said Never-mind, Chuck had just dropped in. He lol'd me but I didn't know what he meant by that. Do you?"
"Yeah, I was with him when he died. I kind of dropped in from the ceiling," Chuck said.
"What did he tell you, Chuck?" Sarah asked.
"Nothing, just that you weren't going to go with him. He asked me to take care of you. I tried to tell him that he was going to be fine and that you two would go off and save the world…but he died then."
Both Carina and Chuck saw that Sarah was working hard at staying composed.
"Well, that's all there was. I just wanted to make sure you knew," Carina said.
Sarah was lost in thought. "It's not like Bryce to do something like that without a reason. Why would he tell me to look to my family for support? He only knew you, Carina."
Carina shook her head before she spoke. "I have no idea, but I agree with you. Bryce said he was seeing things clearly. He must have thought that we would need each other in the future."
"He probably meant that Sarah would need you with his death," Chuck said.
Both women shock their heads. "No, that isn't it," Sarah said.
Chuck and Sarah spent the next fifteen minutes at Carina's but the mood had deteriorated and soon Sarah and Chuck were saying their goodbyes.
"When will I see you again?" Sarah asked as she walked out the door.
"I have to be in South America next week but that's only supposed to be for a couple of weeks. I'll call you when I get back to the states."
Sarah and Carina hugged goodbye and then it was Chuck's turn. He stuck out his hand and she looked at it for a second. "You're kidding, right?" She then grabbed him and gave him a very hard hug. As she did, she whispered into his ear opposite of Sarah. "Take care of her. If you hurt her I will find you." She peered hard into his eyes.
Chuck smiled in returned and raised his eyebrows in response.
As he and Sarah walked back to the car she turned to him. "What did Carina say to you?"
"Jeez, you spy's never miss anything. If you must know, she told me to take care of you. And she gave me a warning in case I didn't."
Sarah smiled and grabbed his hand. With a great sadness behind her, she didn't want to think about testing next week. She put it out of her mind. As they got into the car and drove away, she noticed Chuck was looking at his phone. Then, she heard the familiar sound of Rick Price singing "Not a day Goes by".
"He's pretty good," Chuck said.
Sarah got a mischievous look that Chuck had just recently began to see. She then looked at him and raised on eyebrow and smiled deliciously. "You've no idea," she said laughing as they rambled down the road.